Smackdown
Date: June 29, 2012
Location: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

It appears to be time to start the MITB build as they did that over on the Raw show. Now over there we had people that had only been WWE Champion, but there aren’t that many candidates for the Smackdown World Title. Also I’m not sure if there are going to be more people in the Raw match or not, but they have more time to change it if they want. Sheamus defends against Ziggler and Del Rio in a triple threat tonight too. Let’s get to it.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is yet again this heat wave. Four straight days of over 100 degrees in Kentucky? That needs to be destroyed.

We open with a recap of the triple threat elimination match from Raw.

AJ vs. Layla

Layla has Tiffany’s old music now because….I have no idea actually. AJ takes her to the mat but Layla runs her over and blows a kiss. A rollup gets two for the champ (non-title here though) and she works on the arm. AJ comes back with a dropkick and corner clothesline for two. Layla comes back with a spinning facejam but AJ kicks her head off. Cue Bryan to shout YES a lot and skip around the ring ala AJ. Layla rolls up AJ for the pin at 3:31.

Rating: C-. This was better than most Divas matches. The ending was another advancement in the story as now Daniel is tormenting AJ. Both girls were looking good here too, although I still don’t like the new music for Layla. Then again I didn’t like the song back when Tiffany had it either. It’s amazing how much better these matches are when they have time.

AJ snaps on Layla post match. Bryan tells her to calm down and says there’s something that needs to be done. He demands to talk to Vickie and threatens to hold the show hostage unless she comes out here. Bryan says YES a lot and AJ does the same. We take a break for a Raw Moment of Tyson joining DX and come back with dueling YES shouts. Vickie comes out and says everyone is tired of hearing Bryan’s catchphrase over and over again.

Bryan says he’s the #1 contender to Punk’s title and he thanks Vickie for getting him that shot. He proposes an alliance once she becomes GM. He wants AJ banned from ringside because she’s a liability. Vickie yells at AJ a lot but Bryan says this is about him, not AJ. Vickie talks about some poll on WWE.com and based on that, AJ is going to be guest referee.

This comes off as incredibly lame to me, as it’s taking WAY too long to make this announcement. Instead of wasting time like this, just announce this stuff and say the Board of Directors made the decision. It saves like ten minutes that you can use on other stuff. Bryan yells NO and leaves. Vickie STILL isn’t done because she announces that there will be MITB qualifying matches over the next two weeks and everyone is eligible to enter.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Zach Ryder vs. Damien Sandow

Sandow does his usual stuff on the way to the ring. Booker says that Sandow needs to stop idolizing Leaping Lanny Poffo. So there is something to that theory I guess. Anyway Ryder takes him down to start but Sandow reverses him into the corner and stomps away. A Russian legsweep puts Ryder down and Sandow drops an elbow which has some Latin name apparently. Sandow ducks his head and gets caught in a facejam followed by the knees in the corner. A kind of powerbomb gets two for Ryder and there’s the Broski Boot. Rough Ryder is countered into a hot shot and that double arm neckbreaker gets the pin at 2:25.

Bryan goes to the Divas locker room looking for AJ but finds Kaitlyn instead. She doesn’t know where AJ is but suggests that Bryan find her and get on AJ’s good side because she’s a bit crazy.

Summerslam hype video.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Jack Swagger vs. Tyson Kidd

Swagger quickly takes him to the mat but gets caught in a pair of rolling cradles for two. He bails to the floor in frustration but gets dropkicked in the face for his troubles. Back in and Kidd charges into a wheelbarrow suplex for two. Jack works on the arm and drops a leg on it for two. Vader Bomb gets two. Swagger hooks a Fujiwara Armbar but Kidd quickly gets up and hits a DDT to put both guys down. A dropkick to the side of the head gets two. A victory roll attempt is countered and there’s the ankle lock but Kidd escapes. Another dropkick sets up a Blockbuster for the pin at 4:30.

Rating: C. The match was fine but the ending was a nice surprise. Swagger would be in the match as a warm body, while Kidd can at least add some dives and high spots which is what makes those matches work. Also it’s nice to see some new faces getting pushed like Sandow and Kidd. They won’t win, but it’s nice to see them getting to rub elbows in a match like this. That’s how you get them pushed which is something WWE really needs to do at this point.

We get the McMahon in the hospital moment AGAIN.

We recap the mess that was the contract on the pole match from Monday.

Ziggler wants to know why Vickie isn’t doing anything but she can’t because the Board is watching her. Dolph wants the Brogue Kick and Cross Armbreaker banned. She says that’ll make her look bad which makes Ziggler freak out. She slaps him in the face but agrees to be out there with him tonight.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Christian/Santino Marella vs. Cody Rhodes/David Otunga

The winning team will both get into the match. David gets a fanfare of music while he poses in the ring now. Santino and Cody start but it’s quickly off to Christian. Christian gets in some right hands but Cody takes him down with a knee to the ribs. Off to Otunga who hits a seated shoulder block for two. Off to a chinlock for a few seconds, but Cody jumps into a punch to the ribs.

Off to Otunga vs. Marella with the champion hitting his usual stuff. He loads up the Cobra but Cody pulls Otunga to the floor before Santino can cover. Rhodes comes in legally and gets a few two counts before throwing the Cobra sock to the floor. Otunga comes in and drops an elbow for two, followed by a modified camel clutch.

Santino suplexes his way out of it and tags in Christian who cleans house. A flapjack and jumping back elbow to Cody look to set up the Killswitch but Cody escapes. Another attempt is countered but the reverse DDT connects. Otunga breaks up the spear but heel miscommunicatio lets Christian spear Otunga down for the pin at 6:23.

Rating: C-. This was fine and we have a warm body and a comedy character into the match now. To be fair, either team could have won and the results would have been about the same. Otunga is just barely above being a comedy character anyway and Cody and Christian probably have about the same chance to win the case. This was fine but nothing great at all.

Sheamus says he could win tonight and make it to MITB, only to get cashed in on. Or he could walk outside and get hit by a car driven by Lindsay Lohan. He doesn’t live by what if’s, and therefore he doesn’t worry.

Time to waste another minute and a half by talking about This Is Your Life Rock.

Bryan comes up to AJ in the back and says he’s worried about her well being. AJ attacking Layla isn’t like her and maybe she should seek professional help. Bryan knows a doctor that could help her, because people that care about each other help each other out. AJ says she’ll take the number. Well actually she says YES a lot but you get the idea.

Dan Barone/Brendan Burke vs. Ryback

The jobbers are from Kentucky (YAY!) and they combine to weigh 350lbs. Where do they find these singing jobbers? Is there a farm where they’re grown? Barone takes a HUGE powerbomb and Shell Shocked (that’s the official name for it) ends this at 1:50.

Aksana and Cesaro are kissing in the back when Teddy interrupts them. He’s the GM for both shows next week and on the live Smackdown this Tuesday they’re facing Layla and Great Khali. Teddy has power again for 20 seconds and he’s already made a tag match.

The Raw ReBound is about the ending and the MITB match.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Justin Gabriel vs. Tensai

This is quite the downgrade for Tensai. Cody is officially protesting not being in the MITB match because he didn’t lose. Tensai runs him over with his usual stuff and hits a butterfly suplex for two. A bearhug is quickly broken up as is Gabriel’s sunset flip. Gabriel fires off some kicks but can’t even drop Tensai. A springboard missile dropkick puts him down though and a Lionsault gets two. Not that it matters as he jumps into the Baldo Bomb and the running backsplash gets the pin at 2:45.

The THIRD Raw Moment of the night is HHH returning from his quad injury in 2002.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

Del Rio still wants a one on one match and doesn’t like competing in this little town. Vickie interrupts him and does Dolph’s intro. We go to a break before the match and this is either something only on the international version or they’re REALLY going overboard, as the fourth Raw Moment is Barker on Raw. Sheamus knocks them both down to start and sends Ziggler to the floor. Del Rio jumps the champion from behind but walks into the Regal Roll for one.

Ziggler tries to jump Sheamus and gets glared at. Sheamus chases him around the ring and runs over Del Rio on the way back in. Del Rio hits the DDT on the arm to take over and hooks an armbar. Sheamus gets sent to the floor and Ziggler follows him out, beating up both guys on the floor. He covers Alberto for two in the ring and dropkicks Sheamus to the floor again.

Del Rio misses a charge into the corner and Ziggler gets two off the collision into the buckle. The fans are behind Sheamus even though he’s on the floor. Del Rio breaks up a superplex attempt but gets knocked off the top to the floor. Sheamus comes back in and hits an electric chair drop on Dolph as we take a break. Back with Del Rio knocking Sheamus to the floor again. The challengers both fall outside on their own and work over the champion at the same time.

They beat on him behind the announcers’ desk and send him into the steps before going back inside for more beating. Alberto double crosses Dolph and tries to steal the title, resulting in a slug out between the two of them. Sheamus comes off the top with a double shoulder block and everyone is down. Ziggler gets thrown to the apron for the ten forearms to put him down. The DDT to the arm is countered and the Irish Curse gets two. Ziggler comes back in but the Fameasser is avoided and there’s White Noise.

Del Rio breaks up the Brogue Kick and gets two on Sheamus. The Armbreaker is broken up but Sheamus charges into the post. Ziggler dropkicks the arm into the post but Del Rio kicks him to the floor. There’s the Armbreaker but Ziggler makes the save. Fameasser gets two on Alberto but Ricardo gets on the apron. Ziggler rolls up Del Rio but Sheamus kicks his head off for the pin at 11:15 shown of 14:45.

Rating: B. This was a solid TV main event with a ton of near falls at the end. Unfortunately it probably sets up Del Rio vs. Sheamus for the title at the PPV because that’s the match they want, even though it’s been moved twice already, one of which I believe was a sign from a higher power not named Vince. This was good stuff though with a ton of near falls and chances that the title could have changed. Sheamus winning was in doubt at some points, which is a very nice touch.

Overall Rating: B-. Given the insane amount of time wasted on this show, they got a lot done. If they had any sense of time management this could have been an even better show. Still though with a good TV main event and some build to MITB including some nice surprises, it’s hard to complain much here. Teddy as GM should be keeping the course just fine so the live show might actually be good.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: June 22, 2012
Location: 1^st Mariner Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

We’re past No Way Out and we have the same world champion in the form of Sheamus. We’re starting the build up to MITB as well so maybe we’ll have someone added to the ladder match here. If I understand it right we have eight people in it again, but I’m really not sure if they have enough people to put 16 guys in two ladder matches. Besides that’s too many in a single match anyway. Let’s get to it.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is this heat. It’s way too hot to be early summer.

Bryan vs. Kane later tonight plus Sheamus vs. Ziggler in a non-title match.

Here’s Teddy to open the show. Ace is officially fired and tonight, Mick Foley is in charge. Here’s Big Show instead though for a chat. He doesn’t care that Ace is fired because he didn’t care about him. Show doesn’t care about the fans either and now he can do whatever he wants. He congratulates Cena for the win on Sunday but doesn’t care about that anymore. Yep, another main event loss is being written off.

Instead Show is moving on to something, but the fans have to chant for Cena first. Since Show doesn’t care about them though, he’s moving on to the MITB match. He says there are no five men that can stop them, which is a great sounding thing as it might mean that there are only going to be six people in the match. Once he wins the case and cashes in, he’s going to be champion for as long as he wants to be. He’s going to win the title for himself instead of the people in the back or the fans, because it’s all about him.

Cue serious Brodus who is a little hard to take seriously when he has the girls with him. Brodus charges in and is immediately taken down by knee strikes. Brodus hits the headbutt and Show goes down fast. He pounds on Show in the corner but Otunga comes out and hits the bad knee to put Clay down. Show hits him in the knee a few times as the fans chant that Show can’t wrestle. The WMD leaves Brodus laying. Otunga gets in the ring and says someone should call Brodus’ mama. He’ll do it himself and tell Mama Clay that Brodus can’t get up. Otunga does the Carlton Dance and the Thriller Dance. Ok then.

Ryback vs. Frank Venanzia/Jared Walker

Booker says Walker is Brickhouse Brown’s cousin. There’s a name out of the past. Ryback calls them stupid a lot and powerbombs Walker onto Frank. Double Samoan Drop gets the pin at 1:43.

Foley is in the back with Yoshi Tatsu when Vickie comes up. She’s the guest GM of both shows next week. If Foley doesn’t behave, she’ll make him her assistant. Foley likes the idea and offers Khali as an assistant instead. Khali and Foley dance.

Bryan’s memorable Raw moment is Jannetty beating Shawn for the IC Title.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

Non-title of course. Christian hits a shoulder block to take Del Rio down and hooks the sunset flip out of the corner for a fast two. Del Rio responds by kicking him in the head to take over but Christian sends him to the floor. The champ dives onto Del Rio as we take a break. Back with Del Rio holds Christian in an arm lock. During the break Christian’s shoulder went into the steps to start the attack.

Elbow drop gets two for Del Rio and he stays on the arm. A kick to the arm gets two. Alberto goes up but Christian gets in a right hand and a top rope rana for two. With Del Rio in the rope Christian hits his uppercut but the top rope cross body misses. The corner enziguri misses and Christian hits the tornado DDT for another two. The Codebreaker to the arm slow Christian down again but he shrugs it off and hits a missile dropkick for two.

The Killswitch is countered into a Stunner on the arm for two. Christian takes him down and loads up the spear but he charges into a kick to the face. Cross armbreaker is countered into a countered Killswitch. They go to the corner but Rodriguez interferes, allowing Del Rio to hit the corner enziguri and the Armbreaker for the tap at 6:14 shown of 9:44.

Rating: B-. So to be clear, Del Rio has now beaten both midcard champions in four days. Shouldn’t he still be #1 contender by default, or do they really need to have him crush the champions in order to get there? At least this wasn’t a 90 second long match like the one against Santino was. Christian is still solid here and I’ve been liking his face run a lot.

Cody comes out and beats up Christian post match because this feud isn’t done for some unexplained reason. Cody shouts that he is Smackdown and that Christian is stealing his time.

We get a recap from Raw on Monday with Bryan/Kane/Punk/AJ.

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan

AJ is guest timekeeper for this for no apparent reason. Bryan fires off kicks to the legs but charges into a slam. Kane pounds away but charges over the top by mistake. That doesn’t seem to matter much as he keeps beating on Bryan on the floor, only to get sent into the post. Bryan loads up the knee off the apron but Kane gets back inside instead. Running dropkick in the corner gets two and it’s time for the kicks.

Kane comes back with his low dropkick for two and follows Bryan into the corner with a clothesline. Bryan comes back with more kicks but Kane grabs the leg. That gets him nowhere as Bryan sends him into the buckle. He slips coming off the top with the dropkick but a second attempt at it gets two. Kane gets all fired up and pounds away in the corner. Big boot looks to set up the chokeslam but Bryan dropkicks the knee.

A hard kick to the head gets two for Bryan but his Swan Dive is caught in a choke. That gets countered into a failed YES Lock but the chokeslam is countered into a guillotine. Kane powers out of that too but Bryan gets the YES Lock. AJ rings the bell without a tap at 7:25. That gets waved off because Kane didn’t tap and the chokeslam gets the real pin at 7:54.

Rating: C+. I was getting into this at the end until we got to the psycho AJ segment of it which was also fine. The near falls at the end were getting good and I was wondering if Kane was going to tap or not, which is a good thing. Another interesting thing here is that Bryan is on the verge of being turned face by crowd reaction alone, which usually results in a monster push. This was a nice surprise.

AJ skips off of course.

Here’s Foley for a chat. He’s glad Ace got fired so he can come back for one night only in Baltimore. Cue Heath Slater to a big cheer from Cole. Slater complains about what happened on Raw with Lauper and Piper, but Foley says there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Foley makes a match for Slater here tonight though.

Heath Slater vs. Zach Ryder

You know, because the LONG ISLAND GUY couldn’t be on Raw in LONG ISLAND right? Ryder takes over quickly but Slater hides in the corner. He comes back with a neckbreaker for two but walks into knees out of the corner. Rough Ryder gets the pin at 1:12.

Foley and Ryder celebrate in the back but run into Sandow. He’s disgusted by what he just saw and says that Ryder has brought the WWE Universe down to new levels of stupidity. I guess Sandow has his first feud.

Usos vs. Prime Time Players

Darren and Jey start things off with the Uso taking over. They head to the corner and the brothers double team Darren. Titus avoids a double superkick and it’s off to Jimmy. Darren drives him into the corner and it’s off to Titus for some power. We hit the chinlock which Jimmy escapes pretty quickly. Hot tag brings in Jey but he and Darren go to the floor quickly. Jimmy goes up for the Superfly Splash but Titus pulls him down and hits the Clash of the Titus for the pin at 3:24.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but the Prime Time Players getting another win is a good thing for them. With the tag champions being gone for awhile now until Truth’s foot heals, Young and O’Neal need to be built up as much as they possibly can. The match was nothing of note but it did its job pretty well.

Post break Epico and Primo jump the Players in the back.

Here’s Santino for Sign of the Night. Most of these signs suck. Some chick has an I Love Santino sign and he invites her into the ring. She’s dressed like Santino and their Cobras kiss. Then she kisses him and Santino faints.

Jerry Lawler likes Vince in the hospital. This is the third time I’ve seen this in a week.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Non-title here. Ziggler gets behind Sheamus to start but Sheamus easily powers out of it. Sheamus takes him down to the mat with a headlock followed by a shoulder for two. Ziggler gets a boot to Sheamus’ face and sends him to the floor. Dolph is hitting and running here which makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is diving at a power guy, resulting in him getting caught in a fallaway slam into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with the guys in the ring and Ziggler putting on a chinlock. They go to the floor and Sheamus sends Dolph into the steps but he stops to yell at Vickie. Dolph comes back with a sweet Fameasser off the steps to take over. Neckbreaker gets two as does an elbow drop. A quick sleeper is countered but Dolph dropkicks him down for two. Another neckbreaker gets two so let’s hit the chinlock again.

Sheamus breaks out of that one just as easily as he has all of the other ones. He starts running over Ziggler and loads up White Noise but Ziggler escapes into a rollup for two. Dolph comes back with a jumping DDT for two and Sheamus goes to the apron. He goes up top and knocks Ziggler out of the air when Dolph tries to run the ropes. The top rope shoulder gets two and there are the ten forearms in the ropes. Irish Curse is broken up but Ziggler charges into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 10:00 shown of 13:30.

Rating: B-. I liked this one more than the PPV match. Ziggler used a lot of sleepers and chinlocks, but there’s something about him where you think that he could pull off an upset here. He can hit that Fameasser from anywhere and it would do him a lot of good to make that his primary finisher. This worked well though and for a TV main event, this was fine.

Overall Rating: C+. What an improvement over last week. This show felt like it was actually decent even though nothing really happened. The main event was good and we got another good match in Bryan vs. Kane. Above all else though, nothing was really bad and we got some good matches too. That makes this about ten times better than last week’s show which is the best thing that could happen for Smackdown this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: June 8, 2012
Location: Colonial Center, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Back to the blue guys again for another Smackdown. The only thing announced so far is that Del Rio and Sheamus will do something. Whatever that something is has yet to be announced but that might be for the better. The whole company is almost at a standstill at the moment but hopefully things pick up soon. Let’s get to it.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is people that won’t return e-mails.

Here’s Del Rio to open things up. He shows us a clip from Raw and his attack on Sheamus’ arm, because we haven’t had an arm injury angle in two full weeks now. After some basic threats of taking the title, here’s…..Ricardo dressed as Sheamus. He even has white leggings and arm covers to make himself look pale. Del Rio says this isn’t really Sheamus, because anyone can pound their chest like a caveman, spike their hair like a stupid kid and act like a hooligan. Ricardo tries a Brogue Kick and falls down.

Cue the real Sheamus who looks ticked off. Both guys jump him immediately but Sheamus throws Ricardo out with ease. Rodriguez comes back in and Del Rio kicks Sheamus in the head. He goes for the arm but Sheamus fights him off and clears the ring. They go to leave but Sheamus chases them down and runs them over. He tries to load up the High Cross off the stage but Ricardo makes the save. They go for the arm again but referees break it up. Teddy comes out and says that since Ace isn’t here, he’s in charge tonight. He makes Sheamus vs. Kane and Del Rio vs. this man.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Great Khali

Khali starts with the chops in the corner but misses a big boot in the corner, allowing Del Rio to go after his legs. He puts on a leg lock but Khali punches him in the head to escape. Why over complicate things I guess. A kick to the head of Khali gets two. After some more knee work, he switches to the arm for no apparent reason. Del Rio goes up but jumps into another chop to the chest. Ricardo distracts Khali to stop the Punjabi Plunge and the Cross Armbreaker gets the submission at 3:29.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here other than a near squash. Khali is fine for roles like this as he wasn’t in there long and his size alone makes beating him seem impressive. Del Rio isn’t interesting still, but at least with Ricardo out there we’ll get some decent comedy moments. The match was just ok.

We get the Big Show piece from Raw where he talks about being tired of being seen as a joke.

Teddy is in the back when Brodus’ girls and Brodus himself come in. Brodus is now officially on Smackdown permanently but can’t be on Raw because of Big Show. Ok then.

Brodus Clay vs. Derrick Bateman

Apparently Clay sees Big Show when he sees Bateman. Clay pounds Bateman down with ease and we head to the floor for the headbutt. Back in the ring there’s the splash and suplex. Splash and we’re done at 1:05.

Video on the Mexico/South America tour.

Booker’s favorite Raw moment is his match with Buff Bagwell for the WCW Title. Oh what a disaster that was.

Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew immediately knocks him down but Cara comes back with his kicks. Drew gets in a shot and takes over, sending Cara to the floor for a second. Back in and it’s a chinlock for a big but Cara comes back with some ranas. A BIG boot sends Cara flying, but Drew charges into two boots in the corner. Cara goes up and tries to jump into his finisher but Drew blocks it. Cara never hits the ground and comes out with a spinning DDT for the pin at 3:15.

Rating: C. Cara has looked WAY better since coming back. He’s not botching anything of note and he’s mixing up his finishing moves which is a nice touch. He’s beating up jobbers pretty easily which is a good sign also. That’s something the company has improved on in the last month or so: its use of jobbers for squashes.

Tony Andriotis/Kevin Mahoney vs. Ryback

Double MuscleBuster/Samoan Drop, 1:43. Next.

The crew sets up the Peep Show set but Cody Rhodes comes out and breaks it up. He talks about how he was going to be the guest on the show tonight but Christian should be pandering to him instead of Cody pandering to the host. Cue Christian who says he’s the one that beat Cody, not the other way around. Cody wants to know who Christian thinks he’s fooling, because before then he didn’t care about any of the people.

Christian says he had a moment of clarity. He missed most of the year with an injury, and while he was out he inducted Edge into the Hall of Fame. While Edge was giving his speech, it occurred to Christian that a career can end in an instant. He didn’t want to be remembered a the guy that whined about wanting one more match all the time. He wanted to come back and win championships and put together a Hall of Fame career on his own. Cody laughs about Christian being in the Hall of Fame and says that at No Way Out, the title is coming home. Christian says shut up and wants a fight, but here’s Dolph Ziggler.

Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler

This should be good. So Christian was going to do the talk show and wrestle? That’s quite a night. Cody sits in on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Ziggler throwing Christian to the floor. Christian comes back quickly and rams Ziggler into the barricade. Dolph knees him down and we take a break. Back with Ziggler holding a chinlock which Christian easily breaks.

Ziggler takes him right back down and hooks the same hold as Cody complains about not getting a fair shake at Over the Limit. A slingshot sends Christian into the corner but the Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb for two. Christian hits an uppercut while Ziggler is on the ropes but the spinning sunset flip is rolled through and the Fameasser gets two. Christian puts him back down but his spear is countered by a dropkick for two. There’s the sleeper but Christian counters quickly. He goes up and knocks a charging Ziggler down so that the Frog Splash can get the pin at 6:34 shown of 10:04.

Rating: C+. This was the match you would expect these two to have. Ziggler is basically a jobber to the stars at this point, which is pretty stupid given the lack of main event talent they have at the moment. With Jericho and Orton both suspended, Ziggler could be a solid fill-in guy, but instead they have him jobbing left and right. The good thing is they haven’t had him look weak in these losses, which will help him a lot in the long run.

We get the ENTIRE Cole vs. Cena segment from Raw.

Cole speaks about the incident but gets cut off by JR……being imitated by Hornswoggle. We get some slow motion replays of the beating and Horny laughs a lot. Thankfully Damien Sandow cuts this off to save us. He runs down Horny and goes after him but Tyson Kidd makes the save. He dropkicks Sandow to the floor and Sandow walks away. When Kidd turns to look at the leprechaun, Sandow comes back in and beats Kidd up, hitting his neckbreaker.

Kane only cares about winning the triple threat match tonight. AJ’s look means nothing to him. Kane walks away and AJ is watching him from behind some crates.

Jimmy Uso vs. Antonio Cesaro

Teddy has to do the entrances for Antonio and Aksana. Cesaro pounds him into the corner to start but Jimmy comes back with a superkick to the ribs. A headbutt gets two but Cesaro throws him into the air and down into the European Uppercut. The falling Cradle Piledriver gets the pin at 58 seconds.

Sheamus’ favorite Raw moment is the Breakthrough Battle Royal.

Sheamus vs. Kane

They fight over a lockup to start with neither guy getting an advantage. A shoulder puts Sheamus down so the champ goes after the arm. Kane throws him into the corner but Sheamus comes back with some punches. That gets him nowhere as Kane rams him into the corner and works on the bad arm. A brief comeback is stopped and Sheamus is thrown to the apron and booted to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Kane getting one off a move we didn’t see. Kane hooks a neck crank followed by a side slam for two. Back to the crank which is broken a bit slower this time. Sheamus comes back with some kicks to the ribs and hits the top rope shoulder to put Kane down. A running knee to the ribs and a double ax get two for Sheamus. Powerslam gets the same. Regal Roll is countered and Kane uppercuts him down.

The low dropkick gets two and Sheamus grabs the Irish Curse out of nowhere for the same. Sheamus is getting a little frustrated so he drops a bunch of knees on the back of Kane. Here comes the Brogue Kick but instead he opts for the ten forearms. A suplex back in is blocked and Kane goes for the clothesline. A superplex attempt is blocked but the clothesline misses. White Noise hits but Kane tries the chokeslam. Sheamus fights out of it and they clothesline each other, followed by Ricardo running in for the DQ at 9:34 shown of 13:04.

Rating: C. This was getting decent but it was clear they couldn’t have either guy go over leading up to PPV title matches. That being said, while the ending was predictable it doesn’t mean it was bad. It’s good that they don’t have either guy lose clean, but at the same time, why would Del Rio want to interfere here when Kane could do more damage to Sheamus?

Kane takes Sheamus down post match and here’s AJ to smile at Kane. The distraction lets Sheamus Brogue Kick Kane’s head off. Ricardo gets up and Sheamus does the same to him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t bad and it did its job of furthering the main event match. We also got another match added to the PPV with the IC Title in it, as well as got some TV time for some of the new characters. Adding Brodus to Smackdown is probably a good idea as there’s only so much room for him on Raw at the moment. This wasn’t a great showbut it certainly wasn’t bad, which is pretty good anymore.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: June 1, 2012
Location: Riverside Centroplex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews

Tonight we have a Raw World Title match on Smackdown for the first time in a few years as Punk defends against Kane. I’d assume that Bryan has gotten the title match for No Way Out but it’s hard to tell with this company anymore. Other than that we’ll probably have some more stuff with Big Show as he continues to take over the stories everywhere. It’ll also be interesting to see how they work around the Orton suspension. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about the title match tonight. It looks more like a TV commercial than a normal opening video.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is the weather tomorrow for my neighborhood yard sale.

Here’s Sheamus to open the show and we get a clip of him kicking Del Rio’s head off to end the show last week. Sheamus talks about how Del Rio has been waited on hand and foot for years, but it’s not going to matter at No Way Out because he can’t buy the World Heavyweight Championship. Cue Otunga who again demands that Sheamus apologize for running over Ace. Sheamus says this isn’t Starbucks where you order someone around. If Ace wants an apology, he can come out here and get it himself. Otunga: “You may be the whitest bulb, but you’re not the brightest.”

Cue Del Rio who calls Sheamus a peasant and a street hooligan. People like Sheamus wind up working for people like Del Rio and Otunga. Otunga thinks Sheamus should be in a match tonight, with the opponent being chosen by Del Rio. The champ kicks Otunga’s head off and Del Rio runs. Sheamus says never trust a hooligan.

Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater

No trampoline and he’s in red and white not instead of blue and gold. The lighting is back too. Slater grabs the arm to start but Cara grabs the arm and hits his spinning wrist drag. Out to the floor for a BIG dive but Slater jumps him coming back in. Off to a chinlock but Cara fights out and hits some kicks to the leg. A jumping back elbow puts Slater down as does an enziguri from the apron. The La Mistica mat slam gets the pin at 2:24. I didn’t see any botches here and Cara looked pretty good.

Damien Sandow vs. Ezekiel Jackson

Sandow’s Titantron graphic has a theme of a curtain being pulled back like at a theater. Sandow says he won’t be in this match and goes to leave but Jackson pulls him back in to get us going. The Torture Rack is countered and Sandow goes psycho. Russian legsweep puts Jackson down and the neckbreaker ends it at 1:36. Sandow gets in the Thinking Man position during his cover. I’m liking the 2012 Genius a bit more.

Del Rio and Ricardo are in the back when Ziggler comes in and asks to be put in the match tonight. Del Rio says okey dokey.

Ryan Shelton/Chris Lyons vs. Ryback

The jobbers are from Alabama so the Louisiana fans HATE them, due to them saying Roll Tide. It’s the exact same match as last week with the double MuscleBuster getting the pin at 2:02.

Raw ReBound chronicles Show’s destruction. Apparently Brodus has a concussion and bruised ribs.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Non-title. Ziggler cuts off Vickie’s intro and says tonight he beats the champion. He’s serious tonight. If the reaction is to be believed, Sheamus is getting verypopular. Ziggler tries a headlock to start but gets run over very quickly. He dropkicks the champ down and hooks an armbar which gets him nowhere at all. Ziggler punches Sheamus in the corner but gets sent to the apron. Top rope cross body is caught in a Regal Roll for two.

Sheamus launches him over the top and to the floor as we take a break. Back with Sheamus breaking a top wristlock. Dolph runs to the apron and has to grab the ring skirt to keep from getting a worse beating. He suckers Sheamus in and guillotines him on the top rope. Sheamus gets dropkicked off the apron and onto the floor for awhile. Neckbreaker gets two back in the ring.

Off to the chinlock and Ziggler does the handstand. Booker: “That’s just showing off.” Now he’s getting it. Sheamus starts to fight up but gets caught in a DDT for two. Ziggler hooks an ugly sleeper but Sheamus dumps him onto the apron for the ten forearms. Irish Curse is countered twice so Sheamus uses a regular backbreaker (which Cole calls the Irish Curse anyway). He loads up the top rope shoulder but gets crotche. A top rope X Factor gets a close two and a good reaction from the crowd on the kickout. Zig Zag is countered and it’s White Noise, failed Swagger interference and the Brogue Kick for the pin at 10:06 shown of 13:36.

Rating: C+. These two always have good chemistry together and they did again here. The ending is good too as it furthers the Ziggler split from Vickie and company, but it also keeps Sheamus looking just as strong because he had Ziggler beaten without the interference going wrong. Little things like that can make a match so much better.

Punk says he’ll beat up anyone that Ace throws at him, including Kane. Kane is going to sleep tonight.

Darren Young/Titus O’Neil vs. Santino Marella/Zack Ryder

An inset promo says that O’Neil and Young want to be known as the Prime Time Players. Young and Santino get us going but it’s quickly off to Titus. Ryder comesin to break up a double team which gets him run over by Young. Then Santino gets a rollup out of nowhere on Young for the pin at 1:13. What in the world was the point of that? They spent the pre-match stuff and the match talking about how awesome Young and O’Neil were and then the ending comes from out of nowhere. Marella and Ryder had no offense at all other than the rollup. Literally, none.

Post match here’s Big Show to destroy everything. Make that just Ryder and Santino as Young and Titus escaped. Ryder tries to fight back but it gets him nowhere. The beating goes on for awhile. Show is in the same kind of stuff he was wearing before his turn. Santino gets put in a camel clutch on the steps on the stage before getting punched in the back of the head and knocked out. So in four days he’s been punched out and made to tap out in 45 seconds. Another champion is made to look like a joke.

We see Punk in the back but it’s actually AJ in a Punk shirt. Bryan pops up and asks why AJ thinks Punk cares about her. He pretends to care about her again and you can see her knees get weak. Bryan is only joking though.

Cody Rhodes vs. Tyson Kidd

Christian is on commentary and Kidd has full tights now. Kidd gets in a quick legsweep but Cody is too fired up for Kidd to be able to do much. Tyson keeps fighting and tries the Dungeon Lock but Cody shrugs it off and Cross Rhodes ends this at 1:20.

Cody and Christian stare at each other a lot post match.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Kane

They have a lot of time here. The announcers talk about how Kane hasn’t been champion in 14 years. Cole thankfully points out the mistake and reminds Booker of the Smackdown World Title that Kane won like a year and a half ago. Out to the floor and Punk drops a double ax off the top onto Kane to take over. Back in and the uppercut drops Punk, but he dropkicks Kane’s knee out to send him into the middle buckle.

Punk wraps Kane’s arm around the post and drops some elbows onto it as well. He works on it some more and hooks on a top wristlock. Kane throws him off and sends him tot he floor as we take a break. Back with Punk in control but quickly getting knocked to the floor. Here’s AJ to check on the champion. Back in and Kane slams Punk and drops an elbow for two. Chokeslam is countered into a DDT but Punk can’t follow up.

Punk hits two knees in the corner but still can’t hit the bulldog. High Kick misses but the spinning neckbreaker gets two. Kane tries to slam him but Punk slips out and hits the High Kick for two. Punk tries the GTS but Kane falls on top of him. Low dropkick gets two. Top rope clothesline is countered by a dropkick and now it’s Punk going up.

AJ gets on the apron to try to get his attention. She’s pointing at Bryan who is coming to jump Punk. The champ dives on Bryan on the floor but that’s not a DQ. Punk kicks Kane from the apron and drops the Macho Elbow for two. Cole: “The championship almost left Punk there.” Punk goes up and jumps into the uppercut. Kane loads up the chokeslam but Bryan comes in and dropkicks both guys for the DQ at 12:00 shown of 15:30.

Rating: C+. For a TV main event this was fine. It’s pretty clear where they’re going for No Way Out so the ending here was fine. It sets up the likely triple threat title match at the PPV which needed to be done one way or another. They were going back and forth pretty well here and the arm work made sense from Punk. Pretty good little match here.

Bryan DESTROYS Punk with kicks but both guys get chokeslammed. Ace and Eve come out to make the triple threat match.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked this show for the most part. Nothing was really bad on it and they had something big in the main event, which is what Smackdown needs. It’s basically a supplement to Raw anymore so throwing a big match into the main event is the right idea. The show wasn’t great but with nothing bad and a main event that had something on the line, this was about as good as Smackdown is going to get at this point.

Results
Sin Cara b. Heath Slater – Spinning Mat Slam
Damien Sandow b. Ezekiel Jackson – Neckbreaker
Ryback b. Ryan Shelton/Chris Lyons – Double MuscleBuster
Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler – Brogue Kick
Santino Marella/Zack Ryder b. Darren Young/Titus O’Neil – Rollup to Young
Cody Rhodes b. Tyson Kidd – Cross Rhodes
CM Punk vs. Kane went to a no contest when Daniel Bryan interfered

Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: October 9, 2009
Location: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
Commentators: Jim Ross, Todd Grisham

I don’t remember why this was requested but it’s one of the few times someone has wanted to see a relatively recent Smackdown. On the card tonight we have Punk vs. Batista which should be worth checking out. Other than that I have no idea what to expect (well ok so I do but it sounds better the other way) which is usually fun so let’s get to it.

Let It Roll baby.

Undertaker won the title in the Cell recently so he’s here tonight. Also it’s Rey vs. Jericho which should be good.

Here’s Teddy to open things up. This is just after the HIAC PPV. Teddy congratulates Taker for winning the title and says it proves that Smackdown is the dominant brand. In three weeks it’s Bragging Rights. I think I was at Smackdown the week after this (further review: I was). Teddy talks about the Orton vs. Cena match at the PPV and if Cena loses he’s off Raw forever. They’d love to have him on Smackdown of course.

This brings out Punk for some reason and he’s limping badly. He talks about how Smackdown needs focus rather than John Cena and right now Teddy needs to focus on him. If there’s going to be a #1 contender named, it better be him. The match against Batista tonight isn’t fair after he was in the Cell just five days ago. Punk wants Undertaker in a submission match and he wants Scott Armstrong (semi-crooked referee) at ringside. Teddy says no and Punk says he’s calling the shots.

That brings out Vince in a surprise appearance. Vince talks about how Teddy is still on probation and that’s not good. What Long was about to announce isn’t going to please anyone. Vince informs Teddy that it’ll be Undertaker defending against Punk, Batista and Mysterio. And speaking of Mysterio, let’s have our first match.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho

This should be good. Jericho is half of the tag champions here. Jericho and Show beat Mysterio and Batista on Sunday to retain so there’s the story behind the match. They start off fast of course with Mysterio tossing Jericho to the floor where he hits a plancha. The crowd is almost silent for some reason. Back in Jericho takes his head off with a clothesline, followed by kicks to the back.

Mysterio takes him down with a headscissors but gets caught and thrown into the air to put the Canadian right back into control. Jericho throws him under the bottom rope so Mysterio can do his land on his chest landing. Back from a break with Jericho holding a chinlock. Jericho hits an enziguri for two and drapes Mysterio over the top rope. After a quick skirmish on the floor Jericho loads up a belly to back superplex but instead goes for the mask.

Rey knocks him off and hits the seated senton as things speed up. Jericho tries a sunset flip but Rey rolls through and hits a seated dropkick for two. Jericho grabs the feet and tries the Walls but Rey rolls him up for a close two. Backbreaker gets two for Chris. The bulldog is countered and Rey puts him in 619 position but Jericho moves. Rey tries a springboard but jumps into the Walls. He can’t make a rope but he gets underneath Jericho and kicks him into 619 position. That and a slingshot splash are good for the pin.

Rating: B-. Good match here but did you expect anything else? They got to do their usual stuff and the ending was solid on top of that. This would put Rey higher on the totem poll than Jericho which makes sense as Jericho was in the Bragging Rights match instead of the world title match. Good stuff here but not as good as their stuff from earlier in the year.

Back to Raw for a clip from Ben Rothelisberger hosting the show.

WORD UP’s word of the week is Eve. She pops up in the video and that’s about it.

Eve Torres vs. Michelle McCool

Michelle is Women’s Champion. McCool takes her into the corner but Eve fires back. Eve controls for a few seconds but Michelle hits a running knee to take over. Michelle wraps up Eve’s arms and rams the back of Eve’s head into Michelle’s chest. That’s a different one. Eve comes back with dropkicks and a small package for two. And never mind as Michelle kicks her head off for the pin.

Rating: C-. It’s amazing how far this division has fallen in the last two and a half years. Laycool was so ridiculously better than anyone else for a long time and then they both left and the division fell off a cliff. When you go from Michelle and Layla down to Kelly Kelly, the ring quality goes down a lot, which is saying something when Laycool wasn’t great in the ring to begin with.

Vickie is in the back with whatever boyfriend she has this week. Oh it’s Eric Escobar. No wonder I didn’t recognize him. Teddy comes in and Vickie complains about Escobar to not have a match tonight. She complains about Punk not getting a rematch and complains about the Undertaker being treated unfairly. Huh? Teddy says it was Vince’s idea and Vickie is incensed. Eric speaks Spanish and Teddy has no idea what he said. Escobar would be off TV before the end of the year and released in January.

Intercontinental Title: John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler

John is defending. Feeling out process to start and they head to the mat. Dolph winds up on top for a bit until Morrison hooks an armbar. That gets broken up quickly so it’s time for a headlock. Ziggler fights out of that so Morrison hits a backbreaker and Russian legsweep for two. Maria is at ringside because she was dating Ziggler I think. In a cool move, Ziggler grabs Morrison’s leg but Morrison dives forward and swings his other foot over his head to kick Ziggler in the head (called a Pele by JR).

Morrison misses a corner charge and Ziggler grabs a bridging German suplex for two. Stinger Splash hits for two as does a jumping elbow drop. There’s a reverse chinlock and sweet goodness Maria is gorgeous. Ziggler stomps him in the corner and hits a powerslam for two. Back to the chinlock but Morrison stands up and comes out with an electric chair drop to escape.

Slugout goes to the champion and he’s getting all fired up. Leg lariat takes Dolph down and the standing shooting star gets two. John cross bodies him to the floor and they’re both down. Ziggler throws him back in and steals Maria’s chair. Maria takes it back without Dolph seeing her. Dolph hits a dropkick and goes for the chair (without taking care of the referee first) but after yelling at Maria he walks into the Flying Chuck (Disaster Kick) for the pin.

Rating: B-. This was a pretty solid match but the reversals were going slowly for some reason. They were fine and worked well for what they were going for but it wasn’t anything great. Morrison is great in the ring and as long as he can keep his big mouth shut and can stay away from Melina, he’ll be back in WWE someday.

Video on Taker’s seven world title wins. Did we mention he got the belt back?

After a break Ziggler won’t talk to Maria. He winds up yelling at her and says to stay out of his professional life. As for his personal life, they’re done.

Rey is in the back and Batista comes in. Rey hopes Batista isn’t upset about the loss on Sunday but Batista says it’s cool. They both think they’ll win at Bragging Rights.

R-Truth/Matt Hardy vs. Kane/Drew McIntyre

This is when McIntyre was pretty new and unstoppable. That’s quite a strange partner for him. I kind of miss Truth doing his own song. Drew still has a very generic rock song. Matt and Drew start us off and it’s time for arm work. Off to Truth as Drew is in trouble. Drew makes a blind tag and Truth messes up his spinning kick. Kane comes in to run over Truth and hits his low dropkick for two. After a quick exchange, Truth sends Kane into the buckle and it’s off to Matt vs. Drew. Everything breaks down and Drew sends Matt into Kane for an uppercut, followed by the Futureshock for the pin on Hardy.

Rating: D+. Not much here as they didn’t have a ton of time. McIntyre would take the title off Morrison soon enough but it wouldn’t lead anywhere. Hardy would feud with McIntyre eventually while Truth would go on to become crazy in about a year and a half with not much else in between. Kane would float around until the summer when he would FINALLY win the world title again.

Here’s Undertaker for his latest speech. The belt does look good on him. He talks about how the title is so important and that’s why he needs to hold it. He talks about the world title match at the PPV and says Punk won’t be as lucky at Bragging Rights as he was in the Cell. He’ll take out Batista and Rey as well. That’s about it.

Batista vs. CM Punk

There’s a lot of time for this. Punk immediately goes to the floor and it’s time to stall. We finally get some contact and Punk gets sent to the ropes. Batista takes him into the corner and rams him with a clothesline. Punk to the floor again but he manages to guillotine him on the top rope. A springboard clothesline fails but Punk escapes the Batista Bomb as we take a break.

Back with Batista suplexing Punk for two. The high kick is countered into an ankle lock of all things. Punk runs to the floor again and catches Batista coming in with a kick to the head and then a knee lift. Off to the chinlock and into a headscissors as JR makes the alays stupid statement of the two being the same size on the mat.

Batista comes up and hits the Bossman Slam to put both guys down. Now Grisham tries to be witty by saying that Batista knocked the air out of the man from the windy city. Cross body is countered into a powerslam for two. Punk gets a quick comeback but walks into a spinebuster. He bails to the floor and Batista tries the Bomb out there. Punk grabs the top rope and kicks Batista away before sliding back in for the countout win.

Rating: C. See, now that was a clever ending. Why is that such a rare thing to come by nowadays? It played into the idea that Punk was trying to stay away from Batista as well as giving us a nice surprise instead of making Batista look unbeatable. That gives you another challenger in the PPV Title match instead of just the obvious Big Dave. The match wasn’t great up until the ending though.

Batista powerbombs Punk anyway post match.

Overall Rating: C+. This show flew by and in a mostly good way. They set up the PPV title match and on the next show we would start setting up the big tag match. Since there were only five matches on the card, the PPV wouldn’t take much more than that to build it up. The show tonight was good and certainly entertaining enough. Good stuff.

Remember to like this on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: March 2, 2012
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T

Orton is back tonight and he’s facing Daniel Bryan after Bryan gave him the concussion that put him out. I don’t remember if I ever heard how legit that injury was. Anyway, that’s the main event and it should be good, but I’d be shocked if we got a clean finish to it. Expect more of the Bryan vs. Sheamus build as well as some more Ace vs. Long stuff. Let’s get to it.

We open with what looks more like a commercial for the show than an opening video. It’s about the main event.

Do You Know Your Enemy? Mine is bronchitis.

Here’s Sheamus to open the show. He says he’s thinking about Wrestlemania and being in front of over 80,000 members of the WWE Universe. FANS. THEY’RE CALLED FANS. When did that become a dirty word? I know “Members of the WWE Universe” has been their term for it for years now, but why is fans such a bad thing to say? Anyway he can’t wait to face Bryan. Bryan has become a changed man since he won the title, just like Sheamus did two years ago.

When Sheamus won his first world title, he became wrapped up in his own ego. However, he was lucky. He should have known that the WWE Title was the greatest trophy he could have earned. He became a bully instead though. You mean like he was before he won the title? What Sheamus needed was for someone to knock his block off. Bryan needs the same thing.

This brings out Vickie and Dolph for some reason. She liked his story but her favorite part was when Sheamus stopped talking. Ziggler says the people deserve to see him in the main event, not Sheamus. He says Sheamus’ hair is on fire. Sheamus says that joke is as old as Dolph’s grandmother Vickie. For some reason this leads to Vickie talking about Ace/Teddy and saying she’s the only non-McMahon to be GM of both shows. Teddy comes out and makes Dolph vs. Sheamus right now. I liked Sheamus’ promo here. He’s not the best talker in the world so keeping it simple is something that works well for him.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

The match is joined in progress after a break but it doesn’t look like we’ve missed much. There was an ad talking about how Ace will run Smackdown next week so the announcers talk about that for awhile. Ziggler hits a dropkick but Sheamus keeps smiling. Sheamus comes back with forearms to the back and the ten in the ropes. The fans clearly really like Sheamus but they’ve given him no character development at all. It’s a lost art in WWE anymore.

Ziggler goes to the floor. Booker says stay on your bicycle Dolph. There’s an image for you, complete with Benny Hill music. Ziggler grabs a neckbreaker coming back in to take over. Another neckbreaker gets two so Dolph drops some elbows for the same result. Sheamus fights out of a chinlock and hits his power shots to come back. Powerslam gets two. Ziggler locks on a sleeper but Sheamus powers out of it by ramming Ziggler into the corner and out to the floor.

Dolph comes off the top but jumps into the Irish Curse. It gets two as Vickie puts the foot on the ropes. Sheamus loads up the Celtic Cross (Sheamus’, not Finlay’s). Irish Curse The Sequel gets two. Sheamus pounds his chest and shouts Brogue so Vickie calls out Swagger. The Kick takes him down but Ziggler hits a Fameasser. That only gets two so he tries the Zig Zag. Sheamus holds the ropes and catches Ziggler in the new finisher which is now called the White Noise.

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here with Sheamus continuing to roll over the upper midcard. Since they’re not going to give him and Bryan a concrete story, this works as well as anything else. Also it makes Sheamus look a lot stronger going into the PPV. At the end of the day though, he needs to pin Orton clean to really make himself look like the top challenger on Smackdown and I’m not sure I can see that. The other problem is that Bryan needs to be made to look strong also and I don’t think that’s going to happen.

We recap the Bryan vs. Punk stuff from Raw with the Battling Bosses.

Ace and Otunga are in Teddy’s office when Teddy comes in. Ace wants an apology for the attack by Teddy on Raw. Apparently Ace has a bad back now and its because of Teddy. Otunga is considering a civil suit against Teddy. Ace says an apology will do instead. Teddy says no because it made Ace look like “a cow on ice crossed with Sesame Street Big Bird.” Otunga vs. Khali on Monday. Ace suggests Teddy try yoga.

Heath Slater vs. Santino Marella

Santino attacks to start but the headbutt lands on knees. The announcers talk about Ace and Teddy. Cole: “See how tough he is?” Booker: “He used to have a skateboard. That’s how tough he is.” Anyway, Slater hits a Harlem Side Kick for two. He goes up but gets crotched and the Cobra ends it at 1:53.

Video on HHH vs. Undertaker, the same from Raw. The match simply isn’t as good as they’re trying to make it out to be. It’s very good. It’s a great match. It’s not this masterpiece that they’re pushing it as.

Natalya yells at Eve about Zach. Eve goes off on her about it and guess what Natalya winds up doing. You either want the Divas to be serious or you don’t. Pick one.

Natalya vs. Eve Torres

Natalya controls with a headlock and Booker has a thing for Eve. Now Booker diagnoses Natalya’s stomach issues. Eve slaps her so Natalya takes her down and pounds on her. Eve reverses a rollup into one of her own for the pin at 1:32.

Here’s Cody who has held the title for a very long time. If my math is right, if he holds the title until April 10, he’ll have held if for the longest reign since Rock’s in 97/98. Cody talks about Big Show’s Wrestlemania losses and shows some stills from the Akebono and Mayweather matches. Cody says Show should be thanking him for keeping Show out of Wrestlemania because Show would just floudner again. He’s got another Wrestlemania clip but Show cuts him off.

Cody runs into the crowd as soon as Show gets to the ring. Show says hang on a second. He wanted to watch the new clip with Cody like friends. Since Cody won’t come back though, Show better go get Cody. Cue Teddy who says hang on a minute. This isn’t Pamplona, Spain and Show can’t be running into the crowd like a bull. Show vs. Cody for the title is announced for Wrestlemania. That’s the second time the IC Title will be on the line at Mania since 2002.

Big Show vs. Mark Henry

Show takes him down to start but Henry fights back and clotheslines Show to the floor. The fans chant Sexual Chocolate as Show is sent into the timekeeper’s area. He gets back to the apron at 8 but Henry rams him into the exposed buckle as we take a break. Back with Henry pounding him down and Cody on commentary. Back to the floor and Henry rams Show’s back into the post.

With Show still against the post, Mark throws the steps at him. Since that would result in probable death, Show moves. Henry knocks him down again and hits a Vader Bomb for two. Show hits a superkick and a “spear” (it was a shoulder block) to take Henry down. Show sets for the chokeslam but gets caught in the Slam for two. So long Henry, hope you enjoyed your time in the main event. Henry charges into the corner but walks into the WMD for the pin at 5:22 shown of 8:52.

Rating: C-. It’s such a shame to see someone like Henry who has raised his game so much over the last six months and shocked the world by becoming a legit world champion to be sent down to this because of the way the WWE main event pushes work. Instead of going and feuding with a midcard face, they need to have him against other top good guys and losing, making his whole summer of dominance seem like it was nothing at all. Such is life in the WWE anymore.

Teddy tells Drew if he loses he’s fired. Again.

Orton says he’s back to normal, which means angry and wanting revenge. Bryan decided to pay the price and tonight Orton is going to collect.

Drew McIntyre vs. Justin Gabriel

Drew starts by blocking a kick and getting a clothesline for two. Another spin kick misses and Drew hits a big boot for two. Into the corner but Drew’s tilt-a-whirl slam is countered into a DDT. Gabriel goes up and hits the 450 for the pin at 1:44. Justin hit two moves the whole match.

Teddy pops up on screen and fires Drew. At least until next week when Ace rehires him because he sees a lot of potential in him or something. They mentioned that Ace discovered Drew and brought him to WWE in the first place during the match.

We get ALL of Rock and Cena from Monday. The version I watch is divided into 6 fifteen minute parts. I literally skipped all of part 5 because of this. There was NOTHING in there they could clip?

Daniel Bryan says he hasn’t changed since he won the title. He’s still the same down to Earth person who was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington. However he moved to Vegas as soon as possible. He calls himself a role model and talks about how he beat Giant and Henry in a cage and five others in the Elimination Chamber.

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

The fans are split on Bryan. Orton sends him to the floor quickly and throws Bryan into things. He sends Bryan into the steps and kicks Bryan’s head into them. Back in Orton loads up a superplex but Bryan shoves him off and takes over. Knee to the head gets two as we take a break. Back with Bryan working over the arm and shoulder. Booker says that he’ll never call Bryan D-Bry again. Bryan stays on the shoulder but Orton hits a dropkick to get some seperation.

Booker runs down AJ now, calling Bryan her meal ticket. Is AJ really a heel, or does she just associate with one? I’m not exactly sure. The dropkick gets two. Bryan kicks him in the shoulder so Orton throws him into the Elevated DDT. RKO is countered twice and Bryan heads to the floor. Orton follows him and loads up the Elevated DDT on the floor….but here’s Kane. Didn’t see that one coming. The bell rings, presumably for a countout since Kane hasn’t touched anyone, at 6:30 shown of 10:00.

Rating: C. Well we knew it wasn’t going to be a clean finish. I’d assume this is going to set up Kane vs. Orton at Wrestlemania. That’s a feud I’ve always wanted to see as I’m a fan of both guys. It’s as good as anything else they’re going to get and it gives them both something to do. The match was just ok though as they didn’t have the time to get anything good going.

Orton goes straight at Kane for no apparent reason. Kane might have been coming to ask Booker if he wanted to buy some Girl Scout cookies. They go into the ring but Kane is clotheslined to the floor. He pulls Orton out and they brawl on the floor for a bit. Back inside and Orton’s shoulder goes into the post. A chokeslam puts Randy down and Kane wants a mic. He says welcome back Randy and that’s it.

Ace says it’s Kane vs. Aksana next week.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show a lot. This is more the Smackdown style: steady as it goes and set up matches for the PPV. Here we set up the IC Title match, Kane vs. Orton and they furthered the Smackdown world title match. With four weeks to go until the PPV, that’s a pretty solid show as far as building to the PPV. I could have done without 1/6 of the show being about Cena vs. Rock though. They could have cut that down to about five minutes and it would have been fine. Better show than most recent ones here though.

Results
Sheamus b. Dolph Ziggler – White Noise
Santino Marella b. Heath Slater – Cobra
Eve Torres b. Natalya – Rollup
Justin Gabriel b. Drew McIntyre – 450 Splash
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton went to a double countout

Remember to like me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kbwrestlingreviewscom/117930294974885?sk=wall

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/225601/UPDATEx2:-Injuries-Suffered-In-WWE-Raw-Main-Event.htm

Ziggler seems to be ok and even worked a dark match with Punk. Barrett has a dislocated elbow. No word on missing time or if he has a broken arm also. Cody and Truth were banged up as well but it doesn’t look to be too bad.

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 13, 2012
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the final show before Elimination Chamber which is the final major show before Wrestlemania. That being said, the Chamber is pretty much set and it appears that one way or another, Punk and Jericho will be feuding after the PPV. It should be interesting to see what the final push is here and if they add any other matches to the card beforehand. Let’s get to it.

We open with the ending of last week’s show where Kane got in Eve’s face. Kane says that tonight, Cena embraces the hate and someone takes a ride in the ambulance.

We open in the arena….with a debate. All six of the Raw guys in the Chamber are going to have a debate. Punk is asked how he thinks he’ll overcome the odds when he’s interrupted by Ace. Ace is back and that’s about it. As for the question, Punk says this debate will NOT end in violence. As for old snickleprints, aka Clown Shoes, congratulations for maintaining power. Punk thinks Ace must have something like beastiality pictures of the Board members to keep his job. He’ll win because he’s the best in the world.

Vickie asks for no booing and Dolph says he’s better than everyone. Truth says if he’s elected, he’ll trade Vickie and Dolph for Hornswoggle and a box of spiders. Ziggler: “HOW DO YOU WORK HERE???” Truth will also make it legally required to say WHAT after every line of the Pledge of Allegiance. Now back to the issue at hand, he’s going to stomp that box of spiders and make them into Spider Stew, which is high in protein and low in carbs. With Little Jimmy by his side, he’ll drink the stew which will make him strong enough to win the Chamber.

Miz gets to follow that. He says he was the main event of Wrestlemania last year. As for his opponents, Kofi is an afterthought, Truth is insane and should be replaced by Little Jimmy. Punk will melt faster than his ice cream bars. Ziggler has only scored with an old woman….and the buzzer rings before Miz can get to Jericho. He keeps talking and the buzzer keeps going.

Kofi says everything can change in one night and he’s tired of being an afterthought. We actually get a Kofi chant. Jericho says he’s surrounded by neophytes and that he’s the best in the world. He’s been in more Chambers and eliminated more people than anyone ever has. He won the last time he was in it too. Punk should just give him the title right now. Punk says he was thinking of the time when Jericho finished 7th on Dancing With The Stars.

Dolph goes off and says this is stupid. Truth says he won’t be talked down to by a man named after Flipper, and we get some dolphin sounds. Jerry says we’re getting all six of them in singles matches tonight, so let’s start with Jericho vs. Kofi. Jericho shoves his podium over and walks up to Punk. Punk holds up the title and Kofi kicks Jericho’s head off.

Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston

This starts after a break. Jericho is still shaken up so Kofi clotheslines him to the outside and hits a suicide dive. Jericho goes face first into the table and they head back in. Chris gets in some right hands and a senton backsplash for two. Off to a modified chinlock but Kofi comes back with a cross body. Jerry makes fun of Jericho’s statements that he came up with all those ideas. Kofi tries a springboard dropkick but lands in the Walls. He makes the ropes after a good while but pops up with Trouble in Paradise which gets a very delayed two. Jericho gets up and the Codebreaker ends this clean at 5:21.

Rating: B-. The match was good but I really don’t get the idea of having Kofi talk about becoming a bigger deal and then having him lose clean like this. Yeah he got in a lot of offense, but maybe they shouldn’t be having matches between six guys that you want to look strong going into a PPV match between them. Just a thought.

We get a clip from the Rumble with Ryder getting Tombstoned.

Cena is with Ryder in the back and Ryder is in a neckbrace and wheelchair. Ryder has flowers for Eve though because he can’t stay away from her. Cena offers to bring her here and keep watch.

Otunga says Ace isn’t the permanent GM but he has an idea to make him GM of both shows.

We recap Big show vs. Orton on Smackdown and get some post show bonus footage where Show chokeslammed Orton.

Here’s Bryan for commentary I believe.

Big Show vs. Randy Orton

This also starts after a break. Show throws Orton around as the size is just too much for Randy. Orton is all shaken as we take a break. Back with Randy holding a sleeper. He jumps on Show’s back and Show goes down to one knee. Show breaks it up but walks into a great dropkick. Orton covers but is launched to the floor on the kickout. Show glares at Bryan who Cole has been complimenting all match.

Another dropkick drapes Show on the top rope and it’s a SUPER elevated DDT. Cole calls it extra vintage. How can it be vintage when it’s never happened before? Orton loads up the RKO and they horribly botch it with Orton never even leaving his feet. Show tries a chokeslam but Randy escapes and hits a good RKO as Bryan runs in for the DQ at 7:21.

Rating: C+. Better match here than Bryan and Show have been having lately. That’s not a knock on Bryan, but there’s only so much Show can sell for him without it getting ridiculous. The botched RKO was awful but the DDT was pretty cool. Bryan running in might as well have been plastered on a board, but this wasn’t terrible.

Bryan lays them both out with the belt post match.

Here’s Shawn for his big promo with HHH. Shawn talks about how people on Twitter ask him why he always shows up at this time of year. BECAUSE IT’S WRESTLEMANIA!!! He says he can’t be the Main Event anymore, but he can be Mr. Hall of Fame now.

Last week he was watching Raw (and yes he gets TV in the middle of nowhere place that he lives) and was waiting for HHH to say yes to Undertaker. Shawn heard him say no and then called Ace, saying he needed to talk to HHH. Then he thought HHH was just messing with the people and Undertaker. Shawn calls out HHH and even plays air guitar during the entrance.

Here’s the Game and they hug. They throw up an X as required by law. HHH says it’s great to see Shawn who has managed to stop hunting wabbits with Elmer Fudd. However, HHH isn’t going to face Taker at the PPV. Shawn saw Undertaker leave last year and HHH know he’d have to end Taker to beat him, and that’s not the guy he is anymore. Shawn says he’s stuck by HHH forever, even when he married that girl. Did that make HHH one of them, as in a corporate sellout?

The Game doesn’t like that. He says it’s called investing in the future. HHH says Shawn can’t understand it so they’re not having this argument here. Shawn says he’s a simple guy and it’s hard for him to understand this corporate stuff. However, he knows a coward when he sees one. No matter how much money you put around it, a coward is still a coward. The fans chant one more match and HHH leaves. Shawn says yeah walk away like a coward.

HHH freaks and comes back, saying Shawn can’t understand what’s going on. Shawn sits on his ranch with his wife and kids but HHH has real life responsibilities. All of this is going to be his and it means its his responsibility. You can’t look at Taker like an opponent because you can’t. Undertaker is a brand who is good for business. Their breed is gone and there’s a new one in town. Only Taker is left and HHH won’t be the one to end that era.

HHH goes nuclear on Shawn, saying that Shawn can’t push HHH to do what Shawn couldn’t get done. Shawn says that’s a great speech that would work on most people, but he’s at peace with where he’s at. HHH has no peace though. He needs to look Shawn in the eye and say he doesn’t want to end the Streak. HHH starts to walk away but Shawn pulls him back and says look him in the ey. There goes the jacket and Shawn puts the mic down. HHH looks him in the eye and says no. Shawn looks like he’s about to cry. He leaves and HHH stands alone in the ring.

He goes to leave…..and a gong sounds. We get another promo video from Taker saying this isn’t over. Taker’s hands are seen pulling out a nice and cutting his hair. He says keep your pity and give me what is mine: immortality. Back in the arena HHH pulls his tie off and we go to a break. WOW that was good.

R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler

Dolph takes over to start and hits a dropkick. He struts around and does his handstand in the chinlock. There’s a slam and Ziggy does his situps. Truth however rolls him up for a pin at 2:35.

Santino comes to see Ryder and offers him a breath mint. This isn’t funny.

Tamina Snuka vs. Brie Bella

The name change should help. Beth is on commentary for this and will defend the title on Sunday against Tamina. Brie takes over quickly but Tamina hits a jawbreaker to escape. Snuka hits Nikki and then a Samoan Drop to set up the Superfly Splash for the pin at 1:25. Just how I like my Divas matches: nice and short.

Video on The Rock. He’s a movie star you know.

We go to Cena for a reaction on that video but we hear a woman screaming. It’s Eve who is being thrown into the ambulance by Kane. Cena comes to her rescue but the door is locked. Kane gets back up and slams Cena into said door before getting into the driver’s seat. Cena manages to get up and open the door and Eve dives to him. Kane drives off and Eve kisses him. Cena asks what that was for. We pan over to Ryder who is STUNNED and wants to know what that was.

After a break Ryder is wheeling away and is sorry to see that happens. She just wants to be friends. Ryder is disgusted and wheels away.

CM Punk vs. The Miz

Somehow it’s 10:48 already. This show has flown by and in a good way. Poor Zack is the #1 trending topic in the world. Miz takes over to start and works on the left arm. Reality Check is countered and Punk kicks Miz’s head off. Notice that Punk shakes the feeling back into his arm. That’s called selling and it’s a GOOD THING. Punk strikes away but the arm isn’t working right.

Miz pounds on the arm some more so Punk uses his right arm and legs. The knee and a right arm bulldog look to set up the GTS. Miz escapes into the short DDT for two and there’s the running clothesline in the corner. He comes off the top but Punk grabs a powerslam for two. The Macho Elbow (presumably) is broken up and Miz loads up a superplex. Punk comes back and hits the elbow for two. Miz pops up and tries the Finale but Punk reverses into the Anaconda Vice for the tap at 5:00.

Rating: C. This was a quick match but it wasn’t that bad at all. Miz kept moving and that’s the right idea. He’s not great in the ring but when he’s going fast enough and doesn’t have to be on offense all that much, he can be pretty entertaining. I’m not wild about him losing clean in five minutes, but whatever.

The ambulance is back.

Post break here’s Cena. He says there was an awkward moment back there and for what it’s worth Zack, he’s sorry. This was Kane’s plan all along: to turn everyone against him and make him embrace the hate. It’s a solid plan and it would have worked on anybody else. He’s not anybody else though. For some reason people think there’s an evil switch he can just turn on and off. The fans chant that they don’t hate him.

Cena says it’s been like six years and he’s comfortable in his own skin. Cena says he rises above hate and maybe they were chanting we all hate you. The people can think he’s a lady part having Fruity Pebbles guy, which draws a Fruity Pebbles chant. He says he’ll keep adapting and winning. This Sunday, Kane leaves in an ambulance. As for Dwayne (Rocky chant), Cena has a message for him for Wrestlemania.

Hold that though as here’s Ryder in the wheelchair. He gets up on his crutches and very slowly walks down to the ring. Cena tries to explain but Ryder knocks the mic out of his hands. Cena tries to explain again but Ryder slaps him. John takes the shirt off and the fans chant broken back. Ryder says Cena was never his friend and goes to hit Cena again.

Cena blocks it and pulls his own fist back but Ryder falls to the floor. Ryder says stay away from him and leaves. Cena didn’t hit him. Kane pops up on screen and says that Cena has embraced the hate. Sunday will be his last match until Mania because Cena will have his body leaving the WWE in an ambulance. Kane asks for a round of applause for Cena.

Kane then pops up behind Ryder and SHOVES HIM OFF THE STAGE IN HIS WHEELCHAIR! Cena panics and says get help which is there almost immediately. Eve comes out showing off some nice crack and is all worried. The fans chant for Cena for some reason. Ryder is taken out to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. There isn’t much to fault in this show. This was almost all storyline but they were on fire with them tonight. The stories were interesting and we got some great moments like Ryder’s shock and awe over the kiss. I’m curious as to what they’re doing with him but they can’t have more bad stuff happen to him. Oh who am I kidding, of course they can. Great show tonight.

Results
Chris Jericho b. Kofi Kingston – Codebreaker
Randy Orton b. Big Show via DQ when Daniel Bryan interfered
R-Truth b. Dolph Ziggler – Small Package
Tamina Snuka b. Brie Bella – Superfly Splash
CM Punk b. The Miz – Anaconda Vice

Remember to like me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kbwrestlingreviewscom/117930294974885?sk=wall

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 6, 2012
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

We’re on the second of the three Raws between the Rumble and the Chamber. Last week’s show was pretty awesome with the return of Undertaker to apparently challenge HHH. Also it appears that HHH is back in charge instead of Johnny Ace which should at least be interesting. We should get some more matches for the PPV tonight too. Let’s get to it.

We open with a gong. Oh wait it’s just a recap from last week with Taker returning and seeming challenging HHH.

6 Pack Challenge tonight with the winner entering the Chamber last. Also Show vs. Bryan.

Here’s HHH to open things up. He says he was here last week to fire Johnny Ace. He wasn’t here to wish him well, but rather well in all of his future endeavors. However he never got that far. Ace being called a man is an exaggeration as he’s more of a weasel. Apparently Ace flew to Stamford to plead for another chance and HHH has to wait on the proposal. The decision should be in by tomorrow morning.

However he’s not here for that, but rather to talk about the return of the Undertaker. He talks about hearing the gong go off and it still gives him chills. Taker is the only person that humbles HHH when they’re in the ring together. Last week though, HHH didn’t feel humble or anything like that. He felt sorry for the Undertaker. He knows what he did to Undertaker last year and he chooses to remember the Undertaker in a certain way.

HHH plays a highlight reel of Taker’s career and I think this is all from Wrestlemania. That’s how HHH wants to remember him, not like this, which brings up a video of Taker not being able to stand after last year’s match. Due to that, the challenge for Wrestlemania is declined. If they have to do it again, HHH will have to finish it. He respects Taker too much and this is over.

HHH goes to leave and his music cuts off. There go the lights and a video from the match last year plays. Taker is somewhere and says it’s not over. The victory last year means nothing and he wants what belongs to him. So it’s Shawn’s storyline from two years ago with Taker in Shawn’s place?

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show

AJ comes out with Bryan in a neckbrace. Show takes him straight to the corner and the power begins. He throws Bryan around a lot until Bryan gets in a kick to the knee and we take a break. Back with Bryan’s half crab being broken as Big Show powers him around. Spear gets two. Show loads up the chokeslam but Bryan counters into a guillotine choke. Bryan gets in a shot to the leg and goes up but Show kicks him to the floor. Now Bryan is holding his knee but he was goldbricking. Show charges at Bryan but almost crushes AJ again. Bryan takes AJ to the back and loses by countout at 7:32.

Rating: D+. These two just do not work well against each other at all. Show is good against someone like Henry. The problem is that Bryan is not Henry and can’t have a ton of convincing offense against the Big Show. That makes the matches quite boring so what’s the point of watching them fight, especially when Bryan loses almost every time?

Bryan says Show tried to run her over on purpose and she’s more important than the title. On Sunday (the PPV is in two weeks), he’ll still be Bryan, a vegan and the champion.

Carl Edwards, a NASCAR driver drove his car into the arena last week and met with Cena. Cena will be the official starter for the Daytona 500.

Video on the Elimination Chamber.

Here’s Otunga in the ring and he has something to say. He praises Ace and wants the Board of Directors to keep Ace on the job. Otunga asks for us to join him in prayer and he Tebows. We get an announcement from HHH that right now, Otunga has a match.

Sheamus vs. David Otunga

Otunga is in his suit, sweater and bowtie. Sheamus immediately loads up the Celtic Cross but Otunga escapes, losing the sweater in the process. A double ax takes him down and there are the ten forearms. The shirt is torn now as well. Otunga holds onto the top rope and grabs a DDT to take over. He stomps away and chokes a little bit but Sheamus is all ticked off. Brogue Kick ends this in 2:04.

Here’s Jericho who says the end of the world is here. He’s here to end the lying, the plagiarism and all that jazz. Everyone who is in this ring is a Chris Jericho wannabe. The fans are all wannabes too. He got all of the fans to believe whatever he wanted. Jericho admits he trolled all of them. Miz scowling in a suit is a Jericho thing. Kofi flying around is a Jericho thing. Dolph walking to the ring with Vickie is a Jericho thing because he walked to the ring with Stephanie. O……..k?

Then we have CM Punk. Punk says he’s the best in the world but in reality he’s a Chris Jericho wannabe and he knows deep down inside that Jericho is the best in the world. He doesn’t have to write it on the back of a t-shirt but he knows it. Jericho is back to claim what is his and that means the end of the world of CM Punk. Here’s Punk who comes in with a mic and drops it. Instead he holds up the title then turns his back on Jericho. Jericho looks like he’s pulling his arm back to hit Punk but doesn’t and the champ leaves. Jericho yells about wanting Punk to say something but Punk keeps walking.

Randy Orton/Great Khali vs. Wade Barrett/Cody Rhodes

Orton and Barrett start but it’s quickly off to Khali with the chops. He chops Orton HARD for the tag back in. Off to Rhodes and we’re in an 80s style kick and punch match. Orton hits the elevated DDT and Khali tags himself back in. They get in an argument but Khali chops Rhodes out of the air during a Beautiful Disaster attempt for the pin at 3:45.

Rating: D-. This match happened. That’s about all I’ve got for it. I get that it’s supposed to push the idea of distension and everything but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good match. Khali was supposed to be dominant and while it kind of worked, the execution of it came off as horrible.

Khali tries to chop Orton post match but takes the RKO instead.

Now we hear about a Twitter argument between Rock and Cena. Now we see the Cena video AGAIN.

Tamina/Alicia Fox/Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya/Bella Twins

We get an inset promo from Beth who talks about how she’s unbeatable. She starts with Eve and the beating begins. Off to a Bella who is chopped in the chest to bring her in. She walks into a Samoan Drop from Tamina and the Superfly Splash ends this in 1:33.

HHH is in the back when Ace comes up. Ace is all smiley and says he’s still the interim GM. He met with the Board earlier today and they’re very nice people. He’ll accept whatever decision they make. Shawn is going to be here next week. Also it’s officially Cena vs. Kane in an ambulance match. Speaking of ambulances, HHH says Ace’s career is on a flatline. If Ace doesn’t leave right now, he’ll be flatlined.

The decision on Ace will be announced tomorrow morning at 10AM.

We get the same video from earlier with Taker’s voiceover.

Ace says he thinks the Board is looking for someone honest rather than someone who is a brute.

CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston

This is one fall to a finish and the winner gets to be #6 in the Chamber. Roberts fumbles over the rules before the match starts. Everyone is in the ring at once so I’m not going to try to keep up with what’s going on. Jericho heads to the floor which is a smart move. Other than him, everyone but Ziggler and Kofi go to the floor. Truth TOTALLY misses a dive and crashes to the floor on his back.

Ziggler teases a dive but stops to strut. Punk clotheslines him down for two as we take a break. Back and Truth is carried out. Jericho and Kofi are on the floor and Kofi is down. Punk hits a combination neckbreaker/DDT on both heels but it only gets two on Miz. The Vice goes on both guys but Kofi makes the save. It’s down to Punk vs. Jericho but Miz and Dolph come back in.

Jericho and Miz clothesline each other down as this match is going VERY slowly. Punk goes up for a superplex on Dolph but it winds up being a Tower of Doom. Miz covers Punk as Jericho covers Dolph so the referee counts both, getting two both times. Miz tries for the Finale on Jericho but Kofi comes in with Trouble in Paradise to Miz, sending him to the floor. Middle rope missile dropkick takes Kofi down and it’s off to a chinlock.

Jericho misses the Lionsault and blocks Trouble in Paradise. There are the Walls for Kofi but Punk comes back in with a knee to the back of Jericho’s head. Chris is sent to the floor and Ziggler tries a rollup, getting two. GTS takes Ziggler down but Jericho breaks it up, sending Punk onto the table. Jericho slides in and steals the pin on Ziggler at 12:25.

Rating: C+. The problem with this show is based in this match. The problem is that with so many people being in this match, there’s nothing else to get us through the rest of the show. This was decent but once Truth was gone, the crowd was basically dead for the rest of the time. It’s not bad but it’s nothing great.

Jericho sits like Punk in the ring.

We hear screaming and Eve is being yelled at by Kane. He says he has to do something because of the hate. Cena is starting to embrace the hate and when he finally does it fully, he’ll be in a better place. Until then though, Kane is afraid for Eve and Cena. More than that though, he’s afraid of himself. Ok then.

Overall Rating: C+. This was much more about storytelling and moving things forward towards the Chamber and then on to Mania. It wasn’t as good as last week’s, but we got a lot done tonight which needed to happen. There’s plenty of time before Mania, so it was good to get some of this out of the way. The problem with the main event as I said though is that it gives us nothing but Smackdown matches before then, which is ok but it still gets a little boring. Good show but not great.

Results
Big Show b. Daniel Bryan via countout
Sheamus b. David Otunga – Brogue Kick
Great Khali/Randy Orton b. Cody Rhodes/Wade Barrett – Chop to Rhodes
Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres/Tamina/Alicia Fox b. Beth Phoenix/Natalya/Bella Twins – Superfly Splash to Brie Bella
Chris Jericho b. CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and R-Truth – Jericho pinned Ziggler after a GTS from Punk

Remember to like me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kbwrestlingreviewscom/117930294974885?sk=wall

Royal Rumble 2012
Date: January 29, 2012
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Booker T

The Road to Wrestlemania begins tonight, even with the Elimination Chamber being in a month and messing things up all over again. The even money is on either Jericho, Orton or Sheamus as the dark horse. This probably marks the only time that he’s ever been considered dark in his life but it’s a special occasion. Oh and there are two world title matches tonight too if you care about that sort of thing. Let’s get to it.

Now we’ve been promised a great main event here tonight. They wouldn’t lie to us. Not a wrestling company.

The opening video is your usual one for something like this: everyone saying they want to go to the Rumble.

Smackdown World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry

It says a lot when the Smackdown main event is opening the show. It’s been like 2 years since they’ve gotten a main event. Anyway, Bryan is the champion in case the zombie apocalypse has occurred and you have no access to finding out who champion was and you’ve somehow found my flash drive. Henry legit injured his knee on Smackdown so it should be interesting to see if he does much tonight.

Pin, submission or escape to win. After some big match intros we’re ready to go. Bryan goes for a quick escape but the monsters pull him down. Show takes Henry down with a quick shoulder block and then splashes him against the cage. He does it again but I guess he’s not Bobby Lashley as the cage doesn’t break, even on the third attempt. Bryan tries to escape but Show makes the save.

Show takes over and throws Bryan into the cage. The big punch hits the cage and Bryan goes after….the leg. That works about as it does every time you go after a giant’s leg and Show rams him into various things. Bryan kicks him in the knee to take him down and then goes after Bryan. Danny calls for the door to be open but Henry goes for the save. Show kicks Henry in the face to take over again.

Bryan gets thrown into the cage a bunch of times and a hard slam puts him down. Henry comes back as we’re into the regular formula of one guy stays down while the others fight. Mark misses a charge into the cage and Show spears him which Bryan gets two off of. Bryan escapes a chokeslam and tries a LeBell Lock on Show but Henry makes the save. Henry loads up the Slam on Bryan but Show knocks him out with the punch for two as Bryan saves. Bryan goes to escape but Show grabs onto him. After holding on for awhile, Bryan falls down and escapes for the win at 9:13.

Rating: C-. Not bad here and hopefully it gets Bryan away from these monsters. There’s only so much he can do against guys this size without looking ridiculous. They laid around a lot in this but that’s the accepted formula in triple threats. By that I mean one person would stay down for way too long off a basic move but Henry needed the break given his knee. Not bad but it felt like a Smackdown main event instead of a PPV title match.

Bryan does his overblown celebration post match.

Elimination Chamber promo with Amazing Grace playing over Sheamus talking.

Cena video on his mainstream media appearances and international appeal. Basically filler.

Bella Twins/Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres/Tamina/Alicia Fox/Kelly Kelly

Title defenses? What are those? I didn’t know Beth was alive anymore. Tamina and Natalya start us off and thankfully it lasts longer than their match this past Friday. Off to Eve who I thought turned heel. Eve does her usual stupid dancing offense and it’s off to Beth. Off to a Bella who gets two and hooks a chinlock. Booker actually asks why Lawler likes the Bellas. Alicia comes in and beats on whichever Bella that is. Does it really even matter? Off to Eve and everyone goes outside where Kelly hits a big dive. Beth slaps her way in and the Glam Slam kills Kelly dead at 5:23.

Rating: D+. The dive was cool and this was one of the better Divas matches I can remember in awhile, but is there any point to this division anymore? That’s the first time I remember seeing Beth in forever and the match was an 8 person tag instead of something for the title. When’s the last time she defended it on TV? Based on what I can find, her last three defenses have been at TLC, Survivor Series and Vengeance.

Video on Ryder being injured.

Ryder is here in a back brace and says he’s here to watch Cena beat Kane up. He runs into Johnny Ace who has a personal room ready for Zack. Eve comes up to run her mouth on Ace and calls him vindictive, pompous and a word I couldn’t understand. Eve wheels him into the dressing room.

John Cena vs. Kane

Mostly booing for Cena here. Cena goes straight for Kane but is taken down quickly. The dueling chants begin and Cena fires off punches, knocking Kane to the floor. They brawl outside and Kane goes knee first into the steps. AA doesn’t work as Cena falls forward. Off to the chinlock and the match slows way down. Cena fights up and we get the boo/yay punch sequence. Uppercut by Kane gets two as does a suplex and it’s back to the chinlock.

Cena fights up and makes a comeback but Kane punches him right back down. A corner splash hits Cena but the second is countered by a drop toehold into the middle buckle. The idea is that Cena can’t really hurt Kane, as in the story to almost all of Kane’s matches. Cena counters the smother into a Crossface. Kane escapes and a side slam gets two for the masked man. The top rope clothesline puts Cena down and here comes the chokeslam. Cena ducks it and tries his shoulder blocks but Kane pops up. ProtoBomb looks to set up the Shuffle but Kane pops up and kicks him back down.

They go to the corner and Cena knocks him off. Cena hits a top rope Five Knuckle Shuffle and tries the AA but Kane escapes. Cena goes for the knee and tries the STF but gets kicked to the floor. Kane rams him into the apron and they fight up the ramp for the double countout. I forgot to time it but it ran roughly 15 minutes.

Rating: D+. Very slow match here and pretty boring. The idea that Cena can’t hurt Kane got boring quickly and the ending didn’t help things at all. I don’t really get where they’re going with this, but I’d assume it’s going towards something about Cena being evil but rising above it. Just dull for the most part and the same stuff done over and over again.

Cena rams something that looked like equipment into Kane and they go into the backstage area. Kane is sent into trashcans which doesn’t really stop him. The Big Fried Freak grabs a chair and pops Cena with it about four times. Wouldn’t you know it we’re right next to Ryder’s dressing room? Kane goes in and smothers Ryder into presumably death.

Kane comes back out with Ryder in the wheelchair. He wheels Ryder into the ring and here’s Eve to try to make the save. This goes about as well as you would think and Ryder gets tombstoned. Cena finally comes back to fight Kane but walks into a chokeslam. Kane leaves and Ryder gets taken out on a stretcher.

Don’t Be A Bully.

Same kind of video on Rock from earlier. He talks about his movie and this is just eating up time.

Drew McIntyre vs. Brodus Clay

Remember what I said about filler? Brodus dances and jiggles as Drew hits him. A headbutt to the chest puts Drew down and there’s the suplex. I know because Brodus said suplex right before he hit it. Splash in the corner and What The Funk ends this in 1:15.

We recap Punk vs. Ziggler. Punk has been screwed by Johnny Ace multiple times now and keeps calling him a failure and all those things. Ace has finally said that he’s going to screw Punk as he’s the guest referee. He’s being evaluated tomorrow night so the question is will he screw Punk because he’s got nothing to lose or will he play it fair?

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

Johnny Ace is referee. Actually scratch that as he says he’ll be outside referee and there will be a regular one in the ring. We get big match intros as we should. Punk gets a nice reaction. Before the bell, Ace comes in and throws Vickie out. My goodness they’re actually following continuity! Punk won a match a few weeks ago that ensured Vickie wouldn’t be out here if you remember that.

Ziggler goes for a quick Fameasser and Punk goes for a quick GTS which both miss. Ace is texting already. They start with a nice sequence of counters and avoiding moves. This is going to be a chess match. Sunset flip gets two for the champ and he tries the Vice but Ziggy gets to the ropes. Punk takes it to the mat quickly and we go outside. Punk gets in a few shots and goes up top back in but Ziggler knocks him off for two. The champ is holding his neck.

Neckbreaker puts Punk down and Ziggler drops about ten elbows, finishing with a jumping elbow for a one count. Off to a chinlock for a few moments. Punk fights up and they slug it out. Ziggler grabs a sleeper which Punk reverses into an Anaconda attempt. Back to the sleeper but it’s not all the way on. Ziggler rolls off and a dropkick gets two. He tries a running Fameasser but gets caught in a helicopter bomb for two.

Punk fires off strikes and a swinging neckbreaker to put Dolph down. There are the knee and bulldog and Punk has the fire in his eyes. GTS is countered into a catapult but Punk lands on the middle rope. Ziggler rolls through a cross body for two with tights. Punk gets a running boot for a delayed two. This has been FAR better than any other match tonight. Punk slams him to set up the elbow but stops because it’s near Ace. He goes up anyway and the elbow gets two. It also draws a Randy Savage chant and a smile from me.

Another GTS attempt is countered by Ziggler and Punk is shoved into the referee. Ace tries to wake him up and Punk gets the Vice. Ziggler taps but there’s no referee because Ace is trying to revive him. Punk lets it go and yells at Ace. Ziggler rolls him up but Punk reverses into a rollup of his own. It would get three but there’s still no referee. John rolls the referee back in and keeps checking on him.

Punk finally shoves Ace and yells at him. Ziggler tries to jump him but gets caught in the GTS. Ace gets knocked down by Dolph’s feet and thinks Punk intentionally hit him. There’s STILL no referee to count the pin, but he’s on his knees now. Ace won’t count so Punk says the next GTS is for him. Punk loads up another GTS on Ziggler but Dolph counters into a Fameasser in a SWEET counter but it only gets two.

Ziggler is back into it now and he pounds away at Punk like there’s no tomorrow. The regular referee is back up now. Here comes the Zig Zag but Punk catches it into a slingshot. GTS hits but Ace comes in and….counts the pin along with the regular referee so that Punk wins at 14:42.

Rating: B. Not a classic or anything but it was by far the best match of the night and a great breath of air to this horrible show. Punk and Ziggler are just great together and in the match, everything made perfect sense. Ace didn’t see who hit him and that it was an accident so he was justifiably mad. He spent a lot of time with the referee but there never was any actual cheating.

Ace hands the referee the belt so Punk can take it. He applauds Punk as well.

Ad for WWE on Youtube which will have 9 original shows apparently. It debuts Wednesday.

Rumble by the Numbers promo.

Royal Rumble

Miz is #1 and he has the AWESOME white balloons to go through. Elimination Chamber is in three weeks. My goodness. Alex Riley is second in a nice twist. Miz takes him down in the corner and Booker is talking about royal jelly. Riley throws him to the apron but Miz lands on the apron. Riley charges like an idiot and is out before #3 comes in. Third is R-Truth and I’m so glad they’re not calling this random anymore. It would just be laughable.

Truth puts him on the apron as well but Miz gets back in. The Finale is escapes but the Little Jimmy is avoided. Truth tries….something that I think was suppsed to be a forward suplex but turned into a powerslam. Miz is thrown to the apron and Cody is #4. Cody hits a quick Beautiful Disaster and then teams up with Miz to work on Truth. Cody takes awhile working on Truth and is thrown to the apron but he hangs on.

Miz takes Truth down with a neckbreaker and Cody gets back in. #5 is Justin Gabriel and he goes up top to take the heels out with a cross body. Flying shoulder takers Miz down and a Blue Thunder Bomb does the same to Cody. The clock seems to be going very quickly. Miz is put down again by a spinwheel kick but Cody gets in a shot to slow Gabriel down. The feuds pair off with Justin and Cody trading chops.

Primo is #6 and unfortunately there’s no Rosa. He actually cleans house with clotheslines and martial arts. He takes all four guys down and never gets hit at all. A NICE headscissors puts Justin down and Cody misses Beautiful Disaster to Truth. The spinning forearm takes Cody down but Miz throws Truth out. Truth pulls Miz out and hits a Little Jimmy on the floor, but Miz went under the ropes so he’s not eliminated.

In at #7 is MICK FOLEY! He, ahem, “runs” to the ring and takes Primo down quickly. Officially there are 5 people in at the moment but Miz is on the floor. Primo charges and gets backdropped out and is eliminated by Mick. Cody jumps Foley as Justin takes a breather. There’s a Bang Bang knee in the corner. Double Arm DDT takes Cody down and Justin helps with the elimination attempt.

Alberto Del…..and never mind it’s Ricardo at #8. In a hilarious bit, he comes out in a rusted out 80s car with a Hefty bag covering a busted out window. He’s in the scarf and tights also. This is GREAT. Justin and Foley are stunned. There’s a Ricardo chant. He runs around for awhile and actually puts Justin out as Foley stands there. Santino is #9 as we’re in the comedy portion of the Rumble. Cody is still down in the corner and Miz is on the mat.

Ricardo comes right at Santino but runs from the Cobra being teased. Santino beats up Ricardo for a bit, gives him a wedgie, and tosses him. Foley and Santino are the only ones left and I kid you not: it’s Socko vs. the Cobra. They circle each other with their hand puppets on and this is hilarious. Epico is in at #10. Cobra, Socko, bye bye. The Cobra and Sock collide and it’s hilarious still.

Miz gets back in to fight Foley as Cody tosses Santino. Socko to Miz but Cody comes from behind to toss him. Miz and Cody are the only ones in now but Kofi comes in at #11 to keep them from fighting. Kofi does the running dive through the ropes into a clothesline to take Cody down. He speeds things way up and hits a springboard double clothesline and a double Boom Drop. Miz is thrown to the apron but Cody makes the save.

A dropkick from Cody puts Kofi down and the clock is already ticking again. In at #12 is….JERRY LAWLER!!! That was a nice surprise and he ducks a right hand from Miz. Both heels go down from right hands and dropkicks. A slam puts Miz down and Lawler drops the strap and hits the middle rope punch, but Cody puts him out with little effort. Still though that was a cool surprise.

It’s Kofi, Cody, Miz and now Big Zeke Jackson with new tights at #13. King is back on commentary and at least he lasted longer than he did in 1997 I believe. Zeke pounds on everyone but doesn’t try to eliminate anyone until Jinder Mahal comes in to bore us #14. Cole tries to make us care by talking about the color of his head wrap which isn’t a turban apparently. He takes forever to get in so Zeke beats on everyone for awhile. The fans chant USA, so I guess they don’t like Zeke and Kofi and are supporting Cody and Miz?

We hit the halfway point as Great Khali is #15. Jinder is a little nervous. I forgot he existed so I guess the Hall of Pain was effective. Khali chops everyone and Jinder is easily tossed after trying to fight back. Jackson goes after Khali but takes a chop of his own. A clothesline puts Jackson out. It’s Miz, Rhodes, Kingston and Khali in at the moment and we’ve had 11 eliminations and 15 entrants.

Cody is dropped onto the apron by Kofi. Here’s #16 in the form of Hunico on a tricked out lowrider bike. Camacho is with him but leaves. A nice spinning springboard cross body takes Kofi down and things speed up. He hits his modified Angle Slam on Cody but is quickly chopped down. We’re about 24 minutes in and already at #17, which is BOOKER T! Sorry but you have to shout when any old person is in these things. Internet policy don’t you know.

Booker hammers on everyone but Khali stares him down. Booker goes at him and is chopped down quickly. The ring is at its fullest so far I believe with six guys in it. Khali chops Rhodes in the corner and Miz throws Kofi to the apron. He skins the cat but Miz kicks him down. Kofi lands in a handstand and WALKS BACKWARDS ON HIS HANDS TO GET TO THE STEPS! That was INCREDIBLE!!!

Dolph Ziggler is in at #18 and goes after the guy that has easily just trumped the wall climb by Morrison. Not much happens until Jim Duggan is #19, getting one of the best reactions of the night. There are seven or eight in there at the moment: Duggan, Khali, Hunico, Rhodes, Miz, Kingston, Booker and Ziggler. So it’s 8 and we’ve had 19 entrants and 11 eliminations. Duggan gets in some shots but Rhodes puts him out with a clothesline to the back.

Khali, Ziggler and Cody team up to put out Booker but Khali goes out instead. #20 is….Michael Cole. There’s your gimmick for the Rumble. And he has the wrestling gear on. How does the screening process for these entrants go? We keep the camera on him for far too long as we now have Cole, Miz, Kofi, Cody, Hunico and Ziggler in now. Cody tries to put Ziggler out as Cole dances around. If JR is in this thing I’ll need a stiff drink. #21 is…..Kharma! Wow she’s back early but they’ve been playing up the whole only two women ever thing.

She goes right after Cole and runs him over so hard the headgear comes off. Cole jumps over the top rope to the apron as Booker and Lawler jump up to eliminate him. Ziggler goes after Kharma who plants her with the Implant Buster. She throws Hunico WAY up and out. Ziggler dumps her but that was awesome. Ok so we now have Ziggler, Cody, Miz and Kofi in there. Good to see the young guys getting their chance.

#22 is Sheamus and the place goes nuts. He’s in red now. House is cleaned with everyone but Kofi getting hit. Powerslam to Ziggler and one for Miz as well. He goes after Kofi as well as Cole gives us stats on the announcers. Sheamus dumps Kofi to get us down to three in the ring at the moment. There are the ten forearms to Cody and ten for Miz as well. #23 is the Road Dogg to very little reaction.

He hammers on everyone in sight and hits the three punches and dance. There’s the Shake Rattling Kneedrop which has a name that I don’t remember. Pumphandle slam takes Miz down and the fans chant You Still Got It. Jey Uso is #24 but Jimmy is in street clothes so it’ll just be one. He superkicks Miz as Vickie screams. The Umaga running hip shot hits Roadie and Ziggler is draped on the ropes. It’s Miz, Sheamus, Jey Uso, Road Dogg, Ziggler and Cody at the moment. We’ve had 18 eliminated and 24 entrants so far.

#25 is Jack Swagger. He and Ziggler hook up and it’s Barrett at #26 with new music. Barrett dumps Road Dogg and gets in a fight with Sheamus. #27, the lucky number, is David Otunga. Well so much for it being lucky this year. He takes forever to get to the ring as we have I think 8 people in there right now. Otunga legitimately won a case in court earlier this week so at least he has something to fall back on.

The ring is pretty full here as we wait on Orton to clear them out. There’s him, Jericho and one other spot that I can’t think of to go. There are eight in at the moment but I’ll wait until #30 gets in to recap them. #28 is Orton and the place goes banana. Orton runs people over and hits a Thesz Press on Barrett. He cleans house but Rhodes jumps him. Orton puts him in Elevated DDT position but has to fight Ziggler off. We get a double DDT instead. Ok then.

Orton tosses Uso then RKOs Barrett to toss him out. #29 is Chris Jericho so who’s #30. This could be very interesting. Jericho goes after everyone and tosses Otunga. We have Swagger, Sheamus, Jericho, Ziggler, Orton, Rhodes and Miz. Here’s #30 and it’s……Big Show. Well that’s kind of a letdown but it’s a good place for a giant. Sheamus throws Swagger out as Show gets in.

The final group: Orton, Sheamus, Jericho, Miz, Cody, Ziggler and Big Show. He puts out Miz and Cody on his own to get us down to five. There goes Ziggler to get us down to the final four. There’s plenty of time left as it’s only 10:37 and the show has been going on a little over 45 minutes. Everyone takes a corner and they all go after Big Show. He throws them off with ease but an RKO puts him down. Orton tosses Show by himself and Jericho tosses Orton.

It’s Sheamus vs. Jericho and they circle each other before going at it. This is kind of a surprising final pairing even though they were some of the early favorites. Jericho is in long tights too. Booker thinks Sheamus winning the Rumble would do something for his career. You can’t buy analysis like this people. Missile dropkick puts Sheamus down. Irish Curse looks to set up the Celtic Cross but Jericho escapes and puts Sheamus on the apron. Jericho kicks him down but Sheamus hooks the rope with his leg. He hits the slingshot to get back in and we keep going.

Sheamus puts Jericho into the apron but the Brogue Kick misses. Jericho gets back in and hooks the Walls of Jericho which Lawler questions the use of but it wore Sheamus down I guess. Jericho sets for a clothesline but Sheamus backdrops him to the apron. Chris hangs on and they go to the corner. Jericho has still gone over the top remember. Sheamus is knocked off and crotched so they’re both on the apron after having gone over the top. And they’re both back in so we continue. This final part has been good so far.

Codebreaker takes Sheamus down and Jericho tries to choke Sheamus over the top. For some reason he slaps Sheamus which is just freaking stupid. Jericho tries to fight back but the Codebreaker is countered and Sheamus sits him on the ropes. Jericho hangs on but Sheamus Brogue Kicks him down and wins the Rumble at 54:48.

Rating: B+. Very good Rumble with a great variety of comedy and wrestling to make it work. It felt somewhat formula based at times but everything in WWE does anymore. It was fun though and it seems that they’re pushing someone new (kind of) for a change which is the best you can ask for in these things.

Overall Rating: B-. Well the final two matches saved it but the first hour of so of this was AWFUL. That being said, the whole point of the show is the Rumble and that was great so I can’t complain about the overall show all that much. A good Rumble can save a show, and it plus the Raw Title match did here. Good show, but only because they have a nearly hour long match to cover up the first hour being awful.

Results
Daniel Bryan b. Mark Henry and Big Show – Bryan escaped the cage
Beth Phoenix/Bella Twins/Natalya b. Kelly Kelly/Alicia Fox/Tamina/Eve Torres – Glam Slam to Kelly
John Cena vs. Kane went to a double countout
Brodus Clay b. Drew McIntyre – What The Funk
CM Punk b. Dolph Ziggler – GTS
Sheamus won the Royal Rumble last eliminating Chris Jericho

Remember to like me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kbwrestlingreviewscom/117930294974885?sk=wall