Random Network Reviews: Royal Rumble 2009

Royal Rumble 2009
January 25th, 2009 – Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan – Attendance: 16,685

With “Random Network Reviews” now including ALL Pay-Per-Views, Saturday Night’s Main Events, Clash of the Champions and more, the next one to be pulled randomly is the 2009 Royal Rumble. Coming into this year, I was very much into the idea of Randy Orton being the next WWE Champion. He had just returned with cool sleeve tattoos, was interesting to watch and had just punted Vince McMahon in the skull. It’s crazy to think that 2009 is already five years ago and it will be interesting to see how things have changed and stayed the same.

The intro video plays with “Let It Rick” by Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne in the background along with highlights from Royal Rumbles past. It gets intercut with Randy Orton’s “Voices” theme and clips of him punting Vince McMahon and disrespecting Stephanie. I’ll admit, it was one of the more vicious looking punts. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler somberly open by saying that even with Mr. McMahon’s condition, the show must go on. ECW commentary, Matt Striker and Todd Grisham, one of my favorite recent duos, take over for the opener.

ECW Championship
Jack Swagger (c) vs. Matt Hardy
Two weeks prior, on ECW, Jack Swagger fulfilled his potential as a “wrestling prodigy” and won the ECW Title. This was the Swagger that I enjoyed, long before he won the World Title on Smackdown and was stripped of all personality. A collar and elbow tie up to start, but Matt hits him with a stiff jab that sends Swagger out to catch a breather. Matt gets him out there but back inside, Swagger brings him to the mat where he wants him. He uses his amateur background to his advantage, but Matt fights out and hits a bulldog for two. Matt gets tossed outside and lands on his arm. Swagger, like a shark smelling blood, wisely goes right after the arm. He even hits a big boot to the shoulder for two. I love when someone targets a body part and pretty much every move is directed there. Matt hits another bulldog, but is selling well. Swagger blocks a kick and gets a near fall with a belly to belly. He follows with a smart single arm DDT but makes a mistake up top. Matt hits a poor looking moonsault for two. Swagger blocks the Side Effect and goes back to the shoulder by driving it into the ring post. From that spot, Swagger nails the Gutwrench Powerbomb and retains.

Winner and Still ECW Champion: Jack Swagger in 10:27
I really enjoyed the psychology of that. Jack Swagger looked very smart by targeting the injury and Matt Hardy sold it well. Better than I expected. ***1/2

Randy Orton is shown arriving earlier today and the roster gives him odd looks and are unusually quiet.

WWE Women’s Championship
Beth Phoenix (c) w/ Santino Marella vs. Melina
Glamarella was way better than it had any right to be and I enjoyed it. Melina does her best early on but is just overpowered by Beth Phoenix. She swings her like a rag doll and this is when Beth is at her best. When she has a girl who can sell her offense well. Melina counters a side slam into an attempted armbar. Beth just lifts her and throws her into the corner. Beth then applies a half Boston Crab and torques it to the point where Melina’s foot is touching her head. She takes it a step further by making Melina STOMP ON HER OWN HEAD! Great, creative spot. Beth picks up Melina for a gorilla press but she slips free. Melina seemed to try a rollup but nothing comes of it as they get stuck. She ends up rolling her up for two anyway and drives her knees into the Champion’s back. She leaps off the top with a Rey Mysterio like move before going for her finisher. Beth blocks it and tries the Glam Slam, but Melina reverses into a pin for the three.

Winner and New WWE Women’s Champion: Melina in 5:56
A pretty good Divas match. Beth Phoenix was her dominating self and we saw a memorable spot because of it. Melina took the beating she should have and then got the sneak win. However, it’s a finish that we’ve seen often with Beth. **

This was during the ridiculous storyline in which Shawn Michaels was supposedly broke and had to be employed by JBL. He let JBL beat him to become number one contender. After the video package, JBL tells Shawn Michaels that if he wins the belt tonight, he will pay Shawn everything he owes him and that he’ll be done with him. He’ll also give him a spot in the Royal Rumble. I had no clue that having money means you can play General Manager. JBL leaves and Shawn turns right into The Undertaker. He tells Shawn that sometimes, its hell trying to get to heaven. FORESHADOWING!

World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (c) vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield w/ Shawn Michaels
It looks so weird to see John Cena wearing Big Gold. These two had a brutal match back in 2005 that helped solidify John Cena as the guy. Surprisingly, this opens with some mat wrestling that leads to JBL going outside to tell Shawn Michaels something. Cena hits his signature bulldog for a near fall and then busts out the Throwback for another. Outside, a slight distraction by Michaels allows JBL to jump in the driver’s seat. JBL wears him down with some elbows, while we get shots of Shawn’s expressionless face. JBL knocks Cena outside and seems to want the countout but then realizes this is a title match and goes to get him. Cena rallies when he knocks JBL off the top and nails his diving Fameasser for two. JBL bounces off the ropes like he’s going for the Clothesline from Hell, but Cena is bent down in front of him and he just awkwardly runs into him. Time for the Five Knuckle Shuffle combo and Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but JBL blocks with a big elbow. Cena doesn’t care because he locks in the STF right in Shawn Michaels’ face. See, the Monday before, this happened during Shawn’s match with Cena and JBL pushed the ropes towards Shawn. Shawn doesn’t do it here, but Cena breaks the hold anyway. JBL hits the Clothesline from Hell but Cena kicks out at two, because he’s Cena. Like nothing happened, Cena goes for the AA but JBL again blocks and accidentally big boots the referee. Of course there’s a ref bump. Shawn enters with both men down and they slowly get to their feet. The anticipation is high and Shan chooses to drill JBK with Sweet Chin Music. Cena seems pleased and Shawn wants none of that, so he gives Cena one as well! He drags JBL’s limp body over Cena and leaves. A new official runs out and Cena kicks out. As they get up, Cena ducks a clothesline and hits the AA to wrap this up.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena in 15:29
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very good either. They’ve had better performances and the MVP of this thing was Shawn Michaels. **1/4

2008 was spent building Jeff Hardy towards the WWE Championship. He was close to the title on numerous occasions and was found injured before Survivor Series. On that night, he was replaced by Edge. Edge would win the belt but lose it the following month to Jeff, who finally realized his dream. Things turned sour for him though as he and his girlfriend got run off the road and his pyro damn near killed him one night. Someone clearly has it in for Jeff.

WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Edge w/ Chavo Guerrero
Before this thing starts, Vickie Guerrero changes it to a No Disqualification match. Jeff Hardy charges at Edge and pounds away on him for everything he’s supposedly done over the past few weeks. A “We Want Christian” chant breaks out as a lot of fans, myself included, hoped to find out that Christian was behind the attacks on Jeff. Jeff is first to get a weapon but eats a dropkick, which knocks it out of his hand. Jeff knocks Edge outside and then hits a diving clothesline off the apron. He goes to springboard back in but a distraction from Chavo allows Edge to kick him in the face. Edge starts to pick apart Jeff and seems to be focusing on the ribs. Jeff surprised with a sunset flip for two but Edge clotheslines back down for two. They go up top and Jeff shoves Edge to the mat. He goes for a cross body but gets dropkicked in mid-air. They’re doing a great job of conveying how Edge knows Jeff’s every move and is ready for it. Edge goes to bring a chair in but Jeff spears him off the apron. Jeff dives out onto Edge and I see the ECW table and wonder why they’re still even out there. Jeff hits a Twist of Fate onto the apron which was a cool spot. Instead of clearing off the useless ECW table, Jeff goes for the Raw table and brings out a ladder. Chavo intervenes and pays the price for it, as Jeff puts him through the table with an elbow! Back inside, Edge exposes the turnbuckle. Jeff doesn’t eat the corner though and hits Whisper in the Winds. Jeff gets a near fall with that and another with a small package. He goes up top but Edge gets away. He counters the Hardyac Arrest corner dropkick by driving Jeff’s face into the exposed buckle. Creative stuff. Edge goes in for the Spear but Jeff catches him with the Twist of Fate! He climbs to the top but Vickie comes out to stop him. He hits the Swanton Bomb anyway but Vickie pulls the referee out. Matt Hardy comes out with a chair and puts Vickie in the corner. They set up for the con-chair-to on Edge, but Matt instead strikes his brother with the chair! HEEL TURN! Edge and Vickie are shocked but Edge, ever the opportunist, crawls over and pins Jeff.

Winner and New WWE Champion: Edge in 19:22
This is what happens when two guys have worked each other for years. They have instant chemistry and the fans were treated to a damn good match. The heel turn was relatively shocking and the only thing I disagree with, was Jeff dropping the title in his first defense. ***3/4

Jim Ross says it makes him physically ill to see one brother do this to another. He must have thrown up a lot when Bret and Owen feuded in 1994. Jeff is helped to the back by officials before we go backstage to future ESPN anchor Todd Grisham. He asks Randy Orton about the ramifications of his attack on Mr. McMahon. Chris Jericho, of all people, interrupts to say that he doesn’t vilify Orton for what he did. He then also says he thinks Orton will be fired. Odd segment. Lastly, we get the “Royal Rumble by the Numbers” video. I happen to love these things.

Royal Rumble Match
Rey Mysterio draws number one, bringing up memories of his 2006 win where he won from the beginning, albeit at number two. I remember watching this with my friends live and saying that John Morrison should be one of the first two so we could see his slow motion entrance and he indeed draws number two. They have a decent little athletic back and forth during their time alone and both guys hang on to prevent elimination. The buzzer sounds and its Carlito. He spits his apple because that’s cool and adds to the athletic start here, hitting a double jump moonsault. MVP enters at four, fresh off of ending his stupid and lengthy losing streak. There’s an “MVP” chant as he snaps off a belly to belly to Rey and hits the “Ballin” elbow drop in one motion. I expected him to do a lot in this Rumble coming off of his big win over Big Show. Rey stops MVP’s run with a head scissors of sorts after surviving elimination. The Great Khali draws number five, and with his recent release, continues the trend of entrants who are no longer with the company. He’s huge so he dominates but it’s less impressive since he’s the Punjabi Playboy here. Vladimir Kozlov, two months removed from a Pay-Per-View WWE Title shot, enters at six. Kozlov dumps out Khali on his own but it looks awful. He then throws out MVP to a chorus of boos. There goes my hope of a good MVP performance. He tosses Carlito too before Triple H comes out at seven because he’s tired of Kozlov’s crap. Kozlov misses a headbutt and hits the turnbuckle, which looked hilarious. HHH then eliminates Kozlov; sending him into a comedy tag team with Santino Marella. Randy Orton draws eight, and is the first entrant to still be a consistent member of the roster in 2014. He goes toe to toe with HHH because of the family issues after attacking Vince. Morrison, trying to move up in the card, interrupts them. Rey hits him with the 619 and everyone is down. Nine arrives and the Cryme Tyme theme hits. Both JTG and Shad come out and flip a coin to see who gets the spot. JTG wins and the camera catches Shad find out that it’s a double sided coin. I remember laughing incredibly hard at this live. He does nothing of note.

Ted Dibiase draws number ten, making it nine of ten guys that aren’t with the company anymore just five years later. Triple H and Rey are still there but not active. Morrison and JTG both hang on and get into a fight while handing before Rey and Dibiase do the very same thing. Chris Jericho comes in at 11 and I didn’t expect another big star so soon. He and Triple H engage in a battle of finisher counters before Jericho joins the list of guys who have skinned the cat so far, which is now up to six of the 11. Number 12 is Mike Knox and his beard. He goes right for Mysterio and then we see Orton and Dibiase team up because they’re in Legacy. They go for JTG, which is probably some sort of hate crime. The Miz arrives at 13 and looking at him, you wouldn’t believe he’s a future WWE Champion. He works some double team stuff Morrison but misses his Awesome Clothesline. Orton goes on an RKO RAMPAGE, hitting four in a row before HHH plants him with a Pedigree and eliminates Miz and Morrison together. Finlay draws 14 as Rey nearly goes out but walks on Miz and Morrison’s backs to get back in. Nothing good happens here and we’re halfway home when Cody Rhodes comes in. Legacy is complete and they continue the hate crime on JTG before focusing on HHH. Rey tries to springboard in but is caught with a mid-air RKO! Things get serious as a gong goes off and Undertaker draws 16. The ring lines up against him and all get a piece, but JTG is the only one tossed. Goldust comes in at 17 and ends up slapping his brother. He nearly dumps him out twice and its crazy how much better Goldust looks in 2014. He eats Orton’s sixth RKO of the match I believe. Cody tosses Goldust just before the new Intercontinental Champion, CM Punk joins the fray. He takes out Cody and Ted before hitting HHH with the GTS. ACRONYMS! Number 19 is Mark Henry and SOMEBODY BOUT TO GET THEY WIG SPLIT! Why is Mike Knox still in this thing?

The United States Champion, Shelton Benjamin, comes in at twenty. There are currently twelve guys in the ring and Shelton leaps to the top to take out Punk and Jericho with a super double Paydirt. Cody, Goldust, Ted, Shelton and Henry have all worn black and gold tonight. Punk skins the cat as 21, William Regal, enters. He goes right for Punk, who just took the IC Title from him. The camera missed Mark Henry getting eliminated somehow and even commentary is lost. 22 is Kofi Kingston, and he’s still Jamaican here. Mysterio has been in for 33 minutes at this point. Shelton tries to splash Undertaker but is slammed to the mat and eliminated. Kane enters at 23, so hopefully it’s time to clear out some of the ring. He has a faceoff with his brother, who is bleeding, and they double Chokeslam Ted Dibiase. Punk pulls Regal over the top and out before R-Truth joins the match. He hits his spinning forearm on HHH, who has pretty much eaten every signature move. The crowd pops hard for Rob Van Dam at 25, who is making a surprise appearance. He nails everyone with kicks and stuff. The Brian Kendrick is 26 and dammit if I didn’t absolutely love this character. He instantly eliminates Kofi but gets tossed by HHH in less than a minute. The most successful number in Rumble history, 27 goes to Dolph Ziggler who has awful music. He is doing his “I’M DOLPH ZIGGLER” shtick and gets tossed by Kane after introducing himself. So there goes that. Crazy to think how those two just main evented Smackdown like a week ago. Santino Marella is 28 and gets clotheslined out in one second setting the record for quickest elimination ever. This made perfect sense as the “Rumble by the Numbers” thing brought up Warlord’s two second record and Santino was purely a comedy character. However, in a Rumble where everyone has lasted long, the last three guys have survived a combined minute or so. 29 is another surprise as Jim Duggan comes in. He is the first Rumble winner but is in DIRE need of a shirt. Unfortunately, he outlasts the three previous entrants. The final participant is the Big Show.

The previous two years, number thirty has won but Show goes face to face with The Undertaker. Kane, sticking up for his brother, chops Show. Duggan must be on drugs as he tries to slam Show. It fails and he is gone. Knox and Finlay are still in here but Show eliminates R-Truth, so he’s cleaning it up some. It’s like everyone is hanging on as Punk literally does it three straight times until Show knocks him out. Show takes out trash by dumping Knox and Rey. Hornswoggle comes in to attack Kane but when he defends himself, Finlay gets mad. Kane gets rid of him. Orton gets in his signature DDT as Show and Taker square off again. RVD hits the Five Star and Jericho eliminates him but turns right around into the Undertaker. The Deadman survives a Codebreaker and rids the ring of the MVP of the second half of 2008. As Kane struggles to get Orton over, the rest of Legacy turns the tables on him and Kane is gone. Legacy is left with Triple H, Big Show and Undertaker. Show, like a moron, assaults HHH so Legacy jumps Undertaker. He takes all three of them out and gets into a slugfest with Show. He big boots Show over but Show actually somehow hangs on like a lightweight! He brings Taker onto the apron with him and they choke each other before both getting knocked outside and continuing their fight. HHH is left alone with Legacy, who jump him. HHH rallies and thinks he eliminated Orton before actually tossing Dibiase and Rhodes. Orton sneaks up and gets rid of HHH to end this thing.

Winner: Randy Orton in 58:37
Solid Royal Rumble but nothing special. Too many people survived for too long, leaving this to drag after number 30 arrived. Also, the outcome was never really in doubt. ***

Overall: 7/10; Good. This was a good show. The opener was a very well done match from a psychological standpoint and the WWE Championship match was the best of the night. The Divas match was decent but the World Title match was boring. The Rumble itself was only alright and could’ve been better. In the end, it was an enjoyable three hours. Next up on “Random Network Reviews” looks like it’s going to be Backlash 1999!

Smackdown Report 2/12/15

We open backstage, which is sometimes weird. Kane and Big Show hype up the tag team division for a Team Team Turmoil match later tonight, in which Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan will be a part of it. I wonder how the actual teams will look in that match. To the ring, we open with Bray Wyatt vs. R-Truth. Commentary actually does a good job here in discussing Bray's recent promos where he claims that he's not scared of someone. It's pretty clear it's the Undertaker he's talking about, but I'm glad commentary decided to bring it up. Using Sister Abigail, Bray wins in just over four minutes which is how it should be. I'll give the WWE credit; they've gone a commendable job in trying to save Bray after he fell hard last year.

We see a recap of Paige's issues with the Bella Twins. Paige would be facing former Total Diva, Summer Rae, while the Bella Twins joined in on commentary. Nikki Bella did pretty good there while Brie was rather useless. Or maybe she didn't have a headset. I'm not sure, I barely heard her. Paige and Summer did well with their three minutes and Paige won by using the PTO. The Bellas and Paige have a staredown. Highlights of the Rusev/Cena angle from Raw is shown. It still intrigues me that they go out of their way to call Cena old. The Sheamus return video and Rikishi HOF video are both shown before we go to a rematch of last week's useless match between Adam Rose and Fandango. Wasn't Rose down with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro? Whatever. For the second straight week Fandango wins. I'm still not sure if we're supposed to see him as a face. I can't stand Rosa and I don't like Fandango, so I can't cheer for them. Guess what's next guys? Raw recaps because we see the whole Sting/Triple H stuff and Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan angle.

There is over an hour left in the broadcast and we're starting the main event. Well damn. Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan start the Turmoil off against Miz and Damien Mizdow. It makes sense given the limited roster due to the overseas trip a lot of guys are on. Bryan and Reigns eliminate Miz and Mizdow in just under three minutes while one upping each other. The Tag Team Champions were out next which should be tough. This was a lot more fun as all four guys seemed to enjoy this run. Bryan is always great while the Usos and Roman seemed to like working each other. They played up the tension between Reigns and Bryan again as Bryan tries to win by countout but Reigns doesn't want that. They win this one via submission and Reigns breaks it up as Bryan holds it for a bit too long. Some heel tendencies from Bryan eh? Or maybe Roman was just not happy because the Usos are his cousins.That Usos portion took over 20 minutes. Los Matadores is next and Bryan eliminates them in two minutes. SLATER GATOR is next and Roman gets rid of them in a minute. The Ascension is next and they lose via disqualification after tossing Reigns and Bryan around outside and hitting the Fall of Man on Bryan. At least they kept them looking strong. The final team out is Big Show and Kane. They tried to pick up the pieces of the fallen team but it failed as they are resilient. Kane and Show started to argue and Show knocked out Kane. He turned around into a Spear and running knee that allowed Bryan and Reigns to prevail. Roman helped Bryan up and they stared at the WrestleMania sign to close the show.

Well I enjoyed that episode. The VAST majority was taken up by the main event, which was really good, so the show will get a good score. I believe in TV time, that went about 42 minutes and over an hour including commercials. They booked it well to keep the Ascension and the Usos strong. With the exception of Fandango/Rose, everything was fine, but I can even excuse that since they were working with a limited roster. 8/10.

NXT TakeOver: Rival Review

The TakeOver Pre-Show panel features Renee Young, Corey Graves, Jason Albert and Byron Saxton. I’m already happy at the lack of Alex Riley. As they hype the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens match, the crowd behind them is split between “OLE” and “Fight Owens Fight” chants. Time for highlights from the excellent Number One Contender’s Tournament and build for Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor. Great video package and I love that NXT goes back to the history these guys have. We get some rather short build for Hideo Itami/Tyler Breeze. I wish this got more build since its two really good talents. Build time for Baron Corbin/Bull Dempsey, though with their two matches having gone a combined three or so minutes, I can’t really get behind him. We’re rapidly moving as it’s time to promote the NXT Women’s Championship match. Byron Saxton is kicked off the panel and replaced by Charlotte. They grill her on her friendship with Bayley but she understands Bayley taking her out a few weeks ago. As she runs down her list of accomplishments, the fans chime in with “FACT”. I love it. Byron has moved to the crowd, asking for predictions for the main event. Four fans are split on their predictions. So am I. The incredible Zayn/Owens video package plays to close things out. Renee, Corey and Byron pick Owens, while Albert picks Sami.

The opening video package is brilliant as usual. It focuses on the three big matches (Women’s Title and Zayn/Owens).

Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

If their first round match in the Number One Contender’s Tournament is any indication, this should rock. Tyler Breeze is out with a fuzzy selfie stick. A girl jumps the guardrail and jumps on him, which was odd. Itamia goes for early kicks but Breeze shields himself behind the referee, He gets in a cheap shot but eats a corner clothesline. Itami misses two boots but connects on a knee and a loud kick. Tyler gets a breather outside. Inside, Tyler tries a cross body, but gets dropkicked. Every time that Tyler seems to try something, he eats a kick of some sort. Tyler finally gets in some leg work, which is wise since it’s most of Itami’s offense. Breeze relentlessly attacks the leg for a bit now, wrapping it around the ring post. That’s a rather old school spot that I miss. He goes all 1997 Bret Hart and does the corner FIgure Four. Badass. He goes to an interesting submission (might have been a single leg crab but couldn’t tell) but Itami makes the ropes. Itami gives us the GTS tease again, but Breeze gets out and gets two with a school boy. Big boot from Itami, but Breeze hits the Supermodel Kick for two. Split chants from the crowd now. Tyler fires away with some right hands but Itami is fired up. He eats them like he’s Hulk Hogan before firing away with a combination of chops and kicks. Big kicks to the chest and he’s still selling the leg, which is appreciated. Breeze is seated in the corner and gets the hesitation dropkick. Itami finishes off with the running kick.

Winner: Hideo Itami in 8:13

Really good opener. It was given the right amount of time and both guys worked hard. Targeting the leg is old school psychology and I loved it. ***1/2

No Disqualifications: Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey

Baron Corbin charges the ring, which is different from his usual entrance. He attacks, as the “Rival” name of the show seems fitting. They go to the ramp and Bull nails a suplex on it. Bull continues to attack before going for a weapon, but not finding one. The crowd boos at that. Bull has officially lasted longer tonight than ever before against Baron and we just hit the two minute mark. Inside, big spinebuster from Corbin gets two. A clothesline is supposed to take both guys over, but only Baron goes over. Instead of fixing the spot naturally, Bull throws himself over late to boos. He throws Baron in and hits the diving headbutt but only gets two. They sell it as a big deal. He stays on the offensive and grabs a steel chair. As he swings it though, he is caught in the End of Days to finish this.

Winner: Baron Corbin in 4:10

I expected Baron Corbin to win, but this was underwhelming again. The No Disqualifications stipulation barely played a part. *1/2

It seems like Baron Corbin may use the chair after the match, but he just sits in it for a bit. We cut to a Fast Lane promo after seeing William Regal talk to Sami Zayn. I didn’t mention it before the last match but they also spoke to Kevin Owens. We see Becky Lynch and Bayley both getting prepared.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Blake and Murphy (c) vs. The Lucha Dragons

Double leap frogs from the Champions open this before Sin Cara hits a springboard moonsault. The crowd doesn’t seem as into this as they should be. Cara botches like he’s still Mistico on a head scissors. Cara shrugs it off and hits one now. Kalisto now messes up a dive outside. He recovers and hits it. Cara has Blake up top and hits a nice victory roll bomb of sorts for two. Murphy and Kalisto tag in. The former champions work  stereo kicks and a wheelbarrow senton for two. Quick tags from the champions, who hit a sweet popup neckbreaker for a near fall. Blake kicks away on Cara in the corner before tagging Murphy, who front flips in for a one count. Kalisto is tagged and he gets in a nice kick before SPIKING Murphy on a hurricanrana. He tries his finisher but it’s countered, only for him to reverse a powerbomb into an arm drag for two. Series of pinning combinations get a ton of near falls, ending in a double pin with both partners making the save. Dual tags as Cara hits a cross body that Blake rolls through for two. Suplex countered into an inside cradle for two. Sin Cara tries his amazing school boy bomb but that is also countered for two. He does hit a bomb but only gets two. Cara hits an arm drag and we get a tag that Cara missed. Murphy nails a running suplex before Blake comes in with a nice frog splash to retain.

Winners and Still NXT Tag Team Champions: Blake and Murphy in 7:32

Could have been better but it wasn’t bad. It started off rough with all of the botches but picked up near the end. **1/4

We get weird hack stuff with the video feed, saying the TakeOver isn’t done and to tune in next week. I guess Solomon Crowe is coming.

#1 Contender’s Tournament Final: Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor

Finn Balor is sporting the body paint again. It’s slightly different than last time. We start with a headlock takeover from Adrian Neville. Shoulder block by Neville before we go back to the headlock for a bit. They work a series of counters before Balor shoulder blocks him down. Sunset flip attempt by Neville is countered by a dropkick from Balor. He goes out for a breather and Balor tries a dive, but Neville comes in, only to eat a dropkick. He goes back outside and the dive is blocked again. Neville springboards in with a dropkick for two. Back to the headlock for a bit. Neville gets Balor seated in the corner and chokes him with his boot. Neville works the mat again, which is wise since Balor has such a high impact offense. He fights out and chops Neville hard. He tries a springboard but eats a dropkick. He suplexes Balor in for two. Neville goes up top but Balor connects on an enziguri to knock him outside. Balor nails the front flip dive outside this time, but is selling the work Neville has done so far really well. Neville retreats inside and rolls outside, while Balor creeps around to follow. It’s a great play into the dark character. He hits a big dropkick that knocks the guardrail over. Inside, he nails a SICK diving double stomp to the back of the head but somehow only gets two. Forearm shot from Neville followed by his kick combo. Balor ducks the last two and nails the Pele but Neville hits a huge superkick before both men hit the mat. Adrian is up first and hits a big German suplex. He picks him up from the mat for a second that only gains a near fall. Neville goes up for a second rope Phoenix Splash but it also only gets two. Big shots from Neville but Balor busts out the Slingblade to stop his momentum. Enormous lariat from Balor that Neville flips inside out on. Bloody Sunday connects but that isn’t enough. Balor goes up but Neville latches onto his leg to stop him before a bit enziguri. He slams Balor to the mat and climbs up to “No!” chants. Balor gets up but gets kicked back down. Red Arrow is blocked by Balor’s knees right into an inside cradle but that still only gets two. Sick dropkick to the corner from Balor who now goes up himself. A second diving double stomp is enough to make him the number one contender.

Winner: Finn Balor in 13:28

Match of the night so far. The methodical start made sense before they just went balls to the wall. Great series of near falls without overdoing the false finishes and both guys looked excellent. Phenomenal stuff. ****1/2

Post match, we get a handshake from both men, though Adrian Neville looks a bit frustrated or disappointed in himself.

NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

Everyone is sporting relatively new attire tonight. Charlotte gets jumped at the bell but she double clotheslines Team BAE. Bayley school girls her for two. Charlotte does a nice corner bump to save herself but Team BAE takes her down. Sasha drives her back first into the LED apron, which breaks. Team BAE now double teams Bayley. They work a sweet cradle swing spot that sends Bayley into the corner. Double pin leads to the obvious friction from Team BAE. Becky hits a sweet pumpshandle suplex on Sasha and follows wiht a series of leg drops on Bayley for two. Becky goes to Bayley’s injured leg with a dragon screw before applying a nice submission. Banks breaks it up and they go at it. Becky goes up top after dodging the Sasha knee drop and hits a nice missile dropkick. Charlotte breaks the pin and hits a neckbreaker. Charlotte gives a neckbreaker to Sasha too but Becky breaks the pin. Charlotte is delivering neckbreakers left and right as another nearly does it but only gets two. Sasha and Charlotte trade forearms in the middle of the ring. Sasha steals the “Woo”. She dodges Charlotte’s rebound Spear and sends her into Becky. Charlotte and Bayley do a wheelbarrow lungblower combo that looked like it hurt. Sasha is up though and sends Charlotte shoulder first into the post. Sasha drives Becky into Charlotte and sets them up on the ropes before driving the knees into Charlotte which drives her onto Becky. She covers both girls but can’t get the pin. Suplex from Bayley takes her out and she hits Charlotte with big elbows. She sets Charlotte on the top and connects on a top rope hurricanrana. Belly to Bayley hits but Becky pulls her out of the pin. Bayley sends her into the apron and nails a nice baseball slide similar to the Sami Zayn post DDT. Sasha nails them with a suicide dive as this has been non-stop action. Charlotte is in teh ring and does a plancha out onto all three ladies. She rolls Becky in who comes back with a knee and then an Exploder suplex for two. She now sets Charlotte up top. Bayley gets involved and German suplexes Becky. She follows Charlotte up for a second rope Belly to Bayley but Sasha breaks the pin. Banks covers but only gets two. Bank Statement is locked in but I doubt Charlotte will submit. Sasha breaks it to knock the other two girls away and goes back to the submission. Charlotte gets close but Sasha rears back hard and rolls her up for the win!

Winner and New NXT Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks in 11:53

Non-stop action. These girls continue to find ways to top each other each and every live special. The finish was amazing as Sasha pinned the Champion. All four girls looked great and this might have been the best Women’s match I’ve ever witnessed. ****1/4

Charlotte offers the post match handshake and Sasha Banks comes in for the hug. They get into a playful shoving match before Sasha “Woos” at her.

NXT Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Kevin Owens

Sami Zayn is rocking new attire. “Lose Owens Lose” and “Fight Owens Fight” both come from the fans. At the bell, Kevin Owens goes outside as he did against Adrian Neville. It’s a good mind game from someone who knows Sami so well. Sami decides to leap over the referee and catch Owens with a front flip dive. Excellent! Inside, Sami continues the angry man role by firing away at Owens. Owens gets out of the corner and MURDERS Sami with a vicious clothesline. He does it again as Sami sells perfectly. He tosses Sami around the ring. He then chops Sami so hard that I felt it. Owens continues to pick apart Sami and gets some near falls. Sami tries to rally but runs into an elbow. Owens hits a slingshot suplex that Sami sells beautifully for. It gets two. Another sick Sami bump on a back suplex gets two. They go outside where Owens lights Sami up with more chests. He mocks the “OLE” taunt. Sami is a master at playing the resilient babyface as he takes a desperate swing at Owens. Back inside, even Owens’ stomps look brutal. Gutbuster and senton from Owens gets two again. A lariat from Sami connects as he shows fight. Two more hit with the last one sending Owens over and out. Sami follows and smashes Owens’ face into the steel steps. More clotheslines from Zayn outside before he runs into an elbow isnide. He ducks a swing and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Sami charges for the Helluva Kick but runs into a sick sounding superkick. Corner cannonball from Owens gets two. Sami looks dead on his feet as Owens hits the brainbuster on the knee. He covers but somehow Sami is able to kick out again! Owens tries a popup powerbomb but Sami blocks with a dropkick. Half nelson suplex from Sam is enough for a close near fall. Owens is on the apron as Sami lifts him and drives him into the post. Owens comes back with a stunner on the ropes. He climbs to the top but Sami is up and stops him. Owens headbutts him down and follows with a swanton bomb but Sami gets his knees up! Corner Exploder from Sami connects but Owens moves away form the Helluva Kick. They go outside and Owens tries the apron bomb but Sami gets free. He does the slingshot moonsault but whacks his head on the ramp. In the ring they go as Owens tries to get up in the corner. Sami charges for the Helluva Kick again but he’s disoriented so he stumbles. Owens catches him with the popup powerbomb but Sami gets a shoulder up. Sami is playing the “glazed look in his eyes” perfectly from the bump. They get to their feet and Owens just gets in vicious shots. He even hits a big uppercut as commentary is selling how little Sami has left. A trainer appears to help Sami but Owens pulls him away and hits another powerbomb. He lift shim for a second powerbomb. Owens puts his hands on Sami and covers but he instinctively gets the shoulder up again. More trainers are in to help him. Owens doesn’t give a fuck though. A third powerbomb comes as does a fourth. He tries a fifth but the referee stops this and calls for the bell.

Winner and New NXT Champion: Kevin Owens in 22:45

Storytelling at its finest. Kevin Owens just beat the hell out of Sami Zayn, who sold everything perfectly. Even the ending was great as the ref stoppage finish made Sami look resilient and Owens like a beast. The fans were silent after the match and Owens is now the beast of NXT.  ****1/2

Overall: 9.5/10. So close to giving this the perfect score that I gave R Evolution but the Bull/Baron match wasn’t very good and the tag match underwhelmed. Everything else was fantastic. The opener was a hot start and Balor/Neville was a Match of the Year Candidate. Sasha Banks got her moment in an outstanding women’s match and the main event told a perfect story.

NXT TakeOver: Rival Predictions

NXT did a great job in building this up as two monsters meeting. It was like Taz/Sabu but on a MUCH smaller scale. The problems were A) Baron Corbin clearly has more star power than Bull Dempsey and B) In their first two matches, Baron won in a combined three minutes. Why are we supposed to believe that a No Disqualifications stipulation is going to make this ultra competitive? I expect it will last longer than a minute and a half, but Corbin will still stand tall.

Winner: Baron Corbin

I appreciate the efforts that NXT has done to improve their tag team division, but this is the match I’m probably least looking forward to. Nothing against the workers as I enjoy all four guys, but there isn’t the build behind this that the other matches have. The Lucha Dragons just lost the belts out of nowhere and this is their rematch. I feel like Blake and Murphy will show that they belong on the Specials and put on a good match here before retaining.

Winners and Still Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy

Now we’re getting to the really good stuff. The Tournament to determine a new top contender for Sami Zayn and the NXT Title was excellent. Nearly every match was good and enjoyable. This was the perfect choice for a Finals in my opinion. I don’t see Adrian Neville staying in NXT too much longer and expect him to be called up shortly after WrestleMania. Just like Bo Dallas put him over on the way out last year, I see Adrian doing the same for Balor. Balor has the “it” factor and a shot at the NXT Title would be huge. Neville will stay away from the title most likely, while I can see Balor winning. He may not be in NXT long and could win the title quickly.

Winner: Finn Balor

Hands down the best women’s division going is the one in NXT. All of these girls are talented and they’ve delivered on every single live special. At the last one, R Evolution, Sasha Banks came so close to dethroning Charlotte in my favorite women’s match of the past few years. She’s my pick to finally win the belt. Charlotte is similar to Neville in that she’s going to the main roster soon and this four way is a good chance to get the belt off of her without her being pinned. Bayley can continue the babyface chase, while Becky hasn’t done much to earn the shot.

Winner and New Champion Sasha Banks

The fact that this is so hard to predict is the beautiful thing about NXT. After the main roster produced the painfully predictable Royal Rumble, NXT gives us this. Part of me thinks Sami Zayn retains because he just won it and whenever I predict two title changes on these specials I’m wrong. The other side sees that Sami is so popular that he doesn’t need a long run with the belt and Kevin Owens ending that makes him an even bigger heel. If Owens loses, I don’t know where he goes from there. Besides, if all of my predictions are right, Balor/Owens could be incredible.

Winner and New Champion Kevin Owens

Raw Report 2/9/15

Instead of the Authority opening with a promo, we get Roman Reigns. It's not much better. He gets what's becoming his trademark 50/50 reaction. If John Cena is any indication, that means the WWE sees Roman as the most over guy in the company. He cuts a short promo and botches at one point but it's not bad. Daniel Bryan interrupts to a much better pop. They hype Fast Lane until the Authority interrupts. No surprise here huh? After Bryan makes a Katie Vick mention (which ends up trending), they book Bryan and Reigns vs. Big Show and Kane. Stop me if you've heard this before. And I would be okay if it just mashed two matches together so we saw less of Show and Kane, but this ends via disqualification and they book ANOTHER match for later. Kane, Show, Seth Rollins and J&J Security against Reigns and Bryan. Why do this again? Of course this was done because Bryan accidentally hit Reigns after the match and now they're having "issues". The issues are incredibly forced. Of course, because we somehow have a limited roster, Rollins also pulls double duty as he faces Ryback now. And it's short and ends in another DQ. That's a trademark of lazy booking. The first forty-five minutes has not only been dedicated to the Authority, but had two matches with non-finishes in a row. Not good.

We get a Sheamus video package because he's returning soon. Paige was in the ring as we returned, which means my pants were gone. She had writing on her arm in tribute to Drew McDonald, a European wrestler who passed away earlier in the day. She took on Brie Bella, and it seems like her partnership with Natalya is all but dead. Because she was pissed about last week, Paige came out aggressively and won, but only after a miscommunication by the Bellas. She should have won completely cleanly. Rusev and Lana came out to "pay tribute" to John Cena by playing a video of his highlights before it turned to a video of him getting destroyed. Fine stuff. Cena appears, sporting a black eye and says his usual stuff. He actually tells Rusev to jump if he's feeling froggy and Rusev runs down and fights him. That was great because I'm tired of chickenshit heels. Rusev is just a monster. He takes out Cena and is all like "you can't even see me." This segment was good for Rusev. Last week, Bray Wyatt and Dolph Ziggler had a great match, and with neither guy having anything to do, they do it again here. They stole the show this week, but it sucks that Dolph has nothing to do. He was the sole survivor and killed the Authority for a short while, but it has led nowhere. Bray disposes of him again as he continues his rise to potentially face Undertaker at WrestleMania while Dolph continues his trek to, most likely, the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Someone else should have done the job. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are now here, which leads to a really good Heyman promo as always. He promotes Fast Lane, while also hyping up Brock. The only real problem here is that this accomplished nothing. Why waste a Brock appearance on this?

Triple H called out Sting, so that he can accept being called out at Fast Lane. Yup, I can't make this stuff up. Before that though, the New Day took on Goldust and Stardust. Once again, Stardust leaves Goldust, as we're back to teasing a Rhodes brothers split. New Day wins. The fans don't care. Backstage, Stardust says "Cody is dead." Triple H is out and talks about Sting before we get crow sound effects and a video package that says "I Accept." Also, a terrible, nWo like, Fake Sting appears to scare Triple H and he quickly goes away. It was cool, even though the Fake Sting looked AWFUL. At least they didn't waste a Sting appearance here. Over the past few weeks, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd have bested the Usos in singles matches. Tonight, they get a non-title match and it was good. Kidd and Cesaro picked up the win, setting up a title match at Fast lane I believe. That should potentially steal the show because all four guys can go. After the loss, it's announced that Rikishi is going into the Hall of Fame. So the Usos celebrate and dance. Yea, that loss really matters huh?

Last week, The Miz lost to Sin Cara because of Damien Mizdow. Now it's Mizdow vs. Cara and Cara wins because of Miz. So your former Tag Champs both lose and Cara continues to win but I bet it won't mean anything. Another Bray Wyatt promo continues as he tries to build his match with Undertaker alone. Curtis Axel is out next, to hype AxelMania again. He's treated like a joke, even though he could be a key contributor to the mid-card. Not good. Dean Ambrose appears and beats him quickly. This happened last Monday and on Smackdown. Can we not think of anything different? Bad News Barrett appears and we get THE SAME THING WE GOT ON SMACKDOWN. Terribly. Main event time and it was what you would expect. The faces were outnumbered, so Ryback, Dolph Ziggler and meaningless Erick Rowan appear. Odd that Dolph helps here, but didn't help the Big Guy earlier tonight. Anyway, as Bryan is nearing the win, Reigns tags himself in and Spears Mercury. This leads to Bryan and Reigns arguing and Reigns spears him to close the show. This is how Roman should be booked. Not as John Cena 2.0. He has a chip on his shoulder and is playing the "take no prisoners" badass, while Bryan stood up to him. The match was only decent at best, but the close to the show was good.

In the end, this was a pretty mediocre episode of Raw. I enjoyed Bray/Dolph, even though I'm not a fan of the booking, the Usos vs. Kidd and Cesaro and the close to the show. Everything else was only alright at best. Repeating stuff from Smackdown is never good and the lazy booking of some matches killed me. 4.5/10.

Fave Five 2/2/15-2/8/15

1) Daniel Bryan: Since the Royal Rumble, the WWE has booked Daniel Bryan in every TV main event and Roman Reigns in the middle of the card. I get that Reigns lost to Big Show on Raw to build suspense that he might lose at Fast Lane, but it's odd to see Bryan getting more consistent shine. On Raw, Bryan had a fantastic main event against Seth Rollins with the winner moving on to face Reigns at Fast Lane for the chance at the main event of WrestleMania. Not only did Bryan and Seth tear the house down, but Bryan prevailed, securing a PPV main event showdown with Reigns. Over on Smackdown, Bryan was once again given the spotlight, as he successfully defeated Seth Rollins, and J&J Security in a three on one handicap match. While he was beaten down after the match, it was an extremely successful week for Bryan as he continues to show how valuable he is to the company.

2) Adrian Neville: This week's edition of NXT was one of the better episodes. The Number One Contender's Tournament has been one of the best things that NXT has done, which is saying a lot. The Semi-Finals were this past week, with one of those bouts pitting former Champion Adrian Neville against the undefeated phenom, Baron Corbin. I was very interested in how this would get booked since I didn't see Corbin winning, but I also didn't see him losing either. This was the first chance given to Corbin to showcase his abilities in an actual match and Neville bumped for him like a madman. Not only did Neville do a great job of making Corbin look good, but he actually pinned him. I expected Bull Dempsey's interference to lead to a countout win, but having Neville pin Corbin worked better. This was another big win for Neville as he advanced to the finals of the tournament and is set for another marquee matchup on an NXT Live Special. Adrian Neville may as well be considered Mr. NXT as he is their go to guy for big matches on their big shows and he always delivers. They counted on Adrian to make sure Corbin looked good and he did just that, just like I'm sure he will at the special next week.

3) Finn Balor: The other winner in the Semi-Finals of the Number One Contender's Tournament was Finn Balor. He had to square off against his partner and friend Hideo Itami. They got the main event spotlight of NXT and, just like Corbin/Neville, they made the best of it. I gave the match four stars on my 411mania NXT Report and I stand by that. Finn Balor clearly is a big part of NXT and I can see him winning the entire Tournament and earning a title shot before he eventually gets called to the main roster. There was an air of a big fight feel as Itami and Balor met. This is nothing against Itami, because he looked damn great. However, Balor continues to just outshine him and nearly everyone else on NXT.

4) Cage: Lucha Underground has become one of my favorite wrestling programs. After Prince Puma won Aztec Warfare to be crowned their first champion, he successfully defended the title against Fenix. After the match, he was attacked by Cage. This instantly made Cage a legit threat in the promotion. He's been part of the main event scene since then and this week, he racked up what was probably his most impressive win by defeating Johnny Mundo. If there is one guy on Lucha Underground that stands out as a recognizable face it's Mundo. Cage besting him in the main event was big for him and I can totally see Cage as the next Lucha Underground.

5) Santana Garrett: Back in 2010, I remember seeing TNA and thinking that Santana Garrett was pretty attractive as a valet for Orlando Jordan. After leaving the company and getting some SHINE (pun intended) on the indies she returned to TNA as Brittany. I wasn't able to enjoy her return work as I wasn't really watching TNA at the time, but I heard good things. However, just as I chose to return to viewing TNA, her contract was up and she was gone. Never fear though as Santana has found a way to remain successful. Last night, she captured the NWA Women's Championship which is a pretty big accomplishment. She's only 26 years old still so I can see big things in her future. I've heard that she's been at NXT Live Events, so I'd like to see her signed by WWE or even a return to TNA. Both the Knockouts and NXT Divas divisions are excelling right now and she'd be a welcome addition to both.

Lockdown Report 2/6/15

Lockdown has been a staple of TNA for over a decade now. Every single match on the card is contested inside of Six Sides of Steel. The show opens with the TNA World Tag Team Titles on the line as the Revolution defend against the Hardys. I'll say it every single week but the Revolution is such an odd looking group that it's so hard to take them seriously. Manik sneaks into the cage through the holes that are set for the cameramen but he just gets handcuffed. Koya decides against joining in. They were given about fifteen minutes and did well with it. Matt was pulled outside by the Revolution and beaten down before Sanada spit mist into Jeff's face, allowing Storm to superkick him and retain. Overall, this was a solid match but things really got interesting after the match. Revolution set up a table in the ring and steel steps at ringside. Jeff fights them off and tries to escape but ends up crotched on the door. Storm then levels him with the cowbell and he takes a NASTY bump onto the steel steps. It amazes me that Jeff has never had a major injury in his career. On a show with a pretty loaded card, we have to get a promo because TNA doesn't know what to do without their heel stable talking for a while. MVP, Kenny King and Eric Young are in the ring, which is odd since Low Ki and Samoa Joe are part of the BDC but EY isn't. MVP calls out Kurt Angle, who appears with Gunner and Austin Aries. MVP tries to convince them to not do Lethal Lockdown for their own benefit. It, as expected, ends with a beatdown, with Gunner taking the worst of it as they destroy his arm. I could have done without this and maybe just had Gunner get attacked backstage.

We are told that Gunner may not be able to compete tonight before moving to a match that I'm really looking forward to. Awesome Kong vs. Havok. These two big, hard hitting women have been building towards this since the Destination America debut and the crowd was pumped. They want each other so bad that the war starts in the aisle. The "Better than the Divas" chant breaks out again, while Josh Matthews actually mentions the Divas, Kharma and the WWE. Cool. Kong comes out on top of this hard hitting match with a splash. I enjoyed it but wish it got more time which it could have had if it wasn't for the promo we had to sit through. Before our next match, we go backstage to a clip from two weeks ago when Velvet Sky tells Angelina Love about getting fired. Angelina comforts her but shows that she's actually happy. We continue to another grudge match as Eric Young takes on Bobby Roode. I liked this as it was just two guys trying to beat each other down. MVP comes down and hands EY a steel chair. Roode did as he promised and made EY bleed before a Roode Bomb on the chair finished things off. Lockdown has been good so far.

In the back Kurt Angle begged Lashley to join his team but he declined again. As we go to our next match, I'd like to point out how hard it is to find photos of Impact a day after it airs. So you get old stuff. Sue me. Tyrus takes on the two British Bootcamp winners, Rockstar Spud and Mandrews. Not much here as the small guys fought valiantly but lost. EC3 went to shave Spud's hair but Jeremy Borash cuts the cord of the clippers. EC3 chases him away. Not bad for an angle because EC3 is wildly entertaining. I have high hopes that he can one day win the TNA World Title. He would be great as the heel who does everything in his power to keep the gold. After Bobby Roode speaks about EY and coming back for the TNA World Title, we see clips of Robbie E and Brooke Tessmacher. They competed, earlier in the night, in an odd race. While it was strange, it made sense as a play off of their Amazing Race time. Brooke wins the race, which involved them spinning around with baseball bats and climbing the cage. Looked fun and Brooke won because he stopped to take a selfie.

Before we discuss the main event, Brooke's voice is super annoying. Time for Lethal Lockdown. These are usually pretty good and the talent level in this one, sans Gunner, is relatively high. Gunner does compete and he starts. I hope it was randomly selected because putting him out there first while injured is a dick move by Kurt Angle. Kenny King and Low Ki get the advantage on him because the heels should always have the upper hand in these kinds of matches. Like War Games, it should be a series of "hot tags" so to speak. I appreciate that Austin Aries decided to sport street clothes. It's something I dig when it's a street fight environment. The ring continues to fill as Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle and MVP join in before a commercial break. Low Ki destroys Gunner with a double stomp while he's in a garbage can. As expected, Lashley arrives to even the odds as the BDC was just picking Team Angle apart. His presence shifts the balance and Team Angle comes out on top of a really solid twenty minute match.

Against all odds, and no that's not a play off the old TNA Pay-Per-View name, this company has turned me into someone who enjoys their product. I gave up on TNA a long time ago but decided to give them another shot and I've enjoyed every episode since the move to Destination America. It's not amazing but it works well. Lockdown was a satisfying special episode with some good matches and fine blowoffs to rivalries. 8/10.