Match 1: Ring of Fire - Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
This is the gimmick of all gimmick matches and it is a very interesting choice of opener for the night. This is Wyatt's debut in the ring and he has the mammoth of a task in facing Kane. Unlike an Inferno match, the rules of a Ring of Fire match require one to pin or submit their opponent for the victory. Action in the ring was as expected with the flames rising into the air when one would lad a big move upon each other. The Wyatt family on the side tried to interfere only to feel the wrath of the flames rise whenever they wanted to help Bray. Eventually, the used a blanket to block the flames and enter the ring to which Bray took advantage of and hit his finisher for his first victory. They then dismantle Kane after the match and take him to the back mysteriously. Decent match with the flames being the main attraction. Wyatt Family going to be big.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: *1/2
Match 2: Damien Sandow vs. Cody Rhodes
The implosion of Team Rhodes Scholars have finally come full circle with a match between the two here at Summerslam. Rhodes has finally shaved off his mustache and Sandow has a briefcase that resembles a chocolate bar. Good wrestling between the two but can't help but feel that through all the drama and hatred the two have had the past month, there really should have been more. The commentators added that the animosity has basically reached a boiling point but the match failed to live up to that. Rhodes hits a Cross Rhodes to pick up a much-needed win against his former partner. Interesting to see where they go from here.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
Rating: *3/4
Match 3: World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Christian
How cool is it to see Christian in a match for the World Heavyweight Championship! And it is against Alberto Del Rio! Is this 2011? These two straight up raised the bar for the night. Just a great physical match with the story being Christian trying to pull out one last big victory. And the two did a fantastic job of conveying this message, Christian seemingly pulled out all the stops and was definitely having the crowd in his hands. Del Rio was perfect in his role as well, looking like a vicious heel with a compilation of nasty kicks and giving off an animal-like vibe. The close counts and reversals really gave me the feeling like I was watching a classic wrestling match with none of the crap on the side. No gimmicks, no weapons, no interferences, just wrestling. And it was great. The ending came when Christian finally landed the Spear out of nowhere but was quickly caught up in Del Rio's signature submission. Christian submitted and that was it, Del Rio retained and put himself over the Los Angeles crowd.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: ***3/4
Match 4: Brie Bella vs. Natalya
This is a battle between two sides from the Total Divas show as both competitors have support at ringside. The crowd absolute had no interest in this match as they were chanting for the commentators. It was funny but also stupid on their part, I understand that this is not the most appealing match in the world but they still put on a better Divas match than what we are accustomed to. Sometimes, you could really see the passion in Natalya's work so it felt awkward to hear the crowd chant these annoyances. Other than that, the match was basic but like I said, better than the normal as Natalya submits Bella through the Sharpshooter.
Winner: Natalya
Rating: *
Match 5: No Disqualification - Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk
As physical as the World Heavyweight Championship match was, it is nothing in comparison to this one right here. I don't know where to start, the build, the vibe, and the video package all has me so hyped for this match. The no disqualification stipulation was added earlier and that just makes things so much more exciting. Lesnar is white hot. And so is Punk. This has all the makings to be a classic Summerslam match. Off the bat, Lesnar shows Punk who the true alpha male is and looks like a beast in the process. Punk must pull out everything he has to defy the odds and he does everything in his power to do so. Let's also not forget to mention that the crowd is white hot for this, too. From an amazing submission exchange, to Paul Heyman hollering like a dog, to the nasty chair shots, and the story being told, this match clicked on so many levels. Lesnar hits an F-5 to Punk on a steel chair to claim victory after Punk distracted himself from the match to focus on beating up Heyman. A spectacular match that makes Lesnar a bigger beast headed into WrestleMania season. Lesnar and Punk are both at the top of their games here and it was so cool to finally see these two put on a show on a grand PPV.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****1/2
Match 6: Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlyn vs. Big E Langston & AJ Lee
The animosity between Ziggler and AJ boils over here to Summerslam in an inter-gender match. Nothing too exciting to note here, crowd was understandably tired after the last match but the four competitors kept up the pace nicely. Fun action that didn't overstay its welcome which saw Ziggler hit his finisher on Langston to get his team the win. This nicely sets up the main event and allows the audience to cool off a bit from the last bout.
Winners: Dolph Ziggler & Kaitlyn
Rating: *1/2
Match 7: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan
Who would have known just a few years ago that this would be the main event of Summerslam. Insane how the business works sometimes, but I guess that is the beauty of it. Once again, Triple H is the guest referee for a Summerslam main event and the crowd is hot for this one. Very reminiscent of WrestleMania 22 with the Chicago crowd booing Cena out of the building in the main event. The chants of Cena not being able to wrestle is so old, the dude has been doing this for more than a decade. I think he knows what he is doing. The better part of the opening of the match featured lots of wrestling and lots of reversals. Cena is easily holding his ground in the wrestling department against Bryan, the crowd can definitely stop the chants now. Very clean and paced enough for us to enjoy every move performed. Very similar to Cena's match against CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011, the match now turns things up a notch. Let's also not forget that Cena is nursing his arm and does a fantastic job of selling the injury. Bryan lays lots of his focus on it and Cena uses his other arm for his moves. The small things like that go unnoticed and credit needs to be given to both for letting it be a nice focus on the match. The wrestling gets turned in for a harder and more physical match. Oddly enough, Bryan was in control for a noticeably better part of the match. Considering that Cena is the champ and is always billed as the best when it comes to the more physical style of wrestling. But on second thought, it does make a bit sense considering Bryan got a head start to the match with his superior wrestling skills. Still, it felt like Cena was wrestling as the underdog rather than Bryan. Bryan hit Cena with his running knee finisher and captured the WWE Championship. The journey culminated here and the crowd erupts. Michael Cole's call was just as great and the it was beautiful moment until...
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: ****1/4
Match 8: WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Randy Orton
...Randy Orton's music hits as Triple H lands a Pedigree on Bryan. Orton pins Bryan and takes Bryan's moment away. I loved it, this sets a path for Bryan to regain the championship and also makes both Triple H and Orton huge heels. With that being said, the match itself was great. But like I said, Bryan was in too much control of the match for me to give it a higher rating. The rematch down the line should definitely be much better. Triple H as the guest referee and someone cashing in their Money in the Bank contract at the end of the night. Is this Summerslam 2011 or 2013?
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: n/a
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Three really great matches that will easily standout when you give this one a view. From a historic standpoint, this Summerslam easily matches up there with some of the best. Punk vs. Lesnar delivered and so did the main event. Orton cashing in was a very cool surprise and only leads to interesting paths to WrestleMania XXX.
Rating: 7.75/10
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Review
Match 1: World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank - Fandango vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Antonio Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow vs. Wade Barrett
I say it every time, this match must be the toughest for the competitors. Coming up with new stuff for a Ladder match is always a challenge. I love the idea of this match, every person has never held the World Heavyweight Championship. Jack Swagger's 2010 reign doesn't count. Also, there are two tag teams which should make for interesting battles. The guys came out with new tricks from the bag, Ambrose standing atop a horizontal ladder being carried by The Real Americans was awesome, The Real Americans using each other instead of a ladder to climb for the briefcase, and Cody Rhodes came to steal the show. Rhodes cleaned house in the last few minutes of the match and the Philadelphia crowd exploded for him. He was about to reach the briefcase until Reigns & Rollins from The Shield came to Ambrose's side. However, The Usos joined and took out The Shield. Ambrose sneakingly climbs the ladder but Rhodes pushes him off onto all the guys at ringside. Rhodes climbs before his partner in Sandow pushes him off and grabs the briefcase. Seems like a missed opportunity to have Rhodes win but it gives Sandow an even bigger one in a way. Great opening match that already puts the show on notice.
Winner: Damien Sandow
Rating: ****
Match 2: Intercontinental Championship - Curtis Axel (c) vs. The Miz
After Curtis Axel captured the championship at the Payback PPV, he defends it here against The Miz. The Philadelphia crowd is more into Paul Heyman rather than the babyface in The Miz. Miz works hard and I can't help but give him credit, he was definitely into the action and he was working the crowd by trying to get them fired up. Miz even pulls an Eddie Guerrero as he slaps himself when the back of the referee was turned. Once the ref looked back, he kicked out Heyman to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Axel still manages to get the win over The Miz. Okay match that continues to elevate Axel.
Winner: Curtis Axel
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: Divas Championship - AJ Lee (c) vs. Kaitlyn
A rematch from the Payback PPV as AJ once again has Big E Langston in her corner. Just another decent Divas match where Kaitlyn injures her shoulder from hitting a Spear in which AJ Lee follows it up with a Black Widow for the win. Nothing really to say here, just about what you would expect.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: 1/2*
Match 4: Chris Jericho vs. Ryback
Ryback has completely lost his steam from the past year and maybe a match against Jericho could help him pick it up. Match was a bit slow for the most part but that seems to be the case with most Ryback matches. They often feel rehashed and this one wasn't really any different until the latter moments but it felt as if Jericho was leading the charge. Jericho landed a Codebreaker on Ryback who was leaned inward towards the ring on the second rope and Jericho reversed a Shellshock into a DDT which were both pretty cool. But Ryback needs to look like a beast and this match just didn't really do it, it felt even. As much as the commentators tried to build up Ryback, it's hard to believe that this guy is going to be in the main event anytime soon. Plus, he won by rolling up Jericho. This guy is supposed to be a beast yet he wins by rolling up Jericho and sliding out of the ring as if he was Edge.
Winner: Ryback
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Crowd is absolutely hot for the challenger, Ziggler is making the most out of his recent turn. After their past encounters, they needed to do something a bit different here and separate their last matches from each other. Safe to say that this was my favorite match between the two, beautifully working the crowd and never a dull moment. Del Rio wrestles much better as a heel and the same can be said for Ziggler who I feel wrestles better as a face. The way they interact with the crowd is so great and every single pin felt meaningful. They recalled to their last match where Del Rio landed a sharp kick to Ziggler's head but this time around, Ziggler kicks out! Del Rio exposes his knee brace but AJ Lee interferes and nails Del Rio with her Divas Championship. Ziggler was one second away from hitting his finisher. The referee calls for the bell as Del Rio wins via disqualification. Interesting ending but it makes sense, Ziggler is too hot right now to eat a pin and this gave them the perfect out. Also makes Del Rio look like a bigger heel as he once again weasels himself another win.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Mark Henry
After Mark Henry faked his retirement in an amazing promo on Monday Night Raw, he now challenges John Cena for his first WWE Championship. For those who follow my reviews, you know that I'm a big fan of Henry and he showed why tonight. He's such a vicious heel and he picked apart Cena here. Henry was in control of the match for the most part which is now surprise, but it worked. Henry is built as a destroyer while Cena is still being built as the underdog. Crowd was much into the action which saw Henry kick out of an Attitude Adjustment and Cena kick out of a World's Strongest Slam. The finishing sequence saw Henry rip off both turnbuckle coverings to get a cheap advantage but it ended up backfiring. Cena was able to put Henry in the STF to win the contest and retain. Good WWE Championship match and loved seeing Henry being placed in this position.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship Contract Money in the Bank - Rob Van Dam vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. CM Punk vs. Christian vs. Daniel Bryan
This is Rob Van Dam's first WWE appearance since 2009 and the Philly crowd is in love with him! It should also be noted that Kane was scheduled to be apart of the match until The Wyatt Family took care of him. The match starts off with all the competitors staring each other down before ganging up on RVD. They then take out Sheamus before it's just Bryan and Punk left alone. Fun way to start the match with two of arguably the best wrestlers in the game. Trying to differentiate between Ladder matches is hard, especially when there is two in one night. But this one had just as many cool spots as the first one. Bryan ripping everybody apart before driving Sheamus through a ladder that was placed outside was awesome, Paul Heyman rushing out to turn on CM Punk when he was so close to winning came out of nowhere, and Orton's RKO on RVD off a ladder before grabbing the briefcase was the perfect ending. Lots of questions heading out as things head into Summerslam with Heyman's turn and Orton's win. Satisfying end to a pretty damn good PPV offering from the WWE.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ****
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The two Ladder matches delivered and the two championship matches did, as well. It's really hard to ask for much more as this PPV acts as a nice bridge for the road to Summerslam. One of WWE's best PPV offerings of the year!
Rating: 8/10
I say it every time, this match must be the toughest for the competitors. Coming up with new stuff for a Ladder match is always a challenge. I love the idea of this match, every person has never held the World Heavyweight Championship. Jack Swagger's 2010 reign doesn't count. Also, there are two tag teams which should make for interesting battles. The guys came out with new tricks from the bag, Ambrose standing atop a horizontal ladder being carried by The Real Americans was awesome, The Real Americans using each other instead of a ladder to climb for the briefcase, and Cody Rhodes came to steal the show. Rhodes cleaned house in the last few minutes of the match and the Philadelphia crowd exploded for him. He was about to reach the briefcase until Reigns & Rollins from The Shield came to Ambrose's side. However, The Usos joined and took out The Shield. Ambrose sneakingly climbs the ladder but Rhodes pushes him off onto all the guys at ringside. Rhodes climbs before his partner in Sandow pushes him off and grabs the briefcase. Seems like a missed opportunity to have Rhodes win but it gives Sandow an even bigger one in a way. Great opening match that already puts the show on notice.
Winner: Damien Sandow
Rating: ****
Match 2: Intercontinental Championship - Curtis Axel (c) vs. The Miz
After Curtis Axel captured the championship at the Payback PPV, he defends it here against The Miz. The Philadelphia crowd is more into Paul Heyman rather than the babyface in The Miz. Miz works hard and I can't help but give him credit, he was definitely into the action and he was working the crowd by trying to get them fired up. Miz even pulls an Eddie Guerrero as he slaps himself when the back of the referee was turned. Once the ref looked back, he kicked out Heyman to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Axel still manages to get the win over The Miz. Okay match that continues to elevate Axel.
Winner: Curtis Axel
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: Divas Championship - AJ Lee (c) vs. Kaitlyn
A rematch from the Payback PPV as AJ once again has Big E Langston in her corner. Just another decent Divas match where Kaitlyn injures her shoulder from hitting a Spear in which AJ Lee follows it up with a Black Widow for the win. Nothing really to say here, just about what you would expect.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: 1/2*
Match 4: Chris Jericho vs. Ryback
Ryback has completely lost his steam from the past year and maybe a match against Jericho could help him pick it up. Match was a bit slow for the most part but that seems to be the case with most Ryback matches. They often feel rehashed and this one wasn't really any different until the latter moments but it felt as if Jericho was leading the charge. Jericho landed a Codebreaker on Ryback who was leaned inward towards the ring on the second rope and Jericho reversed a Shellshock into a DDT which were both pretty cool. But Ryback needs to look like a beast and this match just didn't really do it, it felt even. As much as the commentators tried to build up Ryback, it's hard to believe that this guy is going to be in the main event anytime soon. Plus, he won by rolling up Jericho. This guy is supposed to be a beast yet he wins by rolling up Jericho and sliding out of the ring as if he was Edge.
Winner: Ryback
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Crowd is absolutely hot for the challenger, Ziggler is making the most out of his recent turn. After their past encounters, they needed to do something a bit different here and separate their last matches from each other. Safe to say that this was my favorite match between the two, beautifully working the crowd and never a dull moment. Del Rio wrestles much better as a heel and the same can be said for Ziggler who I feel wrestles better as a face. The way they interact with the crowd is so great and every single pin felt meaningful. They recalled to their last match where Del Rio landed a sharp kick to Ziggler's head but this time around, Ziggler kicks out! Del Rio exposes his knee brace but AJ Lee interferes and nails Del Rio with her Divas Championship. Ziggler was one second away from hitting his finisher. The referee calls for the bell as Del Rio wins via disqualification. Interesting ending but it makes sense, Ziggler is too hot right now to eat a pin and this gave them the perfect out. Also makes Del Rio look like a bigger heel as he once again weasels himself another win.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Mark Henry
After Mark Henry faked his retirement in an amazing promo on Monday Night Raw, he now challenges John Cena for his first WWE Championship. For those who follow my reviews, you know that I'm a big fan of Henry and he showed why tonight. He's such a vicious heel and he picked apart Cena here. Henry was in control of the match for the most part which is now surprise, but it worked. Henry is built as a destroyer while Cena is still being built as the underdog. Crowd was much into the action which saw Henry kick out of an Attitude Adjustment and Cena kick out of a World's Strongest Slam. The finishing sequence saw Henry rip off both turnbuckle coverings to get a cheap advantage but it ended up backfiring. Cena was able to put Henry in the STF to win the contest and retain. Good WWE Championship match and loved seeing Henry being placed in this position.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship Contract Money in the Bank - Rob Van Dam vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. CM Punk vs. Christian vs. Daniel Bryan
This is Rob Van Dam's first WWE appearance since 2009 and the Philly crowd is in love with him! It should also be noted that Kane was scheduled to be apart of the match until The Wyatt Family took care of him. The match starts off with all the competitors staring each other down before ganging up on RVD. They then take out Sheamus before it's just Bryan and Punk left alone. Fun way to start the match with two of arguably the best wrestlers in the game. Trying to differentiate between Ladder matches is hard, especially when there is two in one night. But this one had just as many cool spots as the first one. Bryan ripping everybody apart before driving Sheamus through a ladder that was placed outside was awesome, Paul Heyman rushing out to turn on CM Punk when he was so close to winning came out of nowhere, and Orton's RKO on RVD off a ladder before grabbing the briefcase was the perfect ending. Lots of questions heading out as things head into Summerslam with Heyman's turn and Orton's win. Satisfying end to a pretty damn good PPV offering from the WWE.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ****
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The two Ladder matches delivered and the two championship matches did, as well. It's really hard to ask for much more as this PPV acts as a nice bridge for the road to Summerslam. One of WWE's best PPV offerings of the year!
Rating: 8/10
Sunday, February 1, 2015
WWE Payback 2013 Review
Match 1: Intercontinental Championship - Wade Barrett (c) vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel
This is the inaugural edition of Payback and Barrett has his hands full in a triple threat match for his Intercontinental Championship. The Chicago crowd is hot and split between all three men. Miz doesn't get enough credit, he's improved so much in the ring over the years and he looked awesome here. Pun intended. His face turn has seemingly given him new life to his stale character. Great opening match with lots of ups and downs with a cool ending. Miz locked Barrett in the Figure Four as Axel sneaks in like a snake and pins Barrett for the win. Crowd popped pretty big for Axel and this win can do wonders for him. Axel hugs Paul Heyman and celebrates with the title as he looks to the sky.
Winner: Curtis Axel
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Divas Championship - Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ Lee
After Big E Langston surprise Kaitlyn as her secret admirer and came to AJ Lee's side, we have this match. The two are probably the best in-ring Divas which probably explains why they were given a decent amount of time. Good action for a Divas match that saw Kaitlyn hit a Spear and nearly retain before AJ kicked out and put her in a Black Widow for the submission win. AJ celebrates as the crowd pops for her and give heat towards a distraught Kaitlyn. One of the better Divas matches that you will see, nothing great but much better than what we have become accustomed to seeing.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: United States Championship - Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kane
This is the third straight championship match and it sees Ambrose defending the gold against the veteran Kane. Basic Kane match with Ambrose hanging around and trying to do everything to take down the big man. Ambrose even tried hitting an Old School on Kane but to no avail. They took things outside where Ambrose landed a DDT and scored a a countout victory. Nice little win here for Ambrose as he is the first champion of the night to successfully retain. Nothing too special here.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: **
Match 4: World Heavyweight Championship - Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
It's easy to forget that coming into this match, Del Rio is not the heel, Ziggler is. This is Ziggler's first match in weeks after he suffered a concussion. The Chicago crowd is hot for Ziggler, who is still the heel. That is, of course, until he begins to show signs of the concussion he suffered. Del Rio uses this as his target and begins to show no mercy and the switch is finally taking place. Del Rio is now a full-fledged heel and Ziggler has become the face. I'm loving it and the commentators are hyping it up. Ziggler is great in his role here in selling the injury, whether he botched a signature move on purpose or not is irrelevant. It fit the spot and the crowd was popping for everything. Again, Del Rio continued to show no mercy and was relentless, he is a heel at heart. Ziggler kept kicking out of everything Del Rio gave him until the final couple minutes where it was too much. Ziggler was outside the ring as the trainers began looking over him which led Del Rio to dive out of the ring and landed a kick right to the back of his head. Ricardo Rodriguez screams that Ziggler is fine as Del Rio rolls him back into the ring, lands another kick, and wins the match. Great double turn here and a nice little match considering Ziggler was limited in his role. Del Rio should always be a heel, period. This is the third title switch of the night.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: ***
Match 5: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk
This is Punk's first match since WrestleMania and his hometown of Chicago gives him a very welcoming reaction. These two have been wrestling against each other for years and even had a match at WrestleMania. Much like the last match, it's easy to forget that Punk is the heel here. They did a great job of milking a hot crowd and the match flowed nicely throughout. Starting off with basic wrestling before turning things up a notch and still keeping the crowd on their toes. The interesting part of the match was when Punk had Jericho set for a GTS until Heyman came up on the steps and inadvertently distracted Punk. Jericho nearly capitalized on the situation and almost scored a win. Planting seeds for an inevitable turn on Punk begins here. Lots of ups and downs here that saw Jericho kick out of a GTS and Punk kick out of a Codebreaker. Punk eventually landed two GTSs to score the win in a very fun match. It's easy to say that these two will always have a great match against each other and this one was no different.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Shield (c) vs. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton
Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins are representing The Shield here as they defend the gold. Crowd is chanting big for Daniel Bryan and they eat it up every time he steps foot in the ring. Shield aren't veterans in the WWE but they can definitely hang in there with the best, this was no different. Great wrestling from start to finish that was a tad bit slow in the first half but nothing that got the crowd out of it. Miscommunication set in for Bryan & Orton when Bryan accidentally flew outside the ring into Orton. More miscommunication came about during the finishing sequence as Reigns landed a Spear on Bryan who Orton basically tossed into. Orton hit an RKO on Reigns as Rollins hit Orton to the outside where Rollins hit his finisher on Bryan for the win. Fun match that foreshadows a possible feud for Orton against Bryan as well as a heel turn.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ***1/4
Match 7: WWE Championship - 3 Stages of Hell - John Cena (c) vs. Ryback
The first stage of the match is a Lumberjack match. Not normally my favorite match but it makes sense for the first stage. Chicago isn't very friendly towards Cena and they aren't too keen on Ryback. Even still, the chemistry here wasn't bad and they managed to use the gimmick to its potential. One of the cool spots included Cena jumping out of the ring onto all the lumberjacks. Ryback scores the pin and wins the first stage of the match. Surprising to see Ryback score the pin here, shows how much management believes in this guy. The second stage is now a Tables match. All Ryback needs to do is put Cena through a table and he will be crowned the new champion. Ryback controls basically all of the stage but isn't able to score the win as Cena lands a quick Attitude Adjustment to tie up the match. The last and deciding stage is an Ambulance match. Ryback puts Cena through the announce table before the match begins and carries Cena to the ambulance once the match begins. This is where the goofiness happens as they tear apart the ambulance and beat the crap out of each other. They eventually get on top of the ambulance where Cena lands an Attitude Adjustment on Ryback through the roof and to pick up the win. Another smoke and mirrors match to hide Ryback's limited abilities but I kind of enjoyed it. A match like this every now and then doesn't hurt.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: **3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Decent debut for the Payback PPV that featured a strong crowd in Chicago. None of the matches were insulting but none of the matches were too notable. Punk's return will overall be the reason we look back at this show and for good reason, he was the show.
Rating: 6.75/10
This is the inaugural edition of Payback and Barrett has his hands full in a triple threat match for his Intercontinental Championship. The Chicago crowd is hot and split between all three men. Miz doesn't get enough credit, he's improved so much in the ring over the years and he looked awesome here. Pun intended. His face turn has seemingly given him new life to his stale character. Great opening match with lots of ups and downs with a cool ending. Miz locked Barrett in the Figure Four as Axel sneaks in like a snake and pins Barrett for the win. Crowd popped pretty big for Axel and this win can do wonders for him. Axel hugs Paul Heyman and celebrates with the title as he looks to the sky.
Winner: Curtis Axel
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Divas Championship - Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ Lee
After Big E Langston surprise Kaitlyn as her secret admirer and came to AJ Lee's side, we have this match. The two are probably the best in-ring Divas which probably explains why they were given a decent amount of time. Good action for a Divas match that saw Kaitlyn hit a Spear and nearly retain before AJ kicked out and put her in a Black Widow for the submission win. AJ celebrates as the crowd pops for her and give heat towards a distraught Kaitlyn. One of the better Divas matches that you will see, nothing great but much better than what we have become accustomed to seeing.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: United States Championship - Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kane
This is the third straight championship match and it sees Ambrose defending the gold against the veteran Kane. Basic Kane match with Ambrose hanging around and trying to do everything to take down the big man. Ambrose even tried hitting an Old School on Kane but to no avail. They took things outside where Ambrose landed a DDT and scored a a countout victory. Nice little win here for Ambrose as he is the first champion of the night to successfully retain. Nothing too special here.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: **
Match 4: World Heavyweight Championship - Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
It's easy to forget that coming into this match, Del Rio is not the heel, Ziggler is. This is Ziggler's first match in weeks after he suffered a concussion. The Chicago crowd is hot for Ziggler, who is still the heel. That is, of course, until he begins to show signs of the concussion he suffered. Del Rio uses this as his target and begins to show no mercy and the switch is finally taking place. Del Rio is now a full-fledged heel and Ziggler has become the face. I'm loving it and the commentators are hyping it up. Ziggler is great in his role here in selling the injury, whether he botched a signature move on purpose or not is irrelevant. It fit the spot and the crowd was popping for everything. Again, Del Rio continued to show no mercy and was relentless, he is a heel at heart. Ziggler kept kicking out of everything Del Rio gave him until the final couple minutes where it was too much. Ziggler was outside the ring as the trainers began looking over him which led Del Rio to dive out of the ring and landed a kick right to the back of his head. Ricardo Rodriguez screams that Ziggler is fine as Del Rio rolls him back into the ring, lands another kick, and wins the match. Great double turn here and a nice little match considering Ziggler was limited in his role. Del Rio should always be a heel, period. This is the third title switch of the night.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: ***
Match 5: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk
This is Punk's first match since WrestleMania and his hometown of Chicago gives him a very welcoming reaction. These two have been wrestling against each other for years and even had a match at WrestleMania. Much like the last match, it's easy to forget that Punk is the heel here. They did a great job of milking a hot crowd and the match flowed nicely throughout. Starting off with basic wrestling before turning things up a notch and still keeping the crowd on their toes. The interesting part of the match was when Punk had Jericho set for a GTS until Heyman came up on the steps and inadvertently distracted Punk. Jericho nearly capitalized on the situation and almost scored a win. Planting seeds for an inevitable turn on Punk begins here. Lots of ups and downs here that saw Jericho kick out of a GTS and Punk kick out of a Codebreaker. Punk eventually landed two GTSs to score the win in a very fun match. It's easy to say that these two will always have a great match against each other and this one was no different.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Shield (c) vs. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton
Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins are representing The Shield here as they defend the gold. Crowd is chanting big for Daniel Bryan and they eat it up every time he steps foot in the ring. Shield aren't veterans in the WWE but they can definitely hang in there with the best, this was no different. Great wrestling from start to finish that was a tad bit slow in the first half but nothing that got the crowd out of it. Miscommunication set in for Bryan & Orton when Bryan accidentally flew outside the ring into Orton. More miscommunication came about during the finishing sequence as Reigns landed a Spear on Bryan who Orton basically tossed into. Orton hit an RKO on Reigns as Rollins hit Orton to the outside where Rollins hit his finisher on Bryan for the win. Fun match that foreshadows a possible feud for Orton against Bryan as well as a heel turn.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ***1/4
Match 7: WWE Championship - 3 Stages of Hell - John Cena (c) vs. Ryback
The first stage of the match is a Lumberjack match. Not normally my favorite match but it makes sense for the first stage. Chicago isn't very friendly towards Cena and they aren't too keen on Ryback. Even still, the chemistry here wasn't bad and they managed to use the gimmick to its potential. One of the cool spots included Cena jumping out of the ring onto all the lumberjacks. Ryback scores the pin and wins the first stage of the match. Surprising to see Ryback score the pin here, shows how much management believes in this guy. The second stage is now a Tables match. All Ryback needs to do is put Cena through a table and he will be crowned the new champion. Ryback controls basically all of the stage but isn't able to score the win as Cena lands a quick Attitude Adjustment to tie up the match. The last and deciding stage is an Ambulance match. Ryback puts Cena through the announce table before the match begins and carries Cena to the ambulance once the match begins. This is where the goofiness happens as they tear apart the ambulance and beat the crap out of each other. They eventually get on top of the ambulance where Cena lands an Attitude Adjustment on Ryback through the roof and to pick up the win. Another smoke and mirrors match to hide Ryback's limited abilities but I kind of enjoyed it. A match like this every now and then doesn't hurt.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: **3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Decent debut for the Payback PPV that featured a strong crowd in Chicago. None of the matches were insulting but none of the matches were too notable. Punk's return will overall be the reason we look back at this show and for good reason, he was the show.
Rating: 6.75/10
Friday, January 30, 2015
WWE Royal Rumble 2014 Review
Match 1: Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
The pop that Bryan receives is so overwhelmingly awesome. Dude is over, no question. This was somewhat of an odd storyline with Bryan joining the Wyatt family before turning on Bray in a steel cage on an edition of Raw. Referee is sure to kick out Wyatt's family early on in the match so it is definitely between Wyatt and Bryan. Wyatt makes sure to focus on the head of Bryan which could lead way to a nasty Sister Abigail. Wyatt was in control for a better part of the contest but things started picking up when Bryan fought back on all cylinders as the crowd was hot on his side. He even managed to lock in the Yes Lock before Wyatt escaped by biting him. Gotta love Wyatt sometimes, a fresh persona with an unorthodox style, doing whatever it takes to separate himself from the pack. Bryan continues to build momentum as he tries to fly out of the ring into Wyatt but Wyatt catches him and lands a sick Sister Abigail into the barricade. He then carries Bryan into the ring and hits him with another for the win. Cool finish with heavy emphasis on Bryan's head. Wyatt looked like a beast and maybe even so much that Bryan comes out weaker than he did coming in. Bryan is ridiculously over but a clean loss here doesn't really help him on his road to the big show. Great opening bout that just barely misses four stars. But everyone is going to have a different outlook on this match. The beauty of this sport, everyone has a different opinion.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar
This is a match we have seen more than twelve years ago, hard to believe we are seeing it again in 2014 but on a different level. Lesnar enters the ring and practically destroys Show before the bell gets rung by mounting him, pounding him, and beating him with a chair. The match finally starts and Show hits a Knockout Punch upon Lesnar! Lesnar is dazed but isn't phased by The Big Show. Lesnar gets back on the horse and ends the match quickly by hitting an awesome F5. Lesnar then destroys Show again with a steel chair after the match. Lesnar is hot right now, probably the most entertaining guy on the roster. His fire and his style is so fresh and so fun to watch. The match wasn't anything special, but it was still great to put Lesnar even more over before WrestleMania.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: *
Match 3: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
If we could get a count of how many times these two have competed against each other on a PPV match, that would be great. The crowd is crapping all over this one and the commentators have no choice but to acknowledge them and refer to the chants as a way for the WWE Universe to get in the head of Orton. Okay. This was, however, one of the better matches between the two. The chemistry they have isn't the best but they have wrestled each other so many times that they're pretty much bound to have at least a good one. It's hard to separate each match from each other but this one was pretty interesting with the crowd crapping all over it and each wrestler hitting their opponent's finisher. Cena locks Orton in the STF only for the Wyatts to appear out of nowhere which caused a big opening for Orton to hit an RKO for the victory. Hopefully, this is the last we see of these guys going against each other on PPV although it was a pretty damn good match. Interesting finish that leads for a Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match in New Orleans.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 4: 2014 Royal Rumble
I want to mention that this crowd is super hot. But constantly chanting for Daniel Bryan has got to be the most annoying thing ever. Enjoy who is wrestling in the ring because the show isn't just about one person. With that being said, CM Punk and Seth Rollins open up the 2014 edition of the Royal Rumble. Great call, you want two guys who can go the distance to start the match and these two are perfect. For me, a great Rumble match will have surprises, ups, downs, and star-making performances. This one had it and as a result, was one of my favorite Rumbles in recent memory. Pacing is key for this match and never once did I felt like it dragged, there was enough star power scattered throughout with guys like The Shield coming in and looking like animals. Also, Kofi did another memorable Rumble moment as he jumped back into the ring from the barricade. Crowd ate it up. I enjoy when the Rumble tosses in a couple comedy moments. I think people take things way too seriously and forget to enjoy wrestling. El Torito coming in and eliminating Fandango was hilarious. As was JBL, who was an entrant and the crowd went nuts! He got in the ring and Roman Reigns quickly made work of him. It was still really cool to see him act like a douche and enter the Rumble casually, though. Speaking of Reigns, he was the man in this Rumble. But first, I want to talk more of the match itself. Sheamus coming back from his injury was another bright spot, crowd popped big and he looked like he hadn't lost a step. Let's not forget about a missed opportunity in Dolph Ziggler, they had Jim Duggan put him over earlier before the match and Ziggler received an enormous ovation. However, he was disposed pretty quickly and didn't get a chance to leave an imprint. The Wyatt Family should have done more and should have been more dominant, especially considering they were part of the previous match helping Orton beat Cena. They got a few eliminations but they never sank their teeth into the match. The final four consisted of CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and Batista. Punk was eliminated when Corporate Kane arrived out of nowhere and tossed Punk out of the ring and through the announcers table. We're down to three. Crowd still chanting for Bryan. Sheamus and Batista go at it as Batista flings Sheamus over the top rope where a running Roman Reigns rams into Sheamus for Reigns' 12th elimination, beating Kane's record of 11. It's now between Reigns and Batista. Crowd is crapping all over Batista as Reigns looks to hit Batista with a Superman Punch! Batista counters and hits a Spear! Crowd hates it, I love it! Then Reigns turns the tables and hits a Spear of his own! But out of nowhere, Batista tosses Reigns outside and wins! Batista has won the rumble twice and is going to WrestleMania XXX! What a Rumble and what a performance for Reigns. I've been reading so many bad reviews of the match but I loved it. I enjoyed it from top to bottom and while in the minority, I enjoyed the ending.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ****1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Much better effort this year than the last. The matches all did their parts and the Rumble was one of my personal favorites. Crowd chanting for Bryan only raises questions concerning his role at WrestleMania. Should be interesting.
Rating: 8/10
The pop that Bryan receives is so overwhelmingly awesome. Dude is over, no question. This was somewhat of an odd storyline with Bryan joining the Wyatt family before turning on Bray in a steel cage on an edition of Raw. Referee is sure to kick out Wyatt's family early on in the match so it is definitely between Wyatt and Bryan. Wyatt makes sure to focus on the head of Bryan which could lead way to a nasty Sister Abigail. Wyatt was in control for a better part of the contest but things started picking up when Bryan fought back on all cylinders as the crowd was hot on his side. He even managed to lock in the Yes Lock before Wyatt escaped by biting him. Gotta love Wyatt sometimes, a fresh persona with an unorthodox style, doing whatever it takes to separate himself from the pack. Bryan continues to build momentum as he tries to fly out of the ring into Wyatt but Wyatt catches him and lands a sick Sister Abigail into the barricade. He then carries Bryan into the ring and hits him with another for the win. Cool finish with heavy emphasis on Bryan's head. Wyatt looked like a beast and maybe even so much that Bryan comes out weaker than he did coming in. Bryan is ridiculously over but a clean loss here doesn't really help him on his road to the big show. Great opening bout that just barely misses four stars. But everyone is going to have a different outlook on this match. The beauty of this sport, everyone has a different opinion.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar
This is a match we have seen more than twelve years ago, hard to believe we are seeing it again in 2014 but on a different level. Lesnar enters the ring and practically destroys Show before the bell gets rung by mounting him, pounding him, and beating him with a chair. The match finally starts and Show hits a Knockout Punch upon Lesnar! Lesnar is dazed but isn't phased by The Big Show. Lesnar gets back on the horse and ends the match quickly by hitting an awesome F5. Lesnar then destroys Show again with a steel chair after the match. Lesnar is hot right now, probably the most entertaining guy on the roster. His fire and his style is so fresh and so fun to watch. The match wasn't anything special, but it was still great to put Lesnar even more over before WrestleMania.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: *
Match 3: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
If we could get a count of how many times these two have competed against each other on a PPV match, that would be great. The crowd is crapping all over this one and the commentators have no choice but to acknowledge them and refer to the chants as a way for the WWE Universe to get in the head of Orton. Okay. This was, however, one of the better matches between the two. The chemistry they have isn't the best but they have wrestled each other so many times that they're pretty much bound to have at least a good one. It's hard to separate each match from each other but this one was pretty interesting with the crowd crapping all over it and each wrestler hitting their opponent's finisher. Cena locks Orton in the STF only for the Wyatts to appear out of nowhere which caused a big opening for Orton to hit an RKO for the victory. Hopefully, this is the last we see of these guys going against each other on PPV although it was a pretty damn good match. Interesting finish that leads for a Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match in New Orleans.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 4: 2014 Royal Rumble
I want to mention that this crowd is super hot. But constantly chanting for Daniel Bryan has got to be the most annoying thing ever. Enjoy who is wrestling in the ring because the show isn't just about one person. With that being said, CM Punk and Seth Rollins open up the 2014 edition of the Royal Rumble. Great call, you want two guys who can go the distance to start the match and these two are perfect. For me, a great Rumble match will have surprises, ups, downs, and star-making performances. This one had it and as a result, was one of my favorite Rumbles in recent memory. Pacing is key for this match and never once did I felt like it dragged, there was enough star power scattered throughout with guys like The Shield coming in and looking like animals. Also, Kofi did another memorable Rumble moment as he jumped back into the ring from the barricade. Crowd ate it up. I enjoy when the Rumble tosses in a couple comedy moments. I think people take things way too seriously and forget to enjoy wrestling. El Torito coming in and eliminating Fandango was hilarious. As was JBL, who was an entrant and the crowd went nuts! He got in the ring and Roman Reigns quickly made work of him. It was still really cool to see him act like a douche and enter the Rumble casually, though. Speaking of Reigns, he was the man in this Rumble. But first, I want to talk more of the match itself. Sheamus coming back from his injury was another bright spot, crowd popped big and he looked like he hadn't lost a step. Let's not forget about a missed opportunity in Dolph Ziggler, they had Jim Duggan put him over earlier before the match and Ziggler received an enormous ovation. However, he was disposed pretty quickly and didn't get a chance to leave an imprint. The Wyatt Family should have done more and should have been more dominant, especially considering they were part of the previous match helping Orton beat Cena. They got a few eliminations but they never sank their teeth into the match. The final four consisted of CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Sheamus, and Batista. Punk was eliminated when Corporate Kane arrived out of nowhere and tossed Punk out of the ring and through the announcers table. We're down to three. Crowd still chanting for Bryan. Sheamus and Batista go at it as Batista flings Sheamus over the top rope where a running Roman Reigns rams into Sheamus for Reigns' 12th elimination, beating Kane's record of 11. It's now between Reigns and Batista. Crowd is crapping all over Batista as Reigns looks to hit Batista with a Superman Punch! Batista counters and hits a Spear! Crowd hates it, I love it! Then Reigns turns the tables and hits a Spear of his own! But out of nowhere, Batista tosses Reigns outside and wins! Batista has won the rumble twice and is going to WrestleMania XXX! What a Rumble and what a performance for Reigns. I've been reading so many bad reviews of the match but I loved it. I enjoyed it from top to bottom and while in the minority, I enjoyed the ending.
Winner: Batista
Rating: ****1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Much better effort this year than the last. The matches all did their parts and the Rumble was one of my personal favorites. Crowd chanting for Bryan only raises questions concerning his role at WrestleMania. Should be interesting.
Rating: 8/10
Monday, January 26, 2015
WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Review
Match 1: The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension
Starting off the 2015 Royal Rumble event in Philadelphia is a tag match with the newbies and the oldies. After being embarrassed on the last edition of Monday Night Raw which also saw JBL land a Clothesline from Hell, The Ascension look to rebound by beating one of the best teams of all time. More of a match featuring lots of nostalgia to get the crowd going but also gave The Ascension their first legit win. However, the crowd still can’t seem to buy into these guys.
Winners: The Ascension
Rating: *¼
Match 2: WWE Tag Team Championships - The Usos © vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow
Mizdow is fire! The crowd is popping big time for this dude, just imagine him turning on The Miz at WrestleMania! Anyway, the second match of the night is another tag match with this one being for the titles. Much better and faster action than the first match as expected and the crowd was definitely hot for this one. Love Miz being the jerk heel by not tagging in Mizdow and ultimately, it cost him the match despite Mizdow nearly scoring the win. Fun tag match as we can finally get signs of Mizdow turning on Miz.
Winners: The Usos
Rating: **¾
Match 3: The Bella Twins vs. Natalya & Paige
I’m totally fine with Divas wrestling on PPV, but come on. This match went on for about five minutes too long and was basically the same exact match you would be able to see on a Raw or SmackDown. Bella Twins get the win and we will likely forget this match by next week.
Winners: The Bella Twins
Rating: ½*
Match 4: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Brock Lesnar © vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Finally getting into the meat and potatoes of the show with the first match that isn’t a tag match! This was originally supposed to be Cena vs. Lesnar III but Rollins weaseled his way into the match. Crowd is hot for this one and this looks to be good. Great start to the match with Lesnar destroying everyone with Suplexes which even saw him hit J & J Security in one go. Lesnar looks like a legit beast and it is awesome. Action was hot and never really skipped a beat, I had my reservations about this being a triple threat but I was easily convinced once it started. This was chaos from start to bottom and I loved it. Lesnar was the star here, kicking out of three Attitude Adjustments and a Curb Stomp! The pins all were believable and the crowd was so enthusiastic. A couple of my favorite spots included Lesnar slamming a television monitor into the steel steps and him walking outside the ring like a zombie before Cena rammed him through the barricade. The subtle things Lesnar does make him who he is. But let’s not forget about Rollins, he jumped off the top rope and drove Lesnar through the Spanish announce table. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Lesnar looks to be out and it is now between Cena and Rollins. So many close calls that had me on the edge of my seat here but Lesnar roars back into the match and destroys everybody. Rollins nearly scores the win as he went for a Curb Stomp on the Money in the Bank briefcase but Lesnar reversed it into an F5! Literally one of the best triple threat matches I have ever seen. Lesnar looks like a beast, Cena is still Cena, and Rollins still has his briefcase. We have a winner but for how long? Go ahead and debate my rating of this match but to me, it had it all. Drama, psychology, chaos, and one hot crowd. Whether you agree with my rating or not, watch this match.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: *****
Match 5: 2015 Royal Rumbl
Random two guys to start the match in The Miz against R-Truth but I guess it makes the Rumble the Rumble. You never know who is going to enter when. And that includes the third entrant, Bubba Ray Dudley! This is unreal! This is why this is my favorite match! He teams up with Truth but quickly disposes of both him and Miz. I also want to quickly note that JBL is the best at commentary when it comes to statistics and experience, gives great insight and facts about what is going on. However, Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt enter next and team up to eliminate Bubba as they now look to form an alliance. Erick Rowan takes out Curtis Axel who was scheduled to enter the match next and enters the ring for a Wyatt Family reunion. Wyatt eliminates both and The Boogeyman enters next! Cole calls it The Eater of Worlds vs. The Eater of Worms. How awesome is this? Wyatt quickly takes him out and he stands as the only one in the match. He then takes out both Sin Cara and Zack Ryder quickly as he grabs a mic and puts himself over. But guess what, here comes Daniel Bryan! Yes! Another surprise entrant was DDP who landed Diamond Cutters for everyone before Rusev appeared. Rusev took care of DDP and Bryan tried to take out both Rusev and Wyatt but Wyatt eliminates Bryan! Crowd gets angry and continue to boo even minutes after his elimination. However, it makes considering if they want someone else to win like a Roman Reigns, you would want all the Daniel Bryan chants killed by then. But even still, the crowd refuses to chant for him. The dude is over and the crowd wanted him to win. Badly. They even stop counting when the timer shows up on the screen. It’s almost as if they could care less what happens unless it involves Bryan which in my opinion, gets really annoying. He isn’t the whole show. On the positive side, Kofi had another cool Rumble moment when Rusev tossed Kingston out of the ring who landed on Adam Rose’s group who ended up lifting him back into the ring. And then enters #19, Roman Reigns. Crowd is giving him heat as if he was the main heel. This is very reminiscent of last year’s Rumble when Batista entered and received the same amount of heat. But you know who received a huge pop, Damien Mizdow! And then The Miz came out and tried to take his spot but Mizdow still entered and was quickly eliminated by Rusev. Miz gets into it with Mizdow and I love it. I think every Rumble needs a comedic spot like that. The only two guys to get over with the crowd are Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose. And they manage to inject a little more life into the crowd and the match for that matter which has seemingly slowed down tremendously since Bryan’s elimination. And about 90 percent of that has to do with the crowd crapping over everything. Things don’t help when Ziggler and Wyatt both get eliminated by Kane and Big Show. The final four is down to Kane, Big Show, Ambrose, and Reigns. Ambrose and Reigns psych each other up as blood is stained on the face of Reigns and they bring it to The Authority. Crowd hates it, I love it. I love when the Rumble intertwines old friends and old rivalries. Kane and Big Show casually throw Ambrose out and it is up to Reigns to save the day. I guess. Animosity builds between Kane and Show as they fight each other before Reigns eliminates both to win the Rumble! Just like last year with Batista winning, they hate it and I love it! Kane and Show get back into the ring but The Rock appears! What the!? Rock takes both of them out and Rusev enters back into the match! He was never eliminated! But Reigns lands a Spear and eliminates him! He celebrates with The Rock as Brock Lesnar looks on with Triple H & Stephanie McMahon coming out to stare down Rock and Reigns. Reigns was the obvious winner so they needed to pull out all the stops to get him over but even The Rock couldn’t help. Either way, I enjoyed this year’s Rumble and I feel like Reigns was the right choice. Roman Reigns is headed to WrestleMania!
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ****
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
It’s hard to rate this show considering I’m basically judging the show on the last two matches. But they both delivered, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was insanely awesome and the Rumble was great and full of surprises despite the annoying crowd! But in the end, that's what professional wrestling is all about, everybody has their own opinion. Except mine is right, right?
Rating: 7.75/10
Starting off the 2015 Royal Rumble event in Philadelphia is a tag match with the newbies and the oldies. After being embarrassed on the last edition of Monday Night Raw which also saw JBL land a Clothesline from Hell, The Ascension look to rebound by beating one of the best teams of all time. More of a match featuring lots of nostalgia to get the crowd going but also gave The Ascension their first legit win. However, the crowd still can’t seem to buy into these guys.
Winners: The Ascension
Rating: *¼
Match 2: WWE Tag Team Championships - The Usos © vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow
Mizdow is fire! The crowd is popping big time for this dude, just imagine him turning on The Miz at WrestleMania! Anyway, the second match of the night is another tag match with this one being for the titles. Much better and faster action than the first match as expected and the crowd was definitely hot for this one. Love Miz being the jerk heel by not tagging in Mizdow and ultimately, it cost him the match despite Mizdow nearly scoring the win. Fun tag match as we can finally get signs of Mizdow turning on Miz.
Winners: The Usos
Rating: **¾
Match 3: The Bella Twins vs. Natalya & Paige
I’m totally fine with Divas wrestling on PPV, but come on. This match went on for about five minutes too long and was basically the same exact match you would be able to see on a Raw or SmackDown. Bella Twins get the win and we will likely forget this match by next week.
Winners: The Bella Twins
Rating: ½*
Match 4: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Brock Lesnar © vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins
Finally getting into the meat and potatoes of the show with the first match that isn’t a tag match! This was originally supposed to be Cena vs. Lesnar III but Rollins weaseled his way into the match. Crowd is hot for this one and this looks to be good. Great start to the match with Lesnar destroying everyone with Suplexes which even saw him hit J & J Security in one go. Lesnar looks like a legit beast and it is awesome. Action was hot and never really skipped a beat, I had my reservations about this being a triple threat but I was easily convinced once it started. This was chaos from start to bottom and I loved it. Lesnar was the star here, kicking out of three Attitude Adjustments and a Curb Stomp! The pins all were believable and the crowd was so enthusiastic. A couple of my favorite spots included Lesnar slamming a television monitor into the steel steps and him walking outside the ring like a zombie before Cena rammed him through the barricade. The subtle things Lesnar does make him who he is. But let’s not forget about Rollins, he jumped off the top rope and drove Lesnar through the Spanish announce table. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Lesnar looks to be out and it is now between Cena and Rollins. So many close calls that had me on the edge of my seat here but Lesnar roars back into the match and destroys everybody. Rollins nearly scores the win as he went for a Curb Stomp on the Money in the Bank briefcase but Lesnar reversed it into an F5! Literally one of the best triple threat matches I have ever seen. Lesnar looks like a beast, Cena is still Cena, and Rollins still has his briefcase. We have a winner but for how long? Go ahead and debate my rating of this match but to me, it had it all. Drama, psychology, chaos, and one hot crowd. Whether you agree with my rating or not, watch this match.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: *****
Match 5: 2015 Royal Rumbl
Random two guys to start the match in The Miz against R-Truth but I guess it makes the Rumble the Rumble. You never know who is going to enter when. And that includes the third entrant, Bubba Ray Dudley! This is unreal! This is why this is my favorite match! He teams up with Truth but quickly disposes of both him and Miz. I also want to quickly note that JBL is the best at commentary when it comes to statistics and experience, gives great insight and facts about what is going on. However, Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt enter next and team up to eliminate Bubba as they now look to form an alliance. Erick Rowan takes out Curtis Axel who was scheduled to enter the match next and enters the ring for a Wyatt Family reunion. Wyatt eliminates both and The Boogeyman enters next! Cole calls it The Eater of Worlds vs. The Eater of Worms. How awesome is this? Wyatt quickly takes him out and he stands as the only one in the match. He then takes out both Sin Cara and Zack Ryder quickly as he grabs a mic and puts himself over. But guess what, here comes Daniel Bryan! Yes! Another surprise entrant was DDP who landed Diamond Cutters for everyone before Rusev appeared. Rusev took care of DDP and Bryan tried to take out both Rusev and Wyatt but Wyatt eliminates Bryan! Crowd gets angry and continue to boo even minutes after his elimination. However, it makes considering if they want someone else to win like a Roman Reigns, you would want all the Daniel Bryan chants killed by then. But even still, the crowd refuses to chant for him. The dude is over and the crowd wanted him to win. Badly. They even stop counting when the timer shows up on the screen. It’s almost as if they could care less what happens unless it involves Bryan which in my opinion, gets really annoying. He isn’t the whole show. On the positive side, Kofi had another cool Rumble moment when Rusev tossed Kingston out of the ring who landed on Adam Rose’s group who ended up lifting him back into the ring. And then enters #19, Roman Reigns. Crowd is giving him heat as if he was the main heel. This is very reminiscent of last year’s Rumble when Batista entered and received the same amount of heat. But you know who received a huge pop, Damien Mizdow! And then The Miz came out and tried to take his spot but Mizdow still entered and was quickly eliminated by Rusev. Miz gets into it with Mizdow and I love it. I think every Rumble needs a comedic spot like that. The only two guys to get over with the crowd are Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose. And they manage to inject a little more life into the crowd and the match for that matter which has seemingly slowed down tremendously since Bryan’s elimination. And about 90 percent of that has to do with the crowd crapping over everything. Things don’t help when Ziggler and Wyatt both get eliminated by Kane and Big Show. The final four is down to Kane, Big Show, Ambrose, and Reigns. Ambrose and Reigns psych each other up as blood is stained on the face of Reigns and they bring it to The Authority. Crowd hates it, I love it. I love when the Rumble intertwines old friends and old rivalries. Kane and Big Show casually throw Ambrose out and it is up to Reigns to save the day. I guess. Animosity builds between Kane and Show as they fight each other before Reigns eliminates both to win the Rumble! Just like last year with Batista winning, they hate it and I love it! Kane and Show get back into the ring but The Rock appears! What the!? Rock takes both of them out and Rusev enters back into the match! He was never eliminated! But Reigns lands a Spear and eliminates him! He celebrates with The Rock as Brock Lesnar looks on with Triple H & Stephanie McMahon coming out to stare down Rock and Reigns. Reigns was the obvious winner so they needed to pull out all the stops to get him over but even The Rock couldn’t help. Either way, I enjoyed this year’s Rumble and I feel like Reigns was the right choice. Roman Reigns is headed to WrestleMania!
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ****
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
It’s hard to rate this show considering I’m basically judging the show on the last two matches. But they both delivered, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was insanely awesome and the Rumble was great and full of surprises despite the annoying crowd! But in the end, that's what professional wrestling is all about, everybody has their own opinion. Except mine is right, right?
Rating: 7.75/10
Saturday, January 17, 2015
WWE Extreme Rules 2013 Review
Match 1: Chris Jericho vs. Fandango
Opening up the show features Chris Jericho trying to rebound from his loss in New Jersey against Fandango. The hype of Fandango has gone through the roof and the big shoes he must fill is not an easy task. Action between the two was kept at a steady pace and flowed nicely throughout with the St. Louis crowd behind them. Some minor mistakes tossed in that made things look sloppy but they cleaned it up with a nice finish that saw Jericho land a Codebreaker to avenge his loss against the new guy on the block!
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: **
Match 2: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Without The Shield by his side, Ambrose looks to capture his first taste of championship gold on his own. Good pacing to start off the match with no favorite being shown. Kingston looks to gain control of the match as he nailed a Trouble in Paradise to Ambrose who then fell off the apron. Kingston rolls Ambrose back into the ring but is not able to achieve the win. Kingston goes for another but this time, lands on top of the ropes to which Ambrose plants Kingston face first into the mat. Ambrose gets the win as The Shield come out to celebrate. Good match that once again shows the spiraling of Kingston's career along with the rise of The Shield.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: **1/4
Match 3: Strap - Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Aside from all the racist jokes, this should be a fun match. Oddly enough, these two have some great chemistry and I feel like they could get creative with the rules for this one. Strap matches definitely can be crowd killers but these guys managed to keep the crowd focused throughout. Really fun to watch these two guys brawl against each other while trying to be cunning at the same time by tapping each turnbuckle. Sheamus gets the win after nailing Henry with the Brogue Kick and tapping the last turnbuckle. Short and sweet, good match to keep the show rolling.
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: *3/4
Match 4: I Quit - Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
Since suffering a concussion by the hands of Jack Swagger on SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler was deemed unable to compete. Therefore, a match between these two has been set to see who will challenge Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship. It should also be noted that JBL has been great on commentary so far as he is able to discuss his experience in the previous types of matches since the very start and it is likely to continue. Good brawling between the two with the huge problem being that the referee constantly asking if the competitors want to quit. It was annoying, tedious, and in some ways, diluted the match. With that being said, the crowd also had trouble getting into the thick of things. Things didn't help when Ricardo was asking Del Rio if he should throw in the white towel. This doesn't make sense considering they specifically announced that the only way to win was to make your opponent say "I quit." Either way, Zeb Colter grabs the towel and throws it in. Swagger wins until another official runs down and restarts the match. Del Rio locks in his submission and Swagger quits. Don't know where to begin, the action was decent but nothing memorable. But it was nice to see some wrestling psychology tossed into the mix. It was the ending that threw me off, too many antics that didn't make sense that ultimately became the lasting memory.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: **1/4
Match 5: WWE Tag Team Championships - Tornado - Team Hell No (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
The Shield look to sweep their night with a victory over Team Hell No. I should note that these guys are good and so much fun to watch. It's an incredible thing to see these guys wrestle on the independent scene to finally moving over to the big time. They needed to do something that would separate this match from a tag match that you would normally see on an episode of Raw. The stipulation added made the match a bit more fun but also made things a bit more sloppy. Coming off the I Quit match, the teams just couldn't get themselves out of that first gear. Still, they managed to get a cool ending with a huge knee off the top rope from Rollins onto Bryan who was hanging on the shoulders of Roman Reigns. Ambrose then comes out to celebrate as The Shield win big.
Winners: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: Extreme Rules - The Big Show vs. Randy Orton
We are in the hometown of Randy Orton and this crowd absolutely loves him! If we could also get a count on how many times these two have faced each other on PPV, that would be great. With that being said, this might actually be a fun match considering with is held under Extreme Rules. It is interesting to see the change of styles from watching younger guys wrestle to two veterans. Sure, the action was slower but the psychology was strong and everything flowed and made sense. Off the bat, they were telling us the story of Orton not being able to match up to the size and strength of Big Show. Not even a kendo stick was enough as Show snapped the stick in half. Show looked dominant and even kicked out of an RKO after Orton escaped Show landing on top of him through a ladder stacked with two chairs on its ends. It kind of diminishes the RKO but it would still pretty cool to see the crowd get so hot for it. Orton then plants another RKO on a chair and plants Show with a punt across his skull. Very cool to see the punt and very cool to see Orton that hyped. Good match that went much better than expected.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship - Last Man Standing - John Cena (c) vs. Ryback
For what it is worth, I enjoy watching Ryback. I think he has been great in his role as a heel, much more entertaining than seeing him as a repetitive babyface. This is John's first title defense on PPV coming off his victory at WrestleMania against The Rock. It should also be noted that Cena is nursing an Achilles injury. With that being said, they pulled out alot of objects and cool spots to detract the audience from Ryback's pretty limited offense. These matches tend to drag tremendously but they divided each spot nicely and everything felt like they could be a legit finish from Ryback slamming Cena through a table in a corner, Cena hitting an Attitude Adjustment on Ryback through a table, Cena driving Ryback through the barricade, or another table spot outside in the audience where Cena splashed through Ryback. Felt different to see Cena put in so much offense against Ryback but to not come up with the victory. It was almost as if we saw Cena's role get reversed, it was interesting to watch and you really got the feeling that Ryback had a legit chance. The finish came when Ryback drove Cena through the stage where they ended up crashing in the back. Both were down and the match came to an end. It was a spectacle of a finish with the pyro going off but really annoying to see another false finish. After all, isn't this a Last Man Standing match? Aside from the odd finish, it was another enjoyable Cena Last Man Standing match and one that sets up a rematch in the future.
Winner: n/a
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: Steel Cage - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
This is the rematch from WrestleMania and it is in Triple H's "other office." Triple H attacks Lesnar as Lesnar made his way to the ring and Triple H decks Heyman before the bell rings. They did some cool exchanges early on before Lesnar rammed his knee into the cage. This is where the match takes off, Lesnar does a fantastic job of selling the injury and Triple H uses the injury as a target. Heyman does a great job at ringside as he does his best to root for Lesnar but still shows huge signs of concern for Lesnar's knee. Cool game-changing moment came when Lesnar tried to climb out of the cage but Triple H caught him and nailed his knee with a steel chair that Heyman gave to Lesnar earlier in the match. Triple H then climbed to the top where he grabbed his sledgehammer camouflaged in the metallic steel. Just when things were finally going Triple H's way, Heyman again jumps into the melee and hits a low blow. The hammer then ended up becoming Triple H's downfall as Lesnar drilled Triple H hard in the jaw with it. He then finally landed an F5 for the finish as he wins the rubber match. Lesnar places the hammer on Triple H's unconscious body as Jerry Lawler says, "Live by the sword, die by the sword." Awesome main event with great storytelling featuring two veterans who know just how to work a nicely constructed wrestling match. Much better than their last bout and puts a nice ending to their rivalry.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Decent is the best word for me to describe this show, the two main events are the two things we can easily take out of it. The show relied heavily on the main event and rightfully so, it delivered on what was an average PPV.
Rating: 6/10
Opening up the show features Chris Jericho trying to rebound from his loss in New Jersey against Fandango. The hype of Fandango has gone through the roof and the big shoes he must fill is not an easy task. Action between the two was kept at a steady pace and flowed nicely throughout with the St. Louis crowd behind them. Some minor mistakes tossed in that made things look sloppy but they cleaned it up with a nice finish that saw Jericho land a Codebreaker to avenge his loss against the new guy on the block!
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rating: **
Match 2: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Without The Shield by his side, Ambrose looks to capture his first taste of championship gold on his own. Good pacing to start off the match with no favorite being shown. Kingston looks to gain control of the match as he nailed a Trouble in Paradise to Ambrose who then fell off the apron. Kingston rolls Ambrose back into the ring but is not able to achieve the win. Kingston goes for another but this time, lands on top of the ropes to which Ambrose plants Kingston face first into the mat. Ambrose gets the win as The Shield come out to celebrate. Good match that once again shows the spiraling of Kingston's career along with the rise of The Shield.
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Rating: **1/4
Match 3: Strap - Mark Henry vs. Sheamus
Aside from all the racist jokes, this should be a fun match. Oddly enough, these two have some great chemistry and I feel like they could get creative with the rules for this one. Strap matches definitely can be crowd killers but these guys managed to keep the crowd focused throughout. Really fun to watch these two guys brawl against each other while trying to be cunning at the same time by tapping each turnbuckle. Sheamus gets the win after nailing Henry with the Brogue Kick and tapping the last turnbuckle. Short and sweet, good match to keep the show rolling.
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: *3/4
Match 4: I Quit - Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
Since suffering a concussion by the hands of Jack Swagger on SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler was deemed unable to compete. Therefore, a match between these two has been set to see who will challenge Ziggler for the World Heavyweight Championship. It should also be noted that JBL has been great on commentary so far as he is able to discuss his experience in the previous types of matches since the very start and it is likely to continue. Good brawling between the two with the huge problem being that the referee constantly asking if the competitors want to quit. It was annoying, tedious, and in some ways, diluted the match. With that being said, the crowd also had trouble getting into the thick of things. Things didn't help when Ricardo was asking Del Rio if he should throw in the white towel. This doesn't make sense considering they specifically announced that the only way to win was to make your opponent say "I quit." Either way, Zeb Colter grabs the towel and throws it in. Swagger wins until another official runs down and restarts the match. Del Rio locks in his submission and Swagger quits. Don't know where to begin, the action was decent but nothing memorable. But it was nice to see some wrestling psychology tossed into the mix. It was the ending that threw me off, too many antics that didn't make sense that ultimately became the lasting memory.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: **1/4
Match 5: WWE Tag Team Championships - Tornado - Team Hell No (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
The Shield look to sweep their night with a victory over Team Hell No. I should note that these guys are good and so much fun to watch. It's an incredible thing to see these guys wrestle on the independent scene to finally moving over to the big time. They needed to do something that would separate this match from a tag match that you would normally see on an episode of Raw. The stipulation added made the match a bit more fun but also made things a bit more sloppy. Coming off the I Quit match, the teams just couldn't get themselves out of that first gear. Still, they managed to get a cool ending with a huge knee off the top rope from Rollins onto Bryan who was hanging on the shoulders of Roman Reigns. Ambrose then comes out to celebrate as The Shield win big.
Winners: Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: Extreme Rules - The Big Show vs. Randy Orton
We are in the hometown of Randy Orton and this crowd absolutely loves him! If we could also get a count on how many times these two have faced each other on PPV, that would be great. With that being said, this might actually be a fun match considering with is held under Extreme Rules. It is interesting to see the change of styles from watching younger guys wrestle to two veterans. Sure, the action was slower but the psychology was strong and everything flowed and made sense. Off the bat, they were telling us the story of Orton not being able to match up to the size and strength of Big Show. Not even a kendo stick was enough as Show snapped the stick in half. Show looked dominant and even kicked out of an RKO after Orton escaped Show landing on top of him through a ladder stacked with two chairs on its ends. It kind of diminishes the RKO but it would still pretty cool to see the crowd get so hot for it. Orton then plants another RKO on a chair and plants Show with a punt across his skull. Very cool to see the punt and very cool to see Orton that hyped. Good match that went much better than expected.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship - Last Man Standing - John Cena (c) vs. Ryback
For what it is worth, I enjoy watching Ryback. I think he has been great in his role as a heel, much more entertaining than seeing him as a repetitive babyface. This is John's first title defense on PPV coming off his victory at WrestleMania against The Rock. It should also be noted that Cena is nursing an Achilles injury. With that being said, they pulled out alot of objects and cool spots to detract the audience from Ryback's pretty limited offense. These matches tend to drag tremendously but they divided each spot nicely and everything felt like they could be a legit finish from Ryback slamming Cena through a table in a corner, Cena hitting an Attitude Adjustment on Ryback through a table, Cena driving Ryback through the barricade, or another table spot outside in the audience where Cena splashed through Ryback. Felt different to see Cena put in so much offense against Ryback but to not come up with the victory. It was almost as if we saw Cena's role get reversed, it was interesting to watch and you really got the feeling that Ryback had a legit chance. The finish came when Ryback drove Cena through the stage where they ended up crashing in the back. Both were down and the match came to an end. It was a spectacle of a finish with the pyro going off but really annoying to see another false finish. After all, isn't this a Last Man Standing match? Aside from the odd finish, it was another enjoyable Cena Last Man Standing match and one that sets up a rematch in the future.
Winner: n/a
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: Steel Cage - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
This is the rematch from WrestleMania and it is in Triple H's "other office." Triple H attacks Lesnar as Lesnar made his way to the ring and Triple H decks Heyman before the bell rings. They did some cool exchanges early on before Lesnar rammed his knee into the cage. This is where the match takes off, Lesnar does a fantastic job of selling the injury and Triple H uses the injury as a target. Heyman does a great job at ringside as he does his best to root for Lesnar but still shows huge signs of concern for Lesnar's knee. Cool game-changing moment came when Lesnar tried to climb out of the cage but Triple H caught him and nailed his knee with a steel chair that Heyman gave to Lesnar earlier in the match. Triple H then climbed to the top where he grabbed his sledgehammer camouflaged in the metallic steel. Just when things were finally going Triple H's way, Heyman again jumps into the melee and hits a low blow. The hammer then ended up becoming Triple H's downfall as Lesnar drilled Triple H hard in the jaw with it. He then finally landed an F5 for the finish as he wins the rubber match. Lesnar places the hammer on Triple H's unconscious body as Jerry Lawler says, "Live by the sword, die by the sword." Awesome main event with great storytelling featuring two veterans who know just how to work a nicely constructed wrestling match. Much better than their last bout and puts a nice ending to their rivalry.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Decent is the best word for me to describe this show, the two main events are the two things we can easily take out of it. The show relied heavily on the main event and rightfully so, it delivered on what was an average PPV.
Rating: 6/10
Friday, January 16, 2015
WWE WrestleMania 29 Review
Match 1: The Big Show, Randy Orton, & Sheamus vs. The Shield
Fantastic choice to open up the show with three giant egos going against three guys all on the same page. Felt as if they were trying to get all their cool moves and spots jammed in the allotted time that they were given. But it was all for good reason, this is WrestleMania! Fun action to get the crowd prepared for the entrees that will be headlining the show later on. Tempers begin to flare when Orton and Sheamus neglect tagging in Big Show. The Shield capitalize on the situation and pick up a huge win for their WrestleMania debuts! Show refused to break up a count on stubbornness and it cost them the contest. Big Show then knocks out both of his partners after the match in disgust of not being tagged in the match.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ***
Match 2: Mark Henry vs. Ryback
You might be able to mark this match as the surprise of the night. My expectations were kept at a minimum here but the two really paced the action nicely. Flow always seems to be an issue between big guys but that was not the case here, they were crisp in their actions and I enjoyed it more than I should have. They spaced out their moves accordingly and teased Ryback’s Shellshock before nearly hitting it at the end of the match until Henry dropped all of his weight on him to get the win. Surprising that Henry got the win when taking into consideration that Ryback is coming off a big push. Ryback ends up hitting Henry with the Shellshock after the bell.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **
Match 3: WWE Tag Team Championships - Team Hell No © vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston
Crowd is hot for Team Hell No as the two look to successfully defend the gold on the grand stage. Action was fast like the first match of the night since they were also trying to cram in as much as they could with the small amount of time given. These matches are basically just clearing the stage for the main events later to come and this one, like the other two, served its purpose. Crowd enjoyed things and the execution, while a bit clumsy at times, was great. Daniel Bryan & Kane retain after Kane hits Ziggler with a Chokeslam before Bryan hit the nail on the coffin with a headbutt off the top of the rope.
Winners: Team Hell No
Rating: *½
Match 4: Chris Jericho vs. Fandango
If there is any wrestler that could make another wrestler look like a star in their first match, it would be Chris Jericho. After big hype and a very extravagant entrance, Fandango has much on his plate. Jericho dominated the majority of the match and for right reason, this is Fandango’s first match! Jericho has made a living out of telling stories in the ring and the case is made here against Fandango who looked inferior to Jericho’s experience. However, Fandango turned up a new notch and was finally able to get some good offense in and capitalized on a Jericho mistake. Jericho went to hit a Lionsault before buckling his knee to which Fandango ended up rolling Jericho up for the big win!
Winner: Fandango
Rating: **½
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto Del Rio © vs. Jack Swagger
Getting behind Del Rio as a face is still taking time to get used to. Even the crowd seems a bit on the fence about it. But either way, the set looks absolutely beautiful as Del Rio marches to the ring with fireworks in the air to face Swagger with Zeb Colter by Swagger’s side. Should also be noted that Colter cut a great promo before the match, probably one of his best yet. Despite the crowd not necessarily getting too involved into the match, the two did their parts and with the short time they had, they pulled out a good match. Unfortunately, the title has diluted over the past few years that this match seems a bit meaningless. With that being said, Del Rio locks Swagger in his submission to get the victory.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: **¾
Match 6: CM Punk vs. The Undertaker
This is my second time watching this match with my first viewing being live on PPV. With that being said, it should be interesting how this match reflects now in 2014. After Punk’s unprecedented 2012, he was rewarded with a match at WrestleMania against The Undertaker. Off the bat, Punk attacked Undertaker with fury and looked absolutely ready for this match. They did a great job of hiding the size difference between the two which I’m sure many felt may have been a distraction. Let’s also not forget the genius that is Paul Heyman who accompanied Punk ringside. His body language and constant yelling throughout the match adds so much to the importance of not only the match, but to The Undertaker and The Streak. There are so many spots to pick from this one; the dive from Punk onto Undertaker which nearly broke the table, Punk kicking out of the Tombstone after a failed GTS attempt, Punk hitting Undertaker with the urn, or Undertaker looking like he was at the top of his game. The only gripe I have and granted, this will make be sound like I am nitpicking, but the fluidity of the match felt off. Much of the time, it felt like the moves and close finishes were so contrived. Did it take me out my experience? Somewhat, and I think that is what ultimately will set this match apart from Undertaker’s classics a few years back. The ending sequence, however, was a thing of beauty with Undertaker setting Punk up out of nowhere for the finishing Tombstone that Punk couldn’t kick out of. 21-0. Fantastic match but I don’t think it will be remembered with the likes of Taker’s matches against Michaels or even Edge. Still, this is likely the match of the night.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ****¼
Match 7: No Holds Barred - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
This is the big rematch from August as Triple H looks to avenge his loss along with beating the man who destroyed Vince McMahon on Raw. Hard to believe that Paul Heyman is out to manage again! Match starts off slow and I guess this was the right pace considering the roller coaster that the last match gave us. The crowd and the viewers need time to cool down and the tone was set nicely. Once Lesnar suplexed Triple H through the table, another side of the match began to show its face. The action picked up more and both Shawn Michaels and Paul Heyman at ringside were great in enhancing the action. Lesnar looks to be in amazing shape and he pretty much has his way with The Game throughout the better part of the first half of the match. While things did pick up, I didn’t feel the same buzz or excitement that their first bout gave us. The action was a bit slower and probably even more predictable. Did I mention that if Triple H loses, his career his over? Yeah. The final few minutes is where the match really gets good when Michaels hit’s a Sweet Chin Music on Heyman and Triple H nearly makes Lesnar tap out with a Kimura. However, Triple H goes all out and lands a Pedigree on top of the steep steps in the middle of the ring. Did I enjoy this match? Yeah. More than the last one? Not even close. Fun match to lead into the main event but it was just missing something. Lesnar losing hurts his credibility and they need to establish it once more with a rematch sooner rather than later.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ***½
Match 8: WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. John Cena
This is likely The Rock's final chapter of his WWE return stemming from 2011. It's the rematch of the year, Rock vs. Cena II. Much controversy surrounds the choice of this year's main event but in all honesty, this one is the right call. Two of the company's biggest stars wrestling for the most prestigious title, come on. Crowd is definitely tired after just watching seven matches and the early stages of the match didn't really help matters. Slow and very methodical wrestling holds as the crowd sat in their hands. Much like last year, they tried to recreate moments like Rock vs. Hogan or even Cena vs. Triple H. Unfortunately, the crowd was just too wiped and in all honesty, many just weren't feeling the rematch. However, once they turned things up a notch, they reminded us why they are the biggest names in the industry today. Awesome psychology, they teased us with last year's finish on a couple of occasions as Cena was considerate of taunting Rock. The nearfalls were all believable, even when Cena hit a Rock Bottom and when Rock wanted kicked out of an Attitude Adjustment. The finish, however, could have been executed better. Rock wanted to finish Cena off with a Rock Bottom but Cena reversed and hit another Attitude Adjustment and scored a win. Definitely felt like a missed opportunity to have Cena hit it after Rock looked to go for a People's Elbow or even a Five-Knuckle Shuffle. They would have teased last year's finish one last time and conclude the match on a high note. Even still, I enjoyed the main event and seeing Rock celebrate in the ring one last time was cool as he then walked up to the stage where he was saluted by Cena. Cena then raised Rock's hand as the pyro went off, Rock then left the stage where he left Cena alone in front of the thousands. A passing of the torch in a way, a beautiful finish to the show. When I grade this match, I take into account the presentation, the background, the psychology, and everything else in between. To me, there's more to this sport than dives and holds, I felt the love of the game from both sides here. I felt the passion and I felt the hard work.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This WrestleMania has seemingly gotten negative feedback for whatever reason. However, I loved it. Was it my favorite? No. But it certainly delivered from the opening and to the three big matches. It felt like a WrestleMania and all of the storylines concluded in the right way. Time will tell if this show will be up there with some of the best.
Rating: 8/10
Fantastic choice to open up the show with three giant egos going against three guys all on the same page. Felt as if they were trying to get all their cool moves and spots jammed in the allotted time that they were given. But it was all for good reason, this is WrestleMania! Fun action to get the crowd prepared for the entrees that will be headlining the show later on. Tempers begin to flare when Orton and Sheamus neglect tagging in Big Show. The Shield capitalize on the situation and pick up a huge win for their WrestleMania debuts! Show refused to break up a count on stubbornness and it cost them the contest. Big Show then knocks out both of his partners after the match in disgust of not being tagged in the match.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ***
Match 2: Mark Henry vs. Ryback
You might be able to mark this match as the surprise of the night. My expectations were kept at a minimum here but the two really paced the action nicely. Flow always seems to be an issue between big guys but that was not the case here, they were crisp in their actions and I enjoyed it more than I should have. They spaced out their moves accordingly and teased Ryback’s Shellshock before nearly hitting it at the end of the match until Henry dropped all of his weight on him to get the win. Surprising that Henry got the win when taking into consideration that Ryback is coming off a big push. Ryback ends up hitting Henry with the Shellshock after the bell.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **
Match 3: WWE Tag Team Championships - Team Hell No © vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston
Crowd is hot for Team Hell No as the two look to successfully defend the gold on the grand stage. Action was fast like the first match of the night since they were also trying to cram in as much as they could with the small amount of time given. These matches are basically just clearing the stage for the main events later to come and this one, like the other two, served its purpose. Crowd enjoyed things and the execution, while a bit clumsy at times, was great. Daniel Bryan & Kane retain after Kane hits Ziggler with a Chokeslam before Bryan hit the nail on the coffin with a headbutt off the top of the rope.
Winners: Team Hell No
Rating: *½
Match 4: Chris Jericho vs. Fandango
If there is any wrestler that could make another wrestler look like a star in their first match, it would be Chris Jericho. After big hype and a very extravagant entrance, Fandango has much on his plate. Jericho dominated the majority of the match and for right reason, this is Fandango’s first match! Jericho has made a living out of telling stories in the ring and the case is made here against Fandango who looked inferior to Jericho’s experience. However, Fandango turned up a new notch and was finally able to get some good offense in and capitalized on a Jericho mistake. Jericho went to hit a Lionsault before buckling his knee to which Fandango ended up rolling Jericho up for the big win!
Winner: Fandango
Rating: **½
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - Alberto Del Rio © vs. Jack Swagger
Getting behind Del Rio as a face is still taking time to get used to. Even the crowd seems a bit on the fence about it. But either way, the set looks absolutely beautiful as Del Rio marches to the ring with fireworks in the air to face Swagger with Zeb Colter by Swagger’s side. Should also be noted that Colter cut a great promo before the match, probably one of his best yet. Despite the crowd not necessarily getting too involved into the match, the two did their parts and with the short time they had, they pulled out a good match. Unfortunately, the title has diluted over the past few years that this match seems a bit meaningless. With that being said, Del Rio locks Swagger in his submission to get the victory.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: **¾
Match 6: CM Punk vs. The Undertaker
This is my second time watching this match with my first viewing being live on PPV. With that being said, it should be interesting how this match reflects now in 2014. After Punk’s unprecedented 2012, he was rewarded with a match at WrestleMania against The Undertaker. Off the bat, Punk attacked Undertaker with fury and looked absolutely ready for this match. They did a great job of hiding the size difference between the two which I’m sure many felt may have been a distraction. Let’s also not forget the genius that is Paul Heyman who accompanied Punk ringside. His body language and constant yelling throughout the match adds so much to the importance of not only the match, but to The Undertaker and The Streak. There are so many spots to pick from this one; the dive from Punk onto Undertaker which nearly broke the table, Punk kicking out of the Tombstone after a failed GTS attempt, Punk hitting Undertaker with the urn, or Undertaker looking like he was at the top of his game. The only gripe I have and granted, this will make be sound like I am nitpicking, but the fluidity of the match felt off. Much of the time, it felt like the moves and close finishes were so contrived. Did it take me out my experience? Somewhat, and I think that is what ultimately will set this match apart from Undertaker’s classics a few years back. The ending sequence, however, was a thing of beauty with Undertaker setting Punk up out of nowhere for the finishing Tombstone that Punk couldn’t kick out of. 21-0. Fantastic match but I don’t think it will be remembered with the likes of Taker’s matches against Michaels or even Edge. Still, this is likely the match of the night.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: ****¼
Match 7: No Holds Barred - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H
This is the big rematch from August as Triple H looks to avenge his loss along with beating the man who destroyed Vince McMahon on Raw. Hard to believe that Paul Heyman is out to manage again! Match starts off slow and I guess this was the right pace considering the roller coaster that the last match gave us. The crowd and the viewers need time to cool down and the tone was set nicely. Once Lesnar suplexed Triple H through the table, another side of the match began to show its face. The action picked up more and both Shawn Michaels and Paul Heyman at ringside were great in enhancing the action. Lesnar looks to be in amazing shape and he pretty much has his way with The Game throughout the better part of the first half of the match. While things did pick up, I didn’t feel the same buzz or excitement that their first bout gave us. The action was a bit slower and probably even more predictable. Did I mention that if Triple H loses, his career his over? Yeah. The final few minutes is where the match really gets good when Michaels hit’s a Sweet Chin Music on Heyman and Triple H nearly makes Lesnar tap out with a Kimura. However, Triple H goes all out and lands a Pedigree on top of the steep steps in the middle of the ring. Did I enjoy this match? Yeah. More than the last one? Not even close. Fun match to lead into the main event but it was just missing something. Lesnar losing hurts his credibility and they need to establish it once more with a rematch sooner rather than later.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ***½
Match 8: WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. John Cena
This is likely The Rock's final chapter of his WWE return stemming from 2011. It's the rematch of the year, Rock vs. Cena II. Much controversy surrounds the choice of this year's main event but in all honesty, this one is the right call. Two of the company's biggest stars wrestling for the most prestigious title, come on. Crowd is definitely tired after just watching seven matches and the early stages of the match didn't really help matters. Slow and very methodical wrestling holds as the crowd sat in their hands. Much like last year, they tried to recreate moments like Rock vs. Hogan or even Cena vs. Triple H. Unfortunately, the crowd was just too wiped and in all honesty, many just weren't feeling the rematch. However, once they turned things up a notch, they reminded us why they are the biggest names in the industry today. Awesome psychology, they teased us with last year's finish on a couple of occasions as Cena was considerate of taunting Rock. The nearfalls were all believable, even when Cena hit a Rock Bottom and when Rock wanted kicked out of an Attitude Adjustment. The finish, however, could have been executed better. Rock wanted to finish Cena off with a Rock Bottom but Cena reversed and hit another Attitude Adjustment and scored a win. Definitely felt like a missed opportunity to have Cena hit it after Rock looked to go for a People's Elbow or even a Five-Knuckle Shuffle. They would have teased last year's finish one last time and conclude the match on a high note. Even still, I enjoyed the main event and seeing Rock celebrate in the ring one last time was cool as he then walked up to the stage where he was saluted by Cena. Cena then raised Rock's hand as the pyro went off, Rock then left the stage where he left Cena alone in front of the thousands. A passing of the torch in a way, a beautiful finish to the show. When I grade this match, I take into account the presentation, the background, the psychology, and everything else in between. To me, there's more to this sport than dives and holds, I felt the love of the game from both sides here. I felt the passion and I felt the hard work.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This WrestleMania has seemingly gotten negative feedback for whatever reason. However, I loved it. Was it my favorite? No. But it certainly delivered from the opening and to the three big matches. It felt like a WrestleMania and all of the storylines concluded in the right way. Time will tell if this show will be up there with some of the best.
Rating: 8/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
