Original Air Date: October 9, 2017
Event Date: October 9, 2017 (aired live)
City: Indianapolis, IN
Venue: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
Last week, Cesaro and Sheamus attacked Roman Reigns during his Intercontinental Title match against The Miz and hit him with his own triple-powerbomb.
Ring Area
Already in the ring, The Miz welcomes everyone to Miz TV featuring part two of “The Mizzies.” Curtis Axel wins the Mizzie for “Perseverance.” Axel dedicates his win to Bo Dallas, and he and Miz wish Dallas well in his recovery. Sheamus and Cesaro then tie to win the Mizzie for “Best Supporting Actor.” Sheamus and Cesaro head to the ring.
Sheamus thanks Reigns for making this win possible. Cesaro thanks Rollins and Ambrose for knocking his teeth out. Miz then awards himself the Mizzie for leading the charge that destroyed Roman Reigns. Miz dedicates his win to his unborn child when Roman Reigns interrupts and comes out to the stage.
Reigns tells everyone to get out of his ring. Miz points out that Reigns is all alone and the rumors of a Shield reunion are just hype, but Reigns responds by bringing out Ambrose and Rollins. Together, The Shield heads to the ring. A brawl breaks out in which Miz runs away while Axel, Sheamus, and Cesaro get beat up. Miz quickly gets caught and hit with Dirty Deeds and a triple-powerbomb.
Match 1
Karl Anderson w/ Luke Gallows vs Jason Jordan
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Jason Jordan wins via pinfall after a push-up elevated neckbreaker
Time: 4:54 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Not a bad match, but nothing super special either. Jordan looked good, but I wish there had been a little more teamwork from Anderson and Gallows. Distractions, dirty tricks, things like that.
Backstage
Kurt Angle checks up on The Miz, but he says Miz got what he wanted: the spotlight. He’s putting Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro in a TLC match against The Shield at the TLC PPV.
Ring Area
In the ring, Elias starts to play a song, but Titus comes out to the stage playing a banjo. Poorly. Titus sings a song for Elias, a song about Elias losing to Apollo Crews in Indianapolis.
Match 2
Elias vs Apollo Crews w/ Titus O’Neil
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Elias wins via pinfall with a Drift Away
Time: 3:16 (joined in progress)
Match Thoughts
Crews looked very good, but this was one of those matches where one guy gets all the offense, then the other guy wins with one move. Not my favorite match narrative, but I enjoyed watching Crews.
Ring Area
Enzo Amore heads to the ring. Enzo complains about Angle giving Kalisto a Cruiserweight Title shot at TLC and calls Angle to the ring. Angle joins Enzo in the ring. Enzo questions Angle about the “no contact” clause in his contract, saying that Kalisto violated it yet gets rewarded. Angle points out a loophole in the fine print where the clause only applies to cruiserweights signed to the division before the clause was written.
Enzo continues to complain, so Angle tells him that he’ll be defending his title against Kalisto tonight on RAW. Enzo demands respect, so he’ll only agree to the match if it’s in the main event. Angle quickly agrees. Before he leaves, Angle informs Enzo that his match against Kalisto will be a lumberjack match so he can’t try to run away.
Match 3
Braun Strowman vs Matt Hardy
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Braun Strowman wins via pinfall after a running powerslam
Time: 3:31 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Hardy built up to some fun offense and even had Strowman reeling, but Strowman did what Strowman does in the end. Hopefully this leads to some sort of development with Hardy. Away from Strowman.
Ring Area
After the match, Strowman picks up Matt and carries him up the ramp. Before he can leave the stage, The Shield (wearing brand new, matching Shield t-shirts) comes out and attacks Strowman. They beat up Strowman and triple-powerbomb him through the announce table on the stage.
** Okay, that was a pretty cool moment. I didn’t get chills or anything, but that was fun to see. **
Backstage
Charly Caruso approaches The Shield. They all three seem to be on the same page. Written on that page are destruction and domination.
Ring Area
Mickie James heads to the ring. She talks about not feeling welcomes since she’s returned to RAW, and she blames Alexa Bliss. She accuses Bliss of hiding behind Nia Jax and proclaims that she’s going to be a seven time champ at TLC. Alexa Bliss comes out to the stage.
Bliss says she’s sorry for the problems between them, so she’s prepared a video tribute. The video is just an “old” joke, then Bliss calls her “grandma.” Mickie dares Bliss to get into the ring. Bliss heads towards the ring but turns away before entering. Mickie runs out and catches her, giving Bliss a brief beating before letting her go.
Video
Asuka is heading to TLC for her RAW brand debut.
Backstage
Sasha Banks and Bayley both tell Angle that they want to face Asuka first. Alicia Fox walks up and whines about wanting to face Asuka as well. Dana Brooke and Emma join the conversation, so Angle decides to make a fatal five way match to determine Asuka’s opponent.
Match 4
The Brian Kendrick & Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: The Brian Kendrick pins Mustafa Ali after Sliced Bread #2
Time: 3:37
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. There seemed to be a slight miscommunication near the end between Kendrick and Ali, but other than that, this was a pretty fun match. Kendrick and Gallagher were the better team here, but this was a bit too short to be a highly competitive match anyway.
Backstage
Miz tells Angle he wants The Shield to stand by their words when they said they would fight any number of people. Reluctantly, Angle agrees to let Miz add one more partner to his team at TLC. Miz introduces Strowman as the fourth man.
Ring Area
Finn Balor heads to the ring. Balor calls Wyatt desperate and says he, The Demon, isn’t afraid of Bray. Bray Wyatt sits down in a rocking chair on the tron. Wyatt says that Balor will fear Sister Abigail. The season of the witch is upon Balor. Wyatt’s face is then obscured with some see-through fabric, and his voice is altered as he speaks as Sister Abigail. Abigail says she’s worse than anything in Balor’s Irish mythology. Abigail and Bray then laugh as the video feed ends.
** I don’t like the special effects in the video. Just let Bray go into the Sister Abigail personality on his own. A split personality is a fine gimmick, but it can work without the computer-generated shenanigans. Once again, the over-production of Bray’s stuff is pulling me out of the feud. **
Match 5
Fatal Five Way Elimination Match
Sasha Banks vs Emma vs Alicia Fox vs Dana Brooke vs Bayley
(referee: John Cone; stipulation: the winner will face Asuka at TLC)
Result: Emma wins and will face Asuka at TLC
Fall 1: Bayley pins Dana Brooke after a Bayly-to-Belly
Fall 2: Alicia Fox pins Bayley after a scissors kick
Fall 3: Sasha Banks forces Alicia Fox to submit to the Bank Statement
Fall 4: Emma pins Sasha Banks with a modified crucifix pin
Time: 6:10 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Emma was the smartest person in the ring tonight. I like the way she approached this match. I also like that everyone had a good role in the outcome of the match. Of course this could have been a lot longer, but it was good for a TV match.
Backstage
Renee Young welcomes Finn Balor. Balor fears that Bray might have unleashed something awful. Pure evil. Balor now knows what he has to do.
Backstage
Charly Caruso welcomes Kalisto. Kalisto talks about being inspired by Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, and he hopes he can honor those greats by defeating Enzo Amore for the Cruiserweight Title tonight.
Match 6
Cruiserweight Title Lumberjack Match
Kalisto vs Enzo Amore (Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Darrick Moore; lumberjacks: Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa, Tony Nese, Rich Swann, Noam Dar, Drew Gulak, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, The Brian Kendrick, Mustafa Ali, Ariya Daivari, TJP)
Result: Kalisto wins via pinfall after a second-rope Salida Del Sol and becomes the new Cruiserweight Champ
Time: 10:58 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was an entertaining match. It went a little like you would expect a lumberjack match to go. Enzo didn’t want to go outside, and after a few teases he and Kalisto took turns getting roughed up by the lumberjacks. Then the lumberjacks fought each other which signaled the beginning of the end of the match. There were some nice moments here though, and I liked the finish. It was simple, but it made sense and worked well.
Show Impressions
This was an alright show. Most of the matches were just okay, but the Cruiserweight Title match and The Shield reunion were fun. I also enjoyed the fatal five way, especially Emma’s part in it.
Match of the Night
Cruiserweight Title Lumberjack Match
This was a fine match, and hopefully it leads to some good matches before one of the original cruiserweights takes the title back.