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  • 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. 

  • Original Mistico returns to Arena Mexico (Updated)

    As reported earlier today, Urive, was announced as wrestling on a 10/25 show at the arena, promoted by Lucha Libre Elite.

    He came to the ring and cut an interview right before the Universal title block B tournament matches were to start.

    Although he pretty well turned heel, but was more a tweener in AAA, he acted like a babyface here.

    This is a very interesting move because Lucha Libre Elite only runs scattered shows, while AAA is the biggest television wrestling promotion in Mexico right now, and he was in the middle of a program with Rey Mysterio Jr.

    In what was essentially Mexico’s version of Lex Luger showing up on the first Nitro, Luis Urive did an interview at last night’s Arena Mexico show, after having worked the night before on a AAA show in Xalapa.  He was not booked for AAA last night, but is scheduled for a show tonight in Veracruz.

    Urive, who was a huge drawing card in Mexico as Mistico, then signed with WWE as the first Sin Cara, and after that went to AAA, where he was known as Myzteziz.  Originally he was brought in as the top star in AAA, but with he signing of Alberto El Patron and Rey Mysterio Jr., he had fallen to No. 3, and then turned heel, then tweener, with his role to feud with Mysterio Jr.

    Urive came out, never said his name, and the announcers never acknowledged his appearance in later commentary in the Universal title match that followed. He came out with his ring music, and talked about how he was born at Arena Mexico and that since he left, nobody has been able to get to his level.  AAA owns the name Myzteziz, and he did acknowledge that once he left AAA, he would no longer use that name. CMLL owns the name Mistico, but has another wrestler using that name.

    It was announced that he would be appearing for Elite Lucha Libre on 10/25 at Arena Mexico, a promotion that runs occasional big shows in the building and advertises with CMLL. But it makes no sense for him to walk about of AAA, where he was in a key feud with Rey Mysterio Jr., which was planned to build to next year’s TripleMania main event, just to do one match.  The impression is that he’ll eventually be back with CMLL.

    Urive, under his mask, talked with the press after and said he would work the rest of his AAA dates announced, but was leaving the promotion after that.  It’s unclear if AAA would even want him on those shows given they were blind sided by this move.  He was booked on an  AAA show on 10/25 in Durango.

    AAA, which taped television last night, hasn’t made any comments at this point.

  • NJPW on AXS report 10-9: Kenny Omega vs. Ryusuke Taguchi for IWGP Jr. title

    Tonight’s show is from January 4, 2015, held in the Tokyo Dome. This is the first in a five part series looking at WrestleKingdom 9.

    The first match that aired (in full!) was the opening Junior tag team championship match, with reDragon defending their titles against the Forever Hooligans, Timesplitters, and the Young Bucks. This was a crazy match full of high spots and clever counters. There was one point in the match where everyone was doing big dives to the floor, with Kushida capping it off by doing a senton from the top rope to the floor, wiping out everyone on the outside. It’s one of those matches where there are a billion moves going on at once, but it doesn’t feel excessive. Very good match with reDragon getting the win, pining Kozlov (who’s on his way out shortly after this match) with the Chasing the Dragon, a brainbuster/kick combo.

    O’Reilley and Fish are interviewed backstage. They don’t say much other than they intend to take over New Japan, they’re ichiban, etc.

    Kenny Omega is interviewed. When asked why the joined the Bullet Club, he said it was because he wanted to be in New Japan. He’d ask them for years to be in, but they would only let him be in the Super Junior tournament. So the Bullet Club came to him and said they’d get him on whatever show he wants and would even get him a title shot, so he joined up with them, calling them family. When asked about champion Ryusuke Taguchi, he mocks the hip attacks a bit, but also says that they hurt so he knows what they’re doing. At one time they were a tag team unit, but that’s over as now they both want to become a legend in the Junior heavyweight division.

    The match aired. I liked this match. It was good, but not super great or anything. It was a very much back and forth match with the two working slow at first, then eventually trading finishers and submissions and the like. It reminded me very much like a WWE big time feel match. Taguchi hit the dodon and the ankle lock but Omega remained resilient. He cut off Taguchi and hit the One Winged Angel for the win. It started slow, but turned into a very good match towards the end with some good near falls.

    Kenny Omega was interviewed backstage. He says that now he’s proven himself to be the best in the world. He’d better than Taguchi, better than Kushida, and even better than his former tag team partner, Kota Ibushi. He mentions that at one time Prince Devitt was considered one of the best junior heavyweights of all time and was also the former leader of the Bullet Club. But now he’s a legend, and he’s at the top.

    Taguchi is also interviewed, saying that he wants another shot. He says it’s not like an eye for an eye, but if he befools him , he’ll befool back. When asked if he will take this match seriously or fool around, he says he’ll seriously fool around, but he is frustrated right now.

    Omega reflects, saying he know Taguchi will come back stronger, but he will clean him up just like he’s done two other times in the past. He does respect him trying so hard, though, and encourages him to keep trying. He says when he won the title, for a moment he felt like he had accomplished his dream, but now he has work to do as he has so many crappy wrestlers to sweep away.
    Good show. Both matches were good, with the Junior tag having some really creative spots. Check them both out.

  • TNA Impact Wrestling results (10/7): World Title Series begins with Bobby Lashley vs. Mr. Anderson, Austin Aries vs. EC3

    Last week, TNA delivered a fairly dreadful TV show and an okay PPV. Matt Hardy won the world title by beating Drew Galloway, but vacated it the next day due to an “injunction” by EC3. Today, TNA announced the TNA World Title Series – a tournament to determine a new champion. A BFG recap video starts the show. The story of this match is that Drew did all the work, but thanks to his brother’s cheapshot, Matt got the win. Josh and Pope are in front of a green screen.

    We see EC3 push Big John and then him announcing the injunction, and then Matt vacating the title. Matt’s living room at least has better lighting than Impact. Matt, the babyface, complains a lot and says that he proved EC3 is scared of him because he beat him. Actually no, you beat Drew. Matt says that he’ll win the title again, and we see Dixie and William Corgan announce the World Title Series. Corgan says that since he’s come on board, they have clarified their titles. So what does the King of the Mountain Title accomplish again? Josh says “Thanks Dixie” as if she was speaking to him, which was weird. Josh describes it as a 32 man tournament spread across four groups, and Pope tells fans to go to Twitter and brag about it. Josh says that #MattForChamp has been a thing for nearly a year. A year, a couple of months – same thing. We then get a series of graphics explaining this whole thing. This is so confusing.  Group UK, Group Wildcard, Group Knockouts, Group Champions will go at it. Drew faces Bram, and we hear from Drew about this match and says that title shots come and go, but he’ll get his destiny – the TNA World Title. This got the show 14 minutes closer to the grave.

    Bram is mid-ring before Drew comes down. Josh says that Drew should be happy for this series, and if you missed BFG, you can get it via your PPV provider now. Why would anyone do that? They already showed you the highlights of the main event and made the main event’s result meaningless. Bram and Drew butt heads and Josh agrees with Pope that lawyers belong in an office after just saying that EC3 did the right thing by getting lawyers involved.

    We get some weird cut-in with Bram and Drew engaging in a full conversation while this action is going on. Bram hates him for getting to the U.S. before him. Drew eats a steel steps shot. Bram gets a chinlock, but Drew chops away. Drew bumps beautifully into the corner. Drew lands some nice punches and gets a slam. Bram goes to the floor and two fans hold Bram so he can chop Bram. Drew bounces his head off the steps a bunch and back suplexes him onto the apron. Sick kick hits for the win. A graphic shows that Drew has three points now and we see a graphical breakdown of the point totals. Grado faces Spud later. Gail says that TNA has always been a place that women can succeed, and she can now be World Heavyweight Champion. She faces Brooke next.

    Recap of the Sick kick to Bram. Drew says that he won because he had a strategy, and he calls it a war. I like them doing post-match interviews – between that and the pre-match stuff, it should in theory make matches seem more important. Brooke comes out to face Gail. Gail doesn’t have her title, stated by Pope because this isn’t a Knockouts title match. Josh says Christmas is three months away, so if you’re shopping for Josh, you’ve got some extra time to get him something. Gail cuts a heelish promo on Brooke about creating this division while Brooke says she’s a three time champ. Brooke takes a scary bump off a monkey flip from Gail. A cradle exchange gets 2.

    Brooke gets a pop-up lariat and she sends Gail to the floor. Brooke drop toeholds her down and gets a bizarre version of the Cattle Mutilation. Gail locks on a weird leglock and breaks it up. Brooke shoves Gail on her face during Eat Defeat. They exchange forearms, but Brooke gets the upper hand with a lariat. Super X factor hits and Brooke goes up top for the flying elbow. Brooke misses and Gail sweeps the leg and gets a ringpost figure four. Gail goes for Eat Defeat, but Brooke counters it, so Gail goes for a figure four and she gets small packaged for the loss! Brooke advances in a very good match. EC3 talks about the World Title Series and says it’s the EC3 Screwjob Series. EC3 says that Aries is back just because the title is on the line, and the story is now that Aries voluntarily left and didn’t leave due to a loss. Josh talks about the knockouts match and we see Spud coming to the ring while they talk over his intro. They do it for Grado too, and it’s really weird to see. 

    Grado hits a belly bump to gain an early advantage. We get match audio while they play Grado’s promo on Spud, which is nearly impossible to understand because there’s so much noise going on. Grado misses the corner cannonball while Josh plugs the company’s next UK events. Spud gets his corner forearm series and a dropkick to the face. Grado hits possibly the worst Pedigree in recorded history for 2. Grado pulls the straps and gets an ankle lock, but Spud escapes. Spud hits a Stinger splash and a bulldog before hitting the world’s worst worm for 2. Grado goes for a People’s Elbow, but he blows up hitting the ropes too much. He hits it and gets 2. Grado goes for a Styles Clash, but Spud backdrops him. Spud does Taker’s throat slit, hits a chokeslam and crosses the arms for 2. Spud goes for an AA, but Grado counters with an elbow and goes for sweet chin music. Spud grabs the foot and hits a stunner ala WM XIV and the Dudley Dog for the win. This was bizarre and made TNA look so second-rate. It would be bad enough for a joke title tournament like the Beer Drinking Title, but this is for the World Title.

    Pope and Josh talk about Group Champions, resulting in more shilling of EC3 by Josh. Josh hypes up Tyrus winning the Bound For Gold match and we hear from him for a second. He appears to have aged a decade since BFG and says that if EC3 wins, things will get interesting. EC3 is out to face Aries. Josh says that EC3 is still unpinned, which is true. Aries comes out with Thea Trinidad and Josh mocks nerds who point out that Aries lost a loser leaves town match. He’s back because he’s the smartest wrestler in the world and Josh says that Thea was once known as Rosita in TNA.

    Aries and EC3 go to a stalemate while Josh talks about how brilliant EC3 was to get lawyers involved. EC3 says in his “roundtable” that he is the greatest living wrestler alive, and Aries says that EC3 will just hide behind Tyrus. Aries ducks down and gets a slick armdrag. Aries does a handstand into a dropkick, but EC3 avoids a pendulum elbow. Aries gets a big running elbow and sends EC3 to the steps, where he gets a series of punches almost like he’s in the corner with him. Tyrus looks at Thea, and Aries dives onto Tyrus and EC3 sends him to the floor for an ad break.

    EC3 has Aries in a chinlock and sends him down to the mat for 2. Aries and EC3 are down to 5 minutes, and if they go to a draw, they’ll have one point each. Aries smashes EC3’s head on the buckles and hits a neckbreaker on the apron. A suicide dive hits EC3. Aries gets a missile dropkick, but EC3 gets the boot up before he can take a dropkick. Aries gets a discus elbow for 2. EC3 gets a TKO for 2. EC3 misses a Stinger splash and eats the corner dropkick. EC3 lands a pair of shoulder blocks and goes up for a superplex, but he gets his ears boxed and eats a 450 for 2.5. Boo/yay punch exchange leads to a Tyrus trip. EC3 gets a Rampage powerbomb for 2. Thea trips EC3 up and Aries gets a schoolboy into a Last Chancery. With under a minute to go, EC3 gets to the rope. Aries avoids the One Percenter, but eats an elbow and Aries goes for some PRIDE-style knees right as the time limit expires. This was much better than the BFG main event and a fantastic showcase for Aries. It’s a draw, so each man gets 1 point. EC3 jumps Aries, but still eats a brainbuster – they really made Aries look strong here. Pope says that each man getting one point is like them getting zero. No, by definition, it isn’t.

    Anderson says that he’s part of the toughest group since they’re all former World Champions – I like that he’s putting the title over a lot here. He cut a nice serious promo here and didn’t come off like a goofball. Madison Rayne faces Awesome Kong next. Josh plugs every house show without taking a breath. Aries talks smack about EC3 – he beat legends, icons, and Hall of Famers – but he couldn’t beat Austin Aries. Aries just put himself over their former world champion marvelously. Kong goes for a powerbomb right away, which Pope calls the Implant Buster. He says that Kong is both Awesome and Amazing. shocked he didn’t say she has great karma too. 

    Madison says she’s a bit underutilized, but she will win. Kong says the seas boil with her rage and the tide is coming. Kong rams Rayne into the corner and clubs away. Kong goes a torture rack and turns it into a facebuster before missing a splash and Rayne gets an Oklahoma roll for 2. Rayne gets an enzuiguri and Kong goes down off a missile dropkick for 2. Kong gets a spinning backfist and an Implant Buster for the win. Lashley says he’s used to going against the unknown and it makes this even special. Okay then. Matt Hardy has an exclusive interview next.

    JB interviews Matt backstage and he says that his goal was to be the World Champion. His wife, his son, and 82 year old dad were in the ring with him. It was a happy fairy tale ending, but because Jeff hit EC3, EC3 handcuffed TNA and Matt. Matt says that the only thing he could do to keep wrestling in TNA was forfeit the title. Matt has thrown his name into the hat for this. So to recap, the World Title Series was created due to Matt vs. EC3, and now we’ll get a scenario for another Matt vs. EC3 match. We get a recap of who is in the lead for each division.

    Anderson gets a partial intro while Lashley gets a full entrance. We see a recap of Lashley’s first World title win against EY – back when TNA had a well-lit building with some excitement in it back in the salad days of 2014. Lashley gets a rolling front facelock and we get an ad break when it’s broken up. After a very long break, Lashley gets a double overhook suplex and hits a lariat. Lashley and Ken put each other over very briefly in their roundtable. We actually see the table for the first time, and it is indeed round. Lashley gets a delayed suplex, but misses a corner charge and Ken gets 2.

    Pope says he fully expects Ken Anderson to cheat based on his past. I like Pope using logic in all this to tell a story that could be told, but doesn’t really need to be told. Anderson stops short while Lashley goes for a leapfrog and he gets a dropkick before going back to the arm that Lashley smacked into the post. Ken gets a couple of kicks and a divorce court for 2. Pope puts over that Anderson has “ruthless aggression”, a phrase that no one in wrestling outside of WWE has ever used. Lashley gets a lariat and hits another in the corner. Anderosn punches his way out of a torture rack, but eats a spinebuster. Anderson leaps over the spear and gets a couple of lariats. Anderson gets the Finlay Roll, a second, and gets a TKO for 2. Lashley charges in and eats a boot, but he gets the spear and the win.

    Well, this show started off about as poorly as possible. However, after that point, it was a rock solid show in the ring outside of the Spud-Grado match. Every single match was worth watching and several of them were quite good. Match-wise, it was a better show than the PPV, and it wound up turning what seemed like an awful idea into a great one so far in terms of delivering great matches. Week one shows the concept can work, but the real key is the follow-up – if TNA can keep this up, then they can at least have the illusion of having momentum before shopping around for a new network deal in 2016.

  • NXT TakeOver Respect live results: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

    NXT TakeOver: Respect takes place tonight at Full Sail University at 8:00 pm EST. The main event will feature NXT Women’s champion Bayley defending her title against previous champion Sasha Banks in a 30 minute iron man match. Meanwhile, we’ll also see the conclusion of the Dustry Rhodes Tag Team Classic, with semifinals on the show being Finn Balor and Samoa Joe taking on Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable against Baron Corbin and Rhyno, and the finals featuring the winners of both semifinals. Asuka will make her in-ring NXT debut taking on Dana Brooke, and Apollo Crews will face off against Tyler Breeze.

    We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show so send a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.

    *****

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: NXT CHAMPION FINN BALOR & SAMOA JOE VS. DASH WILDER & SCOTT DAWSON

    Joe & Balor won and advanced in a well-worked match. Joe got the hot tag and set up Wilder for the Muscle Buster. Balor told Joe he wanted to tag in and Joe hit the Muscle Buster, and then Balor used the Coup De Grace on Wilder for the pin. Most of the match saw The Mechanics work over Balor’s knee which he sold after hitting his finisher. Joe & Balor go to the finals with a hint of issues between them and Balor “injured”.

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: JASON JORDAN & CHAD GABLE VS. BARON CORBIN & RHYNO

    Rhyno & Corbin advanced when Rhyno hit the gore on Jordan, and Corbin pinned Gable after the End of Days  The crowd just loves Gable. He’s got something really special.  Jordan & Gable are such a great babyface team that they really made the match, which had super heat, and overcame the fact that Corbin is, at best, passable at this point. There were all kinds of funny chants like “Save the Gable” and the crowd singing Kurt Angle’s music and chanting “Gable” where people used to sing “You Suck”. Jordan has all the ability in the world and has finally started to come out of his shell in this team.

    They showed Kevin Nash in the crowd.

    ASUKA VS. DANA BROOKE

    As a wrestler, Asuka is a level above every woman wrestler in WWE.  She looked super here with all her submissions, ring confidence, and total superstar presence. Brooke held her own and didn’t look out of place given this level of competition. The crowd was actually a lot hotter for this than the two tag matches. Asuka did an absolutely sweet flying armbar near the finish.  She ended up winning with the Asuka Lock — a chicken wing crossface with a body scissors. After the match, Asuka laid out Brooke with a high kick and then stared down Emma who turned her head like she was backing down. Excellent debut.

    We got the same Nia Jax promo we’ve been seeing recently. She’s debuting next week.

    APOLLO CREWS VS. TYLER BREEZE

    This was another good match that was built around Breeze working over Crews’ back.  Breeze really looked good here. He got a great near fall as Crews did the press slam, went for the standing moonsault, but Breeze hooked the leg.  Crews then broke free and went for the standing moonsault again, but Breeze got his knees up. Crews came back after absorbing two running elbows from Breeze, charging out at the third attempt and hitting a running kick. He then hit an atomic drop into a power bomb for the pin. They tried to tell the story that Crews is showing how much guts he has as he sold most of the way.

    They showed HIdeo Itami and Funaki in the stands.

    They are doing a show-long story as to whether Balor will be able to come out for the finals due to his knee.

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT FINALS: SAMOA JOE & FINN BALOR VS. BARON CORBIN & RHYNO 

    No angle, but a solid match and the crowd was pretty hot. At one point, Rhyno hit the Gore on Joe, but Balor saved. He went for a second one but Joe kicked him in the face, gave him a Muscle Buster, and Balor used a double foot stomp on Rhyno for the pin.

    Cody, Dustin, Michelle (Dusty’s wife) and his two daughters were all in the ring as well as Eden Stiles. Cody did a promo and talked about how Dusty died on the same day as John Wayne but 36 years later. Cody talked about how Dusty was referred to as “the oak of NXT” but to him, he was known as Dad. “Tonight, we are all Rhodes,” he said. They played Rhodes’ music and fans chanted “Thank you Dusty.”

    They showed Stephanie McMahon, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Lita at ringside. Stephanie even chanted “women’s wrestling” along with the crowd.

    30-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH: NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPION BAYLEY VS. SASHA BANKS

    Baley retained the title with a 3-2 margin by using a Fujiwara armbar at 29:57 to break the tie. 

    Banks won the first fall with an eye poke and schoolgirl using the trunks, Bayley won the second fall with the Belly To Bayley, while the third fall saw Banks win by ramming Bayley into the LED board, causing Bayley to be counted out. The fourth fall saw Bayley use a roll-up out of nowhere. The last few minutes were really dramatic as Banks used the Bank Statement, but because Bayley had worked over her hand during the match, she didn’t have full power. Bayley tried to reverse out once, failed, but then reversed into the armbar and was stomping on Banks’ head. The tap came right before time ran out. 

    It was pretty much what it should have been as far as a really good, well built match. Banks was great here, and Bayley was super over with the crowd so you had a great face/heel dynamic. Izzy at ringside was the other star of this match. They couldn’t create someone that good as her at ringside.

    After the match, they sent everyone on the roster out on the stage to give a round of applause. HHH and Wlliam Regal gave Banks flowers as the fans chanted “Thank you Sasha” as Stephanie and Sara Amato congratulated her with Bayley cheering for her from the ring.  HHH then went into the ring and gave Bayley flowers.  They did a good job of making this feel special with the post-match. 

    This really felt very close to, from an post-match atmosphere and setting, like a G-1 final or Arena Mexico Anniversary match.

  • WWE Raw Ratings 10-5: Numbers remain the same

    Raw last night did 3.37 million viewers, slightly up from the 3.32 million viewers last week. Last week was the lowest non-holiday rating for Raw since October of 1997 when there was head-to-head competition from Nitro. All five shows since Labor Day have done between 3.32 million and 3.4 million viewers, so if nothing else, the audience is consistent.

    The big competition, a Monday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions, drew 14.40 million viewers which was up from the prior week of 13.52 million viewers.

    The three hours were:

    8 p.m. 3.47 million viewers
    9 p.m. 3.49 million viewers
    10 p.m. 3.17 million viewers

  • TNA: Matt Hardy vacates TNA title (video)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyK0Mn6HkZA

    TNA wrestling just posted a video where Matt Hardy has vacated the TNA championship.

    The storyline is that Ethan Carter III got an injunction that prohibited Hardy from appearing on the show claiming that Dixie Carter was in collusion with the Hardys to stack the deck against him.

    Hardy claimed that while he hates to do it, that because it would be months before a court date and he couldn’t appear during that period, the best thing for the good of the company was for him to relinquish the title. The story of the championship is meant as a ratings hook for tomorrow night’s show.

    TNA did tape a tournament early in its last tapings so that could be how the championship ends up being determined.

  • WWE NXT TakeOver Respect Triple H conference call notes (updated with audio)

    With NXT TakeOver: Respect scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, that means it’s also time for Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s routine of doing a media conference call the day before the event.

    Apologies for the delay in audio (found below) and for some of the background noise as the wrong mic was muted. (At least you heard the debut of my dog.)

    – They reiterated WWE Wrestlemania tickets are now on sale.

    – HHH apologized for being late and said he had to stop and call Bruno Sammartino and wish him well on his 80th birthday.

    – He mentioned the UK tour, put over the WWE 24/7-esque show on the Network, and the Nashville and Louder Than Live music festival events this past weekend.

    – He said the ‘Respect’ name has a lot to do with Dusty Rhodes and his meaning to the business. He put over the Dusty Rhodes Classic tag tourney finals and everyone on the show wanted to do Dusty proud. He talked about the Bayley/Sasha match at length.

    – He talked about Breaking Ground, a show that is being shot right now with all kinds of behind the scenes information that will be coming on the Network soon.

    – He was asked about the makeup of the crowd being younger and the ‘unique demographics’ NXT has brought him. He said there’s some crossover with WWE for young adults, but NXT is “more edgier, underground, niche.” “We’re feeding that niche, but that niche is huge.” He said that if NXT is more punk and hip-hop, WWE is more pop music. “I know who my fanbase is with NXT, and that’s who I’m trying to serve.”

    – He hopes to have a fully functioning third brand that is touring as much as WWE is now. They have interest in doing more things like the L.O.L. music festival. They are getting to the point now where they are running out of bandwidth and have to say ‘maybe next year’ to more things than they did before.

    – He was asked about who took over for Dusty in teaching promos. He said it’s a split right now. They are using a similar format to what Dusty had, but they are using people more geared toward what they are trying to accomplish. William Regal, some guests, and some staffers are filling in until they figure that out.

    – He was asked about Jushin Liger and whether we’d see more like that. He said he’s open to everything but there are “limitations due to business reasons” with WWE. He said he looks at NXT with an open slate and an open mind.

    – He was asked about the rise of female wrestlers and Bayley vs. Sasha Wednesday. He said their Brooklyn match was one of the best he’s ever seen and not just for women. He referenced Ronda Rousey and the U.S. women’s soccer team. He put over their athleticism, passion, etc.

    – He was asked about Bayley’s desire to learn more about the backstage/TV process with recently doing some timekeeping and whether other talents were interested in learning more. He said some talents do, and others don’t. At RAW, there isn’t that much of an opportunity to do that while at NXT, there is more of a chance to do that. He says he encourages talent to learn as much as they can, and how much he was interested in that side of things. He especially mentioned Sami Zayn as wanting to do that as he recovered from injury.

    – He talked about the recent Finn Balor tweets about TNA and with TNA talent, and whether he was concerned at all of that. He taked about how talents take a bus in certain areas and that when they passed the TNA offices, he wanted to stop and take a picture. HHH said Balor hit him up immediately about it, but HHH thought they were funny and didn’t see it as a big deal at all. He thought they were fun.

    – He talked about the difference in ‘IronMan’ match vs. ‘IronWoman’ match, and debating over the name. He referenced how people win the Ironman competition, and that people like Lita mentioned she liked IronMan more, saying she thought it was derogatory to call it otherwise.

    – He was asked about whether it was hard to sell the idea of an IronMan match in NXT to Vince, but HHH said he doesn’t make that final call in NXT. He said Vince “loved it” and takes a bad rap for some of the decisions he makes. He said Vince is all about the fans and that it may take him a while to come around. He said there might be a way that Vince likes to present things that are different. He talked about how Vince hesitated about coming to NXT Brooklyn because he would be just sitting and watching the show. HHH said he was able to sit at gorilla and just enjoy the show. He loved Sasha/Bayley and told HHH he can’t wait for the IronMan match.

    – He was asked about Asuka’s debut against Dana Brooke, and what adjustments she’ll have to make in order to make it in NXT. He brought up how everyone has to adjust including talents like Hideo Itami.

    – He was asked about what the thought process was in having the Divas “Curtain Call” moment at NXT Brooklyn. He joked he wanted to see who would get fired out of the deal. He talked about Vince telling him that if you put yourselves in the seat of a fan, you’ll never go wrong. He talked about the emotion involved in all of that.

    – Final question was on Gabe Sapolsky and the relationship there between Dragon Gate USA & Evolve, specifically Johnny Gargano’s recent appearance, and whether they are a feeder system for NXT. HHH says he sees all of it as a feeder system, he really like what they do, and wants to support their shows. He said if he didn’t have room at the P.C. for talent and wanted them to get additional work, he’d send them to Gabe. He said the indie undercurrents are healthy for the business, and would do anything he could for them. 

    – He said he’s a big fan of Apollo Crews and laughs when he hears references to him being potentially the first black WWE Champion. “Guys like Rock, Booker T…I guess they don’t count?”

    Call ended at 3:17 PM EST.

    Click here to listen to the whole call or just right click & save.

  • WWE Raw live results 10-5: Brock Lesnar and Undertaker build to Hell in a Cell

    The Big Takeaway: Seth Rollins will officially face Kane at Hell in a Cell. Summer Rae asked Rusev to marry him. Rusev said he would, but only until he captures a championship. John Cena was accidentally superkicked by Dolph Ziggler following the main event, which teased a program between the two. Stephanie McMahon shouted down The New Day. Stephanie McMahon shouted down Kane. Stephanie McMahon shouted down Rollins. Twice. To keep the storyline cohesive, HHH later offered support to Rollins. 

    Show Recap: 

    Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman starts the show. Heyman put over Lesnar’s victory over the Big Show to start the Go to Hell Tour, and now it’s time to focus on the Undertaker. Heyman said the Undertaker considers Hell in a Cell to be the Devil’s Playground, but Lesnar considers it the Lair of the Beast. They replaced highlights from Wrestlemania 31, which got a mixed reaction. 
    Heyman said Undertaker realized at SummerSlam that he wasn’t Dead Man enough to get revenge on Lesnar, then replayed the controversial finish from SummerSlam.

    Heyman promoted Lesnar being on Steve Austin’s podcast later this month, and vowed this would be Lesnar’s last match against the Undertaker. The winner would be the winner of history between Lesnar-Undertaker, and the loser wouldn’t walk out at all. 

    Big Show came out and said he was very close to beating Lesnar. Show extended his hand to Lesnar to shake it, but Lesnar snubbed him and walked out of the ring. Show said it must be nice being as arrogant as he is, but he hopes he loses to the Undertaker again.

    Lesnar took exception to that and got back in the ring, and gave Show a belly-to-belly suplex. Then he got Show up for the F-5 and smiled like it was the 2004 version of Lesnar, acting like the world’s biggest Bob Backland knockoff. 

    Seth Rollins and Stephanie McMahon watched this scene. Rollins was mad because Show was supposed to tag with him later in the show against the Dudley Boyz. Now that Show was laid out by Lesnar, Rollins figured he wouldn’t be available for the match tonight. Rollins asked for Stephanie to cancel the match. Stephanie told him she wouldn’t do any such thing and to figure out the problem for himself. He looked like he was ready to deck her and walked off. 

    Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman (15:53)

    Roman Reigns got the hot tag and gave Luke Harper a power bomb. Randy Orton hit Harper with the RKO, and Regins followed with the spear for the pin. Real good match with Orton being the most over performer. Bruan Strowman got the monster heel treatment again. As Dean Ambrose tried a pescado, Strowman caught him and slammed him on the floor. This led to JBL comparing him to Jeep Swenson and Bill Kazmaier. I can’t wait to see Strowman joining eight other guys to face John Cena and Orton in a triple deck cage match in 10 years. 

    Sheamus defeated Neville (:32)

    King Barett was on commentary. Sheamus ran down the Boston Celtics mascot, saying if they wanted a real leprechaun mascot, they should have used him. Did they have a character who was a leprechaun for years? Sheamus ran down Neville saying he would always be a loser. Neville attacked him with punches. Barrett got up and argued with Neville, allowing Sheamus to hit the Brogue Kick with the pin. Neville didn’t even get a ring entrance and jobbed in 32 seconds.  

    Director of Operations Kane limped into the building. He was in the ring after a commercial and said Rollins got slightly out of control last week. Kane announced himself as Rollins tag team partner tonight against the Dudley Boyz. This brought out Rollins, who said Kane was no Tom Brady, even though they both have deflated balls. 

    Rollins said Kane couldn’t lie, cheat and swindle his way to whatever he wants, implying Brady and the Patriots did that, as well. Kane said his goal was to bring out the best in Rollins, who said the championship brings out the best in him. Kane said Rollins had to face his demons and walk through hell in order to bring out the best in himself. 

    Stephanie came out for the monthy evisceration of talent. She was a complete babyface running down Rollins for making fun of Brady, saying he would lead the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl again this year. That got a huge pop and it was a striaght babyface move. Then she announced the Demon Kane would face Rollins at Hell in a Cell, and added that Corporate Kane could team with Rollins tonight. She also announced that if Demon Kane doesn’t beat Rollins at Hell in a Cell, then Corporate Kane would be relieved of his duties. 

    Rollins pleaded his case with HHH about teaming with Kane tonight. HHH reminded him of the saying “Do unto other before they can do unto you.” So HHH was the heel here. I feel like Johny Hendricks trying to cut weight trying to make sense of the Authority.   

    Natalya defeated Paige via submission (6:03)

    Natalya got the tapout victory with the Sharpshooter, the second time she used that hold. Paige was a rogue heel, which didn’t have much of a reaction. 

    Ryback did a taped promo that was heavily scripted on Kevin Owens. At least it didn’t look he was reading a teleprompter. 

    Kevin Owens defeated Sin Cara (2:35)

    Owens won with the Pop Up Power Bomb. Talk about a random match. Owens jumped Kalisto, but Ryback ran out after Owens, who left through the crowd. 

    Stephanie was checking her iPhone when the New Day walked up chanting “Steph-un-Nee.” Xavier Woods started to play his trombone, but without even looking, Stephanie told Woods that if he played one note on that trombone, she would send the New Day to a place worse than Suplex City. Would that be WWE headquarters on Tuesday afternoons? She forced New Day into another tag title match with the Dudleys at HIAC. Stephanie has scolded the World Champion, the Director of Operations and the Tag Team Champions and we weren’t even 90 minutes into the show. 

    The entire WWE roster came out on the ramp. Cena and Reigns were in the ring with breast cancer survivors for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. They got a standing ovation as the nine women rose their arms together. Reigns did prepared remarks promoting a t-shirt called “Rise About Cancer” The fact Reigns was out there shows he’s still slated as the number two babyface in the company. CM Punk, Paul Lazenby, Lance Storm and others have been vocal on Twitter about breast cancer funds going to other foundations aside from the Koman Foundation, to the point where it’s too complicated to get into here. I would check their Twitter feeds for more information.  

    The Dudleys defeated Seth Rollins and Corportate Kane by DQ (13:23)

    The storyline was Kane has an injured right ankle so he wasn’t 100%, which forced Rollins to practically wrestle the match himself. The doctor told Kane he would have to go to the back. Just as he did on Smackdown last week, Rollins handcuffed Kane to the ringpost so he wouldn’t leave and turned into Demonic Kane. Then Rollins was thrown into Kane by Devon Dudley, and Kane broke free from the handcuffs. Kane left with the doctor. As he went to the back, Kane smiled at Rollins like it was all a ruse. That left Rollins alone against the Dudleys. When the Dudleys left to get the tables, Rollins dropkicked the table into both Dudleys. That led to the DQ, a finish the crowd booed. 

    Rollins went to leave, but Demonic Kane came out. Kane gave Rollins a big boot, but the Dudleys went back in the ring and gave Kane a 3-D. 

    The Dudleys left. Rollins set up a table in the ring while Kane appeared to be laid out. But as Rollins talked trash, Kane grabbed him by the throat. Rollins kicked him away and came off the top rope, but Kane caught him and gave him a choke slam through the table. Not much of a reaction for Demonic Kane until the table spot. 

    In footage from earlier today, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Alicia Fox were shown leaving a limosuine. At the same time, Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks got out of another limosuine. Naomi threw Nikki’s Yankees baseball cap away and laughed. This set up a trios match. 

    Banks did a prematch in-ring interview since they were back in her hometown, saying she put the Boss in Boston. Team Bella interrupted her, with Nikki running down the Boston Red Sox. Nikki and Brie traded barbs. 

    Team BAD defeated Team Bella via submission (11:46)

    Banks got Fox to tap out with the Bank Statement in a match that dragged. Good final two minutes leading to the finish. Crowd was lively for Banks. They’re still tossing around the Divas Revolution hashtag like it’s still a thing. At this point, the Miami Dolphins would have better luck launching #TannerhillRevolution. 

    Charlotte did a promo saying the Divas Championship would remain around her waist after her match with Nikki Bella at Hell in a Cell. She and Becky Lynch slapped hands. 

    Summer Rae saying she heard rumors Summer was over. If she paid any attention to the crowd, she would understand that isn’t true. She introduced Rusev. Summer wanted to dedicate the segment to Rusev, who she claimed has done more than any other superstar on the roster. There was a montage of Summer calling Rusev gentle and friendly as replays of him slamming Dolph Ziggler and Fandango were shown. 

    Rusev said when they first started their relationship, he didn’t like her at all. But now that she’s been under his arm, he can’t imagine anyone caring more than her. Summer said there’s been something she’s been meaning to ask him. She dropped to a knee and pulled out a ring under her blouse. She asked him to marry her. Ruseve looked speechless. Summer, who called Rusev “Ru-Ru,” said they could go straight to the top together. Rusev finally said yes and they hugged. Summer looked overjoyed. However, after that embraced, Rusev said “Yes, but not yet.” Rusev said they must prove to each other that they’re worthy. He wanted WWE gold around his waist before she could have gold around her finger. Summer looked confused and angry as Rusev held the ropes for her to leave. 

    Cena came out and wanted the challenger for the U.S. Open Challenge. Ziggler’s music played. However, the New Day showed up with a beaten up Ziggler in their arms. Woods reminded Cena of his warning to New Day last week that they better get serious and asked if this was serious enough for him? Big E. took the challenge. Loved the idea of New Day becoming more serious heels. 

    John Cena (C) defeated Big E. to retain the U.S. Championship (9:54)

    Cena won with the AA after Big E. tried to hit Cena with Woods’ trombone. Moments earlier, Cena lifted Big E. for the AA, but Kofi Kingston and Woods helped Big E. escape, leading to referee Charles Robinson ordering them to the back. During a commercial, Big E. delivered an overhead belly-to-belly suplex where Cena landed on the back of his head. 

    Postmatch, the New Day attacked Cena until Ziggler came out for the save. Ziggler tried to give Woods a superkick, but instead he accidentally kicked Cena. The Dudleys ran out, but the New Day outnumbered them. Kingston gave Devon the Trouble in Paradise. Then they gave Devon the Midnight Hour. This was done to make New Day more aggressive heels. 

    SUMMARY: Another cold show, even with Lesnar in the opening segment. With Cena taking a leave of absence in a month, it’s a major period of rebuilding ahead. The question is can they stop booking for ego and start booking for drawing money? The top two heel acts were berated by the boss’ daughter tonight. Reigns doesn’t feel like he’s hot enough to carry this show. However long Cena’s departure will be, it may be similar to when Bret Hart departed for WCW after the Montreal Screwjob in 1997. It’s hard to believe now, but Bret left behind a company with very little depth and only Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin as true stars. With the company at its breaking point, the WWE responded by making more stars than at any point in its history. Really, Cena is leaving behind a roster that’s even more thin than it was 18 years ago, but the paradigm has changed. However, the company’s mission shouldn’t be any different now than it was back then. 

    Pre-Show notes:

    Only the very top of TD Garden is taped off

    Cesaro comes out to a big cheer. Adam Rose is out to boos. Adam Rose says this must be the lowest point of his career. And by lowest point I mean he literally says “Wrestling Adam Rose on Superstars”. Way to out yourself over Adam.

    Cesaro swings Adam Rose 36 times, and submits him with the Sharpshooter.

    PTP vs Ascension

    PTP get on offense early, but Darren eventually gets isolated gets the face in peril heat. Tides makes the hot tag and wins after a powerbomb

  • UFC News: CM Punk out with a shoulder injury, coach dishes on possible debut date

    Former WWE Champion and prospective UFC fighter CM Punk has been out of action for the past few weeks due to a shoulder injury, reported his coach Duke Roufus in an article today on ESPN.com. Punk injured the shoulder a few weeks ago, and is scheduled for an a diagnosis on October 14th.

    “He got caught in a scramble, so right now he’s taking a little time off,” Roufus said. “He was doing great before that. His progress has been good.  He’s got a great attitude and he’s a hard worker.”

    Roufus said they don’t want him back training until fully healed.  Since there is no date for a first fight, there is no rush to get him back. He estimated it would be six to ten months before he feels Punk would be ready to debut. He thought it would make the most sense for his debut to be at UFC 200 on July 9, 2016, in Las Vegas, NV.