My girlfriend and I took in a Smackdown house show tonight in Louisville, Kentucky.  Naturally I took some notes.The place was very empty for the most part.  The KFC Yum! Center (what a horrendous name) holds roughly 22,000 but the entire upper deck was tarped off, there were LARGE sections in the lower arena sectioned off, and large portions of quality seats were just empty.  I’m bad at guessing crowd sizes but if there were 8,000 people there I would be stunned.

The new (well old now) house show set does help things a lot.  it’s nothing great or flashy but it makes things feel a lot more special than just walking through a black curtain.  There are two mini trons and a big X which has the theme of the wrestler (i.e. Sheamus’ is green, Del Rio is red, white and green etc) and a mini ramp.  It’s a BIG upgrade and makes things look a lot better.

We were told to tweet our pick of the stipulation for the main event: No DQ or 2/3 falls.  No DQ was up about 80 to 20 when they stopped showing the results.

We got the standard videos from WWE: Wrestlemania Reading Challenge, Saturday Morning Slam, WWE App etc.

The main shirts I saw were Cena and Rock with a few Rybacks throughout the arena.  Mainly Cena though.

Kofi Kingston vs. Heath Slater

The crowd was white hot all night and this was no exception.  My theory of Kofi as the modern day Tito Santana continues to grow.  Kofi was INSANELY over and looked great all match.  The crowd booed Slater but it was nothing compared to the pop for Kingston.  It was a pretty basic match with Kofi working on the arm until the other 3MB members distracted him.  There was a funny spot where Kofi did the air guitar and hip shake which got a good reaction from the crowd.  In a very impressive move, Kofi hit a dropkick and from where we were sitting, Kofi’s entire body was above the ropes.  That’s INSANE when you think about it.

The big spot of the match was Kofi kicking Slater down and using him as a stepping stone to hit a big dive onto 3MB.  Mahal and McIntyre were thrown out after about five minutes and Slater started taking over.  Slater beat on Kofi with some basic stuff and hit a pretty sweet neckbreaker for two.  Kofi made his comeback and hit the Boom Drop but Trouble in Paradise missed.  Slater went up and jumped into Trouble in Paradise for the pin at about 12:00.

Rating: C+. The ratings will be shorter than usual here.  This was a great choice for an opener and the fans loved Kofi.  The main thing here was that the match was kind of slow at times, but that’s more than forgivable.  This was probably the second or third best match of the night.

Aksana vs. Alicia Fox

This ran about NINE minutes and the crowd started filing in.  My entire notes about the match: Aksana sucks, Alicia isn’t bad, ax kick hits back for pin (for Fox).

Rating: D-. The match sucks and it’s ALL on Aksana, who looked lost doing anything of note.

Chimmel was plugging the Twitter thing again when Shield interrupted him.  They talked about Orton and Sheamus being brought to justice tonight and get in a great line: “It’s Evolution or Extinction.”  That line is ten years too late and it’s awesome.

Fandango vs. Yoshi Tatsu

Yep, I got to see Fandango, and he’s still Johnny Curtis.  No one cared about Fandango, like at all.  he had some chick that was dancing with him during his entrance but she went to the back for the match.  Both guys danced a bit with Tatsu doing the Rick Rude hip swivel.  Fandango was very generic with his stuff and came off like any guy from NXT.  That’s the problem with the gimmick: it has nothing interesting at all to it and there’s zero reason whatsoever to boo him.  He’s just a guy who dances.  We have no idea if he’s a good guy, a bad guy, or anything about him at all.  Anyway the generic heel (assuming that’s what he was) broke up a springboard attempt by Tatsu and hit a spinning downward spiral for the pin at about 6:40.

Rating:  D. If this is any indication of what’s coming, Fandango isn’t going to last long.  There’s no reason to care about him and while it was clear he’s a heel, there’s no reason to know that other than he’s fighting Yoshi Tatsu.  I don’t remember him cheating, I don’t remember him acting arrogant, I don’t remember him doing anything evil.  He just dances, and I guess that makes him bad?

Wade Barrett says he’ll win the main event and the world title.

Randy Orton/Sheamus vs. Shield

Handicap match here.  Orton and Sheamus got by far the biggest pops of the night respectively.  This was a brawl to start after Shield came through the curtain instead.  It was about what you would expect from this kind of a match.  In one funny bit, Rollins was in trouble and Orton stopped the other two before they came in.  During the distraction, Sheamus choked Rollins in the corner and shrugged at the fans as if to say “it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught.”  Rollins got beaten down to start, Sheamus got beaten down for a bit, and Orton got the hot tag.  Orton hit his usual stuff and loaded up the RKO but the other Shield guys came in for the DQ at about 11:00.

Rating: C+. This was a fun match but a clean ending would have been nice.  it wouldn’t have been smart, but it would have been nice.  You certainly can’t have Shield losing in a 3-2 match and expect them to beat Ryback, Cena and Sheamus at the same time.  Anyway, fun match and the fans were going nuts for Orton.  Sheamus had his fans too and was very over, but Orton’s pop for the hot tag was insane.

Post match Sheamus Brogue Kicked a chair into I think Rollins’ face and it was RKO’s and Brogue Kicks all around.  The heroes went around high fiving everyone and signing a bunch of stuff.  THat went on for probably close to ten minutes.

15 minute intermission.

Sin Cara/Great Khali vs. 3MB

That’s a pretty odd tag team on the face side.  This was about what you would expect: Khali started and cleaned house, Cara got tagged in and got beaten down, Horny beat up Heath Slater, hot tag to Khali and the Plunge ends Mahal at a time that I forgot to check.  It was less than ten minutes for sure though.

Rating: C-. This was fine.  The main thing to note was how Sin Cara botched the one main high flying move he has still: the spinning armdrag out of the corner.  Basically he didn’t rotate enough and McIntyre wound up on top of him instead of falling over.

Cara seemed to be favoring his shoulder post match but it didn’t seem that bad.

Conor O’Brien vs. Brodus Clay

Conor is from NXT and is the only member left of Ascension.  He got to do his full entrnace minus the lights and with the big coat.  It didn’t do much for the crowd but for NXT fans it was awesome.  he needs a partner though. O’Brian cut a promo about not being happy and says he’ll destroy our hero and then rise.  This would prove to be incorrect as Conor did next to nothing significant and Brodus came back with his usual to win with the splash at 5:40.

Rating: D+. This was short but decent all thigns considered.  O’Brian needs the full entrance for the character to work and it looks stupid in the light.  Clay and the Funkadactyls (who now have pom poms) danced a lot.

Tony CHimmel dances with Brodus and company post match, holding his heart after the fact.  Funny stuff.

The fans vote for No DQ.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Wade Barrett

BIG pop for Del Rio after Barrett said he hated Louisville and said the crowd clearly wanted barbarism by picking a No DQ match. Barrett stalls for a long time to start which suckers Del Rio in.  He pounds on Alberto for a bit and then gets kicked a few times.  Barrett goes to the floor and tries to walk out with the belts, only to be stopped by Ricardo.  Wade chased him around and Del Rio hit a sweet baseball slide to stop Barrett cold.

Barrett brought in a kendo stick and accidentally tapped the referee int he head with it before laying out Del Rio.  That got two and Del Rio came back again, only to get beaten down by a chair.  He went shoulder first into the psot to give Wade two but Del Rio came back with some LAME kendo stick shots.  The Winds of Change got a two count as did the Backstabber out of the corner.  Del Rio brought in a table but got sent into a chair int he corner.  Ricardo distracted Del Rio and a bulldog put Barrett through the table to retain the title at about 17:30.

Rating: B. Definitely the match of the night here with the fans being WAY into Del Rio’s comebacks.  Barrett looekd good in a match he had no chance of winning here which is a good sign for him.  The match worked quite well and Del Rio continues to be on a roll.  The table was a nice touch and something you don’t see much anymore.  Good stuff here.

Del Rio signed some autographs to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As you can see, the biggest problem with this show was the lack of star power.  After Orton, Sheamus and Del Rio, things drop WAY off.  The show was definitely fun and entertaining enough for the price ($15 each) and we had a great time, but it was nothing I’ll remember in a week or so.  Raw had a show at the same time in Missouri which had Punk, Ryback, Jericho, Ziggler and every other major star I’m forgetting.  Anyway, good stuff here and it was a fun, although forgettable experience.

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 4, 2013
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re getting closer to the Elimination Chamber which has nothing to do with Raw but it’s WWE in general so there you go. As for tonight the main story is what happened at the end of last week’s show with Lesnar and Vince. Vince needs real hip surgery so that was the story they came up with to get McMahon off TV. We’re also going to get some more between Rock and Punk. Let’s get to it.

After a LONG recap of the main stuff from last week, here’s Punk to open the show. He makes the announcer call him the REAL People’s Champion. Punk talks about how he’s had a week to reflect on having his championship stolen from him and yeah it affects him. He doesn’t think anyone here in the arena has ever accomplished anything in his life.

Punk goes on a rant about how he wasn’t in the video and there’s no proof he had anything to do with Shield or Maddox. Why would you believe Vince? Knowing Vince, he might have hired an actor that sounds like Heyman. Punk talks about how Vince had hip surgery today and that’s karma. Vince probably set this up because he doesn’t want Punk to be champion. In two weeks he will get back the physical belt back because this is day number four hundred and…..here’s Booker T?

Booker stumbles over his lines and says that since Vickie is in charge tonight, the people are going to pick who he faces. It’s going to be one of Punk’s previous Wrestlemania opponents: Mysterio, Orton or Jericho. Just download the WWE App and vote!

Here’s how to vote on the App because if you have a smart phone, clearly you have no idea how to download an app!

Orton, on the App, pitches why he should face Punk.

Ryback vs. Antonio Cesaro

I knew it would be Cesaro before the music hit through common sense and process of elimination. That doesn’t speak well for WWE. They shove each other around to start and Cesaro gets slammed around a few times. Ryback puts him in the Tree of Woe and hits some “feed me more” stomps. Back in and Cesaro pounds away as well, only to be caught by the Thesz Press. Antonio hits a clothesline to the back of Ryback’s head to take him down and we go to a break.

Back with Ryback being slammed into the steps for a close count. This would be after the exclusive footage from the WWE App, which isn’t exclusive if they’re showing it elsewhere, as well as being overkill of the whole thing at all. The Meat Hook puts Cesaro on the floor and the match continues. After a European Uppercut hits in the ring, it’s another Meat Hook and the Shell Shock for the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C-. Cesaro loses to Ryback. Again. Like I said, it’s not a good sign that it was obvious who was facing Ryback as there was no one else that could be facing him at his level. Also since Cesaro and Ryback fight a lot, they were likely to be fighting again here. That’s WWE in a nutshell for you anymore. Nothing special in the match either.

MORE WWE APP STUFF!!! DID WE MENTION THIS ALREADY???

We look at the Shield taking out Sheamus, Ryback and Cena last week.

Mysterio talks on the App.

We get a long video on the history of the Shield.

Cena is watching the video and has his serious face on. Apparently he’s going to call out Shield on his own tonight so Vickie makes fun of him a bit.

Trish Stratus Hall of Fame video.

Jericho completes the trio of shilling for the App.

Santino Marella vs. Jack Swagger

Booker is on commentary for no apparent reason. Swagger’s hair is a bit more down than it was on Smackdown. He shoves Santino around to start as Booker talks about how Swagger is ratings. The Vader Bomb hits and it’s the ankle lock for the tap at 1:27. Apparently it’s called the Patriot Act now.

Swagger yells at Booker post match.

You can now vote on the WWE APP!!!

Apparently since so many people are on the WWE App, you can now vote on WWE.com. Yep, after ALL THAT TALKING, you can just vote without the App. Egads this company gets annoying at times.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Cody Rhodes

Del Rio gets slapped in the face and here comes the champion. The enziguri in the corner isn’t an enziguri as it hits the shoulder, but Cody pounds away anyway. He goes after the leg but Alberto makes the quick comeback with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a low superkick for two. Cody comes back with the Disaster Kick for the same but he walks into the cross armbreaker at 2:45. Well at least he lasted longer than he did against Cena last week.

Del Rio talks about how he’s a changed man and how much he respects the people that work every day to put food on the table. Big Show pops up on screen and talks about how he’s better than Del Rio. He’s at a hotel because if he was there, he would kill Alberto. Apparently Show ran from the parking lot because he wants this in a real match, not in a parking lot. The rematch is made for the PPV, you know the drill.

Jericho gets to face Punk.

Bryan and Kane argue over getting into the Chamber. Isn’t Bryan already in?

Rey Mysterio vs. Daniel Bryan

Apparently Orton and Mysterio are already in the Chamber but Bryan has to make it in. Didn’t they already say who was in the Chamber on Smackdown on Friday? Bryan takes him to the mat to start but Mysterio comes back with some knees to the face. A modified gutbuster puts Rey down for two and Mysterio heads to the apron. Rey goes up but gets caught in the Tree of Woe for some NO Kicks. Bryan goes shoulder first into the post and we take a break.

Back with Mysterio firing off some forearms but getting suplexed down so Daniel can stomp on the arm a bit. He throws Mysterio out to the floor and hits a baseball slide to keep Rey on the floor. Bryan loads up the suicide dive but Rey gets a forearm up. The top rope seated senton starts to pick things up and Rey hits a rana into the kick to the head for two. The 619 is countered into a No Lock attempt but Rey rolls him up for two. Mysterio hits a rana into the 619 but the top rope splash misses. NO Lock finishes at 8:35.

Rating: C+. Pretty decent match here as you would expect from these guys. Rey is already in the Chamber so nice job of having him lose here. Bryan is in the Chamber now I guess, but given the way things have been going on Smackdown, who knows where they’re going with the Chamber. Granted I know what’s coming next.

MARK HENRY returns to power walk towards Bryan. Daniel goes at him and is immediately sent into the barricade. Henry takes out Rey and the running in Cara as well.

Bryan yells at Kane for not helping him. Kane: “You told me to stay back here.” Bryan: “SINCE WHEN DO YOU LISTEN TO ME???” Kane teases Bryan about hurting his feelings but he’s only playing.

We recap (I’ve said that a lot tonight) Vince and Heyman from last week followed by Lesnar attacking Vince and breaking his hip.

Big Show is on the phone with Booker when there’s a knock at the door. It’s room service but Big Show doesn’t tip. And that’s that apparently.

Sheamus vs. Kane

This should be good. Bryan is officially in the Chamber due to his win earlier. I don’t think either of these guys have qualified yet though. Kane powers Sheamus into the corner to start, Sheamus powers him right back, Kane gets caught in the Irish Curse, we’ve killed 90 seconds. A clothesline sends Kane to the floor but he breaks up the ten forearms to the chest. The Brogue Kick, chokeslam, White Noise and the tombstone are all countered so Kane hits his running DDT for no cover. Cue Bryan to yell at Kane, allowing Sheamus to Brogue Kick the big man for the pin at 3:48.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have any time to get anywhere. I’d assume they both make the Chamber but since Friday I’ve lost all idea of who is in and who isn’t. The match was nothing of note but keeping it short might have been the better idea given who was in there. The clash of styles would have really hurt them here in the end more than likely.

Here’s MizTV with Paul Heyman as guest. After looking at what happened last week, Paul offers Vince his best wishes. Miz doesn’t buy it but Heyman guarantees that he wasn’t behind Brock last week. He was even begging Brock to not do it. Miz still doesn’t buy it so Heyman goes on a rant about everything he can think of not related to last week. Paul gets in Miz’s face but here’s Vickie to interrupt.

She says that Heyman is telling the truth because it was her that brought Brock back. Vickie recognized him as an elite free agent so she rehired him to impress Vince. She offers her condolences so Heyman wants a moment of silence. Vickie says we should pray but Miz says really. Miz talks about how Vickie is always wanting more power and Heyman hates Vince for crushing ECW. Vickie yells but Miz says Vince will fire Heyman and Vickie as soon as he’s back. Cue Lesnar who destroys the MizTV set and hits the F5 on Miz onto the couch.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

Are these two contractually obligated to fight every other week or something? It’s a brawl to start with Orton heading to the floor quickly. Barrett rams him into a few things before heading back inside for a quick chinlock. Orton fights up with a clothesline and the Elevated DDT but Wade rolls to the outside. That lasts a few seconds but Orton charges back into the Winds of Change for two. Wasteland and the RKO are both countered but Barrett misses a big boot in the corner and it’s the RKO for the pin at 4:51.

Rating: C. Does this mean anything anymore for Orton? He beats Barrett so often anymore that it’s hard to care whatsoever when it happens anymore. Nothing to see here at all either as it didn’t have time to build to anything. It continues to amaze me how they have so much time but they can’t give a match five minutes.

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

The fans are completely split between the two guys. They chop it out to start and Punk takes him down with some knees. We hit the armbar by Punk who yells at the referee to ASK HIM. Nice touch. Jericho fights up and escapes a tornado DDT to send Punk to the floor. A baseball slide puts Punk down but he blocks the springboard dropkick as we take a break.

Back with Punk slamming Jericho down and dropping a leg to the back of Jericho’s head. Off to the cravate but Punk misses a splash to give Jericho control. The Lionsault hits knees but Jericho counters into a Walls attempt almost immediately. Punk goes for the knee in the corner but Jericho avoids the shot and hits a top rope rana for a delayed two. The GTS is countered but Jericho can’t hook the Walls. They fight over a small package but Punk hooks a spinning neckbreaker for two. The running knee in the face hits this time but the Macho Elbow misses.

The Lionsault gets two as does Punk’s High Kick. This is starting to get awesome. There’s the Anaconda Vice but Jericho FINALLY makes the rope. Jericho goes up but gets crotched, only to get caught in the GTS. Chris counters AGAIN and this time he hooks the Walls. Punk barely makes the rope but he can’t hook the GTS because of his back. The Walls are countered by sending Jericho into the buckle. Punk sends him into the post and the GTS finally ends Jericho at 15:03.

Rating: A-. GREAT match here and one of the best TV matches I’ve seen in a very long time. This was a long series of counters with Punk using everything he could to set up the GTS until he finally got it on to end the thing. Jericho constantly countering into the Walls showed off how great he was in the ring on top of on the mic. Great great match here.

In a huge surprise, Bruno Sammartino is officially announced for the WWE Hall of Fame. This is a BIG pick up because Bruno has spent years saying he wouldn’t do anything with WWE at all. George Steele talks about how awesome Bruno was which is freaking weird to hear.

Punk says he’s here and Rock isn’t.

Video on the media hyping up Rock’s title win. You know Vince is loving this.

Cena says he’s serious tonight and is pushing back against the Shield.

Show is eating dinner and is on the phone saying he can’t wait anymore. Someone knocks on the door and it’s a messenger. He hands Show the EC contract when the messenger has something to tell him. Show tells him to be quiet and signs the contract. Big Show opens the door where Del Rio is waiting. They fight in the hallway with Show beating the champion down but Del Rio comes back with a fire extinguisher. He blasts Show in the head with it and knocks Show out cold before explaining to some people in an elevator that it was bad Mexican food.

Here’s Brad Maddox who says that he’s innocent and was wronged by Heyman last week. He gave Vince the footage last week so he’s the hero of the story. Maddox calls out Shield who actually talk on their way down. They say Maddox (who apparently took money from Heyman too) doesn’t understand justice, because justice is them giving Maddox the beating he deserves. Maddox actually tries to fight and is immediately beaten down.

This goes on for awhile and here’s Cena. Through the crowd that is and here’s Ryback through the same crowd. Sheamus joins in too and the Shield runs….right into the rest of the roster they’ve beaten up before. Shield is trapped in the ring and the brawl is on, only to be chased off to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a pretty solid show tonight. The two midcard champions losing are a big problem but at least we got some major developments tonight on top of a great match. This show also is proof that you don’t need Rock around every week to carry the show, which is a really good sign. I’m fired up for Elimination Chamber which should be awesome.

Results

Ryback b. Antonio Cesaro – Shell Shock

Jack Swagger b. Santino Marella – Patriot Act

Alberto Del Rio b. Cody Rhodes – Cross Armbreaker

Daniel Bryan b. Rey Mysterio – NO Lock

Sheamus b. Kane – Brogue Kick

Randy Orton b. Wade Barrett – RKO

CM Punk b. Chris Jericho – GTS

Remember to follow me on Twitter @Kbreviews

I won’t be home on time tonight so this is the Smackdown review early.  This contains full spoilers so be forewarned.

Smackdown
Date: February 1, 2013
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re past the Rumble and a Raw guy won, meaning we need a #1 contender for the world title. Odds are that’s going to be decided in the Elimination Chamber but we’re still a few weeks away from that. Anyway, the main story tonight is likely going to be Del Rio going after Big Show for what he did to Ricardo on Monday in what I thought was a solid heel moment from Big Show. Let’s get to it.

We open with the ending of Raw with Lesnar returning and beating up Vince. There’s also a clip of Del Rio retaining the title.

Del Rio is pacing in the parking lot with a ball bat in hand, apparently waiting for Big Show.

Booker is in the ring with HELL NO, Khali, Sheamus and Orton. Ziggler and company are on the floor. Booker talks about how all of these people are former world heavyweight champions and they can all get the title back. All they have to do is win the Elimination Chamber which has six spots. This is perfect since there are six people here but this brings out…..Jack Swagger?

He says he’s a former world champion as well (oh yeah he was wasn’t he) and wants in the Chamber. Booker says the six spots are already filled, but Ziggler volunteers to drop out since he’s got a guaranteed title shot already. Apparently it’s Del Rio vs. Ziggler later tonight. Right now though, WE GET A TAG MATCH!!!

Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara vs. HELL NO

Non-title. Mysterio (in green pants and an orange top) and Kane start things off as JBL says Rey and Cara have both worked for AAA. I can’t find any evidence of Cara ever working there at all but whatever. Rey takes out Kane’s knee before the small masked guys hit double kicks to the monster. Kane shrugs it off and brings in Bryan to a nice reaction. Cara launches Rey into a seated senton on Bryan for two but it’s back to Kane.

Kane throws Rey around as is his custom before it’s back to Bryan for a corner dropkick. Daniel avoids a 619 and we take a break. Back with Bryan working on Cara’s arm but as Daniel goes up, he gets kicked in the head. That doesn’t do much good though as Cara gets kicked down and a middle rope dropkick puts him down again. A quick surfboard has Cara in trouble and a tag to Kane puts him in even more.

Kane loads up what might have been a superplex but gets kicked away. A cross body is caught in the air but Cara spins into a tornado DDT to put both guys down. The hot tag brings in Mysterio and things speed way up. Bryan counters a rana but gets kicked in the head by Rey for two. Kane breaks up the 619 and kicks Cara down, only to get sent to the floor by a rana from Mysterio. There’s the NO Lock to Rey but Cara comes in for the save. Sin takes out Kane on the floor and it’s 619 and the top rope splash to pin Bryan at 8:07 shown of 11:37.

Rating: B. This was getting really good by the end which makes me wish we had gotten to see this pairing a lot more often than the champions against the Rhodes Scholars. It’s nice to see Mysterio get a big win in his hometown instead of getting crushed as he has in the past. Now if only he and Cara can stick around for more than six weeks at a time.

We recap Big Show vs. Del Rio from Sunday and Ricardo’s beating from Raw.

Del Rio is waiting on Big Show and tells Striker he’s getting some fresh air.

Great Khali vs. Jinder Mahal

This is fallout from Raw. Khali chops him a lot to start but Mahal takes him down and hooks a front facelock. That goes about as well as you would expect on a guy like Khali as Mahal is thrown off. Slater and Horny chase each other around as Khali hits the Punjabi Plunge for the pin at 1:52.

Teddy tells Booker that he brought Swagger back. The Rhodes Scholars interrupt the conversation and talk about splitting up the team. Sandow quotes some French author and the Scholars hug. The end result of this is Sheamus vs. Sandow.

We recap the ending of Raw from Monday and see an exclusive of Vince being taken away on a stretcher.

Alberto is still waiting. These segments alone are letting him show more emotion than he’s had in the last year and a half combined.

Now we recap the end of the Rumble.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow

Sandow immediately bails to the floor but gets run over from behind by Sheamus. Back in and Damien gets in some stomps and a choke with the knee as Sheamus is in a bit of trouble. A Russian legsweep sets up the Wind-Up Elbow for one. Sheamus starts firing back but Sandow pounds on him in the corner to take over in a surprising comeback. The real comeback by Sheamus starts with the usual and even though Sandow escapes White Noise, he gets caught in the ten forearms in the ropes. Not that any of it matters though as Shield comes out for the DQ at 3:00 or so. No rating due to length but the match was ok.

Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick on Rollins as he comes in but Ambrose trips him up and the Irishman is beaten down. Rollins gets back in and the TripleBomb hits.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton

Cheese and crackers haven’t we seen this enough lately? Orton starts fast and knocks Barrett to the floor early on. Back in and Wade hits a kick to the ribs and one to the jaw as well for two. A neckbreaker gets two for the champ (non-title here of course) and Orton is in trouble.

Barrett puts him in the ropes for his running boot to the face but it only gets two. Off to a chinlock but Orton snap mares out of it. Here come the clotheslines and powerslam but Barrett heads to the floor. Barrett loads up the Bull Hammer but it hits the post in a wince inducing miss. Back in and the Elevated DDT hits, setting up the RKO for the clean pin at 4:04.

Rating: C-. The problem here is these two do the same match almost every time so it’s hard to get into them. Also it’s rather annoying to see Barrett lose clean like this, especially after they’ve traded so many wins so many times already. That forearm to the post looked incredibly painful though.

Post break Barrett gets in a fight backstage with Bo Dallas.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger looks exactly the same other than having his hair slicked back. No pushups here either. Jack immediately takes it to the mat and Kofi is in trouble. Kofi fights out of the corner but gets his head taken off via a clothesline. Kingston speeds things up but gets LAUNCHED to the corner for his efforts. The Vader Bomb hits for one and there’s another beal across the ring.

Kofi fights up but gets caught in a kind of suplex to take him right back down. Off to a half camel clutch by Swagger before he shifts over to a regular armbar. Kofi finally fights up and takes over with his usual stuff. The Boom Drop hits but Jack rolls to the floor. There’s a big clothesline off the steps to take Swagger out but Trouble in Paradise hits the table. Back in and the ankle lock ends this at 7:10.

Rating: C. The match was fine but at the end of the day he’s the same Jack Swagger we’ve seen and been bored by for years now. There’s no new character, there’s no new moveset, there’s no new anything. Kofi continues to be the same guy he’s going to be for the next five years or so and there’s still nothing wrong with that.

Security tries to calm Del Rio down but Big Show’s bus arrives. Del Rio goes after him so Show tries to steal a car. Alberto gets him on top of the car and pounds away but Show kicks him off and runs to a car that just happened to be waiting with the keys in it.

We recap Punk challenging Rock to a rematch.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio

Non-title again here. Ricardo is in the back with Del Rio but he’s in a neckbrace so Alberto tells him to stay in the back for his own good. Feeling out process to start until Alberto pounds away in the corner. The middle rope moonsault misses but the champion rolls through it anyway. A kick to the face gets two for Alberto but he charges into the post shoulder first. Dolph DDTs him down for two and gets the same off a neckbreaker. Off to a quick chinlock by Ziggler as we look at AJ a bit.

Del Rio fights up and snaps off a German suplex to break Dolph’s momentum. Alberto loads up a moonsault but an AJ distraction lets Langston break it up. That gets two for Ziggy but even worse his goon gets ejected. We take a break and come back with Del Rio trying to fight back, only to get his leg kicked out from under him. Ziggler goes up but gets crotched as AJ cringes. A BIG kick to Ziggler’s head has him in even more trouble and a superplex gets two for Alberto.

They slug it out and Ziggler misses a splash in the corner. Del Rio fires off more kicks and a low superkick gets two. The cross armbreaker is escaped though and a Fameasser gets two for Dolph. Ziggler misses a charge into the corner and Alberto pounds away on the back before hitting a Backstabber for two. The champion goes up again but jumps into a dropkick for a VERY close two. Out of nowhere Alberto counters the Zig Zag into the armbreaker for the tap out at 10:08 shown of 13:38.

Rating: B. Another solid match from Del Rio here as he is on a huge roll. Ziggler jobs again but at least it’s another great match with a champion. The counters here were getting awesome with both guys nailing each other with some high impact stuff. Great match here and I was really getting into it by the end.

To the shock of no one, Big Show has Ricardo by the neck and knocks him out after yelling at Del Rio. Alberto sprints to the back to be with his buddy as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B. This was a great show with two excellent matches and some solid story advancement to build up to the Chamber. Alberto continues to be awesome on all fronts with his mic work more than backing up what he does in the ring and vice versa. I’m not sure I need to see Del Rio vs. Big Show III but a regular match might be interesting. Godd stuff here.

Results

Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio b. HELL NO – Top rope splash to Bryan

Great Khali b. Jinder Mahal – Punjabi Plunge

Damien Sandow vs. Sheamus went to a no contest when Shield interfered

Randy Orton b. Wade Barrett – RKO

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston – Ankle Lock

Alberto Del Rio b. Dolph Ziggler – Cross Armbreaker

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 28, 2013
Location: Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield

The Rumble is over now and the big stories are Rock winning the title and Cena winning the Rumble, likely setting up a title rematch that I don’t think many people are interested in seeing. Tonight is also Raw Roulette which is a gimmick that this show flat out doesn’t need. We should be getting ready for Wrestlemania but instead we get a night of gimmick matches and lame jokes instead. Let’s get to it.

We open with Vickie who has three roulette wheels behind her. One has superstars, one has stipulations and one has a bunch of HILARIOUS gimmicks on it. First up is Cesaro vs. Orton which gets a special referee.

Here are Punk and Heyman to the ring and they are TICKED. Punk says this is day 435 and he goes on a RANT about how he’s still champion and that he didn’t lose. Ropes are kicked and tiny pieces of hair follicles are probably pulled out. Punk says Rock couldn’t beat him without anyone’s help and that makes the fans cheaters. Vince and Rock are swindlers and Punk is going to crash Rock’s party tonight.

This brings out Vince who has this big goofy grin on his face. Punk calls him every insulting name he can think of but Vince says that he has proof that Heyman was behind the Shield attacks. Heyman: “Sir if I may…” Vince: “YOU MAY NOT!” Vince says he’ll be evaluating Heyman later tonight which might result in his firing. This was a pretty fast ending.

Randy Orton vs. Antonio Cesaro

The guest referee is the Miz, which I said before his music hit. This was obvious because Cesaro pinned Miz clean last night, meaning the feud must continue. Anyway this is joined in progress after a break with Orton getting two off something we didn’t see. Cesaro pounds away in the corner but gets clotheslined down again. A suplex gets two for Orton and we head to the floor where Cesaro’s back is sent into the barricade.

Back in and Orton slingshots Antonio’s throat into the ropes for two. Miz has done nothing of note so far. They trade European uppercuts with Cesaro taking over. Orton comes right back with a BIG backdrop to send Cesaro to the floor as we take another break. Back with Cesaro guillotining Orton on the top rope and heading to the floor for a bit. Back in and there’s a cravate for a bit before Randy charges into a falcon’s arrow for two.

Off to a chinlock but Orton fights out of it with his usual stuff including the powerslam. Cesaro comes back with a jumping back elbow off the middle rope (looked great) for two. He argues with Miz, allowing Orton to hit the backbreaker. Cesaro pokes Orton in the eye and gets in an argument with Miz, allowing Orton to hit the RKO for the pin at 12:45 shown.

Rating: C+. This was decent stuff but we were just waiting on Miz to do something. Like I said though there is no reason for Miz to be involved in this feud anymore. The guy lost clean in the title match last night so why should they still be interacting? The face turn continues to falter and Orton’s heel turn continues to not seem to be anytime soon.

Miz hits Cesaro with the Finale and looks at the Mania sign.

The next spin is by Ryback and he gets to make Vickie laugh. He starts by snorting at her and walking away.

Here’s Ryback to the ring and after a break we see Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf in the audience. The Prime Time Players, Ryback and Matt Striker are in the ring. Apparently this is a joke off. The Players make a joke about Striker’s luck with women that isn’t funny and didn’t make a lot of sense. Ryback asks what has four eyes, twenty fingers, and is about to be unconscious. The beating begins and Young runs away. Striker declares Ryback the winner and gets Shell Shocked too.

Backlund HOF video again.

Wade Barrett gets to pick his opponent tonight.

Wade Barrett vs. Bo Dallas

Dallas eliminated Barrett from the Rumble last and is the rookie from NXT. They fight in the corner a bit but Barrett hits his kick to the ribs to take over. Barrett loads up the Bull Hammer but charges into a belly to belly suplex for the shocking pin at 2:12. There’s Barrett’s first real feud as champion.

Cody Rhodes spins John Cena which is up next.

We hear about Cena being on Fruity Pebbles boxes, replacing Fred Flintstone. As stupid as it sounds, that’s a pretty big deal.

Cody Rhoes vs. John Cena

Cena starts fast with a dropkick and a fisherman’s suplex to send Rhodes to the floor. Cody says this is a waste of his talents and walks away, only for Cena to throw him right back in. The usual finishes for Cena at 1:56.

Cena talks about how some people don’t seem thrilled that he won. There were 30 people in the match last night but he’s the guy that won. Throwing Ryback out to win is the first step towards Wrestlemania, where he can face a champion of his choosing. Cena says this is a difficult step, but first let’s pause to tell Cena he sucks. Apparently it’s going to be either Rock or Punk for some reason. I didn’t hear talk of a rematch. Cena says that he can face Punk again but he’s come up short in six tries to win the title. But I thought Cena never lost anything.

On the other hand is the Rock. Cena talks about talking down about Rock even before Rock returned so that when Rock showed up again, there would be only one possible candidate. Then Cena spent a year feuding with Rock and there were times Cena showed him up completely. Everything was perfect until April 1 when he lost everything he had spent a year doing.

Cena says Rock won and there’s the chant for the champion. He asks which one he should challenge: the guy he has even money to beat or one of the two guys he seemingly never could beat. Cena makes his decision right now: the WWE Champion, whoever that is at Mania. That smells like a three way to me.

Before Cena can leave, cue the Shield to surround the ring. The beating is on, which basically kills the Cena leads the Shield rumors. Sheamus tries to make the save but here’s Ryback for the real save. Six man tag at Elimination Chamber maybe? Either way a big brawl breaks out with Sheamus being posted. Cena tries to fight them off again but gets beaten down. The TripleBomb leaves Cena laying.

Brodus and Tensai are going to have a lingerie pillow fight but Tensai says no way. They spin the other wheel and it’s a dance off but Tensai didn’t see it. COMEDY is coming people!

We see everything WWE did in Phoenix this week.

Time for the dance off but Tensai first takes off a robe to reveal women’s lingerie. Brodus has a heart attack. It’s time for the dance off with Brodus going first. Tensai doesn’t want to dance but Lawler says what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Tensai does some very awkward stuff including Gangam Style and some other outdated stuff. The guy that got to beat Punk and Cena last year everybody. Ron Simmons pops up for his one word. JBL: “I know that guy.”

Del Rio gets a body slam challenge with Big Show.

It’s time for the body slam challenge but Big Show knocks Del Rio out. He tapes the champion up to the rope and destroys Ricardo while Alberto has to watch. This goes on for awhile and is rather awesome with Del Rio being tortured mentally while Ricardo got the physical part. Also the revenge will be SWEET.

Kaitlyn vs. Tamina

This is a showgirl lumberjill match. The girls are in showgirl outfits which look good but the lumberjill stuff is played already. This is non-title too. Tamina takes over to start and takes Katilyn down with a chinlock. Kaitlyn is thrown to the floor and beats up I think Aksana in the process. Tamina gets hit by a headdress and Kaitlyn goes after her with some decent aggression. That goes out the window as she puts the hat on Kaitlyn but the girls all come in for the no contest at 2:58. Nothing to see here.

Here’s Rock to address the people. He says that the word to sum up the title win is FINALLY, because it’s been a long journey. Rock has won seven WWE Championships before but this one means more than any. He thanks the people and says the days of CM Punk saying the people mean nothing are over. Rock gets in his usual jabs at Punk and Heyman but here’s the ex-champion.

Punk says that he earned the title unlike rock who had it handed to him. If Rock has any respect at all, he would hand the championship back to Punk right now. Rock says come get it and says Punk can either come get it or stand up there like a coward. Punk comes to the ring but says he’s staying on the stage. He wants a rematch and lists off some places he’ll be this weekend but finally says let’s do it at Elimination Chamber. Also, this is ROCK’s rematch, not Punk’s. Rock says let’s do it.

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow

This is a tables match because RANDOM! Sheamus seems to be favoring his left arm. Sandow runs to the floor to start and Sheamus is fine with beating him up out there. A table is set up in front of the ramp but Sandow runs away from it. We head to the other side of the ring where Damien finally dropkicks him down to take over. Another table is set up but instead Sheamus just throws it at him. Back in and Sandow takes out the injured (by the Shield) shoulder with a DDT. Apparently it’s Sheamus’ birthday today. Ok then.

Damien brings in another table and kind of Pillmanizes the arm with the table legs. Sheamus comes back with ease but misses a Brogue Kick that would have sent Sandow through a table. Damien charges but gets caught by the slingshot shoulder. Sandow hits him in the arm again and drops the Wind-Up Elbow. Sheamus is thrown ribs first into the side of a table in a painful looking move. Sandow goes up top, only to get shoved down to the apron for the ten forearms. A suplex back in doesn’t work but White Noise through the table in the corner is enough for the win at 7:21.

Rating: C. Pretty decent match here but the tables were more clutter than anything else. That’s the problem with Raw Roulette in general: these gimmicks don’t add anything at all to the matches. If you want Sheamus to beat Sandow with White Noise, you can do that just fine without tables. The match was pretty entertaining but it doesn’t accomplish much of anything.

It’s time for WWE Karaoke with Ryder and Khali and company as the contestants. Khali gets to sing Shawn’s theme song but after nearly crushing Shawn’s entire career, 3MB interrupts. Drew: “Whoa whoa whoooooooooooooa sweet child of mine.” I love Drew McIntyre now. He gets chopped in the head for his efforts and it’s a Rough Ryder for Mahal. The big chop and Tadpole Splash (Horny is part of “and company”) take out Slater.

Here’s Jericho’s latest return to Raw. He welcomes us to Raw is Jericho and thanks all of the Jericholics for watching at home, which is something he’ll neeeeeeeeeeeeeever forget a-gain. This brings out Team Ziggler with the namesake pointing out that Jericho is gone thanks to losing to Dolph six months ago. AJ says that was her idea but Jericho says put a leash on her already.

Langston says Jericho should leave before Big E. ruins the return. Jericho: “What does the E stand for? Your bra size?” Vickie pops up on screen and says she signed Jericho back to Raw and he gets to face Dolph tonight in a Strange Bedfellows match. In other words, they get to team up to fight HELL NO.

HELL NO vs. Dolph Ziggler/Chris Jericho

Ziglger and Kane start things off with the unlikely partners bickering as we take a break about 25 seconds into the match. Back with Jericho being tagged in reluctantly, only to take both Kane and the legal Bryan down. The Walls to Bryan can’t work and HELL NO collides. Jericho lets them fight and they start shoving each other. Ziggler tags himself in but Jericho slaps Kane in the back, leaving Ziggler alone in the ring. Chokeslam ends Ziggler at 5:40, over half of which was in commercial.

Here’s Vince to give Heyman his job evaluation. Before Paul comes out, Vince says Punk has been escorted from the building. They shake hands so Vince uses some liquid soap. He asks Heyman if Paul is behind the Shield or Maddox but Paul denies it. Vince asks Heyman if he’s ever lied. Heyman says something Vince’s dad says before saying of course he’s lied every day because promoters have to do that to survive. However, right now he isn’t lying of course.

Vince asks the fans if Heyman has an honest face or if he’s an honest man. The fans chant no so let’s go to the tape that Vince has. It’s of Heyman and Maddox in the dark somewhere with Heyman saying turn the camera off. The audio keeps going though and the cameraman turns it back on. Heyman talks about paying Maddox off to screw Ryback in the Cell and paying the Shield in general. He says he and Punk have been doing it together and the Shield comes up to surround Maddox. Maddox begs and is beaten down anyway as the camera goes out.

Back in the arena and Heyman is panicking. Fans: “YOU GOT BUSTED!” Heyman says that wasn’t him in the video and that Vince knows what it’s like to be falsely accused. Paul says he has a thick New York Jewish accent and it’s easy to impersonate. Heyman goes on a big rant about being falsely accused because of his success and saying that wasn’t him again. Vince says he’s going to have to future endeavor Heyman but LESNAR!

Brock is back (in bright yellow shoes) and circles the ring before getting inside to face Vince. He gets in Vince’s face and they touch noses. Vince says Lesnar shouldn’t do something he’ll regret later. Lesnar keeps telling Heyman to go back to the corner. He nods at Heyman and it’s an F5 for Vince as Heyman screams NO.

Overall Rating: D+. I forgot how annoying Raw Roulette can be. There’s nothing to most of these shows and that was the case here. The gimmicks get in the way of the matches which defeats the purpose. This is very reminiscent of Open Fight Night where the matches are the same ones we could see on any given Raw. Nothing much to see here and the show was a letdown coming off last night’s Raw.  The ending helps a bit but not enough.

Results

Randy Orton b. Antonio Cesaro – RKO

Bo Dallas b. Wade Barrett – Belly to belly suplex

John Cena b. Cody Rhodes – Attitude Adjustment

Kaitlyn vs. Tamina went to a no contest

Sheamus b. Damien Sandow – White Noise through a table

HELL NO b. Chris Jericho/Dolph Ziggler

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 21, 2013
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for the Rumble and most of the card is set. My guess is that the Rock will be in the building tonight to further the feud with Punk. Other than that you can expect to see the big deal at the end of the show where everyone is thrown to the floor with one person left standing. Other than that there isn’t likely to be anything new tonight. Let’s get to it.

The Martin Luther King Day video opens things up. Vince never misses this one.

Here are Heyman and Vickie to open the show. Vickie says that it’s her job to make sure everyone has the best time they can at her show. That means she has to do things that are unpopular at times, which includes when it involves The Rock. Heyman says last week Rock insulted him as well as Vickie, who he sucks up to.

We get a clip from the Rock Concert last week with Rock making fun of both of them and Vickie says that if Rock tries to get in here tonight, he’ll be arrested. We’re told that Rock is being stopped from getting in by cops so we cut to the back where Rock cuts a promo on the three cops.

Rock says that instead of arresting him, one should arrest Punk for impersonating a champion, because unlike Manti Te’o who had an imaginary girlfriend, Punk has an imaginary nutsack. Heyman should be arrested for going out without a bra and Vickie should be asked what her insides look like, because her own head is buried inside of her. Rock tries to talk his way into the arena but Vickie says he’s not getting in, if you smell what the Vick is cooking.

Tonight there’s a Beat the Clock Challenge and whoever wins gets to pick their number in the Rumble. The idea is that there will be three matches: whoever wins his fastest gets to pick their Rumble spot.

Beat The Clock Challenge: Randy Orton vs. Antonio Cesaro

Both guys try quick rollups with Cesaro grabbing a headlock to take it to the mat instead. Antonio has the American flag trunks on now as he continues to embrace America. Orton comes back with a Thesz Press but shifts to another cover instead of using the cover that the Press is by definition. Orton punches him down for two and we take a break. Back with Cesaro putting Randy on the top turnbuckle but Orton blocks a superplex and knocks Antonio to the outside.

Orton gets pulled down as well as the clock continues to tick. The gutwrench suplex gets a pair of two’s and we hit a chinlock in a match that is designed to be won as quickly as possible. A slam gets two more for Cesaro as does a double stomp as we hit nine minutes. Back to the chinlock for a bit until Orton fights up and does all of his usual stuff. Cesaro counters the Elevated DDT into a jackknife cover for two and the European uppercut gets the same. Orton is sent shoulder first into the post and falls to the floor as we’re past eleven minutes now. Cesaro comes back in and walks into the RKO for the pin at 11:36.

Rating: C-. The lack of psychology in this match made my head hurt. In a match based around speed, why in the world would you keep going to the floor or putting on chinlocks? The clock idea can get a bit annoying after while but it’ll get even worse later on in the night. The match here wasn’t bad but the psychology was plain stupid at times.

Foley Hall of Fame video.

Shield video/promo talking about how they’ve taken out a lot of people and they’re just getting started.

Big Show vs. Zack Ryder

Brad Maddox jumps in on commentary to further annoy us. WMD ends this in 46 seconds.

Show talks about his second Last Man Standing match with Del Rio at the Rumble. He stands on Ryder’s chest and counts to ten.

Post break Maddox goes to see Heyman again and Heyman actually agrees to help make him famous. Ok then.

Ryback vs. Heath Slater

Back to basics for Ryback here as he mauls Heath and beats up the cohorts before finishing with Shell Shock at 1:11.

Ryback says his job is fun and on Sunday he’s in his first Royal Rumble. He’s made for this kind of match and it’s going to lead him to the main event of Wrestlemania.

Rock is still trying to talk his way around the cops. He says the cops are here to serve the people, not to protect Vickie Guerrero. Rock talks about what an experience it is to see Rock’s entrance and the fans start chanting his name. One of the cop says he had tickets for tonight and his wife and kid are in the crowd. Rock sees an opening and Vickie comes in to say arrest him.

The cops say Rock isn’t breaking any laws but apparently Vickie has the power to have them suspended from the police force. Punk is up next so Vickie offers Rock a chance to get in if he’ll apologize and make it good. Rock says he’s getting in but on his terms, not hers. The other problem is that Vickie still looks horrible tonight. Vickie shoves the cops away and leaves. Rock tells the cops he has an idea.

Here are Punk and Heyman for their weekly talk session. Punk says that he’s been champion 428 days and he’s going to be champion this time next week. He’s looked into the eyes of the Rock and knows that Rock isn’t a champion inside his heart. A long time ago Punk chose honest arrogance while Rock picked all of the people. Rock may be the Brahma Bull and the Great One but he can’t call himself champion. Punk is the man and in six days, Rock is on a collision course with him.

Beat The Clock Challenge: The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

AJ is looking GREAT tonight. The clock is set at 11:36 so Miz tries for two fast pins but can only get two. They trade pinfall reversals until Ziggler hits a decent dropkick for two. A neckbreaker gets another two on Miz and it’s chinlock time. Miz takes Ziggler down and pounds away as we’re under nine minutes. A kick/knee to the face takes Ziggler down and there’s a chop block to set up the Figure Four. That gets countered because Miz isn’t Flair and Miz is sent to the floor. Langston sends him into the apron which gets two for Ziggler back inside.

We take a break and come back with four minutes left on the clock and Ziggler holding a chinlock. Miz fights up and hits a sunset flip and big boot for two each. Miz goes off on Ziggler in the corner and pounds away before hitting the running clothesline and the top rope ax handle for two. 2:30 left. The Finale is countered into a rollup by Ziggler which is countered into a rollup with trunks for two for Miz.

Ziggler hits the jumping DDT for two and we’re under 2:00. Miz picks the leg and COMPLETELY screws up the Figure Four but an AJ distraction lets Langston pull them to the ropes. Under a minute left and Miz has to avoid a Langston distraction, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag for the pin at 10:56.

Rating: D+. PLEASE let this be the end of the Figure Four idea for Miz. It doesn’t fit him whatsoever and this whole face push continues to be a disaster for him. Channeling Flair, as in a guy who is a jerk just like Miz, isn’t going to do him any favors either. This didn’t work that well at all and a lot of that is due to Miz. Let him be himself, not Flair.

It’s time for HELL NO’s anger management graduation. Dr. Shelby is running things and apparently his first name is Marion. Apparently they’re his first graduates. This comes complete with caps and gowns, Pomp and Circumstance, and diplomas. Bryan has his hair slicked back and they put their hats on in the ring. They officially graduate and as a final exercise, they have to pick who is valedictorian. Kane says Bryan and Bryan says NO.

Kane says Bryan has never had a problem with shutting his mouth before and an argument breaks out. Shelby snaps and asks them if a hug would make them feel better. The Dr. has an idea: what if EVERYONE hugged at the same time? Kane asks about Lawler and Cole and Shelby says yes them too. Lawler finally does it and now Bryan wants the physician and Justin Roberts to hug. Kane wants three fans to hug. They both tell random fans to hug and then everyone has to hug at once. A jumping group hug ends this.

Kaitlyn vs. Alicia Fox

Kaitlyn takes it to the floor quickly and pounds away as Tamina is looking on in the back. They head inside again and Alicia grabs a quick chinlock. That’s the extent of her offense as Kaitlyn spears her down for the pin at 2:05.

Heyman has secured a sky box for Punk to watch the next segment from. He calls it a Paul Bomb for the Rock.

Here’s Heyman to the ring to act as an interpreter for Punk since most of what he said likely went over the heads of most of the fans. The people seem to think that it’s a foregone conclusion that Punk is losing the title on Sunday because Vince is desperate for someone to defeat Punk for the title. Rock is the flavor of the month this time because Rock should be focusing on Punk but instead he’s singing songs about Heyman and Vickie. This means that Rock is stupid….and he’s also apparently coming to the arena.

He holds up the ticket that presumably the cop had for himself and Heyman bails. Rock thanks the cop for the ticket so Heyman correctly points out that the ticket doesn’t allow Rock to get in the ring. “Shut your mouth Twinkie T***.” Rock looks up at Punk in the box and says that on Sunday he’s winning the title. What it all boils down to is that Rock is going to rip Punk’s face off and there’s nothing Punk can do about it.

Rock invokes Martin Luther King and says that Rock is going to whip Punk all over the place. Next Monday, everyone from Bangkok to Brazil and all the way back around to San Jose is going to say free at last free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last from CM Punk as WWE Champion. Rock finishes it up and there go the lights. They come back up and SHIELD IS ON THE ROCK! They hit the Triple Bomb and leave Rock laying. Punk says that Rock may have a dream, but at some point you have to wake up. Rock is bleeding from the mouth.

We get a video on Martin Luther King. Dang they’re really proud of him tonight aren’t they?

Beat The Clock Challenge: Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus

The time to beat is 10:56. They slug it out to start and Sheamus gets two off a Regal Roll. Ziggler is watching in the back. Barrett rolls to the apron where he guillotines Sheamus to slow him up. Back inside and Barrett clotheslines Sheamus to the floor as we take a break. Back with five minutes left and Barrett kicking Shemus in the ribs. Off to an armbar on Sheamus before Sheamus comes back with running ax handles and a knee lift.

We’re under 4:00 to go and Barrett is dumped to the apron for the ten forearms. A suplex back in gets two on Barrett and we’ve got 3:00 left. Wade escapes White Noise and sends Sheamus’ shoulder into the buckle. A pumphandle slam is escaped but Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick. A kick to the ribs and one to the jaw get a VERY close two. Barret hits a middle rope elbow for two and we’ve got two minutes to go.

Sheamus escapes Wasteland and hits White Noise for no cover. He loads up the Brogue Kick but here are AJ/Dolph/Langston for a distraction. Winds of Change gets another near fall on Sheamus but we’ve only got 18 seconds left. Barrett loads up the forearm but charges into the Brogue Kick. The clock runs out though at 10:56 just as Sheamus covers giving Ziggler the win.

Rating: C. We were pretty much waiting for Ziggler to come out at the end and the question was could Ziggler survive the clock. Ziggler getting to pick his spot is interesting but there’s no reason for him to pick anything other than #30, unless he wants to show off. This was your usual match between these two in a pairing we’ve seen WAY too many times now.

Ziggler and company celebrate in front of Vickie and she says Dolph gets to pick a number, but not any number. It’s either #1 or #2. Ziggler is stunned.

We recap the Shield stuff again and cut to Heyman and Punk smiling in the back. They run into Vince who accuses them of sending Shield out to jump Rock. Vince says that if Shield gets involved on Sunday, there will be consequences. Heyman and Punk protest and point out how many other people Shield has attacked. Vince doesn’t care and says that if Shield interfered, Punk is stripped. Of the title you sick freaks.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Tensai

Tensai takes the champion (non-title here of course) down to start and hits a pair of Vader Bombs before Del Rio comes back with a rana out of the corner and a German suplex. The enziguri in the corner sets up a mostly missed middle rope moonsault for the pin at 1:31.

We get the second inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame: BOB BACKLUND! Awesome choice there and his speech should be interesting to say the least.

Here’s Cena to close the show. He talks about Sunday coming up and usually being a day of rest. Cena talks about people enjoying Sundays and talks to a kid in the crowd who probably plays video games on Sundays. He asks the kid to stop blocking him from getting to the next level on Black Ops 2. Cena mentions a goofy sounding user name before moving on to some chick who apparently enjoys a calm Sunday but winds up with a guy’s phone number in the pocket. The guy happens to be over in the front row and sex jokes are made.

The point to all this rambling is that everyone does different stuff on Sunday and this particular Sunday is about the Royal Rumble where the winner goes to Wrestlemania. The Rumble is going to be a war and Cena says he’ll win the Rumble. His music hits but it’s only 10:58 so here’s Sheamus to offer a rebuttal. He says he’ll repeat what he did last year, but here are the Prime Time Players to say THEY’LL win. Before they can get that far though, Orton makes an appearance and says he’s feeling deja vu.

Before he gets into that, Miz comes out to say his catchphrase but HELL NO comes out to say something as well. You know the real money in this company is making microphones. With them arguing, here’s Cesaro to say HE is winning the Rumble. He dedicates his win to the USA but here are 3MB to say their usual stuff. The rest of the locker room comes out for the required huge brawl before the Rumble. Sheamus throws out about five people and the show ends in chaos.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked tonight’s show. They hyped up the Rumble as well as talking about other things going on in the show. That’s a good go home show and I’m intrigued to see the Rumble on Sunday. Rock vs. Punk will be awesome and while I think I know who is going to win on Sunday (no hints yet as I’m in a predictions contest and I don’t want to give away my brilliance), it’s always a fun show. Good stuff tonight.

Results

Randy Orton b. Antonio Cesar – RKO

Big Show b. Zack Ryder – WMD

Ryback b. Heath Slater – Shell Shock

Dolph Ziggler b. The Miz – Zig Zag

Kaitlyn b. Alicia Fox – Spear

Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus went to a no contest

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

People have been wanting this and now they got it.  I didn’t expect they would actually go there but it’s definitely something interesting to see.  I still think Rock wins the title on Sunday but they’ve definitely made it more interesting now.

NXT
Date: January 9, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: William Rega, Tom Phillips

The main story tonight is Seth Rollins of the Shield defending the title against Big E. Langston, the unstoppable monster that seemed to scare the Shield away last week. That’s the kind of basic yet logical storytelling you don’t get on the main shows anymore. It should be interesting to see where they go with this, especially with Langston playing a heel on Raw now. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps the title match. It’s No DQ tonight apparently.

Yoshi Tatsu/Percy Watson vs. Wyatt Family

We get to hear Bray cut one of his awesome promos, talking about how he’ll bite the head off a snake just to taste its poisons. He tells his family to make him proud and the visual of the three of them together is pretty awesome looking. The Family is Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in case you’ve forgotten. Wyatt sits down in his rocking chair on the stage and we’re ready go to.

Yoshi and Harper start but Luke beats him down very quickly and brings in Rowan. Off to Watson who fires off some clotheslines and a dropkick to knock Erick to a knee. That’s about the extent of his luck though as Erick chokes away and Harper cheats a bit as well. Back to Harper who pounds away on Watson’s back and tags in Rowan for a neck crank.

Percy finally fights out and tags out to Tatsu for the comeback. Yoshi fires off kicks and chops to Harper and a Shining Wizard for two. Harper drills Watson again but gets kicked in the head by Tatsu. Yoshi misses a top rope spinwheel kick and a discus lariat gets the pin for Harper at 4:12.

Rating: C-. Just an extended squash here but the Wyatt Family plays these characters so well that it’s hard to not enjoy these matches. Watson and Tatsu seemed to have some potential back in the day but now they’re the jobbiest jobbers that ever lived. Ok maybe that’s a bit extreme but they’re lucky to even get spots like these.

Emma vs. Paige

Emma is Australian and dances a lot. Paige gets a HUGE pop, easily the loudest I’ve heard for a Diva in years. A Paige chant starts things up and Emma gets thrown down by the hair. Emma comes back with a low dropkick for a delayed two as Regal sings Paige’s praises. The dropkick might have hurt Paige’s knee and thankfully Emma works it over a bit. Back to the dancing as Regal continues to be confused by it. Off to a half crab which makes sense as Emma is a Lance Storm student. Paige kicks away and hits the Paige Turner out of nowhere for the pin at 2:42. Her popularity continues to impress me.

Epico/Primo vs. Michael McGillicutty/Bo Dallas

Set it up last week, pay it off this week. Michael saved Bo last week from a double beatdown in case you’re new around here. McGillicutty and Primo start things off and it’s a quick standoff. The fans want Rosa who is absent tonight. Michael easily takes it to the mat and cranks on a headlock. Primo fights out and tags in Epico who immediately gets put in a headlock of his own. Back to Primo and he gets headlocked down as well. Primo fights up and is almost immediately puts in a third headlock. Well you can’t say they’re inconsistent.

Regal says that Bo and Michael could become “one of the greatest tag teams of all time.” I know I ask for less realism in wrestling but that’s a stretch even for me. We take a break and come back with Dallas holding Epico in a chinlock. Dallas pounds away in the corner but Epico finally escapes and gets Bo in trouble in the corner. Primo hits a running crotch attack to Dallas in a 619 position for two before it’s off to Epico for a chinlock.

Dallas fights out but gets rammed right back into the heel corner for more of the beating he’s taking. The cousins hit a Russian legsweep/spinning leg sweep (Saturn’s half of Total Elimination) for no cover before it’s back to Epico for more stomping. Primo accidentally dropkicks his cousin and there’s the hot tag to McGillicutty. A lariat and Saito Suplex put Primo down as everything breaks down. In the confusion, Primo hits a Backstabber on McGillicutty for the pin at 9:48 shown of 13:18.

Rating: C-. Again not a great match but it certainly wasn’t that bad. McGillicutty continues to be a guy that should be getting bigger spots than he’s in at the moment, but as long as his name is Michael McGillicutty, that’s simply not going to happen. I don’t get the need to have him pinned here, especially given how much Regal puts him over on commentary.

NXT Title: Seth Rollins vs. Big E. Langston

No DQ and Rollins is defending. Rollins doesn’t have music yet. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. Langston grabs a kick and shoves Rollins down to start, freaking Seth out. The champion grabs a front facelock and gets shoved into the corner for some shoulder blocks. Langston misses a charge into the corner and hits the post, but immediately comes back with a gorilla press to send Rollins to the floor.

Langston goes after him but here are Reigns and Ambrose for the triple beatdown. Big E. gets sent into the steps as we take a break. Back with both guys in the ring again with Rollins firing off kicks to the ribs. Rollins hooks a triangle choke but Langston fights up and hits an electric chair drop to escape. The crowd is ENTIRELY behind Langston here as he fires off clotheslines. A double clothesline takes down Ambrose and Reigns but they run in again to break up the Big Ending.

Some guys from the locker room come out to try to stop the non-champions of the Shield but are quickly dispatched. Eventually about 15 guys come out and FINALLY clear them out, leaving it one on one. Rollins hits the standing Sliced Bread for two and the kickout scares him to death. He loads it up again, but Langston catches him on his shoulder and the Big Ending gives Langston the title at 6:38 shown of 10:08.

Rating: C+. The match itself wasn’t much, but the run-ins were handled perfectly, making this feel like a huge moment and a nearly Attitude Era style main event. I also really like the idea of not having Langston beat up the Shield on his own as it keeps things a bit more realistic given how strong Shield has been pushed. Not a great match, but really good booking of a title change.

The locker room comes to the ring to celebrate with Langston.

Overall Rating: B-. This is one of those shows where the earlier stuff wasn’t that great, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. This was all about Langston winning the title and they pulled that part off quite well. I’m pretty sure this was the last episode in this batch of tapings, so starting next week we should be able to see where things are headed. Good show this week, as usual.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Yoshi Tatsu/Percy Watson – Discus Lariat to Tatsu

Paige b. Emma – Paige Turner

Primo/Epico b. Michael McGillicutty/Bo Dallas – Backstabber to McGillicutty

Big E. Langston b. Seth Rollins – Big Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 31, 2012
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

It’s the final show of the year, unless you count the other shows that were taped after this. For the second week in a row, we’ve got a show that probably shouldn’t happen but is anyway because WWE believes people want to sit around on New Year’s Eve and watch their pretty lame shows. We’re getting close to Rumble time but the first show of next year has the Rock and a title match so odds are we’ll hear about next week more than the PPV. Let’s get to it.

Here’s MizTV to open the show. Apparently tonight is a Championship Special, meaning all titles (minus the WWE Title I’m assuming) are on the line and the champions get to pick their opponents. Miz’s guest is Cena who tells us all happy holidays. Miz talks about Cena being on the show before when the AJ saga was going full scale. Tonight, Cena is going to be a guest at Ziggler and AJ’s champagne toast.

This brings out the Rhodes Scholars for no apparent reason with Damien quoting T. S. Elliot. Cena quotes RG3 (Redskins’ quarterback) and says the Scholars suck. Cena looks at Cody’s mustache and Sandow makes fun of the two of them going from main eventing Wrestlemania to being in the Scholars’ shadows. Cena wants a tag match RIGHT NOW and apparently he’s getting one. Cole: “Did you ever think you would see Miz and Cena on the same team?” You mean the former WWE Tag Team Champions Cole?

Rhodes Scholars vs. John Cena/The Miz

Cena and Cody start things off but a fast tag to Miz lets him come in with a top rope ax handle. Off to Sandow who is knocked to the floor almost immediately and we take a break. Back with Cena hitting a suplex on Sandow and hooking a chinlock. Off to Miz who fights out of the heel corner during a discussion of his mustache. Ten punches in the corner and a big left hand get two for Miz but Cody pounds him into the other corner to take over.

Damien hits the Wind-Up Elbow before it’s back to Cody for more chinlockery. Sandow comes back in and gets small packaged for two but he blocks the tag to Cena. Cody hooks a quick armbar before it’s back to Sandow for a knee drop. The match keeps going as Cody comes back in again for more really basic offense. Miz blocks a bulldog though and there’s the hot tag. It’s Sandow that gets to take the finishing sequence but Cody takes Cena down with the Disaster Kick. Cody walks into the Finale and Cena hits the AA on Sandow for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C-. This got dull during the middle but you can’t say they’re not at least trying to make the fans accept Miz. Having him hang out with Cena is as good a way as you can make the people cheer him as there is in WWE, so why not try it? As usual though, Cole’s commentary made my head hurt.

There’s a New Year’s Party going on in the back of course. Ziggler runs into Vickie and gets a match with Sheamus as a result. I guess they’re done.

January 14 is the 20^th anniversary show so they can hopefully have a good rating.

The Prime Time Players dance in the back when Heyman and Punk come up to Vickie. Punk has brought his doctor to prove that his injury is indeed real. Vickie says that’s ok and asks Punk who he would have defended against tonight. Punk says Ryback of course, which leads to Ryback vs. the Shield in a handicap match after Punk whines about disrespect.

Here’s Cesaro to run down America. This brings out the only man you call when there’s someone anti-American and Jim Duggan is busy.

US Title: Antonio Cesaro vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Slaughter slaps him in the back to start but is promptly caught in a chinlock. A quick Cobra Clutch is countered by Antonio grabbing the rope and the Neutralizer ends this in 1:47. Were you expecting anything else?

Antonio hits another Neutralizer and there’s no Khali to make the save for some reason.

HELL NO is in the back pacing back and forth. They wanted to face the Shield tonight but now there’s no one to fight. All hail the great new tag division! Anyway they hear strange noises from behind a sliding door, and find 3MB singing. We’ve got opponents.

At the party Big Show asks Ricardo if he wants a title match tonight and apparently Show has picked him. Ricardo spills a drink on Show’s boot so Show scares Rodriguez a bit more.

Elsewhere, Kaitlyn brings Mae Young tot he party. Eve comes up and makes fun of her and picks Mae to face for the title shot. Oh joy.

Tag Titles: HELL NO vs. 3MB

It’s Slater/McIntyre here. We get a Nexus reunion to start with Daniel vs. Heath. Slater gets in a quick shot but walks into a surfboard and Kane. Didn’t Slater lose to Kane on the first season of NXT? Off to McIntyre as Cole talks about Auld Lang Syne. Back to Bryan who gets caught on the mat and stomped a bit before being low bridged to the floor. Mahal hits a running knee to the head and Bryan is in trouble.

Slater hooks a chinlock as Lawler makes band jokes. Bryan and Slater hit stereo cross bodies as Cole remembers there’s a tag title match going on. Hot tag brings in Kane for some slams and a leg drop (brother!). The side slam gets two on McIntyre and there’s the top rope clothesline. Slater is thrown to the floor and the chokeslam/Swan Dive retains the titles at 6:06.

Rating: C. Cole and Lawler sounded as bored as I’ve heard them sound in years out there. Can you really blame them though? We had two comedy teams against each other here, which is the problem with this show: why would the champions difficult opponents for themselves? Odds are we’ll see one title change hands tonight for fan service, which is better than nothing but it doesn’t make the rest of the show any easier to get through.

We recap the opening tag match.

Here are Punk, Heyman, and Punk’s doctor with something to say. Heyman talks about how Punk has been champion for 407 days which is rather impressive. Punk talks about everyone he’s beaten over the course of the last year and names them off as usual. Apparently people are questioning how real his knee is, with some even calling if felonious. Punk’s doctor, looking no more than about 24, with x-rays of what a good knee looks like compared to Punk’s knee. The doctor says that Punk can’t compete next week.

Cue Vince who has a different opinion I’m guessing. He suggests that Punk is trying to weasel his way out of the defense against Ryback and says next week that WWE physicians will look at Punk’s knee before next week. Vince thinks there’s something up between Punk and/or Maddox and the Shield. Punk is offended and denies an association with the four guys listed again. If Punk doesn’t go next week, Heyman takes his place.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

Sweet Christmas how many times do we have to watch these two fight? Sheamus pounds him down to start and drops an elbow for two. Lawler makes jokes about AJ’s romantic issues over the year. Remember, this is JERRY LAWLER talking about someone’s relationship issues. Langston breaks up the ten forearms in the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Ziggler holding a quickly broken chinlock followed by the jumping DDT for two. The jumping elbow gets the same and Ziggler pounds away. We hit the chinlock again for a bit until Sheamus fights out. A powerslam puts Ziggler down and there’s a middle rope fallaway slam for a delayed two.

Sheamus goes up but gets crotched almost immediately, only to shove Ziggler down twice and hit the top rope shoulder for two. Dolph escapes the Cloverleaf but can’t escape White Noise for no cover. Langston breaks up the Brogue Kick but Shemaus sends Ziggler to the floor to escape the Zig Zag. Sheamus and Langston stare each other down and here’s the Shield for the DQ at 12:46.

Rating: C. To say I’m over this matchup would be the understatement of the year. For those two of you counting, this makes Sheamus 10-0 in singles matches and 18-1-1 in singles and regular tags against Dolph this year. Yet they wonder why Ziggler isn’t over in the main event scene. Anyway, the usual Ziggler vs. Sheamus match here with a screwy finish.

The Shield beats Sheamus down and hits the Triple Bomb on him.

Barrett comes up to Kofi in the back to set up their title match later tonight.

Brad Maddox asks Punk and Heyman for another shot. Heyman throws Maddox out. GO PAULIE GO!

Mae Young has a stomach ache and has to be examined. The doctor declares her pregnant. Mae: “Not again!”

Eve comes out to brag about how she would have defended against Mae tonight, and wants to be declared winner by forfeit. Oh wait she needs a photographer first. Instead she gets Kaitlyn. You know, BECAUSE THIS HASN’T HAPPENED ENOUGH YET. Kaitlyn charges the ring and beats Eve down and I don’t think there’s going to be a match. Ignore the referee in the ring I guess. Eve gets her belt and bails.

Alberto says he should get the shot instead of Ricardo. Rodriguez says he’ll win the title in Del Rio’s honor. Alberto apologizes for treating Ricardo badly over the years and says he’ll be there for Ricardo tonight. He also gives Rodriguez his scarf to make him look like a champion. Ricardo gets to drive Alberto’s car to the ring tonight too. See, THIS is the kind of stuff that makes people sympathize with Alberto more, unlike Miz who is the same guy he was before the turn. SHOW US how they’re different and we’ll buy it.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Ricardo Rodriguez

Ricardo is in his tuxedo here. He goes for a leg to start and then the pain begins. Show hits a big chop in the corner and shouts in a Spanish accent. He talks trash to Alberto, allowing Ricardo to get a boot up in the corner followed by a running enziguri in the corner. Show’s boot out of the corner is countered into a kind of Stunner onto the knee, but Ricardo jumps into a big chop out of the corner. Show loads up the WMD when Alberto runs in for the DQ at 2:27.

Alberto kicks Big Show down and leaves, before doing THE WINK. I missed that thing.

Intercontinental Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett

Kofi is defending and fires off some kicks to start. As soon as the bell rang, the place went silent. Kofi does his leapfrogs into the back elbow into a dropkick for two. He rolls out of a top wristlock and tries Trouble in Paradise but Wade bails away. A clothesline puts both guys on the floor and we take our second break in less than five minutes. Back with Barrett in control via a boot to the face that is ONLY available from the WWE App. I know this because it was shown on Raw as Cole told us it was only available on the WWE App.

Barrett gets two off the pumphandle slam and fires away knees to the face. The boot in the ropes misses and Kofi kicks Wade to the floor. A springboard dive takes Barrett down and they head back in for Kofi to kind of botch a counter to the Boss Man Slam into a sunset flip for two. SOS gets two followed by Kofi’s punches in the corner being countered into a powerbomb for two on Kofi. The kick misses again and I think we have something cut out before the Wasteland gets two. Barrett runs Kofi over and kicks him in the head, but Kofi misses the springboard cross body. The Bull Hammer gives Barrett the title at 12:28.

Rating: C+. I was digging this match by the end even though the booking is annoying. Barrett winning the title is fine because Kofi is going to be stuck in the midcard area he’s in for years to come, which is fine. The match was solid enough and that’s what it needed to be, but I see absolutely no reason why this didn’t happen at TLC. All that match accomplished was making sure both guys have one clean win over the other, which is just stupid.

In the back, Mae is ready for delivery.

For some reason we recap last week’s Santa stuff. Nice job of enforcing that face push for Del Rio.

Santino and Zack show up to the party as Mae is about to deliver. HELL NO comes in and argue over whether or not this shouuld happen. Santino can see the baby coming. It’s Hornswoggle, complete with a hat, a banner saying Happy New Year, and a cigar. I have….nothing. My jaw is hanging open, I have no idea what I just saw, I don’t want to ever think about this again.

And now, here’s the Shield!

Ryback vs. The Shield

The brawl starts in the aisle before the bell and the beatdown begins until Sheamus runs down for the save. He gets beaten down as well until Randy Orton returns to make the real save. Good thing it wasn’t a long term injury. Methinks this is a six man for the Rumble. The non-Shield guys clear the ring. No match here.

It’s 10:45 and it’s time for the closing segment. Ziggler and AJ are in white and Langston is in his gear. Dolph complains about Cena winning Superstar of the Year and then Cena vs. Rock got Match of the Year, which Cena lost. Then the next night Lesnar returned and laid Cena out. Then Cena Lost to Johnny Ace. Then Cena lost his cash-in attempt. Then Ziggler beat Cena at TLC thanks to AJ.

Ziggler talks about how Cena is the same guy he was ten years ago (no he isn’t) and how it’s now Ziggler’s time. Cena is officially uninvited to the toast, so Langston is tasked with keeping Cena out of the ring. Ziggler and AJ kiss and here’s Cena. He says Ziggler is right and if you judge the year by how it goes out, 2012 was the year of Dolph and AJ.

Cena rips on AJ’s romance issues and we get the always “funny” fake photos of AJ and Ziggler shopping for wedding clothes and baby pictures. It’s a set of pictures of AJ’s children with various wrestlers’ faces superimposed, including Mr. Fuji, Eve, Matilda the Bulldog and Hillbilly Jim. Cena talks about how he’s been here ten years and had one bad year. Ziggler on the other hand has been here and has been a caddy then a cheerleader and now he carries around a briefcase. Cena enters the Rumble and promises to be champion next year.

John goes off on a rant about Ziggler and AJ wearing white and says that even though his uniform has never changed over the years (yeah it has), his message and resolve never have. Cena offers a toast to them to end the year…..and brown stuff that apparently smells bad falls from the ceiling onto Ziggler and AJ to end the show. Let’s see: superimposed images, Mae Young and human waste. It’s the WWE comedy triple pack!

Overall Rating: D+. Every good thing about last week’s show was absent tonight. There was no joy to this show at all and the “comedy” was excruciating. I mean, of all the things from the 90s to bring back, they pick Mae Young being pregnant? I get that it’s a one night thing but seriously, MAE YOUNG BEING PREGNANT IS WHAT YOU BRING BACK? The ending segment had its moments, but the “comedy” again brings it down. Next week has to be better than this one at least.

Results

John Cena/The Miz b. Rhodes Scholars – AA to Sandow

Antonio Cesaro b. Sgt. Slaughter – Neutralizer

HELL NO b. 3MB – Swan Dive to McIntyre

Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when the Shield interfered

Big Show b. Ricardo Rodriguez via DQ when Alberto Del Rio interfered

Wade Barrett b. Kofi Kingston – Bull Hammer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

NXT
Date: December 26, 2012
Host: Tony Dawson

Back to Florida and we’ve got a new challenger for Rollins in the form of Corey Graves. That’s by far the biggest thing that happened last week as the main event was Big Show squashing Bo Dallas for no apparent reason. The shows have been solid lately and hopefully they close out 2012 with another good one. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home…..to a year in review show. Apparently this is going to be highlights from the season, so I’ll be cutting and pasting a lot here. Note that the full matches likely won’t be shown but I’ll be posting the full review from the match.

From August 29:

NXT Championship: Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins

They have a ton of time for this. Fink may be fat and older now (he’s only 62 so he’s hardly ancient), but that voice is still perfect. Mahal won’t shake Dusty’s hand before the match. Rollins tries to take him to the mat to start but Mahal gets back up quickly. A dropkick puts Mahal down again and Rollins hits a hard chop. Mahal gets sent to the floor but he avoids a dive and sends Rollins face first into the apron. A suplex onto the ramp has Rollins in trouble and we head back in.

We take a break and come back with Rollins in even more trouble. Mahal stomps him down and hits a backbreaker to start setting up the camel clutch. Rollins gets choked against the ropes and the fans are behind Rollins now. He tries a comeback but gets kneed in the face by Mahal to take him back down. The camel clutch is escaped so Mahal pounds him in the back again. An enziguri out of nowhere puts Mahal down and Rollins punches Jinder down.

Mahal goes up for another knee but Rollins knocks him off the top and out to the floor. Rollins hits a HUGE dive to the floor and both guys are down. Back in and Seth goes up again, only to get crotched and superplexed from the top. We take another break and come back with the two of them slugging it out. Mahal might have a bad knee but he pulls off a sitout slam for two. A full nelson slam is countered and Rollins goes to the apron.

Seth hits an enziguri to the head and a running knee for two. The near falls are getting closer and closer here. A running forearm in the corner staggers Mahal but he manages to drop Rollins face first into the buckle. The low superkick (I think he calls it Avada Kadavra, making Rollins awesome) gets two. Phoenix Splash (moonsault into a 450) misses and Mahal hits the full nelson slam for two. Rollins gets to the rope before the clutch can go on and Rollins rolls him up for two. Rollins comes back with the buckle bomb and the Blackout out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 14:24 shown of 21:24.

Rating: B. I’m still not wild on Rollins’ in ring work but the fans are into him and he’s not dull. He also needs a new finisher as the Blackout looks pretty forced to put it mildly. As for the match though, they did a great job of building both guys up as unbeatable and then having them go at it. The match was very good as far as making you wonder who was going to win and it turned into a good back and forth fight at the end. Not a masterpiece or anything, but for the first NXT Championship, this was more than acceptable.

We get some clips of the rematch. This segues into clips from Raw of the Shield.

We get some highlights of various stars from NXT, such as Richie Steamboat, Bo Dallas, CJ Parker, Audrey Marie, Big E. Langston and Bray Wyatt (gets by far the most time).

From July 11:

Aiden English vs. Bray Wyatt

Wyatt talks on the way to the ring, calling himself the angel in the dirt and singing Time is on My Side by the Rolling Stones. Wyatt pounds him down and sends English to the floor and into the barricade. Back in and Wyatt rolls around on the apron before splashing English in the corner. Wyatt dances with English a bit (literally) before hitting a rolling Downward Spiral for the pin at 1:48. Awesome debut here and a good transition from promos to in ring work which was what I was worried about from Wyatt.

Bray Wyatt talks about how it’s a new year for your loved ones to betray you in his name.

We get an exclusive match tonight between Kane and Rhodes.

Video on Kassius Ohno. I still don’t care. He talks about inflicting pain on people and we get a recap of his attacks on various people with Regal making the save.

Ohno says a new year is coming and that the year of 13 will be a year for pain.

Punk talks about telling Rollins to beat respect out of people and somehow that evolved into the Shield. The future is here in NXT and he hopes people are taking notice.

Video on Langston and the FIVE count.

From November 28:

Camacho vs. Big E. Langston

This is a match for the $5000 bounty that Vickie has put on Langston’s head. Camacho tries to pound on him but Langston keeps shoving him away. A shot out of the corner puts Big E. down but Camacho slaps him like an idiot. The Big Ending (falling slam) ends Camacho at 2:06.

Langston demands the five count and you don’t tell a man like that no. Camacho gets two more Big Endings for good measure.

We get a clip of Langston debuting on Raw. Ok, now the question is are they going to reference this on NXT starting next week? They’re making it clear what’s going on in the main world, so they can’t (and by can’t I mean will but shouldn’t) ignore it from now on.

Langston says he attacked Cena because he was helping his friend. His business here on NXT is to become NXT Champion. His New Year’s Resolution is to do just that. Unfortunately his manic style is gone now and he sounds all serious.

Video on various people in NXT that we haven’t covered yet, including Kruger and Paige.

It’s Rollins defending against Graves next week.

We get a clip from Main Event of Kane injuring Cody’s shoulder.

Kane vs. Cody Rhodes

This is from July but it’s never before seen. Cody immediately bails to the floor and stalls. Back in and Cody pounds away in the corner, only to be pounded right back down. Kane hits the low dropkick for two and Cody heads to the floor. Rhodes gets beaten up on the stage and aisle before we head back to the ring. Kane misses the clothesline and Cody escapes the chokeslam before sending Kane into the corner.

Cody goes after the knee as we get into a more standard match here. We take a break (complete with a John Cena loves NXT promo) and come back with the announcers talking about a HUGE leap from Cody. We don’t get to see it of course, but here’s a sidewalk slam from Kane for two instead. The top rope clothesline hits but Cody grabs the rope to avoid a chokeslam. There’s the Disaster Kick for two but Cross Rhodes is countered into a chokeslam for the pin at 7:00 shown.

Rating: D+. This was pretty lame. Neither team was formed yet so there’s only so much to care about from these guys. Cody had a pretty awful year after showing amazing potential in 2011 while Kane resurrected his career for about the 12^th time with the comedy team. This match didn’t show much of either though and it was a dull match as a result.

Todd is talking about the upcoming year when Shield cuts into the feed. Rollins talks about being NXT Champion for months but never getting the call from WWE. Ambrose talks about how the WWE is ill and suffering from lies and corruption. The real world has enough injustice in it already and that’s not how WWE is supposed to be. Rollins understands why Corey Graves did what he did but next time, Graves is leaving on a stretcher. Ambrose says they’re the best. Reigns gets in a great line of “NXT is our house and while we may come and go as we please, we’ll always collect the rent.” The Shield is here next week.

Overall Rating: B+. What a great show. This was designed to recap everything that happened in NXT so far and I don’t think they missed a thing. Everyone got at least a soundbyte or a video about them and we got some matches on top of it. The feature match holds this back because it’s just not that good, but it’s nice to see them acknowledging what’s going on at Raw and hopefully incorporating that into NXT. Good stuff here that reminded me what I love about NXT.

Results

Kane b. Cody Rhodes – Chokeslam

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: December 18, 2012
Location: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

This is a special show so that they can start taping the holiday episodes sooner. This is live as well as commercial free for no apparent reason. After last night’s Slammys, we’ve got a lot of places we can go now, so hopefully the show tonight is as good as Raw was last night. It’s hard to say what to expect from these shows though as they can be hit or miss. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap from last night as you would expect a show to do anymore.

The main event is Cena/Sheamus vs. Big Show/Ziggler as you would expect.

We open with MizTV which has to be the most frequent talk show segment in years. The guests tonight are Ziggler and AJ who haven’t been confirmed as a thing yet. Langston is with them as well. Ok considering AJ and Ziggler kissed on the stage, maybe they are a thing. Miz asks why all of this stuff has happened and AJ says ask Cena why he played with her heart. She lost her job as GM to keep Cena’s good name clean and we get a clip of Cena kissing AJ.

AJ goes on a rant about having her heart broken by Cena. We get a clip from thre weeks ago with Cena and Vickie talking about the bows Vickie found in the locker room. Cena made fun of them, AND THAT IS A PLOT POINT. Yes, an eight second line about FREAKING BOWS is the reason this story is happening. Then Cena told AJ to stop coming to the ring with him, like she was some dirty little secret. Cena is supposed to be better than that, but he broke her heart. Therefore, she broke Cena’s chances at TLC.

Miz asks who Langston is so AJ says he’s Big E. Langston. Ok then. Miz doesn’t really care about what’s going on because AJ is crazy. Apparently that work ticks her off, but she’s proven to Dolph that she’s not crazy. He doesn’t care that Cena won Superstar of the Year, because he stole the show and Cena’s girl. Miz makes fun of AJ for being a sl** and says Ziggler is the sixth member of One Direction. Langston lays out Miz.

Teddy comes up to talk to Booker T with a prospect for a job later. It’s Brad Maddox and Booker goes off on Teddy. Long says that Brad is a good prospect because he has a big social media following. Booker gives him the chance because Teddy says Booker knows what a second chance means. What is with the references to him being an ex-con lately? Maddox gets the match and finds out his opponent later.

Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara

Rey’s music hits for some reason but there’s no Rey. Cara speeds things up to start and Damien bails to the floor. Back in and Cara walks the corner for the armdrag, followed up by a springboard missile dropkick. Cody breaks up a springboard something and Cara is down on the floor. That gets two for Sandow back inside, as does a suplex. A quick chinlock goes nowhere so there’s the Russian legsweep.

The Wind-Up Elbow misses, but Sin can’t get anything going. Back to the chinlock for a bit until Cara escapes and hits a quick cross body. Cara dives on the Scholars on the floor….and here comes the Shield. They have Mysterio’s mask and throw it at Cara, allowing Sandow to hit the Terminus for the pin, appropriately enough at 6:19.

Rating: D+. Dull match here which didn’t go anywhere. Shield attacking various people is still a good idea, because at least they’ve proven they can back it up. Not a terrible match here, but once Mysterio didn’t show up it was clear that something was up and Shield is the right idea. We still need some reasoning behind these attacks, but it’s not bad yet.

Post match, Shield destroys Cara and hurts his knee, which is likely a way to get Cara off TV for a legit knee problem he’s been having.

Flo-Rida and Miss Piggy waste some time so we can get Cara out of the ring.

Santino Marella vs. Tensai

This is fallout from the presentation of an award last night. Santino grabs a headlock to start but Tensai runs him over. Santino does his power walk thing but stupidly tries to slam the big bald guy. Instead he escapes a powerslam and tries a German suplex. That goes nowhere and a slam completely fails. Off to a weak looking chinlock by the monster before a cross body is no sold. Santino does his signature stuff and finally slams Albert. The Cobra is blocked and Santino is put in a sleeper. The Cobra hits the top of Tensai’s head to no effect. The backsplash misses Santino and he steals a pin that was clearly going to him the whole time at 4:18.

Rating: D-. Tensai, go away. Get off of my television, go back to Japan, go to Belarus, go wherever will take you, but get away from me. You’re a joke, not interesting, not anything to see, and just annoying overall. Just go away already so no one can miss you. Why he was hired back I have no idea.

Cara has a severely injured knee.

We recap the Cena/Flair/Punk/Heyman/HELL NO/Shield/Ryback segment from last night.

Kofi and HELL NO are in the back with Kane telling Kofi to watch over his shoulder for the Shield tonight. Bryan looks ticked off and apparently he’s mad for not winning a Slammy last night. Kofi pulls his Slammy out. “You mean like this one?” They try to console Bryan by reminding him that he got to hang out with Flair, but make the mistake of saying Flair has the best catchphrase ever. Bryan: “NO! NO! NO!” Funny stuff.

Kofi Kingston/HELL NO vs. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett

Mysterio apparently has a neck injury from the attack by Shield. Kofi and Titus start but Kingston goes right for Wade, allowing the heels to take over. Young gets dropkicked down and here’s Bryan to kick him a lot. There’s the surfboard hold by Bryan and it’s off to Kane for a low dropkick to Young’s chest. Back to Daniel for a dropkick of his own as I think this match is going to last awhile.

Bryan fires off the kicks to Young in the corner but gets caught in a Stun Gun to change the momentum. Barrett comes in to pound away for a bit, but Bryan dives away for a tag to Kofi. The IC Champion goes off on Wade but Young breaks up Trouble in Paradise, allowing Barrett to clothesline Kofi to the floor. The Players work over Kingston as we look at the crowd to see if Shield is coming. Apparently Mysterio’s neck injury is a SEVERE neck injury and not just a regular one. Good to know.

Barrett pounds away on Kofi a bit for two before it’s back to Young. Kofi finally comes back with a tornado DDT out of the corner, allowing for a double hot tag to Kane and Titus. The masked man takes over and hits a side slam for two. The top rope clothesline misses and there’s the Clash of the Titus to Kane, but Bryan makes the save. Everything breaks down and Darren gets the tag. Bryan pulls Titus to the floor and the chokeslam pins Young at 10:45.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but where are we supposed to go with either of these feuds? HELL NO has beaten the Players time after time, while Kofi has beaten Barrett in their PPV title match. Then again, these feuds are likely going to keep going because that makes it easier on the writers, and Heaven forbid they have to figure out something new.

It’s the top of the hour so let’s hit that recap button.

Sheamus explains some UK comedy show to Cena but he doesn’t get it. He says Langston is the strongest person he’s ever faced, which seems to turn Sheamus on. Sheamus asks what’s up with AJ. “You can tell me, no one is around.” Cena whispers in Sheamus’ ear and Sheamus starts to laugh but is disturbed by something Cena says. John says more though and Sheamus isn’t sure what to think. He looks scared but Cena was kidding him. Sheamus: “But is that even possible?”

Here are Punk and Heyman with something to say. Punk says the fans are going to look back in the years and be shocked that they didn’t vote Punk Superstar of the Year. He talks about how the fans clearly don’t care about winning and losing, meaning they’re the kinds of parents who put their kinds in t-ball where they don’t keep score so the kids don’t know how big of a failure they are. Punk rips on Cena for being a mockery of the words on his shirt: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect.

This turns into an anti-Flair promo because Punk says he never loses. He’s been champion for nearly 400 days and he’s still here two weeks after having knee surgery. He’s not on strike like the Pittsburgh Penguins because he doesn’t have an off season. No one can beat him, and here’s Ryback. You know, that guy that loses every match he’s in anymore. Ryback actually talks, and says that on the first Raw of the year, he’s getting his title shot against Punk.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Ryback

Ryback throws Cesaro to the floor to start and pounds his head into the mat back inside. The Goldberg chant start and Ryback hits the Thesz Press and a splash. All Ryback so far. Cesaro bails to the floor before the Meat Hook can hit and gets his belt to leave. Ryback heads to the floor and tries to throw Antonio back in, but Cesaro escapes and sends Ryback into the steps for a nine count.

Back in and Antonio hooks a cobra sleeper for a few moments. Ryback misses a charge in the corner, sending his shoulder into the post. A middle rope European Uppercut gets two for Cesaro and it’s off to a cravate. Ryback fights up and pounds Cesaro down before hitting the Meat Hook. Shell Shock gets the clean pin at 5:11.

Rating: C. Erg. If you need to put Ryback over someone to keep him strong, PICK SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE FREAKING UNITED STATES CHAMPION. This was just a step above a squash as the steps and post did way more damage to Ryback than Cesaro did. The match was nothing good either, but the fans were WAY into it.

We see Miz going through Navy training. He also flies a plane. Riveting stuff.

AJ comes up to Kaitlyn in the back and Kaitlyn doesn’t want to talk to her. Kaitlyn tells AJ she’s tired of this and a brawl breaks out.

Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn

We get a freaking recap of the brawl that just happened ON A SHOW WITH NO COMMERCIALS. REALLY? We REALLY NEEDED THAT??? Kaitlyn gets thrown down to start and Eve hits her running flip splash for two. We head to the floor with Eve still in control. Nothing happens there so here’s a Downward Spiral for two by Eve.

Off to a chinlock by the champion (Eve if that wasn’t clear) until Kaitlyn gets two off a small package. A sloppy middle rope sunset flip gets two for Kaitlyn as does the reverse DDT. Kaitlyn dives onto Eve off the apron to the flor as this just keeps going. Kaitlyn goes up but Eve grabs the referee’s foot….AND THAT’S A DQ at about 5:20.

Rating: D. OH GOOD FREAKING GRIEF. If there was EVER a time to change this stupid belt, it was right here. Kaitlyn isn’t anywhere near good in the ring and now we have to sit through a long match until we get to THAT stupid ending? Give me a freaking break. Terrible match with a bad ending on top of that.

Ziggler says he’s a future world champion when Show comes up. He threatens Ziggler and Langston looks to stare Show down, only to have AJ stop him. Show threatens to kill Dolph if he tries to cash in tonight.

We recap the Sheamus/Show stuff from last night which included the attempted cash in by Ziggler, only to see Cena spoil it. Jerk.

Brad Maddox vs. Brodus Clay

Brodus pounds away with headbutts to start and drops some elbows. Maddox comes back with a quick dropkick to the side of the head for one and we hit the chinlock. Brodus comes back with a splash in the corner and suplex to set up the splash for the pin at 2:08. Same Maddox match as always.

Post match it’s the Shield to beat down Brodus. They actually hit the SuperBomb.

Dolph Ziggler/Big Show vs. John Cena/Sheamus

Apparently Santa Claus is hosting Raw on Monday. Shouldn’t he be working? Cena and Ziggler start things off with Dolph ducking under a Cena punch and strutting a bit. Off to Show so Cena can fire away punches with little effect. Show misses the chop and gets dropkicked into the corner. Show pounds him right back down again and it’s off to Ziggler for some elbow drops.

Cena backdrops Ziggler down but can’t make the tag before Show comes back in. He stays in for about two seconds so it’s back to Ziggler. Dolph misses a splash in the corner and there’s the tag to Sheamus. He hits the ten forearms on the apron but has to stop to punch Show before he can hit White Noise. The Cloverleaf is broken up with Sheamus being kicked to the floor. Show takes Sheamus’ head off and the match slows down again.

Sheamus gets pounded on now as we hit the second heat segment of the match. Show gets in his usual power stuff, followed by Ziggler pounding away for awhile with his usual stuff. Back to Show whose chokeslam is countered into a DDT to put both guys down. The double tag brings in Cena to face Ziggler and everything breaks down. Sheamus and Show head to the floor and then up the ramp as Ziggler gets two off the Zig Zag. There’s the AA to Dolph but Langston comes in for the DQ at 11:30.

Rating: C-. Why, it’s almost like this was EXACTLY THE SAME THING THEY DID LAST NIGHT. Good grief are the writers that creatively bankrupt? I mean, it’s the NEXT DAY and you can’t come up with another idea? This match did very little to make me feel better about this show, which has been the same story that this match had: no reason for it to exist.

The heels pose to end the show. Seriously, that’s it. Oh wait we do get a commercial for Tribute to the Troops because EIGHT HOURS OF TV THIS WEEK ISN’T ENOUGH.

Overall Rating: D. What in the world was the point in this being a special? The lack of commercials makes an already tiring show even more exhausting as you don’t get a breather if you want to see the whole thing. The main event was your standard main event tag match and it’s nothing to see at all. There’s nothing of note here and while it’s not a horrible show, it falls into the same category Smackdown stays in anymore: completely unnecessary viewing.

Results

Damien Sandow b. Sin Cara – Terminus

Santino Marella b. Tensai – Pin after Tensai missed a backsplash

HELL NO/Kofi Kingston b. Prime Time Players/Wade Barrett – Chokeslam to Young

Ryback b. Antonio Cesaro – Shell Shock

Kaitlyn b. Eve Torres via DQ when Eve grabbed the referee

Brodus Clay b. Brad Maddox – Splash

John Cena/Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show via DQ when Big E. Langston interfered

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