Redemption 2018
Date: April 22, 2018
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

It’s the first pay per view in nearly six months (Not counting the nothing One Night Only shows because….well who does really?) and the main event as changed about ten days ago due to Alberto El Patron having high levels of Alberto El Patron. Now it’s Austin Aries defending the World Title against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix in a rematch from Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the go home show if you need a recap.

The opening video is what you would expect: wrestlers wanting to be redeemed, which means winning matches in their feuds.

There’s a new set (an elevated video screen with vertical rectangular metal structures on both sides) and it looks….I guess better. There will be new belts tonight as well.

Drago vs. Aerostar

Not a bad idea to start with what should be the most entertaining match on the card. Drago goes for the arm to start as we hit the token technical stuff. That goes nowhere so it’s an early standoff with Drago going with a superkick, earning himself an enziguri. A corkscrews moonsault sends Drago outside, which of course means a big suicide dive. You knew that was coming.

Back in and Drago nails another superkick to send him outside, meaning it’s time for Drago to hit his own suicide dive. They head inside again for more kicks (more than I would have expected here) but Drago gets sidestepped to the floor. One heck of a corkscrew dive drops Drago on the floor for two, only to have Drago hit a hanging DDT for the same. This time it’s Aerostar getting the better of a strike off as the lack of psychology is starting to show here.

Aerostar sends him outside again for a suicide dive and the fans sing about the match being lucha. That’s good for two back inside and Drago is right back up with a kick to the ribs. Kind of basic so he goes with a dropkick to the side of the head for two of his own. La majistral gets Drago two more but Aerostar is right back up with a rolling cutter. With that not working, Aerostar is right back up with a springboard Codebreaker for the pin at 11:35.

Rating: C+. Good choice for an opener here, even though Aerostar seemed a little banged up at the end. They went with the right idea here to go with the entertaining stuff instead of starting with something a little more flat. These two could have a good match in their sleep and that’s all this needed to be in an opener.

Josh Matthews tells Matt Sydal that he’s taught him everything he can and now Matt is free. They’re cool with this but I’m hoping Josh gets a better fit for a client soon.

Callis makes fun of Josh.

We recap the Tag Team Title match. Eli Drake won the Feast or Fired Tag Team Title briefcase but Chris Adonis walked out on the company. Therefore, Scott Steiner was brought in to be Drake’s partner because NO ONE ELSE was available.

Santana and Ortiz are in the clubhouse with Santana getting a phone call saying someone named King has taken out Konnan.

Tag Team Titles: Eli Drake/Scott Steiner vs. LAX

LAX is defending but there’s no Konnan. Ortiz starts with Drake and takes him into the corner, meaning we get some early double teaming to put the champs in control. Steiner, covered in tattoos, comes in for some knees to the face and suplexes before handing it right back off to Drake. A double back elbow drops Ortiz again and the villains are in control. Ortiz grabs a DDT for a break and it’s off to Santana as things speed up. A cutter into a double dropkick has Drake in trouble as Santana is rolling.

Scott catches him on top though and snaps off the Frankensteiner (to a rather limited reaction) but Ortiz is back up with a superkick for the save. Santana starts speeding things up again and Ortiz breaks up a superplex. Instead he pulls Drake down for the Street Sweeper but Santana dives onto Steiner instead. The Gravy Train pins Ortiz for the titles at 8:01.

Rating: D. Well of course that happened. I’m going to go on a hopeful limb and suggest that this reign is done by the end of the next tapings but odder things have happened. I’m also sure that Steiner doing a hurricanrana is enough to prove that HE STILL HAS IT while others will point out how this spot could go to someone who needs the rub, but why let that get in the way?

Trevor Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. El Hijo De Fantasma vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. DJZ vs. Brian Cage

One fall to a finish and lucha rules. DJZ headlocks Xavier to start but Xavier hits a dropkick for a breather. Hang on though as DJZ has to hit the horn for some noise. Xavier goes after Ishimori with a flip dive so Trevor comes in, only to be tossed as well. Fantasma is in next and hurricanranas Dezmond into the corner. DJZ tags himself in and hits a springboard missile dropkick as the fast tags continues.

Fantasma hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on DJZ but Lee is in with a clothesline to put him down. The fans want Cage, possibly because they know the match is over as soon as he comes in. Lee makes the mistake of forearming Cage in the face and the fans tell him that he f***** up. A belly to back suplex gets two on DJZ but he rolls over and makes the hot tag off to Cage so pain can begin.

Cage starts throwing people around and moonsaults Lee for two. Xavier and DJZ superkick the heck out of him though and Cage is down on the floor with Ishimori moonsaulting onto him for good measure. The DDT from DJZ plants Cage again and DJZ has to save Dezmond from the Thrill of the Hunt.

Ishimori’s spinning kick to the head gets two on DJZ but Cage is back in. Just to show off, it’s a fall away slam to Fantasma and a Samoan drop to Ishimori at the same time. Lee comes back in with a crossbody for two, leaving Fantasma to suicide dive Dezmond. Cage is back in with Weapon X on Ishimori, followed by the Drill Claw to end Dezmond at 12:58.

Rating: C. Total spot fest here with the right ending as Cage needs a win like this. They’re placing him into a good spot and if that means he’s going to be a top name, I can live with that very easily. It’s not like the rest of the division has much left to do so let these guys be cannon fodder. That’s all well and good and the Drill Claw still looks awesome.

Allie is ready to get her hands on Su Yung and prove that she’s not a paper champion. She’s proven herself time and time again and is ready to go it again here. Tonight, she fights for her redemption.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan

Taya runs her over to start but gets sent outside for a walk around the ring as Tessa Blanchard joins commentary. She’s officially a Knockout and the announcers seem very happy. Back in and Taya shoves her way out of the corner and slowly kicks away while shouting trash talk.

Taya chokes a lot as Tessa talks about how she’s the real wrestling royalty around here because she has the real wrestling pedigree. A hard knee to the face knocks Kiera silly for two but she gets in a jawbreaker for a breather. We go split screen so we can look at Tessa talking as Kiera gets two off a double stomp to the back. Taya folds her in half with a Saito suplex for two more and Kiera is rocked again. The Road to Valhalla is good for the pin on Hogan at 8:15.

Rating: C. I liked this a little more than I was expecting to but the focus being on Blanchard made this feel a lot more like an Impact match than anything else. Tessa is a good addition to the roster though, which needs all the help it can get at the moment. Not too bad, even with the stupid split screen involved.

Petey Williams is talking about his odds of winning the X-Division Title when Scott Steiner comes in to talk numbers. See, the best years of his career were when Petey looked like him, because it made his wife want to make love. Scott: “How is your wife anyway?” They’re going to Cracker Barrel after the show.

We recap Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams. Sydal has become enlightened and won the X-Division and (now defunct) Grand Championship. Petey on the other hand pulled down a briefcase and was champion ten years ago, but does have a cool finisher. That’s all there is to this one and that’s not much to go on.

X-Division Title: Petey Williams vs. Matt Sydal

Sydal is defending. Feeling out process to start with an exchange of holds and near falls on the mat as the announcers discuss the history of the shooting star press. Sydal takes him down again though and avoids an early Destroyer attempt, followed by a standing moonsault for two.

Petey is back up and can’t hit the Codebreaker but can hit a Russian legsweep for two. Something like a TKO puts Sydal down but he sends Petey into the corner. It’s WAY too early for the shooting star though and Petey slaps on the required Sharpshooter. Petey gets kneed in the face and a top rope hurricanrana gets two.

Sydal’s shooting star hits knees and the comeback is on. The Canadian Destroyer connects this time but Sydal rolls to the floor. Back in and a super Canadian Destroyer is blocked (because death would ensue) but another shooting star is broken up, only to have Sydal grab a pumphandle rollup to retain at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was about as good as it was going to get because Williams has nothing more than the Canadian Destroyer. Really, other than that slingshot of his, there’s nothing else to offer. I’m not sure how many times I can make myself care about this story again, but a fresh story might be nice. Sydal winning was the right call though so I have few complaints.

Tommy Dreamer quotes Martin Luther King Jr. to talk about how violence is for everyone and we’re in a new era of wrestling.

We recap OVE vs. Moose/Eddie Edwards/Tommy Dreamer. Sami Callihan crushed Eddie’s face with a baseball bat and bragged about it so Edwards went after the trio. Realizing that wasn’t going to work, Eddie got some friends and we’re getting a six man hardcore match to settle things.

Tommy Dreamer/Moose/Eddie Edwards vs. OVE

Anything goes and the good guys are in street clothes. OVE wastes no time with an early cheap shot attempt, only to get taken down with a hard shot. Eddie dives onto Callihan and it’s time for the wild brawl early on. A trashcan lid to Callihan’s head has Sami in even more trouble as Moose beats on Jake. There goes the ECW chant because it’s still not allowed to die. Dave gets caught in the Tree of Woe but Sami superkicks Tommy down for the save.

Eddie gets sent back first into a chair for two as control changes. It’s time to go after Eddie’s face with Callihan ripping away. The announcers rip on Dayton, Ohio for a bit as Moose and Dreamer are laid out on the floor. Back in and Callihan has a pair of chairs laid on the mat for the All Seeing Eye onto the steel. Moose runs in for the save and it’s time for some high rising dropkicks.

Jake gets a trashcan put on top of him for a running delayed dropkick in the corner. This time it’s Dave making a save but Jake pulls out the duct tape. That earns him a toss through a table at ringside so Dave pours out the thumbtacks. That’s fine with Eddie as Moose lifts Dave up for a powerbomb and the Boston Knee Party from the top drives him down into the tacks.

Dave is placed on a table and Moose tries a splash, only to have Jake dive in with some hands to the head (supposed to be a cutter) and everyone is down. Back in and Sami grabs the Get Out Of Here (double underhook shoulderbreaker) for two of his own and it’s baseball bat time. Cue Dreamer with the barbed wire bat for a shot to Sami’s ribs. The DDT plants Sami but a low blow and small package end Dreamer at 13:05.

Rating: B-. This one depends on your taste for hardcore matches but at least the right guy took the fall. Dreamer was the perfect choice to take the fall as there’s no reason for Eddie or Moose to get pinned. You can have Eddie vs. Sami in the big blowoff later anyway, so this was the right call. Somewhat above average hardcore match but nothing that hasn’t been done better.

Post match Eddie uses the barbed wire to bust Sami open and duct tapes him to the ropes. Eddie rubs Sami’s blood all over himself and loads up the bat but Dreamer steps in. That goes nowhere as Eddie wrecks everyone with a kendo stick. Cue Eddie’s wife Alisha and Eddie hits her with the stick by mistake for the big horrible moment. We hit the Owen Hart voices as Alisha is tended to.

Fenix is ready for the World Title.

Austin Aries, still billed as the Grand Champion and carrying all his belts, felt what Pentagon and Fenix were all about in New Orleans. He knows what they are and they’re not the World Champion. Aries is the new standard bearer of professional wrestling but tonight he could lose the title without losing the fall. He can beat anyone one on one and tonight he’ll beat them two on one.

We recap Allie vs. Su Yung. Allie won the Knockouts Title back and became a bit more serious so Braxton Sutter proposed to her again. Allie said no so Sutter brought in Su Yung, an evil demonic bride, to torment her. Tonight the title is on the line.

Knockouts Title: Su Yung vs. Allie

Yung is challenging and Sutter does her introduction. Su drives her up against the ropes to start but Allie gets in a few shots of her own. Sutter grabs the leg though and Allie gets tied in the Tree of Woe for some kicks to the ribs. A neck snap across the top rope puts Allie on the floor, followed by a flip dive to crush her again.

Back in and Allie scores with a Codebreaker for a breather. That’s enough to get her fired up and Allie hits a running forearm to a seated Yung. The Best Superkick Ever connects but Sutter gets on the apron for a distraction, earning himself a right hand. Yung loads up the Panic Switch but Allie reverses into a sunset flip to retain at 7:17.

Rating: C. This was an Impact match and I can’t say I’m surprised. Allie retaining the title is a good call but I’m not sure where she goes from here. She just beat Yung clean and even beat up Sutter in the process. I’m not sure how that necessitates a rematch so it’s off to Rosemary in theory, which is similar to what we just saw. Not bad, but nothing that needed to be on pay per view.

Post match Su is livid so Sutter proposes to her. Su seems to continue it but takes him down with a Mandible Claw.

The announcers recap the show.

Slammiversary is in Toronto on July 22.

We recap the main event, which again focuses on Alberto walking out. With him gone, Aries needed a challenger so we get a rematch from the WrestleCon show, which is really about all they could do.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix

Aries is defending. We hit the trash talk to start (well duh) and it’s Aries starting fast with a bunch of chops all around. Remembering that they’re brothers, Fenix and Pentagon send him outside but Pentagon is right back up with a Sling Blade. Aries is back in and getting kicked in the face soon thereafter, followed by a jumping cutter to Pentagon.

A smart Aries steals the near fall and grabs the Last Chancery, only to have Fenix springboard in with a missile dropkick for the save. Pentagon heads outside and it’s Fenix chopping the heck out of Aries. For a change of pace, Aries chops the head out of Fenix. Aries gets two off a forearm as it sounds like one of the announcers is opening a can. Pentagon comes back in and gets bulldogged for two, followed by the Last Chancery with Fenix making another fast save.

That sends Pentagon outside so Fenix throws Aries at him, earning his brother a hurricanrana. Fenix isn’t about to be shown up though and busts out a corkscrew plancha to the floor to drop them both again. Back in again and Fenix drops a Swanton for two on Pentagon, who pops up to German suplex both guys. He can’t quite break Aries’ arm though as Fenix makes a save. Now why wouldn’t he want the World Champion taken out?

Pentagon beaks up Aries’ running corner dropkick and Backstabs his brother for two. This time it’s Fenix getting back up with a superkick to Aries but Pentagon’s Fear Factor (package piledriver) gets two with Aries making another save. Pentagon is fine enough to block a suicide dive so Aries sends him into the crowd instead.

Back in (again) and the 450 hits both challengers, including Pentagon taking some hard knees. That’s enough for the two of them and it’s time for the brother double teaming, including a double superkick. Pentagon lays Fenix out though and snaps Aries’ arm. The Fear Factor gives Pentagon the pin on Aries and the title at 16:15.

Rating: B. Good match here and that’s all you can ask for in a big time main event. The surprise title change isn’t shocking enough to be too far and you can probably pencil in Pentagon dropping it no later than Slammiversary. That being said, it’s really cool to see Pentagon getting some more exposure like this as he’s been a gem to watch down in Lucha Underground. Strong main event here.

The brothers embrace to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. That’s your run of the mill Impact pay per view: completely watchable with nothing too terrible and a solid main event. The problem is the same as well though: there’s nothing worth going out of your way to see and it’s just not a stand out show. Impact has definitely shifted more towards finding the safe middle ground and I’ll take that over the train wreck that we usually get. I liked the show enough and wasn’t bored so I’ll take what I can get. Not great, but certainly good.

Results

Aerostar b. Drago – Springboard Codebreaker

Eli Drake/Scott Steiner b. LAX – Gravy Train to Ortiz

Brian Cage b. Dezmond Xavier, DJZ, Trevor Lee, Taiji Ishimori and El Hijo Del Fantasma – Drill Claw to Xavier

Taya Valkyrie b. Kiera Hogan – Road to Valhalla

Matt Sydal b. Petey Williams – Rollup

OVE b. Tommy Dreamer/Moose/Eddie Edwards – Small package to Dreamer

Allie b. Su Yung – Sunset flip

Pentagon Jr. b. Fenix and Austin Aries – Fear Factor to Aries

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

Yes this company still does non-One Night Only pay per views, even though it’s been nearly six months since their last one. What used to be Lockdown has now been changed to the rather generic Redemption and a lot of the card is going to be featuring Lucha Underground talent. That’s not a bad thing, but there have been a combination of changes to the card and matches added in after the TV tapings, meaning it’s kind of a mixed bag up and down. Maybe they’ll surprise me though as the recent TV has been pretty good. Let’s get to it.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo de Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee

You didn’t know these people were on the card or even still with the company? Well here most of them are to be destroyed by Cage. It’s clear that Cage is being groomed to be a big deal, if nothing else due to defeating Bobby Lashley and sending him out of the promotion. The rest of these guys are just there as cannon fodder, though it wouldn’t shock me if they went with someone getting the fall while Cage is busy bench pressing a bus or something.

But yeah, Cage wins here because, in theory/hope at least, they realize that a lot of the X-Division guys should be fed to him like villagers being sacrificed to Godzilla. Cage is a monster who needs to be destroying people and it’s not like any of these people are doing anything. I mean, they don’t even have a move called the Canadian Destroyer. Why would they be going near a title shot? Cage wins here and should do so in dominant fashion.

Taya Valkyrie vs Kiera Hogan

This is a match that wasn’t announced on Impact but why let that stop you? Valkyrie is coming off a loss to Rosemary (not on the show) in the big blowoff match of their feud and is in need of a big win. Hogan is too though as she’s still relatively new but someone that Impact seems interested in pushing. The division needs some new names so if they have something with Hogan, it’s worth giving her a shot.

I’ll be taking Valkyrie though as Hogan winning would be quite the upset. I do however expect this to be pretty competitive with Hogan getting in a lot as there’s no reason to have a squash on pay per view. Hogan might not go anywhere but it’s worth taking a shot on her if she’s gotten this far. Valkyrie needs it more though and should win, preferably with a heck of a Road to Valhalla for the pin.

Knockouts Title: Allie(c) vs. Su Yung

Now we’re getting to one of the confusing ones. Allie won the title so recently and wasn’t exactly a big success as champion in the first place so a second win to establish her as one of the bigger stars of the division would make sense. At the same time though, they just brought Yung in and I’m not sure what the point would be in having a monster slayed so soon. It really could go either way and for once, I’m not sure which to go with here.

I’m going to take Yung to win the match here, but not the title. I could see this going to a DQ to set up a rematch, probably after a few weeks of Braxton Sutter being a jerk go by. It’s the best way out of this booking corner and Allie can come back and win the big rematch by overcoming her fears. You know, by being what Bayley should have been since Allie is a Bayley clone.

Tag Team Titles: LAX(c) vs. Scott Steiner/Eli Drake

So this is a thing that’s happening because Chris Adonis walked out on the promotion and WE MUST have a muscular guy take his place because of reasons. Drake would be the kind of guy who gets any dummy (KM would still be a good option) to team with him and win the titles. But hey, let’s bring in Scott Steiner and reinforce so many stereotypes about the promotion and gives us a horrible looking match at the same time.

Of course LAX retains, likely with Drake taking the fall because they can clearly have him losing a fall when STEINER is in there as a backup option. LAX needs to win here, mainly because they’re one of all of three teams (if that) on the roster. Maybe they can find another team to feud with them because other than OVE and…..oh yeah the Cult of Lee (pretty much the end of the division), they’ve cleared out the division. That being said, I don’t think that’s it for Drake on the night but we’ll get to that later.

Aerostar vs. Drago

This is one of the Lucha Underground matches as these two have no real connection to Impact Wrestling other than filling in a slot on the card. That being said, it’s quite the benefit to us as it gives the audience something fresh rather than doing the same stuff we see on TV every week. They’re both very talented guys and can wrestle a fun match, which is often a benefit for a pay per view like this.

I’ll go with Drago, who is a bigger star in Lucha Underground and a slightly better talent overall. Aerostar is fine but never did a ton for me so he’ll really be there as an opponent for Drago rather than a major attraction. Either way, it’s nice to have a match like this and both guys should get the chance to shine on a bigger (at least somewhat bigger) stage.

X-Division Title: Matt Sydal(c) vs. Petey Williams

This is Williams’ Feast or Fired briefcase cash-in, which is a decent thing in a way. I don’t like having three Money in the Bank ripoffs running around, but at least they actually announce the match in advance for a change. It’s better than having people run out and steal a title for once, and thankfully they’re getting at least two of the three things out of the way in one night.

I’ll go with Sydal winning here, as he’s a more interesting character and someone who can go a little further than Williams. I know Williams is a fan favorite due to having a good finisher, but that and being Canadian are really all he has going for him. Sydal and Josh Matthews aren’t the best combination in the world but Matthews is a good heel and Sydal…well he’s trying at least. The match should be fun though, just for Sonjay Dutt making fun of Matthews on commentary.

OVE vs. Tommy Dreamer/Moose/Eddie Edwards

This is a hardcore match, because it’s not like Tommy Dreamer can do much else right now. Sami Callihan and OVE have attacked Eddie Edwards for a few weeks now (reasons still yet to be explained, but general chaos seems to be in the lead) and Edwards needs some backup in the fight. I haven’t been thrilled with the feud so far and making this a tag match seems like a way to get Moose on the card (a good thing).

I’ll go with OVE though, as Dreamer seems in there to take the fall more than anything else. They can do Edwards vs. Callihan for the blowoff later, but it still doesn’t seem like the most thrilling thing in the world. That might be due to Callihan and OVE being rather annoying and uninteresting as heels (at least in this role) but that’s not likely to change anytime soon. But yeah, OVE wins here.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries(c) vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix

Well, we lost Alberto El Patron and got Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix so I’d call that an upgrade. El Patron was scheduled to get the title shot and had a bunch of stuff with Aries filmed but, due to reasons of being a ridiculously unprofessional jerk, he no showed an event and was subsequently fired. Therefore, we’re getting a rematch of the Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground triple threat, which was won by Pentagon Jr.

I’ll take Aries to win here, only to have Drake cash in his other Feast or Fired case to leave with the World Title. Aries can have some people to face down the line, but having him take the title from Drake again would be a good idea, especially for the sake of his promos being so great. The match itself will be fun and all three can work well together. That sounds like a good main event, but I don’t see it blowing the doors off of anything.

Overall Thoughts

I’m actually not dreading this show and that’s a rare feeling for an Impact Wrestling pay per view. The addition of the Lucha Underground talent should help things out a lot but at the same time, I’m not sure Impact Wrestling could do a three hour pay per view on their own. That’s not good given the amount of names on their roster, but the future is starting to have some color to it. That hasn’t been the case in a LONG time around here and I’ll take what I can get from these people.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

NXT
Date: August 16, 2011
Location: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentators: Todd Grisham, Michael Cole

 

We’re on the way to the sixth month of this show. I would make a joke about this show getting close to being able to having a baby but I’m not sure it’s a joke anymore. I’d expect more hijinks tonight with everyone talking about nothing in particular and nothing at all being mentioned about the show moving forward in any way at all. Let’s get to it.

We open with AJ, Titus and Horny in the ring. Is this the face faction now? Titus talks about Horny looking for true love and says he has something to say to AJ. Horny babbles a lot and Titus translates. Apparently Horny wants to propose to her. Oh give me a break. And yes, it’s a Ring Pop. AJ says it’s not about size (make your own jokes) but about the size of Horny’s heart. But she just said….oh never mind.

 

Bateman interrupts and says this is disgusting and that it’s not a soap opera. Titus tells him to leave and insults his jeans. Make fun of his win/loss record, beat him up, get more points than he does or whatever else you can think of, but INSULTING HIS JEANS??? YOU GO TOO FAR!!! Bateman says he’s not sure which one is the leprechaun and which is the troll. Horny goes after him and Bateman runs. AJ is alone in the ring and some chick jumps her. It’s a now blonde Maxine. THEY’RE BRINGING BACK THE DIVA ROOKIES NOW????? To be fair she looks much better without the black hair.

 

JTG vs. Tyson Kidd

 

Heel vs. heel? Really? Works for me I guess. Kidd has promised us something special next week in Calgary. JTG grabs a rollup for one a few seconds into this. The crowd is silent. Like creepily silent. JTG is wrestling face here despite being heel for the last 4 months or so. Then again is anyone paying attention to things such as that? Kidd speeds things up and gets some kicks to the head for two.

 

JTG hits Jay Lethal’s belly to back suplex into a neckbreaker for two. Half of the Lethal Combination gets two. Think he’s been watching some TNA/ROH stuff lately? JTG yells to the crowd but gets caught in a horribly botched looking rolling half crab (think Lance Storm)…and he taps at 3:10. That was unexpected. I guess JTG is a moderate face now.

 

Rating: C. The botch near the end hurt it a lot and the ending came almost out of nowhere. Also JTG suddenly being face is just weird as nothing happened other than Vladimir being released. Not sure what the point of this was but I guess it’s just to set up the whole YOSHI IS COMING thing. Granted that sounds like a really bad Nintendo ad but this isn’t the most well thought out show.

 

Post match some music starts for a bit and a Japanese/Chinese character (as in a written word) appears on screen. Does Japanese have written characters? Yeah we know: Tatsu is coming back.

 

Striker says he lost last week and he’s not making any excuses. Young vs. Striker II tonight. If Young wants respect, he has to earn it. Surprisingly good promo.

 

Matt Striker vs. Darren Young

 

Striker….strikes away to start. Well he lives up to his name I guess. He works on the arm and fingers to start but gets rolled up for two. Double clothesline takes both guys down but Darren is in better shape at the moment. A neckbreaker on the apron is broken up but Young gets something like a release belly to back onto the apron which looked good. A chinlock is broken up by Striker going after the leg. Why don’t more people do that?

 

Striker fires off and is getting all ticked off. He’s really improved in his long layoff. Striker takes Young down and gets two as Young gets his foot on the rope. This referee > HHH I guess. Young goes for that fireman’s carry into a gutbuster but Striker counters into a Backstabber for two. The fans go silent so Striker screams at them to wake them up. He tries La Majistral (and yes I know that’s probably not the right spelling) but Young rolls through into that gutbuster of his for the pin at 5:05. That was a good ending.

 

Rating: C. Striker continues to look good all things considered, but where does this lead? If Striker wins then Young looks even weaker than he already does. If Young keeps beating him, he’s beating up an announcer/host who came out of retirement a few weeks ago. I don’t get what the point of this is but the matches have been the highlights of the show recently. The ending here was cool.

 

Here are Bateman and Maxine. They’re holding hands so there’s your latest couple in WWE. Bateman wants the people to respect her and calls her his girlfriend. Maxine says Horny can’t handle a real woman like her. We’re just getting started according to her. Heaven help me.

 

Derrick Bateman vs. Titus O’Neil

 

For those of you that want something completely different I suppose. Regal and Grisham quote Bobby Heenan to liven things up a bit. Titus hammers away with power stuff to start as is his custom. Oh and there’s no Horny or AJ in sight. Bateman gets a dropkick for two. Bateman keeps hammering away while Regal talks about his turtle running away and the turtle (Speedy) getting mugged by some snails. This is the Gorilla Monsoon/Jesse Ventura formula of “we’re so bored we’ll do anything short of first degree murder to keep from falling asleep”.

 

The match is really boring, namely because we’ve seen them fight so many times already. Bateman controls for awhile until Titus starts channeling his football days and tackles Derrick a few times. Shoulderbreaker gets two. There’s the fallaway slam and Bateman hits the floor. Titus tries to get back in and Maxine trips him, letting Bateman get a rollup pin at 6:17.

 

Rating: D. It’s just boring. That’s the problem with this match: it’s just boring. It was so obvious that Maxine was going to cost Titus the match the entire time that there was no point in watching the whole thing up to that point. This story just keeps adding chapters for the sake of adding chapters and none of them are interesting. Thus is NXT.

 

And now we get the entire Alberto vs. Rey match from last night because NXT only has enough material to fill in 40 minutes. I have no idea if this is clipped or not but I’m not watching it again so here’s the review that I wrote for it live.

 

Raw World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio

 

The new champ rolls out in a bright red Ferrari. Rey is the hometown boy so he gets a huge pop. It seems to be the Undisputed WWE Championship now. We continue the old school weapon checks but don’t even get big match intros. Fast paced stuff to start but it’s pretty basic. Rey sends him to the floor as we take a break. The bell rang at 10 until 11pm so they don’t have a ton of time.

 

Back with Rey in a body vice and he pulls half of the mask off. Alberto takes him up to the top which doesn’t work at all as Rey takes him down with a tornado DDT. Wicked one too. Spinning cross body gets two. Rolling sunset flip gets two. Rey gets taken down for a bit but takes to the air, sending Alberto to the floor. Gorgeous Asai Moonsault takes both guys down.

 

Seated Senton hits and he gets Alberto into the 619 position. Alberto takes his head off with a clothesline though and complains when it only gets two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets the same result. Corner enziguri gets two. Rey grabs a rollup out of nowhere for two to break up the armbreaker.

 

Dropkick puts Rey down and he goes for the arm again. Rey reverses into an electric chair position and into a rana for the 619 position. The call connects (hate that term but whatever) and it’s top rope splash time. Jerry declares it over which seals Rey’s fate. The splash hits knees and Alberto gets a small package for the pin at 12:50.

 

Rating: C+. Pretty good match here and Alberto wins clean which is something that he certainly needs. These two have chemistry and this was no exception to it, which is probably due to them having so many matches together over the past year. Good stuff here and it worked rather well for a TV main event.

 

Since a 13 minute match took 6 minutes to air, yeah it was clipped. We also get the close to the show with Cena saving Rey.

 

Post match Alberto goes for the arm and snaps it on the rope then puts the armbreaker on. Cena runs out for the save and wants a mic. Post match Alberto goes for the arm and snaps it on the rope then puts the armbreaker on. Cena runs out for the save and wants a mic. He rants about how much his weekend sucked and is all kinds of serious. he says Alberto cashed in a briefcase and got lucky. One days he’s going to have to defend it (kind of like he just did?) and if it’s against Cena, he won’t be so lucky. Serious Cena works very well and this was one of those moments.

 

Overall Rating: C-. The matches were ok, but the same complaints as always here: what is the point of ANY of this? Bateman now has some chick with him that hates AJ because….because AJ is a face and Maxine is a heel I guess. There’s nothing to see here as has been the case for the last three months or so. More of the same as always.

 

Results

Tyson Kidd b. JTG – Half Crab

Darren Young b. Matt Striker – Fireman’s Carry into a Gutbuster

Derrick Bateman b. Titus O’Neil – Rollup

NXT
Date: June 28, 2011
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: William Regal, Todd Grisham

It’s another elimination week to get us down to the final two which will hopefully end soon after that.  The final three are Darren Young, Conor O’Brian and Titus O’Neil.  It seems like the competition is Titus’ to lose here but you never know with this show.  That being said, I’d probably bet on O’Brian to win it because we all want to see him for another four months down the road right?  Let’s get to it.

Here’s Darren Young who now has no pro as Chavo has left.  Young says that Chavo quit because he couldn’t handle the fact that his rookie was better.  Young points out how he’s faced Cena and main evented Summerslam this year which is something Chavo has never done.  True actually.

O’Brian comes out to say that after tonight, Young is done.  He promises utter destruction.

Darren Young vs. Conor O’Brian

 

They fight over a tieup to start and head to the floor.  Hot crowd tonight too.  Back inside and Conor takes over with a clothesline.  A shoulder by O’Brian gets two.  Young hits a neckbreaker on the apron and both guys are down as we take a break.  Back with O’Brian escaping a cravate but getting thrown down for two.  Off to a neck crank by Young which doesn’t last long.

Kozlov isn’t here tonight either apparently as he’s in Australia with the Raw roster.  Chinlock doesn’t work long and O’Brian hits a slingshot to send Young into the corner.  Young hits the ropes and gets his head kicked off by a big boot.  That looked good.  Regal brings up the point that these guys know each other way too well.  Young hits Three Amigos to the biggest heat he’s gotten since he had a big yellow N on his chest.  A Frog Splash ends this a few seconds later at 8:45.

Rating: C+. Not bad here and that big kick was the biggest part of the whole thing.  The lack of pros actually helped a lot here as it was just a competition rather than about the pros, which is the point of the show.  O’Brian is still dull but if he can get even a single move going for him it’s an improvement.

Tatsu is at his shrine with his action figure again and Kidd comes up and breaks it.  They have a match later but Yoshi jumps him and attacks him until he’s pulled off.

Tyson Kidd vs. Yoshi Tatsu

 

TYSON’S HAIR IS GONE!  He cut that little thing off his head and it’s due to Bret pulling on it apparently.  Yoshi is all ticked off and hammers away to start, sending Kidd to the floor.  HARD chops in the corner and Kidd is in trouble.  Kidd comes back, hitting what looked like a forearm off the middle rope.  On the floor he hits a dropkick to send Yoshi into the steps as we take a break.

Back and we’re in a chinlock by Kidd.  He works the arm and gets two off a hammerlock suplex.  Big kick into the arm has Yoshi in agony.  Fujiwara Armbar goes on which is becoming a very popular move anymore.  Yoshi starts his comeback with his variety of kicks.  Big kick gets a close two as the fans are into this again.  They go up and Kidd is shoved off.  He manages a dropkick to crotch Yoshi though and a top rope rana gets two.  I would have bet on that being the ending.  Rollup gets two for Yoshi.  Another big kick finally ends Kidd at 9:20.  Abrupt ending but rather good.

Rating: B. For NXT, this was AWESOME.  They were allowed to go out there and beat the heck out of each other.  Those kicks and 2 counts were great and I really didn’t know who was going to win there at the end.  Sick high kick to put Kidd down at the end also made this a very good match and one of the best NXT matches I’ve seen in a long time.

JTG is getting ready and here’s Horny in a trashcan which he’s able to walk in somehow.  O’Neil comes up to stop an attack because he’s only trying to steal the gold jewelry because he’s a leprechaun.  They get in an argument over what it’s made of.  I give up.

Titus O’Neil vs. JTG

 

Maryse is on commentary here for no reason other than “she feels like it”.  O’Neil throws him around as Regal and Maryse argue a bit.  Horny has a note for Maryse and it’s in English apparently.  It’s an old school style of do you love me?  Circle one.  We hear about the required height to date Maryse as JTG takes over a bit.  Maryse is taking pictures as O’Neil fights back.  JTG is sent to the floor and almost runs into Horny.  He gets on the apron and poses at JTG.  Back in the ring the Clash of the Titus ends this at 3:20.

Rating: C. Just a quick match here as Titus continues to be so far and away better than everyone else in this season it’s unreal.  Nothing of note here as JTG is still a jobber, no matter which way he’s leaning on the face/heel spectrum.  Maryse was far more of the focus here than the match and I can’t say I blame them here.

Maryse rips up the letter post match.

Raw Rebound eats up some time.  They only talk about the main event and the Punk promo though.  That’s still awesome stuff, but it makes me think Cena wins clean at the PPV.  Just parts of it here though instead of whole thing due to time.  Most of the controversial stuff here is gone.

Grisham says that Punk has been suspended indefinitely and Vince might be on Raw.

Time for the elimination and thankfully O’Brian is gone.  He asks Hunter (HHH I presume) for a chance to play the game.

But wait we’re not done yet because someone else is going to the finals.  Derrick Bateman is back and Bryan is his pro again.  What in the world?  Why are they adding someone else NOW?  Do they really want to extend this even further?  I’m going to be at the show on August 2.  There better be a new season by then.

Overall Rating: B. All things considered, this was the best episode of NXT in months.  There were good matches and the crowd was red hot all night.  O’Brian finally being gone is the right choice because you could make a case for Young or O’Neil winning the whole thing.  Bateman being added is uh….puzzling.  At least he was funny during his time here so it’s not too bad.  Good show this week that flew by in a good way.

Results

Darren Young b. Conor O’Brian – Frog Splash

Yoshi Tatsu b. Tyson Kidd – High Kick

Titus O’Neil b. JTG – Clash of the Titus

Conor O’Brian was eliminated in 3^rd place.

NXT
Date: March 8, 2011
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Todd Grisham, William Regal

This is the debut of Season Five of NXT.  There has been no cast or Pros or anything like that announced yet.  All we know is that Maryse is going to be the host which was revealed/announced earlier today.  The rumor for this season was that it would be Legends with their children for this season which could be good for the older fans.  If that’s not the case I’ll edit this out.  Let’s get to it.

As the show opens you see the word “Redemption” everywhere.  Oh I have a bad feeling about this.

William Regal is now a commentator.

Striker and Maryse are now the hosts.  She introduces the Rookies.

Darren Young.  Oh dang it I was afraid of this.

Conor O’Brian

Lucky Cannon (with a big feathery robe)

Byron Saxton

Jacob Novak

Titus O’Neal

That’s it.  I have to watch these guys AGAIN?  The winner of this gets to be on NXT Season 6.  What the heck?  There’s no immunity but rather redemption points which make no sense but sounds like exactly the same thing.  Here are the Pros.

Darren Young gets Chavo Guerrero.  Chavo says Darren is good in the ring but he needs to be more aggressive.  Guerrero wants Young to get noticed.

O’Brian gets Vladimir Kozlov.  This isn’t going to go well.  He says some stuff no one can understand.

Lucky Cannon has Tyson Kidd.  What the heck are they thinking here?  Has Kidd actually won a match in the last two months?  Cannon, who is the reigning FCW Champion and a heel now, needs to be meaner.

Saxton gets Yoshi freaking Tatsu, who is in a suit.  Grisham points out the international flavor of this season.  Tatsu says Saxton needs to relax.

Novak the Worthless gets JTG.  Oh I give up.

Titus O’Neil gets Hornswoggle.  I didn’t listen to his promo/speech as I was writing up my resignation.

Novak vs. Young is up next.

Darren Young vs. Jacob Novak

 

Young has a haircut at least now.  They head to the floor which might have been an accident.  We hit the ropes a few times and Young gets a forearm to take him down.   Regal is a natural on commentary.  Novak with a clothesline in the corner for two so we hit the chinlock.  Young fights back which gets him nowhere for the most part as Novak hits yet another clothesline to take over.  Young hits that spinning full nelson slam to end this at 3:30.

Rating: D+. This was dull again.  Neither of these guys has anything that makes me want to watch them and I feel like I’m watching some weak indy match.  Novak continues to redefine what it means to be worthless.  Young is decent enough but again he’s not someone I would ever stop to watch.

Yoshi talks to Maryse in the back, saying she’ll be a great host.  He has something to tell her but Saxton comes up and says he’d love to talk strategy with his Pro.  She leaves and Tatsu says Saxton’s timing is no good.

Raw ReBound, which recaps the previous week’s show as Rock pretends to be a rapper.  Now we get part of Cena’s “Knockout” last night which was nowhere near his one from two weeks ago.  I still like Cena’s stuff better than Rock’s in this feud.  The aspect about Rock being in the arena once is really all the ammo Cena needs.  We also get Miz’s run in to end the show which was better than anything else in the last segment.  Thankfully this is actually a recap and not just reairing the whole thing.

Conor O’Brian talks about hiding behind a persona last season.  He talks about being poor growing up.  Why does it seem that every wrestler went through torture growing up?

There’s a Boot Camp Obstacle Course up next.

More on the Chaperone.  If I ever want to end myself it’ll be with a marathon of Legendary, Knucklehead and Chaperone.

Snooki is coming to Raw.  Dang it all.  WWE you continue to tick me off.

We do a Boot Camp Obstacle Course and first off my jaw drops at Maryse in camouflage.  I’m not a fan of her but good freaking grief she looks great here.

Titus goes first.  The course is jumping a wall, going under a net on the ground kind of thing, a balance beam, weaving through some polls and picking up a bag to carry across the finish line.  Titus gets 29.8.

Novak shatters it with 24 seconds.  There’s nothing to say here for the most part.

Saxton gets a time of 26.5.

Lucky Cannon in the pink tights, stops to say he won’t be a circus monkey this season because it’s all about him.

Conor is 5^th and gets a time of 27.1.  He stumbled at the beginning which hurt him a lot.

Young goes last and is FLYING.  He wins it with a time of 23 seconds, good for 3 Redemption Points which I’m not sure I understand.  Granted that might be because I thought they were different than Immunity Points.

We reair the majority of the Cole/JBL/Austin thing because these guys can’t have matches right?  Cole on commentary here is still absolutely awesome.  This eats up 8 minutes.

HHH will be on Smackdown.  Also Christian vs. Alberto.

Saxton says he’ll take less for granted because it’s his last chance.

Lucky Cannon vs. Titus O’Neil

After about a minute of jokes about the robe we’re ready to go.  Titus hammers him away in the corner but gets sent outside for his efforts.  And there goes the feed.  Hey tonight isn’t a total loss!  Ah there it is and Cannon has a chinlock.  Regal says Finlay is the best ever from his part of the world.  Cannon is a total heel here but the name is going to hold him back.  Titus gets a belly to back to escape from a headlock.  Titus uses his power but gets taken down.  Horny distracts Tyson and assists Titus to hit a Sky High (D’Lo’s old finisher) powerbomb to end this at 2:57.  Too short to grade but nothing of note.  This ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was just like any other episode of this show, as in nothing special at all.  I have more or less zero desire to watch this season as the biggest named pro is Chavo, the best guy in the group is I guess Young, there’s the stupid Redemption thing and this is to get on the next season of NXT rather than an actual prize, meaning someone will be on three seasons of the show by the end of next season.  It’s going to be a long Spring.

Results

Darren Young b. Jacob Novak – Release Full Nelson Slam

Darren Young won the Boot Camp Obstacle Course

Titus O’Neil b. Lucky Cannon – Sitout Powerbomb