Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of spoiler-free notes on the WWE World Title tournament which starts tonight on Raw. That includes the full brackets and some thoughts on where they could be going leading into the finals at Survivor Series. Plus, full notes on the New Japan Tokyo Dome line-up, John Cena return to TV today, your calls, emails and text messages on a number of different topics and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
It’s the Thursday edition of the Bryan & Vinny Show, Contemporary Thursdays, which we celebrate, in part, by celebrating Granny’s EIGHT-SIXTH BIRTHDAY. Also, Raw from Monday night, NXT with Samoa Joe’s heel turn on Finn Balor, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm return today with tons of things to discuss including details on how WWE downside guarantees are exactly structured, thoughts on Raw, retro Raw and retro Nitro, work ethic in pro-wrestling training and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
It is the MIGHTY Tuesday Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show and we’ve got tons to talk about! It’s Retro Tuesday and that means Raw and Nitro from 19 years ago this week, including, yes, the angle where Steve Austin broke into Brian Pillman’s house and Brian Pillman pulled a gun on him. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny Show returns today with a packed episode! It’s CONTEMPORARY THURSDAY with modern Raw and modern NXT, plus Granny appears to talk Halloween, new songs and drops, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show is back today with RETRO TUESDAY! Both Raw and Nitro head-to-head from 19 years ago this week, including THE TURNING POINT IN THE RISE OF STEVE AUSTIN! Plus, how you can enter the CRAIG CONTEST to win a copy of WWE 2K16! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling coming off a really fun Raw show. Where is the company going with Roman Reigns? How could this play into WrestleMania? John Cena’s future and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
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It was an important night for the company without John Cena and Randy Orton, and it went very well. The fans in San Diego were staunchly behind Roman Reigns, and since the show was built around him, that made it all the better. Reigns defeated Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler in a four-way to become the new number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Wyatt Family beat up Kane and carried him off into oblivion, just like they did with the Undertaker at Hell in a Cell. This was the best Raw since the Montreal show last spring.
Show Recap:
HHH and Stephanie McMahon started the show. Stephanie introduced Seth Rollins. HHH and Stephanie put him over as the man who lead the WWE into the future. Stephanie said Rollins stepped up to every challenge put in front of him and triumphed every time, just like her husband HHH did during his career. HHH told Rollins that he was proud of him. Rollins thanked the Authority and ordered the crowd to cheer them.
Stephanie said Rollins has left them in an unusual situation because Rollins has beaten all the worthy challengers for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. So all the winners from last night’s Hell in a Cell PPV will compete tonight. The four winners will meet in a four-way match in tonight’s main event, with the winner being the new number one contender.
Roman Reigns came out to a very positive response. Reigns said he was going to be the number one contender after tonight and would beat Rollins for the championship.
Kofi Kingston came out to challenge Reigns. Kofi and Big E. said the biggest difference between the New Day and Reigns was they were champions and he wasn’t. The new wrinkle for New Day is throwing up a unicorn horn, which means placing a finger on the top of their head in salute to Xavier Woods. They even wore “XW” armbands.
Roman Reigns defeated Kofi Kingston to advance to the Fatal Fourway (12:44)
This was the most over Reigns has been in a long time. Crowd saw him as a star and chanted “Let’s Go Reigns.” On top of that, Reigns had a really good match with Kingston. The finish came when Reigns hit Big E. with the Superman’s Punch, Kingston missed the Trouble in Paradise and Reigns caught the spear for the pin.
The Miz got a product placement for the new WWE 2K16 video game, where he was shown playing with the Stone Cold Steve Austin character.
Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro to advance to the Fatal Fourway (10:22)
The usual good match between these two with the usual result. Crowd was hot for Cesaro. The Cesaro Section signs were back, and they popped for the Uppercut Express spot. Then Cesaro hit a springboard uppercut, which elicited “This is awesome” chants. Owens did the rope-and-dope to force Cesaro off, then kicked Cesaro when he wasn’t looking at got the pin with the Pop-Up Power Bomb.
Paige was on the cell phone talking to someone when Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Paige bragged about being on Conan O’Brien last week. Lynch and Charlotte were about to leave, but Paige stopped them. Paige said Charlotte deserved the Divas Championship and extended her hand. Charlotte shook her hand, but told Paige that if she finds out it was her that attacked Natalya, it was going to be dire consequences. Paige promised it wasn’t her, then said she wanted to reform Team PCB to face Team Bella tonight. Lynch and Charlotte reluctantly agreed.
Team Bella defeated Team PCB (5:22)
Nikki Bella pinned Lynch with the Rack Attack in a fair match. Postmatch, Paige turned on Charlotte and Lynch, giving them both the Rampage. She put Charlotte in the PTO and left both laying. Paige got a heavy amount of cheers, as well.
They ran a statistic from Forbes Magazine that named the top sports events brands in the world. WrestleMania was rated #5 behind 1. Super Bowl. 2. Summer Olympics. 3. Winter Olympics and 4. the FIFA World Cup. I’d love to see the ad rates to those top four compared to WrestleMania.
They promoted an interview with Bray Wyatt for later in the show.
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter did a promo. Coulter cited John Lennon’s “Imagine” and the lyric “Imagine there’s no country.” Coulter said he wanted to start a new country called MexAmerica. And with that, Del Rio has no chance to become the over Mexican star the company badly needs. Del Rio said he wasn’t going to let Neville stop him from becoming the WWE World Champion. This Coulter-Del Rio combination might have worse chemistry than Rob Van Dam and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Coulter rides to the ring with a motorized cart with an part American-part Mexican flag, similar to what Tito Ortiz used to wave.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Neville to qualify for the Fatal Fourway (12:02)
Good match that the crowd was worn down by. Neville climbed the ropes to go for a plancha, but Del Rio grabbed the ropes and Neville wound up upside-down against the turnbuckles. Del Rio followed by coming off the top rope and stomping down on Neville’s chest for the pin. Del Rio was over by the end, but not as much as someone who has been absent from the company for 14 months.
King Barrett, Rusev and Sheamus defeated The Dudley Boyz and Ryback (6:12)
King Barrett pinned Bubba Ray Dudley with a schoolboy cradle after Devon Dudley and Ryback went for the tables. Earlier in the show, Kingston talked like the New Day’s program with the Dudleyz was in the past, and this result seemed to back that up. Rusev was a total afterthought. The lesson here is you can marry someone in real life. Just don’t expect it to help you professionally, unless it’s the boss’ daughter.
Bray Wyatt was in the ring and did a promo. He said for 25 years, the Undertaker had no equal. But last night, the apocalypse showed it’s face. Destruction and desolation rolled in and carried out the soul of the Undertaker. Wyatt told Reigns that one day, they would dance again. But not until Wyatt was properly revitalized. That’s why the demise of the Undertaker has become his resurrection. Wyatt said he’s feasting on the soul of the Undertaker and he wants more. He won’t stop until the Undertaker is just a memory and Wyatt ascends to his throne.
Wyatt said, right now, the Undertaker’s soul is being ripped to shreds piece-by-piece. So Wyatt asked everyone to bow their heads, place their hands on their television set and share a moment of silence to the Undertaker, who has lost his soul to Wyatt. He finished by saying “Rest in Peace, Phenom.”
As Wyatt laughed, Kane came out. Just as Kane entered the ring, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Eric Rowan magically appeared. Rowan and Harper were cast aside quickly, but Strowman stood face-to-face. Kane threw punches on Strowman before Harper came back. Kane threw Harper over the top rope, and Strowman fell over the top rope after running at Kane. Eventually, Rowan and Harper ganged up on Kane, giving him a double choke slam. The Wyatt’s beat down Kane until he was lifeless. Then the Wyatts carried off Kane to the back the same way they carried off the Undertaker last night.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Big E. to advance to the Fatal Fourway (13:52) Another good match that Dolph Ziggler won with the Zig Zag. After Ziggler made his entrance, Tyler Breeze made his Raw debut, coming out with Summer Rae, who was acknowledged as his girlfriend. So three weeks ago, Summer proposed to Rusev. Breeze and Ray got their own VIP section and ringside with velvet ropes around them as they ate popcorn accompanied by a bodyguard.. The week after that, she broke up with him. Now, she’s with Breeze. Now that’s a rebound. Big E. got near fall after near fall with power moves like a power slam. Big E. catapulted Ziggler into a ringpost, then took a sip of champagne from Breeze’s VIP section.
Dean Ambrose gave Reigns a pep talk before the main event. Reigns said he’s got this.
Most of the company’s roster joined Titus O’Neal and a group of breast cancer survivors in the ring for the latest Susan G. Komen Foundation presentation. O’Neal really is a good singles babyface the company hasn’t taken full advantage of. O’Neal did the Millions of Dollars dance with the ladies.
In a segment that was taped last week but presented as if it was live tonight, Miz won a match on the WWE 2K16 video game, playing as Steve Austin and pinning the Rock with a stunner. Next thing you know, the real Austin showed up. The pop was so huge from the crowd it almost drowned out the dialogue between Austin and Miz, but nothing physical happened. Austin just quizzed the Miz about the game.
Roman Reigns pinned Kevin Owens to become the new number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match that also included Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler (15:00)
Another excellent match. Reigns pinned Owens after Owens attempted the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Reigns hit him with a Superman punch and followed with the spear. Great near falls with so many kicks being thrown, you would think it was a rib being played on the Young Bucks. Crowd was solidly behind Reigns, with no jeers at all. Del Rio looked great, and Ziggler held up his end, as well. Rollins was on commentary. From his facial expressions, it was clear that Rollins didn’t want Reigns to win, but he didn’t outright say it. Instead, he tried to be diplomatic and congratulated Regins on his win. Reigns and Rollins had a long staredown afterwards with the fans chaning heavy for Reigns.
SUMMARY:
Maybe it was just one show, but Reigns could have turned a corner tonight. It was the first time where he came off like a potential top star in the company. The crowd reacted to him in that matter and it was vital that happened in the postmatch staredown with Rollins. Otherwise, it would have felt flat and that’s the last thing they need going into this stretch without Cena. This was the start of making Regins the chosen one, and it was a great beginning. On the flip side, the Del Rio-Zeb Coulter pairing seems forced. They have no chemistry. Del Rio in WWE reminds me of Public Enemy in ECW. Neither was a corporate act. Del Rio could get over stronger in Mexico because the WWE doesn’t have the mentality to develop a minority superstar. They can’t even make a female superstar.
It’s the Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show! We’re looking for your feedback — is this show BETTER OR WORSE with us getting rid of the 2015 Raw report in favor of RETRO TUESDAYS with both Raw and Nitro from 19 years ago this week? Well, one way or another, A FUN SHOW talking TWO GREAT PROGRAMS, so check it out~!
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WWE sent out a press release Monday afternoon listing former WWF Champion and legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as appearing on tonight’s edition of Monday Night RAW. Earlier today in ads for the show, Austin was not listed.
The press release was built around Brock Lesnar being both on Raw and on Austin’s podcast, but listed that Lesnar would be joined by Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Ric Flair on Raw.
Interestingly, the press release does not mention Undertaker as being on Raw, only mentioning him as being Lesnar’s opponent in the Hell in a Cell main event on Sunday. They also promoted that going forward, the Austin podcasts would feature “the biggest names in WWE as well as in the world of sports or entertainment”, which seems to indicate they are looking past just WWE talent and employees for future guests.
Keep up with tonight’s live coverage of RAW by Jeff Hamlin, hear our recap of the show on tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio podcast, and be on the lookout for a recap of the Austin/Lesnar podcast by Bryan Rose later tonight.
