Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA, particularly Raw from Monday night, the road to Payback, Roman Reigns, the Bullet Club and more. Plus, is Conor McGregor retiring? A fun show as always so check it out~!
1954
Hollywood, California:
– The Great Bolo and Tom Rice defeated Wilbur Snyder and Sandor Szabo for the NWA International Television Tag Team Titles
1956
Springfield, Ohio:
– Bobo Brazil defeated Gene Stanlee for the Ohio Heavyweight Title
1957
Houston, Texas:
– Don Leo Jonathan defeated Pepper Gomez for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1960
Tampa, Florida:
– Mike DiBiase defeated Eddie Graham to win the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Title
1962
Chattanooga, Tennessee:
– Mike Clancy and Lester Welch defeated Dante and Mephisto for the Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Titles
1963
Atlanta, Georgia:
– Tarzan Tyler defeated Eddie Graham to win the Georgia World Heavyweight Title
1966
Tampa, Florida:
– Eddie Graham and Bob Orton defeated The Medics for the Florida NWA World Tag Team Titles
1973
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Black Angus defeated Jim Dalton
– Argentina Zuma fought L.D. Lewis to a draw
– Tex McKenzie defeated The Viking
– Rufus R. Jones & Danny Little Bear defeated Bob Brown & Bob Orton via DQ
– Boxing: Betty Niccoli fought Jean Antone to a draw
– Central States Heavyweight Champion Roger Kirby defeated Harley Race via DQ
1974
Sydney, Australia:
– The Original Mr. Wrestling (George Barnes) and Bobby Shane defeated Pat Barrett and Tony Kontellis to win the NWA Austra-Asian Tag
Team Titles
1975
Detroit, Michigan:
– Bobo Brazil defeated Abdullah the Butcher for the Detroit NWA United States Heavyweight Title
Sapporo, Japan:
– Rusher Kimura defeated Mad Dog Vachon for the International Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Title
1980
Greensboro, North Carolina:
– Ric Flair defeated Jimmy Snuka to win the NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1981
Minneapolis, Minnesota:
– The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Jerry Blackwell & John Studd
– Jim Brunzell no contest Nick Bockwinkel
– Greg Gagne beat Ray Stevens dq
– Sheik Adnan beat Steve Regal
– Curt Hennig beat Adrian Adonis dq
– Tito Santana drew Brad Rheingans
– Jesse Ventura beat Buck Zumhofe
1982
Augusta, Georgia:
– Tommy Rich defeated Ron Bass for the NWA National Heavyweight Title
Memphis, Tennessee:
– The Dream Machine defeated Dutch Mantel for the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
1984
Kansas City, Kansas:
– Luke Graham won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Title from Buzz Tyler
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– Stan Lane & Steve Keirn beat Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie & Ken Patera
– Cage match: Mad Dog Vachon & The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke beat Jesse Ventura & Jerry Blackwell & Mr. Saito
– Nick Bockwinkel beat Blackjack Mulligan dq
– Curt Hennig drew Steve Regal
– Billy Robinson beat Brad Rheingans dq
– Larry Zbyszko beat Buddy Lane
Koriyama, Japan:
– Shohei Giant Baba & Dory Funk Jr dcor Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen
– AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Greg Gagne
– Kerry Von Erich beat Bulldog Bob Brown
– Genichiro Tenryu beat Jos Leduc
– Takahashi Ishikawa & Ashura Hara beat Jim Brunzell & David Sammartino
– Mighty Inoue beat Goro Tsurumi dq
– Great Kojika & Motoshi Okuma drew Rocky Hata & Akio Sato
– Magic Dragon & Ultra Seven beat Masa Fuchi & Nobuyoshi Sugawara
– Yoshi Momoto beat Hiromichi Fuyuki
1985
AWA/JCP Star Wars: East Rutherford, New Jersey:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors beat Larry Hennig & Curt Hennig
– AWA Champion Rick Martel beat King Tonga
– Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke
– Bob Backlund beat Larry Zbyszko
– Ugandan Death Match: Kamala beat Sgt. Slaughter
– Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) drew Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell & Tonga Kid
– Jim Duggan beat Kendo Nagasaki
– The Samoans beat Tom Zenk & Steve O
– Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
– Bobby Duncum beat Larry Sharpe
1986
New Orleans, Louisiana:
– The Road Warriors defeated Ron Garvin and NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Magnum T.A. in the finals of the Jim Crockett Sr. tag team tournament
– Mid-South North American Heavyweight Champion Jim Duggan defeated Dick Slater to retain the title
– NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes by disqualification to retain the title
1993
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Sherri Martel defeated Miss Texas for the USWA Women’s Title (decision was later reversed)
Barbourville, Kentucky:
– Brian Lee defeated Bobby Eaton to win the SMW Television Title
Kayenta, Arizona:
– Steve Gatorwolf defeated Navajo Kid for the American Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title
1997
Tokyo, Japan:
– Toshiaki Kawada defeated Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa in a three-way round-robin match to win the annual AJPW Champion’s Carnival tournament
Memphis, Tennessee:
– The Truth Commission (Recon and The Interrogator) defeated The Shooting Stars (Jerry Faith and Troy Haste) for the USWA Tag Team Titles
1998
WCW Spring Stampede: Denver, Colorado:
– Goldberg pinned Saturn
– Ultimo Dragon defeated Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
– WCW World Television Champion Booker T pinned Chris Benoit to retain the title
– Curt Hennig (with Rick Rude) pinned The British Bulldog (with Jim Neidhart)
– WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Prince Iaukea to retain the title
– Lex Luger and Rick Steiner defeated Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner
– Psychosis pinned La Parka
– Hulk Hogan and WCW World Tag Team Champion Kevin Nash defeated The Giant and Roddy Piper in a baseball bat on a pole match
– Raven defeated WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page in a Raven’s Rules match to win the title
– Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) pinned WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting in a no-disqualification match to win the title
1999
Gainesville, Florida:
– Psychosis defeated Blitzkrieg, Juventud Guerrera and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Misterio, Jr. to win the title i
2002
Dayton, Ohio:
– Colt Cabana defeated champion CM Punk and Eddie Guerrero in a three-way match to win the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Title
– Vic Capri defeated Ace Steel for the IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Title
2004
Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
– World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit and Edge defeated World Tag Team Champions Batista and Ric Flair to win the title
2009
TNA Lockdown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– Eric Young defeated Danny Bonaduce
– Suicide defeated Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi in an Xscape match for the TNA X Division Championship
– ODB (with Cody Deaner) defeated Daffney, Madison Rayne and Sojournor Bolt in a Queen of the Cage match
– The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) defeated The Latin American Xchange (Hernandez and Homicide) and No Limit (Naito and Yujiro) in a three-way Tornado Tag Team Six Sides of Steel cage match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
– Matt Morgan defeated Abyss in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match
– Angelina Love (with Velvet Sky) defeated Awesome Kong (with Raisha Saeed) and Taylor Wilde in a three-Way Six Sides of Steel cage match to retain the TNA Women’s Knockout Championship
– Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray) (IWGP Champions) defeated Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode) (TNA Champions) in a winner take all Philadelphia Street Fight for both the TNA World Tag Team and IWGP Tag Team Championship
– Team Jarrett (Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels) defeated Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Booker T and Kevin Nash) (with Sharmell) in a Lethal Lockdown match
– Mick Foley won the TNA title from Sting
2010
– Rob Van Dam defeated AJ Styles to win the TNA Title
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA! Raw report from Monday, tons of discussion on the show and how it leads to WWE Payback, more on TNA and their potential impending sale, ROH’s new TV deal, GSP talking a return, Kimbo returning to the O2 in London, mailbag and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Whatever going on right now in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker clearly goes way beyond the courtroom. Media manipulation, while not new to the case, seems to be more prominent in recent weeks, or at least more obvious. By and large, the lines appear to be drawn as Hogan cozying up to “old media” companies that still have physical hard copy publications, while Gawker continues to live up to their stated goals of corporate transparency, with founder Nick Denton and others being much more available for quotes, interviews, etc.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez is back today with tons to discuss — Tom’s review of the RIZIN show from Japan with a tag team grappling main event, Cauliflower Alley, Tom’s Future Stars of Wrestling Road Report, TNA Impact TV review and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The show kicks off with the roster around the ring, along with some original ECW talent, such as Tommy Dreamer, RVD,Rhino, and Shane Douglas in the ring. They pay their respects to Balls Mahoney. They play “Big Balls” and the crowd sings along.
SoCal Val is your ring announcer and host for the night. She brings out Ricky Steamboat. Ricky puts over the ECW Arena and its fans. Vik Dalishus comes out and gets a ton of heat for thinking the opening ceremony was for Ricky. Vik tried to clothesline Ricky but Ricky fights back and chops him a lot.
… And we have finally have a match… a ladies match! Jade defeated Thea Trinidad with a package piledriver in about 10 minutes. Jade was the heel here.
Action Ortiz and Vik Dalishus are out. Vik says he doesn’t want to fight after getting assaulted by Ricky Steamboat, so Eddie Kingston comes out as a replacement. Their opponents are Team Tremendous. Lots of flips and dives from Team Tremendous here. Team Tremendous get the win the super blockbuster or whatever it’s called on Action Ortiz.
Billy Gunn vs Bull Dempsey is out next. Crowd is split 50/50 on this one. Billy won with the Fameasser in around 6 minutes. Billy takes the mic after and puts over Bull and the WWE Performance Center.. until they are assaulted by… Kevin Thorn?!?! Kevin beats them down until XPac makes the save. XPac does his kicks and gives Kevin a bronco buster, giving a nose bleed. Bull, Billy, and XPac all do the suck it taunt.
Tony Nese defeated Alex Reynolds and Chris Dickinson in a three way dance. Tony first eliminated Alex and then Chris a few minutes later. This was a strong contender for match of the night.
Pepper Parks and Cherry Bomb are out. Cherry introduces her new bodyguard, who I didn’t catch the name of. Tommy Dreamer comes out to a big pop. Cherry tries to interfere midway through the match, so Tommy brings out Mickie James! Mickie takes out Cherry. Pepper Parks gets the win a few minutes later with his feet on the ropes.
Intermission. 3 matches left. First half was awesome!
Brian Cage defeated Sami Callihan. Sami Callihan was more over, probably because this is CZW territory. Brian Cage wins after multiple buckle bombs and then his finisher. Match of the night.
The Killer Elite Squad defeated Chris Hero & Colt Cabana to retain the GHC Tag Team Championships. Chris and Colt were very over, and no one cared about KES. KES retained after pinning Hero with their tag finisher.
Main event time, Rhino vs Rob Van Dam. Rhino out first to a big pop. Next is Rob Van Dam who comes out to A HUGE POP, with the whole crowd singing “Walk” by Pantera. Dueling “VOTE FOR RHINO / WHOLE FUCKIN SHOW!” chants. RVD won after putting Rhino through a table and then hitting the 5 Star Frog Splash. They shook hands after… and then Enter Sandman hits! Crowd sings along as Sandman hosts a beer bash with the audience, RVD, Rhino, and Tommy Dreamer. Rhino cuts a promo saying he loves playing heel and says sorry to a fan he shoved earlier.
Tommy gets on the mic and says that House of Hardcore will be hosting shows on a monthly basis and they will be returning to the 2300 in September. Sandman puts a beer in the center of the ring for Balls Mahoney. Big Balls plays through the arena and everyone goes home happy.
Great show, a lot better than what I was expecting.
Preshow: Engranaje Jack defeats Límite with a roll up while he has the legs in ropes. Both are local wrestlers. It was fine.
Hugo does a promo, thanks the crowd and says the event is possible because two guys from Antofagasta (city of the north of Chile) contacted him.
Santana Garrett defeats Taya with a small package for became the first women’s champion in Wrestling SuperStar. Good match. Taya was heel and was with a wrestler of Argentina for gain heat.
Robbie E makes a promo saying that he is Mister Saco Wea (is a chilean way to say some like bag of rocks). He is super over. Robbie has to participate in a 20 man battle royal with chileanwrestlers for a cup. The winner was Twiggy eliminating last Robbie E. Mister Saco Wea was almost the whole match out of the ring making a really fun show. The winner of cup can cash it for a chance for the Chile’s Championshisp. It was fine, but some long.
Gladiator Angel and HellSpawn (both from Chile) defeats the tag team champions, Eddie Edwards and Pentagón Jr. when Angel pinned Edwards after a death valley driver of HellSpawn and a diving splash. Pentagón was the replace of Davey Richards. Pentagón hits really hard and they make much better work than the chileans.
Apocalipsis defeats León Apolo when Apolo take out the mask of Apocalipsis and retain the LCW Championshisp. Worst match of the night. Boring match.
They announced next show on August 7 with Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Ivelisse, Drago, Mr. Anderson, Mr. 450 and others. The crowd is very happy with the announce, in special with Jeff Hardy.
Alex Hero vs Carlito ended in doble count out. Carlito was over and the chilean Hero was booed. Hero is tiny and the crowd don’t bought his attacks. Second worst match. Twiggy appears with the cup, but challenges Hero for August.
Konnan appears and Hugo give an award for his career. Very short segment.
Matt Hardy defeats Johnny Mundo with Twist of Fate. Moments before the referee was knocked and can’t make the count for Mundo, when he applies the End of the World. Hardy invites his wife and son to ring. It was good, but they can do some much better.
In main event Bobby Lashley and Rey Mysterio defeats MVP and Ricky Banderas. Mysterio hits the 619 in the heels and a splash in Banderas, meanwhile Lashley uses the Spear on MVP. MVP was a good heel. Mysterio was super over.
It was an ok show, but nothing outstanding happens in the matches. The booking was so-so, Hugo has to improve in that. The crowd was very active, big pops for Robbie E, Carlito, Hardy and Mysterio.
Tonight’s Raw from London will once again have Shane McMahon in charge. At this rate, he will surpass Bud Selig’s record as longest interim authority figure in history. However, the string of good Raws will likely continue. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will continue their program, and so will Chris Jericho-Dean Ambrose. The semifinals of the #1 Contenders tag team tournament feature the Usos vs. the Vaudevillians and Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. the Dudley Boyz, which has been teased ever since WrestleMania. The WWE website is also teasing a potential Emma vs. Becky Lynch program.
Our coverage starts at 8 ET.
The Big Takeaway: A show that dragged at points that was full of wrestling. The #1 contender tag team tournament will feature the Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass in an NXT final. Only storyline news was the acknowledgement of a relationship between A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows from New Japan Pro Wrestling (simply referred to as New Japan on the broadcast, because we can’t be having pro wrestling mentioned on our pro wrestling show). Anderson and Gallows jumped Roman Reigns after Styles confronted Reigns in an another interview segment where Reigns was heavily booed. Styles denied any knowledge that Anderson and Gallows were going to jump him, but Reigns didn’t believe it.
Show Recap:
Dean Ambrose came out for the first full-length edition of the Ambrose Asylum. He told a joke about a large monster being discovered in the Thames River and said he didn’t know Braun Strowman could swim. CBS late night talk show host James Corden’s parents were at ringside, who Ambrose introduce a nice response. Then he brought out Shane McMahon to a big reaction. He told Shane to have a seat, but since the set didn’t include chairs, they stood.
They replayed the clip of Shane jumping off the Hell in a Cell onto the table against the Undertaker. They showed an angle that showed how gimmicked the table really was. Ambrose still put over the stunt as something even he wondered “What was Shane thinking?” Ambrose asked Shane what his agenda was. Shane said the fans were on his mind because he was giving stars a chance who, ordinarily, would never get a chance. He mentioned Sami Zayn, A.J. Styles and Sasha Banks.
Kevin Owens interrupted him. Owens said he’s been watching the same old crap he’s seen for years: a McMahon filled with power with a vendetta against him. Shane denied that. Owens asked why did he remove him from the building last week? Shane said because he threatened to go after Zayn before his match with Styles. Owens said he was being honest and Zayn didn’t deserve to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Zayn came out with the crowd singing his theme song before he could start his promo. Zayn said Owens was riding his coattails because he was signed by the WWE before Owens. That’s why Owens attacked him in NXT. But they both knew Owens would have never ended up in the WWE without him. Crowd had a mixed reaction for that.
Then Chris Jericho showed up. So do the 20-minute opening segment. Jericho told Zayn there were bigger issues than his emotions. Jericho told Shane he was drunk with power, and he never liked Shane. Jericho told Shane to remember he was the best in the world at what he does, which included hosting the greatest WWE talk show of all time “The Highlight Reel.” Shane said the new generation was about new opportunities, which is why they had the Highlight Reel. Shane got in a plug for the WWE Network. They all started arguing, and Ambrose yelled at everyone to be careful around his plant. Shane ordered Jericho to face Ambrose at Payback, along with Owens vs. Zayn. Shane left the ring and Ambrose handed him the plant. It wound up as a four-way brawl where Zayn and Ambrose cleaned house quickly.
It was announced that Shane had ordered Ambrose vs. Owens as the main event.
Chris Jericho defeated Sami Zayn (12:47)
Jericho won after thumbing Zayn in the eye while referee Charles Robinson tried to break them up in the corner, followed by a codebreaker. Good match. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho, but Zayn made the ropes. Zayn later did his spot where he dove through two sets of ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Zayn hit his Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall. Consecutive jobs for Zayn isn’t helping him burst out of the gates early.
Mauro Ranallo made his Raw debut doing a backstage interview with Styles. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows showed up and Styles greeted them like they were old pals. It was stange to see Anderson and Gallows treated like babyfaces when they basically made a heel debut last week attacking the Usos. Anderson said he had been trying to get in the WWE for years. They laughed together and left to catch up on old times. Michael Cole mentioned that Styles, Anderson and Gallows were old friends from New Japan.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass came out. Fans chanted Amore’s name to the tune of “Seven Nation Army” again. Amore had a riddle. There is “hell” in “hello.” There is “end” in “friend.” And there is “Dud” in “Dudley.” Amore said the Dudleyz were a couple of duds. Amore says he and Cass were A cups because they were real whether anyone liked them or not.
Enzo & Cass defeated the Dudley Boyz to advance to the finals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (8:33)
Enzo pinned Bubba Ray Dudley after a Rocket Launcher. Bubba Ray accidentally hit Devon Dudley with a forearm before the finish after Cass got the hot tag. Cass hit the Empire Elbow and big boot after the hot tag. Match was fine and the announcers put over Enzo & Cass winning as a major one.
Roman Reigns came out. The crowd reactions just get worse. They weren’t chanting “Lou,” they were booing. And Reigns did the exact same opening line he’s given over the past two weeks about being “the guy.” Reigns put over Styles, who got a minor chant. Reigns said this was the era of the Roman Empire, which got jeers and boring chants.
Styles came out. Crowd liked him, but it wasn’t an overwhelming reaction or anything. They sure like him better than Reigns, without a doubt. Styles put over Reigns as being “one heck of a champion.” He had power, explosiveness and quickness. Styles admitted he would have to have the match of his life in order to beat Reigns, but having the match of his life is what he does. Having the match of his life is what’s made him a champion everywhere he’s been, and it’s what is going to make him champion at Payback.
Reigns said he had the match of his life at WrestleMania. He admits the whole world like Styles, but they won’t like it when he beats Styles at Payback. But they will respect him. Reigns said he would rather be respected as WWE champion and that liked without it. Styles said he wants to be liked and respected, because that’s what is going to make him a phenomenal WWE Champion.
Styles left, but Anderson and Gallows ran out of the crowd to jump Reigns. Placed popped big when Gallows kicked Reigns while he was on Anderson’s shoulders. Styles watched on and looked disappointed when his friends jumped Reigns.
First thing we saw after the break was Regins walking backstage, not selling a thng. Styles told Reigns he didn’t know that was going to happen. Reigns didn’t buy any of that, reminding Styles that Anderson and Gallows’ jumped his cousins, the Usos, next week. Reigns told Styles to bring all of his friends, because he would withstand them all. He muttered one vs. all.
Baron Corbin defeated Fandango (1:21)
Baron Corbin won with the End of Days in a squash. Dolph Ziggler was at ringside doing commentary. Corbin threw Fandango into Ziggler before the finish. Ziggler jumped Corbin afterwards, only to have Corbin give him the End of Days on the floor.
Maryse and the Miz walked backstage. Maryze found spilt coffee on their way and demanded a stage manager place his jacket over it so they could walk over the stain.
Another Greetings of Puerto Rico vignette from whatever the Primo and Epico will be called in this new gimmick. They put over Puerto Rico beaches.
MizTV started with the photo of Prince Charles, saying you would never know it’s royalty. Miz said his baby was like royalty. They started making out when Cesaro came out. Lots of Cesaro Section signs to be seen as Cesaro said the only royalty Miz knew was how to be a royal pain in the ass. Miz said he was the one with a starring role but Cesaro was just as supporting actor. Crowd chanted “boring.” Miz claimed he prepared a monologue taken from the movie “Taken.” It was orginally delivered by Liam Nesson. Miz got on his cell phone and acted out a scene that was supposed to be in Cesaro’s words, and sounded like it was taken straight from every one of Neeson’s films over the past 10 years.
Cesaro put his hands over Miz’s mouth and said “When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut.” Cesaro said he would becoming the Intercontinental Champion at Payback, and since Miz likes movie quotes, he quoted Roddy Piper from “They Live.” Cesaro mentioned it was Piper’s birthday last week. He gave the famous “I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum” line. Miz teased a fight with Cesaro, but Miz said Cesaro had a match with Rusev.
Cesaro said he talked with Shane earlier in the day and said there wouldn’t be a singles match. Instead, it would be the League of Nations and Miz vs. Cesaro. Then Cesaro stripped off his suit to reveal a New Day t-shirt, and the New Day came out for the 8-man tag.
The New Day & Cesaro defeated the League of Nations & the Miz (13:27)
If you looked at this match for 30 seconds, you might have thought the hot blonde at ringside was Lana. But it was Maryse. Anyway, Cesaro pinned Sheamus after the Gotch Neutralizer after the usual spots where guys did their finishers on each other. Cesaro teased the Cesaro Swing on Sheamus, but Alberto Del Rio stopped him. Xavier Woods got the heat. Crowd lost interest about midway through.
Charlotte did an interview with Ranallo. They showed a replay from last week where Ric Flair helped Charlotte retain the title against Natalya. This led to Natalya walking in and saying Shane had granted her a rematch against Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, and she would have Bret Hart in her corner. Charlotte and Ric didn’t look happy at all over that.
They announced that E! would start airing a Total Divas spinoff called Total Bellas, featuring Nikki and Brie Bella, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and John Laurinaitis.
Natalya, Paige, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch defeated Naomi, Summer Rae, Tamina and Charlotte via submission ( 10:25)
Natalya made Charlotte tap out to the sharpshooter. Classic New Japan booking where the challenger wins over the champion in a tag match before the title match. Becky Lynch was kicked hard on the floor by Tamina to set up the hot tag. Crowd liked the match, which dragged at points. Well executed hot tag sequence by Natalya on Summer Rae, which included a slingshot atmoic drop, then stepping over Rae’s back into a seated drop kick.
Styles was shown talking to Anderson and Gallows. Since there was no audio, you couldn’t tell what he was saying. It was vague because he didn’t look
More from the Puerto Rico guys. They’re surrounded by history and they walked past Ponce De Leon’s house. Is walking past the Fountain of Youth supposed to get them heat?
The Vaudevillains defeated the Usos in the semifinals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (3:25)
Simon Gotch pinned Jey Uso after the Whirling Dervish. They were doing hot tags within two minutes, which was just as well because the crowd was dead. Jey had his right shoulder taped selling the beating by Anderson and Gallows from last week. He did a tope on Gotch, but starting selling his shoulder. Aiden English rammed Jey’s shoulder into the post. Fans weren’t into the Vaudevillains at all, so the decision on who goes over in the tournament final should be easy.
Apollo Crews defeated Heath Slater (4:29)
There was actually a stipulation to this match. If Apollo Crews won, he had to join Social Outcasts. They did a skit on the Raw preshow where Heath Slater, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas tried to get him to join their group. There was no Adam Rose, nor any mention of him. Slater actually got a near fall reversing a crossbody before Crews won with the Spin-Out Powerbomb.
On his way to the back, Crews crossed paths with Owens. They shared a brief glare before Crews went to gorilla.
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens (17:15)
The highlight of the show. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after Owens got Ambrose’s knees to the gut going for the frog splash, then missed a cannonball. Early on, the match was a brawl. Each man threw the other into the announcer’s table. Highlights after the commercial break included Owens giving Ambrose a frog splash off the apron to the floor, followed by a successful cannonball. Ambrose attempted his elbow off the top rope, but Owens rolled out of the ring, so Ambrose hit Owens with a plancha. The two fought on the top rope before Owens caught the Super Fisherman’s Buster for a really good near fall, which got the crowd to chant “This is Awesome.”
Afterwards, Jericho ran in and gave Ambrose a codebreaker.
SUMMARY: Your usual taped Raw. Beginning and the end were very good. There was a lull in the middle. Only real takeaway as far as how Reigns is concerned is to compare with how Daniel Bryan was booked two years ago. Of course, Reigns is far from over in the fans’ eyes, but at least he’s booked as being smart. He’s suspicious of Styles after being jumped by two of Styles’ friends. In the months after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Bryan was constantly being outsmarted by Kane, looking every bit as dumb as any Friday the 13th victim that got beheaded by Jason Vorhees. It goes to show you when Vince McMahon has his heart behind someone, he’s going full throttle. If he isn’t, even the most promising of prospects job to HHH for no reason.
Submitted by Alex White
The show opened with a pre-taped recording of Kevin Owens on the screen trash talking Sami Zayn before being interrupted by R-Truth, who did his usual ‘my bad’ routine for some laughs. Owens sold the interruption well and refused to do the rest of the promos.
U.S. Champion Kalisto def. Ryback to retain
An okay match to start the show, with Kalisto being overpowered for most of it before coming back with high flying offense and a nice reversal out of the ShellShock into Salida del Sol for the win. The ‘lucha’ chant is really over with the kids, and I saw a handful wearing the (£60!!) replica mask.
R-Truth def. Bo Dallas (w/Heath Slater)
Truth won a short match with a roll-up after several breaks for crowd interactions, including a Bo-lieve vs What’s Up battle and Bo’s lap around the ring. Slater got on the mic after the match and trash-talked before he and Bo attacked Truth, which brought Goldust out to make the save. There was a Golden Truth chant and Truth even got Goldust to dance with him for a while.
Fandango def. Damien Sandow
Sandow came out first to a decent pop and thanked the fans for their appreciation despite him not being on TV. He said that having fans chanting his name while he was getting off the bus meant more than any championship ever could. Switching seamlessly into the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses, he lamented the “certifiable, card-carrying idiots” of the UK that enjoyed Fandangoing. Sandow got back on the mic mid-match during a beatdown of Fandango to ask if this is who we really idolised, which led to him being rolled up while still holding the mic. Funny. He genuinely looked emotional during his thank you speech at the start.
AJ Styles and Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio
Huge pops for the babyface team. I hadn’t checked the card before the event, so I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The kids were really excited to see AJ, which is a nod to WWE’s booking of him so far as you have to assume that not many of them know him from NJPW or TNA. There was an improvised spot on the outside where Owens grabbed a Styles sign and almost took the kid holding it over the barrier with him.
The crowd was hot for Owens v Zayn, but the match was effectively over when Del Rio collided with Owens on the apron. Moments later, KO refused a tag and
walked out, leaving Del Rio to eat a Helluva Kick, a Phenomenal Forearm and the pin.
Paige, Natalya, Eva Marie and Alicia Fox def. Tamina, Naomi, Summer Rae and Lana
Huge home country pop for Paige and the obligatory boos for Eva. All 8 women worked the match well (including relative newcomers Eva and Lana) with a nice Tower of Doom spot that was well executed. I thought it was over when Paige locked in the PTO on Summer Rae but it was broken up. After some chaos, Paige got the pin after a Rampaige on Tamina. Nattie managed to start a small Eva chant amongst some of the fans down the front, but they were really playing up the divide between her and the rest of the Total Divas babyfaces.
Big Show def. Los Matadores (2-on-1 handicap match)
This ended up being a comedy match, with Diego y Fernando taking it in turns to get shoved to the other side of the ring by Show. After some slaps in the corner and the giant paying homage to the New Day with a booty dance, Diego sat on Fernando’s shoulders and patted Show on the head. Another slap and a double chokeslam ended the bout, with Show staying behind for a good few minutes to sign autographs, pose for pics with the crowd.
WWE I-C Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) def. Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose to retain
Miz came out with Maryse who told the crowd that real men like Miz have women like her, while other men have women like that, pointing to someone in the crowd which drew some heat. Miz showed the audience how to kiss a woman properly, prompting an interruption from Ziggler. Ambrose was out next to the loudest pop of the night. The match was decent, with Miz staying on the outside to start and breaking up pinfalls.
After about 10 minutes, a distraction from Maryse allowed Miz to roll up Ambrose and grab the ropes for the 3 count. Afterwards, Miz called upon Superman in the front row to use his X-Ray vision to confirm that the Miz hadn’t cheated. Ambrose was having none of the Miz’s offer of a handshake and told him that Ziggler had something to say. That something was a superkick, and Ambrose nailed Dirty Deeds to send the crowd home happy.
A really enjoyable first live event for me, despite New Day and three of the four horsewomen being in Nottingham instead of Leeds. AJ and Sami were ridiculously over, along with Big Show and obviously Paige. Some more mic time for guys like Bo Dallas and KO would have been nice, but nobody was walking out of the arena disappointed.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with tons of news! TNA’s potential sale to Aroluxe, the Bullet Club being mentioned repeatedly on WWE and the big angle shot for Raw tonight, Kimbo fighting again, calls, emails, text messages and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!