Full entrance for R-Trizzle, who thankfully remembers that he is in fact in Washington D.C. tonight. Eden can be seen laughing in the background at 1993’s catchphrase-du-jour, “Whoomp, there it is!” People over there, what’s up, indeed.
Rich Brennan informs me that his opponent, Heath Slater, finished #8 in the Slammy voting for Superstar of the Year. Huh.
Brennan and Byron Saxton hilariously talk about the prospect of The Big Show winning this year’s Royal Rumble, as Truth gets the shine. Our forgetful hero taunts Slater with what Byron calls the “jiggy jiggy” off a failed Irish whip, before dodging Heath and sending him crashing to the outside leading into commercials.
Slater the works the left knee forever when we get back, before we get a quick Truth comeback and a Lie Detector out of nowhere for the pinfall victory. This went over nine minutes (not including the commercials) and I felt every minute of it.
Titus O’Neil def. Adam Rose by pinfall
Adam’s TitanTron reminds me that they’ve mercifully dropped the Rosebush segments on RAW. And by the look of his morose, disinterested demeanour, he ain’t too pleased about it either.
Announcers mention that Titus and Darren have been dipping their respective toes in the singles competition waters of late. At least Titus, a Main Event fixture, has had those exploits televised. Young was reduced to defeating Curtis Axel in a dark match at this particular taping.
Trademark overhand chop in the corner from Mr. O’Neil, followed by the ol’ rib-breaker toss that he’s equally fond of – which I’m reliably informed is called the Pay Check.
Short match here that went just over four minutes. Quick heat segment from Rose after he used a rope break to his advantage, only to get cocky and allow Titus to come back at him with impressive fire.
Big boot, The Meltzer Bark, a stinger splash and a Clash of the Titus wraps it up for the big man. He millions-of-dollarses with a frankly quite befuddled and bespectacled old man afterwards to celebrate.
– Recap of the Vince angle from RAW, entitled “Arrested Developments” by the Main Event producer, in what may or may not be a nod at the greatest sitcom of all time (season four notwithstanding).
Jack Swagger def. Stardust by submission
Swagger dominates leading into an early commercial break. He then takes an impressive bump to the outside when we return, slamming off the ring steps after a failed corner charge.
Work rate disproportionate to a show of Main Event’s standing continues, as Stardust hits a massive superplex off the top rope to highlight the heat portion of the match.
Swagger then starts his comeback by foiling a subsequent Figure Four attempt, before hitting a running clothesline on the outside to get the crowd going.
Back in and Stardust dodges the Swagger Bomb, before hitting a Side Effect for two. A nice series of reversals follows, as Swagger catches ‘Dust off a Disaster Kick attempt, only to find himself sunset flipped. Swagger then avoids the pinfall by countering into the Patriot Lock, which Stardust escapes.
Finishing sequence sees Stardust land on his feet off a Swagger back suplex attempt. He immediately lines up the Queen’s Crossbow, only for Swagger to roll him into another Patriot Lock, which this time gets the tap. Really good effort from these two.
Final Thoughts
A second featured contest in as many weeks for Swagger and he again turns in a surprisingly good bout by C-show standards. Watch that and ditch the rest.
Smackdown New Year’s Eve edition spoilers – 12/31 (taped Tuesday 12/29)
By John Athridge
The crowd is pretty full for a Smackdown. The hard camera side is basically full at least. I missed the first two matches, but I was told that Darren Young beat Curtis Axel in the dark match.
Main Event
R-Truth beat Heath Slater.
Titus O’Neil beat Adam Rose.
Jack Swagger submitted Stardust with the ankle lock in about 10 minutes. They worked awfully hard for a Main Event match.
Smackdown
Show opened by replaying the Vince arrest angle from last night. They announced the main event of Reigns and Ambrose vs. Sheamus and Owens.
New Day came out to celebrate New Year’s Eve. They said their New Year’s resolution was nothing because they are perfect. They said the people needed to change because they didn’t vote for the New Day for the Slammies. They read a list of resolutions for the people so they’d finally appreciate the New Day. Mildly funny. The Lucha Dragons came out. They argued and challenged the New Day for a match even though Sin Cara is injured. The Dragons then brought out the Dudleys for a 6 man match.
The Dudleys and Kalisto beat the New Day when Kalisto pinned Kofi. The Dudleys then put Xavier Woods through a table with “Happy New Year” spray painted on it.
During the commercials, they played New Year’s wishes from various wrestlers.
Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) beat Goldust in a short match. Summer then said they had a huge New Year’s announcement. Tyler said that starting in the New Year, the two of them would be going their separate ways. But they left the crowd with one last “Gorgeous Selfie”.
Backstage, Bo Dallas was giving out New Year’s Re-Bo-lutions (including telling Curtis Axel to start wearing deodorant). He ran into Dolph Ziggler. After a few insults back and forth, they announced a match between them later.
Braun Strowman and Luke Harper (w/Erick Rowan) beat the Usos. Strowman got the submission after some quick interference from Rowan.
They announced John Cena’s return to Smackdown for next week.
Alicia Fox and Brie Bella beat Tamina and Naomi when Brie pinned Naomi after a couple of minutes.
They announced that there will be a house show in DC on Sunday March, 27th. Thought we were getting the go home Raw before Wrestlemania here, but apparently not.
Dolph Ziggler beat Bo Dallas with a superkick after selling for a few minutes. Not much else to it.
Reigns came out to a decent reaction, but nothing spectacular. Ambrose seemed to get louder cheers.
Reigns and Ambrose beat Sheamus and Kevin Owens by DQ when Owens pulled Reigns out of the ring and crotched him on the ring post after about 10 minutes. Owens and Sheamus beat down Reigns and then Ambrose. Owens was about to powerbomb Ambrose through the announce table when Reigns recovered to give them both Superman punches. Reigns and Ambrose then posed on the announce table. Got a decent reaction, but not much of a main event.
From Emerson & Brian Witner and Guy Ironstone (of WrestlingOutsiders.com)
Attendance was between 2,000 and 3,000
Dolph Ziggler pinned Tyler Breeze. After the match Dolph left the ringside area and superkicked an inflatable reindeer.
Curtis Axel & Damien Sandow (who are still a team, believe it or not) defeated Los Matadores. The Colons played heel in this match.
Fandango pinned Bo Dallas with a sit out suplex.
Luke Harper, Erick Rowan & Braun Strohman defeated Tommy Dreamer & Dudley Boyz when Harper pinned Dreamer with a discus lariat.
-Intermission
Titus O’Neil pinned Stardust. I had to ask if they could go back to intermission instead.
Divas Champion Charlotte submitted Paige with the Figure Four.
In a No Disqualification Match, Kane pinned Bray Wyatt after a chokeslam through a table. The Wyatt’s tried to interfere, but Dreamer and the Dudleys ran in for the save.
The show went 2 hours, 10 minutes including a 20 minute intermission.
As the company has done so often since 1999 in an attempt to build a new babyface, Roman Reigns is now being booked like Steve Austin. Vince McMahon got arrested. Reigns was the last man standing in the end. Then Vince came out at the end of the show to announce that Reigns would defend the championship against Sheamus next week with a special referee: Vince McMahon. It was a two segment show and the rest was boring.
Show Recap:
Vince McMahon started the show with Tony Chimmel doing the ring announcing. McMahon claimed he had to undergo dental surgery after the Superman’s punch that Roman Reigns delivered two weeks ago. He ordered Reigns to come out.
McMahon told Reigns that he practically incapitated HHH and disrespected Stephanie McMahon. Vince said HHH would get revenge on Reigns when he least expected it. And he said Reigns literally kicked him out of his own ring. McMahon said he owns his ring, he owns the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and sooner or later Reigns will understand he owns Reigns. Reigns responded that the fans own the WWE World Championship. Crowd started a “Daniel Bryan” chant which McMahon ordered them to shut up. Then they started a “CM Punk” chant as the two talked over them.
McMahon brought up Reigns’ predecessors the Wild Samoans. Hardly anyone knew that in the crowd. McMahon reminded Reigns he was one generation away from having a bone through his nose. McMahon said he made Reigns’ uncle Afa wrestle every night of the week and there was nothing left of him once it was over. Then there was Reigns’ father Sika, which McMahon claimed to have used him up. McMahon said paid Sika with Reigns dead peanuts. No one really reacted because they didn’t remember Sika. Plus, when did the Samoans become the Road Warriors at the gate?
Reigns shoved McMahon down. McMahon started claiming he had a neck injury in the most phony tone possible. Stephanie came out to check on him with police officers in tow. Stephanie ordered Reigns arrested. One of the detectives refused saying they were there to provide security, not be Stephanie’s personal police department. Damn, I wish somebody had told that to the police in the late 90s. Depending on the city, the show and the superstar, police were more involved in wrestling angles than actual police work some weeks.
Stephanie started to get in the detectives’ face until he ordered her to step back or else she would be arrested. Vince tried to smooth things over, but next things you know Vince started to get in the detectives’ face. Stephanie reminded her father to sell his neck again. Finally, three officers came in the ring and put the handcuffs on McMahon.
The detective then read Vince his rights, complete with the line “If you can’t afford an attorney…wait, that doesn’t apply to you.” Vince was led through the crowd with Stephanie protesting the whole way as Reigns smiled and help up his belt.
Vince was shoved into a police cruiser with Stephanie screaming about how she was going to sue the police damage. Michael Cole speculated Vince could be charged with assaulting an officer.
Neville defeated Kevin Owens (:21)
Neville escaped a Pop-Up Power Bomb and pinned Kevin Owens with a victory roll. Wrong crowd to pull this upset because the fans chanted for Owens before the match. The pin was booed. Owens attacked Neville afterwards.
As Neville was being helped to the back, Owens ran back out to clothesline Neville into oblivion. He was about to power bomb Neville onto the apron when Dean Ambrose ran down for a pull-apart brawl.
The official announcement that the Rock was coming to WrestleMania was made. Byron Sexton started to do the “Can you smell” line, to which Cole ordered him never to do again.
Jojo interviewed Becky Lynch, who was jumped by Team BAD while Charlotte wrestled on Smackdown. Charlotte tweeted earlier that she wouldn’t appear tonight on Raw, but Lynch said she wasn’t worried or angry about it. She spoke about coming to Brooklyn when she was penniless and now she was on Raw.
Sasha Banks did prematch mic work putting over Boston to get heat. Naomi said Brooklyn was a garbage-filled, overrated, overpopulated, polluted stank dump.
Sasha Banks defeated Becky Lynch (15:40)
Banks won with a cradle following a series of reversals after Banks hit the Bank Statement. Lynch attempted to clamp on Disarm-her, but Banks escaped. They tried to have a match with rest holds to build heat, but this crowd wasn’t playing along. It got “boring” chants, which seemed to throw them off their game because they weren’t on the same page in certain spots. An average match.
Renee Young was outside the police station where Vince’s mugshot was posted. She confirmed that Jerry McDevitt was at the jail and Stephanie had shown up with high-profile attorneys.
The New Day pranced down with Xavier Woods talking about winning the World Tag Team Champions in Brooklyn in August. It was the very building where the trombone made its debut. Kofi Kingston teased singing a new song, but Woods heard the trombone (named Franchecha) that the fans didn’t vote for them to win a Slammy. Kingston said everytime the New Day comes out, it’s an OMG moment. For instance, for all the parents at home has their children misbehave, they should call the New Day because the New Day will fight their kids. Woods said “Oh my God, Kofi, aren’t you a father?” Kingston said “Exactly! OMG!”
Kalisto defeated Kofi Kingston (2:45)
Kalisto pinned Kingston with a huracanrana. Before the finish, Kalisto dropkicked Woods off the apron, but Big E. Caught him. Sin Cara ran off the steps and gave both men a crossbody.
This led to Woods challenging Cara to face Big E. Immediately.
Big E.defeated Sin Cara (4:36)
Cara legitimately injured his shoulder after taking a bump to the floor off the apron, and the doctor had to stop the match. While this was going on, the fans started a dual chant of “We Want Cena” “No We Don’t.” After the stoppage, Woods screamed the Rocky IV line “It was supposed to be an exhibition!” From the Ill-fated Apollo Creed-Ivan Drago fight. It was a gutsy performance from Cara, especially when he gave Big E. A rolling senton off the top rope. After Kingston and Woods got involved, Big E. Won with the Big Ending.
Cena is on the cover of Muscle & Fitness Magazine.
MizTv started to do a year-in review which was quickly interrupted by Ryback, who said 2016 would be the year of the big guy. Golddust came out and wondered if this was the year the Miz would win a SAG Award, an Oscar, or some Golden Globes. Then Zack Ryder came out to a big pop. Ryder claimed that Brooklyn was “New Zack City” and said 2016 would be the year of Ryder. Miz started to talk about how he tried yoga in January when R-Truth came out. R-Truth said when fans cast their ballots for Superstar of the Year, cast their vote for the Truth. Miz reminded Truth that the Slammys were last week. Then Heath Slater showed up and said he had a lot to say. Before he could start, the Big Show walked down. Slater said nobody cared what Show had to say. Slater managed to block the subsequent right hand with his chin.
Ryder and Golddust were also knocked down. Truth punched himself in an attempt to knock himself out. Show gave him a choke slam. Ryback and Big Show squared off, with Show tossing Ryback over the top rope.
Crowd chanted “Please Retire” at Show. Instead, he said he was going to enter himself into the Royal Rumble and would accept position number one.
Ryback defeated The Big Show by countout (2:53)
As Ryback was about to deliver a meathook clothesline, Show rolled out of the ring and walked out. A totally meaningless segment, and the same can be said of the last 45 minutes of this show.
Sheamus came out and debated the crowd for cheering Vince’s arrest and vowed to carry out a beat down on Ambrose and the Usos tonight.
The League of Nations defeated the Usos and Dean Ambrose (16:50)
Sheamus pinned Jey Uso with the Brogue Kick. Jey was about to give Sheamus a splash when Rusev held his leg, giving Sheamus time to get his knees up. A double hot tag match that lost the crowd early . Fans chanted “This is Boring” with Sheamus in there. Jimmy Uso did a tope spot onto Rusev. Crowd chanted for Lana, who again was missing with no explanation. She’s really someone who would give the League of Nations the right spice.
Post match, Owens ran out of the crowd to attack Ambrose. It led to a camera shot worth it’s weight in gold where Owens power bombed Ambrose off the announcers table onto another announcers’ table. Pieces of the table flew everywhere and you’ll likely be seeing replays of that spot on opening vignettes for years to come. Ambrose sold it great acted like he was in convulsions and had to be carried out by referees. Owens feels like the most over heel on the roster in terms of getting a reaction, albeit a heel that fans want to like. But as we saw in Philadelphia two weeks ago, he knows how to turn a crowd.
Vince, Stephanie and someone trying to be McDevitt stormed out of the police station without taking questions from reporters who were standing by. It’s amazing how the company can be so meticulous in its planning for angles regarding the owner, but can’t figure out where Lana is.
Cena made his return to the usual chorus of people hating him. He pointed out a guy who wore a t-shirt with “Cena” crossed out. He ran down Alberto Del Rio for not defending the U.S. Championship once on Raw since he won it at Hell in a Cell. Del Rio came out with the rest of the League of Nations and said “The Champ is Here.” He said Brooklyn didn’t deserve to have a U.S. Championship match. Cena did a speech putting over Brooklyn. The jibber-jabbered back and forth with Cena trying to goad him into defending the championship. Del Rio refused to put the belt on the line. Cena called him a one-hit wonder who lost his manhood. Del Rio said he was going to send Cena home tonight for good, then finally agreed to put the title on the line.
Cole and JBL did a tribute to Lemmy of Motörhead, who passed away this afternoon after a brief illness. It was impressive they had a video package put together so quickly regarding his life because his death was announced just a few hours ago. If you haven’t, check out the documentary on Lemmy that aired on VH1 Classic, a great tribute to a great performer.
John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio (C) by DQ, so Del Rio retains the U.S Championship (14:04)
The only match on the show worth anything. Del Rio clamped on the armbar, but Cena made the ropes. Cena went for the AA, but there was a ref bump as Del Rio kicked the referee. Rusev and Sheamus ran down. Rusev hit Cena with a thrust kick. Del Rio covered him, but Cena kicked out. With the referee still down, Sheamus tried to give Cena a Brogue Kick, but Sheamus hit Rusev. Cena gave Sheamus the AA, but Del Rio gave Cena a back stabbed and a superkick that he used to beat Cena in October, but Cena again kicked out. Del Rio went for the arm breaker, but Cena hit the AA. Rusev )(shook off that Brouge Kick fast) and Sheamus ran in for the DQ.
Sheamus gave Cena the Brogue Kick. The Usos ran down for the save but they were quickly disposed of.
Reigns came down for the save, giving Rusev a spear on the floor and Del Rio a superman punch. Sheamus and Reigns had a staredown. Sheamus entered the ring with a chair, but Reigns gave him a Superman punch and a chair shot across the back.
Vince McMahon came out and said he was going to sue the city of New York. Vince said Reigns would face Sheamus for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship next week. The special referee would be Vince McMahon, and Vince kept repeating “Happy New Year” to end the show.
The Big Takeaway:
Part of the problem with booking Vince McMahon to appear on these shows is he’s one of the few larger than life personalities the company has left. Once he appears in the opening segment, then leaves and goes away for two-and-a-half hours, the crowd heat has nowhere to go but down. It was capitalized with some poorly booked segments, namely MizTv. Reigns was received very well.
RAW: Additional live Brooklyn notes
From Mike Omansky
The Barclay Center was sold out and WWE announced a return date of Monday, March 28th, the RAW before Wrestlemania.
Presale on Ticketmaster…code: RAWISBK
Pre-“RAW” – SUPERSTARS
DARREN YOUNG W ADAM ROSE, finisher and pin. Not much at all.
JACK SWAGGER & MARK HENRY W ASENSCION, when Henry pinned Conor after the world’s strongest slam. Decent match. Swagger worked most of it; got beaten down; made the hot tag; over shortly after that.
Post-“RAW”
A “massive” 6 man tag had been advertised on local TV spots in the past 2 weeks, but it didn’t take place. After it went off the air, we got the usual skit in lieu of a match. League of Nations members attacked Cena; Reigns helped Cena and Cena finally got the AA on Del Rio. In the process, Cena teased a turn on Reigns (had a chair in hand), but that was momentary.
Our opening contest is presented to us off the back of a one-week build, after Goldust’s selfie stick antics distracted Tyler into a loss to Titus O’Neil on last week’s Smackdown. It’s a measure of how far Breeze’s star has fallen that this match did not even make it on to Tuesday night’s live show – a show that, for example, featured The Ascension paying the price for not respecting decorations.
Cute spot to begin here, where Tyler lies on the turnbuckle while waiting for Goldust to arise from his pre-match squat position, only for Goldust to then mimic him after getting the upper hand with a shoulder tackle.
Goldust hits his reverse atomic drop, before sending Breeze to the outside and grabbing the selfie stick from a concerned Summer Rae. Breeze turns him around in fury, only to eat a forearm – allowing Goldust to take a lovely photo of himself and his fallen foe leading into commercials. Refreshing after watching this week’s Smackdown, where FOUR matches went to break right after the heel gained the advantage. Nice work, Road Dogg.
Back with Goldust still on top, but Tyler quickly reverses the momentum by hitting a dropkick as Goldust comes off the ropes. Uninspiring heel offence follows, before Goldust briefly initiates a comeback – only to be cut-off with a super(model)kick for two. This leads us into the near-falls segment of the match, where Goldust also manages a typically crisp snap powerslam for another close two. He then inexplicably goes to the top rope, only to be distracted by Summer climbing the ringsteps in a repeat of last week’s awful Neville/Rusev finish.
This allows Breeze to hit a second Supermodel Kick to down Goldust and secure the pinfall. Couple of mildly amusing moments from Goldust before the heat, but the rest wasn’t great – capped by a super-lame finish.
Bo Dallas def. Fandango by pinfall
Box-office stuff. Fandango cuts off Bo’s patented early victory lap (Bo: “I’M WINNING!”) with a clothesline, before shouting “Bolieve!” to celebrate.
Very short match here, with not much of a structure to it. Fandango quickly starts his comeback after a Bo chinlock, hitting a dangerous looking slingshot leg drop for two. Pretty sure he connected with Bo’s face on that one.
Fandango goes up top for The Last Dance, only for Bo to down him by hitting the ropes, before lifting him for his spinning neckbreaker off the ropes for the win.
After the match, Bo finally finishes that victory lap, before getting on the mic to announce to the crowd that the rest of 2015 doesn’t matter – as he’s finished it a winner. He tells us that this is “just the bo-ginning”. Best of luck with that, champ.
– We get a comprehensive look-back at Monday night’s Slammy Award ceremony.
Jack Swagger def. The Miz by submission
Miz holds up proceedings by flapping his arms to prepare for sunglasses takeoff, as is customary. Swagger, unimpressed, responds by making Miz wait for a rousing “We The People” chant.
Early Swagger shine falls asunder when he attempts a suplex to the outside, only for Miz to duck under his legs, drop him on the apron and hit him with a baseball slide leading into commercials.
Back with Miz signalling for the Awesome Clothesline (Miz: “I’m the people!”), only for Swagger to explode out of the corner with one of his own. Miz rolls to the floor to escape the ensuing Swagger Bomb attempt and decides to head up the ramp and cut his losses. Swagger chases him down however, and they do the “I’ll hold the back of your head while we walk together” spot on the way back to the ring.
Miz gets his feet up off another Swagger Bomb attempt before hitting the DDT for two, to lead us into a very nice near-fall sequence. Said sequence culminates with Miz landing on his feet off an attempted Swagger gutwrench, before hitting a running boot to the head for two. Miz stalls and milks the crowd heat before lining up another – and hitting it. He then goes to the well a third time, only to be rolled-up for another close two-count. This allows Swagger to finally hit the Swagger Bomb at the third time of asking.
Forearm exchange follows, which Swagger gets the best of, but Miz dodges a corner charge and finally gets that Awesome Clothesline he looked for earlier. Miz then, like Goldust, inexplicably goes to the top, only to jump right into a belly-to-belly slam and a Patriot Lock for the submission. Surprisingly good match from these two.
Final Thoughts
A step up from last week’s show as the so-called “featured contest”, between Jack Swagger and The Miz, was a very watchable affair. More bad news for Tyler Breeze however, as the first match of the Goldust feud that began on last week’s Smackdown wasn’t even deemed worthy of a spot on this week’s live show. Hey, at least he won for a change.
WWE Tribute to the Troops from Jacksonville featured patriotic messages and feel-good moments in a stand-alone show with a premise of honoring United States military personnel. A notable aspect of the show was the sponsorship of Coca-Cola, which is a first for WWE. Coca-Cola was the main sponsor along with USAA, a financial services group serving the US military.
The show opened with a video package encouraging support for the troops. Besides WWE talent, also wishing their best via taped messages to the troops were mainstream A-list celebrities. The celebrity messages were also sprinkled throughout the program as well as during the opening.
JoJo sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” in a ring adorned with red, white and blue ropes in a throwback look to days of yore when the named ended with “Federation”. On commentary, Michael Cole mentioned his broadcast partner, JBL, was responsible for the idea that eventually evolved into Tribute to the Troops.
Emerging from the crowd, Roman Reigns led Dean Ambrose and the Usos to the ring. This special being taped before he actually won the title, Reigns was without the WWE championship. In fact, no one appeared with any championship belts on the show. Cole on commentary talked about those in the ring that won a Slammy on Raw, meaning they taped an additional commentary track since Monday.
Reigns was about to say the night was for thanking the troops when he was interrupted by the League of Nations. The crowd chanted “USA” and Sheamus mocked them. Sheamus said he admired the United States before insulting the country. Bad News Barrett was next to insult the US. He focused on the country’s food, calling it “complete rubbish.” Barrett also lamented on not being able to find a piece of roasted pork. Barrett said what he really wanted was a portion of spotted dick.
Reigns scolded him and said this was a family show. Barrett said he was talking about pudding. Alberto Del Rio suddenly interjected himself into the debate by trashing American television programming. He brought up futbol. Del Rio basically claimed American football was invented so Americans could be the best at it since nobody else plays the sport. He said not to get him started on country music.
Sheamus said not to get him started on Ireland before he endlessly put his country over. Sheamus listed a number of attributes like Ireland has the most beautiful women and such. Reigns interrupted him.
“You’re forgetting something,” Reigns said. “You also have the smallest tater tots.” The crowd chanted “tater tots” as Sheamus fumed. The tater tot insult strikes again.
Reigns challenged what he called the “League of Idiots” to a fight. The League of Nations marched into the ring to confront Reigns and company. The arena suddenly went dark as the Wyatt Family entered the scene. Everyone seemingly waited patiently as they did their full entrance.
To even the odds, the Dudleys followed by Ryback and Kane came to the ring. Everyone began brawling both in the ring and around it in what Gordon Solie might have described as a “pier six brawl.” This set up a sixteen-man tag team main event for the main event.
Jack Swagger beat Rusev (with Lana) via submission in a boot camp match
Beforehand, Lana and Rusev cut a promo in a foreign language. The entrance of Swagger interrupted them. Military equipment and gear sat around ringside for use in the match. Given the setting, Swagger was over as the crowd chanted “USA” before he applied an ankle lock. Lana handed Rusev an ammunition box and Swagger broke the hold. Rusev hit Swagger repeatedly with the ammo box and proceeded to get heat on him. JBL called it “an old fashioned Cold War beat down.”
Swagger sent Rusev over the ropes and out to the floor where he clotheslined then suplexed Rusev on to a cot before a commercial. After the break, Rusev hit Swagger with a footlocker case and a helmet. Rusev got more heat on Swagger. Rusev waived the Bulgarian flag. He wedged a case between the top and middle ropes in a corner, which would come into play later on.
At ringside, Swagger grabbed Old Glory and waived the flag. The display of patriotism allowed him to hulk up into a comeback as he ran wild on Rusev. He used the Swagger bomb for a nearfall. Rusev avoided the ankle lock and hit a superkick for a two count. Moments later, Swagger applied the ankle lock.
Rusev tried to counter the hold and send Swagger into the case wedged in the ropes. Swagger avoided colliding into the case. Rusev charged in, Swagger sidestepped him and Rusev hit the case. Swagger then applied the ankle lock and Rusev tapped out for the submission.
A video package highlighted Batista and Titus O’Neil’s involvement in supporting the troops. In a clip from a speech addressing the military, Titus said, “If you look around you’ll see people from all different backgrounds. This is what life is about to me. When I help the homeless or when I go visit hospitals people don’t look at me just as [a] WWE superstar, they look at me as a human being. That is what I look at each and every one of you as.” He went on to say more inspiration words about being a winner. This is the Titus O’Neil that could be a babyface superstar, not the one dimensional character usually portrayed on WWE programming.
Mark Henry beat Bo Dallas via pinfall
Dressed as Uncle Sam, Bo acted wacky and wrestled with a hat on his head. Henry pummeled him and used the world’s strongest slam for the pin. Henry snatched the hat away from Bo and put it on his own head to celebrate.
Train performed their song “Merry Christmas Everybody”.
Kevin Owens sauntered to the ring while cutting a promo. He said since the night was about paying tribute he wanted to pay tribute to Canada. More specifically, he put over Quebec in saying everything there was better than in the US. He spoke briefly in French. The “Feed Me More” theme and entrance of Ryback interrupted him.
Ryback beat Kevin Owens via countout
Ryback tried to maul Owens at the outset and gave him a delayed vertical suplex. Owens cut him off by snapping his neck on the top rope. With Ryback in a headlock, Owens shouted “O’ Canada” and yelled he was ready to get out this place. Ryback started a comeback and delivered the meathook clothesline. Ryback picked Owens up for the shellshock, but Owens maneuvered to the apron where they simultaneously punched each other. Ryback fell back in the ring and Owens fell to the floor. Owens teased breaking the count before waving his hands to signal he was leaving. Owens was subsequently counted out.
A video package told the story of a US serviceman spending his third wedding anniversary with his wife backstage at the Tribute to the Troops taping. It showed the couple hanging with WWE talent and it also included product placement with Coca-Cola. A live shot showed the couple at ringside drinking bottled Cokes.
Howie Mandel made an appearance before the live crowd. He put over the military and thanked them for their service. He then did a stand-up routine about bathroom attendants. Mandel said he was a fan of WWE and mentioned he wrestled in high school. He showed a yearbook photo of himself in his wrestling gear for comedic effect.
He brought up the presidential election. Mandel asked the crowd what they thought of Donald Trump. The WWE Hall of Famer got a mixed reaction. Mandel made a joke about Trump. He talked about doing kids programming. He concluded by jokingly mocking a fan in the crowd before saying his goodbyes.
Sasha Banks & Naomi & Tamina & Paige beat Charlotte & Becky Lynch & Brie Bella & Alicia Fox
The heels got heat on Brie after she took a wicked-looking clothesline from Tamina. For the hot tag, Becky came in running wild. She was cut off as several women came in to do various spots. For the finish, Sasha executed a backstabber on Alicia and floated over into the bank statement. Alicia tapped out to give Sasha’s team the win via submission.
Another video package highlighted WWE talent supporting the troops set to a song by Tim McGraw.
Train performed their 2001 pop hit “Drops of Jupiter”.
Following a commercial break, the sixteen-man tag team main event was joined in progress.
Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose & Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso & Ryback & Kane & Bubba Ray Dudley & Devon Dudley beat Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio & Bad New Barrett & Rusev & Bray Wyatt & Erick Rown & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman
The match included lots of tags and lots of action. They built to, and the crowd popped for, two monsters colliding when Kane squared off with Strowman. The heels got heat on Kane but he singlehandedly cleaned house before a commercial.
After the break, the heels got heat on an Uso until a hot tag to Ambrose. Dean ran wild in the ring and knocked all the heels off the apron. Ambrose jumped off the top with a flying elbow drop on Harper. When Ambrose went to cover Harper, Rowan broke up the pin and a melee ensued. The Dudley did the wassup spot to Rowan. When they went to get the tables, everyone started brawling.
As everyone brawled, Ambrose did a tope and the Usos also did dives to the outside. They teased a bunch of finishers and the babyfaces all helped in knocking Strowman out of the ring. Ambrose used dirty deeds on Harper to score the deciding pinfall.
Afterwards, the babyfaces celebrated and a gigantic American flag unfurled above the ring for a patriotic closing.
Air Date: December 22, 2015 – Location: Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA
The Big News:
The New Day and Dean Ambrose successfully defended their respective titles on a live Smackdown show. Ambrose took a nasty bump on his head but appears to be fine.
Show Recap:
WWE Tag-Team Championships: Kofi Kingston & Big E (w/Xavier Woods) beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall
There’s a full Christmas setup on the stage. Big E said they deserved the Slammy for best tag-team more than any team in history. Xavier Woods said they would send the Lucha Booties home with coal in their stockings. Kofi Kingston said they have a Christmas album to promote and they rhymed off some awful song titles to no reaction. They wished everyone a Booty Christmas and Happy New Day. Kalisto came out with a his Slammy award and they replayed the highlight from TLC.
New Day got the heat on Sin Cara after Woods distracted him with the trombone. Kalisto made the hot tag but spilled to the outside after Woods pulled down the middle rope, and Big E followed by slamming him into the barricade. Eventually, Kalisto rolled out of a belly-to-belly suplex and tagged in Sin Cara.
The Dragons each hit suicide dives but Sin Cara totally missed and Kingston had to sell it anyway. Kalisto hit Big E with Salida Del Sol but Woods distracted Sin Cara, who kicked Woods off the apron. Sin Cara tried a springboard moonsault but Big E caught him and hit the Big Ending for the win. Not much of a match.
They announced The Usos vs. Alberto Del Rio and Rusev for tonight. Backstage, Santino put on the cobra sleeve and put a star on a Christmas tree. After Santino left, someone who they didn’t show took the star off the tree. (It’s Stardust… probably.)
Dolph Ziggler, Charlotte, Tyler Breeze and Roman Reigns wished everyone a Merry Christmas in separate pre-taped skits. Ziggler and Reigns were completely sincere. Breeze called everyone uggos. Charlotte was disappointed she didn’t get a Range Rover for Christmas.
Backstage, Dean Ambrose told Renee Young he has six staples in his head, and his jaw is still clicking after Ziggler superkicked him last week. Ambrose said he would burst Owens’ head like a tomato and would throw everything at Owens and Ziggler to would retain his title. He also called Owens a crybaby.
8-Man Tag Match: The Wyatt Family beat Dudley Boyz, Ryback & Kane via pinfall
The crowd buzzed when Braun Strowman and Kane faced off, but they quieted down as soon as they started wrestling. Strowman got the better of him but Kane eventually made a tag to Ryback. Harper caught him with a Michinoku driver and they got the heat again. Ryback made a hot tag to D-von who ran wild on Bray Wyatt.
D-Von hit a diving headbutt but Strowman broke up the cover, so Kane knocked him out of the ring. Strowman posted Kane though, and Rowan knocked Ryback over the barricade into the crowd. Harper superkicked D-Von on the outside and Bray hit Bubba with Sister Abigail for the win. The faces made brief comebacks but this was a pretty one-sided win.
Backstage, Santino saw that his tree was knocked over and Stardust entered with the Ascension to mock him. Neville jumped in wearing an elf hat, with elf ears. Ascension threatened the little elf, so Titus O’Neil joined the party to even the odds. Stardust said Christmas was cancelled but they could save it if they beat the Ascension.
U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio & Rusev (w/Sheamus & King Barrett) beat The Usos via pinfall
The crowd is dead, and the Usos each hitting dives to the outside didn’t wake them up. Del Rio won after hitting the double foot stomp on Jey Uso. The setup for this was worse than usual. Not much of a match.
Afterwards, the League of Nations continued the attack but Roman Reigns ran out to make the save. Reigns tossed Sheamus over the announce table and hit Del Rio with a superman punch. An Uso superkicked Rusev, and Reigns followed with a superman punch. Reigns and the Usos stood tall as the League yelled at them from the ramp.
Dean Ambrose, Santino, Becky Lynch, and New Day wished everyone happy holidays.
Neville & Titus O’Neil (w/Santino) beat The Ascension (w/Stardust) via pinfall
Santino did the introductions for his team and they came out to Christmas music. Santino called O’Neil as his favourite Irishman and Neville “the man gravity seems to consistency overlook.” The Ascension and Stardust backed Santino into a corner but Neville made the save, knocking out all three with a corkscrew dive. Neville hit Red Arrow on Viktor for the win.
Backstage, Dolph Ziggler told Renee that the Intercontinental Title was special to him because it’s the first title he won on his own. Ziggler said he would win the title and 2016 would be his year. That seems unlikely.
They aired a clip from Tribute to the Troops. They really focused on Roman Reigns.
Non-Title: WWE Diva’s Champion Charlotte beat Brie Bella via submission
On commentary, Becky Lynch said she was very proud of Charlotte for getting on the cover of Muscle & Fitness Hers. Michael Cole pressured her into telling us what’s more important to her – Charlotte’s friendship or the [women’s] title. She hesitated, but eventually said winning the title is her ultimate goal.
Team B.A.D. came out during the match (to Sasha Banks’ music). They wore stupid Christmas outfits, including Banks as a snowman. They went straight to Lynch, poured eggnog on her head and attacked her. The story was that Charlotte saw it happening but didn’t help, applying the Figure Eight instead for the tap-out win. Cole in particular freaked out because it wasn’t even a title match, suggesting she should’ve helped.
Backstage, Kevin Owens told Renee that he’s the real I.C. champion just like he’s the real Breakout Star of the Year. He said Smackdown was the Kevin Owens Show and he would walk out as champion. He left, not before telling Renee that she looks ridiculous (in her white Christmas dress/attire).
Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose beat Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens via pinfall
After a break, Cole said Owens threw a Christmas hat at them on commentary. Jerry Lawler and Booker T made sure to clarify that Owens threw it specifically at Cole. Owens tossed Ziggler into the gifts and trees on the stage, and attacked Ambrose with gift boxes. Ambrose and Ziggler fought back and launched Owens off the stage on to some more Christmas stuff. Ambrose and Ziggler fought down to the ring and the crowd chanted for Ambrose.
Owens popped back in the ring and held up Ziggler for an electric chair drop but Ziggler slipped out, superkicked Ambrose, Owens superkicked Ziggler and Ambrose clotheslined Owens. Ziggler hit an X-Factor off the top but Owens pulled him out of the ring and threw him into the steel steps.
Ziggler applied a sleeper on Owens, so Owens did his running senton onto Ambrose with Ziggler still on his back. Owens posted Ziggler and hit a nasty suplex on Ambrose. Ambrose landed right on his head and they replayed it repeatedly. As the referee checked on Ambrose, Owens went outside and sent Ziggler into the barricade with a fallaway slam.
Ambrose recovered somehow and hooked Owens in for Dirty Deeds, but Ziggler jumped them from behind to hit a Zig Zag as Ambrose hit Owens with Dirty Deeds all at once. Cool spot. Ziggler superkicked Owens out of the ring and Ambrose hit Ziggler with Dirty Deeds for the win.
Fun match and the crowd popped big for Ambrose. Ambrose swung the title around and posed on the steel steps as the show ended. Cole said Owens was destroying a tree as this happened.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very normal Smackdown show, despite being live and having two title matches. The main event was worth watching. Hopefully Dean Ambrose is fine.
Slammies were given out. Only major news item on the show was John Cena is returning next week. The show was focused on getting the League of Nations over as a heel group.
Show Recap:
Stephanie McMahon started the show smiling. She said McMahons don’t wallow in their self-pity, so she won’t let Roman Reigns get her down tonight. Reigns showed up smiling because he was the new champion. He suspected that McMahon had something up her sleeve, but he doesn’t sweat any of the McMahons or HHH. Roman said he hasn’t seen HHH since he laid him out at TLC, but he told her to tell HHH he wasn’t hard to find, he was the one wearing the gold.
Stephanie ordered him to get out of her ring. Reigns just laughed at her. Stephanie shrieked as Reigns kept laughing and the fans chanted “no.’ Reigns said the fans didn’t want him to leave. Roman asked the fans if they wanted to see her get really mad, and he turned his back to her. Stephanie screamed at him to get back in the ring, saying “How dare you turn your back to me!” They love taking lines from “Gladiator.”
Reigns kept smiling and walked back up through the crowd. Fans were cheering as he made his way up the crowd as Stephanie ordered him to get back in the ring. Roman ignored repeated threats. Stephanie got so mad that she ordered Reigns’ cousins, the Usos, to wrestle the New Day. Reigns no sold that. Then she ordered Dean Ambrose to wrestle Sheamus in a steel cage.
Dolph Ziggler came out for the first Slammy Award for the “Breakout Star of the Year.” The nominees were Kevin Owens, Neville, Charlotte, Tyler Breeze and Braun Strowman.
The winner was Neville. His acceptance speech was interrupted by Owens, who said he should have won. Owens got cheered. He ordered Neville to take a walk. Neville complied. What the hell kind of booking was that? They should have handed Neville a shovel so he can bury himself. Owens turned his ire to Ziggler, claiming that the only way Ziggler could win a Slammy was if they awarded “Has-Been of the Year.” That led to a pull-apart brawl with Ziggler fighting in his tuxedo.
Kane defeated Bray Wyatt by DQ (:53)
They spilled over to the floor where Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Strowman jumped Kane for the DQ. The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer ran out for the save, starting up yet another eight man between these teams.
The Wyatt Family defeated Kane, Tommy Dreamer and the Dudley Boyz (2:47)
Harper pinned Devon Dudley with a lariat. The Dudley Boyz gave Harper Wazzup, but Strowman clothesline do both Dudleys. Kane clotheslined Strowman over the top rope before the finish.
Santino Marella came out for the “LOL Moment of the Year.” Crowd was happy to see Marella. Nominees were the New Day and it’s showdown with Edge and Christian; the Bushwackers being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame; the Miz world premiere of his erectile dysfunction commercial where he turned out the Miz was the one who got over; R-Trtuh cutting a promo for the Money in the Bank match he wasn’t even competing in; and the New Day dancing with Stephanie, while HHH reluctantly joined in.
R-Truth was the winner. Santino accepted the award for R-Truth because he’s never won a Slammy before, which the audience kind of groaned at. R-Truth came out and demanded the award. Santino took off running with the Slammy and R-Truth chased him.
Santa Claus cut a promo wishing everyone a Merry Chirstmas. Of course, it was Mick Foley. His daughter Noelle and son Dewey were dressed as elves.
Paul Heyman came out to present a Slammy. He said aside from LOL and Diva of the Year, every Slammy should go to Brock Lesnar. The award was the “OMG Shocking Moment of the Year.” Nominees were Seth Rollins cashing in the briefcase at WrestleMania; Lesnar giving Michael Cole and a random cameraman F-5s the night after WrestleMania; Kalisto delivering Solina del Sol on Jimmy Uso at TLC off the top of a ladder onto another ladder; Sheamus cashing in the briefcase and pinning Reigns at Survivor Series, ending Reigns 1st world title reign after 5:15; and the Wyatt Family jumping the Undertaker at the end of their Hell in a Cell match.
Kalisto was the winner. He came out wearing a mask in a three-piece suit, which reminded me of Mil Mascaras in the dying days of World Class Wrestling. Crowd didn’t really react to him. Weird to see Kalisto and Heyman out there together. There was a photo tweeted of Owens waiting in the ring taking a nap against a turnbuckle as Kalisto did the promo.
Kevin Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler (12:05)
More good stuff from Ziggler. Owens won with the Pop-Up Power Bomb after Ziggler tried to give him a Zig Zag. Ziggler had just hit a Famouser for a two count. Ziggler has really upped his game over the last six months. Nothing new regarding an Ambrose-Owens program tonight, so it remains to be seen if that’s a program that fell through the cracks or if it’s on a one week sabbatical.
Stephanie came out to present the Superstar of the Year Slammy. Everyone on the roster was nominated. Reigns, Sheamus, John Cena, Owens, Ambrose, Wyatt, The New Day, Lesnar, the Undertaker, Kane, Rollins, and Sting were highlighted in an excellent video package.
Stephanie announced Rollins as the winner. Rollins came out on crutches to a good babyface reaction, and the announcers put him over like he was a face. There was even a “Thank you, Seth” chant. Rollins wasn’t shilling a bit, going full arrogant saying there was no other option for Superstar of the Year. He brought up his performance at the Royal Rumble in the three-way against Cena and Lesnar, winning the championship at WrestleMania, etc. As quickly as the success came, one wrong landing made it all disappear.
Rollins turned serious and said in 2016, he would redesign Seth Rollins, he would rebuild himself and he will reclaim a championship he never lost.
Alberto Del Rio (C) defeated Jack Swagger in a nontitle match (7:07)
Alberto Del Rio won with the Double Stomp on the Tree of Woe. Afterwards, Sheamus gave Jack Swagger the Brogue Kick.
Mark Hery came out to present the “Hero in All of Us” Award. This was an award presented to various wrestlers who help out with charity. Nominees were: Natalya for her work with the Special Olympics and the USO; Reigns for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Dosomething.org campaign; the Big Show for the U.S. Armed Forces and the Special Olympics; Titus O’Neal for his commitment to help the homeless; Cena for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Cena was the winner to wide cheers. Fans weren’t as happy when it was announced he wasn’t there. Henry accepted the award for Cena and appeared a little choked up, perhaps knowing this was the last time he would be at a Slammy presentation as an active wrestler.
They announced non televised Slammy Winners, including Lesnar vs. Undertaker as Rivalry of the Year; the Stone Cold Podcast as Best WWE Network Show; Damien Mizdow winning Double Cross of the Year (knocking off Del Rio in an upset); and Reigns leveling HHH as Extreme Moment of the Year.
Supposedly, Santa Claus came out to present the award for Surprise Return of the Year. It was Bo Dallas under the outfit. Nominees were the Dudleys, Chris Jericho, Del Rio (with Zeb Coulter not mentioned or even shown), Kane (?), and Sting.
The winner was Sting, who was also absent. Crowd wasn’t happy about that one either.
New Day were out and unhappy that they didn’t get the Slammy for Tag Team of the Year. As revenge, Big E. Was going to ruin the ending to the latest Star Wars movie, but Kofi Kingston didn’t want that because his son hadn’t seen the film yet. The Usos came out with new music.
The Usos defeated the New Day in a 2-on-3 handicap match (10:57)
Jey Uso pinned Xaiver Woods after reversing an Rolling Reverse Cradle. Pretty good match but the fans were getting worn out by this point. Fans chanted for Bayley. How about we keep that one quiet before she’s called up to the main roster and buried faster than you can say “Miss Universe is Miss Colombia?”
R-Truth, who retrieved his Slammy from Santino, came out to present the Diva of the Year. Nominees were: Nikki Bella, Naomi, Paige, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte.
Paige was announced as the winner. Paige and R-Truth embraced. It appeared R-Truth tried to put his handprint on her ass because she had to push him off. Paige acted like a heel. Did she tun again since TLC? Of course, this was the Steve Harvey spot that you knew was coming. R-Truth said he had made a mistake and Paige was the runner-up. The winner was announced as Nikki Bella. Nikki came out and asked Paige to stick around. Nikki did a total babyface speech, dedicated the award to everyone. She and Paige embraced.
Rusev defeated Neville via submission (8:02)
Rusev got almost all the offense and got the submission win with the Accoldate. Neville attempted the Red Arrow but Rusev moved, Neville jumped off right into a thrust kick by Rusev. Post match, Sheamus gave Neville another Brogue Kick.
Miz, who was on commentary for the Neville match, presented the Slammy for the This is Awesome Moment of the Year: Nominees were Lesnar destroying J&J Security’s car; Randy Orton’s RKO of Rollins at WrestleMania; Stephanie McMahon starting the Divas Revolution; Ronda Rousey showing up at WrestleMania and the Shield reforming to power bomb Orton through an announcers table.
The Rock and Rousey at WrestleMania. No one reacted because they knew Rock nor Rousey wasn’t within 1,000 miles of the place.
Becky Lynch defeated Brie Bella via submission (5:11)
Becky Lynch won with Disarm-her after blocking Brie Bella’s La Magistral cradle. Charlotte was at ringside but didn’t interfere. Crowd has faded out.
Ric Flair came out to award the Slammy for Match of the Year. Nominees were Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins at Royal Rumble: HHH vs. Sting at WrestleMania; Owens vs. Cena at the Elimination Chamber; Reings vs. Ziggler vs. Owens vs. Delp Rio in a Fatal Four Way #1 Contenders Match on Raw from November and Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell. Why Cesaro vs. Cena in July wasn’t nominated is beyond me.
The winner was Undetaker vs. Lesnar. Lesnar’s music played, but of course he didn’t come out. Heyman did and got booed. Quite funny to see Flair and Heyman shake hands since Flair fired Heyman from WCW in 1990 over a promo Heyman gave where he went against Flair’s orders and basically put himself over. Fans chanted for Lesnar. Heyman said Lesnar has no desire to accept awards, he wants to show up for a fight. He said while the fans want Lesnar, no one in the locker room is man enough to want Lesnar. Heyman said the Undertaker stood toe-to-toe with Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell, and he paid tribute to Undertaker. Heyman tried to rally the fans with a babyface interview, but they wanted stars at this point.
The League of Nations jumped the Usos in the back. Rusev put Jimmy in the Accolade while Del Rio but Jey in the cross armbreaker. Sheamus gave them both Brogue kicks and said “2 down, one to go.”
Dean Ambrose (C) defeated Sheamus in a cage match (10:45)
Ambrose won by climbing over the cage when he and Sheamus had climbed over and slugged it out. After Sheamus hit a head butt, Ambrose fell to the floor. Once Sheamus hit the floor, Reigns hit him with a spear. Both men made several attempts to climb over the cage. Sheamus gave Ambrose White Noise off the top rope for a two count. Not even that spot could get the crowd buzzing. They fought again on the top rope where Sheamus crouched himself. Ambrose tried to climb over, but Rusev and Del Rio stopped him. So Ambrose jumped off the top of the cage with a hooking clothesline for a good near fall. Ambrose tried to get out of the cage, but Del Rio slammed the cage door into his face. Amazing to see something that drew millions in Dallas in the 80s used as a transition spot here. Reigns ran out of the crowd and gave Del Rio a spear, and hit Rusev with a Superman Punch. Sheamus tried to climb out, but Reigns met him at the top, had a staredown with him and threw a chair into the ring. Ambrose used the chair for several shots across the back, then hit Dirty Deeds. There was a very audible “Sheamus is boring” chant. Stephanie watched from the back. As Ambrose climbed in the ring, Sheamus gave him a Brogue Kick. Rusev and Del Rio put the boots to Ambrose before the match even started.
SUMMARY:
Show ran out of steam about 90 minutes in. The good news was Reigns got a good reaction the week after winning the strap.
Post-Show Notes from Eric Thibault:
WWE returns on Friday March 4th for a Road To Wrestlemania house show. The presale password is WWEPRE.
Kids loved chanting New Day Rocks before the show. Definitely not as full as last Raw in August featuring Undertaker and Lesnar. 3/4 of upper level curtained off.
Pre-Show dark match: Lucha Dragons vs. The Acension. They went straight to big moves, Acension double teamed Kalisto for the heat one minute in. Hot tag to Sin Cara two minutes in. Kalisto and Sin Cara hit topes, then the Salida del sol and the Swanton for the victory in 3:30.
Roman Reigns was cheered loudly during the opening video package.
Nikki and Paige were really over. The League of Nations received little to no reaction during entrances, its matches or post match angles.
Becky Lynch had a really cool, smoke filled entrance during the commercial break.
This was the second time on RAW in Minneapolis in the last couple years that they teased Lesnar but didn’t deliver.
Fans chanted “This is boring” during the cage match but flipped after Ambrose dove off the cage. Ambrose and Roman celebrated on the ramp after the match. No post match angle or match.
Submitted by Mike Omansky from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
– The show opened with a Roman Reigns interview talking about winning the title on his daughter’s birthday. He figured his days were numbered in the company. Sheamus came out and congratulated him on holding the title longer than 5:15. Sheamus said he’d be winning it back. Sheamus announced there is an internal investigation going on regarding Reigns and he is not allowed in the building. Reigns told Sheamus to make him leave. Security guards came out to remove him but he destroyed all of them.
– U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio beat Ryback with the armbar. Good match dominated by Del Rio. Ryback makes the comeback and is about to finish him off, but the full League of Nations comes out. Ryback is distracted; Del Rio takes him down and clamps on thearmbar for the win.
– They did a backstage segment where Tyler Breeze and Summer Rae, the former of which is about to wrestle Titus O’Neil. Goldust walked in, Rae sprayed hair spray in his mouth, and thus, Breeze is feuding with Tyler Breeze.
– Titus O’Neil beat Tyler Breeze. Goldust was out, sat next to Rae, and distracted Breeze by taking selfies with Breeze’s selfie stick.
– Backstage, Dean Ambrose did an interview where he said he’s ready to defend the I-C title against Kevin Owens or anyone.
– Wyatts vignette aired.
– Lucha Dragons beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) in a non-title match when Kalisto pinned Kingston.mIt is announced later that there will be a rematch next Tuesday, live on Smackdown, for the tag titles.
– Dolph Ziggler backstage interview, talking about Owens.
– Becky Lynch beat Brie Bella by submission after Charlotte tripped Brie and Becky locked on an armbar submission. Team BAD were also out at ringside.
– Backstage, Becky and Charlotte argued about why Charlotte interfered for her. Becky wants to win on her own.
– Backstage, Owens said he wants his I-C title back.
– Dolph Ziggler beat Kevin Owens via DQ for throwing him into the ring steps. Ambrose made the save and chased Owens off. Ambrose then checked on Ziggler, and Ziggler superkicked him.
Notes:
– In the dark match segment, the League of Nations ran out to attack Ambrose and Ziggler. The Usos race in and get beaten down. Enter Roman Reigns who runs into to clean house. The other faces recover and the heels retreat. This was apparently in lieu of the “massive” 6 man tag main event that had been advertised for weeks.
– WWE will return to the building on May 22nd for Payback. Pre-sale tickets can be had by using ‘Payback’.
Roman Reigns is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion on a program that featured the return of Vince McMahon in an on-screen role for the first time in over a year. Reings got a very positive response all night and defeated Sheamus in a match he had to win, or else get fired.
Show Recap:
Stephanie McMahon started the show. Michael Cole announced that HHH was in a hospital nursing injuries. It sounded like the crowd noise was artificial, even though the show was live. Which shows how much faith the fans in Philadelphia had in regards to cheering the people the company wants cheered. She said Roman Reigns had attacked not only HHH, but the COO and his boss.
Reigns came out. There was a small “Thank you, Roman” chant. Reigns said he was a father and today was his daughter’s birthday. But he didn’t feel bad at all about whipping HHH’s ass. They teased Roman was going to get fired. Stephanie brought up Reigns losing another chance at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, called him a failure and a disgrace. Reigns said Stephanie was the disgrace, so was HHH and their whole family.
Stephanie slapped him repeatedly. She said she wasn’t going to fire Reigns because her husband asked her not to. She said someone wanted to see Reigns tonight, and that was her father. So Vince McMahon makes his way back to TV tonight.
You might be reading this and wondering since Stephanie slapped Reigns about eight times, how did Reigns get his comeback? The answer is there was none. At this point, I’m wondering who Stephanie is going to wrestle when she headlines WrestleMania because she’s more protected than Reigns is. I can’t believe they castrated him like that after last night.
Dean Ambrose (C) and Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest in a nontitle match (12:20)
Kevin Owens came out and attacked Dolph Ziggler, then gave Dean Ambrose a Pop-Up Power Bomb. Owens gave Ambrose another Pop-Up Powerbomb. When Ziggler went for a comeback, Owens gave him a Pop-Up Powerbomb, as well. They were in the midst of a good match where Ziggler gave Ambrose a Superkick, but Ambrose bounced off the ropes and gave Ziggler a clothesline. Looks like a tease of a three-way match down the line.
Owens was interviewed by Jo Jo backstage. He was almost in a catatonic state and vowed to put Ambrose in an actual asylum until he gets his Intercontiental Championship back.
The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno were backstage. They challenged the Wyatt Family to a match tonight in a rally around the ECW banner interview to get the natural Philadelphia response.
Bo Dallas and R-Truth went to a no contest (3:25)
Just went you thought an episode of WWE Superstars had broken out, the whole matchup was a backdrop to Vince McMahon coming into the building.They got a couple of spots into the match when Vince showed up in a limo. Stephanie wanted to join Vince, but he insisted she go back to Connecticut and nurse HHH back to health.
Vince then did the routine he did years ago when he stopped a house show match with Taijiri and Rhyno in progress, as he walked into the ring and ordered R-Truth and Bo Dallas out. Vince came out and said that Reigns had to be cowering backstage in fear of what Vince was going to say to him. After a commercial where Vince sat in a chair at ringside long enough to let the second hour arrive, he ordered Reigns to come out.
Vince ordered Reigns to apologize. Reigns just shook his head. Then Vince ordered Reigns to get down on his hands and knees to apologize. Nothing doing. Vince said there was a time where he would beat an apology out of him. When Reigns just smirked at him, Vince teased squaring off with him. He took off his coat.
Then Sheamus stepped out and said he wanted to beat an apology out of Reigns himself. He wanted to challenge Reigns tonight. Sheamus talked about putting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Then we got the typical McMahon swerve where Vince asked the crowd if they wanted the match, then shot them down. Reigns asked why not, and siad Vince once had big grapefruits, but now they’ve become shriveled up prunes now. He said McMahon was 70 years old and time was passing him by.
McMahon was so incensed, he granted Reigns the match. But if Reigns didn’t win the title tonight, he was fired. Then Vince kicked Reigns in the balls and walked off. It really says something about the power of your champion when the crowd was more fired up for the tease of a McMahon-Reigns match than another bout with Reigns. The stipulation practically guarantees a title switch tonight.
Alberto Del Rio and Rusev defeated Jack Swagger and Ryback (6:30)
Rusev and Alberto Del Rio each hit separate thrust kicks on Jack Swagger and Rusev scored the pin. Match came and went. Swagger gets a reaction for someone who has barely been on TV over the past year.
We got our third installment of the Rosebush. Adam Rose talked about Charlotte cheating against Paige to win at TLC, and how Becky Lynch was worried Charlotte was becoming too much like her father. Rose told Lynch not to worry because Charlotte would still need 16 world titles, 4 marriages, 4 divorces and multiple fortunes to win and lose to become too much like her father. Well, Charlotte is following in her father’s footsteps in several of those areas, too.
Want worse? The Rosebush preempted Tyler Breeze’s ring entrance. I know I’m becoming a broken record regarding not showing Bree’e entrance, it show some proper priorities for the love of God.
Neville defeated Tyler Breeze (4:56)
The Miz came out and started shouting instructions to Neville. Then Miz started leading cheers for Neville in his usual obnoxious way, which got Summer Rae mad at him. After a Superkick, Neville won with the Red Arrow. Neville started rolling his eyes at Miz when he started taking credit for Neville’s win. WCW’s booking committee would be proud of how quickly the WWE has made Breeze a midcarder in record time.
Miz talked with Neville backstage. Miz said he could pull enough strings to get Neville cast in the 8th Star Wars movie. But in exchange, Miz wanted Neville’s British accent because he wanted to be the next James Bone. Miz proclaimed he could make Neville into the next Daniel Bryan. Neville warned Miz that if he ever tried what he pulled tonight again, he would stick a light saber where the sun doesn’t shine. But didn’t Neville win?
The Wyatt Family did an interview backstage. Luke Harper said they were the way into the see of woe. Eric Rowan said they were the way into eternal pain. Braun Strowman said they were the way to go among the lost. Bray Wyatt said they were the Angels of the dirt, and they would bury Team Extreme in the same city they were born.
The Wyatt Family defeated Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno and the Dudley Boyz in an Extreme Rules match (15:29)
A wild brawl as you would expect. The unsung hero was Luke Harper, who channeled his inner-Dreamer by taking lots of crazy bumps. That included a Superplex off the top rope onto a chair. Later, Dreamer gave Harper a Death Valley Driver off the ramp through two tables. Strowman took his monthly push into the announcer’s table fall. The Dudleyz hit Harper with the 3-D, which everyone thought was the finish. They brawled all over the arena. Wyatt pulled Ray out of the ring. It ended when Rowan gave Rhyno a splash through the table for the pin. Very entertaining because it was something different from what we usually get on Raw, as opposed to Impact, where they had four matches a month like this one.
The New Day came out in a somber tone showing still-frame highlights from last night’s TLC match with Lucha Dragons and the Usos. Kofi Kingston talked about how he felt like he got hit with a Mack Truck. Big E. Says matches like last night’s change your perspective, so he called out the Usos. New Day acted like they wanted to bury the hatchet and call a truce. Big E. Wanted Lucha Dragons to join them. Kofi pinned over Sin Cara and said the Dragons were his son’s favorite tag team.
Kalisto brought up Xavier Woods throwing his trombone against his back. Woods admitted it was brash but he apologized. Jey Uso said he heard a better apology from his 3-year-old. Woods said they all took the tag team division to the next level, and the match was for the fans. The New Day wanted to shake hands, and they all shook hands. After the Usos and Dragons left, the New Day fell into their standard routine screaming at the top of their lungs how they were the tag team champions, which included Woods doing a reverse worm. Dragons and Usos ran back in the ring and cleared the ring of the New Day.
Lynch and Charlotte were backstage laughing with Flair. What did I miss here?
Charlotte and Becky Lynch defeated Alicia Fox and Brie Bella via submission (3:24)
Charlotte has apparently stolen Stephanie’s gimmick of turning babyface and heel over 24-hour periods. Finish was Flair tripping Alicia Fox, which Lynch didn’t see. Lynch got the submission on Fox with the Disarm-Her. Lynch acted like everything was great and they had won fairly, not realizing how they won.
Titus O’Neal and Darren Young were trying to hawk merchandise from WWE.Com, which are 25% off. Titus could have a future as a Michael Strahan-type host after his wrestling days are over.
Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus (C) to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (16:54)
These last two night have done wonders for Regins’ career. The same Philly fans that booed him out of the building in January for winning the Royal Rumble went nuts for this title switch. It was also well booked. Vince was at ringside, living and dying with every near fall. At around the 11:00 mark, Reigns hit a head butt that busted him up hardway. But it came right at the finishing sequence, so they couldn’t stop it or else it would have killed the momentum. Reigns hit a spear, it Vince pulled the referee out of the ring. Sheamus came back to hit White Noise, but Reigns kicked out.
Vince talked to the referee on the apron. As he did so, Del Rio and Rusev ran out to attack Reigns, who responded by giving them both Superman Punches, and then he hit Vince with a Superman Punch. Vince sold it like he was dead. He didn’t move for the rest of the show. Sheamus responded by hitting the Brogue Kick, but Reigns kicked out. Sheamus set up for another Brogue Kick, but Reigns hit the spear and the pin for the title switch.
It was a good world title celebration with Regins dumping Vince’s body off the apron. No boos at all for Reigns as he posed with a big smile on his face. You could almost feel the redemption inside him in a year where’s he come full circle.
SUMMARY:
These are the nights where you get so frustrated with WWE booking because this show was booked so well, you wonder why they can’t put shows together like this more often. They pressed the right buttons with Reigns over the last two nights, figuring the best way to win over the fan base is to beat up two of its biggest targets: Vince and HHH. Plus, it was wise to get the belt to Reigns on this night, because the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania are crowds most likely to hijack shows and boo Reigns. A win all around and a good show.
