This is another one of those things I don’t get.What is this obsession people have with seeing these two fight?  It seems like it would be a match where the outcome is never in doubt and the promos would likely be centered around “I’m straightedge” vs. “I love beer”.  They were both anti-heroes so they don’t have character issues to argue over.  Yet despite all this, fans seem to be begging to see this match.  Why?  At the end of the day, the money match would seem to be Cena vs. Austin, not Austin vs. Punk.

Think about it.  If there is ANYONE who is the polar opposite of Austin’s entire character, it’s John Cena.  You have the ultimate corporate guy vs. the guy who would regularly beat up his boss.  The promos would be great, the characters contrasts would be great, and it would be the ultimate battle of Attitude Era (the company’s new favorite marketing campaign since they finally realized people are nostalgic for it) vs. PG.

Why do so many people want Punk when Cena would be a better opponent all the way around?  Also Austin vs. Punk is not happening at Mania 29.  Austin’s knee isn’t going to be ready.  Drop the speculation already.

Smackdown
Date: October 19, 2012
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield

Back to the blue show after things have taken a fresh turn on Raw. We’re closing in on the Cell where apparently Show vs. Sheamus isn’t in the Cell, likely leaving them open for a rematch next month. I’m enjoying this story way better than I likely should but having a clash of two titans like this is always fun. Hopefully things pick up a bit on here. Let’s get to it.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is a barn that my uncle fell off yesterday.

Here’s the now non-Intercontinental Champion Miz for MizTV. He has a NASTY looking gash above his eye from where Kofi kicked him on Monday. He’s cashing in his rematch clause and he’ll prove why he’s must see. No date is given but presumably it’s at the PPV. His guests tonight are HELL NO. Yeah the match is officially at the PPV. Miz says if they were a real tag team, they would come out together. Bryan offers to separate Miz’s teeth from his mouth. Miz makes fun of the Goat Face and says the lack of continuity is going to cost them the championships.

Kane says that he’s won tag titles with giants, psychopaths with multiple personalities and a dead man so Bryan is no problem. Bryan says that he’s the reason they’ll keep the titles because he’s the world’s toughest vegan. Kane says that’s like being the world’s tallest dwarf, but Bryan has that covered too. Miz: “Can I say something here?” Kane and Bryan: “NO!”

The champions argue again with Bryan mentioning the MITB cash in over Big Show, drawing out the big man for a rebuttal. Show says he has no issue with Kane (even though they’re fighting on Monday) but he has one with Bryan. He doesn’t want to hear about Bryan beating him in 45 seconds again or he’s going to knock Bryan out. He says he’ll knock Bryan out now but Kane gets in Show’s way, saying they don’t have to wait for Monday. This brings out….Dolph Ziggler?

Ziggler talks about how talking about Bryan and MITB is so last year and he should be the focus because he’s cashing in on either Sheamus or Big Show. Ziggler says if Bryan can do it to Big Show, how hard can it be? An argument breaks out and Booker comes out but Miz says that Booker can save his time because he knows what’s coming. Instead Booker makes HELL NO vs. Show/Ziggler and Miz vs. a surprise. When they have this huge tag division all of a sudden, do we need to have these one night only tag teams to fight them? Here’s Miz’s surprise.

The Miz vs. Randy Orton

Orton is looking a bit more like he did in 2004. I think it’s the not being orange and having a bit more hair. This is joined in progress after a break with Randy clotheslining Miz down and stomping away. Del Rio and Ricardo are watching from a sky box. Miz pounds away in the corner but Orton comes right back and pounds away as well. A belly to back suplex gets two for Orton but Miz comes back and knocks Randy off the apron and into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Orton in a chinlock which Miz follows up with a Reality Check for two. Striker is in the sky box to talk to Ricardo and Alberto. For all we know, right now Miz and Orton are doing the Charleston. Del Rio says he’s the new Apex Predator in the WWE and that’s about it. Back in the ring Miz hits the corner clothesline but Orton crotches him on the top. Orton superplexes Miz down for two and a clothesline puts Miz on the floor.

Back in and Orton glares at Del Rio before dropkicking Miz down for two. Miz comes back with the short DDT for two of his own. Orton comes back with a quick elevated DDT before going insane and loading up the RKO. Miz avoids it and tries the Finale but Orton rolls away and hits the RKO for the pin at 7:30 shown of 11:00.

Rating: C. Well at least Miz isn’t a champion anymore. The match wasn’t anything great but these two have never had the best chemistry. Miz seems to be the latest victim of of writers being bored syndrome as he came back, got a quick push, and then the push just stopped for the sake of someone else getting a push. It’s stuff like that which causes no one to be over or credible anymore.

Del Rio says they’re going to do this on his terms at HIAC.

Sheamus runs into Teddy in the back and the champ wants Barrett tonight. Teddy says he’ll talk to Booker about it and he’ll try to make it a lumberjack match. Sheamus: “I feel you playa.” Eve is lurking in the background.

Rhodes Scholars vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Gabriel and Cody start but it’s off to Tyson very fast with a kick to the back for two. Cody and Sandow head to the floor with Gabriel taking Damien out with a dive. Cody gets in a cheap shot and we head back into the ring for some heel beating. Sandow takes him down and drops the windup elbow for two. Gabriel gets in a kick to the face to take Rhodes down and it’s off to Kidd. He cleans a few rooms of the house with a dropkick to the side of Sandow’s head but as he puts Damien in the Sharpshooter, Cody gets a blind tag and hits the Disaster Kick for the pin at 3:20.

Rating: C-. Nothing much to see here as it’s just another Rhodes Scholars squash to set up the tournament final on Raw. This was a squash but it was nothing interesting. Also, we have another case of the back and forth booking as Kidd and Gabriel had good competitive matches with Cesaro but here’s they’re jobbers for a tag team. Either push the guys as good, tough opponents or make them full on jobbers.

Eve is sucking up to Booker in the back when Teddy comes in to pitch the lumberjack match idea to Booker. Eve says she’s been talking about that for weeks and Teddy stole his idea. Since apparently Booker doesn’t watch the show and no one with a brain in wrestling ever WATCHES THE TAPE FROM EARLIER WHICH THEY KNOW EXISTS BECAUSE THERE WAS A CAMERA RIGHT THERE, Teddy has no defense. Instead he looks at an iPad after the other two leave.

HELL NO vs. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show

No entrances for either team. Bryan and Ziggler start things off with Bryan being taken to the mat in a bit of a surprise. A dropkick puts Daniel down and it’s off to Big Show. The other monster gets the tag and they slug it out with Show spearing Kane down. Show pounds away in the corner but misses a charge, allowing Kane to bring in Bryan for the NO kicks. The big kick to the head is blocked though and Show gorilla presses Bryan to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Ziggler ramming Bryan’s face into Show’s boot for one. Off to Show but Bryan avoids the chop in the corner. He tries to dive for Kane but Show easily throws him down. The chokeslam is countered into the DDT but Ziggler breaks up another tag with a neckbreaker on Bryan. Ziggler drops a bunch of elbows including a jumping version which gets two. Back to Show who punches Bryan in the ribs and puts on a stomach claw.

Off to Ziggler but he misses a Stinger Splash in the corner and there’s the hot tag to Kane. The Fameasser misses Kane but a big boot gets two on Ziggler. Bryan tags himself in of course, and hits a running clothesline on Dolph, followed by a running dropkick in the corner. Bryan dives at Big Show and gets shoved down as everything breaks down. Kane takes Show down and the NO Lock submits Ziggler at 10:02 shown of 13:32.

Rating: C. Dolph tapping out was the only way they could go here. I mean, he didn’t get beaten on Monday and by law he absolutely must job once a week so that his cash in will be as shocking as possible, and by shocking I mean really freaking obvious. Also I could go without having these random teams facing HELL NO every week.

The champs argue on the stage when Rhodes Scholars jump them. They’re not even pretending that the tournament is up for grabs anymore.

We recap the end of Barrett vs. Sheamus from Raw.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Ted DiBiase

Before the match we get a vignette of Cesaro at Sun Studio (where Elvis recorded a lot of his stuff) and criticizing country music. These kind of things are way better than seeing the people in the back all the time. Ted starts with a dropkick but gets sent to the floor almost immediately. Antonio drops Ted face first on the apron and we’re entering squash mode. Cesaro hits the gutwrench suplex and puts on a cravate. DiBiase makes a quick comeback with a clothesline and sitout spinebuster, but he jumps into the uppercut to stop him cold. There’s the Neutralizer for the pin at 2:39.

Raw ReBound is about the end of the show with the contract signing and Ryback killing Punk.

Heath Slater vs. Brodus Clay

The Band continues to look hilariously stupid. Slater jumps Brodus in the corner to start but the big man will have none of that. A suplex puts Slater down but Brodus charges into a boot in the corner. A middle rope missile dropkick staggers Clay but Slater gets killed by the overhead suplex. Clay has to chase off the Band and Slater hits that falling cutter of his for the pin at 1:55. It was nice looking at your girls Brodus. Sorry you had to die this badly.

Barrett isn’t sure Sheamus is a tough guy but he’s certainly stupid. Why fight Barrett tonight when you have to defend against Big Show? Wade hopes that Show remembers the beatdown tonight and wants the favor repaid once Show wins the title.

Layla vs. Natalya

They head to the mat and then the floor almost immediately with Nattie taking over. Eve continues to talk about the attack on Kaitlyn because that’s still a thing for some reason. Natalya hooks a modified abdominal stretch which is quickly escapes and a kick to the face gets Layla the pin at 1:55. It’s really hard to take Layla seriously when her song is about not being able to get enough sex and her video is of her dancing.

Teddy is with Kaitlyn and the iPad apparently belongs to Eve. Apparently there’s information on there that proves Eve is evil and needs to be stopped. Gee, who would have seen that coming? Kaitlyn takes a picture of the iPad screen. She says keep this quiet for now. You know, BECAUSE DOING THIS IN FRONT OF A CAMERA ON NATIONAL TELEVISION IS GOING TO KEEP THIS A SECRET!

Here are the lumberjacks for the main event.

Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus

Non-title of course and Show is a lumberjack. Barrett pounds away in the corner but the champion slugs right back. Barrett comes back with a kick to the ribs and a pumphandle slam for two. Sheamus gets sat on the ropes for the big boot, knocking the champion to the outside. Back in that gets two as Big Show is just standing there watching. Sheamus is sent chest first into the buckle as the dominance continues. Matthews says it’s a stalemate. I’d hate to see a beating then.

We take a break and come back with Sheamus making a comeback and hitting a Regal Roll for no cover. There are the ten forearms in the ropes followed by White Noise. Sheamus loads up the Brogue Kick but the 3MB pulls Barret to the floor. The champ dives on all of them to take them out but Barrett hits a running back elbow and a big boot for two back inside.

Wasteland is escaped and the Brogue Kick misses too. Barrett clotheslines Sheamus to the floor and it’s time for the big lumberjack brawl. Back in and Wade charges into the Irish Curse….and here’s HELL NO to get the Rhodes Scholars. Brogue Kick ends Barrett at 7:24 shown of 10:54.

Rating: C+. I usually love the brawls these two have but this was the short and not that great version. The focus was on the lumberjacks and while Sheamus got beaten up, it never felt like he was in any real danger. That made the main event more about waiting for the ending rather than being an interesting match. That’s not good but the match still wasn’t bad.

Post match Ziggler knocks Sheamus down and tries to cash in but Big Show knocks Ziggler out cold with the punch. Show says he’s taking the title at the PPV.

Overall Rating: D+. This show didn’t do anything for me. Aside from how uninteresting the Eve stuff is, now it’s just getting stupid as they have the evidence they need to prove she’s lying on tape and they won’t use it, and then they do something in front of a camera and say keep this secret. On top of that, the tournament final on Monday looks like a waste of time given what we saw here. Smackdown is just worthless at this point and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Results

Randy Orton b. The Miz – RKO

Rhodes Scholars b. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel – Disaster Kick to Kidd

HELL NO b. Dolph Ziggler/Big Show – NO Lock to Ziggler

Antonio Cesaro b. Ted DiBiase – Neutralizer

Heath Slater b. Brodus Clay – Falling Cutter

Layla b. Natalya – Kick to the head

Sheamus b. Wade Barrett – Brogue Kick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

This came to me last night and it’s another example of the fans complaining for the sake of complaining.The Rock won his first world title in November of 1998.  He won his last in July 0f 2002.  That’s less than four years and in that span, Rock won nine world titles: 7 WWF and 2 WCW.

John Cena won his first world title in April of 2005 and in four years, Cena had won six world titles: 4 WWE and 2 WHC.

The fans’ typical statements on these two:

Rock: ROCKY!  ROCKY!  ROCKY!

Cena: CENA SUCKS!  HE ALWAYS HAS THE TITLE AND WINS IT ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

Even though Rock won more titles in a much shorter span of time.  Rock would win nine titles in four years while Cena has won twelve in about seven years.  Also keep in mind that most of Rock’s reigns were when only one title was available.  To complain about Cena constantly winning titles while praising Rock as amazing is hypocrisy.

NXT
Date: October 17, 2012
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal

Things have kind of reset after last week and now we need a new challenger for Rollins and the NXT Title. Other than that we had Punk here last week who really didn’t do all that much. The good thing about last week’s episode was that the show stood alone but it had some great stuff on it. Hopefully that keeps up tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event with Rollins successfully defending against McGillicutty.

Alex Riley vs. Jinder Mahal

This is before the 3MB phase began for Mahal and is apparently the first time he’s been on NXT since he lost in the title tournament final. Feeling out process to start with Mahal working over the arm. Riley does exactly the same as the first minute is pretty even. They mix things up with a headlock and Riley dropkicks him down with one foot to the stomach and one to the chest.

A middle rope shoulder gets two for Alex as Regal is talking about his family singing in the bathroom. You certainly can’t say he lets things stay dull. Mahal drives knees into the chest for two and it’s off to a chinlock. Out of absolutely nowhere, Riley grabs a rollup and gets the big upset at 3:50.

Rating: C+. I like Riley and for the life of me I don’t get why the guy can’t get on TV more often. Even when he’s jobbing, the guy gets at least a small reaction which is more than you can say for a lot of people. I was really surprised to see him win here, as Mahal was the top heel on NXT just a few weeks ago. More Riley is fine with me.

Post match Mahal beats up Riley and puts him in the camel clutch.

Jake Carter vs. Trent Barretta

This was set up in a backstage segment last week. Regal talks about Vader training Carter (his son) since he was a kid and now it’s paying off apparently. Trent takes him to the mat with a headlock to start but Carter shoves him off and pounds away in the corner to take over. If there is ever a guy who you wouldn’t associate with his father based on his look and gimmick, Carter would be near the top of such a list. Jake hooks a chinlock but gets suplexed down by Trent.

An enziguri puts Carter down again and the fans are behind Trent. Not that it works that well as Carter takes his head off with a clothesline but the fans were indeed behind him. Carter loads up a belly to back superplex but gets knocked to the mat. A Whisper in the Wind gets two for Trent but he walks into a belly to belly overhead suplex for two. Another suplex is escaped and Trent hits a running boot/knee to the face for the pin at 6:28.

Rating: C+. This was another good match with a guy that I like who isn’t on TV enough. Trent is a guy who seems like he’s having a great time out there and looks incredibly smooth at the same time. Carter isn’t quite clicking for me but he certainly isn’t terrible. I think being Vader’s son hurts him a bit because you expect someone similar to Vader, but he’s got a long way to go to get that close to Vader’s level.

Here’s Sandow who says George Washington would be ashamed of everyone here. He thinks the fans boo him because they know he’s right.

Damien Sandow vs. Brandon Traven

I think I got the jobber’s last name right. Damien takes it to the mat to start and they trade some basic holds. Sandow misses a clothesline but runs to the corner to avoid a right hand. Damien takes it back to the mat and works on a headlock before stomping away a bit. Traven misses a dropkick and Sandow snaps, punching Traven down and raking his face with a knee. Off to a chinlock followed by some knees to the chest and then right back to the chinlock by Sandow. Traven gets in some jobber offense but misses a knee drop. The wind up elbow and the Terminus neckbreaker get the pin at 6:07.

Rating: C. This was just a squash and that’s all it should have been. Sandow is a guy who has a lot of upside and while his in ring stuff isn’t great, it’s good enough to get by when you have a solid gimmick like he’s got. The more I see of his singles stuff, the less I care for the Rhodes Scholars team, as Sandow is more than entertaining on his own.

Ascension/Kassius Ohno vs. Richie Steamboat/Usos

Main event time. Steamboat charges at the ring to get at Ohno and we take a break during the brawl. We come back with Cameron controlling Steamboat before tagging in to Ohno. Steamboat starts his comeback and Ohno immediately runs away. It’s off to O’Brien vs. Jey and O’Brien can’t hurt Jey head. I miss racial stereotypes in wrestling. Conor takes him down into a bodyscissors instead to take over.

Jey gets put in a chinlock as we take a break. Back with Conor kicking Jey in the head from the apron and Cameron dropping an elbow for two. Off to Ohno who stomps away in the corner for two. We hit the cravate and then a front facelock and Jey crawls for the corner, only to get dragged back to the wrong part of town. Back to Conor for more beating but Jey grabs a quick kind of Angle Slam move into a rollup for two.

Cameron comes in and gets caught in a backslide for two but Jey still can’t make the tag. This is quite a beatdown. JR says most people would have folded their tent by now, which launches Regal into stories of his carnival days. Back to Ohno but Jey punches his way to the corner for the hot tag to Steamboat. Richie destroys Kassius as everything breaks down. The Usos hit stereo dives onto Ascension on the floor but Ohno hits the spinning forearm (called OBE, or One Behind the Ear) for the pin at 10:16 shown of 12:46.

Rating: C-. This one missed for me. I don’t know if it’s because I really don’t like Ohno or if it’s something else, but I had problems making myself care about this. Ascension and the Usos continue to be entertaining, but I’m having a really hard time making myself care about Steamboat vs. Ohno. That elbow to the head looked even worse than usual today.

Overall Rating: B. This was another good show although not as good as last week. NXT is 45 minutes of pretty good wrestling with almost no stupid stuff at all. The main event was probably the weakest of all the matches and it certainly wasn’t bad. The one thing NXT is very good at is mixing things up from week to week. It keeps things on the show from getting worn out and stale, which is one of WWE’s biggest problems anymore.

Results

Alex Riley b. Jinder Mahal – Rollup

Trent Barretta b. Jake Carter – Running knee to the face

Damien Sandow b. Brandon Traven – Terminus

Ascension/Kassius Ohno b. Usos/Richie Steamboat – OBE to Steamboat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

So there’s a report that says Batista may be back at the Rumble.  Now those of you that read my thoughts on things like this know that I always go with the theory of “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  I’m not saying the report is valid or not because I have no idea if it is or not. What I’m asking is would you want Batista back in WWE?  Let’s think about this:Batista is in his mid 40s and didn’t seem to be thrilled with being in the WWE all the time.  He’s had some issues with people backstage and can be kind of a diva at times.

On the other hand, the guy is a legit main eventer and could be put in the world title hunt immediately with no questions asked.  He’s got a great look, is insanely over with the fans, and was on a roll when he left.

Overall, I’d be for it as he’s still got some years left in him and he could put some people over on his way out.  There’s nothing wrong with that at all, especially with how weak the main event pool is at this point.

Thoughts?

Well at least Main Event has a moment now.  Points for that I guess.  And no, it still doesn’t need to exist.

I’ve got the first ten done and I’m working on the Screwjob show.  I’m having a blast doing these again.

Ryback vs. Punk in the Cell for the title is the main event of HIAC.  That opens a lot of doors.At the end of the day, I can’t imagine Punk not being champion at the Rumble to face Rock.  Now the question is will he be champion the entire way through the next few months?  This is where the Cell becomes an issue, because otherwise the answer would be Ryback destroys Punk but Punk walks out and leaves the arena to save the title in fear.  The Cell stops that from being an option, so the question is what do they do now?

The only thing I can see happening is Lesnar running in and attacking Ryback, setting up a match between them at TLC or the Rumble.  if Ryback is going to lose in there, he has to lose by an inch and due to every method of cheating, illegal tactics, interference, and whatever else you can think of.  Oh wait that can’t happen because it’s the Cell.  Gee, MAYBE IT’S A FREAKING BAD IDEA TO HAVE THE CELL GUARANTEED WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA IF THE MATCH YOU WANT CAN HAPPEN IN IT!  EVER THOUGHT OF THAT VINCE???

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I think Ryback wins the title and then loses it in another gimmick match likely involving Punk and Cena at TLC.  I mean, they wouldn’t do Rock vs. Ryback………….would they?

There’s one thing I’m sure of: I honestly do not know what is going to happen at TLC and I can’t even lean one way or another.  That happens very rarely in WWE and I LOVE it.

Thoughts?

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2012
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole

The main story tonight is Punk having to decide who he faces inside the Cell in about two weeks. He either has to face Ryback or Cena and if he doesn’t pick, it’s going to be decided by Vince himself. I’m assuming Vince will be here live tonight which is a good thing given how awesome he was last week. Other than that the PPV is mostly set. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the ending segment from last week with Punk running away from Vince.

Here’s Big Show with something to say. He talks about how he overpowered Sheamus last week and Sheamus was in awe. Then on Smackdown they tested which finisher was stronger through a machine and the punch won by a landslide. Show gets mad about the 45 second reign and demands a match with Bryan (the guy that beat him for the 45 second reign) RIGHT NOW. Some guys including Bryan are watching in the back. Bryan says no, but AJ comes up and says yes. Kane laughs and Bryan gets in a yes/no battle with about half the roster.

Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan

Show charges right at Bryan but Daniel starts moving as fast as he can. Show shoves him to the floor and we take a break after about 45 seconds. I hate when they do that. Back with Show bearhugging Bryan but Bryan comes back with the rapid fire kicks. He fires off even more but as he goes up top, Bryan jumps into a chokeslam for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C+. This was a lot better than I was expecting. Bryan going down is the right move here as it’s hard to buy that Bryan can go toe to toe with Show and win in a fair fight. Bryan was a total face in this and the rapid fire kicks looked great. Bryan has been turned by the force of the crowd which always makes for a great push.

Kane comes out for the save.

Here’s Heyman standing in front of something with a cloth over it. He brings out Punk to announce who he wants to face at the PPV. Punk talks about disrespect and how everyone wants to make it about themselves instead of him. Last week that was Vince and then Punk had to beat Vince up to prove his point. Then it took Ryback and Cena to run Punk off. We look at the HIAC poster on the screen which is Punk as the devil in the Cell.

Punk talks about how he’s got two devils to pick from: the one he knows in Cena or the one he doesn’t know in Ryback. Both names get reactions but Cena’s is clearly bigger, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Punk asks for some decorum while he unveils his opponent. He grabs the sheet over what appears to be a poster on a stand, but Punk says he’s going to think a bit longer because the fans won’t stop disrespecting him.

Cue Vince to make up Punk’s mind for him. Vince says he respected Punk last week, but now Punk has lost that respect. Tonight it’s a contract signing and Vince is going to announce the opponent. Vince: RESPECT THAT!

Brodus Clay vs. Alberto Del Rio

I wonder if we’ll hear about their history together. Brodus takes him into the corner to start and rams Del Rio to the floor. Alberto drapes the arm over the ropes and goes after it. Brodus misses a charge in the corner, gets caught in the armbreaker, and taps at 2:20. Brodus, welcome to Jobberville.

Punk rants to Heyman in the back and wants to fight Vince tonight. Punk yells at Heyman here and looks flustered.

Prime Time Players vs. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella

This is joined in progress with Young tagging in Titus to keep up a beating on Santino. Off to Ryder who pounds away on Titus and hits a middle rope missile dropkick to set up the Broski Boot for two. Everything breaks down and it’s the gutbuster to Santino, the Rough Ryder to Young, and the Clash of the Titus to Santino for the pin at 1:26 shown. Ok then.

Post match here’s the Band, now in jeans and leather jackets, to beat on Ryder. Now they’re called the 3MB apparently.

Here are Vickie and Ziggler to talk about how Ryback doesn’t deserve a title match in the Cell. It should be Dolph who gets the shot, and he should cash in the case that night and win both titles. This brings out…..David Otunga? He thinks HE should get the shot. Cue AJ who makes a handicap match.

David Otunga/Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback

A LOUD Feed Me More chant starts up and a Vickie distraction lets Dolph hit a dropkick. The clothesline kills Ziggler and the annoying fans chant Goldberg. Off to Otunga who gets caught in the over the shoulder Stunner (called an atomic drop by JR) as Ziggler leaves. Otunga gets Shell Shocked for the pin at 1:48.

Heyman comes in to see Vince and offers another match with Vince where if Punk wins, he gets to pick the stipulation. Vince says ok, but it’s against Heyman instead of Punk.

AJ is in the back when Striker asks him about getting beaten up by HELL NO. He implies he wants an apology and AJ is psycho this week so it’s Striker vs. Kane tonight. Striker: “But….no…..”

Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel

Non-title. Gabriel escapes a German suplex to start but gets hit in the ribs to take him down. A HARD double stomp keeps Gabriel down and since we’ve got a Swiss guy vs. a South African, the Tennessee fans chant USA. Cesaro stays on the ribs with a gutbuster and a body vice. They slug it out and Gabriel uses AJ Styles’ moonsault into the reverse DDT to set up the 450, but the injured ribs slow down the cover and Cesaro gets the rope. Gabriel tries a springboard but he jumps into the uppercut to kill him dead. Neutralizer gets the academic pin at 3:51.

Rating: B-. This was a very solid match for less than four minutes. Gabriel can go and it’s always good to see that he has more than 450. They did the same thing with Kidd last week and we got a good match there too. This is what I mean by using the roster to your advantage: WWE has all these people working for them, and for once they’re USING THEM instead of giving us five Santino vs. Cesaro matches in a row.

Matt Striker vs. Kane

Striker has a mic to start and begs for mercy. He says he’d be fine with just an apology. Striker appeals to Kane’s therapy which Kane accepts, giving Striker a hug. Kane won’t let go of the hug and then the chokeslam ends this at 2:02, about 90 seconds of which were talking.

Kane interviews Striker who is out cold post match.

Time for MizTV. Miz insults the crowd a bit and brings out Kofi to hype up their title match on Main Event. Miz offers to carry Kofi like everyone else has. He talks about how Kofi has never done anything of note and how Kofi will always be the B guy that just makes people happy. Kofi says maybe Miz is right and Kofi needs to add some more moments to his career, like winning the IC Title on Wednesday. Kofi offers to have a match tonight, and Miz says ok. Miz says Kofi will always be the guy that says Boom Boom Boom and it’s on, with Miz getting knocked to the floor. More Kofi being serious is a good thing.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett

Non-title here. They work on each others’ arms to start and Sheamus clotheslines him down and out to the apron. The ten forearms are escapes and Barrett comes back with a shot to the head. A pumphandle slam gets two for Barrett and it’s off to the chinlock. Sheamus fights up and knocks Barrett to the floor. A shoulder block off the apron puts Barrett down and here’s Show with a chair as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus in control as Show sits on the stage and cheers for Barrett. They head to the floor and Barrett tries to kick the steps into Sheamus like he did last week but Sheamus is ready for it this week. As they get back in Barrett fires off a kick to the ribs to take over. A kick to Sheamus’ face has the champion in trouble and they head to the floor again.

They head back inside with Sheamus put in a chinlock, but he gets the crazy eyes and fights up. Irish Curse puts Barrett down but Sheamus can’t follow up. The champ comes back with a knee lift and powerslam for two. Show is getting nervous. Barrett rolls to the apron and you just shouldn’t do that against Sheamus. After the ten forearms and a suplex for two, Sheamus starts smiling. Sheamus gets sent into the buckle and a middle rope elbow gets two for Wade.

Wasteland is countered but the Brogue Kick misses as well. Winds of Change (Boss Man Slam) gets two and Wade is frustrated. Sheamus goes up but has to roll through the shoulder block. The cloverleaf is put on but here’s Big Show. He distracts Sheamus but the champ loads up White Noise. Sheamus gets thrown at Show who low bridges him for the DQ at 15:26.

Rating: B. As usual these two have great chemistry together. I’d love to see them have some kind of a world title match on PPV where they can have a clean finish, as it could be one of the better brawls of the year. They’re both hard hitting guys and when you get two guys who are good at that, it’s going to be a good match. Solid stuff here, albeit with a weak ending.

Sheamus immediately Brogue Kicks Barrett and clotheslines Show to the floor.

Vince is in his office when Cena comes in. Cena says he’s no doctor but Vince doesn’t listen to doctors anyway so it doesn’t matter. John belongs out there and if Vince picks him, he’ll do what he does. Vince says he’ll take that under consideration.

Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Layla

This is Layla’s rematch from whatever show she lost the title at. They fight over a tieup to start and Eve takes over. She sends Layla to the floor and hurts Layla’s ribs. Back in and Eve works on the shoulder. Well of course she does. Eve puts on a Figure Four headlock but Layla makes a rope after a minute or so. Layla comes back with a kick to the chest for two and screams a lot. The bouncing cross body gets two but Layla gets kicked off the middle rope and is pinned (with her foot on the ropes) at 4:38.

Rating: D+. These matches just aren’t interesting. Layla isn’t interesting at all without McCool there, nor is she interesting as a face. This went nowhere at all and just ate up time on this way too long show. Are there any other women left on the roster at all, or is this just setting up for the epic, yes EPIC I SAY, Kaitlyn vs. Eve feud?

WWE has a new charity thing, this one having to do with malaria nets.

Kane and Bryan have another arugment in the back and Bryan isn’t happy with Kane for laughing at him earlier. “Yes it was funny.” “NO IT WASN’T!” Bryan finally shouts and says next week it should be Kane vs. Big Show. Oh please…..no. ANYTHING but that.

Ryback is in Vince’s office and Vince thanks him for the save last week. The fans are saying Ryback is heartless, merciless, cold-blooded and would run through a brick wall to get what he wants. Ryback looks straight ahead the whole time until Vince asks what Ryback thinks. Ryback says Feed Me Punk. Vince will consider that too.

Mysterio isn’t here tonight, so the finals are next week.

3MB goes to a bar and takes over the stage. Secuirty throws them out.

Rhodes Scholars vs. Epico/Primo

The cousins jump the Scholars before the bell and the Scholars hide on the floor. We start with Primo vs. Cody. Off to Epico who has some good luck with Rhodes but has to chase off Sandow (Damien: “DON’T TOUCH ME!”). Cody takes over and it’s off to Sandow for the windup elbow for two. Back to Cody and there’s nothing to talk about in this match. Cody beats on Primo, Sandow beats on Primo, no one cares, the beating continues. The hot tag brings in Epico for some suplexes but everything breaks down. Epico misses a cross body and the double arm neckbreaker (called the Terminus apparently) gets the pin at 6:53.

Rating: D. Considering one of these teams is likely going to win the tag tournament but couldn’t tonight because one of the people in the tournament final was sick, it’s kind of hard to buy Epico and Primo as a legitimate threat. That neckbreaker getting a name is probably the highlight of this match.

The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

Miz charges at him but misses his shot. This is a big brawl very quickly and Miz rolls to the floor. Kofi kills him with a clothesline but back inside Miz takes over again and hits a running corner clothesline. Top rope ax handle gets two for the champ and we hit the chinlock. Kofi comes back with a suplex and a clothesline. The Finale is countered, as is the SOS and another Finale attempt. The Trouble in Paradise gets the pin on Miz at 5:25. That kick looked NASTY, as I don’t think Miz knew it was coming.

Rating: D+. Another dull match here where the ending was obvious. The only thing they could do here is have Kofi get the pin to set up the match he’ll likely lose on Wednesday. Not terrible here but they’re on at the end of a long show which is taking forever to get through. This was all they could do though.

Miz is looked at post match. He was totally blindsided by that kick.

Here’s Vince to announce the main event for the PPV. He brings out Punk, Ryback and Cena as we’re already past 11pm. I love Heyman holding up the title when the other guys come in. Punk cuts Vince off before his speech really gets going. I guess the scene with Vince and Heyman earlier canceled the proposed match? Punk signs without knowing his opponent.

Cena talks about Punk being champion for 330 days but says Punk needs to shut up. Vince tries to make his announcement but Cena cuts him off. Cena would love to fight Punk but he thinks Ryback just wants to beat someone up. That might be what Punk needs and Cena starts a FEED ME MORE chant. Ryback signs….and that’s the match. Ryback Shell Shocks Punk to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As is almost always the case with this show anymore, it was going really well for the first hour and a half and then it got tiring in a hurry. Three hours can be made to work well, but at some point it’s just too much for one night. That’s what happened here, as the show started dragging badly at about 9:45. There’s good stuff in here, but if you cut out some of the less important stuff (Kane vs. Striker, 3MB, Alberto) this is a very good show. As is, it’s just ok. It’s nice to have a main event for the PPV though.

Results

Big Show b. Daniel Bryan – Chokeslam

Alberto Del Rio b. Brodus Clay – Cross Armbreaker

Prime Time Players b. Santino Marella/Zack Ryder – Clash of the Titus to Ryder

Ryback b. Dolph Ziggler and David Otunga – Shell Shock to Otunga

Antonio Cesaro b. Justin Gabriel – Neutralizer

Kane b. Matt Striker – Chokeslam

Sheamus b. Wade Barrett via DQ when Big Show interfered

Eve Torres b. Layla – Pin after Layla was kicked off the middle rope

Rhodes Scholars b. Epico/Primo – Terminus to Epico

Kofi Kingston b. The Miz – Trouble in Paradise

It’s the night of Bound For Glory 2012 and Jeff Hardy won the world title from Austin Aries. That’s not really news, nor is it really surprising based on the way the show has been built. However, in a comment about the show, someone said that Aries should have been able to continue with his reign and been given that defining win that his reign needed. This got me to thinking about another growing trend in wrestling which is going on a lot more in the WWE at this point, and it’s not really work. Let’s get to it.

At the moment, the top story in WWE is CM Punk vs. John Cena over the WWE Title. Going into Night of Champions, Cena said Punk needed to defend the title against him in Cena’s hometown of Boston to define his legacy and cement himself as the top guy. The match wound up in a draw, and now the line is that Punk needs to beat Cena in the Cell to define his legacy and cement himself as the top guy.

Now that story makes sense: Punk didn’t beat Cena (that time at least) and now he needs to do something else to end the feud with Cena. That’s basic storytelling and makes perfect sense. HIAC is in I think two weeks and there’s a good chance Punk is going to walk out of the Cell having pinned Cena (again). Let’s say that happens and Punk wins as clean as you can in the WWE: so what?

That doesn’t define Punk’s reign. Punk’s reign isn’t over yet and we have no idea when it’s going to end. It doesn’t cement Punk as the top guy. Cena has lost to Punk already at three different PPVs in the last year and a half and Punk has never been the top guy over Cena. Punk can beat the entire roster in a single match while wearing roller skates and writing the great American novel, but it’s not going to define his legacy.

Let’s take a look back at history. The most famous reign of the last thirty years is Hogan’s four year reign from 84 to 88. What is the defining moment of that reign? If there is one, it would be beating Andre, but there’s a catch to that: Hogan already was the top guy and had been for years. However, we didn’t know that was what was going to define it because no one knew what Hogan’s reign was going to end.

At the end of the day, what defines Hogan’s reign is what happened during his reign, which would be the rise of wrestling to the mainstream and the wrestling boom of the 80s. Those things happened when Hogan was on top of the company and was unquestionably the top star in the world. Let’s look at the progression of Hogan’s title reign with regards to major shows.

Hogan won the title in January of 1984. A little over a year later, there was The War To Settle The Score, which was a huge house show that celebrities attended and had a huge main event of Hogan vs. Piper. It was a HUGE show and one of the biggest moments in WWF history. Then about six weeks later, there was another show called Wrestlemania. This was even bigger and had even more celebrities and a bigger audience. Then two years after that, there was Wrestlemania III, which had over four times the audience of Wrestlemania I.

I could go on and on with countless examples of the same thing happening, but you get the point. Even after Wrestlemania III, there was no way to tell what else was coming for Hogan during his reign. The match against Andre wound up being the biggest single moment of his first title reign, but there was no way to know that until after he lost the belt. There’s no way you can define a reign while it’s still going on, as the stuff that happens one day might mean far less by comparison. At the end of the day, the War To Settle The Score was huge at the time, but the stuff it set up blow it away by comparison.

Going back to Punk and his reign now, there’s another issue with his reign: no matter how many times he beats Cena, or how many times he beats anyone else, Punk simply is not a bigger star than John Cena. Cena has been the main star in the company for at least six years now (and again, the wins over HHH and Shawn at Wrestlemania didn’t define a single thing about him or his reign. They were big wins over big opponents and that’s it) and has been pushed like a major star.

On the other hand, Punk has been pushed as a big deal for roughly sixteen months with the majority of his push being based around the idea of him saying that he’s better than Cena. Simply saying that he’s better than Cena and giving him the title doesn’t make him better. Punk’s latest thing is talking about how many days he’s been champion, but not only has Cena had more reigns, he held the title longer over a single reign. At the end of the day, Cena is a bigger deal that CM Punk.

Again let’s look back at Hogan in the 80s. This is basically a carbon copy of the Mega Powers from the late 80s, with Cena and Punk originally being friends (by WWE’s standards) in the early days of Punk being champion. Then Punk kept winning and holding onto the title, but no matter what he did or who he beat, he simply wasn’t overtaking Cena in the eyes of the fans. Back in the 80s, Hogan was always a bigger star than Savage, Savage eventually went insane, and eventually Hogan and Savage had to have a match over it.

Did Savage’s match with Hogan define his reign? Of course not. It ended the reign and Hogan was champion again for another year. Savage’s reign is now defined as being important because it happened during Hulkamania. That’s another quick thing: not every title reign has a defining moment. Often times the definition of the reign is determined as a whole instead of a single moment or match.

In short, this concept of saying a moment defines someone or a title reign or anything like that is nonsense. Simply saying that a match or a moment defines the champion’s reign doesn’t make it so. We have no idea of when the reign is going to end and it could be years to figure out what the reign means. We probably won’t know what defines Punk’s reign until after Punk’s career is over, because we don’t know how this reign will stack up to future reigns. He might have another reign that blows this out of the water in terms of length or quality, which is why you can’t say that it defines anything about him.

The other thing to remember is that Punk flat out is not a bigger star than Cena and a single win over Cena isn’t going to make him a bigger star. Like I said earlier, even if Punk wins over Cena, so what? He’s done it before and it didn’t make him a bigger star, so why would this make him a bigger star now? I get that it’s storytelling, but it’s a stupid thing to say because it doesn’t make sense when you think about it. Punk isn’t going to be the biggest star on the show, at least not while Cena is around, and that’s all there is to it.