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Cubed Circle Newsletter – 2013

In this week’s newsletter we look at the 2013 Payback pay-per-view, as well as the fallout from RAW, the rating that the show did, NXT, a decent edition of iMPACT, All Japan fallout and SmackDown. It is a smaller issue than usual, but fear not! As next week we will be back with a look at Saturday’s New Japan Dominion show, as well as ROH’s Best in the World iPPV. We also have a few big changes coming to the newsletter in the coming months, so stay tuned for that. And with all of that out of the way, I hope that you enjoy the newsletter and have a great week.

- Ryan Clingman, Cubed Circle Newsletter Editor

News

WWE Continue Great Run with Payback

The past week and a half or so has been a great period for the WWE from a quality perspective, and they continued that run this week with a their 2013 Payback show from the in . Going into the show I wasn’t expecting a blow-away , but they over delivered with some great moments in front of a crowd that has been arguably one of their most consistently great ones over the past few years. The show was expected to be somewhat of an unnoteworthy show, but the opposite was actually the case, with multiple title changing hands, and seeds for the biggest feud of the summer, versus CM Punk, being planted during a great outing between CM Punk and .

It is important to note that at this point the Allstate Arena has held the 2011 show of the year in the show, where Punk won the title from Cena, the 2012 show where Lesnar faced Cena, and now possibly the best WWE show of 2013 in Payback – suffice to say there is something special about that building.

The opener kicked off the over performing night with an Intercontinental title change with pinning to win the title in a three-way, which also included . The

1 match itself really wasn’t all that special, although the crowd bought into it from a perfectplex spot onwards. However, the title change, together with the fact that it was father’s day really being pushed strong, they were able to create a very emotional and memorable moment with Axel celebrating his title win after the match in tears.

In WWE’s attempt to outshine the /Taryn Terrell match from , they placed AJ and for the Divas title in a spot to over perform, and they did, only nowhere close to the same extent as Kim and Terrell weeks ago. AJ submitted Kaitlyn after AJ’s mind games basically got the better of Kaitlyn, and while it was a fine match, I would be tentative to say that it was even highly above average, let alone great. It was even apparent from the crowd’s reaction to the finish that they had lost them at some point along the line, because to be honest they didn’t reacted anywhere near the expected degree when AJ won the title. Regardless of this match and its quality, it looks like both the WWE and TNA are putting a higher emphasis on women’s wrestling. Granted, this match was a bi-product of the Kim/Terrell match, which was in itself an apparition, but it will be something to watch going forward.

In what was the worst match on the show Dean Ambrose beat via countout to retain the US title following a bulldog DDT out on the floor. We had seen this match on RAW prior to this show, so we pretty much knew what was coming. However, I honestly saw no point in having Ambrose win via countout, as it was pay-per-view and Kane honestly wouldn’t have been hurt if he had lost to Ambrose here.

In what was from my perspective the most surprising match of the entire show, pinned Dolf Ziggler following a superkick to win the World Heavyweight championship. On paper that does sound like a bad idea, but basically the story that they went with had Del Rio working over the head of Ziggler following the concussion, which turned both men in the process. The match got just enough time, and because it was in front of the Chicago crowd it worked even more effectively than it would have otherwise, as this crowd was behind Ziggler from the onset. It seems like they are going with this match again as the Money in the Bank program, which I will be fine with. However, it will be interesting to see how they handle it, as having Ziggler lose a big match after this defeat wouldn’t be good and neither would defeating Del Rio.

In the match that was clearly and expectedly viewed as the real mainevent of the evening by the crowd in Chicago, Punk/Jericho followed. It was just about everything that you could have asked for realistically, Punk came out to a great reaction, and the crowd was pretty much into the entire match leading up to the finish, which was a GTS from Punk sending Jericho into the turnbuckle and rebounding into a second GTS for the pin. The major ramifications from the match are going to be the Lesnar/Punk direction, with Heyman presumably being the heel manager for Lesnar.

In the mainevent of RAW the next night they had Lesnar lay Punk out. Earlier in the night Punk pretty much turned babyface saying that he didn’t want Heyman as his manager for the night, even though they wanted to remain friends. Now, the logic behind this would be that Heyman called Brock after Punk dumped him, but that wouldn’t make chronological sense, as Lesnar

2 would have had to have been in the building already. There was a similar breakup video that aired on the WWE website, but they reshot the angle due the vast majority of their audience not viewing a random video on the WWE website. It is for those reasons that I think that a spot in this match where Punk reprimanded Heyman for interfering to be used as Heyman’s trigger in the end, or at least that’s what they could do to have the entire thing make sense.

Regardless of how they get to the Heyman turn, chances are that the doublecross is coming, and that it is going to lead to a big match with Lesnar down the line. I assume that the match will be taking place at Summerslam, but I have heard rumblings of it taking place at the Money in the Bank show in Philadelphia, which would probably be the hottest crowd, but wouldn’t be write from a build standpoint, and from a business standpoint. Like it or not there is a glass ceiling for WWE B-shows in 2013. Unfortunately, Brock Lesnar, or anyone for that matter, is going to struggle to break that ceiling.

Due to time constraints, and the way that the show was laid out, they went straight from the Punk victory to the Shield versus Orton & Bryan match, which was very good for the twelve minutes that it was given. It would have been nice for the match to have gone longer,as they could have used more time to play up miscommunication between Orton and Bryan, but the match that they did was very good. Bryan did miss land topé on Orton, and the finish came when Orton basically move out of the way of a spear, leaving Bryan in its path. The other major Summerslam direction is Cena/Bryan, but because of the fact that Bryan should be in the Money and the Bank match, I expect them to end this program on RAW.

In a related Bryan story, on Monday Night’s edition of RAW, Bryan suffered a stinger either following a topé where he went head first into the barricade, or when he took a from Orton. This resulted in numbness down his one arm. Orton’s response to this was quite unexpected, as he swore and then proceeded to dropkick Bryan to the floor and backdrop him on the barricade, which doesn’t seem like the wisest thing to do when you don’t know a man’s neurological state. Regardless, WWE handled the whole process very well, as they brought trainers out very quickly, and had the match stopped even though Bryan insisted that he could continue. Events backstage were blown out of proportion as and Bryan apparently had a confrontation over the call, but the fact of the matter is that they had no idea what the issue was, and it could have been something far more serious than a mere stinger. That isn’t to say that Bryan was wrong, as he was supposed to win the match, and the fact that he didn’t and had to take the loss off of a minor injury, which was probably very frustrating. However, they looked out for his best interests and this is commendable.

Finally in the mainevent matchup, defeated in a three stages of hell match losing the first fall clean, and then going on to win the tables match and ambulance match. As far as the match itself goes it was pretty much all smoke and mirrors, and while it was good for what it was, it really couldn’t hold a candle to some of the other matches on the show, and it is because of that that the show didn’t feel like it ended at its strongest point. In hindsight they probably should have just put Punk and Jericho on last – it isn’t like they didn’t do something like that on just about every show last year anyway.

3 Cena is set to face another monster in at next month’s Money in the Bank show from Philadelphia, which won’t be a good match, but given the way that it was set up on Monday I doubt many will care. Basically what happened was that Henry made his way out to interrupt Cena, and to supposedly announce his retirement. He then delivered the most convincing worked retirement promo that I think that I have ever seen before landing the World’s Strongest Slam on Cena to set up their match later on. It isn’t going to be a long term program, but Henry is positioned in a way that allows him to mainevent big shows when he has to.

With this set of shows, coupled with the SmackDown show from last week, and the hope for future matches like Punk/Lesnar, Shield/Undertaker & Kane and Bryan/Cena going into SummerSlam, the WWE certainly feels hot. If that is true or not has yet to be determined, but we should be in for a fun couple of months leading into the Summer.

Reports

WWE Payback June 16th 2013 Allstate Arena, Chicago,

Overall Thoughts:

For what will probably be the third straight time in three years, the Allstate Arena in Chicago was home to the best WWE show of the year, and if not the best very close to it. While, I do disagree with many people who are calling this show one of the best in company history, which would put it in the same class as the Money in the Bank show from 2011, WrestleMania X-7 and the like, it was still a surprisingly great outing. I don’t know what it is exactly about the Allstate Arena that makes it the home to the best shows year in and year out; but whatever it is the yearly Chicago pay-per-view, along with the post-WrestleMania editions of RAW are becoming some of the shows that I look forward to most each year. The show featured two very good matches in CM Punk versus Chris Jericho, which was one of the better WWE matches of 2013, and the Dolf Ziggler/Del Rio match, which defied my expectations from almost every angle. Apart from that, the show also featured some great moments ignoring the matches all together. The opening match with Axel winning the title meant more than anyone could have hoped for, the Punk return was everything that you would have wanted, and the Ziggler match delivered a couple of great moments. As a whole was this a WrestleMania 17? Was this a Money in the Bank 2011? No. Was it even on the level of last year’s Extreme Rules show? I wouldn’t say so. However, it was a great show that will almost certainly be ranking with the best WWE shows of 2013 – highly recommended.

1. Intercontinental Championship Match Wade Barrett vs. Curtis Axel w/ vs. The Miz

Like many had suggested prior to this show, the announcers did make note of Father’s Day, and what that meant to Axel. There were loud “ECW” chants at the start of the match directed at

4 Heyman. Barrett picked Miz apart in the ring while Axel was out on the floor, until, while following the usual WWE triple-threat formula, Barrett was thrown out to the floor and Axel was left alone with Miz. Miz made his comeback. They went into the nearfall exchanges, and Axel busted the perfectplex out on Barrett at which point the crowd exploded and reached a high that they rode until the finish; however, Miz was in to break it up. Miz landed the skull crushing finale, but Axel took too long to make it to the cover and he kicked out. The crowd was really into this match from that perfectplex. They did a really fun exchange involving Miz and the figure four, Miz grabbed the figure four on Barrett, but while Barrett was trapped in the figure four Axel flew in with the pin. I was completely apathetic going into this match, but the crowd really made it. After the match they put the fact that it was Father’s Day over big. Axel got his moment after the match with the crowd going crazy for him – this was a very good opener. *** ¼

There was a video package for Henry’s return on RAW. Heyman and Axel were walking backstage, very happy with the title when Hunter in a suit faced off with Axel who attempted to back down. At that point Vince came by and congratulated them. Vince attempted to get Triple H to accept a match with Axel on RAW, but Triple H refused.

2. WWE Diva’s Championship Match Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee w/ . Langston

Kaitlyn took AJ out to the floor and threw her over the Spanish announce table before landing some weak offence inside of the ring. AJ knocked Kaitlyn out on the floor with a dropkick and grabbed the advantage in the ring. Kaitlyn was able to land a dropkick leading to AJ taking a hard back bump. AJ had a backslide, but was picked up into a gutbuster. The referee was distracted fixing the apron, and AJ was able to land a shot with a foreign object behind the referee’s back. AJ did the old Melina screaming gimmick. Kaitlyn went for a spinout , but AJ grabbed the Octopus hold. Kaitlyn slipped out and landed a and huge spear, but instead of going for the pin Kaitlyn instead blew AJ a kiss and rammed her head into the mat – AJ kicked out at two. Kaitlyn went head first into the middle turnbuckle, which allowed AJ to grab the black widow for the win. This match has been compared to Kim/Terrell in many ways, and while it was above the level of your usual Diva’s match, and both women worked really hard, I don’t feel that the two were equivalent. I would be happy if they ran more Diva’s matches like this, but the way that the finish turned out and the way that a lot of the match was worked was a larger turn off for me than for others. Kaitlyn was left crying to little sympathy with boos and “you tapped out” chants. Layla made it out to console her and helped her to the back – no one cared for these antics. ** ½

Layla and Kaitlyn were walking backstage when Natalya and Fox came by for an awfully delivered sympathy segment. There was wacky trailer for Money in the Bank involving men falling to their deaths from atop of ladders. , Josh Matthews, R-Truth, and analysed the two title changes. These post-game skits are fun. There was another Wyatt Family vignette, they are great and all, but you don’t need these on pay-per-view.

5 3. Championship Match Dean Ambrose vs. Kane

The crowd were very much behind Ambrose early on as expected. Kane landed a big uppercut towards the middle portion of the match, and Ambrose responded with some great facials giving Kane the advantage. Ambrose then busted out a flurry of slaps and a dropkick for two. Ambrose was dropped out to the floor, and decided to slap Kane, which sent him into a rage that allowed Ambrose to win via count-out following a DDT, which really was an unnecessary finish. ** ¼

There was a video stating that would be returning at Money in the Bank, which led to the entire crowd doing the RVD fingers gimmick. This led to sporadic RVD chants for the rest of the night.

4. World Heavyweight Championship Match Dolf Ziggler w/ Big E. Langston & AJ Lee vs. Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio made it out, but as has been noted before Ricardo didn’t do his introduction at the start of the entrance. Instead, Lillian introduced Ricardo in Spanish who introduced Del Rio in English – how does this make any sense? The crowd was very much into Ziggler. There were RVD chants at the start of the match too. Langston pushed Del Rio out on the floor, which led to Langston being thrown out. Del Rio landed a big superkick, and a flurry of headbutts on the mat. Ziggler managed to grab a sleeper hold. However, Del Rio went straight back to the head, which was a story that they continued to tell throughout the match leading to the finish. Ziggler was able to grab a DDT counter, and they really played Ziggler's injury up as serious. Ziggler then landed a mad flurry culminating in a partly botched fameasser that actually fitted in with the match's story. Del Rio landed an inverted from the top, and Ziggler rolled out to the floor before being kicked in the head. Trainers came by and Ziggler pushed them away before being killed with a baseball slide to the back of the head from behind. At this point the heel turn was evident, as Ricardo was screaming at a distraught AJ together with the trainers that Ziggler was fine, and should be thrown back in the ring. Del Rio landed a kick to the back of the head, but Ziggler still kicked out! Del Rio pulled Ziggler up, Ziggler countered into the Zig Zag, but Ziggler landed on the back of his head himself, rendering him unable to capitalize. Del Rio then landed a superkick to the head for the win. Chances are that if they had done this finish any other way I would have been upset with it, but in essence they did a double turn that made both men seem more important coming out of it. Ziggler looked like a courageous hero, and was already made a babyface by the Chicago crowd at the start of the match, as most would have expected. The actual work in the match was also very good; hopefully this leads to a big Ziggler babyface push. *** ¾

They went back to the Payback panel talking about Ziggler and the title change. They then went back to the arena where Del Rio came out asking for a round of applause He was doing the fake

6 babyface gimmick saying that he did it for the fans, and he wanted their support. Apparently this wasn’t originally the plan, but they decided to send Del Rio out to cement the turn.

5. CM Punk w/ Paul Heyman vs. Chris Jericho

It was quite apparent that the crowd viewed this match as the “true” mainevent. Punk came out with longer hair and massive sideburns. In a shot that greatly amused me one fan had the same “Punk loses we riot” spray painted banner as at Money in the Bank 2011. They started off trading holds and then went to a chop exchange. Jericho took Punk down and began to wear him down on the mat with hard strikes. The story was that Punk was visibly tired and off of his game. Jericho grabbed the walls after Punk failed to land the GTS, but Punk locked in the anaconda vice from a standing position before taking Jericho to the mat. Jericho made it to the ropes and Punk went for the GTS, but Jericho countered into the walls. Heyman who was up near the ring post provided a brief distraction, which distressed Punk and allowed Jericho to grab a roll-up for two. This ultimately played into Monday’s story. Jericho landed the code breaker for two and wailed on Punk with shots to the back. Punk unleashed a flurry to a big reaction before landing a running knee and making it to the top rope for the Savage elbow. Punk then landed the GTS for two in a great nearfall. The fans chanted for a second, and Punk nodded. Jericho fought out with elbows, but Punk pushed him out of the codebreaker and landed his topé. Punk went for his slingshot elbow, but was caught in the codebreaker – Heyman responded by yelling “No! Oh my God!” while holding his head, which was tremendous. Punk kicked out at two and Jericho unloaded with like elbows to the side of the head. Punk grabbed a small package for two, which led to a strike exchange, but Jericho grabbed the walls and Heyman screamed “No!” at the top of his lungs. The fans were chanting Punk's name Punk wailed on Jericho in the corner and landed a GTS into the corner and another in the middle of the ring for the win to cap off a tremendous outing. **** ¼

6. WWE World Tag Team Championship Match & vs. Daniel Bryan &

7 They went straight from the Punk celebration to the Shield entrance due to time constraints. Bryan started straight off with a flurry of kicks in the corner before being knocked down by a Reigns lariat. There was a shortened heat segment on Bryan before the tag was made to Orton. Orton ran wild until Reigns shot out from the floor with a superman punch. Once again there were RVD chants. The hot tag was made to Bryan who landed a double dropkick into a kip-up and then went insane with in the corner followed by a flurry of kicks on Reigns. Bryan went for a topé on Reigns, but Bryan ended up hitting it on Orton. However, Bryan single handedly sent Reigns to the floor before landing a release double arm suplex from the top, he went for the no lock, but had to dispose of Reigns and then went back to the hold before Reigns came in to break it up. Orton went for an RKO on Reigns, but he was pushed into Bryan before Reigns caught him with the RKO. Orton was sent out to the floor before Rollins came in with his flying knee for the win in a very good match to build up to Money in the Bank with Bryan/Orton presumably. They really have made the tag titles into mainevent belts with this run. *** ¾

7. Three Stages of Hell Match for the WWE Championship John Cena vs. Ryback

The lumberjack match was tedious compared to what we had just seen. There were more RVD chants. There was a giant brawl out on the floor, which led to Cena landing a splash sending everyone flying around like an atomic bomb had hit, which was a really well placed spot. Ryback pinned Cena with shell shock, leading to the lumberjacks leaving and the tables match commencing. Ryback set a table up in the ring. He dominated with a steel steps shot to the face. Ryback threw the steps at Cena breaking the table placed in the corner. Cena grabbed another table, but Ryback landed a stairs shot before breaking another table with the steps. Ryback threw steps to the floor and Cena began to make his comeback. Ryback set up another table, which he was AA'd through for the second fall. Ryback sent Cena through the announce table, which apparently wasn't apart of the official ambulance match. Cena pulled crutches out of the back of the ambulance as they brawled around the vehicle. Cena then sent Ryback into the door tearing it clean off. Cena used the door as a weapon. Things got completely over the top as Ryback grabbed a panel from the side of the vehicle and used it as a weapon – who makes these Chicago ambulances? Ryback was

8 bodydropped on the windscreen – cracking it. Cena then used the light from a top of the ambulance as Ryback screamed selling his knee, before shooting right back up with no care in the world. They brawled atop of the ambulance and Cena sent Ryback through the roof of the ambulance with the AA for the win. The most comedic part of the whole thing was that the ambulance was gimmicked obviously, so you heard the crunch or whatever, but never saw anything. This was acceptable, and at points fun mainevent, but it really was all smoke and mirrors. ** ¾

WWE Monday Night RAW June 17th 2013 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Overall Thoughts:

WWE continued its run of great programming over the past week and a half or so by following their 2013 Payback show with the best edition of RAW in months. Not only did this week’s show have some good matches, which has been the case for the last few months, but they also had two very good segments in the Punk/Del Rio post-match coupled with the Henry segment, which was tremendous. The show did have its problems, namely the McMahon family angle, which interferes with the flow of the show, and is honestly a hindrance more than anything else. However, the good segments on this show ultimately negated the effects of the McMahon angle, and made it a more fun and easier show to sit through.

They opened with a PPV style intro this time around, instead of your usual soap opera introduction. Ricardo came out to boos, but everyone still did the intro along with him. Del Rio brought up how the crowd in cheered for Ziggler when he cashed in on Del Rio. He then went full heel saying that America was all about pigs and cowards. He went off saying that he got the world title because he fought for himself. Punk came out to interrupt and got another superstar level reaction. He brought up the time that he beat Del Rio at , and he said that he was out there because Del Rio called himself the best; this led to heavy boos and loud CM Punk chants. They were adding fuel to the fire of the Punk face turn and his general dismay at Heyman's heelish antics, by having Punk interrupt Heyman's speech on why Punk wouldn’t wrestle for free. Punk then challenged Del Rio to a match later, Del Rio declined, which brought out Vickie and Maddox. She concurred with Punk, and booked Punk/Del Rio in the mainevent in a very straightforward manner. This would have been an indifferent segment, but Punk and Heyman did enough to make it a fun way to kick off the show.

Punk and Heyman were backstage. Heyman told Punk how much he meant to him. Punk said that he wasn't Heyman's client, and he didn't want him at ringside, but he would always be a Paul Heyman guy and he walked off leaving Heyman with his thoughts. Barrett was in the ring for a singles match with Axel in an IC title match, but Vickie made it out saying that Barrett would face her big surprise...Christian. I was very happy to see Christian and all, but this showed an extreme lack of creative direction, which has always been the story with Christian and his returns. Christian pinned Barrett with the killswitch, so I guess the losing streak is still on for

9 Barrett even without the title. An app poll was shown to decide the Bryan/Orton stipulation later on the options were no DQ, no countout or 2/3 falls. Clearly people were going to choose no DQ, but apparently WWE thought that most people were going to go with ⅔ falls. There was a new Wyatt Family vignette; it was great as always. made it out for a handicap match with the Rhodes' Scholars for no particular reason. I expected Sheamus to pin Sandow with the brogue kick, as he was completely dominating both men, but Sandow grabbed a rollup for the win. Still, Sheamus grabbed a brogue kick on Rhodes after the match – what a mean person. From a graphic that aired after this match I thought that Vickie would be in the ring with the McMahons later on, but clearly that didn’t happen. There was a RVD vignette.

Vickie was putting herself over to Triple H backstage. However, Triple H brought up that Christian had been cleared for weeks. Vickie took credit for RVD, but Triple H said that he had made the deal. He then basically said that she needed to make an example out of the Shield. He sarcastically congratulated Vickie for putting 3MB on the show. Bryan was backstage when Kane came by saying that they needed to talk. Bryan proclaimed that he was busy. Bryan basically said that he would prove Kane wrong again, Kane wanted to give Team HellNo another shot, but Bryan said that he needed to prove himself as a singles competitor by winning the WWE championship. Kane wanted to as well. They closed the segment with a feeling of uncertainty in regard to the team’s future. Orton and Bryan made it out before the stipulation results were revealed by Lawler. No DQ won with 54%, 2/3 fall garnered 26% and no countout received 10%. Bryan went after the leg of Orton with kicks, before Orton dropped him out to the floor. Bryan ran wild and went for a topé, but was side stepped and went head first into the bottom of the barricade. Orton landed some kendo stick shots, before the break. Bryan landed kicks to the chest, but Orton landed a powerslam. Orton landed a dropkick, and then let out some swear words, which were edited on my feed, so clearly something was wrong. As we mentioned earlier, Bryan had suffered a stinger, either from the topé or from a dropkick. Bryan didn’t have full use of his one arm, and attempt to skin the cat, but was kicked out to the floor. Then, in what was some really strange offence for a shoot injury, Orton landed a backbreaker on the barricade, which I would have thought not to have been a good idea at all. This led to trainers coming by. Bryan was unable to compete, and Orton was declared the winner, in a finish that was not planned in any way.

10 AJ made it out with the Diva's title, and she called herself the best Diva's champion of all time. She said that there was no women in the existence that was half the women that she was, and she dared anyone who disputed that notion to come down to the ring. This brought Stephanie out, who looked like she was 10 foot tall because she was wearing heels. She congratulated AJ, but then said that she degraded women everywhere with her actions. AJ said that she should act more like Stephanie, saying that she should marry a star instead of dating one, which got a big reaction. AJ called what she did to Kaitlyn a masterpiece and they had a face off. AJ said that she was Stephanie only younger. Stephanie responded by saying that she could take it all away by firing her. This brought all of the babyface Divas out. Stephanie on her way out said that she was giving them a by, but that they should never interrupt her again or they would be gone. There were you tapped out chants. Kaitlyn said that it was her time to play AJ like a puppet and she tackled AJ before Langston carried her off screaming. Everyone apart from AJ was no good in this segment. Kane made it out for a US title match, yes, for the third time. This led to Reigns and Rollins making it out before Reigns landed a spear and they laid Kane out with a triple . There were no consequences, at least right then and there. Henry was shown backstage, they were teasing a retirement. The Shield were walking through the back when Vickie came by and they blew her threats off. She was about to say that they were fired when Vince came by and put them over, before saying that he never liked Kane anyway.

There was yet another Wyatt Family vignette. Zeb Colter made it out listing the problems with America and said that they were at war, and that's why they required unusual alliances. The man that he brought out spoke five languages with the most important being English. This qued to make it out for a match with Regal. Cesaro pinned Regal after a fun but short match. Cesaro then covered Regal with a “don't tread on me” banner. There was another RVD vignette. Cena made it out for a promo spot. He talked about how the fans were always honest with him. He wanted to speak with his fans though saying how they hung in with him. He would always be ready, but the next person to hold the title will have earned it. Just then Mark Henry made it out placing his boots on the ramp, walking out in a tremendous pink suit. He was very emotional and wanted to tell everyone in the back and the fans something. He said that he respected everyone who loves the business, and he was a veteran when Cena came in 2002 and Cena was doing an awesome job. He said that if they forgot him they wouldn't forget his suit – fact! Henry said that

11 Cena would be the greatest champion of all time, he listed all of his successes. He wanted to retire from the active roster, which had the “one more match” chants going. Cena handed Henry the belt to lift, which was the point where it was quite apparent that this segment wasn’t on the level. He gave it back to John saying that he didn’t deserve to hold it. He said that he was a very proud man, he had travelled the world over, and was on the road almost 200 days a year. He thanked his wife, Jacob his son, and then his daughter, which led to a fan yelling “Mae Young” and Henry replied “no, dummy”. He said that he was coming home, he and Cena embraced before he landed a big world strongest slam and yelled that he had a lot left in the tank. This was a tremendous segment. I can’t even remember the last time that I saw someone conduct themselves in such a believable manner as Henry did here – utterly fantastic.

Henry was approached backstage and called everyone a bunch of puppets. He said that he had never won the WWE title, and he was challenging Cena...and the reason that he had two boots was because he was going to leave one in Cena's a**. Wouldn’t that warrant only one boot? Jericho made it out for a match with . Jericho pinned Slater and moments later landed a codebreaker on McIntyre. Heyman was talking to Axel backstage when Striker came by asking about Punk, and Heyman said that he expected more from Striker. Miz was unfortunately on commentary for a /Axel match. It seems as though the ridiculous light gimmick is back. They had a very sloppy match with Cara not even going up for the perfectplex and rather taking a DDT. Vince was backstage with Vickie and Maddox, and he asked what they should do with Henry and she booked Henry/Cena for the WWE title. This led to Triple H and Stephanie making it out with conflicting opinions. Vickie was basically caught in the middle between Vince, Triple H and Stephanie. Heyman came by Punk backstage and he told Punk that he loved him and they embraced. Punk walked off and Heyman yelled that Punk was the best in the world.

Del Rio made it out, followed by Punk to heavy CM Punk chants. Before the break Punk was knocked to the outside selling the arm. They did some really good work on the arm following the break. Punk managed to land the GTS, Del Rio fell to the floor, and then backed up the ramp for the count out; a finish that is done far too often at this point. Just then Ziggler flew off the ramp out of nowhere like a maniac attacking Del Rio. Punk had his arm raised and just then Brock's

12 music hit and out he came; also with no Heyman. Lesnar acted like he was going to say something on the mic, but just laid Punk out with an F5 to close the show. I liked this closing segment, and thought that it was a straightforward way to introduce Lesnar into this angle. This may be the most excited I was to see Lesnar since he originally showed up.

RAW Ratings June 17th 2013

Monday Night’s edition of RAW was slightly up from last week’s show, which means that it drew an average rating of a 3.05. When it came to overall viewership, it was the number one show for the night, but it was only the third highest rated for the night, a pattern that was mimicked in the 18-49 demographic this week. It was going against the NHL Stanley Cup Final, but given that it outdrew the Stanley Cup, and there isn’t a very large crossover, I wouldn’t say that it had any noticeable effect on the rating this week.

The opening segment, which involved Del Rio coming out as the new World Champion before being interrupted by CM Punk, opened at a 3.04, which is decent. Christian versus Wade Barrett then lost 194,000, which is normal for that segment. However, it really does show that they missed the boat with Christian’s return, which was tremendously down played, and could have been built to as a big segment. Sheamus versus Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow in a handicap match lost 164,000 viewers. A collection of backstage segments with Triple H and Vickie together with Bryan & Kane gained 226,000 viewers. Then in the 21:00 timeslot, Orton versus Bryan gained 248,000 viewers to a 3.13 rating.

The 20:00-21:00 hour drew 4.027 million viewers (1.762 million viewers and a 1.39 rating in the 18-49 demo, placing it in the fifth spot for the night on cable behind hour three).

In the post 21:00 segment the AJ/ Stephanie McMahon segment with the Kaitlyn attack gained 168,000 viewers, which is really good for the post 21:00 time slot given that it is traditionally a loser. The Ambrose/Kane match together with the backstage segment with Vince, the Shield and Vickie lost 341,000 viewers, which is bad for that slot, but they were coming off of an abnormal gain. Antonio Cesaro versus gained 41,000 viewers, which is a huge surprise. Then in the biggest segment of the show, the Mark Henry/Cena in-ring segment, gained 738,000 viewers to one of the largest show highs that they have had in awhile with a 3.57 quarter at 22:00.

The 21:00-22:00 hour drew 4.264 million viewers (1.949 million viewers and a 1.54 rating in the 18-49 demo, placing it in the third spot for the night on cable behind the Stanley Cup Final and Love & Hip-Hop, making it the number one RAW hour for the night).

Then in a mass exodus of sorts, after gaining so many viewers at 22:00 they last 953,000 viewers in the post 22:00 segment with Henry backstage and Heath Slater versus Chris Jericho. They usually lose a portion equitable, but usually smaller than the 22:00 gain in this slot, so it was a substantial loss. Curtis Axel versus Sin Cara together with a McMahon segment backstage gained 112,000 viewers. Finally in the mainevent segment CM Punk versus Alberto Del Rio,

13 together with the Lesnar post-match and the Ziggler run-in gained 636,000 viewers to a 3.42 overrun, which I would consider good.

The 22:00-23:06 hour drew 4.172 million viewers (1.882 million viewers and a 1.49 rating in the 18-49 demo, placing it in the fourth spot for the night on cable. The demographics for this week’s show were as follows: 2.4 in male teenagers, a 2.3 in males 18-49, a 1.3 in female teenagers and a 1.1 in females 18-49.

WWE – NXT. June 19th 2013. Full Sail University, Florida. Ben Carass.

Before the titles, the story of becoming the NXT Champion aired then Adrian Neville entered the arena for the opener. The B-team announcing duo, Phillips and Maddox, welcomed us to the show. came down with the Family and they showed Neville eliminating Bray from the number one contender’s battle royal 3 weeks ago.

Adrian Neville vs. Bray Wyatt w/ Harper & Rowan

The story was laid out early, with Neville landing some quick strikes at the bell, but Wyatt slowed the pace with a big clothesline then started the heat almost immediately. Neville fought from underneath and was cut off then was tossed over the top to the apron. Neville landed a head kick and went up top, however Harper shoved him off to cause the DQ.

Adrian Neville defeated Bray Wyatt via disqualification, at 2:07.

Harper and Rowan beat-down Neville after the bell; Graves and Ohno showed up to make the save. Wyatt sent his goons out to the floor, but Graves and Ohno quickly disposed of them then went after Wyatt. Bray rolled out of the ring to safety, however “Commissioner” showed up and booked a six-man for the main event.

This was a decent little segment; granted it has been done plenty of times with The Shield, but I thought it was a good way to set up the main event. I don’t think I’ve heard the word, “commissioner”, on a wrestling show since about 2000.

After the break Angelo Dawkins was in the ring. made his entrance for only his fourth match on NXT, although it already feels like he has been a part of the show forever, which is a good thing as I honestly had some doubts as to how well he would fit in when the news broke of his signing.

Sami Zayn vs. Angelo Dawkins

They started out with some basic chain wrestling and Sami made the big green football player Dawkins look like a somewhat competent grappler then he delivered his trademark go-behind armdrag. Dawkins hit a back-elbow and landed a big body slam then slapped on a chinlock for

14 some brief heat; Sami fought up then after an up-and-over transition in the corner, he scored with a reverse leg-lariat and his springboard tornado DDT for the finish.

Sami Zayn defeated Angelo Dawkins via pinfall, at 2:55.

This was fine, although I wouldn’t have had Sami sell so much for a no-hoper like Dawkins. The crowd weren’t into the match that much; most likely because they had just seen Sami take a beating from Cesaro during the taping of the previous episode and had a hard time taking the aesthetically unimpressive Dawkins seriously.

A vignette for Leo Kruger aired; he said everything he had seen and done had made him into an “exotic human being” then claimed everything we thought we knew was about to change.

I hope they don’t alter Leo’s character too much. I was a big fan of his mercenary gimmick and his character has been changed so many times already that another may hinder the response from the crowd.

Sasha Banks showed up for another Women’s Championship tourney match. projected her character tremendously on her way out, however it still reminds me of Maryse’s old routine.

NXT Women’s Championship Tournament – First Round Match: vs. Summer Rae

Summer took over early then hit a dropkick and started the heat; the crowd chanted, “Where’s ?” Summer gave Banks a front-leg sweep type move and continued with some more clumsy offence; Sasha got in a roll up for some hope, but Summer landed her bizarre rolling guillotine/DDT thing. They did the cat-fight spot and Sasha started a comeback with some chops then her lucha armdrag. The finish saw Summer hit an inverted DDT/legdrop to get the pin.

Summer Rae defeated Sasha Banks via pinfall, at 3:33.

This wasn’t good at all. It saddens me to say it, because Summer is brilliant with her body language and she has a real presence when she is on screen, however her in-ring work is far from polished.

Xavier Woods cut a promo in the back; he quoted the legend that is Troy McClure and recapped the previous episodes of NXT he had appeared on. Suddenly his wristband began to play the Power Rangers theme and he declared, “it’s morphin time”. Xavier appeared after the break to face Jake Carter; Maddox buried Woods for quoting the 90’s kids show and claimed Carter was way cooler than the videogame playing nerd.

Xavier Woods vs. Jake Carter

15 Xavier worked an armbar then hit Carter with a tilt-o-whirl headscissors and an armdrag before going back to the hold. Carter gained the advantage after failing to produce a clean brake in the corner then came off the second rope with an axe-handle, but Xavier caught him with a shot and made a comeback. Woods yelled “it’s morphin time” again and hit a handspring clothesline then got the pin after an inverted stomp facebreaker (Gail Kim’s eat defeat). Xavier Woods defeated Jake Carter via pinfall, at 3:10.

This was just a match. As fun as Xavier’s 90’s gimmick is, there is absolutely no chance of him debuting on the main roster with such an esoteric character. But for developmental, I suppose there is nothing wrong with it.

Sami Zayn joined Renee Young in the back. He said his victory tonight was a message to Antonio Cesaro and stated he could not take exception to Cesaro’s win over him last week, but he did take exception to Cesaro attacking him after the match. Sami declared that made the score 1-1 and challenged Antonio to a third match. Sylvester LeFort, Scott Dawson and Garrett Dylan were somewhere in the back. Sylvester was upset about his team not being the number one contenders for the tag straps and he claimed he was going to do something about it. At that moment, Dusty Rhodes entered; he said he knew all about money and tag team gold then booked D2 in a number one contenders match next week against Graves and Ohno. Dusty told Sylvester he liked his “wine and women”; LeFort replied, “Oui, oui merci beaucoup” then told his team they were going to make some money.

A video from Bo Dallas aired. Bo apparently filmed himself in his car and talked about how much he appreciated the support he had received since winning the NXT Title. Dallas was over enthusiastic and smiled incessantly throughout then he showed a picture of his trip to Disney World. Bo claimed he would be back next week and began to sing, “don’t stop Bo-lieving”. I guess they are going with Bo as a pandering babyface in order to illicit further heel reactions from the Full Sail crowd, which will work like a treat; especially if Bo acts like he did in this video. He showed more charisma than ever before and the “bo-lieving” (playing on the Justin Bieber, Belieber fad) line is a sure fire way to draw heat from the college fans in Florida. Adrian Neville was out first for the six-man main event; Graves and Ohno were out next then hit the ring.

Adrian Neville, & Kassius Ohno vs. The Wyatt Family

Graves took over on Harper early, but Rowan came in and landed some shots on Ohno. Kassius did the Misawa rope flip then hit a basement yakuza kick. Wyatt overpowered Neville, however Adrian countered a slingshot into the corner with a double-foot stomp. Neville used his speed and took Harper over with a hurricanrana; Graves entered and applied Candice Michelle’s Candylicious submission, only to be distracted by Wyatt which led to Harper landing a big boot to start the heat. After the break, the Family kept Graves in their corner; Corey eventually made the tag and Ohno fired up on Rowan with strikes. Ohno took the bump in the corner and went over the top, where Harper sent him into the arpon. The Family began to build for the final hot tag and got some more heat while making frequent tags and working over Kassius in

16 their corner. Ohno got the hot tag to Neville after he and Harper’s heads collided for a double- down. Neville ran wild on Wyatt and hit a standing shooting star press for a two count; Ohno sent Rowan to the floor with a big boot and followed up with a dropkick through the ropes. Neville flew over the top with a corkscrew plancha onto the heels then went up top for the British Airways, but Harper pulled Wyatt out of the way, causing Neville to crash and burn on the canvas. Wyatt slid in and made the cover to get the pin.

The Wyatt Family defeated Adrian Neville, Corey Graves & Kassius Ohno via pinfall, at 9:17 (TV Time).

This was a solid six-man and The Family looked strong with their isolation of Ohno and Graves, plus Adrian Neville taking the pin was a smart way to keep Ohno & Graves strong considering they become the number one contenders next week. Although, the results from the latest set of tapings seem to indicate a change in plans.

This edition of NXT was not the greatest; other than the main event which was set up by a nice angle at the start, everything else either came off as filler or simply wasn’t very good. On a more interesting note, this episode marked the one year anniversary of the new NXT; it’s just a shame the show couldn’t deliver something more exciting for the occasion. Let’s take a look at what occurred during the June 20th tapings from Full Sail.

Taped for July 3rd: downs in the semi-final of the women’s title tourney. Xavier Woods goes over Scott Dawson then squashed . In the main event of what looks to be a dull show, Bo Dallas retains the NXT title over Antonio Cesaro. Taped for July 10th: Emma advances to the final of the women’s tourney after beating Summer Rae. Leo Kruger taps-out Sami Zayn in a match I am excited to see. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady overcome Mason Ryan in a handicap match. The main event also looks decent, with The Wyatt Family going over Adrian Neville, Corey Graves & William Regal.

Taped for July 17th: Leo Kruger defeats Sami Zayn & Antonio Cesaro in a three-way, which has the possibility to be a burner. Sylvester LeFort cuts a promo putting over Scott Dawson, Bo Dallas shows up and gets taken out by Kruger. Charlotte (Ashley Fliehr) makes her debut and downs . was in his daughter’s corner; he cut a promo before the match and strutted with his daughter after her victory. Surprisingly, Adrian Neville and Corey Graves take the NXT Tag belts from the Wyatt Family in the final match of a solid looking show. You may notice Kassius Ohno is nowhere to be seen on these shows. I have no idea what the story is, I would guess an injury but I haven’t heard anything.

Taped for July 24th: Paige becomes the first NXT Women’s Champ, defeating Emma in the final; Triple H pulls a and shows up during Paige’s celebration to “put her over”. Mike Dalton debuts the new gimmick, , who is apparently a narcissistic guy that takes pictures of himself with a cell-phone. Rick Victor & Conor O’Brian pay off the two stare downs they had with each other by teaming to beat Mickey Keegan & and Sheamus beats Luke Harper in the main event.

17 TNA iMPACT June 20th 2013 Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois

Overall Thoughts:

As a whole TNA did a good job with the opening night of the series by putting on two very good TV matches, with the first and clearly better of the two being Styles/Joe and the second being Hardy/Roode. The one negative was that the first Mainevent Mafia reveal was a letdown, and that will probably continue unless of course they bring in, because there is no one fresh to join the group, and there is no one that they can turn that will make a sizeable difference. I can only assume that they have some kind of long term direction for Brooke and Bully, but at this point I don’t care about that angle or the Aces & Eights very much. All in all you should probably take a look at the Styles/Joe match because it was really good, along with Roode/Hardy if you have some time.

Sting was shown walking into the building in a suit to open up the show, before cutting to a BFG Series promotional video. When they cut to the arena ten of the twelve BFG series entrants were in and surrounding the ring. Hogan made it out to introduce Roode and Hardy (who was wearing the most preposterous paint on his neck) both of which had already qualified by winning the 2011 and 2012 BFG series respectively. Hogan then announced that it was Open Fight Night as well, and the winner of the call in...no...TNA site poll would be able to make the first challenge - something that was never needed in the past. Hardy obviously won the poll, and before he could make a decision Aries made his own challenge to Hardy. Daniels interrupted saying that Hardy shouldn’t challenge them, because they would defeat him. Hardy ignored both offers, and called out Roode, which led to a twelve man brawl. Anderson made it out after the break to call out Joe Park. Anderson outwrestled Park early on, Park was able to run wild, until DOC ran down with a distraction, which resulted in an Anderson rollup for two. Park made it up top, but DOC caught him with a highkick and Anderson landed a mic check for the pinfall and 7 points.

After the break Anderson was speaking to the rest of the Aces & Eights saying that he should be the next VP, but DOC disagreed, saying that he was more worthy. Ray ran in to break the argument up, and said that it would come down to a vote, but their main priority was Brooke. was in the ring to call Aries out. Aries landed tons of big strikes to the leg of Bradley coupled with some hard shots before landing a huge for the win. They worked a match that really should have gone more than three minutes, so it didn’t get much heat. was walking backstage and shook hands with someone in a dark room. Chavo was giving a prep talk backstage. Hernandez made it down to the ring to call Daniels out. Hernandez split his mouth open a bit and was pinned by Daniels following the BME after a low blow in the corner. Kazarian was in the ring to call Magnus out. Magnus grabbed the 10 points with a Texas cloverleaf, which was definitely the best move given that they have Daniels in there already, and they should be pushing Magnus strong. Hogan was talking on the phone backstage, Ray was shown sneaking behind him, hammer in hand, until Hogan grabbed him by the scruff of the neck in the most awkward way possible. Ray didn’t want to fight and wanted to speak with Brooke.

18 Hogan thought that Ray and Brooke were done, but Ray pleaded his case by asking why Brooke stopped Hogan from clocking Ray with the hammer. Brooke Hogan was talking at a podium in the ring about the Knockouts division. She kept doing this bizarre fake laugh. She called all of the Knockouts down for the address. Young, ODB, Kim, Terrell & Sky made it out before James came down with her separate entrance still doing her fake babyface gimmick, and she is great at it. Brooke addressed Young first. He said that he was technically not a women. He handed over the belts without even being asked until he started kissing ODB and they ran off, which was quite a lame way to end that angle. Brooke said that Sky was medically clear, James objected, but the match was made for next week anyway. Kim demanded recognition, but a match was made with Terrell – a . For what? I don’t know. This was a strange segment.

Hogan congratulated Brooke in the parking lot, before he told her to leave in fear of Ray. She didn’t want to leave, but Hulk insisted and she was driven off. AJ Styles made it out, now with his very own light gimmick. Styles said that he wanted to be champion for the money, and TNA was no place for a hero. This qued Joe, who wasn’t called out at all, which really makes you wonder how this Open Fight Night business works. Before the break Joe kicked the leg out from AJ who took a hard bump on the apron. They worked the kind of match that you would have expected from these two, lots of good mat exchanges and hard strikes. There were thirty minutes remaining, which led to some vicious exchanges. Joe locked in the rear naked choke, but they went to the time limit. Styles responded with a huge elbow and they had to be pulled apart. This was a great match, hopefully one that will play into some plans later on.

Ray was on the phone to Brooke and he asked for her to turn back the car and to come to the arena. Hogan was giving a pep talk to Sabin, King and backstage saying that if Sabin won he could decide to challenge for the TNA title on the edition of iMPACT. Roode and Hardy made it out for the mainevent. They exchanged finish after finish attempt before Hardy pinned Roode with the twist of fate in another good TV match. Sting was walking backstage in his suit. Bully Ray made it out and stated that 15 men were attempting to get a shot at him, 12 in the BFG series and 3 in the . He then called Brooke out. No one came out, so he called her out again, but instead the Mainevent Mafia music hit and out came Sting in a suit. Ray was very fired up saying that he beat Sting single handedly and that he wouldn’t get a shot at the title again. While Ray was talking Sting unbuttoned his jacket. Ray demanded that Sting stop, but Sting continued. Ray called for the Aces & Eights to storm the ring, but no one came out. Sting threw his jacket into the face of Ray. Ray screamed for the Aces & Eights again, but Sting pointed at the screen to show the Aces & Eights laid out. Sting landed a shot and Ray backed off. Angle tackled Ray in a suit – so we got Angle in a suit in the place of . Great to see progress.

WWE SmackDown – June 21st 2013. EJ Nutter Centre: Dayton, OH. Ben Carass.

A recap of the stellar Payback PPV opened the show; strangely there were no highlights from

19 one of the better Raw shows of the year from last Monday.

Daniel Bryan made his entrance and Cole talked about the Tag Title match at Payback; he neglected to mention what happened during the match with Orton on Raw. Bryan said in his thirteen year career he had never had a match stopped due to injury and stated the company line was they stopped the match for his own safety. He claimed the real reason the match was called off was because they (the company) thought he was the weak link and not tough enough. Bryan accused Randy Orton of being the worst perpetrator of all then called for footage of what went down on Raw to air on the Tron. He said instead of standing together to fight the doctor’s decision, Orton showed Bryan pity and patted him on the head like a dog. Bryan declared that tonight he didn’t care what the doctor, WWE officials or Randy Orton thought and stated he would prove he is not the weak link by defeating Orton one-on-one. Randy came down, called Bryan, “Dan” then told him the match was stopped because people were concerned about his well-being, however Bryan’s fighting spirit made Orton respect him even more. Orton said when he put his arm around Bryan it was out of respect, not pity. Bryan didn’t buy this and recalled Randy’s weak link comment on Monday then informed Orton he would shove all the “respect” down his throat. Randy agreed to the challenge then told Bryan he was going to hurt him and have him carried out after the match.

This was an enjoyable opening segment, mostly because it was focused on one issue and didn’t involve multiple guys showing up to blather on and on. I may be on my own here, but Bryan is still coming off as a little too heelish with his pig-headed attitude to the weak link stuff. Having him make awesome comebacks and putting sympathy on him is all well and good, but sooner or later the crowd will get sick of hearing him whine every week. Perhaps the plan is to plant some seeds for Bryan to go heel then go the other direction and turn Orton. Either way, I want the ass- kicking, valiant babyface Bryan already.

Sheamus hit the ring for a match with Cody Rhodes, who made his way out after a commercial break. Footage aired from the app; the Rhodes Scholars drew straws to see who would face Sheamus because the WWE is full of incompetent decision makers who are incapable of booking a format for the TV show.

Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes w/Damien Sandow

Cody escaped to the outside after taking a beating during the opening stages and used the apron skirt to trip up Sheamus; Rhodes sent the arm of Sheamus into the ring post then tossed the Irishman into the barricade. Cody went after the left arm; Sheamus fought from underneath, but was cut off and Rhodes got the heat with more work on the arm. Sheamus tried for his slingshot shoulder block over the top rope, however Cody caught him with a Fujiwara armbar. Sheamus fought up, but Rhodes applied a hammerlock and dropped his arm across the top rope; regardless, Sheamus started his comeback with no transition then landed a Finlayroll. Sandow ate a boot then Rhodes was sent into his partner, which dropped Damien off the arpon. Cody countered white noise only to get caught in the Texascloverleaf and tapped out.

20 Sheamus defeated Cody Rhodes via submission, at 5:31.

Sandow immediately jumped Sheamus after the bell and left him lying in the ring, while the Rhodes Scholars left together up the ramp. After a replay, Sandow and Sheamus had a brief stare down.

Not much to the match really; it was decent, until Sheamus no-sold all the work Cody did on his arm and just went into a comeback out of nowhere. It looks like Sheamus and Sandow are still feuding, which I can only meet with ambivalence. Sandow did lay out Sheamus again, so at least they are making him somewhat strong for this bizarre programme.

A Wyatt Family vignette rolled. Curtis Axel showed up with Paul Heyman to defend the IC Title against the former champ. Wade Barrett was already in the ring after the break and Lilian made the in-ring introductions.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Wade Barrett vs. Curtis Axel (C) w/Paul Heyman

Regrettably, Miz joined JBL and Cole. Wade controlled momentarily, but Axel hit a dropkick and took over. Barrett ate some stomps in the corner, however he used the tights to send Cutis into the top turnbuckle and landed a clothesline. Axel fought from underneath, but Wade shut him down and delivered a suplex for a two count. Barrett tied up Axel in the ropes and threw some knees then sent him to the floor with a big boot. While outside, Wade badmouthed Miz; back inside Axel capitalised on the distraction and went for the Perfectplex. Barrett escaped to land another big boot for a two count; Axel avoided an elbow off the second rope. The finish saw Axel hit his dad’s rolling neck snap and followed up with his running to get the pin.

Curtis Axel defeated Wade Barrett via pinfall, at 4:32.

After the match, Miz got in the ring; he starred at Axel then undid his jacket and tie, as if he was some kind of tough guy. Heyman held back Curtis and the two heels backed out of the ring.

The match was a basic heel vs. heel affair. Both guys took turns at working dirty; I could have done without the one fighting from underneath/cut off spot, but that’s nit-picking. I’m worried for both Wade and Curtis going forward. I thought losing the IC title would give Barrett a chance to break out of his jobber role, however that looks highly unlikely at the minute. As for Axel, I don’t know what is going on with the Triple H storyline; maybe they have just nixed it all together. Still, I hope this title programme with the Miz doesn’t involve a bunch of back-and-forth wins leading to a title shot. In fact, one loss to Miz would be one too many for my liking. It’s a good job Axel has Heyman, because now is the time when he is really going to need him to prevent a slide into mid-card obscurity.

A recap of the greatest WWE angle in a long time aired: Mark Henry’s fabulous phony retirement on Raw. It’s a little humorous that the Henry deal got a bigger reaction from the crowd than Triple H’s attempt to make us cry with his bogus retirement last year. Cole hyped Cena vs.

21 Henry at Money in the Bank.

AJ Lee skipped out with Big E. Langston; Cole told all the perverts out there to go check out bikini shots of the divas on the website. Natalya was in the ring after the break for the non-title match; they recapped the AJ/Kaitlyn storyline before the bell. Great Khali and were conspicuous by their absence at ringside.

Non-Title Match: Natalya vs. AJ Lee (Diva’s Champ) w/Big E. Langston

Nattie overpowered the champ and applied the pin up strong submission hold; AJ got to the ropes then locked on a sleeper, complete with bodyscissors. After a break, Nattie landed a suplex and her discuss lariat for a two count; AJ countered an over-the-shoulder powerslam by biting Nattie’s arm and used the black widow to get the tap-out.

AJ Lee defeated Natalya via submission, at 2:35 (TV Time).

Kaitlyn and Layla were watching on a monitor in the back; they were not pleased with AJ’s victory. walked up to them and asked if that was the same hold AJ beat Kaitlyn with then called the former champ, “trash”. Kaitlyn flipped out and attacked Askana then tried to dump some garbage on her; Layla displayed some horrendous acting and a bunch of the girls showed up to break up the fray.

Not much to say about the match, other than I find it highly unbelievable that little AJ Lee is capable of out grappling and submitting dungeon-trained, Natalya Neidhart. The post-match angle with the women wasn’t great either. Kaitlyn vs. Aksana sounds like an injury waiting to happen and after seeing their effort on Main Event, I cannot think of one good reason why these two women should be put in a ring together.

Chris Jericho got his full entrance then Ricardo Rodriguez introduced Alberto Del Rio. Now Del Rio is back to being a heel, I for one am in favour of bringing back his old entrance, rent-a-cars and all. Footage of Del Rio’s walkout on Raw and Ziggler’s surprise attack aired.

Non-Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Champion) w/Ricardo Rodriguez

Jericho shone early, then landed his springboard dropkick which sent Del Rio off the apron and worked over Alberto on the floor. Ricardo caused a momentary distraction and Del Rio caught Jericho with a superkick as he climbed back through the ropes. Following the break, Jericho missed a splash in the corner and spilled over the top; Del Rio sent him into the barricade; back inside Jericho avoided a shoulder block in the corner and Albert took the ring post spot. Jericho started his comeback then went for the walls; Del Rio rolled free and landed a sloppy superkick for a near-fall. Alberto missed the step-up enzuigiri and Jericho got a two off a crossbody from the top then scored with the lionsault, but was too weak to make the cover. Alberto delivered a boot to the gut and tried for the cross-armbreaker; Jericho fought out to try

22 for the walls again. Del Rio reversed into the armbreaker, however Jericho countered into the walls. Ricardo got involved, so Jericho slapped the liontamer on him as well. Suddenly, ran in and began to assault Del Rio and the ref called for the bell.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Chris Jericho via disqualification, at 7:28 (TV Time).

Alberto fled through the crowd to escape the fired up Ziggler; Lilian announced Del Rio as the winner and Jericho began to yell at Dolph for costing him the match. Jericho then hit Ziggler with a codebreaker. Del Rio got back in the ring after Jericho had left; Ricardo held up the limp Ziggler and Alberto hit the same superkick which won him the World Title. Cole used his serious voice and some refs checked on the lifeless Dolph.

The match was decent and it picked up towards the end with a little bit of reversalmania. I was fine with Jericho hitting Dolph with the codebreaker, as it led to all the heat going back on Del Rio when he kicked Ziggler’s head off. I’m not sure if we’re getting a three-way, I would think not since they need as many people as they can get for the two Money in the Bank matches. But I suppose it would be a good way to stretch out Dolph’s one-on-one rematch until SummerSlam.

Drew McIntyre and the rest of 3MB were in the ring; Christian appeared to take on the former chosen one.

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre w/ Heath Slater &

Christian quickly sent Drew for a ride to the outside then hit a dropkick through the ropes; back inside he landed his goofy slingshot over the top right hand, but got caught with a swinging uranage. Christian came back with a forearm off the second rope then took care of Slater and planted McIntyre with the unprettier for the finish.

Christian defeated Drew McIntyre via pinfall, at 3:55.

Christian got on the mic and said it felt good to be back in front of his peeps then claimed he came back for that, “one more match”. Nobody in the crowd seemed to get the reference to wanting a World Title shot and The Shield’s music hit; the trio ran in down the ramp and surrounded the ring. Christian was triple-teamed then took the three-man powerbomb and The Shield held their titles over the prone body of their victim.

The match was nothing. It’s good to see Christian back and been thrown straight in with The Shield. It should add some new flavour to the six-mans, plus I could easily see him have a decent run with Ambrose over the US Title. If you need your weekly Shield six-man fix, you’ll have to check out Main Event to see & take on the heel trio.

A recap aired of CM Punk breaking up with Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar’s F-5 to Punk at the end of Raw. Heyman joined Renee Young in the back; he refused to answer whether he was involved in Lesnar’s attack and instead asked how Renee’s relationship with her father was. He

23 continued to talk about her Uncle’s criminal record and her break up from her fiancé then told her what happens between he and his best friend CM Punk was personal. Heyman informed Renee she should have asked about Curtis Axel’s successful IC Title defence then walked off.

Heyman was great here and truly came off as a sleazy heel. I like how Paul is going to deny all responsibility until he gets caught out and even then he will still probably lie about it.

Randy Orton hit the ring for the main event; after the break Bryan was already in the ring and the ref called for the bell.

Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan

The two traded strikes and Orton got control after a European uppercut; Bryan fought back with kicks and right hands, but Randy countered a suplex with one of his own. Bryan avoided a knee drop then landed more kicks and applied a kneebar. Orton countered into a side-headlock and Bryan escaped with a kneecrusher then tried for the Yeslock; Randy grabbed a handful of hair and delivered a sidewalk slam. Bryan took a suplex from the apron to the floor as the big spot before the break; back to the action and Bryan fired up with right hands, however Orton shut him down with a dropkick. Bryan countered a superplex and scored with a missile dropkick for a double-down then did a kip-up and began to run wild with his tremendous comeback routine of kicks and running dropkick. Orton countered the Tiger- wallflip, running clothesline spot with a powerslam to get a two count then Bryan got a two off a backslide. Bryan landed some more kicks to the torso and got a near-fall following a head-kick; Orton cut him off on the top and successfully delivered a superplex. Randy scored with the hangman’s DDT and set up for the RKO; Bryan rolled to the floor only to take a belly- to-back into the barricade. Orton tried to hit the hangman off the ring apron, however Bryan countered and landed a flying knee off the apron. Bryan followed up with a big tope and beat the referee’s count at 8, to get the victory.

Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton via count-out, at 11:10 (TV Time).

Bryan refused to have his hand raised then grabbed the mic and demanded the match to be restarted, as he didn’t want to accept the count-out victory. said “No” and Bryan

24 repeatedly yelled, “Yes” as the show went off the air.

A really enjoyable the main event again this week, although the finish wasn’t the greatest, but considering this is certainly leading to a rematch on Raw it was fine. I suspect Monday will give us more of a clue which direction they are taking Bryan an Orton; I expect both guys to be in Money in the Bank matches, but I suppose they could just as easily be put in another single at the PPV.

On the whole, SmackDown this week was a little dull; especially compared to the great shows we got on Sunday and Monday. The two best matches (Jericho vs. Del Rio and the main event) had screwy finishes, although each appears to be leading to something so it isn’t all bad. There were a couple of interesting angles shot, with The Shield taking out Christian and Heyman’s refusal to acknowledge what happened between Punk and Lesnar was a great heel moment. A few other deals, like Sandow attacking Sheamus and Miz staring down Curtis Axel are likely setting something up for Raw, however nothing monumental or earth shattering occurred this week. SmackDown was back to being just a show, with a couple of solid wrestling matches hidden amongst the usual Friday night filler.

Bits & Pieces

In more negative news for All Japan Pro-Wrestling, and Japanese wrestling as a whole. The Mutoh split with All Japan is all but confirmed, along with the of big names like Masakatsu Funaki, Seiya , , & Shuji Kondo. Others including Ryota Hama and Manabu Soya have strong thoughts on leaving, which is sad given what a great roster the company has. Obviously the Burning group of , Go Shiozaki, , & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who have just moved on from NOAH, are going to be staying with the company, especially with in a worked president role of sorts within the company. However, Shiraishi has stated that many of the active performers, including Mutoh have contracts that will have them paying very high penalties for leaving the company. Whether these claims are true or not I don’t know. However, what I do know is that Shiraishi went off on another match fixing tangent this week, which doesn’t bode well for the company’s long term direction. There is also the question floating around of just what exactly Mutoh is going to do, as it seems that he won’t be able to purchase All Japan at this point, and starting up a new promotion would be pointless given how many splinter groups there are in Japan. A partnership with NOAH or even a company like Zero-One would be a positive – I don’t know what the chances are at this point however.

In some sad news the Reid Flair autopsy results were released this week with his death being attributed to a heroin overdose coupled with two other prescription medications – clonazepam (muscle relaxant) and alprazolam (Xanax).

In one of the stranger stories this week, apparently drank so heavily at the go- away party of New Japan young lion, who is off to Europe, that later on in the evening his wife had to take him to the hospital with suspected alcohol poisoning. Oh, and the

25 drinking took place at Toru Yano’s bar.

People are apparently a tad bit more concerned with Fandango’s concussion than they have been with others in the past, as he has had numerous during his career, which is not a good thing at all.

Ryusuke Taguchi had to be taken off of the New Japan Dominion show due to his hip and back injuries, which rendered him unable to compete in the Best of the Super Juniors finals, not being healed in time. He has been replaced with Tomoaki Honma, who will be teaming with & Captain New Japan to take on Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & .

Next Week’s Issue

Next week we look at the New Japan Dominion show, ROH Best in the World, WWE on the way to SummerSlam, hopefully the finals of the BOSJ, although I am making no promises, iMPACT, NXT, SmackDown and more!

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