Smackdown
Date: January 27, 2012
Location: Tucson Arena, Tucson, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

It’s the final show before the Rumble so we have to have some build for it tonight right? This year it seems that they’re focusing more on the regular matches and letting the Rumble build itself. That’s an unconventional idea but it’s not the worst in the world. The Rumble will draw on the fact that it’s the Rumble so why not let everything else get built up too? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of AJ getting run over two weeks ago.

Here’s Big Show for the first time since that incident happened. He says he’s sorry for what happened and has already apologized to AJ in person which she accepted. Now he’s asking the fans to do the same. He can’t forgive himself for what happened though. Even when he was a kid he didn’t know his own strength and would hurt other kids when they were playing. He thought that being in WWE would change that and he wouldn’t hurt someone like that again.

Show loves it here but he’s not sure if he can continue his career after hurting AJ. After Sunday, he’s going to have to do some soul searching. He’s cut off by Daniel Bryan who doesn’t have the title for some reason. Bryan yells at Big Show and says that AJ doesn’t remember Show visiting due to the medication. Bryan remembers though.

He remembers watching as a kid and thinking it was a place for athletes, not genetic freaks. And before Show mentions Andre, just save it because he’s no Andre the Giant. Bryan goes off on him, yelling about how Show is a monster and there’s no way he’s going to retire or anything like that. Bryan slaps him and Show snaps, choking him into the corner and tossing Bryan across the ring. Here’s Henry to remind us that it’s a triple threat match on Sunday. He doesn’t care about Show’s feelings or Bryan’s Napoleon Complex. As for Bryan, he’s going to tear his skin off on general principle for what Bryan did last week.

Teddy stops the skin removal and makes a second main event (first is Barrett vs. Orton) in the form of Henry vs. Big Show. That’s a good choice actually as it means that every combination of the three have fought over the last three weeks, which is what Teddy said when he made it.

Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel

Non-title match. A quick inset interview from Cody says he’s doing this so Gabriel can tell his grandkids that he lost to the man that headlined Wrestlemania. A quick spin kick gets two for Gabriel. A quick Alabama Slam gets two for the champ. Booker wants to know why this isn’t for the title. Gabriel gets in a few kicks and a flying forearm. Out to the floor and Justin hits a dive. Back in and a springboard cross body is rolled through for two. A top rope Lionsault misses though, setting up the Beautiful Disaster and Cross Rhodes for the pin at 2:10.

Santino is in the back with Teddy and has a new match idea. It’s a loser leaves town match, but the loser has to join a group of monkeys and get in a spaceship and fly away from Earth. Yoshi Tatsu pops up and says that’s out of this world. They talk about a tag team but can’t decide if it’s called Yoshtino or Santoshi. Drew comes in and begs for one more chance. He talks about how Babe Ruth struck out five times in a game once. This is just a slump. Teddy says go break your slump against Sheamus.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus

Big reaction for Sheamus. They pound away on each other to start until Sheamus hits that rolling fireman’s carry that Anderson and Finlay used. Drew comes back with a northern lights suplex for two. He works on the arm and a snap suplex gets two. A kick to the back just ticks Sheamus off. He pounds Drew down in the corner and hits his running axe handle shots. Brogue Kick finishes Drew off at 2:48. Sheamus needs a real feud (as in not against Mahal) for after the Rumble. These squashes are only going to take him so far.

Rumble by the Numbers.

Yoshi Tatsu/Santino Marella vs. Epico/Primo

It’s better than nothing to get Yoshi on TV I guess. Santino and Primo start things off and of course it’s a comedy match. Off to Yoshi who works on the arm. Cole goes on a big rant about the language issues in this match as Epico comes in and takes over on Yoshi. Backslide gets two for Yoshi and it’s off to Santino again. He takes over with his usual stuff and everything breaks down. Cobra takes out Primo but the Backstabber takes down Santino so Epico can pin him at 2:16. These matches have been short tonight but they’re long enough that you get something out of them. That’s a very good way to run a TV show.

Bryan gets in Henry’s ear and says that Teddy obviously wants Show to be champion. Henry should hurt Big Show tonight. He seems intrigued by the idea.

Here’s Wade for his match with Orton. He talks about how there’s a lot of pageantry to show tonight because Orton is returning. Barrett has heard that Orton isn’t healthy yet. Oh his back might be ok but he’s a broken man. We get a clip from last month where Orton was injured. Orton’s music hits and we get a full walk from the back from him.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

They start in the aisle and the referee just lets them go. I never heard a bell. A bunch of referees come out to stop Randy and Barrett tries to leave. Teddy comes out and sends the NXT guys to pull Randy off him. Barrett uses the chance to kick him in the face. Back in the ring Orton spears Barrett and everyone is trying to pull him off. Barrett finally gets away. No match obviously. Orton RKOs the NXT guys, including the Usos, Barretta, Reks and Hawkins.

Rumble moment is Eddie Guerrero putting on a mask, calling himself Rey Mysterio and winning the Rumble.

Bryan talks to Kaitlyn because she’s AJ’s best friend. He wants Kaitlyn to warn Show about Henry trying to injure him later. Kaitlyn thinks that sounds like a favor for Bryan, not AJ. Bryan says it’s the same thing so she gives in. She does want to know how Bryan feels about AJ, which he won’t directly answer.

Hunico vs. Ted DiBiase

DiBiase has an injured wrist/hand. Cole wants DiBiase to release his income tax statements. Oh geez not more political stuff. Hunico goes after the wrist of course and hooks an armbar. DiBiase comes back and tries Dream Street but the wrist gives out. Huico hits a variation of an Angle Slam for the pin at 1:30. Instead of the usual Slam position, it was more compact and Hunico had DiBiase’s head hooked. It looked like an Angle Slam combined with a Samoan Drop if that makes sense.

Hunico and Camacho beat on the wrist more post match and stomp it on the steps.

Aksana and Teddy are in the back when Natalya comes in and demands a rematch with Tamina. Nattie says she can beat the wackjob known as Tamina and Aksana too. Teddy makes Aksana vs. Natalya. Bad comedy ensues.

Alex Riley vs. Brodus Clay

Even Riley dances during the entrance. They dance a bit to start and Brodus suplexes him, splashes him in the corner and What The Funk ends this at 36 seconds. I still love this guy.

Kaitlyn talks to Show in the back but we can’t hear it.

We get a LONG clip from Monday with the Cena/Ryder/Kane thing.

Aksana vs. Natalya

Natalya turns around, yells for Tamina, and Aksana rolls her up for the pin in 5 seconds. Yes, clearly this deserves TV time instead of ANYTHING ELSE. Natalya puts her in the Sharpshooter but Tamina runs in, beats up Natalya and hits the Superfly Splash.

Big Show vs. Mark Henry

Bryan comes out to watch. They to the floor almost immediately but Show throws him back in. There’s a headbutt by Show and he chops Henry in the corner. Henry comes back with right hands….and falls flat on his face. From what I’ve heard, this was a legit knee/leg injury. They immediately go to a commercial and when we come back, Big Show is being announced as the winner. Apparently Show knocked Henry to the floor and won by countout. We only saw about a minute of the match.

Bryan comes in with a chair and that doesn’t go well for him. Show goes after him and Bryan gets the chair back which puts Show down. He even gets the LeBell Lock. Show tosses Bryan off and chokeslams him. He loads up the knockout punch but Bryan runs.

Overall Rating: C. This was a very odd show. If I didn’t know any better or hadn’t seen the clips about the Rumble, I would have no idea that show was Sunday. Now that being said, there’s a logic there as the Rumble name itself is going to draw no matter what. As for Henry, that could be a problem, but they got lucky in that it’s a triple threat so either A, they could let him get knocked down early and stay down for the majority of the match, or they could just do Show vs. Bryan which would be fine. Anyway, this was a different kind of show as they got a lot done, but there was very little wrestling. It still worked though.

Results
Cody Rhodes b. Justin Gabriel – Cross Rhodes
Sheamus b. Drew McIntyre – Brogue Kick
Epico/Primo b. Yoshi Tatsu/Santino Marella – Backstabber to Epico
Hunico b. Ted DiBiase – Spinning Samoan Drop
Brodus Clay b. Alex Riley – What The Funk
Aksana b. Natalya – Rollup
Big Show b. Mark Henry via countout

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Monday Night Raw
Date: January 9, 2012
Location: American Bank Center Arena, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the week after HE IS HERE and Chris Jericho is back. That being said, I don’t know what to expect from him. Maybe he’ll actually say something this time? Either way, things almost have to be better than they were last week. We’re getting close to Rumble time too which is always interesting. Let’s get to it.

After a video of the ending of last week’s show, here’s Kane to open the show. He says people are wondering why he’s embracing hate, and it’s because the people are in denial. Everyone gets up next to a spouse they can’t stand and go to a job they hate and go home to children who are brats. Everyone has delusions of hope like Cena himself does.

Cena represents hope and success. The people should see Cena as unfulfilled hopes and dreams. The people are all liars when they cheer for Cena because they think cheering for an underdog makes them good. Look at Zack Ryder for example: The people made him a star because he’s an underdog. Last week Kane tried to drag Ryder to the depths but Cena stopped him. That just delayed the inevitable though, because Kane wants consequences.

Cue Cena and it’s a brawl immediately. A clothesline puts Kane outside and they brawl up the aisle. They fight into the back and they’re outside. They’re over a kind of pit which looks to be a few feet deep but you can see the bottom. There’s a production truck and Cena is knocked into some metal stuff next to it. He hits Kane in the leg with a pipe but is knocked into some boxes. He gets up and Kane is gone as we go to a break.

Sheamus/Santino Marella vs. Jinder Mahal/Wade Barrett

All four are officially in the Rumble. The non-main event guys start us off as Cole tries to explain to us what the turban is for because he’s a man of the world or something. Off to the Englishman who beats up the Canditalian who is waiting on the tag to the Irishman so he can hopefully beat up the Indian that he’s mad at. There’s the tag and Sheamus cleans house. Brogue Kick to Mahal and the Cobra gets the pin at 2:52. This was nothing, and Mahal continues to look like nothing compared to Sheamus.

Miz complains to Ace and Otunga about the Truth attacks lately. Brodus is debuting tonight apparently. Miz wants private security but Ace says he’s Big Johnny, not Little Jimmy.

We get a Hall of Fame inductee announced tonight.

The first inductee is…….Edge. We get a video about his career. There’s going to be a second inductee tonight as well. Cool.

Miz is trying to get a bodyguard in the form of Mason Ryan but he gets turned down.

Ryder is on the phone with his dad, talking about how afraid he is of Kane. Eve pops up and he says he’ll beat Kane up later. He’s off the phone and asks Eve for another date. She actually says yes but it’s after her match later. Both of them leave separately and a door opens behind Ryder. Kane pokes his head in and then goes back out as we go to a break.

Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Well this is a surprise. This was set up via a video on WWE.com where Kofi questioned Bryan’s methods of winning the world title. I hope they showed that to the live crowd. Bryan’s weight is up to 210lbs so maybe they’re back to faking weights. Kofi hits a springboard cross body for a fast two but Bryan rolls him up for the same. This is non-title if I didn’t mention that. Bryan does his corner moonsault so Kofi comes out of the corner with a cross body. In a SLICK counter, Bryan lands in the LeBell Lock and we’re done at 1:14.

Bryan does the big celebration again post match. And here’s Big Show. He gets in the ring and Bryan begs off, saying he hated the ending to the title match. The title is too important to end like that. He offers Show a title match anytime he wants. Show says Teddy agrees as well, so there’s going to be a title match on Friday, no DQ and no count-outs. Oh dear. They shake hands and Show leaves.

Royal Rumble Moment is the end of 1994 with the double winners.

Justin Roberts introduces Brodus Clay as being from the Planet Funk and being the Funk-o-Saurus. He has dancers and is coming out to ERNEST MILLER’S WWE music. WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I WATCHING??? He’s DANCING! I swear I’m not making this up. He’s in a red track suit and has a red hat on.

Brodus Clay vs. Curt Hawkins

Total squash and he dances a lot. A cross body ends this in 65 seconds. This is BIZARRE.

Zack Ryder is brushing his teeth and looking in a mirror. He keeps thinking someone is watching him and leavesl.

Miz tries to get Rosa and Epico/Primo to protect him. They say no and leave but Punk pops up to NO reaction.

They go to a break here and thank goodness. I need a minute after what I just saw with Brodus.

Jack Swagger vs. CM Punk

Ace comes out and says that if Punk wins, Swagger and Vickie are barred from ringside at the Rumble. Ziggler tonight has to fight Cena to keep things fair. Feeling out process to start with Punk working a headlock but Swagger taking it to the mat. Punk goes up for the elbow so Jack hits the floor. Swagger takes over with his size advantage and hooks a quickly countered ankle lock. Off to a double chicken wing kind of hold and then a waistlock. Swagger is knocked to the floor and a suicide dive takes him out as we go to a break.

Back with Punk starting his comeback. He fires off some strikes and hits the knee in the corner but the bulldog is thrown off and the Vader Bomb gets two. Another attempt at a Bomb is countered but Swagger takes over again quickly. He loads up a superplex but Punk shoves him off for a top rope elbow….for the pin? I thought he kicked out but apparently not as Punk gets the pin at 13:57.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here despite what the referee shows was a bad call at the end. Not sure if that’ll play into the Ace as referee thing or not but it could have been an honest mistake. I mean it’s not like Swagger was going to win either way. Decent match and while I think Swagger should go face, he’ll be ok as a jobber to the stars like this.

Replay shows that it was a bad call and Cole freaks.

We see the ending of the Cena vs. Kane fight earlier.

Cena and Ryder are in the back talking and Ryder thanks Cena for everything he’s done for him.

The Bellas are talking in the back when Ricardo pops up. They brought him all the way from Mexico to give Del Rio a message. Miz interrupts them and says Ricardo is going to draw out R-Truth by insulting him. Ricardo says no but Miz threatens him.

The second HOF inductee: It’s still not Savage, but it’s THE FOUR HORSEMEN!!!

Here’s Ricardo to insult Truth but he’s very nervous to do so. He says that Truth’s breath smells like a rotten burrito and that’s enough to draw Truth out. Truth doesn’t know why Ricardo would want to pick a fight with him. Even Little Jimmy thinks he’s a good R-Truth now. He asks Little Jimmy if he should let Ricardo go. Apparently Jimmy doesn’t like Ricardo so Truth should turn Ricardo into a human pinata.

Ricardo freaks out so Truth asks for a song. La Cucaracha in fact. Ricardo gets WAY into this and even says this is a remix halfway though. Truth asks him to do it again and Ricardo knocks the mic out of his hand. Ricardo takes a Little Jimmy and here’s Miz for the beatdown.

Jericho time. He gets an entrance from Roberts and does the same entrance that he did last week. He’s doing the same thing he did last week with the whole running around the ring. No mic that I can see. Oh now he has one and the music ends. He poses on the corner and hasn’t talked yet. The mic is to his chest….(this is high drama stuff people) and he looks like he’s about to cry. He takes a minute to compose himself…..and is now crying. The music comes on and he walks out, still not saying anything.

Another Rumble Moment: 98, Austin wins.

Eve Torres vs. Beth Phoenix

Eve has new music I think. It’s 10:51 before Beth comes out so they’re going to have to blaze through this. And never mind because here’s Kane. Since women in wrestling are idiots, Eve gets out of the ring and STANDS THERE. Ryder runs out to save her and they run off to the side of the tron. No match.

We cut to the back and Ryder throws her into a car. The tire is flat though, so Ryder CHANGES THE TIRE. We take a break as Pep Boy #4 keeps at it.

Ryder defends against Swagger next week.

Ryder is still changing the tire when we get back. Call AAA dude. I’m sure they have some luchadores that could help you.

John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler

No entrance for Dolph and the bell rings at 10:59. Ziggler starts fast and hits a quick Fameasser for two. Off to a chinlock and Ziggler does a headstand while holding it. Cole: “You couldn’t do that King.” Lawler: “Why would I want to?” Good question. Ziggler drops some elbows and does the situps. Cena starts his comeback and we cut to the back where Ryder is STILL changing the tire.

Kane finally comes to attack him and Ziggler throws on a sleeper. We cut to the back again and Kane chokeslams him into the pit I mentioned at the beginning of the show. Ziggler puts on another sleeper but Cena hits an AA to escape. He goes to the back and I guess the match is thrown out at about 5:00. I’m not going to rate it due to the match just being a placeholder for the angle. It was nothing of note anyway.

Cena gets out there and Kane jumps him. He smothers Cena down again and Ryder is just laying on the wooden pallet he was chokeslammed onto. Cena is left laying too. Kane stands very tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a very different kind of show but I was liking it a lot. Things were a lot more comedy based than they were last week and it was certainly a more memorable show. The wrestling was just ok but they played things up as over the top and overly dramatic tonight and I thought it made for a much better show. Also the HOF stuff is a nice touch so few complaints here, other than the lack of in ring action.

Results
Sheamus/Santino Marella b. Wade Barrett/Jinder Mahal – Cobra to Mahal
Daniel Bryan b. Kofi Kingston – LeBell Lock
Brodus Clay b. Curt Hawkins – Cross Body
CM Punk b. Jack Swagger – Top Rope Elbow Drop
John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest

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I haven’t laughed so hard in YEARS.  That was great.

Smackdown
Date: April 29, 2011
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

It’s the final night with the Smackdown roster as it had been for months.  It’s also the final night before Extreme Rules where we’re guaranteed a new World Heavyweight Champion in the form of Christian or Del Rio.  Orton is here tonight I’m assuming and it’s Rey’s last night here.  This should be good as there will be a lot of farewell matches.  Let’s get to it.

Naturally we open up with a recap of the Draft and Cena going from Friday to Monday, which really isn’t as big a deal as it’s being made out to be.  Of course Orton would wind up being the superstar brought in to replace Edge.  Also Smackdown lost Del Rio and Mysterio so they didn’t do perfectly.  Still though, Smackdown won on Monday.  In the supplemental….that’s up for debate I guess.

Do you know your enemy?  Mine would be IWC idiots that still say WWE is dying when it got 1 million buys for Wrestlemania which everyone said was impossible.  WWE is dying my foot.

The World Heavyweight Championship is above the ring again.

Kane/Show vs. Corre for the titles and Henry vs. Mysterio tonight.

Here’s Orton in the Smackdown shirt to open the show.  He introduces himself to the crowd, because no one here has ever watched Raw right?  Orton talks about how he’s looking forward to the challenges that await him but this Sunday he has some unfinished business.  It’s good that they’re not messing with the PPV matches at least.  Orton gets interrupted by….Drew McIntyre?

Drew says he’s moving up to Raw and the WWE Universe has to wait a bit longer on Orton vs. McIntyre.  Clearly a match the world is waiting for.  Drew tries to jump him with the Futureshock but walks into an RKO.  Orton tries to keep talking and here’s Alex Riley with generic rock theme #857, not to be confused with generic rock theme #856.  He doesn’t even get a word out before he gets taken down by an RKO.

He tries to talk again and this time it’s Del Rio to interrupt him.  Alberto is smart enough to talk on his way to the ring.  Orton apparently knows how to make a first impression but Alberto knows how to make a lasting one.  The three guys in Alberto’s crew surround Orton until Christian runs out to even the odds a bit.  Teddy comes out to make the tag team main event.  Clay gets knocked down and Orton and Christian stand tall.

Kofi is on his way to the ring for a match but Sheamus jumps him.  Apparently this is the match.  I can’t wait for Monday when those stupid shirts go away.  Total assault before the match starts (I think) with Kofi getting sent into the railing and steps.  That’s one thing I like about Sheamus: he isn’t a coward.  He’ll go straight at you and can be a monster fighter when he wants to be.

Into the ring now as I guess the match has officially started when Sheamus jumped him.  We’ll go with that for lack of anything official.  Into the ring and there’s the Brogue Kick and Sheamus holds up the belt and leaves.  I’m assuming this wasn’t an official match.  I’d bet on a match between them at the PPV to put a midcard title on Raw.

Here’s Cole to introduce Jack Swagger.  Cole implies JR is a pig.

Jack Swagger vs. Sin Cara

Cara NAILS the entrance.  I can’t believe I’ve read people complaining about how stupid the trampoline is.  Yes, of course he uses one.  It looks awesome too but hey, I guess since they think it’s stupid, it must be stupid.  Who cares that it looks cool or pops the crowd right?  Booker says he’s noticed Sin Cara can fly.  You can’t buy analysis like this people!!!

Swagger takes him to the mat easily and hammers away.  What looks like a powerslam is reversed and Cara fires off some kicks and an INSANE armdrag off the top.  The lighting is kind of a blue haze here.  It’s almost like Kane’s back in the day although not red and nowhere near as dark.  Cara is sent into the corner chest first but the Vader Bomb is blocked with knees.

More kicks follow and a Tajiri handspring elbow.  Headscissors puts Swagger down but Cara walks into a big boot after a missed springboard move.  Cole slips Swagger a leather belt and Cara grabs a victory roll to get the pin at 3:17.  I’m hoping that’s a sign of how they have tension between Swagger and Cole for the tag match Sunday.

Rating: C+. This was easily Cara’s best match so far in the company.  He kept things a bit slower paced and the result was far fewer botches, far fewer times where he looked shaky and a more interesting match.  He had enough high spots to pop the crowd too and the whole thing worked.  Fun stuff.

Swagger goes after him again post match but is sent to the floor where Cara hits a big plancha to take Jack down.

Kharma ad.  That face is terrifying.

Tag Titles: Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel vs. Big Show/Kane

I still don’t get the point in having Show go to Raw when the champions can be on both shows.  Show vs. Slater to start us off.  The punch is now known as the WMD.  Slater and Gabriel use some nice teamwork and a missile dropkick to put Show down.  That gets one as Show launches Gabriel to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Slater getting two on Show.  Gabriel pops in and manages to counter the chokeslam with a DDT for two as well.  Sleeper/choke by Gabriel gets him nowhere on Show of course.  A sideslam allows the hot tag to the Big Fried Freak (who isn’t as fried as you would expect).  Another sideslam, this one from Kane, gets two.  Top rope clothesline sets up the chokeslam as the crowd is DEAD.  Gabriel saves for a bit but the double chokeslam ends them as Kane pins Slater at 3:40 shown of 7:10 total.

Rating: D+. Just a step above a squash here as there was nothing going on at all.  Corre needs to advance on to splitting or whatever else they’re going to do.  Not much going on here but at least it’s done now.  I was thinking they would shift the belts back now but apparently the giants get to keep them for awhile.  Works for me.

Khali and Singh say good luck on Raw to Rey.  An Indian man comes up whose name is apparently Jinder Mahal and he’s from FCW.  They treat him like a big deal and that’s about it.

Here’s Rey to say goodbye to Smackdown.  He thanks the fans for everything, including their world title win last week.  The journey isn’t done yet as this Sunday they have a match with Cody Rhodes.  Everyone will be part of the 619.  Is he going to buy them all houses in San Diego?

Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry

Mark is freshly heel for no apparent reason other than we needed a midcard heel monster on Fridays.  Henry says Rey’s farewell is his debut which is unfortunate.  Rey goes straight at him as Cole makes fun of Rey’s nicknames.  Henry sends him to the floor and Rey stalls for a bit.  Back in and Rey tries to speed things up.  This goes about as well as Goldberg as a heel in WCW as Henry steps on him a lot.

Henry throws him to the floor as this is a very slow moving match.  Rey goes into the steps but moves to send Henry knee first into them as we thankfully take a break.  Back with them in the ring and Rey hitting a seated dropkick.  This is rather boring to say the least.  Henry knocks him off the top and splashes him in the corner.  About ¾ of this match has been Henry running into Rey in some form or another.

We continue to go so slowly that I think I have horrible lag.  Henry tries a drop onto the chest but Rey manages to move.  I’m not sure what caused Rey to move but it was either Mark screaming or standing there for ten seconds.  Little from column A, little from column B I guess.  Rey fires back and hits the 619.  He sets for the seated senton but Cody runs in for the DQ at 5:30 shown of 9:00.

Rating: D. This was terribly boring.  I mean they had nearly ten minutes and it felt like about 40.  Henry isn’t interesting in the slightest as he fights like a 1980s monster heel.  That sounds good in theory, but when did Bundy or Gang EVER go more than 5 minutes without it sucking?  The answer would be when Hogan was there and Rey is no Hogan as far as fighting monsters.  At least it’s over.

Cody beats Rey up in the crowd for a bit and throws him in to Henry for the World’s Strongest Slam.  Rey gets the paper bag treatment also.

Michelle McCool vs. Layla

Layla can make a Smackdown t-shirt look good.  That’s impressive.  They come out to the same music which is pretty rare.  Doesn’t mean anything but it’s rare.  Layla goes straight at her and Michelle shoves her off with ease.  Total catfight and they brawl to the floor.  The fight continues and it’s a double countout at 57 seconds.  Intense if nothing else.

Layla grabs the mic and challenges Michelle to a no DQ and no countout (street fight) match at Extreme Rules.  Michelle says Layla is nothing without her so it’s on.  Michelle insists on loser leaves (overdubbed) WWE.

Video on the European tour.  Hard to argue with those as apparently they’re almost pure profit.  Edge was there too.

Christian says he hears Alberto talking about destiny all the time.  He talks about Alberto injuring him and how it gave him time to reflect.  Christian talks about how this was Edge’s spot but now he’s in it.  He wants to know if this is his time or if he got lucky.  It’s his destiny and he’s going to not only touch the title Sunday but earn the right to keep it.  Good promo.

We run down the card for Sunday.

Brodus Clay/Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian/Randy Orton

Entrances take forever of course.  Can’t tell if it’s a BMW or a Ferrari tonight.  Ferrari apparently which looks awesome.  Christian vs. Del Rio to start us off.  And never mind as here’s Brodus about 4 seconds in.  Standard monster vs. regular sized guy at the moment as we talk about Christian needing a win to validate his career which is a kind of interesting debate.

Off to Alberto as we talk about what his moving to Raw means for Clay.  Clay could be a solid midcard monster if pushed right.  Let the psychology begin as Alberto works on the arm of Christian.  Off to Orton who stares a lot.  Knee drop gets two but Del Rio gets a Codebreaker to the arm and it’s off to Clay as we take a break.  Back with more tagging by the heels and Alberto throwing on a chinlock.

Christian comes in as does Clay.  The Canadian speeds things up and takes the fight to Clay, but Del Rio cheats (that villain!) and Clay gets a t-bone suplex for two.  More standard beating by both heels kills some time.  Christian sends Del Rio to the floor but can’t make the tag.  Brodus works on the back and brings in Alberto for a backsplash off the top for two.  Christian takes him down eventually and it’s hot tag to Orton.  Orton fires off his standard moveset on Del Rio as I’m begging ANYTHING interesting to happen.  RKO doesn’t hit Del Rio but Clay walks into it for the pin at 11:42 shown of 15:12.

Rating: D+. WOW this was boring.  From a wrestling standpoint it was fine but there was nothing to this at all that was going to make this interesting.  It was very paint by numbers for a main event tag match.  This felt like something you would see at a house show which really isn’t what I wanted to see here.  Not a terrible match but really boring overall for the most part.

Overall Rating: D+. I really wasn’t that impressed with this show.  They tried but I really wasn’t all that pleased.  The stuff they did was all about the new people on Smackdown and the old guys leaving which is ok but that doesn’t mean it’s an interesting match.  They kind of built to Extreme Rules but the new World Heavyweight Champion candidates were totally on the back burner tonight to Orton, which really doesn’t make me feel strong about the next title reign.  Weak show.

Results

Sin Cara b. Jack Swagger – Victory Roll

Big Show/Kane b. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater – Chokeslam to Slater

Rey Mysterio b. Mark Henry via DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered

Layla vs. Michelle McCool went to a double countout

Randy Orton/Christian b. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay

Smackdown
Date: March 18, 2011
Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Tonight we have another Edge and Christian reunion, but this time they get a shot at the Corre and the tag titles.  I really hope they don’t go with the switch here as it means the Corre gets them back in a screwy finish later, making them 4 time tag champions.  This is what people talk about when they say the titles have been devalued over the years.  Other than that there isn’t much to talk about.  Let’s get to it.

I don’t know my enemy this week.  I think TNA’s enemy is wrestling though after having less than nine and a half minutes of it on their show last night.

Wait now Big Show and Kane get the title shot?  They completely changed that from Monday.  I’m sure they said Edge and Christian got the shot.  Well at least they told us early.  That….helps kind of I guess.

Cole has his box made and here he comes to Burn It To The Ground.

Edge vs. Brodus Clay

Big pop for Edge but the pyro doesn’t go off for some reason.  Del Rio and Ricardo are with Clay here.  Edge has to stick and move here but he jumps into the T-Bone overhead suplex to shift the momentum.  Brodus works the arm and even adds an old school Heart Punch.  Tornado DDT by Edge doesn’t work and a clothesline takes him down.  The splash misses but Edge can’t get the Edgecution

A top rope cross body puts Brodus down and tries a sunset flip.  Clay uses the old school counter of just sits down on him.  I’ve always loved that counter and it gets two here.  The Umaga hips to the head in the corner misses and here comes the spear.  Ricardo distracts the referee and Del Rio grabs Edge’s foot so that Brodus can run him over for two.  The crowd is into this.  Christian comes out to even the odds and the distraction is enough for Edge to hit the spear on Clay for the pin at 5:08.

Rating: C+. This is what we need more of on Fridays.  It wasn’t anything great but little five minute matches like these are long enough to get into but not long enough to get bored with.  Edge looks good, Clay gets to show off a bit, and the storyline keeps going.  What more can you ask for in just over five minutes?

Del Rio and Christian brawl post match until referees break it up.  Teddy comes out to make the obvious main event, but it’s in a steel cage.  That’s much better than the tin foil cage I guess.

Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston

You mean Kofi has another meaningless match with no particular reason to it happening?  I’m STUNNED.  Sheamus grabs the arm to start as Booker questions Kofi’s decision to take this match.  Cole gets on Booker for it as Kofi gets his jumping punches in the corner.  That results in him taking a hot shot into the corner for two.  Neckbreaker gets the same.  Sheamus hits a running elbow and tries another neckbreaker which is reversed into a rollup for two.

Sheamus rolls through the top rope cross body but his powerslam attempt is reversed into some strikes by Kofi.  Then African/Jamaican hits the Irishman with a Russian leg sweep for two.  Boom Drop takes too long and Sheamus I think pokes him in the eye to take over.  SOS gets two and it looked like Sheamus got his head rocked a bit on that.

Out to the floor we go with Kofi being all fired up.  Kofi comes after him so Sheamus kicks the steps into knee of Kofi to send him down again.  Back inside and the Brogue Kick ends this clean at 5:15.  When is the last time Kofi actually won a match?  I actually can’t remember at all.

Rating: B-. Another solid match here that gives us some wrestling to fill out the show.  You have two upper midcard guys going at it and you get a decent TV match out of it.  I’ve long since thought the key to having a solid show at times is just to go out and wrestle.  If you’re having issues, do that and it’ll get fixed.  Smackdown has been lacking a bit lately but the first half hour or so have my attention so far.

We recap Kane/Show vs. Corre which is freaking dull.  Show and Kane want to put their differences aside.  Show reminds Kane of how they dominated as tag champions and says they should do it again.  Kane grabs him by the throat and Show does the same to Kane.  They both laugh and Kane says Show completes him.  At least there aren’t any cheerleaders to take them down this time.

Trent Barreta vs. Cody Rhodes

New music for Cody this week.  He also has a towel over his head tonight.  Cole talks about having breakfast with Cody this morning and Cody being treated badly because of his looks now.  Rhodes is in street clothes again and we’re in a squash people.  Cody gets a headbutt with the mask and Trent is in trouble.  Another headbutt and we’re done in 48 seconds.

We get a clip of Christian being injured by Del Rio.

Shawn talks about Undertaker to waste a few minutes.  Same video from Raw.

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly

Well at least we get to see Kelly in those shorts.  Michelle is on commentary and makes fun of Snooki for doing nothing.  I guess we’re continuing with the Paris Hilton stuff.  Kelly gets the headscissors over the ropes and a Thesz Press to hammer away.  Why do so many people use that anymore?  Handspring elbow runs into two feet in the corner to give Layla control.  Kelly gets on the middle rope and Michelle yells at her.  The distraction is enough for Layla to pull her off the rope and pin her at 2:10.

Tag Titles: Big Show/Kane vs. Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel

Gabriel and Kane start us off and guess how that goes for the champion to start here.  Off to Slater who runs in and gets knocked down with one punch.  Side slam gets two.  Slater gets a dropkick to the knee and it’s off to Gabriel again.  Ok make that Slater as the champion are tagging in and out very quickly.  Gabriel jumps  into an uppercut and down he goes.  Off to Show and the beating continues.  Chokeslam to Slater but Gabriel pulls the referee out for the DQ at 2:43.  Is anyone really surprised here?

Jackson and Barrett come in to stop a worse beating post match.  Barrett actually hits Wasteland on Show.  They beat down Kane also.  The steps are put on Kane and the other steps are dropped onto the steps onto Kane.  The table is taken apart a bit and is dropped on Show.  The big guys are left laying here.  Cole tries to play this off as big and epic but it wasn’t for the most part.

Del Rio says everyone is trying to interfere with his destiny.  He’s not an animal.

Jack Swagger vs. Chris Masters

No entrance for Masters so what do you expect here?  We get clips from Raw with Ross and Lawler getting beaten down.  The hold Swagger taught Cole is the An-Cole Lock.  I give up.  Swagger works on the arm but takes a Samoan Drop.  Full Nelson is blocked by ramming Chris into the corner.  Ankle lock is reversed also and Swagger hits the floor.  He pulls Masters down though and wraps the leg around the post.  Ankle lock ends it at 1:56.

Post match Cole comes in and puts the ankle lock on Masters also.  Cole shouts COME ON LAWLER and does Swagger’s run around the ring.

WWE Rewind is the Dusty/Cody/Rey segment from three weeks ago.

Rey Mysterio vs. Ted DiBiase

Maryse is called Ted’s on again/off again girlfriend.  That would hint towards her face actions on NXT which is good I think.  Shame she’s not in camouflage though.  Rey tries his speed stuff so DiBiase hammers away on him.  Rey tries coming off the middle rope but jumps into a dropkick for two.  The following clothesline gets two.  Off to the chinlock now as Rey hasn’t been on offense at all here.

A couple knees to the back have Rey in trouble again.  Rey tries a headscissors and spins into what I think was a DDT.  Some ranas by Rey with the second one being countered into a reverse powerbomb.  That’s a great finisher for someone to use.  Dream Street is countered into the 619 position.  That and the top rope splash ends it at 3:35.

Rating: C-. Just a TV match here but nothing very interesting.  DiBiase is flat out boring and there was no threat at all to Rey here.  Granted I don’t think there was supposed to be so I guess that was the point.  Pretty bland match here that doesn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know.

Maryse leaves without DiBiase.

We get a clip of the Edge/Christian/Alberto stuff from Elimination Chamber.

We see the Snooki stuff from Raw.  I can’t stand that show and people like her (meaning people that have no talent yet are millionaires for being loud or getting drunk).

We run down the Mania card.  I can’t believe it but there’s no long video from Raw.

The cage is lowered.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

Lot of time for this too.  No word on how you can win here so I’d assume pin, submission and escape.  Christian is all ticked off here.  Josh confirms that you can win through those three ways.  Killswitch is blocked early on.  The announcers are really playing up this being the first cage match for Alberto.  He tries to get out but Christian stops him and they fight on the top rope for a bit.  German off the top doesn’t work for Alberto but the visual was awesome.

Christian tries to get out but Del Rio hits a vertical suplex from the top of the cage.  Not quite Hogan/Boss Man but not bad.  With both guys down we take a break.  Back with Del Rio hammering away and sending a charging Christian into the cage.  Alberto gets two and we hit the chinlock.  After slamming Christian’s head into the mat, Del Rio goes up.

Christian grabs the leg and Alberto hits the top rope throat first.  He blocks being rammed into the cage and a reverse DDT gets two.  Del Rio is sent into the cage for two.  Christian goes up and gets knocked back down.  The running enziguri in the corner takes Christian down for two and Alberto tries to leave.  His torso gets out but Christian makes a diving save.

Del Rio sets up the cross armbreaker but it’s reversed into the Killswitch for two.  I would have bet on that being the finish.  Christian goes up again and one more time Del Rio kicks him down.  Christian is hung over the ropes so Alberto uses him as a stepping stone tos tart his climb.  That was rather awesome.

Why is it that every time someone gets to the top they become as slow as a slow Christmas?  Anyway it happens here to Alberto and Christian catches him.  They sit on the top of the cage and slug it out with Christian getting his head slammed into the cage.  Christian climbs down over Del Rio and Alberto kicks at him, knocking him down and giving Christian the win at 9:35 shown of 13:05.  Good ending.

Rating: B. Good stuff here with the false finish and the ending making this work rather well.  The problem with cage matches tends to be that the endings are basic, which is why shifting this one to something different helps a lot.  I liked this match and it got better as it went.  Good stuff.

Post match Alberto beats down Christian and says he’s going to be to Christian what he’s going to do to Edge at Wrestlemania.  He’s interrupted by a horn honking and Edge is in the car.  Edge talks about how nice it is and how much of a shame it would be if something were to happen to it.  He pulls a chair out of the passenger seat but Brodus pops up to drill Edge.  The double beatdown ensues and it’s a Conchairto to the arm.  Edge is in a lot of pain as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: A. Now THIS is how you do it!  In a two hour show we got 8 matches with about 30 minutes of action overall.  That’s the difference between having a lot of wrestling and pacing what you have.  This didn’t have a ton of wrestling, but they paced it out to make it seem like they did.  Instead of one match in an hour and fifteen minutes and then 3 matches in 45 minutes, there was a steady stream of them all night and it’s a MUCH more entertaining show.  Far better here than in previous weeks and a great show overall.  I’m well pleased.

Results

Edge b. Brodus Clay – Spear

Sheamus b. Kofi Kingston – Brogue Kick

Cody Rhodes b. Trent Barreta – Headbutt

Layla b. Kelly Kelly – Pin after pulling Kelly off the middle rope

Big Show/Kane b. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater via DQ when Gabriel pulled the referee out

Jack Swagger b. Chris Masters – Ankle Lock

Rey Mysterio b. Ted DiBiase – Top rope splash

Christian b. Alberto Del Rio – Christian escaped the cage

Smackdown
Date: March 11, 2011
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Off the top of my head there’s nothing that I know of to expect here.  I think we get Christian vs. Del Rio but I’m not entirely sure.  The show last week was a lot better than the previous ones so hopefully they can continue that mini streak that they’re on.  Also I’d expect more from HHH vs. Taker tonight so that should be good.  Let’s get to it.

Yes I do know my enemies: the people that picked the cast of NXT Season 5.

HHH is on Smackdown for the first time in over a year to respond to Undertaker.

Here’s Edge to a BIG pop.  At least I think it is.  His music sounds like cheering at first.  We recap the contract signing from last week.  Teddy hoping it could go well just once was funny.  Christian made the save.  Edge says a busted nose isn’t going to stop him from getting to Del Rio at Wrestlemania.  Tonight he wants a fight, not a match, and he’s demanding Alberto come out here right now.

Cue Alberto and Brodus with the boss looking all ticked off.  No car for this entrance at least.  Alberto asks if Edge knows who Alberto is.  Edge says Alberto is the Ricky Martin look-a-like trying to reform Menudo with King Hippo over there.  Funny line but in a serious manner.  Albert says he’s going to replace Edge’s legacy with Alberto’s destiny.  Edge says he doesn’t think so and jumps both of them but Brodus gets in a shot and the beatdown is on.

Edge’s shoulder goes into the post and here’s Christian for the save again.  Christian and Brodus are very good additions to this feud as you can only have Alberto and Edge talk to each other and brawl so many times.  With the non-Canadians dominating Teddy Long is here, making the obvious tag team main event.  For some reason this is historic.  I’m not sure why but that’s just what you say in wrestling.

Cole says that he’s a pop icon, not just an announcer.  Tonight he has the “interview of the year” with Cena.

Kane vs. Wade Barrett

We get a recap of the Corre vs. Big Show with Kane getting involved in said feud last week.  Barrett says Kane has made some mistakes, including not accepting what Corre did for him recently.  Barrett calls Kane a great big chemical experiment mistake.  Barrett goes right for him and takes over to start us off.  Kane fires back and it’s a brawl in the early going.

And never mind as Corre is here 42 seconds in.  Big Show comes out with a chair for the save and we take a break.

Big Show/Kane vs. Heath Slater/Wade Barrett

This is in progress when we get back as Show beats up Slater.  Off to Barrett now who gets beaten down also.  Show chops away at him in the corner and adds a clothesline.  Chokeslam misses though and Barrett goes after the knee.  He stomps Show down and it’s off to Slater.  How did Barrett go from the biggest heel in the company to this in just a few months?

Slater chokes away and Booker doesn’t seem that worried about Show.  Apparently the champion should be listened to as Show gets up and drops Slater on his back to break it up.  Lukewarm tag to Kane who destroys Slater and takes down Barrett also.  Big boot sets up the call for the chokeslam but Corre comes in AGAIN and it’s another DQ at 3:20.

Rating: D+. This was more or less a squash for the whole match.  Show and Kane were never in any real danger as all Barrett was doing to Show was stomping him.  I’m still waiting on Corre to actually do something of note (the tag titles haven’t been noteworthy in forever) and I think I’m waiting in vain.

Big beatdown follows until Show grabs a chair.  Down goes everyone in Corre as Show stands very tall.  And then he takes the chair and cracks Kane over the back with it as payback for last week.

Rey is up next.

Scratch that as instead we’re going to waste about 10 minutes on the Austin/JBL/Cole segment first.  Again, couldn’t we use this time on a wrestling show for, like, wrestling?

Back with Cole comparing that night to being a war correspondent.  That’s almost like comparing 9/11 to a steroids trial.  Wait….

Now Cody is up next?  Was Rey just forgotten or something?

Cody Rhodes vs. JTG

Cody is in a suit here.  Well at least he took the jacket and tie off.  JTG, the NXT pro mind you, doesn’t even get an introduction.  We get a clip of Dusty helping his son jump Rey a few weeks ago.  Dusty telling his boy to apologize is kind of funny.  Apparently Cody doesn’t want to be called Dashing anymore.  Cody jumps him to start and hammers away as we get a Texas Outlaws reference.  He hits JTG in the face with a headbutt complete with the loaded mask and then Cross Rhodes ends it in 53 seconds, somehow the second longest match tonight so far.

We waste another 4 minutes or so by showing the HBK thing from Raw where he talks about HHH.  That marks about 14 minutes of this show dedicated to just showing stuff from Raw again, or roughly 1/8 of the total time of the show including commercials.  Great job guys.

Here’s another Raw guy, this time John Cena, for an interview with Michael Cole.  First up, another minute long clip added on from Raw, this time of Miz jumping Cena to end the show.  Cena sends Cole back to the announce table and addresses Miz.  He says he’s done with wasting his time with BS and if Miz wants to make a statement and be the face of the WWE, then Cena’s new goal is breaking the face of the WWE.

Cena gets ready to leave but Cole says he isn’t done yet.  Cole says Cena is underestimating Miz as Miz shut Cole up Monday.  This prompts Cena to rip his shirt off and cue Swagger for the save.  He gets Cena in the ankle lock but winds up taking an FU for his troubles.

Sin Cara video, which is still awesome.

Kaitlyn vs. Layla

Kaitlyn is from Houston and therefore a hometown girl.  Booker says quack, quack for some reason.  Are the girls are animals now according to commentators?  Kaitlyn dominates to start as Layla wants help from Michelle.  McCool distracts and Layla gets a kick and the Layout Neckbreaker to end this at 54 seconds.  Have we warped back to Superstars in the 80s and I wasn’t told???

McCool knees Kaitlyn in the back of the head post match.

Rey Mysterio vs. Drew McIntyre

The bell rings and Drew kicks Rey’s head off.  All Drew to start as he uses size and power to take over.  He shouts that Rey isn’t going to Wrestlemania as we hit a modified bow and arrow.  Rey fights up and tries the 619 but we head to the floor.  They fight on the apron with Drew shoving him into the post and adding a backbreaker onto the apron which I’ve never seen before.

Back from a break with a modified surfboard on Rey.  Drew continues his dominance by sending Rey into the buckle chest first for two.  He sets for the Futureshock off the top but Rey knocks Drew down for a seated senton.  He tries a rotating cross body but Drew ducks for two.  Drew charges into the post shoulder first and Rey hits the 619 and the top rope splash to end this at 4:30 shown of 8:00.

Rating: C+. Pretty basic match here as the whole idea was about Drew trying to impress people to get a shot at Mania.  This wasn’t a squash as Drew controlled for the most part but I don’t think anyone really thought Rey was in any real trouble.  It does help however that this got a bit of time (yes on Smackdown 8 minutes is now considered time) and Drew got to look decent.

Post match Cody comes out and wants an answer to his challenge.  Rey says he wears the mask with pride and will wear it with pride at Wrestlemania when he beats down Cody Rhodes.  So the match is official.

Here’s HHH to respond to what Undertaker said on Raw.  What you’re not going to show us that too?  Ah instead we get a video on HHH, reminding us of how awesome he is.  Why do I have a feeling this was laying around the office just waiting on a chance to be aired?  He talks about how he saw the two greatest matches he’s ever seen in the last two Wrestlemanias between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.

The question is why couldn’t Shawn win?  Shawn said on Raw that it was because of emotion.  Shawn went to the ring to not lose rather than win.  HHH’s dark side is going to keep him from having to worry about that.  He can do terrible things to people and not care.  That sounds like a horrible person but it’s true.  HHH says he’ll beat Taker at Wrestlemania because he’ll have no emotion or care about what stands before him.  Things that go bump in the night don’t scare him.  Please, not another “I’m not afraid of the dark” promos.  He thanks Taker for making it no holds barred and we’re done.

Christian is getting ready and Matt Striker asks him what it’s like to have Edge and Christian back together again.  Christian talks about all the things that have happened in the last ten years, listing things like Facebook, Twitter (Christian4Peeps apparently), Charlie Sheen losing his mind and about 15 other things, but we’ve never seen E and C back together.  Tonight we do.  Edge pops up to say nothing of note.

Edge/Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay

It’s a Ferrari tonight.  No entrance for Brodus but he gets his name read by Ricardo.  Christian vs. Brodus gets us going here.  Christian sticks and moves while firing a lot of right hands.  A corner splash misses and Christian wants the tornado DDT.  Alberto distracts though and it’s a suplex off the top for Brodus to give him control.  Alberto rams Christian into the railing outside but Edge chases him off.

Off to Del Rio as Edge hasn’t been in yet.  He starts in on Christian’s arm and drops a knee to the back for two.  The elbow pad gets ripped off and Christian is in trouble.  To the corner they go and Christian is able to knock him backwards and get a jumping back elbow off the middle rope to get us to even.  Tag in to Edge and Brodus at the same time with Brodus landing a powerslam on Edge for two.

He’s Big Bad Brodus Clay according to Cole.  Booker gets way too excited as usual as Edge gets up to set for the spear.  Instead Brodus flattens him but misses an Umaga-like charge in the corner.  Christian and Del Rio are sent to the floor.  Christian pops back up and hits the tornado DDT so that Edge can drop a top rope elbow on Clay for the pin at 5:53.  Never seen Edge use that before but if it’s a change from the spear I’ll take it.

Rating: C. Just your normal run of the mill main event tag match here.  There was more or less no way Edge and Christian were going to reunite for the first time in forever and lose so it’s not like the ending was ever in doubt.  Still though, this is good as it changes things up a bit, keeping us from having to sit through the same stuff time after time until Mania.

Overall Rating: C+. This is another odd show as the wrestling is incredibly light but a lot of stuff happened.  I can live with the lighter wrestling as they moved some stuff forward and got us a bit more ready for Mania.  This was a good show but with more wrestling and less Raw stuff it could have been a lot better.  I really hope this isn’t the new norm after Mania, because that would be very saddening.

Results

Kane b. Wade Barrett via DQ when the Corre interfered

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

Cody Rhodes b. JTG – Cross Rhodes

Layla b. Kaitlyn – Layout

Rey Mysterio b. Drew McIntyre – Top rope splash

Edge/Christian b. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay – Top rope elbow to Clay

NXT
Date: March 1, 2011
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

This is the finale of Season 4 and I can’t say I’m complaining.  The two finalists are the monster Brodus Clay and the guy that makes having a bowl of vanilla ice cream while comparing the speed of paint drying against the speed grass grows sound like the time of your life, Johnny Curtis.  I have a bad feeling they’ll give it to Curtis as I’ve thought that’s what was coming since the season premiere.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the entire season so far.  My goodness O’Brian and Novak were worthless.

In the arena, Striker introduces the pros and then the rookies.  WE WANT BATEMAN chant.  But Vince and company doesn’t and they know what the fans want right?  Curtis says he should win because it’s personal and has been a fight between these two since the beginning.  He’s fought all his life and is going to kick Brodus’ teeth in.  Truth had to tell the crowd to be quiet so Curtis could talk.  They were chanting for Bateman.  Clay says Curtis stood up the entire season and they would be friends otherwise.  Brodus makes it clear that he’s the heel by making anti-Cleveland statements and talks about leaving like LeBron: a winner.  That sets up this.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis

Clay sends him to the floor to start.  Back in and Curtis tries to stick and move.  He escapes the Tongan Death Grip but is taken down off the middle rope as we take a break.  There’s a new DVD coming out called the True Story of Wrestlemania with a bunch of behind the scenes stuff.  That could be very entertaining from a variety of perspectives.  Back with Clay holding Curtis in a nerve hold.

The idea here is that Clay is just doing basic stuff and letting Curtis make mistakes.  Suplex gets two and we go back to the nerve hold.  Clay goes after Truth but misses a corner splash.  DDT puts Clay down for a bit but the power of fat compels Curtis to get armdragged/wrist dragged off the top and the splash ends it at 5:30.

Rating: C. Well the right guy won at least.  I was hoping they weren’t going to pull the stupid surprise switch at the end by having Curtis get dominated the whole time and getting the fluke win.  This wasn’t bad but we’ve seen these two fight all season and no one cares anymore I don’t think.

Truth defends Curtis post match which means nothing.

Bryan and Bateman are in the back.  Bateman has a tag match later in an NXT reunion or something.  Bryan fulfills his promise by punching him in the face (read as he has his fist up and pushes it out which knocks Bateman down) for being eliminated.  Bryan says win this for chicks, for America and for Cleveland.  Funny stuff as usual, but since he can’t uh…..uh……just be there with Truth I guess, he’s been eliminated.

And yes I make fun of Curtis a lot but they did this last season with Kaitlyn by just deciding she was going to win and they’re doing it again here while Bateman and AJ respectively were clearly more popular but the company decided otherwise.  It’s rather annoying and when you have to see it coming all season it’s even more annoying.

I was killing time because it was a commercial and now we reair the Rock promo from last night.  It was very intense but at the same time he didn’t convince me of a thing.  I still side with Cena in this almost entirely.  I get that Rock vs. Cena is far more important and entertaining than NXT, but when the show is 50 minutes long including commercials and 20% of that is dedicated to something from last night, why should I believe that the show I’m watching is important?  They do it on Smackdown too which makes it even more questionable.

Conor O’Brian/Derrick Bateman vs. Jacob Novak/Bryon Saxton

Oh please make it short.  Bateman is the hometown boy so he’s the most popular of course.  It helps that he’s arguably the only talented one in there.  O’Brian and Novak start us off and the fans chant for Bateman.  Off to Saxton and we’re already having a boring match here maybe 90 seconds in.  The non-Bateman team tags in and out a lot while I guess we’re waiting for the hot tag to Bateman.

O’Brian is getting destroyed so there’s some value to this match already.  No mention of Season 5 so far if you were wondering.  Saxton stops the tag for a bit but can’t do it again.  Bateman comes in and cleans house on both heels (I think.  It’s hard to call O’Brian a face) but gets caught in that Downward Spiral Stunner that Ziggler uses by Saxton.  Novak walks out on the match and Bateman hits a bulldog/DDT hybrid to beat Saxton at 4:40.  Unique finisher if nothing else.

Rating: D+. Totally worthless match here as the whole thing was clearly just to have Bateman win it at the end.  Novak continues to perhaps be the most worthless wrestler this decade which is saying a lot.  Boring match but they needed to fill time since there was only one promo with meaning from last night.

We recap the main event of Raw to waste more time.  The camera deal was funny.

We reair the Shawn Michaels analysis or whatever you want to call that from last night to fill in even more time.  You couldn’t do like, Truth vs. Bryan or something to fill in 8 minutes?

Before we end the show, Josh says watch Smackdown to see Taker return.

Here’s a promo for Smackdown, saying Taker returns!  Why do I watch this show again?

There’s going to be a Season 5.  DANG IT!!!!  It’s going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before but we get no more details than that.

Striker thanks the Pros as we’re finally at the ending.  Johnny Curtis wins.   I give up.  The winner is 3-7 and they made it clear this guy was going to win in the first episode, making the rest of this show COMPLETELY POINTLESS.  What in the world are they even airing this for anymore?  Total failure here as Clay dominated him in the ring and was pushed as a major guy all season, making the matches and competitions totally pointless.  I’m legit mad here and yet I’m totally not surprised at all.  Curtis says nothing of note and Clay hugs him.  Clay says he’ll take things from the fans now who took his dream away.

Overall Rating: F-. The matches sucked, the show wasn’t interesting and other than Orton vs. Nexus, I think they covered everything on Raw last night that mattered.  On top of that, the ending is as completely stupid a moment in WWE as I have ever seen which is saying A LOT.  I love WWE, but this is the first time I’ve ever considered not watching a show.  That says a lot but that’s how awful this was.  Pathetic and I’m legit mad about this.  Freaking nonsensed.

Results

Brodus Clay b. Johnny Curtis – Splash

Derrick Bateman/Conor O’Brian b. Jacob Novak/Byron Saxton – Bulldog DDT to Saxton

Johnny Curtis won Season 5 of NXT

NXT
Date: February 22, 2011
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

This is the last elimination before we get to the finals which I think are next week but I’m not entirely sure.  I’m not sure who goes home tonight but hopefully it’s Curtis.  No idea what to expect on tonight’s show as they’ve had a match where everyone competes so maybe it’ll be more pro vs. rookie matches.  Let’s get to it.

Curtis and Truth open us up and Truth tells us that none of the Pros are going to be there tonight.  They trade clichés about being alone and Curtis says he’s a one man wolf pack tonight, complete with a howl.

Ricardo says some stuff in Spanish to Brodus and then in Spanish says Brodus is on his own tonight.

Nothing from Bateman and Bryan?  Ok then.

Into the arena we go with Striker bringing in the rookies.  Oh sorry I fell asleep when Curtis was on my screen.  I’m back now.  There appears to be a finish line in front of them.  Next week is the final apparently.  You can still earn immunity for tonight though.  At the moment Clay has 5 points and the others have zero.  There are two challenges tonight and the first is the Grace Under Pressure Physical Challenge.

First up they play beer pong, then build a tower according to a picture with blocks, then they have to flip a cup then fourth they have to use chop sticks to put a set of dice in the right order.  Wait did I wake up or not?  Curtis goes first and the booing is insane.  The cup flip thing is you put it on the edge of a table and have to flip it so that it lands upright.  Curtis takes 1:19 flat.  I stopped watching Wrestlemania 22 for this?

Bateman is second and is booed out of the building for sucking at beer pong.  Apparently Bateman used to work at Build-A-Bear Workshop.  When he’s building the tower he asks “What am I doing with my life?”  He messes up the tower and has to keep at it.  Time passes and they let him finish.  The time isn’t shown and does it matter anyway?

Brodus says set it up right because you’re not playing any okeydoke on him.  No clue what that means but ok.  Brodus outsmarts beer pong by throwing like 10 balls at once.  He aces the tower build to a big pop.  However he sucks at flipping cups and of course Curtis wins.  If you care for some reason his time was 1:46.1.  Curtis has 3 points and I really hope this isn’t what I think it’s going to be.

There’s a triple threat match later.

The Mania video helps a bit as we’re 40 days away.

And there’s the Chaperone trailer to further kill my spirit.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman

Clay’s stomach says WHEE now.  The other two try to jump him which gets Bateman thrown over the top and Curtis pounded down for his effort.  Nice suplex puts Curtis down.  Brodus looks rather uncomfortable with basic offense.  Tongan Death Grip goes on but Bateman pops up with a dropkick to take him down.  The final challenge is also worth three points and Curtis could get immunity.  Well of course he can.  He’s the least interesting so like AJ last Naomi last time he has to make the final right?

They double team Curtis again with chops and kicks.  Again, this completely fails.  Todd says that Brodus is ready for prime time, more or less admitting that the rest of this is pointless.  The two non-Broduses clothesline Clay to the floor and Bateman is tossed out.  Curtis is alone in the ring (drawing dead silence) and dives out with a tope con hilo, landing on his feet.  If he had hit more than their hands it would have looked better but at least he tried.  This takes us to a break.

Back with the two smaller guys hammering on each other.  Bateman breaks Curtis’ momentum and hits a running dropkick on Clay.  Clay wakes up and hammers down both guys.  With Curtis choking him in the corner the camera tilts up at Brodus’ face and it’s a frightening sight indeed.  Clay gets a Fisherman’s Suplex on Curtis as we really need to end this now.  They’ve been out there over ten minutes and it’s clear they’re running out of things to do.

Brodus covers Bateman and Curtis hits the guillotine legdrop to the back of Clay for two.  Cover to Bateman gets two as well.  Clay sets for his T-Bone to Curtis but gets double teamed for about the third time.  A double suplex to Clay actually works and then Curtis suplexes Bateman onto Clay and gets the pin on Bateman at 11:00.  Dang it he’s going to win isn’t he?

Rating: C. This went too fast and I really don’t like Curtis winning but the match was ok.  They gave them some time and while it was maybe a minute or two too long, this was still pretty good for what they were going for.  I have this bad feeling Curtis is going to win it though which is the worst possible outcome but it’s been set in stone since the beginning of the season so I’m not really surprised.

We replay Cena’s promo on Rock last night to kill off about ten minutes.  During this we see Rock’s promo from the week before.  So we’re seeing a flashback to a flashback?  There’s a zen riddle in there somewhere.  The Tooth Fairy line still cracks me up.  I love how there has to be a graphic on the screen telling us this was on Raw last night so we don’t think Cena showed up on NXT.  It says a lot about Cena that he has the crowd in the palm of his hand after coming out to a very mixed reaction.  The line about Rock saying he loves them and Cena being there every week to show it sums up this entire feud.

Talk the Talk is next.

Curtis starts us off and thanks the fans for the pleasure of being here.  Could the flat out say “Vote for Curtis or we’ll murder every puppy in the world” any better?  Bateman says he’s the Sacramento King of the competition.  That’s booed for some reason.  He says he has, eats, sleeps and breathes “it”.  Clay, getting a big pop, gives shoutouts to his friends and family.  You can’t see the mic cube in his hand.  He says the west coast is awesome and all that stuff.  Curtis is booed, Bateman is booed and Clay wins (thank goodness!), making him immune.  This was really short.

Bateman is gone.  Blast it.  Is anyone really surprised by this?  He says it’s particular (yes particular) to be eliminated.  He says he’s proven his worth and he plays it rough except for “Sacramenento”  (yes he said it wrong).  Clay drills Curtis to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Well as unhappy as I am with the ending, this was a pretty mediocre show.  The match was just ok and the challenges ranged from stupid to short.  The Cena promo is easily the best part of it which isn’t saying a lot.  Big drop off from last week but at least Clay is in the finals like he should be.  Thankfully this ends next week.

Results

Johnny Curtis won the Grace Under Pressure Challenge

Johnny Curtis b. Brodus Clay and Derrick Bateman – Curtis pinned Bateman after suplexing him onto Clay

Brodus Clay won the Talk the Talk Challenge

Derrick Bateman was eliminated in third place

NXT
Date: February 8, 2011
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham

It’s elimination night I believe which is probably a good thing.  I wish it was Curtis that was gone but he’s the chosen one so it’ll probably be Bateman or Saxton.  Anyway, this should be decent enough as the show has gotten a lot better recently.  I like them being in the Super Bowl town because it gives us a nice mini-theme tonight possibly.  Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the season so far which has been a lot better after the first two went out.

Striker is on the stage and we’re doing the joust thing called Rock-Em Sock-Em this week.  First match is Bateman vs. Curtis.  Bateman is in the final.  Winner gets two immunity points by the way.  Brodus pulls a Michael Tarver and goes after Saxton so it’s a DQ.  Bateman vs. Saxton is the final.  There’s a controversial finish but Saxton wins.  To be fair it’s very close.  Naturally we have to do it one more time.  Surprisingly enough the rematch announcement gets a pop.  Saxton wins again to get two points.  That gives Curtis 3, Bateman and Saxton 2 and Clay 0.

We recap the Talk the Talk Challenge from last week including the Turd Ferguson chant.

Derrick Bateman vs. Byron Saxton

No intro here as we end the package and it’s off to the match.  Bateman works on the arm and gets a nice kick to the back to take over.  Apparently Ricardo is the official new pro for Del Rio.  Please tell me that it would be Alberto getting the shot and not Ricardo.  Saxton takes over as we talk about the Dazed and Confused shirt that Ziggler is wearing.

Bateman fights back and gets a dropkick in the corner and a clothesline for two.  Josh says whoever loses here is gone.  Saxton gets a small package for two.  Bateman grabs a modified LeBell Lock (closer to a Crossface) to get the win at 4:30.

Rating: D+. Well it was ok but that’s about it.  This is one of those matches that was just kind of there.  I don’t like using that rating but that really is the best way to put it.  One great thing here though was we saw a coach teaching his pro something and having it come into play to end the match.  We never see that but this time it worked fine.  This wasn’t anything special but it wasn’t horrible.

Time for another challenge worth 3 points (Curtis 3, Bateman and Saxton 2 and Clay 0).  This time we’re going to more or less play the Price is Right.  Various people are going to model things and the rookies have to guess the retail price.  My goodness they’ve turned their show into a commercial!  First up is the 50 Greatest Superstars of All Time DVD presented by AJ from last season.  The DVD is 34.95???  SWEET GOODNESS that’s insane!  Brodus is closest.

Naomi is up next and presents WWE Kids Magazine.  By presents I mean holds up and smiles if you’re wondering.  Clay is closest with $1.  Oh ok you can’t go over.  That makes sense.  AJ is back again with a foam World Heavyweight Championship.  Saxton gets it right on the nose at $19.99.

Bateman says he said the same thing which he didn’t.  This is rather stupid if you didn’t get it but it’s surprisingly entertaining.  Naomi has the History of the WWE Book.  Clay wins with 23 dollars.  Saxton went just over with 23.95.  Ziggler (I think): “That’s the first time Saxton has ever been over!”

Clay and Curtis are tied for immunity.  My what luck that they have a match later.

Video about the Road to Wrestlemania going through the Elimination Chamber.

Truth is with Curtis in the back and they talk about the accusations of Truth saying Curtis has a big head behind his back.  Truth’s leg seems to be fine after the attack last night.

Brodus Clay vs. Johnny Curtis

This is the main event.  Apparently Josh thinks he gets to decide who gets immunity.  The superstars make fun of Truth not knowing the right town last night.  Curtis hammers away to start to control.  Clay takes over with a fireman’s carry into a hot shot.  Nice overhead suplex gets two for Clay.  The match drags badly so the Turd chant gets going again.  Ziggler eggs it on and continues to be one of the funniest parts of this show.

Dolph leaves and Brodus hammers away.  Curtis gets a slingshot legdrop to the back of Clay’s neck for two.  Dolph is back and Grisham hits on Maryse who is at the top of the stage now.  Top rope dropkick gets no cover as Clay is in the ropes.  Brodus gets a shot to the throat using the ropes and a powerslam ends it at 6:22.  The announcers called it a bulldog slam because they’re not very intelligent.

Rating: C-. This was a little better, but there are only so many times that these four guys can fight each other.  The match was ok but the level of interest is just completely gone.  Clay is cool, Curtis isn’t interesting, Clay is better than everyone else in the competition.  That’s the end of the stuff we can learn here but it’s what we keep seeing.

2-21-11 promo again with the grave line from last night.

Clay and Curtis get 20 seconds to say why they should get immunity.  Curtis says it’s because the Packers Rule.  Curtis says the Steelers should have won.  Why?  They scored less points.  Naturally Curtis wins the live crowd approval and gets immunity.  Dang it I hate this show.  He just got beat clean so let’s give him the advantage.  Saxton is out and can’t talk due to tears.  Ah ok there it is.

Saxton says that it’s ok and everyone makes mistakes.  He’ll forgive them though and will be back.  Ziggler goes off on him in a great rant to make Saxton mad.  Masters tells Saxton to punch him.  Instead he points at Ziggler to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. I wasn’t impressed tonight.  The immunity thing is a joke because it’s clear that Curtis was either the weakest or second weakest.  He lost to Clay and STILL gets immunity?  That makes less than no sense but something tells me he’ll manage to win this thing anyway because he’s what WWE has decided we want to see despite no one caring about him.  Bad show this week mainly due to the booking at the end.

Results

Byron Saxton won the Rock-Em Sock-Em Challenge

Derrick Bateman b. Byron Saxton – LeBell Lock

Brodus Clay won the WWEshop.com Challenge

Brodus Clay b. Johnny Curtis – Powerslam

Byron Saxton was eliminated in 4^th place

NXT
Date: February 1, 2011
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Josh Matthews

Another week but no elimination this time.  It’s good that we’re down to the final four as the show went way up in quality last time.  Also putting Clay with Alberto is a nice idea as that’s a very lethal combination especially with Alberto having momentum at the moment.  This is a day late but that’s fine I suppose.  Let’s get to it.

Striker is in the ring as is traditional on this show.  There will be an elimination next week.  Here are the Rookies and the Pros.  For some reason Brodus comes out with Ricardo instead.  When asked, Ricardo says that Alberto is too busy so he’s filling in tonight.  I hope that’s not traditional now.  Oh and Ricardo speaks English.

The first challenge tonight is Arm Wrestling.  Yeah is there any point to this at all?  First up is Curtis vs. Saxton.  They go left handed and Curtis wins in about 2 seconds.  Clay vs. Bateman now in what should be one sided.  Bateman screams at Bryan to slap him so Bryan smacks the heck out of him a few times.

This lasts a bit and then Brodus turns on the jets and destroys him.  This is for three immunity points by the way.  Johnny almost gets him but then Brodus headbutts him to give Curtis the win.  Dang it they’re really pushing Curtis aren’t they?  He’s painfully boring but they’ve decided that they want him to win.  I hate that.  He’s painfully boring but they’ve decided that they want him to win.  I hate that.

Byron Saxton vs. Chris Masters

This is the first match and had no intro to it at all.  They went to a break after saying it was later tonight and there’s the bell.  By the way I’m watching this on Youtube so the breaks are edited out so I’ll be adding 90 seconds to the time as the NXT commercials are noticeable shorter.

Masters starts out with power but gets kicked in the face to slow him down.  Nice let’s go Masters chant.  He’s improved dramatically over the last few months.  Saxton starts getting destroyed by the power again and there’s the Masterlock to end it in 3:12.  Ziggler was about to throw in the towel once Saxton was in trouble.  There’s another Mr. Perfect trait for Ziggler: a towel.

Rating: D. This was one of those matches where they were doing stuff but nothing happened at all.  It wasn’t a squash but more or less just an extended workout for Masters.  I like Saxton but he comes off like this season’s Otunga.  He has charisma and is entertaining but can’t back it up so well in the ring.  He’s better at it than Otunga, but not by much.

We see a clip from earlier with Bryan trying to teach Bateman the guillotine hold.  Bateman can’t quite get it and says he isn’t strong enough.  Bryan says that isn’t what submissions are about.  This is a fine example of why Bateman is talented: this is actually rather funny but the lines they’re saying are boring.  That’s the sign of a talented entertainer.

Gail comes up and Daniel says she’s good at the guillotine.  Bateman says that women know nothing about submission wrestling.  He’s unconscious 4 seconds later and Gail and Bryan are making out.  Again, much more entertaining than it had any right to be which is a good sign.

Brodus Clay vs. Ted DiBiase

Still no entrances tonight.  Before this starts we get a quick recap of last week where Brodus switched pros to explain why Ricardo is there.  See, that’s something WWE is very good at.  They’re incredibly user friendly.  If this is your first show in awhile or your first show ever, you’re immediately told why Brodus has that guy at ringside, that Brodus dominated the other rookies and why he has a match with DiBiase tonight.  That took about 90 seconds.  That’s what you get from WWE all the time and it’s a great touch.

DiBiase gets an entrance and Maryse comes out after he does in almost her own entrance.  DiBiase charges at him and gets shoved into the corner twice.  He charges again and manages to get a chinlock.  The main thing here is that Maryse is hitting on the announcers and actually gives Todd her number.  That’s rather awesome actually.  As that’s going on, the guys hit the floor and it’s all Ted who hits a seated dropkick while Brodus is up against the railing.

Josh wants to call the number because he thinks it’s a pizza place.  While this is happening, Brodus sends him into the post and we head back into the ring.  Nice head and arms suplex as Brodus is taking over quickly.  Off to the nerve hold as the crowd is into this actually.  Maryse is taking pictures with her phone.  Brodus misses a splash and Ted looks like he wants Dream Street.  Maryse kisses Todd and then slaps him.  The distraction is enough for Brodus to hit a powerslam to end DiBiase at 4:28.

Rating: C+. This was rather entertaining actually.  Maryse added a nice level of comedy to this and it raised the match up.  That and you add in Brodus being fun to watch and you got an entertaining match.  Brodus is the kind of guy that you see and you want to look at due to how different he looks.  That’s a very valuable asset to have and sets him apart from the rest of the group.  Bateman is entertaining but you wouldn’t stop to watched unless he was doing something.  Brodus is someone you stop to see because he looks unique.

In the back Curtis is holding ice on his head after the headbutt.  Saxton comes up and says he’s worried about Johnny.  Apparently R-Truth says Johnny is getting too big a head and his ego is out of control.  Johnny says they’re not friends and that Saxton is the creepiest man he’s ever met in his life.  The deadpan delivery there is great.

Time for another challenge.  At the moment Curtis has three immunity points and everyone else has zero.  This is the Talk the Talk Challenge and it’s worth 2 points.  Then why are we having this?  Oh I guess it might shift the voters’ opinions.  Kind of a stretch but ok.  Everyone has 30 seconds to talk about a given topic.  The first topic is WWE Pros and Saxton gets R-Truth.  Saxton does a parody of Truth’s rap and is booed out of the building.

The category is still WWE Pros and Bateman gets Ziggler.  He says he has the face of a worn out catcher’s mask and his name used to be Turd Ferguson.  I love SNL references.  Curtis gets Chris Masters.  Since he can’t top Saxton he drills Brodus and runs away.  Ok then.  Another Turd chant starts up.  Ziggler says if they don’t stop he’ll leave, drawing the pop of the night.

Brodus gets Daniel Bryan and says he’s incredibly boring.  He does have a pretty girl though and that she probably sits in bed at night, wondering what it’s like to be with a real man.  He’s quoting a scene from Rocky III here where Clubber Lang says the same thing to Rocky.  Bryan says he’s fat.  Bateman wins which he should have.  This was more or less a waste of time.

The trailer for the Chaperone is aired again.  It still looks bad.  There are three minutes I’ll never get back from my life.

Raw ReBound eats up about 4 minutes.

R-Truth/Johnny Curtis vs. Daniel Bryan/Derrick Bateman

This is the main event.  Bateman vs. Truth to start us off.  Truth takes over and it’s off to Curtis for some rookie on rookie action.  Ziggler says ECW a few times for no apparent reason.  They tumble out to the floor and slug it out.  This turns into a brawl until the Pros break it up and we take a break.

Back with Curtis vs. Bryan and the Pro is in control.  Apparently this is the 50^th episode of NXT.  Josh thinks Saxton is gone next week.  Off to the rookies again with Bateman in control.  Bryan comes in again as there’s much better continuity between Bateman and Bryan.  Bryan tries a surfboard but can’t get Curtis back.  Instead with his legs intertwined with Curtis’ he jumps into the air for a stomp.  That was cool looking.

Body scissors by the US Champion as Curtis is in trouble.  Off to Bateman again but Curtis gets a bad looking spin kick to take Bateman down.  Off to both Pros with Truth beating Bryan up a bit.  Curtis comes back in for a double suplex with his pro.  Bateman and Truth go to the floor and Curtis misses the leg drop.  LeBell Lock ends it seconds later at 6:33 shown of 8:03 (90 seconds assumed for commercials on NXT) and we’re off the air.  Or web I suppose.

Rating: C. Not bad here with some nice teamwork from Bateman/Bryan.  Curtis is ok at his very best but he’s about as generic as anyone I’ve ever seen.  Bateman is funny on promos and passable in the ring but also no one great.  This was probably the best choice for a main event and it wasn’t too bad.  Bateman looked pretty good at least.

Overall Rating: C+. This was pretty good I thought.  They packed it with stuff and the 45 minutes flew by.  You had three matches and two challenges with only the Talk the Talk one being somewhat bad.  The rest of it was either ok or short enough to not be bad.  Brodus continues to look like a huge fish in a small pond which means Curtis will likely wind up winning the whole thing.  Either way, good show this week as the final four continue to make this show watchable.

Results

Johnny Curtis won an Arm Wrestling Challenge

Chris Masters b. Byron Saxton – Masterlock

Brodus Clay b. Ted DiBiase – Powerslam

Derrick Bateman won the Talk the Talk Challenge

Daniel Bryan/Derrick Bateman b. Johnny Curtis/R-Truth – LeBell Lock to Curtis