This week, WWE headed to England for the first part of a European tour. Both RAW and Smackdown came to us from Liverpool, England, and as WWE was running separate house shows on Monday and Tuesday, each show featured only half the roster. That said, they were both surprisingly good, with RAW edging out Smackdown as the better show of the week. But then Smackdown had the best match of the week. Of course that’s only the main roster shows; NXT had one of the best TV show’s of the year, so obviously the best show of the week by far.
Before we do anything else, let’s check out the results from the week’s television shows:
Monday, November 10, 2014
Liverpool, England
- Seth Rollins defeated Jack Swagger in 11:20.
- Paige defeated Alicia Fox in 2:15.
- Rusev defeated Sheamus via count out in 15:25 to retain the U.S. Championship.
- The Miz and Mizdow defeated Los Matadores in 4:45.
- Dolph Ziggler defeated Mark Henry by DQ in 2:50.
- A.J. Lee beat Brie Bella in 2:20.
- Tyson Kidd beat Adam Rose in 2:40.
- John Cena beat Ryback by DQ in 15:10.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Liverpool, England
- Stardust defeated Adam Rose.
- Alicia Fox defeated Cameron.
- Tyson Kidd beat Sami Zayn.
- Dean Ambrose defeated Justin Gabriel.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Orlando, Florida
- Finn Bálor and Hideo Itami beat Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel in 6:30.
- Sasha Banks beat Alexa Bliss in 2:15.
- The Lucha Dragons defeated Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy in 5:00.
- Adrian Neville pinned Sami Zayn in about 11:45 to retain the NXT Championship.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Liverpool, England
- Sin Cara defeated Curtis Axel.
- Big E beat Heath Slater.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Liverpool, England
- Bray Wyatt defeated Sin Cara in 2:25 via pinfall.
- Goldust and Star Dust beat Adam Rose and The Bunny via pinfall in 2:10.
- Dolph Ziggler beat Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a Triple Threat elimination match in 13:22 to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
- Natalya beat Layla via submission in 4:15.
- Ryback defeated Kane via DQ.
Survivor Series is LIVE on WWE Network and PPV on Sunday, November 23rd. This week, both Team Authority and Team Cena picked up some new members. Officially, both teams only need one more member.
Here’s the updated line-up:
- Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev, & ???) vs. Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Sheamus, & ???)
- Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt
- Diva’s Champion AJ Lee defends against Nikki Bella.
It looked like Ryback was going to join Team Authority, and in fact he did so. But Kane got him disqualified during the main event, and Ryback unloaded on Seth Rollins before eventually getting back in the ring to clear it of the Authority. On Smackdown, Ryback beat Kane by DQ, followed it up by beating Kane down with a chair, and finally staring down Triple H.
Meanwhile, RAW concluded with a beat up Dolph Ziggler being tossed at the feet of Triple H. Turns out the returning Luke Harper had done a number on him, and Harper told Hunter that “I’m a team player.” So, it would appear that Luke Harper will be the final member of Team Authority, while Ryback looks to be the final member of Team Cena. Of course none of that is official as of yet.
Survivor Series is next week. It’s a shame that WWE only has three matches announced at this point. It should be a news heavy day, in regards to Survivor Series, on Monday.
November 2014 – Week 2
SHOW OF THE WEEK:
- NXT - If you haven’t seen this week’s episode of NXT, then you absolutely NEED to hit up the on demand portion of WWE Network and watch it. ASAP. If you don’t have WWE Network, and it is available in your area, take advantage of the free month and watch. From start to finish, it was a great show. The women’s match wasn’t that good, it was okay, but everything else was top notch. Finn Bálor and Hideo Itami are absolute dynamite as a tag team. Speaking of tag teams, the tag team match between the Lucha Dragon’s and Blake/Murphy was probably one of the best pure tag team matches we’ve seen on TV all year. And of course the main event, Adrian Neville defending against Sami Zayn, was a great match with some really strong storytelling. A big contender for match of the week. Overall, this wasn’t just the best show of the week, it’s one of the best show’s WWE has aired all year. Super strong from start to finish. An absolute joy to watch, and the textbook way to deliver a one hour wrestling program.
MATCH OF THE WEEK:
- Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro vs. Tyson Kidd, Triple Threat Elimination Match for the Intercontinental Championship – This was a close one, because we had two really great matches this week. In the end, this one just beat out the NXT main event between Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn. I like a good elimination match, I just think they are much better than a standard triple threat match. I’m liking the increasing relevancy of Tyson Kidd again. He looked really good here, even though he did look pretty stupid when he let go of the Sharpshooter on Dolph Ziggler once Cesaro locked in the Crossface. It’s never a good thing to have the commentators point out the stupidity of a superstar. I want to see more of these three. And I want to see more great Intercontinental Championship matches, because the title really needs to become the workhorse championship again. It needs to be prized. Dolph is getting it there, I think. If you missed Smackdown, you should seek this match out. You can skip the rest of the show, but this match should be seen by all wrestling fans.
PERFORMER OF THE WEEK:
- Cesaro – Controversial pick? Perhaps (next year we’ll have a real way of picking this, more to come soon), but in my opinion Cesaro was the best performer in the Match of the Week, even though he was eliminated first. Cesaro might be the best all around in-ring performer in WWE today. There’s a legitimacy with everything he does. He’s the most believable superstar that I can remember seeing in a long time, in large part because of just how strong he is. I don’t know why WWE insists on booking him poorly, even when the fans want to get behind him, but every time he is in the ring its guaranteed to be a good match at the least. WWE creative might not appreciate him, but as far as I’m concerned Cesaro is one of the highlights of WWE these days.
Next week is a big week in WWE. WWE has to do more to build to Survivor Series, which is Sunday. This is the “go home” week, and WWE still has more matches to announce for the PPV, because right now it’s looking rather weak. I think they should have already announced more and really did everything possible to make this a strong event; take advantage of the audience checking out the Network for free. Give them a strong reason as to why they should pay to subscribe.
Filed under: Wrestling
