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Tag: WWE

  • Scott Hudson: “Michael Cole sucks” & “JBL is terrible”

    Former WCW & TNA commentator Scott Hudson didn’t hold back in a two-hour conversation with IYH Wrestling Radio, unloading on current WWE announcers, the failed Invasion angle, and the recent Reid Flair death mention in an angle with Charlotte and Paige.

    Excerpts provided by IYH’s Vic Vic Schiavone with the full interview available here:

    – On the current state of wrestling commentary:

    “Well first, Michael Cole sucks. That guy couldn’t call a one-horse race. Unfortunately, the best announcer they have on RAW is Byron Saxton, and they don’t let him show his stuff. JBL…he’s terrible, he’s horrible…They don’t know what to do, but then again I’ll give Cole at least a little bit of credit in that he’s doing what he’s told. If he wasn’t doing what he was told, he would be working for Joey Styles at the dot com office. And that’s sad, is that they’ve got the best announcer in the last twenty years on staff not announcing. The guy for New Japan, Mauro Ranallo, he’s the best announcer in wrestling and it’s not even close. He’s fantastic. The guys on Ring of Honor, Kevin Kelly and the rest of that bunch, they’re good, too. But the announcing on basically every WWE product across platforms is atrocious.

    I’ve gotta say this, I’m a huge mark for The King (Jerry Lawler); he could read things out of the phone book and I would listen. So I love The King, take him out of that equation, otherwise the announcers there are worthless. But, to their everlasting credit, they’re doing what they’re told. And Vince (McMahon) is happy as a clam, watching ratings…and viewership and everything else and gimmick sales go right in the tank.”

    – On the WWE Invasion angle:

    “Keep this in mind…when they bought us out, should there ever have been a bigger angle than the Invasion Angle? Because you had ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) thrown in there, too…That angle, start to finish, should still be going today, fourteen years later. And the problem is one person’s fault, and that’s Vince McMahon. He would not in his dying breath put over a WCW talent or an ECW talent. Now…some guys got over in spite of Vince trying to bury them, but Vince’s whole idea was to bury both companies. It wasn’t to make money by saying “Oh my God, this is WCW vs. WWE vs. ECW”, it was “This is WWE, stop. WCW and ECW guys are job guys.” That’s all he wanted, that’s all he saw, and he did not care that he was sitting on a 20-million dollar profit. He was comfortable with a 2-million dollar profit because he got to bury WCW and ECW.”

    – On the current state of wrestling:

    “Actually I like all the guys in The Shield, the Wyatt Family guys are entertaining to watch, but the guys out there now, to bring this whole show full circle, it’s all promos. When we had WCW, we had the Power Plant and we brought in the bunch called The Natural Born Thrillers ((Chuck) Palumbo, (Mark) Jindrak, (Shawn) Stasiak, Reno, Mike Sanders). All those guys, with the exception of Sanders, they were all horrible promos. I mean, terrible. But they were great athletes…I mean you go back and watch that stuff they were incredible workers, but they couldn’t cut a promo if you had a gun to their head…And it’s like The Natural Born Thrillers are now the entire roster of the WWE top to bottom: great looking guys, average to fantastic workers, no promo ability; none. I think I mentioned on some discussion the other night that I had online that listening to Roman Reigns cut a promo has all the fire of a Dr. Ben Carson haiku reading. And that’s probably being kind to both of them.”

    – On using Reid Flair’s death as part of an angle:

    “Well, there’s been so much made of that from Monday night with Charlotte and Paige, but…has the death of Ric Flair’s son ever been used in an angle before? No. But has something as disgusting because it’s real been used in a promotional angle before? Sure…Katie Vick…Hunter accused Kane of murdering and I guess burying a high-school cheerleader…That obviously wasn’t real, but that’s disgusting. And there have been other disgusting things like Blackjack Mulligan’s heart attack…there was a David and Mike Von Erich memorial parade of champions…they named the show after the two dead guys, much less invoking the name of Reid Flair Mondaynight on RAW. The fact that it’s raising so many eyebrows means that wrestling might have actually not had to resort to that level of angle to get stuff over for so long that this seems so disgusting when in the whole course of history it has been lapped several times in the disgusting category.”

  • October 12, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Monday Night War ratings effect on Monday Night Football, UFC woes, plus more

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  • WWE Raw live results 11-23: Survivor Series Fallout

    The Big Takeaway: 

    Sheamus faces Roman Reigns in a TLC match at the TLC PPV. Since Seth Rollins is on the shelf, the overriding buildup of HHH vs. Rollins has now turned into HHH vs. Reigns, as that was the tease during the 20 minute opening segment. A long show and a cold one, though Reigns got a good response. 

    Show Recap: 

    Superstars matches:

    R-Truth beat Adam Rose
    The Miz beat Zack Ryder

    Raw will be returning to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on 2/29.

    Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster with the code word TICKETS.HHH and Stephanie McMahon are first out, which is one hell of a way to get the new champion over. HHH said he gave Roman Reigns an opporutnity of a lifetime several times, but Reignss told him to shove it. HHH introduced Sheamus as a man who knew how to seize an opportunity. 

    So out came the James Hetfield look-a-like who dropped 9 of his previous 10 matches before he beat Reigns last night. He got some good heat. Sheamus said Reigns’ “Roman Empire” lasted only a few minutes. Sheamus mentioned how Reigns cried at the end of the match. If they want to get Reigns over as a babyface that fans won’t boo, I think they need to obscure that part of history ASAP.

    This brought out Reigns, who got “Roman” chants. Reigns said he wanted his rematch tonight, which got “Yes” chants. Stephanie stepped in front of HHH and said any chance Roman had to dictate terms to them was lost when Reigns speared HHH. Roman asked HHH if Stephanie was standing in front of him because he was scared.

    What followed was exactly why WWE finds themselves in the predicament they’re in. HHH and Reigns had a long staredown while the new champion was just a background piece. It was supposed to get monster dual chants going, but it got a mild reaction. So with Rollins out of the picture, it’s going to be HHH vs. Reigns at some point down the line until Vince changes his mind again. HHH said Reigns wasn’t getting his rematch tonight. At that point, Rusev ran out of the crowd and hit Regins with a thrust kick. Sheamus followed up with a Brogue Kick.

    As the heels retreated up the ramp, HHH announced that Reigns would face Shemaus in a TLC match at the TLC PPV. Stephanie ordered Reigns to face Rusev tonight.  

    Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt defeated the Dudley Boyz (7:49)

    Luke Harper pinned Bubba Ray Dudley after a clothesline. Bubba looked like a geek at the finish, because he got distracted by Bray who…was standing on the apron. Then he got pinned with a transitional move. Braun Strowman came in afterwards and gave Bubba the Head-and-Arm Choke, which Michael Cole is now calling a bearhug. Wyatt left Devon Dudley laying with Sister Abigail. Wyatt in a tag team ruins his aura, but not any more than his two programs with the Undertaker. 

    They continue to run the 25 years of Undertaker vignette, which ran twice last night. 

    Sasha Banks defeated Becky Lynch (4:06) 

    Becky Lynch didn’t even get a ring entrance. Lynch got the Disarm-her, but Tamina took the referee while Naomi pulled Sasha Banks to the ropes. Lynch went after Naomi, allowing Banks to get the pin with a schoolgirl cradle. 2 distraction finishes in 2 matches. Banks is a star on NXT. On the modern day Raw roster, she gets McMahoned/Dunned. (That’s a good name for a heel tag team, BTW) Same applies to Lynch. 

    Cole built up Banks as a future contender when Paige appeared on the big screen to shout him down. Paige claimed that Charlotte cheated to win last night at Survivor Series because when Charlotte applied the Figure Eight, her hand was under the ropes. Paige claimed Charlotte was just like her father, the dirtiest player in the game. 

    They showed the trailer for “Santa’s Little Helper,” starring the Miz. I’d like to remind everyone Mystery Science Theater 3000 is launching a campaign to return to TV. 

    The New Day came out to celebrate its 1st birthday. They came out with stick rocking horses and toy cowboy hats. Big E. got the DieHard “Yipee Ki Ay.” Kofi Kingston talked about how country music sucks, which actually got a pop. Kofi and Big E. sang with the thickest twang they could about losing dogs, girlfriends, and tractors while Xavier Woods played the trombone, then sang “Mamas Don’t Like Your Babies Grow up to be Bootee.” Woods has a great voice. He issued an open challenge for the WWE World Tag Team championship. Lucha Dragons came out. 

    Kalisto spoke about being serious about facing the tag champs. Sin Cara, for the first time I can recall, talked and wished them a happy birthday. 

    New Day started to leave when the Usos came out to stop them. Sin Cara told the Usos they were out there first and suggested a triple threat match. Big E. got mad at them for ruining their jamboree. Woods said the open challenge had been canceled. So Jey Uso decked Woods. The Usos gave Kingston a double superkick while Big E. was sent over the top rope. Rare New Day segment that died after the first few minutes. 

    Renee Young did an interview with Charlotte and she built up her match with Paige later tonight, which really made me glad I missed their match last night since it’s now rendered meaningless. Of course, the company rendered their own world title tournament they had built for 3 weeks meaningless last night in about 2 minutes, so we’ve got a theme going. 

    Neville defeated Mark Henry (2:25) 

    This one did one no one any favors. Mark Henry gave Neville a Beal from the corner, then acted like he didn’t want to hurt Neville as he rolled out of the ring. So Henry distracted himself and didn’t see Neville get in the ring. Neville hit a kick to the head, Henry sold it like he was dead and Neville got the pin with the Red Arrow. Cole called it a huge upset. Hasn’t Henry done nothing but jobs for months? Henry met Neville and shook his hand afterwards. So Neville was the only babyface eliminated in the Survivor Series match last night, and won tonight. 3 segments in a row that made last night meaningless. 

    Stardust was backstage in his liar going crazy about Cesaro being out when Titus O’Neal showed up. O’Neal mentioned taking a wrong turn, then noticed a titanium figure in Stardust’s room. Titus claimed it was in the shape of the Florida Gators. When Stardust looked, Titus did his dog bark to scare Stardust. Something about seeing Titus taking a wrong turn was amusing. 

    The Prime Time Players and Golddust defeated The Ascension and Stardust (6:11) 

    O’Neal pinned Viktor after a Spinebuster. Darren Young got the heat. It was OK. 

    Zeb Coulter and Alberto Del Rio came out. Coulter ripped the crowd saying the borders of MexAmerica were now closed because people weren’t listening to their message. People tend to do that with dead gimmicks. Jack Swagger returned saying Coulter had turned his back on the people and his country. He said Coulter used to stand for something. Yeah, xenophobia. He didn’t mention that part. 

    Del Rio shouted him down. Swagger promised to defend his country against all doubters, foreign and domestic. He dared Del Rio to do something about it. They had a staredown. Del Rio held up the U.S. title and walked out to boos. Swagger led the people in a “We the People” chant. 

    Charlotte (C) and Paige went to a double countout (14:56). Charlotte retains the Divas Championship. 

    They exchanged holds for most of what aired. Paige tripped Charlotte off the second rope with her head hitting the back of the turnbuckles. Paige used various leglocks and a Bow and Arrow. Unfortunately, Charlotte didn’t sell her leg as much as she should have. Charlotte speared Paige through the ropes, leading to a double countout, a finish the crowd booed. That didn’t help matters since the fans were dead for most of the night. Afterwards, Paige continued her gimmick of doing submission holds on the announcer’s table by giving Charlotte the PTO. If Cole could explain what difference it makes when Paige does the PTO on the announcer’s table, I’d really appreciate it. Charlotte has great facials selling submissions, showing the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. 

    Heath Slater came out. Swagger. Slater. It’s like the Witness Relocation Program all-stars came out in full force tonight. He ran down Dirks Bentley, Johnny Cash and teased singing. Ryback came out to total silence. Slater busted his guitar over Ryback’s back, but Ryback didn’t sell out. Crowd did start a “Feed Me More” chant as Ryback gave Slater a spinebuster, Meat Hook Clothesline and the Shellshock. Same segment you’ve seen 100 times with Slater, which I guess is better than getting released. 

    Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler defeated Tyler Breeze and Kevin Owens (5:27) 

    Dean Ambrose pinned Tyler Breeze with Dirty Deeds. Already, Breeze is in the 50/50 club. None of these men got a ring entrance. So much of Breeze’s routine is the entrance. How can you not fit that in on a 3:15 show? Fortunately, they made up for it with Breeze and Kevin Owens doing the tag partners who don’t get along gimmick, which got old in TNA around 2006. Dean Ambrose hit a tope where Breeze tookd a nasty fall. Looks like they’re setting up Owens vs. Ambrose for the Intercontinental championship. 

    Cute product placement for Tex/Mex Chicken Sandwiches at Carl Jr’s./Hardees with JBL, El Torito and Henry. It showed Torito coming out in JBL’s gear getting a huge pop from a crowd that was edited to look live. This was a trip. An acid trip. 

    As Sheamus came out for the main event, they showed a tweet from Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly congratulating him. That’s apropos, because one person has backdoored into a championship opportunity they had no business getting. And the other person was Sheamus. 

    Roman Reigns defeated Rusev by DQ (18:46) 

    Sheamus interfered freely, which led to him being sent to the back. Rusev pulled off a cool spin kick that caught Reigns across the forehead. Reigns escaped an Accolade attempt and hit a Superman’s punch, but Rusev kicked out. Reigns gave the sign for the spear, but Rusv rolled out of the ring. Reigns teased the Drive By, but Rusev hit the thrust kick. Rusev repeatedly rammed Reigns’ head into the table, but again, Reigns barely sold it. Reigns hit a Superman’s Punch while Rusev was on the apron, and Rusev took the Nestle Tea bump on the floor. Reigns caught the Drive By. King Barrett ran out, for some reason, to attack Reigns for the DQ. Both men really worked hard and it was the best match of the night with a bad finish. 

    Barrett pulled out a chair. Rusev teased hitting him with it, but Reigns got it and hit Rusev with it repeatedly. Sheamus ran down, only to take a chair shot to the back. They teased Rusev, Barrett and Sheamus as a new heel trio. 

    SUMMARY: 

    There’s little hope for this company to build a new star if they keep going back to 1999 in order to find big matches. With HHH as the de facto top heel, that makes Sheamus look like his understudy. In other words, they learned nothing from how poorly Rollins was booked. This show had too many bad finishes and the crowd was lifeless most of the way. 

  • WWE Main Event results: Heath Slater compared to a cat using a litter box

    By Alan O’Brien for WrestlingObserver.com

    The Main Takeaway:

    WWE really wants you to like Titus O’Neil.

    *****

    The Usos pinned Adam Rose & Brad Maddox (7:30)

    But first, viewers were treated to the now obligatory Adam Rose C-show pre-match promo, in which he blames the fans for his previous gimmick not getting over.  This was the same old, same old – delivered in a weird hybrid of his the Adam Rose voice and Ray Leppan’s actual voice – with one exception. He finished by introducing us all to the returning Brad Maddox.

    Brad gets some mic time of his own as he rushes down the ramp, calling the fans “morons” and reminding them that he was fired as RAW General Manager in this very building last year. He attributes his black attire and new dyed-blonde hair to an “identity crisis” and has just enough time to favourably compare the latter to the “puke-orange” University of Tennessee colours before the producer cuts him off abruptly!

    Boring match here, with The Usos coming off poorly for taking so long to put away jamokes of this stature. Not helped by Tom and Byron on commentary, who bury Maddox by speculating that he may have been the worst general manager of all time.

    Personally, I thought he excelled in that role. The role of wrestler? Not so much. Although Bradley had the words “REAL GOOD” embroidered on his black tights, his heel work was anything but here – including a seemingly never-ending heat segment at the expense of Jimmy Uso.

    Jimmy eventually tagged out when Brad apparently attempted a Rough Ryder in the corner, crotching himself on the top rope. Jey came in off the lukewarm tag and cleaned house, leading to the finish of stereo superkicks to Adam Rose followed by a Superfly Splash from Jimmy. Poor Adam. This time last year he was wrestling on the Survivor Series main card.

    – Tom Phillips, now sporting facial hair in an attempt to make him look older than 16, throws to a video package featuring Titus O’Neil helping to raise money for a Navy Seals Museum. This featured Titus smiling widely, shaking hands and bumping fists. It also featured his advocate-in-chief, Batista, telling us how great “The Real Deal” is. Is he over yet?

    – Backstage, the lovely Jojo wants to ask Titus some hard-hitting questions about his vital main event match with Heath Slater tonight. Titus cuts her off to do some dumb comedy with tag partner, Darren Young. Darren has bad breath! He’s going to turn Heath Slater into the ONE MAN BODYCAST! Oh man, my sides. He then finishes this lead balloon of an interview by creeping everyone out, hitting on the lovely Jojo (“You don’t have to buy a t-shirt, ‘cause I’d give you one! Woooo!”). Is he over yet?

    Naomi w/Sasha Banks and Tamina submitted Alicia Fox w/Brie Bella and the worst hairstyle ever (5:53)

    Seriously, Foxy’s new hair needs to be seen to be believed. She has voluntarily given herself the largest receding hairline known to womankind. It’s incredible.

    The third Bella worked face here, falling victim to the dreaded distraction finish. Usual bad divas match, in which they poorly attempted some silly looking athletic spots with no underlying psychology. Also featured the loudest spot call in history, when Naomi emerged from the corner after rubbing her buns in Fox’s face, shouted “RANA!” on camera, and then proceeded to do a ‘rana.

    Finish made Fox look like an idiot (as all WWE babyfaces apparently should), voluntarily running over to swat away both Sasha and Tamina from the apron, leading to a rollup and Naomi’s new submission finish – a leg-based head-and-arm choke. Looked kinda crummy, to be honest. Kinda really crummy.

    Titus O’Neil pinned Heath Slater (6:35)

    The “Terrible Announcing Line of the Night” award goes to Byron Saxton, who proclaimed upon Slater’s entrance that he is “like a cat who refuses to use the litter box….he does his own thing!” Jesus.

    Either Byron or Tom helpfully informs us that these two men formed a tag team on this very programme just over a year ago. The now-defunct SlaterGator also featured on last year’s Survivor Series main card. Their opponents? Adam Rose and The Bunny!

    Long shine segment for Titus consisting solely of him slapping Heath in the chest repeatedly. Nice moveset there, homes. Heath eventually transitions to the heat by raking the eyes off a slam attempt. Titus’ comeback emanates from a Slater headlock and consists of a big boot and what can only be described as a pumphandle drop. Genichiro Tenryu, I hope you’re taking notes.

    The finish was a Clash of the Titus off a top rope flying nothing attempt from Slater. We then get an overlong in-ring celebration from Titus. Awkward. He eventually resorts to leaving the ring and imposing the Millions of Dollars chant on an unwilling child at ringside. Seriously, is he over yet?

    Final Thoughts

    A bit of a showcase for O’Neil, who has emerged on the scene three decades too late to avail of the natural charisma and star quality he so plainly has. Unfortunately, these days, not being able to work is a major drawback. This is the guy who managed to get two bad matches out of Sami Zayn, remember? Rest of the show was a non-event really, with none of the wrestling climbing above adequate. Far cry from the Sasha/Becky and Neville/Owens matches of the last few weeks.

  • FREE! WOL 11/23: Survivor Series fallout with Sheamus as WWE champion, Steve Corino interview

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the news in wrestling, most notably, SHEAMUS as your new WWE World Heavyweight Champion! Tons to talk about plus your phone calls and emails, then we’ll be joined by Steve Corino to talk his neck fusion surgery, the timeline that brought down his storyline with BJ Whitmer, and tons more!

    This is a FREE SHOW so please spread the word! Wrestling Observer Live airs daily at noon PT/3 ET on Sports Byline USA, available free through TuneIn Radio, iHeart Radio and more. A full affiliate list is available at sportsbyline.com Subscribers have full access to commercial-free downloads plus over 7,000 new and archived shows! Dave and Bryan do minimum three shows per week in addition to as many as 20 other weekly members-only shows. Sign up at wrestlingobserver.com for all of this new audio content, plus over 7,000 archived shows dating back to 2005!

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  • Cesaro confirmed out four to six months with rotator cuff surgery

    WWE confirmed Monday that the injury to Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) is a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder and is likely to be out of action four to six months.

    In the WWE.com piece, Cesaro said he suffered the injury two months ago, but essentially ignored it, not realizing the severity. He said he had maintained range of motion and he was hurt, but his strength wasn’t down significantly and he was continuing to train on it. This past week, he had the shoulder examined and found it was a complete tear. He said he just got the word of the tear today and is having surgery this afternoon.

    The injury was reported Sunday when Cesaro was pulled from a tag team match at Survivor Series. We had been told that he would probably be needing surgery, but that was to be determined, and that he was getting the shoulder evaluated today.

    ****

    Bryan Alvarez and I discussed the injury on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

  • WWE Breaking Ground ep. 4 recap: Tag teams take center stage

    Submitted by Ryan Pike for WrestlingObserver.com

    Key Takeaway:

    A very focused episode of Breaking Ground showcased two tag teams: the all-amateur pairing of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan, and the mis-matched rookie Mojo Rawley and WWE veteran Zach Ryder. Their journey through the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic anchors arguably the series’ best episode to-date.

    Show Recap:

    This edition spent a good deal of time with four men in two tag teams: former amateur wrestlers Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, former football player Mojo Rawley and current WWE superstar (doing double-duty in NXT) Zach Ryder.

    Jordan wrestled since he was a kid, something we learn about while seeing adorable childhood photos of him in a singlet at a meet. He’s a unique case, as wrestling has given him some structure in his life – compared to two of his older brothers, who are in jail. The coaches praise his athleticism, but noted he seemed to struggle at times to be believable in the ring. Regal says that until recently, he hadn’t found his “thing,” and we get clips of Jordan as an occasional enhancement talent on NXT television.

    Enter Chad Gable. We learn a bit about him. Like Jordan, he was a high-level amateur wrestler – he went to the 2012 Olympics. He’s smaller, athletic and has charisma. Jason Albert says Gable’s personality has rubbed on on Jordan a bit, and we see them hanging out and playing basketball. “I guess you never thought you’d lose to a short white guy in basketball,” jokes Gable. Later on, we tag along with them as they drive to an event. They joke around. Later we hear that Gable hurt his ankle in Texas, and the coaches move around some matches to maximize his rest so he’s ready for the Dusty Rhodes tournament.

    The contrast to the “best friends with similar backgrounds” tag team is Mojo Rawley and Zach Ryder. Mojo’s a crazy man who used to play football and made the NFL but got injured. He buys a house and parties in it. He’s young and loud, and despite his enthusiasm it seems like he’s peaked in NXT already. The coaches discuss in a meeting that he doesn’t get what an opening match is supposed to be or have.

    Enter Zach Ryder, his new partner – and coincidentally, an opening match guy on the WWE main roster. Ryder’s more experienced and more mature, and sees the tag team as an opportunity to get back to the main roster more regularly – and to probably prove to WWE that he can be used to help younger guys, which could extend his tenure. And Rawley sees Ryder as a path to the main roster. Yet in an odd contrast, Ryder and Rawley don’t ride together (Rawley travels with Dana Brooke) and they text each other regularly, but they aren’t best friends or anything. The show seemingly goes out of its way to show Jordan and Gable riding together and being buddies and Ryder and Mojo being mis-matched.

    In addition to the main two teams, we hang out with ZZ and Cal Bishop. ZZ is still woefully out-of-shape and has horrible cardio, and actually walks out of a cardio workout (with Albert and Robbie Brookside yelling at him to continue) because he’s so blown up. Cal Bishop is a California kid signed out of college by Gerry Briscoe, but currently out with a shoulder injury. Dana Brooke and the coaches praise him for his look and his commitment, especially since he’s gone through all the rehab for his injury. He cuts a promo in promo class about adversity and battling through it. It’s actually pretty good, and they seem to really make viewers like him. On this show, that either means he’s either going to do really well or he’s going to get cut next week.

    Final Thoughts:

    The more focused Breaking Ground has been in its episodes, the better the show has been. This was easily the most focused episode and so far, the best the series has been in helping audiences get to know the NXT talent.

  • 11/23 F4D: Sheamus talks becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion

    We are back today with the full audio of the WWE conference call from Monday morning with your NEW WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, SHEAMUS~!

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  • WOR 11/22: Survivor Series PPV recap, New Japan, tons more mailbag, more!

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today with our second show of the weekend, the post-Survivor Series wrap-up show, all the matches and angles, is Roman Reigns the next Lex Luger, and more! Plus, New Japan notes, tons of mailbag questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE Survivor Series 2015 Reader Feedback

    Thumbs way down.
    All the talent and possibilities they have and those are the final two standing? Shows who the bosses want, we get. Sheamus and Reigns. Wow. Couldn’t have booked it worse if they wanted to lose viewers tomorrow night and the foreseeable future as fast as possible.
    Awful.

    Brian Mazza

    Thumbs uppish.

    Best match: Ambrose v Owens

    Worst: Undertaker/Kane v The Wyatts

    The matches were mostly entertaining if not especially memorable. The curse of the show was match endings seemingly : the traditional Survivors match (pretty good until New Day walks out, hen… well…), Charlotte/Paige, Ziggler/Breeze & the Reigns/Ambrose final were all marred by it. Only Reigns/Del Rio & Ambrose/Owens built to a satisfying payoff.

    The “surprise” Sheamus win makes sense from a story perspective, but I can’t say it makes me interested in future directions, & it didn’t do Roman any favors. For a second it looked like they were doing a double-turn with him & Triple H…

    Steven Grant

    Henderson NV

    Dave,

    This show sucked, thumbs down.

    Best match ADR vs Reigns
    Worst match 10 man tag w/Shameus

    Ambrose’s upper body is awful. Needs to get on the main event gimmicks. He looks like me when I work out and I should not be a wwe main eventer.

    I don’t know if it’s too late for this but I loved the Tenryu retirement show, big thumbs up.

    Best match Tenryu vs Okada
    Worst match tag w/Ogawa

    Thanks, Erin Hotovy

    Hi Dave,
      Just thought I would provide some Feedback on Survivor Series. I gave the show a thumbs in the middle, not that bad, good in spots, but not really that great either. Better then a “B” show, but not by much. I would have to say the best match of the night would probably be the Taker/Kane match VS The Wyatts since it was a cool spectacle but mostly just big spots at the right time, and the worst match of the night would have to be the 5 on 5 elimination match during the main show. I missed the elimination match on the pre show.

    Roman / Del Rio – I thought this was a pretty good match, my two choices for the winning the title when the tournament began was both of these guys, I think Alberto would be a great heel champ, and I think Roman would have also made for a great heel champ as well, but more on that later. Good win for Roman.

    Ambrose / Owens – Was not all that surprised to see Ambrose win, even though I was pulling for Owens since I think he is one of the most talented guys on the roster right now. But they have been building on the friendship between Roman and Dean during the tournament and what would happen if they met in the finals, so I saw the Ambrose win coming. Ah well.

    New Day / Sheamus / Barrett VS Lucha Dragons / Usos / Ryback – Match was entertaining and good for comedy because of the New Day, but also got my vote for worst match of the night because it was just a comedic throw away match. It’s hard to watch matches like this where it’s just built around the comedy segments. And I’m a fan of New Day and they have won me over with their comedy spots, but hard to take them seriously as a result and they are tag champs right now so it dilutes the title as a result.

    Paige / Charlotte – Not a bad match for the Divas title, was very good in spots and very physical, but have seen better. I think the whole angle with Flair and her late brother really just ruined the match for me, so it was hard for me to get into this match as a result. Although WWE really retracted on the angle they used on Raw and tried to back track and utilize damage control, the match was really ruined in my opinion from that tasteless angle which still has me dumbfounded why they would go that route and mention Reid Flair the way they did. Just bad taste and was not necessary at all to get the match over. But good to see Charlotte retain since Paige is starting to get annoying in my opinion as they are making her character a little too whiney and complaining. Just stick to having good matches and get the ball back rolling on the Divas revolution.

    Ziggler / Tyler – Didn’t really care who won this match since the whole feud has really been pointless. But good win for Breeze since it would be dumb to have him lose after just making his main roster debut. However having him with Summer Rae is not doing him any favors. Poor Summer just seems to be the career killer for everyone, lol.

    Taker /Kane VS the Wyatt Family – I thought this was a very good match for what it was and who was involved. I knew Taker and Kane couldn’t really do much to carry the match that long in this latter stage of both their careers and the Wyatts would really have to step up and make it look good. I think it would have been better and really a no brainer to have a traditional 5 on 5 elimination match since it would make everyone look that much better, but this seemed to work out just fine too. Really cool entrance by Undertaker, was expecting more in general throughout the night in honor of the Taker since they were celebrating his 25 years since his debut in WWE in 1990 but this match served it’s purpose well. I thought a good angle they could have utilized if they went for a traditional elimination match would be to have mystery surprise partners for Taker and Kane, possibly Sting, Batista, and Brock as his partners would have been awesome. But that’s just me playing fantasy league booker, lol. But good match otherwise.

    Roman / Dean – Not sure what to say about this match. I think Roman as a face is going nowhere fast. Evident by crowd starting to boo him. Was hoping Roman would turn heel during the match on Dean and win the title as a heel champion. I think Roman as a heel champion would be awesome. Face Roman not so much. When Roman did win the title, I automatically thought something was up since they still had plenty of time left on the show for something to happen, which I knew would not bode well for Roman. And of course that’s exactly what happened when Triple H came to the ring then Sheamus cashed in and won the title. Kind of lazy in my opinion. And Roman gets screwed out of the title again since WrestleMania. Face Roman is just not going to get over. Heel Roman will make a great champion. But Shemaus as champ? Wasn’t he just in a comedy filler mid match card? Well it was an entertaining show but not the greatest. They can only improve from this point. Go heel Roman!

    Thanks,
    Jon Southerland
    Clovis, Ca.

    WWE Survivor Series

    Thumbs in the middle: Not that great of a show, it started good but lost steam down the line. Way too many video packages and outside the ring stuff. Between the end of the Ziggler vs Breeze match and the start of the main event there were 37 minutes with just ten of in-ring action for the Taker match, only to do a rushed final. 

    Best Match: Ambrose vs Owens

    Worst Match: Tag Opener 

    1. Goldust, Neville, O’neill & Dudleys vs Dallas, Miz, Stardust & Ascension. A total throwaway match. 

    2. Reigns vs ADR. Good opener. Finally Del Rio had a good match. ***1/2

    3. Ambrose vs Owens. Very good but these two can be better; given the result, it’s possible they’ll have a feud. ***3/4

    4. Ryback, Lucha Dragons & Usos vs. Barrett, Sheamus & New Day. It started good but once the New Day walked away the match died. In fact, they never got the crowd fully back for the rest of the show. **3/4

    5. Charlotte vs Paige. They really tried and did some cool spots but the crowd was dead. Maybe it was the New Day walk out effect, the Charlotte’s brother angle effect or that people just don’t care about the divas. Maybe a bit of all. ***

    6. Breeze vs Ziggler. Too short to be something. **

    7. Taker & Kane vs Wyatt & Harper. They put Harper there to take the bumps. Taker did his thing so it was fine. Hopefully this is the end of their feud. **1/2

    8. Reigns vs Ambrose. What they did was good but way too rushed. It was clear that there was an angle coming. ***

    9. Sheamus vs Reigns. In 2015 Sheamus is the WWE champion once again. Those title matches vs Ryback (given the result of the tag match) will be great. What’s next, Barrett turning on him? I just hope that this is not an excuse to do the dreaded Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan match at Mania (N/R)

    Leonardo Mendes Toledo

    Thumbs Up
    Best Match: Reigns v Ambrose
    Worst Match: Charlotte v Paige

    I think they made a big mistake with the succesful cash in. Could sense that was coming for Triple H to sucker him with a handshake and when Reigns is a face who sees right through it, made him stand out. If he was able to beat Sheamus too, I have to think that would have really cemented him. “This guy survived a tourney, hunter, and a cash in? Wow”. Not like they have to protect the briefcase anymore since two people have failed. This would get the case off Sheamus and potentially also allow an opponent for TLC by The Authority sending Sheamus against Reigns. But no, now Reigns is champion for a moment now has to chase *again*. No matter how the storyline spins it most audience members will now see reigns as a guy who blew it *again*

    Anyway this was another good event. At this point I forget the last PPV I didnt like. Had technical issues first 10-15 of the preshow, as a lot folks did apparently on Twitter. All three tournament matches were great. Im a sucker for Owens but thought Ambrose-Owens was the weakest of the three just slightly off but still good. Liked both elimination matches, The New Day one more. The trombone moment was priceless especially with Wade. The divas match should have started with Charlotte going balistic and there wasnt enough of that. More stiff than WWE womens matches but just lacking a little. Glad to see Breeze win after the tourney handling.

    Think WWE was hoping the crowd would take over singing for Lilian as many other sports teams have done at times like these but they didnt get going.

    So TLC will likely be the aforementioned Sheamus-Reigns match and guessing basically they “have” to have Sheamus retain which frankly sucks, makes Reigns keep choking. If theres some title held up or other wackiness its Bryan-Orton/Authority all over again.

    Reigns may not be perfect right now but they had the chance to strap a triple rocket to the guy and see what happens ans they went the other way here. Too bad.

    Michael O’Brien

    WWE Survivor Series Feedback

    Thumbs Up

    Best Match: Roman Reigns vs Alberto Del Rio

    Worst match: Goldust, Dudleys, Titus O’Neal and Neville vs Acension, The Miz, Bo Dallas and Stardust

    I enjoyed the show as a whole and am glad to have watched it. I am however disappointed in the finishing Money In The Bank angle. WWE had a chance to light a spark tonight with a great match between Reigns and Ambrose if they were given time but they went with booking that wasn’t really for me. I do hope they move toward Reigns winning the title from Sheamus at TLC or Rumble as I don’t see it as a Mania main event but they will probably want The Authority involved no matter what. They really need to move on from the booking of MITB surprise wins as it is played out after ten years. They could keep MITB and just get rid of the rule that it is any time and place.

    All that being said the in-ring action was good tonight. The semi-finals were good. Charlotte and Paige had a much better match than I expected and was the best stuff from Charlote since she came to the main roster. I liked the main show elimination match as a showcase for The New Day, Xavier Woods is one of my favorites to watch right now.

    I didn’t have a lot of interest in Undertaker and Kane, but did think that Luke Harper made the most of the showcase.

    Dave Musgrave

    Oshawa, Ontario

    Thumbs way down.

    Best match:  Ambrose/Owens or Reigns/Del Rio

    Worst match:  Reigns and Ambrose or that atrocious tag match between BOD and Wyatts.

    I don’t know what I expected from this clueless company.  The worst part is this show was good until the last two matches.  They were both so bad that it just invalidated the rest of the show.  If I didn’t enjoy the network as an entity and NXT so much I’d cancel my subscription tonight.  I sure as hell have zero interest in watching Raw now.  I mean, I was glad Sheamus cashed in but I don’t care about him as a champion, I don’t hate it like I hate Roman Reigns as a champion, but I really don’t care at all.

    And I don’t mind Reigns as a worker, I usually enjoy his matches.  The match with Del Rio was great.  But once he’s in the Cena spot you know WWE is going to write the same shitty stories with Reigns that they do with Cena.  That match with Ambrose should have been great, but it was completely devoid of any drama and suspense and the finish was flatter than Pepsi. 

    I like that guys like Owens, Neville, and Breeze are making main roster money but I selfishly wish they’d just stayed in NXT instead of being on Raw.  No wonder Finn Balor says he doesn’t want to be on the main roster.  I don’t blame him.

    By the way I didn’t think it possible since I loved him as a kid but I absolutely hate the Undertaker now and can’t wait for him to retire already.

    – Ben Brennan

    Best match Roman Reigns vs Alberto Del Rio

    Worst match Sheamus vs Roman Reigns

    Almost gave it a thumbs in the middle due to the ending but I really did enjoy everything else on the show…but they Lex Lugered Reigns, he will never be the guy after this.

    Wade Hauge

    Overall: Thumbs up show. Going into the event WWE had two main objectives; crown a new champion and cement a #1 heel. When Sheamus cashed in the briefcase and defeated Reigns, he achieved the objectives and in doing so provided a needed change to the landscape of WWE. All of the tournament matches were meaningful, different and enjoyable.  The Undertaker match was pure nostalgic fun. The rest of the card was take it or leave it. I would have left the WWE Divas title match.

    Best Match: I would provide a slight edge to Ambrose/Owens over Reigns/Del Rio, though both matches were very good.

    Worst Match: The Divas match was long and missable. They tried and failed.

    Preshow Survivor Series Match: Neville, Dudley Boys, Titus and Goldust vs. The Ascension, Bo Dallas, Stardust, and The Miz. Entertaining addition to the Survivor Series pre show. I am glad to have Goldust back. The wrestlers looked like they were having a good time at the onset. The crowd was tame for the majority of the match and the heat segment did wane. Nonetheless, it was a crowd pleasing finish with the babyface team getting a strong victory. **

    WWE World Championship Semifinal Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns. Good match. Pedestrian and somewhat clunky beginning with some well timed and unexpected transitions going down the stretch. Crowd was only lukewarm for Reigns, but they appreciated the action and effort in the ring. If the plan is to make Reigns earn the belt with two long and hard fought matches. Step one was successful. ***

    WWE World Championship Semifinal Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens. Very good match. They went back and forth to start, settled into some formula heat during the middle, and took it home with an awesome closing sequence. The crowd is interested, but they don’t seem invested in cheering one wrestler and booing the other. ***1/2

    WWE Divas Title Match: Charlotte vs. Paige. Disappointing contest.  The action was okay at best and the story was inconsistent and difficult to follow. Many contrast the difference in presentation of women in NXT compared to WWE. Not enough emphasis is placed on the disparity of in ring quality between women in NXT and WWE.  The fact that the same women who shined in the ring in NXT look confused and uncoordinated in WWE is baffling. *1/2

    Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler. The action was crisp, the crowd was cold. Call it the crowd, call it the spot on the card, call it whatever you want; the reaction and crowd response was absent. **

    Survivor Series Match: Ryback, Lucha Dragons, and The Usos vs. The New Day, Shemus, and King Barrett. Bizarre layout for a heel vs. face Survivor Series match. Up to the point that the New Day left, the action was strong. Once the New Day left, the air was let out of the room. The most unlikeable character in the match, Sheamus, was the most valiant and courageous of the ten.  The last five minutes felt like dead air. **

    Brother of Destruction vs. Wyatt Family. Fun nostalgia match that served as another enjoyable pit stop on the Undertaker retirement tour. Taker looked good and Kane, Harper, and Wyatt fulfilled their respective roles sufficiently. An angle closing match that ended with an emphatic exclamation point that pleased the live crowd. ***

    WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose. Shorter than expected, but intense and competitive while it lasted. The match ended before they reached the peak, which made the finish less predictable. All of the after the bell shenanigans, from the show of respect, to the confetti, followed by the spear to Triple H, and concluding with the MITB cash in and Sheamus victory were all spot on. **3/4 for the match.

    Derrick Hubbard

    Definitely a THUMBS UP.  A solid show all the way around.

    Good tournament matches, a good backstage promo by Kevin Owens, a surprisingly good women’s match sans Sasha Banks, and a good surprise to close the show.  I *swear* when I saw that confetti, so evocative of Daniel Bryan’s title victory where he immediately lost the belt, I knew that Sheamus would be cashing in.  (I was less sure he would win, but I saw the cash in, especially with so much time left.)  I’m not sure I understand Reigns being angry with HHH, or how this is going to play out in a way that makes sense.  Also, I can’t wait until some heel or wise baby face gets intentionally counted out or disqualified at one of these unfair cash-ins.

    BEST MATCH:  I honestly think it was Reigns-Del Rio.  Del Rio looked great, and worked well with Reigns.

    WORST MATCH: Breeze-Ziggler was technically good, but lacked a bit of emotion for me.  Still, I do like Prince Pretty.  (He needs some work on promos though, as we saw in the Social Media Lounge.)

    Richard Orloski