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Category: WWE News

  • WWE RAW results and live coverage: WWE Heavyweight title tournament

    The Big Takeaway: HHH announced a 16-man tournament for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the wake of Seth Rollins’ injury that forced him to vacate the championship. HHH tried and failed to get Reigns to join the Authority, even offering him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Kane and the Undertaker made their return for revenge against the Wyatt family, laying out Wyatt with a chokeslam to end the show. Only one good match on the three hour show. 

    Show recap: 

    HHH came out and put over Seth Rollins strong as a great WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but acknowledged his knee injury that will cause him to vacate the championship. The mention of Rollins’ name got a strong babyface reaction from the fans in England. HHH brought out the number one contender, Roman Reigns.

    HHH said the tournament that will determine the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion will start tonight, but it seems unfair that Reigns just earned the #1 contendership, but now has to start over again in a tournament. HHH said all the other guys in the tournament could step in the ring to fight Reigns at the Survivor Series for the title. HHH told Reigns before they picked Rollins as the chosen one, they scouted Reigns first. The only thing that Reigns lacks is the willingness to do anything to be the man, which is why Reigns hasn’t been the WWE champion. 

    HHH asked Reigns how it felt to watch Rollins walk out of WrestleMania as the WWE Champion, and that Reigns will never know if he could have defeated Brock Lesnar. He said Reigns has run into wall after wall, then asked him if he wanted to be the man. HHH offered Reigns the chance to join the Authority. Reigns asked if that meant he had to sell out. 

    HHH said Reigns will never be liked by everybody and he was offering Reigns everything he ever wanted. HHH talked about setting up Reigns’ grandchildren for life in exchange for Reigns being his man. Reigns said everything he’s ever done he’s earned, he didn’t need a handout. He told HHH to take his offer and to shove it. 

    HHH thanked Reigns for reminding him why he didn’t chose him in the first place and said Reigns’ first round tournament match would start immediately against the Big Show. It sounded like there was some crowd sweetning at work in this segment and Reigns got some boos when he spoke, which wasn’t much. 

    Roman Reigns defeated the Big Show in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament (14:32) 

    Reigns kicked out of a choke slam. Show teased the knockout punch, but Reigns blocked it with a punch of his own, followed with the Superman’s Punch and pinned the Big Show with a spear. Boring match where the crowd wasn’t behind Reigns’ comeback. He sold most of the way. 

    Reigns faces either Cesaro or Sheamus, who wrestle later tonight. It’s a 16-man tournament. 

    Michael Cole announced that Bray Wyatt will eulogize the Undertaker and Kane later tonight. 

    Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was showed at ringside.

    Kevin Owens did a prematch promo encouraging fans to buy his entrance music on iTunes. Owens ran down the fans for believing the Royal Family and said he was going to bring about the change the company needs, and said he was doing it for himself. Fans cheered him anyway. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Titus O’Neil in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament (6:52)

    Owens escaped the Clash of the Titus and pinned Titus O’Neil with the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Owens advances to face the winner of the Neville/King Barrett match, which takes place on Thursday’s Smackdown. 

    Paige did an interview with Renee Young. Paige is wrestling Becky Lynch tonight. Paige called Lynch a rat. What the hell does that imply?

    They showed highlights of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania 13 main event against Sid Vicious. Isn’t it amazing the Bret Hart-Steve Austin I Quit match wasn’t the main event of that show? Surprisingly, they didn’t mention the fact that WrestleMania drew about 70,000 fewer PPV buys than the WCW Uncensored show later that same month in 1997. If you recall, WCW Uncensored headlined with a horrendously booked Team NWO vs. Team Piper vs. Team WCW match. I guess that says all you need to know about how deep a hole the WWE was in at that point.   

    Becky Lynch defeated Paige (4:57)

    Paige hit the Rampage but Lynch grabbed the ropes. Paige tried the PTO, but Lynch again grabbed the ropes. So Paige tried a Rolling Reverse Cradle, but Lynch reversed it to get the pin. I guess it was Paige’s turn to job in her home country. Paige attacked Lynch afterwards and put her in the PTO on the table, to which Cole screamed “NOT ON THE TABLE!” What difference did doing the PTO on the table make? Is Paige the new Sabu or something? 

    Next week is the Undertaker week on the WWE Network, which will include a Legends Roundtable with JBL, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and HHH talking about their memories of the Undertaker. Wonder if Bryan Clark will be invited for memories of Kronik vs. the Brothers of Destruction? 

    There was a package highlighting the first day of ticket sales for WrestleMania in Texas last Friday. They claimed there was a record-breaking amount of tickets sold. There was also an NXT show where Samoa Joe walked out. Booker T. and Austin did brief interviews. 

    Dolph Ziggler pinned the Miz in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (4:59)

    Dolph Ziggler pinned the Miz with a Superkick out of nowhere. Miz had just used the Figure Four leglock. Ziggler faces either Dean Ambrose or Tyler Breeze in the round of 8. Ziggler sold his leg great.  

    They continued the flashbacks of the Undertaker and Kane, which included Daniel Bryan and Kane winning the WWE World Tag Team championships over Kofi Kingston and R. Truth when Bryan threw Kane off the top rope, only to have him land on Kingston and score the pin. 

    Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter came out. Coulter said MexAmerica believes Mexico and America should band together as two countries but band together as one. Coulter says Germany tells England what to do and even Scotland doesn’t want anything to do with England anymore. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if Vladimir Putin tells England what to do in the future. Del Rio said England is only populated by haters. Coulter said Del Rio was given an opportuniy by HHH to be in the WWE World Title Tournament and become the first MexAmerica world heavyweight champion. 

    Natalya defeated Naomi (2:06)

    Natalya threw Naomi into Tamina and scored the pin with a schoolgirl cradle. Naomi appeared to injure her leg while rolling out of the ring in the opening seconds. Fans chanted “We Want Sasha” to taunt Naomi. So they’re teasing dissension with Team BAD. That’s two Divas groups who will break up within three months of forming. What is this, TNA? 

    Postmatch, Banks jumped Natalya, which the crowd cheered. Natalya turned the tables and put Banks in the Sharpshooter. Fans booed the babyface. Tamina jumped Natalya and Banks put her in the Bank Statement. Natalya tapped repeatedly while Naomi put Tamina’s sunglasses on her face. 

    Cesaro defeated Sheamus in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (15:28) 

    Easily the best thing on the show so far. Cesaro pinned Sheamus with the Inverted Chikara Special. Sheamus was distracted when Barrett got slapped by Rooney at ringside. Earlier, Cesaro hit Sheamus with a European Uppercut on the floor and high-fived Rooney. Best Sheamus match in a while. It’s Reigns vs. Cesaro next week so Cesaro fans can get back to reality. On the WWE website, under the caption of Sheamus winning the Money in the Bank briecase last June is the caption “Can we get a booking mulligan on this move?” 

    Barrett ran down Rooney during a prematch promo, challenging him to get in the ring. Barrett said he would hate to see Rooney’s son watch his father fail, but then again his son does that every Sunday on the football pitch. Rooney had a slight grin on his face, but this was the English equivalent of Lebron James shooting an angle. 

    They congraulated Sheamus for “Spectre” being the #1 movie in the world this weekend. 

    Breeze did a promo saying Prince Pretty would send Ambrose back to the trash heap he came from. Summer Rae said Breeze would be a blessing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Breeze said he would be the new face of the WWE at Survivor Series. 

    Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze in the first round of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (11:07) 

    Ambrose won with a small package in a pretty good match. Finish was abrupt. Ambrose sold his left arm after hitting a missile dropkick. Breeze promptly rammed Ambrose’s arm into the ringpost three times and clamped on a Fujiwara Armbar. Ambrose teased a tope but Breeze moved. Ambrose stopped before he hit Rae, who let out a scream worthy of the next Friday the 13th sequel. Rae and Breeze have the potential to be a great act. 

    It’s Ambrose vs. Ziggler next week. 

    The next Undertaker-Kane flashback was Undertaker winning over HHH in their final WrestleMania match. Kane’s highlight was the 2001 Royal Rumble, when he eliminated 11 men. It was the final Rumble won by Austin. 

    New Day came out to a good pop. Kingston was unhappy that the New Day was left out of the tournament. Xavier Woods bragged about New Day laying out John Cena and the Dudley Boyz. Woods dedicated tonight’s match to their fallen captain, Seth Rollins, who again got cheered. Woods said European magic is garbage, to which Kingston added “And so is Harry Potter.” 

    The New Day defeated Neville and the Usos (8:43)

    Woods pinned Neville with a cradle with his feet on the ropes after Big E. tripped Neville, who was going for the Red Arrow. How the ref missed Woods feet on the rope was unbelieveable. Big spot was Neville doing a twisting moonsault plancha onto all five other men. The spot where the New Day takes turns stomping on an opponent in the corner has now been renamed “The Unicorn Stampede.” JBL called them “The Gleebirds.” 

    Main Event segment was Wyatt coming out. Crowd in England was still singing “He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands.” Wyatt said change wasn’t easy, but it was inevitable. And how you deal with change is how you tell who you really are. He wanted to celebrate the spirit of Kane and the Undertaker tonight. They have been the benchmark of power for over two decades, and they reigned supreme. 

    He told everyone watching to bow their heads and pay respect to the legends of Kane and the Undertaker. After a moment of the fans chanting “Undertaker,” Wyatt laughed at them saying there will be no more respect paid for them. Wyatt said he owns the spirits of Undertaker and Kane, because their power is now running through his veins. 

    Wyatt says the apocalypse is here. He got down on his knees and said “Follow…” Before he could finish, a video of Kane and Undertaker played on the TitonTron, ending with the Undertaker saying “Rest in Peace.” Thunderbolts shot down into the ring and from the stage. Then the Undertaker’s music played as Wyatt looked confused and uncertain. Undertaker’s video played and the fans reacted like he was coming out. And he did come out with Kane. Wyatt was stunned. 

    Undertaker looked like he had spent too much time under a tanning bed. Wyatt’s flash music played, and Braun Strowman, Eric Rowan and Luke Harper appeared. Fans chanted “This is awesome.” Wyatt charged at Undertaker, who decked him. Rowan and Harper were quickly taken out. Strowman approached the Brothers of Destruction. Rowan and Harper ran in to get destroyed with chokeslams. Strowman clotheslined the Undertaker and Kane, but both rose up and clotheslined Strowman over the top. Strowman was thrown over the announcer’s table. Wyatt was left alone in the ring, and Undertaker and Kane gave him a double chokeslam, then stood over him. 

    SUMMARY: Considering how newsworthy the last week has been, this was a disappointing show. There isn’t anyone who stands out as a larger than life star ready to be the next superstar. The tournament just felt like a series of matches, with only Cesaro’s standing out as anything special. Giving Reigns a win over the Big Show is understandable since he’s now in the legends emeritus role, but it was hard to get a good match out of Show when he was in his 20s. Imagine what it was like tonight, going 14 mintues to boot. Crowd was dead most of the way.  

  • WWE Title tournament brackets and spoilers for tonight’s matches

    The bracketing for the WWE World Championship tournament which starts tonight on Raw and will continue with first round matches at Smackdown goes like this:

    Roman Reigns vs. Big Show (Reigns winning) versus the Cesaro vs. Sheamus winner (Cesaro winning).

    Alberto Del Rio vs. Stardust winner (takes place tomorrow at the Smackdown tapings in Manchester) versus the Kalisto vs. Ryback winner (takes place tomorrow).

    Kevin Owens vs. Titus O’Neil (Owens winning) versus the Neville vs. Barrett winner (takes place tomorrow).

    Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz (Ziggler winning) vsersus Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze (Ambrose winning).

    The winner of the Reigns vs. Cesaro match will face the winner coming out of Del Rio vs. Stardust and Kalisto vs. Ryback series in one semifinal.

    The other semifinal will be Owens versus the Neville vs. Barrett winner against the winner of Ambrose vs. Ziggler.

    If this goes via predictable patterns (and we are told it will be fairly predictable) the semifinals would be Reigns vs. Del Rio and Ambrose vs. Owens.

    Raw kicks off at 8 ET/5 PT tonight for a show taped this afternoon in Manchester, England.  Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer will review the entire show later on tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.

  • WWE Raw spoilers: World Heavyweight Title tournament begins

    From reports:

    – HHH came out with the WWE title belt on a table in the ring. He said that Seth Rollins was injured, the title is vacant, and there will be a tournament starting tonight. Roman Reigns came out and vowed to win the tournament.  HHH invited him to join The Authority and take Rollins’ spot. Reigns turns him down, so HHH announces Reigns has to face Big Show in the first round.

    – Tournament Match: Roman Reigns beat Big Show with a spear.  The crowd did everything but pay attention to this match.  It was the crowd getting themselves over here.

    – Tournament Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens beat Titus O’Neil with the power bomb.

    – Becky Lynch beat Paige with a roll-up. Paige attacks her after the match and lays her out with the PTO on a table.  Big reaction to that.

    – Tournament Match: Dolph Ziggler b Miz with a superkick.

    – Natalya beat Naomi

    – Tournament Match: Cesaro beat Sheamus when Wayne Rooney of Manchester United fame distracted Sheamus.  

    – Tournament Match: Dean Ambrose beat Tyler Breeze with a schoolboy to advance in the tournament.

    – WWE Tag Team Champiosn The New Day beat Neville & The Usos in a six-man.

    – Bray Wyatt did an interview with the Wyatt Family out.  Undertaker & Kane came out to confront them, and cleaned house.

  • WWE Liverpool, England, house show results (11/8): Alberto Del Rio lets loose on a dead crowd

    Submitted by Stephen Lyon

    – Neville beat Stardust in the opener with the Red Arrow. Okay match. Neville got a pop for his finisher.

    -Damian Sandow beat Heath Slater in one minute with a roll up. Sandow was back in his old blue robe intellectual gimmick. This was a head scratcher. Either give these guys at least five minutes or don’t do the match at all. Why you would fly these guys to Europe to do a one minute match is baffling.

    – Luke Harper & Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan beat Ryback & the Usos. Decent match. Ryback did impressive standing suplex spots with both Harper and Rowan, but ‘couldn’t do it’ with Strowman, putting over how big Strowman was. Strowman made one of the Usos submit in his sleeper finisher.

    – King Barrett beat Fandango with the Bull Hammer. Crowd cheered Barrett and had no reaction for Fandango. Virtually nobody in the crowd did his dance.

    – Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores and the Ascension in a triple threat match. Los Matadores came out, clearly as heels (they made fun of El Torito not accompanying them to the ring), yet virtually nobody in the youthful audience picked up on it. The finish saw the song ‘Bad to the Bone’ play out of nowhere (I was having Steve ‘Dr Death’ Williams NWA flashbacks, given it used to be his entrance theme for a period) and El Torito ran out, cleaning house on both Fernando and Diego. Kalisto pinned Viktor with the Salida del Sol. Crowd enjoyed doing the ‘Lucha Lucha’ arm wave.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Natalya beat Sasha Banks & Naomi. It seemed like about 10% of the audience knew who Bayley was, and the rest didn’t. There was a very weak NXT chant that didn’t catch on and lasted just a few seconds. The work itself was fine, and amongst the better matches of the night. Banks was funny tying her hair back and mocking Bayley. Finish saw Natalya make Naomi tap in the sharpshooter.

    – U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio beat Jack Swagger. This was the second best match on the show. Del Rio was great as a heel, begging off from Swagger and getting on his knees with his hand extended. Del Rio shook hands with both the referee and a fan in the front row to try convince Swagger to shake his hand, but it was all a heelish ploy. At one point Del Rio grabbed the mic and berated the crowd for being dead and asked why Liverpool Football Club suck so much.

    This got a mixed reaction, with some fans cheering because there are two Premier League soccer clubs in Liverpool, with there being Everton Football Club fans in the building, all happy at that comment. Swagger kicked out of a superkick and broke/reversed Del Rio’s armbar, before eventually submitting to the cross armbreaker.

    – Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a No Holds Barred match. Most heat and reaction on the show, and best match on the show. Crowd was 95% behind Reigns. They used a kendo stick, chairs and the ringside stairs as props. Reigns eventually brought a table in too. Reigns won after nailing Wyatt with a Superman punch, sending everyone home happy.

    Notes & Observations —

    – This felt like the least star power on a WWE house show on a U.K. tour for several years. The arena was packed. There were no sections curtained off, and I couldn’t see any empty seats in any sections, so I’d estimate the crowd to be at least 5-6000. It was mostly families with lots of kids, especially given the family-friendly 5pm start time.

    I’m aware of all of WWE’s current limitations at this time, and that this was at the start of a lengthy tour, and that some guys may have taken notice of Rollins injury and may be working even more safe than usual. But to me, this felt like a boring show. It was, essentially, a near-three hour version of WWE Main Event/WWE Superstars. Okay matches, featuring limited star power, involving people the main tv shows don’t feature. Even something as simple as the show’s tour programme told a story. The cover of the programme featured seven people, and only four of them (Paige, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston) are on the tour. And of those, only Reigns was on this show. The other three – John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins all aren’t even on the tour. I guess Rollins was, and his absence through injury was very unfortunate.

    There was a scary lack of crowd heat and crowd reaction for anyone or anything on this show, bar Del Rio vs Swagger (entirely due to Del Rio’s excellent work as a heel, predominately on the mic) and the Reigns vs Wyatt main event. People didn’t react to anything. Even kids didn’t seem that excited or were starting any chants.

  • WWE Birmingham, England, house show results (11/8): Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose

    Submitted by Tom Griffiths

    Brandi Runnels was our ring announcer. She started off by introducing our General Manager for the evening, Ric Flair. Flair started off his two minute promo by asking the crowd where he was, of course to encourage the crowd to shout the name of the place. He then attempted some “woooo interaction” with the crowd which didn’t get as over as I expected. He continued by talking about Rollins’ injury and said he’s had surgery (news to me), and announced the two main events. Ambrose-Owens got a big reaction, Show-Kane was met with laughter! To which Flair replied “oh come on!” The Dudleys then made their entrance and this was the last we saw of Flair.

    Dudleys vs. New Day: Non-Title 2 on 3 Tables Match

    New Day got a mixed reaction and not as big a one as I expected, not to say they weren’t over. Dudleys were well liked. Very slow pace, extremely careful with each other, lots of working of holds early and comedy from New Day, back and forth match, got the heat on Devon, Bubba made the comeback, what’s-up spot, got the tables, back and forth, 3-D on Woods for the win in ten minutes. Below average house show match. (Notes on this weren’t the best as I was late arriving to my seat and there were issues with congestion in the area.)

    Short Tyler Breeze promo on the screen, cheat heat and talking about that he was going to beat Ziggler.

    The Miz vs. Cesaro

    Arguably the most over match of the night. Miz’s old-school heel stuff worked wonderfully and Cesaro was over huge during the match. Also there were a number of Cesaro Section signs which he acknowledged. Started off with Miz getting some cheat heat on the mic, it then turned into a bit from a comedy show as he acknowledged a guy a couple of rows from the front who was on his phone during this. Miz asked who he was talking to, the guy said his mum and of course was made fun of. Miz then requested silence while he took off his glasses and every time he went to do so in a dramatic fashion the crowd would boo so he would lower his arms, and so on. This went on for about three minutes but was entertaining. 

    The match itself was wrestled at snail pace. I’m not kidding when I say I had the opportunity to watch a move, write down what a saw in casual fashion, and then look up in time for the start of the next move. In fact I did this several times during the match! Cesaro got the better of some chain-wrestling early, hit a couple of headscissors, Miz took a powder, was chased around the ring, got back into the ring and caught Cesaro with some stomps coming in to begin the heat, Cesaro made his comeback with some extremely light regular uppercuts, caught Miz with a light running uppercut on the outside up against the rail, put on the sunglasses and performed a flying body press whilst wearing them for a nearfall, swing tease, there were massive swing chants on few occasions during the match, another swing tease in here somewhere, Miz chop-block, figure four attempt reversed in a small package for a nearfall, Miz was caught with an uppercut with a little more mustard on it while jumping off the top for a nearfall, Miz scored a nearfall with his short DDT, there was a comical 20 second backslide battle, 30 rep swing, sharpshooter for the win in ten minutes. A good slow-motion match.

    NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Sheamus 

    Really good reaction for Balor coming out and I saw plenty of Balor Club shirts, decent boos for Sheamus and he did have some supporters. Crowd was quietly captivated by the match so there wasn’t sustained strong heat, but they popped for all the big spots, and there were numerous strong lets go Balor & NXT chants. Balor looked a real star in person. He’s chiselled out of stone, a good looking guy, good in-ring charisma, great worker. If he can improve his promos I think Vince is going to love him. Just hopefully he doesn’t go crazy the demon gimmick. This match was night and day in comparison to others in one respect. It wasn’t New Japan, but these guys worked stiff! They didn’t take each others heads off, but there was solid contact on a number of occasions. Solid lock-up to start-off with, Balor slapped Sheamus’ ass for a bit of comedy, reasonably loud you look stupid chants, Sheamus got some cheat heat on the mic for a couple of minutes in response to this, they worked a few headlocks, Balor got his shine including a dropkick which caught Sheamus bang on the chin, Sheamus cut him off and got the heat during which Balor was cursing up a storm at times dropping F-Bombs while selling.

    DDT from Balor for the transition move, stiff forearms, chops and body punches throughout the match coming from both directions, careful Somersault Plancha to the outside from Balor right in front of me, top rope double foot stomp on the back for nearfall from Balor, Sheamus scored nearfalls with a Novocaine and an Albert Bomb, Balor scored one with a bicycle kick and his Curtain Call style move was teased, there were this is awesome chants in here somewhere, there was a top rope striking battle, Sheamus missed the Brogue Kick, posted his shoulder shortly after, Balor followed-up with the Coup De Grace for the win in seventeen minutes including Sheamus’ promo. They worked pretty slow, but as I said they were stiff and the work-rate was there. Both guys were sweating buckets by the end! Hats off to both guys, really good house show match.

    Bo Dallas vs. Curtis Axel

    Decent boos for Bo, polite response for Axel. Nothing to it, Dallas got the heat, whipped Axel into the corner, roll-up coming out of the corner for the win in about thirty seconds.

    Bo then got on the mic throwing a tantrum saying he wasn’t ready, and then challenged anybody to come out and face him. Truth took the challenge and was a super babyface with the fans at ringside showing special attention to everyone around the rails. Also his entrance got pretty over about halfway through. Dallas then revealed to Truth that he thought Hornswoggle or El Torito would take the challenge, said he didn’t want to fight, and instead wanted a dance-off. Truth took the challenge and Bo went first doing some wacky dancing to I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred which turned him semi-babyface. Then Truth’s turn came and he seemed awfully prepared for this impromptu dance-off as he pulled out a glove and began dancing to Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Seconds into this Bo jumped him and the match was on.

    Bo Dallas vs. R-Truth

    Again nothing to it, bit of heat from Dallas and then the Lie Detector for the win in thirty seconds. Truth danced his way up the ramp and Axel came out and joined in, meanwhile after they’d disappeared, feeling humiliated Bo ran backstage. His performance was very good with what he was asked to do.

    Connor video package with a nice reaction.

    Big Show vs. Kane: Street Fight 

    Not much of a noticeable reaction for Show coming out and he’s still sporting that knee brace, nice nostalgia pop for Kane. They worked very slow, not Cesaro-Miz slow but pretty slow, Show did some warm-up exercises and took a powder or two in the early going which eventually gained some decent heat heel, some chumps tried to start a please retire chant that failed miserably and Show made fun of them for it, Kane attacked him on the outside after taking a powder, little brawling on the outside, Kane took a whip into the steps for the transition move going into the heat, while Kane was selling on the outside a while later, he sneakily got a kendo stick and went to work on Show’s leg with it, all the weapon involvement got pretty over with the crowd, Show gained the advantage and broke the kendo stick saying he didn’t need it, a while later Kane introduced a chair and hit Show in the stomach and back with it, the story was he needed weapons to overcome the giant, Show hit a spear to go back into the heat, there was a spot where both guys had each other goozled and Show hit the Chokeslam for a nearfall, Kane made his comeback, dropkicked Show’s knee sending him headfirst into a chair Kane had set-up there earlier in the match. 

    Kane went fishing for more weapons and accidently pulled out a broom for a comedy spot, he then got a table, Show hit his knockout punch while standing on the outside when Kane poked his head through the ropes which gained a nearfall, Show was apoplectic over this which garnered a few laughs, Show then set Kane up on the table, climbed to the top and was chokeslammed through the table for the Kane victory in ten minutes. Wasn’t a bad match, wasn’t worse than some other matches on the show. After the match and Kane had gone to the back, Show got to his feet and got some thank you Big Show chants and fell back down for some comedy, the ref then climbed on him and attempted to score a three count which he counted himself but Show kicked-out powerfully sending him flying for another comedy spot. Show got a nice babyface reaction heading backstage which was nice to see, I think the guy gets a raw deal. Not sure whether the announcement of the match caught the crowd off-guard or his performance won them over.     

    Interval

    Divas Champion Charlotte & Becky Lynch vs. Brie Bella & Alicia Fox: Paige as referee

    Decent reaction for Paige but I expected bigger, I think she did too judging from her body language, although maybe I’m wrong. Good reaction for Charlotte & Becky, Becky much like Truth was a super babyface with ringsiders, especially a guy in her Lass Kicker shirt and a few guys near-by in Balor Club shirts. Paige wasn’t kayfabing it up at all prior to the bell, seemingly sharing a joke with Charlotte, although only people close such as myself would’ve noticed. Was a nice little house show match, no blown spots, all the girls were solid and at times weren’t as careful as the men, Becky looked especially good, very smooth. Also to be a pig I had a fun time staring at her ass which was directly in front of me while she was waiting for a tag. 

    Some simple chain-wrestling early, the babyfaces worked over Brie, bit of back and forth, the heels got the heat on Becky, there were some Becky’s awesome chants during the match, needless to say they really liked her, some heel tactics behind Paige’s back whist she was arguing with Charlotte which happened frequently, Charlotte made her trademark comeback, Paige was pulled into an accidental spear and took a powder, Charlotte got distracted by this and Fox took advantage, second ref appeared, there was some double teaming on Charlotte during this period as Becky was still down selling, babyfaces made a short comeback and scored the win with the Figure Eight/Armbar double submission in ten minutes. Paige ambushed the babyfaces in the aftermath, she then took a T-Bone from Becky and a big boot from Charlotte and then took a powder as the babyfaces celebrated with both their music playing. There was no boos for them or anything, well not that I heard.

    Tyler Breeze w/Summer Rae vs. Dolph Ziggler

    Decent heat for Breeze, big pop for Ziggler, although not huge superstar reaction which nobody got. Very good heat for the match, touch-and-go between this and Cesaro-Miz for most heated match of the night, strong lets go Ziggler chants during the match. Simple character stuff early with some basic stuff and posing, Ziggler started the match in a t-shirt, Ziggler had his shine, chased Breeze round the ring who used Summer as a shield, Summer dramatically screamed for some comedy, Ziggler was pulled throat first into the middle rope for the transition move going into the heat, Summer interfered numerous times behind the refs back, Breeze leaped off the second ropes and was caught with a dropkick in mid-air for the transition move, Ziggler made his comeback, from this point on they worked at regular speed with regular intensity.

    Breeze got a nearfall with a version of the backstabber, Ziggler scored one with the fame-asser, Summer hit Ziggler in the head with one of her shoes, Breeze followed-up with an unprettier for a nearfall, Summer was caught with her shoe off by the ref and with encouragement from the crowd he kicked her out, Summer was great throughout this match, very animated, Ziggler Superkick tease, beautiful Lance Storm-Jerry Lynn pinning combination sequence, six or seven, superkick from Ziggler for a nearfall, strong this is awesome chants, feet on the ropes nearfall for Breeze, Cena punch-for-punch spot, Zig-Zag for the Ziggler victory in fourteen minutes. Really, really good house show match. Match of the night. Big-time respect for Ziggler after watching this, he worked harder than anybody else on the show and was the driving force in the match. Both guys are huge Shawn Michaels fans as seen in their work and they have really good chemistry. Really looking forward to the PPV match providing they’re allowed to have a great match.  

    WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose 

    Mixed reaction for Owens and a big one although probably not in the top three or four. Owens was tremendous getting into it with three or four kids before and during the match, one little boy was in a John Cena shirt and Owens asked him where he was and claimed to be the new John Cena, he was jawing with some older people as well. He’s so animated, charismatic and vocal, carried himself like a real star. Also he doesn’t look overly chubby in person. Big pop for Ambrose, biggest of the show, although nothing compared to his one in April. Owens did have the title with him as I heard he didn’t on one of the previous shows. Good heat for the match, a close third in that department. Owens immediately took a powder and Ambrose went after him with great urgency, for the most part they worked at regular speed with regular intensity, early brawling, Ambrose got his shine, Owens got some heat, Owens hit a gutbuster for a nearfall, Ambrose hit Tornado DDT for one, majority of the trademark moves were hit, Ambrose did his suicide dive right in front of me.

    Owens scored a nearfall with his second rope twisting fisherman’s buster, slapped Ambrose around which drew another comeback, superkick tease, McGuiness clothesline tease, Owens hit the superkick, Ambrose kicked out of the pop-up powerbomb, Owens grabbed a chair, ref took it off him, Ambrose followed this up with a roll-up for nearfall, Owens tried to leave, Ambrose threw him back in, was looking to finish him off when Owens hit him with chair in the stomach for the DQ in thirteen minutes. Not as good as Ziggler-Breeze or Sheamus-Balor, but it was a good match and they worked pretty hard. Big Smoz for the aftermath. Owens continued the beat-down on Ambrose, Ziggler hit the ring, Sheamus then hit the ring, then Cesaro, then New Day, then The Dudleys. One of the biggest reactions of the night for this. Babyfaces cleaned house and Ambrose threw Owens back in the ring who took a 3-D and Dirty Deeds to send the crowd home happy. They then applauded the crowd and acknowledged certain people in it as the show finished.

    Notes:

    Fun show. As normal pretty much everybody worked quite slow and very carefully with each other. Being at ringside it was interesting seeing the guys do something then wait two-three seconds for the reaction before doing something else. Was second row two seats from the aisle on the left hand side facing down. Crowd was nowhere near as hot as the show in the same building in April, not that they were dead or anything, but they were super-hot then and at about 40-50% of that volume today. Could’ve been due to the winter WWE blues, could’ve been lower enthusiasm with no Cena, Orton, Rollins or Rusev (back when he was a hot heel) this time, could’ve been due to it being an early evening Sunday show as opposed to a Saturday night show. Maybe a combination of all three. 

    For this reason entrance pops were tough to gauge, there was no real great wall of sound reactions like Cena’s, or Orton’s, or Rusev’s this time, and even Ambrose and Paige’s weren’t nearly as big. Crowd reactions were again unique in comparison to America. Pantomime is part of the culture over here so old-school heel shtick worked really well, also rest-holds got very over in-terms of immediately evoking heavy support for the babyfaces with stomping and clapping. So essentially very old-school. The simple fundamentals worked well. Although of course this is different with more hardcores.

  • WWE Superstars results (11/7): Neville relegated to singles action; Bo Dallas gets a rare win.

    The Big Takeaway: Neville beats Slater with his move and Bo Dallas gets a rare win over Zack Ryder in a good main event.

    Neville beat Heath Slater (4:02)

    Watching last week’s Table for 3, it was interesting to see Neville up close. He’s a very low-key guy who loves wrestling and takes great care of himself, but he was clearly pretty sad about not being apart of NXT anymore. And when you see him used like this on Superstars, you can sympathise with him.

    They lock up and Neville takes a shoulder barge to the mat and Slater poses and gyrates his hips. Neville regroups and they start again and this time Neville takes down Slater for a quick cover and then catches him and face plants him into the mat. Neville then flips between the ropes and catches Slater with a diving cross body off the second turn buckle and covers him for two.

    Slater charges Neville into the corner and beats him down. Slater locks in a chin lock and Neville works out into a neckbreaker but he then runs right into Slater’s boot. Slater tries the cover but can only get two and so goes back to the chin lock. This time it is more effective and Neville has to work out with punches. Slater runs into Nevilles boot, who now gets the heat with kicks and an enzugiri which allows him to set up and hit the Red Arrow for the win.

    Bo Dallas beat Zack Ryder (7:54)

    Ryder tries to get the crowd going early but the reaction is tepid. Dallas immediately goes for a roll up at the bell and Ryder kicks out, but that is enough for Dallas to take a victory lap. He goes back into the ring and eats and drop kick and then Ryder uses a headlock takedown for a quick two count. He then flips him with a fireman’s carry into a wrist lock and rings the arm until Dallas uses the ropes to break the hold.

    Dallas goes outside and Ryder hits him through the ropes with a missile drop kick. They go back in the ring but Dallas rolls back outside and plays possum and sweeps Ryder’s legs on the apron. He then side Russian leg sweeps Ryder into the dasher boards. We go to a break as Dallas is in the ring waiting for Ryder to get back up.

    As we return, Ryder is trying to shake off the beating but takes a forearm to the mat. Dallas goes outside and uses a series of forearms to the back of Ryder’s neck. He covers Ryder for two and then puts on a rear chin lock. Ryder fights out but takes a high knee to the jaw and is then able to face plant Dallas to get some space.

    Ryder gets the heat with a flying forearm, gets his knees up as Dallas charges at him and then goes for a missile drop kick off the second rope. Dallas dodges it and Ryder takes a flat back bump and Dallas gets a two count. Dallas uses a neckbreaker but again Ryder kicks out. Dallas is frustrated and yells “come on!” Ryder hits an enzugiri and then sets up and hits the Broski Boot. Dallas rolls outside and Ryder hits him with a drop kick which sends him into the barricade. Ryder goes up top but is crotched and Dallas hits his new finisher, the rope-hung whiplash neckbreaker, for the win. This was very good.

  • WWE Leeds, England, house show results (11/7): Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

    The “Rollins tour” headed to the Frist Direct Arena in Leeds, England, last night with a newly shuffled line-up. Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens main evented a show that was full but not a sell out. They had the top section tarped off with probably around 8,000 in attendance. 

    – Ric Flair opened the show to a nice pop. He looked frail as he moved down the small ramp to the ring. He anounced that Seth Rollins was injured and that, therefore, the main event was Ambrose v Owens.

    – The Dudley Boyz b WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day in a non-title tables Match when The Dudleys used the 3D on Xavier Woods through a table.

    – Cesaro b The Miz in a long match. Miz was a great heel here.

    – WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor b Sheamus in an non-title match. Sheamus took most of the match but Balor was tremendous. These two worked extremely well together, and probably had the best match of the night.

    – Curtis Axel b Bo Dallas in under a minute. There were kids around me commenting on how big Dallas has gotten. Dallas got on the mic and called out for some more opposition and R-Truth came out and they had a dance off. Truth took a cheap shot from Dallas but eventually this turned into a match, somehow, and Truth pinned him.

    – Kane b Big Show in a tables match with a chokeslam through a table. This was just what you’d expect. I’d have been seriously annoyed if I’d been In Cardiff on Thursday when this was the main event.

    – Dolph Ziggler b Tyler Breeze (w/ Summer Rae) in a very good match. Rae was sent to the back by the ref after she hit Ziggler with one of her shoes.

    – Becky Lynch & Divas Champion Charlotte b Brie Bella & Alicia Fox. Paige was the special guest referee. After the match, Paige attached Becky and Charlotte. They fought her off and celebrated on the ramp.

    – Dean Ambrose b WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens by DQ after Owens used a chair. After a good match, Owens used the chair twice and Ziggler came out to make the save. Then the ring filled with Sheamus, Cesaro, The New Day and The Dudley Boyz all coming out. The faces stood victorious to send people home happy.

    Notes:

    Merchandise on sale was Cena, Balor, Reigns, Rollins and tour shirts. Programmes were a ridiculous £20. Kids were eveywhere drenched in Cena merchandise and many clearly had no idea that he was going to be there. Every year, I find this so irritating that they don’t do more to communicate to parents who is going to be there.

  • WWE TLC 2010 – A look at the New December Classic

    Tables, Ladders, and Chairs… Oh My! – Part 2

    By: PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog and @parkingcone)

    This week…

    TLC 2 – December 19,2010 – Houston Texas – Toyota Center

    Dark Match – Daniel Bryan (c) defeated Ted DiBiase (with Maryse) for the WWE United States Championship

    • Not on the network, but let’s start our tally of current WWE employees versus goners – D. Bryan still with the company (barely), but DiBiase and Maryse are gone, so it’s 1-2.
    • U.S. Champion D. Bryan in the dark slot.  Ya. 

    Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger in a triple threat ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

    • Stryker, Cole and Lawler again.  Cole has his Slammies.  Remember when the Slammies were real, or something like that?
    • Of the four performers involved in the first match, yes for Kofi, yes for Dolph, yes-ish for Swagger, and no for Vicki, so it’s 4-3.
    • A pretty average three way and a pretty average ladder match with a super flat finish of Dolph picking the title up off the ground that was dropped by Kofi and Swagger.

    Natalya and Beth Phoenix defeated LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) in a tag team tables match

    • Natalya is the only one still remaining, so we’re at 5 in and 6 out.
    • I’ve haven’t heard as many hi-yas in one place since my 6 year old birthday party where we all were dressed as ninjas.
    • Stryker just sounds like a complete dork.
    • I enjoyed the painted table because I have no idea if it was supposed to be flattering or insulting to LayCool.
    • I see why they haven’t done another one of these since.
    • The double Sharpshooter by Natalya actually looked pretty good.
    • Natalya having to do the cross body off the top because the table didn’t break made the ending at least enjoyable.

    Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (c) defeated The Nexus (Justin Gabriel and Health Slater) (with Husky Harris and whatever Curtis Axel was before, something McGuillicutty?) by DQ for the WWE Tag Team Championship

    • Santino is not wrestling anymore, Kozlov is gone, Gabriel quit, Slater is a jobber, Harris is now Bray Wyatt, and Axelmania is, well, unclear at best.  That puts us at 8 on the roster and 9 not, and the biggest current player of this match is Husky Harris.
    • Remember Kozlov?

    John Morrison defeated King Sheamus in a ladder match to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship

    • Wow, Michael Cole really stepping up his annoyingness putting himself over in this one.  Nothing I like more than hearing the announcers talk about how great they are personally.
    • Sheamus is still around, and Morrison is doing stand up comedy.  Who came out better?  9 still here, 10 gone. 
    • Let’s toss the announce team into our tally, so we have Cole and King still around and Stryker gone.  Now we’re even at 11. 
    • Pretty wild ladder match.  I like when they build stuff out of the ladders. 
    • Do you think Morrison really did Parkour?   Like in his free time, would he go run in the park and jump off of picnic tables?  Or did he just go to the gym like a normal person.
    • I like to think that all contract disputes are settled this way.  “Alright, we’ve acquired the Donaldson contract.  Let’s all thank Gary for winning that ladder match.”
    • Michael Cole, “That steel ladder bent in half!”  WWE Director, “And now lets got a shot of those wood shards from where the wooden section of the ladder broke.”
    • This is actually a dang good match.  Really fun stuff here.

    The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated Randy Orton in a tables match for the WWE Championship

    • Miz is still around and now wearing a cape, Orton is around but injured, and A-Ry?  MIA.  I can’t count him as a current roster member… Well I just checked the WWE Superstars page, and he’s there, so I have to count him.  14 yes – 11 no.  Oh wait, I forgot to add Josh Matthews to the no list.  14-12. 
    • I once pitched a tag team idea for Zach Ryder and Alex Riley.  They would have been called A Ri to Z Ry… And by pitched I mean, said to myself alone in the car and giggled. 
    • Did you do your Randy Orton body research from last week?  One day when I figure out how to screen shot something I’ll do it myself.  Nah, I won’t.  Regardless, he looks better in 2010 than 2009.  Bigger for sure.  And it looks like he finally got those wonderful tattoo sleeves completed. 
    • A Ry took the table bump and Miz put a lifeless Randy Orton through the remains, and Mike Chioda didn’t see it because he had been bumped. 
    • Chioda saw the replay on the big screen and restarted the match.  Let’s start the 90-second timer… Way less.
    • So now Orton falls off the apron and into a table and the match is over. 
    • So the ref can use replay but only if they happen to notice it.  It can’t be done officially, I guess.  Cole was yelling about how instant replay is illegal.
    • They showed a replay of Chioda watching the replay.  Whoa!  Trippy.

    Edge defeated Kane (c), Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez) in a Fatal-4-Way TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship

    • Rosa Mendes and Del Rio chatted it up before the match.  Strangely, they are both still on the roster.
    • Edge is gone, Rey is gone, Ricardo is gone, Kane is now two people, but he’s fired.  Whatever.  17 yes and 15 no.
    • This is just after the “Edge is a psychopath father torture” angle. 
    • Edge took a ladder and threw it near the announcers and you could see Stryker do the “stop short” arm move for the King.  That was nice.
    • Then Stryker says that Edge chose the biggest ladder because of his experience.  Ok?
    • Some pretty inventive stuff here.  Rey jumped off one of the prop tables that were hung over the stage.
    • Ricardo took a big bump from Kane. 
    • This was a heck of a TLC match.  Just sort of brutal and realistic.  When the spots get too inventive, it takes me out of it.
    • It also takes me out of it when at the start of every ladder match the guys have to stare at the title longingly. 
    • Hellacious bump by Del Rio coming off the big ladder through a table out of the ring.
    • Kane’s back up and looks to have a trickle of blood on his head.  Better go to that wide shot.
    • Edge spanked Kane with a chair.
    • Remember the Con-Chair-To?
    • Kane took a pretty solid bump to the floor through a table after a spear by Edge.
    • Really excellent TLC match. 

    An unbelievably embarrassingly bad comedy Santa skit…

    • Dashing Cody Rhodes came out to speak.  He’s still on the roster, sort of.  18 and 15. 
    • Fat material.  Jowl puns.  Wow.
    • Michael Cole’s fake laugh is sickening.  “Irritable Jowl Syndrome.” Haha!  Good stuff Cody. 
    • I enjoy the old school heel running down the audience, but this material is “Boy Meets World” level bad.
    • Then the Bellas came out as elves and Big Show as Santa.
    • Big Show is out to plug Knucklehead.  I hope that ends up in my stocking this year.
    • The Bellas and Show are still on the roster.  21-15
    • Big Show’s finish is a punch.  How is he not the Champion on an amazing undefeated streak if all he has to do is punch?

    John Cena defeated Wade Barrett in a chairs match

    • CM Punk comes to the ring to announce.  He’s out.
    • Cena is still the man even though he’s off TV for a bit, and Barrett probably wishes he were fired a long time ago.  23 yes, and 16 no.
    • There are literally dozens of chairs at ringside and Cena can’t seem to pick one up.
    • “We Hate Cena” T-Shirt guy in the front row.  Speak for yourself!
    • This match is just silly. 
    • Chair use in this match is idiotic.  Wade continually tries to decapitate him but keeps missing, and then gently swipes him on the side later when he had him dead to rights.
    • Red Hat guy in the crowd
    • This PPV is dragging. 
    • Cena “knocked out” Barrett, then poured cold water on his face to wake him up, just so he could zoom him down the ramp on a rolling chair into the propped up ring steps.  That’s really what happened. 
    • Now I’m supposed to take this match seriously.
    • Oh, remember earlier when Cena knocked out all five other Nexus guys earlier in the night?  He’s concussed a half a dozen men this evening. 
    • Cena wins by giving Barrett an Attitude Adjustment onto 8 chairs. 
    • That match was pretty stupid.  It had a zany finish of Cena putting Barrett under a protective table, and then pulling down the prop chairs and they all fell on Barrett. 

    Summary:  This was a much better show than the year before.  Actually, I just went through the card again, and I’m wrong.  It’s not as good.  The terrible stuff was just the dirt worst, and there were some cringe worthy matches.  The TLC match was really good.  Go watch that. 

  • WWE Madrid, Spain, house show results (11/7): Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns street fight

    Submitted by Carlos Gascó

    From the sold-out Barclays Center. Yesterday’s Barcelona show was also sold out.

    – Lilian Garcia welcomes us to the show singing in Spanish.

    – Neville defeated Stardust after the Red Arrow, and gets a standing ovation.

    – Damien Sandow defeated Heath Slater with a roll up in less than a minute.

    – The Wyatt Family defeated Ryback and The Usos after Jay Uso tapped to a submission by Strowman.

    – Fandango defeated King Barrett with a roll up. Before the match, Barrett did a speech talking about being the real king of Spain.

    – The Lucha Dragons defeated The Ascension and Los Matadores after Salida del Sol from Kalisto to Viktor. During the match, Matadores wore Spanish soccer team t-shirts that, in the middle of the match, they threw out. doing a turn heel. Torito interfered to help the Dragons.

    – Natalya & Bayley defeated Team Bad (Sasha & Naomi) w/Tamina. People are chanting “NXT NXT”. Natalya submitted Naomi with the Sharpshooter.

    – WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio def. Jack Swagger. ADR did a pre-match promo in Spanish. ADR retained after a foot stomp from the top rope.

    – Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt in a street fight match that featured chairs, tables and kendo stick shots. Reigns wins after a spear.

  • WWE NXT Jacksonville, FL house show results: Rich Swann & Biff Busick debut

    Submitted by Ross Blair

    – From the Maxwell Snyder Armory 

    – Tough Enough’s Sara Lee made an appearance. She came out with Solomon Crowe & Hugo Knox to mingle with fans for the pre-show autograph session.

    – Hugo Knox (dancing wildly — I guess like a Euro party raver) pinned Angelo Dawkins after a flying crossbody and sunset flip.

    – Gionna Daddio & Adrienne Reese defeated Emma & Aliyah when Daddio pinned Aliyah after a good looking top rope moonsault.

    – Next up was the double interview debut of top shelf indy wrestlers turned NXT newbies Rich Swann & Biff Busick. Ring announcer Dasha Fuentes welcomed “NXT’s latest signee” Swann, who quickly introduced his “good friend who I’ve travelled around the world with: Christopher Gerard,” not mentioning his apparently dropped ring name of Biff Busick. Gerard announced his quest for NXT championship. Swann interjected that he wants the NXT title, and “we may be friends outside the ring, but inside the ring we are competition,” followed by a nose-to-nose stare down. 

    – “The Drifter” Elias Sampson pinned Levis Valenzuela. Sampson established himself as the heel before the bell rang by serenading the crowd, guitar in hand, with a tune he titled “Jacksonville Is A Joke”.

    – Solomon Crowe pinned Josh Woods after a spinning heel kick and brainbuster.

    – The Vaudevillains got the win over Tino Sabbatelli & Steve Cutler when Aiden English pinned Sabbatelli after the whirling dervish.

    – Enzo Amore pinned Tucker Knight.

    – Billie Kay, managed by Sylvester Lefort this night, got an upset victory over Nia Jax. Kay, who spent the majority of the match on defense, rolled up Jax from behind with a schoolboy. Jax left both Kay & Lefort laying after a pair of Samoan drops.

    – Chad Gable & Jason Jordan def. NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson by DQ. Wilder pulled the ref out of the ring to break up a Gable pinfall before the count of three. A tremendous match as all four men brought their working shoes. The crowd chanted “save the Gable” as a parody of Xavier Woods’ “save the table” whenever Gable was in trouble. Enzo came out to help clear the ring and to end the show with three most over babyfaces of the night raising each others’ hands in victory.