4/3/16 WrestleMania 32

Whoa, three years since my last blog post here? That's what happens when I barely have any time for pro wrestling these days. I've done my best to keep up with as many storylines as possible. Ratings here are for the PPV only (no pre-show stuff).

Zack Ryder vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sami Zayn vs. Sin Cara vs. Stardust vs. The Miz (Ladder; Intercontinental Title): No surprise this match started the PPV. The usual big spots we've come to expect in a ladder match at WM. As expected, Owens and Zayn impressed. Even with Ryder basically being all vocal to get on the show, then getting his chance, I still personally didn't expect Ryder to come away with the title. Crowd loved it, though. A great match with a very good ending. ***3/4

Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles: Never thought I'd be writing on this blog that AJ Styles is now a member of WWE. Styles has shown good stuff, and while his arsenal is much safer than what it used to be, it's still great to see. A very good move to pair him with Jericho first. Several near falls here. Loved the Styles counter out of the Walls into the Calf Crusher. I didn't agree with the finish; Styles should have gone over here. ***1/2

League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, & Rusev) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, & Big E): Wade Barrett was at ringside for LoN and predictably had a hand in the finish. I'll remember this match more for the giant box of Booty-O's on the stage. Otherwise, a typical tag match here. **

Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose (No Holds Barred): I like booking Lesnar strong. I can understand booking Ambrose as some lunatic who apparently loves pain or doesn't know when to stop. Here, I simply couldn't get into the match as much as I would have wanted. Lesnar is mostly a one-trick asskicker with suplexes and hard-hitting stuff. Because Lesnar is booked so strong, Ambrose had to resort to a nutshot and weapons for his offense. At least a dozen suplexes later and a few weapon shots, it was over after about 13 minutes. **

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (Women's Title): Before the Diva Revolution last year, we would have probably just had some Battle Royal or a 10-diva tag match like on the pre-show (and yes, I really feel bad for Paige and Natalya being stuck in that pre-show match). There was no legitimacy left in this division (even Natalya had been relegated to occasional matches or a valet role), and no reason to take any of the women seriously anymore. It was more than symbolic when Lita basically brought back the Women's Championship, saying good riddance to the butterfly belt and a huge "hello" to what may hopefully be a new age of women inspiring subsequent generations to become professional wrestlers. Three of the "Four Horsewomen" delivered huge here on the biggest stage with several counters and high-risk moves. Charlotte's moonsault reminded me so much of Kurt Angle's version, just majestic while suspended in air. I was hoping Becky would get the nod here, as she was the only one of the three yet to hold any gold yet in the company. Perhaps it was a sign that Becky got her usual entrance, while Sasha got Snoop Dogg (her real-life cousin and 2016 WWE HOF inductee) and Charlotte got her father (Ric Flair) and Ric's old robe. To me, Becky stood to lose the most here if she didn't win, while the others seemingly did not have that much further to fall. Luckily, all three had their moments to win. This would have sounded absurd a couple years ago, but I'm looking forward to future matches for this division. ***3/4

The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon (Hell in a Cell): If Shane won, he got control of RAW. If Taker lost, it would be his last Mania. Had this match taken place while The Streak remained intact (Lesnar broke it two years ago), it was an easy Undertaker prediction. However, given the situation, it at least seemed like not a bad idea to have Shane win, albeit with interference. It would have allowed a potentially fresher product while allowing Taker to step aside to let the next crop of stars head the show. Instead, the predictable carnage of weapons, escaping the cage, and the insane Shane bump unfolded. Everything was a setup to that insane Shane bump. No interference, no twists. This match may not have had the most potential, but I thought it could have been better. **3/4

20-Man Battle Royal (Andre the Giant Memorial): No way to take this seriously when Shaquille O'Neal is an entrant. Shook my head at the opening sequence between the big guys. Baron Corbin winning was a nice surprise and saved this from a worse rating. 1/2*

The Rock vs. Erick Rowan: Bray Wyatt is a master on the mic. The match was done in a blink of an eye. Then Super Cena "saved" the day. N/A

Roman Reigns vs. Triple H (WWE World Heavyweight Title): Vince keeps trying to get us to cheer Reigns, but that basically will only happen if he keeps hitting spears on Stephanie McMahon. HHH had his usual grand entrance. As much as the WWE Title should be defended on the last match of the show, I think HIAC could have also been worthy of the final slot. Again, this was a match that I just could not completely get into. You won't get a technical masterpiece from Reigns, and this was basically set up in the traditional "let's have the heel cheat to win or gain the advantage" formula. Since it's Mania, chances are the face (or in this case, the person Vince wanted as the face) triumphs in the end. It wasn't horrible, but again, just not a main event I'd consider worthy of the grandest stage. **

Final Thoughts: Unfortunately, in my eye, not as good of a Mania as prior years. Yes, the announced attendance (likely number of tickets sold) was over 101,000, but reports state that the event still legitimately broke the WM III inflated mark of 93,173. The most pleasant surprise may have been the Women's Title match, and I hope that sparks what that title picture will be like for years to come. The injury bug bit WWE pretty hard this year, with no Orton, no Neville, no Luke Harper, and a less-muscular Cena (still needs time to bulk back up after his injury). I hope that AJ Styles becomes a bigger part of the title picture by next year's Mania. In short, NXT Takeover: Dallas was a much better show. **1/2

4/7/13 WrestleMania XXIX

Hey all, it's been a while. For those wondering, I've tried to keep up on the WWE storylines as much as possible. It might be a day late, but here are my WM 29 ratings:

Miz vs. Wade Barrett (IC Title): Just saw the highlights of this from the main show. Miz got Barrett to submit to the Figure Four and become IC champ once again. Ric Flair must be proud of Miz as the Hall of Famer grieves over his son's tragic passing. N/A

Big Show, Sheamus, & Randy Orton vs. The Shield: Good match here. Shield booked strong as one would hope. Notable spot near the end of the match with Rollins doing the suicide dive to Orton and basically smashing his own face into the barricade. Triple spear from Show got a nice pop. Orton tagging himself in and Show not liking it will probably lead to a feud later. **3/4

Mark Henry vs. Ryback: Booker T issued a no-contact rule and that led to some bench press stuff on Smackdown. No one expected a wrestling clinic here anyway. Cole now references Bruno Sammartino when Henry goes for the bearhug. Ryback goes for Shellshocked, can't hold Henry up. Henry falls on Ryback and that's good enough for three. Huh?! Crowd reaction was fine. Ryback hits a spinebuster and Shellshocked after the match. *1/2

Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston (Tag Team Titles): Yup, I miss watching AJ Lee each week. WWE replayed the end to last week's RAW, where Langston got involved and Ziggler scored the pin on Daniel Bryan using the tights. Crowd going NUTS for DB. Nice start to the match with the AJ Lee "Kiss of Death" reference. JBL helps put Langston over as a strong dude. Ziggler hits the Zigzag on Kane but only two. Chokeslam to Ziggler and Flying Goat for three, champs retain. **

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho: Fandango's WM debut. Lilian Garcia introduces Fandango, who probably tried to compete with Undertaker for the longest ring entrance in WM history. Nice dancing intro, though. Jericho wasn't billed as being born in Manhasset, NY, although I guess he's more known for being from Winnipeg anyway. Fandango had gotten the upper hand on Jericho the past few weeks. Codebreaker to Fandango early, but Fandango knocked out of the ring. Jericho the clear ring general here. Fandango can springboard leap to the top like RVD. Impressive top-rope legdrop gets two. A second one misses. Jericho lionsault hits. He goes for the Walls but has some type of "tweaked knee" moment. Fandango rolls Jericho up for three. Y2J puts over another young guy on the roster, nothing new there. **1/4

Diddy performs "Comin' Home." Seriously a great song.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger (World Heavyweight Title): Main event intros here. Poor Jack Swagger. If not for his arrest, he probably would have been world champ. Think I caught a remix of ADR's original theme; not sure how long that's been around. Ricardo's on crutches to sell the ankle injury Swagger gave him. Swagger gets ADR in the Patriot Lock but ADR counters into a cross armbreaker -- then Swagger counters back to the Patriot Lock. Great segment. Colter of course gets involved. Swagger nearly forgets to get back in the ring (at 9) and ADR slaps on the cross armbreaker for the submission win. Another decent match, but could have been a lot better. **3/4

Undertaker vs. CM Punk: Another outstanding video package to get me up to speed on the storyline. One of the best segments: Taker beating Punk up with the urn tumbling to the floor like a fumble, and Paul Heyman picking up the urn and running with it like a defensive lineman going for a touchdown. Living Colour performs "Cult of Personality" as Punk walks to the ring. Love it. Taker looks in much better shape than he did at that house show several weeks ago; that portly gut is all but gone.

Punk with the mind games before the match; he teased ways to win via countout or DQ if he had to. Punk delivered Old School to Taker and a side Russian leg sweep for two. Flying Savage elbow gets two for Punk. GTS countered, Taker chokeslam for two. Snake eyes from Taker, but Punk hits the back heel kick for two. Taker wants Last Ride to Punk on the Spanish table, but Punk gets out and kicks Taker in the head. Punk with the elbow drop to Taker while the deadman is lying on the Spanish table. Taker gets in at nine and Punk looks distraught. Still maintain the Taker/HBK countout segment at WM 25 was the best one, given how Taker all but spiked his own head on the floor while doing the big dive.

Punk goes for the Vice, but Taker gets that "you are screwed" look. Punk's looking like he just crapped his pants. Taker delivers the Tombstone and Punk kicks out. Fans are going nuts. Ref bump spot. Punk with another running knee in the corner. Taker no-sells and goes for the Last Ride. Punk gets the urn and clocks Taker. Punk with the signature Taker pin and still just gets two. Crowd real loud now. Heyman gives a constipated look on the arena floor. Punk mocks Taker's throat slash. GTS countered. Taker Tombstone countered. GTS countered one more time. Taker hits the Tombstone and gets three. Another outstanding Undertaker WM match. Not on par with the HBK and HHH matches, but still awesome. ****

Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar (No Holds Barred): HBK is in HHH's corner tonight. As one would expect, not a complete wrestling clinic, more a physical massacre. Still, we had the nice wrestling moves from both guys. Lesnar loves the suplexes. Spanish table finally met its demise here. Crowd got a bit dead when Lesnar stayed on offense in the ring. Lesnar knocks HBK off the apron, then HHH hits a spinebuster. Pedigree countered. Lesnar goes for an F-5. HBK comes in for Sweet Chin Music but that's blocked. F-5 to HBK. Lesnar went to his knees prematurely on the first Pedigree, so it looked like he "blocked" the first attempt. HHH gets it the second time and gets two. Crowd's not impressed. HHH into the steel steps. Lesnar brings the bigger of the two steel steps into the ring and nukes HHH's shoulder again. Lesnar goes for the Kimura several times, no rope break in this match. HHH with a spinebuster to break that third Kimura attempt. Lesnar's left shoulder into the ringpost and HHH attacks that arm. Chair shot on the post and the steps.

KIMURA TO LESNAR! Lesnar screams for help. Heyman into the ring with a chair, but HBK with Sweet Chin Music to Heyman! Lesnar's in trouble. Lesnar picks HHH up and spinebuster on the steps. HHH re-locks the Kimura, so Lesnar slams him on the steps again. Kimura again! HHH counters Brock's counter and DDTs Lesnar on the steps. HHH with a sledgehammer shot to Lesnar and a Pedigree on the steps for three. Real nice, might have benefited if they added some blood to this one. ***3/4

Hall of Fame ceremony highlights. Probably the best HOF class in recent memory. Glad Bruno Sammartino's finally in. Whoa, Trish is pregnant with child! Howard Finkel does the formal announcement at WM 29.

Attendance announced as 80,676. Wonder how much that got inflated.

John Cena vs. The Rock (WWE Title): Twice in a lifetime! Main event intros. Pace is slow at the start; two guys just trying to set the tempo. Crowd is fairly quiet for a match that's supposed to have a heavyweight-type feel.

Rock sharpshooter countered. Cena misses the Five Knuckle Shuffle, and Rock plants him with a DDT. Rock Bottom countered and Cena locks in the STF. Looked like Cena was guiding Rock to counter while in the hold. Rock uses leverage to get a rollup for two. Rock catapulted, then a slam and Five Knuckle Shuffle from Cena. AA countered into a Rock spinebuster. Rock caught in the STF. Rock powers out!

Rock Bottom to Cena, but only two. AA to Rock for two. Crowd's not impressed. Cena misses the top-rope legdrop. Rock spinebuster and People's Elbow, and that gets two. More counters. Cena catches Rock, but Rock counters into a Rock Bottom for another two. Crowd perked up there. Rock for another People's Elbow. Cena pops up and hits the AA...TWO! Crowd starts to love it. But seriously, is this all the people will liven up for?!

Cena with a sloppy rollup for two. Rock tries the Rock Bottom but Cena hits a Rock Bottom?!?! That gets two and Cena has a look of disbelief. Yeah yeah.

Cena does the People's Elbow mocking, which got him caught last year. Rock pops up but Cena was ready. Cena goes for the AA but Rock counters again. Rock Bottom for ANOTHER TWO. This is getting old, dammit! Crowd still loves it, though.

Rock plants Cena with another DDT. Rock lies in wait. Cena gets up. Cena counters a Rock Bottom and hit sthe AA for three. And after all those false finishes, an AA wins it for Cena. Really?! Really?! ***1/2

Cena and Rock shake hands in the ring. Cena leaves to allow Rock to get one more salute from the fans. Rock meets a saluting Cena on the stage and they take one more curtain call. A nice, classy way to end the show.

Final Thoughts: WWE will probably keep preferring to hold PPVs in large stadiums and domes to up that attendance count. I saw a couple pics on Twitter where people were complaining about those barriers around the ring obstructing their view.

Not a PPV for the ages by any means. But it's still good enough to watch thanks to Taker/Punk and HHH/Lesnar. Cena and Rock was good, but that's why someone like Ziggler should have been in the main event. I agree it's great for business to have part-timers like Rock, HHH, and Lesnar wrestle. But it doesn't do the guys like Ziggler or Kofi Kingston any good.

You'll notice no MITB cash-in and Kofi was off the card completely. Heck, I heard Tonz of Funk (Brodus and Tensai) got taken off the card. I'd probably give the overall show about a ***1/4

Will Taker be at WM 30? Possibly, but unsure. Not sure who he'd face, but it could be someone like Lesnar or Cena. Assuming it's Taker's last match, have a damn farewell tour. Have it be for the WWE Title and make Taker retire as champ. Do something great for a guy who's stayed loyal to the company for that long.

2/17/13 Elimination Chamber (Rock/Punk II)

This PPV is in New Orleans! The usual three-man team of Cole, JBL, and Lawler.

PRE-SHOW:
Brodus Clay & Tensai vs. Team Rhodes Scholars: The pre-show match of the PPV. I probably was one of those people clamoring for a RS reunion, mainly because I think it'll give both guys a more prominent role. Fans actually respond and cheer for these guys. I would, too. Tensai's wearing a hat to the ring now! Slowly making the transition, I see. RS with great double-team stuff to get Tensai down. Disaster Kick struck early. Brodus and Tensai with a double splash on Cody for the win after 4 minutes. *1/4

MAIN SHOW:
Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show (World Heavyweight Title): Good way to start the PPV because it's again a card filled with quality matches. First two ADR wins required help from announce tables or duct tape, which won't be the case tonight. Show as usual is dominant from the start. Crowd really loves the "SI" chants. Show with a spear early to get two. Show stays with the slow pace, then a huge Vader Bomb for two again. Cross armbreaker out of nowhere but Show gets to the ropes. ADR hits a hurricanrana and then the suicide dive. I like the babyface ADR moveset, don't you? ADR getting more of Mysterio's moveset, now hitting the seated senton from the top to get two again. Show catches ADR and hits a chokeslam...only two! Show counters ADR sunset flip, but ADR hits a DDT for two. Running enzuigiri in the corner also for two. Cross armbreaker again, but Show with his strength lifts ADR and hits a powerbomb-like move to get out of it. Show sets up for the KO punch. Ricardo runs interference again. Show holds the bucket to his head. ADR slips on the ropes and misses the running enzuigiri the first time, but does it properly on the second try. Another kick in the corner. Cross armbreaker to Show and Show taps. Match was about 11 minutes. ADR's still never pinned Show, but a great opener with several counters and favorable crowd reaction. ***

Antonio Cesaro vs. Miz (U.S. Title): So Miz basically got another title shot even though he failed the first time. WWE logic! Miz still has the taped left shoulder to sell those injuries Cesaro gave him. Cesaro, as predicted, works on that shoulder with an array of moves. Miz with a short comeback, but then Cesaro counters with an armbar. Action spills to the outside. Cesaro catches Miz, but Miz sends Cesaro into the steps. No kneepads for Cesaro so it hurts a lot more. Still jealous of Cesaro's strength. Miz focuses on the knee to set up for the figure four. Cesaro trips Miz up and makes it appear Miz caught Cesaro with a low blow. Ref believes it and Cesaro wins by DQ. Miz then decks Cesaro with a real kick to the jewels. **

Jack Swagger vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry (Elimination Chamber): As usual, two superstars start, and pods will open every four minutes. Swagger comes out first to a new remixed Patriotic-like theme. Swagger, Kane, Henry, and Orton all start in the pods. Love that DB and Jericho are starting things off. Good chain wrestling to start. Each counters the other's submission finisher. Cole erroneously says the first EC match was when HBK came back; Shawn had returned three months prior at SummerSlam after probably 4+ years away. More counters on the steel portion of the chamber. Swagger comes out of the pod next and works on Jericho. Swagger Bomb for two. Swagger runs DB into the steel chain structure. Cole notes the multiple-time winners of EC matches (HHH with four, Cena three, and Edge two). Swagger continues to dominate until DB hits a flying knee on the outside and Swagger falls on the steel. DB misses headbutt on Jericho, Y2J covers for two. Next out of the chamber is Kane. Team Hell No reunites and it's virtual tag team action here. DB  then tries to roll Kane up for a pin! Vintage backstabbing! DB backs off but Kane knows better. No hugging it out in the chamber! Jericho back in, DB on his shoulders. Kane with Doomsday Device to DB. Swagger sneaks in but only gets two on DB. Orton is next out of the pod, so Henry comes in last as expected. Orton comes in with the usual "I'm the fresh guy so I get to nuke everyone" offense. Orton with the hangman's DDT to Kane on the STEEL. OW. Double superplexes from Orton and Jericho, probably can't do that in other rings because WWE's is larger. Everyone's laid out and Henry enters, licking his chops.

Henry with WSS to DB and Daniel's eliminated quickly. Henry tosses Orton through the plexiglass pod. Henry catches Kane coming off the top, WSS to Kane and Kane's gone. Henry's booked extremely strong here. Swagger and Jericho team up on Henry. Double suplex on the steel lays out Henry! Swagger and Y2J battle in the ring for a few near falls. Henry catches Y2J on the lionsault attempt and launches him into the chain links of the chamber. Henry eats a Swagger boot, Y2J codebreaker, and Orton RKO and gets eliminated. Henry's pissed and delivers WSS to the three remaining guys. Booker T and Teddy Long come out, and all of a sudden, Teddy's merely an assistant and not the "Senior Adviser" he once was. Y2J and Orton team on Swagger. Swagger into the post and the chamber pod. Jericho and Orton hit signature moves for near falls. Ankle lock to Orton, but Jericho breaks that up for who knows what reason. Ankle lock now to Jericho. Jericho counters into the Walls and Orton now for some reason decides to break that up. ELIMINATION MATCH, DAMMIT! Jericho counters RKO, Orton knees up on Lionsault, RKO to eliminate Jericho. Swagger sneaks in and rolls Orton up for three! Swagger's going to WM 29! Huge win for Swagger. Didn't think he'd win this one, but since ADR held onto the title, it seems fitting that a heel win it. I'm still expecting Ziggler to hold true to his word and cash in MITB by WM 29 -- or at the event to make it a triple threat. ***3/4

Shield vs. John Cena, Sheamus, & Ryback: The babyface superheros of course dominate the start with triple delayed vertical suplexes. Just don't drop anyone like Miz did with Punk. Sheamus on fire, and then Roman Reigns stops that. Sheamus explodes with a Brogue Kick to Ambrose and tags Cena. Cena moves of doom to Reigns. STF locked in but Ambrose breaks that up. Rollins with a springboard knee to Cena. Cena gets beaten down for a change; you don't see that every day. Crowd chanting for Ryback to get in the match. Cena with the ugliest back suplex known to mankind. Cena still can't get to Ryback. Shield doing a great job working on Cena. Cena backdrops Ambrose out of the ring. Crowd is going nuts for Ryback as he dismantles Ambrose and Rollins. Sheamus takes Ambose to the outside. Reigns spears Sheamus through the barricade! 3-on-1 assault on Ryback again! Cena pulls Reigns to the outside to thwart the triple powerbomb. AA to Ambrose! Ryback gets Rollins up for Shellshocked. Reigns comes back in and spears Ryback. Reigns fends Cena off and Rollins scores the pin on Ryback! WAIT, THE SHIELD PINNED RYBACK?! Well, I'll be damned. ***1/4

Frankly, I woulda hoped Cena or Sheamus would take the pinfall, but they had to feed Ryback to the Shield this time. Ryback looks at Cena and then storms off. I wouldn't necessarily call that a heel turn, but it could be the planting of one. Could set up something with Cena and Ryback for post-WM 29? I know Vince wants to keep the momentum going with Big Hungry.

Dolph Ziggler comes out and he pretty much complains that he's not booked for a match on the show. Booker T comes out and gives him a match with Kofi Kingston.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston: Kofi with a monkey flip to Ziggler; Ziggler rotates an extra 180 degrees and lands front-first on his left wrist. Ziggler favored the wrist for the rest of the match. Kofi went into the ring post and sold the right shoulder. Ziggler with a sleeper to Kofi. Kofi battles out. Suicide dive to the outside nails Big E Langston. Trouble in Paradise to Ziggler,but Langston looked like he pulled Ziggler out of the ring. Kofi high springboard dive onto Langston again! Kofi with a springboard crossbody onto Ziggler back in the ring for two. Ziggler with an innovative-looking "Super Snake Eyes" from the second rope anda Zigzag to Kofi to get three. Match was maybe four minutes. Langston storms in after the match and nukes Kofi with an avalanche and that modified cutter finisher. *1/2

Brodus and the Funkadactyls are playing with those new WWE Power Slammer action figures. Basically they roll around...yippee. Tensai is now nicknamed "Sweet T," I guess? Brodus asks what all the kanji on Tensai's face means and Tensai doesn't even know. Cameron slaps Tensai's ass and they randomly all dance in the back with the dance lights. Facepalm.

Kaitlyn vs. Tamina Snuka (Divas Title): Match made last Monday after some backstage altercation. So basically zero buildup. Kaitlyn taped promo references an AJ Lee spider monkey and Tonya Harding. Ugh. Kaitlyn on offense and the crowd doesn't care. A few divas watch on the monitor; hoping Natalya actually gets a title reign soon. Tamina with a Samoan drop -- or should it be a Fijian drop? Superfly splash misses and Kaitlyn hits the spear to retain the title at the 3:30 mark. *

WWE Title match closes the show. As a reminder, if Rock gets counted out or DQ'd, he loses the WWE Title.

The Rock vs. CM Punk (WWE Title): Punk still has Rock's title and comes out first. Punk makes Justin Roberts say Punk is the people's champion. Main event intros, and Roberts places more emphasis on Rock's name like he has with people like Cena. Punk with the upper hand to start, then it looked like he flipped off Rock. Rock storms back, so Punk backs off and slows things down. Heel logic! Punk keeps trying to push Rock's buttons to get a DQ. Punk spits in Rock's face! Keep on pushing the buttons! Rock pummels Punk on the outside. Punk rakes the eyes while Heyman distracts the ref. Crowd is split. Kids love Rock. Punk with a bunch of rest holds to Rock, and that bores the heck outta me. A couple of running knees to Rock. Action back to the outside and Punk readies the Spanish table. It's always gotta be the Spanish guys first! Rock fights back. Rock Bottom in the ring countered and a Punk roundhouse kick gets two. Back to the Spanish table. Punk with a Rock Bottom to Rock on the Spanish table! Table really reinforced this time and didn't collapse. Punk tries for the countout win. Rock milks the count and gets in at the last possible moment. Rock with a desperation Samoan drop. Double KO spot and they get up at nine again. Trading haymakers. Rock with the boot and DDT to Punk. Where's the burst of energy coming from, Lawler asks. DUDE, Rock didn't do much for the previous few minutes other than that Rock Bottom on the table! He shouldn't be winded! Punk counters Rock Bottom again with a ton of elbow strikes. Punk with the springboard -- into a Rock Bottom! Only two as Heyman probably avoided another heart attack. Heyman distracts the official. REF BUMP! Rock shoved into Mike Chioda. GTS from Punk but no ref. And again, Punk will argue on RAW how he gets screwed out of the title. Heyman is beside himself. Second ref comes down but tends to Chioda. Punk goes for another GTS but Rock counters with spinebuster and People's Elbow. Ref #2 in the ring...TWO as Punk kicks out. Punk appears to roll up on Ref #2's ankle so now he's down. Another kick to Rock. Punk motions for Heyman to give him the WWE Title. Heyman holds Rock on the ropes. Punk decks Heyman instead. Rock Bottom to Punk! Chioda back in the ring to count three. Rock retains at about 21 minutes. It wasn't gonna be a pretty and clean main event, but it delivered on crowd reaction at the end. It's clear Rock's in-ring conditioning is not gonna be at a level you saw from a Jericho or a Daniel Bryan in the chamber. ***3/4

Rock and Cena is now official for WM 29. Bet the farm that it'll be the last match on the card, and just about everyone is expecting Cena to triumph this time. I'd guess Rock and Cena shake hands to end WM 29 and you'll get the big fireworks and stuff.

WWE seems committed to having Punk wrestle Taker, and we'll likely see Lesnar and HHH part infinity.

Elimination Chamber PPV had seven matches on the main card, plus the pre-show match. Very good PPV overall. Loved the chamber match because the right people got booked solid, such as Mark Henry. Didn't expect Swagger to win, but that's a huge boost for his career. I thought Ziggler would cash MITB in here, but he'll probably save it for WM 29.

I would think Ziggler could cash it in on free TV as well to keep his promise intact, but since he's a heel and heels usually lie, I wouldn't hold my breath. ***1/2

1/27/13 Royal Rumble

Antonio Cesaro vs. Miz (U.S. Title): Pre-show match that you could see on YouTube. Basic mat wrestling early on. Cesaro again with the impressive strength, catching Miz on a leapfrog and turning it into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Solid competitive match in the last few minutes. Cesaro to the outside, and he suckers Miz in, pulling Miz into the steel ring structure. Neutralizer in the ring and Cesaro retains after almost 8 minutes. **

Del Rio and Ricardo talking strategy in the back. BRET HART CAMEO! Crowd marked for that one. Bret says he thinks ADR is a Mexican Bret Hart. Quite the compliment. Vintage pink shades for Ricardo! Not surprised this match opened the show because it's a stacked card. Guessing Rock and Punk will be the main event.

Three-man announce team: Lawler, Cole, JBL.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show (Last Man Standing; World Heavyweight Title): Gotta love the WWE logic that ADR all of a sudden has the "change of heart" and is a babyface. Crowd really gets on Show. Show dominant early. ADR incorporating more lucha stuff into his offense, and Cole makes the comparisons to Mysterio. Cross armbreaker countered, but it wouldn't matter if Show tapped anyway. ADR uses a chair on Show, wonder if Sheamus' chair shots felt worse. "SI SI SI" chants for ADR. Show catches ADR with a chokeslam; champ barely up at 9, then collapses to the outside. Punishment continues on the floor. ADR with a low blow and a superkick to Show. Show barely up at 9. Show with one of the big light bulbs to ADR. Show climbs the structure(?!), pulls ADR up with one arm, and a chokeslam through a table. Awesome spot. ADR up at 9! ADR avoids the KO punch. Ricardo gets tossed into the barricade. Show misses the spear on ADR and crashes through the barricade into the ring bell area. Show up at 9. More chair shots to Show. Show's arm smashed between the steps and chair. Fire extinguisher to Show. Cross armbreaker to Show and Ricardo duct tapes Show's legs. Oh, they do THAT spot. Show obviously can't get up now and ADR retains. Not nearly as good as the Smackdown match. **3/4

As expected, Ziggler picks #1 because that is exactly who he is. Langston scares Striker off and becomes the new announcer. Woohoo, Langston didn't mess up his lines! I'd love it if Ziggler unified the titles, but we all know that's not happening. Gee, I wonder who Ziggler's facing to start the Rumble....

We see those simple promos from a few Royal Rumble entrants saying they will win the match. All we needed was the vintage music and the backdrop, and it woulda been perfect. Black backdrop?! Really?!

Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars (Tag Team Titles): Nice tag action from Team Hell No to start. DB with the usual stuff. Gotta love the vegan flying goat! JBL is money on announcing. Let's sing Kumbaya! Low bridge gives Team Rhodes Scholars the advantage. DB worked over. Kane gets the hot tag. Kane misses the top-rope clothesline on Sandow and Sandow with a weird neckbreaker for two. DB tags in. Kane chokeslam to Cody and DB with the NO lock on Sandow to get the submission win. Champs retain in about 10 minutes. **

Vickie gives Team Hell No their Royal Rumble numbers. DB shows his number to Kane, but Kane doesn't show his number. "Hey, it's the rule! I show you mine, you show me yours!" WIN.

Royal Rumble Match: Wow, Royal Rumble starts in the middle of the show! Ziggler is #1 as stated earlier. Ziggler promo saying he stands alone in the spotlight where he belongs.So who's #2?!

BREAK THE WALLS DOWN! WTF. I admit I marked out for Jericho because I wasn't even caring about if he was making a return. The crowd also went ballistic. An awesome way to start the Rumble. Both Y2J and Ziggler tease eliminations.

Cody Rhodes is #3. Double-team on Jericho. Walls of Jericho to Cody, like that would matter.

Kofi Kingston is #4. Springboard clothesline to Cody. Will Kofi top his handstand act from last year? More eliminations teased.

Santino is #5. He'll last longer than 1.9 seconds, but JBL still tells us not to blink. Santino thought he eliminated both Cody and Jericho, but no to both. Jericho halts the Cobra. Cody tosses Santino out. So much for that.

Drew McIntyre is #6. Not too much in these 90 seconds, except Jericho nearly got eliminated. He hung on to the middle rope before Ziggler "helped" him back on the apron.

Titus O'Neil is #7. Jericho with the springboard dropkick to eliminate McIntyre. Ziggler elimination tease as "Y2J" chants start again.

GOLDUST is #8! YES! Priceless shot of Cody's face, no pun intended. Crowd marked for this. JBL with the "Book-Dust" reference! Good luck to Dr. Shelby with that one. "Goldust" chants throughout the arena. Even though Goldust goes after Cody, they both team up on other guys. Gotta love the Rumble!

David Otunga is #9 and Heath Slater is #10. Jericho and Ziggler have made it 15 minutes.

Sheamus is #11. Could he be the fourth guy to win back-to-back Rumbles? Clubbing blows to Titus. Sheamus knocks Otunga into Titus and Titus is gone. Clubbing blows to Otunga now. Brogue Kick and Otunga's gone.

Tensai is #12 and he goes after Sheamus. Slater and Ziggler tease eliminations.

Brodus Clay is #13. Vintage Gangnam Style before going to the ring. Richard Dawson Family Feud reference from JBL. Cody and Goldust fight on the apron. Cody eliminates his brother. Sad panda.

Rey Mysterio is #14! A couple of 619s delivered to Ziggler and Jericho.

Darren Young is #15. He helps five other guys to eliminate Brodus. Kofi eliminates Tensai! Kofi went over the top to the apron. Kofi knocked onto Tensai. Kofi placed on the announce table. Oh, here we go. Kofi wants a chair.

Bo Dallas is #16. He won his way into the Rumble via an NXT 8-man tournament and should now be part of the main roster going forward. Meanwhile, Kofi gets JBL's chair and uses it as a POGO STICK to get back to the apron. I think Kofi realized he wasn't gonna make it via jumping. Or that it would be too risky. Kofi with the low bridge to eliminate Darren Young. Cody with the Disaster Kick to eliminate Kofi. Aw.

GODFATHER IS #17 WTF. Godfather gets in the ring -- and Ziggler dropkicks him out of the Rumble. Hey, he lasted longer than Santino and the Warlord! Godfather wants to party anyway. Lovely ladies.

Wade Barrett is #18. Jericho and Barrett try to eliminate Sheamus, to no avail.

John Cena is #19. Easily the favorite to win this year. Four guys line up ready for Cena: Barrett, Slater, Ziggler, Cody. Everyone except Sheamus and Rey attack Cena. Cena eliminates Slater and Cody Rhodes quickly. Jericho almost out but Ziggler(?!) saves the day. Love that Bo Dallas and Cena paired off here.

Damien Sandow is #20. Rey and Barrett over the top rope to the apron. Barrett back in and eliminates Rey with that back kick. Ziggler and Jericho now over 30 minutes in. Walls of Jericho attempt to Cena.

Daniel Bryan is #21. DB with kicks to Sandow, Ziggler, and Barrett. YES YES YES. Jericho almost eliminated but holds on. Split chants for Cena.

Antonio Cesaro is #22. White tights for Cesaro now.

Great Khali is #23. He actually got to the ring before #24!

Kane is #24. Record 16th Rumble for Kane (14 consecutive).

Zack Ryder is #25. Kane eliminated Khali to up his elimination total -- and then DB eliminates Kane! OHHHH HERE WE GO! Cesaro knocks DB off the apron onto Kane! ROFL DB IN KANE'S ARMS LIKE AJ LEE! HUG IT OUT! Kane puts half of DB's body on the apron and ends up dropping him to the floor. DB's eliminated. Aw.

Randy Orton is #26. Orton with snap powerslams galore. Bo Dallas really hanging in there. Ziggler and Dallas get hangman's DDTs for their troubles. RKO to Ryder. Orton eliminates Ryder and Zack hit his face hard on the floor.

Jinder Mahal gets "lucky" #27; a record four guys have won from this number. Cena eliminates Cesaro. 40+ minutes for Ziggler and Jericho. How is Jericho in such great shape? DDP Yoga!

Miz is #28. Miz and Cesaro brawl in the aisle for a bit. Miz also reportedly injured his ankle during his U.S. Title match with Cesaro on the pre-show. Sheamus eliminates Jinder, so no more 3MB. JBL with more ribbing of 3MB.

Sin Cara is #29. Too bad Mysterio's already gone. Bo Dallas eliminates Barrett! There's your "Maven" moment of the Rumble, I guess. Huge boost for Bo's WWE career to last this long. Barrett comes back down and eliminates Bo Dallas. Bullhammer to Bo. Might turn into a new feud. Jericho and Ziggler continue to tease eliminations.

And of course, that means Ryback is #30. Let the "GOLDBERG" chants begin! Ryback eliminates Sandow, Sin Cara, and Miz.

Jericho now with more moves! Codebreaker to Ryback! Lionsault to Cena! Springboard dropkick to Sheamus, but Sheamus holds on. Jericho clothesline to Orton. Codebreaker to Ziggler! Crowd jacked up again as Jericho wants to eliminate Ziggler. Jericho over the top to the apron. Ziggler superkick eliminates Jericho. Y2J lasted 47:53. Ziggler, not surprisingly, will be the ironman this year.

Final five is Ryback, Cena, Orton, Ziggler, Sheamus. RKOs for Ziggler, Cena, and Sheamus. Hangman's DDT to Ryback! RKO countered and Ryback eliminates Orton. Down to four! Brogue Kick to Ziggler and Dolph's gone! I really wanted him and Cena in the final two. Ziggler lasted 49:46 in the Rumble.

Down to three!  Sheamus and Cena tee off on Ryback, then go after each other because it's about headlining WM 29. Typical Cena moves of doom, bur Ryback with the meathook clothesline to Cena. Sheamus counters Shellshocked into White Noise. Sheamus sets up for the Brogue Kick but Ryback dodges and eliminates Sheamus!

Cena and Ryback in the final two, which many people probably had predicted. Crowd with "FEED ME MORE" chants. Spinebuster to Cena. Cena avoids the clothesline and STF to Ryback! Ryback passes out as split chants start. Cena puts Ryback on the top rope. Thesz press to Cena. Cena slips out of a powerslam and eliminates Ryback to win the Rumble. Was there really ever a doubt?

I personally didn't care for this Rumble much. We had the surprises, such as Jericho's kickass return and Godfather cameo, but most of the stuff was predictable like Ziggler's ironman performance and Cena's win. Bo Dallas lasting about 20 minutes was also cool. I wanted Ziggler and Cena in the final two because it would have made for a better Rumble finish. But hey, that's what happens when Ryback gets pushed like he has been the last few months. Cena gets his second career Rumble win, only the fourth to do so. **1/2

Rock's jacked up for his promo. He speaks about adversity, not getting drafted in the NFL Draft and then his mom overcoming cancer. Rock's mom is in the arena tonight, sitting at ringside. Guess if there's any doubt lingering, you'd have to say Rock is winning now.

WWE Title match next. So no divas action tonight. Just five matches overall, four on the actual PPV. Remember, if Shield interferes, Rock becomes champ.

Rock vs. CM Punk (WWE Title): Punk comes out first, his 434th day as WWE champion. Rock gets the electric entrance. Rock wants to take apart the Spanish table early, but Punk has none of it. Hey, Punk even put the top back on the Spanish table! Heyman with a blow to the Rock behind the ref's back, allowing Punk to get control. Rock meets the barricade again. Punk targets Rock's ribs because he knows Shield's triple powerbomb on RAW gave Rock these "internal injuries." Punk clearly the ring general here because he's in "ring shape." JBL nails it when saying there's a difference between being in great shape and in ring shape. Heyman with another cheap shot to Rock. Cole says Punk tweaked his left knee on a springboard dropkick to Rock. Punk then did a top-rope axehandle to Rock and cameras pick up Punk holding his knee. Rock sees the opening and attacks Punk's knee. Punk still does the suicide dive to Rock on the outside anyway. Punk misses a springboard clothesline. Rock back to work on Punk's left knee. Rock Bottom countered. GTS countered. Sharpshooter countered! Anaconda Vice to Rock! Rock counters into a pin for two. DDT to Punk. Rock Bottom countered again. Punk tried for a crucifix, but Rock counters that into a Sharpshooter! Punk gets to the ropes. Action back to the outside. Rock readies the Spanish table again! Punk battles back. Punk tries GTS on the announce table. Rock wants a Rock Bottom, but table collapses. BOO. Similar to when table collapsed on Angle/HHH many years ago. That coulda really sucked for both guys. Rock holds his right knee, but delivers Rock Bottom to Punk on the floor! Nice improvising. Back in the ring now, Rock gets two. Punk with a huge roundhouse kick to Rock for the double KO spot. Trading blows, then Rock hits a flying clothesline and spinebuster. Crowd goes nuts as Rock sets up for the People's Elbow.

LIGHTS GO OUT! Cole says Shield attacked Rock and did a triple powerbomb through the U.S. announce table. We hear the clubbing blows and the table break, but otherwise no clear evidence. I guess we'll have answers on RAW for that. JBL calls Cole a stooge. And frankly, there is no on-camera evidence to show Shield actually interfered. Details and loopholes. Gotta love it.

Punk's laughing in the ring, then feigns the "oh my God, what happened?" stuff. Rock's still laid out from the table spot. Punk rolls Rock in the ring and covers for three. Punk celebrates in the ring.

HOLD THE PHONE! HERE'S VINCE MCMAHON! Vince ready to strip Punk of the title even though we didn't actually see anything. Rock interrupts and says he wants to take the title from Punk. Restart the match!

Punk with the running knee and top-rope elbow. Rock kicks out! GTS countered! Spinebuster! Rock nails the People's Elbow and gets three! New champ! Rock celebrates in the ring, his 8th WWE Title reign as the show ends. ***1/4
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I read that people were really praising the WWE Title match, giving it four stars and higher. Personally, I didn't think it delivered nearly as well as those people might think. It's not Rock's or Punk's fault here. The crowd was gonna go nuts anyway because we're talking about Rock here. Punk clearly showed he was the ring general that makes him that main event star. There's no question this match had tremendous crowd reaction. The same goes for the Royal Rumble match.

But Rock/Punk was not filled with the numerous false finishes that I almost require a great match to have. I did like the table spots and numerous counters. Nice work by both guys to attack "injured" body parts, but I felt the match had many drawn-out moments and didn't necessarily gel all the way through. JBL nailed it when saying Rock was not in ring shape. Punk did 10x the work and wasn't breathing nearly as hard. I thought Rock would need two or three Rock Bottoms to finish Punk off. It was basically a People's Elbow that won it.

I also liked the "Shield involvement" in the dark and answers may be given on RAW as to whether Shield will actually respond to any allegations. Punk's definitely gonna get on his soapbox for another rant. Again, I was thinking we'd see a ref bump and a Brad Maddox run-in, but that didn't happen.

As for the Rumble itself, I again marked out for Jericho's return, and he may work a program with Ziggler. I'm all for that. Godfather return was nice, but he clearly wasn't there to wrestle.

Nice to see Bret Hart make a cameo as well. Will never tire of seeing him on TV.

This PPV basically sets up Rock/Cena II. Expect Cena to go over this time to avenge his loss from last year. Punk could very well be inserted into the match to make it a triple threat. With Rock's in-ring conditioning a question mark, it probably will happen. Cena would still pin Rock just so that Punk can keep saying Cena still can't beat him.

Show wasn't bad, but with only four matches on the actual PPV, I expected better. ***

12/16/12 TLC

Ratings:
Divas Battle Royal (pre-show match): 1/2*

Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow vs. Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara (Tables): **3/4

Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth (U.S. Title): **

Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett (IC Title): ***

Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan, Kane, & Ryback (TLC): ****1/2

Eve Torres vs. Naomi (Divas Title): 1/2*

Big Show vs. Sheamus (Chairs; World Heavyweight Title): ***1/4

Alberto Del Rio, Miz, & Brooklyn Brawler vs. Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, & Drew McIntyre: *1/2

John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler (Ladder; MITB Briefcase): ****1/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Decided to rate the pre-show match for whatever reason. Scott Stanford and Matt Striker announcing. And of course, the pre-show match has to be a divas battle royal. Winner challenges Eve for the title later in the night. FML.

We see some of the Slammy Award winners already:

Best Dancer: Brodus Clay
Top Social Media Ambassador: Charlie Sheen
WWE.com Exclusive Video of the Year: Jerry Lawler's return from heart attack
Crowd Chant of the Year: "Feed Me More!" (Ryback)
Upset of the Year: Daniel Bryan retaining World Title against Big Show and Mark Henry
Diva of the Year: AJ Lee
Insult of the Year: John Cena ("one enjoys eating a lot of nuts (Vickie) and the other is still looking to find his (Ziggler))
Tweet of the Year: Daniel Bryan (hates Goat Face, wants to be called Beautiful Bryan)
YouTube Show of the Year: Z! True Long Island Story
Facial Hair of the Year: Daniel Bryan
Feat of Strength of the Year: Sheamus hitting White Noise on Big Show
Betrayal of the Year: Big Show (KOs Cena while Cena attempts AA on John Laurinaitis)

The rest will be revealed on Monday night.

OK, divas battle royal. Divas all in the Christmas spirit. Eve at ringside. Natalya wears pink and everyone else wears red. Funkdactyls probably stole the show on the battle royal with the double-team splits. Aksana with the bonehead move to do her pose in the ropes and then easily gets eliminated. Glad to see Kaitlyn and Naomi (NXT season three finalists) in the last two. Eve with the cheap shot to Kaitlyn and Naomi gets the win. Well, at least we can finally see Naomi do something other than dance.

26-bell salute to Sandy Hook Elementary School victims. Classy move there. Announce team for main show is Cole, Lawler, and JBL.

Opening match is a tables match to determine #1 contenders for the tag titles. Only one person of the opposing team must be put through a table. Table makes its appearance a minute in. Cara's leg sandwiched between the steps and the post, ow. "Cody's Mustache" chants again. Fun match here. Great ending with Sin Cara going for a springboard move, but Cody pushes him off the top through a table.

Shield with another promo. Ambrose looks great again.

U.S. Title match next. Cesaro walks everywhere? So he walks to Europe and Asia for those tours as well? Standard match with several near falls for Truth. "Little Jimmy" chants. Euro uppercut and Neutralizer gets Cesaro the win. Cesaro heel promo afterward. Truth later tweeted that he suffered a nasty gash on his knee during the match.

Great Ziggler promo. Rightfully pissed that he has to put his briefcase on the line. It's not like Cena doesn't get enough chances at the title anyway.

Miz doesn't have a match, so we have Miz TV on the PPV. Guests are 3MB. McIntyre says 3MB is better than Jay-Z. HA. Well, I love the confidence. 3MB performs live on RAW tomorrow. Miz with the quick one-liners. So 3MB talks trash to the Spanish announce team. Ricardo Rodriguez?! Guess he's helping his fellow Mexicans. 3MB bullies Ricardo. Del Rio comes in for the save?! 3MB works on ADR. Miz gets shoved, so he takes 3MB out of the ring. Six-man tag later tonight. 3MB vs. Miz, ADR, and another partner. Why not Ricardo? He's more than capable of wrestling.

Daniel Bryan hates it when people repeat themselves. Ha.

Barrett says Kofi is a cat without nine lives. Nice. IC Title match next. Another awesome match with several counters and near-falls. All the signature moves came out to play here. Bullhammer signaled, but Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise for three. Solid.

Punk promo while sitting in the skybox. "Knees 2 Faces" shirt as a parody to the "Boots 2 Asses" shirt Rock wears. Obviously ready to take on Rock at Royal Rumble. Ryback deemed dumb and lucky.

Six-man TLC tag next. Just found out a buddy of mine knows Seth Rollins from childhood, awesome. Shield comes through the crowd with generic entrance music. First TLC match where it must end by pinfall or submission. Fast start! Woohoo! "GOLDBERG" chants to Ryback. Crowd going bonkers with the "YES" chants as DB kicks Reigns. Crowd wants tables. Ryback with a double suplex to Rollins and Ambrose on the ladder. Ambrose face is priceless. Reigns takes the Spanish table apart. Triple powerbomb on Ryback through the Spanish table. Shield doing a great job of attacking in packs. Table propped on the top rope in the corner. Superplex on DB from the top; Kane breaks the pin up at the last moment. No superplex to Kane. Rollins takes a big spill to the floor. Kane with a bunch of offense. Chokeslam to Ambrose on the chair. Chair snaps in a few pieces. Reigns breaks up that pin. Reigns spears Kane through the barricade at ringside. Shield burying Kane in a lot of stuff, and that's the last we see of him tonight. "This is awesome" chants. NO lock to Ambrose in the ring, then to Reigns. Shield back to the pack mentality on DB. DB fights back, but Blackout to DB on the chair. HI RYBACK! Taking out all Shield members. Meathook and Shellshocked to Ambrose. Rollins and Reigns break it up. This is freakin' awesome. Ryback awkward spear on Reigns into a ladder in the entranceway. Shield with multiple chair shots to Ryback. Ryback on a table. Rollins looks at HUGE ladder. Crowd goes NUTS as Rollins starts to climb. Ryback comes to and Rollins is trapped. Rollins keeps climbing?! Ryback pulls Rollins off and Rollins with a SICK bump through a table. Rollins' head hit one of the unbroken tables. Ryback slowly getting back to the ring. Reigns and Ambrose powerbomb DB through a table in the ring and get three. The right people won and a war of a match. Hell freakin' YES.

Divas title match now so the crowd can recover from the TLC match. Naomi having some fun and she can jump. Unfortunately, Naomi didn't look good at the end and didn't take Eve's finisher cleanly. Eve retains. Random time for a photo shoot.

World Title chairs match. It's time for another war. Scott Armstrong has been pumping major iron in the gym. Look at that, Ed Hochuli! Sheamus chases after Show with a chair but Show kicks the chair back in his face. Sheamus with two chair shots and a slam to Show for two. Battering Ram with the chair. Sheamus tries it again, and Show spears him. "OLE OLE OLE OLE" chants from the crowd. Nice. Chokeslam only gets two. It's raining chairs in the ring now. Chair placed on Sheamus, then Show with the Vader Bomb for two. Sheamus with White Noise to Show on two chairs! Only two! Sheamus calling for Brogue Kick. Big Show moves and KOs Sheamus...TWO! Show pulls out a GIANT chair! One shot to Sheamus with that, and Show retains. Love the giant chair spot for the finish. Thought it added a bit of comedy to the execution-like finish. Obviously not the most technically sound match, but the crowd loved it.

Six-man tag next. So who's Miz's and Del Rio's partner? BROOKLYN BRAWLER FTW! Aw, he's wearing a Brooklyn Nets jersey. JBL: "He's still around?!" AHAHAHA.

So it turns out ADR can fly and Ricardo can get a pop from the crowd when interfering. SCF to Jinder. Brawler tagged in. Brooklyn Crab wins it! Pigs are flying and hell has frozen over. Brooklyn Brawler wins at TLC should be trending on Twitter.

Promos already promoting Rock for Royal Rumble.

Cena and Ziggler get the main event slot. Cena with the split crowd as usual. Crowd with LOUD chants for Ziggler. Cena with a monkey flip, woohoo. Hey, Ziggler uses a chair in a ladder match! Yay! Cena with the steel steps to Ziggler. Sick thud there. Trading blows leads to Ziggler sleeper. Cena still climbs the ladder with Ziggler on his back. Cena's right eye looks cut. Cena passes out and both go through a table. Ziggler with a small cut on his left leg. Ziggler to his feet first. Cena lifts Ziggler AND the ladder?!?! Damn. Ziggler hops off, but now the Cena comeback moves. Ziggler with a kick and a Rocker Dropper. More split chants. STF to Ziggler. Tapping out won't work. Ropes won't save Ziggler. Ziggler passes out. Cena sets up ladder. AA countered into Zigzag. Ziggler sets up a table in the corner. Cena has AA countered again and a jumping DDT. Ziggler with a bigger ladder now. Cena stops Ziggler again. Trading blows on the ladder. Cena close to winning, but Ziggler gets Cena off the ladder. WTF CENA WITH A HURRICANRANA SENDING ZIGGLER THROUGH A TABLE?!?! Ziggler dropkick to Cena and the ladder flies to the outside. Cena counters for the AA again, but Ziggler uses a chair (propped in the corner) to get out again. Ziggler clears the ring of the broken tables. Ziggler superkick misses, and Cena hits the AA. Vickie Guerrero to the ring with a chair. AJ Lee comes down -- and uses all the Cena moves on Vickie?! Um, wow. AJ's skipping as Cena climbs the ladder. AJ SHOVES THE LADDER! AHAHAHAHA! THE CRAZY CHICK DOES IT AGAIN. Ziggler climbs the ladder and gets the briefcase. WIN.
__________________

Kudos to WWE for having the right people win their matches, namely Ziggler and Shield. Rollins took an extremely sick bump at the end of the match. WWE finally let many of their fans know what the company knew for a long time: these are three blue-chip talents. WWE, as usual, also made sure to make Ryback look strong without having him actually take the pinfall in defeat.

The Del Rio face turn was not entirely out of left field because WWE wants a big-time Mexican babyface on the roster for the long term. Mysterio's career is winding down and Sin Cara isn't as over as WWE had hoped (not to mention the injuries and suspensions the two masked stars have). Ricardo is expected to stick with Alberto through the face turn.

I was happy to see Naomi get a chance to wrestle. She has the athleticism but unfortunately is green in the ring on taking proper bumps. Just being a Brodus dancer over the past few months hasn't helped.

Lastly, I loved seeing Ziggler retain his briefcase. AJ turning on Cena isn't surprising because, hell, she's a crazy chick. Cena doesn't need a damn briefcase, and he'd probably be booked to lose the title match again even if he had it anyway. The fans loved it, too. Will Ziggler cash the briefcase with Show as the champ? It wouldn't be unprecedented (see Daniel Bryan).

Royal Rumble means Rock vs. Punk finally happens. Punk should be good to go for the match. By that time, Punk will be well over 400 days as champ. I'd rather have Punk retain at the Rumble (by cheating) and then have a rematch at Mania. Cena might be a good fit for an Undertaker opponent.

But WWE could also have Rock become champ and then face Cena at Mania, leaving Punk and Taker to square off (where Taker would of course win). This latter scenario seems likely if WWE wants to have Cena try to avenge his loss this past year. Might also be a final passing of the torch from Rock to Cena.

Before I watched the replay, Meltzer commented that it was an outstanding PPV. I didn't think it was necessarily "outstanding" (better without the divas match), but it was very good. ***3/4

11/18/12 Survivor Series

Ratings:
Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Brodus Clay vs. Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Primo, Epico, & Tensai: ***1/4

Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn (Divas Title): **

Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth (U.S. Title): *3/4

Big Show vs. Sheamus (World Heavyweight Title): ***1/2

Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett, & David Otunga vs. Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Miz, Daniel Bryan, & Kane: ***3/4

CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback (WWE Title): ***1/2
___________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Indianapolis is the site for Survivor Series this year. Cole, Lawler, and JBL on commentary. JBL with the heart attack jokes, and we're not even three minutes in.

Bonus traditional Survivor Series tag match! YES! Brodus with a new gold vest. Glad they decided to throw this one in to get more guys on the actual show. Kidd and Epico with nice mat wrestling to start. JBL's on a roll with the commentary already regarding Gabriel's thrill-seeking hobbies. Fast pace, fun match early on. Great spot with Kidd and Gabriel suicide dive on to PTPs, then Rey and Cara moonsault onto Primo/Epico. Tensai got a pin on Brodus?! Guess Tensai's not totally buried. JG with a rollup on Tensai to make it 4-on-4 again. Kidd rolled Titus up for three a few minutes later. Kidd then got Epico to tap out to the Sharpshooter; how fitting is that at Survivor Series? Now 4-on-2 in favor of the faces. Rey with the hot tag. Rey missed the 619 but got a cradle rollup on Primo for three. Down to only D-Young for the heels. D-Young ate a ton of finishers and Rey's team (sans Brodus) survives.

Someone tries to attack Kaitlyn again. Oh, it's Aksana again in a blonde wig and hoodie. Kaitlyn fights Aksana off. Eve just so happens to be nearby. Kaitlyn, not too happy, pushes Eve down.

Divas title match next. Neither diva gets much of a response. Kaitlyn has cargo pants and boots, similar to an army woman (no camouflage). quickly beating Eve down early. Very physical. JBL said besmirched! Impressive roll-through into a headscissors for Eve. Kaitlyn comes back and Eve does a great job of the vintage heel "I'm sorry , have mercy on me" act. Gutbuster from Kaitlyn(?!) gets two. Eve suckers Kaitlyn to the outside, then hits that snap neckbreaker for three. Better than most divas matches you'll see in WWE. The back story buildup also helped the rating here. As crappy as the divas division is right now (read: on life support), Eve and Kaitlyn did their job.

Cody Rhodes has been scratched from the PPV after getting injured against Kane during WWE Main Event. Otunga is his replacement. During the pre-show segment, you actually get to see how small Ziggler is compared to his teammates. Even Del Rio is much larger.

U.S.Title match first. Cesaro heel promo on obesity. Pretty basic match against Truth. Truth got a couple near falls, but Euro uppercut and Neutralizer get three.

AJ Scandal graces Survivor Series! AJ said she will share evidence of Vickie getting caught red-handed on something. And it's next. AJ calls Vickie a witch. Vickie comes out to nice heel heat. AJ has a picture to show. YES! RICARDO AND VICKIE! Is that a large burrito or what? YES! JIM ROSS AND VICKIE WITH BBQ SAUCE! OH GOD NO! BRODUS AND VICKIE! Dammit, don't blind me. Now both AJ and Vickie have no-contact clauses.

Blindside attack on AJ. Wow, that's Tamina?! Love the new look. Blazin' red ring gear and straightened hair. Superfly splash to AJ. Tamina returns as a heel, but the divas roster is still thin. Can't they bring Paige up from NXT if Sara Del Rey won't be an active wrestler?

World Title match next. Main event intros from Justin Roberts. Basically a brawl from the start. Show caught int the ropes and Sheamus pummels away. No Brogue Kick. Sheamus to the top, but Show nukes Sheamus with a spear. Ow. Show then with the methodical beatdown. Sheamus with the electric chair to Show for two! Crowd really perked up there. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick, but counters Show's chokeslam into White Noise for another two-count. Wow. Sheamus tees up a Brogue Kick -- and nukes the ref. Oops. Refs and a trainer come out to help. Sheamus concerned with the ref. Bell never rang to end the match. Show KOs Sheamus and one of the other refs counts three. Then the announcement that Show got DQ'd for pulling the ref in front. Thus, Sheamus wins, but doesn't get the title. Show argues with the official and Sheamus clocks Show with repeated chair shots. Sheamus goes after Show's legs. Brogue Kick finishes Show. I smell rubber match at the next PPV. Chairs match!

Next is Team Foley and Team Ziggler. Ha, wonder if Kane shoulda just let Sandow abandon his team, but chokeslam eliminates Sandow anyway. Impressed that Otunga wasn't the first eliminated. Kane argues with DB, and Zigzag out of nowhere eliminates Kane. Wow. DB eliminates Otunga with the NO lock. Cole says Barrett's finisher is now the Bullhammer. Wade uses it on Kofi to get three. Back to 3-on-3. Note that Miz hasn't been in the match yet. Del Rio gets in and eliminates DB with the cross armbreaker. Miz now comes in. He and Orton remain, and they play off how they don't like each other. Orton beaten down for a bit, but Miz gets the hot tag. Miz counters Barrett's pumphandle slam and hits SCF to eliminate Barrett. ADR with the running enzuigiri to Miz in the corner for three. Only Orton left for Team Foley to fend off ADR and Ziggler. Ricardo distracts Orton on the comeback. ADR gets the same kick on Orton, but only two. Foley takes out Ricardo. Orton counters ADR into an RKO for three. Orton and Ziggler left. Ziggler counters the RKO, Zigzag hits! TWO! Outstanding match here. Crowd is going nuts. Orton's lip is bloody. Hangman's DDT to Ziggler. Orton lines up for his punt kick. Superkick from Ziggler gets THREE! Love the end. Channeling HBK! Ziggler the sole survivor. Well deserved.

WWE Title match ends the show. Cena has "new ring gear," which is basically khaki-colored shorts and a black shirt. JBL notes Cena is 7-0 at Survivor Series coming into this PPV.

Punk trying what he can to get the upper hand, but Ryback and Cena get rid of him. Ryback and Cena staredown. Split chants for Cena again. Ryback no-sells just about everything. Cena having to use restholds to wear Ryback down. Cena with his slam to set up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Ryback even no-sells that. Cena's face is priceless. Ryback hits Punk with the meathook clothesline. Ryback going for Shellshocked, but Cena takes Ryback down and locks in the STF. Punk with the Savage elbow to Cena -- and I guess he was confident that Ryback wouldn't tap. Punk and Cena trade shots, then Ryback comes in and clotheslines both of them. Ryback chucks both guys to the outside?! Double Shellshocked? Punk and Cena counter out and beat Ryback down. Strange bedfellows moment. Double suplex and Ryback through the announce table! Cena's moves of doom to Punk. AA countered. Punk hits the GTS, but only two! Punk stunned. AA out of nowhere, and that only gets two. Punk kick ducked, STF countered, high knee from Punk in the corner. Bulldog countered, STF from Cena! Ryback pulls Cena out, meathook clothesline. Punk crawls to the opposite corner. Ryback with meathook clothesline. Shellshocked! Cena breaks it up at the last second. Ryback with Shellshocked to Cena.

Three guys in black storm the ring?! It's Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose! NXT representing! They take out Ryback and send him through the Spanish table. Cena's still out in the ring. Punk crawls to pin Cena and gets three. Punk has survived one year as champ.

That was one bizarre way to end this match, but we finally see the TV debut of Dean Ambrose. He's been hyped for a long time, so it's good to see WWE pull the trigger. The three guys will reportedly be on RAW, possibly to explain why they did what they did.

I thought it was a solid PPV. I had Punk retaining, although I doubt anyone could have called the NXT guys attacking. Ryback may get a side feud with these "men in black," and since Punk pinned Cena again, the champ will make it clear he's done with John as well. With the TLC PPV next month, Punk probably has one more big match to clear before facing Rock at Royal Rumble. It'll probably be a TLC match, but will they really thrust Cena into the picture AGAIN? Guess we'll all know more as the weeks progress. ***1/4

10/28/12 Hell in a Cell

Ratings:
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio: **3/4

Daniel Bryan & Kane vs. Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow (Tag Team Titles): **3/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Miz (IC Title): ***

Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel (U.S. Title): **

Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Titus O'Neil & Darren Young: **3/4

Big Show vs. Sheamus (World Heavyweight Title): ***1/2

Eve Torres vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn (Divas Title): *1/2

CM Punk vs. Ryback (Hell in a Cell; WWE Title): **1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
JBL, Cole, and Ross on commentary tonight. With Lilian Garcia hit by a car over the weekend (she was released from the hospital on Sunday or so), Tony Chimel did the Smackdown announcing duties for the PPV.

We start the show with Del Rio and Orton. Doesn't take long for this one to get physical. ADR works on Orton's left arm throughout the match. Nice array of moves there. ADR is sure to take full advantage of the ref's 5-count before breaking holds. Ricardo and Alberto mock Orton's signature poses, and that pisses the Viper off. Ricardo pulled Orton's shoulder into the ropes, ADR with cross armbreaker again. Orton counters out. ADR goes for the enzuigiri in the corner and Orton counters into an AWESOME RKO for three.

Next up is the tag title match. Gotta love how over that "YES!" chant is. Team Hell No with some nice teamwork at the start. JBL says the goat can fly! YES! DB tags himself in as Kane goes for the chokeslam. Headbutt from DB, but Kane pulls DB off Cody?! Vintage bickering. Cody backdropped onto Kane. DB nukes Kane on accident with the running knee. Yeah, way to go, goat face. Cross Rhodes to DB but Kane broke it up. Kane goes berserk on Cody and Sandow. Ref loses control and calls for the bell. More Kane carnage. So Rhodes Scholars wins by DQ but Team Hell No keeps the titles.

Second title match of the night is the IC Title bout between Kofi and Miz. Both guys just miss their finishers in the first few seconds of the match. Crowd was a bit dead for parts of this one, deserved a better reaction overall. Can't doubt Kofi's athleticism here. Nice job by Miz to attack Kofi's left leg and ground the high-flyer. The padding's all removed on Kofi's left boot. Multiple counters out of the SCF, Miz booted to the outside. Miz gets back in and eats Trouble in Paradise for three. Great match here. Post-match interview with Kofi. Miz brought out the "Wildcat" in Kofi. I like the new nickname. Definitely one of Kofi's best matches to date.

Kane and DB continue to bicker:

Kane: "Old McDonald had a GOAT! E-I-E-I..."
Daniel: "NO!!!"

U.S. Title match between Cesaro and Gabriel. Cesaro basically not speaking English for much of the promo. Nice to see the South African get a push. Gabriel the thrillseeker went out to surf the waves as Hurricane Sandy approached? Sandy at the time wasn't even that bad in that area...that's what they won't tell you. Good counters here. Gabriel landed weird when missing that 450 splash, but back to that AJ Styles moonsault reverse DDT for two. Cesaro with that Euro uppercut as Gabriel did a springboard move to the outside. JG basically KO'd. Deadlift neutralizer gets three.

Nice tension teased between Heyman and Vickie. Yeah, the match is still on, despite Heyman wanting Punk out of the match.

Oh, and the theme song for the PPV ("Sandpaper") just happens to be from Jericho's band, Fozzy. Nice that Y2J still gets the love even though he still can't come to terms on a new contract. Understandable that Jericho wants all the control on his outside bookings. He's had a lengthy career with amazing storylines, been incredibly durable without major injuries, and should be a first-ballot WWE Hall of Famer.

Grammy award-winning artist Chilli rockin' out to the Primetime Players' music. Rey and Sin Cara face the PTPs on the PPV. Gotta keep the masked ones on PPV for the fan appeal and the merchandise sales, I guess. Cara has indeed looked better in the ring since teaming with Mysterio. Rey gets the hot tag here House of fire, to say the least. D-Young tries to get that gutbuster in, but Rey counters into 619 and splash for three. I think Sin Cara has been used very well in this partnership. He really hasn't had to change his moveset, and he gets involved only when he needs to.

World Title match is next. Sheamus comes out first, then Big Show. Main event intros. This is a typical Big Show match, lots of power moves and striking. Show with the methodical Sheamus beatdown, tossing the Irishman around like a rag doll. It's just not something I can continue to watch for a lengthy time. Show unable to put Sheamus away, even with a Vader Bomb and a chokeslam. Sheamus showing he's a resilient champ despite all the punishment. Sheamus splashes Show against the ringpost a couple of times. You can see the welts on the left side of Sheamus' chest. White Noise from Sheamus, but only two! Awesome show of power there. Show caught Sheamus coming with the Brogue Kick and hits the WMD! ONLY TWO! Finally, we got exciting stuff here! Show primed for another WMD. Sheamus ducks. BROGUE! TWO! WTF, nice. Nice storytelling on the faces of Sheamus and Show. Announcers hype how devastating and final  each of those finishers (WMD and Brogue Kick) have been. Fans behind this one and Sheamus signals for another Brogue Kick. Show sidesteps and decks Sheamus with the WMD! New champ! Ihave to admit, after a predictable slow start, the end was outstanding. Sheamus trended on Twitter, woohoo.

Zack Ryder is dressed as a witch, a.k.a. Eve Torres. Long says Zack is one letter off. Ha.

Punk wants Vince to call the WWE Title match off. Vince basically refuses and wants Punk to show he's the best in the world.

Time for the Divas triple threat title match. Layla and Kaitlyn double-team Eve. Some sloppy moments during the Layla/Kaitlyn chain wrestling segment. Eve with some good submissions on Kaitlyn -- if only the crowd cared. Eve and Layla doing the splits -- and again no one cares. Even Kaitlyn with an armbar submission. Is Sara Del Rey partially responsible for this? Layla hits her Bombshell kick. Layla and Eve basically spend a few seconds trying to pin Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn now with Trish Stratus' Stratusfaction move. Way to recycle finishers, I guess. Impressive power display from Kaitlyn at the end, countering Layla's crossbody like John Cena would. Powerslam from Kaitlyn, but Eve with a senton to take Kaitlyn out. Eve pins Layla for three. A very respectable match. Unfortunately, the crowd still treats it as a damn bathroom break.

Show promo saying he has reached the pinnacle of the business. Meanwhile, Sheamus is being tended to by a doctor.

The cell is lowered. Champ out first. Punk has been champ now for 343 consecutive days. Ryback sporting a red singlet this time. Main event intros. Hey, remember that ref who "botched" the finish to one of Punk's matches? He's back to ref this one. Crowd with the "feed me more" chants. The cell door is locked.

Bell rings and Punk plays keepaway as long as possible. Ryback then starts decimating Punk in the cell. Punk wants out but there's no way out. Punk with the fire extinguisher to get the upper hand. Punk with a chair, but Ryback kicks it back in Punk's face. Punk with the Savage top-rope double axe handles. Match seems to remind me of the Savage/Warrior career-ending match. Ryback went full-blast into the steps trying to spear Punk. What a visual. Punk hits the running knee and diving elbow. Punk to the kendo stick. Ryback no-sells the multiple kendo stick shots. Ryback gets the meathook clothesline. Shellshock time!

I KNEW I had to keep an eye on the ref. If you haven't guessed by now, that's Brad Maddox, who is also a pro wrestler by trade. Maddox steps in front of Ryback and low blows him. Punk with the weak rollup and Maddox fast counts three. Screwjob city again!

Maddox and Punk want to get out of the cell now, but the ref just happens to fiddle with the lock and drop the key. Ryback nukes Maddox like there's no tomorrow. The cell door's finally open. Heyman tries to drag Punk out of the cell, but Ryback stops that. Heyman runs away.

PUNK CLIMBS TO THE TOP OF THE CELL! YES! Ryback climbs up as well. Shellshocked on top of the cell! YES! Oh, how I wish this was part of the actual match. Ryback stands over Punk on top of the cell as the show ends.
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I'd call it an average show overall. Fairly OK from beginning to end, but there was no huge OMG match to speak of -- unless you want to count the crooked ref screwjob finish on the WWE Title match. Sucks that Ziggler wasn't wrestling. Frankly, I wanted him on the card somewhere. But as long as Ziggler still has the briefcase, there's always the "will Ziggler cash the briefcase in and the ref ring the bell?" question looming over the show.

I will say that the World Title match exceeded my expectations. Granted, the beginning was just too slow for me, and you can't help that with a lengthy Big Show match. The last several minutes made up for it, and it ultimately got my vote for Match of the Night.

The WWE Title match was the one that generated the most interest from me and many others because of how the finish would be booked. Some people probably thought Ryback would get the win, but I kept trying to figure out how Punk would escape with the title. It was one of those instances where a Ryback loss could mean a screeching halt to his mega push, while a Punk loss would derail the champ's momentum. WWE has really hyped how long Punk has been champ, and it looks WWE wants Rock to be the guy to take him down. WWE also probably wanted to avoid Ryback being a transitional champ (not consistent with a guy getting a mega push), so even a short Ryback title reign was out of the question.

From what I read, multiple finishes were considered for Punk/Ryback. For the longest time, I thought Lesnar would make an appearance, but WWE understandably wants to save Lesnar's limited appearances and keep the "I quit WWE" storyline solid.

I think the screwy ref angle worked beautifully, and I'm happy with the finish. Once I saw Brad Maddox was the ref, I knew something was fishy. Usually, you'd think a guy like Scott Armstrong or Mike Chioda would work the title match, but for all intents and purposes, Maddox is considered a "rookie" ref. Brad also has the training to take major bumps like you saw after the match.

Ryback had to get screwed out of a possible title win. Punk should get more heel heat for all this, and that also was a major factor in having the champ retain. Ryback was still the monster I hoped he'd be booked as. They both went to the top of the freakin' cell, albeit after the match was over. WWE ended the show with Ryback standing over Punk on top of the cell. Fans soaked it all in. I'd say mission accomplished, and then some.

Ryback should be a huge star in WWE. The match itself was fairly straightforward for HIAC, so I can't say it was epic. But I felt it was booked properly given the circumstances. **1/2

9/16/12 Night of Champions

Ratings:
Miz vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Sin Cara (IC Title): ***1/4

Daniel Bryan & Kane vs. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (Tag Team Titles): **1/4

Antonio Cesaro vs. Zack Ryder (U.S. Title): **1/4

Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler: ****1/4

Eve Torres Kaitlyn vs. Layla (Divas Title): 3/4*

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): ***3/4

CM Punk vs. John Cena (WWE Title): ****1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
We're in Boston for Night of Champions! Middle rope is pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. Oh yeah, and Cena will be debuting pink attire tonight as well.

Cole addresses Lawler's situation, praising the WWE ringside physician and medical crew in Montreal. Lawler to be released from the hospital this week, great news indeed! Joining Cole on commentary: JBL! YES! Big ovation for JBL. Loved his color commentary on Smackdown.

IC Title Fatal Four Way first up. Mysterio's got purple and red attire, while Sin Cara back to the blue and white. Great match here that got a ton of time. Good stuff between Cara and Mysterio, then even Cody and Miz went at it. Really the typical spotfest many people predicted. ROFL at JBL thinking Miz would just be a Kardashian brother. Real good ending. Miz has Cara's (second) mask on and hits Cody with the SCF to win. Miz can use a claim like he didn't know it was Rhodes. Any way you put it, it furthers that storyline. And come on, you knew Rey and Sin Cara weren't winning.

Primetime Players complain to Eve that they don't have their tag title shot. Eve gets motioned to the back. Kaitlyn's in tears saying someone struck her from behind. It's a Nancy Kerrigan-like scene, but at least Kaitlyn's not screaming "WHY?!" Eve deems Kaitlyn unable to compete. Trainer didn't say anything.

Time for tag title match. Daniel Bryan and Kane have awesome chemistry. JBL great as heel commentator. Fans are NUTS for DB. I was rolling on the floor for this one. HUG IT OUT DAMMIT! Yup, only in this match could Kofi and Truth actually get booed against their tag opponents. DB and Kane as new tag champs? YES! Let's hear it for Team Friendship!

Eve tells Booker that Kaitlyn "twisted her ankle." Booker gives Eve the title shot instead. True that Eve beat Kaitlyn in a singles match. But yay bonuses!

U.S. Title match next. Cesaro faces Ryder, who won the preshow battle royal to determine the #1 contender. Fairly short match, but a good pace with great spots. JBL praises Cesaro. Ryder with a couple of near falls. Cesaro with Neutralizer to retain his title.

Ricardo's neck is better. Otunga calls him stupid and forces him to wear the neck brace anyway. Oh yeah, and Otunga's in the state where he went to law school. Fun.

Orton and Ziggler go at it. Woohoo, pretty long match here! Some split chants, but Ziggler fans WAY more vocal. Fans really gravitated toward Ziggler at the end of the match. Yet another reason why I know Ziggler is ready to main event. Awesome RKO spot, tossing DZ up in the air and planting him with the RKO for the win. Orton may have gotten the win, but add this to Ziggler's resume of great matches. DZ's a shining star. Sure, I'd love to have more of these quality matches, but then again, I'd get hella spoiled and may lose my appreciation of such stuff.

Orton did indeed flip the bird momentarily on camera just before going into his pounce-and-mat-pound signal for the RKO. Orton apologized afterward on Twitter. Not sure how that will affect Orton, since he's scheduled to do some movie filming soon. At the very least, it could be storyline suspension fodder. Could still be real trouble, though, since that's "not PG."

Divas Title next, and it's no surprise Eve won. Fans weren't totally silent, but not sure how many actually cared. Personally, Layla's reign was a disappointment. I kinda wish she kept the Laycool theme, since changing music to Tiffany's (Taryn Terrell) old theme didn't help. Now I hope there will be some better matches with Eve as champ. Please?

ROFL! Kane with the Gatorade shower to DB, Dr. Shelby, and AJ. And Kane's going to Disneyland. Now THAT was the best skit in the entire angle. Wow. That deserved at least five more replays.

Sheamus vs. Del Rio next. Sheamus' fans are called "hooligans" now. Sheamus should be right at home with the Irish tradition in Boston. Remember the skit with Ricardo's neck actually being fine? Booker reinstates the Brogue Kick for the match, citing the inherent risks of pro wrestling. DUH. Otunga then eats a Brogue Kick. Officials tend to Otunga. Oops. I honestly wanted the Brogue Kick "banned" for a lot longer. Give that Cloverleaf more time to get over as a legit finisher.

ADR targeted the left arm, as predicted. Great counters on signature moves and finishers. Nice spot with Sheamus' bad arm caught in the ropes and ADR kicking that arm repeatedly. On the second cross armbreaker, the camera angle really made it look like Sheamus was tapping when he was just teasing it. Brogue Kick ended it. Still very solid.

Obviously, Punk and Cena was closing the show. Paul Heyman in the ring to praise Punk and his long reign. Simple reasoning so far...Punk's a Paul Heyman guy. Cena gets the hometown ovation, but there's still the obvious Cena haters. Note that Punk is wearing Yankee pinstripe-like tights, awesome. Main event intros.

A bunch of mat wrestling to start, which usually means it'll be a long match. Hey, Cena's father is there. Wasn't he supposed to be banned or something (according to Cena himself)? Yay lack of continuity! Numerous counters for just about everything in the match. Punk really impressed me with unique ways to counter Cena's signature moves. How about Anaconda Vice to STF to Crossface? That is wrestling. Heyman's reaction on the outside was priceless.

Oh yeah, Punk/Cena match of the night for sure. AGAIN. Several false finishes. Punk even did a moonsault. Not the best looking one, and probably made a bit more awkward that Cena only barely moved out of the way. Made up for it with the Rock Bottom false finish spot -- and Cole caught it this time! More false finishes on finishers. Nice second-rope superplex from Cena to get three!

Or so everyone thinks, including me. Cena celebrates, but the ref said BOTH guys' shoulders on the mat so it's a draw. Punk thus retains because he wasn't actually beat. I guess this means they can go at it again? Either way, it was a great finish for Punk's heel reign.

This was easily one of Punk's best matches. Not just in WWE...of his entire wrestling career. And to think, he's had multiple five-star matches from Meltzer.
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Hell in a Cell is the next PPV. October 28 in Atlanta.

For the record, just didn't have time to do a predictions video this week. My channel is devoted to food; wrestling takes a backseat there.

I originally thought the tag titles and the World Title would change hands, and I guess I was half right on that. Still think it was a horrible move to not put the title on Del Rio or Ziggler. In the end, it didn't affect the overall quality of the show. Having JBL on color muted Cole and kept him more impartial. Yeah, that means Cole actually was pretty damn good here. I seriously want JBL on the announce team full-time again. Big thumbs up on this PPV. ****

8/19/12 SummerSlam

Ratings:
Antonio Cesaro vs. Santino Marella (U.S. Title): N/A (preshow match, did not watch)

Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler: ***3/4

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane: **1/2

Miz vs. Rey Mysterio (IC Title): ***

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): ***1/2

Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth (Tag Team Titles): **1/4

CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (WWE Title): ***1/2

Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (Street Fight): ***1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
As expected, Antonio Cesaro beat Santino Marella to win the U.S. Title. Didn't watch that preshow match.

Good choice to have Ziggler and Jericho start the actual PPV. Jericho with the taped-up ribs. Hot crowd for the opener. Ziggler worked on the ribs through most of the match. Jericho's still got the big moves as Y2J. Check out that top-rope hurricanrana. Zigzag didn't finish Jericho, Codebreaker out of desperation. Lion Tamer wins it. Didn't think they'd have Jericho go over if he really was leaving to go touring with Fozzy, but seems like they could always have Ziggler take Jericho out later to do an injury storyline. Vickie looked like someone stole her prized poodle or something after Ziggler lost.

Cole and Lawler say HBK is not at SummerSlam, but is tweeting instead. Must be pretty good to tweet with one good arm.

So it's the Goat Face...er...Daniel Bryan and Kane next. "YES! NO!" Love how that's gotten over. Just look at the crowd when DB goes to the top rope for the headbutt. Crowd's just going berserk. Great spot from the headbutt to the chokeslam, since DB had to launch himself perfectly into that one. DB wins by countering the tombstone into an inside cradle for three. Not the smoothest finish, but passable. Yup, got that one wrong too. Don't worry, doing pro wrestling predictions isn't my day job anyway.

As if Kane wasn't mentally unstable enough, there you go. Another rampage in the back. Poor Josh Mathews goes flying. GM AJ Lee says she will deal with Kane on RAW.

IC Title match next between Miz and Mysterio. Miz now gets the "Awesome" bubble letters on his ring entrance. Mysterio has a Batman-like mask. Has Miz really evolved his game a lot? Maybe slightly, but not significantly like Undertaker has. Look to Taker for how he has lasted so long. Nice counters here, another solid match. So indeed, it was a fun match that made Miz look good. SCF wins it for Miz.

Punk and AJ with the whole awkward exchange in the back. Vintage trance-like state for AJ!

No bandage on Sheamus' left arm despite all the "damage" ADR's done to it. Hard kicks from ADR for most of the match. Steel turnbuckle ring exposed in the match, so that should play a factor. Sheamus showed great power deadlifting ADR to counter the armbreaker. Sheamus into the exposed turnbuckle and that didn't work, either.

The finish was interesting. ADR went bonkers on Ricardo in frustration. Sheamus used Ricardo's shoe. Ref missed ADR's foot on the ropes. Sheamus knocked ADR's foot off the ropes. Finally, the crowd appeared to boo Sheamus (but many were still cheering). I thought possible double-turn here, but not the case. ADR also tried to tell the ref he got hit with the shoe, but hopefully it was only to get the match restarted or something. DQ win doesn't help you, Alberto. At first, I also thought the ref failed to count to three, but replays showed he did. Either way, ADR gets screwed again. That part could be predictable, but hard to predict Sheamus using the shoe.

HHH tells Scott Armstrong earlier in the day that his match with Lesnar is basically a street fight again, no countouts and no DQs.

No mention of AW as Primetime Players come down for their tag title match. Understandable. Above-average tag match here with a nice ending. Again, I woulda bet the farm PTPs would have won the titles had AW still been with them. Alas, still got that prediction wrong. Seriously now? Kofi and Truth don't even need the titles, get it off them already.

Triple threat WWE Title match next, so again, no main event slot for Punk. Cena out first to mostly boos. At least the fans didn't throw the hat back. Show out second. Punk out last and he still gets the cheers. Punk's lengthy title reign again mentioned. Amazed Cole actually said Punk's last match in the main event slot (last match on the card) was December -- and Punk's been champ the entire time.

Slower pace for a significant portion of the match. Show got a lot of offense in. Cena and Punk had their spots to show strength on Show. Good job putting in spots where Punk could have lost the title without being a factor in the actual pin or submission. Show actually hit one of those Vader Bombs for a change.

I marked seeing Punk use the Koji Clutch on Show. The double submission and "who really won?" spot was a good idea. WWE did a heck of a job booking Show so strongly, even if many smarks knew he wouldn't win. Punk retaining by taking advantage of Cena's work was the right call.

I knew I said Cena would win in my prediction video, but after recording the segment, I could see why having Punk retain still could keep him a more heelish champ. Also, he doesn't have to go full-on bad guy. It's all about two things: (1) Punk needs the title more than Cena, and (2) Punk's title reign should keep going so announcers can keep talking about how it stands up in WWE history. Chances are Punk keeps the title until the Rumble, where he likely loses to Rock. Punk can then set the rematch for WrestleMania. This means the Royal Rumble winner would face the World Heavyweight champ, whomever that may be.

Celebs in the crowd. Fred Durst flips the bird. Classy. David Arquette with the World Title! Or was it his WCW Title. Sorry, I want to keep looking at Maria Menounos.

Footage of the ending to Cesaro's U.S. Title win. Aksana got involved, as one would have expected. Yes, Cesaro personifies greatness.

Since there's no divas match, Kevin Rudolf (who did the all-divas NXT season 3 theme song) and his band performs. Divas all come out to dance. Well, at least it's entertainment filler before the street fight brutality.

Cole mentions UFC by name as Lesnar comes out in his UFC-style gear (but with black boots on as well). Main event intros different this time; lights only on to spotlight Lesnar and HHH (otherwise the other lights remain off).

Lesnar focused on that left arm he "broke" a few months back, but he also showed he hasn't lost any technical wrestling skills. Fairly slow pace, yet very effective moves and a ton of physicality. HHH got to Lesnar's stomach, and we all know the diverticulitis he had a few years back. I'm not a huge fan of having people kick out of finishers barely after the two-count. Lesnar practically no-sold the second Pedigree, then "re-broke" HHH's arm in the Kimura again for the tapout win. HHH refused any medical help. "You tapped out!" chants at the end, but hey, given the spot they planned, HHH had to do it.

Torn on whether it was good to put the spotlight on HHH to close the show. Probably so, since Lesnar won't need to do any more appearances for a long time. Could be a scripted reason for HHH to end his in-ring career, but I'm sure there will be a future match somehow.

Two reasons why I'm happy with Lesnar/HHH. First, Lesnar won, something he desperately needed. Don't want two straight PPV losses in official matches. Second, they really kept it a weapon-free fight. Sure, they sent each other into announce tables, ringposts, and the steps, but we didn't see the kendo sticks, chairs, tables, and other stuff WWE matches may use. This was as physical a fight without weapons as it really could have been.

Overall, I'm very happy with the PPV. A solid showing from top to bottom. ***3/4

8/19/12 SummerSlam Predictions

Since I'm unsure at this point at what my future schedule holds, I decided to start a new webseries on my YouTube channel devoted to talking about pro wrestling. The frequency of these shows is also currently unknown, but will focus on anything in the sports entertainment world. Ideas for the show include PPV predictions, perhaps looking back on the free TV shows from the past week, and/or other noteworthy stories floating around the rumor mills.

The first video focuses on SummerSlam 2012 predictions, which airs at 8 pm ET (preshow match at 7:30 pm). I taped this video Sunday morning (8/19), several hours before showtime, using the scheduled card that was posted on WWE.com at the time.

With that said, here's the video to the first show. Didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but I don't think it was too bad for a first show.

7/15/12 Money in the Bank

Ratings:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Santino Marella vs. Sin Cara vs. Tensai vs. Damien Sandow (World Heavyweight Title MITB Ladder Match): ***3/4

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title): **1/4

Primo & Epico vs. Titus O'Neil & Darren Young: *3/4

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (No DQ; WWE Title): ****1/4

Ryback vs. Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks: *1/4

Layla, Tamina Snuka, & Kaitlyn vs. Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Eve Torres: 1/2*

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. Miz (WWE Title MITB Ladder Match): ***1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
The preshow match saw Kofi and Truth defeat Hunico and Camacho. I didn't watch it, but I've read it was likely the best of these preshow matches that WWE's had.

World Heavyweight Title MITB Ladder Match starts, where basically any WWE superstar could enter. Four guys entering their first MITB match. Kidd has a new shirt and new tights. Sin Cara doesn't have fond memories of any ladder matches, that's for sure. Don't blink, because it'll be a spotfest. Sin Cara botched his top-rope superplex or slam or whatever it was gonna be; luckily no one hurt. Tensai then botches his powerbomb attempt on Santino, but again thankfully, no one hurt. HHH really signed some good wrestlers there, right? How the hell can Santino all of a sudden be afraid of heights when he's all alone trying to scale the ladder? Santino fell on a ladder and the ladder he was climbing fell on him. Ouch. Vickie with distraction. Zigzag to Cody by Ziggler. I have no idea what the hell Kidd did to Ziggler, but it looked cool. Tensai powerbombs Sin Cara through the ladder again...deja vu! Christian again spears Cody from the top of the ladder. Edge's spear of Jeff Hardy at WM 17 is still the best, though. HUGE chants for Dolph. Dolph scampers in to knock Christian off, Ziggler gets the case in a great ladder match. Dolph is likely legitimately emotional and reflecting while sitting on top of that ladder. He's really come a long way from his Spirit Squad days.

Miz makes his surprise return at MITB after being away filming his scenes for one of those marine movies. I mean this as a compliment...he sorta resembles Tom Cruise now. All of a sudden, Cole's like "he's my friend!" again after slowly distancing himself during Miz's jobbing streak. Miz officially says he's in the WWE Title MITB ladder match. Awesome.

World Heavyweight Title match next. Main event intros. A lot of "SI!" chants during the match, but damn was it mostly boring. ADR worked on Sheamus' left arm forever; champ with limited offense. Sheamus didn't duck that running kick in the corner near the end of the match, ADR just plain missed. Brogue Kick wins it for Sheamus.

ADR and Ricardo ambush Sheamus post-match. Fans want Ziggler, and they get him. Huge ovation for Dolph because everyone knows why he's out. He tries to cash in the briefcase but ADR stops him. Ziggler decks ADR and Ricardo. Sheamus Brogue Kick. Ref never called for the bell so no match. Nice tease because it's clear people want Ziggler to win. WWE's probably gonna treat this one like they did with Daniel Bryan last year.

Truth and Kingston come out in suits. Primetime Players and Primo/Epico take place. Logical because that feud really started over the AW betrayal and the tag title situation. Primo was the superstar of the match, no question. From the handstands to the lucha moves, he carried this one. Only fitting he gets the win by rolling D-Young up. Too bad the crowd wasn't more into it.

AW goes and pretty much calls out Kofi and Truth. Truth with the drink to AW's face. Oh hell no! The shoes come off! D-Young can't keep his footing trying to restrain AW.

WWE Title match next. It was made No DQ at the last minute. AJ's already the special ref. More instability! I demand it! Lots of "YES!" chants. DB has a new green jacket. Looks like it could pass for a good "American Dragon" gimmick. Cole has stats on Punk's lengthy title reign, so it sounds like WWE wants him to really break some marks. Main event intros. All three basically eye each other down, not all in the same way. This is gonna be great.

Extremely physical, back and forth, lots of kicks and punches. Physicality on the floor. AJ on the apron, DB shows Punk into AJ. Welp, there's the ref bump. AJ helped to the back, new ref. Crowd with loud split chants. Fans really cheer for the table. Loved the GTS attempt into a DB hurricanrana pin counter for two. DB survived about 15 kendo stick shots in a row, damn. Superplex spot for a brief double KO. AJ comes back out -- we knew that would happen. Lots of skipping and...a chair?! DB pleads for the chair. AJ just puts the chair in the middle. Fight to the death! DB nukes Punk with chairs, but only two. Punk props the chair in the corner, then AJ stands in front of the chair so Punk can't throw DB through it. Then AJ refuses to let DB have the kendo stick. Puppetmaster AJ! Punk misses DB with elbow, elbow hits chair hard. DB with YES lock on Punk...with kendo stick. OUCH. Punk gets out...GTS! Slow crawl, and only two! Table comes into play. Punk back suplex to DB through table nets three. Oh yes. Yes yes yes. AJ looks conflicted and almost heartbroken afterward, although I don't think it's because DB lost.


Ryback defeats both Hawkins and Reks tonight. Cole says Ryback's a human wrecking ball. Real loud "GOLD-BERG" chants. At least they took Ryback off his feet and managed a cover (that didn't even get one). After a time, Ryback ends it on Reks with that Shellshocked finisher. At least the crowd chants "Feed me more!" Average stuff, whatever. Wouldn't have mattered if it was first on the card or right after Punk/Bryan. It's merely meh.


I guess they needed more filler time, so now it's a six-diva tag match. Shows how much they care about the Divas Title. Tamina's ring gear looks even more like her dad's now. Eve's gone from a person who uses people to some executive assistant gimmick who looks amazing in glasses. Doesn't mean it's gonna bolster her WWE career, but hey, she's on TV. At least we know Kaitlyn can slap divas. Tamina with a superkick to Beth, and Layla ends it for three. Match seemed all over the place, no real flow. Crowd minimally cared.


Time for the WWE Title MITB Ladder Match. Five people in the match, thanks to Miz getting in. No one to merely take a sick bump in this one; everyone will have a purpose to be in there. Show dominant in the early going. Cena with a sick AA to Big Show onto the Spanish table, then the "let's pile a zillion ladders on Show" spot. Fans chanted a bunch for Jericho here. Impressive spot with Show breaking ladders in half -- literally. Show cleans house of opponents and ladders. IT'S THE RETURN OF THE REINFORCED LADDER! Damn, if Show was out of breath just getting it out from under the ring and putting it in the ring, that must legit weigh several hundred pounds. Nice battle between Cena and Jericho, then between Jericho and Miz for the briefcase. Show rises up and nukes Jericho and Miz. Cena back up, and he nukes Show with a few briefcase shots. The briefcase actually snapped off in Cena's hands. Not sure if that was really the planned finish, but sure, that works. Nice match, but not as good as Ziggler's win. Basically, Jericho and Miz did enough bumping to make it look good. Show still seems like a partial joke, getting buried under all those ladders. At least WWE eliminated the whole "oops, Show broke the ladder trying to climb it" spot.
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This was a good PPV, but TNA won this month with its Destination X show. Punk and Bryan stole the show, with Ziggler a close third. The divas match and the Ryback win were both on the card to fill time. RAW's 1000th show is coming up next week. Meanwhile, I don't know if show #999 will break an average score by many. **3/4