NXT
Date: December 5, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

This might be the week where Mahal finally gets the title shot that he earned weeks ago. It’ll be nice if they’ve finally caught up with Raw and he’s in the Band rather than being his usual self. Other than that hopefully we’ll have a better show than last week, which was probably the worst show they’ve had in this season. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Michael McGillicutty vs. Antonio Cesaro

Heel vs. heel? Or was there a McGillicutty face turn that I completely missed? This is non-title I believe. They head to the mat to start and Dawson talks about how McGillicutty wants to complete the first father/son pair to hold the US Title. I’m pretty sure Dusty and Dustin already did that but. Anyway, Cesaro chops away and goes to the stomach to take over. Apparently we’re just ignoring Dustin as we hear about Dusty winning the US Title as well.

The fans are firmly behind McGillicutty with a pair of chants for him. Cesaro turns that to a big gasp instead with a double stomp to the ribs. There’s a body vice to stay on the ribs but McGillicutty comes back with a sunset flip for two. Cesaro gets the same off a clothesline, followed by the gutwrench suplex for two more. Back to the body vice but Michael GOES OFF on Cesaro, pounding him into the corner and hitting a clothesline to take over. Cesaro comes back with a classic thumb to the eye and the European Uppercut to set up the Neutralizer for the pin at 6:00.

Rating: C-. The match was pretty dull, but McGillicutty showed a lot of fire here. That comeback with punches into the corner was a cool moment and it’s clear that McGillicutty could be an excellent face. Well, if you change his name to the one he should have had for like three years now.

Axl Keegan vs. Bo Dallas

This is Keegan’s debut. Dallas takes the bigger guy to the mat to start but goes face first into the middle buckle. A slam gets two for Keegan and it’s off to the neck crank. Dallas makes his comeback with a bunch of forearms and clotheslines followed by the spear for the pin at 2:47. Dallas still does nothing for me.

Dallas says he’s lost a bit lately but he gives the pain the respect it deserves. He issues an open challenge to anyone in the WWE to come and face him, no matter how big a name they are.

The Raw ReBound is the end of the show with the lie detector segment and Ryback standing tall.

Corey Graves vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Graves jumps Tatsu in the aisle and has a big advantage to start. He goes for Yoshi’s leg and beats on that for awhile, kicking it in the corner and bending it around the ropes. There’s a leg crank as the fans think Corey is awesome. Yoshi fights up and hits some backdrops followed by his kicks but Graves stops him dead with a knee crusher. Graves hooks that reverse figure four of his, apparently called the 13^th Step for the pin at 2:59. Just a squash.

Gavid Reid vs. Roman Reigns

Oh come on. We’re supposed to care about a guy named GAVID? Reigns stomps him down in the corner and shouts a lot. Reigns puts on a cravate and asks the fans what his name is. A clothesline puts Reid down and that belly to back slam gets the pin at 2:09.

Reigns yells at ring announcer Byron Saxton and tells him to get out.

Tyson Kidd says he’s ready for Leo Kruger and says if that’s what he has to go through to get to the NXT Title, so be it. Kassius Ohno comes in to make fun of Kidd, so Kidd quotes Albert Einstein. Ok then.

Rollins vs. Mahal is next week.

Tyson Kidd vs. Leo Kruger

Kruger stares in the corner while the fans chant for Kidd. We quickly hit the mat but Kruger makes the rope. Kidd speeds around and has Kruger frustrated very quickly. Off to a headlock on the mat by Tyson as we take a break. Back with Kruger holding a full nelson but Kidd fights out. A cross body misses Leo though and Kidd crashes to the floor. Back in and Leo stomps away very slowly, which is appropriate for him.

Kruger keeps pounding away and hooks the full nelson again which even Regal calls an unusual move. Tyson tries to stomp on the foot to escape but Leo pounds him down with ease. Here come the kicks from Kidd for the real comeback including one from the apron. A springboard elbow hits Kruger’s knee, which again hurts Kidd more than Kruger. Kruger pounds away some more and goes up, only to be armdragged off the top. After a kick to the face from the apron, the Dungeon Lock gets the tap out from Kruger at 9:05 shown of 12:35.

Rating: C+. Is Kidd capable of having a bad match if he gets more than five minutes? The match was nothing great, but Kidd looks so smooth out there every time he’s in the ring. Decent main event here, as I continue to wonder how much I like Kruger’s character. I like the facials he gives, but I’m not sure how far a human big game hunter can go.

Post match Kassius Ohno comes in for the double beatdown until William Regal of all people comes out and pulls Kidd away.

Overall Rating: C+. This was an episode where we got to see a lot of people, mostly in squash matches. NXT is still a place where that can work, as most of the matches were short and therefore still got to see a lot of people. That’s good when you just have an hour a week. Not a great show or anything, but it was an entertaining hour of TV and I want to see more of it, which is a good thing.

Results

Antonio Cesaro b. Michael McGillicutty – Neutralizer

Bo Dallas b. Axl Keegan – Spear

Corey Graves b. Yoshi Tatsu – 13^th Step

Roman Reigns b. Gavid Reid – Spinning Belly to Back Slam

Tyson Kidd b. Leo Kruger – Dungeon Lock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: October 31, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Luftman

It’s Halloween and we’re coming off a pretty good show last week. I’m hoping to see more of that Bronson guy as his debut last week impressed me. Other than that I’m hoping we don’t see more of Slater vs. Rollins as the match last week wasn’t anything interesting. We should be getting close to the time when Bray Wyatt comes back too. Let’s get to it.

Usos vs. Johnny Curtis/Michael McGillicutty

There’s a different ring announcer this week who doesn’t sound very confident in her abilities. I don’t know why the Usos can’t get on the main shows. They’ve got experience and a decent enough gimmick, so why can’t they get a spot? Curtis seems to want to pose instead of get ready and McGillicutty is getting annoyed at him before the bell. McGillicutty and Jey start things off with Jey no selling a smash into the buckle. It’s nice to see some stereotypes being followed in modern times.

Off to Curtis who starts dancing. Jey punches him in the face and brings in Jimmy to work on the arm. McGillicutty breaks up an O’Connor Roll before yelling at Curtis some more about messing around. Off to Curtis for a double clothesline to the back of Jimmy’s head which gets two. It might have been three if Johnny wasn’t gyrating while covering. Back to McGillicutty who whips Jimmy into the corner but misses a splash. There’s the hot tag to Jey who cleans house and hits a Bubba Bomb on Michael, followed by a Samoan Drop. Jimmy finishes McGillicutty with a Superfly Splash at 4:17.

Rating: C-. I like three of the people in this match and I like that they’re trying something with Curtis, but the guy just isn’t that good or interesting at all. I’ve heard they’re giving him a new gimmick on the main shows which at least shows that they’re trying, but I’m not a fan of the guy at all.

As the Usos are celebrating, Ascension appears near the top of the arena for a staredown.

Xavier Woods vs. Leo Kruger

You might remember Woods as Consequences Creed from TNA. Apparently he and Regal are both big fans of funk music and they trade 8-tracks. Woods takes over with a headlock but Kruger counters with a backbreaker. Kruger pounds on the back for a bit and gets two off a suplex.

Off to a bearhug and Woods is in trouble. Woods starts pounding out of it so Kruger belly to belly suplexes him down. Xavier finally escapes and gets in some shots to the head followed by a clothesline (the new commentator calls it an explosive athletic move. He doesn’t know many move names but he’s good at the delivery). Woods misses a missile dropkick and Kruger hits that spinning face first mat slam of his for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: D+. This was just a step above a squash which is ok. One of the major advantages NXT has over WWE at this point is that they can throw out new guys like Woods all the time who know what they’re doing and can do jobs like this one. It’s much better than how WWE has big names facing big names all the time and one has to lose or we get a screwy finish. They’ve got something decent with Kruger but he needs to do something instead of constantly squashing people.

Video on Big E. Langston.

Langston is in the arena and Saxton asks him about the five count. Langston talks about how much he loves the number five. He has five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. People also have a high and low five…..and here’s Vickie. Dang I was wanting to see where he was going with that. No seriously, how much further could he go with that?

Anyway Vickie says she’s here to recruit and someone has caught her eye. She offers her services to Vickie. Fans: “JUST SAY NO!” Langston says he has what she needs and throws powder on her. This was bizarre, primarily due to Langston’s voice. He has an odd speaking pattern where he sounds like he’s trailing off and then gets a burst of energy before going back down again.

Here’s Jinder Mahal with something to say. He says he’s the modern day maharajah but doesn’t have his crown jewel. Being a champion is his birthright and it’s also his right to have a rematch with Seth Rollins. Mahal demands Dusty Rhodes come out and present him with his rematch.

Instead he gets Justin Gabriel who says that Jinder should get in the back of the line. Mahal says that Justin lost in the first round, so Justin polls the audience. After the fans pick Gabriel, here’s Drew McIntyre who says it’s reality check time. He says it should be his shot because he’s the only person that has a victory over Seth Rollins. Now here’s Bo Dallas who says all of these guys have had their shot at Rollins, so it’s time to give someone new a chance. Dusty comes out and says it’ll be a fourway next week with the winner getting the shot.

Roman Reigns vs. CJ Parker

Reigns used to be Leakee in FCW. He’s a member of the Anoa’i family and is the son of Sika and the brother of Rosey. The announcers pound in the fact that Reigns has the IT factor and that we’ll be talking about this debut for years to come. Reigns catches Parker’s crossbody and pounds on the arm and shoulder. A DDT on the arm puts Parker down and Reigns cranks away on it some more. Parker fires away some elbows to escape but a side kick misses and Reigns slugs him down again.

A belly to back suplex by Reigns is countered into a cross body by Parker for two. Parker hits some knees in the corner but gets caught by a flying forearm. Reigns kind of roars and hits a belly to back slam for the pin at 3:43. Think Cena’s Protoplex (the spinning slam he sets up the Shuffle with) but instead of spinning the other guy around, Reigns drives the down with his hand.

Rating: D+. The commentary is over the top but Reigns looked fine here. He’s got a good look and a good physique and his in ring abilities were fine. The match was just a squash though with Parker getting in a few shots here and there. Much like everyone else, it’s too early to say what Reigns has without giving him a more serious challenge.

US Title: Tyson Kidd vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro is defending. They immediately head to the mat with Cesaro holding a front facelock to control. He switches over to a test of strength grip but Kidd bridges off the mat. Cesaro jumps on him to break the bridge, but Kidd bridges up with Cesaro on top of him. Kidd grabs a rollup for two and what looks like a heel hook for a bit but Cesaro makes the rope.

Tyson grabs another pair of rollups for two each and they trade near falls in a very good pinfall reversal sequence, ending with Kidd holding an armbar as we take a break. Back with Cesaro putting on a bearhug as Kidd is in trouble. Kidd fights out of it and backdrops his way out of the Neutralizer before hitting a low dropkick to put the champ down. Kidd starts firing off kicks before hitting a slingshot reverse rollup for two.

Cesaro sends him back to the apron where Kidd hits an enziguri and a slingshot rana for two. A legdrop to the back of Cesaro’s head puts the champion on the floor. Kidd hits a kick from the apron and a springboard elbow back inside for two more. Tyson tries for the Sharpshooter but Cesaro kicks him away. The uppercut hits Kidd and the Neutralizer gets the pin at 7:10 shown of 10:40.

Rating: B-. This is what guys like Cesaro and Kidd, as in guys not trained by FCW, are great at: having flashy matches that aren’t like the same style that you so often get in WWE anymore. Cesaro is definitely a great overall package and Kidd has more than enough skill to get over his size limitations. Good match here and I’d like to see more of Kidd on WWE TV.

Cesaro celebrates and JR plugs the fourway next week to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. NXT is starting to click again as they’re back to having solid wrestling throughout the show and pretty much no time being wasted. We’re also moving towards the next challenger for the title which is treated as a big deal, which it should be. NXT continues to be a solid wrestling show and pretty easily the best one going today.

Results

Usos b. Michael McGillicutty/Johnny Curtis – Superfly Splash to McGillicutty

Leo Kruger b. Xavier Woods – Spinning Face First Mat Slam

Roman Reigns b. CJ Parker – Belly to Back Mat Slam

Antonio Cesaro b. Tyson Kidd – Neutralizer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: August 24, 2012
Location: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentator: Michael Cole

We’re past Summerslam and Sheamus is still the champion. He kept the title by pinning Del Rio, but there was some controversy at the end as Del Rio had his foot on the ropes. Then on Raw, Alberto got pinned by Orton, so I think we might be seeing another triple threat in the near future. Well to be fair we haven’t had one in almost five days so it’s high time for one. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the title match at Summerslam.

Here’s Orton to open things up. He says that he’s never been a glass half full kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy that would like to shatter the glass (again with the Austin motif) and beat up the guy that came up with that stupid expression. Randy says he deserves the world title shot after beating Del Rio on Monday. However, there are probably some people that disagree with him in the back, so he invites them to come out here right now.

Instead he gets Sheamus which isn’t the result he was expecting. Sheamus talks about how Alberto has lost every chance he’s had at the title and he’s lost twice in a row now “fair and square”. Sheamus wants to defend the title against Orton but here’s Booker with a rebuttal. He asks the fans if they’re interested in seeing Orton vs. Sheamus….but here’s Alberto to interrupt.

Del Rio says that Sheamus is a cheater and Orton is an animal. He whines and whines about how unfair everything is and Booker caves and makes him #1 contender. Actually scratch that because the whining has made Booker change his mind. Tonight it’s Del Rio vs. Orton for the title shot at Night of Champions.

We get a recap of Josh Matthews getting injured by Kane at Summerslam. Teddy Long is filling in for him tonight. Apparently there’s going to be a different commentator filling in on each match.

Ryback vs. Jinder Mahal

Ryback pounds Mahal in the face as Cole talks about how Teddy should be upset that he’s not the boss anymore. Mahal escapes a powerslam and sends Ryback into the corner to take over. The running knee to the face gets one but an attempted seated boot at the face is caught by Ryback. The fans chant FEED ME MORE as Ryback hits a powerslam. The clothesline and Shell Shock end this at 2:53. Now move Ryback up the card already.

Layla vs. Alicia Fox

Kaitlyn is guest commentator. Tiffany’s song does not work well at all for Layla. Now I’m not one to usually notice crowd noise being piped in, but when Layla gets a pop as she holds up the belt and a wide shot shows almost no one moving, I think there’s something fake there. Layla hits her double jump springboard cross body for two. Kaitlyn talks about Natalya complaining about being eliminated from the battle royal “last night”. Layla gets kicked off the ropes and Alicia goes after the knee. A half crab is broken up and Layla hits a high kick for the pin at 2:04. Nothing to see here.

Eve comes out post match and raises both of their hands.

Raw ReBound talks about the end of the show.

Ziggler brags to Vickie about getting rid of Jericho on Monday. Sheamus pops in and says there’s no time like the present, so why not have a match tonight? Ziggler says no but Teddy comes up and says yes.

Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater

Cody is the guest commentator. Cara takes him down with a snapmare to start and a dropkick puts Slater into the corner. Slater knocks him to the floor with a shoulder to the ribs to take over and it’s off to the chinlock. Cody gets in a backhanded compliment to Slater by saying that this is the only match he has a chance to win this year. Cara does the corner rope walk into the armdrag to send Slater out to the floor before hitting a dive over the top. They head back in but Cody turns Cara’s mask around, allowing Slater to hit a reverse DDT for the pin at 2:35. This was angle advancement.

Cody goes for the mask again but referees stop him.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

No entrance for the champ. Vickie does commentary of course. Ziggler bails to the floor to start before charging back into a headlock takeover. Dolph comes back with a chinlock as Vickie runs down AJ. Sheamus comes back and tries White Noise but Ziggler bails to the apron. Ziggler trips him up and drops Sheamus onto the apron with a DDT for two.

Back to the chinlock followed by a failed sleeper attempt. Sheamus hits some power strikes followed by the ten forearms in the ropes. White Noise looks to set up the Brogue Kick but Ziggler bails to the corner. Vickie slips him the case and he blasts Sheamus with it for the DQ at 4:55.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t great but how much can you do in five minutes with a DQ ending? These two have the chemistry together which is a good thing and I liked that they didn’t have Ziggler about to lose. He was in trouble but he avoided the kick and things would have been almost at a standoff after that.

Ziggler hits Sheamus again with the case and looks to cash in but Sheamus gets up and stares him down so Ziggler takes the case back and runs.

Wade Barrett is still coming back.

Here’s Santino with something to say. Santino talks about how long he was US Champion and how he doesn’t feel like an American anymore. Then he ate apple pie and felt better. No seriously, that’s what he said. Santino isn’t sure if he can talk to the Cobra anymore so he puts it on and sees if things are ok.

He remembers the good times with the Cobra but on Sunday, the Cobra cost him the title because of its attraction to Aksana. Santino quotes Roberto De Niro and asks if you can milk him because he has nipples. Oh wait he meant to quote Rocky Balboa and says if he can change everybody can change. That fires the Cobra up and he says they can win the title again.

Thankfully Cesaro comes out to interrupt with new music. Cesaro does the five languages thing with the word this week being winner. He says that unlike Santino, he’s a winner. That fires Santino up and they brawl on the stage with Santino loading up the Cobra, only to be distracted by Aksana. The Cobra, not Santino. The distraction lets Cesaro deck him and leave Santino laying. This is modern WWE for you: we finally get a young talent like Cesaro pushed to a title and he feuds with a guy over a sock on the challenger’s hand being attracted to Cesaro’s girlfriend.

Primo/Epico vs. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth

Non-title here. The Prime Time Players are the guest commentators. Cole suggests the tag champions have the Players’ number. Titus: “You mean our phone number?” Kofi and Epico start things off and it’s a standoff with both guys trying dropkicks. Epico pounds away on him in the corner and it’s off to Primo. Cole tries to learn the bark as Epico hits a slingshot hilo for two. Titus does a Booker imitation as the commentary continues to move further and further away from the match. Off to Truth who cleans house and hits a gordbuster on Epico. Everything breaks down and Little Jimmy gets the pin on Primo at 2:17.

Video on the Japan tour.

Kofi and Truth say they’ll fight anyone. Little Jimmy thinks there’s a lot of good competition around here. The Players come in and say they deserve the shot. The Usos, Kidd/Gabriel and Epico/Primo all come in and it’s a big brawl.

Teddy tells Booker the brawl has been broken up. Booker asks Teddy who deserves the shot. Teddy isn’t sure so Eve comes in and has a win/loss chart for the teams over the last six months. She’s also organized his schedule for the next six weeks. Booker is pleased and Teddy isn’t sure what to think.

Recap video on Kane vs. Bryan.

Since this show isn’t boring enough already, here’s a long recap of HHH/Lesnar/HBK from Raw. Seriously that speech made you think HHH died.

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio

Winner gets Sheamus presumably at Night of Champions so he’s on commentary here. They fight for control to start but Randy hits a slingshot suplex of all things for two and takes over. He hits the slingshot into the bottom rope but Del Rio comes back with a quick armbar attempt. That gets countered into a neckbreaker to send Del Rio to the outside as we take a break.

Back with Del Rio holding a chinlock. During the break Orton’s arm was sent into the steps so the arm is hurt as usual. A knee to the ribs stops Orton’s attempt at a comeback and Alberto pounds away on the arm. The running enziguri in the corner misses and Orton gets fired up. Well, as fired up as Orton can get. Orton’s clotheslines set up the powerslam but the elevated DDT is countered by Del Rio pulling on Randy’s arm.

That’s the extent of his offense though as Orton hits the backbreaker for two. Del Rio hits the Codebreaker on the arm out of nowhere for two and Randy is in trouble again. The armbreaker is countered and a dropkick puts Del Rio down and gets a delayed two. Elevated DDT looks to set up the RKO but Del Rio hangs onto the ropes, sending Orton’s arm into the mat again. There’s the armbreaker and in what has to be a surprise, Orton taps clean at 6:46 shown of 10:16.

Rating: C. The ending was a nice surprise but at the end of the day, it means Del Rio vs. Sheamus for the third month in a row with nothing changing at this point. All of the hope that I had for something new at Night of Champions are gone, presumably because Orton needs to go film a movie that about 8 people will admit to seeing. It does at least give Del Rio a clean win over someone which he’s needed for a long time.

Post match Del Rio throws a shoe at Sheamus to draw the champ in, allowing Ricardo and Alberto to beat Sheamus down. With Sheamus down, here’s Ziggler to cash in but Orton hits an RKO on Dolph for no apparent reason other than I guess Dolph needs someone new to feud with. Someone must have landed on the case because there’s a big dent in it now.

Overall Rating: D. Smackdown is such a mess anymore. We had a bunch of short matches tonight and a bunch of nonsense. First and foremost, why in the world are there three people in charge on this show? They’re wasting time on a feud between Teddy Long vs. Eve Torres. Think about that for a minute. Other than that, we have Del Rio vs. Sheamus AGAIN, which was dull the first time, stupid and dull the second time, and grounds for an insanity defense this time.

We have a tag title feud with a bunch of teams and I’d almost bet money on the Prime Time Players getting the titles after having lost clean TWICE now to Kofi and Truth, because you couldn’t just put the freaking belts on them in the first place because….because…..oh like WWE has any clue why they do what they do with those belts. Oh and don’t forget the US Title, the same title (in name only) that saw Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA in one of the greatest matches ever, being fought over because of a sock that has a mind of its own. This show is a disaster and it’s clear that no one behind the scenes cares about it at all.

Results

Ryback b. Jinder Mahal – Shell Shock

Layla b. Alicia Fox – High Kick to the head

Heath Slater b. Sin Cara – Reverse DDT

Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Ziggler used the MITB briefcase

R-Truth/Kofi Kingston b. Epico/Primo – Little Jimmy to Primo

Alberto Del Rio b. Randy Orton – Cross Armbreaker

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: April 27, 2012
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T

It’s the last show before Extreme Rules and we’re minus a Josh Matthews here due to Lesnar killing him on Monday. We have a main event tonight of Sheamus vs. Mark Henry in a non-title match which is a rematch from Raw where Daniel Bryan cheated Sheamus with a fast count. Other than that I don’t think anything else has been announced. Let’s get to it.

Do you know your enemy? Mine is time, as I want it to be next Friday so I can see Avengers.

We see a clip of Josh’s attack from Monday.

Here’s Bryan to open the show. He talks about cutting the cord and finally getting rid of AJ. He’s out here to set the record straight: the Wrestlemania loss to Sheamus doesn’t count and should go against AJ’s record, not his. Then on Monday he was asked to be guest referee in Sheamus vs. Henry. He said he’d call it right down the middle and he did. Some people are saying he fast counted Sheamus but here’s footage showing he didn’t. The count is shown in slow motion. We also get the post match attack and YES Lock.

Bryan says it’s time for a question and answer session. Did Henry beat Sheamus? YES. Did he make Sheamus tap out? YES (not that I remember). Will he get the title back on Sunday? YES. Cue Del Rio who asks a bunch of questions with Ricardo shouting SI after every one in a funny bit. Big Show comes out and wants to know if it’s YES or SI, which starts a chant. Show knocks Bryan to the floor and chokeslams Ricardo. Good chokeslam too.

Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio

This is joined in progress after a break and I’m pretty sure is non-title. Show chops Del Rio in the corner and clubs him down with forearms. Del Rio is knocked to the floor but he drapes the arm over the ropes to take over. Show vs. Cody’s stipulation will be determined by a spin of the wheel. Show shrugs him off and spears him down. He loads up the chokeslam but Cody comes in for the DQ at 1:54.

Cody tries some weapons but Show knocks them away. He steals Cody’s belt and whips Cody with it a few times. Cody hasn’t gotten in a single successful attack or victory over Show at all since Wrestlemania.

Ace and Eve are in the back and he says that Eve can make whatever changes she thinks are good on Smackdown. Just run them by him first. Eve says she doesn’t know any of the crew people so maybe they should make them wear nametags. They run into Teddy who wants to know what his job is. Ace says Teddy reports directly to Eve, who tells him to go get a nametag.

We get a clip from the Divas Title match Monday where Nikki won it from Beth.

Damien Sandow talks about enlightenment. The fans aren’t enlightened as they worship people with nonsensical catchphrases and loud music. He debuts in a week.

Alicia Fox vs. Nikki Bella

Non-title again. The place just goes silent for this as you can hear the girls shouting at each other. Nikki throws Alicia and those hips around with a snapmare and it’s off to a modified chinlock. Alicia comes back with a one footed dropkick and basically falls off the middle rope for a back elbow. Twin Magic lets Brie hit a facejam for the pin at 1:48.

O’Neil and Young come up to Yoshi who I think they’re facing tonight. They make fun of Japanese people that put their hands together and bow while saying hai. They ask about Yoshi’s partner and imply he can’t speak English. Big Zeke comes up and says he’s the partner tonight. They sing a song about how Zeke is big and strong but doesn’t have any cuts. Where were these guys on NXT?

Teddy is now in a maid’s outfit over his suit and has a big nametag on his chest. Aksana comes in and he thanks her for sticking by him. She’s surprised he has grandchildren and here’s Ace who says Aksana’s favor has been granted: Antonio Cesar gets a tryout match tonight. If he wins, he gets a job. Eve had an idea that Aksana should be guest ring announcer. Oh and Teddy will have his own ringside commentary table to make sure we have three commentators and he starts next. Ace will tell him every word he says through a headset.

Ezekiel Jackson/Yoshi Tatsu vs. Darren Young/Titus O’Neil

Teddy is on commentary at a separate table but can’t talk unless Ace gives him the ok and the exact words in his ears. Young and Tatsu start in the corner and Young takes him down with a Hot Shot. Off to Titus as Cole berates Teddy. The heels beat on Tatsu with double teaming and on their own. Young dropkicks the knee out on Jackson while he’s on the apron and a REALLY bad modified Hart Attack out of the corner gets the pin on Yoshi at 1:50. Young missed Tatsu for the most part so it was more like a shove than a chop while Titus powerbombed him.

Here’s Cole in the ring and he brings out Orton for an interview. Cole asks about Orton’s match on Sunday and Orton says he likes to shoot first and ask questions later. He’ll be ready to do whatever it takes to beat Kane on Sunday. We get a video on their feud (long one too, like two minutes) and Orton says he can almost respect what Kane did because it’s something he’d do, but he won’t accept it. On Sunday, there are no rules so he can do whatever he wants. Kane is the devil’s favorite demon, but even the devil couldn’t so what Orton is going to do on Sunda.

Cue….Jinder Mahal? He thinks Orton and Kane will destroy each other and a new breed will emerge. Mahal says he’s better than Orton all around and that he’ll be waiting after Extreme Rules. Orton cuts him off and lays him out with an RKO. Are they really going with Mahal vs. Orton after this? Why? What has Mahal done to make them think he deserves that spot?

Kofi Kingston says don’t try this at home or school.

Tyson Kidd vs. Antonio Cesaro

Kidd doesn’t get an entrance. Cesaro’s music reminds me of Johnny B. Badd’s. Cesaro is of course Claudio Castagnoli. He has what looks like socks wrapped around his thighs. Booker: “Are those kneepads?” Cole: “No Booker. If they were kneepads they would be around his knees.” Cesaro uses a lot of power strikes and a gutwrench suplex to take Kidd over. He throws Kidd in the air and hits a European Uppercut on the way down. Cesaro sets for a cradle piledriver but falls forward ala DDP’s pancake move for the pin at 1:10.

Teddy has to go in and do something he doesn’t want to do post match. He raises Cesaro’s hand and then Cesaro kisses Aksana.

Long video on Lesnar vs. Cena, including clips from the sitdown interview and from Edge’s promo on Monday. Cena hasn’t said much in this.

Great Khali vs. Cody Rhodes

This is as a result of the attack before the six man from last week. Cody is still sore from the whipping Show gave him earlier. Cody goes for the knee which doesn’t work at all. He manages to take Khali down and DDTs the knee before going up top. A missile dropkick puts Khali down for two. Back to the knee but Khali gets up and uses some clotheslines to take Cody down. Disaster Kick is caught in the Plunge….for the clean pin at 1:59. Oh good grief I’m not going to bother explaining how stupid this is.

Washington pitches to the tag champions some more and thinks Rosa should talk some more. He needs a decision by Monday though. Ryback comes up and glares at them and walks away. Washington tries to set up a meeting with him.

The Usos are watching in the back.

Jacob Kaye vs. Ryback

Kaye says that he’s not going to be another no name schnook. I like this guy already. He’s from Grand Rapids and has been trying to escape it for years now. Kaye charges at him and gets thrown down immediately. Ryback kicks his head off and chokes him with the boot. Gorilla press into a powerslam sets up the clothesline and the Muscle Buster gets the pin at 1:08. This guy is so much fun.

Video on AJ going crazy last week. She has no comment on anything but looks very evil. Kaitlyn comes up and tells Striker to leave her alone. Striker leaves and Kaitlyn tries to talk some sense into her so AJ slaps the taste out of her mouth. She immediately seems to regret it but Kaitlyn leaves. This is getting interested.

Mark Henry vs. Sheamus

Henry overpowers him to start so Shemaus slows down a little bit. A headlock doesn’t work and Henry puts him down again. Sheamus goes to the knee and takes Henry down for two. He goes for the arm but Henry shoves him to the floor with ease. Sheamus comes back with the slingshot shoulder for two and we take a break. Back with Henry slamming the champ to take over.

Henry gets knocked to the apron and Sheamus hits the ten forearms which are getting cheered a lot better lately. Henry easily throws Sheamus down though and hits a HARD whip into the barricade. Back in for a quick nerve hold but Sheamus gets out. Henry hits something that looked like a crescent kick to put Sheamus down for two. Sheamus comes back with his double ax handles to the chest and down goes Henry.

A DDT gets two for the champion. He’s getting fired up now and starts to pound his chest and shouting Brogue. Probably due to shouting very loudly, Henry is able to run him over for two. A charge misses and Sheamus goes up but jumps over Henry. Brogue Kick takes Henry’s head off for the pin at 7:26 shown of 10:56.

Rating: C. This was exactly what you would expect from these two. Henry is the perfect foil for a guy like Sheamus as it looks impressive when Sheamus beats him but Henry’s power is good enough to give Sheamus a threat. Also it helps that Sheamus has a finisher that he can hit on anyone instead of a power move.

Bryan comes to the apron and Sheamus invites him down. Sheamus says this Sunday won’t be a fluke and there won’t be an AJ to blame. Will Sheamus kick Bryan’s head off and keep the title? YES! YES! YES! The chant ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show for the most part other than the Khali win. For the life of me is it a crime to make him look strong before a rematch? Anyway I liked a lot about this, including the push for the world title match and Ryback’s match, as he’s the more interesting version of someone like Tensai, minus the big win. Good show here and they pushed the PPV strong, which is the right idea.

Results
Big Show b. Albert Del Rio via DQ when Cody Rhodes interfered
Nikki Bella b. Alicia Fox – Brie Bella pinned Fox after a facejam
Darren Young/Titus O’Neil b. Yoshi Tatsu/Ezekiel Jackson – Double Team Powerbomb
Antonio Cesaro b. Tyson Kidd – Cradle Pancake
Great Khali b. Cody Rhodes – Punjabi Plunge
Ryback b. Jacob Kaye – Muscle Buster
Sheamus b. Mark Henry – Brogue Kick

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