4/29/12 Extreme Rules

Ratings:
Randy Orton vs. Kane (Falls Count Anywhere): ***1/2

Brodus Clay vs. Dolph Ziggler: *3/4

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show (Tables; IC Title): *1/2

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (2 out of 3 Falls; World Heavyweight Title): ****

Ryback vs. Aaron Relic & Jay Hatton: N/A (squash)

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight; WWE Title): ****1/2

Beth Phoenix Layla vs. Nikki Bella (Divas Title): *1/4

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules): ***3/4
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
We're in Chicago for Extreme Rules! Expect an awesome crowd!

We start off with Kane/Orton. Not surprising anymore that family members get involved (whether real or storyline), but it's at least a way to extend the feud. Doesn't take long for the action to spill to the outside. Lead pipe early on, which Orton uses. Into the stands! Huge shots from both guys, heavy barricade use. Several minutes in the stands...even going UP into the crowd even more. They make it to the stage and more physicality there. Pin attempts all over the place; glad they're really making use of the stipulation. Now to the backstage area! HA, unused talent watching Extreme Rules! Ryder gets involved! Hey, what was the last smart move Ryder made? Looks like the cameraman got too close...went flying! OK, back to the ring, I guess. A "Colt" sign in the stands...Colt Cabana, me thinks. Orton with a chair. Several shots to Kane! Announce table time? Hangman's DDT from the announce table (the American table, BTW)! Only two there. Already a great match. RKO countered, Orton into post, Kane gets two. Orton superplex from the top...only two! RKO...countered! Kane chokeslam...TWO! Crowd loves that one. Chair placed in the center. Tombstone? Countered...RKO on the chair! That gets three. Awesome opener.

Teddy's pouring champagne for Eve and Laurinaitis. Vintage cartoon-y ring! Laurinaitis talking with HHH? Nice ringtone for that one, Johnny.

Brodus has a PPV match! And Hornswoggle is there again. Guess it's something to do. Brodus faces Dolph tonight. Swagger in a nice suit. Any stipulation in this one? Not sure. Crowd is fired up for this one. This is Brodus' first non-squash match since his new gimmick started. Swagger runs over Brodus for heel heat. Brodus powers out of the Ziggler sleeper to start a comeback. Swagger knocked off the apron. Ziggler runs into a headbutt. Brodus splash gets three.

Show and Cody find out what the stipulation is.Teddy spins the wheel. Tables match...next! Cody and Eve basically blame Teddy.

Show starts off a house of fire. HUGE back body drop from Show, but that's natural coming from a 7-footer. Lots of huge Show chest slaps to Cody. Table is set up on the outside, and a table now in the ring. Show props that second table in the corner. Cody springs off the table with the disaster kick! Very nice. Show runs over Cody after that. Cody mentions something about his hip. Show on the apron, Cody with a dropkick. Show's foot goes through a table. Show with one of those "oh shit" looks. Ref sees it and Cody's the champ. Again, Show doesn't need the title, so this was a good title change, and a nice way to at least make it look like a fluke. Match really wasn't anything special, though. Show will probably get his rematch, but would be unsuccessful if so. Cody needs new challengers. End this feud.

Post-match, Show spears Cody. Chokeslam through a table. And then Cody's picked up...and thrown through the table on the outside. Crowd loves this stuff. Cody walks off under his own power, and he gets a few pops for that.

DB confident for his 2 out of 3 falls match and does his YES YES YES spiel. AJ shown in the background. DB gets a huge pop. Those "YES!" chants are awesome. Sheamus with an "18 Seconds" T-shirt. Main event intros from Lilian. At least DB will last longer than 18 seconds here.

DB avoided a Brogue Kick early on. That close to one fall. Nice touch. "Daniel Bryan" chants. Very nice chain wrestling. Rolling senton from Sheamus got two. Sheamus with a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, WHOA. That was a bit unexpected. DB with a small comeback, but Sheamus caught him off the apron and planted him into the barricade. DB caught Sheamus on the top. Nice job by DB to work on Sheamus' left shoulder. Pace slowed now. DB stays on offense with knees and kicks. Euro uppercuts from DB. Yeah ref, DB's got 'til FIVE! Sheamus mounts a spirited comeback. Sheamus counters a DB top-rope hurricanrana and scores the battering ram for a close two. 12 minutes in and no fall yet. YES Lock countered a couple of times. Sheamus' left shoulder goes into the post, and DB attacks that. Relentless assault on Sheamus, and DB ends up getting DQ'd. Fall #1 to Sheamus about 15 minutes in.

DB then gets the YES Lock in. Sheamus refuses to tap! He keeps fighting! Sheamus then passes out, so fall #2 quickly to DB. Ringside doc comes in, then two docs. Nice real-life touch. DB panders to the crowd. Cole somehow is amazed at DB's strategy. Like we've never seen something similar before....

Sheamus says he can go. DB charges...BROGUE KICK! Well, at least it was called that way. Slow crawl! Only two! Crowd is going nuts. DB on the comeback...HUGE kick to the head for two! DB to top, but Sheamus catches him. Superplex blocked by DB headbutts! Diving headbutt missed! DB misses the dropkick in the corner. Sheamus back with hammer blows. Irish Curse backbreaker! Brogue Kick for three! Just an outstanding match. Brilliant!

Santino and Khali watching Ryback squash. How the hell can those two communicate with each other?! It's a handicap match this time, but it won't matter. Why the hell do these jobbers even get on the damn mic? They are annoying. Ryback squashes them in little time. Oh a nice jawbreaker move on one of those guys! OK, next!

Time for the WWE Title match! Chicago Street Fight! Jericho out first so Punk can get the HUGE pop. New shirt for Punk! Punk's sister and mother in the front row. Main event intros.

Crowd is BONKERS before the match. It's street clothes for both. Punk grew his beard out a bit more for this. It'll just be a fight here. Punches and kicks to start. Punk has a chair, then a kendo stick. Punk tees off on Jericho. Punk swings for the fence but Jericho gets out of the ring. Chasing around the ring doesn't work for Jericho. ROFL, Jericho holds onto the ref's leg and takes a cheap thumb to the eye. Wouldn't matter if the ref saw it anyway. Jericho on the attack with the kendo stick. Fighting in the timekeeper's area. Huge chops from Punk. Running knee missed and Punk to the outside. Jericho beats Punk in front of sis and mom. SISTER SLAPS JERICHO! Jericho charges and Punk cuts him off. Punk has gone bonkers. Jericho thrown through one of those announce table covers...cover splits in half! There goes Punk's shirt. Punk piledriver countered by Jericho. Jericho hits Punk in the back with a TV monitor. Wooden announce table cover shattered over Punk's back. OK, so we now know it's wood. Back in the ring, Jericho gets two. Punk tries a slingshot top-rope move but slips. Jericho looks like he woulda caught him with the kendo stick anyway. Jericho with lots of taunting to Punk.

Jericho looks under the ring...and gets a can of beer? Nice. He opens it Sandman-style and pours it on Punk. He gets another can of beer, but Punk gets to him this time. More kendo stick shots. Swinging neckbreaker. Running high knee in the corner, then bulldog! Vintage Punk there. Kendo stick goes south on Jericho. GTS countered. Walls countered. Snap powerslam on Jericho gets two. Punk to the top, but Jericho gets to Punk. Superplex blocked. Mongolian chop knocks Jericho off. Savage elbow for two! Randy Savage chants. GTS countered, bulldog by Jericho. Lionsault...Punk got to him! GTS attempt, Jericho out of that! Punk into the propped-up chair in the corner, rollup for two! Both guys are exhausted. Codebreaker out of nowhere! Jericho with an evil grin. Wall of Jericho, Lion Tamer style! Then into Boston Crab style. Punk crawling to ropes, crowd is going nuts. Punk to ropes, but no rope breaks here in a street fight. Punk with a FIRE EXTINGUISHER?! YES! That was awesome. Jericho wipes his eyes with the ref shirt. Back to the announce table. Big kick and Jericho's on the table. Punk on the top, nearly falls off (oops), ELBOW THROUGH THE TABLE! YES! I'm loving this. They get back in the ring. Punk covers...TWO! Anaconda Vice! Remember, no rope breaks! Jericho grabs the kendo stick and hits Punk to get out. The crowd is standing.

Jericho with the stick. Punk with the chair. Chair shot from Punk. Codebreaker to Punk using the chair! TWO! WTF. Jericho furious. Oh snap! Jericho tries for the GTS! Countered! Jerichointo the exposed turnbuckle! Punk with a GTS for THREE! What a match. Wow. Punk with a nice leap into the stands after the match to celebrate.

We see the highlights from the U.S. Title match on the pre-show. Santino retained against Miz. I didn't rate that one, as a note.

So we get word that Beth isn't medically cleared. Still selling that injury well, love it. Bellas think they are free for the night, but Eve says the title's on the line anyway against a mystery opponent. I bet a ton of people thought it could be just one person.

Bellas out to the ring. And it's...LAYLA?! WTF. Crowd unfortunately doesn't know what to think right now. Layla's looking great, knee brace on the right knee. Fast-paced stuff, but crowd wants Kharma. Brie on the outside takes Layla's right knee out. Nice crossbody from Layla for two. Brie on the apron and gets knocked off. Weird rollups get maybe one or two. Big spin kick knocks Nikki out. Ref holds Layla back. Twin magic time. Brie goes for the facebuster, Layla counters with the Layout for three! Nikki in shock, and frankly, so am I. Definitely didn't expect Layla to win the title her first night back.

Video package for Cena and Lesnar shown. Extreme Rules match...how is that different from a street fight?

Lesnar out first. He's in MMA-style gear with all his sponsor logos. He does look a little doughy, but still a lot of muscle. Cena has his usual mixed reaction, and he has his chain on.

Bell rings. Cena charges and Lesnar takes him down. It'll be a brawl all night. Lesnar with HUGE elbows on Cena. Huge clothesline. The match is barely 10 seconds in, and Cena's ALREADY busted open! That third elbow DECKED Cena. Cena takedown. Lesnar fights out and pummels Cena. It's more MMA style here, fellas. Brock with about a dozen shots to Cena's head. If this was MMA, Lesnar would have won by TKO already.

Ref stops it for a bit so the doc can stop that bleeding. Oh no, not Cena! Cena's up -- and Lesnar takes him down again. Total domination by Brock early on. Lesnar with MORE punches and knees. OW. Cena to the floor. Normal guys would be unconscious by now. Cena struggles to pull himself back in the ring. He's got a good cut on the left side.

Cena gets an elbow and tries for the AA. Brock gets out and hits a couple of German suplexes. Cena throws big elbows. Shoulderblock into Lesnar -- and ref Charles Robinson gets taken out as well. Ref bump NOW?! Lesnar with a shoulder tackle of his own. Brock with more shots to the open wound. Brock then attacks Cena's left arm. Huge armbar, then tossed into the barricade. Brock now with Cena's chain. Oh snap. Brock throws it down...he doesn't need any more weapons. Lesnar wraps the chain around Cena's legs. Cena struggles to get up, and gets clotheslined back down. Cena put on the top to get beat up some more. He ends up upside down around the ringpost. Brock is completely dominating. Not sure if I've ever seen Cena get whipped like this. Oh, and the ref's still down.

Cena's trying to get shots in, and Brock just tosses him into the steps. Brock just tossed the ref back in the ring. Cena with the chain, Brock says no and chucks the chain to the outside. Cena tries the AA, Lesnar counters! F-5! And the ref got KO'd when Lesnar completed his finisher. Oops. New ref! And naturally, Lesnar only gets two. Poor ref #2 gets destroyed. Brock's getting more money!

Brock gets the bottom (heavier) portion of the steps in the ring. Two more refs are at ringside now. Brock on the steps as Cole says Lesnar's like the King of the WWE right now. Cena "you can't see me" and he fights back again. Lesnar gets the upper hand AGAIN and now the Kimura lock on the steps -- with a leg scissors. Cena's screaming in pain. The crowd is LOUD. I mean LOUD. SuperCena arrives. He picks Lesnar up and slams him on the steps to break the hold. Cena to the top rope for the legdrop, but he misses and rolls to the outside. Lesnar momentarily doesn't know where Cena is but then spots him. Back on the steps as the king, eyeing his prey. Cena on the apron. Lesnar off the ropes, off the steps, and flies over the top into Cena! Brock holds his knee, but Cena is completely nuked. Brock's smiling that he's hurt. Taunts Cena. Gonna do it again! Lesnar off the ropes -- and Cena DECKS him with a chained-right hand!

Holy crap, the crowd is VERY LOUD. Going BONKERS. Brock's busted open from that chain shot! AA on the steps... and that got THREE?!?! WTF.

Trainers attend to Cena in the ring. Brock is woozy but refuses any help. He struggles to even stand and walk.

Cena on the mic after the show to thank the fans. He says he's probably taking a vacation. Whether the vacation was already planned or he legitimately got injured, it was a nice way to end the show.

I'm honestly unsure what to think of Cena/Lesnar. On the one hand, there's a lot of good because Lesnar absolutely pummeled Cena. I honestly have never seen John legitimately beat down in such a way. Lesnar even walked out without medical help, which shows his unbelievable toughness. Finally, the crowd was JACKED. People wanted extreme, and they got it. Blood in the PG era is very rare, and they let it happen here.

However, I totally despised Cena winning with basically just two moves: a hard chained right hand and an Attitude Adjustment. After a beating that could have killed a normal man, SuperCena rose again and felled the former UFC heavyweight champ. While Lesnar can still say he probably knocked Cena out of action, it likely would have been better had Brock won. It's just unrealistic to think two big moves could keep Lesnar down like that.

People may say Lesnar and Cena shouldn't get a huge rating since it really was a fight...not a wrestling match. It was never advertised as a wrestling match. Brock is a fighter out to destroy people. He nuked Cena. That Kimura he had Cena in more than once was just deadly. Do I think it was four stars? Not at this time, but it's VERY close.

The PPV, as a whole, was a huge success. It'll be up there as one of the best of the year, even when taking other promotions into account. ****

4/27/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio: *1/4

Nikki Bella vs. Alicia Fox: 1/4*

Titus O'Neil & Darren Young vs. Yoshi Tatsu & Ezekiel Jackson: *

Antonio Cesaro vs. Tyson Kidd: N/A (squash)

Cody Rhodes vs. Great Khali: 1/2*

Ryback vs. Jacob Kaye: N/A (squash)

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry: **
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
48 hours from Extreme Rules in Chicago. In Grand Rapids for Smackdown! Josh Mathews not on Smackdown, either. See, this is how you sell injuries.

Daniel Bryan time! Cue #yesyesyes on Twitter! He cut the umbilical cord! 18-second losses don't count! Yup, he called Henry/Sheamus match on RAW down the middle, all right. Sure. Nice heel move to have the three-count in slow motion. Hey, did DB say SI? SI! SI! SI! Q&A time! YES YES YES!

Hey, it's Alberto Del Rio! Will they switch to SI SI SI?! ROFL! They do! Thank you, Ricardo!

Oh snap, now Big Show? Is it "yes" or "si"? And poor Ricardo is now all alone with Big Show. Ricardo...NO!!!!! That was awesome. Chokeslam time, and Ricardo is nuked.

Goes right into Show/ADR. Oh, Show and Cody have their match determined by a wheel (similar to RAW Roulette, I guess) at Extreme Rules. That Big Show spear must hurt like hell. Cody-ference ends that. Kendo stick and chair for Cody. Doesn't work. Belt shot no-sold. Show angered and whips Cody with the leather belt twice. Wondering if Show retains now. Could be a Cody fluke win. Show doesn't need the IC title, in my opinion.

Laurinaitis tells Eve to make any changes she sees fit to improve Smackdown. Name tags? Pbbft. Teddy Long reports to Eve now. Yeah, go get a name tag. Lame.

Booker's right, now we can tell the two Bellas apart! Maybe. As for Beth, best selling of an injury from anyone in a long time. Had me fooled. I just don't understand why they'd give her a rematch at Extreme Rules. Let Nikki beat some other person. Bellas gloat the next night on RAW, Kharma nukes both Bellas. Easy, right?

Nikki faces Alicia tonight. Alicia has one-legged dropkicks. Twin magic, and it's pretty much over. Yeah, we all expected that, right? Probably will happen at Extreme Rules as well. Match was what, less than two minutes? Sounds about right.

Ohhh...exclusive interview with Orton by Michael Cole. Really, now?

Titus and D-Young with Yoshi in the back. See, they bowed to Yoshi! Oops, Zeke is Yoshi's tag partner.

Nice maid outfit, Teddy. YES! Antonio Cesaro gets a tryout match! Woohoo! Teddy gets to do commentary...only if Laurinatis allows it. People Power T-shirt!

Yoshi was basically fed to the wolves tonight. Nice tag finisher from Titus and Darren. Was Zeke even legally in the match? Didn't see it....

Time for the Orton exclusive interview. Cole had to throw in the Laurinaitis edict: no wrestler-on-announcer contact, or face suspension. Time for controversial questions. Nice video package for Orton and Kane. Crowd wants Randy to RKO Cole anyway.

WTF, Jinder Mahal interrupts? Prepare to die. And sure enough, Jinder eats an RKO.

Hey, Aksana gets to be ring announcer for the Antonio debut match! Good opponent with Tyson Kidd. Cesaro's story: former rugby player kicked out of the league for excessive aggression. Not ruthless aggression? Virtually a total squash here. I love Cesaro's finisher. Impressive.

Teddy in the ring to raise Antonio's hand.Antonio and Aksana make out in the ring in front of Teddy. Teddy face is priceless.

Video package hyping Lesnar and Cena. With that Edge pep talk and Cena breaking out his old lock chain, I'm pretty interested here.

Cody and Khali have a short match. No, not even Cody can make me watch most of a Khali match. Sorry.

AW wants an answer from Primo/Epico/Rosa by Monday. You'd think they'd accept. Vintage Ryback sighting!

Now the Usos are playing the fanboy roles as Ryback squashes another hometown hero. Lots of confidence, but he gets nuked. And holy hell, was Kaye nuked. JBL would be proud of that Ryback lariat.

Footage of AJ snapping on Natalya last week. AJ now in the back with Kaitlyn. AJ with a huge bitchslap to Kaitlyn. YES YES YES. I love it. This could be AJ's new gimmick. Release a dark side of her during matches.

You remember when Festus would go nuts when the bell rings? OK, not exactly like that, but WWE's playing it like AJ doesn't know what she's really doing to the other divas. Could be a slow build to transition her to a heel. Again, I reiterate: YES YES YES (if that comes true).

Time for the main event. Sheamus controls things early. Back-and-forth stuff after that. Henry threw Sheamus into the barricade, ouch. Good comeback from Sheamus. Nice roll-through from the top rope from the Great White, into a Brogue Kick for three.

DB appears on the stage to "applaud" Sheamus. "18 seconds." Sheamus even uses "YES YES YES..." to close the show.

I've read Sheamus may retain on Sunday so they can get Sheamus fresh people to feud with. DB will eventually get back to the title picture in that scenario, just not immediately. Whatever works, and as long as WWE continues to capitalize on the "YES YES YES" popularity.

4/26/12 Impact

Ratings:
Devon vs. Bully Ray (TV Title): **

Eric Bischoff vs. Jeremy Borash: N/A

Kurt Angle vs. Anarquia: N/A (squash)

Robbie E vs. Alex Silva (Gut Check): *

Brooke Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim: *1/4

Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson (Tag Team Titles): **
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
It's the first Open Fight Night and Gut Check time on Impact Wrestling! I'll give it a shot for now, but Hogan better come out, all systems go.

All the champs (sans Devon, who defends his TV title each week anyway) are with Hogan. HH praises all the champs, and it's the tag champs -- Joe and Magnus -- who are up tonight. We'll know their opponents when they arrive.

Devon's out to defend his title. He calls out Bully Ray tonight! And Bully's gotta accept. Bully still refuses, but Devon attacks anyway. Vintage water bottle shot! Bully got cut open early, possibly on the steps. Bully extends the olive branch and Devon basically rejects it. Bully gets control for a bit, then Devon with the comeback. Nice back-and-forth stuff. Bully runs right into that big Devon spinebuster for three.

Daniels and Kaz gloat about all the stuff they have on Styles. Angle tells them off and doesn't want their help anymore. Nice cowardly stuff from Daniels to Angle.

Borash comes out? WTF. All the talent shown in the back. He calls out another employee. Whoa, are we supposed to even refer to the man as "Eric Bischoff" anymore?! Fans LOVE it. You know, I love it too. And sure enough, Eric comes out. I laughed when the editing team blurred the "Bischoff" part from his entrance video.

"Na na na hey goodbye" chants for Eric. It's an iPhone, you idiot! Bully Ray with a low blow from behind to Borash. And that pretty much ends things. No rating. Nice sendoff for Eric, I guess.

Mr. Anderson with his thoughts on Eric Bischoff. Meanwhile, Mexican America in the ring. Anarquia talks trash, so Angle comes down to fight. Anarquia is now scared crapless and says Hernandez will fight instead. Of course, that's a ruse, and Anarquia accepts with a cheap attack. Angle quickly nukes Anarquia in less than a minute. Squash!

Video package introducing Alex Silva for the Gut Check. Al Snow is the lead judge for all this. Robbie E is Alex's opponent. Must be adrenaline in the early going, going 100 mph. Pretty basic, but Silva looked too sloppy for me. He also didn't get much of a chance to really show me something special. Based off one performance, I vote no on Silva getting a contract at this time.

Hogan gets a few tag teams in his office. Daniels awesome when he speaks. ROFL, nice stuff with EY and Hogan about having ODB for a night -- and Hulk unable to afford her. Hogan eliminates MCMG for now, citing concern for Sabin's knee. Decision to come later in the show.

Tessmacher comes out all serious -- without Tara. Well, it's Open Fight Night! She calls out Gail to prove last week was no fluke. No need for the title, just come for a fight. Gail cheap shot to start. Trash talk from Gail, as she takes control of most of the match. Nice finisher from Tessmacher. Pretty good here.

Didn't realize Impact was doing shows in Washington state this week. They're in California next week. What, no Oregon? Fail.

Kaz and Daniels telling AJ to show up next week. They may still reveal the secret anyway -- or at least tease it more.

Roode, being the top heel in the company, gets a cheap shot in on Alex Silva. I don't think it will mean much in the overall picture.

Hogan eliminates EY and ODB, like that's a surprise. Laughed when Hogan told them not to reproduce. Thanks for the mental image.

And here we go, Joseph Park and Bully Ray. Not surprisingly, Bully tells Joseph to shove it.

Tag title time. Champs out first. Kaz/Daniels and Anderson/Hardy also go to the ring. Hogan comes out. Kaz and Daniels are out. Anderson and Hardy get the title shot tonight. Might as well, since they got nothing better to do and Kaz/Daniels have the storyline with Styles.

Good match that you'd expect from four very good talents. Hot tag to Anderson who does work. Joe then tries to pin Hardy and the ref allowed it? Really? Hardy Twist of Fate on Joe. Magnus takes out Anderson on the outside...um, sure. Hardy takes out Magnus. Anderson climbs back in. Mic Check countered. Rollup for two, but right into a Joe choke. Magnus holds onto Hardy to prevent the save. Anderson taps. Good finish. Kaz and Daniels get in cheap shots on the champs post-match.

Flair comes out to host Eric Bischoff Appreciation Night. Guys like Kaz, Daniels, Gunner, and Bully all come out with Flair. A nice throne for EB and a good portrait shot. Crowd VERY vocal to get rid of Eric. Is Eric crying from Flair's words?!

Each Immortal guy with a short speech. ROLEX!

Here comes Garett! With JB, the Guns, Aries, and RVD. HA, JB said Ring of Honor (for the Dallas Cowboys). For Eric, it's the TNA Shed of Shame! Port-a-Potty!

We got a fight! Garett grabs Eric! Eric tossed in the port-a-potty! Locked and loaded, I guess! JB and Garett tip that sucker over. Wow, that really was loaded with crap! Nice sendoff, I guess...?

4/26/12 Superstars

Ratings:
Hunico & Camacho vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: **

Kelly Kelly vs. Maxine: 3/4*

The Miz vs. Alex Riley: ***3/4
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Josh Mathews still selling injuries from Lesnar. So we got Michael Cole on the show with Striker.

Usos and their Siva Tau start it off. Camacho FINALLY in an actual match on TV. Usos mock Hunico and Camacho before the match. Weird spot when one Uso (didn't catch who) went through the middle and top ropes (almost supposed to be a low bridge), but Hunico really didn't do anything. Camacho had some good moments in the ring, but still looks very green to me. A bunch of restholds slowed things down, but things picked up when Jimmy got the hot tag. Crowd got into it late. Not a bad start for Hunico and Camacho as a possible tag team. I would like to see some type of tag finisher from them eventually, if they went this route.

Well, Maxine is off NXT for now! She gets to face Kelly Kelly on Superstars. Maxine has come a long way since her NXT rookie diva days. Yeah Scott, of course Striker is OK from that kidnapping that he basically no-sold by appearing on other shows like nothing was wrong.

Maxine with basic moves to keep KK from flying around. Nice guillotine choke from Maxine. KK with the usual comeback offense. K2 legdrop gets the win.

We pretty much go right into A-Ry and Miz. Honestly, A-Ry apparently is supposed to be a face, but tried to squeal and tell Jericho about Punk drinking alcohol in the locker room -- a heel tactic? Now I'm confused again.


Tremendous main event, way better than I thought it would be. A lengthy match with working injured body parts and flowing action. Signature moves galore. Many near falls.


A-Ry's got huge potential, and he showed it in this one. We've already seen how Miz has improved over the years. If anything, a great move by WWE to have two guys familiar with each other square off.

This was quite possibly A-Ry's best match of his WWE career. Nice to see Miz, a former WWE champ, make A-Ry look...awesome.

4/25/12 NXT

Ratings:
Derrick Bateman vs. JTG: **

Tamina Snuka & Kaitlyn vs. Natalya & Maxine: *1/4

Tyson Kidd vs. Johnny Curtis: ***3/4
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Striker is back starting the show. Josh is selling the injuries from getting taken out by Lesnar on RAW. Striker announces Hawkins and Reks are "fired" from NXT. D-Young and Titus now on Smackdown. Regal scouting new talent. Nice....

Hornswoggle is the match coordinator?!?! Oh hell no. And he still has the Brodus outfit!

Hey, JTG is still employed and cheap shots Bateman. Where the hell has JTG been? He wants a match, so it's JTG and Bateman on the spot. JTG has some very good moves on this one, but the crowd is lukewarm at best. Hownswoggle is Tinydactyl. JTG gets planted with Bateman's finisher. Pretty solid.

Scott Armstrong tries to put the cuffs back on Maxine and Curtis. Maxine sweettalks Scott, but Curtis joins in on it. Oops. And the cuffs go on! Well, at least they come off during the matches.

Tyson Kidd asks the WWE Universe to name his new finisher. Whatever it is, I love the move. Natalya plays the jealous one as Kaitlyn complements Tyson on that move. Hey, at least the whole farting gimmick appears to be gone now.

Divas tag match now. Curtis on commentary. Holy crap, double dropkick to start! That was unexpected. A lot of screaming in that ring. Tamina gets the hot tag here. Didn't take long for Tamina to get the win after that one.

Maxine now must join Striker at the announce table, because Curtis is in action next.

Percy gets mysteriously taken out. Bad left knee. Percy says it may be McGillicutty. Hornswoggle makes it one-on-one between Kidd and Curtis. So now MM joins Striker and Maxine at the announce table.

Tyson just on a huge roll early, with big move after big move. MM praises Lesnar during the match. Kidd can make Curtis look real good. Big props there. Top-rope blockbuster from Kidd gets only two! Wheelbarrow into back suplex gets two for Curtis. Damn. Curtis misses a top-rope legdrop. There's Kidd's new submission! Kicks to the head for added effect! Curtis taps.

Excellent main event. Kidd may be a midcard guy and Curtis just a lower midcard upstart, but they looked like seasoned veterans in their prime. Gotta give a little increase in the rating just for that. This was a match where Tyson Kidd really showed he's the next huge star in this company.

4/23/12 RAW (3 hours)

Ratings:
Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston: ***

Lord Tensai vs. R-Truth: N/A (squash)

Big Show & Great Khali vs. Alberto Del Rio & Cody Rhodes: *1/2

Nikki Bella vs. Beth Phoenix (Lumberjill; Divas Title): *

Mark Henry vs. Sheamus: N/A

Santino Marella & Zack Ryder vs. Primo & Epico: *1/4

Brodus Clay & Hornswoggle vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger: DUD
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Long starts off with the contract signing. He mixes up Cena's title credentials. Crowd loves Cena. Long then introduces Lesnar, but Laurinaitis comes out. More scolding to Long. Possibly Cena's last night on RAW? I guess we'll get more about that later.

"You think you know me..." WTF?! EDGE?! Huge ovation for the 2012 Hall of Famer. He acknowledges that his contract's legitimately expiring in a few days. Edge talks to Cena to basically pump him up. WAKE UP, CENA. Edge tells Cena to beat Lesnar.

Jericho out for a match against Kofi. Kofi is a house of fire early on. Huge somersault plancha over the top from Kingston. That guy has major leaping ability, no question about it. Fairly fast-paced stuff. Very competitive match and a lively crowd. Signature moves all over the place. Crossbody to a hunched-over Jericho, then a Boomdrop? That's new combo. Springboard from Kofi...into a Codebreaker. Sweet. VINTAGE LION TAMER! Now this was great stuff that warrants three stars. Not much downtime and several big spots.

Jericho on the mic post-match, vowing to become the new WWE champ. More Punk bashing. Jericho with a gift for Punk later tonight.

Video package showing Lesnar's debut match against Jeff Hardy. Dominance.

Eve and Laurinaitis. Eve is the new executive administrator. Johnny wants a hug. Not for you! But here's a handshake!

So Jericho's gift to Punk was a liquor basket. Josh Mathews is the big winner in all of this!

Lord Tensai video from last week. Vintage green mist to Cena in that one. This week, R-Truth looks like he's the newest victim.

Extreme Rules this coming Sunday in Chicago. I'd think Punk and Jericho will deliver another four-star match. Something tells me Jericho could be winning, since hometown heroes generally don't fare well. Not sure what to expect from Lesnar and Cena. ROFL, "YES!" chants when Tensai headbutts Truth. "LORD TENSAI...ICHIBAN!" Even I know that one. Green mist into hands, claw hold, Truth out. Squash match here.

Kane promo on Orton, basically saying Orton is scared of the nightmare that Kane has become. It's a Falls Count Anywhere match at Extreme Rules. ORTON HAS PAUL BEARER! That got a nice pop. Orton locks Bearer in what appears to be a walk-in freezer. Kane isn't saving Paul tonight.

Here comes Orton! Fight! Woohoo! Orton uses the lead pipe from last week on Kane. The monster retreats through the crowd.

A-Ry tells Jericho he saw Punk drinking out of the liquor basket. They sneak to the locker room. Punk's on the phone and drinking out of a red cup, the bottle of Jack (which he kept) right beside it. Nice segment.

Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes are a tag team tonight against Khali and Big Show. Khali's knees still suck. He takes out Cody's leg with basic stuff. Alberto doesn't have much luck, either. Cody with a low bridge takes Big Show over the top. Cody attacks Show on the outside, but the big man gets back in at nine. Cody and ADR make quick tags and isolate Show. Cody with the figure four to Big Show! Show gets out and starts a comeback. ADR gets slapped. Cody wants a tag, but ADR refuses. Cody is left to be thrown to the wolves. Show chokeslam ends things. Khali actually gets a win for a change!

Wow, Stone Cold must be glad he wasn't a part of this new Wellness Policy. No drinking within a 12-hour period of a WWE event? Ouch. I assume that only applies to the 12 hours before the show. Laurinaitis wants credible proof. Field sobriety test later tonight, and Teddy Long is conducting it. Vintage JR reference from Johnny!

Josh Mathews wants comments from Lesnar. Brock looks out of it. Has he been drinking? Lesnar takes out Josh. If it meant getting a fat paycheck, I'd go on camera in a heartbeat and take my three-second beating. Vintage stretcher spot for an announcer! Hey, Cole's defending the announcers for a change!

Nikki Bella set for action. Divas Title match against Beth. Eve comes out and makes it a Lumberjill match. Can't complain about that.

Unreal, "Josh Mathews" is trending worldwide.

Beth shows her power against Nikki. Pretty decent match involving divas. Nikki to the outside. Beth jumps down off the apron and looks like her left leg buckled. WTF, why are the other divas NOT doing anything? I guess they really don't want to piss Beth off. Beth's in real pain, folks. Brie initiates an all-out assault, probably to inform the other divas what really happened. They get Beth and Nikki in the ring. Beth still in enormous pain, fighting back the tears. Quick rollup for three ends it. Such a shame for Beth to lose the title that way. No telling how long Glamazon could be out. Beth tells the trainer that she just jumped down and her leg twisted.

I don't think a title change was supposed to occur. If so, Nikki could be a transitional champ. This, of course, assumes the Bellas didn't re-sign with the company. The last I checked, they were still on their way out at the end of the month.

EDIT: Beth injury was a work. Certainly fooled me. Outstanding selling.

Punk goes on a "drunken" rampage in front of Teddy Long. Awesome.

Time for the field sobreity test. Jericho also in the ring for this one. Long says if Punk fails the test, he is stripped of the title and subject to further discipline. Punk comes down to the ring rather gingerly.

First, let's recite the alphabet backwards! Hell, I can't even do that without thinking, even when sober. Punk agrees with me! Stupid stupid stupid! OK, now let's walk that red line. The line's never there! Punk rules. Fails to walk the line properly. Officer said Punk's intoxicated. Long requests the title. Punk hesitates, but hands it over. Punk then wants another shot to pass the test. Punk still mixed the "S" and "T" up, but he walks the line as well. VINTAGE Flair! Attack! This was outstanding.

Another Lesnar video of him beating Hulk Hogan in August 2002.

Sheamus and Henry next. YES YES YES! DANIEL BRYAN IS THE REF! Remember, if Sheamus touches an official, he gets fired. Nice work. Is this one of the only times the fans have cheered a ref more then the two guys wrestling in the match? DB keeps taunting Sheamus. Henry runs Sheamus over. DB with the fast three count. Not rating it.

DB throws the ref shirt at Sheamus. Um, Daniel, the match is over. Sheamus wants to kick your ass. And he gets some. Brogue Kick to Henry but DB gets Sheamus down and it's YES Lock time. Note, Sheamus didn't tap the whole time, but passed out.

Epico and Primo face Ryder and Santino. Oh, Sanitno faces Miz in a U.S. title match BEFORE Extreme Rules. Way to devalue the title, fellas. Ryder in control early, then cousins get advantage through distractions. Santino gets in. He no-sells a dropkick and cobra strikes for three. I guess they get a tag title shot? Maybe?

Kane goes to that walk-in freezer. Saving Paul Bearer? Yup...from Kane. Back to the freezer! Got a good kick out of that one.

AW possibly recruiting Primo and Epico. I like where this is going. Perhaps a new stable?

Apparently Taco Bell sponsors this match that has Brodus and Hornswoggle. What the heck was Vickie wearing?! Looks like she went through the tye-dye machine.

Hornswoggle should NEVER wear a singlet again. Dammit. Brodus gets a tag and goes to town. Vickie in the ring and slaps Brodus for a DQ. Cameron and Naomi in the ring. Uh oh. Vickie wants a timeout. No timeout for you! Hornswoggle bites Vickie's rear. I too can't believe we sat through that.

Hey, it's Lesnar and Angle from WM 19! Note they left out when Brock landed on his head from that shooting star.

Now it's time for the contract signing. Laurinaitis out first and introduces Lesnar. Cena music, but no Cena. Mixed Cena chants again. Oh, Cena is now "Little Johnny." Brock's got some business to discuss with Laurinaitis. Lesnar's got a few "small" requests before he signs the contract.

Brock is not a naive little farmboy anymore, that's for sure:

(1) Anything about Lesnar must be OK'd by Lesnar
(2) Vince's private jet to get him to RAW!
(3) No stupid people
(4) Brock does what he wants, when he wants
(5) No huge fines for beating up refs! Brock gets more money instead!

Last one is the best of all: "Monday Night RAW...starring Brock Lesnar!" YES! YES! YES!

Brock's got Laurinaitis on a string. Awesome heel heat. I probably missed stuff. But I love it. Brock signs the contract.

Oh, here comes Cena! OH SNAP HE'S GOT THE CHAIN! He wraps it around his right hand. Crowd's going nuts. Since Cena writes left handed, he can sign with the chain still in his right hand. Cena hesitates. Brock says Cena's scared. Cena signs quickly. Nice staredown and fight tease before Brock leaves. Maybe now WWE will get more PPV buys.

Brock must have gotten some major clout over his contract. His own sponsored stuff, lots of attitude on the promos, etc. Anything really to get back some "attitude" feel to the WWE. It may be PG, but when Lesnar's around, it can encroach on TV-14. Great job.

4/20/12 Smackdown

Ratings:
AJ vs. Natalya: N/A

Brodus Clay vs. Hunico: N/A (squash)

Darren Young & Titus O'Neil vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: *1/4

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show: *1/2

Ryback vs. Danny Lerman: N/A (squash)

Sheamus, Randy Orton, & Great Khali Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, & Cody Rhodes: ***
_________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Daniel Bryan again out to a mega pop, even though the announcers still making it like he's a heel. Screw all that guys, jump on the DB bandwagon! Nice promo. 2 out of 3 falls at Extreme Rules? Eh, that's fine, I guess. Love how DB incorporates "YES" into his promo.

Uh oh. AJ comes out, wanting to work things out. DB with harsh words for AJ, even wishing she was never born. AJ looks inconsolable. Oh, what timing, she's gonna be in a divas match next against Natalya!

OK, so it's not really a match. AJ snaps. Maybe we can get a snapping AJ each week and I'll pay more attention to all this.

Damien Sandow with another one of those monologues. Something about ignorance. Shut up, Cole. Who the hell would learn anything from that?

Brodus faces Hunico. He has a little brother? Oh crap, no. No. Hornswoggle! Dammit, I knew it. It was entertaining for all of 1.8 seconds, thanks. Hornswoggle with a mini-quake on Hunico. Shoot me. Squash match with a Brodus win. Why not, a Tadpole Splash from Hornswoggle.

Teddy Long looking for Aksana,but finds Titus and Darren Young. Titus is the Big Deal now. Johnny with a hat for Teddy. Don't say anything or move. Fun job.

Speaking of Darren and Titus, they face the Usos tonight. Crowd real active in this one. One of the Usos took a major spill at the end to the outside. Nice double-team finisher from Darren and Titus to win.

Have I mentioned that I love how Lilian says Ricardo Rodriguez's name? Alberto faces Big Show tonight. Nice that Cole mentions their feud from last year. ADR focuses on Show's left arm. Show looking for the win, but Cody interferes with the Disaster kick. ADR gets the three.

Ryback nukes another hometown hero. Impressive showing. Looked like McIntyre and Slater were watching in the back. They betting money back there? Wonder who lost.... Interested to see how this apparent push for Ryback works out. He wants to be fed more.

Brock Lesnar interview = awesome. He's got a great negotiating team so that he can wear non-WWE sponsored gear.

Teddy Long standing in uniform. REGAL! YES! OH SNAP IT'S CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI! WOOOOO! Oh right, he's Antonio Cesaro in WWE. Grr. Oh, and yay Aksana.

Six-man tag match now. Was Cole saying "YES YES YES"?! Whoa, Khali comes out last. Cody takes out Khali's left knee. The big man can't even sell a knee injury extremely well. But at least he sells it longer than Cena.

Oops. Big Show will replace Khali. Why didn't they just start with that?! Grr.

Sheamus really showed good agility in the match. Heels then work over Sheamus. Orton with the hot tag, but Henry snuffs all that out. Aw, DB missed the diving headbutt. Show gets in, but Cody and Henry ultimately get Big Show down. Cody with a Figure Four to Big Show! Really liked the tag Cody made to Henry so Mark could nail Show with that splash while Show was still in the Figure Four.

DB comes in, but Show gets the tag to Sheamus! Cody breaks up Sheamus' pin attempt, but he slid out of the ring next to Show. WMD and Cody's KO'd. DB tags Henry and scampers away. Henry gets nuked with all the finishers. Very good match.