Elton's Weekly Wrestling High Spots and Botches: December 13-December 19

High Spots: The WWE Championship match on Day 1 went from a singles match to a Triple Threat to a Fatal 4-Way. And that fourth participant is the returning Bobby Lashley, who looks quite dapper in a red suit. The road to that highly lauded spot was bumpy here as Lashley had to win three matches on the very same evening against the three foes he's now set to face on New Year's Day. Now my hype levels for that Raw main event have increased tenfold! Side note - that warm moment of acknowledgement from Lashley and MVP towards Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson was such an incredible moment. Gable is gonna be in the main event of WrestleMania in the next five years...BANK ON IT! Man, they finally gifted big Otis with a win for once. Riddle looked like a helpless toddler during his match against the massive Alpha Academy member. Otis got the chance to look as dominant as humanly possible and looks to be on the verge of those three-week pushes WWE randomly does with lower card talents once a year. Hey, that's fine by me! It was quite the beautiful sight to see as Otis planted Riddle with a World's Strongest Slam and put Randy Orton to sleep with a vicious spinning back elbow.

So we ended up getting that Bianca Belair/Piper Niven runback a lot sooner than expected here. And this time, Piper Niven had nowhere to run to. This rematch was halfway decent and ended with Bianca crushing Piper with a jaw-droppingly gorgeous 450 Splash. Post-match, Piper came back to bop Bianca right upside the head while she celebrated her latest victory. So now that it's known that this feud is still in place, I'm very much looking forward to both ladies getting a spot on Day 1 for their next encounter. Can we get an Atlanta Street Fight between those two or nah? That tag team match between Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler and Damian Priest/Finn Bálor was okay at best - I mainly popped for that big ass Spinebuster on the outside from Bobby to the US Champion. Since Austin Theory got on his annoying selfie game once again, Finn got distracted long enough to catch a Zig Zag and the ultimate L. So I'm guessing Finn and Austin are set for a big match in the coming weeks, while The Dirty Dawgs engage in a Triple Threat with Damien for the belt. Both of those outcomes sound good to me.

Edge and The Miz keep talkin' that tough talk on the road to their Day 1 meeting, which I've been a huge fan of thus far. Edge's whole "squeaking" bit had a nice payoff, plus the rest of his verbal smoke for The Miz was as good as ever. Miz's corny ass "Oh Edge, you think you know me?" line almost made me fling my remote at the TV, though. Once the fists started flying, Miz used his own wife Maryse to throw Edge off of his game to gain the upper hand. Maryse wasn't feelin' that, though! So now that little husband and wife disagreement should throw an extra wrinkle into this ongoing storyline, which I'm perfectly fine with. And finally, Lashley managed to overcome Big E amidst a whole lot of multi-man chaos. This closing segment treated me to a No DQ match that completely broke down (which was delightful to watch!) and was filled with two sick table crashes to Owens & Rollins. MVP's cane sure came in handy to hand Lashley the big win!

Botches: So Liv Morgan's getting her Raw Women's Championship rematch against Becky Lynch on Day 1...yay. I just can't summon any ounce of a damn in me to care about the two at this point - the promo wars between them have been ass and the match they had the week prior was weaksauce. Liv and her iffy-looking Lou Thesz Press pissed off Becky to the point where she decided to stomp on Liv's fingers like the enranged madwoman she is. They did all that and I still couldn't bring myself to be invested one bit. Never forget folks - Bianca/Piper > Becky/Liv. Dana Brooke and her 24/7 Championship tomfoolery with the rest of the Ringling Bros. circus crew was terrible here...so what else is new? We also got a new batch of backstage interactions between Mr. McMahon and Austin. How was it, you ask? Well, I'm mentioning it in this botches section, so you clearly know the answer to that.

I don't know about y'all, but the overall match quality on this show was severely lacking. Queen Zelina vs. Rhea Ripley, Kevin Owens vs. Lashley, and Seth Rollins vs. Lashley (lame finish included) all felt like they didn't really have much effort put into them. And while I got a kick out of witnessing Otis nab an important victory over Riddle, the actual match they had to get there was kind of a letdown as well. The only truly worthwhile match ended up being the main event, while everything else that came before it was merely...eh. And I really wish AJ Styles and Omos would just give up on each other already - going the slow route to their inevitable breakup just isn't the way to go, fam.

High Spots: I always take great pleasure in witnessing the charisma starved Duke Hudson get beaten like a scalded dog (that one was for you, JR!). Cameron Grimes did just that during the fun No Holds Barred opener that saw him use his Cave-In to shove Hudson right through a steel chair. Duke fought back just as hard by powerbombing Grimes right through a poker table. But to my complete satisfaction, Grimes emerged as the better man and made sure to divorce Hudon from his horrible-looking wig. That opening bout put quite the cheery smile on my face! Ivy Nile is improving her whole "immovable object" gimmick as the weeks go by. She continues to impress me with her arsenal and those cocky Scott Steiner-esque pushups she pulls off. Amari Miller actually gave her a slight fight during their match, but Nile shook off all her offense and eventually left her staring at the lights. Miller got some pretty kicks, but Nile's ugly neck trap submission is just way more effective. Nile's got somethin' folks, I'm tellin' ya!

Von Wagner has all the personality of a ziplock bag full of sand, so that little tease of him and Robert Stone possibly joining forces could be a huge help for the big guy. I'm one of Stone's five fans out here and I've always called for the guy to move to the main roster to manage Ricochet. But since he's still appearing on WWE's Tuesday night brand, he might as well do Wagner a favor and add some much-needed color to his bland presentation. I hope those two become a thing soon. Harland's whole American History X look still puts me off. But I can totally get behind his in-ring dominance - Harland proved to be a relentless madman that did Guru Raaj extra dirty. I can definitely get behind Harland putting jobbers out to pasture even after the bell rings for the foreseeable future. Watching him throw Brian Kendrick down the stairs was kinda fire, by the way!

LA Knight still has a whole lotta hate left in his soul for Waller. I'm always pleased to see him talk down on that man, so I got plenty of enjoyment from watching him shoot some verbal venom his way (YEAH!). Waller caught him slippin' in the NXT 2.0 parking lot (which is the most dangerous place in all of professional wrestling), which killed my good vibes a bit. BEAT HIS ASS NEXT WEEK, KNIGHT! The crowd and most folks on my timeline love Tony D'Angelo...yet I don't. But he actually made me appreciate him for once since he assaulted the mega jobber known as Andre Chase. So yeah, that was cool. But I'm gonna go right back to not having any positive energy for D'Angelo on the next episode anyway. Jacket Time's shitty name grinds my gears, but they sure can wrestle! They had a decent bout with the Grizzled Young Veterans and actually got the upset victory to boot. Now I'm prepared to watch GYV get fed to the Creed Brothers, which is a cold reality I'll just have to embrace.

Unsurprisingly, Bron Breakker and Roderick Strong had a magnificent main event. You can never go wrong when you pit either of those two greats against anyone else, so I just knew they'd prove to be highly efficient against each other here. Bron's mid-ring Frankensteiner looked as crispy as ever, plus watching Roddy's stiff chops & Olympic Slam never gets old. Strong's superplex into a Tiger Bomb looked like it had Bron down for the 1-2-3, but wrestling's 2021 rookie of the year came back strong in the end to get the win. After the match, the NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa hit the ring to spike Bron's head into the mat with his signature apron-assisted DDT. So now we're getting closer and closer to their inevitable title rematch between the past and present of NXT. AND I'M HYPE!

Botches: This episode of NXT 2.0 was overstuffed with some of the least interesting promos I've seen on the show to date. Briggs & Jensen's little concert hangout with Catanzaro & Carter was pure cheese, plus the whole Riddle & MSK guru session was the purest form of cornball material. Grayson Waller is getting set up as the top heel on this show as evidenced by his previous assault on the departing Johnny Gargano and the rage-fueled explanation he gave for it here. But Waller's just not all that engaging as a character, so I'm having a hard time biting on anything he does and says these days. The concerted effort behind building him into a staple of NXT 2.0 is there, which is fine. I just don't care about any of it. “Lashing Out with Lash Legend” was insufferable as it's always been, so you can probably guess what my reaction was to its return with Jacket Time in the hot seats. Whatever...

Bruh, nobody cares about Boa! Why they continue to put him on my TV screen is beyond me. His facepaint is lame and his offense is beyond boring. I wish they'd just cut bait on the guy already 'cause he's clearly a non-factor on this show. I gave Cora Jade her props for that wild stunt she committed to at WarGames, but now I'm right back to being underwhelmed by her once again. She looked super off during her sloppy match against Dakota Kai. Having Jade win on yet another fluke pin just continues to prove that her character is incapable of getting convincing wins. Plus anything involving Kai these days instantly cures my insomnia, so watching her struggle with Jade was just no good at all.

High Spots: When the term "broadway" is brought up in wrestling circles, it refers to a match that goes the full 60-minute time limit. And on the second edition of Winter is Coming, AEW World Champion "Hangman" Adam Page and #1 contender Bryan Danielson took that term to heart as they fought to an exciting draw. This show got off to a super hot start as both men wasted no time producing a late pick for the 2021 Match of the Year. This bout kicked off at a slow pace that featured your expected amalgamation of chain wrestling and Danielson's frustrating mind games (the man does some great jumping jacks while sporting that infamous shit-eating grin of his). Then the chops started flying and the limb work started to come into play as both men worked to tear the other down. Danielson got the upper hand as time wore on thanks to some stiff chops, kicks, headbutts, and tight submissions. But Page responded in kind with some vicious suplexes, big boots, and some nasty chops of his own.

As the match reached its middle portion, Page started running wild with some high-flying maneuvers that hit its intended target. But Danielson eventually recovered as he dodged another moonsault and began working over Page's weakened shoulder. One of the nastiest bumps of the match came when Danielson shoved Page right into the ring apron, which lead to the "American Dragon" pulling the champ's head and shoulder into the steel ring post over and over. The blood started flowing and then the intensity immediately hit another level. Danielson's stiff punches to Page delivered some "color" and it looked as if the champ wouldn't be able to recover. But Page's work on Danielson's leg gave him an opening after the challenger accidentally kicked the steel ring post. "THIS IS AWESOME!" chants could be heard throughout the arena as the final half of this excellent opener began winding down. My eyes were treated to two DeadEye's, a Cattle Mutilation, a DDT on the concrete, and even a backflip counter from the top rope in response to a backdrop suplex!

As the end of this match inched ever so closer to its 60-minute time limit, Page had me on the edge of my seat as I thought he had it won after landing his Buckshot Lariat. Bryan's previous submission attempts may have taken some of the umph out of that move at first, but the "Millenial Cowboy" eventually recovered enough to lay it in real snug. Sadly though, the time limit expired mere moments after that crowd-popping maneuver. That was some damn good pro wrestling, boy I tell ya! Now I'm looking towards next year's Battle of the Belts as the second meeting between Page and Danielson for the belt once again. BRING IT ON, AEW!

Thankfully, the next hour of this special edition of Dynamite ended up keeping me in my seat. We got big teases for Kyle O'Reilly and Brody King via two intriguing promos on behalf of the SuperKliq and Malakai Black, respectively. Wardlow repeatedly powerbombed another MF'er and Shawn Spears almost had another orgasm with his chair swinging antics. The continued teasing towards Wardlow getting sick of MJF's shit was present here as Spears relayed the message of he and Wardlow being ordered to go pick up some champaign. Wardlow's face said it all - "I'm gettin' real tired of this man..." Hikaru Shida and Serena Deeb had another banger in their ongoing series of matches - they pulled off some sick counters and submissions that looked like it even had the ref gasping for air. That snap swinging neckbreaker Deeb pulled off twice was dope, but Shida's Falcon Arron counter on the third attempt was even doper! An exposed turnbuckle ended up being Deeb's downfall even though she was the one that pulled it down. Shida scored the win and now I'm sure this feud has been brought to its definitive end.

The main event for this episode saw MJF go head-to-head with Dante Martin for the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Before it got underway, MJF dropped some verbal bombs on the Texas crowd. I got a pop out of MJF crapping all over CM Punk's constant hockey team disses the week prior and comparing him to Ryback at one point! Then the two young gunners had a solid encounter that delivered a wealth of back and forth counters that left me a bit dizzy by the time they all wrapped up. The pace felt a bit slow in parts, but I enjoyed the majority of this match due to Martin's daredevil repertoire. Martin's still got some beef with Team Taz, as evidenced by Ricky Starks interfering in his affairs and saving MJF from a loss. In the end, Martin walked right into the Salt of the Earth Fujiwara Armbar and tapped out in short order. MJF's Dynamite Diamond Ring status stays intact! After the match, FTR came out to celebrate but their in-ring party was cut short. The lights went dark and once they came back on, Sting and Darby Allin emerged to beat the hell out of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. Punk hit the ring to join them, which led to the announcement of a six-man tag match that I can't wait to see on the next edition of Dynamite!

Botches: Did they really need to turn off the lights at the end of the show to reveal Sting and Darby? That just felt super unnecessary and a hell of a cocktease since most folks expected to see a big debut on the second-ever Winter is Coming. This truly felt like The Briscoes were going to emerge and mark their arrival in AEW with a shocking beatdown finish on FTR. That dream scenario simply didn't come to pass, however...

High Spots: We got a Jimmy Rave tribute (RIP) to start things off right, which was super cool. Before Josh Alexander pulls up on JONAH at Hard to Kill, he got to blow off some steam via his opening match on this show against Rohit Raju. You can never go wrong with Josh vs. any damn-body in any sort of bout, which was certainly the case here. Raju has steadily improved over the last two years in my eyes and he showcased that here against a very game opponent. This was a match that went longer than expected and even gave the man everyone knew would lose some more cred coming out of it. My expectations weren't exactly high for the debuting tandem of Doc Gallows and Joe Doering taking on Rich Swann and Willie Mack. But that match ended up being a lot better than I pictured it being in my head. Rich and Willie brought all the speed, while Gallows and Doering provided the power. That dynamic always proves to be essential for a good match, which was the story here. I might need to see Gallows and Doering link up a few more times just so I can see that sky-high double chokeslam of theirs again. Afterward, The Good Brothers & VBD ended up getting into a tussle with Swann, Willie, Heath, Rhino, and Eddie Edwards. So a 10-man tag is clearly on the horizon between those two warring squadrons.

X-Division Champion Trey Miguel delivered his usual array of high-flying excellence against Jon Skyler in a solid encounter. After the match, Steve Maclin (yawn...) jumped all over Trey and made it abundantly clear that he's next in line for a title shot. I'm sure that match will be a good time, but Maclin does absolutely nothing for me so it'll be hard for me to care all that much once it finally happens. In another X-Division matchup (that proved to be more exciting than the one before it!), Chris Bey squared off with the uber-talented luchador Laredo Kid. Both guys worked their asses off and took me back to the golden era of the X-Division (2002-2005, in my opinion). That double foot stomp to Laredo, while he laid atop the top ring rope, was sick! Bey comes off like a version of Elix Skipper that actually got a worthwhile singles push during his TNA heyday. I'm so happy to see Bey in the winners circle these days.

The three men set for Hard to Kill's main event had themselves a very tense contract signing to close the show. Moose, Matt Cardona, and W. Morrissey passed along some convincing words regarding their title aspirations. All hell broke loose though in the end when Moose and Matt started putting hands on each other. Moose got the upper hand and was ready to finish Matt off with the assistance of two steel chairs (one in hand and the other wrapped around Matt's neck). Matt's baby girl Chelsea Green was in the ring and tried to stop Moose from sending her man to the afterlife, but she ended up getting caught in the crossfire when Matt accidentally rocked her with an errant chair shot! Now we're surely gonna get an even more pissed-off Matt gunning for Moose, which should make for a fun grudge match before Hard to Kill!

Botches: Whoo boy...that match between Jessie McKay and Tenille Dashwood was some struggle juice, boy. None of the action happening in the ring was overly exciting, plus Kaleb pulling the ref out of the ring and not getting disqualified left me feeling a bit puzzled. I can't say I'm all that keen on watching The IInspiration vs. The Influence once it gets booked for Hard to Kill...

High Spots: There was only...ONE entertaining piece of work on this atrocious episode of Smackdown. And to the surprise of no one, it was a talking segment that centered around the "Tribal Chief" and his deteriorating relationship with Paul Heyman. Roman Reigns' lowkey yet still somehow domineering voice kicked into a higher gear here as he lambasted Paul E. for being untrustworthy due to his supposedly shady dealings with Brock Lesnar. Heyman's delivery of a line that made it clear that he's the one protecting Reigns from Lesnar immediately sealed his fate.

Then Reigns did the unthinkable - he gave Heyman one final thank you for his services up until this point, gave him a hug, fired him, and then proceeded to Superman Punch him into the cosmos above! A chair assault seemed to be coming next, but Babyface Brock Lesnar (tweener?) came out to destroy The Usos and Reigns to bring this shocking moment to a close. Watching Heyman grovel in fear kinda had me in feelings a bit, not even gonna lie. So is the Universal Champion just gonna run with his cousins from now on or seek out the services of a brand new manager? I can't wait to find out what happens in that regard and how Heyman will factor into Reigns vs. Lesnar on Day 1!

Botches: Yo, what the hell was up with that women's tag team match? The long runtime didn't do it any favors, that's for sure. Shotzi Blackheart looked pretty iffy out there as she had a noticeable botch-worthy moment with Toni Storm, plus I could hear Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks shouting out commands clear as day at two different points of the match. I can't be too mad at those visibly audible moments though 'cause Charlotte and Sasha were the only good parts of this clusterfuck. Toni scored the win, but she didn't look all that strong when she did it since it was done via a very weak cradle pin. WWE is doing such a bang-up job making Toni look like she's worth a damn, aren't they? Good lord...

I take great enjoyment from Jinder Mahal getting treated like the jobber he's always been by far superior talent. He and his lackey Shanky got taken out by the Viking Raiders, which was nice. But the match itself was just...there. I've come to expect nothing from random TV wins for the types of talents that haven't done much of anything in months, so I just know Erik & Ivar are going to be twiddling their thumbs doing nothing of note in the coming weeks. Drew McIntyre got his dumbass sword back from Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. And as you've probably guessed already, it was shit. CM Punk chants erupted, so it was clear that the crowd that was forced to sit through that segment hated it as much as I did.

To my great displeasure, a match I was looking very much forward to (Cesaro vs. Ridge Holland) lasted all of three minutes and ended via a distraction. WWE just didn't want me to have anything nice on this episode, I swear. In a very non-sensical booking moment, we got the New Day vs. The Usos here even though they're already set to face each other on Day 1. I'm getting a bit exhausted with these two constantly facing off at this point, so I'm not all that enthusiastic for yet ANOTHER match between the two at the next PPV. And last but certainly not least, Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler transpired for a mere 30 seconds. It was pointless, fam. Just utterly pointless...WHY DOES SONYA DEVILLE HATE NAOMI? CAN WWE PLEASE GIVE US A REASON ALREADY?

High Spots: AEW is the only company on cable TV that provides me with the type of outlandish, high-energy-filled multi-man tag matches PWG is famous for. This episode of Rampage started off on an extremely high note thanks to the insanity that erupted in the ring between Best Friends and the SuperKliq. It was especially nice watching Trent and his new haircut get a chance to run wild - he looked damn good pulling off some half-nelson suplexes and stiff clotheslines. The rest of this match was such a joy to watch - Chuck Taylor & Nick Jackson had a nice exchange, Orange Cassidy went crazy with his hands firmly placed in his pockets, and Adam Cole got to mix it up with his lazy arch-nemesis in some very heated clashes. Trent ended up marking his in-ring return with a big win in a supremely appealing piece of 10-man tag team action.

Dan Lambert is back! I can never get tired of the guy - every word he speaks is clearly a shoot filled with all the AEW displeasure everyone tweets about on a daily basis. His verbal shots at Cody Rhodes got a rise out of the blond-haired babyface )that everyone boos...) 'cause he came out to confront the loud-mouthed MMA coach & Men of the Year. Cody and Lambert didn't really get to talk to each other much since they both grabbed the mic back and forth repeatedly. No words were shared between the two as a big battle ensued that brought out Dustin Rhodes and even TNT Champion Sammy Guevara! Sammy clocked Scorpio Sky with his lovely Springboard Cutter and soon after, he locked eyes with his future foe in Cody. Crazy to think that we're finally getting a part two of the very first televised match in AEW Dynamite history.

Was the Submission Match between Tay Conti and Penelope Ford on the very bottom of my highly anticipated match-list for this episode? Sure was! But it turned out to be 10x better than I figured it would be. And seeing how I had 0 expectations for it going in, that's a huge jump. Both ladies started the action off as quickly as possible and didn't slow the pace once the bell finally rang. Conti and Ford locked in some pretty sweet submissions with some surprisingly cool counters at several intervals. Ford's backspring flip into a cutter transitioned quite nicely into her Dragon Sleeper for a hot minute there. In the end, Conti forced Ford to tap out to a sick guillotine arm trap hold that even had me wincing in pain. Conti didn't get to celebrate her win for too long since The Bunny KO'd her with those damn brass knucks of hers. Guess we're getting some sort of feud ender between the two real soon.

Max Caster didn't get to drop his usual pre-match bars 'cause their opponents for the 10-man tag team main event got things started extra early. I can't even remember half the wild action that took place in this crazy closing match! Everyone definitely "got their shit in" via some fast and furious strikes & maneuvers that had the crowd just as hype as me. It was so nice watching Santana & Ortiz get some main show TV time for once (Tony Khan needs to book them a hell of a lot better for the new year!). The closing moments erupted into pure anarchy - Rey Fenix even overshot a top rope move and planted his knee right into Daniel Garcia's face! The finish left me feeling a bit cold however as it looked like Eddie Kingston kicked out of Garcia's rollup pin, but the ref still counted to three. The post-match brawl got wild itself as Jurassic Express hit the ring to clear it of all the heels. Soon after, they locked eyes with the Lucha Bros in a tense moment that alluded to a future title match between the two teams. That's gonna be another AEW banger in the making!

High Spots: Imagine my surprise when I found out Kevin Owens decided to take another couple of money bags from WWE as he re-signed with the company. I respect it, though! Kevin is a family man before anything else, so their wellbeing comes before anything else. Now am I lowkey disappointed 'cause I wanted to see him roll up to AEW as the maniacal Kevin Steen again? Well, yeah! But I can't knock the man for getting a check and continuing to be featured on the biggest stage in wrestling. All I know is this - Kevin better get a WrestleMania match with Edge and at least one WWE Championship reign in 2022!

Botches: Unfortunately, I have to speak on the untimely passing of another great in-ring competitor. And this time, it's one of the most unsung heroes of the indie wrestling boom. That man is none other than Jimmy Rave, a wrestler that truly got on everyone's radar during his Rave Clash vs. Styles Clash feud from his Ring of Honor days. Plus it was always hilarious to watch the fans fling rolls of toilet paper into the ring during his royal entrance as a member of The Embassy. I even found his tag team alongside Lance Hoyt (The Rock 'n' Rave Infection) pretty dammed entertaining! The sad news of Rave being forced to get three of his limbs amputated really broke my heart to hear. And now he's passed on due to complications from his triple amputation surgery. God bless you, Rave! Prince Nana will honor your legacy forever...