NXT TakeOver: R Evolution Predictions

Tonight, NXT presents their fourth and final Live Special of 2014. Their shows have been events that I've looked forward to more than a vast majority of the main roster PPVs. Tonight, there is a huge card set and I'm incredibly pumped for it so here are some predictions. Besides these four predictions, we can't forget about Corey Graves' big Pre-Show announcement and the debut of Kevin Owens!

We start with the NXT Tag Team Championship match. At the last special, The Lucha Dragons ended the dull and lengthy reign of the Ascension. Now, they have a big title defense against the Vaudevillains, who won a battle royal to earn this shot. The build has been fun as the Vaudevillains have put on fake movies and used the mini Lucha Dragons for comedy. However, the titles aren't changing just yet.

Winners: The Lucha Dragons

While I'm not out of this world excited for the Tag Team Title match, this is a different story. I happen to consider Sasha Banks the best of the NXT girls and I think that Charlotte is severely overrated. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte is good, but I think Sasha is all around better. Tonight is the night for Sasha to show it on the big stage. I hope this delivers and blows everyone away. Sasha needs to take home the belt. They can send Charlotte to the main roster or away from my favorite weekly show.

Winner: Sasha Banks

I saw a lot of Hideo Itami during his stints with Ring of Honor, including multiple live showings but he has disappointed in his NXT run. Things have improved with his partnership alongside Finn Balor. Balor has been incredible and their chemistry has been great. He promises to bring something the Ascension has never seen and I hope it's his body paint. Anyway, the Ascension has never been very impressive to me and, with the news of their main roster call up coming, I see the bigger stars winning.

Winners: Finn Balor and Hideo Itami

Here's the big one. The one that has been building nearly all year. Sami Zayn's last shot at the NXT Championship. Adrian Neville has had a fantastic run as the top guy in NXT, putting on nothing but great performances. Zayn, however, has been the man in NXT. The crowd gravitates more towards him and that has added something to this rivalry. Last week's promo was amazing as Zayn let loose on Adrian and their match a few weeks ago was a classic. I fully expect them to match or surpass that and this has Match of the Year potential.

Winner: Sami Zayn

Raw Report 12/8/14

The Slammy Award edition of Monday night Raw opened with Seth Green, the Slammy host, coming out. He's here to present the "This is Awesome" award but is interrupted by Miz and Mizdow. It's not much, but Mizdow does indeed steal the show. It's insane how over the guy has become by taking something like being a second to The Miz of all people. As the fans are now able to vote, Dolph Ziggler is out for the opening contest against Seth Rollins. Despite this being two of the best workers in the company and two guys who have some good chemistry, this did not click. Due to interference from J&J Security, Seth was able to score the pinfall with the Blackout. After the match, Sting's debut won for This is Awesome moment, but of course he wasn't in attendance. Seth was furious that it won, so he accepted and stole it. Awards being won by guys who aren't there weekly will be a theme for the evening.

As stated on my Smackdown Report, I'd be all for a New Day/Dust Brothers feud if they got actual microphone time. It seems like we're partially headed there as Kofi Kingston defeated Stardust in a decent little contest here. My biggest problem is the lack of character development and promo time. During the match, Michael Cole informs us of something that Goldust said, which I forgot, but maybe I'd remember if Goldust actually got the chance to say it. I tend to ignore most of what Cole, and commentary in general, says. Our presenter for Surprise Return of the Year is Mr. People Power himself, John Laurinaitis. Maybe I'm weird like this, but I marked a little for his appearance. I rather enjoyed him as a heel General Manager, and felt that he didn't get enough time running things. After announcing the nominees, of which only one was an actual surprise, it is announced that the Ultimate Warrior wins. Not surprising, but it is very hard to not vote for him.

Seth Rollins is backstage with J&J Security when Paul Heyman comes up to him. He talks about Brock Lesnar and wonders if Seth is next in line for a title shot if he wins at TLC. Seth reminds him that he has a briefcase so he can cash in on his time and not Brock's. Uhh, the only way that happens is if you go to Brock's house in a Crash Holy like Hardcore Title defense. Brock hasn't been seen since September. NXT TIME! The NXT Women's Champion, Charlotte, comes out for a match against Natalya to help promote NXT TakeOver this week. Their match at TakeOver in May was pretty phenomenal but Charlotte hasn't impressed me much since then. It's not supposed to be about her lineage, but she "Woos" non-stop. This was short and Natalya won with a small package. Part of me liked that Nattie won, since the NXT people shouldn't be able to just dominate the main roster, but Charlotte should have been made to look better. Tyson Kidd, with a hoodie that has FUCKING CAT EARS on it, takes credit for the win because he's amazing.

Smackdown General Manager for a week, Santino Marella, is out to present OMG Moment of the Year. It's very clearly Brock Lesnar breaking the Streak, so the voters got it right. Paul Heyman comes out to accept and keeps it short. The Wyatt signature hits and I'm all like "THE FUCK? BRAY AND HEYMAN? WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN?" The answer? Nothing. Bray just walks to the ring for a promo. Trickery. He talks about Sister Abigail and how much his broken rocking chair hurts. He calls himself a monster and claims that the end is near. A siren sounds off. It's not Cesaro but it sounds a lot more like Scott Steiner. Sadly, it is not the promo god either but an ambulance backing into the arena. The back opens and Dean Ambrose appears, complete with a neckbrace and fog machine. The fog makes me wonder if it's something else entirely and maybe Dean was with RVD in the ambulance. He comes to the ring and they go at it. it's a pretty damn good build and I'm looking forward to that match more than any other. He gets on the mic and says that hte only way Bray leaves TLC is in an Ambulance. TABLES, LADDERS, CHAIRS...STAIRS...AND AMBULANCES?

Seth Green comes out to announce the next presenter and he marks out about the Ambrose/Bray segment. Jerry "The Pervert" Lawler comes to the stage to present Diva of the Year. I voted Paige because of obvious reasons. This is the only award where the nominees are shown lined up in the back. As AJ Lee is announced as the winner, Titus O'Neill appears randomly in a suit for no reason but steals the show. AJ's acceptance speech featured name drops for Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Emma and Paige, saying that maybe next year they can win since she changed what it means to be a Diva. It sounded like she doesn't plan on being around this time next year. We move into Erick Rowan vs. Luke Harper and I'm pissed. First off, they should not be fighting and secondly, if they do fight, there needs to be build and an angle. Give them reason. Instead, we get a short match that at least ends with no clean winner. Harper attacks with a ladder, Rowan retaliates with stairs and wins out. How do you build your big Intercontinental Title match at TLC? Have Dolph get beaten by Seth and Harper get overpowered by Rowan. Good job.

Backstage, The Usos walk up to Naomi with their Tag Team of the Year Slammys that they won on the Pre-Show. Jey heads off while Jimmy states that winning that is the second best part of his year, behind marrying Naomi. So I guess winning the Tag Team Titles didn't mean much, huh? She says that she's going to Hollywood to talk to Miz's agent and Jimmy is being the jealous boyfriend. Adam Rose and the Exotic Express come out to present the LOL Moment. Damien Mizdow wins, but when he comes out to accept, Miz steps in and steals it, not even giving Mizdow credit. Lana and Rusev come out to badmouth America. Jack Swagger rushes out to defend the honor of Zeb Colter. They announce Swagger/Rusev IV or V or something for TLC and Swagger locks him in the Ankle Lock. Officials separate them and while Rusev sells, Swagger is screaming and being held back. Looked pretty badass for sure.

Six man tag team time as Ryback teams with the Usos to take on Miz, Mizdow and Concessions or Corporate or Malibu Kane. The teams don't make sense, but this is alright. Nothing special but fun. ShellShock to Miz ends this and Seth Green, who was on commentary, comes into celebrate with them. They all do the "Feed Me More" stuff. It was, if nothing else, fun. A nice surprise follows as Ricky Steamboat is out to present the Match of the Year award. Who better to introduce this right? First of all, the match choices are far from the best. Team Cena vs. Team Authority wins, I guess because it's the most recent in the fan's memory. Whatever. It was damn good, but not MOTY. AJ Lee defeats Summer Rae in a match that has no real need. Just gets the Diva of the Year a win heading into her newly announced Divas Title shot at TLC.

I must have been right about the whole Dean Ambrose ambulance smoking theory because RVD is here! He's out, in a tux, to present the next award. The Extreme Moment of the year. I appreciate how Brock Lesnar's 16 German Suplexes made the list. That match was brutal. However, it's a different part-timer who wins, in Chris Jericho, for his cross body off the Steel Cage on the "season premiere" of Raw. Fandango and the awful Rosa Mendes show up to accept because Fandango beat Jericho in his debut. Lame. Booker T shows up to introduce the Superstar of the Year. It's not the guy who should have won. Not John Cena and his 15th World Title win. Not Bray or Dean, which was understandable. Not Brock, who won the belt and conquered the Streak. Not Bryan who won the WrestleMania main event. No Seth Rollins who is Mr. Money in the Bank. Roman fucking Reigns. The guy who eliminated 12 people in the Rumble and that's it. It was so rigged because guess what? Roman is here. He accepts, blah.

Huge main event tonight as John Cena looks to overcome the odds as he faces the giant Big Show! Stop me if you've heard this before. The match is painful, slow and dull. John Cena wins via disqualification because of Seth and J&J Security. Like it's Survivor Series coming up and not TLC, every member of Team Cena and Team Authority pretty much comes out and brawls. This giant brawl ends the show and I'm pretty sure they've done this each year before TLC. The Authority, or whatever the fuck they're called now, stand tall.

More enjoyable than last week, but still lacking. I believe it's a testament to the state of the WWE that so many awards went to part-timers. There is a lack of building new stars. Seth Rollins has been done well, but the up and down with Dean this year and even more so, Bray, has hurt their build. That's neither here nor there though, Raw itself was mediocre. No real standout matches but the Bray/Dean stuff was great, for the most part the TLC build was well done and the surprises were kind of cool. 5.5/10.

Feud of the Year

When it comes to the Feud of the Year for 2014, there are some worthy candidates. The hate filled rivalry between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose comes to mind, as does the lengthy Daniel Bryan vs. Authority angle. Also, Evolution vs. The Shield comes to mind but I had to go with a different Shield feud. The one that pitted them against the Wyatt Family. On Raw the night after the Royal Rumble, a show I was at live, The Shield faced John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying match. With The Wyatt Family targeting John Cena, they interfered in that contest and Cena's team won via disqualification. This did not sit well with the Shield.

What followed next was something pretty amazing. The Shield vs. The Wyatts was announced for the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View and the fans were instantly pumped. Any time that the two teams were across the ring from each other, the crowd buzzed in anticipation. "This is Awesome" chants would ring out and the six men wouldn't even touch each other. They finally met at Elimination Chamber and provided the fans with the kind of match they've been waiting for. It was a match of the year candidate that the Wyatt Family won after Bray Wyatt pinned Roman Reigns. Could you fathom a world where that would be possible here and now, just 10 or so months later? I have only two gripes with this whole thing. One is that part of me wishing this got to be in an Elimination Chamber. Make the match elimination style obviously and we'd have had a different kind of Chamber than ever seen before. My other, bigger gripe, would be that this should have been saved for WrestleMania. It had a special feel that can't be replicated.

While both factions would move into separate feuds on the Road to WrestleMania, they did

meet again. On the March 3rd, episode of Raw, from Chicago, they faced off in another classic. The Wyatts again got the upper hand but they wowed us once more. A third and final meeting happened on an episode of Main Event that saw The Shield get their win back. So, while this didn't last as long as some of the other feuds, there was something special about this one. For one, we might never see it against considering the Shield split and the Wyatts seemingly going their separate ways. There things about other feuds that I really disliked (like the slime portion of Seth/Dean, which came in second for me), but this felt special and was done right each time, making it the Feud of the Year.

Debut of the Year

In a year that saw multiple Superstars and Divas make their debuts, one stood out above them all. Not Adam Rose, not Bo Dallas, not Emma, but Paige. Let's start from the beginning though. Paige, daughter of British wrestler Saraya Knight, was first seen by me at SHIMMER. She was teaming with her mom, with future fellow NXT star Becky Lynch as their manager, before moving into a feud with her mom. She was signed by the WWE and made a splash in NXT. Her "Anti-Diva" character got over and she won the Tournament to crown the first ever NXT Women's Champion. It was clear by her emotional reaction to winning, that this meant a lot to her. She would go on to be a focal point of the first NXT Special on the WWE Network, beating Emma in a damn good NXT Women's Championship match. As WrestleMania rolled around, Paige still had a stranglehold on the NXT belt, so nobody expected to see her on the main roster until she dropped it.

The night after WrestleMania, which is usually the biggest Raw of the year, the current Divas Champion came out to cut a promo. AJ Lee was in the midst of a 300+ day reign as Divas Champion and, less than 24 hours prior, head beaten 13 other divas. She called herself the "Best Diva in the World" before she was cut off by the theme of the NXT Women's Champion. Paige came out to a huge pop from the rowdy crowd in New Orleans and attempted to congratulate AJ Lee. AJ wanted no part and challenged the Anti-Diva, putting the title on the line. She was overconfident and it cost her as Paige put her down with the Paige Turner and captured the Divas Champion in a shocking moment. With the win, Paige became the youngest Champion in WWE history.

Now, as much as I love Paige, what has followed that historic night has been a bit

disappointing. Her title run as a face was just match after match with no real story and kind of fell flat. Then, she dropped the title to a returning AJ and became her "frenemy." This was odd until she turned heel from it and then I feel that she started to shine again. She would win her second Divas Championship at SummerSlam on her 22nd birthday. While she lost it again about a month later, winning two Divas Title by 22 is an impressive feat. Now, while she isn't directly involved in the title picture, she will be joining the Total Divas cast in January. Some see this as a negative but it gets her more exposure and money, so I think it's a good move. In the end, Paige has a lot of years in front of her and she could surpass the current record of three Divas Championships down the line. Her debut was impactful, shocking and a lot of fun, making it the debut of the year.

Smackdown Report 12-5-14

We open with a shot of the retired Santino Marella because he's the General Manager for the evening. His office reminds me of Commissioner Mick Foley's in a good way. Following the Raw recap, Dolph Ziggler is here for an Intercontinental Championship match! I will continue to say that Smackdown should be the Intercontinental Title showcase show. Dolph has been having some pretty long matches on TV but this was a bit shorter. I enjoyed it and feel that they can definitely do more. Harper got himself disqualified to keep the title and then went after Ziggler with a ladder but it backfired. Santino came out and announced that at the TLC...S Pay-Per-View, Harper will defend the belt against Dolph in a Ladder Match! First off, adding the S to TLC is stupid, but a Ladder match between these two has the potential to steal the show. 

The remnants of the Authority come to the ring in Seth Rollins, Kane, Big Show and J&J Security. I don't understand why these guys still come out like they have power or something. Seth talks about how he doesn't have to pin John Cena at TLC, just put him through a table like he did on Raw. Big Show throws around the steel steps to prove a point while Kane talks about chairs and Ryback. Santino comes out and makes a tag team main event pitting Erick Rowan and Ryback against Seth Rollins and Big Show. I would be all for Santino as a permanent General Manager. Think of the hilarious skits.

 Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are teaming up again and according to Natayla's Twitter, they could be going by UpperCats, which is one of the greatest things of all time. I like the team but I would love to see Tyson get an Intercontinental Championship run in the future with his new character. They take on The New Day, who seem to be using a Freebird style with their matches as you never know which two you're going up against. This was quite possibly my favorite match of the night, even though it was short, as Kidd and Cesaro took on Kofi and Xavier, who won a game of odds and evens to compete. New Day wins and I'd like to hear some reasoning behind the team of Kidd and Cesaro and not just be a random pairing. As New Day are celebrating, Stardust and Goldust appear on the titantron and cut a promo on them, saying their positive message means nothing to them. Xavier grabs a microphone after they leave and all three of them talk about their unity and how darkness won't take over them. Big E speaks in his preacher voice, which actually makes sense here. I'm all about tag team feuds with promo work and no titles. This should be fresh and damn good.

Dean Ambrose was out next for his first time ever match against the United States Champion, Rusev. He cuts a promo about Bray Wyatt and how he broke the rocking chair on Raw before Rusev and Lana come to the stage. Lana says that Rusev will not be competing because of Jack Swagger attacking him on Raw. Dean says that he tuned them out after she said he wouldn't be competing and told Lana to stop shooting him flirtatious looks. TITTY MASTER! He goes to get Rusev but is attacked by Bray! Bray says "that was her chair" as he pulls out The Undertaker's old steel chair throat attack, but into the steel steps. Ambrose does the stretcher job due to this and it came off very well. I didn't like that an advertised match failed to happen but I liked the build towards TLC.

The Miz and Damien Mizdow are out to talk about Jimmy Uso's issues with him lately. He still claims that he was just trying to help Naomi grow in her career. See, earlier in the night, Naomi received flowers and thought they were from Jimmy but they were apology flowers from Miz. Jimmy came out upset and wanted to get his hands on Miz badly just like on Main Event. Miz compared Naomi to Kim Kardashian, which is probably more insult than compliment. Jey is going to defend his sister-in-law but he falls to the former WWE Champion. Not much, but I prefer the jealous boyfriend angle over Team A wrestling Team B fifteen times.

Look, if the WWE is going to just scratch the entire Bella Twins feud and make them friends for no reason again, then just let them use Nikki's music. Brie comes out to wrestle Naomi and we have to hear the god awful Brie Mode theme music. This could be considered a focal point of Total Divas vs. an afterthought on Total Divas. Nikki was at ringside and AJ Lee was on commentary. Basic stuff as Nikki goes to interfere so AJ stops her, allowing Naomi to win. NXT SEASON THREE STICKS TOGETHER! Brie puts a stupid looking pouty face as AJ leaves.

We move into the main event pitting Seth Rollins and Big Show against Erick Rowan and Ryback. This was only decent at best since Ryback and Erick Rowan aren't very good and I don't have much to say about the match itself. After Kane gets ejected, Ryback pins Seth Rollins with the ShellShock. This is where the issue lies. I don't think that Seth should be eating pins, especially to the likes of Ryback. He lost at Survivor Series, which is fine, but I'm pretty sure he's losing at TLC as well. I hope he can regain his momentum after all of this.

Not the best episode of Smackdown but not the worst. I again enjoyed the majority of the show outside of the main event. The Divas stuff was basic, but I love the idea of the New Day feuding with the Dust Brothers. The Dean Ambrose/Bray Wyatt stuff continues to be at its best on Smackdown and the Harper/Ziggler match built towards TLC well. 6.5/10.

NXT Report 12-4-14

In a cool little treat to start NXT, independent standout Mia Yim faced NXT Women's Champion Charlotte. I enjoyed Mia in SHIMMER but hated that this only got 50 seconds! They could have had a decent little match. While the match was short, the post match stuff made it worth it. Sasha Banks came out and claimed that she has more flair in her pinky than Charlotte and her dad do in their whole bodies. Bayley comes out on a crutch and tells Sasha to "SHUT HER STUPID RATCHET FACE!" Shots fired. Sasha attacks and Charlotte brings her to the ring. A distraction from the other half of Team BAE, Becky Lynch, allowed Sasha to hit the lungblower and raise the title in the air. This has a lot of backstory and I cannot wait for their match next week.

Tag team action followed as the Vaudevillains took on Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy. While they don't have much story or direction to work with yet, Blake and Murphy are quickly becoming one of my favorite teams to watch. They can straight up go in the ring and showed it again here. It wasn't enough to top the number one contenders though, who beat them in just over four minutes. The best thing would be that right before the match, we got our second Vaudevillains Pictures production, which is something that I loved.

Bull Dempsey would take on Elias Sampson next in a match that lasts twenty seconds. Bull wanted to end this as fast as possible after he came up short in beating Baron Corbin's time two weeks ago. As he was leaving, Corbin came out and won his match in just 12 seconds! While I don't like this many squash matches, I do like that it is a contest between them basically and they seem to be on a collision course. When they do meet eventually, I think that Baron has to go over. He has a much higher upside than Bull.

Our main event followed as Tyson Kidd, with Natalya, teamed with Tyler Breeze to take on Finn Balor and Hideo Itami. I love that Kidd is working with Balor and Itami because it gives them a veteran guy who can go and assist them in working the WWE style. This was the match of the night as Balor is now three for three in damn good performances. After some hard hitting action, he struck Breeze with a sick double stomp and picked up the win. I wish that Breeze had something to do at TakeOver: R Evolution though. He's too good to sit out. After the match, Balor promises to bring something to TakeOver that The Ascension has never seen. I hope to god it's his facepaint.

The final segment of the night was a "face to face" between Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn. Neville came out first and said that he is not conflicted about the match. He is not proud of how he won against Sami last time but he is the kind of guy to do whatever it takes to win, which Sami isn't. Sami will never be NXT Champion because he's too nice. This brings out Sami but before he speaks, Adrian says that he has come to terms with it and will not be responsible for ending Sami. Sami says that he's pissed at Adrian for assuming it will be over. He claims that he's not Adrian's little sister and he's done well for himself. Adrian wants a handshake but Sami declines because he's not too nice and he slaps Adrian. He shouts that Adrian doesn't get to end him and that he will end Adrian's run. Emotional end and fantastic final piece heading into the big show.

While there were three squashes, two of them made sense and the two tag team matches were both enjoyable. The key to this is that as a go home show before a big event, it did it's job perfectly. Sasha/Charlotte, Balor & Itami/Ascension, Vaudevillains/Lucha Dragons and especially Zayn/Neville all got the build they needed. I forgot to mention there was also a phenomenal Kevin Owens vignette and news that Corey Graves has a big announcement to make on the TakeOver Pre-Show. Everything has been built well and Zayn/Neville is my favorite program of the year this side of Ambrose/Rollins. 7.5/10.

Top Ten Thursday: Top Ten TLC PPV Matches

As I've done in recent months, I'm going to be looking at the top ten matches in a certain Pay-Per-View's history. I missed doing it for Survivor Series and I apologize for it but I'm back with it for TLC. TLC has only been a Pay-Per-View since 2009 but it has still produced some damn good matches. Not much in the qualifications here except that the match had to take place on a TLC Pay-Per-View.

10. Divas Tables Match - Natalya and Beth Phoenix vs. Team LayCool

The first and only Divas Tables match in history saw Natalya put her Divas Title on the line with Beth Phoenix as her partner against Team LayCool. Not only does this make the list for its historical value, but it also was very good. Most Divas matches are something that a lot of people, not me though, consider to be bathroom breaks. This was far from that as all four girls worked hard and had great chemistry. They got just under ten minutes and Natalya retained in a fun contest.

9. Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston

I consider this mach to be a bit of a forgotten classic. Not many people remember this but it was a very good part of what was a very good Pay-Per-View. Dolph Ziggler was shooting up the rankings and on his way to a World Heavyweight Title shot at the Royal Rumble, but he would try and retain his gold here. I believe that Swagger and Kingston were part of a United States Title Triple Threat a few months earlier which is interesting. Regardless, this was a creative match with some cool spots and Dolph surprised me when he retained at the nine minute mark. It would have had a chance to be higher if it got a bit more time.

8. World Heavyweight Championship Chairs Match: Big Show (c) vs. Sheamus

I have never, and will never understand the concept of a Chairs match. Why is it not just a No Disqualifications match? Are other weapons allowed? The Ladder match and the Tables match both make sense but this doesn't. Enough ragging on the stipulation though, as it comes down to the fact that Big Show and Sheamus surprised everyone with their series of very good matches at the tail end of 2012. This was better than their Survivor Series match but not as good as their match at Hell in a Cell. Big Show retained in about 14 minutes, culminating the underrated rivalry.

7. Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena

After winning Money in the Bank in 2012, it seemed like Dolph Ziggler was heading towards the biggest run of his career. He would go on to be the sole survivor at the previous month's Survivor Series before moving into a feud with John Cena. The backdrop for this was that Vickie Guerrero, Dolph's manager, forced AJ Lee out of the General Manager spot because of her affair with Cena. Dolph was made to put his Money in the Bank briefcase on the line and got to main event the Pay-Per-View. Both guys did their part and had a very good match, worthy of closing a show. Cena was near victory when AJ Lee turned her back on him, allowing Dolph to retain his briefcase after 23 minutes. This would lead to the wonderful AJ/Dolph partnership and Dolph's eventual thunderous cash in.

6. ECW Championship Ladder Match: Christian (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin

Here's another relatively overlooked contest. In 2009, Christian returned to the WWE but instead of being part of a huge angle with Edge or something like that, he joined the ECW brand. Some people saw it as a letdown but Christian followed with a year or so of some of the best work in his career. He won the ECW Title and was consistently putting on some of the best matches in the company. Shelton Benjamin was in the midst of a solid face run as the "Gold Standard" and they met in a match that both could consider their specialty, the Ladder match. They opened the first ever TLC PPV and set a standard for it with a great 18 minute match that saw Christian retain the title.

5. WWE Tag Team Championship: The Brotherhood (c) vs. The Real Americans vs. Big Show and Rey Mysterio vs. Rybaxel

The lone match from the 2013 event to make this list is the Tag Team Title bout. I don't believe this was even advertised beforehand but it stole the show. See, after winning the Tag Team Titles from The Shield, The Brotherhood basically stole the show with every single title defense. They were amazing and I wish they got a longer run as Champions. Stupid New Age Outlaws. Anyway, this was a great match that shockingly got 22 minuets. The Brotherhood would retain after non-stop fun. Seriously, go see this one if you never have.

4. WWE Championship TLC: CM Punk (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. The Miz

At the 2011 Survivor Series, CM Punk won the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio. That fixed a problem that started at SummerSlam when the hottest Superstar in the company dropped the belt. For his first Pay-Per-View, Punk would get to main event a show that didn't feature John Cena, who was basically a healthy scratch. Punk showed an ability to draw on his own as the PPV did well and the main event did even better. I don't think there has ever been another Triple Threat TLC but these guys did it right and Punk kept the gold following an 18 minute match.

3. World Heavyweight Championship TLC: Kane (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio

The last match was the only Triple Threat TLC and this is the only Fatal Four Way TLC. Kane had cashed in Money in the Bank to win the World Title in the summer of 2010, leading to a World Title run that was a lot better than people expected. However, he faced a huge challenge here against Edge, Rey Mysterio and hot new star Alberto Del Rio. This is another match that I consider overlooked but it's one of the best TLC matches I've ever seen. Edge would continue to prove his dominance in Ladder style matches, winning his final World Title here. The match went 23 minutes and again, gets some extra points for the historical value.

2. Number One Contender's Ladder Match: John Morrison vs. King Sheamus

This is the only Ladder match in TLC history to not have a title or briefcase hanging from the rafters. Instead, it was a contract for a shot at the WWE Championship. Sheamus had won the WWE Title at this even the year before and was hot off of beating John Morrison to become King of the Ring. Morrison was always hot and cold. He had a great 2009 on Smackdown, before cooling off in 2010. Things would change as he got hot near the end of the year again and won this amazing match. I did not have high expectations going in but these two blew me away in what was probably a top five match of that year. I told you that 2010 was a damn good event.

1. TLC Match: The Shield vs. Ryback and Team Hell No

After their debut at the 2012 Survivor Series, The Shield didn't have their first official match until the following month's TLC Pay-Per-View. They were given a spotlight for sure as they met in the only TLC match on that card. Ryback was still green but he had two of the best possible partners in Daniel Bryan and Kane. They went out in Brooklyn and tore the house down. The Shield won a near 23 minute match that featured big spots and creativity. Seth Rollins took the biggest bump as he was sent flying off of a ladder and through multiple tables. It was the first step for a dominant faction that would go on to win plenty of big PPV matches, steal plenty of shows and become major stars.

Main Event Report 12-2-14

Main Event kicked off with the hometown boy, Jack Swagger. A recap is shown of Rusev's attack on Zeb Colter last night and I don't know how I feel about this feud. We've seen it already. Like three months ago. We all know that Swagger isn't going to end Rusev's undefeated streak, though he does hold a DQ win over the United States Champion. Swagger's opponent was Titus O'Neil. Titus is a guy that I think could be a more valuable asset to the company than he is currently. I didn't like him on NXT Season 2, but he has improved greatly and could be a good guy to have in the mid card or as the muscle of a legit heel tag team. As for the match itself, it was pretty good but relatively short. Swagger wins the Ankle Lock and gains momentum before his eventual United States Title match. He gets interviewed by Renee Young after the match and has the most RIDICULOUS hair.

This Saturday vote for the Slammys on the WWE APP MAGGLE! Interspecies tag team action next as Adam Rose and the Bunny takes on The Dust Brothers. As a grown man, I'm not a fan of the Bunny stuff, but I understand that the kiddies enjoy it. Commentary was actually not bad as they put over both teams and even the New Day. This goes about five minutes and the former WWE Tag Team Champions prevail. After the match, Goldust stomps on the Bunny which makes Stardust laugh. Not terrible, but I prefer the Dust Brothers as faces. Their heel stuff has just been alright. Fandango then defeats R-Truth. I'm not going into detail about this because this "new" Fandango is just as shitty as the original and Rosa Mendes is the worst thing ever.

It is announced that Erick Rowan will face the Big Show at TLC in a Steel Stairs match. What the fuck is that? Are only stairs legal? Is it just a normal No DQ match? Why doesn't it fit the TLC theme? Whatever. The Miz comes out to apologize for the fact that Jimmy Uso took his genuine gesture towards Naomi the wrong way. Jimmy Uso, who is very emotional, attacked relatively quickly. This would be the longest match of the night at nine or so minutes. I'd like to make a few notes. One, Jimmy Uso got to play a more serious and angry side and he did that well. Two, the Miz has been perfect in this new Hollywood character. Three, Damien Mizdow is even better in his role than Miz is! He was the MVP of this as the cameraman was able to catch his stuff and make sure it was a focal point. Damn good close to the show and Jimmy Uso picked up the win in honor of his wife.

A pretty good episode of Main Event. The opener was solid, the tag match was decent, Fandango sucked as always and Jimmy/Miz was fun. Not the greatest hour of wrestling ever, but still an enjoyable one. Main Event has dipped from the B show that it was around the Spring and Summer, but it's still good TV. 6/10.

Raw Report 12-1-14

For the first time in months, Raw didn't open with an Authority promo. Instead, Michael Cole goes to read an e-mail from the Anonymous General Manager, but is interrupted by John Cena. He cuts a very typical Cena promo and says that he is not handing over Raw to a laptop. Seth Rollins and J&J Security come out and they have some banter. The Anonymous GM announces that at TLC, Seth will face Cena in a Tables match and if Cena loses, he won't be the number one contender anymore. I like this and really hope that Seth wins. I don't want Cena/Brock again. Anyway, Seth attacks Cena which leads to a huge melee involving Kane, Ryback, Erick Rowan, Big Show and Dolph Ziggler. It ends with the heels standing tall as Seth and J&J hit the Triple Powerbomb on Cena through a table. JBL calls them Shield 2.0 and I cried a little inside. This was fun and chaotic but took too long in my opinion.

During the commercial break, the Anonymous General Manager announced that Erick Rowan would face Big Show and there would be a six man tag main event pitting Seth Rollins, Kane and Luke Harper against John Cena, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler. We move into a Tag Team Turmoil match to determine new number one contenders. The Dust Brothers open things against New Day. Surprisingly, the former Tag Team Champions get trounced quickly against Kofi and Big E. The next team is the newly formed tandem of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro! I feel like Kidd is glad he wears headphones to the ring so he could avoid Cesaro's awful theme music. They impress me and knock off New Day, which I didn't expect to happen. Kidd and Cesaro would then fall to The Usos, who would also knock off Adam Rose and the Bunny to become number one contenders. This was fun but could have been better. I also expected something new to come out of this, but it's just an Usos/Miz and Mizdow match.

For those wondering, these two things have taken up about 55 minutes of Raw. In the back, Naomi is watching and is happy because her man just earned a Tag Team Title shot. The Miz and Damien Mizdow come up to her and Miz says that her twerking is impressive. He gives her a card because he knows a producer who would like her talents. Mizdow gives her an invisible card because he's great. Mr. McMahon arrives! Erick Rowan is interviewed and apparently is some sort of genius. He makes wine, plays guitar and completed the rubik's cube. His match with Show is short and just builds towards a rematch at TLC because it ends in a DQ. Show tosses steel steps onto him and this did it's job. I will admit that I enjoy Rowan a lot more now than I ever did during his time as a Wyatt.

A recap of the Divas Title feud is shown because tonight, the somehow once again best friend Bella Twins are teaming against AJ Lee and a partner that the fans choose. The next match is supposed to be the "new and improved" but still exactly the same Fandango against Jack Swagger. Swagger never shows and we see that Zeb Colter has been attacked backstage. THAT MAN'S A WAR VETERAN MAGGLE! Fandango wins via forfeit, joining Seth Rollins as the only guys with those kind of wins this year. Returning, Rusev and Lana are out. They brag about Smackdown and imply that Rusev took out Zeb. Swagger runs out and they go at it to loud "USA" chants. Swagger gets the better of him, but I don't see the WWE ending Rusev's streak to a guy that he's already beaten so the feud is just meh.

One half of the WWE Tag Team Champions is out for a match next, and it is the more entertaining half. Damien Mizdow takes on Fernando of Los Matadores and wins with the Figure Four in a short match. The story was Jimmy Uso coming out after the bout and slapping the taste out of Miz's mouth for talking to Naomi earlier. MIZ! YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT! Of course, Damien commits and acts hurt next to Miz. Moving right along, Bray Wyatt takes on R-Truth in a match with a clear outcome. Bray wins and grabs a bunch of ladders and chairs. He cuts one of his trademark promos on Dean, which brings the Lunatic Fringe to the arena. They get into a big brawl and referees have to hold Dean back. Bray's rocking chair is in the ring and Dean decides to destroy it. It's not like The Undertaker's urn so Bray's power doesn't reside in it but it still upsets the man.

The Bella Twins are in the ring and AJ Lee arrives. The WWE Universe has voted and they choose Naomi to be her partner. We get some short "CM Punk" chants and later in the match, some "AJ Lee" chants break out. This was your basic divas affair and AJ Lee pulled out the victory with the Black Widow, making the champion tap. I hope that AJ gets her rematch at TLC and then moves away from the title for a bit. Also, The Bellas being cool with each other is still ABSURDLY STUPID. Mick Foley, dressed as Santa, promotes the WWE Shop along with his daughter Noelle. I feel old. I remember seeing her in the Beyond The Mat movie as a kid.

Paul Heyman is shown at WWE Headquarters and he cuts a promo about Brock Lesnar and his appearances being special. He compares it to Christmas because its unique and shouldn't be done everyday. It was solid but it is the same stuff we've seen a million times from him. Time for the main event, which got a good amount of time. After some great back and forth action, Dolph Ziggler continues his hot streak by countering a Harper powerbomb into a rollup and earning the pin for his team! After the match, a big brawl breaks out and Big Show runs out. Erick Rowan is back out with some steel steps and he goes nuts with them. Show takes the last shot with the steps to close the show as the faces stand tall for the second straight week.

In the end, this wasn't the strongest episode of Raw. The main event was good and the Tag Team Turmoil match was decent. Everything else was fast forward worthy. One thing I would like to note is how much I'm enjoying Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in their current singles roles. I liked them as a team but this has been fun. Anyway, Raw gets a 4.5/10. However, what followed Raw was phenomenal. The Stone Cold Podcast with Mr. McMahon was outstanding. One of the best things the WWE Network has ever aired. Austin hit Vince with tough questions about Macho Man, TNA, CM Punk, Shane McMahon and even the lack of push for Cesaro. I won't go into detail, just go watch it.