Smackdown – December 12, 2014: Well Of Course They Did
Smackdown Date: December 12, 2014
Location: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the go home show for TLC and I’m actually looking forward to the show. Granted it’s nowhere near as much as I was looking forward to Takeover last night but that’s not a fair comparison. I’m sure the main event will be yet another tag match with people from the Survivor Series main event involved because Heaven forbid we ask the writers to come up with ANYTHING else. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the end of Raw with the latest huge brawl. These things are really running together. Also do the recaps really need to go on for three minutes?
Opening sequence.
Here’s Cena to open things up but Rollins interrupts him after just a few seconds. Rollins says Cena is in this spot because he’s done exactly what he’s promised to do over the last ten years. That all ends on Sunday though because Rollins will set the new standard of doing everything he says he’ll do. The future may have to go through Cena, but there is no future without Seth Rollins. You might even say that Cena’s time is up and Rollins’ time is now.
Cena says this is the day that Rollins has become a man, because he doesn’t see the Shield or Authority around him. Instead Cena sees a proud man standing on his own for the first time. That’s exactly what Cena want too, because Monday morning, Seth is going to have to look in the mirror and say he isn’t ready. The future isn’t Sunday, next week or next year. The future is now because John Cena is here.
Seth says Cena keeps talking about the future like it’s some far off concept, but it’s been here since Rollins set foot in WWE and everything leads to this Sunday. At TLC, Seth isn’t just taking away Cena’s chance at being champion again. Sunday is the beginning of the end of John Cena. A Cena chant starts up but Seth shouts it down, saying Cena becomes a memory after TLC with the rise of the new standard bearer, Seth Rollins.
Cena calls Rollins a fool but if Rollins wants to talk like a man, he needs to listen up. This is Cena’s life and if Seth thinks he’s getting rid of Cena, he can line up with all the other people that have said those same things. Rollins can stand with Rene Dupree, HHH, Orlando Jordan and the Rock, because Cena has survived them all. REALLY good exchange here, but I don’t buy Rollins having a chance on Sunday because we have to get to Lesnar vs. Cena III, even though the interest doesn’t seem to be there.
The main event is Rowan/Ryback/Ziggler vs. Harper/Show/Kane. Of course it is.
The Ascension is coming. It’s about time.
Usos vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd
Miz/Mizdow are on commentary and Mizdow has a mini-Slammy. Before the match, Kidd and Cesaro say they’re ready to grab the brass ring like Vince told them to. That line is sounding more and more like a plot device every week. Jimmy and Kidd get things going as Naomi is watching in the back. Off to Jey for a top rope elbow to the arm but Tyson drives him into the corner for some shoulders from Cesaro.
Jey loses his shirt but drives Cesaro into the corner for a tag off to his brother. That’s fine with Cesaro who slams Jimmy down for two and slaps on the chinlock. Back up and a dropkick puts Cesaro on the floor, setting up the big dive from Jimmy. Kidd gets in a kick from the apron as Miz gets a call from his agent. Apparently it’s about Naomi so Miz leaves to talk to her. We take a break and come back with Jimmy fighting out of a chinlock, only to get caught in an overhead belly to belly for two.
Kidd comes in for a chinlock of his own but he misses a legdrop on the apron. It’s still not enough for a hot tag though as Cesaro kicks Jey to the floor. There’s the Swing but Kidd dropkicks Jimmy out of the air in a painful looking spot. Cesaro misses a charge into the post though and an enziguri finally allows the tag to Jey. House is cleaned with the Samoan drop and running Umaga attack but everything breaks down. Jey superkicks Cesaro’s head off and the Superfly Splash is enough for the pin at 11:53.
Rating: C+. This was better than I was expecting with Kidd and Cesaro working well enough together. The division is in need of some fresh teams so why not have two guys that are ready to move up to the next level? If nothing else that swing into the dropkick is a great spot and could be a solid finisher.
Miz/Mizdow are in the back with Naomi and suggest that she split time between Hollywood and WWE. Naomi gives a badly scripted response about how she knows what Miz is up to, but Miz says his agent wants to keep this going. He talked the agent off the ledge but the agent doesn’t want to work with someone with such a jealous husband. Naomi needs to sort Jimmy out and soon.
After a break, Naomi runs into the Usos and goes off on Jimmy for not having her back. She leaves and Jey says let her cool off. Jimmy knew this was going to happen and yells about how Miz is messing with them. Jey says Jimmy has two days to get his head right because this is exactly what Miz wants.
Video on Cena vs. Lesnar which transitions into Cena vs. Rollins.
Bray Wyatt says he offered Ambrose a path to salvation but Dean turned him down. This is no longer about what could have been but now it’s about what will be. In two thousand years, people will still be talking about the things Wyatt will do to Dean this Sunday. Run.
Alicia Fox vs. Nikki Bella
Non-title and AJ is on commentary with her Slammy in her arms like a baby. Fox nails a quick dropkick to start and works on an armbar. JBL and Cole debate the differences between the Women’s Title and Divas Title as Fox charges into a knee in the corner. Back in and AJ says Nikki is like the head cheerleader from an 80s movie. A hammerlock slam gets two for Nikki and she cranks on both arms with a knee in the back. Fox fights up again but misses a boot in the corner, earning her a forearm to the jaw. The Rack Attack is good for the pin at 4:16.
Rating: C-. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the current Divas story is growing on me. It’s amazing how much easier these things are to sit through when I don’t have to listen to the Bellas talking about how hard they’ve worked and had to fight to get here. Nikki is actually getting better in the ring and can have a passable match and the idea of AJ fighting the Bellas is a good enough story. Well assuming you ignore Brie just siding with her sister again after all those months of fighting.
Nikki Racks Fox again while talking trash to AJ.
We recap the Slammy winners from Monday.
Big E. vs. Goldust
Goldust takes over to start with a powerslam and DDT for two each. Big E. comes back with a clothesline and belly to belly, only to charge into a spinebuster for another near fall. The Big Ending is escaped and Big E. charges into a knee. Not that it matters as Big E. pops up and hits the Big Ending for the pin at 2:15.
We look at Reigns winning Superstar of the Year.
Jack Swagger vs. Titus O’Neil
Swagger drives him into the corner to start and knocks Titus outside, only to be sent shoulder first into the post for two. Titus hammers away and kicks Jack’s head off before choking on the ropes. A slam doesn’t work though as Jack rolls over into the Patriot Lock for the submission at 2:24.
Rusev and Lana interrupt We The People and pose with the title.
Video on Ambrose vs. Wyatt’s TLC match. I really hope they go insane with it to give this the blowoff it deserves.
Dean is sitting under a ladder in the back. He’s heard Bray Wyatt talk about them like they’re viking warriors but Dean is just a gutter rat or a dog that loves to fight. The two of them weren’t meant to rule together but to beat each other to pieces forever. This Sunday, when Dean has Bray’s whole world in his hands, he’s going to crush it.
Big Show/Kane/Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler/Erick Rowan/Ryback
All the weapons are set up around the ring of course. Kane and Ziggler get things going with a dropkick and cross body putting the big man down. Off to Rowan for a big slam as we take an early break. Back with Rowan hammering Show down against the ropes and out to the floor. Erick misses a charge into the post though and Show stands on his back. Kane comes in and hammers away again before it’s off to Harper for a chinlock.
That goes nowhere so Kane comes in for a double clothesline to put both guys down. The hot tag brings in Ziggler to clean house, including countering Kane’s powerbomb into a faceplant for two. Kane never liked Kidman though so he kicks Dolph’s head off for two as we take another break. Back again with Ziggler fighting back on Harper but getting catapulted into the middle rope for two.
The canned chants want Ryback as Kane charges into a boot in the corner but Big Show breaks up the tag. Ziggler dropkicks the big man’s knee out and counters the chokeslam into a sleeper instead of, you know, tagging. Show easily escapes and hits the chokeslam for two. The KO Punch misses and Ziggler hits a Zig Zag out of nowhere. Dolph finally tags Ryback to clean house as everything breaks down. Show runs over Rowan on the floor and Ryback Meathooks Luke. There’s the Shell Shock for the pin at 17:08.
Rating: C. OF COURSE THEY HAD HARPER TAKE THE PIN! Of course they did. I mean, we can’t have Big Show and Kane, who are almost NINETY YEARS OLD combined job to Ryback so let’s just have the Intercontinental Champion do it instead. I know I harp on this every week but I really want an answer. Why in the world are Big Show and Kane immune from taking a fall?
Harper may be the current Intercontinental Champion and he has a bright future in front of him. On the other hand we have two former World Champions who have been around for about thirty five years combined ans neither of them can job to Ryback? This happens week to week with all the young guys taking falls because we have to protect these two? I really do want an answer to this because it’s one of the most maddening things going on in WWE right now.
Post match the weapons are brought in and Dolph dives off the ladder to knock down all three giants on the floor to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. Standard issue Smackdown here although with a good exchange from Rollins and Cena. That being said, I have no reason to believe Seth has a chance on Sunday which kind of defeats the purpose. That’s the problem with some of their long term stuff: they’ve locked in Lesnar vs. Cena and nothing that happens between now and then matters.
The rest of the show was your usual stuff, but man alive I’m sick of these same people fighting. We’ve seen it for over a month now and hopefully it ends after Sunday. These writers come up with one idea every few months and then ride it out until there’s nothing left to get out of it. This whole company needs a shakeup and something fresh, which doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.
Results
Usos b. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd – Superfly Splash to Cesaro
Nikki Bella b. Alicia Fox – Rack Attack
Big E. b. Goldust – Big Ending
Jack Swagger b. Titus O’Neil – Patriot Lock
Ryback/Dolph Ziggler/Erick Rowan b. Big Show/Kane/Luke Harper – Shell Shock to Harper
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: December 8, 2014
Monday was another special edition of Raw that really didn’t feel all that special. We had the annual Slammy Awards and they really didn’t feel like they meant anything this time around. Other than that it was the go home show for TLC, meaning it’s time for Big Show vs. Cena. Again. Let’s get to it.
I already wrote a full column on the awards themselves so I’ll skip over talking about them here.
Seth Green was the guest host and was fine in the role. Well as fine as a totally unnecessary guest host can be on this show.
The Stooges helped Rollins beat Ziggler. This was one of those little things that help me get through a match, as Ziggler didn’t do a clean job. You know, meaning he’s not Rollins or Harper against Ryback but that’s another story for later in the week. The match was nothing special due to time constraints.
Kofi beat Stardust in another nothing match. New Day is growing on me and a win over the Dusts on Sunday’s pre-show should help things out a good bit.
We got an interesting exchange between Heyman and Rollins with Paul trying to fire Seth up before his tables match on Sunday. I like that little hint that Heyman and Lesnar are scared of Cena as it plays up the continuity of Cena having Lesnar beaten in their last match. Actually this is the kind of thing that makes the rest of the show so frustrating: they’re clearly capable of having a well thought out story like this but it gets weighed down by so many other things that it’s almost impossible to get through the rest of the show.
Charlotte debuted and got pinned by Natalya in two and a half minutes. My guess is WWE thinks the fans aren’t going to remember this in a few months when Charlotte shows up again. This would be the opposite of what I saw in the previous segment: instead of thinking their way through a well done story with good continuity, they’re basically saying “eh screw it. No one is going to care.” It’s a problem that could be solved so easily: either don’t have Charlotte appear here, have her appear with some other NXT girl, or have her win. Seriously you couldn’t put her out there against Rosa?
Bray came out and explained that the rocking chair used to belong to Abigail and that he first saw her sitting in it. I love the little bits we get of Bray’s backstory but most of it is left to our own imaginations, which is how something like that should be. Dean returned (did he ever actually leave?) and had another great moment by returning in an ambulance, complete with smoke coming out of the back. They had a big brawl and Bray ran off with Dean laying on the table, begging him to come back. It’s an awesome visual, but it makes me wonder what the point was in having Dean do a stretcher job when they’re just going to ignore it like three days later. Again with the continuity issues.
Cena promised to put Rollins through a table in serious mode.
Harper and Rowan had a very quick brawl ending in a DQ. Again, save that big match for a PPV showdown like you should. Doing something like this was fine though because it didn’t matter and didn’t end in a fall. Then again this was Harper vs. Rowan so WWE actually cares about them, unlike Charlotte.
Naomi is going to Hollywood for an audition but Jimmy is worried about Miz. This makes Naomi think he doesn’t trust her as this story continues to be one of the best done things they have going on right now.
The Russians admitted they hurt Zeb, drawing out Swagger to try and break Rusev’s ankle. This ends how you would expect it to.
Ryback/the Usos beat Miz/Mizdow/Kane with Ryback pinning Miz, BECAUSE WE CAN’T FREAKING PIN KANE AND A CHAMPION HAS TO DO A FREAKING JOB! More on this on Smackdown.
AJ made Summer tap to the Black Widow in yet another nothing match.
The Stooges still won’t let Big Show do a job as they ran in to give Cena the DQ win. Again, we can job a champion on Raw (and another on Smackdown) but Big Show has to be protected. This is the most perplexing thing going on in WWE at the moment and I really do not understand it.
The show ended with the Survivor Series teams brawling and Cena going through a table. I couldn’t remember this ending earlier today when I was watching Smackdown because it’s so similar to the endings we’ve seen in the last few weeks. That’s a really bad sign.
Overall Raw was the exact same thing we’ve seen for weeks but with an awards ceremony going on in the background. WWE is really needing something to freshen things up at the moment and it’s getting harder and harder to sit through these shows. You’ll occasionally get a flash of good but it gets dragged right back down into the same drek that we’ve been sitting through for months with one idea being repeated for months and long promos that set up another Cena vs. Lesnar match that people don’t care to see.
Between that and Kane/Big Show not being allowed to job but champions or young stars losing almost every week, it’s really hard to get behind something in WWE. That’s what NXT is for I guess, which continues to be by far and away more entertaining because they don’t try to do so many other things besides just have a wrestling show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Monday Night Raw – December 8, 2014: Worst In Awards Show
Monday Night Raw Date: December 8, 2014
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler
It’s the Slammys! These shows used to be a highlight of the year but now they’re just there as a background for a usually boring show. However, there’s usually a good ending to these shows but with tonight being the go home show for Sunday’s TLC show, it’s hard to say how big of a surprise we’re going to get. Let’s get to it.
We start with a Tonight On Raw preview, focusing on Cena vs. Big Show in the main event.
Jerry Lawler brings out Seth Green to host the show. Seth says this is our awards show and you can vote for the winners of the awards on the WWE App. Miz and Mizdow cut him off though (minus the belts). The amusing thing here is that Green is 5’4 so they TOWER over him. Miz gives a pitch about being the A-lister Seth needs, but Green says Mizdow is the real A-lister. Mizdow smiles but Miz cuts him off, only to have Damien do a “call me” sign behind Miz’s back. Anyway they’re here for the THIS IS AWESOME Award. The nominees:
Occupy Raw
Stephanie McMahon getting arrested for slapping Brie
The Authority being eliminated/Sting debuting
Steve Austin, The Rock and Hulk Hogan opening Wrestlemania
We’ll get the winner after the first match.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins
Ziggler backdrops him to the floor and we take a break thirty seconds in. Back with Rollins in control and driving a knee into Dolph’s ribs. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Dolph sends him face first into the buckle to get a breather. The Stinger Splash and elbow drop get two but Seth blocks the running DDT. Ziggler counters the buckle bomb into a sunset flip and now the running DDT is good for two. Back up and they head to the corner with Ziggler shrugging Dolph down, only to have the Stooges shove him off, setting up the Curb Stomp for the pin at 7:20.
Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do anything but at least Ziggler didn’t lose clean. I can live with a heel cheating to win and beating a hot star, evne though he’s going into an Intercontinental Title shot this coming Sunday. Why would we need to keep Ziggler strong for something like that?
Sting debuting wins the THIS IS AWESOME Award. Of course Sting isn’t here so Seth is going to accept on his behalf, but Seth comes up and takes the trophy because Sting is responsible for the Authority being gone and Seth deserves it.
Here are some Slammys awarded on the pre-show:
Insult of the Year – Rock insulting Lana and Rusev
Tag Team of the Year – Usos
Breakout Star of the Year – Dean Ambrose
Hashtag of the Year – RKOOUTTANOWHERE
Fan Participation – YOU SOLD OUT to Seth Rollins
Kofi Kingston vs. Stardust
Stardust takes Kofi down to start and steps on his chest before the referee breaks it up in the ropes. A chinlock goes as far as you would expect it to and Kofi fights up with a hurricanrana. Some dropkicks put Starudust down and the NEW DAY Drop (no more Boom) sets up a running knee in the corner. A high cross body is enough to pin Stardust at 2:58.
Johnny Ace is presenting Surprise Return of the Year. After suggesting the People Power replace the Authority, here are the nominees:
Hulk Hogan
Batista
The Rock
Ultimate Warrior
Winner announced after How To Download The App and a break. After we’re back, Ultimate Warrior wins.
Rollins is in the back with the Stooges when the run into Paul Heyman. Seth sends the Stooges away so he can talk to Heyman about the tables match. He thinks he might be next in line to face the Beast after he beats Cena, but promises that his cash-in will come when Lesnar and Heyman least expect it. Heyman is fine with that, but his client might as well be champion for life. However, that doesn’t stop Rollins from being the future. John Cena is standing in his way, so if Rollins wants to be the future, he needs to make sure that Cena is stuck in the past. Rollins seems to like the idea.
Video on NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte.
Charlotte vs. Natalya
Non-title of course. We get a WOO to start and Charlotte drives knees into the ribs to start. She stomps Natalya down against the ropes but gets caught in a quick choke to slow her down. That’s fine with Charlotte who just pounds away at her face. A slap makes Charlotte even madder but Natalya takes out the legs as they hit the mat. Charlotte drops her again with a wicked chop and drops a hard knee for two. Natalya tries the Sharpshooter but gets countered into the Figure Four, which is countered into a small package to give Natalya the pin at 2:30.
Tyson Kidd takes the spotlight like he did at Survivor Series.
Santino presents the OMG Shocking Moment of the Year. He says he was shocked just now by seeing Luke Harper take a shower. Usually he’s watching the Divas take showers….but he’s not a creep. The nominees are:
Seth Sells Out
Nikki Turns On Brie
Bray Wyatt’s Children’s Choir
The Streak Is Conquered
The winner is of course the Streak being conquered. Lesnar’s music plays but we get Heyman instead for a very brief acceptance speech without saying anything of note.
Here’s Bray Wyatt to talk about seeing her for the first time in that rocking chair beneath the Cypress tree. We see Dean destroying the chair last week and Bray says Dean destroyed something that can’t be replaced. That leads us to Dean having his throat crushed on Smackdown in retaliation. Bray asks if that shocks or frightens us. No one here knows what they’re dealing with and he despises all of us.
If you get too close to him, you will get burned by his fire as he stands on top of that ladder. Bray won’t allow us to cry for him though as Dean deserves what’s coming. He repeats Tables Ladders and Chairs over and over again until an ambulance drives into the arena. Dean pops out in a neck brace and pulls a table out of the ambulance. He throws it on the ramp before pulling out a ladder and chair to go with it.
There goes the neck brace and Dean drags the ladder and chair to the ring. He throws the chair in and nails Bray in the ribs with the ladder. Dean throws in a chair and hits Bray square in the head with it. A table comes in as well but Wyatt rolls to the floor. Dean lays on the table with the chair over him. Bray comes back down and gets another chair thrown at him. This Sunday, Dean is going to become the monster and eat Bray alive.
Seth Green brings out Jerry Lawler to present Diva of the Year. The nominees are:
Brie Bella
Nikki Bella
AJ Lee
Paige
The girls are shown in the back when Titus O’Neil shows up in a tuxedo for some reason. AJ wins and nothing seems to come of the cameo. She says that she promised to redefine the term Diva three years ago. Next year she hopes that next year, it’s Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Emma or Paige is up here on the throne. She’s not done being queen though and will get her title back this week.
Cena talks about Vince telling Austin that the locker room needs to step up. That might fire up Seth Rollins, so maybe Rollins wants Big Show to wear him out tonight. This Sunday, Rollins has to put him through a table, which is good for Seth because he can’t pin Cena or make him tap out. If Cena can’t win this Sunday, maybe it’s time for him to step down so Seth can step up. Tonight he’s going to slam a giant and shake South Carolina because his time isn’t up yet. This Sunday, Rollins goes through a table.
Erick Rowan vs. Luke Harper
Non-title and Harper brings a ladder with him. It’s a slugout to start with Rowan getting the better of it and nailing a running splash in the corner. That’s fine with Harper who nails a dropkick for one before kicking Erick in the head. The Gator Roll doesn’t get Luke anywhere as Rowan pops back up and nails some clotheslines. A full nelson slam gets two on Harper and they head outside with Luke hitting Rowan with the ladder for the DQ at 2:05.
Post match Rowan fights back and starts throwing the stairs into the ring. Harper takes a big shot to the head and bails.
The Usos come up to Naomi to celebrate their Slammys. Jimmy says it’s the second best thing to happen to him all year after marrying her. Naomi has been talking to Miz’s agent and apparently it went well. Uso isn’t sure but Naomi has a screen test later this week. That’s fine with Jimmy but he’s going to Hollywood with her because Miz is involved in this somehow. Naomi interprets this as Jimmy not trusting her.
Adam Rose comes out to present LOL Moment of the Year. The Bunny won Animal of the Year earlier. Rose thinks he should be hosting and says the fans know nothing when they disagree. The nominees are:
Mr. T.’s Mother’s Day message at the Hall of Fame ceremony
WeeLC
Mizdow the Stunt Double
Vickie Guerrero knocking Stephanie into pudding
The Bunny tries to open the envelope but Rose gives us Mizdow for the win. Here he is along with Miz (and the belts this time), who actually lets Mizdow have some spotlight for a bit. It’s only for a bit though as Miz takes the trophy and says he can make us go through all these emotions because he’s an actor. Miz: “I hear you. You want MIZ NOW and you’re getting MIZ NOW!” Miz thanks the only one that has been there for him since day one: the moneymaker. Mizdow doesn’t seem that offended.
Here are some other winners.
Faction of the Year – Shield
Rivalry of the Year – Bryan vs. Authority
Raw Guest Star of the Year – Jackman
Twitter Handle of the Year – @HeelZiggler
Couple of the Year – Bryan/Brie Bella
Here are Lana and Rusev for a chat. Lana runs down the American economy and President Obama before moving on to the Real Americans. Lana: “That is an LOL moment!” Cue Swagger, who will be challenging Rusev for the title on Sunday, to say that Rusev broke Colter’s leg, so he’s going to snap Rusev’s ankle. Jack charges and ducks the running superkick before dropping the ankle on the barricade. There’s the Patriot Lock on the floor and Rusev kind of taps until referees make the save.
New Day vs. Goldust/Stardust on Sunday’s pre-show.
Usos/Ryback vs. Kane/Miz/Damien Mizdow
Seth Green is on commentary. Kane slams Ryback to start as Seth talks about Battlestar Galactica. The Usos come in to start in on the arm but the announcers are too busy taking pictures. Off to Miz to stomp away on Jey before a headlock takes the actor down. Lawler has to get the announcers back on the match as Cole does his traditional driving off a cliff of a tangent. Jey hammers away on Miz and grabs a suplex, so Mizdow comes in and mimes getting hit in the face before raising his arm like he’s about to be suplexed. He flips over then dives over the top after Miz is sent flying.
Back from a break with Kane holding Jey in a chinlock before it’s off to Miz for a Reality Check. Jey finally breaks free and tags in Ryback to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Usos escape a double chokeslam and nail Kane with a double superkick. Jey dives onto Kane but Jimmy gets low bridged to the floor when charging at Miz. The Meathook and Shell Shock end Miz at 9:52.
Rating: C. This was a quick match that combined the two feuds into one and there’s nothing wrong with that. Jimmy vs. Miz is at least a fresh story and something that fits the characters instead of being shoehorned in. Ryback continues to get a push, even though he’s lost some momentum after that performance at Survivor Series.
Green celebrates with the winners.
We look back at the first Slammys in 1986.
Here’s Ricky Steamboat to present Match of the Year. He gives a very nice speech about what it means to have a classic match to introduce the nominees.
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista – Wrestlemania XXX
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt – Payback
Shield vs. Evolution – Extreme Rules
Team Cena vs. Team Authority – Survivor Series
Team Cena vs. Team Authority wins with Ziggler coming out to accept. Ziggler sounds very touched by this and says they’re going to build off of it because this belongs to all of the fans.
AJ Lee vs. Summer Rae
Summer mocks AJ for winning the award earlier and AJ goes right at her, only to eat a wheelbarrow slam for two. A spinwheel kick that misses by six inches gets two on AJ before we hit a quickly broken chinlock. AJ pops up and Black Widows Summer for the submission at 2:18.
Rob Van Dam is here to present the Extreme Moment of the Year. The nominees are:
Brock Lesnar’s 16 suplexes to John Cena
Kane tombstoning Bryan on the steps and the announcers’ table
Chris Jericho diving off the cage and onto Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins Curb Stomps Dean Ambrose onto cinder blocks
Jericho wins and Fandango comes out to accept on his behalf. You’ll never forget his name you see.
Saint Mick does his merchandise shilling.
Big Show says no one is going to forgive him for what he does so he’s going to destroy Cena tonight.
Booker T. is presenting Superstar of the Year.
Dean Ambrose
Bray Wyatt
Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar
Bray Wyatt
John Cena
Seth Rollins
After a break, the winner is Roman Reigns. He’s actually in the building tonight to accept the award and says this may not be the brass ring but it’s a step in the right direction. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the top of the stairs, he’s stepping up and you can believe that.
Chris Jericho is Guest GM next week.
John Cena vs. Big Show
Big Show’s music comes on at 11:00pm EST so this is going to be quick. Cena charges right at him and gets headbutted down. A shoulder bounces off Show and he chokes Cena on the ropes. Cena avoids a charge in the corner and grabs a DDT, only to walk into a side slam to put him right back down. Off to a bearhug for a bit before Cena jumps onto the giant’s back for a sleeper. Show flips him forward but misses the KO Punch, allowing Cena to hit a belly to back. The Shuffle is countered by a chokeslam but Cena slips out and AA’s Show for two as Rollins and the Stooges come in for the DQ at 5:43.
Rating: D. This was every Cena vs. Big Show match you’ve ever seen and with the ending that everyone and their mother (even Mr. T.’s) knew was coming. It’s not the worst match in the world, but what could they possibly do in less than six minutes with a completely telegraphed ending?
Rollins loads up a ladder for a super Curb Stomp but Ziggler makes the save. Cena and Ziggler beat up the Stooges but Big Show knocks them both out. Cue Rowan but Harper jumps him from behind. Show chokeslams him onto the steps so here’s Ryback for the late save. He posts Show and Meathooks Harper before setting up a table. The Shell Shock is broken up by Kane with a chair but Ziggler takes out Kane. Some superkicks drop Big Show, only to have Harper put Dolph through a table. Cena AA’s Harper, only to eat a Curb Stomp. Rollins loads up the announcers’ table and TripleBombs Cena through to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Well that happened. This was one of those shows where there just wasn’t anything to talk about. The Ambrose vs. Wyatt segment was good but it’s not enough to carry a three hour show. This was much more a go home show with a few other things going on in the background. Sunday should be fun but we really need to get to Wrestlemania season to breathe some life into this company again. The show wasn’t even horrible but there’s just nothing here worth seeing.
Results
Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Curb Stomp
Kofi Kingston b. Stardust – High cross body
Natalya b. Charlotte – Small package
Erick Rowan b. Luke Harper via DQ when Harper hit Rowan with a ladder
Usos/Ryback b. Miz/Damien Mizdow/Kane – Shell Shock to Miz
AJ Lee b. Summer Rae – Black Widow
John Cena b. Big Show via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Is it a bird? Or a plane? Maybe a frog? Not bird nor plane nor even frog. It’s the Hurricane!
Shane Helms got his start in the Carolinas along with the Hardys way back in 1991. That’s a hard era to find footage of though and since Helms has actually done a lot in his career, we’re going to jump ahead to 2000 with Shane part of 3 Count. From Uncensored 2000.
Hardcore Title: 3 Count vs. Brian Knobbs
Knobbs is challenging and has to beat all three guys. Apparently it’s a gauntlet match. 3 Count does their dancing thing and then Tony says “Wait a second. How can we do this after what we just saw?” He’s talking about Crowbar and apparently it took him three minutes to realize how distraught he was. They talk about stopping the show, and the thought occurs to me that this could somehow be a commentary on Vince not stopping the show after Owen fell last year. If that’s the case, this company deserves to die more than anything I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, Knobbs wastes some time looking for weapons before the match starts. Knobbs is all upset by Crowbar apparently. As he’s putting the weapons in one of the champions jumps off the top with a kendo stick to drill him. By gauntlet apparently they mean handicap elimination because they’re all out there at once. Knobbs cleans house and uses the Pit Stop on all three of them. Helms gets a chair shot to take over and sends Knobbs into a ladder in the corner.
Splash off said ladder gets no cover because the other two have to go up for splashes also. Karagis uses a corkscrew one and Moore’s Swanton misses. With Knobbs crawling away for weapons, 3 Count turns their back on him for a dance sequence. Helms has a chair on his face and Knobbs hits the chair with a mop to eliminate him. He had a broken nose so that’s more painful than it sounds.
It’s Table Time and after walking around for awhile, Knobbs powerbombs Karagis over the top rope through the table which more or less explodes. Helms is still around and beats on Knobbs a bit to no avail. Tony calls a chair shot a table shot because he’s not very smart. Another table is sent in while Moore is out cold. Moore manages to get a pin when Knobbs trips over something, but it’s a DUSTY FINISH due to Knobbs’ foot being on the ropes. In a freaking ow man moment, Knobbs throws a ladder over the top rope to land on Karagis who is still down. Middle rope garbage can shot gives Knobbs the title back.
Rating: D+. Somehow this might be the match of the night so far and it was a Brian Knobbs showcase match. Why in the world is this happening in the year 2000? And with a freaking Dusty Finish of all things. It was fine for a weapons match I guess, but there was never any doubt of the finish. Why in the world was this on PPV in 2000 though?
Here’s a bit better match at New Blood Rising.
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons
This would open about 19 Thunders in a row. Tank Abbott is their Rikishi and dances with them. Ok to be fair, this was freaking hilarious. The only Dragon that is known is the masked one who would become Jamie Knoble. Three Count has one guy that meant nothing, Shannon Moore and Shane (Gregory) Helms. This is a double ladder match where the Dragons are trying to get a recording contract so 3 Count can’t record again and 3 Count is trying to get their gold record back.
You have to tag here and it’s a ladder match. They stack up a ladder in the corner and do a ton of stuff with that. Both teams hit a springboard Doomsday Device as this is a fun match but you can tell nothing is ever going to go anywhere. Noble does a HUGE dive off the ladder to the floor. Oh and Yang cut his hair and became the resident redneck on Smackdown. This isn’t bad but it’s certainly is entertaining.
And then 3 Count stops to dance. Jamie hits a nice rana and the other two hit a double splash off the ladders. Jamie gets the record but it’s not over yet. Abbott gets the record and we keep going a bit more. I’d love to hear the explanation to a record company that they lost their contract in a professional wrestling ladder match. Kaz and Helms sprint up the ladders but Abbott shoves both guys over. Karagis climbs up and gets the contract. Soon after Jamie would be unmasked and Karagis would team up to become a third team. Abbott leaves with the contract and record.
Rating: B. Solid stuff here although it made limited sense with the whole double prize thing but that’s WCW for you. These six guys would open just about every show there was without ever getting anywhere at all for it and while the matches were solid, people just got sick of seeing them. I know I did.
Little six man match from Fall Brawl 2000.
3 Count vs. Misfits in Action
The Misfits here are Sgt. AWOL (The Wall who most of you likely don’t remember) Lieutenant Loco (Chavo) and Corporal Cajun (Lash Leroux). The band has a new song here that likely could have been a decent hit if sung by a “legit” band, which is either great or scary. The idea of the Misfits was that they were guys that were thrown out of storylines by Russo so they banded together as their only way to have a chance. That works well enough.
And yes, 3 Count gets a match against someone not named the Jung Dragons. Two of the boy band members are Shannon Moore and Shane (Gregory) Helms. The third sucks. We hear about Duggan giving the flag and board to General Rection (Hugh Morrus) and will be in his corner tonight. Yeah I’m sure this isn’t going to go badly at all for Rection.
This is a pretty basic match but it’s not bad. They’re just kind of filling in time as these matches aren’t going to mean anything past tonight anyway. The idea here is that the band is scared to death of AWOL so they’re going to try to keep him out. Simple story but it works. Leroux was a lot better than he was given credit for. I might even stretch to say he was pretty good.
He hits a springboard X Factor to get the hot tag to AWOL who cleans house. Moore hits a nice flip to put Cajun down and we let the high spots loose. AWOL gets knocked through a table (his signature thing) but not before holding Moore up off the ground purely by his hair. Everything goes insane and Leroux hits Helms with what we would more or less call Cradle Shock for the pin. They get a standing ovation for it and that’s what they deserved.
Rating: B. I REALLY liked this. There was no interference, there was nothing completely insane, the effort was there and the wrestling was there. What a shock that when you put all this together, you get a good match. Worst thing is I can more or less guarantee this is the high point of the show.
3 Count split up soon after this and Helms became a big deal in the Cruiserweight division. Here’s hit title shot at Greed.
Cruiserweight Title: Shane Helms vs. Chavo Guerrero
They put the wrong graphic up for the match just to show how inept they were here. Helms and Guerrero were more or less perfect in this division at this time so this should rock. Helms has his own rap song and his own dance team called the Sugar Babies. He’s Sugar Shane Helms if that clears up anything else. He also has an awesome finisher called the Vertebreaker.
They start off rather slowly with Shane being a fast paced guy and Chavo being more of a Dean Malenko style guy. Very nice technical and mat basted stuff gets us to a standoff. Shane is a heel here I think but it’s not exactly clear. Regal Stretch, which is different than the STFU, by Chavo and Helms is in trouble.
Chavo takes over and apparently he’s the heel. It’s not a good sign when about halfway through this match and I’m just getting that. Huge dive to the floor gets no reaction. I don’t get this crowd: they just don’t seem to care about anything at all and it’s rather annoying. Shane does some basic stuff to take us back to even and both guys are down. Decent match so far.
Shane keeps kicking out and the Tornado DDT is blocked. Nightmare on Helm Street, the Eye of the Hurricane later on, gets two. Top rope cross body gets two in a cool looking move. Shane did it which I left out somehow. Vertebreaker hits on Chavo to let us hear that rap song again as Shane wins the title which I think was the final title change until the WWE stuff.
Rating: C+. Entertaining match but it never clicked to get it up to that top level. This was pretty good here though although the crowd just flat out did not care. I think you can chalk this up to the company just being dead at this point though. The match was good though, but it just never really got off the ground well enough to be very good. Solid use of about 15 minutes though.
Here’s Helms on Raw, August 27, 2001. Before the match he talked about loving superheroes.
Helms would pick the Cruiserweight Title up again and defended it at King of the Ring 2002.
Cruiserweight Title: Jamie Noble vs. Hurricane
This was either Noble’s first match or at least his first feud. Oh ok this is his second. Seriously, the recap is still going. It’s getting more time than the opening video. Oh and the heels unmasked him which Burchill is still trying to do. IT’S STILL GOING! I have absolutely no interest in this match at all. Hurricane was running around chokeslamming people. Nidia thinks she means something. That’s just amusing.
There’s a “she’s a crack w****” chant going as we flash back to ECW. She tries to trip Hurricane and misses. You grab the big white thing. It’s how you got a job more than likely as it certainly isn’t for your looks and talent. Oh Tuesday is the Divas Undressed thing. It was a lingerie thing that went nowhere. There were some ok looks but that’s about it. As you can tell, I’m not talking much about the match.
This division and title were just jokes and it’s good that the title isn’t coming back. Let it go people. Oh dear we begin the sex jokes about Hurricane and why Nidia dumped him. I hate those. Oh dang it they’re using sleepers. I can barely stand the thought of this match already and they’re just boring me to death. This division was just a freaking waste. Wait a minute. This is a Smackdown match. WHY ARE LAWLER AND ROSS CALLING IT???
We have acknowledged that Tazz and Cole, the SMACKDOWN ANNOUNCERS are in the building, but instead we get Ross and Lawler who have nothing to do with these guys or their show talking about the match. What in the heck is wrong with this? Hurricane and Nidia fight over his cape. Hurricane suplexes Noble over the ropes and he lands on his leg. Dang it he’s getting up so we have to keep going. The main problem here is Nidia.
She won’t freaking shut up and she’s just annoying as all goodness. Hurricane hits a swinging neckbreaker from the top rope. This match just needs to end. It’s all highspots and Nidia and only one of those things are interesting. Noble kicks out of the chokeslam which stuns the crowd. For some reason they’re into this. Hurricane crotches himself on the top and Noble powerbombs him for the title while Nidia shoves his foot off the ropes. They make out way too much after the match.
Rating: D-. And it passes for the highspots. This was just freaking pointless and of course they gave it 10 minutes. See, in WCW, this was successful because there WERE NO STORIES. It was all highspots and no stupid ugly women screaming all the time. Learn from that Vince.
Here’s Helms putting over a rookie on Raw, December 2, 2002.
Batista vs. The Hurricane
Flair comes out with Batista. Batista jumps him before the match as the announcers talk about the guest referee. Gee, I wonder who it’ll be between HHH and RVD in a match to decide who faces SHAWN for the title. Hurricane has bad ribs from something not important enough to tell us about. Batista Bomb ends this in about a minute.
Here’s Helms’ reward for that on Raw, March 10, 2003.
The Hurricane vs. The Rock
No DQ. This is during Rock’s last heel run, right before he was to face Austin for the third time at Wrestlemania. Rock tells Hurricane to bring it and the masked man hammers away with right hands to send Rock out to the floor. Hurricane follows him out to hammer away, only to walk into a Samoan drop back inside. Rock puts on the cape for a cool visual and nails Hurricane with a clothesline. He chokes on the ropes and jogs around the ring like the pompous jerk that he is.
We hit the chinlock for a bit before Hurricane fights up and grabs a running neckbreaker. JR is Hurricane’s biggest cheerleader here like a face announcer is supposed to be. Some more clotheslines and a slow motion enziguri (called a Shining Wizard by JR) staggers Rock and a high cross body gets two. There’s a Blockbuster for the same and Rock is in trouble. Back up and Rock nails the DDT before nipping up a split second later.
The Rock Bottom is countered but Rock fires off more right hands. A low blow breaks Rock’s momentum and Hurricane nails a Rock Bottom of his own. It’s only a delayed two though and Rock plants him with the spinebuster. Rock hits the second rope for the elbow but here’s Austin for the distraction, allowing Hurricane to grab a rollup for the huge upset.
Rating: D+. The match wasn’t much but I’ve been wanting to get to this one for awhile. It’s a sad way to end Rock’s career as a main event guy. I know he was getting closer to Hollywood and all that, but this loss just ended any mainstream appeal that he had and he was lucky to get a supporting role in a B-Movie after this.
So we’ll mov…..wait a second. That’s not exactly what happened is it? Upon a bit more research, Rock is considered one of the biggest stars in the history of wrestling, went on to become a huge star in Hollywood and would headline three more Wrestlemanias (Rock vs. Austin was the main event of Wrestlemania XIX. It just was.), including one of the highest drawing shows in the history of wrestling.
BUT HE JUST LOST TO THE HURRICANE! Yes he did, and almost no one remembers it, because three weeks later he was hitting three Rock Bottoms on Steve Austin to finally defeat him at Wrestlemania before facing Goldberg and moving on to Hollywood, only to come back for a huge match at Wrestlemania XX.
The point of the story is simple: big stars don’t lose their star power by losing a single match. This was Rock giving Hurricane a huge rub for multiple reasons. Besides the pin of course, the key thing here was Rock SELLING for Hurricane. This wasn’t Rock destroying Hurricane and barely breaking a sweat before Hurricane got a fluke pin. Instead, Rock’s eyes were rolling back in his head and he was making the kickouts look like some of the hardest things he had ever had to do.
It didn’t really make Hurricane a star, but it was Rock not having an ego and putting someone over. Today, Hurricane would be considered the biggest joke in the world and would probably get beaten down after the match was over. Why? Because Heaven forbid someone new gets to look like a star thanks to a rub for a huge name.
We’ll jump ahead again to Hurricane in a tag team with Rosey. Here’s a one off non-title match at Backlash 2004.
La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey
This is what we call a filler match to bring the crowd back down. It isn’t even for a title. Conway and Hurricane start and the crowd goes almost completely silent. A headscissors takes Conway down and it’s off to Rosey. That’s really only so he can throw at Conway and it’s back to the storm guy.
Conway hits a swinging neckbreaker and powerslam before tagging in Grenier. Grenier puts on a powerslam and here’s Eugene. Hurricane tags Rosey as Eugene plays with the flags. Rosey misses a corner splash but Hurricane dives on both French dudes on the floor. Eugene runs the ropes but does nothing else. Eye of the Huricane gets the pin on Grenier.
Rating: D+. The match could have and probably should have been on Raw, but dang I always feel sorry for the people in this match. They know no one is really interested in seeing them out there but they have to go out and work a match anyway, which no one wants to see and that no one is going to talk about, but they do it anyway. This was fine and Eugene didn’t add or subtract anything.
Here’s a one off match from Raw, November 1, 2004.
Hurricane vs. Christian
This is a result of some sneak attack by Christian recently. About five seconds into the match, here’s Edge (I believe debuting Metalingus (the Alter Bridge song)) to promote his book as the match is going on. Hurricane has a headlock on Christian as Edge talks about how he doesn’t like Peoria. It wasn’t nice of those people to not vote him in at Taboo Tuesday but he’ll write an epilogue for that later. JR seems annoyed so Edge offers him a signed copy. The match is nothing and the camera is mostly on Edge during this.
The team would win the Raw Tag Team Titles on May 1, 2005 at Backlash. Here’s their first defense from the next night on Raw.
Raw Tag Titles: La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey
Hurricane and Rosey won the belts last night in tag team turmoil. Rosey gets jumped before the match starts and the fat man gets to start with Grenier. A Hart Attack gets two on Rosey and it’s off to Conway. Back to Grenier for nothing of note and it’s back to Conway. Rosey breaks free and it’s off to Hurricane. No one is responding to any of this at all. A top rope rana gets two on Grenier and Conway is sent to the floor. A side slam/Eye of the Hurricane combo gets the pin on Grenier to retain.
Rating: D. What in the world was the point of this other than filling in time? The answer to that would be nothing, as it was nothing but filler. These four guys were in the horrible spot on the card as they had to be thrown out there in between the major matches and had to fill in time. That’s a horrible spot to be in but at least they got on the show which is more than Hurricane and Rosey would do for a long time.
We’ll jump ahead to New Year’s Revolution 2006 for a bad choice for a match with Helms now a heel.
Jerry Lawler vs. Gregory Helms
This is more or less the same thing that they did with Hassan last year as they were just giving Helms this to get him over as a cruiserweight trying to fight heavyweight guys. Apparently Lawler said Helms sucked and he got slapped or vice versa, and I think it was the original. I love how Coach tries to act like he means something. The idea worked as I want to smack him already but then again I always do.
Helms is mostly dominating here so at least they’ve got that working right. In a funny line, Coach says he isn’t sure which chin Helms is grabbing. Helms pulls a Rock and does his own commentary in the match as this is going a bit long. Uh oh it’s strap time and here comes Lawler.
They say his fists are moving like pistons. That’s just amusing in general. Lawler shouts out piledriver and somehow Helms counters it. I wonder how he figured out what to do? And Lawler hits the middle rope punch….FOR THE PIN??? WHAT IN THE FLYING HECK WAS THAT???
Rating: F. Seriously, there is ZERO justification to put Lawler over clean here as this isn’t in Memphis. No way is this ok at all. This was a failure plain and simple. Not from a wrestling perspective but from a booking and thinking one. Helms deserves far better than this and it’s not fair to see this happen to him.
Better times would come later in the month at the 2006 Royal Rumble.
Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms vs. Kid Kash vs. Funaki vs. Jamie Noble vs. Nunzio vs. Paul London
Kid Kash is champion coming in and this is Texas Tornado rules and one fall to a finish. Helms is from Raw but is here because it’s an open invitational. It’s a big brawl to start and everyone gangs up on Helms. I don’t know if there was a delay of some sort or just a really bad sign, but there are dozens if not hundreds of empty seats visible in the lower arena, most of them opposite the hard camera.
Helms gets beaten into the corner but Kash pulls some other people off for no apparent reason. Nunzio slams Kash onto the mat for one Noble gets two on Nunzio off a powerslam as London hits a dropsalt for two on Noble and Nunzio. Wait apparently those red seats are stairs. Those are rather distracting and the seating structure is odd as there’s a group of about eight seats per row then another set of stairs as opposed to most arenas where there are about twice that many in a row. At least the place isn’t as empty as it seemed.
Nunzio hits a slingshot to send Noble into the corner and Funaki adds a bulldog for two. We finally get to the dives with Nunzio diving on a pair of guys, allowing Noble to get two on Kash via a leg lariat. Noble dives on Helms and Nunzio on the floor and Funaki is knocked off the top onto Nunzio and Noble. London kicks Kash to the floor as well and dives on everyone not named Helms with a shooting star off the top.
Back in and London loads up a shooting star press onto Kash but Helms goes up top at the same time and hooks a swinging neckbreaker to bring London down for two. A brainbuster from Kash kills London again but two guys come in for the save. All six guys are back in the ring now and Kash gets two off a Backstabber on Nunzio. Funaki can’t hit a tornado DDT on Noble and gets caught in a gutbuster for trying. Noble gets sent to the floor by Helms and Gregory hits a Shining Wizard out of nowhere for the pin on Funaki and the title.
Rating: C+. What are you expecting to find here? It’s six guys in the ring all at once and going nuts on each other with spots. There isn’t supposed to be any sort of story or flow to it and there certainly wasn’t here. It was the right choice for an opener and the match worked well enough for its purpose. Fine but nothing memorable at all. Helms would hold the title for over a year.
Rating: D+. Rather boring match here as Super Crazy becomes the Scott Steiner of the Cruiserweights. What I mean by that is he used to be good and at this point he’s doing nothing but living off past glory with the same name and one or two of the same moves that are signature things. Nothing of note here at all and a rather weak match.
And a non-title match at Great American Bash 2006.
Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms
Helms is Cruiserweight Champion but this is non-title because Matt is overweight. The fans are all behind him though so at least he has that going for him. Matt grabs an armdrag and it’s a standoff. They go to the mat with Hardy in control. Back up and it’s a standoff but Matt strikes a Hurricane pose to crack everyone up. Rollup gets two for Hardy. Helms grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two and control.
Another neckbreaker gets the same and let’s hit that chinlock. Matt fights up and hits a punch to the ribs of a jumping Helms. Russian legsweep sets up an attempted Side Effect but Helms escapes. He goes up and gets crotched so Matt tries a superplex. The more famous of them is crotched also so Helms hits a top rope swinging neckbreaker to put both guys down.
It eventually gets two as Matt throws his foot on the rope. Greg works on the neck some more and goes into a chinlock again. He shifts that over to a Pedigree position on the mat so he can ram some knees into Matt’s face. Back up and they slug it out. Side Effect gets two for Matt. Bulldog gets two. Twist of Fate is countered (probably due to him standing there before trying it) into…..uh…..the best I can think of is a Killswitch if Matt was facing up and Helms was a bit off to the side. I’ve never seen that before. Either way it gets two.
Shining Wizard misses but the second attempt hits for two. Helms sets for a belly to back superplex but Matt hits some elbows and OH MY GOODNESS THE HUMANITY!!!! Matt hit a moonsault press and I’m sure Helms is dead. I mean….the fat that must have just landed on him. Anyway Matt drops an elbow on the top of the head for two. Matt pounds away in the corner but a snake eyes drop into the buckle plus some tights are enough for Helms to get the pin.
Rating: C-. The first seven minutes or so were really bad but after that this got a lot better. The innovative stuff from Helms is always worth seeing. They were trying to make him seem like something more than just a Cruiserweight and it was kind of working before he broke his neck in May of next year and was out for about 15 months.
Helms wouldn’t do much for the next few months before undergoing neck surgery and missing a year and a half. He would come back in a dual role of ace reporter Gregory Helms and of course the Hurricane. ECW’s Paul Burchill wanted to prove Hurricane’s real identity, leading to a mask vs. career match on ECW, November 17, 2009.
Paul Burchill vs. The Hurricane
Burchill has Katie Lea (Winter) with him. Feeling out process to start and Hurricane arm drags him to the floor. Hurricane sends him to the floor again and it’s time for a chinlock. Katie trips Hurricane so that Burchill can hit a Saito Suplex to take over. Back from a break with Burchill controlling via a chinlock. Burchill pounds on him in the corner but Hurricane avoids a charge. They slug it out with Hurricane taking over. A Hurri-press and clothesline take Burchill down for two.
Eye of the Hurricane is broken up though and a kick to the face gets two for Paul. Another Eye attempt is countered into a northern lights suplex for two. Hurricane hits a rana for two but Katie distracts him again and a powerslam gets two for Burchill. A suplex is reversed into the Eye of the Hurricane but it only gets two. Hurricane goes up again but gets crotched. Burchill tries to suplex him to the floor but Hurricane counters into a swinging neckbreaker off the top for the pin. It was more exciting than it sounds here.
Rating: B-. This was a pretty fun match as Burchill kept getting frustrated but he never could put Hurricane away. The neckbreaker off the top was a big enough move to end things, but it felt kind of flat as it hit and that was it instead of building to a bigger climax for the pin. Still good though.
We’ll wrap it up there as Helms was released soon after this and has hit the indies since then. Helms is one of those guys that is a good hand at what he does and that’s all someone like him needs to be. He came up with a good character which hasn’t been done very well before and he made a good career on charisma and talent. That’s a rare thing but something i for someone to be able to do.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today we’re looking at a guy who has been around for way longer than you would expect: Shannon Moore.
Shannon got his start in North Carolina in 1995 with the Hardys. Eventually they moved west into the Music City Wrestling promotion out of Nashville, including this match at some point in 1998.
Willow The Wisp vs. Shannon Moore
Willow (Jeff Hardy) sends him into the corner to start but has to chase Shannon around the ring, only to miss a charge and fall out to the floor. Back in and Willow does a strange dance, earning him a dropkick to send him right back outside. They fight over a top wristlock with Shannon flipping over Willow’s back a few times. Willow keeps missing a bunch of shots in the corner and Shannon busts out a top rope hurricanrana for two. Moore heads to the corner again but gets caught in an Alabama Slam.
Things slow down with Willow sending him into the corner a few times before planting Moore with the sitout gordbuster. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Willow dropkicks him in the back of the head for two. Back up and Mysterio’s sitout bulldog gets two on Willow but Moore misses a top rope moonsault. Willow loads up something like a powerbomb but Shannon rolls over the back into a sunset flip for the pin.
Rating: C+. The match wasn’t great but this was still around the time when cruiserweight style wrestling was the hottest thing in the world. Moore looked polished out there (for the level he’s at that is) and the fans were getting into a lot of his speed stuff. Nice match here, especially for an indy show.
Shannon would head to WCW in late 1999. We’ll pick things up at Spring Stampede 2000 with Shannon as part of the boy band 3 Count.
Cruiserweight Title: Artist vs. Chris Candido vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Shannon Moore vs. Lash Leroux vs. Crowbar
No Evan Karagis for 3 Count here. I think they would split soon after this. The two 3 Count guys do their thing before the match. It’s a Suicide Sixway. The other guys run out and the big fight is on. Shane is on the outside and not in the match. Candido vs. Moore at the moment and I don’t think tags are required. Ok so yes they are. Crowbar escapes a DDT and gets a northern lights suplex for two.
One fall to a finish here. If DQ rules have been relaxed why not allow everyone to run in all the time? Lash vs. Juvy now as this is going to be one of those insane matches. Juvy Driver gets two as Artist saves. Daffney accidently hits a Frankenscreamer on her man crowbar and then screams her way out of trouble. We bust out the dives by everyone and everybody is down.
David Flair comes in and beats up Helms and Candido is crotched by Artist. Candido misses a swan dive and Artist hits an Angle Slam (called a Samoan Drop) and Tammy debuts with a chair to give Candido the title. I can’t complain about her in a see through nightgown and a nice thong shot.
Rating: C. This was your usual insane Cruiserweight spot fest but I could have gone for it being longer than 5 minutes. The non-high flying power brawler as champion is the usual bit for them and that’s fine. The title hadn’t meant anything in years so throwing this together is fine. Nothing great but it did its job I guess and we have a new champion now and he’s New Blood.
Here’s one of the only bright spots from the last days of WCW. From Starrcade 2000.
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons vs. Knoble and Karagias
There’s a lot to get through here. This is a three team ladder match but the winner is gets a Cruiserweight Title shot against champion Chavo Guerrero, who will be on commentary. I’m very surprised that we haven’t seen Chavo before this as he’s been around since the mid-90s and is a pretty talented guy. He’s also Eddie’s nephew if the name sounds familiar. I’m not sure how the title shot (which is for a later date rather than tonight) is going to work given that a team wins here rather than an individual. It might be a three way dance, it might be a handicap match or it might be whichever team member pulls the contract down.
As for who is who in this match, these six guys used to be on two three man teams who fought each other for the better part of six months without ever advancing up the card at all (nice job WCW). 3 Count is Shane Helms and Shannon Moore and they’re a boy band ala the Backstreet Boys. The Jung Dragons are Kaz Hayashi and Yang and they’re just Japanese guys. Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagias used to team with the Dragons and 3 Count respectively before splitting off and forming their own team.
You have to tag in this match for no apparent reason other than WCW doesn’t get the concept of a match like this. Shannon and Kaz get things going and head to the mat very quickly before slamming into each other and seemingly knocking themselves out for a second. The ever so caring fans think it’s boring because the guys might have concussions and therefore aren’t doing anything for ten seconds.
Back up and Shannon heads for the ladder but Karagias breaks it up before Moore can get there. Off to Yang vs. Helms but everyone says screw the tagging stuff and heads out into the aisle for the ladder. 3 Count pulls a fast one though and pulls out their own ladder with everyone else in the aisle. The Dragons make the save though, only for Knoble and Karagias to take them down and go up, but the Dragons slam the ladder down onto him. Yang adds a moonsault onto the ladder and the Dragons for good measure to get the crowd into the match.
Jamie and Evan set up a ladder on the middle rope before sending Shane face first into the steel. Kaz is dropped head first onto the ladder as well before Noble brings in another ladder. Knoble and Karagias get in an argument over who gets the contract, allowing Yang to take both guys down. Yang puts Shannon on the ladder and catches him diving into a gutbuster. Shane throws Yang to the floor and hits a BIG spinning dive to take both guys down. Kaz dives on Shane and Evan dives on everyone, followed by Shannon diving on everyone plus Evan.
Jamie goes up the ladder but Yang gets back in and shoves the ladder over, sending Jamie down onto the pile of guys at ringside. Yang puts another ladder in the rungs of the standing ladder, making a platform between the ropes and the standing ladder. Evan walks on said platform and catches a springboarding Kaz in a powerslam to the mat. Shannon dives off the platform to take Evan out before Helms hits a neckbreaker to take Knoble off the ladder. Shannon breaks up the platform and puts up another ladder so four people can climb at once.
Knoble powerbombs Shane off one ladder, leaving Shannon and Yang fighting on the top, until Moore hits a neckbreaker to bring Yang down. Jamie goes up but Leia Meow, the Dragons’ mistress, pulls him down. Even brings in a third ladder but Yang shoves him down to the floor. The Dragons load up a big scaffold using four ladders but get knocked down as another brawl breaks out. Kaz kicks Knoble off the scaffold but gets knocked down by Karagias. It’s Helms and Yang on the scaffold now but here come their partners as well. Shannon headscissors Yang down and 3 Count pulls down the contract at the same time.
Rating: B. There’s your match of the night right there. I don’t have to watch the rest of the show and it’s very clear that this isn’t going to be topped. That’s WCW’s problem at the end of the day: these six guys fought FOREVER and never got to move up the card at all. They never fought for the tag titles or a single title other than the Cruiserweight Title or anything like that at all. Instead they were tasked with going out there and tearing the house down while breaking their backs so that the “stars” could get the glory. That’s WCW in a nutshell and it’s a big part of why they went out of business.
Another match with the same cast from SuperBrawl 2001.
??? vs. ShannonMoorevs. KazHayashivs. YunYangvs. EvanKaragisvs. JamieKnoble
Rating: B-. The match ran nearly 20 minutes which made it feel long. Also the people not seeming to grasp the rules at various points hurt it a lot also. Good match and fun but the ending was never really in danger. And of course these people would keep feuding until WCW went out of business because having the best matches in the company wasn’t worth being advanced right?
Shannon would be on the last Nitro, March 26, 2001.
3 Count vs. Rey Mysterio/Billy Kidman vs. Kaz Hayashi/Yun Yang
Winners get a Cruiserweight Tag Title shot later. Yang is more commonly known as Jimmy Wang Yang and a member of 3 Count is now Shannon Moore. Everybody does a bunch of flips and dives to the floor with no rhyme or reason to them. Yang sends Rey into the buckle and hits a huge corkscrew moonsault called Yang Time. This is under tornado rules apparently. BIG 450 from Evan Karagis but Kidman makes the save. For the finish, imagine Moore being in position for Orton’s DDT but turned face up. Rey hits a springboard legdrop on him there to end it. I didn’t skip anything in the description. It was really that fast.
Rating: C+. Entertaining match but at under four minutes how into it can you get? This was just to give the challengers a disadvantage against Skipper and Romeo later on. The spots were shaky but hey, it’s the last night of the company so who cares? Not bad but nothing we haven’t seen a million times before and better.
Off to WWE now, which we’ll start on Smackdown, August 29, 2002.
Tajiri vs. Shannon Moore
Hurricane, Nidia and Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble are at ringside for no apparent reason. Moore armdrags him out of the corner to start and nails a spinwheel kick for two. That’s fine with Tajiri who drops him chest first across the top rope and starts unleashing the kicks. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a superkick knocks Moore silly.
Back to the chinlock as the match slows WAY down. Moore finally gets up and nails a running back elbow followed by a neckbreaker for two. A bad looking top rope hurricanrana gets the same on Tajiri but he snaps off a German suplex for two of his own. Shannon tries to hit the ropes but Noble trips him up, earning a shot to the face from Hurricane. Back inside and a quick victory roll gives Moore the pin.
Rating: C-. Those chinlocks killed the match as they went on like a minute each. It’s not bad but this is a strange point for the division. It’s only on Smackdown at this point and Mysterio was just recently debuted, meaning the division was basically in a holding pattern until he took the belt.
We’ll jump ahead a good bit to Smackdown on December 4, 2003.
Big Show vs. Shannon Moore
Moore hits a baseball slide to start. That’s the extent of his offense in this match. Oh wait that was before the match started so the beating continues. Shannon fires off some forearms and has his head taken off by the US Champion. Show hits his step over legdrop which is called the Hog Log. Chokeslam ends this quick.
Another jump to Smackdown on October 21, 2004.
Shannon Moore vs. Heidenreich
Moore is a bit more punkish now and hammers on Heidenreich while he’s still in a straitjacket. We get the opening bell and Shannon’s beating begins. They’re quickly on the floor to continue the destruction before a gutbuster drops Shannon back inside. A Boss Man Slam ends Shannon quick.
Shannon wouldn’t do much in the rest of 2005 so we’ll jump ahead to his first match in TNA on Impact, January 21, 2006. Moore had been jumping AJ Styles in recent weeks so it’s time for a street fight.
AJ Styles vs. Shannon Moore
Moore is now the full on Prince of Punk and has stolen AJ’s Mr. TNA plaque. Christopher Daniels is in on commentary here and AJ is in street clothes. Styles hammers away to start and sends Shannon over the top to the floor. We take a break and come back with Moore being sent face first into the barricade. They fight into the crowd with AJ in control and backdropping Moore off a short balcony. Styles hits the required follow up dive as Alex Shelley is filming at ringside.
Back in the ring with AJ wrapping a chair around Shannon’s neck and sending it into the post. Now Samoa Joe comes out to watch from the stage, complete with a towel covered in Daniels’ blood. Shannon gets in a shot to the knee to take over but Styles blocks a Pillmanizer attempt. Instead Moore cranks on a half crab and Daniels throws in the towel to stop it, just like AJ did to him at Final Resolution. That doesn’t end the match though so Moore rolls AJ up for the pin. Did they really need that part?
Rating: C. Nice little brawl here with the storyline stuff overpowering the wrestling. It’s not bad or anything but Shannon could have been any warm body out there. Shelley filming the match (a thing that he regularly did) was another distraction and the whole thing was just overbooked.
Back to WWE at the 2007 Great American Bash.
Cruiserweight Title: Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Jamie Noble vs. Funaki
It’s a five man match but remember that this is a Cruiserweight Open, as in anyone can get in on this. Chavo is champion coming in. This is the dying days of the title as this was thrown on the card yesterday with no story. They did these kind of matches for probably a year. Hornswoggle is on the floor and hides under the ring. Chavo tries to run but gets thrown outside instead. This is one fall to a finish.
This is one of those matches where you can’t really keep up with anything so the whole thing is pretty all over the place. Chavo comes back in and Cole talks about his Latina wife. Shannon gets two on Chavo but Funaki hits a cross body onto both of them for a combined two. Powerslam gets two for Noble but Chavo breaks it up again. Chavo hooks some freaky rollup on Yang and transitions into a half crab but it gets broken up by Funaki.
Moore slams Funaki into the buckle HARD. Noble vs. Moore now. Make that Noble vs. Funaki. See what I mean about how there’s no point in trying to call this? Funaki gets an enziguri for two on Moore. Gory Bomb to Funaki gets two for the champ. Almost everyone goes to the floor so Yang sets for a dive. Chavo stops it and it’s Tower of Doom time. Noble is down and here’s Horny to come off the top with a Tadpole Splash to win the title.
Rating: C-. Like I said there’s only so much you can do in these. The ending is totally legal when you think about it: he’s certainly small enough and it was an Open so anyone can enter at any time right? This wasn’t anything great but it was very clear that the title was done. And no it wasn’t Horny that killed it. The belt was long since dead.
From Smackdown, August 5, 2008.
Shannon Moore/Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Edgeheads
That would be Hawkins/Ryder. Ryder cranks on a headlock on Yang to start but eats a dropkick for two. Off to Hawkins who eats a chop, only to have Ryder offer a distraction so Curt can knock Yang to the floor. The heels take over on Yang’s arm with Ryder getting two off a hammerlock slam. Hawkins charges into a boot in the corner though and the ice cold tag brings in Moore. Shannon speeds things up but the numbers get the better of him with Hawkins hitting a reverse inverted DDT for the pin.
Rating: D. This was just a step above a squash without much to see. Hawkins and Ryder weren’t the best team in the world but they were fine for a midcard role like this. I kind of like the idea of them being superfans of Edge and dressing like him, but you would think they would use his in ring style a bit more.
After several more months of nothing, it was back to TNA in 2010, including this match at Lockdown that year.
X Division Title: Homicide vs. Kazarian vs. Shannon Moore
If Moore wins, this show sucks. They should have just gone with a one on one number one contenders match but I can go with this I guess. No belt here since it’s in Europe I guess. I’d bet on that being used in an angle which would make sense at least. They double team Homicide to start. Apparently they don’t take kindly to qualifiers in these here parts.
Taz points out that he’s a former wrestler. That’s a good thing actually as a lot of people might not know that actually. If you started watching post 2002-03, you’ve likely never seen a Taz match. Homicide hits Eddie’s triple suplex. Scratch that as he doesn’t get through the trio.
Homicide hits a SICK double Diamond Cutter off the top but can’t get the pin. Nice spot there. Taz says he opened up a can, causing he and Tenay to laugh like idiots. Ok then. We hit the near fall portion as everyone is making saves. It’s clichéd but it still works incredibly well. Pretty solid stuff so far in here. After a near Gringo Killer, Kaz hooks more or less a reverse piledriver for the pin. He had Homicide on his back and dropped down. That was sweet.
Rating: B+. Solid stuff here and it worked very well. There was nothing epic about it but nothing bad here at all. The absence of Williams hurt but you can’t fault them for that. I liked it pretty well and so did the crowd. Yeah I’m bumping this up to a higher grade due to the crowd alone.
From Bound For Glory 2010 with Moore as part of the tattooed Ink Inc.
Orlando Jordan/Eric Young vs. Ink Inc.
Ink Inc. is a tattooed team comprised of Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal. This is the result of an Xplosion match and Eric is carrying a rulebook and has drawn on tattoos for some reason. Oh this is during Young’s latest crazy period. Jordan and Jesse get things going but Young quickly puts the referee on the apron and takes his place. Things settle down and Jesse gets two off a spinning cross body and it’s off to Shannon for a kick to the face and two.
Young comes in and gets rolled up for two so he congratulates Shannon for his success. He high fives everyone, including a tag to Jordan. Ink Inc. kicks Jordan in the corner and Eric wants to join in, only to get crotched on the top rope. Jordan gets crotched right along with him as comedy abounds. Back in and Orlando grinds on Shannon before planting him with a spinebuster. The fans want Eric but get a Jordan suplex for two on Moore.
Young breaks up Jordan’s cheating to give Moore another two count and now Orlando doesn’t want to tag. Instead Jordan nails Jesse and holds Moore open for a cheap shot but Eric goes over and takes Jesse’s place on the apron. Moore tags Eric in because why not and Young cleans house on Jordan. In the confusing, Shannon loads Jordan up in a fireman’s carry so Neal can hit a top rope neckbreaker for the pin.
Rating: D. If you like Eric Young’s comedy, this was gold. If you’re like me and he makes you want to pound a rusty spike into your eye, this was the longest eight and a half minutes of your life. I will however give him this: at least this was something different than the same four things he would do for years on end.
Rating: D. Dudes, I beg of you: GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO CHEER FOR! Steiner was over beyond belief and was in the match for all of a minute. The opening 45 minutes of this show should be a lesson in how to kill a crowd. Nothing has been interesting and the best match has been ok at best. Well done TNA: you’ve proven me right so far.
From Turning Point 2011 for a title shot.
Tag Titles: Mexican America vs. Ink Inc.
Ok so it’s a six person tag with Sarita and Toxxine or whatever her name is in as well. This was about a beating that injured Neal from like 6 months ago which is being mentioned now because we’ve had too much to talk about since then. Anarquia vs. Moore gets us going but it’s off to Neal quickly. Jesse and Hernandez get in each others’ faces and yell at each other a lot as the fans chant USA. I’m assuming it’s for Ink Inc, but the Mexicans are Americans so who knows?
The big showdown goes nowhere and it’s back to Moore who gets caught by the power game for a bit. Ink Inc speeds things up and it’s off to Anarquia. Boring stuff so far and we have a Pork sign in the front row. Tazz praises Sarita for jumping up and down on the apron like he’s a 12 year old trying to sound mature. Off to Neal who gets caught by a slingshot shoulder by Hernandez.
Mexican America takes over on Neal as I’m trying to imagine Ricky Morton with that kind of hair. It really isn’t working. Off to a chinlock by Anarquia for a bit of rest. Some SuperMex power double teaming doesn’t work as Anarquia misses his assisted dive. Neal tags in the chick and it’s Toxxine vs. Sarita. The tattoed chick dominates until Hernandez makes the save and things break down.
We get to the comedy of the match as Toxxine and Neal pulls Anarquia’s pants down to show the involuntary tattoo back there. And then Sarita hits Toxxine in the back with the belt for the pin at 8:34. You know, because they haven’t made the titles even more worthless already. Didn’t they have something to do with Hulk for like fifteen minutes?
Rating: D+. Whatever here as this is what we waited for since June or however long its been? The match wasn’t anything good and the girls added nothing to it at all. Oh and the forced tattoo thing was pointless too as well as not funny. They couldn’t get five minutes to build this on Impact either? I don’t think it would have helped but the thought would have been nice.
One more singles match at Against All Odds 2012.
TV Title: Robbie E vs. Shannon Moore
…..REALLY? They have all these people on their roster that can’t get on TV at all and they pick Shannon Moore? Well at least it’s not Eric Young. Shannon armdrags Robbie around and Rob tries to take a walk. Robbie uses his usual basic offense as Moore tries to speed things up. JB talks about going clubbing with Robbie in Topeka, Kansas. Robbie knocks him through the ropes and into the barricade to take over. Back inside we hit the chinlock which is quickly broken.
Shannon keeps trying to go up but Robbie stays on him. Moore makes his comeback and a bulldog gets two. Out to the floor and an Asai Moonsault puts the champion down. Back in and I think Moore spits at Big Rob. Moonsault press misses and a clothesline gets two for the champ. Robbie goes up but gets crotched and a top rope rana gets a near fall. O’Connor Roll gets two but Robbie kicks out, sending Shannon into a right hand from Big Rob. An inverted DDT keeps the title on Robbie at 9:25.
Rating: C. This got a lot better as things sped up, but I could pop in a Best of Robbie E DVD if I ever need help sleeping. He’s so boring on offense and I have no idea why this was given ten minutes. I’d assume it has something to do with the time being short, but if not then they need help. This did improve as it went along though.
Moore is a guy that I never really cared for, but I think that had more to do with his punk character than his in ring abilities. He’s a perfectly fine cruiserweight style guy and had some decent performances over the years. On top of that, I’ve heard nothing but good things about him as he’s supposed to be one of the nicest guys in wrestling.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Smackdown – December 5, 2014: The Show That Loves Bald Men
Smackdown Date: December 5, 2014
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
We’re getting close to TLC and we have most of the card set already. Naturally most of it is just pairings from the Survivor Series main event split off into singles matches with gimmicks attached. The violence and carnage at the pay per view is usually enough to carry it over the weak stories so hopefully it works again this year. Let’s get to it.
Recap of the main story from Raw with Cena vs. Rollins in a tables match being set for TLC and all the brawling between the Survivor Series teams.
Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper
Harper is defending of course. The champ sends him into the corner to start but Dolph hammers away with shots to the jaw. That’s fine with Luke as he picks Dolph up and drives him into the corner again. Ziggler tries the same sunset flip that pinned Luke on Monday but only gets two and a boot on his throat for his efforts. A quick neckbreaker gets two for Ziggler but Harper blocks the running DDT and just drills him with an elbow to the face.
Harper doesn’t want his leg to feel left out so he nails a big boot to send Ziggler to the floor and us to a break. Back with Ziggler fighting out of a chinlock and sending Luke shoulder first into the post. Harper counters another neckbreaker but misses the big boot and eats the running DDT for two more.
Now it’s Dolph missing a kick of his own and walking into a superkick from the champ. The Fameasser gets two more as the trading continues. Ziggler gets two each off a high cross body, sunset flip out of a powerbomb and superkick as frustration is setting in. Harper has had enough though and kicks Dolph low for the DQ at 10:10.
Rating: C+. I still like their matches as they’re playing the power vs. speed dynamic very well, but they’re starting to do the same match over and over again. On top of that, it’s hard to believe that the title is going to change hands before TLC, which makes the near falls a bit harder to get behind. Still entertaining though.
Post match Harper pulls in a ladder and loads up a powerbomb, but you can’t powerbomb Kidman. In this case you can’t powerbomb Ziggler either as he faceplants Luke into the ladder. Harper rolls outside so Dolph pelts the ladder at his head in a big crash. Santino comes out and makes the obvious ladder match at TLC because the power makes him feel like Oprah.
Here’s what’s left of the Authority, complete with Big Show, with something to say. Rollins says he hates Christmas but can’t wait for the annual demolition derby known as TLC. In nine days, he gets to face your hero John Cena in a tables match with Cena’s future title shot on the line.
Rollins is excited by taking away the only thing Cena cares about, because he doesn’t have to make Cena tap out or pin him, even though he could (Sheamus used nearly the exact same line in 2009). All he has to do is drive Cena through a table, but more than just a table is going to be broken. Rollins is going to have tables everywhere and Cena is going to get beaten up, plus a lot of splinters. Uh….right Seth.
Anyway, Big Show says he’s been here for a long time and had all kinds of matches. However, this is going to be his first steel stairs match. He heads outside and bangs the steps into the post a few times and promises to do much worse to Rowan. Kane wants to talk about his chairs match with Ryback, where Ryback will be fed chair after chair after chair. Cue Santino to make our tag match main event: Rollins/Big Show vs. Ryback/Rowan.
We recap the Miz/Naomi/Jimmy Uso stuff from Monday. Miz apologized to Jimmy on Main Event and asked if Jimmy was mad that Miz could do more for Naomi’s career than Jimmy ever could.
Cesaro/Tyson Kidd vs. New Day
Woods/Kingston here. Woods tags out less than five seconds in so Kofi can sunset flip Cesaro for two. Cesaro drives Kofi into the corner so Kidd can hammer him down. Kingston easily fights out of a chinlock and cleans house, including the Boom Drop on Tyson. Trouble in Paradise misses but the SOS gets two. Everything breaks down and a Demolition Decapitator with a Woods top rope stomp instead of an Ax elbow is good for the pin on Kidd at 2:45.
New Day celebrates when the Dusts pop up on screen. Stardust wants to know why the three of them are thinking this will be any different when they’ve tried the same things over and over again. They’re heading for a black hole (seriously) where light can never escape. The positive message means nothing to Goldust and there will be no new day. Woods says darkness will not prevail because there is no force in the cosmos that can hold them back. Kofi says the New Day is about unity and they’ll take the Dusts on any time. Big E. goes into full on preacher mode and promises to make them feel the power of the New Day.
Naomi is very happy with a bouquet of flowers. She thanks Jimmy for them but he didn’t send her any flowers. Apparently she never thought to read the card because they’re an apology from Miz. Jimmy smashes the vase.
We get a clip from Main Event with Swagger making it his mission to take the US Title from Rusev.
Dean Ambrose vs. Rusev
Non-title. Before the match, Dean says he really enjoyed destroying the rocking chair on Monday. Maybe Bray’s grandmother used to read Baby Bray stories from that chair. Or maybe he just saw it at Cracker Barrel and liked it. Not that it matters because at TLC, Dean is going to break Wyatt into more pieces than he broke that chair. Lana and Rusev come out with the blonde saying the match won’t be happening, thanks to Jack Swagger.
We see a clip from Raw of Swagger going after Rusev, which Lana calls persecution. Rusev promises to snap every bone in Jack’s body, just like he did to Zeb Colter. Dean tells Lana to stop with the flirtatious eyes because he’s going to fight the Russian. He goes after Rusev but gets jumped from behind by Wyatt. Dean fights back as Bray goes to get a chair but Wyatt sends him into the steps. He gets the chair and puts it against Dean’s throat before driving the chair into the steps. Medics check on Dean as Bray has a disturbing smile on his face. Ambrose does a stretcher job.
Jey Uso vs. Miz
Before the match, Miz wants to know what’s up with Jimmy. Is he really that insecure and jealous? Miz is just trying to pass along the kind of help that made people like Kate Upton and Selena Gomez. The agent has been watching her on Total Divas and thinks she’s a star in the making because she’s hot with a voluptuous body.
The Usos come out with no special entrance and we’re ready to go. Jimmy tries to come in soon after the bell but gets ejected for his efforts. We get our first contact over a minute in with Miz driving a knee into Jey’s ribs. It’s already off to a chinlock but Jey quickly fights up and nails a Samoan drop. Mizdow comes in for a distraction though and the Skull Crushing Finale is enough to pin Jey at 2:25.
Brie Bella vs. Naomi
AJ Lee and Nikki are both at ringside with the former on commentary. We look at AJ fighting both Bellas on Monday. AJ: “It’s great therapy to punch a Bella in the face.” Brie nails a dropkick for an early two as Nikki sits on the steps and taunts AJ with the belt. A clothesline gets two for Brie and we hit the chinlock. AJ says she was Divas Champion for so many days that it was a common law marriage. Naomi tries what looked to be Rey Mysterio’s sitout bulldog but Brie falls backwards instead. AJ prevents Nikki from interfering and Naomi rolls Brie up for the pin at 2:34.
Santino is in the back, talking about how hard it is to be in charge. If anyone understands what that means, it’s….the Bunny. Apparently Santino’s grandmother calls him at 3am to ask him how to fix the clock on the microwave.
Rollins and Show are ready for their match thanks to a Kane pep talk. Show says they’re not friends but he needs to get through this match to get to TLC.
Ryback/Erick Rowan vs. Seth Rollins/Big Show
Rowan and Rollins get things going with Seth being launched across the ring. Rollins bails to the corner but actually doesn’t tag. Rowan does though as it’s Ryback’s turn to hammer away in the corner. He misses a charge though and Seth drives in some elbows to the head, only to be driven across the ring with ease. Seth runs him over again though and we take a break. Back with Big Show headbutting Ryback and elbowing him in the back of the head. Ryback fights out of a chokeslam attempt and makes the hot tag to Rowan.
Things speed up with Rowan nailing a bunch of clotheslines to put Show down, only to have the Stooges offer a distraction so Big Show can take over. We settle down to Rollins driving knees into Erick’s head before it’s back to Show for a snapmare of all things. A DDT gets two on Erick but Show misses the elbow. The real hot tag brings in Ryback to clean house, but Rollins counters a swinging Rock Bottom into a crucifix for two in a nice counter.
The springboard knee to the head misses though and Ryback powerslams him down for two. The Stooges’ distraction breaks up the Shell Shock and the knee to Ryback’s head gets two. Seth misses a Curb Stomp and eats a spinebuster, only to have Kane get on the apron. Rollins enziguris Ryback down as Kane gets ejected. The referee won’t allow a tag to Big Show that he didn’t see, leaving a protesting Rollins to eat the Meat Hook and Shell Shock for the pin at 14:43.
Rating: C. What is with WWE not letting Big Show or Kane do a job? You have Big Show right there and you have Rollins do a clean job instead? Anyway, it’s nice to see Ryback get a pin but he lost a lot of momentum at Survivor Series. The match was your standard main event tag without anything to make it interesting but it was a fine way to finish a show.
Overall Rating: C-. This was the run of the mill Smackdown with nothing worth seeing and very limited storyline development, but it’s cool to see actual stories in the midcard other than the standard stuff you see every time. Thankfully there isn’t much time left until TLC and we can get ready for the Rumble when things will actually pick up.
Results
Dolph Ziggler b. Luke Harper via DQ when Harper kicked Ziggler low
New Day b. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd – Top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination to Kidd
Miz b. Jey Uso – Skull Crushing Finale
Naomi b. Brie Bella – Rollup
Ryback/Erick Rowan b. Big Show/Seth Rollins – Shell Shock to Rollins
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: December 4, 2014
This is an interesting time for WWE as we just got done with a dull week after dropping off a high peak. However, with a show like TLC coming up, there’s only so much work that needs to be done. You can just split up Team Cena vs. the Authority and make a bunch of gimmick matches out of them, which works well enough due to the show being naturally fun. Let’s get to it.
We opened with the Anonymous Raw GM computer talking, only to be cut off by Cena, who didn’t want to rehash this stupid gimmick. Thankfully that more or less was the end of the computer for most of the night because it really doesn’t need to be around. However, the computer did create a major match at TLC: Cena vs. Rollins in a tables match, where Cena can lose his #1 contendership. Rollins has nothing to gain but pride, but that might change as we go along.
The rest of the segment was filled out, because Heaven forbid the opening segment isn’t twenty minutes long, with a huge brawl involving pretty much everyone from the elimination tag, eventually setting up a six man tag for the main event. Again, this could have been cut down by ten minutes but that’s the rule of thumb anymore. The good guys got the worst of it with Cena going through a table.
The Usos won a long Tag Team Turmoil match to earn a shot at the Tag Team Titles. As usual I’m not a fan of these matches as a lot of the falls end way too soon, which makes you wonder why the regular matches don’t end that fast. The important thing here though was the post match scene, as Miz offered Jimmy Uso’s wife Naomi a producer’s card, likely trying to get into her husband’s head. This led to Jimmy coming out and knocking the heck out of Miz later on. I love these little angles that enhance what would be an otherwise run of the mill match. Do more things like this.
In another important moment, Erick Rowan is revealed as a genius guitar playing wine enthusiast. I did a full column on this last night so I’ll keep it short here: adding little characteristics and details to people make them far more interesting than they are in the ring. Give me something that makes me want to see more, because the same matches aren’t going to keep my interest up.
Rowan beat Big Show via DQ when Show hit him with the steps. Those have been a recurring theme between the two of them so odds are we’re seeing something stupid like a steps match at the PPV.
Rusev attacked Zeb Colter off screen and cost us Fandango vs. Swagger. Jack came out a segment later to chase Rusev off and reignite their feud.
Mizdow beat Fernando in a dull match that took place so Jimmy could come out and slap Miz.
Bray Wyatt beat R-Truth for the millionth time before calling out Ambrose again. The key thing here was Dean breaking Bray’s chair, which gave us some of the first real emotions from Wyatt. He looked human for the first time and it opens up some interesting doors for the feud.
Naomi was AJ’s fan chosen partner to beat the Bellas in another lame match. Naturally AJ made Nikki tap because what else would happen?
Paul Heyman put Lesnar’s appearances over as the most important thing you’ll see all year, even though it doesn’t look like Brock is going to be there until after TLC. He also asked who becomes #1 contender after Cena loses at TLC, because Lesnar is going to smash whomever he faces.
The main event was Ryback/Cena/Ziggler vs. Kane/Harper/Rollins with Ziggler sunset flipping Harper for the pin. Big Show came in post match and got beaten up to end the show. This was a very long match at over 25 minutes, but unfortunately it felt more long than good with a ton of chinlocks. Ryback and Ziggler got to look good though as Cena continues to be just kind of in the background like he has been since Survivor Series. It’s kind of interesting for a change, but I could go for more of him talking at least.
Overall the show was more interesting than last week, but they’re going to have to give us something interesting at the Slammys next week. TLC is going to be fun because of how insane things can be with all the gimmicks, but they better be thankful that they only have three weeks to fill because these shows are really getting dull. Granted it probably has something to do with us seeing these exact same things on the way to Survivor Series, but when has that ever stopped the writing staff before?
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Wrestler of the Day – November 28: D’Angelo Dinero
Today we’re looking at a guy whose popularity I’ll never understand: D’Angelo Dinero.
Burke got his start in 2003 and spent a few years in OVW. Given that his run there might be the least interesting stuff I’ve ever seen in wrestling (not an exaggeration), we’ll skip ahead to his debut in ECW on November 28, 2006.
Hardy Boys vs. Elijah Burke/Sylvester Terkay
Terkay is a big MMA style guy who never did much in America. Jeff and Burke get things going with Hardy taking Elijah down with a headscissors. Off to Matt for a top wristlock won by Matt before Jeff comes back in with a dropkick for two. Terkay comes in and drills Jeff with a slam but misses a hard charge into the post. Matt comes in with a Side Effect for Burke and some clotheslines for Terkay. The Hardys double team Terkay down and hit Poetry in Motion, followed by the Twist/Swanton for the pin.
Rating: D+. Not much to see here but it wasn’t terrible. At the end of the day the Hardys were slumming it in ECW until they were ready for their real reunion tour on Raw and Samckdown. The match wasn’t anything of note but then again neither were Burke or Terkay in WWE at all.
Burke became the leader of the New Breed and would face the ECW Originals at Wrestlemania XXIII.
New Breed vs. ECW Originals
It’s Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thron/Marcus Cor Van vs. Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu and for no reason whatsoever this is a regular eight man tag instead of the Extreme Rules match we would get on ECW a few days later. Striker starts with Sabu and Matt is in early trouble. It’s quickly off to Sandman vs. Burke but before Sandy does much he brings in Dreamer. Cor Von hits Dreamer in the back and comes in to pound away a bit.
It’s quickly back to Burke (the New Breed’s leader and more famous as D’Angelo Dinero) for the running knees to the back for two. Thorn comes in to crush Dreamer into the corner and put on a chinlock. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two for Thorn and here’s Cor Von again. Burke comes in as well but Dreamer takes them down with a simultaneous neckbreaker/reverse DDT combo. The hot tag brings in Van Dam and there’s the top rope kick to Thorn. Rolling Thunder lands on Striker as everything breaks down. With everyone else on the floor, Van Dam Five Stars Striker for the pin.
Rating: D+. Seriously, why wasn’t this the Extreme Rules match? The whole point of ECW is to be extreme but we got a seven minute tag match which went nowhere at all. The theory was to finally let these guys get on Wrestlemania, but Van Dam had been on it before and won a title here. Nothing to see here at all.
Burke wanted CM Punk to join the New Breed and fought him at Judgment Day 2007 as a result.
CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke
Burke is more known as the Pope now. Punk has heavily taped ribs and IT’S CLOBBERING TIME!!! Burke wanted Punk in the ECW New Breed but Punk said no, so here’s a match. Basically Elijah is just a loudmouth at this point and is overly cocky. He’s a rare example of TNA taking a guy and doing FAR better with him than WWE did. The fans are behind Punk here.
Nothing of note to start other than some striking and Punk throwing on a chinlock. That makes sense here as he’s trying to conserve wind due to the ribs being injured. Punk keeps firing off kicks and adds a suplex for two. British Bulldog suplex gets two and we hit the chinlock, both by Punk if that wasn’t clear. That doesn’t last long as Punk hits a springboard reverse cross body for two.
Burke finally gets to the ribs and Punk can’t get the knee in the corner. Punk is noving very gingerly because of the ribs. GTS can’t hit so he settles for a springboard dropkick to send Burke to the floor. This has been almost all Punk for the first 8 minutes and he adds a suicide dive to the floor to continue his advantage. Burke manages to pull him off the top in almost a powerbomb style move and it’s time to work on the bad ribs.
Off to the body scissors and the fans chant for JBL for absolutely no reason at all. See, in contrast to the opener with Carlito doing a bunch of different stuff to Flair’s arm, Burke is using the same body scissors the entire time. There are TONS of moves and holds to use on the ribs but he uses the same one. Big difference and it made me enjoy the Carlito stuff more.
Punk gets out of it and they head to the corner. Superplex by Punk has both guys in EXTREME (it’s an ECW match so you have to capitalize that word) agony. Punk is up first and starts firing off strikes. Enziguri gets two. Knee in the corner hits this time but he can’t get the bulldog. Elijah Express (double knee in the corner) misses as does the GTS and an STO gets two for Burke. Double knees his this time and Punk is caught in the Tree of Woe for a bit before the cover only gets two. Punk reverses another STO and the GTS hits for the pin. We even get a faster count as per ECW tradition.
Rating: B. Good match here as they had a lot of time and it paid off in the end. Burke isn’t a guy that I was ever a fan of in WWE but this was a very good outing from him. Then again being in there with him probably didn’t hurt things at all. Punk would of course become a far bigger deal than Burke in WWE but that was to be expected.
Here’s a rematch for Punk’s ECW Title at Unforgiven 2007.
ECW Title: CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke
Man did these two go on different career paths. Burke is more famous as the Pope D’Angelo Dinero. We get a video on Punk winning the title recently in his final title shot. He had like four of them so he had to win one eventually. Burke doesn’t even get a full entrance. On a PPV. That should tell you a lot about his chances here. Feeling out process to start as Punk gets a quick cross armbreaker that goes nowhere.
Burke takes over for a few seconds but Punk grabs a Russian legsweep for two. They mess up an Irish whip into the corner as their legs collide and Burke takes over by just slamming Punk’s head off the mat. Why make things too complicated? Bow and arrow rest hold goes on Punk for a few seconds but he fights out and hits the knee/bulldog combo followed by the springboard clothesline for two.
Out to the floor and Punk gets his back rammed into various objects that aren’t meant to have your back rammed into. Burke hooks a Boston Crab but Punk makes a rope. Here are some rolling Germans but Punk blocks the third one. In a cool looking hold, Burke hooks the legs in a Texas Cloverleaf position but is standing and facing Punk instead of sitting on Punk’s back.
Punk finally gets out of it and hits an enziguri, only to get popped in the head with an uppercut. Burke was an amateur boxer so that’s a good move for him to use. That’s one of the issues I have with Barrett: he’s this bareknuckle champion but he never throws punches. Why not? Not that it matters as Punk rolls Burke up out of nowhere for the pin to retain.
Rating: C-. Not much of a debut as the champion here as Burke of all people dominated for the majority of the match and Punk won on a total fluke. It wasn’t a particularly good match either as this could have easily been the main event on ECW. Punk would lose the title soon enough to Chavo Guerrero and go on to win Money in the Bank, so he did ok I think.
Burke would do a grand total of nothing else in WWE before heading to TNA in mid 2009. Here he is at No Surrender that year.
Suicide vs. D’Angelo Dinero
Falls count anywhere and they’re already in the back when this starts. Pope drops an elbow off some anvil cases but hurts himself in the process. This is being written the day after Randy Savage died so that hurt a bit to see. Suicide grabs a small package for two as we more or less have a hardcore match here. They fought on Impact apparently and this is the rematch.
Pope gets backdropped into a small dumpster for two. Let’s get a golf cart to run over Suicide with now. So it’s an attempted homicide on Suicide? Pope climbs a small fence and Suicide pulls his shorts down. Thankfully he has regular tights on under it. Naturally Suicide pulls those down too and yeah there it is. For some reason Pope can’t pull them up for awhile so there’s your visual for the match.
In the arena now and Pope rings the bell on Suicide’s head and talks about Jingle Bells for no apparent reason. Hey let’s go to the ring for a change of pace. More brawling follows and it’s table time. Suicide takes a belly to back suplex on the ramp for two. Neither guy can get thrown off the ramp through a table so Suicide covers on the stage for two. He takes over and hammers away on the stage for another few minutes with nothing of note happening. Pope gets put on a table but the double leg drop through it misses and we’re done.
Rating: C-. It’s just a hardcore match. I tend to say that a lot when I review these but a lot of the time there’s nothing to distinguish these from any others that occur. This probably ran too long as it’s about 12 minutes, especially given how long there was between a lot of the bigger moves. Not a very good match but hardcore matches are all about on the same level anyway so we’ll say this was fine, if not a bit generic. Also did anyone expect Pope to lose when he used the sponsor’s product?
Next up is Final Resolution 2009.
Matt Morgan/Hernandez/D’Angelo Dinero/Suicide vs. Rhyno/Team 3D/Jesse Neal
This is an elimination match so think Survivor Series. Actually for the first five minutes it’s 1 on 4 and that would be Hernandez vs. the other four. Why is that the case? Who freaking cares? Apparently not TNA as they barely mention it. Leave it to TNA to be able to screw this up. If Hernandez loses in this five minutes it’s over but it’s just an elimination for the other guys. Leave it to TNA to manage to screw up an elimination tag with overly complicated rules.
Neal is a total jobber at this point and just a student of Team 3D. Hernandez is coming off a super push where he was almost world champion but was then pushed down into a tag team with Morgan just because. Ray beats on Hernandez a bit and it’s off to Rhyno. Why are these teams feuding? Not necessary information. Gore hits for two so we know Rhyno won’t last long. Another Gore misses and a rollup makes it 1-3 which is soon to be 4-3.
Neal is sent out to get a chair but the heels just stand around while the rest of the time runs out and here are the other three. Morgan is also in the middle of a big push which would just die when Hogan got there. Hernandez dives out on everyone at once and we get down to regular stuff. Suicide (Kazarian) hammers on Neal to start. They have this whole thing backwards at this point as the faces are dominating, which is the total wrong idea in matches like these.
Not being very intelligent, Neal picks up the chair and pops Suicide with it. Hernandez, not being very intelligent either, picks up the same chair and pops Neal with it. So it’s a DQ if you hit someone no longer in the match? 3D takes out Suicide so it’s 2-2 now….wait why is Neal still out there? He cracked Suicide with the chair and the referee clearly saw it. Dang he reacted to it. Why does this surprise me? What the heck ever man.
It’s Dinero vs. Ray at the moment and now Neal leaves as it’s a DQ for him. How do you make a simple DQ complicated? Pope gets a top rope clothesline for two. 3D takes Pope out and it’s 2-1 finally. Team 3D hammers him together for awhile which the referee doesn’t seem to have much of an issue with. Morgan hits a double clothesline and splashes them both in the corner.
D-Von takes the corner elbows but can still save Ray from a chokeslam. Oh and the Dudleys are the IWGP Tag Champions here. Not that it means anything to the vast majority of wrestling fans but TNA insisted it mattered so there we are. There hasn’t been any time during the 2-1 part where a Dudley has been on the apron.
Big boot takes out D-Von, even though the hand didn’t hit the mat the third time and they wait 15 seconds to announce his elimination. So it’s Ray vs. Morgan now which would be a win for Ray at the moment somehow. Ray counters the Hellevator into a DDT and it’s chair time. Carbon Footprint into the chair ends it.
Rating: D. What the heck were they thinking here? Was there any need for the five minute thing or for this to take up sixteen minutes or air time? I mean dude, what the heck? It wasn’t even anything special with the two DQs and the total lack of drama as the biggest star on the other team was who, Ray? This was boring as all goodness and another example ot TNA managing to take something simple and overcomplicate it.
Dinero would enter the Eight Card Stud tournament at Against All Odds 2010 for a future World Title shot.
8 Card Stud Quarterfinals: Desmond Wolfe vs. D’Angelo Dinero
Sweet goodness Chelsea looks great. Good night though, shut up Tenay and West. Wolfe is a guy I like more and more every time I see him. Pope….I just don’t get it. He’s a wrestling Slick and somehow that’s a gimmick? Wait…Tenay just asked which young stud will break through. Angle, Abyss and Foley are all former world champions, Hernandez has been around forever and everyone knows Kennedy.
I get the idea of what he’s saying but it’s still kind of dumb. The people are behind Pope, but at the same time how serious can you take the Impact Zone fans? They’re starting out fast paced here which I like pretty well. Wolfe’s nipples are really close together. NICE DDT on Pope. Pope has a unique style of striking which is reminding me of Sting, which is a compliment.
A top rope cross body gets two. The big lariat misses and Pope gets a rollup for two. And then we get a very contrived ending on the levels of the 619 as Pope hits the dumbest finisher in the company at the moment with the double knee to the back of the conveniently placed opponent for the pin.
Rating: B. Not bad at all and a very solid opener. They went out there and had a fast paced match. I would have had Wolfe go further, but if they wanted Pope to go over strong, I can’t argue with how they did it as it was a completely clean win. It’s a shame that Wolfe didn’t get to do more in TNA.
8 Card Stud Semi-Finals: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan
Again I ask: what is a street pope? I don’t get it. Pope does the Bret Hart glasses thing which works. They’re going big man vs. little man here so that’s all well and good. We’re on the floor now and not a lot is going on. Oh I almost forgot: this is the feud that made me hate Burke. Back in OVW these two feuded FOREVER and it couldn’t have been more boring if their lives depended on it.
It was that feud that made me hate Burke and it’s why I have issues about him to this day. Expect a low grade here. Morgan is acting very heelish here and I’m not big on that at all. It’s bearhug time so they’re not doing themselves any favors at all. Morgan is dominating here and screw that as Pope is making his comeback.
Morgan BLUEPRINTS UP though and takes his head off with a clothesline. So one minute Pope is in survival mode and the next he’s hitting the knees to the back for the pin. Riiiight. Oh I especially love Morgan being on the corner and looking over his shoulder twice to see when he needs to be ready to sell.
Rating: D+. While I want to fail it because of the people in it, this didn’t do it for me. The story and psychology were pretty much non existent here and the ending was completely unbelievable as in yeah right that was stupid. Yes there’s likely some bias in there and it wasn’t jumping off the page bad or anything so don’t think that’s what I’m saying.
8 Card Stud Finals: Mr. Anderson vs. D’Angelo Dinero
Pope takes forever getting out there because he got beaten up. Ok then. The referee starts counting and you know he’ll be there in time so this is kind of pointless. Yep there he is. Anderson beats on him on the ramp. Even money says they’ll brawl on the floor too. Hey they’re fighting on the floor! They haven’t actually been in the ring yet. AJ and Flair are watching in the back.
This has been ALL Anderson, making the ending a tad obvious. Pope of course is ok after that much of a beating. Most of the match is Anderson beating on Pope and there’s your comeback. The DDE gets two and Anderson is in control again. Pope uses an STO which is Kennedy’s finisher in reverse. Kennedy cuts a promo mid match and stops to hit the Mic Check for two and a pop from the fans. That’s….a bit too much from Pope. Anderson misses a Swanton and Pope hits the double knees to the back. He REALLY needs a new finisher.
Rating: B. They kept it simple here and it worked. This was fun. That’s the best way to put it I think as it wasn’t particularly great or even very good but it was fun. That’s all you can ask for here I guess. Either way it worked fine though so all in all this was a good main event.
And now the title shot at Lockdown 2010.
TNA World Title: D’Angelo Dinero vs. AJ Styles
Hebner throws Flair out to start. If he stays gone, then sweet. We get the big match intros which it should get. Tenay thinks that Flair being gone helps Pope. You can’t buy commentary like that people! We start off rather well. One good thing about Styles is he can work just about any style you ask him to.
Pope can move out there so this is a solid looking match. Also, this is a good thing as you have two smaller guys with limited muscles in the title picture. That’s a legit alternative to WWE. AJ hits the forearm and the 450 but goes to the top of the cage and misses. Solid match so far. The double knee hits and gets two. AJ reaches through the cage and grabs a pen from the camera guy. Uh, ok. And he jabs Pope in the eye to set up the Styles Clash for the pin.
Rating: B. Just a total letdown there at the end. I do not get the point in jobbing Pope out. For the life of me I do not get that. He match was solid though but after the previous match, the crowd was a bit dead. Still very solid stuff though and I can work with it. Unfortunately this was basically it for Dinero meaning anything in TNA.
Here’s Dinero against someone you might have heard of at Victory Road 2010.
Kurt Angle vs. D’Angelo Dinero
Angle is listed as #10 (TNA used to have a rankings system), yet he’s beaten two guys and Pope is 8th. I love the TNA thinking. We start on the ground. I’m watching this out of order since I got home late so this is the first match I watched. They’re doing the red, white and blue ropes which is cool looking. They booked themselves into a corner here as Angle can’t really lose but Pope is returning and hasn’t won a big match in months. Angle hits a buckle bomb which is always great looking.
This is a solid match to start but they’re not going to have a ton of time unless this goes up until eleven. Kurt is winning but not dominating which is a good thing. Pope steals the Rolling Germans which doesn’t work. Only a handful of people can suplex Angle and he isn’t one of them. Angle’s all like boy I’ll show you Rolling Germans.
Pope hits a Codebreaker and the fans are all behind Angle. Angle Slam hits from nowhere for two. Why are announcers still surprised by that? I don’t get it. Ankle Lock goes on but Pope gets a rollup for two. Ankle Lock again on the mat and it’s over. This needed a bit more time but was entertaining.
Rating: B-. Not bad at all here. The match was never in doubt though which is what hurt it. Angle is in a groove at the moment and this was no exception. This doesn’t hurt Pope that much though as he’ll likely move on to Anderson now. Decent enough match though and certainly passable.
TNA went even more insane than usual in 2010 and Dinero thought there was a conspiracy, leading to this mess at Bound For Glory 2010.
Sting/D’Angelo Dinero/Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett/Samoa Joe
Joe grabs Dinero’s arm to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Dinero comes back with a flying tackle but Joe pops back up and stares at him. Some rights and lefts in the corner don’t have much effect on Joe so it’s off to Sting for a rematch BFG 2008’s main event. Sting hammers away and tries the Stinger Splash, only to charge into the release Rock Bottom. Joe takes Sting outside and nails some left hands to the jaw. Nash comes in from behind with a shot to Joe’s back to give Sting control.
They walk around just like in 2008 but thankfully stay at ringside instead of going through the crowd. It’s off to Nash back inside for some right hands of his own, followed by knees to the ribs in the corner. Back to Dinero for some stompings in the corner, followed by a slingshot elbow drop for two. Joe fights off Dinero, decks Sting and hits an enziguri in the corner to drop Nash. He crawls over to Jarrett but Jeff drops to the floor and leaves. Joe is all alone and tries to fight them off but three guys are too much for him. The Jackknife is enough to pin the Samoan.
Rating: D+. This was storyline advancement even though it didn’t make sense at this time. To be fair though, NOTHING made sense at this point which is what made this such a must see show, as we were finally promised answers. The match was just kind of there, much like Joe who had no connection to anything here. The annoying part here though was we were building to Sting vs. Jarret for months and now they’re either neutral with each other or on the same side.
Dinero would fall through the floor after this, settling for this match at Lockdown 2011.
Dinero would hook up with D-Von in a team no one cared about. Here’s their Tag Team Title shot at No Surrender 2011.
Tag Titles: D-Von/D’Angelo Dinero vs. Mexican America
Remember when TNA had the best tag division by far? Man that seems like forever ago. Can we watch Sarita and Rosita dance instead of watching this match? D-Von vs. Anarquia starts us off. The fans chant for the USA. Off to Pope very quickly as they work on the arm. Ok back to D-Von as the challengers are tagging in very fast. SuperMex comes in and D-Von is all cool with that too.
A clothesline puts Hernandez down for a bit and it’s off to Pope, who according to the audience is pimping. If anyone knows what it means to be pimping, it’s a town famous for having a Mouse theme park in it. Anarquia comes in again and this is firmly in first or second gear. The challengers hit something resembling a Hart Attack but with a shoulder instead of a clothesline and D-Von playing the rope of Bret.
Pope kisses Rosita and then holds her by the air above the floor off the apron. FREAKING OW MAN!!! D-Von and Pope set for What’s Up but Sarita breaks it up. Despite looking nothing like him at all, D-Von lands the role of Ricky Morton. Anarquia hits a back elbow for two. Mexican America hits a pair of splashes and Rosita adds a dropkick. Hernandez takes forever to set up a charge and is taken down by a spear from D-Von.
A double tag brings in Anarquia and Pope with Pope cleaning most of the rooms in the house but not all of the house. Top rope cross body gets two on Anarquia and the champs take down Pope with Hernandez hitting a top rope headbutt but there’s no cover from either of them. Everything breaks down and a double shoulder block puts down Hernandez. The girls come in and get stereo spankings. D-Von takes down Hernandez and we go back to Wrestlemania V as Pope suplexes Anarquia back in but one of the chicks hooks his leg for the fall on top pin at 9:53.
Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one but I could see how some people would. The girls got involved about five times and the ending was so cliched it’s almost unbearable. That’s what this show has been: one cliched ending after another. Also, D-Von and Pope are the best tag team they could get for this? At least the Brits are a regular team that gets along more than a week before the PPV. Not into this at all.
One more TNA match on Impact, June 21, 2012.
Bound For Glory Series: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Bully Ray
This is another call out, this time by Bully. Ray jumps Pope to start and gets some quick two counts. A boot to the face puts Dinero down but a splash misses for Ray. Dinero comes back with some elbows but Ray hits a corner splash. As he pounds away in the corner, here’s Abyss in the crowd. He tells Ray to bring it and the DDE sends Ray to the floor. Abyss comes over the rail and goes after Ray, who gets back in the ring but walks into an STO for the pin at 3:45.
Rating: C-. Not much here as these short matches are getting a little annoying. Abyss vs. Ray is still probably the most interesting story on the show right now which is covering a lot of territory. Pope was pretty much there to fill in a spot and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to do that forever.
We’ll wrap things up with a trip back to OVW after Burke left TNA. Here he is trying to get his OVW TV Title back on OVW TV, October 19, 2013 inside a steel cage.
TV Title: Shiloh Jonze vs. Elijah Burke
They have a REALLY high cage. Jonze has his army the Marauders backing him up. The Marauders get on the side of the cage but the referee ejects them all before the bell. Burke is wearing the same shirt he wore when he started years ago in OVW. He sends Jonze into the cage over and over again to start before no selling a lot of shots in the corner. A big gorilla press drops Jonze and the champ hides in the corner. All Burke so far.
We take a break and come back with Jonze charging into a boot in the corner but coming back with a spinning kick to the face. Burke won’t let him go out the door so Jonze drops a knee to the face. They both climb in the corner and slug it out on the top rope with Burke crotching Jonze down on the ropes. The referee checks on Shiloh but the champ just collapses. Burke would rather hurt him than escape though and sends Jonze into the cage a few times.
Jonze catches himself on the cage and tries to climb out but Burke is right there with him, pulling Shiloh down with a belly to back superplex as we take another break. Back with Burke holding Shiloh’s foot to keep him in the cage. Both guys get sent into the cage and things slow down a bit. They slug it out from their knees before fighting to their feet and throwing faster punches.
It’s Elijah taking over with a flying forearm and a series of elbows to the head. A powerslam gets two on the champ but Burke takes his sweet time climbing the cage. Jonze follows him up but Burke shoves him right onto the referee. Burke has the title won, but instead he dives off the VERY high cage for something like a splash to crush Jonze in a huge crash. Cue the Marauders to keep Burke from getting out and to slip Shiloh some handcuffs. Elijah takes them away and knocks Jonze silly but the rest of the Marauders keeps Burke in, allowing Jonze to nail him with a chair for the pin to retain.
Rating: B. WAY better than I was expecting here with Jonze being good enough to hang with Burke and Elijah’s big dive being a major highlight. The idea of the cage keeping the Marauders out made perfect sense and Jonze survived long enough to win. For an indy match, this was rather awesome.
I started watching Elijah Burke back in his first OVW run and lost any interest in him. The guy got much better over the years, but his OVW Title feud with Matt Morgan back in 2004 kept me from ever caring about him. Once he lost the title match to AJ at Lockdown 2010, his time as a big deal in TNA was done. There just wasn’t a way to come back from that and he fell down the card as a result. The guy is talented and much better than I remember him but I’m not the biggest fan.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Monday Night Raw – December 1, 2014: It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Build A Show
Monday Night Raw Date: December 1, 2014
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield
The theme for tonight’s show is Cyber Monday with guest host the Anonymous Raw GM as represented by the computer. The question now is whether this is permanent or if there’s going to be a guest GM every week. Hopefully it’s the latter, though I could see the Authority eventually being revealed as the new computer GM. Let’s get to it.
We open with….the Authority! Well it’s a recap about last week but it’s still the first thing we see.
Cole opens us up with the computer but here’s Cena to interrupt things. He starts running down the computer, saying he’s just like Brock Lesnar who shows up once a year. Lesnar isn’t here tonight but neither is the Authority because Team Cena won. He’s about to tell us why his team fought harder when we have another e-mail. Cena stares Cole down and goes to the podium himself. He isn’t going to let this happen and closes the computer, but here are Rollins and the Stooges to interrupt.
The two of them share some banter until Rollins says Cena is taking undue credit for the win at Survivor Series. Rollins remembers eliminating Cena at Survivor Series and only losing due to Sting. On the other hand, Cena remembers one man left on Team Cena eliminating three members of Team Authority, including Rollins himself. Seth: “You say Dolph, I say Sting. Whatever.”
Seth wants to know who’s next to take over Raw. Is it going to be JBL? Cena hands JBL his hat but Rollins thinks it might be Batista, drawing more heat than Rollins has drawn all night. Maybe they could give Eric Bischoff a call? The point is there’s going to be a different GM every week and the show is going to fall into chaos until Cena brings back the Authority.
Cena gets in the ring and rips on Rollins for being a normal guy in a lot of latex with two wannabe mall cops in his corner. He tells Seth to ask him to bring the Authority back nicely, including making Rollins get down on a knee. The e-mail goes off and we have a tables match set up between these two for TLC with Cena’s #1 contendership at stake. Not that Rollins can win it mind you.
The brawl is on, including with Kane coming in for a chokeslam to Cena. Seth loads up a table but Ryback comes in for the save. Kane beats him down with a chair so Rowan comes in and kicks Kane down, only to have Big Show come in with a splash. Show loads up the steps so Ziggler comes out to post him and get a ladder, but Harper runs out and drives the ladder into Dolph. Cena loads Rollins up for an AA through the table but eats the KO Punch, setting up a TripleBomb through the table with Rollins playing Reigns.
Back with Cena and company slowly being helped out. A six man tag is announced for later.
Tag Team Turmoil
Winners get a Tag Team Title match at TLC. We start with Kofi/Big E. vs. Goldust/Stardust as Kofi throws Stardust around with ease. Big E. runs Stardust down and the Big Ending/Top rope DDT (the Midnight Hour) ends Stardust at 1:36. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are the next team as we take a break. Back with Cesaro throwing Kofi around before bringing in Kidd for some choking on the ropes.
Off to a chinlock on Kofi for a bit before he elbows up, only to be slammed back down. Kingston rolls away and tags Big E. back in to clean house, only to have Cesaro break up the Big Ending. Kidd joins him and Big E. clotheslines both guys to the floor. Kofi gets launched over the topr for a big dive, setting up a springboard shot to the face. The Dusts come out for a distraction though, allowing Kidd to roll Kofi up for the pin at 8:11 total.
The Usos are in third (of five teams) but Jimmy walks into a suplex from Cesaro. There’s almost no effect though as Jimmy comes back with the Umaga Attack in the corner before it’s off to Jey to work on the arm. Kidd comes back in for a kick to the face but Cesaro makes a blind tag, setting up a release German suplex to drop Jey as we take another break.
Back with Jimmy fighting out of another chinlock. Jimmy fights up but has to suplex Kidd down. Tyson jumps into a superkick, setting up the tag to Jey for the Superfly Splash to get us down to one on one at 16:00. Finally we have Adam Rose/the Bunny vs. the Usos for the title shot. Rose starts fast with a pair of rollups on Jimmy but the Bunny tags himself in. Adam starts arguing as the Bunny goes up. Jimmy tries a superplex but gets caught in a sunset bomb for two. More arguing allows Jey to superkick Rose, setting up the Superfly Splash for the title shot at 19:10.
Rating: C. These matches always have the same complaint; why do they never win matches as fast as they do here? At least the middle part was long to prevent this from falling into the same pattern, but it says a lot that we only have five teams and two of them were thrown together.
Naomi is watching her husband (one of the Usos) in the back when Miz/Mizdow come in to say they’ll keep the titles. Miz actually offers her a spot in a movie and gives her a card. Mizdow gives her an invisible card as Naomi rolls her eyes.
A long black limo brings Vince to the arena.
Seth Green is hosting next week.
Rowan fixes his Rubik’s Cube and reiterates that Show is a bully.
Erick Rowan vs. Big Show
Show says he doesn’t like being called a bully. Cole says Rowan has a genius IQ. Erick quickly knocks him to the floor but Show comes back in and drops Rowan with ease. He rips at Rowan’s face and puts on a chinlock to kill some time. Rowan fights up and heads outside, only to have Show nail him with the steps for the DQ at 4:22.
Rating: D+. Nothing to see here though the idea of Rowan being a genius is kind of interesting. There’s some potential for some interesting bits there, though I’m not sure I have any confidence in WWE to pull it off. This is likely setting up a big match between the two at TLC, which should be interesting.
Vince is excited to be on Austin’s podcast. He won’t bring back the Authority though.
We recap the Bellas cheating to beat AJ last week. You can pick AJ’s partner for a tag match later.
Fandango vs. Jack Swagger
And there’s no Swagger. We cut to the back where Colter is down with a leg injury. Fandango wins via forfeit.
Here are Rusev and Lana to complain about the Pledge of Allegiance last week and brag about Rusev winning the battle royal on Friday. Rusev implies that he hurt Colter as the Russian flag comes down for Lana’s pledge. Swagger charges out for the brawl but referees hold him back.
Damien Mizdow vs. Fernando
This is due to Torito stealing one of Mizdow’s fake Tag Team Title belts. Feeling out process to start with Fernando easily taking him down and grabbing an armbar. Back up and Mizdow grabs a quick backdrop and hooks the Figure Four for the submission at 2:25.
Jimmy Uso, Naomi’s real life husband, comes out and slaps Miz in the face, saying stay away from her.
Bray Wyatt vs. R-Truth
Bray throws him around with ease to start and shouts for Ambrose. Truth fights out of a cravate and avoids the running backsplash. That just makes Bray mad but he takes a running kick to the face. The Lie Detector puts Bray down but he avoids the ax kick and plants Truth with the release Rock Bottom. A modified DDT onto the apron knocks Truth silly and it’s the Spider Walk into Sister Abigail for the pin at 4:22.
Rating: D+. Total squash here with Bray looking great most of the time. He’s getting better at making his offense look more devastating, which is the kind of thing you need from a monster like him. I’m not sure where he goes at TLC, but that match could be one heck of a war.
Post match Bray starts throwing in chairs, still shouting for Dean. He wants the truth but pulls out a ladder as we take a break. We come back with Bray sitting in his rocking chair under a ladder with a table in the corner. Bray tells us the story of Jacob and his great ladder that the angels climbed up to Heaven and back. Wyatt dreams of a ladder where he ascends the ladder to praise no one. He looks down at his world and laughs at all the creatures that God has created and thinks they look like insects. In his dreams, he sees tables, ladders and chairs.
Cue Dean for a brawl and to put Bray on the table, only to have Wyatt escape as Dean climbs the ladder. Bray runs away as referees stop dean. Ambrose goes back inside where there are about ten chairs, two tables and a ladder. He shoves the ladder over and looks at Bray’s rocking chair, eventually tossing it down and destroying it, infuriating Wyatt.
We recap the end of the opening segment with Cena going through the table after everyone came out.
Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee/???
Here are the poll results for AJ’s partner:
Natalya – 32%
Naomi – 48%
Alicia Fox – 20%
Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee/Naomi
Brie jumps Naomi before the bell, allowing Nikki to get two off a suplex. The Bellas take turns nailing Naomi in the face before Nikki hooks a chinlock. Naomi fights up and tags in AJ to clean house, including a tornado DDT to Nikki. Everything breaks down and it’s AJ vs. Nikki with a Shining Wizard staggering the champ. The Black Widow makes Nikki tap at 3:25.
Rating: D+. Well that happened. As is the usual case with most Divas matches, there’s almost nothing to see here and it sets up AJ vs. Nikki again. I’m sure Brie will get involved and AJ will need to find a friend to help her. Perhaps say, Paige? Either that or Charlotte comes in and takes the title. Neither does much for me but that’s likely due to the Bellas trying to be all serious and important.
Mick Foley, in one of the best Santa Claus outfits I’ve ever seen, hypes up the big sale on WWEshop.com. I really wouldn’t have recognized him if not for his voice and the cheap pop.
Paul Heyman is here via satellite to address the stipulation for Cena vs. Rollins. First up though, he wants to address what Cena said about Lesnar being here once a year. Would you have Christmas once a year? Of course not, because it would ruin the moment. Why not just have Wrestlemania every Monday night? Now if Cena comes out of TLC still #1 contender, he has to face a fresh Brock Lesnar.
However, what if he doesn’t? Who becomes #1 contender? Would it be Rollins, who Curb Stomped Brock Lesnar but now can’t hide behind the Authority? Maybe the Undertaker? That could be interesting, if you could find him. What about Sting? You wouldn’t even have to advertise it as a retirement match, because Sting would retire after Lesnar got his hands on him. Let’s just throw the entire WWE roster against Lesnar like throwing humans to the lions in the Roman Coliseum. Heyman says Brock Lesnar is the new authority in WWE because he’s the can’t miss, must see, undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Ryback/John Cena/Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper/Seth Rollins/Kane
They have a lot of time for this. Cena wants Rollins to start with him but gets Harper instead. That’s fine with John who knocks Harper down and pulls in Rollins for the STF. Luke makes an early save, only to walk into a belly to belly for two. Off to Ziggler for a double dropkick for two before it’s off to Ryback vs. Kane for the big power showdown. Ryback takes over with the Thesz press and Warrior Splash.
Back to Harper to hammer away in the corner until Ryback scores with the Meat Hook. Rolins comes in and gets in some shots of his own before handing it back to Luke. Ryback fights him over a suplex before picking Luke up for a very delayed suplex as we go to a break. Back with Ryback dropping Harper with the suplex. If that was continuous (it wasn’t), give Ryback the title like, now.
Off to Ziggler vs. Kane with Dolph grabbing a sleeper until Kane drives him into the corner. Kane knocks him out of the air for two and the heels take over again. Luke Gator Rolls him and we’re in the chinlock. Kane comes in for a chinlock of his own before Rollins whips Ziggler hard into the corner. Back up and Seth misses a charge in the corner, setting up the hot tag to Cena. House is quickly cleaned with Lawler suddenly being a huge Cena cheerleader. Cena cleans house and double suplexes Kane with some help from Ryback. Mercury and Noble knock knock Cena silly as we take a break.
Back again with Cena fighting out of a Harper chinlock but eating a superkick from Harper for two. Rollins comes back in for a chinlock of his own but Cena suplexes him down to escape. The hot tag brings in Ziggler to face Harper with a neckbreaker and Fameasser getting two. Everything breaks down with Cena diving onto all five guys at once. Kane escapes the AA and kicks Cena down, only to take a powerslam from Ryback. Everyone hits their secondary finishers until Ziggler counters a Harper powerbomb into a sunset flip for the pin at 25:17.
Rating: C+. This was much more of a long match than a good one with FAR too many chinlocks than were necessary. Ziggler continuing to get a push is a good thing but there needed to be more stuff here than what we were given. Ryback continues to just kind of be there, which isn’t what you want him to be doing at this point.
Post match Big Show comes in to clean house but Rowan comes out with the steps to destroy everyone. Cole seems to have officially dubbed Rowan Big Red. Show grabs Ryback and Rowan for a double chokeslam but is nice enough to stick his chin out for a superkick from Ziggler. Cena AA’s Show for Survivor Series, allowing Rowan to crush him with the steps to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. This was a bit more entertaining than last week but it still didn’t do much for me. They’ve got most of the card set for TLC and hopefully it’s Ambrose vs. Wyatt again in the main event. If nothing else it fits the name of the show and gives you a potential huge crash for the ending. This wasn’t a great show or even very good, but it advanced some stories and got me more interested in the PPV, which is somehow less than two weeks away.
Results
Usos won tag team turmoil last eliminating Adam Rose/the Bunny – Superfly Splash to Rose
Erick Rowan b. Big Show via DQ when Show used the steps
Fandango b. Jack Swagger via forfeit
Damien Mizdow b. Fernando – Figure Four
Bray Wyatt b. R-Truth – Sister Abigail
AJ Lee/Naomi b. Bella Twins – Black Widow to Nikki
Dolph Ziggler/John Cena/Ryback b. Kane/Luke Harper/Seth Rollins – Sunset flip to Harper
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: November 24, 2014
Sting! The Stinger! The Man Called Sting! These are just a few of the nicknames of someone you won’t be seeing on Raw this week. He debuted at Survivor Series to help end the Authority as he pulled Ziggler’s body onto Rollins, who hadn’t moved in about eight minutes and clearly needed to be resuscitated. Other than that….yeah there isn’t much as Survivor Series was a one note show. Let’s get to it.
We opened with the Authority because WWE likes to troll us. They were all sad about being thrown out of course but said we’d miss them later on. HHH babbled about business and how WWE will need them back in the future. For some reason he went into a nearly word for word speech from the end of A Few Good Men about how WWE needed them. If nothing else that’s an awesome movie so I can’t complain much there.
Daniel Bryan of all people cut them off to do the YES post in front of them. After a break, Bryan announced that he was in charge for the night. First up he brought out all five members of Team Authority from the night before to give them their assignments for the night. These segments took nearly half an hour in total, but Bryan’s energy made them easier to sit through. I’ll cover each member as their antics come up, starting with Henry getting beaten by Ryback in about a minute.
The Authority left with Vince while Stephanie begged Vince’s forgiveness. The boss didn’t seem to care and said the only thing he’s sorry for is having to sit through Thanksgiving with these losers.
Next up was Luke Harper beating Ambrose via DQ when Harper shoved Dean into the referee. This wasn’t a great match as you knew the ending was going to be screwy, but at least they didn’t go with the obvious Bray interference. That would come after, as Bray jumped Dean on the floor and buried him under a bunch of chairs next to the announcers’ table.
Santino Marella and Larry the Cable Guy showed up and weren’t funny.
Miz/Mizdow beat Goldust/Stardust to retain the titles. The idea here was Miz stayed on the floor with an alleged injury for most of the match before coming in to hit a quick Skull Crushing Finale and steal the glory.
Kane is in charge of concessions tonight. This led to some unfunny bits of pouring mustard on Santino and getting in a fight with Ryback, likely setting up a match at TLC.
Lane and Rusev had to either say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag or have Rusev defend the title in a battle royal. Lana started to but Rusev stopped her, drawing out Sgt. Slaughter for a showdown. Naturally this went nowhere and Jack Swagger came out for the save. I really hope they’re not going back to this feud because it’s been done to death already.
Fandango beat Justin Gabriel in a copy of the Survivor Series pre-show match. Nothing to see here.
Big Show came out for his big speech and admits that it might have been a mistake, but thinks he’s earned the benefit of the doubt after all his years in the company. We got the usual “I have bills to pay” speech, which I’d have more sympathy for if he hadn’t used his one wish on a title shot last year. Eventually Rowan came down and called Show a bully before knocking him out of the ring with ease.
Brie Bella beat AJ via rollup when Nikki interfered. No sign of the Bellas splitting when the servant period was over.
Adam Rose and the Bunny lost to Kidd and Natalya in the same match they’ve been having for weeks.
Ziggler and Cena beat Rollins and the Stooges in the exact match you would expect them to have. The big deals here were that the Stooges could be selected by the fans via the App and the Anonymous Raw GM returned to end the show. In theory this is going to be a weekly deal.
Overall this show was about setting up the new world of Monday Night Raw after the Authority is gone. The show really wasn’t all that good, but at least they set up something for the future. They only have a few weeks until TLC, but they already have the fallout from Survivor Series as a foundation for the matches there. It’s not a good show but they had to take a breather after all the stuff they did last night.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at: