On NXT tonight, it was announced in a taped insertion into the show by William Regal that there will be a live special from Sumo Hall in Tokyo on 7/4 that will feature Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor for the NXT title, which presumably would be a title change.
The show will start at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time. That would be 8:30 p.m. in Japan, so it could be only part of the show will air on the WWE Network since the show is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
That show will also include Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston and also include a John Cena main event and a Chris Jericho match.
This will come one day before New Japan has its biggest since the Tokyo Dome on 7/5 in Osaka with A.J. Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP title.
Here’s notes from the WWE Smackdown tapings, set to air in Canada Wednesday and in the U.S. Thursday:
– Seth Rollins came out first. He talked about how he made The Shield and then destroyed them. He said when he left The Shield, he was the one who became world champion, he won Money in the Bank all by himself, and then defeated both Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at the same time, making him the greatest WWE champion of all-time. Dean Ambrose was shown on the screen saying he was winning the ladder match.
– Prime Time Players won a three-way over The Ascension and the Lucha Dragons to become the top contenders for the tag team titles when Titus O’Neil pinned Viktor.
– New Day did an interview about facing The Prime Time Players at Money in the Bank.
– I-C Champion Ryback b Stardust in a non-title match.
– Renee Young interviewed Paige. She said the Bellas have ruined the Divas division and vowed she would change the world.
– Kevin Owens did the NXT title open challenge. He said he would show Cena that he’s a real man. He then beat Zack Ryder with the pop up power bomb to retain the NXT title.
– Renee Young interviewed Sheamus, who said he was going to win Money in the Bank.
– Neville b Kofi Kingston. Neville won with a cradle.
– Miz TV ws with Lana. Miz asked how Lana could abandon Rusev when he is injured. She said Rusev abandoned her. Miz then brought out Rusev as his surprise guest. He was on crutches and begged her for one more chance. She shoved the crutches into him and left. Dolph Ziggler came out and he and Lana left together.
– Roman Reigns b Sheamus via DQ when Kane interfered. Kane also chokeslammed Sheamus after the match. Kane then announced he was entering the Money in the Bank match. J&J Security freaked out with the idea Kane could win and challenge Rollins.
A combination of the lack of competition by the NBA Playoffs and coming the day after a major show in WWE Elimination Chamber helped the June 1st WWE Raw numbers increase to 3.96 million viewers.
This is probably in the neighborhood of what a RAW (at least the day after a big show) should be doing until the September NFL-related ratings drop. The number was up from 3.59 million viewers a week ago, which was one of the lowest numbers of the last 17 years.
In late April, we got the Jericho and Stephanie McMahon podcast. Now, barely one month later, we get Steve Austin and Paul Heyman. While their on-air time has been fairly minimal given the length of each man’s careers, they did have an impact on one another. Austin being part of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW gave him a main event rub when he otherwise would’ve been mired in the mid-card, while Heyman’s hiring of Austin in ECW allowed him to unleash verbal tirades that would bear a striking resemblance to his Stone Cold promos.
Steve starts the show sending some love to the people affected by the floods. Steve plugs the future PodcastOne release and Paul says that he’s humbled by being interviewed by Steve given all that he has accomplished and of the two, Heyman should probably be interviewing Steve. Steve puts him over for hustling his way into wrestling at 15 and he’ll ask questions, but isn’t sure if they’re going to be “hard questions”.
Heyman asks him what the capital of Nebraska is and Steve says he can’t stand being asked questions like that, while Heyman asks who the 16th President was and Austin says it as Lincoln – giving Steve the answer to the earlier question. Steve asks when they first met and Heyman says it was at Center Stage and ad a giant knee brace on while sitting with Jeanie. Heyman asks if he shouldn’t have mentioned that and Steve says they’ll just edit that out.
Heyman was struck by this long-haired blonde, and he wasn’t talking about Jeanie. Heyman does a hilarious Jim Ross impression as Ross put him over to Heyman instantly. We see some Dangerous Alliance shots in the background and Heyman talks about Steve hitting the ropes and him never seeing anyone hit them as hard as Steve did. Heyman said they knew they scored something special when they signed him to WCW and introduced himself to Steve as “Paul E. Dangerously”.
Within five weeks, Steve was put in the Dangerous Alliance at Paul’s request, and Paul talks about the Alliance’s history. He was pulled back in a power move by Jim Crockett to just be Rude’s manager, and Steve says he was hot off of a “WWF” run, while Heyman wanted to make a new Horsmen around Rude with Arn Anderson, Eaton, and Larry Zybisko as the members. Madusa was going to be in as well, but Heyman wanted Steve in there badly.
Heyman called Dusty and he’d already sued WCW at this point. Heyman knocks Jim Herd and he told Dusty that the Alliance would blow the Horsemen away and he wanted one member – Steve Austin. Dusty liked Steve, but was hesitant about putting “this kid” in the Alliance until Paul told him he was like Dusty – he was going to be a huge star, and he was from Texas. Of course, Dusty immediately agreed with Paul and knew that Steve was going to be the next big breakout star from Texas.
Dusty, of course, was overjoyed to have come up with this idea, and Heyman does a Rude impression while Steve asks if he had his stamp of approval. Heyman said Rude was on-board and Steve puts Rude over as a man’s man and a hell of a worker who had a physique and didn’t hold his opinions back. Steve respected Rude and Heyman says Steve already had a buzz out of Texas. He was intense and different than the guys just doing a smooth dance. Steve’s stuff looked like a fight, and Steve says that “intensity” brings Brock to mind for him.
Steve asks when he’ll back and Heyman says it’s pretty much public knowledge that he’ll be back soon. He’s been on his farm and loves being a farmer and a hunter. Brock owns property in both America and Canada, and boy does Destination America ever need some Brock Lesnar shows. Brock Lesnar Conquers the Ghost Asylum. Brock Lesnar Hunts Bigfoot. Ring of Hunting Starring Brock Lesnar. Heyman loves that with Brock, what you see is what you get. He’s the son of a dairy farmer, he grew up on a dairy farm, and with all of the money he’s made in WWE, UFC, and WWE, he just goes and buys more farmland.
No matter how famous he is, how much money he has, or how many shows he main events – he’s a farmer through and through. It’s who he is at his core. He’s also a hunter, and Steve wants to go on a hunting trip with him. Steve says that they need to do that on the Network, and Heyman says that he can make it happen, but won’t accompany them since “my people aren’t hunters.”
Heyman says he can’t kill it, but he can make a fine lapel out of it. They go on a what bit and Heyman says his people own the media and screwed up in the Middle East. They bought the only land in the Middle East without any oil – all they have is sand and a sea, and they wind up with folks just trying to shove them into the river anyway. Jewish History As Told By Paul Heyman should be on the Network.
Steve asks if Brock was really going to come back to the UFC, and Steve hoped that he would stay in WWE. Heyman says that he opened a mini training camp in January preparing to not strike the right deal with WWE. If the deal wasn’t made, he would go right into UFC ASAP. Brock didn’t care who he fought, he just wanted a fight. Heyman says Brock has had a lot of fun in WWE during this run. Ending the streak and destroying Cena over the past year gave Brock something he didn’t have in a prior run.
Brock views himself as the baddest man on the planet and in the fourth fight, he took on Randy Couture and destroyed him in the second round. He did that with diverticulitis and actually had the disease his whole life. In looking at blood screenings, they apparently came to the conclusion that he’s always had it, but never realized it. Now that Brock’s healthy, the thought was he could do even more in UFC.
Heyman says that for the first time, Brock has really enjoyed being in WWE. Steve says that the limited date deal makes people question his passion, but he knows he loves the business. Heyman says he loves the business, but his kids need a father more than WWE needs Brock Lesnar. Heyman talks about every Brock appearance being special now and how his matches are now can’t miss. Heyman says that the greatest night of the year is Christmas Eve, and it’s only because how unique the day is – you couldn’t do it 365 times a year. When you say Brock is appearing, “DON’T YA DARE MISS IT, BE THERE!”
Steve says that Heyman’s wanted more as well, and asks if he’d take on more clients. Well, they’ve already done that several times. Heyman says it’s interesting because they have such a defined relationship on TV that mirrors their real-life relationship. Putting him with anyone else makes it “Brock Lesnar’s guy is with this guy”. He says the Punk role works and he played a different character with Punk than he did with Brock. They were like Morris Day and Jerome.
Heyman says that he texts with Punk every day, and they have a friendship outside of the business. Austin asks how he thinks Punk will do in UFC and says that Punk was burned out here and just moved on down the road. Heyman says Punk isn’t motivated by money, he wants the challenge. He might regret not doing it seven years ago, but he wants to see how he can do it and he’ll either shock the world by kicking as or even having his ass kicked. He’s man enough to take his chances on it.
Steve talks about selling and how Jake made the DDT and now it’s just a transition spot. He wonders if it’s just selling poorly and the guys today are better athletes than he ever was, but they need to work smart as well. “If nothing hurts, who gives a damn?” Harley’s finish was a suplex – not off the top, not a brainbuster, but a basic suplex. Steve asks if guys are outworking themselves and Steve says that at least in ECW, guys sold the crazy things they did.
Steve says that back in the day, you’d drink in the car while booking in your head. Heyman says that with Henry, you look at him and give him a headlock because he’s so massive. You give this move to Henry, make it his, and make sure no one else uses a headlock. If you do – you answer to Henry and then Vince. Henry comes out for 30 weeks and taps guys out with it, and you get the move over – it’s about how you educate the fans to what move is, and not what the move is – so when someone powers out of it at WrestleMania, it will get a big pop. If you treat a move like it’s devastating, then it becomes that. If everyone protects it, you’ll be fine.
Steve praises Raw for the Cena-Owens exchange, and he puts over Harley and Jake for never raising their voices and just using their tone to scare people. Austin says that Heyman was cutting great promos even in Continental, and he’s now mastered the art of promos. Steve wants promos to be more spontaneous, so he is theoretically not a fan of Everyone Talks for 20 Minutes. Heyman says that he was taught to know where the money was in a promo.
Heyman thought he was going to do a promo before Cornette, and he wind up closing the show on a taping. He didn’t know how long the promo would be – it could be 30 seconds or four minutes. He did impressions, ran around, and did everything but speak in tongues so people couldn’t turn away. He thought he was amazing, and Dusty says he was entertaining, but asked “where’s the money?”
Steve says all the blah blah was entertaining, but it didn’t draw money. Heyman says that you need to ask “where’s the money?” in every promo and for him, that can just be “BROCK LESSSSSNNNARR!”. It’s not just “Brock Lesnar” – it’s gutteral and terrifying. If he’s selling Brock, he does that. If he’s selling a Summerslam main event, what else is he selling?
Steve talks about the importance of cadence in promos and how many parts there are to a promo. Many didn’t like the Ultimate Warrior’s promo, but Steve did because it fit his character. The content isn’t just what matters, but how you say it matters as well. Sometimes, you have to layer a promo and just because someone can talk for five minutes, doesn’t mean you should. Heyman agrees and Steve asks how you can change promos. Steve tells Paul that he made Steve a laser beam with promos.
Paul says that he makes himself available to talent who asks, but he doesn’t actively force his opinions on others. Paul feels that too many people start a promo pontificating and recapping everything in great detail that wouldn’t be logical. He starts with “ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman” so people know who he is, and “I’m here to advocate for my client Brock Lesnar” lets you know his role. Everything after that is the money, and within three sentences, he can tell you who he is, his role, and what he’s here to do. The art of engaging the audience is lost and now they’re just talking at them.
Steve says if the message is just a bunch of words, then it doesn’t connect. Maybe WWE will change up “This is _____ and My Guest at This Time is _____” in some new and radical way. They can have an app vote on changing word order with A being My Guest, B being I am With and C being The Superstar Speaking with me or somesuch. Steve says that logically, it looks weird to have people have a mic by their hip and reciting the script to know when to respond.
Steve says Heyman hustled Vince Sr. and we see a photo of him that Heyman himself took. It’s a photo with Tony Atlas, so they cropped him out and he wasn’t going to say a Tony Atlas story on-air. Heyman says that he found out where Vince would take the inner circle to dinner and we see a photo of Vince Sr. and Andre that he took and earned his first $50 in wrestling. We hear about Heyman lying to get his press pass and going to the worst part of NYC and seeing Gorilla and Skaaland playing pinochle and snapping photos from below, making Andre looks huge.
The next month, he had an 8×10 printed of it and made a beeline to give it to Vince Sr. as soon as he could before Eamo got him. Paul says Vince Jr. probably has a tear going down his face now, and hopes he didn’t misremember him or he’ll never hear the end of it. They shoved him against the wall and he told them he had a press pass and he talked to Howard Finkel and gave Vince the rights to the photo and Finkel gives him $50. They offered to cover his trans and pay him for his photos, and he never got his $50 from Vince Sr.
Steve asks about the differences between Vince Sr. and Vince Jr. Paul says Sr. did what he did for his times and used his bicycled tapes as best he could and if anyone tried to come into his territory, he’d fight you for it. Heyman goes through the territory system a bit and when times changed, Joe Blanchard had USA – and I believe that’s the first time that’s been mentioned on WWE TV in any form. Ole Anderson expanded Georgia with TBS and while Vince gets the credit for the expansion, he really didn’t do it first.
What Vince did was make “the territory” the entire country. Paul says that then, no one was willing to ask if Vince Sr. was five years younger, would he have honored his prior deals or just done it anyway? Everyone else had their finger on some kind of pulse and even Verne would’ve gotten a deal – and that was proven by getting ESPN later. Paul says that Vince Sr. would’ve done it, but may not have been ambitious enough, but he didn’t know him well enough to say one way or another.
Heyman talks about Captain Lou Albano being fired more times than anyone in WWWF, WWF, and WWE history. I can’t predict lotto winners, but I can predict that this is going to be great. If anyone hasn’t heard his classic Wrestling Observer Radio appearance talking about Lou, do so as soon as possible. If you got to the Garden early, he’d be there with a huge bottle of Tropicana Grapefruit juice “with about a drop of grapefruit juice in it” and we see a photo of Lou, Freddie Blassie, The Grand Wizard, and a young Paul Heyman. This is a photo I don’t recall seeing before – even on Heyman’s documentary.
Lou was hammered and no matter what, he’d just call Vince Jr. “the kid” and would get fired and go to Charlie O’s. Vince Sr. would send someone there, bring him back, load him up with coffee, and give him job back every week. Steve compares that to Paul’s relationship with Vince Jr. and Paul says they get along great now that he isn’t telling Vince how to save the industry.
He says that Letterman wanted to “fix TV” when he came to CBS, and that’s what he wanted to do in 2001 and he was hired to give a contrarian opinion and that led to them fighting. He thought Vince would fight ideas through and Vince got tired of it. Heyman says that he has changed how he talks to a lot of people, and fatherhood has mellowed him out. He enjoyed five iced coffees before the show, while the host enjoys Stone Cold beers.
Paul says he’s never done cocaine and if he snorted a line back in his prime, his heart couldn’t have taken it. He always feared that his father would stand over his grave and his father standing over his grave and saying “I could understand you throwing you life away for this and this, but FOR THIS you make me stand over your grave?” Everyone thinks he was wired on drugs, but he was just high strung. Now, he’s far more subdued. He used to fight Vince and Stephanie to his own death, and Austin talks about Heyman’s run as SmackDown writer.
Austin says he got heat for succeeding and Heyman got heat for calling Raw the B show. Steve asks about an ’06 plane ride from Hell between Heyman and Vince. Heyman says that in a nutshell, it was time for him to go. He lost his passion, his purpose in wrestling, and resurrected ECW’s name. It was personal to him and he didn’t like how it was being used. It became a personal issue between he and Vince – he wanted to just take over SD and maybe ECW wouldn’t suffer because of Vince holding ECW against him. Heyman says in a showdown between anyone and Vince, Vince isn’t leaving WWE.
Heyman says he lost his way, couldn’t find it at the time, and Vince was angry at him while Heyman was angry at Vince. They had an ungodly bad show and were busy cursing each other out. Vince wanted him to go home and Paul was happy to go home – it took five 1/2 year for each man to see the benefits of that.
Steve talks about being in a car with Rude and Heyman and Rude blowing up at him. Steve loves saying “goshdarn” a lot, and Steve says he’s just vents. Rude loves his “goshdarn” chicken, and Steve loves his “goshdarn” Sonic, and Rude demands that Heyman pull the car over and says “Steve, must you take the fudging Lord’s name in vein!?” while Steve just sits there and Paul says Rude wasn’t a saint and viewed the commandments as a suggestion. Steve apologized for offending him and promises he’ll never say the Lord’s name in vein, Rude thanks him, and Steve says “you’re goshdarned welcome!” so Rude exploded again.
Steve said he couldn’t have predicted that would send him over the edge. Heyman talks about traveling with the Samoans while Steve says his wife is going to kill him for this. Heyman says that it was before cameras being everywhere and drones. Sting drove the Steiners around, with Scott in the front and Rick in the back. They’d speed to 85 miles per hour and Scott would hold Rick so he could grab you by your legs and luckily, no one died. Heyman was riding with Fatu and Samu and while Sting and the Steiners are coming, they lock the doors. Rick comes to get him and knocks on Paul’s window while Heyman cackles at him.
Sting switches places with Scot and then they throw food at them – including a watermelon. They stop at a convenience store so they can turn it into Mad Max Part Two. They cut into their hands and write SST on their car in blood where the Samoans throw bottles, food, and baseballs at them. Heyman says Dollar Rent a Car declared the car as totaled and they wouldn’t rent to “Paul E. Dangerously” and he’s still blacklisted from renting a car in Charlotte, NC.
Heyman asks Austin about Cena using the springboard stunner. Austin says it’s wasted because everyone kicks out of it – so now the move isn’t worth anything. Austin loves Cena and thinks he works his ass off, and the move is high risk given how slick the ropes are. Heyman asks if he wants to fight Brock at WrestleMania XXXII. Steve says he’d whoop his ass, while Heyman hypes up the baddest SOB in WWE history against the baddest man on the planet. In Texas, you could have the Rattlesnake against the Beast. Austin says he’ll think about it, but Brock really has to think about going into 105,000 people and getting his ass kicked. Heyman says they should really negotiate this – and since Paul’s phone dings, he has to buy everyone beers. Steve says if the stars aligned in Texas, where he’d watch the Von Erichs battle as Paul gets a text from a WWE writer about ” fire all the writers” while Austin wants a Texas death match with Brock.
Austin doesn’t want a scientific match, he wants a fight. He respects Brock, his accomplishments, his life, but if he stands across from Steve Austin, and you mess with him, you’re not going to like what you get. Heyman says he’s an advocate while Steve says he’s about to advocate an ass-whooping. Paul says he can leave and Steve says that might be the right move. Well, this was fantastic. You got an hour of two old friends shooting the breeze and sharing stories and “the money” at the end of a promo that happened to be an hour long and compelled you to watch every second.
In late April, we got the Jericho and Stephanie McMahon podcast. Now, barely one month later, we get Steve Austin and Paul Heyman. While their on-air time has been fairly minimal given the length of each man’s careers, they did have an impact on one another. Austin being part of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW gave him a main event rub when he otherwise would’ve been mired in the mid-card, while Heyman’s hiring of Austin in ECW allowed him to unleash verbal tirades that would bear a striking resemblance to his Stone Cold promos.
According to Sean Radican at PW Torch, Samoa Joe (aka Nuufolau Joel Seanoa) has signed a full time deal with WWE. It was reported by a source that after being very impressed with Joe’s performance at the NXT tapings, as well as merchandise sales that surpassed expectations, Vince McMahon and Paul “HHH” Levesque decided to offer him a full time deal.
Joe will finish up his commitments with indies, and then report to either NXT or the main roster immediately.
Joe ended his 10 year tenure with TNA Wrestling on February 17, 2015, and after appearing at various independent promotions, he returned to Ring of Honor on March 1. However, on May 20, Joe appeared at the NXT event ‘Unstoppable’ in a show-closing staredown with NXT Champion Kevin Owens. Joe had signed a unique contract that allowed him to work for independent promotions, while also appearing on NXT TV.
That deal included Ring of Honor because their television didn’t air nationally, which changed last Wednesday when it was announced Ring of Honor would begin airing on Destination America prior to TNA.
More on this story tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Roman Reigns will be in the Money in the Bank match after surviving three singles matches set up for him by the authority. The best thing on the show was John Cena’s showdown with Kevin Owens, which has to go down as among the best promos of Cena’s career.
Show Recap:
Stephanie McMahon, HHH, Seth Rollins, Kane and J&J Security came out with Stephanie saying Rollins is the World Heavyweight Champion and called Dean Ambrose a thief for stealing the World Heavyweight Championship.
HHH ordered Ambrose to come to the ring and return the championship, with everyone careful not to call it a belt or a strap. HHH screamed at Amrbose, but Roman Reigns showed up to a few boos. Reigns said Ambrose wasn’t in San Antonio and said that Ambrose wants a rematch at Money in the Bank, and a ladder match at that. Stephanie McMahon said they weren’t negotiating. Reigns said they should since Ambrose beat him last night. Reigns mentioned he beat him, Ambrose beat him and Rollins may be the worst WWE Champion of all time.
That set Rollins off, saying Ambrose could have his rematch at Money in the Bank. He said he didn’t need the Authority, didn’t need a “7-foot piece of crap,” didn’t need J&J Security to beat Ambrose and stormed off.
Stephanie started to do her monthly dressing down of talent which always helps them get over so much. This time, she started to scold Reigns but HHH calmed her down. HHH said if Reigns lost tonight, he would be out of the Money in the Bank match. HHH said he would choose Reigns opponent.
Roman Reigns defeated King Barrett to remain in the Money in the Bank match (14:06)
Pretty good stiff match where Reigns ducked King Barrett’s Bullhammer Elbow attempt and hit a spear. To do his dirty work, HHH sent in a guy who jobbed to R-Truth last night. Great job. Booker T. called this a “championship match anywhere in the world.” Well, maybe the Greensboro house show they had over the weekend where John Cena vs. Kane headlined because of Rusev’s injury.
Reigns ran into HHH and Stephanie backstage. They informed him that Reigns would have another match tonight against Mark Henry that would determine if he would remain in the Money in the Bank match.
Nikki Bella did an interview about being Divas champion for over 5 months when Paige walked up. Paige issued a challenge. Nikki said they should wrestle tonight. They stared at each other forever before they cut to the ring. I’d like to apologize to Sable to ripping her dialogue skills in 1998. She’s head and breasts above these divas today.
Ryback came out as the new Intercontiential Champion and thanked the fans in San Antonio for giving him a strong reaction when he returned from injury last October. He was supposed to face the Miz in his first title defense, but the Big Show made his return. The Big Show walked into the ring, knocked out the Miz and told Ryback if anyone was going to beat him for that title, it was going to be him. They had a staredown before Show left. Miz was a complete afterthought here. My brother and I touched on the Jordan-LeBron “best ever” debate last night. In the future, I bet wrestling fans will have a similar debate over which WrestleMania main eventer had a bigger career decline: Bobby Lashley or Miz.
Kevin Owens came out to a underwhelming reaction. This was his first long scripted interview and it really didn’t capture what the fans want a Cena conquerer to be. He talked about beating Cena was the biggest win of his career. When he called home last night, his wife told him how proud he was of him. Then his son asked if Cena was OK. He said his son grew up a Cena fan because of blind worship manipulated by a marketing machine. While Owens traveled the world for over ten years, Cena became his son’s hero because he was on Raw every week. Interview got better when Owens ran down Cena as a broken, empty shell of a man.
Cena came out and put over Owens saying he may have made the most unbelievable debut in history. Cena said before Owens promo, he was going to hand him the U.S. Championship. But Owens wasn’t a real man because he couldn’t cast his jealously aside. Cena said if his son was so influenced by the WWE marketing machine, he would be wearing an Adam Rose t-shirt, still love the Funkasauras and want to grow up playing in the XFL. Damn, Rose needs to give notice pronto. Cena said the slogans he’s uttered matches the way he’s lived his life in and out of the ring for over 10 years. He highlighted a girl in the crowd that held up a “I’m beating cancer” sign. She received a strong reaction.
Cena said the three words that defined Owens is “Never give up.” But Cena told Owens to think before he speaks because in two weeks he will have to explain how a great wrestler got beat by a real man. Cena acted like he was going to square off but Owens walked off. Great promo by Cena and this was a good segment overall.
The New Day with Xavier Woods saying Tim Duncan needs to retire. Kofi Kingston put himself over about how he’s going to win the Money in the Bank match.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston (3:14)
Lana came out with Dolph Ziggler and watched from the ramp. Ziggler pinned Kingston when he reversed a schoolboy cradle. Big E. and Woods jumped Ziggler postmatch but the Prime Time Players ran down for the save.
This led to a six-man match immediately afterwards.
Prime Time Players and Dolph Ziggler defeated the New Day (5:32)
Titus O’Neal pinned Woods after a pump handle slam. Crowd got into O’Neal’s hot tag comeback. Lana just watched on.
Roman Reigns defeated Mark Henry by countout to retain his spot in the Money in the Bank match (3:45)
Reigns hit a Superman Punch outside the ring. TGhey teased a double countout before Reigns got back in the ring before ten. Afterwards, Henry gave Reigns the World’s Strongest Slam. Reigns can’t even pin a guy whose career is winding down?
Of course, HHH and Stephanie met Reigns backstage and told him he would get another match tonight with Bray Wyatt.
They aired Axelmania and Macho Mandow sipping Sonic Shakes. They were supposed to do the Mega Powers handshake but the shakes were so good they forgot. When they finished the shakes Axelmania did the Hulk Hogan catchphrase. Big Show and New Day also taped spots.
Nikki Bella defeated Paige to retain the Divas Championship (5:42)
Finish came when Paige delivered a brainbuster off the second rope. Nikki, who looked like she landed on her head, rolled out of the ring, where Brie Bella was hiding under the ring. The twins switched places and Brie, with the referee thinking it was Nikki, small packaged Paige to win. So the Bellas with a heel turn, their latest turn without turning.
Randy Orton defeated Sheamus by DQ (12:57)
Crowd was mildly interested but they couldn’t get anything going and it had a lousy finish. Orton set up for the RKO but Sheamus escaped and hit a flying knee. They wound up outside the ring where Sheamus hit Orton with a chair for the DQ. Sheamus hit two Brogue kicks on Orton and had to be separated by various officials.
Rusev did an interview on crutches with a blank look on his face. Byron Saxton asked him for his current state of mind. He said he had no career, no woman, no championship. He said he was a broken man and he was the one crushed this time. But he sees what he wants, what he desires and he will get it back.
They announced the six-man field for Money in the Bank match would include Reigns (if he wins), Ziggler, Kingston, Orton, Sheamus and Neville, with more participants to be added. Seems to hint at the finish of the main event will be designed to add Wyatt somehow.
Neville defeated Bo Dallas (3:06)
Neville won with the Red Arrow. Crowd was dead when Bo Dallas was on offense.
Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt to keep his spot in the Money in the Bank match (again) (12:12)
Crowd was tired of Reigns by this point and really just tired period. The Authority watched from the ramp. Reigns is now smiling while he’s selling to tease his comeback. This was the best match on the show. Finish came when Reigns hit a Superman’s Punch. J&J Security and Kane surrounded the ring. Kane jumped on the apron. Reigns sent Wyatt into Kane then hit a spear to pin Wyatt.
Postmatch, the Authority tried to jump on Reigns and surrounded him. Then Ambrose’s music hit. Rollins tried to meet him on the entrance ramp, but Ambrose showed up on the announcer’s table. Ambrose threw the belt to Rollins, who caught it. But Ambrose kicked Rollins in the gut and hit Dirty Deeds, then took the belt back. Reigns gave Joey Mercury a spear and Ambrose clotheslined Jamie Noble over the top rope. Ambrose and Reigns escaped through the crowd.
SUMMARY: The Reigns storyline was a long way to reach an obvious conclusion. Looking at that Money in the Bank match lineup, it again exposes the lack of depth in the company, so how could Reigns be left out? It’s tough to watch a Orton-Sheamus match without thinking of the crowd that crapped on it in 2012 in Brooklyn. Tonight’s wasn’t much better. It still feels like Ambrose is more over than Reigns, but he’s not the chosen one.
Before RAW tonight, Samoa Joe worked what was likely a dark match against Tyson Kidd. We’re looking for reports on the early matches on tonight’s show.
“A lot of fans are going to remember the combination of Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman. Many will remember Jerry’s ’Kiss My Foot’ match with Bret Hart. Many of us will always remember Jerry’s amazing work at the announce desk. Jerry Lawler has impacted upon generations of fans.” Jim Ross, It’s Good To Be King: The Jerry Lawler Story DVD, 2015
The Big Takeaway: Although there is plenty of material here that will intrigue and that is not available on the WWE Network, this is not an essential purchase. The matches and interview segments are entertaining, but there is little that is must-see. The documentary feature on Lawler’s life is good and Jerry is tremendous, but it is shorter than it should be. For fans of Lawler, this is worth purchasing; for casual WWE fans, there is arguably nothing too vital here.
DVD Recap:
There’s a rear air of humility about Jerry Lawler as he sits in his home studio, carefully shading some of his artwork – a picture of the McMahon lineage: Shane, Vince Jr and Vince Sr. As he concentrates on the intricacies of the picture, thoughts spill out that feel honest and natural. He seems completely at peace when he is drawing. His talent is unmistakable and, of course, it was his art that got Lawler his first break into the business.
If you have read his 2002 autobiography, It’s Good to be King…Sometimes, you’ll know much of his history. The documentary runs at just over 80 minutes, where we’re shown a truncated version of Jerry Lawler’s life and career in the wrestling business, told by a mellow and reflective Lawler himself. But, largely, this feels like a profile of a WWE commentator who was once a wrestler.
On the subsequent discs, matches on offer include his work against Kaufman, Bret Hart, Roddy Piper and even a Raw match from 2004 against Ric Flair. Many of the best of his King’s Court segments make up the rest of the collection.
Jerry Lawler comes across as grateful and humble, a humility that would seem to stem from his modest upbringing with his mother, father and brother. His dad, a factory worker, earned $99 a week in Memphis until a forced moved to Ohio saw some upheaval in Lawler’s life. But it was Lawler’s father’s heart attacks that forced them to move back to Memphis, where he would stay. It is never stated that this family medical history has worried Lawler and in the last chapter of the feature, when Jerry’s own heart attack is covered, they miss this fact too.
In Memphis, a young Lawler would go to watch the local wrestling with his father, where Jerry would draw caricatures of the wrestlers. Many fans noticed his work and he was encouraged to send them into Channel 13 to be shown on TV. Sure enough, Lance Russell called Lawler to ask for more of his work. Lawler obliged and met Jackie Fargo and, after doing sign artwork and some radio work, Fargo saw his verbal talent and the rest is history.
Given his pivotal role in breaking into the business, his love and respect for Jackie Fargo is clear. After Lawler and Jerry Vickers went over to work in West Memphis, Arkansas, where Aubrey Griffith was running the territory, Fargo got him work instead. Lawler had promised Griffith promotion on his radio station in return for work as a wrestler, but Fargo would pull him back in and train him up properly.
Here, there isn’t too much depth into the trajectory of Lawler’s rise to becoming a huge star in Memphis. His becoming the ‘King’ is covered in minutes and the uninitiated viewer just won’t get that sense of just quite how big he and wrestling were in that territory, in that period.
Jerry Jarrett puts over Lawler’s ability as a promo. His charisma is clear – Lawler was a different type of ‘bad guy’, young, brash, outspoken with a natural ability to think of and deliver one-liners. As Jack Brisco notes when reflecting on their 1974 matches, ‘Jerry was never a great athlete, but he was a great performer’
Lawler’s infamous feud with Andy Kaufman is the main focus of his early career in Memphis. The footage of Kaufman wrestling women and cutting promos that would get easy heat from those living in the South is tremendous. As is the admission from Vince McMahon that they were offered Kaufman and passed, making Vince very jealous of the mainstream publicity that it drew.
Keeping that sort of attention on their product was tough and a now invested Lawler reflects on how Memphis started losing talent and that, although competition made them strong, he “could see the writing on the wall.” He briefly mentions how he filed a lawsuit against the WWF because of their representation and advertisement of ‘The King’ (Harley Race) at their shows in the Mid South area.
Lawler is fairly damning of the Super Clash III title unification match between he and Kerry Von Erich and here the documentary claims that he went over to work for WWF in 1993 (his first work on TV was December 1992), where Vince had already lured Jerry Jarrett in. Jarrett, Lawler states, was brought in to run things in case Vince’s court case against the government had not been fortuitous and had recommended Lawler for commentary.
There is much more focus on Lawler as a colour commentator than there is on his in-ring career with the company, but Bret Hart is gracious enough to call him “a genius as a heel.” We’re shown very little footage at this point of Lawler doing anything other than talking, either behind the announce table or in the ring and it feels very much like the company are keen to paint him as a commentator who used to be a wrestler.
Lawler remembers that Vince was a lot of fun to do commentary with and Jim Ross tells us that he and Jerry, “never met, never sat down, it just happened organically […] he was a perfect foil for my insults.” Lawler goes on to dissect his ‘character’ as an announcer, noting the high pitch, the sexist vernacular, the wide eyes and dreamy expression. All seem very far away from Lawler now when he speaks in calm, soft tones to the camera.
This persona was toned down, too, by 1999 when Jerry ran for Mayor of Memphis – placing third with 11.7% of the ballots. We’re shown his mayoral campaign TV advert where his policies centered around him essentially not being a politician and offering a safer, cleaner city. His then wife, Stacy Carter, remembers how much strain the running for Mayor put on them and said that not winning had been a relief to some extent.
After Carter’s release and Lawler’s subsequent walkout, his return to the company in 2001 is made to look like a huge deal, but his impact is left there. There is no mention of any influence on the company or anyone in it for 6 years, until were shown clips from his Hall of Fame induction in 2007.
From here, we fast forward through to his memories of working a TLC match against The Miz, in 2010, for the WWE Championship. It was, of course, his first and last title match in the company and no reference is made to the fact that it took place on Lawler’s 61st birthday. In fact, age is never mentioned at all. Lawler, at least outwardly, remembers it fondly but the documentary is keen to paint it as a stepping-stone to him facing Michael Cole at WrestleMania 27.
Cole speaks highly and fondly of Lawler but says at WrestleMania the drop kick that he took from Lawler knocked out one of his teeth and the bump that he took into the General Manager’s podium was so hard that he thought he was going to pass out. This fondness then transitions into Cole’s memories of Lawler’s heart attack, live on Raw in 2012.
There’s something very uncomfortable about watching someone having CPR, but the footage make it look like it’s an angle. The camera used to film the backstage footage is in HD, with the same filter as a normal ring camera. Nothing about it looks real and yet it is. Although the sentiment expressed by Cole, Ross and McMahon is one of respect and concern and worry, the images don’t really seem to match. It makes for uncomfortable viewing.
Rather disappointingly, the heart attack is where the documentary ends and we go back to Lawler drawing at his desk at his home in Memphis. Thankfully, closing statements from Cole, McMahon and Ross save the end of this documentary from celebrating a near-death experience rather than this man’s impact on the world of professional wrestling.
I could kind of follow WWE’s booking logic in putting Mark Henry in the IC chamber match. I mean, he’s a big guy, he gets a receptive pop, and there’s no harm in pinning him. But even Big Show could have filled that spot and meant more. Instead, Ryback wins his first singles title in WWE and gets the most lukewarm reception, despite the rub from Daniel Bryan.
The NXT guys were tremendous. Even Bo Dallas and Neville, who were put in the death spot post Cena v Owens, did what they could with a crowd that had largely been taken down from a tremendous star-making turn.
The only big “surprises” were that they inexplicably left the Divas title on Nikki. Perhaps Nikki is going to mimic boyfriend Cena’s open challenge and Sasha Banks is going to come out and win it on RAW some week.
Also, it was the perfect opportunity for Roman Reigns to turn on Dean Ambrose. Yet as soon as he laid out Rollins, J&J Security, AND Kane, there was no way he was going to lay out Ambrose and suddenly join forces with the Authority. Perhaps for Monday night, if its in the works.
Jeff Cohen
Flushing, NY
Thumbs Up
Best Match: Rollins vs. Ambrose
Worst Match: Divas Triple Threat
I really enjoyed this show. There wasn’t a bad match on the card and the two big singles matches delivered huge. Plus the two Chambers were decent if underwhelming.
The Tag Chamber was a really fun way to kick things off, and while I would’ve liked to see Cesaro/Kidd and New Day as the final two teams, this was enjoyable from start to finish while also making the Tag Titles seem important. It’s nice to see a full tag team division again.
Divas 3-way was the usual throwaway women’s match. Perhaps someday we’ll finally get the women’s wrestling we deserve on a main roster PPV.
Cena vs. Owens was pretty great. Owens came off like a major deal and this was full of excellent false finishes. The only thing missing was the intangible that comes from two guys who have wrestled each other a lot and have that perfect chemistry (more on that later). HUGE moment for Owens getting a clean win.
Neville vs. Dallas was fine. Little more than a showcase for Neville, and I would’ve liked more offense from him.
The IC Chamber was a bit disappointing, but still not bad. It was a bit on the awkward side and the lethargic crowd kinda hurt it. Ziggler was blatantly yelling out spots (particularly when wrestling Ryback), which I found very distracting. I’m not sure what that was about, as I’ve never noticed him doing that before. Ryback winning could be a good thing if it plays out right, and should elevate both him and the Title.
Rollins vs. Ambrose was awesome. Loved the chain wrestling at the beginning, and these two have such amazing chemistry and clearly drawn characters I could watch them fight each other all day. This might be their best singles match to date. Usually I hate the Dusty finish, but in this situation I thought it worked great. Rollins’ reaction at the DQ announcement was priceless. This was a great heelish way for Rollins to retain while keeping Ambrose strong.
Overall Elimination Chamber was easily the best WWE PPV of 2015 thus far, IMO. Yes, I thought this was much more fun than ‘Mania 31 and featured a great one-two punch, plus a fun tag Chamber.
Kevin Owens continues his surprising run as a top guy, not surprising due to talent level, but surprising due to he being a guy that you wouldn’t think Vince would be interested in featuring based on the “look”. Great match too with believable near falls. Let’s hope the follow up is just as strong.
The tag title match gets the worst match honor because in what universe (no pun intended) should all of the New Day been allowed in and none of the other teams had a third man (not counting Torito)? Some plot holes I just can’t overlook.
Starting to get sick of garbage finishes in the main events too, with this being the third show in a row as such. The match was real good, but it’s hard to get totally involved in it when you know a crap finish is coming.
– Chris H
Lakeland, FL
Thumbs in the Middle.
Best Match: Cena vs. Owens
Worst Match: Triple Threat Divas
I can’t say how big it is to have someone, let alone an NXT person in their first call up match, beat John Cena cleanly. It shows that WWE may be interested in pushing Kevin Owens to the stars; he could be the next major heel. Is this the beginning of the end of Cena’s ‘super’ status? Also, I must point out that it’s not common in WWE for opponents to steal each other’s finishers, and that’s a good thing; makes it feel like a big deal (or disrespect) when it happens.
In terms of the tag team chamber match, I’m not a fan of allowing all three members of the new day in there at the same time, legally. Could have been really heel-ish if the third member were to sneek in when the outer door is open to allow a just-pinned team to leave. Are all three now tag team champions? Also, not sure when (if) Kane said the bull was allowed in. Happy to see the Prime Time Players get some shining moments.
Happy with Ryback winning the IC Title. Also Bryan presenting it to him felt very genuine. Would have been nice to have him on commentary during the match. Not really any special spots that I’ll remember. Would like to one day give Mark Henry a decent run before he actually retires.
The WWE WHC match was good. I couldn’t imagine that Ambrose would win but was marking out when he did, and quickly came up with an excuse to not give him the belt (the same one they wound up using, a DQ.) Didn’t like that as WWE does that type of cloudy, indecisive ending far to much, especially on PPV-like-events. Though, Ambrose keeping the physical belt has given me a big reason to tune into RAW tomorrow, to see what he does. Then again the whole thing feels like trying to recreate the beginnings of Austin (Ambrose) vs. McMahon (Authority) with Seth being HBK, around WM14. Let’s see if Ambrose throws the belt in a river tomorrow. I’ll be watching.
– Charlie Scott Machalow
Thumbs up
Best Match: Cena vs. Owens
Worst: Divas
Really happy to see them trying with some new guys, like Ascension, Neville, and Owens. Having Ascension elminate two teams strong hopefully will help them out. Enjoyed the tag a lot. Interesting choice to put the PTP in at the end. Kidd and Cesaro were awesome as usual.
Really enjoyed the Cena vs. Owens match. Looks like they really trust Owens.
Really enjoyed the main too, and although it was too soon to put the belt on Dean, we saw that the fans will get behind when the time does come.
Good win for the Ryback. Hey, it’s something new and he certainly can get over with his power stuff. Nobody needed to see Sheamus win the IC belt.
I will be very interested to see where they go with Money in the Bank coming up.
Dan Velten
How you doin’ Dave,
Thumbs Up
Good show, although the crowd hurt it which I feared after how deafly quiet the Corpus Christi crowd were for a Raw at the beginning of the year. Owens-Cena was a great match, and had the most shocking finish I’ve seen in years excluding the ending of the streak. Really pleased for Owens. They weren’t gelling at the start, Owens was trying to work a lot slower than Cena. I assume that was down to the months of working down in NXT where they adopt a slower pace. Also I think he was a little rough for Cena during the first half of the match as he appeared to lighten up during the second. In addition he’ll have to pull back on looking out at the crowd so much as they don’t like that there.
I never stop being surprised that they’re yet to remodel the chamber, that grate really needs replacing with something less stiff and worse sounding. Also the distance between the top of the pod and roof continues to be a problem for high-flyers. I’ve said before Paige needs to calm down with her bumps, her frame simply isn’t going to be able to handle it. And combined with the WWE schedule she’s going to end up in a fair bit of pain. Then she goes and takes a top rope German in a six minute match where there wasn’t enough time to get the most out of it, not that she should be doing it anyway. Just crazy stuff. The girls were out to prove a point and tried hard, but they were trying to do too much too fast which led to a bit of sloppiness. Ambrose-Rollins was really good, but I didn’t think it was at the level of their two matches on Raw, the one being a few weeks ago and the other the night after Summerslam.
Best Match: Owens vs. Cena ****1/4
Worst Match: Ryder vs. Stardust **
Tag Title Elimination Chamber Match ***1/2
Naomi vs.Paige vs. Nikki **3/4
Dallas vs. Neville **3/4
IC Title Elimination Chamber Match ***1/4
Ambrose vs. Rollins ***3/4
Thanks Dave
Tom (griffo120)
Wow is all I have to say about tonight as it was NXTs coming out party as if they needed it; know the claim has been made for a while now that its their own brand and not developmental and tonight showed that.
Huge Thumbs up; match of the night and match of the year canidate goes to Owens vs Cena.
Worst match if we have to pick one would be neville vs bo dallas.
Wasnt a fan of how it went off the air but you knew Ambroise couldnt walk away as champion yet.
~John Chagaris
Davenport, fl
Hi Dave, Just wanted to give my thoughts on the Elimination Chamber. I gave the show a thumbs in the middle with the best match actually being between John Cena and Kevin Owens (Hell must have froze over if anything involving Cena get’s best match from me, lol!) and the worst match being the Chamber match for the I/C title which was just a bunch of sloppy looking power moves in my opinion and a missed opportunity to enhance a storyline feud between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus. But it was an ok show, and the Chamber cage is a good spectacle but seems difficult to navigate.
1. Tag title chamber match – The match was good and had some cool moves, but really mostly comprised of undercard guys with no real talent depth in the match in my opinion. They really need to beef up the teams in the tag team division or show them in a more positive light. Most of the tag teams are portrayed as an undercard comedy act or two guys put together who could not get a singles push. I guess the right ream won in New Day, but none of these teams really stood out.
2. Divas match – Nothing really special here as Nikkie retains the title over Paige and Naomi. Another division that really needs enhancement, even more then the tag team division. WWE really seems to want to push the IC and US titles as being important, but not really seeing the same thing for the Divas title or the Tag team title for that matter. But it does seem that a new era in women’s wrestling is coming soon with the recent action in NXT which has been awesome, hopefully that translates soon to the women’s division on the main roster.
3. Cena VS Ownes – Now this was the best match of the night for me, totally unexpected. I was not in complete shock at the win, as they tried to portray it along the same lines as Undertaker losing at Mania, complete with trying to act like the crowd was in complete shock. But it was an excellent match, and that is the first time I’ve ever said that regarding anything involving Cena. I don’t know much about Kevin Owens as I have not really followed his career until this point, and he looks like the pro wrestling version of Roy Nelson. But anyone who can get a great match out of John Cena has to be an excellent performer! I hope Owens wins the US title as I think it would be very unique to keep him as both the US champion and NXT champion to see how it works. Hopefully their rematch at Money in the Bank will be just as good. On a side note however, why does half the roster wrestle in jean shorts, work out clothes, or other non wrestling related gear? This match made me think of how much half the roster looks like they just came from Wal Mart, just saying, lol!
3. Dallas VS Neville – Bo is actually really entertaining as a heel pretending to be a face, and Neville is just awesome. Hopefully both of these guys continue to advance in the main roster as they seem to be building from their NXT past with these two.
4. Chamber match for the I/C title – This match appeared to be just a big mess with a bunch of power guys doing a few power moves and not much else. Henry as a replacement for Rusev didn’t really do much for the match. R Truth should not have even been in the match. And if they want to make the I/C title more important and have quality matches, then Ryback is the wrong guy for that. They had a storyline sitting in their hands with Daniel Bryan at ringside to present the I/C title to the winner. They really should have had Sheamus win the match and Bryan forced to hand the title over. This could have very easily pushed the feud going between the two, and have a title grudge match ready for when Bryan returns.
5. World title match – Rollins VS Ambrose – Really good match with spot of the night when Ambrose dove onto everyone at ringside, that was awesome. A good match but after the ref bump and the other ref running in, well I could see the “Dusty” finish a mile away. The ref should have been wearing a T shirt that read “I’m here to reverse the decision”, way too predictable. That was just lazy booking. And why did Ambrose and Roman continue to celebrate like Amrbrose still won the title after the decision was announced that he won by DQ? It made them both look like idiots. Speaking of idiots, the commentary the entire night was just awful. It was like Cole, King, and JBL were all calling different matches all night at the same time, making no sense, bad jokes, and just not flowing with the matches in any way at all. If Cole is going to be the lead announcer then he really need’s to direct the commentary for the whole team to follow. Although I’m sure that is an impossible task with JBL and King, and who knows what Vince is also telling them to say at any given time. But the commentary need’s to improve badly in my opinion.
