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This week's episodes of Raw and SmackDown left the WWE Universe questioning the moves of the company and caused Raw to draw the lowest ratings in the show's entire history. It doesn't help that the main roster is missing a handful of its top talent, but fans are still scratching their heads wondering what's going on with the WWE's two big shows.
Well, if you're one of those who are wanting more, the WWE Network has what you're looking for. And this week, the subscription service continued to deliver on all fronts. Comedy, classic matchups, weekly wrestling programming, and special December collections kept us entertained throughout the week.
So if Mondays and Tuesdays on the USA Network just aren't doing it for you at the moment, maybe these programs will give you what you need.
#5 205 Live: December 5th
205 Live has a pretty solid routine that has worked since the Cruiserweight Title Tournament ended earlier in the year. A stellar opening match, a quick dominant bout showcasing one of the underutilized guys in the middle, and a fantastic main event that leaves you wanting more. The formula never changes, but the shows are always exhilarating.
For the most part, this was true this week. Minor nitpicks aside, it was a pretty entertaining episode of 205 Live, even if it didn't feature the core top trio of the brand. Mustafa Ali gave us another promo about working towards his dream while Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy and his opponent Cedric Alexander hyped up next week's episode.
That meant the rest of the roster was going to have to deliver, and they did. The opener of the night saw The Brian Kendrick face off against Drew Gulak in a one-on-one matchup. I think most people look at guys like these two, who don't do a lot of flashy high flying maneuvers and overlook them. And that's disappointing because both of these guys are two of the best in terms of technical ability on the roster.
Seriously, look at this beautiful tiger suplex from Kendrick. These two know how to get the fans on their feet without having to leave their own.
Kendrick, accompanied by new friend and former rival Akira Tozawa, and Gulak, alongside Jack Gallagher, gave the crowd an impressive show this week. While we didn't get a clear finish to this match, it definitely built up the ongoing feud between the four men and continues to keep fans interested.
Ariya Daivari made his in-ring return this week, absolutely demolishing his poor opponent. With repeated lariats, he continued to pick up his victim so he could keep pounding him into the dirt. Thankfully, he eventually would fall over unconscious, unable to stand up on his own, ending the carnage.
The main event pitted the Lucha House Party's Kalisto and Lince Dorado against the antagonistic force of TJP and Mike Kanellis, accompanied by the devilish Maria Kanellis. With Maria in their opponents' corner, Lucha House Party had a difficult hill to climb.
Throughout the bout, TJP and Kanellis continued to hold the upper hand, usually knocking one of the LHP members out for a while, forcing a 2-on-1 situation repeatedly. Thanks to this, we're able to see both Kalisto and Lince Dorado climb an uphill battle, successfully I might add, sending the villains into each other or speeding around the ring, confusing TJP and Kanellis.
The only issue I had with this match, really, and you'll feel this way if you've hated the way LHP has been used on Raw, is the use of a bag of mini piñatas. At a certain point in the match, Kalisto and Dorado pulled out a red Christmas sack full of them, pouring them in the ring before sending TJP crashing down onto them with a superplex.
Moments like this will remind 205 Live viewers of the earlier years of the show, where we got more slapstick comedy than actual wrestling whenever a match featured a special stipulation.
Aside from that, though, it was another great week on the Purple Brand.
#4 The Edge & Christian Show that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness: December 3rd
Edge and Christian continued their shenanigans this week, opening with a spoof of "The Goonies" dubbed "The Moonies." The slapstick was high in this episode, with Tommy Dreamer taking the majority of the hits like usual. The Moonies sketches played throughout the show, featuring Vickie Guerrero, Santino Marella, Nunzio, and Funaki.
A skit called the "E&C Employment Agency" showed what older or retired superstars are doing outside of the ring. From Hacksaw Jim Duggan working as a "Morning Wood Handler" to the Devil's Favorite Demon Kane exploring the field of brain surgery, Edge & Christian are working to keep former wrestlers employed.
Other skits included Christian spoofing Bob Ross, AJ Styles working as a member of the hit Broadway show Cats, and the latest installment in the Chumpstain Challenge between Edge and Christian.
The "so bad it's good" sketch show continued to deliver the laughs while throwing out some inside jokes that only the nerdiest of wrestling fans would understand. There were a few that left me scratching my head, I'm sad to admit.
Personally, my favorite point of the show was Bayley's Therapy Room, where the former Raw Women's Champion attempted to help The Revival with their tag team woes. And if you stay to the end, you'll see a cameo from a former IWC favorite.
#3 NXT UK: December 5th
The deadly trio of Mark & Joe Coffey and Wolfgang have finally given us a name for their stable, and Gallus looks to continue to dominate NXT UK. This week, the heavyweights were engaged in a brawl with the Kiwi Buzzsaw Travis Banks and Mustache Mountain.
We saw Banks face off against Wolfgang in a pretty great matchup between two of the wildest fighters in NXT UK. The Last King of Scotland had a clear advantage over Banks power-wise, and it didn't help that the rest of Gallus was circling the ring like sharks.
Banks' quick feet helped keep him in the fight, though the numbers advantage was almost insurmountable. Eventually, Mustache Moutain again made the save, and Trent Seven even assisted Banks, tripping up Wolfgang, allowing the trio to steal a win from Gallus.
These six men are currently involved in the major story of NXT UK, and we'll definitely see Gallus look to get revenge on the next episode, as Joe Coffey will face Trent Seven.
There were some other fun matchups this week like Jordan Devlin vs Flash Morgan Webster and NXT UK Women's Champion Rhea Ripley vs Candy Floss. However, the show stealer was the bout between Mark Andrews and the debuting Fabian Aichner.
Aichner, the current EVOLVE World Champion made his NXT UK debut this week. The Next Level Superstar had a fantastic showing against Andrews, who is almost always the underdog in his matchups.
Andrews' speed and innovation just couldn't overcome the sheer force and brute strength of Aichner, who repeatedly drove Andrews into the mat with some impressive slams and strikes.
It was definitely one of the best matches of the week, and I highly recommend checking out the first hour of NXT UK this past week for this contest alone.
#2 WWE Match of the Year Collection: 2018
The 2018 year is almost over, and with that, the all-important question has been asked.
What was the WWE Match of the Year?
This year featured some incredible fights, from Raw and SmackDown to 205 Live and NXT. We saw some all-out brawls featuring Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black in NXT while the workhorses of Raw Finn Balor and Seth Rollins continued to prove exactly why they're considered two of the best in the world.
Below is the list of matches you can find in the collection on the WWE Network.
- Adam Cole vs Aleister Black - NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia
- Johnny Gargano vs Andrade "Cien" Almas for the NXT Championship - NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia
- Seth Rollins' epic hour long run in the Gauntlet Match - Monday Night Raw
- WWE Women's Championship Match - WWE Elimination Chamber
- Shinsuke Nakamura vs Rusev - WWE Fastlane
- Drew Gulak vs Mustafa Ali in the Semi-Finals of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament - 205 Live
- Six Man Ladder Match for the North American Championship - NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
- Aleister Black vs Andrade "Cien" Almas for the NXT Championship - NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
- Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match - NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
- Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship Match - WrestleMania 34
- Charlotte vs Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Championship - WrestleMania 34
- Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs Triple H & Stephanie McMahon - WrestleMania 34
- Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins - Monday Night Raw
- Pete Dunne vs Roderick Strong - NXT
- The Miz vs Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship - WWE Backlash
- Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy - 205 Live
- Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs Undisputed Era for the NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: Chicago II
- Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in a Street Fight - NXT TakeOver: Chicago II
- Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey for Raw Women's Championship; Bliss cashes in - WWE Money in the Bank
- British Strong Style vs Undisputed Era - United Kingdom Championship Tournament
- #1 Contender Gauntlet Match for the WWE Championship - SmackDown Live
- Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler - Monday Night Raw
- Undisputed Era vs Mustache Mountain for the NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV
- Adam Cole vs Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship - NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV
- Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane for the NXT Women's Championship - NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV
- The Miz vs Daniel Bryan - WWE SummerSlam
- Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship - Monday Night Raw
- Killer Kelly vs Meiko Satomura - Mae Young Classic Season 2
- Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship - WWE Hell in a Cell
- Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre for the Raw Tag Team Championship - WWE Hell in a Cell
- Pete Dunne vs Ricochet in a Unification Match (UK & North American Championships) - NXT
- Mercedes Martinez vs Meiko Satomura - Mae Young Classic Season 2
- Buddy Murphy vs Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship - WWE Super Show-Down 2018
- Mustafa Ali vs Hideo Itami - 205 Live
- Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing Match for the SmackDown Women's Championship - WWE Evolution
#1 NXT: December 5th 1
A lot of complaints that fans have with the main roster lies in the storytelling. When it comes to NXT, that's not a problem. And this is clear when it comes to the story of Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and the NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
In the final segment of the show, Tommaso Ciampa came out to brag about his accomplishments, only to be met by Aleister Black. The Dutch Destroyer challenged Ciampa for the title, only to be interrupted by Johnny Gargano. While the two bickered about who would get to face Ciampa, the Champion found a way to manipulate both of his rivals into a Steel Cage Match.
Gargano was dying to get another piece of Black, and when Ciampa brought up the idea of a Steel Cage Match and "giving the people what they want," Gargano couldn't resist the opportunity. Ciampa continued to prove why he is the king of mind games in professional wrestling this week, even if he might have been caught by a Fade to Black to end the show.
NXT has proven time and time again that the WWE has the ability to give us captivating storylines. The Yellow Brand continues to be the best hour of wrestling in the world.
Besides the epic confrontation at the end of the show, we were given three great matches, with one bringing us a new superstar to the NXT ring.
Punishment Martinez faced off against Matt Riddle in his debut with the WWE. Though he came up short in his first showing, he rocked Riddle a handful of times, and there's clearly some great chemistry between these two monsters.
We saw a pretty solid tag team match between the Forgotten Sons and Raul Mendoza & Umberto Carillo. These are two of the newer tag teams in a completely stacked and overflowing division, and they showed that they have something to bring to the table. There might not be a better tag division in the world than NXT's.
Dakota Kai faced Shayna Baszler once again, and that's always a match worth watching. Baszler and Kai work so well together, with Kai having to find a way to take on Baszler's overwhelming strength and experience. While she may not come out on top in these fights, Kai seems to shine even more against her rival, the Queen of Spades.
A post-match beatdown by Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir was interrupted by Io Shirai, continuing to tease the eventual showdown between her and Baszler.
NXT is a constant highlight each and every week. Watch the stars of the future today each and every Wednesday night.
What shows are you watching on the Network right now? Let us know in the comments below!
