Monday Night Raw
Date: May 11, 2015
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Booker T.

It’s the go home show for Payback and the big story tonight is the return of the Authority, who are back after a few weeks off on vacation. Coming out of last week, the most interesting change is Cincinnati’s own Dean Ambrose being added to the main event on Sunday. Let’s get to it.

HHH arrives without Stephanie. There may be hope yet.

Opening sequence.

Here’s HHH to get things going. He talks about how his kids are so much better behaved when he says Daddy’s home, which is how things need to be around here with Kane and Seth Rollins. Seth is out first and agrees with what HHH (his daddy you see) said: they need to be on the same page. The fans want Ambrose but they get Rollins calling Kane a 7′ cancer trying to kill the Authority from the inside.

Rollins rants about Kane making the App vote to set up the triple threat, which was then turned into a fourway with Dean Ambrose. Seth: “THERE! Are you happy? I said his stupid name!” Maybe it’s time for Kane to be put aside as Director of Operations, because he’s not the same Kane that HHH used to run with. When were they EVER friends? Was that in the glorious Attitude Era when everyone was just so close in the destruction of WCW, which of course was never any sort of threat to the WWF, especially with DX around to win the Monday Night Wars totally on their own?

The argument starts again but HHH cuts them off to say he understands that Rollins can be annoying at times. However, he and Kane need to work together. Therefore, if Seth doesn’t leave Payback with the title, Kane must set himself on fire. Sorry, bit of a flashback there. If Rollins doesn’t keep the title, Kane is out as boss. HHH needs to makes sure Kane is invested in the plan though, so he makes Kane vs. Reigns and Rollins vs. Orton tonight. Noble interrupts but HHH laughs the Stooges off and makes short jokes before putting them in a handicap match with Ambrose.

Jamie Noble/Joey Mercury vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambrose beats on Mercury to start and clotheslines him out to the floor before going after Noble for a change of pace. Jamie begs off and runs to the floor to escape Dirty Deeds, allowing Mercury to sneak in from behind and pull Dean off the top and onto the ropes. Joey’s chinlock doesn’t do him much good as Dean sends the Stooges into each other. Jamie gets chopped down but Mercury breaks up the bulldog out of the corner. That earns them a double suicide dive, followed by the top rope standing elbow for two on Jamie. Dirty Deeds ends Noble at 5:23.

Rating: D+. What do you really want me to say here? It’s a total massacre with Dean never breaking a sweat to win. I’ll give them this though: the Stooges are a better option in the ring than the originals, as you could only but Patterson and Brisco as a physical threat against a handful of people. Noble and Mercury aren’t great, but they’re hardly ancient.

Cole says there’s an interesting poll on WWE.com where fans give Ambrose a 25% chance to win on Sunday. Just….yeah.

Dolph Ziggler vs. King Barrett

Sheamus on commentary and Barrett’s pre-match promo tell us that it’s Sheamus vs. Ziggler and Barrett vs. Neville on Sunday. Ziggler superkicks Barrett at the bell for two and we take an early break. Back with Barrett putting on a royal chinlock before Dolph fights up for two off a Fameasser. A dropkick gets the same for Dolph and draws Sheamus out of his chair. The distraction lets Barrett nail the Bull Hammer for the pin at 6:00. Too much in the break to rate but this was nothing to see.

Post match Sheamus yells that Dolph isn’t fit to clean his shoes and winds up eating a Brogue Kick.

Erick Rowan vs. Fandango

Harper is in Rowan’s corner and this is revenge from Smackdown where Rowan laid Fandango out. The announcers take bets on how long it takes Rowan to crush Fandango. A spinwheel kick and full nelson slam give Erick the pin at 37 seconds.

It’s Open Challenge time and Cena is surprised that there are some people here who sound like John Cena fans. Whether you like him or hate him, it’s pretty clear that everyone respects the US Title. Cena believes that this is the greatest country on earth and this title is its trophy.

There are wrestlers who will work their entire lives and never get a chance at the WWE Title, but that’s what makes the US Title special: everyone has an opportunity to take this from him. Everyone except Rusev that is, because he wants his match at Payback. People have advised Cena to cancel the Open Challenge tonight, but Cena thinks we should ask the people. The fans want a match so the challenge is on.

US Title: John Cena vs. Neville

Neville tries an armbar to start but the champ drops him with an elbow to the jaw for two. We hit the chinlock but Neville fights up and dropkicks Cena outside as we take a break. Back with Cena hitting the shoulders until he walks into a German suplex for two. Cena rolls outside and takes a huge corkscrew Asai moonsault with a big crash landing. Back in and a middle rope Phoenix Splash gets two on Cena. Neville fires off his kicks but charges into a sitout powerslam for two.

Cena can’t follow up but he can roll through Cena’s middle rope cross body into an AA, only to have Neville flip out and blast Cena with a superkick for two. The Red Arrow takes too long to set up though and Cena pulls him into the STF, only to have Neville roll over for two. Cena gets annoyed with Neville and takes his head off with a clothesline. Back up and Cena misses a charge and gets kicked in the head, only to snap off an AA for two. Cena loads up the super AA but Neville counters into a sitout powerbomb. The Red Arrow connects but Rusev comes in for the DQ at 14:47.

Rating: B+. Well of course Rusev comes in because THIS FEUD MUST FREAKING CONTINUE EVEN THOUGH NO ONE BUT THE LAZY WRITERS BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO DO ANYTHING NEW AND JUST HAVE THE SAME STUPID MATCH OVER AND OVER UNTIL NO ONE CARES ABOUT RUSEV BECAUSE CENA BEATS HIM THREE PAY PER VIEWS IN A ROW. Great match of course but gah I’m sick of this Cena vs. Rusev feud because no one on the planet buys Rusev as having a chance save for a fluke ending.

Rusev Accolades Cena post match and we get the eternally stupid question of CAN RUSEV MAKE CENA QUIT ON SUNDAY? Allow me to put this politely: STOP BOOKING CENA IN I QUIT MATCHES BECAUSE THE IDEA STOPPED BEING INTERESTING TEN YEARS AGO!

Kane vs. Roman Reigns

Kane jumps Reigns during his entrance and destroys him before the bell. Reigns fights back and knocks Kane into the barricade, only to be sent hard into the steps. The announcers’ table is loaded up but Reigns dives over the steps and Superman Punches Kane onto the table. A spear onto but not through the table puts both guys down. No match.

Brie Bella vs. Tamina

This is basically a proxy match for Naomi vs. Nikki. Tamina takes Brie down with some hard shots, including a stiff clothesline for two. Brie flips out of a belly to back and fights back, only to screw up a ram into the buckle. How can you possibly screw up pushing someone into a buckle? The running knee in the ropes has Tamina in trouble but she comes back with a superkick for the pin at 3:22.

Rating: D. How do you screw up ramming someone face first into the buckle? It’s hard for me to say this but Nikki is so far ahead of Brie in the ring that it’s not even funny. Brie didn’t look lost out there but she didn’t look polished on offense. Granted it might be because she’s been relegated to a glorified cheerleader in recent weeks.

Curtis Axel vs. Macho Mandow

Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Mandow loads up the elbow about thirty seconds in but cue the Ascension to say this isn’t entertaining. This is now the age of total devastation so welcome to the wasteland. Ascension hits the ring at about 2:00 for the no contest…..and they’re promptly beaten down as the new Mega Powers hit the leg and load up the elbow but Ascension bails. We even get the big handshake as the Ascension is further buried. And yes, this is being buried.

Tough Enough videos.

Here’s a sad looking Daniel Bryan with something to say. He’s been in and out of doctors’ offices lately and it’s given him a lot of down time. Bryan needed to be back here with his music playing and the fans cheering for him. He can’t remember how long the fans have been cheering for him like he’s something special but it was about a year ago when he had to vacate the World Title. Stephanie McMahon told him that he couldn’t do it last year and as much as he hates to admit it, she was right.

Last year he couldn’t wrestle and give the title the respect that it deserved. That brings him to tonight, as he doesn’t know if he can defend this title regularly. He recently had an MRI and the doctors aren’t sure when he’s going to be able to get back in the ring. The fans deserve wrestlers fighting for this title in this ring, and this ring is where Bryan is going to leave it. Tonight the title is officially vacated. Daniel and the fans thank each other and he walks away.

Here’s New Day for a match but first, Woods says don’t be sad over Bryan because it’s a NEW DAY. Everyone deserves a second chance (Big E.: “Except Pete Rose.”), so they’re giving Cesaro and Tyson Kidd a second chance on Sunday in a 2/3 falls match.

Big E. vs. Cesaro

Cesaro grabs a quick slam for two before knocking E. to the floor for a break. Back with Cesaro reversing an abdominal stretch into a gutwrench suplex. Cesaro has to roll away from a Warrior Splash but gets caught by a Rock Bottom out of the corner for two. Back up and Cesaro hits a ridiculous springboard spinning European uppercut before rolling some Germans. Kidd and Woods get into it on the floor but the distraction lets Cesaro small package Big E. for the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C. This was decent enough but they needed less time in the break and more time in the match itself. Cesaro continues to thrive in this face role as we’re seeing what fans wanted to get last year instead of the Paul Heyman guy disaster. Nice little TV match here, but there’s nothing these teams can’t pull off.

Axelmania/Macho Mandow vs. Ascension on the pre-show. Well of course it is.

There’s going to be a second pay per view in May, featuring the return of the Elimination Chamber on May 30, or two weeks after Payback.

The Prime Time Players imitate the New Age Outlaws this week. If you’re not down with that, they have three words for you: millions of dollars.

Here’s Bray Wyatt to talk about the fear that is sold to us every day. Fear of a crumbling economy that will never stop. Fear of a global conflict. Fear of a dying earth. Ryback must be such an inspiration to all of you. His ankle was destroyed and he was told he might never get in this ring again. Ryback got back in though and destroys everything in his path, but he’s never seen anything like Bray Wyatt before. Sometimes the bad guy just wins. Only on C level pay per views, so Bray has a good shot on Sunday. Cue Ryback to clean house.

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title and Rollins is on his own. Orton runs him over to start and stomps away but Rollins sends him into the middle buckle. A knee to the back sends Orton to the floor and us to a break. Back with Orton in a chinlock before fighting up and nailing a superplex. They slowly slug it out with Orton taking over off some clotheslines but charging into an elbow to the jaw.

Rollins dives into the powerslam for two but nails the springboard knee to the jaw for two. He really likes hitting Orton in the jaw. A t-bone suplex puts Seth down but Orton rolls outside, setting up the suicide dive from the champ. They’re just trading big moves here. Back in and the RKO is countered into the low superkick (of course to the jaw) for two more. Rollins charges into the elevated DDT and the RKO is loaded up but we’ve got Stooges for the DQ at 14:15.

Rating: C. This was decent enough but they weren’t hiding the impending DQ. I’m not a fan of matches like these but the majority of the match was spent trading big moves, which at least keeps things interesting. It’s nothing great, but I don’t think this is going to be as well received as it should.

Post match Orton gets beaten down but Kane comes out to get a chair. Ambrose and Reigns come out to clean house, leaving Rollins surrounded. Kane watches as Seth takes all three finishers but Reigns spears Orton down, only to walk into Dirty Deeds to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s nowhere near as good as last week, but that’s not a fair standard to live up to. The key improvement in the last two weeks has been the pacing. They’ve cut WAY down on the amount of backstage segments and it’s made the show so much easier to sit through.

Those times in the back where Kane and Rollins bicker and the Authority cuts their stupid promos that say nothing but eat up five minute each would bring the shows to a grinding halt. However, we really, really need to get past Payback so we can get in a fresh story….which will last two weeks until the Elimination Chamber because WE MUST SELL THE NETWORK! EVEN IF THE PLAN DOESN’T REALLY MAKE SENSE!

Results

Dean Ambrose b. Jamie Noble/Joey Mercury – Dirty Deeds to Noble
Erick Rowan b. Fandango – Full nelson slam

Neville b. John Cena via DQ when Rusev interfered

Tamina b. Brie Bella – Superkick

Curtis Axel vs. Macho Mandow went to a no contest when Ascension interfered

Cesaro b. Big E. – Small package

Randy Orton b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

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

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

I haven’t actually been to a live show since the Raw after Wrestlemania XXX so this had a pretty high mark to live up to. The ticket was under though and I had to drive about ten minutes instead of twelve hours so I didn’t have to invest much to get there.

I got there at about 6:30 for a 7:00 bell and the place was empty. To be fair, Rupp Arena is one of the biggest arenas in the country and it was Mother’s Day evening. The place did fill up a bit and the majority of the lower bowl was full, but there were wide gaps of empty seats. They lowered the lights for most of the arena but it still looked decent enough. The calendar probably did quite a bit of damage here but it wasn’t the only reason to blame for the low attendance. There were a ton of kids though and far more than adults.

The poll for the fan vote was should Lana be allowed at ringside for the main event. Not for a street fight or falls count anywhere, but should the hot blonde be allowed to stick around. I never saw the poll go lower than 70-30 to keep her around.

Rusev and Lana came on the screen to cut a quick promo about winning the title back. Lexington wasn’t mentioned so I’d assume this was the same video that airs everywhere.

HHH came on just after the lights went down to welcome us to the show, again with no city mentioned. This was the good version of HHH so we got an ARE YOU READY to get us going.

First up was Neville beating Barrett with the Red Arrow. This was a great choice to open the show with Barrett in the role he was born to play. Before the match he told everyone to kneel in front of the king and Tony Chimmel and the referee followed the king’s orders. Neville answered an open challenge and had one of the best matches of the night. What I like most about Neville is that he wrestles like a guy eight inches taller and 50lbs heavier than he actually is. Instead of a guy who wrestles like a small wrestler, he’s a wrestler who happens to be small.

The interesting thing here was that Neville wrestles like a superhero, kind of in the vein of the original Sin Cara, minus the botches. He comes off like someone willing to fight against anyone above him, which makes for a much more interesting character than just another cruiserweight.

Finally, Barrett said he has injured Daniel Bryan so severely that Bryan is retired. Why is it so complicated to have a wrestler injure another and then brag about causing the injury? It’s such an evil move to do but for some reason it’s taken weeks to get there. Use it to turn Barrett into an even bigger villain instead of hiding behind reality.

Damien Sandow beat Heath Slater in a short comedy match. I really don’t think you need much more of an explanation here, but Sandow has lost a lot of steam since that Miz feud ended.

Nikki Bella successfully defended the Divas Title against Naomi. This was the old Naomi in the bright green, though she was still the villain. Nikki got a big reaction from the fans, which makes sense given that she’s basically the new Kelly Kelly, if Kelly ever had a horrible feud with her sister. Naomi hit the Rear View but spent too much time dancing to cover. Later on she tried to bring in the title but had to deal with Brie, allowing Nikki to hit the Rack Attack for the pin. Nikki has the potential to be a pretty solid face champion, but the stuff before this really dragged her down.

In another lame match, Fandango beat Adam Rose with a small package. I really don’t know what else there is to say here.

We then had a Connor the Crusher video and a special Mother’s Day message from Mr. T. These received a very nice ovation and amused applause respectfully.

Next was one of the most disappointing matches of the night with Dean Ambrose defeating Luke Harper. Ambrose was fine, but Harper looked way off for some reason. He kept showing off his biceps, which isn’t exactly what you imagine coming from him. Maybe he’s trying something new, but this really didn’t need to be anything but their usual solid formula.

Intermission, meaning nachos and a water……which costs the same as a soda so it was a Sierra Mist. Seriously, charging $3.50 for a cup of water is ridiculous.

Back from the break and we had one of the most interesting matches of the night. Erick Rowan defeated Bo Dallas in something resembling a comedy match (Bo put the mask on and then Erick ran a lap around the ring like Dallas), but the interesting thing was Rowan playing the good guy after he turned heel on Smackdown. Translation: WWE doesn’t watch Smackdown either. The match was nothing special, as you would likely expect.

At this point, the show was starting to drag. After nearly two hours of some so-so matches and little worth remembering, I was feeling a bit drained. But then, something happened. I began to feel something. Oh yes, I began to feel the POWAH! The POWAH of the New Day was so strong that it knocked the fans out of rhythm on the NEW DAY SUCKS chants. Before the match, New Day talked about being similar to the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team: big, strong and athletic, but they can actually win a title and will be around for more than one year. They also sang us an original composition called We Are The Champions.

The title defense was a four way elimination match with New Day (Woods/Kofi) defending against Ascension, the Prime Time Players and Tyson Kidd/Cesaro. Kidd/Cesaro got a solid reaction but Titus was very over as well. The match was the best of the night by far with everyone getting a chance to show off. There was even an innovative spot with Woods trying a sunset flip on Viktor but not being able to get him over. With the two of them distracted, Kidd picked up Woods’ legs and catapulted him into a low blow on Viktor.

Eventually everything broke down with Cesaro and Kidd cleaning house, until Woods made a blind tag as Kidd dropped the elbow off Cesaro’s shoulders. Woods snuck in and stole the pin on Viktor to retain because the New Day is great at being sneaky. Post match Kidd and Cesaro cleaned house with the Cesaro Swing into the dropkick. Big E. eventually put Woods/Kingston on his shoulders and carried them out in a great visual. This was the match of the night by far.

The main event was Cena successfully defending the US Title over Rusev. If you’ve seen one of these matches, you’ve seen them all.

As I was walking to the car, I stopped by the parking lot and saw Neville/Bo Dallas, the Prime Time Players, Slater/Ascension and maybe Big E. leaving. Neville was the only one to wave and acknowledge the fans waiting, but to be fair he’s the only heel there.

Overall it wasn’t the best show, but for $18 I easily got my money’s worth. It didn’t help that the roster was split and the endings were mostly obvious, but still, good enough for a Mother’s Day house show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

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

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This was kind of a special episode as the King of the Ring was announced and set up in the span of a single day. Apparently the idea was to have it spread into May on the Network where people would have to pay for it, but since May is ANOTHER free month, they’re just turning it into a two night event instead. That makes me so much happier to have paid for the Network since day one. Let’s get to it.

We open with the story that just won’t die as Kane, Rollins and the Stooges are in the ring. Uh let’s see: Rollins brags, Kane blames Rollins for whatever (that’s a good point: why are these two even fighting? I think it’s something to do with Kane thinking Rollins is ungrateful or something, but they keep shouting all the time and it’s really gotten lost in the shuffle), Rollins tells him to shut up, they bicker like two idiots, Orton and Reigns come out and want title shots, Kane says it’s POLL TIME!

Barrett beat Ziggler in a pretty lame tournament match. That’s going to become a recurring theme: tournament matches mostly suck because they need to fly through the first round and there’s not much time to do things like build up a match.

Xavier Woods cheated to help Big E. beat Tyson Kidd. How nice is it to see someone cheating like a good old fashioned villain?

Ryback squashed Bo Dallas and then got beaten up by Bray Wyatt. This was pretty clear after the weights line from Bray last week, but I’m really not sure where this one is going. Ryback vs. Wyatt could be an interesting feud, but it could also be one of those where you watch the match, tilt your head a bit and then say “well that…….sucked? I think?” It’s an odd pairing but I like both guys so it could go somewhere. Oh and one more thing: why are people SO obsessed with seeing Bo Dallas as Bray’s disciple? Yeah they’re brothers. Does that mean they have to be together on screen? I’ve never gotten the mass appeal of the pairing.

There was no open challenge this week as Rusev came out beat up Heath Slater before he could answer and then did the same promo they’ve done about 15 times now. I’m really starting to get worried about Rusev as more than once now I’ve forgotten what he’s been doing since he lost the US Title. One day someone in WWE is going to have to sit down with me and explain the psychology behind taking someone who was really getting over and then having them lose on pay per view three times in a row to the same guy. I’m guessing this leads to Lana’s big face turn, but do we really need to kill Rusev to get there?

Kane and Rollins did their same schtick of threatening to call the Authority because the 7′ monster and the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION are the little kids to HHH and Stephanie’s mom and dad. This bickering angle is really getting old and again, I have no idea what I’m supposed to find interesting about it.

R-Truth beat Stardust to advance. You think I have anything else to say about this?

Adam Rose beat Fandango. To quote myself from the original review: “This is the latest story that people aren’t going to care about and is going to be a waste of time.”

Brie Bella couldn’t remember what emotion she was supposed to have when talking about her husband’s career possibly being over. Naomi shoved her down to continue trying to make the Bellas into faces because……well someone has to be in this division.

Naomi then beat Brie with one of the worst small packages I’ve ever seen. I’ll give them this though: there was a clear heel and face in the match and I had a reason to care about seeing Brie beat Naomi up. That right there is all the story I need. You have a villain and an opponent (I still can’t bring myself to call her a hero) who can give her what she has coming and maybe the match won’t suck. On a good day. Maybe.

Sheamus beat Dean Ambrose via DQ to advance when Dolph Ziggler interfered. Ambrose looked good out there and it was one of the better matches of the night, so there isn’t much to say here. One good thing though was Dean freaking out that Ziggler interefering was a DQ. His I GET DQ’d FOR THAT was right up there with Hogan thinking that Jimmy Hart wearing a striped jacket and counting the pin at Wrestlemania IX was enough to win the Tag Team Titles.

Damien Sandow’s new gimmick is mimicking people. You know, like four year olds do. I give this a month, max. There was something in there about beating up Curtis Axel too.

Neville beat Luke Harper because Neville is pretty awesome. This was a god way to have a young hero stand up to a monster like Harper and come out looking great. Neville is getting one of the best pushes I’ve seen in a long time and I’m getting more and more into his matches every single time.

The main event was a long Reigns/Orton vs. Rollins/Kane tag with Reigns pinning the champ. This was your standard main event tag match, meaning it was entertaining enough but longer than it needed to be.

The triple threat option won the poll because…..it’s too late in the night for sarcasm. It won because it’s a triple threat and that’s the only thing that was ever going to win.

This show was about setting up Payback and the tournament as fast as they could because somehow, despite OWNING ITS OWN NETWORK, WWE still can’t figure out something as simple as a schedule to let pay per views be properly built. Not a very good show but it did its job well enough. These episodes of building up future shows are never all that great so this was about as good as you can get, especially with the tournament stuff shoehorned in.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

King of the Ring Network Special
Date: April 28, 2015
Location: iWireless Center, Moline, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

This is a one off special with the returning King of the Ring semi-finals and finals taking place tonight. It’s just an hour long so the matches should have some time to build up instead of having to run through everything in just a few minutes. There’s potential for some good matches tonight so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the history of the tournament and some of the stars who have won before.

Jerry Lawler is brought out to introduce a package on how the final four advanced. It’s a bad sign that they seem to be stalling for time four minutes in.

Here are the final four:

Neville

Sheamus

Bad News Barrett

R-Truth

Sheamus says he’ll become the two time King and get rid of that little English guy to do so.

Neville was in NXT just a few months ago but now he could be King of the Ring. No one expects him to win tonight, but he’s defied expectations all his life. He was fine on the mic here so I wouldn’t mind hearing more from him.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Sheamus vs. Neville

Cole mentions Sheamus potentially becoming a two time King, just like Bret Hart. That’s a rare reference to the tournaments held when it was still just a house show feature. Sheamus makes fun of Neville’s height to start and takes him into the corner with ease. Neville comes back with some right hands and does his front flips followed by a spin kick to the ribs. A quick Irish Curse stops Neville cold though and the big man takes over. It works so well that Sheamus hits a second Irish Curse as the fans are entirely behind Neville.

Sheamus gets a bit too cocky though, allowing Neville to come back with forearms tot he face. He fights out of the ten forearms as well but gets sent face first HARD into the announcers’ table. Neville barely makes it back in time though, earning him another beating in the corner. Sheamus is starting to get cocky but here’s Ziggler to remind him what happened at Extreme Rules. The distraction lets Neville duck a Brogue Kick and kick Sheamus in the head. The Red Arrow gives Neville the pin and the BIG upset at 5:47.

Rating: C+. I believe in Neville. This is one of the first pushes in a LONG time where they’re strapping a rocket to a newcomer’s back and letting him ride it all the way, though there’s a good chance Barrett winds up winning the crown tonight so they can have him lose his next ten matches. Still though, I’m digging the heck out of Neville right now as they’re totally nailing his push.

Post match Ziggler wants to get what he earned at Extreme Rules and the brawl is on. Security breaks it up, but not before Sheamus’ eye is busted open badly.

Barrett says R-Truth shouldn’t be worried about his arachnophobia because it’s time for Bull Hammer-phobia. After he gets done with the has been Truth, he’ll move on to the never was Neville.

Truth has a plan tonight: win the King of the Ring and then declare a ban on spiders. That includes all the spiders, even the kinfolks. They’ll build a castle with a drawbridges and a moat. He isn’t sure about water in the moat because that might bring water spiders. Saxton: “What about your opponent, Bad News Barrett?” Truth: “Does he has experience killing spiders?”

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: R-Truth vs. Bad News Barrett

Truth grabs a quick rollup to start but takes a right hand to the ribs. Barrett puts him in the ropes for the big boot to the face and it’s off to the chinlock as the announcers discuss Nero. Back up and Truth hits some clotheslines and the front suplex for two. The ax kick misses but the side kick is good for another near fall. Truth’s Lie Detector gets two but the Winds of Change gets the same. Back up and the Bull Hammer sends Barrett to the finals at 4:40.

Rating: D+. What do you want me to say here? Truth had as much of a chance as I have of being Miss Nevada 1974 and everyone knew it. Barrett is a good option for the crown and there’s a good dynamic considering what happened on Sunday. Dull match here but at least they kept it short.

Video on Verne Gagne who passed away yesterday.

Dolph Ziggler says he couldn’t take Sheamus’ bullying last night or tonight so he had to do something.

We look at Neville beating Barrett on Sunday.

Barrett says it’s not fair that he has to fight so soon after beating Truth, but it’s also unfair that Neville has to fight him period.

King of the Ring: Bad News Barrett vs. Neville

Barrett goes after the ribs to start but Neville flips forward and snaps off a headscissors, followed by a kick to the jaw. That’s fine with Barrett as he clotheslines Neville to the floor to take the first real advantage. Barrett puts on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat but Neville fights up with more kicks to the ribs and legs.

A running kick to the side of the head and a German suplex get two on Barrett. Winds of Change gets the same and Wasteland is eventually good for another near fall. The Bull Hammer is countered into a rollup for two and Neville kicks him in the head. Neville has to bail out of the Red Arrow and charges into the Bull Hammer for the pin and the crown at 6:10.

Rating: B-. Eh yeah that’s probably the right move but man alive they could have pulled the trigger on something big here with Neville. At least there’s a story ready for a third match between the two of them, which might work better if they can manage to give then more than six minutes next time.

Barrett crowns himself and promises to rule with an iron Bull Hammer.

Overall Rating: C. Well they made good time. WWE does realize that they have all the time they need on their own network and don’t have to have this wrapped up with seven minutes to go in the hour right? They were flying through this match and the entire tournament when you think about it. It’s like they needed to get this whole thing wrapped up as fast as they could to get to the end result. It wasn’t bad but my goodness, slow down a bit.

Results

Neville b. Sheamus – Red Arrow

Bad News Barrett b. R-Truth – Bull Hammer

Bad News Barrett b. Neville – Bull Hammer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 27, 2015
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Booker T.

We’re past Extreme Rules but the more interesting story is the return of the King of the Ring tournament. The tournament is back for the first time in seven years with the finals being held tomorrow night during a Network special. Other than that we have all the Extreme Rules fallout to get through. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here are the King of the Ring brackets.

Dean Ambrose

Sheamus

Neville

Luke Harper

R-Truth

Stardust

Dolph Ziggler

Bad News Barrett

Rollins, Kane and the Stooges open us up. Rollins brags about what he did last night and runs down his resume in recent weeks. It was clear that Rollins was going to win from the start last night and the SKO (yes SKO) out of nowhere was a nice touch. Seth says you need good soldiers and thanks Kane for his help, but the monster isn’t happy with that. After some yelling and comparing Rollins to Justin Bieber, here’s Randy Orton to interrupt.

Randy gets right to the point: due to Rollins cheating last night, it’s time for a rematch. This brings out Roman Reigns who seems to think he has a case for a title shot as well. While standing on the announcers’ table, Roman talks about their history together and thinks it’s his turn for a shot at the title. Rollins says no but Kane says it’s going to be up to the WWE Universe.

King of the Ring First Round: Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett

Before the match, Ziggler swears payback on Sheamus. Perhaps at Payback? Barrett punches him into the corner to start and kicks Ziggler in the face. A quick dropkick puts Bad News on the floor and we take a break. Back with Barrett kicking him in the face and knocking him to the floor. Ziggler is right back in there though and counters Winds of Change into the running DDT.

Barrett gets back up in a hurry though and gets two off Wasteland. The Bull Hammer is countered with a superkick for two but here’s Sheamus with stills of the post match humiliation from last night. The distraction works as Barrett Bull Hammers Dolph from the apron to advance at 8:24.

Rating: D+. As is so often the case, not enough time means not much of a match. This is a common occurrence in tournaments: you have to get so many matches in that you have to keep things moving, meaning there’s no time to get anywhere with a lot of them. You can pretty much pencil in Ziggler returning the favor later on.

Here’s New Day for Big E.’s match, but before the match, Woods wants to thank all of the clappers out there. It’s not just a New Day, but it’s time for a new clap, so try this one on: New Day ROCKS! You can imagine the fans’ reaction.

Big E. vs. Tyson Kidd

Kidd goes right after Big E. to start but slingshots onto E.’s shoulders. Tyson quickly escapes though and kicks Big E. in the head before stomping to the beat of the chants in the corner. A running kick to the face from the apron knocks E. down again but Big E. hits a clothesline with Woods holding Kidd’s foot for the pin at 1:25.

Ryback vs. Bo Dallas

Before the match, Bo gives Ryback one chance to walk away before the beating begins, but he makes sure to insult the Packers fans in the audience. After a GO PACK GO chant, Ryback slugs Bo down but Dallas gets in a series of forearms to the back for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Ryback destroys him with a spinebuster. The Meat Hook and Shell Shock are enough for the pin at 2:06.

Post match we’ve got Wyatt in the ring to stare down Ryback and hit a quick Sister Abigail. I can dig this feud, and no I don’t think we’re seeing/need a Bo Dallas/Bray Wyatt connection.

Here’s Cena for this week’s open challenge. Last night he was on a high after defending the title against Rusev again, but then he saw Rusev and Lana announce one more match for the title. It’s an I Quit match at Payback, which sounds right up Cena’s alley. He’ll never say he quits, but he if does, there’s no rematch because Cena couldn’t face himself anymore. As for tonight though, the challenge is open.

US Title: Heath Slater vs. John Cena

Slater has a mic with him and says he’ll win the title tonight and become the US Champion of the world. He talks about recreating Aaron Rogers’ Discount Double Check but gets kicked in the head by Rusev. Lana comes out waving but gets sent to the back as Rusev rants about the fans giving up already. No match. The Russian flag drops, which makes Cena get all serious. Why doesn’t he just talk to the production staff and not let them put the flag in place?

Kane explains that the fans can vote for who faces Rollins on the WWE App, sending Rollins into a frenzy. He threatens to call HHH or Stephanie so Kane gives the fans the option of making it a triple threat. Seth is livid.

King of the Ring First Round: R-Truth vs. Stardust

Truth wants to win so he can get rid of all spiders. Stardust wants to become King of the Stars. The Cody chants start up as Stardust nails him in the jaw coming out of the corner and stomps Truth in the back. A chinlock keeps things slow and Stardust busts out a cartwheel. Booker: “Why?” Truth comes back but misses the ax kick. They trade rollups for two each until the Disaster Kick is countered into Little Jimmy (called the Lie Detector) for the pin at 3:52.

Rating: D+. Yeah whatever. Truth was the obvious winner as soon as Barrett won, which is one of the things that gets old in a hurry about tournaments. Once one guy wins, it’s almost obvious who is going to win the next match because some matches just aren’t going to happen. Nothing to see here with an obvious winner.

Fandango vs. Adam Rose

Fandango starts fast by sending Rose to the floor for a big dive, only to be distracted by Rosa Mendes, who was disguised as a Rosebud. The surprise allows Rose to hit the Party Foul for the pin at 1:50.

Rosa can’t believe Fandango picked the fans over her and kisses Rose. This is the latest story that people aren’t going to care about and is going to be a waste of time.

We go to Renee Young with Brie Bella, who is WAY too happy to be discussing her husband’s health. Renee brings up Bryan and the smile goes away. Did they just not tell her what they were talking about? They want Bryan back in the ring and are so grateful for the fans’ support, but Naomi comes up and shoves her down. No one cares about Brie or Bryan apparently.

Naomi vs. Brie Bella

That’s a very quickly signed match. Naomi gets in a cheap shot from behind to start, followed by a hard forearm to the face. Thankfully Nikki is on the floor so we don’t have COME ON BRIE in a mic this week. Brie comes back with a running faceplant and BRIE MODE. The middle rope dropkick gets two but Naomi gets a horrible looking small package (Brie’s shoulder wasn’t being touched and there was no reason she couldn’t raise it off the mat) for the pin at 3:40.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing to see, but my goodness how much easier are the Divas to sit through when the stories are a bit more logical? Naomi is a jerk and attacked Brie when she was talking about her injured husband. That minute long segment set up the match and made perfect sense. Why is that so hard to do so often?

King of the Ring First Round: Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus

Dean’s decrees if he becomes King: remove all tariffs on ale, ban pop-country and have all disputes settled in street fights. They shove each other into the corner to start until Sheamus drops Dean with a shoulder. Dean takes him to the mat and ties up the legs to try a wrestling match, earning him a right hand to the face. Dean’s bulldog is countered but he hits a forearm to send Sheamus outside as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus hitting his release suplex slam. Ambrose finally scores with the rebound clothesline and both guys are down. Back up and the Brogue Kick misses, allowing Dean to send him shoulder first into the post. A powerslam from Sheamus looks to set up White Noise but Dean counters into Dirty Deeds, which is countered into the Cloverleaf.

Dean gets to the ropes for the break and has to fight out of the ten forearms. The top rope standing elbow gets two before they fight to the floor with Dean clotheslining him off the announcers’ table. A Brogue Kick out of nowhere nails Ambrose but Dolph runs in for the DQ at 12:41.

Rating: B-. This was rolling along until the obvious ending. As I’ve harped on all night: tournaments are the most predictable thing in wrestling, but fans always clamor for them if you just slap the King of the Ring name tag on there. I was digging the heck out of this match until Ziggler ran in though, which is a shame.

The best part here comes from Dean after the match: “I GET DQ’D FOR THAT???”

Here’s Damien Sandow for his first comments after last week. Three years ago he arrived in the WWE in a blue bathrobe and said he would enlighten everyone. After that he was told he just wasn’t entertaining enough so he started going insane imitating people (complete with stills of some of his better/worse moments, depending on your taste). This culminated in Damien Mizdow, which lost him some respect among his peers but gained him the respect of the WWE Universe, which is more important than anything else he could have. He isn’t sure where he goes from here, but Curtis Axel comes out to help guide him a bit.

Axel can’t stand someone not knowing who they are and trying to be someone else. So WHATCHA GONNA DO…..but Sandow cuts him off by imitating everything Axel says like a four year old does and eventually punches Axel out and drops the Wind Up Elbow and a legdrop for good measure.

Bray Wyatt talks about learning to play with fire but doesn’t know if Ryback will ever learn. Will Ryback ever learn, or will he always be obsessed with himself? Ryback is transparent and Bray knows what scares him. Tonight was only the beginning so run.

Tough Enough audition tapes.

King of the Ring First Round: Neville vs. Luke Harper

Neville grabs a headscissors to start and kicks Harper to the floor, setting up a hurricanrana off the apron. Back in and Harper knocks a springboarding Neville out of the air for two to take over as we go to a break. Back with Neville fighting out of a chinlock and kicking Harper to the floor for a top rope Asai Moonsault to drop Harper again.

Neville gets two off a standing shooting star but Harper just kicks him in the face and plants him with a half nelson suplex. The big sitout powerbomb gets two for Harper and the fans think this is awesome. They head to the corner with Neville kicking him in the head, setting up a sunset bomb from Neville. The Red Arrow connects for the pin to send Neville to the semi-finals at 10:17.

Rating: B. That was by far and away the best match of the night for multiple reasons, but above all else it was due to the match being a tossup. I could have seen either guy going over here and that makes things far more interesting. Good stuff here with Neville’s rocket push working more and more every week.

Here are the final four.

Barrett

R-Truth

Neville

Sheamus

Roman Reigns/Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins/Kane

Reigns takes Rollins into the corner to start so Randy can kick him in the ribs. Rollins bails to the floor so it’s off to Reigns vs. Kane with the former planting him with a side slam. Back to Kane who pulls Orton into the corner for some stomping as JBL won’t shut up about how unfair the idea of a triple threat is. We take a break and come back with Rollins holding Orton in a chinlock.

That goes as far as a chinlock is going to go as Orton fights up with a t-bone suplex, setting up the tags to the power guys. Roman fires off clotheslines in the corner, capped off by a big one from the middle rope as everything breaks down. The Authority is sent to the floor but Mercury break up the big dive. Roman follows Joey around and winds up walking into an uppercut from Kane to take over again. Reigns wins a slugout with Rollins so the champ kicks him in the face for two.

Kane scores with the side slam for two before putting on a bearhug. The slow beating continues until Roman finally slams Rollins down, allowing for the hot tag to Orton. Everything breaks down again and Reigns powers out of a chokeslam, only to have Rollins dropkick Kane by mistake.

Mercury is thrown into Kane, allowing Orton to hit the elevated DDT on Seth. The RKO is countered into a rollup, followed by the low superkick to knock Randy to the floor. Seth tries a suicide dive but hits Kane, sending the monster into a rage against the Stooges. An uppercut drops Rollins and it’s the Superman Punch into the RKO for the pin on the champ at 18:38.

Rating: C+. Longer than it needed to be here but the ending did what it was supposed to. At least Kane isn’t going to be added into the title picture, but it’s not the most interesting story in the world regardless. Reigns getting back into the title hunt is a good idea though and it sets up a more interesting match at Payback.

Triple threat gets 78% of the poll. This would be more surprising if WWE hadn’t spoiled the results last week. Rollins eats a spear to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show wasn’t the best but it had two major stories going on at the same time. The tournament was the standard for a first round of a tournament and the poll results were never in doubt, but they kept the show moving enough with far more action than talking, which is more important than anything else. Good enough show here as they’re finding a good balance to make things work and get through these never ending rematches.

Results

Bad News Barrett b. Dolph Ziggler – Bull Hammer

Big E. b. Tyson Kidd – Clothesline with Woods holding the foot

Ryback b. Bo Dallas – Shell Shock

R-Truth b. Stardust – Little Jimmy

Naomi b. Brie Bella – Small package

Sheamus b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Dolph Ziggler interfered

Randy Orton/Roman Reigns b. Kane/Seth Rollins – RKO to Rollins

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

I’ve seen worse.Dean Ambrose
Sheamus

Neville
Luke Harper

R-Truth
Stardust

Dolph Ziggler
Bad News Barrett

Not bad other than basically giving Barrett/Ziggler a bye into the finals.  I’m assuming it winds up with Sheamus vs. Ziggler again because WWE loves their rematches.

In a non-title match on the pre-show.  Wasn’t the Tag Team Title match on the pre-show already?  If there are two matches there, we have a six match pay per view card.  That’s an awfully thin show, but maybe Nikki vs. Naomi can go 15 minutes or so.

Smackdown
Date: April 23, 2015
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

It’s the final show before Extreme Rules and for some reason in 2015, one of the major stories is Kane seemingly about to turn on the Authority and becoming a bigger deal than he is now. Of course it’s possible that it’s all a swerve and Kane will cost Orton the title match on Sunday, making the last few weeks a big waste of time, much like Kane in general. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence opens, as is its custom.

Here are Rollins and the Stooges to open things up. After a recap of everything that happened on Monday with the RKO’s all around, Rollins mocks the RKO OUTTA NOWHERE concept. It’s a good thing Orton got all those out of his system because the RKO is banned on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, Rollins doesn’t need anyone’s help, including an aging former monster’ like Kane.

Strike up the organ of course so Kane can come out and threaten to chokeslam Rollins right now. He can either keep the title on Rollins this Sunday or destroy him right now. Seth laughs it off and says Kane will be fired for crossing the Authority. HHH only gave Kane that job to make him feel better because Kane is just a suit these days. Kane obeying the Authority is what’s best for business.

Seth brings up Kane laying down and says that’s what he should be doing, but Kane thinks Seth should lay down for him right now. He’ll even make it non-title. A referee comes down and we get a bell. Rollins says this isn’t right but Kane says he’s the Authority tonight. The threat of disembowelment convinces Seth to lay down but as Kane goes to cover him, he says he’s just kidding and helps Seth up.

However, Kane isn’t done yet as he makes Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose RIGHT NOW. Ambrose comes running out but Luke Harper follows, setting up a big beatdown on Dean. With things going bad, Roman Reigns comes out for the save, chasing off Rollins and Harper with Superman Punches.

Dolph Ziggler/Neville vs. Bad News Barrett/Sheamus

On the way to the ring, Sheamus says it’s an insult to have underdogs like the men in the ring compared to real men like them. He even offers to bring Ziggler a stepladder to help Ziggler kiss up to him on Sunday. Neville starts with Sheamus and starts kicking away at the leg, followed by a running hurricanrana to send Sheamus outside. Barrett gets sent out as well and Neville hits a big running flip to take them both down.

Back from a break with Barrett holding Neville in a chinlock before Sheamus drops him with a release suplex. Neville finally fights up and kicks Sheamus in the head, allowing the hot tag to Ziggler. The jumping elbow and running DDT get two each on Barrett but a Sheamus distraction lets Barrett hit a quick Wasteland for two more. Ziggler spins around the shoulders though, setting up a Zig Zag into the Red Arrow for the pin on Barrett at 8:39.

Rating: C. This was a nice way to set things up, but again, well done on having a guy who might be winning the Intercontinental Title in three days look bad. That being said, it’s really nice to see Neville get yet another pin over a big name. Even though everyone pins Barrett, it’s still the biggest fall of Neville’s career.

We get the Tough Enough announcement and see some of the best/worst video submissions so far. Yeah fine. Just let me know when the winner (other than John Morrison) means anything.

Bray Wyatt says someone’s strength is an illusion, just like anyone else. He sees right through this person because fear is the same for every man. Bray will expose him as a weakling very soon. How does life work for a butterfly with no wings?

Naomi vs. Natalya

I guess Natalya is a face again. Naomi slugs her down to start and catapults Natayla throat first into the bottom rope for two. A chinlock doesn’t last long so Naomi drops an elbow, only to miss a legdrop. Natalya does the stepover into the dropkick, only to walk into the Rear View for the pin at 2:28. As usual, the week to week continuity dominates the Divas.

The next target for the Prime Time Players is the Tag Team Champions. Kidd is whipped and Cesaro is interesting. Why is he interesting? Well…..uh…..you see……he’s German! Uh I mean Swiss, but it’s the same thing.

Ryback vs. Rusev

Jobber entrance for Rusev but Lana gives a speech about the strength of the Russian chain, which has protected the greatest of Russia for years. Rusev says the chain is his weapon and a burden to Cena, to whom no mercy will be shown. They stare each other down to start before locking up with Rusev shoving him into the corner. Ryback nails a running clothesline for two and the Russian is stunned. A delayed suplex puts Rusev down again but he rolls to the floor before Ryback can stay on him.

Back in and Ryback misses a charge into the post, sending us to a break. We come back with Rusev putting on a quickly broken bearhug. Ryback fires off some right hands and gets two off a belly to belly, only to splash legs. The Meat Hook and jumping superkick are countered but the second Meat Hook connects. Rusev slips out of a Shell Shock though and heads outside, where he hits Ryback in the ribs with the chain for the DQ at 9:57.

Rating: C-. Take two guys and let them beat on each other for a few minutes. It’s a strategy that has worked for years and it worked well enough here. This was a pretty good way to make Rusev look like a killer again, even if it’s just a way to set him up again to be destroyed by Cena.

Ryback gets the Accolade with the chain around the face.

Jamie Noble isn’t worried about Harper because it turns out they’re cousins. Harper comes up in his usual trance and Noble tries to get his attention, but Harper is annoyed that they broke his concentration. He was thinking of all the ways he can hurt people you see.

Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro

Before the match, the New Day blames the lack of positivity in WWE on the lack of clapping. Have no fear because New Day is here! Woods says they’re like medicine: they may not taste good going down, but they’re the right thing for you. Kofi goes on a rant about how the WWE isn’t listening to them but soon enough they will embrace the New Day. They’re kind of awesome at this.

The fans aren’t pleased and chant their version of the catchphrase. A dropkick puts Cesaro down to start but he uppercuts Kofi into the Swing, only to have everyone else brawl on the floor. Trouble in Paradise hits out of nowhere for the pin at 1:30. That’s not as bad as it’s not a tag match loss.

Big Show has had enough of Roman Reigns and is ready to expose him for what he is.

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins/Luke Harper

Kane is at ringside. Ambrose and Harper get things going with Dean taking him down to the mat and ripping at Harper’s face. Off to Reigns for a stomping in the corner before Dean gets another tag and hits a basement clothesline. Harper finally gets Ambrose into the corner for a tag to the champ to take over. A headlock into a front facelock keep Dean in trouble before Rollins throws him to the floor for a big boot from Harper.

We take a break and come back with Dean fighting out of a chinlock but having to DDT Harper instead of tagging. Seth comes back in to break up the hot tag attempt with a clothesline before both guys try cross bodies. The double tag brings in the power guys with Roman cleaning house but having to Superman Punch the Stooges off the apron. Harper takes one as well before Dean nails Rollins with the top rope standing elbow.

Luke partially blocks Dean’s suicide dive and sends him over the timekeeper’s area, only to eat a clothesline from Reigns. Rollins comes back in with the springboard knee for two and it’s the discus lariat for two. Dean comes in off the hot tag to clean house. The rebound clothesline puts Rollins down and Dean low bridges Harper to the floor. Dean dives on the pile at ringside, only to have Kane throw Rollins back inside, allowing Reigns to hit the spear on Rollins for the pin at 16:44.

Rating: B. This was a much better main event tag than I was expecting. I’m not wild on the champion getting pinned but that’s one of those things you learn to live with in WWE. It’s also par for the course for this title reign but that’s another story for another time. Anyway, good, long tag match here which was better than I was expecting.

Overall Rating: C+. Pretty fun show tonight with a good main event to carry things. Extreme Rules isn’t the most interesting card in the world but a lot of that is due to the show just being a bunch of Wrestlemania rematches. The direction of a lot of things is still questionable but at least we had a fun two hour show to get us to the pay per view.

Results

Dolph Ziggler/Neville b. Bad News Barrett/Sheamus – Red Arrow to Barrett

Naomi b. Natalya – Rear View

Ryback b. Rusev via DQ when Rusev hit him with a chain

Kofi Kingston b. Cesaro – Trouble in Paradise

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Seth Rollins/Luke Harper – Spear to Rollins

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

Maybe I can start getting these things done before the next show starts. We’re firmly into the Extreme Rules build now, and by firmly into I mean we’re almost to the show. Therefore we need some stipulations for the big matches but we’re taped, meaning it’s not likely to be the most thrilling show. Let’s get to it.

Cena opened things up with the Open Challenge for the US Title and beat Bad News Barrett in a decent enough match. These two have fought so many times over the years that it’s kind of hard to care anymore, but at least the Challenges are doing their job. I’d like to see someone from NXT debut through one and hopefully they continue after Extreme Rules. Speaking of after, Rusev came out and blasted Cena with a chain to set up a Russian Chain match for the PPV. It makes sense given Rusev being involved but these matches have a high rate of suck more often than not.

Paige won a Divas Battle Royal for the #1 contendership to give the fans something to cheer. Naomi then turned heel and beat her down so Paige can go off to make a movie. They REALLY need to stop building people up and then send them away for six weeks to make a movie that 87 people might see. Or maybe they should stop with the bad movies and just do what they did before: pick a movie that is going to be seen and slap their name on it.

On top of that, as I went on about on Smackdown, who does this leave as a face Diva? Emma? Fox is acting like a heel and turns every four days anyway, the Bellas, Cameron and Naomi are confirmed heels and Paige is leaving. Are they really hoping that a returning Layla is going to be a big deal? Natalya is supposed to be a heel but wrestles like a face because her psychology is all messed up, but she’s awesome. Right?

Bray Wyatt has a new target. Yeah whatever. Go win a big match already.

The Lucha Dragons beat up the Ascension because that’s what they do. They did it in NXT and they’re doing it on Raw. I still feel bad for Ascension but they were dead in the water months ago.

Roman Reigns came out and talked about going to Suplex City until Big Show came out to continue THE STUPIDEST FEUD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. Show beat him up on the props but Roman kept getting up. Indeed, it’s for a last man standing match. Of all the things I’d love to grab Vince by the throat for and shout at him about, keeping Big Show in this spot is one of them. How can they possibly think that beating up Big Show over and over and over and over and over and over and I think you get the point by now, is going to help Reigns look like a big deal?

Orton beat Cesaro via DQ to earn the right to pick a stipulation, but then Kane came out to make sure the Tag Team Champions were hurt as much as they could and made Orton vs. both of them. As you would expect, Orton beat both of them in one match because he could. By this point, this show was starting to make my head hurt.

Rollins yelled at Kane and teased getting him fired by the Authority. So yes, the two stories that are being built up are the Divas battle royal from last week and what seems like another Kane face turn. BECAUSE THAT CREATES RATINGS BECAUSE KANE IS BIG! LIKE BIG SHOW!!! Rollins wants Kane to lay down later. One last thing though: Rollins emasculates Kane and it seems like he’s going to rise up because of it. Stephanie emasculates people and they get to stand there and take it.

Dean Ambrose beat Adam Rose to remind us that Dean Ambrose does in fact exist.

Big Show tried to talk Kane out of turning on the Authority. Bryan would do the opposite later, but Bryan brought up the Fingerpoke of Doom because we must make fun of WCW, despite a lot of the fans not even being alive for that moment. But hey, it makes Vince smile at his past accomplishments and that’s what we need to do.

Fandango beat Stardust in a filler match which set up Fandango turning face and dumping Rosa. I highly doubt this is the big career saver he’s needing.

Kane beat up Rollins and the Stooges before laying down for him. For the thousandth time, no one cares about Kane in this role.

Mizdow beat Miz in another short match to set up a big match later on, because that’s how WWE works.

The Prime Time Players kept making fun of other tag teams. I’ve gone into this in depth elsewhere, but this is the best thing that has ever happened to these guys.

Ryback beat Luke Harper in yet another short match because we need time for Kane segments.

Naomi explains that she’s tired of getting passed up for people like AJ. Thankfully it wasn’t another IT’S ALL ABOUT ME character but my goodness this division is dying for faces. It’s interesting that they keep mentioning AJ’s name.

Dolph Ziggler beat Neville in another entertaining match. This is the Mighty Mouse gimmick that everyone who didn’t think the thing through was terrified of.

Rollins and Orton announced that it’s going to be a cage match with the RKO banned. Ok then. Seriously that was my reaction. A brawl ended the show.

This show pretty much just came and went. There’s not much going on at the moment that makes me want to see the next show, but there’s a difference between being horrible and just being dull. They really need to get past the Wrestlemania rematches, but we’re likely getting ready for yet another round of these matches in May. Hopefully that means a strong start to the summer, but this was really nothing worth seeing. Neville is still a high spot though and could mean something big later on. Not much to see this week, except for the dozens and dozens of Kane and Big Show fans out there.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

Smackdown
Date: April 16, 2015
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

It’s time for the last TV show of the European tour. You can see most of the Extreme Rules card from here as a lot of the stipulations have been announced. The main event will see Randy Orton challenging Seth Rollins inside a cage with the RKO banned. A few things still need to be filled in on the card though as we’ve got less than two weeks to go. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here’s John Cena to open things up. Why is he always surprised that a British crowd is booing a loud American talking about how great his country is and bragging about being the champion of his country? After a quick look at Rusev’s attack on Monday, Cena goes over the rules of the Russian chain match, which is the four corners version. There’s a chance that he won’t even be in it though because he’s issuing another open challenge RIGHT NOW.

He gets Cesaro/Kidd/Natalya, but they’re not here to accept the challenge. Instead, they’re here to drop FACTS. Cena has been out here pandering to the crowd (fact!) and saying London deserves a Wrestlemania (fact!) but that’s a blatant lie. They think the “please retire” chants should have been directed at Cena, which the fans here don’t seem to agree with. Cena tells either guy to bring it on but cue Daniel Bryan to even things up.

Bryan has heard Cesaro and Kidd calling themselves the greatest champions in WWE today but he’d like to ask the fans what they think. When he gets to himself he changes it to being the most handsome man in WWE. That gets a mixed reaction, so Bryan just asks for the tag match to get the fans back on his side. Kidd quickly accepts so we can have the Tag Team Champions lose twice in four days. As a consolation prize, they’ve got something with that FACT line.

Neville vs. Sheamus tonight. That would be the third World Champion he’s fought out of the four opponents he’s faced.

Bray Wyatt vs. R-Truth

Lawler calls this a rare in ring appearance for Wyatt. That’s true as it’s been a whole week since we last saw him wrestle on Smackdown. Truth hammers away and actually puts Bray down. We get the pelvic thrust but Bray spiders up and nails an uppercut. The chokeslam is countered so Wyatt just runs him over and hits Sister Abigail for the pin at 1:38. That’s the fifth time Bray has squashed Truth on TV in just over a year.

We look back at the Divas battle royal on Monday and Naomi jumping Paige post match, sending her off to film a movie.

This week’s WWE.com interview is with Roman Reigns, who says he’s going to get back up every time Big Show puts him down. He’s speaking in just above a whisper.

Here’s Miz with something to say. Mizdow got lucky on Monday because he made Mizdow what he is, just like he made Summer Rae and the Marine 4 into a soon to be success. Cue Bad News Barrett who says we’re in London tonight. The fans aren’t here to see a pretend movie star, because they want to see the future six time Intercontinental Champion.

Miz vs. Bad News Barrett

Miz spends 27 seconds taking off his sunglasses and turns into the Bull Hammer for the pin at 34 seconds. I think the fans have forgotten Monday’s loss to Cena.

We recap Orton and Rollins on Raw with both guys winning matches to earn a stipulation for the title match at Extreme Rules.

Damien Mizdow and Summer Rae are with Renee Young and celebrate the win on Monday when Miz comes in. He isn’t cool with Mizdow using his gimmick, but Summer says Mizdow does Miz better than Miz. Mizdow takes off his sunglasses and starts imitating Miz again before challenging Miz to one more match on Monday for the whole Miz character. Summer talks Miz into taking the match, pretty much guaranteeing that she turns on Mizdow. She slaps him for good measure.

Sheamus vs. Neville

Neville is now billed as sensational. Before the match, Sheamus says Neville is a tiny little man, just like Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. He brags about being from the real Ireland and his people don’t like the English. Neville puts the mouthpiece in and is shoved into the corner for some forearms to the back. Some front flips give Neville some room to hit a running hurricanrana to send Sheamus outside for a twisting flip dive.

Back in and Sheamus rolls away before Neville can try the Red Arrow. Instead Neville dives at Sheamus but gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl slam on the floor. Back with Neville fighting out of a chinlock but Sheamus picks him up for a suplex and just throws him down in a big crash. The Irish Curse plants Neville and we hit another chinlock. This one doesn’t last as long though and Neville avoids a charge, sending Sheamus’ shoulder into the post. A running kick to the face and the standing moonsault get two for Neville and Sheamus is staggered.

Neville breaks up the ten forearms and ducks a Brogue Kick before hitting a missile dropkick. A kick to the head in the corner sets up the Red Arrow but it’s a middle rope Phoenix Splash for two more instead. Now he goes up for the Red Arrow but gets crotched down, but Neville counters White Noise into a sunset flip for two. Back up and Sheamus clotheslines him out to the floor and drops him onto the announcers’ table for the DQ at 10:53.

Rating: B. I liked this far more than I was expecting to as Neville continues to be one of the best pushed rookies in a long time. A few months back, the rumors came in that he was going to be Mighty Mouse and I think people too that too literally. They saw it as something like the Hurricane when it was really going to be more like what Superstar Bill Dundee saw himself as: a guy who was about 5’7 but saw himself as 6’4.

Neville is a small guy who has been thrown out there with three World Champions and a former Intercontinental Champion but hasn’t backed down an inch. If they keep this up and have him start winning some of these matches, such as this one here, fans are going to stop seeing him as an underdog and start seeing him as an equal. In other words, they’re going past the period of wasting him in squash matches and throw him right into the big time. You don’t see that too often these days but it might work wonders for him.

The key here though was Sheamus didn’t squash Neville and then lose on a fluke. Neville was going move for move with Sheamus here and had some near falls. It wasn’t like Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick and threw an unconscious Neville over the table for the DQ. Neville came off like he could hang with Sheamus, which is quite the accomplishment for someone headlining NXT house shows a month ago. I’m excited about this guy and he could be something special if this keeps up.

Sheamus throws him back inside and drives knees into his head until Dolph Ziggler comes out for the save. Sheamus bails but Ziggler grabs the mic and says no one from the Germans to the Bronies to the Irish like Sheamus. Ziggler is going to stand up to Sheamus but Sheamus tells him what he can kiss. He means it literally though, because they’re having a Kiss Me Arse match at Extreme Rules. To recap: Neville vs. Sheamus and Ziggler were entertaining matches but the match between the two stars has a comedy stipulation. I think I prefer it that way actually.

Los Matadores vs. New Day

Big E.’s entrance: “OH O2! It may not be the USA but I guess it’ll do!” Diego chops Big E. to start but gets stomped down in the corner. You can tell New Day is officially heel now as they’re in the bottom right hand corner of the ring and that’s where heels always stand. Off to Kofi who walks into a jawbreaker and springboards into a shot to the ribs. Fernando gets two off a rollup and everything breaks down. Trouble in Paradise drops Diego as Torito armdrags Woods. The Midnight Hour ends Fernando at 2:33.

We recap Fandango dumping Rosa.

In the back, Fandango reiterates that Rosa is dumped. He leaves and the Rosebuds run by in a scene that only makes sense in wrestling or on Monty Python. Rose says Rosa can be #1 again in a certain somebody’s life. Think about it.

Here’s Big Show with something to say. This past Monday proved that English people suck because they don’t appreciate the fact that he’s the best giant of all time. No one in the world, including Roman Reigns, can stop him. Show doesn’t answer to anyone but the Authority because he doesn’t see Reigns as anything but a victim of an automobile crash.

This Monday, it was the car getting hit by Reigns and we see a clip of Show throwing him at the car. Then he kneed Roman in the head, complete with clip. The chokeslam on top of the car gets the same treatment to really stretch this out. Show sits on top of the car and shows us a clip of Reigns walking off under his own power. That’s not cool with Big Show, so it’s a last man standing match at Extreme Rules. Man, if there’s one thing that the least interesting feud in the world needed, it was a six minute segment from one of the most boring talkers in years. That’s got my money for sure.

Cameron vs. Alicia Fox vs. Natalya

I sit through a Big Show promo and my reward is a Cameron match??? Cameron gets double teamed to start and knocked to the floor. Fox bails to the ropes to avoid the Sharpshooter but Cameron comes back in with a rollup for two on Natalya. It’s Fox taking over by running over both girls with clotheslines, only to get taken down for Natalya’s stepover into the basement dropkick for two. A superkick drops Cameron for two but she gets in a forearm to Fox’s jaw.

Cameron makes the mistake of going up though and gets caught in the top of a Tower of Doom to put everyone down. Fox is thrown outside, leaving Cameron to trade rollups with Natalya for two each. Believe it or not, Cameron doesn’t horribly botch anything! She’s improving! Natalya puts Cameron in the Sharpshooter, then does the same to Fox, only to break it up to throw Cameron outside. Fox kicks her in the face and nails the ax kick but Cameron throws Fox to the floor and pins Natalya at 4:45.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t bad but they’re really pushing Cameron as something now? Their idea to make us care about the Divas is to have Cameron and the Bellas getting pushed? Oh and Paige is going on vacation and Naomi is now a heel. Natalya is heel as well so who in the world is left as a face? Alicia? Emma? Summer? I’m blanking on anyone else.

Post match Alicia throws a fit so I guess we really are down to just Emma and Summer (I’m guessing until Monday) as face Divas. Really, who else is there?

Fandango vs. Adam Rose

Fandango scores with an early dropkick and clotheslines Rose to the floor for a slingshot dive. Rosa comes out to yell at Fandango, allowing Rose to baseball slide him down. Back in and Adam looks at Rosa, setting up the rollup to give Fandango the pin at 1:24.

Bray Wyatt asks what happens when you lose it all. Eventually you’re going to be all alone with nothing but regret. You should be more careful because the reaper walks in the daylight.

John Cena/Daniel Bryan vs. Tyson Kidd/Cesaro

Cena and his black eye start against Kidd with John shoving him down. It’s off to Cesaro for a test of strength but Kidd gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take over. He comes back in legally for a front facelock, followed by a spinning kick to the face for two. Cesaro knocks Bryan off the apron to break up a hot tag attempt and gets two off a suplex.

Cena sends Cesaro into the corner and Kidd out to the floor but Tyson pulls Bryan off the apron. The STF on Cesaro is quickly broken up behind the referee’s back and Kidd hits a low dropkick to Cena for two. Cena hits a quick backdrop (totally different than the AA of course) and the hot tag finally brings in Bryan.

A series of right hands sets up the moonsault out of the corner but he hits a running boot through the ropes instead of the Flying Goat to Cesaro. There are the YES Kicks in the corner followed by a top rope hurricanrana for two. Both Tag Team Champs get YES Kicks but Bryan has to yell at Natalya. Kidd accidentally knocks her off the apron and into Cesaro, allowing Bryan to YES Lock Kidd for the win at 7:49.

Rating: C. Oh yeah they’re protecting Bryan. Other than being pulled off the apron and a rollup by Kidd, Bryan was never hit with any offensive moves. About 90% of his offense was strikes and the only high spots were that hurricanrana and the moonsault. The match was fine, but they really had to make the champs lose clean for the second time in a week? You can’t do a countout or something?

Bryan and Cena celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Neville vs. Sheamus was good but this was a very skippable show otherwise. It’s so sad to see Bryan’s neck flaring up so soon and it’s clear he can’t do much at the moment. I thought the worries about the neck were keeping him out of the main event and if that’s the case, WWE seems to have been justified in not going with him so soon.

The rest of the show was nothing much to see, but I’m really interested to see how they get out of this mess with the Divas. Either someone is being called up or Paige is going to be very busy in the near future, as I really don’t think anyone but maybe Emma is still a face on the main roster and most of the heels were recently turned. Nothing show here but Extreme Rules is coming up soon, meaning we can hopefully get away from the Wrestlemania rematches.

Results

Bray Wyatt b. R-Truth – Sister Abigail

Bad News Barrett b. Miz – Bull Hammer

Neville b. Sheamus via DQ when Sheamus threw him ono the announcers’ table

New Day b. Los Matadores – Midnight Hour to Fernando

Cameron b. Alicia Fox and Natalya – Cameron pinned Natalya after an ax kick from Fox

Fandango b. Adam Rose – Rollup

John Cena/Daniel Bryan b. Tyson Kidd/Cesaro – YES Lock to Kidd