Key Takeaway: The NXT gang goes on a road trip to Louisville and Nashville in an episode that shines a spotlight on Bayley, Carmella, Jason Jordan and Baron Corbin, then climaxes with Eva Marie kicking Carmella right in the head and knocking her out mid-match.
Show Recap: Aside from saying goodbye to Cal Bishop, who Canyon Ceman released at the end of the last episode, and making a brief stop to meet new NXT signee Lovepreet Singh in Orlando, the entire episode is spent with the touring NXT crew as they visit Louisville and Nashville.
A lot of time is spent with Carmella and Bayley this week, really emphasizing that they’re best friends and that Bayley’s success in NXT, and likely recall to the main roster before too long, is pushing Carmella to improve. Bayley gets a new challenge on the road trip: producing a match, as Matt Bloom has her produce a match between Alexa Bliss and Eva Marie in Louisville. She seems to be adjusting to her role as a mentor to the younger talent, but also expresses her excitement in learning new things so she’s not just someone known for hugging. Carmella notes that there’s a big gap between Bayley and the rest of the girls on the roster, and she’s eager to take a leap in her development. She’s fighting a cold and works a match with Eva Marie in Nashville. And mid-way through the match, with her boyfriend (Colin Cassidy) and her best friend (Bayley) watching, Carmella gets her wits kicked out of her by Eva Marie in the episode’s cliffhanger ending.
Lesser News: Jason Jordan’s excited about his raise. He and Chad Gable get to work with Cassidy and Enzo in Nashville. Jordan feels like his team has momentum and his goal is to get him and Gable to the main roster and established as a dependable tag team that can do anything they need them to do.
Also we spend a bit of time with Baron Corbin, who still really thinks he should be on the main roster. Bloom’s assessment: “Baron wants all the privileges of being a top guy, but I don’t think he knows what it takes to be a top guy right now.” Specifically, Corbin’s facials aren’t great in the ring, and he notes after being trained to suppress emotions as an NFL player, he’s having to adjust to the differences. Away from the ring, the NXT crew also visits an abandoned sanitarium and Corbin visits an oddities shop with a buddy of his in Nashville, buying a fragment of a human skull. Corbin’s a weird dude, but at least they’re trying to make him seem like a person.
Final Thoughts: The focus on Bayley and Carmella really helped elevate this show, as Bayley comes across amazingly likeable, even when trolling Jason Jordan when he jokingly asks for an autographed photo. Spending time with the touring crew and focusing on the shows themselves and how they’re put together made the half-hour a lot more compelling than some of the earlier episodes.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including Raw ratings from Monday, the return of Lucha Underground and more, plus Paul Ace Fontaine joins us for a full preview of THREE STRAIGHT UFC SHOWS leading to Jose Aldo Jr. vs. Conor McGregor on Saturday! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Here’s spoilers from the Tuesday, December 8th Jacksonville, FL, Smackdown tapings:
– The Lucha Dragons beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day in a non-title match
– Ryback beat The Ascension in a handicap match
– There was a contract signing for the Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose Intercontinental title match. Owens attacked Ambrose, but Ambrose came back, Owens bailed, and then Ambrose signed the contract.
– Dolph Ziggler beat Tyler Breeze
– Becky Lynch beat Paige via submission due to distraction from WWE Divas Champion Charlotte
– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE Champion Sheamus & Kevin Owens
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, and STAIRS… Oh My! Part 6
By: PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog)
This week…
TLC 6: December 15, 2014; Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans Arena
(39,000 PPV Buys, lowest number since the network)
An excellent video package opens the PPV comparing the TLC show to a demolition derby. It was pretty rad.
Pre Show Match: The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (with Xavier Woods) defeated Gold and Star Dust.
JBL, Cole, and King on the cans.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper (c) in a Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship
In TLC 4, Dolph was in the main event against Cena. In TLC 5 he was in the pre show match jobbing to Fandango, and tonight he’s in the opener for the Kiss of Death belt.
Something like 20 ladders had been set up at one point.
Harper had about 90 seconds alone in the ring and just sort of didn’t do anything. I feel like I personally could put up a ladder and climb it and grab the title in no more than 15 seconds.
Luke pushed Dolph off the ladder twice.
Dolph took a Power Bomb on a ladder suspended on the second rope.
Dolph countered the Power Bomb and gave Harper a face buster on a ladder.
Harper has a gash on his arm.
Ziggs tosses a ladder into Harper’s face who then took a bump across another ladder set up off the apron to the announce desk.
“This is awesome chants,” and I agree.
Dolph super kicks Harper off the ladder and wins the belt.
The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) vs. The Miz and Damien Mizdow (c) in a Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Has anyone made more out less than The Miz? He was a reality TV dork. Then a reality TV star. Then a pretend reality wrestler. He’s been WWE Champ, Headlined WrestleMania, Made a bunch of movies. Made millions of dollars, and is married to Maryse. Unbelievable!
Everyone wants Mizdow to tag in. How can they possibly get any heat?
Double Rikishi ass spots by Jimmy Uso.
An interesting parade of finishers leading to Jimmy Uso hooking up a Tequila Sunrise.
Miz and Mizdow grab their belts and leave, and in doing so, Miz lays out one of the Usos for the DQ. So the Usos win by DQ, but no title change.
Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins (with J and J Security (Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble)) talks about Sting, and then how he’s going to make John Cena pay tonight. This is the storyline where Cena has the ability to bring back The Authority.
We’re getting an anatomy cut away view of the Steel Stairs. They weigh 288, and can withstand an impact of 22,000 lb.
Big Show vs. Erick Rowan in a Stairs match
A loss for Rowan could really hurt his wine sales this season.
This was a bad idea on paper, and an even worse idea in execution.
Big Show Speared Rowan through a stack of chairs.
Big Show Choke-Slammed him on the stairs and then gave him the Knock Out Punch, and then pinned him with the stairs.
Mediocre at best.
We get an awesome video package explaining the stips of the next match, which are if Cena loses; he also loses his number one contendership to the WWE Championship.
John Cena vs. Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins with (J and J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury)) in a Tables match
Paul Heyman came to the announce booth, but is just standing near it.
J and J jump in and just start putting the boots to Cena. It turns out no DQ applies to others entering the ring as well.
Cena goes and gets a piece of guardrail and lays out the baddies.
Noble takes the Suplex from Cena on the guardrail.
Seth sets up two tables on the outside.
Now Cena tosses in some more tables.
Rollins brings in the MITB case and starts whacking Johnny.
Ref bump and it gets crazy leading to Cena giving Seth the AA off the top through table.
J and J run in and clean the crime scene and pay for it with a Double AA.
Cena and Seth fall through a table together and Chiota comes back just in time to see it. They take a long time to debate the results. Chiota restarts the match. Let’s start the 90 second clock… The announce table did NOT break but it was supposed to and that was like at 45 seconds.
Cena tosses another table in the ring. It is all improv at this point.
Out comes Big Show and he starts punching Cena and sets up a Choke Slam, just as Roman Reigns’ music hits. Reigns gets in and delivers a Spear to Big Show through a table. Cena jumps in and hits an AA on Rollins for the win.
Heyman and Cena make goo goo eyes at each other.
Nikki Bella (c) (with Brie Bella) vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Championship
This is pre revolution, so it’s pretty boring. That’s sarcasm.
Nikki did a surfboard with AJ’s spine around the post.
A nice tornado DDT by AJ.
AJ hits a pop up bulldog for a two count, and follows it up with the Shining Wizard, but Brie saves Nikki by putting her foot on the rope. Then Brie gets booted for interfering.
Nikki sprayed something in AJ’s face then hits the Rack Attack for the win. They actually send a fake doctor down to check on AJ’s eyesight, because like I said, doctors don’t mess around with life, limb, or eyesight.
Roman Reigns cuts a promo about doing something awesome at the Royal Rumble. Did that ever happen?
Ryback vs. Corporate Kane in a Chairs match
Ryback’s outfit makes him look like a guy grilling meat.
Kane is in control and drops Ryback’s face on a chair.
This match is garbage. Just really rough spots and nothing going on.
Kane gave a seated Ryback the Big Boot.
Ryback with a step out spining belly to belly, a la the great Scott Steiner.
Kane throws 15 chairs in the ring.
Kane took half a Spine Buster through half a chair, and then Ryback started whipping him with chairs.
Kane throws a fastball with a chair right at Ryback’s face then hits him with the Chokeslam, but Ryback kicked out.
Ryback wins with the Shell Shock
Rusev (c) (with Lana) vs. Jack Swagger
Rusev hooked on the Accolade, right in the middle. The ref checks Swagger to see if he’s conscious. A lot of times I type conscience when I mean conscious. Swagger makes a crazy comeback and grabs the Ankle Lock.
Rusev fights it off and hooks on the Accolade again, and the ref calls for the bell.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match with nothing on the line, so it’s basically a weapons match
Ambrose section shown in the crowd.
It’s just bad booking to not give them a reason to climb for something even if it’s just a box that contains Scott Hall’s 8×10.
Ambrose starts it off with a ladder launch at Bray. Immediately they start crowd brawling.
Ambrose in control after tossing in Kendo sticks.
Bray comes back with a big punch that knocks Dean off the corner through a table.
Wyatt rams Dean’s eye into the point of the kendo stick.
Just a lot of wild brawling and some junk spots. It’s a watered down hardcore match.
They did one of the weakest table spots ever, where Dean dropped an elbow on Wyatt on a table, from the 3rd rung of a ladder.
Well, now he’s making up for it by doing it again from farther away on a higher ladder. Is it farther or further?
Dean goes and gets a twenty-foot ladder and lays Bray on the Spanish Announce team’s desk. He hits a third elbow from really high up.
This got weird. Ambrose had uncovered a TV from under the ring that was plugged in and showing the PPV for some reason. He tried to use the TV on Wyatt but the chord got caught, so he yanked at it and as he yanked, it exploded, like an electrical burst or fuse blowing. This gave Bray the opportunity to hit Sister Abigail on Dean for the pin.
Yes, a pin ended a TLC match.
In summary, this was a good show but not the best of the TLC’s. It was near the top. My TLC picks would go in this order 4, 5, 6, 3, 1, 2. Let’s hope this Sunday we get something that tops the first 6. The bar is set fairly low, but with the current match line-up, it doesn’t look good. However, I will still be reviewing this year’s offering.
Raw last night did 3.04 million viewers, the second lowest modern number, beating only the 2.95 million of the 11/23 show.
The number was down from last week partially due to the show falling off the tracks late, but also the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game did 14.15 million viewers, a number very close to the game on 11/23, while last week’s game did 10.12 million viewers.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.27 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.04 million viewers 10 p.m. 2.85 million viewers
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with a packed show! Raw thoughts from last night’s show, THE MAN TYSON FURY, plus we’re joined by Olympic Weightlifting coach Phil Nourse to talk the WWE’s Strength and Conditioning program and whether it’s too much to add to a wrestler’s plate. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Even though Tommy Dreamer is booked for a number of WWE house shows and has been appearing on WWE television, he is still keeping his own promotion going.
Dreamer’s House of Hardcore organization, which has been using TNA talent, ECW talent of the past, and some name independent talent, has announced an April 16 show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show will be a combination of a wrestling show and an Icons Of Wrestling convention at the same building.
Tickets will be going on sale tomorrow for the event, but no names have been announced yet.
The 44-year-old Dreamer has been working on and off again with WWE since May when he faced Baron Corbin at an NXT event in Philadelphia. He returned to RAW just over a week ago, tagging up with The Dudley Boyz against the Wyatts. He lost to Braun Strowman on last night’s RAW.
Comedian Howie Mandel will be appearing at Tuesday’s WWE television tapings in Jacksonville, FL, as part of the Tribute to the Troops show.
Tonight’s show will be a combination taping of Smackdown (which airs Wednesday in Canada and Thursday in most of the rest of the world), and Tribute to the Troops which is scheduled to air on 12/23 in the U.S. on the USA Network.
Mandel, best known for hosting Deal Or No Deal and being a judge on America’s Got Talent, is the only celebrity thus far announced as appearing on the show. Military personnel and their families from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Naval Station Mayport, and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base will be allowed in for free.
WWE started doing Tribute to the Troops in 2003 as the brainchild of John Layfield. At first, WWE performers would put on a show at an international military location, but in recent years, it was taped in conjunction with a regular television taping.
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today with tons to talk about including a full review of Raw from Monday night, all the matches and angles, Tokyo Sports voting, why the Stampede library was taking off the WWE Network, Ronda Rousey speaks, mailbag questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Fun match. Scary moment early when Slater tipped Neville over the top rope and he landed on his head on the apron. Neville hit the springboard moonsault to the outside and won with the Red Arrow, which the crowd loved.
Crowd was into Wyatt Family, doing firefly entrance. Wyatts came out to nothing but spooky low wind sounds, no music. Crowd cheered some for Sandow but not Axel. Strowman got his submission on Axel for an instant tapout.
– Dolph Ziggler def. Tyler Breeze w/ Summer Rae
Match of the night. One weird thing: Delphi’s hair was dry and therefore looked strange. Dolph & Summer did a very long, very funny version of her scream spot. Summer was ejected for hitting Dolph with her shoe. Lots of near falls; Dolph kicked out of a Beauty Shot and an Unprettier and Breeze kicked out of multiple superkick/fameasser combos.
– The Primetime Players def. Los Matadores
Basic tag match, centered early around Titus throwing big open hand slaps to the chest. One matador took 4-5 slaps and the other took a walk when he tried to make the tag. After some brawling, Darren & Titus both hit their moves and the ref counted two pins simultaneously.
Bayley had her air dancers, and as such was the only person on this show with a special entrance. Sasha, Becky, Bayley, & NXT all got chants during this match. A guy in the front row was dressed as Izzy, so Sasha snatched the the streamers from his arms and used them to mock Bayley’s entrance from the apron. She’s just so great at the little things. Match was fun, basic stuff; Becky beat Naomi with the DisarmHer after Tamina’s distraction went awry. After the match, Bayley took time to individually wave to everyone she could see with a Hugger shirt.
– Kane def. Bray Wyatt
Good reactions but nothing special to the match. Both guys did their spots and Kane won with a chokeslam.
– Ryback def. Rusev w/ Lana
Rusev had his personalized Bulgarian flag. Lana still in a dress/braid instead of the power suit/bun. She cut a promo before the match about her love for Rusev, then sang him “You Are My Sunshine,” which got loud boos. Crowd was really into Ryback, lots of spontaneous “Feed Me More” chants as he fired up. They had a good match; Ryback got out of the Accolade and hit Shellshocked for the win.
– Dean Ambrose def. WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens via DQ
Good reaction for both guys. Ambrose’s was all cheers and Owens’ was mixed, but both loud. Match was good but not spectacular; Owens was DQ’d for using a chair, which he hilariously argued was too minor an offense for a DQ. Owens then ate a Dirty Deeds on the chair after the match.
Crowd was energetic all night, much better than the previous show I saw in Greensboro. Granted, this was a better lineup with something for everyone.
