WWE WRAP-UP
This week in the WWE: The Shield reunites and crashes The Mizzie awards
Oct 11, 2017, 12:22 pm
This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:
This week’s Raw opened with The Miz handing out his “The Mizzie” awards. These awards were, of course, given only to The Mizterouge, The Bar, and himself. Roman Reigns made his way to the ring. To Miz’s surprise, he wasn’t alone as Ambrose and Rollins came down with him. The Shield reunited and ended The Mizzies celebration. Jason Jordan defeated Karl Anderson despite Luke Gallows’ attempt to get involved in the match. Kurt Angle found The Miz backstage recovering from The Shield’s attack. Angle would go on to tell Miz that he and The Bar would be in the main event at TLC against The Shield in the very match that the event is named after: a tables, ladders, and chairs match. Elias was interrupted by Titus O’Neil as he tried to play a song for the crowd in Indianapolis. O’Neil’s client, Apollo Crews, would follow him down to the ring for his match against Elias. Elias would go on to defeat Crews to end the first hour.
Enzo Amore came down to the ring to voice his displeasure with Kurt Angle. He was upset that he allowed Kalisto to attack him, and that he went as far as rewarding Kalisto with a title match at TLC. Angle made his way to the ring to talk with Amore. After Amore made an argument that Angle does not respect him as a champion, Angle decided to cancel the match at TLC. Instead, Amore would be taking on him in the main event of Raw in a Lumberjack Match. Braun Strowman took on Matt Hardy. Hardy would hit Strowman with his Twist of Fate finisher, but it would not be enough as Strowman would go on to win with a Running Power Slam. After the match, Strowman would attempt to carry Hardy backstage, but The Shield would come out to save Hardy as they slammed Strowman through the announcer’s table. Mickie James made her way to the ring to explain that her age shouldn’t matter to Alexa Bliss. The only number Bliss should be worried about is seven, since she will be a seven-time champion after she defeats Bliss. This, of course, prompted Bliss to make her way to the ring. James would get the upper hand over the champion before she ran away from James. Kurt Angle was confronted by the rest of the Women’s Division since he has not chosen an opponent for Asuka, who will be debuting at TLC. Angle announced that they would all be facing off with the winner taking on Asuka.
The Miz would find Kurt Angle in his office to try to persuade him to let him add another member to his team at TLC. Angle would agree, and Braun Strowman would enter his office revealing himself as Miz’s newest partner. Finn Balor would be introduced to Bray Wyatt’s Sister Abagail. She would explain that she would be feeding Wyatt with the strength to defeat Balor. The Woman’s Fatal Five Way turned out to be an elimination match. Bayley would eliminate Dana Brooke, but would be eliminated by Alecia Fox. Sasha Banks would submit Fox, but would be rolled up by the winner of the match, Emma. The Cruiserweight Division made their way to the ring for The Lumberjack match between Enzo Amore and Kalisto. The lumberjacks would begin to brawl amongst each other, and Kalisto would see an opening to Suplex Amore through the lumberjacks. Amore would regain himself and would attempt to pin Kalisto, but Mustafa Ali would stop it. Kalisto would go on to win the match and The Cruiserweight Championship via the Salida del Sol.
Highlight of the Night: The Shield attacking Braun Strowman. Sure, the group officially reunited in the opening segment of the show, but it was this moment that really made it seem like The Shield were really back.
The blue brand’s show opened with a recap of Hell in a Cell. A package showed how Sami Zayn helped Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon. Tom Phillips, then, promised Zayn would be addressing it later in the show. The Usos made their way to the ring with their newly acquired Tag Team championships. They invited The New Day to come down to the ring, and, to The New Day’s surprise, offer them a handshake in a sign of truce. Before they could shake hands, though, the entire Tag Team division came down to ask for an opportunity at the titles. Daniel Bryan made his way to the ring to announce that every team would get a chance, except The New Day. The Ascension, Breezango, The Hype Bros, and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable would participate in a Fatal Fairway with the team of Benjamin and Gable winning. Backstage, Natalya was confronted by Tamina, Lana, and Carmella. The Women’s Champion began talking about Charlotte Flair, and, unfortunately for her, Charlotte was close enough to hear her. A brawl then broke out between the entire division. After a commercial break, Becky Lynch took on Carmella. Lynch would submit Carmella with her Disarmer finisher.
Kevin Owens came down to the ring to start the second hour. He welcomed the fans to “Kevin’s Heaven”, a place without Shane McMahon. He, then, introduced Sami Zayn. Zayn went on to explain how being a good guy only lead to mediocrity, and that saving his “brother," Kevin Owens, was the right thing to do. Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton teamed up and defeated Rusev and Aiden English. A promo package aired showing a repackaged Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Bobby Roode, then, made his way to the ring to talk about his win over Dolph Ziggler at Hell in a Cell. Ziggler came out to announce to Roode that he’d be wanting his rematch, but only when he's ready. SmackDown Live closed with Baron Corbin retaining his United States Championship over AJ Styles.
Highlight of the Night: The Usos showing props to The New Day. Without a doubt, their feud has been one of the best ones of the year. Knowing how much these teams have elevated each other, it was pretty cool to see both teams embrace with a handshake.
This is perhaps the easiest decision I’ve made when trying to decide who had the better show. SmackDown Live is just not there right now. The alarming thing is the fact they just came off a pay-per-view. Typically, the first show after an event delivers, this was not the case. Raw is still full steam ahead for TLC. They put in a lot of work tying in different stories to build their main event for TLC, and it is definitely paying off.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!