WWE

WWE: Raw 1000

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By Julian Cannon

Live from St. Louis, Missouri this is the Raw Deal… 

It’s episode #1000. Let’s see what WWE has in store for us shall we? 

They aired a video package to start the show with a number of historic clips from Raw over the years. They aired funny clips, memorable promos, sad promos and some huge spots over the years as well. It was nice of them to get in the clip of Vince McMahon telling Eric Bischoff he’s fired. The last person we heard from in the video was Cena saying “This is Monday Night Raw.” 

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to Raw. Jerry Lawler was even wearing a nice jacket rather than one of his king shirts. 

Vince McMahon starts Raw. So much for DX starting it, but I guess they are coming out right after. Smart to start with Vince because this show is his creation. Vince said “thank you” and the crowd started a “thank you Vince” chant. Vince: “Welcome to Monday Night Raw. And please welcome Degeneration X.” 

The “Break It Down” DX music brought out Triple H and Shawn Michaels to a thunderous ovation. Cole mentioned that they began in WWE in August 1997. They were wearing some “one night only Raw 1000” shirts. Shawn said this was great, but something was missing. Hunter said: “Didn’t there used to be more of us?” The crowd cheered. They pointed to the entrance. Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and X-Pac showed up in a jeep. They were all wearing DX gear. The crowd was really loud in their reaction to DX. All of them did crotch chops in the ring. 

Road Dogg did his fantastic entrance. He said DX presented us the five time tag team champions the New Age Outlaws. It was great when he bleeped himself as he said “Ass” in Bad Ass Billy Gunn’s name. Hunter asked the crowd if they were ready. He did his loud “Are you ready?” deal to a thunderous ovation. Then for the thousands in attendance, for the millions watching around the world and “apparently for me because I’m the only one left with a full head of hair” and because it’s the 1,000th episode of Raw (and he’ll see all of us at episode 2,000) let’s get ready to suck it. Gunn and Michaels argued over who gets to do the last part. Hunter said to let Shawn do it because he may lose his smile or do something stupid like pose in Playgirl. Shawn: “I was young and stupid. And needed the money.” Funny. Hunter told them to do it together. Just as they were about to do it, Damien Sandow’s music started up. 

Sandow was in his robe as he walked down the ramp. He said this kind of crass conduct has ruined society. Michaels said he’s going home to church to ask for forgiveness. Sandow says he knows they can dispose of him, but they shouldn’t. Hunter said they would have a meeting to decide what they should do. Hunter said “this is what we’ve decided” and Michaels gave Sandow a superkick. Then Hunter gave Sandow a Pedigree. Gunn finished it off by saying “if you’re not down with that we’ve got two words for ya.” The crowd yelled “suck it” and their music played. 

Analysis: That was a lot of fun. Hot start to the show. It was a fun nostalgia moment to see the five members of D together again. I think Sandow getting beat up by them doesn’t hurt him too much. It’s not a big deal. He’s got a bright future and his character is the total opposite of DX, so it was a nice mix for comedy sake. That was an entertaining way to begin the show.

Coming up later: The Rock returns, Brock Lesnar answers the Triple H Summerslam challenge, Daniel Bryan marries AJ and John Cena takes on CM Punk for the WWE Championship. 

At the top of the ramp, the DX guys did their crotch chops at the top of the ramp while fireworks went off. The crowd loved it. 

(Commercial) 

Back from break, Jim Ross walked out to the commentary table. He’s sporting a goatee these days in case you didn’t know. 

Rey Mysterio walked out for a match. There are new graphics on the show with a different looking Raw logo, but it’s still the red and black we’ve been familiar with for the last 19 years. Sin Cara made his entrance so he’s on Mysterio’s team. Jim Ross joined Cole and Lawler at the announce table. Sheamus joined the Mysterio/Cara team. Chris Jericho walked out. He’s on the other team. Dolph Ziggler is also on the team, which is noteworthy because of his confrontation with Jericho last week. Their partner is Alberto Del Rio. 

The full match is Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio & Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho, Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio. As Alberto was walking to the ring they went to break. 

Analysis: This has the potential to be a phenomenal match if they get 15 minutes or so. 

(Commercial) 

Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio & Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho, Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio 

The heel side was working over Sin Cara in their corner. There’s a mention of Tout by Michael Cole. There will be plenty of those. Jericho dropped Sin Cara with a dropkick followed by a body slam and cocky pin. Cole mentioned this is Jericho’s 366th match on Raw, which is second most to Triple H. Del Rio tagged in to work over Cara. Sin Cara hit a nice DDT off the middle rope, which led to him tagging in Sheamus. Sheamus destroyed Jericho a hard kneelift and then the Irish Curse Backbreaker for two. Del Rio made the save. Mysterio took out Del Rio. Sin Cara took out Ziggler. Jericho took out Sin Cara. Jericho went for a Codebreaker on Sheamus, but Sheamus blocked it. Jericho got the advantage and he went for a springboard attack on Sheamus. Ziggler punched Jericho in the face. Sheamus knocked Ziggler off the apron. Sheamus finished off Jericho with the Brogue Kick win for his team after 6 minutes. 

Winners: Sheamus, Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara 

Analysis: ** Solid tag match, but not as long as I would have liked. Mysterio didn’t even get to tag in. The action was good though and the crowd loved it, so it worked in terms of its execution. The big story was Ziggler screwing Jericho out of the win, so it continues that story and will likely lead to a match between them possibly at Summerslam. 

Michael Cole thanked JR for coming, so I guess that’s all of JR for the night. 

(Commercial) 

By the way, there’s a new theme song. I don’t miss Nickelback. Not sure what to think of the new song. 

There was a “Did You Know?” about gas prices being different in 1993. So were a lot of things. 

They showed some Tout clips of fans talking about the Daniel Bryan/AJ wedding. I’m not reviewing Tout clips except to say that at least two of the four Tout’s they showed were awful. 

The announcers laughed like schoolgirls as they talked to Chalie Sheen via Skype. I guess that’s their way of making up for Sheen quitting Twitter after they had advertised him as the Social Media Ambassador of this show. He referenced DX and Sheamus and said he would fit in well with WWE. 

Highlights were aired of the Daniel Bryan/AJ segment last week when they got engaged. 

In the dressing room, AJ was in a bathrobe talking to Layla. She wondered why everybody called her unstable. AJ said the whole place is unstable. She opened the door. It was Hacksaw Jim Duggan yelling. Then R-Truth was playing jump rope with Roddy Piper and Little Jimmy. There was a giant hand that introduced himself as Mae Young’s son. She said she was proud of the son. AJ’s point of the WWE being crazy proved to be true. 

Analysis: Anybody else mark out for the Mae Young “son” that is a hand? Storyline continuity! Got to love it. That was a fun way to get some people on the show. 

(Commercial) 

“Tonight is the Night” by Outasight is the official theme song of Raw 1,000. I don’t know if it’s the theme song permanently or just this episode. 

Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole were delivered drinks by Sonic. That’s a blatant way of doing product placement, my friends. 

Brodus Clay vs. Jack Swagger 

Swagger didn’t get an entrance. Clay introduced Dude Love as Mick Foley walked out in his Dude Love gear. Clay pinned Swagger after a suplex and then a Big Splash. Match went about 15 seconds. 

Winner: Brodus Clay 

Post match, Dude pulled out a tie dyed sock and shoved Mr. Socko down Swagger’s throat. 

Analysis: Swagger is a jobber or perhaps even lower if that’s possible. He deserves a lot better. Hopefully this “loser” angle leads to something new for him and some kind of push or face turn perhaps. 

Backstage, Trish Stratus talked to Triple H. She was teaching him yoga because in case you didn’t know she has a yoga studio in Toronto now known as Stratusphere Yoga. The DX guys walked in on Hunter as Trish was teaching him yoga moves. That’s a flashback to a famous Raw moment when Hunter was teaching her wrestling moves, which led to sexual positions. The guys left with Hunter while X-Pac talked to Trish and she acted uncomfortable around him. 

Analysis: Good to see Trish. Fine looking woman. Like her with her current brown hair look too. 

Daniel Bryan vs. AJ wedding is coming up after the break. 

(Commercial) 

The ring was all white with flowers in the corner. Jerry Lawler was in the ring with a microphone. He welcomed us to the reverend for this wedding…Slick. If you don’t know who Slick was, he was a manager in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Daniel Bryan was in a white suit. He made his way down to the ring to his theme song. The crowd joined with him as he chanted “YES” on his way to the ring. Cole let us know that “#ajidont” is the top trend on Twitter. They wanted people to tweet that or “#ajido” and they told us that 74% went with “#ajidont” as their vote. “Here Comes the Bride” started to play as AJ made her way down the aisle. She was wearing a traditional wedding gown. 

Slick said that they didn’t have any bridesmaids or ushers. Instead, the WWE Universe were there to support them. As Slick tried to talk and went through his sanctity of marriage speech, the crowd was chanting “WHAT?” at him and he was reacting to it in a comedic way. Slick did great. Slick asked if anybody didn’t see these two to be fit as man and wife they should speak now. Nobody interrupted it. Slick gave Bryan his ring. He said that after they get married he’ll have everything he’s ever wanted. “Do you do, Daniel Bryan take AJ to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Bryan said yes. Then AJ said “yes” multiple times. Slick said that was it. 

AJ said “Wait. She said she wasn’t saying yes to Daniel.” Then she said: “I wasn’t say yes to Daniel. I was saying yes to somebody else. Another man. Another man who made a proposal to me earlier tonight.” Vince McMahon’s music started up. He said he wasn’t that kind of proposal. 

Vince then introduced us to the new General Manager of Raw…AJ. What? Yes. AJ is the new GM of Raw. She gave Daniel his flowers back and she left. No wedding. The story is that AJ took McMahon’s business proposal instead of getting married to Bryan. She celebrated her new role while Bryan snapped in the ring and destroyed the setup in the ring. 

Analysis: It’s a unique choice. I doubt many people would have predicted AJ as the GM of Raw. I would have preferred an ex-wrestler or somebody that’s not currently an active performer, but obviously the creative team is pleased with her work and this gives her a bigger role. To those that hate it I would say wait to see what happens before you really judge it. I think it has potential, but it depends on how they go with it. 

(Commercial) 

The video promoting Summerslam started playing. It should be noted Kelly Kelly’s in the video even though she’s been gone for a few months. She’s expected back on this show. Summerslam is on August 19. 

Back in the ring, Daniel Bryan was yelling “no” as a number of referees were in the ring trying to get him to leave. The music of CM Punk started up as the WWE Champion made his way down to the ring. CM Punk said he didn’t come down to rub it in Daniel’s face, but he did just get stood up at the altar. Apparently “AJ as GM” is trending now. Punk said Bryan can continue to throw a fit while Punk will continue to be the WWE Champion and be the best in the world. Bryan said Punk isn’t even the best in that ring tonight. Bryan said that he was the greatest superstar of all-time. The music of The Rock started up and out came the Great One to a ridiculously loud ovation. 

The Rock told Daniel Bryan that he doesn’t get to say who the greatest of all-time is. “They” get to say it and he pointed to the people. “Finally The Rock has come back to St. Louuuuuuuis.” Punk was standing in the corner while Bryan was facing off with Rock. Bryan cut off Rock and told him not to cut him off like that while the crowd did a “Boots to Asses” chant. Rock said St. Louis was where he won his first WWE Championship. He said the Rock is not there to talk about Frodo – he means Bryan. Rock said he’s there to talk about the WWE Championship. Rock just got word that at the Royal Rumble whoever is the WWE Champion will defend their title against The Rock. CM Punk said that tonight he’ll beat John Cena and at the Royal Rumble he’ll beat The Rock too. Rock said that at the Royal Rumble he will be the next WWE Champion. 

Daniel Bryan interrupted by yelling “no” repeatedly. Bryan said this is supposed to be about him. It was supposed to be the greatest night of his life. He said some way, somehow Rocky is going to fight Bryan at the Royal Rumble. Bryan said not only will he be the champion, but he will be the face of the WWE. Rock said we’re looking at what would happened if a “homeless lumberjack banged a oompa loompa.” That was creative He said Bryan looked like a troll from Lord of the Rings. Rock wished Punk the best in his match later in the night. And he had a gift for Daniel Bryan. He gave Bryan a Rock Bottom. “If you smell what The Rock is cooking.” He left to a big ovation while Punk looked on confidently. 

Analysis: That was an awesome segment. It was nice to see Rock interacting with Punk and Bryan because it felt fresh. I think announcing a WWE Title match for the Royal Rumble is a little early obviously, but with Rock being away the rest of the year filming movies (Fast and the Furious 6) I doubt he’ll be on WWE very much if at all. So they had to do it here. I’m surprised he’s getting the title match at the Rumble instead of being in the title match itself, but I still like it. Rock being in the WWE Title match at the Rumble in Phoenix will really help the interest in that event. 

More hype for the Lesnar/HHH showdown later. Also the CM Punk vs. John Cena match later. 

(Commercial) 

They asked fans to vote in a WWE Title poll for the Royal Rumble #RockCena #RockPunk or #RockShow. Who would vote for Big Show. 

Justin Roberts introduced Bret Hart to be the special guest ring announcer for the next week. Of course you know I’m marking out for the best Canadian wrestler ever. Love the Hitman. He said one of his favorite rivals was Mr. Perfect and he was there to introduce the competitors for the IC Title match. The match is Christian vs. The Miz. 

Intercontinental Championship: Christian vs. The Miz 

Christian quickly dumped Miz out to the floor and then he a hit a cross body block off the top. They went to break about 30 seconds into the match. Both guys were on the floor for the vintage floor to commercial spot. 

(Commercial) 

Back from break, Christian was able to get a two count on Miz with a rollup for two. Cole said we’ll hear from Charlie Sheen again after this match. Miz decked Christian with a hard kick and got a two count. The ongoing story is that Christian hurt his right knee when he hit his cross body earlier, so Miz worked on that. Christian hit a nice spinning DDT off the middle rope for two. Christian went for a Spear, but Miz countered by kicking him in the knee and then hitting a DDT for two. Nice moves there by Miz. Miz missed a corner splash. They countered eachother’s finishers, Christian hurt his knee again while countering a back suplex and Miz ended up pinning Christian after a Skull Crushing Finale. Miz won his first after 8 minutes of action. 

Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion: The Miz 

Post match, Miz said he was awesome. 

Analysis: *1/2 It was good for what we saw, which was about five minutes in length that actually aired not counting the three minute commercial. I’m fine with Miz winning the IC Title because it gives him some momentum after returning from when he was off filming The Marine 3. Christian’s IC title reign wasn’t very good, but he’s more of a role player these days and using him to put over Miz is fine with me. 

The announcers talked to Charlie Sheen on Skype. Sheen said that Bryan had some “Anger Management” issues, which is the name of his television. He told Bryan to man up. They will check in with him later on. 

More plugs for things we’ll see later. 

(Commercial) 

Triple H made his entrance with his own theme music now. He’s still in his DX gear. They aired the clip from three months ago when Lesnar attacked Triple H and “broke his arm” with the armbar. Lesnar has been gone ever since because his contract calls for him to work a limited number of dates and they didn’t want to waste those dates in the last three months. 

Hunter called out Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman walked out to Lesnar’s music. Heyman reiterated that Hunter wants to fight Lesnar at Summerslam and Brock’s answer to Hunter is “no.” Hunter said he can go backstage to find Brock. Heyman reminded him of the lawsuits that are on against Hunter and WWE. Hunter said Lesnar’s such a coward that he won’t even tell Hunter this to his face. “Is he afraid of me? Is Brock scared?” Heyman made fun of Hunter for namecalling. Hunter slapped the microphone out of Heyman’s hands when Heyman wondered if Hunter talked to Hunter’s kids that way. He kept on going on about Hunter’s family. 

That led to Stephanie McMahon walking out. She looks fantastic especially for a woman that has given birth to three kids. Fans gave her a good reaction. She ripped on Heyman for his failures in ECW and WWE. That’s why he’s doing these lawsuits. She said her kids will be proud of their father and grandfather while Heyman’s kids will be ashamed of him because they know that Heyman will be nothing more than a professional parasite. Then she slapped Heyman in the face. He went down. Then he left the ring. Heyman went back into the ring. He yelled “IT’S ON!” The Lesnar/Triple H match is on for Summerslam now. Heyman said she always gets what she wants. Stephanie tackled Heyman and slapped him in the face. 

Brock Lesnar’s music started up. Stephanie and Heyman were out of the ring. Lesnar went after Triple H with fists. Hunter fought back with fists as the crowd cheered. They continued to brawl. Hunter won the brawl and then he gave Lesnar a clothesline that sent him over the top to the floor. Lesnar went up the aisle with Heyman. Lesnar smiled from the top of the ramp. 

Analysis: That was an entertaining segment. I thought it would have been smart to have Lesnar announce that he would take the match rather than have Heyman answer it for him. I understand they don’t want to have Brock talk too much, though, so it’s okay how they did it. Everybody played their roles well. Hunter was confident, Heyman was an annoying heel, Stephanie was strong in standing up for her family and Lesnar looked like a beast as always. Of course Hunter won the brawl, but they have a month to build up to this match so it will go back and forth until we get to Summerslam on August 19. The whole segment took about ten minutes, which was the right amount of time I thought. 

Another reminder for Cena vs. Punk later. 

(Commercial) 

“Did You Know” told us that the #1 movie on January 11, 1993 was “A Few Good Men.” It’s a great movie. 

They showed some Tout videos from Kofi Kingston and then some fans who were reacting to things that happened earlier on Raw. 

They did a plug for WWE ’13 and some fan vote where fans voted for John Cena vs. Steve Austin as the ultimate dream match. 

There was a video package featuring the Steve Austin/Vince McMahon feud from the Attitude Era that was the marquee feud in the company during the most profitable era in the history of WWE. They had wrestlers talking about the memorable moments like when he filled up Vince’s Corvette with cement and when Austin sprayed Vince, Shane & Rock with beer. The video ended after about two minutes. 

Analysis: That was the second time in the show where nothing really new or eventful happened in between commercials. 

(Commercial) 

Back from break, there were graphics showing all the media coverage about this Raw 1000 episode. 

Santino and Hornswoggle walked out with Brawling Buddies. Cole & Lawler were playing with them at ringside. I feel old watching this show right now. Howard Finkel is the guest ring announcer for this match. That’s cool because he was on the first episode of Raw on January 11, 1993. He introduced Heath Slater. 

Slater grabbed the microphone. He said he would have an “epic” match. He was challenging any of the legends to a no disqualification, no countout match. 

Heath Slater vs. Lita 

The person that Slater was facing? Lita. She got a big pop. And she brought her cleavage with her, so that’s good. Lita said she hired some protection for the match. It was the APA: Bradshaw and Faarooq. Slater ran away. He didn’t get very far because the legends he faced in the past were there to throw him back into the ring. I’m not listing all the names, but they were the guys that Slater has faced in the last month. Bradshaw decked Slater with a clothesline. Lita finished him off with a moonsault. She covered for the win. 

Winner: Lita 

Post match, Ron Simmons (Faarooq) grabbed the microphone. He summed up this match in one word: “DAMN!” The crowd cheered as the legends celebrated this destruction of Slater. 

Analysis: That was fun. I guess this is the end of Slater getting beat up by legends. I thought it might be Undertaker or Austin, but that obviously didn’t happen. Lita looked to be in great shape. She’s dating CM Punk again. Perhaps that will lead to her returning to the company, but I have no idea if she would want to do that. It was nice to see the legends again. 

A replay aired of Vince McMahon telling us that AJ was the new GM of Raw. 

Backstage, former backstage interviewer Sean Mooney was there to talk to Daniel Bryan. Mooney was on the first episode of Raw. Bryan was furious that he got insulted by Charlie Sheen, who called him an “oompa loompa.” Bryan said if Sheen was standing there he would slap the Yes Lock on him faster than he could say “winning.” Then Bryan left and they went to commercial. 

Analysis: Bryan talking about Sheen makes me think perhaps Sheen will be involved in Summerslam in some way. It wouldn’t be a match I assume, but perhaps he’ll be there to manage somebody against Bryan? I’m not sure. It’s just that if Sheen’s comments meant nothing then I doubt they would have had Bryan talking about it. 

(Commercial) 

They announced that they broke the 100,000,000 social media follower. It’s some guy named Alex Guerrero Jr., who got to sit ringside. Cole asked him some questions. Generic fan answer. Cole said he lived his dream by being asked questions by Cole. 

Jerry Lawler threw it to a video package where Fozzie Bear led us into a video about the best catchphrases in WWE history. The video was well done. It ended with Stone Cold saying “now that’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so.” 

They cut to a segment where Zack Ryder was talking to John Cena to tell him he thinks that Gene Okerlund was behind G-TV. The Rock walked up to John Cena. Ryder and Okerlund left. 

Rock wished Cena luck and to have a good match. Cena told him that he’s going to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase tonight and he’ll be the one to face Rock at Royal Rumble, so he can face him one more time. The crowd was doing the “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” thing so it was hard to hear. Rock wished him luck and left. 

Analysis: That wasn’t the kind of epic Rock/Cena segment I was hoping for, but they put over the point that there is still a rivalry between them. I wouldn’t be shocked if we got Rock/Cena II at the Royal Rumble. It is half a year away, though, so I have no idea if that’s in the cards at this point. 

(Commercial) 

Kane made his way to the ring. Jinder Mahal led a group of Drew McIntyre, Camacho, Hunico, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks to say they were taking advantage of an opportunity. I think he said they were held down for 999 episodes of Raw. Maybe that’s because you were just kids 19 years ago. Anyway, Kane was surrounded and the lights went out. 

GONG. 

GONG. 

Undertaker. The crowd popped huge for the Phenom, who was making his first appearance since WrestleMania. He was there to save his brother Kane, who is apparently a babyface again since Undertaker was there to save him. He made a slow walk into the ring. He gave Kane a look as if to say “let’s beat up some jobbers, homeboy.” Maybe he didn’t say homeboy, but you know he’s thinking it. Right? Undertaker has a shaved head again except for a line of hair on the top. Similar to his WrestleMania look. 

The jobbers attacked Kane and Undertaker. They dumped four of them out of the ring. Kane gave Hawkins a Chokeslam and Undertaker gave Hunico a Chokeslam as well. The Brothers of Destruction did a double throat slash. Then they buried them even further with each man delivering a Tombstone. The crowd chanted “this is awesome” while Undertaker and Kane rolled the jobbers out of the ring. Undertaker went on a knee as the lights went out and then Kane lit the ringposts on fire. 

Analysis: Can we get a backstage segment with Undertaker and the Raw GM AJ? Technically she is his boss on Raw, so that would be funny. Of course Undertaker is unlikely to be on Raw very often going forward. This was one of those special moments that feels like a “one of a kind” thing rather than something we’ll see often going forward. 

There was a “Be A Star” video showing WWE talking to kids at a rally to tell them not to be bullies. 

CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Title is next. 

(Commercial) 

The “Did You Know?” told us that Smackdown was Syfy’s top show for the 94th week in a row. 

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler talked to Charlie Sheen via Skype again. They mentioned Bryan again. Sheen said he heard what “Goat Face” had to say, referencing Daniel Bryan. Sheen said he’s not hard to find, so if Bryan had a problem he could see him next time he’s in Los Angeles. They asked if Sheen was challenging Bryan to a match. Sheen said to interpret it how you want. They thanked Sheen. The announcers mentioned the next time they were in Los Angeles was August 19. 

Analysis: Obviously there will be some kind of Bryan/Sheen angle at Summerslam. Not sure if it will be a match or what, but clearly that’s the direction they are going in. 

We got a replay from the end of last week’s Raw with Cena saying he’d be challenging Punk for the WWE Championship. 

John Cena made his entrance. Cena brought out his Money in the Bank briefcase. He gave the briefcase to the referee to officially cash in his WWE Championship Match. CM Punk entered second. 

Poll results from earlier are #rockpunk 55%, #rockcena 35%, #rockshow 10%. They went to break at the 10:56pmET mark. Main event is coming up next. 

(Commercial) 

WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. John Cena 

They shook hands before the match. The bell rang for the match to begin at 10:59pmET. Loud “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants as Cena took down Punk with a shoulderblock. Punk gave Cena a backslide for two. They exchanged holds early on, but neither man really got the advantage. Cena unloaded on Punk with fists and then a headlock takedown. Punk gave Cena a back suplex to get out of it following some hard kicks to the back. Punk gave Cena a backbreaker for two. They did a spot where they traded blows while the crowd chanted “yay/boo” for everything. This has been a good crowd all night. Cena hit a few shoulderblocks, but Punk slipped out of his spinning suplex. Punk hit a running knee on Cena in the corner. Cena countered the bulldog with the spinning suplex. Punk countered the “you can’t see me” hand gesture with a boot to the face and then Punk hit a kick to the head. Punk signaled for the GTS. Cena shoved Punk into the referee. Ref fell to the floor. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment, but there was nobody there to count the pinfall. Cena rolled outside the ring to check on the ref. Big Show was in the ring. He decked Cena with a Spear. Punk was sitting in the corner watching all of this. Cena got to his feet. He turned his head and Big Show KNOCKED OUT Cena with the big right hand. Punk watched the whole thing he was sitting in the corner. Big Show left as the match reached the ten minute mark. 

CM Punk walked out of the ring. He woke up the referee Chad Patton and rolled him back into the ring. Punk sat on his knees conflicted about what he should do. Punk covered Cena. Punk was mad that he didn’t win. Punk went for the GTS. Cena countered into the STF. Punk was in pain from the STF. Big Show dropped the elbow on Cena and the ref rang the bell for the disqualification. The match went about 10 minutes. 

Winner: John Cena via DQ – CM Punk retains the WWE Title 

Analysis: **1/4 Clearly not at the level of their two matches from last summer that were amazing, but it was good for the time they were given. 

Post match, Big Show kept on attacking Cena. CM Punk continued to watch it. He didn’t react at all. 

Rock ran out. He took it to Big Show. Rock gave Big Show a Spinebuster. CM Punk ran back in and he knocked Rock down with a clothesline. CM Punk gave Rock the Go To Sleep. Punk had a serious look on his face. Dare I say it, a HEEL look on his face. Some in the crowd were booing but it wasn’t that big of a reaction. 

Punk grabbed his WWE Championship and walked out of the ring still the champion. Lawler said it looks as though CM Punk has turned on the WWE Universe. That’s another way of saying he’s turned heel. The show ended with Punk walking out while a fallen Rock looked on in pain from the ring. Punk didn’t smile. He just walked out with the WWE Title while having a serious expression on his face. 

Analysis: I guess there’s the basis around the “big summer angle” because CM Punk turning heel is something that could shake things up in WWE. There are a lot of ways things can go now. I wonder if the fans will boo heel Punk because he’s got such a cool aura to him, so it will be important for him to change some things up. I think they should debut the new look WWE Title soon and perhaps pair him up with a heel like Big Show as a way to make him even stronger. If he’s a solo act it could work too. I am a little surprised by the move because Punk’s one year as a main event face was fun. However, now he’s doing a Randy Savage in that he’s a champion that turned heel during his reign. It doesn’t happen often. Now there are endless possibilities on where things may end up. I’m intrigued. 

There are a lot of ways they can play the Punk angle. I think the idea of him being an “overlooked champion” because he didn’t main event PPVs is a point they can really drive home as a reason for his heel turn. He can say that he’s tired of it, so he’s going to do things his way. I think the smart fans (or hardcore fans) are still going to cheer for him, but it will be a good way to turn him against the masses. 

By the way, John Cena is the first man to cash in Money in the Bank and lose. This show was pretty historic for that reason too. 

Wrestleshock Raw 1000

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Welcome to another episode of Wrestleshock Reviews and this is a bonus episode.  Martin Stynes (martintalks from YouTube) helps Chris go over the historic Raw 1000 episode.  as Michael Cole always says, it is the longest running episodic tv programme.

Chris and Martin go over the returning superstars such as DX, The Rock, Lita and the APA.  They also talk about the superstars who couldnt make it such as Edge and Stone Cold Steve Austin!
Who do the guys want to face The Rock at the Royal Rumble?  Will a 3 hour RAW each week work?  The guys discuss that and much more
View Martin’s fantastic YouTube channel by searching for Martintalks and have a  chat with him on Twitter – @martinstyness.  Chris is also on Twitter – @vinto316 and the show is @Wrestleshock316.

 

WWE: Top 5 Factions

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By Julian Cannon
This week I’m going to be discussing the top five factions in Raw history, well in my opinion anyway. There have been loads of factions throughout the years but these five are the five which I believe to be the cream of the crop in WWE history. 

5. Nexus 

I was unsure whether to put these guys into the mix, but then I remembered the impact they made on the WWE when they came in. You had nine fresh young guys coming in and dismantling The Straight Edge Society, John Cena and everything and everyone around them! No wrestling fan in the world was expecting it to happen at all. I was surprising, it was fresh and it was great to watch. 

The nexus took over both Raw and Smackdown, interrupting matches whenever and however they wanted. This was great viewing when they first game on the scene because you literally had no idea what this rogue group were going to be doing next. Within their time they managed to have John Cena within their group as a member through Wade Barrett defeating him in a match and even being able to capture the tag team titles on three separate occasions. 

Unfortunately due to injuries and other reasons The Nexus lost several members and eventually was diluted down to a smaller group which CM Punk took over and exiling the leader Wade Barrett to Smackdown. When this happened CM Punk’s New Nexus was just a watered down version of the original and didn’t even nearly reach the heights that was expected from the group. But in other notes, CM Punk’s role as the leader was often compared to the Manson family leader Charles Manson.

The Nexus weren’t around for a great length of time and the storyline didn’t perhaps go as well as it should have. But the impact his group made within its first few months is more than enough reason for them to make it into my top five. 

4. Evolution 

Evolution are exactly what a faction is all about in wrestling, Domination! The best thing about the group was the fact that it was taking two seasoned veterans in Ric Flair and Triple H and putting them together with two prospects in Randy Orton and Batista. 

These guys literally dominated Raw for the best part of two years where they held every title that was on Raw within that time. They feuded with some of the biggest stars in the business throughout their tenure. Evolution were going through guys like Mick Foley, The Rock, Goldberg, Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels and of course the future hall of famer… Eugene. These guys are the definition of what a faction should be doing in the WWE and in any wrestling promotion. 

While you had Triple H on top they were slowly building Randy Orton and Batista to be future stars. I’m sure both of those guys could easily admit that Evolution was the thing that began their push to being superstars. They may have began Orton’s babyface push a bit prematurely but they definitely were onto something with Orton, who as we all know is one of the most successful stars in WWE at the moment but Batista’s push to the World Heavyweight championship at the time felt perfect, it was done at the right time and you had a feud where the guy at the top didn’t want to move aside for his prospect and then Batista went onto winning the title and became a huge star. 

Evolution done exactly what they were needed to do, they jump started the career of two guys and WWE should look back on this as a way to build some future stars. 

3. The Ministry of Darkness 

The Ministry of Darkness scared the hell out of me when I was younger. I would have been around eleven when these guys came about and I can remember just thinking that I didn’t want them to turn all my favourite stars into members of theirs. Fortunately they only got a hold of Dennis Knight and Mabel, phew! 

When they first started you had Farooq and Bradshaw kidnap Dennis Knight, this led to a quite disturbing (for an eleven year old anyway) scene where you got to see Dennis Knight chained up and eventually thrown into some sort of dungeon. This led to him coming back and running about mental talking about someone coming back. This led to The Undertaker’s return and he told us that Dennis Knight was now Mideon. Next on their list was Mabel who they all took out and returned as Viscera. Shortly after this you had the members of The Brood joining The Ministry which then made them a large force within the WWE. 

The Ministry of Darkness were something new on the scene at the time and something very dark. As a young child watching it I was genuinely scared that my favourite stars were going to fall victim of them and become The Undertaker’s slaves. 

The downfall of The Ministry came when they joined forces with The Corporation, which took a lot of the dark side of The Ministry away and it just showed that they were a bunch of guys working for the McMahon’s. However for the fear these guys put in me when they first came about that is exactly why they have made it into the top five. 

2. D-Generation X 

Now on DX, where do you begin with this lot!? DX have went through quite a few forms over the almost fifteen years since they first formed. The original DX were a heel group who were used to go against The Hart Foundation. Bret and Shawn’s real life feud was pretty much pushed to the max throughout this feud. During this time you had Shawn Michaels becoming the second ever European champion by defeating The Hart Foundations British Bulldog, this then led on to possibly the most famous match of all time in the Montreal screwjob. 

The screwjob did nothing but help DX be pushed towards being exactly what they needed to be, the guys who are willing to do anything required to win and not care what anyone else thinks. This version of DX quickly came to an end when Shawn Michaels severely injured himself and had to leave WWE after losing the

Wrestle flashback:Hulk Hogan vs HBK in summerslam 2005

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By Julian Cannon

I have always enjoyed watching HBK ‘oversell’ in matches. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy watching him flip head over heels when he’s thrown into the turnbuckle? So I made a comment on the photo that the Michaels’ oversell always makes my soul smile. That was it, now I have some guy who has some wrestling title out of a cracker jack box, get on my case. He started talking about how Michaels was a goof, Shawn made Hogan, Summerslam, himself AND the business look bad… What the hell is this guy talking about?! I know it’s been a few years since I’ve watched it so, I checked it out again.

Did Shawn blatantly oversell everything to make Hogan look bad? Isn’t it  a better question to ask: If Hogan was so great, why didn’t he make the match look better? Over the past 30 years we have watched Hogan No sell after No sell.

And after watching SS 2005 again, I could almost see this guys point. Michaels did a slight over exaggeration of his selling of Hogan’s punches, Irish whips, clotheslines… But did he make the business look like a joke? Did he make Hogan look bad? NO! Well, the match itself was bad but, it surely wasn’t all Shawn’s fault. Let us all not forget that it’s been 20+ years and Hulk Hogan still can’t sell. He still can’t wrestle. He still can’t do much of anything.

I don’t want to take away from what Hogan gave to the business. I mean, he helped revolutionize the world. But I will say this: “Hogan can perform, Hogan can make money. Hogan can BARELY wrestle!” I’m avidly against this guy and have been for a good 15 years. But, back to his match with HBK at SummerSlam ’05….

If you watch the video I linked above, or if you somehow manage to vividly remember the match, it was slow. Hogan couldn’t do it anymore. Hogan couldn’t do much of it 8 years prior but, especially not in this match. Shawn tried to make Hogan look like the powerful force he was decades ago. Were his oversells obvious? sometimes… But, maybe he was told to oversell and make Hogan look like a force NO ONE could really handle….

So, Shawn, towards the end of the above video, busts Hogan wide open. He even slammed Hogan’s head into a ring post…TWICE! Did Hogan make it look good? Did Hogan fall over, or drop to a knee? Did he sell it? NOPE! Instead he walks around outside the ring with actions that make it look like Shawn poked him in the eyes. But, Hogan is busted open…. Shawn locks in the sleeper and now there is blood everywhere. Down Hogan’s face, all over Shawn’s arm…. But, predictable Hogan emerges from the crimson stains.

The ref checks Hogan. Lifts his arm, drops….lifts his arm…drops…. The third time you can see Hogan clearly starts to raise his arm and hold it out of sync with the referee. Obviously Hogan will now make his comeback. It gets worse. Predictable Hogan then gets nailed and pinned. But, after being bloodied and almost losing to “passing out” he lays in that familiar Big Show/Mark Henry position. Arms under HBK, hands on HBK’s chest just waiting for the 2 count before he throws Michaels off of him.

And that’s it, Hogan “Hulks Up” and beats HBK…..

Now, this guy tells me that Shawn made Hogan look foolish because of his ego. Shawn was mad he had to lose to Hogan. Can you freaking blame the guy?! Hulk Hogan was a huge name in WWF. But, he bailed and he bailed HARD on WWF because WCW would give him more money! Meanwhile Shawn was up and coming. He was loyal to WWF and worked his ASS OFF! All of a sudden, Hogan needs money and he crawls back to Vince for a few huge payoffs…Like his WM match with The Rock. His SSlam match against HBK… And the guy who has suffered career ending injuries but STILL came back to WWF/E has to put this guy over?

If I was Shawn, I would have tried to make him look even more stupid than he did.

Was this the worst match ever? No, was it slow, kinda boring and OVERLY predictable? Yes.

By the way, the worst WWE match in the history of the WWE was Rock/Cena at WM 28…. Especially when I got to watch The Rock call the next move to Cena on two different occasions. Way to go guys!

Wrestleshock ‘submission’

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Welcome back to another episode of Wrestleshock Reviews.  This is the 5th episode of the reviews and hope you are all enjoying what the show is doing!
Chris has a few reviews for you and has a very special guest to help him review another dvd.  Chris first looks at the Elimination Chamber 2012 courtesy of Silvervision.co.uk – Chris goes over the good and the bad (the “great” khali) of the PPV and was this better than the previous release in the Royal Rumble 2012?  What are your thoughts on this?
Hayley Stewart (hayleythetiny on twitter and xswantongirlyx on Youtube) sends in an mp3 file to review the fantastic DVD release of Trish Stratus 100% stratusfaction guaranteed.  With Hayley being a big diva fan, she dissects the DVD and lets you know her thoughts on this.
Chris then has a fan request to review one dvd and that was Paul “Spanner” Yorke who asked for Ric Flair & The Four Horsemen to be reviewed so Chris obliges and goes through the set on one of the best factions of all time!  Does the 2 DVD disc set do justice to the newly inducted Hall of Famers?
Follow the show on Twitter – @Wrestleshock316, Chris @Vinto316 and Hayley @Hayleythetiny.  Is there a DVD that you want reviewed?  Check out Chris’ DVD collection by heading to youtube and checking out Chris’ collection video.  Vintomania is his account name!

WWE: the invasion storyline and what could have happened if it was different

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By Julian Cannon

Eleven Years ago, The WWF bought WCW and people thought the dream scenarios and matches would become a reality. But unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Instead WWF crushed the Atlanta groups name, buried most of the stars and moved on with business as usual. I thought a fun column would be me re-booking the Invasion and seeing if it could be more fun. So lets take a fantasy trip back to 2001. On TV, Shane McMahon had bought WCW. Fans all over the world were anxiously awaiting the Invasion they thought they’d never see. So let’s say Vince McMahon had bought out Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Ric Flair, Goldberg, Sting and Scott Steiner’s contracts in addition to the stars they had. Maybe the invasion would have been different and fans would have gotten some of the dream matches they wanted. I’m going to book this from April 2001. Shane McMahon has bought WCW, Austin has turned heel and The Rock has left. So with all those pieces set in place, here’s what could have happened……..

April 23rd 2001 – Monday Night RAW
The show starts with Mr McMahon coming to the ring to talk about this Sunday’s epic main event where the WWF Tag Team Champions Undertaker and Kane take on IC Champ Triple H and WWF Champ Stone Cold. Vince says its winner take all and he has decided to make things fair. He will be in the corner of HHH/Stone Cold at Backlash. Later on that night, there’s a huge brawl in the ring with The Brothers of Destruction and the Two Man Power Trip. Vince gets in the ring with a chair ready to take out the Undertaker when Shane McMahon’s music hits and Shane, Taker and Kane chase Austin, HHH and Vince out of the ring. Shane announces that he spoke with Linda McMahon and she feels the fans would want to see things equal this Sunday so Shane will be in the Brothers of Destruction’s corner at Backlash.

Backlash 2001 – April 29th 2001
The main event match for all the WWF titles went around 20 minutes. Vince tries to get involved in the match when Shane grabs a chair and smacks Vince in the head with the chair knocking him out. Triple H and Kane start brawling into the stands, leaving Stone Cold and Undertaker in the ring. Austin goes for the stunner, when Taker counters it and smashes Austin with a chokeslam. The deadman sets up Stone Cold for the last ride. Taker has the belt won, when Shane McMahon sneaks up behind Taker and cracks a chair over the back of his head while the referee is attending to Vince. Austin stuns Taker and covers him for the three count. Stone Cold and Triple H are the new WWF Tag Team Champions and Shane McMahon has reunited with his father as the pay per view goes off the air.

RAW – May 21st 2001
Over the past few weeks, Shane and Vince have been abusing their power all over WWF TV with Austin and Triple H triumphing every week. The first match on this show is the Hardy Boyz against X-Factor. The Hardyz win and as they celebrate the camera cuts backstage to a limo pulling up and out steps Linda McMahon. Linda comes out to the ring and before she can make her announcement, Shane and Vince come out and cockily tell Linda she should go home and bake cookies and leave business to them. As they leave, Linda says that, as they know, she has just as much power around the WWF as they do. She heard about their plans for WCW, to drive it into the ground and make sure everyone on the WCW payroll is put out of business for good. Linda says she couldn’t let Vince and Shane do this to the people of WCW, so since the company is the property of the WWF, she sold WCW earlier on today. Vince and Shane are going crazy in the ring. Linda assures them that she isn’t going to leave them out of the deal. They will all get a third of the price from the sale. Linda then hands Shane and Vince one dollar each and points out that later that night Austin and HHH must defend their tag title against Jericho and Benoit. As Linda leaves, fans wonder who bought WCW and Vince and Shane are irate that WCW was sold for $3 just to stick it to them.

King of the Ring – June 24th 2001
Triple H tore his quad on the May 21st RAW. The Undertaker’s wife stalker angle never happened. At K.O.T.R, The main event is Jericho one on one with Austin for the WWF title. The match is nearing its end when there is a referee bump and Austin hits the Stunner. As this happens you see Vince laid out cold backstage with a pair of boots standing beside him. But the camera doesn’t pan up to who it is. You hear backstage agents like Michael Hayes and Brisco shouting for security. Austin will look very confused in the ring. Then as Austin turns to attend to Jericho, all you hear is the fans going insane as Goldberg runs into the ring in street clothes. Austin turns round and Goldberg gives him a brutal spear that takes Austin out and Goldberg jumps the guard rail and fleets the arena as all the WWF talent and security run to the ring. In the ring, Jericho puts his arm over Austin and the ref counts to three and Chris Jericho becomes the WWF Champion as the pay per view goes off the air with mayhem!

RAW – June 25th 2001, Madison Square Garden
The show starts with Vince, Austin, Steph and Shane coming out to the ring. Austin rips into Goldberg and says he’s not stupid, it’s obvious Goldberg is part of WCW and he cost Austin his title! Vince takes the mic and says whoever is behind WCW, he’s ordering them to meet him in the ring later on the show, live to deal with this face to face. Jericho defend his belt in a 30 minute classic with Benoit live. Vince is in the ring and he says he wants the man that bought WCW to show his face right now! Eric Bischoff walks out to the stage as the crowd boo the crap out of Easy E. Vince laughs and said he knew it would be Bischoff, it’s so obvious. Bischoff goes from smiling to confused. Bischoff tells McMahon that he isn’t behind WCW. He’s here to tell Vince he’s looking for a job. Vince tells Bischoff that he can think of nothing better than to have RAW announced by Jim Ross, Paul Heyman and ERIC BISCHOFF! He tells Eric to take his seat at the commentary table. JR and Heyman look outraged that they’ll have to work with Bischoff. As Bischoff takes his seat at the announce table, fans in the crowd start going wild as WCW Start walkng down the stands towards ringside led by Ric Flair. He leads down Booker T, Sting,DDP, Goldberg, Buff Bagwell, Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire and Rey Mysterio. Vince looks in shock as Flair starts Woooo’ing and the WWF stars flock to the ring to be with Vince. You have Austin, Jericho, Benoit, Taker, Kane, APA, Edge, Christian. Flair jumps the guardrail at the announce table and grabs a mic. Vince yells “Let him speak” Flair tells Vince, that he should thank his wife for selling WCW back to Flair because now Flair intends to make Vince regret every single time he talked down about WCW and threatened to put them out of business. Security come out and it looks like everyone’s gonna face off as Raw goes off the air. The fans have no clue what’s going to happen.

RAW – July 23rd
After last month’s RAW, Vince promised we wouldn’t see the WCW wrasslers anymore. Over the weeks, WCW wrestlers would attack WWF stars in various ways. DDP, Booker T etc. Sting would turn up in the rafters twice only during the Undertaker’s matches. In July there’s a Fully Loaded pay per view where Austin wins back the WWF Championship from Jericho. The next night on RAW, Vince McMahon comes out to the ring for a celebration of Stone Cold winning back his title. Linda McMahon appears on the titantron saying she has great news. She just came from a Board of Directors meeting and during the WCW invasions and WCW stars being on TV, ratings have skyrocketed and the board want this to be dealt with accordingly. The Board have decided that for one month, WCW stars will be allowed to come to RAW and SmackDown for the fans to see their favourite WCW stars. They will NOT be allowed to wrestle or interfere in matches. In one month at SummerSlam, Vince McMahon will see active competition and on the line will be the SmackDown show. If Vince wins, no WCW star will ever be allowed near a WWF event, however, if Vince’s opponent wins, SmackDown will be no longer and after SummerSlam, every Thursday night on UPN we will see two hours of WCW NITRO! Linda passingly remarks “Oh and Vince, I’d suggest you start training because your opponent is a 16 time World Heavyweight Champion and his name’s Ric Flair!” Flair comes out to his music with Vince going ape in the ring. Flair makes his way down to the ring as Austin’s music hits. Austin and Vince corner Flair when Goldberg’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Goldberg and Austin square off face to face before WCW and WWF undercard stars come out and separate the two. Flair promises Vince that at SummerSlam he’ll kick his ass and take his show.

SummerSlam – August 19th 2001
During the end of July, The Rock returned, setting up SummerSlam’s main event as Rock challenged Austin for the WWF title. After the first match on the show, Vince is in the back and promises, no matter what, tomorrow night on RAW he will make an announcement that will shake down the foundation of the WWF to its very core. The Flair and Vince match is brutal with Vince blading and after several interferences from both WWF and WCW competitors, Flair figure four’s Vince and he taps as WCW Nitro is back.

RAW – August 20th 2001
Austin retained the WWF Championship at SummerSlam and starts a feud with Kurt Angle on RAW. Vince comes out at the end of the show and says he never thought he’d have to do what he’s about to do. WCW is a cancer to Titan Sports. For now they run the show on Thursday nights and there’s nothing he can do about it, but if he knows anything about WCW, he knows what killed it and he’s going to inject some poison into WCW. He announces the men he’s about to bring out can appear on WWF and WCW television. He brings out Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The nWo are back as Vince hopes they’ll kill WCW.

WCW Nitro – Thursday 23rd 2001
Ric Flair opens the show and says WCW Is back and for the main event he’s gonna have the WCW Championship be decided as Booker T defends against Diamond Dallas Page. Jeff Jarrett comes out on the show and smashes Goldberg over the head with a guitar after a match. The new World order come out and promise they’re here to make WCW prosper and not here for Vince McMahon.

What we’ve done here is see in a 4 month period of how the WWF could have booked the Invasion to be monumental. The rosters would have been very strong on both shows.

WWF would have Angle, Austin, Jericho, Kane, Rock, Taker, Edge. Christian etc

WCW would have Goldberg, Sting, DDP, Steiners, Jarrett, Rey Mysterio, and others.

Vince and Flair would keep their feud going and you have Hogan, Hall and Nash playing it safe before picking whos side they’re on. This invasion could have brought back past stars who have been in both companies like the Road Warriors, Dustin Rhodes and Lex Luger to play a part in this picture. Mick Foley may have returned if he had felt creatively stimulated. Triple H would have returned at the beginning of 2002 after his quad tear. WrestleMania X-8 could have been headlined by Sting and Undertaker, Rock and Hogan and Goldberg and Austin. The possibilities are endless. You may have booked it differently. If so, I’d love to hear your ideas.

I hope you enjoyed it!

WWE:No Way Out 2012 review

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By Julian Cannon

World Title: Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero 

Sheamus entered first to a big pop with Ziggler coming out second. Sheamus used power moves to take him down early while Guerrero cheered on Ziggler. After each guy ran the ropes, Ziggler hit a perfect dropkick to the face of Sheamus. My opinion is that Ziggler has the best dropkick in the business. You can tell early that the crowd is cheering Ziggler, which isn’t a surprise since the NY/NJ area always has smart fans at the show. The early story was how Ziggler kept using his speed, but Sheamus was ready for him and he nailed Ziggler with a sharp elbow to the throat. Ziggler was able to gain control by driving Sheamus’ left arm into the turnbuckle. Ziggler hit a nice DDT for two. There was a nice “Let’s Go Ziggler” chant as Dolph dropped him with a knee to the gut for two. Ziggler did a headstand while having Sheamus in a headlock. Now that’s some showing off. Sheamus put Ziggler on his shoulders and Ziggler ended up countering a power move into a DDT. Ziggler hit him with another dropkick. He followed that up with a body scissors. Ziggler went for a rollup. He held the ropes for leverage, but the ref caught him at two. Sheamus countered him for a two count of his own, which Ziggler kicked out of and then he hit a nice neckbreaker for another nearfall. Sheamus hit Ziggler with his axehandle, but the running knee missed as Ziggler put him in a sleeper. They messed up a spot after Ziggler jumped off the top and that eventually led to Ziggler hitting the Fameasser for another excellent two count. The crowd popped big for that one because they were very supportive of Ziggler. With the crowd clearly chanting “Let’s Go Ziggler” the incompetent Jerry Lawler said “listen to the WWE universe let’s go Sheamus.” WTF? Brutal. Great spot with Ziggler hitting a top rope facebuster for two. The crowd popped big for that one while Booker let out a “you gotta be kidding me” line. Ziggler went for the Zig Zag, but Sheamus countered with the Irish Curse backbreaker. Sheamus hit his ten clubbing blows to the chest of Ziggler. Ziggler tried to come back with a sleeper, but Sheamus powered out and dropped him with the White Noise. Now the crowd was cheering Sheamus. Brogue Kick finished off Ziggler at the 15 minute mark to get the win. 

Winner: Sheamus 

Post match, Sheamus celebrated his victory with the fans. 

Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very solid wrestling match that had an exciting finish with Sheamus winning over the crowd by the end of it. It wasn’t a case of the crowd only liking Ziggler. They liked both guys a lot, so it led to an interesting atmosphere. There were a few parts in the match where the action was a little too slow for my liking due to Ziggler grabbing headlocks a little too much, but that’s a minor gripe really. I think Ziggler proved again that he needs to be a permanent main eventer rather than somebody that only gets a title shot due to the injury of another performer. Hopefully Ziggler can free himself of Guerrero, who he doesn’t need by his side. 

Backstage, Vince McMahon was walking while John Laurinaitis walked up to him wearing a red jacket, blue tie and white shirt. He’s the new Mr. America, brother. He’s still selling the injuries from Over The Limit while McMahon shows no sign of injury despite getting KO’d by Big Show on Monday. Laurinaitis tried sucking up to him while bringing up that Vince had a concussion due to Big Show’s punch on Raw. McMahon didn’t say anything. He just walked into his office. Roving backstage reporter Josh Mathews talked to John Laurinaitis who said he didn’t have a problem dealing with pressure. He was rude to Mathews and blew him off by telling him he had a show to run. 

Tuxedo Match: Santino vs. Ricardo Rodriguez 

Both guys are dressed in tuxedos. To win the match you have to strip the tuxedo off the other guy. I have a feeling I won’t need to use in-depth play by play for this one. Santino hit an atomic drop followed by an inverted atomic drop. He took off Ricardo’s jacket, which led to him using the jacket leading to him using it like a matador dealing with a bull. Santino took off Ricardo’s shoes. There was a “boring” chant from the crowd. I don’t disagree with that. Santino took off Ricardo’s shirt and then he gave him a hip toss. Santino took out the Cobra, but Ricardo prevented that and threw the Cobra out. He ripped off the pants and shoes on Santino. The comedy continued as we saw that Santino had a Cobra sock on his right foot. He kicked Ricardo with the Cobra sock as Cole yelled about the Cobra striking. Santino ripped off Ricardo’s pants for the win after four minutes. 

Winner: Santino 

Post match, we found out that Ricardo wears white underwear that has Alberto Del Rio’s face on the back. The announcers laughed like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. 

Anaysis: No rating for a comedy match. It was fun at times, but also embarrassing at other points. I think this would have been better as a Raw or Smackdown match rather than something that deserved to be on PPV. 

Backstage, CM Punk was interviewed by Matt Striker. The camera did a close-up of his brand new “I dig crazy chicks” t-shirt. Punk said he wasn’t thinking about AJ because he was so focused on his opponents. AJ showed up. She wanted to wish Punk luck. She kissed him on the cheek. Punk told her thanks, but luck is for losers. Striker tried to get a comment from AJ. She said nothing. 

Intercontinental Title: Christian vs. Cody Rhodes 

The story where Christian turned face because he wants to be remembered the way Edge was is a little faulty because Edge got over as a heel way more than he did as a face. That’s WWE revisionist history, though. It’s the same thing they do with Big Show where they act like he’s never been a heel before. Anyway, they worked a fast pace early with Christian getting the advantage. Christian knocked him out of the ring and then hit a nice dropkick between the middle and bottom ropes. Rhodes was able to come back by dropping Christian face first on the ring apron. Christian got the advantage, but Cody came back by driving Christian’s head right into the ring post. Rhodes worked on the left arm of Christian for the majority of the match by putting it in submission holds and attacking it with strikes. Christian was on the top rope, so Rhodes shoved him down, which sent Christian crashing into the apron and then onto the mat below. That looked painful. Christian threw Rhodes into the steps and then he hit a DDT by off of the steel steps. That was a very creative move. They made their way back into the ring where Christian was able to hit a dropkick off the middle rope. Christian also hit a cross body block off the top, which Rhodes rolled through to earn a two count. Rhodes ended up tripping up him up when Christian was on the middle rope. Rhodes went to the middle rope where he took too much time. Christian hit a hurricanrana for a good two count. Rhodes fought out of the Killswitch to hit an Alabama Slam for another count of two. Christian came back with a reverse DDT. The high quality of their counter wrestling is very impressive. Rhodes countered a sunset flip for another nearfall. Christian came back with the Killswitch for just two. I guess since that’s not his finisher anymore that it’s okay to kick out of it. Christian went up top, Rhodes got knocked down again and Christian went up for a Frog Splash. Rhodes got his knees up. Rhodes went for the Disaster Kick, Christian moved and Christian hit him with the Spear for the win after 12 minutes. 

Winner: Christian 

Analysis: *** I wish the crowd was into it more early on, but the crowd became pretty loud by the end because they realized they were witnessing an exciting matchup. It was what I expected to be. They got about twelve minutes, they told a good story with Cody in control early and then Christian did an awesome job of making a comeback, which led to his win. Like I wrote in the preview of this event, I said that Cody would lose this match so he could move on to bigger things like winning the Money in the Bank match in July. He’s my pick for that. He’s graduated from the IC Title so to speak. It’s time for him to move up the ladder. Christian’s a very good IC Champ because he always has above average matches. That’s what you want to see out of your IC Champ. 

Fatal Four Way #1 Contenders Match: Primo & Epico w/Rosa & AW vs. Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel vs. Darren Young & Titus O’Neil (The Primetime Players) vs. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) 

The winners of this match get a tag team title shot. It’s nice to see WWE building up a tag team division again. The rules are two guys wrestle in the ring while the other six stand on the apron. The first pinfall or submission wins the match. It was a fast paced match from the get go. There were a lot of quick tags. The Usos hit a nice flapjack into a Samoan Drop on Gabriel. O’Neil tagged in for a pinfall attempt for two. O’Neil slammed down Gabriel and then suplexed his own partner DYoung onto Gabriel for two. Gabriel hit a heel kick, but he couldn’t get a hot tag to his partner Tyson Kidd, who is my favorite person in the match. Nice dropkick by Epico on Gabriel followed by three back suplexes in a row. The crowd is dead silent for the match, which is what happens when you barely have tag team matches on your television shows. Primo missed a dive on Gabriel, who finally got the hot tag to Kidd. Kidd hit a nice missile dropkick on Primo followed by a legdrop to the back of the neck. Kidd hit a Blockbuster off the top. Epico broke up the pin, so Gabriel took him out with a dive. Primo countered an elbow drop by getting his knees up. Then Primo hit the Backstabber for a two count after it was broken up. All hell broke loose at this point. The Usos hit a double superkick on O’Neil. Then the Usos hit dives onto the five guys outside the ring. Young tagged the back of Kidd, so he was the legal man along with Primo. Primo went to the top, Kidd followed him up there and Kidd hit a hurricanrana off the top that sent Primo onto the six guys out on the floor. Wow. What a move that was! There was a “holy sh**” chant for that one. Well deserved. Young and Primo went back into the ring although in Primo’s case it was because AW rolled him in. Young hit his Gut Check finisher. Epico went for the save, but AW kept him out of the ring. Young covered for the win after 9 minutes of action. 

Winners: Primetime Players Darren Yong & Titus O’Neil 

After the match, AW celebrated with Young & O’Neil. Epico was yelling at AW about it. Epico decked AW with a punch. Young & O’Neil easily tossed them out of the ring. Rosa was angry at ringside. I think Epico & Primo will work well as a babyface team especially with Rosa at their side. She’s easy on the eyes. 

Analysis: *1/2 I thought the last three minutes were really well done. The first part of the match was your standard tag team action, but the crowd didn’t care because they’ve barely seen any of these teams. Still, it’s a good sign that a tag match made the PPV. Hopefully more attention is given to the tag division going forward because there’s some potential for greatness here. As for AW’s betrayal of his team, I like it. They already have a manager. Putting him with the PTPers is smart especially if they win the tag titles soon, which I expect. I would guess that they win the tag titles as soon as this week especially since R-Truth is out with a foot injury. 

There was a commercial for Money in the Bank featuring Alberto Del Rio. The date of that event is July 15th. It’s one of my favorite PPVs of the year. 

They aired a recap of the Triple H/Brock Lesnar story. 

Hunter Hearst Suit McMahon Helmsley walked out to the ring to a nice ovation. He talked about how he spent half his life in the ring because that’s all he ever wanted to do. By the way, his left arm appears to be fine. He spoke about the lawsuits against him by Lesnar and Paul Heyman. He said he hates them because he’s not really a corporate kind of guy. “I’m a fighter. I’m an ass kicker. It’s what I do.” Hunter said he had a good idea. Hunter brought up how Lesnar said he was a fighter and ass kicker. Hunter said his arm was feeling better and that in a few more weeks he’ll be 100%. He proposed that they put all of the crap behind them. We get rid of the lawsuits. “Brock, this is not about them. This is about me and you and doing what we do. We’re fighters, Brock. And I want to fight you. Brock Lesnar, I want to fight you bad. Brock Lesnar – Triple H one on one…Summerslam.” The crowd was chanting “yes” while Hunter was saying that they should fight. “Brock Lesnar – let’s fight. Or you can be happy being a quitter. Whatever works for you, Brock. I’ll be waiting.” 

Analysis: It looks like the rumored Triple H/Lesnar match at Summerslam is a go. It’s fine with me. I wonder who will go over. It should be Lesnar, but with this company you just never know. 

Backstage, Daniel Bryan was warming up for his WWE Title match. AJ walked to him. She said there’s still a part of her that hasn’t gotten over Bryan. She was there to wish him luck. She kissed him on the cheek. 

Divas Title: Layla vs. Beth Phoenix 

Beth used power moves early. Layla came back with a dropkick to the knee. Layla took Beth’s headgear and mocked her. Then they ran around the ring where Layla dropped her with a clothesline followed by a dropkick. Layla missed a springboard attempt as Beth tripped her up and that sent Layla crashing to the floor. Beth threw her into the security wall. Layla countered some power offense with a rollup. Beth gave her a backbreaker. Layla countered a submission with some knees to the head. Beth went for the Glam Slam, but Layla pushed herself off the top rope and ended up getting a nearfall for two. Layla hit a cross body off the middle ropes for two. Beth was able to catch her after that with a powerslam for two. The crowd is totally silent at this point. They’re making no noise at all. It’s not like they’re a bad crowd. They just don’t care. Phoenix pressed Layla over her heard, which led to Layla countering into a very nice DDT for two. That was the best spot of the match so far. Beth drove her into the corner. She missed a charge. Layla hit her with her neckbreaker known as the Lay Out (Cole just called it a neckbreaker) and that was enough for the pin at the 7 minute mark. 

Winner: Layla 

Analysis: * They got seven minutes, so that was good to see. The problem is they get such little TV time these days that the crowd had no emotional investment in the match. You can keep putting Layla over Beth, but unless you devote time to getting the Layla character over it’s going to be difficult for her to gain much crowd support. 

Backstage, AJ caught up to Kane. She wished him good luck. She kissed him on the cheek. He didn’t let her leave. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips while the crowd chanted “yes” at that visual. That was a funny chant from the crowd. He left while she reacted to it with a surprised look on her face. No smile. She wished all three guys in the WWE Title match luck, so there’s no sign of who she is leaning towards for the win. 

Sin Cara vs. Hunico w/Camacho 

This is not a new match at all. I was at the Smackdown in Toronto last September when the two Sin Cara’s went face to face and obviously the second one was revealed to be Hunico. Since then, Sin Cara has beat him about 49 times. That may be overstating it, but we’ve seen it before. The mood lighting was present as it always is during Sin Cara matches. He went for a dive, but Hunico countered with his knees into the ribs. Hunico’s offense continued with a rear chin lock. He hit a tilt a whirl backbreaker to counter the high flying offense from Sin Cara. Another headlock from Hunico. You don’t see too many headlocks in Sin Cara matches, so they’re working more of the traditional American wrestling style. Hunico got another slam for a two count. Sin Cara tried to get the momentum with a rollup, but Hunico came back with a hard kick to the face. Then he gabbed another headlock. Powerbomb for Hunico. Cara took him down with a headscissors followed by a kick to the head and a hurricanrana off the top. He hit a couple of nice dropkicks. Sin Cara hit his finisher where he gives his opponent a headscissors and then drives him face first into the mat. The match went about 6 minutes. 

Winner: Sin Cara 

Analysis: *1/4 Like I wrote in the beginning, we’ve seen this match a few times. They worked a different style than we’re used to, though, so it wasn’t the typical match we’ve seen from them. The crowd wasn’t into the match that much. If they want to get the most out of Sin Cara they need to put him in a real feud with an opponent that gives him a test. These formulaic five minute matches aren’t going to help him long term. He needs to be doing more for the crowd to become emotionally invested in his matches. 

We got the long video package reminding us of everything involved in the WWE Title feud with the main focus being on AJ Lee’s actions involving all three men. 

Kane made his entrance first. Not a huge reaction to him either way, really. In Daniel Bryan’s case, the crowd exploded for him. Lots of “yes” chants for him. He’s even rocking a jacket that says “yes” on it. Cole called Punk the controversial WWE Champion. Is he even controversial anymore? Don’t think so. That’s a bit of an issue. Cole did a good job of putting over Punk beating a lot of big names during his reign of over 200 days at this point. 

WWE Title: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane 

Kane tried to overpower Bryan and Punk early, but they countered his power by kicking him repeatedly. Lots of “yes” chants for every kick delivered. This crowd is hot for this match right from the beginning. After a couple of dull matches before this you could tell they were ready to let loose here. Punk dumped Bryan out to the floor with a back drop and then Kane gave Punk a hard clothesline. Bryan knocked Kane out of the ring and he followed it up with his dive in between the middle and bottom rope. Punk hit a crossbody off the top rope onto both guys on the floor. Kane picked up Punk and drove him back first into the steel steps a couple of times. There are no disqualifications or countouts in triple threat matches although it’s rare that anybody ever uses weapons in these kinds of matches. Kane gave Punk a hard whip into the corner turnbuckle. Back in the ring, Kane hit a low dropkick on Punk followed up by a leg scissors on the ribs of Punk. Bryan was knocked out to the floor earlier, so the action slowed down at this point. Punk fought out of it. Bryan hit a running dropkick on Punk, but his attack on Kane failed because Kane dropped Bryan with a side slam. Bryan used a drop toe hold that sent Kane into the middle turnbuckle followed by a kick to the face that sent Kane to the floor. Bryan focused on Punk, who he dropped with a knee. 

They did a nice three way spot with Bryan perched on the top rope and Kane & Punk fighting to see which one of them would take him off the top rope. When Kane and Punk ended up fighting eachother, Bryan hit a double dropkick on each guy. Each guy sat up on their knees, so Bryan destroyed them with hard “Yes” kicks to the chest. He drilled Kane in the head with one of them. Punk ducked a kick and got a rollup for two. Punk hit his running knee into the corner on Bryan and then one on Kane. No bulldog by Punk on Kane, but he hit a neckbreaker on Kane for two. Punk hit a quick powerslam on Bryan. They did a nice spot where Bryan was on Kane’s shoulders and Punk dropped Bryan with a clothesline. Nice to hear Cole mention Legion of Doom there. That earned Punk a two count. Punk hit the top rope Flying Elbow on Bryan. He was slow to cover, so Bryan kicked out at two. Punk wanted the GTS, but Kane kicked Punk in the head to break that up. Punk fought back against Kane, hit a roundhouse kick to the head and missed his Flying Elbow attempt on Kane. Bryan went to the top and he hit a Flying Headbutt to the chest of Punk. Bryan knocked Kane off the apron with a hard forearm to the face. Bryan kicked Punk hard in the face and put him in the Yes Lock. They were right in the center of the ring. Punk was able to fight him off. Punk put Bryan on his shoulders and he hit a GTS. They were near the ropes, though, so Kane pulled Bryan out of the ring. Kane hit his clothesline off the top onto Punk. I wonder how many of those he’s hit in his 15 year run as the Kane character? Kane went for the Chokeslam, but Punk countered with a DDT for two. Punk hit a Flying Elbow on Kane for two. Kane fought out of a GTS to hit a boot to the face of Punk. Kane gave Punk a Chokeslam, but Punk kicked out at two as Booker let out a “what da hayell” in shock. That was the best nearfall of the match so far. Kane went for the Tombstone. All of a sudden AJ showed up. Punk shoved Kane into the ropes and that knocked AJ off the apron. Kane showed concern over AJ falling down, so Punk took advantage with a roundhouse kick and then a GTS to Kane. He covered for the victory after 19 minutes. 

Winner: CM Punk 

Analysis: **** There’s the match of the night. That’s not a shock considering Punk and Bryan always seem to have the match of the night. Kane worked very well with them too. That’s why Kane has been able to hang around for as long as he has because when he’s in there with the best workers his spots work very well. In my preview of the event, I had Bryan winning the match by pinning Kane. I’m not upset that Punk was able to retain because I’m a huge fan of his as well. I just thought this would have been a good time to take the belt off Punk without hurting his credibility too bad. The finish worked very well too. I thought it was smart to involve AJ in the finish because the story is obviously connecting very well with the fans and it’s a story that should continue going forward. I’m hoping we get another Punk vs. Bryan singles match on PPV, but perhaps they’ve moved on from that. At least Bryan can say he wasn’t pinned, so you never know if they’ll use that as a way to do rematches. 

Post match, Kane looked over the fallen AJ. They replayed the finish with her running out at the end of the match when Punk threw Kane into her. Kane picked her up and took her backstage. She smiled without him seeing it while the crowd cheered that. Meanwhile, Punk celebrated with his WWE Title. They showed the AJ replay again. The last time they did it they focused on how she was smiling back on CM Punk. 

There was a commercial for the July 23rd Raw being the start of three hour editions of Raw. They hyped that some stars from the past will be there on July 23 including DX (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) and no other advertised names at this point. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see Bret Hart, Steve Austin and Undertaker as well. That’s just an educated guess on my part. 

Ryback vs. Dan Delaney & Rob Grymes 

Delaney & Grymes talked about how after they beat Ryback they would main event WrestleMania 29 in Jersey. Then the classic “WrestleMania” song started as they sang along to it. That was annoyingly funny. Ryback entered to a good pop. Loud “Goldberg” chants from the beginning of the match. He dropped Grymes with a huge back body drop while Delaney received a hard clothesline. He knocked down both guys with hard slams. Ryback hit a splash off the middle rope. That’s an awkward move to have in his arsenal. Ryback picked up both guys and gave them the Muscle Buster (still needs a name) at the same time for the win after about two minutes. 

Winner: Ryback 

Analysis: He continues to impress, but when will he face some bigger name opponents? The “Goldberg” chants aren’t very encouraging. It’s been a few months and nobody is chanting “Ryback” so that’s likely disappointing to the creative team. It should be noted that he said “feed me three” before the finish so I guess he wants to beat three jobbers from now on. 

A video hyped up Summerslam in August. The announcers wondered if Brock Lesnar will answer Triple H’s Summerslam challenge. 

The steel cage lowered, which led to the video package highlighting Monday’s Raw when Vince McMahon gave John Laurinaitis a job evaluation without actually doing anything. 

John Laurinaitis made his way to ringside for the main event. He was using a crutch to assist him and the injury to his left leg sustained at Over The Limit. Big Show was next to enter. He’s so serious that he forgot his toque. Vince McMahon was next to enter. He got a really big pop, which isn’t a surprise since he hasn’t been on TV much of late and the NY/NJ crowd is always appreciative of him. He sat next to Laurinaitis with each man in black leather chairs. John Cena was the last to enter. He told the camera that somebody is getting fired. 

Steel Cage Match: John Cena vs. Big Show 

You can win via pinfall, submission or escape the cage over the top or through the door. I’d prefer it if you could only win by going over the top of the cage, but that’s just me. Show dominated early. He threw Cena into the cage a few times. Show missed a KO punch after Cena moved, so Show hit the cage with his fist. The dueling Cena chants started up. Cena hit a dropkick, but his run didn’t last long as Show gave him a headbutt to knock him down again. Show decked him with a clothesline. Show threw him off the cage. Basically the first five minutes is Show’s really slow offense on Cena. He hit a running back splash on Cena in the turnbuckle. Cena tried to crawl out, but Show prevented that from happing by stepping on Cena’s neck. That works. Cena came back with a bulldog off the middle rope for a count of two. Cena tried to climb out, Show stopped him and then Show ended up being crotched on the top rope. Cena tried to climb out, but Show prevented that by driving his back into the cage and then threw him back to the mat with a suplex that earned him a two count. 

Show moved Cena to the corner and gave him a Vader Bomb off the middle rope. Thanks to Vader for inspiring that move from Monday night. Cena kicked out at two. Show grabbed Cena by the throat. He pulled Cena all the way to the top rope. Cena fought of a chokeslam, but Show knocked him down. Show was on the top rope, but he went to the middle part where he was pushing the ropes down so much that it was as if he was on the middle rope. Cena rolled out of the way of the big elbow drop. Show tried to crawl out. Cena was strong enough to pull him back into the ring. They went back into the center of the ring where Cena was able to knock Show down with a shoulderblock. Cena tried to escape the cage. Laurinaitis threw the ref down, so then McMahon threw Laurinaitis down. McMahon held the cage door open and that allowed Laurinaitis to shove McMahon, which caused the cage door to hit Cena in the head. Show hit a Chokeslam for two. That was a very good nearfall. Show loaded up the fist, Cena ducked and Show KNOCKED OUT~! ref Scott Armstrong, who took a nice bump into the mat. Best ref in the business right there. Cena went for the Attitude Adjustment. He couldn’t lift Show. Show KNOCKED OUT~! John Cena. There was no ref in the ring to count the pinfall. Why doesn’t he just walk out the door? Eventually he realizes he can do that, so Brodus Clay showed up with a steel chair in his hands. Is this storyline continuity? That’s just crazy! 

Lawler felt proud to say that there was “no way out” for Big Show. I’m sure Jerry thought that was clever. All of a sudden, Santino & Alex Riley ran out to go after Show. They clibed the cage and Show shoved them off like a couple of jobbers. Keep in mind that Santino is current US Champ. Zack Ryder came running out to a big pop. He climbed the cage. Show punched him while he was climbing, so he bumped to the floor like a jobber too. These are all the guys that Show beat up in the weeks leading up to this match. Tag champ Kofi Kingston ran out there too. He climbed the top of the cage. Show was on the top rope trying to climb out, but Kofi ended up kicking him enough times that Show got knocked down to the mat. Cena tried to climb out. Show was able to grab him by the foot. Super Cena recovered and gave Show an Attitude Adjustment in the center of the ring. Cena covered. There’s no referee available to count the pinfall while Clay still stood by the door with a steel chair in hand. Cena decided to climb the cage. Laurinaitis was there with his crutch, so Clay walked over there to prevent the attack by holding his arms back. Cena dropped the floor. Show was close to getting out, but Cena definitely touched first while Show’s upper body was close to getting out. The crowd popped big for the Cena win after 20 minutes of action. 

Winner: John Cena 

Analysis: *1/2 It was boring early, but it got better. The finish was a lot of fun with all of the people that were attacked by Show getting their revenge on him. It was a smart way to protect Show as a monster because Cena didn’t win clean. It’s rare to see a match where a Cena opponent was actually made to look stronger than Cena was. It’s not like the win made Cena look bad by any means, but it felt different than the normal Cena match. You know how I like to say “it was more of a story than match” sometimes? That’s the best way to describe this one. 

After the match was over, Cena asked Clay to hand over Laurinaitis. Cena put him on his shoulders. Vince McMahon went on the microphone to deliver this message to John Laurinaitis: “You’re Fired!” The crowd loved that. Cena gave Laurinaitis the Attitude Adjustment through the Spanish Announce Table. 

They replayed the key moments from the match as well as the post match with Laurinaitis getting fired. The show ended with Cena celebrating with the crowd. The big cliffhanger is who will run Raw Monday night? 

Five Stars of the Show 

1. CM Punk 

2. Daniel Bryan 

3. Dolph Ziggler 

4. Kane 

5. Christian 

Final Thoughts 

I give this show a rating of 6 out of 10. If you’re being a nitpicker, it’s tied with the lowest rating I’ve given the six WWE PPVs this year although three of them have the same rating. That’s not to say I hated it or anything like that. It’s just that it felt like a very average PPV featuring three good matches and the rest of the show feeling like filler in a lot of ways. 

The two major title matches were entertaining to me. I didn’t think Ziggler had a shot to win, but he’s such a good performer that I can just enjoy his work. Hopefully by the end of the year he does win one of the major titles because there’s nobody in the company that deserves it more. I just think WWE is really behind Sheamus right now as a long term babyface top guy and to establish him in that role he’s going to have a lengthy title reign. 

The interesting thing about Punk’s WWE Title reign is that he’s successfully defended his WWE Title on six PPVs in a row this year. None of those matches were the main event, though. He did main event TLC in December where he retained his WWE Title, but that’s because there was no John Cena match on that show. That’s obviously never happened before. It’s an odd stat. 

I wasn’t shocked by the Cena win. What they did made a lot of sense aside from the fact that Vince McMahon technically shouldn’t be able to fire Laurinaitis since he was stripped of his CEO title last year. Other than that giant logic hole it was fine by me. 

Lastly, the New Jersey crowd was very good. Like I always say whenever WWE is in the NY/NJ area the fans are going to respond well to the action in the ring. I don’t blame them for being dead during the divas match or the Sin Cara match because they’re formulaic matches without much of a story, but for everything else they responded quite well.

Wrestleshock reviews #4

Rob Leave a Comment

welcome to the 4th episode of Wrestleshock reviews in association with our good friends on twitter @wwedvdnews.  Chris is  joined by a very special guest….wait a moment, he meant guest in the form of Operation Retroshock co-host Allan Price.

Allan and Chris sit down and talk about 2 WWE DVDS courtesy of Silvervision.co.uk and the guys talk about The epic journey of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnston.  Is this as good as Stone Cold Steve Austin’s or did it hit Rock Bottom?  The next DVD the guys go over is the WWE Best PPV matches of 2011.  From Triple H and the Undertaker tearing the house down from Wrestlemania XXVII and CM Punk and John Cena (cena in a good match?  yes its true) putting their money where their mouth is on the fantastic Money in the Bank ppv.

Make sure to subscribe to Chris’s Youtube channel – Vintomania, Follow Chris on Twitter – @Vinto316 and this show @Wrestleshock316.  Of course follow Allan @AllanGWPrice and Operation Retroshock – @Retroshock316.

Stay tuned for the best tag teams of all team podcast with Chris and Mike!

 

 

WWE: Top 5 Kane moments

Rob Leave a Comment
By Julian Cannon
On the Dec. 12 episode of WWE RAW Kane returned and shocked the WWE Universe when he choke slammed John Cena and resurrected his red mask. This is a great return to the Attitude Era of WWE Raw and has brought back a lot of memories of the masked Kane WWE fans knew and loved. As the resurrected Kane enters a new era in the WWE, relive some of his greatest moments from “WWE Raw” and get ready for another great run until his retirement.
Kane’s Debut
The arena lights turned red, no one knew what was going on, and then the Undertaker’s former manager Paul Bearer emerged with the Big Red Machine behind him. Yes, Kane’s debut at the Badd Blood pay per view was a sight to be seen. He tore the door off the Hell in a Cell, easily attacked the Undertaker, and portrayed himself as an unstoppable monster.

Kane vs. Vader – Over the Edge 1998

Everyone wanted to know what was under Kane’s mask as he described the burn scars that he suffered from the Undertaker. Fans would get the first chance during a “Mask vs. Mask” match at the Over the Edge 1998 pay per view event. Kane and Vader battled in a great big-man match-up, but Vader was still unable to overcome Kane’s power. In the end, Vader had to remove his mask and Kane remained the mysterious monster that other wrestlers feared.
Kane’s First Blood Match
How do you make a masked man bleed? That was the predicament Stone Cold Steve Austin found himself in during the 1998 King of the Ring pay per view. Before the event, Kane taunted Stone Cold, used a voice box to speak to him, and even dumped gallons of blood on him in the ring. At the match, interferences from the Undertaker and Mankind led to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s bloodshed and a one night title reign for Kane.
money in the bank
kane managed to defeat Hardy, Christian, Big Show, McIntyre, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, Kingston & Ziggler to win the MITB ladder match and hence, a championship match whenever he wished. Later that night after Jack Swagger brutally attacked World Heavyweight Champion Mysterio and almost broke his ankle after the match, Kane became the first man to cash in his MITB contract the same night he won it. Kane became the new World Heavyweight champion after hitting a chokeslam and a tombstone of Mysterio.
Kane Removes Mask
There was huge anticipation when Kane was forced to remove his mask in 2003. When he did, he became enraged, attacked his former partner, Rob Van Dam, and in an interview he set WWE announcer JR on fire.
here is a link to the unmasking if you are new to the wwe(also that event happened in msg and i was there)

WWE: Punk vs Bryan vs Kane preview

Rob Leave a Comment

By Julian Cannon

So this Raw we got to see a rematch from Smackdown that pitted Kane against the WWE Champion CM Punk. Kane won this match after AJ came out and distracted Bryan, who Punk then attacked outside the ring. When he got back in the ring he was instantly chokeslamed and was pinned. After the match Kane cornered AJ, but Bryan ran in and attacked Kane from behind, however Kane countered and attacked Bryan. With both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan down and out Kane once again cornered AJ, who rightfully looked on in shock and fright…until one thing happened.

AJ smiled at Kane and Kane turned his back and left while AJ looked on all googily eyed. Now this segement and the following with Josh Matthews has left many wrestling fans including myselfs thinking, “What the Hell just happened?” Well, no worries my friends as after several hours of thought I think I have figured out the answer.
At No Way Out CM Punk will be forced to defend his title not just against Daniel Bryan but also against Kane. Many wrestling fans believe that Kane was just put in the match to take the fall and allow the feud to carry on to Summerslam without anybody looking weak. I too believed this up until last Smackdown when Kane had a championship match against CM Punk. This Raw confirms it. I fully believe that Kane will win the match at No Way Out, but not without some help from Punk and Bryan’s little friend AJ.

AJ will cost CM Punk the championship, and allow Kane to win it. Not Bryan, but Kane. Also, CM Punk announced during a recent Q/A that the WWE is indeed making a new title belt that is 20 pounds HEAVIER than the current one. Now who the heck would be able to carry that much weight confortably…not Punk or Bryan. No, this new belt will debute with Kane and Kane will likely be WWE Champion for a long time before finally retiring.
AJ will also be involved in Kane’s championship run. She will be Kane’s girlfriend (God does that feel wierd typing haha). She will say that she has come to realization that she is cursed, so that she must side with someone who is the representation of true evil…someone who is also cursed. And this will of course be Kane.
And for all of you Bryan vs. Punk lovers, no worries. At MitB look for Daniel Bryan to cost CM Punk his rematch and then they will of course continue to fued and finally have the match everyone has been waiting for at Summerslam.

“Now hold on a second, speaking of MitB, won’t the MitB winner end Kane’s championship run?” My answer is going to have to be a NO. Like I said before Kane will have a long run before retiring and will probably, maybe not, but probably end the MitB winners’ undeafeted streak. Finally, somebody will cash in the briefcase and lose.
So, the question remains who will stop Kane’s reign of terror? Well, it won’t be Cena, Orton, or any other big name star. So my guess will be Drew McYntire. Maybe not though…who knows. All I know for certain is that despite Cena getting stuffed down our throats last Raw, this is a interesting and entertaining time to be a wrestling fan.