Triple H and The Undertaker may have squared off for the last time ever, but the feud between the Brothers of Destruction and D-Generation X is only getting started.
Triple H will go down as winning the final chapter of the storied personal rivalry, pinning Undertaker after Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels led to a Pedigree that ended an uneven no-disqualification match at WWE’s Super Show-Down event in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.
The story, while convoluted and illogical at times, got WWE where it needed to go. Following a show of respect after the match, Undertaker and Kane attacked Triple H and Michaels — including The Heartbreak Kid going through the announce table. It likely sets up the duos squaring off at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 2 and Michaels ending his eight-year retirement.
The match, littered with interference, the Undertaker decking a referee in frustration and Triple H deciding he should waste time and energy dropping an elbow on Kane through the table, showed the participants’ age and reliance on brutality and weapons. Undertaker did rip off a few viscous chairs shot on Triple H, however.
Despite its shortcomings, the match told the story it needed to, even if it took away from the mono-y-mono battle — and its tips of the cap to the past — that was supposed to be going on in the ring. These legends’ tale has a few more pages left in it.
While that feud picked up steam, the possibility of one within The Shield cooled off for now. Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler sure did test the group’s bond. Dean Ambrose chose to fight with his Shield brothers after taking an inadvertent Superman punch from Roman Reigns during their six-man tag match. The Universal champion later returned the favor by spearing Strowman through the barricade to save Ambrose. Fitting it was Ambrose pinning Ziggler to win the match, leaving doubt that The Showoff could truly be the “weak link” of his faction.
The story between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair is certainly not a weak link in WWE right now, as it added another well-told chapter.
Not sure if it was intentional since the story is about Lynch reclaiming her spotlight, but her entrance music hit before Flair even got in the ring. Maybe it was just to get in the video package after to remind fans Lynch is the heel in this feud before the crowd began chanting “Let’s go Becky” at the start.
The pair wrestled a match with the ferocity of enemies who have something to prove. Ultimately, Lynch pulled out classic heel moves. She tried to leave early with her SmackDown women’s championship and ended the match by hitting Flair — about to fully bridge into the Figure 8 — with the belt to lose by disqualification but retain her title. If WWE is intent on getting Lynch over as a true heel, this was an effective way to try. We will see how the crowd responds Tuesday, when Flair get a rematch on “SmackDown Live.”
Like Flair and Lynch, WWE champion A.J. Style and Samoa Joe made you feel like you were watching a pay-per-view match, even starting the action outside the ring.
The match was deliberate, with flashes of intensity until the physicality escalated with Joe slamming Styles onto an open chair and the Phenomenal One putting Joe through a table — causing Joe to say he heard a pop in his knee.
Seeing Style walk the referee away from Joe to attack the knee solidified how far the champion has been pushed by the involvement of his family in this feud. Michael Cole kept saying Styles was “torturing” Joe, whose Coquina Clutch finisher is losing some luster because of its ineffectiveness. The work on the leg eventually paid off as Styles made Joe tap out to the Calf Crusher. Let’s hope this anticlimactic match is not the end of this feud, considering their match at Hell in a Cell was better.
One thing we do know is Styles is set for title match with Daniel Bryan at Crown Jewel. Bryan quickly dispatched The Miz with a roll-up of nowhere. It left the crowd stunned, unsure how to react and killed any chance of a big celebration of Bryan getting his first WWE title match since 2014.
Other matches
John Cena and Bobby Lashley over Elias and Kevin Owens
First off, WWE couldn’t get Lashley’s hype man Lio Rush a flight to Australia? At least Cole noted that he wasn’t there. Cena and his new movie-star hair did make the trip and got a favorable reaction from the crown for his first match since the Greatest Royal Rumble in April.
The four delivered a true house-show match with Cena saving Lashley and officially unveiling his “sixth move of doom,” the Lightning Fist to eventually pin Elias. Cena told the crown after that his life is changing, and he doesn’t know what the future holds for him in WWE.
New Day over The Bar to retain the SmackDown tag team titles
The solid opening bout got the crowd going. The match itself was what you would expect to see on “SmackDown,” but its fast pace made it effective where it was placed.
Ronda Rousey and the Bella Twins over The Riott Squad
Liv Morgan kicked Brie Bella (who recently really hurt her with a kick of her own on “Raw”) and asked her how it felt. Rousey added a different touch by winning the match with a double arm bar on Morgan and Sarah Logan for the highlight of the match, which further buried The Riott Squad.
Buddy Murphy over Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight championship
This was a perfect time for a title change with the event happening in Murphy’s hometown. He’s been superb recently and was again as he and Alexander delivered one of the best matches on the card before the crowd popped big time for the new champ.
The IIconics over Naomi and Asuka
It was a nice little homecoming for Aussies Royce and Kay, who picked up the victory and got a nice hand from the crowd after. Having the heels on home soil, however, did factor into the match — which was just OK — itself getting very limited crowd reaction.
Biggest winner: Daniel Bryan
Biggest loser: Dolph Ziggler
Match of the night: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
Grade: C+
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