WWE Super Show-Down preview (Oct. 6, 2018): Eternal Recurrence

Make all the house show jokes you want. We have. But WWE will be putting on this one in front of 60 - 70,000 very excited Aussies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Not exactly how to preview a show like Super Show-Down. Regardless of how people will pay to watch it, it’s not exactly a pay-per-view (PPV), so we opted to not break out ten individual matches. But it’s bigger than a regular Monday or Tuesday night. People like Undertaker, John Cena and Triple H don’t wrestle on the average Raw or SmackDown.

The “glorified house show” label stems from a feeling that the outcomes of these bouts don’t matter, and/or are just part of a longer feud. But honestly, when isn’t that the case these days? PPV is designed to get people to tune into the fallout shows. The fallout shows push WWE Network. Make sure you follow the appropriate social media accounts to connect the dots between the two.

To try to deal with the preview-ing issue, and figure out if Oct. 6 at The MCG is any more or less important than anything else on the WWE calendar, we tried to sort the matches into some buckets:

The new freshness

It actually happened back in May on 205 Live, but because it’s not the second or third outing between the two men over the last several events, and because there aren’t already rumors it will be go down again in November, the clash between Cruiserweight champ Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy feels like just about the most vibrant thing on the card for Saturday. Hometown boy Murphy doesn’t hurt, nor does the fact however many minutes this gets, it’ll be action-packed. There’s also a real possibility for a title change here. Alexander’s held the strap since WrestleMania, and the Juggernaught has been one of the breakout stars of the revamped purple brand.

Like a New Japan undercard

Like Murphy, Peyton Royce & Billie Kay should have a home field advantage. Will it help The IIconics against Naomi & Asuka? It’s hard to get too excited about their chances when it only feels like they were heated up for use on the Australian promotional circuit. But they’re also facing a pair with a full-on case of “creative has nothing for you”. Hope for an Asuka turn, but don’t get your hopes up.

In a match built on a little bit of Kevin Owens’ anger that Bobby Lashley hurt his friend Sami Zayn, a little on Elias’ gift for turning cheap heat into news and a lot on the novelty that is John Cena wrestling in 2018, Cena teams with Bobby Lashley to face the heel duo of KO and Elias. We’re as excited to see Nikki’s ex’s new physique and sixth move of doom in HD as we are about the outcome of the match.

Speaking of the Fearless One, she’s teaming with her twin and Ronda Rousey against The Riott Squad. This one was only interesting for the possibility it would be used to set up a big match at Evolution between Nikki and Rowdy for the Raw Women’s title Ronda holds. Then Brie kicked Liv Morgan in the head and the entire wrestling world lost its collective mind. It’s multi-wrestler filler, but it could matter more later, and it’s got a great ‘reality’ era hook.

All of this has happened before, and will happen again

What’s different in the WWE championship program since Hell in a Cell? Samoa Joe rang AJ Styles’ doorbell. Anyway... these two have great chemistry, Paige says there has to be a winner, and these guys are advertised for matches against each other on shows happening in late December. Buckle up, Wendy, it’s gonna be a long ride.

We’ll also find out whether Daniel Bryan or The Miz gets a shot at whoever leaves the Styles/Joe program with the strap (whenever that ends). Most of the conversation’s focused on why a feud everyone was desparate for six months ago suddenly feels like filler, though.

Remember when The Bar snapped The New Day’s record-setting run with Raw’s tag titles? Well, their SmackDown tag team championship feud has centered on pancakes. It’s still been fun, and watching and combination of these two teams wrestling is always a treat.

Raw has a big Universal title match already lined up for champ Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman & Brock Lesnar for Nov. 2 at Crown Jewel, so they’ve thrown Roman & Braun into another six-man along with Reigns’ Shield brothers, Intercontinental champion Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose, and Strowman’s Dogs of War, Raw tag champs Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre. The Big Dog and the Monster will just jockey for position before Saudi Arabia, so keep your eyes on Ambrose and McIntyre. WWE wants us to think someone will turn, and those are the most likely candidates.

The rivalry between Charlotte Flair and SmackDown Women’s titleholder Becky Lynch has been one of the hottest in all of wrestling since SummerSlam. Expect the Melbourne crowd to get loud for the Queen and the Lasskicker here, too. But this is another one which suffers from a widely held belief we’ll see it again in a few weeks.

And then there’s the “Last Time Ever”. And maybe we won’t see Undertaker & Triple H one-on-one ever again. But we might. All signs point to seeing them in a tag match with their respective corner men Shawn Michaels & Kane at Crown Jewel in a couple weeks, and likely playing a role in a Survivor Series main event between HBK and the Dead Man - itself a rematch of WrestleMania 25 & 26.

But if you’re a fan of WWE - and if you’re reading this and even considering getting up at 5AM Eastern to watch this event live, I really hope you are - you have to get at least a little charge out of thinking about titans of the business teeing off on one another, in a stadium, with their legacies at stake. Because make no mistake, part of Taker’s 2018 run is to wipe away the impression his match at ‘Mania 33 left. And every time Triple H laces up the boots these days, he’s out to craft another epic. To say nothing of the mayor of Knox County putting on the mask for the first time since the election, or old H-B-Shizzle being about to do something he said he’d never do again.

Is it just prelude to something else? A rehash of something we’ve seen? Calorie-fill filler?

Of course it is. It’s wrestling. And we love it.

It’s the Super Show-Down!

What will you be looking for from the show in the wee hours of Saturday morning?