Extreme Rules Predictions

You know, I had a harder time picking the winner for this than I expected. Had this been straight up face New Day, it would be an easy win for Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. With the New Day working towards a full on heel turn, I could see them winning here and turning heel with the belts. I was real close to picking them. However, I see them actually losing here, which finally causes them to snap. I don't think Kidd and Cesaro should lose the belts until it is to the Lucha Dragons. Though with the way the WWE seems to care about this division, I expect them to flip a coin to pick the winner.

Winners: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro

I do not see this match taking place. What I see is Daniel Bryan being forced to relinquish the belt and Bad News Barrett cockily takes it. However, he gets told that he has to defend it to fully earn it. Out comes Neville and we get an Intercontinental Title match. Neville did pin Barrett on Smackdown. Part of me could see Neville capturing the belt here but I see Barrett retaining through nefarious terms. Neville should eventually dethrone him but it probably won't mean much since I can see Barrett getting bitched out while champion and losing a ton of non-title matches. It's a shame.

Winner: Bad News Barrett

This is another case of not knowing what to do with your midcard. The middle of the WWE is super talented, but has little to no direction. Dean Ambrose hasn't won a singles PPV match since September 2013. He has to win here...right? Right? I mean, Luke Harper has even less direction than he does. They should tear the house down, but I'd like to see Harper get a solid push after this. He should be the guy in Big Show and Kane's position on the card. Ambrose for the win here, though I'm not confident considering history.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

I don't understand what is going on with the Divas division. I understand Naomi turning heel, but are the Bellas faces now? Why doesn't Naomi have new music? Why is Brie Bella okay with Nikki after their feud last year? Whatever. I'm not sold on heel Naomi just yet and I'd rather Nikki work heel since she's become pretty great at it. I don't see Naomi winning here and I really don't want her to.

Winner: Nikki Bella

There is potential for this to be the best match on the card, but the stipulation is so ridiculous that it's hard to take it serious. I can just imagine Vince McMahon cackling because someone is going to have to kiss someone else's ass. Obviously, Sheamus isn't going to lose with his new heel persona. Hopefully, there is a way for Dolph Ziggler to lose and not actually have to kiss Sheamus' ass. Maybe as he's out cold Sheamus just shoves his face into his rear end? I don't know. Whatever.

Winner: Sheamus

And it's the match that nobody gives a flying fuck about. Chicago will most likely shit on this. Big Show should NOT be a relevant part of the main event in 2015. Thinking about it though, this might have been the best route to go. Chicago will probably be anti-Reigns if he faces anyone that's actually, you know, good. So put him against Big Show and maybe they think the crowd won't be as negative towards him. However, they'll probably just be negative to the match in general. Regardless, faces always win the Last Man Standing match against Big Show. Just ask Alberto Del Rio, MVP, etc. Roman Reigns will win and hopefully move onto someone of value.

Winner: Roman Reigns

This has to be the end of the feud right? I mean, it's the rubber match and it started way back in January. What makes this a Russian chain match instead of just a chain match is beyond me. I think the rivalry has been good but there's no way Rusev walks out as champion. John Cena has new merchandise with the US Title, and his open challenges has been one of the best things on weekly programming. Rusev won't get pinned so there's that. The real question is...what's next for him?

Winner: John Cena

At WrestleMania, Seth Rollins provided us with an awesome moment as he cashed in Money in the Bank and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Since then, his booking has gone back to shit. He looks like a complete bitch when it comes to Randy Orton but even more so when it comes to Kane. There is no way that the top guy in your company should look like a bitch against Kane in 2015. Add in that he got pinned on Smackdown in a match where his partner was Luke Harper, who loses all of the time anyway and it's all bad. Despite all of that, Seth retains here. He has to get his win back for Orton beating him at WrestleMania. With Kane as the guardian of the gate, I expect shenanigans though.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Impact Wrestling Review 4/24/15

To open things tonight, Kurt Angle comes out to call out his opponent, Eric Young. Kurt wants to know which EY he faces tonight, and EY says it will be the real Eric Young. The best one. It's the opposite of crazy Eric that we've had lately. Austin Aries appears and says the real EY is the one who turned his back on Bobby Roode. He then says that he is going to use his briefcase for a title shot tonight, stepping in EY's way. It's a solid opening promo but I'm not a fan of Aries wasting his cash in tonight. I just can't see him taking the belt tonight. Our first match is a Four Way Knockouts Number One Contender match between Gail Kim, Brooke Tessmacher, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne. I thought that "A Night of Knockouts" meant it was all Knockouts, but I guess we get some guys thrown in there. Brooke's entrance is pretty cool, but Madison Rayne disagrees as she attacks during it. This is a really fun seven or minute match and I even see Brooke bust out Monty Brown's POUNCE! Period. These girls even do a sweet four way submissions. Brooke is able to win, which is good since the other three have held the belt a combined 15 times I believe. We move to a hype video for the Rising before an interview with Eric Young. He is pissed that he loses out on a title shot tonight, which I assume means that crazy Eric Young will be around. The rivalry between the Beat Down Clan and the Rising continues as Kenny King faces Mica. I'm still surprised that of all people, TNA signed Camacho to a deal. Unfortunately for Kenny King, he loses here, which of course leads to a brawl that sees Homicide bust out a pipe. He takes out Drew Galloway with it. This match was just there as while I like King and Galloway, I'm not big on this feud.

We get a vignette for the Dollhouse, who are making their debut tonight. Marti Belle yells at Christy Hemme for the way she says their name. Jade is Mia Yim for those unaware and she's pretty fantastic actually. They come out swinging each other like they are two school girls and it's really odd. Her opponent is Laura Dennis, better known as Cherry Bomb. A "Cherry Bomb" chant even breaks out. As Marti gets involved, she is ejected, but decides to attack even more, resulting in the disqualification. When Hemme announces the DQ, she gets attacked too. They dropkick her into the steel steps and seem to shove a jawbreaker in her mouth. Really strange. We get more stuff between Kurt Angle and Eric Young backstage, where Angle says he didn't expect Aries to do this and EY is pissed because things like this keep happening. Back to the ring, where Magnus introduces Mickie James and her enormous rack. She says that her focus in life is her son now and she's going home to be the best mom she can be. This brings out James Storm. He puts Mickie over at length and gets the crowd to chant "one more match". Mickie buys into this and decides she wants to do one more. Storm and the fans are happy, but Magnus is not pleased at all. After the commercial, they have a talk and Davey Richards appears to tell them that Storm is out to deceive them. He then comes out for a match with Manik. Davey wins a good match before the Revolution attacks. The Hardys make the save and run them off. The crowd seemed pretty into this, which was a pretty cool segment.

Moving on, tt's time for the best thing about TNA on a weekly basis, Ethan Carter III. He says that he has an announcement regarding #EC32015. Tyrus is in a suite, hat and is carrying balloons. He has a podium and declares that he is the next TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He mentions that he's undefeated for 20 months and he's beaten every TNA Hall of Famer. The heat is crazy right now. It's a great promo that he perfectly delivers. See it for yourself as I won't do it justice here. Mr. Anderson interrupts and I guess this will be EC3's placeholder feud until he, hopefully, wins the big one from Kurt Angle. They brawl but EC3 escapes the Mic Check.

It's time for the big main event between Taryn Terrll and Awesome Kong. The video package we get beforehand is some of TNA's best production work. They use the No DQ rule to their advantage and have a really good war. They use kendo sticks and tables which is wise. Surprisingly, Marti Belle and Jade run out to help Taryn and allow her to retain in shocking fashion. She cuts a post match promo about being part of the Dollhouse, cementing a heel turn. I did not see this coming and kudos for TNA for that. I'm very intrigued by where this goes. We are supposed to get Austin Aries vs. Kurt Angle next but Eric Young comes out and brutally assaults Aries. He piledrives him on the outside and on the steps. Angle runs out for the save but also gets beaten down and is bloodied. He gets locked in the figure four as the show goes off the air. Another solid outing from TNA with some interesting stuff going forward. 7/10.

Random Network Reviews: Backlash 2000

Backlash 2000
April 30th, 2000 – MCI Center in Washington, D.C. – Attendance: 17,867

This wasn't scheduled to be my next review, but after hearing that my favorite Pay-Per-View review podcast, Getting Networked was doing it, I chose to bump it up. Check them out at thefanspodcast.com.

The year 2000 was a banner year for the WWF. Coming off of an incredibly profitable 1999, they would lose Stone Cold Steve Austin to surgery, but managed to pick up steam with two great PPVs to start the year. WrestleMania would be a bit of a letdown but the WWF would look to right that ship with a Backlash card that has tons of potential. The announcement that Steve Austin would be making his first PPV appearance since Survivor Series helped this show scored a massive buyrate.

Right from the opening video package it seems like music has been dubbed over. Or maybe not. I don’t know. It focuses on the build for the WWF Title match that we should have had at WrestleMania, but are getting it a few weeks late. As always in this era, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary. Debra makes her return to Lawler’s delight to be our guest ring announcer. This was when the company had nothing for her.

WWF Tag Team Championship
Edge and Christian (c) vs. Road Dogg and X-Pac w/ Tori
Road Dogg and X-Pac come out to the WWF Aggression version of the DX theme. Debra is the most unenthusiastic ring announcer that I’ve ever heard. “X-Pac sucks” chants as the bell rings. He gets into a fun little exchange with Edge that ends with Edge hitting a trademark X-Pac spinning heel kick. The crowd has interesting reactions to stuff since neither team is really face. E&C work their Poetry in Motion type move for two on Dogg. I guess DX are the bigger heels as they work the heat on Christian and get in some cheap shots. Edge gets the tag but the referee doesn’t see it, in classic tag team booking. Bronco Buster, Juke and Jive and Shaky Legs knee drop all hit as DX is getting in their stuff. Mid-air collision as both Dogg and Christian attempt cross bodies. X-Pac comes in for a cheap shot, but it distracts the ref so Edge can hit a headbutt on Dogg. Christian nails a double reverse DDT and hot tags Edge! He comes in with a powerbomb on X-Pac for two. He hits a Spear and Tori tries to get involved by X-Pac hits her by mistake. Roll up from Edge gets a near fall that the place pops for. X-Factor is nailed but the ref is distracted, so Christian uses the ring bell on Pac and scores the pin.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge and Christian in 9:23
With neither team being true faces, it allowed both to be sneaky, which made this interesting and different. The crowd was red hot near the end which is always a plus. ***¼

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
Dean Malenko (c) vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
Scotty 2 Hotty was more over than most of the current active roster. Dean Malenko had just won the title from Scott three days earlier. They go at it right at the bell with Scotty getting the early upper hand. Even when Dean tries a powerbomb, Scotty is ready to counter with an arm drag. He counters a headlock into a back suplex too, but wastes time moonwalking allowing Malenko to take him down with a hellacious clothesline. Malenko strikes with a dropkick to the knee and it becomes time to work the leg. Dean’s serious demeanor is great to play off of the playful Scotty. He slams the leg on the ring post and kicks it out from under him like a good old fashioned, vicious technician. Kudos to Scotty, who takes a corner bump hard. Scotty gets two on a rollup before they tumble outside. Scotty drives his face into the apron and has a chance. He goes up top where Dean meets him with a superplex. Backslide and small package get Scotty close near falls. He gets free of Dean and hits the facebuster as the fans come UNGLUED for the Worm. The ridiculous move hits but Dean rolls him up with his feet on the ropes and is caught. That’s a smart spot since the ropes helped Dean win the title. Tiger bomb gets Malenko two and he hits an Orton like powerslam for two as well. Dean is the one who seems to make a mistake by climbing up top. Scotty tries a superplex but it’s countered into a super DDT that just spikes Scotty. It’s enough to end this.

Winner and Still WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Dean Malenko in 12:59
I expected a total styles clash but this ended up working out. Dean Malenko looked like a great technician who worked the leg for the Texas Cloverleaf although that didn’t play into the finish. I’d be more upset about this if this finish wasn’t awesome. ***¾

Backstage, Mr. McMahon wants to make sure that Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco are set for tonight. Stephanie looks damn fine here.

The Acolytes vs. Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan
After two fine wrestling matches, this is going to be nothing more than a brawl. Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan are totally the founding fathers of the Shield judging by their attire only. Bull Buchanan actually shows impressive athleticism on a front flip but is taken down with a spear. Both teams bust out frequent tags and the crowd is more into this than I thought. “Bossman sucks” chants ring out. Bradshaw gets in some shots on Bossman outside. The Acolytes surprisingly work over Bossman with quick tags before he gets the tag to Bull. The crowd doesn’t care AT ALL for that since they hate Bossman. Warm tag to Bradshaw who hits a shoulder block. Faarooq and Bossman brawl outside, with Bossman coming out on top. He then gets to Bradshaw and allows Bull to hit a second rope suplex for two. Shortly after, Bossman hits Bradshaw with the nightstick. That, coupled with Buchanan coming off the top with a scissors kick gets them the win.

Winners: Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan in 7:51
Not very good. Both teams are pure brawlers and they tried to wrestle here which failed. The finishing spot was cool at least. *¼

Backstage, the Hardy Boyz discuss being against each other tonight and they have an understanding. The Holly Cousins discuss it too, but Hardcore just slaps Crash.

WWF Hardcore Championship
Crash Holly (c) vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Perry Saturn vs. Tazz
Crash Holly wisely tries to avoid the ring but Saturn takes him out and suplexes him. The rules state that Crash has to pin someone or be pinned himself to end this. Crash continues to take a beating, including a Northern Lights Tazzplex. He tries to escape, leading everyone to fight in the entrance. This is the old awesome Backlash set with the steel hooks and Crash climbs it to get away. Matt follows and hits him, as his leg gets stuck like Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1994. It looks like it hurts. Matt leaps off onto everyone in a cool spot before Saturn front suplexes Crash onto another hook and breaking it. Jeff uses one as a swing to hurricanrana Saturn as the Hardy’s ability to innovate works wonders in this environment. Back to the ring and everyone is using weapons before Saturn uses an abdominal stretch like move. DO YOU NOT REALIZE THE KIND OF MATCH THIS IS? It’s hard to keep up with this. Crash is just taking a beating while only getting in a few offensive moves. Tazz has suplexed him a million times or so. Poor Saturn was minding his business outside when Matt reaches over the ropes and hits him with a cookie sheet. Every pin has been interrupted throughout. Hardcore hits the Falcon Arrow on a chair but the pin is broken. The Hardys bring in a ladder to the biggest pop of the match. Matt’s Twist of Fate, followed by a Swanton from the ladder leads to them fighting over the pin. Tazzmission is applied as the crowd pops but Saturn breaks it up with a stop sign shot. The Hardys dive onto Saturn and Hardcore outside, while Crash drapes an arm over Tazz to retain.

Winner and Still WWF Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly in 12:20
One of the most fun Hardcore Title matches you will ever see. The Hardy Boyz were an excellent addition and got to be innovative and use ladders. Everyone contributed and Crash barely retaining made sense. ***½

Jonathan Coachman interviews Shane McMahon about him being the special referee in the main event. Shane promises to be fair, which nobody believes.

The Big Show vs. Kurt Angle
This was brought upon because Big Show had turned into a fun loving impersonator and when he was set to be Kurt Angle’s partner for a Tag Title match, he joked around, which upset Kurt. After Kurt badmouths the fans, Big Show comes out dressed as Hulk Hogan. As Kurt attacks, Show Hulks up, which Jim Ross calls “the old no sell”. Show hits the big boot and the Leg Drop as the fans are loving this. Kurt kicks out though and takes out the leg. JR also gets in jokes about the 19,000 fans here being the most to chant for Hogan in years. Show gets serious and ends this with a Chokeslam.

Winner: The Big Show in 2:57
Fun little comedy match. I know people would be upset that Kurt Angle jobbed so quickly, but the guy would be WWF Champion within six months so he was fine. **

Up next is a tag team match with an actual storyline build. I miss these. Bubba Ray was obsessed with putting women through tables, but every time he got close to doing it to Trish, she would kiss him or seduce him and he’d fall into a trance. 

The Dudley Boyz vs. T&A w/ Trish Stratus
My god, Trish’s table segments were some of the hottest things in WWF history. Trish is unbelievably hot here. Like there is nothing even close. It’s enough to make Bubba chase her only to run into a clothesline from Test. Once Bubba gets on the offensive, he shouts at Trish “I’M GONNA GET YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH” which gets a pop. This is two teams brawling and it works a lot better than the earlier tag match. T&A get two on a cool double team as they isolate D-Von. They play the hot tag tease really well as the crowd is dying for the Bubba tag. When he does get the tag, they don’t pop as hard as I expected. The Dudleys do a double team back suplex that commentary mistakes for 3D. I hated when they did that. Test misses the top rope elbow, which gets Bubba two. Bubba calls to end this, but Trish gets on the apron and removes her coat. THAT BODY! The distraction allows Test to hit the big boot on Bubba, causing Trish to jiggle in all the right places, and get the win.

Winners: T&A in 11:43
Longer than I expected but still fine. They worked tag formula really well and the crowd was mostly hot because of the Trish angle. Solid stuff. Plus, Trish looked incredible. **¾

After the match, the Dudleys Boyz go after Trish. When Bubba grabs her, she kisses him but it fails this time. Bubba puts her through the table to a big ovation from the crowd.

WWF European Championship
Eddie Guerrero (c) w/ Chyna vs. Essa Rios w/ Lita
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna are just arriving because they were at Eddie’s prom. Wasn’t he getting his GED? I’m trying to remember the angle. Anyway, it’s the first time Eddie drives to ringside. Eddie is in slacks and a bowtie but it doesn’t impact his ability. He hits a nice front flip before Chyna gets in a shot on Rios. Lita does nothing about this. Missile dropkick from Rios gets two and I can’t help but chuckle at Eddie’s attire. The high flying continues when Eddie hits a plancha outside. He goes for a powerbomb outside and Lita attempts to jump on him but Chyna shoves her off and she hits her jaw on the announce table. Essa reverses the powerbomb into a back drop and follows with an Asai moonsault. In the spot of the night, Essa front flips over the turnbuckle and out onto Eddie. Inside, Rios hits a top rope arm drag but misses his next move. Eddie capitalizes with an airplane spin into a neckbreaker to retain.

Winner and Still WWF European Champion: Eddie Guerrero in 8:44
Really fun high flying action here. Just the kind of thing that we hadn’t seen tonight and it was a nice change of pace. My only real issue was that the finish was rather anti-climactic. ***½

Jonathan Coachman interviews Triple H and Vince McMahon in their office. Triple H just says he will prove that he is that damn good, while Vince says Austin may not make it here tonight. Cut to Michael Cole, who interviews Chris Benoit about his upcoming bout.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Chris Benoit (c) vs. Chris Jericho
The red hot Chris Jericho had actually won the WWF Title a few weeks prior but had to give it back. Their collar and elbow tie uptakes them outside, so they turn to slapping each other. Inside, they get into a series of rollups and a series of hard chops. High impact stuff is coming early as Benoit hits two Germans, but Jericho blocks the third. Benoit goes for a suicide dive but Jericho side steps and he hits the floor head first. In an innovative spot, Benoit whips Jericho into the steps, but he leaps over only to turn around and have it dropkicked into him. Back inside, Benoit reels off some nice looking suplexes for near falls. These two are working pretty stiff as Jericho elbows Benoit down and connects on the Lionsault. The pace is quickening as Jericho hits a bulldog for two. In the series of suplexes that Benoit hit earlier, one of them saw him hang up Jericho on the top rope, and Jericho now returns the favor. Up top, Jericho tries a second rope back suplex, but Benoit lands on Jericho instead for two. A series of counters ends with Jericho hitting two great looking powerbombs for a near fall, but as Benoit kicks out he goes right into the Cripple Crossface! Jericho fights it but Benoit is rabid, pun intended. He finally reverses into the Walls of Jericho as the crowd is on their feet. Benoit makes it to the ropes and the referee is knocked out by mistake. Benoit sees the opening and lays out Jericho with the belt but only gets two. He goes up top for the flying headbutt but Jericho gets the belt up to block it and is disqualified.

Winner via disqualification: Chris Benoit in 15:08
Wow. Those two can pretty much do no wrong against each other. This had everything as it was technical, stiff and featured high flying. While the finish to the match hurt the score, it allowed their rivalry to continue, which everyone enjoyed. ****

WWF Championship
Triple H (c) w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. The Rock
Shane McMahon is our special guest referee. The ovation the Rock gets is monumental. A slugfest opens things as I continue to wonder why this didn’t main event WrestleMania. Triple H tries an early Pedigree but it gets countered. Shane gets in his face, allowing HHH to hit a neckbreaker and take this outside. Vince throws Rock into the post as we see the decked stack paying off already. HHH does an old school favorite of mine where he pins three times in a row. He works a sleeper for a while to slow things. Rock begins to rally but runs into the double clothesline spot. Out of sheer worry, Vince nailed Rock with the WWF Title. Rock kicks out though and sends Triple H outside. The Game hurt his arm and is now holding it. Rock hits a DDT and Shane blatantly chooses not to count so Rock takes him out. The fight makes it to the Spanish announce table where HHH tries a Pedigree. Rock stops it with a low blow before going for the Rock Bottom. Shane tries to stop it so Rock grabs him and nails a DOUBLE ROCK BOTTOM THROUGH THE TABLE! Vince’s facial expression is absolutely golden. In the ring, Vince gets a cheap shot that the Rock shrugs off. However, HHH hits the Pedigree but Shane is dead outside so Vince calls out the Stooges. Rock gets a shoulder up so the Stooges puts the boots to him. The stacked deck continues as the crowd is salivating for Austin. Vince hits Rock with a chair before the glass breaks the arena goes BALLISTIC for Austin! He comes wielding a chair and hits Patterson, Brisco, HHH, Vince and Shane with it. “AUSTIN! AUSTIN! AUSTIN!” screams Jim Ross as he leaves and Linda McMahon comes out with Earl Hebner. Triple H fired him recently. Stephanie gets in Linda’s face and gets shoved to the mat. Spinebuster and People’s Elbow from the Rock as Hebner slides in to count. 1-2-3 and the roof blows off the building.

Winner and New WWF Champion: The Rock in 19:24
This is a truly perfect example of how overbooking can work in certain situations. The odds were not in Rock’s favor and they did everything to showcase that. Whenever Rock did something, the crowd popped and Austin’s arrival came off perfectly. The ending to this was fantastic and remains one of the best feel good finishes to a wrestling show I have ever witnessed. ****½

As the Rock is celebrating his first run as WWF Champion in over a year, Steve Austin comes back out with the burned down DX Express and they share a beer.

Overall: 9/10; Incredible. Not only is this among the best non Big Four Pay-Per-Views ever, but it’s also one of the best PPVs ever, period. The depth of this show is phenomenal as there is a little bit of everything. Benoit and Jericho put on a classic, Trish got what was coming to her, the Hardcore Title was a ton of fun, Eddie and Essa flew all over the place, we had a fun opener and the main event was pretty much the perfect WWE style big match. This show is not only must-see but it’s a must-own event.

Raw is Kane 4/20/15 Review

How do you know when you're watching an episode of Monday night Raw? When we get a lengthy opening promo. The Steel Cage comes down and Randy Orton comes out to made tons of threats to Seth Rollins. The Champion, along with J&J Security interrupt and they trade barbs. Orton claims that while he can't RKO Seth at Extreme Rules, he promises to do so tonight. It was a pretty lame open. Our first match is between Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper but it never really starts. They just brawl all over the arena and it was just to build to give them a match at Extreme Rules, which would be announced as a Chicago Street Fight. Backstage, we continued the trend of making our Champion look like a total bitch. I don't mind him being nervous about a potential RKO, that's fine. But he complains to Triple H that he needs more security and Hunter tells him "it's only one guy Seth." I hate when Triple H does this. He's a heel but puts down another heel like he's a face so he can look cool in the fan's eyes. Awful. We move to a Number One Contender's match for the Tag Team Titles. The red hot Lucha Dragons take on the polarizing New Day. This was a really fun match and the crowd is totally into the Lucha Dragons. They do a double moonsault spot to the outside, but when the legal man Sin Cara goes to enter the ring again, Xavier Woods i sunder the ring and holds Kalisto's legs, as Kofi gets in the ring, resulting in the countout. The fans were disappointed but it helps give the Dragons a slower build and helps the New Day's slow heel turn. Everything was good until Randy Orton appeared. He took out Woods and Kofi with RKOs before Big E bitched out and left. I get Orton going nuts but he can't do this to jobbers backstage? Where's Adam Rose or Zack Ryder? Not only did this dude beat the Tag Team Champions by himself last week but now he took out the top contenders. So the whole tag division fucking sucks because Orton can beat them all basically.

In this week's "why the fuck did this make it on Raw" segment, Fandango faced AxelMania. The best thing about this whole thing was Curtis Axel dancing. It was a squash for Fandango to get him over as a face, though production botched the finish and played his shitty Hispanic theme before going back to the popular one. Why didn't Randy Orton come out here and RKO Axel? Whatever. Triple H is out to promote Tough Enough, which goes on for far too long. Kane appears to give his two week notice because he doesn't like Seth. Kane says they gave Seth everything and they could have put Dean Ambrose or El Torito in his spot and made them Champion. Sure guys. We should totally have Kane run down our top guy in 2015. That makes sense. HHH smooths things over and makes Kane the "Guardian of the Gate" in the Steel Cage match. So basically he guards the cage, even though it's locked. After a recap of Naomi's heel turn, she comes out to the SAME FUCKING BRODUS CLAY THEME. That is not heel music. Her pre-taped promo is justified since she never got her shot despite pinning Nikki twice. Naomi beat Brie Bella in a fine little match here, but Nikki Bella seemed to speak as a face on commentary. She talked about being fearless and being a fighting champion. If you do wanna turn the Bellas face, they should do it with a bit more flair than just have Nikki say positive things on commentary you know? My biggest issue here is that Naomi still works like a face and needs time to adjust. I'd be sad to see Nikki as a face though since she's become so good as a heel. Backstage, Heath Slater tells Erick Rowan that he's going to accept John Cena's Open Challenge tonight only for Orton to RKO him through a table. THATS HOW HE'S SUPPOSED TO DO THIS! NOT TO VALID SUPERSTARS!

Roman Reigns is out and thankfully, doesn't want to talk as he calls out Big Show. Instead, he gets Bo Dallas who delivers a great promo again. He calls Roman a bust and the "Tim Tebow" of the WWE. His voice cracks when he tells Roman to Bolieve and Reigns just punches and spears him. Well done. Short segment, kept Roman's talking to a minimum and he got to kick ass. Fine. Sheamus took on Zack Ryder next and hit a quick Brogue Kick. Instead of going for your typical squash match, Sheamus went movie villain and chose to monologue. He would beat on Ryder randomly during it until Dolph Ziggler made the save. The match ended via DQ. Another good segment to build towards the PPV.

It's time for one of the best segments lately, the John Cena Open Challenge. He comes out and cuts a John Cena promo. You know the one? He says the fans are hype, promotes his upcoming match, tells someone that if they want some, to come get it. Who accepts it? There hasn't been any Neville yet, maybe him. Nope. It's fucking Kane. Not even masked Kane. Just fucking Kane. It turned out to be your typical Kane/Cena match and I didn't give a shit about it. Cena retained obviously and Kane was disappointed. As Cena is getting interviewed backstage, Rusev attacks and puts him in the Accolade with a chain across Cena's face. It looks brutal. Now, The Miz and Damien Mizdow compete for the rights to the Miz brand. Summer Rae comes out with Mizdow, stealing the show with her tiny shorts. This match, that has had months of build is not only NOT on the PPV, but gets less than three minutes on Raw. Summer Rae turns on Mizdow and Miz wins. Wanna make sure the fans don't care about the winner? Have Randy Orton appear again and take Miz out with an RKO. At least Miz is leaving for a while so this didn't sting. We get told that the Tag Title match is on the Pre-Show this Sunday and there are questions on whether Daniel Bryan can defend his belt. Will he lose his smile this Sunday? We move to another Bray Wyatt promo where he talks about his next victim but doesn't tell us who that is. With the way he's booked, it's as if the WWE has no fucking clue what to do with Bray. They don't realize that they have someone extremely different and are clueless.

Ryback beats Adam Rose in a squash. We get it, Ryback can dominate scrubs. He's not the best wrestler but he's so over that he should be doing something with direction. We move to our main event, between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins. This was your standard match between the two. They always do good but this wasn't over the top. Seth debuts a new DDT finisher since the Curb Stomp was banned and it sucks. The Curb Stomp didn't need to be banned since it doesn't really cause concussions. You don't really take the bump with your head. After the match, Rollins vows to retain on Sunday and says that Kane will be useless. Kane tries to attack but is held back by Triple H. Randy Orton appears in the cage and takes out Seth with an RKO. Overall, this Raw wasn't very good. You find time for Fandango, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose and Zack Ryder, but can't put Neville on the show? You waste like 17 segments on fucking Kane of all people? 4.5/10

Fave Five 4/13/15-4/19/15

1) Rich Swann: I'll be the first to admit that I haven't seen too much of Rich Swann. Still, after reading about his accomplishments this week, it would be hard to put anyone else ahead of him. First, he won the FIP Heavyweight Championship from Roderick Strong. Strong has been on the indies forever and is a multi-time FIP Champion, making this a pretty big win for Swann. That in itself was enough to land the top spot on a slow week but he wasn't done and would add more gold. He teamed with the excellent Johnny Gargano to win the DGUSA Open the United Gate Tag Team Titles, capping off a magnificent week for Swann.

2) The Hardyz: This week's episode of Impact was mostly focused on the Tag Team Titles. That is great for the titles as an episode dedicated to them does wonders for the prestige. Eight teams competed in four matches with the winners moving on to a multi-team Ultimate X match that determined new champions after the Wolves had to relinquish the belts due to injury. The Hardyz would defeat the Revolution to kick off the show before capturing the belts to close the broadcast. Not only was this obviously a cool moment for them but the TNA Tag Team Titles were the only major tag titles to have eluded the Hardyz throughout their career. It's a nice feather in the cap of a successful career.

3) John Cena: Over in the WWE, nobody really had a big standout week. I'd say that the top three performers in the company were John Cena, Sami Zayn and Neville. The reason I chose to put Cena here is because he was the one of those three to pick up two wins this week. On Raw, he opened the show by issuing his Open Challenge and beating Bad News Barrett in a very good match. Then on Smackdown, he issued is again only to end up in a tag team match. He teamed with the other mid-card Champion, Daniel Bryan, to best the WWE Tag Team Champions, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a non-title match. All in all, a successful week for the United States Champion as he continues to have a very good year from an in-ring standpoint.

4) Drago: Since getting into Lucha Underground, I've mentioned multiple guys that have stood out to me. Prince Puma, Johnny Mundo and King Cuerno to mention a few. However, Drago has been fantastic as well. Recently, he has engaged in a Best of Five Series with Aerostar, pretty much producing good to great matches each time out. This week, Drago was able to win the series in the deciding fifth match and ended up earning a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship. A future bout between him and Prince Puma should be nothing but phenomenal and I look forward to a lot more from him. He has an eye catching look for sure and the talent to back it up.

5) Texano Jr., King Cuerno and Cage: Things have been getting hectic in Lucha Underground. Recently, they started a tournament for the Trios Tag Team Championship. This has brought in tons of excitement as they produce awesome six man tag matches week in and week out. A huge one went down this week when three of the best faces in the company, Johnny Mundo, Prince Puma and Hernandez took on three of the top heels in King Cuerno, Cage and Texano Jr. The villains picked up the win and it was massive especially for Cuerno, who was able to pin the Lucha Underground Champion, Prince Puma.

Smackdown 4/16/15 Review

Smackdown kicks off with John Cena cutting his usual promo where he hypes the city they are in, promotes his Chain match and issues the open challenge. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro come out to say they are the best champions in all of WWE and that everyone wants Cena to retire. They add in their trademark "FACT" to this, making it a very fun promo. Daniel Bryan now comes out because he doesn't think Kidd and Cesaro are the greatest champions today. This leads to a tag team challenge for Bryan and Cena to take on Kidd and Cesaro. It's accepted and we got a match. You know, it's a formula we've seen used a bunch but dammit if it isn't better than the Authority talking for 20 minutes.This only went about ten minutes and sets up what should be a good match.

So, you know what WWE's favorite thing to do with Bray Wyatt is between programs? The answer is to squash R-Truth. Seriously, when he has no feud, he does this. I swear I've seen it about five times in the past year. We move to clips of Naomi's heel turn and then Roman Reigns' most recent sitdown interview. Miz is in the ring next to cut a promo about Damien Mizdow getting lucky on Raw. Bad News Barrett interrupts to a massive pop and plays the face. Miz gets hit with the Bull Hammer and Barrett wins in about thirty seconds. Shouldn't be have some interaction with Daniel Bryan considering they're about to work a PPV together? Also, this did nothing at all for Miz. A recap is shown of the Seth Rollins/Randy Orton/Kane stuff from Raw. You know, where the WWE Champion looked like a total bitch.

Renee Young interviews Damien MIzdow and Summer Rae until Miz cuts in. They are having a match on Raw where the winner gets the Miz Brand. Sheamus is out to run down his opponent for tonight, Neville. Sheamus seems to be enjoying his role of the bully and this was a good match. Neville even did his second rope Phoenix Splash. He won via DQ when Sheamus slammed him on the announce table. I'm glad Neville didn't have to get pinned here. Dolph Ziggler showed up and called Sheamus a bully, leading to a match being made for Extreme Rules. Sheamus vs. Ziggler in a "Kiss Me Arse" match. Do I even need to discuss how bad of an idea this is? They took what should be a really good match and gave it a really stupid stipulation.

Next up we have New Day vs. Los Matadores and the crowd still dislikes New Day. They try to cram a lot into a short time, which hurt this. New Day wins cleanly, ho-hum. We see clips of Fandango dumping Rosa Mendes on Raw, and he officially does it backstage now. Adam Rose comforts her. Ugh, Big Show is now out for a promo. As much as I don't want him around, he is usually solid on promos. Not tonight though. This was boring as hell though the Last Man Standing stipulation has potential to not totally suck. Moving on, we get a Triple Threat Divas match between Alicia Fox, Cameron and Natalya. They all get jobber entrances, which I still don't understand since they wasted so much time on recaps and matches have been short. Cameron sneaks in and wins, which I don't get. Granted, she's a good heel, but Alicia still has a lot to offer the Divas division and should have won.

So Adam Rose and Fandango wrestle next, which brings out Rosa Mendes. She distracts Fandango, only to distract Rose later by telling him not to hurt Fandango. Fandango wins and Rosa is awful in everything that she does. Whatever. Bray Wyatt cuts a promo backstage about his next victim, but we still don't know who it is. I've heard rumors about Randy Orton, which I'd be cool with. Main event time as the Tag Champions face Bryan and Cena. I enjoyed this but thought it was a bit disappointing. It could be due to Bryan working hurt. The faces win and I don't mind the Tag Champs losing to two guys of Cena and Bryan's caliber, but that awful handicap match loss on Monday makes this hurt a bit more. Why should I take them seriously if they can't even beat one guy alone? And what does that make the rest of the tag division look like? Not a very good Smackdown. Two good matches and nothing else. 4/10.

Top 10 Favorite WWE Divas Matches

So I've been slacking on my top ten lists but I figured this one would be as good as any to do a new one. This focuses on the top ten WWE Divas matches. I've seen some great women's matches outside of the WWE, but I wanted to focus on strictly WWE here. An honorable mention goes out to the Divas Tables match from TLC 2010 and some of the Trish/Lita matches, including the time they main evented Raw. Let's get into this.

10) Trish Stratus vs. Stephanie McMahon; No Way Out 2001 - Here we have a very interesting pick. This is no wrestling classic just a straight up fight. At this point, Stephanie McMahon and Trish Startus weren't good workers and barely had done any real matches to this point. However, they went out and just beat each other up. They knew they couldn't work a pure wrestling match, so they threw that out the window and had one of the most entertaining fights I have ever seen.

9) Lita vs. Victoria: Raw; Steel Cage - I can't recall many Divas Steel Cage matches. Hell, this is the only one I can even remember. It may not be heralded as a classic to a lot of people but I always remember enjoying it. Lita and Victoria were easily two of the best girls that the company has ever seen and giving them a Steel Cage allowed them to do more than usual. They would go on to have better matches with other Divas but this was their best bout together in my eyes.

8) NXT Women's Championship FInals: Paige vs. Emma - The NXT Women's division has become one of the very best things going on in all of the WWE and you will see it again more than once on this list. However, this is where it all started. The Tournament to crown the first ever NXT Women's Champion ended with a classic between Paige and Emma. Paige won an emotional battle to be crowned as the first ever champion. These two would have another really good match at the first ever NXT Special but this was their best encounter. To this day, they still have great chemistry but you should really go find this match.

7) I Quit Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina; One Night Stand 2008 - Look at that picture. Seriously, just look at it. I'm one who has always found Melina to be pretty overrated but this was her finest hour. Her stuff with Beth Phoenix was almost always good though they took it to the next level on this night. Their I Quit match featured Melina fighting as the resilient underdog, only to succumb to this sick submission by Beth. Melina's flexibility made her the perfect opponent for Beth to bend and twist.

6) WWE Divas Championship: Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ Lee; Payback 2013 - Before the arrival of Paige, AJ Lee and Kaitlyn were my favorite Divas. They stood out during the awesome third season of NXT and, even though AJ was eliminated before the finals, she found her way to the main roster. Kaitlyn would be the first to win the Divas Title and that set up this match. Some of their others weren't great but everything clicked on this match. It remains the best match either girl has ever put on in my mind. AJ won to accomplish her dream of winning the Divas Title, kickstarting a 295 day reign on top.

5) WWE Women's Championshp: Lita (c) vs. Trish Stratus; Unforgiven 2006 - It's the greatest rivalry in Divas history. Hell, it's one of the greatest rivalries in WWE history period. These two women changed the game, showing that women can be a focal point of the company. Each were more popular than some of the top guys at points. They've had many great matches but I went with the last one. The emotional impact of knowing that it was Trish's last match, in her hometown gave this a little extra something. Trish winning her record seventh Women's Title with a fucking Sharpshooter was the absolute icing on the cake.

4) WWE Women's Championship: Trish Stratus (c) vs. Victoria; Survivor Series 2002 - People can try to diminish Trish Stratus' run all they want, but the girl did a lot. Yea, she wasn't the greatest ring general and hell, looking back, even this match had a few more slip ups than I remember but this was a big deal. Victoria absolutely rocked Trish with a chair shot to the skull in the build up, unheard of for the women of WWE. They went out in Madison Square Garden and beat the shit out of each other with weapons. They tried a bunch of innovative stuff and I can always go back to watch this and enjoy it. It also gets points for being Victoria's first Women's Title win.

3) NXT Women's Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Sasha Banks; R-Evolution - I gave this show a perfect 10/10 score and these girls are a major part of the reason why. Sasha Banks has quickly become one of my two favorite girls in the world and is arguably the best all around female performer in the WWE. Charlotte is someone I'm less fond of but she is excellent. These two were given time, told a great story and had the best women's match I had seen in years. NXT changed the game when it comes to women's wrestling, with this being one of the reasons why. Charlotte retained with a super Natural Selection in a classic.

2) WWE Women's Championship: Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James; WrestleMania 22 - Make no mistake about it, while Trish and Lita had the best rivalry in Divas history, Trish and Mickie had the best storyline ever. The fact that Mickie debuted as Trish's super fan the previous year, only to get more and more crazed over the months and it all built to a WrestleMania match was brilliant. They went out and had the best Divas match in WrestleMania history. The crowd was red hot for Mickie, she played up the psycho role to perfection and the focus on Trish's leg was masterful. It is my favorite match in the career of either girl.

1) NXT Women's Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks; Rival -  I told you that NXT changed the game. I thought that they couldn't top what they did at R-Evolution but adding in Becky Lynch and the always excellent Bayley took this over the top. Since it aired, I have watched this match maybe four or five times and never get bored. The action just never stops. Becky got to look incredible, while Bayley had the crowd behind her. Sasha was her usual great self and, although Charlotte did less than the other girls, I think it was deliberate to allow other girls to shine since she dominated for months. Sasha Banks winning was the icing on the cake as it was a feel good moment for me that I loved.

Raw London 4/13/14 Review

For the first time in I don't know how long, we get a match in the first ten minutes of Raw. John Cena came out and did his weekly promo about how hot the crowd was before offering his open challenge. The UK crowd popped incredibly hard for the arrival of Bad News Barrett. Man, I was really hoping it would be Adrian Neville but damn good. The fans treat Barrett like he's a mega star, which of course he isn't. The top contender for the Intercontinental Title put up a good fight here but took the loss. I get that he wasn't going to win but this should have ended via DQ or at least been against someone else. Barrett, with a title shot on the horizon, should not be losing. He lost a ton as champion so I guess they figured he should lose a bunch while challenger too. The other gripe I had with this was that Barrett kicked out of the AA. That has become the least effective finisher in wrestling. It always brings a near fall, making the false finishes less impressive. Rusev appeared post match and took out Cena with a chain, making their match at Extreme Rules a Russian Chain match.

Next, we have the Number One Contender's Battle Royal for the Divas Championship. This was typical Divas battle royal fare as not much happened and the eliminations were sloppy. Throw in the fact that Rosa Mendes actually eliminated two girls and this gets a poor rating from me. It comes down to Paige and Naomi, and the crowd celebrates hard for Paige's win. They stay with her after the commercial for an interview, only for Naomi to attack. It was a good looking beatdown and I hope that heel Naomi is better than face Naomi. I assume we get a Triple Threat at Extreme Rules, especially with Paige going to film a movie. Moving on, Bray Wyatt cuts a promo about being the new Face of Fear. But dude...you lost at WrestleMania. How can you be the new Face of Fear? I'm sure he'll lose his next feud too. Tag team wrestling follows as the Lucha Dragons defeat the Ascension. It was decent and I liked the booking since they've worked together before and know how to work each other. The Ascension get the jobber entrance because fuck them apparently. Now we go to the worst segment of the show so far as it is time for Roman Reigns interview time. The crowd is pretty anti-Reigns, chanting "Thank you Big Show" and "Suplex City". Big Show talks smack from the titantron before appearing on stage as Reigns goes to leave. He beats up Roman and chokeslams him onto a car that set up by the entrance. We have to see this shit match again?

To find out the stipulation for the WWE Title match at Extreme Rules we have two matches. First, Randy Orton takes on Cesaro. Here is what should be wise booking. Cesaro can be counted on for a great match an Orton can beat him since he's a tag guy now. That's fine, easy and simple booking. So of course, that doesn't happen. Instead, we get a false disqualification so Kane makes it a handicap match and Orton goes over the Tag Team Champions. Clean. By himself. Seriously? You could have just kept it as Orton/Cesaro and it would have made sense. Why should anyone care for the tag division if one man can beat the top team? This was fucking stupid. In the following segment, Dean Ambrose returned from Luke Harper attacks and beat Adam Rose. Not much to see here.

We're about to move through things in rapid fire. Stardust faces Fandango for no reason. Total filler match. Stardust wins, and then Fandango dumps Rosa Mendes...I think. His old theme plays and he dances for the fans. As much as I prefer old Fandango...he won more like this. Seth Rollins was supposed to face Dolph Ziggler for his stipulation choice but is facing Kane instead so Kane can lay down and do the job. Daniel Bryan appears backstage to tell Kane that it's a bad move. So the match happens and Kane doesn't want to job so he chokeslams Rollins and drapes his arm over him for the win. Awful booking again. Fuck Kane at this point. Why not have him not want to get pinned, then have J&J hit Seth and cause the DQ? Instead you make your champ look like a bitch. Damien Mizdow beats Miz with a rollup in like a minute. Whatever. Sandow had Summer Rae with him. In another very short match, Ryback beats Luke Harper via DQ leading into Harper and Ambrose getting into a big fight. The Prime Time Players also dissed Los Matadores backstage. Naomi cuts a heel promo backstage too. Told you this was rapid fire. Finally, something good comes as Ziggler came out to call Kane a bitch and issue an open challenge. Neville answered and this about to be good. It wasn't "must see" as people claimed but it was really good. Neville busted out a fucking 450 splash from the guardrail. Ziggler won, which I didn't mind but I think Neville needed just a bit more. He's now lost two relatively high profile matches but can beat Curtis Axel. At least he's not just working jobbers and has already main evented a Raw. Sheamus attacks post match because he's kind of a dick.

Our closing segment focused on the WWE World Heavyweight Title which is always good. Seth Rollins came out and sat in a chair, even having little chairs for J&J Security. They go back and forth before Seth chooses his stipulation as having the RKO banned. Orton combats that with a Steel Cage match to cut off the Authority. the WWE hasn't had a great Steel Cage match in a long time, so I really hope that this one takes it to the next level. i have faith in these two. With the show over, I realize that the WWE is hit or miss with their UK shows. A few years ago they had the Shield/Undertaker stuff that was great but tonight wasn't very good. The opener and Neville/Ziggler match were both good but having the Tag Champions lose and the top contender for the IC Title lose was strange booking. Add in the WWE Champion looking like a bitch and the ridiculous amounts of fluff and filler and this wasn't a very good episode. 3/10.