Super Show-Down (2018)
Super Show-Down was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. It took place on October 6, 2018, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. It was the first WWE event under the Super Show-Down chronology.
Ten matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Triple H defeated The Undertaker in a No Disqualification match that was billed as the "Last Time Ever". In the penultimate match, Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz to earn a WWE Championship match. In other prominent matches, The Shield defeated Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre, AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe by submission in a no countout, no disqualification match to retain the WWE Championship, and Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
The event was met with mixed to positive reception from critics; although the 6-Man Tag Team Match, Cruiserweight, Smackdown Tag Team, and WWE title matches were highly praised, Daniel Bryan vs The Miz and the main event were subject to heavy criticism, with the rest of the card being described as bland.
Storylines
The card consisted of ten matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.On June 16, 2018, a match between The Undertaker and Triple H was scheduled. On the August 20, 2018 episode of Raw, Triple H spoke about how he reluctantly accepted the rematch as the last match between the two at WrestleMania XXVIII was billed as the "End of an Era". Triple H added that the tagline of this contest would be "Last Time Ever".
At SummerSlam, The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan after hitting him with a pair of brass knuckles that his wife Maryse had given him. On the following SmackDown, Miz and Maryse mocked Bryan's retirement speech from two years earlier. Bryan and his wife Brie Bella came out and confronted them. Bryan called Miz a coward for having to cheat to win and revealed that SmackDown General Manager Paige approved of a mixed tag team match between Bryan and Brie and Miz and Maryse at Hell in a Cell, which Miz and Maryse won. On August 21, a rematch between Bryan and The Miz was also scheduled for Super Show-Down, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship opportunity.
Also on August 21, The Shield were scheduled for a six-man tag team match at the event. The Shield would reunite to prevent Braun Strowman from cashing in his Money in the Bank contract for the WWE Universal Championship on Reigns on the August 20 episode of Raw after Reigns had retained the title against Finn Bálor. This led to a match on the August 27 episode of Raw, in which Reigns and Strowman teamed up to face against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. During the match, Strowman turned on Reigns and helped Ziggler and McIntyre attack him, turning heel for the second time in his career. Following the assault on Reigns, the trio would also attack Ambrose and Rollins when they tried to aid Reigns. A six-man tag team match between The Shield and Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre was scheduled for Super Show-Down.
At SummerSlam, during the WWE Championship match between Samoa Joe and AJ Styles, Joe taunted Styles by disrespecting his wife and daughter, who were in attendance. An irate Styles attacked Joe with a steel chair, resulting in Joe winning by disqualification, but Styles retaining the title. On August 24, a rematch between the two for the title was scheduled for Hell in a Cell. At the pay-per view, Styles countered Joe's "Coquina Clutch" into a pin to retain the championship, despite Styles tapping out to the "Coquina Clutch" which the referee did not see. After the match, Joe attacked Styles. An irate Joe demanded a rematch with Styles. Paige agreed and scheduled a third match between the two for the title at Super Show-Down, with "no disqualifications, no count-outs, and no excuses".
On the August 7 episode of SmackDown, The New Day's Big E and Kofi Kingston defeated The Bar Cesaro and Sheamus to become the number one contenders for The Bludgeon Brothers' for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam, where The New Day won by disqualification, but did not win the titles. The New Day would win the championships on the following episode of SmackDown Live and retained them at Hell in a Cell. On September 4, a match between The New Day and The Bar for the titles was scheduled for Super Show-Down.
At SummerSlam, Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch and Carmella in a triple threat match to capture the SmackDown Women's Championship. After the match, Lynch attacked Flair, thus turning heel for the first time in her WWE career. Throughout following weeks, the two attacked each other. At Hell in a Cell, Lynch defeated Flair to win the championship. A title rematch was scheduled at Super Show-Down.
Following the return of Trish Stratus on the August 27 episode of Raw, Stratus, along with Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey would accompany Natalya in her match against Alicia Fox, which she won. After the contest, the duo were congratulated by The Bella Twins, whom announced that they would be returning to action against The Riott Squad on the September 3 edition of Raw. A six-woman tag team match between Rousey and The Bella Twins and The Riott Squad was scheduled for Super Show-Down.
On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, Peyton Royce defeated Naomi. The following week, Billie Kay defeated Naomi. On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Naomi defeated Royce. After the match, The IIconics attacked Naomi until the returning Asuka made the save. On September 4, a tag team match between The IIconics and Asuka and Naomi was scheduled for Super Show-Down.
On August 10, a match between John Cena and Kevin Owens was scheduled for Super Show-Down. However on August 21, the match was changed to a tag team match with Cena and Bobby Lashley facing Owens and Elias.
On August 29, a match between Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy for the Cruiserweight Championship was scheduled for Super Show-Down.
Event
| Role: | Name: |
| English commentators | Michael Cole |
| English commentators | Corey Graves |
| English commentators | Renee Young |
| Ring announcer | JoJo |
| Referees | Jason Ayers |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Referees | Darrick Moore |
| Referees | Charles Robinson |
| Referees | Rod Zapata |
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with The New Day defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus. In the end, Kingston and Woods performed a backstabber and diving double foot stomp combination on Cesaro to retain the title.Next, Becky Lynch defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. In the end, Lynch attempted to walk away from the match with her Championship until Flair brought her back in the ring. Flair applied the "Figure-Eight Leglock" on Lynch only for Lynch to grab her title, which was laying in the ring, and attack Flair with it, thus Flair won by disqualification, but Lynch retained. After the match, Lynch continued to attack Flair.
After that, John Cena and Bobby Lashley faced Kevin Owens and Elias. During the match, Elias and Owens dominated Lashley. Halfway through, Cena was eventually tagged in, performed a "Five Knuckle Shuffle", "Attitude Adjustment", and the "Sixth Move of Doom" on Elias to win the match. After the match, Cena cut a promo where he thanked the crowd in attendance.
In the fourth match, The IIconics fought Asuka and Naomi. In the end, Kay attacked Naomi and Royce pinned her to win the match.
Next, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe in a no countout, no disqualification match. Before the match began, Styles and Joe fought on the entrance ramp. The match eventually began when both combatants entered the ring. Styles performed a moonsault into a reverse DDT on Joe for a near-fall. Joe performed a clothesline on Styles for another near-fall. Joe attempted to attack Styles with a chair, only for Styles to counter Joe with a dropkick and attacked Joe with the chair. Styles attempted another attack, however, Joe performed a uranage on Styles onto the chair for another near-fall. Joe attempted an inverted DDT through a table on Styles, however, Styles countered and put Joe through the table instead. Joe applied the "Coquina Clutch" on Styles, however, Styles escaped. Styles performed a 450° splash onto Joe's knee. Styles performed a "Phenomenal Forearm" on Joe off the barricade. Styles attempted a second "Phenomenal Forearm" on Joe, only for Joe to counter into the "Coquina Clutch". In the end, Styles forced Joe to tap out to the "Calf Crusher" to retain the title.
In the sixth match, The Riott Squad faced Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins. In the end, Rousey applied a double armbar to both Morgan and Logan, which caused both to submit to win the match.
After that, Cedric Alexander defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Buddy Murphy. Murphy went on the attack early and tried to finish the match quickly. Later, Alexander performed a Michinoku Driver and the "Lumbar Check" for a near-fall. In the climax, Murphy performed "Murphy's Law" on Alexander to win the title.
Next, The Shield fought Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre. The Shield tried to put Strowman through the announce table with a triple powerbomb, however, they were intercepted by Ziggler and McIntyre. In the end, as Reigns attempted to perform a superman punch on McIntyre, Reigns ended up accidentally hitting Ambrose. The Shield tried for the triple powerbomb on McIntyre, however, Strowman tackled them. In the climax, Ambrose performed "Dirty Deeds" on Ziggler to win the match.
In the penultimate match, The Miz fought Daniel Bryan where the winner would become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. Miz performed a running knee on Bryan for a near-fall. As The Miz tried for the "Skull-Crushing Finale", Bryan reversed it into a small package to win the match. Following this, it was announced that Bryan would receive his WWE Championship match against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel.
Main event
In the main event, The Undertaker faced Triple H. Prior to the match, it was announced that the match would be No Disqualification. In the climax, as Undertaker had Michaels positioned for a Tombstone Piledriver, Triple H attacked Undertaker with a sledgehammer, Michaels performed "Sweet Chin Music" on Undertaker, and Triple H performed the "Pedigree" on Undertaker to win the match. After the match, Triple H and Michaels helped Undertaker to his feet. Kane entered the ring and the four men showed mutual respect. However, as they began to depart, Undertaker and Kane attacked Triple H and Shawn Michaels and put Michaels through an announcer's table.Reception
The event was met with mixed to positive reception from critics; most negativity went to the match between Bryan & The Miz.Anthony Mango of The Bleacher Report said that WWE Super Show-Down hurt its surrounding events and suffered from being crammed between Hell in a Cell and Evolution, which never gave it a chance to be anything but superfluous, stating that the event consisted of rematches of feuds that have gone on since SummerSlam or longer, pointless tag team contests with nothing on the line similar to an episode of Raw or SmackDown, one major fight capitalizing on nostalgia and only three titles on the line, stating that the event didn't look good heading into it.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated the matches of the event. The Cruiserweight Championship match & WWE Championship match were the highest rated at 4.25 stars. The next highest was the 6 Man tag team match between The Shield & Strowman, McIntyre and Ziggler at 3.75 stars. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match and the SmackDown Women's Championship match were rated 3 stars. Rousey and The Bellas vs. Riott Squad was rated 2.25 stars. The lowest rated matches were Cena & Lashley vs. Elias & Owens at 1.75 stars, The IIconics vs. Naomi & Auska and Undertaker vs. Triple H at 1.25 stars and Bryan vs. The Miz at 1 star.
Aftermath
Raw
Triple H and Shawn Michaels kicked off the October 8 episode of Raw by addressing The Undertaker and Kane's attack following Triple H's victory. They stated that the respect that once existed between both sides was gone, leading Triple H and Michaels, the latter coming out of retirement, to reform D-Generation X and challenge The Brothers of Destruction to a tag team match at Crown Jewel on November 2. The match was later made official, marking Michaels' first match since WrestleMania XXVI in 2010, where he was retired by The Undertaker.Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins defeated The Riott Squad in a rematch on the October 8 episode of Raw. The Bella Twins turned heel after the match by attacking Rousey. Later in the evening, it was announced that Rousey would defend the Raw Women's Championship against the Nikki Bella at Evolution on October 28.