Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in pro-wrestling, tons of notes from Raw last night, the ratings collapse of both Raw and Smackdown, WWE’s reaction to the problem, plus your calls and emails on a variety of different topics! A fun show as always so check it out~! Best of all, this show is FREE, so please post elsewhere and help spread the word about the FINAL DAY of our ONE MONTH OF UNLIMITED ACCESS FOR $3.99 SALE!
Former IWGP Champion A.J. Styles missed another New Japan World Tag League tournament match today in Fukuoka, Japan. His team with Yujiro Takahashi forfeited their second match, this time to Michael Bennett & Matt Taven.
Styles has been out of action since last working on Nov. 24 due to a bulging disc in his lower back.
According to those in Japan, his injury appears to be very serious with the description that he seems to be in great pain with any movement. Styles went into the tour injured, and missed ROH bookings to rest up for the tour. The 38-year-old has not returned home, but he has major matches over the next several weeks. After the tournament concludes on 12/9, he has an ROH title match with Jay Lethal at Final Battle in Philadelphia, as well as his IC title match with Shinsuke Nakamura that is second from the top at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo Dome show on 1/4.
According to what we’ve been told, Styles is resting and rehabbing as best he can at the present time, and New Japan is being patient and not pressuring him to come back early.
******
WWE has announced one of the main matches for the Smackdown tapings tonight will be Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Bray Wyatt in a singles match with both Devon and Tommy Dreamer in Bubba’s corner.
Smackdown will be taped tonight in Hershey, PA. All of the major names that were on Raw last night, including Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Dean Ambrose and The New Day are being advertised as appearing tonight.
Following Raw, the Wyatt family came back to the ring, and Bray said that he had a sour taste in his mouth, and wasn’t ready to leave town just yet. He called out the Dudleys and Tommy Dreamer. They entered, followed by Kane. Everyone brawled in the ring for a couple of minutes before Bray left the ring. Braun Strowman was kicked out of the ring. Harper ended up eating a DDT from Dreamer, and a 3D from the Dudleys, and Rowan took a chokeslam from Kane to send the handful of people left in the crowd happy. No actual match took place. (Thanks to Joe Kazmer)
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs… Oh My! Part 5
By: PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog)
This week…
TLC 5: December 15, 2013; Houston, Texas, Toyota Center
WWE Champion, Randy Orton, competes against the World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, in a TLC match to crown a Champion of Champions.
The show starts with a cold open where HHH and Steph come out to make an announcement and they tell us how important this unification match is to history. Right. Hunter gives us a Lou Thesz vs. Buddy Rogers history lesson. This leads to a nice video package. WWE should just make video packages. Even when the product is terrible (read: now) they can produce the heck out of a package that will get you interested.
Cole, JBL, and King are on the pipes tonight as usual.
Pre Show Match: Fandango (with Summer Rae) defeated Dolph Ziggler in a singles match.
CM Punk vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns in a 3-on-1 handicap match
AJ Lee (with Tamina) is interviewed and AJ calls the Divas division, Natalya, the Slammy Awards, and the whole WWE a joke. Duh.
AJ Lee (c) (with Tamina) vs. Natalya for the WWE Divas Championship
We get another excellent video package showing some awesome champions. The problem is that both Cena and Orton have been champions, many times. Nobody is buying the validity of the unification.
Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston (c) for the Intercontinental Championship
Vince McMahon Jr. walks up to Orton backstage. The sound didn’t work. The only thing of note is that Orton was wearing basketball shorts. So it’s true; he does own leg coverings other than trunks.
Next we hear from the panel of Josh Matthews, Mick Foley, and Booker T, and they discuss what happened earlier in the night with Miz talking trash on Kofi.
Fatal Four Way for the Tag Team Championship: The Real Americans (Cesaro and Swagger with Zeb Colter) vs. Rey Mysterio and Big Show vs. Rybaxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Goldust and Cody Rhodes (c); elimination rules
The Jabroni posse gets some airtime as Titus O’Neal and Darren Young break out the Brawling Buddies for an embarrassing segment that ended with Kane walking in and scaring Vicki and Brad Maddox. It was even dumber than it sounds.
Brodus Clay (with the Funkadactyls and Tensai) vs. R Truth (with Xavier Woods) in a Time Fillers match
Miz vs. Kofi Kingston
Then they showed an AWESOME video package for the Raw 20th anniversary DVD, and in doing so completely exposed how awful the current product is with tons of awesome clips.
Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper) in ANOTHER 3-on-1 handicapped match.
Supposedly this is the first time these two titles have been competed for in the same match, but I’m pretty sure I remember that occurring as recently as 2002 and probably more recent than that. Oh well. At least we didn’t have a Chairs match tonight. Then they show another excellent video package, begging you to care about the same guys who have been on top for nearly a decade.
John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton (c) for the Unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship (but still two belts)
Then HHH, Steph, and Vince all come down to celebrate.
Thumbs in the Middle. So now my TLC PPV rankings go from best to worst: 4,5,3,1,2.
Breaking Ground Episode 5: Call It A Comeback
Recap by Ryan Pike (@RyanNPike)
Key Takeaway: A really unfocused episode of Breaking Ground, checking in with a lot of NXT personalities just to remind you that they exist, finishes off with three individuals getting raises from WWE executive Canyon Ceman and another getting released in the last scene of the episode.
Show Recap: We quickly check in with a few loose ends from last episode. An absolutely gassed ZZ gets a stern lecture from Jason Albert about his conditioning and the need to push himself past his limits to improve. Meanwhile, Jason Jordan steps up and has a strong performance as he and Chad Gable (who is working with an ankle injury) beat the Hype Bros to move on in the Dusty Rhodes Classic and earn a spot on the upcoming Takeover special.
From there, the episode jumps around a lot.
Cal Bishop gets back into the ring following his third shoulder injury (and second surgery). They even show footage of his shoulder blowing out in the ring in December 2014 (in his first match back from his first surgery). He says been much more keen with his rehab work and paying attention. He’s about a week away from getting medically cleared. He has an in-ring workout. It goes well, but he’s limited by his arm, and Albert and the rehab trainer express concerns about his ability to lift opponents with confidence.
Next we check in with Nia Jax. She explains her character by declaring “I am the main bitch and nobody’s going to mess with me.” She does mention that her cousin is The Rock, and that seeing his match at WrestleMania 28 made her want to become a wrestler. She discusses some concerns she has about her size, but also notes that her unique look, size and background help her stand out in a really crowded NXT womens division. We transition to a segment with Nhooph via the revelation that she and Nia are road buddies, which is a web series that we need to see – the tiny young girl and The Rock’s cousin traveling around America wrestling at shows. Anyway, Nhooph gets a ring name – Aaliyah – and has a meeting with William Regal to share her ideas for her character. She wants to emphasize her Middle Eastern background to stand out and Regal encourages her, noting that unless she is thinking and feeling her character and bringing it out through her eyes, fans will see right through her. Tyler Breeze appears, sitting down with the new girls in the ring and going over psychology – what drives their characters, why do they walk the way they do, how do they move or orient themselves – and it seems to blow their minds. (Later on, the coaches praise Breeze’s ability to connect with the new talent and his great attitude given his lengthy developmental tenure.) After a video session where the females sit with Sara Amato and go over old WWE promos, Nia has an evaluation with Amato that goes pretty well.
The episode ends with Canyon Ceman arriving and everyone freaking out (since in every episode he’s appeared in somebody’s gotten cut), culminating with a montage with Apollo Crews, Jason Jordan, Nia Jax and Cal Bishop being summoned to meetings. Crews, Jordan and Jax each get raises, while Bishop is released to end the episode.
There’s also a storyline with Tino Sabbatelli getting his brother a try-out that doesn’t go anywhere, as his brother blows his knee out on an indie show five days before the try-out and they have to re-schedule.
Final Thoughts: The episode attempted to build towards a dramatic climax where they wanted the audience to wonder which talent would get released. Unfortunately, it felt really hollow, as the three wrestlers that aren’t Cal Bishop are all on NXT television right now, so there was absolutely no tension. It was a bit frustrating that they went so far out of their way to sell Bishop as a hard-working guy with terrible luck, while at the same time showing ZZ to be a waste of time and real estate in the Performance Center.
The “concussion lawsuits” between the clients of Konstantine Kyros and WWE kept rolling along the last few weeks.
Two weeks ago, Jerry McDevitt filed two lengthy motions on WWE’s behalf, Those are motion to dismiss in the Russ McCullough/Ryan Sakoda/Matt “Luther Reigns” Wiese lawsuit (McCullough v. WWE) and an opposition to Kyros’ motion to dismiss WWE’s preemptive lawsuit against Robert “Blackjack Mulligan” Wyndham, James “Koko” Ware, Oreal “Ivan Koloff” Perras, and Thomas “Dynamite Kid” Billington (WWE v. Windham). The Windham motion starts with an eight page introduction that, among other things, a reference to Billy Jack Haynes, the plaintiff in a related case, having “posted various illiterate rants on social media identifying those allegedly joining the lawsuit.” McDevitt adds that “in other illiterate posts, Haynes admits that he was a drug addict for the last 27 years and speaks of his lawsuit as his ’cause to have a union in the pro wrestling industry, vacation, time off injured, a 5 day/night work week, buy[ing] stock in company…” Both Haynes and Windham have routinely posted about the cases and solicited co-plaintiffs on Facebook, and an exhibit to the motion suggests he’s done even more in private.
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The Big Takeaway:
At least it was a newsworthy show, which had some good ideas on paper. In practice, they weren’t executed well tonight. Sheamus has formed a new heel unit with King Barrett, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio called the League of Nations. They won in the main event, which needlessly also included the New Day on its side to beat Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos. Charlotte teased a heel turn after faking a knee injury to beat her friend Becky Lynch. And Lana reemerged as a heel, doing a complete reset of her character since February.
Show Recap:
The New Day came out with confetti and red carpeting like they were going to throw a party. They were there to introduce Sheamus as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Of course, Sheamus thanked the Authority. He also thanked Roman Reigns. New Day pretended they couldn’t remember Reigns’ 5-minute championship reign, with Xavier Woods mentioning they were playing Street Fighter and heard something about it.
Sheamus said if Reigns’ hadn’t savored the moment after winning the belt, he would have seen Sheamus coming. They all laughed over Reigns’ being champion for 5 minutes and 15 seconds, which I think is the average length a Raw viewer stays around before they turn to the football game. Sheamus said you can have Austin 3:16, because Sheamus 5:15 said I just kicked your arse. Not much heat for Sheamus as a top heel, probably because he’s booked as the new Seth Rollins.
As Sheamus held up the belt, Reigns showed up, gave him the Superman punch and took the championship belt. Michael Cole and JBL had moments of awkward silence trying to get this angle over without saying the word “belt.” It’s like a game of “Password” on national television where “belt” is the clue but the announcers can’t say it. Somebody get these people a thesaurus.
Reigns showed off the belt to Dean Ambrose and the Usos when HHH and Stephanie McMahon showed up. HHH wanted the belt back. Reigns gave the belt back. Well, that gimmick was great. HHH said Sheamus wanted to face Reigns for the title tonight. Reigns jumped at that chance. Stephanie said the catch was Reigns could only win the title if he beats Reigns in under 5:15. Maybe they could call that a Quadrophenia Death Match. (Only fans of the Who will get that. Hate to go all Dennis Miller on you.)
Dolph Ziggler defeated Tyler Breeze (10:33)
There traded a series of about ten cradles in a row, all for two counts. After Dolph Ziggler kicked out of a schoolboy cradle by Tyler Breeze, Ziggler hit a Superkick for the win. Once again, Breeze’s ring entrance didn’t air in lieu of Cole talking about the main event. If they aren’t going to give Breeze the full trappings of his character, why bring him up from NXT? Pretty good match.
MizTV featured Rusev with Lana, making her return after her engagement to Rusev was publicly acknowledged. This was weird. Miz said Rusev had to be upset nursing injuries that forced him to miss the WWE World Heavyweight title tournament. Rusev missed the tournament because of injury? When was this acknowledged? Rusev said there was one person who had been there for him while he was injured, and it was Lana.
Lana came out dressed like she was a heel again. She lost her 1980s Great White video wardrobe. Even stranger, Miz said Rusev made Lana “Summer Rae 2.0.” Wasn’t it the other way around? Lana said she never went all the way with Ziggler. Crowd chanted “Yes, you did.” Lana said all the turmoil only made them a stronger couple. Rusev said he never went all the way with Summer. Crowd…ibid. Rusev said from now on, he will break people apart in the ring, but out of the ring his heart belonged to Lana. They started making out in the ring for a very long period of time unti Ryback came out.
Ryback said this wasn’t an episode of “Teen Wolf” and the big guy was hungry. This set up a match.
Ryback defeated Rusev via countout (1:44)
Ryback shoulder blocked Rusev into the ring steps, which slammed into Lana’s leg. Lana went down immediately. Even though he realized the count was on by the referee, Rusev stopped to check on Lana and got counted out. Rusev screamed at Ryback afterwards. A reminder that Rusev is supposed to be the heel here.
Ambrose met with HHH backstage. On Smackdown, Ambrose earned an Intercontinental Championship match by beating Kevin Owens in a nontitle match. HHH said if Reigns doesn’t beat Sheamus tonight in 5:15, then Ambrose would lose his title shot with Owens. Ambrose looked mad. I’m not sure why since I-C champions usually job all the time.
The Dudley Boyz came out. Bubba Ray Dudley said last week was a tough one for them as they were beaten up twice by the Wyatt Family. By doing what they did to the Dudley’s, Ray said the Wyatt Family had put their names on tables. Bubba unveiled tables with the names of each Wyatt Family member on them. Bubba challenged them to come out.
The Wyatts came out. Bray Wyatt accepted the Dudleys challenge, but said they should be careful to invite the devil into your backyard because he might like it and decide to stay.
Devon Dudley said the Wyatts had his family and they have theirs. This brought out Tommy Dreamer from the crowd. He brought out the typical trash can filled with weapons. Crowd chanted “ECW.” Dreamer looked tanned and looked younger than earlier this year when he was in TNA.
The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer went to a double DQ with Eric Rowan, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman (3:30)
They got a six-way brawl going after Dreamer made the hot tag. Then the bell just sounded, which got the most heat in the match and not in a good way.
Braun Strowman put Dreamer in the head-and-arm choke while Rowan and Harper laid out the Dudleys. Wyatt ordered the heels to get the tables. As they did so, Bubba Ray got up and pushed Wyatt off the apron and through a table at ringside. Crowd popped and the heels were incensed their leader had gone through a table.
Zeb Coulter cut a promo before the match saying the fans were more concerned with Anne Hathaway’s baby bump and social media than the country. Alberto Del Rio said Goldust was out of date and full of hate. Goldust popped him across the jaw. What is the purpose behind the Del Rio/Coulter pairing?
Alberto Del Rio (C) defeated Goldust in a nontitle match (1:57)
Del Rio pinned Golddust after the double stomp off the top rope as Golddust was on the Tree of Woe. Del Rio put Goldust in a flying armbar afterwards, leading to Jack Swagger coming out for the save and the “We the People” pledge.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch talked backstage. Lynch suggested they go to the Authority and ask for a singles match. Charlotte wasn’t hot on the idea. Lynch suggested they have a match like they were on NXT again. Charlotte agreed. Ric Flair walked in for a cameo to trade catchphrases with his daughter.
Lucha Dragons and the Usos went to a Double DQ (2:53)
The New Day were on commentary. Big E. was funny as hell. He tried to talk like Michael Cole. He sounded like Tony Gwynn. Jey Uso did a tope on Sin Cara that nearly ended his career. Then Big E. and Kofi Kingston ran in for another Double DQ. Xavier Woods explained that since neither team won, the New Day wouldn’t have to defend the tag team titles at TLC. Third screw job finish within an hour. On the other hand, it’s really scary that Big E. was more entertaining on commentary in 2 minutes than Cole and JBL have been all year.
Stephanie met with Lucha Dragons and the Usos backstage. They wanted a three-way match with the New Day. Stephanie agreed to put Lucha Dragons in the match. She also agreed to include the Usos, but only if Reigns defeated Sheamus tonight.
Sasha Banks defeated Brie Bella via submission (4:58)
Sasha Banks pinned Brie Bella after a distraction from Naomi. Banks got the tapout with the Bank Statement after a Bakc Stabber. Earlier, Alicia Fox got laid out by a superkick from Naomi and was taken to the back. Announcers explained that Nikki Bella was at home nursing an injury, so Team BAD had Team Bella outnumbered.
Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus (C) by DQ so Sheamus retains the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (4:37)
Sheamus now has a “Sheamus 5:15” shirt to get heat. Crowd got into the match as the time ran down. To his credit, Sheamus played the time-killing heel very well. Sheamus constantly grabbed rest holds and rolled out of the ring whenever Reigns was on offense. Reigns finally got Sheamus in the ring set up for the spear, but Rusev showed up to jump Reigns for the DQ while Del Rio and King Barrett helped Sheamus out of the ring.
Sheamus fell all over Lillian Garcia’s lap, and she didn’t look happy about it at all. He introduced Del Rio, Barrett and Rusev as a heel stable called the League of Nations. Ambrose and the Usos hit the ring. Reigns delivered an uppercut on Sheamus to knock him into the League of Nations. They set up a eight-man tag for the main event.
For the record, since Reigns won, Ambrose and the Usos will get their title matches at TLC.
New Day did a commercial introducing New Day t-shirts as part of Cyber Monday. This was during the final hour of the show, which gave viewers two hours to get to their computers in time to take advantage of the discounts.
Charlotte (C) defeated Becky Lynch in a nontitle match (4:37)
Charlotte teased a heel turn by faking a knee injury after a float over in the corner. Flair distracted Lynch, which led to Charlotte doing a nip up and pinning Lynch with a schoolgirl cradle. Lynch acted like she didn’t know what Charlotte was doing, but Flair strutted after his daughter proved the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Paige was on commentary saying she knew all along that Charlotte was someone who would win at all costs. It also proves Charlotte is a big UNC fan.
Lynch confronted Charlotte backstage. Charlotte said she didn’t cheat to beat Lynch, she lured Lynch into letting her guard down. Charlotte said it was just tough love and trying to teach her something and talked her into giving her a pinkie swear. Paige walked up to Lynch and said at least her friendship wasn’t affected.
Next came a segment called the Rosebush with Adam Rose. It’s meant to be a takeoff of Entertainment Tonight. I haven’t seen a segment like this since ODB’s old Trailer Park talk show when she had Magnus on one night. His closing line was “The dirt is always blooming,” which seemed like a shot at newsletters.
Stardust held up a Christmas star and called for the Ascension to rise. Instead, Titus O’Neal showed up and started singing Christmas carols like “Stardust got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Stardust starting hissing at him, but O’Neal threw a present in his throat and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Before the eight man main event could begin, the New Day came out again and announced they joined the League of Nations team to make the main event 7-on-4. They were selling merchandise 15 minutes ago and now they’re heels again? And shouldn’t the League of Nations establish themselves as a quartet before they receive extra help?
The League of Nations and the New Day defeated The Usos, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns (25:10)
Crowd was dead to begin with, but the weird booking just killed it dead. Plus, they went 10 minutes too long. Crowd was more into Ambrose than Reigns. Jimmy Uso started selling his knee from getting the heat and had to leave the match, leaving the babyfaces down 7-on-3. Didn’t we just see Charlotte fake the same injury in the previous match? Ambrose did a plancha onto five of the heels, and later took out Sheamus with a tope. Reigns hit Del Rio with a Superman Punch and gave Big E. a clothesline on the floor. As Ambrose took out Barrett, he walked into a Brogue Kick by Sheamus and was pinned.
Heels picked apart Ambrose until Reigns tried to make the save. Reigns got laid out with a Brogue kick and the heels posed.
SUMMARY:
I feel like using a facepalm emoji. Need a new heel unit? Great idea. Why water them down in the main event with three more heels? Main event was overbooked. Why does Ambrose continue to do more jobs when he’s the most over babyface they have? Becky Lynch could be a great babyface. This company doesn’t know how to make babyface stars anymore because she came off looking like an idiot on this show. Almost all the matches were too short, and the only one that wasn’t was too long. If this one does a 2.0 against a bad MNF game, who will Vince blame? He needs to start with the face in the mirror.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back tonight to talk all the latest news, including Raw notes for tonight, whether Ronda Rousey should face Holly Holm next or if one or both should fight someone else in between, random wrestling and MMA news notes, plus the next round of the WWE 2K16 Filthy Four tournament! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Ric Flair is scheduled to appear on tonight’s WWE Raw show in Pittsburgh, PA.
Flair is in Pittsburgh now, but he is at a lot of WWE shows backstage because of daughter and current Divas Champion Charlotte being in the promotion. However, he was scripted into the show as of earlier today. Most likely, his role will be something to do with Charlotte’s angle with Paige, but as we know, WWE can change on a dime when it comes to scripts.
With a weak NFL Monday night game as competition (Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns), as far as the competition goes, Raw should rebound over last week’s 18-year-record low in the ratings. A number approximating last week’s would indicate the problem is deeper than NFL competition.
No matches have been announced at this time for the show, which, given the three weeks between shows, should include announcements of most of the top matches for the 12/13 TLC pay-per-view show.
Submitted by Edward Maustin
– Ryback beat Erick Rowan
– Zack Ryder beat Bo Dallas
– NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Baron Corbin to retain
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens beat Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose in a triple threat to retain.
– Kane and the Usos beat The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman).
– WWE Divas Champion Charlotte and Becky Lynch beat Team BAD (Sasha and Naomi) w/Tamina
– WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio beat Neville to retain
– Roman Reigns beat WWE World Champion Sheamus by DQ
Notes:
– Pretty good show. Best match in my opinion goes to ADR and Neville — an excellent match that was half technical and half high flying.
By Greg Merreighn Jr.
Decided at the last minute to take my son Ian (whose birth got a shoutout by Dave on wrestlingobserver.com a little over 7 years ago) to his first WWE event at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO.
Ryback vs. Erick Rowan.
Ryback won via Shellshock.
Bo Dallas vs. Zack Ryder.
Zack Ryder won via Ruff Ryder.
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin.
Balor won via top rope double foot stomp.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose.
Ambrose got huge pop. Owens was on the floor when Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Ziggler in the ring. Owens pulled Ambrose out of the ring and threw him into the steps and pinned Ziggler. Best match of the night.
Usos & Kane vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman.
Kane pins Harper with a chokeslam. Good match.
Naomi & Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch & Charlotte.
Charlotte submitted Naomi with the Figure Eight. Good short match.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Neville. No Zeb Colter.
Del Rio won with the top rope foot stomp with Neville lying in the ropes in the corner. Good match.
Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns.
Biggest pop of the night for Reigns. Huge “You look stupid” chant at Sheamus. Sheamus was the most hated man in the building and has the cocky heel persona down. Good match with Reigns kicking out of all of Sheamus’s big moves.. Kevin Owens ran in and attacked Reigns for the DQ leading to Ambrose making the save. Sheamus missed a Brogue Kick leading to Reigns hitting his spear to send everyone home happy.
Overall a fun house show.