Category: WWE News

By Steve Khan, WrestlingObserver.com

– Air Date: May 28, 2015 (May 27 in Canada)

– Location: Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA

News:

Kevin Owens made his first SmackDown appearance, Rusev is hurt, and Seth Rollins laid out Dean Ambrose with a pedigree.

Show Recap:

They announced that the Raw opener would be the main event of SmackDown.

Dean Ambrose came out to a good reaction. He said The Authority always has a Plan B and their plan was to get him arrested. Ambrose knows from experience that jail is not a fun place to be. He considered using his one prison phone call to order pizza, but instead called his only friend Roman Reigns, whose name got a big pop.

Ambrose also considered digging his way out of jail but instead used WWE’s own YouTube clip against the Authority to get cleared. He said NYPD were big fans of his and let him drive the paddy wagon back to Raw (and Reigns bought him enough time to get there). Ambrose said there was going to be a fight on Sunday for the richest prize in the business, he would end Seth Rollins’ reign and the Age of Ambrose would begin.

(Ambrose never cut to the screen to show replays. Instead, they showed pictures and clips as he spoke. This wasn’t really an improvement however, as the clips with sound completely distracted from Dean’s promo.)

Lumberjack Match: Lucha Dragons beat Tyson Kidd & Cesaro w/Natalya via pinfall

The lumberjacks were the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores, Ascension and New Day. On the Canadian airing, they introduced the lumberjacks and the commentators cut to commercial. Except the commercials didn’t air. The screen went black for a second and they came back.

Really good, lengthy match. With two babyface teams, they didn’t do the usual tag match formula. Kidd countered a Kalisto hurricanrana into a sharpshooter. Sin Cara broke up the cover so Cesaro hit him with a superkick. Cesaro was tossed over the ropes onto a few lumberjacks. Woods grabbed Kidd’s foot as a distraction and Kalisto hit Salida del Sol for the win. Lots of “New Day sucks” chants.

Backstage, Rollins complained to Kane about having to face Ambrose and Reigns again. Jamie Noble told a story about his old Aunt Baby. Kane told Rollins not to worry because he has a plan. Rollins believed him.

R-Truth beat King Barrett via pinfall

Truth did a completely serious in-set promo pushing the Chamber match, saying he doesn’t worry about danger, danger worries about him. That was refreshing. Barrett also did an in-set promo, saying he’d win back the IC Title. Barrett controlled the match for a couple of minutes but Truth won rather quickly with a reverse STO. Afterwards, Sheamus laid out both men with brogue kicks.

Backstage, Lana told Renee Young that she almost believed that Rusev could change, but she realized his ways and said she belongs to no man. Renee asked about her relationship with Ziggler and Lana said she has no relationship with him. Rusev showed up. Basically, Rusev was unbothered by Ziggler. Lana didn’t believe that Rusev wasn’t jealous. Rusev said Lana has dug her own grave and now has to lie in it.

Ryback beat Rusev via DQ

Ryback worked over Rusev for while and hit a nice delayed vertical suplex. Rusev came back with a kick and clothesline. Rusev used a fallaway slam on the outside and they went to commercial.

After the break, Rusev visibly limped around and Jerry Lawler pointed it out. Ryback tried a power slam but Rusev slid to the outside, favouring his ankle. Ryback eventually went after him but Rusev slammed him twice into the ring post for a DQ. Rusev tossed Ryback into the steel steps for good measure.

Rusev leaned against the ring to take pressure off his ankle/foot. Ryback’s music played and he got to his feet and began walking away, even though the guy who attacked him was still just standing there. The referee checked on Rusev and they cut to the announcers who moved on to the women’s title feud.

The match was enjoyable until the finish, where they obviously had to call an audible. I’m not sure if they ever do any editing once the show airs in Canada, but they might want to edit out Ryback getting to his feet and walking away.

Paige beat Naomi w/Tamina via pinfall

They both did good in-set promos before the match. Paige won after kicking Tamina in the face and hitting Naomi with Ram-Paige. It was fine but short. Afterwards, Nikki Bella came out with Brie to pose with the Divas title.

Michael Cole brought out NXT Champion Kevin Owens. They showed replays of Owens powerbombing John Cena twice. When they came back from the replays, Owens was laughing and pointing at the screen to make sure Cole was watching. Cole said Owens has been in WWE for 2 weeks and Owens interrupted him immediately to say he’s been in this company for 2 weeks but has been in the business for 15 years.

He’s been dominating for years and will dominate Cena. Owens knows Cena’s list of accomplishments: 15 world titles, 52 terrible t-shirt designs and a thousand different ways to suck. Owens doesn’t have to prove anything to Cena, Cena has to prove himself to Owens. Owens showed his apron powerbomb to Sami Zayn from NXT. He explained that Zayn was his best friend, so imagine what he would do to Cena. Owens ended the promo by saying the real champ is here.

As Owens left, Dean Ambrose entered for the main event. Ambrose walked right by Owens without looking at him, but Owens did stop to look at Ambrose.

Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns beat WWE Champion Seth Rollins & Kane w/J&J Security via DQ

The story of every this match was the heels using the numbers game to their advantage. They worked over Ambrose forever. Ambrose knocked J&J over the announce table and used a tornado DDT on Kane.

Reigns made a hot tag and hit Rollins with clotheslines, a forearm and Samoan drop. Ambrose took out Kane with a flying elbow and plancha. After a quick back-and-forth exchange, Reigns hit Rollins with a superman punch but J&J broke up the cover for the DQ.

Ambrose took them out with a dive and began pummeling Rollins. Kane executed his plan, calling out The New Day who attacked Ambrose. Reigns knocked them all down with a dive over the top.

Xavier Woods managed to avoid this, but Ambrose jumped in the ring and hit him with Dirty Deeds. Ambrose hit Big E with a rebound clothesline, Reigns took out Kingston with a superman punch and Big E with a spear.

I thought this was the end with Ambrose and Reigns standing tall, but no, there’s more. Kane chokeslammed Reigns (without help or distraction), Rollins attacked Ambrose from behind and hit him with a pedigree. Rollins and Kane stood tall to end the show.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this was a fine show that had some noteworthy stuff. I could have done without the DQ in the main event and overbooked finish, but with just 2 weeks between big shows, they’ve had to cram a lot in. That also explains why we got the Kevin Owens interview here as well. The main story from the main event is that Rollins and his crew are on the same page and that means trouble for Ambrose.

Match Results:

• Lucha Dragons beat Tyson Kidd & Cesaro via pinfall
• R-Truth beat King Barrett via pinfall
• Ryback beat Rusev via DQ
• Paige beat Naomi via pinfall
• Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns beat WWE Champion Seth Rollins & Kane via DQ

Airdate: Feb. 15, 1985
Runtime: 41:22

Maybe it was Vince McMahon’s orange jacket or the new opening where Dr. D. David Schultz, Sgt. Slaughter and Ivan Putski were dropped in favor of Andre The Giant slapping Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Capt. Lou Albano managing the U.S. Express, and The Junkyard Dog giving a power slam, but TNT felt fresh and new this week.

The show served as a lead-up to Monday’s “War to Settle the Score” in Madison Square Garden, where Hulk Hogan will face “Rowdy” Roddy Piper for the WWF championship.

I don’t know if this match was thrown together on the fly, or if MTV agreed to broadcast the show at the last-minute, but there was no mention of this huge angle the week before. Suddenly, Hogan is no longer goofing off training Hillbilly Jim and is not in a hot feud with Piper.

They mentioned the Monday show several times, without ever saying that it would air on MTV. Perhaps they weren’t allowed to mention a competing network. I guess they know wrestling fans are smart and would figure it out. The show opens with McMahon in a horrendous orange jacket.

We go to Madison Square Garden where Dick Clark is presenting an award to Cyndi Lauper and Capt. Lou Albano for their work on multiple sclerosis.

Albano enters the ring in a suit, followed by Piper in his blue wrestling trunks. Piper grabbed what appeared to be a framed gold record and proceeded to smash it over Albano’s head. It should be noted that Albano sold this like he was Shawn Michaels, falling flat on his back while swinging his arms back. This was awesome.

Lauper then jumped on Piper’s leg and Piper kicked her off of him, in a spot that deserves props considering that Lauper is not a wrestler. Heck even Ronda Rousey wouldn’t sell at WrestleMania.

Piper then body slammed David Wolff, who unlike Albano and Lauper, totally no-sold it. Piper actually struggled to pick Wolff up. Lauper’s boyfriend apparently didn’t know to jump in the air to help Piper because Piper’s slam was slightly better than Hogan’s of Andre at WrestleMania III. The segment had that “this could be real” heat since it involved mainstream celebrities.

Piper and his new bodyguard, Ace Cowboy Bob Orton, were the first official guests on the show. Piper said that a man of his stature needs a bodyguard. You never know, he said, when someone will take a shot at him, “even old suckers,” like Lord Alfred Hayes.

Piper then touched Hayes’ hand and said “you’re ghostly, man,” adding that he only had about two years left.

Piper then did what he did best — ramble on taking jabs at everyone. He told McMahon his voice was “high-pitched,” that MTV was “music to vomit by” and that he scared Dick Clark so badly that he would never be the same. Piper said that he’s a legend killer and that he wants to take Hogan’s title. They cut back and forth between Piper and taped interviews with Hogan and Mean Gene Okerlund, where Hogan was promising to destroy Piper.

Throughout the segment, Piper was infatuated with his chest hair. Every time the camera cut back to him, he lost a button, displaying more and more of his chest hair.

He asked McMahon if he had hair on his chest. He then said Hogan and Wolff don’t have any hair on their chest, but that Cyndi Lauper does.

We go to the ring and see Piper and Orton vs. “Superfly” Snuka and The Tonga Kid. Snuka is suddenly back after disappearing for several months. The match is pretty much a brawl with Snuka hitting a high-cross body block on Piper, but Orton making the save. The referee called for a double disqualification.

Back in the TNT studios Piper is analyzing the match, with Orton standing behind him, when he starts asking “what stinks?” Piper sends Orton to investigate and when Orton returns he says that what stinks is that “Snuka and Albano” are in the building. Piper leaves the set, surprisingly without hitting anyone. In his two other TNT appearances he slapped Hayes and decked Albano. Cowboy Bob Orton leaves with him.

Capt. Lou Albano, who has now surpassed SD Jones as the man who has appeared the most on TNT, is the next guest. Albano is apparently now the manager of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo, the U.S. Express, who are now the WWF tag team champions.

Albano literally turned overnight, going from a guy who was berating midgets and women at Paul Vachon’s December wedding, to Lauper’s No. 1 defender and spokesman for Multiple Sclerosis awareness. Albano promised not to yell and scream on the show, but he was very upset with Piper’s MSG antics. He said that Albano dislocated the third lumbar in Wolff’s back with the body slam.

Albano said Piper sent wrestling back 20 years with his assault on Lauper and Wolff. 

Snuka is not only back in the ring, but he’s back as a guest on TNT. McMahon says, “It’s an honor to have someone of your caliber on TNT.” He cuts to match with Snuka against a very average-looking Bobby Bass. Bass did the typical heel moves, trying to force Snuka into a handshake only to turn on him, but Snuka did not fall for it.

Instead Snuka dominated him with chops, and head butts and pinned him with a tremendous Superfly splash

McMahon seems desperate to push Snuka, saying “no one in professional wrestling can do what you do in the squared circle.” McMahon says that the fans get behind him more than any other WWF superstar. If that’s true, why is Hogan champ? Snuka refuses to comment on Piper, who several months prior hit him over the head with a coconut.

Snuka says he will do all of his talking in the ring.

The final guest this week is Wolff, who seems to enjoy being part of professional wrestling. Wolff said the awards presentation was meant to bring to very good industries together, but that Roddy Piper wiped it out.

“He did a horrible thing to her,” Wolff said of kicking Lauper. Wolf claimed that the slam was so hard that he could not walk for a couple of days because “the muscles on my back were badly bruised.” Wolff made a prediction before the show ended: “Hulk Hogan all the way. I think he is going to destroy this guy.”

McMahon thanked fans for watching and the wrestlers who appeared on the show, including Mr. Fuji and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, both of whom were not on the show, or who were cut off the WWE Network broadcast.

Two WWE NXT events have been announced for 10/24 and 10/25 as part of the Aftershock Festival in Gibson Ranch in Elverta, CA, just north of Sacramento. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday for a pre-sale and Friday for a public sale.   

Photo: WWE.com

by Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com 

The Big News:

The entire show was built around a storyline where Dean Ambrose had to sign a contract in order to receive his title shot against Seth Rollins. Ambrose got arrested on trumped up charges in the first hour. If you bet on Ambrose returning in the final segment in a police van to beat up the heels, give yourself a gold star. Kevin Owens showed up again, which was the only thing of value tonight. 

The Show:

HHH, Stephanie McMahon, Seth Rollins and J&J Security opened the show. Rollins said Dean Ambrose made the decision to give Ambrose the shot at the WWE Heavyweight title shot under duress and the Authority could take away that title shot from Ambrose, or even fire him. However, Rollins said he asked them not to fire him because Ambrose isn’t a threat to him. Who talked Rollins into burying an opponent before a title mat…oh, yeah… 

HHH said if Ambrose wanted the title shot against Rollins, he would have to come out and sign a contract. Ambrose came out and delivered some Cena-like line about going to sleep by counting how many times he gets to punch Rollins in the face. Ambrose joked when he wins the title, J&J Security can walk around barefoot like any other hobbits, Kane could wear a collar like a good lapdog and Rollins could drunk dial Selena Gomez because he’ll always be “our Justin Beiber.” 

Rollins started comparing himself to Beiber, saying Beiber is the most successful artist of his generation, rich, famous, and has to beat girls off of him with a stick and everyone wishes they could be like him. Rollins called Ambrose a cockroach and said he would merely survive but never thrive. Again, Rollins dared Ambrose to come down to the ring and sign the contract. Ambrose made mention of rather being a cockroach that being on the wrong end of the Authority’s Human Centipede. Somebody on the writing staff likes morbid cinema.

Ambrose got to ringside when Roman Reigns came out of the crowd to join him. Stephanie said Ambrose had until the end of the night to sign the contract and arranged a match with Reigns and Ambrose vs. Rollins and Kane immediately. 

Michael Cole made mention of the Nassau Coliseum being one of the buildings that hosted WrestleMania 2. Booker T. chimed in that was one of his favorite WrestleManias. That’s like someone naming their favorite Metallica albums and they start with “St. Anger.” 

Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeated Seth Rollins and Kane (12:52)

Ambrose pinned Rollins after a backslide. It was supposed to be a big deal that the champion got pinned, but Rollins does a job on Raw and Smackdown every few weeks, so it’s hard for it to feel special. Plus, it all but gives away the finish to Sunday’s match. Solid match overall with a good near fall where Ambrose gave Kane a Superman’s punch into the flying elbow from Ambrose, leading to a Rollins’ save. 

Renee Young interviewed Ambrose and told him that he still needed to sign the contact tonight to face Rollins. J&J Security walked in. It bears mentioning that Jamie Noble took a Superman punch from Reigns just moments before and he wasn’t even selling it. Ambrose and J&J Security started brawling with Ambrose getting the best of it. Then Ambrose felt someone coming up behind him and punched him, but it was the cameraman. J&J bolted while Ambrose checked on the camera guy.

Cole explained that Rusev has now moved back to Bulgaria so his Russian gimmick is dead. He’s also officially dumped Lana. That’s going to be a tough road for Lana now as a babyface. Is she going to wrestle? Sasha Banks and Charlotte are already light years ahead of her as a worker. Is she going to be a babyface manager? How many successful female babyface managers can you name? The list is: 1. Elizabeth. There is no #2.

The cast of “Entourage” pulled up in a limo. 

Rusev defeated R-Truth via tapout (1:00)

Rusev won with the Accolade. 1 minute submission job for R-Truth and he’s one of the six men in the Intercontinental Elimination Chamber match. 

Postmatch, Rusev called down Lana saying he owed it to her after they came from Mother Russia. What the hell? Lana came out to new music. Rusev said he understood why Lana kissed Dolph Ziggler, caught him his match against John Cena, because she’s like any other woman, trying to get him to pay attention. That actually got some cheers. Rusev said they can still accomplish the dreams they had together. He asked her to take his hand and all will be forgotten. Lana took Rusev’s hand and they hugged and smiled.

Then Rusev asked her to say three magical words: “I was wrong.” Lana wasn’t smiling anymore. She left. Rusev objected, but Lana said she wasn’t wrong because he quit. Rusev said he never quit and she needs to know her place. He said he owns her and ordered her to get back in the ring. Lana got back in but called him a liar and a quitter. She said she belongs to no one and she is no longer a victim and would never listen to his thickheaded, moronic, cruel mouth again. She left to a good but not great pop. As she walked own the ramp, Ziggler came out and they kissed again while Rusev raged in the ring.

HHH and Rollins approached Ambrose in the locker room to sign the contract. The cameraman that Ambrose hit earlier came in with two policeman. The story was HHH and Ambrose forced the cameraman to press charges against Ambrose and he was arrested by the police for simple assault and lead away. So we’re back to 1998 where the babyfaces have to get over by getting arrested. 

Ambrose was taken away into a police van while HHH, Noble, Joey Mercury and Kane all taunted him. 

Ryback defeated King Barrett (3:53)

King Barrett hit Wasteland and tried the Bullhammer Elbow, but Ryback stayed down. Ryback got up and hit the Shellshock. Booker said Ryback was playing possum. 

HHH said Ambrose was being taken to central booking and he wouldn’t be back in time to get the contract signed. The stars of Entourage came in and greeted Stephanie McMahon and HHH. Kevin Dillion made a crack about Jeremy Piven getting ready for Summer Fest. Jerry Ferrara started talking about doing a scene where Ronda Rousey put him in an armbar and asked Stephanie if she knew what that was like. HHH and Stephanie seethed and told the guys where their dressing room was. Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly and Dillion all scolded Ferrara about saying that. 

Stephen Ammell from “The Arrow” was at ringside where Stardust taunted him. Oddly, nothing ever came of this. 

Neville defeated Stardust (3:16)

Neville won with the Red Arrow. Bo Dallas came out during the bout. Crowd chanted “NXT” early, which was a crowd response that any other match has received so far. 

Postmatch, Neville sold his injured knee. Dallas taunted him about being able to Bolieve, then drop kicked Neville on his bad knee. 

The Entourage guys ran into Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, and Eva Marie. Ferrara talked with Zack Ryder and said there was something that Ryder had to do tonight since it was going to be their last time in the Nassau Coliseum. They talked behind closed doors.

Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler (10:21)

Sheamus won after a Brogue Kick when Rusev distracted Ziggler. Lana came out midway through the match. Ziggler got a near fall when Rusev came down. Sheamus spent most of the match on offense.

Afterwards, Rusev put Ziggler in the Accolade while Lana looked right at him. Rusev screamed at Lana as he held Ziggler in the Accolade, basically telling her it was her fault Ziggler was suffering. 

Cena came out to mostly boos. He based his entire promo based on the divided fan base regarding him over the last ten years. He acknowledged the fans that supported him over the last ten years. Then he turned his attention to the fans who chanted “Cena Sucks” at him, who have watched one hopeful and another lose to him over the past decade. Last week, their newest hopeful arrived in Kevin Owens, who broke the internet with his Raw debut. Cena said when he wrestled Owens on Sunday, the fans chanted against him wouldn’t be saying “Cena Sucks.” They would be saying “Fight, Owens, Fight.” But that doesn’t mean “Win, Owens, Win.” 

Cena brought up the U.S. Open Challenge. The cast of Entourage came out like one of them was going to wrestle Cena. Instead, Ferrara introduced Ryder as the challenger.

John Cena defeated Zack Ryder to retain the U.S. Championship (4:05)

Ryder actually got the biggest babyface pop on the show. Cena was about to hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle when Dillon ran in for a distraction. Cena was about to deck him when Grenier pulled Dillon away. Ryder hit the Killswitch, Broski Boot and Rough Ryder, all for two counts. Ryder missed the 450 splash and Cena won with the AA. Cena raised Ryder’s arm after the match and the rest of the Entourage guys joined them. The Entourage crew was actually very good. 

After everyone left, Owens ran out of the crowd and gave Cena a Pop-Up Power Bomb to a big pop. Owens stomped on the U.S. Title again and raised the NXT championship.  

Stephanie talked about how impressive Owens looked and complimented her husband about choosing prospects. Rollins mentioned knowing Owens for years. Young came in and asked about the status of Ambrose. Stephanie said they would abide by their rules if Ambrose showed up to the building tonight and sign the contract, then he would wrestle Rollins on Sunday. Otherwise, Rollins would get a night off at Elimination Chamber.

Tamina defeated Paige (3:37)

Nikki and Brie Bella were out on commentary. Brie was asked about going to therapy after the injury to Daniel Bryan. She said it was very enlightening, whatever that meant. Paige tried a series of clotheslines on Tamina and it looked awful. Naomi interferred. Tamina got the pin with a Samoan Drop. Bad match. 

The Rock was shown on the opening of “San Andreas” where the announcers put it over as his next blockbuster. 

The New Day came to the ring and complained about defending the tag team titles against five other teams at Elimination Chamber. Big E. took the obligatory shots at the New York Islanders when Kane came out and said New Day would face Los Matadores, Lucha Dragons, the Ascension, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd and the Prime Time Players in a 10-on-3 handicap match. 

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Ascension, Lucha Dragons, Los Matadores, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro, The Prime Time Players by DQ (:56 aired)

Xavier Woods taunted the opposing corner. Everybody ran in and did their finishers on each other. Sin Cara and  Kalisto did dives from oppsite corners on everyone. After New Day was announced as the winners, Cesaro gave Woods an eight-revolution Giant Swing into a Kidd dropkick. A waste of time. 

The main event segment started with another angle of the Ambrose angle from earlier, where it was shown that Rollins pushed the cameraman from behind into Ambrose. The Authroity, Rollins, Kane, Mercury and Noble came out again. Stephanie said the cameraman was the father of newborn triplets. 

HHH was about to announce that Ambrose would miss the Elimination Chamber match when Reigns came out. The four heels beat down Reigns, who tried to make a comeback until Kane chokeslammed him. Then the police van was shown driving through backstage. It was Ambrose driving the van carrying two knifesticks, which he used to clean house. Reigns and Ambrose teamed to clear the ring, including a Superman Punch to Kane, followed by Dirty Deeds. Ambrose finally signed the contract to set up the main event.  

SUMMARY:

The show didn’t make me interested in seeing Elimination Chamber. The only thing of interest to me is the Cena-Owens match. For years, a program with John Cena is a path that leads potential stars straight to the midcard. Ask Wade Barrett, R-Truth, Bray Wyatt, The Miz and Mark Henry. Right now, this company needs a strong new heel face. Owens fills that role and it’s time for Cena to do the job of a true Champion Emeritus and make a new star.