Fave Five 6/15/15-6/21/15

1) Jay Lethal: Honestly, there is literally no other possible choice to top the list this week. The Best in the World main event between Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe was billed as the biggest match in ROH history and it had a claim to that title. The ROH Television Champion of over 440 days took on the ROH World Champion in a title vs. title match. Not only was it a damn good match, but they pulled the trigger and Lethal became the 20th World Champion. Lethal snapped an incredibly impressive but unheralded streak by becoming the first person to pin Briscoe in over 800 days. That is pretty ridiculous. Lethal has been one of the best heels in wrestling over the past two years. Seeing him go from Special K to Black Machismo to this is something special. You could see it in his eyes when he held both titles high. "You deserve it" indeed.

2) Prince Puma: In a week dominated by the ROH Best in the World Pay-Per-View, two men shined in Lucha Underground. One was Johnny Mundo but the bigger star was again, Prince Puma. Lucha Underground had an entire show based around one match, which lasted the duration of the program. Mundo has been solid in his new heel role, but Puma has been THE MAN since day one. The match was not only great, but held my attention throughout the entire hour (or 38 minutes of actual wrestling time). It was an impressive feat and another moment to solidify how vital Puma is to Lucha Underground. He has been an excellent champion and this may be the defining moment of his reign.

3) Roderick Strong: Yea, it's hard to find pictures from the ROH PPV so I used an old one. In 2015, there have been very few, if any, better than Roderick Strong. The man just continues to have great performance after great performance. His match with Zach Sabre Jr. at PWG's "Don't Sweat the Technique" is one of my favorite matches of the year. While the triple threat match at Best in the World against Moose and Michael Elgin wasn't a classic, it still kicked off the second half of the show, which was great. Roddy impressed more than anyone and won to become the number one contender. That sets up what should be another great match against Jay Lethal at the next PPV.

4) Kevin Owens: It's basically a given that Kevin Owens will be on this list each week. The guy just continues to absolutely deliver with every given opportunity. After losing to John Cena at Money in the Bank, he had two of the better segments on Raw. First, he beat Dolph Ziggler in a good match before stealing the show and making headlines by powerbombing special guest Machine Gun Kelly off the stage. Then, on NXT, he faced Samoa Joe in a non-title match. There was no winner but it was a nice preview of what those two can do with more time on a bigger stage. Lastly, on Smackdown, he was challenged by Cesaro. They went out and had a slightly disappointing match, but Owens was able to win. The man faced Ziggler, Joe and Cesaro in a week, while having a big time interaction with a guest star. That's a pretty damn good week if you ask me.

5) The Addiction: Here's another example of not being able to find the right photo. Oh well. I've always enjoyed Christopher Daniels and I dig the pairing with Frankie Kazarian. At Best in the World, they had a No Disqualification Tag Team Title defense against reDRagon. As usual, these two teams were able to put on a good showing and I dug the No DQ rule. The Addiction won with an assist from Chris Sabin. They busted out some ladders, leading me to believe this will all culminate in a Ladder War. Regardless of how it ends, they came out on top this week, earning them a spot on this list.

ROH Best in the World Review

This was my first time watching a Ring of Honor Pay-Per-View live in a really long time. We opened with Mark Briscoe, with ODB at ringside against Donovan Dijak, with Truth Martini. I haven't seen much of Dijak but commentary continually discussed how much of a prospect he is. Mark Briscoe is a ton of fun with his wacky persona and worked well in his lower card position. I wasn't that impressed with Dijak here but this was a fun match. Mark won in a decent contest. Worth checking out only because Mark is an absolute blast. Also, at one point ODB ripped Truth Martini's book and grabbed her boobs, causing Steve Corino to say "SHE TOUCHED HER MAMMARIES". Funny stuff. **1/4

The next match was a tag bout pitting Matt Sydal and ACH against the Decade of Adam Page and BJ Whitmer. Page plays the heel that wants no part of one of his opponents, as he avoids ACH throughout. Both ACH and Sydal were given mildly hot tags. Colby Corino got involved to save the match for the Decade. Again, it's cool to hear Steve Corino's take on this. Page wins this for his guys with the right of passage. Another decent but unspectacular bout here. ACH and Sydal are a really enjoyable tag team. **

Nakamura, Okada and KUSHIDA will be coming back to ROH later in the year. Next up was Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young. I realize the gif I used of Castle isn't from the show but I'm limited on images. I thought this was an interesting contest. Castle is delightful and Young's "last real man" gimmick is like, perfect foil for him. Castle busted out a dead lift German and was impressive throughout. Young disappointed me as he was sloppy. Castle won this following a low blow. I probably scored this high which was totally due to Castle being fun as hell. After the match, Young laid out one of Castle's boys with a TKO. I think the match went a bit too long and there was too much sloppiness from Young but overall, I liked this purely due to Castle. **3/4

Another tag team match followed featuring C&C Wrestle Factory taking on War Machine. Cedric Alexander just defeated Moose and showed off a mean streak here. However, this was all about War Machine as they won in less than four minutes. Alexander didn't even try to save Caprice Coleman and just let him get pinned. After the match, Alexander seemed like he would attack Coleman but decided against it and just told him that they were done as a team. This felt more like it was a TV match than a Pay-Per-View match. *

So far, the undercard has been underwhelming. This is where the show picked up big time. Roderick Strong, Moose and Michael Elgin went at it with the number one contendership for the ROH World Heavyweight Title on the line. Moose continues to impress me and Elgin was there, but the star of this match was Roderick Strong as you'd expect. This dude has been on a tear in recent months and is one of the best things going on the indies. He won a thirteen minute match and should make for a very good challenge against whoever the champion is at the end of this show. Post match, Veda Scott got mad at Moose, leading to Cedric Alexander showing up and laying him out. Veda left with Cedric. Not a great match but a good one that was the best on the show so far. ***1/2

A six man tag match followed as the Bullet Club took on the Kingdom, with Maria. Here is your match of the night to this point. It was fast paced, the action never stopped and was so much fun. This match happened at War of the Worlds a while back and was good there too. They played off that match and once again, Maria Kanellis got involved. She took two superkicks and the Pele at the same time, effectively eliminating her from ringside. We saw a triple Indy Taker and just too many spots to fully write down. After an Indy Taker, Adam Cole ate a Styles Clash to end this. The Kingdom seemed to tease a possible breakup from Cole as Matt Taven and Mike Bennett didn't seem pleased with him. A really fun six man tag that was a big shot in the arm to this broadcast. ****

The first of our final two matches was a No Disqualifications match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The Addiction defended against former champions reDRagon. These two teams always work well together and this was yet another example of that. The no DQ stipulation worked here as Chris Sabin got involved to save his boys. They brought in a ladder, which leads me to believe they are teasing an eventual Ladder War to finish off this rivalry. The Addiction retained with Celebrity Rehab. The crowd took a bit to get into this as they were worn out from the previous match. I would have switched up the order of the show a bit. ***3/4

The main event is billed as the biggest match in the history of ROH and I admit it's up there. Jay Lethal stalled early, which I expected since he's a heel in what should be a long match. Both guys' parents are shown in the crowd, giving this a big fight feel. The House of Truth was ejected and I appreciated the slow build this match had. They went from a methodical pace and built to the bigger spots and moments. We saw a bunch of reversals and near falls. Hell, Lethal even took a Jay Driller through a table at ringside. He hit Briscoe with a Jay Driller of his own, followed by the Lethal Injection and finally scored the win. ****1/4. I really liked this match and seeing the emotion on Lethal after he won and Jay Briscoe shook his hand was a great moment.

Overall, while the first hour and undercard of this show underwhelmed me, everything from the Number One Contender's Triple Threat on was great. That made this an enjoyable show, but not a classic. I look forward to Lethal/Strong as well on the next PPV. Good show tonight. 7.5/10

Smackdown 6/18/15 Review

Instead of an Authority opening promo, we are joined by Mr. Money in the Bank, Sheamus. He bragged about how he will become WWE World Heavyweight Champion and nobody will get in his way. Dean Ambrose interrupts and says some surprisingly corny jokes. Kane comes out and books a handicap match. He and Sheamus beat up on Ambrose until Roman Reigns makes the save. You know what that means don't you? Our main event will be the Teddy Long special, a tag team match playa. I really wonder if the WWE even tries with Smackdown anymore. I rarely see any effort whatsoever and it's rather annoying. It sometimes feels like the WWE should not even produce Smackdown if they're going to put on the shows they do.

The Divas are next as Paige takes on Brie Bella. They're still playing the "Paige against the Bellas" things. When the putrid Brie Mode theme hits, Paige covers her ears. They worked a solid match through the commercial break. Alicia Fox came out and shoved Paige off the top, allowing Brie to win. I get Divas not helping Paige but why would they help the Bellas? This should all lead an NXT girl or two coming to Paige's aid. Renee Young interviews Kevin Owens about what he did to Machine Gun Kelly. Owens says that Kelly touched him first and also blames John Cena. Cesaro interrupts and mocks Owens for talking and not fighting leading to a match later tonight, which should be good.

Bo Dallas shows up and cuts a promo about Lana being on the rebound after Rusev. Dolph Ziggler obviously takes offense to that especially after Bo makes a Tinder joke. This was your standard Bo Dallas match, lasting a pretty short time. Ziggler wins to fix his losses from Money in the Bank and Raw. He kisses Lana after and that's all. I don't get pairing him with Lana. It's done ZERO for either character. Lana was red hot at the end of her run with Rusev and now she's just there. Our next match pit Neville against Xavier Woods. Fun match here and when New Day tried to get involved, the Prime Time Players joined evened the odds. Neville wins with the Red Arrow, continuing the theme of New Day winning with the advantage but losing when the odds are even. Seth Rollins is out next to cut a promo. He talked about being the future and being the best. He was shocked to see Brock Lesnar on Raw but understands why, since he's beaten everyone else. In his mind, Lesnar lost his mystique when he Curb Stomped him at WrestleMania. Solid work from Seth who has become one of the better mic workers in the company, which is definitely a long way from his work in Ring of Honor. We see highlights of Bray Wyatt's promo on Roman Reigns from Raw before seeing Reigns and Ambrose prepare backstage. Ambrose brings up Wyatt, which upsets Reigns. It's a small thing but it did a good job to show that Bray has gotten into Reigns' head.

In the battle between Kevin Owens and Cesaro, I came out a bit disappointed. It looked like they had a really good match in them, but cut it down and just had a solid one. Owens obviously wins. I hope Cesaro gets something of note to do while Tyson Kidd is out. He's too good to just have in meaningless matches. Miz cuts a promo about movies before we get out main event. They worked the match you'd expect until Wyatt appeared on the tron to sing "I'm a Little Teapot". This distraction allowed Sheamus to score with the Brogue Kick and win. The lights go out and when they come back on, the picture of Reigns and his daughter is in the ring. Maybe I was a bit hard on Smackdown earlier but for the most part, nothing of real note or consequence happens on Thursdays. You could miss it weekly and be in tune with what's going on. That being said, this wasn't bad television, it just wasn't very good either. 5/10.

Fave Five 6/8/15-6/14/15

1) Seth Rollins: While 2014 may have been the year of Seth Rollins, 2015 has been off to a rough start. Sure he won the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania, but since then, he has been booked pretty terribly. His record in 2015 before that and since has left something to be desired. Hell, he even lost to J&J Security this past Monday. However, what he did in the main event of Money in the Bank was enough to overcome that and take the throne here. He went out, on his own and retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose. This was a brutal ladder match that showed how good Seth can be. Some of the stuff he did reminded me of Triple H's "Cerebral Assassin" style. He was cunning. he was vicious, he looked like a badass and it was exactly the kind of title defense that his reign has lacked so far.

            2) John Cena: John Cena has actually been very good so far with the United States Title. With the exception of two stinkers against Rusev at Extreme Rules and Payback, he has been on fire. After putting Kevin Owens in a big way at Elimination Chamber, Cena evened the score at Money in the Bank. It was another thrilling match, though I preferred their first encounter. Cena winning is obviously the biggest reason for his spot on the list, but he did his best to step his game up. He busted out some new offense and while most of it isn't technically pretty (that springboard stunner is still hideous), I give him props for trying new things. Also, taking the apron powerbomb after allowed Owens to keep some heat despite the loss. Cena is doing really good for the WWE this year and I hope it continues. He just needs to put Owens over in the rubber match so we don't get the same old thing we've seen countless times.

3) Sheamus: Man, people were pissed about Sheamus winning Money in the Bank. I saw as many negative posts about that as I did Game of Thrones fans after that finale. In my mind, besides Roman Reigns, Sheamus was the best choice. He's been great as the bully heel. I'm not sure that he successfully cashes in since there is only one world title now, but this is still a big win for him. He adds it to his long list of accomplishments that includes two WWE Titles, a World Title, two US Titles, a King of the Ring and a Royal Rumble.

4) Kurt Angle: I have expressed the fact that I dislike TNA putting the title on Angle before. That hasn't changed, but the guy has put on consistently good matches with it. This week, he had two successful TNA World Title defenses in one episode. First, Angle defeated Rockstar Spud, who I am happy to see get a shot since he's been great as of late. Then, Austin Aries used his Feast or Fired briefcase to get his title shot. Aries joined a list of people to unsuccessfully cash that in. Seriously, nobody has been able to successfully cash in the World Title briefcase. Anyway, Angle put on two good matches, winning both and adding to a good reign. Hopefully it ends to EC3 very soon though.

5) Prime Time Players: The WWE has played hot potato with the Tag Team Titles lately and the Prime Time Players are the latest benefactors. Kidd and Cesaro and New Day were both red hot when they dropped the belts so I wasn't hoping for a change here. However, it was still a cool moment to see. Darren Young and Titus O'Neil honestly should have been champions way back in 2012 but we had to wait through a break up, reformation and three years to get it. I don't think they were the best option for champs, but they deserve to make this list.

Raw Cleveland Review

With Raw about 40 minutes from me, I was planning on going but went to NXT instead. Let's see if I would come to regret that. Seth Rollins opened things to thank himself for his success and brag about beating Dean Ambrose. This obviously led to Dean coming out and a brawl. Seth escaped but Dean staged a sit down strike. This went through three segments and led to Sheamus coming out with his Money in the Bank briefcase. We're literally 30 minutes and nothing has really happened. Sheamus and Ambrose had a match, through yet another commercial break. I feel like there were so many of those tonight. Randy Orton appeared to distract Sheamus and allow Dean to win. So our Money in the Bank winner can't beat a man with one leg and we may be getting an Orton/Sheamus program. That sounds terrible and I want no part of it.

After some backstage shenanigans between Seth and J&J, King What's Up comes out. He's wearing an aluminum foil crown and a bed sheet. He gets on commentary before being told he's in the match. For the second time in 24 hours, Truth goes over King Barrett. This one took 22 seconds. Barrett attacked him after but it's still bad booking. We reach the end of a dull hour one, but it's Kevin Owens time! He cuts a promo on John Cena and their match at Money in the Bank. Owens felt disrespected when Cena shook his hand. His heel level is like 1000. He issues an open challenge,which Dolph Ziggler answers. Owens says it's non-title and they work a good 15 minute match. Owens survived whatever was thrown at him and won with the popup powerbomb. Easily the best thing so far.

Our next segment begins with Paige holding a meeting for the rest of the Divas backstage. She wants them to band together against the Bellas but none of them listen. We move to Kane vs. Randy Orton. I literally could not have cared less about this. Then Sheamus showed up and I cared less. Kane won because of the Sheamus distraction. Blah. Big Show takes on Miz next in a dull match that Miz won via countout. Ryback attacked after the match and this is all leading to a Triple Threat match that I don't care for. The best thing about this was Ryback on commentary. Next, we get a promo from Roman Reigns, which he was fine in because he kept it short and simple. Bray appeared on the tron and cut one of his usual promos. This seemed like it was going nowhere until Bray pulls out a photo of Roman and his daughter. That instantly made this more personal and, for now at least, more interesting than most Bray feuds.

Paige took on the Bellas in a handicap match next. They've been building towards Paige getting help against them and this seemed set up for that, but it never happened. The main roster didn't help and I assumed it was time for Charlotte or an NXT girl to debut with the save but the Bellas just won. Disappointing to say the least. Next, Cleveland's own Machine Gun Kelly came out to perform. As usual with him and performances on Raw, it sucked. However, Kevin Owens appeared on stage to sarcastically clap for him. They trade words and MGK shoves him. Bad move dude. Owens kicks him and powerbombs him off the stage. That instantly makes this a must see Raw despite the rest of the show being lackluster. That's what MGK gets for being John Cena's boy.

A six man tag would end up being the main event of the night before a closing segment. The Prime Time Players teamed up with Neville to defeat the New Day. This was fine stuff. We get some backstage stuff where Dean Ambrose tells Kane that he should be the monster again. Yea, we've been through this and we know it's coming. To close the show, Triple H and Stephanie come out to announce who Seth Rollins' opponent will be at Battleground. Out comes Seth and Triple H does his trademark "let's draw out this promo for longer than it needs to be with extra unneeded words. He finally revealed that Brock Lesnar will be his opponent. The crowd popped for this as Brock showed up with a Suplex City Cleveland shirt. It was pretty great. Seth sold being scared perfectly. I'm surprised this will be at Battleground and not SummerSlam but I'm okay with it. In the end, this wasn't the best of Raws. The first hour was pretty bland and uneventful but it picked up after. Brock showing up, Owens/Ziggler and Owens killing MGK was all good stuff. However, it's hard to give it a good score all things considered. 5/10.

Money in the Bank Review

On the Kickoff Show, R-Truth beat King Barrett because Barrett is a jobber. Anyway, to open the main show we got the actual Money in the Bank match. It started fun with a brawl and everyone trying to win which was cool. Coming into the match, I said that this was one of the weaker fields in this match's history and that proved right. I'm not saying this was bad but it wasn't up to par with past ones. Roman Reigns spent a lot of time outside, looking like he would pull a Royal Rumble again, where he barely performs and wins. He got close to winning only for Bray Wyatt to appear and take him out. So there goes a feud that Bray will lose yet again. Sheamus came in and went for the briefcase but Neville nearly stopped him. Sheamus knocked him down and retrieved the briefcase. He was the second best choice to win behind Reigns. I don't know if he'll win the belt down the line, but I'm also not a big fan of the idea behind Reigns/Bray. The match went about 21 minutes and was good, not great. ***1/4

Time for the Divas division to get some shine as Nikki Bella defended the belt against Paige. On the main roster, the best matches all year from Divas have been between Nikki Bella and Paige. One on Main Event and one on Raw. The Divas matches on PPV when involving Naomi were just flat out not very good. Here, Nikki and Paige did very well with their time and put on the best PPV main roster Divas match of 2015. The Bellas pulled twin magic, but it backfired as Paige pinned Brie to win the belt. The pop was pretty big but then Brie pulled out her bra stuffing to reveal that she's not Nikki. Paige kicks her, Nikki sneaks in and hits the Rack Attack to retain after 11 minutes. Good match but a shit finish. Why was there no DQ called? How could Nikki win after the bell rang? There was no restart. It's just lazy and illogical. I don't mind Paige/Nikki continuing because it's the best Divas rivalry we can get right now, but this was a poor ending. **3/4

Our third contest of the evening was for the Intercontinental Championship. Ryback defended against Big Show in a match that was really hard to care about. I'm not as against Ryback with the Intercontinental Title as some people are, but his first defense should not be against Big Show unless it's just to have Ryback Shell Shock him impressively. The Miz came out beforehand to cut a promo on Ohio and these two guys. He sat at ringside and after a few minutes of a dull match, he jumped in to cause the disqualification. I don't even know what's going on with the IC Title division right now. This was a TV finish that was used on PPV and I am not at all a fan. *1/4

On a show with two big time ladder matches, none is bigger than Owens vs. Cena II. John Cena was in rare form tonight, busting out moves that I've never seen him do before, even using Yoshi Tonic. Owens got to do the five moves of doom and they played off their first match. My only gripe with the match was there were a few too many false finishes on big moves. While it makes both guys look like supermen, it also hurts the moves being done. Even with that though, this was still a really good match. Cena was able to even the score as expected and wanted to raise Owens' hand out of respect after. Owens did so, only to kick him out of the ring and destroy him with the apron powerbomb. They went just under 20 minutes and despite losing, Owens looked great and left with both titles. Another great match between these two, though not as good as their first encounter. ****

The Tag Team Titles were defended next as Xavier Woods and Big E took on the Prime Time Players. Obviously from the photo I used, the Players captured the belts. I don't get this move. I like them, but there was barely any build for this. I get that New Day didn't have the advantage they would normally have, but still. I don't think I would have taken the belts off of New Day when they're one of the best acts in the company currently. The match itself was kind of just there and kept rather short at just about six minutes. It was an acceptable match, but nothing noteworthy except for the title change and to show that Titus O'Neil is kind of a beast. **

Before the final match, Seth Rollins got a major pep talk backstage from Triple H. This led to our main event, which got 36 minutes. I didn't expect that much but they did well with it. This was not the high spot ladder match that we've become accustomed to. It was a brutally smart ladder match, in the same vein as Rock/Triple H from SummerSlam 1998. I was happy about that because it's not something we've seen often. There were big bumps like Dean being powerbombed into the barricade and Seth powerbombing him onto ladders and chairs. Dean had his leg worked on but he didn't sell it enough for my taste, running around like a madman still. The end came as Seth and Dean both pulled the belt down, but the match was awarded to Seth. I appreciated that Seth actually looked vicious and won with no outside bullshit in a great match. ****. In the end, I'd give this show a middle of the pack score. I don't think it was very good but it's hard to give a bad score to a show that had two four star matches. It was a good in ring show with some shoddy booking decisions. 6/10.

Money in the Bank Predictions

Why is this match happening? Seriously, does anyone know? They are just straight up getting lazy with the Kickoff Show now. As much as they like to job out Barrett, this is one that he should win.

Winner: King Barrett

You have no idea how happy it makes me to see Big E and Xavier Woods team up here. I enjoy Kofi Kingston in the team, but these two have been the MVPs of New Day in my eyes. It's also a pairing we don't see often, so I appreciate that. The last few Pay-Per-Views, I've been right in saying they wouldn't drop the belts because of how good they've been in their roles. I didn't see them losing to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro or the Lucha Dragons, so I definitely don't see them losing to the Prime Time Players. They has barely been any build. Maybe down the road they can win it, but not here.

Winners: The New Day

I am very happy that Naomi is out of the title picture. Nikki Bella and Paige have better chemistry together than pretty much any other Divas on the main roster. They have had a match on Raw and one on Main Event that I would consider the best main roster Divas matches this year. I assume this will be the best Divas PPV match since WrestleMania, though that isn't saying much. I suspect Nikki retains through "Twin Magic" or something like that. I see her breaking AJ Lee's record reign before Charlotte debuts and dethrones her.

Winner: Nikki Bella

Who let Big Show back into the company? And who the hell put him in a title match? Granted, this should absolutely be here so Ryback can Shell Shock Big Show and keep the title, but still. This was the World Heavyweight Title match we should have gotten at WrestleMania 29. I know that on paper, this looks like it will be pretty bad, but I actually saw these two work a singles match at NXT in Columbus. Guess what? It was solid. They hit each other hard and Ryback Shell Shocking him was a sight to see. Ryback retains because that's what needs to happen.

Winner: Ryback

The match that everyone is looking forward to the most. Kevin Owens and John Cena had the best singles match on the main roster all year at Elimination Chamber. Owens beating Cena clean was fantastic. However, if he just loses here and loses the potential rematches, it's all for naught. I think the best move is for Owens to win again here, cementing himself as a new top guy, especially since it looks like he'll be dropping the NXT Title on the 4th of July in Tokyo. Owens NEEDS to win here. But, I've said that before about Cena feuds with Bray Wyatt, Rusev, Wade Barrett, etc. I know that some people high up feel that Owens should win, but until I'm proven wrong, I'm going with Cena. I absolutely hope I'm wrong though.

Winner: John Cena

I have to admit, this is probably one of the weaker Money in the Bank fields in history. What I mean by that, is there isn't a lot of potential when it comes to winners. Dolph Ziggler, Kane and Randy Orton aren't winning one again. Kofi Kingston has no shot. I would like to see Neville, but I think he's here to steal the show with his aerial ability before moving onto a midcard title possibly. Sheamus is a small possibility, but Roman Reigns is pretty much the obvious choice. The match should be relatively fun despite the rather obvious outcome.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Since WrestleMania, this has been the hardest title match to figure out. You see, I don't really think Seth Rollins' run as Champion should end soon, but I also have seen the way he's been booked lately and it hasn't been good. On the other hand, I don't think they are ready to give Dean Ambrose a real run with the top title, but I sense they may go the the shocking route. He wins and Roman Reigns, who wins Money in the Bank, cashes in on him. I'm not sure if they're ready to turn Reigns heel either but I'm going with the fun prediction.

Winner: Dean Ambrose, then Roman Reigns cashes in successfully

2015 Prediction Record: 27-17
2014 Prediction Record: 22-18 (Only five PPVs)

NXT Columbus Report

Time for news from NXT Columbus. First things first, this arena actually had air conditioning, though it seemed like it was turned off after intermission.

We had another ten bell salute for Dusty Rhodes before going into a very similar card.

Enzo and Cass, this time with Carmella, took on the Vaudevillains. They worked a similar match to the night before but changed it up. Instead of a chicken fight, they worked an impromptu boxing fight between Aiden English and Enzo Amore. Enzo and Cass won in the same fashion as Cleveland. Also, before the show we were given "Gotch Dollars" to throw when Simon Gotch posed. It was fake money with Simon Gotch in a weird hat on it.

Bull Dempsey defeated Jason Jordan in another match similar to the night before in Cleveland. They added a few different spots where Jordan challenged Bull to do push ups and sit ups. Nothing special again. This actually kind of killed the crowd as they were quieter than usual until intermission after being red hot during the opener.

Third, Blake and Murphy again defended the Tag Team Titles against Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder. Again, this was very similar to Cleveland with a few different spots. Zack ate the pin after Blake and Murphy's finisher. Mojo got to kiss Alexa again, prompting a "No means no" chant. When she slapped him for it, it got a huge pop. BAMF's pink and black attire was excellent.

Our final match before intermission featured Sasha Banks defending the Women's Title against Charlotte. It was basically the same thing as the night before. The fans were kind of dead but woke up for Charlotte's excellent ring apron figure four spot. Sasha retained in another great match. These two don't have bad matches.

After intermission, we got a tag team match pitting Bayley and Carmella against Dana Brooke and Emma. Emma was way over. She got chants during her entrance and everything. Bayley is still an absolute joy to watch. I might have enjoyed it this time around more than at Cleveland. Tons of fun.

Here is where the card changed. We had no Rhyno this time so Baron Corbin instead took on Tyler Breeze. Corbin got more heat than anyone else on the show, while Breeze was very over. Corbin looked good working as the monster heel. Breeze was in top form as usual. There were "not the face" chants when he got hit there. Breeze won with the Beauty Shot in a fun match. Some little kid got into an argument with a fan and basically cut a promo on him. It was kind of funny.

Our main event was a Triple Threat match where Kevin Owens defended the NXT Title against Samoa Joe and Finn Balor. All three guys were super over and delivered in the ring. Owens did Cena's five moves of doom again and there was a fair amount of action involving Balor and Joe. Surprisingly, Joe ate the pin after Owens hit the popup powerbomb. Another excellent main event.

NXT Cleveland Report

NXT ran their second show in Cleveland, and I had the pleasure of attending both. Here are some notes from the show.

The Agora Theater was much more organized this time around. Last time was a mess but they seem to have corrected that. The biggest issue was the lack of air conditioning.

We got stuck sitting next to the worst kind of fans. These dudes kept trying to get themselves over in the worst way. They saw ring announcer Dasha and chanted "show your tits" before trying to start a "Chris Benoit" chant later in the show. It got really bad during the Divas tag as there were some EXTREMELY derogatory chants going on, including "Eat Her Pussy". They obviously didn't catch on.

William Regal was out first to a huge pop. He led a ten bell salute for Dusty Rhodes. Dusty tributes were a theme for the night.

The opener was Enzo and Cass vs. The Vaudevillains. This was a blast. From a chicken fight to Cass' Bionic Elbow to the Vaudevillains doing squats in the middle of a move, I laughed a ton during this. Enzo and Cass won. After the match, all four guys hugged it out and did tributes to Dusty. Gotch and English even got in on the S-A-W-F-T stuff.

Next up, Bull Dempsey took on Jason Jordan. The crowd didn't care for either guy. Jordan's tron features his old gimmick and haircut, so it seems like the NXT producers were like "we should probably change that, but who really cares?". Bull played the fat man who couldn't run game again, but surprisingly got the crowd behind him. It was hard to focus on the match when all you could see was a very distracting umm "shape" in Jordan's crotch area. Bull won a pretty dull match.

Rhyno took on Baron Corbin next. It was similar to their match at Unstoppable. Baron got monster heat, which again, he seemed to enjoy. He egged on the chants and just seems way more comfortable as a heel. I really enjoyed it. Baron won with the End of Days. He attacked after the match, only to get Gored to a huge pop. Again, a decent match.

We are told the next match is a Divas tag match. Bayley comes out a huge ovation. My friend Bash was front row in a Bayley shirt and his goal was to get a hug from her. It happened. Dana Brooke came out next to nothing but boos. She did have family in an opera box, who were trying to get the fans to cheer her but it failed. Emma was out next in full heel mode. There was a fan with down syndrome that a lot of people stopped to hug but Emma straight dissed him. #EVILEMMA! She got in the ring and cut a promo about how Bayley has no friends and that this would be 2 on 1. Carmella came out to join Bayley. They did Bionic Elbows and Carmella revealed a Bayley shirt! Much like the opener, this was nothing but fun. All four girls worked hard, though Dana was the worst again. Carmella made Emma tap to her finisher to get the win.

Intermission time. After that, we got three title matches. First, Blake and Murphy, with Alexa Bliss, defended against Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder. BAMF didn't get much of a reaction, while Ryder was hugely popular and Mojo got booed. Another fun solid match here. Mojo got to kiss Alexa, who sold it like it grossed her out. Maybe it did, who knows? Ryder looked really good, like being with the NXT guys has rejuvenated him. Good to see that he's motivated or at least having fun. Blake and Murphy won with their finisher on Mojo.

The NXT Women's Championship match followed. We all thought Becky Lynch would be involved, but surprisingly, she was absent from the show. Instead, we got the classic Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte match. I had yet to see it one on one live and it delivered. Great stuff as these two simply cannot have a bad match. Sasha was hugely over, especially when she hit some of her signature moves. They got the crowd standing when Charlotte had the Figure Four in, but didn't break it at Sasha reached the ropes. Instead she held on and crawled outside. Basically, she did the ring post figure four, but on the apron instead of the corner. Sasha retained with the Bank Statement. Match of the night so far.

We got the main event from Pittsburgh the night before. Kevin Owens defending the NXT Title against Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and Tyler Breeze in a Fatal Four Way. In order of how popular everyone was goes like this 1) Owens, 2) Balor, 3) Joe, 4) Breeze. There was an "Everybody" chant. The fans sung "John Cena Sucks", so Owens got on the mic and said that soon, we won't see John Cena anymore. He was excellent here, exiting the ring instantly before attacking Joe. This led to them coming to blows to a huge pop. He was hilarious as he got Tyler to team with him. He told Tyler to suplex Joe at the same time that he suplexes Balor. Of course, Joe was too big for Tyler so Owens hit his and then looked at Tyler in disappointment. He shouted "FINE I GUESS I'LL HELP YOU" and they did a double suplex. Tyler didn't want to high five him because he's gross, but Owens made him. As the fans chanted "this is wrestling", Owens looked out and started applying to chinlocks to everyone who entered. He even put Finn and Tyler in a double chinlock. This was fast paced and never missed a beat. The finishing sequence was breathtaking. It would be hard to go into detail but it was ridiculous. Owens retained with a popup powerbomb on Breeze. After the match, Balor and Joe looked like they would fight, but Balor "too sweeted" him and stayed with the fans to close things.

Overall, a really fun show. It only clocked in at just over two hours so it was shorter than I expected. That's probably for the best though considering how hot it was in the arena. Match of the night ended up being the main event.

Check out my Twitter, @the_kevstaaa for more photos.

Smackdown 6/11/15 Review

Smackdown in Lafayette begins with Dean Ambrose coming to the ring carrying the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Of course, he also has Mardi Gras beads around his neck. Seth Rollins interrupts and Dean hands over the title. However, he then reveals that it's just a replica he bought at the concession stand because he lost the real belt somewhere between New Orleans and Lafayette. Classic Ambrose. He says he'll retrace his steps and bring it to Money in the Bank, where he'll win it. He leaves through the crowd before Kane comes out. This leads to Kane and Seth bickering because Kane has to make Seth look like a bitch at every turn. This was your typical opening segment, but it was better than usual due to Seth and Dean's chemistry.

Our first match in a non-title bout between Intercontinental Champion Ryback and the Miz. I still would like to point out that Miz is a fantastic heel still. This goes just over five minutes, with the highlight being a stalling suplex. Ryback wins and then Big Show comes out. I have no interest in this program still. He claims Ryback is no match for him. That's all. Nothing more happens. Next, R-Truth is on commentary as his opponent for Sunday, King Barrett is in action. He goes one on one with Jack Swagger. I feel like I haven't seen Swagger on television in months. Barrett wins in about two minutes, picking up a rare televised win. Lana gets interviewed by Michael Cole but is cut off by Rusev. He yells at her in typical Rusev fashion. I like him as the monster who is also a jaded ex, but it's become the same thing over and over.

Seth Rollins takes on Dolph Ziggler next, in a match I feel like I've seen 100 times. Despite this, these are two guys who always manage to at least deliver a good match. This was their standard solid stuff and Seth wins by pulling the tights. I still don't get why Seth has to be booked like shit. Paige takes on Alicia Fox in our next match. They surprisingly get nearly five minutes and work decent with it. Fox and Paige are both solid, but this was seemingly just going through the motions. The Prime Time Players get interviewed about their upcoming Tag Team Title shot at Money in the Bank. It's fine stuff and they mock the New Day clap with "Prime...Time Players". I think that match on Sunday should be solid.

With Ziggler already competing, the remaining six MITB participants had a 6 man tag match. Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Neville took on Kane, Sheamus and Kofi Kingston. This was a fun contest that unfortunately ended via disqualification when New Day got involved. A big brawl erupts and Neville climbs a ladder in the ring. He takes out everyone with a beautiful cross body. The show ends with Neville climbing up and retrieving the briefcase. In the end, this wasn't a good episode of Smackdown. While Seth/Dolph was solid, we've seen it a ton. Besides that, the only things worth it are the Dean/Seth interaction and Neville's close to the show. Let's go with a 3/10.