Smackdown
Date: July 19, 2013
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

With Money in the Bank passed we’re now in the period of waiting for Sandow to cash in. After Monday night we have some of the main events set for Summerslam which means we need some blue matches to balance it out. Also Ziggler is officially a face after breaking up with AJ and being destroyed by Langston. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence again, which I think is the norm now.

Here’s Teddy Long to get things going. Tonight there’s going to be a new general manager named and Teddy wants to throw his name in the hat. He doesn’t know how good he’d be but he’ll be better than Vickie Guerrero. Vince will be here in person tonight to give Teddy a job evaluation. Teddy polls the crowd who seems to like the idea of Long being the boss long term.

This brings out the returning Booker T to thank Teddy for filling in while Booker was out getting triceps surgery. Booker is back to be the GM now but here’s Vince with something to say on the subject. Vince asks Teddy what match he would make to impress the fans so Teddy suggests Axel vs. Jericho for the Intercontinental Title. Booker’s offer is Del Rio vs. Orton, which brings out Raw GM Brad Maddox. He thinks he should be GM of both shows because he was going to suggest both matches as well as the Smackdown return of RVD.

Vince’s pick for the permanent Smackdown GM: Vickie freaking Guerrero. Well of course she is, because if there’s one thing WWE needs it’s ANOTHER heel boss character. She blames the fans for getting her fired from Raw so she hates us all. Vickie goes into crazy mode, yelling about how she runs this show and is going to take everything out on the fans. You know, because we haven’t done this same idea for the last year or so on Raw.

Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler

Before the match we get a clip from Raw of Ziggler breaking up with AJ and then having her cost him a match against Del Rio. A rollup sends Swagger to the floor as AJ and Langston are watching in the back. Back in and Dolph pounds away in the corner and takes Jack down with a dropkick. Cesaro trips Dolph off the apron and hits an uppercut, earning him an ejection along with Colter. Back in and a sunset flip gets two for Dolph but he has to escape the Patriot Lock. The Zig Zag is good for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: D+. Ziggler was fine here and the fans loved him which is the right idea. It’s a lot easier to get behind a feud with Langston instead of Del Rio as the matches and promos will actually be entertaining. This is a big upgrade for Dolph as he can go after the title later on and get some character development against Big E.

Post match Ziggler says he’s sorry he dumped AJ on Monday because he should have done it a lot sooner. That’s the kind of stuff he’s been needing to say to help cement his face turn.

AJ freaks out in the back and throws a lot of chairs. Langston grabs her to calm her down and they look at each other but he kisses her on the forehead.

Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns vs. Usos

Non-title. The Usos charge the ring and the fight is on before the bell. Ambrose comes in as well until Mark Henry comes out to clear the ring. The good guys stand tall and Henry is a face.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett

The place goes NUTS for Bryan. Barrett catches a cross body and puts Bryan stomach first on the top rope for some forearms to the back. A slingshot into a backbreaker gets two and it’s off to a bow and arrow submission. Bryan fires off kicks in the corner and backflips over Barrett, only to be caught in the Winds of Change which are countered into a crucifix into the YES Lock for the submission at 1:54.

Maddox runs into Vickie in the back and Vickie slaps him in the face for taking her job.

Time for MizTV with guest Paul Heyman. Heyman says he doesn’t want to answer any of Miz’s questions but is cut off by a CM Punk chant. The fans don’t realize how hard this is for Heyman because he still loves Punk. He advises Punk to stay down and leave the WWE Universe behind because if he comes back Brock Lesnar will take his head off. Miz doesn’t believe a thing Heyman is saying because he swore on the life of his children and still lied. He walks out but Heyman introduces Axel as the man who beat Miz at MITB.

Intercontinental Title: Curtis Axel vs. Chris Jericho

Axel takes over with a headlock to start but Jericho dropkicks him down. A top rope elbow to the jaw gets two for Jericho but Axel punches him back down. Axel cranks on an armbar but gets caught in a northern lights suplex for two. Jericho tries to jump over the champion in the corner but gets clotheslined in the back of the head for two instead. The Codebreaker is countered into a spinebuster for two but Jericho sends him into the corner as we take a break.

Back with Jericho fighting out of a chinlock but going shoulder first into the post to stop his comeback. Axel misses a middle rope elbow and Jericho gets two off a quick enziguri to make Heyman even more nervous. Axel comes back with the McGillicutter for two but misses a dropkick, allowing the Lionsault to get two. Axel blocks the top rope ax handle into a PerfectPlex but Jericho counters into a Walls attempt.

Heyman distracts Jericho into dropping the hold but the second attempt has Axel in a lot of trouble. Curtis hangs on for a very long time and finally crawls over to the ropes. He goes to the floor but gets caught by a suicide dive from the Canadian. As they head back in though Heyman shouts at Jericho, allowing Axel to hit the neckbreaker/cutter for the pin at 9:15 shown of 12:00.

Rating: C. This was a decent back and forth match but Jericho going after the Intercontinental Title is hard to get into anymore. Axel still isn’t where they want him to be but he’s not a total disaster either. This was a fine enough way to kill fifteen minutes and the fans got into the Walls so there isn’t much to complain about here.

Post match Ryback comes out and destroys Jericho with a Shell Shock. This is Jericho’s last appearance for awhile as he’s going to be on tour with Fozzy.

Here’s Damien Sandow to talk about forgiveness with quotes from Gandhi. He did NOT screw Cody in the Money in the Bank match, which makes him wonder why Cody attacked him on Raw. We get a clip from Raw but Sandow says he isn’t going to hold this against Cody. That would make him a mouth breathing knuckle dragging halfwit like the audience. He invites Cody out here to talk through this because they’re still best friends.

Cody gets in the ring but Sandow says there’s no explanation required because he’s forgiven. Damien did prevent Cody from being Mr. Money in the Bank but Sandow has an olive branch for him: Cody can be the keeper of the case until Sandow is ready to cash it in. Cody has earned this but he hits Sandow in the head with the case, sending Damien running off. Rhodes throws the case at him and the fans seem quite pleased.

Rob Van Dam vs. Darren Young

Darren takes him down with an armdrag worth millions of dollars. Van Dam hits his step over kick and a standing moonsault for two, sending Young out to the floor. Back in and Titus distracts RVD’s Rolling Thunder attempt, allowing Young to take over for a bit. Van Dam comes back with a kick to the head and a springboard spinning cross body for two. A springboard kick to the face puts Young down and after kicking Titus to the floor, Van Dam hits the Five Star for the pin at 3:16.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here again but Van Dam getting another win makes sense. Also it’s nice to see people like the Players being used to put over bigger stars. A loss to a former world champion doesn’t hurt their credibility at all so why not do it more often? I still don’t see the appeal of Young but Titus at least has charisma.

The Raw ReBound focuses about the Wyatt Family.

Vickie offers to bury the hatchet with Teddy but she’s just kidding and has Teddy escorted out by security.

Big Show returns on Raw.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton

Non-title again. Orton rains down punches in the corner to start but Del Rio counters into the armbreaker over the ropes. He stomps away on Orton and chokes on the ropes for a few seconds. Orton bails to the floor to hold his arm but he drops Del Rio ribs first onto the barricade. Alberto whips him into the steps but Orton dropkicks Del Rio out of the air back inside. He loads up the powerslam but Del Rio holds the ropes to send Orton to the mat.

The armbreaker doesn’t go on full as Orton is in the ropes and Del Rio is getting frustrated. A backbreaker gets two on the champion but the Elevated DDT is countered by an enziguru for two. Del Rio kicks him in the shoulder and loads up an RKO of his own, only to be countered into the powerslam for two. The Elevated DDT connects but the RKO is countered into a Backstabber for two. Not that it matters as Orton rolls out of the armbreaker, ducks the superkick and hits the RKO for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: C. Del Rio is officially a jobber to the stars. There was almost no chance he was going to beat Orton here and he lost clean to the RKO after two straight wins where he escaped through interference. The match was ok but nothing more than that as the ending was barely in doubt at all. Both guys were their usual selves here and didn’t seem all that interested in trying.

Overall Rating: D+. The show was just there this week with some ok matches but nothing we haven’t seen before. This is the kind of show that made Smackdown very boring for a long time and I really hope that doesn’t become the standard again. Vickie being GM again made me roll my eyes as this is her fourth stint as full time boss of a show. That sums up this episode: we’ve seen all this before.

Results

Dolph Ziggler b. Jack Swagger – Zig Zag

Daniel Bryan b. Wade Barrett – YES Lock

Curtis Axel b. Chris Jericho – Neckbreaker into a cutter

Rob Van Dam b. Darren Young – Five Star Frog Splash

Randy Orton b. Alberto Del Rio – RKO

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

Money in the Bank 2013
Date: July 14, 2013
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

This is one of the funnest shows of the year more often than not so I have high hopes for tonight. The main events are of course the two ladder matches along with Henry challenging Cena for the Raw Title. This is one of those shows where you can just turn your brain off and enjoy some wild action so hopefully things are as fun as they have the potential to be. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Tag Titles: Usos vs. Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins

Shield is defending. Rollins starts with Jey with the Uso quickly getting two off a backslide. Off to Reigns who gets chopped down and caught with a double suplex for two. The fans are already chanting for RVD. A double spinebuster gets two for Jey as this is one sided so far. Seth pulls Roman out of the way of a superkick as we take a break during the pre-show. Back with the Usos still in control but Rollins avoids a charge and brings in Reigns to take over.

A clothesline sends Jey off the apron and out to the floor as Shield starts making fast tags. Rollins kicks Jey in the back for two and puts on a chinlock. Jey keeps fighting back but can’t make the hot tag. Seth is sent to the floor and Reigns is kicked away but Rollins dives to break up the hot tag. Jey is knocked tot he floor for a hard clothesline from Reigns. We take ANOTHER break and come back with Jimmy diving over the top to take out the Shield. Not that we got to see the hot tag or anything, but we needed a trailer for Dead Man Down right?

Jimmy gets a VERY close two off a high cross body and the Samoan drop gets two on Rollins. Seth comes back and loads up a superplex on Jey but the other two come in to make it a Tower of Doom with Jimmy taking the worst of it. Jimmy superkicks Rollins down and hits the Superfly Splash but Reigns makes a last second save. The fans correctly think this is awesome. Rollins counters a middle rope Samoan drop into an across the ring buckle bomb, setting up the Reigns’ spear for the pin to retain at 14:50.

Rating: B. WOW this was better than I was expecting. The near falls in this were off the charts and the Usos actually had me believing they were going to win. The Shield has insane chemistry out there and the Usos proved that they can hang with them move for move. Excellent stuff here and by far the best pre-show match they’ve ever had.

The opening video is of course about money with the briefcases being loaded into an armored car. Cena and Henry get a generic video package as well.

Fandango vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow vs. Jack Swagger vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Wade Barrett

Colter does his usual anti foreigners rant about being in one of the founding cities of America. “Maybe Betsy Ross should have put a taco and a burrito on the flag.” It’s a huge brawl to start and I’m not going to be able to keep up with most of the action in the ladder matches tonight. The two teams lay everyone else out and bring in a ladder each. Cesaro hits the gutwrench suplex to send Cody into the ladder before shouting WE THE PEOPLE. The Scholars take Cesaro the floor but Ambrose stops Swagger from climbing.

Ambrose, the crowd favorite, is left alone in the ring but Barrett makes the save. Barrett kicks Ambrose in the face, knocking the ladder on top of him in the process. Fandango kicks the ladder into Barrett’s face and hits a slingshot legdrop onto the ladder onto Barrett. Sandow makes the save as Dean knocks Rhodes off the top rope with another ladder. Fandango is sent face first into the ladder and suplexed onto the one in the corner for good measure. Cesaro makes a climb but has to stop Ambrose with a hanging chinlock off the ladder.

Cody makes the save and hits a Samoa Joe MuscleBuster to send Cesaro into a ladder. Barrett makes the save with a broken rung of a ladder in a new idea. He and Swagger go up now with Wade BLASTING him with the elbow to knock Swagger off. Fandango makes the save but Ambrose catches him with the bulldog driver off the bottom rung. Dean does the windmill spot with the ladder on his head but the Real Americans grab either end to break it up. They lift Ambrose in the air to choke him out but Ambrose skins the cat in mid air in an AWESOME spot. The Americans dump him to the floor but there’s no ladder left.

Cesaro gets on Swagger’s shoulders but Cody hits a springboard dropkick to take them both out. Cross Rhodes lays out Fandango and Barrett but he shouts instead of getting a ladder. He finally gets the big ladder but is met on top by Ambrose for a slugout. Cody rams him face first into the ladder over and over but Rollins and Reigns come out to break it up.

They run interference of everyone else in the match but here are the Usos to take the tag champions out. Cesaro and Swagger get in on the brawl as well but Ambrose is going up. Rhodes makes the save and shoves the ladder over, sending Ambrose onto everyone else. Cody is all alone but Sandow comes in out of nowhere to steal the case at 16:40.

Rating: B. This was solid but it was a step below a lot of these matches. The Ambrose and Shield stuff was great but I’m really not feeling the winner. Sandow hasn’t won a thing of note in like a year but he wins one match and we’re supposed to buy him as a main event level guy now? It doesn’t work that way but WWE can’t get that through their thick heads. Fans don’t forget wins and losses like the writers do.

Here’s Brad Maddox with something to say. He’s glad to be the GM and even though he can’t replace Vickie (“I don’t look good in high heels”) he’s put Vickie on the expert panel. She gets a spotlight followed by a video tribute to her on the Titantron. It’s a lot of her embarrassing moments followed by a standing boo for her. This is finally broken up by the start of the next match.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Curtis Axel

Axel is defending. Miz gets a quick cover off a shoulder block but Axel takes him into the corner for control. Curtis is sent to the floor and caught by a baseball slide before Miz sends him back inside. Miz stares Heyman down, claps his hands and falls down. The referee looks at Heyman and ejects him for allegedly hitting Miz. Smart move there. Axel takes over with a dropkick but the fans are MUCH quieter now. The Hennig necksnap gets two and we hit an armbar.

Back up and Miz avoids a charge in the corner but the fans do not care at all. A big boot puts Axel down and the corner clothesline sets up the top rope ax handle for two. Axel comes back with a PerfectPlex for two but Miz hits his one kick to the leg and puts on the Figure Four. Curtis reverses but gets turned over again, only to be right in the ropes for the break. Axel bails to the floor for a second before coming back in for his neckbreaker into a cutter for the pin to retain at 9:20.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t bad but it had no heat at all. People just don’t care about Miz at all and the Figure Four is a big reason why. It’s just a horrible move for him and comes off like a lame Ric Flair tribute, which is pretty much what it is. Nothing to see here but it was a way to let the fans breathe a bit after the big match.

Summerslam ad, which is basically All Grown Up from Wrestlemania a few years ago.

Divas Title: Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee

AJ is defending and this has been a very well built feud. They used to be friends but Kaitlyn went after the title instead of helping AJ when she was having relationship issues, so AJ turned on her and has taken everything Kaitlyn cares about. Kaitlyn has a bad elbow coming in and is with Layla here. Kaitlyn gets a quick two off a gutbuster but is sent into the post on the floor. AJ works on the arm with a bridging armbar (almost a one arm Cattle Mutilation) before hooking a crossface chickenwing of all things.

Back up and Kaitlyn fires off a dropkick and a big shoulder followed by the reverse DDT for two. AJ slaps her in the face so Kaitlyn takes her head off with a clothesline. Kaitlyn knocks her off the apron but Langston catches her in midair. The spear connects back inside but Kaitlyn hurts her elbow again. AJ hooks the Black Widow submission out of nowhere and Kaitlyn taps at 7:03.

Rating: C. Very basic match here but it worked well enough. Kaitlyn looked good with the power stuff (and the tight outfit) while AJ needed to be a bit more evil. I doubt this is over yet because that’s how WWE works, but the matches and story have been WAY better than anyone expected them to be.

The expert panel (Big Show, Kofi Kingston and Vickie) talk about the show so far.

Chris Jericho vs. Ryback

The fans go back and forth from Jericho to Goldberg chants. Ryback bails to the floor because he’s a coward now and Jericho takes him down with a baseball slide. Back in and Jericho hits a forearm to the back of the head but Ryback drills him with a shoulder. Jericho goes after the formerly bad leg but gets his neck snapped across the top rope for two. We hit the chinlock before Ryback gets two off a middle rope splash. Jericho is punched off the apron and lands between the two announce tables.

Back to the chinlock but Jericho escapes into a northern lights suplex and a failed Walls attempt. A top rope ax handle is caught in a Ryback belly to belly overhead suplex. The Meathook puts Jericho down and the Codebreaker is countered into a kind of spinebuster. A powerbomb gets two on Jericho but he comes back with an enziguri for two.

Ryback rolls to the apron and gets caught in a Codebreaker but he’s back in at nine. A high cross gets two for the Canadian but he walks into a gorilla press. Ryback drops him down into a fireman’s carry but Jericho counters into a DDT for two. Jericho misses the Lionsault and Ryback grabs a quick rollup for the pin at 10:20.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t terrible but man alive it’s pathetic what they’ve done to Ryback. They took everything good and interesting about him and turned it completely around to make sure the fans didn’t care about him at all. This was also the first match he’s won on PPV since last year’s MITB, yet WWE still wonders why no one cares about him.

Video on the opening of the WWE Performance Center.

We recap Ziggler vs. Del Rio. Ziggler won the world title through his MITB case the night after Wrestlemania then got injured on Smackdown. Del Rio went after Ziggler’s head to win the title at Payback so tonight it’s about revenge and the title for Dolph.

Smackdown World Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio

Ziggler gets an AMAZING pop. Feeling out process to start until Ziggler gets two off a dropkick. Ten straight elbow drops (with the fans counting along) have Del Rio in trouble and he falls out to the floor. Back in and Del Rio scores with a running enziguri before sending Ziggler hard into the barricade. We hit the chinlock as the fans are nearly comatose for Del Rio. Can you blame them? There’s NOTHING interesting about him at all. Ziggler misses a splash in the corner and Del Rio does that stupid smile of his.

Del Rio pounds on the back but misses a charge, sending him out to the floor. He tries to come in off the top but gets caught in a top rope X Factor for two. A Ziggler neckbreaker gets two and a Del Rio German suplex gets the same. The corner enziguri misses and Ziggler gets a close two off the Fameasser. It’s amazing how much the crowd is into Ziggler. Del Rio gets two off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Ziggler gets the same by dropkicking Del Rio off the top.

Cue AJ to skip around the ring before Ziggler counters another tilt-a-whirl into a jumping DDT for two. Ziggler tells AJ to leave but the distraction allows Alberto to crotch him on the top. A reverse superplex gets two on Dolph and the low superkick gets the same. Del Rio lowers his knee pad to reveal the knee brace but Ziggler avoids the shot…..and AJ hits Del Rio with the Divas Title for the DQ at 14:27.

Rating: C+. This was getting good until the stupid ending. I have no idea what WWE’s obsession is with dragging out stories for as long as they can anymore but they need to get over it. This feud isn’t doing anything for anyone and it just keeps going. Either split up AJ and give Dolph the title or move on to something else. The match was good though.

Dolph yells at AJ post match and walks away, making Ziggler look like the jerk in the whole thing.

Video on WWE supporting the military.

Recap of Henry vs. Cena with Henry faking retirement and laying Cena out. He said the WWE Championship is the only thing he’s never won and he wants that one big run with the title. One thing WWE has done right in the last few years is make the WWE Championship seem like a MUCH bigger deal.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Mark Henry

Cena is of course booed out of the building. The champion charges at Henry and bounces off of him like a wall. Henry shoves him into the corner and a running splash gets two. Cena is front suplexed onto the steps for two as this is one sided so far. The fans chant Sexual Chocolate because that’s what smark crowds do for a Henry match as Mark drops a leg on the back of Cena’s neck. Henry throws Cena down and then out to the floor as the domination continues.

Back in and Henry stands around but misses a charge in the corner. Cena can’t slam him so Henry cranks on the neck a bit. John gets back up and hits the shoulder blocks followed by the Shuffle but Cena still can’t hit the AA. Henry falls on top for two but Cena counters a slam into most of a spinning DDT. Cena FINALLY hits the AA but it’s only good for two. The high cross is caught in a World’s Strongest Slam for two so Henry pulls the turnbuckle pad off. He also brings in a chair but as the referee is dealing with that, Henry pulls off another buckle.

Cena counters a whip into the buckle and hooks the STF but Mark easily gets to the rope. Henry gets two off a low blow but another World’s Strongest Slam is countered into the STF with Cena dragging Henry back to the middle of the ring. Henry taps out to retain Cena’s title at 14:40.

Rating: C. This was exactly what you would expect from this match. Henry came off like a monster of the month for the entirety of the buildup and that’s exactly what he was here. Nothing in this match made me care about it because no one believed Cena was in any real danger. It wasn’t horrible or anything but it came and went and nothing more.

We hear from the expert panel who have nothing interesting to say.

Video on the Wyatts attacking Kane.

CM Punk vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Christian vs. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

RVD, Bryan and Punk get good reactions but the fans aren’t impressed with the others. Everyone goes after RVD to start and knock him to the floor. The remaining four go after Sheamus before pairing off themselves. We’re quickly down to Bryan vs. Punk and the fans go nuts in a hurry. Van Dam is knocked off the apron and into a ladder as the two stars go at it. Bryan almost botches the backflip but counters the GTS into a YES Lock attempt, only to have everyone not named RVD make the save with a ladder.

Van Dam is back in now to clean house and pose a bit. Some baseball slides drop Punk and Sheamus before Rob drops Christian onto a ladder. Rolling Thunder onto Bryan onto the ladder takes Daniel out but it’s Orton sending Van Dam to the floor. Rob kicks him down and loads up the Five Star onto Orton onto the ladder but Christian breaks it up with a short ladder. Christian loses a fight to Sheamus over a full sized ladder but Van Dam breaks up the pale one’s climb with Sheamus landing on the ladder on the way down.

Sheamus is up almost immediately and rams various people into the barricade before bridging a ladder between the apron and the announce table. Bryan escapes a powerbomb through the ladder and hits a running knee to the face from the apron. Punk is loading up a ladder but Orton makes the save. Another ladder is brought in and all six climb up on two ladders with the briefcase being knocked away. All six fall down and Orton is holding his knee.

It’s Sheamus on his feet first and cleaning house before going up, only to be caught by Bryan. We get the ten forearms on the top of the ladder but Punk stops Sheamus from pulling down the case. Sheamus and Punk slug it out in the corner but Punk hits the running knee to take him down, followed by riding the ladder down onto his back. Orton comes back in and suplexes Punk into the ladder followed by the Elevated DDT.

Christian comes back in and spears Randy down but Van Dam knocks him off the ladder. The fans of course want tables as Christian goes up again. Van Dam is cut on the forehead. They both go up but Van Dam jumps to another ladder as Christian falls. The splash off the top of the ladder crushes Christian but Sheamus shoves Rob off the ladder. Bryan is back in to kick both of them before going into his usual insane rush.

He throws Sheamus THROUGH a ladder and goes up top…..but Curtis Axel of all people comes out with a chair to beat him down. He lays Bryan out with his finisher on the floor but walks into a GTS. Heyman comes out to yell at Axel because he wants Punk to win. CM starts a very slow climb while holding his neck….and Heyman of course screws him by ramming another ladder into him. Punk is busted open BAD and here’s Van Dam going up the ladder, only to have Orton make the save with an RKO. Orton pulls down the case to win at 26:31.

Rating: B-. Well that happened. Seriously that’s about all there is to it. Everyone was about the same but the winner wasn’t terribly obvious for most of the match. It wasn’t bad or anything but you expect more when you have this level of talent in the match. At the end of the day though there was no hatred between these guys and that makes for a duller match. The Heyman stuff was pretty obvious but it sets up Lesnar vs. Punk at Summerslam.

Overall Rating: C. This show wasn’t terrible but aside from maybe the ladder matches, there’s nothing interesting on here at all. Everything felt like it was just there to fill in a spot on the card which isn’t what you expect from a show like this. It’s not a horrible show but there’s nothing worth going out of your way to see here. Believe it or not, Payback blew the doors off this show.

Results

Shield b. Usos – Spear to Jimmy

Damien Sandow b. Cody Rhodes, Antonio Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Fandango, Dean Ambrose and Wade Barrett – Sandow pulled down the briefcase

AJ Lee b. Kaitlyn – Black Widow

Ryback b. Chris Jericho – Rollup

Alberto Del Rio b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when AJ Lee interefered

John Cena b. Mark Henry – STF

Randy Orton b. Rob Van Dam, Sheamus, CM Punk, Christian and Daniel Bryan – Orton pulled down the briefcase

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

It’s not who you would think.Sandow won.  This falls under the “let’s have them lose every match for months but give them one win and expect people to care” category.

Why do so many people think this match isn’t happening?  You need seven people for the match right?  Here are some options:Rhodes

Sandow

Ambrose

Sin Cara

Rey Mysterio

Khali

Cesaro

Langston

Big Show

Fandango

Miz

Barrett

Axel

R-Truth

There are a TON of people you could throw in there.  Why do so many people think it’s not happening?

Smackdown
Date: May 31, 2013
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Josh Matthews

It’s the final show of the Canadian tour and the main story tonight is of course Shield vs. whomever they can find to face tonight. Other than that we’ve got Ryback trying to get people to care about his feud with Cena and the three guys fighting for the Intercontinental Title. Right now is a pretty lame time in the WWE as they’re in a very slow mode so tonight’s show probably won’t change much about that. Let’s get to it.

We open with a list of names that Shield has taken down in the last week. Tonight Shield is in singles matches against various people.

Seth Rollins vs. Kane

Rollins pounds away on Kane to start but all the speed only gets him taken down by a shoulder. Seth jumps over Kane in the corner but gets kicked in the head for two. A delayed vertical suplex gets two more for the big man and it’s off to the chinlock. The fans are really into Kane here for some reason. Rollins finally gets in a shot and goes after Kane’s knee with some solid kicks and elbow drops. Kane comes back with some right hands, only to have his knee kicked out again.

Rollins cannonballs down onto the knee but has a leg lock blocked before it can go on. Seth goes to the middle rope and kicks away a chokeslam attempt before hitting a tornado DDT for two. Back from a break with Kane slugging Rollins down and hitting the top rope clothesline. Reigns gets on the apron, only to be shoved to the floor. The distraction lets Rollins hit a dropkick, but Reigns’ distraction lets Bryan shove Rollins off the top and a chokeslam ends this at 9:22.

Rating: C-. For a nine minute match, this was pretty overdone. Rollins losing a singles match is fine because Shield is always about the team mentality. I’m not sure if they need to keep going with HELL NO vs. Shield at this point, but it’s not like there are any other teams worth fighting right now.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

This starts immediately after the previous match ends. Bryan sends Reigns into the corner and kicks away at the arm to take over early before tying his legs into Roman’s and dropping forearms to the face. The fans also love Bryan which isn’t all that surprising. He fires off more kicks in the corner before hooking a dragon screw leg whip to put Roman down again. Roman hits a hard clothesline to take over as we take a break.

Back with Bryan trying to speed things up but getting caught by another clothesline for two. Bryan gets all fired up and hits a hard set of kicks to the chest followed by a running dropkick in the corner for two of his own. Reigns drills him in the stomach to slow Bryan down but Bryan hooks the NO Lock out of nowhere. Reigns crawls over to the ropes but only gets there with Seth pushing the rope towards him. Kane goes after Rollins but hits Reigns for the DQ at 9:20.

Rating: C. This was a better match than the opener, but that’s likely because the smaller guy as the face is an easier formula to work with. Bryan’s kicks get more awesome every week and it’s very wise of him to use those as his main strike. I mean, can you imagine him throwing a convincing punch given his size? Kicks are far better for a guy like him.

Post match Bryan yells at Kane for costing him the match. Bryan is completely right here but Kane walks off anyway. Bryan follows, shouting that he doesn’t need Kane’s help.

Here’s Damien Sandow with something to say. He says that last week he proved that his mental strength is superior to Sheamus’ physical strength. Apparently Canada has limited mental strength because they gave away Wayne Gretsky. When it comes to intelligence, Sandow is the real Great One. To prove his intellect, he has a simple challenge in the form of a shell game. There are three cups and a ball on a table. The idea is to put the ball under a cup and shuffle them around. It should be easy to win, but here’s Sheamus to interrupt.

Sheamus congratulates him for tricking him with the knot last week, but now Sandow is out here playing with his little balls. Sandow lets Sheamus play the game and shuffles the cups pretty slowly. Sheamus guesses wrong, thereby renewing his idiot license for another year. Sandow allows him to try again with just two cups but Sheamus gets it wrong again after a lot of thinking. Sheamus wants to see the ball under the third cup but Damien seems reluctant. Fans: “SHOW YOUR BALLS!” There’s no ball but Sandow says it was magic, earning himself a Brogue Kick. Are we really building towards a big match between these two?

Curtis Axel vs. Sin Cara

Man they drop the level of competition for Axel on Smackdown. On the way to the ring, Heyman says that he always tells the truth about his clients. In his first two weeks, no one has accomplished what Axel has done. Axel says that Cena and HHH have 26 world titles between them, but in two matches he’s made HHH refuse to continue and made Cena get himself counted out. When you’re a Paul Heyman guy, life is perfect. Cole: “That was cute.”

Axel hits a quick backbreaker and dropkick to take over before ripping at the mask a bit. After a quick chinlock Sin Cara comes back with some kicks of his own, followed by a springboard crossbody. A Tajiri elbow is countered by a forearm to the back of the head though and a PerfectPlex ends Cara at 2:00.

Big E. Langston vs. Alberto Del Rio

Langston pounds him into the corner to start and fires off some shoulders, but Del Rio comes back with a kick to the ribs. Big E. drapes him across the top rope and Del Rio is right back down. Del Rio comes back with more kicks and a running clothesline, only to walk into a belly to belly for two. The Backstabber staggers Langston and a German suplex puts him down again.

A hard kick to the face gets two more for Alberto and there’s the armbreaker but Langston picks Alberto up to escape. Langston runs him over for two but gets caught in the armbreaker over the ropes. Del Rio falls to the floor and gets posted after an AJ distraction, allowing the Big Ending to finish Albert back inside at 4:50.

Rating: D+. This match is firmly in the category of matches we don’t need to see for a good while. They’ve fought something like four times in two weeks now, which is way more than any pair should be going at it. The match was nothing special either as they didn’t have time to go anywhere with it.

We look at Cena’s challenge for a 3 Stages of Hell match from Raw.

Kofi Kingston vs. Ryback

Kofi charges right at him and pounds away in the corner before getting two off a springboard dropkick. There’s the Boom Drop but Ryback catches trouble in Paradise in mid air. Kofi rolls through that as well and hits a middle rope cross body for two. Ryback blocks a kick in the corner though and slams Kofi down to take over. The Meat Hook sets up Shell Shock for the pin at 2:48. This was better than I expected, although Kofi injured his elbow somewhere in there and will be out 4-8 weeks.

Post match Ryback powerbombs Kofi through three tables.

Jericho talks about all the diseases Punk has from sleeping with dogs like Heyman.

Chris Jericho vs. Cody Rhodes

Jericho starts fast and takes Cody to the floor, only to walk into a front suplex onto the top rope for two. A boot to the face gets two more for Cody and it’s off to an armbar. Jericho comes back with a top rope ax handle but the Walls are broken up. An Alabama Slam gets two for Cody but he jumps into a right hand to the ribs. Cross Rhodes are countered into a Walls attempt which is countered into a small package for two. Now the Walls get the submission at 4:46.

Rating: C-. My goodness Cody Rhodes matches are hard to sit through anymore. It’s not that they’re bad or anything because Cody is really good at making his matches work, but there’s no reason to believe he’s got a chance. Cody hasn’t won a match of note in months now and it’s hard to care about watching him lose to anyone at all.

Wyatt Family video. These guys are awesome.

Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose

Dean takes it to the corner to start and goes Anderson by raking Orton’s eyes across the top rope. Orton comes back with right hands of his own in the corner, only to have Ambrose fire off some knees to the chest to take over again. They head to the floor with Orton dropping him on the barricade, only to be sent into it himself as we take a break. Back with Ambrose in control with knees to the back followed by stomps in the corner.

Randy comes back with a quick suplex to get himself a breather and they trade headbutts and right hands. Orton gets the advantage but has the Elevated DDT countered by Ambrose. Dean goes up but jumps into a dropkick followed by the Elevated DDT. Ambrose bails to avoid the RKO and here’s the Shield for the DQ at 11:55.

Rating: C-. Not much here but they were getting a nice flow going right at the end. The good thing about Shield is they’ve attacked so many people that you can swap in any combination and have a good match with them. Not a bad match at all and thankfully you never can tell if Shield is going to run in or not, meaning the endings aren’t obvious.

Post match HELL NO comes in for the save, with Bryan down almost all of the work himself, and Shield is sent running. A HUGE YES chant ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Is there any reason to watch Smackdown anymore? It’s nothing but a supplement to Raw as nothing significant happens here and all the good long matches happen on Mondays as well. The show isn’t even really bad, but rather really uninteresting. I need a little more fresh content than Sheamus playing a shell game with Damien Sandow. Shield continues to be a highlight and there’s some decent stuff in the midcard, but anything with Sandow or Rhodes in it is incredibly dull, although that can’t be blamed on them. Very uninspiring show this week.

Results

Kane b. Seth Rollins – Chokeslam

Roman Reigns b. Daniel Bryan via DQ when Kane interfered

Curtis Axel b. Sin Cara – PerfectPlex

Big E. Langston b. Alberto Del Rio – Big Ending

Ryback b. Kofi Kingston – Shell Shock

Randy Orton b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Shield interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @Kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon at:

NXT
Date: May 15, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

The main event tonight is Langston defending the title against Damien Sandow which is a good match for him. Sandow is a main show guy and a match against him wouldn’t do any harm at all to Langston’s status in NXT. Other than that we’ll get to see where the Wyatt Family goes with their new titles. Let’s get to it.

After a quick video on the title match tonight and the theme song we’re ready to go.

Summer Rae vs. Natalya

Summer is now doing the Maryse hair toss. A quick headlock takes Natalya down but Summer uses those long legs of hers to counter into a headscissors. They stay on the mat with Natalya grabbing an armbar until we hit a standoff. After hitting the ropes a few times, Natalya tries the Sharpshooter to no avail. Instead it’s a discus lariat for two on Summer but she manages to send Natalya to the apron. An enziguri gets two on Natayla and we take a break.

Back with Summer getting two off something we didn’t see and firing off kicks in the corner. Apparently this is happening because Summer said Natalya hung out with freaks in Horny and Khali. A back elbow to the face gets two for Summer and she cranks on Natalya’s arm on the mat. Cue Paige as Natalya counters into the Sharpshooter, only to have Summer kick off and send Natayla into Paige. With Paige on the floor, Summer rolls Natalya up for the pin at 5:46 shown of 9:16.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be. Summer looked great out there (both in the ring and in those shorts of hers) and didn’t at all look to be in over her head. While she isn’t lighting the ring on fire or anywhere close to it, she looks more than competent out there and worked a decent enough match here. Also she won as close to clean as you can get as she didn’t even see Paige behind Natalya.

Paige chases Summer off post match.

Sami Zayn (El Generico) is debuting against Curt Hawkins next week and says this isn’t his first rodeo.

Here’s Bray Wyatt with a gray mask on his face (due to a broken nose) and what looks like a leather apron. He says this is the new face of fear and no matter who looks into his face, they can’t hurt him because he is already dead.

Danny Burch vs. Bray Wyatt

Burch is from London and has his own music. Wyatt starts with a slap to the face and takes Burch down with ease. A chinlock allows Bray to drill him in the face with a forearm before hitting that cross body of his. The splash in the corner sets up Sister Abigail for the pin at 2:07. Total squash.

Bo Dallas comes up to Adrian Neville but doesn’t seem to care about Neville’s update on Oliver Grey’s injury. Instead he’d rather talk about John Cena winning the Rumble, which Dallas happened to be in. Neville might just make it after all. Adrian has no idea what Dallas is talking about, but Dallas would rather talk about a #1 contenders battle royal in two weeks. Neville is in as well….and that’s that. This was pretty awkward but Dallas was acting rather heelish.

Conor O’Brian vs. Sakamoto/Briley Pierce

O’Brian beat up both guys last week so tonight it’s a handicap match. Sakamoto starts and is easily thrown down off a double chicken wing lift. Off to Pierce who is caught in a series of headlock takeovers. A suplex puts Briley down and it’s back to Sakamoto who has no effect with some chops. O’Brian pounds them both down with ease before hitting a splash to both guys at once in the corner. A very impressive double flapjack sets up a double pin for O’Brian at 2:36. Another total squash.

Post match Rick Victor comes out to the stage for a staredown with O’Brian.

Corey Graves says that his entire life has been ups and downs. You have to fail before you can succeed, but if you keep fighting you can win. He’ll be in the battle royal in two weeks and get the title shot he wants. Bray Wyatt of all people comes in and wants to know why Graves is here while the greatest war in human history is going on outside his door. Kassius Ohno knows what Bray talking about but Bray doesn’t go into any more depth than that. He says he owns NXT and that he’s the eater of worlds. Corey says he doesn’t have his own family but if the Wyatt Family keeps messing with him, they’re going down.

NXT Title: Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston

Apparently it’s Graves vs. Wyatt next week. Langston powers Sandow into the corner to start before running him over with a shoulder. Damien escapes the Big Ending so Langston shouts FIVE. A slam puts Sandow down again and Big E. pounds away on the ribs. Maddox says that wrestling Langston is like wrestling a frozen bison. Sandow is dropped on his back out of the corner but fights out of another Big Ending attempt.

We take a break and come back with Langston suplexing Sandow down. Big E. misses a charge into the corner though, allowing Sandow to clothesline him in the back of the head to take over. We hit the chinlock but Langston powers up, only to be hit with a dropkick. Off to a headscissors by Damien for a bit before he gets two off a top rope ax handle. Some knee drops to the chest get the same and it’s back to the chinlock.

Langston fights up and hits a quick belly to belly suplex and a series of hard clotheslines. Big E. fires off five knees to the ribs but Damien counters the Big Ending into an Edge-O-Matic for two. The Wind-Up elbow misses but Damien hits a swinging neckbreaker. A second attempt at the elbow connects but the Terminus is countered into the Big Ending to retain Langston’s title at 11:28 shown of 14:58.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. I don’t think Sandow was ever a real threat to win the title here, but at the same time it gave Langston a good looking win over a main show regular. It wasn’t a bad match at all and there were some nice false finishes at the end with Sandow countering the Big Ending a few times.

Post match another Big Ending gets Langston the five count to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good episode here as we have something set up for next week as well as two weeks from now. Sandow did a fine job here of giving Langston something to do until we have a new #1 contender for him to fight. The Graves vs. Wyatt Family story is interesting, as is Dallas’ teased heel turn. Good show tonight, as is the norm in NXT.

Results

Summer Rae b. Natayla – Rollup

Bray Wyatt b. Danny Burch – Sister Abigail

Conor O’Brian b. Briley Pierce/Sakamoto – Double Flapjack

Big E. Langston b. Damien Sandow – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: May 8, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tony Dawson, William Regal

This is the first show in a new batch of tapings, meaning the crowd will be completely different. The main event of tonight’s show is Adrian Neville teaming up with Bo Dallas to defend the tag titles against the Wyatt Family. Neville’s regular partner Oliver Grey is out with a knee injury at the hands of the Wyatt Family, so there’s a built in revenge story already. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Wyatt Family vs. Neville/Grey story.

Welcome Home. That’s the name of the theme song if you wonder why I say that every week.

Damien Sandow vs. Baron Corbin

I believe this is Corbin’s first appearance. The fans immediately start chanting “thank you Sandow” as he toys with Corbin to start. Sandow offers Corbin a chance to leave right now before being taken to the mat with a headlock. Back up and Damien hits a snapmare and a knee drop for no cover. Corbin comes back with some shoulder blocks, only to be caught with the knees to the ribs and Russian legsweep to set up the Wind-Up elbow. A move similar to Matt Hardy’s Side Effect called the Silencer ends Corbin at 3:07.

Rating: D+. This was your old school Superstars style squash with Sandow having fun out there instead of actually being in any danger at all. Corbin looks very green but he has some size and a decent look. There isn’t much else to say about this one other than it was just a basic squash of a jobber, which you almost never see anymore.

Post match Sandow challenges Langston for the NXT Title.

Paige vs. Bayley

They’re already contradicting Paige’s nicknames as she’s called the Anti-Diva on the way to the ring before Regal says she told him she would be the Diva of tomorrow. They trade arm holds to start until Paige cranks it up, clotheslining Bayley on the top rope. Bayley sends her out to the apron and hits a quick clothesline for two before choking away in the corner.

Off to an armbar by Bayley followed by a middle rope back elbow to the jaw. A modified exploder suplex gets two on Paige but she blocks a slam and hits a release fisherman’s suplex to take over. Paige fires off some knees to the ribs followed by the Paige Turner for the pin at 4:58.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash but it was pretty close. As usual, the Divas in NXT are some of the most entertaining part of the shows and a lot of that is due to the commentary. Instead of hearing jokes about how hot the girls are, the matches are treated seriously and it helps things a lot. Also these girls are actually competent in the ring.

Post match Summer Rae jumps Paige.

Langston says that if you think his title reign has been impressive, you should see his yo-yo collection. Sandow comes in to challenge for the title again but Langston says he needs to answer a question first. First off, Sandow has to pick a number. The number is six, so Langston says add the number that comes after. That would be six plus seven making thirteen. Now add nine and divide by two and subtract six. Sandow says five (correct for you non-math fans) which sends Big E. into a frenzy. Sandow walks away in what might have been fear.

Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce

Pierce goes after the arm to start as Regal talks about buying a microwave bed the other day. Pierce hooks a hammerlock and does Ziggler’s (acknowledged as his real life brother here) headstand in the process. That gets him nowhere but here’s Conor O’Brian to beat up both guys as the match is thrown out at 1:24.

Post break Sakamoto and Pierce want a piece of Conor next week.

Kassius Ohno vs. Camacho

Camacho still has a job? He slams Ohno down to start and Kassius bails to the corner for a bit. Ohno comes back with a dripkick and some shots to the chest. A dropkick to the side of the head puts Camacho down and he pounds away in the corner. Camacho comes back with some kicks of his own and a weak slam for two. Ohno can’t get an O’Connor Roll and is backdropped down for two.

Off to a chinlock for a bit before Camacho belly to back suplexes Ohno down for two. Now it’s a nerve hold by Camacho but Ohno fights up and hits his third kick to Camacho’s chest. Ohno fires off some strikes to the throat and a running forearm in the corner. A discus forearm sets up the Kassius Clutch (cravate hold) for the tap out from Camacho at 6:13.

Rating: C-. Dull match here but Kassius was wrestling like a face, which might not be a bad thing for him at all. The heel character wasn’t doing anything for me at all and I was getting bored watching him do the same stuff over and over again. He still needs to do more than strikes all the time to set up a submission hold but the different attitude helped. Camacho didn’t do him any favors here though. Why he has a job is beyond me.

Post match Ohno apologizes to Regal but gets cut off by Bray Wyatt who stares him down. The Family attacks Ohno from behind and beats him down. Wyatt hits his Downward Spiral on the stage.

Sandow vs. Langston for the title next week.

Tag Titles: Wyatt Family vs. Adrian Neville/Bo Dallas

Dallas and Rowan start things off with Bo pounding away on the big man as well as he can until it’s off to Neville for some kicks to the leg. A quick crossbody gets two on Rowan and it’s back to Dallas. The champions (kind of?) are tagging in and out very quickly here. Dallas dropkicks Erick down for two and it’s back to Adrian for a double clothesline for two. Rowan gets in a right hand though and it’s off to Harper for the usual power brawling.

Neville will have none of this being in trouble though and snaps off a rana on Harper followed by a big discus forearm for two. We take a break and come back with Dallas crawling through Harper’s legs to make the tag off to Neville. A big flip dive takes out Rowan on the floor and hits the corkscrew shooting star on Luke but Rowan makes a last second save.

Now it’s time for Adrian to take a beating like a small man like him usually does in wrestling. Rowan cranks on a reverse chinlock before it’s back to Harper. Both monsters pound away on Adrian’s ribs but only for a near fall. Harper puts on a chinlock to wear Neville down but he comes back with a small package out of a suplex for two. Neville avoids a charge into the corner to send Harper out to the corner and there’s the hot tag to Dallas.

Bo fires off forearms all around but Rowan stops him with a boot to the ribs. Dallas comes right back with a reverse DDT on Rowan before pounding away on the monster in the corner. A sunset flip is blocked by Erick and he plants Bo down with a pumphandle powerslam for two. Bray is very interested as he watches from the stage. Dallas escapes another pumphandle powerslam and spears Erick down for two but gets sent into Adrian in the corner. Erick hits a big boot to Dallas and Harper’s discus lariat gives the Family the titles at 11:50 shown of 15:20.

Rating: C+. No problem here at all as the monsters beating up the little guys is a perfectly smart way to go. There’s a door open here too as the regular champions weren’t there to lose so Grey can come back for the real showdown later on. The Family needed something to get them back to power and this is the best way they could have gone about doing it.

Overall Rating: C+. Not a great show here but it worked out well enough in the end. The title change was a good moment, but the rest of the show was spent doing something we haven’t seen before. A lot of this show was spent building up stars using jobbers, which is something very rare anymore. Good show here but done very differently from most episodes.

Results

Damien Sandow b. Baron Corbin – Silencer

Paige b. Bayley – Paige Turner

Sakamoto vs. Briley Pierce went to a no contest when Conor O’Brian interfered

Kassius Ohno b. Camacho – Kassius Clutch

Wyatt Family b. Adrian Neville/Bo Dallas – Discus lariat to Dallas

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon for just $5 at:

NXT
Date: March 27, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Jim Ross

After last week’s Wyatt Family heavy show, the odds are that we’ll be seeing something new this week. That’s one of the good things about NXT: they keep things fresh every week while still keeping something from the previous week going. Granted it helped to have only an hour per week to fill in. Let’s get to it.

We open with the I’m Coming Home video for Mania.

Welcome Home.

The idea tonight is a Road to Wrestlemania special. We even have The Fink doing the announcing. Nothing wrong with that.

Divas Title: Natalya vs. Katilyn

Kaitlyn grabs a go-behind to start but Natalya takes it to the mat to crank on the leg a bit. Tonight’s main event is Orton vs. Sandow. That doesn’t like like a very NXT kind of show. Natalya shoves her down but gets caught in a jackknife cover for two. We get the always cool looking bridge up into a backslide for two on Kaitlyn followed by a failed Sharpshooter attempt.

Natalya misses a discus lariat but settles for a snap suplex for two. Off to an abdominal stretch by Natalya and we take a break. Back with Kaitlyn reversing into a bad abdominal stretch of her own. After that gets reversed, Kaitlyn runs over Natalya and hits the fireman’s carry gutbuster for two. Natalya comes back with a quick Sharpshooter out of nowhere but Kaitlyn powers out of it. Back up and the spear out of nowhere ends Natalya at around 7:00.

Rating: D. This match shows how big the difference is between the NXT Divas and the WWE Divas. This was the same plodding and boring Divas match I’ve seen a hundred times in the last few years on the main shows. There was nothing to see here at all and the match was several rungs below what the NXT girls usually do.

Alberto Del Rio says he’s ready for Swagger and “the guy from Jumanji”. Del Rio says he was born in Mexico but made in America.

Brodus Clay vs. El Local

Local is Ricardo Rodriquez under a mask. Brodus easily throws him around to start and even gets two off a jackknife cover. Local goes after the knee in a smart move but can only get two. Brodus has enough of the selling and runs over Local before suplexing him down. A splash in the corner sets up a regular splash for the pin at 2:00. Literally a squash but Local got in a few shots.

The Raw ReBound is about Punk and Undertaker, which is short in the first place so you know the recap is quick.

Shield says they’ll be fighting and winning for justice on Wrestlemania Sunday. They talk about starting a new revolution after winning.

Cena talks about Wrestlemania and how big of a deal it is. Last year he had to win but failed, so now the pressure is on Rock. It’s Rock’s first title defense (second but whatever) and it might be the first time that Rock fails at something in his life. In about two minutes here, Cena said April 7 eight times.

We go to the announcers and Kassius Ohno appears and destroys Regal.

Randy Orton vs. Damien Sandow

Orton grabs a headlock to start but Sandow grabs one of his own. A back elbow to the face puts Sandow down and there’s a stomp to the face. Damien comes back with some shots in the corner but Orton hits the Thesz Press to take over again. Sandow bails to the floor and gets taken down by a clothesline as we take a break. Back with Orton stomping away but Damien comes back with a quick elbow and some stomps of his own.

The Elevated DDT is countered and we head to the floor where Orton is sent into the steps. Off to the chinlock back inside followed by the Russian legsweep and the Wind-Up Elbow for two. Orton fights back with right hands and a superplex for a delayed two. The powerslam puts Damien down but he gets a boot up in the corner followed by a neckbreaker for two. Randy comes right back with the Elevated DDT and the RKO finishes at 9:30 shown of 12:00.

Rating: C-. This was the same dull match you would see between these two at any given Raw or Smackdown or even a house show. Sandow got in his usual stuff and Orton shrugged it off as you would expect it to. Nothing to see here but I guess for an NXT main event this was ok enough.

Overall Rating: D. Bad to boring matches, a single bit of angle advancement, and a bunch of talk about Wrestlemania which we get on Raw and Smackdown every single week. This is FAR less interesting than what we get during the regular shows and for once, this show was a chore to sit through. Bad show this week and that’s because it was full of the main roster guys.

Results

Kaitlyn b. Natalya – Spear

Brodus Clay b. El Local – Splash

Randy Orton b. Damien Sandow – RKO

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Apparently he was in a tag match.  Pictures and video (from WWE’s official Youtube channel) included.

He doesn’t look great but Undertaker could sit in the ring and have a ham sandwich at Wrestlemania and get a big ovation.

My guess is a match with Punk which would likely be the best bet.

Thoughts/predictions?

NXT
Date: January 16, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Regal, Tony Dawson

We’re officially in the Langston Era here and if my memory is right, this was filmed recently which means we’re actually going to be closer to being caught up with the current WWE product. It’s hard to say what to expect here but the word seems to be that something big is going to be announced soon. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event and the title change.

Welcome Home.

Adrian Neville vs. Sakamoto

Neville is formerly known as Pac. Interestingly enough a guy on the forums that I run used to backyard wrestle with him. Sakamoto is in way better shape than you would expect him to be given the robe he always wore. Neville is apparently an amazing high flier and he spins out of a wristlock and grabs a headlock to start. A headscissors puts Sakamoto down and Adrian flips back to his feet. The fans dig him so far.

Sakamoto gets a boot up in the corner and hooks a chinlock to take over for a little bit. Make that a decent bit as the chinlock continues. Adrian suplexes out of the hold and flips forward a few more times before hitting an enziguri to stagger Sakamoto. Neville goes up and hits a HUGE corkscrew shooting star for the pin at 3:25.

Rating: C-. The ending was great but until then, Neville didn’t really show off a ton of flying otherwise. It’s a very flashy looking move and the rest of his stuff looked fine so I can’t say it’s a bad debut or anything. Sakamoto has some potential in him too now that he’s away form the black hole known as Tensai. The match was pretty dull until the ending though.

Leo Kruger vs. Trent Barreta

Ohno sits in on commentary. This is as a result of Trent getting beaten up and injured by Kruger a month ago. Trent takes over with a fast clothesline and a knee drop for two. A bridging northern lights suplex gets two for Barreta and it’s off to a headlock. That goes nowhere as Kruger fights up and hits a hard knee to the ribs to take over. Trent gets draped ribs first over the top rope for two as we take a break.

Back with Kruger working over the ribs with a knee drop and a half crab. A gutbuster gets two for Leo as Kassius and Regal continue to argue. Regal threatens Ohno so Kassius acts as if nothing has ever been wrong between them. Kruger misses a charge in the corner so Trent comes back with chops and a clothesline. The running jumping elbow in the corner puts Leo down again and a missile dropkick gets two for Trent.

The tornado DDT is countered into another half crab with a knee in the back but Trent finally makes a rope. An enziguri sends Kruger down to the floor, followed by a BIG flip dive from Trent to take him down again. Kassius runs down and decks Trent though, allowing for Kruger to hit the Kruger End back inside for the pin at 7:53 shown of 11:23.

Rating: C+. Why Barreta is released while Ohno gets to keep a job is beyond me. Trent continues to be as smooth as ever in the ring and Kruger is starting to get things working well too. I’d assume we were supposed to get a tag match out of this but with Barreta being released that isn’t very likely.

A second referee informs the first one of Ohno’s interference and the decision is reversed.

Here’s the NEW NXT Champion Big E. Langston with something to say. He welcomes us to the Era of Five but here’s Camacho to interrupt him. Hasn’t Langston already beaten this guy? A referee comes out and we get a match which I think is non-title.

Camacho vs. Big E. Langston

Camacho pounds away in the corner to start but Langston no sells it and clotheslines Camacho down. The Big Ending finishes Camacho in 1:15.

Langston does his usual stuff post match. This takes longer than the match itself.

Damien Sandow/Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd

Before the match, Sandow says that the people here will learn to appreciate him. Sandow and Kidd start things off but it’s quickly off to Justin. Damien gets his arm cranked on a bit so it’s off to Cesaro. Gabriel dropkicks him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Justin getting two off a sunset flip on Sandow. He cranks on Damien’s arm and messes with his hair to really get on Sandow’s nerves.

Off to Cesaro for a hard headlock for a few seconds before Gabriel fights back with chops and right hands. Cesaro elbows him down before it’s back to Sandow for some knee drops. The Wind-Up Elbow gets two and it’s back to Antonio. Off to a front facelock before Justin fights up and backdrops Cesaro to the floor. That’s about the extent of his offense though as Cesaro comes back in with the gutwrench suplex for two.

Back to the chinlock but Gabriel escapes for the third time, with this one being followed by a hot tag to Tyson. Everything breaks down as Sandow comes in again with Damien getting two off a rollup. Back to Gabriel as Kidd dives onto Cesaro. A Lionsault and the springboard elbow to Sandow get the clean pin at 8:00 shown of 11:30.

Rating: C+. Basic tag match here with the smaller guys getting to hang with the more established guys with no real problems at all. Unfortunately Kidd is gone for the next eight months or so due to destroying his knee. Cesaro again gets to look strong here by not getting pinned, which is a nice touch from WWE.

Overall Rating: B-. Another good show tonight as we transition to the next stretch of shows. Langston gets to close out an old issue he had while at the same time getting to look dominant over a WWE guy. This wasn’t a blow away show or anything and unfortunately two guys here aren’t going to be around for a very long time anymore after this show. Good show here with no time wasted, which is the standard procedure on NXT.

Results

Adrian Neville b. Sakamoto – Corkscrew Shooting Star Press

Trent Barreta b. Leo Kruger via disqualification when Kassius Ohno interfered

Big E. Langston b. Camacho – Big Ending

Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel b. Antonio Cesaro/Damien Sandow – Springboard Elbow Drop to Sandow

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews