First of all, an early Happy Birthday to your favorite NXT recapper and mine: me! But before I turn 31 tomorrow, let’s talk about NXT tonight.
Emma submitted Shazza
We kick things off with Diva’s action. It is the debut of Shazza, who is replacing Alexa Bliss as the cute little pixie-looking girl. Shazza has white-blonde hair and is not nearly as tan as the other girls, so it is shocking to the eyes when they show a closeup of her. Shazza is also from Melbourne and they pushed that she is the last person Emma wrestled before coming to NXT.
Shazza went down into the splits for a drop down spot, but when she didn’t get right up, Emma waited for her to look up and dropkicked her in the face. This match was all Emma and she won the Battle of Australia with a bridging chinlock.
– Last week James Storm cut a promo with Tom Phillips after his debut match. Storm was quite happy that the fans chanted he belonged here. If anyone doesn’t like him being in NXT, sorry about their damn luck.
– We got a Finn Balor video package, featuring interviews with a lot of the NXT fans. They also used footage from the Balor documentary they did back in June.
Jason Jordan & Chad Gable defeated Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
Jordan and Gable got a standing ovation from the crowd, which was weird since they are heels. They do love them some Gable. Ciampa and Gable began. They did the spot where they did a Greco Roman Knuckle Lock and Ciampa forced Gable down, but Gable bridged up, but was unable to hold Ciampa up when he jumped on him.
The fans love Gargano, Ciampa and Jordan as well, but they like Gable the most. They chanted Johnny Wrestling and This is Wrestling, in addition to chanting both Gable and Jordan to the tune of Kurt Angle’s WWE theme.
This was an excellent tag team match. Despite technically being the heel team Gable was the one they beat on to get the heat. Jordan got the hot tag and ran wild on both men, including a t-bone suplex on Ciampa. Gargano had the match won with a slingshot DDT on Jordan, but Gable broke it up at the last second. Finally Jordan & Gable won with their toss into a Bridging Side Suplex on Ciampa.
That was the best match on a regular NXT tv show in months.
– Bayley was interviewed by the departing Devin Taylor about her feud with Alexa Bliss. Bayley is proud to be champion and be an inspiration to children and that it bothers her that that bothers Alexa.
– Eva Marie is still in Paris and she is threatening to come back soon.
Nia Jax destroyed Kaylee
They acknowledged Nia being the cousin of The Rock. Kaylee got frequent flier miles for the amount she flew when Nia threw her across the ring in this match. Nia traded in the jumping bear hug for the jumping Over The Shoulder Backbreaker, which still wasn’t her finish. The finish saw Kaylee springboard off the ropes, but get caught, dropped with a spinebuster and Nia won with a legdrop.
During the commercial, I assume they sent out a giant spatula to get Kaylee off the mat.
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs Dash & Dawson never got started
If it feels like you’ve read me talk about this match before, it’s because they just wrestled last week. Enzo and Cass won, but got beaten down after. Enzo and Cass were walking to the ring when they were attacked by Dash & Dawson. They threw Enzo off the ramp and began working on Colin, including executing a double team maneuver to Colin’s leg.
After the match a parade of referees and trainers came out to check on Colin. No one checked on Enzo, who was in a heap on the floor.
– Alexa Bliss challenged Bayley to a 6-person tag team match and wished her luck at finding two losers to team with her.
– Next week: Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews for the NXT Championship. That announcement led to part 2 of the Who Is Apollo Crews feature. I know this goes without saying, but WWE puts together some amazing videos.
Samoa Joe submitted Tyler Breeze
Main event time. This match was set up two weeks ago when Samoa Joe eliminated Tyler Breeze during the battle royal and Breeze, frustrated, pulled Joe out as well. They did show footage of Breeze’s SmackDown debut. His best chance of success is if Vince recently watched Zoolander. In all seriousness, good luck to Tyler.
Breeze’s strategy early was to tease locking up with Joe and then quickly roll outside, which annoyed Joe to the point that Joe followed him out the third time. Of course Joe got stomped on when they rolled back in the ring. Joe used his Suicide Dive, which never fails to look impressive when the big man does it.
Breeze used his rolling backstabber on Joe, but only got a 1 count. Shouldn’t that move hurt Breeze when Joe rolls over and lands with 280 pounds on his scrunched up body? Anyway Joe made his comeback, hitting all his big moves. We saw the snap power slam and the corner uranage, but Breeze slipped out of the Muscle Buster and hit a Super Model Kick for a 2 count. The finish saw Breeze use a rollup for a 2 count and when Joe kicked out, Breeze landed in position for the Coquina Clutch.
– The show ended with a Finn Balor promo regarding his title match next week. Balor put over Crews beating Joe, Breeze and Baron Corbin in the battle royal, but the one person he did not defeat was Finn. One day Crews will be NXT Champion, but Finn vowed it will not be next week.
So that does it for this week. Next week it is Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews for the NXT Title and with that in mind, until then remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
FILTHY FOUR RADIO returns today with special guest Tom Lawlor to talk tons of different topics including the state of his concussion, Raw and Hell in a Cell thoughts, Kurt Angle and Bellator, a bunch of WWE toy talk and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Smackdown spoilers from tonight’s show in Phoenix, AZ.
Bray Wyatt came out holding Undertaker’s hat and Kane’s mask and challenged any three guys to come out and face his team.
Roman Reigns beat Kevin Owens via count out when Owens walked out after being hit with a Superman punch.
Renee Young interviewed Dean Ambrose, who said he would face the Wyatts. Young was dressed like a fairy for Halloween. Bo Dallas then showed up trying to scare her, dressed like a ghost.
The Lucha Dragons won a four-way over The Ascension, The Dudleys and King Barrett & Sheamus. The Dudleys brawled with Barrett & Sheamus to the back.
Cesaro said he would face the Wyatts.
Dolph Ziggler beat The Miz in a trick or treat street fight. The ring was surrounded by Halloween themed objects including a number of pumpkins. Ziggler put a pumpkin on Miz’s head and superkicked him. Tyler Breeze attacked Ziggler after the match until it was broken up by the referees.
Paige beat Natalya. After the match, Sasha Banks & Naomi & Tamina all beat down Natalya.
Alberto Del Rio & Zeb Colter came out and said that the U.S. title would represent both the U.S. and Mexico.
Alberto Del Rio beat R-Truth with the double foot stomp off the top.
Luke Harper & Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman beat Ryback & Dean Ambrose & Cesaro. Wyatt interfered and Harper pinned Cesaro. Reigns ran in on the Wyatts after.
The Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show is back today with RETRO TUESDAY! Both Raw and Nitro head-to-head from 19 years ago this week, including THE TURNING POINT IN THE RISE OF STEVE AUSTIN! Plus, how you can enter the CRAIG CONTEST to win a copy of WWE 2K16! A fun show as always so check it out~!
1985 was absolutely not the fabled “Attitude Era,” but it was something special, nonetheless. It was the Hogan era, yes, but the WWF at the time was full of superstars who could carry their own weight.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to put on a successful professional wrestling show, as evidenced by the all-star ensemble the WWF had in 1985. Every episode of TNT gave a wrestler a bit of a push. No matter where they were on the card, they mattered. You could be Salvatore Bellomo and we cared. You could be Hulk Hogan and we cared.
On this episode of TNT, we care, surprisingly, about all of the guests. Mixed in with some hilariously stupid and ill-informed comments from host Vince McMahon and co-host Lord Alfred Hayes and we’ve got quite the episode.
The show kicks off with Cowboy Bob Orton, sans Rowdy Roddy Piper. Vince right aways asks him how his arm is doing. Orton tells him “not good.” McMahon referenced the in-house doctor that analyzed Orton a few weeks who concluded that Orton’s arm was healed. Orton said he and Piper concluded that the doctor was “a quack.”
We go to Orton in action in the ring against jobber named Bob Marcus. Orton was a good wrestler and better than at least three-fourths of the current WWE roster. He had ring psychology — the stuff you learn really well when you grow up in a wrestling family.
Orton was a ring tactician. Headlocks, wrist locks, arm bars, he did it all. The match is highlighted by Jesse The Body Ventura who is shamelessly cheering for Orton. Ventura loved the bad guys and displayed almost an obsessive passion for them.
After Orton gave Marcus a backbreaker, Ventura says “beautful reverse back breaker from Bob Orton there. We like it Bobby, Bobby we like it. He would show signs of his hot and heavy selling for a wrestlers throughout his career, with his description of Ravishing Rick Rude at the original Slammy Awards probably being his apex of his fandom.
Ventura continues to gush about how it takes a lot of guts to step back into the ring with an injury.
“You know everybody says Bob Orton is using that cast as a weapon, but I don’t think so,” Ventura says “I think it is a hindrance. I have seen Bob Orton better without that cast.” Orton wins with his patented Superplex.
Back on the couch, McMahon asks Orton if anyone has ever kicked out of the Superplex. Of course not. This is 1985, not 2015, where it would have taken three Superplexes with the final one on top of a steel chair for Orton to get the win. Orton says no one has ever kicked out of the move and no one ever will. McMahon tries to cause more trouble, asking Orton how much money Piper takes from him. Orton doesn’t sound worried. He shows off a $10,000 Rolex that Piper gave him.
Since when is Piper Orton’s manager. I thought Orton was his bodyguard? Orton insists that “Piper takes care of me.”
McMahon not getting the answer he wants from Orton asks Hayes, who says since Piper is Scottish he is stingy and that Orton is probably making only “$200 or $300” per appearance. WOAH! Slow down. Orton’s not making Wendi Richter money, now. McMahon tells Orton that he needs to check around make sure he’s not getting robbed by Piper and Orton shuts him down.
“I keep myself on horses and in blue jeans. I am happy,” Orton says.
It’s time for our next guest, Gamma Singh. McMahon shows us that you can be brilliant and also not know geography: He introduces Singh as hailing from the country of India before correcting himself saying “the continent of india.”
Singh, uncle to Jinder Mahal, walks out in his turban and traditional Indian garb. McMahon, because he loves to focus on ethnic stereotypes, asks Sing about his challenges in wrestling in America. Singh says learning English was tough and was finding protein other than beef to eat. He doesn’t eat beef.
Singh educates McMahon about the turban. He says that unfortunately everyone thinks when they see him that he is “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.” Singh explains that he wears the turban because he is a member of the Sikh religion and that the Sikhs started to wear the turban to distinguish themselves from other people during times of war.
McMahon doesn’t seem too interested in any of this. We go to the ring and and see Singh in action against some guy whom the announcers only refer to as “Butler.”
McMahon and Bruno Sammartino have to be the worst wrestling announcing team in history. And it’s not McMahon’s fault. Bruno is relentless in wanting to always talk about how “in-shape” or “out-of-shape” a wrestler is. That being said, Singh did not have a great body by WWF standards at the time. He was not overly muscular or even fit. Still he was quite the aerial wrestler and showed great submission skills.
Singh won with a flying dropkick. I don’t remember seeing much of Singh during this period. Unless you are 7 foot 4 inches tall and nearly as wide, the Indian wrestlers never really got much of a push. Since Singh is Indian, of course he has to be part of this week’s culture segment. From the deepest, darkest parts of India, Singh has brought an Indian Rock Python.
B. Brian Blair, who is a guest later on the show, is modeling the python, although McMahon doesn’t acknowledge it at the time.
Blair looks really uncomfortable holding this snake and very quickly it gets out of hand. The snake appears to lunge at Blair’s mouth and Blair full-on drops the python on the ground. Blair goes after the python and pulls it by his tail before a handler comes out to take control of the snake.
During all of this, Singh explains how how that snake eats eats rabbits, chickens and ducks, but when he gets older he will need to eat goats and other larger mammals. Scary.
After the snake is escorted off the set, McMahon asks Hayes if he ever wrestled in India and Hayes reminds us just how dorky he is. Hayes says that in India there are wrestlers who are champions of their village and over time they wrestle for championships in their states.
“There are just millions of wrestlers in India,” Hayes says. I guess statistically that is possible.
McMahon, not wanting to be outdone by Hayes for lamest comment of the show, asks Singh why so many Indians have the name Singh and if it is “like Jones in America.”
Singh, who’s coming across like the smartest guy in the room (affirmed later when Mr. Fuji and Muraco show up) explains that all male Sikhs have “Singh” as part of their name. It means “tiger-hearted.”
“If you are a male Sikh, you are a Singh,” he says. The segment ends in time for our next guest, B. Brian Blair.
I never liked Blair at the time. I thought he was a great in-ring performer, but super boring and when he got put in the Killer Bees tag team, it absolutely killed him.
But on this episode he was pretty incredible. Had he learned how to point his two index fingers into the air and shout “Yes!” three times, he might have been a big star (particularly since Triple H wasn’t around). Blair came out in a tight red T-shirt and immediately broke character.
“I am still shaking,” he said, after hold the snake that got loose. “I didn’t’ think they were that strong. I know I am supposed to be a tough wrestler, but I am still shaking.”
We go to the ring and see what made Blair so good. He was at least as good as Bret Hart on the mat, and wrestled a lot like Daniel Bryan. He could do a running knee, a sunset flip and a flying forearm with the best of them. He put on a wrestling clinic against Steve Lombardi, contorting him in positions that are typically only reserved for a yoga class.
Bruno is on the mic and of course has to say what he says about every wrestler with muscles. “Blair is a fine-looking athlete,” Sammartino says. “He is a beautiful wrestler. He is always in tip-top shape.”
Later Bruno says, “not an ounce of fat on his body,” about Blair. McMahon says “Blair will show you all the basics and then some.”
Blair wins the match after coming off the top rope. Before he leaves he plugs an upcoming wrestling tournament sponsored in his name by the Police Athletics League. Blair was probably ahead of his time. He could have been tearing it up in NXT, or kicking out of near-falls in a 30-minute classic with John Cena.
In our final segment, we get the Magnificent Muraco and his manager Mr. Fuji. I have never quite figured out Muraco. He just seemed really creepy to me and hanging out with the maniacal Fuji didn’t help much.
Muraco must have been getting a push here because he is calling out Hulk Hogan and says that he wants a title shot. We go to the ring and we get Muraco against Salvatore Bellomo, one of the TNT veterans. Bellomo, a first-ballot jobber Hall-of-Famer, has a body that let’s just say Bruno Sammartino would not describe as “tip-top shape.” Muraco looks a bit more cut than I remember.
Muraco is dominating the match because that’s what he is supposed to do; he’s getting the push so he needs to win and look good, not lose for the sake of losing in an endless cycle of even-steven booking.
Bellomo puts up a good fight, getting in some right hands, but Muraco is too strong for him. Bellomo goes for a high-cross body block and Muraco catches him and gives him a tombstone pile driver. Back on the couch, Muraco calls the move “the most vicious hold in professional wrestling today. Well, it certainly worked for the Undertaker for 21 years.
It’s been a couple weeks since McMahon has objectified women, so of course we’re due for a sexist segment, just like we need to see Stephanie and Triple H during a 2015 ratings decline.
For some reason, Mr. Fuji has arranged for two women to give Muraco a rub-down. Muraco, surprisingly, looks a bit uncomfortable with the segment. He’s sitting in bikini underwear, legs open as two women stand at his side. Muraco, as a true Hawaiian, insists that the women spread the suntan oil from the bottom up, rather than then the top down like “you silly white people.”
He said he needs to explain how to properly get a sun tan. As Muraco is explaining all of this, the girls can barely contain themselves, giggling and laughing. As the girls start massaging Muraco’s feet, McMahon gets grossed out, but Mr. Fuji is all in.
“Look at how stung his strong his back is,” Fuji says, and Muraco responds to Fuji to “take it easy.” The juvenile humor continues. McMahon asks Fuji what kind of oil he uses on Muraco and Fuji says “1040”.
The girls are just going to town on Muraco, unloading the suntan oil. McMahon says, “this is quite the experience.” The show ends with McMahon wrapping up at his desk saying that Bobby “The Brain” Heenan will be a guest next, when the two models come back out and starting rubbing the oil on Hayes, over his clothes.
Hayes looks uncomfortable, but goes along with it as the show ends.
It’s 1985 and clearly McMahon is having a lot of fun. The WWF is maintaining its popularity even after Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper and his expansion is still shaking up the wrestling world. Many WWF wrestlers are getting pushes. Hulk Hogan is rarely on television, which is a good thing, although he was tearing it up at live shows during this time. Why can’t McMahon do a relaunch of this show on the WWF Network?
I guess Stone Cold’s podcast is meant to fill somewhat of that sit-down interview role, but that show only get’s Austin over — not the guys who need it.
Even with a weak NFL Monday Night football game, no World Series competition, and coming the day after a strong Hell In A Cell show, the WWE Raw ratings for 10/26 showed no improvement over recent weeks.
Last night’s show did 3.34 million viewers, the same level as it has been doing since the NFL season started. The Arizona Cardinals vs. Baltimore Ravens game did 12.20 million viewers, below the season average, so the competition was the easiest WWE has had on Monday night in weeks.
RAW had its biggest first hour since football season started, a huge drop in the second hour, but the third hour featuring the WWE World title #1 contender’s match with Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler was the best in five weeks.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.64 million viewers 9 p.m. 3.21 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.21 million viewers
Despite the low expectations going in, WWE Hell in a Cell turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining show. It also may prove to be one of the year’s more significant specials as it saw the rubber match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, as well as the end of John Cena US Title Open Challenge. It also hopefully brought the curtain down on The New Day vs. Dudley Boys, Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Kane rivalries that had dominated WWE television for many, many months.
That of course raises the question as to what matches the WWE should make for next month’s Survivor Series. So let’s play booker and give creative some unsolicited advice.
Undertaker, Kane, Randy Orton and Finn Balor vs. The Wyatt Clan
Hell in a Cell ended with The Undertaker being attacked by The Wyatt Clan. Most have assumed that this beatdown was the start of the build to a Team Undertaker vs. Team Wyatt elimination match. I’m not convinced that this is the case as The Wyatts dragging The Phenom to the back could easily be a set-up for a brainwashed Undertaker being used by the Wyatts to continue their feud with Roman Reigns. Given that such storylines have always failed when tried, and Reigns would be roundly booed against The Undertaker, this would be a mistake.
If we assume that we are getting elimination match we have to consider who will team with The Deadman. Presumably the first pick would be the newly non-corporate Kane, while Randy Orton has a clear storyline rationale for fighting the Wyatts. As for the fourth man it would be a nice nod to The Undertaker’s superstar debut back in 1990 if the match was used to highlight a new talent. The obvious person would be Finn Balor whose ‘demon’ character is thematically similar to the Brothers of Destruction and is too talent a performer to be kept in NXT when the main roster is so struggling in terms of talent depth.
WWE Champion Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
With his victory over Kane, Seth Rollins has hopefully put behind him the on-off rivalry that has done so much to define him as a whiny mid-carder in the eyes of the fans. However it doesn’t change the fact that Rollins has been booked into oblivion. Indeed, it’s now more than two months since it became clear that he has been the biggest failure as WWE Champion (as opposed to the subordinate World Title that Great Khali, Rey Mysterio and Jack Swagger held) since at least Kevin Nash in 1995.
All fans know that Rollins has failed as a champion and we all believe that WWE will have Roman Reigns replace him eventually. Rather than keep Rollins as a lame-duck champion and Reigns as a directionless challenger it’s time to take the plunge. Given the lack of fresh babyfaces for Rollins to face and credible heels to keep Reigns occupied, there are very few good alternatives.
Indeed the only thing I could think of would be Seth Rollins vs. Triple-H, and Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose challenging for the tag team titles. I personally wouldn’t do that as Triple-H should be saved to put over Roman Reigns, and The New Day are not a serious enough act to be credible against Reigns and Ambrose.
U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger or Cesaro
The WWE managed to actually end the John Cena United States Open Challenge with a nice surprise, as Alberto Del Rio returned to dethrone the departing champion. Del Rio could be a real difference maker second time around, as if the promotion can effectively work the reasons behind his controversial departure into the storylines he has could finally be the Latino heavyweight babyface superstar they’ve long been searching for.
So of course they shackled him with Zeb Coulter as manager! Because in an era where the Hispanic backlash against anti-immigration politics fuelled a USA-Mexico soccer match to record ratings, it makes perfect sense to align your only high-profile Hispanic wrestler with someone whose character has long been defined by his opposition to immigration.
The best way out of this mess is for Del Rio to turn on Coulter tomorrow, bragging about tricking the old man into securing him the title shot. Whether they do that or not, Zeb’s involvement makes either Jack Swagger or Antonio Cesaro the logical opponent for Del Rio’s first defence.
Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Sheamus / Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Wade Barrett & Neville
Both Kevin Owens and The New Day scored decisive victories over their long-term rivals at Hell in a Cell. However given the state of the WWE’s mid-card it’s hard to see who could easily step up and feud with them over the next few weeks. So my advice would be to play the location game and program both champions against the promotion’s three leading British and Irish pro-wrestlers to help flesh out the undercards on the promotion’s upcoming overseas tour.
Barrett has been publicly pushing to team with Neville and the two men would have the ‘Big-Man, Little-Man’ dynamic that would mesh well against Big-E and Kofi Kingston. Meanwhile, Sheamus is the type of upper-mid-carder that should be putting over Kevin Owens to give the Intercontinental Champion credibility.
And finally…what about Brock Lesnar!?!
After Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker ‘III’ proved to be a fight worthy of headlining Wrestlemania 32, the question of what blockbuster match justified bringing it forward is still a mystery. To be more precise we still do not know where Brock Lesnar goes from here -a multi-million dollar question if ever there was one.
Will Cooling is a freelance writer who covers combat sports for Fighting Spirit Magazine, pop culture for Geeky Monkey and politics at It Could Be Said! His work has also appeared on Comics Nexus, Inside Fights, Fox Sports and The New Statesman.
If you heard Sunday’s post-WWE Hell In A Cell edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, you understand the machinations that brought former WWE World Champion Alberto Del Rio back to WWE Sunday night.
Here’s some additional notes and thoughts on Del Rio’s relationship with AAA where he’s currently thee Mega World Champion:
The new U.S. Champion is expected on tonight’s Monday Night RAW.
Both sides are on good terms, but losing both ADR and Myzteziz is a huge blow to AAA.
The right thing to do would be for ADR to come back to, at least, drop the AAA world title.
They really should have brought back Ricardo Rodriguez with him.
We learned that a superstar can say things negative about the company and come back with a great financial deal, while a lower level guy will have a harder time coming back when they say negative things about the boss.
Del Rio was gone from WWE for 14 months, fired due to an altercation with a then-WWE social media employee about a racist joke. We’ll have more on any Del Rio news on tonight’s post-RAW Wrestling Observer Radio.
It was an important night for the company without John Cena and Randy Orton, and it went very well. The fans in San Diego were staunchly behind Roman Reigns, and since the show was built around him, that made it all the better. Reigns defeated Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler in a four-way to become the new number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Wyatt Family beat up Kane and carried him off into oblivion, just like they did with the Undertaker at Hell in a Cell. This was the best Raw since the Montreal show last spring.
Show Recap:
HHH and Stephanie McMahon started the show. Stephanie introduced Seth Rollins. HHH and Stephanie put him over as the man who lead the WWE into the future. Stephanie said Rollins stepped up to every challenge put in front of him and triumphed every time, just like her husband HHH did during his career. HHH told Rollins that he was proud of him. Rollins thanked the Authority and ordered the crowd to cheer them.
Stephanie said Rollins has left them in an unusual situation because Rollins has beaten all the worthy challengers for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. So all the winners from last night’s Hell in a Cell PPV will compete tonight. The four winners will meet in a four-way match in tonight’s main event, with the winner being the new number one contender.
Roman Reigns came out to a very positive response. Reigns said he was going to be the number one contender after tonight and would beat Rollins for the championship.
Kofi Kingston came out to challenge Reigns. Kofi and Big E. said the biggest difference between the New Day and Reigns was they were champions and he wasn’t. The new wrinkle for New Day is throwing up a unicorn horn, which means placing a finger on the top of their head in salute to Xavier Woods. They even wore “XW” armbands.
Roman Reigns defeated Kofi Kingston to advance to the Fatal Fourway (12:44)
This was the most over Reigns has been in a long time. Crowd saw him as a star and chanted “Let’s Go Reigns.” On top of that, Reigns had a really good match with Kingston. The finish came when Reigns hit Big E. with the Superman’s Punch, Kingston missed the Trouble in Paradise and Reigns caught the spear for the pin.
The Miz got a product placement for the new WWE 2K16 video game, where he was shown playing with the Stone Cold Steve Austin character.
Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro to advance to the Fatal Fourway (10:22)
The usual good match between these two with the usual result. Crowd was hot for Cesaro. The Cesaro Section signs were back, and they popped for the Uppercut Express spot. Then Cesaro hit a springboard uppercut, which elicited “This is awesome” chants. Owens did the rope-and-dope to force Cesaro off, then kicked Cesaro when he wasn’t looking at got the pin with the Pop-Up Power Bomb.
Paige was on the cell phone talking to someone when Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Paige bragged about being on Conan O’Brien last week. Lynch and Charlotte were about to leave, but Paige stopped them. Paige said Charlotte deserved the Divas Championship and extended her hand. Charlotte shook her hand, but told Paige that if she finds out it was her that attacked Natalya, it was going to be dire consequences. Paige promised it wasn’t her, then said she wanted to reform Team PCB to face Team Bella tonight. Lynch and Charlotte reluctantly agreed.
Team Bella defeated Team PCB (5:22)
Nikki Bella pinned Lynch with the Rack Attack in a fair match. Postmatch, Paige turned on Charlotte and Lynch, giving them both the Rampage. She put Charlotte in the PTO and left both laying. Paige got a heavy amount of cheers, as well.
They ran a statistic from Forbes Magazine that named the top sports events brands in the world. WrestleMania was rated #5 behind 1. Super Bowl. 2. Summer Olympics. 3. Winter Olympics and 4. the FIFA World Cup. I’d love to see the ad rates to those top four compared to WrestleMania.
They promoted an interview with Bray Wyatt for later in the show.
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Coulter did a promo. Coulter cited John Lennon’s “Imagine” and the lyric “Imagine there’s no country.” Coulter said he wanted to start a new country called MexAmerica. And with that, Del Rio has no chance to become the over Mexican star the company badly needs. Del Rio said he wasn’t going to let Neville stop him from becoming the WWE World Champion. This Coulter-Del Rio combination might have worse chemistry than Rob Van Dam and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Coulter rides to the ring with a motorized cart with an part American-part Mexican flag, similar to what Tito Ortiz used to wave.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Neville to qualify for the Fatal Fourway (12:02)
Good match that the crowd was worn down by. Neville climbed the ropes to go for a plancha, but Del Rio grabbed the ropes and Neville wound up upside-down against the turnbuckles. Del Rio followed by coming off the top rope and stomping down on Neville’s chest for the pin. Del Rio was over by the end, but not as much as someone who has been absent from the company for 14 months.
King Barrett, Rusev and Sheamus defeated The Dudley Boyz and Ryback (6:12)
King Barrett pinned Bubba Ray Dudley with a schoolboy cradle after Devon Dudley and Ryback went for the tables. Earlier in the show, Kingston talked like the New Day’s program with the Dudleyz was in the past, and this result seemed to back that up. Rusev was a total afterthought. The lesson here is you can marry someone in real life. Just don’t expect it to help you professionally, unless it’s the boss’ daughter.
Bray Wyatt was in the ring and did a promo. He said for 25 years, the Undertaker had no equal. But last night, the apocalypse showed it’s face. Destruction and desolation rolled in and carried out the soul of the Undertaker. Wyatt told Reigns that one day, they would dance again. But not until Wyatt was properly revitalized. That’s why the demise of the Undertaker has become his resurrection. Wyatt said he’s feasting on the soul of the Undertaker and he wants more. He won’t stop until the Undertaker is just a memory and Wyatt ascends to his throne.
Wyatt said, right now, the Undertaker’s soul is being ripped to shreds piece-by-piece. So Wyatt asked everyone to bow their heads, place their hands on their television set and share a moment of silence to the Undertaker, who has lost his soul to Wyatt. He finished by saying “Rest in Peace, Phenom.”
As Wyatt laughed, Kane came out. Just as Kane entered the ring, Luke Harper, Braun Strowman and Eric Rowan magically appeared. Rowan and Harper were cast aside quickly, but Strowman stood face-to-face. Kane threw punches on Strowman before Harper came back. Kane threw Harper over the top rope, and Strowman fell over the top rope after running at Kane. Eventually, Rowan and Harper ganged up on Kane, giving him a double choke slam. The Wyatt’s beat down Kane until he was lifeless. Then the Wyatts carried off Kane to the back the same way they carried off the Undertaker last night.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Big E. to advance to the Fatal Fourway (13:52) Another good match that Dolph Ziggler won with the Zig Zag. After Ziggler made his entrance, Tyler Breeze made his Raw debut, coming out with Summer Rae, who was acknowledged as his girlfriend. So three weeks ago, Summer proposed to Rusev. Breeze and Ray got their own VIP section and ringside with velvet ropes around them as they ate popcorn accompanied by a bodyguard.. The week after that, she broke up with him. Now, she’s with Breeze. Now that’s a rebound. Big E. got near fall after near fall with power moves like a power slam. Big E. catapulted Ziggler into a ringpost, then took a sip of champagne from Breeze’s VIP section.
Dean Ambrose gave Reigns a pep talk before the main event. Reigns said he’s got this.
Most of the company’s roster joined Titus O’Neal and a group of breast cancer survivors in the ring for the latest Susan G. Komen Foundation presentation. O’Neal really is a good singles babyface the company hasn’t taken full advantage of. O’Neal did the Millions of Dollars dance with the ladies.
In a segment that was taped last week but presented as if it was live tonight, Miz won a match on the WWE 2K16 video game, playing as Steve Austin and pinning the Rock with a stunner. Next thing you know, the real Austin showed up. The pop was so huge from the crowd it almost drowned out the dialogue between Austin and Miz, but nothing physical happened. Austin just quizzed the Miz about the game.
Roman Reigns pinned Kevin Owens to become the new number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a match that also included Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler (15:00)
Another excellent match. Reigns pinned Owens after Owens attempted the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Reigns hit him with a Superman punch and followed with the spear. Great near falls with so many kicks being thrown, you would think it was a rib being played on the Young Bucks. Crowd was solidly behind Reigns, with no jeers at all. Del Rio looked great, and Ziggler held up his end, as well. Rollins was on commentary. From his facial expressions, it was clear that Rollins didn’t want Reigns to win, but he didn’t outright say it. Instead, he tried to be diplomatic and congratulated Regins on his win. Reigns and Rollins had a long staredown afterwards with the fans chaning heavy for Reigns.
SUMMARY:
Maybe it was just one show, but Reigns could have turned a corner tonight. It was the first time where he came off like a potential top star in the company. The crowd reacted to him in that matter and it was vital that happened in the postmatch staredown with Rollins. Otherwise, it would have felt flat and that’s the last thing they need going into this stretch without Cena. This was the start of making Regins the chosen one, and it was a great beginning. On the flip side, the Del Rio-Zeb Coulter pairing seems forced. They have no chemistry. Del Rio in WWE reminds me of Public Enemy in ECW. Neither was a corporate act. Del Rio could get over stronger in Mexico because the WWE doesn’t have the mentality to develop a minority superstar. They can’t even make a female superstar.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with Hell in a Cell fallout, tons of notes on the shows, calls, text messages and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
