Mae Young Classic – September 19, 2018: The Good End Of The Scale
IMG Credit: WWE
Mae Young Classic Date: September 19, 2018 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Michael Cole, Renee Young
We’re halfway through the first round with eight names having already advanced to the second round. That means we still need eight more people to move on and we’ll be getting four of those names tonight. This week’s show features one of the bigger names that was announced for the tournament over the summer. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap of the first eight winners and preview of tonight’s matches.
Opening sequence.
Kavita Devi was in the tournament last year and uh…..well she wasn’t very good.
Kaitlyn is back to prove that she can still do this.
Kavita Devi vs. Kaitlyn
Cole is a full on Kaitlyn fan here and Renee sounds like she has a crush on her. An early shot to the face puts Kaitlyn down as Cole talks about the original NXT’s women’s season and how that plays into the Women’s Evolution. Fair enough, though that’s more about the company as a whole than the women.
Kaitlyn chops away and gets two off a legdrop, only to get chokeslammed with no elevation. A running kick to the back sets up an armbar so Kaitlyn taps, which doesn’t count for whatever reason. Kaitlyn has to elbow her way out of a fireman’s carry and some forearms rock Devi. The Cannonball in the corner draws the YOU STILL GOT IT chants, followed by a spear to end Devi at 4:09.
Rating: D+. Devi was horrible last year and was upgraded to pretty bad this year, whichTy isn’t much of a step forward. She isn’t big enough to be a giant but is too big to be able to move around with most people. Kaitlyn on the other hand is being treated like a legend despite not really being a huge star in the first place. It’s nice to have her back and she has some credibility, but this wasn’t exactly a star making performance.
Jinny is a fashionista who has been signed to NXT UK.
Toni Storm was an absolute star in last year’s tournament and she has to be a big favorite this time around.
Tyler Breeze and the Iconics are watching.
Jinny vs. Toni Storm
Beth: “How does being a fashionista translate to a wrestling ring?” Well we’ve been trying to figure out the weird careers/interests in wrestling for years so she’s not alone. They take turns shoving each other around until a wristlock has Jinny in some low level trouble. A forearm to the face just fires Storm up though and it’s a running knee into the corner. Jinny is fine enough to hit a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle though and Storm’s nose may be messed up.
Some forearms to the face set up a Japanese armdrag into the corner and we hit the armbar. Toni is right back up with a rolling crucifix (and what looked like a wink to the camera) for two but Jinny reverses into something like a sitdown surfboard. That’s broken up as well before Storm’s shoulders are ripped apart and Jinny misses a charge in the corner. A hard German suplex puts Jinny down and Storm Zero (tiger driver) finishes her off at 7:09.
Rating: C. I know Jinny is a much bigger star (and different character) in Europe but I didn’t get much out of her here. All WWE told me was that she was a fashionista, which is hardly the most interesting thing in the world. Toni on the other hand continues to have more star potential than almost anyone else in the tournament and is clearly going to be a big deal in WWE as soon as she’s there full time. Not a bad match, even though Storm winning was never in doubt.
Xia Li (the woman from China with the fans) is back and ready to prove herself again.
Karen Q is ready to show what she can do, which includes speaking three languages. That’s more than I’ve learned about her in a year or so of watching her in Ring of Honor.
Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano are here, seemingly with no problems at the moment.
Karen Q vs. Xia Li
Cole is annoyed that Li didn’t bring them the promised dumplings. They bow to each other to start and take martial arts poses, which gets the loudest reaction of the night so far. Xia trips her down so Karen nips up and that’s another double bow. Back up and Li fires away in the corner but Karen pounds away and bows as well. A handspring elbow in the corner hits Li and a running kick to the face makes things even worse. Karen hits a pretty low full nelson slam and the cravate goes on. More kicks put Karen down for two and Xia hits a spinning kick to the back for the pin at 4:28.
Rating: D. They had me interested here with the martial arts stuff to start and then it was really just a match with some kicking included. Li moving on to the next round is fine, if nothing else so we can see the fan thing again. Karen continues to be one of the least interesting people I’ve seen in a long time. She’s not bad, but I still know nothing about her because she’s just someone who goes out and wrestles. That’s not exactly thrilling.
Allysin Kay (Sienna from Impact) is violent but classy, because she has her pinkies up. She was influenced by Bad News Brown, who isn’t a name you hear as inspiration all that often.
Mia Yim is aggressive and has a history with Kay, including a match where she severely broke her nose. That’s the kind of little story that can do a lot of good for these matches.
Sonya Deville is here and I didn’t recognize her with her hair down.
Shelton Benjamin is here.
Mia Yim vs. Allysin Kay
They go straight to the brawling with Kay having to bail to the ropes to get out of a cross armbreaker attempt. Mia does the Andrade Cien Almas pose and avoids a charge to send Kay outside. A kick to the chest has Kay in more trouble but she’s fine enough to Pounce Yim to the floor. Yim shrugs off some chops and heads back inside for a suicide dive without much impact.
A chop hits the post with a lot more impact though and Yim gets dropped face first onto the apron. The fans are split between LET’S GO MIA/PINKIES UP as Kay kicks her in the ribs. Kay blocks another armbreaker attempt and has to do the same to get out of a kneebar. They’ve finally had it with the wrestling and just start hitting each other until Kay bicycle kicks her down.
Yim is right back with some running dropkicks and a missile version gets two. A Code Red is good for the same but Kay is back up with a discus lariat for two more. We get a double knockdown until Yim goes up top (Cole, as she climbs the buckles: “IS SHE GONNA GO UP TOP???”), only to get caught by Kay. That earns Kay a super Soul Food (Eat Defeat) for the pin at 9:37.
Rating: B-. Match of the night here by a pretty wide margin and a lot of that is due to the two of them having a story coming in. I get that you can’t do that in a tournament with a bunch of fresh names (not a criticism, just a reality) but it helps so much to have even something like this. There’s a reason for them to be fighting each other like this and that made the match a lot easier to get into. Good match, and one of the best of the tournament so far.
Overall Rating: C. Totally watchable show this week with nothing terribly bad (Kaitlyn vs. Devi was short enough to get by) and a good main event. We’ve only got a week left of the opening round and the shows being about an hour each make them easy to sit through. After next week we can move on to the better matches, which is where a lot of the fun is in a tournament. This year’s edition has been perfectly fine so far and that’s a good result for something like this, which can go in either direction.
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Kaitlyn would spend a little time in FCW before debuting on the third season of NXT as the rookie of pro Vickie Guerrero. Here’s her first match from September 14, 2010.
Primo/AJ vs. Kaitlyn/Dolph Ziggler
The boys start us off which lasts about 20 seconds. AJ used to be homeless and according to Cole she’ll be homeless again in about three weeks. Cross body by AJ for one before Kaitlyn takes her head off and tags out. Men vs. women is illegal here but we get it for a second anyway. AJ can’t get by Dolph so she slaps him in the face.
Again I would often advise that as a solution to a problem: when all else fails just HIT THEM IN THE FACE. Primo comes in and has about 20 seconds of offense, cementing his jobber status before the Zig Zag ends it. Kaitlyn and Dolph celebrate, making Vickie jealous.
Rating: D+. Really more about storyline tension between Kaitlyn and Vickie rather than the wrestling. Given the short amount of time in the season this time they needed to get things moving and this is probably the highlight of the angles. It’s not much but it’s probably the best they’re going to get and if it gets Ziggler on his own I couldn’t be happier. Ok I could but you get the idea.
Here’s a six Divas tag from November 30, 2010.
Naomi vs. Kaitlyn
Let’s get this over with. I’m having some connection issues so the times might be off a bit. Kaitlyn busts out a giant swing as Matthews says DOZENS are tuning into WWE.Com for this. Gah my stream keeps freezing. Kaitlyn is in control because that’s the most illogical thing we could have. Cole apologizes to Harley Race for forgetting him last night in former kings.
The pros don’t seem interested. Kaitlyn throws her over the top and we get like a 7. My screen is frozen so I’m doing what I can to keep up with this. Cole isn’t really helping but he’s making me laugh at least. Cole gets in a great line on a cover by shouting: “if you shout faster it’ll be over!” So true good sir, so true. Kaitlyn blocks a suplex into a rollup and gets the pin. Well of course she did. No clue on the time due to the freezing.
Rating: N/A. With all the choppiness and the freezing I can’t really give a fair grade of it but it didn’t seem all that good from what I could tell and the crowd definitely wasn’t into it. Seemed to be about a D. Oh and of course Kaitlyn wins because she has no experience and isn’t the wrestler of the final two so Naomi has lost at least two in a row.
Kaitlyn would win the season of NXT and debut on the WWE roster (along with multiple other Divas). Here’s a main roster match on Smackdown, January 28, 2011.
Laycool vs. Kaitlyn/Kelly Kelly
Striker sings Laycool’s song which is rather disturbing. The non-Flawless ones jump Laycool during their entrance and the beating is on in the aisle. Is this Kaitlyn’s non-NXT debut? She starts with Michelle and is clearly green. Layla distracts Kaitlyn though and Michelle kicks Kaitlyn’s head off to end this at 43 seconds. AWESOME kick and if that hadn’t ended it there was no way I would have believed it. The replay makes it look even better as that kick was spot on.
From Raw on June 13, 2011 in the required mess.
Tamina/Alicia Fox/Rosa Mendes/Maryse/Bella Twins/Melina vs. Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres/Gail Kim/Natalya/Beth Phoenix/AJ/Kaitlyn
If this goes past two minutes I’ll be stunned. Kelly and Brie start but it’s off to Melina or Rosa and there’s the big brawl almost immediately. Kelly hits the K2 on Rosa and we’re done at 1:25. Three out of the fourteen were actually legal.
We’ll go to another country now for NXT on October 19, 2011.
Kaitlyn vs. Maxine
Both of them look good but Kaitlyn looks better with darker hair. She has great legs though. Maxine is in essence in a swimsuit. Here’s your Maxine fact: her aunt is a careless maiden from Guadalajara who is engaged to a one legged Elvis impersonator who does a great version of Blue Suede Shoes. The match is your usual basic stuff here that isn’t very good.
Maxine hooks something like a dragon sleeper but Kaitlyn falls into the ropes. The fans here do not care at all. All Maxine so far but I’d rather look at Kaitlyn in gold so I’m not paying attention to the match here. Kaitlyn takes over with her horrible looking offense. She hits a Bubba Bomb and then a full nelson with her legs to make Maxine tap (with her foot) out at 4:48.
Rating: D. It’s your usual bad Divas match and more proof that AJ was the best choice for the 3rd season winner. Kaitlyn looks great in tight gold shorts and other than that, she’s about as worthless as anyone else you’re going to find on the roster. Not much here overall and the girls just aren’t that good. Granted this is on NXT so it’s not like anyone is watching them.
Kaitlyn would be back for a guest spot on NXT Redemption, April 4, 2012.
Natalya vs. Kaitlyn
New music for Kaitlyn and Kidd is on commentary. Nattie takes her down and Kidd says there’s nothing going on with them. Bridging rollup gets two for Natalya. I think Natalya is a face here but I really have no idea. Kidd admits that he isn’t a Hart, which ticked him off when McGillicutty rubbed it in his face weeks ago. Natalya works on the arm and uses more holds on whatever part of the body she picks. Kaitlyn’s first offense is a cross body but Natalya laughs it off and the Sharpshooter gets the submission at 3:30.
Rating: C-. This was a squash for Natalya as she picked apart Kaitlyn with ease. I’m so glad they’ve dropped that idiotic gimmick she’s been using for the last few months as she’s very talented and can make even someone like Kaitlyn look good. I’m still not sure if she’s a face or a heel though, but I doubt WWE has put any thought into it either.
Back to the big shows with Smackdown on August 31, 2012.
Kaitlyn vs. Natalya
Eve is on commentary. Nattie takes her down with a headlock to start and the place is eerily quiet. Kaitlyn shoulder blocks her down and they head to the floor where Kaitlyn gets her head slammed into the floor. Natalya hooks an abdominal stretch and slaps Kaitlyn’s side which has to hurt bad. Kaitlyn comes back with some armdrags but Natalya clotheslines her down. The Canadian runs her mouth and gets small packaged for the pin at 2:45. Getting extra time is helping the Divas a tiny bit but this was more about Eve, who spent the whole match being the corporate suckup, which does nothing for me at all.
Kaitlyn would start going after the Divas Title, starting on Raw, October 8, 2012.
Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn
Layla is on commentary as she always is anymore. Apparently she gets the winner of this. Eve is champion coming in just in case it’s like 2031 or something. Kaitlyn takes over to start and suplexes Eve down a few times followed by a fireman’s carry into a kind of Torture Rack. Eve rakes the eyes and kicks out the bad ankle to take over. Kaitlyn hits a backbreaker but it hurts her ankle again. Eve goes after the ankle by standing on it before putting on a heel hook for the tap at 2:54. This wasn’t terrible at all.
Another title shot at Hell in a Cell 2012.
Divas Title: Layla vs. Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn was attacked at Night of Champions and Layla had to defend against Eve instead of Kaitlyn. Eve won the title and was accused of attacking Kaitlyn, setting up this. The challengers double team Eve, argue a bit, and then double team Eve again. Eve and Kaitlyn finally start fighting and we get a pinfall reversal sequence. Eve comes back in and knocks Layla to the floor so she can beat on Kaitlyn a bit.
Eve works over Kaitlyn’s leg with a long hold until Layla finally gets back in. A hard kick to Eve’s face slows her down and Layla pounds away in the corner. A cross body gets two for Layla but Eve throws her into the splits. Eve gets thrown into the splits as well and Kaitlyn gives us a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER!!! Kaitlyn puts Layla in a Fujiwara Armbar but Eve makes the save. The crowd dies as the match starts to drag. Kaitlyn hits Stratusfaction on Eve to send her to the floor and powerslams Eve down. Eve hits a middle rope Swanton to break up the pin and covers Layla to retain the title at 6:39.
Rating: C-. The girls are getting better and they have an actual story anymore, but the fans still don’t care. This is MILES better than they were having a few months ago, but at the same time it’s still nothing to write home about. Kaitlyn appears to be the future but I’m still not sold on her at all. Decent match that ran too long.
Kaitlyn would get another shot at Survivor Series 2012.
Divas Title: Katilyn vs. Eve Torres
Eve is defending. Kaitlyn jumps her to start and pounds away in the corner before sending Eve out to the floor. The champion is sent into the barricade and apron before heading back inside for some hair pulling. Eve kicks her in the ribs and slams Kaitlyn’s head into the mat over and over for two. Off to the corner for some choking and an elbow to the back gets two on Kaitlyn.
Eve puts on a figure four choke before clotheslining Kaitlyn down for no cover. Kaitlyn pops back up to break up the moonsault, sending Eve out to the floor. Back in and Eve is tossed around by the hair followed by a fireman’s carry gutbuster for two. Eve comes right back by sweeping Kaitlyn’s legs out and finishing her with a swinging neckbreaker.
Rating: D. As is the case with the Divas around this time, there isn’t much to brag about other than the girls looked good in their outfits. Kaitlyn just wasn’t that good in the ring and hasn’t gotten much better ever since. Eve was good but her character had hit a ceiling around this time. It’s no surprise she was gone soon after this.
One more shot in Kaitlyn’s hometown of Houston on Raw, January 14, 2013.
Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn
If Eve gets disqualified or counted out she loses the title. Kaitlyn sends her to the floor to start so the champ hides a bit. Kaitlyn is the hometown girl tonight so it’s pretty clear what’s going down here. Eve knocks her down and hits her running flip splash as we hear about Lamb Chop for no apparent reason. Off to a triangle choke from Eve but Kaitlyn makes a rope.
The reverse DDT gets two and Kaitlyn seemingly dives onto Eve’s knee. The spinning neckbreaker gets two for Kaitlyn so Eve pounds away a bit. Kaitlyn’s gutbuster hits but it sends Eve to the floor. The challenger follows her out and gets whipped into the barricade. Eve puts her over the barricade but Kaitlyn sneaks back in and spears Eve for the title at 5:35.
Rating: D+. This was better than any of their other matches but at the end of the day I have no reason to care about either of these girls anymore. Word on the street is that Eve is gone after this so I guess this is the passing of the torch. Am I supposed to care more now because Kaitlyn wins after not being able to win the title after like four tries? At least they finally did the freaking switch.
Time for a PPV title defense at Elimination Chamber 2013.
Divas Title: Tamina Snuka vs. Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn is defending and this match was set up on the WWE App on Monday. The crowd is silent for Kaitlyn’s entrance so we get a quick promo from her about how scary Tamina is. Tamina shoves Katilyn around a bit to start but gets caught in a rollup for two. A backslide gets two more for the champ and Tamina is knocked to the floor. The other Divas are watching in the back. Kaitlyn goes to the apron, only to be rammed into the buckle and knocked out to the floor. Back in and a Samoan drop puts Kaitlyn down but the Superfly Splash misses. Kaitlyn spears her down to retain at 3:15.
Rating: D+. Did we really need this? No? I didn’t think so either. When your match is set up on the WWE App, it’s pretty clear that it’s not needed on the card. For about two weeks there were no Divas mentioned anywhere on WWE TV and it was a very nice break. Why did they need to come back again?
And another at NXT Clash of the Champions.
Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn is defending. The fans chant YES at AJ before we get going. Kaitlyn runs her down to start but Kaitlyn shoves her into the corner to take over. Off to a Fujiwara Armbar by the challenger and she even throws in a Dolph Ziggler handstand. A hammerlock suplex puts Kiatlyn down and AJ is in full control. Kaitlyn gets in some right hands before rolling through a top rope cross body for two. A reverse DDT gets two on AJ but she sends Kaitlyn to the floor for an eight count. Back in and AJ puts on a sleeper followed by an enziguri for two. Kaitlyn pops up and spears AJ out of nowhere to retain at 5:06.
Rating: D. Again, the WWE Divas show that they have nothing on the NXT girls. I have no idea what the appeal of Kaitlyn is as her two moves are both terrible and she can’t work a match to save her life. AJ was fine with the Ziggler impersonations being a nice touch. Anything from Kaitlyn was just dreadful though.
Kaitlyn would be in a six Divas tag on Raw, June 3, 2013.
Kaitlyn/Funkadactyls vs. AJ Lee/Bella Twins
Kaitlyn and AJ start things off. AJ backs into the corner and elbows both dancing chicks before bringing in Brie. Off to Naomi for the Rear View and a rolling senton from Cameron for two. Naomi hits the ropes with a crossbody and the Bellas take over on her arm. Nikki stays on the arm until Naomi slugs her down and brings in Kaitlyn. The reverse DDT only gets one on Nikki but AJ drops to the floor instead of tagging. The spear finishes Nikki at 4:32.
Rating: C-. That’s on the Divas scale so this wasn’t half bad at all. The arm work went nowhere but when is the last time you remember psychology in a Divas match? They’re to the point where they can get through a match without looking completely horrible which is at least progress. The camera shots of the girls didn’t hurt either.
AJ Lee would take the title from Kaitlyn, triggering a long feud between them. Here they are on Raw, July 29, 2013.
Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee
Non-title. AJ takes over to start and has that insane look on her face the entire time. Katilyn throws her off and loads up the spear but a running knee to the head puts her back down. An armbar doesn’t get AJ anywhere as Kaitlyn comes back with a backbreaker. AJ comes back with another armbar as we hear about Tweets from Vickie. Kaitlyn fights up and hits the spear out of nowhere for the pin at 4:51.
Rating: D. You remember those matches between these two that had a ton of heat and were awesome? This is the total opposite at it was just there to fill in a few minutes and set up yet another rematch. They took out all the good parts of this feud and turned it into the same exact thing that plagued the division for years.
One last match from Raw, December 30, 2013.
Total Divas vs. True Divas
It’s the Bellas/Funkadactyls/Eva Marie vs. Rosa Mendes/Summer Rae/Alicia Fox/Kaitlyn/Aksana. Eva and Kaitlyn get things going with Eva elbowing her in the face and blowing kisses to the crowd. Kaitlyn is staggered by a kick to the chest but none of the other Total Divas want to deal with Eva. Eva finally tags Cameron in but Alicia makes a blind tag and cleans house.
Summer Rae and Rosa (dressed almost identically) take turns stomping on Cameron in the corner before it’s off to Aksana for some choking. Cameron finally crawls over for a tag to Nikki who puts Aksana in the rack (get it?). Everything breaks down and Aksana hits a reverse Eye of the Hurricane for the pin on Nikki at 5:10.
Rating: D-. Yeah it sucked, but it was a bunch of good looking women in tiny outfits. That’s more than the Tribute to the Troops show managed to pull off. They need to figure out where this division is going though because it’s getting even worse. From what I can find, that’s Aksana’s first pin on TV in nearly two years.
Kaitlyn is a case of someone trying to be different than most Divas and succeeding to a degree. She was gorgeous and looked great in the outfits but that was rarely her focus. If nothing else she could spear AJ in half and make it look better every single time. She didn’t really stand out but her stuff worked when she had a decent opponent.
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Kaitlyn Gone From WWE
It appears to be amicable and she’s going to do other stuff. I liked her but I didn’t see the superstar in her that most people seemed to see. She was gorgeous though.
On This Day: December 21, 2011 – NXT: Back When This Show Just Had Potential
NXT
Date: December 20, 2011
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Matt Striker
We’re at the next to last show of the year on this season and it’s becoming pretty clear this is going to go on to the beginning of the WWE Network. Therefore, there’s almost no point to paying attention to this show. However, if I was going with that philosophy I would have been out of here months ago. Let’s get to it.
This 4pm thing is ridiculous. It’s 6:40 and I’ve been checking on things every 20 minutes or so and it’s just now up.
Here’s Bateman to open things up. During Bateman’s entrance we recap the Percy Watson show from last week. He says he’s here to win and win back the Courtney to his Kurt and the Bonnie to his Clyde (aren’t both of those men dead?). Striker says they have to work together and be partners here. Curtis shows us a still of him kissing Maxine and then offers a handshake.
Usos vs. Derrick Bateman/Johnny Curtis
The Siva Tao makes me want to invade a small country. Bateman starts and the brothers take turns beating on him. Once he finally gets a bit of a break though, Curtis tags himself in. It doesn’t go very well for him either though as the Samoans hammer away. Curtis gets a hard clothesline for two and the fans aren’t really interested. He goes over to tag in Bateman but Derrick walks away. It doesn’t take long for the Superfly Splash from Jimmy to get the pin at 3:37.
Rating: D. The match was pretty much nothing but that was the point. The Usos are light years better than everyone and that’s been obvious for months, so I’m getting tired of seeing them wasted in stuff like this. Curtis is about as uninteresting as anyone I’ve seen in years, but it’s just NXT so it’s not so bad.
Trent Barretta asks Yoshi to watch his back against Hawkins tonight since Reks will be out there. Yoshi says sure but after Trent leaves, Yoshi gets jumped by Hawkins/Reks and locked in a utility closet.
Curt Hawkins vs. Trent Barretta
Striker goes on a rant against Hawkins and Reks for making fun of legends on their Youtube show. If he doesn’t like them, why does he keep booking them on NXT if he has matchmaking abilities? Hawkins takes over to start and hits a slam for two. Hawkins keeps beating on him and heads to the floor to yell at Striker who yells right back. Trent fights back and the fans are SILENT. A running knee gets two for Trent. He goes up but has to kick Reks down, allowing Hawkins to finish Trent with a move that starts as a reverse neckbreaker, but he spins forward to slam Trent’s face into the mat for the pin at 4:45.
Rating: D+. I like Barretta but he couldn’t overcome the boredom of the crowd here. Nothing special at all but I guess it sets up drama between Yoshi and Trent which is the latest place they’re going here that has nothing to do with NXT but they have to fill in an hour either way. Also, who comes up with these dull finishers? All these face slam moves are getting old.
Kaitlyn vs. Maxine
Maxine’s outfits really aren’t PG. Kaitlyn dominates to start and shows off her range of offense, going big with a legdrop. Maxine fights back and chokes away. This is the usual boring stuff from the Divas. Maxine hits her in the chest and hooks a standing guillotine choke. Kaitlyn fires off some but Maxine keeps beating her down. Cue Bateman who says he’s been looking everywhere for Maxine. The distraction lets Kaitlyn roll her up at 3:03.
Rating: D. Other than the chest strike thing, this was rather dull. Somehow this was WAY better than the Raw and Smackdown Divas who are just awful at this point. It’s amazing what happens when they’re down in FCW with trainers and get to actually practice a bit isn’t it? This was nothing special though.
Bateman begs forgiveness and sings the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling but gets blasted by Curtis. Maxine walks out on both of them.
Percy Watson vs. Tyson Kidd
Good to see Kidd back on the show though. Percy starts off with his power game and he hammers Tyson into the corner. The referee tells him to get out of there and Percy actually says yes sir. Very nice to see some manners. Just because you’re in combat and trying to get a full time job, there’s no excuse for rudeness. Kidd takes over and uses his feet to take over. Off to a dragon sleeper which Percy escapes pretty easily. He fires off some dropkicks and adds a belly to belly for two. They go to the corner and Percy gets guillotined on the top rope. That and a springboard elbow drop are enough for Tyson to pin him at 4:03.
Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad and it’s nice to see Tyson back on screen. He would have been the prime candidate for an NXT Title if they’d ever just get to one. Either way, this was fine for power vs. speed and that’s all it needed to be. Watson is kind of floundering and I think a heel turn might be in the cards for him.
Same video on the Tribute to the Troops from Monday.
Bateman and Curtis almost get into a fight in Striker’s office so he makes a match between them for next week.
Titus O’Neil vs. JTG
Darren Young is on commentary and his arm is in a sling. Titus uses the power game to start (common theme tonight) as Young says that he’s better than anyone on Raw or Smackdown. Titus throws JTG to the floor and barks. He gets crotched on the ring skirt though and JTG takes over. To the chinlock! Titus powers out of it and hammers away, hitting a powerslam for two. Clash of the Titus ends this at 3:55.
Rating: D. Not much here but it wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t particularly good hence the grade, but the point of this was to have Titus look dominant before the post match shenanigans with Young happened. JTG just doesn’t work as a heel because of his size and that he’s more annoying than menacing.
Post match Darren stares Titus down as JTG trips Titus up. Darren rips off his sling as his arm is fine. The post match beatdown ensues.
Overall Rating: D+. You know, this show has potential. They got it back to being like an old school territorial show and I can live with that. If there was a title on this show and you keep in mind that the stakes are as low as you can have while still having stakes, you can enjoy this show. Not a terrible show and if they can keep this style, I could see this show becoming almost ok.
Results
Usos b. Derrick Bateman/Johnny Curtis – Superfly Splash to Curtis
Curt Hawkins b. Trent Barretta – Neckbreaker into a face slam
Kaitlyn b. Maxine – Rollup
Tyson Kidd b. Percy Watson – Springboard Elbow Drop
Titus O’Neil b. JTG – Clash of the Titus
On This Day: September 28, 2010 – NXT: There Is No Wrestling On This Show
NXT
Date: September 28, 2010
Location: U.S. Cellular Coliseum, Bloomington, Indiana
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Michael Cole
Back in Bloomington this week as the show was taped. There’s a chance this is the final episode on Sci-Fi but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. On my digital preview there’s a sci-fi show on next week, but a week later, on the 12th, NXT is listed. It’s likely a misprint but interesting nonetheless. Let’s get to it.
We open by recapping musical chairs. It amuses me how they’ve just given up on this being a wrestling show at all and are just trying to make it as entertaining as possible. Talk the Talk is a bit better but it is kind of interesting to see WWE say how talking is very important and apparently more important than wrestling.
No Punk to start us out which makes me a sad reviewer.
Striker brings out the girls who mostly look good. Maxine still has the straight hair which looks really weird on her for some reason. Voting for the first elimination begins tomorrow on WWE.com which is where the results show will likely be seen. There’s a wheelbarrow in the aisle and they have to run around the ring with it, fastest time wins.
Maxine is first but before we start we need something in the wheelbarrow. And here’s Hornswoggle to make me roll my eyes. Cole asks what this has to do with being a Diva as Maxine sets the mark at 14.7 seconds. Horny bites her tights after she shoves him out of the wheelbarrow.
Naomi goes second and beats her time but they keep the clock running anyway for some reason as they have a tendency to do, putting her in second.
Jamie gets 14.4 to take the lead.
Kaitlyn is fourth and flies through this, getting 12 flat. Cole gets the line of the night as he yells at Josh: YOU’RE ANALYZING A WHEELBARROW RACE! He’s annoying but you can’t deny that he’s right.
AJ is the next to last girl and is rocking an I Love Nerds t-shirt. She’s nowhere close and Horny hugs her for a long time.
Aksana goes last and gets 13.9 to give Kaitlyn the win. What a great way to spend the first 13 minutes of a wrestling show.
This Week in WWE History is about Madison Square Garden and in particular the Raw where there was a triple interview with Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind where Cactus returned and had a great falls count anywhere match with HHH. Oh and Austin gave Vince the first Stunner between the two. And now, back to the wheelbarrow racing show.
We profile AJ and how nerdy she is. We get a cool clip of her in line for tickets to Wrestlemania in MSG which I’m assuming was 20. That’s very cool that she is in a clip from footage like that as a kid for some reason.
Diss the Divas later tonight. Oh joy: more reading from scripts.
And now we recap Raw. I wonder how long they can go without actual wrestling on this show. Well that’s enough content so we need another commercial now.
Yep next week we’re on WWE.com. Not sure how that’ll effect the reviews but I’ll get it up somehow.
We profile Kaitlyn now who wants to be herself. And ANOTHER commercial. It’s 10:35 and there has not been a single piece of wrestling whatsoever. They’re coming back for 2 minutes of profiles etc and then a commercial.
Back from a break and we recap Smackdown with the Taker vs. Kane segment. When I say that, I mean they PLAY THE WHOLE THING. I don’t mean a highlight package, I don’t mean a synopsis, I mean Kane is talking about Undertaker and the druids are about to come out and Paul Bearer is about to return. If you’re curious as to what’s going on see my Smackdown review because I’m not talking about something I reviewed four days ago.
Time for Diss the Divas which is exactly what it sounds like. Aksana goes first and says she’s hot which she is. Her diss to the Divas is they don’t look as good as she does and she’s in better shape.
AJ goes second and is rather adorable. This is by far the highlight of the show which is hardly saying much. AJ says she belongs more here and she should be the winner because she’s not the typical Diva. This would come off better if Cole would SHUT UP. It’s one thing to get on the girls but it’s another thing to talk over them so we can’t even hear them.
Kaitlyn does an impression of Naomi by sticking her hips out. Naomi literally kicks it and that’s all for Kaitlyn.
Jamie says Aksana belongs in a circus and AJ is a ten year old but Jamie is awesome. Striker is more or less begging them to pick this up as it’s awful.
Naomi says this is about wrestling and entertainment and has them beat in those areas. Kaitlyn only won last week because Naomi messed up. Shame AJ won last week but whatever.
Maxine says the same thing she’s said every week as AJ and Kaitlyn conspire and play patty cake in the background.
AJ wins the competition over Naomi but just slightly, giving her the most victories and immunity.
And here’s Vickie to make sure we get her face time this week since this is the Vickie/Cole show. She bashes Kaitlyn who more or less turns face and wants Vickie in a match. Vickie accepts but gets a BIG OLD SLAP to Kaitlyn. That was Stephanie level slapping and somehow the highlight of the show. They “brawl” to end this joke of a show.
OverallRating: F. This was an absolute joke. They can’t throw in a two minute match just to give us something? I don’t watch this show to see a segment I already watched. The show is moving to WWE.Com and I can’t imagine this show is going to make people want to watch it. I love the WWE but I never want to hear them complain about ratings again, not after this. Horrible show with no appealing value at all like this show usually has with its bad comedy. I feel sorry for the people that paid for tickets to it.
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Smackdown – August 2, 2013: With A Backslide!
Smackdown Date: August 2, 2013
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Alex Riley
After the mess that was Raw on Monday hopefully things pick up tonight. Last week’s show was very interesting with the focus on everything but the main event matches. That’s the kind of show Smackdown needs to be: something completely different from Raw and not a rehash of everything we sit through for three hours. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Del Rio to announce his Summerslam opponent. Alberto says when he was champion before the fans didn’t support him so he has nothing to thank them for. Now he’s champion again and there’s nothing they can do about it. He does however want to thank Vickie Guerrero for allowing her to pick his Summerslam opponent.
Del Rio says Cena picked the troll Daniel Bryan to hide from Del Rio, so maybe Alberto should pick the beast Brock Lesnar. Well he’s taken already so maybe it should be Houston’s own Booker T. That won’t work either because everything that comes out of Houston is worthless. That’s the best insult he can come up with? Then Del Rio came up with the perfect opponent to grant a first ever world title shot: Ricardo Rodriguez.
This brings out Vickie who says Del Rio is trying to disrespect him. She speaks some Spanish and calls Ricardo a jiggly little manchild. Alberto says he wasn’t trying to disrespect her and he’ll pick Brooklyn Brawler instead. Vickie says Vince wouldn’t like that pick so Del Rio will face the winner of RVD vs. Orton vs. Christian tonight.
This is a good example of why GM’s are a waste of time. The whole segment took over ten minutes and could have easily been accomplished by saying “tonight there’s a triple threat match for the #1 contendership.” Instead we have to bring out Vickie and listen to Alberto when we could have used this time for anything else. It develops Del Rio as a cowardly heel a little bit, but the same thing could have been accomplished in a backstage segment with him recommending Ricardo or the Brawler as his opponents.
Kaitlyn vs. AJ for the title later.
We recap Cody stealing the briefcase last week and throwing it in the Gulf of Mexico.
Cody Rhodes vs. Jack Swagger
Colter doesn’t start talking until Cody is already on the apron. Rhodes doesn’t want to listen so he decks Swagger to get us going. Cody hits a quick uppercut and a knee to the side of the head for two. Swagger comes back with his powerslam/belly to belly and a clothesline for two. Cody fights up but the Disaster Kick is knocked out of the air and a Vader Bomb gets two. The gutwrench powerbomb is countered into a sunset flip for the pin for Cody at 1:57.
Post break Cody goes on a rant against Sandow for being so stuck up and bragging about himself. Cody compares throwing the briefcase into the Gulf to the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. “That was a joke.” Sandow comes in and beats him down for the bad line.
Sin Cara vs. Big E. Langston
Langston runs over Cara as the lights go orange. Cara mostly hits what was supposed to be a dropkick for two as Ziggler is watching from the back. Big E. takes him down with a headlock and drives an elbow in the chest. Langston goes old school with an abdominal stretch and even gets caught holding the ropes. Riley: “Only illegal if you get caught.” Cole: “He did get caught. That’s why the referee was counting.” Cara springboards into the Big Ending but slips down the back and fires off some kicks. A standing Lionsault is caught in the Big Ending for the pin at 2:52. It was longer than I was expecting but Langston dominated.
Wyatt Family promo focusing on their issues with Kane.
Layla and Kaitlyn are in the back with the Brit saying she’ll support Kaitlyn in her match tonight. Kaitlyn’s idea for AJ: “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice you’re going to get speared.” Layla says she’s been around a long time and Kaitlyn is the real deal. They hug and Layla smiles a lot.
Del Rio yells at Vickie for going back on her word about letting him pick his opponent. She accuses him of being afraid when Brad Maddox comes in. Apparently Del Rio will be on Raw and under his jurisdiction. Isn’t he there every week?
Fandango vs. CM Punk
This is a result of Fandango interrupting Punk last week. Fandango dances around so Punk kicks him in the legs to take over. Punk fires off strikes but gets caught in a headlock from the dancer. A spinning kick to the ribs and a high elbow take Fandango down for two but he sends Punk into the corner to take over again. A GTS attempt is escaped and we take a break.
Back with Fandango coming around Summer to send Punk into the steps. Punk slides back in at the last second and Fandango starts in on the arm. He drives knees and elbows into Punk’s face before we hit the chinlock. So much for the arm stuff. Fandango cranks on the chinlock and wraps his leg around Punk for extra leverage.
Punk fights up but a hard elbow to the face gets two. Fandango misses a splash and Punk hits the running knee in the corner. Fandango rolls to the apron and gets in a kick to the head and a falcon’s arrow for two. The top rope legdrop is countered and a superplex sets up the Anaconda Vice to make Fandango tap at 9:40 shown of 12:00.
Rating: C+. Nice match here as Fandango got to show off here. This is the kind of match that can do midcarders a lot of good. Punk gets a competitive win and Fandango gets to look good as well, but he doesn’t lose anything because he has no business beating the star. Good booking here and it gives Punk something to do for a week.
We recap the opening of the show.
RVD says Christian and Orton aren’t pushovers but they’re not Rob Van Dam. Christian comes in and says he deserves one more match. Orton comes in and says he’s fine with winning the World Heavyweight Champion while still holding the briefcase. Van Dam says he’s here to win titles, not to stroll down memory lane.
Divas Title: Kaitlyn vs. AJ
AJ is defending and Kaitlyn, the hometown girl, has Layla with her. Kaitlyn takes her straight into the corner to start but AJ comes back with a quick sleeper. She wraps Kaitlyn up on the mat as Layla plays cheerleader. Kaitlyn gets up and rams the champion into the corner but AJ trips her up and dances around the ring. The blonde comes back with a gutbuster to send AJ to the floor but Layla gets in the way of the spear and smiles. AJ gets in a cheap shot and the Black Widow gets the submission at 3:02.
Rating: D. This falls under the category of turns that surprised no one and that no one cares about. It’s a good way to shift away from AJ vs. Kaitlyn though as that story has been played out for months now. Layla works better as a heel but hopefully she doesn’t ditch the shorts. Match was nothing.
The Raw ReBound recaps the Vince/Bryan situation and the double main event from Monday.
Randy Orton vs. Christian vs. Rob Van Dam
The winner gets Del Rio at Summerslam, but the booking makes little sense. Cole says Orton and Christian are here because they pinned the champion. Van Dam lost to the same guy clean in less than three minutes but he gets the same reward as guys who got clean pinfalls? The champion comes out and says he’ll be watching the three stooges beat the guacamole out of each other. One of them will be tapping out at Summerslam and does anyone really believe him?
Orton is sent to the floor and Van Dam kicks Christian down but Randy trips up Rolling Thunder. Van Dam sends Orton into the steps and puts him on the barricade followed by the spin kick to the back. Van Dam celebrates but gets caught by a spear from Christian as we take a break. Back with Christian getting two on Van Dam off a tornado DDT. Rob rolls to the floor and Orton pounds away on the Canadian. Randy hits a superplex for a delayed two and Rob is back with the kicks all around. A monkey flip (which isn’t unique Cole) sends Christian flying and the split legged moonsault gets two on Orton.
Van Dam charges into Orton’s knee but Christian counters Randy’s Elevated DDT. Rob is sent to the floor as well and Christian joins them. Rob slams Christian down and goes back in for a BIG flip dive to take everyone out as we take another break. Back with Orton and Christian slugging it out and Van Dam on the floor. Orton catches Christian’s middle rope dropkick and starts a pinfall reversal sequence. Christian takes over and knocks Van Dam off the apron but the spear misses. The middle rope back elbow puts Orton down but Rob kicks Orton down before the Killswitch.
Another kick puts Christian down and the Five Star connects for a delayed two, allowing Orton to make the save. Van Dam hangs on to avoid the powerslam but Orton pops up to catch Rolling Thunder in the powerslam in a cool move. Rob fights out of the Elevated DDT but Orton dropkicks him to block a springboard. The Elevated DDT lays Christian out but Orton has to hit the RKO on a charging Van Dam. The distraction allows Christian to backslide Orton for the pin and the title shot at 10:20 shown of 15:50.
Rating: B. Very good triple threat here with the crowd loving Van Dam, Orton being the likely winner and Christian being the man in the middle who steals the win at the end. They didn’t really get to near falls until the end which made the match flow much better. Good stuff here and nice to see Christian getting a shot at a major show. And he got it with a backslide!
Post match Orton teases turning on Christian but shakes his hand instead. Rob shakes his hand too. Christian is about to say something but Del Rio jumps him from behind to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. This was a pretty solid episode as we’re finally getting somewhere with the Del Rio losses. The main event was good and the Punk match was fine, giving us two good matches in two hours. Only the Divas match was bad but at only three minutes long there isn’t much to complain about. It’s a good show as Summerslam finally has more than two matches with about two weeks left before the show.
Results
Cody Rhodes b. Jack Swagger – Sunset Flip
Big E. Langston b. Sin Cara – Big Ending
CM Punk b. Fandango – Anaconda Vice
AJ b. Kaitlyn – Black Widow
Christian b. Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam – Backslide to Orton
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Money in the Bank 2013 Preview
We’ve arrived at one of the biggest shows of the year and for once I’m excited. The card is STACKED and the feuds have all been well built. Let’s get to it.We’ll start with the pre-show. I’ll take the Shield to retain. I’m a fan of the Usos but come on. It’s been two months since Shield won the belts and they’re not about to lose them to a team who was release fodder for the majority of last year.
Cena to retain of course. This is the WWE’s bread and butter: take a superhero and put him against a big old monster, enjoy the crowd reactions. Well in most cities but you get the idea. Cena wins here and I don’t think there’s a cash-in yet.
Del Rio keeps his belt but it likely sets up another match in this feud. Ziggler is popular and will be a god in Philadelphia, but WWE seems obsessed with keeping the title on Del Rio for some reason. The match should be good but I have zero interest in Del Rio whatsoever.
In the surprise of the show, AJ keeps the belt via interference from Layla. It’s not a surprise that AJ wins, but that I actually care about the match. They’ve done a great job at actually setting up the feud and giving us a reason to care about Kaitlyn getting her revenge on the evil AJ. Those INSANE spears that AJ sells so well help a lot too. This should be entertaining though, which I can’t believe I’m saying.
Axel beats Miz. I don’t think this needs an explanation.
Ryback over Jericho. Ryback hasn’t won a PPV match since last year’s MITB, yet WWE still wonders why no one is interested in him. It appears that Ryback is going to hook up with Vickie which might make people care about him a little bit so at least he has some hope. The match should be good and there’s no need for Jericho to win. This is a classic case of putting two guys in a match because they have nothing else to do and there’s nothing wrong with that thinking at all.
Now for the important matches.
I’ll go with the seemingly obvious choice and say Bryan wins the Raw MITB match. RVD will be RVD, Sheamus and Orton would seem to cancel each other out, Christian just isn’t winning this match, and Punk will likely be taken out by Brock or Heyman to set up the Summerslam match. There are rumors that Bray Wyatt will be replacing Kane but for the life of me I can’t see that happening.
That leaves us with the BIG wildcard of the show: the Smackdown MITB match. However we do have a major clue: Ambrose hasn’t interacted with the other participants for the majority of the buildup, and in WWE terms that’s the cue for him to win. Looking at the other contestants, we can immediately eliminate the Scholars for obvious reasons. Fandango simply isn’t ready and has cooled WAY down since his concussion. The Real Americans intrigue me but I could only put Cesaro at a distant second best option. Barrett is interesting as well as WWE has been ready to pull the trigger on him for years now and it’s normal for them to job a guy to death before giving him something like MITB. That leaves Ambrose which would be the right move.
Overall MITB looks very good for the most part. There isn’t a match I’m not interested in other than the IC Title, the crowd is going to be white hot all night and the ladder matches are always entertaining. WWE has turned it way up in the last few weeks and the shows have been the most fun they’ve been all year. This should be a solid way to keep the summer rolling before we get to the important stuff at Summerslam.
Thoughts/predictions?
Thought of the Day: It’s The Story, Not The Characters
The Divas are teaching me something.AJ vs. Kaitlyn started out as a feud I had zero interest in and that I usually rolled my eyes at. Over time though, the story has won me over. I still don’t care about Kaitlyn, but I care about how she’s been abused and made fun of and I want to see her destroy AJ because of it. It’s the first story in the Divas division in months if not years and it’s working like a charm. Think about it: how many times has the Divas Title match been set up by a one off #1 contenders match or a lame battle royal? Now how many times has it been because of some personal issue? Which do you care about more?
It’s the story that sells the feud.
Smackdown – July 12, 2013: Raw Part II And That’s Just Fine
Smackdown Date: July 12, 2013
Location: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the final show before Money in the Bank and the card is entirely set. Tonight is going to be about trying to gain momentum heading into the PPV, so expect a lot of singles matches between the guys in the ladder matches. Hopefully the World Heavyweight Championship ladder match can get some attention for a change instead of the All-Star match dominating the shows. Let’s get to it.
Also before I get going, this morning I won some house show tickets from my local radio station. I know the wrestling expert used to read stuff from here, so in case he is again, thanks for not knowing your music videos Shorty.
Opening sequence again. I could go for that being a normal thing.
Daniel Bryan vs. Christian
Not a bad way to start things up. Bryan grabs the arm to start but is taken down by a shoulder block and a middle rope dropkick gets one for the Canadian. Bryan comes back in with kicks to the arm and some knees to the chest for two. Christian kicks out of a bow and arrow hold and hits a spinebuster of all things for two. The middle rope back elbow gets two more and a backdrop sends Bryan to the floor. Christian misses a baseball slide and gets caught by a clothesline and the running knee from the apron as we take a break.
Back with Christian getting two off a missed Bryan dropkick in the corner. Christian cranks on the neck but misses a charge and falls to the floor but a right hand breaks up the suicide dive. Bryan sends the already damaged arm into the steps and they head back inside with Christian damaged. Bryan backflips out of the corner but gets caught in the spinning sunset flip for two. They slug it out (kicks for Bryan vs. punches for Christian) with Bryan taking over, only to have the back of his neck snapped against the top rope.
Christian misses his high cross but Bryan misses the flying headbutt. Both guys are down but it’s Christian getting up first. Bryan fires off the kicks to the chest but Christian ducks the big one to the head and hits the reverse DDT. The spear is countered by a pair of kicks to the head for two but the spear hits from out of nowhere for two more. The crowd is WAY into this. The Killswitch is countered and Christian tries another sunset flip out of the corner but he dives into the (once again) YES Lock for the submission at 9:25 shown of 12:10.
Rating: B. There wasn’t much to talk about in this match because both guys were on point the entire time. Christian was his usual solid self while Bryan had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Changing the name back to the YES Lock is a good idea for the chants and it should make Bryan even more over with the crowd. The psychology in the end with Bryan learning from the past mistake was a nice touch.
Dolph Ziggler comes in to see Teddy Long but is told he has the night off. Ziggler wants to be out there competing but Teddy doesn’t want interference in Del Rio’s match with Sin Cara. Dolph accuses Del Rio and Teddy of being in cahoots together but forgets about it because he’ll win the title on Sunday.
Seth Rollins vs. Jey Uso
No intro for Jey. They fight over a lockup to start until Jey sends him into the corner to take over. Rollins pulls him off the middle rope for two and a belly to back suplex gets the same. We hit the chinlock but Jey is up quickly and no selling rams into the buckles. Jey fires off elbows to the face and the running Umaga attack in the corner but Reigns distracts him. Jimmy superkicks Roman down as Jey hits a Samoan drop, only to have Reigns offer another distraction, allowing Seth to crotch him. A running knee to the back of Jey’s head (the Black Out in NXT) is enough for the pin at 4:08.
Rating: D+. The match was ok but I don’t see the point in having Jey lose here when his team is a big underdog in the title match on Sunday. The Usos continue to look good but they don’t have much of a chance on Sunday at all. It’s a good sign for the future of the Shield that all three can hold their own in the ring as Rollins did here.
We get a clip of Vickie being fired and Brad being named as the replacement. Why couldn’t the segment on Monday been 20 seconds like it was here?
Chris Jericho vs. Curtis Axel
Non-title again as this is a rematch from Monday where Jericho won by pin. The champion takes him right into the corner for a mudhole stomping fifteen seconds into the match. Jericho comes back with a middle rope dropkick for two but Axel hammers him down again. Chris jumps over a charge in the corner, sending Axel shoulder first into the post. The Codebreaker is countered with Jericho being sent face first into the buckle as we take a break.
Back with Axel getting two off a middle rope elbow. Axel rubs his forearm over Jericho’s eyes and chokes him on the ropes. He ducks his head though allowing Jericho to kick him in the face, followed by a northern lights suplex for two. The Walls can’t go on and Axel hits a snap Saito suplex for two. Jericho sends him face first into the buckle and hits a high cross for two but can’t hit the Lionsault. Axel knocks Jericho off the apron and gets two off a neckbreaker back in the ring.
Another Walls attempt is countered into a small package for two but Jericho comes back with an enziguri for a near fall of his own. Curtis is backdropped to the floor but Jericho misses a baseball slide and Axel hits a clothesline. Bryan and Christian did that exact same sequence in their match. Axel yells at Jericho and sends him back inside but Jericho hits the Codebreaker on the way back in. Unfortunately for Chris it knocks Axel to the floor and it’s a countout at 7:25 shown of 10:10.
Rating: C+. This took some time to get going but Axel picked it up a bit in the end. I don’t like the idea of Axel losing twice in a row, especially when Jericho has a worthless match with Ryback on Sunday. Such is life for the Intercontinental Champion, but I guess we’ll forget all about this when Axel beats him with a rollup after interference from Heyman right?
Post match Axel freaks out but Heyman calms him down.
As a sidebar, during the match JBL was talking about Jericho’s career and said Jericho has gone toe to toe with and defeated Vader. I’ve never heard of this match and can find no evidence that it ever happened. Does anyone know anything about this? Odds are it would have been in Japan or Germany.
Ryback vs. The Miz
This is a rematch from two weeks ago where Ryback gave up due to his knee injury. I’m not sure when they did it but Feed Me More has been dropped from Ryback’s entrance. Miz makes Ryback miss to start and low bridges him to the floor. A baseball slide actually connects tonight, followed by an ax handle off the apron. Back in and Miz tries a sunset flip but gets caught and tossed into the corner. A powerslam puts him down and Ryback drops down onto Miz’s back to work on the ribs. Miz is whipped hard into the corner but slips out of another powerslam attempt to get in a shot to the knee.
Ryback runs Miz over and rams his head into the mat a few times but a splash hits knees. A dropkick to the knee puts Ryback down and a big boot sets up the corner clothesline and the top rope ax handle for no cover. The Figure Four is blocked so Miz hits a DDT on the leg to soften it up even more. A Stunner on the leg out of the corner has Ryback screaming in pain but he says not to stop the match. He has the referee help him to his feet but fires off a Meathook and the Shell Shock for the pin at 5:54. I can appreciate some good goldbricking.
Rating: D+. This is another good example of how stupid WWE’s booking is. Inside of fifteen minutes, both people in the IC Title match on Sunday have lost matches. Who is the favorite in that match? The guy who didn’t lose as badly? No one cares about the title or the champion because WWE gives us no reason to care about the title or the champion. Also wasn’t Ryback the guy who went through a war with Cena for the WWE Title but can barely make it through a six minute match now? The lack of consistency in this company is pathetic.
Sheamus can beat Orton because an Irishman drove out all the snakes. As for Sunday, he isn’t known as someone who carries a briefcase but maybe he can put his cornbeef and cabbage in there. Once he wins, the pints are on him. Oh and he thinks Renee is cute. It was as added on at the end as it sounds.
A bunch of the Divas are in the ring for the contract signing between Kaitlyn and AJ. AJ picks up the pen but addresses the “sequined sisters of the sparkling pants.” She knows none of them like either her or Kaitlyn, but no one cared about the division until she won the title. AJ wants to be congratulated by everyone but Teddy says we don’t have time for that. The champion signs but she doesn’t think Kaitlyn should do that. Kaitlyn signs and AJ smiles. AJ pulls out her phone and reads off some of the texts that Kaitlyn sent to her secret admirer.
Apparently she doesn’t trust Natalya, thinks the Funkadactyls don’t care about anything but the reality show and that she’s tired of being put into a mold just for bodybuilding. AJ offers her a chance to tear up the contract but Kaitlyn says she’ll never let another needy, clingy man crazed psychopath destroy her again. She’ll be champion again while AJ is locked in a padded cell rocking back and forth. AJ slaps her but Kaitlyn shoves the table and AJ’s chair into the corner, giving AJ a terrified look. Langston makes the save so Kaitlyn slaps him too and spears AJ in half. This was a great segment and actually has me wanting to see the match.
Wade Barrett vs. Fandango
This is a result of Barrett knocking Fandango out for saying his name when told not to. Colter and company are at ringside and are now known as the Real Americans. That’s much better than Colter’s Militia or whatever their name was for like a day. Cole makes political jokes as Barrett kicks Fandango in the face for two. Colter questions Sandow’s citizenship and Barrett hits a backbreaker for two. Barrett pounds on Fandango in the corner but the Scholars come out to yell at Colter. The distraction allows Fandango to kick Barrett in the head and roll him up for the pin at 1:47.
In case you’re wondering, yes that’s all the time the Smackdown MITB match is getting tonight.
Kane is out of the All-Star match due to the Wyatt Family’s attack.
We get an extended Wyatt Family vignette leading into a video of the attack on Kane from Raw.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sin Cara
Sin Cara comes out second for some reason. Cara goes right after Del Rio with forearms to the head and is WAY more aggressive than usual. JBL thinks something is up and Sin Cara hits the Zig Zag on Del Rio. Cole thinks there’s nothing going on and JBL goes into full ARE YOU KIDDING ME mode. It wasn’t quite La Parka vs. Randy Savage but I love a good masked man segment.
Cara poses on the ramp but here’s Vickie Guerrero to screech at us. No one has shown her any respect since Monday and she even had to buy a ticket to be here tonight. She rips up the ticket and is marching around ringside so here’s Teddy with security to get her out of here.
Teddy catches up to Sin Cara in the back and demands an explanation. Dolph Ziggler pops up next to both of them and Teddy is very confused.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
They fight over a lockup to start before it turns into a fist fight. Sheamus takes it into the corner with forearms but the referee gets him away, allowing Orton to get in some right hands of his own. A quick suplex gets two for Sheamus as the dueling chants begin. Sheamus powerslams him down for two but Orton sends him out to the floor. Sheamus rams him into the announce table but Orton comes back with a clothesline as we take a break.
Back with Orton holding a chinlock with a bodyscissors. Back up and they slug it out again with Orton going down off a clothesline. Sheamus starts firing off the ax handles to the head but Orton comes back with his clotheslines and the powerslam for two. Orton kicks Sheamus in the face but walks into the Irish Curse. White Noise is countered into the backbreaker for two and both guys are down. The Elevated DDT is countered with a backdrop, setting up the ten forearms.
Sheamus hits the rolling senton and calls for the Brogue Kick but Orton ducks away. Sheamus goes to the middle rope but gets caught in the Elevated DDT out of the corner. An RKO attempt is blocked and Sheamus loads up the top rope shoulder but Orton crotches him down. A superplex attempt by Orton is blocked into both guys falling out to the floor….and here’s Daniel Bryan with a ladder. Both guys get back in and Bryan lays them out for the double DQ at 9:40 shown of 12:20.
Rating: C+. This was a good match for the most part but the ending was clearly going to be inconclusive. Bryan continues to act like a heel despite being the most over guy on the roster, which makes me think WWE either has a convoluted plan for him or they have no idea what they’re doing. Either way this was good stuff but the ending hurt it.
Post match Bryan goes up the ladder but Sheamus pulls him down. Christian comes in too and all four guys go for the case. Bryan shoves Christian off but walks into an RKO, allowing Orton to climb the ladder and unhook the case to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. We had good wrestling here and the PPV matches were built up (albeit some far less than others). What more can you ask for out of a go home show? The World Heavyweight Championship MITB match is being given no love at all but it’s such a wide open field that several people could win it. The whole show worked pretty well with nothing bad an a very good Divas segment in the middle. Very good show this week and MITB should be awesome.
Results
Daniel Bryan b. Christian – YES Lock
Seth Rollins b. Jey Uso – Running stomp to the head
Chris Jericho b. Curtis Axel via countout
Ryback b. Miz – Shell Shock
Fandango b. Wade Barrett – Rollup
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus went to a double DQ when Daniel Bryan interfered
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Smackdown – July 5, 2013: Daniel Bryan Really Does Liven Things Up
Smackdown Date: July 5, 2013
Location: Landon Arena, Topeka, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
We now know everyone in the MITB matches at the PPV so tonight is likely to be all about building towards the match, much like on Raw. Other than that we’re likely to get more between Ziggler and Del Rio after Dolph cost the champ a match against Cena. If we’re lucky we’ll even get more Daniel Bryan goodness. Let’s get to it.
The opening airs for the second week in a row. It’s better than the voiceover.
Here’s Punk to get us going. We get a clip of him getting annoyed at Curtis Axel for stealing the pin in their tag match on Raw. Punk says if he was Cena, he’d come out here and make a big speech about the 4th of July and how awesome it is, but thankfully for the fans, his name is CM Punk. To him, the 4th of July is about independence. A group of like minded guys got together and decided to not live by someone else’s rules. They were willing to die for what they believed in and that’s something Punk can get behind.
If Punk is given rules to follow, odds are he’s going to break them. When someone tells him to do something one way, odds are he’s going to run in the other direction. When he was told he was going to be the big thing after Wrestlemania, he walked away. When someone told him that his chances at winning another MITB match were really low, he decided to line them up and yell at them. He has two goals: get his hands on Brock Lesnar and become WWE Champion again.
Cue Alberto (Punk: “I wasn’t done.”) who says he was expecting more from Punk. Punk says he was expecting a cool car instead of just a guy in a cheap suit. Del Rio brags about being world champion and says this is his show. Alberto makes fun of Americans for stuffing themselves with hamburgers and hot dogs on Independence Day and then spending the rest of the year getting fatter and fatter. Then they come to Smackdown and cheer for Dolph Ziggler while chanting USA.
Punk wants to know why Del Rio has changed his tune so quickly. Just a few weeks ago Del Rio was bragging about being born in Mexico and made in the USA, but then everyone saw through him. Del Rio says Punk is a little chihuahua and someone like the world heavyweight champion needs to teach him some manners. Punk: “That just makes you the #1 contender to my title: Best in the world.” Nice line. Del Rio orders Punk out of his ring right now but remember Punk doesn’t like being told what to do. Teddy, main event made, moving on. This was a solid opening segment but unfortunately it results in a Del Rio main event.
Post break Heyman asks Punk if he can get the match canceled because Punk has nothing to gain. Punk says he wants to fight so Heyman offers to be in Punk’s corner at MITB. Punk declines again and Heyman looks annoyed.
Usos vs. Rhodes Scholars
The Scholars brag about winning MITB in nine days but the fans don’t seem to buy it. Cody starts with Jimmy but ramming the Samoan’s head into the buckle has no effect. I miss racial stereotypes in wrestling. Cody dropkicks Jimmy down and brings in Sandow to stomp away for a few seconds. The Russian legsweep sets up the Wind-Up Elbow for two before it’s back to Rhodes. Things quickly break down and both Scholars get superkicked, setting up a double Superfly Splash for the pin on Sandow at 2:17.
Post match the Shield pops up on screen and says the loss on Raw isn’t derailing their mission of justice. At Money in the Bank, the Usos are going to need more than luck. Ambrose says that Monday was Christian’s one chance out of 100 to get lucky. Prepare to live in a world where Dean Ambrose is waiting in the shadows with a Money in the Bank briefcase.
Alicia Fox vs. Kaitlyn
Fox drives Kaitlyn into the corner to start and gets two off a quick suplex. We hit the chinlock thirty seconds into the match before Alicia slams Kaitlyn head first into the mat. Back to the chinlock but Kaitlyn fights up….and here’s AJ to skip around the ring. Kaitlyn fights the urge to stare at AJ for a bit but finally knocks her off the apron, allowing Alicia to hit the most devastating move in all of wrestling: the ROLLUP OF DISTRACTION, for the pin at 2:45.
Post match the Bellas stop AJ and say that she needs to watch out because they’ll be taking the Divas Title soon. Langston runs them off but AJ is scared of Kaitlyn coming to get her. It isn’t that bad though because Kaitlyn is less aerodynamic because of those big man arms. Langston wants to know what AJ is going to do for Dolph’s match later but she’ll just text him and it’ll be all cool.
We recap the events between Bryan, Kane and Orton in their match on Monday.
Christian says that he’s beaten Orton before and he can do it again tonight. Orton says he’s beaten Christian before and he’ll do it again tonight in one more match.
Wyatt Family promo.
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Feeling out process to start with Orton taking Chrsitian down with a shoulder. A clothesline gets two for Randy but Christian sends him throat first into the middle rope. Christian tries the uppercut from the floor but Orton ducks away and tries the Elevated DDT, only to have Christian counter with a backdrop to the floor. We take a break and come back with Orton getting up from a missed knee drop but coming back with the Thesz Press.
Christian snaps Orton’s throat across the top rope and gets two off the high cross before putting on a chinlock. Randy escapes and they slug it out again with Orton dropkicking Christian down. He tries the powerslam but Christian puts on the brakes to send Orton down. Instead Randy drives down punches in the corner and gets two off the falling powerbomb (think the Big Ending but with Christian facing up).
Christian avoids an RKO out of the corner but gets caught in a rolling cradle for two. Both finishers are countered and Christian puts Orton down with a belly to back suplex. The spear gets two but the Killswitch is countered into the Elevated DDT but Christian counters the RKO yet again. Christian jumps over Orton but walks into the RKO for the pin at 9:48 shown of 12:48.
Rating: B-. I loved the idea of both guys knowing each other so well that they can counter all the signature stuff. It worked two years ago in their big feud and it still works very well here. Both guys looked good out there, but why put Orton over Christian when the Canadian is already an underdog in the ladder match?
Teddy Long tells Heyman to do commentary on the main event tonight.
We get a clip from the App with Ziggler telling AJ to see the big picture: forget Kaitlyn and become a power couple.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre
Before the match Ziggler talks about how fast the last few months have gone. He won the world title from Alberto Del Rio and then Del Rio was trying as hard as he could to make people like him. Ziggler may be cocky, but he’s never claimed to be something he’s not. At MITB, he’s taking back his world title.
Dolph fires off right hands in the corner but a hurricanrana attempt is countered into a buckle bomb for two. Drew stomps him in the corner and gets two off a snap suplex. A chinlock is quickly broken so Drew puts him down with a pair of backbreakers. Ziggler comes back with the corner splash and a dropkick before countering a tilt-a-whirl into the Zig Zag for the pin at 3:11.
Rating: D+. There isn’t much you can get out of a three minute match, but it’s nice to see the jobbers being used like they’re supposed to be. Ziggler gets an easy win and the jobbers don’t lose anything as a result. There wasn’t much to see here but it makes sense given the post match stuff from Raw.
Ziggler bails to avoid a three on one attack. He charges back in, gets in a few shots and then bails again to mess with the Band.
We get the career retrospective on Mark Henry from Raw.
Fandango vs. Justin Gabriel
Fandango quickly takes him down and dances a bit, only to have Gabriel kick his head off. Justin sends him face first into the apron but charges into a knee to the face. The top rope legdrop is good for the pin on Justin at 1:36.
We The People talk about how many Americans don’t appreciate the Fourth of July.
Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk
Heyman is on commentary. They take turns shoving each other into the corner with Punk snapmaring him down and hitting a dropkick to the back of Alberto’s head. Del Rio fires off right hands in the corner but misses a charge to put him down. Alberto rolls to the floor to avoid the Macho Elbow and we take a break. Back with Del Rio hitting a running kick to the arm in the corner before putting on an armbar. The low superkick gets two on Punk as Heyman talks about Cole being a Paul Heyman guy back in the day.
The armbar is countered into a GTS attempt but Del Rio escapes into the Codebreaker to the arm for two. A kick to the head gets two more and it’s back to the armbar. Del Rio may be boring but his psychology is sound. If your finishing move is an arm hold, why focus on anything but softening up the arm? Punk slams him down and goes up top but Alberto hits a nasty running enziguri for two.
Punk comes back with some kicks and clotheslines but charges into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. A baseball slide sends him to the floor and Del Rio whips him shoulder first into the barricade. Alberto loads up the announce table and punches Heyman down, sending Punk into a rage. It’s a double countout at 7:40 shown of 10:40. Lillian calls it a no contest by way of a double countout. Are we not allowed to say draw anymore?
Rating: D+. This was dull stuff with a long stretch of the match being spent in the same armbar. Del Rio’s psychology may be sound, but man alive can his matches be dull a lot of the time. The ending makes sense as you want to keep both guys looking strong and Del Rio can’t lose two matches in a week.
Del Rio takes the GTS and Punk checks on Heyman to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This show did a good job of building up the PPV matches but it wasn’t great on its own. The problem with the episode was they spent a lot of time focusing on the All-Star ladder match which left the Smackdown ladder match in the cold. It’s not all that strong on its own and needs all the build it can get, but the show’s main event and featured match were about the other ladder match. Not a bad show this week but it needed better prioritizing.
Results
Usos b. Rhodes Scholars – Double Superfly Splash to Sandow
Alicia Fox b. Kaitlyn – Rollup
Randy Orton b. Christian – RKO
Dolph Ziggler b. Drew McIntyre – Zig Zag
Fandango b. Justin Gabriel – Top rope legdrop
CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio went to a double countout
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade From Amazon for just $4 at:
