Tags
AJ Styles, Alexa Bliss, Backlash 2018, Bayley, Big Cass, Billie Kay, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Carmella, Cesaro, Charlotte Flair, Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy, Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, Nia Jax, Peyton Royce, Randy Orton, Raw, Roman Reigns, Ruby Riot, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, Smackdown, Smackdown Live, The Miz, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Backlash, WWE Backlash 2018, WWE Championship, WWE Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE Network, WWE Raw Women's Championship, WWE Smackdown Live Women's Championship, WWE United States Championship
Things are changing in the WWE and we got a preview of it with The Greatest Royal Rumble where both brands will no longer have a solo pay per view. I can’t say that I am entirely disappointed in the WWE’s decision to do this because some PPV’s were rather lackluster at times, but what does this mean for everyone else heading into tonight’s WWE Backlash? What it means is that superstars from both rosters will be fighting to get a spot on a PPV whereas before it would be easier to do with the WWE needing to fill the slots on the specific cards. Is this the best thing? Maybe not, but it will tell you is that the end of the roster split could be over which means guys will be buried. This could also spell the end of the Universal Championship, but that remains to be seen. The WWE heads into the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ with a pretty stacked card thanks to this new change. The obvious stand out match in my opinion tonight will be the No Disqualification match between WWE Champion AJ Styles and the new and improved Shinsuke Nakamura. Is this finally the day that Shinsuke will reign supreme making his turn to the dark side the right choice after all or will the WWE just not take a chance on the man. It’s frustrating because they put a title around the waste of Jinder Mahal and that turned out to be a major flop. The WWE needs to make up it’s mind and give guys that deserve a shot at the top the chance like Cesaro or Nakamura. Vince is just burying his baby a little more and Triple H is looking like the genius with NXT.
The other match that has me intrigued because it may just turn out to be a match of the night contender is the one between Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins who puts the title on the line against The Miz. Even though we can kind of guess where the WWE is going to go with this match, it’s almost a no brainer that these two men are going to entertain you in the ring with the story they will tell. I am not entirely sure what the connection or the reasoning behind Daniel Bryan and Big Cass is, but I think I am like the rest of you in saying I am just happy to see Daniel Bryan wrestling in a WWE ring again. Now, if we could only convince CM Punk to come back, we would have more dream matches to come. I am also happy to see Big Cass make a comeback and I think it says something about where Vince’s head is at considering all the possible options he could have given Daniel Bryan. Instead, he chose to insert the big guy in there after missing almost a year which means everyone else has to wait. I think the only person that people want to see win the most tonight is Samoa Joe who gets his shot at the “Big Dog” Roman Reigns. He didn’t get over at WrestleMania or the Greatest Royal Rumble so let’s put him against the one man that the people actually want to succeed in the returning Samoa Joe. This is the thought process that goes on in this company and you can definitely see what frustrates the fans time and time again. It seemed that Carmella was over when she cashed in her Money In The Bank contract for the Smackdown Women’s title, but I am not so sure she walks out with it tonight. Then again, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay could prove to be thorns in her side tonight.
The match between Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax and her challenger Alexa Bliss is a match that we actually care about because we respect the two of them. Alexa was one of the best champions in recent history because they didn’t constantly play hot potatoes with the strap, but how serious is the company with Nia Jax as champ? I think that Nia deserves her run as Champion to showcase how much of a dominant force that she is. The tag team match that features Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman taking on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn could be a match that sets something up like a feud between Lashley and Strowman or this is giving Strowman something to do. I don’t really understand the idea behind their pairing, but I am hoping for a match. I don’t think it’ll happen tonight, but look for it in the future. I think that Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy could be a decent match, but file this under I’m not expecting much out of it. The final match to talk about is the pre-show match that sees Ruby Riot taking on Bayley which will breathe new life into the Raw Women’s roster. I’d love to see Ruby take the win to set up an actual feud between the two, but we’ll see. As I said before, the combining of the two for every PPV gives the WWE a shot at giving you the best possible PPV every month instead of two PPV’s where one might be a home run versus the other. I’ll be tuning in and I suggest that you do as well. Check out my predictions below:
Ruby Riot Over Bayley
Nia Jax over Alexa
Carmella Over Charlotte
Shinsuke Nakamura Over AJ Styles
Jeff Hardy over Randy Orton
Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman over Owens and Zayn
Seth Rollins over The Miz
Samoa Joe over Roman Reigns
Daniel Bryan over Big Cass
Things were rocking in Houston, Texas last night for WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames and things are about to get better tonight for WWE Survivor Series. Survivor Series is one of the original Big Four Pay Per Views (alongside Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and SummerSlam) that the WWE debuted back in 1987. It’s the second longest running pay per view the company has and one of the best for it’s unique match that it was built around which was a five on five single elimination match (dubbed the Survivor Series match). This year things got a little more exciting especially with the competition between Raw and Smackdown as we now have champion vs champion matches. We have WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (Raw) taking on WWE Champion AJ Styles (SD Live) in what should one interesting match. We are also getting WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz (Raw) taking on WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin (SD Live). We also have WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss taking on WWE Smackdown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a sort of dream match hence the reason Charlotte won the title.
Then there are the traditional Survivor Series matches and things have been heating up with all of the changes in whose in and who is not. The original RAW men’s team consisted of Kurt Angle (Captain), Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, and Jason Jordan taking on Smackdown Live’s team made up of Shane McMahon (Captain), Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and John Cena. That was the original match and a lot of us were stunned at the fact that Jordan had been picked for the team considering Smackdown told the world that Cena was the last member chosen. Stephanie McMahon agreed with me and Bray Wyatt helped the situation by injuring Jordan last week on RAW. When it came time to announce the replacement, Jordan made the situation difficult and Triple H remedied it by announcing that it was him and he put the exclamation point on it by delivering a pedigree to Jordan. Now the match is interesting and one I can not wait to see because imagine the situations you’ll get in this match. Finn and Shinsuke in the ring at the same time or even Triple H and Bobby Roode and so many more.
The other traditional Survivor Series match is between the Women this time around as RAW’s Alicia Fox (Captain), Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks, and Bayley take on Smackdown Live’s Becky Lynch (Captain), Carmella, Naomi, Tamina, and Natalya. The thing that I would love to see happen tonight with that match is that instead of Natalya being in the match, Paige makes her triumphant return to a WWE ring as a member of Team Smackdown Live. I doubt it will happen because I believe that she is being punished for a picture she took last Monday. We’ll see if anything happens tonight, but there’s more matches for tonight. In their first PPV match since reuniting The Shield (Dean, Seth, and Roman) take on The New Day in a six man elimination falls count anywhere match. RAW tag team champions The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) take on The Usos to finish out the RAW vs Smackdown Live matches. The Pre-show features some surprise matches like Breezango taking on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Enzo defends his cruiserweight title against Kalisto and Matt Hardy takes on Elias Sampson. Again, they have set this PPV up to be a very good one, but it remains to be seen if it ends up going that way for them. I’ll be tuning into it and hopefully you are if you’re a fan. Check out my predictions below:
You have to love it when the WWE finally builds up a match that deserves all the build up. At last months Summerslam, we were teased a match that we had hoped would happen for months, but the WWE did it the right way and they let Strowman build up to that very moment when he delivered two running powerslams to Brock Lesnar into two announce tables. What would follow in the next upcoming weeks has all of us salivating at the chance of a big heavyweight fight between The Monster Among Men taking on the Beast Incarnate for the WWE Universal Championship. The only questiuon heading into WWE NO Mercy tonight from the Staples Center in Los Angeles is whether or not we are getting the result that the overall consensus wants. Are we going to get a champion that is there and wrestling every week or are we going to have the same old and Lesnar is just going to be running the train through everyone until WrestleMania? I just hope that the WWE makes the right decision tonight and we get a new era in the WWE.
That isn’t the only big match on the card though, there is one more match that peaks my interest on the card. We knew for a little bit that John Cena was designated a free agent and that he could jump from brand to brand to face whoever he wanted. So we eventually knew that a match up with Roman Reigns was in the cards, I just didn’t think that we were going to get the match at No Mercy instead of WrestleMania, but this seems to be happening on both brands these days. So besides the shock of this match happening now, we have to look at the plus side of it and that is the promos between these two have been straight fire. It finally took someone like John Cena to bring out the best in Roman Reigns as far as mic skills were concerned because if it wasn’t for that first promo I probably wouldn’t have been as invested in this match as I am now. My only concern for this match is what is John Cena going to do? Is he going to do the so called “right thing” and put Roman Reigns over or is he going to “bury” him as people call it by winning the match? Another question to ask is even if Roman wins the match, is anyone going to even care enough to cheer him anyways?
Now there are other matches on the card and the only other match I am looking forward to is the tag team title rematch between the champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose who defend their belts against The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro). It’s 2/3’s of The Shield so what else am I supposed to say, I am a huge mark for that team so get over it. I was looking forward to the Women’s match until the WWE decided at the last minute that it was OK to insert Bayley into the match. I am also surprised that the Jason Jordan/The Miz match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship wasn’t a pre-show match, but that could be because Miz has amazing heel skills and Jason Jordan had two amazing matches with Roman Reigns and John Cena recently. I am however not looking forward to the Neville/Enzo Amore match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship because it’s an abomination that Neville has to defend that title against Enzo of all people. Could we have not found him a more suitable opponent like Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, or even Akira Tozawa. Nonetheless, that is what we get for tonight and that’s what we’ll have to deal with. Here are my predictions for tonight:
Last night was the “Superstar Shakedown” part one on Monday Night Raw that saw the likes of Bray Wyatt, The Miz, Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Dean Ambrose all make the switch from Smackdown Live to Raw. Your saying to yourself, wait a minute Dean Ambrose, the current WWE Intercontinental Champion is on Raw now? Yes it true and in the main event of Raw, he took on US champion Kevin Owens who we can only assume is going to make the jump to Smackdown Live tomorrow when part two of the superstar shakedown continues. Nonetheless, we had an amazing main event to watch after a night that featured Braun Strowman absolutely brutalize Roman Reigns to the liking of the crowd. When the match started the two began trading advantages with Dean getting the best of Kevin to start off the match as we headed into commercial break with a springboard crossbody to the outside. When we came back, Kevin was in control of the match, but a mistake saw Ambrose take control, but he wasn’t able to do much when he ran shoulder first into the steel post. Owens cemented the control with a big knee to Ambrose against the post.
Kevin immediately put Dean right into a chin lock and he tried to wear Dean down hopefully so that he would submit. Dean was in a tough predicament, but when he tried to escape, Kevin was quick to cut it off by throwing him to the outside. Owens immediately went to the outside where he would pick up Dean in a fireman’s carry only to launch him ribs first into the steel post. When Dean beat the count to get back in the ring, Owens immediately worked on the rib area. Dean was finally able to create some separation in the match when he put his knees up when Kevin attempted a cannonball. He followed that up with a suicide dive to the outside as he threw caution to the wind as usual. With momentum on his side, Dean began taking control of the match with a swinging neck breaker and some clotheslines. After trading advantages back and forth, it was a mistake by Owens who tried to use Dean’s finisher against him that led to his demise as Dean was able to reverse it into the dirty deeds to pick up the win. Welcome to Raw Dean Ambrose!
The match we chose for today is an interesting one for many reasons with one being that it features the current President of The United States of America in Donald Trump. The other being that we are featuring another member of the Anoa’i family in Edward Fatu a.k.a. Umaga who took on current TNA superstar Bobby Lashley in a battle of the billionaires hair vs hair match. Donald Trump chose ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley while Vince McMahon chose WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga with the loser of the bet having to get his head shaved and did we mention that Stone Cold Steve Austin was the special guest referee? Well, I just did so McMahon had that going against him entering WrestleMania 23. The match started off with Bobby getting the better of the exchanges and after a flying shoulder block, he would go for an early cover. Unfortunately, Umaga’s handler Armando Alejandro Estrada would grab Umaga’s foot and he placed it on the rope. That angered Lashley, who immediately grabbed him, brought him into the ring, and hit Armando with the dominator. Lashley tried to keep his advantage going with a suicide dive type spear, but Umaga moved out of the way sending Lashley head first to the outside.
It was the chance Umaga needed to take advantage of the match and he did so with a big splash and some choking from Umaga. Austin had to be an unconventional referee after hitting the big man in the back to get his attention. Umaga was not happy at all with it, but Austin warned him. Umaga again would resort to choking Lashley and after not listening to his five count, Austin grabbed him by the hair to rip him off of Lashley. No matter Umaga continued the assault with some big splashes to the chest area of Lashley. Umaga wanted to punish Lashley methodically. Lashley tried to fight back, but Umaga was a step ahead with the big Samoan drop. Lashley did make a comeback when Umaga tried to climb the ropes, Lahley was there to cut him off and bodyslam him. Lashley followed that up by turning Umaga inside out with a huge clothesline. With both men now on the mat, Austin began his count and he reached the count of nine, but as soon as he attempted to motion for ten, he stopped the count and said that there would be no count outs because he wanted to see someone shaved bald.
Nervous about Austin’s decision, Shane McMahon made his way down to ringside to accompany his father. Lashley tried to continue his advantage when he got up, but a big chop from Umaga put a halt to those plans. Umaga began pounding away at Lashley int he corner and decided to choke him again which angered Austin. This time Austin grabbed him with a hook to the eye, but Shane distracted Austin giving Umaga time to deliver the Samoan spike to Stone Cold. Shane and Umaga began double teaming Lashley just hammering away at him and Umaga even hit him with the Samoan Wrecking Ball. Then Vince went under the ring and he grabbed a metal trash can that he proceeded to set up against Lashley. Shane knew exactly what to do as he climbed the ropes and went coast to coast hitting the trash can over Lashley. Shane would proceed to remove his dress shirt to reveal a referee shirt as he commanded Umaga to hit a big splash from the top on Lashley. As soon as Shane went to do the pin count, Austin pulled him out of the ring and beat the crap out of Shane.
As soon as Austin entered the ring, he was once again attacked by Umaga with a right to the chin. Donald Trump looked frustrated at what was going on so he went to the other side of the ring and he attacked Vince McMahon. As soon as Austin got up, Umaga went to hit him with a Samoan spike, but Austin countered with a stone cold stunner and Bobby Lashley would follow it up with a spear. He then covered Umaga for the 1-2-3, but I want to make a note that the bell rang before Austin’s hand hit the mat for three. After the match, Shane tried to distract Austin to allow his father to escape, but Austin took care of business hitting him with a stone cold stunner. Vince tried to escape, but Lashley grabbed him before he could get to the back, threw him in the ring, and Austin stunned him. They strapped him to the chair, Austin held him down, and they shaved the chairman of the WWE bald. Hey, don’t forget to like our page on Facebook at 
We are continuing to pay tribute here at Mr. X’s Punch Out to all the amazing African Americans that have stepped foot into the squared circle for Black History Month. We have already checked out one member of The New Day in Big E Langston, now we are checking out the man who once went from being Jamaican to being from West Ghana in Kofi Kingston. It’s hard to believe that Kofi has been with the company over ten years now, but he has done so much including a run for the Intercontinental Championship back in 2008. All roads lead to WWE Night Of Champions 2008 when he took on then IC Champ Chris Jericho at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, TX. Going into the match, Jericho had no idea who his opponent was going to be so when Kofi’s music kicked on Jericho may have taken him lightly at that very point. Jericho established the early advantage over Kofi by grounding the high flyer and then punishing him with some kicks to the chest. Jericho thought he had the match though when he tried to throw Kingston over the top rope, but he bounced off of it and started delivering some haymakers to Jericho.
When he went to hit the a flying elbow, Jericho was smart and left the ring, but he was met by a baseball slide and a springboard cross body from Kingston. Once he was back in the ring, he was met with another crossbody, but the advantage wouldn’t last long as Jericho tossed Kofi out of the ring. At this point, Jericho was in full control of the match as he targeted the back area of Kofi to try and ground him from being a high flyer and hopefully set up a walls of Jericho at some point. Finally after a while, Kofi was able to garner some offense surprising Jericho with some great shots and a hurricanrana. He would then attempt the boom drop, but Jericho tried to counter it into the walls, but Kofi wouldn’t let him and eventually he hit the boom drop. After he failed to get the pinfall, Jericho clotheslined him forcing the advantage to be back in his corner.
Jericho would then execute an bodyslam and he followed it with the lionsault before he put Kofi right into the walls of Jericho. With his body in the scorpion position, Kofi needed a hope in the world to get out of it and his prayers were answered. All of a sudden there was a commotion in the crowd and it was the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels who instantly superkicks Lance Cade. Jericho sees all of this happening and he instantly lets go of Kofi and shoulder blocks Michaels from getting in the ring. This provided Kofi with enough time to hit Trouble in Paradise as he pinned Jericho for the 1-2-3. Kofi was your new Intercontinental Champion and the rest they say is history. After the match, Jericho would go on to strike Shawn Michaels out of frustration over the loss.
We are continuing to pay tribute here at Mr. X’s Punch Out to all the amazing African Americans that have stepped foot into the squared circle for Black History Month. The man we are checking out today is none other than The New Day’s Big E Langston as we are covering every member of The New Day separately. We are rewinding to March 25, 2014 when Big E was the WWE Intercontinental Champion and he had to defend the championship against Dolph Ziggler at that edition of Main Event in Boston, MA. Earlier in the night, Dolph had earned the right to face Big E after he won a triple threat match against Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. You had to figure that Dolph wasn’t going to be 100% entering the match against the massive Big E, but we all know that Dolph never quits that easily. It was going to be a match of speed vs power and if Dolph wanted to win, he had to keep the match going in a fast pace environment while avoiding the brute power of Big E.
In the beginning of the match, Big E used his power to get the best of Dolph as he used all 300 lbs to keep Dolph isolated on the mat. Despite a nice dropkick from Ziggler, Big E was able to keep his advantage with a huge clubbing clothesline that sent Ziggler to the outside to regroup. When we came back from commercial break, it looked like Big E was still in control until he went shoulder first into the steel ring post and then Dolph began his flurry of fists and stinger like splashes. Despite the effort, Big E would make a comeback, but the two for the rest of the match would be trading advantages with Dolph hitting a big time DDT, but Big E hung in there. After Ziggler tried to hit the zig zag, Big E would brush him off and hit him with another clubbing clothesline, but Dolph would kick out on the pin attempt. After the straps came off, Big E would try for the big ending, but Dolph would hit the famouser, but Big E kicks out. Dolph would then try to hit a Superkick, but Big turned into a Big Ending and that was all she wrote. Even though I love The New Day, I would love to see Big E get a big push in the WWE.
