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Tag: WWE

  • WWE RAW live results: Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro, Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler

    The Big Takeaway: 

    The meat of the show was a good, wrestling-oritented program with Roman Reigns, Alberto Del Rio, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens advancing to the semifinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Tournament. Unfortunately, the bread that contained that meat was a bad segment with the Undertaker, Kane and the Wyatts combined with the most disgusting angle the WWE has done in years. It was a segment so putrid, it’s one of those times you wonder how the WWE won the Monday Night Wars, then remember it was more the stupidity of the opposition than the skill of the winners.  

    Show Recap: 

    They opened the show with a moment of silence to honor the victims in the terrorist attacks in France. In retrospect, this was mordibly ironic. 

    All four quarterfinal matches in the World Title tournament will air tonight. That includes Neville vs. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto.

    A group of faceless druids in dark robes came out in advance of the Undertaker and Kane’s entrance. The preceding three sentences took ten minutes of air time.

    Kane said they reserved a special place for Bray Wyatt and his family in the darkest pits of hell. Apparently, they run constant reruns of 1999 Nitro there. 

    Undertaker said  Wyatt’s kind of evil is no match for theirs. He said the Brothers of Destruction have already decided their destiny, and they will never Rest in Peace. This led to the Wyatt Family coming out. 

    Bray said the Brothers of Destruction have reigned supreme for 25 years, and that is long enough. He said it’s time for a new Army of Darkness to emerge. Wyatt said he is the Face of Fear, and after the Survivor Series, they’ll just be remembered as the Brothers he destroyed. Wyatt added that as for the Undertaker’s Creatures of the Night, they are mine. The Wyatt flash went off, the lights went on, and the druids all emerged wearing goat face masks. Around 8 of them charged the ring, but Undertaker and Kane quickly disposed of them, choke slamming two of them. Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Eric Rowan started to go after them, but Wyatt called them back. Wyatt told them to wait until the Survivor Series, but until then, Follow the Buzzards. Does Wyatt want to start using those magical powers he showed off two weeks ago? Or has that gone the way of those earrings that Dolph Ziggler gave Summer Rae in September? 

    Kevin Owens defeated Neville in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament (10:44) 

    Owens avoided a Red Arrow and got the pin with the Pop-Up Power Bomb. As good a match as you would expect. A great false finish where Neville went for the Red Arrow, but Owens grabbed the ropes, causing Neville to crash to the mat. Owens went for the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Neville did a leap frog and pulled off a Reverse Frankensteiner that everybody bought as the finish. Owens kicked out. Neville teased the Red Arrow early, but Owens rolled out of the ring. So Neville responded with a Moonsault to the floor. 

    Out of nowhere, they showed flashback footage of Paige pinning A.J. Lee from April 2014 to win the Divas Championship in her first night on the main roster. This was done to play up a contract signing between Paige and Charlotte later tonight for Survivor Series. 

    HHH and Owens had a conversation backstage and the two shook hands.

    They aired still photographs from WWE.com of Seth Rollins undergoing surgery for his torn ACL. He’s now getting a total babyface buildup for his return, including a viral campaign using the slogan “Redesign. Rebuild. Reclaim.” That indicates some major heel turn has to be coming soon.

    Tyler Breeze defeated R. Truth (4:06)

    Tyler Breeze won with the Beauty Shot. Still can’t make sense of Breeze making his company debut with a job to Ambrose last week. 

    Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament (16:41) 

    Ambrose won after hitting Dirty Deeds following a scramble. Another very good match and this show is off to a solid start. Lots of good near falls, including Ziggler selling his knee, but still hitting a Superkick and a Famouser. They had a scientific match, similar to the old Ring of Honor Pure Championship matches. Unique spot where Ambrose and Ziggler were on the top rope together, where they did a double knockdown spot to the floor after landing simultaneous right hands. 

    Ambrose cut a promo afterwards saying if he became champion at Survivor Series, there would be less talking and more action. Well, he’s screwed. 

    The New Day defeated the Usos and Ryback by DQ (5:49) 

    Lame finish. Jey Uso got the heat for most of the match after a tope onto Big E. and Xavier Woods. Uso got the heat for most of the match until Ryback went into the ring illegally and shoved the referee for the DQ. Afterwards, Ryback threw Woods onto Big E. and Kofi Kingston. The Usos had their faces painted like the French flag. 

    HHH talked with Cesaro before his match with Roman Reigns. HHH told Cesaro he had everything it took to make it to the top, but he was lacking that extra something. He had the ability. HHH, using dialogue that sounds like it came straight from Vince McMahon’s mouth, told him to reach for the brass ring tonight, basically implying he could join the Authority if he beat Reigns. Cesaro looked at his hands after HHH left. 

    Reigns came out and talked about his fan section, dubbed “The Roman Empire.” Reigns said he knew the road was going to be tougher for him since he refused to join the Authority. But he’s gone too far to sell out now. After getting booed in Manchester, Reigns got a much better reception tonight. 

    Roman Reigns defeated Cesaro in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament (20:21)

    Reigns won after a series of counters ending with the Superman Punch and the Spear. Another solid match, but I didn’t think it was as good as Ambrose-Ziggler. Cesaro did a great job of carrying him. Cesaro went for the equalizer late, but Reigns escaped and got the finishing combination. Earlier, Cesaro twirled Reigns around for a 6-rep Giant Swing, which turned into a Sharpshooter, then a crossface before Reigns escaped with a Samoan Drop. Reigns backdropped Cesaro over the top rop, and Cesaro sold his right elbow. Reigns forgot which arm he was supposed to be selling midway through the match. 

    They did a tribute to Nick Bockwinkel, posting a graphic with JBL and Michael Cole putting him over as the greatest technical wrestler of all time. It was very nice and they invited viewers to go to WWE.com for more interviews regarding Bockwinkel. 

    The Dudley Boyz defeated the Ascension (3:12) 

    Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Viktor after the 3-D. It sure did fill 3 minutes. 

    Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter were stopped backstage by Renee Young. HHH walked in and gave the same speech to Del Rio that he gave earlier to Cesaro about going from the Man of the People to being the Man. 

    Kalisto did an inset promo about people saying his win over Ryback was a fluke. He said his dreams are bigger than any man and he’s fighting for his life. 

    Alberto Del Rio defeated Kalisto in the quarterfinals of the WWE World Heavyweight Tournament (10:04) 

    Del Rio won with the Diving Double Foot Stome while Kalisto was tied to the tree of woe. This was Del Rio’s 4th Raw since his return, and this was the third crowd totally silent for him. He feels like a bigger deal on the underground circuit that he does in WWE because they don’t know how to book superstars that will get over to minorities. It doesn’t help the pairing with Coulter isn’t over a lick. Match was a Lucha-style, which the fans in South Carolina weren’t familiar with. 

    I guess sensing the attention Holly Holm’s upset of Ronda Rousey received over the last 48 hours, they put Paige’s contract signing with Charlotte in the main event segment. These people have no clue. They went five minutes reciting scripted dialogue, which didn’t have 2% of the impact Holm’s forearm shiver on Rosey did at the weigh-in. Charlotte brought up her late brother Reid, then started to cry, and it felt so forced. Charlotte said Paige was there for her when Reid died, and she thought they were family. Charlotte said it wasn’t about a championship, it was about who has your back at the end of the day. But Paige let her selfish ways get in the way. Charlotte said a champion is someone that little girls watch at home wanting to be like. Charlotte said she won’t be champion forever, but she won’t lose it on Sunday and when she does, it won’t be to someone like Paige. 

    Paige said no one will have Charlotte’s back on Sunday, not even Ric Flair. Charlotte shouted her down and she just. kept. talking. Then Paige said something about Reid not have much fight in him. God this was awful. They started brawling, but the fans weren’t that hot for it. Charlotte kept escaping from the refs in a pull-apart while the fans just watched without reacting. Charlotte never did sign the contract, which was stupid since that’s what the whole show was built around. A disgusting segment. 

    SUMMARY: 

    There are times after big UFC events where on the following Monday’s Raw, the WWE looks like a company that lost it’s relevance and doesn’t even know it. Tonight was largely a good show which also should have anyone who cares about the WWE’s future scared straight. The final segment wasn’t manipulative. It had the ambition to manipulate but failed. And it reeked, not just in terms of quality but of an antiquated mindset of what lures viewers to shows. Charlotte is not a talking personality, but the company put her in that role. In the main event, no less. And that speaks volumes to how out of touch Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn and other WWE power brokers have worn out their welcome. I have no idea how a company that loses 25% of its audience in three years doesn’t have mass turnover at the main creative end, and tonight was a desperate ploy that failed miserably. 

  • WOL 11/16: ROH to Comet TV, Smackdown Wyatt angle, Tenryu show, more!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today to talk all the breaking news of the day, ROH on Comet TV, the hideous Smackdown storyline involving the Wyatts and how it doesn’t lead into Survivor Series AT ALL, notes from Raw tonight, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE NXT TV Taping the night before Royal Rumble in Orlando

    It looks to become tradition that WWE will run NXT events in conjunction with its big three pay-per-views after the huge success of the show two nights before WrestleMania in San Jose and the night before SummerSlam in Brooklyn.

    With the Royal Rumble being in Orlando, the home base of NXT, it was a given something would take place. With the NXT Takeover special in December in London, and the company wanting to space out the NXT big shows so more time can be devoted to building angles and keeping them special, it doesn’t look like a live special will happen.

    However, HHH announced that they would be doing a television taping on 1/22 in Orlando at the CFE Arena at the University of Central Florida campus, which is the Friday night before the Rumble.  The arena, which holds 10,000, meaning with a stage set up capacity would probably becloser to 7,000, will be the biggest NXT event ever in the state of Florida.

  • WWE TLC 3 – A look at the new December classic

    Tables, Ladders, and Chairs… Oh My! Part 3

    By: PeachMachine (@hendosfoodblog and @parkingcone)

    This week…

    TLC 3 – December 18, 2011 – Baltimore, Maryland – 1st Mariner Arena

    I’m actually looking forward to watching this show this week, as I know it can’t be three stinkers in a row.  The hype video to open the show was a really well written WWE version of The Night Before Christmas poem.  It’s only a two man announce crew tonight with The King and Cole having to fill the void of Matt Stryker. 

    Dark Match – Drew McIntyre defeated Alex Riley

    Zach Ryder defeated Dolph Ziggler (c) (with Vickie Guerrero) in a singles match for the US Championship

    • I’m predicting Zach gets axed in the post Mania clearinghouse this year.
    • We are in the middle of the “WWE must talk about twitter all the time” horrible period. 
    • Michael Cole just made as many social media references as he could. 
    • Vicki got booted for putting Dolph’s foot on the rope.  Why do refs allow anyone at ringside at anytime, ever?  What percentage of time does the person at ringside NOT get involved? 
    • This match is pretty good.  A lot of heat actually.  Too bad Zach accidentally got popular.
    • Ryder wins with the Rough Ryder.
    • I feel bad for Cole.  No way could he actually be that big of a dork.  He must hate himself.
    • Zach celebrated with his dad in the crowd. 

    Backstage, Alicia Fox chatted up Booker T until Cody Rhodes jumped him.  

    Air Boom (c) (Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne) defeated Primo and Epico (with Rosa Mendes) for the Tag Team Championship

    • Primo and Epico wore some sweet serapes to the ring.
    • The tag belts are awful.  They’re bronze.  “I’m the best at tag team wrestling.  If you don’t believe me, check out my bronze belt.”
    • King claims that Air Boom breaks the laws of Physics.  So, either Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston are wizards, or King doesn’t understand Physics.
    • Heat on Bourne is just an excuse to focus on Rosa’s, ahem, assets. 
    • Cole, “Air Boom is trending.  People are actually talking about the tag champs.” He really said that.
    • Why don’t tag matches ever end during the time of the match where two men are kicking the crap out of one? 
    • Air Boom wins with Trouble in Paradise

    Then there was a skit with Teddy Long as Santa and Hornswaggle as an elf.  They do some awful race relation’s humor, and then Swaggy gets a gift from Teddy, which is Rosetta Stone in Ebonics. I wonder if they’ll follow up with this angle and bring Hornswaggle back as a jive talking elf.

    Randy Orton defeated Wade Barrett in a tables match

    • Orton body watch:  He’s tanned out of this world, and jacked.  Definitely the best shape of his career to this point.
    • Your pretty standard table fare with a lot of brawling.  A better than average match.
    • The finish was Orton catching a diving Barrett in an RKO through a table. 

    Then we got another Santa skit with the Bella’s arguing over who was the good one.  Santa Teddy said they both were bad so Teddy gave them his card with his number.  Then Jack Swagger showed up and griped about Mark Henry.  Then Sheamus showed up and told us a story about someone getting their head in an arse. 

    Beth Phoenix (c) defeats Kelly Kelly

    • They replay the angle from the Slammy’s with Kelly Kelly winning Diva of the year.  Very prestigious.
    • Remember when these two quit WWE for no real reason?  Do you think they regret not being around for this amazing diva’s revolution? 
    • Women wrestlers can just go ahead and not make sound when selling.  It’s unsettling to hear Kelly Kelly screaming “no” and making horrible death noises while getting beaten up. 
    • Beth Phoenix wins clean after the Glam Slam.

    Alberto Del Rio is seen yelling at Ricardo when the Miz walks up to talk about their alliance.  Del Rio admits he was playing the Miz, so Miz has to take a dig at the Baltimore Ravens.  That ought to shut up world famous Baltimore Ravens fan Alberto Del Rio.  Then Ricardo come back with a pie or something and gets it shoved in his face.  They need to teach a WWE rules class at the performance center.  I’ll start a tally.  WWE Rule 1) Don’t carry a pastry anywhere.

    Booker T. vs. Cody Rhodes

    • Cody jumps Book before Book even gets to the ring and the doctors determine he is unfit to perform.  No match.

    HHH defeats Kevin Nash in a sledgehammer ladder match

    • Home Depot must have sponsored this match.   Actually, Home Depot should sponsor the whole PPV.
    • This was the ridiculous feud where Nash murdered HHH, as he laid unconscious strapped to a gurney. 
    • “The sledgehammer can be used legally to beat your opponent.” Announcer, real quote.
    • Nash comes out to the nWo music.
    • HHH spends the opening part destroying Nash’s legs, including a figure four around the ladder.  I think a higher percentage knee-destroying move on Kevin Nash would be to run an infinite crisscross.  It would be funny just to see these two in a race.  Quads vs. Knees.
    • Nash comes back and does his side slam on a ladder. 
    • Nobody has gone after the sledgehammer, because in a ladder match, you’ve already been supplied with plenty of alternate types of sledgehammers. 
    • HHH back drops Nash over the announcers’ table.
    • Here comes the table from under the ring.  So I guess tables are allowed in a sledgehammer ladder match.
    • HHH hits Nash in the head with the hanging sledge, and Nash takes a bump through the table.  That’s a decent bump for Nash. 
    • HHH starts the sledgehammer beating.  HHH connects with the pedigree and goes back to the sledge.  Nash, in desperation, throws up the click hand sign, and HHH responds with a crotch chop and a final sledge shot.  HHH wins.

    Strkyer interviewed CM Punk about the beating he took on Raw.  Punk’s promo was great.  He ran down everyone in the match, and Cole, and John Laurinitis.  Then Big Johnny showed up and they talk about the Slammy Punk was supposed to get.  Punk get’s in a “future endeavors” line, and then Johnny has to point out that he’s taller than Punk.  This company is so petty.

    Sheamus defeats Jack Swagger (with Vicki Guerrero)

    • Good thing these guys didn’t get along backstage earlier or we would not have this buffer match.
    • I guess they’re giving Vicki a second chance to behave herself.
    • Boring match.  Sheamus wins after the Brogue kick.

    Big Show defeats Mark Henry (c) in a Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

    • This was the feud where they did the ring implosion spot.
    • Show starts the match by making it rain chairs.
    • Henry had his ankle heavily taped. 
    • Show wins the title after delivering the Knock Out Punch through a chair.
    • Then Henry comes back and lays out Big Show with a DDT on the chairs.
    • I honestly wrote, “Mark Henry defeats Big Show” before watching the match because I couldn’t remember Show having a title run.  Then I remembered why…. Daniel Bryan runs in after the match and cashes in his Money in the Bank contract and pins the Big Show.
    • We just saw two title changes.

    Josh Matthews interviews Booker T and T says he’s going to fight Cody tonight!  Oh thank heavens we get that match tonight!  

    Cody Rhodes (c) defeats Booker T for the Intercontinental Championship

    • This is the storyline where Booker T had been retired for two years.  Was anyone dying for Booker T to come out of retirement?
    • I’ve never liked Booker T in any of his roles.  Ok, King Book was pretty good, but nothing else.  Well, I really liked when he and Goldust reviewed movies.  But that’s it. 
    • Cody wins after the Disaster kick, which Cole identified as, “another kick to the head.”

    CM Punk defeats Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez), and Miz, in a three way TLC match for the WWE Championship

    • Champions usually fare pretty well in three ways.  WWE loves declaring the 33% chance of winning, which is absolutely incorrect, unless of course Roxy Roxborough actually says it.
    • Punk starts climbing and as he does, Ricardo Rodriguez manages to handcuff Punk to a ladder. 
    • Punk broke free by breaking the ladder strut, to which he was attached.  In hindsight, the handcuffing was ridiculously unnecessary.
    • Del Rio delivers an enziguri on Punk and then Punk takes a bump through a table to the floor.
    • Why does Ricardo cut his hair so he looks like a vampire?
    • Del Rio gets up alone, with enough energy to dilly dally on the floor before easily setting up a ladder.  I guess he accidentally swallowed a Qualude somewhere in there, because as he steps on to the ladder, he lost the ability to move his muscles, and could not climb.
    • Rodriguez takes a bump off the ladder through a table on the floor.
    • Oh wait, now Miz handcuffs Punk to the turnbuckle which is ridiculous, but then Punk actually tries to reach for the belt, as if, maaaaaybe he can win the match from his knees attached to the ring post. 
    • Super Punk breaks free from the handcuffs a second time, climbs the ladder and dumps Del Rio, catches Miz in the GTS and climbs again to grab the belt, in really good TLC match.

    Analysis:  This show has been the best TLC to date.  The main event was very good.  The HHH match was pretty good.  The Air Boom match was short but fun, and everything else felt appropriately placed.  Even Big Show and Henry had a decent chairs match.  We saw Z Ry and D Bry win belts, and we may have seen Booker T’s last match.  I’d call that a thumbs up show. 

  • B&V 11/15: Smackdown, ROH, Tenryu Retirement Show, more!

    It’s the Sunday edition of the Bryan & Vinny Show and we’ve got so much to talk about including a review of a Smackdown so infuriating that it’s time to boycott the show for a bit, an AWESOME ROH on Sinclair TV show, and two of the top matches, including the main event, of the Tenryu retirement show. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WWE Superstars results: Fandango comes ‘home’, Dudleys team with Ryback

    The Big Takeaway:

    The Manchester crowd made this show infinitely better. Fandango was like a hometown hero in his win over Bo Dallas and The Dudley Boyz and Ryback were hugely entertaining in their win against The Ascension and Stardust.

    Show recap:

    Fandango beat Bo Dallas (3:48)

    Fandango comes out to a huge pop with literally everyone doing the Fandango; to the untrained eye, you’d think he was one of biggest stars in this company. It must have been a gigantic ego boost for him. They lock up and Dallas locks in a headlock. They chain until Dallas runs into a drop kick. They lock up again and this time Dallas slips round and uses an O’Connor roll for a two count and this means its victory lap time. Of course, it is scouted by Fandango who clotheslines Dallas out of his boots.

    Back in the ring, Dallas uses the top rope to choke Fandango, hits a big clothesline for two and then starts working him over with knees to the back. Dallas puts on a rear chin lock and Fandango is able to get out with a side suplex. Fandango then gets the heat with clotheslines and uses his newly acquired Randy Orton scoop slam. Fandango then goes up top and they tease the superplex but Dallas is fought off and Fandango hits The Last Dance for the win. The finish was kind of out of nowhere, but the match was never going to live up to that stellar reaction.

    The Dudley Boyz & Ryback beat The Ascension & Stardust Neville (7:43)

    This is all very whacky, but it sort of works and this is the ideal show for it. In the markets that this still gets TV airtime, this is very much aimed at the younger demos and so, no, we didn’t get tables. Konnor and D-Von lock up, “we want tables” chants immediately echo around the arena. Bubba Ray then tags in and runs right into a big boot. Konnor tags in Stardust, who ceremoniously strips off his glove and uses it to slap Bubba Ray round the face. This act of heinous disrespect makes Bubba Ray so mad that he hip tosses Stardust and then does the Dusty elbow on him, complete with Dusty moves and gyrations. This was great. Then the ring fills, and The Dudleys hit the 3D on Viktor and the babyfaces stand tall as we go to a break.

    When we get back, D-Von and Stardust are in and D-Von now plays babyface in peril for some time. Viktor blind tags in to take out D-Von and stomps away on him. Konnor comes in and they double team on D-Von. Konnor then works over D-Von in their corner until Stardust comes in to take over with kicks and stomps on him. Stardust leaps outside and teases going for a table, mockingly whipping the apron up and miming looking for one. He then comes off the top rope with a double axe handle. Then he knocks Bubba Ray off the apron but then runs into D-Von who uses a backbreaker and is finally able to give the hot tag to Ryback.

    Ryback takes out everyone, Viktor and stardust take press slams and Konnor takes a huge powerbomb. All three do the “feed me more” together while the numbskull heels get to their feet and stagger into triple meat hook clothes. Then they do the Whassup on Viktor followed by a crowd lead “D-Von, get the tables!” They hit the 3D on Viktor for the win. This was goofy, house show fun in front of a great crowd. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

  • 5 things you may not know about WWE’s Robbie Brookside

    By Alan Boon for WrestlingObserver.com

    One of the more fascinating aspects of WWE’s new reality show Breaking Ground is the appearance of the trainers: seasoned grapplers performing in front of the cameras in a whole new way. One of the WWE Performance Center’s faculty who may be unfamiliar to some American viewers is Robbie Brookside, a long-time face on the British wrestling scene, who spanned the transition from the old ITV television days of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks to the current, thriving scene.

    Here are five things about Robbie Brookside that you may not know:

    1) He could have been professional soccer player.

    Brookside’s father played as a goalkeeper for Preston North End, a former powerhouse of the English game. He encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps and the younger Brookside was a prodigious talent, catching the eye of scouts on his native Merseyside. But wrestling got under his skin after a trip to Liverpool Stadium, a famous old boxing venue in the city, and he began training in secret at the Liverpool Olympic Wrestling Club. He was sent to Blackpool to begin his career, where he met a young grappler by the name of Regal.

    2) He and William Regal have worked together before.

    Brookside formed a tag-team with Regal – then known as Steve Regal – called the Golden Boys, working for British mainstay Brian Dixon’s All-Star Wrestling. Their most infamous bout came in the dying days of British wrestling on ITV, when they faced the legendary Kendo Nagasaki and “Rock & Roll Express” Blondie Barrett. Yes, a man named after a tag-team. During the match, Brookside unmasked Nagasaki, who then fixed his gaze upon the young grappler, hypnotising him into attacking Regal, his own partner. It would be Nagasaki’s last appearance on TV and the show itself was cancelled two months later.

    3) Breaking Ground isn’t his US TV debut.

    After his tag-team with Regal ended, Brookside teamed up with Ian “Doc” Dean as the Liverpool Lads. In the mid-1990s, Regal invited the pair over to WCW where they spent six months as enhancement talent, racking up a dozen appearances on WCW Saturday Night, WCW Main Event, and a solitary appearance on WCW Nitro, where Brookside lost a WCW Cruiserweight title match to Dean Malenko. The hook-up even extended to a short stay in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they took part on the 1997 Best Of The Super Juniors tournament.

    4) Breaking Ground isn’t even his first reality TV show.

    In 1993, Brookside was invited to record a video diary for a BBC2 series imaginatively-titled Video Diaries. The hour-long show revealed British wrestling in one of its down periods, and a visit to Regal in Florida – made before he got Brookside into WCW – reveals the stark difference between wrestling life in the two countries. Brookside also detailed his love for heavy metal music and showed him on tour in Germany, a popular destination for British wrestlers during that time. The show is available on YouTube.

    5) He’s been training wrestlers for a while now.

    Brookside opened his own training school in the UK — Wrestleicester — in 2006. Among his graduates, who were taught a style which was based in the British hold-and-reversal catch wrestling style, are Becky Lynch and his own daughter, Xia, who has recently moved over to Orlando to further her nascent career. In addition, Brookside worked as a talent scout for WWE in Europe before moving to the Performance Center in 2013.

    *****

    Brookside should become something of a cult figure on Breaking Ground with his no-nonsense approach to life. If ever a man were going to call a spade a spade, it’s Brookside, only he’d probably do it in a more sweary, British-accented way. The talent that graduates from NXT will do so with a healthy respect for the professional wrestling business, instilled in them by one of the last of the old school of the British wrestlers, even if – and I know from bitter, personal experience – he doesn’t put much stock in the “wrestler’s handshake”!

  • WWE House Show Results, 11/14 Stuttgart, Germany, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

    Submitted By Julian Schmid

    – 3-on-2 Handicap Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) beat The New Day (Xavier Woods, Big E & Kofi Kingston)

    – Zack Ryder beat Darren Young

    – Cesaro beat The Miz

    – WWE Divas Championship Triple Threat Match: Charlotte (c) beat Paige and Alicia Fox

    – Demon Kane beat Big Show in a tables match

    – Curtis Axel beat Bo Dallas

    – Bo Dallas‘ Open Dance Off Challenge: R-Truth beat Bo Dallas

    – Dolph Ziggler beat Tyler Breeze (w/ Summer Rae)

    – Dean Ambrose beat WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens (c) via DQ. Faces make the save afterwards.

  • WWE Nottingham, England house show results (11/13): Roman gets biggest reaction for main event

    Submitted by Peter Leivers

    Neville vs. Stardust

    Loud pop for Neville and good heat Stardust. A good back and forth match finishing with Neville hitting the red arrow for the win.

    Fandango & Damien Sandow vs. Adam Rose & Heath Slater

    Another big pop for Fandango/Sandow and good heat Adam Rose pretty quiet for Heath Slater. Fandango wins with a roll-up on Slater.

    King Barrett vs. Jack Swagger vs. WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio

    Barrett got really good heat. Lots of Rooney chants after Raw on Monday.  Mix of boos and cheers for Swagger and similar for ADR although not as big a reaction. It’s a strange situation as no one seems to know who to get behind as although Barrett is in his home country he is definitely playing heel. Del Rio came out to his face music but was acting a mix of face and feel and Swagger was acting the face. All a bit confusing. ADR got the win with the arm bar on Swagger.

    Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman vs. Usos and Ryback

    Again a good back and forth match with the Wyatts breaking character to be more traditional classic heels Wyatts get the win with Strowman submissin after four good Uso superkicks.

    Naomi & Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch & NXT Women’s Champion Bayley

    Unfortunately the crowd weren’t too hot for this. The only reason I can think is that there won’t be many people are NXT in the U.K so might not be familiar of the history of Sasha, Bayley and Becky. The crowd picks up with the hot tag to Becky who wins with the arm bar.

    Lucha Dragons vs. Ascension vs. Los Matadores

    One of Los Matadores hit an Eddie Guerrero Three Amigos to Sin Cara followed by the shimmy and chest beating which sadly didn’t get a massive reaction as I don’t think it landed that it was 10 years since Eddie’s death.  George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” hits and El Tortito enters and attacks Los Matadores causing confusion leading to Kalisto hitting the Salida del Sol to eliminate Ascension.  Lucha Dragons get the win via another Eddie tribute with a Sin Cara frog splash.

    No Holds barred: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

    Reigns got the biggest pop of the night. A good match between both guys using the stairs, a kendo stick, 2 tables and chairs. Wyatt played a more classic heel role at one point shouting to the crowd, “Look at my muscles,” whilst he had Reigns in a rest hold. Both guys went though tables in good spots.  Reigns eventually got the win after Bray a hit chair placed in corner between the ropes and then spear for the 123.

    Notes:

    – A good show unfortunately no proper mention of Eddie Guerrero just the couple of spots in the triple threat tag match.

    I was at the Nottingham show in April and this was a much better show and much better crowd than last time. It was a full house and the show was announced by Eden. Pre-show, we had to vote to view a classic match on the TitanTron. We got Taker vs. Mankind at Survivor Series.

  • WWE Leipzig, Germany house show results: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens rages on

    Submitted by Markus Spitzner

    From Arena Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany

    – (Non-Title) 3-on-2- Handicap Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods). Kofi ate a 3D through a table.

    – Zack Ryder defeated Darren Young via roll-up.

    – Cesaro defeated The Miz. Longest match, Cesaro positively over with all of Germany.

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte (c) defeated Alicia Fox and Paige in a triple threat match. At first, Paige and Alicia worked together, but then they got into a fight. Charlotte pinned Alicia.

    – In a street fight, “Demon” Kane defeated The Big Show via chokeslam through a table.

    – Curtis Axel defeated Bo Dallas via roll-up. Dallas protests after the match, challenges anyone in the back to a match. R-Truth answers. Dallas quickly backtracked, and challenged Truth to a dance-off instead.

    – R-Truth defeated Bo Dallas.

    – Dolph Ziggler defeated Tyler Breeze (w/ Summer Rae) via Zig Zag. Summer was ringside at first, but got caught interfering.

    – Dean Ambrose defeated WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens via DQ after a chair shot. After the match, Ziggler, Breeze, Cesaro, the New Day, and the Dudleyz all came out. Owens took finishers from all the babyfaces to end the show.