Smackdown Report 12-26-14

It's the day after Christmas, so Samckdown has to open with Ho Ho Hogan. Hulk Hogan comes out and says dude and brother a lot before he's cut off by Seth Rollins, who is with J&J Security. Seth claims that he is the future, which leads Hogan to say that maybe the guy who beat him at Survivor Series and last week on Smackdown, Dolph Ziggler is the future. Dolph comes out, thanks Hogan and badmouths Seth. This leads to Big Show coming out, who says that he's simply going to knock out Hogan and Ziggler. Before he can do that, Roman Reign's theme hits. This is a lot isn't it? No action goes down though as Hogan just makes a tag match for the main event. It's like Teddy Long never left playa?

Our opening contest is a rematch of what was my least favorite match at TLC, Ryback vs. Kane. This didn't have the Chairs match stipulation, but it still wasn't very good. Something about these two doesn't click well. As Ryback seems to be near victory, Rusev's theme music hits to distract the Big Guy, but it was kind of useless as he ends up beating Kane anyway. Rusev goes to the ring and they go at it until Rusev forces him to pass out in the Accolade. I wonder when they're going to have their first singles match, as I truly believe that Rusev needs to crush Ryback. After Rusev and Lana leave, Hulk Hogan finds them backstage and demands that Rusev defend the title tonight.

We move into Divas action as former Total Diva Naomi takes on new Total Diva Alicia Fox. This was your standard Divas affair as Naomi won in about three minutes. The Miz is seen watching and cheering on backstage. Another match that doesn't really matter is next as R-Truth faces Adam Rose. I always forget that R-Truth is employed. Rose was without the Bunny, who he attacked on Raw, and won another short match. In between this, we also got the weekly Raw Rebound. Those seem to get longer by the week.

Rusev is out for his United States Championship defense. Lana pouts and says that this is not fair, especially since he doesn't know his opponent. When it is revealed to be Dean Ambrose, the crowd pops hard. Michael Cole and JBL sell the fact that Ambrose is the longest reigning United States Champion in WWE history at just over 350 days. This would probably be the match of the night. It got over eleven minutes and both participants managed to look strong throughout. As the fight spills outside, Bray Wyatt comes out to attack Dean Ambrose and cause the disqualification. I still don't know why they're fighting, even after Bray won two of their three matches. Well three of four if you count the DQ win at Survivor Series. Ambrose ends up running off Bray.

Time for another rematch as The Miz faces an Uso for what has to be the seventh or so time since November. He beat Jey last week and loses to Jimmy this week after Naomi distracted him. The Ascension are set to debut next week and we also get a wacky Stardust and Goldust promo. Moving right along, our main event is up next. Roman Reigns and Dolph Ziggler made for a popular tag team and the match itself was solid. My biggest gripe with the whole thing was that Seth Rollins was pinned by Roman Reigns. Look, I'm all for Smackdown ending in a clean finish but couldn't Big Show have eaten the pin here. Seth Rollins should be protected more than Show at this point.

Overall, I didn't expect much from this Smackdown. It was recorded last week before Raw, so I knew there wouldn't be much in the way of angle advancement. However, the main event was cool and the Ambrose/Rusev match was good. It wasn't the best episode of Smackdown, but for something recorded so far in advance, it was decent. 5/10.

Main Event Report 12-23-14

Back to the old business of pre-taped episodes of Main Event due to the WWE having a few days off for Christmas. We kick things off with Los Matadores taking on Uppercats! Tyson Kidd and Cesaro for those unaware. These four guys put on a damn good match on Superstars last week that you should go out of your way to see. On Main Event though, the rematch wasn't better but it was still enjoyable. Kidd and Cesaro were completely thrown together but have some great chemistry and make this combination work. They won with their awesome powerbomb/blockbuster finisher. I'd love to see them move up the tag ranks if they're staying together.

The New Day is interviewed by Renee Young, when it is interrupted on the big screen by Goldust and Stardust. This was a pretty intriguing promo that once again shows how Cody Rhodes can turn anything into gold. He does very well with this gimmick. Brie Bella and her BEYOND awful theme music was out next to face Summer Rae. Maybe Summer is pissed that she was kicked off of Total Divas for no real reason. The opener went about five minutes and this got just about three. There were some botches, and it wasn't very good but it was short so that kept it inoffensive.

Up next, Big E faced off against Stardust to continue the feud between the New Day and the Dust Brothers. Not much of note here though. It was a decent match that ended when Goldust mistakenly cost Stardust the match. I'm not sure if they're going the route of a split or not and I doubt creative knows either. Our main event saw what I believe to be a first time ever match, so that's a treat. Luke Harper took on the Real American Jack Swagger. This was the longest match of the night, clocking in around 14 minutes, but it was great. Really good performances from both guys and Harper wins with his clothesline. JBL dubbed it the Clothesline from Smell. Something tells me this will end up sticking.

Well, despite not being live, Main Event delivered tonight. The opening tag match was a lot o fun and Harper/Swagger was damn good. Throw in his match with Dolph Ziggler from Raw and Harper has stolen the show this week. The other two matches were decent at best, making this a very enjoyable episode. 7/10.

Raw Report 12-22-14

It's Christmas Raw! Ho Ho Hogan opens Raw dressed as Santa Clause. He puts over the WWE in a million ways before John Cena joins him. They talk about Brock Lesnar and I pretty much tune them out because duh. Seth Rollins and J&J Security interrupt and he is tired of John Cena's shit. He even tells him that nobody wants to hear his voice anymore. I kind of agree. He rambles on before we get, you guessed it, a rematch of something we've seen a bunch. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena opens the broadcast and it took just over 15 minutes to get that ready. Losing to Seth last week and being attacked by Brock Lesnar had zero effect on Cena as he's able to win here. The match itself was good but it's something I've seen a ton of times.

When we return from commercial, we get dual jobber entrances for Fandango and Jack Swagger. This is dull, the crowd doesn't give a fuck and Fandango just wins. That's it. No storyline advancement for either guy. Just a one on one match with no meaning and no purpose. No wonder the crowd didn't care for it. We also get a New Day vignette as if they haven't debuted already. Adam Rose wrestles R-Truth and loses, before completely snapping and taking out the Bunny. This sucked like the last match but at least it was really short and it furthered the angle, no matter how dumb, between Rose and the Bunny. I have no clue what the fuck Fandango/Swagger was supposed to be.

Roman Reigns, hot on the road to most likely winning the Royal Rumble, meets the man he beat up when he returned at TLC, Big Show. Reigns cut a pre-match and pre-taped promo saying that he's going to give Show a Superman Punch for Christmas because all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth. Terrible. The match wasn't as bad as I expected but the ending kind of sucked. A Superman Punch sends Show over the announce table and Reigns gets a countout victory. For someone who is supposed to be a one man army, I would think he wouldn't want to accept a countout win. Also, of course they'll keep Big Show strong by not getting pinned, but I'm sure Reigns will pin guys who could stand to be protected.

Renee Young interviews her supposed real life boyfriend, Dean Ambrose. He says that all he wants for Christmas is Bray Wyatt, but nobody is really sure why they're fighting still. Ugh, again with the shitty Brie Bella theme. Seriously, if they're going to be complete idiots and put them back together, can they just come out to Nikki's theme? She faces Natalya, who is with Tyson Kidd. Kidd for some reason, wear Nikki's hat throughout the match. It's not like she was wrestling and needed to take it off. Natalya wins a decent divas match, but Tyson steals the show again. Natalya then knocks Nikki off the apron, in a total heel move, and raises the Divas Title. I guess it's that time in Nikki's reign where she beats the crafty veteran Natalya. Everyone else does.

Los Matadores takes on The Dust Brothers. So, even commentary is clueless at the fact that this is somehow a 2 on 2 and a half handicap match as El Torito is in the match. The bout isn't bad but El Torito fucking pins Stardust. The guy who has potential to be a World Champion and makes the best of any gimmick he's given gets pinned by a midget bull. We move to the Intercontinental Championship match, because TLC rematches are what tonight is about. However, holy hell did this deliver. On the level with their Ladder Match, Luke Harper beats up Dolph before the bell, similar to when he won the title originally. Dolph fights resiliently and we get TONS of near falls here. Dolph plays the face needing the comeback with the best of them. This wasn't your typical John Cena/Roman Reigns comeback where they just hit a flurry of moves and it's over. Dolph would rally and Harper would have an answer for every single shot. One hell of a match and easily the best thing of the show so far as Dolph retains and continues to make the second half of 2014 his year.

Jerry Lawler gets in the ring with his HIDEOUS Christmas sweater, to interview Dolph Ziggler. He just says that he fought his ay to the WWE and he'll be damned if someone takes the belt from him. Roddy Piper is out next for Piper's Pit with Rusev and Lana. Lana is apparently a grinch as she calls Christmas in America a joke because Americans pretend to be good people. She hits the nail on the head by calling American children ungrateful. Ryback appears, to a bigger pop than Roman Reigns got earlier. Actually, I'm no Ryback fan, but he got a pop on par with Dolph Ziggler as the loudest of the show. Ryback takes out Rusev and I fully expect a United States Title match between them on maybe the first Raw of 2015. Man I hope Ryback isn't the one to beat Rusev.

We get our mandatory viewing of recaps of shit that happened earlier. Also time for our mandatory "Santa's Little Helper" million Divas tag. Alicia Fox, Naomi and Emma team up to face Summer Rae, Cameron and Paige. If it wasn't for Cameron, I'd love the second team. This is short as expected, but your standard Divas fare. Cameron's outside is ugly. She's a candy cane or something. I love that Paige didn't wear any Christmas attire, just her normal stuff with a BAH-HUMBUG Santa type hat. The faces win and at least it was Cameron who was pinned. Paige was FAR and AWAY the most over Diva of the night.

To continue the story of Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. the Usos, we get a one on one match between Miz and Jey Uso. This is standard stuff with Miz winning using a rollup. Nothing special here. Our main event is a Miracle on 34th Street Fight, which is just a Street Fight with Christmas themed weapons outside the ring. Oh, and it's between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. Bray cuts a promo before the match, singing a little jingle. I'll give these guys credit, they did their best with the stuff. They used the weapons creatively, including a Christmas tree, steel chair, candy cane coated kendo stick and ladder. They even called back to TLC as Dean went to use a TV but realized that it would be better not to. Bray would win, taking a 2-1 lead in pinfall victories during their series, but Dean had the last laugh as an elbow through a table allowed him to smile to close the show.

You know, this obviously wasn't the best episode of Raw. The Christmas Raw stuff usually isn't but it had some high points. I enjoyed the Santa's Helper match a bit, the Street Fight was very good, the opener was solid and the Intercontinental Title match was fantastic and one of the better Raw matches of the year. There were a few too many low points for me to fully enjoy it though (I'm looking at you El Torito and Fandango.) 5.5/10.

Top Ten Matches of 2014

This will be a relatively simple top ten list. Of all of the matches produced on WWE television in the year 2014, I choose the top ten. I would like to give special honorable mention shoutouts to Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte from NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, John Cena vs. Cesaro from Raw earlier this year, the WrestleMania 30 main event and the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins Street Fight from Raw the night after SummerSlam I believe.

10. Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt; Royal Rumble

Remember when Bray Wyatt was the next big thing? That was around this time. After lackluster feuds with Kane and Kofi Kingston, Bray Wyatt set his sights on the most popular WWE Superstar, Daniel Bryan. He targeted Bryan and wanted him to join the Wyatt Family, citing that Bryan belonged with them. I'm sure it wasn't just because of the beard either. Bryan joined the group, only to turn on Bray, leading to this. They opened the Royal Rumble and set a bar that nobody reached that night. Bray needed to have a star making performance after his previous matches disappointed and Bryan helped him get there. Bray scored a clean pinfall over the hottest guy in wrestling after 21 minutes and it did not halt Bryan's momentum. Booking done right.

9. Intercontinental Championship: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Cesaro vs. Tyson Kidd; Smackdown

While Smackdown is no longer really considered to be must see television, it does end up having its fair share of good matches, none better than this one. On the November 14th episode of Smackdown, Dolph Ziggler defended his Intercontinental Title against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a rare elimination Triple Threat match. The match was exciting and featured a lot of near falls. After Dolph planted Cesaro, Kidd stole the cover to eliminate the Andre the Giant Battle Royal winner. That left it down to Tyson and Dolph, who continued to steal the show. Dolph would retain after 17 minutes, as part of his great year in the IC Title ranks, and while this didn't lead to anything further it was damn fun.

8. Money in the Bank Ladder Match; Money in the Bank

At the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View there were going to be two multi-man ladder matches. The one with the WWE World Heavyweight Title on the line was nowhere near as good as the one for the briefcase. The talent in the match was damn good and their goal was to steal the show. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins took center stage, and rightfully so. Their rivalry was the hottest in the WWE, and we got our first dose here when Dean superplexed Seth from the top of a ladder. After tons of high spots and excitement, Ambrose was near the briefcase when Kane came out and cost him the match. This allowed Seth to retrieve the briefcase just before the 26 minute mark, closing out a damn fine match.

7. Team Authority vs. Team Cena; Survivor Series

While the final product for the teams in this year's Survivor Series main event disappointed (I'm looking at you Erick Rowan, Big Show and Mark Henry), the match delivered. It was the longest match of the year for the WWE, clocking in at 43 minutes. Rusev was protected by a countout elimination, and guys that I don't like, like Ryback were gone quickly. Big Show turned on John Cena for the 46th time, allowing Seth Rollins to pin Cena and Show to get himself counted out. This left Dolph Ziggler down 3 on 1, before he pulled out a 2003 Shawn Michaels like performance, rallying to get it down to he and Seth. Triple H got involved, but this led to the ultimate moment of Sting appearing on WWE TV. He gave a huge assist to Dolph, who got the pin and ended the Authority. Drama personified.

6. NXT Championship: Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn; NXT TakeOver: R Evolution

Speaking of drama, a ton of that could be found in the main event of NXT TakeOver: R Evolution. This is the most recent match on the list and was an outstanding outing. Leading into the match, Sami Zayn was known as the guy who couldn't win the big one, so with one more shot at it, he put his career on the line. The crowd made this even better as they were absolutely jacked for this. The crowd ate up every near fall. Storytelling was vital here as they had callbacks to previous matches and when Sami finally got the pin, the heartfelt moment was real. 23 minutes of non stop action as this was a fitting main event to the best show of the year. Sami's tender moment was short lived, but we'll always have this match.

5. Evolution vs. The Shield; Extreme Rules

Coming off of a surprisingly great WrestleMania, the WWE was on a high that unfortunately wouldn't last. However, heading into Extreme Rules, a dream match was set. The best stable of the past 15 years, Evolution, reunited to take on the best stable since they originally existed, the Shield. This had a big fight feel and stole the show at Extreme Rules, before doing the same at Payback. Their first outing was better though. They went just about 20 minutes and saw Seth Rollins dive off of a balcony in the crowd. What made it even better was the fact that the Shield won cleanly, which they would do again at Payback, before splitting. The right team won in a fantastic match.

4. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins; Hell in a Cell

Raise your hand if you see a trend in these match of the year candidates. If that trend you see is Seth Rollins, then you caught it. The man has been the absolute best that the WWE has to offer week in and week out. His feud with Dean Ambrose was arguably the best of the year. They took a stupid stipulation like a Lumberjack match and made it work at SummerSlam before moving into this match. The fans wanted them to get it on in a Hell in a Cell and they got it. To make things even better, they main evented the show. Dean climbed to the top of the Cell instantly, letting us know that this wouldn't be your average singles match inside of a Cell. They took bumps from halfway up the Cell and nearly were stretchered off. Dean wanted none of that, stopping this and bringing things inside. They then proceeded to beat the hell out of each other for 14 official minutes. Seth would win after some shady interference from Bray Wyatt, keeping this from moving up.

3. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn; NXT ArRival

After going live for the first time on February 24th, the WWE Network faced its first test just days later for NXT ArRival. It would test the Network's ability to stream a live event, but the bigger story became the show itself. It opened with Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn in a rematch of their phenomenal 2 out of 3 falls match. This set the tone for what NXT would do each time they were given a chance, which was to steal the show. Zayn and Cesaro went out and tore the house down. Sami came close to winning multiple times and we saw callbacks to their previous matches. He attempted his suicide DDT only to run into a huge uppercut from Cesaro. Cesaro would win in 22 minutes, which was the right move with him just coming off of the Elimination Chamber, and set the "Sami can't win the big one" angle in motion.

2. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H; WrestleMania XXX

Whether it was the original plan or not, WrestleMania XXX was Daniel Bryan's night. Right off the bat, Bryan stepped into the ring with Triple H, with the winner moving into the WWE World Heavyweight Title match later that night. We got a slow build as the match started with a feeling out process, since neither guy had ever worked the other. They built towards the hot finish as Triple H nailed the Pedigree but Bryan kicked out. Stephanie McMahon's reactions to everything were pitch perfect. Bryan would counter in the end and nail his huge running knee to knock off the COO of the company. The 26 minute opener was up there with the best WrestleMania opening matches ever. Bryan advanced to the main event, where he won the WWE Title and had his moment.

1. The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family; Elimination Chamber

If you read my blog regularly, then you know that I picked the feud between The Shield and the Wyatt Family as the rivalry of the year. Well, I'm picking them for Match of the Year too. As I said in that post, there was something special about these six. The fans were on their feet and ripe with anticipation just from seeing them stare at each other across the ring. When they actually had their showdown, it was special. Seth Rollins, again, had the big show stealing move by countering a top rope German suplex attempt, and chaos ensued throughout. In the end, Bray Wyatt pinned Roman Reigns; something you would NEVER see now, and the Wyatts won an absolute thriller.

NXT Report 12-18-14

Special shoutout to my sister before we start as it was her birthday yesterday. Yes, she shares a birthday with Rob Van Dam, Trish Stratus and Steve Austin. Anyway, onto NXT, which opened with Adrian Neville cutting a promo. He looked a lot more comfortable on the microphone than I expected and is nowhere near as bad on the stick as some people make him out to be. He discussed how proud he was of his match with Sami Zayn at R Evolution, but that Sami couldn't be out there tonight because of Kevin Owens. This brings out Owens who claims that he doesn't care at all about what he did and challenges Neville to a fight. It is not announced instantly, but William Regal makes it the main event for later in the night.

The opening contest features some of NXT's great female workers. After attacking Bayley on the R Evolution Pre-Show, Becky Lynch was set to face her here. Bayley played up her knee injury well and sported a knee brace. She came out of the blocks aggressively, which was a nice touch as it's different for Bayley. Becky went after the knee like a rabid dog, but Bayley fought tough. It turned out to not be enough though as Becky won with her Four Leg Clover, which is an interesting submission. Yes, another NXT girl with a submission move. Good opener. Also, a rematch from R Evolution is signed as Charlotte defends her title against Sasha Banks again next week! That should be awesome.

William Regal is shown in his office when The Vaudevillains show up. Yes, the screen goes black and white. They show Regal footage on a tablet that indicates that Simon Gotch was not the legal man when he was pinned at R Evolution, so they also get a NXT Tag Team Title rematch. We move into dual squashes as Bull Dempsey wins in just over a minute and Baron Corbin follows with a 12 second win. Bull stands on the ramp and watches Baron's entire match, which is easy considering the length. He gets into a staredown with Baron as he exits and shoves him, but before Baron can retaliate, 

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, along with Carmella, come out for a match against the Ascension. At least it has some continuity as the Ascension did attack them a few weeks ago in their rage against Hideo Itami and Finn Balor. Now, we just had two squashes, so I wasn't a fan of the fact that this went less than a minute. Enzo tagged himself in, got distracted by Carmella talking to fans, ate a clothesline and this was over. The Ascension then cut a promo, saying that the war with Balor and Itami was far from over. I guess we'll get a rematch of that as well.

So, talk about a big time main event. Kevin Owens has been shoved right into the spotlight, main eventing his first episode of NXT against the longest reigning NXT Champion of all-time, Adrian Neville. I was wondering how this would be done since Neville can't just get pinned after dominating NXT for so long. What we got was a great match, with plenty of false finishes, but not too many. It ended after Neville dove outside onto Owens, only to be sent into the ring post. The referee counted to ten and we got a double countout finish that made sense. Kept both guys strong and ended a fine match. Owens wasn't pleased with this and he gave Neville the powerbomb on the apron! The stretcher is out as it looks like they're building that move as being devastating.

Another damn good episode of NXT. The only negative was how quickly Enzo and Big Cass lost. The other two squashes made sense as they're very quick and are leading to the eventual Corbin/Dempsey brawl. The opener was a solid women's match and the main event was a fantastic effort from both guys. Again, it made me want to tune in again next week. 7.5/10. Also, you should check out Superstars tonight. I won't post a review, but Tyson Kidd and Cesaro take on Los Matadores in a great match, as well as a fun Emma/Summer Rae bout.

Main Event and Super Smackdown Report 12-16-14

Main Event kicks off with MizTV, featuring Naomi as the guest. Damien Mizdow is great here as always, and they're playing the whole "is Miz being generous with Naomi?" thing. She is using MizTV as a platform to tell everyone that she through's Miz and calls him phony. THIS GUYS A PHONY! A BIG FAT PHONY! She says that he hasn't come through with his "promises", so he responds by saying that he got her a Divas Title match on Smackdown. Is Miz this week's guest General Manager? Jimmy Uso comes out and gets mad, causing Miz and Mizdow to leave. I still have no idea where this is going.

Moving on, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro face The New Day. Let's be honest really quick. They need to start coming out to Kidd's theme because Cesaro's is god awful. They got about twelve minutes and stole the show. This was possibly my favorite match of the night as Kidd and Cesaro have quickly developed into a team with some potential. They played the role of heels great and I enjoyed everything about this. New Day won of course, but this was damn sure enjoyable. Plus, that swing/dropkick combination was a badass nod to the Kings of Wrestling.

We get a strange backstage segment where Erick Rowan is playing chess and Paige is watching. Titus O'Neil comes up, brags about being a college graduate and calls Rowan dumb. They go to play chess, but Titus doesn't know how. This was odd. What wasn't odd though, was Paige vs. Emma coming up next. These two girls have great chemistry and if you want to their best matches, check out the finals of NXT Women's Title Tournament and NXT ArRival. They were given more than five minutes and made the best of it. It was a fun match that Paige won with the PTO. I wish Paige would get back into the Divas Title picture.

In the main event of Main Event, Erick Rowan took on Kane. Titus O'Neil was on commentary and pretty much owned Michael Cole throughout. Rowan has some surprising offense and I enjoyed this much more than Ryback/Kane from TLC. Titus ended up getting water or something tossed on him as the fight went outside and when Rowan went back in, he fell to a Chokeslam. I don't know why they keep having Rowan lose or what the Titus stuff is about. Oh well, with the opener and the Divas match, this is a recommended episode of Main Event. 7/10. I can't find a photo or gif from the match, so you get more Paige.

As part of WWE Week on the USA Network, we got Super Smackdown Live on Tuesday instead of Friday. Trying to make this episode bigger than your average Smackdown, Roman Reigns' big return to the ring was saved for tonight. As theshow opened, Fandango was in the ring before Roman made his way out. This lasted longer than I expected as Fandango actually go in some offense. However, things went downhill for him as he ate a Superman Punch and Spear, giving Roman a win in his return. Side note, this is the 800th episode of Smackdown.

After highlights are shown from the TLC match between Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt, Dean joins us to cut a promo. He talks about how he loved everything about the match, except for the freak accident at the end. Tomorrow on Tribute to the Troops, Dean and Bray do battle in a Boot Camp Match, because they're Sgt. Slaughter and Triple H in 1997. Bray appears on the titantron, saying that Dean is only still breathing because Bray is enjoying this so much. It's typical Bray stuff and it looks like this is going to continue for a while. I see it ending on the first Raw of the new year most likely.

It wouldn't be WWE television without a random six man tag would it? Miz and Damien Mizdow team with Luke Harper in an odd combo, against the Usos and Erick Rowan. Even though Rowan isn't really feuding with Harper. I guess they're moving onto this. I'm not a fan as I would have liked for them to stay away from each other. The Usos and Rowan win after they get Rowan to do a top rope splash. ERICK USO! He even celebrates with them after the match. It was good to see Rowan win after suffering so many straight losses.

Naomi prepares for her Divas Title match when Jimmy Uso comes up to her to apologize for his actions as he just doesn't trust Miz. She understands, but can do this on her own. We get ready for Seth Rollins vs. Ryback but as Ryback makes his entrance, Rusev attacks him. The United States Champion kicks him off the stage and then backstage. I guess Rusev/Ryback is officially happening and I'm cool with that as long as Ryback doesn't win. Seth gets on the microphone and decides that he should have the night off. He sends Joey Mercury to get the limo, but they're cut off by Dolph Ziggler. Dolph was pretty good on the microphone here, reminding everyone that it was indeed him, along with Sting, that ended the Authority. I appreciated that since commentary seems to forget about Dolph. He goads Seth into a match for our main event. This was good and I hope the IC Title and Dolph continue to get shine.

We get another Ascension promo. I can't wait to see them in an endless series of matches against Los Matadores. Anyway, Naomi comes out for her Divas Championship match against Nikki Bella. Brie is still Nikki's best friend, who looks like a complete idiot in this whole thing. This is your basic Divas affair until Miz walks down to the ring to support Naomi. Jimmy Uso doesn't like this, so he comes out and they begin to brawl. Naomi was on fire until she noticed this and got distracted, allowing Nikki to roll her up and retain. I appreciate that this Tag Team Title feud has more depth to it than just Team A vs. Team B 15 times, but I'm not sure where creative is going with this angle. Naomi is upset with Jimmy after the match.

After Kane destroyed the Bunny on Raw with a Tombstone, Adam Rose gets a rematch here. The Bunny has a neckbrace, which is disappointing since it means it's not the end of that. Kane wins in a minute. Before he leaves, he attacks the Bunny again. I have no clue why this is happening. After some gratuitous promotion for Tribute to the Troops and Hulk Hogan's appearance on Raw next week, it's time for the main event. They get about fifteen minutes and I was actually more invested in this than the Steel Cage match the previous night as we all knew that would eventually feature interference from Brock. Great match that featured Dolph getting a clean win over Mr. Money in the Bank, after J&J Security was tossed from ringside.

Better than your average Smackdown. They didn't waste a ton of time on Raw replays, which helped. The main event was really good and featured the rare Smackdown clean finish. We got a decent six man tag, solid Divas Title match and storyline advancement in most feuds. I have to appreciate that. 7.5/10.

Raw Report 12-15-14

The TLC fallout episode of Raw opened with special Guest General Manager Chris Jericho. He comes out and speaks about Fandango for stealing his Slammy last week, but instead gets Paul Heyman. Heyman talks about the fact that he should be running Raw. I mean, with the way he booked Smackdown in 2002-2003, thing would be better if he ran things. Seth Rollins shows up, as at least this is starting a bit differently. He says that he had John Cena where he wanted him until Roman Reigns came out. John Cena shows up, because our opening promo has to reach 30 or so minutes. Jericho books Cena vs. Rollins in a Steel Cage match tonight, as well as himself vs. Paul Heyman. Gee, I wonder who is going to help Heyman. I prefer this to the weekly Authority promo, but still way too much talking to begin.

Our opening contest features the men who opened TLC the previous night. Dolph Ziggler teams with Erick Rowan to take on Big Show and Luke Harper. How Luke Harper is wrestling after nearly breaking his arm in the Ladder match is beyond me. I don't remember much from the match except that Big Show knocked out Rowan, so that's two straight pins over Rowan because logic. Harper threw Ziggler into the announce table, leading commentary to be silent because their headsets were down. The show was amazing while they were silent.

We move to the Highlight Reel, because Chris Jericho is working hard and going to be part of a bunch of segments. His guests on the Highlight Reel, which has suffered from budget cuts, will be Rusev and Lana. There were rumors of him bringing back the European Title, but those were false for tonight at least. Jericho is like a kid with them, saying there might be something between them. He calls them the "US Champ and the Communist Tramp." Lana gets mad and yells "SHUT UP!" so Jericho mocks her and they go back and forth. Rusev threatens him until "FEED...ME...MORE" is heard and Ryback comes out. They just kind of stare each other down and I guess Ryback is next to be fed to Rusev. Good.

Because Raw wouldn't be complete without a rematch of something we've just seen, so the Dust Brothers take on New Day. On the TLC Kickoff show, New Day won but at least they use the Freebird rule so it was Xavier Woods and Big E instead of Big E and Kofi Kingston. This got more time than I thought and was pretty good, but the fans seemed bored and started chanting for the announcers and for NXT. I'd have saved that for a Big Show match or something like that. Big E played the face in peril which was strange, but they ended up winning.  Not bad, but it will get old quick.

Adam Rose promises that tonight they will throw the biggest party in history. He runs into Kane who doesn't like any of his "freaky friends" and says they will fight tonight. Corporate Kane still has power? Time for Chris Jericho vs. Paul Heyman, and Heyman makes the comment of "I put the Jew in Jiu-Jitsu". The match never happens because BRROOOCCK....LESSSNAARR appears to save Heyman. Brock hit Jericho with an F5, but I felt like he should have destroyed him. Of course, there is no John Cena to be found because he is a terrible face who never helps anyone.

Fandango comes down for a promo and I cringe because he sucks. Roman Reigns saves me by appearing and Spearing him. Big Show came out, still pissed that Reigns kicked his ass last night. He tries to get in the ring but eats the Superman punch. He gets mad and throws the steel steps around. I guess we're heading towards Show/Reigns. Jimmy Uso defeats the Miz in what is like their third match in two weeks. Naomi then bumps into Miz and Damien Mizdow backstage. He tells her that she will be his guest on MizTV tomorrow on Main Event. He wants to give her a chance but maybe she shouldn't tell Jimmy Uso. Yes, I'm sure he doesn't watch Main Event. He probably didn't subscribe to the WWE Network.

Roman Reigns returns to the ring on Super Smackdown Live tonight! Also, Hulk Hogan is back next week. I guess he has to promote the WWE Network dude! For only $9.99, brother! The Steel Cage comes down for the main event which was damn good. Seth Rollins looked much better here than he did at TLC. He becomes one of the few select men to kick out of the Attitude Adjustment. Cena decides that a top rope AA should be enough but both guys are down. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman walk down to the ring because "ITS ABOUT TO GO DOWN." He gets in the cage and EAT.SLEEP.SUPLEX.REPEAT. SUPLEX.REPEAT.SUPLEX.REPAT. After an F5, Seth Rollins gets to his feet, shakes hands with Heyman and escapes the cage around the 23 minute mark to win.

Another forgettable episode of Raw. Having Brock Lesnar back around is pretty cool, but once again it seems like creative has no clue what they're doing. They book and plan show to show and have no idea what is coming next. After a lackluster TLC, we get a lackluster Raw that seemingly had no effort put in. The two tag matches were decent and the main event was fantastic though. 5.5/10.

TLC Predicions

For being a Kickoff match, I’m actually pretty excited for this. I love a tag team feud that isn’t just “champions vs. challengers”. Granted, there isn’t some huge angle behind this, but I got to see both teams work the microphone recently and that’s appreciated. With New Day being the new team, I pick them.

Winners: The New Day

Stop me if you’ve seen this before. These two had a relatively long feud over the Summer because in the battle of Russia vs. America, nobody makes more sense for the US than Jack Swagger. I do appreciate that this has a different feel due to the attack on Zeb Colter and Rusev making it personal. I expect a good match, some great selling by Rusev and the obvious outcome. If Swagger didn’t end Rusev’s undefeated streak before, he won’t do it now. That’s being saved for Roman Reigns or John Cena.

Winner: Rusev

I still have absolutely no clue why Brie Bella is suddenly best friends with Nikki Bella again and neither does anyone else. It hasn’t been explained on TV and there are no hints that Brie is just trying to eventually get a title shot. Anyway, they had a well built feud heading into Survivor Series and ended up with a 30 second match. This time around, there hasn’t been much additional build except for some harsh words being traded, but they should get their actual match. It would make no sense to do another title change on a belt that has gone back and forth four times since July.

Winner: Nikki Bella

First of all, I don’t like the idea of a Chairs match. It’s just a no DQ match where the focus is on chairs. That being said, this should be decent at best. Ryback is still not the most impressive worker on the roster, but there won’t be need for much here besides a brawl. Kane, despite being in his best shape in a decade, hasn’t been putting on the strongest matches. His job in this match should solely be to do just that. Job. I don’t believe that Ryback is legit a main event player, but regardless, he should be able to go over Kane here.

Winner: Ryback

The WWE tag team division has been disappointing in 2014 after a great 2013. The Usos have clearly been the MVPs, taking the titles from the awful New Age Outlaws run and putting on consistently good to great matches on Pay-Per-View. The Miz and Damien Mizdow now hold the gold, or copper, and I don’t see them losing it anytime soon. They’re building a Miz/Mizdow split and Mizdow is easily the most over guy in this match. He makes the Tag Title match something the fans consider must see, and that helps the division. I don’t see a switch this soon.

Winners: The Miz and Damien Mizdow

ee, I think Chairs matches are stupid, but I think a Steel Stairs match is absolutely ridiculous. What does this mean exactly? Are only steel stairs allowed to be used? Can you get disqualified if you use a steel chair or some other non-steel stair like weapon? Nothing has been explained, so I assume this will be like a Chairs match in which it’s a just a No DQ match with the focus primarily on steps. Nobody cares about yet another Big Show heel turn, but I’ve actually enjoyed Erick Rowan as of late. When the Wyatt Family split, I knew I’d get behind Luke Harper because he’s awesome but I never saw much in Rowan. This Rainman like lovable goof who can do things like solve a Rubik’s Cube is great. I sense a big win for Rowan here.

Winner: Erick Rowan

Okay, so I’m split on this. On one hand, these two, with a ladder, have a chance to steal the show. On the other hand, after being the sole survivor and ending the Authority, Dolph Ziggler should be away from the Intercontinental Title. I hope to see that happen after this show, but Dolph is in danger, if he hasn’t already, of losing that big Survivor Series momentum. The good thing here is that Dolph can lose while putting up a great fight and not get pinned. That’s exactly what I see happening, and hopefully, Dolph can move higher in the card after.

Winner: Luke Harper

Of all the matches on the card, this is probably the hardest to predict. Both guys should be two of the top guys in the company, but shoddy booking has left them just on the cusp. Therein lies the problem with this match and feud. Ending the first match in a disqualification was fine, but there has to be a winner here. Does Bray eat yet another loss instead of being the “Eater of Worlds” or does Dean Ambrose fall to another foe like he has at SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell? Looking at the card, I don’t see many faces winning, so I’ll go with the face here.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

This is one of those situations where a John Cena loss would actually make some sense. Much like how I thought he could have lost to Bray Wyatt at Payback, because this is a match where he doesn’t have to be pinned. Throw in the fact that Seth Rollins was pinned at Survivor Series and, for some stupid reason, against Ryback on Smackdown, and it would make sense for him to get a big win. But, that won’t happen. With the way that Night of Champions ended, the WWE seems to believe that we absolutely must have Brock/Cena IV or whatever.

Winner: John Cena