Smackdown
Date: January 15, 2015
Location: Baton Rouge River Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

Smackdown is back on Thursday nights in its original time slot, which might mean WWE will put a fresh focus on it instead of just using it as a dumping ground for whatever they can’t fit on Raw. The big story tonight is Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring for the first time since his neck surgery in May. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Daniel Bryan (with a fresh set of name graphics) for an in ring chat. Daniel says he should be in good spirits because he’s back home where he belongs, in front of these great people, wearing his gear and ready to fight. Saxton shows him a clip of Kane tombstoning Bryan on everything he could find and Bryan looks a bit shaken. He talks about being Kane’s partner and brother, but then Kane stabbed everyone in the back by trading in the mask for a suit.

Doctor after doctor has told him that he would never wrestle again but now he’s ready. Of course he’s worried about his neck but tonight he’s going to prove himself by fighting Kane, winning the Royal Rumble and then getting his title back at Wrestlemania. Now some people think that’s just a pipe dream, but YES he thinks he can do it. This brings out the Authority who actually doesn’t have anything to say before the match starts.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Bryan charges right at him to start but Kane takes him down with a single forearm to the back. They head to the corner where Bryan smartens up and goes after the knee. As usual though, Kane doesn’t seem interested in selling and takes Daniel down with a pair of neckbreakers. A cravate doesn’t last long so Kane kicks him in the head for two. I know I rip on Kane a lot but at least he’s smart enough to go after the obvious body part. A neck crank has Bryan in even more trouble but he’s able to kick Kane to the floor.

Kane is staggered up against the barricade but not staggered enough to let Bryan hit a flying knee from the apron as he punches Daniel out of the air. Back from a break with Kane holding a chinlock, followed by a running DDT for two. Off to the chinlock as the Authority plays cheerleader. For some reason the Noble seems like he would be very enthusiastic in that role. Kane loads up a superplex but gets shoved down and dropkicked for two. The kicks to the chest get the same but the Stooges come in to break up the YES Lock for the DQ at 11:41.

Rating: C-. If there isn’t something else later in the night, I’m sending WWE a bill for the injuries suffered from my eyes rolling that hard. There is no way WWE doesn’t let Bryan get a clean win in his big comeback match against Kane. Bryan looked fine but there’s only so much you can tell in a match that didn’t even get eight minutes of TV time. I did like Kane going after the neck and setting up the tombstone. It never ceases to amaze me when you have someone coming back off an injury and their opponent goes after a different body part. Even Shawn did that once when HHH had a bandaged leg.

Bryan fights back and finally runs away from the numbers advantage. The Authority stays after him but Reigns and Ambrose come out to stand next to them. HHH makes a six man with those three against Kane, Big Show and Rollins later tonight.

Randy Savage Hall of Fame video. I’m very worried about Hogan turning the induction speech into a way to talk about how great he was.

Bray Wyatt is not a human being but for thousands of years, society has labeled people like him a threat. At some point, his poison starts to seep out of the cracks. All those people over the years have been right, and it’s going to be too late to run after he wins the Royal Rumble.

Usos/Naomi vs. Damien Mizdow/Miz/Alicia Fox

Miz/Mizdow vs. Usos for the titles is official for the Rumble. Mizdow gets a huge ovation as he’s on the apron and watching Miz start with Jimmy. The brothers elbow Miz down for the double team elbow, followed by a nice suicide dive from Jey. Mizdow finally gets the tag but Fox tags herself in. That’s fine with Naomi, who goes off on Fox for taking her spot on Total Divas. Pay no attention to Naomi still being on the show of course. A cross body gets two on Fox and it’s already back to Miz vs. Jimmy.

The Reality Check is broken up and a double clothesline puts both guys down. The ice cold tag brings in Jey for a Samoan drop, followed by a Whisper in the Wind. Fox makes the save, only to have Jimmy throw Naomi at her for a cool looking spot. Mizdow tries to come in but takes a superkick to the hands (clearly didn’t get close to his face). The distraction works though, allowing Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin on Jimmy at 4:50.

Rating: D+. Cool Naomi throwing spot aside, this feud is really getting dry. The Naomi Goes Hollywood part has been completely dropped, which you almost had to expect because it was actually interesting. That basically leaves Miz fighting the Usos in a handicap feud as we wait on Mizdow to finally break off on his own, even though they passed his peak about a month ago. At least the girls were there to keep this from being the champions losing in another non-title match.

Roman Reigns is with Renee Young (who has chopped off a lot of her hair) and says his partners would be in big trouble if this was the Royal Rumble. However, Dean is his boy and he has no issue with Bryan. On the other hand, he has a problem with the Authority and their giant crybaby Big Show. When it comes to the Royal Rumble, it’s one vs. all. Dean and Bryan are part of the all, and that leaves him as the one. This felt a lot more natural from Reigns and it worked better than his usual stuff. The lack of fairy tales or Looney Tunes lines helped too.

Here’s a ticked off Heyman with something to say. We look back at Rollins laying out Lesnar to end Raw and standing tall over the champion. Heyman says he’s afraid for the first time because there’s a threat to Lesnar. Brock has conquered everyone and everything because he can. When he beat up the Undertaker and broke the Streak or suplexed John Cena 16 times, it was all because he could and felt like doing it because he didn’t have anything else to do on a Sunday night.

Now his purpose is to F5 the future of the WWE back into the past, but here are Rollins and the Stooges to interrupt. Seth is sick and tired of hearing about how awesome Brock Lesnar is and accusing him of hiding behind the Authority. He isn’t afraid of Brock Lesnar and is going to cash in right now. Let’s give the fans a treat for the show being back on Thursdays and have Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins right now….but Brock isn’t here.

Rollins isn’t cool with that and threatens to curb stomp Heyman if he can’t curb stomp Lesnar. Heyman tells Rollins to be original because everyone threatens to beat him up when Lesnar isn’t around. Seth is right in his face and says he’s going to curb stomp Heyman and take away Lesnar’s greatest asset. Then at the Royal Rumble, it’s Rollins vs. all brawn and no brains, leaving Brock as nothing more than a 300lb mass of muscle that he can run circles around.

The facts are that he’s curb stomped Lesnar twice now and he’s going to do it again at the Royal Rumble, so why shouldn’t he knock Heyman out right now? Paul says the Authority has been removed from power once so what makes Rollins think they can’t be removed again by hook, crook, or by Vince McMahon’s whims?

He’s gained power every single day since he returned to the WWE and been by Brock Lesnar’s side. Brock Lesnar has a death grip on the WWE Championship and he will control it as long as he likes. He can control that title by either defending the title or protecting the new champion when Heyman decides that the future is now. Paul drops the mic and leaves Rollins with a lot to think about.

This story has gone from another dull title match to one of the better stories around the title in a good while. Rollins is looking like a monster on equal footing with Lesnar and Cena in the span of a week. There’s always the chance that this is the annual Royal Rumble challenger who goes nowhere after, but I’m totally buying into Rollins as a main event player. After the year he’s had, there’s a real argument to be made for him to win the title and defend it at Wrestlemania. I’d love to see him stop being the Authority’s lap dog if nothing else.

Natalya vs. Nikki Bella

Non-title and Paige is here to counteract Brie. Natalya goes for the leg to start but gets taken down by a flying armbar of all things. She actually stays on the arm instead of yelling at the crowd but Natalya lifts Nikki into the air to break up a short arm scissors. Back up and Natalya steps onto Nikki’s back before to drive her face first into the mat, followed by a running dropkick to the face.

Brie gets on the apron for a distraction, accidentally allowing Paige to slap Nikki. I’m sure they’ll argue about it and then forget it a month later with no resolution. The Sharpshooter makes Nikki tap at 2:40. This would be their third match since December 29 now. Well that settles it. We MUST continue this feud at the Rumble. I for one couldn’t survive without the thrilling end to this saga.

Big Show cuts Renee off and brags about knocking out Cena and Reigns this past Monday. Tonight he’ll knock out all three but more importantly he’s entering the Royal Rumble. That’s where he dominates because no one can throw him over the top. Kane comes up and says he’s in the Rumble as well.

Intercontinental Title: Sin Cara vs. Bad News Barrett

Rematch after last week where Sin Cara beat Barrett in a non-title match. Cara gets two off a rollup just after the bell and hits an enziguri from the apron to stagger Bad News. Barrett has had enough of that though and hammers Cara down before whipping him hard into the corner for two.

We hit the chinlock for a few moments before Cara hits a springboard spinning cross body for two. The announcers actually bring up Barrett’s past troubles against Cara for some context. The Winds of Change lays Cara out but the Bull Hammer is countered into a rollup into a powerbomb. Cara misses the Swanton though and the Bull Hammer retains the title at 2:51. I’m so glad they had the champ get pinned clean to set up this epic showdown. To be fair though this was fun while it lasted.

The announcers plug the WWE Network launching in the UK, which went live a few days earlier than planned.

Dean Ambrose is in a dimly lit room and says he was the one you avoided on the playground. His report card always said he was disruptive in class, but that works really well for him in the Royal Rumble. The winner of the match isn’t going to care about friendships or their own well being. Don’t count him out, because you should be counting him in. His partners tonight have one big thing in common: they all detest the Authority.

Kane/Big Show/Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose

Seth and Dean get things going with Ambrose slamming him face first into the buckle. He rips at Seth’s hair and stomps at the ribs before bringing in Reigns for a nice suplex. Roman starts working on the arm but lets Rollins go for a tag to Kane. Reigns throws the big bald around for a bit before tagging Bryan in for the rapid fire kicks in the corner. A big uppercut finally puts Bryan down but Ambrose is right there to stop the Stooges from getting involved.

Everything breaks down in a fight on the floor and the good guys stand tall in the ring (not as tall as Big Show and Kane but still tall) as we take a break. Back with Ambrose stomping Rollins in the corner and hitting his dropkick up against the ropes for two. Seth finally sends him into the corner and ties Dean in the Tree of Woe to work on the injured knee.

Off to Big Show for something like an ankle lock but pushing forward on the shin instead of the foot. Rollins gets two off a running forearm in the corner and we hit the chinlock. Again I wonder why you would do that when you should know it’s going to lead to a comeback. Back to Big Show as the Authority keeps things slow, hopefully leading to the hot tag to Bryan. I’ll settle for one to Reigns as long as we don’t hear another scripted promo.

Show hooks that same leg lock before Kane comes in and keeps up his good psychology by cranking on the knee. Seth comes back in and talks a lot of trash, earning him a slap in the face. The rebound clothesline finally puts Kane down but Rollins breaks up another tag. Dean sends him to the floor but everything breaks down on the floor. With everyone else fighting, Ambrose dives over for the hot tag to Bryan. Daniel cleans house and hits the Flying Goat on Kane and a top rope hurricanrana for two on Seth.

Kane comes back in with a chokeslam for two with Reigns having to make the save. Show loads up the announcers’ table but Reigns jumps him to put both guys down. The YES Lock goes on Kane but Rollins makes a save. Dean’s standing elbow takes out Rollins and the Stooges on the floor, leaving Bryan to escape the tombstone and hit the running knee for the pin on Kane at 17:48.

Rating: B+. This got a lot better as things went on and the slow build worked well here. I’m really glad Bryan won in the end and thankfully they kept the focus off Reigns vs. Big Show. At the end of the day, there just isn’t enough interest in that feud to validate giving it the attention here. Ambrose selling a knee injury is a good way to keep him from 100% and makes the losses a bit easier to sit through. Really solid main event here though and a good main event for the first show back on the old night.

Post match HHH comes out and says Bryan’s luck is running out. Next week on Smackdown, Kane is getting a rematch against Bryan and if Kane wins, Daniel is out of the Rumble.

Overall Rating: B-. The show was good but there’s one thing I liked more than anything (well anything other than the main event): HHH making Kane vs. Bryan for next week. It’s not the biggest match in the world, but it’s a match being announced in advanced for Smackdown with a week’s notice. If you’re lucky you’ll get a match announced four days in advance, but this feels like a match for Smackdown, not a match that happens as a result of something on Raw. It’s like they’re treating Smackdown as a show that matters, even if it’s just a bit at first. That’s something this show has been lacking for years now.

The rest of the show felt like a regular episode, meaning the wrestling was good to decent and mostly skippable. The main event was really good though and worth seeing, but most important of all is how they put a match on this show that people would want to see and it was given the time to stand out. If this were on Raw, they would have had to squeeze it in around a twenty minute promo, the New Day and Adam Rose beating up the Bunny for the 19^th time. Hopefully Smackdown gets some more attention and is able to take some of the pressure off Raw, which would help both shows and the TV product as a whole.

Results

Daniel Bryan b. Kane via DQ when Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury interfered

Miz/Damien Mizdow/Alicia Fox b. Usos/Naomi – Skull Crushing Finale to Jimmy

Natalya b. Nikki Bella – Sharpshooter

Bad News Barrett b. Sin Cara – Bull Hammer

Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Kane/Big Show/Seth Rollins – Running knee to Kane

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: January 12, 2015
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Booker T., John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

We’re back in the same building as the excellent post Wrestlemania Raw and the big story is what happens to the three guys (Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan) who were fired last week. The Authority is running roughshod on the company all over again and the question is will Cena be able to focus on his war against the team and get the title back from Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Authority’s return to Raw last week (after being on the show the previous week) and firing Erick Rowan, Dolph Ziggler and Ryback to end the show, followed by a major celebration for John Cena.

Here’s Cena to open the show. He doesn’t seem all that upset after costing three people their jobs last week. Cena talks about how New Orleans is about having a good time, even though the Authority is back in power. He can’t believe he works for two people who got their jobs back because their whipping boy held a Hall of Famer hostage and made Cena gamble with his health. That’s the same decision he would make every time though because it’s the right thing.

HHH is a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best of all time but he’s only going to be remembered as a slimy villain who wants to make us all miserable. Last week the Authority fired three men so Cena has to appeal to the audience. Did any of them deserve to be fired? Do the fans want to see them back tonight? Cena asks us to to go on social media and use the hashtag Authoritysucks to voice their opinions.

However, Cena has a backup plan: win the WWE World Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. As soon as he can say THE CHAMP IS HERE, is the very moment that he can say you can’t see me. He’ll win the championship and go home until those three guys are rehired, or else this show’s most coveted prize is going away and won’t be at Wrestlemania.

This brings out the Authority with smirks on their faces. Stephanie laughs off the Authoritysucks bit and says the three guys will be thrilled to see Cena win the title and walk away. HHH expected more than seeing Cena take his ball and go home. He recaps Survivor Series again and talks about how the Authority was gone, but now they’ve found a way back in. A hero wouldn’t turn his back on WWE, but the Authority is going to give Cena another chance.

HHH polls the audience about bringing the three guys back and, upon hearing an affirmative reply, asks Cena how much he wants those three back. All Cena has to do to get their jobs back is win his match tonight. Cena asks how many guys he’s up against tonight but HHH says it’s nothing that complicated. It’s a one on one match with Seth Rollins but they’re going to make it a lumberjack match to keep things fair. Here come the lumberjacks because the match starts right now.

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

We have Big Show, Kane, Cesaro and pretty much every other heel on the roster as lumberjacks. Rollins stomps him down to start and throws Cena to the floor for the traditional beating. A clothesline puts Rollins on the floor and he isn’t touched as we go to a break. Exactly as you would expect so far, meaning it’s time to crank it up in a few minutes when the NCAA National Championship game starts.

Back with Cena in trouble after Barrett tripped him during the break. Booker is calling this whole situation unfair as he’s the good guy commentator. The ProtoBomb sets up the Shuffle and the AA but the Stooges get on the apron, allowing Rollins to get outside. Cena dives onto the pile of lumberjacks and Fandango is holding his knee. I’ll let you make your own dancing jokes. Back in and Cena covers for two, only to eat the low superkick for the same. Seth goes up top and counters a superplex attempt into an across the ring buckle bomb for two. That kind of power out of Rollins always surprises me.

Cena tries a pop up powerbomb but doesn’t get under Rollins enough, making it look more like a spinebuster. Seth flips out of the AA and hits a standing Sliced Bread #2 for another near fall. There’s another AA but the lumberjacks (including Fandango who seems to be fine) pull Cena to the floor for a beating, including the Cesaro Swing into the barricade. Back in and the Curb Stomp is countered into the STF but Kane pulls Rollins’ arm towards the ropes. It turns into a tug of war over Rollins but Big Show pulls Cena to the floor for the KO Punch, giving Rollins the pin at 13:50.

Rating: B. This worked well but I’m really tired of seeing these two fight. In the span of less than a month, they’ve now had a regular match, a tables match, a cage match and a lumberjack match. That should be at least four months worth of matches but we’re getting it in four weeks. They’ve done the same thing with Ambrose vs. Wyatt and it’s having the same result: it’s really hard to care about what we’re seeing because they just had another big match a week or so ago.

The Usos are in Stephanie’s office when Dean Ambrose comes in. All three of them had some negative things to say on Smackdown about the firings. That’s fine and there are no firings. The Usos go to leave, but Stephanie stops them and asks Jimmy to tell Naomi that she’s competing with one arm behind her back tonight. As for Dean, he checked himself out of the hospital last week so he might be a danger to himself. Therefore, tonight he has to pass a psychiatric evaluation or he’s out of the Rumble. This has some potential if they do it right.

Miz talks about his close friend George Clooney winning the Cecil B. DeMille Award last night at the Golden Globes. Keep it up and he’ll win a Slammy.

It’s already time for the evaluation. Dean thinks he’s here because he’s been a “bad widdle boy.” Ambrose is freaked out by the doctor’s ticking clock and we go to a break. I love watching Dean be one step off and being all twitchy. It makes him seem like a more well rounded character instead of someone who was created in a board room to make sure he’s the best corporate character they can put together.

New Day vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd

It’s Kofi and Woods in action here with Big E. and Adam Rose on the floor. Cesaro and Kidd attacked Big E. last week because New Day is just too positive all the time. So they’re just curmudgeons? I approve of this gimmick. Kofi starts with Cesaro but Kidd gets a blind tag and kicks Kofi in the chest.

Cesaro stomps away and swings Kofi into the dropkick for two. Back up and Kofi kicks everyone down to the floor before diving over to Woods for the hot tag. The Honor Roll (flipping clothesline) drops Kidd and Cesaro gets low bridged to the floor. Rose gets on the apron but his distraction doesn’t work, allowing Woods to plant him with a backbreaker, followed by a top rope double stomp from Kofi for the pin at 3:48.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here and I’m liking the fact that New Day keeps winning, as long as their first loss isn’t something totally meaningless that ends with “oh, they lost.” Speaking of losing, it’s very frustrating to see Cesaro and Kidd put together for a team, just to see them job every time. Have they actually won a match yet?

We get a barrage of wrestlers doing their best OH YEAH in honor of Randy Savage being “expected” to be inducted into the Hall of Fame tonight. Above all else, I want Xavier Woods’ NES controller hat.

The Indianapolis Colts celebrates their win yesterday like Ric Flair.

Here’s Big Show for a chat. Whoever said that all men are created equal was obviously not a giant. Most of you were probably scared on your first day of work. On his first day, he beat Hulk Hogan for the World Title. The fans chant boring but Big Show laughs them off and calls everyone losers. Competition is supposed to be good for America, but no one wants competition at work. Everyone here would stab someone in the back for job security, just like he did to Cena.

That brings him to Roman Reigns, who he doesn’t see as competition. He sees Reigns like the New York Knicks, currently on a 15 game losing streak. Show is going to knock him into the front row next to Spike Lee (longtime Knicks fan) and make him a loser. Therefore, if you like Roman Reigns, you’re a loser as well.

Cue Reigns for the big brawl but Show walks out. Reigns thought he wasn’t a threat so why is Show leaving? Roman says he doesn’t want Show’s spot, but he does remember that first title win over Hogan. He was twelve years old or so and that makes him think of a story. A long time ago in a land far away, there was a little boy named Roman Reigns. It’s the story of Jack and the Beanstalk but Roman hit the giant in the mouth. The giant ran away, and that’s why Big Show is the loser.

Roman Reigns vs. Luke Harper

This has potential. Harper hammers away in the corner to start but Reigns knocks him to the floor as we take a break less than a minute in. Back with Reigns hitting a knee lift and raking Harper’s face across the rope. Three straight suplex attempts are blocked and Roman counters into a kind of Jackhammer. Someone really should use that as their finisher again. Harper dropkicks him out to the floor and sends Reigns hard into the steps. Back in and Harper busts out a freaking slingshot hilo for two. That’s not something a guy his size should be able to do.

Reigns comes back with a neckbreaker but Harper rips the face to break up the Samoan drop. Luke’s powerbomb is countered into something like the ProtoBomb. The Superman Punch is loaded up but Big Show throws a chair at Reigns. Naturally, that isn’t a DQ because wrestling rules as made up depending on the situation. A Boss Man Slam gets two for Harper but he turns into the Superman Punch. Show interferes again and Harper nails a superkick for two. The discus lariat misses though and a spear puts Harper away at 10:46.

Rating: B-. Luke Harper is a freaking STAR. He wrestles like someone Shawn Michaels’ size but has the look and size of a monster. Why aren’t we gearing up for a showdown between Harper and Reigns with Big Show being the cannon fodder? For reasons I will never understand, it looks like we’re not getting Show vs. Reigns (well, the blowoff at least as we’ve seen them fight twice already) until Fast Lane. That’s our reward for sticking with this show.

We recap the lumberjack match.

Miz talks about Boyhood winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes. It was filmed over several years with the same actors. Mizdow has been doing the same thing at Miz’s house, allowing him to film a movie called Manhood. Both guys shudder a bit.

Naomi vs. Alicia Fox

Naomi has one arm behind her back. Fox makes fun of her by trying a test of strength before getting two off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. She cranks on the good arm until Naomi takes her to the floor for some rams into the apron. Back in and the ax kick gives Fox the pin at 2:37. This would be the match where you’re hit over the head with how mean the Authority is because you’re not smart enough to understand a concept without it being shown to you over and over.

Back to the evaluation, where Dean is going to look at pictures and saying the first word that comes to his mind. “THURSDAY!”

HHH – Irritable bowel syndrome

Rollins – Scumbag

Reigns – Brotha

Kane – Toothpaste

Duggan – HO!

Stephanie – HO!

Minor note here: Ambrose was bouncing up and down during the interview. It’s the little stuff like that which takes people to a new level. Instead of just sitting there waiting for his line, he’s actually doing something and staying in character. It feels so much more natural than the stiff and scripted stuff we usually get.

Here are Lesnar and Heyman for the first time in a few weeks. Heyman talks about being in New Orleans several months back, where we witnessed the Streak dying. Lesnar isn’t one to live in the past, but if he was, he would list off all of his accomplishments. No man has ever been NCAA, UFC and WWE Champion, but one beast has. Heyman however loves to live in the past and runs down the fans for being crushed when the Streak ended.

On the other hand, you have this fantasy in WWE of “then, now and forever.” The fantasy was the Streak running forever or that the Ce-Nation will rise above Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Now the idea is that Rollins is the future of the WWE, but tonight Lesnar will see both challengers face to face.

More people give us their OH YEAHS with Miz knocking it out of the park and Nikki trying to make it sexy.

Jey Uso vs. Miz

Miz hits his running clothesline in the corner to start but jumps into a shot to the ribs. Jey loads up a slam and Mizdow comes in to slam himself off the top. The partners get involved in a tug of war, allowing Miz to grab a quick Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 2:09. This feud needs to end like a month ago.

Here’s Daniel Bryan in the city where he won the World Title at Wrestlemania XXX. Bryan thinks something big happened here the last time he was in New Orleans. It slowly starts coming back to him that he won the main event of Wrestlemania XXX, which isn’t bad for a lumberjack looking B+ player. Since this is the city of his greatest accomplishment, he should declare his intention to do it all over again and win the main event of Wrestlemania XXXI.

This brings out Stephanie with a copy of her fitness DVD for Bryan, complete with a mini commercial. Bryan isn’t interested so Stephanie talks about making history at Wrestlemania XXX a couple of miles from here (the buildings are actually adjacent), but this is what she remembers. We see a clip of Kane tombstoning Bryan on the floor, steps and table. Stephanie says an A+ player not only wins the big one but stays on top.

She isn’t sure if he’s ready to do this again, but YES of course he is. Bryan: “Go ahead and raise your arms. I bet it’s a better workout than you get on that DVD. HO!” He’s an average Joe who will never stop fighting. They will never stop fighting. We will never stop fighting and go through Wrestlemania XXXI until they prove the Authority wrong again. Stephanie says Bryan’s first match back will be on Smackdown (this was already announced) against Kane. The monster comes out and the fight is on, but Bryan fights out of a tombstone on the steps and hammers away on Kane. He even busts out the Flying Goat.

Rollins is in the back when Lesnar comes up to mock the idea of Rollins winning the title. Seth stares him down and says he’s the future, but Lesnar says the future starts when he says it does. Heyman thinks maybe they can get rid of Cena together and then the best man wins. He looks very nervous about Rollins, who has stared Lesnar down the entire time. For the first time, I saw that real star power in Rollins from this one exchange. Simple but perfect.

Brie Bella vs. Paige

Natalya, Kidd and Nikki are at ringside. Paige goes right at her to start but gets sent into the buckle, allowing Brie to hit the middle rope dropkick. Paige fights out of a chinock but Kidd gets on the apron for a distraction, allowing Brie to roll her up for the pin at 2:10.

After the match, Paige slaps Kidd and Natalya doesn’t seem to mind. I love Paige, but I fully support anyone wearing a cat shirt.

We look back at last week’s ambulance match.

Bray Wyatt says thirty souls enter the Royal Rumble and 29 will have to realize that they’re not in Wonerland any longer. Some will laugh, some will cry but some will sit in silence at how Bray changes the world. No one on earth will be immune to his wrath. Run.

We finally have it confirmed: Randy Savage is the first entrant of the Hall of Fame Class of 2015. He will be inducted by Hulk Hogan.

Ascension vs. ???/???

Konor takes #1 into the corner to start as JBL is ripping on the jobbers again. Booker and Cole are a bit nicer and say they have to fight whoever they’re put up against and that they’ve won every match they’ve had so far. Fall of Man ends #2 at 1:20.

Ambrose is now counciling the doctor and gets his approval on the papers to stay in the Rumble. As soon as the papers are signed and the doctor is still crying, Ambrose calls him a spineless, gutless pile of cow waste. This really could have been a better comedy idea but it wasn’t bad.

Here are Lana and Rusev to thank the Authority for firing Ryback before the showdown tonight. They also thank Cena for failing to save his friends like any American would. Maybe Ryback can get a job in a deli like he had in that stupid story a few weeks back. Rusev calls Ryback lucky for being fired and because the super American John Cena couldn’t get his job back. He was going to throw Ryback and twenty eight other men out of the Rumble, so here’s Ambrose to easily knock him to the floor.

Rusev vs. Dean Ambrose

Joined in progress after a break with Ambrose bulldogging Rusev. The Russian kicks at the knee (injured in the ambulance match) to take over and wraps it around the ropes. Dean counters the jumping superkick into a rollup for two and the Macho Elbow gets the same. The referee tries to stop the match due to the knee and has no choice after Dean is tied in the Tree of Woe at 4:38.

Rating: C. This was more of an angle than anything else and Ambrose loses again, like he almost always does. At least in this case it wasn’t through another pin or submission and the loss can be blamed on the referee more than Ambrose. I did like them planting the seeds of Cena vs. Rusev though because that’s the big match at Wrestlemania, especially if Rusev wins.

Here’s the Authority to moderate the contract signing. After everyone comes out, Heyman says he can’t take credit for bringing back the Authority because it was all Rollins’ plan. The plan was endorsed by Heyman and desperately needed by John Cena. What’s bad for Cena is good for Lesnar and best for business. Heyman doesn’t like the idea of a triple threat match because it could mean a double cross where Lesnar doesn’t have to lose to drop the title.

Rollins thanks Heyman for reciting the rules of ever triple threat match ever and asks if Lesnar is scared of a triple threat. Paul gets cut off because Rollins isn’t done. Seth doesn’t have the list of accomplishments that Lesnar have, but Lesnar doesn’t have the list that Seth has. He built and destroyed the Shield, won Money in the Bank, and pinned John Cena’s shoulders to the mat. Either by plan A (the match) or plan B (the briefcase), Rollins is is leaving with the title. Lesnar says he conquered Undertaker, HHH and Cena, so he’ll conquer Rollins at the Rumble.

Cena says it’s time for a beating and he’s walking out champion before signing. Rollins lists off all the plans that Cena has had but failed before the fight is on. Seth is knocked to the floor and Lesnar takes the AA through the table, only to have Rollins Curb Stomp Cena. There’s a Curb Stomp to Brock to end the show.  More importantly than all else: Rollins looked like an equal.  That cannot be understated.

Overall Rating: B. Yes that’s probably high but man was this show easier to sit through. They actually had some good matches and set up some stuff for the future, but most importantly of all they had a chance to breathe. Instead of just packing every thing they possibly could into the show, there were a few breaks in there and it makes things so much easier.

On top of that though, the best moments were from Harper and Rollins. Those two looked AWESOME tonight and they gave me new hopes for both of them. Harper can move like almost no one else in the company and Rollins looked like a star standing there in front of Lesnar. I had a really good time with this show (save for a bit too much Stephanie) and didn’t once feel like it was dragging on forever. That’s the most important step in the right direction they could have.

Results

Seth Rollins b. John Cena – Pin after a KO Punch from Big Show

New Day b. Tyson Kidd/Cesaro – Backbreaker/top rope double stomp combo

Roman Reigns b. Luke Harper – Spear

Alicia Fox b. Naomi – Ax kick

Miz b. Jey Uso – Skull Crushing Finale

Brie Bella b. Paige – Rollup

Ascension b. ???/??? – Fall of Man to #2

Rusev b. Dean Ambrose via referee stoppage

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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

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

Well the Authority is back and I’m not sure what else you’re expecting the show to focus on this week. The previous week Cena agreed to bring them back for the sake of protecting his BEST FRIEND EVER Edge, and of course the Authority just happened to be there that night. This is likely to set up Wrestlemania and the return of Sting, which should be awesome when it finally happens. Let’s get to it.

The roster was in the ring for the Authority’s big return. As in their return from last week when the really came back because of course they were in the back. Screw suspension of disbelief and all that nonsense. They actually kept this one short as the Authority’s only announcements were Rollins being added to the title match at the Rumble, John Cena Appreciation Night later, and Dolph Ziggler defending the Intercontinental Title against Bad News Barrett right now.

First up we’ll look at the PPV title match. I REALLY like Rollins being added to make it a triple threat, as we’ve seen Cena vs. Lesnar far too often now. At the end of the day, why am I supposed to care about seeing the same guys fight each other with Cena getting closer and closer every time? This also opens a door to avoid Lesnar vs. Reigns for the title at Wrestlemania. There are multiple ways out now, and that’s the best news we could have had in a long time.

Bad News Barrett took the Intercontinental Title back from Dolph Ziggler in classic Russo booking. Ziggler pinned him in less than three minutes but Kane came out to say it’s 2/3 falls, with Barrett winning the next two. This is the start of the night’s big idea and it really should have been more obvious after you know where it’s going. I’m not wild on another title change, especially after Barrett looked like a face last week. Then again, you can’t expect something like week to week continuity around here. It’s not like this is NXT or something.

All night had some great John Cena moments, most of which are the same ones you always see for something like this. I really would like to see them bust out some fresh ones every now and then.

Roman Reigns still can’t talk. I’m interested in where this is going though, because on Smackdown he cut a really goofy promo but then said of course it was hard to say and winked at the camera, acknowledging that it’s a badly scripted promo. I doubt that goes anywhere, but it’s an interesting possibility.

Bray Wyatt is still creepy.

The Ascension came out for the promo and reaction from the announcers that I’ve already written far too much about.

Roman Reigns beat Big Show via DQ in the feud that will not die. They’re still dragging this thing out and I’m scared that they won’t blow it off until Fast Lane. Does anyone even remember why they’re fighting? Was there ever a reason in the first place? It’s a boring feud and for some reason it just keeps going. It didn’t help that Show basically squashed him and then lost via DQ.

Nikki Bella beat Natalya for the second time in two weeks. I’m still just waiting for Naomi to take the title and end this ridiculous Bella domination. Or we could just cancel Total Divas already and stop these stupid stories.

Dean Ambrose is violent.

Erick Rowan lost to Luke Harper via a fast count from the Stooges. More angle advancement and thankfully we haven’t had the big showdown between these two. Then again, it’s not like WWE knows how to build a match other than to have them fight each other a bunch, nor do they seem to have any sort of a plan for or interest in Rowan.

Alicia Fox beat up Naomi in the back because Total Divas thinks it’s interesting.

Bray Wyatt beat Dean Ambrose again in an ambulance match to end their feud. As usual, WWE doesn’t know how to pace a feud. We started with a TLC match then had a bunch of street fights and they end it with an ambulance match. Why an ambulance you ask? No clue, as there’s no connection to an ambulance in their feud. They wound up feuding just because they were feuding before and that almost never makes for a good story.

On top of that, the match was nothing interesting. It’s the problem with having a feud based on violent matches: eventually you get numb to what they’re doing. Ambrose has dropped how many elbows through tables now? I don’t know why I’m supposed to care now because the table has a red cross painted on.

Miz/Damien Mizdow/Alicia Fox beat the Usos/Naomi in a six person tag. This feud has run out of steam, meaning we’re likely getting it for another six weeks. The match was nothing special and it didn’t help that it came on a long, draining show.

Ryback’s punishment is a handicap match against Rollins and Kane but his big moment is he wasn’t knocked out by the first Curb Stomp. He was however knocked out by the second Curb Stomp to give the villains the win.

Big E. beat Adam Rose via DQ when two masked men, played by Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, interfered. They just HAD to put this in? The show felt like it had been going on for a year at this point and I really could have used a breather. Air a video package or something but stop cramming everything in every chance they have. It’s ok to let the show breathe for a minute, but WWE insists on jamming in every story and angle they can. It makes the show very tiring and I don’t want to see any more at this point.

The big ending segment was the Authority praising Cena and then bringing out the other members of Team Cena from Survivor Series (the show that will not die). The Authority fired Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan for a big dramatic moment. Things picked up though as confetti and balloons fell and music played to celebrate John Cena to end the show. I’ll give them that one as the look on Cena’s face as the Authority smiled was perfect.

This show was LONG. That’s my big complaint here in case you missed it the first dozen or so times. It felt like they were cramming in every single idea they had and it makes for a very tiring show. The big angle isn’t going to mean anything long term because I’d be stunned if those three weren’t back for the Rumble. The ending scene was about breaking Cena’s spirit…..which is a really questionable idea. Why you ask?

Has Cena even mentioned Lesnar at the Rumble? We haven’t gotten one promo about the match, one reason to think that Cena is focused, or one thing that really makes me want to see him fight Lesnar again. Sure he’ll mention Brock once in awhile, but it’s always broken up by something from the Authority or Rollins. The title match is a complete afterthought at this point and that’s not what we should be having going into the Road to Wrestlemania. I can’t wait for Lesnar to lose the title so we can get back to something resembling normal around here.

Other than Cena and the Authority, this show just didn’t do anything for me. We’ve seen the same feuds and stories for so long now that it’s almost impossible to care about them again. I know we keep saying the Road to Wrestlemania will re-energize things, but nothing ever seems to change. Maybe it’s coming soon, but the Rumble needs to be a home run at this point.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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

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

Smackdown
Date: January 9, 2015
Location: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield

This is the last show on Fridays as the show moves back to the original Thursday time slot next week. We’re coming off a pretty poorly received episode of Raw where the Authority reminded us that this is their company and we’re just lucky enough to be watching it. Nothing major has been announced for tonight but you can smell the big tag match from here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Cena bringing back the Authority from last week and the Authority’s path of rage this past Monday. They added Rollins to the Royal Rumble title match and destroyed Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback before firing them all to end the show. I’m sure they’ll be back for the Rumble. This took almost four minutes.

Here’s Seth Rollins to get things going. He’s feeling good after the look on Cena’s face at the end of Raw. It was so good that we need to take another look at it, but thankfully it’s just a still here. Rollins made Cena go back on his word and now the Authority is back. If that isn’t enough, Cena is responsible for three men getting fired (Rowan got the biggest reaction of those names, which makes me think some piping in is afoot).

On top of all that though, Cena is responsible for Rollins being in the main event of the Royal Rumble. Rollins isn’t a bad guy though. He asks the crowd for ten seconds of silence while the bell is rung in the memory of Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback. At about six bells, here’s Reigns to cut things off. Seth says it’s good to see you brother but Reigns says Rollins is full of it. That would be sufferin suckatash of course. Apparently there are a lot of Sylvester fans in the audience as a brief Roman Reigns chant starts up.

Roman gets right to it and nails Seth in the jaw to put him on the floor. This brings out Big Show and Kane with the latter making Big Show/Rollins vs. Reigns, unless Reigns can find a partner. However, anyone that agrees to be his partner is going to be going against the Authority. Fan: “SANDOW!” Big Show compares his fist to the Superman Punch and promises to knock out everyone that doesn’t like it. The fact is Roman is screwed.

That ends the segment and hopefully Reigns’ talking for the night. I like Reigns quite a bit, but the guy just isn’t ready to be on a live mic at this level. There’s no shame to this as there are a lot of guys who have been unable to talk (look back to Big Show’s early WCW days where he was clearly reading off cue cards) but none that are supposed to be the next top guy. It seems that he’s put the pressure on himself to take that spot and it’s not working. Reigns spent the first year or so of his WWE run just looking menacing and saying a few words. Now he’s supposed to talk people into the building? I don’t get WWE’s logic here.

Miz and Mizdow come in to see Kane. It must feel wonderful to have the Authority back in power, even though they canceled MizTV tonight. They really canceled an idea they came up with a day earlier? It amazes me how fast they have to change things around here. Anyway, Miz and Mizdow don’t like the idea of being in a three way tag tonight. Kane agrees, so Miz asks Mizdow for some water. The water goes on Kane instead, so the triple threat is back on.

Big E. vs. Adam Rose

Raw rematch, which really didn’t need to be thrown in on Monday to give the show a chance to breathe. Cesaro and Kidd are in Rose’s corner after laying out New Day on Raw. Rose takes him down and drops some knees for two before we’re in the chinlock less than a minute in. Big E. fights up with a belly to belly but stops to wipe off his sweat. That’s really his gimmick people. The Big Ending is countered and Rose hits a nice tornado DDT for two more. The Big Ending is good for the pin a few seconds later at 2:36.

Ascension vs. Mad-1/Spartan

Those are the only names I can find for Ascension’s meal tonight. JBL’s stance on Ascension this time: they’re 3-0 so far but that doesn’t make them the Road Warriors. That right there is all he needed to say on Raw without making the team sound worthless. Ascension brings up the Road Warriors again, saying they couldn’t carry their shoulder pads. As for the Powers of Pain, Ascension’s power would cause them pain. Konor kicks I think Mad-1 around the ring to start before Viktor clotheslines him on the floor. Back in and Fall of Man is good for the pin at 46 seconds.

The Usos think Monday’s firings are unfair but neither is putting them in a triple threat title defense. They’ll do what they do though and rise to the occasion to fight for their titles.

Alicia Fox vs. Naomi

This is due to Fox attacking Naomi on Monday after Fox replaced Naomi on Total Divas. Naomi dropkicks her at the bell and hits a running corner splash. Fox comes out of the corner with a sunset flip into a rollup and throws her feet on the ropes to pin Naomi at 1:16. I miss old school cheating like that.

HHH’s sitdown interview this week focused on those guys deserved to be fired. Cena begged them to go to war but eventually brought back the Authority as he needed to. That’s the kind of guy HHH wants to go to war with, at least until he changes sides and then he’ll be on him like a rabid dog.

We look at the ambulance match from Monday.

Bray says Ambrose is just like the rest of the people who tried to climb out of a jar. Fate is a pretty girl with a sword in her hand and she’s leading him to a new destination. In three weeks, Bray Wyatt will arrive at the Royal Rumble.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust vs. Miz/Damien Mizdow

Usos are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Jey and Miz get things going but Goldust tries to tag himself in early on. Miz shoves Jey down but they go into a pinfall reversal sequence for about four near falls each. We finally settle down to Miz being caught in a headlock with Jimmy coming in off the top to keep Miz in trouble. Miz makes a quick comeback but Stardust tags himself in. A big chop puts him in the corner though and it’s back to Jey for a headbutt. Goldust gets in a cheap shot from the apron (and quite the reaction) as Cole is oddly silent.

The Usos send the other brothers and Miz out to the floor (Mizdow is kind enough to do it himself) and the big dives take them down again. Stardust adds the Falling Star but Jimmy takes him out a second later. Jey gets crotched down coming back in and we take a break. Back with Jimmy enziguring Stardust but Miz tags himself in to get the two count. Mizdow tags himself in for the Reality Check and a nice nipup (Cole: “Well HBK does have a beard.”) but Goldust tags himself in to run Mizdow over.

A jawbreaker gets Mizdow out of a chinlock but Stardust keeps him in trouble. They’re fully in meandering mode here. It’s back to Goldust for another chinlock before Stardust kicks Miz off the apron. Mizdow gets loose but there’s no partner to tag, so he dives over to tag Jey instead. A release Samoan drop puts Stardust down but Goldust saves him from the running Umaga attack. Everything breaks down and the double superkick drops Goldust but Miz makes the save. Stardust low bridges his brother by mistake and Jimmy dives on him for good measure. Back in and the Superfly Splash to Goldust retains the titles at 16:27.

Rating: C. Well I’ve seen worse but it’s still not the most interesting match in the world. The Usos have basically cleaned out the division at this point (unless you count Cesaro and Kidd), leaving only the Ascension to fight them. That would be quite the way to make JBL think more of them, and based on his comment that the Usos are becoming the best team of this generation, I could see them going there. The match was nothing all that great though as it was getting sloppy and felt about three minutes longer than it needed to.

Here’s Bad News Barrett with the good news that he’s the new Intercontinental Champion. He invites Ziggler out here right now for a rematch before remembering that Ziggler is fired. Barrett officially enters the Royal Rumble and promises to win the title at Wrestlemania.

Sin Cara vs. Bad News Barrett

Non-title and Eden calls this a match instead of a contest. Barrett hammers him down to start and we’re already in a chinlock. Cara fights up and hits a spinning springboard headbutt, only to walk into Winds of Change for two. Wasteland is countered into a rollup for two but Cara kicks him in the head, setting up a Swanton for the pin at 2:03. This has to be some kind of a bad running joke right? I often make jokes about how winning the title leads to a losing streak and that joke started with Barrett. Who thinks this is a good idea?

Barrett Bull Hammers him post match.

We get some exclusive comments from the three fired guys after Raw went off the air.

Ryback says he’s trained every day to have this job that he loves more than anything. Now the Authority is abusing its power and taken that away from him and it’s the worst feeling in the world.

Rowan says disappointment comes to mind.

Ziggler did everything he could at Survivor Series and now he’s lost everything.

Daniel Bryan is back in the ring next week.

Roman Reigns/??? vs. Seth Rollins/Big Show

Jobber entrance for Show and Rollins. Reigns has no partner at first but Dean Ambrose comes out to team with him. The look on Rollins’ face is similar to Vince when the glass shatters. The former Shield members clear the ring to start, leaving Seth to shout that Dean was taken away in an ambulance. After a meeting on the floor, it’s Rollins vs. Ambrose for the opening bell. Dean takes over to start and quickly brings in Reigns to throw Seth into the corner.

Big Show is shouting very loudly tonight and you can hear almost everything he’s saying, including “HE KNEED HIM IN THE FACE!” Show finally pulls Seth out to the floor to get him away from Ambrose as we take a break. Back with Big Show chopping Dean in the corner and kicking his leg out. Hopefully he doesn’t just copy Ryback and actually sells the injury. Rollins comes back in and steps on Dean’s hand before dropping an elbow on the leg. He takes too much time talking trash though and Dean hops from the good leg to nail Rollins in the face.

Seth is smart enough to go back to the knee though and Ambrose is still in trouble. The Stooges get in some cheap shots on the floor before Big Show just throws Dean around the ring. Dean won’t stay down though (even with Big Show telling him to stay down) and raises the good leg in the corner to stop a charge. A tornado DDT is enough to make the hot tag to Reigns as things speed up.

Roman plants Seth with a tilt-a-whirl slam and the Superman Punch takes out both Stooges at the same time. Reigns loads up the spear but walks into a chokeslam, only to have Dean dropkick Show down (with only the good leg connecting). The standing elbow drop puts the Stooges and Kane down, leaving Reigns to spear Rollins for the pin at 12:02.

Rating: C+. Dean Ambrose just stole the show by doing things exactly like he was supposed to. It’s so rare to see someone get injured and then just do their same offense before holding the injury a second later. Ambrose wrestled the second half of this match on one leg and I really liked the extra realism it brought. For a contrast, look at Ryback last week. Big Show injured his knee, but Ryback just did the same stuff, including all of his power moves, like the knee was fine. That sort of thing gets old in a hurry and seeing Dean do it the right way is so refreshing.

Overall Rating: C. This show really doesn’t mean anything as it’s the last show in the death slot of Friday prime time. I’m hoping the potential of a much larger audience on Thursday night makes Samckdown mean something again, because I’m getting tired of sitting through these shows where it’s just wasting two hours of my time. This episode wasn’t anything great but Ambrose looked good and the rest of the matches ranged from decent to too short to mean anything. In other words, this was the standard Friday episode of Smackdown: acceptable wrestling and nothing that matters.

Results

Big E. b. Adam Rose – Big Ending

Ascension b. Mad-1/Spartan – Fall of Man to Mad-1

Alicia Fox b. Naomi – Rollup with feet on the ropes

Usos b. Miz/Damien Mizdow and Goldust/Stardust – Superfly Splash to Goldust

Sin Cara b. Bad News Barrett – Swanton Bomb

Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Big Show/Seth Rollins – Spear to Rollins

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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: January 5, 2015
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Booker T.

It took awhile to get here but we’re finally into Royal Rumble season. The big story from last week (biggest out of many that is) was the return of the Authority, after a grand absence of about a month. Now that they’re back they can oppose Daniel Bryan as he tries to make it to Wrestlemania to take the World Title off the corporate backed champion. Well it worked the first time so why not now? Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap from the end of last week with Rollins setting the stage for the Authority’s return by threatening to cripple Edge. I still have issues with a simple “I respect you” making up for all of Cena and Edge’s issues.

Opening sequence. We haven’t had one of those in forever.

The roster is in the ring and around ringside to open the show. Cena would like to apologize for what’s coming, because he had to go back on his word and bring the Authority back last week. He thought he could slide in at the last second like Superman and save Edge but he just wasn’t sure. Now the Authority is back, but 2015 is going to be…..cut off by the Authority’s music. Cole: “Stephanie McMahon on the left, HHH on the right.” In case you thought HHH had become a woman you see.

Stephanie hopes we all had a great new year and HHH knows we were all begging for them to come back. He mocks the guest GM’s and praises Seth Rollins for ensuring their return. Rollins tells Cena Happy New Year but HHH has a surprise for him: he’s officially added to the WWE World Title match at the Royal Rumble, making it a triple threat with Lesnar defending against Rollins and Cena.

That brings us back to Cena, because last week he showed that he knows what’s best for business. Stephanie declares tonight John Cena Appreciation Night and Cena’s attendance is mandatory. As for everyone else, this is a new year, meaning they’ll all get what they deserve. That means Ziggler is up first and will be defending the Intercontinental Title against Bad News Barrett. I see no reason why the entire roster had to be out there, but they’re out of the opening segment at just 8:14.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett

Barrett is challenging due to Barrett having to vacate the title due to an injury. The champ nails a dropkick to start but tries to get too high in the corner and takes a kick to the ribs. We’re in a chinlock less than two minute in, meaning I don’t see this lasting long. Ziggler pops up and grabs a crucifix of all things to retain the title at 2:38.

Barrett destroys Ziggler post match and sends him into the and steps over and over. Cue Corporate Kane to say the Authority forgot to mention that this match is 2/3 falls. Ziggler is barely able to get up and Wasteland ties us up about thirty seconds in. The referee calls the trainers in before the third fall and we take a break. Back with Ziggler insisting he can continue but taking a boot to the face. Wasteland plants him again for two and Barrett puts him in the ropes for another boot.

Barrett cranks on the arms as Cole gets something as simple as Barrett’s hometown wrong (Prescott instead of Preston). We hit the chinlock on the champ but he fights out with a Stunner, followed by a swinging neckbreaker. The Fameasser doesn’t work but the Winds of Change gets two. I still really like that move. Barrett’s Bull Hammer misses and Dolph scores with a superkick for another near fall. Kane gets up on the apron and eats a superkick, only to have the Bull Hammer knock Ziggler cold to give Barrett the title back at 16:39 total, counting the breaks between the falls.

Rating: C. The match was good but it was almost all angle. Barrett getting the title back is fine and it makes him a five time champion, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up given his past experiences as champion. I’m curious to see where Ziggler goes from here, but again they protected him with the big beatdown leading to his loss. He’s looking like a bigger star now and stacking the deck against him is going to make that work as much as anything else.

We get our first John Cena great moment, starting on Smackdown, July 27, 2002 when he answered Kurt Angle’s open challenge and took him to the limit. The Undertaker endorsed him post match to really make it mean something.

Clip from last week of Big Show interfering to break up Rollins vs. Reigns. Show buried Reigns under the announcers’ table, only to have Reigns do the same to him on Smackdown. Reigns vs. Show again tonight.

Reigns doesn’t know what to expect tonight but he knows Big Show can expect a man faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall building in a single bound, and more powerful than a locomotive. Believe that.

Bray Wyatt asks Dean Ambrose about his new year’s resolution. Is it to become a better father or to get to know his imprisoned father? Well tonight he’ll get the chance, because tonight he’s going to be locked in an ambulance. Ambrose’s lunatic fringe will be forever locked inside his own nightmare. The devil is suffering and pain and tonight he walks beside Wyatt.

Here’s the Ascension for a chat. There have been a lot of dominant teams over the years, but they’ll demolish Demolition and throw the Road Warriors off the road. Oh what a rush? Oh what a JOKE. Welcome to the wasteland. JBL of course buries them by saying they couldn’t carry the Road Warriors’ bags and Booker calls them stupid.

Ascension vs. ???/???

Fall of Man in 41 seconds.

Lana and Rusev tell America to stay out of Russia’s business. How dare America disrupt Russia’s tradition and heritage? Only Vladimir Putin can bring this world to peace, and only Rusev is undefeated.

John Cena beat JBL to win his first World Title at Wrestlemania XXI.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show

Show spears him down to start and steps over Reigns’ ribs. Some kicks have the ribs in even more trouble as the announcers do their job by reminding us that Reigns’ had surgery on his abdomen to put him out of action late last year. A hard knee to the face gets to more and Big Show gets back to stepping on the stomach. We hit the bearhug before Reigns fights back, only to have the Superman Punch blocked. They head to the floor and Show hits him with the steps for the DQ at 4:19.

Rating: F. Failure, for the simple reason that this feud MUST CONTINUE! WHY IS IT CONTINUING??? How can WWE sit there and validate keeping Reigns locked up with Big Show for months on end and think that it’s going to get him over? Just look at this match too: Big Show dominates, swats away Reigns’ big move, and then loses because he beats him up too badly. This was a Big Show squash until the ending, making this match an even bigger waste of time than it looked like on paper. They’re going out of their way to annoy fans at this point.

We recap the opening segment.

Natalya vs. Nikki Bella

Rematch from last week when Natalya lost in a minute. Tyson Kidd isn’t out here after possibly costing Natalya the match last week. Cue Paige, who started a feud with Natalya last night on Total Divas. Natalya shoves Nikki down to start but can’t grab the Sharpshooter. Instead Nikki blasts her in the face as Paige and Brie are about to get into it on the floor. Paige easily destroys Brie but the distraction lets Natalya roll up Nikki for the pin in 1:23.

Paige saves Natalya from a post match beatdown.

Ambrose doesn’t have any new year’s resolution other than beating Wyatt up and throwing him into an ambulance. This match is going to be brutal and end their feud once and for all. That’s the way Dean lives his life and it’s the way he’s ending Bray’s.

The commentators offer their condolences to the family of ESPN anchor Stuart Scott as he passed away yesterday.

Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan

Noble and Mercury are guest referees. Rowan sends him into the corner to start but the referees get in his way. He nails Harper with a spinwheel kick but the referees argue over who will do the count. Rowan yells at them and eats the discus lariat for a fast count pin at 1:00.

The Stooges beat up Rowan post match, allowing Harper to hit another discus lariat.

We see Cena’s first night as an official member of the Raw roster. That’s the night he was officially anointed as the top star of the company.

The WWE Network is coming to the UK on January 19. Allegedly.

Alicia Fox comes up to Naomi in the back and says they’ll be friends after they’re on different sides in the mixed tag. Fox brags about being part of the Total Divas cast and talks down to Naomi for being off the show. She beats Naomi up and screams a lot until more of the cast comes up to stop her.

We recap Ambrose vs. Wyatt, which has been a series of hardcore brawls since Wyatt cost him the Cell match against Rollins.

Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambulance match where you have to throw your opponent in the ambulance to win. This is billed as the end of the story, which I don’t buy for some reason. They quickly fight tot he floor with Wyatt being sent over the announcers’ table and thrown into the crowd. They’re quickly up by the ambulance and Dean has a red cross table. Well of course he does. Bray comes back with a stretcher to the knees and they fight back down to ringside with Wyatt sending him knee first into the post.

Back from a break with Bray splashing Dean in the corner and tossing his hair around. I guess he’s a Kevin Nash fan. Sister Abigail is broken up and the Rebound Clothesline puts both guys down. Bray comes right back with a shot to the bad knee (because he’s smart like that) and they head to the floor again. Up to the ambulance and Dean is able to clothesline him off the stage for a nice spot. Bray sends him into the ambulance….where there’s a chair waiting. Dean pelts it at Wyatt’s head but of course the fans only want tables. I’m so sick of hearing that chant every single week.

Another clothesline drops Bray but the knee is too banged up for Dean to give it the full effect. Ambrose nails him with the back board from a stretcher before loading up the red cross table. He lays Bray on it….and looks at the ambulance. With the limp slowing him down, Dean gets on top of the ambulance and drops the elbow to drive Wyatt through the wood, with the table breaking so clean that it ruins almost the entire visual. Not that it matters as Bray hits Sister Abigail into ambulance door. Dean is still able to fight out though, only to take a slow motion Sister Abigail on the concrete to give Wyatt the win at 19:40.

Rating: B-. The violence was fun but this felt like it went on forever. I’m not really sure why am ambulance match is supposed to be the be all and end all of this feud. It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen them do a bunch of times, but at least Wyatt definitively wins the feud and can now move on to something else. Good brawl, but I’d have liked them to go on and do something new instead of the same old stuff in a different setting.

Time to insult the fans who still pay for regular pay per view.

Remember that opening segment? Well here it is again.

Usos/Naomi vs. Alicia Fox/Miz/Damien Mizdow

Another Total Divas match. The girls get things going with Naomi throwing Alicia around with ease before it’s off to Miz for a neckbreaker and chinlock on Jimmy. Mizdow gets the tag and is back out three seconds later before any contact. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone else? Miz ax handles Jimmy from the apron to the floor and it’s back to the chinlock. Jimmy finally escapes and makes the hot tag as everything breaks down. In the melee, Jimmy has to stop himself from running into Naomi, allowing Miz to roll Jimmy up with a handful of the tights for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D. This show is dying before our eyes. The story is starting to drag as there’s really no reason for these people to be fighting anymore, other than the required crutch of a rematch that they just have to have. If they wanted to make things interesting they would have Fox get the new projects that were promised to Naomi to show her that Miz was lying to wrap things up, but something tells me the Naomi part is just going to be dropped.

WWE Network song.

Ryback vs. Seth Rollins

Wait a second as Kane comes out to make it a handicap match.

Kane/Seth Rollins vs. Ryback

Ryback runs into Kane’s uppercut to start but comes back with the Thesz Press and Warrior splash for one. Off to Rollins who bails in the face of a monster like a villain should. We get a Flair slam from the top and Kane is sent outside as well as we take a break. Back with Ryback fighting out of a chinlock but eating a dropkick from Rollins. Rollins chokes a bit and Kane puts on one of the worst chinlocks I can ever remember seeing. It’s like when you’re a kid and you do wrestling moves to your friends but you don’t know what you’re doing and it looks horrible, but this is a former World Champion doing it instead.

Ryback suplexes Kane down for a breather and nails Rollins with a nice spinebuster. The Stooges offer a distraction but Rollins takes the Meat Hook anyway. Kane breaks up Shell Shock but takes it himself, only to have Seth nail the Curb Stomp. He does it again for no particular reason and gets the pin at 11:54.

Rating: D-. END THIS ALREADY! This show has been dragging on and on for the last two hours and I have no idea who thinks this is a good idea. Rollins getting the pin makes sense but if all the fans pass out due to boredom, no one is going to care. Also, well done on giving Ryback the big promo last week and then jobbing him here. You could have at least made this Rollins and Rusev to help build the match, but instead let’s just get Kane out there.

Big E. vs. Adam Rose

Rose actually takes over to start and throws Big E. into the corner before slapping on a chinlock. Big E. makes his comeback but we’ve got masked men for the DQ at 1:50.

Big E. takes a powerbomb/Blockbuster combo and the masked men are Cesaro and Tyson Kidd.

Preview of tonight’s new episode of Countdown.

Here’s the Authority to introduce Cena for John Cena Appreciation Night at 10:58. We see the ending of last week’s show again and Stephanie calls Cena her hero. HHH says he thought Cena was horrible when he debuted and then he had to sit through all those years of hustle, loyalty and respect. Last week though, Cena changed his mind when Cena brought back the Authority. This ring is all that matters to HHH and before the night is over, a lot of people are going to appreciate John Cena (it didn’t make sense when he said it either).

HHH brings out Ryback, Rowan and Ziggler, none of whom have had a good night. He recaps how everyone joined Team Cena and now it’s time for the punishments: Rowan is suspended for thirty days, Ryback is suspended for sixty days, and Ziggler….has to wait while the Authority walks up the aisle in a conference about what to do. Their decision: they’re all fired. HHH: “LET’S HEAR IT FOR JOHN CENA!” Music plays, confetti and balloons fall, and Stephanie does a little dance to end the show.

Overall Rating: F+. The plus is only due to some good action when they could get away from the stories. This show was downright infuriating as they basically forgot everything interesting and entertaining from last week and took us back to the stupid Survivor Series fallout, which has now gone on longer than the build and pay per view itself. They were packing every single thing they could into this show and making sure that the fans had as little fun as possible.

Above all else though, this show lost me with how the announcers talked about Ascension. I know the team isn’t for everyone, but this company’s philosophy seems to be “let’s put every possible thing against the new guys and see how hard they’re willing to get it over.” Then when it fails, oh well it wasn’t the company’s fault for whatever reason. The announcers referred to the new team as stupid and basically called them worthless. I’m so glad they got a year as NXT Tag Team Champions only to be shot down like this a week after they debut.

That’s just part of the downside to this show. It just went on and on and kept feeling like they were trying to get on the fans’ nerves. And for what? To set up some big moment where the Authority is defeated? Again? As in after they were defeated at Wrestlemania and then again at Survivor Series? I’m supposed to care that they lose again, only to come back a few months later like nothing ever happened? This show drove me crazy and I gave up on it about an hour in. If this is the start of the Road to Wrestlemania, we’re in for a long, long ride.

Results

Bad News Barrett b. Dolph Ziggler – Bull Hammer

Ascension b. ???/??? – Fall of Man to #1

Roman Reigns b. Big Show via DQ when Big Show used the stairs

Natalya b. Nikki Bella – Rollup

Luke Harper b. Erick Rowan – Discus lariat

Bray Wyatt b. Dean Ambrose – Wyatt threw Ambrose in the ambulance

Alicia Fox/Miz/Damien Mizdow b. Naomi/Usos – Rollup with a handful of tights

Big E. b. Adam Rose via DQ when Cesaro and Tyson Kidd interfered

Seth Rollins/Kane b. Ryback – Curb Stomp

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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

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

And I have a Mr. Fuji reference.

It’s early on January 3, 2015 and that means we’re on the Road to the Royal Rumble, meaning we’re coming up on the off ramp to the Road to Wrestlemania (I hear it’s the other exit before Parts Unknown). This past Monday on Raw, we saw Daniel Bryan announce himself as the second official entrant into the Royal Rumble match.

This will be Bryan’s big return to the ring after missing about nine months to a neck injury. He made the big announcement and the place went nuts, showing that the crowd had its early (and probably middle and late) favorite to win the match and go on to headline Wrestlemania XXXI out in California. It worked last year in New Orleans and in theory it should work again out west.

However, if you listen to the news and follow WWE, it’s become fairly clear that WWE has someone else in mind to win the battle royal. That someone would be Roman Reigns, who debuted over two years ago and still hasn’t been pinned in a singles match. To put that in context, in televised matches during the same time span, John Cena has been pinned four times in singles matches and Randy Orton fifteen times (yet people still seem to think Orton and Cena are close to equals. More on that in another one of these things soon).

Based on that stat alone, it’s clear that the company thinks something of Reigns and wants him to be something special. It’s really not hard to see why they want it either: he has the right heritage, a great look, the required number of tattoos, a really good spear, and a pretty good presence.

That being said, he’s only a few steps ahead of watching the paint dry behind a TV showing a test pattern after you got tired of watching the grass grow. It’s just not there for him yet, but for some reason WWE has decided that he MUST win the title at this upcoming Wrestlemania or for some reason he’ll never have another chance again. At the age of 29, I really don’t see this being the last chance before Reigns has to ride into the sunset, but that seems to be the mentality.

At the end of the day, Reigns just isn’t ready for the top spot in the company and it really isn’t hard to see why: he doesn’t have any real seasoning. Let’s take a look back at Reigns’ career in the WWE so far and then compare it to some of the other top guys that have been handed the torch over the years.

I had a big timeline ready, but here’s the short version: he debuts, Shield wins a lot, he and Rollins win the Tag Team Titles, he sets the Rumble record, Shield goes to war with Evolution, Shield splits, Reigns loses a few multi-man title matches, Reigns beats Orton at Summerslam, his feud with Rollins is cut short due to the hernia injury, it’s time for him to win the Rumble and headline Wrestlemania.

Did I miss anything? I just summed up his entire career in a few lines. The big thing people point to is the Rumble record, but let’s flash back to Kane’s old record. The year he set the record (2001), he went on to win the Hardcore Title at Wrestlemania X7 (praise be its name). The next year at Wrestlemania X8, which would correspond to the upcoming Wrestlemania for Reigns, Kane got rolled up by Kurt Angle for a pin in less than eleven minutes in the fourth match on the card.

Somehow though, Roman Reigns is supposed to be not just headlining Wrestlemania but becoming the new IT guy. That puts him on a short list of guys in company history, so let’s take a look at those names and see how their buildup went before they took the top spot in the company. Keep an eye on how many of them actually got the top spot at Wrestlemania because we’ll be coming back to it later.

We’ll start with Hogan, whose big moment came at a house show. This one is hard to compare to the others as he had his big moment before pay per view was a thing, but he had Rocky III in his back pocket. People around the country and even the world knew him, meaning they would want to see him wrestle in the WWF. He also had a solid run near the top of the AWA (how Gagne could validate never putting the title on him, even for a short run, will never make sense to me) and had been wrestling for seven years. In other worse, he had a background to fall back on.

The next IT guy (which is a debatable list of course) would probably be Bret Hart. He won his first title at a TV taping in November 1992, but his real ascension to the top of the company was really at Wrestlemania X in 1994. Bret slayed the giant Yokozuna and ushered in a new era of smaller guys in the WWF. I don’t think I need to go over Bret’s resume, but he was a two time Triple Crown Champion and had been wrestling sixteen years.

Shawn is basically the same way as he took the torch from Bret Hart after spending 1995 as the undisputed king of the midcard who was waiting to become the World Champion. There’s a very good case to make for him beating Diesel at Wrestlemania XI but instead he had to wait until Wrestlemania XII, over eleven years into his career.

The next really big guy is of course Steve Austin, who had debuted back in 1989 in the USWA. He won Rookie of the Year, followed by every WCW Title except for the World Title. Then he came over to the WWF and became the hottest star since Hogan himself, won back to back Royal Rumbles (just like Shawn) and finally won the title at Wrestlemania XIV.

Rock was the top guy as well, but the day he became that kind of a star is kind of debatable. For me, it was at Backlash 2000 when he dethroned HHH and won the title for the first time as a face. Even with Austin’s help, it was clear that Rock was going to be the guy, at least for awhile. He started training back in 1995 but had grown up around wrestling all his life. Again, if he doesn’t have the experience in the ring, he has a background in wrestling to grow up on.

We’ll jump ahead to Cena, whose moment is kind of hazy as well. It’s certainly not Wrestlemania XXI as that was all about Batista. For Cena, we’ll say Wrestlemania XXII against HHH (despite it really not being that great of a match). That would have been about six and a half years after he debuted in the California indies.

That brings us back to Reigns. I made sure to mention how long everyone had been in the ring, because it plays a big factor for Reigns. A lot of people overlook when he debuted: August 19, 2010, or about four and a half years ago. The only person anywhere near that short an amount of time would be Rock, and to put it mildly, Roman Reigns is not the Rock.

The other thing Reigns is missing besides all the experience is a feud that makes you want to see him. I won’t go into any detailed explanation, but Hogan had Bockwinkel, Bret had Mr. Perfect, Shawn had Jannetty and Bret, Austin had the Bret, Rock had HHH (don’t let history fool you. That stable war was background noise for Rock vs. HHH) and Cena had JBL, Jericho and Angle.

Reigns has had one big MATCH. Not a major feud mind you, but a single match, and even that wasn’t anything to remember. His character is nothing to write home about either. What exactly is Reigns’ character? A big strong guy who can do athletic things and has a good heritage. In other words, he’s Rocky Maivia with a frown and occasional smirk. The fact that Ryback, a talking gorilla, has a better connection with his fans after a single speech than Reigns has a few months before he’s supposed to take over Cena’s spot, is mind blowing.

What I don’t get is why this one title win has to be the big moment. If you look back at the other names, a lot of them didn’t have their big moment in their first title win. Bret, Rock and Cena were all on at least their second World Title reign when they took over the top spot in the company. Just winning the title, especially in today’s world where you have to win the title about nine times before you get anywhere near the top of the list (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy and Sheamus COMBINED have as many WWE World Titles as John Cena. Just think about that for a minute), a first title win really doesn’t mean anything.

Instead of giving him the title at Wrestlemania, why not have Reigns win the title at a show with less pressure on him? Say…..Summerslam? He wins the belt there, establishes a reputation for himself (because the idea of someone on his level holding a midcard title is heresy in WWE for some stupid reason) and then loses it, setting him on a path to get the title back. It worked for Daniel Bryan, though I have a feeling the actual story of making people want to see Bryan had a lot to do with it.

Yeah imagine that: a story for Reigns. That’s one of the biggest things holding him back right now. The only story he really has is he used to be part of the Shield and wants to get Rollins for breaking up the team. Ok, that’s fine. Let that be his first big story. Let Rollins win the title and have Reigns chase him for a bit. Let Reigns do SOMETHING before they just have him beat Brock Lesnar for the title.

Here’s a basic story they could go with. Reigns fights someone else at Wrestlemania (after finishing this death feud with Big Show. I won’t even get into how stupid it is for his big feud before Wrestlemania to be against Big Show, but it’s another horrible WWE idea) like….let’s get creative and say Undertaker. He spears Undertaker in half and retires the Dead Man while Bryan takes the title off Lesnar…..only to have Rollins cash in on the title. If you don’t want to go with that, have Rollins win the title with help at Summerslam and hold it until Wrestlemania XXXII where Reigns beats his old stable mate to win the belt.

Logical, timely, and you can have Reigns as a killing machine (perhaps as a heel) over the summer, running through the midcard and just destroying everyone in sight. It builds him a reputation, gets people interested in him again, and gives him more time to grow a much needed personality. Doesn’t that sound better than just spearing Brock and winning the title all of a sudden?

I don’t know why just beating someone who is likely leaving (Heaven help them if word gets out in advance that he’s leaving and Reigns has to take the belt off him there. Remember Goldberg vs. Lesnar people. It could happen again and that might be Reigns’ big moment) and has been beaten multiple times before is supposed to make Reigns this big force. Cena and HHH have beaten Lesnar since he returned and it didn’t launch them multiple notches up the card. For some reason though, that’s their big idea on how to get Reigns to the top of the company.

Again though, I ask why it has to be here. Why all of a sudden does Reigns have to be the A-list guy? I know Cena is on the downside of his career but it’s not like he’s Bockwinkel and Gagne in the 80s, hanging on fifteen years after his prime because someone trustworthy has to hold the belt. Cena is still having some of the best matches in the company and still gets reactions every time he’s out there.

Putting Reigns over for the title in the main event of the upcoming Wrestlemania is like throwing him into an Olympic swimming pool and expecting him to win a gold medal (he doesn’t even have a broken freaking neck!) when he can’t even float yet. It’s a dumb plan to get him to a self imposed goal line and him screwing up here could ruin the incredible potential he has. I have no idea why they feel the need to throw him in like this when he’s clearly not ready, but it’s one of the dumbest ideas that I’ve seen them have in a long time, which covers a LOT of ground.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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

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

Smackdown
Date: January 2, 2015
Location: Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield

So the Authority is back because WWE can’t wait more than a few weeks without having a full time heel GM running the show. Other than that, Edge and Christian are allegedly in charge tonight, despite filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against WWE on Main Event, because if there’s one thing WWE fans like more than evil authority figures, it’s the fun characters filing lawsuits. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the ending of Raw. Seth Rollins is awesome in this heel role and comes off as evil when he’s given the chance. I remember thinking that if he really wants to nail this, he’ll go to stomp Edge anyway, and that’s exactly what he did.

A somewhat subdued E & C open things up as Cole brings up the lawsuit. Edge (in a Cesaro shirt this time) says he’s played the scene from Raw in his head over and over and it’s his fault. He apologizes for what happened, but there’s nothing they can do physically to Rollins. Don’t worry though because there’s a John Cena sized missile coming after Rollins very soon. They have an amazing show planned and there’s nothing the Authority can do about it.

Before they can though, we see a limo on screen with the Stooges alone getting out. They head to the ring with Mercury holding a document. Edge suggests they climb under the bottom rope next time because it’s better suited to their height. The document is a prepared statement from the Authority, which says they didn’t know what Rollins was going to do on Monday.

The Authority officially apologizes and won’t interfere with Edge and Christian running Smackdown tonight, but the Stooges will be their official observers tonight. Edge smiles and makes his first match of the night: the Stooges vs. Ryback. The Stooges panic so Edge makes it Ryback vs. Big Show. Christian agrees that that’s a main event in any arena in the country, but thinks he can one up Edge with Rusev vs. Roman Reigns. Noble says this is going on their permanent files. Edge: “You know I don’t work here right?” He gets in their faces and says he and Christian are running things tonight, period.

Erick Rowan vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray tells Rowan to lay down because they’re not meant to fight. Erick goes right at him and drives Bray face first into the buckle but misses a charge into the post. Bray asks why Rowan is doing this to him and puts Rowan on the mat with his head against the post. He tries what looked like a clothesline and clearly didn’t touch Rowan’s head so I’m not sure what effect that was supposed to have. I know a lot of moves don’t connect but you can usually tell what they were supposed to be.

Back in and Rowan pops up because his genius IQ (remember that?) insulates his skull or something. He slams Bray around a few times and the fans buy into the false hope of the comeback attempt. Rowan slowly picks Bray up and says he’s sorry, only to eat Sister Abigail for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: D+. So is Rowan possibly going back to Wyatt? It’s better than whatever he’s doing now, which seems to be turning into a genius then forgetting about it while he jobs to Big Show. As usual, WWE builds someone up, gets bored with them and throws them out of their crib like a baby with a toy more than a week old. In this case though it was about two matches as Rowan has been treated like a joke since the day after Survivor Series.

Bray looks remorseful after getting the pin, almost like he feels sorry for having to hurt Rowan. Wyatt grabs the mic and says he gave their only begotten son. If he’s willing to do that to someone he loves, what is he going to do to Dean Ambrose on Monday? It’s been fun, but all good things must come to an end. Their story ends with Dean in the back of an ambulance. Follow the buzzards.

Edge and Christian make sure the Stooges hear them practicing the Five Second Pose. The Stooges cut it off and do it themselves in a bit that really isn’t as funny as they were shooting for.

R-Truth/Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust/Adam Rose

Rose tries to do WHAT’S UP and gets booed out of the space he’s standing in (there was nowhere near enough of a reaction for it to be out of the room). Truth even takes us back to the past with a WHOMP THERE IT IS! Adam tries the same and gets rolled up for two. Jey comes in and is quickly sent to the floor as we take a break. Back with powerslamming Jey for two. Goldust: “COME ON KEY!” At least that’s what it sounded like.

Off to Stardust to stand on Jey’s chest as the announcers go over the history of the Dusts and the Usos. They even manage to make that sound dull as there’s just no emotion in Phillips’ voice and it’s clear that he’s just reading this off a piece of paper in front of him. Go watch some Gorilla and Jesse to learn how to sound interested in something, even if there’s nothing interesting to talk about.

Jey gets popped in the mouth by Rose but knocks Adam and Stardust off the apron before backdropping Goldust out next to them. Jimmy (Uso, not Little Jimmy) comes in with some clotheslines for Rose and there goes the orange shirt. Everything breaks down and Truth dives onto Goldust, setting up the superkick and Superfly Splash to Rose for the pin at 8:20.

Rating: C-. So I guess it’s back to the Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust because almost a year of the same idea isn’t enough. I still can’t believe how badly they screwed up Rose. He should have had a job for years from just coming out to start a house show, getting the fans to dance and beating a low level heel (“This isn’t some party! This is business!”) in two minutes before dancing away. In other words, he should have been the PG version of the Godfather. Instead he’s this: a guy that feuds with a Bunny and R-Truth over a battle of rollups. Stop making things more complicated than they should be.

The Rosebuds try to go after Truth and the Usos and are dispatched with ease. The Usos steal their hats and it’s time to dance.

We look back at Bryan’s announcement from Raw. That’s such good news to hear as he’s worked so hard to get where he is and now he gets to keep going.

Ryback vs. Big Show

We get a clip of Ryback’s big speech on Monday where he talked about his career, including the bad leg injury he suffered back in 2010. The fans look so bored as Big Show comes through the curtain. Show easily shoves Ryback out to the floor and drags him back in by his head. Back in and Ryback drops him with some middle rope ax handles, but unfortunately that’s the extent of Randy Savage’s influence on this match.

We take a break and come back with both guys trading clubbing blows until Big Show drops him with a boot. Show goes after the leg, showing some thinking after Ryback mentioned the ankle and leg injuries almost ending his career. He takes Ryback’s knee pad down and lifts him up by the leg to stay on it. Off to an old school Lasso From El Paso but Ryback is right next to the ropes. I miss that hold but it wasn’t as good as the Haas of Pain. Big Show slams him down, making sure that the leg hits the ropes.

Ryback sends him out to the floor for a breather before firing off some shoulder blocks. A Thesz Press and Warrior Splash have Show in trouble but Ryback has to limp for a bit to pretend he knows how to sell. Doing your usual offense and then limping isn’t the same thing as selling an injury. The chokeslam is countered into a spinebuster but the Russian flag drops to break up the Meat Hook. The distraction lets Big Show KO Ryback to the floor for the countout at 11:30.

Rating: D+. This was a decent enough power match until Ryback just popped up and stopped selling the leg until he got his offense in. Big Show basically wasted his time on the leg, especially with the ending they went with. That being said, it wasn’t the worst idea in the world as they kept both guys looking strong, and you know Big Show isn’t going to lose a match when he can knock someone out and look dominant, because Big Show exists to be pushed as hard as he can.

JBL tries to save Ryback by saying he wasn’t completely out cold from the KO. In other words, he was starting to move his limbs at six. That’s his consolation prize. Rusev comes after Ryback but takes a Meat Hook to knock him outside again.

Christian is in the bathroom so Jamie Noble goes in to keep an eye on him. A woman screams and Edge says that was the women’s bathroom. COMEDY!

Cesaro/Tyson Kidd vs. Los Matadores

Thankfully they haven’t used the rumored name The Masters Of The WWE Universe for Kidd and Cesaro yet. They say they’re glad the Authority is back and want the titles in an inset interview. Fernando runs into Kidd’s elbow to start and his suicide dive hits Cesaro’s uppercut. Back in and Kidd hammers away before it’s off to Cesaro for a chinlock. Not the most exciting stuff in the world here.

They pick things up a bit with the Cesaro Swing into the dropkick from Kidd. That’s a really good spot when they can time it right. Kidd gets dropkicked out of the air and the lukewarm tag brings in Diego. Everything breaks down and Diego gets caught in a Cesaro powerbomb with Kidd adding a Blockbuster for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: D+. Kidd and Cesaro had some good double team spots but there aren’t enough of them to carry a match. Los Matadores were fun for awhile but they’ve dropped down to what people were expecting them to be when the gimmick was introduced: standard high flying jobbers that might get the crowd going for a few moments before losing. Dull match.

Dean Ambrose vs. Curtis Axel

The match never starts as Ambrose goes after Axel before the bell and lays him out with Dirty Deeds.

Ambrose grabs the mic and walks up the ramp, saying he hopes Bray is listening. They have the first ambulance match in the history of Monday Night Raw to kick off 2015. Dean walks up to an ambulance next to the ramp and promises to run Bray over, then break all of his fingers, then run him over again, then attach him to the ambulance and drag him around the arena. Then he’ll FINALLY put him into the ambulance and drive him away for a Happy New Year.

Ascension says first it was Hawk and Animal, then it was Ax and Smash, but now it’s Viktor and Konnor. I like that they’re acknowledging that they’re a modern version of the old school power tag team.

We look at the end of Raw again. Lesnar standing off in the background and looking annoyed intrigues me.

Ascension vs. ???/???

Ascension has gained 21lbs combined since Raw as they came in at a laughable 480 there and 501 here. Viktor fires off elbows in the corner to jobber #1 before it’s off to the 280lb Konnor, allegedly putting Viktor at 221. I have a problem believing he’s within a few pounds of CM Punk’s listed weight. After beating on #1 some more, the Fall of Man ends Jobber #2 at 1:20.

Edge and Christian are in the Authority’s office when the Stooges come in and say they need to get it ready for the Authority’s return. Is there a reason they’re setting up an office in Virginia when Raw is being held in Corpus Christi, Texas? The Stooges leave and the Canadians draw on the Authority’s Muscle and Fitness cover. This needed more Slick references.

Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

Non-title. Feeling out process to start with Rusev getting the first blows in as he stomps Reigns down in the corner. They’re being very liberal with the piped in chants again tonight. Reigns nails a quick clothesline to put Rusev on the floor and we take a break. Back with Reigns fighting out of a front facelock and snapping Rusev’s throat over the top rope. Rusev takes him down to the mat with a waistlock and the fans just go silent. The Russian mixes things up with a chinlock and the release fall away slam for two. Yet another chinlock makes me groan out loud.

Reigns blocks a ram into the buckle but Rusev throws him out to the floor. Back in and they shove each other a few times until Reigns nails some running clotheslines. A dropkick stops the Superman Punch but Reigns nails the second attempt. Reigns has to throw Rusev back inside and here’s the required Big Show interference. He doesn’t touch Reigns but eats a Superman Punch so we’re not done yet. The jumping superkick gets two but Reigns pops up with the spear, drawing in Big Show for the DQ at 13:12.

Rating: D. If this is the best they’ve got for Wrestlemania, they’re in big, big trouble. Reigns isn’t even bad in the ring or anything. He’s just REALLY boring a lot of the time, but to be fair a lot of this match was dull because of all the chinlocks and facelocks Rusev kept using. Reigns needs a lot more seasoning and a lot more character development before he’s ready for anything resembling a big time main event. There’s no emotion behind him and the best main events of Wrestlemania, or any major show for that matter, are usually built on the emotion the stars bring to the match.

Another thing working against this match was how obvious the ending was. The only question was whether it would be Ryback, Big Show or both guys interfering to cause the DQ. In other words, we sat through a boring match with an obvious ending to continue a feud that not a lot of people want to see to end a really dull show. Happy New Year people.

Post match Big Show spears Reigns and loads up a chokeslam, only to be slammed face first into the table. Show loads up another spear but misses and goes flying over the announcers’ table. Reigns turns the table over on Show to finally end the night.

Overall Rating: D-. I don’t know how fair it is to criticize Reigns at the moment because he’s stuck in one of the least interesting feuds I can remember in a very long time. This feud should have lasted all of two weeks but somehow they’re stretching it into the new year and it dies a little more every time they drag it out. We’ve seen Big Show built up as a monster for the better part of twenty years now and the story of someone bringing him down is the same almost every time. Why should we care more about it with Reigns instead of everyone else that has done this story over the years?

Other than that….dang this show was dull. The big problem here is they’re stuck in a holding pattern until Monday when the Authority is back full time, making tonight just a placeholder show until things really pick up on Monday, complete with slow speaking twenty five minute opening speeches with a bunch of “I told you so’s”. The wrestling was nothing special and felt like a waste of my time for the most part.

That being said, there’s a good deal of hope for the future as the Rumble field is shaping up and Lesnar is wide open after Cena. It’s Wrestlemania season and hopefully that means they’re going to put in some efforts and fresh ideas instead of the same tired old feuds and stories. Maybe this is the last of the bad shows for awhile, but I’m not thrilled with what they’ve done with Smackdown in the last few weeks. This show was a disaster and really felt like a chore to sit through rather than something I was supposed to enjoy.

Results

Bray Wyatt b. Erick Rowan – Sister Abigail

Usos/R-Truth b. Adam Rose/Goldust/Stardust – Superfly Splash to Rose

Big Show b. Ryback via countout

Cesaro/Tyson Kidd b. Los Matadores – Powerbomb/Blockbuster combo to Diego

Ascension b. ???/??? – Fall of Man to #1

Roman Reigns b. Rusev via DQ when Big Show interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

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

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

Looking at Daniel Bryan and the Authority returning and their potential impact on Wrestlemania XXXI.

http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-go/32979/

Happy New Year.

We’ll end with the future: Dean Ambrose.

Remember that this is Ambrose, not Shield.

Ambrose got started in 2004 under the name of Jon Moxley. Here he is in an early jobbing appearance on Velocity, January 21, 2006.

Brad Taylor/Jon Moxley vs. MNM

MNM are Smackdown Tag Team Champions but this is non-title of course. Moxley, with hair longer than Rollins’, eats an elbow to the jaw to start. Everything breaks down and Taylor is thrown to the floor. Mercury drops him throat first across the barricade and adds a huge clothesline back inside. All MNM so far. The breakdancing legdrop has Taylor in trouble but Nitro has to stop for some posing. A tag finally brings in Moxley who is knocked on the back of his head by a dropkick. The Snapshot gives Mercury the easy pin in a long squash.

Rating: D. Dull stuff here but what else are you expecting on a five minute squash on the C list Saturday night show? Moxley didn’t get to show off much here but only a year and a half into the business he really didn’t have much to show off at this point anyway. It’s always interesting to see a jobber who becomes a bigger deal than the stars in the match and that’s what we had here.

Moxley would head to perhaps his most famous haunt: Heartland Wrestling Association in Cincinnati. Here he is on HWA TV in February 2007.

Jon Moxley vs. BJ Whitmer

Feeling out process to start as they trade wristlocks with the commentator running down upcoming house shows. Whitmer cranks on the arm as we hear the other commentator call Puerto Rico a foreign country. A headscissors from Whitmer gets us to a standoff as they’re not really going out of first gear yet. Whitmer hits a quick running knee to the face and a running clothesline puts Moxley out on the floor. That goes a bit better for him actually as he whips Whitmer into the apron and barricade to take over for the first time.

They head inside again with a Jon nailing a backbreaker for two. As is his custom, Moxley goes a little big insane by slapping on a headscissors but cranking on the leg as well for kind of an inverted STF. Back up and Whitmer rips off some chops before a big spinebuster gets two. Jon fights out of what looks like a Rock Bottom and nails a powerbomb into a Liontamer, sending BJ crawling to the ropes. He’s fine enough to superplex Moxley down though before hitting an exploder suplex (I’m guessing that’s what he was going for earlier) but a group called Five Most Wanted comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This really didn’t do much for me, but to be fair Moxley was much better on the mic at this point anyway. I’ve never gotten the appeal of Whitmer. He’s been in ROH for the better part of ever and has had some ok matches, but I’m not sure why he’s been around as long as he has. I really don’t have much to say on this one if you can’t tell.

I’m not entirely sure but I believe this match took place at an HWA house (bar actually) show on March 7, 2007.

Raven vs. Jon Moxley

Before the match, Moxley says he only plays by his rules so this is Jon Moxley Rules, which I’m guessing means anything goes. Raven comes out and asks if that’s what Moxley considers a promo. A quick poll says the people are here to see Moxley take a beating. This is officially a Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, which is yet another name for hardcore/weapons match.

Moxley takes him into the corner a few times to start and Raven pauses to grab the mic again. He calls that mildly intimidating and tells Moxley not to do that again. Now Jon wants a handshake but Raven is ready for his kick to the ribs. They head outside and thankfully there’s a spotlight there to make up for the horrible lighting. Raven takes him over the barricade but the cameraman seems to stumble as we lose sight of the guys in the match.

We catch up with Raven choking him on the ground before taking Moxley back to ringside. A clothesline knocks Moxley out of a chair but he comes back with a low blow inside. He shouts NEVERMORE and stomps Raven down for two and it’s time for a chair. Moxley has a seat and puts on the sleeper, only to release early ala Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania III. Raven crotches him on top and gets all fires up with a bunch of left hands and a discus lariat, only to have Moxley throw him into the chair for two. Raven blocks the drop toehold, pelts the chair at Jon and plants him with the Raven Effect for the pin.

Rating: C. I liked this better than I was expecting to as it’s fascinating seeing a veteran like Raven walk Moxley through this match. Yeah it’s stuff we’ve seen before from Raven, but the stuff setting this up was probably an invaluable lesson for Jon. Raven has been around forever and has a great mind for the business, so it was clear that he was able to show these guys a lot of new ideas. That’s always good for guys like Moxley and other guys early in their careers and this worked well enough as a result.

Moxley would actually get a TNA tryout match on November 11, 2008 before an Impact taping.

Lamar Braxton Porter vs. Jon Moxley

Porter is a doctor character (specializing in PAIN) and is a big power guy with a beard. From what I can tell he wrestled down in FCW in 2010/2011 under the name Cable Jones on a developmental contract. Anyway he shoves Moxley around with ease to start and Jon bails to the corner. Moxley’s waistlock doesn’t get him anywhere and Porter chokes him in the corner.

Jon, a very cocky guy here who seems to be the default face, gets pounded down in the corner again before a spinebuster plants him. Porter misses a charge in the corner and gets slammed down, setting up a missile dropkick for two. An STO backbreaker drops Jon and sets up a swingout Rock Bottom for two more. Back up and Moxley plants him with a DDT for the pin.

Rating: D+. You know Moxley wasn’t much to see in his earlier days. I can see why Porter got a shot in FCW though as he’s a big, strong guy with a god looking beard. That being said, I can also see why these guys didn’t get on in TNA. It wasn’t much of a match and neither guy really stood out here with just back and forth stuff and Porter using his power game. I’ve watched about five Moxley matches now and he hasn’t done anything that stands out from the crowd.

I’m taking a guess on the date of this one and I have no information about it.

Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson

The show looks to be in a church as there are very high ceilings and lights everywhere. Danielson flips out of a test of strength and spits in Moxley’s face to send Jon out to the floor. Back in and Moxley grabs a headlock and they hit the mat for a wrestling sequence. It’s Danielson taking over (shocking I know) with an armbar while sitting on Moxley’s head for good measure.

Danielson does that PAINFUL looking move where he has one arm pinned down and bends the other so that it touches the mat. Back up and Moxley elbows him in the face to take over as the match slows down a bit. The camera shot goes wide for some reason, making it a lot harder to tell what’s going on. Moxley chokes away in the corner and then hammers away in the opposite corner.

In what has been a recurring problem for him, Moxley takes way too long going up top and gets superplexed right back down. Bryan makes his comeback and hits a quick snap suplex, followed by the Swan Dive for two. We hit a nice pinfall reversal sequence for a series of two counts before Jon suplexes him down for another near fall. Moxley tries it again like a villain….rarely does actually, but gets caught in Cattle Mutilation for the submission.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad and you can see Moxley starting to get the in ring work down. He still doesn’t have a varied offense but that would come soon enough. Danielson was on fire at this point and lighting up the indies (I say this point in a broad scope) and would have been able to get a good to great match out of anyone. Probably the best Moxley match so far.

We’ll head to a co-promoted show from Dragon Gate USA/Evolve on July 23, 2010.

Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee

You probably know Lee (in the same attire he wears today) better as Luke Harper. Moxley charges at the bell but gets shoved away and chopped HARD. A big boot drops Moxley again and Lee plants him with a butterfly suplex. Moxley can’t piledrive him though and gets kicked out to the floor. Total dominance so far. Things actually work a bit better for Moxley on the floor as he sends Lee into the post and bites his face.

Brodie comes back by knocking him up against the barricade and chopping Moxley into the crowd. Jon gets that crazy Ambrose look in his eye though and dives back over before choking Lee to the floor. Back in and Moxley gets caught in a half nelson suplex, only to fire off slaps to the face. They slug it out with that REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING non selling of shots to the face before a double clothesline puts both guys on the floor. Both guys bring in chairs and it’s a double DQ befor eanyone does anything with them.

Rating: C+. Now THIS is more like it. These guys beat the tar out of each other and you can see the characters they would be best known for in WWE shining through. Moxley is finding his niche as the off his rocker brawler who can cut awesome promos on the side. The same is true for Lee, as he’s basically the same guy here as he is today as Harper.

Now we get to the matches I’ve been wanting to do since this summer: Dean Ambrose’s series with William Regal. The idea here is simple: Ambrose knows that he’s a villain just like William Regal and has spent months trying to get a match with him. They would FINALLY have their showdown on FCW TV, November 6, 2011. This feud was made by the promos as Ambrose just went completely insane on Regal while Regal kept his calm. One day Ambrose attacked him though and Regal snapped, turning into the evil man that Ambrose knew was still inside him. Regal thanked him for this and the match was set.

William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose

Regal receives a very respectful ovation from the fan. Neither guy is interested in shaking hands as they’ve got a lot of time to work with here. Regal drops him in the corner and stomps away while arguing with the referee as only a villain could. A bunch of forearms drop Ambrose and Regal’s facial expressions here are driving this to another level. You can tell how much he’s relishing being evil again because it’s his nature as a human.

Ambrose gets in a shot to the arm and grabs a standing armbar before Dean forearms him out to the floor. Regal sends him back first onto the apron though and we take a break. Back with Ambrose on his back but crawling away. You might even say backing up in a defensive position. That’s fine with Regal who grabs the arm and bends Dean’s pinkie finger back before driving elbows into the face.

Regal takes him into the corner and pulls Dean’s arm through the turnbuckle pad to tie him into the corner. He drives knees into the exposed arms until the referee has to try to get him out. The distraction lets Dean come back with a running clothesline with the good arm for two. Dean chokes with his shin in a move Regal used earlier on to keep up the psychological game. Regal reverses a triangle choke into a Regal Stretch attempt (cranking on the good arm since Dean can’t use the injured one to escape) but Dean gets to the ropes before the hold is on full.

It gets even worse for Ambrose as Regal is all fired up now. He takes Dean back to the floor and pins the arm between the steps and the ring before kicking the steps into the post. Back in and Regal just hammers Dean across the face with forearms. Ambrose tells him to bring it on so Regal rips at his face. A pair of exploder suplexes is only good for two and Dean is smiling. With the left arm hanging, the Knee Trembler is enough to end Ambrose.

Rating: B+. This was almost all psychology here and it worked wonderfully. Dean tried a monster but pushed him to a level he never should have gone near, sending Regal to pure evil. It was more than Ambrose could handle and Regal had to finish him off with a running knee to the head of a basically unprotected man. Great stuff and well worth checking out to learn how to be a heel.

We’ll wrap up the developmental time with this match that is likely headlining a major pay per view someday. From FCW TV on January 12, 2012.

Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Reigns is known as Leakee here but that looks better as a title. The winner gets a title shot next week. Ambrose stops to look at William Regal, who he’s been having a long feud with at this point. We’ll get there eventually. Leakee pulls Dean down as Regal talks about how glad he is that his children don’t have evil in their eyes. Rollins gets double teamed but Leakee slams both of their faces into the mat to take over.

Now it’s Leakee getting double teamed as we take a break. Back with Leakee still being double teamed as Regal talks about how great it is for he and Ambrose to be evil but he’s trying to control his hatred. Ambrose rolls Rollins up for two before getting sent to the floor. Leakee knocks Rollins out of the air for two but Ambrose takes Leakee down into the Regal Stretch as part of an obsession with getting a rematch.

Leakee makes the ropes but Rollins springboards in with a clothesline to Dean. The low superkick sends Leakee to the floor but Dean counters another attempt into a wheelbarrow slam for two. Ambrose misses a knee trembler (Regal’s finisher) and Rollins hammers away, only to miss the curb stomp.

Instead he dives through the ropes to take out Leakee before heading back inside to slug it out with Dean. Regal admits that he knows Ambrose will be the end of him as Ambrose turns Rollins inside out with a clothesline. Leakee comes in and Samoan drops both guys at the same time before Checkmate (a running bulldog, a terrible finisher for him) ends Ambrose for the pin.

Rating: C+. All this really did was make me want to watch Ambrose vs. Regal in a match that tears the house down and shows more emotion than anything WWE has done in years because they’re both old school workers like that. The match itself was your usual triple threat. Leakee changing finishers was the best idea he could have had.

Ambrose wasn’t done with Regal though and spent months trying to get a rematch. They finally had their showdown on the final episode of FCW TV on July 15, 2012.

William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose

Feeling out process to start with Regal reaching for the bad arm. An early key lock takes Ambrose (who has a hairy chest here) down and Regal rams the arm into the mat. He stays on the arm by driving in knees and bends the fingers around again. Back up and Ambrose tries to escape in the corner but Regal trips his leg to keep control. He stays on the arm as Dean just can’t get away from him. Regal is wrestling more of a match here instead of going after revenge.

Ambrose finally escapes and shouts that Regal is going to have to take the arm home with him. That’s fine with Regal who takes him down into a crossface chicken wing on the mat but Dean bites the hand to escape. Regal gets even angrier and fires off knees to the face, followed by an exploder suplex. They head outside with Regal putting the arm between the steps and ring again. He doesn’t crush it though but rather steps on Dean’s head to get back to the apron before pulling on the free arm.

The referee breaks it up so Dean unties the bottom buckle as we take a break. Back with Ambrose finally sending him into the post to get a breather. Dean stomps away and the left arm is far too healthy so soon. Regal is stunned from the bad shot into the post and the referee has to check on him.

A series of palm strikes to the head have Regal in trouble and Dean rips the buckle pad off. He drives a bunch of knees into the side of the head, sending Regal’s ear into the buckle. The ear is busted open and a trainer comes out to check on him, but Regal charges across the ring with a forearm. A bunch of referees come in and the match is stopped due to the injury.

Rating: B-. Good but not on the same level of the first match. They needed a bigger ending than what they had here though because the match ending with Regal making a comeback isn’t very powerful, but at least they had an idea here. You can see the anger in Ambrose though and that’s all you needed later on.

After the match Ambrose puts him in the Regal Stretch until everyone breaks it up. Regal looks at him and extends his head so Dean can finish him off. Ambrose nails the Knee Trembler to knock him senseless to end the show and FCW. That’s the way the match should have ended.

Ambrose would of course debut as a member of the Shield at Survivor Series 2012. Here’s one of his earliest singles matches in WWE on Smackdown, April 26, 2013.

Undertaker vs. Dean Ambrose

This is quite the rub for Ambrose. Apparently HELL NO isn’t here tonight so Undertaker is on his own. Ambrose takes it to the corner to start which is about the dumbest thing you can do against undertaker. As expected, Taker launches Dean into the corner and pounds away before hitting the apron legdrop. Back in and Taker misses a big boot in the corner, crotching himself in the process.

Ambrose sends him to the floor and goes off on the big man before sending him into the apron. Back in and Dean pounds away even more with that cocky/psycho look on his face. After a quick two count, Dean pounds on Taker’s jaw and yells about justice. He shouts a bit too much though and gets grabbed around the throat. Taker tries to run the ropes but gets caught with a running knee to the ribs. That gets him nowhere though as Taker snaps off a chokeslam but he has to fight off Shield. Ambrose grabs a DDT for a VERY close two but walks into the Hell’s Gate for the tap out at 4:40.

Rating: C+. You want to talk about a rub, look at what you just saw here. The Shield debuted just six months ago and now one of them is fighting the Undertaker in the main event of Smackdown. Ambrose had Taker in trouble too and never once looked like he was in over his head. This is one of the best initial pushes I’ve ever seen and is showing no signs of slowing down at all.

Time for some gold at Extreme Rules 2013.

US Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dean Ambrose

Kofi is defending. Rollins and Reigns walk back up into the crowd to keep this as an actual one on one match. Feeling out process to start with Kofi trying a quick Trouble in Paradise but Dean grabs the rope. A hiptoss sends Ambrose down and Kofi pounds away in the corner. Dean comes out of the corner with a clothesline and drops an elbow for one. With Kofi against the ropes, Ambrose hits a hard dropkick for a near fall. Ambrose talks trash and puts on a crossface chicken wing of all things, complete with a grapevine.

Kofi fights up and sends Ambrose face first into the buckle to escape before dropping him with a dropkick. Boom Drop connects but Ambrose backs away before Trouble in Paradise can launch. SOS gets two on Dean and Kofi goes up top, only to be crotched down and caught with a butterfly superplex for two.

Ambrose charges into a kick to the face in the corner and there’s a top rope cross body for two for the champion. Dean goes to the apron and there’s Trouble in Paradise but it knocks Ambrose to the floor. Kofi throws him back in for two but another Trouble in Paradise only hits ropes. The bulldog driver gives us a new champion at 6:45.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. Kofi was given the title to drop it to someone like Ambrose and he did that just fine. Kingston is the kind of guy who can bounce back no matter who he loses to so he’ll be just fine. This should be the first of many titles for Shield and it’s a very good sign that they’re getting gold this soon.

Here’s a rare defense of the title at Night of Champions 2013.

US Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose

Ziggy beat Ambrose via DQ on Friday to get this shot. Feeling out process with Ziggler trying to speed things up, only to have Dean grab the rope. Ziggler gets two off a dropkick and there are the ten elbow drops. They tumble out to the floor and Dean takes over before heading back inside for a knee in the back and some face rubbing into the mat. We hit a reverse chinlock followed by a regular chinlock until Ziggler fights up and gets two off a sunset flip.

They trade rollups for two each and Ziggy goes to the middle rope, only to be knocked down so Dean can slowly rake his back. A superplex gets two for the champion so Dean flips over the top and goes up but Ziggler catches him in a top rope X Factor for two. Ambrose’s full nelson is countered into a rollup for two and Dean goes to the corner.

A Stinger Splash and ten punches set up a clothesline for two on Ambrose and it’s off to the sleeper. Dean easily suplexes his way to freedom and a near fall but gets caught in the Fameasser for a close two. Dean’s bulldog driver is countered into a rollup for two but the second attempt is good for the pin to retain the title at 9:54.

Rating: C+. I liked this one more than I thought I would. This is the kind of match the show needed: a fast paced, back and forth match with both guys looking good. A clean win over a former world champion is nothing but good for Dean and the match was a nice pickup as well. Good stuff here.

Ambrose had a major match at the 2013 Slammys on Raw, December 9, 2013.

CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose

Rollins and Reigns are staying at ringside. Punk takes him down into a headlock followed by a wicked looking armbar to start. Dean fights up and takes Punk over to the rope, only to be taken down with a hammerlock. Back up and Punk tries a spinning cross body off the ropes but dives into a gutbuster instead. Dean stomps away at the injured ribs and drops an elbow for two before being Punk’s back around the ropes.

Punk has his face shoved into the mat for two and we hit the reverse chinlock. CM fights up and sends Dean chest first into the corner before throwing Ambrose outside to get a breather. The suicide dive takes Ambrose out but Punk has to keep an eye on the rest of the Shield as we take a break.

Back with Ambrose holding a headlock but getting belly to back suplexed down. Punk misses a dropkick and as per wrestling logic, he hurts himself despite landing the same way he would have had the move connected. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Ambrose and some forearms keep him in trouble. The knee in the corner sets up the Macho Elbow for two but Ambrose comes right back with a butterfly suplex.

Punk’s top rope cross body is rolled through for two but he comes back with the high kick for two of his own. The fans think this is awesome. Ambrose knees him in the rubs but sends Punk to the floor where Shield gets in his face for some reason. The other two members leave and Punk hits a quick GTS for the pin at 17:07.

Rating: B. As I said on Smackdown: this was exactly what you would expect from Punk vs. Ambrose when they get time. I wish they would let someone else lose the fall to Punk, but at least this time we got some storyline development as a result. Very solid TV match here as anyone would have expected.

Ambrose had a long feud with Cesaro, inlcuding this match on Smackdown, July 25, 2014.

Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose

No DQ after Ambrose got DQ’ed on Monday. Ambrose stomps him down in the corner and wants to know who sent Cesaro out here. He pulls out some Singapore canes and chairs but Cesaro kicks him off the apron. Cesaro gets a cane of his own but only hits the post, allowing Ambrose to take him over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. A box of something goes onto Cesaro’s head but he comes back with a cane shot to the chest as Ambrose dives off the announcers’ table.

We take a break and come back with Cesaro holding a cane over Dean’s face. He sets up two chairs and slams Dean onto the chairs, which don’t move. Back to the cane over the face before Cesaro nails him in the bad shoulder a few times. Dean says bring it and catches the next swing before hitting the rebound clothesline. Now it’s Ambrose’s turn to hammer away with the cane.

That’s not enough for Dean though as he sets up two chairs back to back but neither guy can nail a suplex. Instead Dean picks one up and suplexes Cesaro through the other chair for two. A middle rope chair shot to Cesaro’s arm has him in trouble but he slams Dean onto a chair for a near fall of his own. They head outside and Dean nails a suicide dive before throwing about ten chairs into the ring.

Ambrose throws Cesaro back in but here’s Rollins to jump Dean. It doesn’t seem to matter as Dean clotheslines him into the crowd but gets crotched on the top rope by Cesaro. A BIG superplex puts both guys down onto the pile of chairs for two and Cesaro is shocked. He’s so shocked that Ambrose grabs a small package out of nowhere for the pin at 11:39 shown of 14:39.

Rating: B-. Take two guys and let them beat each other up for about fifteen minutes. Where could that go wrong? Ambrose is such an offbeat character and he’s perfect for a match like this. Cesaro can wrestle any style and fits in perfectly in a brawl. That superplex looked awesome too.

The next major feud was with Seth Rollins after the Shield split up. Rollins crushed his head against some cinder blocks and the war was on. The blowoff was inside the Cell at Hell in a Cell 2014.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Dean is out first and throws a bunch of chairs and some bags in the ring before climbing the Cell. Rollins comes out but doesn’t want to go up so he sends the Stooges up instead. They go up and get the beating you would expect, only to have Rollins sneak up and destroy Ambrose with the Stooges’ help. There hasn’t been a bell yet. They slowly climb halfway down the side of the cage and we get the first major spot of the match as they ram each other into the Cell and fly through the announcers’ tables.

Both guys are put on stretchers as the match stops. Dean realizes what’s going on though and gets off his stretcher. He goes after Rollins and drags him into the Cell to officially start things off. Dean busts out some duct tape but blasts Seth over and over again with a chair instead of using it. He tries the screwdriver to Seth’s face but Rollins snaps his throat across the top to escape. Dean pops back up and dropkicks Rollins into the Cell to take over again. They get back inside so Dean can clothesline Seth out to the floor.

The suicide dive sends Seth into the Cell wall and Rollins is almost dead. Back in again and Dean piles up chairs but gets suplexed onto them instead. Dean gets right back up and puts Seth across a table at ringside for a middle rope elbow ala Cactus Jack. He rubs Seth’s face into the steel but Kane pops up with a fire extinguisher to blind Ambrose. Seth powerbombs Dean through a standing table against the Cell and they go back inside again.

The Curb Stomp gets two and Seth is frustrated. He goes outside for the briefcase but instead just destroys Dean with chair shots. Rollins puts him head first on the briefcase but Dean counters with Dirty Deeds, only to have Seth escape with a kick to the head. Dean comes back with a Rebound clothesline and a briefcase shot to the face for an even closer two.

Now it’s cinder block time with Dean loading up a Curb Stomp of his own but we’ve got Wyatts. Well at least Bray speaking in tongues and now a lantern in the ring. Smoke fills the ring and we have what looks like a ghost in the middle of it. Bray pops up and nails Ambrose as the lights go out again. Back up with Bray spider walking over to Ambrose and laying him out with a release Rock Bottom to give a shocked Rollins the pin at 13:48.

Rating: B+. It’s a good fight but the ending hurts it a bit. This is probably the best option they could have gone with as you don’t want Rollins losing but you also don’t want Dean to lose all of his heat. Ambrose vs. Wyatt should be good but I would have liked this feud to have a more definitive ending. Unfortunately that wasn’t really possible and this puts Bray back in the spotlight with a feud he could actually win.

Well you know who’s next. We’ll wrap it up at Tribute to the Troops 2014 in one of the only matches Ambrose won of the feud.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

This is a Boot Camp match, meaning a military themed street fight. Sgt. Slaughter does the introductions for old times’ sake. Ambrose comes out in a camouflage hat to really suck up to the fans. It’s a brawl to start of course with Dean hitting his dropkick against the ropes. Bray comes back with a slam as we’re waiting on the weapons to come into play. Dean comes back with what looked like a bulldog to send Bray outside, setting up the suicide dive.

They head to the camouflaged posts before Dean hits him with what looked like a tool box. Since there aren’t enough weapons in the ring, Dean goes underneath to find some chairs, one of which he wedges in the corner. Bray comes back with a kendo stick shot and hammers away on Dean’s ribs. Some right hands get two on Ambrose as the announcers debate G.I. Joes.

We take a break and come back with Dean fighting out of a cravate but eating a right hand to the face. A big kendo stick shot gets two and Bray slowly kicks away. Bray misses a big shot though and Dean takes the stick away. Wyatt seems to like the idea but doesn’t like the beating Ambrose gives him as much. A White Russian legsweep and middle rope elbow with the chair get two for Dean so he starts looking for more toys. He picks a table but takes too long setting it up, allowing Bray to Rock Bottom Ambrose through the table for two.

Wyatt busts out another table but stops to get in Slaughter’s face, allowing Dean to get a breather. Slaughter takes off his boot as Dean comes back with the rebound clothesline. The steel toed boot comes into the ring and goes upside Bray’s head to knock him onto the table. Dean heads up top for the elbow through the table for the pin at 14:30.

Rating: C+. This was violent enough to be entertaining but the gimmick was just there to tie things together. In other words, this was a basic street fight with nothing special other than the last spot of the match. Nothing much to see here, but these two have done so much that it’s hard to find something new.

The more I watch of Ambrose, the more I like him. Looking back over his career, you can see the evolution of his persona into the one he is today. The early days as Jon Moxley really don’t hold up, but as he started becoming more of a brawler with a touch of insanity (and later a slap of insanity), everything clicked because he started nailing the character instead of the wrestling. I’d love to see where else he goes with his stuff because the groundwork is more than there.

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I’ve made my pick for this pretty clear so we’ll wrap up the year with something else.

We’ll start with the usual suspects.

John Cena had his usual good year but it was nothing spectacular. He won another World Title and then entered into a never ending feud with Brock Lesnar. His Wyatt feud was nothing great and died after that first match at Wrestlemania. It says a lot when what would be a career year for most people is average at best for Cena.

Orton has to be mentioned as well given that he main evented Wrestlemania and had some great matches as part of the reformed Evolution. Again though, this just wasn’t a blow away year for him and while good, there are people who beat him without much effort.

Daniel Bryan is the big white goat faced elephant in the room on this one. The first half of the year was as strong as it could have been for him with an outstanding match at the Royal Rumble and then that whole Wrestlemania thing. The neck injury literally stopped him cold though and that’s more than enough to take him out of contention. If this wrapped up in the summer like the PWI Awards, it would go to Bryan in a heartbeat.

Roman Reigns…….just no. I still don’t buy that the Slammy voting was fair on this as there’s no reason to vote him Wrestler of the Year. He had a good year but there are multiple people who have beaten him out.

Brock Lesnar wrestled four times this year and went 3-1 (remember Night of Champions was a DQ). I need more than that to give him an award.

Dean Ambrose would get on here if he had actually won anything of note, but he’s lost almost every major singles match he’s had. The fact that he’s still over is a very good sign though.

You have to mention AJ Styles, who was technically TNA World Champion when the year started and has gone on to become one of the kings of the indies and a big deal in Japan. This run continues to make me wonder what the heck TNA was thinking when they turned him into Crow Styles for so long last year, as well as treating him like a second rate guy who should be lucky enough to be in the same ring as whatever 50 year old they were pushing at the moment. As good as AJ was though, there was one just above.

And that would be Seth Rollins. From the beginning of the year with Shield to the heel turn to winning Money in the Bank to feuding with Ambrose, Cena and now Reigns, the guy has feuded with top starts and defeated most of them while also becoming as big of a heel as there is in the company. Rollins came off as pure evil this past Monday when he threatened to break Edge’s neck even after getting what he wanted. The guy can talk, has great matches and is nailing his character. What more could you possibly ask for?

This was the year of the Shield and they’re going to be a big deal in this company for years to come. Rollins is in the lead right now, but it’s going to be very interesting to see where this goes from here.