12:03 pm | June 7, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
Super ShowDown, WWE’s third major show in Saudi Arabia, is underway at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah. As part of a 10-year contract with the Saudi government, the WWE has agreed to run multiple major shows in various cities throughout Saudi Arabia.
The major attraction match of the show is a first-time-ever match between Goldberg and The Undertaker, along with a 50-man battle royal, two men’s world title matches and Triple H vs. Randy Orton. The WWE’s women’s roster will not perform on the show.
Follow along live as we break down Super ShowDown throughout the afternoon.
Lars Sullivan’s dominant win in a 1-on-3 handicap match is hardly the kind of kickstart that will give Sullivan much momentum — that won’t come until he picks on someone his own size and stature.
After weeks of in-ring ambushes, this was meant to be a payoff for weeks of back and forth on TV.
But it wouldn’t exactly work out that way for Sullivan. Despite picking apart the trio of Kalisto, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado, it happened in a match that, until the very end, hardly did anything to ratchet up the energy.
After a fairly one-sided match, the Lucha House Party decided to take out Sullivan at the same time, resulting in a disqualification. It gave Sullivan the win, and his beatdown of the threesome reinforced his brute power. In the end, none of the four participants in this match were given much to work with creatively, and that was reflected clearly in the result.
Shane McMahon pinning Roman Reigns on a major show is a jarring result to read, and yet, that’s where we are after their match at Super ShowDown.
For weeks, McMahon utilized the services of Drew McIntyre and The Revival in his pursuit of embarrassing Reigns, and even with limited backup on Friday, McMahon still had enough on his side to pull out the victory.
After leaving Reigns laying on both Monday and Tuesday night, McMahon utilized a referee distraction and a McIntyre Claymore kick to pin Reigns in the middle of the ring to the great surprise of the audience in attendance.
The match itself was slow and methodical. McMahon held his own, nearly making Reigns submit before the latter was able to reverse course. At that point, McIntyre got involved the first time, but Reigns was too savvy and landed a Superman punch from the apron to the outside, followed by another for Shane O’Mac, who was standing on the top rope.
Once again, the odds were stacked against Reigns, but this time, there would be no revenge on this night. As he lingered in the ring on one knee, Reigns shook his head in acknowledgement. With a match against McIntyre to come at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view, this seems like a story with more chapters to come.
Intercontinental championship: Finn Balor (c) def. Andrade
There’s Finn Balor, and then there’s “The Demon” — the unstoppable, undefeated alter ego, whose entrances are every bit as good as his performances.
The harsh truth for Balor is that he’s hardly made his mark as the Intercontinental champion, rarely finding prominent one-on-one TV time.
Meanwhile his opponent, Andrade, who has never won a non-preshow WWE PPV match, is wildly regarded as the future — a superstar who is destined for the spotlight.
More than anything, this was an in-ring matchup between two guys who are never afraid to put their bodies on the line, and a tremendous opportunity for both men.
You could see how hot it was inside the stadium as the bout began as Balor’s face paint began to dissipate almost immediately, as the two went back and forth. Balor began to pick up the pace and a 360 flip over the top rope slowed down Andrade, followed by a reverse piledriver.
Andrade abruptly caught Balor with a Hammerlock DDT that nearly gave him the victory and the Intercontinental title, but that momentum was short-lived. Balor landed a top-rope DDT and then a Coup de Grace for the three count, and he retained his championship.
It was an all-around solid effort, but something says this rivalry is hardly over. Without bringing his Demon persona, Balor might not find the same success against a guy who is certain to have gold around his waist sooner rather than later.
Even as the specter of Brock Lesnar hung over the match, Seth Rollins walked out of Jeddah with his Universal title in hand and a measure of revenge on Lesnar achieved.
After suffering a blistering attack at the hands of both Baron Corbin, his scheduled opponent at Super ShowDown, and Lesnar on Monday night, Rollins walked into the opening match of Super ShowDown with heavily bandaged ribs. Not surprisingly, Corbin started strongly by targeting that area to control the early stages of the match.
Of course, the idea of Rollins not making a comeback — or even losing — seemed less than remote — not with so many other storylines encircling the champ. Slowly and surely, Rollins picked up momentum, diving through the ropes multiple times to take out Corbin before the challenger once again found his way, landing a Deep Six that earned a near-fall.
Ultimately, Corbin’s temper was his undoing; after trying to introduce a steel chair, Corbin argued with the ref, Rollins saw an opening and then rolled Corbin up for the win.
A frustrated Corbin nailed Rollins with an End of Days, seemingly setting the table for a Lesnar Money in the Bank cash-in, and on cue, Lesnar’s music hit. He came to the ring with a briefcase and chair. But as Lesnar went to strike Rollins with the chair, Rollins clocked him with a low blow and proceeded to unleash a series of chair shots that balanced out Lesnar’s similar attack from Monday.
With a curb stomp to Lesnar’s head while it rested atop the briefcase, any talk of a cash-in was over. But Lesnar will continue to hang over Rollins and the Universal championship in the weeks and months to come.
The heat was on — literally — during the Kickoff Show in Jeddah.
The broadcast team announced it was 94 degrees outside, with temperatures feeling more like 102 ringside. And yet, The Revival came to the ring in long-sleeved jackets.
Beyond the scorching air, there has been heat between The Usos and The Revival as well, with much of it stemming from childlike antagonism on the part of The Usos in recent weeks. Each tag team also played sidekick on Monday in service of the Roman Reigns-Shane McMahon feud.
With little was on the line for either team, and as fans continued to make their way into the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, this was a technically sound match that elevated the energy.
Still, it was predictably short as the teams went back and forth. Ultimately, Jimmy and Jey Uso simultaneously superkicked the stuffing out of Dash Wilder, and that was it.
Short and sweet — and a proper tune-up for the main card.
Still to come:
– Goldberg vs. The Undertaker
– WWE championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
– Triple H vs. Randy Orton
– Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
– 50-man battle royal
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