Main Event Report 8-19-14

The United States Champion Sheamus opens episode 99 of Main Event. It looks like he'll be facing Curtis Axel, who I know has no chance but I feel at least will be able to put on a good match. Michael Cole is on Main Event now? What the hell? I'm so tired of his stupid voice and now I have to hear it on three different shows? Good lord. Cesaro surprises everyone by coming out in a suit to join commentary. He calls himself Mr. International and it looks like they have no clue what his character should be. Cesaro did a good job on commentary and made sure to put over both guys. I love when Main Event starts with a good match and we got that here. After about ten minutes, Sheamus wins with the Brogue Kick. Cesaro tossed the title into Sheamus and walked off with a smirk.

Triple H has a huge announcement that John Cena has chosen to submit his request for a rematch with Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions. John Cena winning the belt back would be absolutely pointless but I don't see Brock destroying him again. Time for HEELNikki Bella who is still rocking the same theme song and pandering to the crowd. Of course we're forced to watch the stupid recap of Nikki's heel turn again. Nikki will be facing Emma and these two Divas got a solid five minutes to work with. They made sure to do the best with it and we got one of Nikki's best matches ever. She got "you sold out" chants but still managed to overcome it and win with her finisher that I don't know the name of. 

Big Show and Mark Henry get interviewed by the lovely Renee Young about Show's match with Erick Rowan later. It's nothing special. We get a recap of the Triple H announcement that we just heard like eight minutes ago. John Cena returns to Raw this Monday as well so I'm sure we'll hear that even though he took a huge beating, HE FEARS NOTHING AND REGRETS LESS! It's fine though because things just stepped up on Main Event as I see SLATER GATOR! They'll be in action against Los Matadores as one of the members is back from injury. I'm not sure. Hornswoggle has decided that if you can't beat them, join them as he accompanies Los Matadores to the ring in a cow outfit. The match is fun, Hornswoggle gets involved, there's some comedy and some high flying before Slater Gator wins it! THE STREAK LIVES! However, the best is the interview that Slater and Titus cut on the WWE App. Go find it.

Renee Young goes to interview Seth Rollins and it goes a lot better than it did on Raw. No ice bucket challenge because Dean Ambrose is dead. Seth blames the fans for choosing the Falls Count Anywhere stipulation but I mean, they had to choose between that, No DQ and No Holds Barred. Seth says that Dean is like other heroes including John Cena, Chris Jericho and Jack Swagger because he lost. Swagger interrupts and they will face for the first time I believe on Smackdown. I'm looking forward to that. Much more than the scheduled RVD vs. Randy Orton match. Big Show and Erick Rowan did main event and we got a decent little match. Show was in control for the most part but it was two brutes beating each other up and that was alright. 

So, I really enjoyed Main Event tonight. Four good matches that kept me entertained throughout, plus a major announcement from Triple H. This is how I like my Main Event. 8/10. Both Countdown and WrestleMania Rewind were reruns so I won't recap them tonight.

Raw Report 8-19-14

Raw opened with the theme of Daniel Bryan to a massive pop. But of course, it's Stephanie McMahon with her variation of the "Yes! Yes! Yes!" shirt. Man, she can draw heat. She thanks her husband, plugs the network, recaps SummerSlam and introduces NIkki in this promo. She brings out Nikki, who is wearing black because she's a heel now. Nikki doesn't mention the specifics that Brie quit the WWE for her husband and left her alone but she does mention that Brie has always been the selfish sister and that while Brie is married, she married the goat faced Bryan. Brie comes out with a black eye that rivals Nikki's boobs in how fake it is. Brie is sad and would forgive her sister, but Nikki slaps her down. Not the best opening segment in the world. Stephanie starting the show is good but the Bellas are both pretty terrible actresses.

Because it's the WWE, we have to get an IMMEDIATE recap of what he literally just saw. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan would be facing Big Show and Mark Henry next. This was a solid tag team match that would be won by Henry and Show. I know I said that I wanted the Usos to retain at Battleground against Harper and Rowan, but not if it means that they start losing to teams like Show and Henry that nobody wants to see or care about. The Wyatt Family should be carefully booked and handled but the WWE doesn't seem to know what to do with them at all. Show and Henry are soon to be in line for a shot I guess. Ho hum.

Backstage, Ric Flair is getting something he wants as he's talking to Dolph Ziggler about the roll he's been on. The Miz comes up because he's still upset. Flair "woos", Dolph calls the Miz an A-Hole and not an A-Lister and there will be a rematch tonight. What happened to Flair being cool with the Miz? Anyway, cutting to another segment, Renee Young is interviewing Seth Rollins. While she stands there looking beautiful, Seth Rollins suddenly gets a bucket of ice water poured on him! ALSICEBUCKETCHALLENGE! He turns around to find Dean Ambrose poured it and Ambrose nails him with the bucket. He shrugs and says "What? It's for charity." Fun stuff.

Natalya is in the ring when the Divas Champion arrives to face her. Paige still loves AJ and dedicates the match to her "little AJ". A short and decent Divas match follows and Paige comes close to victory until AJ's theme hits. The former champion skips around the ring, distracting Paige and allowing Nattie to roll her up and win. AJ gets on the microphone to give Paige a dose of her own medicine by saying that she loves her, respects her and wants to shake her hands. AJ's crazy eyes cause Paige to leave the ring to avoid this. Ambrose and Rollins will have a match tonight and the fans can choose the stipulation. It's either No DQ, No Holds Barred or Falls Count Anywhere. So basically, it's the same match three times.

Next, it's time to present the new WWE Title, which has the new logo, to Brock Lesnar. This is a segment that is pretty basic so I won't get too into it. Paul Heyman puts over how John Cena's run at the top has lasted longer than it has for Rock, Austin and others. He calls this basic Brockenomics and that it was "Eat, Sleep, Suplex, Repeat." Heyman's delivery is perfect. The Intercontinental Title match follows and part of me was worried that Dolph Ziggler was going to get a 24 hour title reign but Miz ends up winning via disqualification. It was a good match and the crowd was totally into it. I guess this is going to continue.

Jack Swagger is out next to try and avenge his loss last night. He's facing his former partner Cesaro, in a match that has happened twice in the past month and one that nobody would've expected Swagger to win a few months ago. Surprisingly, Cesaro does win this with the Neutralizer as maybe Swagger's push is over. I still don't believe that Cesaro's is going to start again. Bo Dallas comes out after the match and says that 318 million Americans were let down by Swagger. Zeb Colter isn't there for some reason and Bo says that Jack can get Zeb back and turn things around if he just Bolieves.

Time for an interesting six man tag team match. Randy Orton teamed with Rybaxel against Roman Reigns, Sheamus and Rob Van Dam. Ah, the tag team match, where Reigns shines the most. This got a lot of time and was a lot of fun. The Las Vegas crowd seemed to LOVE Ryback. The FEED ME MORE chant was louder than anything that Roman Reigns got. Despite Ryback being insanely over, a Spear followed by a Five Star Frog Splash was enough to put down Randy Orton. I'm surprised that Orton would eat the pin here when he's partnered with a team who loses very often. After the match, we also get a Bray Wyatt promo. It's too intricate for me to really go into here but it's some of the usual stuff from him.

The Usos were out to face the Dust Brothers. It's about damn time we get this and I need Stardust and Goldust on television much more often. They put on a fun little match where Cody Rhodes again rocked that Stardust character like it's nobody's business. The Dust Brothers would actually win with a rollup so maybe they will be next in line for a title shot. Rusev and Lana arrive after a commercial break and unfortunately, Lana is not sporting the white suit that she wore at SummerSlam. They are interrupted by Mark Henry of all people. He gets right in Rusev's face as the "USA" chants are loud. Henry ends up hitting Rusev with the World's Strongest Slam and splashes him while Lana looks on worried. I guess the Henry/Show team isn't going far.

It looks like we're going to get a long main event and it's Falls Count Anywhere between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Let me just say that last night's Lumberjack Match was the best Lumberjack Match in history. However, it was nothing compared to this. This was two guys who hate each other going balls to the wall and it showed. Ambrose and Rollins are the absolute future. They use kendo sticks and other weapons. Ambrose throws like eight chairs into the ring and wants to superplex Seth onto them but it gets countered and Rollins hits a power bomb onto them! And only gets two. Seriously, I'm not even going to try and mention every awesome spot in this match as you need to go out and watch it. Like now. Kane gets involved and chokeslams Ambrose on a table that doesn't break. Seth follows with the Blackout on the table before Kane reveals a bunch of cinder blocks. Seth does the Blackout again but onto the cinder blocks. The referee stops the match because Dean Ambrose might be dead.

Much better than the go home show for SummerSlam. The Ambrose/Rollins match honestly gives this show an entire extra point or so. That was insane and can be up there for Raw match of the year. The opening segment was rough, but everything on the show seemingly built to something except for the opening tag match. So basically, after the first two segments, the show was pretty badass. 7.5/10.

SummerSlam Review

About a day or two before SummerSlam, they added Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam to the pre-show. In a match between two guys who are pretty irrelevant, we got a better than expected contest. Cesaro always seems to deliver in the ring and this was no different. He hit a flurry of uppercuts and nearly won when RVD jumped off the top into a big one. However, my prediction was right when I said that it's not wise to pick Cesaro until he wins one because he lost to a Five Star Frog Splash here. Good stuff, even if it was two guys that are going nowhere. ***

To start the actual Pay-Per-View, the Intercontinental Championship was on the line. Now, I completely expected The Miz to retain here due to him having a character and the promotion for the Marine 4. However, Dolph Ziggler surprised many of us when he pulled out the win and became the new Intercontinental Champion. The match was a good back and forth battle with neither guy really gaining a big upper hand at any point. Miz again did his best to avoid being hit in the "moneymaker", which makes for some fun moments. It would've been better had Miz faced someone who's finisher actually targeted his face, but I still enjoyed this and it was a good opener. ***

The match that I might have been looking forward to more than any other followed as Paige went one on one with AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. Paige was sporting new red ring gear, which was pretty great looking. This was a vast improvement on their Battleground match. They disappointed on that night and botched a bunch. This was better and I wouldn't be a straight male if I didn't point out Paige crawling over AJ in a pretty sexual way. ITS SUPPOSED TO BE PG! Paige would get caught in the Black Widow and countered it into the RamPaige DDT, which is sweet. She became the first woman to win the Divas Title twice in the same year. After the match, she hugged AJ and told her how much she loved her. **3/4

A Flag match with no flags followed. Jack Swagger got the fancy entrance with marines following him to the ring with American flags. He attacked Rusev before the match and put on the Ankle Lock. Rusev is hurt and doesn't want to start but is forced to start anyway. He sells the ankle injury like an absolute champ throughout the whole match. Swagger comes close to winning as he applies the Ankle Lock again, but Rusev manages to survive and forces Swagger to pass out to the Accolade. I think this should've been a Flag on a pole match, so Swagger could win for the USA and Rusev could stay undefeated. The match wasn't bad though thanks for the great selling. ***

Well, I was not looking forward to a Lumberjack match at all, but of course, because Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are incredible, they made it work. Normally in a Lumberjack match, the heels outside leave the heel alone but not here. Everyone hated both Seth and Dean and things were wild. The match spilled into the crowd and they teased a bit spot there. Seth tried to escape but was stopped by the face Lumberjacks. We did get a nice spot where Ambrose suplexed Rollins onto the Lumberjacks. He eventually hits Seth with Seth's own move, the Blackout, but Kane interfered to stop the pin. Goldust, being the badass that he is, gets in Kane's face and levels him. All of the Lumberjacks enter and a huge brawl ensues. This allows Seth to get his briefcase and lay out Dean to win. Very hectic and fun match but I expect more from this and an even better match. ***1/2

Chris Jericho would meet Bray Wyatt in another rematch of a match that disappointed at Battleground. Throughout this bout, Jericho developed a weird bruise of sorts on his leg. I enjoyed this more than their Battleground match, but it still wasn't as good as it could've been. Honestly, besides his Royal Rumble match with Daniel Bryan, Bray hasn't done much to wow me in the ring. I mean, his Payback Last Man Standing match was fun but it was meant to be a big clusterfuck. Things were a bit slow but they picked up near the end and Bray was able to survive a Codebreaker before winning with Sister Abigail. Good stuff. ***

If ever there was a heel turn that was telegraphed from a mile away, it was Nikki Bella. But that's not a complaint. It's a heel turn that makes sense. Brie Bella chose her boyfriend over her sister. But enough about the heel turn, the real story of the match was Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie hasn't wrestled in over a decade and was better than a good 90% of the Divas roster. She looked fantastic and was easily the MVP of this contest. Not only did she show love to Ronda Rousey at ringside, but she controlled the match and did a great job. Triple H arrived and Brie put Steph in the Yes Lock. He pulled out the ref and sold the hell out of a dropkick from Brie. Nikki enters and lays out her sister, allowing Stephanie to beat her. They kept the crowd into it and did a good job, which is all you could ask for. **1/2

I've mentioned here before that I'm just not feeling the Roman Reigns mega push the way that the WWE wants me to. His match here with Randy Orton should have felt like a big deal but it didn't. It honestly felt like filler and like we were all just waiting for the main event. Roman actually started to get a mixed reaction as some of the crowd turned towards Randy. I don't know if this is just an LA thing or if it's because some people are starting to dislike the Roman uber push. We got a TON of rest holds early on and Reigns still pretty much has like four moves. The finishing sequence saved this match though as Reigns kicked out of a huge RKO. I dislike how finishing moves don't finish matches all the time. Anyway, Reigns wins with a Spear. **1/2

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match had a big fight feel. It felt like something big was about to go down. What followed was unexpected. Now, I knew that John Cena was going to take a beating but I expected it to be similar to Extreme Rules 2012. Instead, Brock Lesnar beat the hell out of John Cena in a way that's never been seen before. He hit 16 German suplexes and John Cena got in about two offensive moves. I'm not exaggerating. He hit an Attitude Adjustment and locked in an STF. This was utter domination. I have to give props to Cena because I doubt another guy in his position in the past would've agreed to a fifteen minute squash match. But for everyone who has disliked seeing John Cena win as often as he does you will always have this match. An absolute beatdown. It was what it needed to be. If a man conquers the Streak, then John Cena shouldn't be a match for him. And he wasn't. ***1/2

Overall: 8/10. This was arguably the best Pay-Per-View since WrestleMania XXX. Look back at the ratings and nothing was bad. Brie/Stephanie and Reigns/Orton got the lowest ratings but they weren't bad matches by any means. Another key is that nothing was filler. Money in the Bank and Payback had too much filler. Every match had people invested in it due to the build and nearly all of them delivered. Plus, the image of Brock Lesnar as WWE Champion is awesome and I can't wait to see where it leads.

SummerSlam Predictions

I'm looking forward to tonight's SummerSlam because it's been very well built. I was excited for Battleground but that show heavily disappointed. I'm about to take a look into the card and give some predictions for the biggest part of the summer.

So, the most recently added match to the card is the Kickoff bout between Rob Van Dam and Cesaro. I don't like the addition of this contest. Remember after WrestleMania when people were trying to predict the big match that Cesaro would get at SummerSlam? Anyway, neither of these guys are really going anywhere and a victory over RVD at this point doesn't do much for Cesaro. I honestly have no clue who wins this, but I'll have to see Cesaro actually win one before I pick him.

Winner: Rob Van Dam

I appreciate the Intercontinental Championship getting some shine on SummerSlam, though I'd rather The Usos get a match here as they've been on fire. A lot of people were pissed to see The Miz win the belt at Battleground, but he's been gold with this character. He's working the "D-Lister who thinks he's an A-Lister" to perfection. I see the Miz being in some sort of spotlight until The Marine 4 comes out and Dolph Ziggler doesn't have anything going on, so there's no reason for him to win, even though people won't like that opinion.

Winner: The Miz

Here we have, by far, the easiest match to predict. Chris Jericho is honestly only back to put over Bray Wyatt and after beating him at Battleground, the only way for this match to go is for Bray to beat him. With Erick Rowan and Luke Harper barred from ringside, Bray should earn a clean victory, much like the one he got at the Royal Rumble over Daniel Bryan. I expect a good match, better than their Battleground effort, and for Bray Wyatt to get a win. Bray desperately needs one after the debacle that was his feud with John Cena.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

Even though the WWE loves their undefeated monsters, I'm going to go out on a limb and pick against Rusev here. Zeb Colter and Lana have stolen the show in this rivalry, but I find that this is a good way for Jack Swagger to get a big win and for Rusev to not eat a pin. They can continue to promote that Rusev has never been pinned and he can win the feud in the end. Jack Swagger and America could use the victory here, make him look good and keep Rusev looking strong. Even if it means we get a post match attack. I like face Real American Jack Swagger as it just seems natural, you know?

Winner: Jack Swagger

So, what happens when you take two of the WWE's top, I don't know, five biggest stars and you put them in a match at SummerSlam? Normally, it's a huge deal. Here, it's the match that I'm LEAST looking forward to. Randy Orton, despite being a good worker when he wants to be, has been so bland for a long time that it hurts to watch. Roman Reigns is billed as the next big thing, but honestly has shown pretty much no personality since he split from the Shield. In fact, keeping the Shield gear and music has hurt him I think. He needs to become his own person. While Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins are the best things going, Reigns is pretty boring. That being said, he's never had a big singles win and he'll get it tonight. It will be interesting to see if Roman can go 20 minutes like this is rumored to go.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Sorry to all of the Total Divas and Bella Twins fans out there, but this is probably not going to end well for you. One would think that Brie Bella has to get revenge on the evil Stephanie McMahon for everything that she's done, but there's another angle to be played here. Brie quit the company for her boyfriend, leaving her sister all alone. Nikki Bella should have some resentment towards that. Brie chose Daniel Bryan over her. Nikki should turn heel here, allow Stephanie to win and we get a build of Bella vs. Bella at Night of Champions. The WWE wants that to be a big show and having the two headliners of Total Divas wrestle on a Pay-Per-View that airs right after Total Divas returns makes sense.

Winner: Stephanie McMahon

My two favorite Divas go at it again. Their first two matches were quick surprise wins and their Battleground match disappointed me greatly. But, I feel like things could get better here. Paige has been an absolute joy to watch in her heel, obsessed with AJ and the Divas Title role, and I think that can bring something to the match that we've yet to see. I originally picked AJ Lee to win this one, but I've changed my mind. I see this lasting a while as no other Diva is really on their level on the main roster and if Paige loses, where does she go from here? Paige should win and this should continue with face AJ chasing the strap.

Winner: Paige

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The Lumberjack Match idea is stupid. It's a lame stipulation for a rivalry that has been red hot. But that's just it. It's red hot. I still want to see this more than any other match on the card. The WWE can do everything they can to make Roman Reigns THE GUY from the Shield but the crowd is already more behind Dean Ambrose because he has personality. Seth Rollins has been very good in his heel role. With this being the first match, I expect Ambrose to kick Seth's ass, but get screwed in the end, leading to rematches down the line. Hell in a Cell anyone?

Winner: Seth Rollins

I won't lie. Part of me can see John Cena overcome the odds yet again and beat Brock Lesnar. Michael Cole will shout that John Cena is the greatest WWE Champion of all time and he'll get a rub that he doesn't need. Point blank, Brock Lesnar NEEDS to win here. I get that he's a part timer but this HAS to happen. It would be something different, which the WWE desperately needs. I respect the hell out of John Cena, but it's the same old shit with him. I know why he gets the belt and I understand it, but the WWE needs a shot in the arm from something like Brock as Champion. It would be heavily disappointing if Cena was to retain.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Smackdown Report 8-15-14

The only thing that was announced beforehand for Smackdown was an edition of MizTV featuring Roman Reigns. I was interested in how this would go since Roman Reigns is not great on the mic just yet. The Miz is sporting an all red outfit, which reminds me of Eva Marie's "all red everything", but the Miz pulls this off. He looks like a movie star and he is rocking this character. Miz brings up the fact that Roman is his mom's favorite Superstar in a callback to a few weeks back. Miz continually cuts off Reigns after trying to play the "mentor" role to him. Reigns punches Miz out from his seat, which was pretty damn funny. HE HIT THE MONEYMAKER THAT SONOFABITCH! Reigns cuts a very short promo on Randy Orton. His stuff was lame but Miz was entertaining.

Next up, we get Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro in a battle of two guys who should be future Superstars. Well, Ambrose is one right now but Cesaro could just never get his character down. Of course, because it's these two guys, we get a very good match. Cesaro will be a lumberjack as he's fallen hard. It goes just under ten minutes and features a good amount of counters, but Ambrose wins with the Dirty Deeds. I wish he had a better finisher. After the match, Seth Rollins comes out to smack talk on Smackdown. He says that he is the future of the WWE and is better than Ambrose. The Lumberjack stipulation is stupid, but the match should be entertaining as hell.

Corporate Kane finds Miz backstage and tells him that he will be facing Roman Reigns in the main event tonight. Anyway, because Dolph Ziggler lost to the WWE's hottest Superstar, Heath Slater, on Raw, he faced the other half of SLATER GATOR tonight! You know, I think that Titus O'Neil has some potential to be a solid mid-card heel or part of an entertaining heel tag team like SLATER GATOR! He does lose here in about three minutes as Dolph gains momentum before his Intercontinental Title match at SummerSlam. Side note, Dolph was again rocking a Miz shirt.

After seeing some more of the build for Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper was set to one on one with Mark Henry. After a few minutes, Erick Rowan runs in and causes the disqualification. Despite getting let go a few months back, the spirit of Teddy Long lives on because this gets turned into a tag team match playa. Now all we need is someone to go one on one with DA UNDATAKAH. I think it blows that The Usos, who have had the best match on two straight Pay-Per-Views, won't be on SummerSlam. Anyway, Show and Henry win, which sucks.

Time for the mandatory look at the Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon feud, which was well built until the poor "Megan" debacle from Raw. Because it's Smackdown, we have to get at least one Raw rematch and tonight it's AJ Lee vs. Eva Marie. Eva Marie ruined my life by pinning AJ on Raw, so tonight, in another short match, she would win, but by countout here. This was of course because of Paige coming out and getting into a brawl outside. That should've caused a disqualification but whatever. Eva escapes AJ after the match this time, which allows Paige to hit the Paige Turner and skip away. Oh man, I hope this delivers at SummerSlam. Quick note, at one point, AJ rips out part of Eva's weave.

Up next, Bo Dallas, who has become less of a focal point of the show since his first loss, suffers another loss. This time, it's to Jack Swagger via submission in about a minute. Of course, Rusev and Lana have to come out and wave the Russian Flag and such. The best part of this was Bo Dallas getting on the microphone after the match and saying that the silly referee thought he was tapping when he was trying to reach the ropes. He forgives the official and leaves. Not bad, but I want to see more Bo Dallas.

Here we go with some non-title action between the Intercontinental Champion The Miz, and Roman Reigns. This was more competitive than I expected, since I figured Reigns would demolish the IC Champion. That wasn't the case as they got about seven minutes. Dolph Ziggler showed up as the Miz tries to bail when Reigns goes for the Superman punch. He sends Miz back in and the Champion eats a Spear to give Reigns a victory. Not a bad match but not really main event worthy. Overall, this was a decent episode of Smackdown. Some of the matches were a bit too short though. 6/10.

NXT & Superstars Report 8-14-14

So, according to Tyler Breeze, tonight the era of the gorgeous one begins. Before we get to Tyler Breeze and his NXT Title shot, the number one contender's Tag Team Tournament must continue. Bull Dempsey and Mojo Rawley, also known as two guys I don't care much for opened things against the always tremendous Vaudevillains. Simon Gotch can supposedly bench 1000 pounds and I totally believe it. He is unbelievably entertaining. They win and advance when Aiden English pins Mojo following their finisher. Good stuff. In a move that everyone saw coming, Bull attacks Mojo after the match. Ugh, they're probably going to have a match at TakeOver. There were hilarious "Thank You Bull" chants for this.

Bayley takes on Sasha Banks to become the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship. Both of these girls would be a step up from Charlotte. These are my two favorite Divas on the NXT roster. Because they are both awesome, the match was really good and featured a lot of near falls. Right about here, my internet connection got all screwy and caused me to miss part of the match which upset me like you wouldn't believe. It comes back on just as Bayley gets the win. I'm okay with this and Bayley needs to win the belt at TakeOver. According to the replay, Sasha had her finisher locked in but Bayley picked up a pin anyway. Kept Sasha strong.

Time for the Luchadors! Kalisto and Sin Cara would compete in the Tag Team Tournament against Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake. I've heard good things about Blake but not much about Murphy. HuniCara isn't the best high flyer, so the fact that Kalisto can do the big flying moves while Cara does lesser things makes this work. Kalisto gets the win for his team as they move on. The Legionaries are interviewed backstage and they are upset about not being in the Tag Team Tournament. I'm not big on them, but they have a good point. I prefer them in the tournament to Bull & Mojo or Zayn & Rose.

Tyler Breeze and his amazing theme music hits as he comes out for the main event. The Champion comes out firing because he's tired of Breeze and his nonsense over the past few weeks. Before the first commercial break, Tyson Kidd came out to the commentary table. FACT. He gets called "Nattie's wife" by the fans. FACT. He doesn't talk on commentary and just scouts the match. FACT. I'm done with that now. Breeze rolled away from the Red Arrow and hit a gorgeous (pun intended) tornado DDT for two. We got a lot of counters and close calls in an awesome main event. Neville hits a suicide dive and Kidd gets very close to the action. For some reason, Neville kicks him in the mouth. He goes for the Red Arrow but Kidd takes him down and causes the disqualification. All three guys rumble until Sami Zayn comes out and takes out both Breeze and Kidd. A great episode of NXT tonight. 8.5/10.

If I have to watch Superstars to get my Emma fix weekly, then so be it. Emma could be such a bigger part of the Divas division if they promoted/built her dance better. It would get more over with the fans, especially the kids. She met Alicia Fox in a very good Divas match. They went back and forth and got a decent amount of time. Fox seemed to be doing a bit of her crazy character even though that was scrapped a while ago. I mean, I guess nobody really watches Superstars right? Emma would win via submission. The main event of Superstars featured another in the endless battle between Adam Rose and Fandango. Rose has replaced Santino as Fandango's lifelong rival. As always between them, this was nothing to write home about Rose wins but the lack of Summer Rae and Layla hurt this. 4/10, because the opening Divas match was at least solid.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Random Network Reviews: ECW Heatwave '98

ECW Heatwave 1998
8/2/98 – Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio – Attendance: 4,440

I've mentioned before that growing up, ECW was the coolest thing in the world for me. Heatwave 1998 was a show that I've fondly remembered and consider it the best ECW Pay-Per-View of all time. Now, from reviews that I've read in the past, this show has a mixed response. Some agree with me, and some say it's overrated. Now, it has been a while since I've seen it so it'll be interesting to see how it holds up and if my view on it changes. 

Joey Styles, my favorite commentator or all time, opens the show as usual in the ring. He won't be alone tonight though as he will be joined in the booth by the ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas and Francine. Two things I want to point out. One, Francine is just wearing underwear and a sheer robe and two, Douglas was in the midst of the second longest arm injury of all time. Only “Cowboy” Bob Orton had a worse one, with Owen Hart in third. 

Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible w/ Chastity, Jason & Nicole Bass
Joey Styles on Bass, “we should call her Russia because she's so much bigger than Chyna.” Credible has his badass “got blood?” shirt. Lynn gets an early sunset flip and cross body for near falls. He gets caught for That's Incredible but counters it. Lynn sends him out with a head scissors and follows with a splash. Francine chimes in dynamite analysis on the match throughout. That was sarcasm by the way. The fans stop to pay attention to something besides the match for a few. Justin hits a powerbomb onto a steel chair for two. He throws Lynn outside, allowing Jason and Bass to beat on him. Back inside, Credible goes for a double axe handle but gets caught with an atomic drop and flapjack. Credible fights back with the Boss Man Slam for two. REST HOLD time as Credible applies a headlock. Lynn breaks out and we get a series of quick near falls before Lynn plants him with a tiger bomb. Top rope hurricanrana gets Lynn another near fall. Lynn gets caught in a mid air powerbomb but ends up hitting a DDT on a steel chair. Chastity puts Justin's foot on the rope when he gets pinned. Big spot time as Lynn hurricanranas Credible from the top through a table outside! Inside, Jason hits Lynn with a steel chair but ends up getting a tiger bomb. Bass attacks him but he low blows her hilariously. Chastity jumps in and takes a tombstone. Lynn places Credible on top and calls for a hurricanrana but gets hit with a low blow. Credible then steals the show with a second rope That's Incredible to end it.

Winner: Justin Credible in 14:36
Good opener. You could tell that they had wrestled a lot by their chemistry. This was spot after spot but it was fun and the finish was great. ***

Chris Candido w/ Tammy Lynn Sytch vs. Lance Storm
This was the return of Tammy Sytch to ECW. Since Candido is sporting Rick Steiner like headgear after an ear injury, he runs around the ring barking which is a nice touch. They give each other clean breaks early on before showing off their athleticism. Chops galore earn “Woos” from the crowd, which I'm sure eats away at Douglas who is quiet through all of this. Storm removes the headgear to expose his surgically repaired ear. Candido dives outside and takes out Storm. Surfboard in the ring works until Storm dropkicks out of it. Tammy trips up Storm but it does nothing because he still gets to Candido. He chases Tammy, which allows Candido to hit the third tiger bomb of the night. British Bulldog like stalling vertical suplex from the former Skip. Storm fights back to get a near fall with a super kick but Candido connects with a neckbreaker. Candido impresses again with a powerslam for two leading Tammy to tell the referee that he sucks. Storm suplexes Candido from in the ring to the outside and you just hear a sick thud as he hits the concrete. Storm springboards out onto him but I'm still in awe of the sound of the suplex. Back inside we get a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Gorilla Monsoon would be proud. Storm hits a superplex and climbs to the top right after with a diving spinning heel kick for two. Storm springboards from the apron and Candido totally telegraphs a powerslam counter. Tammy gives Candido powder but Storm knocks it into his face. Tammy gets in and knocks Storm onto his crotch on the top. The referee and Tammy get into a shoving match, causing Tammy's top to come down. Candido climbs to the top and hits the Blonde Bombshell, which is an impressive top rope powerbomb to win.

Winner: Chris Candido in 11:01
Another good match with another good finish. I don't know how I feel about back to back top rope finishers, but I enjoy both guys and this match. ***1/4

Joey takes us to an incident in the parking lot earlier where New Jack got into a fight with Jack Victory, who he was scheduled to wrestle tonight. The match is canceled for some reason, but I'm not mad about it. We cut to a promo with Bill Alfonso, Rob Van Dam and Sabu. RVD, as always, calls himself three quarters of the Tag Team Champions. Yes, RVD is a double champion here. RVD sneezes the word Hakushi, because Jinsei Shinzaki is Hakushi. RVD had the biggest ego in the world in ECW. 

Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome
I love the matches these two put on. Awesome shows how agile he is with a flying back elbow in the beginning. Awesome catches Tanaka mid leap frog with a belly to belly before hitting a slingshot shoulder block before Hernandez and Sheamus made it cool. Awesome flies over the top like Undertaker which is impressive. Tanaka is a MAN who gets up instantly from a release German suplex. Tanaka runs to the entrance and back before leveling Awesome with a steel chair. Outside they have a sword fight with chairs that Tanaka wins with a shot to the back. Awesome backdrops Tanaka into the front row and then decides to springboard fro the ring into the crowd. This is not a man ladies and gentlemen. They go back to the ring and we get a sitout Awesome Bomb that only gets two. HAVE YOU NOT BEEN WATCHING THIS SHOW? NORMAL POWERBOMBS DONT WIN MATCHES! Awesome Splash from the top only gets two again. Awesome gets a chair and hits Tanaka twice, but he gets up nearly instantly before getting the chair dented on his head for the third shot! He kicks out though. Running release Awesome Bomb is hit and he sets up a table outside. Awesome leaps of the top with a giant chair shot but doesn't cover. He goes for the Awesome Bomb through the the table, but Tanaka wriggles free and powerbombs Awesome through it! OH MY GOD! Awesome kicks out though. Tanaka hits the Roaring Elbow but Awesome kicks out. Tanaka hits a tornado DDT onto two steel chairs to finally earn the win.

Winner: Masato Tanaka in 11:49
Just like all of their other matches, this was badass. Two guys just beating the hell out of each other and it works beautifully. ***1/2

Taz cuts a promo in the back saying that his FTW Title is the only one that means something. Not Austin, not Goldberg and not Mike Tyson. The Taz character is easily one of Paul Heyman's greatest creations. Cut to a Dudleys promo next as Bubba Ray makes it a religious like promo. Good stuff.

ECW World Tag Team Championship
Rob Van Dam and Sabu (c) w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki
I'm going to call him Hakushi for the duration of this match. I also don't get why they don't just dub over RVD's ECW theme with “One of a Kind”. Lots of showboating from RVD, angry stares from Sabu and whistle blowing from Alfonso in the early stages. RVD and Hayabusa have a “who's more athletic” competition but they botch some stuff. Hakushi comes in and completely upstages any Undertaker Old School ever by walking halfway around the ring on the rope. Sabu gets the tag and comes in hot but quickly cools off with some slow offense. Hayabusa gets the tag and they promote a history between these two as Sabu dropkicks the knee and hits the Arabian Press. Hayabusa causes Sabu to take a breather outside. Sabu applies the camel clutch on Hayabusa leading to RVD doing a pointless back flip before dropkicking Hayabusa. Hakushi doesn't like RVD showboating so he springboard dropkicks him. Hayabusa baseball slides Sabu outside and nails the Asai moonsault. As things spill into the crowd, Sabu dives out onto them. RVD puts Hakushi in a bow and arrow as Sabu comes off the top with a chair shot to the ribs. Hayabusa breaks the count and we get double team moves on RVD including a springboard swanton, followed by a springboard knee drop and then a moonsault. The spots are out again tonight. Superkick/German suplex isn't enough to put away Sabu. Sabu hits a top rope hurricanrana on Hakushi and it's instantly followed by RVD leaping from out of the screen with a twisting frog splash. The height he got on it is absurd. The pin is broken, leading to Hayabusa hitting the 450 splash but Sabu breaks that pin. Tag team Rolling Thunder hits and it was always cool as a team move. Sabu puts Hakushi in a Boston crab as RVD hits a top rope leg drop for two. A table is brought into the ring and psychology is useless because these dudes get stuck just standing around at times. Hayabusa ends up crotched on the top and eats a big Van Daminator. Sabu gets a splinter from the table and goes down like a ton of bricks, which is funny considering how tough he is. Hakushi catches a chair stupidly and eats a Van Daminator. DID YOU NOT SCOUT BEFOREHAND? Hayabusa and Hakushi are laid head to head on a table when Sabu and RVD hit double leg drops off the top, through the table to finish it.

Winners and Still ECW World Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam and Sabu in 20:51
As a kid, this was one of my favorite matches ever. It's not as great as I remember it, but it's a fun spotfest that continues this show's strong run so far. ***

FTW Championship
Taz (c) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Bigelow is introduced as the “self proclaimed Taz killer” which is badass. The very first move is a powerbomb from Bigelow and it's got to be like the 25th powerbomb of the evening. Taz is all like NAPOLOEON RAMPAGE because he eats the powerbomb and gets right up like Masato Tanaka before they fight out onto the aisle. Taz kicks Bigelow into the crowd and goes to splash him but gets caught. Taz must have smoked with RVD before the show to try something like that. The fight goes deeper into the crowd for a while. Tazplex gets hit on the concrete near the entrance. They finally get back into the ring and Bigelow hits another powerbomb. Instead of trying to pin Taz, he sets up a table in the corner and throws Taz headfirst through it. He takes the broken table to the other corner and sets it up again. Taz fights back and we get a t-bone Tazplex through that table. Things now spill to the aisle again as we are reminded that falls count anywhere. Bigelow attempts a T-Bone suplex into the crowd, but Taz counters into a tornado DDT that sends both men THROUGH THE AISLE! Shane Douglas is all like “they're dead!” As both men are dying under the aisle and on the concrete, you can hear a guy going “ECW! ECW!” in a weird voice. Bigelow is first out of the wreckage as he stumbles towards the ring. NAPOLEON RAMPAGE because Taz gets up and he's pissed. He chases down Bigelow and locks on the Tazmission! Bigelow clearly reaches for the ropes but it's called a tap out.

Winner and Still FTW Champion: Taz in 13:21
The worst match of the night so far, but that doesn't mean that it was bad. This was a fun brawl with a big spot to end it that one upped their previous bout. **3/4

Taz gets a microphone and tells Shane “Beat me if you can...survive if I let you.” I've got to give it to Taz, that was a sweet catchphrase. We get a short video package starting from when the Dudleys broke Beulah McGillicutty's neck with a 3D. Joey Styles gets all enthusiastic about his hatred for THOSE DAMN DUDLEYS.

The Dudley Boyz and their entourage come out as Joel Gertner steals the show. “Hotter than a heatwave and harder than Chinese algebra” is followed by “I always leave them sore, yet they keep coming back for more.” Great stuff. He also introduces Sign Guy Dudley as the “quiet behind the riot and the innovator of silence.” 

Dudleyville Street Fight
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray, D-Von & Big Dick) w/ Joel Gertner, Sign Guy Dudley & Jeff Jones vs. The Sandman, Spike Dudley & Tommy Dreamer
Sandman busted himself open with a beer can before the match begins. Even though this is billed as having no rules, we start with actual tagging and such. We get a loud “Spike” chant as he comes in to a bigger pop than he'd get anywhere else. Boring start to this street fight as we're just getting normal wrestling. Man, Bubba has really slimmed down over the years. Spike counters a Bubba Bomb into a hurricanrana before Sandman strikes Bubba with a beer. WEAPONS! We finally get some outside action as things are starting to turn into more of a fight. We get a FrankenSander before the Sandman sets up a ladder in the ring. Spike climbs it and dives off onto his big brothers and Tommy at ringside. Soon after, Bubba puts a ladder on Tommy and hits a second rope senton on it. Acid Drop from Little Spike Dudley turns the tide. Sign Guy comes in and gets put in the figure four with his hurt leg. Jeff Jones comes in and piledrives his Beulah blow up doll, so Tommy piledrives him. The three Dudleys and Gertner are put in trees of woe in each corner. The three faces and the referee all deliver baseball slides to them. Yes, the referee too. To be fair, he only hit Gertner, who badmouthed him before the match. Big Dick plants Tommy on a ladder and puts Spike through a table. Bubba tries a splash on Tommy but misses and catches the ladder. Tommy DDTs him on the ladder and it's over.

Winners: The Sandman, Spike Dudley & Tommy Dreamer in 14:26
Again, a fun brawl but the last two matches of this show were the worst on it. It was still enjoyable. **1/2

Jack Victory arrives and stops Tommy's celebration with a guitar shot. This, of course, brings out New Jack and an even bigger brawl ensues. Victory takes a guitar shot and things are more interesting than they were during the main event. The show closes with the four faces posing, the Sandman, Tommy and Jack on top of ladders and Spike at the bottom.

Overall: 8/10; Great. The best ECW Pay-Per-View of all-time is what this show stays being in my memory. Despite the fact that the last two matches are the worst, they're both entertaining and fun brawls. The undercard featured good wrestling and good brawling. I recommend this as a fun way to spend nearly three hours. My next "Random Network Review" is going to be Clash of the Champions: Dixie Dynamite.

Tuesday Night Network Report 8/12/14

Quick note, this is the first time that I'm writing the review as I watch the show. Good old Main Event kicks off with the WWE Tag Team Champions, The Usos. On Raw, they issued an open challenge for tonight. They cut a promo, bring up old tag teams and you could tell that they were big fans growing up. They mention the WWE Network and the fans stupidly chant $9.99. Rybaxel arrives to answer the challenge and entertain me even though they don't say much. Suddenly, RVD's theme hits to my surprise. Who's his partner? Sabu? Even Ryback points it out by calling him a big dummy who stole his singlet.HILARIOUS! RVD introduces his partner as Sheamus and Corporate Kane comes out to make the Triple Threat match for tonight.

After the Brock Lesnar and John Cena promo is shown again, Mr. Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins comes out next. Kofi Kingston will be his opponent because the New Nation of Domination of whatever has seemingly been dropped. The announcers decided to remind us a bunch of times that Dean Ambrose chose a Lumberjack match for SummerSlam, in what may be the biggest disappointment of the Dean Ambrose face turn. Anyway, after a good match, Rollins hit a Buckle Bomb and Blackout to win.

The stunning Renee Young is backstage with RVD and Sheamus. She asks about them being a team and we find out that Sheamus was the one who approached RVD. So, I know hte tag team division is struggling, but did we have to get Sheamus and RVD? Why no Stardust and Goldust? Anyway, much like the other match tonight, this was given a good amount of time. Both went over ten minutes and both were good. The triple threat rules made this chaotic and everybody got a chance to shine. The Usos continue their great reign as Champions when RVD eats a splash and is down for the count. Good episode tonight, I just wish that we got One More Christian, no that I'm quoting Christian or anything. 7/10. 

WrestleMania Rewind aired next and it focused on the first WrestleMania battle between two of the greatest of all time, The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The documentary portion of this was good although this was my least anticipated of the Rock/Austin trilogy. I enjoyed this episode though and I can't wait to see the episode based on their WrestleMania X-7 and XIX matches. X-7 was probably the most money main event they've ever done and XIX was unique because of the Rock's character and it being Austin's last match. I would love to hear reactions to that.

The last part of Tuesday night on the WWE Network was once again, not the WWE Countdown. Instead it was a Beyond the Ring of Brock Lesnar's "Here Comes the Pain" DVD documentary. I've never seen this before and unfortunately, I was unable to catch it here but I will most likely watch it over the weekend. Regardless, I had fun watching Main Event and WrestleMania Rewind and isn't having fun the best part about the WWE Network? Until next time folks, same Stone Cold time, same Stone Cold channel. 

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