WWE Super Show-Down (October 2018)

Original Airdate: October 6, 2018

From Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Renee Young, and Corey Graves

Opening WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The New Day v Cesaro and Sheamus: Kofi Kingston starts with Cesaro, and he dominates a criss cross with a jumping backelbow for two. New Day double team him for a while, with both guys hitting multiple splashes and dives until Cesaro bails. Kofi dives after him with a somersault suicida, but he gets caught by both challengers, and run into the post. And then Xavier Woods takes a trip into the post too, for good measure. Inside, the challengers cut the ring in half on Kofi, but he manages to backdrop Cesaro over the top, and there's the hot tag to Xavier! Why does he have Iron Sheik's boot on tonight? Did he get on the plane thinking they were doing the Saudi show first? Woods gets into trouble when Cesaro hooks the giant swing into a sharpshooter, but Kingston makes the save, and Roseanne Barr the door! Kofi ends up taking Sheamus over the top with a rana as Xavier tries a small package on Cesaro for two. Cesaro fires back with a leveraged schoolboy for two, but he runs into a double team, and New Day finish with a lungblower/flying double stomp combo at 9:41. Watchable, if a bit mechanical. **

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Match: Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair: Becky kicks her in the stomach as Charlotte goes in for the collar-and-elbow, and the champ destroys blondie in the corner. She violently yanks Flair to the outside for a trip into the post, and Lynch rolls her back in to cover for two. More abuse in the corner, but Flair avoids a corner whip by flipping over the buckles, and she dives at Becky with a slingshot schoolgirl for two. Lynch cuts that off with a fujiwara armbar, but Charlotte powers out with a backbreaker, and adds a side suplex. Both stagger up for a slugfest - dominated by Lynch, but ultimately won by Flair. Charlotte throws her into the corner, but Becky fights her off, and goes for an exploder suplex, but Flair reverses! Flair goes after the leg, but Lynch dumps her into the turnbuckles to block, and hits a 2^nd rope flying clothesline for two. That looked weak. Becky goes for the arm, but Charlotte fights her off, and blasts a big boot for two. Lynch with a crucifix cradle for two, and another slugfest ends in Flair hitting a spear for two. She goes up for a flying moonsault, but Becky dodges, and cradles for two. Lynch with a leg-feed enzuigiri to set up a flying legdrop, but now Flair dodges, and another big boot sets up a Boston crab. Becky makes the ropes and bails, but Charlotte spears her into the barricade to prevent her from escaping, and forces her back in. Another spear sets up the Figure Eight, but Becky is able to grab her discarded title belt, and she whacks Charlotte for a DQ at 10:37. Eh. This felt like the last ten minutes of a much longer match, and didn't really have any flow. The Hell in a Cell show match was much better. * ½

John Cena and Bobby Lashley v Kevin Owens and Elias: Quite a trip down the card for the once mighty Cena. After some debate, we finally settle on Lashley and Elias to start, but it goes nowhere. Well, nowhere good, anyway. After a few painful exchanges, Elias thankfully tags out to Owens, and Kevin eats a neckbreaker. Lashley with a charge in the corner to set up a ten-punch, and a reverse STO follows. That draws Elias in, but Bobby is ready to slam him, so Kevin changes that course with a superkick. The heels cut the ring in half on Lashley, but he fights Owens off with a spinebuster, and there's the tag to Cena. Oh no, the hair is in jeopardy of getting messed up for the first time tonight! John runs through his usual, before simply finishing Elias with a punch to the face at 9:36. Roseanne didn't even need to Barr the door on that one. This dragged a lot, even at only ten minutes long. Hard to believe Owens was one of my favorite wrestlers in the world only a few short years ago. They've managed to neuter him down in almost record time, to the point where not only is he no longer one of my favorites, but I'm actively bored with him. ¼*

The IIconics v Asuka and Naomi: The IIconics are hometown heroes, of course. Peyton Royce and Naomi start, with Peyton taking control, before quickly bringing Billie Kay in for some double teaming. Billie runs into trouble trying to match Naomi in a split game, and Asuka tags to do their own combo. Asuka wants a dance contest, but Kay laughs her off, and both IIconics end up getting knocked to the outside. Asuka and Naomi hit stereo hip attacks, but Asuka gets double teamed on the way back in, and Royce mounts her with punches for two. They cut the ring in half, but Billie eats a German suplex, and Naomi gets the hot tag. Peyton bouncing up and down on the apron, waiting for a tag, should be a GIF. Anyway, Roseanne Barr the door, and Billie manages to throw Asuka into the barricade, allowing the IIconics to double team Naomi for the pin at 5:31. I get why they wanted to put the IIconics on the card (and put them over), but they were just terrible here. Tons of poor execution and missed spots. But, again, I get it. DUD

WWE Title No Holds Barred Match: AJ Styles v Samoa Joe: They brawl in the aisle before even making it inside to officially start the match, with AJ dominating. In, Styles continues to dominate, but Joe gets the better of a slugfest, and they spill back to the outside. Joe shoves him into an announce table out there, but AJ pops right back up and charges him, as they head back in. AJ with a snapmare to set up a kick to the shoulder blades, but a kick combo just fires Joe up, and the challenger throws a clothesline. Running boot sends AJ to the outside, and Joe dives at him with a tope, then snap suplexes him on the floor. Back in, Joe works a nervehold, since this match hasn't been boring enough, I guess. AJ escapes, so Joe backelbows him down for two, and goes back to the nervehold. Oh, come on! Even Yoko didn't need a rest only five minutes in! Joe with an avalanche and an enzuigiri for two, followed by a catapult underneath the bottom rope to send Styles to the outside. Again. Joe tries a suplex in from the apron, but AJ slips free, and puts his challenger down with a series of strikes. Fireman's carry, but Joe slips out of that, so AJ hits a springboard inverted DDT for two. Style Clash, but Joe nicely counters with a catapult into the corner, and he throws a lariat for two. Fireman's carry, but AJ fires back with an enzuigiri, only to run into a snap powerslam for two. AJ tries another springboard, but gets caught in a slam for two, and Joe grabs a chair. Finally. I mean, it's supposed to be no holds barred, but we're twelve minutes in, and there's been zero passion here. AJ knocks it back at him with a dropkick, then unloads with the weapon, before using it to springboard to Joe in the corner - only to get caught with a scrapbuster onto the chair. Missed their marks with that one. Joe beats on him with the chair, then sets up a table in the ring for a superplex, but Styles counters with an electric chair through it instead. That leaves Joe with difficultly standing on a now injured knee, but AJ shows no mercy as he stomps on the leg. Styles works the knee, but the Calf Crusher is countered to the Coquina Clutch, and AJ needs the ropes to escape. He bails to the floor once he's free, and snaps Joe's throat across the top rope to set up a springboard 450 splash onto the leg. Or, well, in theory. Kinda missed the mark on it. Joe still sells it though, because he's a sweetheart of a guy. They spill to the outside, where AJ gets dumped into the crowd, but hits a springboard forearm smash off the barricade - all while some security guard openly laughs in their faces. AJ tries the Phenomenal Forearm on the way back in, but Joe counters with the Clutch, and throws AJ back with a suplex from the hold position for two. Joe tries the muscle buster, but AJ counters with a rollup for two. Joe counters back to the Clutch, but AJ cradles for two, then shifts to the Calf Crusher at 23:44. Felt like they were just going through the motions here. For a blood feud with no holds barred stips, you'd expect a lot more open hatred (like Ciampa/Gargano), but instead it felt so produced and detached that it fell flat. Also, we're not even halfway through this show yet, and I'm already over this. *

Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins v Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan: Ruby attacks Nikki Bella as Bella debates Ronda over who gets to start, but Nikki quickly fights her off with a dropkick. Corner clothesline, but Ruby drops her into the buckles to block, so Nikki whacks her with a shoulderblock. Spinebuster follows for two, and she passes to Brie Bella for a lame legsweep combo for two. Ruby was nice to even sell that at all, let alone take a two count. She fights Brie off with a DDT, and tags Liv in to wind up with a shining wizard on Brie for two. Cute. Liv trash talks her, so Brie grabs her by the tongue - in a spot that would have been a lot better if the extreme close-up didn't ruin how uncoordinated it was. Like, that's a perfect stadium show spot, why ruin it? Just because we have the technology to do extreme close-ups in HD doesn't mean we have to use it every single time. The Bellas hit Liv with a tandem slingshot suplex for two, but Morgan escapes the Rack Attack, and passes to Sarah. Logan blasts Nikki with a kneesmash for two, and goes to town with mounted punches for two. Back to Liv for a flying facebuster off the middle rope for two, and she stomps a mud hole on Nikki in the corner. The Riott Squad continue to cut the ring in half on Nikki, but she fights off Sarah long enough to tag Ronda - though mostly because Brie is down on the outside due to a cheap shot. Rousey comes in hot and destroys the Squad all by herself, but Liv saves Sarah from the armbar. They double up on Ronda, but it backfires when she starts no-selling, and puts them both in a double armbar at 9:59. Not terrible. I mean, I was expecting less. * ¼

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Cedric Alexander v Buddy Murphy: Buddy pops him with a quickly clothesline for two, and goes up for a dive, but Cedric bails. Buddy responds by nearly killing himself with a suicida into the aisle, and he hits a flying double-kneesmash for two on the way back in. Buddy pounds the champion with a series of kicks for two, but a big punt misses, and Cedric starts slugging back. Spinning backelbow starts building a comeback for Alexander, but he gets caught in a sleeper, then dropped into the corner when he tries to escape. Cedric manages a superkick to buy time, and he manages to drop Buddy with a sitout scoop brainbuster off the middle rope for two! Pair of enzuigiris set up a slingshot DDT, so Buddy bails, but Cedric is on him with a somersault suicida. Looks like he messed up his back a little on the landing. The announce tables seem closer to the ring than usual tonight, which may have thrown their calculations off. Back in, Cedric's back acts up as he tries going in for the kill, and Buddy counters a superplex with a running sitout powerbomb for two. Cedric manages another enzuigiri, but Buddy ducks a roundhouse kick, and knees him in the brain. Murphy's Law, but Cedric counters with a victory cradle for two, and a standing Spanish fly gets two. Lungblower is worth two, and poor Cedric is at a loss for what to do next. He decides to try a springboard dive, but Buddy knocks him out of the sky, and Murphy's Law finishes at 10:34 to crown a new champion! Cool hometown moment for Murphy here. They're usually terrible about doing that for guys anymore, so this was neat to see. The match was fine, but like the Lynch/Flair match earlier, it felt like part of a much longer piece than a fully realized statement on its own. Match of the night so far though, nearly two-and-a-half hours into this dreck. ** ½

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose v Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman: Shield coming out through the crowd in a stadium setting is pretty cool. The heels (are they heels - I thought Braun was a babyface...?) have the high ground, but Shield charge in to slug it out, and they clean house before the bell. To the outside, Shield gangs up on Braun, but his partners save him from going through an announce table, and they manage to isolate Seth on the way in, as the bell rings to officially start the match. Dolph quickly hits a jumping DDT for two, and Drew uses a snap suplex for two. Over to Braun for an avalanche, and he's game to talk shit at the other Shield guys in between whipping Rollins around the ring. The heels cut the ring in half on Rollins, but he manages to fight Ziggler off with a side suplex, and Drew off with a sling blade. He crawls for the tag, but Braun gets one first, and he barrels into Seth like he's a wrecking ball. They get back to working Rollins over, but he manages to counter a rocker dropper from Dolph with a bucklebomb, then counter a powerbomb from Drew with a rana - only to get steamed by Strowman again. Braun as the big guy that just runs over dudes like a Mack truck is basically the role this guy was born to play. He decides to get airborne with a flying splash, but Seth rolls out of the way, and with the big heavy out of the way, he can finally tag to Dean. Ambrose comes in with a fallaway slam on Ziggler, but Dolph blocks the Dirty Deeds with an elbow. Superkick, but Ambrose counters with a double-chickenwing facebuster for two, and he comes off the top with a flying clothesline - only for Ziggler to roll through for two! Criss cross results in a double knockout when both guys try for a bodypress simultaneously, but Dolph tags first. Dean fights Drew off with a neckbreaker to allow the tag to Roman, and Reigns blasts Drew with a big boot on his way in. Clothesline sends McIntyre over the top, and Roman follows after him with the Drive-By. Back in, Reigns delivers a DDT for two, but Dolph distracts him to prevent the Superman, and Dean ends up eating it as a result. That allows Drew a rollup for two, but Reigns rolls it into a powerbomb, count broken at two when Dolph saves. Seth responds with a springboard flying clothesline on Ziggler, so Braun runs in to save, but Seth dodges him. That allows Roman to Superman Drew for two, but Braun's back, and all three heels surround Reigns and Rollins. The referee isn't even TRYING to restore order here. I mean, fuck it, the chaos is great, but he should at least pretend. Dean saves his pals and hits Braun with a tope, as Roman and Seth stomp Drew down like he owes them money. They go for the triple-powerbomb, but Braun charges in to save, and he tosses Reigns and Rollins to the outside - charging into both out there with shoulderblocks. That allows Ziggler to hit Ambrose with the Zig Zag for two, so Braun tries to barrel into him with a shoulderblock as well, but Reigns cuts him off with a spear through the barricade! Nicely done! That leaves Dean alone with Dolph and Drew, but Seth saves him from a double team, and Ambrose hits Ziggler with the Dirty Deeds at 19:38! This took a few minutes to find its voice, but it was all action once it did, turning into a wild brawl without any need for a standard formula heat segment. It also felt longer than it was, but not in a bad way. Kind of in the way an eighty minute cartoon movie used to feel epic to you as a kid. That kind of way. *** ¼

#1 Contender's Match: Miz v Daniel Bryan: Miz railroads him into the corner before the bell, and unloads with knees to kick things off. Whip into the ropes sets up another knee to put Daniel down, and Miz puts the boots to him, before dropping Bryan front-first across the top rope. Quite the opening salvo there from Miz. He goes in for the kill, but Bryan kicks him in the head to stop it, and unloads the Yes Kicks. Miz ducks the roundhouse, but Bryan blocks a suplex, so Miz hits a running kneesmash for two. Skull Crushing Finale, but Bryan counters with a small package for... the pin?!?... at 2:19. Well, that was certainly to the point. Really getting the most out of that twenty one hour flight, I see. I mean, these guys probably spent longer checking their bags on the plane than they did in the ring. DUD

Main Event: No Disqualification Match: Triple H v Undertaker: They're only a few years apart, but HHH looks like he could be Undertaker's son these days. Undertaker tries to corner him early on, but Hunter just sort of laughs him off. Can't really blame him, he's looking about as dangerous as my grandfather out there. He also badly needs to take a lesson from Shawn Michaels, and get a haircut. The long-hair-while-balding look is not a good combination. Undertaker tries the ropewalk forearm, but HHH punches him in the cut to knock him off the middle, and goes up for his own ropewalk, but 'Taker blocks. Undertaker tries again, and nails the ropewalk this time, with HHH selling it like death. I love how these guys can pop right up after bring driven through tables, but a simple forearm shot puts them down. Undertaker keeps coming, but HHH uses a high knee to fight him off, and a clothesline sends him over the top. Undertaker goes after Shawn out there, but HHH saves him, and Michaels sends the Deadman into the post before getting chased off by Kane. HHH slips out to whip Undertaker into the barricade, then the steps to complete 'Taker's tour of ringside - as Shawn pulls out a table to give him a little bonus. Kane is so useless that he can't even stop that, but luckily for Undertaker, he manages to backdrop HHH on the floor to avoid getting put through the table. Back in, HHH manages a swinging neckbreaker for two, and a kneeling facebuster gets two. He dives off the middle next, but Undertaker catches him, and violently throws him into the buckles, with HHH taking a nice bump to the outside off of it. Undertaker follows to whip him into the barricade, and he starts prepping the announce table, so Shawn distracts him to allow HHH to recover. Hunter ends up getting backdropped over the barricade and into the crowd (taking an unintended bump into a chair in the process), and Undertaker follows into the crowd to choke him out with some cable. They brawl deeper into the stands (or, more accurately, take a leisurely stroll through the stands while embracing one another), before ending up back in the ring, where Undertaker brings a chair. HHH baseball slides into him to get the weapon, but Undertaker throws a big boot to knock it away from the Game, and he uses it to knock Hunter back to the outside. Undertaker follows to beat on HHH with the chair some more, and Hunter ends up sprawled out on a table, so Shawn charges Undertaker to give his buddy time to get off. Undertaker responds by trying a suicida, but HHH uses the chair to block, so Kane goes after him - only to get Superkicked by Michaels (with Kane very obviously calling for the spot). HHH puts Kane through the table with a flying elbowdrop off of the apron, and the Game takes the chair upstairs for a dive at 'Taker, but gets caught in a chokeslam. Tombstone (which is getting scarier to watch every time these days), but it only gets two. Undertaker takes that badly and decides to hit the referee to relieve his frustrations, then goes to town on HHH with the chair. I've never liked HHH's oversell of chair shots to the back. Like, it's a great sell to put over the move from time to time, but not for EVERY time. It's like in the videogames, when guys would always sell a move a certain way every time, no matter what the context. Undertaker decides to get medieval, and wraps the chair around HHH's neck to curb stomp, but Shawn distracts him to give the Game time to get out of it. That allows Hunter a rotating spinebuster, and apparently Kane is still selling the freaking superkick/elbowdrop from ten minutes ago. Another referee finally shows up as HHH goes for the Pedigree, but it only gets two. I know it's a long aisle, but where the hell have you been? Hunter decides to give 'Taker a taste of his own medicine by wrapping the chair around his neck, and he dives off the middle rope with a kneedrop onto it - only for Kane to pull the referee out at two! The Brothers of Destruction may be the leading cause of referee insurance rates spiking for 2019. Kane passes Undertaker a chair as Shawn passes HHH a sledgehammer, and both charge - Hunter getting the better of the exchange, but there's no referee to count. HHH decides to hit him with it again until another official can show up, but Undertaker counters by grabbing Hell's Gate - though there's still no referee. HHH manages to use the sledgehammer to choke Undertaker into releasing the hold, so 'Taker goes for the weapon, but Michaels cuts him off. Pedigree, but Undertaker backdrops out of it, and it's Tombstone time - only for Michaels to throw a Superkick to save! Another one, but Undertaker counters to a Tombstone - only for HHH to bash him with the sledgehammer to save! Superkick knocks Undertaker into the Pedigree from there, and it's over at 27:34! Okay, so this was much better than I expected it to be. It wasn’t without fault, but they knew their limitations, and worked to deliver the best kind of match they could around them. Even at a half hour long, this didn't drag, and was well booked. *** ¼

BUExperience: A couple of good matches, but coupled with how habitual this show felt, it’s certainly not worth parting with four hours of your life for. Nothing about this felt especially necessary, or particularly captivating. What's worse, it didn't even have any novelty value. It felt like every other WWE show, only this one just happened to be in Australia instead of Pennsylvania. 

DUD