Earlier this week, Sami Zayn wrestled John Cena on Raw in his hometown. Despite the really good match, Sami would injure his shoulder beforehand and now there is talk that he will have to miss a significant amount of time. The really troubling part is that Sami is currently in the midst of the top rivalry in NXT against his former best friend Kevin Owens. They are set to headline the next TakeOver special on May 20th. If Sami cannot compete there, I've heard people suggest a certain plan. They would have the winner of the Number One Contender's Triple Threat match between Finn Balor, Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze, go on to face Owens later in the show. This sounds like a solid idea doesn't it? Well unfortunately, there's a wrench in that plan too.
In my eyes at least, Hideo Itami was the favorite to win that Triple Threat match. Finn Balor already had a shot at Kevin Owens and I doubt they would do heel/heel with Tyler Breeze and Owens. That left Itami, who has been improving by the week and seems to have really hit his stride. However, it was also recently reported that Itami has a shoulder injury and could actually miss up to eight months of action. That would certainly be a big hindrance to his momentum and future with the WWE. So, while the question remains of what to do with the upcoming TakeOver Special, there is a bigger concern of what to do with NXT going forward if two of their top guys are on the shelf. Just who fills those shoes?
The first thing to get out of the way is that Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze will be focal points. Both guys are already near the top of the brand and should stay there. Where else do we look for the next set of top level NXT guys? The first guy I'd look to is Baron Corbin. I know that a lot of people aren't sold on him since he mostly works squash matches. However, when I was at NXT live in Columbus and Cleveland back in March, Corbin stood out. He had two really good matches against Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd. While the crowd was rather anti-Corbin, he seemed to love it and played up the heel role perfectly. With his recent vignette and feud with Rhyno, it seems the heel work is coming, which seems to suit him more. While a heel/heel match against Owens may not work, it would be intriguing and fresh. Add in that Corbin is a homegrown talent and it would be a great time to showcase someone that wasn't raised through the indies. There is star potential with Corbin and I know the ring talent is in there. The other guy worth a look is Solomon Crowe. Now, I'm not fully sold on him just yet. I know he was big as Sami Callahan, but something about Crowe has yet to click. He does have a connection with the fans due to his time on the indies and has worked Owens on recent live events. With the right push, he could be another guy to step up and help out where NXT needs it. Rhyno would be a choice to step up in the short term as well.
The last point that I would like to make is regarding the Divas of NXT. For a long time now, they have been one of the best things about NXT. However, if Kevin Owens ends up short on viable challengers, the focus of the company could shift to the Women's Title for a small window. Sasha Banks and Charlotte have proven their ability to main event shows, while Bayley is one of the most popular acts they have. I'm not saying the Women's Title in total should overtake the NXT Title as the focal point of the brand but it is possible to turn the spotlight on them for a short while. Regardless of what ends up happening, I have complete faith that NXT will handle it well. So far, they have yet to let me down and I'm going to stick by that track record. The talent is there, now it's time to see if certain guys will sink or swim.
This week, Smackdown started with Jerry Lawler conducting an interview with King Barrett. Barrett is condescending throughout and Lawler doesn't like it, refusing to say "ALL HAIL KING BARRETT". When BNB threatens him, Dolph Ziggler runs out, leading to a match. This goes nowhere as Sheamus runs in for the DQ, bringing Neville out after, leading to the Teddy Long Special. Yup. A tag team match. The same one we saw before Extreme Rules and this past Monday on Raw. Look, I really like the work of all four guys but I've seen it too much. Ziggler gets the win for his team by pinning King Barrett, which was a bad move. It's tough in general here, since nobody can really afford the loss, so don't even book the tag match again. Now your new King of the Ring is already jobbing.
Next up we get a guy with talent, Luke Harper, taking on a Fandango. Harper mockingly does the Fandango dance, which steals the show for me. Harper wins pretty easily, which is how it should be. Erick Rowan shows up after the match and also attacks Fandango. Maybe we'll get a Rowan and Harper reunion? Hell, it's better than Harper losing meaningless singles matches each week. Then we get a filler talking segment from Rusev and Lana. Lana thanks the fans for cheering her but asks them not to. Rusev still gets pissy and banishes her. He then runs down John Cena and says he's weak for showing mercy to Sami Zayn. He says that he's going to tell Cena on Raw why he's going to win at Payback. So he came out to tell us that he's going to talk on Raw. See what I mean? Filler.
The New Day challenged Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to find a partner for a six man tag match. They went out and chose THE BIG GUY. Interesting pick here. This was probably the match of the night. All six guys worked hard, and I appreciate that they are putting in some effort to not give us the same tag match every week and trying to put variation on it. There was an extremely sloppy spot outside between Big E and Cesaro but the rest of the match was fine. The New Day win after a distraction from Bray Wyatt. This furthered both angles pretty well and did its job. Naomi, with Tamina, now faces Emma. I'm still not sold on Naomi's heel turn. It's like, she got AJ's role as a heel with Tamina, while acting like a Sasha Banks knockoff. She defeats Emma in relatively short order as one would expect since Emma is pretty much a jobber on the main roster. Throughout the show, Renee Young has interviewed the four men involved in the Payback main event and it's all standard stuff. Dean Ambrose says there will be chaos, Randy Orton will drop anyone, Roman Riegns will fight hard and Seth Rollins says he always has a plan.
The Lucha Dragons come out, in awesome attire, to face Los Matadores. This was fine though it featured a Sin Cara botch that hurt it. Lucha Dragons pick up the win before we head to the big contract signing. Kane introduces the challengers, who all sit down and await the Champion. Seth stays atop the ramp, they all bicker, and Seth says the Authority can sign for him. Kane wants him to sign on his own, again putting the focus on those two instead of the guys competing. Seth gets the challengers to argue with each other, leading to the usual contract signing brawl. Dean was the MVP of this, being highly entertaining. Seth ends up being the guy to stand tall at the end of it all, giving him an actual chance at looking strong, though the Justin Bieber stuff is fucking dumb. Seth is nothing like him and it's just a dumb way to try and be "cool." Overall, another relatively average episode of Smackdown. Nothing of real note continues to happen here, but the show isn't straight up bad. 6/10.
Death Before Dishonor VI
August 2nd 2008 | Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York
Another Review of Honor and another show that I attended live. This was in the midst of the pretty incredible Nigel McGuinness ROH World Championship run. It is also their second ever show in the Hammerstein Ballroom, after moving there from the Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center. Their first show there was a slight disappointment, so this card was pretty loaded in an effort to right that wrong. This was the big show that they should have used for their debut.
We start with Nigel McGuinness cutting a promo backstage about being the best wrestler in the world. Hearing Nigel say what sounds like Tylenol Black and then call Bryan Danielson a clam digger is always fun. Commentary is Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard. Cool note is that I can see myself, my brother and my mother in the crowd.
The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Vulture Squad w/ Julius Smokes
Mark Briscoe had recently returned from injury, getting a big “welcome back” chant for himself. Unmasked Jigsaw is so strange. Those two start things with one of those indy WRESTLING stalemates. Jay and Ruckus have a nice exchange, with Ruckus doing his flippy stuff. Mark nearly dies on a cross body to the outside, only for Jigsaw to follow with a front flip. Not to be outdone, Ruckus moonsaults out onto everyone. The crowd is MOLTEN. His moonsault leg drop is countered leading to a Briscoe double team. They are really damn good. The spots come fast now as Ruckus hits the John Morrison Moonlight Drive. He and Jigsaw try a suplex/powerbomb double team but it doesn’t come off too well. Jigsaw superkicks Jay, only to eat one from Mark. They wrap this up nicely with a springboard doomsday device.
Winners: The Briscoe Brothers in 5:56
Perfect for what it was supposed to be. It gets the Briscoes back into the swing of things and they get the crowd red hot. The Vulture Squad were good opponent choices since they can job but also do the crowd hyping flippy stuff. Short and sweet. ***
The Briscoes’ celebration is cut short by the arrival of Sweet n’ Sour Inc. Larry Sweeney tries to recruit them but the Briscoes want no part of it and leave. Chris Hero wants revenge on Delirious for beating him at the last show. Bobby Dempsey and Eddie Edwards are there too.
Chris Hero w/ Sweet n’ Sour Inc. vs. Delirious
Good old Delirious shenanigans kick us off as he hides under the ring, only to appear with a front flip dive outside. This is around the time that Chris Hero started to knock people out. He weathers the storm of Delirious’ crazy based offense to take control. Commentary has fun discussing the Daizee Haze/Delirious relationship that would eventually lead Delirious to a heel run. I must give props to Hero, who was in the midst of going from a bit of a joker to a more serious role. It showed in his ring work as he wears down his opponent here. Delirious counters a slam into a DDT but it still looks like he takes the move so it doesn’t get the crowd reaction they wanted. Delirious goes for his clotheslines but Hero nails the big elbow twice, only for near falls. Delirious blatantly telegraphs a headbutt but when he tries Shadows over Hell, Hero greets him with a roaring elbow to win.
Winner: Chris Hero in 8:17
Decent stuff here. After the really fast paced and fun opener, we get something slower but that’s fine. It got Chris Hero’s knockout offense somewhat over. **½
Larry Sweeney quickly gets back into the ring and calls Eddie Edwards the “top prospect” in wrestling. He is set to face Roderick Strong, who had issues with Sweet n’ Sour for a while.
Eddie Edwards w/ Sweet n’ Sour Inc. vs. Roderick Strong
Who would have thought that a few years later, these two would meet again as Eddie Edwards won the ROH World Title from Strong. Edwards shows more confidence than he really had up until this point. Roderick decides to shut him up with a ton of stiff chops. Sweeney and others get in cheap shots while jawing with the fans. I’d like to give a shout out to the timekeeper, who is ready to ring the bell on every single near fall. Selling it all the way baby. Edwards tries a suplex to the outside, but Strong takes him out and dives off the apron with a forearm smash. Back inside, Edwards blocks a gutbuster but runs into an enziguri. Edwards rolls through a sunset flip with a kick to the chest, but Strong gets two on an interesting rollup. Leaping codebreaker, superkick and sitout bomb get Edwards the closest near fall so far. Strong goes for the Gibson Driver, but Sweeney distracts the referee as Hero clocks Roddy with the loaded elbow pad. Asai moonsault allows Eddie to steal this thing.
Winner: Eddie Edwards in 9:45
Here was the first relatively big match for Eddie Edwards and he pretty much delivered. It wasn’t the most amazing bout but it was hard hitting which I love. Roderick Strong can usually be counted on to perform and he did so tonight, elevating someone who would become a key part of ROH’s future. ***
Larry Sweeney continues to trash talk after sending Chris Hero and Eddie Edwards to his personal masseuse backstage. He introduces the holder of the “most prestigious” title in the world, Adam Pearce. He comes out with Sara Del Ray and Shane Hagadorn’s stupid face.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Adam Pearce (c) w/ Sweet n’ Sour Inc. vs. Brent Albright
Both men were part of the Hangman 3 stable that Adam Pearce sold out to Larry Sweeney. Brent Albright was part of Sweet n’ Sour until turning on them at the first Hammerstein show which got a massive pop. This has old school NWA rules so no throwing someone over the top. Albright slaps the taste out of Pearce’s mouth a few times showing that he means business. Both guys test the rules early on, with Pearce straight up biting Albright and spitting at the official. Pearce wasn’t a flashy worker but the man was a great heel. A headbutt busts Albright wide open. He continues to pound away on Albright, trying to make him bleed even more. Continuing the old school feel, he exposes the concrete under the mat, but Albright slingshots him into the post. Now Pearce is bleeding. Sweeney tries to get Pearce intentionally disqualified with a chair, but Roderick Strong appears to lay him out with the sick kick. Albright is fired up as the crowd is jacked and he fires away. The six point knee hits before Albright removes his knee pads and starts hitting knee strikes. Pearce counters into the Figure Four, which is just perfect for the old school NWA feel we’ve got going. He gets free but is feeling the effects. The Scrap Daddy moves to an STF, drawing “fuck John Cena” chants from New York. Albright manages to reverse it into the Crowbar but Pearce’s foot is on the rope. He climbs up but Pearce knocks him off and through a table at ringside. With the NWA rules, we only have a ten count, rather than ROH’s usual 20. He gets in at nine, but is hit with a JUMPING PILEDRIVER only to kick out! Half nelson suplex from Albright and both men are down. They get up and Albright hits a second but only gets two! They exchange shots before Albright busts out FIVE GERMAN SUPLEXES! Pearce is somehow able to get his shoulder up. Pearce then rolls through a sunset flip and tries the figure four only for Albright to go to an inside cradle, again for only two. Albright then goes back to the Crowbar, forcing Pearce to tap.
Winner and New NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Brent Albright in 19:41
Holy hell that was way better than I expected. The crowd was beyond hot for all of this and it had an old school feel in a great way. They utilized old school moves, had just the right amount of interference and two guys just had a match that absolutely clicked. Everything fell into place for this and it’s an underrated classic that you should go check out. ****¼
The Briscoes are backstage and celebrating their win before Rhett Titus appears to show off a cellphone video. The Briscoes notice the person in the video is a friend and they send him off.
Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Necro Butcher
This was in the midst of the Jimmy Jacobs/Austin Aries rivalry that got pretty heated. With Necro and Jacobs both in the Age of the Fall, this is a glorified handicap match, except that Aries has been getting into Necro’s head about the treatment he receives. They work as a unit early though Aries busts out the heat seeking missile on Necro before taking it to Jacobs inside. In two weeks, Jacobs has to face Necro who was selected by Aries in an interesting angle. Pendulum elbow gets two. Necro comes back in and the Age of the Fall work together again. Jacobs is knocked into Necro, who gets upset about it but does Jimmy’s bidding anyway. However, when Necro tries to cover, Jacobs breaks it up and berates him. He demands that Necro rip Aries’ eye out because he’s fucking nuts. Aries swings the chair at Jacobs, who ducks and it hits Necro in the back. Aries goes all Eddie Guerrero by tossing the chair to Jacobs and falling to the floor. Necro believe Jacobs did it and waffles him. The crowd pops hard because Necro is super over in New York. He lays out Jacobs with the steel chair and exits to “Necro” chants. With him gone, Aries nails a dropkick, brainbuster and 450 splash, earning the win.
Winner: Austin Aries in 11:46
Not the best match from a scientific standpoint but we got exactly we should have. They told a great story that has been built up by Austin Aries getting into Necro Butcher’s head. New York was the right place to have Necro turn since he was so popular here. Entertaining throughout. ***
Daizee Haze cuts a promo backstage about how hard she’s been working to get back, when the Motor City Machine Guns come up and hug her. They straight up try to get her into a threesome. She obviously declines but the Guns are hilarious in this. When she leaves they turn the conversation to Kevin Steen and El Generico. We then cut to a Bryan Danielson promo about the main event backstage. It wasn’t great and shows how far he has come in his ability to cut a promo.
Delirious comes out in a black button down shirt and green tie. He calls out Daizee Haze, or at least that’s what it sounds like. They did this at the first Hammerstein show. He asks her out on a date but is cut off by “Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus. This also happened at the last Hammerstein show because Rhett is pretty much Captain Cockblock. He calls Daizee “used goods” before revealing that his trunks are very Rick Rude-esque as they have her face painted on his ass. Delirious sends him packing like the hero should, but Daizee tells Delirious that she just wants to be friends. With those words, Daizee becomes the biggest heel in New York. To make matters worse, she does the “it’s not you, it’s me” line.
Go Shiozaki vs. Naomichi Marufuji
Even though Go Shiozaki and his magnificent hair is part of Sweet n’ Sour Inc. he does shake hands with Naomichi Marufuji. There is no real storyline behind this, though Go has never beaten Marufuji. Their opening exchange is pretty fantastic as they seem to know each other’s moves very well, dodging and countering everything. Go has some of the hardest chops in the business and he utilizes them throughout with each louder than the last. Marufuji tries to quicken the pace but the bigger Go continues to stop him at every turn. Marufuji gets tied up in the tree of woe, so Go slides at him and chops him, which is pretty cool. It plays up the “chop you at all positions” thing. Marufuji finally gets in something big, hitting a fucking BRAINBUSTAAA onto the apron. It does kind of diminish the one Aries did in the previous match though. It’s all to set up the Shiranui finisher. Marufuji just continues to work over Go and even pokes him in the eye to a chuckle from the crowd. From out of nowhere, Go hits a hurricanrana and another stiff chop. A frog splash knee drop gets Go a near fall. Marufuji fights back with a knee to the back of the head before a neckbreaker gets two. Superkick nets the same result. Shiranui countered into a fisherman buster but it’s still not enough, so Go goes to a dragon sleeper. Marufuji kicks him right in the face to break it. His chop combo is blocked so he goes back to the dragon sleeper. Marufuji reaches the ropes to break this before hitting the Shiranui to the outside! Fans chant “NOAH” in honor of Pro Wrestling Noah as they get inside. VAN TERMINATOR from Marufuji only gets two! Shiozaki hits the Orange Crush and that’s not enough. Go Flasher now gets reversed into Shiranui and both guys are down. They trade lariats when they get up and Naomichi hits the Seth Rollins curb stomp for two. We now get a battle of chops vs. superkicks that Marufuji wins before the Pole Shift wins it.
Winner: Naomichi Marufuji in 22:58
That featured stiff shots, crisp wrestling, sweet counters and a great effort form both guys. I can’t fathom how these guys do all of the travel they do and never mail it in when they get to ROH. High quality match that could have headlined most shows. ****
Tyler Black cuts a promo as he believes he’ll win the title because he wants it more than anyone. It was clear that he was heading towards a face turn and away from the Age of the Fall.
Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. the Motor City Machine Guns
In other words, ROH said here are two of the best tag teams in the world, enjoy. All four guys are super over, though I’d say Alex Shelley tops the list by a slight margin. Both teams feel each other out for a while, with neither gaining a clear advantage. The Guns comically both bite Generico’s hands shortly before the tag comes to Steen. He and Generico work a cool drop toe hold/front flip leg drop double team for two. Shelley and Steen get into a fucking snot blowing battle. It’s gross. The Guns fire back with great double team work that overwhelms El Generico. “Fuck TNA” chants break out during all of this. I don’t know if I’ve seen a team with crisper double team moves than the Guns. Steen finally gets the hot tag and goes nuts. He gets Sabin on his back and does a senton onto Shelley, hurting both guys. Steen applies a sharpshooter on Sabin as Generico dives out onto Shelley. Sabin reaches the ropes and then we get a pretty crazy spot combo. Shelley hit a super jawbreaker on Steen off of Sabin’s back, before Sabin powerbombs Generico into Seen in the corner. They hit a series of superkicks on Generico but can only get tow. Superkick parties before they were “cool”. Generico nails a Michinoku Driver and two Yakuza Kicks before Sabin returns the favor. Cradle Shock is stopped by Steen who hits the pump handle cradlebreacker. Steenton Bomb is stopped by knees and the Air Raid Crash gets Shelley two. The action is fast and furious. Generico wants the BRAINBUSTAAA but takes a super rana that lands him on Steen. Frog splash from Shelley but Steen gets his shoulder up. The Guns try the assisted Sliced Bread #2 but Generico fight sit off. Steen hits the cannonball in the corner on Sabin and lock shim in the Sharpshooter. Generico this time connects with the BRAINBUSTAAA and Sabin taps out.
Winners: Kevin Steen and El Generico in 19:51
Two teams that are always on their game and show how great tag team wrestling really can be. The crowd was mental, they built to the finish well and the action was pretty much non-stop. I’ve seen each team do better but this was great stuff. ****¼
Some backstage stuff where the Briscoes are awkward around Daizee Haze because she was the one in those videos Rhett Titus was showing off. Kevin Steen also yells at Generico and tells him that he needs to become a killer for them to win the gold.
ROH World Heavyweight Championship
Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Tyler Black
There was serious intrigue here as anyone could win. Bryan Danielson is pretty much ROH, Black and Castagnoli were on fire and Nigel was the champion in the midst of a PHENOMENAL run. Despite being a face, a fair amount of fans here are anti-Claudio since he’s come up short a bunch of times. This match is contested under elimination rules. Things start calmly enough as Claudio and Danielson go at it, but after blind tags by Nigel and Black, things pick up. Black does a front flip dive outside just prior to Claudio suicide diving into Nigel. Black and Nigel do battle now, as commentary reminds us that at a PPV in March, Black had a star making performance when he came within a hair of dethroning Nigel. For a while, everyone gets into some sort of exchange, giving everyone a chance to work with each other. Nigel is great here, tagging out anytime he’s in trouble. It eventually backfires as Bryan backs off the apron, leaving him to get worked over by Claudio. While I’m not doing play by play, all of these exchanges between everyone is entertaining as hell. Danielson hits the missile dropkick on Nigel but gets caught in a backbreaker by Claudio. Black kicks Claudio, but is taken out with a DDT from Nigel. All four guys are in the ring, and Danielson goes to Cattle Mutilation on Nigel. Black hits Claudio with a cross body as Danielson moves to the MMA elbows. Claudio gets booed as he breaks the move, which admittedly is a dumb move. He does hit a sweet kick on Black but ends up in Bryan’s triangle choke. It’s hilarious to see Nigel just sit back as Claudio breaks free. Nigel nearly kills Black with a lariat before trading big blows with Dragon. He sends the champion into the front row and springboards dives out onto him! He gets back in the ring and is caught in Claudio’s BIG SWING! They trade Europeans before Claudio hits the popup European. He covers but Dragon rolls over and eliminates Claudio at 16:12.
Claudio is shocked at the elimination and doesn’t want to leave. “Get the fuck out” chants rain down so he DESTROYS Bryan with a bicycle kick and Ricola Bomb. He gets a steel chair and STOMPS IT ONTO BRYAN’S SKULL! Nigel is filled with glee outside watching this. Jobbers run out to haul him away so Nigel hits one huge lariat to get rid of Bryan at 19:37. Some fans throw garbage as the favorite is gone. Black is now a MASSIVE BABYFACE as he gets a huge pop when he springboards in. His flurry continues, getting two on a neckbreaker. “Tyler Black” chants ring out as he goes up top and misses a big frog splash. Naomichi Marufuji appears in the entrance to watch. The camera focusing on that takes away from the action I think. Nigel is hitting Black very hard but he comes back to hit the frog splash this time for two. Nigel hits a shortarm lariat, his second on Black so far, for two. Tower of London also only gets two. Black counters the Jawbreaker Lariat into a fucking Buckle Bomb somehow! It was insane. The crowd bites EXTREMELY HARD for this near fall. Out of desperation, Nigel goes up top. It’s a mistake as Black is comfortable up there. He meets him with a superplex that he rolls through into PAROXSYM! Another very close two count. Black hits a sick superkick while Nigel is on his knees for two again. The atmosphere is nuts. Lariat from Nigel hits but Tyler gets the shoulder up again. Jawbreaker is again countered into GOD’S LAST GIFT but Nigel kicks out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd fall for a false finish in ROH that hard before. Phoenix Splash misses and Nigel hits another massive lariat. Cover but AGAIN Tyler kicks out. Nigel hits Tower of London, a running European and ANOTHER lariat but someone that still isn’t enough. Black ducks a lariat, but springboards into one anyway, yet still kicks out. This is unbelievable. The London Dungeon submission is locked in, which is what did Black in at the PPV in their first meeting. Black counters into a rollup for two. Black hits a Pele but runs into a lariat. One more for good measure and finally Black stays down.
Winner and Still ROH World Heavyweight Champion: Nigel McGuinness in 30:23
Fuck that was insane. It’s like ROH took the formula that made Black a big deal from the PPV and applied it times five in front of the New York crowd. Everything was masterfully done. From the solid opening work to Claudio’s elimination to the frustration that boiled over when he attacked Dragon to Nigel being cunning to Black’s resiliency. It all just clicked here. ****¾
Nigel McGuinness brags that there is no one left to beat but the crowd chants “Marufuji” at him and pelt the ring with trash.
Overall: 9/10; Incredible. Of all of the Ring of Honor shows that I went to live, this is up there among the best. I only gave one match less than three stars which is impressive. This has everything. The NWA World Title match is a surprisingly great old school brawl, you get your puro fix with Marufuji/Shiozaki, the Briscoes give us a short and fun tag opener, the Machine Guns match is just excellent tag team wrestling, the Triple Threat is fine storytelling and the main event is as dramatic as they come. Seriously, go see this show now.
The Montreal crowd is red hot as things open with Randy Orton. He talks about what he's going to do at Payback before he's interrupted by Roman Reigns. They trade barbs until New Day surprisingly cuts them off. The WWE Tag Team Champions cut a fun promo before facing Orton and Reigns in a 3 on 2 handicap match. After seeing what Orton did to the tag team division in recent weeks, I was scared about the Tag Champions jobbing here. It was a competitive match and a miscue where Reigns speared Orton allowed Kofi to get the win. Fine booking here as your champions get a win, but your top World Title contenders don't lose straight up. Kane comes out and books Orton/Reigns for our main event. We also get told that Dean Ambrose will face Seth Rollins later tonight. After a break, the perfect Renee Young is in the ring and she brings out Ryback. He cuts a promo about how his injury early in his career and managed to turn the crowd around from shitting on him to cheering him, which is impressive. He isn't scared of Bray Wyatt, who appears on the titantron and cuts one of his usual promos. It was fine but I think Bray shouldn't talk every week. His words would mean more if he spoke less. Also, add in the fact that it's hard for me to by into him as the new "Face of Fear" when he lost to the Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Next, we moved to a tag match pitting Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. the Ascension. It was a solid bout that the crowd loved because of Kidd and Natalya's connection to Montreal. Cesaro ran wild with like ten straight uppercuts and looked great. They won, and didn't have to go over the champions so we don't get a thousand rematches. For some reason, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins aren't headlining. Especially when Kane comes out to say that if Ambrose wins he gets added to the Payback main event. That's great as it gives this a real reason for happening and got me, the viewers and live crowd even more into it. The match itself was the usual greatness between these two. Despite interference from J&J Security, Ambrose was able to roll up Seth and win. This makes the Payback main event much more interesting and though I'm sure Dean is there to take the fall, it's still fun. The booking of Raw has been spot on so far.
After some short backstage segments, we move to Rusev vs. Fandango. The crowd is totally giving Rusev the Marc Mero treatment, though I hope he doesn't end up jobbing like him because Rusev is really good. Lana ends up Fandangoing, so Rusev sends her away to boos. They're executing this right as Lana is way over. Fine segment here. Next, Stardust faces R-Truth and the match involves fake spiders. I shit you not. This was the worst thing on the show so far. Actually, it was the only bad thing so far. With how much Cody Rhodes gives to the Stardust character, he should be booked much better. I mean, he did win here but still, this was dumb.
So, John Cena's Open Challenges have been some of the best things going each week. However, lately we had the Heath Slater one which disappointed. Here, after an overly long promo, his challenge is answered by Bret Hart! The crowd goes nuts at this as Bret actually comes to the ring! He is here to introduce someone but Slater shows up. The running gag continues which is fine since Heath is fantastic in this role. Bret takes him out with the mic and introduces SAMI FUCKING ZAYN! I marked so hard, you have no idea. The hometown reaction Sami gets is awesome. During the match, Sami injures his shoulder which hurts the match a bit but I thought it was still very good. Sami was the ultimate underdog, the crowd was ridiculously hot and Sami looked great in defeat. They took advantage of where they were and it worked perfectly. Also, Michael Cole was shockingly great through this whole affair. After the match, Cena left the ring to allow the fans to give Sami a standing ovation.
The Bella Twins walk backstage and see that New Day is still celebrating. I love these guys. See what a little mic time and character development can do? As the Bellas go to the ring, they are attacked by Naomi and the returning Tamina Snuka. This basically tells us that Tamina will continue her bodyguard role, which is a fine spot for her. The pairing with Naomi could be interesting. We move to a tag team match pitting King Barrett and Sheamus against the Lil Fellas, Dolph Ziggler and Neville. This was a good match where Barrett pinned Neville after the New Sensation went high risk and jumped into the Bull Hammer. Glad to see the King get the win.
The main event is set to begin at 11PM so you know the match won't be very long. We get a bunch of Authority shenanigans but the big issue is that the crowd is pretty dead at this point following Rollins/Ambrose and Zayn/Cena. The no contest finish happens as the Authority attacks, bringing Dean Ambrose out. They send Seth and the Authority packing before Randy Orton hits Roman Reigns with an RKO. Ambrose wisely takes out Orton with the Dirty Deeds and actually stands tall to close things. Overall, this Raw felt like it was booked by a completely different team, in a good way. Ambrose is in the title picture, the Tag champs looked great and Sami Zayn faced John Cena. With the exception of Stardust/Truth, I found no issues with this episode of Raw. 8.5/10.
1) Hirooki Goto: First, I apologize for my lack of updates this week. I've been rather busy so I missed some reviews. I've mentioned before that I only recently got into NJPW. My favorite performer there is Shinsuke Nakamura and I love the prestige that the IWGP Intercontinental Title has. This weekend, Nakamura dropped the belt to Hirooki Goto. I have yet to see the match but I've only heard good things. Hopefully, we get a great reign out of Goto. The fact that the title is so important really hammers home how big this win was and why he's deserving of the top spot this week.
2) Prince Puma: Prince Puma has been fantastic as the Lucha Underground Champion and has continued to reign over all challengers. I recently lost all of my access to see Lucha Underground, which saddens me deeply, but when I was able to watch, Puma was enthralling. He is the right choice to carry the title for so long because he embodies what makes Lucha Underground a ton of fun. This week, he makes the list because of a successful title defense against Drago, who is also on the list of the most exciting performers in LU. That now makes Cage, Drago, King Cuerno and more that Puma has defended the belt against, which is a pretty impressive and growing list.
3) Kenny King: So Kenny King captured the X-Division Championship this week. He defeated champion Rockstar Spud, Tigre Uno and Mandrews in a ladder match. Unfortunately, along with losing Lucha Underground, I no long can watch Impact weekly so I missed this. Also, after a star making performance against Ethan Carter III a few weeks back, I do not think Spud should have dropped the title so soon. However, King's win is still big. With the BDC, he has been kind of on the back burner, but this should bring him to the spotlight a bit more as he's one of the more talented guys that TNA has employed. Also, I do feel a bit weird about using this photo for him this week but it's all I could find.
4) The Young Bucks: Man, those IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles change hands at nearly every show huh? I was really looking forward to seeing Roppongi Vice get a nice run with the gold because they are so damn fun. Alas, it was Matt and Nick Jackson regaining the belts at this week's New Japan show. They not only defeated Roppongi Vice, but reDRagon was involved as well, making this all the more impressive. I am still not a major Bucks fan, but I can't deny that this was a big win and they continue to be one of the more entertaining tag teams in the world.
5) Kenny Omega: Keeping with theme of the Bullet Club, Kenny Omega gets the fifth spot. The reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion picked up another successful title defense this week. He bested one of my absolute all time favorite wrestlers in Alex Shelley. It's one of the matches that I'm looking forward to most from the show for sure. Omega has grown on me because I wasn't a big fan when I first saw him in 2008 but now, I've enjoyed a fair amount of his work.
1) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: Apologies for this being late, but that happens with PPVs. Even with that PPV though, I couldn't go against this choice. Early on in Lucha Underground's run, I enjoyed Ivelisse and Son of Havoc, but felt they were underutilized. Then, Angelico joined the fray and added something to their run. LU brought in their Trios Titles and last week, we saw the first champions crowned. Not only did these three beat King Cuerno, Texano and Cage, but also Big Ryck, the MACK and Killshot. They were then thrown a swerve and forced to face the Crew. What followed was brilliant storytelling and a sick spot from Angelico before they captured the belts. Excellent work from all three performers.
2) Becky Lynch: Again, despite a solid PPV, I stray away from the main roster for this pick. One of my favorite matches all week was the Number One Contender's Triple Threat match between Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Bayley. The women of NXT never fail to deliver and they did so again. All three girls did great work as Charlotte played the dominant Diva, Bayley was the sympathetic babyface and Becky as the ultimate opportunist. After nearly ten minutes of good work, Becky stole the victory. She now earns her first solo crack at the title, gives us a fresh matchup and picks up the biggest win in her career. I fully expect this to lead to a big moment for Becky on the next NXT TakeOver special.
3) The New Day: As a big fan of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, it certainly pains me to put these three on the list but they deserve it. The Tag Team Title match got moved to the main card and absolutely delivered. Not only was it the match of the night, but all three members of New Day did their part. Big E and Kofi Kingston actually won the gold/bronze, but we can't forget Xavier Woods, who entertained at ringside. Hell, he even sold Natalya's slap minutes later in the back. I don't think it was time for Kidd and Cesaro to drop the titles, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The New Day flopped as faces, but the overly positive heel role has fit them much better, similar to Bo Dallas. This could be fun.
4) Taryn Terrell: TNA's "Night of Knockouts" Impact was headlined by a Knockouts match. Taryn Terrell defended her Knockouts Title against Awesome Kong. Kong always makes for a spectacle of a defense but Taryn shocked everyone when asking for a No DQ match. The match itself was good but brought another twist when the new Dollhouse appeared. Marti Belle and Jade hit Kong with kendo sticks and then they triple powerbombed her through a table. Taryn retained and announced that she was a part of the Dollhouse. It was not only a worthy main event, but swerve that worked well. Not the usual TNA stuff where it was a swerve for swerve's sake. We still don't know the exact reason but Taryn as a heel sounds very refreshing.
5) Roman Reigns: I have to give Roman Reigns credit. The match I was looking forward to the least on Extreme Rules was his Last Man Standing bout against Big Show. However, he and Show managed to surprise many and put on one of the best matches on the card. Reigns was not only able to put on a good match with Show, but he actually won over the Chicago crowd, which is no easy task. while I enjoyed the match, I think the finish could have been better. Still though, Roman Reigns continues to improve week in and week out.
As noted in my Raw Review yesterday, the King of the Ring has returned in 2015. This special on the WWE Network starts with a recap of the First Round of the Tournament, which aired on Raw last night. We then get interviews with both Neville and Sheamus, who are opening things. These two had a good match on Smackdown recently which ended via disqualification. I feel like their match on Smackdown was better than this outing. Granted, this wasn't bad but it was just there. Playing off of last night's Dolph Ziggler involvement, Sheamus was nearing a win only for Dolph to show up and distract him. This allowed Neville to take advantage and win with the Red Arrow. The win was good but having Dolph get involved kind of put a damper on it. Dolph and Sheamus then had a good brawl that ended with Sheamus' eye being busted open. Our next Semi-Final match pitted R-Truth against Bad News Barrett. I prefer the first match to this one but this was fine. They did solid work and Truth did cut a funny promo about spiders beforehand. He's really good as a comedy character. Barrett wins with the Bull Hammer and advances, giving us an all England finale.
The Finals would turn out to be the best match of the night. Their match on the KickOff Show during Extreme Rules was good but I think this was slightly better. we got some cool near falls and Neville looked great. He came very close only to get overzealous and fall victim to the Bull Hammer. This gave us King Bad News Barrett. I was pulling for Neville but I like this route. The King angle works best for heels and I'd love to see a rubber match between the two at Payback. Maybe two out of three falls. Overall, this could have been done much better if it were planned a bit more in advance. It felt rushed but was still an enjoyable way to spend an hour. I'd love to this as an annual thing again and it's a step in the right direction. 7/10.
Some of the coolest news coming out of Extreme Rules had to be the announcement of the return of the King of the Ring. First Round matches would happen on Raw, with the Semi-Finals and Finals on the WWE Network tonight. I'll be reviewing that as well. Raw opens with Seth Rollins coming out to brag about retaining last night. He takes some shots at Kane, who gets pissy. Randy Orton shows up, claiming that because Seth won with the banned RKO, he deserves a rematch. Roman Reigns also appears saying that after his win against Big Show, he deserves it. Kane will let the WWE Universe decide and tonight's main event is Reigns and Orton against Seth and Kane. Yawn. The actual KOTR Tournament begins with Bad News Barrett taking on Dolph Ziggler. They had a fine match until Sheamus came out to distract Dolph. This allows Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer and advance. Not the best finish, but I like that Barrett advanced. King Barrett has a nice ring to it.
At Extreme Rules, The New Day shocked a lot of people and won the Tag Team Titles. It looks like they will defend them under the Freebird rule, which is pretty cool. Big E faced Tyson Kidd which had potential, but was booked to last less than two minutes. That made no sense. The finish, where Xavier Woods held Kidd's legs so Big E could pin him was fine, as was New Day's over the top celebration, I just wish it lasted longer. With us taking a break from the KOTR, we move into Ryback squashing Bo Dallas. After that, the lights went out and Bray Wyatt appeared to take out Ryback. This will be different, but I still feel like there is no direction for either guy really. Maybe Bray just wanted to help his brother. Continuing on, John Cena came out for the weekly Open Challenge but first he had to cut his usual promo of saying the crowd is hype and pumping Rusev/Cena IV at Payback. Heath Slater comes out to accept the challenge but is attacked during his promo by Rusev. Lana appears but Rusev kicks her out, drawing more heat than ever. Rusev just cuts a promo, says America a few times and his Russian flag drops down. Nothing we haven't seen before. That's the issue with this feud continuing. It's gone too long and isn't interesting at this point. Backstage, Seth Rollins complains about the WWE Universe getting to pick his opponent and gets in Kane's face, so Kane decides to make a third option where the fans can put Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat match against both Orton and Reigns at Payback.
The King of the Ring Tournament continues as R-Truth takes on Stardust. Considering the talent in this thing, these two shouldn't be matched up as some of the bigger names were better suited for the final four. They worked a solid, fun little match that R-Truth won. I do not understand why he would win though. In this week's "How the Fuck did this make it to Raw?" segment, Adam Rose faced Fandango. Fandango was in control throughout until Rosa Mendes' ugly ass appeared. She did some god awful dancing to distract Fandango, allowing Rose to win. Rosa made out with poor Adam Rose after the match. Why is any of this happening? I like mid-card feuds, but with guys that are actually talented and interesting. Backstage, Brie Bella is interviewed about Daniel Bryan's health. She plays the face role, for reasons unknown until Naomi attacks her.This leads into a rematch from Raw last week, Brie Bella vs. Naomi. The Bellas play face and again, we have no fucking clue why and no reason to cheer for them since none of this had any build. It was better than their match last week as Naomi seems to be growing into the heel role which is great. She won with a rollup and a handful of hair.
The third First Round match in the King of the Ring pitted Sheamus against Dean Ambrose. Michael Cole makes a dumb comment that Ambrose stole an SUV last night, which is incorrect since it was Luke Harper driving. I was loving this match until the finish. Ambrose and Sheamus both don't mind working a gritty style and that's what this was, making it feel different from the rest of the show. As they fought outside, Ziggler ran down to attack Sheamus and caused the DQ. Dolph looked like an idiot for doing something that helps Sheamus win. Also, should it have been Sheamus over R-Truth and Ambrose over Stardust so four bigger names advance instead of R-Truth? Whatever. Damien Sandow came out to cut a promo about how he isn't going to mock anyone more because he lost the respect of his peers. Curtis Axel is out to do his Hulk Hogan stuff, so Sandow takes him down and mocks Hulk Hogan. Why would you say you weren't going to do something and then do that something? It made no sense. We are then told that Kidd and Cesaro get their rematch this Thursday on Smackdown. We then get basic stuff from Bray Wyatt as he promotes his new feud with Ryback. I'm not excited for this at all. Our last First Round KOTR match takes place as Neville faces Luke Harper. Here is your match of the night as both guys worked hard and had a really good match. Harper is a great base for a guy with Neville's offense. Solid match which Neville won following the Red Arrow. Neville vs. Sheamus tonight should be really good.
Time for our main event, which got nearly twenty minutes. It wasn't bad, just something that isn't new in any way. The miscommunication between Seth Rollins and Kane continued, leading to Seth getting pinned again, just like he did on Smackdown. Why couldn't Kane just eat the pin? Whatever. At least it made more sense here than when Seth ate the pin on Smackdown for no reason. The fans choose the Triple Threat, which was obvious. The Champion looked like a bitch to close Raw. The King of the Ring itself could have been booked better, but it was the best thing about this episode. Everything that didn't involve the KOTR seemed to just be filler. Average episode of Raw, that could have been so much better. 6/10.
Originally, the plan was for New Day vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to be on the Kickoff show. However, the Tag Team Title match was moved to the main show in favor of a match between Bad News Barrett and Neville. Daniel Bryan could not compete so instead we got this. And what we got was fun. Neville and BNB worked well together and put on a fine show. It wasn't anything special but was a good first outing for Neville's first Pay-Per-View match. They did well with their time, had some cool spots and everything looked good. In the end, Neville picked up the win with a beautiful Red Arrow. A fun start to the show. ***
To open the actual Pay-Per-View broadcast, we got the Chicago Street Fight. Dean Ambrose, who hasn't won a singles PPV match since September 2013, took on Luke Harper. This was exactly what it needed to be as it was two guys having a fun hardcore match. This gave me a feeling of the Attitude Era Hardcore Division as they brawled backstage and used as many random weapons as they could. They would leave in a car, giving me flashbacks of the Hollywood Backlot Brawl. Harper and Ambrose wouldn't return until an hour later, where the fight made it back to the ring and they brought out a ton of chairs. Technically, this went about 55 minutes, but Ambrose was able to finally win a PPV match. What we actually got was relatively fun and enjoyable. ***
Next, we move into the "Kiss Me Arse" match between Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. Even with the strange stipulation, I knew these two could deliver and that's exactly what they did. Unfortunately, the early goings were a bit dull as they seemed to be filling time. Once it kicked into next gear though, things got really good. We saw some hard hitting stuff and a good amount of near falls that weren't overdone. Dolph won with an inside cradle, which surprised me, but it was wise since it didn't make Sheamus look bad. He refused to kiss Ziggler's arse though, so he low blowed him, hit him with a Brogue Kick and shoved Dolph's unconscious face into his pasty white ass. It ended up being really good, despite the ass. ***1/4
I'm so happy that the Tag Team Championship match made the main show because it was great. Despite the New Day gimmick not being very good, the guys involved can still work, and of course our Tag Team Champions are damn good. Everyone played their part and Kidd and Cesaro looked surprisingly comfortable in the face role. Cesaro got the hot tag and the match picked up big time. They seemed to have things won but a distraction from Xavier Woods allowed Kofi Kingston to roll up Cesaro with a handful of tights and win the titles. Absolutely shocking as I didn't expect this, but man this was fun. The only issue I had with it, is the fact that we got rollup finishes in two straight matches. However, it was important to keep Kidd and Cesaro looking strong. ***3/4
Next on the card is the Russian Chain Match for the United States Championship. John Cena vs. Rusev Part III. This is the first Strap/Chain match that I can recall having light gimmicks on the corners. I guess us millennials can't count on our own. They worked a slower style old school match but it didn't click the way their previous encounters did. Rusev kicked Lana out from ringside, taking away the best thing about this. Cena won after an AA and touching the fourth turnbuckle. This was the wrong stipulation for these two as it was not at all the way they should have ended this thing. Then, we get told later in the show that it isn't the end. Lana goes to the Authority and sets up an I Quit match between the two next month. So, there's the WWE booking Rusev great for a year only to have him say I Quit on TV. Terrible. *1/4
Nikki Bella takes on Naomi next for the WWE Divas Championship. Naomi finally ditched the Brodus Clay theme, wore strange shades and had neon, color changing boots. This was better than I expected it to be, but it was still odd that it seemed like the Bellas don't know if they're supposed to be faces or heels. They're in the dark like the fans. Naomi got some near falls and the Bellas seemed like faces early, but then Brie got in a cheap shot kick that allowed Nikki to score with the Rack Attack and retain the title. It's nice to see another girl get in the title picture but there was just something missing here. *3/4
Our semi-main event was Roman Reigns against Big Show in a Last Man Standing match. I expected this to suck hard but it didn't. Show didn't want to use weapons early because he felt he didn't need them which was cool. The spots came big as he was put through a table, then Chokeslammed Reigns through two tables outside but he still somehow got up. They did the tired Spear through the guardrail spot but busted out a cool one from one announce table through the other. That should have been the finish in my mind. Instead, Show got up, just to sit back down so Reigns could put the announce table on top of him. I got the idea behind it but maybe he should have done the spear and then instantly put the table on top. Having Show get up and sit down was strange. Still, better than I expected by a fair amount. ***1/2
The main event was on, and of course, Kane was a big factor. Honestly, it seems like the WWE has forgotten how to book Steel Cage matches. I can't remember the last really good one. Considering we had the awful Bray/Cena one last year I didn't have high hopes here. Basically, Kane gets pissed in the end, comes in and Chokeslams everyone. Why is the story about Kane and not about the two great performers and the WWE Title? Orton would RKO Kane, followed by Seth RKOing Orton before exiting the cage and retaining. But the RKO was banned. So we got a screwy finish, mixed in with the over use of Kane. This felt like a cheap WCW like ending. Not a very good match. **1/4. Overall, the entire show was solid. Nothing was out of this world but there were three matches that I thought weren't very good. 6/10.
