Monday Night Raw
Date: August 6, 2012
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s Shawn Michaels Appreciation Night, which likely means Brock Lesnar Beats Up Shawn To Get On HHH’s Nerves Night. Other than that we’re on the way to Summerslam and we have a triple threat match for the title at that show, because this is WWE and that’s how we roll around here. I doubt much else will matter tonight but the interesting question is will we have more than the 16 recaps we had last week? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the end of last week with Show vs. Cena and the announcement of the triple threat for Summerslam.

The song is now that Tonight Is The Night one that was used for Raw 1000. I don’t like hip hop/rap so I’m not wild on it but I guess that’s what people like nowadays.

Here’s AJ to open things up in a white suit. Well it certainly catches my eye. Tonight it’s Orton vs. Big Show and Bryan vs. Cena. She has another idea but here’s Punk with a disruption. Punk says that he needs to apologize for something he said last week. He wants to apologize to AJ when he yelled and screamed at her because he knows what it’s like to not be respected. Punk says he’s sorry and AJ accepts it.

The champ talks about how AJ is bound to make some big mistakes like she did last week so why don’t we just cancel the triple threat for Summerslam. She says she’ll make mistakes but the triple threat isn’t one of them. Punk says he doesn’t want her to be the evil Raw GM because he turned her down. He has no problem with facing either guy in a singles match so just give him one of them or have him face a new opponent, but let’s move on.

Cue Cena with something to say. Cena says you have to come out here and earn respect instead of demanding it. He stops to listen to some dueling chants and says that he’s got eleven of those championships Punk has right now and based on the crowd, Cena has to fight for respect every week. Cena stops to hit on AJ in a somewhat awkward moment. Punk says Cena is the guy that turns a blind eye to facts.

Last week, Cena was the one that went flying into Punk so Cena is the one that started it. Punk talks about how Cena isn’t the same as he used to be but Cena counters by saying that the champ rarely wins triple threats. I’d love to see the stats that backs that up. Punk says we should check Gray’s Sports Almanac and see that Punk won at Summerslam last week.

Cue Big Show but AJ tells everyone to stop it because we’re not going to let everything get out of hand. Cena and Show have matches later but Punk has nothing to do, which he says isn’t right. AJ says Punk has a match and the fans will decide. The choices are Miz, Kane or Rey Mysterio. Gee I wonder who they’ll pick. The match is after a break.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Wow I’m stunned by this result. The voting was a bit closer than I expected with Rey having 47% to Kane’s 31. Mysterio takes him to the mat to start and grabs a leg but Punk counters by grabbing the arm. I’m not sure what I think of Rey wrestling in a shirt since his comeback. I don’t dislike it but it’s different to see on him. Rey misses a charge and goes shoulder first into the post so Punk drops a leg for two.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two for the champ (this is non-title) and he goes up top. Rey kicks him down and hits the seated senton off the apron (not the second rope Cole) as we take a break. Back with Punk superplexing Rey for two. Off to a bodyscissors to fill in some time. Mysterio is sent to the floor but as he comes back in with the seated senton.

Rey speeds things up and hits the kick to the head for a close two. Rey tries to jump out of the corner but gets caught in the GTS. That gets countered into the 619 but the top rope splash hits Punk’s knees. GTS gets the clean pin at 10:11. Punk may have lost a tooth in there somewhere.

Rating: C+. This was the usual good match from these two. Punk winning clean is a good thing and someone like Rey losing isn’t going to hurt him at all. I like that they’re keeping Punk looking strong instead of having him become a coward that can barely beat anyone on his own. Pretty good stuff here.

Del Rio finds a parking spot. This takes almost 40 seconds.

Video on Wade Barrett who is returning. It features clips of a bare knuckles fight and has him talking about going back to that style to reignite his fire. Nice stuff.

Del Rio and Ricardo come in to see AJ. Alberto says he shouldn’t have to fight until Summerslam. She steps away and Del Rio mentions her being crazy. That brings her back and Del Rio has a match up next.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

Christian jumps him to start but Alberto takes him to the floor and sends him into the post and the barricade. That gets two back inside and it’s time to work on the arm. I doubt we’ll hear about Del Rio putting Christian on the shelf for about six months a few years ago. Del Rio DDTs the arm down but Christian comes back with some forearms. The uppercut while Del Rio is on the ropes puts Alberto down and the top rope cross body gets two for the Canadian.

Killswitch is countered but the Codebreaker to the arm is as well. Del Rio kicks him in the ribs but a backsplash from the middle rope misses. The spear is countered by a superkick and both finishers are countered. Ricardo distracts Christian and Del Rio takes his boot off and blasts Christian in the head with it. The armbreaker gets the submission at 3:05.

Rating: D. This was a mess while it lasted. The idea was that the boot wasn’t completely on because of Del Rio having to get ready in a hurry which is a decent idea, but the rest of the match didn’t work at all. At the end of the day, I do not care about Del Rio and I don’t know of more than a handful of people that do. Nothing to see here.

Sheamus pops up on screen and steals Del Rio’s car which is still in the back.

It appears that Shawn is going to appear tonight but the Appreciation Night doesn’t look to be happening.

Randy Orton vs. Big Show

They trade punches in the corner to start but Big Show comes out with a side slam for two to take over. Show starts slowing things down again and elbows Orton down. Off to a chinlock which looks more like an annoyance to Randy than a painful hold. Orton comes back with a lot of punches and kicks, followed by a dropkick that actually puts Show down.

Show gets up and chokeslams Orton down for two. Orton goes to the floor and guillotines Show as he comes back in. Show will have none of that and shoulders Orton back to the floor. Back inside and Show shoves him right to the floor again. Show’s ram into the post is countered but the RKO on the floor is countered. Show spears him down and it’s a double countout at 5:47.

Rating: D+. I liked this better than I expected to. It wasn’t a good match or anything but all things considered it wasn’t bad. I liked the idea of Orton mixing things up a bit to take Big Show down but it was pretty clear that no one was going to lose clean here. Show has no business in the main event at Summerslam but for some reason he’s there and we have to live with it.

Post match Show loads up the punch but walks into an RKO.

Ryback vs. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks

Ryback talks about the food chain a bit in an inset promo. Reks starts off but gets powerslammed down with ease. Off to Hawkins who is kicked down immediately. He tags Reks back in and after a Hawkins distraction, a few big boots take Ryback down for one. A double gordbuster puts Ryback down for one and it’s off to a chinlock from Hawkins. Ryback launches them both to the floor before throwing Hawkins back in for a spinebuster. The big clothesline takes his head off and Shell Shock finishes Hawkins at 2:50.

Prime Time Players vs. Primo/Epico

Epico dropkicks Young during the intros but the Players take over almost immediately. Primo does an Ultimo Dragon corner headstand and comes out with a headscissors for two on Young. Off to Titus who powers Primo down before bringing in Young at AW’s direction. Young hooks a chinlock followed by a powerslam for two. Primo rolls under Young and makes the tag to Epico who cleans house. Young gets beaten down so Titus pulls him to the floor. They look to leave but here are Kofi and Truth to stop that. Epico and Primo jump the Players and we head back inside where Epico hits the Backstabber on Young for the pin at 4:29.

Rating: C-. Standard formula here and while it’s only three teams, this is the deepest the tag division has been in years. I’m assuming this is leading to a three way tag title match somewhere so at least there’s a story to it, but I’m not sure if they did the right thing by having the champions pin the Players already.

Quick video on Sandow getting beaten down by DX and then attacking Brodus last week. Sandow says he’s here to rid the WWE of all foolishness, which is what dancing is. Tonight he’ll get rid of Brodus to help us all.

Brodus Clay vs. Damien Sandow

Sandow jumps Brodus during the entrance and goes after the knee again. Brodus, with his pants falling off, fights back but gets clotheslined down. He destroys the knee some more and Brodus has to be helped out.

Bryan is in the back with AJ and says when he wins, the triple threat will become a fatal fourway. AJ says Bryan has to face Kane. A No vs. Yes battle erupts.

Kelly Kelly vs. Eve Torres

Eve tries to bail but Kelly takes her down with a Thesz Press. What would a Kelly match be without a Stinkface either? I’m so glad she came back do do that. Eve tries to walk again but Kelly throws her into the barricade. A top rope cross body gets two for Kelly but she gets slammed into the mat coming out of the corner. Eve puts on a chinlock which is quickly broken up. Kelly hits a standing rana for the pin at 3:04.

Rating: D. Dang it this had to be long enough to rate. I don’t care about Kelly Kelly at all. Yes, she looks good in a swimsuit but that’s about all she has going for her. Her wrestling is ok at best and I refuse to take a girl seriously when her song is about hollering in a club. Nothing to see here but at least it was longer than the usual jokes that the Divas matches are. That’ll help somewhat in the long run.

We recap Sheamus being a criminal earlier tonight. He’s TOUTING about it which we’ll see in a bit.

Here’s Shawn Michaels to a big hometown pop. Shawn says he’s out of shape from only coming down the aisle once every two weeks. He thanks the fans for allowing him to be part of history again at Raw 1000. Shawn talks about there being a lot of new faces in the locker room today but the thing that is the same is that a lot of people are talking about HHH vs. Lesnar at Summerslam.

Cue Lesnar and Heyman with the latter saying everyone should be asking Shawn for his opinion on the match at Summerslam. Brock isn’t going into Summerslam as an entertainer but as a fighter. He’s going to prove that he’s the baddest dude on the planet today. Well, after Ace and Douglas of course. Shawn talks about how Lesnar has pushed HHH further than anyone else ever has and how he barely recognizes HHH anymore.

Shawn picks HHH on this day and he wants to be in HHH’s corner to watch it. Paul tells Brock that that was the big moment that’ll be played over and over. Lesnar takes the mic from Heyman and says the only reason Shawn thinks HHH will win is he’s never been in the ring with Brock until now. Cue HHH to save his buddy. Brock says he’ll see HHH at Summerslam and he’ll see HBK before then.

We get a TOUT from Sheamus at the Alamo. We watch this on Cole’s computer. Seriously.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Alex Riley

Jericho is on commentary and talks about an article comparing Ziggler and Jericho. It’s nice to hear him having some energy on commentary instead of talking all slow. Feeling out process to start and Ziggler takes over. After some trash talk to Jericho, Dolph dropkicks Riley’s head off and drops an elbow for two. Riley makes a brief comeback but charges into the post shoulder first. A neckbreaker gets two and Jericho thinks it’s time to TOUT IT OUT BABY! The distraction lets Riley roll up Ziggler for the pin at 4:18.

Rating: D+. This is what you call storyline advancement. I know that’s a new thing to a lot of you, but it does exist. The Touting doesn’t need to exist and is annoying, but at least we got something new in Jericho vs. Ziggler. Jericho is the undisputed master of putting people over at this point so Ziggler feuding with him is nothing but good.

AJ announces (via Twitter) that it’s Miz vs. Kane next.

Sheamus TOUTS IT OUT AGAIN, this time from the Riverwalk. He’s having Mexican food now.

Kane vs. The Miz

Non-title again. Kane slams him into the corner to start but misses a big boot, allowing Miz to take out the other leg. A powerslam is countered by another shot to the knee and the short DDT gets two. Kane comes back with a pair of uppercuts but Miz takes the knee out again. Off to a chinlock by Miz but Kane powers out and slams Miz down for two. Miz avoids a charge but the Finale is broken up. Kane throws him into the buckle “face” first and chokeslams him for the pin at 3:50 because champions can’t win more than a match a night on Raw.

Rating: D. The botches in this match were bad looking and the ending of Miz losing clean makes it even worse. I love Kane but there was no need for him to win here. This was pretty weak overall with a nonsensical decision on top of everything else. Why would I think this was good?

Del Rio’s car is back and it’s mostly covered in mud.

John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan

They have about 25 minutes here if they want to go pretty long. Ricardo and Del Rio find the car and yell a lot. Alberto blames Ricardo. Scratch the 25 minutes thing as after a break it’s 10:45 and Cena hasn’t been out yet. Cena back him into the ropes to start as the fans are split on Cena again. Bryan heads to the floor to eyll at the fans and comes back inside for a chinlock.

Bryan gets Cena to chase him on the floor and takes over, hitting a jumping knee off the apron to Cena’s head. He gets in a big YES vs. NO war with a fan dressed as a referee and we take a break. Back with Bryan knocking Cena down again and stomping in the corner. The running corner dropkick gets two as Cena is in some trouble. Bryan fires off kicks in the corner and drop toeholds a charging Cena into the buckle for two.

Off to an armbar from Bryan followed by a knee drop to the back of the head for two. Cena escapes the armbar again and starts his finishing sequence. There’s the Shiffle but the AA is countered into a guillotine choke. Cena finally rams him into the corner to escape but he can’t get the STF. Bryan rolls him up for two and gets the same off a big kick to the head. Bryan goes up and hits the swan dive for two and it’s time for the NO Kicks. The last one misses and Cena grabs the STF. Bryan breaks the grip almost with ease and tries the No Lock, but Cena counters into a modified AA for the pin at 14:00.

Rating: B. This was a good match and while it wasn’t as big as they were hyping it up to be, it worked very well. These two have the skill to pull off a major match, but at the end of the day it has the major problem I expected it to: Bryan isn’t the kind of guy you would expect to be able to beat Cena. That’s a problem if these guys are going to have a major PPV match down the line. Still though, good stuff here.

Post match Punk comes out to pose with the belt but Cena shoves him down to fight the coming Big Show. Cena loads up the AA but Punk breaks it up again. Punk jumps on a headset and says that maybe it’s his fault he’s in the triple threat. He goes into a big rant about how he’s tired of doing the right thing and now Raw is ending with him standing tall. Then he goes in the ring and Big Show knocks him out cold with one punch. Cena gets knocked out too to end the show. You still don’t belong in this match bald man.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a MUCH better show than last week in a few regards. The wrestling last week was probably better, but the pacing this week made this a much more bearable show. There weren’t fifteen recaps and they kept the social media down to a level where you didn’t want to kill a Swedish goat. Sheamus vs. Del Rio got some time this week, but stealing and destroying a car doesn’t make me think that much of Sheamus. Better show but at the end of the day, there is zero reason for Raw to go three hours, period.

Results
CM Punk b. Rey Mysterio – GTS
Alberto Del Rio b. Christian – Cross Armbreaker
Randy Orton vs. Big Show went to a double countout
Ryback b. Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks – Shell Shock to Hawkins
Primo/Epico b. Prime Time Players – Backstabber to Young
Kelly Kelly b. Eve Torres – Hurricanrana
Alex Riley b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup
Kane b. The Miz – Chokeslam
John Cena b. Daniel Bryan – Attitude Adjustment

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

No Way Out 2004
Date: February 15, 2004
Location: Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Attendance: 11,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re into the brand only shows now and this is Smackdown. It’s also a very famous one as the main event is Brock vs. Eddie for the title and I think you know how that goes. Other than that this is a card looks pretty awful as there is the obvious problem of developing a PPV out of one roster’s worth of talent: you get a few matches that aren’t interesting at all and couldn’t be more clearly filler if they walked up to you with a big sign that said HEY I’M FILLER and shouted “HEY I’M FILLER!” Let’s get to it.

With no intro video or anything like that here are Torrie and Sable who were doing something close to a lesbian thing soon. They’re both in Playboy this month. Apparently there’s nothing they won’t do and then they leave. Wow this was pointless.

Now we get the intro video as Brock is all evil but leaving in a month anyway so he doesn’t care. Goldberg is on the horizon for him so who do you think has a front row seat tonight? Eddie says he’s been here before after his familia turned on him. This was built up almost as a glorified squash with Eddie having next to no chance against the unstoppable machine who has one quick match left before his showdown with Goldberg.

Who thought Cow Palace was a good name for an arena anyway?

Smackdown Tag Titles: Basham Brothers/Shaniqua vs. Rikishi/Scotty 2 Hotty

The non Bashams have the titles here. The challengers have Shaniqua, the Tough Enough 2 winner Linda Miles, as their future dominatrix manager. Oh apparently this is a 3 on 2 handicap match for the belts. Using the Mania 5 formula apparently. Scotty and a Basham start. They’re almost identical and it was hard to tell them apart in OVW too. Ok that’s Doug. Never mind as Cole is confused so it’s Danny.

My uncles are named Doug and Danny so I always liked this team. Scotty botches a headscissors and half kills Danny and the fat man comes in. Rikishi was supposed to be like this big powerful veteran or something at this point. I guess he was REALLY sorry for the whole vehicular homicide attempt thing a few years ago. Fat man vs. Doug at this point.

Rikishi brings in Shaniqua and she almost gets a Stinkface. Basically Rikishi is destroying everything in sight but Scotty can’t do much of anything. Classic formula but I’m not a fan of anyone in this other than the name of the Bashams so I’m not really into it. NICE nip up as Scotty was very crisp there. Shaniqua bashes (see what I did there?) Scotty as he’s going for the Worm and he’s in trouble again.

She comes in and beats up Scotty a bit as she was an Amazon kind of chick. It’s kind of amusing to see a guy like Scotty getting beaten up rather easily like that. Double teaming prevents the tag to Rikishi which makes sense. A backdrop gets Scotty the tag and the thong wearing Samoan cleans house. The Bashams save Shaniqua from a Banzai Drop with a powerbomb for two. Scotty clears out the Bashams, allowing a Samoan Drop and Banzai to end the girl.

Rating: D+. This was fine. No one cared and the ending was rarely in doubt, but it was fine. This is your standard TV match or PPV tag title defense. It says a lot when those are almost interchangeable. This wasn’t horrible and the fans were into the faces so that’s about all you could ask for I guess.

Goldberg isn’t here yet. How do you know he’s not getting some aardvark at the concession stand?

We recap Nidia vs. Noble. Noble got some inheritance so the trailer park couple start spending a ton of it. Nidia spent more of it but was blinded by black mist from Tajiri, which somehow led us to a blindfold match tonight. Oh ok she can see now but Nidia gets to see.

Jamie Noble vs. Nidia

See what I mean about a lack of PPV level matches? Nidia hits the floor early on and Jamie pulls the hood off. I smell a bad comedy match. She pulls his jean shorts down and gets a bulldog for two. The vast majority of this match is Nidia kicking him in the rump and dancing behind him. She goes up, he lifts the hood, slams her off the top and throws on a dragon sleeper to end this.

Rating: F. Total comedy match here that was dull beyond belief. Again you can see how bad the whole individual brand PPVs were with stuff like this on PPV. Nothing match here.

We recap Angle’s attack by someone, either Show or Cena who he has a triple threat with tonight. Angle talks a bit about wanting to go to Mania. Cena the rapper comes up and rhymes a bit, naturally starting a brawl.

Only a four week build between No Way Out and Mania? Really?

World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. APA

Bradshaw has a bad arm. Both of these teams would split up in less than six weeks. It’s weird hearing about Heat being on Spike TV. Shelton immediately takes Farrooq down to the mat as it’s technical vs. power here. Wow it’s hard to believe Bradshaw was six months from being world champion and would hold it for the better part of a year.

The heels work over Farrooq’s arm as I guess they want the APA to match. Hot tag finally gets Bradshaw in as I wonder how many of these tags are actually hot. BIG powerbomb from Bradshaw gets two. Farrooq eats post outside as Bradshaw hits a fall away slam off the top on Shelton for two. Clothesline From JBL with the bad arm and Shelton hits a big superkick to end it.

Rating: D+. Another TV level match here that was just ok. Basic power vs. speed match here which wasn’t anything that bad but it wasn’t worth paying to see I wouldn’t think. With both teams splitting so soon after this, the winners due to the Draft and Farrooq retiring, this wasn’t really of any importance at all. Not bad though, but I could see this same match on a house show probably.

Goldberg is here. I can’t blame him for missing those first two matches.

We recap Lesnar vs. Goldberg. Goldberg was #30 in the Rumble and Lesnar thought he was more important than Goldberg and was mad that Bill was being interviewed so he ran in and eliminated Goldberg who was dominating the match. Austin gave Goldberg a ticket to the show and said don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Heyman, who Goldberg speared which got him suspended I believe, is here now. If you’re keeping track, the two wrestlers this segment is about and the two teams in the previous match would mean nothing just after Mania. Heyman says if Goldberg does anything he’s going to jail. Here’s Brock who is reminded that he tapped out which I think was to Benoit.

He’s not scared of Goldberg and says let’s do it right now. Goldberg jumps the rail and there go the shirts. Lesnar dominates early but the F5 is blocked and Goldberg gets the Jackhammer as Heyman screams for security. Handcuffs go on and Goldberg has no issue leaving. Hardcore Holly, who HATES Lesnar comes down to try to get a piece but to no avail.

Hardcore Holly vs. Rhyno

Nice timing if nothing else. This was set up three days ago so there’s no real story other than it’s a rematch after Rhyno couldn’t beat him. Holly sends Rhyno to the floor. Can Rhyno get back in it? Find out when we ret…..this isn’t a TV show is it? I almost forgot. Body scissors by Rhyno as this is a very boring match so far.

Rhyno works the ribs to set up for the Gore later on. Why not just hit it now as it’s going to do more damage to the ribs than whatever else you have. We throw it to the Spanish announce team for no adequately explored reason which is WWE’s custom. After hearing the commentary in Spanish for a bit, it occurs to me that it was the most interesting part of this match.

Perfect as always dropkick by Holly gets two. Middle rope suplex by Rhyno gets the same. The fans seem to be booing a bit here and I can’t say I blame them. Reverse DDT gets two for Holly as we have to be getting close to the ending here. BIG Gore hits but Hardcore hits the floor. That gave me a very disturbing image of him dancing badly. Again it’s more interesting than this match though. And then he gets back in and hits the Alabama Slam to end it. As abrupt as it sounds.

Rating: D. Technically this was ok but it was a ten minute Hardcore Holly vs. Rhyno on pay per view. After this it’s more or less all good from here but the first hour of this was pretty brutal. Not a horrible in ring match but just couldn’t be less interesting if they were trying to be.

Ad for the Monday Night Wars DVD which is definitely recommended. Brisco saying “It was our jobs, it was our lives, it was our families” might be the most overblown line in WWE DVD history.

We recap Chavo vs. Rey. Chavo turned heel out of jealousy of Eddie and since Eddie and Rey are the same person, Rey defended Chavo after Eddie went on to a bigger feud. Rey has some unknown boxer with him and Chavo has his father, Chavo Guerrero Senior who would soon win the Cruiserweight Title.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero

Rey has the title here. The lights go out before the introductions and a gong strikes. A Taker video airs and says that in 28 days, the dead will rise. Kane had helped to bury Taker at Survivor Series and he would become the Dead Man again at Mania. This is back when Rey was just the best Cruiserweight of all time rather than the biggest underdog ever. There’s something about Rey not respecting his culture too so Chavo wants the mask, which is a big symbol of Hispanic wrestling culture. Go figure.

He goes for the mask almost immediately which of course fails. We hit the mat for awhile where Chavo dominates for the most part as you would expect. Rey gets up and gets a springboard off the bottom rope which the commentators point out how odd it is. Chavo Senior stops another springboard and gets knocked out by Paez who is promptly thrown out.

HUGE dive by Rey to take out Junior as he checks on his father. Well deserved holy schiess chant as the dime is dropped for two. Tornado DDT is blocked and we head to the corner. Chavo blocks a rana into Malenko’s middle rope gutbuster and Rey is in big trouble. Chavo shows some intelligence by going for the ribs now. He wastes a lot of time though but it doesn’t seem to matter that much.

Rey gets a counter for two as the fans are right back into this now. Another gutbuster has Rey in trouble again though so scratch the whole momentum thing. This match is going on for a LONG time. I’ll give them this though: they’re treating it like a big match which is exactly what they needed to do more often. Rey gets something similar to the Stroke for two.

He gets a DDT onto the apron which always looks awesome. Sitout Gordbuster by Chavo gets two though and it’s Rey in trouble again. Chavo goes for the mask for the second time in about 15 minutes but of course it doesn’t work. Rey TOTALLY misses a moonsault press to the point that Chavo has to run forward to get any contact for Rey. 619 hits but the seated senton is countered into a SICK looking half crab but Rey gets the rope.

It’s not often that a Cruiserweight Title match gets almost seventeen minutes. Rey goes for a springboard move of some sort but Chavo Senior comes out again and shoves Rey off so that Chavo Junior can get a rollup for the pin. Good thing he came out just as the referee wasn’t looking eh?

Rating: B. Solid match here but at times it dragged a bit. This was still very solid with two legit cruiserweights getting to show what they could do. More or less though this was the last gasp of awesomeness of the title though as it would just get stupid after this with Jacqueline and Chavo Senior winning the belt at various times. Very solid match though and it worked.

Ad for Foley’s Greatest Hits and Misses.

Chavo talks about how awesome he is and says Eddie isn’t a champion. Eddie is an addict apparently.

We see a tale of the tape for the #1 contenders’ match with Cena’s career highlight being a PH.D in Thuganomics. That’s rather funny. He’s never won anything yet he could get a world title shot at Mania.

Kurt Angle vs. Big Show vs. John Cena

Show is US Champion at this point. He also has hair at this point which is just hard to get used to. Cena gets the biggest reaction as he’s full on into the rapper gimmick at this point. Cena cuts a short rap which would get him suspended today as it’s mainly gay jokes. Cena has the black shorts on so you know he means business here.

Cena chills in the corner while the other guys fight it out. Show is of course the ultra dominant guy here as he was at the best part of his worthless period here. Everyone stands off in a corner at one point here. Angle gets a belly to belly but Show makes the save. Cena gets knocked to the floor and has a bad knee apparently.

This is a slow paced match but it’s not that bad. Granted we’re not even five minutes into it so it’s a bit difficult to say if it’s good or not so far. Angle tries to German show off the apron but settles for a low blow instead. More or less it’s Cena vs. Angle now which is probably the best possible option for this set of guys. Rolling Germans have Cena in big trouble as he hits about three of them.

Show gets back to break up the pin which works better as instead of sitting around on the floor for like 5 minutes off a single move he was back in a reasonable amount of time. Cena has a big old brace on his knee. Angle is the guy on the floor this time and we see some of Cena’s tenacity here. And so much for that as Show gets a huge suplex for two. Cena gets a dropkick to the knee (move #6 for those of you counting) as Angle adds a missile dropkick to get the big man down.

FU hits Show with relative ease. Love Cena or hate him, he is SCARY strong. Angle takes Cena down though so all three are on the mat. Angle Slam gets two on Show as he kicks out of the FU and Angle Slam in less than a minute. FU to Angle is blocked into the ankle lock but Show chokeslams the heck out of him. No cover though as Cena rolls him up for two.

Chokeslam to Cena as all this is happening in like three minutes. Ankle Lock to Show and he’s in trouble now. Cena takes Angle down and hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle which is just a punch after hitting the ropes without the You Can’t See Me aspect, making it far less annoying. Show sends him into the post but Angle gets the Slam on Show over the top and actually makes Cena TAP OUT to the ankle lock. Didn’t see that coming.

Rating: B. This was a rather solid triple threat with very few down spots and Show actually moving out there. Cena would get the US Title shot at Mania and win in the opener. This was good stuff though and one of the better triple threats that I can remember seeing. Angle’s power was scary here with him just throwing people all over the place and Cena not being far behind. The tap out surprises me very much though as I don’t remember Cena ever tapping. Good match if not very good.

Ad for WWE Originals which was the wrestlers singing their own songs. Guess how well that went.

Mania ad which was a rather good show if I remember correctly.

Tale of the Tape for the WWE Title match says Eddie is going to get massacred.

Eddie won a Royal Rumble on Smackdown to get the shot which was a legit surprise as Angle was the other finalist and Eddie won completely clean. They played up the addiction stuff here and said that Eddie was overcoming his demons which was cool I thought. It really was a feel good story but his world title level stuff kind of came from nowhere but it was nowhere near as bad as JBL a few months later. Eddie’s line of he’ll get his high from winning the WWE Title was simple but perfect for this.

Smackdown World Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar

Brock comes out first here for some reason. Soon after this the music would change from We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal to I Lie, I Cheat, I Steal which was good I though. Fans are TOTALLY behind Eddie here which is no surprise. We have about 40 minutes left in the tape so this is getting A LOT of time. Eddie can’t do anything to start so like an idiot he keeps charging.

All Brock to start here. A rana is blocked into a powerbomb and then Brock just tosses him away as Eddie’s selling is awesome. Brock gets a big running high knee in the corner. If he had done that to Velasquez he might have the belt still. Eddie gets knocked to the floor and has had NOTHING so far. He finally gets something going as he gets Lesnar’s leg around the post and gets him down, opening a door for him.

So much for that as Brock gets a modified Fisherman’s suplex into a kind of slam for two. Jawbreaker gets him out of a rear naked choke. So I guess Eddie is better than Shane Carwin as he can escape a Lesnar choke. Eddie gets a dropkick and then gets his head taken off by a clothesline. Semi-botched German has Eddie on the brink here. Not really but I like how that sounds.

Brock goes for another knee in the corner but crashes to the floor. Eddie adds a plancha and both guys are a bit weakened now. Brock hits a hot shot to take over AGAIN. It’s been about 95% Brock so far but Eddie is hanging in there. Eddie gets a knee lock out of nowhere. Brock gets caught in a leg hold. I’m shocked too. He shifts into an STF and the fans ERUPT.

Figure four doesn’t work as Brock kicks him away. Eddie keeps him down but can’t do much as Brock just keeps firing him off. BIG belly to belly by Brock has Eddie in trouble again. A headscissors has Brock in trouble and now back to the knee. There’s the figure four and it’s not bad. After nearly a minute in the hold Brock realizes he’s next to the ropes and gets free.

More leg work as Cole speculates that Eddie could actually do this. STF again as Brock is in trouble but not for long as he just rolls out. Brock gets a big old spinebuster to take over again and locks on a bad looking crossface chicken wing. Off to a sleeper/chinlock kind of thing but here comes Eddie again, driving Brock’s face into the buckle to break it up. Missile dropkick misses though as Eddie is in trouble again. Great story being told here.

Brock SELLS THE KNEE by lifting his leg up when he gets a vertical suplex. Little things like that are what I mean by selling. Brock shouting at Eddie to die is rather creepy. He gets a gutwrench hold on the mat and Eddie is in trouble again. The perk of a guy like Brock is that even a basic hold like that looks devastating when he does it. Eddie gets back and hits Three Amigos. Frog Splash misses though as this is an excellent match.

The most ridiculous looking ref bump I can remember in a long time happens as Eddie kicks the referee while taking an F5. It was just bad looking with how obvious it was. Either that or the referee is really, really stupid. Brock hits the floor and grabs the belt but GOLDBERG is back and spears the tar out of Lesnar.

Eddie covers for two and misses a belt shot. I love the way Brock throws boots to the ribs. Eddie counters an F5 into a DDT “onto the belt” which misses by about 6 inches and hits the Frog Splash to blow the roof off the place and win the title and do the unthinkable which I was typing before Taz said it. I’m no Eddie fan, but that is a cool moment.

Rating: A. This was an excellent match that got over thirty minutes. The ending was solid as Eddie cheated a bit but that was what he did. Also it was his Frog Splash that ended it rather than anything else. Eddie isn’t someone I can get into as much as his fans do but this was easily his crowning glory and the match worked very well. Probably Brock’s best non-Angle match and one of Eddie’s best ever which is saying a lot as he’s a great wrestler in his own right.

Overall Rating: B. This was a hard one. The last hour and a half of this is quite good but the first hour and fifteen minutes or so is just brutal. If you had just the last three matches, this is borderline A+. The other matches though are just inexcusably weak. It’s not so much that they’re bad but why would I want to pay to see them? It was a sign of the times I guess. Check out the last three matches and the main event for sure. Other than that you’re not missing anything at all.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 30, 2012
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

This is the interesting show as we’re still at three hours, but now we don’t have the legends or the big stuff to fill in the card. We do however have the beginning of Punk’s heel reign and likely the announcement of his opponent (named John Cena) for Summerslam. This should be an interesting show but it’s hard to say where it’ll go. I do expect a rise in TOUTING IT OUT BABY! Let’s get to it.

We open with people still coming into the arena. Apparently there was a pyro issue before the show and a fire broke out. No one was injured but part of the Tron was on fire. No one was hurt which is the important thing.

We get a video from Raw 1000 which we’ve seen twice on WWE TV already. That’s ok though as we haven’t seen it on Raw yet and it’s a cool look back.

Here’s Punk to open the show and it sounds like a mixed reaction to me. Nope there are the boos. Punk talks about how everyone wants a Wrestlemania moment, but he had a Raw moment that was bigger than most people’s Mania moments. He’ll explain his actions in a bit but he wants to talk about how Raw 1000 went off the air. When the show was ending last week, Jerry Lawler said CM Punk has turned his back on the WWE Universe. That doesn’t sit well with Punk so he goes and sits on the announce desk in front of Lawler.

Punk talks about how he’s used to over the top commentary but he doesn’t get this one. If anything, it was Lawler who turned on CM Punk. Rock isn’t the WWE Universe but rather one person. Rock is a delusional movie star who showed the WWE Champion a lack of respect. Last week when Rock was doing his thing with Daniel Bryan, Rock completely ignored Punk which is disrespectful. Once Rock was talking to Punk, it was like Rock was lowering himself to do it. Then later in the night, Rock ran in and tried to make everything about him.

This isn’t ballet but rather the WWE and Punk is its champion. We haven’t heard from Rock in a week which is odd because during the Cena feud, you couldn’t shut Rock up. Lawler likes to spin things but Raw ended the way every show should end: with the focus on the WWE Champion. Cue Big Show of all people and Punk says he’s here to steal the spotlight. Show says Punk is right: the focus was on Punk to end the show last week but it should have been on Big Show. He cost Cena the world title, he made Cena be the first person to cash in and lose, he knocked out Cena and Punk STILL couldn’t beat Cena.

Punk would have tapped if not for Big Show, which Punk denies. Show says he’ll be the next WWE Champion which Punk scoffs at. Cena charges to the ring and goes right after Big Show while Punk looks on. Show runs to the floor and here’s AJ (officially called Lee now) in a business suit. This works for me. Tonight it’s Big Show vs. Cena for the title shot at Summerslam. You know, because Show has proven that he’s equal to Cena so many times now.

Bryan almost goes into AJ’s locker room but doesn’t.

Santino Marella vs. Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio jumps him and takes over quickly, hitting a snap suplex and leg drop. Del Rio has gold/black boots now which work a bit better. Santino backdrops him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Del Rio working on the arm and hitting a double stomp to the chest for no cover. Santino fires off some offense but as he does the splits, Del Rio kicks him in the head to break the momentum. Cross Armbreaker gets the tap out at 7:36.

Rating: D. Another match and another loss for Santino. For the 100^th time, I get that Del Rio is a bigger star and Santino has no business beating him, SO WHY DO YOU HAVE SANTINO FACE HIM??? You have an army of people you can throw out there so you take a champion and have him lose. That’s FREAKING STUPID.

Del Rio says everyone is beneath him and if it’s not a world title match, he won’t compete.

Bryan is still trying to knock on AJ’s door.

Post break here’s Brodus and the dancing girls, but Vickie says she’s going to show how them how to really dance. Thankfully Damien Sandow comes out to break things up. He calls himself a martyr because of what happened with DX last week and calls it a crime against humanity. Sandow jumps Brodus and takes out the knee which has been injured for how many months now? Sandow fires off the knees and Brodus is in trouble. Damien breaks the necklace Brodus wears and leaves him laying. It’s about time these guys got a feud.

We get a clip from two weeks ago with Ziggler taking the Codebreaker from Jericho. Jericho jumped Ziggler on Friday, resulting in Sheamus kicking Ziggler’s head off.

Bryan finally goes into AJ’s room and she seems calm. AJ offers a handshake but Bryan yells at her. She tells him to shut up and says she’s his boss. Last week she saw guys in white coats walking around backstage and Bryan wanted to marry her so she could have him committed. Bryan says they were his groomsmen but AJ doesn’t buy it. Tonight, Bryan gets Sheamus and it’s not even for the title.

The filler continues with a video on Lesnar vs. HHH from last week.

You can vote on the stips for Sheamus vs. Bryan: No Holds Barred, Falls Count Anywhere or Street Fight. This filler is REALLY getting old.

Sheamus says he doesn’t care what match the fans pick but he’s glad the fans are picking. Sheamus thinks Josh is looking nervous but Josh says he’s fine. That seems to go nowhere.

We recap the fire before the show.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

By my math, the poll was open about 6 minutes. Bryan wants the people to stop chanting YES because that’s his thing. Street Fight gets over 70% of the vote and the fans chant YES. This is officially a RAW ACTIVE match, because the fans got to pick it. Oh I’m not going to like these three hour shows. Bryan does the moonsault out of the corner but jumps into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker (not the Irish Curse Cole!). Sheamus gets tripped into the middle buckle and Bryan takes over.

Bryan works over the arm which is apparently still injured from the car attack by Del Rio which was almost a month ago. Sheamus comes back with some punches and we head to the floor. Bryan gets sent into the barricade a few times and they head up to the stage. Bryan kicks Sheamus off the stage and the champ (this is non title) falls FEET to the floor, possibly hurting his leg. A running knee off the stage hits Sheamus in the head and we take a break.

Back with Bryan working on the arm. Not the head or the leg, but the thing that was hurt four weeks ago. Back to the floor and Sheamus catches a diving Bryan, launching him into the barricade. Sheamus does the ten forearms with Bryan in the timekeeper’s area. A suplex puts Bryan back at ringside and it’s time for a chair and kendo stick. Bryan knocks both to the floor so Sheamus clotheslines him to the floor again.

As Sheamus goes for Bryan, Daniel grabs the kendo stick and beats the tar out of Sheamus with it. Bryan wedges the chair between the ropes but it allows Sheamus to get the stick and knock Bryan around with it. Bryan hits a dropkick to send Sheamus into the chair for two. We go to the floor for the fifth time and Sheamus hits a shoulder to send Bryan into the barricade. He loads up the steps but Bryan rams him into the post shoulder first. Back in and Bryan loads up the steps but Sheamus grabs him for White Noise. That gets broken up so Sheamus Brogue Kicks him for the pin at 14:10.

Rating: C+. That’s as high as I can go on this. This wasn’t a bad match but it felt like a house show main event. The biggest problems here were how repetitive it got (how many times did they go to the floor and someone got sent into the barricade?) and the psychology as Bryan couldn’t decide what part to work on. It was a decent match but it was nothing great.

Cole lies and says that Punk did his speech earlier at 8pm exactly, despite the first five minutes of the show being about the fire and recapping last week. We see a clip of Punk’s speech and that’s about it.

Post break Bryan is yelling about needing a doctor and he won’t leave the ring. Geez the filler is getting more and more obvious here. To fill time, we see ANOTHER clip of Punk’s speech. After that, Bryan is still whining for a doctor. Kofi comes out for his match anyway along with R-Truth. They tell Bryan to get out so Bryan makes fun of Little Jimmy. He then kicks Jimmy to the floor so Truth and Kofi go to the floor to check on him. The orderlies from last week come out and here’s AJ. She says Bryan needs help and that would include a psychiatric evaluation. Bryan and the orderlies go up the stage…and nothing of note happens.

Vince will name a new GM on Friday. I liked it without a GM on Friday.

Before the match, TOUT IT OUT BABY!

Kofi Kingston vs. Titus O’Neal

Titus starts with the power and catches a cross body. AW makes what sounds like a reference to Kobe Bryan’t rape case from like 8 years ago. Kofi counters a slam into a DDT but I’m trying to get over that Bryant reference. Why in the world would he say that? Kofi clotheslines him down and ruth clocks Darren. AW throws a shoe at Kofi and shouts about Kofi’s mama. That allows the Clash of the Titus to pin Kofi at 2:53.

Punk is talking to Cena in the back and says that he thinks Cena would have done the same thing when he tried to pin Cena. Actually he wouldn’t as he had the chance the week before but whatever. Punk says he respects Cena but he doesn’t care who wins tonight.

Back with an apology for what AW said. We also see what Cena and Punk did just a few seconds ago.

We recap Slater’s decimation by the new batch of legends last week.

Here’s Slater in the ring and he says he’s glad the legends have finally gone to the retirement home. He’s issuing a challenge to any current WWE Superstar to come face him.

Heath Slater vs. Randy Orton

I wrote Orton’s name before his music hit. Orton looks slimmer. During Orton’s entrance, we hear about ANOTHER technology thing you can do called Shazam, where you can get extra content or something. Slater pounds him into the corner but walks into a clothesline. Orton has a mohawk. WHY? RKO ends this at 1:15.

Time for Bryan’s psych evaluation. He answers every question with YES and starts shouting it over and over.

Chris Jericho/Christian vs. The Miz/Dolph Ziggler

Christian and Ziggler start things off and Christian takes him to the mat quickly. Off to Miz who is taken down and punched in the head by the Canadian. The younger Canadian that is. Back to Dolph as we hear about a Tout War between Jericho and Ziggler from over the weekend. Jericho vs. Miz now with Chris getting two off an elbow drop. Back to Ziggler as things speed up a bit. Jericho hits a top rope ax handle and knocks both heels to the floor. Christian dives on both guys as we take a break.

Back with Miz holding Jericho in a chinlock. Apparently during the break a Vickie distraction changed the control. Jericho backdrops out of the hold and it’s off to Christian. Ziggler comes in and avoids the Killswitch but gets caught in the sunset flip out of the corner for two. A BIG dropkick puts Christian down but it only gets two. Back to Miz for another chinlock but Christian sends Miz to the floor to escape. Miz breaks up the hot tag though and Christian is stomped on some more. Ziggler mostly misses a Fameasser and Lawler rips into him for it.

Christian trips Ziggler up and a double tag brings in Jericho and Miz. Jericho springboard dropkicks Dolph off the rope and hits the Lionsault on Miz for two. Christian spears Ziggler in half but gets sent shoulder first into the post. Jericho tries the Walls but Miz escapes and hits a big boot to put him down. The Finale is countered but Christian pokes Miz in the eye, allowing the Codebreaker to pin Miz at 13:23.

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here but Miz loses a week after winning the title because someone has to in this match. This got time and was a fun match, but it means we have to go to more non-wrestling stuff which has been dreadful tonight. The match was a breath of air, but it wasn’t anything above pretty good.

Post match Ziggler hits Jericho with the briefcase.

Time for another fire recap to fill in a few moments.

We go back to the psych evaluation for ink blot tests. The blots are thrown on the table to form a goat, which Bryan freaks out over.

TOUT IT OUT AGAIN BABY!

Tensai vs. Tyson Kidd

No entrance for Tensai anymore. Tensai runs him over and the fans chant Albert. Kidd has a small cut on his forehead. Kidd escapes a nerve hold and hits a spin kick followed by a rollup for two. A kick to the head sets up a Blockbuster for Kidd but it only gets two. And never mind as the chokebomb and backsplash get the pin at 2:10.

Tensai beats him up post match and hits the other the shoulder backbreaker. The decision is reversed. Sakamoto is beaten up too. Is this supposed to make me care about him any more?

Back to the psych evaluation and the result is Bryan is a jerk and obsessed with Charlie Sheen but he’s sane. The shrink leaves and Kane comes in, says he’s Bryan’s anger management therapist, and beats Bryan up. We spent how many segments to have Kane attack Bryan?

We get the same recap of HHH vs. Lesnar from earlier.

Here’s Punk to do commentary on the main event.

Big Show vs. John Cena

Winner gets Punk for the title at Summerslam. Cena pounds away on him to start but gets punched down almost immediately. Things slow way down and Show continues to prove why he gets the reputation of a guy who is slow and dull to watch. The SHH chop misses in the corner and Cena jumps on his back. Cena tries a cross body but gets caught. That goes nowhere so we’ll go back to the choke on Show’s back.

The choke eventually gets two but Cena gets launched to the floor as we take a break. Back with Show throwing Cena around even more and shouting at Punk. Punk seems to be totally neutral so far. Show hooks a bearhug as Punk says the always stupid line of everyone is the same size on the mat. No Punk, they’re not. Cena fights out but Show falls on him in a slam attempt for two. Chokeslam is countered into a DDT and both guys are down.

A side slam puts Cena down but the Vader Bomb misses. Cena initiates his finishing sequence but he charges into a chokeslam for two. Cena rolls to the floor and Punk says you can’t lose out there. Show picks him up to ram Cena into the post but Cena escapes. Show gets sent into the post but Cena dives at him, only to miss and crash into Punk. Cena gets in at 9 and Punk is holding his arm. Show misses the big punch and walks into the AA but Punk breaks it up for the DQ at 16:17. He hit Show in the back.

Rating: D+. This was as slow of a Big Show match as I can remember in a long time. We get the idea already: Show is big and strong, but since he’s gone on this path of destruction, he hasn’t won a big match unless I’m overlooking it. This was really boring and way too slow for anything to come out of it.

Punk kicks Show AFTER the bell. The only question is if the triple threat announcement is this week or next. Punk says both guys are losers. I guess it’s a no contest. Punk leaves and the announcement of the triple threat is made to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. This show isn’t horrible, but sweet goodness is it exhausting. There is SO much filler here and that becomes the main problem: instead of doing ANYTHING different, they just took what was a two hour show and stretched it into three hours. It doesn’t make the show better; it just makes it longer. This is going to get very tiring very fast, especially with all of the social media nonsense that only WWE cares about.

As for the actual content of the show, it was nothing great. The big angle of Punk being evil didn’t seem to be followed up on here for the most part as for most of the show he was pretty much in between either side. Big Show sucks the life out of the scenes he’s in as I don’t think anyone really cares about him at all. The Bryan stuff looks like it’s trying to set up a Charlie Sheen match at Summerslam, which is going to be a VERY big risk. This was a very disappointing show and I’m not looking forward to next week.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. Santino Marella – Cross Armbreaker

Sheamus b. Daniel Bryan – Brogue Kick

Titus O’Neal b. Kofi Kingston – Clash of the Titus

Randy Orton b. Heath Slater – RKO

Christian/Chris Jericho b. The Miz/Dolph Ziggler – Codebreaker to Miz

Tyson Kidd b. Tensai via DQ when Tensai attacked Kidd after the match ended

John Cena vs. Big Show went to a no contest

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

No Way Out 2012
Date: June 17, 2012
Location: IZOD Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Jerry Lawler

The show is back after a few years’ absence with the main event in a cage. It’s Cena vs. Big Show with Cena and Ace’s respective jobs on the line. Other than that we have Sheamus defending against a fill in challenger in the form of Ziggler, as well as Bryan vs. Punk vs. Kane in what should be a solid match. This card has the potential to be entertaining which is more than I would have said about Over the Limit. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: David Otunga vs. Brodus Clay

Otunga attacked Clay’s knee on Friday to set this up. Chimmel says Otunga is from Larvard Hart School. Brodus’ knee is taped up but he pounds Otunga into the corner very easily. Striker says that Brodus has an MCL sprain. Otunga finally uses that Larvard Hart brain and goes after the knee. He hooks a DDT onto the leg and a chop block gets two. Otunga gets the knee tied up in the ropes and hits a neckbreaker for no cover. Off to a front facelock but Brodus powers out of it. Brodus hits the headbutt to the chest and the suplex to send Otunga to the floor where he takes the countout at 5:45.

Rating: D+. The match was ok despite the weak ending. I guess this is going to continue which at least means Brodus has something to do. It would seem like they’re setting up Big Show vs. Brodus, likely at MITB, so putting him against another Ace crony makes sense. This got the fans going though which is the point of a match like this so it accomplished its goal in that regard.

The opening video of the PPV is about Big Show vs. Cena and their whole backstory.

Smackdown World Title: Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

They do big match intros which at least makes this seem like it’s important. To be fair though there’s no story here and Ziggler is filling in so I can’t complain that much about it opening. Vickie kisses Ziggler on the cheek and Sheamus tries the Brogue Kick ala Wrestlemania. Ziggler gets to the floor and looks terrified. Back in and Sheamus takes over with a headlock onto the mat. Dolph gets up and hits a sweet dropkick to take Sheamus down.

That gets Ziggler nowhere though as Sheamus runs him over. The sleeper is quickly broken up as Sheamus sits him on the top rope (not in the corner), so Ziggler slaps him in the face. They go to the floor as the champion is fired up. Sheamus grabs the arm for a bit but Ziggler escapes to the top. His cross body is easily caught and an elbow to the face puts Dolph back down again.

The ten forearms are broken up and we get the rare apron fighting. Ziggler pulls the weakened shoulder into the post and Sheamus is slowed down for the first time in five minutes. A DDT gets two back in the ring for the challenger. Ziggler takes it to the mat and hooks a chinlock including the handstand. Sheamus breaks the hold but his Regal Roll is countered into another DDT for two.

The fans are chanting for Ziggler now. Back to the chinlock which was running long earlier on. Sheamus counters out of it but gets caught in a rollup with a hand on the ropes for two. Off to a modified crossface chickenwing with a bodyscissors by Ziggler but Sheamus powers out of it again very quickly. Brogue Kick misses and Ziggler grabs the sleeper which is quickly broken.

Dolph goes up but Sheamus “catches” him. I think it was supposed to be a slam position into a fireman’s carry but Sheamus dropped him. Sheamus shows off his brain though as he shifts to an Irish Curse position instead. That was a good save by the champion. Ziggler escapes White Noise and hits the Zig Zag for two. Sheamus pulls himself to the top but Dolph hits an X-Factor off the top for two. ANOTHER sleeper attempt is countered into the Irish Curse and there are the ten forearms. The sleeper is easily countered into White Noise and the Brogue Kick keeps the title at 15:04.

Rating: C-. This was working at times but the constant chinlocks/sleepers hurt it a lot. They were on different pages in there at times and it really brought things down. This wasn’t a bad match or anything but the chemistry was off the level that it usually hits for these two. The fans popped big for the Brogue Kick though and that’s the right idea. Good stuff considering it was a replacement match.

Vince is here and finds Ace in a red suit. Ace thinks there’s no need for a man with a concussion to be here. Show is guaranteeing victory so there’s no need for Vince to be here. Vince doesn’t say anything and walks into his office, shutting the door in Ace’s face. Josh comes up to talk to Ace, sending Johnny into a rant about how he has work to do tonight and tomorrow, so leave him alone.

Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez

This is a tuxedo match and the logical conclusion to the feud between these two. Ricardo has his own music now which is much faster and perkier than Alberto’s. Both guys present themselves to the crowd to start and Santino seems to be the favorite. Ricardo makes first contact by ripping the pocket off. Santino: “THIS IS MY ONLY TUXEDO!” He rips Ricardo’s sleeve off and we get a few atomic drops.

Ricardo loses his jacket and it’s time for some bullfighting. Santino’s jacket is ripped up too. A drop toehold lets Santino get the shoes off and we get a LOUD boring chant. There goes Ricardo’s shirt and jacket but he comes back with a jawbreaker. Santino loads up the Cobra but Ricardo throws the sock into the crowd. He takes Santino down and removes the pants….revealing a Cobra sock. Santino kicks him in the neck and removes the pants for the win at 4:25. Ricardo wears Del Rio underwear.

Rating: D+. This was a comedy match and while it was funny at times, I’m with the fans. This belonged on Raw or Smackdown rather than second on a PPV. Hopefully this ends the feud or lets Alberto get the US Title off of Santino. It would do both of them some good, as Del Rio needs to be seasoned some more before he bores us in the main event.

Punk says he has no relationship with AJ and that he’ll overcome the odds tonight. AJ comes up and kisses him for good luck, but he says luck is for losers and leaves. AJ glares at Josh for some reason.

Intercontinental Title: Christian vs. Cody Rhodes

Christian is defending in this Over the Limit rematch. Feeling out process to start with Cody taking him to the mat with some kicks to the ribs. Christian comes back and sends Cody into the corner for a stalemate. Cody goes to the apron and tries to suplex the champ to the floor but gets dropped onto the apron instead. A dropkick to the floor puts Cody down but he comes back by ramming Christian into the apron.

Back in and Cody starts in on the arm but Christian slides to the floor. He tries to crotch Cody on the post but gets pulled into the post face first. Front suplex gets two on Christian and Rhodes pounds away in the corner. Off to a short arm scissors, but wasn’t it Christian’s ankle that was hurt on Raw? Christian goes up but Cody knocks him down and the shoulder hits the apron on the way to the floor.

Cody follows him out but walks into a tornado DDT off the steps to put both guys down. Back in and a dropkick gets two for the Canadian. Cody gets put into 619 position but Christian’s uppercut misses. Christian’s top rope cross body is rolled through, getting two for Cody. Cody reverses a victory roll but takes FOREVER going up. Another tornado DDT gets two but Christian is hurting.

Cody hits the Alabama Slam for two but walks into the reverse DDT. The champ loads up the spear but Cody drops to the floor. Back inside the sunset flip out of the corner is countered but Christian hits the Killswitch….for two. Frog Splash hits knees but the Disaster Kick misses. Killswitch is countered into another missed Disaster Kick, letting Christian spear him down to retain at 11:30.

Rating: B-. As much as I can’t stand the spear as a finisher anymore, the ending sequence was pretty freaking good with both guys hitting everything they had until Christian got the pin. That was a great false finish on the Killswitch and the fans were totally buying into Cody as a real threat after that. This was better than I was expecting and hopefully it lets Cody move on to the main event.

Usos vs. Titus O’Neal/Darren Young vs. Epico/Primo vs. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd

#1 contenders match, even though Epico and Primo already were #1 contenders. The crack production staff cuts away from Rosa dancing to show us AW giving Epico and Primo a pep talk on the pre show. Young and O’Neal are officially the Prime Time Players. That used to be my fantasy football team name so I’m liking them more and more. Booker: “They’re a little bit fruit bootyish if you know what I mean.” I think this is one fall to a finish with tags.

Titus and Jey starts things off but it’s quickly off to Young. You don’t have to tag your partner here either. Jimmy comes in quickly with a double chop for two on Darren. The Usos tag again and Epico tags himself in off a staggered Young. Jimmy hits a Bubba Bomb on Epico who tags in Justin for some reason. Justin and Jimmy hit a stalemate, followed by a Gabriel headlock.

Jey comes in and it’s the double Samoan Drop for two. Rosa yells a lot as Titus tags himself in for two on Justin. Off to Darren as Gabriel is in trouble. Justin gets in a kick but Primo tags himself in to prevent the hot tag. Epico hits a dropkick for two and it’s off to a chinlock. Apparently automatic rematch clauses expire after 30 days. Ok then. Epico hits rolling belly to back suplexes for two and it’s back to Primo.

He misses an elbow and there’s the tag to Kidd. Tyson fires off kicks and hits a suplex on Primo. Things break down a bit and the springboard elbow drop hits knees. Things break down even more and the Usos dive onto Titus and I think Epico. Young tags himself in but Tyson knocks him off the apron. In a SWEET spot, Kidd ranas Primo onto the other pile of people on the floor. Young and Primo are legal and the fireman’s carry into the gutbuster give Young and O’Neal the pin at 9:33.

Rating: C. For a bonus match, this was fine. Titus and Young are as good as a set of challengers as you can ask for right now and since there are more face teams on the roster than heels, it would make sense to give them the belts so we can have some more challengers. Decent stuff here and it’s good to see something resembling a division existing.

AW jumps ship to the winners post match. That fits him WAY better.

MITB ad, which is about Del Rio having all kinds of money. These ads featuring the wrestlers are a nice change of pace.

We recap HHH vs. Lesnar/Heyman, which is Brock Lesnar, the biggest PPV draw in the company, being used in a legal angle. And people wonder why the ratings are dropping over the summer.

Here’s HHH to address the situation, minus anything visible on his arm. He talks about how he’s spent over half of his life in the ring because he loves it and has never wanted to get a real job. Now he has a real job and it’s a corporate one. He hates having to do all of this corporate and legal stuff because he’s a fighter. That gave him an idea: Lesnar is supposed to be a fighter too, and HHH’s arm is healing. It should be healed somewhere in the middle of the summer. So how about we get rid of the lawyers and Heyman and get down to Lesnar vs. HHH, say at Summerslam? HHH wants it there and that’s it.

Bryan is in the back when AJ comes up. She says they’ve been through a lot but he says this isn’t the time. There’s still a part of her that hasn’t gotten over him but she doesn’t expect him to do anything about it. She wishes him luck and kisses him on the cheek, drawing a smile from him as AJ leaves.

Divas Title: Layla vs. Beth Phoenix

Layla grabs Beth’s waist to start but Beth gets the rope. Beth shoves her down and basically shouts a promo at her, talking about how she’ll win the title tonight. Layla gets the headband off Beth and mocks her poses. Layla takes her down and dances as Beth gets in a fetal position. End this NOW, please. The champion goes to the apron and kicks Beth in the face, only to get sent to the floor. Back in the Glam Slam is escaped so Beth shoves her down. Beth hooks a backbreaker and bends her over the knee. Layla climbs the corner (botching at the same time) to counter the Glam Slam before hitting a cross body out of the corner for two. A powerslam gets two for Beth but her press slam is countered into a DDT for two. Layout out of nowhere gets the pin at 6:56.

Rating: D. This match was one of the worst I’ve seen in years at first and then upgraded to bad to end it. The division is rapidly reaching new levels of horrible as we had about two minutes to build this match in the course of a month. Terrible match and Layla is really lacking since she’s gotten back.

AJ goes up to Kane but doesn’t have much to say. Kane grabs her arm and kisses her which she doesn’t seem to mind.

Hunico vs. Sin Cara

These two just can’t get away from each other can they? They speed things up to start and Hunico dropkicks him down. Cara snapmares him to the floor but his suicide dive is countered by a kick to the face. Back in and Hunico chops him down in the corner followed by a slingshot dropkick. Off to a chinlock as Cara is being grounded here. The fans want Ryder as Hunico hits a powerbomb for two. Cara hits a pair of headscissors followed by some kicks and the spinning mat slam gets the pin at 5:47.

Rating: D+. This was your usual Smackdown match. Cara is getting the same treatment a lot of people get anymore with these random wins over people that don’t really matter. It keeps him on TV though which is more important than almost anything short of giving him a story. This wasn’t horrible but it couldn’t be more of a filler match if they tried.

We recap the Raw triple threat which revolves around AJ. Bryan almost beat Punk last month and demanded a rematch, so Punk said cool. Kane beat them both on Smackdown so it’s a triple threat. AJ is involved because she’s psycho and awesome and may be in love with all three of them. She’s the wildcard here.

Raw World Title: Kane vs. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk

Punk is defending of course. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. Kane goes after Punk so Bryan kicks Kane. Uh….ok? Double chokeslam is broken up and they both kick the monster down. Stereo dropkicks put Kane down but they get in a fight over the cover as is the tradition in triple threats. They slug it out with Punk taking over, backdropping Bryan to the floor. A suicide dive by Punk is broken up by a Kane clothesline which gets two.

Bryan knocks Kane to the floor so Punk dives on both guys to take over. Kane stays on the floor and pulls Punk outside. He sends the champion into the barricade and uppercuts Bryan to block the knee from the apron. Kane bends Punk around the post and kicks him in the head for good measure. He sends Punk into the corner and fires off some knees to the head followed by the low dropkick for two.

Off to a bodyscissors which Punk quickly elbows his way out of. Bryan is back in and hits a running dropkick into the corner on Punk, but he jumps into the claws of Kane. Kane shrugs off a clothesline but a drop toehold sends him into the buckle. A kick sends him to the floor and it’s the small guys one on one again. Bryan goes up but gets caught by Punk. The champion loads up a superplex but Kane breaks it up. He breaks up a second attempt at one and Punk’s trunks come down for a second.

Kane tries the superplex now but Punk breaks it up. Bryan gets tired of waiting and hits a dropkick to both guys for two each. Both guys are on their knees so Bryan fires off kicks to both guys. A big kick to Kane’s head puts him down but Punk grabs a rollup for two. Kane gets in the corner and both guys take running knees. Neckbreaker gets two on Kane as Bryan makes the save. Snap powerslam gets two for Punk and he goes up for the Macho Elbow. Bryan tries a superplex but gets caught on Kane’s shoulders. Punk plays Hawk in a Doomsday Device but only gets two on Bryan.

A horrible looking Macho Elbow hits Bryan but since this isn’t Raw, it only gets two. Kane comes in before we can get the GTS and sends Punk to the apron. The champion hits a high kick but the Macho Elbow misses Kane. Bryan hits a Swan Dive on Punk for two. He low bridges Kane and knocks him to the floor but Punk rolls him up for two. A big kick to the head knocks Punk down and there’s the YES Lock. Bryan CRANKS on it but he cranks too hard, giving Punk a rollup for two ala Over the Limit.

GTS hits out of nowhere but Kane breaks up the cover. Kane comes back in with the top rope clothesline to Punk but the chokeslam is countered into a DDT for two. This time the Macho Elbow hits Kane but Punk can’t hit the GTS. Chokeslam kills Punk but it only gets two. Dang I thought that was it. Kane yells at the referee and sets up a tombstone. Punk escapes and AJ is on the apron. Kane gets sent into her and the GTS hits for Punk to retain at 18:16.

Rating: B. I was really digging this one although AJ continues to be almost a red herring. She was only there for about five seconds and Bryan was gone for the last five minutes of this. Still though, it’s good to see Punk retain as he continues his very long run as the #2 guy on Raw. Good match here though as they used Kane perfectly.

By the way that officially gives Punk the longest reign since Cena’s year long run in 06/07.

Kane carries AJ off and she has a very evil smile. Punk smiles back at her and I think something is afoot. Punk celebrates long enough that his song restarts.

Ryback vs. Dan Delaney/Rob Grymes

The jobbers say they’ll win and be in the main event of…..and they sing the Wrestlemania X song, complete with old school Mania music. I like these guys already. Double Samoan Drop, 1:30. Ryback shouted to give him three while he was holding them up. I hope that’s not what we get stuck with for the next few weeks.

The theme for Summerslam is Be A Star. Oh good grief.

The cage is lowered.

We get a LONG recap of this feud, which is basically Cena feuding with Ace because he’s the boss and Ace being somewhat corrupt. Show was brought back to keep Ace’s job so now the job is on the line again after Vince wanted to fire Ace but didn’t for some reason. Vince got “punched” in the “head” on Monday and has a concussion. If Cena loses tonight he’s fired and if Show loses Ace is fired.

Big Show vs. John Cena

You can win by pin, submission or escape. Vince and Ace are at ringside. Show shoves him down to start and then into the cage. Cena goes into the cage again but the WMD hits the wall. There’s the big chop in the corner as this has been all Show so far. Cena gets in a dropkick and goes for the door but is almost immediately pulled back. Show clotheslines him down and runs his mouth a lot.

Cena gets rammed into the cage again as this is a total squash so far. Show fires a punch into Cena’s ribs and walks around a lot. He crushes Cena in the corner and stands on the neck in front of the door. Cena FINALLY gets his feet up in the corner to slow Show down and a bulldog gets one. Cena gets up on top of the cage but Show pulls him back in. They both get on the top rope but Show gets crotched.

Instead of charging out the door as fast as he can, Cena fires off a shoulder block to ram Show into the cage. Cena climbs the cage like an idiot and gets powerbombed into the cage wall. Well he deserved that. A regular powerbomb gets two as does a Vader Bomb. Show grabs him by the throat and climbs to the top rope while still holding Cena’s neck. He picks Cena up off the mat to the top and drops him down to the mat. Seems counter productive but whatever.

Show drops an elbow off the top but Cena rolls away to prevent a bad case of death. The ring literally shook as he landed. Show tries to crawl out the door and gets his hand on the floor but Cena pulls him back in. Cena goes for the door but gets pulled back in as well. Chokeslam is countered and a double clothesline puts both guys down. Cena goes for the door but Ace knocks the referee down. Vince stops it but Ace shoves Vince into the door which goes into Cena’s head. Chokeslam gets two.

Show loads up the WMD but it hits the referee of course. AA is avoided and Show hits the WMD on Cena. Show is the only one up and there’s no referee. He goes for the door but Brodus Clay is waiting with a chair. Doesn’t that mean he’s fired now? Instead Show starts to climb and Brodus rolls his eyes before stepping two feet to the left so he’s in front of Show again.

Show is frustrated so Brodus waves out Riley and Santino, guys that Show knocked out. They get knocked down so Brodus waves out Ryder. Kofi comes out and gets to the top of the cage and knocks Show to the mat. Cena crawls towards the door but Show grabs the leg. They go back into the ring and the AA puts Big Show down. There’s no referee as Cena covers so he climbs up instead. Brodus has the door covered but Ace blocks Cena’s way out. Brodus goes over and subdues Ace so Cena can escape and win at 19:48.

Rating: C-. This had about 10 minutes of action in a nearly 20 minute match. The ending made sense and was overdone, but it was probably better than the other alternative. Cena winning was the pretty obvious choice but I can’t imagine Ace is going to be gone for more than about two weeks or so. The match wasn’t what I would call good but it was ok I guess. The laying around got REALLY boring though.

Post match Vince fires Ace and Cena gives Ace an AA through the table, because that’s just the kind of guy he is.

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t what I’d call a bad show but it was pretty underwhelming. Ace getting fired is good at the moment but I can’t imagine it’ll be a lasting decision. The triple threat was by far the best match of the night but it’s clear that the injuries and suspensions are crippling these guys at the moment. Clearly the solution is to have more squash matches because we COULDN’T just bring someone else up on the roster right? Passable show but it’s nothing great at all.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: August 22, 2006
Location: Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

We’re past Summerslam now and Big Show is still champion, having beaten Sabu at Summerslam. The main event tonight: Big Show vs. Sabu for the ECW Championship. We also have Matt Striker, who is making his ECW debut tonight after a long time on Raw. We also get a bikini contest between Kelly and Torrie, which I’m sure will be riveting. Let’s get to it.

Theme song opens us up.

We open with Torrie and Kelly in their bikini contest. Torrie is in FHM this month. She disrobes first and looks good but Mike Knox stops Kelly from disrobing. Test is with him for the sake of setting up a six man tag. Dreamer and Sandman come in and we’re ready to go.

Torrie Wilson/Tommy Dreamer/Sandman vs. Test/Mike Knox/Kelly Kelly

The girls go at it quickly and the fans freak out. Torrie is in a bikini so we get a Stinkface. So that’s where Kelly learned it. Test and Dreamer come in, thank goodness, with Test poking him in the eye to take over. A trio of backbreakers gets two. Knox comes in and stays on the back of Dreamer as the fans tell Knox that he can’t wrestle.

Test comes in and takes out Sandman before throwing Dreamer in a bearhug. Dreamer finally gets out and hooks a neckbreaker to give himself a breather. Off to Sandman and Knox but it’s Test who gets caught in the White Russian Legsweep. Sandman hits a Swanton (Rolling Rock) on Knox for two. After some interference from Test, Knox misses a middle rope legdrop. Dreamer DDT gets the pin on Knox.

Rating: D. This was a mess and the girls didn’t add anything to it, but they were only involved for about 30 seconds so it’s not that big of a deal. The match was boring though as it was just old school vs. new school which would be the story on this show for months on end. Sandman was a nostalgia act at this point but he got paid for a few months out of it so I can’t complain much there. Not a good match but it got the crowd a bit fired up so I can’t complain much.

Show tells Heyman not to worry tonight because it’s a one on one match with no weapons for Sabu to use.

Matt Striker is in the back and says he’s our teacher. The letters ECW bring about images of barbarism but those aren’t good. Therefore, he’s going to educate us in the future.

Kevin Thorn vs. Balls Mahoney

Extreme Rules. Thorn jumps Balls before he can use the chair and we’re off fast. Balls comes back with right hands and a HARD kick to the face. Out to the floor for a good beating of balls. Back in and Thorn beats Balls with a stick. These jokes write themselves. The stick gets rammed into Balls’ throat (there is such a thing as making this too easy you know) but Mahoney comes back with punches and the Nutcracker Sweet for two. Balls goes to get a chair but Ariel bites him on the way back in. A chair shot and the elevated Stunner get the pin for Thorn. Quick match with more unintentional comedy than anything else.

More Shannon Moore stuff. The system is oppressive I see.

CM Punk vs. Christopher W. Anderson

He’s doing the IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME already. Anderson is introduced as Christopher W. Anderson but screw that, he’s CW Anderson. Anderson takes him into the corner and we actually get a clean break. Joey and Tazz argue over how much coffee Anderson had in the original ECW. They go to the corner again and Anderson kills him with the left, resulting in a left/right joke series from our commentators. Anderson works on the arm in the corner but gets caught in the Vice around the ropes. The knee/bulldog combination conencts but Punk walks into a spinebuster for two. Never mind as it’s strike sequence, Rock Bottom, Vice, tap.

Sabu says he’ll win tonight.

Trailer for The Marine.

Heyman talks to someone and tells them to make an impact tonight. It’s Hardcore Holly and Heyman whispers a name to Holly which Hardcore isn’t thrilled with. Whoever he whispered has been making trouble for Holly in the locker room.

Danny Doring vs. Rob Van Dam

Doring tries to speed things up but gets his head kicked off instead. Danny drops some elbows on the back to take over but Van Dam has had enough of that. The monkey flip sets up the top rope kick and Doring is in trouble. Rolling Thunder hits and the Five Star finishes the squash.

Post match Hardcore Holly jumps Van Dam with a chair. He hits Doring for good measure before giving Van Dam the Alabama Slam.

Highlight video of Summerslam.

Rene Dupree says he’s the best athlete ECW has ever had.

ECW Title: Big Show vs. Sabu

Sabu pounds away to start but gets beaten down almost as quickly. Some LOUD chops put Sabu down so Show picks him up and drops Sabu onto the top rope and out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Show choking away even more. During the break there’s been a table set up at ringside, apparently to taunt Sabu.

Sabu breaks up a bearhug with a poke to the eye. The referee goes down, as does Sabu to a fallaway slam. Sabu uses the referee being down to get some chair shots in, taking Big Show down. Triple Jump Moonsault hits but there’s no referee. Arabian Facebuster hits and a second referee counts two. Sabu gets the bell and clocks Show with it in front of the referee for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This didn’t really have time to do anything, but it wasn’t all that interesting watching Sabu get thrown around and then a ref bump followed by a stupid DQ. These two would feud for awhile while we waited to get something better going in the main event. This was fine for a filler feud though.

Post match Sabu hits him again with the bell, busting Show open. He knocks him through the table (great sound effect) and HOKEY SMOKE Show is busted bad. There’s a freaking pool of blood on the ground. It’s legit scary looking actually.

Overall Rating: D+. It wasn’t a great show, but there was a major shift this week as the main event only ran about five minutes (not counting commercial) as opposed to the usual 15 minutes or so it had been getting up to this point. That can be seen as either good or bad, in that it gives more time to other acts, but it also takes away the long match. In ECW’s case though, with just an hour a week, spending ¼ of the show on a single match wasn’t the best idea. The shift here is good and the show had a lot more to it as a result. The problem is the additional stuff here wasn’t that great.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: August 22, 2006
Location: Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

We’re back for another episode and it’s the last show before Summerslam. That being said, Big Show needs an opponent. We saw the return of Rob Van Dam last week to attack both Big Show and Sabu, so my guess is it’ll be Van Dam or Sabu challenging Show on Sunday. Is that a ladder I see over there? Let’s get to it.

We open with Heyman and Show in the back. Heyman says that Angle has been injured and is medically suspended for the time being. He was supposed to be in the ladder match later on, but now it’s just Van Dam vs. Sabu.

Here’s Foley in the arena. We get a clip of Melina and Foley beating up Flair last night. This was to set up their match at Summerslam which is pretty forgotten today. Foley talks about how last night he invited Flair to come here tonight but Naitch isn’t going to be here. This is because of a real life argument they had over Flair calling Foley a glorified stuntman and Foley saying Flair had the same match for years.

Foley goes into a big rant about what he went through against Undertaker in the Cell, which Flair says was just accidentally falling off the Cell. What Flair never gets is that Foley has always liked what he sees when he looks in the mirror, and that’s what he’ll do on Monday after the match with Ric. He talks about being a two time bestselling author and calls out…..Kelly Kelly?

Here she is and with a much slower version of her signature song. He also brings out Melina which is a big shock to Tazz for some reason. Foley says it’s time for a three way dance, so the girls grind on each other and Foley dances like Dude Love. This draws out Flair and the fight is on. A low blow stops Mick and Flair takes off his belt to whip Foley, followed by some choking. Flair shouts about how Foley is going to quit on Sunday and leaves. This was a, shall we say, interesting use of the first ten minutes of the show.

Shannon Moore says to question authority.

CM Punk vs. Justin Credible

Justin slaps him and gets kicked as a result. Into the corner and Punk does Joe’s Facewash for two. A top rope crossbody is countered into a gutbuster for two for Credible. Abdominal stretch goes on for a bit but Punk comes back with strikes. A bad kind of release tornado DDT gets two. Punk comes back with the knee in the corner, a high kick, a Rock Bottom and the Vice for the tap out. Short match but it did its job.

Video on RVD. This is followed by him sitting on a ladder, talking about being in MITB at Wrestlemania. He won that as well as the world title, and now he wants it back.

Rene Dupree is still coming.

Mike Knox/Test vs. Little Guido/Tony Marmaluke

Guido and Knox starts and the beating begins. Test comes in and the beating continues. The beating ends with a pair of big boots and a TKO to Mamaluke. Total squash.

Dreamer and Sandman chase off Knox and Test post match.

Sabu says he’ll win.

Heyman talks to Show and the security guards when Angle runs in. He beats up the security with ease and hammers on Big Show but finally gets taken down. Cops show up to handcuff Angle and take him out.

Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu

Ladder match and the winner gets Big Show on Sunday. Feeling out process to start and we get our first possible botch as Van Dam tries his springboard kick out of the corner but it hits Sabu in the leg as he was trying something else at the same time. Van Dam goes up but gets stopped by some shots to the face. Sabu tries Air Sabu but gets crotched in another botch. This REALLY isn’t starting out well.

Van Dam tries to jump from the top to get the contract which I’m surprised more people haven’t tried before. A Cactus Clothesline puts both guys on the floor and Sabu goes for the first ladder. Van Dam makes the save and both guys head back in, sans ladder. A spike DDT puts Rob down and now we get the first ladder brought in. Scratch that as Van Dam hits a baseball slide into the ladder to keep it on the floor.

Van Dam hits a dive onto Sabu and the ladder as we take a break. Back with Sabu hitting the Arabian Facebuster onto the ladder. There’s the camel clutch, also on the ladder but it’s broken very quickly. Sabu sets the ladder up but Van Dam shoves it down before he can get anywhere. Sabu tries the triple jump moonsault using the ladder and falls flat on his back. Rob throws him into the ladder in the corner but misses a charge. In a GREAT counter, Van Dam monkey flips the ladder itself into Sabu. That was awesome.

Rolling Thunder hits onto Sabu onto the ladder, but it was minus Sabu and Van Dam’s back is hurt. Now the triple jump moonsault hits as Sabu used the chair instead of the ladder like a freaking idiot would. Van Dam gets in another shot and goes up the ladder but Sabu makes a quick save. Sabu goes to his old standard: throwing the ladder at Van Dam’s head.

Van Dam kicks him down again and hits the Five Star but it only does so much good here. His ribs are more messed up than they already were but he goes up anyway. Sabu is down on the floor, so there’s no reason for Van Dam to go slowly, other than Big Show missing his cue as he does here. Show FINALLY comes in and throws Van Dam off the ladder and through a table. Show calls for the contract to be lowered but Sabu dives at him and lands in a powerbomb position, but it’s enough to grab the lowered contract and get the title shot.

Rating: D. You know how I always talk about how Sabu needs someone to keep him calmed down or it can get ugly? This was what happens when it gets ugly. Some of these botches were just HORRIBLE and it ruined whatever they might have had going with the match. The monkey flip spot was great and the ending was creative, but the stuff getting up to that was just horrible.

Show chokeslams Sabu onto the contract (despite having a chair and a ladder in the ring) and chokeslams RVD as well. Sabu eats the contract to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This show FLEW by and I’m not sure it worked for the most part. The main event was too sloppy to be worth much, the opening segment was about a Raw issue instead of an ECW issue, and the other two matches were squashes. It wasn’t a horrible show I guess, but it went by so fast with so little happening that it really didn’t have a chance to be good.

Here’s Summerslam if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/09/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2006-hogan-and-dx-are-in-charge-are-we-in-1998/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: August 29, 2006
Location: Sovereign Center, Reading, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Joey Styles, Taz

It’s another week in and the show continues to be decent, at least in theory. Tonight is all about furthering Heyman vs. Sabu in the battle of ECW past, which is probably the best feud this show has going. Also tonight we have RVD vs. Hardcore Holly, which if I remember right has a scary bump in it, but that might be a rematch later on. Let’s get to it.

We open with Heyman of course. He talks about how this is his creation and how he’s our messiah as usual. Heyman has never wrestled in ECW, although I’d assume that’s probably a good thing. Tonight he’s getting into the ring against…..Sabu. I don’t see this going well. He says that Dr. Frankenstein must destroy his own creation and beat his own child tonight in the ring.

Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly

This is a followup to last week where Holly jumped Van Dam with a chair. Holly goes right for him but gets kicked down and clotheslined to the floor very quickly. Van Dam puts him on the barricade and this his spin kick to the back. Back in the Alabama Slam is countered but Holly throws Rob to the floor to take over. Off to a HARDCORE chinlock before the dropkick gets two. Van Dam kicks his head off to put both guys down but manages to get up first. A superkick and standing moonsault get two. Windmill kick sets up Rolling Thunder but the Five Star misses. Holly brings in a chair but Rob hits him with it for the DQ.

Rating: D+. That was a pretty lame ending to a pretty weak match. This was only about five minutes long and while they would feud for a few weeks before Van Dam beat him in an Extreme Rules match (meaning this wasn’t the match I was talking about in the intro), this was a bad opener to the feud. Not much to see here.

Rene Dupree rides an exercise bike and says he’s the most extreme wrestler.

Here’s Big Show for a chat. He talks about how dominant he is and how the McMahons saw that. That’s why they enlisted him to help in their battles with DX. You mean it’s not because there’s no way to believe that Vince and Shane can fight Shawn and HHH so they needed to bring in some heavies to do the work for them? DX’s fate will be sealed at Unforgiven in the Cell but if they want, they can come face him here next week.

Shannon Moore says fight the power.

CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards

Richards actually gets an intro. They go to the mat to start and Richards fires away with some chops. Punk knocks him to the floor and hits a suicide dive to take over, but back inside Richards crotches him on the top to slow Punk down again. Off to a bearhug from Stevie but Punk breaks out of it very quickly. Punk hammers away with his strikes and hits a butterfly backbreaker for two. Richards ducks the backfist but walks into the Rock Bottom and Anaconda Vice for the tap.

Rating: C+. This was a nice surprise as Punk got tested instead of rolling over the latest ECW jobber that he was facing. Richards is a guy that never quite gets the appreciation that he deserves, because he’s most remembered as a comedy guy. He could have some entertaining matches though when he was just being himself, which is what you got here. This was a surprisingly entertaining match.

Video on Sabu.

It’s Matt Striker’s Classroom. He says he’s a teacher and he’s here to help. For some reason people don’t cheer for him though, because they’d rather cheer for the Sandman. You know, the guy who drinks “giggle water.” Sandman is constantly drunk and has a Singapore Cane, but Striker’s weapon is his mind. Cue Sandman, but Striker actually beats him down, breaking the chalkboard over his head and hitting him with a stapler before leaving.

Balls Mahoney is in the back and has something to say when Kelly comes up and flashes him. Ok then.

Taz and Joey explain that Angle is gone and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Paul Heyman vs. Sabu

It’s Extreme Rules. The security guards (the Bashams but I don’t think that was ever revealed on TV) jump Sabu on the way to the ring of course. Since this is ECW though Sabu beats up both guards who are in riot gear, but Big Show makes save #2 for Heyman before Sabu can, you know, kill him. Show CRACKS Sabu’s head with a chair as I’m sure you can get where this is going already. Sabu is busted already and the three guys not named Heyman beat him down with Big Show holding him so Paul can get in a shot.

We get out first table of the night (that has to be a record for ECW as the show is almost over) as Heyman dances around the ring and calls himself the Messiah. Show lifts Sabu up into a gorilla press position to put him through the table on the floor, but of course he holds him just long enough for RVD to come out for the save. Van Daminator takes down Big Show and it’s kicks for the Bashams.

Sabu finally gets his hands on Heyman and destroys him for a bit, even hitting the Arabian Facebuster. Sabu and Van Dam put Heyman on the table but Big Show pulls Sabu out of the air on the dive attempt. That’s always cool to see. Cue run-in #5 (I’ve lost count) in the form of Hardcore Holly. He hits the Alabama Slam to Van Dam through the table as Show hits that walking legdrop thing, giving Heyman the pin.

Rating: C-. This is more ECW’s style: a totally mindless and insane brawl with massive carnage. It was clear what they were going for as soon as they said Extreme Rules, but that’s ok here. They had to do something to keep this from being Heyman getting killed for eight minutes, and having all these people come out allows for more stories to be advanced. Not a good match or anything but it was fun in an insane sort of way.

Sabu gets put through a table to end the show. Heyman makes the sign of the cross over Sabu’s body.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t their best show. The main feud is starting to get some traction but it’s not exactly the most interesting story in the world. Big Show would hold the title for the next three months or so which didn’t really do much for the level of interest in the title. The show here was getting more coherent but it wasn’t exactly interesting.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

ECW on Sci-Fi
Date: September 5, 2006
Location: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

Tonight we get really EXTREME as DX is here to face Big Show, which is basically a preview for Unforgiven and their Cell match which will also involve the McMahons. Other than that we have Heyman punishing RVD and Sabu for existing by putting them in a tag match against Knox and Test. Then again that might be punishment for all of us in general. Let’s get to it.

DX arrives to open the show. Shawn: “You think this is the place?” HHH: “Bingo.”

Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Knox/Test

Extreme Rules. Sabu and Knox start because you have to tag in an EXTREME rules match. They have about as technical of a match as Sabu has ever had before it’s off to Van Dam. Knox comes in as well and pounds away as Sabu loads up a table. He gets a chair as well as Knox drops a freaking elbow for two. This match is already boring me to death and we’re only two minutes into it.

Test comes in with a clothesline and sends Van Dam to the floor. The Originals hit a nice slingshot legdrop and Rolling Thunder combo as things breaks down. Van Dam hits a top rope kick to break up Sabu being thrown through the table. Through a series of counters everyone but Sabu winds up on the apron. He springboards off the chair to take all three of them down and through said table in the first good spot of the match.

Back from a break with Test hitting Sabu with a chair for no cover. Van Dam blasts Test with the same chair and Surfs it into the corner. Knox breaks up the Five Star with a chair shot and hits a superplex. Sabu breaks up the cover with an Arabian Facebuster and puts Knox in the camel clutch. Van Dam kicks the chair into Knox’s face but Test saves the pin. Sabu hits Air Sabu in the corner and Test falls onto the chair. Triple Jump Moonsault gets two. Another table is brought in and the Originals mess up the legdrop/Five Star combo through the table so only the Splash hits and gets the pin on Knox.

Rating: D+. Those of you that have read my stuff over the years know that I am by no means an ECW fan. That being said, Van Dam and Sabu are at almost no fault here. Test and Knox sucked the ever loving life out of this match and brought it through the floor. They were the perfect idea for heels in ECW but that doesn’t mean they were interesting in the slightest. I can’t stand those two and I’m sure they’ll be pushed even more in the future.

Kevin Thorn and Ariel pull a tarot card which reveals sexuality. Are they ever going to do anything with these two?

Here’s Striker again to talk about Sandman. He says that last week brain prevailed over brawn and that he’s smart enough to never go swimming with stingrays. This would be the day after Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray so the fans give Striker more heat than ever. Here’s Sandman so Striker runs away. Sandman writes SUX under Striker’s name. What biting commentary.

Balls Mahoney vs. Stevie Richards

Kevin Thorn comes to commentary for some reason and Ariel grinds on Joey a bit. Balls pounds him into the corner to start but Richards clotheslines him down for two. A neckbreaker gets the same and Richards takes over. A bad X-Factor gets two and it’s off to a chinlock. Balls slaps the mat which doesn’t count as a tap out for some reason and they’re back to their feet. Mahoney makes his comeback but has to stop to hit Thorn for some reason. A cane shot to the head of Mahoney gets the pin. Too short to rate but it was more about angle advancement than anything else.

Punk slaps Moore and calls him a poser. Yeah this is who they gave Punk for his first feud.

Big Show vs. D-Generation X

The world champion doesn’t even get an intro. Extreme Rules here, at least until Heyman comes out and says it’s a regular match. DX doesn’t have to tag here so they try to double team Show as much as possible. They get him down with punches but a double suplex is just a bad idea. Show takes over with his usual power offense, chopping both guys in the chest HARD.

DX tries to speed things up but the security guards pull the ropes down. HHH goes after them before they can beat up Shawn but Show pulls Shawn back into the ring for the one on one beating. HHH is down in the aisle and Shawn gets put in the bearhug. Show loads up the chokeslam but HHH makes the save. The Game fights him down and manages a kind of spinebuster as Shawn is back up. He dives onto the security guards but Show blocks the Pedigree. Hardcore Holly of all people comes in, and that’s a DQ.

Rating: D. This was like a preview of some sort but it was nothing interesting at all. For what was called the biggest match in ECW history, I was expecting more than a five minute match with Hardcore Holly coming in for the save. Nothing to see here as the match sucked for the most part, followed by a bad ending.

Shawn gets beaten down until HHH gets his sledgehammer for the save. DX stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This was probably the worst show they’ve had in the few months this has been on. The main event was basically a preview for a PPV match involving Raw guys and the other featured match was slow and boring because the new ECW guys absolutely suck. Punk was only here for about 20 seconds so there was almost nothing to care about here. Awful show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Backlash 2009
Date: April 26, 2009
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 8,357
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Back with the final chronological Backlash before we jump back to 2006 to close out WWE PPVs. The main events tonight are Edge vs. Cena in a last man standing match and Legacy vs. HHH/Shane/Batista for the other world title which is one of those “whoever gets the pin gets the title” deals. I remember really liking this show so hopefully it’s still good. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about Wrestlemania and how this is just a replay of the main matches from there. It worked last year so hopefully it does here too. The Hardys fight again tonight too.

ECW Title: Jack Swagger vs. Christian

Christian recently returned and is getting his title match here after winning an overly complicated competition. Swagger takes him down but Christian comes back with right hands and a jumping back elbow for two. Swagger is like screw that and picks Christian up and launches him to the floor. Back inside and Swagger wraps him up on the mat. That gets shifted to a bearhug and the Canadian is in trouble.

Christian breaks it up with some forearms but Swagger gets behind him into a gutbuster for two. Back to that body vice on the mat which plays into Swagger being an All-American wrestler. The Canadian escapes and hits the pendulum kick in the corner but Swagger drills him again. Vader Bomb hits knees but Christian’s tornado DDT is countered as well. Sunset flip gets a VERY close two for the challenger.

Gutwrench powerbomb is countered but Christian’s ribs are getting really banged up now. Swagger puts him on the middle rope and this time the tornado DDT connects, getting two. Jack hits a belly to belly to put Christian down again and they head to the floor. Swagger BLASTS him with a right hand and tries a German off the apron but Christian holds the rope.

Back inside Christian goes up top but gets backdropped down. A top rope Vader Bomb gets two but an Oklahoma Stampede is countered into a rollup for two. The second attempt at the Stampede gets two so they both take off buckle pads. Swagger goes into one first and the Unprettier gets the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. This was the right kind of match for an opener with Christian having to fight from behind until he caught Swagger using his own tricks. Christian would dominate ECW for the next ten months or so until it was replaced by NXT while Swagger would move over to the main shows and become world champion in a questionable move.

Christian celebrates in the back but stops to go talk to Edge. Edge says this must make Christian think he’s better than he is now because Edge doesn’t have a title. Christian wants to know what changed Edge and Edge says it was Cena. That’s why he’s not fun anymore.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat

This should be a treat. The story here is that Jericho went on an anti-legend kick in the past few months until he beat three of them (Piper, Snuka and Steamboat) at Mania. The thing is Steamboat, who might have wrestled one match in 15 years, stole the show and looked like he could still go out there and wrestle for 45 minutes and beat half the guys on the roster. He was 56-57 at this point, so he wanted one last match, one on one with Jericho.

Steamboat takes him down to the mat and Jericho has to get to the rope to escape. Ricky goes to the floor and makes Jericho miss him a few times before hitting a dive over the top and out onto the Canadian. Back in and there’s the armdrag into the armbar. The fans tell Steamboat that he still has it. Jericho gets up but walks right back into the armdrag/bar again. They slug it out and Steamboat is knocked over the top but he skins the cat, because he’s that awesome.

Jericho clotheslines him to the floor and springboard dropkicks him right back down. Off to a chinlock but Steamboat fights out and hits another armdrag. Back to the chinlock as Jericho talks trash. That’s one of the things I’ve always liked about him: he keeps things from getting completely dull during a usually dull part of the match. Back up and Steamboat shoves off the bulldog and Jericho gets caught on the ropes.

Steamboat goes all the way to the back for a belly to back suplex but the delayed cover only gets two. Some chops get another two count as does a powerslam. Jericho comes back with a running enziguri for two and the bulldog puts Steamboat down. The Lionsault is broken up but Jericho reverses the reversal into the Walls. Steamboat slips out from under them but can’t remember how to put on the figure four. That’s where the match gets kind of sad.

Jericho escapes and charges into the post, allowing the top rope crossbody to get two. Ricky goes up again but dives into the Codebreaker….for two. We get the WM 3 ending with the small package out of the slam for two, but Jericho slaps on the Walls and cranks hard for the tap. That’s one of the only times (if not the only time) I can remember Steamboat submitting.

Rating: C+. This is a really hard one to grade. Steamboat tried as hard as he could, but at the end of the day he’s nearing 60 and had wrestled two matches in almost fifteen years. Now don’t get me wrong: Steamboat DID NOT look awful out there, but he looked old. It’s sad to see him when you know what he used to be capable of, but all things considered, this was a solid performance. It’s VERY good that it was the last time too, because it would have gotten bad if he had kept going. The match was fun but it didn’t blow me away like the Mania performance did.

Steamboat gets a standing ovation post match, which he deserves.

Santino runs into Beth in the back and talks to “Santina” on the phone, who says she’s coming. Oh geez I forgot about this. Santino won’t admit he’s Santina and says Beth is the delusional one. Beth breaks up with him.

Kane vs. CM Punk

Punk won MITB and Kane isn’t happy about it. Punk holds him off with some kicks but has to stick and move against the monster. Kane charges into a boot and gets caught in an arm hold over the ropes. Punk dropkicks him to the floor but his dive is caught in a chokeslam position. He fights up to the apron and hits a clothesline down onto Kane to take over again. Kane sends Punk rib first into the post and baseball slides into them, giving him his first advantage.

Off to a bodyscissors as it occurs to me how boring matches can become when there’s no story to them. The reviews of them become boring too because there’s nothing to say here other than the play by play. I don’t like doing them like that but there’s nothing else to do as there’s no story to this at all. Punk elbows out of it but charges into a clothesline. Punk hits a backbreaker to stay on the back which is the same kind of boring match stuff that I was talking about. The wrestling is fine but it’s the same stuff we’ve seen a million times and there’s no reason to care about it because of a lack of a story.

Chokeslam is countered into a DDT on the arm and Punk follows up with kicks to the leg. Well of course he does. Punk hooks a kind of crucifix hold on the arm in the corner but the knee in the corner is countered by a kick to the face. Kane goes up for the clothesline but Punk hits a running enziguri. The GTS is countered but there’s the bulldog and knee. Scratch that, reverse it. You get the idea I’m sure. Punk tries the springboard clothesline but jumps into an uppercut. Kane gets caught in a Fujiwara Armbar but he comes back with a side slam. Punk fires off the strikes but walks into a two arm chokeslam for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nothing to see here as they were totally going through the motions. The match wasn’t bad or anything but there was nothing interesting to it at all. This was there to fill in about fifteen minutes total of PPV time which was fine, but this was nothing you couldn’t see weekly on Smackdown. I was expecting a bit more too.

We recap the battle of the Hardys. Matt went crazy on Jeff after losing the ECW Title and was revealed to be the guy that was causing all kinds of problems for Jeff and ultimately the world title. They had a match at Mania where Matt went insane and got the pin. Then Matt won a stretcher match on Smackdown so tonight it’s an I Quit match. The problem at the end of the day was that people didn’t really want to see these two guys fight. This gets the music video treatment.

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

I Quit rules remember. Jeff goes off on him in the corner and hits a seated dropkick to send Matt to the floor. Jeff hits a dive and the referee asks if they want to quit. Yeah they’ll quit a minute into the match, sure. With a running start, Jeff hits Poetry in Motion off the steps. Back in and Jeff hits the slingshot dropkick in the corner. A middle rope legdrop hits Matt and it’s off to a chinlock. The lack of covers is always a bit hard to get used to in these matches.

Matt rams him into the buckle to break the hold but can’t do much to follow up. Jeff goes up but gets shoved to the floor in a great crash. Matt wraps Jeff’s leg around the post and we get the first ask with the mic. Jeff says no both times so Matt bends the knee around the post. Matt puts on a figure four and Jeff still won’t quit. Jerry thinks Matt is going after the knee. You can’t buy this kind of analysis people!

Jeff escapes but gets put right back in it again. That doesn’t work so Matt hooks a seated half crab but Jeff still won’t quit. Matt puts him in the Tree of Woe and bends Jeff’s head back but Jeff won’t quit. Instead of holding him there longer, Matt rants and probably posts a YouTube video about it. He puts Jeff on top but his belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody.

Jeff hooks a standing Texas Cloverleaf and Matt taps but won’t say he quits. They botch a Twist of Fate so the second attempt works a bit better. Matt still won’t quit so Jeff gets a table. Matt rolls to the floor but Jeff follows with the Twist to take him down again. Back in the ring now and Jeff puts him on the table.

Before he does anything though, Jeff grabs some tape from under the ring and ties Matt’s hands and feet together. Now he gets a rope and ties Matt to the table. Matt still won’t quit so Jeff gets a ladder. Jeff climbs said ladder but Matt begs for mercy. He says Mom and Dad wouldn’t like it and that he loves Jeff. Matt quits to prevent Jeff from jumping.

Rating: C. This was a fun match but the ending hurt it badly. With all the stuff that Matt has been through over the years, he quits to avoid a legdrop through the table? The match was just ok up to that point but at the end of the day like I said earlier, I don’t think people were really that interested in seeing these guys fight. This ended the feud, which is probably best for everyone involved.

Jeff jumps on him anyway.

Orton talks about Batista and how he (Orton) wants the title. He tries to manipulate Dave into believing that HHH is using him.

Here’s Great Khali because he wants to kiss Santina. This isn’t going to end well at all. Ok so there was a battle royal at Mania for the title of Miss Wrestlemania. Santino wore a dress and said he was his own twin sister and won the battle royal. Beth said that it was Santino in drag but he wouldn’t admit it. Khali fell for Santina and wants to kiss her so Santino is in a tight spot. This is one of the dumbest stories I can remember in a very long time, so of course it went on for months.

After Singh says Khali wants Santina, here “she” comes to Billy and Chuck’s old music. Santina says she can’t kiss Khali because she’s not who she says she is. She isn’t single because she’s in love with another man. That man is…..JR. Oh give me a break. From what I can tell, this was another unplanned shot at JR. JR gets annoyed when Santina says he calls her his little slobberknocker. Khali apologizes but wants to see proof of their love in the form of a kiss.

Santina says she’s about to faint and here’s Beth to complain about how stupid this is. She challenges Santina for the crown RIGHT NOW. Khali complains about what’s going on here so Beth explains the whole cross dressing thing to him. She says all of the women in Punjab must be ugly. Either that or Khali is a big idiot. He chops her and the bell rings, giving Santina a win in three seconds. This is one of the dumbest angles I have ever seen and I had almost completely forgotten it. Khali rips Santina’s top off for no apparent reason.

We recap Legacy vs. Batista/HHH/Shane. Orton has basically declared war on the McMahons, having punted Vince and attacked/kissed Stephanie. Shane is the only one left and Batista has been brought in to help with HHH to counteract Legacy. Orton injured Batista and this is his return feud.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton/Legacy vs. Batista/HHH/Shane McMahon

Only Orton can win the title and it can be by pin, submission, countout or DQ. HHH is champion coming in. Legacy is Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes in case you’re a young’un. HHH goes right after Orton and they head to the floor. The other four are kind of staring at each other. This is all before the bell. Orton has run off somewhere as HHH comes back to clear the ring. The bell finally rings and there’s no Orton.

Batista starts with Rhodes and destroys him in the corner with the shoulder blocks. He shouts that DiBiase is next and it’s off to Shane who drops a middle rope elbow. Shane works on the arm and it’s off to the champ. HHH fires off right hands and a crotch chop in whatever order you would like to think it was in. DiBiase comes in and is clotheslined down. Shane comes in to play Bret in a Hart Attack for two.

Big Dave comes in again as does Cody. Legacy has had no offense so far at all. There’s a delayed vertical suplex to Rhodes but Cody rakes the eyes and brings in Ted. Legacy gets in some basic offense in the corner as they double team a bit. Batista shrugs that off and hits the spinebuster on DiBiase but Ted bails to the floor before the Bomb can hit. We’re over five minutes into this and Orton hasn’t been seen for any of the actual match.

DiBiase and Batista go up the aisle a bit but it’s more Ted running than anything else. They head back to the ring and here’s Orton to jump Big Dave, sending him into the post. He gets the tag (which wasn’t seen) and goes off on Batista. The fans are into the match now, probably because they knew nothing was going to happen without Randy there. Batista gets beaten down in the corner as the tag is made to Cody.

Legacy and Orton work over Batista on the floor and Orton hits the Elevated DDT for two. Back to DiBiase who hooks a Million Dollar Chinlock. Big Dave comes back with a belly to back suplex but he still can’t make the tag. This is looking like it’s going to be a long match given how early Batista is getting beaten down. Randy comes back in and things slow down again. Even JR is thinking he’s going too slowly.

Off to another chinlock which is pretty quickly broken. Batista comes out of nowhere with a freaking flying headbutt of all things. Hot tag brings in Shane who cleans house. Neckbreaker gets two on Rhodes. They head to the floor and Shane pulls the top off of the table but Cody heads back in. The top rope elbow gets two as DiBiase makes the save. Orton sends Shane into the steps and we go into heel control segment #2.

Randy is legal now but he brings Ted back in for fear of being interesting. Shane gets worked over on the floor a bit more and it’s back to Cody again. Legacy keeps tagging in quickly as it’s back to Orton who pulls Shane back into the wrong corner. He dropkicks Shane down and DiBiase comes in for some elbow drops. It’s amazing that this is the peak of DiBiase’s career to this point, especially when it was him who everyone thought he was the star of Legacy.

Cody hooks a front facelock which lasts about a full minute before Shane suplexes him out of it. Back to DiBiase who keeps Shane in the ring even longer. There’s the Million Dollar Dream but Shane escapes. There’s the double tag to Orton and HHH with the Game pounding away in the corner. Legacy gets thrown to the floor and there’s a spinebuster to Orton for two.

Everything breaks down and Cody blasts Shane with a chair. Batista gets hit in the throat with it too as the Pedigree and RKO are both countered. HHH has to take the chair away from Batista to avoid the DQ, but he walks into the RKO for two. The bell rings but it has to be waived off. The Punt gives Orton the title.

Rating: B-. This was a bit of a mess but after the mess that was the main event of Mania, it was definitely the right idea to bring in four other people. Orton would feud with Batista for awhile until Big Dave got hurt (again) before feuding with Cena to end the year. HHH would feud with Orton and Legacy for awhile before hooking up with Shawn again for another DX reunion.

HHH gets taken out on a stretcher.

We recap Edge vs. Cena, which is a rematch from the triple threat three weeks ago minus Big Show. That’s the match with the double AA to both guys in the mind blowing spot of the match. Cena took the title from Edge and tonight is Edge’s rematch in a last man standing match. The theme of the video is that Edge has had Cena’s number over the years and it’s really well made.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. John Cena

The brand of the titles is pretty much a guess at this point as they were moving around a lot at this time. Cena is defending and this is last man standing in case you forgot what you read about 20 seconds ago. Cena took a Conchairto on Raw so he’s a bit messed up in the cranium. This is billed as the last match between the two. I’m sure. Edge avoids the bulldog to start and it’s a standoff.

The challenger bails to the floor but misses the spear back in. Edge takes over by pounding on him in the corner before walking into a release fisherman’s suplex. An Edge-O-Matic puts Cena down as we focus on the back of Cena’s head. Edge wins a slugout and puts Cena down with another shot to the head. A flapjack puts Cena down again and we get a logical sleeper. Edge puts him down and finally lets go but Cena is up at seven.

Cena comes back with the shoulder blocks but Edge breaks up the Shuffle. There’s a Sharpshooter of all things but Cena gets up again. Edge knocks him off the apron and into the table as we get to the more wild part of the match. That shot only gets another seven so Edge loads up the steps. The spear that Edge tries hits the steps though and Cena gets a breather. At six though Edge comes back and sends him into the steps again, putting the champ down.

Now Edge goes into the steps again as this is feeling like it’s on a loop. After another eight count Cena picks up the steps and puts them in the ring albeit with some difficulty. Edge gets in another shot to the head and Cena is down again. The Canadian crushes Cena in the corner with the steps and dropkicks them into his body but both guys are down as a result. Back up and Cena launches Edge to the floor. We’re about twelve minutes into this and it hasn’t been all that great so far.

Things pick up a bit with Cena picking up the steps and throwing them over the top rope and right onto Edge’s head. Edge is up at eight and Cena is getting fired up. Back in the ring and they slug it out some more with a double punch putting both guys down. Back up and three AA’s, an Edgecution and an Edge-O-Matic are all broken up before Edge hits a belly to back suplex to take over.

He brags too much though and Edge gets caught in the STF. He taps but it doesn’t matter. As with any submission hold, Cena lets go early (I wonder if he did that with Mickie….allegedly) and Edge is up at 8. The AA is broken up again and Edge spears him down. Edge goes up top and Cena FINALLY hits the AA off the ropes but it doesn’t finish things either. Cena goes up but dives into another spear. Now this is getting better.

The spear only gets nine and Edge is stunned. Both guys are barely able to stand at this point. Scratch that as Cena collapses and falls to the floor. Edge won’t let the referee count and tries the Edgecution on the table, but Cena counters and hits an AA into the crowd. That wouldn’t really do a ton of damage in theory but the landing would, as the fans mostly caught Edge. It gets another nine and Edge is up, although he’s leaning on the barricade. Cena is stunned.

Edge is like screw this and runs off into the crowd with Cena chasing him up the stairs. They head into the concourse and Cena catches up with him, only to head right back into the arena. They go back down some different stairs and Cena bulldogs him onto the equipment area. Edge pops up and hits Cena with something metal as they go to the stage.

An Edgecution (the inverted DDT in case you don’t remember what that move is) on the steel puts Cena down for nine. Edge goes into the back and comes back with a chair. Gee that’s kind of lame now. He gives Cena a Conchairto on the stage….for eight. Edge’s spear is caught in the AA and here’s Big Show to chokeslam Cena through an exploding spotlight, giving Edge the title.

Rating: A-. This is one of those matches that really is better when you watched it live. I remember wondering what they could POSSIBLY do to end this and then Big Show came out to blow stuff up. They had to do something like that given all of the stuff they had done so far and the explosion filled that role pretty well. The first ten minutes are just ok but after that it kicks into gear in a hurry. Great match here.

Cena is taken out on a stretcher as Edge watches from the stage. People were BEGGING for Punk to cash in here but that wouldn’t be for a few more months.

Overall Rating: B. Another good show here with a solid main event. These Wrestlemania repeat shows are usually good despite having the same matches for a lot of the time. This one wasn’t quite as good as the previous year’s show but it was still a very solid entry with mostly satisfying matches, other than a few questionable ones here and there. Oh and the Santino stuff was freaking stupid. Other than that, good stuff though.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 16, 2012
Location: Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Money in the Bank is over and Cena is Mr. MITB for Raw. Tonight is the final show before the real big match of the month in the form of the 1000th Raw. Punk is still champion so it’s pretty clear that Cena vs. Punk is either going to be next week or at Summerslam, unless they throw us an unlikely curve ball. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Punk to open the show. He talks about how he loves Vegas because it’s the same place that he dropped his first pipe bomb right up there on that stage. Last night he went through a war and kept the world title, because he’s the best in the world, which is what he said a year ago. With the 1000th Raw next week, he has to flash back to the first Raw when he wouldn’t even get a chance to be on TV.

Cue Big Show, who Punk faces tonight. Show says he was inches away from winning the MITB case last night but the handle broke to give it to Cena. If Show had the case, he’d cash it in right now. Punk says Show almost won last night, but he didn’t quite do it. Show is a guy that breaks a lot of stuff but no one respects him.

Show laughs at the idea that people respect Punk, but that’s impossible because the people don’t respect themselves. If Punk left the WWE tomorrow, it would be a week before the people moved on to the next big thing. Show calls Punk a joke so Punk says Show is a well paid shell of a man that happens to be a giant. Show says that after Punk gets knocked out tonight, he might lose the title to Cena.

Tag Titles: Kofi Kingston/R-Truth vs. Prime Time Players

1. Why didn’t this match happen on the PPV last night?

2. Why did they have the #1 contenders lose clean last night if they’re getting the title match tonight?

3. Why should I care?

Titus and Kofi start things off and it’s quickly off to Young. Kofi fights them off and brings in Truth as things speed up. The Players get sent to the floor and Kofi hits a flip dive to take them out as we take a break. Back with Young holding onto Truth before it’s off to Titus. Kofi finally dives over to Truth and house is a little less dirty now. Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise on Titus and Little Jimmy gets the pin on him at about 7:15 total.

Rating: D+. There wasn’t much here. Thankfully they didn’t change the titles after the Players got beat last night, but at the same time, they would have been the right choice for the titles now. It’s clear they’re putting no thought at all into this division but who cares anyway? They’re just the tag belts.

Daniel apologizes to AJ in the back when Eve pops in. Tonight it’s AJ/Bryan vs. Eve/???. Eve insults AJ and leaves. Bryan has something to say to AJ after they win tonight and he kisses her on the cheek.

TOUT IT OUT!

Alberto Del Rio vs. Zach Ryder

Alberto jumps him to start and takes out the arm with a DDT. They go to the floor and it’s more arm work followed by the cross armbreaker for the pin at 1:33.

Alberto goes after the arm even more until REY MYSTERIO comes back for the save. By save I mean waiting on the stage and doing his full entrance, during which Del Rio could have ripped Ryder’s arm off and beaten him senseless with it. Rey gets beaten down for a second but hits a spinning headscissors and the 619 sends Del Rio running.

Heath Slater vs. various legends happened on Raw. This is really one of the moments they feature.

Heath Slater vs. Rikishi

Kish looks decent. Thankfully he’s wearing a t-shirt here which is probably a telling sign for him. Slater sings a bit, takes a superkick, the Stink Face and a Samoan Spike of all things. Rump Shaker ends this at 1:11. See, THIS is how you do nostalgia. Not by having Dusty and Piper come out every three months.

In a very cool moment, the Usos (Rikishi’s sons) appear in the ring to do the Too Cool dance with their dad.

Eve Torres/??? vs. Daniel Bryan/AJ

Eve’s partner is Miz. The crowd LOUDLY chants YES with Bryan in a cool moment. The guys get us going here. Bryan fires off some HARD kicks in the corner and it’s quickly off to the girls. Eve chokes away in the corner but AJ snaps and fires off a bunch of Bryan like kicks. Miz distracts the referee so AJ kicks him to the floor and looks all loony. Eve rolls up AJ but there’s no referee. Bryan reverses it and AJ pins Eve at 2:55.

Post match Bryan says he loves AJ and says he asked for her hand in marriage last week to become WWE Champion. Tonight though, he wants nothing. He gets on one knee and pulls out a ring. AJ says yes and they kiss.

Another Raw moment is when Rock threw the Smoking Skull belt into the river.

The wedding is next week. Dang they’re packing that thing.

Jack Swagger vs. Ryback

That’s quite the upgrade over Hawkins and Reks. Swagger jumps Ryback before the bell and hits the gutwrench bomb. Vader Bomb keeps Ryback down and there’s the ankle lock but Ryback shrugs it off. Swagger shoulders him down but can’t put the ankle lock on again. Ryback takes Jack’s head off with a clothesline and a BIG spinebuster followed by a a triple powerbomb. Swagger bails and Ryback stands tall. The bell never rang and there was never a match. Good looking beatdown though and it’s good to see Ryback getting beaten down a bit before making these comebacks.

TOUT IT OUT BABY!

Here are Ziggler and Vickie. Ziggler talks about how great he is and how he’ll be better than Bret, Rock and Austin. Vickie makes sure to say every name after he says it…..and here’s Jericho. Ziggler cuts him off before Jericho can say anything because this isn’t about Jericho. Ziggler says he won the match last night while Jericho didn’t. When is the last time Jericho won anything? Actually Dolph doesn’t remember either, but he does remember hearing Jericho talk about how great he is.

Ziggler talks about how all Jericho does is lose, despite being given more chances than anyone else. All Jericho does is lose because he’s all hype. Ziggler thinks Jericho is losing his touch, so here’s a Codebreaker for him. I think that’s a face turn for Jericho. Jericho never said anything and leaves.

TOUT IT OUT AGAIN!

We run down the stuff for next week: Bryan/AJ’s wedding, Rock live, Brock answers HHH’s challenge and DX reunites again.

Brodus Clay vs. JTG

After Brodus’ entrance we’re told that Christian will defend the IC Title next week due to a poll on WWE.com. JTG actually gets an entrance. Great to see Brodus moving up the card like he has since the Show match. Usual stuff here with JTG going after Brodus’ still bad knee. Brodus comes back and splashes JTG for the pin at 2:30.

Vince was bald on Raw once.

CM Punk vs. Big Show

Non title here. Punk tries to move away from Show and stabs with kicks to the leg of the giant. Show gets his hands on the champ and chops him in the corner before running Punk over with a shoulder. They head to the floor and Punk is in big trouble. He escapes the shoulders of Big Show and rams the bald head of the Show into the post. Back inside and here come the kicks. Punk blasts Show a bit but gets shoved right back down.

Punk gets up a boot but jumps into a bearhug and then a slam. With Show firing away shots at the ribs, Punk jumps on his back and hooks a sleeper. That gets broken up by a side slam and Punk is still in trouble. The Vader Bomb misses and Punk tries some clotheslines. They only do so much though as a backdrop puts the champ down. Show loads up the WMD but Punk ducks and hits a high kick. Another high kick staggers Show and a third one knocks him into the corner.

The knee hits in the corner as does a second one. Punk hits a third one but the bulldog is countered. Show charges but a corner splash hits the post. Punk hits the top rope elbow but Show shrugs him off at two. The springboard dropkick lands in the chokeslam but Punk gets his foot on the ropes at two. Show is all ticked off now and he sends Punk into the corner to pound away on the ribs. And there goes the referee for the DQ at 9:20.

Rating: B-. I was digging this one for the most part until the ending. That being said, the ending wasn’t too bad as it was all to set up the post match stuff which is coming in a minute. There’s only so much you can do here though as the beating from Show can only be shrugged off so many times. I was digging the match though and it worked well.

Post match the beating continues and here’s Cena with the case. Show leaves but Cena wants a mic. He says that he’s cashing in……but Show cuts him off before Cena can say when. Show says Cena is cashing in right now because Cena hasn’t been champion in a long time. A referee runs out as Show says Cena would be a fool to not cash in now. He says there’s never going to be an easier win for Cena than right now, but Cena says no. Cena says that Punk has one week to prepare because it’s next week. As for tonight, his announcement is a case shot to the head of Big Show. Punk and Cena stare it down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This wasn’t a great show but it had a lot of good parts to it. There is some potential in some of the stuff they’re talking about, but it’s clear that everything will go down next week. The Tout stuff gets annoying quick but at least it’s short I guess. Cena and Punk are going to clash and it’s going to be awesome, so we have that to look forward to also. Things are looking up a bit and that couldn’t come fast enough for this company.

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