Elimination Chamber Review

So this show as a whole has been polarizing, but this match has especially been that way. I've seen it called one of the worst matches of the year and I've seen it called the best Elimination Chamber match in history. I'm not vehemently in either corner, but I did enjoy it. The idea of 13 people in one Chamber did make it a clusterfuck, but I thought it was really fun. Everybody worked hard to entertain. Hell, even El Torito was bumping for the short time he was around. Kalisto busted out some cool spots and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro were on point. My biggest gripe was that the Prime Time Players eliminated the crowd favorites, Kidd and Cesaro. That made it so the fans weren't really behind them to dethrone New Day. New Day would retain in just under 24 minutes. It went a tad too long but was still fun. ***1/2

Up next, we got the Divas Title match as Nikki Bella defended against Paige and Naomi. Now, Nikki has really good chemistry with Paige, while Naomi and Paige have decent chemistry and Naomi and Nikki have next to none. That made for an awkward match. You could hear them calling spots loudly, (mainly Paige), and Naomi was insanely sloppy. She nearly killed Paige on a tower of doom spot that they should not have done since there was one in the opener. Nikki wasn't really on her game either, making all of the girls responsible for this match not clicking. They tried some things but none of it really worked. Nikki retained in about six minutes. *

I don't know that I've ever seen a non-title match that was bigger than this. Early on, John Cena calls spots incredibly loud, but that dies off the longer we go on. We got the typical Kevin Owens methodical attack and Cena sold it rather well. Owens brought out everything from a Marc Mero springboard moonsault to a package piledriver variation that nearly had me jumping out of my seat. I do think there were a few too many near falls, especially with the popup powerbomb not working the first time. However, having Owens beat Cena clean is insane. He's only the third heel, behind Khali and Brock, to beat Cena straight up since he became the man. Kudos to both guys here for how hard they worked and how they made a star in Owens. Hopefully, Owens doesn't go the route of losing all of the rematches, but this was a big deal and a great 21 minute match. The best singles match on WWE PPV all year. ****1/2

To bring the crowd down after the high of the previous match, we got Neville and Bo Dallas. The two former NXT Champions got the chance to go one on one on a Pay-Per-View and were given time. I was surprised at this considering Neville beat Bo a few weeks ago in short order. However, with all of the leg work that had been done in recent weeks, it made sense that Neville looked a bit out of it. Bo was in control throughout, which is fine to help him look good, but it was kind of dull. It was hard to get into this following the previous match. Neville wins in about eight minutes but it was nothing to write home about. **

The injured Rusev was replaced by Mark Henry in the Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber match. This was insanely dull. Something about it just didn't click at all. In a cool little heel move, Sheamus used his chain to jam the Chamber door shut so he wouldn't have to come in on time and get extra rest. Unfortunately, the crowd couldn't tell and commentary did a poor job of explaining it. The crowd hasn't been very good all night but they are extra dead here because the match absolutely sucks. Easily the worst Chamber match in history. Ryback is able to eliminate Sheamus to win his first title at around the twenty-five minute mark. This lazy, poorly thought out and just flat. The Ryback moment was nice but the match sucked. 1/2*

I've loved nearly every single match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins so far. Thanks to the previous match killing my interest, I wasn't as into the beginning of this as I'd hoped. However, as things went on, I got more into this. Dean seriously needs to cut back on how many rebound lariats he does because I've grown to dislike the move. They made fans pop hard when Dean was announced as the winner in just over 21 minutes, only to pull out he dusty finish and have the referee go for the DQ. This is something the company doesn't use often but it can work. Dean still left with the title with Roman Reigns and they kind of seem to be building towards Reigns winning MITB and cashing in on Dean if he wins at that show. I could be totally wrong with Brock Lesnar coming back soon. Anyway, the match was good, but the finish does hurt the score a bit. ***1/4

Overall, I felt this was a decent show. As I stated earlier, people are split on the show. I've seen people call it shit and some say that it was the best show outside of WrestleMania this year. I rank it as a middle of the pack show. The opener and main event were both solid and fun, but the Owens/Cena match is easily the best match by far. The rest of the card was pretty bad, including the worst Chamber match I've ever seen. Three good matches, three bad ones. 6/10.

Elimination Chamber Predictions

A few weeks ago on Smackdown, Neville squashed Bo Dallas in like two minutes. Why should I think Dallas is any sort of threat to him on Pay-Per-View? I like Bo and have enjoyed the leg work during the buildup, but this is an easy win for Neville. I do hope that if Rusev is unfortunately unable to compete, this becomes a situation where the winner goes into the Chamber. Neville with the Red Arrow.

Winner: Neville

I really wish that we got qualifying matches or something here. It's better than just randomly picking teams. Let's get the obvious out of the way here. Los Matadores aren't winning. Honestly, the Ascension won't either thanks to their horrid main roster booking. The Prime Time Players are highly entertaining but I see them losing here. Maybe sometime down the line but not here. That leaves the top three teams in the division. I love Tyson Kidd and Cesaro and they are the best team in the company right now but they aren't winning the titles back yet. The Lucha Dragons are the popular pick as the hot new team who will impress in the Chamber. However, I'm going with the New Day. The incredibly fun and entertaining trio will retain via underhanded tactics.

Winners: The New Day

Nikki Bella has been really good in 2015. Not NXT girl good, but the best on the main roster. Her chemistry with Paige has produced good matches but the ones with Naomi have been lackluster. I honestly don't want to see her reign end here. Naomi isn't good enough to be deserving of ending it and while I'd love Paige to get an extended run with the title but I don't see it happening. Honestly, Charlotte should get called up and overthrow Nikki. That would be great if Nikki was still a heel but she turned face for no reason. I don't understand main roster creative sometimes. Anyway, I don't think she's earned it, but Naomi to win here.

Winner: Naomi

Seriously, how does R-Truth keep getting in these things? Also, with the report that Rusev may be out, I wonder what they do here. Regardless, I don't see him, R-Truth or Dolph Ziggler winning. Truth for obvious reasons and I see Rusev and Ziggler feuding over Lana for a bit. King Barrett is already king a five time Intercontinental Champion so I doubt that happens. Part of me would be okay with Ryback winning since he's the most over guy in recent memory to not win any sort of title. You know who that leaves don't you? Sheamus. The guy has won a ton in his career. US Title, WWE Title, World Heavyweight Title, Royal Rumble and King of the Ring. I sense he adds the IC Title to the list, solidifying his really good heel turn.

Winner: Sheamus

Despite a Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose match and two Elimination Chambers, there is nothing on the card more intriguing than this. For two weeks so far, Owens has looked legit in the eyes of main roster viewers. However, kicking Cena's ass leading into PPVs usually doesn't bode well for young talent. Hell, just facing Cena on PPV isn't usually good. Just ask Ryback, Bray Wyatt, Rusev, Wade Barrett, etc. Who knows though? Maybe we get a CM Punk or Daniel Bryan situation and Cena loses. Honestly though, I think the best move is for neither guy to get pinned. Don't have the US Champion lose clean and don't have the NXT Champion lose his first main roster match. I think Owens hits the apron powerbomb or something and this ends in some sort of dusty finish.

Winner: John Cena via disqualification

When I first heard about the IC Title Elimination Chamber, I wanted it to headline. However, knowing now that the title match is between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, I'm all for this closing things out. They showed at SummerSlam, Hell in a Cell and various TV matches that they can absolutely deliver. Their chemistry is off the charts and I'm sure this will be another great match. Considering this show was a late addition and considering I don't think the WWE is ready to strap the rocket on Dean Ambrose just yet, Seth retains here. I actually don't see him dropping the strap until at least SummerSlam.

Smackdown 5/29/15 Review

Smackdown this week had some interesting news coming out of the spoilers this week.

Before we get to any of that though, Dean Ambrose opened the show with a promo. He talked about getting arrested on Raw and coming back because of what Seth Rollins did and his fans on the police force. He just says that he'll beat Seth's ass during their Raw tag team rematch. Stop me if you've seen that match a million times. Really basic stuff here. Our opening contest was a lumberjack match. Four of the teams in the Tag Team Title Elimination Chamber were outside as Tyson Kidd and Cesaro took on the Lucha Dragons. This was awesome and would be the best match of the night. Both teams are absolutely fantastic and it showed here. A distraction from Xavier Woods allowed the Dragons to win. Honestly, I would have main evented the show with this. Make the Tag Titles seem important rather than Reigns and Ambrose vs. Kane and Seth for 561st time.

Next up, King Barrett took on R-Truth. Guess what happened here? Barrett beat Truth. Just like how Truth lost in under a minute on Raw. Why the fuck is Truth in this Elimination Chamber match? From a kayfabe standpoint, what has he won to earn this? This spot should have gone to Neville or hell, even Randy Orton as he works back to the World Title. In another Chamber preview, Ryback took on Rusev. They started pretty well but then Rusev got injured, which was the interesting note out of the spoilers. That really hampered what they were doing and there are talks that he may have to miss the PPV. At least if they add someone new to the card, it will be relatively fresh, rather than the other guys who have all faced off already.

After losing to Tamina on Raw this past Monday, Paige faces Tamina's leader, Naomi. Naomi attempted to work the arm early. Has she been watching Nikki Bella? As in, a Diva that works the arm, but has no finisher that impacts that body part. Paige no sells it during her comeback and wins. This was too short for serious body part work and now both challengers for Nikki Bella's Divas Title on Sunday have lost this week. How does anyone consider this good booking? Why should I believe either girl will win when Naomi can't beat Paige and Paige couldn't even beat Tamina? It's lazy booking like this, along with lack of character development that makes this Divas division a chore to watch sometimes. I'm not asking for it to be on the levels of the NXT Divas, but can we please just pay some attention to it?

Michael Cole interviewed Kevin Owens in the ring. Owens was absolutely on point here. He talked about wrestling for 15 years and what he will do to John Cena. He talked of Cena's accomplishments but shit on his dumb shirts. Owens said that if he did what he did to Sami Zayn, who was his best friend, imagine what he'll do to Cena. Again, Owens was phenomenal here. In our main event, that nobody cared about, we get a DQ finish. New Day oddly gets involved but it all just leads to a big brawl. Seth Rollins lays out Dean Ambrose with the Pedigree to stand tall. Overall, not he best episode of Smackdown. Outside of the Kevin Owens promo and the opening tag match, this wasn't good at all. However, those were both really good segments so the show gets a middle of the pack score. 5/10.

Top Ten Thursday: Daniel Bryan WWE Matches

With the unfortunate recent news about Daniel Bryan's health and his possible retirement, I've been meaning to make this list, but have been pressed for time. The criteria is simple. I'm listing my top ten Daniel Bryan WWE matches. If I went into his Bryan Danielson stuff, this would be unbelievably hard. Instead, I'll focus on his WWE work, spanning 2010-2015. I'm not saying this is the definitive best or most important. Just my favorite. Some matches may be higher, but get a lower star rating from me just because I like them more. I'd live to give honorable mentions out to his match against Roman Reigns at Fast Lane and the WrestleMania Ladder match where he won the Intercontinental Championship.

10) Daniel Bryan runs the gauntlet; Raw 7/22/2013 - Hot off the heels of a fantastic run with Kane as Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan embarked on an interesting journey. He was out to prove that he wasn't the weak link in the unit. While that path eventually led him to the WWE Championship, one of the best stops on the road was this gauntlet match. First, Bryan bested Jack Swagger and he won by beating Ryback last. This doesn't make the list because of those guys. It does for the middle match, where Bryan faced Antonio Cesaro. Knowing their Ring of Honor history, I knew these two could put on a classic. They did just that, giving us one of the more memorable exchanges in recent Raw memory. Excellent stuff. **** (purely for the Cesaro/Bryan part)

9) Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton; Raw 6/24/13 - While I would grow tired of their matches by the end of 2013, this encounter between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton was phenomenal. As part of the whole "prove he's not the weak link" angle, Bryan tried to earn the respect of Orton. They would meet a few times, but this Street Fight was the blowoff for the time being. This is my favorite match they've had together. It was brutal, physical and most importantly, a major win for Bryan. Not only did he beat Orton, but he did so via submission. Making a face Orton submit is a big deal, and doing it via a Yes Lock with a kendo stick was pretty badass. ****

8) WWE United States Championship: The Miz (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Night of Champions 2010 - The first of many big wins in the WWE career of Daniel Bryan came on this night. Their backstory was well done as Miz was Bryan's pro during Season One of NXT. Miz treated Bryan like shit before Bryan got fired. He was brought back at SummerSlam, but got eliminated in that match due to Miz. It all led to this match, which is still my favorite in the entire career of the Miz. I loved most of what happened in this match. From Miz being a perfect heel, to the Nigel McGuiness lite clothesline from Miz and of course, to Bryan actually winning the title. This was the perfect ending to their rivalry. ***3/4

7) World Heavyweight Championship 2 Out of 3 Falls: Sheamus (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Extreme Rules 2012 - At WrestleMania 28, Daniel Bryan entered the event as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. His unsuccessful title defense against Sheamus lasted 18 seconds. It was disheartening though it changed his career forever. Before we realized that though, he got his rematch the following month in a 2 out of 3 falls match. This proved that if given time, Bryan and Sheamus could have an excellent match. Bryan gave up the first fall via disqualification before winning the second instantly via submission. He ultimately lost the entire thing, but this was a big showing that proved both guys could hang at the top of the card. ****1/4

6) TLC Match: Team Hell No and Ryback vs. the Shield; TLC 2012 - The Shield completely made the six man tag match their bitch during their run. At this point however, they hadn't even had an official match. Their first was against Team Hell No and Ryback in a TLC match and boy, was it great. While the bigger story is that it was the Shield's coming out party of sorts, I do have to commend Bryan for his efforts here. He bumped like crazy for the new guys and, while he wasn't the MVP of this contest, it's still one hell of a ride. There have been a lot of great TLC matches in history, but this is top five easily. ****1/4

5) WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Over the Limit 2012 - A few years before this, it would have been an insane thought to say that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan would compete for the WWE Title on a Pay-Per-View. However, that exact thing happened on this May night. While they weren't given the main event spot (because John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis was SUCH an important match), it was hands down the best match on the card. This was just two of the better pure wrestlers putting on a wrestling match. Not much in the way of nonsense and just an absolutely match to watch. ****1/4

4) WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan; WrestleMania XXX - Even if we never see Daniel Bryan wrestle again, I, and every Bryan fan, will always have WrestleMania XXX. It's even been called "YestleMania". The show was based around him, made all the more impressive by the fact that the original plan was a midcard match between Bryan and Sheamus. Instead, the fans forced the WWE's hand and Bryan was thrust into the main event. What followed was an overbooked masterpiece. I say that because often, overbooking can be awful. Here, it was done perfectly, resulting in the greatest moment in the career of Daniel Bryan as he stood tall with the gold to close the biggest show of the year. ***3/4

3) Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H; WrestleMania XXX - I told you it might as well be called "YestleMania". Before Daniel Bryan got into the main event and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title, he had to go through Triple H in the opening contest. These two went out and had the best singles match on the main roster in all of 2014. Hell, if it wasn't for Bret/Owen at WrestleMania X, this would be the best WrestleMania opener ever. Bryan's performance at this show is the greatest in WrestleMania history. Not only did he win two matches, but he had two fantastic outings. Excellent stuff all around. ****1/2

2) Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler; Bragging Rights 2010 - In 2015, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan are widely considered two of the best workers in all of professional wrestling. However, in 2010, Bryan was still fresh to a WWE audience and Dolph was a dastardly heel. With both guys holding the midcard titles of Raw and Smackdown, they were put to face off at the Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View as a part of the brands battling. Bryan and Ziggler went out and stole the show. It is widely forgotten and overlooked but I absolutely loved everything about this. It's one of my favorite matches of all-time. ****1/4

1) WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; SummerSlam 2013 - When it comes to big matches, there aren't many better than John Cena. When he goes up against one of my favorite, the atmosphere is insane. I remember being nervous and pumped for this in ways I can't describe. The only thing that rivals it is what I felt during Punk/Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. I wanted so badly for Bryan to win the WWE Title and beat THE MAN in the WWE. He did just that in a classic match and picked up the cleanest victory I can remember someone ever getting on Cena. It was an indescribable feeling that, while short lived, meant the world to me. ****1/4

Bash and Kevstaaa Wrestling Podcast: Vengeance 2003

Memorial Day Raw Review

After the yearly overly patriotic intro, we get our weekly Authority opening promo. Some things just never change huh? They run down Dean Ambrose and says he's no threat. Dean comes out, cracks some jokes and they tell him that he needs to sign the contract before his match is official. Roman Reigns came out to stand by his bro, leading Stephanie McMahon to do her best Teddy Long and book a tag team match playa. Ambrose and Reigns beat Kane and Seth Rollins when Dean pinned Seth. That's a dumb move. Dean already beat Seth a few weeks ago so there was no need for this. Just fucking pin Kane because he shouldn't be protected against your new top stars. The match was there but was nothing of note. Ambrose has until the end of the night to sign the contract. J&J Security give Ambrose shit backstage, so he attacks but ends up laying out a cameraman in the process.

Rusev comes out and he's Bulgarian again. See, he moved back home after splitting from Lana. He squashes R-Truth which was really dumb since Truth is going to be in the Elimination Chamber. Why make him look so bad? Rusev then called out Lana as we went to commercial. He came out before commercial, squashed Truth and is now technically entering his fourth segment. Lana comes out, Rusev acts like a 17 year emo boy and Lana nearly forgives him. Then, he wants her to say those three little words. His delivery on wanting her to say "I was wrong" instead of "I love you" was spot on. Lana gets pissed and they argue before she leaves. Dolph Ziggler appears atop the ramp to steal the show and Rusev's girlfriend as they kiss. Rusev delivered in this segment but it lasted too long.

Backstage, HHH goes into Dean Ambrose's locker room and has him arrested for assault. That damn soft cameraman. This is all so Dean can't sign the contract to make his title match official. In another Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber preview, Ryback beat King Barrett. Bad booking here again. Ryback shook off a rib injury to beat Barrett. Why should I care about Barrett if he just continues to lose? In the back, the Entourage cast meets Steph and Triple H. They make some Jeremy Piven SummerFest jokes and some Ronda Rousey/Steph jokes. Moving on, Stardust faces Neville. Neville is officially facing Bo Dallas at Elimination Chamber. I guess his two minute squash of Bo on Smackdown a while ago never happened. Stardust got into it with Stephen Amell at ringside. I'd love to see Amell get more involved. He's awesome as Arrow and is a big wrestling fan. Celebrity fans are the best guest stars because they actually have a great time. Neville wins, Dallas shows up and goes after his knee.

As if we haven't seen it enough lately, Sheamus took on Dolph Ziggler next. Sheamus works the knee, only for Dolph to not sell it and for them to forget about it. Lana came out to watch, so Rusev showed up to distract. His fourth segment by the way. The distraction let Sheamus win. Rusev then attacked Dolph. So, is the Chamber winner the best of the bunch of losers? Next, we get the midcard Champion that's actually booked well. John Cena comes out, puts over the crowd and his feud with Kevin Owens. Yea, it's the same weekly shit. This took far too long. The Entourage cast came out and brought out Zack Ryder for the Open Challenge. I'm fine with this as not every challenge has to be this major deal. The hometown fans loved seeing Ryder and the match was solid. Ryder even busted out the Killswitch and a 450 splash. Cena won, raised Ryder and the Entourage cast's hands and was then attacked by Owens. Owens again stomped on the US Title. Fine segment except for the overly long Cena promo to start.

Moving on to the WWE Divas, Tamina takes on Paige as Naomi and the Bellas are ringside. Guess how the booking goes here? If you guessed Paige, the woman getting the title shot this Sunday, won...then you would be completely wrong. Tamina won after help from Naomi for some ridiculous reason. Not a good match because Tamina isn't very good, but also terrible booking. For some reason, we get a 10 on 3 handicap match next. Poor New Day not only has to defend the titles against five teams this Sunday, but now they face everyone? At least this broke down into a brawl and nobody really took the loss. It was kept relatively short and built towards the Elimination Chamber match well. I just wish they were making the Chamber matches seem like a bigger deal.

Before our closing segment, we see some EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE that reveals Seth Rollins shoved the camerman into Dean Ambrose, causing Dean to strike him. The Authority show up to gloat about Dean being locked away and how Seth will now just get Elimination Chamber off. Roman Reigns runs out. He gets into a brawl with the Authority until the police wagon returns with Ambrose driving it. This is some Stone Cold shit right here. He and Reigns take everyone out and he signs the contract making the match official. So, this was a down Raw after three straight really solid episodes. It felt rather lazy. The booking was stupid in a lot of places and hurt the Intercontinental and Divas Title matches for this Sunday. I enjoy Rusev, but we had too much of him. I did enjoy the use of the Entourage cast. This is an example of how to correctly use guest hosts. They didn't do any lame segments, integrated themselves with the roster and didn't take away any time from the roster. As a go home show, this really didn't work. In no way am I more excited about Elimination Chamber than I was already. In fact, I may be less excited. Regardless, some of the show was enjoyable and some wasn't. I'd put this as a middle of the pack episode of Raw. 5/10.

Fave Five 5/18/15-5/24/15

1) Kevin Owens: Damn, it was incredibly hard to pick a top choice this week. There was so much going on but one man was at the center of it all. Kevin Owens. First, he appeared on Raw to seemingly answer the US Title Open Challenge. Instead, he traded barbs with the top guy in the business and laid him out before stepping on the US Title. Then, he possibly took out Hideo Itami in the parking lot before TakeOver. He headlined that show and nearly killed Sami Zayn before coming face to face with the debuting Samoa fucking Joe. I can't think of anyone who is a more wanted man than our NXT Champion. Whether he actually beats John Cena at Elimination Chamber is unknown, but for right now, he is the most important man in all of professional wrestling.

2) Sasha Banks: You have no idea how hard it was to not give Sasha Banks the top spot. Not only do I think that Sasha is the best all around female performer in the WWE, but she's one of the best wrestlers in the entire world period. Male or female. She went out with Becky Lynch and stole the show at TakeOver: Unstoppable. On a show where Samoa Joe debuted in the WWE, just as many people were talking about this match coming out of the event. I was tempted to lump Becky and Sasha together, but gave Sasha the advantage for retaining. She continues to deliver as the Women's Champion and I expect her to make this list a lot more in the coming year. If you read this consistently, you know my thoughts on the match.

3) Finn Balor: Lost in all of the hoopla of the women's match and Samoa Joe's debut is that Finn Balor won a very important match. While we didn't get the Triple Threat match we all wanted, Finn and Tyler Breeze had a singles match to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship. Both guys got special entrances, giving this a big fight feel. They had a really good to great match that was won by Finn. He became, I believe, the first person to kick out of the Beauty Shot. Finn is added to the list of people gunning for Kevin Owens. He wasn't the biggest story of the busy week, but his victory should not be overlooked and he deserves credit for the performance and victory.

4) Becky Lynch: Though I didn't group her with Sasha, Becky Lynch still earned a spot. I can't say enough good things about this match. It was, in my opinion, the best singles match in the entire WWE this calendar year. Both girls impressed greatly here, but this was Becky's coming out party. Those who knew her as Rebecca Knox knew that she could go, but to those that didn't, now you know. For a while, I said I would only accept Bayley as the girl to dethrone Sasha Banks but after watching Unstoppable, Becky Lynch is more than a great answer. She is the second best girl in NXT in my opinion, and she showed exactly why this past week. People need to really understand how big of a deal this match was, so I had to make sure and include both girls.

5) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: The Trios Champions continue to kill it. After an outstanding performance to win the titles against the Crew, they had to defend them against that same team in a Ladder match. They just went out and managed to have another awesome match. They played off the prior contest, with Angelico topping his cross body with a sick massive missile dropkick. That dude is insane. They retained the belt and continued to be one of the best things going in all of pro wrestling. I love seeing Ivelisse get a chance to be a big deal and she, along with Angelico and Son of Havoc, are proving they deserve it with each outing.

Sasha vs. Becky; A Wrestling Masterpiece

The NXT live specials have become THE place to watch brilliant women's wrestling. After Paige and Emma finished their rivalry on the first special, ArRival, Paige was then promoted to the main roster. That opened the door for a wave of hungry and talented new girls to take center stage. The first to step up was Charlotte. She defeated Natalya in what was considered, at the time, the best women's match in WWE in years. Charlotte and Bayley then nearly topped it three months later TakeOver: Fatal Four Way. The entire time these feuds were being built I kept waiting for one woman to get her chance. Sasha Banks. She finally did at TakeOver: R Evolution in December. She went out and had the best women's match in NXT history against Charlotte, nearly capturing the title. She would finally win the coveted belt at my favorite women's match in WWE history. You read that right. Not just NXT history, but WWE history. Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley and Becky Lynch stole the show at TakeOver: Rival and Sasha was given the title to run with. She became only third woman to hold the title and has gone on to do so much with it. Sasha and Charlotte have headlined two separate NXT live events from San Jose to Philadelphia. It has hit a point where Sasha is a bonafide NXT main event caliber performer. She is right up there with Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Finn Balor. That was unfathomable as of this time last year. Sasha now faced a new challenge though. Could she continue the trend of great women's matches at her first TakeOver title defense at Unstoppable?

Enter Becky Lynch. A long time ago, I first found her as Rebecca Knox in SHIMMER. She impressed me, but would suffer a career threatening injury and be forced out of action for years. The injury took place in 2006, leaving Becky out of action for nearly seven years before signing with the WWE in 2013. She came into NXT with an Irish stereotype gimmick where she danced to the ring. Realizing this was a bad move, her character changed in a few weeks before joining up with Sasha Banks. Their partnership never clicked, but it brought Becky into the spotlight. In my honest opinion, she stole the show at the TakeOver: Rival Fatal Four Way. It seemed that Becky was about to break through. She would win a number one contender's Triple Threat match, setting up a showdown with her former partner, Sasha Banks. The girls were given a contract signing segment, another clear sign that the Women's Title means the world in NXT, where Becky poured her soul. She talked about the path she had to take to get to where she is. Sasha and Becky would trade shots during the signing, with Becky locking Sasha in her sick looking armbar submission. The only question that really remained now, was whether or not Becky could live up to the high standard set by the women of NXT.

The time came for the match and you could instantly tell this was going to be special. Every detail was accounted for. Becky got the cool entrance, but was visibly jumpy and anxious for the biggest match of her career. Sasha was the complete opposite. She walked out extremely confident because this is where she belongs. The girls traded early near falls because, while their partnership is over, the battle was about the NXT Women's Title. Because of what these girls have done over the past year and a half, the title is one of the most prestigious in the entire world of professional wrestling. Since Becky adopted the armbar submission, she works the arm and it looks brutal. Sasha Banks, being the "Boss", isn't one to be outdone and decides that turnabout is fair play. She does arm work of her own, which looks even more vicious. Some of the offense looked straight of a Ring of Honor Bryan Danielson/Nigel McGuinness match, really showing me that Sara Amato had a ton to do with this outing. You know the offense looks good when it makes commentators cringe, especially when one of those men is Corey Graves, who was known for twisting his opponents in interesting ways.

Psychology is a huge part of any great match. These girls knew that and made sure to focus nearly every offensive attack on the arm. Even some of Becky's suplexes involved her holding the arm. Sasha hit her trademark double knees in the corner, but onto Becky's arm. The sheer genius of that is a lost art in a lot of matches in the present day. As Sasha goes for her suicide dive, you can see her arm hanging lower as she runs because it's not supposed to work due to the damage it has taken. Masterful selling. The only misstep in the entire match is when Becky struggles to catch Sasha on the suicide dive, but even that can be covered by the arm focus. Becky's arm wasn't strong enough to cleanly catch Sasha. The finish came as Becky was on the top, taking a risk that didn't pay off, as Sasha grabbed her arm and slammed her to the mat, before applying the Bank Statement. Becky had to tap out even though she didn't want to.

Not only did the girls sell like champs throughout the match, but they continued after. Sasha held her arm as she left the ring. She posed, but didn't take too much time knowing that this was Becky's moment. Sasha beat her and put her over in the biggest way. The crowd in Full Sail has its detractors, but they reacted perfectly to this. Not only did Becky get a standing ovation, but the crowd began to sing the beginning of her theme song. Everything about this match was a masterpiece. Triple H took pictures, hugging both girls as they're in tears, and he just looks like the proudest father. He has every right to look that way. Not only was this the best women's match in the entire history of the WWE, it was arguably the best match in the history of NXT. Seriously, it was that good to be at least in the conversation. Becky Lynch is now viewed on the level of the top girls in NXT, while Sasha Banks has proven to me that she's not only the best female in the WWE; she's one of the best absolute best wrestlers in the entire world, male or female. I'm not here to debate that or to debate NXT women vs. main roster women or anything like that. I'm here to appreciate how good this was and how good the division is in NXT. On a show with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch stole the show. On a night where everyone was buzzing about Samoa freaking Joe debuting in the WWE, just as many people were talking about this match. It deserves every piece of praise that it gets. It is one of the most important matches in WWE history actually, because it should open the eyes of a lot of viewers to just how phenomenal wrestling can be, regardless of gender.

Smackdown 5/21/15 Report

According to the Authority, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton have to go to the back of the line when it comes to World Title shots. Reigns opens the show by discussing his loss at Payback before announcing that he's entering Money in the Bank. I'm glad that they aren't waiting until after Elimination Chamber to build Money in the Bank. There isn't much time. Dean Ambrose shows up, saying that he heard the word Payback, took a wrong turn and ended up in the ring. They mention that it would be cool to face each other as Champion and MITB winner. Kane comes out, saying Reigns needs to prove that he deserves to be in MITB. He also books Bray Wyatt vs. Ambrose for tonight. Our opening contest is a Fatal Four Way tag team match. New Day and Prime Time Players are on commentary as the other four teams in the Elimination Chamber do battle. The Lucha Dragons are able to defeat Los Matadores, the Ascension and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a really fun match. It gives me hope for the Elimination Chamber, though part of me worries it may be a bit of a clusterfuck. Also, the Lucha Dragons have some badass attire. New Day and PTP are great on commentary.

We are sent to a recap of the strange Dolph Ziggler, Lana, Rusev stuff from Raw. Dolph was interviewed backstage and said that he's used to beautiful women coming up to him and kissing him. He puts over being stuck in the Chamber with her ex-boyfriend, but turns his focus to his match tonight. He faces another man from the upcoming Chamber, King Barrett. As you would expect when it comes to these two, the match is relatively good, it's just something that we've seen a fair amount of times before. And we've really seen the result before as King Barrett eats a clean pinfall loss. The guy either gets injured while gaining momentum or gets booked like shit. Lana appears on the stage after the match to cheer on Dolph Ziggler.

After another recap, this one of Paige's return on Raw, we are actually joined by Paige. She enters and cuts a promo about returning. She caused some controversy by calling Tamina a man. It was a stupid jab and I blame the writers for it. It's just like when Roman Reigns or John Cena cut a promo and they say a dumb immature comment that ruins everything. Besides that, I didn't hate the promo, especially the mention that she's done more in a year than Naomi's entire dancing career. Of course, Naomi and Tamina interrupt. The problem is that Paige isn't great on the mic and Naomi and Tamina are absolutely dreadful at it. They end up jumping her, until Nikki Bella makes the save, only to end up standing tall alone with the Divas Title. Shortly after this, it is officially announced that it will be Nikki vs. Paige vs. Naomi for the Divas Title at Elimination Chamber. This promo is followed by a Bray Wyatt backstage promo. He is just kind of there right now, which is always how it goes after a feud for him. Moving on, we get Stardust vs. R-Truth for what has to be the 15th time in the past month. And, as always, it was Stardust who suffers the loss. I don't understand why it's not Stardust in the Chamber instead of R-Truth. Backstage, Renee Young interviews Ryback about the Chamber. It's kind of funny and he does try and share vegan recipes with Renee. We continue to fly through these segments as we are shown a recap of the Kevin Owens/John Cena confrontation on Raw. It looks as if the United States Title will not be on the line at Elimination Chamber.

The Meta Powers ame their return tonight to take on the Rock n Rose Connection. For those wondering, that is Adam Rose and Heath Slater. With the awful Rosa Mendes. Yea, she's the worst. Meta Powers win. Ho hum. Renee interviews Bo Dallas, who puts over what he did to Neville on Raw. Finally, we get to the main event. Bray and Dean had a really good match on Raw and this was solid too. Bray absolutely owns Dean, but tonight, Dean is able to beat him for only the second time ever I think. Of course it included shenanigans from J&J Security and Roman Reigns though. After his win, Dean has a staredown with Seth Rollins, who is atop the stage. Overall, a relatively solid episode of Smackdown. Three good matches featured tonight so I can't be upset about that. 6.5/10.

NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable Review

NXT and their live specials tend to deliver, so there's always high hopes for these. Hideo Itami was forced to miss the show thanks to a shoulder injury so the Number One Contender's match was changed to a singles bout. Finn Balor always gets a special entrance for these, but Tyler Breeze was allowed one also. It gave this a WrestleMania like feel. The match itself was the usual fun stuff that these two deliver. I appreciated Finn leaping from the new stage. We also got some cool near falls as Finn is one of the few people to kick out of the Beauty Shot. They got a little more than eleven minutes to deliver and they put on a good show. Finn was able to win with the double stomp. I enjoyed this and it was a good choice to open. ***1/2

For the first time on an NXT live special, we are treated to two Divas matches. And why not? These girls, sans Dana Brooke, have all earned it. Bayley and Charlotte teamed up against Brooke and Emma. This was a blast. It wasn't the best tag team match in history, but it was exactly what it should have been. Absolute fun. Bayley is always a joy to watch in the ring and she played the sympathetic face in peril to perfection. The hot tag to Charlotte was well done too, since she's been billed as pretty unstoppable in NXT lore. Even Dana Brooke didn't look too bad here. The fans enjoyed it and so did I, but I do know that the ladies of NXT can do better. They have set a very high bar. **1/2

Baron Corbin is someone that I happen to see potential in, but he's been working squashes. Not just squashes, but really quick squashes and for too long. Here, he faced off against the veteran Rhyno. Baron has been better against vets who know the business and Rhyno certainly fits that mold. However, Baron is at his very best against smaller guys as far as I've seen. This wasn't bad but maybe eight minutes was a bit much for them. Early on, they seemed to just be killing time. I think this should have had more of an ECW feel or something to make it different from the rest of the card and play off the Rhyno stuff. Baron continues to improve and hopefully we see more against vets from him. **

Unfortunately, the NXT Tag Team division has always left a little something to be desired compared to the rest of the brand. Blake and Murphy have potential as champions but they've had to flesh out more of a personality, which they've been doing lately. Enzo and Cass are incredibly over but lack in the ring. Enzo must have heard me mention this and came out on his game. He busted out some moves I didn't expect and looked far better than I've ever seen him in the ring. Cass looked better than usual too. I expected Carmella to turn on Enzo and Cass, but it was Alexa Bliss who came out to attack her and cost Enzo and Cass the match. She has aligned herself with the Tag Team Champions and turned heel. Not sure how that will work but I'm interested. The match itself was solid and better than expected. **3/4

I have expressed my love for Sasha Banks as a performer for a long time now. I like Becky Lynch too, but she hasn't gotten a chance to fully shine yet. This was her chance and both girls delivered like never before. I say it at every special, but I never know how these girls will best themselves the next time. After that sick Four Way earlier this year, these two bested it. The psychology was outstanding as both girls worked the arm in tremendous, but different ways. The selling was on point, the match was fluid and everything just completely clicked. Sasha won via the Bank Statement in a classic. Becky sold the arm work even after the match and the disappointment of losing while getting a standing ovation. Seriously, this was the best singles match in the WWE this year. Absolutely incredible. ****1/2

If you didn't see the show, you're probably confused at the picture to the left. The main event was indeed Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. It was told perfectly. Owens, the beast that he is, was overwhelmed by Sami coming out firing. Sami beat him up around the arena and in the crowd. This was perfect. However, it only takes a second for Owens to change that, and he does it with a popup powerbomb onto the apron. I love that the move is being sold as such a big deal. Officials checked on Zayn but Owens wouldn't stop. Not even William Regal could get him to stop. So some unfamiliar music hit and Samoa fucking Joe appeared. He is even called by that name and has a shirt supporting it. He gets into a staredown with Owens, but the NXT Champion leaves. Great match here that told the story it needed to. ***3/4.

As for the overall show, it wasn't quite on the level of the past two TakeOvers but that's not a bad thing. I gave those shows a 10/10 and 9/10. This one is slightly below, earning an 8.5/10. Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch is a must see if you're a wrestling fan, Samoa Joe's debut was well done, the opener is fun and the show moves briskly. NXT delivers yet again.