Super Show-Down (2018)
The 2018 Super Show-Down was the inaugural Super Show-Down professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) and the WWE Network and took place on October 6, 2018, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was WWE's second PPV and WWE Network’s first event held in Australia. 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 (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose) 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 six man tag team match, Cruiserweight Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship , and WWE Championship matches were highly praised, Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz was subject to heavy criticism. Production. Background. In June 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced that they would be returning to Australia to hold a pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event, which would be the company's first PPV and WWE Network event produced in the country. The event was titled Super Show-Down and was scheduled to be held at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria on October 6, 2018. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Although WWE  has had tours in Australia over the years, the company's last big event to be held in the country was the Global Warning Tour in 2002. 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, while 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 (a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as guest referee) 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 (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins) 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, however, Styles retained 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 SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam, where The New Day defeated defending champions The Bludgeon Brothers' (Harper and Rowan) by disqualification, but did not win the titles. The New Day captured 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 defending champion Carmella in a triple threat match  to capture the SmackDown Women's Championship. After the match, Lynch attacked Flair, thus turning heel. 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 (Nikki Bella and Brie Bella), who announced that they would  be returning to action against The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan) on the September 3 edition of "Raw". A six-woman tag team match between Rousey & The Bella Twins against 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 & 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 for the Cruiserweight Championship was scheduled for Super Show-Down where defending champion Cedric Alexander would defend the title against Buddy Murphy. Event. Preliminary matches. The actual pay-per-view opened with The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (with Big E) 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 (Peyton Royce and Billie Kay) 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 (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan) faced Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie  Bella). 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 (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) 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 (accompanied by Kane) faced Triple H (accompanied by Shawn Michaels). Before the match officially began, it was announced that the match stipulation was changed to a No Disqualification match. 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 (who had been put through a table midway through the match) 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 Daniel 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. SmackDown. On the October 9 episode of "SmackDown Live", Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch's championship rematch ended in a double countout, after which, the two women brawled. Later in the program, SmackDown General Manager Paige announced that Lynch would defend the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte in the first-ever Last Woman Standing  Match at Evolution. Future events. In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. The first PPV and WWE Network event under this partnership, the Greatest Royal Rumble, was held at the King Abdullah Sports City's King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah on April 27, 2018. In 2019, WWE held Super ShowDown (stylized without a dash) as their third event under this partnership, and subsequently the second event in the Super ShowDown chronology. The event was held on  June 7, 2019, at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah. A second Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia was then held on February 27, 2020, at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh, thus making the event a recurring event in the Saudi Arabian partnership. However, an event was not held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.