Paypress testing

Category: WWE News

  • WWE Smackdown results (10/15): Dean Ambrose & Dudley Boyz battle The New Day

    – Air Date: October 15, 2015 (Oct 14 in Canada)

    – Location: U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH

    The Big News:

    In Dean Ambrose’s hometown, The New Day stood tall over Ambrose and the Dudleys.

    Show Recap:

    They announced two matches for tonight and Roman Reigns came out. They recapped his match with Braun Strowman on Raw, and plugged his match with Bray Wyatt at Hell in a Cell.

    Roman Reigns beat Bo Dallas via pinfall

    Bo Dallas said there is nothing wrong with Reigns being scared just because he is facing a man he continues to come up short against. Dallas said, unlike Roman, he survived Suplex City and Reigns would leave on a stretcher. (Bo never mentioned Bray Wyatt by name.)

    Bo got some offense on Reigns which was completely unconvincing. Fortunately, Reigns turned Bo inside out with a clothesline and followed with clotheslines in the corner. Bo called for a timeout and offered a handshake. Reigns shook his hand and Bo kicked him. Reigns no-sold that and hit a Samoan Drop, superman punch and spear for the win. Besides Bo’s few moments of offense, this was fine.

    After match, Reigns said Bray Wyatt calls himself the devil and Reigns believes it. I normally don’t write everything out word-for-word, but this is really what Reigns said next: “When I look into Bray Wyatt’s eyes, I see nothing but pure evil. I can see him in the depths of hell, screaming that he’s the devil!”

    Reigns said he would bring the fight to the devil in the cell. He went on, “Because the only way to stop the devil, is to ride straight into hell.” This was so dumb. Bray appeared on the screen humming, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” Bray said Reigns has his virtues, but his sins will do him in. Bray said he would deliver Reigns a prophecy on Raw. Reigns looked concerned.

    King Barrett & Sheamus beat Cesaro & Neville via pinfall

    Stardust and Ascension were in the front row and Stardust held up a small “Stardust Section” sign. Neville sent the bad guys to the outside and Cesaro launched him over the ropes to knock them down. Heels had the heat after a break. Booker said Sheamus was Scottish and nobody corrected him.

    Neville eventually made the hot tag to Cesaro who hit Sheamus with running uppercuts and a dropkick. Cesaro took out Barrett with an uppercut on the outside and hit Sheamus with the spinning springboard uppercut for two. Cesaro went for the big swing but Sheamus brought the briefcase in the ring. As the referee tossed it out, Barrett hit the Bull Hammer from behind and Sheamus rolled up Cesaro for the win.

    Backstage, Summer Rae said Monday wasn’t the first time she had to put a man in his place and it won’t be the last. Summer said, unlike some people, she can keep her personal and professional life separate. (She was talking about being referee, not posting stuff online.)

    They showed a video from earlier today of Byron Saxton interviewing Dean Ambrose, who was unpacking his bag in the locker room. Saxton said he asked the fans who the most unconventional superstar or [women’s wrestler] was and Paige beat out Ambrose in the voting.

    Ambrose said it would be nice to win a contest, but Paige really is crazy. As this was happening, Ambrose unpacked a Slammy, keys (perhaps dungeon keys), a slinky, balloon animal, a globe and an 8-ball from his bag. He couldn’t find something and left. Saxton saw a [corporate sponsor] candy bar and Ambrose came back, grabbed it, and took a bite with the wrapper still on. The product placement was lame but Ambrose was good here.

    Non-Title: IC Champion Kevin Owens beat Zack Ryder via pinfall

    Ryder got some offense but Owens won quickly with a pop-up powerbomb. Ryback was at ringside and they essentially explained that he was too pissed off to do commentary. As soon as the match was over, Ryback jumped in the ring and Owens bailed. Ryback couldn’t leave the ring once he got inside for some reason, so they just stared down as Owens held up his title.

    They aired a 3-minute video recapping the Seth Rollins/Kane stuff from Raw.

    Backstage, Paige tried to apologize to Natalya. Paige was practically in tears, explaining that she won the title right away, which set expectations too high and brought a lot of pressure. Then Charlotte became champion and Nattie started teaming with Charlotte and Becky and Paige was sad.

    Natalya sarcastically asked if Paige wanted a hug. Paige said she wanted to make things right, like back at NXT when they were friends. Natalya seemed to believe her and went into her locker room. (Yes, Natalya has her own locker room.) Both women were good here, particularly Paige.

    Dolph Ziggler beat Rusev via pinfall (Special Referee: Summer Rae)

    Rusev got the heat immediately and had control for a while. Ziggler countered a fallaway slam into a school boy and Summer fast-counted, but Rusev kicked out anyway. Rusev argued with her and Ziggler caught him with a dropkick.

    Rusev rebounded with a superkick but Summer took her sweet time to make the count. Ziggler kicked out at 2.5, which made him look pretty weak considering how long it took for the count. Rusev got in Summer’s face again, so she slapped him and Ziggler hit a Zig Zag for the win, with Summer fast-counting again. So the heel got screwed and the face looked like a geek.

    After the match, Summer told Ziggler that they both got screwed by Rusev and Lana. She reminded Ziggler that the two of them had chemistry and tried flirting with him. Ziggler said he has chemistry with a lot of girls. He said he doesn’t want to play games and he left.

    Backstage, Renee Young asked the Dudleys and Dean Ambrose if they could work as a team to overcome New Day tonight. Bubba reminded her who the Dudleys are, and called Ambrose a combustible element on his own. Bubba told Renee to touch Dean’s arm to prove it. She hesitated, but touched his arm and all three yelled “Boom!”, which the crowd found amusing.

    D-Von said they would celebrate their 10th tag team title win at Hell in a Cell. Ambrose said New Day took a wrong turn and ended up in Dudleyville, the kind of place where you’d get your wallet and shoes stolen, just like his hometown of Cincinnati. Ambrose said they would 3D the New Day and Bubba said they’d get sent straight to the Lunatic Fringe (perhaps he should’ve said “Ambrose Asylum”?). They yelled “Boom” again in Renee’s face and left. She was not amused.

    Luke Harper & Braun Strowman beat Prime Time Players via submission

    Wyatts got the heat on Titus who hot-tagged Darren Young. Young gave Harper a neckbreaker on the ring apron, which I’m sure is as fun as it sounds. Young tried to knock Strowman off the apron, but he didn’t budge, and Harper caught Young with a superkick. Strowman used The Hug on Young for the submission win.

    Non-Title: Divas Champion Charlotte (w/Becky Lynch) beat Alicia Fox (w/Nikki & Brie Bella) via submission

    The pinky swear thing that Charlotte and Becky do needs to stop. Charlotte doesn’t appear to enjoy doing it either. Fox had the heat until they each did a big boot. Charlotte came back with chops, neckbreaker, spear and Figure Eight for the tap-out win.

    After the match, the Bellas jumped Charlotte and Becky. Paige ran out to make the save and cleared the ring with help from her old team. The crowd cheered and a small “Paige” chant started. Charlotte and Becky appeared nonplussed.

    After a break, Paige caught up to Becky and Charlotte backstage and said how great it was for Team PCB to be back together. Becky said Paige did some horrible things but Paige just wanted to make up for it. Charlotte said they’d take it one day at a time and Paige was fine with that. Some officials ran by and Paige left. Becky and Charlotte followed the officials into Natalya’s personal locker room and she was laid out, selling her mid-section.

    They aired a video package for Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar.

    Dean Ambrose & The Dudley Boyz beat The New Day via DQ

    New Day said they’ve dropped everyone they’ve faced — John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, D-Von Dudley, Booty Ray Dudley, and Cincinnati’s own filthy street urchin Dean Ambrose. Kofi Kingston said the power of positivity was science. He said you could even call it geology because New Day “rocks” and they started chanting.

    Ambrose was really over and had a new t-shirt specifically for Cincinnati. New Day used a referee distraction to take control on D-Von and did their usual stomping spot in the corner. It went on for even longer than usual. D-Von hit a neckbreaker on Woods and made the hot tag to Ambrose.

    Ambrose took out Kingston with a suicide dive and clotheslined Woods and Big E. Ambrose hit a flying elbow on Woods for two and followed with a double underhook suplex off the ropes. Big E knocked him down but Ambrose avoided a splash and tagged in Bubba. Everyone took turns hitting moves, but Woods pushed Ambrose off the top to the outside.

    Dudleys hit Kingston with a 3D but Woods broke up the cover using the trombone for a DQ. New Day attacked the Dudleys, and Woods used the trombone as a weapon, destroying it in the process. Woods, who had a bloody nose, gave Bubba a shining wizard and Kingston followed with Trouble in Paradise. They finished off D-Von with Midnight Hour.

    Everyone, including myself, was expecting Ambrose — a human cockroach who beat Seth Rollins a few weeks ago — to jump back in at the end but that never happened. New Day posed with the titles and the trombone and the show ended.

    Final Thoughts:

    Pretty much an average show. I would’ve put Ambrose over in his hometown. That being said, one positive for this show was that featured acts all got wins: Reigns, Owens, Harper & Strowman and Charlotte. The first two in squash matches and the latter two in convincing fashion. The New Day got put over strong as well and were positioned to be taken seriously. I know it’s sad that WWE needs to be given credit for simple booking, but here we are.

  • WWE NXT results (10/14): Apollo Crews, 21-man Battle Royal, Bayley, Nia Jax debut

    The champ is here to start the show. Well a different champ. The winner of the first women’s Iron Man Match in WWE history. The winner of the first time a women’s match main evented a WWE special. Bayley is here, much to the delight of all 300 people. The fans gave her a standing ovation and chanted both her name and “Match of the Year” before she had a chance to talk.

    She thanked Dusty Rhodes for being a big part in her career, also stating that being in the main event is something she dreamed about since she was a little girl. She did say “we have started a whole new level in the Diva’s Revolution”, which was the only time she said something that sounded forced. The fans chanted “women’s wrestling”, which she encouraged.

    This brought out Alexa Bliss, Blake & Murphy. Alexa said what happened last week was incredible and she was in awe watching the match, stating that no one deserved to be champion more than her. Alexa said she truly was an incredible champion and that the future for the women in NXT has no limit. She almost broke down into fake tears as she raised Bayley’s hand and stole her championship.

    Blake and Murphy stood in Bayley’s way as Alexa cut a promo saying she is going to take her championship. Alexa did throw the belt back at Bayley before leaving.

    *****

    Last week, The Camera Man caught up with Finn Balor and Samoa Joe, but before they could say anything, William Regal ran up to congratulate them. Joe said it’s been a pleasure and an honor to be Finn’s partner. Joe said he has been undefeated since he got to NXT and wants a shot at the championship. Finn agreed to it, but Mr. Regal said no. Instead last week he announced that next week (tonight) there would be a battle royal for the #1 Contender status.

    Joe was mad, but respectful, in saying he should be getting a title shot. Mr. Regal cut him off and said there will be a battle royal. Tye Dillinger, Apollo Crews and Rhyno all said they would win the battle royal in separate promos. Rhyno mentioned he was the last ECW Champion and Tye said he was the only Perfect 10.

    *****

    NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillians defeated Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins

    17 minutes (and 5 promos) into the show and we finally got our first match. The reigning tag team champions are here and they didn’t even get out of the second round of the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Tonight their foes are Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins. Sawyer has that cross Sheamus wears tattooed into his chest and Dawkins is dressed in similar gear to Jordan & Gable.

    Fulton and Dawkins got more offense than they ever have on tv, but that really isn’t saying much. They got the heat on English and Gotch knocked one of Dawkins headbands off with a side suplex. The champs won in 3 minutes with the Whirling Dervish.

    Dash and Dawson cut a promo backstage about how they defeated The Vaudevillians in the Dusty Rhodes Classic, so that makes them the #1 Contender’s. Hooray logic! Actually it turns out they have to face Enzo and Cass for some reason, so boo lack of logic! Devin Taylor was the interviewer and I guess this was her last taping. I’ll miss her and it’s too bad we never got the battle with her and Dana Brooke.

    Speaking of Dana, last week she was being worked over after Asuka whooped her when Asuka came up and patted her on the head mockingly. Dana thought she had won the match and was bragging to that effect while Emma patted her on the arm.

    *****

    Nia Jax defeated Evie

    It took her 8 weeks, but Nia Jax has finally arrived. Evie looks a lot like Tough Enough winner Sara Lee, but thankfully it wasn’t her. I did do a smidge of research on Evie and she actually wrestles under the name Evie in New Zealand and recently got a WWE tryout.

    The fans began counting like they used to do for Baron Corbin, but they quit quickly. Nia’s first move was this bear hug where she jumped up and down while squeezing her foe. That should have been her finish. In case you have never seen her, Nia is a very large, very thick woman and could be WWE’s Awesome Kong if she stays healthy.

    Evie got more offense than Nia, although that was mostly so Nia could no sell it. Nia won with a Spinebuster Slam. She really should have used that bear hug.

    One guy in the crowd (and a few people on Twitter) shouted “Rock Bottom”, but it really wasn’t the same.

    *****

    A video package for the Sasha-Bayley match aired. They interviewed Becky, Charlotte, Stephanie and Hunter, who all put the match over big.

    Tyler Breeze and Baron Corbin both said they would win the battle royal.

    Eva Marie is in Paris, taking a personal vacation after her grueling (to watch) matches.

    *****

    Apollo Crews won a 21-man #1 Contender’s Battle Royal, last eliminating Baron Corbin

    It is the third battle royal in NXT history! Bo Dallas won the first one in May 2013 and then in May 2014 they had this ridiculous finish where Tyler Breeze, Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd all went over at the same time, which was mistimed and Breeze legit won, but was called a draw.

    Rhyno, Baron Corbin and Samoa Joe were the only ones to get a televised entrance.

    Order of elimination was Steve Cutler, Danny Birch, Elias Sampson, Johnny Gargano, Riddick Moss, Colin Cassady, Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Enzo Amore, Tye Dillinger, Bull Dempsey, Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder, Rhyno, Tommaso Ciampa, Blake, Murphy, Tyler Breeze, Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin

    I am so used to WWE battle royals which everyone unimportant is eliminated in 3 minutes that it was weird to see them go several minutes before anyone got eliminated. Apollo Crews eliminated the first four men, including heaving Gargano onto Cutler, Birch and Sampson. For what it’s worth the last time they did an NXT battle royal the first 5 guys eliminated were cut from their developmental deals. The fans popped when Enzo tossed Dash & Dawson by himself and quickly died when Tye immediately threw Enzo out. Baron and Rhyno continued their partnership for about 10 minutes…until Baron tossed Rhyno with 9 men left. Dummy. Why didn’t he wait until it came down to two? Maybe he realized that almost never works.

    The final four were Crews, Corbin, Joe and Breeze. Ever notice in almost every Royal Rumble there is that one guy in the final four that appears to be horribly out of place? Like Billy Gunn in 2001 and Mr Perfect in 2002? I think Tyler Breeze won the “Billy Gunn Award” in this battle royal. Joe actually got booed for eliminating Breeze and Tyler didn’t want to leave.

    Joe almost gave Corbin the Muscle Buster, but got thrown over the top onto the apron. Joe kicked Corbin’s head out of his head but Tyler Breeze tripped Joe up, yanking him off the apron and eliminating him! The fans actually cheered Breeze for doing that.

    Corbin and Crews worked really good together and I can’t wait to see them have an actual match together. Corbin kept throwing Crews over the top, but Apollo would land on the apron. The fans chanted “Corbin sucks” to the tune of New Day Sucks. That gave Crews his second wind. He made his comeback, but Baron got the knees up on the standing moonsault. Crews came back with several kicks to the head and shockingly won by clotheslining Corbin out!

    That does it for this week. Finn Balor, your future is here and his name is Apollo Crews. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!

  • WWE Smackdown 10/15 spoilers: Dudleys & Dean Ambrose battle the New Day, Ziggler vs. Rusev again

    Thanks to Andrew8798 on our Board:

    Pre-Show — 

    There were lots of “New Day Sucks” chants and of course plenty of “Whoo!” yells. The hard camera area was tarped off, along with a few other rows and the entire upper bowl.

    Dark Match — 

    – Tyler Breeze beat Damien Sandow. Damien is finally is just Damien. Breeze hit the Beauty Shot for the win in about four and a half minutes.

    Smackdown — 

    Roman Reigns beat Bo Dallas

    Before the match, Bo cut a promo about Roman’s match with Bray Wyatt at Hell in a Cell, and mentioned going to Suplex City. He told Roman the only way he would leave Hell in a Cell is on a stretcher. Bad move. After some initial offense by Bo, Roman ended up destroying him in five minutes… Big Pop for Reigns. Roman cut a promo about the Hell in a Cell Match. Several in Cincinnati gave him the “What?” treatment. Bray appeared on the Titantron, and said that next Monday he will make a promise of some sort. “Anyone but you.” That was it.

    King Barrett and Sheamus beat Cesaro and Neville

    After a couple great false finishes down the stretch, it ended when a ref distraction by Sheamus with the MITB briefcase, allowing Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer on Cesaro, then Sheamus pinned him…

    Summer Rae was interviewed regarding being a special referee for Rusev vs Dolph Ziggler. She promised to be impartial.

    WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens beat Zack Ryder

    Ryback was out at ringside. This was the expected Owens squash in about three minutes. Afterward, Ryback rushed the ring and then Owens bailed quickly.

    Dolph Ziggler beat Rusev with Summer Rae as special referee

    Summer called it down the middle at first, but then gave Ziggler the faster count and either wouldn’t count pins or gave slow counts for Rusev. It ended with Summer slapping Rusev, leading to Dolph hitting Zigzag for the fast three count. Post match, Summer cut a promo, saying Lana and Rusev did them dirty. Summer ended up asking Ziggler if she could be with him…which led him to saying no because, as he said it, “When it comes to those kind of games, I’m not playing them.”

    The Dudleys and Dean Ambrose did a backstage interview for the main event. The Dudleys put over Dean as combustible. They hyped the Hell in a Cell Tag Team Championship match, then Dean went for the cheap hometown pop and ended by saying New Day was going to get 3D’ed.

    After a Susan Komen video, Prime Time Players came out for the next match.

    Braun Strowman and Luke Harper beat The Prime Time Players

    Hard hitting match, but I knew how it would end. Sure enough, Harper and Strowman won by submission in about five minutes…

    WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (w/Becky Lynch) beat Alicia Fox (w/Nikki Bella, Brie Bella) in a non title match

    Team BAD was shown backstage watching. Charlotte won with a Figure Eight in about four minutes. After the match, Team Bella started a beat down of Charlotte and Lynch until Paige ran out to make a save

    A backstage segment showed Paige repeatedly saying she would make everything up to Becky and Charlotte. We soon saw why as Natalya was found laid out in another room.

    The Dudley Boyz and Dean Ambrose beat WWE Tag Team Champions New Day by DQ

    Before the match, New Day cut a promo talking about all of the people they’ve put down in the past. As usual, Cincy blew the roof off US Bank Arena for Dean Ambrose and the hometown boy soaked it in. The match was a normal six-man tag until New Day used the trombone to cause the DQ and laid waste to the Dudleys. No save by Ambrose. A replay followed and the New Day stood tall concluding the Smackdown taping.

    Dark Main Event — 

    Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

    Reigns took the punishment for much of the match until he could explode out of the corner with a clothesline and make the hot tag. Ambrose cleaned up from that point onward, except a brief comeback by the Wyatt Family. It ended with Reigns spearing Wyatt while Dean hit Dirty Deeds on Harper for a pin in about seven minutes.

  • WWF Tuesday Night Titans episode 38 review: George Steele’s childhood secret revealed

    By Joshua Molina for WrestlingObserver.com

    – Run date: June 20, 1985
    – Air time: 44:57
    – Stars of the show: Steele, Capt. Lou Albano and Dr. Sigmund Ziff

    Talk about a show that absolutely could not happen today. This was an offensive, insensitive and politically incorrect show. But it was also absolutely hilarious, with several laugh-out-loud moments, and some of the best acting ever on cable television. No TNT never won an Emmy, but my goodness, George “The Animal” Steele deserved an Emmy and an Oscar for his ridiculously brilliant performance as a psychotic, traumatized, dysfunctional person with several mental limitations. 

    This guy nailed this character, to the point where we are almost believe that he was legitimately limited. We’ll get to Steele in a minute, but first we get to hear Vince McMahon interview The Junkyard Dog. 

    The JYD was one of those legitimately super-popular guys before he ever stepped into a WWF ring. The WWF had not real plan for him, other than he was part of the dozens of wrestlers stolen from the territories. JYD was charismatic and super-popular, but he never destined for anything other than mid-card status with Hulk Hogan on top.

    The Dog comes out and McMahon launches into his typical fanboy gushing, mentioning how popular JYD is. The Dog says “I can get along with anybody.”

    We go quickly to a match between JYD and Tito Santana against Matt Borne and Steve Lombardi. Santana really carried this match. This guy was an incredible worker. Too bad he was buried also as a mid-carder in the Hulk Hogan area. In terms of technical ability he is one of the to 75 wrestlers of all time. The Dog was not a great worker. He was charismatic, but his offense here looked worse than Jon Stewart’s chair shot on John Cena at Summerslam.

    Borne is doing his best to sell for JYD though, bumping like he’s Dolph Ziggler after two energy drinks.  For no reason Ventura decides to go full-on racist: “The Junkyard Dog to me is almost illiterate and Chico Santana he don’t speak English all that well.”

    No wonder Ventura wants to be Donald Trump’s running mate? Or wait, is that Hulk Hogan who wants to be his running mate. Ventura is the more sensible of the two, so maybe it was Hogan. Nonetheless, the WWF “scriptwriters” weren’t too kind to these wrestlers of color in 1985.

    Santana pins Borne and we are back in the studio with JYD and McMahon saying “the fans were all over you.” McMahon humors us: “You have nothing but success in front of you as far as the fans are concerned.” McMahon even suggests that maybe if the Dog keeps winning he’ll get a title show against Hulk Hogan.

    Yeah right. Hogan was no John Cena, who in the last decade put over fan favorites such as Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, RVD, The Rock and Edge, for no other reason other than he wanted get those guys over. Hogan put over the JYD in 1985? That was never going to happen. 

    The Junkyard Dog lingers, sliding down the couch as they introduce the next guest, Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart. Hart had the best laugh in the world. It rolled on forever. So annoying. He was a little fireball. A perfect heel. Hart refuses sit on the same couch as JYD, saying that either he leaves or the JYD leaves. Of course, JYD leaves because he’s a gentleman and doesn’t want to disrupt the show. 

    Hart has a package that give gives Lord Alfred Hayes. Apparently, in one of the episodes that is not on the WWE network, a few weeks ago Hart dumped water on Hayes in a beach segment featuring King Kong Bundy. To make up for this, Hart gave Hayes a package.

    As Hart starts to fiddle with the package, we go to a match featuring Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Mario Mancini. Valentine was a true professional wrestler, but my god was he boring to watch. The match is moving like Ryback vs. The Big Show. Making matters worse, we have Bruno Sammartino on color commentary, who is referring to Hammer as being in “tip-top shape.”

    No matter how great or awful they were in the ring, you could always count on Sammartino to comment about each wrestler’s physique and strength and conditioning, even if the were pudgy little jobbers. Oh well, at least we didn’t have to listen to him talk this week about how strong his son David is. 

    To distract people from the ridiculously slow pace of the match, Hart is jabbering with a crazy fan at ringside. Hart knew how to draw heel heat. 

    Valentine wins with a figure-four-leglock and back in the TNT studio Hayes is still opening the package. It’s one of those boxes that when you open it there’s another box inside. Hayes finally gets to the right box and a snake and powder explodes into the air, splashing all over Hayes and his jacket. 

    “There’s no fool, like an old fool,” Hart says with a maniacal laugh. Hayes pops up as though he’s going to assault him, when JYD returns with a jug of water. He goes after Hart and pours it on him.  Hart screams, “You ruined my outfit. You are going to pay for this” and runs off the set. 

    Up next, we get what McMahon calls “a great lady wrestler.” Too bad McMahon doesn’t call his talent “wrestlers” anymore. Petersen comes out apparently as the newest challenger for Wendi Richter. McMahon has no shame: “Talk about an attractive young lady,” he says.

    Sitting straight up and proper, she says “thank you” for the compliments. McMahon has morphed into his slimy nice guy character here, his voice low, his body leaning toward Petersen, trying to make her feel comfortable.

    We go to the ring and its Peterson against Judy Martin. 

    I’ll say it again: The female wrestlers in 1985 were better than most of the current WWE female roster. The women were more normal looking, and their wrestling looked much more athletic and realistic. I don’t think they were trying to turn models into wrestlers in 1985. These were wrestlers that they were trying to glam up. 

    Petersen wins the match after Martin refuses to release a choke hold and pushes the referee, a big no-no, or a convenient went to end a match without having either wrestler do the job for the other. 

    The lady segments are typically short. They give Peterse enough time to look pretty, proper and grateful for the opportunity and then they ship her off the set. On the couch she said she wants a rematch with Martin and she wants to challenge Wendi Richter for the world title.

    Before she leaves, McMahon calls her “a pretty young lady.” After Petersen, we get to meet “the lucky winner” of the WWF trivia contest that Lord Alfed Hayes was pushing several months ago. I am not sure they ever said her name, but I do remember her saying “this is an ultimate fantasy of mine dream come true,” while standing between Hayes and McMahon.

    She’s apparently a huge professional wrestling fan, although not enough to get on a plane for. Hayes points out that she took a 19-hour Greyhound bus ride to get to New York. She also reveals that she has 10 cats, six dogs and three horses.

    This is a bridge segment before the main event: George “The Animal” Steele. 

    Now watching TNT as a kid, of course I knew that wrestling was predetermined. The big question for me was always whether the wrestlers were like their characters in real life. When they said things, did they really mean that? Did Rowdy Roddy Piper and Cowboy Bob Orton really hang out together and cause trouble on the road? That was always the big question. And even though I knew wrestling outcomes were pre-determined, I knew that these guys were athletes, who chose professional wrestling because they loved the art of it. 

    But when George “The Animal” Steele was on TV, it was an entirely different story. I was convinced this guy was legitimately limited in his mental capacity. 

    He was also scary as hell. Can you imagine that bald, fat, hairy guy coming after you? It’s a boy’s nightmare. So props to Steele for playing that role so masterfully, as evidenced on this episode of TNT. Steele comes out with a noticeably fatter Albano, who is sporting a haircut. Albano lost some weight during the Cyndi Lauper angle, but appears to be morphing back into his gross self. 

    McMahon calls him on it, asking Albano if he has gained weight. Albano unbuttons his shirt and says that actually he has lost 30 to 35 bounds. No one embraced their fatness quite like Albano.

    Albano starts to explain that he has found “Dr. Sigmund Ziff” who is a renowned “psychiatrist and gynecologist.” You just can’t make this stuff up. He said the doctor determined that Steele was depressed, homicidal and suicidal. But he can be helped. 

    “Under hypnosis, they said the man can be helped and they said there’s only one man in the nation today with a PhD, PhU, an IOU and an IOA that can help George Steele.”

    Albano was so good at just making up words in the moment. Before the hypnosis we go to the ring to Saturday Night’s Main Event and a six-man tag match between Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham against The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkov and Steele.

    A couple of notables: Steamboat was amazing. Windham was ridiculously amazing. Windham was so good in that ring, everything from his timing, to his athleticism and his ability to call a match. The match ends after Volkoff tags in Steele, who quickly attempts to tag back, but his partners abandoned him. Windham then rolls up Steele for the victory. 

    Just because they are bullies, Sheik and Volkoff decide to beat on Steele until Steel battles back. Albano runs into the ring and comforts Steele in a real tender moment. Albano rubs his head and Steele puts his head on his chest. 

    Ahhhhh. McMahon calls Steele, “the most unorthodox wrestler in the world today.” Back on the TNT set, Albano continues to explain why he wants to help Steele. 

    “I felt that in this man I saw nothing but goodness,” Albano said. “I realized the man was handicapped. He had a speech impediment. he was in trouble.” Meanwhile, Steele is acting like a paranoid freak, as though bugs are crawling all over him and there’s someone lurking over him about to slam him over the head. He was born for this role. 

    Albano says Steele simply has a calcium deposit building up in his head blocking his medulla, but that Dr. Ziff is going to fix it all. We go to the psychiatrist’s office and Steele is sprawled out. McMahon asks him how he plans to help Steele.

    “I am the doctor of the last resort,” Dr. Ziff says. “Whenever things are hopeless they send them to me. And this man is hopeless.”

    Ziff said he needs silence to hypnotize Steele. Ziff swings the pendulum in about three seconds claims that “he’s under, just like that.” What follows is a combination of disappointment and sadness. Dr. Ziff tells Steele to go back to his childhood, and suddenly Steele starts talking. 

    Now I don’t remember watching this segment as a kid, but if I did I would have been terribly disappointed. George was actually talking. I new that the psychiatry gimmick was a total work, so if George is talking, he must actually be a really smart guy to play along with this act. 

    Over the next minute George barks out these words:

    “School!”

    “Football!”

    “Tongue”

    “George Stand.”

    “George Talk”

    “Teacher Say: Sit Down, Dummy.”

    “George, No Talk in School.”

    Man. How sad. Now we know that George was not a mentally challenged individual, he was actually a metaphor for all the bullied children all over the world.  Then it goes worse. George says he grew up to become a professional wrestler. 

    “They booed George.”

    “Threw things at me.”

    “Spit at me.”

    Dr. Ziff concludes that George is traumatized from a double rejection in his life. He claims that  now that Steel has acknowledge his trauma, he will come out of the hypnosis as a new man. Of course, that doesn’t happen. Why would the WWF kill a great gimmick just for shock value? This isn’t 2015. 

    Dr. Ziff snaps his fingers and George starts freaking out like he sat on a bed of thumbtacks. Albano starts screaming that Steele will need more therapy. No kidding. It should have been a weekly segment. The show wraps up with Dr. Ziff on the couch. He’s trying to explain to McMahon how he can be a gynecologist and psychiatrist.”

    “Everything is inside,” Dr. Ziff says, “sometimes you start at the top and work down and sometimes, well you get the idea.” Dr. Ziff says he is willing to help anybody:

    “We will help anyone who comes to us,” Dr. Ziff says. “We only need need one qualification: money.”

    What an amazing episode, thanks to Steele, who played this role perfectly. They tried something similar with Eugene a decade ago, but Steele shows on this episode that if they ever start handing out Emmys to WWE wrestlers, Steele definitely deserves one of those Lifetime Achievement Awards.

  • WWE Raw Ratings 10-12: Breaks 17 year record low

    The combination of NFL football and baseball playoffs, combined with a less-than-interesting product in recent weeks, saw Raw fall to a new non-holiday low of 3.27 million viewers last night.  The only episode of the show since 1997 that did worse was a Christmas Eve show in 2012 that did 3.14 million viewers.

    The main culprit was the combination of a Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Diego Chargers game on ESPN that did 12.18 million viewers, a lower number than football has done the last few weeks, and baseball.  TBS aired the Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals against the first half of Raw, which did 5.78 million viewers.  They aired the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets against the second half of Raw, which did 3.96 million viewers.

    The three hours were:

    8 p.m. 3.52 million viewers

    9 p.m. 3.25 million viewers

    10 p.m. 3.08 million viewers

  • WWE News: Update on what Tuesday’s ESPN announcement is about, who won’t be at Smackdown

    The Tuesday WWE announcement on ESPN will be in regards to WrestleMania in Dallas, TX — likely that ESPN will be heavily covering the event.

    Jonathan Coachman, the former WWE announcer turned ESPN anchor, will be appearing with WWE Champion Seth Rollins at 9 p.m. Eastern time tonight during SportsCenter for the announcement. That would mean Rollins will not be appearing in Cincinnati, OH, Tuesday for the Smackdown tapings.

    WWE sent out information today that travel packages for WrestleMania week, which includes the Hall of Fame on 4/2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, WrestleMania on 4/3 at AT&T Stadium and Raw the next night at the American Airlines Center, are now available. Tickets go on sale on 11/6.

    WWE’s ad listed John Cena front and center as the star of the show in addition to Kofi Kingston, Undertaker, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Rollins, and Paige.

  • WWE/Evolve agreement, Seth Rollins to appear on ESPN

    WWE has agreed to send Sami Zayn to the Evolve live shows on Saturday and Sunday night in Queens, NY, and Deer Park, NY, for non-wrestling appearances.

    Zayn, currently out of action due to shoulder surgery, will be doing an autograph signing and posing for pictures with fans both nights.  He will also be doing something in the ring but it will only be for the live audience as they are not allowing him to appear on the iPPV portion of the show it is believed.

    WWE is working with Evolve as a place for talent WWE is interested in to work before they go to WWE, as WWE doesn’t want to sign talent if at all possible that has been on national cable or can be merchandised in some form based on prior agreements.

    Seth Rollins is scheduled to appear on ESPN Sports Center at 9 p.m. tomorrow night .  Jonathan Coachman, who will be on with Rollins, has teased a major announcement regarding WWE and ESPN within the next 48 hours.

  • WWE Raw: Angle with Rusev and Lana’s engagement

    WWE on Twitter mentioned that Rusev and Lana are now engaged, and that to learn more about it, watch Raw tonight.

    That indicates with the word breaking over the weekend that they are going to turn it into storyline immediately.

    It was expected that it would become storyline at some point.

    WWE has already acknowledged the engagement on its web site.

    Last week WWE did a television angle where Summer Rae asked Rusev to marry her and he accepted, but said the wedding wouldn’t take place until he won the WWE title first.

    In storyline, the Summer Rae situation with Dolph Ziggler wasn’t followed up on last week.  While Rusev and Lana were at odds, since the real life engagement, the storyline changed that Rusev really still wanted Lana and everyone knows it.

  • WWE Raw live results 10-12: John Cena Open Challenge, Rusev and Lana

    Recorded for Superstars:

    – Jack Swagger went over Adam Rose in about an 8 minute match. Finish saw Rose put on an ankle lock which Swagger countered to an ankle lock of his own.

    – Stardust went over Fandango in a 10 minute match with his finish. Lots of chants for “Cody” and “let’s go Cody”.

    The Big Takeaway: 

    A show that was a little great, a little bad, a little weird and a little surreal. Demon Kane wrestled and defeated Seth Rollins in a lumberjack match in the main event. Corporate Kane booked the match after HHH and Stephanie McMahon, who never got to the arena or appeared on the show due to “transportation issues,” told him he was in command. Later, HHH and Stephanie ordered Corporate Kane not to wrestle Rollins. The strange moment of the night was Rusev getting jobbed out in 3:00 by Ryback, then getting totally buried by Summer Rae days after the news of his very real engagement to Lana gained mainstream publicity. John Cena had his latest great U.S. Open Challenge match with Dolph Ziggler. 

    Show Recap: 

    Corporate Kane was backstage where the Authority was on speakerphone just leaving on a plane. Stephanie could be heard berating an airline attendant. HHH told Kane to handle the show until they arrived. Kane wished them a safe flight, and called over a stage manager. Kane told her to inform Seth Rollins that he would face Kane tonight in a lumberjack match, so they were hot shotting stuff right off the bat. 

    Dean Ambrose came out and said he wanted to fight someone. Randy Orton came out. Crowd reacted strong to him, but also started “Let’s Go Cubs.” Orton said Ambrose that at Hell in a Cell, Ambrose would face Braun Strowman and Luke Harper, and Orton would be his partner. Ambrose said the line to fight the Wyatt Family starts behind him and told Orton to follow his lead and they would be fine. 

    Orton told Amrbose that he should follow Orton’s lead. Ambrose said he wasn’t big on trusting Orton. Orton said he wasn’t big on trusting himself. As they argued off mic, the New Day came out. Xavier Woods reminded Orton and Ambrose that the New Day left Dolph Ziggler, John Cena and the Dudley Boyz laying last week. Woods taunted Ambrose that the Shield never did that, and Big E. said Legacy, the Authority or Evolution never did that. Woods asked Orton how many groups had been in, and said Orton brings new meaning to the term “groupee.” Woods said Ambrose and Orton should make like Derek Rose and go sit on the bench. 

    Kane appeared on the TitonTron and ordered an immediate tag team match. 

    The New Day defeated Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton (17:51)

    Ambrose and Orton argued during the match, including when they took turns stomping Big E. Ambrose got a hot tag and did a tope on Kofi Kingston and Big E. Later, Woods held Orton’s leg, and Ambrose did a tope on him, as well. The finish was Orton gave Kingston the Draping DDT and went for the RKO, but Big E. ran in to prevent it. Ambrose tried to stopped Big E., but Kingston threw Orton into Ambrose, and Kingston pinned Orton with a schoolboy cradle. 

    There was a package for the Undertaker-Brock Lesnar main event. It couldn’t compare to the buildup for SummerSlam. We’re supposed to believe the history between the two started at last year’s WrestleMania, even though their original program was in 2002. 

    Before the Nikki Bella-Naomi match, they showed highlights from the Sasha Banks-Bailey match from NXT Takeover Respect, which included reviews from mainstream media outlets like Rolling Stone and Miami Herald. It was a good idea, but with horrible timing. Crowd chanted “We Want Sasha” during the match, and Michael Cole wondered how Naomi felt about that like Team BAD was going to going to break up. Then they chanted “You can’t wrestle” while the match was going on. it wasn’t that bad. 

    Nikki Bella defeated Naomi (4:56)

    The gimmick is Team Bella is trying to break up Team BAD just like Team PCB fractured because of Paige. After Naomi hit a tope (3rd time already for that move in the first hour) on Nikki and Alisha Fox, Brie Bella got up on the commentator’s table and tried to lead another “We Want Sasha” chant. Sasha tripped Brie off the table. Naomi got distracted. Nikki hit the Rack Attack. Pin. 

    Byron Saxton asked fans who the most unconventional superstar in the WWE is. Everyone said either Paige or Ambrose. This led to Saxton doing a backstage interview with Paige, who grabbed a Payday candy bar out of his jacket and took a bite. This was a product placement bit. 

    John Cena came out. Crowd booed the hell out of him. Cena started dancing beside a fan singing “John Cena Sucks.” Cena said he loved the AllState Arena because his first WWE match was in that building. It came time for the open challenge and this week’s opponent was Ziggler. 

    During the opening minutes of the match, the crowd seemed distracted and popped. Cena grabbed the microphone and acknowledged that a fan proposed to his girlfriend in the crowd, and she said yes. Cena congratulated the new couple as the match was going on and the fans chanted “She said yes.” 

    John Cena (C) defeated Dolph Zigger to retain the U.S. Championship (17:32)

    An excellent match that Cena won wiith the AA. Lots of kicking out of near falls. Ziggler continues to work like Shawn Michaels, this time stomping his leg to tease the Superkick. Plenty of kicking out of finishers. Ziggler hit a superkick and Zig Zag, both for near falls. Cena kicked out of the Zig Zag, the two struggled to their feet, and Cena immediately hit the AA for the pin. After one near fall by Ziggler, JBL started talking about how he felt Ziggler was going to win, which naturally gave away the finish. Vince McMahon used to do that on play-by-play and it always telegraphed the ending. 

    Stephanie and HHH called Kane again to say they were stil far away from the arena. Kane didn’t tell them he had booked his own match against Rollins. 

    The Dudley Boyz defeated the Ascension (2:42) 

    Devon Dudley pinned Viktor after the 3-D. Bubba Ray Dudley held up Viktor for the Doomsday Device since they were in Chicago as a tribute to the Road Warriors. 

    Sheamus and King Barrett defeated Cesaro and Neville (3:48)

    Crowd was hot while it lasted, particularly for Cesaro. Finish came out of nowhere. Neville tried to pin Sheamus with a cradle. Sheamus kicked out so hard, his legs pushed Neville to the ropes, where Cesaro gave him the Bullhammer Elbow, and Sheamus pinned him. 

    Roman Reigns came out for an interview. He basically explained his program with Bray Wyatt from the beginning. Crowd gave him the “what” treatment, and he appeared really annoyed by it. He snapped at them “Can you not hear me?” Then the fans chanted boring. He looked preturbed but stuck to the script. Wyatt came out and said Reigns had a massacre waiting for him at Hell in a Cell. Reigns said he agreed, but when they lock the cell, Wyatt was going to wish he was trapped with anyone but him. The fans booed. And this man is supposed to be the chosen one in six months? As if things couldn’t get any worse, after this interview died he had to wrestle Strowman. They might as well have put a piano on his back and told him to run wind sprints trying to carry Strowman to something decent. 

    Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman by countout (7:50)

    It was a struggle. Laregly a punch-and-kick match until it spilled out to the floor. Reigns hit Harper and Wyatt, then ran off the ring steps to deliver the Superman Punch to Strowman, which knocked him down into the announcer’s table. Strowman got counted out. Two hours into the show and this was the first match all night where the crowd was completely dead.  

    Wyatt looked in Reigns’ face and said “Follow the Buzzards.” Reigns punched him and walked to the back. 

    HHH called Kane to tell them they were getting close to the building. HHH’s cell phone recepton was poor. He repeatedly asked Kane what the main event was. Kane told him Seth Rolllins was in a lumberjack match against Kane. HHH only heard that Rollins was in a lumberjack match, but didn’t hear who he would be facing before his line went dead. 

    Ryback defeated Rusev (3:05) 

    Ths was one of those weird segments where fantasy and reality collide. Only in wrestling could a segment like this happen. It was six minutes of Rusev being punished on live national television for getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend. First, Ryabck pinned him clean with a Shellshock, without question the cleanest job Rusev has ever done. 

     If that wasn’t enough, Summer Rae came into the ring and cut Vince McMahon’s promo for him. She showed the TMZ headline where it was announced that Rusev and Lana had been engaged for over a month, then totally castrated him as a selfish user who manipulated her for months. All Rusev could do was stand there and take it, and then Summer slapped him and walked off. In this age where Kayfabe has been dead and buried, that was surreal television. How they get Rusev back on track as a killer after this segment is beyond me, which may have been the intent. Ziggler was never mentioned by Summer, though Michael Cole mentioned Lana in passing during his match with Cena earlier. I guess that angle where Summer snuck into his shower will have to stand as his storyline breakup. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Kalisto (3:54)

    Crowd sure liked Kevin Owens, who won with the Pop Up Power Bomb. Kalisto bumped all over the palce, including going for a somersault huracanrana outside the ring, only to have Owens dump him on the floor. Kalisto made a good comebck and it was a good match considering the style difference. Of course, Owens has had very good matches with guys of all sizes for years.  

    Brie Bella and Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte and Becky Lynch (3:05) 

    Paige was at ringside on commentary. Natalya is now with Charlotte and Becky Lynch, and they’re called Team NBC. Paige, however, says she never left Team PCB. Natalya started arguing with Nikki Bella outside the ring. Paige shoved Natalya. Charlotte got distracted, and Brie pinned her with a dropkick off the second rope. Two distraction finishes in both the Divas matches. And Charlotte does her second job in two weeks. These people have no idea how to get the Divas over. 

    HHH and Stephanie got in touch with Kane again. This time, they were able to hear him explain how he would be wrestling Rollins in the main event. Stephanie hit the ceiling she was so mad. HHH ordered Kane not to wrestle. 

    Rollins, in his first appearance on the show, apparently didn’t see the preceding segmet. He talked with the Big Show about how he could count on Show to have his back against Kane tonight. Show just laughed at him and walked off. Then Kane walked in and told Rollins he’s been ordered not to wrestle him tonight, but he would find a suitable replacement to face Rollins. We were supposed to believe it would be the Demon Kane. 

    It was announced that Michaels and Ric Flair would appear on next week’s Raw in Dallas. Rollins was plugged for an apperance on SportsCenter with Jonathan Coachmen tomorrow night. 

    The Demon Kane defeated Seth Rollins in a nontitle lumberjack match (8:19) 

    The Demon Kane won with a tombstone after lots of interference. The New Day were front and center among the lumberjacks, so it’s clear the company is striking that iron while it’s hot. At one point, the lumberjacks brawled at ringside. The heel lumberjacks left the babyface lumberjacks laying at ringside. So all the heels, including the New Day, Sheamus, Rusev, Stardust and Owens, started putting the boots to Kane. Big E. tried to give Kane a splash, but Kane rose up and cleared the ring by himself. He choke slammed Woods and Stardust before the finish. Earlier, Rollins tried to escape, but Cesaro chased him down and put him back in. 

    SUMMARY: On a night where the Pittsburgh Steelers won on the final play of the game, the Chicago Cubs movd within one win of eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals, Steve Spurrier retired and Steve Sarkisian got fired, the WWE had to work extra hard to produce compelling television. But they did it. The crowd stayed largely interested throughout the show. The most telling segment was Reigns. For all the scorn that Cena receives, people still see him as a top guy. I just don’t sense the fans feel that way about Reigns. That was a problem seven months ago. The time between last WrestleMania and this one was supposed to be his period of being groomed for the top spot. The company sees him as a top guy. The fans still don’t, particularly those in big cities. 

  • WWE house show report 10-11 Bloomington, IL: Reigns & Orton vs. Strowman & Wyatt

    By Kevin Shride

    1.  R-Truth pinned Tyler Breeze with a sunset flip.  Basic opener, better crowd heat that you’d guess.  Most seemed to know who Breeze was.

    2.  Jimmy Uso pinned Heath Slater with a superkick.  They started the match, then after just a couple of spots, Slater challenged Uso to a dance-off right then.  (Incidentally, the sound was the worst; everybody could barely be understood.)  Slater danced to “I’m Too Sexy”, which was typical goofy heel stuff.  Uso then brought 2 kids into the ring, and all three of them danced to  “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)”, which the kids were hysterical doing.  The ref declared Uso the winner of the dance-off, and as soon as the kids were out, Slater hit Uso, then was immediately superkicked and pinned.  After, Slater challenged anyone in the back to another match, since he was cheated in this one.

    3.  Neville pinned Heath Slater with an immediate kick and red arrow.  Took about 30 seconds.  Slater then issued another challenge.

    4.  Mark Henry pinned Heath Slater with the World’s strongest slam.  Even quicker.  They replayed “Watch Me” and Uso and Neville came back out to dance with Henry.  Not nearly as funny as the kids.

    5.  Dolph Ziggler pinned Rusev with the Zig Zag.  Easily the best match on the show.

    6.  The New Day (Kingston and Woods with Big E at ringside) beat Prime Time Players and Dudleyz in a 3-team elimination match to retain the WWE Tag Team Title.  Woods pinned O’Neill after Big E ran in and hit the Big Ending.  Then Woods pinned Bubba Ray with a schoolboy after Big E hit Devon while Devon was getting a table.  After the match, the Dudleyz 3-D’ed Woods through the table.

    7.  Charlotte & Becky Lynch beat Tamina & Naomi with Sasha Banks at ringside.  I guess they figure Sasha doesn’t need the work as much as the other two.  Charlotte pinned Tamina with the running rolling cutter.

    8.  Ryback beat Kevin Owens by DQ, so Owens retains the Intercontinental Title.  Owens was DQ’ed for poking Ryback in the eyes.  Seriously?  I guess Roddy Piper would have been DQ’ed in every match.  A low blow would at least be more in line with a DQ.

    9.  Roman Reigns & Randy Orton beat Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman when Reigns pinned Wyatt with a spear after an Orton RKO.  Perfectly fine match.  They didn’t let Strowman do much, but