Monday Night Raw
Date: July 27, 2015
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield

Summerslam is still coming and tonight’s big question is what is going to co-headline the show alongside the showdown between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena in a champion vs. champion match has been teased, but it would be interesting to see if Cena holds onto the title until Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s big brawl between Undertaker and Lesnar with the entire roster trying to keep them apart.

Here’s the Authority and Seth Rollins to open the show. HHH says this is a night of firsts and we’re going to start with a major announcements. For the first time ever, Summerslam is going to be a special four hour event, of course with Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event. Tonight is going to be something special tonight as well as Big Show goes one on one with Dean Ambrose. That’s uh, quite the announcement there Trips.

On top of that we have Paige vs. Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton. Stephanie brings up the Divas Revolution with Alicia Fox/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Charlotte. Rollins takes the mic and brags about how amazing he is, calling himself one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time, but here’s John Cena to disagree. Cena doesn’t like the idea of Rollins calling himself the greatest of all time because Rollins is a joke. On a night like tonight, we need to find out which one of them is right.

If tonight is a night of firsts, we need to find out if Seth Rollins really is a man, so how about Cena vs. Rollins for the World Title tonight? Seth says Cena needs to earn a shot but Stephanie wants to put it up to the people because she can’t remember if she’s a face or a heel. The fans love the idea and even start a YES chant so Stephanie says NO, complete with a little dance. HHH thinks the idea has merit though so instead it’s going to be a US Title match with Rollins having the chance to be a dual champion.

The Austin Podcast returns next week with……Paige? That’s not quite Taker or Sting but at least they look better in leather shorts.

Dean Ambrose vs. Big Show

This is actually fallout from two weeks ago on Smackdown where Ambrose countered Big Show’s chokeslam through a table with a DDT. Miz is on commentary, almost guaranteeing Ambrose loses because WWE doesn’t think stuff through. Show takes him into the corner to start and rips Dean’s shirt open before running him over with a shoulder. The fans aren’t pleased and it’s nice to see that last week’s promo wasn’t meant to be yet another face turn.

Dean low bridges him to the floor and a baseball slide sets up a suicide dive but dives into a chop as we take a WAY too early break. Back with Show working on the leg but has to stop to tie his boot. Miz rants about Ryback missing time, because he could beat up a staph infection. Ambrose’s sleeper has as much effect as anyone’s sleeper has on Big Show (we need the tranquilizer dart that Angle used) and Show goes old school with the Alley Oop for two. Another chokeslam is countered with another DDT but the rebound lariat is countered with the chokeslam for two.

Show does the smart thing by just chokeslamming him again but Dean rolls to the floor to lay in the light of the video screen because THE RING SKIRT IS A VIDEO SCREEN. Yes I know it has been for a long time but it looks stupid. Dean gets back in but a superkick puts him on the floor again, setting up a spear to flatten Dean one more time. Ambrose dives in at nine, only to be thrown outside for a third time in two minutes. This time Show throws him inside but Dean kicks him away for a suicide dive. Show is waiting for him with the KO Punch though and it’s a countout at 10:30.

Rating: D+. WHAT??? Did we really just watch Dean Ambrose get beaten up by Big Show for ten minutes before they finally just let Big Show knock him out? Are we really back to the annual Big Show push that no one but WWE wants to see? I mean, at least it’s not a pin but my goodness WWE: stop doing this. The guy is 43 years old and going over Dean Ambrose on Raw.

Dean still won’t stay down so Show loads up a spear, which goes right through the barricade instead. Ah so he’s a smart loser.

Neville vs. Fandango

Fandango tries a powerbomb but opts for a clothesline instead. JBL: “When in doubt, hit your opponent really hard.” A Gory Stretch of all things has Neville in trouble but he comes back with his series of quick strikes. Having never watched a Neville match, Fandango heads outside in front of the ramp, setting up the big flip dive. Back inside and the Red Arrow is good for the pin on Fandango at 1:54.

Post match, Stardust comes on screen and rips up a comic book while talking about wining and dining with kings and queens. No one wants to talk about the strange but don’t worry because he’ll rescue the WWE Universe and there is nothing Neville can do to stop him.

Paige gives Charlotte and Becky Lynch a pep talk when Team Bad comes in to trade insults. Paige wins by saying she was the first NXT Women’s Champion.

Sasha Banks vs. Paige

Non-title. Sasha’s Sky’s The Limit theme makes its Raw debut here. Their lockup goes to the mat and then out to the floor without a break. Back in and Paige fires off her elbows in the corner, followed by a fall away slam for two. We hit the hammerlock (nice little change of pace) before Paige drives Banks down into a Fujiwara armbar. Sasha tries to fight up but eats a superkick to put her on the floor with Paige diving on all of Team Bad as we take a break.

Back with Sasha holding a chinlock as everyone else has been ejected from ringside. The double knees to the chest in the corner get two and it’s back to the chinlock with Paige in trouble. That doesn’t last long though as Paige fights up and fires off a series of knees in the corner and the trio of clotheslines. A superkick looks to set up the PTO but instead it’s another knee to Sasha’s chest for two. Sasha hits a charge in the corner for two of her own, followed by a sloppy Bank Statement for the clean tap at 13:57.

Rating: B-. It’s not a classic or anything, but this was the first time in a LONG time that a women’s match on Raw actually felt serious instead of WWE trying to make it feel serious. This felt like a wrestling match between two very talented women and that’s not something you get from the Divas. This is a positive sign going forward and a huge win for Banks.

Rollins says he’ll win tonight because he beats the best that WWE throws at him every single time. Tonight, the future passes Cena by.

The Terminator (yes that Terminator) is in WWE 2K16.

Here are Rusev and Lana for a chat. Rusev says he’s smitten with her and wants to give Summer a present. First up: a puppy, who is so ugly that they have to name him Dog Ziggler. The second present is…..a headless fish. It’s a cold fish, so let’s name it Lana. Cue the real Lana who rants about Rusev trying to humiliate her. She should be ranting about how her accent slips a bit as she talks faster.

Lana goes on about Summer being a Lana ripoff and how Rusev is just trying to replace the real thing. Lana kicks Summer in the leg and put on an armbar while ripping at Summer’s hair. Summer goes face first into the fish and Lana leaves. This was, in a word, really stupid.

We see the same recap the opened the show. Saxton says Lesnar is back next week in the city that hosted last year’s Wrestlemania: San Jose, California.

Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores

The Prime Time Players are on commentary and this match is to move up the tag team rankings. Cara and Diego flip around to start before the Dragons double team Diego down for two. Kalisto slaps on an armbar as Titus makes fun of Darren’s shyness on commentary. It’s Diego coming back with a running clothesline to take over but Kalisto grabs the arm again to stop the comeback.

Cara’s springboard cross body is caught in midair and they drop him face first onto the post. Even Torito gets in some cheap shots (Titus: “THAT’S BULL!”) as Titus and JBL argue over Puerto Rican bullfighters. Fernando’s chinlock has Cara in more trouble and the slow offense continues with a front facelock. Who thought it was a good idea for a lucha team to wrestle a slow paced mat style?

Cara gets in a belly to back for a breather and the hot tag brings in Kalisto for a springboard tornado DDT. Cara swantons onto Diego on the floor but we’ve got New Day, with a sign saying Kofi is the REAL Mega Dad of the Year. Kalisto grabs a huricanrana for the pin on Diego at 8:05.

Rating: D+. So not only was it slow, but they’re basically saying that match last week where the champions lost means nothing because they just lost clean to another team. New Day vs. the Players isn’t much of a feud but it’s finally feeling like a story instead of just two teams having matches because the script says they should be.

Here are Wyatt and Harper with something to say. Well one of them with something to say at least. Bray thinks everyone here has a family and thinks most people here love their family. There’s this idea that if a family stays together, they can survive anything. That’s a lie though man. It’s a shame that people won’t tell their family the truth.

It’s in your house, your government and your places of worship: those that trust you the most are the ones you should fear the most. The truth shall set you free, but freedom comes at a very hefty price. A long time ago, Bray had a pet. It wasn’t the most charming one but Bray loved him all the same. That pet wanted to know what was over the hills and across the train tracks, so one day Bray loosened his chains and the pet ran away.

One day he came back, but the pet was different, partially because of a scar alongside his eye. The pet never left his side, but it would never be the same. That brings him to Harper, who was a damaged man that Bray picked up from the dirt and fixed him like a broken toy. One day, Bray knew he would have to set Harper free, but now Harper has come home. Harper says he didn’t know why he existed or why he was here, but his family found him.

Bray showed him the truth: this is all the people’s fault. They made him what he is when they shunned him but Bray saved him. When you pray for the rain, you best be prepared for the mud. Harper is ready to give his life for Bray, and Bray says he knows Harper would go through anything for him. That brings Wyatt back to Roman Reigns, who was told that this was just the beginning. If Reigns really cared for Dean Ambrose, he would tell Dean that he was in danger. This is Reigns’ hill to die on and Bray himself will seal Reigns’ fate. We’re here. Follow the buzzards.

Alicia Fox/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Charlotte

Becky runs Nikki over to start before it’s off to Charlotte for a twisting rollup (Charlotte’s Web) for two. Off to Fox who has similar success as Charlotte drops a knee to the head. Nikki offers a distraction so Fox can get two off a northern lights suplex. Nikki comes back in for her pushups and some laughter before it’s off to Fox for a double arm crank with her feet in Charlotte’s back. She pulls on it so hard that Charlotte flips over onto her for two, allowing for the tag off to Becky. A t-bone suplex sends Fox flying as everything breaks down. Lynch’s Disarm-Her armbar makes Fox tap at 6:10.

Rating: C. Totally fine match here with no one really standing out. Again, the problem here is the lack of any reason for these matches to be taking place as no one can challenge for the title until AJ’s record comes down. The problem is we don’t really have a reason for the title to be a non-factor, but that’s life in WWE for you.

Look back at last week’s Tough Enough elimination and a list of the remaining competitors.

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

Sheamus is on commentary. Owens jaws a lot to start and they slug it out with Randy knocking him outside early on. Back in and Orton rakes his boot over Kevin’s face but Owens rolls right back to the floor. It’s Orton being sent face first into the post and a fall away slam to launch him into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Owens getting two off the backsplash but walking into Orton’s backbreaker to even things up.

It’s Owens staying in control though and slugging away in the corner, setting up the Cannonball but Orton rolls away. The powerslam plants Owens and the t-bone suplex does the same (Orton must have been watching the Divas tag). They fight to the floor again and it’s a Brogue Kick to Orton for the DQ at 11:06.

Rating: C. I wasn’t really feeling this one but at least Owens looked like someone who could go toe to toe with a guy on Orton’s level. I don’t think he’s going to be back to the level he reached when he debuted for a good while, but there’s a big difference between being forgotten/buried and what we’re seeing here.

Post match Sheamus goes after Orton but Cesaro runs in to get his hands on Owens. Sheamus offers a distraction though and Owens powerbombs Cesaro and spits on him.

Cena says he’s been defending this title for months now but tonight he’s up against the golden boy and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. If Rollins is as good as he says he is, then he can shock the world.

US Title: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

Cena is defending and for the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Cena as the champion. A quick shoulder puts Rollins on the floor and things slow right back down. Back in and an AA attempt is countered, allowing Rollins to kick him down to take over. Rollins slaps on a chinlock and we take a break. Back with Cena fighting out of the chinlock (dang that must have been a dull commercial break) but missing a charge in the corner.

Cena comes back and tries his finishing sequence, only to have Rollins kick him in the head/shoulder for two. The Shuffle is broken up by another kick to the head but Cena avoids a corner dive of his own, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Seth. The top rope knee to the head gets two on the champ but Cena catches him in an electric chair for two. Another knee to the nose puts Cena in the corner but we stop to check for blood (which is flowing from his nose. It could be broken).

Thankfully Cena will have none of that but Rollins kicks him in the head, setting up the buckle bomb for two. The doctor comes in to look at the nose but Cena is right back up with the springboard Stunner. Rollins flips out of the AA though and the low superkick gets a very close two. Fans: “THIS IS AWESOME.” Not really guys.

An AA gets two (that should be a drinking game) and Cena gets his nose looked at again. A closeup shows that the nose is definitely broken as it’s off to one side. Cena gets superplexed off the top and Rollins floats over into a falcon’s arrow for two. The fans are getting way into these kickouts. Rollins misses the Phoenix Splash and it’s off to the STF for the tap at 17:05.

Rating: B. Well there’s the Summerslam co-main event. I’m guessing they’ll go with Rollins saying he had nothing to lose which is about as acceptable as you can get but I’m never a fan of these endings. Cena vs. Rollins for the World Title at Summerslam is fine as there isn’t really anyone else to go for the belt, but I’m hoping Cena drops the US Title before the show. Good but not great main event here.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m kind of split on this one. The wrestling isn’t bad and the show flew by, but there’s really nothing worth talking about. This really was a show that didn’t do anything bad (Big Show beating Ambrose aside) and started setting up stuff for Summerslam. We’ve already got Brock vs. Taker set so you really don’t need to focus on it all that much. It’s a pretty middle of the road show but it went by quickly and got some things done so we’ll say it’s a good week.

Results

Big Show b. Dean Ambrose via countout

Neville b. Fandango – Red Arrow

Sasha Banks b. Paige – Bank Statement

Lucha Dragons b. Los Matadores – Hurricanrana to Diego

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox – Disarm-Her to Fox

Randy Orton b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Sheamus interfered

John Cena b. Seth Rollins – STF

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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This one could be interesting as I barely remember the show as I was falling asleep due to a long day of traveling. This is the fallout show from Battleground where Undertaker returned (again. There’s probably a three disc set of Undertaker returns ready to be made) to go after Brock Lesnar and set up the main event of Summerslam. We’re on the road to the second biggest show of the year so let’s get to it.

They opened as they should have, with Undertaker coming out and saying streaks are made to be broken. The gist of this was Undertaker being annoyed at Heyman and Lesnar for bragging about breaking the Streak over and over for the last fifteen months. To be fair, it is getting a bit old. The big story later in the night would be Heyman coming out to brag even more when Undertaker appeared, triggering a massive brawl, broken up by the locker room.

There isn’t much to say here because the whole thing was awesome, but more importantly, they let it feel awesome. They let this thing feel like a brawl between two monsters, but I’m not sure how the match is going to go. Do you really want Undertaker to get suplexed all over the place? Undertaker isn’t going to be a heel in this match no matter what they do, and thankfully they didn’t seem to be trying to make him one. Anyway, the segments really worked and the match should be good, though I emphasize should.

Oh and there was something about the Authority wanting to prevent the match from being broken up. I stop caring when they’re talking most of the time so I’m not sure what their issue was.

Charlotte beat Brie Bella in a totally watchable match. Brie still isn’t great in the ring and probably never will be, but she’s to the point where she can have a watchable match with someone talented like Charlotte. Also, nice touch on not having Charlotte get beaten yet, though I have a feeling she will when she comes up against Nikki because All Hail The Bellas.

Los Matadores beat the Prime Time Players in a non-title match because there was nothing better to do than to have New Day distract the champions so the low level team can beat them in a match that isn’t going to lead anywhere.

Big Show beat Miz in a quick match that I think was supposed to make us care about the giant again. He then challenged Ryback to a fight on Tough Enough to try to make people watch it. It says a lot when Big Show is considered a draw.

Roman Reigns beat Luke Harper via DQ when Bray Wyatt interfered. This seems to be setting up a tag match at Summerslam with Ambrose coming in to help out his brother. I’d be interested in seeing them bring in a third man each, but bringing in Sting would be one of the lamest ideas they could have as it would overshadow the story they’re shooting for with Reigns vs. Wyatt, as well as making people clamor for Wyatt vs. Sting because they’re both supernatural or something and that instantly means you would want to see them fight.

Rollins bragged about keeping the title, Cena came out and said Rollins needed to take the title more seriously, and nothing else happened. I’m really hoping they’re not setting up champion vs. champion, but given how the ratings have been going, it seems like we’re getting back towards Cena on top as he’s the only one that can really move things these days. And since the idea of ever pushing anyone as a big star is foreign to WWE, this is what we’re stuck with for now.

Sasha Banks and Naomi beat Paige and Becky Lynch in another pretty good match. This actually got thirteen minutes and didn’t feel long, which is more than you would ever expect out of a Divas match. The division has gotten the big boost that it needs, but they really need to go somewhere with it in the next few weeks. There’s more than enough time to have it be the big blow away story they need and thankfully Stephanie hasn’t been a thing for the most part.

The main event was a six man tag with Cena/Orton/Cesaro beating Sheamus/Owens/Rusev in a match that actually tied things up in a nice package to end the show. That’s not something you often see but it worked well enough one time. Other than that though, the big story was Owens and Sheamus walking out on their partner, leaving Rusev to take a big beating. Combine this with Rusev being the default face in his match with Owens on Smackdown and……no I don’t think they’re turning Rusev.

Owens leaving makes sense as he lives to fight another day and I guess the same is true for Sheamus, though it’s still not the best result in the world. Based on what happened on Smackdown we’re going to get Cesaro vs. Owens at Summerslam and since we just NEED the Ziggler vs. Rusev showdown, there’s no turning it into a triple threat. It would be nice to have a title for them to fight over, but we need champion vs. champion for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.

Overall Raw was just kind of there with almost all of the focus being on Undertaker vs. Lesnar. Rollins will have his day soon enough and a win over Cena at one of the biggest show of the year would help him a lot, though I have a feeling Cena would get the title to make things all better again.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

This is going to be an interesting one as I was up late watching Battleground and had to leave to get on a plane about half an hour after the show ended. I saw the whole show, but I had a lot on my mind at the time. Now that I’ve had some time to think about the show, my opinions on if have shifted a bit. Let’s get to it.

Starting on the pre-show, King Barrett retained the Crown against R-Truth. Oh sweet goodness I hated this feud, I hated this match and I hated how Barrett was treated during the whole thing. Yeah Barrett won, but that’s like giving someone a sticker for not getting arrested this week: it’s exactly what he was supposed to do and not something he really should be praised for doing. I don’t know what WWE’s obsession is with treating Barrett like a joke but I’m hoping (yet again) that they’ll treat him seriously this time around.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus was interesting, which goes against the main thing holding it back: the match didn’t change anything. Orton won, but would it really have been different if Sheamus won? No one has anything to lose and Orton is just kind of floating with nothing to do. I don’t want to see these two fight again because it’s not that interesting. Both guys were fine in the ring and the match was a good choice for an opener with the hometown boy winning, but there was nothing important here.

However, there is something interesting about how the match was worked. They definitely picked up the pace in the second half, but it felt like a long TV match minus the commercial instead of a pay per view match. It’s very telling that they’re basically working pay per view style matches on TV today, which takes away from something like this. You can see that they rarely change from the same formula, and that’s something that makes pay per views feel a lot less special. Anyway, good match but nothing I’m ever going to think of again.

After a recap of Stephanie’s awesomeness, Stephanie made a triple threat between a member of each Divas trio later. I’ve ranted enough about Stephanie hijacking this story to stroke her own ego, but can we at least make it clear if she’s a face or a heel? She associates with the heel, but does face things when she’s on her own and we’re just supposed to accept it because this is the REAL Stephanie as opposed to the Authority Stephanie. Or do I have that backwards?

The Prime Time Players beat New Day to retain the Tag Team Titles in another Raw match. The only thing of note here was Xavier Woods being an obnoxious jerk during the match, making him more entertaining than he had ever been. The Players are fine as champions, but New Day has the potential to be one of those long running acts in the midcard that stays entertaining with or without ever doing much. That’s a good thing, and given that the oldest member is Kofi at 33, it’s not like they have to rush anything. Let these guys grow into something special instead of just breaking them up after a few months.

Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns beat each other up for a long time until Luke Harper reunited with Wyatt to give him the win. This was the old school HIT EACH OTHER REALLY HARD style and these two nailed it as you kind of knew they would. It seems like we’re heading for a showdown with the Wyatts vs. Ambrose/Reigns, which is probably the best idea all around. Wyatt has been floating for a bit so putting him back with the guy that helped make him the biggest he’s ever been is a good idea.

Sasha Banks, Charlotte had a good match with Brie Bella in there too. The idea here was to let the two newcomers show off but they have to make it a three way to play up the three way feud that Stephanie has graced us with. They did a good job of keeping Brie away from the action and that’s the right move here as Brie just can’t keep up with these two. However, the stuff she did was acceptable as they kept it in small doses. There’s nothing wrong with that as Brie isn’t great in the ring, but she’s certainly passable and that’s a much better result than some of the disasters the Divas have had before.

This was meant to be a big showcase and it didn’t get there, but it was certainly good, which is a step in the right direction. Once we can get past praising Stephanie for setting this up and giving them a fighting chance to get the title off Nikki, things could pick up. I dig the idea though and they worked the match the best way they could have, which gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Oh and screw Cole’s “TEAM BELLA IS MORTAL!” line when Brie tapped out. They’re the Bellas, not Moolah in the 80s. Then they’re faces on Raw because……well because they’re the Bellas.

Now we get to the big match of the night as John Cena defended the US Title against Kevin Owens in their rubber match. This is the most controversial match of the show and while I started absolutely hating it, the more I think about it, and after I heard Owens’ promo on Smackdown this week, the more I can live with it. Yes Owens tapped out, but as he said on Smackdown, it’s his nature to live to fight another day. It came off more as Owens saying it’s not worth it anymore so he’ll just fight Cena again later.

However, the tap out came after Owens survived every single thing Cena threw at him, including the super AA, which, as far as I can remember, no one has ever kicked out of before. I would have gone the other way with it: Owens survives the STF and then goes down to the super AA, putting him on a short list of Cena opponents.

At the end of the day though, Owens debuted about two months ago, went 1-2 against Cena in three classics, and is going to have an awesome match against Cesaro at Summerslam. That’s quite the debut, but as usual I think it’s a case of people (myself included) wanting someone to go straight to the top after they did the same in NXT. I loved what Owens did and while I would have loved to see him take the title, I understand why they went the way they did.

Big Show punched Miz out because Ryback has a staph infection. There wasn’t much else they could do here.

Finally we had Brock Lesnar challenging Seth Rollins for the World Title. Much like the opener, this was basically a Raw match with Brock beating him up for nine minutes and then Undertaker showing up to get his revenge on Brock for breaking the Streak a year and a half ago. Keeping the title on Rollins makes sense here, but I really didn’t like how they made him look like an afterthought. That’s the World Heavyweight Champion, not Santino. Treat both him and the title with the respect they deserve. On top of all that though, it looked like they were trying to make Undertaker heel, and if that’s the case they’re stupider than I thought.

Overall, Battleground exceeded some very low expectations and kept up the WWE’s streak of having good pay per views. There was nothing that blew me away, but the show as a whole was entertaining enough and the whole show was more than acceptable. Now we get to go to Summerslam though, where things can get really big for a change.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: July 23, 2015
Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Jimmy Uso

This is an interesting show as Raw went off the air with a closed story for a change. The big story is of course the announcement of Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar…..we’re probably at V or VI over the years now. There’s no chance either guy is on this show so we should get some new stuff set up for Summerslam instead. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Jerry Lawler isn’t here tonight, possibly due to his brother passing away this week.

Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose

Sheamus has seen Dean’s insanity but thinks Dean is just wanting a way out. Well tonight there’s no way around the beating that he’s going to receive from the next World Champion. Dang man Cena is here? You don’t expect that on a Smackdown. Dean thinks Sheamus looks stupid and those are fighting words.

It’s a brawl to start with Sheamus getting knocked to the floor where he easily stops a dive with a forearm to the head. Sheamus goes after him again but eats a tornado DDT onto the floor. We take a break and come back with Sheamus breaking up another tornado DDT attempt and starting in on the knee, which was hurt a few weeks back so why not. A powerbomb gets two on Dean and it’s time for a half crab.

Dean gets underneath Sheamus for the break and hits the rebound clothesline as the knee is suddenly fine. That stuff gets old fast but you get used to it after awhile. Now the suicide dive hits, followed by the standing elbow drop but here’s Bray Wyatt to interrupt. Harper is standing on the announcers’ table as well and Dean goes after him, only to walk into a Brogue Kick. Back in and another Brogue Kick gives Sheamus the pin at 11:33.

Rating: C. The match was your standard brawl but there’s one thing I really liked: this opened the show. Not a promo to set up the main event, not the same long promo that we’ve heard a dozen times this month, not trying to figure out if we’re supposed to hate the Authority or be so happy that a little ray of Stephanie’s sunshine chased the blues away again, and not a five minute recap of what we saw last week. It was a wrestling match to open the show and that’s a very nice change of pace.

We get a comic book style recap of Stardust vs. Neville from last week.

Neville doesn’t think Stardust is a supervillain because Stardust is a coward. You can’t stop what you can’t contain and the Altitude Era is upon us. Neville leaves and Stardust pops up on the video screen to laugh.

Neville vs. Adam Rose

Feeling out process to start with Rose hitting a quick snap suplex and putting on an early chinlock. Adam busts out a middle rope hurricanrana to send Neville outside but his suicide dive is countered with a forearm to the face. Some kicks and a moonsault set up the Red Arrow for the pin at 3:05.

Rating: D+. There wasn’t much here but it’s always good to see Neville getting in the ring. I know a feud with Stardust isn’t much but it’s nice to see him having a feud at all. This could lead somewhere for him with the superhero idea as it’s one of the easiest things in the world for a heel to go after. Rose looked decent there too.

Neville poses when Stardust comes on the screen with a party hat on and a noisemaker in his mouth. He says even the sharpest arrows come crashing down. His hand is touching your hand (Hard Times reference) so be his hero.

Video on Sasha Banks where she talks about being the Boss and debuting on Raw as part of the three way feud.

Here’s King Barrett to say he’s the most important thing in WWE. He defeated three names in less than 24 hours and then defeated R-Truth again this past Sunday. That win told everyone that you better hit him right between the eyes because he’ll take your head off. This was an old school promo with Barrett just coming out and talking about who he is and why you should care about him. I’ll take that over another loss or stupid feud any day.

Here’s Kevin Owens to talk about people chanting TAP OWENS TAP at him. Yeah he tapped, but Owens gave Cena the fight of his entire career. However, he isn’t the one with the motto of NEVER GIVE UP. His motto is more along the lines of “live to fight another day.” Owens has no issues with turning on Rusev this Monday because Rusev was too busy trying to figure out which Lana he wants to get to second base with. Cue Rusev and it’s time to fight.

Rusev vs. Kevin Owens

I’m digging these heel vs. heel matches because they make sense to the story and the heels aren’t buddies just because they’re heels. Summer is once again dressed as Lana. Rusev goes right after Owens to start and we take a break in about thirty seconds. Back with Owens elbowing him in the face and punching the Russian out of Rusev. Owens avoids a charge in the corner and nails a superkick, followed by the Cannonball for no cover.

Instead it’s a Vader Bomb for two as Owens keeps adding new stuff to his arsenal. It’s chinlock time before a Codebreaker of all things gets two more on Rusev. Another chinlock slows things down until Rusev fights back with strikes and a spinning belly to back suplex. The spinwheel kick stuns Owens again, all the way to the point that he sticks his chin out for the running superkick. Rusev loads up the Accolade but Owens rolls outside for the countout at 9:39.

Rating: C. This worked while it lasted and I like that Owens’ character is now someone who doesn’t want to fight after talking a big game. However, this goes against the formula that made him a big deal down in NXT. He’s talented enough to make it work, but I’d like to see him beat someone up again just because he can.

Cesaro is fired up about getting to face Seth Rollins tonight because it’s all about loving this business. He would drive hundreds of miles for a handshake and missed his best friend’s wedding but that’s what this is all about. It’s time to prove that the American dream is alive and well. Owens comes up to make fun of Cesaro, saying that Cesaro took Cena to the limit but Owens beat him. Kevin says Cesaro abandoned his family but Cesaro calls him the master of abandoning because of all the matches he’s walked out on. Owens is on his way to catering so Cesaro warns him not to choke like he did against Cena. Good stuff here.

Naomi/Sasha Banks vs. Bella Twins

Nikki takes Naomi to the mat to start and I think the Bellas are actually faces here. It’s off to Brie, who eats a clothesline from Naomi, allowing for a tag to Sasha. Nikki comes back in for a headscissors with pushups before Brie dropkicks Sasha for two. BRIE MODE is broken up by Tamina because the power of a scream can be devastating. Brie gets pulled outside for some stomping and we take a break.

Back with Naomi stomping a mudhole in Brie before Sasha sends her back into the corner. The double knees get two as this is a very standard formula Divas tag, which you really don’t see that often. Naomi puts on a chinlock as Nikki plays cheerleader on the apron. To be fair I like the Bellas as faces more, but could we please get a reason why we’re supposed to care about them now, especially when it was supposed to be such a huge moment when Brie tapped out on Sunday?

Back to Naomi for a Codebreaker (with feet instead of knees) for two before slapping on another chinlock. A BRIE MODE chant gets Brie to fight up and she finally dropkicks Naomi to the floor. Nikki comes in for her clotheslines and an Alabama Slam to Naomi. Sasha breaks up a Rack Attack as everything breaks down. Brie and Sasha fight outside, leaving Nikki to Rack Attack Naomi for the pin at 13:14.

Rating: C+. Considering this was a Bellas match, I was kind of shocked at how much I liked it. The key thing for me here: this didn’t feel like a Divas match but a match that Divas in it. I could see any male wrestlers having this same match and liking it just as much, which is a major change for this division. The Bellas turning again for no apparent reason (again) is annoying but you have to accept it at this point.

The Tough Enough cast talks about why Jake Gyllenhaal is tough.

Long recap of Undertaker vs. Lesnar on Raw.

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title. Rollins bails to the floor to start before easily countering a wristlock into a gorilla press. Back up and Seth kicks Cesaro to the floor for a suicide dive as we take a break. As you might expect, we come back to Rollins holding a chinlock but Cesaro powers out and throws some suplexes. A slam into a suplex (cool move) gets two more on Rollins as the announcers compare Cesaro to Chuck Norris.

Seth comes back again with a low superkick for two but Cesaro changes things up again with a running dropkick for a near fall. Saxton: “Is there anything Cesaro can’t do?” Uh, get a pin? The buckle bomb (with a nice throw) staggers Cesaro again but he counters the Pedigree into the Sharpshooter. Rollins is too close to the ropes though so it’s off to a Crossface in the middle of the ring. That doesn’t work either so it’s a VERY high Swiss Death for two more. The Swing is broken up by a poke to the eye though, setting up the Pedigree to give Seth the pin at 13:31.

Rating: B. Good match here and I like the idea of a heel doing something as simple as poking his opponent in the eye. It doesn’t have to be this big ref bump and interference ending that we always get, especially when there’s something simple they can do like a thumb to the eye. Cesaro continues to be awesome and hopefully he goes somewhere instead of just being considered bulletproof when he isn’t yet.

Owens comes out and gives Cesaro a Pop Up Powerbomb to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this more than I’ve liked a Smackdown in a long time for one reason: this felt like a wrestling heavy show instead of the usual Raw supplement we get most of the time. The Divas got time, the main event was good, and the worst match was barely long enough to rate. It’s a good, fun show that let the wrestlers wrestle and advanced some midcard storylines. That’s what a show like Smackdown should be if it’s not going to be anywhere near Raw’s level. Good use of the blue show this week.

Results

Sheamus b. Dean Ambrose – Brogue Kick

Neville b. Adam Rose – Red Arrow

Rusev b. Kevin Owens via countout

Bella Twins b. Naomi/Sasha Banks – Rack Attack to Naomi

Seth Rollins b. Cesaro – Pedigree

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Something I thought about over the ocean.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-its-a-big-world-after-all/37205/

NXT
Date: July 22, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton

We’re officially on the way to the next Takeover in Brooklyn with an announced main event of new NXT Champion Finn Balor defending against former champion Kevin Owens. This makes for an interesting match as Owens has kind of outgrown NXT despite only being there about seven months so far. It should be interesting how they get to the show so let’s get to it.

A quick opening video shows us Balor returning to Japan to win the title.

We open with the champ, holding the title in his hand instead of around his waist, which is something I’ve always been a fan of. After a quick YOU DESERVE IT chant, Balor talks about all the places he’s wrestled and how hard of a decision it really was to come to NXT. However, the moment he was handed the NXT Title, he knew it was all worth it so he could hold this title up. As for Owens, yeah he’s done a lot, but there’s one thing he couldn’t do: pin Finn Balor. He couldn’t do it in Tokyo and he won’t do it again in Brooklyn. This was a nice, to the point debut promo for the title reign and Balor looks like a star.

Eva Marie is very thankful for an opportunity tonight and is taking it so seriously. There’s a misconception about her but she’s ready to show what she has so open your eyes.

Eva Marie vs. Cassie

First sign of trouble: Graves tells the other commentators to pick their jaws up off the floor during Eva’s entrance. The NXT girls’ looks are almost never mentioned and it sets them apart from the Divas and it’s the first thing mentioned about Eva. The LET’S GO EVA/EVA SUCKS chants start up almost immediately as Eva cranks on a wristlock followed by a decent suplex for two. We hit the armbar on the mat for a good while before Cassie kicks her in the face for two of her own. Eva grabs a quick Sliced Bread #2 for the pin at 3:52.

Rating: D+. Well, she didn’t bomb. The problem though is that’s the only standard Eva had to reach here. She didn’t have to be anything great and while she could be good in the ring one day, there’s always going to be a mark on her due to how she got into WWE. This could have been far worse, but it’s like watching a Tough Enough rookie having their debut: after all this time, she’s only up to average. It’s a step up, but she had nowhere to go but up.

Tyler Breeze is in Regal’s office and wants something good for Takeover.

Baron Corbin vs. ???

I don’t even have time to look up the jobber’s name before End of Days wraps this up in 12 seconds. I believe it was Jesus de Leon, who has appeared on a TNA One Night Only show and some indy shows.

Samoa Joe vs. Mike Rallis

Joe has new, far more sinister music which takes out the stupid upbeat sound of his original. That’s one of my favorite things in NXT: they actually fix big problems like that instead of just waiting for fans to go numb to them. Mike goes right at Joe to start and pounds away with some forearms, only to have Joe stomp him into the corner. The Rock Bottom out of the corner sets up the Muscle Buster to end Rallis at 2:05.

Emma and Dana Brooke aren’t worried about Bayley.

Bayley vs. Emma

This is about revenge after Emma broke Bayley’s hand about two months ago. I know it’s goofy and aimed at kids, but there is something so goofily innocent about Bayley that I can’t help but smile every time she does anything. I’ve said she’s the purest face in wrestling right now and the more I see her the more right I think I am. Emma slaps her in the bad hand (still in a brace) to start and takes over for a few moments, only to have Bayley send Emma face first into the buckle a few times.

A bulldog gets two but Dana offers a distraction so Emma can post the bad hand. Emma pulls on the fingers so hard you would think she was trying to steal them (but I’m sure she meant to pay for them). She cranks on both arms for a choke but Bayley comes back with ax handles to the chest. A pull of the hair tie sets up a middle rope elbow to the jaw for two and the fans are right back with the BAYLEY chants. Dana tries to interfere again but gets ejected, setting up the Bayley to Belly (didn’t it used to be the other way around?) for the pin at 5:37.

Rating: C-. This was about revenge and Bayley did exactly what she should have done here. Now, assuming this ends Bayley vs. Emma, there’s almost no reason not to send Bayley after the Women’s Title. It’s been a very long time coming and the fans would erupt when she finally wins it. Bayley is as close to a female Sami Zayn as you can get and the win would be a great main event for a Takeover if they want to roll the dice.

Post match Bayley says she wants the title and wants to beat the best to get there. Therefore, she wants a match with Charlotte.

We get a clip of the NXT girls making their in ring debut at Battleground.

Charlotte is thankful for the opportunity when Dana Brooke comes in. Dana is tired of everyone getting a chance because of their last name when she has never gotten a single shot. Charlotte likes the sound of that and says Bayley can wait a week.

Vaudevillains vs. Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton

Gotch and Dawkins get things going but it’s quickly off to Fulton to lay a beating down on Simon. Something like a Hart Attack with a dropkick instead of a running clothesline gets two on Gotch and it’s off to an abdominal stretch. Gotch picks up his own boot and kicks Angelo in the face to escape (that’s just cool) and makes the tag off to English. The Whirling Dervish puts Dawkins away at 2:47.

Blake/Murphy/Alexa aren’t impressed by the Vaudevillains and think Gotch and English are from the old days of 1999. The title match is next week and Bliss guarantees they retain the belts. That could open some doors for a new team at Takeover, such as some hometown boys.

It’s time for Balor and Owens to sign the contract for Takeover with Regal moderating. He talks about the largest audience in NXT history but Owens comes out to cut him off. Before he can say or do anything though, here’s Finn Balor to look like a star again, offering a very nice visual compared to Owens’ brawler look. Balor goes to sign but Owens asks him how it feels to be champion. How does it feel to defend the title in the biggest main event in NXT history (“which takes place in BROOKLYN!”)? And how does it feel to go in as the underdog.

Balor was exactly right earlier in the night when he talked about all the things Owens did, such as beating up Rusev, sending Neville out of NXT, crippling Sami Zayn twice and beating John Cena. All that was in his first six months, so now he gets to show the fans that Japan was just a fluke. Balor can’t wait to make Owens eat those words and both guys sign. There goes the table and Regal gets punched in the face. Balor forearms Owens to the floor and dropkicks him for good measure to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I had a good time with this show and I was amazed by how fast it went by. This was about setting up Takeover as they have five weeks and most of the card isn’t set already. The wrestling wasn’t the point here and it covered a lot of the stuff it needed to get to. They’ll be fine going forward and the Brooklyn crowd is going to help the show a lot. Fun, well done show this week.

Results

Eva Marie b. Cassie – Sliced Bread #2

Baron Corbin b. Jesus de Leon – End of Days

Samoa Joe b. Mike Rallis – Muscle Buster

Bayley b. Emma – Bayley to Belly

Vaudevillains b. Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton – Whirling Dervish to Dawkins

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 20, 2015
Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield

As uneventful as Battleground seemed going into last night, a lot changed in the final moments. The Undertaker of all people returned to end the World Title match by attacking Brock Lesnar. The interesting point was that Rollins just disappeared after basically being squashed by Lesnar for the entire match. It should be interesting to see what happens as we head towards Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap looks at the end of the main event.

Here’s Undertaker to open things up with the announcers listing off all of his accomplishments and making the entire moment fee like anything else. The fans don’t seem to mind Undertaker’s rather heelish actions last night, as anyone with a functioning brain could have predicted. Undertaker starts with a big line: streaks are made to be broken.

However, Lesnar has gone on for months about his greatest accomplishment. Ever since he broke the Streak, Lesnar has bragged about it. You can’t kill what won’t die, and Undertaker will conquer what has yet to be conquered. Just like everyone else, be they man or beast, Brock Lesnar will rest in peace. This definitely wasn’t a heel promo and it didn’t need to be.

Since we haven’t talked about them enough yet, we cut to the Authority who brags about how big a main event they have. Stephanie is ready to market things, but HHH thinks Brock should take the night off.

Cena/Orton/Cesaro vs. Rusev/Owens/Sheamus for the main event. Cesaro and Rusev getting those spots is a great sign.

Charlotte vs. Brie Bella

Team Bad is on commentary but before the match we have to get a quick recap of how Stephanie saved us all. Feeling out process to start with Charlotte knocking Brie to the floor but misses a dive. Back from a break with Brie working on the arm and kicking Charlotte square in the jaw. We get the YES Kicks to fire up the crowd, followed by a low dropkick for two. Brie hooks a chinlock for a good while before Charlotte starts firing off chops and a big boot to the face. Nikki’s distraction doesn’t work and a spear sets up the Figure Eight for the submission for Charlotte at 9:02.

Rating: C. Brie is fine if you keep things simple but Charlotte winning is definitely the right idea. It’s starting to feel like the new girls are becoming a thing and that’s a very good sign this early in their run. It’s going to get annoying just sitting around waiting on the title match though, which seems to be what we’re going to be doing until Nikki breaks the record.

HHH is on the phone with Heyman and tells Lesnar to take the night off. Heyman needs to grow a set and tell Lesnar to not show up tonight. Miz tries to interrupt and gets Big Show as a result.

Prime Time Players vs. Los Matadores

Non-title. Darren takes Diego into the corner to start and blasts him with a spinning forearm. The masked men take over, despite the fans not sounding all that interested. Young snaps off a belly to belly suplex and it’s off to Titus to clean house. Cue New Day for a distraction though, allowing Diego to hit a Backstabber on Titus for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: D. So not only is the feud continuing, but now we’re getting the old distraction into a pin finish again? Also, can we please stop giving people wins over champions when it’s not going to lead anywhere? This happened a few years back when Kofi pinned WWE Champion Randy Orton and then it went nowhere. If that’s what you’re going for, just have the champs win and then let it be a post match attack. Finally, if you want to build a team up, STOP HAVING THEM LOSE TO A NOTHING TEAM LIKE LOS MATADORES! That’s not how you build up a match, especially when they’re not even in the feud.

Big Show vs. Miz

Show chops Miz in the corner to start, as only Big Show can do. A slam sets up the middle rope elbow for the pin on Miz at 1:27. And he was supposed to get a title shot last night?

Show rants about how he’s still around and tells Ryback to show up on Tough Enough tomorrow night for a brawl.

HHH and Stephanie want artwork made up for Lesnar vs. Undertaker when Heyman arrives. He’s here to give Lesnar’s response and nothing more, but the Authority isn’t interested.

Back from a break with the roster meeting with the Authority. They want the entire locker room to keep Lesnar and Undertaker apart because they have to protect the Summerslam main event. There is WAY too much Authority tonight.

Here’s Heyman to address the Summerslam main event. Brock isn’t the World Champion right now, but why isn’t he? It’s not because Rollins out wrestled or out fought him or because Rollins survived a trip to Suplex City. It was all because of a yet again resurrected Undertaker, who can’t get over losing the Streak to Brock Lesnar. Of course Heyman has hyped up the Streak being broken because why wouldn’t he?

It’s the biggest accomplishment of his career because no one else could ever do it. The Undertaker wants to face Brock Lesnar again at Summerslam, so let’s make this personal. Heyman goes into full on promoter voice to rant about the Streak being broken. Undertaker may have sold his soul to the devil to get revenge but he belongs to Brock Lesnar. There goes the gong and the look on Heyman’s face is priceless.

Brock hits the ring and the fight is on with the fans being behind a ticked off Brock. Security has as much success as you would expect so HHH sends a bunch of midcarders out until there must be twenty five guys trying to break this up. The announcers bail so it’s up to the audience to tell us how awesome this is (and they’re right for a change). Undertaker gets to him on the floor again as even main eventers are out there to break it up now.

We come back from a break and they’re fighting in the back again with the entire roster not being able to hold them back. Brock finally steps back and says he’s done, allowing the police to tie his hands.

Rollins comes in to laugh at what just happened but promises the Authority that he’ll be in the arena later.

Bray Wyatt says he’s never alone because his family stands by his side. They know that he is the revolution and the fans need to learn it. The people have annointed Roman Reigns and it’s time for them to burn for it. Harper says this is just the beginning and they will take Reigns apart brick by brick. Anyone but you.

Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns

The fans sound like they’re chanting for Wyatt so Byron says it’s for Reigns. Roman shrugs off a clothesline and fires off chops, only to have Harper go after Roman’s left arm. That earns him a suplex though and we take a quick break. Back with Roman stuck in a chinlock before Harper wisely goes back to the arm. A charge doesn’t work for Reigns as Harper tosses him outside, injuring the arm again.

The match keeps going as Harper cranks on the arm while also working on a chinlock. That’s dedication to your craft. Harper misses a big boot and crashes to the floor, allowing Reigns to start his comeback. Roman and Bray get into it with both Wyatts taking apron kicks. Wyatt pulls Reigns outside though and that’s a DQ at 13:00.

Rating: C-. Harper trying some psychology was a good idea but it’s pretty clear that we’re headed for a tag match at Summerslam. I like the idea of Ambrose and Reigns as the best friends/brothers who will fight back to back until the end and anything with Wyatts vs. Shield vibes is a good thing.

Everyone brawls post match and the Wyatts run.

We get the same recap from the opening.

Here’s Rollins to brag about surviving with the title. He’s sorry to announce this to the people but Lesnar didn’t get the job done. Being champion is so much harder than people think it is because Rollins has to put so much effort into it. After last night, he’s still exactly where he promised he would be, but he never got to hear his name announced last night. Therefore, Lillian Garcia is invited in for the official announcement.

That’s exactly what we get….and here’s Cena to interrupt. Rollins cuts him off by saying this isn’t about him because no one cares about what he does, but Cena talks about how a champion is supposed to be ready to fight no matter what. The brawl is about to be on but, as you would expect, Rollins bails. That might be the co-main event at Summerslam.

Hey! Remember when Stephanie TOTALLY saved the Divas’ division? Well here it is again.

Paige/Becky Lynch vs. Naomi/Sasha Banks

The Bellas/Alicia are on commentary this time. Sasha and Becky get things going, which is almost guaranteed to be awesome. Some armdrags and an armbar have Sasha in early trouble so it’s off to Naomi. That’s fine with Becky who drops a leg (where’s Xavier Woods to rate it though?) as the heroes stay in control.

Sasha gets kicked in the head a few times and we take a break. Back with Naomi cranking on a front facelock as JBL brings up WCW and the NWO because it’s just so fun to make fun eighteen years later. Back from a break with Naomi kicking Becky in the face for two. Sasha comes back in to yell at Paige, allowing Naomi to get in some shots from the apron.

Becky rolls away and DIVES for a tag but Sasha makes a save, only to have the hot tag bring in Paige a second later. Paige cleans house but the PTO on Maomi is broken up at the last second. Everything breaks down as the Bellas just keep chattering like they do in everything they say. The Bank Statement makes Paige tag at 13:05.

Rating: C+. Less Bella means a better match. It’s so adorable hearing them talk about themselves like that and imagining that people care for them. I’m sure they’ll still be around because that’s the nature of the beast, but at least there’s some fresh blood to change things up around here.

Southpaw preview, which is tied into a Tough Enough plug.

Long Undertaker vs. Lesnar recap.

We look back at Rusev’s ankle being fine and the ensuing Ziggler beatdown.

Lana says Ziggler will be fine when Summer Rae comes up in a Lana outfit. Rusev comes in to kiss Summer, who then slaps Lana in the face.

Randy Orton/John Cena/Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens/Rusev/Sheamus

After the entrances take their sweet time, we start things off with Cena vs. Owens. Why? The feud (should have at least) ended last night and it’s off to Rusev before any contact. An early fall away slam gets two and Rusev opts for the stomping away in the corner. That goes badly for the Russian so it’s back to Owens, who has to dive to the ropes to break up an STF attempt. A DDT plants Cena but he rolls away from the Cannonball for the hot tag.

Everything breaks down and Cesaro loads up the Swing, only to eat a jumping superkick to send the match to a break. Back with Owens holding Cesaro down until Cesaro powers up with a nice suplex. Cesaro gets to play face in peril for a bit as all the heels get in their shots. Sheamus and Owens wind up hitting each other though and the fight is on with Sheamus getting the worse of it.

Sheamus walks out on the match and Owens does the same a few moments later, leaving Rusev down 3-1. This goes about as you would expect it to with the parade of finishers putting Rusev down. Cue Lana to spear Summer down, leaving Cesaro to catapult Rusev into an RKO for the pin at 14:21.

Rating: C. Totally Smackdown six man until the cool ending move. I’m not sure what the point of this was as it just came and went without having much going on, but at least Rusev doesn’t look bad in defeat and the other two looked fine as well. This was such a strange ending to Raw as everything was wrapped up and none of these guys seem to have a match set for Summerslam.

Overall Rating: C+. This is about as much of a two idea show as you can have as they set up the main event of Summerslam and pushed the heck out of the Divas revolution. How amazing is it that the Divas could arguably be the more interesting story of the two? You can see that they’ve turned it on for Summerslam and that’s one of the best things you can get in WWE.

Results

Charlotte b. Brie Bella – Figure Eight

Los Matadores b. Prime Time Players – Backstabber to O’Neil

Big Show b. Miz – Middle rope elbow

Roman Reigns b. Luke Harper via DQ when Bray Wyatt interfered

Sasha Banks/Naomi b. Paige/Becky Lynch – Bank Statement to Paige

John Cena/Randy Orton/Cesaro b. Rusev/Kevin Owens/Sheamus – RKO to Rusev

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Battleground 2015
Date: July 19, 2015
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

It’s time for the show that is here to fill time until it’s Summerslam, which usually isn’t the most interesting thing in the world. The main event tonight is Seth Rollins defending the World Title against Brock Lesnar in Brock’s return title match after Rollins stole the title at Wrestlemania. We also have Owens vs. Cena III for Cena’s US Title which has the potential to steal the show again. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: King Barrett vs. R-Truth

For the crown in one of the worst feuds I can remember in a long time. Truth takes him into the corner to start and bunny hops out as we hear a very brief history of the King’s Crown Title from the 1980s. Barrett shoves him away but gets a pelvic thrust and dropkick. A slingshot dive drops Barrett as Lawler makes big nose jokes. The announcers babble about BB King, Stephen King and Burger King as we take a break.

Back with Barrett stretching the arms and JBL talking about working on a rap album with Truth. This goes about as far as you would expect until Truth fights back and gets two off an ax kick. Lawler: “He’s got the whole world in his nose!” Winds of Change gets two on Truth and the Bull Hammer FINALLY gives Barrett the pin at 9:10.

Rating: F. The wrestling sucked, but this fails due to the jokes and the story. This has been a lame story since the beginning and they’ve made no secret about the fact that no one cares what happens here. Barrett is right back where he started and that’s not something you want from someone who is supposed to be a big deal after winning the tournament. Awful stuff and please let him do anything new, as long as it’s serious.

The opening video talks about how the matches tonight have led to a battleground to decide their final fate. This isn’t exactly making up for the lame build.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

This is due to Sheamus helping Kane beat Orton a few weeks back, triggering a feud that most people aren’t all that interested in seeing. Big pop for the hometown Orton, even though he isn’t billed from St. Louis here. Feeling out process to start with Sheamus bailing to the floor, only to have Randy follow him outside to start the beating. The fans get behind Orton but the match immediately gets back to its boring pace.

Sheamus comes back with a kick to the ribs and Orton is in trouble. Three straight Irish Curses put Orton down again for two and a knee drop gets the same. It’s time to hit that chinlock as this is normally the time where we would be coming back from a commercial. Back up and they slug it out with Orton getting the better of it (duh) before they head outside to keep up the fight.

Orton drops him onto the table and snaps off the powerslam for two more back inside. The elevated DDT is countered with a necksnap across the top and a tilt-a-whirl powerslam gets another two. Can we please get to the pay per view level stuff and drop this TV style? I know it’s the most important thing but it’s still nothing I want to see. Both finishers are countered so Sheamus plants him with White Noise for two.

Sheamus goes up but eats a bunch of right hands, setting up the superplex for, say it with me, two. The elevated DDT connects this time and the place goes nuts for the RKO set up but Sheamus rolls him up for two. The Brogue Kick connects out of nowhere but Sheamus can’t cover. Instead it’s the Cloverleaf with Orton having to crawl to the ropes twice. Not that it matters as the RKO finishes Sheamus at 16:46.

Rating: C+. This took its time to get going but the second half was far better than the first. In other words, it was another good TV match formula transferred over to pay per view. Orton going over here, while annoying in a way, was the right choice for an opener, even though I hate Sheamus losing as Mr. Money in the Bank. Good back and forth stuff here though and I got a lot more into it after that chinlock.

Cole talks about the revolution in the Divas’ division setting social media on fire. Therefore, it’s time to recap the Stephanie segment from Raw because that was the focus of the entire thing. Stephanie saying she set the table was horrible and made Paige’s whole story look worthless because Stephanie had to be there to get the credit for everything.

Stephanie, playing a total face instead of the heel authority figure, sucks up to the live crowd. Tonight there’s a triple threat match between each Divas’ trio and Stephanie will accept nothing less than the house being torn down.

Tag Team Titles: Prime Time Players vs. New Day

New Day is challenging after losing the belts to the Players at Money in the Bank. Before the match, New Day talks about staying positive because they know they have to reap the rewards of their sacrifices soon. Woods is on the floor as Kofi starts with Darren. Kofi is a bit too fast for Young so it’s off to Titus for some VERY loud chops in the corner. A New Day conference leads to a tag to Big E., who eats a legdrop from Titus. Woods: “WORST LEGDROP EVER!”

It’s back to Darren who gets thrown outside as the champs take over, allowing Xavier to be an even more obnoxious (meaning AWESOME) cheerleader. We get the alternating stomps, capped off by a running basement dropkick. Woods: “OH IT’S SO GOOD!” An apron splash gets two on Young (that looked good) and we hit the abdominal stretch.

Woods shouts about tricep meat and Darren scores with an enziguri, setting up the hot tag to Titus so house can be cleaned. Titus’ dominance doesn’t last long though as it’s quickly back to Young. The Midnight Hour is broken up and the Gut Check sends Kofi to the floor. O’Neil comes back in for the Clash of the Titus on Big E. to retain at 8:53.

Rating: D+. Well that’s a surprise. I’m not sure how I feel about the result as the Players are little more than adequate and New Day is still one of the funniest acts in wrestling. The match was nothing to see but the Players retaining is an acceptable result. It’s more of a surprise than anything else, and that’s not the worst thing in the world.

Paige is with Charlotte and Becky Lynch in the back and makes sure to praise Stephanie for starting the revolution. They’re going to tear the house down tonight and rebuild the division brick by brick.

We recap Reigns vs. Wyatt, which started with Bray using Reigns’ daughter to get inside his head, before saying anyone but Reigns. The idea seems to be that Reigns hasn’t earned the hero role and Wyatt wants anyone else there, but as usual it isn’t clear with Bray.

Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns

The fireflies continue to look awesome. They lock up to start with Bray hammering him down in the corner for a bit of a surprise. The fans are WAY into Wyatt here, though it might be more anti-Roman instead. An uppercut sends Wyatt to the floor but he pops Reigns with one of his own to take over again. The cross body block takes Reigns down again but Reigns Samoan drops him out to the floor.

Wyatt is fine with the violence of course and sends Reigns into the steps as this has been almost all Bray so far. They slug it out on the apron for something different, setting up a Wyatt DDT on the apron for something painful. We hit the chinlock and get a creepy Wyatt smile as he pulls back. That’s the kind of thing Wyatt does very well and it’s a great addition to the whole package. Reigns finally powers up with a belly to back suplex to break the hold.

It’s time for the comeback, thankfully with only one standing clothesline. Another belly to back drops Wyatt but he clotheslines Reigns out of the air to break up the apron kick (now the Drive By apparently). Bray adds a backsplash on the floor but takes too long putting Reigns on top, allowing Roman to Batista Bomb him out of the corner for a very close two. The Superman Punch misses but Reigns drops him on the apron again.

The apron boot (screw that Drive By nonsense) connects but Bray shakes it off and Rock Bottoms Reigns (appropriate) for two. Fans: “THAT WAS THREE!” I know they’ve been talking about making Wyatt face for a long time now and the fan support seems to be there. Sister Abigail is countered into the Superman Punch (with Bray falling before it connected) for two. This is surprising, despite that almost never being a finisher. Reigns gets all fired up and tries the spear but eats a boot, followed by getting all fired up again but charging into a right hand. You have to change it up a bit you see.

Sister Abigail is broken up (obvious due to being a slow kiss) so Reigns hits ten clotheslines in the corner and another Samoan drop. Both guys are spent so Bray grabs some chairs. Reigns knocks them away just as quickly though and grabs chairs of his own. All four chairs wind up in the ring but someone in a hood superkicks Reigns, allowing Bray to hit Sister Abigail for the pin at 22:10.

Rating: B. I liked this more than I thought I would and Bray getting the win is a very nice sign. Reigns is going to be a big deal and Wyatt could be as well, but at some point you need to win matches like this one. The interference is a good sign as well with Bray’s best days being as a cult leader, so why not let him try it again?

The guy gets in the ring and it’s….Luke Harper, so maybe the reunion is on.

Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks (collectively known as B.A.D., meaning Beautiful and Dangerous, as well as the fact that they’re doomed because that’s a horrible name) are ready for the triple threat.

Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella

All nine are here. Nikki and Sasha have a staredown before the match and it’s going to be Brie instead. Oh yay.

Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Brie Bella

Thankfully Brie is sent outside early on, leaving the two that know what they’re doing in the ring. Charlotte gets her throat snapped across the top rope, leaving Brie to come in with her catfight style Thesz press. That’s fine with Sasha, who sends both of them to the corner for the double knees to the ribs for two each. It seems that they’re keeping Brie out of the action for the most part here and it’s no secret that that’s a good idea.

Sasha headscissors Charlotte down for two and hits a pair of running knees in the corner for the same. Brie makes a save as the fans want Becky. Charlotte clotheslines both of them down but Brie comes back with her own screaming clotheslines. A double bulldog kind of works but Brie just gets two on both. Back up and Sasha sidesteps a charge, sending Charlotte into Brie instead. They’re doing a really good job of keeping Brie limited here while the talented ones do their thing.

Brie comes back in with a double missile dropkick (with the camera barely catching it), setting up the BRIE MODE running knees to the chest. The Bellas huddle on the floor but are quickly surrounded, setting up a BIG staredown. Sasha dives through the ropes to take out a lot of them, followed by Charlotte diving on the rest. Back in and Brie breaks up the Bank Statement on Charlotte, only to have the Bella Buster countered into the Figure Eight for the submission at 11:31. Cole: “TEAM BELLA IS MORTAL!” Oh shut up Michael.

Rating: C+. This was as well booked as they could have made it. You want to keep Nikki away from these newcomers as long as you can and Brie is about as perfect of a sacrifice as there is. It was clear that Brie couldn’t hang with the other two and it would have been crazy to imply she could. This was better than I was expecting and it’s clear that they want the Divas to mean something, which is a great sign.

The preshow panel recaps the night, including Barrett beating Truth.

Long recap of Cena vs. Owens. They traded wins in their first two classics but tonight Cena’s US Title is on the line. Owens claims that Cena keeps disrespecting him but Owens has never been the kind of guy that says what he really means.

US Title: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens

Cena is defending and gets the JOHN CENA SUCKS song. Cena: “RAIN IT DOWN!” Owens gets in the first big shot to start and slugs Cena down with forearms to the back. More big shots put Cena down and the backsplash (just wait until Owens or Bray have to drop that one) gets two. Cena tries a comeback with a dropkick but Owens puts him down one more time, only to miss a swanton. It’s really impressive that a guy his size can do something like that.

Owens busts out Cena’s finishing sequence but the AA is countered into Cena’s STF. The rope is quickly grabbed as Cena starts his comeback, only to Kevin catch the top rope legdrop into a sitout powerbomb for two more. An AA gets two for the champ, thereby fulfilling the quota for the match. The sunset bomb gets the same but Owens busts out the swinging superplex for the same.

Back up and the Pop Up Powerbomb is countered with a hurricanrana, setting up an AA to Cena, followed by an STF to really fire up the crowd. John finally makes the ropes and dives for a tornado DDT, which still doesn’t put Owens away. The Springboard Stunner does better than usual but Owens stays going and takes Cena’s head off with a clothesline. No cover though, as Owens goes with the brainbuster onto the knee for two instead.

Another AA gets another two on Kevin and the Pop Up Powerbomb gets the same on the champ. Owens heads up top again and gets caught one more time, setting up the super AA for two. I don’t think anyone has ever kicked out of that one before so well done. Cena has the same face he had when the Rock beat him at Wrestlemania so it’s off to a rematch that no one wanted to see. Actually it’s the STF instead and Owens taps at 22:14.

Rating: B+. I didn’t like this one quite as much as the other two and I have no idea why you don’t put the title on Owens here. Owens kicked out of the super finisher and then just taps out to the regular finish? That’s some backwards booking to put it mildly, despite a great match to get there. Owens will be fine, but this really should have been his big moment. As a sidebar, they really didn’t put Cesaro and/or Rusev on this show somewhere? Really?

Here’s Miz for a chat instead of the Intercontinental Title match. Miz rips on Ryback for bailing on the match because it’s messed up his branding team’s plans for talk show appearances as the new champion. He knows he’s the toughest man in St. Louis and thinks Big Show should retire like everyone wants him do do. Big Show comes out and lays Miz out with one punch as you would expect him to do.

Long recap of Rollins vs. Lesnar. Seth stole the World Title by cashing in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania, but tonight Lesnar is out for revenge and his title. Brock has also broken Kane’s ankle and put the Stooges out of action to make this one on one. Also something about breaking a car for some product placement.

WWE World Heavyweight Title: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar

Seth is defending of course but Brock drives him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. An early German attempt sends Seth outside and the champ gets Brock to chase him. Back in and some kicks to the leg have Brock staggered, but Rollins dives into the first German. Three more send Rollins flying and it’s out to the floor. He tries to run but Brock just hurdles the barricade and throws him back to ringside. Well that’s one way to get him back.

German #6 has Rollins in even more trouble and Brock looks livid. Rollins backflips out of #7 and hits a superkick (way too common a move tonight), followed by three straight low superkicks. Another regular superkick means Rollins can apply to be a Young Buck, but the Pedigree is easily countered. Rollins hits a pair of suicide dives but Brock charges in and throws Rollins with a belly to belly.

Brock rolls three more Germans (10), followed by a release for #11. We’re up to thirteen and Rollins looks dead. The F5 connects…….and we’ve got Undertaker. Brock looks terrified but escapes a chokeslam. The F5 is countered and Undertaker kicks him in the face. We’ll say the match was thrown out at 9:00.

Rating: C+. I really didn’t like this one as I’m getting tired of all the suplexes. I know Brock is capable of doing other stuff but he’s basically a popular Royal Rumble 2003 Scott Steiner in this formula. It’s still entertaining enough but Brock can do more stuff than just throw Germans everywhere all the time. This was probably their best idea, but I’m not sure who goes after the belt next.

The chokeslam works the second time and Brock gets tombstoned for good measure. Rollins is nowhere in sight during any of this. A second Tombstone has Heyman freaking out and Undertaker poses to end the show. The fans were behind him so I think it’s face vs. face at Summerslam.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a really tricky one to grade as it’s much more a collection of good to quite good matches instead of a great show. The Undertaker stuff could go a bunch of ways, but it’s cool to see him doing ANYTHING other than his usual Wrestlemania appearance. The show was better than I was expecting and for a Summerslam warmup, I’ll call it a big success. Just keep the scale in mind when you consider that big success.

Results

Randy Orton b. Sheamus – RKO

Prime Time Players b. New Day – Clash of the Titus to Big E.

Bray Wyatt b. Roman Reigns – Sister Abigail

Charlotte b. Brie Bella and Sasha Banks – Figure Eight to Bella

John Cena b. Kevin Owens – STF

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins went to a no contest when Undertaker interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Maybe it’s just where I’ve been away for a bit but it doesn’t feel like it’s time for a pay per view. To be fair though, WWE doesn’t seem to know either, because it’s the day before the show and we’ve got a five match card. While I’m sure there will be some fixes made and matches added, Battleground feels like a show that doesn’t need to exist, but there’s some stuff worth looking at. Let’s get to it.

Starting with the preshow, we have King Barrett vs. R-Truth for the Crown. Now you may be asking, why is this match happening. Well that’s because Vince has again fallen in love with a comedy character and thinks that it’s just SO FREAKING FUNNY that it’s worth putting Barrett through another mess for a story that no one cares about.

Barrett summed up the problems on Raw: why should I care if he beats Truth again when he already beat him in the King of the Ring tournament in the first place? These two have traded wins since then and the story just isn’t working. Let’s say Barrett wins Sunday. Where is he then? Right back where he was when he won the tournament: King, having beaten R-Truth to get there.

That is of course after all the weeks of having bad matches and stupid promos about R-Truth being KING WHAT’S UP because it’s funny that Truth is crazy. This has been such a waste of Barrett and the entire tournament, but then again the whole thing was thrown together as a Network audience builder. This was a huge waste of time and I guess Barrett wins, because there’s no point to putting it on Truth other than to make Vince lau…..Truth is probably winning isn’t he? I’ll stick with Barrett but be ready to throw my remote at the TV.

I’ll take Reigns and Wyatt going to a DQ to set up another Raw match. My guess is we eventually get Reigns vs. Ambrose at Summerslam, but at this point I’m thinking it’s a double DQ or double countout, because Reigns hasn’t failed in enough big matches yet. Wyatt needs the win, but he’s needed a big win since……December? I don’t think you can count Ryback as a major win, not back then at least. I’ll take the draw here, but my goodness is there anything worse than seeing these two as such meaningless acts right now?

New Day gets the belts back. Word on the street is the Players got the belts because of Titus’ dad of the year award and, shockingly enough, NO ONE CARED ABOUT THAT EITHER. New Day gets the titles back here and thankfully we’re back to normal. The Players are a fine team and Titus is as professional as they get, but there’s just no reason to care about them on top of the division.

It’s taken me a while to write this out but I’ll take Orton to win over Sheamus. Not that it’s a complicated decision or anything, but it took me three or four tries to stay awake to write this out. There’s no reason for this match to be happening aside from they both need something to do. Neither guy feels like anything more than an overgrown midcard act right now, even though they’re both former World Champions and legitimate big stars. There’s nothing to this story and the match has no heat, especially considering how many times these two have bored the fans to death. Orton wins as Sheamus has the MITB curse at the moment.

I’ll go with the obvious and have Owens take the US Title. As strange as it would be to have the US Champion fighting for the NXT Title, it’s clear that Owens thinks the NXT Title means something. If that’s not where they go with it, there’s always the option of Owens saying the US Title is more important and saying he’ll do the rematch because he signed and a loss means nothing to him. Still though, Cena has nothing left to do with the title so put it on Owens, the best heel going today.

That leaves us with the main event and…..just dang man. This should have been the easiest feud in the world (“You stole the Beast’s title and now it is time to pay.”). That’s where they’ve kind of gone with it, but for the most part it’s been about beating up the Stooges and a car for product placement. I certainly don’t hate this one, but it hasn’t made itself stand out.

At least there aren’t currently any Authority members to bail Seth out, but whether he wins or loses, this is going to wind up being about the Authority one way or another. Why? Because that’s how WWE works and there’s no way around it. I’ll take Seth retaining through shenanigans to drag this out. Again.

And somehow that’s it. We really don’t have anything else on the card to talk about, though I’m pretty sure we’re going to get something between Big Show vs. Miz and maybe Stardust vs. Neville. However, that leaves out Cesaro and Rusev, who both currently have rockets attached to their backs. I could easily see Cesaro added to the Intercontinental Title match for a vacated title, but I could also see him doing nothing more than a run-in during the US Title match.

Throw in a Divas match/segment, but there’s something interesting here: yeah the NXT girls are here, but we’re counting down the days until Nikki sets the record. This is where the problem: at some point she’s going to have to fight one of them, and I’m not sure they can come up with two months of stalling before either A, the NXT girls lose or B, Nikki drags them down and no one cares. In other words, that whole record thing is going to threaten the entire story, but WWE would rather destroy their entire division to get rid of AJ Lee from the history books, unless they grow up and stop Nikki’s reign early.

Overall, Battleground could be fun if the matches overachieve, but at some point WWE needs to be running on more than just that. There isn’t a lot going on here and the big draws are the third match of a trilogy and Lesnar, who probably doesn’t get the title back. Then again, this show doesn’t really mean much as we’re gearing up for Summerslam, where the real fun takes place.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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NXT
Date: July 15, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan, Byron Saxton

It’s a title show as Charlotte came out last week to help Sasha Banks, in exchange for a title match tonight. These two have had some big showdowns in the past and this should be the same, especially after their debuts this past week on Raw. The other major story will be the return of Sami Zayn for an update on his injury. Let’s get to it.

Chad Gable/Jason Jordan vs. Steve Cutler/Elias Samson

This is Gable/Jordan’s debut as a team after Jordan spent weeks trying to find a partner and Gable saying they would work perfectly together. Gable quickly takes Cutler down for two and shows off some very nice technical stuff for some rollups. Cutler finally drives Chad into the corner and tags off to Samson for some right hands in the corner.

It doesn’t last long though as Gable drives him into the corner for a tag to Jordan, who powers Cutler down with ease. In a very unique looking double team, Jordan lifts Cutler up in a belly to back but drops him into a bridging belly to back from Gable for the pin at 2:47. Cool finisher at least and Gable looked good.

Clip of the NXT girls debuting on Raw and cleaning house. No sign of Stephanie and suddenly this is WAY better. That triple submission is an awesome visual.

Samoa Joe vs. Axel Tischer

Axel is German. Joe peppers him with strikes in the corner to start, kicks Tischer in the face and hits the backsplash, followed by the Rock Bottom out of the corner and the Muscle Buster into the Koquina Clutch for the tap out at 2:59. Total squash and that’s a good idea for Joe at this point.

Video on Baron Corbin’s athletic background. He boxed, did judo, won conference titles in college football and played in the NFL. At least he’s accomplished something though, because most of the guys in NXT are popular on the internet after being paid in hot dogs and chips. Corbin is in NXT to destroy the internet’s heroes. Well that came out of nowhere and tells us about 1.9 million times more about Corbin than we ever knew. Nice job there, as is always the case with these videos.

Here’s Eva Marie to talk about how awesome she is and announce her in ring debut next week. Get your little signs ready! There’s a chance that could be good, but oh man it’s not going to be well received.

Blake/Murphy vs. Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton

Non-title. Blake and Murphy start by taking turns on Dawkins with Blake slapping on a chinlock. Murphy comes in for a chinlock of his own as the announcers talk about sandwiches for no apparent reason. Dawkins fights up but Blake is smart enough to pull Fulton to the floor. The brainbuster and frog splash are enough for the pin on Angelo at 3:03.

Rating: D+. Total squash in a night of them with the champions looking great. They’re a pretty generic team but at least Alexa is nailing her role as the manipulative, stuck up boss. They should have a fun match against the Vaudevillains too and have made solid champions after looking like filler coming in.

The champs beat Dawkins down post match and flip Alexa into the air for the Sparkle Splash. Again, that looked cool.

Here’s Sami, with his arm in a sling, for his big update. After the OLE chants finally die down, Sami talks about how great it is to hear that the fans haven’t forgotten about him. It’s been a rough patch for him because he’s gone from the best year of his career in 2014 to the worst year of his career in 2015 because he isn’t likely back to close out the year.

He isn’t finished by a long shot though because he has goals. Like being able to find a comfortable position to sleep in or come back and regain his NXT Championship. There’s no greater motivator than revenge and Kevin Owens’ career is going to be linked to his career forever. Owens better watch, because Sami is coming for him. Not much to be heard here, but Sami’s charisma carried it everywhere it needed to go.

We look back at Charlotte being granted a title match.

Clip of Owens losing the NXT Title to Finn Balor in Japan.

At Comic Con, William Regal announced Owens’ rematch for Takeover: Brooklyn. Both guys traded some shots at the press conference.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Sasha is defending. Charlotte starts slowly by shoving Sasha into the corner (too common a move) and throwing in a little Flair strut. The champ is sent down into the ropes and Charlotte nips up just because she can. A knee to the face and the double knees in the corner put Charlotte down for two as the momentum swing takes us to a break. Back with Charlotte getting choked in the corner (because where else would it be?), allowing Sasha to bust out the Flair strut.

We hit the chinlock with Banks’ boots in the back, followed by a figure four neck lock. The fans misfire pretty badly here with a Sasha Banks chant to the New Day rhythm. It doesn’t work for everything guys. Charlotte powers up into a powerbomb but both of them are down for a count of seven. It’s Charlotte up first with a backslide, but instead of trying a pretty obvious failure, she drops to her knees for a backbreaker instead. That’s a new one on me.

Banks gets two off a regular backslide but makes the mistake of ranting about how much better she is, thereby earning her a boot to the face. The Figure Eight is countered into a VERY close rollup, only to have the hold go on with Charlotte losing some hair extensions in the process. Sasha makes the ropes but Charlotte rolls under the ropes with the hold still on in a cool visual. Back up and Charlotte’s slam is countered into the Bank Statement. The hold stays on longer than it ever has before but Charlotte finally taps at 16:30.

Rating: B. This division is really becoming its own worst enemy as they’re getting caught in their own success. With their classics at Takeover, even a really good match like this is considered a letdown. Banks and Charlotte are going to be great additions to the Divas’ division and could easily carry the whole thing on their backs, assuming we can get the Bellas out of the way first.

Above all else though, this showed the difference between the Divas and the NXT girls. All night long, this match was treated as a major deal and as big as any showdown you’ll see on Raw. The fans bought what the promotion was sending them though and that makes it seem like something special. I don’t remember the last time any Diva has hooked the fans in, but this is proof it can be done if set up right.

They shake hands and hug for a cool moment to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was an interesting show as they started setting up Takeover: Brooklyn and reminded us that some people are around, followed by a good main event to cap things off. That’s NXT in a nutshell: a big match and setting up stuff for the future. Good show here and the main event is worth checking out for some of the cool and unique offense.

Results

Chad Gable/Jason Jordan b. Steve Cutler/Elias Samson – Bridging belly to back suplex to Samson

Samoa Joe b. Axel Tischer – Koquina Clutch

Blake/Murphy b. Angelo Dawkins/Sawyer Fulton – Frog splash to Dawkins

Sasha Banks b. Charlotte – Bank Statement

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume III at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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