WWE Wrap-Up
This week in WWE: The WWE closes out the year with two great shows
Dec 27, 2017, 6:35 am
This is a weekly look at the action in the WWE:
John Cena welcomed the Chicago crowd to a very special Christmas edition of Raw. He was soon interrupted by Elias, who decided that this week he would be the interrupter not the interrupted. He got John Cena involved in his performance, and ended up surprising him with a punch to the face. Elias, then, issued a challenge to Cena. The two faced off in the first match of the night. Elias got a lot of offense in, but Cena proved to be too much putting him away with an Attitude Adjustment. Brian Kendrick returned to Raw to issue a challenge to the cruiserweight division’s newest competitor, Hideo Itami. Kendrick, smartly, grounded Itami in the early parts of the match. Eventually, Itami took over and put away Kendrick with a GTS. Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins made a case to Kurt Angle backstage; they both want to get their hands on Samoa Joe. Angle explained that it was not going to happen. Instead, they will be challenging The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championships. He, then, told Roman Reigns that he will be the one facing Samoa Joe, and it will be for his Intercontinental Championship. Absolution took on Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Mickie James. Just when it looked like the faces were finally going to top Absolution, Paige knocked Bayley off the top rope and pinned her after hitting her with a Rampage.
Backstage, Samoa Joe bragged about injuring Dean Ambrose the week before, and explained how he will become the next Intercontinental Champion. Heath Slater tried to “toughen up” by challenging Kane to a match. The match did not go as well as he may have hoped, though, as Kane easily defeated him with a Choke Slam. After the match, Kane hit Rhyno with a Choke Slam, as well. Curt Hawkins issued an open challenge in hopes of ending his losing streak. Unfortunately for him, it was answered by Finn Balor who defeated him with a Coupe de Grace. Bray Wyatt made his way to the ring, and he was ambushed by Matt Hardy. A “Miracle on 34th Street” Fight saw Ali, Tozawa, and Alexander defeat Amore, Gulak, and Daivari.
Samoa Joe challenged Roman Reigns for his Intercontinental Championship. Joe looked like he was going to win the match when he placed Reigns in a Coquina Clutch, but Reigns was able to get to the ropes. Reigns shoved the official causing disqualification, but that did not stop Reigns from attacking Joe, targeting his arms as payback for injuring his brother, Dean Ambrose. The Mizterouge came to the ring for their handicap match against Braun Strowman. Of course, Strowman had his absolute way with them and won the match. Alexa Bliss explained that she does not care who wins the Women’s Royal Rumble next month. That, of course, changed when Asuka announced she will be entering the match. Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins challenged The Bar for their Tag Team Championships. It was clear these guys were not on the same page, but some way, somehow, Jordan and Rollins pulled the upset and won the Tag Team Championships.
Highlight of the night:
Rollins and Jordan winning the tag team championships was an absolute surprise. Ambrose’s injury might have thrown a wrench in the WWE’s plans, and it is clear they are going another direction.
Daniel Bryan opened SmackDown addressing Dolph Ziggler leaving the United States Championship the week before. He announced that a tournament will be held to determine the new United States Champion. Jason Jordan and Shelton Benjamin demanded their chance at the Tag Team Championships. Aiden English made a case for Rusev and himself by singing a new rendition of The Rusev Day song. The New Day tossed pancakes and facts as they explained why they should be challenging The Usos. Eventually, Bryan issued a Triple Threat between all three teams to determine the next number one contenders. The match absolutely rocked the house, and Benjamin and Gable proved to be victorious after pinning Big E. Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon continue to butt heads over Bryan’s “favoritism” for Owens and Zayn. The Ascension got Breezango the worst possible gift ever, a rematch against The Bludgeon Brothers. They quickly realized their mistake, though; as they raced to the ring to cause a disqualification in order to save them. Riott Squad used the numbers game in order to help Ruby Riott defeat Naomi. After the match, they attacked Naomi. Charlotte attempted to save her, but the group made quick work of her. Natalya, Carmella, Tamina, and Lana raced down and cleared the ring of the Riott Squad.
Bobby Roode rolled up Baron Corbin and advanced to the next round of the United States Championship tournament. Jinder Mahal advanced as well defeating Tye Dillinger. Backstage, both Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura announced they will be entering the Royal Rumble. AJ Styles came out on all cylinders in his match against Kevin Owens. The challenger was able to turn the tables after throwing Styles out of the ring, though. What ensued was an absolute train wreck. Shane McMahon came to the ring to eject Sami Zayn after he tried to get involved in the match. Owens used this distraction to roll up Styles and upset the champion.
Highlight of the night
The tag teams absolutely killed it. At one point, the tag team division was the weakest division on SmackDown Live. Now, it’s undoubtedly the best. The Triple Threat match to start the show was great.
How do they compare?
I honestly had a really bad feeling about this week. WWE loves to do get really cheesy when it comes to Holiday themed shows. Both shows proved to be good, though. Raw delivered two awesome title matches. SmackDown did the same with two awesome matches, themselves. The United States Tournament spiced things up for the blue brand. Rollins and Jordan winning the titles was a genuine surprise. All in all, both shows were entertaining. SmackDown felt better than usual, so it probably should get the edge. With a new year comes new shows, and it will finally be time for the build to the Royal Rumble, and I cannot wait.
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.