Another one with more options than I was expecting.It’s rare for me to be surprised in wrestling but this year it happened several times.

First up, a note about TNA.  This is usually a category where they can pull off some good entries but there’s nothing this year.  It’s seemed like you can predict just about everything that happens every time they have a big show.  That’s a really bad sign and something they need to work at.

Anyway, on to the nominees. There are twoof these that happened in the span of about five minutes.

First up, Daniel Bryan pinning John Cena clean.  The question here wasn’t would Bryan win, but rather how he would do it.  People had been expecting to see something like a rollup or a cradle, but to debut a brand new move and cave John Cena’s chest in with a running knee was a big surprise.  I had the words “for two” written but had to backspace furiously.

Orton cashes in.  Yeah people thought it might happen, but the way they executed it was nearly perfect.  That delay before Orton’s music hit was the perfect way to sucker the fans into believing nothing was happening.  I snapped up when the music hit, which is the sign of a good surprise.

This brings us to the winner, which ironically is kind of obvious.

Mark Henry fakes retirement.  it led to a one off match, it doesn’t hold up incredibly well when you look at the details, but it was AWESOME live.  I completely bought that Henry was retiring and that this was the end for him.  The speech was great, the reaction was great, and the turn was great.  I loved this and it was another example of why Mark Henry is underrated.

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I believe this has the most options.I’ll go through some nominees as usual.

Bully Ray.  Ray won the title in a moment that didn’t surprise many people, but his title reign went well for the most part.  The biggest thing lacking was major title defenses, though it’s not fair to blame that on Ray.  On top of that, it was pretty clear that he was losing the belt at BFG no matter what.

Dean Ambrose.  This started off promisingly but turned into the same midcard title reign you see every time.

Shield.  Now we get into some of the interesting stuff.  This is a good example of a title reign that started and ended well, with Shield looking dominant up until their reign, looking dominant in their reign, and losing the titles in an awesome match.  This is probably second on my list.

Rhodes Brothers. The problem here is similar to Ambrose: too many losses.  Despite an amazing title win and some great defenses, the Brothers keep losing matches that they shouldn’t be losing, presumably leading to a split and Goldust vs. Cody match at Wrestlemania because someone said that was a good idea years ago and that’s what we’re getting, great tag team or not.

I’m going to leave out Del Rio and Orton’s reigns as neither of them did anything for me at all.  Del Rio is just dull and Orton spent his time being handed the title back over and over.  Cena’s title reigns were really nothing all that special either.

Actually I’m going with AJ Lee.  This is a rare occurrence of someone cleaning out of a division and having no one left to challenge her.  She even has her moment with the Total Divas promo and has made me cheer for her every time she’s made one of those nitwits (or Natalya) tap out.  She’s closing in on the record for longest Divas Title reign and has looked dominant (and cute) while doing so.  It’s AJ by a few touchdowns.

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Smackdown
Date: December 27, 2013
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

It’s the final blue show of the year and I don’t remember anything being announced on Raw. The main story from Monday was Big E. Langston/Cena/Punk running off the Shield after being them for the DQ, meaning it’s payback time tonight. We’re getting closer to the Rumble and have less than 100 days until Wrestlemania so the times are getting exciting. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Cena to get things going. After looking at a clip of the end of Raw, Cena says the last Smackdown of the year is even more important than that. Tonight the WWE Universe is going to ring in the new year so we need NOISE. They have to have fun tonight because after the new year everyone has to worry about new year’s resolutions.

Cena would like to give a bear hug to a real bear or star in a 1-800-Fella commercial or land the lead role in a musical production of No Holds Barred (dead silence on that line) or make a hip hop album with Great Khali (lukewarm) or reboot an animated Manimal series with Michael Cole in the lead role or, and only if he has time, get started early on his XFL fantasy team (nice chuckle).

There’s one other thing he wants to do: gain forty pounds. Luckily for him he doesn’t have to wait for the new year because the WWE World Heavyweight Championship weighs about forty pounds and he has a rematch clause. If Orton is listening he can get out here right now but instead here’s Shield. They surround the ring and easily take Cena down but here’s Mark Henry for the save. When that doesn’t work, Big E. Langston comes out for the real save to clear the ring. Kane comes out on stage and makes three singles matches for tonight: Langston vs. Ambrose (non-title), Reigns vs. Henry and Rollins vs. Cena.

Usos vs. Wyatt Family

Before the match we get a clip of the Family throwing Bryan off a ledge last week. The Usos send the monsters to the floor and Jey takes Rowan down with a dive. Jimmy gets two off a rollup to Harper and a Whisper in the Wind gets the same. Rowan makes a blind tag and takes Jimmy’s head off with a clothesline. A splash is enough to pin Jimmy in just 1:10.

Post match Bray gives Jey Sister Abigail.

Renee Young asks Randy Orton if he has any new year’s resolutions. Orton says he’s beaten everyone else in the company so maybe he’ll win the Royal Rumble so he can spend Wrestlemania in a skybox writing his Hall of Fame introduction speech. Ziggler comes up and says he’ll shut Orton up tonight. Orton promises an RKO until Kane comes in to make the match for later. Ziggler leaves and Kane says backstage must be a safe zone, but out there anything goes.

Cody Rhodes vs. Antonio Cesaro

Colter’s sign this week: “Press 1 for English, press 2 for INS.” Cesaro is now residing in the US. This is fallout from Main Event when Cody went after Cesaro for interfering in a Swagger vs. Goldust match. Cody grabs a headlock to start as the announcers talk about Kane being the eyes and ears of the Authority tonight. Cody takes Cesaro to the mat and then out to the floor where Goldust gives Antonio a deep breath.

Back in and Cesaro punches Cody in the jaw and kicks him out to the floor. After a Goldust staredown leads nowhere, Cesaro takes Rhodes back inside for a pummeling in the corner. Cody quickly breaks out of a chinlock and comes back with a front suplex for two but a Swagger distraction lets Cesaro get in a cheap shot and a rollup for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: D+. Another match that changes nothing as we wait for the title match that may never come. I’m not a fan of champions losing but at least this was a singles match instead of yet another tag loss. On the good side though, Cesaro getting a pin in a singles match is a nice thing to see and hopefully the first of many.

Prime Time Players vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel

I refuse to refer to them as “Rybaxel.” Ryback pounds on Young to start but Darren scores with a right hand to the jaw and a dropkick to the knee. Off to Titus for the front suplex to Darren onto Ryback for no cover. A hard shoulder puts Ryback down but Axel gets in a knee to O’Neil’s back to take him down. Curtis chokes him in the corner (“BARK LIKE A DOG!”) before it’s quickly back to Ryback for a front facelock.

The heels take turns on O’Neil in the corner with Axel slapping him in the back of the head, only to run into a big boot. Darren gets the tag and scores with an overhead belly to belly on Axel before getting two off a northern lights suplex. Everything breaks down and Ryback is clotheslined to the floor, allowing Young to pin Axel at 4:51.

Rating: D+. The underlying problems with the tag division continues: it doesn’t matter if you build up teams if the teams are boring and keep trading meaningless wins with no advancement in sight. This match doesn’t change anything for either team and doesn’t move the Players up towards a title program, at least not anytime soon.

We get a clip from the 50 Years of WWE DVD focusing on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler

Another non-title match. Ziggler now has a streak of pink hair which leaves JBL stunned. Dolph gets taken into the corner but comes back with a shot to the jaw to send the champion out to the floor. Back in and Orton headlocks him down and takes Ziggler’s head off with a clothesline. Dolph comes back with right hands in the corner and the big jumping elbow for two. I guess the ten elbow drops spot is long gone.

Orton pulls Ziggler face first into the middle buckle to take over again and walks around very slowly. He walks around too long though and Ziggler gets in a dropkick, sending Orton to the floor and us to a break. Back with Orton stomping away on a fallen Ziggler. Randy puts on a reverse chinlock for a bit but Ziggler gets out with a jawbreaker. Dolph pounds away in the corner and scores with a neckbreaker before getting two off a neckbreaker.

The Fameasser misses but Ziggler avoids the powerslam and gets two off a jumping DDT. Dolph gets crotched on the top but breaks up a superplex attempt. A bad looking missile dropkick gets two and Orton is sent shoulder first into the post (same thing Orton did to him during a break). A bulldog gets two for Ziggy but Orton pokes him in the eye and RKOs Ziggler for the pin at 13:20.

Rating: B-. I like the ending with Orton taking the easy way out again, just like Cena accused him of doing leading up to TLC. The match was the usual good stuff from these guys as they’ve shown that they have chemistry. Ziggler getting to show off a little bit is much better than seeing him in nothing matches against Fandango.

Post match Orton takes Ziggler outside and gives him the Elevated DDT off the barricade.

Shield says they’ll win all their matches tonight. Cena vs. Rollins sounds promising.

Daniel Bryan vs. Damien Sandow

JBL wants to know why there was a good Santa and a bad Santa on Monday. Cole: “That’s the way the story was written?” JBL: “WHAT KIND OF AN ANSWER IS THAT???” Bryan fires off some kicks in the corner to start followed by some knees to the ribs to put Sandow down. Damien comes back with some forearms to the back and sends Daniel out to the floor. The Russian legsweep sets up the Wind-Up Elbow for two and we hit the crossface chickenwing. Back up and Bryan hits the running clothesline and dropkick in the corner to set up the top rope hurricanrana. The YES Kicks set up the running knee for the pin at 4:01.

Rating: D+. Just a quick win here for Bryan in the kind of matches I wouldn’t mind seeing more of. Well, more of as long as the opponents change every now and then and we don’t have to sit through the same pairing every week. Sandow doesn’t lose anything here as he’s not ready to beat someone on Bryan’s level so there’s nothing bad in this whole thing.

Post match Bray appears on stage and says he realizes that Bryan is the one the people want. That means Bray has to destroy him.

Dean Ambrose vs. Big E. Langston

Neither title is on the line. In addition to the other Shield members, Cena and Henry are both at ringside as well. Langston shoves Ambrose into the corner to start and drives shoulders into the ribs but gets clotheslined down. Dean pounds away with rights and lefts on the mat before hitting the running dropkick against the ropes.

We hit the chinlock for a bit before Ambrose goes up top, only to be slammed down like a ham sandwich being thrown off a cliff. A belly to belly puts Ambrose down again but he sends Langston to the floor for a standoff. No brawling ensues and Ambrose throws Langston back inside, only to have the big man run Dean over, setting up the Big Ending for the pin at 2:46. That was close. I thought they wouldn’t have Ambrose job clean again before the year was out.

Reigns comes in for the showdown with Langston but Henry moves Big E. out of the way.

Mark Henry vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns wants a test of strength to start but headbutts Henry instead. A hard clothesline sends Reigns to the floor and a headbutt from Henry puts him down. Back in and a big boot to the jaw puts Reigns down as the slow pace continues. Roman snaps Henry’s throat across the top rope and gets two off the Superman Punch. We hit a chinlock on Henry for a bit but he comes back with the JYD headbutts. Reigns will have nothing to do with that jive turkey nonsense and lifts Henry up for a Samoan drop. Another Superman Punch and the spear are good for the pin on Mark at 4:01.

Rating: D. Reigns looked good but he had to work through a lot of Mark Henry suck. It’s a good sign that he’s pinning former world champions clean in four minutes though. There’s a BIG future for Reigns and the fact that these wins are becoming more and more natural are telling signs for him.

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

There’s a lot of time left for this. Cena quickly takes him down and works on a hammerlock. Back up and Cena sends Seth to the floor with a hiptoss for a meeting with Shield. Back in and Rollins gets in some shots to knock Cena into the corner. Rollins blocks a bulldog and drops a knee for two before putting on a cobra clutch of all things. Cena tries to fight out and gets caught in a one arm camel clutch, only to fight up and drive Rollins into the corner to escape.

Rollins gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charging John and gets two off a neckbreaker as we take a break. Back with Rollins firing off right hands to the jaw. Cena is sent into the corner but he reverses a whip into the corner to put both guys down again. John tries a comeback but gets caught in a quick Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. Rollins does You Can’t See Me but Cena counters a neckbreaker into the ProtoBomb and hits the Shuffle. Rollins flips out of the AA and hits a Buff Blockbuster (that’s a finisher that needs to be pulled out of mothballs) for two.

Cena gets taken down by a Stinger Splash but avoids the second attempt. He grabs a half nelson and lifts Rollins up before spinning into what was supposed to be a neckbreaker. Cena landed a foot or so away from Rollins but luckily the move could have passed for a half nelson slam. Rollins kicks out at two so Cena goes up, only to get knocked down to the mat.

The standing Sliced Bread #2 gets another near fall for Seth but Cena comes back with a Batista Bomb (not gimmick infringement just yet) for two. Cena tries to pull Rollins away from the ropes but Seth lands on his feet again and hits a jumping enziguri for a VERY close two. Rollins gets the same off a top rope knee to the face and the frustration sets in. The Black Out (running curb stomp) is countered in the STF but Rollins is into the ropes before too much damage can be done.

Ambrose tries to come in but gets picked off by Langston before he can make any contact. Dean is thrown over the announce table but Reigns hits a running clothesline to drop Langston. Henry throws Reigns onto Ambrose as Cena rolls through Rollins’ cross body into the AA for the pin at 17:40.

Rating: B+. I was digging the heck out of this match and I was so glad that the ending wasn’t a DQ. Rollins looked outstanding in there as he continues to prove his worth once the Shield breaks up. I could see him being the next Kofi Kingston, having awesome matches with anyone they put him out there with but never getting the big break. That’s not a bad career to have at all.

Overall Rating: B-. This took some time to get going and the main event was by far the best part of the show. The first half of the show is only ok but the Orton vs. Ziggler match along with Rollins vs. Cena more than make up for it. This was using the old formula of wrestling on Smackdown and that’s what was needed after a more entertainment based Raw. It’s a nice way to close out the year and hopefully a good way to get us into 2014.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Usos – Splash to Jimmy

Antonio Cesaro b. Cody Rhodes – Rollup

Prime Time Players b. Ryback/Curtis Axel – Rollup to Axel

Randy Orton b. Dolph Ziggler – RKO

Daniel Bryan b. Damien Sandow – Running knee

Big E. Langston b. Dean Ambrose – Big Ending

Roman Reigns b. Mark Henry – Spear

John Cena b. Seth Rollins – AA

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This was going to be my second column for the newsletter but that’s been put on hold for now.  I might try to do more of these if they go over well.

TLC has come and gone and of course the biggest story is title unification. Instead of the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, we now have the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Barring a major surprise, the title will be represented by the WWE Championship going forward as there’s almost no way a belt will debut and be retired in less than one year.

The World Heavyweight Championship will be leaving us soon and that makes me a sad KB. Therefore, I present to you my Ode to the Big Gold Belt.

First off, the title itself is just good looking. It’s really as simple as that. Look at the World Heavyweight Championship and tell me it doesn’t look awesome. The design was introduced for Ric Flair back in 1986 because promoter Jim Crockett thought a wrestler larger than life like Flair needed a larger than life title. The belt makes anyone look like a champion and is so classy and elegant that it makes anything else pale in comparison.

Another thing the title did was give some people a chance. Over the last eleven years the World Heavyweight Championship has allowed some wrestlers to become a world champion when they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Names like Booker T, Jack Swagger, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry and Christian weren’t going to win the top title in the company but the World Heavyweight Championship allowed them to be called a world champion for the rest of their lives.

Next up are four simple worlds: Money in the Bank. While the concept has been run into the ground over the years, there are a few moments where the World Heavyweight Championship cash-in blew the roof off the arena. The biggest moment of all these: Dolph Ziggler the night after Wrestlemania 29. Think back to that moment and remember how insane the arena went when his music hit. The place came unglued and Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time (yes it was his second reign but the first time the belt was awarded, not won).

On top of the moments the title has given us, it has also given us some incredible matches. Over the years there have been classics for the World Heavyweight Championship such as Randy Orton vs. Christian, Undertaker vs. Edge, Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan. At the top of the list though is the main event of Wrestlemania 20, with Chris Benoit defeating Shawn Michaels and HHH in an absolute masterpiece for the title. Benoit winning the title by making HHH tap out in the middle of the ring in Madison Square Garden is as perfect of a way to win the title as you can possibly find.

Last but not least, the title served as a nice historical reference. While the history of the title isn’t what the WWE would have you believe (that’s a long story for another time but in short, the title being called the same as the NWA Title is nonsense. At best the title can be traced back to 1991 and that’s stretching further than humanly possible), the design of the title is something that brings back memories of an era long since passed. With wrestling changing as much as it has in the last few years, it’s nice to be able to remember a simpler time.

Overall the World Heavyweight Championship represents an era of WWE. Over the last decade plus it has given us everything from nostalgia to great matches to pops that blew the roof off. I’m sad to see it go as it meant a lot over the years, even when it was little more than a midcard title. Here’s to you Big Gold Belt. May you shine on forever.

See if you can find the two glaring issues.#25 The Miz vs. Wade Barrett – Intercontinental Championship Match (Raw; April 8)
#24 Kofi Kingston vs. Antonio Cesaro – U.S. Championship Match (WWE Main Event; May 1)
#23 The Shield vs. The Usos – WWE Tag Team Championship Match (WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Kickoff)
#22 John Cena vs. Damien Sandow – World Heavyweight Championship Match (Raw; Oct. 28)
#21 CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose (Raw; Dec. 9)
#20 Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk (Raw; Feb. 4)
#19 Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho (Raw; July 15)
#18 Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton – Street Fight (Raw; June 24)
#17 John Cena vs. Randy Orton – Champion of Champions Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match (WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs)
#16 Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar – No Holds Barred Match (WrestleMania 29)
#15 Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian – World Heavyweight Championship Match (SummerSlam 2013)
#14 The Undertaker vs. Dean Ambrose (SmackDown; April 26)
#13 Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee – Divas Championship Match (WWE Payback)
#12 Goldust vs. Randy Orton (Raw; Sept. 9)
#11 Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Contract (WWE Money in the Bank)
#10 Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Usos vs. The Shield – Six Man WWE Tag Team Championship Match (WWE Hell in a Cell)
#9 Team Hell No & Randy Orton vs. The Shield (SmackDown; June 14)
#8 Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio – World Heavyweight Championship Match (WWE Payback)
#7 The Undertaker & Team Hell No vs. The Shield (Raw; April 22)
#6 John Cena vs. CM Punk – No. 1 Contender’s Match (Raw; Feb. 25)
#5 Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro (Raw; July 22)
#4 Cody Rhodes & Goldust (w/Dusty Rhodes) vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (w/Dean Ambrose) (WWE Battleground)
#3 The Undertaker vs. CM Punk (WrestleMania 29)
#2 John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan – WWE Championship Match (SummerSlam 2013)
#1 CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar – No Disqualification Match (SummerSlam 2013)

Smackdown
Date: December 20, 2013
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re getting closer to the end of the year and the main story coming out of Monday is the potential for a three way feud between Cena, Orton and Bryan. Daniel had the champion beaten but Orton cheated to get out of the match, drawing in Cena for the save. It should be interesting to hear Bryan’s thoughts on Cena running in to help him. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap from Monday with Cena cutting Orton off and the Authority giving Orton a match with Daniel Bryan, because the last few months of the Authority trying to crush Bryan are completely forgotten. The match recap doesn’t do it justice.

Here’s Orton to brag about becoming undisputed champion some more. He only has the WWE Championship this week. Orton says the Authority rewarded him with a match against Daniel Bryan. Randy beat him then beat John Cena when he tries to interfere because he just doesn’t care. This brings out Cena as they’re moving fast tonight. Orton says Cena needs to respect him but Cena says he’s here to keep Orton from looking like a fool. If Orton doesn’t want to be a champion he should get out.

Orton is the center of the WWE and everyone is going to be hunting him. It’s up to Orton to determine how he wants to be remembered and on Monday he was a giant coward. Orton says he did what he had to do to win, but Cena points out the truth: Bryan won by DQ. Cena spent weeks telling us that Orton always runs away and takes the easy way out, hoping that Orton would come to fight at TLC. That’s exactly what happened, but the next night Orton was taking the easy way out again.

Randy says Bryan isn’t getting another rematch but here’s Daniel with something to say. He understands Orton is too afraid to give him a rematch because when Bryan beats him, the myth that Randy Orton is the best comes tumbling down. On top of that, Bryan knows that when Cena beats Orton for the title, he’ll get the shot he deserves. Orton says that’s never going to happen because the Authority won’t allow it. The fans don’t like that idea but here’s Shield to interrupt some more. Orton bails to the floor but here’s Punk to even the sides before Shield gets to the ring. Vickie comes out and makes one heck of a six man for later.

Jack Swagger vs. Big E. Langston

Colter has a sign saying Deport Santa Claus because he’s that awesome. This is non-title of course and was set up by the tag match from Raw. Zeb sits in on commentary and talks about confusing Santa Claus with Santa Anna since they were both singing Feliz Navidad. Langston runs Jack over to start but Swagger takes him into the corner to take over. A clothesline gets two and Langston gets caught in a front facelock. Big E. fights out of the hold and throws Swagger down, setting up the Warrior Splash for two. Henry runs Cesaro over for no apparent reason and the distraction lets Big E. hit the Big Ending for the pin at 2:54.

Tamina Snuka vs. Brie Bella

AJ sits in on commentary and we get a clip of that great superkick to Nikki from Raw. Brie hits a quick cross body for two and sends Tamina out to the floor before slapping Snuka in the face. Tamina slams Brie down and kicks her in the ribs a few times. A knee drop gets the same as AJ wants to know why she has to keep defending against the same girls over and over. Cole asks if Tamina could get a shot but AJ says Tamina knows where her bread is buttered. “And she should know because I make a mean breakfast.”

Brie comes back with a running knee to the face and a middle rope dropkick. Cole talks about Brie getting engaged on the season finale of Total Divas, giving AJ this great jab: “She’s engaged? That should make her #1 contender!” As a follow up Cole asks if AJ has been asked to be part of season two. “No. I was hugged as a child and don’t need the attention.” Tamina comes back with a superkick but the Superfly Splash hits knees, giving Brie the rollup pin at 3:04.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing special outside of that superkick but AJ’s commentary made this far more entertaining. The line about making Tamina breakfast got a laugh out of me and everything she said about the reality show is true. Why should she keep defending the title against the same girls she’s beaten time after time? Some of the comments she made could be planting seeds for Tamina to turn on her as well which makes things more interesting.

Brie shoves AJ down post match.

Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is quickly sent over the top rope, followed by a nice flip dive by the masked man. Back inside and a high cross body gets two on McIntyre but he throws Sin down. A knee drop has Cara in trouble but he jumps over Drew in the corner and armdrags him down. I can’t imagine how badly the original Sin Cara would have botched that. A handspring elbow gets two on McIntyre before a kick to the head sets up a Swanton Bomb for the pin at 2:05. Just a step above a squash here. JBL gets in his line about how it’s like a new Sin Cara.

Brodus Clay vs. Tensai

Tensai takes him into the corner and drives shoulders into Brodus’ ample gut. A clothesline drops Clay but he avoids the backsplash. Clay hits a pair of splashes in the corner and a running splash gets two. Another splash gets no cover and Brodus does the dinosaur claws dance. Cue the Funkadactyls with Xavier Woods for the distraction and, say it with me, Tensai rolls Brodus up for the pin at 1:45. I have no idea how this is supposed to help either guy but I’m sure it will be explained to me later.

Tensai and Woods beat up Brodus post match, setting up a dance party.

Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Wyatt Family

Non-title again, meaning you can probably pencil in the brothers for a loss. Goldust and Erick get things going but Rowan doesn’t move for the deep breath. Instead Goldust punches the mask off of him, only to get shoulder blocked down. Goldust comes back with some right hands, sending Rowan off to the corner for the tag to Harper. Off to Cody who brings Harper into the champions’ corner before bringing Goldust right back in.

Luke takes over with some uppercuts to the jaw and drags Goldust out to the corner for the tag to Rowan. Erick is at the top of his weak offensive game here with choking, stomping and right hands. Harper comes back in with an uppercut for two with that disturbing look on his face. Goldust fights back but misses a cross body, sending him out to the floor and right in front of Wyatt as we take a break.

Back with Harper Gator rolling Goldust as Cole asks about Sister Abigail. Rowan comes back in for a claw hold and a big toss across the ring. Goldust finally gets an elbow up in the corner to stop a charging Rowan but Harper breaks up the hot tag attempt. A DDT puts Harper down a second later and there’s the tag off to Rhodes.

Cody speeds things up with a springboard missile dropkick followed by the Disaster Kick to Harper. The moonsault press gets two but Rowan makes the save. Goldust sends him to the floor and dives off the apron to take him down, but Wyatt hits a quick big boot to Goldust’s jaw. Harper picks Cody up by the ears (this guy really is evil) and takes his head off with the discus lariat for the pin at 11:04 shown of 14:34.

Rating: C+. The losing streak is here and there’s nothing that can be done about it. These recurring ideas are all the proof you need that a change in the booking is desperately needed. Earlier tonight we had the distraction into the rollup and now we have the losing streak. That’s roughly 40% of all the ideas they have and they used them in less than half an hour.

Post match Bray leans upside down in the corner as he goes after Cody, drawing out Bryan with a chair to take out the Family. He takes Bray down and pounds away but has to fight off Rowan which allows Bray to escape.

Damien Sandow doesn’t like Christmas. It’s nothing but a bunch of adults asking for stuff they don’t need, children asking for things they haven’t earned, and filthy houses with ugly decorations. That’s why he’s going to cancel Christmas this coming Monday, but he’s cut off by….Miz, who I thought was a heel. Miz gives him the “really” treatment and says he knows Santa. They celebrate Santa where he comes from and Sandow couldn’t carry Santa’s sack.

The Miz vs. Damien Sandow

Miz takes him into the corner to start and scores with some clotheslines. Sandow tries to get a boot up in the corner but Miz wraps it around the ropes and kicks at the knee. The Figure Four goes on but Sandow gets to the rope. A rollup with a handful of trunks is enough to pin Miz at 1:28. I have no idea what the point of this match was as the promo could have done the same thing. Mark Henry fighting to save Christmas from the Latin speaking Sandow Claus is going to be glorious though.

Ad for the History of WWE DVD.

Kofi Kingston vs. Fandango

Kofi gets the jobber entrance as JBL calls Fandango a male Shakira. “His hips don’t lie.” Cole: “….oh God.” Fandango grabs a headlock to start but Kofi comes back with a dropkick. A clothesline gets two on Kingston and Fandango pounds some elbows into Kofi’s chest. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Kofi avoids a middle rope knee drop. Kofi comes back with some chops and a dropkick followed by the Boom Drop. Fandango bails to the floor to avoid Trouble in Paradise and trips Kofi to send him to the mat. The guillotine legdrop gets the pin at 3:40.

Rating: D. I guess it’s time to push Fandango again and we’re going with Miz as a face again. Fandango has potential and thankfully his character has evolved past the point of just dancing and saying his name. Kofi continues to be in the same spot on the card as always and he’ll still be over no matter what happens to him.

The Wyatts jump Bryan in the back, presumably taking him out of the six man later. Bray drops to his knees and says “ashes ashes, we all fall down.” The Family throws him off a ledge which appeared to be a few feet high.

Shield vs. CM Punk/John Cena

Still works for me. Punk and Ambrose get things going with CM going after the arm. Ambrose is driven into the corner and it’s off to Cena for a shoulder block. The bulldog puts Dean down again and it’s back to Punk who gets two off a middle rope elbow. We take a break and come back with Reigns holding Cena for a kick from Rollins. Back to Ambrose to pepper Cena with with right hands but John belly to back suplexes him to get a breather.

The rest doesn’t last long though as Reigns comes in with headbutts and a lot of shouting. There’s the awesome Superman Punch before it’s off to Rollins for a forearm to Cena’s face. Cena avoids a charge in the corner but rolls towards Shield, allowing Rollins to tag out to Ambrose. Dean hits a dropkick up against the ropes before it’s back to Rollins for some right hands in the corner.

Cena is sat on the top rope but headbutts Rollins down to escape a superplex. Ambrose comes back in but walks into a tornado DDT. There’s the hot tag to Punk who takes Ambrose down with a leg lariat and hits a running knee to Rollins’ chin. Seth rolls to the floor for a suicide dive followed by the running knee in the corner back inside. The Macho Elbow looks to set up the GTS but Ambrose breaks it up. Punk drops of them with the neckbreaker/DDT combo for two on Rollins. Reigns makes the save and Shield triple teams Punk for the DQ at 9:48 shown of 13:18.

Rating: C+. Good match as you would expect from these guys but the ending was lame. Cena sold the heck out of that beating by staying down as long as he did but there might have been more done to him on the floor. This keeps the Punk vs. Shield going which could keep tying him into the Authority.

Cena comes in for the save but Reigns hits the spear to take him down. Punk is about to take the Triple Bomb but Cena makes another save. The superheroes are in trouble but here’s Big E. Langston for the real save. Ambrose and Rollins are sent to the floor and we get the showdown between Langston and Reigns but Punk gets a chair, sending Roman out to the floor. Shield backs off to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Langston interfering to end the show is a really interesting idea as his NXT work has shown how capable he is of being a monster face. Unfortunately that’s about all that held my interest tonight other than AJ’s commentary. There’s just nothing here of interest with a bunch of squashes complete with overdone finishes plus Miz being a face again for no apparent reason. Not an interesting show here but it wasn’t the worst two hours ever.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Again, not something that took long to think of.It’s the Total Divas vs. True Divas match from Survivor Series.  Not only was the work horribly sloppy, but Cole lost track of who was still in.  Yeah the girls look great in their tiny outfits, but that doesn’t mean the match is worth watching.

The runner up is Big Show vs. Randy Orton from the same show, though I didn’t find it nearly as bad as everyone else.  That being said, one thing is clear: Survivor Series SUCKED.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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

I’ll be writing a column called KB’s Corner every other Sunday for a recap on Wrestlezone.com.  I’ll only be linking them here so I don’t steal the traffic from Wrestlezone.  The first one was up on December 8 so there will be a new one up this coming Sunday.

Up first: Christmas Presents For The Wrestling Fan

This is a link to just my page but check out the rest of it too.

Hope you enjoy,

KB

This one took some time.There are a lot of options to go with here so let’s look at some of the possibilities.

Dolph Ziggler cashes in MITB.  The pop for this is absolutely amazing with the New York fans going insane for the smark hero of the day winning a world title.  The problem with this is it doesn’t really mean anything long term as Ziggler was having a musical instrument match with Sandow seven months later.  Still though, awesome moment.

Rhodes Brothers get their jobs back.  This is one of the rare stories that connected with people on an emotional level.  You have Cody who gets fired because he dared to stand up to the boss and had to fight for his job while Goldust needed a job as well.  This was about standing up to the man and the fans bought into it.  The match was awesome as well and the celebration with Dusty was a great moment.

Orton cashes in.  This is one of those ideas where people knew it was coming but it was still awesome.  That slight delay after Bryan wins the title before Orton’s music hit made me wonder what was going to happen.  That’s what makes a moment work to perfection and the shock was great.  HHH turning heel makes it even better and sets up the next four months worth of stories.  It was much more about the surprise than anything else and that’s a good thing.

Undertaker’s tribute to Paul Bearer.  I don’t think this really needs an explanation.

That brings us to the winner.

John Cena selects Daniel Bryan.  This promo was the culmination of Daniel Bryan having the year of his life and being rewarded for it.  Cena comes off looking like the people’s champion, the fans feel like their influence meant something and we got a classic match to close out the best show of the year as a result.  When a moment is awesome as well as sets up months worth of stories and an awesome match, what more can you ask for?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of In Your House at Amazon for just $4 at:

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

Miz’s movie in case you forgot.
It’s not terrible but I’m probably going to forget I watched it in about 3 days. Miz is the co-star of the movie and is about what you would expect. It’s not like That’s What I Am where they hyped up Orton and he literally wasn’t on screen for five minutes.

The movie is supposed to be a comedy but it’s more of an action movie than funny. The story is an ex-bounty hunter is coming back to New Jersey because the one bounty she ever let get away is back in town. She hooks up with her old team, including ex-boyfriend Miz. She doesn’t want her fiance to know she used to be a bounty hunter and spends half the movie hiding it. The fact that it’s set at Christmas means nothing to the plot at all and this could have been set at any time of the year with no effect on the story.

It’s better than some WWE movies but there’s a reason this is a straight to DVD movie that aired once on cable. The action sequences aren’t bad and the lead girl is good looking.  Miz isn’t bad in it all things considered and he looks fine beating up goons.  It ran an hour and 45 minutes with commercials so it’s not even that long. The movie isn’t terrible by any means but it’s nothing that is going to blow you away or be something you’ll want to watch multiple times.   If you like Miz and not serious action movies you might like this but definitely don’t buy the DVD if you’re just curious.  Rent it or see if it’s ever on TV again at best.