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Tag: WWE

  • WWE RAW live results: Roman Reigns beats Sheamus for WWE title, Vince returns

    The Big Takeaway: 

    Roman Reigns is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion on a program that featured the return of Vince McMahon in an on-screen role for the first time in over a year. Reings got a very positive response all night and defeated Sheamus in a match he had to win, or else get fired. 

    Show Recap: 

    Stephanie McMahon started the show. Michael Cole announced that HHH was in a hospital nursing injuries. It sounded like the crowd noise was artificial,  even though the show was live. Which shows how much faith the fans in Philadelphia had in regards to cheering the people the company wants cheered. She said Roman Reigns had attacked not only HHH, but the COO and his boss.

    Reigns came out. There was a small “Thank you, Roman” chant. Reigns said he was a father and today was his daughter’s birthday. But he didn’t feel bad at all about whipping HHH’s ass. They teased Roman was going to get fired. Stephanie brought up Reigns losing another chance at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, called him a failure and a disgrace. Reigns said Stephanie was the disgrace, so was HHH and their whole family. 

    Stephanie slapped him repeatedly. She said she wasn’t going to fire Reigns because her husband asked her not to. She said someone wanted to see Reigns tonight, and that was her father. So Vince McMahon makes his way back to TV tonight.

    You might be reading this and wondering since Stephanie slapped Reigns about eight times, how did Reigns get his comeback? The answer is there was none. At this point, I’m wondering who Stephanie is going to wrestle when she headlines WrestleMania because she’s more protected than Reigns is. I can’t believe they castrated him like that after last night. 

    Dean Ambrose (C) and Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest in a nontitle match (12:20)

    Kevin Owens came out and attacked Dolph Ziggler, then gave Dean Ambrose a Pop-Up Power Bomb. Owens gave Ambrose another Pop-Up Powerbomb. When Ziggler went for a comeback, Owens gave him a Pop-Up Powerbomb, as well. They were in the midst of a good match where Ziggler gave Ambrose a Superkick, but Ambrose bounced off the ropes and gave Ziggler a clothesline. Looks like a tease of a three-way match down the line. 

    Owens was interviewed by Jo Jo backstage. He was almost in a catatonic state and vowed to put Ambrose in an actual asylum until he gets his Intercontiental Championship back. 

    The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno were backstage. They challenged the Wyatt Family to a match tonight in a rally around the ECW banner interview to get the natural Philadelphia response. 

    Bo Dallas and R-Truth went to a no contest (3:25) 

    Just went you thought an episode of WWE Superstars had broken out, the whole matchup was a backdrop to Vince McMahon coming into the building.They got a couple of spots into the match when Vince showed up in a limo. Stephanie wanted to join Vince, but he insisted she go back to Connecticut and nurse HHH back to health. 

    Vince then did the routine he did years ago when he stopped a house show match with Taijiri and Rhyno in progress, as he walked into the ring and ordered R-Truth and Bo Dallas out. Vince came out and said that Reigns had to be cowering backstage in fear of what Vince was going to say to him. After a commercial where Vince sat in a chair at ringside long enough to let the second hour arrive, he ordered Reigns to come out. 

    Vince ordered Reigns to apologize. Reigns just shook his head. Then Vince ordered Reigns to get down on his hands and knees to apologize. Nothing doing. Vince said there was a time where he would beat an apology out of him.  When Reigns just smirked at him, Vince teased squaring off with him. He took off his coat. 

    Then Sheamus stepped out and said he wanted to beat an apology out of Reigns himself. He wanted to challenge Reigns tonight. Sheamus talked about putting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Then we got the typical McMahon swerve where Vince asked the crowd if they wanted the match, then shot them down. Reigns asked why not, and siad Vince once had big grapefruits, but now they’ve become shriveled up prunes now. He said McMahon was 70 years old and time was passing him by. 

    McMahon was so incensed, he granted Reigns the match. But if Reigns didn’t win the title tonight, he was fired. Then Vince kicked Reigns in the balls and walked off. It really says something about the power of your champion when the crowd was more fired up for the tease of a McMahon-Reigns match than another bout with Reigns. The stipulation practically guarantees a title switch tonight. 

    Alberto Del Rio and Rusev defeated Jack Swagger and Ryback (6:30)

    Rusev and Alberto Del Rio each hit separate thrust kicks on Jack Swagger and Rusev scored the pin. Match came and went. Swagger gets a reaction for someone who has barely been on TV over the past year. 

    We got our third installment of the Rosebush. Adam Rose talked about Charlotte cheating against Paige to win at TLC, and how Becky Lynch was worried Charlotte was becoming too much like her father. Rose told Lynch not to worry because Charlotte would still need 16 world titles, 4 marriages, 4 divorces and multiple fortunes to win and lose to become too much like her father. Well, Charlotte is following in her father’s footsteps in several of those areas, too. 

    Want worse? The Rosebush preempted Tyler Breeze’s ring entrance. I know I’m becoming a broken record regarding not showing Bree’e entrance, it show some proper priorities for the love of God. 

    Neville defeated Tyler Breeze (4:56) 

    The Miz came out and started shouting instructions to Neville. Then Miz started leading cheers for Neville in his usual obnoxious way, which got Summer Rae mad at him. After a Superkick, Neville won with the Red Arrow. Neville started rolling his eyes at Miz when he started taking credit for Neville’s win. WCW’s booking committee would be proud of how quickly the WWE has made Breeze a midcarder in record time. 

    Miz talked with Neville backstage. Miz said he could pull enough strings to get Neville cast in the 8th Star Wars movie. But in exchange, Miz wanted Neville’s British accent because he wanted to be the next James Bone. Miz proclaimed he could make Neville into the next Daniel Bryan. Neville warned Miz that if he ever tried what he pulled tonight again, he would stick a light saber where the sun doesn’t shine. But didn’t Neville win? 

    The Wyatt Family did an interview backstage. Luke Harper said they were the way into the see of woe. Eric Rowan said they were the way into eternal pain. Braun Strowman said they were the way to go among the lost. Bray Wyatt said they were the Angels of the dirt, and they would bury Team Extreme in the same city they were born. 

    The Wyatt Family defeated Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz in an Extreme Rules match (15:29)

    A wild brawl as you would expect. The unsung hero was Luke Harper, who channeled his inner-Dreamer by taking lots of crazy bumps. That included a Superplex off the top rope onto a chair. Later, Dreamer gave Harper a Death Valley Driver off the ramp through two tables. Strowman took his monthly push into the announcer’s table fall. The Dudleyz hit Harper with the 3-D, which everyone thought was the finish. They brawled all over the arena. Wyatt pulled Ray out of the ring. It ended when Rowan gave Rhyno a splash through the table for the pin. Very entertaining because it was something different from what we usually get on Raw, as opposed to Impact, where they had four matches a month like this one. 

    The New Day came out in a somber tone showing still-frame highlights from last night’s TLC match with Lucha Dragons and the Usos. Kofi Kingston talked about how he felt like he got hit with a Mack Truck. Big E. Says matches like last night’s change your perspective, so he called out the Usos. New Day acted like they wanted to bury the hatchet and call a truce. Big E. Wanted Lucha Dragons to join them. Kofi pinned over Sin Cara and said the Dragons were his son’s favorite tag team. 

    Kalisto brought up Xavier Woods throwing his trombone against his back. Woods admitted it was brash but he apologized. Jey Uso said he heard a better apology from his 3-year-old. Woods said they all took the tag team division to the next level, and the match was for the fans. The New Day wanted to shake hands, and they all shook hands. After the Usos and Dragons left, the New Day fell into their standard routine screaming at the top of their lungs how they were the tag team champions, which included Woods doing a reverse worm. Dragons and Usos ran back in the ring and cleared the ring of the New Day. 

    Lynch and Charlotte were backstage laughing with Flair. What did I miss here? 

    Charlotte and Becky Lynch defeated Alicia Fox and Brie Bella via submission (3:24)

    Charlotte has apparently stolen Stephanie’s gimmick of turning babyface and heel over 24-hour periods. Finish was Flair tripping Alicia Fox, which Lynch didn’t see. Lynch got the submission on Fox with the Disarm-Her. Lynch acted like everything was great and they had won fairly, not realizing how they won.

    Titus O’Neal and Darren Young were trying to hawk merchandise from WWE.Com, which are 25% off. Titus could have a future as a Michael Strahan-type host after his wrestling days are over. 

    Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus (C) to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (16:54)

    These last two night have done wonders for Regins’ career. The same Philly fans that booed him out of the building in January for winning the Royal Rumble went nuts for this title switch. It was also well booked. Vince was at ringside, living and dying with every near fall. At around the 11:00 mark, Reigns hit a head butt that busted him up hardway. But it came right at the finishing sequence, so they couldn’t stop it or else it would have killed the momentum. Reigns hit a spear, it Vince pulled the referee out of the ring. Sheamus came back to hit White Noise, but Reigns kicked out. 

    Vince talked to the referee on the apron. As he did so, Del Rio and Rusev ran out to attack Reigns, who responded by giving them both Superman Punches, and then he hit Vince with a Superman Punch. Vince sold it like he was dead. He didn’t move for the rest of the show. Sheamus responded by hitting the Brogue Kick, but Reigns kicked out. Sheamus set up for another Brogue Kick, but Reigns hit the spear and the pin for the title switch. 

    It was a good world title celebration with Regins dumping Vince’s body off the apron. No boos at all for Reigns as he posed with a big smile on his face. You could almost feel the redemption inside him in a year where’s he come full circle. 

    SUMMARY: 

    These are the nights where you get so frustrated with WWE booking because this show was booked so well, you wonder why they can’t put shows together like this more often. They pressed the right buttons with Reigns over the last two nights, figuring the best way to win over the fan base is to beat up two of its biggest targets: Vince and HHH. Plus, it was wise to get the belt to Reigns on this night, because the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania are crowds most likely to hijack shows and boo Reigns. A win all around and a good show. 

  • WOL 12/14: Calm after the Roman Reigns Storm, Ray Rowe talks ROH Final Battle!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with our first show of the week talking Raw tonight, TLC, UFC, the weekend news and more! Plus, Ray Rowe of ROH shows up to talk WAR MACHINE, this weekend’s ROH Final Battle PPV and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WO 12/13: WWE TLC, Mauro Ranallo, UFC Brazil rating, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA: WWE TLC from Sunday night, the build to Raw and Royal Rumble, Mauro Ranallo to Smackdown, AJ Styles update, TNA and DA, UFC rating in Brazil will blow your mind, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • B&V 12/13: WWE TLC post-game show

    The Bryan & Vinny Show returns tonight with our WWE TLC post-game show! I rarely do this, but WARNING — this show contains salty language and is definitely NSFW. A FUN SHOW AS ALWAYS SO CHECK IT OUT~!

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  • WWE hires Mauro Ranallo for Smackdown announcing role & more

    Photo: MauroRanallo.com

    As WWE was airing their final big event of the year with TLC, SI.com media critic and wrestling fan Richard Deitsch broke the news that longtime boxing, MMA, and New Japan Pro Wrestling play-by-play man Mauro Ranallo will be announced Monday as the new lead announcer on WWE Smackdown when the show moves to USA Network in January.

    Ranallo told SI that Michael Cole had reached out to him a month ago to ask if he had interest in working with WWE. Ranallo sent along some clips, including some commentary he did for a mock Floyd Mayweather vs. Warren Buffett fight for a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder conference. From the interview: “This was an opportunity I did not think I would get at this point of my career and I jumped on it,” Ranallo said. “I have been a lifelong fan of the product. Michael said that when Vince saw the Warren Buffet video, it seemed to cinch it. They believed I could sell the entertainment part.”

    Ranallo will continue to call both boxing for Showtime and GLORY kickboxing for ESPN, but will be a full-time employee of WWE, working backstage at RAW and other broadcasts in an unspecified capacity. While it wasn’t mentioned in the piece, it can be assumed Ranallo will no longer be calling NJPW on AXS TV. It’s also uncertain who his broadcast partners will be.

    The 45-year-old Ranallo got his start in combat sports in the pro wrestling business at just 16 years old for Vancouver, Canada,’s All-Star Wrestling. He has always been a fan and advocate for wrestling, slipping in plenty of references during many a fight he’s called cage/ringside.

  • WWE NXT Blackpool, England, results: Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin

    Submitted by Stephen Lyon | Blackpool, England

    The latest stop on NXT’s UK tour was in Blackpool, England tonight, for a sold out show at the 2,000 capacity Empress Ballroom, a beautiful building set up wonderfully with WWE’s usual production and lighting. It was a fantastic show, with several very good matches, an incredible atmosphere throughout and quite clearly, the performers were having an absolute ball in front of such a hot crowd.

    It felt like a special show, rather than just another stop on the tour. Part of that was due to the ornate ballroom they were running (rather than a regular arena like other stops on the tour), and part of it was due to the obvious factor of it being William Regal’s (and Robby Brookside’s too) return to the place they largely first made their names in wrestling some 30+ years ago. Both spoke about this in separate promos later on.

    NXT Tag Champions Dash & Dawson def. Enzo Amore & Big Cass to retain

    Enzo & Cass were predictably over huge, with everyone singing along to their opening catchphrases. They had a really good 20 minute match with the champs going over. Amore sold most of the way and they built to Cass getting the hot tag.

    Asuka def. Alexa Bliss

    Another really fun match. Both very over. Asuka made Bliss submit in 10 minutes.

    Bull Dempsey def. Tye Dillinger

    This was tons and tons more entertaining than you could possibly imagine and was one of my favourite matches of the night. Mostly comedy but really funny comedy, with the heel (Dillinger) being infuriated by the crowd’s antics. Firstly, fans were chanting ‘Bull is gorgeous’. They liked doing the ‘Ten, Ten’ thing with their hands like Dillinger, but when Dillinger went for a test of strength with one hand, fans were chanting ‘Five, Five’. Then when he pointed angrily with one finger, fans were chanting ‘One, One’. Each time, Dillinger flipped his lid. You probably had to be there, but the crowd had an absolute ball with this match. Dempsey won with a sit down splash off the top rope.

    – Jordan & Gable def. Blake & Murphy

    This was the match of the night. The crowd reaction for Gable & Jordan was OFF THE CHARTS. I’ve being going to wrestling for 25 years, have been to 5 Wrestlemanias and lots of post-WM Raws, as well as tons of wild UK indy crowds, but the duelling chants for Jordan and Gable at the start of this match was nuts, up there with the very best reactions I’ve witnessed in person. They literally didn’t lock up for the first 5 minutes because the crowd were singing, jumping up and down, going crazy. Blake & Murphy were great too, sold being pissed off, stormed off, came back, and the chants would start again. I noticed Canyon Ceman come out at the side of the entrance area during this craziness and he was visibly getting a kick out of it, taping the reactions on his phone. And then the match was excellent. Gable was phenomenal; how this guy (and Jordan for that matter) are not already on the main roster is travesty. 

    Intermisson

    After intermission, William Regal came out to a heroes’ welcome in his adopted home town. He came out to his normal theme, then after a few bars, it stopped. Instead they then played old-style Blackpool ballroom organ music, which he may have entered the ring to 30+ years ago. Regal engaged in some comedic banter with some overly rowdy ringside fans, and mentioned how, even though he originally wrestled many times in Blackpool in the early 1980s, this was his first time in this ballroom. He mentioned his former mentor Bobby Barron, and paid tribute to all the fans in attendance. This was all great. 

    – Nia Jaxx def. Carmella

    Quick match. Jax was over as a heel. Crowd liked Carmella and were chanting ‘How ya’ doing?’ at her.

    – Samoa Joe def. Apollo Crews

    Another very good match. Both worked really hard. They were a few ‘Uhaa Nation’ chants for Crews at the start of the match, as Crews wrestled numerous times in this region for Preston City Wrestling over the past few years prior to his WWE signing and was very popular. The fans then got into singing the Apollo Crews name. I thought it was really interesting seeing how Crews has adapted his wrestling style to WWE style, slowing down but making things mean more. Joe won with the muscle buster. Crowd cheered Joe too and didn’t really boo him at all.

    – NXT Women’s Champion Bayley def. Emma (w/Dana Brooke) to retain

    Crowd heavily cheered Bayley as expected. Another good match. Emma had a spot where she picked up Bayley’s belt and tried to run to the back with it, and the crowd sung ‘Same old Emma, always stealing!’ Ouch. Dana was thrown out by the referee for interfering prior to the finish.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor def. Baron Corbin & Sami Zayn to retain

    Zayn was heavily cheered,more than Balor. Corbin was hated, but wasn’t resented like I thought he might be. There were some comedic spots where Zayn and Balor put on each other’s jackets and imitated each other. There was a frequent spot in the show where the crowd were chanting ‘<Wrestler X> give us a wave’, mainly directed at babyfaces. They sung ‘Corbin – give us a wave’ to mock him. Rather than ignore it like a heel, he sarcastically waved, which led to ‘Thank you Corbin’ chants. Finish saw Balor do a double foot stomp off the top on to Corbin for the win. Besides the comedy spots, all three worked very hard, much harder than a usual WWE main roster house show main event.

    Afterwards, Balor and Zayn remained in the ring. Zayn took the mic and said it was great to be back, and paid tribute to Regal for bringing him into WWE and making him want to be a wrestler. He then praised Robby Brookside and asked him to come out. Brookside came out to a huge ovation, with a ‘God Save The Queen’ Sex Pistols-type theme music used. Brookside gave a similar speech to Regal earlier, putting over their former mentor Bobby Baron and also paid tribute to the crowd, to end the show.

    Notes & Observations:

    – All in all, a fantastic show. With the hot crowd and unique setting, I’m kind of surprised they didn’t hold the Takeover event here. I get why they picked London, but Blackpool would have looked great on tv. Maybe in the future.

    – Crowd booed any mentions of the WWE TLC ppv (an advert played on the big screen), and during several matches, chanted ‘Better than Raw’.

    – The NXT crew was very visible around the town during the day, as most were clad in black NXT-branded tracksuits. A lot of the NXT crew including Matt Bloom had an afternoon meal at the Harry Ramsden’s Fish & Chips restaurant.

    – There were very few kids in the audience, the show drawing mostly young adults.

    – There was an interesting rumour going around (unconfirmed, but take this for what its’ worth) that the WWE Raw & Smackdown tv tapings next November will be held in Glasgow, Scotland for the first time, at the Hydro Arena. This, if true, would be a fascinating move, as they would likely be taking place 2 weeks before ICW runs the Hydro Arena for the biggest show in their history. I guess another business rival has been identified.

  • WWE TLC 2015 live results: Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus

    At Survivor Series, WWE decided to shuffle up the deck and pull a swerve by having Sheamus cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase, snatching the WWE title away from five minute champion Roman Reigns in a move that disappointed many.

    We’re doing our post-match poll on both this show and the UFC show last night, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    BECKY LYNCH VS. SASHA BANKS IN THE PRE SHOW MATCH

    Nice match, particularly the last 30 seconds or so as Lynch kept going from armbar to Fujiwara armbar.  Tamina Snuka distracted the ref and Naomi kicked Lynch and then Banks did the back stabber into the bank statement.  The crowd popped pretty good for the Banks win since she’s local.  Crowd wasn’t super into it but they reacted decently enough.

    They are teasing that Zeb Colter may be back with Jack Swagger, which may also mean that the Del Rio/Swagger thing from Raw also could be a swerve. 

    It appears smart money is in because the odds are long now.  So here are the favorites:

    Sheamus 45-to-1 favorite

    Dean Ambrose 12-to-1 favorite

    New Day 20-to-1 favorite

    Charlotte 5-to-1 favorite

    Wyatt Family 6-to-1 favorite

    Alberto Del Rio 45-to-1 favorite

    Rusev 45-to-1 favorite

    NEW DAY VS. USOS VS. LUCHA DRAGONS IN A LADDER MATCH FOR TAG TITLES

    The New day retained when Kalisto was climbing and Xavier Woods, who was on commentary, threw the trombone at Kalisto and Kingston threw him off the ladder.  Kingston slowly climbed and pulled down the belts.  Absolutely awesome spot fest like a modern version of the Edge & Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys match but with all new spots.  Kalisto did the Salida del on Jimmy off the top of a ladder crashinG through another ladder.  There were dives, like the Dragons doing a double moonsault off the middle rope to the floor on E & Kingston.  Kalisto did a dragon rana off a ladder which flipped Kingston back into the ladder face first.  There was about 18 minutes of this.  Like a crazy Lucha match in many ways.  It’s going to hard for anyone to come close to this.  Creative and well executed.     

    RYBACK VS. RUSEV

    Good match.  Rusev threw Ryback into Lana and she started selling which distracted Ryback.  Rusev superkicked him and went for the pin but Ryback kicked out.  Ryback got out of the accoalde but Rusev got out of shell shock and Rusev used a high kick and won with the accolade with Ryback passing out.  Rusev and Lana had teased a walk out and Ryback pulled him back which was the spot where Rusev shoved Ryback into Lana.  Lana never actually got hit and was pretending again.   

    Dean Ambrose promo.  Roman Reigns is with him.  Ambrose said he was feeling good.   They were doing the best friends stuff.  You always wonder if something will happen.

    ALBERTO DEL RIO VS. JACK SWAGGER FOR U.S. TITLE IN CHAIRS MATCH

    No Zeb at all.  Chair matches are hard because you do a million chair matches and they don’t really mean anything.  They did a good job building up to Swagger finally hitting the Swagger bomb and getting the Patriot lock, but Del Rio, whose leg was wrapped up in a chair, made the ropes.  Del Rio had the armbar in the ropes.  Del Rio did four hard chair shots to the back and then a double foot stomp off the top rope onto chairs.  

    Kevin Iole reported that Mauro Ranallo will be the new voice of Smackdown, but he’ll be keeping his boxing, MMA and kickboxing duties on weekends.  Story is true.

    Dudleys did a promo.

    DUDLEYS & RHINO & TOMMY DREAMER VS. WYATT FAMILY IN AN ELIMINATION TABLES MATCH

    The Wyatts won 4-1.  There were two tables broken that didn’t count, including Braun Strowman kicking through a table.  A table also broke when it wasn’t supposed to when Devon rolled off.  First Rowan took a 3-D through a table from the Dudleys.  Harper kicked Rhyno through a table for the second elimination.  Wyatt put Devon through a table with a uranage.  Harper did a tope knocking Dreamer through a table leaving Bubba by himself.  Bubba poured lighter fluid on a table and the place went nuts, but before he coudl light it, Harper superkicked him and Strowman choke slammed Bubba through a table.  There were two funny spots where Strowman was off but crowd really liked this a lot with ECW and ECW style chants.

    Kevin Owens heel promo.  Said you as individuals have nothing to do with it when your team wins like Dean Ambrose.  Ambrose acts like he’s accomplished something.  Owens said, in reference to Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn on him that “I eat popcorn and drink soda every day of my life.”

    KEVIN OWENS VS. DEAN AMBROSE FOR IC TITLE

    Ambrose won the title by reversing the pop up power bomb into a huracanrana.  Match was shorter than you’d think but very good.  They did a good tease count out early on Ambrose.  Ambrose escaped the pop up power bomb and hit Dirty Deeds but Owens got two fingers on the ropes for the break.  People were really into the title change, I don’t think they were expecting it.   The title change felt like a real big deal here.  They pushed that Ambrose held up his part of it and now Reigns has to.

    CHARLOTTE VS. PAIGE FOR THE DIVAS TITLE

    Charlotte was a total heel working the match like Ric Flair with the begging off kneedrops, working the leg.  Charlotte did seem more confident.  The crowd really got into it when Paige used the figure four on Charlotte like every babyface would do to Flair.  Paige used the Rampage but Ric put Charlotte’s leg on the ropes.  Right after, Charlotte took off the padding of a turnbuckkle and pulled Paige’s head into the exposed metal for the pin.  I’d rather she was something different from Ric but she had more presence in this role than she’s had up to this point in WWE, but not more than in NXT.

    Ric and Charlotte were celebrating.  Becky Lynch confronted her.  Lynch said she didn’t like the way she won.  Charlotte said would you rather your best friend won or Paige won.  Lynch looked confused and unhappy about  Charlotte’s tactics.

    WWE CHAMPION SHEAMUS VS. ROMAN REIGNS IN A TLC MATCH

    Sheamus retained due to inteference from Rusev and Alberto Del Rio, but no King Barrett. Also, there was no Ambrose or anyone to make the save for Reigns.

    This was a really good match. At first, the crowd wasn’t that hot or were doing non-match related chants for Cena and ECW. Both guys worked really hard and physical with lots of teases of wins, chair shots, and more. 

    Sheamus backdropped Reigns through a table on the floor. Sheamus suplexed Reigns through a table. Sheamus used White Noise off the steps through a table. Reigns got out of an armbar and reversed into a one arm powerbomb onto a ladder. Reigns with a Samoan drop through a ladder that broke in half.  At this point, the crowd was booing when they thought Reigns would win.

    Reigns’ Superman punch knocked Sheamus off a ladder. Reigns had the title won when Rusev & Del Rio came in. They beat him down, but Reigns came back and gave them both Superman punches.  Sheamus was on top. Reigns pulled him off and Sheamus hit a Brogue kick, knocking Reigns out of the ring.  Sheamus climbing again. This time they were booing thinking Reigns would lose. Sheamus pulled down the belt to win before Reigns could recover.

    The highlight was post-match as Reigns totally snapped.  He speared all three at the same time. He destroyed everyone with chair shots. HHH & Steph came out out. Reign nailed Sheamus with a chair after HHH and Stephanie told him to put it down. HHH was on the apron and told Reigns to calm down. After a long tease, Reigns hit a Superman punch on HHH. He grabbed a chair and hit HHH over and over with chair shots. It was funny as at one point, HHH told him to do it again (which you could hear) so then he did another chair shot. 

    Stephanie was screaming as Reigns gave him a real beating. Reigns gave him a power bomb onto a table that didn’t break. Fans were chanting “One more time!” Reigns elbowdropped him through the table, so they are doing an injury angle with HHH. This finish was great, complete with a  “Thank you Roman” chant. 

    They are pushing like Reigns is going to be fired. HHH finally got up, and Reigns turned around, sprinted down the aisle and speared him again. This was the best thing they’ve done with Reigns. HHH selling it huge. The crowd didn’t like Reigns at all at first and were cheering heavily for him by the time this was done.

  • NXT house show results, Sheffield 12/12: Balor vs. Zayn vs. Corbin for NXT Title

    By Matt Barker

    Arena was nearly full for what was put on sale as it was cut at the half way point with the top tier curtained off.

    Ring announcer Brown Shoes welcomes us.

    Match 1 Enzo and Cass beat Blake and Murphy. Crowd were massively into all the catchphrases of the faces.

    Match 2 Bull Dempsey over Tye Dillinger with a top rope sit down splash.Crowd got into the perfect ten gimmick.

    Match 3 Samoa Joe defeated Apollo Crews with a musclebuster. Good match.Lots of Uhaa chants for Crews.

    Match 4 Bayley beat Emma with Baylay to Bayley.

    Match 5 Dawson and Dash  beat Jordan and Gable. Match of the night a very good old school tag team match. Half way through some idiot jumped the rail and got in the ring. Security got him quick however. Jordan and Gable are just brilliant and were very popular with the audience.

    Match 6 Asuka over Carmella via submission.

    Match 7 Finn Balor beat Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in a three way dance. Zayn got huge ole chants prior to his entrance. As Corbin was pinning Zayn,Balor came off the top with a coup de grace on him for the win.

    Decent night of action, only downside was the trouble getting into the arena, queue was massive in the rotten UK winter cold and they were confiscating items including my pregnant wife’s handbag and even fans umbrellas. I understand why with the heightened security issues but it was taken too far tonight.

  • Classic Audio: September 24, 2008 Wrestling Observer Radio

    This week’s classic audio takes a look at declining ratings in 2008 and addresses the problem of adults losing interest in wrestling. With WWE setting record low ratings recently, it’s interesting to look back to 2008 and what has been a growing problem for years.

    The second part of the show is an hour long interview with the director of “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”, a documentary discussing steroid use. Chris Bell talks with Dave and Bryan about his film, what can be done about steroids in wrestling and MMA, performance enhancers, and tons more.

    Right click save.

  • WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2015 Preview and Predictions

    So WWE went ahead and rebooted itself shortly after Survivor Series. They sort of had to, after all, when their long term project Seth Rollins was put out of action with a serious knee injury. Out of all the situations they could have done, they went ahead and did the one that made the least amount of sense – make Sheamus, who on that very same show was treated like a total geek in a nothing match – the WWE champion, pinning new champion Roman Reigns after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

    Sheamus, now the top heel in the company (except whenever the Authority make their presence), has formed a stable consisting of him, Wade Barrett, Rusev and Alberto del Rio known as the League of Nations. Their target is Roman Reigns, who gets another title opportunity this weekend thanks to Triple H, who just gave it to him despite doing everything in his power to get the belt off Reigns. The odds are stacked against him, but he’s proven that he can win the big one, as evidenced the previous month. Will we see a new champion crowned at the final pay per view of the year, or will the Authority’s latest charge find a way to keep his title?

    Our predictors for this month’s show:

    – Bryan Rose: New Japan house show/AXS reporter

    – James Cox: WWE Superstars reporter and WWE DVD reviewer

    – Jeremy Peeples: TNA Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground reporter

    – Steve Khan: WWE Smackdown reporter

    Chairs Match for the WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger

    Bryan Rose: A main event in any arena! Or, should I say, a Main Event main event in any arena. Really, the booking is so lame here. You take Jack Swagger, who has not been on TV for months besides doing jobs on Main Event and Superstars, and now suddenly he’s number one contender just because. He has zero momentum to speak of, Alberto only has a bit more, and overall this just feels like a very lame feud that they gave zero time or effort to get over. Whether or not Zeb is involved doesn’t really matter, as with the new League of Nations gimmick he’s the odd man out, plus he and Alberto really have no chemistry to speak of. With that said, I fully expect it now to be a swerve that will allow del Rio to get the clean win. Over Jack Swagger.

    Winner: Alberto del Rio

    James Cox: It is difficult to hold out much hope for a gimmick match that has traditionally not offered up classic matches. The most intriguing thing will be how they use Zeb, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they just completely ignore that angle and move on without him at all. Swagger can never get over with this character unless they let him win, but, clearly, he’s losing here after what I would guess will be a tussle and back-and-forth between their submission moves in the finish.

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been built up terribly on television and this match seemingly serves no purpose. Swagger is feuding with MexAmerica, which no longer exists after Raw, so why is this happening? Beyond just giving Swagger a payday, it should be a fine showcase for Alberto and perhaps they bring Swagger and Zeb together. There’s a very slim chance they give Swagger the title here to move Alberto into the WWE Title picture officially, but that seems very unlikely.

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    Steve Khan: I expect a lot of chairs to be used in this match. Maybe Del Rio will double foot stomp a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll superkick a chair into Swagger’s face. Or maybe he’ll do an armbar through a chair. Either way…

    Winner: Alberto Del Rio

    Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno vs. The Wyatt Family

    Bryan Rose: I guess ECW is still popular enough in 2015 that the return of Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno are going to get big reactions. Hey, that’s a testament to the power of WWE still getting over ECW 14 years after it went out of business, plus a misguided attempt to reboot it 9 years ago. I’m not sure what to expect here other than a bunch of table shots. With the Wyatts losing clean last month to the Undertaker, something tells me they’ll do just fine against Team Extreme (not to be confused with Team Xtreme).

    Winners: The Wyatt Family

    James Cox: I worry that this won’t amount to much after an initial ECW pop in Boston, but I hope that I’m wrong. In theory, you can use this to reboot The Wyatts after losing last month, but I don’t know how this company thinks anymore. You can certainly beat any of these men and I would assume they will at least protect Bray and Strowman. I really want this to be a lot of fun, on a ppv that doesn’t look that exciting as things stand.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    Jeremy Peeples: They haven’t been doing much with the Dudleys, although Tommy Dreamer has been shockingly over and Rhyno is a welcome sight on the main roster. With Bubba Ray being truly wasted in this ECW/Attitude Era nostalgia act, hopefully he turns heel and does his own thing. Since there is no chance of that happening, Team Extreme will just be used to put over the Wyatts and they can talk about how the Wyatts are the only team in WWE history to defeat the Dudleys at their own game. Sure, it won’t be true, but it will tell a nice story.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    Steve Khan: Whether or not this feud is continuing, the Wyatts should win and they probably will. Tables matches are dumb so I don’t expect much from this.

    Winner: The Wyatt Family

    Divas Title: Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair in her corner) vs. Paige

    Bryan Rose: Does anyone care at this point? Now Charlotte’s teasing a heel turn because…I don’t know? I guess we aren’t supposed to think of the Divas as faces or heels? The only true babyface on the Divas roster at this point is Becky Lynch, who only pops up now and again. For all of this talk about a Revolution, we’re right back to square one with Divas whose one note gimmicks are that they are either heels or crazy people. Virtually nothing’s changed now and that’s probably the saddest thing about the WWE this year. Charlotte retains, I guess, but who can care at this point?

    Winner: Charlotte

    James Cox: I hope we see the completion of a double turn in this one. The muddying of the waters around who is the heel is just irritating. Flair can be either. On his own, he’s always going to get a babyface reaction, but with Charlotte I can see that they can use him in that way. But the fact that I’m writing this, after what happened last month with the Flair family name, is ridiculous. With no smoke and mirrors, they’re going to have to work hard to make a Boston crowd care much.

    Winner: Charlotte

    Jeremy Peeples: This feud has been a colossal waste of both women, but Paige’s character is more of a babyface than Charlotte’s now since she’s speaking the truth – it’s just a truth no one wants to accept. Of course, a double turn won’t do much for either of them since the commentators will just talk about how it’s okay for Charlotte to cheat because her dad did, so everything will be undercut. They had a good-ish match on the last PPV and a better one on Raw, so I expect this to have pretty good action if the match itself isn’t just a backdrop to the angle. Charlotte needs the title more than Paige, and a heel-ish win moves her cocky character forward too.

    Winner: Charlotte

    Steve Khan: Paige should really be the star of this division right now, as Charlotte has been nothing as champion, but her storyline over the last few weeks has probably bought her more time with the belt. She cheated last month by accident, so I think she cheats on purpose here to pick up the win. The match itself should be good.

    Winner: Charlotte

    Ryback vs. Rusev

    Bryan Rose: This match was added at the very last minute on Smackdown. They’ve built it up the last few weeks in a build that was, well, just a build. As for the actual match, it could go either way. This could either be a fun slugfest or a WWE-style centric match, which can produce a boring bout. Let’s hope for the latter. I say Rusev wins as he needs some heat on him following his return.

    Winner: Rusev

    Steve Khan: It seems like this show could be dominated by heels, so Ryback getting a token win wouldn’t surprise me, but they just reunited Rusev and Lana and Rusev is in the League of Nations so he should really win.

     Winner: Rusev

    Ladder Match: WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Usos vs. The Lucha Dragons

    Bryan Rose: I think this’ll be a stunt show, but a good one. All three tag teams are probably going to go all out here, with lots of ladder shots in between. Not the best built program leading to this, but not many matches on the show were anyway. I see the New Day winning here because there really aren’t any tag teams that are over enough for them to drop the titles so.

     Winner: The New Day

    James Cox: This is a classic case of being booked into a corner by creating gimmick ppvs in advance. There’s no reason to have three teams in this match. But, I’d call this to be the match of the night, provided it isn’t just a spot-fest. Kofi, Kalisto and The Usos are all capable of doing something special here. The New Day have become bloated versions of themselves in the last few weeks, but it makes zero sense for them to lose the titles, other than just for the sake of playing hot potato with the belts.

     Winner: The New Day

    Steve Khan: This obviously has potential to be match of the night and hopefully it’s given time to produce. I would actually put the titles on the Usos. WWE is in love with New Day but too many babyface acts are coming up short lately, and that could continue on this show if Ambrose and Reigns both lose. New Day can come out of this feud as champions eventually, and they’ll probably win here despite what I Just said, but I’ll go out on a limb (?) and take the Usos.

     Winner: The Usos

    Intercontinental Championship: Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dean Ambrose

    Bryan Rose: This should be a good match if given time. I can’t say there’s a whole lot of interest here because the way it was built, which included Dean Ambrose throwing soda and popcorn at his opponent, and Owens using the walkout finish on nearly every match he’s been in leading up to this one. But again, if they are given enough time, they can go out there and steal the show. As for who wins, it could go either way, but I see Owens retaining here in some sort of finish that allows a rematch for next month.

     Winner: Kevin Owens

    James Cox: With all the bells and whistles that this show has, I feel like time could be an issue here. If they give them 15mins, they can have a great match. Less than 12 and I struggle to see this being much better than just OK. Owens is a great heel and Ambrose a great babyface, but only if the company want them to be and are prepared to invest time in them. With one eye on WrestleMania now, you’d have to think that if Ambrose wins, Owens becomes a potential for the Rumble or a high spot on the WrestleMania card. But in theory, with this weakened roster, so should Ambrose.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    Jeremy Peeples: This match really hasn’t had much of a build to it, and Raw’s popcorn and soda usage didn’t exactly set fire to the feud. Dean Ambrose has no momentum, while Owens at least has some – so he seems like a lock to win – especially if they decide to throw him in as one of the many champions in the League of Nations. Doing so would keep this feud alive and make a Dean win in the future mean more since it showed Roman’s group could take something from Sheamus’s.

     Winner: Kevin Owens

    Steve Khan: It occurred to me that this company may not want to put a title on Dean Ambrose as long as Roman Reigns is without one himself. Imagine the Usos and/or Ambrose walking out with Reigns and they have belts but he doesn’t? That puts the odds against Ambrose and the Usos on this show. Watching the babyfaces constantly come up short is getting tiresome, so that’s probably what we’ll see. The match itself should be good.

    Winner: Kevin Owens

    TLC Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus (c) vs. Roman Reigns

    Bryan Rose: So they went ahead and did the worst possible finish they could have done at Survivor Series by making Sheamus the WWE champion again. Booking and ratings aside, Sheamus has never felt like a main event talent, and that is what causes me to have little to no interest in this match. They’ll work hard and probably have a good match. But I’m jaded enough on WWE’s product to know there will probably be a screwy finish here that leaves Roman Reign a loser for the upteenth time this year, leading to a Royal Rumble scenario that probably sees him winning the title shot again. To say this isn’t interesting television right now is an understatement. But hey, Roman Reigns has a few people cheering for him now, so I guess it all paid off, right?

    Winner: Sheamus

    James Cox: A TLC match is just the kind of match that Sheamus does well in when in the main event picture: long brawls where he ultimately stands tall, drenched in sweat. There’s so much that they can do here with the two factions that they have created around each of them, that maybe this will become just a series of run-ins. I hope not. This needs to kick start this programme and, ideally, we should know by the end of it what our Royal Rumble main event is. But Reigns losing again? That feels like one too many. In a TLC match I guess you can still keep him looking strong despite the defeat. And let’s not forget that, for whatever reason, this company likes Sheamus.

    Winner: Sheamus

    Jeremy Peeples: Sheamus is dangerous enough in a regular match, but adding at least three implements of destruction (or toys as JBL could call them) adds even more risk to Roman. With so many people out with injury, I wouldn’t put Roman in this match against Sheamus, but it’s booked and Sheamus needs to look strong. The problem is that Roman needs to as well and really can’t be losing so many title matches. With that said, Sheamus needs the win and has an entire stable to ensure a victory, so he is the likely victor and then Roman will have to overcome the entire League of Nations to get a rematch or something along those lines.

    Winner: Sheamus

    Steve Khan: The finish of the match is important (or at least the follow-up) because it potentially sets up the title picture through WrestleMania, which probably has a lot of moving parts at the moment. Reigns winning here seems unlikely. If he gets a rematch at the Rumble, he can win that and go into WrestleMania as champion. But if he loses and the Authority refuses to give him another rematch, then Reigns goes into the Rumble and probably wins that. That leaves a hole for Sheamus to be filled at the Rumble. Maybe they’ll throw Brock Lesnar or Undertaker or John Cena in there to set up a match with Reigns, but for now it doesn’t really matter.

    Winner: Sheamus