Who do you all think will win the Rumble this year?

Smackdown
Date: January 28, 2011
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

It’s the final show before we hit the Rumble so I think I know what we’re going to be talking about.  Tonight’s main event is Rated RKO facing Miz/Ziggler.  Also I’d bet one a lot more from the Corre as on Monday the main focus was on Nexus so therefore the same thing needs to be done here.  Ok so it’s not that bad but it does happen a good bit.  Anyway, let’s get to it.

Oh and before I forget, I won’t be here next week for NXT or Smackdown.  I’ll be back the following week for at least Smackdown and maybe NXT but I’m not sure.  Have fun without me.

The opening is about Corre and their interaction with Teddy.  A lot of this is about how Corre might have been the guys that did it.  There’s a clock theme to it which doesn’t seem accurate by comparison to what I remember from last week, as in the timing is off from when it actually happened.  We also see Gabriel beating Edge.

No theme song again.  Instead we get to hear Vickie’s voice to open the show properly.  Teddy can’t be here tonight so she’s in charge.  She gets cut off by Orton’s music and the pop is still solid.  I love these times where people go back and forth from show to show.  Vickie cuts the music off with an EXCUSE ME.  I guess she didn’t like what the voices had to say.

Randy says he doesn’t know Vickie very well, “so you’ll have to excuse me”, for what he’s going to do to her boyfriend later tonight.  That was clever.  Miz will have to excuse Orton for taking the WWE Championship from him as well.  He puts his arm around Vickie and says by the way, nice hair.  This is oddly funny for some reason.  There is no excuse for Vickie though.  Orton’s delivery here was some of his best in awhile and I was liking it.

Here comes Dolph to stand up for Vickie.  Well at least he’s not standing up for WWE.  Dolph demands respect for himself and Vickie because after Sunday he’ll be World Champion.  Orton says around here you have to earn it, and there’s an RKO for Dolph.  This is going to sound odd, but I think the blue on Smackdown agrees with Randy.  His skin is so orange that the red on Raw makes him look weird.  As odd as it sounds I’m being serious when I say that.

Laycool vs. Kaitlyn/Kelly Kelly

Striker sings Laycool’s song which is rather disturbing.  The non-Flawless ones jump Laycool during their entrance and the beating is on in the aisle.  Is this Kaitlyn’s non-NXT debut?  She starts with Michelle and is clearly green.  Layla distracts Kaitlyn though and Michelle kicks Kaitlyn’s head off to end this at 43 seconds.  AWESOME kick and if that hadn’t ended it there was no way I would have believed it.  The replay makes it look even better as that kick was spot on.

Drew McIntyre vs. JTG

Kelly hangs out at ringside for this one.  Cole wants to know how she can criticize Drew for being aggressive when she jumped Laycool pre-match.  That’s a totally fair question but we get no answer of course.  That face pop for Drew is still slowly growing but it’s growing nonetheless.  They start off kind of staring at each other until JTG goes after him, sending him to the floor.

Drew suddenly realizes he’s fighting a jobber and starts mauling him.  Back into the ring and it’s all Drew who hits three neckbreakers in a row for two.  Since that didn’t work he switches to hammering away in the corner with clotheslines.  Drew even channels his inner John Cena and throws a decent dropkick for one.  JTG gets some jobber offense in until Drew runs him over.

After some more pounding we hit the ground for more pounding.  He adds in that modified crossface chickenwing that Sheamus has also been using recently.  Must be a UK thing.  Another neckbreaker attempt is countered into a backslide for two.  JTG gets a bit of momentum going and tries another backslide.  Drew casually rolls through it and grabs the Futureshock to end it at 4:35.  That was a nice counter to end it.

Rating: C+. Just an extended squash here but they let Drew show off a bit.  JTG is fine in this jobber role he has.  Every generation has had its share of jobbers but I guess this one has their own theme music.  They put on a fairly decent match here all things considered though and it worked fine.

Drew plays nice this week and leaves just as Kelly gets in the ring, apparently not seeing her or looking up as he leaves since the big screen shows her in the ring.  She looks at him and seems uncertain.

We recap Cody vs. Rey last week where Cody got his nose broken.  The point of this is that Cody exposed the knee brace that hit him in the face and caused his injury.

In the back Cody is interviewed and won’t turn to face the camera.  Cody has it on good authority that Rey didn’t even want to win that match.  He has a broken nose and will need extensive reconstructive surgery and is out of the Rumble.  Cody says that it’s what you do that defines you and he’s going to keep swinging.  He sounds like he’s almost crying.  A kid told him he wasn’t dashing anymore, and the kid is right.  He can’t talk anymore.  This gave me flashes of the Elephant Man, which will make perfect sense if you’ve seen the movie.

Some overly happy interviewer talks to Edge.  Edge says he doesn’t want to talk about the tag match but rather Corre.  He even remembers all of their names, including DJ Gabriel.  I never thought I’d hear that name again.  The only thing he’s going to say about the tag match is he’s going to spear Ziggler.

Del Rio says hi to Tarver who is suddenly one of the more interesting mysteries.  Why is he always standing around?

Here’s Alberto who has promised a Rumble exhibition.  Even though he has very little chance to win the Rumble, they’re making me kind of believe it’s possible, which means they’re doing the right thing.  Apparently he has 39 fighters from all over the world ready for an exhibition.  Every 30 seconds another will come out, meaning this should take about 20 minutes.

The first guy is Seth Allen who according to Striker is a former Western States Heritage Champion.  This is like a challenge mode on SvR or something.  And he’s gone.  Next up is Mike Stevens, a former Brass Knuckles Champion.  They’re speeding up the clock here.  He can’t get him out in thirty seconds so here’s Kane as a penalty.  Alberto gets the corner enziguri but charges into a chokeslam position.

Kofi comes out as I guess the clock thing is still going on.  Why did Kofi bring the belt with him?  Either way he dumps both guys out and stands tall.  The villains surround Kofi so Rey comes down to even the odds.  You know, because it’s not like he would want a guy the caliber of the Intercontinental Champion to get beaten down two days before the Rumble or anything like that right?  You know come to think of it, scratch that.  As annoying as Rey can be, it’s nice to see a pure face once in awhile instead of someone that is a face when it suits them.  Anyway, Vickie comes out to make the obvious tag match.

Kofi Kingston/Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio/Kane

Well you knew there would be a tag match somewhere since it’s Smackdown.  Back from a break and there’s the bell.  Kane and Kofi start us off which could be an interesting midcard feud.  The power takes over and it’s off to Alberto.  Off to Rey now as Kofi has taken over.  Nice double teaming allows Kofi to get in a jumping elbow before he leaves.  Rey looks different for some reason.

We start talking about Cody and Striker has sympathy for him.  Josh of course is the voice of reason.  Oh joy: it’s Rey vs. Kane.  619 is teased but Kane hits the floor instead.  Back off to Kofi as Alberto gets in Kane’s face.  The good guys get a baseball slide to send Alberto into Kane and then a dive and seated senton put Alberto and Kane down respectively.

Kofi sets for the cross body back in the ring but Alberto shoves him off.  They double team Kofi even though I’m pretty sure Striker said Rey was the legal man.  Kane drops a leg for two.  Kofi tries to fight him off but runs into a side slam to take him down.  Alberto is back in and they work on the back for awhile.  Kane back in as the heels are tagging very fast.

Kane catches the foot of Kofi who has to now hop over to his corner.  In something that felt anti-climactic in a weird way, Kingston is able to get the tag and here comes Rey with a seated senton off the top to Kane.  That only gets two though so we reset a bit.  Rey tries a springboard move but Kane kicks him in the face and to the floor.  He also kicked us into a break.

Back with Alberto hitting a back elbow to Rey for two.  Now we hit the chinlock and Rey is in trouble.  Sunset flip by Del Rio is countered into that kick that Rey has been using recently to put both guys down.  Del Rio doesn’t tag but beats on Rey come more.  Kane back in as they’re tagging so often I don’t even notice it anymore.  Granted that could mean I’m getting sucked into the match which is possible as this has been good.

Kane gets Rey up in a powerslam position but Rey is able to spin out into a DDT to send both guys down again.  Tag on both sides and Kofi comes in with the springboard cross body.  Del Rio gets a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two out of nowhere.  He goes to tag but there’s no Kane due to a kick from Kofi a second earlier.  Top rope cross body gets two as Kane saves.

Del Rio gets in Kane’s face, yelling at him in Spanish.  The amusing thing is that Kane, being born in Spain, might have a better grasp of the language than Del Rio.  Alberto shoves Kane, who responds in my favorite way: KICKING HIM IN THE FACE!  Sorry that has to be caps.  There’s something so awesome to me about kicking a guy in the face to end an argument.  That could solve so many real world problems.  Anyway the 619 sets up the Trouble in Paradise to end this long match at 12:23 shown of 15:53.

Rating: B+. Probably a bit high but I got into this.  It’s a long formula match and that’s usually the best kind of tag match.  I always get a kick out of throwing two heel s and two faces together and seeing what happens.  They shifted momentum a lot here and it worked rather well I thought.  Fun match.

We get a clip from Raw of Edge vs. Miz which set up the tag match later.

Big Show comes out and seems to be in a good mood.  He talks about how when you’re 7’0, 440lbs and a former WWE Champion, sometimes people want to use you to make a statement.  Naturally he’s talking about the Corre and we get a clip of them beating him down.  That did two things: made him angry and reminded him of what it’s going to be like in the Rumble.  As he talks about never having won a Rumble, here they come.

The shirts aren’t working for me as they look like they’re in beauty pageants.  Show asks if this is how it’s going to be, always 4-1.  He challenges any of them one on one but seems to want Jackson the most.  Slater comes in from behind and we have a bell and a referee!

Heath Slater vs. Big Show

Cole: “This shows you how much heart this kid Slater had.”  Josh: “Or that he’s an idiot.”  I love listening to those two.  Slater goes for the knee but Show chops him down from his knee.  Striker points out that all four members of Corre are from different continents.  There’s a Captain Planet joke in there somewhere.  Chokeslam ends it in about 1:15.  Nothing to see here.

Show goes after the other members but Jackson takes him down with a single clothesline.  The beatdown is on but the Smackdown locker room (read as JTG, Masters, Santino, Kozlov and Bryan.  In other words, a jobber, a jobber to the stars, the tag champions that are more commonly associated with Raw, and a Raw champion.) comes out to clear the ring.

All About the Numbers and a rundown of the card eat up five minutes.

Rated RKO vs. The Miz/Dolph Ziggler

Miz is out first and wants to talk about…The Truman Doctrine?  Yeah, he talks about a foreign policy doctrine from the late 40s.  What does this have to do with anything?  Nothing according to Miz.  It doesn’t matter at all.  It also doesn’t matter what Randy Orton does; the Miz is leaving the Rumble with the WWE Championship.  Another decent Miz promo.

Orton vs. Ziggler to start us off.  Basic back and forth until Orton takes over with a clothesline.  He pauses to chase Miz though and Ziggler gets the advantage.  Off to Edge who puts his head down and takes an X-Factor for two.  Over to Miz who gets an assist from Riley to take over.  Randy gets in a quick shot though and gets into RKO position!  He stares down Miz…and we take a break?

Apparently there were technical difficulties and that wasn’t a scheduled break.  That explains a lot.  Either way, Ziggler pulled Randy out before it could hit.  Back with Miz holding a chinlock on Orton.  Randy tries to fight back but Miz gets a nice combination (has Orton in a reverse DDT position and drops his back down like a reverse Facecrusher before hitting a neckbreaker.  Kind of like a modified Reality Check).

Corner clothesline is attempted but Orton lands one of his own.  Off to Edge and Ziggler as we’re getting close to the ending it seems.  Edge sets for the spear on Ziggler but Riley interferes so he has to settle for the Edge-O-Matic for two.  Zig Zag is blocked and there’s the spear for the clean pin at 7:50 shown of 11:20.

Rating: C. Basic main event tag match here but I was surprised as to hoe it ended.  It’s not bad but I couldn’t get into this one.  The ending really didn’t work for me as it takes away a lot of the drama for Sunday, like can Edge pin Dolph?  Well yeah apparently he can.  Granted I don’t think many people are buying the show to see that match so I can pretty easily forgive them there.  That being said, not a great match at all but still decent enough.

Post match Vickie bans the spear and says that if he uses it on Sunday, Ziggler is champion.  This earns Dolph three straight spears to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Much better show this week.  They covered a lot more stuff here and it worked better than the previous one.  This built up the title match and the Rumble at the same time which is good.  There was no point to just doing the Rumble as we got that on Raw so they focused on both world titles here.  Couple that with some decent wrestling and it’s definitely a good show.

Results

Laycool b. Kaitlyn/Kelly Kelly – Big Boot to Kaitlyn

Drew McIntyre b. JTG – Futureshock

Kofi Kingston/Rey Mysterio b. Alberto Del Rio/Kane – Trouble in Paradise to Del Rio

Big Show b. Heath Slater – Chokeslam

Rated RKO b. Dolph Ziggler/The Miz – Spear to Ziggler

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 24, 2011
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show before the Rumble so something tells me they’re going to be talking about one thing quite a bit.  Tonight is probably going to be the last push for people that actually think they have a chance at it while they’re nothing but cannon fodder for the people that really have a chance.  Also tonight we get to find out a little something about the guy that might as well be Batista’s son.  Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Edge vs. Miz in a champion vs. champion match.

Melina challenges for the Divas Title tonight.

Here’s Edge to open the show.  He says to Miz that he doesn’t have a lot of patience and doesn’t want to wait.  After listing off things he doesn’t like to wait for he says let’s do it now Miz.  An E-Mail cuts him off though and the GM doesn’t like Edge still.  Thankfully they’ve gotten what looks like an e-mail on the screen now.  We’re going to have a mini Rumble right now and whichever of the three can throw Edge over gets #40.

Edge vs. Tyson Kidd/Drew McIntyre/Jack Swagger

They all come and are in at once.  Edge takes them all down and eliminates Kidd.  Drew kicks him HARD in the head and almost gets him out.  Swagger makes the save as he wants the final spot but charges at the champion and goes flying out also.  Edge throws Drew out without much effort to win at 1:14.  No rating of course and I’m not even going to call it a real match of course.

Post match Edge says he’s going to get ready for Miz but first of all he wants to relive something that he did the last time he was on Raw.  Does anyone want to see a smashed computer?  Edge goes out to the computer but Cole stands in his way.  Edge is going after him but here’s Nexus instead.  Five guys this time, including the new guy.

Punk says that in this world only the strong survive and they do that by evolving.  He talks about the Rumble being bigger and to survive, the New Nexus had to evolve as well.  Punk introduces the new man, and his name is indeed Mason Ryan as we all knew coming in.  At least it’s official now.  Ryan says faith.  That’s the only thing he says.  Everyone is in Nexus because of faith according to Punk.

He talks about Corre (yes I know it’s the wrong spelling and I don’t care) and how Nexus has more faith than they do.  He will win on Sunday and Nexus will become the most powerful group the WWE Universe will ever see.  Could that mean a new addition?  As he stops talking, cue the Corre (I hate myself at times).

Barrett says he’s looking at the poor man’s version of Nexus.  Jackson says Corre will try to win the Rumble for themselves but will eliminate Punk.  Ryan gets in his face and we have an e-mail.  The GM makes Barrett vs. Punk.  The loser’s entire group is out of the Rumble.  The guest referee is Cena.  King says it’s a match you never thought you would see on Raw.  Why wouldn’t you expect to see that on Raw?  Anyway that takes us to our first break.

Back and we get a clip of the mini Rumble from last week with Henry clearing the ring.

John Morrison/Mark Henry vs. Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio

Alberto and Morrison start us off.  Cole is ripping into Jerry over him lasting 4 seconds in the 97 Rumble.  Alberto controls early and brings Sheamus in after a few seconds.  Morrison fights back fairly well against the Human Jar of Mayonnaise.  Off to Alberto again and Morrison may want to consider a tag.  He’s fought off Del Rio but won’t tag.

Morrison sets up for Starship Pain but Sheamus pulls him to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Del Rio holding Morrison in a chinlock.  Sheamus interfered during the break to give his team the advantage.  Off to Sheamus again and we see that Michael Tarver is watching on.  He looks a bit slimmer but that could be due to being in a suit.  Sheamus continues to hammer away and locks in that highly modified crossface chickenwing that he’s been using recently.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two.  Brogue Kick misses and Morrison gets an enziguri to take down Sheamus.  Henry finally is tagged in after 9 minutes.  He runs over Del Rio a few times and gets a standing splash for two.  He and Sheamus face off but get Sheamus gets taken down by the Flash Kick.  Morrison dives out onto Sheamus and may have tweaked his knee on the landing.  In the ring the cross armbreaker ends Henry at 10:07.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this match for some reason.  It’s not terrible but Henry not coming in until the very end hurt it a bit.  Morrison seemed like he was sleepwalking through this and it didn’t work that well for the most part.  It’s an ok match but it never really got going for me.

Divas Title: Melina vs. Natalya

Melina is shrieking early and knocks Natalya to the floor very early.  Natalya is in trouble and Melina locks on a Full Nelson using her legs while sitting on the mat.  That’s a new one on me for sure.  Natalya stands up and rams Melina in the corner and fires off some forearms.

She pulls back for a big right hand but Melina drills her to take her down.  Melina tries a leg lock but Natalya grabs the legs and pulls into a Sharpshooter, wrenching back on it so hard that she’s laying on her back.  There’s the easy submission at 2:45.  Too short to grade but that submission was great.

Post match here’s Laycool.  They say that this Sunday Natalya is losing some weight in the form of the title.  They don’t say which it is but apparently one or both is getting a shot.

Back and we recap last week’s main event with Punk winning by DQ due to Ryan kicking him in the face.  There’s a religious sounding song in the background as Punk narrates about loyalty and faith.

Nexus is worrying about how Punk could cost them their spots in the Rumble.  Punk and Ryan come up and Punk talks about making a sacrifice to beat Cena.  He says that Sunday they will all sacrifice their spots so that Punk can win.  Harris isn’t looking happy about that.  He says there are 40 people this year and what if Punk is already gone when they get there?  Ryan says Punk won’t be eliminated.

Punk says take care of the Corre tonight but McGillicutty says what about Cena?  Punk says he’ll win because Barrett was Cena’s main enemy, not Punk.  The leader has them take a knee and raise their fists, drawing great heat from the crowd.

Matthews is with Cena who says he’s always done the right thing and he’ll do that tonight.  If Punk wins he’ll eliminate every member of the New Nexus.  If Barrett wins he has to deal with the Corre, which has an extra R.  He found out what it stands for earlier today but gets cut off by Miz and Riley.  Apparently it stands for rectum.

Miz says everyone needs to realize that winning the Rumble could be the worst thing possible as it means they could face him.  Cena stares him down and says Miz might lose at the Rumble and lose his rematch and not make it to Wrestlemania.  Cena leaves and Miz gets rid of Matthews.  Miz asks the audience if they think he’ll win the Rumble.  He asks Riley if it’s ready and Riley says roll the footage.  We get a clip of the beatdown of Orton from last week and Cole is very happy with it.

The Miz vs. Edge

As we’re about ready to go here’s Dolph.  Can we get to some wrestling already?  Ziggler and Vickie join us on commentary and we finally get the bell.  Edge has taped ribs due to the Corre attack on Friday.  After a brief feeling out process Edge takes over with some basic stuff.  Later on we’ll get an update on Teddy Long.  Miz fires back but no one has had a long advantage yet.

Edge gets a clothesline to take Miz to the floor and we take a break.  Back with Edge getting a cover over what looked like a backdrop.  Jerry: “Vickie I’m glad you could be here.  I thought you’d be at the birth of your next boyfriend.”  King gets a good line in every now and then like there.  Miz takes over but lowers his head and gets caught in a spinning neckbreaker.  Edge wants the spear but Miz hits the floor.

Miz goes for the ribs but can’t send Edge into the railing as the Canadian reverses.  Back in and Miz can’t get a superplex.  Edge knocks him off and gets a top rope cross body for two.  Jerry gets in an argument with Vickie and Dolph over glasses and pants or something like that.  Miz drapes Edge over the top rope as we take another break.

Back with Miz getting a two off an unseen move.  Some right hands get another two.  Miz has a body scissors on Edge as Cole goes on and on about how great Miz is, listing off various people he’s a combination of: Sammartino, Thesz, Michaels, just to name a few.  Edge fights up and gets his half nelson face crusher for two.  Miz’s corner clothesline misses and Edge gets two.

Riley grabs the leg of Edge and Edge goes after him.  Nothing comes of that but Miz gets a small package on Edge when he comes back in for two.  Edge hits the ropes and misses a clothesline but Edge takes out Riley with a baseball slide.  Edgecution puts Miz down and Edge wants the spear.  And never mind as Ziggler trips him for the DQ at 16:40.

Rating: B-. Good match here and it got a lot of time.  The double commercial kind of hurt it as it made it feel a bit disjointed.  They started to crank it up at the end, but the most important thing here is that Miz looked pretty strong.  No one winning definitively is a good thing for sure.  Not a great match but not bat at all.

Post match Ziggler hits the Zig Zag but here comes Orton for the save.  The crowd wakes way up for his appearance.  RKO to Riley and RKO to Ziggler, but Miz gets a shot in and leaves with the title as we take a break.

Back with Barrett saying that he always talked about how Nexus was about the bigger picture.  However he lost sight of that and only cared about the title and humiliating Cena.  We pan out to see everyone else but Barrett repeated that there are no leaders here.  Matthews asks about the attack on Long but Barrett again denies it.  He respects Cena and hopes that can be mutual someday.

Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins vs. Ted DiBiase/Alicia Fox/Maryse

The genitaila have to match here.  The guys start and it’s off to a Bella and Maryse very soon.  The other Bella hits on Daniel and Maryse gets a rollup with ease to end it at 57 seconds.  No rating of course.  Alicia I beg of you: straighten your hair again.

Back and the Bellas are arguing about Bryan.  Tarver is staring at them and then disappears.  That was….odd.  They go into Bryan’s locker room and find him making out with Gail Kim who is apparently his girlfriend who he’s been dating for SIX MONTHS???  And yes he was in fact a vegan.  Gail says he was hanging with the Bellas because he felt sorry for them since there were no more guest stars and they had nothing to do.  They call Gail a nothing and a brawl breaks out.  This was surprisingly hilarious.

Here’s Nexus and the tag titles are on the line next.

Miz/Ziggler vs. Rated RKO on Friday.

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

Cole corrects himself as this is not a title match.  McGillicutty and Kozlov to start.  Off to Santino and he loses the advantage for his team.  Harris beats him up for a good while as the Canaditalian is in trouble.  He needs a tag but Harris takes Vlad down before it can be made.  Santino wakes up and fights Harris off on his own.  Time for the Cobra but he walks into a clothesline from Husky.  Downward Spiral ends it at 3:52.

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris b. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov @ 3:52 – Downward Spiral to Marella

Rating: D+. Nothing special at all here and I’m not entirely sure if I’d have gone with a glorified squash of the champions.  It was a TV match with nothing going on at all for the most part.  Pretty clear that it’s just a way to set up another Nexus title run which they could use I guess.  Yeah that’s it.

Otunga says let’s hear it for the winners and introduces Punk.  Cena is coming and we go to a break.

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk

Cena is referee and the winner’s group gets to stay in the Rumble.  Before the match, Cena throws Nexus out.  Hey Corre, you’re out too.  Cole gets on Cena for abusing his power with those ejections.  Ah there’s the bell but Cena shoves Punk down almost immediately.  Punk comes up with a fist but Cena points out the referee.  There’s a slap to Barrett from Punk and again with the shirt.

Punk jumps Barrett and we’re finally on.  Barrett is thrown to the floor and Punk jaws at Cena, saying that’s him on Sunday.  Naturally Cena throws Punk over the top.  Punk charges back in but won’t hit him because it would mean he’s out of the Rumble.  Barrett jumps him from behind, but Cena hits the floor to sign some autographs instead of counting a pin.

Back in the ring and it’s…a bell?  It’s a double DQ for use of excessive profanity on a PG show at 2:00.  Both teams are out of the Rumble!  Cena starts to leave but it’s an E-Mail.  The teams are back in, but if Cena doesn’t apologize to both guys then he’s out.

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk went to a Double DQ @ 2:00 when they both used too much profanity

Cena apologizes but drills them both.  The rest of the teams run in and Cena hits the floor.  The locker room empties and it’s the annual pre-Rumble big brawl to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. And let the bashing me begin.  This wasn’t about wrestling tonight and I’ll be ignoring comments from people that say this is unfair to give this such a grade.  Yes it is, as the point of this show was a buildup to the Rumble.  This certainly did that and in spades.  It wasn’t a wrestling heavy show but it wasn’t supposed to be.  Decent enough stuff and the things that needed to happen happened.  Good go home show.

Results

Edge b. Drew McIntyre/Jack Swagger/Tyson Kidd – Edge last eliminated McIntyre to win

Alberto Del Rio/Sheamus b. John Morrison/Mark Henry – Cross Armbreaker to Henry

Natalya b. Melina – Sharpshooter

Maryse/Ted DiBiase/Alicia Fox b. Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins – Rollup to Nikki Bella

Michael McGillicutty/Husky Harris b. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov – Downward Spiral to Marella

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk went to a Double DQ when they both used too much profanity

Smackdown
Date: January 21, 2011
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

With only two weeks left before the Rumble, things should be starting to get interesting.  It should be interesting to see where the new-but not new because we already gave the other team the name New-Nexus goes from here.  Other than that we’ll also get the next step in Edge vs. Ziggler which hasn’t been built badly at all so far.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps Barrett vs. Show from last week and the whole Caesar concept of Barrett, which oddly enough makes sense.

Here are Barrett and company to the music that I’m still not sure what to think about.  Barrett says that Big Show won’t be here this evening.  You may know him from his time on Raw leading the Nexus, which he led until they threw him out.  Now he’s learned his lesson and now it’s about the team, not just him.  This is the Core.  Not thinking I like that name.

Jackson speaks for maybe the first time ever and has a slight French accent.  He’s proud to be part of the Core.  Slater says he’s the One Man Rock Band.  I guess he didn’t have enough friends to play Xbox with him.  Gabriel says he has a great finisher.  Barrett says that what the original Nexus did will pale in comparison to what the Core does.

Here’s Teddy and he more or less says he’s the boss.  Barrett says they respect him and will be representing Smackdown in the Royal Rumble.  Teddy says he doesn’t buy what they’re saying and he isn’t going to let Barrett just lead these men.  Barrett says he’s not the leader and the Core is about equals.  Teddy basically says no more gang attacks and if you don’t like that then you’re gone.

After Teddy leaves and the Core is still in the ring, here’s Alberto of all people.  He welcomes them to Smackdown, but lets them know that Smackdown is his show.  Alberto says he’s going to win the Rumble which is his destiny.  That’s all he saws, making this a very short promo.  I like how they’re making it seem like he actually has a chance to win and while it’s very unlikely, it seems like it’s possible actually.

Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth

Has Del Rio fought anyone other than Truth or Rey this year?  Striker sings with him and Cole has his head in his hands.  Del Rio gets him into the corner to start and strikes away.  They head to the ring for just a bit and Truth locks on an armbar.  We cut to the back where Teddy is laid out on the floor of his office.  Vickie, Ziggler and someone that looked like Michael Tarver standing near him while paramedics look at him.  To be clear, Tarver, Vickie and Ziggler weren’t being accused of having done it but were apparently the people that found him.

Back to the ring now with Truth in control.  Alberto gets sent to the floor as we take a break.  Back with Truth getting a boot up to stop a charging Alberto and that’s about it for his offense in this part of the match.  We start talking about the Rumble and Alberto’s chances to win it.  To the back again where Teddy is being put on a stretcher and being taken to the hospital.  The medics throw Ziggler, Vickie and Tarver out.

Back to the ring again and a sitout Gordbuster by Truth gets two.  Running enziguri in the corner by Alberto gets two.  Cole gets information from a source on the scene that Teddy has suffered severe trauma to the back of the head.  Could this be the return of the vegetative state?  The undefeated Ricardo distracts Truth so that Alberto can drape the arm over the top rope.  Cross Armbreaker ends it moments later at 7:53 shown of 11:23 total (as always assuming 3:30 for commercials).

Rating: C. This is a hard one to grade as a lot of it was thrown to the back where the scenes took about a minute or so each.  The match was nothing special at all but it wasn’t terrible.  These two really need to find some new opponents though as I’m getting tired of seeing them against each other.  With Rey and Alberto the matches are at least pretty good.  This on the other hand was nothing special at all, albeit decent.

Teddy is loaded into the ambulance.

Back from a break with Vickie and Dolph being nervous.  They come into an office and the Core is standing there.  They had nothing to do with it apparently.  If they need anything tonight, the Core is at their service.  Vickie uses her incredible acting skills to say one of them will face Edge tonight.  Two things to note here: first is that Tarver was nowhere to be seen so based on this alone he may not be associated with Ziggler and Vickie.  Second, where else but in wrestling would it be ok for a woman to walk into her office and find four adult muscle men in their underwear, telling her they’re at her service tonight?

We get the Rumble numbers package which I always love.

40 participants

24 winners

656 entrants

39 eliminations for Shawn, a record

26 Hall of Famers in the match

183,932 pounds in total, equal to 409 Big Shows

2 women in the Rumble, including Beth who eliminated Khali

11 eliminations by Kane in one Rumble

62:12 is Rey’s record for length in the Rumble which is a lie if you believe the 92 Rumble’s commentary

1 second is the record for fastest time for an elimination

3 is the most wins by a single man, in this case Austin

1 is the worst number but it has produced the most winners as the #30 spot (Shawn and a guy not listed who would be Benoit)

70 which is the percent of winners that have won the title at Mania

Music video about the Rumble follows.

Rey vs. Cody later tonight.

Layla vs. Beth Phoenix

Laycool’s entrance is weak tonight as there’s no snap to it at all.  Pretty decent reaction for Beth.  Layla charges to start which gets her nowhere.  She tries a running dropkick and gets caught in a giant swing.  Striker has a crush on Beth.  Glamazon’s arm gets sent into the buckle and Layla a tornado one arm DDT (as in the DDT on the arm) out of the corner.

Key Lock/Short Arm Scissors by Layla as she’s using decent psychology here.  Beth does the Davey Boy Smith/Shawn Michaels spot and lifts Layla up with one arm.  She hammers away with forearms and sells the arm like a good girl.  Slingshot suplex takes Layla down for two.  Backbreaker sets up the Glam Slam to end this at 3:32.

Rating: C+. The arm work was good here and again I’d like to point out that the Divas are looking far more competent in the ring lately.  They’re seeming far more natural out there instead of going step by step and Layla has improved dramatically.  Not a terrible match at all for three minutes.

Stand Up For WWE won some awards.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Josh thinks Rey will win the Rumble.  I think I’d have to shoot myself if that happened.  Question for you guys: is Cody the best self-obsessed/I’m better looking than you/fashion dude character ever?  Naturally the talk is about the Rumble which I can live with for once here.  I usually can’t stand a match being ignored but this is one of the instances where I think it’s ok.

Cody works on the legs to start and we take a very quick look at the crowd which may not have been intentional.  Rey tries to speed it up again but gets kicked in the gut and thrown to the floor in a heap.  Cody charges again but gets caught in a drop toehold to send him face first into the steps.  We may need the ambulance again for Cody if he goes into convulsions from his face getting messed up.

Cody gets a sunset flip back in the ring but Rey rolls through.  A swinging kick misses but the seated dropkick hits.  619 connects and the top rope splash ends this at 4:05.  What in the world is going on with these quick matches tonight?  This is Smackdown, not Impact.  Also, kind of a squash here, and no that does not mean a burial.

Rating: C+. Again I’m surprised by the quickness of this match but it was ok.  I don’t remember the last time Cody got this little time in the ring and he’s a guy that definitely takes some time to get going.  Nothing bad here though and it came off pretty well I thought.

Cody may have a broken nose due to the knee brace of Rey hitting him in the face.

Grisham has an update on Long but is interrupted by Alex Riley.  Miz is here and Cole hits high notes by shouting HE’S HERE!  Miz says he’s here because he can be.  This is really just to establish that he’s in the building.

After a break the trainer says that Cody has a broken nose.  We never see his face but when he looks in a mirror he almost cries.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

This is under amateur rules where it’s either a pin or the most points after three minutes.  The scoring system is two points for a takedown, one for a reversal, one for an escape, if you get your opponent on your back for two seconds that’s good for two points and if you get a pin you win here.  So it’s points or pin to win.

This isn’t something that’s easy to talk about.  Swagger gets a quick takedown for two points.  Kofi got a point from something that wasn’t explained but I think is an escape.  Another takedown and one point for an escape, which is from Swagger standing up.  4-2 Swagger with two minutes to go.  Another takedown makes it 6-2 but Swagger let him up so it’s 6-3.

We stand around and Swagger tells the referee he needs two more points so he gets them.  8-4 for Swagger and he adds on two more to make it 10-4.  Less than 20 seconds to go as this has been one sided.  Kofi gets a reversal and a quick takedown and a two count which makes it 10-9 and the time runs out.  Was there a point to this?  They fights post match and Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise and the cross body.  I’m not going to rate this due to it being such a different format but it wasn’t incredibly entertaining at all.

We recap the Cutting Edge from last week where Ziggler beat up Edge to save him from spearing Vickie.

Last week’s show was the highest watched show in five years on Syfy.

Trent Barreta vs. Drew McIntyre

We get a clip of last week’s incident between these two and Kelly telling Drew to grow up.  Drew hammers him down to start and gets a snap suplex for two.  Drew throws him into the air but Trent gets a dropkick to take Drew down.  A springboard dropkick is caught in a sitout powerbomb for two which ticks Drew off.  Trent goes up and Drew him the Kurt Angle running up the corner suplex to win it at 2:17.  Drew beats on him a bit afterwards and Kelly comes out to break it up.  Too short to grade but Drew looked good.

After a break here’s Miz.  He says there’s a saying that says Awesome is as Awesome Does.  That means if you do awesome things you are awesome.  We get a clip from Raw where Miz beat up Orton.  He sets for the catchphrase but here comes Edge.  He’s tired of the Raw rejects coming here and bragging so much.

Edge says that Miz is like #27 on things that he has to do and he’ll deal with Miz on Raw.  Now get out of his ring, which Miz and Riley do.  Actually Riley comes back to run his mouth and gets speared before he can get much out.  Miz teases going after him but changes his mind.

After a break here’s Core to announce the opponent for Edge.  All four members get into the ring but before they can say anything here’s Vickie.  Ziggler is going to be a guest commentator for the match.  He’s a funny guy so I can’t complain there.

Edge vs. Justin Gabriel

He’s the only one that stays in the ring and might be the most entertaining main event.  After a brief skirmish Edge hits an Edge-O-Matic for two.  Gabriel gets him into the corner and hits a nice spin kick which gets him nowhere.  The commentators argue again and Ziggler gets them back on track.  Edge sends Gabriel to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Gabriel getting a pair of covers for two.  During the break Justin went after the ankle of Edge.  Koji Clutch by Gabriel has Edge in trouble.  STO takes Edge down.  WWE has been doing a nice job with expanding the movesets recently.  Gabriel goes for the 450 but Edge is up so he has to settle for a cross body.  It gets feet though as Edge gets a dropkick and both guys are down.

Flapjack puts Gabriel down and then sends him to the floor.  Back in Gabriel gets a jumping enziguri as Edge is going up top.  This is a nice back and forth match so far.  Edge fights him off and gets a top rope cross body for two.  Here comes the spear but Barrett gets up on the apron.  Edge takes him but as the referee is distracted, Jackson drills Edge and Gabriel gets the pin at 7:20 shown of 10:50.

Rating: B-. It was good while it lasted but I really wanted another three or four minutes here.  Nice way of getting the Core over on their first full night together and Edge saves some face here as he doesn’t lose clean.  They’re letting Gabriel look good in the ring when he’s in there and it’s working pretty well for the most part.  Good match but not great for the most part.

Core beats Edge down post match of course, including the majority of the finishers.  Ziggler comes in and puts his foot on Edge’s chest to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was more like Impact of all things and that’s not typically a good thing.  The wrestling was way too short tonight with no matches getting over ten minutes of air time.  It’s not a bad show but it’s really nothing special.  It’s like they were stalling before next week, which I’d assume to mean they’re going to do the same thing next week.  I wasn’t thrilled with this, but it wasn’t anything awful.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth – Cross Armbreaker

Beth Phoenix b. Layla – Glam Slam

Rey Mysterio b. Cody Rhodes – Top Rope Splash

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston by a score of 10-9

Drew McIntyre b. Trent Barreta – Belly to Belly Suplex Off the Top Rope

Justin Gabriel b. Edge – Pin after a clothesline from Ezekiel Jackson

NXT
Date: January 18, 2011
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Josh Matthews

It’s elimination week and it’s breaking loose in Tulsa!  Sorry I always wanted to say that.  No I didn’t actually but it sounded good and I have nothing to fill in this introduction with.  I’d assume Rat Boy goes home tonight because Brodus is awesome, Bateman got a segment on Raw last night, Saxton is kind of funny and the company has decided that this Johnny Curtis guy is awesome or something because he’s as bland as anyone has been in decades so he’s THE guy this season.  Anyway let’s get to it.

Sadly enough I had to look on Wiki for the names of everyone in this season.  That’s how unmemorable they’ve been.

We recap the season so far which isn’t anything special.  Somehow the double date from last week is the highlight I think.  We also see Novak getting sent home.  I’ve been watching and reviewing the first season of this show recently, and this isn’t holding up to put it mildly.

Striker brings out the rookies as is his custom.  My boredom is sinking in slowly this week.  As is my anger due to a bad connection to watch this show.  Since it’s finally elimination week, WE NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER CHALLENGE!  Sweet goodness just throw the guys out already!  Bateman is the only one with points and the winner gets four points, meaning that the lead he has IS TOTALLY POINTLESS.  Yeah I’m in a bad mood tonight if you can’t tell.

This is How Well Do You Know Your Pro.  A question is asked and you have to match it up.  The first is “When I first saw my rookie, I thought he was “blank””.  Curtis thinks Truth said impressive but he said cool.  Saxton thinks Dolph said….hang on we have to wait for the booing for Dolph’s name.  Saxton says tan, Dolph says Carlton from Fresh Prince!  Ok that made me feel better.

Bryan gets a pop for his answer.  Bateman says Bryan thought of Tulsa, Oklahoma…AND HE’S RIGHT???  Only on this season.  O’Brian says strange, Alberto says raw.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  He’s said the same thing THE ENTIRE SHOW and now he changes it up?  Wow I want his bludgeoned.  Striker says he’d see Rat Boy at the hotel that night.  O…..k then.  Brodus says large, DiBiase says out of shape.  One point for Bateman and everyone else loses.

Next question is what other profession would you have after wrestling/if you weren’t in wrestling.  Saxton says singer, Ziggler says anchor for Lifetime.  Bateman says Steve Blackman…AND HE’S RIGHT AGAIN!  Ok this is getting funny.  O’Brian says circus worker, Alberto says his employee.  Nice job of keeping character there.  Brodus and DiBiase both say bodyguard.  Curtis is forgotten and I laugh a lot.  Curtis says commentator, Truth says actor/dancer.  It’s 2 for Bateman, 1 for Clay, 0 for everyone else.

Topic three is biggest area of improvement.  Brodus and DiBiase agree on listening.  O’Brian says listening, Del Rio says looks.  Bateman says chicks and America and they’re 3-3.  This is cracking me up for some reason.  Dolph thinks it’s rigged.  Striker: YOU THINK?  Saxton says being more like Dolph, Ziggler says more Dream Journal entries.  Curtis says getting noticed, Truth says confidence.  Bateman is Immune and I need to breathe from laughing at that.  It was stupid but that was the point.

Byron Saxton vs. Chris Masters

We get a clip of Masters and Saxton talking earlier in the day.  Masters says he didn’t teach him everything he knew.  Ziggler is in a hat which is a weird look for him.  If he ever goes insane and bails it can be used as a talking point on a DVD that buries him.  Masters overpowers him to start as you would expect.  Ziggler gets in Masters’ face to give Saxton the advantage.

Saxton gets a jawbreaker of some kind for two.  Saxton gets some basic offense in and Ziggler shouts in “STAY DOWN MASTERS BECAUSE YOU REALLY SUCK!”  I don’t know if it’s my low expectations for this show but it’s cracking me up tonight.  Masters gets a shot to break the momentum and here he comes (to save the day!  Save the day!)  Saxton is being all aggressive here but charges one too many times and the Masterlock ends it at 4:40.  Ziggler shakes the ropes like the Warrior, furthering my theory.

Rating: C-. This was more or less nothing but Saxton looked pretty good for the most part.  It wasn’t a good match for the most part as it was really basic but Masters continues to be pretty good like he has since this recent push of his.  Saxton needed a match like this as he looked decent in it actually.

Brodus comes into DiBiase’s locker room and goes off on him about costing him so much stuff.  DiBiase says shut up and listen.  Brodus says he will and leaves.  Maryse says something in French to tick DiBiase off.

Ted DiBiase/Brodus Clay vs. Derrick Bateman/Daniel Bryan

Maryse has been texting all night.  I doubt that’ll mean much but whatever.  Josh says neither Bateman or Bryan has ever won a match on NXT.  Is that true?  I can’t think of a win for Bryan off the top of my head.  I think the winner here is pretty clear.  Oh wait this is a tag match!  Ok that makes more sense now.  Todd: What would the tag team championships look like around Bateman and Bryan’s waists?  Josh: They would look like two belts around their waists.  Nice line.

Bryan plays Ricky Morton for a bit here as both guys get two.  We talk about the Rumble almost non-stop here and Josh says he’ll make his prediction next week.  Todd says that’ll get them a good rating.  Are they competing with reruns of the Dirt Sheet?  Josh points out there are no ratings and Todd has nothing.  Nerve hold by Clay and Dolph grabs a mic and shouts TAP OUT!

Brodus gets the Tongan Death Grip but DiBiase tags himself in.  Bryan manages to get the tag and Bateman cleans some rooms.  DiBiase gets Bateman down and wants to tag out.  Clay is like screw you dude and drops to the floor.  Naturally Bateman gets a rollup on DiBiase for the pin at 4:35

Rating: C-. Bit better here but not much either way.  I think the ending was pretty clear here and the eventual clash between Brodus and DiBiase is coming which is a good thing.  Either way, not terrible here but it was predictable nothing great at all.  Bateman needed a win though so that’s taken care of.

O’Brian finds some cheese on the floor and eats it.  And there’s a trail of it too.  Oh sweet goodness I hate this guy.  At the end is Ricardo with some kind of spray.  Alberto comes in and is very ticked off.  He apparently has match making power and makes Ricardo vs. O’Brian tonight.  It was rat spray.  This is really happening people.

Raw ReBound talks about a shift in power.  Wait a minute.  Punk hurt Cena, Cena talked, Nexus beat down Cena again.  When did the power shift away from Nexus and Punk?

Curtis is nervous and Truth says relax.  Pointless doesn’t begin to describe this.

Ricardo Rodriguez vs. Conor O’Brian

Ricardo is in a bath robe and trips getting into the ring.  He does his own entrance which is kind of funny.  Ricardo is in big black trunks and is a little chubby.  Ladies and gentlemen we are in a comedy match.  It’s weird to see O’Brian being the best wrestler in a match.  Buckle is pulled off and it’s all O’Brian.

You know that rat spray going into his eyes seems to be agreeing with him.  O’Brian goes into the buckle head first, Rodriguez gets a “splash” and pins him at 1:45.  Sweet mercy I have seen it all now.  You know except for Trish Stratus catching trains that fall out of orangutan’s kneecaps when they’re stealing apples from a Persian fruit vender on Mars but I think you get the point.  No rating due to the time.

Elimination time and Striker has to repeat some stuff due to technical difficulties.  I’d assume they couldn’t hear him in the arena because we could.  Bateman is immune and says Saxton should be gone.  Rat Boy is gone!!!  Thank goodness.  He tries to say goodbye but Ricardo cuts him off.  The Rat Boy chases him off.  Conor comes back and says they all suck.  He crawls under the ring for no apparent reason.

Overall Rating: C. Ok, this show is awful.  But if you lower your expectations by about 1000 notches, you’ll find some hilarious moments in this.  The Bateman/Bryan stuff is great, Brodus is cool and RAT BOY IS GONE!!!  The final four are definitely the best of the bunch so this could get ok now.  It’s still weak, but they’re clearly having a good time with it and it’s a great way to see the guys just joking around and having fun, which you don’t often see.  Bad show from a technical standpoint, fun show if you don’t think, like at all.

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 17, 2011
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

With today’s news that there will now be 40 entrants into the Rumble, I’d expect to see more people talking about their supposed chance to win and move on to Mania.  Also tonight the announced main event is John Cena vs. CM Punk which I’d bet a high amount on there being a screwy ending for.  Other than that there isn’t anything announced.  Hopefully Raw keeps its streak of pretty good shows going.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Martin Luther King and his I Have A Dream speech (for any non-Americans that may be confused by this, today is Martin Luther King Day in America).

Here’s Cena to open the show with a salute.  I guess he’s on leave from whatever branch of the military he’s supposed to be in.  We get a quick video of three weeks ago when Nexus beat up Cena and allegedly hurt his hip.  This is Cena’s first (televised) appearance in a WWE ring in 2011.  He has some new year’s resolutions.  First is to take care of the psychopath CM Punk.  Second is to read something that I couldn’t make out what he said.  Third is to win the Rumble and fourth is to win the WWE Championship at Mania.

Cena says that Punk is first so if he wants some, come get some.  Instead he gets Miz who along with Riley are straight up rocking some suits.  Miz says that he’s the most must see champion in company history while Cena is played out.  The champion confirms the 40 man aspect of the Rumble.  He says that whoever wins the Rumble, they shouldn’t come after him because if they do they’ll suffer the same fate as Orton will in two weeks.

This draws a golf clap and an overly dramatic repetition of the phrase “You will lose” ala Ivan Drago.  As if on cue, Cena does a Rocky impression and says if they can change then everybody can change.  He points out that if not for Cole then Lawler would be champion and if not for Riley then Orton would be.  Cena says that they’re like a more feminine version of the Kardashians.

The only battle that The Miz has is with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which means his body makes poop noises.  “It’s PG folks, I’m doing the best I can.”  Well at least he acknowledges it.  Cena talks about how Miz is afraid to fight.  Miz objects and says there is no doubt that he can outwrestle the greatest technicians in WWE history.  He can beat Kurt Angle?  Miz sets for his catchphrase but instead says he will finish that sentence when he destroys Randy Orton.

Miz is getting booed out of the building here.  But I thought the internet decided he was a failure the second he won the title!  HOW CAN THIS BE???  Cena says if Miz is champion let’s see him do something to prove it and gets ready to fight.  Here comes Punk and Nexus, which is now the New Nexus.  Wow that name sucks.  It’s Punk, Otunga, Harris and McGillicutty here.

Punk says the odds are against Cena for the Rumble, partially because all of Nexus is in the Rumble too.  The only purpose of the New Nexus being in the Rumble is to get Punk the win.  I like the whole just flat out saying it’s all about Punk.  Why lie about it?  Nexus minus Punk comes to the ring and Cena is in trouble.  It’s….Santino and Kozlov out for the save???  Nexus retreats and Punk says let’s try it with these odds and all four come to the ring.

E-Mail stops that though.  Miz and Riley have bailed by the way.  The GM wants to know the odds of Punk winning if Nexus is barred from ringside.  If any Nexus member is involved they’re out of the Rumble.  That announcement takes us to a break.  Tag titles up next.

Also Ziggler vs. Orton tonight.  They’re really pushing Dolph strong and I like it.

Tag Titles: Usos vs. Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov

We get big match intros for both teams but both were in the ring when we started.  Impressive what something like that can do for a match.  Santino and I think Jey start us off and Santino is in trouble early.  This was the match that was supposed to happen last week but Nexus beat down the champions.  Nice to see them tie up a tiny loose end like that for a change.

Basic formula match so far with Santino getting beaten down for a bit before he makes the lukewarm tag to the Russian dude.  He destroys the guy that we’ll call Jimmy (does it really matter though?).  Apparently it was Jimmy who is covered after a headbutt for two.  Jey is sent to the floor and in comes Santino.  Cobra ends Jimmy at 2:33.  Short and not bad but not enough for a regular rating.  Tamina has nice legs surprisingly enough.

Nexus minus Punk is bickering in the back and say they need to do something.  Punk appears with a downright creepy smile on his face.  He looks at all of them (complete with the bad looking eye from the incident at a house show over the weekend) and doesn’t seem upset at all about having to be alone tonight.

Morrison walks up to Bryan who has both very good looking Bellas with him and shakes his head.  They go at it next.

John Morrison vs. Daniel Bryan

Nice pop for Morrison.  During Morrison entrance we get a highlight package of his best stuff and his high spots really are rather impressive.  Bellas looking incredible in cut off t-shirts and tight black pants.  They do some nice counters for a wristlock and arm work to start us off.  Bryan gets a suplex/takeover to get control.

Nice to see guys that are young and considered midcarders only getting a chance like this.  They both hit the floor for a second and it’s a standoff back in the ring as we take a break.  Back with Morrison holding a headlock on Bryan.  Russian legsweep and Morrison sets for Starship Pain.  It would have been on target but Bryan moved.  Morrison is now the Prince of Parkour according to Cole.

A big kick to the head gets two for Bryan and the fans pop for the kickout.  Both try cross bodies and they crash sending both of them down.  They slug it out and neither guy can take over.  Morrison counters a German and it’s an pld school pinfall reversal sequence.  Morrison counters but his counter is counteres almost into the LeBell Lock.  Morrison counters and gets a slingshot into the corner.  Flash Kick takes Bryan down and there’s the running knee for the clean pin at 7:25.  Very fun match.

Rating: B. This was a very fun and entertaining match.  It wasn’t the most technically sound but at times that’s ok.  They played up the both guys are evenly matched aspect very well here and the whole thing came off as fast paced and entertaining.  Morrison’s push continues with another big win.  It’s nice for them to pick someone and stick with him and the pops seem to prove the idea correct.

They shake hands post match and it’s a nice sign of respect.  It’s also a Shameful Thing as here’s King Sheamus.  He says he made Morrison and can destroy both him and Bryan.  All three are going to be in the Rumble and Sheamus says he’s going to eliminate both of them.  LONG LIVE THE KING!

Stand Up For WWE won some Mashable Awards for best campaign or something like that.

The Bellas lust over Morrison but both are trying to be Daniel Bryan’s first.  They make a bet about it of some sort.  NOT PG!!!  NOT PG!!!  THAT IS NOT PG!!!  I can’t handle this!  I suddenly want to commit sins and ruin my entire life!  HOW DO I HANDLE THIS?????  This was kind of a heelish promo and implies they’re playing Bryan for a fool.

Here’s Vickie to introduce Ziggler.  Great heat on her to say the least.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton

Orton gets a big reaction from this white hot crowd.  We take a break and the bell is next.  Back with Ziggler taking Orton into the corner and pounding him down to start.  Orton with a Thesz Press and right hands as they’re not even trying to hide the Austin stuff anymore.  It’s down to the chinlock now with Orton firmly in control to start us off.  Ziggler fights back a bit but the power of the Viper is too much and the beating continues.

Dolph gets Orton down and hooks onto the leg.  Big old RKO chant as this crowd is impressive.  Orton fights him off again and unleashes the clothesline.  The powerslam (read a book Cole) puts Ziggler on the apron for the elevated DDT.  It’s patented apparently.  I want to see the paperwork.  Dolph gets out of it though by moving his legs and drills Orton in his injured leg.

Fameasser gets two.  Ziggler gets the sleeper on but Orton is a main event face so he’s immune to it.  When’s the last time that move won a match?  Zig Zag is countered once and then the second is countered into what was allegedly an RKO but it looked more like Ziggler just landed on Orton’s chest.  Either way it gets the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C. The ending hurts it as it didn’t look good and the leg work didn’t go anywhere.  I guess it’s to set up the PPV match and give Orton a handicap.  This was an ok match but I was expecting more from Ziggler.  Could it be that Orton is just average in the ring?  That may have something to do with it.  Not bad but nothing special.

Post match and I mean almost as soon as the bell rings here are Miz and Riley for the beatdown.  They go after the knee and take out Lawler who tries for the save.  Nice to see an announcer actually try to do something for once.  Orton’s back is rammed into the post and Miz gets in some more stomps.

Miz says pick him up because they’re not done yet.  They throw Orton into the barricade which more or less explodes.  They really should look into that.  You can hear the director saying to keep the camera on Miz.  Miz grabs a mic and does the catchphrase in the unconscious face of Orton.  Cool beatdown and makes Miz look intense.

In the back Punk is talking to the Nexus about faith.  He gets almost into a sermon about how to gain what you want you have to sacrifice.  I have no idea what he’s talking about with his stuff about manbeasts and all that jazz.  They bow their heads and that’s all there is to it.  Ok then.

Maryse vs. Natalya

Cole has Eve and Melina on commentary with him here.  Melina can’t answer what her issue is with Natalya.  She’s been #1 contender for what, a month now?  Natalya gets her down and Melina still won’t talk.  Eve doesn’t seem to like Cole which is kind of funny.  Maryse has apparently been giving the other Divas beauty tips.  Sharpshooter ends this in 1:40.  Total nothing match.

Post match Maryse GOES OFF on Cole and Eve shoves her and leaves.  Maryse keeps going off on him until DiBiase comes out.  She shouts at him too and calls him a loser that can’t win the Rumble.  He grabs a mic and asks the crowd if he can.  He says he’ll throw anyone over the top right now and he issues an over the top rope challenge as we take a break.

Back and naturally Mark Henry takes the challenge.

Is anyone surprised it’s Henry?  Remember it’s an over the top challenge.  And it’s over in 30 seconds with Henry winning.  Tatsu, Kidd and Regal all run out.  I’m not calling this an official match.  Every jobber on the roster runs out and it’s turning into kind of a battle royal.  Young, Primo, David Hart-Smith and even R-Truth is out there.  Truth is by far the biggest name in this.  Ryder out there too.

Henry holds up Ryder and here’s Sheamus.  Henry throws him over but he holds on.  Lawler is back on commentary.  Henry throws him out.  Cole was calling this like an actual match once everyone ran in.  Henry’s music plays and here comes Alberto!  He’s in a suit and is cutting a promo about how this is his destiny to go on to the biggest show of them all and all that jazz.  Henry goes after him and Del Rip winks at him to end this.  Not calling a 30 second toss over the top thing a match.  Fun segment though.

Back with Derrick Bateman doing something like an informercial for World’s Strongest Man’s cologne.  It’s made from Henry’s sweat apparently.  Bateman sprays some of it and looks like he’s getting sick.  A voiceover gives a bunch of health warnings over it.  I have no idea what the point of this was at all.

We get the Rumble numbers package which I always love.

40 participants

24 winners

656 entrants

39 eliminations for Shawn, a record

26 Hall of Famers in the match

183,932 pounds in total, equal to 409 Big Shows

2 women in the Rumble, including Beth who eliminated Khali

11 eliminations by Kane in one Rumble

62:12 is Rey’s record for length in the Rumble which is a lie if you believe the 92 Rumble’s commentary

1 second is the record for fastest time for an elimination

3 is the most wins by a single man, in this case Austin

1 is the worst number but it has produced the most winners as the #30 spot (Shawn and a guy not listed who would be Benoit)

70 which is the percent of winners that have won the title at Mania

Music video about the Rumble follows.

We talk about the Rumble and also are told that next week it’s Edge vs. Miz.  Amazing what happens to the ratings when you announce main events a week in advance: more people seem to watch.

Cena vs. Punk next.  Cena is coming to the ring and steals a phone (which looks like it’s from the early 90s) and says the guy will call him back and hangs up.  Ok then.

CM Punk vs. John Cena

Nexus comes out with Punk but walks back after Punk’s entrance.  They stare each other down to start and the fight is on.  Cena gets the bulldog and hammers away.  Punk is reeling early on.  Cena dominates for awhile until Cena ducks his head and Punk gets a HARD kick to the shoulder.  Baseball slide puts Cena on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Cena in a modified triangle choke (I know nothing about MMA so that could be entirely wrong).  He fights up but gets caught in a DDT and back to the same hold.  Cena gets up again and starts his ending sequence.  Punk gets a leg lariat to stop him though and gets the corner clothesline and bulldog for two.

Attempt at the GTS but Cena grabs the leg and goes into the STF.  Cole looks like he’s giving head to the table while he’s shouting so much.  Punk grabs the rope and both men are down.  FU is blocked and Punk gets his springboard clothesline for two.  Punk gets a Downward Spiral and stays on the mat to pull his leg around the throat of Cena in a choke which is called the Anaconda Vice, which it definitely isn’t.  After a close call he gets the rope.

A big boot puts Cena on the floor.  Punk tries a tope but Cena catches him in mid air and rams him into the post.  Cena looks to fly but Punk catches him with a right hand.  Punk tries a suplex but Cena shoves him off.  The top rope legdrop gets two and here comes….some very large man.  He looks like Batista to the point where I’d believe they were related.

The guy stares down Punk in the ring and Punk smiles.  WWE security is awful by the way.  I think this might be Mason Ryan, the FCW dude.  Punk holds his arms up in a cross and lets the guy kick him in the head for the DQ at approximately 15:00.  He hits Cena with a modified Rock Bottom as Nexus runs out to defend Punk but he says step aside.  The big guy takes a knee to Punk and does the salute.  Punk takes a Nexus band off his ankle or out of his shoe and puts it on the guy, making him the newest member.

Rating: B-. This match got borderline epic a few times.  The kickouts and false finishes were all great and I like that there wasn’t a definitive ending.  Neither guy was dominating as the match ended which shows that Punk can in fact hang with Cena and maybe even beat him.  Adding an enforcer is a good thing too, making this a good ending to the show.

They do the salute and AGAIN we hear the director saying where to keep the camera.  A shot of them ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show for the most part.  They set up for the Rumble and we had some good matches in there also.  Nothing great mind you but still good stuff.  Cena vs. Nexus has a new wrinkle now and we didn’t see a definitive ending.  I like where they’re going with this and the crossovers help the build for the Rumble.  Good show tonight but not great by any stretch of the imagination.

Results

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov b. The Usos – Cobra to Jey

John Morrison b. Daniel Bryan – Running knee to the head

Randy Orton b. Dolph Ziggler – RKO

Natalya b. Maryse – Sharpshooter

CM Punk b. John Cena via DQ when a man interfered

Smackdown
Date: January 14, 2011
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

We continue on the path to the Rumble with this week’s Smackdown.  The main story will be Dolph building up to his title match with Edge which the website confirmed would be there.  I like them giving a guy like Ziggler a quick test run in the main event.  Also this goes to show you: never let a bad gimmick convince you that a guy can’t succeed.  The WWE Champion was a chick magnet and the biggest star in the company was a rapper.  At least he wasn’t saying Yo Baby Yo Baby Yo.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Barrett vs. Show which I had completely forgotten about.  That can’t be a good sign.

Cue theme song.  Something tells me the Insurgency is never going to rise as there is no blood to sacrifice in WWE.

Dolph and Vickie will be on the Cutting Edge tonight.

Here’s Alberto to open the show.  It’s a 59 Jag this week.  Seeing Del Rio live gave me a new respect for him.  He talks about how Southerners are slow but there is no one like him in WWE.  Also he’s still going to win the Rumble and go to Mania.  It’s nice to see them build up a few people this time as it’s boring when they don’t.  Truth comes out to interrupt him and says Del Rio has a rabbit mind.  What the heck is this guy on?

He says Del Rio can’t win the Rumble because of having cars or a creepy ring announcer or because of destiny.  Actually if it’s his destiny, yeah that would make him win.  He says that Del Rio steps up by beating the one guy he can’t beat….who is named Lucy.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?

They’re interrupted by Cody Rhodes who says that Dashing is in the Rumble this year.  He’s only 25 and has been in three Rumbles so he’ll win.  Cue Rey who says it’s not about looking like a Diva or destiny but about what’s inside you.  If this turns into another I HAVE A BIG HEART speech I’m going to be sick.  Also shouldn’t he get a heart that big looked at by a doctor?

Anyway, he and Albert make fun of each other some more and Rey says that he’s won a Rumble while Alberto has won zero.  Oh that’s so cute.  He still thing that he won that Rumble and not Eddie.  Such a delusional masked annoyance.  Cody says that’s What’s Up.  Truth asks if Cody is stepping on his pinkie toe.  Rey says he’s stepping on your pinkie toe.  Is this some new language that I don’t understand?  Truth drills him and the fight is on.  Teddy pops up and we get a tag match.  Truth and Rey hug at the announcement.

Rey Mysterio/R-Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio/Cody Rhodes

The match starts after a break.  Rey vs. Cody to start us off.  Rey dominates to start and it’s off to Del Rio.  Alberto is officially an arch-nemesis so you know he’s awesome.  Cole asks a good question: how many times do Truth and Mysterio have to lose to Del Rio before they shut up?  Alberto sends Rey to the floor and rams him into the barricade.

Cody comes in and misses a knee drop.  I love his old school style.  Top rope cross body by Rey takes him down.  That move has been coming back lately which is a good thing.  I love simple moves like that.  Off to Truth and Del Rio now.  Sitout Gordbuster (dang it Striker stop saying the same things I do) by Truth.  He sends both of his opponents to the floor where Rey kills them both with a big moonsault and we take a break.

Back with Truth holding a chinlock on Del Rio but Cody is in seconds later.  It’s confirmed that all four guys will be in the Rumble as I think everyone expected.  For some reason the commentators keeps speaking Spanish seemingly at random.  Del Rio gets two on Truth with a move that isn’t important enough to make note of.  That and I was typing and didn’t see it.

Cody beats on Truth a bit more and gets two off a Russian leg sweep.  Crossface Chickenwing (what is with so many people using that recently?) and a body scissors makes Bob Backlund say “Oh, to be dashing”.  Truth fights out of it with an Electric Chair and gets the tag off to Rey.  For no apparent reason Cody doesn’t tag and gets a seated senton for his troubles.

Rey cleans house and we get a pinfall reversal sequence, won by Rey into a sunset flip for two as Del Rio saves.  Truth sends Del Rio to the floor with a side kick and it’s down to Cody vs. Rey now.  I don’t like the Dashing one’s chances.  Cody almost counters a headscissors into an Alabama Slam but gets caught anyway.  619 sets up the Springboard Splash at 10:28 shown of 13:58.

Rating: C+. Not the best tag match here but these guys have no history as teams so that makes up for it a bit.  This was the usual decent Smackdown tag match of the week which means it was at least good.  They have the formula for these things down pat and this was no exception.  Fun match to start off the show.

Time for Straight Out of the Hood with JTG as I refuse to butcher English like the title card does.  Basically it’s his take on recent events in WWE which is actually kind of entertaining.

We get a clip of Barrett costing Show the #1 contender spot last week.

Barrett says he came back to Raw as a conquering hero like Julius Caesar but was thrown out.  He came to Smackdown to continue his dominance and picked the Big Show because he’s the biggest star on Smackdown, and Barrett only goes after the best.  When he’s done, all will hail Caesar.  I’d rather Hail Sabin but whatever.  Also, please not another British gladiator character.

Video package on Ezekiel who talks about the Book of Ezekiel.

Trent Barreta vs. Drew McIntyre

I liked Barreta last time he was on Smackdown so this should be good too.  Drew gets a semi-face pop.  Trent goes straight for him to start but Drew takes his head off with a clothesline.  He still isn’t completely healed from his big dive two weeks ago apparently.  Drew destroys him here, taking him to the floor and possibly knocking out a tooth.  Trent is more or less dead a minute into this.  The fans are cheering for Drew here.

Dropkick gets two as Drew adds something new to his arsenal.  He must be emulating Mr. Cena.  Off to an armbar now and Cole plugs the video game by saying Trent is only going to win there.  Trent makes a brief comeback and gets a one footed dropkick for two.  Drew counters into a belly to belly and the referee is thinking about stopping it.  Drew goes for a gorilla press instead of the Futureshock and gets countered into a sunset flip/rollup for the shocking pin at 3:24!

Rating: C+. I like this Barreta guy.  He’s likely not going to go anywhere and this is probably just a plot device for the Kelly/Drew story but at least they’re letting someone new get some TV time and even a clean win here.  This wasn’t quite a squash but it was kind of close to one.  Trent got beaten badly here but he hung in there and it became a good match.  This was fun and the ending wasn’t contrived, which is always a big plus.  Fun stuff.

Post break Trent is walking in the back and gets jumped by Drew.  Before the beating gets too bad though Kelly comes up and glares at Drew.  He throws Trent aside in an unintentionally funny moment and goes after her.  Drew says he was only going to ask for a rematch but that’s not what Kelly saw.  She says that she was starting to believe him but now that’s not what she sees.  Kelly says she doesn’t want to be with someone that takes pleasure in beating on people and tells Drew to grow up.

Big Show vs. Wade Barrett

As Show makes his entrance, Josh plugs the Hall of Fame introduction ceremony.  He says it’s the most prestigious night of the year, the night before Mania.  Wouldn’t Mania be more prestigious.  Wade has his own music now and….yeah not feeling it.  It’s fast paced and almost techno-lite.  I’m not liking it but maybe it’ll grow on me.  Show goes right at him and the beating is on early.

We talk about Otunga and his jumping of Show on Smackdown as Barrett takes Show down.  Show of course shrugs off the offense and tries for the Chokeslam.  Barrett manages to block it twice though so at least this isn’t a two and a half minute match.  He tries a third time but Slater and Gabriel run in for the DQ.  Show tries to fight them off but the numbers catch up to him.  Only for a bit though as he fights them off again.

Big Zeke of all people pops up on the apron and stares down Show.  Slater tries to jump him again and Gabriel brings in a chair.  Show DRILLS it into his head but Zeke runs in to beat him down further.  The 4-1 assault happens with Zeke getting a nice delayed slam on Show and the 450 capping it off.  The new team raises their hands up.  Replays take us to a break.  No rating as this was like 2 minutes of an actual match.

Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix

Layla looking incredible in a blue dress here.  Beth looking great too.  Sorry, hot women make me write in choppy sentences.  The Divas on Smackdown have gotten a lot better recently so we’ll see if that stays true here.  Michelle beats her down to start as we make NFL predictions and comparisons.  Josh as usual gets us back on track.

Beth fights back but Michelle gets a slick rollthrough to hook the leg and take Beth down again.  That was cool looking.  Crowd does not care for the most part here.  Beth’s knee is killing her here but she manages to get a rollup for two.  Blast it I’m getting tired of Laycool’s song getting stuck in my head every time they have a match.

Michelle tries to cannonball down onto Beth’s knee but gets launched to the floor.  Beth hammers away and gets a slingshot suplex for two.  She tries for the Glam Slam but Michelle counters.  Big boot is blocked into another attempt into the Glam Slam.  Michelle rolls through but Beth rolls backwards to get the pin at 4:10.

Rating: C+. Wow I’ve used that rating a lot tonight.  Everything has been above average tonight but nothing has been incredibly good.  This was good enough though and another passable match from the Divas.  The main thing with them lately has been that they’re looking much more confident in the ring.  Instead of looking like they have to plan each move out individually we see them looking smooth out there and that it’s instinct, much like a seasoned competitor.  That’s a very good thing indeed and something I haven’t seen since Lita and Trish.

Shawn Hall of Fame video.  The line of “I’m going to give you a show you’ll never forget.  Why?  Because I can” sums up Shawn as well as anything ever could.

Vickie is yelling at Teddy who is mad because of some decisions she made last week.  Teddy gets a phone call and has to leave because of something involving the Barrett situation.  Ziggler tells Vickie to not let Edge get to her in the interview segment later.  He also apologizes for yelling at her last week.  They rub noses in an awkward moment.

Here’s Kofi for a match but there’s no opponent yet.  Kofi is another guy that has incredible energy live.  I saw him in his first defense after the televised title change and he was probably the highlight of the show after Edge.  Everything he does he looks like he’s giving everything he can which is a nice this to see.  We get a clip of the title change and defense last week which was a cool moment.

Before the match against whomever, he says that he had the fans in his corner last week and because of them he’s the Intercontinental Champion again.  He learned about himself last week and the first thing he learned was check one two.  Here’s Swagger in case you didn’t get that.  Swagger says he’s proud of Kofi for learning something but 2011 is the year of the All-American.  I still have never heard his lisp that is constantly talked about.  Swagger warns him about the ankle lock so Kofi says let’s go right now.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

Non-Title it seems.  Even though there was a bell before the entrance of Kofi and he was introduced with his weight and all that, this seems impromptu.  We hit the floor almost immediately and Swagger drops him on the announce table as we take a break.  Back with Swagger stomping away as he’s in total control.  Vader Bomb gets two.

All Jack so far.  Another Vader Bomb misses though and here comes Kofi.  Sunset flip gets two.  Kofi can’t get the SOS but Swagger can’t get the Gutwrench Powerbomb.  Out of NOWHERE, Kofi gets the SOS for the pin at 5:00 shown of 8:30 total.  That really was a surprising ending.

Rating: B-. This was probably the best match of the night so far.  Nothing great here but these two work well together which seems to be the case of everyone that Kofi faces.  The SOS is a great secondary finisher for Kofi and this was no exception here.  Good little match and a great way to start the reign of Kofi.

After a final break it’s time for another cutting Edge.  Before Dolph and Vickie come out, Edge says that last week he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive the last man standing match, but he did and is still champion.  There’s something cool about a champion holding up the belt slowly like that.  He’s going from facing one monster last week to another this week in the form of Vickie Guerrero.  Cue the challenger and the creature that hangs out with him.

Edge says there was controversy with the victory last week which Dolph and Vickie deny.  Edge accuses Vickie of giving him the eye or something but Dolph says they’re leaving.  The champion makes fun of Vickie with some good lines.  Vickie says she was young and crazy when she married Edge.

Dolph says Edge owes his career resurgence to Vickie.  This is almost a therapy session.  Vickie has a clip to show them which is Edge making out with his wedding planner (not identified as Alicia Fox).  Dolph gets a jab at Edge, saying he looks about 14 in that clip.  Vickie lets loose the screeches.  Edge of course has his own clip which is Dolph making out with Kaitlyn.

Edge asks Vickie who that was and as she’s shaking, Dolph DRILLS Edge who fights back.  Vickie yells that it was their wedding day and slaps him three times.  She jumps on Edge so Edge looks for a spear.  He changes him mind and leaves then changes his mind again.  Dolph pulls him out for the save though and the beating is on.  Great heat on Dolph as he and Vickie stand over Edge to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was still a good show but it wasn’t great.  The wrestling was a bit down this week but after last week it was still pretty decent with no real bad matches.  The main point tonight was two fold in that we had Show vs. Barrett as well as a good focus on Dolph vs. Edge.  The world title match seems like it could be very good and likely will be.  Vickie adds a nice dynamic to it so overall, this should be a fun Rumble.  Either way, good stuff this week but not their best.

Results

Rey Mysterio/R-Truth b. Alberto Del Rio/Cody Rhodes – Springboard Splash to Rhodes

Trent Barreta b. Drew McIntyre – Sunset Flip

Big Show b. Wade Barrett via DQ when Heath Slater interfered

Beth Phoenix b. Michelle McCool – Rollup

Kofi Kingston b. Jack Swagger – SOS

1.3.  That’s their best in awhile.

Impact
Date: January 13, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: The One That Got Away

It’s the first Impact after Genesis and things are looking a bit different. Mr. Anderson is the new world champion following an unannounced title match and title switch at Genesis which I’ll spare you my thoughts on because I’ll yet again be told I don’t get it or I’m an idiot or I don’t like the company or some other short sighted answer like that. Anyway, also at Genesis we saw the debut of Matt Hardy which already is forming our main event tonight. It should be interesting to see where TNA goes from here so let’s get to it.

The opening video is of Genesis from Sunday.  Featured are Angle vs. Jarrett and the announcement of the retirement party plus the whole world title scenario.  Anderson is considering giving Morgan the first title shot but isn’t sure.  Also he hates the look of the belt.

Jarrett and Karen got here earlier today.

Here’s Anderson who says that he’s worked forever to attain his dream.  He was hired over there and was the next world champion.  Anderson beat ten world champions but a little birdy (said in a HHH voice) got into the boss’ (Vince) head and said that he isn’t ready for it.  After being told everything he couldn’t do over there, he got a call from Eric Bischoff.

Eric, Hogan, Dixie and Russo told him he could be himself and now he’s the jerk that he is today.  This jerk just became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.  He could have done it without the fans but he’ll thank them anyway.  The other jerk that he has to thank is Matt Morgan so could he please come out here.

Morgan comes out and Anderson thanks him.  Morgan says that the only reason Anderson has that title around his waist (Anderson: “It’s not around my waist.”) is because Morgan let himself down.  All Matt is thinking about is how to get the title and his next shot.  2011 is the year of the Blueprint and he’s coming for the title.  He’s being serious but civil/respectful here.  Anderson earned it and Morgan’s hat is off to him.  Morgan shakes his head and leaves.

Before we can go to a break here’s Bischoff.  He wants to know who Anderson thinks he is.  The only thing he accomplished is putting a bull’s-eye on his back.  Eric says mark his calendar for February 3^rd, 2011 (my birthday) that on Impact Hardy is getting his rematch and Hogan will be back.

Anderson gets in Eric’s face and Hardy pops up on the screen and says that in three weeks he gets his title back.  RVD jumps Hardy but the other Hardy makes the save.  Anderson runs off to make the save for RVD and luckily the interview area is right behind the curtain.  The rest of Immortal comes in to beat down Anderson and RVD.  The guys being laid out takes us to our first break.

Back and the main event is announced of Hardys vs. Anderson/RVD.  Can’t argue with the logic there.

We see Karen and Jeff Jarrett going into Immortal’s locker room and closing the door.

Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Motor City Machineguns

Oh look: it’s this match again.  I get that it’s a good pairing, but can we PLEASE get a fresh team in there?  This TNA’s tag division is awesome theory is bogus.  Before they go to the Guns say to expect a good match.  The Guns hit the ring and it’s on early.  Tonight is the first of four weeks of Genesis rematches.  Well of course.  I mean it’s not like it’s supposed to mean anything to buy the PPV right?  Why buy it when you can just see the big matches over the next month?  What a great way to get fans to buy future shows!

After a big beatdown by the Guns a trip up of Shelley gives Beer Money control and we get down to a traditional match.  It’s my first night watching the show in HD and it makes the ring look much smaller.  Off to a chinlock by Storm on Sabin.  Double tag brings in Shelley and a double stomp gets two on Roode who Tazz thinks is Storm for some reason.

Here comes the double teaming by the Guns which is fun to watch as usual.  Skull and Bones hit Roode.  Storm is busted open.  Elevated DDT a la Orton takes down Sabin.  Shelley sets for a superplex but Storm pulls him down into the Eye of the Storm.  Shelley counters but gets caught in what looked like a TKO and a splash from Roode for two.  DWI can’t hit and here comes Sabin.  The Guns hit a combination downward spiral/missile dropkick but Shelly accidentally kicks Sabin on the ASCS Rush and DWI ends Shelley at 7:50.

Rating: B. Usual good match from these teams but the division is dying for new teams.  These two teams have had so many matches that while good are getting a bit monotonous.  If they’re planning a split between the Guns I question their sanity as they’re more or less the only serious face team the company has.  This was one of their weaker matches but certainly still good.

Jarrett is nervous about something after coming out of Immortal’s locker room.

Kurt gets here.

Back and RVD and Anderson aren’t happy about getting beaten down and say they need to take the fight to them.  Anderson has the same blood on his head that he had in the promo from after the PPV.  Did he not take a shower since then?  They grab some weapons which are a chair for RVD and what looked like a big board for Anderson.

Pope is here and the money is able to rain down from the ceiling again.  His hair looks kind of different and I think it’s braided now or something.  He talks about how Joe has been following him around and he hasn’t done anything wrong.  Pope says he’s a Pope that the people can look up to.  He forgives Joe but wants to know what would happen if the roles were reversed and Pope was following Joe.  Well apparently he did just that and we’re going to look at the Dixietron to see what Joe and his wife look like.

And it’s a picture of two pigs mating.  Next up is a picture of Joe’s wife giving birth and it’s a video of a pig nursing it’s babies.  Here comes Joe and Pope bails.  Uh, what’s stopping Joe from going after him?  Joe grabs the mic and says that for a man that is always pimping, he always runs like a little whiny an.  At some point in the future, Joe is coming after him and Joe’s Gonna Kill You.

RVD and Anderson storm the Immortal locker room and find Beer Money.  I didn’t see the previously mentioned weapons with them but whatever.  The door closes and sound effects imply a big old beatdown.  Anderson and RVD walk out and say that’s two down and now they’re looking for the Hardys.  Van Dam does have his chair with him as they leave so I’d assume he had it when he goes in.

Back with Eric, Flair and AJ talking about how to get the title off Anderson.  AJ wants to be able to soften him up but Flair says no because he needs to heal.  They walk into the locker room and find Beer Money down and Flair says Jesus a lot.  If they want a war they’ve got one.

We recap Jarrett vs. Angle which is one of the longest running feuds in company history.  And it’s still just a tease as Jarrett and Karen talk about how on Sunday Angle took it too far so tonight Jarrett is going to hang up his MMA boots.

Angle says that he and his ex have some catching up to do.

Here comes Jeff for his retirement party.  If nothing else we can look at Karen.  Maybe we can’t actually as Jarrett comes out with the security dudes.  Has he always had that mustache?  A guy in an Elmo shirt yells at Jarrett.  No idea why but that made me laugh.  He says that no one has come close to defeating him in an MMA fight and he’s certainly never lost.

At Genesis he could have injured Kurt but he didn’t.  He has nothing left to prove in MMA so he’s done.  Behind every great warrior there’s a great woman so here’s Karen.  Instead we get Kurt so Jarrett sends out the security dudes again.  They work about as well as an umbrella in a hurricane so Angle storms the ring.  After hitting Germans on Gunner and Murphy he corners Jarrett but here’s Karen with a mic of her own.

The distraction lets Jarrett get away.  In a voice that could make Vickie Guerrero jealous, she talks about how Kurt has played games with their personal lives and he’s not going to steal their happiness anymore.  Next week she’s going to tell her side of the story.  Uh, why not say it now?  You have a mic, you have him in front of you and your husband right next to you.  What’s stopping you honey?  Whatever as we go to another break.

Back with Angle cursing up a storm and breaking a lot of stuff.

Holy crap it’s a wrestling match!

Knockouts Tag Titles: Tara/Madison Rayne vs. Winter/Angelina Love

Is there any reason to have these belts anymore?  We barely have enough girls for a singles title let alone tag belts.  Before the champions come to the ring Velvet rants about Winter and for some reason is surprised that she’s here for the title defense.  After the referee holds up the titles for a very long time we’re ready to go.  Angelina vs. Madison to start.  Angelina gets two rollups to start and dominates this part of the match.

Madison has that glove on her hand which is apparently loaded.  Off to Tara for some double teaming.  After about a minute and a half here’s Mickie to pull Madison out and drill Tara as well.  Mickie tries to get the glove off Madison and chases her out of the arena.  Bicycle Kick to Tara takes her down and Winter adds a double axe from the top.  She snaps and gets a choke on Tara for the submission/pass out at 3:00.  No rating as probably half of this was Mickie’s involvement.

The Hardys, from behind a cage no less, say that the business is all about making money and they’re blood, rather than a thief and a wrestler paired together.

Matt Morgan vs. Abyss

Non-title of course because you don’t want to have the TV Title defended on TV right?  Morgan charges right ahead and beats on Abyss for about a minute but can’t hit the Carbon Footprint due to a distraction for Flair.  A corner charge by the champion eats elbow but he gets a clothesline to Morgan to keep control.  He takes too long on another charge though and gets caught by a Discus Lariat.  Chokeslam by Abyss is blocked and the Carbon Footprint hits.  Flair tries to save but can’t stop the count and Morgan gets the pin at 3:20.

Post match Flair goes after Morgan but gets caught.  Terry comes down and it’s a 3-1 beatdown.

Rating: D+. This was watchable but not much more.  Great to see a new champion get pinned in less than 4 minutes despite attempted interference.  I get that they need to keep Morgan strong, so maybe they shouldn’t have booked him against a champion?  Just a thought.  Anyway this was nothing special at all and was just to set up the beatdown post match.

After a break Abyss is in the back and someone (might have been Tommy Mercer/Red’s brother) jumps Abyss and says that on February 3^rd they’re coming for every member of Immortal.  He chokes Abyss out and leaves him laying.

Tenay and Tazz confirm that it was him and his name is apparently Crimson.

Abyss goes into the locker room to talk to Eric but he’s talking to the Hardys so it has to be later.  Eric says that everything goes down on February 3^rd.  After the Hardys leave Abyss tells them what happed.  Eric and Flair say he’s having a flashback because Immortal is already here.

Hardys vs. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson

It’s 10:38 when the entrances start so there’s a lot of time for this.  Back and the non-brothers go straight for the Hardys in the aisle.  Oddly enough RVD goes after Matt.  We get the bell and it’s on with a big brawl.  We get it down to an actual match with RVD vs. Matt.  I can’t say Hardy anymore which is taking some getting used to.  Matt hammers away in the corner as the bare arms look isn’t working for him at all.

Tenay tells us that Matt is officially in Immortal which I think was pretty clear but it’s nice to have it be made official.  Jeff and Anderson in now and Jeff reopens the wound on Anderson’s head.  Tenay suggest that if the Hardys had stayed together they might be recognized as the best tag team ever.  They weren’t even the best team in the company back in the day.

Matt goes up and misses a moonsault.  In a related story, Florida’s ground has been pushed into the ground by 9 feet.  We take a break after RVD dives on the Hardys on the floor.  Back with RVD hammering on Matt.  After some Jeff interference a Side Effect gets two.  Off to Anderson vs. Jeff again and there’s the Mic Check with ease.  Matt saves but it was kind of odd to see him hit it that easily.

Matt sets for the Twist but Anderson fights out of it.  Down goes the referee and Matt gets a Mic Check of his own.  Instead they just beat down the Hardys but Beer Money comes out to uneven the odds.  After the big beating from Beer Money the Twist and Swanton pin Anderson at 13:50.  Great way to treat your world champion in his first match as champion.

Rating: C. This was your basic main event tag match with a screwy finish.  I really don’t like Anderson getting pinned and Immortal standing tall again but they’re setting up for three weeks from now which should be a good thing at least.  The match wasn’t anything great at all but it certainly worked for a main event and thankfully got some time.  Right in the middle here.

Immortal hits the ring to beat the guys down and stand tall as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B. The lack of wrestling is really the only thing holding this back.  Well that and the champions getting pinned twice.  I quite liked this show overall as it seems we’re away from the whole Immortal dominance thing and are shifting over to the THEY are coming again.  I like this for once as it’s a nice bit of continuity to the big storyline.  I’m interested in seeing where this is going, which is exactly the point of what they’re trying to do.  Good show and a good sign of things to come hopefully.

Results

Beer Money b. Motor City Machineguns – DWI to Shelley

Angelina Love/Winter b. Tara/Madison Rayne – Winter choked Tara out

Matt Morgan b. Abyss – Carbon Footprint

The Hardys b. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson – Swanton Bomb to Anderson

NXT
Date: January 11, 2011
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

It’s the week between eliminations so this is likely going to be a contest heavy show.  Novak is gone thank goodness, lowering the level of suck on this show dramatically.  Tonight’s special feature is Daniel Bryan and Derrick Bateman on a double date with the Bella Twins.  That should be….uh….interesting.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the trade with Saxton and Novak which is a good thing since Novak and Ziggler didn’t work at all.

Theme song hits, get your reinforcements.  Just not the Rat Boy as he sucks.

There’s another elimination next week according to Striker.  It’s challenge time which is worth two points.  This is the slingshot challenge.  The pros in the ring are going to use a slingshot to launch t-shirts to the rookies on the stage, most caught and dropped into a bucket wins.  Truth and Curtis go first and Truth launches them way too high so there are none caught.

Ziggler and Saxton are second and Ziggler also launches them way too high.  Ah there’s one.  Saxton has a Best Buy themed shirt going on this week.  It’s just one which is the mark somehow.

Third is Bryan and Bateman.  Bryan bounces them off the Titantron for some reason.  They have to be caught in the air which makes this a bit more competitive and also a bit more idiotic.  Bateman gets one and can’t get the second in time.  Ok maybe he does.  Yeah that gives him the lead with two.

Clay is up next and Maryse is shooting.  And the shirt fell, almost like going limp.  That can’t be something that happens often with her.  Ted takes over and can’t get anything either.  It’s a total of zero.

Finally is Rat Boy and Del Rio who has heat on him now, drawing a boo for his name.  They get one and then catch a second at the buzzer but it wasn’t in the bucket so Bateman wins with two, gaining two points.

Ricardo is on the phone in the back and we have subtitles for no apparent reason.  He says he’s responding to an ad, saying he has a problem with a huge rat that stinks.  Oh dear.  Why are we giving this guy an angle on top of everything else?

Conor O’Brian vs. Byron Saxton

Bit of a feeling out process to start here as it occurs to me that I don’t remember a single one of O’Brian matches.  Saxton gets a forearm in the corner to take over.  I like how they have the pros up on the apron like partners here.  It adds on the teamwork thing instead of having them be like managers.  Since they’re getting a tag title shot in the future that fits pretty well.

Chinlock by Saxton as he keeps him dominance going.  Bulldog gets two and back to the rest hold.  Conor tries to fight up but gets a knee to his back.  This is kind of hit and miss to say the least.  Saxton gets a clothesline for two which Ziggler thought would be three.  He’s certainly into these matches and does well with what he does.  ANOTHER rest hold by Saxton as Conor has had very little going for him here.  Mat slam out of the corner gets two again for Saxton.  And never mind as there’s a Rock Bottom for the pin for O’Brian at 6:25.

Rating: D. I HATE that kind of an ending as O’Brian got maybe two punches in and then hit a Rock Bottom to end it.  What is the point in having someone hit one move like that as the extent of their offense.  It makes the other guy look completely weak as his whole offense means nothing and a single shot can beat him.  Can’t stand that style at all.

Ricardo has to announce him as the winner and certainly isn’t thrilled with it, hence the rat problem.

We get a clip from last night after Raw with Bateman and Bryan getting ready.  Bateman has American flag pants on and goes on about submission wrestling again.  He likes to speak in initials and abbreviations for some reason.  Bateman thinks the Bellas are both wildebeests for some reason.  Both guys have sunflowers for the girls which Bateman is a bit confused about.

Should be noted that until now I had a phone call and was trying to do that and review at the same time.  God bless headphones.

It’s time for another challenge, in this case Superstar Password.  It’s an old game show with the idea being that one person has the password and has to give clues to the other guy to win.  The rookie has to give the clues and it’s the most in a set amount of time.

Curtis and Truth go first.  You can’t say the name or a nickname I guess.  There isn’t much to say here.  They get two right.

Saxton and Ziggler go second and Saxton is still breathing hard from his match.  They also get two.

Bateman messes up and says Kane to start.  Then he starts flying through them with basic clues like you’re supposed to play this game and they get three.  We even get a Lanny Poffo reference.

Clay and DiBiase are next and Maryse keeps guessing designers.  DiBiase is really bad at this while Clay gives good clues. Clay: Bigger than me, bald, in a movie, doesn’t like Kane.  DiBiase; John Cena?  He FINALLY gets Big Show and that’s it.

Conor and Alberto are fourth and Rat Boy messes up and wastes time.  O’Brian wants to talk about how great Del Rio is.  Bateman wins.  This could have been great but they made it REALLY stupid.  Bateman was the only guy that did this with any kind of intelligence.

Same Shawn video from last night.  He certainly deserves it.

Ah ok the date was last night and we’re getting clips of it.  Ok that makes sense.  It also explains why they were in dresses at ringside.  They’re at dinner here and Bateman has his foot on the table.  Bateman: Brie, did you know that you share your name with my second type of cheese?  The girls argue over text messages or something and Bateman texts Bryan pickup lines.

This looks like the smallest restaurant ever by the way.  Bateman FREAKS because something got on his pants so he turns the table over, throws a bag of change at Bryan and leaves.  Bryan for some reason goes after him and leaves the girls.  This was odd to put it mildly but I’d be lying if I said Bateman wasn’t kind of funny.  Good segment overall.

Ted DiBiase vs. Johnny Curtis

Back and Matthews goes off about the date while pointing out very basic issues with it (why were they eating off paper plates?) and somehow we’re talking about college football.  Crowd is dead for the match by the way.  Kind of a standoff to start us off here.  They keep fighting over a lockup as Matthews is turning into the Cole of this season.  BIG backdrop by Curtis gives him momentum.

Semi-snap suplex by Curtis.  Slingshot legdrop misses though as we take a break.  Back with DiBiase holding a chinlock on Curtis.  The following clothesline takes down Curtis as we talk about who’s leaving next week.  The general consensus seems to be O’Brian and I can’t say I disagree.  All DiBiase here as he hammers away.

Total dominance by DiBiase who hooks on another chinlock.  Big sitout spinebuster breaks any momentum that Curtis might have been trying to build up there.  Running knee lift misses though and here comes Curtis.  Another following clothesline is almost countered into a backslide.  Curtis gets two off a mat slam.  With Maryse distracting, Clay gets a big forearm to Curtis.  Truth takes Clay out and Curtis pins DiBiase with a rollup at 9:30 to end the show.

Rating: C+. This was better than you would expect.  Curtis is so ridiculously boring that it’s not even funny.  I get that he’s supposed to be the big star this season but he’s just not clicking at all.  The match was fairly good though for NXT standards and it worked well enough for a main event.  Much better than the other match at least.

Overall Rating: C. This was a mixed bag which is a term I hate but it fits here.  The date and the main event were both good but the first match and the slingshot thing were bad.  The Password thing had potential but was so rushed that it was hard to classify as good.  That’s something that has potential to be kind of fun but it failed here.  Anyway, decent enough show this week but nothing memorable at all.  At least another guy goes home next week.

Results

Derrick Bateman won the Slingshot Challenge

Conor O’Brian b. Byron Saxton – Rock Bottom

Derrick Bateman won Superstar Password

Johnny Curtis b. Ted DiBiase – Rollup