Drew McIntyre wasn’t suppose to be present during War Games, but with the power of Paul Heyman’s eye for loopholes and fine print, McIntyre managed to be part of the team who, unfortunately but inevitably, won last Saturday. This is the first Survivor Series among the four I’ve watched where Jey Uso’s team lost. Now, Drew showed up tonight despite still being suspended. He’s greeted by Nick Aldis and a couple of security members.
“I served my time.” McIntyre said. I laughed so hard I nearly cried. For some reason, Drew thought that once Bron Breakker got his title match, he’ll be able to return to the show. Weird. What’s more unnecessarily vicious was that Cody Rhodes was waiting for McIntyre to get back inside his car, so he could scratch his eyes out. He even pulled the man’s hair… I feel like Aldis saw Rhodes enter the car but said nothing. Because how do you do all that and not get noticed? Really. Anyway, the security guards took a while to get Cody away from his target. Since the Scottish Warrior sped off, Rhodes went in the ring to demand Aldis to reinstate McIntyre.
Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes – US Championship match
Just when Dragunov thought he had Hayes on his back, Melo managed to slip through the back and delivered an ear-ringing chop to the champ’s chest. It had me twitching as if the sound was still going off. It was THAT loud. As Hayes delivered a knee to face of his opponent, Dragunov returned fire with a boot to his. While looking for the Constantine Special, Carmelo ducked underneath and sent a springboard clothesline. Hayes almost won with the face buster.
Dragunov prepared to launch the H-Bomb. Carmelo blocked it with his knees, which I don’t understand how he didn’t see that, then rolled the man up for a near fall again. The Mad Dragon retaliated with a high kick that stunned the challenger. Just as Ilja was climbing the ropes, Melo caught him there with a kick to the abdomen and forced a crash to the floor. Hayes followed, dragged Dragonuv onto the edge and delivered a DDT on the apron.
Ilja was clearly reeling from the pain. This was the perfect opportunity to end him, however, from the shadows that is the overwhelming crowd does Tommaso Ciampa emerge to cause disbalance for Carmelo as he collided with the mat, unwillingly. Commentary believed that neither Dragunov, nor the referee noticed Ciampa, so Ilja was easily able to finish his opponent with Torpedo Moscow and an H-Bomb to retain. Although happy, I don’t appreciate the interference. Tommaso looked pleased with himself hiding behind the barricade.
Winner: Ilja Dragunov
Backstage, Cody has finally calmed down in order to inform NXT Champion Ricky Saints and his NXT Deadline opponent, Oba Femi, that whoever wins that match tomorrow will be facing Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Elsewhere, The Miz was still fuming from not being the sole focus next weekend if not John Cena’s last challenger. That’s quickly tossed aside, as it should, to officiate a match between Sol Ruca from NXT versus Bayley Dec 13.
During a match between Kairi Sane and Alexa Bliss, Sane came close to enduring the Sister Abigail until Asuka kept shouting to get the referee’s attention. She got it long enough for Kairi to flip Alexa for a roll up that didn’t grant her the victory. Charlotte Flair was nearby, yanked Asuka off the apron and kicked her. Meanwhile inside the ring, Sane rocked Bliss with a wicked backhand. She took too much time to initiate the Insane Elbow, which allowed Alexa to win with Sister Abigail. The festivities were over before they truly began when Nia Jax and Lash Legend came in to attack Flair, Bliss and…. the Kabuki Warriors? I guess that loss was more irritating than they thought. Oh, and they come from those Tag Team Champions, too. Oopsie.
Jade Cargill vs. Alba Fyre
To get the upper hand, Chelsea Green offered to distract Cargill long enough, so Fyre could throw some hits hopefully hurtful. Jade may have tossed Alba away in the midst of a tornado DDT, but she suffered a Super Kick. Fyre was said to be “impressive” in the early goings as Green slapped Cargill behind the official’s back. I find that to be a lopsided comment, but we’re not here for petty remarks about Alba. Not tonight anyway.
Chelsea turned around after receiving a tap on the shoulder from Kiana James. Naturally, she wondered why this woman was here. James moved aside as Giulia marched up to Green and wreaked havoc. Ha! Chelsea comically wasn’t able to escape as Giulia pounced on her near the entrance.
Fyre saw this and shouted “No!” Foolishly, she took her eyes off the Storm. Cargill destroyed her with a spine buster, a pump kick and Jaded her existence out of the arena. Hardly a match, in my opinion, regardless of Cargill doing great.
Winner: Jade Cargill
I think Solo had a certain adoration for Bray Wyatt that the comment towards the current Wyatt Sicks about not deserving that name came across as “too far”. The MFTs were planning to take that name away because they can. The fact that he said “All I have to do is believe.” only made me laugh even harder. Damn. Has everyone lost their minds this evening?? Of course, the Wyatt Sicks didn’t take too kindly to that major threat that they swooped in from the grim to incite war. Erik Rowan and Talla Tonga is a dream match I want to witness in the future.
Gunther vs. LA Knight – The Last Time is Now Tournament Finals
A shove from the Ring General encouraged LA Knight to punch Gunther so brutally that the tall man actually fell down after one hit. Later on, Gunther was looking for an early ending with a chop and an attempt at a powerbomb, but LA Knight dodged the attack with a back body drop. The General may have avoided the BFT, but he didn’t see those incoming boots kicking him to the floor. Amazingly so, LA Knight was bouncing Gunther’s head against the table.
That seemed like pent-up rage from Knight, but when Gunther practically slashed his face with that clothesline, the room fell silent. Gunther hoisted his challenger up, so Knight turned it into a neckbreaker. Every assault Knight managed to strike Gunther with, the Ring General responded with twice as much force. He had LA Knight in a sleeper hold, to which he’s taking out many, luckily, the Megastar hurled him outside.
Knight had Gunther’s foot and tripped him afterwards, the problem was that Knight thought Gunther would stay there to await that elbow drop to dent his chest. The Megastar was whipped into the corner as Gunther hung onto his arm to unleash his powerful chops. Since the Ring General was on the mat, LA Knight waited for him to get back on his feet. When he did, Knight was looking for the BFT, yet Gunther countered with a German suplex.
When Knight went down, he landed badly on the back of his neck. Gunther saw this and was smart enough to slightly twist the man’s injury for added pressure. He kept doing so when Gunther hit Knight with a clothesline to the throat. Following strikes were specifically aimed at Knight’s neck from pushing him off the ropes to frog splashing his spine. Nevertheless, that didn’t finish LA Knight.
The fans were cheering for Knight so vibrantly that it kept him alive for a few moments more, alas, Gunther’s neck oriented choke hold submission beat the life out of him after resisting for as long as he could. Cena meet your final challenger.
Winner: Gunther
TOP PHOTO: Knight & Gunther match card. Courtesy of WWE
