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NXT – February 19, 2014

20th February 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
February 19, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Tensai
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It’s
the go home show for Arrival, meaning I wouldn’t expect much of
interest tonight. The main stories are Neville vs. Dallas for the
NXT Title in a ladder match and Cesaro vs. Zayn in a 2/3 falls match
because HHH wanted it to happen. Hopefully the boss isn’t around to
impose his will on a promotion that doesn’t need him at all. Let’s
get to it.

Welcome
Home.
Paul
Heyman, Bret Hart and Diesel will be doing an NXT Kickoff show on the
Network next week.
Ascension
vs. Mike Lebosca/Casey Marion
Non-title.
Viktor runs over Mike to start and gets two off a hard clothesline.
Off to Konnor for a double powerbomb and the Fall of Man is good for
the pin on Marion at 1:21.
Tyler
Breeze is officially in the building.
Summer
Rae vs. Emma
Bayley
plays Lodi with Emma’s signs as the bubbles fill the entrance.
Tensai: “BUBBLES AND HUGS! BUBBLES AND HUGS!” Summer can’t rip
up the sign and Emma gets a quick two count off a rollup. Off to an
armbar on Summer but she has to kick out of a dancing sunset flip.
Emma gets knocked off the apron to the floor before it’s off to Rae
for an armbar of her own. We get some choking with those long legs,
drawing an ultra rare boring chant. Emma gets caught in a
bodyscissors and we take a break.
Back
with Summer getting two off something we didn’t see before she does
her stretching choke on the apron. Rae gets frustrated and hammers
away for two before we hit the chinlock. Emma fights up and hooks
the Dilemma for a few seconds followed by the cross body in the
corner. Sasha Banks gets in a quick slap to give Summer a two count
but it’s the Emma Lock for the submission at 7:14 shown of 10:44.
Rating:
D. The match was really boring
as they were clearly just filling time for the most part. Instead of
going over this boring mess, let’s look at why Emma is bombing on
Raw. It’s really simple: they’re not playing to her strengths at
all. Instead of being the goofy dancer that we can laugh with at
stuff like fighting to be able to skin the cat before the matches and
the bubbles, she’s second banana to one of the most annoying
characters in the company. Santino has his fans, but he’s one of
those guys that people either love or hate and it’s alienating a big
chunk of the audience. Let Emma be herself and she’ll get over.
On
top of that look at how she dresses on both shows. On Raw she wears
a white t-shirt and black pants. She looks good enough in the
outfit, but here she’s in shorts and looks like she got caught in a
confetti explosion. Emma may not be the hottest Diva on the roster,
but wearing more clothes hardly ever gets a female wrestler over.
Let her look fun and people will have fun with her.
Tyler
Breeze is NOT cool with Adrian Neville being the face of NXT.
Before
the break we got an Elimination Chamber ad. When we come back, we
get a video on Elimination Chamber. You can see the yellow and black
turning red before your eyes.
We
get a sitdown interview with Zayn and Cesaro. Sami congratulates
Cesaro on getting into the Elimination Chamber but Cesaro cuts him
off and says he’ll win. Renee stops them both and explains the rules
of the interview (seriously): if Sami touches Cesaro, he loses any
future chances at the NXT Title. If Cesaro touches Sami, he’s out of
the Chamber.
Sami
is asked about being medically cleared but Cesaro cuts him off again,
saying it’s his Achilles. Cesaro cuts him off again so Sami gets to
his feet and says he knows what’s going on. This is already behind
personal and it’s on to being professional. Sami takes his
profession personally and after February 27, Cesaro won’t have
anything left to say.
Emma
is asked about the BFFs but would rather talk about her sign and
title shot next week. She’ll
say something to Paige’s face next week.
Adrian
Neville vs. Tyler Breeze
Feeling
out process to start until Breeze stomps him down in the corner and
scores with a running dropkick. Before he follows up though, time
for a quick picture. Neville
comes back with kicks to the ribs and a ram into the buckle as Tensai
talks about ladder matches, name dropping Jeff Hardy and the Dudley
Boys. A running uppercut in the corner puts Breeze down but Neville
walks around instead of covering. Breeze misses a dropkick and gets
kicked to the floor, setting up a big dive as we take a break.
Back
with another Elimination Chamber ad because that’s why this show
exists. Adrian gets two off a top rope dropkick and
picks Breeze up for a nice sitout powerbomb for two. In one of the
few nice sequences of the night, Neville loads up a springboard dive
but stops on the top as Breeze tries to dropkick him out of the air
but Neville hasn’t even jumped yet. Breeze pops up and scores with a
superkick to put both guys down. The
Beauty Shot misses and a kick in the corner sets up the Red Arrow for
the pin by Neville at 8:25 shown of 11:25.
Rating:
C. The match was fine and that
fake out spot by Neville was a nice touch. There’s nothing wrong
with giving Neville a win to set up the ladder match, but
unfortunately it comes at the end of a very boring show. Breeze
needs to add something new to his act because the appeal is starting
to wear off.
Post
match Neville grabs the mic but Bo Dallas’ music cuts him off. Bo
congratulates Neville on his climb up the ladder of success. “Look
what I did there. Ladder?” Adrian has gone as far as he can
though because the title reign isn’t ending next week. Neville has
finally figured Bo out: he’s scared of Adrian but doesn’t hate him.
Adrian is going to win the title next week but right now he’ll let Bo
have a free shot. Bo takes off his jacket and walks away to end the
show.
Overall
Rating: D. I always knew this
day would come but I’ve been dreading it the entire time. NXT is
officially a Raw clone which takes away all of its appeal. It used
to be this fun underground show that offered a retreat from WWE and
gave you some old school wrestling fun. Now it’s sitdown interviews
and the Face of NXT and Deus Ex Helmsley coming out and taking five
minutes to make a match instead of it just being made before the
show. This show is becoming
less and less fun every week and I get more and more worried about
what we’ll be seeing after Arrival. The show is definitely not a
lost cause, but I’m scared.
Results
Ascension
b. Mike Lebosca/Casey Marion – Fall of Man to Marion
Emma
b. Summer Rae – Emma Lock
Adrian
Neville b. Tyler Breeze – Red Arrow

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Cesaro vs. Randy Orton: SmackDown, Feb. 14, 2014

15th February 2014 by Scott Keith

You marks are all kidding yourself if you think that Orton putting him over clean as a sheet and the announcers treating it as a big deal will have ANY effect on his rise to the next level.  No one pays attention to that SOUTHERN RASSLIN shit.  It’s the fact that he is now just Cesaro that will determine his main event fate.  GENIUS.

Also, burying this on Smackdown and putting yet another Orton-Cena match that means nothing on RAW?  GENIUS.

Also, I think Ellen Page was taking the “mutants as metaphor” aspect of the X-Men movies a bit too seriously.  There’s method acting and then there’s taking it too far.

Also, more like ROBOFLOP, am I right?

That’s all I got tonight.

Rants →

Smackdown – February 14, 2014

15th February 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
February 14, 2014
Location:
Citizens Bank Business Arena, Ontario, California
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It’s
Valentines Day and we’re getting a nice gift in the form of Cesaro
(now minus the Antonio) vs. Randy Orton in the fourth part of Orton’s
Elimination Chamber gauntlet. Cesaro is rapidly gaining popularity
and it would seem a face turn is imminent. Other than that we might
get more on the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane feud. Let’s get to it.

Opening
sequence.
Shield
vs. Daniel Bryan/Christian/Sheamus
Christian
and Rollins get things going but Seth quickly takes him into the
corner for the tag off to Reigns. Roman catches a cross body attempt
but gets popped in the face with a right hand. Sheamus comes in for
the big power showdown and they slug it out for a bit before Sheamus
hits the rolling fireman’s carry for two. Reigns comes back with a
knee to the ribs and brings in Ambrose who gets taken down by a
running ax handle.
The
fans demand Bryan and get their wish, followed by some rapid fire
kicks in the corner. A top rope hurricanrana gets two and there’s
the YES Lock but Shield comes in for the save and we have a standoff.
Back from a break with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock and sending
Rollins into the top turnbuckle, allowing him to tag off to Sheamus.

The
pale one slides to the apron and comes back with the ten forearms to
the chest but the other Shield members get involved to take over.
Reigns does that awesome dropkick from the floor to the apron before
LAUNCHING Sheamus into the barricade. That’s not something you see
too often. Ambrose comes back in to stomp away in the corner before
it’s off to Reigns again for hard shots to the head and ribs.
We
hit the front facelock for a bit but Reigns lets it go to knock Bryan
off the apron but walks into the Irish Curse. Rollins comes in and
takes a swing at Christian but only hits air before missing a
backsplash to Sheamus. Hot tag brings in Christian to face Ambrose
and a tornado DDT gets two on the US Champion.
Everything
breaks down and Bryan takes out Reigns with the FLYING GOAT. Rollins
takes him down with a suicide dive of his own though and it’s
Christian hooking the reverse DDT for two on Dean but the Brogue Kick
misses Ambrose and takes out Christian. Reigns spears Sheamus down
and Ambrose pins Christian at 12:45.
Rating:
C+. This was more about the
good guys building drama amongst themselves before they head into the
Chamber in a little over a week. There weren’t any problems for
Shield this time which is a good thing before their big six man tag.
This was the usual Shield six man so it was fine all around.
Zeb
Colter asks Vickie Guerrero to be his valentine but she’s not falling
for it. Colter wants an Intercontinental Title shot for Jack Swagger
but Vickie says he has to beat Rey Mysterio. That’s fine with Zeb
but Vickie makes it a fourway with Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry
filling the other spots. Vickie shoves the chocolates into Zeb’s
chest, meaning she’s a face now?
Cesaro
(officially without the Antonio) says he’ll win tonight and then take
the title at Elimination Chamber.
Lita
Hall of Fame video.
Jack
Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry vs. Kofi Kingston
One
fall to a finish and the winner
gets Big E. (on commentary) for the Intercontinental Title at
Elimination Chamber. Henry quickly throws Swagger
to the floor but gets taken down by Kofi and Rey. The two speed guys
get to have a showdown with Rey dropkicking Kofi for two but they
have to eliminate Swagger again. Kofi dives over the top to put Jack
down again and Rey hits a running seated senton from the apron.
Henry is back in and loads up a dive of his own, only to have Swagger
take out his leg.
Two
straight Vader Bombs have Henry in trouble but Jack has to
clothesline Rey down for two. Mysterio
comes back with a top rope seated senton for two followed by the
sitout bulldog for two more with Kofi making the save. Rey is sent
into the post before Kofi bounce up the ropes and dropkicks Swagger
down before hitting the Boom Drop. Rey gets knocked off the apron
again and Swagger loads up Kingston in a superplex. Henry tries to
make it a Tower of Doom but Kofi holds on, meaning it’s only a
powerbomb to Swagger.
Henry
cleans house but Swagger takes out the leg again and puts on the
Patriot Lock, only to have Mark kick him off. Rey hits a 619 to
Mark’s ribs and Kofi adds Trouble in Paradise but Jack is on his feet
again. Kofi grabs a German
suplex on Rey but Jack suplexes both of them at once in a nice power
display. Kingston is sent to the floor but slides back in to break
up a 619 attempt. Henry makes the save but gets kicked to the floor
by Kofi. The distraction lets Swagger catch Kofi in the Patriot Lock
for the submission at 8:35.
Rating:
C+. Nice match here with everyone doing their job perfectly. I
didn’t see the Mysterio knee injury but I’d guess it was on the
seated senton from the apron as he went off camera for a few minutes
as a result. Swagger getting the shot is a good enough choice as he
was the only heel here and Henry vs. Big E. does nothing for me.
Raw
ReBound covers Betty White and the Outlaws.
Bad
News Barrett says American women are going to gain several pounds by
tomorrow morning and be ashamed of what they see in the morning. Is
there a point to this character coming anytime soon?
Goldust/Cody
Rhodes/Usos vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel/New Age Outlaws
Billy
and Goldust get things going with Gunn taking an atomic drop and the
uppercut for a quick two. Off to Road Dogg vs. Cody with the sunset
flip out of the corner getting two on Roadie. A clothesline gets the
same and it’s off to an armbar from Rhodes. Jimmy comes in off the
tag to stay on the arm and a double elbow gets two for the twins.
Road Dogg takes Jey into the corner and it’s off to Axel for a
dropkick. Ryback comes in for some driving shoulders in the corner
and a hard slam as we take a
break.
Back
with Ryback elbowing Jey in
the face and handing it off to Billy again. The Stinger Splash hits
buckle and a double tag brings in Road Dogg and Jimmy. Everything
breaks down with Jimmy cleaning house and hitting the running Umaga
attack in the corner. Cody dives over the top to take out Axel but
Ryback throws him into the barricade, only to walk into a Golden
cannonball off the apron. A double superkick drops Road Dogg, Jey
dives on the other heels and
Jimmy hits the Superfly Splash for the pin at 11:00.
Rating:
C-. This did its job but wasn’t the most interesting match in the
world. Most importantly of all though it gets us closer to the Usos
getting their Tag Titles which they earned about two years ago.
Ryback and Axel have nowhere to go at this point and I have no idea
what’s next for Goldust and Cody. The tag division has a lot of
names in it right now but it’s not a very deep talent pool.
Randy
Orton says this gauntlet is just to make him better and all that
matters is him being champion. Tonight, Cesaro gets the Viper.
Lana
says Alexander Rusev isn’t coming to make friends.
Darren
Young vs. Damien Sandow
Titus
O’Neil is on commentary. Young catches Sandow in a quick atomic drop
and clotheslines him out to the floor. Back in and Damien gets a
knee to Darren’s ribs but You’re Welcome is countered into a rollup
for the pin by Young at 1:07. So much for rebuilding Sandow.
Titus
goes after Darren post match but Young rips his pants off. I’ll let
you make your own jokes.
The
Bellas show us how to use the WWE Network.
Fandango
vs. The Miz
Miz
dropkicks the knee out to start and rains down left hands in the
corner but Fandango comes back with an atomic drop. A nice dropkick
gets two and we hit the chinlock on Miz. It’s
quickly broken and Miz fights back with some basic stuff and the
Reality Check but gets kicked shoulder first into the post. This
brings out Santino and Emma for a distraction and a cat fight
between Emma and Summer. Distraction, Skull Crushing Finale, pin on
Fandango at 3:47.
Rating:
D. At least it was the better
finisher. I’m not sure how I’d react if we got through a week of
shows without the distraction finish. Santino and Emma are a decent
enough cute pair but Emma is going to have to get away from him if
she wants to get over. Santino is going to overshadow whoever he’s
with due to how over the top he is and there’s not much of a way
around that.
Bobo
Brazil video.
Cesaro
vs. Randy Orton
In
the sitdown interview of the week, HHH said he thinks Cesaro might be
the wildcard in the Chamber. Cesaro chases Orton to the floor to
start but doesn’t go after him. They do the same thing again before
Cesaro takes him to the mat and hits the gutwrench for two. A
running European uppercut in the corner gets two more and they both
head outside. Orton reverses a whip into the barricade and
clotheslines Cesar as we take a break.
Back
with Orton ramming Cesaro into the announce table and taking him
inside for a chinlock. The fans chant WE THE PEOPLE and Cesaro
fights out, only to lose a fist fight and get elbowed to the mat.
Cesaro rolls outside and catches Orton with a big clothesline of his
own and counters the Elevated DDT into the Swing. Randy can barely
get to his feet but is able to backdrop out of the Neutralizer.
Cesaro lands on his feet but runs into the powerslam for two.
Now
the Elevated DDT connects and Orton points to the sign to make this
serious. He spends too much time walking around though and it’s
Swiss Death for two. They head to the corner where Orton tries a
superplex but Cesaro counters into a sunset bomb. A discus uppercut
sets up the Neutralizer for the completely clean pin at 12:44.
Rating:
B-. Well you can’t give much
more of a rub than that. However I’d be much happier with this if
Kofi Kingston hadn’t gotten the same kind of a win just a month ago.
Cesaro is a guy that could be world championship material with a good
push (meaning getting away from Swagger) but I have a feeling this is
just for the Chamber and then it’s back to nothing for not-Antonio.
Cesaro
waves to Orton to end the show.
Overall
Rating: B. Another good
Smackdown tonight with some nice action and angle advancement which
is all you can ask for anymore. Unfortunately I don’t think tonight
is going to mean much. Cesaro isn’t winning the title and while
Sheamus and Christian had some problems, I can’t imagine it’s anyone
but Orton, Bryan or maybe Cena walking out of the Chamber with the
title. Randy has to be the
favorite even though he’s lost three out of his last five matches and
might even lose to Sheamus on Monday, making him look like a lame
duck champion heading into Wrestlemania.
The
rest of the show was good stuff with a nice six man, a good four way,
a watchable eight man and a short Miz match that involved good
looking women fighting. That’s
not bad at all when you consider what Smackdown means in the grand
scheme of things anymore. Cesaro winning made me smile, but I can’t
imagine it’s anymore more than false hope.
One
more note: the spoilers I read said there was an Eva Marie vs. Alicia
Fox match taped with Eva winning via rollup but there was no sign of
it at all here.
Results
Shield
b. Christian/Sheamus/Daniel Bryan – Ambrose pinned Christian after
a Brogue Kick from Sheamus
The
Miz b. Fandango – Skull Crushing Finale
Jack
Swagger b. Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry – Patriot
Lock to Kingston
Usos/Cody
Rhodes/Goldust b. New Age Outlaws/Ryback/Curtis Axel – Superfly
Splash to Road Dogg
Darren
Young b. Damien Sandow – Rollup
Cesaro
b. Randy Orton – Neutralizer

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Impact Wrestling – February 13, 2014

14th February 2014 by Scott Keith
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
February 13, 2014
Location:
Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Commentators:
Taz, Mike Tenay
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
UK tour continues as we head into England for the first time this
year. The main stories coming out of last week are Samoa Joe
officially being #1 contender over Bobby Roode and an MVP vs. Dixie
summit that went absolutely nowhere. Lockdown is less than a month
away so odds are we’ll be hearing about Lethal Lockdown and the rest
of the card soon enough. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of MVP standing up to Dixie for all of her evil
deeds in the last few months and promising changes to end Dixie’s
party.
No
time is wasted on getting to Dixie this week as she and her cronies
are in the ring to start the show. Dixie says she clearly hasn’t
lost a wink of sleep over MVP’s threats and the odds of him taking
over the company are about as good as her having a bad hair day.
Dixie brags about Magnus but Ethan takes the mic and says he’s the
one that ended the career of Kurt Angle.
Magnus
takes the mic as well but has to wait for a YOU SOLD OUT chant. It’s
nice to be back in Manchester because it means another year before he
has to be back here again. People like Manchester make him feel
ashamed to be British because he’s not from the north, nor is he a
paper champion. He’s a man who recognizes opportunity and there is
no opportunity in Manchester, other than a chance to be smacked in
the face by the world champion.
The
fans aren’t impressed so Magnus shifts his focus to MVP. He doesn’t
care what jail cell MVP came from but we need to get the pecking
order established. It’s Magnus on top, Dixie second, everybody else,
and then MVP. Magnus isn’t for sale but here are MVP and Joe with
something of their own to say. MVP sucks up to the crowd and says
that Joe will be challenging Magnus at Lockdown, which seems to take
the champion by surprise.
This
brings out Gunner with the Feast or Fired case, which will be cashed
in next week on Impact. Dixie says not so fast, because Gunner has
to face Ethan Carter for the briefcase tonight. MVP one ups her by
putting EC3’s Tag Team Title briefcase on the line as well, but makes
it a ladder match with both briefcases on the line. MVP tells
“C-3PO” that if anyone tries to cheat in this match, he’ll be out
here to level the playing field.
Gunner
vs. Ethan Carter III
Dang
they’re not wasting time tonight. Carter heads straight to the floor
to start but Gunner is waiting for him and heads back inside for a
running knee and a fallaway slam. Gunner goes to get a ladder but
Carter dropkicks him off the apron and sets up the ladder himself,
only to have Gunner send him into the buckle.
The
ladder is sat in the corner and Carter is sent flying into the steel,
only to have Gunner get the same treatment. He’s still able to
powerbomb Carter down for the save but Magnus comes in and shoves the
ladder over, only to draw in James Storm for the save. This brings
out MVP who makes it a winner take all tag team ladder match at about
4:30.
Rating:
D. This is one of the things I
can’t stand about modern wrestling: wasted gimmick matches. Why in
the world did they need to have a ladder match, only to throw in
another one a few seconds later? On top of that, a gimmick match is
supposed to attract viewers, but that usually requires more than five
minutes’ warning. How good
of a ladder match can you have with about four minutes of action?
James
Storm/Gunner vs. Ethan Carter III/Magnus
Joined
in progress with Storm in trouble and Magnus driving the ladder into
Gunner’s back. Gunner is laid across the ladder and splashed across
the back before both heels drop him ribs first onto the ladder.
Magnus rams the ladder into Gunner’s face and loads up the ladder but
Ethan tries to climb. That’s not cool with the champ who wants to go
instead. They get in an argument, despite it not being clear who
gets the case if Magnus pulls it down.
The
fight lets Storm come back in and clean house and Ethan is double
hiptossed onto the ladder. Magnus saves his partner from the Gun
Rack but Storm hits a Cactus Clothesline to send himself and Magnus
to the outside. Gunner comes back in with a swan dive to Carter and
goes up to pull down both cases for the win at 5:00.
Rating:
C-. Better match here but man
alive enough with the five minute gimmick matches. We just saw two
ladder matches combine to last under ten minutes and it doesn’t
really solve anything. In short, there was no reason for these
matches to use ladders other than it sounds cool on paper. Pay no
attention to the fact that if you weren’t watching in the last twenty
minutes, you would have no idea they were taking place.
Anderson
says he’ll win tonight because he has family and we get to see a
picture of his twin daughters.
Spud
has divided the office in half and makes sure that Dixie has more
flowers on her side. The Bro Mans come in and want to know what
Dixie is going to do about Gunner and Storm having the briefcase.
Yelling ensues when MVP comes in and says Dixie’s promises mean less
and less every day. MVP says people don’t want to see lawyers and
want to see action in the ring. What would be fair is to strip the
champions of the titles but instead he’ll give them a six man tag
match against the Wolves and a mystery partner, right now.
Bro
Mans/Zema Ion vs. Wolves/???
The
mystery partner is Samoa Joe. Davey starts with a Tajiri handspring
into a kick to Godderz’ head before a few headbutts from his parters
are good for two. Off to Edwards vs. Robbie with Eddie snapping off
a standing hurricanrana and a few chops. A running knee to the face
gets two and it’s quickly back to Davey who gets two off a chop from
Edwards. Zema adds in a knee from the apron but Davey grabs him by
the head and knocks him to the apron.
The
distraction lets E get in a cheap shot and the heels take over for
the first time. Zema stomps away before it’s back to Robbie for an
elbow to the jaw. Heel miscommunication puts the Bro Mans down and
it’s hot tag to Joe who cleans house. Everything breaks down and the
Wolves hit stereo suicide dives to the floor as Joe makes Zema tap
with the Clutch at 5:37.
Rating:
C. This was fine though I’ve
never been big on the Wolves. I was hoping the Bro Mans would be
allowed to be a bit more serious, but at the end of the day they’re a
comedy team so this is what you had to expect. I’d be fine with the
Wolves becoming Tag Team Champions but it was nice to have a
non-champion take the fall here.
Velvet
Sky begs Dixie to avoid a match with Chris Sabin but gets turned
down. MVP isn’t cool with that but Dixie reminds him that he’s not a
wrestler. Spud laughs at him, but MVP says he’s got his gear and
faces Spud next.
We
recap Eric Young vs. Joseph Park/Abyss. This would be the first
non-Dixie related segment of the entire show and we’re halfway done.
Here’s
Abyss without the mask to call out Eric Young to see what he’s done.
Abyss is under a hood like Kane was after he lost his mask back in
2003. Eric stops at ringside but Abyss asks him to come closer
unless he’s afraid. Young gets in the ring and says last week he
proved all he needed to prove. Park asked him to find Abyss and
that’s what he did. Abyss holds up the mask and says it’s the
reality of what he did last week. The hood comes back and Park says
he is Abyss but Young cuts him off and says he showed Park who he is.

Park
shouts at Eric and asks who either of them are because Young doesn’t
know. Abyss has destroyed his body and the lives and careers of
others. The scars and blood tell his story but he can’t be that man
anymore. The violence and destruction have to stop but Young says he
can help him. Abyss screams that he doesn’t want Eric’s help and
that he needs to find someone who understands him. He drops the mask
and walks away.
Earlier
today Samuel Shaw tried to help Christy with her luggage but she’s
nervous. He agrees to keep it professional and takes off his glove
to shake her hand. Shaw looks at his hand and slowly gets on the
bus.
MVP
vs. Spud
That
was a nice fifteen minute break but now it’s back to Dixieland. Spud
stalls on the floor before the bell while MVP lounges on the top
rope. MVP goes after him but Spud gets in a cheap shot on the way
back in to get things going. He pounds away but makes the mistake of
slapping the boss in the face. A facebuster sets up the Ballin Elbow
and the Drive By kick to the head for the pin at :59. That’s exactly
what it should have been.
Bobby
Roode is furiously looking for Dixie.
We
get a creepy promo of a guy in the woods holding a black and white
umbrella, wearing a black and white mask and dressed all in black.
He recites poetry and is apparently named Willow. Apparently this
was Jeff Hardy in a new gimmick.
Dixie
is on the phone when Roode comes in, demanding a title shot. He
doesn’t like being called a sore loser and says she doesn’t want him
against her.
Chris
Sabin vs. Velvet Sky
Sabin
offers her a free shot because this is what Velvet has always wanted.
Velvet kicks him in the knee and goes for the groin but Sabin is
wearing a cup. Like an idiot though he takes it out to show off and
gets hit low again, allowing Velvet to pound away. Cue a big woman
with a bleach blonde mohawk over dark hair to destroy Velvet with a
full nelson. Sabin is very pleased. No match obviously.
Ray
goes into Anderson’s dressing room and looks through his stuff,
including the pictures on his phone. He calls Anderson’s wife and
says this is the phone call she’s been dreading her entire life. Ray
says “no, not yet, but he’s coming home in a coffin. Tell the
twins daddy says goodbye.”
Roode
is in the back and says he lost it and that this has to come to an
end. It’s over and he can’t take this anymore. He has his jacket
and bag with him, saying he might have something for next week.
Security comes in and says he has to leave which Roode does without
incident.
We
recap Ray vs. Anderson in the casket match. Ray is angry at Anderson
for ending Aces and 8’s and has gotten far more serious as a result,
even threatening Anderson’s children.
Bully
Ray vs. Mr. Anderson
Casket
match. Anderson has some of the ugliest green tights I’ve ever seen.
Ray takes off his shirt and reveals what I believe is a Liverpool
jersey to anger the fans. Anderson takes him down and sends him into
the corner before dropping him with a neckbreaker. The jersey is
ripped off and stomped on by Anderson before they head outside. Mr.
spends too much time deciding where to throw his shirt and Ray gets
in a cheap shot as we take a break.
Back
with Anderson using a chair to knock a chair into Ray’s face and
sliding in a table. Anderson is bleeding from the mouth and Ray
kicks him in the face to take over. Ray rubs the blood on his own
face and pounds at the cut before throwing the casket into the ring.
Anderson gets crotched on top and superplexed back down but Ray can’t
get the lid on the casket.
Ray
raises up a chair to crush Anderson but a low blow stops him cold.
Instead he powerbombs Anderson through the table and earns a THIS IS
AWESOME chant. Ray loads up a piledriver in the casket but Anderson
counters into a Mic Check and puts on the lid for the win at 12:50.
The lid didn’t actually close but it was close enough.
Rating:
B-. That’s probably high but
after all the garbage we’ve had to sit through tonight I’ll take
anything. Ray has been an awesome heel throughout this story and I
would have liked it more if he had won, but the company is dying for
top faces at this point and Anderson is as good as anyone else they
could use.
In
the back we get even more Dixie vs. MVP with Carter offering him a
buyout. She offers him a contract and MVP is impressed but says no.
Dixie calls him crazy and MVP says he’s a wrestler so there might be
somet truth to that. A proposal is made for Lockdown: Lethal
Lockdown with Team MVP vs. Team Dixie for total control of the
company. Dixie keeps up her Stephanie McMahon style acting and
finally agrees.
Overall
Rating: D. Impact wrestling is
a two hour show. Tonight, approximately an hour and a half were
spent on Dixie Carter vs. MVP or something directly related to that
story. Here’s what wasn’t related to it: Eric Young/Abyss segment (8
minutes), Christy Hemme/Shaw segment (2 minutes), Ray vs. Anderson
(13
minutes), Sabin vs. Sky (5 minutes) and the Willow promo (1 minute).
That’s it. That’s everything on the show that wasn’t related to a
single storyline.
Even
Immortal didn’t make Impact that much about themselves and I didn’t
think things could get worse than that. Dixie vs. MVP is fine for a
story, but you need SOMETHING that isn’t related to or a result of
that story. There’s some
interesting stuff in TNA, but the same story being pounded into our
heads like this make it a lot less interesting to sit through.
Results
Ethan
Carter III vs. Gunner went to a no contest
James
Storm/Gunner b. Ethan Carter III/Magnus – Gunner pulled down the
briefcases
Wolves/Samoa
Joe b. Zema Ion/Bro Mans – Koquina Clutch to Ion
MVP
b. Spud – Drive By
Mr.
Anderson b. Bully Ray – Mic Check into a casket

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NXT – February 12, 2014

13th February 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
February 12, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, William Regal, Renee Young
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
big story at the moment is the build to the February 27 supershow,
but the problem with that is the main show taking over NXT more and
more every week. HHH’s cameos are becoming a regular thing as JBL as
GM is rapidly being forgotten. I always knew that once NXT stopped
being its own thing it would stop being as fun and that’s slowly
starting to happen. Let’s get to it.

Welcome
Home.
Natalya/Bayley/Emma
vs. BFF’s
It’s
Alicia Fox/Summer Rae/Sasha Banks here and Emma vs. Paige is official
for NXT Arrival on the 27th. Emma takes Summer down to
start before it’s off to Natalya vs. Sasha as the Canadian counters
Banks’ wristlock into a quick suplex for two. Bayley comes in for a
snapmare and slam but Fox gets the tag and dropkicks her down for two
as we take a break.
Back
with Summer holding Bayley in a seated full nelson before getting
rolled up for two. Riley spends most of the match talking about his
crush on Emma. Off to Banks for a front facelock as Renee asks Regal
what he’s doing for Valentine’s Day. Regal: “Whatever you like my
dear.” Fox gets two off a northern lights suplex with that nice
bridge before we hit the chinlock on Bayley.
Back
to Summer for some stretching and choking on the apron until Bayley
finally counters a suplex to get a breather. The hot tag brings in
Emma who cleans house until Alicia kicks her in the face. Sasha,
Summer and Charlotte walk out on Alicia, allowing Emma to hook the
Emma Lock for the submission from Fox at 7:28 shown of 10:58.
Rating:
C-. There’s something about
these Divas that you just don’t get with the WWE Divas. These girls
are…..what’s the word I’m looking for…..oh yeah: competent. The
match on Raw was absolutely dreadful and while this wasn’t great, it
certainly wasn’t a chore to sit through and felt much more fun than
the Bellas being all serious and wanting to be taken seriously while
clearly being there as eye candy and due to who they’re sleeping
with.
Aiden
English vs. Colin Cassady
English’s
song tonight is about how he’s the one in the ring while the fans
watch. Cassady takes him into the corner to start and gets two off a
slam. English comes back with a running neckbreaker and some hard
forearms to the chest for two of his own. A reverse neckbreaker gets
the same but Cass is all fired up now. He spells out SAWFT before
blasting English in the back with a forearm, only to have English
kick him in the knee and finish with the Director’s Cut at 1:23.
Here’s
Sami Zayn to ask Cesaro for another 2/3 falls match in the ring as
Cesaro requested. Sami isn’t proud of how many times he’s watched
that match and noticed every mistake he’s made. His career has
always been about moving forward but for the first time he can’t do
it. Even after watching the footage as many times as he has, he
can’t figure out the final mistake that cost him the match.
This
brings out Cesaro who says this is starting to sound pathetic.
Cesaro says there was no one moment in that match that cost Zayn
because Antonio is just better. Zayn can look at that one match as a
crystal ball for his entire career: coming up just a hair short.
Sami says the two of them go back for years around the world and he
respects Cesaro for everything he’s accomplished.
Cesaro
is here because he’s a true competitor who will fight anyone
anywhere, except for Sami. Zayn would like a reason why but Cesaro
avoids the question by asking how many times he has to beat Sami to
get the point across. Zayn thinks Antonio is afraid because they
bring out the best in each other and Cesaro can’t beat him at his
best. Anotnio asks Sami about his knee and Zayn isn’t comfortable
answering. Cesaro agrees to one last match if there are no excuses
when Sami loses.
Zayn
agrees to the terms and the fans want a pinkie promise. Sami holds
out his pinkie and Cesaro does the same, only to say it’s still no
and kick Zayn in the knee. This brings out HHH BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T
LIVE WITHOUT HIM! HHH says the fans want the match so it’s on for
Arrival. Heaven forbid Sami gets to come back and make Cesaro want
to have the match, because we’ve got HHH on ANOTHER being the nice
boss for this week.
CJ
Parker vs. Tye Dillinger
Parker
still looks like an idiot dancing around like he does. Dillinger
takes him down with a front facelock and the fans chant purple power,
apparently impressed by Dillnger’s trunks. CJ comes back with an
airplane spin and the Third Eye for the pin at 1:20.
Post
match Parker asks why people hate him. He reduces, reuses and
recycles and even drives a car getting 40 miles a gallon. Parker
should be booing us for melting his ice caps and spilling oil on his
planet. The NXT fans are destroying the Earth because they don’t
love anyone or anything. From this moment forward, he doesn’t love
us either. I can’t say I’ve ever seen an environmentalist in
wrestling so at least it’s new and thankfully we don’t have to sit
through Parker as a face anymore.
Wyatt
Family vs. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis
Even
Bray is here for this one. Harper takes Louis into the corner with
stomps to the ribs before it’s off to Rowan for a fallaway slam and a
splash before the discus lariat from Harper gets the pin in 59
seconds.
Jordan
gets Sister Abigail. Bray talks about grown men trembling at the
sound of the Family’s footsteps. They have conquered this world but
haven’t forgotten where they came from. Follow the buzzards.
Overall
Rating: C. They’re clearly just
running on fumes until they get to Arrival, but at least we have HHH
to carry us there! This was basically a throwaway show with only the
Sami vs. Cesaro showdown being worth watching. I’m hoping they just
forget about this show once Arrival is over and let it get back to
being the awesome show it used to be.
Results
Emma/Bayley/Natalya
b. BFF’s – Emma Lock to Fox
Aiden
English b. Colin Cassady – Director’s Cut
CJ
Parker b. Tye Dillinger – Third Eye
Wyatt
Family b. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis – Discus lariat to Louis

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Smackdown – February 7, 2014

8th February 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
February 7, 2014
Location:
Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
So
the main story this week is Randy Orton running the Elimination
Chamber gauntlet as he has to jump through another Authority hoop to
be the face of the WWE, whatever that means anymore. His opponent
tonight is Christian which should be fun given their past encounters.
Let’s get to it.

Opening
sequence, which we don’t get that often anymore.
Here’s
Daniel Bryan to get things going. On Monday, the Authority said that
he would be the face of the WWE if he could beat Randy Orton, but
that’s not what Bryan wants to be. He wants to just be himself, but
it doesn’t matter because the Authority showed their true colors by
sending down Kane to chokeslam him after the match. We get a clip of
the end of the match with Bryan fighting off Kane and hitting the
running knee on Orton for the pin, only to be beaten down after the
match.
Bryan
says that he’s put up with Kane doing his corporate thing since he
joined the Authority but he can’t do that anymore. He wants Kane to
come out here right now and explain himself, so here’s the Devil’s
Favorite Libertarian In A Suit From Mens’ Warehouse. Side note:
Kane’s current look reminds me of Bull Shannon from Night Court.
Kane stops on the stage but Bryan says he can’t hear him so Kane
should come to the ring.
Kane
stays where he is and gives a scripted apology but Bryan cuts him off
again. He reminds Kane of the HELL NO days and I AM THE TAG TEAM
CHAMPIONS and hugging it out. That Kane was his friend and Bryan
wants him back. Get rid of the suit and tie, go put on your mask and
become the monster again. Kane says they do have history, but that’s
all it is. He’s turned in the undisclosed location for a corner
office and is glad the HELL NO days are over.
They
used to be friends and the old saying in wrestling is you can make
friends or you can make money, and Kane is doing well for himself
right now. Bryan says he’s doing well too, but that’s because he has
an arena full of friends right here. If Kane and Bryan aren’t
friends, why doesn’t Kane come down here right now so they can settle
this like people who aren’t friends? Kane declines but gives Bryan a
match with Antonio Cesaro.
The
announcers explain the Elimination Chamber.
Shield
vs. Dolph Ziggler/Kofi Kingston
It’s
Reigns/Ambrose here with the home state boy Rollins on commentary.
Ambrose grabs a headlock on Kofi to start as the fans chant for
Rollins. Kofi trips him up and hits a quick splash for two before
it’s off to Ziggler for no reaction at all. Dolph ducks a
clothesline and punches Ambrose down before dropping the ten elbows.
He speeds the spot up by not getting to his feet after each elbow and
dropping them from only a foot or so, which is a smart change.
Reigns
comes in and runs Ziggler down to take over before it’s quickly back
to Ambrose. Kofi gets the tag as well to speed things up again but
Dean trips him up, setting up a SWEET running dropkick from Reigns
where he starts on the floor and lands on the apron. That’s the best
I’ve ever seen that move look and it takes us to a break.
Back
with Dean getting two on Kofi off a butterfly suplex and cranking on
a reverse chinlock. Dean tries it again from the middle rope but
Kofi knocks him down and hits a high cross body to get a breather. A
spinning kick to Ambrose’s head is enough to make the tag to Dolph
but Reigns is in as well.
Dolph
starts cleaning house with dropkicks and neckbreakers but walks into
something resembling Cena’s spinning slam. Roman loads up the spear
but Dean gets caught trying to tag himself in. The distraction lets
Ziggler get two off a jumping DDT as Ambrose takes out Kofi on the
floor. Ziggler can’t hook the Zig Zag and it’s the Superman Punch
and spear to knock Ziggler into next week. Reigns tags in Ambrose
and lets him get the pin at 9:58.
Rating:
C+. This was more about
storytelling but it’s getting more and more obvious that Reigns is
getting the huge push soon. They’ve even got signature spots set up
for him, each one more high impact than the previous. He’s a fun guy
to watch and that can help a lot when you’ve got a rocket strapped on
your back.
Post
match the Wyatts show up on screen with Bray talking about how the
Shield is bickering like children. They believe Bray is a joke and a
facade. The hat comes off and Bray gets serious. If you could see
the evil behind his eyes, you would know what kind of a monster he
really is. Harper says those that will not follow them will be the
first to burn. Follow the buzzards.
Sheamus
vs. Ryback
We
open with a discussion on Sheamus possibly wearing steel toed boots.
Sheamus runs Ryback over with a shoulder block but a Curtis Axel
distraction lets Ryback get in some cheap shots. The rolling
fireman’s carry puts Ryback down and Curtis gets a Brogue Kick.
Sheamus gets back on the apron and tries the ten forearms but Ryback
pulls him inside to break it up. I don’t remember anyone ever
countering that move.
Ryback
hits a splash for two and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Sheamus
fights up and gets caught in the over the shoulder Stunner followed
by Ryback going up top (?!?) but missing a splash. Sheamus comes
back with right hands and gets all fired up with a powerslam. The
Brogue Kick is countered into a powerbomb for two and Sheamus is in
trouble. That trouble is short lived though as he counters the Meat
Hook with the Brogue Kick for the pin at 5:43.
Rating:
C+. How sad is it that Ryback
is a jobber to the stars less than a year after he was #30 in the
Rumble? This match could have easily been on Wrestlemania last year
and now it’s a surprisingly good match on Smackdown. Ryback looked
better than he has in months out there, because he was wrestling the
same style that had him main eventing PPVs in 2012 rather than the
whining that wastes his natural skills.
This
week’s sitdown interview with HHH talks about Orton running the
gauntlet to make him better. Also on Monday: Orton vs. Cena.
Legends
House promo.
Alberto
Del Rio is in the back and we take a look at the brawl with Batista
from Monday. Del Rio wants
a piece of the Animal. The less talking in this feud, the better it
is for everyone involved including the fans.
Daniel
Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro
Daniel
grabs a front facelock to start but Antonio drives him into the
corner for some chops. Bryan comes back with knees and kicks to the
chest but walks into a European uppercut for two. Bryan bridges up
to block a pin and Cesaro can’t break it even by jumping on top of
Bryan’s body. Cesaro spends too much time shouting WE THE PEOPLE and
gets caught in a short arm scissors but Cesaro easily lifts him into
the air and drops Bryan down for the break.
Antonio
pounds away in the corner and hooks a chinlock but Bryan comes back
with the running clothesline. A
top rope hurricanrana gets two on Antonio and there are some YES
Kicks but Cesaro counters the last one into a tilt-a-whirl
backbreaker for two as we
take a break. Back
with Bryan in a chinlock before
a bit boot sends him
flying across the ring.
Cesaro
misses a charge and falls to the floor but Bryan’s knee off the apron
hits Swagger instead of Antonio. Back in and Daniel’s missile
dropkick is countered by an uppercut but he grabs the rope to avoid
the Swing. Cesaro loads up the Neutralizer but Bryan counters into a
YES Lock attempt. That’s countered as well but Bryan comes out of
the corner with a headscissors to drive Cesaro into the mat for the
YES Lock (think the original Sin Cara’s La Mistica) and the
submission at 10:39.
Rating:
B-. Good stuff here with both
guys countering everything thrown at them. The ending was awesome as
well with Bryan not being able to get Cesaro into the YES Lock by
muscle so he used a quick stunning move to get it on instead. I love
thinking during a match like that and these two are great at it.
Kane
comes out post match and the distraction lets Cesaro hit a
Neutralizer on Bryan. A chokeslam leaves Bryan laying as well.
Randy
Orton says one loss to Bryan doesn’t make up for the losses Bryan has
suffered to him. He’ll win
in the Chamber and confirm that he’s the best in the world.
Ernie
Ladd Black History Month video.
Alexander
Rusev and Lana are coming.
Nikki
Bella vs. AJ Lee
Nikki
picks AJ up in a choke to start before hitting a nice slam. AJ
throws on a sleeper to put Nikki down before kicking her down into
the mat. Nikki comes back with a facebuster and a bad looking
backdrop before the seconds get in a fight on the apron. Tamina is
knocked to the floor and Nikki throws AJ into Brie by mistake,
setting up the Black Widow to give AJ the submission win at 2:40.
We
look back at Titus O’Neil turning on Darren Young last week to split
up the Prime Time Players.
Titus
interviews Renee Young (yes that’s right) but Titus won’t let her
talk, saying he could have won a lot more titles on his own while the
Players were a team. Young has nice hair but Titus looks better,
smells better and has a great smile. He sends Renee running along
when Darren Young jumps him from behind and beats O’Neil up, shouting
that he isn’t dead weight. Nice beatdown segment, but at the end of
the day he’s just Darren Young and there aren’t many ways around
that.
Goldust
vs. Bray Wyatt
An
inset interview from the Rhodes Brothers says they’re desperate and
will be taking more risks to get back where they belong. Goldust
tries the deep breath and gets kicked in the face. Bray leans upside
down in the corner and Goldust doesn’t know what to think. All Bray
to start as he runs Goldust over and hits some uppercuts from the
floor.
We
hit a nerve hold on Goldie but he fights up and nails a back elbow
off the middle rope to get a breather. A middle rope hurricanrana
sends Bray to the mat again and Goldust follows up with a
spinebuster. Wyatt bails to the floor and Goldust hits a running
flip dive to take him down. The Family goes after Cody as Bray gets
angry. He takes Goldust’s head off with a clothesline and Sister
Abigail is good for the pin at 3:55.
Rating:
C+. Another good match here
with Goldust continues his comeback tour while Bray is just a freaky
dude when he turns it on. They’ve kept him looking strong since
he debuted and the character has worked far better as a result. Why
WWE insists on never letting people be kept strong is beyond me when
the results can be this strong.
Shield
pops up on screen post match and says yeah, they’ll full of pride
because they’ve earned the right to be. Rollins says they’re not
afraid and he’ll be scraping their beards off his boot. Reigns says
they could have been WWE Champion and it’s time for justice. Believe
in the Shield. Bray shouts that he’ll believe in the Shield when
their eyes are battered shut.
Randy
Orton vs. Christian
Non-title.
Christian hits a quick shoulder block to start but Orton comes back
with knees and fists to the head. Orton
runs into a back elbow and gets backdropped to the floor, followed by
a top rope cross body as we take a break. Back
with Christian trying to crotch Orton against the post but Randy
pulls his legs forward to send the Canadian into the steel instead.
Christian
is dropped back first onto the barricade for two back inside. A
few stomps have Christian in trouble and Orton whips him across the
corner a few times. We get a pose with a shot of the Wrestlemania
sign but Christian comes back with a right hand of his own. Orton
dropkicks him down again and hooks a chinlock as the fans think Randy
sucks. Christian belly to back suplexes him down and they slug it
out with Christian getting the better of it.
The
Canadian rains down right hands in the corner but Randy comes back
with a running clothesline. Christian clotheslines him right back
and hits a top rope cross body for two. A top rope back elbow to the
jaw looks to set up the Killswitch but Orton snaps off the powerslam
for another two count. Christian
is sent shoulder first into the post but he’s still able to counter
the Elevated DDT. He can’t hit the frog splash though and the second
attempt at the DDT connects. The RKO and Killswitch are countered
but Christian’s sunset flip out of the corner is caught in the RKO
for the pin at 11:53.
Rating:
B. These two always have
chemistry together and I’ve yet to see them have a bad match. The
ending, while done before, still looks good as Orton can time that
RKO out of the air almost perfectly. Christian doesn’t have a chance
inside the Chamber but he’s a great hand and can make you believe he
could pull it out.
Overall
Rating: B. I’m
not sure what has Smackdown on this roll as of late but I’m not
complaining at all. It’s either Wrestlemania or the upcoming TV
deals but the show has been great for most of this year. There were
two big matches, good build towards the six man and Sheamus vs.
Ryback in a good match. What more can you ask for on a supplemental
show?
Results
Shield
b. Kofi Kingston/Dolph Ziggler – Ambrose pinned Ziggler after a
spear from Reigns
AJ
Lee b. Nikki Bella – Black Widow
Daniel
Bryan b. Antonio Cesaro – YES Lock
Sheamus
b. Ryback – Brogue Kick
Bray
Wyatt b. Goldust – Sister Abigail
Randy
Orton b. Christian – RKO
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Impact Wrestling – February 6, 2014

7th February 2014 by Scott Keith
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
February 6, 2014
Location:
Hydro Arena, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We’re
still in Scotland as we’re setting the stage for Lockdown. The big
story of course is the reveal of MVP as the new investor, starting
the big feud for the year. MVP is a decent enough choice but they
just need to do something else around here. The power struggle stuff
is so played out in TNA but at least there’s a new face involved in
things. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a fight in progress.
Eric
Young vs. Abyss
This
is Monster’s Ball, meaning anything goes. They’re fighting in the
back with Young actually in control and bringing Abyss through the
entrance. Abyss comes back with a big right hand and some forearms
to the back and the opening bell rings. Young crawls over to a
trashcan full of weapons and blasts Abyss in the back with a pipe to
get the advantage, only to have Abyss backdrop him on the floor.
It’s table time but Young hits a quick dropkick to get a breather.
Young
goes for the mast but Abyss slams him into the apron to get a
breather. They head inside for the first time with Eric coming off
the top, only to jump right into Abyss’ hands. A hard clothesline
drops Young again and Abyss goes outside to get a chair. The chair
is placed on Eric’s ribs but he manages to turn it on its side to
crotch a charging Abyss. Eric is sent into the corner and out to the
apron where he comes back with a missile dropkick for two.
Just
as Eric gets some momentum he gets sent face first into the chair in
the corner and a chokeslam gets two. Abyss goes outside and gets his
bag of tacks before loading up a superplex, only to have Young
counter with a sunset powerbomb into the tacks for two. Eric goes up
top but Abyss punches him off the top rope and out through the table
in a huge crash. Back in and Young somehow gets his foot on the
ropes to break the pin so Abyss pulls out the big weapon: Janice, the
baseball bat full of nails. Young rips the mask off to save himself
and reveal Joseph Park, earning himself the Black Hole Slam for the
pin at 9:41.
Rating:
B-. That might be a bit high
but I was digging this
match. It wasn’t the best hardcore match I’ve ever seen or anywhere
close to it but Young was working well out there. I can tolerate him
much more easily when he’s not being over the top and stupid which is
what we got here. Abyss is a fun character too as there’s something
awesome about a guy who just breaks stuff.
Park
picks up a broken piece of a mirror and sees himself, turning him
back into Joseph.
Roode
brings Dixie a contract for a title match against Magnus at Lockdown
but Dixie is disgusted. She says things have changed around here and
she can’t just give out title shots. Roode says this isn’t his
problem so Dixie makes him face Joe tonight for the title shot at
Lockdown. Bobby is still annoyed but Dixie implies a lot of help.
Here’s
MVP for his first speech as the new investor. He’s been around the
world for the last few years just living life. In his younger days
he got in trouble for not realizing the consequences of his actions.
It’s become clear to him that there are people here in TNA making the
same mistakes and he’s tired of seeing that every week. Over his
career he’s made a nice income and then used that money to make more
money.
He’s
found some people that think like he does and it’s time for a change.
TNA has so much potential but the bad leadership is killing it.
That will not happen under his watch but here’s Spud for an
interruption. Spud thinks MVP should come meet Dixie in person
because Dixie loves making new stars. MVP: “Yeah, herself.”
Spud says that if MVP were to come to Dixie, he would be greeted with
open arms. MVP threatens Spud with violence and then announces
Magnus vs. Kurt Angle in a non-title match.
Bully
Ray says he’ll bury Anderson next week but he’ll put the next person
he sees in a coffin as a preview.
Chris
Sabin is in a purple room and says he doesn’t accept that Velvet Sky
has broken his heart. She’s a woman worth fighting for and he’s
invited her here to this special room for later tonight.
Curry
Man vs. Bully Ray
Ray
comes out with the coffin and says that Curry Man is in the wrong
place at the wrong time. He kicks Curry Man’s head off and slowly
takes off the jacket. This isn’t even a match with no bell or
referee. Curry Man is laid out with a piledriver and a shout of
ANDERSON before Ray throws him in the coffin.
Magnus
complains to Dixie but she reminds him that it’s a non-title match
before checking her makeup. Spud insists she looks beautiful as
Ethan comes in. Dixie cuts him off before Ethan can say anything and
Ethan isn’t pleased, saying Dixie doesn’t have time for her own
blood. She’ll talk to him in a week.
Here’s
Austin Aries with something to say. As X-Division Champion, he
reminds us that it’s not the title that makes the man but the man
that makes the title. He’s held every title in this company and is
the man who invented Option C. His intention is to hold the X Title
until he can cash it in again but here are the Bro Mans for an
interruption. They’re just a distraction for Zema Ion to blast Aries
in the back with his Feast or Fired briefcase. Zema wants a referee
out here right now and the match is on.
X-Division
Title: Austin Aries vs. Zema Ion
Ion
gets two early near falls before a baseball slide to the back puts
Aries down again. Austin comes back with a chop but is sent into the
barricade to put him down again. A slingshot DDT gets two on Aries
but Ion misses a corkscrew moonsault, allowing Aries to hit a discus
forearm and a release belly to back suplex. There’s the running
corner dropkick and a brainbuster retains Aries’ title at 2:11.
Dixie
gets Spud ready to meet MVP.
We
recap Samuel Shaw revealing his shrine to Christy Hemme last week.
This week, Christy asks him what’s going on before cutting off their
personal relationship.
Roode
is tired of appeasing Dixie Carter. Magnus comes up and says Dixie’s
orders are Roode’s job, not favors. Roode needs to stop worrying
about favors and start worrying about Joe. The loss last week is
brought up and Magnus says he’ll tap out anytime in a non-title
match. Roode is annoyed and wishes Magnus luck against Angle.
MVP
comes in to see Dixie (in her fourth appearance in an hour), who
brags about building this company from the ground up. She talks down
to him a bit and tries to speak the wrestling language to him,
dropping terms like giving a rub and curtain jerking. MVP thinks we
should start in the ring in front of the fans and they bicker a bit
before MVP leaves. Spud thinks he’s a bloody nice bloke.
Kurt
Angle vs. Magnus
Non-title.
Magnus tries to wrestle with Angle to start and it goes as well as
you would expect it to. Kurt throws him down before hitting some
Rolling Germans and posing a bit. The Angle Slam is blocked with a
thumb to the eye but he takes Magnus down again for the ankle lock,
drawing in EC3 for the DQ at 2:30.
Ethan
goes after Angle’s bad knee and blasts it with a chair. He puts Kurt
in a leg lock, likely writing off Kurt for knee surgery.
Joe
tells Dixie that she started a war with the wrong man. He’ll fight a
war of attrition or a blitzkrieg and win every time.
Eric
Young had to expose Joseph Park for who he was because you have to
treat crazy with crazy. He doesn’t know what’s coming next.
We
recap Velvet Sky breaking up with Chris Sabin over the last few
weeks.
We’re
in that purple room whith Chris Sabin. This is where he and Velvet
had their first kiss and tonight it’s going to be special again.
Marriage is implied before a confused Velvet comes in. Back from a
break and Sabin apologizes to Velvet, calling this a big mistake. He
pulls out the ring box and Velvet is very nervous. There’s nothing
in the box though because Sabin is asking her to get out of his life.
He’s tired of hearing about Velvet all the time, even when he was
World Heavyweight Champion. Therefore next week, it’s Sabin vs.
Velvet in a match.
We
recap the MVP vs. Dixie stuff tonight.
Clip
of Joe making Magnus tap last week to become #1 contender.
Samoa
Joe vs. Bobby Roode
Physical
start with Joe running over Roode and dropping a knee, only to have
Bobby dropkick him off the apron. Back in and a neckbreaker gets two
on Joe and we hit the chinlock as the match slows down. Joe fights
up but misses his backsplash, only to catch Roode in a powerslam to
get a breather. There’s a HUGE handprint on Joe’s chest from a chop.
Roode fights off the MuscleBuster and blocks the Koquina Clutch
before getting caught by both moves for the pin by Joe at 6:54.
Rating:
C. This was fine and did its
job of making Joe look even more like a killer. Clean falls over
former world champions are never going to make someone look bad and
Joe is on a roll heading into Lockdown. Also, how nice was it to
have a match end without any interference? Such a concept.
Here
are Spud and Dixie to introduce MVP for the summit. Dixie brings up
Magnus to start and talks about how far he’s gone in such a short
time. Carter complains about the fans not shutting up and tells them
to give her the support she needs. This brings MVP to talking about
changes that he wants to make. He’s tired of Dixie making TNA a
place for all her friends to run roughshod over and refuses to be “a
butler at a Paula Dean party.” Dixie’s party is over and MVP
smiles at her to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. This
show brings up TNA’s long running problem of putting so much emphasis
on one idea: if you don’t like that story, you might as well not
watch the show. It’s not as bad as it was in the Aces and 8’s days,
but this show had five Dixie appearances and several other segments
that were about her story. Yeah she’s getting better in the role,
but that’s what people said about Aces and 8’s and look where that
went. There’s other good stuff on the show now, but it’s still
dominated by a power struggle story which isn’t what people want to
see right now.
Results
Abyss
b. Eric Young – Black Hole Slam
Austin
Aries b. Zema Ion – Brainbuster
Kurt
Angle b. Magnus via DQ when Ethan Carter III interfered
Samoa
Joe b. Bobby Roode – Koquina Clutch
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NXT – February 5, 2014

7th February 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
February 5, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Byron Saxton, Tensai, Tom Phillips
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We’re
getting close to the end of this taping cycle but things aren’t
looking all that sluggish for a change. The big stories continue to
be Neville vs. Dallas for the title and Sami Zayn wanting another 2/3
falls match against Cesaro. I’m hoping that’s it for Zayn in NXT as
there’s just nothing left for him to do, other than winning a title
that he doesn’t need anymore. Let’s get to it.

Welcome
Home.
Sin
Cara vs. Alexander Rusev
Gah
with the stupid lighting. This is fallout from Cara saving Xavier
Woods from Rusev a few weeks back. Rusev throws him around to start
but Cara gets in a kick to the chest and tries a moonsault press.
The camera does its best job to hide how short Cara leaves it before
Rusev dropkicks a diving Sin Cara out of the air for one. Cara is
easily powered down and Rusev stomps on him even more. A quick
springboard cross body and a Tajiri elbow get two on Rusev but he
counters a victory roll into the Accolade for the win at 4:43.
Rating:
D+. Rusev is being treated like
the monster he needs to be and that’s all that you need to do at this
point. The guy is going to be a big time monster on the main shows
and it’s goingt to be awesome. Cara was fine out there and the short
moonsault was an error rather than the norm like it was for Mistico.
Alicia
Fox vs. Emma
Renee
Young joins commentary to add a little flavor. Even Tensai gets up
to do the Emma dance and Renee does it as well but not on camera.
Fox grabs an arm to start and takes Emma to the ropes but Emma dances
a bit. A dropkick puts Emma down again and an elbow to the back
breaks up a Dilemma attempt. The great looking bridging northern
lights suplex gets two on Emma but she avoids a charge in the corner.
The seated cross body in the corner crushes Fox and Emma catapults
into the Emma Lock for the win at 3:19.
Rating:
C-. Renee summed the Divas
division up on commentary: they’re good looking women in nice outfits
and made up very well going out there and trying to entertain people.
That’s exactly what you had here and the fans were entertained.
What more can you ask for besides good looking women in small outfits
having fun and putting on a passable match?
Post
match Emma says she wants her match with Paige for the Women’s
Championship but the BFFs hit the ring to beat her down. Natayla and
Bayley make the save.
Sylvester
LeFort vs. Mason Ryan
If
Sylvester wins, Mason joins his organization. LeFort is actually in
great shape and fires off some right hands but walks into a hot shot.
Ryan hits a quick big boot and cobra clutch slam for the pin at 50
seconds. This should keep going for awhile. Lucky us.
Aiden
English gets a spotlight in the back and talks about threatening Enzo
last week. He celebrates this action because it was retaliation to
Enzo for running over his foot. That being said, he’s looking
forward to Tyson Kidd tonight and hopes to make O Canada cry.
LeFort
swears revenge on Ryan.
Tyson
Kidd vs. Aiden English
English
takes Tyson’s knee out and drops a series of elbows for a fast two.
A belly to back suplex gets the same and we hit the chinlock. Tyson
fights up and hurricanranas English into the buckle to take over. A
running dropkick to the side of Aiden’s head gets two but he comes
back with a knee lift and a suplex for two. Here’s Big Cass at
ringside to steal Aiden’s scarf and beret, allowing Kidd to hit a
Blockbuster (No Kidding) for the pin at 2:43. Fun match.
Corey
Graves vs. Adrian Neville
Adrian
grabs a headlock to start before flipping over Corey and hiptossing
him down. Graves bails to the floor and baits Adrian in to stomp the
Brit. The pace slows down with Adrian in trouble in the corner but
looking more annoyed than in pain. Adrian avoids an elbow drop and
puts on a headlock before dropkicking Corey out to the floor.
Corey
takes another breather so Neville cartwheels into a plancha to take
him down. Yet again Graves beats Adrian to the punch as he gets back
in and we take a break. Back with Corey working on Neville’s leg in
the corner and dropping a leg on the leg for good measure. He
cannonballs down onto the leg a few times before pulling back on it
to make Adrian scream. When Adrian doesn’t submit, Graves simplifies
things a bit by just hitting him in the face.
Back
to the leg lock for a bit before Graves changes targets with a
fireman’s carry backbreaker for a series of two counts. They head
outside again with Graves’ piledriver being countered via a backdrop.
Back in and some forearms have Corey in trouble before a middle rope
dropkick gets two. Graves kicks the knee out again but
Adrian rolls to the apron and kicks Corey in the head, setting up the
Red Arrow for the pin at 11:08 shown of 14:38.
Rating:
B-. Nice long match here with
both guys getting to show off a bit. It’s a simple story and Graves’
work on the leg makes sense from more than one perspective. Nice TV
main event here which is something NXT can do at the drop of a hat it
seems. I’m still not wild on Graves though as he’s just kind of
there to me.
Post
match a very serious Bo Dallas slowly walks to the ring and takes off
his jacket. Before anything can happen though, here’s HHH because
NXT doesn’t know how to operate without him. Somehow it takes him
two minutes to make the title match a ladder match.
Overall
Rating: C+. My fear for this
company’s future grows every week as the main show’s influence grows
more and more. With stuff like the distraction finishes, the boss
having to make the major matches and feuds
going on longer than they should, I’m starting to feel like I’m
watching another Raw. That’s not good but it’s not past saving yet.
Results
Alexander
Rusev b. Sin Cara – Accolade
Emma
b. Alicia Fox – Emma Lock
Mason
Ryan b. Sylvester LeFort – Cobra clutch slam
Tyson
Kidd b. Aiden English – No Kidding
Adrian
Neville b. Corey Graves – Red Arrow
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Smackdown – January 31, 2014

1st February 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
January 31, 2014
Location:
Huntington Center, Toldeo, Ohio
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We’re
past the Rumble now and two third of the Elimination Chamber are
already filled in. There’s a chance we might actually get something
to happen tonight with the final two spots being taken. On top of
that there’s the interesting case of CM Punk who has walked out on
the company which may or may not be a work. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a recap of Raw with Bryan/Cena/Sheamus defeating the Shield
thanks to the interfering Wyatt Family, earning themselves spots in
the Elimination Chamber along with defending champion Randy Orton.
Here’s
Shield with something to say. Ambrose talks about how glad Randy
Orton is that the Wyatts interfered on Monday because the title would
be coming back home with the Shield at Elimination Chamber. Ambrose
and Reigns get in a mini argument about who would have won in the
Chamber but Reigns is cool with Ambrose trying to throw him out of
the Rumble because it was every man for himself. Rollins breaks them
up because they have someone more important to deal with right now:
the Wyatts.
He
talks about how great each member of the Shield is and how they had
the match won on Monday until the Wyatts got involved. If the Wyatts
want a new world, come get one at the hands of the Shield, and yes
that is a challenge. Instead they get Vickie Guerrero who promises
to make history, only to have HHH cut her off. HHH tells them to
drop it about the Wyatts but Roman gets in his face and says this
isn’t a request. The Wyatts vs. the Shield is made for Elimination
Chamber.
Elimination
Chamber Qualifying Match: Antonio Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler
See,
this is an actually fresh match where either guy could win. Cesaro
hits a running dropkick for two at the bell before a standing sunset
flip gets the same. They trade rollups for two each before Ziggler
hits the Fameasser to send Cesaro outside. Back in and Cesaro hits a
quick backbreaker to take over and a big clothesline puts Ziggy
outside as we take a break. We come back with Ziggler in a chinlock
and a clip from the break of Cesaro on the middle rope and suplexing
Ziggler back in from the apron.
Dolph
fights up and hits a nice dropkick for two before putting on the
sleeper. Cesaro fights out and loads up Swiss Death but Ziggler
turns it into a DDT for a very close two. Antonio is up first and
blocks the Zig Zag before putting on the Swing to a big face pop.
Ziggler is already done and it’s the Neutralizer for the win at 8:34.
Rating:
C+. This was better than I was
expecting and Cesaro getting the win makes things even better. He
has no chance of winning inside the Chamber but it’s nice to see him
getting even a spot in a match like this. There’s always one guy in
there that can showcase himself and hopefully it’s Antonio this year.
Fandango
vs. Xavier Woods
R-Truth
is on commentary and Woods now has no mustache. A quick slam puts
Xavier down but he comes back with a quick dropkick, only to be
caught in a wheelbarrow suplex for one. We hit the chinlock on Woods
but he fights up and counters another wheelbarrow suplex by rolling
forward and slamming Fandango face first into the mat. Woods comes
back with some strikes and a nice dropkick to send Fandango outside.
A nice flip dive takes Fandango down again as Emma is dancing in the
crowd again. Back in and Fandango hooks a quick falcon’s arrow for
the pin on Woods at 3:20.
Rating:
D. Nothing to see here but man
alive I’m over these dancer vs. dancer matches. Woods is another guy
who is just taking up space on the roster while there are more
talented guys down in NXT. He’s not the worst in the world but I
really don’t see the appeal of his in ring work.
Truth
makes the save from a post match beatdown and dancing ensues.
Prime
Time Players vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel
Curtis
punches Darren to start and drives him into the corner. Off to
Ryback who throws Young out to the floor with ease. Back in and the
Meat Hook sets up Axel’s neckbreaker into a faceplant for the pin at
1:30. My goodness that was quick.
Young
is bleeding from the mouth and Titus isn’t pleased. He’s about to
walk away but Darren says they’re family. Titus says they’re not a
family because this partnership is the first time that Titus has ever
been a loser. The only thing Titus is doing is dropping the dead
weight of Darren Young off his back. Titus kicks him in the chest
and stomps him to the floor, giving us a good old fashioned heel
turn. Young is either in line for a big gimmick change or he’s not
making it to the summer.
Jake
Roberts Hall of Fame video.
Alexander
Rusev and his handler Lana are coming.
Elimination
Chamber Qualifying Match: Christian vs. Jack Swagger
This
is Christian’s first match back after a lengthy absence due to
injury. Swagger gets the jobber entrance. We get a clip of Colter
slapping Swagger to fire him up on Monday. JBL gets Zeb to join in
on commentary, showing how important Swagger’s match is to him. Jack
throws Christian up and over the corner to the floor to start before
putting on a body vice. A Vader Bomb gets two and Swagger stays on
the ribs.
Christian
fights out of a superplex attempt and gets two off a tornado DDT. A
middle rope dropkick gets the same but Swagger comes right back with
the gutwrench powerbomb for two. Jack walks around for a bit to the
anger of Colter, allowing Colter to get his feet up to block another
Vader Bomb. He comes right back with the Patriot Lock but Christian
sends him shoulder first into the post, setting up the Frog Splash
for the pin at 6:00.
Rating:
C-. Nice while it lasted but
this was more about angering Colter and getting Christian into the
Chamber than the match itself. I’m hoping this breaks up the Real
Americans as Swagger has dragged the team down since the day they got
together. He’s just been branded as a loser in WWE and that’s almost
impossible to escape.
Christian
is happy he won because his window of opportunity is starting to
close.
Damien
Sandow vs. Kofi Kingston
An
inset interview with Sandow says this losing period is just his trial
by fire. Damien grabs a quick rollup for two but Kofi takes him into
the corner to slow him down. A standing sunset flip gets two more
for Sandow as Kofi rolls through and kicks Sandow in the chest.
Trouble in Paradise hits the ropes but a sloppy SOS is good for the
pin on Sandow at 1:57. Not a good match.
We
look at Heyman demanding Brock get a match with either Batista or
Orton but getting neither. As a result, Lesnar broke up the New Age
Outlaws vs. Cody Rhodes/Goldust on Raw.
In
his weekly sitdown interview, HHH announces Cody/Goldust vs. the
Outlaws for the titles on Raw in a cage.
Road
Dogg vs. Cody Rhodes
Rhodes
has a bad arm coming in due to Lesnar’s attack on Raw. A quick
clothesline takes Roadie down as we hear about Brock being fined
$10,000 for attacking a referee on Sunday. Road Dogg goes after the
arm by wrapping it around the ropes and ramming it into the buckle.
Cody fights out of an armbar and both guys ram heads to put each
other down. Rhodes takes over with a kick to the ribs and a
springboard missile dropkick as Billy and Goldust get in a fight on
the floor. There’s a Disaster Kick to Gunn and a second one to Dogg
for the pin at 3:53.
Rating:
D+. This didn’t do much for me
but it did what it was supposed to do for Monday. I don’t think the
Outlaws lose the belts on Raw which hopefully leads to a long overdue
Usos title reign. Road Dogg continues to look decent in the ring,
especially after being out of action for so long.
Shield
is out for the main event when the Wyatts appear on screen. Bray is
looking forward to the war, especially the Shield waving those white
flags. For once Harper actually speaks about the beautiful hill
Shield has chosen to die on. Bray says don’t invite the devil into
your back yard because he might like it and choose to stay.
Shield
vs. Sheamus/Rey Mysterio/Daniel Bryan
Sheamus
takes Rollins over with a headlock to start before a shoulder block
sends Seth into the Shield corner. We get the tag to Reigns and it’s
time for a big power showdown. The fans aren’t sure who to cheer for
but it’s Reigns running Sheamus over with a shoulder of his own.
Roman stomps on Sheamus in the corner but the pale one comes back
with a hard clothesline and a neckbreaker.
Off
to Ambrose for some right hands but Sheamus drapes him across the top
rope, setting up the forearms to the chest. The spot is definitely
still over and Ambrose falls to the floor as we take a break. Back
with Bryan putting Seth in the surfboard with the dragon sleeper
before it’s off to Rey for a running kick to the chest and a two
count. A middle rope hurricanrana looks to set up the 619 but Reigns
tags himself in and throws Rey outside.
Back
to Rollins for a lot of trash talk and a chinlock as JBL asks Cole
what he means when he calls Rollins the Architect of the Shield.
Apparently Cole means tactician, which of course is why he calls
Rollins the Architect. Rey sends Seth into the middle buckle and
it’s hot tag to Bryan as things speed up. He backflips over Reigns
in the corner and hits the running clothesline to set up the YES
Kicks.
Roman
is low bridged to the floor to set up the FLYING GOAT. Sheamus
catches Rollins in the Irish Curse but gets dropped with a Superman
Punch. The missile dropkick from Bryan sets up the YES Lock to
Reigns but it’s Ambrose with the save. Sheamus’ bad shoulder goes
into the post but you don’t need a good shoulder to Brogue Kick
Ambrose in the face. There’s the 619 to Rollins and Rey sets up one
on Reigns, only to have Roman pop up and spear Rey in half for the
pin at 12:50.
Rating:
C+. Typically
good Shield match here with Sheamus looking like he hasn’t lost a
step. The fans seem to like him as well so at least there isn’t that
awkward phase where he gets back to what he was doing. He’s still in
need of a story and an actual challenge though. Bryan got a solid
reaction as always but didn’t really do much here.
Overall
Rating: B-. This
show addressed the main problem that Smackdown has been having for
several months now: something actually happened here. While it
wasn’t anything major, we had a tag team split up which we haven’t
seen in a long time. That’s a good thing as the division is growing
and the Prime Time Players were little more than jobbers in the
division anyway. On top of that we had a PPV match made and the
Chamber was filled in. It’s nice to have this show feel like it
means something for a change.
Results
Antonio
Cesaro b. Dolph Ziggler – Neutralizer
Fandango
b. Xavier Woods – Falcon’s arrow
Ryback/Curtis
Axel b. Prime Time Players – Neckbreaker into a faceplant to Young
Christian
b. Jack Swagger – Frog Splash
Kofi
Kingston b. Damien Sandow – SOS
Cody
Rhodes b. Road Dogg – Disaster Kick
Shield
b. Rey Mysterio/Daniel Bryan/Sheamus – Spear to Mysterio
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Impact Wrestling – January 30, 2014

31st January 2014 by Scott Keith
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 30, 2014
Location:
Hydro Arena, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Jeremy Borash
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Now
stop me if you’ve heard this before, but tonight we find out who the
new power is in TNA to oppose the current power. The big question is
who will it be, with names such as MVP, Sting, AJ Styles and Billy
Corgan being thrown out as possible storyline investors in TNA.
Either way they seem to have the American Wolves as backup so they
can’t be all bad. Let’s get to it.

The
opening video recaps the investor storyline which has been going on
for a full two weeks now. We also look at Sting’s contract being
ripped up. Again note that it’s a contract and not a career.
They’re
in an arena tonight too which looks FAR better than the Impact Zone.
We
immediately go to the back with Magnus, Spud and Ethan Carter being
separated from Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. This is Scotland so the
British champion is loathed. Magnus speaks extra slowly but says
that’s not going to be enough for the Scots. The heat on Magnus is
excellent here. People are upset that Sting has fallen to the Reign
of Magnus, just like Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. He ended Sting just
as he promised he would and it was just business. Magnus refers to
what happened to Sting as the thinning of the herd because Dixie
agrees that they should rid TNA of the dinosaurs.
TNA
needs to clear the way for the Bro Mans, Zema Ion, Rockstar Spud and
Magnus of this business. Ethan doesn’t look pleased that his name
was omitted nor that Magnus says he got rid of AJ, Hardy and Sting b
y
himself. Before they can argue though, here are Angle and Joe to
clear the ring. Kurt says he’s here to avenge the screwing of the
herd. Angle talks about Magnus being a paper champion but Magnus
says it’s killing Angle that he became a bigger star than the Mafia.

Joe
says the only thing killing him is that Magnus is still breathing.
Magnus pitches a tag match but an Ethan chant starts up. The match
is on as long as Angle and Joe’s futures in TNA are on the line. Joe
wants one more stipulation: if either of them pin Magnus, they’re the
new #1 contender. The paper champion card is played again and Magnus
says yes but Dixie comes out to say no way. She says there’s too
much going on to have to worry about that as well but Magnus says the
match is on anyway.
A
car pulls up out back.
After
a break the Wolves get out of the car but block a camera from getting
in. Anyone that wants to talk to the investor has to go through
them.
Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne vs. Gail Kim/Lei’D Tapa
We
get a Beautiful People reunion, complete with the near kiss entrance.
Gail and Tapa jump them before the bell and it’s Gail pounding on
Madison to start. Velvet avoids the running cross body in the corner
and makes the tag off to Velvet who cleans house. Things quickly
break down and Madison takes down Tapa, allowing Velvet to hit In Yo
Face on Gail for the pin at 1:50.
Post
match Chris Sabin comes out to yell at Velvet, saying she’s been
ignoring him all week. Maybe her hormones are messed up because it’s
that time or something, but she has one more chance to apologize and
things will be ok. Velvet breaks up with him to a big pop.
Joe
and Angle break into Bobby Roode’s locker room for a fight as we go
to another break.
Back
from a break with Joe pulling Angle off Roode. Angle says Roode cost
AJ and Sting their jobs and he’ll do it again tonight. Roode says he
would so Joe chokes Roode to a couch and threatens to kill him if he
interferes. Angle and Joe leave as Roode smiles.
Here’s
James Storm with something to say. He talks about Gunner making a
good partner but then something made them fall apart. Storm asks
Gunner to come out here so they can put an end to this right now.
Gunner says they were friends but once he got the briefcase they blew
up. He had to do these things for his son and family and Storm would
have done the same thing for his family.
Storm
isn’t sure with that but Gunner goes into a story about being in the
Marine Corps and fighting for the men that were beside him. We get a
USA chant in Scotland as Storm talks about Gunner needing to take
credit for how good he is. Storm loves to be a dad and drink beer at
night but his daughter told asked why he was mad at Gunner. Storm
couldn’t answer that, so he’s got Gunner’s back no matter what.
They
shake hands and seem to make things right when Bad Influence breaks
them up. Kaz says the only thing worse than a drunken dime store
cowboy is a drunken dime store cowboy. He knows the thing Storm
wants more than anything is that briefcase. Daniels suggests a tag
match with the briefcase on the line. He’ll do it if he trusts Storm
of course. The fight is on and we get a referee as we head to a
break.
Bad
Influence vs. James Storm/Gunner
We
come back from a break with Storm chopping Kaz in the corner before
bringing in Gunner for some shots to the head. Gunner gets double
teamed down and it’s Daniels taking over with right hands. An
enziguri looks to set up the Angel’s Wings but Gunner backdrops him
to escape.
Hot
tag brings in Storm who cleans house with a middle rope cross body to
Daniels but Kaz saves him from the Eye of the Storm. A missile
dropkick sends Storm into the corner for a tag to Gunner and the
former Marine cleans house. There’s a slingshot suplex to Kaz and a
Last Call to Daniels, setting up a top rope headbutt to Kaz for the
pin at 8:00.
Rating:
C-. Nothing to see here for the
most part but it wasn’t terrible. There really isn’t a big problem
with the match but it came and went so fast (remember that about half
of it was spent in a commercial) that it didn’t have time to go
anywhere. I can’t picture Gunner as a world title contender but I’m
sure there’s more coming to this story.
Video
on Samoa Joe’s TNA career.
Roode
comes in to see an irate Dixie and demands a title shot in the main
event of Lockdown. She tries to throw him out but he says no.
Instead Dixie gets her checkbook but that’s not what Roode wants
either. Dixie has a week to figure this out and until then, she gets
no more favors.
Eric
Young is thrilled that he and Abyss get a title shot tonight. ODB
isn’t thrilled because she’s worried about Abyss being a monster.
She leaves and Abyss walks up with a bag in his hand.
We
recap the opening segment.
Here’s
Spud to get answers about the investor. First off we insult the
crowd by calling them the British B-Team before Spud demands the
Wolves come to the ring right now. Spud gets right to the chase,
asking who the investor is and even pointing a flashlight in their
eyes. He goes on a rant about how awesome he is and says Dixie
called him a fierce lion and tiger so talk.
Spud
slaps Richards in the face and there go the jackets. Edwards throws
Spud in the air and Davey kicks him in the ribs before saying Dixie
will find out when everyone else finds out. The investor is also
very interested in the main event and if anyone interferes, they’re
fired. They’ve got me intrigued if nothing else.
We
recap Eric Young revealing that Joseph Park is Abyss.
Tag
Titles: Bro Mans vs. Abyss/Eric Young
Robbie
throws Eric to the apron to start and we get the Flair strut. Abyss
tries to grab Robbie from the apron but gets a stern lecture,
allowing Jesse to come in off the top. Abyss comes in for more
choking but Eric has to keep telling him to go back to the apron.
Eric gets double teamed again before Abyss tries to come in for the
third time in about two minutes.
The
Bro Mans get to double team Young a bit more and Jesse gets two off a
dropkick. Eric is launched into the corner for the tag to Abyss and
house is cleaned, including a choke to Zema Ion. The referee pulls
Abyss off and gets Shock Treatment for his efforts, drawing a DQ at
about 5:00.
Rating:
D. This storyline already feels
really old and it’s getting even worse. Eric Young’s act of being
insane and so crazy he’s brilliant has never appealed to me at all
but it’s been going on for years now. The match was boring as we
were just waiting for the ending with Abyss going nuts.
Eric
gets a chokeslam post match and Abyss walks away.  Young grabs
the mic and asks if this is how it ends.  There’s one experiment
left so he asks if Abyss wants to get crazy.  Next week:
Monster’s Ball.
Eddie
Edwards says the investor is coming soon.
Bully
Ray is pushing a casket in the back.
Sam
Shaw has some wine with Christy Hemme and Sam puts his hand in a
candle but doesn’t notice. They go off to see the rest of the palce
and we switch to security camera footage. Christy looks out the
window and Sam likes her hair down better. They go to another room
but Sam sends her to get more wine. He turns on a light and it’s a
shrine to Christy with pictures everywhere. Why do I have a feeling
that no one is going to, I don’t know, TELL CHRISTY ABOUT THIS?
Here’s
Ray with the casket to say Anderson has taken away Aces and 8’s and
Ray’s identity. Therefore, Ray wants one final match: a casket
match. Anderson comes out so Ray threatens to piledrive Anderson’s
wife and kids. The match is accepted and Anderson opens the casket
lid, ramming it into Ray’s face. Anderson throws Ray and a chair
inside before hitting Ray low. Some chair shots to the back send Ray
running and Anderson stands tall.
Video
on Angle, talking about him being a cyborg.
Dixie,
Ethan and Magnus are ready for the main event.
Samoa
Joe/Kurt Angle vs. Magnus/Ethan Carter III
Joe/Angle’s
careers vs. a title shot if Magnus loses the fall. Ethan goes behind
Angle to start and grabs a headlock. Angle takes him down with an
armbar and it’s off to Joe for some right hands in the corner. Back
to Angle as this dominance continues, only to have Kurt miss a charge
and go shoulder first into the post. We cut to the back and see the
Wolves getting out of the car and putting the camera on the ground as
a third person gets out of the car.
Back
from a break with Ethan holding Angle in a chinlock before it’s off
to the champ for the first time. That lasts all of fifteen seconds
before it’s back to Ethan who charges into a belly to belly suplex,
allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Magnus comes in as well and walks
into a powerslam and a bad looking cross armbreaker. Carter gets
suplexed on the floor again as Joe locks on the Koquina Clutch for
the submission at 9:55.
Rating:
D+. Not a match here but the
champion shouldn’t be tapping out clean in less than ten minutes. It
wasn’t a good match either but it does set up Magnus’ next challenger
which wasn’t clear. Also I like Joe getting back in the title scene
as he hadn’t been near it for a long time now.
Post
match Dixie comes out to yell at Magnus but Joe starts a YOU TAPPED
OUT chant. Angle says that he’s done it all here in TNA and now he’s
back. Kurt says he’ll take that Hall of Fame induction now and make
sure to invite the investor. Dixie demands the investor come out
right now and, after a delay, it’s……..MVP. This would have been
huge if it was four years ago but now it’s just not bad.
Overall
Rating: B-. This show had its
faults but it did one thing right: it had me wanting to know who the
investor was all the way up until the ending. The reveal wasn’t as
good as it could have been but there were several worse options out
there. I don’t care to see this storyline yet again but at least it
won’t be as miserable as it could have been. At the end of the day,
this is what you get with TNA so you have to learn to live with it.
Not a great show but it did what it was supposed to.
Results
Velvet
Sky/Madison Rayne b. Gail Kim/Lei’D Tapa – In Yo Face to Kim
James
Storm/Gunner b. Bad Influence – Top rope headbutt to Kazarian
Bro
Mans b. Abyss/Eric Young via DQ when Abyss attacked the referee
Kurt
Angle/Samoa Joe b. Magnus/Ethan Carter III – Koquina Clutch to
Magnus

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NXT – January 29, 2014

30th January 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
January 29, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, William Regal
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We’re
coming up on the big live show in about a month with Neville earning
a title shot against champion Bo Dallas by surviving last week’s Beat
the Clock match. Other than that we’ve got Sami Zayn trying to get
another 2/3 falls match against Antonio Cesaro but Antonio doesn’t
seem all that interested. Let’s get to it.

Mike
Cuellari/John Ikerino vs. Ascension
I’m
sure I spelled those names wrong but does it really matter?
Apparently Cuellari is Q.T. Marshall from ROH and various other
indies. Viktor easily slams him around and gets two off a suplex
before it’s off to John who gets his head taken off by a clothesline.
Konor comes off the middle rope with an even hard clothesline,
setting up the Fall of Man for the pin by Viktor at 2:20.
Sylvester
LeFort is still holding tryouts for a new client. Cal Bishop, an
NCAA champion, comes in but Sylvester doesn’t like his cauliflower
ears.
Corey
Graves vs. Camacho
This
is Graves’ return match after being gone two months due to a
concussion. Corey says he’ll never forgive Adrian Neville for
injuring him and tells both NXT and WWE to stay tuned. A long
headlock on Camacho gets things going but Camacho shoves him out to
the floor. Graves comes back in and kicks at the knee before putting
on Lucky 13 for the submission at 1:21.
Cesaro
says another match with Sami Zayn would be a waste of his time.
Next
up for LeFort is a big man named Sawyer Ford who won’t say where he’s
from, doesn’t know about an audition and won’t stop shaking LeFort’s
hand.
Bayley
vs. Sasha Banks
Bayley’s
music is, in a word, bubbly. Renee Young joins in on commentary.
Bayley lunges at Charlotte but the referee keeps her in the ring,
allowing Sasha to take over with a slam. Sasha ties up Bayley’s arms
as Natalya cheers the bubbly one on. Bayley comes back with some
running clotheslines in the corner as Natalya gets in a fight with
the BFFs. Sasha grabs a rollup for two on a distracted Bayley, only
to walk into the Belly to Bayley for the pin at 2:50 in another show
match.
Colin
Cassady vs. Tyler Breeze
The
fans aren’t sure who to cheer for here as they think Breeze is
gorgeous but also like spelling out S-A-W-F-T for SAWWWWFT! Breeze
stalls a lot on the floor and in the corner for some picture taking
but Cass gets a phone from a fan at ringside to take his own
pictures. The fans completely dig it and Regal calls this more fun
than a barrel of monkeys. Big Cass goes inside and we get the
opening bell.
Tyler
goes after Cass in the corner but the big man fires off right hands
to the jaw while asking if Breeze is ok. A big SAWFT forearm to the
back sets up an elbow drop for two on Tyler. There’s a nice big boot
for the same but Aiden English pops up on screen to sing about Colin.
He goes into the injured Enzo’s locker room and threats of violence
are heard. The distraction lets Breeze hit the Beauty Shot for the
pin on Cass at 2:24. The more I see of both of these guys, the more
entertained I am.
After
a break Colin finds a fine Enzo but there’s no English in sight.
Enzo says English just threatened him and left. Cassady: “He ain’t
the only one that can play games and I ain’t talking chess.” Enzo:
“I don’t know how to play chess.” Cassady: “I’m talking
Balderdash. Connect Four. Ring Around the Rosey. Hopscotch.
Connect Four.” Enzo declares English to be sawft as Cassady goes
to find English. I smell a swerve in the future.
CJ
Parker vs. The Miz
Regal:
“Miz reminds me of Kermit without the talent.” Miz avoids a
right hand and slaps Parker in the face to start. Parker scores with
some chops but Miz clotheslines him down. Regal explains what chops
do to you as Parker comes back with chops of his own. Phillips: “You
know what you do when someone chops you. You chop them back!”
Regal: “Really? I used to scream.” Miz hits a very nice
dropkick to send Parker to the floor and a baseball slid puts Parker
down again.
Miz
throws him back inside and slides between Parker’s legs into a sunset
flip for two, only to walk into a kick to the face. A double running
knee in the corner gets two more on Miz and we hit the chinlock. Miz
fights up and hits the Reality Check before hooking a dragon screw
leg whip and dropping some elbows on the leg. Parker kicks him into
the corner and hits a high cross body, only to have Miz roll through
and put on the Figure Four for the win at 4:40.
Rating:
C-. I was impressed by Miz’s in
ring work here as his offense made sense and that dropkick actually
looked good. That being said, I still don’t like the Figure Four as
his finishing move. The Skull Crushing Finale took him to the WWE
Title and a win over John Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania.
It’s the same thing that bothered me about AJ Styles becoming a Flair
clone: he was already the best in the world. What was he going to
become? The best wrestler on Venus?
Sami
Zayn wants Cesaro to say no to his face next week.
Mason
Ryan says he’ll work for Sylvester LeFort if LeFort can beat him next
week.
Renee
Young is in the ring to moderate the contract signing for Neville vs.
Dallas. This is a bit less formal though as she’s just holding the
contracts and invites both guys to the ring. Dallas doesn’t show up
so Neville signs his contract, only to have Bo come out in wrestling
gear. He insists he isn’t scared and is far meaner than he’s been in
months. Dallas tells Neville to take a seat and watch the champion
work.
Danny
Birch vs. Bo Dallas
Birch
takes a knee into the ribs to start and an elbow to the head for good
measure. Dallas keeps staring at Neville as he drives in even more
elbows to the side of the head. Birch comes back with some right
hands but Bo blasts him in the face to put him right back down. A
double arm DDT is enough to pin Danny at 2:22.
Bo
signs the contract and decks Neville, triggering a brawl to end the
show. The fan were very oddly quiet during the brawl.
Overall
Rating: C+. Good but not great
show this week, though it’s clear that they’re building up to the big
night in about a month. I hope they don’t turn this into a WWE show
and take away all of the good stuff that NXT has had going on in the
last year plus, but maybe it’s just a quick change of pace before we
get back to normal.
Results
Ascension
b. Mike Cuellari/John Ikerino – Fall of Man to Ikerino
Corey
Graves b. Camacho – Lucky 13
Tyler
Breeze b. Colin Cassady – Beauty Shot
The
Miz b. CJ Parker – Figure Four
Bo
Dallas b. Danny Birch – Double arm DDT
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Royal Rumble 2014

27th January 2014 by Scott Keith

The SmarK Rant for WWE Royal Rumble 2014 Aka A Harsh Lesson in Crowd Psychology. Live from Pittsburgh, PA Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & JBL I’m trying this on the WWE app, even without Michael Cole instructing me how to do it! In the pre-game match, the New Age Outlaws actually get a sixth tag title in a decent match, thus ending the reign of Cody & Goldust in the most underwhelming way possible. But first, to the mailbag! So far, everyone seems to think it’s a surefire bet that Batista is winning the Rumble, and then going on to headline Mania against either Cena or Orton. But Batista, in his skinny jeans, Justin Bieber sweater, and nose stud looked like King Douche of Douche Mountain last week. If he wins the Rumble, that will be going against everything the fans actually want to see.  That seems like a recipe for the fans to almost immediately turn on the guy.  And Batista vs. either Orton/Cena as the main event of Mania seems like the most boring thing to ever be consideZzzzzzzzzzzz. So my question is this: if that’s the main event we’re getting for Mania, what are the odds the crowd shits all over it and spends the entire match chanting for Daniel Bryan?  Seems like that would be an awful big embarrassment for the main event of the 30th anniversary of Wrestlemania, but I feel like that may be the path we’re heading down. Come on, you think an entire crowd would hijack the second-biggest PPV of the year? That wouldn’t happen! That’s crazy talk! Daniel Bryan v. Bray Wyatt Slugfest to start and Bryan puts him down with a knee, but gets nailed from behind. Bryan stops to nail Harper with a dive, so the ref sends the Wyatts back to the dressing room, which Bray actually is fine with. Bryan hits him with a dive as well and back in with a high cross for two. Bray tosses him, but charges and hits the stairs. Back in, Bryan works on the leg and wraps him up with a bow-and-arrow, then opts just to kick him in the face instead. That gets two. Bryan is still throwing kicks and destroying the knee, and they fight over a suplex on the apron. Wyatt takes him down to the floor, and back in where Bray throws him around and goes to a chinlock. Wyatt pounds the head and sends him into the post, so Bryan bails, and Bray follows him out there with a senton on the floor. Back in, that gets two. Bray clotheslines him under the ropes for two and continues pounding the head. Crabwalk, and he keeps going back to a neck vice, but Bryan makes the comeback and sends him into the corner for some kicks. To the top for a rana that gets two. Not really expecting Bray Wyatt to be taking highspots, but I’ll go with it. Bray puts him down with an elbow for two, however. Bryan dumps him and follows with a tornado DDT off the apron. Back in for the missile dropkick and the Yes Kicks, which get two. Corner dropkicks, but Bray catches him with a huge lariat for two. Sister Abigail is reversed into a rollup for two, however. Bryan with the Yes-Lock, but Bray bites his hand to break! To the top and they exchange headbutts to the alternating delight and annoyance of the crowd, but Wyatt goes down first and Bryan follows with the flying headbutt. Bray bails again and Bryan follows with the dive, but Bray catches him and Abigails him into the railing in an AWESOME spot, and back in for another one to finish at 21:35 and deflate the crowd. And thus the show was stolen. **** Meanwhile, the WWE is about to be conquered and subjugated by Viking Space Lord Brock Lesnar, or so Paul Heyman would have you believe. Big Show v. Brock Lesnar This needs to be a total slaughter of epic proportions, especially given how much Show had the upper hand in the buildup. And indeed, Brock immediately takes him down and pounds the shit out of him with a chair, and man that looks like it hurts. The sympathetic crowd asks for one more time, and Brock obliges. The ref finally gets the chair away from him, so Heyman gives Brock ANOTHER one, forcing Show to throw the punch. Brock bails and Show tosses him around on the floor, and back in, where Brock puts him out of his misery with the F5 at 1:15. Really 5:15 if you count all the stuff before the official bell. ½* Really he shouldn’t have even had to sell the punch given the beating he delivered with the chair. And then he just totally destroys Show with the chair on the floor afterwards, in the name of GOOD SPORTMANSHIP. Perhaps Show will cry about it on RAW tomorrow. Of course then Show just sells it like a mild case of indigestion on the way out, instead of getting carted out on a stretcher or in an ambulance, like you’d want for someone getting set up against Undertaker. Meanwhile, on a show that I paid $45 to watch, a COMMERCIAL for tax services. I’m in Canada, I can’t even use that! And isn’t Jackson Hewitt one of the guys in developmental right now? Meanwhile, the Shield squabbles about who drew what number for the Rumble. Roman Reigns is pretty confident either way. Meanwhile, Randy Orton is confident that he’s the only face of the WWE, and not a “Duck Dynasty reject” like Bray Wyatt. Harsh words. WWE World title: Randy Orton v. John Cena The awesome crowd chants for Daniel Bryan after the ring intros, which the announcers are forced to totally ignore. Orton stomps Cena down to start and grabs a headlock while the crowd chants for Bryan again, and now the announcers have to acknowledge it, which allows JBL to bury him. And now the hijacking continues with the chant switching to Randy Savage as Orton gets a suplex and seems to be letting it get to him. Back to the headlock as the crowd now wants to see Jericho and this is approaching glorious trainwreck territory. Well, now Pittsburgh is never getting a TV show again, way to go. Orton back to the chinlock as the crowd continues turning on the match before it even gets started. They fight on the floor and the crowd is having none of it, going back to Daniel Bryan as Orton is losing his mind. DDT gets two and apparently they both suck in the eyes of the crowd. JBL is all “Ha ha, those WWE fans, they be all expressing themselves and shit!” but you know Vince is screaming bloody murder into the earpieces right now. Cena tries a comeback, but Orton powerslams him for two. Cena with a neckbreaker for two. They fight on top and Cena comes down with the guillotine for two, but Orton gets the backbreaker for two. The crowd aggressively does not care about any of this and it’s awesome. So Orton gives him a DDT off the apron, to his credit not flipping out over getting caught in this, and back in Cena reverses the RKO into the STF. Five Knuckle Shuffle, but the ref is bumped, because that’s exactly the thing this fucking match needed. So Orton taps with no ref, then comes back and puts Cena down with the belt as the doctor manages to revive the ref by slapping him around or something. So now we’ve had a ref bump and a beltshot as the crowd switches to “This is awful”. If I could award star ratings to a crowd, I’d be tempted to go the full monty here. Cena with the FU for two, but Orton hits the RKO for two. Orton misses the punt and Cena tries the FU, but Orton reverses that to an STF. Cena reverses to a crossface, so Orton gives him an FU for two. And then Cena hits a RKO for two. To the top, but Orton fights out, so Cena hits a tornado DDT and the STF in the middle. And here’s the Wyatts, as expected. Cena is DISTRACTED, and the RKO finishes at 20:54. So in the match promised as the “traditional wrestling match” we ended up with a ref bump, a foreign object, and a run-in distraction finish. The crowd chants “THANK YOU WYATT” to top it off. The really funny thing is that the match wasn’t BAD or anything, and it was probably one of the better ones where everyone hated it. I mean, they were trying hard to overcome the crowd, but it was the wrong match for the wrong crowd tonight. *** Bray gives Cena the Sister Abigail, so as expected Daniel Bryan proved to be the setup guy for Cena’s Wrestlemania program. “No one expected this!” Michael Cole notes. I’m pretty sure the betting line would disagree with that. Meanwhile, we recap the Outlaws winning the tag titles and they un-invite Renee Young from their victory party. Meanwhile, we get the Elmination Chamber commercial, the show that is basically going to end the PPV era for wrestling. And it features Stephanie McMahon, because of course it does. Royal Rumble: CM Punk is of course #1, and that leads to another awkward moment where they’re like “Two people have won the match at #1 before, Shawn Michaels and…HEY WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Seth Rollins is #2 and they exchange kicks to start before Punk puts him down with a running knee and high kick. Damien Sandow is #3 and the heels team up on Punk, but he gives them both a neckbreaker at the same time. Cody Rhodes is #4 and he slugs it out with Sandow and hits the Crossroads, allowing Punk to backdrop him out at 3:54. So now Punk and Rhodes work Rollins over, but Kane is #5. Wearing a suit! Kane lays a beating on Punk, but a high kick puts him out at 5:47. ALEXANDER RUSEV is #6 as NXT represents! Rusev destroys everyone but can’t quite toss Cody or Rollins, and everyone hangs on until Jack Swagger is #7. And the crowd actually gives Swagger a babyface reaction for slugging it out with Rusev! Kofi Kingston is #8, although I’m sure the crowd doesn’t know his NXT history with Rusev. Former tag champs Kofi and Punk battle in the corner, and nothing else going on with Jimmy Uso at #9. More nothing and Goldust is #10. Goldust cleans house and everyone gangs up on Rusev and dumps him at 13:11. Punk chucks Kofi out as well, but Rusev catches him and puts him on the railing for a beating, which gives us our Kofi Spot for the year, as he jumps from there to the ring! Dean Ambrose is #11 and it’s more nothing. Dolph Ziggler is #12 to wake up the crowd. Their optimism is likely misguided. More kicking and punching. R-Truth is #13 as the jobber parade continues. Ambrose dropkicks him out right away at 18:18. Uso goes up and Ambrose shoves him out at 18:38 as well. Don’t ever go to the top rope in the Rumble! That’s the first rule! Kofi manages to hang on by his boots, and Kevin Nash is #14. I was promised a retirement! Swagger is gone at 20:00. And Roman Reigns rounds out the Shield at #15. And the destruction begins. Kofi is gone at 21:50. Dolph at 22:15. Nash at 22:22. Hopefully he didn’t blow a quad on the way down. Great Khali is #16 and the Shield gangs up on him and gets him out at 23:45. And then Goldust accidentally puts Cody out at 24:10, allowing Reigns to dump Goldust at 24:20. Awww. Sheamus returns at #17 and goes after the Shield, nearly breaking my stream. I will say, the WWE app version has been perfect up until now. The Miz is #18 as business is really picking up now. JBL notes that Shawn won in 1996 at 18, which is insulting to both Shawn Michaels and Rumble winners in general. Fandango is #19, and I’m not giving him much of a chance here. Just a hunch. More aimless wandering and the crowd is anxious for Daniel Bryan. Yeah, not happening. El Torito is #20 and obviously they’re not even trying this year. Fandango lays Torito out, but gets dropkicked out by the midget at 30:42. OH COME ON. Roman thankfully gets rid of him at 31:08. Antonio Cesaro is #21, and he HAS to giant swing someone out of the match. And it’s the Miz! Sadly, Punk interrupts, and then Rollins takes the swing instead. And it’s 30 revolutions as Luke Harper is #22. Nothing going on there and Jey Uso is #23. Ring’s filling up so Batista has to be coming soon. JBL is #24 for the big babyface pop as Cole notes that “The JBL character” has never entered the Rumble before. And Reigns dumps him at 36:54 to end that epic run. They’re really reaching now. Erick Rowan is #25 as this desperately needs some real star power and/or contenders. The Wyatts rob us of a Miz Wrestlemania main event repeat at 38:32. Jey Uso is gone at 39:08. Ryback is #26. Sheamus slugs it out with Cesaro, and Alberto Del Rio is #27. No one cares. More punching and kicking as the crowd is bored as well. And then we’re onto #28 with Batista to hopefully clear the ring a bit. And the crowd TURNS ON HIM! Rowan is out at 42:48. Ryback charges him and goes over the top like the Network at 43:15. Del Rio goes for the armbar and Batista dumps him at 43:48. Big E Langston is #29 and unless Daniel Bryan is behind the curtain, this is going to Batista. Nope, it’s Rey at #30 and the crowd boos the FUCK out of that. Rey and Punk battle on the apron while the crowd turns on the whole match and wants Daniel Bryan. This is gonna be ugly. Sheamus boots Big E out at 46:54. Rey with the 619 on Rollins, but he gets kicked out at 47:54. This crowd is PISSED. Reigns puts Harper out with the Superman punch at 48:30, and the Shield argues, leading to Reigns eliminating Rollins, Ambrose and Cesaro at 48:55. Final Four: We’ve got Punk, Reigns, Batista and Sheamus. Kane returns to screw Punk at 49:27 to continue that feud no one wanted. The crowd is still chanting for Daniel Bryan and booing Batista out of the building. Batista powerslams Reigns, and Sheamus puts him down and POINTS TO SIGN, which the crowd also shits on. Reigns spears him off the apron at 53:07 to set the new elimination record, and the crowd would now like him to win. Reigns with a clothesline out of the corner, but Batista comes back with his own spear and the crowd boos the shit out of him. Reigns with his spear, but Batista tosses him to win at 55:24. So this was…something. Not the worst Rumble ever, but certainly one of them. **1/2 Although the perverse entertainment of the crowd shitting all over everything almost made up for the completely uninspired match. The Pulse Although the show kind of sucked, I certainly got my $50 worth of entertainment out of it in a very Bash ’91 “total rejection of everything being presented” type of way. Although apparently WWE hates their audience in a very real way, so the war that will be ongoing over the next two months will probably be far more fascinating than anything in the ring.

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Smackdown – January 24, 2014

25th January 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
January 24, 2014
Location:
Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators:
John Bradshaw Layfield, Josh Matthews
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It’s
the go home show for the Rumble and not a lot changed this past week
on Raw. Batista is back and apparently people are still interested
in him, meaning I can’t imagine anyone else taking the Rumble at this
point. Since it’s Friday, I’m guessing we’ll be getting a big tag
match to close out the week. Let’s get to it.

We
open with an in memory of George Scott graphic. Always nice to see.
Opening
sequence actually opens us up.
The
main event tonight is a ten man tag with the Usos/Rhodes
Brothers/Langston vs. Shield/New Age Outlaws.
The
Real Americans are in the ring to start with Colter ranting about Big
Show attacking him. Unfortunately his voice is better now and not as
awesome as it was last week. We get a clip from two weeks ago of Big
Show knocking Colter out cold which set up tonight’s tag match with
Show/Mysterio vs. the Real Americans. Colter doesn’t think Mysterio
is his real name either. Speaking of names, Colter comes up with
various names for Big Show/Mysterio: the Border Jumping Buddies,
Tacos Supremos Hold the Salsa and El Gordito and the Jumping Bean.
Real
Americans vs. Big Show/Rey Mysterio
Swagger
charges at Big Show to start and is easily thrown down. Some
forearms to the back send Jack running to the corner for a tag off to
Cesaro who is thrown around as well. Show puts his foot on Cesaro’s
face and lifts him up by the arm for a kind of reverse curb stomp.
Cesaro is tossed out to the floor and Mysterio takes him down with a
seated senton off the apron. A kick to the face drops Swagger and we
take a break. Back with Cesaro holding a chinlock on Mysterio until
Rey fights up and gets two off a rollup.
Antonio
doesn’t like being covered so he Swings Mysterio around for a few
seconds. Off to Swagger who counters catches a middle rope
hurricanrana in midair, only to be sent face first into the middle
buckle. Cesaro comes back in but the Real Americans get caught in a
double DDT, allowing for the hot tag to Big Show. The monster
hiptosses both Americans with ONE ARM. That’s very cool looking,
even if both of them helped with the throw. A 619 sets up the WMD
and the splash off Big Show’s shoulders for the pin on Cesaro at
8:52.
Rating:
C-. The match was formula stuff
but it made Big Show look good going into the showdown on Sunday.
Mysterio was just kind of there but it’s good to see him in the ring
instead of on the injured list all the time. He’s nowhere near what
he used to be but at his age and with his knees held together with
glue, it’s about as good as you can expect.
Heyman
comes out post match and tells Big Show to enjoy his health while he
can, because there will be nothing to celebrate on Sunday. Big Show
did throw Lesnar around on Monday, but it’s only made Brock want to
hurt Big Show even more. Lesnar will be WWE Champion after dealing
with the giant.
The
Miz vs. Brodus Clay
Before
the match, Wade Barrett’s podium rises up and he informs us that
while the ten man tag will be awesome tonight, this is going to be
one of the worst matches in WWE history. He starts the MIZ IS AWFUL
chant and bangs his gavel in place of the five clap sequence. That’s
really not something you should say on your programming, even for a
Miz match. Miz jumps Barrett while the crowd takes up the chant.
Barrett keeps taking jabs at the match, calling it one of the worst
things he’s ever seen and thinking the crowd wants milk and cookies.
He asks Clay to dance and the distraction lets Miz hits a DDT for the
pin at 1:22.
Miz
goes up to the podium but Barrett laughs down at him.
Rumble
By The Numbers promo.
AJ
Lee vs. Cameron
Non-title.
AJ quickly takes her down but charges into a boot in the corner.
Cameron stops to dance a bit before dropping a leg for two. A
baseball slide puts Naomi down but she walks into a Shining Wizard
for the pin at 1:32.
Post
match Tamina goes after Cameron but Naomi makes the save and lays AJ
out with a Bubba Bomb.
Raw
ReBound shows Batista returning and laying out Alberto.
Shield
says twenty seven other men are going to enter the Royal Rumble as
hungry dogs. Those other people can pretend they’re going to have a
chance but it’s just wishful thinking. All of the other men are
casualties and Reigns says he’ll win.
Ryback/Curtis
Axel vs. Los Matadores
JBL
thinks El Torito is a descendant of Mr. Ed. Ryback slams Diego down
for an early two before Axel comes in to ram Diego into the corner.
A nice running dropkick keeps Diego in trouble, causing Josh to say
Torito has a look of concern on his face. JBL: “HE’S A BULL!”
Back to Ryback who toys with Diego even more before jumping off the
middle rope into a pair of boots. Axel can’t break up the hot tag
attempt and Fernando comes in to clean house. A double arm DDT gets
two on Axel but Ryback makes the save and throws Diego to the floor.
Fernando throws Ryback out, only to get rolled up by Axel for the pin
at 3:20.
Rating:
C-. I believe that’s Los
Matadores’ first loss, but thankfully they stayed undefeated for so
long because they haven’t been on TV all that much. They’re just not
an interesting team at all and I can’t picture them lasting much
longer without being relegated to Superstars. It’s nice to see Axel
get a pin as well.
Post
match Torito IMMEDIATELY sends Axel to the floor and dives on him
Ryback so the fans won’t have their spirits crushed or something.
Here’s
Punk to address Kane making him #1 in the Rumble. We get a clip of
Punk calling Kane a suck up last week, earning himself a chokeslam as
well as a clip from Raw of Kane apologizing and getting knocked to
the floor. Punk talks about the Authority’s lapdog making him the #1
entrant in the Rumble to stack the deck against him. That’s what he
expected from HHH and Stephanie but it just motivates him to become
WWE Champion again.
He’s
done a lot in the WWE but the one glaring omission is winning the
Rumble. Now that he’s #1 it might be the toughest match he’s ever
competed in, but that’s what you have to expect if you call yourself
the best in the world. On Sunday he’s going to punch the lion in the
face and do everything he can to be the last man standing.
This
brings out Kane who says that Punk has a .000000186 chance of
winning, or one in five hundred million. Maybe his odds are a little
better because he’s best in the world though. Punk says never tell
him the odds and that it’s sad to see what has happened to the
Devil’s Favorite Demon. Is he the Authority’s Favorite Statistician
now? Punk isn’t worried because the #1 entrant has won before and
he’s been the best since day one.
We
recap Bryan vs. Wyatt who have a match on Sunday. I’m actually
looking forward to that showdown.
Wyatt
Family vs. Prime Time Players
Harper
pounds on Young in the corner to start before kicking his head off
with a big boot. Off to Rowan who takes off the mask to reveal that
hideous face of his. Harper loads up a whip to send Rowan into the
corner but instead Rowan whips Harper into the other corner to take
out Titus. The discus lariat ends Young at 1:05 in a total squash.
Darren
gets Sister Abigail post match and Bray says he’ll change the world.
You can hear some Bo Dallas in his voice as he speaks, only to have
Daniel Bryan cut him off. Bryan says listen to these people because
they don’t fear fate, the reapers or burning with the saints. On
Sunday, Daniel will no longer be trapped in Bray’s madness, but Bray
will be trapped in Daniel’s prison. He’ll find out who the real
monster is as the fans chant YES.
Fandango
vs. Kofi Kingston
During
the entrances we get an inset interview from Kofi who says that he’s
done some amazing things to stay in the Rumble, but this Sunday he’s
going to perform his greatest feat of all: win the Royal Rumble and
go on to headline Wrestlemania. Simple, to the point, ties into his
character’s history. I’d love these sort of promos to be more
common.
A
shoulder block puts Kofi down and Fandango gyrates a bit. Back up
and Kofi throws him over the top and out to the corner (nice touch)
and we get an Emma sighting. Fandango
rams him into the apron to take over and something resembling a Pele
gets two on Kofi back inside. Kingston pops back up and sends
Fandango into the ropes for Trouble in Paradise and the pin at 2:57.
Just a match.
Rumble
By The Numbers Part II.
Long
recap of Cena vs. Orton.
New
Age Outlaws/Shield vs. Usos/Cody Rhodes/Goldust/Big E. Langston
Jimmy
and Rollins get things going with Seth stomping him down in the
corner. They run the ropes a few times until Jimmy stops to dance
and grab an arm. Ambrose
comes in and has his arm worked on for a few minutes before a right hand
gets two. Langston gets the tag and charges into Ambrose’s ribs in
the corner before hitting a series of backbreakers to keep Dean in
trouble. Dean gets a boot up in the corner and tags in Reigns for a
big running clothesline.
Big
E. gets triple teamed for a bit but just powers Shield off and makes
the tag to Cody. Things speed up a bit with a springboard missile
dropkick and the Disaster Kick but Gunn comes in for a shot from
behind to take over. We take a break and come back with Cody sunset flipping Rollins for two before Seth takes him back down. Gunn
gets the tag and drops a knee for two. The heels continue their
tagging with Reigns hammering on his back and holding him in place
with a cravate.
Dean
comes back in with a spinning belly to back suplex for two but Cody
fights out of a belly to back superplex and hits the moonsault press
on the now legal Reigns. Goldust gets the hot tag to clean house and
even hits a top rope hurricanrana to blow everyone’s minds. A
powerslam gets two on Road Dogg and here’s Langston for the Big
Ending on Rollins but Roman makes the save with a spear.
Jey
superkicks Reigns down and Jimmy adds the Superfly Splash but throws
Dean to the floor instead of covering. The Usos load up the stereo
dives but Billy cuts off Jimmy and takes him down with the Fameasser.
Cody comes back in for the Disaster Kick but Roadie takes him down
with the pumphandle slam, only to have Goldust grab a rollup but
Shield makes a save as the match is thrown out at 13:20.
Rating:
B-. This was an old formula tag
match but the very hot finish helped it out a lot. I’m a sucker for
the parade of finishers to set up the ending and when you have ten
guys it’s quite a long parade. The DQ ending is a smart move here as
you don’t want anyone doing a job going into the Rumble or a title
match.
Everybody
gets in and we get the traditional huge brawl with everyone else
announced for the Rumble (other than Batista of course) coming to
join in the fight. CM Punk comes out to a BIG pop to get in on the
brawl as the show goes off the air.
Overall
Rating: B. This is the show
they’ve been needing to have since the beginning of the year.
Tonight was about the Rumble match itself with people wanting to go
to Wrestlemania, which is the whole point of the show this Sunday.
The other matches got some nice build as well and for once I’m
excited for the entire show. Tonight wasn’t supposed to be about
good matches or the in ring action and it wasn’t the focus. Good
episode tonight which did its job.
Results
Big
Show/Rey Mysterio b. Real Americans – Splash to Cesaro
The
Miz b. Wade Barrett – DDT
AJ
Lee b. Cameron – Shining Wizard
Curtis
Axel/Ryback b. Los Matadores – Rollup to Fernando
Wyatt
Family b. Prime Time Players – Discus lariat to Young
Kofi
Kingston b. Fandango – Trouble in Paradise
Usos/Big
E. Langston/Cody Rhodes/Goldust b. Shield/New Age Outlaws via DQ when
all three members of Shield came into the ring
Remember to pick up my new book on the History of Summerslam from Amazon for just $4 at:
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Impact Wrestling – January 23, 2014

24th January 2014 by Scott Keith
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 23, 2014
Location:
Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
We’re
back with Genesis Week Two, featuring all of the matches that we
couldn’t get to last week because we needed a thirty minute opening
segment. Tonight we have Roode vs. Angle in a cage, Gunner vs. Storm
for the briefcase, Sabin vs. Aries for the X Title and Sting vs.
Magnus in a contract vs. title match, even though Sting was forbidden
from challenging for the title ever again just a year ago. Let’s get
to it.

The
opening video recaps Sting challenging Magnus from last week and the
Roode vs. Angle feud.
Dixie
and Spud are in the back with Dixie freaking out about Ethan not
being here. Magnus comes in and shakes hands with some lawyer whose
name sounded like Creed. Apparently there was a meeting with the
board of directors and someone is setting up a hostile takeover of
TNA.
The
attorney says he can deal with the new investor, even though it seems
to be something personal. Magnus says deal with it because he has a
title defense. Apparently the investor wants someone in Sting’s
corner so Magnus wants No DQ and No Countout. The lawyer and Magnus
almost get in a fight until Dixie defuses it. The editing in this
made it feel really unnatural.
Here
are Magnus, Spud and Ethan to the arena. Nice to see that the
“where’s Ethan” problem was settled inside of four minutes.
Magnus accuses Sting of playing politics and thought he was a bigger
man than that. This brings out Sting himself who accuses Magnus of
backing out of deals of his own. Magnus says this is about Sting and
wants to know how much he paid the new investor.
Either
way, Sting has to face Magnus on his own tonight and Sting just can’t
beat Magnus on his own. Sting says he’s watched their BFG match over
and over again and is ready. The fans chant Paper Champion at Magnus
so he slaps Sting, triggering a brawl. Sting is outnumbered but
Samoa Joe makes the save. Naturally Joe is the man in Sting’s corner
tonight.
Video
on Gunner vs. Storm, leading to their match for the briefcase
tonight.
Spud
freaks out about Joe so Dixie puts him in a match with the Samoan.
Spud panics even more. Dixie after Spud leaves: “Please don’t get
killed.”
James
Storm vs. Gunner
Of
course it’s a briefcase on a pole. The announcers emphasize that you
have to get full possession of the case. Feeling out process to
start with Storm skinning the cat but walking into a running
clothesline to put him back down. James comes back with a kick to
the head but gets caught in the corner and taken down by a fallaway
slam. A suplex puts Gunner down but he counters the Last Call into a
Rock Bottom.
Gunner
goes up but gets taken down by a hurricanrana of all things to put
both guys down again. Storm goes up and gets his hands on the case
but Gunner stops him, bringing the case down. That’s not full
possession though so it becomes a fight for the case. A headbutt
knocks Storm away and Gunner gets the case at 5:40.
Rating:
D+. This was every pole match
you’ve ever seen though there were some decent spots in there to fill
in some time. The ending didn’t add anything special and Gunner
still having the case doesn’t change the situation. I don’t buy
Gunner as a title contender but beating James Storm won’t hurt him.
Can we get Storm a story that doesn’t involve a tag team though?
Kurt
Angle says if he can’t beat Roode tonight, he doesn’t deserve the
Hall of Fame.
Earlier
today, Velvet Sky got a package from Chris Sabin and we get to see
her open it. The note says she needs to bring them to Impact this
week. There’s a teddy bear and a lead pipe, meaning Velvet isn’t
pleased.
X-Division
Title: Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries
Sabin
is defending and Velvet is in a small cage at ringside, complete with
a bag containing the gifts. Feeling out process to start until Aries
grabs a quick Last Chancery. Sabin is thrown to the floor but jumps
back onto the apron to crotch Aries in the corner. Aries gets caught
in the Tree of Woe for a baseball slide but avoids being thrown to
the floor.
He
comes back with elbows to the head and a Lionsault for two. A discus
forearm sets up the running dropkick in the corner but Sabin counters
the brainbuster. Sabin heads to the floor and gets the bag from
Velvet but it just has the bear. Aries gets in an ax handle from the
apron followed by a missile dropkick. The brainbuster gives Aries
the title at 5:10.
Rating:
C-. I’m having a really hard
time caring about these matches when I don’t think all three have
combined to go twenty minutes. These are all just meaningless title
changes and the belt hasn’t grown at all as a result. I believe this
puts Aries at four title reigns and it doesn’t make him a bigger star
at all.
We
get a strange promo from the Wolves with the camera going all over
the place. Richards says you’ve seen their matches on Youtube so why
would you make the wolves dance for their meal? They’re the start of
the new era and next week the investor will be revealed to the world.
Cool video.
We
recap Angle vs. Roode. Bobby has beaten him over and over but
tonight it’s in a cage and if Angle loses, he can never go into the
Hall of Fame.
Kurt
Angle vs. Bobby Roode
Roode
has a new sleeveless full body vest. It’s pin/submission/escape
here. There’s no bell after the break so we’ll say this is joined in
progress. Roode goes after Kurt to start but walks into a belly to
belly suplex to give Angle control. He stomps Bobby down in the
corner but his right hands are countered with a powerbomb into the
cage. A suplex gets two for
Roode and more choking ensues.
Angle
grabs the legs and catapults Roode into the cage, setting up the
Rolling Germans. The Angle Slam is countered and Angle is sent into
the cage. A spinebuster gets a fast two for Roode but a Roode Bomb
attempt is countered by Angle ramming Bobby into the cage. Now the
Slam connects for two and there go the straps. Ankle lock goes on
but Roode fights to his feet and takes Angle down with an enziguri.
We
go old school with Roode’s Northern Lariat (clothesline to the back
of the head) for two. Roode goe sup but Angle makes a save and rams
Roode into the cage over and over again until he falls down. Kurt is
still on the ropes and goes to escape before looking back at Roode.
Oh no. Angle busts out the moonsault but only hits mat in a HUGE
crash. Roode crawls out the door but Angle grabs the ankle to pull
him back in. Kurt is kicked away so they do the same thing again but
this time Kurt puts on the ankle lock, only to have Roode whip him
into the cage.
The
Roode Bomb gets two and Bobby climbs the cage, so Angle runs the
corner and hits the Angle Slam to put both guys down again. Kurt
crawls over for a slow two before making a very slow climb to the
corner. He gets a leg over but Roode pulls him back in onto the top
rope. They slug it out until Roode is crotched on the top, allowing
Angle to climb out for the win at 14:17, seconds before Roode makes
it out the door.
Rating:
B. Angle is going to die in a
wrestling ring at some point and there’s no way around it. This was
a good but not classic cage match and there’s nothing wrong with
that. Above all else, this match was given time to develop and it
worked much better as a result. I’d buy this as the ending of the
feud but there’s a chance they could get one more match out of them.
Ethan
gives Spud a pep talk and names him the British Dream.
Here
are the Bro Mans who say they’re on Team Dixie. Jesse says you only
Bro once and asks the fans to tweet something right now to remember
this moment. They say the word hashtag about 17 times and call out
Eric Young and Joseph Park but just get the smaller one. He charges
the ring and tries to fight everyone off but gets beaten down until
Abyss makes the save. The monster cleans house and the champions and
Zema run, leaving Eric to be grabbed by the throat but he talks Abyss
out of it.
Joe
is ready and wants a piece of Magnus afte Sting gets done with him.
Angle
is worried about what happens if TNA loses Sting.
Rockstar
Spud vs. Samoa Joe
This
is exactly what you would expect with Joe not being afraid of Spud at
all and hitting an early Facewash. Spud goes get in an eye rake and
some kicks to the leg, only to charge into the release Rock Bottom
out of the corner. The MuscleBuster and the Koquina Clutch are good
for the win for Joe at 2:20.
TNA
World Title: Magnus vs. Sting
No
DQ and No Countout with Sting’s contract (not career) on the line
against Magnus’ title. Joe is at ringside in Sting’s corner. Magnus
cranks on a headlock to start as the fans chant Paper Champion. Off
to a wristlock by the Brit but Sting flips him down onto the mat and
Magnus bails to the ropes. A double clothesline puts both guys down
and here’s Ethan to interfere but Joe blocks him on the ramp as we
take a break.
Back
with Sting putting on the Scorpion but Bad Influence comes out to
neutralize Joe, allowing Ethan to make the save. Everyone is in the
ring now so we’re already at four interferences. Joe and Sting fight
them off and Magnus takes the Death Drop but it’s Zema and the Bro
Mans for the save, getting us to seven interferences.
Bad
Influence gets back into things but Angle makes a save (8), allowing
Sting to superplex Magnus. A replacement referee comes out (9) and
counts two but the Stinger Splash takes him out as well. There’s the
Scorpion but Bobby Roode (10) breaks up the hold to save a tapping
Magnus. The champ gets up for a Michinoku Driver and it’s Dixie
bringing Earl Hebner (11 and 12) for the three count for the pin at
13:25. That one move put Sting out for about 45 seconds.
Rating:
T. For twelve people that came
out during the match. It’s hard to get that many people into a show
sometimes and they did it in a fourteen minute match. These things
are making it hard to care about any main event TNA promotes because
they’re bigger messes than the Attitude Era ever dreamed of airing.
This was more of a match than AJ vs. Magnus though.
Magnus
rips up Sting’s contract to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. For Impact, this
wasn’t bad but it keeps up one of TNA’s many problems: they always
seem to be building to something but we never actually get to that
point. It’s very much a company chasing its own tail and it has been
for years. For instance, we spent months building to BFG but BFG was
just a step towards Dixieland. Now Dixieland has bene just a step
towards the investor, which will be a step to something else.
I’m
sick of these power struggle stories and they keep TNA feeling like
they’re on life support. I’m mildly interested in the reveal next
week but my hopes are low enough that a mouse couldn’t get fit
underneath them. The cage match was good but the main event was
overdone, much like every other title match anymore.
Results
Gunner
b. James Storm – Gunner grabbed the briefcase
Austin
Aries b. Chris Sabin – Brainbuster
Kurt
Angle b. Bobby Roode – Angle escaped the cage
Samoa
Joe b. Rockstar Spud – Koquina Clutch
Magnus
b. Sting – Michinoku Driver
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NXT – January 22, 2014

23rd January 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
January 22, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Tensai
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
main story coming out of last week is the live NXT special on
February 27 which really is the closest thing to a pay per view that
NXT has ever had. There are no matches announced for it yet but I
can’t imagine Dallas keeps the title coming out of that show. The
question now is who challenges him on the special. Let’s get to it.

Welcome
Home.
The
announcers intro the show. We’ve got a Championship Celebration for
Bo Dallas tonight.
Adrian
Neville vs. Wesley Blake
Blake
is a cowboy. The fans are WAY into Neville here. They fight over a
wristlock to start until Neville spins around to escape. A headlock
takes Blake to the mat and it’s off to an armbar as they’re still in
first gear. Neville puts him down again with a springboard missile
dropkick followed by a loud chop in the corner. Fans: ONE MORE TIME!
Blake blocks it with a kick to the ribs and is immediately the most
hated man in the arena. Neville comes back with kicks to the gut and
head before the Red Arrow hits for the pin at 4:14.
Rating:
C. Take a popular act and let
him fly around for a few minutes. It’s worked as a way to open the
show for years and it still works now. Blake was as generic of a
heel as you could ask for but there’s something nice about seeing a
70s gimmick like EVIL cowboy being dragged out of mothballs.
The
BFF’s brag about how awesome their lives are with Charlotte talking
about riding in limos in jets. She doesn’t care about Bayley either
because life is vicious and you have to drop the nobodies. Charlotte
is good as a heel, as if she could be anything else.
Xavier
Woods vs. Alexander Rusev
Woods
tries to speed things up to start but Rusev shrugs off a dropkick and
hits Woods in the head with a forearm. He rains down some heavy
right hands before a double stomp gets two. Xavier fights back with
a kick to the ribs and a second dropkick followed by a Shining Wizard
for two. Rusev hits a jumping kick to the chest of all things and
the Accolade gets the submission at 2:40. Woods still does nothing
for me.
Rusev
keeps the hold on but Sin Cara of all people makes the save.
CJ
Parker vs. Antonio Cesaro
Cesaro
throws him around to start as the fans just don’t care about Parker.
CJ tries to speed things up but dives back first onto Cesaro’s knees
and we hit the chinlock with a knee in the back. Parker fights back
with some knees to the chest in the corner and a high cross body for
two before loading up an airplane spin. Cesaro isn’t phased for some
reason and does his own Swing before the Neutralizer gets the pin at
3:34.
Rating:
D. People just do not care
about Parker and it’s time to pull the plug. He’s generic in the
ring and feels like he’s playing a character instead of being natural
at it whatsoever. Still though, Cesaro looks good and him shrugging
off the 1972 offense was a very nice touch. The match sucked though.
Post
match Sami Zayn comes out on crutches and says that 2013 was the best
year of his career. However he’s been thinking about one match in
particular (fans: “MATCH OF THE YEAR!”) because it’s the one
blemish on his record. Sami wants a rematch but Cesaro walks up the
ramp and says no to his face.
Miz
is in the back and calls Full Sail awesome. He’s feeling saucy
tonight so maybe we should have a MizTV tonight. CJ Parker comes in
and wants to know why the people keep booing him. Miz says he can
see why and accuses Parker of disrespecting him. Parker says Miz is
leaving a toxic footprint by spewing all that toxic waste before
slapping Miz in the face. Hopefully this is the start of a turn for
Parker.
Natalya
vs. Summer Rae
Bayley
and the BFF’s are seconds here and Renee Young is on commentary.
Feeling out process to start with Natalya taking over using some
technical stuff. She can’t get a backslide though but a snapmare
allows her to step on a seated Rae’s back, sending Summer face first
into the mat.
A
running seated dropkick gets two but Summer goes after the legs and
puts them in a modified Indian Deathlock, only to have Natalya
reverse it into a hold of her own. Summer is sent to the floor for a
second before Natalya brings her back in for some hard clotheslines
and forearms. Summer’s spinwheel kick is caught and the Sharpshooter
makes her tap at 2:54.
Colin
Cassady and Enzo Amore (still in a wheelchair but complete with
leopard print seat cover) say Enzo is making a full recovery with
Enzo saying he’ll fly. Aiden English comes in and brags about
beating Cassady over and over. Cassady points out the cheating so
English offers to sing. Enzo runs over Aiden’s foot.
Time
for Bo’s celebration for being a record setting 224 day long title
reign. He broke the record nearly three months ago but why not have
a celebration now? Bo thanks us for such a great ovation and says
we’re here for an historic moment. He cherishes our cheers,
especially when we say LET’S GO BO. Tonight the NXT officials are
going to celebrate the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time, and
that’s not Rollins or Langston.
Bo,
with the best over the top grin ever, accepts the honor and thanks
some friends in the audience: his third cousin Charles, his sister’s
college roommate, and his fourth grade teacher. We get a banner
raised which looks like it’s computer generated. Bo celebrates his
here’s Adrian Neville to protest. He’s here to speak for everyone
when he says shut up. The fans say Bo is a wanker as Adrian says
he’s going to win the title.
Bo
laughs by saying Adrian got a title match before by beating someone
in 4:45. Dallas could easily beat Neville in less than 4:45. HHH
pops up on screen and says that Bo is going to get a chance to make
him a Bo-Liever. Right now, there’s going to be a match with a 4:45
time limit. If Bo can’t win, then Neville gets his rematch at the
live show on February 27.
Bo
Dallas vs. Adrian Neville
Dallas
is in street clothes. Neville avoids a charge and points at the
clock before hiptossing Bo down and out to the floor. Bo pulls him
outside as well and we’re under four minutes. Adrian gets on the
apron but Dallas pulls the ring skirt to take Neville down. The
referee gets to nine and more time is burned off the clock. Dallas
pounds away with three minutes left and gets two off a suplex.
Some
elbows rock Neville in the corner and a slam gets two with two
minutes to go. Dallas wastes a lot of time by driving some shoulders
into Neville, only to have Adrian come back with kicks to the thigh
and a forearm. A dropkick puts Dallas down with forty five seconds
on the clock. The Red Arrow is loaded up but Bo rolls outside.
Neville stands on the top rope and looks at the clock. Bo comes back
in with fifteen seconds left but gets backdropped to the floor as
time expires at 4:45.
Rating:
D. This was an angle instead of
a match. I’m glad Bo didn’t lose, but at the same time I’m not wild
on having Neville get the title shot by just surviving a quick
beating and then running away for a minute and a half. The match
will be good when they get the time to actually wrestle.
Bo
comes back in post match and misses a charge, setting up a Red Arrow
to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. Not one of their
better efforts tonight but at least they’ve set up some interesting
stuff for the future. The good thing about NXT is that they can
change things up next week and not have to deal with these guys again
for another week. Hopefully they don’t spend the next month building
up to the live show like WWE does every few weeks.
Results
Adrian
Neville b. Wesley Blake – Red Arrow
Alexander
Rusev b. Xavier Woods – Accolade
Antonio
Cesaro b. CJ Parker – Neutralizer
Natalya
b. Summer Rae – Sharpshooter
Adrian
Neville vs. Bo Dallas went to a time limit draw

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Smackdown – January 17, 2014

18th January 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
January 17, 2014
Location:
DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, The Miz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
The
main story coming off Raw is of course Daniel Bryan turning on the
Wyatts to a huge reaction. I thought Bryan was going to leave them
eventually though this was faster than I was expecting. Other than
that, the road to the Rumble started to pick up on Monday as people
names were added to the match to make it give it far more star power
than it had before. Tonight we should get a few more names added to
the match as the show is in nine days. Let’s get to it.

New
Age Outlaws vs. Cody Rhodes/Goldust
Non-title.
Cole recaps the turn on Raw and says he doesn’t get the suprise at
the Outlaws’ treachery. For once, he’s absolutely right. Roadie
does the intro and the PG issues get a bit muddled. Why can’t Road
Dogg swear on the way to the ring but can when he’s introducing
Billy? Goldust and Road Dogg get things going with Roadie suckering
Goldust in for some shaky punches. Goldust takes him into the corner
for some right hands of his own followed by a back elbow to the jaw.

Billy
comes in but is backdropped out to the floor, allowing for a tag off
to Cody. Why Goldust is exhausted already is beyond me as he was
barely touched. He powerslams Roadie down and tags in his brother to
a nice pop. Cody cleans house on Gunn but has to deal with Road Dogg
as well. A double springboard missile dropkick puts the Outlaws down
for two as everything breaks down.
Goldust
and Roadie go to the floor as Cody avoids the Fameasser but has Cross
Rhodes countered as well. Billy gets two off a tilt-a-whirl slam but
still can’t hit the Fameasser. There’s the Disaster Kick….and
Vickie Guerrero interrupts. She reminds us that the Royal Rumble is
every man for himself, including brother vs. brother. The
distraction lets Billy roll up Cody for the pin at 4:43.
Rating:
C-. Goldust’s cardiovascular
issues aside, this wasn’t bad until the stupid ending. It’s bad
enough that I have to put up with the stupid corporate stuff on
Impact but now I have to put up with it on Smackdown as well. I’d
love to sit down with the creative team and show them some old
matches so they can see other ways heels can cheat to win a match.
What do I have to do to get a cover with feet on the ropes around
here?
CM
Punk says he’s going to call out all three members of the Shield.
Literally that’s that entire interview.
Here’s
Paul Heyman to brag about how amazing Lesnar is, focusing on
destroying Mark Henry. After that though, Lesnar was attacked by Big
Show who implied he could take Brock out. Heyman admits that Big
Show is intimidating but he’ll fall to Lesnar at the Royal Rumble.
Heyman
talks about going through wars with Lesnar at his side, meaning he
has to fear no evil. Big Show may hurt Zeb Colter, but he won’t
won’t hurt Heyman to get to Brock, including on Raw when Lesnar
appears live. Big Show comes out and Heyman is in the crowd before
Big Show is all the way in the ring. Big Show shows us a clip from
Raw where Show threw Lesnar around, followed by Big Show promising to
knock Lesnar out.
Alberto
Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio
Before
the match Rey talks about Del Rio being afraid of Batista, sending
Del Rio into a frenzy to start. He wraps Rey’s arm around the rope
but gets sent outside for Rey’s sliding splash under the bottom rope.
Back in and Del Rio crotches Rey down to tie him up in the Tree of
Woe for a kick to the ribs as we take a break. Back with Rey hitting
a top rope seated senton, only to run into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
for two.
JBL
talks about George Washington for some reason as Rey rolls through a
sunset flip and kicks Del Rio in the head for two. The corner
enziguri brings Rey down from the top again but Del Rio can’t pin
him. Rey comes back with a tornado DDT for two of his own but Del
Rio hits the Codebreaker on the arm. The armbreaker is countered
into the 619 but the top rope splash hits knees. Del Rio loads up
the low superkicks but Rey counters into a rollup for the pin at
8:25.
Rating:
C+. This took time to get going
but the last few minutes were good back and forth stuff. It was a
nice change of pace for Del Rio to not be on the arm the entire way
through, even though he stayed on the arm as is his custom. This was
way better than their basic match on Raw, which is nice as they have
chemistry together.
Post
match Del Rio jumps Mysterio and puts him in the cross armbreaker.
Naomi
vs. Tamina Snuka
Fallout
from Tamina hitting AJ with the Rear View on Monday. Emma is in the
audience doing her dance again. Miz reads a statement from Maryse
congraulating AJ on breaking her record for longest reigning Divas
Champion. Naomi jumps Tamina to start but is easily knocked down and
backdropped for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Naomi
comes back with some kicks to the ribs and a modified bulldog. A
Bubba Bomb puts Tamina down but the referee is looking at Cameron and
AJ. Tamina uses the distraction to kick Tamina in the head and hit a
split legged moonsault for the pin at 2:35.
Video
on Mae Young. These are always saddening yet cool at the same time.
If there has ever been a woman more willing to do anything to
entertain a crowd, I’d love to see her.
Video
of Bryan turning on Bray Wyatt Monday to a huge reaction.
Here’s
Bray without his hat in person with something to say. I love that
you can’t see Harper and Rowan until the lights come on even though
they’re right next to Bray. He talks about wanting to be powerful
like his father as a child. Bray did his best to appease him and be
just like him but it was never good enough. His father was never
there for him and never entrusted Bray with his kingdom.
Instead
he cast Bray out amidst the sheep, forcing him to walk the earth
alone. But then Sister Abigail saved him by singing the sweetest
songs Bray had ever heard. Bray became obsessed with her beauty and
power, but Abigail told him that Bray would be betrayed again on his
path to righteousness.
Monday
was the moment that Abigail was talking about, when Bray knew he had
to sacrifice himself to be resurrected into the creature he was born
to be. You can’t hurt him because he’s already dead and he does not
bleed like we do. Daniel Bryan was given a chance to walk with the
reapers but now he will be forced to walk with the saints. More
creepy stuff here as Bray’s backstory is slowly filled in.
Punk
is going to call out the New Age Outlaws in addition to the Shield.
If that’s career suicide, consider it a gift to the Authority.
Big
E. Langston vs. Fandango
Non-title
as well. Langston hits a quick backbreaker to start and Fandango
bails to the floor. Back in and the dancer pounds away with right
hands but Langston runs him over with a shoulder block. Fandango
avoids a charge in the corner and kicks Big E. to the outside before
pulling Langston’s shoulder into the post. Langston is thrown back
inside and we hit the armbar for a few moments as the match slows
down. Big E. easily powers Fandango to the floor as JBL and Miz
argue over who was a bigger star. Fandango is suplexed down, setting
up the Warrior Splash, the running Vader Attack and the Big Ending
for the win at 4:16.
Rating:
D+. Pretty boring match here
but Big E. getting clean wins on TV is the right idea for him.
Fandango got in some offense here instead of just being the sandwich
that Langston had for supper tonight. He’s not going to be a big
deal for a long time but it’s better than getting squashed.
Shield
thinks it’s the other 27 people in the Rumble that need to be worried
instead of the three of them. Ambrose says he wouldn’t throw Rollins
out but Rollins says Dean couldn’t do it anyway. Rollins would throw
Ambrose out, leading to an argument between the two. Reigns cuts
them off and says he’ll throw both of them out and go to
Wrestlemania, but they’ll still be a united Shield.
Ultimate
Warrior Hall of Fame video.
Video
on the WWE Network.
We
look back at Kofi shocking Orton on Monday, leading to Orton
attacking Cena’s dad. HHH has promised to deal with Orton
internally.
Real
Americans vs. Usos
Colter
is in a wheelchair to sell the attack on Monday. Cesaro and Swagger
do the hand over the heart but Zeb rolls down the ramp without them
holding him in place. Before
the match, Colter, with his voice muffled by the neck brace, says he
wants Lesnar to destroy Big Show at the Rumble before asking the fans
do say WE THE PEOPLE. Jimmy
has bad ribs and Jey has a bad shoulder due to the cage match on
Monday.
Swagger
throws Jey around to start and the injuries take their tole
immediately. Off to Cesaro for some shoulders to the ribs before
Swagger comes back in with knees to the midsection as well. Jack
launches Cesaro into a splash in the corner and Antonio follows up
with rights and lefts to the ribs as we take a break. Back with
Jimmy in the Cesaro Swing which still gets a nice reaction, months
after it was at its peak. Jimmy fights off the dizziness and kicks
the Real Americans in the face and stomach, finally allowing the hot
tag to Jey. The running Umaga attack gets two on Jack and a Samoan
drop gets the same.
Cesaro
is knocked to the floor but Jey gets caught in the Patriot Lock.
Jimmy superkicks Swagger for the save before chasing Antonio to the
floor. Cesaro hides behind Colter’s wheelchair before missing a
charge into the barricade. Jimmy shoves the wheelchair into Cesaro
for a big crash as Jey hits an electric chair drop on Swagger. Jey
drops the Superfly Splash for the pin at 9:16.
Rating:
C. The idea was fine here with
the Real Americans working on the injuries but we’ve seen these teams
fight so many times now that it’s hard to care anymore. Colter is so
good on the mic but he needs someone better than these two losers to
get anywhere. Swagger is in such desperate need of repackaging it’s
unreal.
Here’s
Punk for the big call out to end the show. Punk says he’s out here
because he’s not a coward like the Authority. He doesn’t need an
army of people to fight his battles for him, but maybe he’s insane.
Yeah he might get slaughtered by Shield and the Outlaws so why not
also call out the In Laws, the Ultimate Warrior, the Dingo Warrior
and the Road Warriors?
The
thing is, people listen to him when he talks and that’s real power.
Punk talks about HHH abusing his power to satisfy his own agenda
while hiding behind his wife. Shield’s music cuts Punk off before he
can get too far into that though, which is a nice touch if it was
intentional. The Outlaws come out before Shield can get to the ring
and Punk is surrounded.
Punk
holds up the microphone as his weapon but Kane’s pyro goes off and he
orders everyone to stand down. He gets in the ring and says the
Authority doesn’t want it this way. Punk’s anger is displaced and
his paranoia is getting the better of him. The Authority wants Punk
to main event Wrestlemania, which is why they entered him in the
Rumble.
In
fact, Kane’s new top directive is to treat Punk with the respect that
he deserves. Punk looks confused as Kane leaves so he asks if he has
Kane’s word. Kane nods but Punk doesn’t buy it because Kane is a
seven foot suck up. Kane says get him before catching a distracted
Punk in a chokeslam to end the show.
Overall
Rating: C-. This is another
show that didn’t need to exist. The wrestling wasn’t bad, the promos
weren’t bad and the ending advanced very little, but the show isn’t
actively bad. That’s the best way to describe Smackdown as a whole:
not much happens, but it’s better than having your face carved up
with a branding iron. In a way though that’s the worst kind of show
as it’s not bad enough to make fun of but it’s not good enough to be
worth seeing either. In a word, Smackdown exists and that’s all
there is to say about it.
Results
New
Age Outlaws b. Cody Rhodes/Goldust – Rollup to Rhodes
Rey
Mysterio b. Alberto Del Rio – Rollup
Naomi
b. Tamina Snuka – Split legged moonsault
Big
E. Langston b. Fandango – Big Ending
Usos
b. Real Americans – Superfly Splash to Swagger
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Impact Wrestling – January 16, 2014

17th January 2014 by Scott Keith
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
January 16, 2014
Location:
Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators:
Mike Tenay, Tazz
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Tonight
is the first night of a double week Genesis special. There are a lot
of matches set up for the next two weeks but it’s not clear which are
tonight. We’ll be getting some combination of Ethan Carter III vs.
Sting, Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode in a cage, James Storm vs. Gunner
for the Feast or Fired case and Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson. TNA
usually nails these Clash of the Champions style shows so let’s get
to it.

We
open with a very nice tribute to Mae Young with Tazz saying some kind
things about his time with her. Nothing wrong with that.
Recap
of the unification match from last week.
Spud
is in the ring to insult Alabama and introduce Dixie Carter, in case
you didn’t get enough of her last week. We get the usual don’t cross
the boss speech before Dixie gives us our second recap of last week’s
events. The fans want AJ but Dixie says tonight is about the new
champion. Magnus comes out to do the same speech you’ve heard a
dozen times about how this is a new era and calls it the Reign of
Magnus. He hands Dixie one of the titles because we wouldn’t be here
without her.
Dixie
says there are some others to thank and brings out the BroMans, Zema
Ion, Gail Kim, Lei’D Tapa, Bad Influence and Bobby Roode. Tonight is
the beginning of Dixie Carter’s TNA, but for that to happen, everyone
has to stand tall and united as one. The only amusing part of this:
as Dixie talks about winning tonight, Spud can barely hold the TNA
title belt because he’s so small. That guy continues to entertain
me. Dixie brings out Ethan Carter III in pink ring gear, making him
look like Rick Martel. Before Ethan can say anything, the lights go
out and Sting is in the crowd, pointing the bat down to the ring as
we take a break.
Back
with Sting in the same place, asking if this is the future that Dixie
is talking about. There are a lot of people in the back that can’t
be bought no matter what. They have a thing called honor which is
something Dixie can never have. Another amusing note: Sting is
standing in front of a No Standing sign. Sting talks about bringing
Magnus into the Main Event Mafia because he’s the future of
wrestling.
No
one thought he would sell out though, and that’s part of why this is
a house divided. Sting says “we” will fight back tonight but
Dixie says she only sees him. Samoa Joe, ODB, Eric Young, James
Storm and Joseph Park hit the ring for a fight, soon to be joined by
Gunner. Eventually the ring is cleared out except for Sting and
Carter with Sting holding the bat up to Carterh’s chest and blasting
him in the ribs as we take another break.
Back
with the good guys ruling the ring and the heels cowering on the
ramp. Joe says they’re here for a fight and not leaving until they
get into one. Spud, in pink pants no less, brings out Brian Hebner,
saying Joe might just get what they want. We’re getting a twelve man
tag RIGHT NOW.
Samoa
Joe/James Storm/Gunner/ODB/Eric Young/Joseph Park vs. Lei’D Tapa/Zema
Ion/Bro Mans/Bad Influence
Joe
pounds away on Zema Ion to start as everyone else fights on the
floor. We get the always cool sidestep from Joe to avoid a middle
rope cross body. ODB and Tapa get into the ring for a few moments
until Storm and Daniels come in instead. There have been no tags and
only now are a handful of people getting on the apron. Gunner throws
Kaz to the floor and now there’s no one in the ring.
Eric
and Robbie get into the ring as Joe is now on his third corner of the
match. Young and Park double elbow Jesse but Robbie breaks up Eric’s
top rope elbow. Zema sends Eric to the floor but turns around to see
ODB grabbing her chest. A fall away slam sends Ion flying but Tapa
runs ODB down, knocking her to the floor. Daniels comes in to work
over Young and gets two off a leg lariat.
Young
comes back with a belly to belly suplex and it’s off to Joe for some
fat man power. The backsplash gets two on Daniels with Kaz making
the save. Joe dives through the ropes to take out the Bro Mans as a
lot of things break down. Kaz breaks up an attempted Park dive but
busts Park’s lip open in the process. For the first time ever, Park
goes after his partners by taking down Gunner and Storm, leaving Joe
to put Daniels in the Clutch for the tap out at 7:32.
Rating:
D+. This was straight out of
the Russo playbook: throw everyone out there at once and hope the
fans are so impressed by the insanity that they don’t care about the
lack of a story. TNA is walking a very thin line right now with this
latest heel stable, even if it’s a looser version than usual.
Hopefully it doesn’t turn out like the rest, but that’s probably the
case.
Velvet
Sky is seen talking to Austin Aries in the back until Chris Sabin
comes up and demands to talk to her in the ring.
Kurt
Angle arrives and is looking for Dixie and/or Al Snow, the latter of
whom told Angle that he had a family emergency.
Sabin
is in the ring to yell at Velvet for having secret meetings with
Austin Aries but the man himself interrupts. Aries calls Sabin the
worst boyfriend ever and says that even though he’s a vegan, he might
make an exception for a piece of pigeon pie. Velvet looks flattered
and Aries keeps up the charm by calling Velvet an extremely hot
woman.
Chris
cuts Aries off by saying he tells Velvet what to do, but Aries says
he’s been telling Velvet to do what she wants to do. Sabin says
she’s his and gives her a little spank to prove it. Austin wants one
more match with Sabin for the title and Velvet locked in a small cage
at ringside. Sabin says no, but Velvet takes the mic and says she’ll
do it. She goes off on Sabin by saying she never wanted to be
involved in this. Sabin has treated her like garbage lately, so if
he loses next week she might be looking for someone else.
Angle
has already changed into his wrestling gear and is still looking for
Dixie.
Pat
Kenney (I think) tells a cameraman to shoot everything he sees
backstage. Sam Shaw comes by and Kenney congratulates him on his
match last week, but politely advises Shaw to stay away from Christy
Hemme and focus on his career. Shaw snaps and destroys Kenney,
beating him down with Kenney’s own shoe. Also it’s Samuel, not Sam.
Ethan
Carter practices his catchphrase when Magnus comes in to say believe
in yourself. Magnus got to the top by himself and Ethan can do the
same.
Bully
Ray comes to the ring for his No DQ match with Anderson but Ken jumps
him from behind as we go to a break before a bell.
Bully
Ray vs. Mr. Anderson
No
DQ. We come back from a break with Anderson ramming Ray (back in his
old pre-Aces attire and music) into the announcers’ table and heading
back inside, only to have Ray block the Mic Check. A double
clothesline puts both guys down as Tazz talks about Anderson wearing
the hospital wristbands for his newborn twins. Both guys bring in
chairs but it’s Anderson getting in the first shot.
Ray
comes back with a spear to put both guys down again and grabs his
chain for a whipping. An elbow drop with the chain wrapped arund the
arm gets two on Anderson but Ray stops to yell at Earl, allowing
Anderson to knock Ray’s chair into his face with a chair of his own
for two. Anderson pulls out a piece of a barricade that is clearly
made of plastic, only to have it kicked into his face.
Ray
misses a splash, allowing Anderson to go up for the Swanton. He hits
the barricade as well but comes back with a Mic Check onto the
“steel” for two. Anderson sets up a table in the corner and hits
a Regal Roll through the wood for another two count. These kickouts
are getting surprising. Another table is set up but Ray comes back
with a Rock Bottom for two of his own. Bully pulls out the lighter
fluid but takes too long to yell about Anderson’s newborns. A Mic
Check puts Ray down but Anderson gos to light the table on fire
instead. Ray hits a quick low blow and piledriver for the pin 9:40.
Rating:
C. This falls under the “screw
wrestling and let’s fight” category and that’s what it should have
been. Ray is SO much better in this role than he was as the head of
the lame biker gang which makes you all the more annoyed at Bischoff
for having to fulfill his childhood dreams on national TV. Good
fight here though not much of a match.
Angle
finds Al Snow and demands to know what happened last week. Al says
he was just following orders and gets thrown down.
Post
break Angle is in the ring to demand that Dixie come face him right
now. She went too far by bringing his family in and here’s Dixie to
respond. Kurt goes on a rant about how Dixie isn’t the same person
she used to be and how wrong it was to bring Kurt’s wife and kids
into this situation. Dixie says she did it to protect him because he
would have gotten hurt out here last week, meaning he couldn’t make
her any money.
She
doesn’t want him to be like AJ or Jeff Hardy and did what she did
because it was best. Angle says he isn’t on her team but says he’ll
be out here for the main event. Dixie postpones the match until next
week and has Angle taken out by security. Roode comes in off the
distraction and lays him out with the Death Valley Driver (dubbed the
Roode Bomb).
Gail
Kim and Lei’D Tapa jump Madison Rayne before Rayne’s title shot.
Knockouts
Title: Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne
Madison
is challenging but is still beaten down from the attack from before
the break. Kim beats her down even more by stomping away in the
corner but Madison comes back with a rollup for two of her own.
Madison can’t shake off all of the punishment from earlier though and
staggers down off a forearm to the head. A shoulder block sends the
champion to the floor but Tapa runs Madison over and chokes her down.
Tapa is finally ejected but Gail does just fine by putting on the
Figure Four around the post. The referee breaks it up and Rayne
comes back with a flapjack and the Rayne Drop for the pin and the
title at 4:00.
Rating:
D. Just a match here but at
least it ended the less than enthralling Gail Kim title reign. Kim
is very talented in the ring but she’s a black hole of charisma,
making her title reigns very difficult to sit through. Rayne could
be an improvement if she’s actually given the chance to do something
different.
Dixie
is with The Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards of course) and
offers them a tryout match next week. However, they’ve already
signed contracts offered to them by a TNA investor. Eddie hands her
an envelope, saying it’ll change everything. Oh dear.
We
run down the card for next week’s show.
Sting
vs. Ethan Carter III
Spud
is guest referee to really keep the deck stacked. Sting takes Carter
into the corner and is immediately warned for his actions. Carther
does the same and nothing happens as you would expect. A dropkick
sends Carter to the floor and Sting rams him into the steps for good
measure. Back in and Spud gets in the way of a Stinger Splash
attempt, allowing Ethan to take over with right hands of his own.
Sting
avoids a splash and puts on the Scorpion but Spud jumps on his back.
Instead Sting hits the Death Drop but Spud still won’t count. Sting
tries to force Spud’s hand down but Magnus pulls Spud to safety. The
champion takes his shirt off to reveal a referee’s shirt. Ethan uses
the distraction to roll up Sting and Magnus makes a fast count for
the pin at 4:58.
Rating:
D. This was all angle instead
of a match. That being said, I’m already getting sick of the latest
heel stable dominance with Sting fighting against the evil authority.
We’ve covered this so many times already and there’s almost nothing
new that can be done with this idea.
Post
break Sting says he wants one shot at the title and will do anything
to get it. Magnus says Sting lost at Slammiversary and can’t get a
shot, but Sting appeals to his pride, saying Magnus must want to earn
the title. He says men wear belts, so Magnus needs to stop being a
boy. Magnus gets in the ring and says it’s not going to work, but
offers Sting a deal: next week it’s Sting’s contract vs. the title.
Sting accepts to end the show.
Overall
Rating: D+. This is a hard one
to grade. Believe it or not, I’m really digging everything in TNA
other than the main event. The Ray solo heel character works, Sabin
vs. Aries with Velvet in the middle is a nice midcard feud and Angle
vs. Roode is an excellent feud in general. Then there’s the main
event, which is every stereotype TNA has rolled into one bloated
feud. It’s yet another heel stable/power struggle with Sting being
the great white knight for the company. Count up how many times TNA
has done that story and stop when you get to the second hand. I
think that sums up everything wrong at the moment.
Results
James
Storm/Gunner/ODB/Samoa Joe/Eric Young/Joseph Park b. Bad
Influence/Zema Ion/Bro Mans/Lei’D Tapa – Koquina Clutch to Daniels
Bully
Ray b. Mr. Anderson – Piledriver
Madison
Rayne b. Gail Kim – Rayne Drop
Ethan
Carter III b. Sting – Rollup
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NXT – January 16, 2014

16th January 2014 by Scott Keith
NXT
Date:
January 15, 2014
Location:
Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators:
Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Tensai
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
It’s
the first show of the new taping cycle so we’re in for some fresh
stories. If nothing else we’ll get to find out who is Bo’s next
challenger, possibly at the live NXT special on the WWE Network. The
only match for this week is Kofi challenging Alexander Rusev to a
rematch after losing two weeks ago. Let’s get to it.

Here’s
HHH to open things up. As most of us know, there’s a new concept
called the WWE Network launching on February 24. Also, on February
27, NXT is going to go live for the first time ever. I believe it’s
just a one time deal though.
Welcome
Home.
Adrian
Neville vs. Tyler Breeze
Fallout
from the lumberjack match a month ago when Breeze cost Neville the
title. Tyler grabs a headlock to start but Neville runs him over
with a shoulder block to send Tyler to the floor. Neville teases a
dive but backflips into the middle of the ring and waits on Breeze.
Back in and Neville sends him face first into the buckle, drawing a
NOT IN THE FACE chant. Instead Adrian kicks him in the chest,
followed up by some loud chops. Neville heads to the apron but gets
caught by a springboard dropkick as we take a break.
Back
with Tyler holding Neville in a chinlock as Adrian fights up. Tyler
takes him down again but stops for a quick photo op. Neville uses
the breather to snap off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to get himself a
breather. A spinning kick to the ribs sets up a running dropkick to
the head for two as Breeze is in trouble. Neville loads up a
springboard dropkick but Breeze dropkicks him out of the air for two
of his own. Good stuff so far.
Prince
Pretty is all ticked off now and pounds away on Adrian’s face but
misses the Beauty Shot. A high kick looks to set up a middle rope
Phoenix Splash but Breeze rolls away at the last second. The Beauty
Shot is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two as the fans aren’t
as into this as they should be. Breeze breaks up the Red Arrow by
grabbing Adrian’s foot and crotching him down, but Neville blocks a
hurricanrana attempt, setting up the Red Arrow for the win at 9:20
shown of 12:50.
Rating:
B-. I was digging this match as
Breeze gets to show that he can go in the ring instead of just on the
mic. Neville is a far more complete wrestler than his finisher would
suggest. He’ll be on the main roster someday in a Sin Cara level
role and Breeze could be great as a comedy heel. Good signs for the
future here.
CJ
Parker vs. Jason Jordan
Jordan,
usually a jobber, gets a full entrance. A quick German suplex gets
two on Parker and Jordan keeps the grip to hold Parker on the mat.
Parker sends him throat first into the ropes and hits the Third Eye
(palm strike) for the pin at 1:07. It’s a very telling sign when you
can get the NXT fans to not care about you at all.
Bo
Dallas vs. Mojo Rawley
Non-title.
The much bigger Rawley tosses Dallas back into the corner and tells
Dallas that he isn’t hyped. It works so well that he does it again
but Bo offers a nice smile. A shoulder block sends Bo to the floor
and the smile is gone. Back in and Bo immediately bails to the
floor. Dallas has no idea what to do so he just pounds away on Mojo
in the corner. Rawley runs him over again with a shoulder and
splashes Dallas in the corner over and over. Dallas rolls to the
floor again but Mojo pulls him back inside, only to miss a splash and
let Bo roll him up with a handful of trunks for the pin at 3:49.
Rating:
C-. Rawley looked like a train
here until the very end. I’d have had Bo take the countout as Rawley
could easily be a top challenger for the title in the near future.
They’re also used him far better here instead of having him get
destroyed for the entire match before pulling off a fluke win. Also
is you have to lose, at least lose to the champion.
Kofi
Kingston vs. Alexander Rusev
Feeling
out process to start and Kofi can’t take him over with a headlock.
Some kicks to the ribs have a better effect but Rusev just blasts him
in the head to take over. Kofi scores with an elbow to the jaw but
gets shoved out of the corner to give Rusev control again. Alexander
sends him into the corner and works on the ribs before putting on a
nerve hold.
Back
up and more shots to the ribs have Kofi in trouble but he sidesteps a
charging Bulgarian and sends him to the floor. Kofi misses a
baseball slide but scores with a clothesline off the steps as we take
a break. We come back with Kofi having a chinlock broken up but
managing to avoid a charge. Kofi pounds away in the corner but Rusev
counters into a powerbomb for two. The fans chant FEED ME MORE at
Rusev before changing over to GOLDBERG.
Rusev
drops some elbows and headbutts before going back to the nerve hold.
Now the fans start doing the wave as Kofi fights back with chops and
a dropkick, only to have his cross body caught in midair. Rusev,
still holding Kofi, drives knees into the ribs before trying a Samoan
drop but Kofi rolls him up for two. Kingston avoids a charge in the
corner and kicks Rusev in the face, but his top rope cross body is
caught again, setting up the Samoan drop for two.
Kofi
dodges another charge, though this time Rusev puts on the brakes
because he actually learns during his matches. The SOS gets two and
some hard kicks to the face have Rusev in more trouble. Rusev comes
back with a clothesline but Kofi hits his jumping clothesline to take
him down again. The Boom Drop connects and after a distraction from
Lana, Trouble in Paradise is enough to pin Rusev at 12:09 shown of
15:39.
Rating:
C+. While it’s not as boring as
the fans made it out to be, this was still an uninteresting match for
the most part. Rusev losing is questionable as well as the matches
here don’t mean anything to the main roster so putting Alexander over
wouldn’t hurt anyone at all. Not bad but nothing inspiring at all.
Overall
Rating: B-. Two good matches, a
major announcement and nothing bad make for a good episode. The
future is incredibly bright for WWE as the class of talent they have
down in NXT is very strong. Rusev, Rawley and Neville will all be on
the main roster at some point this year and they’ll all do well,
assuming the creative team doesn’t screw them up.
Results
Adrian
Neville b. Tyler Breeze – Red Arrow
CJ
Parker b. Jason Jordan – Third Eye
Bo
Dallas b. Mojo Rawley – Rollup with a handful of trunks
Kofi
Kingston b. Alexander Rusev – Trouble in Paradise

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Smackdown – January 10, 2014

11th January 2014 by Scott Keith
Smackdown
Date:
January 10, 2014
Location:
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators:
Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
There
isn’t much to talk about coming into this show. Monday was Old
School Raw and the biggest story to come out of that was the
surprising return of Jake Roberts who looked better than he has in
years. Talk has turned to the Rumble though as we’re now just over
two weeks away. Things can start to get very interesting very fast
around this time so hopefully the pace picks up. Let’s get to it.

We
open with a Wyatt Family promo and Bray talking about Daniel being
lost and needing his guidance.
Usos
vs. Wyatt Family
It’s
Harper and Rowan with no Daniel or Bray in sight. Harper overpowers
Jimmy to start by driving him into the corner, only to have Jey make
a blind tag and sneak in with a kick to Harper’s ribs. That’s all
good with Luke as he takes Jey down with ease before bringing in
Rowan who gets kicked in the chest to change control again. Rowan
runs him over with a shoulder and puts Jey on the corner for forearms
to the chest from both monsters.
Erick
stays on Jey but gets kicked in the head, knocking him back into the
corner for a tag back to Harper. Luke kicks Jimmy off the apron to
break up a tag before it’s back to Rowan for some face pulling. Jey
tries to fight back but gets caught in a fallaway slam for no cover.
Harper comes back in and breaks up another tag attempt with a shot to
the ribs and another to the jaw.
A
catapult sends Jey throat first into the middle rope and we hit the
Gator Roll. Back to Rowan for the fist head squeeze until Jey fights
out with a jawbreaker and Whisper in the Wind. Harper and Jimmy come
in off the hot tags with Jimmy speeding things up but not moving as
quickly as he usually does.
A
Samoan drop puts Harper down but Jimmy has to superkick Rowan, only
to walk into a Michinoku Driver from Harper. Everything breaks down
and Jimmy rolls Luke up for two. Harper is sent to the floor so
Jimmy can hit a big dive to put everyone down. Rowan runs Jey over
as Harper comes back with the discus lariat, leading to the double
countout at 9:45.
Rating:
C+. The match was entertaining
but we’re getting very close to the maximum amount of times these
teams (or Usos vs. Shield) can happen with the fans still caring.
It’s been the same match over and over for months now and it’s losing
its interest every week. It also doesn’t help that the Usos have
been in the same spot in the division for months now with wins and
losses meaning nothing for them.
Post
match the Wyatts get ready to destroy Jey but Jimmy makes the save
and gets them out of there. They get up the ramp but Bryan and Wyatt
jump them from behind and it’s a 4-2 beatdown. There’s the running
knee to Jey and Bryan stares at the announcers with his tongue out.
Jimmy gets Sister Abigail and all four Wyatts pose. For some reason
this was on a wider camera shot.
Randy
Orton comes into Vickie’s office and demands to see HHH and Stephanie
but they’re not here tonight. Randy is in a match tonight but hasn’t
been consulted like he’s supposed to be. Vickie loads up the Best
for Business line but Orton doesn’t want to hear it. He’s going to
give the Authority a piece of his mind on Raw because it’s best for
Randy Orton.
It’s
MizTV with special guest the Big Show. Before Show comes out we look
at Lesnar breaking Mark Henry’s arm on Monday before Big Show came
out and threw Lesnar around. Miz recaps the story again and asks Big
Show why he did what he did. Big Show puts it simply: he doesn’t
like Brock Lesnar and never has. He’s not happy that Brock Lesnar is
back and doesn’t like it when everyone who stands up to Brock Lesnar
is left laying.
Big
Show challenges Lesnar to a fight and here’s Heyman to answer.
Heyman calls Lesnar the Ultimate Fighter of WWE and asks if Big Show
wants to fight Brock right now. Big Show is ready and Heyman does
his always great fake out, saying Brock will fight when Heyman says
so. Heyman throws out an offer for a match at the Royal Rumble and
says Brock will not be a hard man to find before then.
Batista
is still coming.
Video
on the Network announcement. I drool more every time I hear the
details.
Ryback/Curtis
Axel/Real Americans vs. Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara/Los Matadores
Diego
sends Axel into the corner but Axel knees him in the ribs and takes
over. They run the ropes until Diego stops to shout OLE! Axel sends
him into the corner for something like Ultimo Dragon’s headstand
until Diego takes him down with a headscissors. Off to Fernando who
gets taken into the corner for the tag to Cesaro. Fernando nips up
off the mat into a headscissors and it’s back to Diego to chop
Swagger in the head.
Axel
comes in immediately and gets dropkicked by Sin Cara, sending him
into the corner for a tag off to Ryback. A few dropkicks have Ryback
in trouble but he bails to the floor before Rey can hit the 619. The
good guys are in control as we go to a break. Back with Swagger
driving a knee into Rey’s ribs and elbowing him in the face.
The
Vader Bomb hits feet and Rey kicks him in the head for two as
everything breaks down. Torito dives on Axel as Rey rolls out of the
Patriot Lock but the 619 is caught, only to have Cara break up the
pin. Sin and Axel take each other out to the floor, allowing Rey to
hit the 619 and Drop the Dime for the pin on Jack at 4:40 shown of
8:10.
Rating:
C. I guess they have to put all
the Hispanic guys together since they put all their dancing black
people together. We’re just an Aces and 8’s invasion away from GANG
WARS 2! This took some time to get going but the ending was very
fun. Sin Cara looks like he has some potential….which is why Del
Rio beat him in two minutes on Raw I guess.
Video
on Cena vs. Orton.
Randy
Orton vs. Big E. Langston
Non-title
of course. Langston takes him down with a shoulder block but Orton
rolls to the floor before a cover. Back in and a headlock sets up
another shoulder block sends Orton to the floor again. Orton comes
in again and punches Big E. down, only to walk into a headbutt for
two. Langston sends Orton to the mat with a single right hand to the
ribs before slapping on an armbar.
Orton
fights up again and pounds on Big E., only to get caught in a
backbreaker. A second backbreaker gets two and Langston is getting
in a zone. Randy escapes the Big Ending and bails to the floor as we
take a break. Back with the chinlock until Big E. powers out, only
to get kneed in the ribs for two. Back to the chinlock but Big E.
fights up again.
The
comeback is short lived again though as Orton sends him through the
ropes to the floor. Langston is sent into the steps twice in a row
for two before we hit the chinlock again. Big E. fights up one more
time and runs Orton over twice in a row, followed by a belly to belly
suplex. The Warrior Splash gets two but Orton hits his backbreaker
to get a breather. The RKO is countered with a splash in the corner
but Orton pokes Big E. in the eye, setting up the RKO for the pin at
14:28.
Rating;
C+. I missed pokes to the eyes.
They’re such a simple heel move but they can be just what you need
to get a heel through an ending. This match worked for the most part
but it could have had a few minutes of chinlocks taken out. It’s
good that Langston gets to look like he can hang in there against top
guys. There’s a future there if he’s used properly.
Bray
Wyatt talks about fate being a dangerous beast. She tears you apart
with her teeth while tearing you apart with her eyes. Bray wants to
know if he cuts an Uso, will the other bleed? He asks about the lies
of the world, making Daniel scream LIE. Daniel rants about the lies
of the world making him want to ram his head into a wall until he
breaks something.
Xavier
Woods vs. Fandango
This
is a result of Fandango interrupting and costing Truth and Woods a
match on Main Event. Truth joins commentary and says he and JBL are
down like four flat tires. Woods takes him down with a headlock to
start but Fandango sends him out to the floor. Xavier slingshots
back into a rollup for the pin at 1:25. It’s as fast as it sounds.
Post
match Summer Rae goes into the ring to yell but the Funkadactyls take
care of her. Truth beats up Fandango for fun.
The
Usos promises to show the Wyatts pain on Monday.
The
Raw ReBound recaps most of the show.
Shield
comes to the ring for the main event. Reigns declares himself the
new best in the world after pinning Punk on Raw. Ambrose says
there’s no reason for someone to own a ten foot python and it gave
him nightmares. He goes into a rant about choking the snake but
Rollins takes the mic and says tonight is about the future, meaning
it’s not about the New Age Outlaws. They’ll break Punk like they
always do because they are the future.
Shield
vs. CM Punk/New Age Outlaws
The
Outlaws haven’t wrestled on Smackdown in nearly 13 years. Naturally
the Philadelphia fans are WAY into Punk. Ambrose and Punk get things
going with Dean headlocking Punk to the mat, only to get caught in a
headscissors. Off to Road Dogg who works on the arm for a few
seconds before handing it off to Billy for more cranking. Cole
screws up history by saying the Outlaws debuted as part of DX as
Billy puts Rollins in an armbar. The Outlaws take turns on the
armfor a bit before Punk comes in with a top rope elbow to the arm.
Seth
gets in a shot to the jaw and tags in Ambrose, only to have Punk take
him down into an Indian Deathlock. Punk misses the high kick and
Dean bails to the floor as everything breaks down. Shield is sent to
the floor to regroup as we take a break. Back with Ambrose working
over Road Dogg until Roadie comes back with the shaky right hands.
Rollins comes back in with a knee to the head for two before it’s
back to Reigns for some corner stomping. Back to Ambrose who does
the Road Dogg arm wiggle, only to have Road punch him in the face.
Ambrose
will have none of this selling for old guys and knees Dogg in the
ribs before tagging off to Rollins for a chinlock. Road Dogg is
taken back into the corner for more triple teaming before Reigns
comes back in for a chinlock. Reigns lets him go and ducks his head,
allowing Road Dogg to put him down with a DDT. Ambrose can’t break
up the hot tag attempt and it’s Punk in to clean house.
CM
hits his usual stuff on Ambrose but can’t get the GTS. Both guys hit
cross bodies to put each other down and it’s a double tag to bring in
Billy vs. Roman. Everything breaks down with Gunn cleaning house and
getting two off a Jackhammer to Rollins. Punk hits a suicide dive to
take out Seth but Billy takes too long setting up the Fameasser,
allowing Reigns to spear him down for the pin at 14:25.
Rating:
C-. This feud has lost its way.
Punk beat Shield on his own, so why should I want to see him fight
them with a variety of partners? I have no problem with the Outlaws
getting a match on Smackdown as they still looked fine out there.
They were never my favorite team though and it’s not like they were
known for their in ring work in the first place. The match wasn’t
bad but it was little more than fine.
Overall
Rating: D+. I remember reading
something like same Smackdown, different week and that’s about as
accurate as it gets. There’s just nothing on these shows that you
need to see and we’re not even getting a great match every week
anymore. The show is back to being a supplement to Raw and that’s
not something I need when Raw is as bloated as it is.
Results
Wyatt
Family vs. Usos went to a double countout
Rey
Mysterio/Los Matadores/Sin Cara b. Real Americans/Ryback/Curtis Axel
Randy
Orton b. Big E. Langston – RKO
Xavier
Woods b. Fandango – Rollup
Shield
b. CM Punk/New Age Outlaws – Spear to Gunn

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