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  • WWE RAW live results: Shane McMahon returns, Brock Lesnar/Dean Ambrose angle

    With the main event of WrestleMania official, Raw originates from Detroit tonight as the countdown to WrestleMania begins. Clearly, after the reception Roman Reigns received at Fast Lane, there’s still plenty of work to do to avoid him getting booed out of Texas next month. He and HHH will likely kick off a series of angles tonight. The recipient of the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award will be announced, which could also be an angle leading up to WrestleMania. There will probably be new programs for Charlotte, Kevin Owens and the New Day for their respective championships.

    Plus, there’s the matter of which 90s starts will appear at WrestleMania? Who will they be facing? And when will the promotion for those matches begin? It’s the start of the most popular time of the year for wrestling in America tonight, and our coverage starts at 8 ET. 

    From Dave Meltzer:

    An angle was just shot before Raw to air on the show where Brock Lesnar destroyed Dean Ambrose and he was rushed to the hospital to help get the wheels in motion for their WrestleMania match and make Ambrose the babyface.

    It is expected this will be announced at the start of the show. The plans are for this to be a major show to set up WrestleMania’s top bouts.

    ###

    The Big Takeaway: 

    A wild night. Shane McMahon made his return to Raw after leaving the WWE six years ago. He will face the Undertaker at WrestleMania in a Hell in a Cell match with control of the company on the line. Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose is also set for WrestleMania after an angle where Lesnar jumped Ambrose and slammed him on a limo. Ryback appeared to turn heel and looks to be up for a program with Kane. Roman Reigns juiced in the main event after being jumped by HHH, ending with HHH giving him a Pedigree on the ring steps. 

    Show Recap: 

    The Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award was in the ring with a red carpet draped around it. 

    Michael Cole showed video of Dean Ambrose being driven in, where Brock Lesnar jumped him and drove him into the hood of a limo. Lesnar then slammed Ambrose onto the limo, and Ambrose was shown being stretchered out of the arena with a neckbrace on. Cole claimed Ambrose underwent medicat tests at a local hospital. Lesnar and Paul Heyman will make an appearance later. 

    Vincent Kennedy McMahon came out for the presentation of the Legacy of Excellence award. Vince said tonight would be a night the fans would never forget. Vince said for over 100 years, his family had been presenting sports entertainment. It started with his grandfather, then carried on to his father. He announced the winner as Stephanie McMahon. 

    Stephanie came out and started crying. She got a lot of heat as she accepted the award. She claimed she wasn’t expecting to win, but had some prepared remarks to make. She then pulled out a binder the size of a notebook ready to make her remarks. 

    Before she could talk, Shane McMahon came out to an incredibly huge pop. He was wearing old school Air Jordans straight from 1984 and looked a little emotional as he made his return to TV for the first time since 2009. The place went bonkers and Shane looked stunned to see how huge the response was. Fans chanted “Holy Shit” and “This is Awesome.” 

    Shane milked it in for a while. Vince went to hug him, but Shane stopped him. So Vince extended his hand, and Shane left him hanging. He looked like he’s lost 60 pounds, minimum, since he made those cameos at various PGA Tour events. Shane said the Legacy of Excellence Award should be bestowed on someone who deserves it, and it wasn’t Stephanie. 

    Vince asked his son to play nice and asked if he and Shane could talk in the back. Shane said his father always told him to do things out in the open face-to-face. Stephanie said this was her moment, getting booed worse than Mark Messier in Joe Louis Arena. Stephanie said her husband and her have been running a billion dollar business for seven years while Shane is away. 

    Shane told his father “She doesn’t know, does she?” Then Shane said Stephanie and her husband have been running the company into the ground based on talent injuries, stock, even TV ratings (Good lord. This was like Eric Bischoff admitting Nitro had fallen off the rails in 1999). Stephanie called Shane a quitter and told him to get out of her ring. Shane said it was her father’s ring. Shane said several years ago, Vince messed up huge. Big time. But Shane was there to save the day. 

    So Vince and Shane cut a deal. In that deal, Shane was able to take time off, build businesses. But he never lost his place in line. Shane said the reason why Stephanie was able to climb this far was because Shane allowed it to happen. Stephanie thought this was ridiculous and asked Vince to say this wasn’t true. Vince had a very guilty look on his face. Stephanie kept asking if this was true. Vince didn’t want to answer. Shane pressed for an answer, and Vince admitted there was some truth to it. 

    Shane said, at the time, the agreement he and Vince reached was “Best for business.” Stephanie started to leave, but said she would never forgive Shane for this. 

    Stephanie left. Vince wanted to know what this was about. He offered to give Shane any amount of money. Shane said it wasn’t about money. It was about getting out from under Vince’s thumb. It was all about legacy. Shane talked about Vince being the third generation, he was the fourth generation, and his three children would be the fifth generation. He started to tear up when he talked about that. 

    Shane said he wanted control over Monday Night Raw. Vince said if Shane controlled Raw, he would control the entire company, and Shane can’t just step right in and control the entire company. Vince offered a deal. He would give Shane Monday Night Raw as long as he has one match on one night. And if he wins, he gets his match. If he loses, Vince gets the key to Shane’s lockbox so Shane can’t hang anything over his head again. Crowd actually chanted “You still got it.” That Randy Orton angle was a million years ago at this moment. 

    Shane agreed to the deal. Vince said something that got bleeped out but left the crowd buzzing. Vince said Shane would wrestle at WrestleMania…against the Undertaker. Hell in a Cell. 

    The New Day defeated Lucha Dragons and Neville (15:27) 

    Good match where Kofi Kingston pinned Sin Cara with Trouble in Paradise after Kingston escaped the Dragon Bomb by pulling Sin Cara’s mask. Before the finish, Neville did a 450 splash onto Big E. off the apron. Kalisto then jumped off Neville’s back and did a 450 splash onto Xavier Woods. The New Day look to be turning face as they cut a promo on the League of Nations during an inset promo. They offered  them a box of Booto-Os cereal, which has it’s own box with the new day on the front. That was hilarious. 

    Reigns did a promo with Jojo upset over what happened with Ambrose. Crowd loudly booed Reigns and chanted for Ambrose as he did his promo. It was a badly scripted interview about how the match between him and HHH would be about heart. Reigns just doesn’t have the promo ability. 

    Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out. Heyman said this was the main event of the evening, even tough he wasn’t wrestling. He said Lesnar was the single biggest attraction in sports entertainment or Mixed Martial Arts. That sound you hear in Connor McGregor laughing. Heyman said Lesnar took Ambrose and Reigns to Suplex City, and had Reigns on the verge of tapping out to Lesnar, just like the Undertaker was. Then Ambrose took a three-way fight and turned it into a street fight, and took Lesnar out of the equation and out of the main event of WrestleMania. 

    Heyman said Lesnar got his revenge earlier today, and claimed that Ambrose was out of WrestleMania altogether. Heyman said there was no shield that could protect Ambrose from the wrath of Lesnar. Heyman said Lesnar deserves to be in the main event of WrestleMania, and is the main event. Not HHH, not Reigns. Heyman ran down Ambrose as some kind of hardcore kid wannabe riding on a BMX bike that everyboyd thinks is cool. Until the reality of a Mack-Semi truck comes down and…Heyman then threw down the mic to symbolize what Lesnar does to people. He actually had to get another mic because he broke the old one. 

    Heyman said Lesnar needed another Lesnar WrestleMania opponent. Whoever wants to be that person, go visit Ambrose in the hospital room while he can barely breathe. So sayeth Brock Lesnar. 

    Heyman finsihed. At that point, the TitanTron turned to the back, where an ambulance came in from the back. The ambulance came out into the arena. Of course, Ambrose was behind  the wheel wearing a neckbrace. He staggered out to a pop. Ambrose crawled to the ring, more or less. The brace fell off his neck. Lesnar stood over Ambrose and walked over his chest. 

    Ambrose told Lesnar he was indestructable and he would find that otu the hard way. He challenged Lesnar to a match at WrestleMania in a No Holds Barred Street Fight. Lesnar went after Ambrose and gave him an F-5 on the floor. Fans didn’t chant for Ambrose. They chanted “One More Time.” Heyman got down on his knees and told Ambrose face-to-face that his client accepted Ambrose’s challenge. 

    The Usos were about to face the Ascension when the Dudley Boyz came out. Bubbay Ray Dudley said the Usos shouldn’t take the beating the Dudleys handed them two weeks ago personally. They did it to remind people they were the most decorated tag team in the history of WWE. Their legacy won’t be defined by a piece of furniture, but by the accomplishments. Bubba claimed the fans would never see the tables again. Devon Dudley told the Usos maybe their father shouldn’t have been running around in oversized thongs, but should have taught his sons respect. Fans didn’t seem to know Devon was talking about Rikishi, which Cole and Byron Saxton filled in the blanks. 

    The Usos defeated the Ascension (1:58) 

    Jey Uso pinned Viktor after a double superkick and a splash. Dudleys came down to tease a fight with the Usos. Looks like that’s another match for WrestleMania. 

    Jim Harbaugh was at ringside in time for tonight’s tweets from angry SEC fans about unfair recruiting practices.  

    Chris Jericho came out for more talking. He said for years, he heard about the legacy of A.J. Styles. He saw Styles in the Royal Rumble and he didn’t like him because Styles called himself “Phenomenal” without having one match in the WWE. Then he wrestled Styles three times, with last night’s match being one of the best he’s had in years. Jericho said Styles beat him. 24 hours later, Jericho said he had some words for Styles, and wanted to say them face-to-face. 

    Styles came out and the fans instantly started dueling chants. Jericho said Styles that going into their match last night, the pressure was all on Styles. But Styles won, and Jericho admitted it. Jericho congratulated Styles because he proved to the WWE Universe that he belongs in the WWE. He has what it takes to become a WWE champion. Styles proved he was phenomenal. They shook hands. 

    Social Outcasts came out. Heath Slater made fun of them. Bo Dallas said his heart was warm seeing how much love was in the ring right now. Slater told Dallas he was being sarcastic. Dallas pretended he knew. Curtis Axel accused Jericho of playing nice to Styles, but in his heart he knew Styles made him tap out. Slater asked Styles if he was a man. Slater said where he comes from, they call people like Styles a coward. Adam Rose said no one was buying Y2AJ. Slater ordered them to get out of the ring. 

    Jericho called Slater “Ginger Jackass.” Jericho said he and Styles weren’t planning on being a team, but they could become one to face Social Outcasts immediately in a tag match. It was Y2Aj vs. Slater and Axel. 

    Chris Jericho and A.J. Styles defeated Curtis Axel and Heath Slater via submission (3:55)

    Jericho made Axel submit to the Walls of Jericho while Styles did a springboard plancha onto Dallas, Rose and Slater. Slater is now being referred to as the Red Dragon in a moniker that Sinclair Broadcasting executives should just love.  

    Stephanie and HHH were backstage. Stephanie was furious at Shane. HHH said Shane was always a failure and always will be. HHH said tonight will end the way they want it to, so he asked if she wanted to tell Roman, or should he? She volunteered. 

    Stephanie found Reigns backstage and said Reigns would be facing Sheamus tonight. She said League of Nations was a brotherhood, unlike the fake one Reigns had with Ambrose. She urged him to watch out for League of Natons causing him to miss WrestleMania because of injury. 

    R-Truth and Goldust had another skit. Goldust apologized for costing Truth his match against Axel last night. He offered a cake which said “I’m Sorry” as a makeup present. Goldsut said it was chocolate cake with golden frosting, just like a potential tag team with him. R-Truth tried to tell him off, but Goldust said he could predict Truth’s every move before he does it. Truth said he guessed Goldust would predict he was going to take the cake a smash it in his face. But he wouldn’t do that to Goldust because he was better than that, and walked off. Then he stormed back, said “Psych” and smashed it in Goldust’s face. 

    Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan defeated Ryback, The Big Show and Kane (12:29)

    Finish saw Kane about to deliver the choke slam on Luke Harper, but Ryback walked out on Kane. For some reason, this distracted Kane, which allowed Harper to tag Bray Wyatt. Then Wyatt pinned Kane with Sister Abigail. Big Show was laid out earlier by Braun Strowman. Fans did’t care for Ryback and chanted “Goldberg” at him. Then a few started chanting “Gillberg” and the Big Show started laughing. Wyatts sure ended up on the short end of the WrestleMania stick. They went from potential opponents to the Undertaker to potential opponets for Lesnar to status unknown. Who would have thought last month that the Dudleys would have had a clearer direction for WrestleMania than the Wyatts? 

    Ryabck did an interview saying he walked out on Big Show and Kane because he was done being in tag teams. It was his time to be in the spotlight. He said “That glass ceiling. That brass ring. Break it. Take it.” 

    Sasha Banks defeated Naomi via submission (6:47)

    Tamina interfered several times on Sasha Banks. That brought down Becky Lynch to jump Tamina. Banks won with the Bank Statement. 

    Postmatch, Charlotte and Ric Flair came out. She was dressed like Nikki and Brie Bella, which Cole pointed out. They’re teasing Nikki Bella showing up at WrestleMania. Charlotte said the Authority had told her Lynch would be facing Banks in the coming weeks, and the winner would face Charlotte at WrestleMania. Charlotte told Lynch to watch out, like Banks was about to jump her. Of course, Banks hadn’t made a move toward Lynch. But Lynch reacted like she had. Charlotte laughed about how they really don’t trust each other after all. 

    Stephanie wanted to know what Shane held over Vince’s head. Vince said the odds of Shane beating the Undertaker were astronomical. Vince explained he was taking a calculated risk. Stephanie seemed to understand. 

    So in the final week of Black History Month, they announced the Godfather was the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. JBL announced the APA was reuniting to induct the Godfather because they rode miles and miles with the Godfather. 

    There was a sign on the screen shown repeatedly in the final hour that said “Raw is Stale as Cole Slaw.” How that made the airwaves without being confiscated is beyond me. This show had more signs than any Raw is a while, so maybe restrictions are being curtailed. 

    Roman Reigns and Sheamus went to a no contest (10:51)

    This was one strange scene. Sheamus, the top regular performing heel in the company, came out to complete silence. Reigns, the chosen one, got mostly booed. A reminder that we are six weeks away from WrestleMania. Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and King “Catch Him While You Can” Barrett were at ringside. Rusev gave Reigns a uranage on the floor to a round of cheers. During the break, referee Chad Patton (his name was announced on TV, breaking previous company protocol), ordered the League of Nations to the back. They went two more minutes past the commercial when Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Sheamus. HHH came out ready to fight, and he and Reigns started brawling. As for where Sheamus went? Your guess is as good as mine. How’s that for top heel treatment? 

    So HHH and Reigns brawled, with Reigns delivering a Superman Punch to HHH. And HHH responded by selling it somewhat, then hit Reigns with a ring bell. HHH was ruthless, slamming Reigns head into the table again and again so much, it got a “Yes” chant going. HHH put punches to Reigns head, and he started juicing. This led to several referees coming down trying to pull HHH off. Instead, HHH pulled down the ring steps and gave Reigns a pedigree on the steps to mostly cheers. HHH actually did a crotch chop to Reigns and got cheered louder. Then he posed with the belt and the show went off the air with HHH like a rogue babyface, which is pretty much how he’s been booked when he’s a heel for the past decade. 

    Summary: 

    This was some surreal booking for WrestleMania. Shane McMahon got a great one-time reaction tonight. So how does that carry over for six more weeks? They couldn’t get Alberto Del Rio over long enough for two weeks after his return. When did the Undertaker turn heel and join the Authority? Did I miss this angle? What is it that Shane holds over Vince’s head? There have been plenty of times over the past 15 years that a McMahon-driven storyline has gaping holes in the plotlines that the audience is supposed to have cleared up before the end. Except it almost never does, and I wouldn’t bet on it here. Plus, the company just did the storyline of Stephanie and HHH potentially being out of power only 18 months ago at Survivor Series. They returned a month later. And so what if Shane wins? Does that mean Raw will be a different show? Judging from the past, it makes the likelihood of guys from Jackass sequels showing up as guests, which isn’t how you build top heels. 

    The segment alone where Shane actually acknowledged the WWE’s falling rating was straight out of 1999 WCW. And I mean, like, taken word for word from an Eric Bischoff interview during Nitro in March of that year.  

    Then there’s the main event segment. The idea on paper was: with John Cena out of the equation,  who do fans hate more than Reigns? HHH. Thus, Reigns can be cheered at the biggest show of the year. That idea isn’t working in practice. Reigns is the new John Cena. Females and kids cheer him. Everyone else boos him. That’s fine for the short-term. But in terms of getting fans emotionally invested in a character like they did Daniel Bryan, it’s not happening. HHH didn’t exactly help matters tonight, in that regard. 

  • Charles “Godfather” Wright riding the train right into the WWE Hall of Fame

    WWE officially announced Monday through Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden that Charles “The Godfather” Wright will join Sting in the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame class.

    The Freebirds, Jacqueline and announcer John Bradshaw Layfield are also expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks, while the Wright announcement is expected to be announced on Raw tonight.

    Wright, who started his career as the Soul Taker in Memphis, was a Monster Factory trainee after being a high school basketball star in San Jose, CA. Mark “Undertaker” Calaway, who had been friends with him before both were in WWE, arranged for him to meet with WWE officials. They liked his size at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds at the time which was a lot of what main events were based on in that era.

    He started as Papa Shango, doing a voodoo gimmick, feuding with Ultimate Warrior. The character got a big push and a lot of attention, but had a mixed reaction. He had a second run as Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine, modeled after Kimo, a UFC star in that era. He then changed to Kama Mustafa in the Nation of Domination before eventually finding the role he’s most remembered for as The Godfather, who started as a heel but became a strong show opening babyface, mostly for his ring entrance coming to the ring with distinctive music with his “ho’s”, and then mostly doing short matches.

    Between stints and after wrestling, Wright worked managing a strip club in Las Vegas.

  • WWE Fastlane 2016 live results: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

    Welcome to the F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of WWE FastLane! Tonight’s show takes place at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, which traditionally means bad news for The Miz.  The last stop before WWE Wrestlemania is here with the winner of tonight’s triple threat main event going to the big show to face WWE World Champion Triple H.   

    We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as Friday’s Bellator show, so you can leave a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle plus a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer.

    Your main card:

    • Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
    • WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
    • WWE Divas Champion Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
    • Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch vs Tamina Snuka/Naomi
    • Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
    • Big Show/Ryback/Kane vs. The Wyatts (Braun Strowman/Erick Rowan/Luke Harper)
    • WWE U.S. Champion Kalisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2/3 falls, kickoff show)

    Also, Edge and Christian will interview WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to help promo the debut of their new show after Fastlane.

    This is just the second ever Fastlane after last year’s debut show at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN. On that show, Reigns took on the recently retired Daniel Bryan in a no. 1 contender’s match. Also on that show. then-U.S. Champion Rusev downed John Cena by DQ, and Sting had a confrontation with HHH.

    KALISTO VS. ALBERTO DEL RIO FOR THE U.S. TITLE 2/3 FALLS

    Del Rio was disqualified in the first fall for hitting Kalisto with a chair as Kalisto went for a springboard move.  Del Rio won the second fall with a double foot stomp.  The third fall saw Del Rio miss the double foot stomp after doing it outside the ring.  Kalisto flipped Del Rio into the corner and schoolboyed him to take the third fall and retain.  This was a good match.

    SASHA BANKS & BECKY LYNCH VS. NAOMI & TAMINA

    Banks & Lynch won with a double submission with Banks with the bank statement on Tamina while Lynch used the disarmer on Naomi.  The first part of the match was pretty sloppy with Lynch getting beaten on but it got good when Banks was in.  Banks kicked out of the rear view and was also saved by Lynch when Tamina used a superkick.  The impression with the double win to me would be a three-way at Mania, but we’ll see.

    KEVIN OWENS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER FOR THE IC TITLE

    Good match.  The crowd was pretty hot with it being in Cleveland which is Ziggler’s home town.  Owens retained and they said they were on the road to KO Mania.  There was some commentary talking about how Owens never beat Ambrose to win the title.  The finish was clean with Ziggler missing  a superkick and Owens using the pop up power bomb.

    BIG SHOW & KANE & RYBACK VS.  BRAUN STROWMAN & ERICK ROWAN & LUKE HARPER

    Show & Kane & Ryback won when Ryback pinned Harper clean with the shellshock.  The match was better than it sounds as it was solid even when Strowman and Rowan were in.  Show pressed Harper overhead and three him out of the ring on Rowan & Strowman.  It wasn’t a complete press.  Show then gave Strowman a great looking spear on the floor.

    Roman Reigns did a promo with JoJo.  The fans booed him a lot.  He vowed to win and said a lot of things will change with he and Ambrose.  Ambrose showed up and was cheered heavily.  Ambrose said one of them will be on the road to WrestleMania and the other will have to hitchhike.  Amborse said he’s already booked his travel on Priceline.  Amborse said that Lesnar won’t win but one of us will.  

    CHARLOTTE VS. BRIE BELLA FOR THE DIVAS TITLE

    The crowd was super behind Brie because of the Daniel Bryan sympathy.  In fact, they were super into this late, more than anything on the show so far when she got a near fall with the X-factor, as well as near submissions with the Yes lock and a half crab.  The story is that Brie hurt her left leg doing a missile dropkick, and she couldn’t continue the half crab and Charlotte powered out and Brie caught her neck on the roipes.  Charlotte then won with the figure eight.   Again, better than you’d think.  Rough early but the last few minutes were quite good.

    Chris Jericho did an interview and said Styles’ future rides in his hands because if he loses review to him it’ll be his second straight loss and it could derail him.   He made the wins and losses aspect of this match feel important.  

    A.J. STYLES VS. CHRIS JERICHO

    As far as the layout and intensith at the finish, this was great.  The crowd was super into it with dueling chants early as well as into it big the last few minutes.  Some spots were scary, some in a good way and just being off on a couple of spots inlcuding a Jericho power bomb spot where he dropped Styles in a scary way.  Some good innovative spots including a Styles plancha into a dropkick by Jericho on the floor.  The finish saw Jericho kick out of the Styles clash, which was weird doing it this early, and then Styles put him in the calf crusher and Jericho.  Jericho did a tremendous job selling the submission before he tapped.

    After the match Jericho stared him down and teased attacking him.  Jericho pulled back his fist and AJ respohnded but then Jericho offered his hand. 

    Edge & Christian were out with The New Day.  Edge & Christian plugged their TV show and Edge said he wanted to get serious for a minute and referenced Lance Storm.  The crowd chanted “JNew Day Rocks.”  Edge said when you showed up at first I’ve never seem so much chocolate sound so vanilla.  Said they copied every Edge & Christian segment, replacing awesomeness with booty, sunglasses with unicorn horns.  Said we don’t rip on sports teams and then said LeBooty James will never win a title in this city.  They made fun of Kingston dropping his Jamaican accent.  Who is better than the New Day.  Made fun of Ascension, Usos, Dudleys and the League of Booty.  Seemed to push League of Nations vs. New Day.  Woods said say they’re trying to stir the pot but we already cooked the meal  Woods called the League of Nations are hot garbage.  Woods said we’ll say it to their face if they were here.  Then all four of them came out and we’ve got a new program.  The New Day left.  King Barrett then threatened Edge & Christian.  Sheamus called them hip replacement candidates and Justin Beiber candidates.  Del Rio said I kicked your ass an forced you to retire.  Edge joked he did more  in the last five years than Del Rio.  Edge & Christian left the ring and called them the International House of Dumbassees.  They plugged their show right after Fast Lane.  Edge & Christian had some great lines in this, but it went way too long.

    R-TRUTH VS. CURTIS AXEL

    The other three Outcasts were running around the ring.  Goldust came out.  Goldust threw Slater into the barricade and threw Adam Rose into the ring.  Rose being in the ring distracted R-Truth and Axel pinned him with a schoolboy with tights.  R-Truth was mad at Goldust when it was over.  It was over in 2:00.

    The Vince face on the award makes it seem like it’s an angle to show up Vince.

    BROCK LESNAR VS. ROMAN REIGNS VS. DEAN AMBROSE

    Crazy great match.  Lesnar destroyed both of them with German suplexes early until he made a mistake and then The Shield power bombed Lesnar through a table.  When Lesnar started to recover they put him through a second table.   The crowd was super into Ambrose vs. Reigns and they were great working together.  The crowd was completely behind Ambrose of course.  Reigns was booed heavily here and Lesnar was cheered the most of the three.  Reigns kicked out of Dirty Deeds.  Reigns had Ambrose up for the Samoan drop when Lesnar German suplexed both.  Ambrose landed right on Reigns’ head.  The finish saw Reigns hit the spear on Lesnar, but Lesnar, who was booked as a Super monster, grabbed a Kimura.  Reigns was about to tap but powered Lesnar up. Ambrose came in and nailed both guys with about five chair shots each.  Lesnar rolled out of the ring.  Reigns then hit the spear on Ambrose for the pin.

    The show ended with Reigns and HHH in the ring doing a staredown with the Mania sign in the background.

  • WWE Fast Lane 2016 Preview and Predictions

    The biggest news of the last few weeks seems to not really revolve around WWE Fast Lane, taking place this Sunday. Titus O’Neil being suspended, Daniel Bryan retiring and a whole bunch of other news seems to have put this show in the back burner. On paper, this looks like a fun card. But in terms of presentation and execution, it feels a bit lackluster. There’s big stipulations on the line, but it seems clear who will be taking on Triple H at WrestleMania. The February PPV is always aimed to kick off the buildup towards WrestleMania. Will this card do that, or will we simply see a bunch of matches that will eventually lead us towards that build in the last few weeks before WrestleMania?

    Staff roundtable for this month (along with their current Pickem stats!):

    Bryan Rose (New Japan reporter) (4 points)

    Alan O’Brien (WWE Main Event reporter) (5 points)

    PeachMachine (Violoncelloist / Kremenologist) (0 points)

    James Cox (WWE Superstars reporter and WWE DVD reviewer) (0 points)

    Kyle S. Johnson (Columnist) (6 points)

    Steve Khan (WWE Smackdown reporter) (3 points)

    United States Championship: Kallisto vs. Alberto del Rio (2 out of 3 Falls Match)

    Bryan Rose: This feels like a nothing feud. I think Alberto del Rio has won the last two weeks in generic tags, including pinning Kallisto. For Kallisto, it’s one of these pushes where they had something, but then because he’s small, “has to fight for every win”, which is WWE code for he loses a lot. When Kallisto initially won the title it was a really cool moment because it was something WWE almost never does, and gave Kallisto instant credibility as a new guy they can move towards. A month later, Kallisto is back to feeling like just another guy on the roster. And now that Sin Cara is back teaming with him, most likely this is the match where Alberto regains the championship.

    Winner: Alberto del Rio

    Alan O’Brien: This is the toughest match on the card to call, for me. With the feud already 50/50ed at two apiece, the only booking hint one can point to is the string of losses The Lucha Dragons have sustained at the hands of Del Rio’s League of Nations in recent weeks. Beating Kalisto with this regularity might ordinarily indicate that he’s keeping the strap, given they way they think; but he’s only taken the fall himself on a single occasion. As such, I’m taking a shot in the dark here really; Del Rio to win by nefarious means, potentially leading into the Wrestlemania rematch nobody wanted. Let’s face it, he’s got nothing going on at the minute, while Kalisto has the fallback of his newly returned tag team partner.

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    PeachMachine: I’m taking Kalisto. I just don’t think Al of the River will have what it takes to keep the young spry luchador at bay. Plus my guess is that they are disbanding the League of Nations, and hopefully changing it to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They’ve already got the Beast (Rusev), the Scientist (technically chemist if you look at Del Rio’s bod), and the Invisible Man (Sheamus).

    Winner: The man under Kalisto’s mask

    James Cox: Who knows what they are planning to do with any of these League of Nations guys. It’s been enough of a ‘push’ to make Wade Barrett give notice. Does that mean they change things up? Probably not. I think they need to blow this feud off and keep the title on Kalisto for a while. 2 out of 3 falls matches tend to be a bit pointless and this one feels the same: it means they can keep Del Rio strong by having Kalisto steal a win – the ideal way to book a champion, right?

    Winner: Kalisto

    Kyle S. Johnson: I had, honest to god, completely forgotten these two were having a match until I started writing my predictions. Kalisto has already started teaming with Sin Cara again, and he’s done almost nothing of note since getting the U.S. Championship back at the Rumble, so he’s already cooled off quite a bit from the buzz he built for himself at TLC. The fact that there is at least a fallback direction for Kalisto while Del Rio suddenly feels completely without purpose leads me to believe that Alberto is just going to win the belt back here and take it into Wrestlemania. Neither guy seems to be angled to do anything different moving forward, so I wouldn’t be shocked if they just wind up wrestling again in Dallas, perhaps in a in a luchas de apuestas.

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    Steve Khan: I thought Del Rio would retain at the Rumble since it seemed like the long-term plan was to have the belt on him. Kalisto’s win was likely just to stretch this out until Sin Cara got back. I’m not sure why Kalisto can’t be U.S. Champion and in a good tag-team at the same time, but apparently he can’t.

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    Diva’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Brie Bella

    Bryan Rose: I’ve actually kind of liked the build towards this. I mean yeah, alright, it’s basically piggybacking off the Daniel Bryan stuff from a week ago. But the interview segment they had on Raw was one of the better angles they’ve done in this division as of late, and it does give Brie Bella some babyface credibility at a time when she’s probably needed it the most since her character as a whole is largely inconsistent. I don’t see Bella winning since she has intentions on leaving, though they could do the swerve win to honor Daniel Bryan. I think they have plans for what’s going down at WrestleMania,  however, and I don’t think Brie fits into them.

    Winner: Charlotte

    Alan O’Brien: While it’s possible they may give Brie her pre-retirement “moment”, I think it’s far more likely that they will opt to stretch Charlotte’s reign ahead of her inevitable ‘Mania triple threat match against Sasha and Becky. Giving the strap to Brie for a cup of coffee doesn’t really do anyone any favours.

    Winner: Charlotte

    PeachMachine: I think Brie Bella will win. WWE wants to capitalize on the D. Bryan momentum. Even though Charlotte’s abs look similar to Lesnar’s, I like B. Danielson to take home the Labia title.

    Winner: Sweet D.

    James Cox: It makes sense to put the title on Brie here. They can take it off her before she leaves but her and Daniel Bryan to celebrate in the ring together seems like a good way to go. She has won it before, but they can still make it look like a big deal – especially with Nikki out injured and Bryan having just retired. If they wanted, I guess they could even build this up to a retirement match/angle at WrestleMania or this summer.

    Winner: Brie Bella

    Kyle S. Johnson: This has been an unusual month or so for the women of the WWE. All signs seemed to be pointing to building Sasha vs. Charlotte at Wrestlemania while possibly keeping Becky Lynch in the picture at the same time, and then the next thing you know, Becky and Sasha are buddying up and Charlotte is wrestling Brie on a one-week build. Giving a suddenly-face Brie a championship match out of nowhere after being beaten constantly for three months would be a mind-boggling (if not completely unsurprising) development were it not for the retirement of Daniel Bryan, but having Charlotte beat Brie and then move on to a three-way with Becky and Sasha at Mania seems like the logical end-game here.

    Winner: Charlotte

    Steve Khan: This worked out nicely as a quick program for Charlotte, who can successfully defend her belt while they set up Banks and/or Lynch for a Mania title match. There’s no reason for Brie to win. The match itself should be ok, and all the Yes chants should help.

    Winner: Charlotte

    AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

    Bryan Rose: This is going to be pretty good. Presentation wise I’ve kind of hated this feud as they keep calling him the “Rookie Redneck” and “the Pitbull” because he’s a) short and has to fight for everything he has (sound familiar?), b) from Georgia and c) has wrestled everywhere but WWE. Aside from all that, AJ has been good, not great in his WWE run so far. Maybe with more time and a PPV atmosphere, AJ and Styles can go out there and have a fantastic match. I don’t think Jericho needs the win in this series, so I’m giving it to Styles.

    Winner: AJ Styles

    Alan O’Brien: Possible show-stealer here, given how much of an upgrade the second match was on the disappointing first. The result is in no doubt, however; Styles victory all the way, with the added potential of a post-match Jericho heel turn.

    Winner: AJ Styles

    PeachMachine: Jericho. AJ is getting over too fast. WWE hates success and money.

    Winner: The fans (sniiiiiiffffffffffff)

    James Cox: I don’t really mind what they do, this and the main event make this show worth watching. I assume that they are going to spin this feud out to WrestleMania – and so they should. 50/50 booking ‘logic’ says that Jericho gets a win here. Styles should win at WrestleMania to keep the fans happy.

    Winner: Chris Jericho

    Kyle S. Johnson: This should be great. Say what you will about the build, with the ridiculous sub-branding of AJ Styles as a “pitbull” and a “redneck rookie” and the involvement of The Miz, but this could very well be the match of the show by a wide margin if given the right amount of time and the right approach. Beating AJ doesn’t make any sense here unless the plan is to have these two wrestle again at Wrestlemania, and while I would have no complaints if that would be the ultimate direction, it would still make more sense to have Styles win and Jericho make a full heel turn after the fact to lead into their next match. I expect these two to go in with the goal of having the best match on the show, and if that’s what they have in mind, there’s no reason to suspect they won’t deliver.

    Winner: AJ Styles

    Steve Khan: Whatever the plan is with Jericho, Styles has to win this match.

    Winner: AJ Styles

    Ryback, Kane and Big Show vs. The Wyatt Family (Erik Rowan, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman)

    Bryan Rose: I fell asleep during the main event from Raw. And from what I’ve heard, I didn’t miss much. This is just not very compelling in the least bit. It’s all designed for Vince McMahon’s latest pet project, Braun Strowman. He’s tall. That’s all you need to know about why Vince likes the guy. I’m sure he’ll develop into something good, as it does seem like he has a ton of potential and has a good look, but I just think out of everyone you signed, you pushed this guy because…he’s tall. Well, whatever. I don’t have any other thoughts on this match other than I hope it’s short because as a match, it looks like it has zero potential to be anything but plodding. Wyatts win.

    Winners: Wyatts

    Alan O’Brien: The only winner here is Vince, with these six hosses bound to “set a methodical pace”, as Good Ol’ JR used to say. I cannot possibly fathom anything other than a victory for Strowman et al. Only the Edge/Christian/New Day segment could possibly be more “bowling shoe ugly” than this one is sure to be.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    PeachMachine: Uh, BIG SHOW! He’s got the Knock Out Punch! It’s literally the best finisher ever. He’s super big and strong and hits you super hard and knocks people out. He should be all the champions.

    Winner: The Impressive Spectacle, Kane, and Growth Hormone or whatever his name is

    James Cox: So Big Show said on the Stone Cold Podcast that he reckoned he had another two years left. What about Kane? I figure he’s only back due to all the injuries on the roster. I could see him bowing out at WrestleMania, but I don’t know who against. Wyatts don’t need to win here because they’re going to interfere in the main event, but I’ll say that they do because otherwise there are too many babyface wins on this card.

    Winner: Wyatts

    Kyle S. Johnson: Big Show was pretty great on Austin’s podcast on Monday. This feud, on the other hand, has not been great. At all. There has been absolutely nothing done in the past four weeks to make me care about anyone involved in this match, apart perhaps from Ryback’s ridiculous sunset flip thing on Luke Harper last Monday. Kane, Show, and The Big Guy have no direction whatsoever leading into Wrestlemania, so having them go over here makes no sense. I presume that the Wyatts will come out looking strong so that Bray can ultimately lose to somebody (probably Brock) at Wrestlemania.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    Steve Khan: This show seems awfully predictable, and with Bray not in this match, I could see this as an opening for the good guys to win and surprise everyone. That would be pretty dumb though, and this is the time of year the company does fewer dumb things than usual.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

    Bryan Rose: On paper, this sounds great. Owens is a really special performer. Ziggler is great. But here is the problem: I’ve seen this. They’ve had two very long, pretty great matches on Raw in the last two weeks. Ziggler won both of those cleanly. Now, I understand all of that was build towards this match. But it doesn’t forego the fact that I’ve seen this. A lot of times. I’m sure it’ll be great, but the build towards this has been lackluster, and they haven’t given me much reason why I should care about a third outing when Ziggler’s beaten him twice. I say Owens retains, but who knows.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    Alan O’Brien: Ziggler has beaten Owens twice; that alone, in 50/50 land, is evidence enough that Owens will be getting one of his wins back on Sunday. Add to that the fact that he will have held the strap for less than a week and you’ve got yourself a lock.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    PeachMachine: I like Ziggler here. I feel like they put the belt on KO just because they want him to drop it to Zigs and do the double turn and the rematch at mania.

    Winner: The Z-man jr.

    James Cox: Kevin Owens to retain. Longer term, it would be good to see Owens and Styles go at it. Ziggler doesn’t need a title, but if they do give it to him, they ought to turn him heel. Owens at Ziggler at Mania would be fine but there are more exciting options. I hope they are creative with the finish; Owens’ PPV matches have always seemed to offer something fresh since he started with the company.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    Kyle S. Johnson: These two are probably going to have a really fun match, but having seen this so many times already in the span of a month kills a lot of the intrigue, even if those matches were also a lot of fun. This match certainly would have a bigger air about it if Ziggler was booked better, but he hasn’t been, so it doesn’t. Owens just won the belt on Monday, and he’s not going to lose it here. Here’s hoping that this feud ends with the quickness and the next weeks lead to Owens vs. Zayn at ‘Mania.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    Steve Khan: Owens should win and he probably will.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina

    Bryan Rose: I don’t really have much to say about this. Just seems like filler in between whatever the real Diva’s title match is going to be at WrestleMania. Sasha and Becky as the team that doesn’t always get along is so tired, especially after they’ve broken up all the teams they set up in the summer over the last few months. They get the win, maybe leading to a three way with Charlotte for the Diva’s title at WrestleMania. That’d be a nice story, to see the NXT women from last year headline their division at WrestleMania a year later.

    Winners: Lynch and Banks

    Alan O’Brien: This match surely only exists to build Sasha and Becky for their slated triple threat match at ‘Mania with champion, Charlotte. Anything other than a victory for the babyfaces would be a bafflingly strange outcome.

    Winner: Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks

    PeachMachine: Banks. I hate Lynch. She’s disgusting and terrible. Sasha’s entrance music is the greatest thing since declaring that you rule in 6th grade. “I’m on top of the playground! I rule!” Yes you do, Billy. You rule.

    Winner: Sasha Banks only

    James Cox: I think that Naomi and Tamina should win this to finally break up this on-again, off-again nonsense between Banks and Lynch. Banks ought to be involved at WrestleMania, in front of that kind of crowd she’ll be beloved.

    Winners: Naomi & Tamina

    Kyle S. Johnson: What can you say about this cobbled together placeholder match? Banks and Lynch should be primed for a three-way Divas Championship match at Wrestlemania, so I expect them to tease dissention as a team but ultimately get a convincing win to put them into position.

    Winners: Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch

    Steve Khan: A threeway at Mania seems likely, but even if it isn’t, Lynch and Banks should both go over strong. I can see a double submission spot as the finish (Lynch with the Disarmer, Sasha with the Bank Statement).

    Winner: Lynch & Banks

    Winner Goes to Headline WrestleMania: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

    Bryan Rose: This is supposed to be a match that causes a lot of intrigue, but for me it’s more along the lines of…well, this is predictable. Not that predictable is bad, because when WWE is unpredictable things could be worse. But I think I mostly know how this’ll go. Wyatt will come out and allow Reigns to get the win, probably over Ambrose. What they do with Ambrose after this will be the most interesting thing coming out of this match, as they’ve been teasing a turn between him and Reigns forever. It’ll be interesting to see if it actually happens. Even though the intrigue of the match isn’t completely there, I think if they go all out this could actually steal the show.  If that actually happens or not, we’ll have to wait and see! Roman wins, though, as HHH/Reigns is the only match I see headlining WrestleMania at this point.

    Winner: Roman Reigns

    Alan O’Brien: Gotta go with the predictable outcome here, I’m afraid. Dean is in the match to take the fall. Lesnar may also be further protected by finding himself taken out of the equation by the Wyatts. Roman’s pinfall victory over his “brother” will both propel him to ‘Mania and fuel Ambrose’s future heel turn. Finally, HHH’s receipt of the Legacy of Excellence Award on Monday night will serve to restart he and Roman’s oh-so-thrilling program. Yay. Looking forward to six weeks of the insecure nerd telling Reigns he should have a bone through his nose, before hitting him with the Pedigree and pinning him after lying around for five minutes. Or not, whatever.

    Winner: Roman Reigns

    PeachMachine: Trips comes to the ring, tosses Lesnar the belt, he drills Romanowski with it for the KO and the win, and Lesnar joins the Authority and is expected to lay down for the game at Mania. And he does with no qualms. HHH is champion forever. Winner: No one.

    James Cox: WWE generally do what is obvious every year en route to WrestleMania. No difference here. Wyatts take out Lesnar and Reigns beats Ambrose. I think the tease an Ambrose/Reigns turn but save it for later. Before the interruptions and post-match shenanigans, I think this will be a great match. All I’ll say, is thank god for Brock Lesnar.

    Winner: Roman Reigns

    Kyle S. Johnson: I have to give credit where it’s due in that WWE would be doing a great job of convincing the audience that Brock or Dean might win this match…were it not for the fact that Roman winning is the only possible outcome. Granted, that’s not a bad thing: the story demands Roman against Triple H at Wrestlemania, and so that’s what we’re going to get. What will be interesting is to see how this match is constructed, and how much it teases Ambrose potentially turning heel. Roman’s win will likely be set up by The Wyatts laying out Lesnar as he is primed to win (even if that completely disregards the endless months of Bray’s “anyone but you” mantra), and it makes sense for Dean to take the pin and use the loss as fuel for a vendetta against his former partner after he takes the title back at Wrestlemania.

    Winner: Roman Reigns

    Steve Khan: So this should be interesting. They’ve done a good job of focusing on the two guys not named Roman Reigns, leading us to think maybe he won’t win. But he probably will. They’ve changed plans before, but at this point they might as well go with Reigns and Triple H. If the Wyatts cost Lesnar the match, that will cheapen Reigns’ win, so they have to be careful. The Wyatts could abduct Lesnar near the end of the match, leaving it down to Reigns and Ambrose. Reigns can pin Ambrose again, leading to Ambrose’s turn down the line.

    Winner: Roman Reigns

  • NXT Asbury Park, NJ live results: Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs Finn Balor & Sami Zayn

    Submitted by Brandon Cornett

    Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss

    Good opening match. Back and forth at the start, with Asuka obviously being the unstoppable force in the ring. Bliss would roll out of the ring, however, and eventually catch Asuka. She then began to get the heat for the match. As Asuka’s comeback began, Alexa slapped her much like Diana Pirazzo did this past week on the show. The crowd responded with a “You F*cked Up Chant”. Asuka eventually hooked the Asuka Lock and won.

    Apollo Crews vs. Alex Riley

    Perhaps the match that the crowd was least interested in. It went on for a bit, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it did not do much to captures the attention of the crowd. Apollo defeated Riley with his Powerbomb finisher.

    Carmella vs. Peyton Royce

    Carmella came out to a huge ovation from the crowd. As she began her usual mic entrance, she made to correct herself from “the princess of Staten Island” to “the princess of New Jersey”. Peyton Royce came out with her flower gimmick, and as soon as the match started she would hit a move and then sniff the flower.  This happened a couple of times before the ref took away the flower and put it in the corner. This led to Carmella eventually taking the flower and taunting Peyton with it. Carmella won with her headscissors submission.

    Enzo & Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillians

    Biggest pop of the night definitely went to Enzo and Big Cass. These guys are massively over in both NY and NJ, and they should definitely be brought to the main roster in front of one of those crowds. The match was any other Enzo and Big Cass match. Enzo took most of the match, tagged in Cass, and then pinned Aiden with the Rocket launcher.

    Austin Aries vs. Elias Sampson

    Sampson came out to perform a song for the crowd in Asbury about how New Jersey sucked. The hatred that fans possess for Sampson is similar to the way they hate Eva Marie. After a couple of minutes, Austin Aries name appeared on the set as his music hit. The crowd went nuts for Aries. The match was definitely Sampson’s best. Aries had many spots where he could show off his athleticism and ultimately won the match using his discus elbow smash.

    NXT Champion Bayley vs. Eva Marie

    Eva came out first, obviously to very heavy boos. A lot of “you can’t wrestle” chants before the match even started. Bayley came out to another huge reaction from this crowd. This match was a lot better than I expected, which could be credited to Bayley or Eva simply getting better. There were no spots that seemed obviously botched, and it seemed very well thought-out. Bayley hit a Bayley-to-belly out of nowhere for the win.

    Samoa Joe & Baron Corbin vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor & Sami Zayn

    Definitely the best match of the night, which is no shock given the talent involved. A lot of the match involved the heels distracting the ref so the other heel could cheat. Sami had a great spot where the heels were both outside of the ring and he was about to dive onto them, but they both dove out of the way so Sami did a flip back into the center of the ring. The crowd was very happy that Finn was there and wrestling. The finish of the match was interesting. Finn does a blind tag as Sami helluva kicks Corbin (non-legal man) while he’s on the apron. Sami then gives another helluva kick to Joe and Finn gives him the Bloody Sunday for the pin.

    The match was followed by a cute segment where Sami put on Finn’s jacket and acted like him. Then Finn put on Sami’s hoodie and hat. Finn made a subtle dig at Sami by saying in order to dress like him he would need the NXT Championship.

  • WWE Youngstown, NY live results: Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus streetfight

    By Matthew Houser

    Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler

    Slow paced for much of first half picked up in second half after close to 20 min of ring time.  Ziggler wins via pin after hitting zig zag.

    WWE Tag Champions The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Usos.

    The New Day retains via pin after Dudleyz hit 3D on an Uso and clear Dudleyz of the ring. Pretty solid 11+ min match.

    Rusev w/Lana vs. Neville

    Lana cuts pre-match promo of basically nothing. Nothing special here. Rusev wins via submission with the accolade after 9 mins.

    The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt ringside) vs. Big Show, Ryback, & Kane 

    Big Show gets big pop after a hot tag. Ryback, Kane, and Big Show win via pin after Big Show choke slam on Erick Rowan. Luke Harper walked off to back right before end of match. Possible injury? Could be nothing.

    Team B.A.D. vs. Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks with special guest referee Alicia Fox

    Sasha and Becky win via submission after Naomi taps out to banks statement. Solid 8 min match. Good ring work from Sasha here.

    I-C Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose

    Ambrose gets biggest pop of night so far. Ambrose wins by DQ after chair shot after 11 mins. Owens retains. Owens cuts promo about “losers from Ohio” and Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds to send Owens packing.

    Street fight: Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns

    Big pop for Reigns though not sure it beat out Ambrose (because Ambrose from Ohio possibly?). Kendo stick, chair, and tables involved. Each man goes through table. Reigns wins via pin after spearing Sheamus through table. Good 23+ min
    match. 

  • One Year Later: WWE Fastlane 2015 – Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns

    With the second-ever WWE Fastlane Sunday night, what better time to look at the state of WWE one year ago than by watching last year’s show? This is a read-a-long to be enjoyed while watching said WWE PPV on the WWE Network…or the DVD if you’re still buying those. 

    It’s interesting to look and see the positioning of guys on the card one year ago. As you may recall, the main event was a match between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. It’s sad to think that the recently retired Bryan was at the top of his game just a year ago — positioned as the guy to get Reigns over for his main event at Wrestlemania 31. 

    Let’s go back to February 22nd at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN, and look at the main talking points from each match.

    The Authority (Seth Rollins/Kane/Big Show) w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury vs. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback

    • What a team of babyfaces. The reaction to Rowan was non-existent.
    • This was a fine match, but nothing special because nobody cares about anyone in this mix. Dolph got the mild tag from Ryback, and went wild until Big Show KO’d Ziggler and Kane pinned him.
    • Show’s punch was replayed in slow motion which showed how obviously Ziggler jumped into it. Hilarious.
    • Seth hit the curb stomp on Zig post match to get their heat back, until Randy Orton ran in and cleaned house. RKOs out of everywhere!

    Stardust vs. Goldust

    • Finally the match between the Rhodes brothers nobody asked for!
    • Dusty was shown giving Goldust a pep talk before the match which was pretty cool.
    • Remember Cody’s new body from five years ago? He wrestled this match shirtless. My guess is that it was shortly after this match where big brother grabbed little brother’s ear and revealed to him the secret of longevity in wrestling: the full body suit. “It’s great, Cody. You never have to work out or tan or eat good. Sure you have to scrape paint flakes out of your eyes every morning, but look at me! I got Terri Runnels with this physique!”
    • This had a weird ending. Gold rolled up Star and the referee counted one, two, and then didn’t hit the mat for the three, but Star’s shoulders were definitely down for three and so the ref hopped up and said it was a three count and the match was over. I think the storyline was that the ref got paid off by Dusty to end the match early so that his sons would not get hurt. That, or they blew the finish.
    • Cody beat down Dustin after the match in front of the Dream.

    WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and James) w/ Naomi vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro w/ Natalya

    • Facts. Cats. Those are the words on Kidd’s kick pads, because he likes cats AND drops facts. What a gimmick.
    • Cesaro and Kidd were so great. What awful luck for both of these guys lately. Get well soon!
    • Cesaro did a one-legged swing with an Uso. That is freaky impressive.
    • Kidd hooked in the Sharpshooter and got superkicked. Jimmy got the visual fall on Kidd as the action spilled outside. This match is getting good.
    • Then, just like that, it’s over. Kidd hits an Uso with a spinning fisherman buster and gets the pin, and the belts. Your new champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro!
    • Kidd’s tan was Olympic level.

    HHH and Sting Face-to-Face

    • Remember this? Me neither. Boy, Sting dropped off the radar fast.
    • HHH cut a mighty promo, especially blowhardy today.
    • Sting came out and got face-to-face with The Game
    • HHH went for the cheap shot and it broke down into a brawl, leading to a sledgehammer vs. baseball bat standoff. The baseball bat won, for now.

    WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella w/ Brie vs. Paige

    • Paige’s outfit is completely black here. Reebok probably designed it. I like the addition of the blue these days though.
    • Is the Divas Revolution done? Is everyone good and revolted? I haven’t heard that used in a while. Good thing too. WWE nomenclature is infuriating.
    • The crowd was absolutely dead for this match, and remember, this is mid Nikki’s record-breaking title reign.
    • Nikki won with a roll up and a handful of tights.

    WWE I-C Champion Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose

    • Barrett’s music is pretty cool. The League of Nations’ music suuuuuuuuuucks.
    • Dean Ambrose has the best gimmick. He gets to just show up and simply take off his shirt and he’s ready to wrestle. You know he wears those jeans everywhere, and he’s definitely a guy who really wears wife beater t-shirts. I’m wearing one now. It’s quite comfy. It’s pink too. #PinkLivesMatter #TeamViggity
    • Barrett is a good wrestler. He’s another guy who is really good but has had just terrible luck with injuries right when he was about to get pushed, along with Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, etc.
    • Ambrose got DQ’d for using the belt. He laid Barrett out, got caught, got DQ’d, then walked off with the belt anyway. Ha!

    Unannounced, the Druids enter the arena. Then the gong hits. I think Glacier is making his debut! No. It’s a casket. Maybe Glacier is in the casket. Nope. It’s Bray Wyatt. Boooooooh.

    WWE US Champion Rusev w/ Lana vs. John Cena

    • Rusev just whipped up on old Johnny boy for a while.
    • Rusev should have shoes on, specifically the Iron Shiek’s shoes. That would be awesome. (I know they are different countries but who cares?)
    • People didn’t make a big enough deal about Cena getting away from jorts. That topic needed its own Observer issue. Why did he do it? I predict that within the next five years, jean shorts will come back in style.
    • They did the yay/boo spot. Rusev needs to start doing the ten punches in the corner spot and count in Russian. It would be amazing if he could get the fans to actually learn to count to ten in Russian.
    • Rusev and Cena exchange some submissions. Good action.
    • This was when Rusev was undefeated with like six losses on his record.
    • Rusev won by technical submission as Cena was passed out in the Accolade so lil Naitch rang the bell.
    • Cena did this hokey selling post match that got booed. Ha!

    Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan to determine the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

    • They had a dang good match.
    • I’m still not sure why Reigns is allowed to wear body armor. That seems like cheating.
    • I love JBL: “Don’t forget, I know stuff about old boxing.”
    • It’s a shame Bryan never did the “I’ve got til FIVE!” spot in WWE. I’ll bet Vince nixed that.
    • Huge belly to back off the top by Bryan into the Yes lock!
    • Both guys took idiotic bumps outside the ring for a long double down.
    • I can’t help but believe the crowd is going to be unhappy with this finish.
    • Bryan with the running knee!
    • I missed some of the match researching gambling odds on the Oscars.
    • Does anyone get a redder face than Mike Chioda?
    • Bryan did the Brie Mode kicks (wink).
    • Reigns hit a monster spear for the clean pin.
    • Bryan does the rude put over, getting in Reigns’ face and telling him he’d better kick his (Brock’s) buns.

    Summary:

    I really don’t like the Fastlane name. It was much better when Elimination Chamber was the February show. I know the argument against doing a gimmick show for the sake of the gimmick, but the Elimination Chamber was always a draw, and Fastlane sounds like some group think garbage that’s been polished over to make it appealing to everyone. That’s a mistake. The more polished something feels, the less real it feels, and thus we find it phony. I hope WWE takes notice of the Daniel Bryan retirement speech and realizes that fans connect to realness, but they probably won’t. 

  • Daily Update: BJ Penn accused of sexual assault, Bellator, LU

    The weekend schedule

    There is a big weekend upcoming with Bellator’s biggest show so far this year tomorrow night, WWE’s Fast Lane show, a Sunday live UFC show, two ROH shows in Japan, NXT full touring and WSOF.

    Bryan and I will be posting the first of two shows tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will cover Bellator and the first ROH of the weekend in Japan.  The Sunday Wrestling Observer Radio we will cover FastLane, the second ROH in Japan and UFC.  We’ll also be doing shows next weekend on both Friday & Saturday covering the ROH PPV from Las Vegas and the UFC Fight Pass from London.

    We’re looking for reports on tonight’s NXT shows in Upper Darby, PA and Crystal River, FL at Dave Meltzer

    SMACKDOWN TONIGHT ON USA NETWORK AT 10 P.M.

    Lucha Dragons & Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev & Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus

    Sasha Banks vs. Tamina

    Chris Jericho vs. The Miz

    Charlotte vs. Natalya non-title

    Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Dudleys

    ROH ON NEW JAPAN WORLD LIVE TONIGHT AT 4:30 A.M. EASTERN AND 1:30 A.M. PACIFIC TIME

    Jushin Liger & Matt Sydal vs. Dalton Castle & Ryusuke Taguchi

    Gedo vs. Delirious

    Kushida vs. Frankie Kazarian

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Tomoaki Honma & Moose vs. Bad Luck Fale & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall

    Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega

    Mark & Jay Briscoe vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson

    Jay Lethal & Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi

    Roderick Strong vs. Tomohiro Ishii for ROH TV title

    If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!

    Figure Four Weekly 2/8/2016 Kevin “Mordecai” Thorn voices issues with WWE Network royalties, more
    Former WWE Superstar Kevin Thorn voices his frustrations with the amount of money WWE pays in royalties for the WWE Network, plus more.

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter

    The Latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Feb 22, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE 2015 Financial Report, Kevin Randleman passes

    The 2015 business of WWE is the lead in a  packed issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.  We go through the keys to the current business: biggest revenue streams, why the stock was down, compare with the past, the truth about television ratings, house show business, social media effect, Vince McMahon talks ratings, what ratings mean right now and in the future, network numbers, both good and bad signs regarding those numbers, why numbers declined and will go up soon and what kind of seasonal gain can be expected.

    The career of Kevin Randleman, his most famous matches, comments from Bas Rutten, comments he made about first getting into fighting, plus his career as a pro and college wrestler.

    We also have a piece looking at matches that in one night changed promotions or made superstars, and how that fits in with this past week’s Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega match.  A full rundown of the New Beginnings in Osaka and New Beginning in Niigata shows, with match-by-match coverage, story behind both shows, star ratings and poll results.  We also look at the big shows coming up for New Japan.

    Lots more about Daniel Bryan, details on his medical issues, lots of things not really put into perspective, Brie Bella;s retirement, Wade Barrett situation, Titus O’Neil suspension and fine, FastLane notes, the weirdness of the Fast Lane main event as it pertains to the company’s future, WWE injury updates, more on John Cena’s injuries, Cesaro talks his own injury and Bryan retirement, WWE Network notes, notes on wrestlers who received tryouts last week, Jericho vs. Styles notes, WWE star opening up a wrestling themed restaurant, plus highlights of all the NXT and WWE house shows over the past week and business notes.

    WWE’s new Global Cruiserweight series concept, how the tournament will work, the schedule, the scouting of participants and more.

    Bellator’s deal with Rampage Jackson and details of how it happened.

    PLUS MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE FOR A FULL WRESTLING OBSERVER PREVIEW

    You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer

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    If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.

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    Click here for the most requested Wrestling Observer back issues.

    Check out the latest Online Wrestling Observer BACK ISSUE: Jan 11, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Finger Poke of Doom, Awards results, Sam Muchnick passes away
    Details on World Title changes in 3 promotions including the Finger Poke of Doom, full results of the Observer Awards, plus tons more.

    THURSDAY UPDATE

    Rumors started up yesterday about BJ Penn being accused of sexual assault that occured last August on the big island of Hawaii.  UFC has put a hold on Penn’s expected comeback to investigate the allegations.

    Bellator and Spike TV announced the launch of a new promotion, Bellator kickboxing that will air on a regular basis and will be the sister promotion to Bellator MMA.  Scott Coker will be running both groups.  The promotion debuts on 4/16 for a show in Torino Italy with Melvin Manhoef vs. Alexandru Negrea and Karim Ghaji defending his 165 pound weight class title against Mustapha Haida, the 158 pound champion.  It will be a combination MMA & Kickboxing show.  The MMA show will air live at 3 p.m. an the kickboxing will air on tape in prime time at 9 p.m. 

    Lucha Underground set its record once again last night with 152,000 viewers for the 8 p.m. show on the El Rey Network.  That’s a record for the show on El Rey, although it has drawn more on Unimas most weeks.

    TNA Impact on Tuesday night did 273,000 viewers for the 9 p.m. airing and 87,000 for the midnight airing.  The Tuesday number was about the same as the week before, while the midnight number is down from 112,000.  Combined, it was the fewest viewers for Impact since the first first-run episode on Pop TV.

    Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling Amped show has its first announced TV deal, in New Zealand, starting in March.

    WWE

    • An interview with Paul Levesque on the upcoming cruiserweight network show
    • Bomani Jones of ESPN was critical of Steve Austin using the term “shucking and jiving” as a term in reference to Titus O’Neil in the Vince McMahon incident on his podcast, saying on Twitter:  “When you try to say something wasn’t racist, but you say `shucking and jiving,’ that’s unfortunate.”
    • A story on the WWE website redesign.
    • A story on The New Day
    • Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson, Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Sami Zayn are all scheduled for the 3/12 show in Toronto which is the live network special.  Whether they’ll be on the TV special isn’t clear.
    • Charlotte will be judging a “Whooo” contest on Saturday at the Lake Erie Monsters hockey game.
    • Zack Ryder does a video workout for Newsday
    • Tickets for Raw on 4/11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles are available in a pre-sale that lasts until 10 p.m. tomorrow night using the code LAVIP
    • The stock was down 23 cents per share today, closing at $15.24
    • ProWrestlingTees A.J. Styles merchandise will no longer be on sale after tomorrow.
    • The Edge & Christian Show that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness debuts right after Fast Lane on Sunday.  

    UFC/MMA

    • The Los Angeles Times has a story today on Royce Gracie
    • Holly Holm talks Ronda Rousey’s comments on suicide
    • Spike TV has a special on the life of Kimbo Slice tomorrow night from 7:30 to 9 p.m. called “Kimbo Slice:  The Truth.”   
    • World Series of Fighting runs a live show on Saturday night at the Next Level Sports Complex in Orange County at 9 p.m. on NBC Sports with Marlon Moraes (15-4-1) vs. Joseph Barajas (12-1) for the bantamweight title.
    • The M-1 Challenge group has moved its 3/4 show in St. Petersburg, Russia to 4/8 due to building renovations.  They have a show tomorrow night in Moscow headlined by former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko (51-9) facing Vyacheslav Vasielevsky (27-3) and Alexander Volkov (24-6) vs. Denis Smoldaraev (11-1).

    MISCELLANEOUS

    • The BBC has a story on Drew Galloway being an inspiration to going after your dreams
    • Rolling Stone has a story on Billy Corgan and his job in TNA
    • Rob Van Dam has been added to the House of Hardcore shows on 4/15 in Queens, NY and 4/16 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
    • Updated list for the Icons of Pro Wrestling convention on 4/16 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena before the House of Hardcore show is:  Shawn Michaels, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, Lex Luger, Roadkill, Bull Dempsey, Sean Waltman, So Cal Val, Road Warrior Animal, Ricky Steamboat, Stan Hansen, Ron Bass, Abyss, Billy Gunn, Bill Apter, Justin Credible, Brian Cage, Cliff Compton, Kevin Thorne, Maven, Jeannie Clark, Curt Hawkins, Amber Gallows, Danny Cage, Blue Meanie, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Sabu, Melissa Coates, Little Guido, Marty Jannetty, Rhino, Sami Callihan and Mil Mascaras.
    • Believe it or not this song, a tribute to The Crusher, got a lot of air play in the 60s and 70s on the Dr Demento type of shows
    • A story on an Australian pro wrestling movie featuring ex-WWE stars
    • Pro wrestler Devon Nicholson, a wrestling alternate for the Canadian Olympic team, wants to face Roy Jones Jr. in that fan boxing match
    • Some comedy video of Brock Lesnar and Hillary Clinton
    • A story on the news in Chattanooga about a cancer victim who wants to meet Dwayne Johnson
    • ECWA on Saturday night in New Castle, DE at the United Asbury Methodist Church with Deonna Purrazzo vs. Miranda Vionette for their women’s title.
    • United Wrestling Coalition on 3/12 in Wrightstown, NJ at Kelly’s Bar and Banquet Hall for their 20th anniversary show, bring back Don Montoya and Rick Silver.
    • Mark Nulty’s visitation will be Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Roberts Funeral Home East Chapel at 2739 SE Maricamp Rd. in Ocala, FL, and the funeral will be Sunday at the Church of Hope at 3233 SE Maricamp Rd.  In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations in the anem of Evan Nulty at Gateway Bank. 
    • Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 3/5 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds headlined by Flash Flanagan vs. Vic the Bruiser & Tommy Danger in a handicap match.
    • Bull James, formerly Bull Dempsey, headlines for Grand Slam Wrestling on 3/12 in Moosic, PA at the Moosic Youth Center.
    • Superkick’d Pro Wrestling on 3/11 in Toronto at the Great Hall.
    • CWF on 4/16 in St. Catherines, ONT at the Haig Bowl Arena.
    • Luchaproof on 4/17 in Toronto at The Rockpile.
    • Kurt Angle will be the guest referee for the Battlarts Academy show on 4/10 in Mississauaga, ONT.  He’ll ref the main event of Tyler Tirva vs. Stone Rockwell vs. Randy Reigns vs. RJ City in an elimination match.
    • Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling on 3/12 in Vancouver, BC has the 2016 Pacific Cup tournament with Alex Plexis, Bishop, Artemis Spencer, Phantasmo, Billy Suede, Nelson Creed, Nicole Matthews, Tony Baroni, Pete Powers, Ethan HD and Air Adonis participating.
    • Ignite Wrestling on 2/27 in Fort Pierce, FL.
    • Gouge Wrestling on Sunday in Raleigh from Noon to 5 p.m. at the CAM Raleigh with free admission to a Sunday family event.
    • National Fighting Championships on 2/27 at Center Stage in Atlanta for its 82nd show. 

    ON THIS DAY IN WORLD PRO WRESTLING HISTORY: War to Settle the Score; Superstar vs. Bruno steel cage match

  • Feb 22, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE 2015 Financial Report, Kevin Randleman passes

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  • Wrestling Weekly: WWE Cruiserweight Tourney, Danny Hodge, Undertaker at Mania

    The major topic of conversation today is the upcoming Global Cruiserweight Tournament; the potential opportunity it represents for talent, what it means (if anything) in terms of WWE’s feelings about cruiserweights in general, and what you need to be prepared if you’re a cruiserweight who sees this as your big opportunity to get on the WWE radar screen.  Les and Vic segue into discussing being a junior heavyweight in the territory era (25:02) and one of the greats regardless of weight class; the one and only Danny Hodge.  From there, we’ll talk the latest regarding Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponent (43:23) and what could be the end of Wade Barrett (and many missed opportunities) in WWE (51:44). 

    Right click save