WWE Smackdown (4/30/15)

Welcome to another edition of Smackdown. On the last Raw, it was revealed that Seth Rollins would be defending the WWE Championship against both Roman Reigns and Randy Orton in a triple threat match. Also, the King of The Ring Finals was on Tuesday night and Wade "Bad News" Barrett was victorious. Adam Rose is now with Rosa Mendes after Fandango kicked her to the curb and now Bray Wyatt wants a piece of Ryback. The New Day are the new top heel tag team and are causing chaos to the former champs Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Naomi took out Brie Bella to show she still is number 1 contender to Nikki Bella....at least until Paige comes back. Sheamus cost Dolph Ziggler his shot at the KoTR so you know Dolph is going to be gunning for Sheamus. Rusev gets one last crack at John Cena at Payback and interrupted John Cena's open challenge on Monday, will he do it again tonight? What's the status of Big Show? Now we have to go search for clues. Let's start the show.

IWireless Center

Moline, Illinois

April 30, 2015

Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton & Jerry Lawler

Ring Announcer: JoJo Offerman

We start the show with an In Memoriam graphic of the legendary Verne Gagne who passed away days earlier. One of the best promoters and wrestlers to ever live, he will be missed. Seth Rollins and J & J Security walk into the back and Seth sees someone off-screen and says they have the nerve to show up after the stunt they pulled on Monday. The camera shows its Kane and Rollins says its Kane's fault that its a triple threat match and for beating him up on Monday. Rollins says Kane is his problem, not the others. Kane says what's best for business is to give the audience what they want and Rollins says the truth is Kane is jealous of him because he never was as big as he was. Kane says he'll make a man out of Rollins if its the last thing he'll ever do. Kane says Rollins will face Dean Ambrose tonight like he was supposed to last week and that's best for business. Seth says he misses Kane from 20 years ago, not this current incarnation. Rollins dares him to do something in that match tonight and we get our opening graphic.

Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jerry "The King" Lawler welcome us to ringside. Roman Reigns hits the ring for a chat. We're shown highlights of the tag match on Raw where Reigns and Randy Orton beat Rollins and Kane. Reigns gives a shoutout to Dean Ambrose in his match with "their little brother" Seth Rollins. Roman says Rollins destroyed The Shield and cost him the WWE title at Wrestlemania 31. Reigns says he's going to bring the fight to Orton and Rollins when all of a sudden Kane hits ringside who starts shedding his shirt and tie. Kane brings referee Charles Robinson to the ring with him and puts his elbow pads on. Guess Rollins got to Kane because we got an impromptu match.

Match 1

Kane vs Roman Reigns

Kane doesn't even give a reason or cut a promo on what he's doing, he just has Charles Robinson ring the bell. They slug it out to start with Roman sent into the corner. They continue to slug it out but Kane just throws Reigns to the ground. Kane sends Reigns into the corner to work the back then delivers a back suplex. Phillips says Kane is sick of being called irrelevant but Roman ducks a charge, sending Kane flying over the top rope. Kane gets sent to the ringpost and Reigns dropkicks him but continues tos ell the back. Kane sidewalk slams Reigns on top of the announce table but it doesn't break. We go to commercial and when we come back, Kane has a bearhug on Reigns in the ring. Kane rams Reigns into the corner and clotheslines him in the other corner. Kane covers for a deuce then stomps away on Reigns. Roman fights back with right hands and they trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Roman rallies with strikes and a snap suplex before clotheslining Kane down. Kane charges to the corner and eats boot before Roman hits a second rope clothesline. Roman clubs away at Kane in the corner and delivers a samoan drop. Roman charges up for the Superman punch but runs into a chokeslam. Kane covers for 1....2....NOOOOO. Kane gives the sign for the tombstone but Roman counters it with a DDT. Roman hits the Superman punch and calls for the spear. Roman dives and misses as Kane rolls out of the ring. Kane leaves and Charles Robinson counts to ten to end the match. A quick camera view of the back shows Rollins and J & J are totally confused. Roman wins by count out as announcers speculate why Kane bailed like that. Roman in the ring says "I came to fight and he ran. He picks a fight then he leaves?" Kane has some explaining to do for this one to The Authority. Kane and Reigns worked together so many times that this was standard for Roman to be the underdog against the monster.

Time of match: 6:28

Winner: Reigns by count-out

Renee Young asks Seth Rollins what's going on and Rollins answers that Kane was in over his head. He says Kane carries a senior citizens card (he just turned 48 on Sunday) and he carries the WWE Championship. Rollins says he never runs away from a fight and finds a way to win the fight. He says he doesn't need anyone's help of anyone including J & J Security (and they visibly did NOT like that). Rollins is definitely breaking out as a character and its going to lead to a hell of a blowup with The Authority when the time comes. A graphic shows later tonight The New Day defending the tag straps against the former champs Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.

Back from commercial we're shown Damien Sandow making fun of Curtis Axel like a 12 year old from Raw and apparently they're up next. Yippie.....

Match 2

Damien Sandow vs Curtis Axel

Sandow joins JoJo Offerman in announcing himself and Axel before the match starts. He calls Axel a pigeon-toed disappointment. Axel sticks a finger in Sandow's face and calls him a joke. Curtis tears his t-shirt off and throws it at Sandow and Damien goes to do the same when Curtis attacks. Damien gets him in a headlock and shoulderblocks Curtis down. Sandow tears his shirt off and throws Axel over the top rope to the floor. Sandow then sits next to Curtis and elbows him down. Axel retreats into the ring and puts the boots to Sandow on the way back in. Axel splashes Sandow in the corner and chokes him with his boot. Curtis screams "AXELLLMANIAAAAAA" and Sandow nips up. Sandow does the YOUUUU taunt before Hulkapunching Axel into the ropes. Sandow hits the big boot and then the Skull Crushing Finale. Sandow covers for 1...2.....3 to end the match. Sandow wins and Phillips calls him the NEW Damien Sandow. Losing to The Miz and doing comedy pretty much just made him a joke. Vince's reliance on comedy acts like Fandango and Sandow really makes you appreciate modern day guys that don't have silly gimmicks.

Time of match: 2:29

Winner: Sandow by pinfall

Renee Young is with Ryback and she asks why Bray would target him. Ryback says the Eater of Worlds has bitten off more than he can chew. Ryback says he's going to devour Luke Harper as a message to Wyatt later. Ryback says Feed Me More and leaves. Just like with Bray Wyatt attacking Dean Ambrose the year earlier, Wyatt attacking Ryback is just weird. But, at least they got something to do now.

Match 3

Ryback vs Luke Harper

Ryback wants to take out Harper to send a message to Luke's former partner Wyatt. The commentators say Harper's had a bad week as Ryback locks in a headlock before dropping Harper with a shoulderblock. Harper bullrushes Ryback int he corner and punches him around before locking in his own headlock. Ryback powers out of it and turns it into a wristlock. Harper punches out of it and uppercuts Ryback. Ryback rallies with right hands and hits a Thesz press. Ryback shoulderblocks Harper in the corner but Harper rallies with right hands and a suplex. Harper flexes his own muscles and goes for a suplex but Ryback hits his own delayed suplex. Ryback punches Harper in the corner and Luke counters with a sit down powerbomb for 1...2....nope. We got to commercial and when we come back, Harper clotheslines Ryback down. Harper covers for a deuce and Harper gator rolls Ryback. Ryback counters with an overhead suplex. Ryback elbows Harper and gets sent into the corner. Ryback kicks him away and hits a scoop slam. Ryback hits a big splash and covers for 1.....2....nope. Harper flips over for a two count but Ryback counters with a spinebuster. Ryback calls for the Meat Hook clothesline but Harper kicks Ryback in the head and covers for 1...2...nope. Harper calls for the lariat but Ryback counters with the Meat Hook. Ryback hits Shell Shock and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Ryback said he was going to beat up Harper to make an example out of him and he does. After the match, Wyatt attacks and beats down Ryback. Wyatt looks menacing as the message is sent, Ryback has no idea when Wyatt is going to strike.

Time of match: 6:03

Winner: Ryback by pinfall

Later tonight Dean Ambrose takes on Seth Rollins but the tag team title rematch is next. New Day takes on Kidd and Cesaro.

Match 4

Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with Natalya) vs The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E Langston) with Xavier Woods for the WWE Tag Team Championships

This is a rematch from Extreme Rules and New Day tries to start a New Day Rocks chant and naturally the crowd chants New Day Sucks. Lawler on commentary says he didn't think Kidd & Cesaro could be beaten but they were. As Big E holds up the belts, Woods says "New Dayyyy" and Cesaro says "Sucks". Woods "Hey!" Crowd chants New Day Sucks and Woods says "No we don't!" Kidd starts with Kofi at the bell and Kidd rolls into a roll up for a two count. Kofi does a go-behind and locks in an arm-bar. Kidd reverses it and crucifixes for a two count. Kofi throws Kidd over the top but he skins the cat over the back of Cesaro back in. He makes the tag to Cesaro and Kidd flips Kofi right into the uppercut. Cesaro covers for 1...2...nope. Cesaro picks Kofi up like a feather and hits a gut wrench suplex. He covers for a deuce and does a backslide for another near fall. Cesaro locks in an armbar. Kofi goes for a small package and Cesaro just simply picks him up and hits the Janetty Plex with Kidd. Kidd locks in a half nelson and Cesaro tags in to hit a full nelson suplex. Kofi nails to the outside and Woods distracted Cesaro long enough for Big E to make the tag. Cesaro still german suplexes Big E and stomps away at him in rhythm to "New...Day sucks". Kidd tags in and boots Big E before dropping Kofi with an elbow. He kicks at Woods but Big E drops Kidd off the apron. Woods laughs in Kidd's face before Big E sends Kidd spine first into the barricade. Big E throws Kidd inside and Kofi tags in to put the boots to him. Kofi dropkicks Kidd in the corner and covers for 1..2...nope. Kofi goes for an arm-bar but Kidd powers out of it. Kofi trips Kidd and heads to the second rope but Tyson dropkicks him in mid-air. Big E tags in and he knocks Cesaro off the apron before hitting an overhead belly to belly suplex. Kidd rolls to the floor and we cut to commercial. Back inside Big E does a regular belly to belly suplex and covers for 1...2...nope. Woods yells at the announce team as Kofi tags in and hits the Boom Drop before knocking Cesaro off the apron. Kofi misses Trouble In Paradise and Cesaro gets the hot tag. Cesaro cleans out Kofi and Big E and uppercuts Kofi in the corner. He covers for a deuce and cradles Kofi for another two count. Cesaro overhead press slams Kofi but Big E breaks up the pinfall attempt. Cesaro throws Big E over the top rope and Kofi rolls up Cesaro for a two count. Big E tags in and freight trains Cesaro but Kidd breaks up the count. Kidd somersault planchas over the top to take Kofi out on the floor leaving Big E with Cesaro. A charge eats knee and Cesaro uppercuts from the second rope. Cesaro hits a spinebuster and tags in Kidd as he giant swings Big E. Kidd dropkicks Big E in mid-air and covers but Kofi and Xavier break up the count to earn a DQ. New Day brawls with Kidd & Cesaro and the numbers game adds up as the three mauls the two. New Day walks off with the belts as Kidd & Cesaro are named the winners. Clearly this rivalry isn't over yet, another ppv match may be in order. Damn good match for what it was. Woods and Kofi struggle to hold Big E up on their shoulders as we cut.

Time of match: 13:35

Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by Disqualification

Backstage we go to Cameron and Summer Rae. They gossip and make fun of Brie and Daniel Bryan. Cameron claims she taught Naomi everything she knows when Nikki Bella walks up, chasing Summer away. Nikki tells her to shut up and Cameron says "Girl bye" as Nikki ignores her and says they have beef now. Nikki wants Cameron one on one for her sister's honor later tonight. Again, great idea but the problem is the Bellas did absolutely nothing to turn face. Literally they were feuding with AJ and Paige, AJ retires out of nowhere and Naomi took out Paige. The Bellas were switched just for the lack of babyface numbers and now we're all expected to go with it. Oh well, point is we got Nikki vs Cameron later. Just like Ryback making an example out of Harper, Nikki is going to make and example out of Cameron to send a message to Naomi. At least THAT makes sense. Nikki says Cameron isn't even remotely as good as Naomi and to stop comparing herself. Cameron counters with "Girl bye" We get a graphic for Ambrose/Rollins before we cut to commercial. Back from commercial we get a graphic for John Cena vs Rusev in an I Quit Match for Payback. Then we go to more god awful Tough Enough videos although they did have legitimate athletes featured. Onto the next match.

Match 5

Cameron vs Nikki Bella 

Apparently this is a non-title match and Brie Bella isn't even there. In a pre-recorded video, Naomi says she's going to take the title from Nikki and life isn't a fairy tale. Bell's gone and Nikki arm drags Cameron before doing jumping jacks. Nikki flips Cameron over again but Cameron takes over with an eye rake, sending Nikki to the corner. Cameron twerks facing the camera for absolutely no reason then charges, ducking under a Nikki dropkick. Cameron covers for 1..2...nope. Cameron pounds away on Nikki and kicks her out of the ring. Cam taunts Nikki and sends her into the barricade before saying she's going to make a statement. Phillips on commentary says Cameron is tired of playing second fiddle to Naomi which now makes it even worse because Naomi was a better babyface and now a better heel. Cameron goes for a split and lands then covers for 1..2....no. Cameron shouts at the ref as the crowd doesn't care. Cameron does her best to shout at them for heat and takes Nikki down by the hair. Cameron kicks Nikki in the back then locks in a chinlock. Nikki stands up with Cameron on her back and rams her into the corner. Nikki ducks a charge and drops Cameron with a series of clotheslines. A dropkick by Nikki gets a pop but misses the corner clothesline. A charge eats elbow and Nikki hits the second rope clothesline before covering for a deuce. Cameron hits a cradle for a two count but Nikki clotheslines her down. Nikki hits Rack Attack and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Bless Cameron, she tried....but the crowd was not feeling it. Again, the horrible booking of the divas the previous year pretty much led to this. The Bellas did nothing to signify a face turn and the crowd doesn't give a rats ass about "Girl Bye." That's not Cameron's fault either, the whole "Mean Girls" style of booking had been going on for 10 years now and people were sick of it. The women from NXT were going to usher in a new generation pretty soon. As for now, Nikki gets the duke to send a message to Naomi.

Time of match: 3:50

Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall

Backstage to the Prime Time Players Darren Young and Titus O'Neil who make fun of New Day. Once again, WWE was way too comedic for too long. They get a New Day Sucks chant with a "be-gone box" and a "Prime...Time Players" chant. Are they ever going to wrestle? Back from commercial break Rollins and his stooges visit Dean Ambrose in the back. Rollins wants Ambrose to back out of the match and Ambrose ask why. Seth says he's got a title match at Payback and Kane made the match tonight out of spite and to humiliate him, and HHH isn't going to be happy when he gets back. Ambrose says "Sounds good" and Rollins thinks the match is off but Ambrose clarifies that he meant the idea of Rollins being humiliated sounds good, he'll see him out there. Rollins says Ambrose is making a huge mistake and Ambrose says he's made a lot of mistakes but at least he'll bust Rollins' face instead. Back at ringside the announcers finally bring up the King of The Ring Finals which was won by Wade "Bad News" Barrett. We're shown highlights of Sheamus losing to Adrian Neville, Barrett beating R-Truth and Barrett beating Neville in the finals. Barrett cuts a promo saying he'll be ruling his kingdom with an iron fist and a Bullhammer. Let's get to our final match.

Match 6

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins (with J & J Security)

Looks like this is a non-title match but that's okay. This was the first feud out of the gate last year when Rollins turned on the Shield so this might be Ambrose pseudo putting himself in the title picture once Randy Orton's push fades. Bell's gone and Ambrose gets in an arm-bar. Ambrose wrenches the other arm and Rollins bails to the outside to regroup with his stooges. Back inside Rollins buries shoulders into the stomach in the corner before locking in an arm-bar of his own. Ambrose trips up Rollins with a drop-toe hold and locks in an STF holding Seth's nose. Rollins gets the upperhand and chokes Dean on the middle rope but Dean gets a crossbody and punches in. Dean clotheslines Seth over the top rope to the floor and Noble & Mercury lead Rollins away. Dean gets distracted by the stooges and Rollins hits a baseball slide on Ambrose. Seth distracts the ref and the stooges put the boots to Ambrose. All of a sudden Kane walks down to ringside as we go to commercial. Back from break Kane stands next to Noble & Mercury as Rollins stomps away at Ambrose. Seth fist bumps both Noble & Mercury and tells Kane to buzz off before he drops Ambrose with a clothesline. Ambrose ducks the line and lands one of his own before punching away at Seth. Ambrose rallies with clotheslines before landing a forearm in the corner. Ambrose goes upstairs but jumps into a kick to the stomach. Ambrose blocks a buckle bomb and dropkicks Seth to the outside. Ambrose hits a suicide dive to the outside then heaves Seth inside. Seth kicks Dean in the head, they both miss kicks and Ambrose hits a sit-down facebuster. He covers for 1..2....nope. Rollins blocks a superplex off the top rope and counters with a buckle bomb. Rollins covers for 1...2....nope. Ambrose counters a superkick with a roll up for a deuce. Rollins counters Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap) with a superkick. Rollins covers for 1...2....nope. Kane hops up on the apron and Ambrose bull rushes Rollins into Kane. Ambrose heaves Rollins over the top rope onto Kane. The stooges and Kane get cleared out by Ambrose with a top rope splash, but Rollins heaves Dean into the barricade. Kane grabs Seth by the throat and yells at him but then catches Ambrose with the other hand. Kane lets them both go and goes to choke the ref but Ambrose throws Kane into the ringpost. Ambrose wipes out both Noble and Mercury with a double clothesline but Rollins sends Ambrose into the steel steps. Dean staggers back inside and Rollins hits a variant of Dirty Deeds only with Ambrose landing face first. Seth covers for 1...2......3? Seth wins it with whatever that move was. The numbers game catches up with Ambrose as it was essentially 4 against 1 despite Dean's best effort.

After the match Kane gets in the ring and puts the boots to Ambrose with Rollins, Noble and Mercury joining in for a 4 on 1 assault. Roman Reigns hits the ring and Superman punches Kane. Roman heaves the stooges to the side and punches Rollins to the outside. Reigns spears Noble and Mercury together but Kane goes to chokeslam Ambrose and Roman. Both punch their way out of it and Reigns hits the spear on Kane. Seth hightails it out of there as Reigns and Ambrose stand tall to end the show.

Time of match: 10:18

Winner: Rollins by pinfall

Not a bad show even if it was a victim of bad booking from the past. They're trying to build tension between Rollins and Kane but the problem is Kane is not turning on him and everyone knows it. He already helped him win the cage match and it looks like he's going to cause shenanigans in the triple threat match at Payback. New Day continue to roll as the top heel tag team and with the Usos on the shelf (Jey anyway), it comes at a good time. Nikki Bella's inexplicable face turn is going over like a fart in church especially since she was the one who less than a year earlier wished Brie died in the womb on national television. Damien Sandow repeating what Curtis Axel and low level heels like Adam Rose say is going to get old real quick. The only feud that's actually interesting is Wyatt vs Ryback. Pretty much both guys need a victory or else they'll fade down the card. Ryback already failed to win the WWE title and losing to Wyatt kills any and all momentum with Roman Reigns still locked in to the top face spot. Wyatt lost to The Undertaker despite acting like he won, a loss to Ryback makes him look even worse. Not a bad show with good wrestling even if some of the story arcs are completely pointless. We'll see what happens moving forward. Raw comes at you from the Bell Center in Montreal this Monday night. I'll see you there.

WWE King of The Ring 2015 (4/28/15)

Free of the constraints of network television, WWE decided to have the 2015 King of The Ring finals as a 1 hour WWE Network special. Rather than hold the semi-finals on Smackdown and the Finals on a PPV, we got the semi-finals and finals on this special. For those that didn't bother to read the Raw recap, Bad News Barrett defeated Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth defeated Stardust, Sheamus defeated Dean Ambrose and Adrian Neville defeated Luke Harper. Barrett takes on Truth and Sheamus fights Neville tonight. Let's get to it.

IWireless Center

Moline, Illinois

April 28, 2015

Commentators: Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles

We open the show with a graphic honoring the late Verne Gagne who had passed away the day before before the opening vignette. Jerry Lawler opens the show thanking the fans and giving us a montage of what's to come tonight and how we got here. Then we cut to Byron Saxton who interviews Sheamus about his semi-final match. He says he's going to be the two time (TWO TIME) king of the ring but has to get past the "English elf" Neville. He may defy gravity, but not while he's unconscious. He says it don't matter who's in the Finals against him because he's going to become king. Then he'll make every little fella including Dolph Ziggler in WWE kiss his arse. We cut to Renee Young who's with Adrian Neville and he talks about how he was one of NXT's greatest champions and now he's in the KOTR semi-finals. He said even he can't believe it and no one gave him a chance to win. He's going to defy the odds and gravity. He's going to show Sheamus what a "little fella" like him can do.

Match 1

Sheamus vs Adrian Neville in a King of The Ring Semifinal match

Size vs speed here as we kick things off with Sheamus and Adrian Neville. Sheamus makes fun of Neville's height and calls him an elf. Sheamus backs him in the corner and tells him to come on. Sheamus and Neville trade punches then Neville goes up and over. He goes for a boot, ducks the line, kicks Sheamus in the ribs and runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Neville looks legit hurt but Sheamus knees him in the ribs anyway. Sheamus hits another backbreaker and a running knee to the head. Sheamus "Are you not entertained????" Sheamus kicks Neville in the corner and locks in a bear hug. Cole names some Kings of the past and JBL says don't forget King Booker. Sheamus misses a clothesline and Neville hits two running forearms. Neville kicks at Sheamus but Sheamus sends him to the apron. Sheamus goes for 10 Beats of the Bodhran, but Neville blocks it. Sheamus shoves Adrian off the apron straight into the announce table. Neville takes the nine count outside but slides back in. Sheamus slugs away in the corner and throws him across the ring. Sheamus says he doesn't belong in his ring and goes for White Noise. Sheamus hits it but then Dolph Ziggler comes out with a microphone. Ziggler points to the titantron and a highlight of Ziggler beating Sheamus distracts him. He turns around and misses the Brogue Kick, getting kicked in the back of the head but Adrian. Neville goes up to the top rope and hits the Red Arrow. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Kind of cheap to have Dolph distract Sheamus but Neville gets a big win regardless. Good match for what it was.

Time of match: 5:47

Winner: Neville by pinfall

After the match Dolph grabs a microphone and raises Neville's arm. Dolph then says he has unfinished business with Sheamus. He was supposed to kiss Dolph's ass at Extreme Rules and now he's come to collect. He charges the ring and drives Sheamus back with punches, but Sheamus bails. Only when the referees come out does he try to charge the ring. Don't tell me this is going to be a running gag of Dolph chasing Sheamus around to kiss his ass. Sheamus has a nasty cut over his eye and he's bleeding quite a bit. Apparently Dolph hit him with a live round. 

Then we cut to Renee Young who's with Wade Barrett. She says that Neville beating Sheamus is one of the biggest upsets in KOTR history and and asks Wade what his confidence level is. Wade gets offended and says Truth shouldn't have arachnophobia, he should have Bullhammerphobia. Wade says when he's finished with has-been (Truth) he's going to beat the "Neville-will-be.". Neville will be the "man that nobody remembers because Bad News Barrett will be King of the Ring. We go to Byron Saxton with R-Truth who says everyone knows he's afraid of spiders, but he has a plan. He's going to win King of The Ring, declare that spiders are banned from wrestling. Including the "nephew spiders" He'll build a castle, a drawbridge and a moat then he stops. He asks if there are water spiders and Byron looks at him funny. Byron asks about Barrett and Truth says Barrett won't be invited into the castle unless he can kill spiders. Truth says he's going to take care of the water spiders right now. Yeah Truth's pretty out there....anyway, on to the next match.

Match 2

R-Truth vs Wade "Bad News" Barrett in a King of The Ring Semifinal match

Winner faces Adrian Neville in the Finals so logic dictates Barrett will win. Bret Hart and Booker T apparently chimed in on Twitter and Lawler says "I remember when Bret was crowned king of the ring, I crowned him." Hahahaha! Bell rings and they circle to start and Truth gets a quick roll up to a deuce. Barrett punches Truth in the solar plexus and backs him to the ropes. Truth dances and elbows Barrett in the face. Truth hits the O'Connor roll for a deuce but Barrett hits a big boot, covering for another two. Barrett chokes Truth on the second rope then knees him in the head. Wade boots Truth out of the ring and rams his head against the apron. Barrett throws Truth inside and covers for 1..2...no. JBL talks about Roman Emperor Nero as Barrett locks in a chinlock. Barrett gets knees to the ribs but a charge in the corner eats boot.Truth rallies with clotheslines and a kick to the ribs. Truth hits a faceplant and covers for 1...2...no. Truth misses a scissors kick but Barrett runs into an axe kick. Truth covers for 1..2....no. Truth looks at the ref in disbelief as Lawler says Truth needs to fill his moat with bug spray. Truth ducks the line and hits a sky twister elbow. He covers for 1...2..no. Lawler and Cole asks if Barrett looked past R-Truth as Barrett shoves him down. Truth runs right into Winds of Change and covers for 1.....2....nooo. Wade rams Truth's head into the buckle and stomps a mud-hole in him. Barrett misses a charge and Truth hits Lie Detector. He covers for 1..2....no, Barrett got the foot on the rope. Truth can't believe it as JBL says Truth is our last hope to have an American king....ha, he's right. Barrett bails to the outside but Truth grabs him, only to get a thumb to the eye. Barrett turns his armpad around, rolls inside and buries Truth with a Bullhammer. Barrett covers for 1....2....3 to win the match. Its gonna be the two Brits, Neville and Barrett in the finals. Fitting for the two Brits to battle over who's king. Match was okay as JBL says we're one win away from having King Bad News.

Time of match: 4:38

Winner: Barrett by pinfall

Over to the announce table who Michael Cole solemly announces Verne Gagne passed away the day before. We go directly to a video tribute of Verne Gagne of his life. Fun fact, Gagne started the AWA in 1960 because he wanted to be the NWA Champion but the NWA turned him down. Gagne started his own promotion and made himself champion. Three years later, Verne's friend Vince McMahon Sr wanted Buddy Rogers to be the NWA Champion but he too got turned down. Vince, just like Verne, broke off Capitol Wrestling from the NWA and formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation, which we know today as WWE. After the video package, Lawler says everyone who met Gagne has fond memories of him. Michael gives his condolences to the Gagne family.

Then we cut to Renee Young with Dolph Ziggler of all people. Renee asks why he helped Sheamus advance last night only to cause him to lose tonight. Dolph couldn't take it anymore because Sheamus bullied people who can't defend themselves. Dolph called Dean Ambrose to apologize about costing him the match. He promises to inflict more pain on Sheamus and its not about kissing his ass, its about kicking Sheamus'. 

Now we get tonight's WWE Network schedule then to a highlight of Adrian Neville defeating Barrett at Extreme Rules before sending it to Byron Saxton with Wade himself. Saxton says he's got good news, Barrett is up next in the Finals. But he's got bad news, he hasn't beaten Neville yet. Way to telegraph the ending Byron. Barrett says he hates fighting twice in one night but Neville is in trouble because he plowed through Truth. Barrett says he has all the momentum and from here Barrett will be king. On to the Finals.

Match 3

Adrian Neville vs Wade "Bad News" Barrett in a King of The Ring Finals match

This is the Finals and its definitely going to be interesting how they book this. Is the push going to the high flying Neville to cement his rising star status or is Barrett going to get the duke after being booked horribly as the Intercontinental Champion going into Wrestlemania? Bell's gone and immediately Barrett bails outside. JBL says he just wrestled minutes earlier as Lawler says Neville did as well. Barrett starts with right hands and boots to the ribs. Barrett whips Neville in the corner who ups and overs then sends Barrett flying with a headscissors. Neville hits a dropkick and kicks away at Barrett but Wade clotheslines him over the top rope to the floor. Barrett scoop slams Neville on the floor and sends him ribs first onto the apron. Barrett sends Neville back inside and covers for a 1 count. Cole brings up Barrett's loss to Neville at Extreme Rules and kicks Neville in the ribs again before covering for a deuce. Barrett hits a slingshot backbreaker on Neville and covers for a deuce. Barrett locks in an arm-bar and turns it into a surfboard. Neville kicks out of it but Barrett goes for another suplex but Neville rolls out of it and hits a series of kicks on Barrett. Neville clotheslines Barrett over the top to the floor then hits a top rope asai moonsault on Wade. Barrett rolls inside and Neville hits a missile dropkick back in the ring. Neville goes to town with kicks and a dropkick again. Neville hits a german suplex for 1...2.....noooo. Nevvile splashes Barrett in the corner but runs into Winds of Change. Wade covers for 1...2...noooo. Bad News goes for Wasteland but Neville rolls out of it. Barrett counters a kick with a successful Wasteland. He covers for 1....2...nope. JBL wants the Bullhammer and right on cue Barrett load sit up. Neville ducks under it and hits the O'Connor roll for 1.....2...noooo. Neville hit a standing enziguiri to drop Barrett and goes up top. Neville goes for Red Arrow and misses but lands on his feet. Neville turns around and runs right into the Bullhammer. Barrett covers for 1...2.....3 to win the match. JBL says "All hail King Bad News" and Wade gets some heat back by winning the King of The Ring. Good match and arguably better than their Extreme Rules match but this time Barrett gets the duke.

Time of match: 7:06

Winner: Barrett by pinfall

Now its time for the coronation. Jerry Lawler is at the entrance ramp where the throne, cape, crown and scepter are. Wade has the referee put the cape on but he puts the crown on his head himself. He picks up the scepter as Lawler says congratulations are in order for the new King of The Ring. Wade says he's got class and elegance to call himself king. He will be ruling his kingdom with an iron fist and a bullhammer....boom! Michael Cole signs off and says goodnight everyone as Barrett sits on the throne.

Well the show served its purpose to get Barrett over and still give a shout out to Neville for getting this far. As I said earlier, Barrett needed the rub after being a horribly booked IC champion and a stooge for Sheamus the last month. It was doubtful he was beating Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules before Bryan was ruled out with a concussion so this was the next best thing. Just like with Sheamus five years earlier, they're going to call him King Barrett moving forward. The next show after this is the upcoming Smackdown, I'll see you there.

WWE Raw (4/27/15)

Extreme Rules has come and gone and we got a little bit of controversy, but I'll get to that in a minute. First, we have new WWE Tag Team Champions as Tyson Kidd and Cesaro were knocked off by New Day. Adrian Neville made his PPV debut by beating Wade "Bad News" Barrett and Nikki Bella is still the WWE Divas champion after beating Naomi. John Cena is still the US Champion after beating Rusev in the Russian Chain Match although Lana got Rusev another match at Payback coming up. Roman Reigns beat Big Show in a Last Man Standing match and Ryback laid out Bo Dallas. Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match but Sheamus made Ziggler kiss his anyway. Now for the controversy. Seth Rollins won the cage match with Randy Orton but both men used the RKO in the match that was supposed to be banned. Randy used it on Kane while Seth used it on Randy. They're gonna have to explain this one tonight. Also tonight is a very special night as we're bringing back the King of The Ring tournament. Let's get to the show:

Resch Center

Green Bay, Wisconsin

April 27, 2015

Commentators: Booker T, John Bradshaw Layfield & Michael Cole

Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles

We open with a montage for the King of The Ring featuring past winners and such. The birth of Austin 3:16, King Booker, King Sheamus and Bret Hart's amazing 1993 performance. Michael Cole welcomes us and we check out the brackets. Dolph Ziggler takes on Bad News Barrett, R-Truth faces Stardust, Dean Ambrose goes one on one with Sheamus and Adrian Neville opposes the demented Luke Harper. Then ring announcer Eden Stiles says WWE Champion Seth Rollins is on his way. Rollins comes in with Kane, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble in tow. Cole sends us to still images of last night's main event with Kane and J & J Security interfering. Cole brings up both Orton and Rollins using the RKO. Rollins takes the mic and says Randy Orton can't outsmart Seth Rollins. Rollins says he himself created and destroyed The Shield, cashed in at Wrestlemania and proved he was the fighting champion he is at Extreme Rules. The crowd chants "You suck" as Rollins says he beat Orton all by himself with Kane & Noble looking confused. Rollins says he used the S-ko out of the nowhere and yuks it up with Noble & Mercury. Rollins says even a general like him needs soldiers and he says thank Kane for being a good soldier. Seth calls him the Crypt Keeper and subtlety says Kane is washed up from the 90's. Kane cuts him off and says if it wasn't for him and the illegal use of the RKO, Orton would be champion and Seth would be out here crying like the entitled, spoiled brat he is. Kane says he'd rather be the WWE version of the Crypt Keeper than the WWE version of Justin Bieber.....hahahaha. Seth screams that Kane is jealous of him and Kane says Rollins is scared because without The Authority, Seth wouldn't be champion. Rollins says he's not scared of Kane and would wrestle circles around him when Randy Orton's music hits. Randy comes out and says he's not the kind of guy to come out and complain but since Kane admitted Rollins cheated, that's grounds for a rematch. Seth denies it and says he runs the show, not Randy. Randy says "Shut up Catwoman, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Kane." Kane says Randy has a point when Roman Reigns music hits. Roman makes his way to ringside as JBL asks "Now what does that hothead want?" Roman stands on the announce table as a symbol of his win last night. Seth cuts him off before he says anything "Oh get over yourself, what are you out here for?" Roman tells him to shut the hell up and says Rollins is missing his giant because of him. Reigns says he wants a title shot at Justin Bieber and the crowd chants to annoy Seth. Rollins mocks Reigns and says he and Orton both lost to him. Rollins refuses title shots to either of them but Kane cuts him off. Kane says Roman and Randy make compelling arguments and he's got an idea. He makes a tag match later that night with Kane and Rollins against Orton and Reigns and the WWE universe will decide who gets the next shot. Cole has no idea what that means as even Orton looks perplexed. Seth sticks a finger in Kane's face as we cut to the KOTR bracket to show Ziggler vs Barrett up next.

Match 1

Dolph Zigger vs Wade "Bad News" Barrett in a King of The Ring Quarterfinal Match

Ziggler says its tough to concentrate after what Sheamus did to him and is going to take it out on Barrett. Barrett guarantees he's going to be King Barrett when this is over. Dolph starts with right hands but Barrett counters with a right hand of his own. You don't want to get into a fistfight with Barrett. Barrett drops Ziggler with a shoulderblock and a cover gets two. Barrett drops an elbow as JBL says Dolph's new name is Chapstick. Booker says Dolph needs to fight back and right on cue Ziggler dropkicks Barrett outside. Back from commercial Barrett has Dolph in a chinlock as we see how Barrett got the upperhand with a kick to the face to knock Dolph off the apron. Back to live action Dolph sends Barrett into the ring post. Ziggler fights back with right hands and a big clothesline. Ziggler hits the Stinger Splash in the corner, ducks under a big boot and crucifixes Barrett for two. Ziggler counters Wasteland with a ddt and covers for 1....2....no. Barrett slingshots Ziggler into the ring post and hits Wasteland. Barrett covers for 1...2....noooooo. Barrett loads up the Bullhammer but Ziggler ducks it and hits a superkick. He covers for 1..2....noooo. All of a sudden Sheamus hits ringside with a mic and shows still images of Ziggler's face in his ass from the night before. Ziggler runs into a Bullhammer and Barrett covers for 1....2.....3 to win the match. It took a huge distraction from Sheamus but Barrett advances. Sheamus laughs as Barrett nods at him as a thank you. Before the distraction that was a damn good crash style match.

Time of match: 4:48

Winner: Barrett by pinfall

After the match, JBL announces the tag match is official between Orton/Reigns against Kane/Rollins. The number 1 contender will be revealed later. New Day harasses some guy backstage as apparently they're next.

Match 2

Big E Langston (with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) vs Tyson Kidd (With Natalya and Cesaro)

New Day gets in the ring and Xavier thanks the clappers out there. He wants a New Day ROCKS chants and naturally the crowd chants New Day Sucks. Good on Vince to notice the two teams swapped heat and swapped the roles. Kidd comes out to a minor pop and I honestly prefer Kidd as a babyface because his high spots and technical work is better as a face. Bell's gone and Kidd bumrushes Big E. E counters with a knee to the mid-section and throws Kidd over the top rope. Kidd catches himself and springboards but E catches him. Kidd ducks a line on the apron and kicks Langston in the head. Kidd hits a missile dropkick and stomps away at E in the corner before catering to the crowd. E regroups outside but Kidd kicks E right in the head. Kidd throws Big E inside but Big E counters with a lariat. E covers but Woods from outside holds the foot for 1...2....3 to win the match. Woods and Kofi run off with Big E with Cesaro chasing them away. Cole and Booker apparently missed Woods holding the ankle but JBL saw it. JBL is supposed to be the heel to boot which makes it even funnier. Short and sweet to put over the fact the New Day are the new top heel tag team. Beats the boring Ascension and Los Matadores for sure.

Time of match: 1:19

Winner: Big E Langston by pinfall

Back to Cole who shows still images of Cena's win over Rusev the night before. Its implied Lana distracted Rusev to allow Cena to win. Cole says Lana got an I Quit Match for Rusev against Cena in three weeks at Payback. Finally this feud is coming to an end although Cena has an Open Challenge later tonight. Let's get back to ring action.

Match 3

Ryback vs Bo Dallas

This match stems from the night before when Bo Dallas walked out and insulted the crowd in Chicago in the middle of the show and Ryback ran out to destroy him. Dallas walks out and cuts a promo giving Ryback a chance to back out while he still can. Dallas says all Ryback has to do is Bo-Lieve but Ryback bumrushes him at the bell. Ryback drops Dallas with an elbow and Bo retreats in the corner. Bo clotheslines Ryback from behind and chokes him with the apron before clubbing away on his back. Dallas covers for just one then kicks Ryback in the face. Again a cover gets 1 and Bo gets in a chinlock. Booker says Bo needs to put on weight as Ryback picks Bo off his back and slams him. A charge eats elbow but Bo jumps into a spinebuster by Ryback. Ryback calls forn the Meat Hook clothesline and lands it. Ryback hits the Shell Shock and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Total squash by Ryback but wait! Of all people, Bray Wyatt appears in the ring behind Ryback. Ryback turns around right into Sister Abigail. Apparently this is the next feud, Wyatt vs Ryback which is going to be very important for both men. Neither one of them came out of Wrestlemania looking good so someone is going to be devalued. Ironically Wyatt laid out the man who laid out his brother but just like Lanny Poffo and Randy Savage, they never acknowledged Bray was Bo's brother. Again, total squash but it served its purpose to set up Wyatt/Ryback.

Time of match: 2:06

Winner: Ryback by pinfall

Back from commercial John Cena's open challenge is hyped up. Cena comes out before the match and cuts a promo says he's on a high after beating Rusev. Cena says he respects Rusev because he never quits...until Payback. Cena says he'll never quit and if he loses, he won't ask for a rematch because he'll be a disgrace and won't deserve a rematch. He says if Rusev wins they'll never see Cena again but references the statue of Vince Lombardi outside and says the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. Cena says he's working hard as he can to be US Champion and says Green Bay is the place to be. He says to whoever's in the back to come get some. Its Heath Slater.....great. Slater comes out with a microphone and says he's going to take advantage of a "crushed" John Cena (?) and become the champion of the WORLLDDDDDD. He says he's better looking than Aaron Rodgers but Rusev from behind attacks Slater and kicks him in the face. Booker says "thank god" but Cena isn't amused at Rusev's antics. Lana walks out to a babyface pop and Rusev grabs the mic from her hand, sending her to the back. Yeah they're going 1998 Marc Mero on this one, the writing is on the wall. Rusev goes on an anti-American rant saying everyone in the arena is a quitter and so will Cena. The Russian flag drops and Rusev's music plays. So much for Heath Slater...and at least it makes sense for Rusev to clean his clock. He wants Cena one on one, wouldn't make much sense for someone else to take the title off Cena first.

Back to Kane in the back when Rollins walks in with his stooges asking what's going on. Kane says fans on the WWE app can choose Seth's next opponent. Rollins asks if Kane's out of his mind and Kane says "maybe." Seth says he's going to tell Stephanie and Triple H and Kane is stupid. Kane says he figured Seth could handle just one opponent but since he's crying about it and insulting Kane's intelligence, there's only one thing to do. Kane says he's going to add another option, on the app they can vote for Orton, Reigns or Randy AND Roman Reigns in a triple threat match. Rollins freaks out and Kane laughs saying they have a match later, focus on that. Kane leaves and Rollins continues to piss and moan. Well, this is getting interesting. Onto the next match.

Match 4

R-Truth vs Stardust in a King of The Ring Quarterfinal Match

These two were in the ladder match at Wrestlemania and have done absolutely nothing since. Truth in the picture-in-picture says if he wins, he's going to get rid of all spiders. JBL says he's better off with snakes. Stardust makes his entrance and Cole says he's even more out there than Truth. Stardust says he's going to be the Intergalactic Czar. I think Cole may be right. Bell rings and Stardust gets rolled up almost immediately. Stardust lands a bulldog and covers for a deuce as the crowd chants "Cody". Stardust hisses at the fans and if you're wondering where his brother is, Goldust was out with a shoulder injury. Stardust locks in a chinlock but Truth powers out of it. Stardust backdrops Truth and covers for a 1 count. Stardust does the Cody punch and covers for a 1 count. Stardust stomps Truth and does another chinlock before stomping him again. A third chinlock is countered by Truth only for Stardust to throw him down. Stardust inexplicably does a cartwheel: Booker "What was that?" Cole "That's a cartwheel." Booker "I know that, but why?" Stardust shouts at Booker "I'M the king, Booker." Stardust sends Truth in the corner but a charge eats elbow. Truth rallies with clotheslines but misses the axe kick. Stardust rolls him up for a deuce then does a russian leg sweep. They trade near falls and Stardust goes for the Cody Cutter but jumps into the Lie Detector. Truth covers for 1...2....3...to win the match and advance to the semi-finals. Bad match but there was no way Stardust was winning since Barrett had won previously.

Time of match: 3:52

Winner: R-Truth by pinfall

Hype for the tag match is followed by the App announcement to vote for Orton vs Rollins, Rollins vs Reigns or a triple threat. On to the next match.

Match 5

Fandango vs Adam Rose (with the Rosebuds)

After Fandango turned face and kicked Rosa Mendes, Rose pretty much wanted her to go with him instead. They lock up to start before Rose gets a headlock in. Fandango gets dropped with a shoulderblock but he counters with a dropkick. Rose chokes Fandango on the second rope and hits him with forearms. Rose mocks the Fandango dance but Fandango chops him into the ropes. Fandango clotheslines Rose over the top to the floor. Fandango summersaults over the top rope and takes out the hot dog guy. Rosa Mendes reveals herself to be one of the Rosebuds and she dances to distracts Fandango. Rose sneaks up and hits the Party Foul before covering for 1...2....3 to win the match. Another short match and it looks like Rose has successfully convinced her to go with him. Rosa gets on the mic and says she can't believe she got dumped and she found someone to treat her like a sweet foul. Rosa makes out with Rose in the ring as Fandango walks away disgusted. Cole "Maybe we should get out of here guys." Hey, at least they're not naked. Another bad match but the purpose was served, Rosa is with Adam Rose now.

Time of match: 1:50

Winner: Rose by pinfall

Back to Cole who laughs with Booker and JBL before talking about the status of Daniel Bryan. Bryan suffered a concussion and isn't medically cleared to compete. We cut to Renee Young who's with Bryan's husband Brie Bella. Renee asks if Brie is concerned for his health and Brie says its a heartwrenching time for him. Brie says it kills her because he badly wants to be there but only time will tell. She's greatful for the WWE universe and Daniel feels the same. All of a sudden from out of nowhere Naomi kicks Brie down and says no one cares about her or Bryan. So they're gonna turn the Bellas face for no reason now? That solves the lack of babyface Divas problem by switching the Bellas. Although good luck explaining how they're going to side with Paige went she comes back. Speaking of the Bellas, Brie is up next.

Match 6

Brie Bella (with Nikki Bella) vs Naomi

Naomi comes out with a new theme and look that she showed off the night before at Extreme Rules. Too bad Bryan is out, Jimmy Uso and Naomi vs Bryan and Brie would be interesting. Bell's gone and Brie rushes her at the bell, punching her down. Brie spears Naomi and they cat fight into the corner. Brie ducks a line and Naomi gets a cheapshot forearm in. Naomi pushes Brie around then rams her head first into the buckle. Naomi delivers a backbreaker and covers for 1....2...nope. Naomi locks in a chinlock but Brie powers out of it. Naomi does a dropkick and covers for 1...2..nope. Naomi does another chinlock but Brie flips Naomi over and they both take each other down by the hair. Brie rallies with a clothesline, a dropkick and a knee to the ribs. Brie lands a running knee to the jaw and a second rope missile dropkick. She covers for 1...2....noooooo. Naomi catches Brie in a terrible small package for 1...2....3....to win the match. Sad part was Brie's shoulder was untouched and easily could have kicked out. Naomi celebrates up the ramp as we go to the replay of Naomi's clean win. Naomi gets revenge on Brie for kicking her in the head the night before although for some reason Brie's the babyface now? The writers don't have a clue what's going on although Naomi is still after Nikki's title.

Time of match: 3:40

Winner: Naomi by pinfall

More hype for the tag match tonight and the potential Payback match. Onto the next match.

Match 7

Sheamus vs Dean Ambrose in a King of The Ring Quarterfinal Match

JBL says "hide your wallet" as Ambrose makes his entrance. Ambrose says when he's king he'll remove tariffs on ale, ban pop-country music and have all disputes settled in street fights. JBL asks why he'd ban pop country. Sheamus says he's been king before and he'll be king again. They lock up and roll into the ropes before Ambrose trash talks him. Sheamus and Ambrose chain wrestle on the ground as Cole says the bully Sheamus can't bully Ambrose. Dean continues to Olympic style wrestle Sheamus but eats a shoulderblock. Cole says JBL made a career out of bullying which gets awkward silence from the others. Sheamus grabs the nose during an STF and kicks Sheamus kicks the back of the head. They exchange right hands and Sheamus lands a European uppercut. Sheamus gets rough in the corner but Ambrose chops his way out. Sheamus gets whipped in the corner and Ambrose tries the forearm/bulldog combo but Sheamus denies the bulldog. Ambrose knocks Sheamus through the ropes to the outside and Sheamus moves before Dean could suicide dive. We cut to commercial and when we come back, Sheamus has a chinlock that Dean powers out of. In the PIP Sheamus knocks Ambrose off the apron. Back inside Sheamus does a suplex slam and Ambrose looks insane on the ground. Sheamus "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?", he's not Russell Crowe. Ambrose drops Sheamus with a bi clothesline as the announce team goes over past kings of the ring with Booker putting himself over. Ambrose chops Sheamus put runs into a tilt-a-whirl slam. Sheamus gives the sign for the Brogue Kick but Ambrose side steps it and rolls up Sheamus for a deuce. Ambrose sends Sheamus into the ring post and he falls out of the ring. Ambrose hits the suicide dive to the outside then rolls Sheamus back inside. Ambrose comes off the top but Sheamus hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He covers for 1.......2....nope. Ambrose counters white noise with a sunset flip for 1.......2...nope. Sheamus counters Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap) with a Texas Cloverleaf. Ambrose makes it to the ropes and out to the apron. Sheamus then goes for ten beats of the bodhran. Ambrose hits the elbow from off the top and covers for 1...2....noooo. Sheamus rolls outside and Ambrose chases him to the announce table. They slug it out until Ambrose clotheslines him down. Ambrose sends Sheamus into the ring post but he counters with a Brogue Kick. Suddenly Dolph Ziggler hits ringside and unloads on Sheamus for the DQ. Ziggler chases Sheamus out of the arena and leaves with Ambrose still down outside. You can make the argument that Ambrose wouldn't have made it back inside and Sheamus would have won by countout. Ambrose inside the ring is mad.....look out Ziggler. Anyway that was a good, physical match and it served its purpose of Dean not taking the L with Sheamus still advancing.

Time of match: 12:41

Winner: Sheamus by DQ

We get more hype for the tag match and potential main event for Payback before we go to commercial. The WWE Rewind showcases Miz defeating Damien Sandow for the rights to the Miz brand after Summer Rae turned heel on Sandow. A huge swing and a miss by Vince to have Miz win in the end. Damien is in the ring and says his name is Damien Sandow and runs down his former gimmick. Then he says he was told to his face he wasn't entertaining enough and then goes through his parody gimmick phase. Then he gets to the point of the Mizdow gimmick that he lost respect of his peers but gained the respect of the WWE universe. Sandow thanks the fans and says without them he wouldn't be in WWE now. The crowd chants "Thank you Mizdow!" Sandow says where does he go from here but then is cut off by Curtis Axel of all people. Axel hypocritically says he despises people who imitate others. Axel then starts quoting Hulk Hogan and Sandow mocks him every time like an 8 year old. Axel gets mad and the crowd chants "Yes!". Axel says to get out of his ring and Sandow repeats what he says again. Axel attacks but Sandown blocks the punches and hits a big boot before hitting the Wind Up Elbow to chase Axel away. Somewhat of a pointless segment other than to cement Sandow's face turn and to make fun of Axel again. Cole then brings up something with a point, on Smackdown the New Day will face Tyson Kidd & Cesaro in a rematch.

We cut to Bray Wyatt who cuts a promo on Ryback. Wyatt says he learned how to play with fire but doubts that Ryback ever learned anything. Wyatt says he knows what Ryback is afraid of and to run. After hyping up the upcoming shows on the Network, we look at more god awful Tough Enough videos. Let's get to the next match.

Match 8

Adrian Neville vs Luke Harper in a King of The Ring Quarterfinal Match

The final KoTR of the match has Neville says he intends to defy gravity so he can become king. Harper says he will sit upon a throne of barbed wire and twisted steel, his reign of terror is coming to WWE, long live the king. That sounds painful. Bell rings as Cole says the semi-finals will be tomorrow night on the WWE Network. Neville plays cat and mouse with Harper but drops him with a head scissors. Neville kicks him outside but Harper blocks a baseball slide by throwing him onto the steps. Neville hits a hurracarana off the steps for a pop. Neville throws Harper inside but Luke blocks a springboard clothesline with a jawbreaker. Harper uppercuts Neville as we cut to commercial. Back from break Harper has Neville in a chinlock as Cole says the winner faces Sheamus tomorrow night. Neville heaves Harper outside but Luke gets back in. Harper goes for a big boot but Neville moves, causing Harper to fly over the top to the floor. Neville does a HUGE asai moonsault off the top rope that had JBL impressed. JBL says Owen Hart was a high flying king but not like this. Back inside Neville executes a standing shooting star press but runs right into a big boot and a full nelson suplex. The cover gets 1....2....nope. Harper goes for the powerbomb but Neville slips out of it and german suplexes Luke. Neville hits a standing enziguiri but runs right into a sitout powerbomb for 1....2....NOOOOO. The crowd "this is awesome" as Harper calls for another powerbomb. The crowd chants "NXT" as they slug it out in the center of the ring. Harper throws Neville in the corner and uppercuts him. Harper sets up Neville on the top rope but Adrian gets headbutted off. Neville counters with a kick to the head and slips into a powerbomb. Neville goes upstairs and hits Red Arrow. He covers for 1..2...3...to win the match. The crowd loved it as Neville is quickly becoming a fan favorite. That was easily the best match of the night and the semifinals are set. Wade Barrett takes on R-Truth with Adrian Neville takes on Sheamus tomorrow night. 

Time of match: 10:17

Winner: Neville by pinfall

Cole says voting is closing on the PPV main event as we cut right to the main of event of tonight's show. Getting right to the point. Reigns makes his entrance as Booker says Neville will win tomorrow night while JBL picks Barrett. Let's get to it.

Match 9

Roman Reigns and Randy Orton vs Kane and Seth Rollins (with Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury)

Tensions are mounting between Kane and Rollins while Reigns is free of Big Show and looks to get back in the title picture. Rollins and Kane shake hands on their way to the ring and JBL hilariously calls it bogus. The crowd chants "Justin Bieber" at Rollins as JBL says its uncalled for. Rollins starts with go-behinds on Reigns before putting in an arm-ringer. Reigns counters with one of his own and Rollins rolls out of the ring. Kane gives him lip service outside and Rollins gets back inside. Cole brings up Reigns' win the night before as Roman hits a tilt-a-whirl slam on Seth. Roman rams Seth's head into the buckle then tags in Orton who kicks Rollins in the ribs. Orton front suplexes Rollins off the top rope then stomps the chest of Seth. Randy uppercuts Seth then tags Reigns back in. Reigns pounds away on Seth but Rollins gets out of a scoop slam attempt then bails to the outside. Seth tags Kane in back inside as JBL hilariously says he'd put Heath Slater in the main event at Payback because he didn't get the chance to face Cena causing Cole to laugh. Booker "Why?" Orton tags in and stomps on Kane's toes like Moe Howard. Orton rams Kane's head into the buckle but Kane counters with a big boot. Cole says we got a commercial break to shut JBL up and JBL says he'll keep talking anyway. When we get back from break Rollins has Orton in a chinlock. Orton fights his way out of it but gets taken down by Rollins anyway. Seth covers for a deuce and drops Randy with a series of short arm clotheslines. Orton counters with a t-bone suplex as Kane gets the tag. Reigns gets the hot tag and he unloads on Kane with clotheslines and forearm blasts. Roman jumps off the second rope and clotheslines Kane before hitting Rollins with a samoan drop. Roman clotheslines Rollins over the top rope and sends Kane outside as well. Roman runs off the ropes but Joey Mercury grabs his foot. Reigns chases Mercury but runs into a Kane thrust to the throat. Kane sends Roman into the ring post twice before throwing him inside. Kane stomps on Reigns and sends him back first into the buckle. Rollins tags in and drops a knee on Roman's head. JBL says Roman has to be fatigued after his match last night and Booker adds the "London cab service".  Roman tries to fight back but Seth hits a standing enziguiri. Seth covers for a deuce before Kane tags back in. Seth throws Roman into a Kane side backbreaker and Kane covers for 1....2...nope.  Kane locks in a bearhug but Roman powers out of it. Roman kicks Kane in the head but Kane counters with a clothesline. Kane covers for 1...2....nope. Rollins tags in who works the back of Reigns with boots. Rollins taunts Roman that no one is getting a shot at him and tags Kane back in. Kane and Roman slug it out in the middle of the ring but Kane gets the upper hand with knees to the midsection. Reigns counters a suplex with one of his own and reaches for Orton. Rollins tags in and denies Roman just in time. Rollins misses a charge in the corner and rolls him up for 1...2...no. Roman actually lifts Rollins up and slams him and makes the hot tag to Orton. Randy clotheslines Rollins down but runs into an elbow. Seth tries a springboard crossbody but Orton powerslams him and covers for 1...2...nope, Kane breaks it up. Noble gets knocked off the apron and Kane goes for the chokeslam but Roman blocks the hand. Rollins dropkicks Kane by accident and runs into an uppercut. Roman calls for the Superman punch and nails....Mercury with it. Seth knees Roman through the ropes to the outside but Randy hits the second rope DDT on Seth. Rollins blocks the RKO with a roll up but Randy kicks out at two. Rollins superkicks Randy outside the ring as the other three guys are around the announce table. Rollins dives through the ropes but Roman and Randy move causing Seth to barely touch Kane. Kane sells it anyway and Seth rolls Orton inside. Kane goes berserk and heaves both Noble and Mercury over the announce table to clear out Booker and JBL. Seth tries to get Kane to stop and Kane uppercuts him out of instinct. Kane rolls Rollins inside who eats a Superman punch and an RKO. Orton covers for 1...2......3 to win the match. Cole says The Authority is imploding and Kane's lost it. Orton and Reigns get the victory as Cole goes to the replay. Good match and not as formulaic as others have been. It was supposed to show the dissention between Kane and Rollins and the babyfaces exploited it.

After the match, Orton splits to the entrance way while Reigns remains inside the ring. Kane grabs the mic and says here are the results of the poll. Naturally the triple threat wins with 78% of the vote. Reigns is happy while Rollins is irate. Roman hits a spear on Rollins for good measure. Cole says the Universe has spoken as Randy and Reigns eyeball each other. We got to the replay of Rollins getting upset then being speared. What a way to end the show.

Time of match: 18:18

Winners: Reigns and Orton by pinfall

Lot to unpack tonight. Tomorrow night's King of The Ring's semifinals are set with R-Truth vs Bad News Barrett and Adrian Neville vs Sheamus. Bray Wyatt and Ryback are going to duke it out with one of them destined to fade further into oblivion. New Day still has Kidd & Cesaro's number as the new top heel tag team, Naomi is still number 1 contender for the Divas title with the Bella Twins apparently turning face for absolutely no reason. Rosa Mendes is with Adam Rose now, Cena vs Rusev in an I Quit match will settle the feud once and for all and Kane STILL can't get along with Rollins. The problem is they're milking the Kane/Rollins dissension but already cashed in when Kane essentially caused Randy to lose at Extreme Rules. At least now they're putting Reigns back in the title picture, so the question is simply when will they pull the trigger on Roman. Ironically the next PPV after Payback is Money In The Bank so they may have yet another surprise cash in sooner rather than later. Either way the deck looks to be evening out with Kane teetering on a turn although The Authority is still in Rollins' corner. Going to be interesting to see what happens between now and Payback. For some reason the King of The Ring Semi-finals and Finals would be held the following night in Moline. I'll see you there.

WWE Extreme Rules 2015 (4/26/15)

We've made it to Extreme Rules and what a month its been. After Seth Rollins pulled off "the heist of the century" at Wrestlemania 31, he created a lot of enemies. Brock Lesnar went insane on Raw the night after Wrestlemania and got suspended leaving Seth without a number 1 contender. Director of Operations Kane fixed that by having a triple threat match between Randy Orton, Ryback and Roman Reigns to see who faces Rollins first. Big Show interfered in the match to take out Reigns leaving Orton victorious over Ryback. Big Show then chokeslammed Reigns on top of a car in London and challenged him to a Last Man Standing match tonight. What about Orton and Rollins? Orton and Rollins got to chose stips for their title match and Rollins took out Orton's best weapon by barring the RKO. Orton then figured to keep The Authority out by making it a steel cage match. Triple H then stacked the deck against Orton by having Kane the guardian of the door.....until Rollins started running his mouth about Kane for weeks leading to Kane wanting to strangle him. So now can Orton beat Rollins without the rKo or will Kane turn face and cost Rollins the title? In other matches, Rusev wants revenge on John Cena for beating him for the US title and challenged Cena to a Russian Chain match, which Cena accepted. Sheamus returned after Wrestlemania and inexplicably turned heel saying WWE is full of small dudes and he's a "real man". Basically if wrestling Twitter at the time was a real person. Naturally Dolph Ziggler took offense to this but Vince McMahon Jr decided to turn back the clock ten years and make it a "Kiss Me Arse" match where if Ziggler loses, he'd have to kiss Sheamus' arse but Ziggler said he'd make Sheamus kiss his own arse if he won. Speaking of little dudes, Adrian Neville finally made his main roster debut as a high flying cruiserweight and naturally Sheamus took exception to him. Sheamus made a call to Wade "Bad News" Barrett and Barrett will face Neville. Where's Daniel Bryan? More on that later. In Divas action, Naomi turned heel on Paige after she won a Divas battle royal to determine the number 1 contender so it'll be Naomi vs Nikki Bella for the Divas title. Ironically Paige is the only babyface diva on the roster but that's for another time. After being powerbombed through a ladder at Wrestlemania by Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose will slug it out with the demented Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. Finally, the New Day had turned heel and cheated to beat Los Lotharios to earn a title shot at the champs Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. Ironically it was announced on TV that New Day would face Kidd & Cesaro on the pre-show but they switched it last second to have the match on PPV and Neville/Barrett would be on the pre-show. Let's get Extreme!

April 26, 2015

ALLSTATE ARENA

ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS

Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry "The King" Lawler and JBL

Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles

Match 1

Adrian Neville vs Wade "Bad News" Barrett

So here's the problem. It was originally advertised as Barrett vs Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental title but then after Daniel Bryan and John Cena defeated Sheamus and Barrett, Bryan simply disappeared. He wasn't mentioned on TV, he just disappeared. In his place, Adrian Neville started teaming with Dolph Ziggler against Sheamus and Barrett so we have this match instead. Poor Barrett, goes from a PPV match with Bryan to the pre-show with Neville. Sadly, the reason Bryan was removed was he suffered a bad concussion and would be out of action for a long time. Barrett grabs the mic on the way to ring and says he was going to Bullhammer Daniel Bryan but he's got some bad news, Bryan isn't medically cleared. Barrett says Bryan isn't man enough to face him but may have half a brain for not going out here. Barrett says he's the Michael Jordan of England without the gambling addictions so he'll face Neville instead. Cole says Neville is a former NXT champion as they lock up to start. Barrett takes the head then drops Neville with a shoulderblock. The crowd chants for Neville as Barrett takes the head again only this time Neville drops down and goes for the hiptoss. Barrett blocks it but Neville counters into a roll up for a deuce. Neville takes the head but Barrett backs him into the corner before punching him. Barrett stomps Neville then whips him into the corner. Neville backflips into the other corner and catches Barrett with a crossbody for a deuce. Neville ducks the line and head scissors Barrett down. Barrett goes to the apron and Neville dropkicks him off. Neville goes for the plancha but Bad News catches the feet and slams Neville on the apron. Wade sends Neville into the barricade and taunts the crowd. We cut to commercial (yes, even on the DVD there's a tape cut) and back inside Barrett catches Neville in mid-air and hits Wasteland. He covers for 1.....2....nope. JBL says Barrett brought a bag of Bullhammers and right on cue Barrett loads his armband up. Neville ducks under it and hits a standing enziguiri. Neville drags Barrett to the corner and goes for Red Arrow but Barrett crotches him. Barrett swings the Bullhammer but Neville dodges it, jumps over Wade into the ring and kicks Bad News in the head. Neville once again goes upstairs and this time hits Red Arrow. He covers for 1....2....3 to win the match. Cole says that may be the biggest win of Neville's career to knock off the former IC champ. Good match and it definitely showcased the size difference, yet Neville held his own. Barrett continues to fail to pick up meaningful wins so the writing is on the wall for him to be Sheamus' lackey moving forward, especially with Bryan gone.

Time of match: Officially 10:36 (3:48 on the DVD)

Winner: Neville by pinfall

Now let's get to the main show. The opening montage says they're going "extreme" with various clips of tonight's feuds. On to match 1....

Match 2

Luke Harper vs Dean Amrbose in a Chicago Street Fight

The Shield vs The Wyatt Family....sort of. During the Wrestlemania 31 ladder match, Luke Harper powerbombed Ambrose through a ladder. Then the two kept attacking each other on the weekly shows leading to this being a Chicago Street Fight. Cole before the match says both of these guys belong in straight jackets. Ambrose doesn't wait around, he attacks Harper outside before the bell even rings. Ambrose gets in a right hand and sends Harper in the ring. They run the ropes and referee Charles Robinson calls for the bell. Ambrose drops Harper with a jumping clothesline and Luke bails immediately. Ambrose catches Harper with a suicide dive then sends Harper into the ring steps. Ambrose pulls chairs out from under the apron then tosses them in the ring. He stalks Harper with a singapore cane as Harper reaches for a chair. Dean steps on the chair and waffles Harper with the cane. Ambrose goes to town on Harper with the cane then picks up a chair. He sets the chair down and sits in it to taunt Harper. Ambrose goes to suplex Harper on the chair but Luke reverses it and suplexes Ambrose on the chair. Harper covers for 1...2...no. Harper sheds his ring jacket and its his turn to fire away with the cane on Ambrose. JBL talks about the Chicago Cubs curse (which would be gone in just over a year) as Harper sets a chair up in the corner. Harper blocks a tornado ddt then launches dean head into the chair. Harper covers for a deuce and continues to hit Ambrose with the cane. Ambrose rallies and scoop slams Harper on a chair. Ambrose sends Harper outside who gets back in and runs into a boot from Ambrose. Dean finally hits a tornado ddt as the crowd chants for tables. Ambrose hits a jumping elbow drop and covers for a deuce but Harper counters Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap) with a right hand and a big boot. Ambrose counters a powerbomb by lowbridging Harper outside. Harper blocks a suicide dive but Ambrose does a 360 on the apron and drops Harper with a clothesline. Ambrose grabs the cane and chases Harper to the back....they brawl into Gorilla Position and they fight in the backstage area. I don't remember this being falls count anywhere. Lawler says this may spill out into the actual street. Ambrose hits Harper with one of the lightposts. Harper climbs into an SUV and goes to drive off when Ambrose dives in. Harper speeds off with Charles Robinson running after them.....guess this will be continued. For continuity purposes, I'll post the conclusion in this portion here when it comes up. Until then....we're moving on.

If you're following along with the show, we return here after the New Day backstage promo. New Day picks up Harper and Ambrose dives off the top of the car....onto New Day as Harper gets out of the way. Ambrose and Harper brawl their way back to the ring. JBL makes a funny line that Harper was the one driving out of the arena and Ambrose was the one driving back. Hahahahaha I guess when they went to go get dinner or something they forgot who was supposed to be driving. Ambrose and Harper brawl back into the arena and back to the ring. Harper gets back in the ring and catches Ambrose with a superkick. Ambrose barely sells it and drops Harper with a clothesline as Charles Robinson runs into the ring. Imagine if he had to run after them outside? Harper goes under the ring and grabs a chair as Ambrose pulls his own out. They throw a bunch of chairs in the ring together before getting inside. The crowd starts a small ECW chant as Ambrose throws a chair at Harper then punches away at him. Harper powerbombs Ambrose on a chair and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Harper can't believe it and shakes his head no. The crowd chants "we want tables" as Harper stacks chairs on top of Ambrose. Harper goes upstairs but Ambrose gets out of the pile and slams Harper off the top onto the chairs. Harper staggers right into Dirty Deeds. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Somebody actually made a staggering discovery that this was Dean's first ever solo ppv victory. He jobbed to Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt before losing the ladder match at Wrestlemania after The Shield broke up. Harper lost a ton of heat by losing this match but it definitely launched Dean.

Now if you're following the show, jump ahead to the segment after New Day's interview.

Time of match: Technically 56:10

Winner: Dean Ambrose by pinfall

If you're reading this after I typed "we're moving on", good. The announcers are totally confused as the match is interrupted with the two guys not even in the building. The crowd is mad and start a CM Punk chant. We cut to the back with Triple H pulling Kane aside and telling him to go find Ambrose and Harper. Trips is worried about what they're gonna do in the streets of Chicago. Seth Rollins walks in and Triple H tries to play peacemaker by saying they need to get on the same page. He says to stop being childish and patch things up. Rollins bitches about Kane letting him get speared on Smackdown by Reigns and RKO'd on Raw. Kane calls him an ungrateful little punk and Triple H again has to play peacemaker. Triple H says Rollins has a point that Kane dropped the ball and he doesn't want to regret making Kane the gatekeeper. Kane assures them both that he'll do what's best for business as the crowd chants "boring". Onto the next match.

Match 3

Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus in a Kiss Me Arse match

Oh boy, where do I begin? Sheamus returned after a five month hiatus only to turn heel and declare war on "underdogs" claiming to be a real big man. As mentioned earlier, imagine if wrestling Twitter was a person. Sheamus attacked Ziggler and Daniel Bryan during his turn and Ziggler didn't take kindly to it. After having back and forth encounters for weeks, Sheamus challenged Ziggler to a Kiss Me Arse match right out of 2002. Sheamus wants Ziggler to kiss his arse while Ziggler claims he's gonna make Sheamus kiss his own. As absurd as the stip is, its still big man vs little man. Bell's gone and Sheamus taunts him in the staredown. Ziggler unloads with rights and lefts in the corner then tries a headbutt which doesn't work. Ziggler kicks Sheamus in the head then hits a dropkick. Sheamus stays on his feet and Ziggler tackles him through the ropes to the outside. Sheamus sends Ziggler into the ringpost then a european uppercut stuns Dolph. Dolph counters with a tornado ddt off the ring steps. Back inside Dolph eats a knee to the side of the head. Sheamus clubs away at Ziggler on the apron then inside locks in a chinlock. Sheamus hits a sitdown powerbomb for 1...2...nope. Sheamus stalls to anger the crowd then floors Dolph with a clothesline. Sheamus hits another clothesline and taunts Ziggler that he doesn't belong in his ring. Sheamus locks in another chinlock before Ziggler powers out of it. Dolph ducks a line and starts unloading with running forearms on Sheamus. Dolph hits two Stinger Splashes in the corner but Sheamus drops him with a double chop to the throat. Sheamus blocks a superkick and locks in a Texas Cloverleaf. Dolph turns it into an inside cradle for a two count then hits the superkick. Dolph covers for 1....2.....noooooooo. Sheamus drops Dolph throat first on the top rope then executes a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He covers for a deuce then turns a suplex into a slam then calls for the Brogue Kick. Dolph counters it with a roll up for a deuce before Sheamus hits another tilt-a-whirl slam. Ziggler counters a suplex with an inside cradle for 1....2....THREE! He got him! JBL and Sheamus can't believe it as now he has to kiss some arse. Sheamus claims it was only a two count and goes outside to protest. A fan says "YOU LOST, FELLA!" Sheamus goes to leave through the crowd but the referee stops him. Ziggler starts pulling his tights down as the women in the crowd cheer. Sheamus tells Ziggler to get it over with already and freaks out. Ziggler tells Sheamus to do it and he keeps stalling. Sheamus starts begging for forgiveness as the crowd gets into it. Ziggler pulls his tights up and Sheamus drops to his knees. Ziggler said it was his idea anyway and Sheamus low blows Ziggler instead. Sheamus buries Ziggler with the Brogue Kick and laughs as the crowd boos. Sheamus shouts "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINEDDDDDD?" and grabs the mic. Sheamus "Did you really think I was gonna kiss your arse, Ziggler?" Sheamus pulls his own tights up and buries Ziggler's face in it as Lawler is disgusted. Ziggler wins the match and Sheamus keeps his heat, guess that's what's best for business.

Time of match: 9:16

Winner: Zigger by pinfall

After a commercial for WWE Network shows and a plug for a Roman Reigns special we go back to the commentary team to announce that the King of The Ring tournament returns this year. Onto the next match.

Match 4

The New Day (Big E Langston and Kofi Kingston) with Xavier Woods vs Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (with Natalya) for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Oh how the tables have turned. After Kidd and Cesaro successfully defended the tag belts at Wrestlemania, we had a slow double-turn. With The Uso's on the shelf due to Jey's shoulder injury, a team had to step up to face Kidd & Cesaro. For some reason WWE fans turned on the goody two-shoes New Day and started chanting "New...Day sucks! New.....Day sucks!" New Day then began a slow heel turn first by telling the fans to stick it without saying so, then cheated to win a number 1 contenders match with Los Lotharios. With their "new" attitude, Kofi Kingston beat Cesaro in a singles match due to interference from Woods and Langston. Since fans were cheering for Kidd and Cesaro anyway, mostly Cesaro, it looks like the teams are reversing roles for basically no reason. Cesaro does get a huge pop during introductions. Kofi and Langston will start with Woods on the outside, Kofi in the ring with Kidd. They chain wrestle to start with Kofi getting the upper hand with a splash. Lawler calls Woods the cheerleader as Kidd and Kofi exchange go-behinds. Kidd caters to the crowd to put over the fact he's working babyface as Kofi retreats to tag Big E. Surreal seeing Kofi acting heel and Kidd points to Cesaro for a big pop. Cesaro tags in and locks up with Big E. E floors him with a shoulderblock but Cesaro catches Big E mid-air on a leapfrog and effortlessly slams him. Cesaro does a standing coup de gras then tags in Kidd to stomp Big E. The crowd chants "New...Day sucks" and Natalya encourages it. Big E retreats to tag in Kofi as Kidd tags in. Kofi throws Kidd outside and knocks Cesaro off the apron. Kidd comes back to throws both members outside the other ring then somersaults onto Kofi....but walks into a clothesline from Big E. The crowd chants again as Woods shouts "What? What did we do? We're winning!" He's got a point, they did nothing wrong. Big E throws Kidd inside and puts the boots to him before Kofi tags in to continue the onslaught. Big E launches Kofi into a dropkick on Kidd but the cover only gets two. Kofi gets a chinlock on Kidd as Natalya gets a Tyson chant. A dropkick and cover by Kofi gets a deuce before Big E tags in. Big E claps then misses a big splash. Kidd moves out of the way and Big E sends himself through the ropes to the outside. E tags in Kofi but Cesaro gets the hot tag. Cesaro heaves Kofi into the corner then rallies with uppercuts. Cesaro drops Kofi with a big clothesline and covers for a deuce. Cesaro goes for the giant swing but instead slingshots Kofi into the corner...who lands feet first on the buckle. Cesaro catches the crossbody attempt and turns it into a backbreaker. He covers for 1....2...nooooo. A charge by Cesaro eats boot but Cesaro counters with an uppercut. Kidd tags in as Cesaro hits a superplex and Kidd slingshot elbows Kofi for 1...2...NOOOOO. Kidd can't believe it and goes for the sharpshooter but Kofi kicks out of it. Kofi tags in Big E who spears Kidd all the way out of the ring to a big pop. E throws Kidd inside then hits a back body drop on the floor to Cesaro. E tags in Kingston and they hit a double team move only for Cesaro to literally dive in and headbutt Kofi off of Kidd. Cesaro and Langston fall out of the ring together and Kofi starts clapping. Kofi goes for Trouble in Paradise but Kidd catches the foot and locks in the sharpshooter. Kofi crawls but Big E gets in and hits an overhead suplex on Kidd. Kofi runs into the feet of Kidd who tags in Cesaro. Cesaro uppercuts Big E out of the ring and hits the giant swing on Kofi. Woods hops up on the apron and Natalya slaps him off. Big E sends Kidd outside and Cesaro clotheslines E over the top to the floor. Kofi rolls up Cesaro out of the nowhere and hooks the tights for 1....2....3 and we got new champions! New Day wins the tag straps and celebrate together. HHH loves heels with belts so with New Day drawing more heat than Kidd & Cesaro, it made sense to do a double turn and give the straps to New Day. Kofi as a heel just doesn't feel right although Big E was a natural with Woods playing along. Still, New Day are the new champs and congrats to them for getting over as heels without really doing anything wrong.

Time of match: 9:47

Winners: New Day by pinfall (New Tag Team Champions)

We cut to the Extreme Rules kickoff panel which included Byron Saxton, Booker T and Corey Graves. Saxton asks Corey what he thinks and he calls Ambrose & Harper two maniacs. We got new tag team champs and Booker is happy for them. Love the unopened bottles of Mountain Dew in front of them. Saxton does reveal that doctors wouldn't let Daniel Bryan compete but Bad News Barrett would face Adrian Neville instead. We go to highlights of Neville winning before cutting to Renee Paquette backstage with New Day. Renee asks if their positivity got them to this point and Woods says today is the dawn of their new day. Big E shouts they're tag team champions and Kofi starts a chant. All of a sudden the SUV from earlier pulls up and Luke Harper is thrown out of it. If you're reading this, go back to the Ambrose/Harper match from earlier to continue.

If you're reading this while following the PPV, we return here after the conclusion of Ambrose vs Harper to a commercial for WWE Payback coming up on Sunday May 17th. That's just three weeks from this date, that's 3 Raws and 3 Smackdowns away. We then get a promo package for our next match, Rusev vs John Cena in a Russian Chain Match. Let's get to it.

Match 5

Rusev (with Lana) vs John Cena for the WWE United States Championship in a Russian Chain Match

This feud has been going on for months now but this should be the conclusion. Rusev hadn't been pinned since making his main roster debut the year earlier and was the unbeatable US champion going into Fastlane. Rusev beat Cena and refused a rematch until Cena brutally attacked Rusev, prompting Lana to give him a rematch at Wrestlemania. Cena won the title at Wrestlemania and started doing "open challenges" to random guys to show he was a fighting champion. During that span, Rusev appeared and laid out Cena with a chain, challenging him to a rubber match at Extreme Rules in a Russian Chain match. The rules are both men are tied together to the chain and whoever touches all four corners first wins the match. It sounds like a silly concept but that's wrestling. Ironically there's less "John Cena sucks" chants coming from the crowd, guess Chicago has no interest in cheering for Rusev. Cena and Rusev are strapped together and they start with a tug of war. Rusev gets the upperhand with an avalanche in the corner and he touches two corners but Cena rallies with a scoop slam. Just to show the fans what's going on, they have two sets of lights in every corner, the green is for Cena and the red is for Rusev. That's convenient. Cena touches three corners but Rusev kicks him in the ribs to reset the lights. Rusev tags two corners but Cena stops him, only to be thrown over the top rope. Rusev uses the chain as a pulley system and picks up Cena for a kick to the ribs. Rusev continues with kicks to the kidneys as the "Let's go Cena/Cena sucks" chants start. Rusev suplexes Cena back in the ring and touches two corners, but John whacks him with the chain. Rusev blocks an FU attempt and clobbers Cena with the chain. Cena pulls the chain outside and sends Rusev into the ring post. Cena does it again and goes to tag the corners. He gets two but Rusev blocks him from getting to corner three. Cena runs into a spinning heel kick and Rusev nails Cena in the ribs with the chain. Rusev whips Cena with the chain. Rusev tags three corners and goes for the fourth but Cena stops him. Rusev kicks Cena in the ribs but the lights reset, here we go again. Rusev punches Cena in the face with the chain and goes upstairs. Cena pulls Rusev off who lands on the chain. Cena clotheslines Rusev and tags two corners and drops Rusev with a shouldertackle. Cena gets caught and overhead press slammed by Rusev who then savate kicks Cena in the face. The crowd chants "We want Lana" and she waives to the crowd. Rusev gets jealous and kicks Lana out of ringside, sending her to the back. JBL says this isn't a Moscow beauty pageant. Cena takes advantage with a back suplex and the five knuckle shuffle. Cenna goes for the FU but Rusev blocks it and hits the Alabama Slam. Rusev then stomps on the back of Cenna then goes for the Accolade. Cena blocks it and locks in the STFU with the chain for help. After Rusev fades, Cena goes and touches three corners but Rusev rolls out of the ring to stop him. Back inside Rusev blocks another FU and drops Cena with a kick. Rusev locks in the Accolade but Cena stands up with Rusev on his back. Cena rams Rusev into two different corners but they count. Rusev quickly touches the third corner but Cena spins Rusev around with the chain and hits the FU. Both men are down but get up and touch a corner. They each get three corners and have another tug of war in the center of the ring. Rusev goes for the final corner but again Cena spins him around into an FU. Cena touches the fourth corner to win the match. Cena wins and retains the title, so much for Rusev's push. JBL "big match John has done it again" as Lawler laments losing Lana. The firework goes off and the US flag falls from the rafters and even the heel JBL says that's a good sight. Kind of a bad match since strap/chain matches with four corners are usually cucka but it served its purpose. This wouldn't end the feud officially but the writing was on the wall.

Time of match: 13:35

Winner: Cena (still US Champion)

After a Mountain Dew commercial and a Talk Is Jericho plug, we cut to Renee with Roman Reigns. Reigns says he can get knocked down but he won't stay down. Reigns says Big Show put him through hell and Reigns kept getting up, he'll be the last man standing. Onto the next match.

Match 6

Naiomi vs Nikki Bella (with Brie Bella) for the WWE Divas Championship

Here's an interesting dichotomy in WWE lore, there was just one babyface diva at the time. AJ Lee had retired after Wrestlemania and Naomi turned heel on Paige after Paige had won a number 1 contender's battle royal. Naomi took her spot and challenged Nikki for the Divas title. Summer Rae had turned on Damien Sandow on Raw and combined with Nikki, Brie, Cameron, Alicia Fox and Natalya, WWE had no babyface Divas apart from Paige who was out. Go figure. Naomi leapfrogs over the top rope during the entrance as she debuts her new entrance music. They lock up to start and Naomi piefaces her to start. Nikki hits a snap mare before locking in an armringer. Nikki turns it into a Fujiwara arm-bar but Naomi makes it to the ropes. They slug it out on the apron before Noami takes over with aggressive rights and stomps. Naomi hits a nice snap suplex and covers for a 1 count before locking in a chin-lock. Nikki powers out of it but eats a shoulderblock. Naomi covers for a two count before Naomi squeezes the neck with Brie on the outside screaming "LET'S GO NIKKI." Brie gets a clapping chant for Nikki going as Naomi starts dropping elbows. Guess Nikki is the defacto babyface by default for.....no reason I guess. Between the New Day and Kidd/Cesaro double turn and now this, WWE writers didn't know what the hell they were doing and fans had to just go along with it. Nikki rolsl up Naomi for a deuce and bulldogs Nikki into the middle buckle. Naomi covers for a deuce and goes for the Rear View, but misses. Naomi gets thrown into the corner who spingboard drop kicks Nikki down before taunting the crowd. Naomi covers for 1...2..nope. Naomi starts punching away on Nikki before kicking her outside the ring. Brie checks on Nikki and Naomi kicks her down. Naomi rolls Nikki inside and slowly makes her way inside. Nikki kicks Naomi down then clotheslines her. Nikki rallies with dropkicks and gets a babyface pop before hitting the Alabama Slam. She covers for 1......2....noooo. Naomi ducks the line and does the Hurricane elbow drop....haven't seen that in a while. Naomi goes for the split legged moonsault but Nikki moves out of the way. Nikki gets a knee to the face and covers for 1...2...and no. Nikki goes for Rack Attack but Naomi counters with a full nelson slam and roll over for a two count. Nikki gets a springboard dropkick and covers for 1..2...nooo. Nikki grabs the leg but Naomi kicks her off. The ref pulls Nikki away and Brie uses the distraction to kick Naomi in the head. Nikki hits the Rack Attack and covers for 1...2.....3 to win the match. Had to remind the fans the Bellas are still heels despite Naomi being one. Again, the writers have no earthly clue what they're doing right now. Brie and Nikki celebrate as we go to the replay of Brie kicking Naomi in the head. Thankfully NXT was loaded with the next generation so the Divas era was coming to an end, still a good match though.

Time of match: 8:10

Winner: Nikki Bella by pinfall (still Divas champion)

In the back Rusev is screaming at Lana in Bulgarian and tells her to take a walk. She knocks on The Authority's door and walks in....guess this feud has one more match left. Lawler takes a swig of Mountain Dew and clearly doesn't like it as JBL goes to open his bottle as well. Guess they heard me about the unopened bottles earlier. In my less than humble opinion, Mountain Dew tastes like fire hydrant so I don't blame Lawler. We get a promo package for Reigns vs Big Show before we head to our next match.

Match 7

Big Show vs Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing Match

These two had been at each other's throats since Roman returned from hernia surgery after Survivor Series and this was the culmination. Reigns was famously hoodwinked by Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania 31 and Big Show cost Reigns the number 1 contender's triple threat match on Raw weeks earlier. Big Show then chokeslammed Reigns on top of a car in London and declared he was going to make it his life's mission to keep Reigns from ever reaching his potential. Show challenged Reigns to a Last Man Standing match and Reigns accepted. Vince was rolling with Orton's babyface momentum and had to keep Reigns active until it was his time to rise again. Bell's gone and Big Show bum rushes Reigns in the corner with right hands. Reigns rallies with right hands of his own but Show throws Reigns into the other corner. Both men are swinging right hands before Show dumps Reigns with a shoulderblock. Reigns recovers with right hands but runs into another shoulderblock. Show and Reigns slug it out more until Reigns clotheslines Show over the top rope to the floor. The ref starts the count but Show gets up at a count of five. Reigns pulls out a table but Show kicks Reigns in the ribs. Show puts the table away but Reigns send him into the ring post. Reigns runs over and dropkicks Show, who goes down to one knee. He gets up rather quickly as Reigns sets the table up from earlier. Show heaves Reigns into the barricade and smashes the table with his bare hands. Reigns grabs the singapore cane from Ambrose's match and waffles Show with it. Show gets made and heaves Reigns into the ring post. Reigns is down for a six count but gets up, only to be tossed into the ring. Show grabs the cane and snaps it in half before throwing it at the broken table. He says "I'm a giant!" to show he doesn't need weapons. Reigns rallies with right hands and a series of clotheslines. Reigns jumps off the second rope into a right hand from Big Show. Reigns is down for a six count but rolls outside on his feet. Show pulls Reigns to the apron who snaps him off the top rope. Reigns grabs a steel chair and waffles Show in the back with it. Reigns continues to clobber Show with the chair and then hits a ddt on it. Show is down for a seven count but gets up as Reigns grabs two more tables, putting them both in the ring. Roman runs right into the knockout punch by Big Show. JBL says that's the ballgame as Reigns is down for an eight count but staggers to his feet. Show sets up a table and calls for a chokeslam. Reigns counters with a samoan drop through the table. Both men are down for an eight count but they both get up. Reigns goes for the spear but Show spears him instead. Reigns is down for a seven count but gets up....only to get dropped with a headbutt. Show goes for the Vaderbomb and hits it, keeping Reigns down for nine. Show goes up to the top rope for some ungodly reason and Show crotches himself on the top rope. He screams loudly and Reigns breaks character to laugh at it. Reigns sets up a table outside and goes to superplex Show through it....get real, Reigns. Reigns gets shoved off but he does manage to slam Show off the top rope into the ring. Both men are down for an eight count but Reigns gets up and hits two Superman punches. Show then grabs Reigns and chokeslams him from inside the ring all the way through the two tables on the floor. The crowd pops even though Show is the heel as Cole says that's gotta be it. Reigns somehow gets up at nine and Show can't believe it. Reigns falls down again after beating the count as Show looks for something else to use. Show then grabs the steel steps and sets them up next to the announce table. Show then takes apart the announce table as the announcers clear out. Big Show grabs JBL's notepad and says "Big Show needs to lose weight? Who wrote that you dumbass?" He tosses it to Cole as Cole says its actually JBL's. The crowd chants "JBL" as Show gets back in the ring. He goes to spear Reigns through a table but Reigns moves and Show crashes through it. Both men get up at eight as Reigns finally hits the spear. Show rolls outside to break the count but Reigns runs around the ring and spears Show through the barricade. The ref counts to nine as both men get up. Show goes to chokeslam Reigns through the announce table but Reigns elbows out of it. Reigns runs up the steps and spears Show through the Spanish announce table. Show kind of telegraphed the spot by looking behind him to break the fall but it was still a cool spot. Show gets up at nine but Roman literally picks up the English announce table and throws it on top of Show to bury him. The ref counts all the way to 10 to end the match with Reigns counting along. Cole "Roman Reigns has arrived tonight!" Didn't he set the Royal Rumble eliminations record the year before and win the Rumble this year? What do you mean he arrived? Either way Reigns gets arguably one of his most important singles wins post-Shield breakup by knocking off Big Show. Last Man Standing matches are usually big spotfests but this one was very entertaining. If Reigns has to go through The Authority one by one to get to Seth Rollins, he took a giant step tonight....no pun intended.

Time of match: 19:56

Winner: Roman Reigns

We go to a Marine 4 trailer starring The Miz and Summer Rae before we cut to backstage with Kane walking around. Randy Orton of all people stops him and says they go back a long way. Orton says once the Authority is through with Kane they're going to throw him out like garbage. Orton "I know who you are, Kane, even if you've forgotten." Kane looks confused as we cut back to the mess of the announce table. Cole then plugs Tough Enough on June 23rd. The only noteworthy thing about the promo videos is one of them is a young Maxwell Jacob Friedman of AEW.

Back to ringside Bo Dallas comes out to cut a heel promo just to waste time before the main event. Dallas runs down Chicago and says they're not going to grow as people unless they Bo-lieve! Right on cue Ryback comes out and hits the ring. Dallas cuts him off with right hands and we got an impromptu match apparently. Why couldn't have this been an official match? Anyway, Ryback rallies with a spinebuster and a meat hook clothesline. Ryback hits the shellshock as JBL calls Dallas Tony Robbins. Ryback gets the obligatory pop.

Back from commercial we have this week's rundown with Raw followed by Jerry Springer (yes I'm serious) then Tuesday will be the King of The Ring tournament. Wednesday will be a Mick Foley special and Thursday features Stephanie McMahon on Talk Is Jericho. Friday will be a Floyd Mayweather vs Big Show lookback.....where the hell is Smackdown and NXT? Apparently Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao was coming up.

Back to Byron Saxton who's with Rusev. Rusev says Cena hasn't beaten him yet and yells at Lana some more. Lana says the final chapter of this feud will be at Payback in an I Quit match. Rusev says America used to be full of fighters and now its full of quitters. Payback will be his payback for the American champion. FINALLY the cage begins to lower and we get our promo package for our main event. This is a long standing feud that goes all the way back to before Survivor Series. When Team Cena was preparing to face Team Authority, Randy Orton couldn't get along with Seth Rollins leading to Rollins curbstomping Orton and putting him out of action. Orton returned at Fastlane then appeared to have rejoined The Authority. Then he famously turned on Rollins and challenged him to a match at Wrestlemania. Orton won the match and Rollins famously cashed in his Money In The Bank later that night to win the WWE Championship. Orton then won a number one contender's triple threat match to set up this match. Both men got to choose a stipulation and Rollins had the RKO banned and Randy countered by making it a steel cage match to theoretically keep The Authority out. Naturally Triple H made Kane guardian of the door. The only flaw with stacking the deck is Rollins was acting like a spoiled brat and incurred the wrath of Kane for weeks. Was Kane going to turn face and help Orton or would he do what's best for business? Let's find out.

Match 8

Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage Match

Kane walks out in a coat and tie first before the others make their entrance. Lawler asks what Kane is REALLY thinking as Orton comes out next. Rollins comes out without Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble, which is weird but somewhat understandable since they won't be able to do much since its a cage match. Bell rings as JBL brings up Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy as Rollins tries to escape the cage early. Orton stops him but Rollins gets the upperhand by stomping Orton in the counter. Orton counters with a clothesline and throws Seth into the cage. Rollins climbs the cage but Orton throws him down to the mat. Orton european uppercuts Seth then rams him head first into the mat. Rollins Flair flips into the corner then Orton knocks him down. Orton stalks Rollins and slingshots him into the corner. Seth goes to escape the cage again but Orton stops him. JBL says Rollins is made of velcro as Seth counters with a buckle bomb. Rollins covers for a deuce and asks Kane to open the door. Kane does but Orton stops him. Seth rams Orton face first into the cage and covers for a deuce. Rollins stalks Randy and stomps him in the corner. Rollins throws Randy into the cage again and taunts him. Rollins throws Randy into the cage another time then punches him on the ground. Rollins uses a running neckbreaker and covers for 1....2...no. Rollins avalanches Randy in the corner and starts taunting Kane for some stupid reason. Rollins charges Orton and Randy sends him into the cage. Orton looks at Kane then starts trading punches with Seth. They trade strikes before Orton sends Rollins into the cage then drops him with two clotheslines. Rollins goes to escape but Orton stops him and they start battling on the top rope. Orton drops down and Rollins nails him with a jumping kneelift. Rollins covers for 1....2....no. Rollins goes to escape again and gets to the top but Orton catches him. Orton is on top of the cage with him and they trade punches. Randy brings him back to the top rope where Rollins knocks Randy off but jumps into a powerslam. He covers for 1...2....nope. Orton goes for the second rope ddt but Seth rolls through for 1...2...nope. Seth hits a savate kick and covers for 1...2....no. Seth goes to escape again and makes it to the top of the cage. Rollins jumps over the side but Orton catches him. Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble hit the ring to pull Rollins down but Orton brings him back to the top. Orton superplexes Rollins off the top of the cage and covers for 1..2...nope. Mercury and Noble go over to Kane and demand to be let inside and Kane chases them off. Mercury and Noble take their jackets off and try to climb both sides of the cage. Orton knocks them both off by simply launching Rollins into each of them. Orton hits an overhead powerslam and goes for the second rope DDT again, only to be countered by Seth. Seth tries to climb out of the cage again but Orton grabs the foot and crotches Rollins on the top rope. Rollins looks at Kane and decides not to go out the door. Instead Orton hits a top rope DDT and caters to the crowd. Lawler says we're gonna have a new champion and gives the sign for the rko. Instead Orton hits the pedigree and covers for 1...2....nooooo. Cole says that was a direct message to The Authority. The crowd starts a random "YES" chant as Orton looks at Kane. Randy then goes for the punt but Rollins moves out of the way. Rollins dropkicks Randy down and calls for the door. Kane opens it and moves out of the way. Rollins crawls but Orton catches him and delivers a backbreaker. Randy looks at the open door but Kane closes the door on him. Rollins goes to dropkick Orton but Randy moves and Seth ends up kicking Kane off the steps and the door open. Rollins goes for the door but Orton catches him and tries to crawl over him but Kane slams the door on Orton's head. Kane rips his coat and tie off then enters the ring with Mercury and Noble. Noble and Mercury end up getting double chokeslammed. Rollins begs off from Kane and Kane ends up grabbing Orton and chokeslamming him. Seth crawls over to the door but Kane grabs him and chokeslams him too. JBL and Lawler are totally confused as Kane pulls Rollins on top of Orton for 1....2...NOOOOO, Orton kicked out. Logically where the hell is Ryback, John Cena or Dolph Ziggler from Team Cena that's supposed to battle The Authority? Kane goes to tombstone Randy but Orton pushes him off and HITS THE RKO! Technically the RKO is banned on ROLLINS, not on Kane. Rollins then hits an RKO on Orton and crawls out the door to win the match. That was a pitiful blowoff for Orton since he basically had to fight 4 against 1. Lawler says Rollins should have lost because he used the RKO but JBL mentions what I said in that only Orton was banned from using it. Either way The Authority wins against Rollins grabs the belt and celebrates. Cole says the bottom line is Rollins has won and JBL adds that the future is now. In terms of a cage match it was decent but the cage is supposed to keep people out, having 100 people run in defeats the purpose. Then again Kane was the guardian and we all knew he was going to make an impact anyway. Rollins walks out of Chicago still the WWE Champion.

Time of match: 21:02

Winner: Rollins (still WWE Champion)

Well, that ending extended Orton's babyface run for at least another month.. A decisive victory by Rollins would have rendered Orton essentially useless as a babyface since Roman Reigns in the chosen one, and its toon soon to do another Team Cena vs Team Authority storyline. Its going to be interesting moving forward to see how things develop. We got new tag team champions in New Day and Cena is still the US Champion. Cena and Rusev will meet one last time but there's no chance in hell Rusev wins now. Daniel Bryan may relinquish yet another title if his concussion doesn't heal and Nikki Bella is somehow still Divas champion. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns are finished with Luke Harper and Big Show respectively so it'll be interesting to see if either one of them goes after Rollins. Speaking of Rollins, with Orton essentially screwed by Kane you know there's going to be a rubber match next month at Payback.....or they may just have Orton battle Kane. Monday Night Raw tomorrow night will be in Green Bay so I'll see everyone there. As for the show as a whole, it was pretty good all things considering.