Smackdown
Date: February 18, 2011
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

It’s the last show before Elimination Chamber and we might have a new World Heavyweight Champion.  It wasn’t really clear on Raw as to what was going on with that but we’ll find out tonight.  Also, Vickie says that she has proof that Edge was the one that attacked Teddy Long.  Finally we have the six faces in the Chamber matches vs. the six heels in the Chamber matches.  Let’s get to it.

We see clips of Smackdown over the years as this is the 600^th episode.  We talk about the 12 man tag which is a bit much don’t you think?

Theme song hits.  Since Cena is here tonight I can tell you to get your reinforcements.

Dolph’s coronation is tonight.

Here’s Edge to open the show.  Oh wait this is the 12 man.

Edge/Randy Orton/John Morrison/R-Truth/Rey Mysterio/John Cena vs. CM Punk/Sheamus/Wade Barrett/Drew McIntyre/Kane/Dolph Ziggler

Great pops for all the faces with Rey as the hometown boy or Orton getting the best.  No rapping for Truth here.  This crowd is white hot.  Booker takes offense to Cole calling Sheamus the best king of all time.  Quite the lineup here.  Kane competed in the first Friday Night Smackdown.  Are we really just not acknowledging the Thursday show anymore?  Is there a reason that Ziggler’s initials on his trunks are backwards?

Edge and Sheamus start but Drew wants a tag immediately so more or less he and Edge start us off.  I’ll try to keep up with the tags but I make no promises.  Edge beats the heck out of him, pounding him down in the corner and getting a big boot for good measure.  Truth comes in and Booker gets all excited.  Cole says Truth actually knows what city he’s in here.

Off to Ziggler who gets taken down immediately.  Orton comes in to a ROAR.  Loud Randy chant as we hear about Ziggler winning the title by DQ.  Big kneedrop by Orton gets two on Dolph.  Off to Cena who gets a nice reaction of his own.  Ziggler hammers away at Cena which doesn’t last long at all.  Now we get to the interesting part of the show as we talk about Rock ripping into Cena on Monday.  And that’s the end of that as we simply say Rock ripped into Cena.

Morrison in now but Starship Pain is avoided and Ziggler gets a reverse slam off the top as we take a break.  Back with Sheamus beating on Morrison and getting two.  MAD heat on Punk as he comes in.  Booker and Cole argue over the toughness of names as Rey comes in to a big pop.  619 is blocked into a backbreaker for two and it’s off to Kane.  Bearhug by the Big Fried Freak.  Rey is up in the air for this and it looks like Kane is cuddling him.

Rey gets thrown into the corner but fights his way out of it and manages to avoid a chokeslam.  Kane sends him to the floor into the waiting knee of Punk as we take our second break of the match.  Back with Barrett beating on Rey and tagging in Sheamus.  Rey can’t get a tag and the beating continues.  Booker doesn’t seem to be incredibly familiar with Sheamus.

Mysterio almost gets a tag but Sheamus keeps pulling him back and gets the Irish Curse to stop it one more time.  That only gets two though and it’s back off to Barrett.  Miz is in action later tonight.  Rey avoids a charge but goes up top for a moonsault instead of tagging.  It’s enough for a tag (which the referee clearly didn’t see but allows anyway) to bring in Edge.

Edgecution sets up the spear but Sheamus intercepts it with the Brogue Kick.  We get the expected sequence of finishers as everyone runs in to hit something.  I’m not even going to try to keep track of them all. Rey winds up getting a double 619 on Ziggler and Barrett to allow Edge to hit a good spear on Ziggler for the pin at 11:57 shown of 18:57 total.  That spear was more like a Gore as Ziggler bounced off and Edge didn’t just stop as it hit.  Good shot.

Rating: B-. This was only going to be so good as with that many people in it they couldn’t get an incredibly match out of it.  It wasn’t supposed to be a great match though as it was only there to be an all star match for the most part which is exactly what it was.  Fun stuff and a good little treat for the crowd.

Post match Vickie comes out to say it’s time for Edge to hand over the title.  We get a clip from last week with Clay Matthews running in to count the pin after the illegal spar.  This is a relief as the ending would have made no sense at all otherwise.  Also Vickie knows that Edge attacked Teddy Long.  Without showing the evidence, Vickie fires Edge and we take a break.

The announcers argue about Vickie for a bit.

We see the video of Cody having his face broken by Rey and his knee brace.  Todd talks to Dashing Cody Rhodes who is ready to address the world.  He’s in a mask ala Hannibal Lecter.  While the surgery was a success his journey has stalled over a masked something (he didn’t finish what he was saying after masked).  He’s cleared for travel and will be making an announcement on Smackdown next week.

Eve Torres/Beth Phoenix vs. Layla/Maryse

After the faces enter we take a break and get a clip of the first regular episode of Smackdown (remember that there was a pilot about four months earlier) from August of 99.  Michelle has a bad foot so is out for awhile.  Beth vs. Maryse to start.  Michelle is on commentary and wants to know why Eve is the Divas Champion when Michelle got a pin also.

Off to Layla vs. Eve with the champion dominating.  Michelle seems a bit irritated by Layla here as we continue to push the split.  Eve fires away with kicks and Michelle gets off commentary.  She limps up the steps and gets in the face of Layla.  Beth hits her in the foot to bring her down.  In the confusion, Layla and Maryse hit what I think was supposed to be a double superkick so that Layla can pin Eve at 2:27.  No rating as this was mainly Layla vs. Eve but this was no worse than your usual Divas match.

It’s time to talk about the Rock.  Booker says this show should have been named the Book Show instead of Smackdown.  Yes, we should have named a show after a guy that wouldn’t be in the company for over two years.  We see the same ten minute or so video from NXT which is still awesome.  I finally got the electricity part: he’s electrifying after all right?

Another Smackdown moment is the 9/11 show.  That is indeed awesome and the #1 moment in Smackdown history.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

This should be good.  I’m in the minority here but I absolutely love hearing Cole talk about Miz.  Basic back and forth style to start with Kofi grabbing an armbar.  Booker praises Miz, saying he worked his way up from the bottom and that he has charisma.  He does have a big mouth however but Cole doesn’t care as he has Booker’s endorsement of the Miz.

Miz is sent into the corner and Kofi tries what looks like either a Stinger Splash or a jumping Superman punch.  Either way he misses and lands on the middle rope.  Miz kicks the foot out though and takes over as we take a break.  Back with Miz in control with a kick to the gut and a suplex for two.

Kofi fights back with kicks but can’t get the SOS.  Miz is sent into the middle buckle and Kofi gets a shot for two.  Kofi kind of misses the pendulum kick in the corner and gets the cross body for two.  Backbreaker/neckbreaker combination (that needs a name) by Miz gets two.  They’re going back and forth here but neither is seeming to go for the kill yet.  Kofi does that thing where it looks like he bounces his head off the top rope to spring backwards.

Superman punch sets up the Boom Drop which sets up the Trouble in Paradise.  Here’s Alberto though, doing what can almost be called Slick’s walk down the aisle.  The distraction lets Miz get a rollup for two in a nice false finish.  Kofi puts Miz down for a second but Alberto snaps his scarf at him which is enough of a distraction to allow Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale to end it at 6:46 shown of 10:16.

Rating: C+. These are the kind of wins Miz needs and the kind of matches I’d love to see more often on WWE TV.  In one week he’s beaten Bryan clean and Kofi not quite clean.  Kofi and Bryan aren’t on Miz’s level so it’s not like they’re being dropped down or anything.  Miz looks good and gets credible wins, no one is lowered in value and we get decent matches.  What’s wrong with that?

Alberto looks down at Kofi without saying anything.  They have a match at the PPV which was announced on WWE.com.

We run down how awesome WWE is by showing the list of the top ten shows that have been on the air for the most amount of episodes.  Raw is at 925 at #1 and Smackdown is at #3 with Gunsmoke is second.  I shudder to think of the day when Raw hits 1000 episodes.

Eddie’s celebration for winning the title is another Smackdown moment.

Tag Titles: Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel

How many matches can these two teams have?  No backup for the challengers here and no Tamina either.  Vlad vs. Gabriel to start us off here.  Gabriel is sent to the floor and here come Barrett/Jackson.  Kozlov looks at Barrett and takes a chop block from Gabriel.  Off to Slater now who stomps away.  Santino comes in to fight Gabriel and it’s a strike off.  Saluting headbutt gets two.  Cobra to Gabriel but Barrett and Jackson run in for the DQ at 2:00.

Big Show runs down for the save and for once Jackson doesn’t kill him.  They have a staredown though.  Jackson teases getting in but smiles and leaves instead.

Another Smackdown moment is Booker vs. Austin in the grocery store.  That’s one of my all time favorites.

It’s time for the coronation.  Ziggler and Vickie are in the ring and the title is between them.  Dolph is officially the new World Heavyweight Champion.  Yes, a member of the Spirit Squad is a World Heavyweight Champion.  He holds up the title and it’s the Mack Militant.  He says Vickie and Dolph look like they’re seeing a ghost.

Teddy says Vickie never investigated anything and that it was odd that it was Ziggler and Vickie there first.  Vickie starts talking and Teddy says SHUT UP to a big pop.  Vickie sells Dolph out, saying that it was all his idea to attack Teddy.  He says to clear the ring because we’re going to have a world title match RIGHT NOW.  Vickie had the power to fire people but he has the power to rehire people, and he has rehired Dolph’s opponent right now.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler

After a break the bell rings and we’re off.  Edge starts like a house of fire, taking everyone down almost immediately.  The now legal spear misses as Edge hits the post.  Even Cole can’t defend Vickie here which is saying a lot.  Back in the ring and Ziggler locks on a chinlock.  Edge fights out of it but the champion hits a Fameasser.  Ziggler tries a Zig Zag but the spear gives Edge world title #11 I think at 3:02.  Yep that’s it.

Rating: D+. It probably shouldn’t be graded but it’s just long enough.  Was there a point in having Ziggler get beaten in three minutes like this?  You can’t just give him the title until Sunday so that he has like a three day reign or something?  I don’t get this but they tries at least.  I suppose it’s so they could have a big moment on the 600^th show or something.

Dolph Ziggler is fired post match, meaning there’s an open spot in the Chamber.  Edge says excuse me but tonight has been a long party.  Seeing Dolph get fired makes Edge feel like singing.  I think you all know the words.  Hey and there’s confetti!  This ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Much better show this week than last week and it’s still not that great.  There was a much better focus on wrestling here with far fewer squashes and more of an overall theme to the show.  You had two title matches and two title changes along with angles being advanced and a mystery going into the Chamber PPV.  Not bad at all although it could have been a bit better with some more wrestling.  Good show though.

Results

John Cena/R-Truth/Edge/Rey Mysterio/Randy Orton/John Morrison b. Dolph Ziggler/Sheamus/Wade Barrett/Kane/CM Punk/Drew McIntyre – Spear to Ziggler

Maryse/Layla b. Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres – Double Superkick to Eve

The Miz b. Kofi Kingston Skull Crushing Finale

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov b. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater via DQ when the Corre interfered

Edge b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

Smackdown
Date: February 11, 2011
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

We’re a week closer to the Elimination Chamber and tonight the world title is on the line for the second week in a row.  This time it’s Edge vs. Ziggler again but the twist this week is that Vickie is the guest referee.  I like how they’re doing a mini Austin vs. McMahon here, but they’re not taking it too seriously which is why it’s been enjoyable.  Let’s get to it.

Freddie Blassie seems kind of out of place in the opening.  Not really sure why.

We open with a recap of Kelly getting fired last week after she successfully defended the world title by pinning Layla to keep Edge’s world title from Dolph.  It says a lot when a storyline is out there even for pro wrestling.

Theme song brings us into the show.

First off it’s time for another party thing for Alberto.  I like segments like these but they’re getting a bit repetitive.  During his entrance we get a clip from last week with the piñata and Kofi getting beaten down when he tried to make the save.  I always expect Alberto to start singing when he says his name.

Alberto talks about the things he loves since Valentine’s Day (the point of the ring decorations) like his cars, his country, the fact that the six guys he might face are going to destroy each other in the Chamber, but there’s one thing he loves more.  He pulls the sheet off a heart and it says Destiny.  He pulls that off and there’s a picture of him, because destiny loves Alberto Del Rio.

Aaron Rodgers may have won the Super Bowl but at Wrestlemania, Alberto won’t have to pretend to be the World Heavyweight Champion.  Cue Kofi who says Alberto is always talking about the future.  Kofi wants to talk about the past though.  He remembers Alberto beating him up with a kendo stick.  As for the present, this is Alberto’s destiny.  With that, Kofi grabs a kendo stick from under the ring and is about to drill Alberto with it.

Like any idiot though, Kofi holds off just long enough for Alberto’s begging to change Kofi’s mind.  Ah good he hit him anyway.  Maybe Kofi is as smart as he’s supposed to be.  Kofi destroys all the stuff that Alberto had in the ring and Del Rio runs.  We take a break to clean out the ring.  Kofi looked like a serious character here which is something he needs to do more of.

Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio

I would have expected this later but I like having it right here.  Del Rio is holding his arm due to the kendo stick shot.  Kofi fights off some early adversity to take over with his fast paced offense.  A missed kick in the corner lets Del Rio get a backbreaker for two.  Del Rio works on the back with some basic stuff.  Booker gives a rundown of Mexican athletes that had backbones unlike Del Rio.  Decent little add-in there from Booker.

Kofi knocks him to the floor and takes Del Rio down as he comes back in.  Superman clothesline sets up the Boom Drop.  Top rope cross body gets two.  Fireman’s carry by Del Rio is countered and the SOS gets two.  That would be two of Kofi’s signature moves that Del Rio has avoided being pinned by.  Trouble in Paradise misses as Del Rio tries to hide on the floor.

I say try because Kofi follows him out.  Del Rio is able to reverse though and sends Kofi into the steps on the floor to work on the arm.  Apparently he injured it last week so there’s a chance it’s not at 100% at the moment.  Back in the ring the Cross Armbreaker ends this clean at 4:51.  Kind of surprising there.

Rating: C+. Quick match here but it’s exactly what Del Rio needed.  He needed a clean win over an upper midcard guy to establish himself as more of a credible main eventer.  It also makes the armbar look a lot better as it got a clean win over Kofi after not much arm work.  Decent little match here with Del Rio getting a nice rub.

Todd is with Edge who says of course Vickie isn’t going to play fair tonight.  He doesn’t know how he’s going to keep the title tonight.

We talk about Aaron Rodgers and the Packers a bit.  David Letterman gave Rodgers a spinner belt on the Late Show earlier in the week.  A bunch of Packers are here and they all have World Heavyweight Championship belts.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Justin Gabriel

Corre and Santino are out at ringside for this.  Kozlov immediately grabs a kick and takes over with pure power and dominance.  Gabriel takes over with kicks including a sequence of them for two.  Gabriel is getting treated almost like a jobber here.  Slater gets in a shot while Jackson has the referee.  He gets the Cobra for his troubles but gets kicked by Gabriel for it.  Kozlov misses an elbow in the ring and the 450 ends it at 2:16.  No rating but this was mostly Kozlov dominating.

Corre beats down the champions post match.

Barrett vs. Rey later.

Chris Masters vs. Drew McIntyre

Booker isn’t sure how much Masters wants it here in WWE.  Just after the bell Drew grabs a mic.  Drew blames Edge for Kelly being fired.  This match is dedicated to her, so of course as he slides in Chris takes his head off.  Sky High powerbomb gets two for Masters.  A middle rope splash misses though and here comes Drew.  Backslide doesn’t work as Masters counters into one of his own.  Drew however backflips out of it and keeps the arms locked to hit the Futureshock for the pin at 1:55.  Slick counter but again no rating due to being short.

We talk about the Cody nose thing which could wind up being something cool.  Cody’s surgery went well and he’s recovering.  Rey says it was just a broken nose and that injuries happen.  He says tonight his focus is on Barrett and then getting the title back.  Rey throws in a Michael Jackson-esque CHOW as he leaves.

Wade Barrett vs. Rey Mysterio

Barrett says that the Corre is still equal even though only he’s in the Chamber.  The Corre’s master plan to revolutionize Smackdown has its next step tonight.  After a break here’s Rey.  We’re told Smackdown has the third most episodes of any TV show in history.  Oh not this again.  Barrett hammers him down to start us off.  Rey tries to get things going but gets caught by a knee.

Booker is far better this week than last.  It’s clear that he’s more comfortable out there and can just be himself.  Running seated dropkick by Rey in the corner but a sprintboard move is blocked, giving Barrett control again.  Barrett hammers away with his standard big man/power offense but Rey counters and sets for the 619.  Wade avoids it though and we hit the floor.

Rey gets a seated senton off the apron as Booker talks about how much that hurts.  We need more announcers that are former wrestlers to tell us they’re former wrestlers.  A lot of new fans might not know who Booker is as they may have gotten into the company after he left a few years ago.  Booker saying that he knows what it’s like to wrestle Rey lets younger fans know he’s been a wrestler recently.

Anyway, Barrett picks Rey up in the position for a belly to back suplex and drops him back first on the railing.  Very back and forth match here.  That drop takes us to a break.  Back with Barrett working on the back with a bow and arrow which is broken by some kicks from Rey.  Cross body gets two.  Rey fights Barrett off the top and gets a seated senton.

Time to speed things up as a kick gets two.  Wasteland is blocked but a Boss Man Slam (complete with a Big Bubba Rodgers reference from Booker) gets two.  Pump handle slam is countered into the setup for the 619 but Rey has to take out Gabriel on the floor.  Big boot sets up Wasteland which ends this at 7:23 shown of 10:53.

Rating: B-. Nice little back and forth match here with Barrett reestablishing some dominance that he has been missing since he got here from Raw.  The mild interference from Corre was a good thing as we got to see them working together to get a win just like earlier.  Pretty good TV match here and it did its job.

Corre comes in for the beatdown but here’s Show for the real beatdown.  Jackson is stopped for a bit but he isn’t kept down and the beating is on again.  Jackson manages a suplex on Show and a decent one at that.

Kane vs. JTG

If you can’t figure out the ending here, why are you reading this?  Basic offense by JTG results in him getting kicked in the face.  The beating is on, the low dropkick hits, there’s the clothesline and the Chokeslam ends this at 1:45.  Total old school squash here.

Laycool complains about Eve stealing their win at the PPV.  Michelle says she would have been the new champion which Layla has an issue with.  Vickie gets in their faces about messing up last week.  Ziggler says they’re losers and leaves.

Eve Torres vs. Layla

Eve may be about as average as you could ask for in the ring, but she looks great in those gold shorts.  Layla hits the floor almost immediately and says she can’t do this.  Eve is tired of waiting and the fight is on.  Layla takes over for a bit and a dropkick to the back gets two.  Some dropkicks by Eve as there’s a Go Pack Go chant.  Standing moonsault gets two.  Downward spiral by Eve who sets for the top rope moonsault but Michelle saves, knocking Eve to the mat.  Layla covers but Eve just rolls through it for the pin at 2:55.

Rating: D. I feel bad about rating almost nothing tonight so here’s one for this match.  This was again way too short and nothing special.  I like how they’re kind of planting the seeds for the split of Laycool, but how many times can they lose before they lose any and all credibility?  Pretty weak match all around as Kong can’t get here soon enough.

There was a video on the Chamber somewhere in this show but I don’t have it due to watching early so excuse me for not saying “video on the Elimination Chamber.”

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler

Vickie is referee here.  Big match intros are interrupted by Vickie who does them instead.  The spear is still banned.  Dolph grabs a rollup almost immediately for two.  Naturally, Vickie counts fast for Dolph but Cole says that might be the way she counts both ways.  Edge hammers away in the corner and Vickie breaks it up.  Naturally Dolph does the same thing and Vickie stands around.

Sleeper can’t go all the way on and Edge reverses to get us back to even.  Nice dropkick by Ziggler puts Edge right back down though.  Edge keeps fighting back but hasn’t covered yet so we’re not sure about her speed on his covers.  Ziggler gets that Downward Spiral Stunner but can’t get the Zig Zag.  Edgecution hits so Vickie puts Dolph’s foot on the rope.

Fameasser gets two.  Edge gets a forearm to take down Ziggler.  Cole is getting annoying here as he keeps ranting about how great this is and all that jazz.  Vickie channels her inner Edge and spears her ex-husband.  She actually bounces off Edge and falls to the mat.  Her ankle might be hurt so the doctor takes her out.

With Vickie gone there’s the spear!  No referee though so Edge spears him again.  The problem is that Vickie is right there and sees it.  With no referee still, Clay Matthews, a huge linebacker for the Super Bowl champion Packers, comes out in a referee shirt and counts the pin.  Somehow this counts and Edge wins at approximately 8:45.  Uh….ok?  Vickie waves it off as the show ends and Cole says there’s a new world champion.  Odd but cool ending.

Rating: C. This was just there to set up the ending, but I really hope they follow up on this.  There’s no reason why that fall should stand but at the moment at least it does.  Odd indeed but having Matthews there was a cool thing to do.  It doesn’t make any sense at all, but again it was cool, which was the point.

Overall Rating: C. This was a very average show.  No matches stood out in the slightest, the ending was rather stupid and nothing really happened.  They clearly have it in cruise control until the PPV and then we’ll do the heavy lifting for Mania.  That being said, this was still a pretty weak show for the most part as everything we had already established was just reinforced.  Nothing special in the slightest here and the weakest Friday show in a long time.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. Kofi Kingston – Cross Armbreaker

Justin Gabriel b. Vladimir Kozlov – 450 Splash

Drew McIntyre b. Chris Masters – Futureshock

Wade Barrett b. Rey Mysterio – Wasteland

Kane b. JTG – Chokeslam

Eve Torres b. Layla – Eve pinned Layla after rolling through a pin attempt

Edge b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

Smackdown
Date: February 4, 2011
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

It’s the first show since we officially started the Road to Wrestlemania with Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge being the tentative match for the title at the biggest PPV of the year.  Edge/Kelly vs. Ziggler/Laycool for the title tonight which certainly sounds intriguing.  Also expect the beginning of the set up to Elimination Chamber.  Let’s get to it.

Do you know your enemy?  Where I live it’s SNOW.

There’s a fiesta tonight apparently and there’s a Wrestlemania piñata.  Yes let’s take something we love and are looking forward to and beat it with a stick.

Here’s Booker T and he’s apparently the new member of Smackdown’s announce team.  Cool, and based on what he looked like at the Rumble hopefully he’s an occasional wrestler.  We get a Spinarooni to really get the crowd going.  Booker got a good reaction.  It’s like he hadn’t been around since 2007.

Vickie interrupts Booker’s entrance and says that we’ll get qualifying matches tonight for the Smackdown Elimination Chamber which will be for the title.  Ziggler is with Vickie.  She orders Kelly to come out here right now which prompts a bunch of screeching.  Ah there she is.  Booker’s voice is much better than it was when he did some commentary with TNA.  It’s clear and deep instead of hard to understand.

Vickie yells at Kelly, saying that without her interference Dolph would be the world champion.  She’d rather humiliate Kelly instead of firing her.  Kelly is going to cost Edge the world title tonight.  Kelly says Vickie is trying to destroy her character.  Kelly has a character?  Oh she means her personality.  Kelly has a personality?  Ah ok she’s saying Vickie is a bad person.  Makes more sense.

Dolph blames Kelly for the world title loss because she allowed Edge to hit the illegal spear.  We see a clip of it, which makes me wonder why Vickie doesn’t just reverse it since she’s GM and there’s proof Edge broke the rules.  Dolph: “Now Vickie can’t reverse the referee’s decision.”  Wait why not?  She can do ANYTHING but she can’t reverse it?  She can’t make the referee reverse it?  She can’t show the referee the tape and have him do it for her?  I love the ever changing rules in wrestling.

Anyway Ziggler yells at Kelly, blaming her for him not being champion.  The only reason she’s here is because she may be the reason Dolph wins the world title tonight.  Until then she can get out.  Kelly slaps Dolph and shoves Kelly.  Cue Laycool until Edge comes out for the save.

Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater

Non-title here.  We get a clip from Raw of Orton attacking the New Nexus and putting out Harris.  I missed him RKOing Harris so I thought Harris was down from the Cobra for like three minutes.  That punt looked good too.  I might be missing something but it sounds like Corre’s music is different here.  Kozlov vs. Gabriel to start.  Booker is having some issues getting in on the commentary here but I can definitely give him a break on the first night.

Off to Slater vs. Santino.  Booker says Cole talks a lot of nonsense so he’s definitely a nice guy commentator.  He talks about how there has to be a leader on all teams, but Josh has to lead him into it.  Slater gets a nice reverse DDT to Kozlov and the 450 ends this perfectly clean at 3:03.

Rating: D+. This was just long enough to rate but there wasn’t much here.  The DDT was nice but that’s about all it had going for it.  I really don’t get the idea of having your tag champions constantly lose clean.  Corre could use some titles I guess so I could live with the titles changing down the line.  Very short even at a surprising level.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre

We’re told that Edge and Ziggler are automatically in the Chamber because Edge is champion and Dolph just because.  Booker has no comment on that.  We’re of course talking about the Chamber and since Booker has experience in one, Cole cuts him off every few seconds.  Basic back and forth stuff to start us off.  Booker talked to Drew and he says he’s the Chosen One but Booker isn’t sure.

I know I’m talking about the announcers a lot but it’s one of the main aspects of the show tonight.  Kofi gets a jumping back elbow for two.  Not a lot is going on in the ring anyway so the commentary and how Booker is doing is a bit more interesting anyway.  Armbar by Kofi as they’re seeming to have issues getting off the ground here.  Could be a slow build though which is fine.

Pendulum kick in the corner breaks the little bit of momentum Drew had and a clothesline puts him on the floor.  We hit the floor with Kofi in control until Drew manages to get a modified flapjack to send Kofi into the steps as we take a break.  Back with Drew getting a back elbow for two.  Wisely Drew goes after the ribs with something close to an abdominal stretch on the mat.

Kofi gets dropped on the ribs in a gutbuster which gets two for McIntyre.  Drew gets a nice dropkick to put Kofi down for two.  Cole rants about Lawler for awhile until Drew tries a clothesline.  Kofi jumps up into the air and spins around, catching Drew with a DDT.  That was awesome looking.  Kofi hammers away in the corner and stomps a mudhole in him.

Superman punch/clothesline gets two.  Boom Drop hits and Kofi wants Trouble in Paradise.  Drew manages to avoid the kick though…and here’s Ricardo on the big screen to introduce Alberto?  He doesn’t say anything but just stares down Kofi (remember Kofi beat him in a tag match last week).  The distraction is enough for the Futureshock to end it at 9:42 shown of 13:12.

Rating: B. This picked up in the second half but wasn’t as good as some of their other matches.  Still though, this was pretty solid.  Also if it sets up Alberto vs. Kofi to fill in time until Mania I certainly can’t complain.  Either way, decent enough match and Drew going to the Chamber gives him something to do while the Kelly story develops.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger

This should be pretty good.  The push-ups are back!  Apparently Cody Rhodes is going to have facial reconstruction surgery next week.  Swagger’s boots are a brighter color and they’re taking some getting used to.  Rey sends him to the floor as we take an early break.  Back with Swagger sending Rey into the corner which gets him nowhere.

Rey gets a cross body for two.  619 is avoided though so Rey tries what might have been an Asai Moonsault.  Jack blocks it though and Rey’s legs are tied up in the ropes.  Back to the ring with Swagger working on the knee.  The leg goes around the post which gets two.  Back to the floor with Swagger in complete and utter control.  After knocking over a Red Bull we’re back in the ring.

Vader Bomb gets two.  Swagger picks him up and throws him across the ring.  I love basic moves like that.  Another Vader Bomb misses though and here comes Rey.  Tornado DDT takes Swagger down for two.  Rey tries the 619 but Swagger grabs the legs for the ankle lock.  Rey is in the ropes though.  Not that it matters though as Swagger pulls him back to the middle.  Rey sends him into the corner and gets a kick into a rollup to end this at 8:37 shown of 11:07.

Rating: C+. I couldn’t get into this one for some reason.  It’s definitely good and Swagger working on the knee is a good story for the match.  My issue with it though is that Rey didn’t have to do much at all to take over and win here.  That’s not good in my eyes as it makes Swagger look weak.  I get that Rey is the superhero but can they make it look like they’re trying?

We get a clip from Raw of Alberto picking his opponent.

Edge and Kelly are in the back and Edge says he didn’t think his title reign would end like this.  Kelly says Edge has no faith in her and that Edge is just like Drew McIntyre before storming off.

Here are Horny and Rosa who looks a bit different now.  They throw some t-shirts to the fans until Ricardo introduces Alberto.  He says his usual stuff while Horny and Rosa are still in the ring.  Alberto has a present for Horny: the piñata.  The candies and toys are symbols of everything he wants to give to all his fans here in New Jersey, drawing nice heat (show is in New York).

Horny is blindfolded and swings the stick while the piñata is still in the air.  Naturally he misses and hits Alberto low.  Alberto enters a higher level of heelness as he kicks Horny in the head and hammers away.  Kofi runs down for the save.  Ricardo distracts Kofi though and Del Rio beats him up with the stick and throws on the cross armbreaker.

Stone Cold is hosting Tough Enough.  Booker throws in that he’ll be a coach on Tough Enough.  That’s kind of cool actually and something he’d be great at.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Kane

Uh…yeah.  I wonder if this lasts longer than their Wrestlemania match.  Well there’s that record.  Chavo goes up and is caught in the chokeslam.  He counters though by clothesline Kane over the top.  Frog Splash hits but Kane catches him in the chokeslam from the mat and it’s over at 1:02.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Big Show vs. Wade Barrett

Yeah Corre definitely has new music here and it’s much better.  It’s a toned down song this time that still has lyrics.  All of Corre comes out and surround the ring.  This is for the final spot in the Chamber.  Barrett has to keep moving and gets a shot to the knee to take over.  Barrett gets sent into the corner where he crushes the referee.  Jackson comes in to run over Show but only gets two.  And never mind as a DDT by Barrett ends it seconds later at 2:00.  This was incredibly quick.

Show tries to fight off Corre post match but gets slammed.  Jackson grabs a mic and says the end has come, it has awakened against you.

That sets the Chamber at Edge vs. Ziggler vs. Barrett vs. McIntyre vs. Mysterio vs. Kane.

Smackdown World Title: Kelly Kelly/Edge vs. Laycool/Dolph Ziggler

We even get big match intros for this.  Chimmel has cut down on the throat cracking during Edge’s intro.  The genders have to match here.  Vickie says if there’s a spear the title is vacated.  The guys start us off with Edge in control.  He wants the spear and Vickie shouts at him to do it.  Ziggler tags both members of Laycool so we get Michelle.  Off to Kelly to make it Kelly Kelly vs. Michelle McCool for the World Heavyweight Championship as we take a break.

Kelly is all fired up here and beats up both members of Laycool with her gymnastics.  Instead though Michelle catches a rana on the floor and spins Kelly into the barricade.  That gets two back in the ring.  Dolph: “Stay down Barbie!”  Layla in now as Kelly is in trouble.  Belly to belly by Michelle gets two.  Kelly backflips out of a suplex and slaps the heck out of McCool to put both girls down.

Is there a reason why the initials on Dolph’s tights are backwards?  Layla gets a head scissors choke on Kelly for a bit.  Kelly fights back and it’s an X-Factor to break the momentum.  The referee misses the tag to Edge allows Layla to beat on Kelly a bit more.  Edge goes after Ziggler anyway but Michelle misses a big kick to Layla.  Edge is ready for the tag but instead Kelly spears Layla to retain the world title at 6:50 shown of 10:20.

Rating: C. Decent main event here with a nice ending.  Vickie said Edge couldn’t use a spear, not Kelly.  It’s kind of cheap but it worked just fine for the ending to a TV main event.  I’d have liked more Edge though as he was in there maybe a minute.  I guess that was the point though as it made the title seem to be in jeopardy.  This was just ok though as it was really Kelly vs. Laycool for the most part.  Still though, creative way to have Edge be in trouble.

Post match Kelly gets fired.  So Vickie can fire people but can’t coerce a referee to change a decision?  She yells at Kelly about how she never cared about Vickie and how this is her show and all that jazz.  After Kelly is gone, Vickie makes Edge vs. Dolph for next week with her as guest referee.  Perhaps a title change for a quick title reign before the PPV?  Zig Zag to Edge out of nowhere ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Not a bad show but a bit different than what they’ve done recently.  Either way this was a pretty good show.  They set up the Chamber perfectly and also gave us more of Ziggler vs. Edge.  They’re doing a decent job of channeling Vince vs. Austin with Austin being put through torture.  The one key thing though: they’re not trying to recreate it but rather use a similar story.  That’s very important.  It’s not Austin vs. Vince.  It’s Edge vs. Vickie.  Let it be that and it’ll be a good story.  Anyway, not bad at all this week.

Results

Drew McIntyre b. Kofi Kingston – Futureshock

Rey Mysterio b. Jack Swagger – Rollup

Kane b. Chavo Guerrero – Chokeslam

Wade Barrett b. Big Show – DDT

Edge/Kelly Kelly b. Laycool/Dolph Ziggler – Kelly speared Layla

Royal Rumble 2010
Date: January 31, 2010
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Jerry Lawler

First off, love that announcing trio. Having 6 guys was WAY too much for PPVs. I’m excited for this Rumble. Yes the title matches are easy to see, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be bad. Sometimes you need predictable matches and this is one of them. The matches look good on paper and the build was all there. The Rumble winner is pretty up in the air actually. That being said the show is starting so it’s time to shut up. Actually it isn’t but you get the point.  Let’s get to it.

The video is what you would expect: a look back. Basic but well done as usual.

ECW Title: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Christian

They’ve built this up great as it finally feels like the night Christian is going down. I’m not so sure though. Jackson is a freaking scary man indeed. My stream is very choppy so this is kind of like a fast moving slide show mixed with good audio. There goes Regal after a few minutes. Striker talks too fast at times. Cole sounds sick or something. We hit the formula based stuff which is likely the best way to do this.

Since Jackson is still limited in the ring, it’s probably best to have him be carried by the far more experienced and better Christian. We’re in our second chinlock of the match already. Seriously Striker: CALM DOWN! Christian hits the jumping reverse elbow making him awesome. And then he does those stupid claps to take that away. “Hmm, I have him down and I’ve walked around in a circle so he doesn’t know where he is.

I’ll clap since that doesn’t give him a tip at all.” Jackson hits a big clothesline and we get LARIOTO from Striker. Jackson is really limited. Like Monty Brown levels of limited. I love that slingshot kick that Christian does in the corner. Why should I care about who last won the title where? No one says a word and Striker says nothing? That’s very amusing. Sleeper time. And there’s the Killswitch out of freaking nowhere for the pin. What the heck was that???

Rating: C+. This was your run of the mill big man vs. little man and the more I think about it the more I like the ending. Christian couldn’t hang with Zeke going head to head so he stopped trying to and got a quick win. I actually like that one.

Cryme Tyme both want to be in the Rumble but only one spot is available. Apparently they’ve managed to trade Khali’s spot for a kiss from Tiffany. Apparently not. Gender stereotype humor fails and Khali imitates Urkel. Shad is almost able to look eye to eye with Khali. This is stupid on so many levels. Miz comes in and Teddy, who has no authority on this show, makes the US Title match.

Rhodes sucks up to Orton and throws Ted under the bus. I’d bet on the same thing happening later with Ted,

US Title: MVP vs. The Miz

Talk about two guys that have gone in completely opposite directions. Miz used to look like a joke and is now awesome and MVP used to look awesome and now is a borderline joke. Something tells me he’s winning tonight though. MVP was US Champion what, back in 2007 and he’s still in the same place how long later? There’s a big MIZ IS AWESOME chant. Or was it AWFUL? Either one is a good sign.

MVP is all over him to start which points to Miz hanging onto the belt. Ok, we get it: MVP hung out with some chick from The View. It means nothing at all. Ah there we go. Miz is back now. He’s grown more than anyone else I’ve ever seen in the past two years. We get it also: MVP used to be in prison. Let it die already. MVP is just a failure as a face. His character is designed to be a heel but we can’t have street wise heels that look like stereotypes of course.

Ok, so MVP hits a face crusher and literally 12 seconds later the Ballin Elbow hits. Are we supposed to believe that Miz isn’t going to get up in that amount of time? Seriously? There’s a Pounce from MVP and called so much by Striker. Oh, period. Wouldn’t want to forget that.

I actually don’t know who’s going to win here which is rare in matches like these but it’s a nice plus. And Miz hits a rollup as MVP is getting back in for the pin. And that’s what he needs: wins, even by fluke, that are clean. MVP attacks him after the match and is heavily booed. Please let that be a heel turn. Cole implies it’s not.  Blast it.

Rating: B-. Not bad at all. The ending was great here as it literally came out of nowhere. Miz needs more wins like these but it gives him more and more credibility every time which is what his character needs at the moment. I haven’t seen them get a character’s development much better than his in a LONG time and I’m loving it.

Jericho and Show continue their bromance. R-Truth laughs at Jericho and says it’s every man for himself. It’s better than it sounds but it’s still dumb.

Orton is walking. Yes indeed he is. And there’s Ted to say he’s here for him. No Cody in sight though and I was right with my prediction.

Ad for Raw. I love that they feel the need to advertise a show that you likely would have had to see in order to buy this show.

Soldiers are here. Oh they’re from the National Guard.

Raw World Title: Sheamus vs. Randy Orton

And the champion comes out first for no apparent reason. Sheamus is another character that has gotten a solid push from nowhere and I’m liking it. It’s working bette than Bradshaw’s when they did the same thing and I think that’s because there’s nothing of his past to compare it to. Bradshaw had nothing to go off of in the main event either but we had known him for years and he sucked. Orton gets a bit of a pop.

Please: give him a face title run. It could work. A heel vs. heel title match isn’t something I would have guessed on but it should be awesome. I’m pulling for the Irish dude just to prevent anything resembling Orton vs. HHH or Cena again. We get the big match intros too. Orton gets a straight up face pop. Sheamus gets heat but it’s mild. Still though, likely his best ever. It’s weird seeing Orton not being taller.

Sheamus is getting a bit of heat here. I like it. MASSIVE Randy chant. The fans Vince. LISTEN TO THEM. Yep, he’s wrestling life a face too. Sheamus is dominating here as he should. I’m glad they never went anywhere with the kick he gave Lawler. Orton goes for the knee which makes a lot of sense here. There has been talk of Sheamus holding the belt until Mania. I like it. We’ve begged for a new main event guy and we’ve gotten one.

Giving him a long reign is making him far more credible as a champion and main event player. It’s a brilliant move and I think it’s working. Orton STAYS ON THE KNEE! Oh blessed psychology how I love you! Sheamus works on the arm of all things. It’s different if nothing else. There’s the boo/yay thing. Fans are more or less completely behind Orton which is something Vince needs to listen to.

Sheamus goes for the Razor’s Edge but his knee gives out. See what psychology can do for you? Orton hits that elevated DDT that is varying degrees of awesome. They’re trying so hard to have him be heel in this and it’s failing epically. The Punt, which again is more of a freaking place kick but what do I know. Vince started the XFL so obviously he’s smarter than I am. It misses of course because that never hits on PPV for some reason.

Oh wait forgot HIAC. There’s likely a reason for that one. Rhodes runs in and attacks Sheamus but the RKO hits, meaning Sheamus keeps the belt. YES! Came out of nowhere but whatever. The fans are calling for the RKO on Rhodes but they settle for a choke instead. Ted comes down and gets that whipping. Grr and there goes the stream again! Orton more or less fires them, HOPEFULLY turning face. And Sheamus kicks Orton in the head and everyone leaves him there. Not bad at all.

Rating: B. I liked this a lot more than I should have. The psychology was all working here and it played into the match later on which is nice. The DQ ending kind of sucked as I would have preferred Sheamus to get a pin but this worked just fine I think. Legacy is FINALLY over though which is the far more important thing.

We recap Mickie vs. McCool which is by far the best build to a match I’ve seen in a women’s match in years . It’s even better than the Mark Henry vs. Viscera match. Short version: McCool and Layla were saying that Mickie was fat and it led to this. It’s a lot better than it sounds, trust me.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Michelle McCool

I’m actually pumped for this thing if you can believe that. Odds are it’s going to suck but whatever. The video had Beth in it which implies she’ll be here tonight. Sweet goodness change Michelle’s music. I freak can’t stand it. McCool cuts a bad promo before the match. Mickie isn’t here apparently?

And here’s Layla in the fat suit. This was stupid Friday but cute I guess and now…never mind as Mickie is here. And it’s a 20 second match as Mickie freaking murders her. Ok then. And they bring out food and poor it on the heels. Good to know.

Rating: N/A. Not sure if I like this or not. Mickie dominating is good as it ends this quickly, but it feels flat otherwise. I think I like it though. Yeah let’s go with that.

Ad for Elimination Chamber. Yeah nothing says SPECIAL gimmick match more than two in one night baby!

We recap Rey vs. Taker, which more or less is Rey won a contender’s match and then Batista is a whiny man. Something tells me that’s your ending because he has muscles and therefore he’s a good wrestler, at least in Vince’s eyes.

Smackdown World Title: Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio

They call this the biggest match in Rey’s career. Yep, far bigger than winning the title at Mania I’m sure. As bad as a champion that he is, that belt looks awesome on Taker’s waist. More big match intros which while they’re usually good, they kind of don’t work for Taker for some reason. This is likely to rock or suck with no real in between. This is like a wet dream for Vince: both guys are big faces so why wouldn’t this work?

Taker at 299 pounds sounds odd for some reason. Rey gets freaking launched to the floor but lands on his feet. Nice indeed. Taker has done maybe two moves and he’s put Rey on the floor twice. This is all Taker so far. Thankfully the 619 misses. Taker goes for the Tombstone but Rey uses the ancient Chinese principle of kicking his feet to get out of it. Taker of course messes up his knee because that’s all he can do in most matches anymore.

His hip is in a lot of legit pain at this point so it’s likely not a ton of acting. We get the Asai Moonsault for the Japanese fans out there. Taker’s chest looks the same as Michelle’s used to look like. I wonder if they got them done in the same place? They seem like they’re killing time, which screams BATISTA to me.

Surprisingly enough though it doesn’t come as Taker just more or less casually hits the Last Ride after countering a flippy. Where’s Norcal when I need him? Oh yeah at a bar with muscle guys.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t thrilled here at all. The only good thing was that there was a clean ending which was my main concern here. It’s two more old guys in the main event but at least they’re popular so that’s all I can ask for. Not awful, but underwhelming.

Shawn and Kane talk. HHH and Shawn talk. Greatness personified.

I freaking LOVE that video package about the numbers.

Royal Rumble

Dolph Ziggler is first and Evan Bourne is second. Ok then. And the Zig Zag hits a few minutes in. He pulls a Davey Boy Smith though and doesn’t make sure he goes over. The Shooting Star hits and Punk is third. With the roll he’s been on lately he needs a LONG run here. He starts off hot by throwing out both guys and has time to cut a promo. The heat is there, the look is there and the ability is there.

He has to job to the old guys though right? Number four is one of Cryme Tyme. Oh it’s JTG. Please….make it quick. Hey I got my wish! It lasted just a few seconds as we get our second promo of the night. I love Punk in case I didn’t make that clear. Fifth is Khali. Don’t you freaking put Punk out to this imbecile! You know they will though. Please, sacrifice Serena or something. I beg of you Vince, use your freaking brain.

Nope, Punk gets his the beating. Oh I get it: Khali is a “fun” character so that makes the idiocy ok. He gets the vice but it doesn’t last long enough and…Beth Phoenix is 6th? Well ok then. It’s different if nothing else. Beth gets picked up and placed on the apron where she kisses Khali before ELIMINATING HIM!! Punk hits her with the GTS after a brief skirmish. Didn’t see this coming. Seventh is Zach Ryder. This is odd indeed.

Beth is odd as we get some awesome music from Ryder. Punk tries to recruit Ryder and then hits him to MASSIVE face pops. He’s alone again as this is awesome. It’s another promo. Kane or Show will put him out soon enough. He says he’s better than whoever is next and you can smell the elimination coming from here. And it’s HHH. Bye Punk. Have fun in the belly of HHH’s ego. His intro takes the better part of ever so at least he’s consistent.

Hey Punk actually lasts until McIntyre is 9th. And HHH puts out Punk to get his ego up again. Yep, can’t have these young talented and over guys taking the place of guys like HHH. HHH is called the future of the company. That’s a scary thought. DiBiase is 10th. We’re 1/3 of the way through this. Oh great. Morrison is 11th. Nothing of note is happening at all. McIntyre takes Starship Pain and here’s HHH to take his head off anyway.

Kane is 12th, To recap it’s HHH, Kane, DiBiase, Morrison and McIntyre in there at the moment. The IC Title boys take a double chokeslam and it’s all Kane meaning he’ll be out soon or last a long time. And HHH saves DiBiase. Ok then. I guess the whole end your career thing is forgives. Cody Rhodes comes up on the monitor and Striker says it must be Rhodes. What would we do without you Matty? Legacy dominates…kind of. Morrison is incredibly acrobatic.

Rhodes underrated in the ring. Striker says he’s the seed of the Dream. BAD IMAGE MAN! Kane of course is moving and Cole can’t tell McIntyre and HHH apart. MVP is 14th. Miz jumps him in the aisle and blasts him with the belt. Know what would be nice now? A shot of the ring. Oh there it is. Morrison hits a SICK springboard spinkick to the head of McIntyre. MVP is taken out as I’m pretty sure HHH is going to win here.

My guess is Shawn vs. HHH somewhere down the line because of Shawn’s incessant ego. Carlito is 15th and apparently he’s interesting. Yeah that’s nonsense if I’ve ever heard it. He hits a nice springboard reverse elbow to Legacy. That was nice. MVP will likely run in and attack Miz later. Nothing predictable at all there. HHH takes the Backstabber as do a lot of people. Holy crap he’s dominating. Sixteenth is Miz. Amazingly MVP doesn’t jump him. That’ll be next I guess.

The Skull Crushing Finale hits Carlito. The fans pop like a cherry pie for Miz vs. Morrison and here’s MVP to put himself and Miz out. Legacy has HHH in trouble and of course he doesn’t go out. Carlito hangs onto the rope and stays in. Number 17 is Matt Hardy to a huge pop. This crowd is awesome. To continue the trend he dominates and hits a bunch of people before Kane puts him out and Kane is out by HHH.

You really can see it coming. I hope I need glasses. Spinebusters all around. A hot crowd pops for him so that validates this I suppose. HBK is 18th and I think I feel a showdown of 1990 proportions coming. Rhodes and Carlito and DiBiase are gone. Ok we have Shawn, McIntyre, Morrison and HHH in there at the moment. Ok take out Morrison and the showdown is pretty clear.

Shawn has the second most eliminations in Rumble history apparently. Yep it’s showdown time and there’s the clock. It’ll be a jobber and…never mind it’s Cena. Vince the Survivor Series bombed with this main event so why wouldn’t this do it too? And of course he beats up DX. A double You Can’t See Me is booed to an extent. HHH stops an FU and takes a Pedigree AND HHH IS SUPERKICKED OUT OF THE MATCH! I am STUNNED as all goodness. TAKE THAT MELTZER!!!

Shelton is in now and I’m switching my bet to Cena. Shawn has put Shelton out like three years in a row or something. This is his eighth consecutive Rumble. Wow I wouldn’t have guessed that one. Cena ends Shawn’s streak and puts out Shelton. Holy Mania rematch Batman. Yoshi Tatsu is 21st. I like this guy for some reason. Of course Striker has a dumb name for him: the Poison Fist of the Pacific Rim. Cena dumps him in a few seconds and we’re back to Shawn and Cena.

Nothing overdone about that AT ALL is there? Ok Atlanta is allowed to do the WOOs. Big Show is 22nd. Show almost goes out but saves himself. Cena goes for an FU but it misses. Shawn has to skin the cat (what a name I tell you) because Chin Music misses. Mark Henry is 23rd. Well they’re having some big names in there at least. I still can’t get over HHH being out already. It’s a curveball if nothing else. Henry goes for a slam can can’t get it.

Why do I have a feeling he’s not the world’s strongest man? He gets the slam a bit later but then almost gets an FU. Masters is number 24. Have to have some jobbers I guess. He press slams Shawn and of course doesn’t throw him out. Instead he puts the Masterlock on Show and he gets tossed for it. Henry and Show go at it again as we have a clock. It’s R-Truth….AND HE PUTS OUT SHOW AND HENRY.

I guess there is a youth movement. It’s Truth, Cena and Michaels here. He shows his TNA connection by hitting Cena with the Stroke. The fans are chanting boring. This hasn’t been bad at all. Swagger is 26th as Norcal pops. This is his first Rumble. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Vader Bombs all around. NO! Stream went out! Never mind it’s back!

Kofi is 27th. There goes Truth. Jericho is 28th. Kofi put out Truth in case you were wondering. He follows that up by kicking the heck out of Shawn and then gets thrown by Cena. All three are down and here’s 29. HOLY CRAP IT’S EDGE! Ok it’s not really shocking but still cool moment. Oh yeah he’s a face. Just like he should be. Spears all around and we might not have a surefire winner now.

There goes Jericho and Edge is domination. Sweet the Edgecution is back! Fans are WAY into this. Shame Batista will be 30th. It would have made sense to just have it be Edge in at 30. Ok final four are Cena, Shawn, Batissta and Edge. Naturally Batista is dominating. Anyone of these guys could win. Edge spears him down and Cena FUs Edge so everyone is down. Shawn nips up to another great pop. That’s one of those moves that just plain works.

Shawn is dominating here and Striker screws up again by saying that Edge has had no vigor. Shawn is dominating here and this is exciting me. Cena gets kicked and si does Big Dave. Edge clotheslines Shawn to the apron and then gets superkicked back in. DAVE PUTS SHAWN OUT! The crowd just goes dead silent. That came from nowhere. This is wide open at this point. WOW I haven’t heard a crowd die like that ever.

That…might not have been what was supposed to happen. He goes nuts an goes back in, beating up referees. Could this be a Shawn HEEL TURN??? I certainly freaking hope so. More referees come down as Shawn looks freaking crushed. Striker says this is heartbreaking (no pun intended I’m sure) as he says Shawn has never achieved this. If he means beating Taker he’s an idiot. He’s also never achieved a good buyrate but we’ll ignore that.

Ok so it’s Edge, Batista and Cena. Cena reverses the Batista Bomb and Batista reverses the FU and there goes Batista! This would suggest Edge winning but I’m not so sure. He sets for the spear with those great visuals of his and it misses of course. Cena goes for a clothesline and EDGE WINS IT! YEAH!

Take that people screaming this was going to be predicable! Love that ending, even though it’s the same thing they did with Cena but not as exciting/sweet. This is what we needed too: a FRESH face that is going to get some POPS. Great move all around and a great Rumble match.

Rating: A. Very solid Rumble here. Edge winning was a very pleasant shock and I liked it a lot. They had the star power in there tonight and no Santino or Duggan or jokes like that who are just going to waste time and spots. The formula works great when it clicks and this was no exception. I was bored until HHH got dumped but it wasn’t awful before that. Once he’s gone though, it’s straight through the roof. Very good Rumble and likely in the top five ever of them.

Overall Rating: A-. I was going back and forth between B- and C+. The whole show was indeed nothing great, but there was nothing that bad really. The right people won, for the most part they won clean, Orton is a face…I think, Shawn is snapping, Legacy is OVER, and Edge is back as a top level face.

This was a very good show and if you want to say it was predictable, let me know so I can laugh at you. Fun show and worth checking out, just don’t expect a classic. Edited: what the heck am I thinking? This show was great. A-.

And so ends the history of the Royal Rumble.  I had fun doing this and I think I’ll be doing one off reviews now as it’s much easier and I can look around and have more fun and diversity with it. Anyway, thanks for reading. I appreciate it. I’ll be doing another of these for Wrestlemania so stay tuned.  Or logged or whatever the right term is.

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

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

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

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

Melina challenges for the Divas Title tonight.

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

Edge vs. Tyson Kidd/Drew McIntyre/Jack Swagger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Divas Title: Melina vs. Natalya

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Miz vs. Edge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miz/Ziggler vs. Rated RKO on Friday.

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

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

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

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

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

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

Natalya b. Melina – Sharpshooter

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: January 7, 2011
Location: Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Josh Matthews

In the first show of the year we have the World Heavyweight Championship on the line in a last man standing match as well as Alberto vs. Rey in a 2/3 falls contest.  The most intriguing thing to me is if Kane vs. Edge is finished tonight, what does that mean for the Rumble?  Hopefully this doesn’t see a double countout or a tie etc as that would make me rather irritated.  Let’s get to it.

The opening video is more or less what I just told you.  Now why can’t I get paid to do something like that?  I said more or less the same thing minus a few basic lines.

Do you know your enemy?  That’s a good question actually and I certainly don’t know mine.

After a brief opening statement from the announcers, it’s time for the main event!

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Kane

Edge has the red sunglasses back which I think he’s had recently but not for very long.  This is last man standing remember.  We get the big match intros here which isn’t something you see that often in WWE anymore.  It might be the angle of it but the belt looks quite different for some reason.  Kane puts Edge down in the corner with powerful strikes to start us off.

Edge gets a swinging neckbreaker to put both guys down for about a three.  Sideslam by Kane gets another three on Edge.  The champion hits a spear to Kane while Kane is on the apron and the bald man is down on the floor.  It only gets a six though and we hit the floor.  Up the ramp they go with Kane in control.  Isn’t it amazing how a single shot in one of these matches can send one or both guys off for a good 8 feet?

They go into the back towards the concourse and Edge is slammed into a wall.  Why are the concession stands closed?  Back into the arena in the crowd with Edge blocking a chokeslam off the stands.  They fight up the steps into the luxury suites which have their own concession and merchandise stands.  Dude that’s kind of awesome.  Trashcan to the stomach of Edge breaks his momentum.

With Edge down after being rammed into various things and hammered a bit, Kane finds a flight of stairs and a wheelchair.  I think you know what’s coming here.  Edge counters at the last second and only the chair goes flying.  A big boot puts Kane down for 5.  We take a break with Edge in firm control.

Back with Edge in control still and the fight going on in the crowd near the announcers’ table.  Kane clears off the announce table but Edge manages to reverse to send Kane into the steps.  That gets a 9 which sounded a lot like ten but they kept it going anyway.  Edge does one of those jumps off the top that exist only to jump into a shot from their opponent, in this case an uppercut.

The uppercut is good for 8 and here comes Kane.  Top rope clothesline misses though and Edge gets the Edgecution to put both guys down.  Cole informs us that if it’s a tie then we keep going.  That makes me feel all tingly.  Chokeslam out of nowhere has Edge and the title in big trouble.  Edge is up and 9 and heads/falls to the floor.

Kane wants a Tombstone on the steps but Edge counters into an Edge-O-Matic onto the steps and the big fried freak is in trouble!  Kane gets up at ten but is down at eleven.  Edge sets for the spear but runs into a huge boot to the face to put him back down again.  That gets 9 but Kane gets a chokeslam onto the table to half kill Edge!  Striker was sent flying and is partially pinned under the table in a funny looking visual.  Edge uses Striker to pull himself back up and beat the count.  That was kind of funny actually.

The challenger is all fired up here and he throws a chair into the ring.  Make it a pair of them.  He goes up but Edge pelts a chair at his head to take Kane down one more time.  That looked sick.  BIG chair shots to the knee have Kane in big trouble.  The spear hits but Edge isn’t happy yet.  He goes out and gets the pelted chair and hits a Conchairto to the knee of Kane, which is enough to end this at 17:20 shown of 20:50.

Rating: B. This was a fun brawl with some fairly creative spots, namely Edge using Striker to get up.  I like the ending as instead of the spear it was instead the spear that set up the Conchairto to end Kane.  That’s a nice touch and it prevented the match from ending stupidly with a spear ending Kane when nothing else could.  I liked it rather well and the ending only made it better.  Good match.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

They’re certainly pushing this as a huge show with the title matches and all that jazz.  Striker calls Vickie the female version of Rosie O’Donnell.  Why are so many people obsessed with Rosie?  What has she ever done?  Nice reaction for Kofi here.  We get a quick video of last week’s match where Dolph more or less stole the win from Kofi which is true only to a degree.

Kofi hammers away to start as Cole says that Kofi needs to move on instead of trying to get the title back time and time again.  Neckbreaker by Dolph gets two.  Off to a clear choke that they’re going to call a chinlock because they want to I guess.  Splash in the corner misses though and here comes Kofi.  These two have some solid chemistry together to be sure.

A rollup by Ziggler with some tights gets two.  They’re moving very fast out there.  Trouble in Paradise misses and it’s off to the Sleeper!  Kofi simply grabs the hands and rips the hold off and gets the SOS for an incredibly close two.  Middle rope suplex is blocked by Dolph.  I know it seems like I’m flying through this but there is almost nothing between these fast moves.  After Kofi knocks Dolph off the ropes to block the suplex, the HUGE crossbody ends this perfectly clean at 5:31.  That came out of nowhere!

Rating: B. Ok, this grade is going to require some explanation as to how it can be equal to the first match and I think it might clear up a bit about my grading system in general in case some people think I’m a bit inconsistent.  While I’m giving this match the same grade, it’s certainly not as good as the first one.  There are two key differences though.

The first is that the opener was meant to be a long brawl, as evidenced by giving it nearly four times as long to work with.  That match had time to work out spots and to be a brutal fight, whereas this was supposed to be fast paced and exciting.  Different styles of match, but both well done.

Second, which ties into the first, was the ending.  Dolph literally turned around to get hit by the cross body.  Kofi is already horizontal when Dolph sees him.  I love matches that end very quickly and with moves that aren’t finishers.  To the fans it looked like another big move that Kofi would hit to get a two count.  Instead it’s over and the fans are surprised.  That’s an excellent touch and it keeps the matches interesting.

As for the match itself, one important thing to make clear is that this was NOT a squash.  Dolph was definitely in this the whole time and Kofi got a big shot in to get the win.  That’s very important as it keeps Dolph looking strong while still switching the title.  This was a very fun and fast paced match which is what you come to expect from these guys.  Good stuff.

Dolph, ever the villain, destroys Kofi post match.  Vickie gets on the mic and says that since Teddy isn’t here tonight, Dolph gets a rematch RIGHT NOW!

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

LOUD Kofi chant but he’s more or less d…..and screw that as he hits Trouble in Paradise and it’s over in 43 seconds!  That kick looked great.

Rating: B-. Well the opening 13 seconds were very weak but they picked it WAY up in the next 19.  The final 21 were completely awesome though and it definitely was good enough to make this a passable match.  Dang man those final 21 seconds with Kofi rolling Dolph over for the cover were more exciting than the entire Flair vs. Steamboat trilogy.

After a break Dolph is yelling at Vickie and telling her that was a boneheaded move.  Vickie blames him so Dolph says that maybe she should get a new boyfriend.  He leaves and she screeches in a terrifying voice.  I’ll be sleeping with the lights on tonight after hearing that.

Long recap of the cage match Monday.

Kelly is on the way to the ring when Drew stops her.  He says he’s a different person than he is out there.  This was allegedly supposed to be used for Tiffany and not Kelly, which means absolutely nothing but this is a short segment and I need something to talk about.  Drew wants to earn her trust and wants her support in his #1 contenders match tonight.  She smiles and says thanks and leaves.

Cody vs. Drew vs. Show for the #1 contender spot up next.

Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show

See I told you it was up next.  Cody does look good in the jacket.  I have to give him that.  Could Drew look any more like a natural face than he does?  And here’s Vickie of course.  She makes it a fatal fourway with Dolph thrown in too.

Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler

Drew has a headache and is still tired from the previous two matches.  Show looks very ticked off about the extra person being added in.  They all surround Show who is like screw it and beats up all three guys.  Drew is tossed to the floor first and then the other two get beaten on a bit as well.  Down to Show vs. Cody which is a mini-feud at least.  Dolph breaks up a pin by Show which gets him picked up by the hair and slammed down.

All Show for the first two minutes or so.  Channeling his inner Bobby Heenan, Cole says Show could have won this five minutes ago.  Stinkface to Cody has him gasping for air.  Show is busting out some of his old spots here like the Final Cut (Nightmare on Helm Street) and the one where he lifts up his leg and drops it onto the other guy’s chest like a standing legdrop (Wiki calls it the Showstopper but I’ve never heard that name for it before)

Drew has been in the ring maybe 20 seconds so far.  Big chop in the corner misses Dolph and Cody teams up with Dolph to beat down the Giant.  And that fails completely as Show blocks a double Irish Whip and sends both guys flying over the top with a simple tug.  Out on the floor Show is triple teamed and sent through the time keeper’s area.  He’s down but so is everyone else as we take a break.

Back with Cody vs. Dolph in the ring.  Cody goes for a moonsault but Drew shoves him off the top into the waiting arms of Big Show.  Cody gets back in to stop Drew from destroying Dolph and shouts that he’s #1.  He’s Paul Jones all of a sudden?  Drew back in now but Show is back up to a big reaction.  He picks off Drew and sends him flying on the floor and I think we’re about to pick up again.

Cody gets crushed in the corner and down goes Ziggler.  Show calls for the Chokeslam and out of nowhere Wade Barrett comes in to destroy Big Show!  A few big boots and a top rope elbow take down Show and Wade leaves.  Something to note there: Barrett just took down Show when three guys couldn’t.  Cody can’t steal the pin after the Beautiful Disaster but Ziggler manages to get the Zig Zag for two.

Futureshock gets two as this is ridiculous.  Show took a beating from Barrett, Cody’s second best move, Ziggler’s pin finisher and Drew’s finisher and is up a few seconds later.  We get that he’s a giant but don’t make him look invincible.  Cody and Dolph team up again but Dolph grabs the Zig Zag on him out of nowhere and gets the pin at 10:12 shown of 13:42.

Rating: C+. Fun match and told a decent story, but for the love of heck I can’t stand Show being made to look invincible like he does with those power kickouts.  Doing that to one move is ok, but how weak does the Futureshock look when it can’t get a pin after all that softening up mere seconds before it?  This still was more good than it was bad though so points for that.

Michelle McCool vs. Kelly Kelly

Kelly looking GOOD tonight.  They’re flying through this show too with maybe two backstage segments so far tonight.  Michelle charges into the corner to start but Kelly gets a choke with her legs while hanging upside down over the ropes.  Michelle fights that off with ease and goes after Kelly’s leg.  Kelly manages to get a headscissors to take her down and sets for the K2.  Michelle casually counters into the Faithbreaker to end this in 1:42.  Not quite a squash but you could call it that pretty easily.

Laycool beats down Kelly post match until Drew runs down for the save.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

2/3 falls here.  This show has been PACKED with wrestling so far at a level I haven’t see in a long time.  Before we start Alberto says that it’s his destiny to win the Rumble.  He talks about how there are pure Latinos and then the rest of them, who are car washers, gardeners, and Rey Mysterio.  I like that.

Rey starts us off here with some speed moves and wants the 619 maybe 75 seconds in.  Alberto ducks and the Cross Armbreaker makes it 1-0 in 1:37.  I was under the impression that there would be no math.  We get a graphic telling us that it’s 1-0.  Are fans really that stupid?  After a quick break we’re back with Rey in an armbar and then taking a big backbreaker to put him down again.

Rey gets sent to the floor as we debate if Rey tapped out just to break the hold, which would make sense.  A big rana takes down Alberto but Rey can’t capitalize immediately.  Alberto gets up and goes for the armbreaker again but Rey turns into it and gets a rollup for two.  619 can’t hit again but a cradle gives Rey the 1-1 tie at 8:12 (total time elapsed) and we take our second break of the match.

Back with Alberto holding another armbar as Rey is in more trouble.  Del Rio gets caught by the usual speed and leverage moves from Rey but Del Rio fights Rey off with a Codebreaker to the arm.  The fans chant 619 over and over and Rey gets a body scissors into a DDT for two.  Rey tries to go up but Del Rio gets to the ropes and down comes the masked man.  He’s caught in the Tree of Woe so Del Rio hammers away.

Alberto goes up for a suplex while being on the outside.  In other words he’s trying to suplex Rey to the floor.  Rey’s arm is really hurting him here.  I’m not sure why Alberto isn’t getting back in the ring but rather is fighting from the apron.  Rey gets a 619 around the post to take down Alberto.  Rey gets a big dive to take out Alberto and Ricardo and get a big reaction from the crowd.  Del Rio gets back in but Ricardo grabs Rey’s ankle and it’s a countout to give Del Rio the win at 11:53 shown of 18:53 total.

Rating: C+. This was pretty good for the most part but I wasn’t feeling it for some reason.  Rey losing on the countout to end the match doesn’t do it for me at all.  If you’re going to have Rey lose in the end, have it be to the armbreaker.  Del Rio still looks good but at the same time the ending feels kind of silly.  Decent match but I didn’t like it for some reason.

Rey beats up Ricardo a bit post match including a 619 and the springboard splash.

The announcers recap the show and announce Show vs. Barrett next week.

Overall Rating: A. This show was packed and it worked the whole night.  With two nearly 20 minute matches plus a title change and a new #1 contender, how in the world can you argue against this one?  Oh and I forgot that Barrett is here now too which is good as the show is dying for star power.  I really enjoyed this show with it being so wrestling heavy.  Good stuff indeed and a great way to kick off the year.

Results

Edge b. Kane – Conchairto to Kane’s Leg

Kofi Kingston b. Dolph Ziggler – Top rope Cross Body

Kofi Kingston b. Dolph Ziggler – Trouble in Paradise

Dolph Ziggler b. Cody Rhodes, Big Show and Drew McIntyre – Zig Zag to Rhodes

Michelle McCool b. Kelly Kelly – Faithbreaker

Alberto Del Rio b. Rey Mysterio two falls to one

Seems appropriate around this time of the very new year.

New Year’s Revolution 2006
Date: January 8, 2006
Location: Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York
Attendance: 11,000
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jonathan Coachman

Ok, so quite a bit has changed in the last year or so. Cena is now the Raw Champion and yet again the main event here is the Elimination Chamber, which is fine as they’re just bringing it out once a year to kick it off in some style so I can’t complain on that front. Anyway, other than Cena against five fairly weak challengers, the other things on the card are Big Show vs. HHH which actually is intriguing and…uh…actually never mind. There’s nothing else worth mentioning at all on here. Let’s get to this.

The video is of course all about the Chamber as you would expect of it. Joey’s voice here is either great or terrible and I’m not sure which.

Intercontinental Title: Edge vs. Ric Flair

Edge has the MITB at the moment and Flair has the title. Flair being the IC Champion was kind of a cool thing as he never held the belt before. He also brought some prestige to the belt which it was sorely lacking. Now I don’t know how smart it is to have a guy pushing 60 holding the midcard title, but Flair was still almost bearable in the ring at this point so it’s ok I guess.

This is going on as Flair had legitimately had a road rage incident and Edge did a hilarious parody of it. At this point Flair’s personal life was such a wreck because of a nasty divorce that he more or less was staying in the ring to pay his bills. This is your run of the mill Flair match here as Edge beats him up for a good while and works on his back, as it certainly has never healed at all in over 30 years.

Since I can more or less call the next few spots, I randomly start singing Trish’s theme song. Flair has so much charisma it’s scary. And Flair puts the figure four on Lita for no apparent reason, making Edge hit him with the case for the DQ. Well that came out of nowhere. At least the ending makes sense a bit as he’s protecting Lita. Flair bleeds. No need for the case here as a stiff glare could crack his head open.

Rating: C-. Standard Flair match here and while the ending is a bit odd, it’ll make sense in a little while and if you’re not familiar with that, you’ll find out soon enough. It looks like tomato soup on Flair which is just stupid but whatever. Not a terrible match as it was more or less acceptable.

Angle, a heel here, says he wants America to lose the war in Iraq. Well he’s 1 for 1. He says he likes France, doesn’t like black people, and he wants to go back in time and make Jesus tap out. Apparently no matter what he says people will cheer for him because he’s so awesome. That’s clever actually.

Flair is STILL being taken out. I’d hate to see what chicken noodle would do. Apparently if you put your hands on Lita, you pay. Dang that must be a poor locker room.

Recap of Mickie vs. Trish. Mickie was still insane and they would feud over the title for a good while, including at Backlash 2006 which I attended. Mickie beat Victoria for this shot. She was about to go nuts and heel at the same time after kissing Trish. It was interesting if nothing else.

Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus

This is a weird match as Mickie is acting all honored to be in there and Trish is creeped out and annoyed by it. It’s a nice bit of storytelling that you rarely get in a lot of wrestling today, especially women’s wrestling. Trish does kind of a baseball slide and misses to let Mickie take over. James is WAY over here also as her character really was great. It’s weird as Mickie James is on Smackdown at the moment and she looks so different now and then.

She’s fat now? She looks about the same, but she’s wearing skirts here and jeans on Smackdown, that’s about it. This is more of a psychological match instead of based on wrestling which while hard to do can indeed work. Mickie hits the Stratusfaction as I’m liking the thinking of the match. Trish hits the Chick Kick out of nowhere for the pin. That’s a bit anticlimactic but it was good so I’ll take it.

Rating: C+. Not everyone is going to like this match as it’s not your standard match. They were going more for psychology and character development here and I’d say it was certainly a success. Fun match but this was really just a piece to the puzzle if that makes sense.

Maria interviews herself about the bra and panties gauntlet. She’s the ditzy blonde here so it’s a bit different but charming to an extent. Gregory Helms shows up to cut her off and he’s about as awesome as he’s ever been here as the ridiculously cocky heel.

Shelton Benjamin and his mother are here. This was somewhere between brilliant, hilarious and freaking stupid.

Edge doesn’t want to answer internet questions. He has Lita do it instead.

Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD ad. This went about as ridiculously far into unfairness as you could possibly go as they bury this guy harder than they do anyone I’ve ever seen.

Jerry Lawler vs. Gregory Helms

This is more or less the same thing that they did with Hassan last year as they were just giving Helms this to get him over as a cruiserweight trying to fight heavyweight guys. Apparently Lawler said Helms sucked and he got slapped or vice versa, and I think it was the original. I love how Coach tries to act like he means something. The idea worked as I want to smack him already but then again I always do.

Helms is mostly dominating here so at least they’ve got that working right. In a funny line, Coach says he isn’t sure which chin Helms is grabbing. Helms pulls a Rock and does his own commentary in the match as this is going a bit long. Uh oh it’s strap time and here comes Lawler.

They say his fists are moving like pistons. That’s just amusing in general. Lawler shouts out piledriver and somehow Helms counters it. I wonder how he figured out what to do? And Lawler hits the middle rope punch….FOR THE PIN??? WHAT IN THE FLYING HECK WAS THAT???

Rating: F. Seriously, there is ZERO justification to put Lawler over clean here as this isn’t in Memphis. No way is this ok at all. This was a failure plain and simple. Not from a wrestling perspective but from a booking and thinking one.

Lita leaves the internet place and runs into Trish. Mickie follows her in and she has no issue with losing and is now implying she wants lesbian sex with Trish.

Mama Benjamin is at catering and says this won’t do. She bends over (she weighs probably 400lbs) and Viscera’s music starts up. He likes what he sees and thrusts his lower guy at her and then at the camera. Apparently his music and lights just follow him around and apparently she doesn’t notice any of this at all. Yeah this is dumb.

Quick recap of HHH vs. Big Show, which more or less is that HHH came back from an injury and turned on Flair which ticked off Show who fought him and then cost him a spot in the Chamber tonight. HHH broke Show’s hand, leading to this.

HHH vs. Big Show

I like this actually. It’s not something that’s been beaten to death and it has a bit of potential. That being said it’s likely to suck but what are you going to do? Show has a huge cast on his hand. We get a huge stall to start. You have to say huge in any match either of these guys have. Show is actually moving a bit here which is helping a lot. When he’s motivated he’s rather entertaining to watch although it has to be in doses.

Show is dominating here early on. HHH has had no offense about three minutes in. And then Show punches the post with the cast and HHH is suddenly fine. He’s really bad about that. He at least uses some psychology and works on the hand. And there goes the cast. Well at least they got it off early. It’s kind of basic but a lot of the time that’s all you need to do.

Another important thing to note here about it: HHH is mixing things up with strikes and holds. That’s a major perk as otherwise it just isn’t as interesting. Show makes his comeback to get us to even but misses a punch and knocks the referee out cold. Great looking shot there.

The hammer comes in but a chop goes through it. More or less it’s nothing but HHH using weapons on the hand now and Show fighting as hard as he can (ok not really but work with me here) to stay alive in this. A half sledgehammer shot to the head and a bad Pedigree ends this.

Rating: D. This started off as pretty good and then just fell off a cliff. The last 6 minutes of this or so are just freaking bad and there’s no other way to put it. This was like watching two matches and at the end you just wanted it to end. If you take four minutes or so out of this, it’s an easy C at minimum. Started out great, then just went to heck, which is a shame.

Coach and Styles could not have less chemistry if their lived depended on it.

And let’s have two minutes of replays to affirm that HHH is in fact, awesome (allegedly).

Masters is getting ready and Carlito comes up. They’re both in the main event tonight for no explainable reason. This goes nowhere.

Ad for the Rumble.

Lawler is back.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Viscera

Holy filler Batman! Something tells me this is going to suck and it’s going to suck hard. This is just boring beyond belief. Seriously, who thought this was a good idea? Shelton is more or less powerless to do anything with this second rate Mark Henry, and that’s saying A LOT. His mother promises him a sweet potato pie for a win.

Do you see what I do for you freaking people??? She yells the entire match too and talks about getting the belt etc. Is this supposed to be funny? SHUT UP WOMAN! This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. This is one of those angles that is only to amuse Vince and nothing more. She hits Viscera with the purse and he hits a spin kick to get the win.

Rating: S. As in the stiff drink that I want. This is easily the most ridiculous and annoying thing that I have ever seen on a wrestling show. It wasn’t funny at all but they kept this up for months. THANK GOD he turned heel soon after this and this idiocy ended.

Vince wishes Shawn good luck and Shawn lists off his accomplishments which really are rather impressive. This was the beginning of Shawn vs. Vince that wound up running all summer with DX reuniting.

Bra and Panties Gauntlet Match

It’s exactly what it sounds like and it will be just as worthless as you can imagine. The only good thing here is Lillian in a tied off jersey top. I have a thing for jerseys on women and more or less it’s a bikini top made of one. In short, she’s hotter than should be legally allowed. This is just a bra and panties match but then another comes out and they keep going. Candice and Maria starts.

Candice is about to be in Playboy here. Maria wins. Torrie is next. Notice a trend here: they’ve all been in Playboy and most of them can’t wrestle to save their lives. Maria puts Torrie out. Victoria is next and she puts Maria out. And here’s Moolah and Mae as I want to shoot this show. Ashley winds up winning and of course strips anyway.

Rating: N/A. Give me wrestling please. It’s what you advertised.

Shelton and his mother again make me want to shoot someone.

We recap the Chamber and it’s just the main Raw guys other than Show and HHH in the Chamber after qualifying matches.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Carlito vs. Chris Masters vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kane

Naturally it takes forever to get to this match but less time than last year which is at least a plus. Cena of course gets a lot of boos. This wasn’t even the most hated that he would ever get. He starts with Shawn. Cena isn’t ready to do that yet so this is nowhere near what it sounds like. Just 18 minutes between the ending of the last “match” and the bell in this one. The fans are ALL OVER Cena here.

The Chamber really does look awesome to say the least. Cena can sell really well. Kane comes in last due to winning a Beat the Clock Challenge. He’s the odds on favorite. That’s most amusing. In third is Carlito. He means nothing at this point either and no one really knew why he was in this. Nothing at all happens here other than some potential alliances. Finally Angle comes in to wake the crowd the up by suplexing the living tar out of everyone in the match.

Styles saying Angle is all impact amuses me. I mean he must throw everyone 4-5 times each. I have never seen anyone wake a match up like Angle did. Shawn is busted after being thrown into one of the cells. Good night Angle throws a pretty suplex. I mean Angle is just completely dominating. He gets the ankle lock on Shawn and then on Carlito. Masters finally comes in for the save. We’ve fought 15 minutes or so at this point and look at how little I’ve had to say.

Masters comes in and takes an ankle lock. Cena makes a save for no apparent reason and goes for the FU but Angle reverses into ANOTHER ankle lock. He’s just on freaking fire tonight. And then Shawn kicks him in the head and pins him. Yeah seriously, that’s how they get rid of him. Give me a freaking break. Ok it’s not that bad but I hate the out of nowhere ones like that.

You can tell they’re just killing time at this point as nothing at all is happening. Kane comes in so they’re all in now. I seriously couldn’t care less. This thing is boring as any and all goodness. After some brief domination, Kane chokeslams everyone but like an idiot never covers them. Carlito and Masters double team him and amazingly…it works. They do a double DDT and then a press slam of Carlito onto Kane.

At this point, it becomes somewhat clear how this is going to end and it gets dumber and dumber every second. Oh I forgot to mention that Shawn is bleeding. The problem with this match: Carlito and Chris Masters are dominating. Still, this is better than the Extreme Elimination Chamber as Shawn and Cena are at least major star power. Four of the six here were legit title guys and Carlito and Masters were solid midcard heels at the time, so it’s forgivable.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s freaking dumb and it’s very bad, but it could be worse. The other four being awesome balances it out a lot. Shawn gets Sweet Chin Music on Cena and Carlito hits a rolling cutter (Cody Rhodes’ finisher) on Shawn to pin him. Yes, the final three are Carlito, Masters and Cena. This is freaking stupid. No one bought Cena losing for a second.

I was reading WZ and was on AIM at the same time with a girl I knew who was a Cena fan and was telling her what was going on. She went to bed at this point as it was obvious to even her, a mark, that this was ending with Cena winning. The fans are now cheering for Cena as they see the alternatives. That’s rather funny. So they double team him for about 5 minutes until the Masterlock is put on. Carlito low blows Masters and rolls him up before getting rolled up by Cena to win the match.

Rating: D. Seriously, Masters and Carlito? This is short because literally the second the match ends, Vince’s music starts playing and it becomes clear what’s going on and why the Chamber sucking means nothing, so I won’t bother going into detail on it.

Vince says the show isn’t over yet and you can hear the crowd pop like a cherry over it. He has the cage raised up. And he says that while Cena did a great job, his night is not over yet, as Edge is cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and the match is NOW.

Raw World Title: Edge vs. John Cena

Cena is more or less dead and can’t even stand up. This is less than two minutes as Edge hits a pair of spears to win the title in a TOTAL shock.

Rating: A. I know I rarely grade matches this short, but this was absolutely brilliant. I mean NO ONE saw this coming and we all thought it was just Cena wins again and no one cares. This was legitimately shocking and it made the show ending awesome. Loved this and it’s one of the best moments of the modern era.

Overall Rating: D+. Again, this show just isn’t that good. The brand split shows were almost always awful because they have to have stuff like Viscera vs. Shelton for no reason whatsoever and no one cared but because they had 3 hours to fill and Vince was so obsessed on the stupid split looking legit and everything that the fans got screwed over for nearly 5 years.

Flair vs. Edge and the whole ending sequence are I guess worth seeing, although the main event should really be watched if you haven’t seen it before as it’s not great at all but since it’s the Elimination Chamber and not the Extreme version it’s worth a one off look I guess. Overall though, this show just isn’t very good as it felt like a Raw with more of a budget.

This would thankfully end before too long but DANG man, this was just painful every month that wasn’t a big show. Not an awful show but just not that good. Better than last year by far though, even though I think I graded them the same. If nothing else, watch the Chamber through the end just for the crowd. I have never heard a crowd turn back and forth so much in 40 minutes in my life as a fan. Other than that, not worth it.