From Atlanta, GA’s Philips Arena, taped for Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in the U.S.
Dean Ambrose opened the show sitting on a chair in the ring. He said that some people have five-year plans, but he has a five second plan. He said it sometimes gets him in trouble like when Brock Lesnar throws him through a windshield or HHH beats him down, but it sometimes works because he’s got a world title match. He wondered if he’d have to defend against Lesnar or HHH after he wins the title.
Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens came out and said he’s the IC champion and there are no contenders for him around. Owens insulted Ambrose and tried to attack him, but Ambrose nailed him with a chair.
– Sheamus & Rusev beat The Usos when Sheamus pinned Jimmy after a Brogue kick. After the match, the Dudleys came out and attacked the Usos. The Dudleys had a table but refused to use it.
– Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz for revenge for Raw.
– R-Truth was at catering. He apologized for how he’s been treating Goldust and said he would be his partner. Goldust refused and threw food in his face.
– Sasha Banks DDQ Becky Lynch when Charlotte attacked both of them.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day did a promo building up their match with A.J. Styles & Chris Jericho on Raw on Monday.
– A.J. Styles beat Kofi Kingston
– Dean Ambrose beat I-C Champion Kevin Owens in a non-title match with the Dirty Deeds.
Raw held up from last week’s stronger than usual numbers and remained the most watched show on cable last night.
WrestleMania season and the buzz from last week’s return of Shane McMahon led to a strong first hour. There was a second hour drop, but the third hour, with the promise of revealing i HHH would face Dean Ambrose for the WWE title, was the second largest third hour since August, with very little drop from hour two. What’s notable is the third hour went 74 minutes, and usually a long overrun can hurt ratings because people don’t stay for the duration.
Raw did 3.71 million viewers, down just four percent from last weeks show which came the day after Fast Lane.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.95 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.66 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.55 million viewers
The second most watched show was the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News which did 3.56 million viewers.
In an effort to increase the star power of the April post-WrestleMania tours of Europe, WWE announced that the recently-retired Daniel Bryan and The Undertaker would be heading to each be part of one leg.
It had already been announced that there would be a Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night in London, one of many such events happening in the months ahead, one of which is happening at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on March 25th.
While that will be a big draw on one tour, Shane McMahon’s opponent for Wrestlemania has been added for the other tour, actually wrestling on the shows. No opponent has been announced yet.
Previously, the two tours were announced as being headlined by Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus on one tour and I-C champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose on the other tour. Reader Tom Griffiths said that for the first show, the lineup is listed as Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns, New Day vs. Rusev & Sheamus, and Kane, Strowman, Becky, Sasha, Charlotte (w/ Flair), Usos, Dudleys, Jack Swagger, Rowan, Neville, Stardust, Sin Cara & Tyler Breeze.
The tour dates for the Wrestlemania Revenge tour is as follows:
Saturday, 16 April, 7:30 p.m.: Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, England
Sunday, 17 April, 5 p.m.: Nottingham Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, England
Monday, 18 April, 7 p.m.: Monday Night Raw at O2 Arena, London, England SOLD OUT
Tuesday, 19 April, 7 p.m.: SmackDown taping at O2 Arena, London, England
Tuesday, 19 April, 7:30 p.m.: Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Wednesday, 20 April, 7:30 p.m.: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
Wednesday, 20 April, 7:30 p.m.: The SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Thursday, 21 April, 7:30 p.m.: 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
Friday, 22 April, 7:30 p.m.: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
Saturday, 23 April, 7:30 p.m.: The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Crowd was pretty dead for this match who didn’t know who Corbin was. Corbin won with End of Days.
– Sin Cara vs. Stardust
Good pop for both, good match. Crowd really into chanting “Cody”. Sin Cara went over.
– R-Truth vs. Adam Rose
R-Truth wins with help from Goldust.
– Alberto Del Rio vs. U.S. Champion Kalisto
Good match. Kalisto wins. Crowd really into the match.
– Team B.A.D. vs. Summer Rae and Sasha Banks
Summer and Sasha win. Crowd into Sasha. “We want Sasha ” chants throughout match.
– Sheamus vs. Mark Henry
Sheamus wins.
– Dean Ambrose vs. I-C Champion Kevin Owens
Ambrose wins via DQ I think for refusing to stop kicking Ambrose in the corner? Owens gets on mic, downtalks Evansville and a kid with a sign that said “sux” instead of “sucks”. Ambrose hits the dirty deeds. Crowd goes home happy.
Overall, it was a good, solid house show. Ambrose and Owens by far the most over people all night.
After doing a quick internet search, I believe this is the first time in RAW’s history that it has aired on LEAP DAY, which would be today, February 29th.
With the major matches for WrestleMania set, tonight’s RAW in Nashville is headlined by the return of the Undertaker, in his first appearance since the Survivor Series. His appearance itself isn’t the curiosity. Rather, it’s how far the company will go to make him a heel for his match with Shane McMahon.
Will he be a full-fledged heel? If so, how? Will he be a reluctant heel grudgingly going against Shane at the behest of The Authority? Will he be a subtle heel like the one Bret Hart portrayed to perfection during the 1997 Canada-USA feud? Perhaps of more importance will be the return of Shane McMahon, and whether the remarkable reaction to his return in Detroit will be just a one-week pop, or something sustainable. Some of the undercard matches for WrestleMania could also be set into motion on tonight’sshow, including Charlotte’s challenger for the Divas championship.
Our live coverage starts at 8 ET.
The Big Takeaway: HHH will wrestle Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at some point before WrestleMania. Show was prominent for who wasn’t there. Shane McMahon, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were all absent. The Undertaker returned for a very brief apperance, telling Vince McMahon that when he wrestles Shane at WrestleMania, Shane’s blood would be on Vince’s hands, not his. Undertaker was a babyface acting like he going into this match vs. Shane against his will.
Show Recap:
HHH started the show and talked about how everyone has an authority figure in their lives. They may hate they authority figure, but they’re afraid to speak out against it. The figure is there for people to understand their place in life. Roman Reigns should know that place, but he chose to challenge and disrespect authority. Crowd chanted for Reigns, but HHH played up that Reigns suffered a broken nose and he was home breathing through his mouth hoping that his place at WrestleMania is still safe.
Dean Ambrose came out and told HHH he just got off the phone with Reigns, who told HHH he was coming for HHH. Then HHH introduced Ambrose as an Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Bromance. Ambrose laughed it off and turned his attention to being jumped by Brock Lesnar last week, along with Shane McMahon returning and HHH jumping Reigns. Crowd chanted for Shane. Ambrose asked HHH who did he want to win the Triple Threat match at Fast Lane. More to the point, who did HHH NOT want to win at Fast Lane. HHH refused to answer, but said it was clear Ambrose wasn’t a factor in that match. Ambrose got in HHH’s face and said he was the last guy HHH wanted to face at WrestleMania. HHH laughed and thought Ambrose was crazy. Ambrose said HHH was smart enough to know he would never want to get in the ring with Ambrose. Ambrose said he could see that HHH doesn’t think he could beat Ambrose. Crowd started chanting “You can’t be him.”
This was a long-winded way of Ambrose challenging HHH for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. HHH said he would take it under advisement and give him an answer by the end of the night. Ambrose wanted to know how, by text or phone call. HHH said Ambrose was going to get the night off tonight, but since Ambrose decided to confront him, Ambrose would face Alberto Del Rio while the rest of the League of Nations would be at ringside.
This was your classic boring HHH 20-minute opening segment.
HHH started the show and talked about how everyone has an authority figure in their lives. They may hate they authority figure, but they’re afraid to speak out against it. The figure is there for people to understand their place in life. Roman Reigns should know that place, but he chose to challenge and disrespect authority. Crowd chanted for Reigns, but HHH played up that Reigns suffered a broken nose and he was home breathing through his mouth hoping that his place at WrestleMania is still safe.
Dean Ambrose came out and told HHH he just got off the phone with Reigns, who told HHH he was coming for HHH. Then HHH introduced Ambrose as an Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Bromance.
Ambrose laughed it off and turned his attention to being jumped by Brock Lesnar last week, along with Shane McMahon returning and HHH jumping Reigns. Crowd chanted for Shane. Ambrose asked HHH who did he want to win the Triple Threat match at Fast Lane. More to the point, who did HHH NOT want to win at Fast Lane. HHH refused to answer, but said it was clear Ambrose wasn’t a factor in that match. Ambrose got in HHH’s face and said he was the last guy HHH wanted to face at WrestleMania. HHH laughed and thought Ambrose was crazy. Ambrose said HHH was smart enough to know he would never want to get in the ring with Ambrose. Ambrose said he could see that HHH doesn’t think he could beat Ambrose. Crowd started chanting “You can’t be him.” This was a long-winded way of Ambrose challenging HHH for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
HHH said he would take it under advisement and give him an answer by the end of the night. Ambrose wanted to know how, by text or phone call. HHH said Ambrose was going to get the night off tonight, but since Ambrose decided to confront him, Ambrose would face Alberto Del Rio while the rest of the League of Nations would be at ringside.
This was your classic boring HHH 20-minute opening segment.
Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks went to a double pin draw (9:40)
This was the best women’s match on Raw in awhile. Finish was Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch were battling on the top rope. Banks went for the Sunset Flip Power Bomb and hit it. For some reason, Banks layed back on the mat while Lynch’s feet over her, leading to a double pin. Charlotte and Ric Flair watched from ringside. Fans chanted “Triple Threat,” but we’re supposed to wonder who Charlotte will now face at WrestleMania. Charlotte and Flair smugly walked to the back as Banks and Lynch looked confused.
Bray Wyatt did a promo from the back. He said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Wyatt said he thought maybe he was insanity. On the other hand, Wyatt said maybe his mind was the key to saving the entire world. It starts with an idea, which becomes a plan, which becomes a beautiful symphony. He can give the world enternal paradise. If you don’t join him, you will find yourself exactly as the rest as everyone else. Conquered.
There was a segment from SmackDown where the Miz and Dolph Ziggler argued about past WrestleMania accomplishments. Ziggler said he wondered if Miz deserved to even be a WWE Superstar.
The Miz defeated Dolph Ziggler (1:04)
Miz won after whipping Ziggler face first into the corner and a schoolboy cradle. Ziggler has done clean jobs to Kevin Owens, Heath Slater and Miz so far in 2016. What did he do?
Stephanie McMahon came out to finish her speech from the Vincent J. McMahon Spirit of Excellence Award last week that was interrupted by Shane. Crowd booed her and chanted for Shane. She dropped her preapred remarks and opted for the remarks the writers prepared for her. She tipped over the podium and tore into the fans about cheering Shane after he vansihed for seven years. Stephanie said if Shane really cared about his family, he would have shown up to a WrestleMania or a Raw, which he hasn’t done. He accused him of abadoning his family.
Stephanie said it kills Shane that HHH and she are in power. Stephanie said Shane’s sons would have to fight for control over the company with her daughters. She said the Undertaker would defeat Shane at Hell in a Cell, and dismember him. And Shane could take a permanent vacation. Stephanie said the fans were lazy and entitled. Sooner or later, reality would come around and slap them right in the face. She said sooner or later, the fans would have to bow down to the Authority, and bow down to the Queen, her. Stephanie had excellent delievery on her promo, but I’m not sure if the family dynamics are something that will draw money. I bet a reality show about the behind the scenes interaction among the McMahons would be straight money, though.
Rusev and Sheamus defeated Lucha Dragons (5:04)
Rusev pinned Kalisto with a spin kick after Del Rio distracted Kalisto. Sheamus laid out Sin Cara on the floor with a Brogue Kick. Afterwards, Del Rio hit his Diving Double Foot Stomp on Kalisto. Michael Cole is still playing up the Kalisto-Del Rio program. League of Nations have started waving their arms in unison like they’re all calling for the DDT.
Natalya did a product placement promo with Renee Young talking about how Subway sandwiches help her keep fit. Well, Subway does need a new spokesperson.
Ryback did one of those awful inset promos saying how Spotlight may have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. But if the Spotlight doesn’t shine on him, then he’s going to take it.
Ryback defeated Adam Rose (2:02)
Ryback won with vicious ground and pound and pinned Adam Rose with Shellshock. Announcers tried to get over that Ryback was being more aggressive. With his G&P, it feels like Ryback came along 20 years too late. He would fit in doing a UFC gimmick in 1996, which was basically what Goldberg was doing. Earlier, Rose attempted some of the worst crossfaces in recorded wrestling history.
The New Day did a promo comparing themselves to the great three-man units in history. I thought that was going to lead to Michael Hayes coming out to announce the Freebirds Hall of Fame induction. Instead, it led to Y2AJ.
Y2AJ defeated The New Day (C) in a nontitle match (8:56)
Good match where Chris Jericho made Kofi Kingston tapout to the Walls of Jericho. A.J. Styles got the heat taking the Unicorn Stampede and a big splash from Big E. They aired highlights of a six-man match between YUAJ and Mark Henry vs. New Day from SmackDown, where Kingston hit Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise. Jericho had a legit black eye from the spot. After the win, Y2AJ challenged New Day to a match for the championships next week in Chicago. Feels like the right time for New Day to drop the straps. Or it could be a heel turn for Styles in order to make way for Karl Anderson and Drew Gallows and form a group. Styles has become the new Cesaro, as fans held up signs reading “You Don’t Want None,” which is the title of Styles’ music.
Vince McMahon came out. He came out to a flat reaction and didn’t look happy. Vince then said “Do you know who I am?” Whew, he’s stealing Bully Ray’s catchphrase. Or the Mountie’s. Vince brought up the possibility of Shane running Monday Night Raw if he defeated the Undertaker, which meant Stephanie and HHH would effectively quit the business. I’m sure.
Vince said Shane would lead Sports Entertainment into a different era than ever before if he won. But only fools believe in miracles. Vince said he loves Shane, but he loves him enough to teach him a lesson he’ll never forget. He loved Shane enough to put him in the ring against the Undertaker, who he introduced.
Time will go on and the industry will continue, but there will never be an entrance like the Undertaker’s again.
Vince started to put Undertaker over, but Undertaker grabbed him by the throat. Undertaker said Vince knew what would happen when he closes that door behind him at WrestleMania. Undertaker said the blood of Shane would be on Vince’s hands, not his. And he left. The ring entrance was ten times longer than the actual apperance.
Vince said the reality is he would stand in the ring after WrestleMania, saying Shane has failed to defeat the Undertaker, failed him as a son and he would lose his inheritance. He vowed to write Shane out of his will and give it all to Stephanie. Vince said he would renounce Shane as his son and Shane will no longer be his son, he will be just a son of a bitch. One can question Vince’s creative decisions, but the fact is he’s so gifted as a non-wrestling performer, if he wasn’t in the WON Hall of Fame as a promoter, it would be necessary to include him as an on-screen character.
Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Jey Uso (2:11)
Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Jey Uso after a Full Nelson Slam. After saying for weeks that the fans would never see them use tables again, Devon Dudley pulled out a table. Jimmy Uso, like a total geek, ran after Devon, who simply tossed the table into Jimmy.
Goldust approached R-Truth again backstage. Before he could say another word, Truth told Goldust they would never be a tag team and he didn’t need a partner. Goldust appeared to have tears in his eyes and walked off without saying anything. Truth looked remorseful.
The Big Show defeated Kevin Owens (C) via countout in a nonitle match (2:37)
They teased a countout finish with Owens giving the Big Show a tornado DDT on the floor. Show beat the count, then gave Owens a choke slam onto the ropes, where Owens was crotched. The story is Owens did the same thing to Big Show on SmackDown Thursday, which means the only thing worse than parity pinfall booking is parity countout booking.
Brie Bella did an interview with Young. Lana showed up and started talking about how Daniel Bryan left her out in the old while her man is still competing and gives her everything she wants. Brie shot back that Rusev was a great double for a grizzly bear in the Revenant, and Lana could talk once she has the guts to get in the ring.
Naomi defeated Brie Bella via submission (4:07)
Naomi won with a Crucifix as a submission hold after Tamina interfered. Naomi’s finisher is she does a crucifix while grabbing her opponet’s arm, but the way she applied it, she could have done it to my grandmother and she wouldn’t have sold it. Lana came out afterwards and laughed at Brie.
The Fabulous Freebirds were named as the new inductees as the WWE Hall of Fame. Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy…and Jimmy Jam Garvin. Sort of like Van Halen getting inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and they include Gary Cherone.
Lynch and Banks argued about who would have won their match earlier tonight if a draw hadn’t been declared when Charlotte and Flair walked up. Charlotte told them they would meet again on SmackDown on Thursday night. The winner would face her at WrestleMania. The loser of the match would fade into oblivion. The other would be the answer to a trivia question: “Who was the person Charlotte defeated at her first WrestleMania?” She and Flair laughed and left as the babyfaces stewed.
Dean Ambrose defeated Alberto Del Rio by DQ (9:07)
Ambrose spent the entire match selling. He had his right armed taped selling Brock Lesnar’s F-5 on the floor last week. At one point, Del Rio gave him the cross armbreaker against the ropes. Ambrose barely sold it before giving Del Rio a neckbreaker. But please, tell me more about how Ring of Honor guys don’t understand psychology.
It led to HHH coming out and ordering the League of Nations to attack Ambrose. Since HHH peaked in 1999, can we just call the LON the NWO Black and White and be done with it? The League beat down Ambrose. HHH started to talk down to him about how he would never understand Ambrose couldn’t stand up to authority. Ambrose rose up and punched HHH, which quickly made a comeback ending with a pedigree. HHH told Ambrose that he would get his title match.
Ambrose got the microphone while still selling and said “Hey Hunter! Thanks.” HHH looked pissed, rolled up his sleeves as the League disappeared and proceeded to beat the hell out of Ambrose with numerous punches delievered on the announcer’s table. The camerawork here resembled the end of ECW where they zoomed in quickly during every punch, and zoomed out afterwards. It was enough to give you motion sickness. But not as bad as seeing the heels stand tall over the babyfaces for the 88th time out of the past 93 shows. That’s a totally made up figure, by the way. But if you looked it up and found that it really was the case, would you be surprised?
SUMMARY:
A flat show. I’m unclear what the Undertaker’s motivation is for wanting to wrestle Shane at WM. It was never explained tonight. I know that HHH has to get heat in order for WrestleMania to have something special, but it’s clear the fans like Ambrose more than Reigns. I’m not sure either can be the flagbearer for the company. But seeing HHH out there as the top heel at 46-years-old reminds me of seeing Hulk Hogan in WCW 2000 still main evening PPVs against Ric Flair long after his star had faded and well past his drawing peak. And what’s the end result? To put over Reigns, who isn’t the answer either.
WWE announced Monday that the Fabulous Freebirds, the quartet of Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz), Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts (Dale Hey) and Jimmy Garvin (James Williams), will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at the Saturday, April 2nd ceremony at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, during Wrestlemania weekend.
Like with Sting and The Godfather, these names had been released and reported on a month ago.
Dallas is makes sense since the Freebirds real heyday came from 1983-1985 based in the city while feuding with the Von Erich brothers, Kevin, Kerry, David and Mike.
While Garvin never worked as a Freebird during the heyday, he often teamed with them. Later, Hayes & Garvin, as a version of The Freebirds, were U.S. tag team champions in WCW.
Hayes, who has had a long career in WWE creative, had been pushing for Garvin to be inducted with the other three. It also makes sense since Gordy and Roberts have both passed away. Gordy suffered a stroke due to an overdose on a flight to Japan and his career was never the same. He passed away at just 40 years old. Roberts died in 2012 at the age of 65 from pneumonia after battling throat cancer for years.
Hayes & Gordy started The Freebirds in smaller Southern territories as best friends. In 1979, while working for Mid South Wrestling, owner Bill Watts added Roberts to the group, feeling Hayes was more of a manager and saw Gordy & Roberts as the traditional tag team. They went to Georgia and became national stars with many breakups and makeups over the years.
However, it was Hayes & Gordy costing Kerry Von Erich the NWA title in a match with Ric Flair on December 25, 1982, that ushered in the boom period of World Class Championship Wrestling. The team broke up when Gordy became a regular for All Japan Pro Wrestling, and various incarnations of the group formed. Gordy would team with Hayes and Roberts between tours, and sometimes one or another member of the group would turn and feud with the other as they tried to keep things fresh as World Class died out.
The group had a very brief run together in WWF with the idea of making them into musical stars after Hayes had recorded “Badstreet USA.” It ended up being a very short run as they were fired which led to Gordy signing with All Japan where he teamed with Stan Hansen for a while, eventually forming oe of the greatest tag teams ever in Japan with Steve “Dr. Death” Williams.
Solid opener. Crowd is hot! Moonsault to floor! Red arrow for the finish with Neville winning.
– Bo Dallas & Heath Slater vs. Damien Sandow & Darren Young
Sandow got a good reaction. Crowd still hot! Outcasts won.
– Rusev with Lana vs. Fandango
Rusev in less than a minute; why? Rusev then challenged anyone.
– Rusev vs. Ryback
Ryback got a huge reaction! They worked hard and crowd was into it.
– Enzo & Big Cass with Carmella vs. The Ascension
There was some that knew the Enzo & Cass gimmick, but not a lot. Small “How you doin?” Chant. Real quick match with Enzo & Cass going over with finisher. Wyatts jump Big Cass & Enzo with Big Show making save with huge pop, which leads to…
– Luke Harper & Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan vs. Big Cass & Enzo & Big Show
Surprised to say it was a solid match. Big Show only in for hot tag after double heat. Crowd was loud. Show choke slammed Rowan for finish.
– Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Damn good match. Best match on the show. Lots of near falls leading to Charlotte winning with feet on ropes.
– WWE Tag Team Champions New Day vs. Usos
Crowd was hot for both teams. Total comedy until heat started. Fun match
– Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
Bray got a big reaction. Kane got a pretty good pop also. I am not sure why Bray has not turned baby. Bray did a crotch chop and said “suck it” to a fan. Crowd kinda died and people started leaving. Bray was working hard, no one cared. Kane pins Bray after choke slam.
– Summary:
A solid house show, especially since this is the B crew. I was told this was the same exact show as the night before in Cape Girardeau, MO. Most over on the show was probably Big Show (surprising, but probably because he has been there so long and everyone knows him). As for the new guys, New Day were really over and crowd liked Usos a lot also. Another big surprise and it was the same as last time they were in Jonesboro, but Sandow was really over with the crowd. Pretty good for a guy that has not been on TV in months. Enzo & Cass were not over when they first came out, but before that 6 man was over the crowd was loving them. Natural charisma from the trio.
Bo Dallas w/ Social Outcasts def. Darren Young by pinfall
This week’s Main Event emanates from Indianapolis, dubbed the heartland of America because “the brain isn’t here”. Jerry Lawler, ladies and gentlemen!
Unfortunately the Social Outcasts emerge at the top of the ramp with microphones in hand. Adam Rose continues the WWE writers’ current trend of scripting shitty metaphors for its performers in lieu of comedy (see The New Day) by comparing his faction to “four Harley Davidson motorbikes (that) own the road”. Rose then interrupts Bo to suggest that “biker jackets” might be the missing piece of puzzle. Bo wants to get their “names on the back”, but promises to “run Darren Young off the road” first. Hurray.
Bo shows great professionalism here by not joining in the Bo Train he signals for after cutting off Young’s shine with a neckbreaker. I begin to fear the prospect of five minutes of Bo Dallas on offence, but my concerns are misplaced. Young quickly cuts Bo off with a back suplex on the apron. He then dodges Outcast interference on the floor, back body dropping Rose into Axel. Alas for the last Prime Time Player standing, Bo counters an out-to-in sunset flip by grabbing the ropes to secure the win.
Naomi w/ Tamina def. Paige by submission
Lots of delaying tactics from Naomi in the early going of this one, as she stalls and stretches on the outside. Lawler recommends against Paige going outside to fetch her, as that’s “Tamina’s house”.
Good match here, of which roughly ten minutes was aired – with the caveat that it did incorporate a number of the most annoying Divas spots. Case in point: Paige’s shine was punctuated by Naomi sticking her buns in her face while balanced on the top turnbuckle. That’s dumb.
Also dumb are the consecutive cheerleader kicks that Naomi has taken to using. As is Paige’s inevitably orbital-breaking running knee spot. And her stupid “THIS IS MY HOUSE!” catchphrase; the most irritating in modern wrestling, for my money.
The finish saw Paige counter a running bulldog attempt from Naomi, throwing her head first into the turnbuckle. She followed up with the Rampaige, only for Tamina to foil her by pulling her gurl out of the ring. Paige superkicks Tamina, reminds her again where her abode is, before running right into the Naomi Calls That The Rear View. This only gets two however, leading into an awkward reversal sequence and Naomi’s weak sauce looking submission finish. I’m making it sound crummy by harping on the flaws, but it was very watchable fare really. Really!
Ryback def. Tyler Breeze by pinfall
They show Ryback’s RAW walkout before the match to rub in the fact that The Big Guy wrestling as a babyface here makes no sense. At this point there is over 10 minutes left (excluding commercials), which leaves me wondering how they’re going to manage a believable long-form match where Breeze is on offence for a period of time.
I needn’t have worried. This was wrapped in four minutes; enough time for Indianapolis to treat Ryback to some light “Gold-berg” chants. The finish saw the newly-minted/soon-to-be heel catch Breeze off a high cross and hoist him up for the Shellshock. There was time during the match however, for Tyler to hit a ridiculous looking ‘rana.
Braun Strowman def. Fandango by submission
Yes, this is why the first and third matches got less than five minutes! Braun Strowman’s second singles match of the year! Hold the front page!
Yes, there was clubbering. Yes, there was trapezius grabbing. Yes, Fandango did get Brauny down to one knee, only to whiff on a DDT and get tossed into the air. Yes, he did in fact then get put down with the Hug of Doom. It lasted less than two minutes. This was a very good thing. The Wyatts posed to close the show.
Final Thoughts
Quite what Braun Strowman is going to learn from sub-two minute squashes is anyone’s guess. But I ain’t complaining. His placement on this show, coupled with his removal from the six-man tag rematch on RAW, represent further signs that Vince has soured on him for the time being. Given that the prospect of a Strowman/Undertaker match was mooted as recently as one month ago, I think we can all be happy about that. Even those carping about the return of The Money.
Not a great show this week. Although, the Divas match is worth a watch, notwithstanding some of the maddening nonsense the agents have them do.
– Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas and Heath Slater) vs. Darren Young and Damien Sandow
Sandow was OVER, but Outcasts got the win with a roll up.
– Rusev (with Lana) vs. Fandango
Rusev won in less than a minute with the Accolade. The doctor ran to ringside and helped Fandango to the back after the match, not sure what sort of injury he may have received.
– Rusev vs. Ryback
Rusev got on the mic and challenged anyone to come out and face him, which led to Ryback (massive pop) to accept the challenge. Hard hitting match, Ryback eventually picked up the win with a Shellshock.
– Enzo and Big Cass vs The Ascension
Enzo and Big Cass got the victory fairly quickly. Afterwards, the Wyatt Family (minus Bray) ran down and attacked Enzo and Big Cass, with Big Show coming in for the save. After some trash talk by Show, this led to a six man tag.
– Enzo, Big Cass, and Big Show vs. Wyatt Family (Harper/Rowan/StroMAN)
Show, Cass, and Enzo defeated the Wyatt Family when Show pinned Rowan after a chokeslam.
– Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
My personal choice for match of the night. Charlotte got the victory with a roll up.
– WWE Tag Champions New Day vs. The Usos
The Dudleys was also advertised for this match but for whatever reason they weren’t here. Fun match, lots of playing to the crowd by both teams. The New Day ended up picking the win after some shenanigans, but afterwards The Usos survived a beatdown and posed with the championships.
– Kane vs Bray Wyatt
Kane won with a chokeslam, but Bray controlled most of the match.
There were loud, lengthy “Cody” chants, which Stardust acknowledged on the house mic, saying, “It’s not Cody. It’s Stardust.”
– R-Truth d. Curtis Axel w/ Adam Rose
Goldust saved R-Truth from a two-on-one situation and they teased Golden Truth’s formation with a “maybe” from R-Truth, the two dancing together, the two going backstage together, etc. It’s also worth mentioning that Axel appears to have gotten busted open near the finish as there were drops of blood outside of the ring where he fell near the finish, which I’m pretty sure WWE’s social media manager inadvertently mopped up with his pants while filming the Truth & Goldust mic work from his cell phone.
– US Champion Kalisto d. Alberto Del Rio to retain
The finish involved a turnbuckle that ADR exposed, which backfired on him.
– Sasha Banks & Summer Rae d. Naomi & Tamina
Sasha played Ricky Morton during the majority of the match but somewhat telegraphed when the false tags were by not grabbing the tag rope consistently.
– Sheamus d. Mark Henry
Before the match, Sheamus cut a promo, offering not to embarrass Mark in front of a Louisville crowd who remembers his OVW days. Mark balked, Sheamus kept true to his word, and got the victory. Sheamus also did a strange rolling maneuver going up the aisle, which seemed planned.
– Dean Ambrose d. I-C Champion Kevin Owens via DQ
Owens was pummeling Ambrose in the corner and wouldn’t stop when the ref demanded that he break. Owens got on the mic and basically said that DQ was a ridiculous finish and he was going to show the crowd why he is the greatest IC Champion and WWE Superstar of all-time.
When Owens went to lift Ambrose off of the ground, presumably for a Pop-up Powerbomb, Ambrose countered into Dirty Deeds. It’s also worth mentioning that they teased Del Rio’s turnbuckle pad removal spot from earlier in the night but the ref caught it before it could be completely removed. Once Dean got out of the ring, he posed for numerous selfies with ringside fans.
*****
Overall, it was a solid show. I believe that the only three who were advertised locally to appear but did not were Paige, Natalya, & Dolph Ziggler. The top most section of the KFC Yum! Center was curtained off, which was likely a planned aspect of the ring configuration to begin with.
