Smackdown 6/18/15 Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raw Cleveland Review

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

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

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

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

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

Money in the Bank Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

Money in the Bank Predictions

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

Winner: King Barrett

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

Winners: The New Day

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

Winner: Nikki Bella

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

Winner: Ryback

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

Winner: John Cena

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

Winner: Roman Reigns

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

Winner: Dean Ambrose, then Roman Reigns cashes in successfully

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

NXT Columbus Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NXT Cleveland Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Check out my Twitter, @the_kevstaaa for more photos.

Smackdown 6/11/15 Review

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

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

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

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

Raw History: Episode 3

Monday Night Raw “Loser Leaves WWF” [3]

January 25th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Coming off the Royal Rumble, we have a direction heading into WrestleMania IX as it is time to build towards Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. Not only that, but we have our first ever big time match in Raw history as Mr. Perfect is set to face Ric Flair in a Loser Leaves WWF match. I'm seriously looking forward to this episode more than the first two combined.

We open to see Sean Mooney outside, awaiting the arrival of Repo Man. Repo Man arrives in the tow truck he left in last week. Tonight, Repo Man takes on the Macho Man! Bobby Heenan is finally on commentary, but we still have to deal with Rob Bartlett, who sucks.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Repo Man
Macho Man and his flower filled attire comes out before he's even announced and attacks Repo Man. They spill outside and you can see Repo Man's gut clearly. I can see why he wasn't around for much longer than this. They go inside only for Macho Man to hit a running knee that knocks Repo back outside. Repo uses the steel steps to turn the tide as he throws Macho Man into them and the ring post. As we go to commercial Macho Man seems to be rallying but when we return, Repo Man is still in control. He hits a snapmare and leg drop for two. As Repo works in a rest hold, commentary takes to discussing Hilary Clinton and trying to fit in as many pop culture references as possible. Macho Man would soon hit the Elbow Drop to claim victory.

Winner: “Macho Man” Randy Savage in 9:29
Rather dull. Macho Man did his best but Repo Man was not very good. **

A WrestleMania IX promo airs.

The Brooklyn Brawler vs. Kamala w/ Reverend Slick
Our first appearance of one of the WWF's most notorious jobbers, The Brooklyn Brawler. Two matches in and we get two pre-match attacks as Brawler nails Kamala from behind. It doesn't have much effect as Kamala body slams him. The Brawler begs for mercy but eats a side kick. Kamala works over the Brawler as Bartlett calls him fat. That's how you put over the face in the match. They talk about the Giant Gonzalez being near eight feet tall, leading to Heenan saying he's twenty foot ten. Kamala continues to squash Brawler and ends it with a splash. He does roll Brawler over too many times before pinning him, which was funny.

Winner: Kamala in 3:42
Your basic squash but it lasted far too long. *

Vince McMahon gets in the ring to interview the Reverend Slick and Kamala. Slick says a bunch of stuff about this being the rebirth of Kamala and whatnot. He's another guy that I feel isn't around for much longer this year.

Royal Rumble Report time! Mean “BY GAWD” Gene recaps the event from the previous night, hyping Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart mainly.

Loser Leaves WWF
Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair
Oh man, I'm excited for this one. It starts with basic wrestling sequences until Flair sells a slap in the face like he got shot. Perfect mocks Flair's hair slick as Flair steps outside to catch a breather and get consultation from Heenan. Back inside, they trade chops leading to the Flair flop, which leaves Bartlett and his lack of knowledge utterly befuddled. Flair threatens to use a chair as we got commercial but it doesn't happen. Flair continues to fire away with chops and short punches on Perfect's cheat. It must have happened during the break but Perfect is busted open. He goes for a hip toss but Perfect counters for a backslide that is stopped. He hits a backslide so Flair begs for mercy to no avail. Perfect hits punches in the corner along with the count of the crowd until Flair hits an inverted atomic drop for two. Perfect chops Flair and hits a floatover suplex for two, bringing Flair in from the apron. Bobby Heenan is frantic on commentary and it's beautiful. Flair has been watching Roddy Piper tapes as he applies a sleeper hold. They do the arm drop spot and of course Perfect hangs on before his arm drops a third time. He rallies and sends Flair into the turnbuckle. They both a weird spot just as Vince says they could go off the air before the match ends. Gee I'd be pissed as a fan! Perfect puts on a sleeper of his own but Flair reverses with a back suplex. Both men are tired as Flair locks in the Figure Four. He uses the ropes for leverage, because he's Ric Flair. Perfect turns the move over to break the hold so Flair decides to go up top. As always, he just gets slammed from the top as we go to our second break during this bout. Returning, Flair pulls out brass knuckles from his knee pad and lays out Perfect. He covers but ring presence is something he forgets about as Perfect gets his foot on the ropes. Flair lays into Perfect's forehead gash. He puts Perfect in the corner and chops him but Perfect Hulks Up! His adrenaline is pumping as he gets fired up and chops Flair a bunch in the corner, followed by a back body drop. He gets a near fall but you can feel that the end is near. Flair sends Perfect off the ropes and ducks for a back body drop but Perfect stops and nails the Perfect Plex to win!

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 17:47
The first great match in Raw history. Both men gave it their all, Bobby Heenan was classic on commentary and this was an early candidate for Match of the Year. ****

Bobby Heenan freaks out and curses on commentary as he exits with Ric Flair. Vince McMahon tells us that next week, we will see Doink vs. Typhoon!

Overall: 8/10; Great. The first episode mainly got an eight because it was solid and historic. This was the first episode to really be great. We got a conclusion to the Savage/Repo Man mini-feud, a squash and a classic match. Mr. Perfect should be moving towards a WWF Title match later in the year because he's on fire.

Raw New Orleans Review

Someone must read what people say, as we actually don't start with an Authority promo. Instead, John Cena comes out and cuts his usual tired promo. Things get good when Kevin Owens interrupts though. His nonchalant attitude whenever Cena says anything is brilliant. It's like nothing Cena says affects him. Both guys want to hold an open challenge, so Owens decides that whoever comes out can choose which title to go after. Neville answers and admits that he was close to beating Cena a few weeks ago, but goes for the NXT Title. They work a good match here, though I've seen them have better. Cena was on commentary and did a good job in putting over the upcoming match at Money in the Bank. Owens retained with the popup powerbomb and I like how they are giving the NXT Title and making it seem important. The show is off to a good start.

The WWE's Instagram account was taken over and filled with photos of Dean Ambrose going around New Orleans with the WWE Title. Seth Rollins was pissed about it but the Authority told him he'll be on his own on Sunday and he can choose his own opponent for tonight. The Divas are next as Nikki Bella beats Summer Rae in a non-title match. This was nothing for two minutes but we do get told that Paige and Nikki are meeting again at Money in the Bank. Next, we got our Money in the Bank promo segment. Roman Reigns talked a bit until Kane interrupted. The rest of the participants, sans Neville, showed up but the highlight was R-Truth. He came out and plugged the match, only to be reminded that he's not in it. It was great comedy as Truth is perfect in this role. He's past his prime as a legit threat to anything, but can still be entertaining. However, the segment itself besides that was still lacking and didn't accomplish much. Randy Orton and Sheamus worked their usual match. This was an original idea five years ago, but they've met so much that it's just there. That includes last week. They worked through a commercial, nothing really happened and it ended via disqualification. This was absolutely just filler. Seth talks to J&J Security backstage, giving us a classic moment. J&J claim that Seth needs them because they are Shield 2.0. Jamie says Joey is an upgraded Roman Reigns and he's a better version of Ambrose. This was hilarious. Seth slaps Jamie, who returns the favor and Seth challenges them for tonight for his warm up match.

We continue the lazy booking of having Money in the Bank participants face each other. Dolph Ziggler takes on Kane, and we all know how this ends. There's a distraction that allows Kane to go over. The distraction is Rusev coming out to talk to Lana, only for her to trip and hurt her ankle. Rusev's split personality of monster heel to emotional teenager angry about his ex is fantastic. MizTV is on next, featuring Ryback and Big Show, who will now meet at Money in the Bank for the Intercontinental Championship. Ryback and Miz had a decent back and forth, as Miz is a great douchebag heel. Show interrupted and they got into it. Ryback hit him with the Shell Shock to end the segment, which got the crowd hype, but I would have saved that for the actual match on Sunday. Seems like a waste to do it here.

More images of Dean Ambrose around New Orleans are shown, telling us that he bought a ticket off a scalper. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated Los Matadores with the 3D. It's not a pretty version of it, but I wonder if they're going to bring back the Dudleys to feud with them for a bit. Big E then defeated Titus O'Neil in a match to build towards their Tag Team Title bout on Sunday. Guess how this one ended? Via a distraction. It's like a Raw staple to have it happen multiple times in a show. We get told that on the Money in the Bank Kickoff show, there will be a completely random match between King Barrett and R-Truth. Why? No clue. Roman Reigns worked Kofi Kingston in the final MITB preview match, and it was better than I expected. However, nothing about it really helped as we've had multiple participants in Money in the Bank lose tonight. Why should they deserve that shot? Dean Ambrose then arrived through the crowd with popcorn to watch the main event. It was strange to see that his theme music hit as if he's supposed to be there and not just a guy who purchased a ticket.

The main event was a handicap match pitting Seth Rollins against J and J Security. Kane is at ringside with J&J. The match was fun as Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury can still go, but Seth looking overmatched against guys that have been established as a joke wasn't good. Then, to make things worse, because of a distraction by Ambrose, J&J actually win. I get that it's supposed to give us doubt that Seth will retain on Sunday, but that was a bad move. In the end, this was a really lazy effort on the part of whoever booked Raw. They just threw the MITB guys together and gave some of them losses. Why not have them win against some of the lower card guys? Why have Seth lose here? Why so many distraction finishes? After the opener and the Truth comedy, everything was pretty bland, dull and didn't build to the Pay-Per-View well. 3.5/10.