We've got three pay-per-views to cover today, so I'm going to keep these summaries pretty brief, while still adding some style to make sure it doesn't get too monotonous. We start with NXT's final Takeover of the year, live from the "Harbor City".
NXT Takeover: Sydney
November 10th, 2019
- The show opened with Moustache Mountain defending their NXT Tag Team Championships against TM-61. Nick Miller and Shane Thorne had declared that this would be their final match if they lost, and they put forth a tremendous effort in front of their friends and family. But in the end, the British strong style of Tyler Bate and Trent Seven won out, allowing them to retain their titles. Afterward, Thorne beatdown a recovering Miller and declared that he was here to stay in NXT.
- Up next, Rhea Ripley successfully defended her NXT Women's Championship against Candice LeRae, who got this opportunity after defeating Sonya Deville in Seattle. LeRae impressed the upstart Ripley with her perseverance, but eventually fell to the Riptide.
- Mike Kanellis hosted an open challenge in the next match, as he and wife Maria declared that love could beat anything. They were proven wrong, as "The Machine" Brian Cage made his debut, dismantling Kanellis in mere minutes in a dominant debut victory.
- "The Best Kept Secret" Buddy Murphy, in front of his hometown fans, shockingly won the Cruiserweight Championship in the show's penultimate match, dethroning Roderick Strong. Murphy got an assist from the returning Cedric Alexander, who distracted Strong long enough for Murphy's Law to connect and Sydney went wild for the new champion.
- The main event of the night was a Steel Cage rematch for the NXT Championship between Tommaso Ciampa and WALTER. The cage did a good job preventing interference from Ciampa's protege, Keith Lee, for a little while, until Lee did the unthinkable and ripped off the cage's door! Lee and WALTER tussled for long enough to allow Ciampa to scramble out of the cage and retain his title once again.
Survivor Series
November 24th, 2019
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Theme Song- "Heavy"- The Glorious Sons
- To open the show, Ronda Rousey made her return to Universe Mode to challenge for the Raw Women's Championship against Ruby Riott. The Riott Squad seemed too terrified of Ronda to get involved, making this an even match. In the end, Ruby pulled out a narrow win, squirming out of the armbar to hit a Riott Kick for the three count.
- Up next, Big E of the New Day got the crowd going after defeating Rusev to capture the Intercontinental Championship. It was Big E's first singles title, and he won it after over-powering the "Bulgarian Brute" to hit the Big Ending.
- The third match of the night was Winner Take All, as the Undisputed Era took on The Elite with both the Raw Tag Team Championships and United States Championship on the line. Kenny Omega and Matt and Nick Jackson delivered once before in the big moment, and did it again here, as Adam Cole would fall to the One-Winged Angel.
- In a rematch from Summerslam, the bold Velveteen Dream squared off with The Undertaker. This time, Dream had the "American Bad Ass" well scouted, and got a career defining win, out-lasting the legend who lost for the second pay-per-view in a row.
- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returned to Raw a few weeks before this show, demanding to take control of the brand from Goldberg. The Raw GM met Lesnar in the ring in a rematch of their bout from 2016's Survivor Series, and this time, Brock came out on top, hitting three F-5s to give his advocate control of the red brand.
- The SmackDown Women's Championship was on the line as Sasha Banks faced off with best friend Bayley. The two BFFs gave it their all, but it was the "Legit Boss" that retained her title with the Bank Statement, leaving a distraught Bayley searching for answers.
- Two former friends collided in the following match, as Charlotte Flair picked up a massive win, defeating "The Man of Raw" Becky Lynch. Afterward, in appreciation of a hard-fought match, the two women would shake hands, as Flair was crowned the new number one contender.
- It was time for traditional Survivor Series action, as Seth Rollins led his team into battle against Team Edge. If Rollins' team won, he would be granted a WWE Championship match, and it came down to himself and Johnny Gargano. After two previous losses to "Johnny Wrestling", Seth finally got the job done with the Blackout, much to the chagrin of Toronto.
- Most of the Raw roster fear "The Fiend", but Jon Moxley is not one of them, as he challenge for the Universal Championship. Moxley brought the fight to Wyatt, and took risk after risk, closing in on his first world title. But Jon would have no say on the finish to the match, as Roman Reigns returned, delivering three consecutive Spears to his former tag partner.
- In the final match of the night, CM Punk finally got the chance he had been waiting, getting his opportunity to shut up Sami Zayn and take home the WWE Championship. Punk and Zayn clashed in a dramatic showdown, and it was Sami's exhaustion after some many close title defenses that cost him. Punk felled the champion with a Go to Sleep, capturing his first world title in a raucous scene.....
- That went right off the rails when Bobby Roode cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase! Now it was Punk who was completely spent, and Roode who took advantage. Just an hour and half from his hometown, Bobby Roode would be crowned WWE Champion after a Glorious DDT!
Armageddon
December 22nd, 2019
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman returned to Raw a few weeks before this show, demanding to take control of the brand from Goldberg. The Raw GM met Lesnar in the ring in a rematch of their bout from 2016's Survivor Series, and this time, Brock came out on top, hitting three F-5s to give his advocate control of the red brand.
- The SmackDown Women's Championship was on the line as Sasha Banks faced off with best friend Bayley. The two BFFs gave it their all, but it was the "Legit Boss" that retained her title with the Bank Statement, leaving a distraught Bayley searching for answers.
- Two former friends collided in the following match, as Charlotte Flair picked up a massive win, defeating "The Man of Raw" Becky Lynch. Afterward, in appreciation of a hard-fought match, the two women would shake hands, as Flair was crowned the new number one contender.
- It was time for traditional Survivor Series action, as Seth Rollins led his team into battle against Team Edge. If Rollins' team won, he would be granted a WWE Championship match, and it came down to himself and Johnny Gargano. After two previous losses to "Johnny Wrestling", Seth finally got the job done with the Blackout, much to the chagrin of Toronto.
- Most of the Raw roster fear "The Fiend", but Jon Moxley is not one of them, as he challenge for the Universal Championship. Moxley brought the fight to Wyatt, and took risk after risk, closing in on his first world title. But Jon would have no say on the finish to the match, as Roman Reigns returned, delivering three consecutive Spears to his former tag partner.
- In the final match of the night, CM Punk finally got the chance he had been waiting, getting his opportunity to shut up Sami Zayn and take home the WWE Championship. Punk and Zayn clashed in a dramatic showdown, and it was Sami's exhaustion after some many close title defenses that cost him. Punk felled the champion with a Go to Sleep, capturing his first world title in a raucous scene.....
- That went right off the rails when Bobby Roode cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase! Now it was Punk who was completely spent, and Roode who took advantage. Just an hour and half from his hometown, Bobby Roode would be crowned WWE Champion after a Glorious DDT!
December 22nd, 2019
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Theme Song- "Master of Puppets"- Metallica
- In a rare move, the Universal Championship match opened the show, as Jon Moxley and Roman Reigns challenged Bray Wyatt in a triple threat contest. Wyatt was in his "Firefly Fun House" persona and completely refused to fight, letting Moxley and Reigns work out their issues instead. And so they did, in a brutal brawl that traveled all over the arena and ended when Reigns Speared Moxley off the stage and through three tables. Only then did Wyatt act, taking out both men and pinning Moxley with a Sister Abigail.
- Up next, EC3 continued his recent winnings way with a victory over former three-time Intercontinental Champion Baron Corbin. Corbin had hoped to kickstart his career on the red brand, but was outmanuevered following an eye rake and fell to the One Percenter.
- Tag team action followed, as the Young Bucks defended their newly won titles against The Revival. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder said they had a gameplan, and proved it, catching Matt Jackson flying off the top rope with the Shatter Machine for a shocking title change!
- It has been a steep drop-off for Shinsuke Nakamura since losing his Universal Championship, and continued with a defeat to Tyler Breeze. Breeze has gotten back to top form, pinning Nakamura with a Beauty Shot and making himself a threat to win the Royal Rumble.
- The second tag team contest of the night saw The B-Team face a new tag team in AJ Styles and Ricochet. These two men had fought in the past, but AJ recently took Ricochet under his wing, and their incredible aerial offense got them a big win on this night.
- In the penultimate match, Ruby Riott once again put her Raw Women's Championship on the line, this time in a Backlash rematch against Charlotte Flair. Much like that match, the Riott Squad played a huge part, getting involved on multiple occasions. But this time, Flair had backup, as the duo of Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey marched down to ringside, and the two former rivals formed an incredible team, absolutely destroying Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan. Charlotte took advantage of the moment to hit Riott with Natural Selection, and got the champion to tap out to the Figure Eight.
- Finally, we had a dream match, as Hiroshi Tanahashi challenged Kenny Omega for the United States Championship. The two men put on a classic to close out the year, as with Milwaukee in his corner, Tanahashi came so close to putting Omega away with his clinical offense. But Omega dug deep, and hit Tanahashi with two powerful knees to the head, giving him the opening to end 2019 with the One-Winged Angel.
See you on January 1st for NXT. Have a safe New Year everyone!
- Henry
- Finally, we had a dream match, as Hiroshi Tanahashi challenged Kenny Omega for the United States Championship. The two men put on a classic to close out the year, as with Milwaukee in his corner, Tanahashi came so close to putting Omega away with his clinical offense. But Omega dug deep, and hit Tanahashi with two powerful knees to the head, giving him the opening to end 2019 with the One-Winged Angel.
See you on January 1st for NXT. Have a safe New Year everyone!
- Henry
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