Elton's Weekly Wrestling High Spots and Botches: October 25-October 31

High Spots: We have officially entered the latest post-draft era of Monday Night Raw with Big E firmly put in place as the face of the show and the reigning, defending WWE Champion. And to kick this “season premiere” off, four worthy championship contenders stepped up to challenge him. I’m a bit tired of the “revolving doors contenders” set up at this point since WWE relies on it too damn much, but I wasn’t too mad at this one since everyone featured during the segment is sitting atop my favorites list. We ended up getting a ladder match out of that whole exchange, which turned out a very gratifying ending to this episode of Raw. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Finn Bálor, and Rey Mysterio pulled out all the stops during a highly competitive multi-man affair that featured your usual array of ladder-assisted bumps. As far as 2021 Raw main events go, that ladder war was certainly among the best of ‘em. “Drip King” Seth nabbed the championship contract and now we’re due for a title match between him and Big E at some point in the near future. Consider me a very happy man in that regard!

Even though this is supposed to be a new era of Raw, three SmackDown teams that have been at each other’s necks for the majority of the year reignited their grudges here. While it wasn’t exactly all that fresh watching The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Dirty Dawgs, I was still into everything all three teams did during their high-octane triple threat match. And based on what Omos did to Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford near the end, the red-cup boys are gonna want all the smoke with the angry giant and his man AJ Styles. Now that’s a brand new feud I could get into! Due to their victory here, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode competed later in the night for the Raw tag team straps. What they managed to produce during their match against RK-Bro was quite compelling. The fast and furious finish was easily the best part - Randy Orton and Riddle continue to gel well and age like fine wine as a tandem as evidenced by their work here during this match.

Damian Priest and T-BAR (ugh, that name will forever suck hippo turds!) had a quick little match that reminded me of just how good both men were during the 1.0 era of NXT. T-BAR pulled off a sweet moonsault, which you rarely see from the big guy. The match ended with a disappointing DQ finish, but the post-match destruction Damian delivered to T-BAR was pretty hype! Damian has this whole “crazy man mental switch” deal that I’m really digging. Setting him up as a madman that can become unhinged at any given moment works for me. The rehabilitation of Keith “Bearcat” Lee is still going strong, it seems. That whole roaring bear thing at the start of his theme is pure cringe, but I’m still happy to see Keith getting refocused on being unstoppable once again. He dominated the homie Cedric Alexander, which left me a bit saddened since I think the Hurt Business stable member deserves more than just being cannon fodder to the stars. But I get it - Keith is a runaway train that’s on the road to greatness, so him crushing Cedric just had to be done.

We got a nice showing of the future of WWE as Austin Theory and Dominik Mysterio clashed in a decent little sprint. I wish Austin would adopt a more lethal and better-looking finisher, but at least he’s racking up some victories now that he’s back on the main roster. His whole “wait...lemme take a selfie!” shtick is simple, but it’s completely sensible for a super cocky youngster of his caliber. Now let’s get Austin vs. Rey Mysterio ASAP, WWE!

Botches: Congrats to your first lady majesty, Queen Zelina. It’s just too bad that no one in the crowd truly gave a damn about her victory speech, including me. I’m guessing a lot more people would have cared way more if it was someone like Piper Niven or Liv Morgan sitting in that royal throne giving a more enchanting speech. You just knew things were bad when Zelina started getting the “WHAT?” treatment from the uninterested crowd. She and Piper went at it again soon after, but their match didn’t really amount to much since it went by in a flash. Those two segments combined to be a complete bore, sadly. 

I think I’ve reached my limit when it comes to all these back and forth arguments between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair - heel Becky is far less interesting than the tweener version of “The Man,” plus Bianca’s been delivering the same ol’ tired rebuttal to the Raw women’s champ ever since they started getting into it. I’m completely over them beefing at this point, so I can’t bring myself to care about their upcoming matchup. Another feud I’ve lost all interest in is the one between “Creepy Sparkly Mask” Carmella and Liv. It’s been going on just a bit too long for my tastes and hasn’t gone anywhere interesting since it began.

High Spots: The return of NXT reviving old WCW PPV gimmicks has thankfully resurfaced! And as the first special event of the NXT 2.0 era, this year’s Halloween Havoc delivered a solid show. Now don’t get me wrong - it was clear that the new blood of NXT isn’t exactly ready to deliver TakeOver quality matches just yet. There were a good amount of noticeable botches throughout the show and some moments where the younger talent seemed a bit unsure of themselves during certain spots. But overall, everyone put their working boots on here and did well for the most part. The opening ladder match was pretty wild - Io Shirai definitely scared me half to death when she landed hard on a ladder outside the ring! The ladder didn’t even break during her fall, either! She’s a real one for surviving that nasty fall. Toxic Attraction won the match, which wasn’t the result I was hoping for. But it makes sense, I guess. Odyssey Jones finally got some worthy competition against the NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong. His short yet sweet match against The Diamond Mine member was a cool way to show off what he could do against a non-jobber, which was a nice change of pace. I have a sneaky feeling that Odyssey’s beef with The Diamond Mine is far from over…

That MSK vs. Imperium match was heat, not even gon lie! The dressed-up lumberjacks on the outside added to the overall madness of this tag team sprint, plus the non-stop offense both teams produced kept its pace going strong. You guys already know I’m not checkin’ for Imperium these days, but I gotta hand ‘em all the respect in the world for their amazing effort against MSK here. They captured the NXT Tag Team Championship, so kudos to them once again. Yo, was it just me or did Cameron Grimes look like Paul London in his spaceman getup? He clearly had the best Halloween costume out of everybody. Cameron is down bad tremendously with the ladies, though. I can relate, my G! I really thought Bron Breakker’s reign as the NXT Champion was going to start here! But to my surprise and dismay, he just couldn’t put down Tomasso Ciampa and his sick Kratos cosplay. Both men competed in a hard-hitting main event that did, even more, to solidify Bron as a future superstar. That man has a beautiful Frankensteiner, I must say! Tomasso brutalized the big guy inside & outside the ring (that DDT to the exposed concrete was insane!) and eventually notched himself a very convincing win in the process. You’ll get ‘em next time, Bron!

Botches: Hey, Kay Lee Ray is coming back! Do I care? Of course not! You know the vibes! I’m just never gonna be into Joe Gacy, either. His promos always give me Twitter incel vibes, plus his new partnership with Harland just falls flat to me. Gacy landed the slowest handspring into a clothesline I’ve ever seen, by the way. Damn, Solo Sikoa is definitely an Uso! Staring him in the face is such a trip ‘cause he looks exactly like his older brothers Jimmy and Jey. His debut was kinda lackluster, though - instead of dominating a random jobber and giving us a taste of what he can really do, he just strolled to the ring to pull off some generic moves on Grayson Waller. I feel like he would have been much better off working a five-minute match here. That was hella disappointing.

I wasn’t really feeling the whole Haunted House walkthrough with Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, Johnny Gargano, and Dexter Lumis. I did get a good chuckle out of ‘Melo and Trick reciting the lyrics to Kayne West’s “Gold Digger,” but that’s about where all the laughter stopped. The rest of their skits just left me stone-faced, to be honest. Kinda crazy how the comedy antics involving Johnny and Dexter just aren’t hittin’ like they used to. And finally, the NXT Women’s Championship match between Raquel Gonzalez and Mandy Rose was just a tad bit mediocre. I feel like both women work so much better against more experienced wrestlers - watching them try to work an 11+ minute match against each other did them no favors. Mandy captured the title, plus Dakota Kai came back to kickstart her feud with her former bodyguard Raquel once again. And to be quite frank, I didn’t give a damn about any of it.

High Spots: Ladies and gents, I have to give credit where credit is due - AEW’s women’s division is on fire right now! It wasn’t looking too good for the ladies earlier in the year, but everything is finally back on track thanks to the old guard and new blood getting more time to show just how great they are. Serena Deeb and Hikaru Shida clearly had the best match of the evening! Serena’s smart limb work and Hikaru’s never-say-die-attitude clashed in a match that got a ton of time to develop into the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Hikaru nabbed the win and evened the score at 1-1. And based on the continued limb work Serena did after the bell rang, their feud is far from over. That’s a major plus for me! This TBS Championship Tournament has been such a joy to follow thus far. A case could seriously be made for Serena being the best women’s wrestler in the world right now. And yes, I’m dead serious. CM Punk and Bobby Fish clashed in a match that looked like two generations of Ring of Honor going head to head (which is a coincidence considering the sad news about ROH that dropped before the show). Even though the finish looked a bit wonky on Bobby’s behalf, the rest of the match was a good methodical affair that played to both men’s strengths. I wonder who Phil is gonna face next...

I’m still digging this whole MJF/Darby Allin squabble that’s leading to a final showdown at Full Gear. After MJF made quick work of the local hometown hero, he made sure to hop on the mic and verbally shit all over the Boston faithful. MJF even did a little bit of trolling as he played Sting’s music and made everyone think he was coming out to exact some revenge (I know y’all peeped how much that little stunt pissed off Wardlow! The turn is coming, y’all…). The lights went down to reveal a new Darby Allin promo (which starred the ever so wonderful JPEGMAFIA) that took aim at the smug asshole he’s set to face at Full Gear. Sting arrived with his bat and Darby pulled out his trusty thumbtack-covered skateboard to do some lethal work, which was a delight to watch unfold. I hope we get a match between MJF and Sting at some point in the build to Full Gear.

TNT Champion Sammy Guevara defended his title against “All Ego” Ethan Page in another of the night’s quality matches. Sammy was his usual madman self as he pulled off a picture-perfect Shooting Star Press to the outside, plus Ethan pulled off something equally sick of his own when he landed a Sidewalk Slam to the champ right on top of the turnbuckle. This midcard clash was a fun one, plus it did a great job of pushing AEW’s younger talent into the spotlight. Now we’re set to get that 10-man war between the Inner Circle and The Men of the Year/American Top Team at Full Gear. And to raise the stakes even higher, it’s going to be a Minneapolis Street Fight. Now that’s going to be an amazing car crash-style match! Jon Moxley is all business these days - his changed demeanor is clearly pointing to a future heel turn. Once again, he brutalized his opponent and made sure to put him out of his misery in a short amount of time. With the way the tournament is looking now, it’s clear that Bryan Danielson will make it past Eddie Kingston and butt heads with Moxley at Full Gear in the World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals. I envision a Moxley win there that will set him up nicely for the perfect heel vs. babyface encounter once Adam Page captures the AEW World Championship.

Cody Rhodes just won’t give in to the dark side, it seems. He arrived with Arn Anderson by his side to plead his case to the crowd and convince them that he respects them for speaking their mind in recent weeks. The boos continued to rain down heavily even though Cody tried saying all the right things to bring them back over to his side. Once Andrade El Idolo hit the ring to talk some smack of his own, the boos turned to cheers for the wealthy luchador. The four-man brawl that ensued between Cody, Pac, Andrade, and Malakai Black is clearly teasing a marquee tag team match for Full Gear. And that’s something I can’t wait to see! Let’s just hope Cody takes the L during his match with Andrade on the next episode of Dynamite. And in the final match of the evening, The Dark Order and The Elite embraced all the Halloween hijinks during their hectic eight-man tag. I loved the themed entrances, I adored the costumes, and I damn sure enjoyed each & every minute of the match they put together. I know a lot of people aren’t into this style of wrestling, but I appreciate it so much since I’m a PWG Stan that has seen those types of matches happen there consistently. The Adam Page costume unveiling at the end was an awesome touch that capped this show off on a high note. COWBOY SHIT IS OVER LIKE ROVER, BOYS!

Botches: None to speak of, honestly...

High Spots: The Moose Era of Impact is now underway! And to no one’s surprise, it got off to a mayhem-filled start. Before the new Impact World Champion could even open his mouth to speak, Eddie Edwards ran out to cane his big ass. Both men locked horns in a quick scuffle that thankfully got broken up by security, which means they’ll obviously come to blows over the title soon. Once Moose got himself better situated, he proceeded to deliver a solid promo that sent some shots at a certain “elite” wrestler,  the “tribal chief,” “the boss,” “the man,” etc. Then out of nowhere, the former champ Josh Alexander hit the ring to suplex Moose right out of his shoes. The champ managed to escape and leave Josh in the ring with his very next challenger - “MURDER GRANDPA” MINORU SUZUKI! The brief brawl they got into has me fully invested in whatever sort of match they’ll get booked in sooner rather than later. That opening segment was pure anarchy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The new X-Division Champion Trey Miguel showed up and showed out against NJPW’s Rocky Romero, which was a pleasant surprise. That Downward Spiral Trey landed on Rocky onto the ring apron was quite delightful, I must say! After Trey earned himself the big W, walking NyQuil Steve Maclin hit the ring to beat him down and set himself up as the next title challenger. Big yawn vibes there. Anyway, the main event pitted two of my favorites against each other in a match that would have been a banger in the Impact Zone back in 2005. Ace Austin and Chris Sabin moved at a breakneck pace and pulled out their best moves to ground the other. The constant distractions were a bit much, but the match was still a fun X-Division romp overall. Where does Ace go from here, I reckon? A possible Impact World Championship match doesn’t sound too far off...

Botches: Rachel Ellering vs. Tasha Steelz was a big miss on this episode. It just didn’t do anything to lift it from below average and the finish looked a bit iffy, to make matters even worse. Not good! I was quite enjoying Joe Doering vs. Heath, but the idiotic finish cut it off before it truly got going. So Rhino and Cody Deaner’s brawl ended up spilling into the ring, right? They didn’t touch either of the active participants in the match, yet the ref still called for a DQ? Like, what? The ref could’ve just forced ‘em out of the ring and maybe we could have gone for a distraction finish of some kind to give Heath a much-deserved win. The logic went out the window for that one. At least Eric Young is healthy enough to destroy everyone with a piledriver again. I love Mickie James as the new Knockouts Champion, but I have 0 desire to see Madison Rayne get the first crack at the new champion. You got Jordynne Grace and Mercedes Martinez right there, but you pick Madison over them first? Despicable...

High Spots: ALL HAIL KING WOODS! ALL HAIL KING WOODS! The grand ruler of SmackDown continued his reign of greatness as he rechristened his best friend “Sir Kofi Kingston, the Hand of the Ring.” This wonderful occasion got interrupted by two individuals The New Day knows all too well - Jimmy and Jey, The Usos. Their interference led to a tag team match in the main event and, just like every other New Day vs. Usos matchup, it was pretty cool. It certainly wasn’t one of their best bouts thus far, but those two duos are simply incapable of having a terrible match.

Now I might be in the minority here, but I got a kick out of the Trick or Street Fight. The 24/7 clown brigade made me groan, but once they left, Shinsuke Nakamura, Rick Boogs, Happy Corbin, and Madcap Moss proceeded to have a bit of fun with the aid of pumpkins, kendo sticks, and even an apple-bobbing barrel. The finish was awesome and sad at the very same time - two costumed dudes clobbered Boogs with kendo sticks and helped Moss nab the win for his team. Those two revealed themselves to be none other than Humberto Carillo and Angel Garza, which got a reaction of nothing but crickets from the live crowd. That saddened me ‘cause I love both guys, but WWE’s booking has done them little to no favors thus far. But the thought of those two linking up with Corbin and Moss could help them garner a bit of much-needed heat in the coming weeks.

Botches: THERE WAS NO “TRIBAL CHIEF ON THIS SHOW, FAM! The absence of the very best part of SmackDown should have clued me into this episode being nothing more than a big skip. And indeed it was, sadly. I get what they were going for with the opening segment - WWE wanted to shine a spotlight on Shotzi Blackheart since she’s one of the biggest women’s stars in the making on the show post-draft. But the execution of it all just fell flat, in my opinion. The match between Charlotte Flair and Shotzi just wasn’t all that good due to Shotzi’s noticeable sloppiness and her non-chemistry with Charlotte. Then the post-match beatdown of Sasha Banks on behalf of Shotzi just came off weird since it teased a heel turn for her, which doesn’t make much sense to me since the crowd is clearly behind her as a babyface instead. Yeah, so none of this worked, in my opinion. 

Drew McIntyre came out later to beat Mustafa Ali without even breaking a sweat (no shock there). The match was decidedly average, plus Mustafa’s post-match promo set up yet another “you don’t like me ‘cause I’m foreign!” angle that I have no need for. I’ve already checked out of this whole Sonya Deville vs. Naomi feud. Sonya’s pretty boring as a character, which was evidenced by her dry-ass promo delivery that was sadly on display here. We still haven’t been told exactly why Sonya doesn’t like Naomi, which is something you’d think we would have found out by now. The “match” between Naomi and Shayna Baszler went by faster than a sneeze and was ultimately inconsequential. Everything about that segment was a huge waste of time. Oh, and Brock Lesnar has to pay a million dollars for his overly abusive actions or whatever...

High Spots: Eddie Kingston deserves all the credit in the world! The man fought to the very limit with the “American Dragon” on this episode of Rampage and even had half the crowd on his side. Eddie’s stiff chops had Bryan’s chest looking like a crime scene, plus he planted his opponent with some nasty belly-to-back suplexes and almost put his ass to sleep with a sick spinning back fist. Eddie’s efforts here made me appreciate him even more. Bryan eventually overcame Eddie due to his tenacity and ability to fight through the immense pain done to him because of those crowd popping chops. Both men had a hell of an opening match that wouldn’t look out of place on an NJPW card. I love how Bryan has so many different ways to end his opponent now that he’s fighting against the very best of AEW. It’s pretty clear to me that Bryan will face Jon Moxley in the final round of the World Title Eliminator Tournament at Full Gear. CM Punk tried to engage in a quick backstage talk with Tony Schiavone, but a clearly pissed-off Eddie interrupted it with his angry ranting. Eddie got in Punk’s face and got really colorful with his language, which made Punk answer back with a challenge. Could Kingston vs. Punk be in the works? I hope so!

We went from hard-hitting puroresu-like action to high-flying madness between Dante Martin and Matt Sydal. Their third meeting was just as exciting as I figured it would be as soon as it was announced - both men pulled off slick counters and their usual array of flip-assisted maneuvers. Matt’s veteran status came into the picture here since he got a ton of offense in on the rookie Dante. But Dante eventually rose like a phoenix and wowed the crowd his fly comeback sequence. That Springboard Moonsualt of his is a thing of beauty and I never get tired of seeing him land it cleanly. This whole Lio Rush partnership is taking young Dante to higher places thus far (no pun intended). To bring this fun evening to a close, Britt Baker and the always zombified Abadon embraced the spirit of Halloween in a No DQ Trick or Treat match. So here are my three main takeaways from that show ender - AEW must have accidentally copped a Japanese table ‘cause it took plenty of abuse & still didn’t break, that thumbtack slam Britt took was insane, and Abadon’s gimmick kicks all the asses! The ladies of AEW definitely sent this show out on a high note.

Botches: None to speak of, honestly...

High Spots: None to speak of, honestly...

Botches: Ring of Honor is really goin’ through it, folks. The indy fed that’s been going strong since 2002 announced that the company is set to go on a hiatus following its December Final Battle event. The company has done an amazing job of keeping its many employees financially secure during the pandemic and featuring them on TV via closed-set tapings with no fans. But the stress of trying to run a wrestling company with no fans or touring schedule finally caught up with ROH’s brass, which has led to the company looking to pivot and try a different approach in 2022. The really sad part about this is the fact that the entirety of the ROH roster will be released at the end of the year. While it’s cool that a lot of the company’s talented stars now have the chance to sign with the other major wrestling feds and get some more independent wrestling opportunities, it still sucks to learn that they’ll now be without a steady paycheck as soon as the ball drops for the new year.