As confirmed by WWE.com. I can’t say I’m stunned by this, but how smart of it was of her to get a Wrestlemania payday before she walked away? It also explains Naomi getting a push out of nowhere like that and no followup from AJ beating Nikki on Sunday.
Smackdown
Date: April 2, 2015
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler
It was nice while it lasted but this is the final part of the big Wrestlemania week. Tonight is likely going to be the last major shows for now as Smackdown will go back to being the supplemental show it’s been for years. There isn’t much in the way of fallout tonight either as Raw ended without a huge bang. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here are Rollins and company for a chat. Rollins loves it when a plan works out, like when he cashed in Money in the Bank this past Sunday to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Now he’s living a new life and doing things like flying across the country to be on the Today Show, then flying back across the country to face Brock Lesnar. That gave him some serious jet lag though and it wasn’t time for Lesnar to get his rematch. If Lesnar hadn’t lost his head, maybe he could have had that title shot here tonight.
Cue Randy Orton, who says he remembers everything over the last few months. He played the Authority like a fiddle (a very stupid fiddle) before he got to rip Rollins’ head off with an RKO at Wrestlemania. More importantly though, he’s owed a rematch for the WWE from last year’s Wrestlemania and doesn’t like how that belt looks around Rollins’ waist. Seth wants to know why Randy is dwelling in the past, because he is the future.
Only Rollins gets to decide when the title is defended, which makes Orton insult the Stooges, Big Show and Kane for some reason. At least Big Show won at Wrestlemania while Kane wasn’t even there (he was in the battle royal). What does the Director of Operations do anyway? The way Orton sees it, Kane has gone from the big red monster to Big Red Riding Hood. Kane makes Orton vs. Big Show and offers Orton a potential title shot if he can win.
Big Show vs. Randy Orton
Orton quickly gets shouldered down but avoids an elbow drop. Show tries to get to the apron but winds up getting pulled into the elevated DDT. Cue the Stooges to break up an RKO attempt for the DQ at 1:19.
Everyone comes in but Randy fights back at Rollins, only to get chokeslammed by Kane. Ryback runs out for the save and it’s RKO’s all around.
We recap Bryan vs. Ziggler from Raw and Sheamus returning after the match. Who in the world thought that hair would be called anything but stupid? I mean, they had to know that reaction was coming right?
Sheamus vs. Bryan tonight, because they can’t keep the matches they set up on Monday straight for twenty four hours.
Natalya vs. Naomi
The Bellas are on commentary. Naomi’s inset interview says she can beat Nikki and win the title but she’ll prove herself until she gets a shot. Feeling out process to start with both girls missing dropkicks but nipping up at the same time. That’s rather impressive in Natalya’s full body outfit. Natalya puts her down for the step on the back into the basement dropkick for two as the Bellas question Naomi’s heart. We hit an abdominal stretch for a bit before Naomi is sent to the apron for a kick to Natalya’s head. She puts Natalya in a headscissors but drives her head first into the mat instead of flipping her over for the pin at 2:20.
Rollins apologizes to Kane for the RKO but Kane likes the sound of Orton challenging for the title at Extreme Rules. Seth tries to talk him out of it but stops to comment on the smell of the office. He leaves and we hear a toilet flush and Ambrose walks in. Harper vs. Ambrose later tonight because of the use of a bathroom. Seriously.
We get a sitdown interview with Roman Reigns, who talks about how hard it was to step in the ring with the Beast. He proved he was willing to take a beating and showed he could get up after a bunch of suplexes. Reigns talks about Suplex City but he survived the wave from Lesnar. He’s thinking about buying a condo in Suplex City because Lesnar wasn’t ready for him. Brock didn’t have an answer for all the Superman Punches and they changed his appearance permanently.
The fight changed both of their lives and he’d love to do it again. Saxton asks about Rollins cashing in and Reigns says it crushed him. He was on top of the mountain and Rollins took it away when Reigns was so close. Thirty more seconds and a spear would have won him the World Title. He’s beaten Rollins before so he can, he has and he will beat him again. I liked this more than any other interview I’ve heard from Reigns in a long time as it makes him much easier to relate to now that he’s been humbled a bit. Good interview.
Miz vs. R-Truth
Truth raps to the ring. I don’t remember him doing that for the last few weeks. The first ten seconds are spent with Miz taking off his sunglasses and the second ten seconds are spent on WE WANT MIZDOW chants. Truth shoves Miz off a headlock and hits the Lie Detector. The ax kick misses though and the Skull Crushing Finale is good for the pin at 1:22. Welcome back to Jobber Town Truth.
Mizdow runs out for a Skull Crushing Finale on Miz and puts on the sunglasses.
Here’s John Cena to one of the loudest positive reactions I’ve seen for him in a long time (yeah I know it’s Smackdown). Cena talks about how hard Rusev fought to stay undefeated for a year but seeing Rusev as the US Champion made him sick. It wasn’t due to being Russian, but because of all the things Rusev said about America. The interesting thing is that Rusev was the American dream: he showed up and fought to became everything he wanted to be, but then he thought America sucked. “WELL AMERICA DOESN’T SUCK!”
From now on, this US Title represents opportunity. Cena says bring him your outcasts, your future stars or anyone that the Authority says is a B+ player. He’ll fight anyone from Brock Lesnar to the Bushwhackers (hey now, they’re Hall of Famers) because every Monday night, there’s going to be an open challenge for the US Title. Now THAT is the best news that has happened for the title in a long time.
Cue Rusev and Lana, the latter of whom sounds like she’s lost a bit of her accent. She says Cena is half the man Rusev is because this is Rusev’s world. Rusev cuts her off by reaching out his hand for the microphone. With a glare at Lana, he says he didn’t lose at Wrestlemania so he’s still America’s champion.
In Rusev’s world, people like Cena have opportunities as well: surrender the title or be crushed at Extreme Rules. Cena thinks Rusev is drunk but if the Russian wants a fight, Cena isn’t going anywhere. Rusev wants to wait for Extreme Rules and calls for the flag drop but nothing happens. Instead Cena points and the American flag drops. I’m kind of stunned it took that long to do that. Cena agrees to the match at Extreme Rules. The announcers keep pushing Rusev as the Russian Tank, which isn’t a bad name for him.
We look at Sheamus attacking Bryan again. The tag match is off due to Ziggler being too banged up to compete. And they didn’t know that when they announced the tag match?
Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose
No entrance for Harper. Dean goes right after him in the corner and a middle rope elbow to the jaw. A basement clothesline gets two so Harper just hits him in the throat to take over. It turns into a slugout (shocking I know) until Luke catches a cross body and throws him over the top as we take a break. Back with Dean’s suicide dive being caught so he nails a clothesline on the floor.
The top rope standing elbow gets two but Luke kicks his head off to take over again. Dean escapes the powerbomb and low bridges Harper to the floor. Luke quickly sends him into the timekeeper’s area and loads up the table but Dean dives off the apron with a clothesline. He can’t powerbomb Luke through the table though so Luke shows him how it’s done. The bell doesn’t ring but I’m assuming it was a DQ win for Dean (or a double countout) at about 8:00.
Rating: C. Nice back and forth brawl here with both guys hitting each other really hard. Harper is great in the old Kane role from about 2004 as the midcard monster and Ambrose is fine as the guy who keeps getting beaten up and coming back for more. If nothing else it’s nice to have a match be long enough to rate.
The Prime Time Players make fun of the New Day, with Titus spraying himself with water and shouting about FEELING THE POWER. Big E. sounds like he has a possum stuck in his throat, Kofi has a weird looking chest and Woods has bad hair. They do the New Day chant and crickets can be heard. If nothing else, I love the Prime Time Players shirts based on the old Prime Time Wrestling logo.
Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
Non-title. Sheamus has new music with a slower pace and no lyrics. After seeing the “I’m back” line for the third time tonight, the fans tell Sheamus that he looks stupid. Sheamus encourages them and says he doesn’t see any real men around here. All the fan favorites are too vertically challenged and he’s going to crush all the underdogs. So he’s Batista from last year? Barrett is on commentary.
Sheamus shoves him into the corner to start and shrugs off Bryan’s kick to the ribs. Bryan has some more success with the leg but Sheamus drops him with a clothesline. As Sheamus fires off uppercuts, Barrett says he never lost the title and is owed a rematch. That makes Rock, Orton, Bryan, Rusev and Barrett who are owed automatic rematches. It’s almost like they’re completely overusing a plot device.
Bryan scores with some kicks to send Sheamus outside but he comes back in for an Irish Curse to send Bryan to the floor as well. We come back from a break with Sheamus loading up a suplex but flipping Bryan over instead of going down with him. You might remember that as the Crash Landing from the final month of WCW. Sheamus: “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???”
Bryan tries some forearms to no avail and gets thrown hard into the corner. Some posing allows Bryan to get a breather though and he moonsaults over Sheamus before dropping him with the running clothesline. A backdrop sends Sheamus to the floor for the Flying Goat. The missile dropkick and it’s time for the YES Kicks. As usual the big one misses but Sheamus can’t hit White Noise.
Bryan sends him into the buckle and kicks the ropes to knock Sheamus back, only to get crotched on the top. The ten forearms are broken up as Bryan grabs Sheamus’ arm. Why did no one ever think of that before? Sheamus knocks him to the floor and onto the announcers’ table, busting Bryan open. Barrett hits a Bull Hammer behind the referee’s back for a countout at 15:33.
Rating: C+. This wasn’t as good as I was expecting as Sheamus is still working the kinks out of his new character. He isn’t doing much besides big power moves, but at least he’s getting on the crowd’s nerves like he should be. Bryan was doing his usual stuff as well, but the match just never got going like you would expect it to.
Overall Rating: C-. Well it was nice while it lasted but everything is back to normal in WWE. There wasn’t much to see here other than the announcement of a B level pay per view main event and another rematch from Wrestlemania. The show wasn’t terrible, but it really falls off a cliff after the hot shows earlier in the week.
Results
Randy Orton b. Big Show via DQ when Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble interfered
Naomi b. Natalya – Headscissors driver
Miz b. R-Truth – Skull Crushing Finale
Dean Ambrose b. Luke Harper via DQ when Harper powerbombed him through a table
Sheamus b. Daniel Bryan via countout
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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Comparing a rare two straight quality Wrestlemanias. With science!
http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-like-wrestlemania/34812/
NXT
Date: April 1, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan
Wrestlemania has come and gone, but that really doesn’t mean much in NXT. Last week we saw Finn Balor come up just short in his match against Kevin Owens for the NXT Title. That means we’re in need of a new #1 contender as we wait on Sami Zayn to make his return to continue the war with Owens. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s the returning Sami Zayn to open the show. He’s been overseas in Abu Dhabi for a great tour but the timing was interesting as he’s had a lot of things to think about. It should have been the time of his life but all he can think of is Kevin Owens. The Kevin Owens that he was in the ring with isn’t the same one he’s known for twelve years.
He’s changed as a human being and Sami could see it when he looked into Kevin’s eyes. Sami has had time to think and formulate a plan, and here it is: use his rematch to get HIS NXT Title back, but the number one thing on his list is to give Owens the beating he deserves. Once those two are in the ring together again, it’s going to be gold.
Rhyno vs. ???
Rhyno throws him across the ring with a belly to belly and the Gore is good for the pin at 25 seconds.
Post match Rhyno says he’s here to make a statement by winning the NXT Title. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sami Zayn, Finn Balor or Kevin Owens, because it all ends with a Gore. This is the perfect way to use someone like Rhyno and the fans are still into him, so what’s bad in this scenario?
Former bodybuilder Dana Brooke is here in two weeks.
Last week after the match, Kevin Owens says it only matters that he won because no one is taking his title away.
Bayley vs. Emma
This is called a Divas match. I really hope that’s a one time line and not a trend. Last week Emma slapped Bayley for not turning her back on the fans. In other words, set it up one week and pay it off in the future. Emma still does all of her old shenanigans but pulls herself into the ring under the bottom instead of flipping in. She tries to clown around with Bayley before the match gets going and the first minute only sees them trade lockups.
Bayley gets annoyed with the slow pace and nails her with a running shoulder for two before walking into a clothesline. Emma still doesn’t seem to want to fight that hard so Bayley sends her into the buckle a few times but gets caught in the Emma Lock. The Emma Sandwich (Graves: “The what?”) gets two but Emma spends too much time posing and gets caught in a sunset flip for the pin at 4:12.
Rating: D+. The wrestling was nothing special here but it felt much more like a story being told than anything else. Emma as the jaded wrestler who has been burned by the main roster and not wanting Bayley to make the same mistakes is an interesting story but the matches need to be a bit better than this.
Emma smiles as Bayley leaves.
Becky Lynch wants to know when she gets her title shot. Could it be after you finally win a few matches? Sasha might not be bad, but she’s certainly not this good. “Welcome everyone to N Becks T.” I apologize for making you read a line that horrible.
Blake and Murphy vs. Lucha Dragons
Non-title. You get a rare time slip from NXT as they talk about the Dragons being on Superstars and Main Event but obviously they can’t know about the Raw appearance yet. Murphy and Kalisto get things going. Well at least I think it’s Murphy as his tights say Murphy but the commentary says he’s Blake. Either way both champions are sent to the floor for a big dive from Cara. Kalisto adds a huge moonsault and everyone is down for a few seconds.
Back in and Blake gets some help from his partner for two on Kalisto before we hit the chinlock. Kalisto fights up for a rollup for two but it’s quickly back to Murphy (the commentary matches the tights) for another chinlock. That doesn’t last long though and Kalisto finally rolls over for a tag to Cara. Everything breaks down and Cara kicks Buddy in the face, only to miss the Swanton. The referee gets distracted and Murphy gets in a cheap shot, setting up the suplex into a frog splash for the pin on Cara at 6:12.
Rating: C+. Nice basic tag match here with both teams looking fine. There’s nothing left in NXT for the Dragons though and I have no issue with them going down in one of their last matches in NXT. Murphy and Blake aren’t ready for the main roster yet but they’re fine for around here. Nice little match.
Sami Zayn is in the back but Rhyno cuts him off. He doesn’t care about Zayn’s vendettas because the line for the NXT Title starts behind Rhyno.
Solomon Crowe video.
Tye Dillinger vs. Jason Jordan
Dillinger swings away to start but gets sent hard into the corner for a spear, followed by some elbows for two. We hit the chinlock early on as Jason has already taken the straps down on his singlet. Back up and Tye makes a comeback with some very basic offense but Jordan muscles him into the corner and finishes with something like a t-bone suplex at 2:58. Jordan looked better but that’s not saying much.
We recap Tyler Breeze vs. Hideo Itami. They’ve split matches so far and tonight Hideo has been granted a 2/3 falls match. It’s a cool video but Brennan calling this historic is a pretty big stretch.
Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze
2/3 falls. The selfie stick gets a chant before the bell rings. The chants change to a debate over whether Breeze is gorgeous or ratchet. Breeze drives him into the corner to start for some shoulders to the ribs but Hideo comes back with a running clothesline and a kick to the chest. A running dropkick and a running boot to the face give Itami the first fall at 2:21. Well that was fast.
The second fall starts after a brief break but no commercial. Breeze sits in the corner to get a breather but it’s just a ruse so the Beauty Shot can connect for the pin at 3:42 total to tie things up. We take a break (with an ad for NXT at Wrestlemania Axxess next week) and come back with the third fall in progress with Breeze stomping away in the corner. Some forearms to the head get two for Tyler and we hit the chinlock. The hold stays on for a good while until Hideo fights up and avoids a dropkick.
The top rope misses but another kick to the face gets two for Hideo. They botch a fisherman’s suplex into a small package before going into a pinfall reversal sequence. After the near falls they trade kicks to the face to start and get two each with Breeze getting control. He fires off some more kicks but Hideo screams at him. A running corner dropkick misses Breeze but he can’t hit the Beauty Shot. Now the running dropkick connects but Hideo tries the same running boot to the face that won him the first fall, allowing Breeze to hit another Beauty Shot for the pin at 13:24.
Rating: C. This got better near the end but it was pretty dull stuff getting to that point. I really liked the ending with a callback to the first fall, but I really didn’t need to see this as a 2/3 falls match instead of just having a long regular match. It’s also interesting to see Breeze get the pin here as Itami got the tournament win on the big stage. Not bad but nothing special.
Overall Rating: C. After last week’s double title match show, this was pretty much a filler episode instead of anything really that important. Sami coming back is a big deal though and getting a feud with Rhyno is fine enough for a filler while Owens is recovering from knee surgery. Not much to this show but it was hardly a disaster.
Results
Rhyno b. ??? – Gore
Bayley b. Emma – Sunset flip
Blake and Murphy b. Lucha Dragons – Frog splash to Cara
Jason Jordan b. Tye Dillinger – T-bone suplex
Tyler Breeze b. Hideo Itami – Beauty Shot
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Monday Nitro #213
Date: November 8, 1999
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 8,134
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
With less than two weeks to go until Mayhem, we have a long stretch of tournament matches to still get through. The question now is can any match break ten minutes. I don’t remember the last time we reached that point, but it’s a very rare sight in Russo Land. Hopefully things start to make a bit more sense but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Let’s get to it.
We open in the production truck with Sid telling a production guy to play a tape when he gives him a cue.
Here’s Sid in the arena with something to say. I can’t see this ending well. The Outsiders think he’s dumb, but he’s not as dumb as he looks. This brings him to Goldberg, who quit at Halloween Havoc. The tape is cued up and we see Goldberg beating on Sid as Sid shouts I QUIT. That’s it. Seriously, that’s it. This brings out the Outsiders with Hall carrying the US Title.
Wait a minute. Hall took the belt from Sid, who wasn’t champion when he took it from Bret. So does that make Bret Bad News Barrett, Sid R-Truth and Hall Dean Ambrose? Suddenly my life makes so much more sense. (That’s a Wrestlemania XXXI reference if you’re reading this ten years from now).
Hall brings up beating Sid last week but Sid says Hall was supposed to lay down. Hall doesn’t lay down for anyone, because that’s how the Kliq works. Nash wants Sid to call out Bret, but Hart saves Sid the trouble. Apparently Bret thinks Goldberg is the real US Champion and he’s going to give Goldberg his belt back tonight. Cue Goldberg to spear Sid and challenge him to an I Quit match. Goldberg also challenges the Outsiders to a game of hide and seek. They hide, he seeks and destroys. Isn’t that the name of Sting’s theme song?
Here are the updated brackets. Sting and Luger have both advanced due to injuries.
Bret Hart
Perry Saturn
Norman Smiley
Kidman
Total Package
Sting
Chris Benoit
Madusa
Scott Hall
Lash Leroux
Buff Bagwell
Vampiro
Curt Hennig
Jeff Jarrett
That is one lame tournament.
Sting isn’t sure he can trust Luger and thinks Lex has a lot of splaining to do.
Luger and Liz arrive in Indiana Pacers gear and try to sneak into the building without being noticed. The camera on them doesn’t help this.
We look at Kimberly running David Flair over last week.
Kimberly arrives and tells Doug Dillinger that David has been harassing her all week. So why is she here? Dillinger gives her extra security.
Kevin Nash has his security license and that’s all we hear as we go to commercial mid sentence.
The Filthy Animals are in the ring for all their sex based catchphrases because Russo thinks they’re like DX. The insults bring out the Revolution, with Dean challenging Rey to a mixed tag with Torrie and Asya. Rey says it’s on.
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Norman Smiley vs. Kidman
Norman is officially Screamin Norman Smiley. As he comes to the ring, Tony announces Hall vs. Sid vs. Hart vs. Goldberg in a Texas tornado ladder match for the US Title. This would be different from all those ladder matches where you have to tag. Since Norman is hardcore now, Brian Knobbs and Jimmy Hart come out for commentary. Kidman rips off the helmet Norman is wearing and it’s fighting time.
Norman can’t quite take his gloves off though so Kidman takes him to the ropes for a spanking, only to get kicked low. Something like an inverted powerbomb gets two on Kidman and Norman does his spanking (what is with Russo’s obsession with spanking?) dance while Kidman screams for Torrie. There are so many connotations there, I don’t know where to start. Knobbs sneaks in with a hockey stick to lay out Norman, giving Kidman the pin in barely two minutes.
To recap, Kidman is now in the final eight of the World Title tournament after needing the help of Brian Knobbs to defeat Norman Smiley in a two minute match that saw both men being spanked. This is the brilliant Vince Russo’s grand solution to Rock, HHH, Austin, Angle, Undertaker and company.
Sting searches for Luger.
David Flair is lurking around with his crowbar.
Kevin Nash is getting a rainbow turban put on. Nash as the Grand Wizard would be….well it would be stupid actually.
Here’s an angry Sting to call out Luger. He gets Liz instead, who, after tripping on the ramp because of her heels, says that Luger would never do anything to hurt their cherished friendship. Sting puts his arm around her and says she can be the female Total Package. Now Luger comes out and says he’s here in friendship and apologizes for what happened last week. Sting chokes him against the ropes and says he’ll rip his throat out if that ever happens again. As we’ve known for years, Sting can be a bit of a psycho.
Kimberly goes into her dressing room when the lights go out. David Flair’s voice says she won’t feel a thing. What am I even watching anymore?
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Chris Benoit vs. Madusa
Madusa actually puts on a hammerlock but Benoit calmly brushes it off. He tells her to leave and talks to the referee but Madusa fires off some kicks and a hurricanrana. That’s it for Benoit as he rips off a chop to put Madusa on the mat. Cue Evan Karagias to get in a fight with referee Johnny Boone, who easily holds his own against Evan. Jeff Jarrett runs in and lays out Benoit for the DQ, because this isn’t the WWF and we don’t hit women.
Madusa freaks out on Jarrett for costing her a shot at the title.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. comes in to ask the Powers That Be for his opportunity for winning the battle royal on Thunder. Russo tells him that the opportunity around here is selling Amway, so get out of his office. So yeah, no reward and the battle royal was a waste of time.
Jim Duggan is cleaning toilets.
TV Title: Rick Steiner vs. Disco Inferno
Steiner is defending and Disco is Cruiserweight Champion. A quick Steinerline sends Disco to the floor, where the kid who has been hanging around Disco is carrying a bucket. He’s officially named Tony Marinara and says he’s been carrying Glenn since they were kids. Tony says he wants his money and it turns out the bucket is full of concrete. Rick takes it away and hits Disco in the head with it, setting up a German suplex for the pin. We’re getting a mafia angle aren’t we?
Nash is indeed the Grand Wizard of Wrestling and has powder, chloroform and brass knuckles. He and Hall are ready for Sid and they have riot police following them around.
We see the Nitro Girls finalists do a mini routine until AC Jazz comes out and throws out all the Nitro Girl wannabes. They’re skanks and various other insults so here’s Spice to call AC a ho, triggering a fight. Who looks at the Nitro Girls and says they need a story? Who looks at the Nitro Girls and says they need to exist actually?
Kimberly is hiding in the boiler room. David is there with her and says his master needs another bride. In case you’re wondering, we’ve had about five and a half minutes of wrestling time so far but this is the third or fourth bit about these two.
Here’s Dustin Rhodes as Seven for his debut promo. With the floor covered in smoke, he flies to the ring with the help of some not very well covered wires. “I want everyone here to take a good long look at this crap I’m in.” He rants about leaving the WWF because of gimmicks like Goldust, which completely sucked. It nearly ruined his wrestling career and he wanted to come back home and just be Dustin Rhodes. The Powers That Be think Dustin is boring though, so he’s dressed up as Uncle Fester. “My new name is Seven by the way.”
He won’t have any of this or Goldust and they know where they can shove it. Last week, WCW fired Dusty Rhodes so now his mission is to make the Powers That Be, WCW and TNA all suffer the consequences. You will never forget the name of Dustin Rhodes. To recap, Russo came up with this character and now has written a promo where he calls it stupid. He’s already bored of burying the talent so he’s going to bury himself I guess.
David is still on the hunt.
Luger and Liz have a plan to make up with Sting.
Sting vs. Goldberg
Just a match and Goldberg’s first match of the night. After a two minute entrance, Goldberg slugs Sting up against the ropes but gets caught in a sleeper. Cue Luger and Liz as the referee goes down. They mace Sting (clearly intentional) and it’s the spear and Jackhammer for the pin in 2:13. These two should have been the biggest match all year and Russo has run it twice in fifteen days in 5:21 total. That’s borderline criminal. Also, in case you have hope for the future, this is their last singles match ever.
And now, after that huge match, the Outsiders offer Sid the riot squad when Rick Steiner comes up and demands Sid make time for him tonight. So Rick is the clingy ex?
Luger and Liz see Duggan mopping floors and steal his “wet floor” sign.
Kimberly finds a security guard and, say it with me, it’s David Flair. What happened to the extra guards she was given earlier?
Vampiro is now a full on member of the Misfits. Well sweet goodness I totally want to watch the show, buy the merchandise and order the pay per views now. This totally changes my perspective on the company and wrestling as a whole and I can’t put into words how excited I am to have seen this thrilling turn of events.
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Vampiro vs. Buff Bagwell
The Misfits jump Bagwell during his entrance and the referee has no issue ringing the bell during a 5-1 beatdown. Vampiro takes him inside for a running clothesline but completely misses a top rope flip attack. Bagwell fights off all of the Misfits but the referee gets poked in the eye and Vampiro hits a missile dropkick. I don’t see why we needed a ref bump for that but I’m still reeling from the announcement that Vampiro has joined the Misfits so I probably missed the subtext. Berlyn comes down and nails Vampiro with a chain, setting up the Blockbuster for the pin. Five people, a ref bump and a chain. Match time: 82 seconds.
The Bodyguard beats up the Misfits post match. Creative Control comes up and beats Berlyn down as well. As terrifying as this is to me, I’m starting to understand these stories.
Luger is on the bathroom floor holding his knee. After a break, the EMT says there’s nothing wrong with it.
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Bret Hart vs. Perry Saturn
Bret’s knee seems to be fine and Shane Douglas is on commentary. Hart goes after the arm first but gets caught by a forearm to the face. Saturn gets smart and kicks at Bret’s recently injured knee which Bret quickly remembers to sell. A t-bone suplex drops Bret but he avoids the Lionsault. Must be the Canadian instinct.
We hit the Five Moves of Doom (Shane: “I’ve seen this before!”) but Asya distracts the referee as Bret puts on the Sharpshooter. Shane gets up and hits him in the head with a cast, setting up the Death Valley Driver for a surprising kick out. Saturn throws him outside so Malenko can get in some cheap shots but Benoit runs out for the save. Bret gets thrown back in but escapes a sunset flip and puts on the Sharpshooter for the win to advance.
Rating: C-. Another potentially good match ruined by too much overbooking. Hart kicking out of the Death Valley Drive surprised me a bit, even though I know how this tournament ends. The bad side of that is I fully expected there to be a screwy finish if Bret was eliminated because that’s the standard operating procedure around here these days: be screwy for the sake of being screwy.
Kimberly asks Creative Control for a meeting with the Powers That Be.
Nash does Johnny Carson’s Carnac bit, meaning he gives the answer to a question and then reads the question. The answer is 316 and the question is how many times Undertaker and Austin have worked a pay per view against each other. Oh get over yourselves WCW. That shouldn’t be hard given how low you are in the ratings.
Here’s Booker T. with something to say. He’s alone this week as Stevie Ray has been suspended. Booker has three things on his mind: Jeff Jarrett and Creative Control. He wants all three of them out here right now for a Harlem street fight.
Booker T. vs. Creative Control/Jeff Jarrett
Jeff sits on commentary because Creative Control can handle Booker on their own. Booker backdrops one of them to the floor and forearms the other so Jarrett comes in with the guitar for a threat, allowing Creative Control to hammer on Booker. Cue a woman who looks like a black Chyna….and gets hit with a guitar a few seconds after she gets in. That’s the end of the so called match as Jarrett and Creative Control walk out.
The Powers That Be tell Luger that he has to face Sid or he’s out of the tournament.
Asya/Dean Malenko vs. Torrie Wilson/Rey Mysterio
Torrie is in a swimsuit top, the bottom half of a dress and very high heels. She tries to take the dress off but Rey stops her for some reason. Asya handcuffs Torrie to the ring five seconds in and Rey gets double teamed. Torrie was really that big of a threat? A suplex gets two and it’s off to Malenko for two more off a clothesline but Rey comes back with a one legged dropkick. He knocks Asya off the apron but Dean kicks him in the knee, only to get sent hard into Asya. Rey misses the Bronco Buster, setting up the Cloverleaf for another fast ending.
The Animals come in for the save as Tony says this was a grand plan. There was nothing grand about this Tony. Well except Torrie.
Kimberly goes into the shower and David is waiting for her. Good grief just leave the arena already. Then again David seems to have superpowers tonight so it might not matter.
Sid Vicious vs. Total Package
Liz wheels Luger down and Lex says his knee is too banged up to compete, but he’ll be fine for the tournament match next week. This brings Sting out to beat Luger up and throw him in to face Sid. Sid hammers away but has to move Liz to get at Luger again. Luger actually sells the knee (still wrapped in ice) as Sid stomps on it. A big boot puts Luger down and the riot squad comes out. They stop an invading Goldberg, then step aside so he can come in and spear both guys for the no contest, even though it should have been a DQ on Luger since Goldberg got speared first.
Brian Knobbs vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Hardcore of course and the winner will face Norman Smiley for the Hardcore Title. Norman comes down to do commentary and asks if Bigelow has dental insurance because he’s been missing that tooth for years. He’s already the funniest commentator this company has. After some trashcan shots they fight into the back with Norman playing Road Dogg as roving commentator.
They knock each other into a wall and Norman wants to know where Doug Dillinger is when you really need him. Knobbs hits Bigelow with a chair and drives him through a table as Norman screams a lot. Kimberly shows up and has Bigelow come with her, meaning Knobbs wins by countout. Backstage. In a hardcore match. This was a way for Kimberly to get some protection but Norman continues to be hilarious.
Norman beats up Knobbs and Jimmy and throws them in trashcans.
Kimberly and Bam Bam Bigelow are looking for David. Bigelow: “If you want to pick on a girl, pick on me!”
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Scott Hall vs. Lash Leroux
Nash is with Hall and in the Grand Wizard garb. The riot guard is with them as well to really overbook things. Heenan thinks the guest referee for the ladder match is going to be from another organization. We start with a toothpick throw and Lash is tossed into the corner. Hall drives in the shoulders and puts on an armbar to slap Lash in the back of the head. Back up and Lash scores with some forearms and a dropkick as Tony is really putting Lash over. The Outsiders have a meeting on the floor and Nash offers chloroform.
Back in and Scott offers a test of strength and pokes Leroux in the eye. Tony talks about the tournament and Heenan says he sounds like Dick Vitale. Tony: “Really?” Heenan: “No.” A chokeslam sets up the Giant imitation, because it makes sense to mock someone who left nine months ago. Tony tries to cover for him by saying it’s climbing a ladder, which is better than most ideas he’s had before.
Hall puts on an abdominal stretch and lifts Lash’s leg to make it even worse. As Lash makes his comeback, Tony promises a recap of everything that’s happened earlier in the night. The fact that that’s a featured attraction tells you how messy this show has been. Hall stops the comeback with a discus punch and the fallaway slam. The Outsider’s Edge is good for the pin.
Rating: C. You know what? This wasn’t half bad. Maybe it’s my shock that they had a match end clean, but this was a totally acceptable six minute (longest of the night) match. It’s nothing great and nothing I’ll think about by the time this show is over, but this was such a nice change of pace from the other “matches” all night that it was pretty entertaining.
Nash calls the riot squad into the ring and one of them is Goldberg. You can figure the rest out for yourselves. Before the double spear, Nash tries to throw powder in Goldberg’s face. I’m sure Nash had a plan to get it past the helmet and visor.
Recap of Hennig having to avoid getting pinned to keep his job. We still have no idea why this stipulation has been put into place.
WCW World Title Tournament Second Round: Curt Hennig vs. Jeff Jarrett
Hennig jumps him in the aisle to start and they head inside with Jeff grabbing a quick small package for two. They head right back outside for a slugout with Jeff going after the knee as is his custom. Cue Creative Control to watch from the stage as Hennig kicks out of a Figure Four attempt.
Curt fights back and naturally we get a ref bump. You can feel the ratings triple as fans just know the referee has gone down in a five minute match and the excitement cannot be contained! The PerfectPlex doesn’t matter because no one is there to count, allowing Creative Control to beat Curt down. They slam him through the announcers’ table and it’s a countout, meaning this stupid angle MUST CONTINUE!
Rating: D+. Somehow this might have been the second best match of the night. I’m already getting bored of telling Russo that there’s no need to have a match this overbooked when you have two talented guys in there, but this was more of the same problems over and over again. Boring match but at least they had some time to set something up.
Jeff gives Curt the Stroke post match.
Here are the updated brackets:
Bret Hart
Kidman
Sting
Total Package
Chris Benoit
Scott Hall
Buff Bagwell
Jeff Jarrett
Kimberly comes to the ring and says she’s tired of running from David, so come get her. This brings out David but Bam Bam Bigelow jumps him. David hits him low and gets in a crowbar shot though, sending Kimberly running away again.
Post break, Kimberly is trying to get in her car with David Flair behind her. She drops her keys but gets in anyway, only to have David break out a window. Creative Control comes up and chases him off, saying the Powers That Be will see her now. Why she hasn’t CALLED THE FREAKING POLICE all night is never made clear.
US Title: Sid Vicious vs. Goldberg vs. Bret Hart vs. Scott Hall
Ladder match with Goldberg defending. During the entrances, Tony recaps the evening and my goodness it sounds even worse. Hall and Sid start fighting before the other two get there and it’s clear that Sid could easily reach up and pull down the title without a ladder. Bret and Goldberg come in with no music as we’re reminded about the special referee. We could also use a ladder, so here comes Nash with a ladder and a referee’s shirt.
Goldberg and Hall slug it out in the aisle and we’re told it’s Kimberly vs. David Flair at Mayhem. So it’s Kimberly vs. a man stalking her and potentially trying to rape her earlier. No, of course Russo doesn’t have issues with women. All four get inside as the fans chant for Goldberg but they get Rick Steiner instead. He plants Sid with the bulldog and slugs it out with Goldberg. Hart pulls down the belt but Nash hits him in the bad leg with a pipe and picks up the belt. Hall climbs one rung and is handed the belt to make him the champion.
Rating: D-. Why did I expect anything else here? It was an overbooked ladder match and that’s the best idea they could come up with, but at least Hall is the champion now and….what exactly does that change? Nothing of course, because titles mean nothing in this company and are nothing more than a plot point. That’s one of those Russo ideas that has stayed around, despite the fact that it’s rarely made things even better.
Overall Rating: F+. At what point did this stop being a wrestling show? Somewhere recently this turned into a bunch of direct to video movies spliced together. Kimberly was all over this show more than the Filthy Animals had been recently, which makes for good scenery but some STUPID moments. She had no reason to be there tonight as she quit the Nitro Girls and Page is allegedly hurt, but she showed up for the sake of the plot. Bad show with some watchable matches when they were given time, but we needed more shenanigans with Luger’s knee or Kimberly being stupid. Standard WCW fare in other words.
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Mild spoiler from Smackdown but it’s not that big of a deal. Now this is an interesting one.I REALLY like this idea as it’s exactly what the title has been missing. Booking a title strong is really one of the most basic ideas in wrestling: make it look valuable. Seriously that’s about it. If Cena has a line of people waiting to challenge him for the title, it instantly becomes something of value and therefore better than it was before. The matches are almost guaranteed to be entertaining and a pretty high quality with Cena out there as well.
The other major perk of this is it can elevate people by just having them rub elbows with Cena. Remember when Sandow cashed in his briefcase and had the best match of his career? Imagine that from Fandango, R-Truth, Jack Swagger, Neville, Erick Rowan, Adam Rose, Titus O’Neal and I think you get the point. Wrestling John Cena is instantly going to make people better, much like wrestling Undertaker at Wrestlemania. No they aren’t likely to win, but it makes for an entertaining match and gives them a big rub.
I completely approve of this and the longer it lasts the better.
So since I’m one of the most passive/lazy people you’ll ever meet, I stopped getting money from the ads on here about a year ago and finally got around to setting up some new ones. Basically I survive on the e-book money and I’m getting married this summer so a bit more cash can’t hurt. I’m sorry if they get on your nerves but they have to be there for my own sake.
KB
Lucha Underground
Date: March 25, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
This is a big night for the company as we have two title matches, including one for the AAA World Title as Alberto El Patron defends against former champion El Texano in a bullrope match. Other than that we have the Lucha Underground Title on the line with Prince Puma defending against Cage in a street fight. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the two title feuds.
The announcers preview the title matches.
Angelico vs. Son of Havoc
Ivelisse gets the big reaction and can you really blame the crowd? Havoc goes right after Angelico to start and knocks him to the floor. He loads up a dive but bails out when Angelico ducks and just pounds him in the back. Back in and the very tall Angelico gets clotheslined for two before a Curb Stomp gets two for Havoc. A kick to the head from the mat drops Havoc for two as the fans sound like they’re cheering for Shaggy.
Havoc is sent to the floor for a BIG dive to really wake the fans up. You know, because they were so out of it before. Back in again and Havoc kicks him in the face, setting up a standing Shooting Star press for two. A backbreaker gets the same and Ivelisse is livid. She grabs him by the beard (Striker: “She’s got him by the short hairs!” Vampiro: “You said short hairs!”) but Havoc catches Angelico with a kick to the head.
A springboard double stomp to the back and a standing moonsault get two for Havoc before he counters a running Razor’s Edge bomb into the corner with a hurricanrana. SWEET counter. They head up top with Angelico getting crotched down, but Havoc wants a mic instead of diving on him. He blames Ivelisse for making him lose his matches and officially dumps her. Somehow Angelico can’t get out of the way of the Shooting Star to give Havoc the pin.
Rating: C+. I get the idea here, but who in the world is going to cheer Son of Havoc over Ivelisse? Yeah she yells a lot, but a woman that looks like that with her in ring abilities isn’t going to get booed for long. This would have been better if the roles were reversed, but I’ll give the announcers credit for treating her like she was a horrible person that needed to be gone.
Ivelisse slaps Angelico to let off some steam.
Cueto has signed former TNA wrestler Hernandez. He’ll be in the front row for the main event.
AAA Mega Title: Alberto El Patron vs. Texano
That would be the World Title and Alberto is defending. This is also a bullrope match with pins and submissions instead of touching the ropes. Texano starts choking in the corner and bites Patron’s face. A backdrop sends Texano to the apron though and Alberto dives through the ropes to take him down. The champ is holding his leg but seems to be fine. Vampiro wants to see Texano hit him in the face with a cowbell and that’s exactly what he gets early on.
We get a chair brought in and Texano CRACKS Alberto over the back. That sounded great. The chair is wedged in between the top and middle rope and you can already see Texano’s head going into it later on. A DDT plants El Patron but he nails Texano with the bell to take over again. Some clotheslines set up a Backstabber for no cover on Texano. It’s time for a whipping with the bell hitting the mat to make it look far worse than it really was. A quick Codebreaker gets two for Texano but he takes too long going up and gets superplexed for two.
The fans seem to be behind Texano but Alberto gets them back on his side by loading up the armbreaker, only to get sent into the chair in the corner. Wow it’s different in lucha libre. That goes nowhere for Texano as Alberto kicks him in the head for an EL PATRON chant. We get a table set up in the ring but Texano powerbombs Alberto through it for a very close two. Texano puts him on the ropes again but gets pulled down into the armbreaker to retain the title.
Rating: B. I had a good time with this and the ending was a great touch as so often you would see the hold broken because of the ropes. Thankfully they didn’t do something so nonsensical in a No DQ match. I always appreciate a smart move like that and it helped a lot here. Alberto as a face is golden and makes me wonder why WWE abandoned the idea after like six months.
Hernandez comes up to Puma in the back and says he’s a fan. Konnan gives Puma a pep talk.
Lucha Underground Title: Prince Puma vs. Cage
Cage is challenging and this is a street fight. There’s no actual title belt after Cage ripped it to pieces a few weeks back. Before the match, Cueto comes out with a huge new title belt which looks way better than the toy they had at first. Hernandez is in the front row as well. Puma dropkicks Cage to start but gets backdropped to the apron for a hard clothesline to knock him to the floor.
Cage easily counters a hurricanrana off the apron and powerbombs the champ into the post as Vampiro talks about how the name of the street fight doesn’t change much. Puma superkicks him to stop a chair shot before hitting something like a Van Daminator to take over. We get a trashcan lid brought in (Vampiro: “It’s one of those things just laying around!”) to nail Cage several times before a Shooting Star onto the lid onto Cage keeps both guys down.
It’s table time but Puma takes too long, allowing Cage to blast him in the head with the lid. Back in and a rack into a double knee backbreaker gets two on the champ and the fans are split. Cage gets kicked off the apron and eats a running hurricanrana for a big reaction. It’s back to the table now with Puma hitting a SWEET springboard 450 to drive Cage through. Unfortunately Cage is dead weight now so Puma takes forever to get him inside for two.
Cage pops up and shoves Puma to the floor to break up the 630 (I guess he’s not a flippy fan). He puts Puma’s head through a chair and drives it into the post before sending Konnan into the barricade for some real heat. Without checking on his mentor, Puma takes him back inside for a kick to the head and a chair shot for two.
The 630 misses and Cage gets two off a discus lariat. Weapon X plants Puma but Cage hammers away instead of covering like the rookie schmuck he is. A double powerbomb, with the second onto a trashcan, looks to end him but Cage screws up AGAIN by calling out Hernandez. The distraction lets Konnan get in a metal cane shot, setting up the 630 for the pin.
Rating: B-. This was good but went on a bit too long. Also, Cage comes off like an idiot killing machine, which makes sense but is still kind of annoying. I’m not wild on Hernandez but he’s a name people have heard of and the history fits with Konnan. Puma needed a win like this ala Shawn vs. Diesel in 1996 so it’s hard to find a major complaint other than the length.
Overall Rating: B+. This was another good show for the company as they keep things going at a fast pace. I like that the Lucha Underground Title main evented this show as it really should be the more important title, even though the AAA belt means way more. It’s a good show from a good promotion with two hard hitting matches and Ivelisse. What else do you need?
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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 30, 2015
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., John Bradshaw Layfield
Things have certainly changed last night as we have a new WWE World Champion in Seth Rollins, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and made the main event a triple threat, allowing him to pin Reigns and win the title. Tonight is always one of the most eventful nights of the year and it’s always interesting to see where things go from here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence with no recap from last night.
Here are a livid Heyman and Lesnar, with the beast in his fighting gear and cuts on his face. Something I noticed last night: for a guy as terrifying as he looks, Brock Lesnar has some skinny legs. Heyman says he’s the advocate for the most non-PG killer of the PG Era. Last night Brock laid a beating on Roman Reigns, just like they promised they would. Heyman’s voice sounds like it’s about to go out. He talks about all the suplexes and has to stop for the Suplex City chant.
Last night, Reigns almost gained Lesnar’s respect but the kid still has a long way to go. Lesnar got bored last night and wanted to go to dinner, so he hit the fourth F5, but here came Seth Rollins (big reaction for that). Seth came out and stole the title by pinning the challenger instead of the champion. Heyman talks about his father being a prominent New York attorney and says he can have the decision reversed in court with the title being held up, but Brock thinks all lawyers are scumbags. He doesn’t want litigation, because he wants his rematch clause.
That rematch will not happen at Summerslam, Wrestlemania XXXII, Extreme Rules or Payback, but it’s being invoked RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW. Cue Stephanie and she’s as popular as John Cena was in New Orleans last year. She praises Brock for a great main event but the fans chant for Ronda Rousey as Stephanie’s arm is held close to her ribs.
The fans won’t get what they want if they make her angry and they calm down. Rollins got on a plane to go to New York for the Today Show and he’s not here yet. Once he gets here though, he’ll be up for the challenge. Heyman says Lesnar wrestles live tonight on Raw for the first time in over ten years. Tonight there’s going to be a new World Champion.
John Cena has issued an open challenge for the US Title and Daniel Bryan is defending the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler.
Intercontinental Title: Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler
Bryan won the title last night in a ladder match and both guys get jobber entrances here. Ziggler has a new jean jacket vest and Barrett is on commentary. Feeling out process to start as the fans are split. Bryan cranks on the arm as Barrett talks about getting the title back when it’s convenient for him.
Daniel wrestles him to the mat for some hard forearms but Ziggler changes control and hammers away, only to get kicked in the face to break it up. This is starting to get physical. They head into the corner with Bryan firing off some kicks and a hard forearm to the face, setting up the surfboard. Back up and Ziggler fires off a cross body to put both guys on the floor as we take a break. We come back to Bryan fighting out of a chinlock and hitting the running dropkicks in the corner. Those things just look good.
Both guys crotch themselves on top and Bryan nails a belly to back superplex for two. The YES Kicks look to set up the YES Lock but Ziggler counters into a pinfall reversal sequence, followed by sending Bryan shoulder first into the post. The running knee is countered by a superkick for two and the fans give them a standing ovation. It was good but a standing ovation? Really? They slug it out from their knees before turning to headbutts, only to have Bryan get knocked backed and come back with the running knee to retain at 11:53.
Rating: B-. Good match but a standing ovation? I’m fine if this is the kind of match we’ll be getting in the future but I really need more long term proof before I believe the title is back to meaning something. Bryan winning his first title defense is a good sign and it’s nice to see a match not getting interrupted for a change.
Post match Barrett goes after Bryan but Sheamus, with a mohawk and a braided beard, runs out for the save. Barrett leaves but Sheamus Brogue Kicks Bryan and White Noise to Ziggler. Fans: “YOU LOOK STUPID!” Oh that’s an understatement. Sheamus: “I’m back.”
Seth Rollins has arrived.
We recap the Hall of Fame inductions.
Cesaro/Tyson Kidd/Ascension vs. New Day/Lucha Dragons
Woods is the odd man out here. We have our first NXT callup of the night with the Lucha Dragons of Sin Cara and Kalisto. The fans of course chant NXT as Cara and Cesaro get things going with the fans switching to Cesaro. He takes Cara down to start but gets caught in La Mistica for two. Off to Kalisto for some kicks at the arm before a HUGE backflip into a multi-spin headscissors, sending Cesaro out to the floor.
Big E. comes in to a “New Day sucks” chant as he gets to face Konnor. Kofi quickly tags in for a middle rope clothesline before it’s already back to Cara to work on the arm. Ascension gets their act together and slams Cara down as we take a break. Back with Cesaro swinging Cara into the dropkick from Kidd but Cara is able to dive over for the hot tag to Kofi. House is cleaned but the fans still hate the New Day.
The Boom Drop and a spinning cross body get two as the announcers acknowledge the chants. Kidd throws Kofi into a European uppercut but Viktor tags himself in. The real hot tag brings in Kalisto to clean house with a rolling kick to Viktor’s face and a headscissors faceplant. Everything breaks down with Big E. belly to belly suplexing everyone he sees. Cara backdrops Kofi onto the champs and Konnor, setting up Salida Del Sol on Viktor for the pin at 10:08. Booker: “We may have to get every talent from NXT on this roster right now!”
Rating: C+. Total star making performance from Kalisto as he was flying all over the place and making everyone forget Rey Mysterio ever existed. I wish Ascension hadn’t been crushed so much but it’s nice to see the Dragons still having their number as they’re both on the main roster. Hopefully this is just the first of a few debuts tonight.
Heyman tells Lesnar that he’s here.
Video on Neville (no Adrian) but no date for his debut.
WWE World Heavyweight Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins
The belt looks huge on Rollins. We get big match intros and Rollins goes over to get in front of Brock as he holds up the title. Seth doesn’t hand over the title and the opening bell never rings. Instead he drops to the floor and says he’s too jetlagged. Plus he has a sore foot from Curb Stomping Lesnar last night so the rematch isn’t happening tonight.
Lesnar goes after him and throws Rollins down before blasting him with a clothesline. They get inside but Rollins flips out of the German suplex. The kick to the face just ticks Brock off though so Rollins tries to bail again, only to get caught in the F5. The Stooges’ save doesn’t work as they get clotheslined and send Rollins running to the crowd. No match as the bell never rang.
Brock throws the announcers’ table over to crush all three of them and beats up the Stooges as a consolation prize and F5’s Cole to a huge reaction. Heyman thinks Brock has gone too far so Brock takes out a cameraman until Stephanie comes out to tell him to stop (her arm seemingly fine already) but Brock hits another F5. That earns him a suspension and he’s out of the building. Brock F5’s the cameraman one more time and finally leaves.
Back with a replay of Lesnar’s rampage and still no commentary. Stephanie says she’ll fine Brock because he’s signed long term so she owns him.
Stardust vs. Damien Mizdow
Byron Saxton is a one man booth now and the table still overturned. Mizdow comes out to the same entrance and music he had with Miz but alone this time. Stardust jumps him to start but Mizdow explodes with a clothesline out of the corner and hits the Reality Check. That’s fine with Stardust who hits a release gordbuster and cranks on a cravate, only to get annoyed at the CODY chants. Back up and a Skull Crushing Finale is good enough to give Mizdow the pin at 2:24.
Miz runs in and hits the Finale on Mizdow before talking a lot of trash.
Video on how Wrestlemania took over the Bay Area and the media appearances last week.
Curtis Axel says the entire roster is jealous of Axelmania. It took 29 men to eliminate him from the battle royal, but the road to Axtreme Rules stars right now.
Neville vs. Curtis Axel
Neville now has a hooded cape and is billed as the Man That Gravity Forgot. Axel goes right for him before the bell and gets a HUGE springboard moonsault to the floor. Back in and we get the opening bell as Neville starts speeding things way up with the front flips and some running forearms. Kicks to the ribs and a running kick to the face set up the Red Arrow for the pin at 1:13. Total squash.
We recap Lesnar attacking the announcers.
Here’s John Cena for an open challenge for the US Title. The fans chant John Cena Sucks in time with the music so Cena does the entrance twice with a smirk on his face. Cena says you’re going to hear about Wrestlemania moments all night but stops to praise the crowd for being so vocal. He mentions them singing and the fans strike up the band again. That means the fans aren’t going to like this: THE CHAMP IS HERE! The challenge is open so come get some.
US Title: John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose
Oh now that’s a surprise. Saxton thought it would be Rusev and even said his name before Dean came out. Ambrose gets taken down with a headlock to start as the fans are all over Cena. Back up and Dean hiptosses him down for one and Cena bails outside as we take a break. We come back with Dean fighting out of a chinlock and Jerry Lawler joining Saxton on commentary. Cena slams Dean down but a kick to the face breaks up the Shuffle. A big boot sets up the rebound clothesline but Cena ducks into the ProtoBomb.
Now the Shuffle connects but the AA is countered into a sunset flip for two. The second attempt at the rebound clothesline gets two and a tornado DDT gets the same on Cena. The champ bails outside and gets taken down by the top rope standing elbow (that’s still cool looking). Back in and a quick AA gets two and a nice reaction from the crowd on the kickout. A top rope AA is countered as Dean hammers away, only to botch a sunset bomb. Instead it’s a Batista Bomb but Cena rolls out and puts on the STF but Dean makes the long crawl to the ropes.
Another AA is countered into the STF on Cena with John’s face being far more shocked than in pain. Dean lets go as Cena is getting close to the ropes and another AA is countered into Dirty Deeds for two. This is getting good with the drama and near falls. Cena wins a slugout and they trade finisher counters until Dean hits a cross body, only to have Cena rolls through into an AA for the pin at 14:23.
Rating: B. This took its time to get going but once they started trading finishers you actually believed Ambrose could pull off the upset. It’s a good sign that he’s in a match like this after all those big losses in recent months. He’s still way over and that’s more important than any win or loss he can have.
Post match Cena stands over Dean, who is shaking his head. They slap hands and there’s no heel turn.
Stills of last night’s main event.
Rollins says he earned the right to cash in at any time and that’s exactly what he did last night, when no one expected it. Let’s forget about Lesnar, because he walked out of Wrestlemania as the new World Heavyweight Champion. Orton comes up and says he wants the title, so here are Kane and Big Show to stand behind Rollins. Seth gives Randy until the end of the night to find two partners.
AJ Lee/Paige/Naomi vs. Bella Twins/Natalya
AJ is wearing a Bayley shirt. Natayla headlocks Naomi down to start before firing off some forearms. Naomi comes back with a running dropkick, only to have Natalya take her down for a basement dropkick. Off to Brie for the third dropkick of the match as the fans want Bayley. Brie takes her down with a fireman’s carry into an armbar, followed by taking her down with a fireman’s carry into an armbar. Back up and the tag brings in Paige for some headbutts. Brie calls her a loser and gets speared to the floor as we take a break. IN THIS MATCH???
Back with Brie holding AJ in a chinlock before it’s off to Natalya for some suplexes for two. Nikki puts on a chinlock of her own and keeps AJ from diving over for the tag. A hard forearm puts Paige down and we keep the match going with a modified Indian deathlock. AJ finally gets free and sends Nikki into the buckle for the hot tag to Naomi. Nikki plants her with an Alabama Slam but Paige comes in as everything breaks down. Bella miscommunication sees Nikki hit Brie by mistake, setting up the Rear View to pin Nikki at 13:35.
Rating: C. This was a good example of the problem with the Divas: most of them have a horrible lack of presence. The Bellas are really bad about this. They’re good at doing heel stuff, but the charisma isn’t there and they feel like they’re just playing characters. Yeah they’re playing those characters well enough, but I don’t buy it as anything more than them doing what they’re told to do. Natalya can have that presence, or at least can be good enough in the ring to make up for it. I don’t buy that from the Bellas and I never have. Hopefully this leads to Naomi getting a title run.
We look at Lesnar’s destruction again.
Ryback offers to be Orton’s partner and Randy shakes his hand.
Sheamus/Barrett vs. Bryan/Ziggler on Smackdown. Cena, Orton and Reigns will be there in some capacity as well.
Rusev vs. Goldust
No Lana or tank tonight. The announcers bring up Rusev not answering the open challenge earlier if he’s here. Cole might need neck surgery after the attack earlier. That sounds like a way to write him off TV for a bit. Rusev catches Goldust coming out of the corner and the beating is on early. Some slow stomps set up a knee to the back of the head The jumping superkick and the Accolade end Goldust quick at 2:16.
Ryback/Randy Orton/??? vs. Kane/Big Show/Seth Rollins
In a very obvious choice, the third man is Roman Reigns. Kane and Ryback get things going with Ryback shrugging off some right hands and hitting the spinebuster. An early Meat Hook attempt sends the Authority to the floor but Reigns dives on all three of them for a huge crash (beating from Brock Lesnar anyone?) as we take a break. Back with Kane getting stomped in the corner before Ryback suplexes him for two. Off to Rollins vs. Orton with the new champ getting uppercutted in the corner. A spinning kick to the face gets two on Randy as the fans chant HOW YOU DOIN.
Big Show comes in and gets a PLEASE RETIRE chant. Back to Kane for a chinlock followed by a big boot for two. The Wave breaks out and the camera actually follows it around. Rollins tells the crowd to suck it but Orton counters what looked to be a tornado DDT into a superplex. Fans: “WE ARE AWESOME!”
The hot tag brings in Reigns and he’s booed out of the building as he cleans house. In a cool spot, Big Show intercepts a Superman Punch (fans LOVE that) and throws Reigns at Kane, only to have the Superman Punch connect out of midair. Ryback picks Big Show up in a dead lift for the Shell Shock but eats a Curb Stomp. Rollins bails from Reigns and the RKO into a spear is enough to pin Kane at 13:00.
Rating: C-. This was the match where the crowd gave up and I can’t say I blame them. Of all the people they can put in the main event of THIS SHOW, they picked the two old giants? That was the best idea they had? This felt like the end of any given Raw and that’s not how you want to end this show. Last year it ended with Shield’s face turn, here it ends with a generic six man tag. That’s kind of stupid but the rest of the show was good enough that I can forgive it.
Overall Rating: B+. I had a good time with this show and they focused a lot more on the wrestling this year than last. The show completely ran out of gas with the main event as it went out with nothing instead of something big, but at least we had some good debuts, Lesnar just massacring people and a hot crowd. Stephanie continues to be the most annoying person on the roster but that’s something you just have to live with. Also, no HHH? Still though, really fun show which has become the standard for the night after Wrestlemania.
Results
Daniel Bryan b. Dolph Ziggler – Running knee
New Day/Lucha Dragons b. Ascension/Tyson Kidd/Cesaro – Salida Del Sol to Viktor
Damien Mizdow b. Stardust – Skull Crushing Finale
Neville b. Curtis Axel – Red Arrow
John Cena b. Dean Ambrose – Attitude Adjustment
Paige/AJ Lee/Naomi b. Bella Twins/Natalya – Rear View to Nikki
Rusev b. Goldust – Accolade
Roman Reigns/Randy Orton/Ryback b. Kane/Big Show/Seth Rollins – Spear to Kane
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