205 Live – May 1, 2018: And Then He Grew Up To Be Gillberg
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live Date: May 1, 2018 Location: Bell Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph
It’s a strange time around here as we have a few stories going on but nothing is all that interesting. In other words, we’re back to close to where we were before the tournament started with a different champion. Buddy Murphy needs to make weight to get back around here (or for the Greatest Royal Rumble to be over as they likely just didn’t want to burn through that match) but other than that, Cedric Alexander doesn’t have a challenger. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s gauntlet match and Cedric defeating Kalisto in Saudi Arabia to retain the title.
Opening sequence.
Murphy has made weight and will be back in action tonight. So Greatest Royal Rumble can add last week’s 205 Live to its list of victims.
Jack Gallagher/Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa/Hideo Itami
Tozawa yells at Gallagher a lot and stomps away in the corner to start. Gallagher gets back up and hits him in the face, allowing the double tag to Itami vs. Kendrick (remember that Itami put Kendrick on the shelf a few months back). Itami wastes no time in going after the face with some forearms to the orbital bone but Kendrick will have none of that and goes off on Itami with shots to the face and chest.
Itami finally slows him down and brings Tozawa back in for a missile dropkick. Tozawa even kicks Gallagher off the apron but Jack gets in a cheap shot of his own to change control. It’s time to start taking turns on Tozawa, who shouts a lot as Kendrick hooks something related to a crossface chickenwing. A few shots to the face are enough for the hot tag off to Itami and the striking gets even harder.
The top rope clothesline gets two on Kendrick and there’s a running hesitation dropkick in the corner. Kendrick is right back up with a big boot but Tozawa tags himself in and suicide dives onto Kendrick and Gallagher at the same time. Back in and a spinning kick to the head drops Gallagher, setting up the top rope backsplash. Tozawa gets crotched on top by an errant Itami though and Gallagher headbutts Tozawa for the pin at 8:11.
Rating: C+. This deserves a higher rating for how hard they were hitting each other alone. Some of those shots to the face sounded rather hard and while I’m not big on Kendrick and Gallagher as a team, it’s a good idea to have them get a win to reestablish themselves. Itami and Tozawa aren’t bad and it’s better than watching Itami fail as a singles guy.
Post match Itami shoves Tozawa away and leaves on his own. Tozawa is stunned.
We look back at Buddy attack Cedric a few weeks back.
Drew Gulak isn’t happy about losing to Kalisto last week so tonight, he’s making Kalisto tap.
Buddy Murphy vs. Liam Louis
Louis looks like a younger Gillberg. Murphy throws him around like the tiny jobber he is so Louis slaps him. The fans chant GILLBERG as Murphy hits two straight powerbombs (without letting go) for two with Murphy pulling him up . The referee stops it at 1:45.
Post match Cedric is here to beat Murphy to the back.
Kalisto vs. Drew Gulak
Kalisto gets an inset promo saying the Lucha House Party has brought him back to his feet after he lost in Saudi Arabia. They fight over a lockup to start with Gulak taking it to the mat and slapping him in the back of the head. Gulak lets him up so Kalisto does the Lucha Dance to a pretty weak reaction. It’s off to a wristlock with Drew’s foot on Kalisto’s head. We hit the headlock with Kalisto’s arm trapped as Gulak is doing quite well at keeping him on the mat to start.
Kalisto fights up and does a backflip, which certainly doesn’t impress Gulak. Nigel thinks that might have been impressive at the circus as Gulak calmly takes over again. This time it’s a leglock but Kalisto rolls him away for the break. Kalisto finally gets up and sends him outside for a corkscrew dive but Drew gets a knee up. All Gulak so far as Kalisto can’t get anything going. Back in and Gulak tries a Gory Stretch, squatting down so low that he’s almost touching the mat.
Kalisto slips out so Gulak puts on something like a Boston crab, pulling the legs back so far that they’re tucked underneath Gulak’s thighs while his hands are wrapped around Kalisto’s stomach. With the holds not working, one heck of a clothesline gives Drew two. It’s off to a bow and arrow, followed by a hard forearm for two.
Now it’s time to go for the mask and gets it almost halfway off until Kalisto sends him out to the floor. A slingshot dive into an armdrag shows you just how angry Kalisto is for the attempted demasking. The slingshot front flip with the bounce off the ropes takes Gulak down again. Back in and the Salida Del Sol is reversed as the fans are busy paying attention to something else. Kalisto tries a moonsault but gets pulled into the Gulock for the tap at 12:46.
Rating: B-. Gulak has been on another level of late with the submission stuff not only looking devastating but also incredibly smooth. You get the feeling that he really could beat anyone at any time and that makes him a threat to the title, or anyone on the show for that matter. It makes him a good villain, especially with Cedric as champion. Good match here with Gulak getting to shine.
Lucha House Party checks on Kalisto to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. Not bad here, but with Gulak and Murphy looking awesome and a ticked off Itami yelling at people and hitting them really hard, it’s not making Cedric look great on top. He’s a pretty generic guy who can have good matches, which doesn’t exactly make him into a thrilling champion. Odds are his title loss will be a big deal, but for now he’s not exactly thrilling me with the title.
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TNA One Night Only – Live: Maybe They Should Stick With Taped
Live Date: January 8, 2016
Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero
So due to the cancellations of the India and Gulf Coast tours (due to “issues”), we get a special live edition of One Night Only. The only good that comes out of this is I don’t have to search for the show for months before I can get it done so two people can read it. At least in this case the stories are current so there might be something important here. Let’s get to it.
We open with a quick preview of the show, which only has a few matches announced due to the really short turnaround. The big story tonight is the return of Beer Money, who will be facing Bram/Eric Young in a very quickly put together feud.
X-Division Title: DJZ vs. Mandrews vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Tigre Uno
Elimination rules. Tigre Uno is defending against the same people he’s fought for months now. Mandrews is now a full on Dynamic Dude with a skateboard and backwards hat. Uno is in a big shoulder wrap after his injury at Bound For Glory. It’s a brawl to start as this is under tornado rules. Just what we needed. DJZ is quickly sent outside so everyone else can brawl, including Tigre suplexing Steve for two.
Back in and DJZ gets a good looking dropkick to knock Mandrews outside. Good. Stay out there. Mandrews comes back in for two off a hard hurricanrana to DJZ, leaving Tigre to spinwheel kick Steve in the face. A Tower of Doom is broken up with some kicks, leaving Mandrews to dropkick Tigre out to the floor. The fans are behind Steve here for reasons I don’t want to understand.
Mandrews flips out onto Tigre and swings his legs back inside to trip DJZ. That means it’s time to skateboard down the ramp into a headscissors to send DJZ into Steve. Tigre dives onto all three of them before dropping a top rope seated senton for two on Crazzy. Back up and Steve grabs a crossface chicken wing on Tigre’s bad arm in the middle of the ring. Ever the schnook, Mandrews drops a shooting star on both of them to break the hold and pin Steve.
After the elimination, Steve snaps and puts Tigre in the hold again. So I guess that’s a heel turn? Mandrews misses another shooting star but grabs a rollup to get rid of DJZ. We’re down to one on one and Mandrews goes after Tigre’s bad arm. A belly to back gets two on the champ but Tigre breaks up another shooting star (good), setting up a C4 to retain the title at 10:21.
Rating: C. This was more fun than their usual matches but can we please get some fresh faces in this division? Tigre is turning into a special X-Division Champion with a long reign but there’s no way he holds the thing until Destination X when people remember the title exists. On the other hand, I have no idea what people see in Mandrews. He’s a skateboard and a ton of shooting star presses. How is that entertaining?
Post match here’s Gregory Helms to stare down Tigre again. Helms implies that time is running out on Tigre’s reign. Fans: “3 COUNT!” Josh: “Gregory Shane Helms is, in my opinion, coming for the X-Division Title!”
Eric Young, now with fresh arm tattoos, says he and Bram are the only news anyone is going to be talking about in the very near future. Beer Money being back makes people happy but Young and Bram are never happy. Young rants about Matt Hardy costing him the World Title.
Aiden O’Shea vs. Rockstar Spud
Spud does the old Chris Jericho pose by laying against the barricade. After the bell (at least I hope after), Aiden offers Spud a chance to walk out and take the countout instead of a beating. O’Shea keeps calling Spud a mutt as Spud teases leaving, only to come back and flip the big guy off. Aiden pounds him down and keeps talking trash on the mic, shouting that this is a heavyweight division.
The announcers don’t think this is a match because they can’t remember a bell ringing three minutes ago. Spud drives him into the corner but O’Shea shoves him down again. Unfortunately he finds the mic again and talks more trash before pounding in some forearms. Josh throws in a line about Spud being a replacement for Mahabali Shera, whose tires were deflated earlier in the day. Wait it was earlier in the day and he couldn’t get a taxi here? I mean, open a case and do the Shera Shuffle (or is it the Shake?) because IT’S SWEEPING THE NATION!
A backbreaker stuns Spud and Aiden is still talking about how stupid Spud really is. Spud comes back with a baseball slide to knock O’Shea to the floor, followed by a nice dive. O’Shea sends him hard into the barricade and then the announcers’ table, drawing some VERY loud swearing from Spud. Josh: “I guess this was a match.” The referee counting didn’t seem to give Josh the hint. Back in and Spud starts getting fired up, including a double bird and another F bomb. An enziguri and some forearms have O’Shea in trouble, followed by the Underdog for the pin at 9:33.
Rating: D. I’m really not sure what to make of this one. It’s easy to make fun of Josh for not knowing that it was a match because it really wasn’t like a match for a long stretch. Instead it was much more like Aiden cutting a promo and yelling at Spud until we got a quick match. I’ll give them credit for trying something but this mostly missed.
Kurt Angle and Drew Galloway are ready when the Wolves come in. The Wolves came in and said they want a match with the two of them. Eli Drake and Jesse Godderz come in to add themselves. This might have been from Tuesday.
We look at Carter winning the title on Tuesday and see his post match victory speech where he basically says he told us so. He’s called himself several things since arriving in TNA including the new game. With this title, he may not be the new game anymore but he’s certainly going to change it.
Robbie E. vs. Mike Bennett
Before the match, Maria comes out and asks if we believe in the Miracle. Robbie goes right after him to start and fires off some right hands to knock Mike out to the floor. A nice dive takes Bennett down, meaning Mike has already taken more offense than he should have already. Robbie tries a hurricanrana on the floor but Mike pulls him up and swings him head first into the barricade to take over.
Back in and a big boot gets two on Robbie before we hit the chinlock. Robbie fights up again but can’t hit the Boom Drop. He can’t hit a high cross body either but the second Boom Drop connects to knock Mike out to the apron. The delay gives me time to realize that Robbie E. wears the same style shorts that Alexa Bliss wears. Back in and Mike hits a quick cutter, followed by a fireman’s carry into a Michinoku driver for the pin at 7:33.
Rating: D-. What the heck was that? Keep in mind that this was a debut for someone who was supposed to be a top star. Robbie is a solid midcard act but this should have been just a step above a squash. Instead it was a back and forth match with Robbie hitting his finisher. Who in the world thought this was a good way to book someone’s debut? Horrible booking here and it showed very badly.
Post match the finisher is named Divine Intervention. Bennett promises to build a kingdom of miracles.
Gail Kim is happy for the gauntlet match because she won the first Knockouts Title in the same kind of match. Whoever wins is in for a fight. JB goes over some of the people in the match, actually trying to pretend that Kong isn’t going to win. That’s adorable.
Video on the Knockouts, basically giving a quick profile on each. This should have been on Impact.
Gauntlet Match
This is a mini Royal Rumble but it turns into a regular match when we’re down to two with the winner becoming #1 contender. Madison Rayne is in at #1 and Jade is in at #2. They botch a headscissors to start with Jade going down anyway, only to send Madison over the top and out to the apron. It’s way too early for an elimination though and Madison gets back in but misses an enziguri.
Jade gets kicked out of the corner and slapped in the ribs a few times until it’s Rebel in at #3. A quick spinning kick to the head (drawing the second Holly Holm reference of the night) drops Madison as we get a weak NXT chant. Rayne has to try to fight both of them off until it’s Chelsea (unfortunately not the gorgeous one that hung out with Desmond Wolfe but rather Daniel Bryan’s version of Claire Lynch) in at #4.
Chelsea can’t quite eliminate Rebel but does give Madison a breather. The pairs fight against the ropes until it’s Marti Bell in at #5 to give the Dollhouse yet another advantage. Rebel does her splits choke in the corner to keep Chelsea in trouble and the Dollhouse dominates. We still have no eliminations until it’s Deonna (recently of NXT) in at #6. Deonna takes down Rebel and Marti with a bad looking double clothesline as the ring is getting too full. A triple spear puts the Dollhouse down and Rebel is knocked out.
Awesome Kong is in at #7 and it’s time to clear some room. Kong starts cleaning house and uses the other Dollhouse members as projectiles in a smart move. Chelsea and Deonna try to double team the monster and get chokeslammed at the same time. Both are quickly eliminated and it’s Velvet Sky in at #8 to give us a final grouping of Sky, Rayne, Kong, Jade and Bell. Velvet starts knocking the Dollhouse around and the Beautiful People actually knock Kong down.
Marti gets low bridged to the apron but Velvet doesn’t bother to eliminate her. Rayne takes care of Marti for her partner but Velvet is eliminated a few seconds later, leaving us with Madison, Kong and Jade. Kong stands on Rayne’s hand as Pope talks about being in this kind of match before. Josh: “You’ve been in a #1 contenders gauntlet match for the Knockouts Title?”
That’s why Josh Matthews is a horrible commentator in one sentence. Pope is trying to sound like a professional and apply some of his experience to what we’re watching but Josh has to try and make himself sound smart instead. I’m so glad to see Josh getting himself over instead of doing his job. Kong puts Jade on her shoulders and swings her at Madison, only to have Jade get knocked out to the floor and get us down to one on one.
Rayne is quickly taken down to the mat and put in a leg lock which doesn’t go anywhere. Some clotheslines have little effect on Kong but a missile dropkick actually puts her down for two. The shocked look on Kong’s face is great, only to have her grab the Implant Buster to put Rayne away at 16:08.
Rating: D. These things just don’t work. They just don’t. I know TNA has tried this match for years now and I can only think of one or two that wasn’t a borderline disaster. I don’t know if it’s the way they’re booked or how much time they take but these things are almost always bad. Granted in this case it was the lack of any doubt about Kong winning because who else was going to get the title shot here?
The Wolves are glad to have Beer Money back, even though Beer Money is the past. They’d love to face Beer Money any time but here are Eli Drake and Jesse Godderz to interrupt. A lot of bragging leads to a pull apart.
Trevor Lee vs. Pepper Parks
Parks is an indy regular. Trevor jumps him at the bell and stomps Pepper down in the corner, allowing Pope to get in a “salt in pepper’s wounds” line. Pepper sends Trevor to the floor for a flip dive and stops to play to the crowd a bit. It seems to work this time so points for trying something so many people forget to do. Trevor comes back with a knee to the face as Josh actually brings up Trevor being part of the GFW invasion. Lee puts a knee in Parks’ back and pulls back on the arm for a painful looking hold before actually getting a near fall.
Back up and Lee does his cool belly to belly suplex to counter a cross body and we hit the chinlock. Parks simplifies things a bit by kicking Trevor in the face and gets two off a backslide. A fisherman’s neckbreaker gets the same and Parks cuts off a comeback with a Sky High. Trevor gets creative though with what looks like a dropkick but turns it into a stomp to the chest. That and a fisherman’s buster into a small package are enough to pin Parks at 8:05.
Rating: C+. Is there a reason Parks doesn’t have a job somewhere? He’s a name you hear about all over the place but he’s only been brought in to job here and there. Lee continues to be entertaining and could have a future in TNA if they don’t manage to screw him up like they do almost everyone else.
The Dollhouse celebrates in the back and Kong ACTUALLY TALKS, telling Kim to clean that title up before she comes for it. Has she ever talked before? If so I’d hope it was something more than this. She’s actually not a bad talker and sounded a lot more confident than you would have expected.
Pope is in the ring for some reason. He’s been insulting someone on commentary lately and would like to talk to him face to face. This brings Grado dancing out to the ring, much to Pope’s disgust. Pope talks about how they’re not exactly friends and Grado says something I can barely understand, talking about meeting Pope in 2011. They took a picture together and Grado got TWENTY SIX LIKES on Facebook!
Pope gets annoyed all over again and calls Grado a joke for dancing all over the place instead of taking this ring seriously. Grado offers to speak in an American accent (and not a terrible one actually) so Pope can understand him. He says he’d fight anyone in the back to prove himself to Pope and that means it’s time for a match.
Before we get to the match though, a quick question: why has TNA not had Pope work a match? He’s not exactly a great commentator and he’s still active on the indy circuit, even holding a title in OVW. He was a total heel here though and I have no idea why as he’s normally a face commentator. This was really weird and Pope was doing everything differently than he’s been doing in recent months.
Grado vs. Abyss
Monster’s Ball of course with Abyss setting up the rules by telling Grado he likes to dance too. Grado actually dances before kicking Abyss low for an early advantage before the bell. It’s time for some early weapons but Grado knocks the cheese grater away from the monster. Some trashcan shots have little effect on Abyss and he knocks it right into Grado’s face to take over.
We get a table bridged between the apron and the barricade plus the bag of tacks poured out on the floor. Grado is smart enough to use the time to get the cheese grater and blast Abyss low, followed by some kendo stick shots to drop the monster. Abyss is getting up as Grado heads up top, only to have a trashcan pelted at his head, knocking him down through the table for a huge crash.
Instead of just ending it though, here’s the barbed wire board to make it even worse. It’s also Janice time and of course it gets stuck in the turnbuckle. Grado kicks him onto the barbed wire board and now Pope is on Grado’s side. Another board is put on top of Abyss to make a sandwich, followed by a top rope splash to crush him even worse. Grado grabs Janice but gets chokeslammed onto the tacks to give Abyss the pin at 9:23.
Rating: D. What was the point of this? Grado is called a goofy loser, then does goofy stuff in the match and then gets beaten? I’m not a Grado fan but this felt like a way to make him look horrible instead of treating him like someone they might want to capitalize on. The match was your usual Monster’s Ball, which you can almost paint by numbers anymore.
Drew thanks Kurt for the chance and promises to bring it on Tuesday.
Tag Team Titles: Eli Drake/Jesse Godderz vs. Kurt Angle/Drew McIntyre vs. Wolves
Wolves are defending. Jesse headlocks Davey to start but Richards tags in Eddie as Pope almost calls this a WWE Tag Team Title match. Drake comes in and suplexes Edwards for two, only to get a WE WANT ANGLE chant. Instead they get Jesse kicking Eddie in the head but getting suplexed down a few seconds later. Drake is smart enough to pull Davey off the apron to break up the tag, leaving Eddie to tag in Angle.
It’s time to bust out the Germans, including one to both Wolves at the same time. Drew comes in and helps his partner clean house Eddie finally crotches Drew on top to put him in the Tree of Woe, allowing Richards to add a top rope headbutt for two. Nice sequence there. Eddie and Drew get in a chopping contest in opposite corners before deciding to chop each other for a bit.
Drake finally breaks it up with clotheslines but Angle comes back in with an Angle Slam to Jesse. It’s Drew nailing Eddie with the Claymore to put all six down. Drake and Jesse bail to the floor, leaving the other teams to slug it out. That’s fine with the Wolves who both hit the ropes to take out the cowards on the floor.
Drew flips over the top to take out all four and throws Drake back in for an Angle Slam, only to have Davey slide in for a save. The referee gets distracted, allowing Drake to nail Drew with a title for another near fall. Jesse kicks Kurt low but gets sent to the floor, leaving Eli to take the Wolves’ Chasing the Dragon knockoff for two. Not that it matters as Eddie grabs a leg bar to make Eli tap at 10:13.
Rating: B-. This is the standard tag team formula these days and I’m still not a fan. The matches rarely last very long before the whole thing breaks down into pure chaos. It’s still entertaining enough to work but I could go for a more traditional style of tag match with two teams instead of three once in awhile. Still though, match of the night so far.
The good guys all pose together post match.
Lashley is sick of Tyrus costing him the World Title and wants some revenge.
Lashley vs. Tyrus
This has potential, though Lashley’s orange headband kind of ruins the image. Some running shoulders to the ribs in the corner have Tyrus in trouble as the announcers unfortunately remember that Tyrus has a World Title shot coming to him in the near future. Lashley can’t get the legs so he goes with a standing armbar instead. Josh actually talks some strategy by pointing out that Lashley likes to fight in close quarters.
That’s accurate but completely forgotten when Lashley jumps onto Tyrus’ shoulders for a standing cross armbreaker. Well that was awesome. The annoying TNA fans want Shera as Tyrus drops down to break the hold before suplexing him over the top and out to the floor. With the referee checking on Lashley, Tyrus pulls the top turnbuckle off, which I’m sure won’t come back to haunt him.
A headbutt to the chest puts Lashley down again for two and we hit the nerve hold. Thankfully it doesn’t last long as Tyrus throws him over with a t-bone suplex before sending him hard into the exposed buckle. Lashley shrugs it off but misses a charge (mostly) into the post, allowing Tyrus to get two off a cross body. They go over to the exposed buckle but the referee gets bumped. For some reason this fires Lashley up and he goes totally insane, sending Tyrus into the exposed buckle TEN TIMES IN A ROW! Ok so they were really gentle shots but still it’s a cool idea. The spear puts Tyrus away at 9:35.
Rating: D+. This could have been a lot better if they just beat each other up for ten minutes but instead it was Tyrus laying around and doing his slow offense because he’s not that interesting. At least Lashley didn’t lose again as I’m really getting tired of seeing him lose every important match he ever has. Not horrible here and the ten buckle spot was a new idea but Lashley needs someone else to throw around.
The announcers recap the show.
Beer Money video.
Roode and Storm are ready.
Beer Money vs. Bram/Eric Young
Storm headlocks Young down to start and drops him with a Russian legsweep, followed by a knee drop from Roode. With the wrestling not working, Young bites Roode on the shoulder and makes the tag off to Bram. Everything breaks down and Bram gets double hiptossed. Young is rammed into his partner to send both guys out to the floor. That’s fine with Roode who backdrops Storm onto both guys for a crash.
There’s the double suplex but Bram breaks up SHOUTING THEIR NAMES, which must be considered the big spot. Things settle down with Storm getting beaten down in the wrong corner until he grabs a running neckbreaker on Young. It’s not enough for the hot tag though as Bram keeps Storm down and grabs a chinlock.
Roode and Young yell at each other on the apron, allowing Young to take Bram’s place with no tag. Those horrible villains. Storm fights up and catches Bram in a double clothesline, only to have Young pull Roode off the apron. Not that it matters as Storm gets in another clothesline a few moments later and makes the hot tag.
Everything breaks down and Storm busts out a hurricanrana from the top, setting up a top rope splash from Roode for two. The villains come back with a Hart Attack for the same but Storm breaks up the piledriver with a Last Call. Now Beer Money gets to SHOUT THEIR NAMES and it’s the DWI (Drinking While Investing, a suplex into a powerbomb) for the pin on Bram at 15:05.
Rating: B-. I liked this one more than the three way tag as it had more structure (and time to be fair) before everything broke down. Beer Money is still a good team though I’m not sure what they’re going to do after they have the dream match against the Wolves. That’s good for a one off match or maybe two but after that, the division is still horribly dry.
A big celebration ends the show.
Overall Rating: D+. This was WAY better than most One Night Only shows but it felt like a long episode of Impact instead of something special. It’s not a bad show and the two tag matches are both entertaining, but as usual this felt like a contractual obligation instead of something they needed to air. Unless you absolutely loved Impact earlier this week, don’t waste your time with this.
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Smackdown – December 18, 2012: This Is What Smackdown Has Become
Smackdown Date: December 18, 2012
Location: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
This is a special show so that they can start taping the holiday episodes sooner. This is live as well as commercial free for no apparent reason. After last night’s Slammys, we’ve got a lot of places we can go now, so hopefully the show tonight is as good as Raw was last night. It’s hard to say what to expect from these shows though as they can be hit or miss. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap from last night as you would expect a show to do anymore.
The main event is Cena/Sheamus vs. Big Show/Ziggler as you would expect.
We open with MizTV which has to be the most frequent talk show segment in years. The guests tonight are Ziggler and AJ who haven’t been confirmed as a thing yet. Langston is with them as well. Ok considering AJ and Ziggler kissed on the stage, maybe they are a thing. Miz asks why all of this stuff has happened and AJ says ask Cena why he played with her heart. She lost her job as GM to keep Cena’s good name clean and we get a clip of Cena kissing AJ.
AJ goes on a rant about having her heart broken by Cena. We get a clip from thre weeks ago with Cena and Vickie talking about the bows Vickie found in the locker room. Cena made fun of them, AND THAT IS A PLOT POINT. Yes, an eight second line about FREAKING BOWS is the reason this story is happening. Then Cena told AJ to stop coming to the ring with him, like she was some dirty little secret. Cena is supposed to be better than that, but he broke her heart. Therefore, she broke Cena’s chances at TLC.
Miz asks who Langston is so AJ says he’s Big E. Langston. Ok then. Miz doesn’t really care about what’s going on because AJ is crazy. Apparently that work ticks her off, but she’s proven to Dolph that she’s not crazy. He doesn’t care that Cena won Superstar of the Year, because he stole the show and Cena’s girl. Miz makes fun of AJ for being a sl** and says Ziggler is the sixth member of One Direction. Langston lays out Miz.
Teddy comes up to talk to Booker T with a prospect for a job later. It’s Brad Maddox and Booker goes off on Teddy. Long says that Brad is a good prospect because he has a big social media following. Booker gives him the chance because Teddy says Booker knows what a second chance means. What is with the references to him being an ex-con lately? Maddox gets the match and finds out his opponent later.
Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara
Rey’s music hits for some reason but there’s no Rey. Cara speeds things up to start and Damien bails to the floor. Back in and Cara walks the corner for the armdrag, followed up by a springboard missile dropkick. Cody breaks up a springboard something and Cara is down on the floor. That gets two for Sandow back inside, as does a suplex. A quick chinlock goes nowhere so there’s the Russian legsweep.
The Wind-Up Elbow misses, but Sin can’t get anything going. Back to the chinlock for a bit until Cara escapes and hits a quick cross body. Cara dives on the Scholars on the floor….and here comes the Shield. They have Mysterio’s mask and throw it at Cara, allowing Sandow to hit the Terminus for the pin, appropriately enough at 6:19.
Rating: D+. Dull match here which didn’t go anywhere. Shield attacking various people is still a good idea, because at least they’ve proven they can back it up. Not a terrible match here, but once Mysterio didn’t show up it was clear that something was up and Shield is the right idea. We still need some reasoning behind these attacks, but it’s not bad yet.
Post match, Shield destroys Cara and hurts his knee, which is likely a way to get Cara off TV for a legit knee problem he’s been having.
Flo-Rida and Miss Piggy waste some time so we can get Cara out of the ring.
Santino Marella vs. Tensai
This is fallout from the presentation of an award last night. Santino grabs a headlock to start but Tensai runs him over. Santino does his power walk thing but stupidly tries to slam the big bald guy. Instead he escapes a powerslam and tries a German suplex. That goes nowhere and a slam completely fails. Off to a weak looking chinlock by the monster before a cross body is no sold. Santino does his signature stuff and finally slams Albert. The Cobra is blocked and Santino is put in a sleeper. The Cobra hits the top of Tensai’s head to no effect. The backsplash misses Santino and he steals a pin that was clearly going to him the whole time at 4:18.
Rating: D-. Tensai, go away. Get off of my television, go back to Japan, go to Belarus, go wherever will take you, but get away from me. You’re a joke, not interesting, not anything to see, and just annoying overall. Just go away already so no one can miss you. Why he was hired back I have no idea.
Cara has a severely injured knee.
We recap the Cena/Flair/Punk/Heyman/HELL NO/Shield/Ryback segment from last night.
Kofi and HELL NO are in the back with Kane telling Kofi to watch over his shoulder for the Shield tonight. Bryan looks ticked off and apparently he’s mad for not winning a Slammy last night. Kofi pulls his Slammy out. “You mean like this one?” They try to console Bryan by reminding him that he got to hang out with Flair, but make the mistake of saying Flair has the best catchphrase ever. Bryan: “NO! NO! NO!” Funny stuff.
Kofi Kingston/HELL NO vs. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett
Mysterio apparently has a neck injury from the attack by Shield. Kofi and Titus start but Kingston goes right for Wade, allowing the heels to take over. Young gets dropkicked down and here’s Bryan to kick him a lot. There’s the surfboard hold by Bryan and it’s off to Kane for a low dropkick to Young’s chest. Back to Daniel for a dropkick of his own as I think this match is going to last awhile.
Bryan fires off the kicks to Young in the corner but gets caught in a Stun Gun to change the momentum. Barrett comes in to pound away for a bit, but Bryan dives away for a tag to Kofi. The IC Champion goes off on Wade but Young breaks up Trouble in Paradise, allowing Barrett to clothesline Kofi to the floor. The Players work over Kingston as we look at the crowd to see if Shield is coming. Apparently Mysterio’s neck injury is a SEVERE neck injury and not just a regular one. Good to know.
Barrett pounds away on Kofi a bit for two before it’s back to Young. Kofi finally comes back with a tornado DDT out of the corner, allowing for a double hot tag to Kane and Titus. The masked man takes over and hits a side slam for two. The top rope clothesline misses and there’s the Clash of the Titus to Kane, but Bryan makes the save. Everything breaks down and Darren gets the tag. Bryan pulls Titus to the floor and the chokeslam pins Young at 10:45.
Rating: C-. Not bad here but where are we supposed to go with either of these feuds? HELL NO has beaten the Players time after time, while Kofi has beaten Barrett in their PPV title match. Then again, these feuds are likely going to keep going because that makes it easier on the writers, and Heaven forbid they have to figure out something new.
It’s the top of the hour so let’s hit that recap button.
Sheamus explains some UK comedy show to Cena but he doesn’t get it. He says Langston is the strongest person he’s ever faced, which seems to turn Sheamus on. Sheamus asks what’s up with AJ. “You can tell me, no one is around.” Cena whispers in Sheamus’ ear and Sheamus starts to laugh but is disturbed by something Cena says. John says more though and Sheamus isn’t sure what to think. He looks scared but Cena was kidding him. Sheamus: “But is that even possible?”
Here are Punk and Heyman with something to say. Punk says the fans are going to look back in the years and be shocked that they didn’t vote Punk Superstar of the Year. He talks about how the fans clearly don’t care about winning and losing, meaning they’re the kinds of parents who put their kinds in t-ball where they don’t keep score so the kids don’t know how big of a failure they are. Punk rips on Cena for being a mockery of the words on his shirt: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.
This turns into an anti-Flair promo because Punk says he never loses. He’s been champion for nearly 400 days and he’s still here two weeks after having knee surgery. He’s not on strike like the Pittsburgh Penguins because he doesn’t have an off season. No one can beat him, and here’s Ryback. You know, that guy that loses every match he’s in anymore. Ryback actually talks, and says that on the first Raw of the year, he’s getting his title shot against Punk.
Antonio Cesaro vs. Ryback
Ryback throws Cesaro to the floor to start and pounds his head into the mat back inside. The Goldberg chant start and Ryback hits the Thesz Press and a splash. All Ryback so far. Cesaro bails to the floor before the Meat Hook can hit and gets his belt to leave. Ryback heads to the floor and tries to throw Antonio back in, but Cesaro escapes and sends Ryback into the steps for a nine count.
Back in and Antonio hooks a cobra sleeper for a few moments. Ryback misses a charge in the corner, sending his shoulder into the post. A middle rope European Uppercut gets two for Cesaro and it’s off to a cravate. Ryback fights up and pounds Cesaro down before hitting the Meat Hook. Shell Shock gets the clean pin at 5:11.
Rating: C. Erg. If you need to put Ryback over someone to keep him strong, PICK SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE FREAKING UNITED STATES CHAMPION. This was just a step above a squash as the steps and post did way more damage to Ryback than Cesaro did. The match was nothing good either, but the fans were WAY into it.
We see Miz going through Navy training. He also flies a plane. Riveting stuff.
AJ comes up to Kaitlyn in the back and Kaitlyn doesn’t want to talk to her. Kaitlyn tells AJ she’s tired of this and a brawl breaks out.
Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn
We get a freaking recap of the brawl that just happened ON A SHOW WITH NO COMMERCIALS. REALLY? We REALLY NEEDED THAT??? Kaitlyn gets thrown down to start and Eve hits her running flip splash for two. We head to the floor with Eve still in control. Nothing happens there so here’s a Downward Spiral for two by Eve.
Off to a chinlock by the champion (Eve if that wasn’t clear) until Kaitlyn gets two off a small package. A sloppy middle rope sunset flip gets two for Kaitlyn as does the reverse DDT. Kaitlyn dives onto Eve off the apron to the flor as this just keeps going. Kaitlyn goes up but Eve grabs the referee’s foot….AND THAT’S A DQ at about 5:20.
Rating: D. OH GOOD FREAKING GRIEF. If there was EVER a time to change this stupid belt, it was right here. Kaitlyn isn’t anywhere near good in the ring and now we have to sit through a long match until we get to THAT stupid ending? Give me a freaking break. Terrible match with a bad ending on top of that.
Ziggler says he’s a future world champion when Show comes up. He threatens Ziggler and Langston looks to stare Show down, only to have AJ stop him. Show threatens to kill Dolph if he tries to cash in tonight.
We recap the Sheamus/Show stuff from last night which included the attempted cash in by Ziggler, only to see Cena spoil it. Jerk.
Brad Maddox vs. Brodus Clay
Brodus pounds away with headbutts to start and drops some elbows. Maddox comes back with a quick dropkick to the side of the head for one and we hit the chinlock. Brodus comes back with a splash in the corner and suplex to set up the splash for the pin at 2:08. Same Maddox match as always.
Post match it’s the Shield to beat down Brodus. They actually hit the SuperBomb.
Dolph Ziggler/Big Show vs. John Cena/Sheamus
Apparently Santa Claus is hosting Raw on Monday. Shouldn’t he be working? Cena and Ziggler start things off with Dolph ducking under a Cena punch and strutting a bit. Off to Show so Cena can fire away punches with little effect. Show misses the chop and gets dropkicked into the corner. Show pounds him right back down again and it’s off to Ziggler for some elbow drops.
Cena backdrops Ziggler down but can’t make the tag before Show comes back in. He stays in for about two seconds so it’s back to Ziggler. Dolph misses a splash in the corner and there’s the tag to Sheamus. He hits the ten forearms on the apron but has to stop to punch Show before he can hit White Noise. The Cloverleaf is broken up with Sheamus being kicked to the floor. Show takes Sheamus’ head off and the match slows down again.
Sheamus gets pounded on now as we hit the second heat segment of the match. Show gets in his usual power stuff, followed by Ziggler pounding away for awhile with his usual stuff. Back to Show whose chokeslam is countered into a DDT to put both guys down. The double tag brings in Cena to face Ziggler and everything breaks down. Sheamus and Show head to the floor and then up the ramp as Ziggler gets two off the Zig Zag. There’s the AA to Dolph but Langston comes in for the DQ at 11:30.
Rating: C-. Why, it’s almost like this was EXACTLY THE SAME THING THEY DID LAST NIGHT. Good grief are the writers that creatively bankrupt? I mean, it’s the NEXT DAY and you can’t come up with another idea? This match did very little to make me feel better about this show, which has been the same story that this match had: no reason for it to exist.
The heels pose to end the show. Seriously, that’s it. Oh wait we do get a commercial for Tribute to the Troops because EIGHT HOURS OF TV THIS WEEK ISN’T ENOUGH.
Overall Rating: D. What in the world was the point in this being a special? The lack of commercials makes an already tiring show even more exhausting as you don’t get a breather if you want to see the whole thing. The main event was your standard main event tag match and it’s nothing to see at all. There’s nothing of note here and while it’s not a horrible show, it falls into the same category Smackdown stays in anymore: completely unnecessary viewing.
Results
Damien Sandow b. Sin Cara – Terminus
Santino Marella b. Tensai – Pin after Tensai missed a backsplash
HELL NO/Kofi Kingston b. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett – Chokeslam to Young
Ryback b. Antonio Cesaro – Shell Shock
Kaitlyn b. Eve Torres via DQ when Eve grabbed the referee
Brodus Clay b. Brad Maddox – Splash
John Cena/Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show via DQ when Big E. Langston interfered
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews
Slammy Categories And Winners
I’m going to keep this thread updated throughout Raw with all of the Slammy categories, nominations and winners. Keep refreshing this throughout Raw. Let’s get to it. Tell Me I Did Not Just See That Award (Surprise of the Year)
Presented by Booker T.
Brad Maddox’s Low Blow on Ryback (Hell in a Cell)
18 Seconds (Wrestlemania 28)
Kofi’s Miracle Save (Royal Rumble)
The Rock Gets Punked (Raw 1000)
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Comeback of the Year Award
Presented by the New Age Outlaws
Brock Lesnar
Chris Jericho
DX
Jerry Lawler
Winner: Jerry Lawler
Kiss of the Year Award
Presented by Vickie Guerrero
AJ and Daniel Bryan
AJ and Kane
AJ and CM Punk
AJ and John Cena
Winner: AJ and John Cena
Superstar of the Year
Presented by Ric Flair
Sheamus
John Cena
Big Show
CM Punk
Winner: John Cena
LOL Moment of the Year
Presented by Santino Marella and Tensai
The Rock throws Cena merchandise into the Boston Harbor
HELL NO at Anger Management
Randy Orton beats up Ricardo and Striker with food
Vickie Guerrero dances
Winner: The Rock
Hashtag of the Year
Presented by Zack Ryder and Layla
Feedmemore
Peoplepower
LittleJimmy
WWWYKI
Winner: Feedmemore
Newcomer of the Year
Presented by Sheamus
Antonio Cesaro
Brodus Clay
Damien Sandow
Ryback
Winner: Ryback
Match of the Year
Presented by Jim Ross, Gene Okerlund and Ricky Steamboat
Undertaker vs. HHH (Wrestlemania 28)
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules)
Sheamus vs. Big Show (Hell in a Cell)
The Rock vs. John Cena (Wrestlemania 28)
Winner: Undertaker vs. HHH
Impact Wrestling – May 31, 2012: It’s Live And That’s About It
Impact Wrestling
Date: May 31, 2012
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
This is a big night tonight as not only are we moving up to 8pm, but it’s also a live show. We’re opening with Roode vs. Sting because this is all about hot new acts like Sting. Other than that I don’t think there’s anything scheduled other than the Gut Check Challenge and the debut of Brooke Hogan. Oh joy. Let’s get to it.
We open with the lumberjacks at ringside and the champ is on first, along with Who.
Sting vs. Bobby Roode
This is non-title. Sting takes him down almost immediately and Roode is staggered. The champ pokes him in the eye but since this is Sting, it has no effect. Roode gets sent to the corner and kicked to the floor as the fans are into this for the most part. Sting kicks him back to the floor and again he gets thrown back in. The Splash misses and Sting is knocked to the floor where the heels get in some weak shots.
Back in and Sting comes back with a backdrop so Roode rolls back to the floor. Roode suckers him to the floor where the heels get in a better beatdown and the melee is about to begin. It doesn’t quite start yet as Roode is in control, taking Sting to the mat and dropping a knee for two. Another Stinger Splash is countered by a boot to the face. Roode sends him to the floor and Sting beats up some lumberjacks as we take a break.
Back with Roode in control and sending Sting to the floor again. Roode chops in the corner which fires Sting up as it has for 24 years. Stinger Splash hits and Roode bails to the floor. It looks to be a big brawl but Sting dives over the top and takes out most of the champ’s supporters. Back in the ring the Scorpion is countered into the Crossface but Sting is too close to the ropes. Fisherman’s Suplex is countered into the Death Drop and the Deathlock in the middle of the ring. Roode taps and Sting wins at 13:40. Apparently this was non-title like I thought.
Rating: C-. So uh….why in the world wouldn’t Hogan have made that a title match? He has every authority to, but for some reason he just didn’t. This gives Roode an opponent for the PPV I guess, and it’s Sting? Not Hardy, Angle or some group of people? I mean, didn’t we get Sting vs. Roode for the title like three months ago? Didn’t Roode beat him? Of course he did, so let’s do it again at the ten year anniversary show.
Hogan comes out post match and makes Sting vs. Roode for the title at Slammiversary.
Madison is straightening her sash in the back because she wants to look good for the guy that likes her. Oh and Brooke is going to be here later.
Here’s Bully Ray in the ring and he wants Joseph Park, who is in the crowd with a soda (label torn off) and popcorn. We get a clip from last week and Ray wants to fight Park right now in the ring. Park comes to the ring and stops. Ray calls all of Park’s family cowards, including Abyss, which draws Park over the railing. After Ray tells security to let him in, here’s Joseph to the ring.
Park kind of Hulks Up but backs off. He’s about to leave and Ray says he’s guilty of taking out Abyss. You know, the guy that popped up a few weeks ago and was fine. Park grabs Ray by the throat but Ray says he’ll sue. Park lets him go and says he’s better than this. Ray leaves and Park challenges him to a fight right now. Ray says at Slammiversary.
Video on Crimson’s undefeated streak. Crimson says he can’t be beaten.
X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries
Aries is getting ready in the back when Joe comes up. Aries doesn’t see Joe and nothing is said, so I’m assuming that’ll be a major plot point later. Sabin is in trunks again. Aries takes him down with an armdrag but misses a seated dropkick. Sabin goes to the apron but Aries counters the sunset flip into the previously failed seated dropkick, getting two. A slingshot hilo and an elbow drop gets two.
La Majistral gets two for Sabin as he takes over. Aries sends him to the floor and hits the suicide dive. That gets him nowhere other than in the Tree of Woe, but the hesitation dropkick misses. Missile dropkick by Aries puts Sabin in the corner but his dropkick misses and Sabin baseball slides him to the floor. A springboard dive takes the champ out and Sabin hits a slingshot suplex into a neckbreaker for two. Cradle Shock and Brsinbuster are countered. Cradle Shock is countered again into a rollup for the pin at 3:55.
Rating: B-. Man they packed a lot into under four minutes. Sabin as a singles guy is something that could work very easily and using Aries for something like this every once in awhile is fine. That being said, they need to make him a full time non-X guy soon, while the chance is still there. Match was pretty good though.
We see Hogan and Tazz from earlier, and apparently Tazz is replacing Flair in Gut Check.
The Gut Check guys look over Joey Ryan’s match from last week. It’s kind of interesting to see Tazz be all humble here when he’s the biggest star of these three. They talk about how Ryan looks different but Tazz questions how seriously he took his opportunity. Pritchard says he wasn’t blown away. This is in the back and yesterday by the way.
The four possible challengers for D-Von (RVD, Anderson, Hardy and Robbie E) are in the back. The fans get to vote for who they want to see get the show.
Here’s Dixie Carter. She says that at Slammiversary, we’ll announce the first ever TNA Hall of Fame inductee. She talks about the Knockouts needing a new leader and here’s Brooke in a little black dress. Brooke says thanks and that’s it. No mention of the AJ thing at all.
We go to Kaz and Daniels in the back who criticize Dixie’s speech, saying there was nothing about the real issue with AJ in there at all.
Moment #5 is Christian debuting.
TV Title; D-Von vs. ???
To the shock of no one with a total of 4 brain cells or more, it’s Jeff Hardy. D-Von gets some quick rollups for two and it’s a standoff. Jeff shrugs off D-Von’s offense and hits a clothesline in the corner. A charge misses in the corner and D-Von neckbreakers him down for two. Off to a nerve hold which Jeff easily breaks. Twist of Fate looks to set up the Swanton and here are the Robs for the DQ.
Rating: D+. Not much here as it was pretty clear they were just filling time. Jeff’s star has fallen pretty far that he’s just in the TV Title picture, although I don’t think this is going to be a long term thing. That being said, Robbie vs. D-Von is more played than a slot machine in Vegas. The match wasn’t bad or anything, but dang I do not want to see either Rob vs. D-Von ever again.
We go to James Storm’s farm where he talks about being from a small town and how he wouldn’t want it any other way. He likes hanging out with his daughter. He’s made a decision about coming back or not but cuts the camera off before he says it.
We recap the way too long Daniels/Kaz/AJ saga.
Now it’s time for Gut Check. The judges are Bruce Pritchard, Al Snow and Taz. Here’s Joey Ryan in gear for some reason. Ryan says the judges should be honored to be in the ring with him and that he’s trending on Twitter. Pritchard says no, Snow says yes, and Ryan gets to cut a promo before Tazz’s vote. The fans are chanting for him and Ryan says to listen to the fans. Tazz says that if that’s the best Ryan can do, he’s out of his mind. He gets in Ryan’s face and yells at him, saying no. Tazz says go out and prove yourself then come back. Right now it’s no though.
We get a clip of Roode in London and cutting a promo in front of Big Ben. Not much to say here.
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
AJ is all ticked off here and rants a lot in between each move he hits. The dropkick puts Daniels down but he gets in a right hand to take over. AJ goes to the apron but Daniels’ suplex attempt back in is countered. He guillotines Styles and sends him into the barricade to put Styles in trouble. We take a break and come back with Daniels hitting a springboard moonsault for two.
AJ avoids a charge and takes Daniels down with some elbows. Flying forearm hits and both guys are down. Scratch that as AJ nips up and hits the moonsault into the DDT minus the DDT as Daniels counters. Daniels goes to the apron and gets Pele’d back inside. Kaz comes out and gets drilled, allowing AJ to hit the moonsault into the DDT for the pin at 10:33.
Rating: C. These two know each other so well that they could have a match in their sleep, which is more or less what they did here. Nothing special to it or anything and Kaz didn’t add much. I do however like the match ending with something other than a finisher, which is a lost art in wrestling. Decent match and nothing more.
Post match AJ gets double teamed until Angle makes the save. He puts Kaz in the ankle lock but Daniels comes back to take him down. Angle gets tied to the ropes and AJ gets drilled with a title belt. Daniels tells the fans that they’re welcome, and now we’re going to get to see more proof of AJ and Dixie. He says they have proof from the mouths of the two of them. It’s a phone call of them talking with Dixie talking about AJ coming somewhere and him wanting to find out when her husband will be there. Nothing specifically is said but Dixie runs out and says cut it off to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. If this is supposed to get me fired up about the rest of the summer, it didn’t do a very good job. The show was just ok at best with nothing of note really happening. Sting vs. Roode doesn’t blow my skirt up at all and for what is supposed to be a major PPV, that doesn’t do much. Brooke came off as completely unwanted, which means we’ll see her every week. Four matches, two of which combined to run about 8 minutes, didn’t help either. It wasn’t horrible, but for what was supposed to be a big deal, this fell very flat.
Results
Sting b. Bobby Roode – Scorpion Deathlock
Austin Aries b. Chris Sabin – Rollup
D-Von vs. Jeff Hardy went to a no contest when Robbie E and Robbie T interfered
AJ Styles b. Christopher Daniels – Reverse DDT
Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews
This is one of the things that people have said that TNA needs for years now. I’m not sure if that’s going to make it better but it definitely makes it more interesting.
Thoughts on this?
Smackdown – February 21, 2012: Raw Part 2! Oh Sorry This Was Smackdown? How Can You Tell Them Apart?
Smackdown
Date: February 21, 2012
Location: BMO Harris Bank Center, Rockford, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T
We’re live tonight which was announced pretty quickly last night. The main event is Bryan vs. Punk II which will likely result in some run ins. Last night we had a good main event where Jericho got the world title shot. Other than half the roster winding up in the hospital, I thought it came off pretty well. These live shows are usually pretty good so hopefully they can continue that trend. Let’s get to it.
Big Show vs. Mark Henry again tonight. Why couldn’t Henry go in the Chamber again?
Here are Bryan and AJ to open the show. He says no one believed him no matter what he’s said but now he’s heading to the main event of Wrestlemania! As for Santino, he was trying to channel Rocky Balboa but Bryan is a role model who beat everyone on Sunday. Bryan says you all want Rocky, so YO AJ! I DID IT!!! The fans want Punk. Bryan talks about how Sunday was his moment but Sheamus ruined it. Well at Mania, Bryan is going to ruin Sheamus’ moment by being victorious.
Bryan keeps talking and here’s…..Miz? He can’t believe Bryan really is champion but Bryan is wrong. Miz believed that he’d become a world champion too and it’s because of his mentoring. He isn’t out here to steal the spotlight or for thanks. He’s here to offer his congratulations. Miz thinks that after Wrestlemania, they should form a tag team. Cue Sheamus to cut him off.
Sheamus congratulates Bryan, but for being a hypocrite. He’s no role model but rather just a coward. Bryan would rather hide behind a skirt than fight like a man. After Wrestlemania, everyone is going to say that Bryan got exactly what he deserved. Miz gets in Sheamus’ face and says that Sheamus should be taken down a notch or two. Sheamus says let the guys with a match at Wrestlemania talk. Bryan slaps Sheamus and runs but Miz jumps Sheamus. Miz is sent to the floor and I think we have our second main event tonight.
Sheamus vs. The Miz
Or we have a match we join in progress after the break. Sheamus is in control and hits the forearms in the ropes to send Miz to the floor. Back in the slingshot shoulder gets two. Miz avoids a charge and Sheamus’ shoulder goes into the post. Single arm DDT gets two. Miz hooks a quick arm hold but Sheamus comes back with his running double axes. Irish Curse gets two and Sheamus doesn’t seem that bothered.
Miz comes back with a Reality Check as Booker won’t quite say if he thinks Sheamus will win the title at the PPV or not. Here comes the Finale but Sheamus throws him out of it. Brogue Kick misses and Sheamus rolls him up for two. That new move that Sheamus has been using (needs a name) gets the pin at 6:00 shown.
Rating: C+. This was another good outing for Sheamus. Building him up by having him beat the entire upper midcard by Mania is fine and he’s beaten Mark Henry and Miz on back to back nights. Not a great match or anything but Sheamus looked strong and it’s not like this loss hurts Miz.
Teddy and Aksana are in the back and their usual stuff is done. Ace and Otunga are here and Teddy says that he has a special office for them. It’s the men’s room. Otunga vs. Jackson again tonight if I understood things right.
R-Truth/Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger
Truth and Swagger start things off. Truth does his gyrating dance and gets taken down by a shoulder block by Jack. Vader Bomb gets two. Off to Ziggler who hooks that cross face chicken wing of his. Ziggler misses his splash and Truth brings in Kofi to speed things up. Kofi keeps selling the injuries from the Chamber. It’s good to see that Dolph is alive after that landing last night. Top rope cross body hits Dolph but Swagger makes the save. Swagger and Truth are knocked to the floor and Vickie slips on the floor. Back in the ring Ziggler pokes Kofi in the eye and the Zig Zag gets the pin at 2:43. So why put them over the champs?
Preview for some SyFy show.
Ron Simmons HOF video.
Santino does some target practice with The Cobra on some plastic cups. Heath Slater comes in and shoves them away. The Cobra spits something at Slater’s eyes and then does it again.
Great Khali vs. Drew McIntyre
Drew is yelling at the commentators before the match. He begs off Khali and then shoves him. Chop, Plunge, 32 seconds.
Clip of the end of the battle royal last night with Show being eliminated because of Cody.
Big Show says Cody is on the top of his list, just like Show is on the top of Henry’s list. Show is going to snap Cody’s neck no matter where he gets his hands on him.
Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Show knocked Henry out on Monday to set this up. Show splashes him in the corner quickly and loads up the right hand but Henry ducks. A clothesline takes Show down and Henry is in early control. Henry yells a lot at Big Show and says this is his house and all that jazz. Show gets a boot up in the corner and some clotheslines to put Henry down. He hits a spear and calls for the chokeslam, but here’s Rhodes.
He says it must not be Wrestlemania if he’s going to chokeslam someone. Cody talks about Show facing Akebono at Wrestlemania and we get a clip from the show. In the middle of this match mind you. By clip I mean a full video package of the match against the sumo guy. Henry pops up and slams Show, followed by a splash for two. The WMD puts Henry out and Show goes after Cody. I guess we call it a countout at about 5:00.
Rating: D. The match was the usual non-PPV showcase from these guys. The video package in the middle stopped things cold and the lack of an ending (could Show really not get a quick pin?) made it even worse. I guess maybe they’re really not going with Big Show vs. Shaq at Mania? It doesn’t seem like it at least. This was pretty strange.
Recap of HHH and Undertaker last night.
Ezekiel Jackson vs. David Otunga
For the dozen of you that demanded the rematch! Lillian screws up a bunch of the entrance for Otunga and Laurinits. Otunga gets in him in a dragon sleeper position and pounds away on the chest but Jackson runs him over with a shoulder. He hits the clotheslines and a splash in the corner, followed by a backbreaker. There’s the Torture Rack but Otunga makes the ropes. Otunga guillotines him on the top and the spinebuster ends this at 1:21.
Otunga poses after the match.
Another preview for the Syfy show.
Here’s ANOTHER video from last night, this time about Eve’s heel turn.
Punk says nothing of note but he’ll beat Bryan tonight.
Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk
It’s 9:34 when Bryan comes out so this is either going to go very long or there’s something else ending the show. The crowd is very pro-Punk. They go to the mat and exchange a lot of counters. A stalemate takes us to a break. Back with Bryan holding a headlock which Punk escapes pretty quickly. Bryan goes after the arm and Punk sells it perfectly. Bryan kicks him in the chest and punk keeps sitting up.
Punk finally comes back with a suplex and both guys are down. Here comes the comeback via the kicks but his neckbreaker can’t work because of the arm. See, THAT’S a huge difference in selling: you can’t use certain moves because of the injuries. Bryan ducks the high kick and tries to leave, but Sheamus throws him back in and the high kick to the head gets the pin at 10:00.
And never mind as here’s Ace to say keep the match going. Punk takes him down and we take another break. Back with Daniel in control and working over the arm some more. During the break, Punk made fun of Bryan’s celebrations. Bryan rolls up Punk out of nowhere and grabs the rope for a pin at 14:27. Now say it with me: Teddy comes out and says restart it again.
unk kicks him to the floor and hits a suicide dive followed by the springboard clothesline for two. Bryan takes over and hits his kicks, followed by a top rope rana. Punk rolls through into a sunset flip for two. More kicks by Bryan but Punk blocks one. Bryan counters the counter into the LeBell Lock but Punk escapes again. High kick gets two. Punk goes up for the Macho Elbow, only to get crotched. Superplex is countered twice but Bryan finally hits it on the third attempt, all the way from the top. Punk does the old interlock the feet but it’s a double pin at 21:47.
Rating: B. Well you knew this wasn’t going to have a clean winner. I’m glad that it wasn’t because of interference though because that would have been totally predictable. This keeps both guys looking strong and at least does it in a way we haven’t seen a million times in the past year. I didn’t like it as good as their first one but it’s still good.
Post match, Ace and Teddy raise their respective guy’s hands (Teddy for Punk and Ace for Bryan). The bosses get into it and Ace throws his jacket at Teddy, making him leave to end the show with a staredown.
Overall Rating: B-. This was a better show than most they’ve had lately but it felt like a supplement to Raw than its own show. With the Brand Split meaning practically nothing around this time of year, Smackdown gets nothing to work with at all. The main event was good but it was obvious that it was going to have no definitive ending. On Raw the lack of wrestling was ok because it was added by a lot of angles and development. That didn’t happen tonight for the most part, making this a weaker show overall, but still good.
Results
Sheamus b. The Miz – Celtic Cross
Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth – Zig Zag to Kingston
Great Khali b. Drew McIntyre – Punjabi Plunge
Mark Henry b. Big Show via countout
David Otunga b. Ezekiel Jackson – Spinebuster
CM Punk and Daniel Bryan wrestled to a draw when both were pinned at the same time
Since most people probably forgot. Review up at 10pm EST.
Smackdown – August 30, 2011 – Smackdown Live Works For Me
Smackdown
Date: August 30, 2011
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews
It’s the live show tonight and the main event is Christian vs. Orton 4985 for the title in a cage match. It’s a double branded show and hopefully we’ll get the announcement that Raw guys will also appear on Smackdown. Anyway this should be fun as the live shows are usually better. Let’s get to it.
Punk and HHH will sign their contract tonight.
Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is the Detroit Tigers who won’t let my Indians get back in contention.
Here’s Cena to open the show. He’s not sure what day it is. I kind of like him talking on the way to the ring. Don’t adjust your sets because this is Smackdown, it is Tuesday and we are live. He lists off a bunch of shows that are here, ranging from Raw to Smackdown to Nitro to Smokey Mountain Wrestling to the XFL superstars. Scratch that XFL idea because that was worse than the Shockmaster.
He calls out Alberto and the music plays but it’s Rodriguez instead. He says that Cena has to wait a bit longer to be in the ring with Del Rio and actually speaks English for a bit. And scratch that as it’s time for the full entrance. Not that Del Rio is here due to visa issues but whatever. Ricardo keeps saying Del Rio’s name over and over until Cena shouts at him. Cena has a gift for Alberto though. It’s a right hand and down goes Ricardo.
Here’s Barrett or as Cena says “Mr. Winds of Change” himself. Barrett yells at Cena for beating up the fat ring announcer which gets us a Tony Chimmel reference. They argue back and forth a bit and the bell is after the break.
Wade Barrett vs. John Cena
Cena pounds him down into the corner and Barrett is reeling early. Headlock takeover puts Barrett down again but the British dude gets a shot in to take over. Cena doesn’t like being in trouble though so he hits a sitout powerslam to put Barrett down again. Boss Man Slam gets two for Wade. They’re going through this kind of fast and it’s making it a weaker match. Case in point we’re less than three minutes in and Cena is on his finishing sequence including the Protobomb and Shuffle. The AA hits and Cena wins 100% clean at 3:17.
Rating: D+. Uh….what was that? I mean I knew Cena was going to dominate but Barrett got in a total of one move of note which was the Boss Man Slam. I really don’t get this one at all and while it’s not like Barrett is buried now (since anyone that ever loses to a bigger star is instantly buried if you read things on the internet) this was a bit harsh on him.
Henry doesn’t care who wins tonight. He says Striker asked a dumb question when he asked what a cage match was like.
Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan
This should be good. Cara hits some arm drags to take over and grabs an armbar. Bryan gets a kick to the chest in and the suicide dive/shove to take over. He’s looking a bit mad tonight for some reason. Here come the kicks from Daniel Bryan: Male Rockette. Off to a surfboard but he’s no Rob Van Dam so it doesn’t work. Instead he drops Cara down into a dragon sleeper which was pretty cool. Bryan is backdropped to the floor and Cara manages to avoid missing a dive but the second, a springboard spinning cross body to the floor, takes Bryan out.
Back in the swanton gets two but he didn’t try the Lionsault. Bryan gets his moonsault out of the corner and they collide on cross body attempts to put both of them down. They exchange kicks but Cara manages to put him down and hit the swanton/Lionsault combo and gets the pin at 5:03.
Rating: C+. Ok so maybe there is something to the depushed theory. Bryan losing here is rather odd but maybe it leads to a heel turn eventually. I can understand the losses to people like Christian and Del Rio because they’re bigger stars than Bryan. This either says very little about Bryan or says A LOT about Cara. I’m not sure which but I didn’t see that one coming.
They shake hands post match but CARA KICKS HIM IN THE FACE!!! Did Sin Cara just turn heel??? I was referring to a Bryan turn!
Air Boom says they’re awesome and teach Striker the Boom Boom Boom.
Sheamus doesn’t like bullies and you shouldn’t either.
We recap the Orton vs. Christian feud since MITB, which is really all you need to know about the feud.
Christian says this is his night.
Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly/Alicia Fox
Aksana is guest ring announcer which is supposed to be connected to her hitting on Teddy. So Alicia is a face now? Nattie vs. Kelly to start. Kelly looks like the victim of a bubblegum accident. Cold tag to Alicia and after some offense from her, the Glam Slam takes care of this at 2:00.
It’s time for the contract signing and Teddy brings out HHH. He talks about the match a bit and says he’s glad that he gets to take the suit off for one night. The fans seem totally behind Punk. Punk puts his feet on the table and wants to know why we’re here. He thinks HHH has put a stipulation into the contract but HHH says there’s nothing suspicious going on. Punk says there’s nothing HHH can do to surprise him.
Punk interrupts HHH when he talks about respect and for once, someone tells Punk to shut up. HHH says he’s bent over backwards to work with Punk but Punk kept pushing. He wants to know who Punk thinks got Living Color to let the company use Cult of Personality as his theme. Who does Punk think got him that Best in the World shirt? Punk has gotten everything he’s asked for but Punk hasn’t cooperated. Now HHH wants Punk to deal with him like a man.
Punk says he doesn’t want to fight the COO but rather the Cerebral Assassin. Maybe HHH isn’t the right man for the job because just like Vince, he can’t separate the business from the personal stuff. Punk insists he loves the WWE because if he hated it he wouldn’t be sitting here right now. He wants a change and says that he and the fans are dying for a change. Punk says he wants to be a catalyst for that change.
HHH says give me a break because half of the fans agree with him and half of them flat out do not care. Some of the fans like the WWE, which draws a big pop. He’s right too. Punk only wants change if it means Punk is on top. He’s no different than anyone, including HHH. They’d both do whatever it took to get on top but HHH said he’d do whatever it took to get to the top. Punk has no balls though and is trying to sneak his way to the top by pretending to be a martyr.
Punk says if he’s seen as a martyr then maybe he’s doing the right thing. HHH talked about half of the people liking it but Punk wants EVERYONE to like it. Before Punk was a wrestler he was a fan and at his core he’s still that. He’ll do whatever he can do to make this place fun again. The reason he says these things about his wife is because it tests HHH. HHH is just like Vince and is just as egotistical and corrupt as everyone and the hiring of HHH’s old buddies is proof of that.
Punk signs and says that if he has to be the catalyst of change and has to go through HHH to do it, so be it. At Night of Champions, don’t fine him or suspend him after he beats the boss. HHH says the difference between Punk and himself is respect. He respects Vince and says that they wouldn’t be there if not for Vince McMahon. That’s a hard one to argue for Punk I think.
He’s about to say why he’s not like Vince but gets cut off by Punk. Punk calls him short sighted and HHH is living in the past that Vince is trapped in. Punk wants change and HHH says he’ll get it. This is where he’s not like Vince (he signs here) because at NOC he would have gotten in the ring with Punk and taken a beating because it would have been good for business. This isn’t about business and it’s personal.
Here’s Nash and Punk FREAKS. HHH tries to hold him back but the big man gets in there. They slug it out and HHH tries to break it up, allowing Nash to get in a big boot. HHH gets in his face and Nash shoves him down, stunning HHH.
Sheamus vs. Great Khali
Sheamus still has bad ribs. Khali dominates to start and locks in a nerve hold after hammering away on the chest and ribs. Sheamus fights back and hits his forearms while Khali is in the ropes but as he sets for the Brogue Kick, Mahal comes in for the DQ at 2:50. This was nothing.
Post match the Indian dudes try a beatdown but Khali misses the chop and hits the post. A Brogue Kick takes him down and Sheamus beats up Legs Mahal for fun.
Inside Out trailer wastes some time.
There’s a poll for the world title match tonight: Orton wins 85 to 15. DANG.
The cage is lowered and it’s just after 9:30. This is going to get some time.
Smackdown World Title: Christian vs. Randy Orton
In a cage and Orton is champion in case you’re reading this in like 10 years. You can win by pin/submission/escape. I didn’t know the back of the belt was red. They have about 18 minutes left so for a TV main event that’s more than enough. Christian tries two early escapes but Orton saves both times. He tries something off the middle rope but jumps into a dropkick from Randy for two. With that we take an abrupt break less than two minutes into the match.
Back with Christian in control and hammering away in the corner. Orton takes him down with a clothesline and the fans seem to like Orton better. Why do I sound surprised by that? Anyway Christian gets slammed off the top off another escape attempt. A pair of knee drops gets two for Orton. Orton’s escape attempt fails as does the elevated DDT. The Canadian goes up but Orton makes a save again.
They’re really playing up the idea of it could end at a moment’s notice as Orton gets a rollup and Christian gets a spinebuster, both for two. Cole says Christian has been around for 17 years. I don’t know what school he went to but they weren’t noted for their math. Christian gets to the top of the cage but Randy makes another save. They fight on the top rope and Orton snaps off a superplex to put both guys down at break #2.
Back with Christian almost making it and having his hands on the floor but Orton saves again. Orton starts his insane stuff but the elevated DDT is countered again. A shot to the cage is reversed into the falling DDT for two for the Canadian. Christian goes for the escape and even shoves Orton down but he’s feeling froggy and it only gets two.
Orton makes about his 10th save and avoids a spear. RKO misses and the second spear attempt hits for a close two. The drama in this has been very good. Christian loads up the Punt but Orton avoids it and in a NICE bit of psychology Christian teases his turning dive out of the corner and Orton jumps for an RKO but Christian fakes him out and climbs. Orton stops him again and gets that sweet over the shoulder powerbomb position into a neckbreaker for two. The fans are into this.
Christian tries the Killswitch but Orton escapes and tries the elevated DDT and gets it for once but the RKO is countered. Christian makes a lunge for the climb but Orton makes ANOTHER save. We’re past 10pm now and they’re fighting on the top rope. Christian tries the Killswitch from the top but Orton counters into a SUPER RKO and Christian is dead at 13:35.
Rating: A. I loved this. They played back to stuff from previous matches like the head fake and the idea of it ending at any time was excellent. This match worked incredibly well and the whole thing was great. These two have had the feud of the year in any other year because Cena vs. Punk happened this year. Great stuff again and I’m thinking it happens again at the Cell, but I’m not sure how they get there.
Post match Henry comes out for the beating and Orton is destroyed. Randy escapes for a bit but Henry takes him down with a clothesline and a splash stops Orton cold. He gets sent into the cage and takes a World’s Strongest Slam to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. Well the Raw guys didn’t play a huge role here and that’s definitely a good thing. Other than the quick Cena match and the HHH/Punk/Nash thing (which I liked) there wasn’t much of a Raw presence here. The show was entertaining enough and a good main event makes this pretty easily a solid show. Sheamus vs. the Indian dudes is something to do I guess and we have the NOC main event set up now. It wasn’t the huge show they were hoping for but I’d call this a good show, which is the norm on Smackdown for the most part anymore.
Results
John Cena b. Wade Barrett – Attitude Adjustment
Sin Cara b. Daniel Bryan – Lionsault
Natalya/Beth Phoenix b. Kelly Kelly/Alicia Fox – Glam Slam to Fox
Sheamus b. Great Khali via DQ when Jinder Mahal interfered
