Looking at why this rematch with Undertaker is being better received than Lesnar’s other rematch.
One of the keys to Brock Lesnar is spacing out his matches as well as you can. Since he’s been back, Brock has had the following matches:
John Cena – Extreme Rules 2012
HHH – Summerslam 2012
HHH – Wrestlemania XXIX
HHH – Extreme Rules 2013
CM Punk – Summerslam 2013
Big Show – Royal Rumble 2014
Undertaker – Wrestlemania XXX
John Cena – Summerslam 2014
John Cena – Night of Champions 2014
John Cena, Seth Rollins – Royal Rumble 2015
Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns – Wrestlemania XXXI
Kofi Kingston – Beast in the East
Seth Rollins – Battleground 2015
Now, and of course this isn’t an exact science, the two times that people seemed to be getting annoyed with Lesnar’s booking was during the HHH trilogy which never stopped and the Cena feud. The Cena feud is where I want to focus though, as people didn’t seem to mind Cena getting a rematch, but moreso that he got so many in a row.
That’s the key to most of Brock’s feuds and the reason the Undertaker rematch is being fairly well received: it’s been a year and a half since the first match, so Brock has had a chance to fight other people. Brock is still a featured attraction and we want to see him against a variety of opponents. Of course he’s going to have rematches, but you need tp space them out instead of just doing them all in a row. Imagine Rock vs. Austin on three straight pay per views. Sure the matches would be great, but waiting two years instead of four weeks was a huge improvement.
That being said, I’d love to see some extra time between regular feuds too. So many title matches would be better received if we hadn’t seen it just a month earlier.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: August 3, 2015
We’re in Summerslam mode now and it’s very fun to see where things are going. You can see most of the card now and I’m actually liking the card that is being presented so far. Last week was about Cena vs. Rollins, so now it’s time to focus on the other main event, assuming Cena can actually go for the pay per view. It’s an Undertaker vs. Lesnar night though so let’s get to it.
The show opened the only way it could have, as we had a ten bell salute to Roddy Piper. He deserves every tribute he receives, including people wearing Piper shirts all night and throwing some Piper lines into some promos. I have no issue with any of this whatsoever and it made me smile all night long. I’ll miss Piper quite a bit as his talking is as great as anyone ever could have been and his promos should be homework for any wrestler today.
Seth Rollins, in a NEVER SHUTS UP shirt, opened the show and we got our first handful of roughly 1839 viewings of Cena’s nose being busted open last week. Rollins has the idea of a match vs. Cena at Summerslam with both titles on the line, but if Cena can’t show up, he can just forfeit the title instead.
I’m not a fan of title vs. title matches, but since Rollins has made it clear that he doesn’t care about the US Title, why not let him cost Cena the title so someone can get the win over Cena while also keeping Cena look strong going forward? The match will be fine, but I’d rather it just be a regular World Title match for the sake of the US Title going forward.
As for tonight, Rollins is issuing an open challenge of his own, but the opponent has to be under 6’0 and weigh under 200lbs. The idea was that it would be El Torito, but Neville came out for a good match instead. This was a better match than I was expecting with some awesome false finishes, including Neville hitting the Red Arrow but Rollins got the foot on the ropes. Rollins wound up winning with the Pedigree and it still doesn’t work for him. He’s a fast paced, high flying wrestler and then he stops to use that kind of a move for the sake of his daddy figure. This was a solid match and did you really expect anything else?
New Day and Ascension beat Los Matadores and the Lucha Dragons. This is completely different than when the opposite happened on Smackdown, because this match actually matters and is likely going to lead to New Day getting the shot at Summerslam. They seem to be building to a multi-team match, which could be interesting if they did it right, which means it isn’t likely to be all that interesting.
Charlotte/Becky Lynch beat the Bellas when Nikki tapped out to the Figure Eight. As I’ve covered about a dozen times already, none of this is going to matter until we get to September when Nikki can actually lose the title. My guess is there’s a big tag match at Summerslam because we haven’t seen enough of them lately. As long as we don’t get the rumored Divas Tag Team Titles, as that would be one of the worst ideas WWE has had in a very long time, which is covering a lot of ground. They’re not needed and would just be another trophy for the Bellas, which is why we’re likely getting them so Nikki can be a Triple Crown Champion or whatever.
Paige and Naomi set up a match for later with Naomi calling out Ronda Rousey. I doubt it leads anywhere, but imagine the reaction if she actually shows up and just destroys one of them one night.
MizTV started with Miz saying none of this would be happening without Piper’s Pit. Simple, true, classy, and a moment that gave me a genuine smile. The guests were Owens and Cesaro, who argued about the merits of actually winning something vs. walking out all the time. Cesaro wanted to fight then and there but Owens bailed again. Cesaro is looking like a star, but both guys need the win at Summerslam. I’m not sure who is winning though and that’s the best feeling in wrestling.
Rusev squashed Mark Henry with superkicks instead of the Accolade, which is nice for a change.
Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Sheamus were ready for the main event. Sheamus kind of fit with this group, but it felt far more like the presentation than Sheamus itself.
King Barrett squashed Zack Ryder. It’s not much, but it’s better than Barrett losing all of his matches before winning the rematches. I’ll take small victories where I can get them.
Paul Heyman came out for his big speech about Undertaker. I think you can fill in the details yourself, but the highlights saw Heyman reading last rites to Undertaker and saying that this match is bigger than Wrestlemania. That’s a great line that makes you feel how big the match really is, and I bought the whole thing. I’m not wild on the match happening and I don’t really want to see either guy win (though Brock should) but the idea is solid.
Paige beat Naomi with the PTO in an average match. There isn’t much else to say here.
Arrow’s Stephen Amell will be here next week to face off with Stardust. This could be really cheesy, but Amell is in great shape and looks tough so it won’t be a disaster if they treat it well.
Ambrose and Reigns are all out of bubblegum. That gave me another smile.
Ambrose, Reigns and Orton beat Sheamus, Wyatt and Harper in every main event six man tag you’ve ever seen. I’m kind of digging these six man main events to close the show, but it doesn’t give me a ton of incentive to stick around until the end of the show if there’s nothing big to build towards. At least the matches have been at least ok.
Overall, this was another moving day episode as most of the card can be figured out or has already announced, so it’s time to make the fans want to see those matches. They’ve done a solid job of keeping the matches from being obvious, which is a really good sign going into the second biggest show of the year. Summerslam looks good on paper, but they’ve got two more Raw’s to mess it up.
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Monday Night Raw – August 3, 2015: Let’s Get Rowdy
Monday Night Raw Date: August 3, 2015
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
We have less than three weeks to go until Summerslam and the big question is whether or not John Cena will be able to breathe well enough to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Title. Rollins broke Cena’s nose last week to put him on the shelf, but tonight is all about Brock Lesnar, who is back to address the issues with Undertaker from two weeks ago. Let’s get to it.
As you might expect, this show is dedicated to Rowdy Roddy Piper and we get a ten bell salute with the roster on stage in Hot Rod shirts.
We see the Piper tribute video, set to a song about never taking your life for granted.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Seth Rollins, in a NEVER SHUTS UP shirt to mock Cena, with something to say. Rollins says he’s the only person that can slow himself down but he has a problem with sympathy. Last week he destroyed John Cena’s nose and if a picture is worth 1000 words, then this video is priceless. We see the knee to the nose from last week (that’s four times tonight) and hear a THANK YOU ROLLINS chant from the crowd.
Rollins didn’t feel bad about what happened because he’ll break more noses down the line. However, it’s the first time he broke the nose of the face that runs this place. We see some post show pictures of Cena’s nose and my goodness it looks awful. As soon as Rollins saw that, he knew that it was time to stop the match and award him the US Title, but Cena took advantage of the sympathy and stole a win.
That will never happen again, so Rollins has a proposition for Cena: one more match at Summerslam, title for title. If Cena doesn’t accept, Cena should just forfeit the title to Rollins, who promises to walk out with the belt anyway. As for tonight, San Jose is the place to be. “Not because of any of you. It’s because I’m here.” This is the place where John Cena held his first US Open Challenge, but everyone knows Rollins can do anything Cena does even better, so let’s have a WWE World Heavyweight Championship Open Challenge…….now.
After a break, Jojo is in the ring to ask Rollins about the open challenge. There are two rules to this challenge: the opponent must be under 6’0 and under 200lbs. Therefore, the only option is El Torito. Torito’s music starts playing but that’s not who comes out.
WWE World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Neville
The fans are behind Neville as he spins out of a wristlock to start. Neville flips over him in the corner and Seth gets caught in the running hurricanrana but is smart enough to roll away before the Red Arrow can launch. Instead it’s a cross body to put Rollins on the floor and a huge corkscrew dive to take him out as we go to a break. Back with the champion in control and getting two off a running clothesline.
Off to a chinlock for a bit before Neville comes back by superkicking Rolling out of the air. A German suplex off the ropes followed by a dropkick get another two, followed by the delayed German for a third straight near fall. The Pedigree is countered into a rollup for a two so close that the fans gasp at the kickout.
Seth goes up top but Neville is right there with a top rope hurricanrana, setting up the Red Arrow for three but Rollins had a foot on the ropes. Dang these are some hot near falls. JBL has the right idea: “COVER HIM AGAIN!” Neville takes his sweet time before going up again and only hits the mat. The Pedigree retains Rollins’ title at 13:16.
Rating: B-. This is the kind of match that Rollins needed after last week’s loss. It’s no classic or anything but Rollins won clean over a guy he should have beaten. Neville loses nothing by getting pinned and Rollins gets a good looking win. What more can you possibly ask for in a TV match?
New Day/Ascension vs. Lucha Dragons/Los Matadores
Rematch from Smackdown with the Prime Time Players on commentary again. Los Matadores double team Kofi to start and a springboard flip dive gets two for Diego. Viktor comes in and kicks Diego to the floor and we go to a break. Back with Diego getting dropkicked down for two before it’s off to Viktor for a jumping knee to the face. Diego dives over for the hot tag to Sin Cara as everything breaks down. Cara hits a bunch of dives to the floor and Kalisto gets two on Kofi off a high cross body. Xavier kicks Torito away but the distraction lets Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise for the pin on Kalisto at 8:24.
Rating: D+. Why do I bother watching Smackdown? They did the same match on Smackdown but for some reason this one matters more. I’m guessing we get New Day vs. Prime Time Players for a third straight pay per view because Kalisto rolling Viktor up on Smackdown to win the same match doesn’t count.
Bella Twins vs. Charlotte/Becky Lynch
In pre-match video inserts, the Bellas say the Divas Revolution started when Nikki won the Divas Title and Charlotte/Becky/Paige dub themselves the Submission Sorority. I’ve heard worse names and at least it’s not Team “Insert Name Here”. Becky takes over on Brie to start before it’s off to Charlotte vs. Nikki with the champ coming in off a blind tag. They trade front facelocks until Charlotte grabs a cravate.
A Figure Eight attempt is countered and Nikki pulls Charlotte off the middle rope for two. Brie comes back in for a chinlock but Charlotte fights out (because it’s Brie Bella) and tags in Becky to clean house. The Disarm-Her has Brie in trouble until a rope is grabbed and Nikki takes Becky down as we go to a break.
Back with Becky fighting out of Nikki’s chinlock but walking into a facebuster for two. Brie stomps away in the corner (thank goodness she stopped doing the lame attempts at YES Kicks) and gets two of her own off a bulldog. Becky fights out of a chinlock and makes the tag to Charlotte, who runs over Nikki with a neckbreaker and spear. Everything breaks down and Nikki plants Charlotte with a spinebuster for two. Charlotte gets right back up though and the Figure Eight makes Nikki tap at 13:14.
Rating: C. I really don’t like it when WWE wastes my time. I’d assume this sets up Charlotte’s title shot at Summerslam, where I’d bet quite heavily that Nikki retains through shenanigans to get to the middle of September and the record because Heaven forbid a current WWE Diva doesn’t hold a record that the fans only care about because Cole and company keep telling us about it.
Team Bad isn’t pleased with all the attention Paige is getting so tonight it’s Paige vs. Naomi. Naomi even throws in an insult to Ronda Rousey for claiming that she’s the baddest woman on the planet. Something tells me that’s not going anywhere, but my goodness it would be entertaining if it did.
It’s time for MizTV with Miz in a Hot Rod shirt and a kilt. Before he gets going, Miz says that there wouldn’t be a MizTV, a Heartbreak Hotel, a Highlight Reel or any other talk show without the original Piper’s Pit, because Piper was the best ever at this and he’ll be missed. Here here Miz.
After a legitimately cool moment, Miz talks about his accomplishments and describes himself as on fire right now. That brings him to his guests tonight: two men who have also been on fire recently: Cesaro and Kevin Owens. Kevin is out first and sucks up to Miz a bit by saying he owns all of Miz’s movies on DVD. Before Cesaro can get much further though, here is Cesaro in a suit to interrupt.
Miz makes sure Cesaro isn’t here for a fight but Cesaro says he’s just here to hear what Walk Owens Walk has to say. Kevin gets right to the point: Cesaro is jealous of him because of Owens accomplishing all of the things that Cesaro never could, including beating John Cena. Owens says Cesaro has been whining about missing all those life moments, but no matter what he does, Cesaro will never be better than Owens because Cesaro lacks the love for this business.
Cesaro says the real lack of respect and love is shown every time Owens walks away from a match because it makes Owens an embarrassment. Kevin is ready to fight but says tonight isn’t the right price. “Yeah why don’t you do what you do best and walk Owens walk.” Miz tells Cesaro to go do something but Owens jumps them both from behind, only to run away when Cesaro gets up. Good, solid program building segment here.
We get a clip of Ronda Rousey paying tribute to Roddy Piper after her win on Saturday night.
Rusev vs. Mark Henry
Can we just have Henry tap out now and save five minutes? Rusev stomps away in the corner but gets shoved down, only to come back with a dropkick for one. Off to a front facelock from the Russian, followed by a pair of jumping superkicks for the pin at 2:05.
Rusev gives him a third superkick for good measure.
Clip of Swerved.
Bray Wyatt rips the petals off a flower and compares it to Roman Reigns when you rip away everything that the world sees. Roman is no different than anyone else. Harper warned Ambrose but Dean chose wrong. Sheamus comes in and says he’s going to make this short and painful. Bray likes the idea of the enemy of his enemy being his friend.
Zack Ryder vs. King Barrett
Barrett says Ryder is King of the Internet (wasn’t that like three years ago?) but there’s no crown on his head. A knee to the ribs puts Ryder down and it’s off to an early chinlock. Ryder fights up and hits the Broski Boot but Barrett throws him into the buckle to break up the Rough Ryder, setting up the Bull Hammer to give Barrett the pin at 1:56.
Here’s Paul Heyman to talk about the Undertaker attacking Brock Lesnar two weeks back. We see a clip of the end of Battleground, but Heyman says that’s a different Undertaker than we’ve seen running roughshod over the WWE in the last 25 years. Would you ever see the old Undertaker kicking Brock Lesnar in the groin? Of course not, because the old Undertaker wasn’t scared of anything. We see a clip of the brawl from two weeks ago and Heyman brings up the 1 in 22-1 before bringing out Brock himself.
Lesnar doesn’t immediately get in the ring but rather throws some steps inside. With Brock standing on the steps, Heyman has a story to tell us. After the beating last year, Undertaker called Vince McMahon and begged for a rematch with Brock at this year’s Wrestlemania. Vince wisely said no because he knew what would happen the next time the Undertaker faces Brock, leaving Undertaker to do what he did at Battleground this year.
The WWE had to book the match at this point because the match was going to have to happen somewhere. Heyman says this isn’t just the rematch of the year, decade or century. This is the rematch that is bigger than Wrestlemania. Undertaker may look big and bad but he’s going to Suplex City. Last time Undertaker needed a year to recover, but this time he’ll rest in pieces as his career receives last rites at the hands of the conqueror. Heyman had me at that bigger than Wrestlemania line.
Here are the same Cena pictures from earlier tonight.
Paige vs. Naomi
They lock up to start and Paige actually gets a two count out of it. That’s a new idea. Paige takes her into the corner but Naomi catches her in her corner headscissors and shake which does nothing, aside from look stupid of course. A kick to the head gets two for Naomi and it’s time for a chinlock.
That goes nowhere so Naomi bends the ribs around the post and drives Paige back first into the apron. Paige fights out of another chinlock and scores with a fall away slam before sending Naomi face first into the buckle. A kick to the head staggers Paige but Naomi misses a high cross body, allowing Paige to slap on the PTO for the submission at 7:28.
Rating: C. At least Paige got to win something for a change. I like the submissions idea a lot as it fits their characters and adds a new dimension to the Divas instead of their one or two signature moves. Naomi has gotten lost in the shuffle of this whole thing but it’s nice to see her getting some time like this.
Clips of Neville vs. Rollins.
Stardust laughs at Neville for listening to the fans chant ONE MORE TIME and losing earlier.
Roddy Piper tribute video.
Ambrose and Reigns say they’re all out of bubblegum. It’s time to bust some heads and Orton comes in to agree, as long as he gets Sheamus to himself.
Arrow’s Stephen Amell will be here next week.
Luke Harper/Bray Wyatt/Sheamus vs. Randy Orton/Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns
Ambrose and Harper get things going with Dean throwing Luke outside. Everyone else comes in for a brawl and the villains are knocked to the floor, setting up Dean’s big elbow to take us to a break. Back with Reigns taking Sheamus’ head off with a running right hand to take the fight back outside. That goes nowhere so Reigns comes back in and says he wants Wyatt but it’s Harper first. Dean comes in to hammer away in the corner but Harper dropkicks him in the face to get a breather. Now Wyatt is willing to come in and hammer away before knocking Dean off the top and out to the floor for a rare second break.
Back again with Harper and Ambrose trading slams, allowing Dean to make the tag off to Orton for the powerslam to Wyatt. Sheamus takes a right hand as well and Orton counters the Rock Bottom into the backbreaker to put everyone not named Randy down. Harper breaks up the RKO to Bray with the discus lariat before getting dropkicked out to the floor by Dean.
That earns Ambrose a big boot to the face but Reigns takes Harper out, leaving us with Roman vs. Sheamus in the ring. Everything breaks down again and Reigns takes Bray and Sheamus down with apron boots. Both guys get Superman Punches to go with them but it’s Harper again with a superkick to take Roman down. Ambrose tries to dive on Harper but has to fight out of Sister Abigail first. An RKO drops Wyatt and Sheamus eats Reigns’ spear for the pin at 16:25.
Rating: C+. Nice main event tag here with the good guys looking awesome and Harper continuing to show how awesome he can be in the ring by doing things that just aren’t normal for someone his size. This helped set up Summerslam a bit more as you can pretty much guarantee Orton vs. Sheamus and the tag match. Good stuff here.
Overall Rating: C. I liked the show but as is the case so often with Raw, the length took away a lot of the good feelings it had built up. They’re building to what should be a strong Summerslam, but these Raw’s aren’t the easiest to sit through. They just go on too long and whatever they have going is often replaced by thoughts of “let this end already.”
Results
Seth Rollins b. Neville – Pedigree
New Day/Ascension b. Lucha Dragons/Los Matadores – Trouble in Paradise to Kalisto
Charlotte/Becky Lynch b. Bella Twins – Figure Eight to Nikki
Rusev b. Mark Henry – Jumping superkick
King Barrett b. Zack Ryder – Bull Hammer
Paige b. Naomi – PTO
Randy Orton/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Sheamus/Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper – Spear to Sheamus
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: July 27, 2015
Uh…..I really don’t have much of an intro here. We’re coming up on Summerslam and this is one of the Raw’s on the way there. Let’s get to it.
The big opening talking segment was, of course, the Authority and Seth Rollins. The idea of this one was to make Raw a night of first, including Big Show vs. Dean Ambrose. In the words of Jon Stewart, let me stop you right there. Much like a lot of these first time EVER matches, just because it’s never happened before doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea. I mean, we could have Blake from NXT come up and fight Hornswoggle. IT’S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE so that makes it cool right? I don’t know of anyone who would go out of their way to see Big Show vs. Ambrose, nor do I see a lot of fans being happy with the outcome.
Other than that, we’re also getting, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SO YOU KNOW IT’S AWESOME: Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton, Paige vs. Sasha Banks (well for the first time on Raw at least) and Alicia Fox/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Charlotte. In other words we have “man Owens gets to lose again?”, “that could be good” and “well at least we have something to look at.” This is their big solution for the ratings being so far down?
Finally, Rollins ran his mouth for a long time until Cena came down and thought he should get a title shot against Rollins for the first time ever on Raw. HHH thought it was a great idea but made it a US Title shot instead, which pretty much sealed the winner, or at least who was walking out with the title, as soon as the words were out of his mouth. We’ll come back to the match later for a change, but the talking segment took too long to get to the point.
Big Show beat Dean Ambrose via countout, with the idea being that Ambrose kept fighting but couldn’t put Big Show down. I like the plan, but Big Show has lost to people like Miz recently. So Miz is tougher/smarter than Ambrose? I don’t know of anyone who would buy that but it’s what we’re supposed to believe now?
In theory they’re building up Big Show for someone, but they could have given anyone a rub with the same ending. Ambrose looks weaker than usual by comparison but we’re supposed to cheer him anyway because Dean is bulletproof, which WWE interprets as loss proof. Dean sidestepping a post match spear was supposed to make up for it or something but as is so typically the case, it doesn’t work like WWE thinks it does.
Neville beat Fandango and listened to Stardust rant about saving the WWE Universe from false hope. The more I see of this feud the more I like it, but I have a bad feeling they won’t get enough time at Summerslam. You know, the FOUR HOUR show.
Paige and Sasha traded some insults before Sasha made Paige tap clean. This was a solid, long match with some arm work for a story, but more important than anything else, the match felt important. I wanted to see where it was going instead of having two girls out there to waste everyone’s time. That’s a major step forward and a completely new way to look at the division.
Rusev gave Summer Rae a dog named Ziggler and a fish with no head. Lana came out, beat Summer up and shoved her face into the fish. I really don’t think this needs any further explanation.
The Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores as the Prime Time Players were on commentary. This was little more than an excuse to have the New Day come out, though it seems to set up a multi-team title match at Summerslam. The idea is fine, but again it makes last week’s loss look like a waste of time.
Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper did a long in ring promo where they talked about Harper coming home. Since this was Wyatt though, it took him five minutes to get to the point, even though we knew the point in the first place. It was still effective though and you can feel the old Wyatt vibes coming back. Now, that being said, none of it matters if the Wyatts are treated like jobbers all over the place, especially Bray himself.
Becky Lynch/Charlotte beat Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox in a match taking place FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER when Lynch made Fox tap. As usual, there was nothing of note involving Nikki because she isn’t the longest reigning Divas Champion yet and therefore nothing can happen, at least not until there’s roughly a week before the record is broken.
Kevin Owens and Randy Orton had a pretty lame match until Sheamus came in for the DQ. Owens is pretty firmly in that transitional period between main eventer and midcard but you can see him trending down. Cesaro came in for a save but ate a powerbomb, likely setting up a tag match at some point in the near future. There’s nothing wrong with combining two feuds into one.
The big main event was a good fight between Cena and Rollins where Cena retained the US Title. They beat each other up and put on an entertaining match as you would expect, but of course the story here is John Cena’s nose, which pretty much erupted due to a knee to the face.
The big question now is whether Cena is going to be back for Summerslam. They never actually announced Cena vs. Rollins for the pay per view, but at least there’s an easy reason why Cena isn’t fighting. Everyone say the nose and it was hardly something you could hide. Keep Cena off TV until Summerslam if you can, but if you can’t……I’m really not sure what you do. Make Undertaker vs. Lesnar a triple threat with Rollins for the title I guess, because there aren’t a lot of other options, unless you throw Orton out there again. I mean, it’s not like you can give someone new a shot right?
This show was a copy of last week’s but with Cena and Rollins in Lesnar and Undertaker’s places. They’re both one idea shows with some midcard stuff thrown in, and that’s all these shows should have been. The main event and what should be the other main event assuming Cena can breathe by then are both set and you can build the rest of the card from here. It’s one of those shows where you knew what was going to happen from the opening bell but there’s nothing wrong with that. Good, effective show this week.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
I knocked this out tonight instead of Thursday so we’ll see how this goes early instead of waiting for showtime.
Smackdown Date: July 30, 2015
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Jimmy Uso, Jerry Lawler, Tom Phillips
Smackdown has the potential to be interesting this week as we could get some more midcard build for Summerslam, which could be some of the more interesting stuff going on in WWE at the moment. The big story is likely to be Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens, which could be the match of the night at the pay per view. I don’t like that many could’s. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Seth Rollins to open things up. Seth: “SO WHAT?” Those are the words he’s heard so many times over the year. He heard them when he was the first person to cash in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania and the man who stood toe to toe with Brock Lesnar at Battleground and came out with the title. This past Monday he reached his breaking point and the victim of his rage was John Cena, who went to the emergency room with a broken nose.
We see a clip of the knee that broke Cena’s nose and Rollins calls himself an artist, but here’s Cesaro to interrupt. Cesaro really doesn’t want to hear Rollins go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how great he thinks he is like he does every single week. See, Rollins is leaving out the part where Cena made him tap out. Rollins calls it a strategic move that he made because he has bigger things to worry about than the US Title. Cesaro says he’ll see Rollins later tonight, unless they both want to have their match right now.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
Non-title. Cesaro goes after the leg with some dragon screw leg whips to start but the threat of a Sharpshooter sends the champ bailing to the floor. Cue Kevin Owens to watch as we take a break. Back with Rollins holding a headlock and Owens’ head holding a headset for commentary. Cesaro double stomps Seth for two and catches a diving Rollins in midair. That’s not enough of a power display for Cesaro though so he throws Rollins up for a suplex. As I say every week, that man is scary strong.
Rollins is able to send him into the buckle with the release Downward Spiral and now it’s Seth with the European uppercuts for a change of pace. A chinlock doesn’t get Rollins very far as Cesaro powers out (I’m as shocked as you are) with a belly to back suplex. Cesaro loads up the Swing but Owens comes in for the DQ at 8:35.
Rating: C. This was fun while it lasted but it didn’t have enough time to go anywhere, especially with a good chunk of this match taking place in the commercial. Cesaro vs. Owens could be one heck of a brawl, especially if they let them have fifteen minutes or so. I mean, it’s a four hour show so there’s no reason every match shouldn’t have a lot of time right? Assuming there’s no lame musical guest so……yeah Cesaro vs. Owens is going to be lucky to get eight minutes right?
Owens lays out Cesaro and Rollins gets in a few shots of his own.
Los Matadores/Lucha Dragons vs. New Day/Ascension
Weren’t the two masked teams fighting on Monday? Before the match, New Day says the Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores could be #1 contenders, so if New Day wins tonight, they should be the #1 contenders! After some WAY over the top introductions, it’s Woods on the floor as Diego leg sweeps Viktor to start. A slingshot elbow from Diego sets up a slingshot hilo from Sin Cara, who starts working on the arm.
It’s off to Konnor for some hard kicks to the ribs before New Day breaks up a dive and sends Cara out to the floor. Well that sucks. Back from a break with Woods calling Cara stupid as the villains take turns stomping away in the corner. Viktor’s chinlock doesn’t work very well as the Players say they’d love to face the Usos. Big E. holds Cara for a running knee to the face (well mask) from Kofi as Woods is still going on.
Darren passes the time by wearing glasses and taking notes. That’s not something you often see but it makes sense. Viktor runs Cara over for two more as hear about Big E. making Young sick for some reason that Young doesn’t want to get into. A Crossface keeps Cara in trouble but he finally avoids a charge, allowing for the Kalisto. Everything breaks down and Kalisto kicks Big E. down, leaving Torito to hit a kind of 619 to knock Woods silly. Big E. loads up the Midnight Hour but Viktor takes Kofi’s tag, only to get rolled up by Kalisto for the pin at 10:10.
Rating: C+. Standard face in peril tag match here but I liked Woods on the floor and the Players on commentary. They’re setting up some decent stuff here with the division, but it says a lot that the NXT tag team division has equal depth with half the roster. I could see a big multi-team match at Summerslam, even though I’m really not a fan of them. Just give me a feud with a story.
Owens is told that the Authority has made Owens/Rollins vs. Cesaro/whomever he can find. Kevin isn’t pleased and is going to take it out on Cesaro’s partner.
Video on Becky Lynch, complete with some old school pictures of her in Japan with Natalya.
Luke Harper says Bray Wyatt saved him by showing him the truth so now Harper has everything he needs. Wyatt talks about Harper liking where he is now and deciding to stay. Anyone but you Roman.
Rusev comes out for his match but first up he and Summer have something to say…..about the fish thing from Raw. Lana ruined the hot Summer because she’s jealous and now Rusev would never fall for her again. After winning tonight, Rusev is going to take Summer and Dog Ziggler for a walk anywhere but Oklahoma. Maybe they’ll lay on a blanket, stare into each other’s eyes and….oh geez here we go again.
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
SERIOUSLY??? Well to be fair we’re in Oklahoma and Swagger hasn’t lost to Rusev recently. Swagger starts with some AMERICAN armdrags to send Rusev outside as Tom makes the mistake of talking about their rivalry last year, because that’s so thrilling to hear about. Back in and Swagger wrestles him to the mat but Rusev just throws him into the corner and drives a knee into the face.
Rusev starts in on the back but since Swagger used to be something years ago, Rusev can’t just beat him in three minutes and shorten our agony. The slow stomping continues as the fans try to believe. So Oklahoma is the new center of delusion? Swagger comes back with some clotheslines and punches in the corner, only to have Rusev blast him in the face as we go to a break, because this feud just has to keep going. Back with Rusev holding a front facelock as the fans are already dying.
Swagger fights up and kicks Rusev’s ducked face but the Vader Bomb misses. Instead Jack plants him with a belly to belly and is promptly nailed with a spinwheel kick. The back and forth continues as Swagger goes after the leg to set up the Vader Bomb. Tom: “What is it going to take to put away Rusev?” A different opponent Tom. The superkick sets up the Accolade so Swagger can tap to Rusev at 14:40, because that’s the entirety of Swagger’s job description.
Rating: D. I know I wanted the old Rusev back but did we really need to see ANOTHER destruction of Jack Swagger? I know he isn’t ever going anywhere but good grief we get the point already. Find ANYONE else, even if it’s some rookie jobber, for Rusev to beat up every time you want to do Rusev vs. Swagger because it’s dead.
Post match Swagger pulls himself up and avoids a charge, followed by the Patriot Lock to Rusev for Oklahoma’s consolation prize.
Cesaro isn’t going to hunt for a partner because no one here owes him anything. He’s gotten here on his own (I’d try to forget the Heyman era too) and if he has to, he’ll fight on his own. I liked this but Cesaro can’t connect to me so maybe it’s a desire for nachos that I’m interpreting as caring about a wrestler.
We recap Neville vs. Stardust. It might not lead anywhere, but it’s certainly different.
Stardust vs. R-Truth
R-Truth has been using that theme song for over 12 years. When is it time that he gets started? He’s really bad about procrastinating. They run the ropes to start and we get a bit of an awkward pause as Truth has to hit a running fist to take over. Stardust gets in some shots, R-Truth gets in his kicks, Stardust sends him into the buckle and the Queen’s Crossbow (Cross Rhodes) is good for the pin at 2:01.
Stardust says Neville has failed this city (a line from Arrow) so here’s Neville to save Truth from further beating. Again, nothing great, but I’m kind of liking this.
Sheamus says he kicked Orton in the face on Monday for Orton showing him up at Battleground. He did it because he’s a real man, unlike Orton who just thinks he’s a real man. How many REAL MAN characters are there going these days? The idea of WWE without Orton is like Oklahoma without Tulsa: a dream come true. Hey, did you know that Vince hates Oklahoma?
Video on Undertaker vs. Lesnar. Brock is back on Monday.
Cesaro/??? vs. Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins
Cesaro is here alone until Dean Ambrose comes down as a surprise. It’s a big brawl before the bell with the good guys cleaning house twice in a row as we wait for the opening bell. We take a break and come back with the bell (THANK YOU!), meaning it’s Dean vs. Seth before Cesaro quickly comes in to keep the champ on the mat. Owens gets punched off the apron but the distraction lets Rollins gets in a shot to take over.
The bad guys take over with Owens firing off knees in the corner and it’s back to Rollins for a chinlock. Back to Owens for some right hands for two (seriously?) and a chinlock of his own. Rollins comes back in and misses the top rope knee to the head, allowing the hot tag to Dean. He backdrops Seth to the floor for a suicide dive. Dean’s superplex doesn’t work as well as Rollins counters into a buckle bomb for two. You wouldn’t expect a power move like that to work for someone like Rollins but he makes it look good.
The top rope knee to the head and low superkick get two more but Owens takes too much time going up and gets crotched for his efforts. You don’t try to superplex Kevin Owens though as he counters into the swinging superplex for another near fall as Cesaro dives in with a double stomp for the save. The backsplash misses too and it’s the real hot tag to Cesaro.
That kind of reverse Angle Slam sets up the Crossface on Owens but Rollins’ attempt at a save earns him a Swing. Cesaro clotheslines Owens outside, leaving Dean to stop Rollins from diving on the two of them. Instead Dean superplexes Rollins down, only to have Owens try the Pop Up Powerbomb. Dean is ready though and slips out, setting up a rollup from Cesaro for the pin on Kevin at 14:03.
Rating: B-. I had a better time with this than I was expecting as it felt like an old Coliseum Video exclusive where they took two random pairings and gave them time to have a fun match. It’s nice to see Cesaro getting a big win for a change, but I’m not sure where Owens goes if he loses at Summerslam.
Overall Rating: C. The main event and Rusev vs. Swagger mess cancel each other out so we’ll say the show was in the middle. I can easily live with Smackdown as a wrestling heavy show focusing on the midcard instead of the lame show it’s been for so long, though I have almost no faith in WWE to keep this up. Maybe they’ll start fixing things when Smackdown moves to USA in January, but I don’t have a reason to get my hopes up. Fun enough show this week if you ignore the really dull Rusev vs. Swagger mess.
Results
Cesaro b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Kevin Owens interfered
Los Matadores/Lucha Dragons b. New Day/Ascension – Rollup to Viktor
Rusev b. Jack Swagger – Accolade
Stardust b. R-Truth – Queen’s Crossbow
Cesaro/Dean Ambrose b. Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins – Rollup to Owens
Monday Night Raw – July 27, 2015: On The Middle Of The Road To Summerslam
Monday Night Raw Date: July 27, 2015
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield
Summerslam is still coming and tonight’s big question is what is going to co-headline the show alongside the showdown between Brock Lesnar and Undertaker. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena in a champion vs. champion match has been teased, but it would be interesting to see if Cena holds onto the title until Summerslam. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s big brawl between Undertaker and Lesnar with the entire roster trying to keep them apart.
Here’s the Authority and Seth Rollins to open the show. HHH says this is a night of firsts and we’re going to start with a major announcements. For the first time ever, Summerslam is going to be a special four hour event, of course with Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar as the main event. Tonight is going to be something special tonight as well as Big Show goes one on one with Dean Ambrose. That’s uh, quite the announcement there Trips.
On top of that we have Paige vs. Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton. Stephanie brings up the Divas Revolution with Alicia Fox/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Charlotte. Rollins takes the mic and brags about how amazing he is, calling himself one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time, but here’s John Cena to disagree. Cena doesn’t like the idea of Rollins calling himself the greatest of all time because Rollins is a joke. On a night like tonight, we need to find out which one of them is right.
If tonight is a night of firsts, we need to find out if Seth Rollins really is a man, so how about Cena vs. Rollins for the World Title tonight? Seth says Cena needs to earn a shot but Stephanie wants to put it up to the people because she can’t remember if she’s a face or a heel. The fans love the idea and even start a YES chant so Stephanie says NO, complete with a little dance. HHH thinks the idea has merit though so instead it’s going to be a US Title match with Rollins having the chance to be a dual champion.
The Austin Podcast returns next week with……Paige? That’s not quite Taker or Sting but at least they look better in leather shorts.
Dean Ambrose vs. Big Show
This is actually fallout from two weeks ago on Smackdown where Ambrose countered Big Show’s chokeslam through a table with a DDT. Miz is on commentary, almost guaranteeing Ambrose loses because WWE doesn’t think stuff through. Show takes him into the corner to start and rips Dean’s shirt open before running him over with a shoulder. The fans aren’t pleased and it’s nice to see that last week’s promo wasn’t meant to be yet another face turn.
Dean low bridges him to the floor and a baseball slide sets up a suicide dive but dives into a chop as we take a WAY too early break. Back with Show working on the leg but has to stop to tie his boot. Miz rants about Ryback missing time, because he could beat up a staph infection. Ambrose’s sleeper has as much effect as anyone’s sleeper has on Big Show (we need the tranquilizer dart that Angle used) and Show goes old school with the Alley Oop for two. Another chokeslam is countered with another DDT but the rebound lariat is countered with the chokeslam for two.
Show does the smart thing by just chokeslamming him again but Dean rolls to the floor to lay in the light of the video screen because THE RING SKIRT IS A VIDEO SCREEN. Yes I know it has been for a long time but it looks stupid. Dean gets back in but a superkick puts him on the floor again, setting up a spear to flatten Dean one more time. Ambrose dives in at nine, only to be thrown outside for a third time in two minutes. This time Show throws him inside but Dean kicks him away for a suicide dive. Show is waiting for him with the KO Punch though and it’s a countout at 10:30.
Rating: D+. WHAT??? Did we really just watch Dean Ambrose get beaten up by Big Show for ten minutes before they finally just let Big Show knock him out? Are we really back to the annual Big Show push that no one but WWE wants to see? I mean, at least it’s not a pin but my goodness WWE: stop doing this. The guy is 43 years old and going over Dean Ambrose on Raw.
Dean still won’t stay down so Show loads up a spear, which goes right through the barricade instead. Ah so he’s a smart loser.
Neville vs. Fandango
Fandango tries a powerbomb but opts for a clothesline instead. JBL: “When in doubt, hit your opponent really hard.” A Gory Stretch of all things has Neville in trouble but he comes back with his series of quick strikes. Having never watched a Neville match, Fandango heads outside in front of the ramp, setting up the big flip dive. Back inside and the Red Arrow is good for the pin on Fandango at 1:54.
Post match, Stardust comes on screen and rips up a comic book while talking about wining and dining with kings and queens. No one wants to talk about the strange but don’t worry because he’ll rescue the WWE Universe and there is nothing Neville can do to stop him.
Paige gives Charlotte and Becky Lynch a pep talk when Team Bad comes in to trade insults. Paige wins by saying she was the first NXT Women’s Champion.
Sasha Banks vs. Paige
Non-title. Sasha’s Sky’s The Limit theme makes its Raw debut here. Their lockup goes to the mat and then out to the floor without a break. Back in and Paige fires off her elbows in the corner, followed by a fall away slam for two. We hit the hammerlock (nice little change of pace) before Paige drives Banks down into a Fujiwara armbar. Sasha tries to fight up but eats a superkick to put her on the floor with Paige diving on all of Team Bad as we take a break.
Back with Sasha holding a chinlock as everyone else has been ejected from ringside. The double knees to the chest in the corner get two and it’s back to the chinlock with Paige in trouble. That doesn’t last long though as Paige fights up and fires off a series of knees in the corner and the trio of clotheslines. A superkick looks to set up the PTO but instead it’s another knee to Sasha’s chest for two. Sasha hits a charge in the corner for two of her own, followed by a sloppy Bank Statement for the clean tap at 13:57.
Rating: B-. It’s not a classic or anything, but this was the first time in a LONG time that a women’s match on Raw actually felt serious instead of WWE trying to make it feel serious. This felt like a wrestling match between two very talented women and that’s not something you get from the Divas. This is a positive sign going forward and a huge win for Banks.
Rollins says he’ll win tonight because he beats the best that WWE throws at him every single time. Tonight, the future passes Cena by.
The Terminator (yes that Terminator) is in WWE 2K16.
Here are Rusev and Lana for a chat. Rusev says he’s smitten with her and wants to give Summer a present. First up: a puppy, who is so ugly that they have to name him Dog Ziggler. The second present is…..a headless fish. It’s a cold fish, so let’s name it Lana. Cue the real Lana who rants about Rusev trying to humiliate her. She should be ranting about how her accent slips a bit as she talks faster.
Lana goes on about Summer being a Lana ripoff and how Rusev is just trying to replace the real thing. Lana kicks Summer in the leg and put on an armbar while ripping at Summer’s hair. Summer goes face first into the fish and Lana leaves. This was, in a word, really stupid.
We see the same recap the opened the show. Saxton says Lesnar is back next week in the city that hosted last year’s Wrestlemania: San Jose, California.
Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores
The Prime Time Players are on commentary and this match is to move up the tag team rankings. Cara and Diego flip around to start before the Dragons double team Diego down for two. Kalisto slaps on an armbar as Titus makes fun of Darren’s shyness on commentary. It’s Diego coming back with a running clothesline to take over but Kalisto grabs the arm again to stop the comeback.
Cara’s springboard cross body is caught in midair and they drop him face first onto the post. Even Torito gets in some cheap shots (Titus: “THAT’S BULL!”) as Titus and JBL argue over Puerto Rican bullfighters. Fernando’s chinlock has Cara in more trouble and the slow offense continues with a front facelock. Who thought it was a good idea for a lucha team to wrestle a slow paced mat style?
Cara gets in a belly to back for a breather and the hot tag brings in Kalisto for a springboard tornado DDT. Cara swantons onto Diego on the floor but we’ve got New Day, with a sign saying Kofi is the REAL Mega Dad of the Year. Kalisto grabs a huricanrana for the pin on Diego at 8:05.
Rating: D+. So not only was it slow, but they’re basically saying that match last week where the champions lost means nothing because they just lost clean to another team. New Day vs. the Players isn’t much of a feud but it’s finally feeling like a story instead of just two teams having matches because the script says they should be.
Here are Wyatt and Harper with something to say. Well one of them with something to say at least. Bray thinks everyone here has a family and thinks most people here love their family. There’s this idea that if a family stays together, they can survive anything. That’s a lie though man. It’s a shame that people won’t tell their family the truth.
It’s in your house, your government and your places of worship: those that trust you the most are the ones you should fear the most. The truth shall set you free, but freedom comes at a very hefty price. A long time ago, Bray had a pet. It wasn’t the most charming one but Bray loved him all the same. That pet wanted to know what was over the hills and across the train tracks, so one day Bray loosened his chains and the pet ran away.
One day he came back, but the pet was different, partially because of a scar alongside his eye. The pet never left his side, but it would never be the same. That brings him to Harper, who was a damaged man that Bray picked up from the dirt and fixed him like a broken toy. One day, Bray knew he would have to set Harper free, but now Harper has come home. Harper says he didn’t know why he existed or why he was here, but his family found him.
Bray showed him the truth: this is all the people’s fault. They made him what he is when they shunned him but Bray saved him. When you pray for the rain, you best be prepared for the mud. Harper is ready to give his life for Bray, and Bray says he knows Harper would go through anything for him. That brings Wyatt back to Roman Reigns, who was told that this was just the beginning. If Reigns really cared for Dean Ambrose, he would tell Dean that he was in danger. This is Reigns’ hill to die on and Bray himself will seal Reigns’ fate. We’re here. Follow the buzzards.
Alicia Fox/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Charlotte
Becky runs Nikki over to start before it’s off to Charlotte for a twisting rollup (Charlotte’s Web) for two. Off to Fox who has similar success as Charlotte drops a knee to the head. Nikki offers a distraction so Fox can get two off a northern lights suplex. Nikki comes back in for her pushups and some laughter before it’s off to Fox for a double arm crank with her feet in Charlotte’s back. She pulls on it so hard that Charlotte flips over onto her for two, allowing for the tag off to Becky. A t-bone suplex sends Fox flying as everything breaks down. Lynch’s Disarm-Her armbar makes Fox tap at 6:10.
Rating: C. Totally fine match here with no one really standing out. Again, the problem here is the lack of any reason for these matches to be taking place as no one can challenge for the title until AJ’s record comes down. The problem is we don’t really have a reason for the title to be a non-factor, but that’s life in WWE for you.
Look back at last week’s Tough Enough elimination and a list of the remaining competitors.
Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
Sheamus is on commentary. Owens jaws a lot to start and they slug it out with Randy knocking him outside early on. Back in and Orton rakes his boot over Kevin’s face but Owens rolls right back to the floor. It’s Orton being sent face first into the post and a fall away slam to launch him into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Owens getting two off the backsplash but walking into Orton’s backbreaker to even things up.
It’s Owens staying in control though and slugging away in the corner, setting up the Cannonball but Orton rolls away. The powerslam plants Owens and the t-bone suplex does the same (Orton must have been watching the Divas tag). They fight to the floor again and it’s a Brogue Kick to Orton for the DQ at 11:06.
Rating: C. I wasn’t really feeling this one but at least Owens looked like someone who could go toe to toe with a guy on Orton’s level. I don’t think he’s going to be back to the level he reached when he debuted for a good while, but there’s a big difference between being forgotten/buried and what we’re seeing here.
Post match Sheamus goes after Orton but Cesaro runs in to get his hands on Owens. Sheamus offers a distraction though and Owens powerbombs Cesaro and spits on him.
Cena says he’s been defending this title for months now but tonight he’s up against the golden boy and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. If Rollins is as good as he says he is, then he can shock the world.
US Title: John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Cena is defending and for the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Cena as the champion. A quick shoulder puts Rollins on the floor and things slow right back down. Back in and an AA attempt is countered, allowing Rollins to kick him down to take over. Rollins slaps on a chinlock and we take a break. Back with Cena fighting out of the chinlock (dang that must have been a dull commercial break) but missing a charge in the corner.
Cena comes back and tries his finishing sequence, only to have Rollins kick him in the head/shoulder for two. The Shuffle is broken up by another kick to the head but Cena avoids a corner dive of his own, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Seth. The top rope knee to the head gets two on the champ but Cena catches him in an electric chair for two. Another knee to the nose puts Cena in the corner but we stop to check for blood (which is flowing from his nose. It could be broken).
Thankfully Cena will have none of that but Rollins kicks him in the head, setting up the buckle bomb for two. The doctor comes in to look at the nose but Cena is right back up with the springboard Stunner. Rollins flips out of the AA though and the low superkick gets a very close two. Fans: “THIS IS AWESOME.” Not really guys.
An AA gets two (that should be a drinking game) and Cena gets his nose looked at again. A closeup shows that the nose is definitely broken as it’s off to one side. Cena gets superplexed off the top and Rollins floats over into a falcon’s arrow for two. The fans are getting way into these kickouts. Rollins misses the Phoenix Splash and it’s off to the STF for the tap at 17:05.
Rating: B. Well there’s the Summerslam co-main event. I’m guessing they’ll go with Rollins saying he had nothing to lose which is about as acceptable as you can get but I’m never a fan of these endings. Cena vs. Rollins for the World Title at Summerslam is fine as there isn’t really anyone else to go for the belt, but I’m hoping Cena drops the US Title before the show. Good but not great main event here.
Overall Rating: C+. I’m kind of split on this one. The wrestling isn’t bad and the show flew by, but there’s really nothing worth talking about. This really was a show that didn’t do anything bad (Big Show beating Ambrose aside) and started setting up stuff for Summerslam. We’ve already got Brock vs. Taker set so you really don’t need to focus on it all that much. It’s a pretty middle of the road show but it went by quickly and got some things done so we’ll say it’s a good week.
Results
Big Show b. Dean Ambrose via countout
Neville b. Fandango – Red Arrow
Sasha Banks b. Paige – Bank Statement
Lucha Dragons b. Los Matadores – Hurricanrana to Diego
Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox – Disarm-Her to Fox
Randy Orton b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Sheamus interfered
John Cena b. Seth Rollins – STF
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review: Monday Night Raw – July 20, 2015
This one could be interesting as I barely remember the show as I was falling asleep due to a long day of traveling. This is the fallout show from Battleground where Undertaker returned (again. There’s probably a three disc set of Undertaker returns ready to be made) to go after Brock Lesnar and set up the main event of Summerslam. We’re on the road to the second biggest show of the year so let’s get to it.
They opened as they should have, with Undertaker coming out and saying streaks are made to be broken. The gist of this was Undertaker being annoyed at Heyman and Lesnar for bragging about breaking the Streak over and over for the last fifteen months. To be fair, it is getting a bit old. The big story later in the night would be Heyman coming out to brag even more when Undertaker appeared, triggering a massive brawl, broken up by the locker room.
There isn’t much to say here because the whole thing was awesome, but more importantly, they let it feel awesome. They let this thing feel like a brawl between two monsters, but I’m not sure how the match is going to go. Do you really want Undertaker to get suplexed all over the place? Undertaker isn’t going to be a heel in this match no matter what they do, and thankfully they didn’t seem to be trying to make him one. Anyway, the segments really worked and the match should be good, though I emphasize should.
Oh and there was something about the Authority wanting to prevent the match from being broken up. I stop caring when they’re talking most of the time so I’m not sure what their issue was.
Charlotte beat Brie Bella in a totally watchable match. Brie still isn’t great in the ring and probably never will be, but she’s to the point where she can have a watchable match with someone talented like Charlotte. Also, nice touch on not having Charlotte get beaten yet, though I have a feeling she will when she comes up against Nikki because All Hail The Bellas.
Los Matadores beat the Prime Time Players in a non-title match because there was nothing better to do than to have New Day distract the champions so the low level team can beat them in a match that isn’t going to lead anywhere.
Big Show beat Miz in a quick match that I think was supposed to make us care about the giant again. He then challenged Ryback to a fight on Tough Enough to try to make people watch it. It says a lot when Big Show is considered a draw.
Roman Reigns beat Luke Harper via DQ when Bray Wyatt interfered. This seems to be setting up a tag match at Summerslam with Ambrose coming in to help out his brother. I’d be interested in seeing them bring in a third man each, but bringing in Sting would be one of the lamest ideas they could have as it would overshadow the story they’re shooting for with Reigns vs. Wyatt, as well as making people clamor for Wyatt vs. Sting because they’re both supernatural or something and that instantly means you would want to see them fight.
Rollins bragged about keeping the title, Cena came out and said Rollins needed to take the title more seriously, and nothing else happened. I’m really hoping they’re not setting up champion vs. champion, but given how the ratings have been going, it seems like we’re getting back towards Cena on top as he’s the only one that can really move things these days. And since the idea of ever pushing anyone as a big star is foreign to WWE, this is what we’re stuck with for now.
Sasha Banks and Naomi beat Paige and Becky Lynch in another pretty good match. This actually got thirteen minutes and didn’t feel long, which is more than you would ever expect out of a Divas match. The division has gotten the big boost that it needs, but they really need to go somewhere with it in the next few weeks. There’s more than enough time to have it be the big blow away story they need and thankfully Stephanie hasn’t been a thing for the most part.
The main event was a six man tag with Cena/Orton/Cesaro beating Sheamus/Owens/Rusev in a match that actually tied things up in a nice package to end the show. That’s not something you often see but it worked well enough one time. Other than that though, the big story was Owens and Sheamus walking out on their partner, leaving Rusev to take a big beating. Combine this with Rusev being the default face in his match with Owens on Smackdown and……no I don’t think they’re turning Rusev.
Owens leaving makes sense as he lives to fight another day and I guess the same is true for Sheamus, though it’s still not the best result in the world. Based on what happened on Smackdown we’re going to get Cesaro vs. Owens at Summerslam and since we just NEED the Ziggler vs. Rusev showdown, there’s no turning it into a triple threat. It would be nice to have a title for them to fight over, but we need champion vs. champion for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
Overall Raw was just kind of there with almost all of the focus being on Undertaker vs. Lesnar. Rollins will have his day soon enough and a win over Cena at one of the biggest show of the year would help him a lot, though I have a feeling Cena would get the title to make things all better again.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
This is going to be an interesting one as I was up late watching Battleground and had to leave to get on a plane about half an hour after the show ended. I saw the whole show, but I had a lot on my mind at the time. Now that I’ve had some time to think about the show, my opinions on if have shifted a bit. Let’s get to it.
Starting on the pre-show, King Barrett retained the Crown against R-Truth. Oh sweet goodness I hated this feud, I hated this match and I hated how Barrett was treated during the whole thing. Yeah Barrett won, but that’s like giving someone a sticker for not getting arrested this week: it’s exactly what he was supposed to do and not something he really should be praised for doing. I don’t know what WWE’s obsession is with treating Barrett like a joke but I’m hoping (yet again) that they’ll treat him seriously this time around.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus was interesting, which goes against the main thing holding it back: the match didn’t change anything. Orton won, but would it really have been different if Sheamus won? No one has anything to lose and Orton is just kind of floating with nothing to do. I don’t want to see these two fight again because it’s not that interesting. Both guys were fine in the ring and the match was a good choice for an opener with the hometown boy winning, but there was nothing important here.
However, there is something interesting about how the match was worked. They definitely picked up the pace in the second half, but it felt like a long TV match minus the commercial instead of a pay per view match. It’s very telling that they’re basically working pay per view style matches on TV today, which takes away from something like this. You can see that they rarely change from the same formula, and that’s something that makes pay per views feel a lot less special. Anyway, good match but nothing I’m ever going to think of again.
After a recap of Stephanie’s awesomeness, Stephanie made a triple threat between a member of each Divas trio later. I’ve ranted enough about Stephanie hijacking this story to stroke her own ego, but can we at least make it clear if she’s a face or a heel? She associates with the heel, but does face things when she’s on her own and we’re just supposed to accept it because this is the REAL Stephanie as opposed to the Authority Stephanie. Or do I have that backwards?
The Prime Time Players beat New Day to retain the Tag Team Titles in another Raw match. The only thing of note here was Xavier Woods being an obnoxious jerk during the match, making him more entertaining than he had ever been. The Players are fine as champions, but New Day has the potential to be one of those long running acts in the midcard that stays entertaining with or without ever doing much. That’s a good thing, and given that the oldest member is Kofi at 33, it’s not like they have to rush anything. Let these guys grow into something special instead of just breaking them up after a few months.
Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns beat each other up for a long time until Luke Harper reunited with Wyatt to give him the win. This was the old school HIT EACH OTHER REALLY HARD style and these two nailed it as you kind of knew they would. It seems like we’re heading for a showdown with the Wyatts vs. Ambrose/Reigns, which is probably the best idea all around. Wyatt has been floating for a bit so putting him back with the guy that helped make him the biggest he’s ever been is a good idea.
Sasha Banks, Charlotte had a good match with Brie Bella in there too. The idea here was to let the two newcomers show off but they have to make it a three way to play up the three way feud that Stephanie has graced us with. They did a good job of keeping Brie away from the action and that’s the right move here as Brie just can’t keep up with these two. However, the stuff she did was acceptable as they kept it in small doses. There’s nothing wrong with that as Brie isn’t great in the ring, but she’s certainly passable and that’s a much better result than some of the disasters the Divas have had before.
This was meant to be a big showcase and it didn’t get there, but it was certainly good, which is a step in the right direction. Once we can get past praising Stephanie for setting this up and giving them a fighting chance to get the title off Nikki, things could pick up. I dig the idea though and they worked the match the best way they could have, which gives me a lot of hope for the future.
Oh and screw Cole’s “TEAM BELLA IS MORTAL!” line when Brie tapped out. They’re the Bellas, not Moolah in the 80s. Then they’re faces on Raw because……well because they’re the Bellas.
Now we get to the big match of the night as John Cena defended the US Title against Kevin Owens in their rubber match. This is the most controversial match of the show and while I started absolutely hating it, the more I think about it, and after I heard Owens’ promo on Smackdown this week, the more I can live with it. Yes Owens tapped out, but as he said on Smackdown, it’s his nature to live to fight another day. It came off more as Owens saying it’s not worth it anymore so he’ll just fight Cena again later.
However, the tap out came after Owens survived every single thing Cena threw at him, including the super AA, which, as far as I can remember, no one has ever kicked out of before. I would have gone the other way with it: Owens survives the STF and then goes down to the super AA, putting him on a short list of Cena opponents.
At the end of the day though, Owens debuted about two months ago, went 1-2 against Cena in three classics, and is going to have an awesome match against Cesaro at Summerslam. That’s quite the debut, but as usual I think it’s a case of people (myself included) wanting someone to go straight to the top after they did the same in NXT. I loved what Owens did and while I would have loved to see him take the title, I understand why they went the way they did.
Big Show punched Miz out because Ryback has a staph infection. There wasn’t much else they could do here.
Finally we had Brock Lesnar challenging Seth Rollins for the World Title. Much like the opener, this was basically a Raw match with Brock beating him up for nine minutes and then Undertaker showing up to get his revenge on Brock for breaking the Streak a year and a half ago. Keeping the title on Rollins makes sense here, but I really didn’t like how they made him look like an afterthought. That’s the World Heavyweight Champion, not Santino. Treat both him and the title with the respect they deserve. On top of all that though, it looked like they were trying to make Undertaker heel, and if that’s the case they’re stupider than I thought.
Overall, Battleground exceeded some very low expectations and kept up the WWE’s streak of having good pay per views. There was nothing that blew me away, but the show as a whole was entertaining enough and the whole show was more than acceptable. Now we get to go to Summerslam though, where things can get really big for a change.
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Smackdown Date: July 23, 2015
Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Jimmy Uso
This is an interesting show as Raw went off the air with a closed story for a change. The big story is of course the announcement of Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar…..we’re probably at V or VI over the years now. There’s no chance either guy is on this show so we should get some new stuff set up for Summerslam instead. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jerry Lawler isn’t here tonight, possibly due to his brother passing away this week.
Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose
Sheamus has seen Dean’s insanity but thinks Dean is just wanting a way out. Well tonight there’s no way around the beating that he’s going to receive from the next World Champion. Dang man Cena is here? You don’t expect that on a Smackdown. Dean thinks Sheamus looks stupid and those are fighting words.
It’s a brawl to start with Sheamus getting knocked to the floor where he easily stops a dive with a forearm to the head. Sheamus goes after him again but eats a tornado DDT onto the floor. We take a break and come back with Sheamus breaking up another tornado DDT attempt and starting in on the knee, which was hurt a few weeks back so why not. A powerbomb gets two on Dean and it’s time for a half crab.
Dean gets underneath Sheamus for the break and hits the rebound clothesline as the knee is suddenly fine. That stuff gets old fast but you get used to it after awhile. Now the suicide dive hits, followed by the standing elbow drop but here’s Bray Wyatt to interrupt. Harper is standing on the announcers’ table as well and Dean goes after him, only to walk into a Brogue Kick. Back in and another Brogue Kick gives Sheamus the pin at 11:33.
Rating: C. The match was your standard brawl but there’s one thing I really liked: this opened the show. Not a promo to set up the main event, not the same long promo that we’ve heard a dozen times this month, not trying to figure out if we’re supposed to hate the Authority or be so happy that a little ray of Stephanie’s sunshine chased the blues away again, and not a five minute recap of what we saw last week. It was a wrestling match to open the show and that’s a very nice change of pace.
We get a comic book style recap of Stardust vs. Neville from last week.
Neville doesn’t think Stardust is a supervillain because Stardust is a coward. You can’t stop what you can’t contain and the Altitude Era is upon us. Neville leaves and Stardust pops up on the video screen to laugh.
Neville vs. Adam Rose
Feeling out process to start with Rose hitting a quick snap suplex and putting on an early chinlock. Adam busts out a middle rope hurricanrana to send Neville outside but his suicide dive is countered with a forearm to the face. Some kicks and a moonsault set up the Red Arrow for the pin at 3:05.
Rating: D+. There wasn’t much here but it’s always good to see Neville getting in the ring. I know a feud with Stardust isn’t much but it’s nice to see him having a feud at all. This could lead somewhere for him with the superhero idea as it’s one of the easiest things in the world for a heel to go after. Rose looked decent there too.
Neville poses when Stardust comes on the screen with a party hat on and a noisemaker in his mouth. He says even the sharpest arrows come crashing down. His hand is touching your hand (Hard Times reference) so be his hero.
Video on Sasha Banks where she talks about being the Boss and debuting on Raw as part of the three way feud.
Here’s King Barrett to say he’s the most important thing in WWE. He defeated three names in less than 24 hours and then defeated R-Truth again this past Sunday. That win told everyone that you better hit him right between the eyes because he’ll take your head off. This was an old school promo with Barrett just coming out and talking about who he is and why you should care about him. I’ll take that over another loss or stupid feud any day.
Here’s Kevin Owens to talk about people chanting TAP OWENS TAP at him. Yeah he tapped, but Owens gave Cena the fight of his entire career. However, he isn’t the one with the motto of NEVER GIVE UP. His motto is more along the lines of “live to fight another day.” Owens has no issues with turning on Rusev this Monday because Rusev was too busy trying to figure out which Lana he wants to get to second base with. Cue Rusev and it’s time to fight.
Rusev vs. Kevin Owens
I’m digging these heel vs. heel matches because they make sense to the story and the heels aren’t buddies just because they’re heels. Summer is once again dressed as Lana. Rusev goes right after Owens to start and we take a break in about thirty seconds. Back with Owens elbowing him in the face and punching the Russian out of Rusev. Owens avoids a charge in the corner and nails a superkick, followed by the Cannonball for no cover.
Instead it’s a Vader Bomb for two as Owens keeps adding new stuff to his arsenal. It’s chinlock time before a Codebreaker of all things gets two more on Rusev. Another chinlock slows things down until Rusev fights back with strikes and a spinning belly to back suplex. The spinwheel kick stuns Owens again, all the way to the point that he sticks his chin out for the running superkick. Rusev loads up the Accolade but Owens rolls outside for the countout at 9:39.
Rating: C. This worked while it lasted and I like that Owens’ character is now someone who doesn’t want to fight after talking a big game. However, this goes against the formula that made him a big deal down in NXT. He’s talented enough to make it work, but I’d like to see him beat someone up again just because he can.
Cesaro is fired up about getting to face Seth Rollins tonight because it’s all about loving this business. He would drive hundreds of miles for a handshake and missed his best friend’s wedding but that’s what this is all about. It’s time to prove that the American dream is alive and well. Owens comes up to make fun of Cesaro, saying that Cesaro took Cena to the limit but Owens beat him. Kevin says Cesaro abandoned his family but Cesaro calls him the master of abandoning because of all the matches he’s walked out on. Owens is on his way to catering so Cesaro warns him not to choke like he did against Cena. Good stuff here.
Naomi/Sasha Banks vs. Bella Twins
Nikki takes Naomi to the mat to start and I think the Bellas are actually faces here. It’s off to Brie, who eats a clothesline from Naomi, allowing for a tag to Sasha. Nikki comes back in for a headscissors with pushups before Brie dropkicks Sasha for two. BRIE MODE is broken up by Tamina because the power of a scream can be devastating. Brie gets pulled outside for some stomping and we take a break.
Back with Naomi stomping a mudhole in Brie before Sasha sends her back into the corner. The double knees get two as this is a very standard formula Divas tag, which you really don’t see that often. Naomi puts on a chinlock as Nikki plays cheerleader on the apron. To be fair I like the Bellas as faces more, but could we please get a reason why we’re supposed to care about them now, especially when it was supposed to be such a huge moment when Brie tapped out on Sunday?
Back to Naomi for a Codebreaker (with feet instead of knees) for two before slapping on another chinlock. A BRIE MODE chant gets Brie to fight up and she finally dropkicks Naomi to the floor. Nikki comes in for her clotheslines and an Alabama Slam to Naomi. Sasha breaks up a Rack Attack as everything breaks down. Brie and Sasha fight outside, leaving Nikki to Rack Attack Naomi for the pin at 13:14.
Rating: C+. Considering this was a Bellas match, I was kind of shocked at how much I liked it. The key thing for me here: this didn’t feel like a Divas match but a match that Divas in it. I could see any male wrestlers having this same match and liking it just as much, which is a major change for this division. The Bellas turning again for no apparent reason (again) is annoying but you have to accept it at this point.
The Tough Enough cast talks about why Jake Gyllenhaal is tough.
Long recap of Undertaker vs. Lesnar on Raw.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
Non-title. Rollins bails to the floor to start before easily countering a wristlock into a gorilla press. Back up and Seth kicks Cesaro to the floor for a suicide dive as we take a break. As you might expect, we come back to Rollins holding a chinlock but Cesaro powers out and throws some suplexes. A slam into a suplex (cool move) gets two more on Rollins as the announcers compare Cesaro to Chuck Norris.
Seth comes back again with a low superkick for two but Cesaro changes things up again with a running dropkick for a near fall. Saxton: “Is there anything Cesaro can’t do?” Uh, get a pin? The buckle bomb (with a nice throw) staggers Cesaro again but he counters the Pedigree into the Sharpshooter. Rollins is too close to the ropes though so it’s off to a Crossface in the middle of the ring. That doesn’t work either so it’s a VERY high Swiss Death for two more. The Swing is broken up by a poke to the eye though, setting up the Pedigree to give Seth the pin at 13:31.
Rating: B. Good match here and I like the idea of a heel doing something as simple as poking his opponent in the eye. It doesn’t have to be this big ref bump and interference ending that we always get, especially when there’s something simple they can do like a thumb to the eye. Cesaro continues to be awesome and hopefully he goes somewhere instead of just being considered bulletproof when he isn’t yet.
Owens comes out and gives Cesaro a Pop Up Powerbomb to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. I liked this more than I’ve liked a Smackdown in a long time for one reason: this felt like a wrestling heavy show instead of the usual Raw supplement we get most of the time. The Divas got time, the main event was good, and the worst match was barely long enough to rate. It’s a good, fun show that let the wrestlers wrestle and advanced some midcard storylines. That’s what a show like Smackdown should be if it’s not going to be anywhere near Raw’s level. Good use of the blue show this week.
Results
Sheamus b. Dean Ambrose – Brogue Kick
Neville b. Adam Rose – Red Arrow
Rusev b. Kevin Owens via countout
Bella Twins b. Naomi/Sasha Banks – Rack Attack to Naomi
Seth Rollins b. Cesaro – Pedigree
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at: