8/15 WWE house show report from Sioux Falls, SD (Denny Sanford Premier Center)
R-Truth vs. King Barrett
Both guys got decent reactions coming out. Truth won clean with lie detector in a match that was mostly comedy.
Sasha (w/Naomi & Tamina Snuka) vs. Bayley
Crowd didn’t really know who Bayley was, but a light NXT chant did break out at one point. Work was fine, but nowhere near the level of an NXT women’s match. Naomi and Tamina interfered liberally throughout the match and Sasha ended up winning by reversing a rollup and holding the tights.
Bray Wyatt did a taped promo on the jumbotron. Got mostly booed with a few light cheers. Didn’t say anything of note.
Jack Swagger vs. Adam Rose
Swagger got a shockingly huge reaction for someone who’s rarely on TV. Crowd didn’t care about Rose at all. I know this will come as a shock, but Jack Swagger is a very good worker and this was a solid match. Swagger won clean with the ankle lock.
Ryback vs. Big Show vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Title
Miz got the biggest heel reaction of the show to this point. Show got cheered initially, but worked the match as a heel. Ryback was cheered and got some “Feed Me More” chants, but it wasn’t an overwhelming reaction. Match was mostly built around Show and Ryback working power spots and Miz running in to break up pins. Ryback ended up spearing Big Show and hitting shellshock on the Miz to retain. Match was just ok.
Roman Reigns got a big babyface pop while the ring announcer was shilling merchandise.
Jimmy Uso vs. Heath Slater
This was the first match after intermission and neither got much reaction. Slater worked hard as a heel to get the fans into it, but it really was nothing special. Jimmy ended up winning after a superkick.
Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension
Fans were into chanting “Lucha”, but did not care at all about the Ascension. Match went nearly 15 minutes and was mostly Konnor and Viktor beating on Sin Cara and it wasn’t particularly good. Things picked up when Kalisto got the hot tag and he ran through his offense. Sin Cara ended up getting the pin with a swanton after Kalisto hit Viktor with the Salida del Sol.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt in a streetfight
Wyatt got a mixed reaction, while Reigns was about 98 percent cheered. Match was typical WWE streetfight fare – there was brawling outside the ring, numerous weapons shots and each guy got put through a table for a nearfall. Finish came when Luke Harper interfered but Reigns was able to fight him off, run Wyatt into a chair and then spear him for the pin. Good match, easily the best thing on the show.
Biggest face pops: Reigns, Swagger, Lucha Dragons
Biggest heel heat: The Miz, Wyatt, Barrett
By Travis Lee Kriens
1. R Truth over Wade Barrett 2. Sasha Banks over Bayley 3. Jack Swagger over Adam Rose 4. Ryback pins Miz, Big Show also in the triple threat. Miz spent the first half of the match outside.
Intermission
5. Jimmy Uso over Heath Slater 6. Lucha Dragons over the Ascension. Second best match. 7. Roman Reigns over Bray Wyatt in a street fight. Both went through tables. Luke Harper ran in for the finish with his music playing. Crowd wanted Ambrose. He wasn’t there. Best match of the night. Went 25 minutes. Two this is awesome chants.
– Chris Jericho pinned Kevin Owens – Zack Ryder, Curtis Axel, & Damien Sandow defeated Los Matadores & Bo Dallas – Sheamus pinned Fandango – Neville pinned Stardust – WWE Tag Team champions Titus O’Neal & Darren Young defeated Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods – Paige & Charlotte defeated Brie Bella & Alicia Fox – Cesaro pinned Rusev – WWE Champion Seth Rollins pinned Dean Ambrose in a street fight match.
From Sioux Falls, SD (Denny Sanford Premier Center)
R-Truth vs. King Barrett
Both guys got decent reactions coming out. Truth won clean with lie detector in a match that was mostly comedy.
Sasha (w/Naomi & Tamina Snuka) vs. Bayley
Crowd didn’t really know who Bayley was, but a light NXT chant did break out at one point. Work was fine, but nowhere near the level of an NXT women’s match. Naomi and Tamina interfered liberally throughout the match and Sasha ended up winning by reversing a rollup and holding the tights.
Bray Wyatt did a taped promo on the jumbotron. Got mostly booed with a few light cheers. Didn’t say anything of note.
Jack Swagger vs. Adam Rose
Swagger got a shockingly huge reaction for someone who’s rarely on TV. Crowd didn’t care about Rose at all. I know this will come as a shock, but Jack Swagger is a very good worker and this was a solid match. Swagger won clean with the ankle lock.
Ryback vs. Big Show vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Title
Miz got the biggest heel reaction of the show to this point. Show got cheered initially, but worked the match as a heel. Ryback was cheered and got some “Feed Me More” chants, but it wasn’t an overwhelming reaction. Match was mostly built around Show and Ryback working power spots and Miz running in to break up pins. Ryback ended up spearing Big Show and hitting shellshock on the Miz to retain. Match was just ok.
Roman Reigns got a big babyface pop while the ring announcer was shilling merchandise.
Jimmy Uso vs. Heath Slater
This was the first match after intermission and neither got much reaction. Slater worked hard as a heel to get the fans into it, but it really was nothing special. Jimmy ended up winning after a superkick.
Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension
Fans were into chanting “Lucha”, but did not care at all about the Ascension. Match went nearly 15 minutes and was mostly Konnor and Viktor beating on Sin Cara and it wasn’t particularly good. Things picked up when Kalisto got the hot tag and he ran through his offense. Sin Cara ended up getting the pin with a swanton after Kalisto hit Viktor with the Salida del Sol.
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt in a street fight
Wyatt got a mixed reaction, while Reigns was about 98 percent cheered. Match was typical WWE streetfight fare – there was brawling outside the ring, numerous weapons shots and each guy got put through a table for a nearfall. Finish came when Luke Harper interfered but Reigns was able to fight him off, run Wyatt into a chair and then spear him for the pin. Good match, easily the best thing on the show.
Stephen Amell, who is scheduled for a tag team match at SummerSlam, was injured in doing a weight workout this morning.
According to a video he posted, Amell was doing a snatch, which is a lift where you take the bar from the floor to overhead without pausing at the shoulders (which would be a clean and jerk or clean and press). When doing the lift, he ended up smashing the bar into his jaw.
He suffered a cracked jaw, his molars were indented into his tongue and his tongue was swollen. No word on how this may or may not affect his match next week.
John Cena will be co-hosting The Today Show on NBC both Monday after SummerSlam and again on Thursday at 9 a.m. for one hour. It’s part of an overall NBC Universal strategy to strengthen the image of WWE.
I was at tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail. I’m convinced the episodes taped after the Takeover go-home show aren’t going to air, btw
Airing 8/19 (Takeover Go-Home Show):
– Contract signing for Sasha vs Bayley at Takeover Brooklyn. Crowd gets all over Sasha. Bayley says she’s seen enough contract signings and she’s ready to fight now. Sasha leaves, but Bayley attacks her on the ramp. Refs have to carry Bayley away.
– Tyler Breeze beats a jobber. Tyler comes out with Jushin Liger’s mask, and puts it on the guy after the match. He says it’s nice to meet Liger and he’s not impressed, then lays the guy out with a Beauty Shot.
– Enzo, Cass, and The Hype Bros beat the 4 enhancement talents Baron Corbin beat over the last 4 weeks.
– Blake & Murphy beat Dawkins & Fulton. The Vaudevillians come out to reveal their plans for Takeover, but Alexa Bliss slaps them several times and they do not reveal who will help them in Brooklyn. Weird segment live.
– Samoa Joe beats Steve Cutler with the rear naked choke. Corbin comes out and they brawl, Corbin hits End of Days out of nowhere.
– Kevin Owens comes out with a ladder. When the crowd boos the mention of Brooklyn, Owens blows up and calls the crowd disrespectful, hypocritical, and calls them the “John Cena of wrestling fans” because they boo the fact that NXT is growing. He says he needs the NXT title so he can run it everyone’s faces, and that he will lay out Bálor before he climbs the ladder. The lights go off, and Bálor is perched on the top turnbuckle when his red lights come on. Owens climbs down the ladder and they brawl. Owens bails before Bálor can hit him with the ladder. Bálor poses on the ladder with the NXT Title.
Airing 8/26 or 9/2 (depending on when the taped Brooklyn show airs):
– Sasha Banks (still wearing the NXT Women’s Championship) beats the debuting Gionna Daddio. Gionna was the blonde in the Bull Fit gym sketch this week.
– The Ascension returns to a monster pop and Welcome Back chant, but lose to Rhyno and Baron Corbin. There was some issue outside the ring that resulted in the ref calling for the bell. The fans booed, and Regal came out and restarted the match. Rhyno hit a gore to win.
– Alexa Bliss beats Blue Pants with the Sparkle Splash.
– Apollo Crews debuts and defeats Alexander Wolf with the standing moonsault. Crews is very impressive.
– Eva Marie beats Billie Kay. At one point, Kay pinned Eva and Eva forgot to kick out at two, but the ref stopped counting anyways. The crowd went ballistic and got all over him. Big heat for Eva winning due to this.
– Neville makes a surprise return to team with Solomon Crowe. Crowd pops huge.
– Jason Jordan and Chad Gable beat Neville and Crowe. Great match.
Airing 9/2 or 9/9:
– Carmella beats Peyton Royce
– Tommasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano beat Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey. Bull knocks Tyler off the apron on accident which leads to Ciampa getting the clean pin. Breeze attacks Bull after the match.
– Kevin Owens comes out with the NXT Championship. The crowd loses its mind. Owens was never announced at any time during this match.
– Neville beats Owens via DQ after Owens hits Neville with the belt. Great match. Owens attempts to attack Neville after the bell, but Neville betters him until Tyler Breeze runs out. They double team Neville until Bálor makes the save, and Neville hits the Red Arrow on Breeze. Owens leaves with the belt as Bálor and Neville celebrate with the crowd.
“I wanna tell you, but I don’t want to give anything away.”
Later he said, “Let’s just put it this way: It’s The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, biggest superstar on Earth, possibly. If he wants to show up to Brooklyn, he’s going to show up to Brooklyn. It wouldn’t be the first time and it probably won’t be the last time. It’s WWE; anything can happen.”
The interview also features Reigns talking about Brock Lesnar, finding out that he wasn’t winning the title, and more. Nikki Bella is also on the podcast as well.
Side note: Rock’s HBO show ‘Ballers’ has its season finale on the same night as SummerSlam.
– Air Date: August 13, 2015 (Aug 12 in Canada) – Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR
The Big News:
Seth Rollins vs. John Cena was made official for SummerSlam, as well as Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens.
Show Recap:
[Ctrl+v] Seth Rollins came out to start the show. He said we need to slow down and stop taking life for granted because Rollins is at the top of his game and this would be like if Babe Ruth hit 1,000 more home runs or if Michael Jordan won 20 MVP awards.
Rollins said he tamed Randy Orton, thwarted Sheamus, brought Neville down to earth and shattered John Cena’s nose. He said everyone in the crowd would tell their grandchildren that their greatest accomplishment would be that they saw Seth Rollins live.
Rollins showed a clip of Cena accepting his challenge on Tough Enough with help from Daniel Bryan. Rollins called him a coward for doing it this way and challenged Cena to accept the match face-to-face on Raw. Rollins said when you face greatness like him, you will fail.
Neville interrupted. He mentioned that Cena still beat Rollins despite his broken nose and, if it weren’t for Orton, Sheamus would be champion. (I guess now that Cena is cleared to wrestle, they focused more on Sheamus getting screwed rather than Orton.) Neville also said Rollins couldn’t kick out of his Red Arrow.
Rollins said Neville failed to beat him, and Neville used Cesaro’s line about Seth going “on and on and on and on…” Sure enough, that brought out Cesaro, who repeated the line and gave a shout out to the Cesaro Section. Kevin Owens attacked Cesaro from behind and Rollins attacked Neville in the ring. Owens walked away and Rollins stood tall. Not much of a segment really.
Charlotte (w/Becky Lynch) beat Naomi (w/Sasha Banks & Tamina) via submission
They did entrances after a commercial, but they went to another break one minute into the match. After the break, Naomi beat down Charlotte with forearms. Jimmy Uso said it’s a good day for him when Team B.A.D. win, but not so much when they don’t.
The crowd chanted “Let’s go Charlotte” during the heat. Charlotte came back with chops, a swinging neck breaker and spear for two. Charlotte back dropped Naomi over the top rope onto Banks and Tamina, which was scary. Charlotte then applied the Figure Eight for the win. This was ok. They got about 8 minutes.
They recapped the Stephen Amell/Stardust angle from Raw and pushed the tag match for SummerSlam.
Ryback came out for a promo and said he feels better than ever. He called winning the Intercontinental Title the proudest moment of his career, and it made all the sacrifices worth it. But after all that, he got a staph infection, and he showed a picture of it on the big screen.
Ryback said he meat-hooked and shell shocked the staph infection, and the crowd chanted “Feed me more.” He said people were calling the IC Title cursed, but he was inspired by all of the fan support on social media and would defend his title at SummerSlam. This was a fine segment and Ryback should really retain the title.
Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt came out for a promo. Harper said he was born holding the devil’s hand. Bray began rambling but Dean Ambrose interrupted. Ambrose admitted he had nothing to say, he just wanted to watch Reigns do what they do best — talk using their fists.
Roman Reigns (w/Dean Ambrose) beat Luke Harper (w/Bray Wyatt) via DQ
Again, they went to commercial about a minute into the match. At least time it was preceded by a talking segment. After the break, Harper had the heat and used a Michinoku Driver for two. Reigns came back with a few clotheslines but Harper drop kicked him out of the ring.
Reigns caught him with a back suplex onto the ring apron, followed by an apron dropkick. Bray got in Reigns’ face, so Ambrose backed him off. Bray again tried to distract Reigns so Ambrose wildly attacked him, but Bray gave him a uranage onto the barricade.
Reigns tried to attack Harper in the ropes but the referee held him back, allowing Harper to hit a superkick for a nearfall. Reigns countered a powerbomb and hit a superman punch, but Bray interfered for the DQ.
Ambrose immediately jumped in and sent both Wyatt and Harper out of the ring, followed by a suicide dive. Wyatt and Harper basically no sold this and attacked Ambrose, but Reigns made the save. Ambrose and Reigns sent the heels over the barricade. The heels bailed and the faces posed for the crowd.
This was a fun segment but the constant disqualifications are tiresome to say the least. The crowd liked Roman Reigns.
Backstage, Sheamus told an interviewer that the audience is sick of Rollins rambling on and Orton hitting RKOs out of nowhere. Sheamus said he was about to give the crowd what they wanted on Raw — a real man as champion — but Orton ruined it. Sheamus threatened to Brogue kick Orton over and over until he’s finished, leaving Rollins to himself. This was a much better promo than the one from Raw, because he was intense and not doing dumb comedy. He also hugged the briefcase.
Non-Title: Tag-Team Champion Prime Time Players beat The New Day (w/Kofi Kingston) via pinfall
They might have been chanting “New Day Rocks” on Raw, but they were chanting “New Day Sucks” tonight. New Day had the heat on O’Neil through a break until he made a hot tag to Darren Young.
Young hit a Northern Lights suplex on Woods and tried to follow with a Gut Check, but New Day yanked Woods out of the ring. New Day tried to leave, but Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons came out separately to their music in the middle of this wrestling match.
New Day had no where to go, so PTP knocked down Big E and Kingston. This left Woods on his own. O’Neil tossed Woods back in the ring and Young hit him with a Gut Check for the win. This was kind of dumb.
They aired the Undertaker/Brock Lesnar video package and plugged that these two would both be on Raw.
WWE Champion Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens beat Cesaro & Neville via pinfall
Cesaro had Rollins up for a delayed vertical suplex. Owens tried to interfere but Neville kicked him out of the ring. They also tossed Rollins out and, again, the match went to commercial about one minute in.
Owens gave Neville a fallaway slam into the barricade and they had the heat over him after the break. Neville tried to make a tag but Rollins pulled Cesaro off the apron. Neville eventually made the tag and Cesaro ran wild, hitting Rollins with a suplex and uppercut parade.
Cesaro tried to press slam Rollins onto Owens but Owens moved and Rollins splattered on the floor. Cesaro then went for a suicide dive into both men but Owens moved again and Cesaro took out Rollins. Neville took out Owens and Cesaro hit a running uppercut to Rollins.
Back in the ring, Cesaro hit Rollins with a flying cross body for two. Rollins came back with an enziguri and turnbuckle bomb. Cesaro countered a pedigree into a sharpshooter but Owens interfered, allowing Rollins to use a school boy holding the tights for the win.
Owens attacked Cesaro immediately after the match, but Cesaro hit him with a Swissblade and Neville nailed him with a Red Arrow. The show ended with Cesaro and Neville celebrating even though they lost.
Final Thoughts:
This show was easy enough to watch I guess, especially after the last couple of weeks. I didn’t like the finish in either main event. I’m not sure what I would’ve done in the tag match, but having Cesaro lose a lot doesn’t seem like the best idea. And Neville losing in a tag match is dumb too considering his upcoming match at SummerSlam.
Also, if you ran a wrestling show, why would you start a match knowing you had to go to commercial a minute later? That happened in every match on this show.
Preview: Tonight it’s Bayley vs Becky Lynch with the winner moving on to Takeover to face Sasha Banks for the Women’s Title. Plus NXT Champion Finn Balor goes one on one with Marcus Louis!
Join me here at 8pm for a live recap of a taped show!
Preview: Tonight it’s Bayley vs Becky Lynch with the winner moving on to Takeover to face Sasha Banks for the Women’s Title. Plus NXT Champion Finn Balor goes one on one with Marcus Louis!
The Big News: Bayley is the official #1 Contender, pinning Becky Lynch in a good main event with bad commentary. Plus Samoa Joe choked out Baron Corbin.
Show Recap:
-The show began with Mr. Regal confirming that Balor vs Owens at NXT Takeover will be a ladder match. He wished luck to both men, but in a way that you know he was forced to wishing both men luck.
Tye Dillinger defeated Solomon Crowe.
Solomon Crowe is here to kick things off this week. I believe this is his first match since Kevin Owens gave him the power bomb on the ring apron almost three months ago. This is Tye Dillinger’s debut using the Perfect 10 gimmick.
Dillinger is just as perfectly good as he was six months ago when he teaming with Jason Jordan, he’s just now pausing between every move to flash the Perfect 10 sign. Crowe got in his unique ways to do every day moves but this was Dillinger’s match. Tye pulled down his knee pad, which led to Crowe’s comeback. Crowe hit a Diamond Cutter at one point, but no one reacted to it. Finally Tye won by falling backwards and pulling Crowe’s face into his knee. Kind of like Eat Defeat only with the knee.
-Earlier today Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder had a meeting. Ryder asked him to stop calling him at 3 in the morning and wondered why Mojo was in his gear even though they don’t have a match. Mojo talked about getting 12 chicks at the club last night and Corey Graves called him a liar on commentary.
Baron Corbin defeated Axl Tischer
You know the story of this match. The fans chanted boring at Baron before the match even started and before I could type that Baron won with End of Days.
-After the match Baron took the mic, calling himself The Real Deal. RD Reynolds should challenge him to a match. Instead of RD, Steve Cutler attacked him and got laid out as well. He said no one gets up from End of Days and that brought out Samoa Joe.
Joe challenged him to a match and Baron said he already fought two men. As Baron left they slammed shoulders into each other so Baron kicked his butt. No seriously. Baron dropped him over and over again with punches to the face. Finally Joe got on the Coquina Clutch and choked out Baron.
-A new Bull Fit video aired. He threw medicine balls at the ground and lifted some weights.
-Tyler Breeze cut a promo with his phone. He called Jushin “Yushin”. Maybe he thought it was Okami. Anyway Breeze referred to himself as the Face Of The Rising Sun.
NXT Champion Finn Balor pinned Marcus Louis
It has now been 11 months and 1 day since Louis lost his hair when Sylvester Lefort lost a Hair vs Hair match to Enzo Amore. Louis’ hair still hasn’t grown back.
These two had an actual match and was not just a Balor squash. Mind you it only went 4 minutes, but still. Balor hit the Slingblade, the corner dropkick and the Coup de Grace for the win.
-As Balor was walking away after the bout, Kevin Owens ran out and attacked Finn. Kevin went for the Power Bomb on the ring apron, but Balor got out of it. Finn gave him a running dropkick, which sent Owens crashing through the guardrails. Back inside the ring Owens turned the tables on Finn and dropped him with the Pop Up Power Bomb.
-Greg Hamilton interviewed The Vaudevillians. They vowed to have someone in their corner to take care of Alexa Bliss. This brought Alexa in and she slapped both men for the second time.
I have this knot in the put of my stomach that it’s Eva Marie. I hope I am wrong.
-An Apollo Crews training video aired. They showed him giving someone a standing suplex and doing a squat while holding the guy up. His debut is at Takeover in 10 days.
-Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin is now official for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
-They showed the WWE 2k16 Terminator commercial. Anyone else notice that it lists Dean Ambrose as the United States Champion?
In a #1 Contender’s Match, Bayley defeated Becky Lynch
The love of my life, the NXT Woman’s Champion Sasha Banks, joined the announce table for this main event. The winner will go to Takeover in 10 days to face Sasha for the 7 pounds of silver and purple.
The fans entertained themselves at the start of the match by singing Becky’s theme song. Corey asked Sasha what it was like to compete in the best city in the world, New York City. Shockingly it was Rich, not Sasha, that brought up that the champ is from Boston.
Corey Graves was especially annoying in this match. Rich tried to put over how Becky is working over Bayley’s arm, setting it up for the Armbreaker and Corey just started bragging about Sasha’s finisher. That’s all fine and everything if Sasha was in this match.
If you ignore the announcing this match was quite good and continued the storyline of Bayley overcoming all obstacles in her way. Becky went for a top rope Something, but Bayley stopped her and dropped her with a Running Powerslam. Becky slapped on the Disarmer, but Bayley was in the ropes. Bayley blocked an Armbar and won with a school girl!
-After the match Sasha stood on the ramp holding the belt over her head while Bayley made motions about wanting to be champion. That is it for yet another week of NXT! Next week is the go home show and until then make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
