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 Smackdown (3/12/15)

We finally have our Wrestlemania 31 card just about solidified. Sting vs HHH is a go, the Divas tag match is a go, Rusev vs John Cena is all set, Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt is set, the Andre The Giant Battle Royal is booked, Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar obviously, the IC title ladder match and now it looks like Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins after Orton's attack on Raw. Now with the card all set, now they have to hype all this up.....and apart from Rollins/Orton they are failing miserably. Sting vs HHH still makes no damn sense even if its great to Sting finally make his debut, Wyatt randomly calling out Undertaker and his vignettes are cool but without a Taker response it looks like he's just talking to himself. Nobody gives a hoot about the Battle Royal or the Divas tag match and good god almighty are fans not responding to Lesnar/Reigns. The long and the short of it is Reigns was Vince's chosen one when the fans wanted Daniel Bryan or someone else and everyone's sick of Lesnar, which isn't the fault of either of them. Plus the ladder match has been 90% comedy with the actual champion losing every single match, that's not how you book an important title. Anyway I'm sure we're going to hear from Rollins and The Authority tonight, more IC title hijinx and more vain attempts to get Wrestlemania over. Seriously, this has been the worst hyped Wrestlemania since 11 and that's saying something. Even 13 had Bret vs Austin and Taker in the main event. Anyway, let's get to the show.

March 12, 2015

JOE LOUIS ARENA

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Commentators: Michael Cole, Bryon Saxton and Jerry Lawler

Ring announcer: Eden Stiles

We open the show with Daniel Bryan coming out to cut a promo. Before that we go back to Raw where Dean Ambrose defeated Stardust and then it turned into a pier six brawl with Dolph Ziggler, Bryan and Ambrose fought Wade Barrett, Stardust and Luke Harper. R-Truth put the IC belt in a sack and when Barrett demanded the sack, Truth handed him one....only it was a toy belt, Truth still has the real one. Bryan then cuts a promo saying he's avoiding looking at the Wrestlemania sign because he can't repeat last year's magic. He goes on to say he looked around at the Intercontinental title contenders and it brought him back to when he was a fan watching Mr. Perfect, Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage, they were all Intercontinental Champions at Wrestlemania and were all more exciting than any of the world title matches. Bryan says the only title he hasn't won in WWE is the IC title so he's entering the ladder match to create a new Wrestlemania moment. The crowd chants "Yes" when Wade Barrett walks out. He's got some bad news for Daniel, he's still the IC champion. Once Barrett wins, he'll be Bryan's new hero. Dolph Ziggler comes out next and says Barrett is Ziggler's hero for being so delusional and desparate to be relevant. Ziggler says he can't even hang on to the physical belt, how is he going to survive a ladder match with six other guys? Luke Harper comes out next and says "I want my Wrestlemania moment." Short and sweet, now here comes Dean Ambrose. Ambrose is mad he wasn't invited to this party and wants to throw hands right now. They all go to fight but then Stardust comes out next. Stardust is absolutely irate that he can't find the IC belt and demands to know where it is. R-Truth comes out last with the belt and says what up Detroit. He says he's holding on to the belt until Wrestlemania while calling Barrett "sizzle chest". He says he's scared of heights but will win the ladder match anyway. Barrett says he's gonna pull Truth off the ladder while Truth counters with possession is 9/10ths of the law. R-Truth calls himself the big bossman and Barrett starts the six man brawl in the ring. The faces clear the ring of Stardust, Harper and Barrett then everyone looks at each other. Michael Cole then says we have an exclusive interview with Randy Orton coming up.

Back from commercial, the tag team champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd with Natalya in tow walk around in the back. Apparently up next is an 8 man tag with New Day and The Uso's against Los Matadores and Cesaro/Kidd. We cut to the tag match from Raw where Matadores beat the Uso's after a distraction from El Torrito.

Match 1

Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso (with Big E Langston and Naomi) vs Diego, Fernando, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with El Torrito and Natalya)

With no clear tag team title contender this close to Wrestlemania, may as well have them all fight here. In a pre-recorded interview, the Matadores says they will be the next champions. Kofi starts with Diego and Diego chops him in the corner. Diego eats a second rope dropkick and Kofi makes the tag to Woods. Woods hits a second rope forearm and covers for a deuce. Woods hits a roaring elbow and covers for 1....2..no. Diego hits a jawbreaker and makes the tag to Fernando. Fernando hits a dropkick but takes a boot to the head. Jimmy Uso tags himself in and backdrops Fernando and pounds away in the corner. Uso kicks Diego off the apron but Fernando crotches Jimmy on the top rope. Fernando pounds on Jimmy's back as we go to break. Back from commercial Jimmy is knocked to the second rope and Fernando jumps on him. Diego makes the tag, hits a slingshot legdrop, then covers for a deuce. Diego applies a chinlock and shouts "OLE!" Jimmy misses an enziguiri then hits another then gets the hot tag to Jey Uso. Tyson Kidd tags in and Uso hits a samoan drop. Jey knocks Fernando and Cesaro off the apron then hits the ass bump on Kidd. Kofi tags himself in to hit a top rope crossbody as Fernando accidentally knocks Cesaro outside. Woods clotheslines Fernando over the top to the floor as Jimmy Uso flies over the top rope to take them out. Woods then hits a corkscrew plancha on Jimmy by accident as Kidd tries to roll up Kofi. Kofi reverses it for 1..2...no. Kofi gets an O'Connor roll for two but walks right into a Cesaro uppercut from the apron. Cesaro then turns around into a Jey Uso superkick. Fernando tags himself in and runs right into Trouble In Paradise. Kofi covers but the ref is busy with Kidd allowing Diego to pull the switch and hit the Backstabber. He covers for 1..2...3..to win the match. Two weeks in a row Los Matadores get a win. We go to the replay of the switcheroo and with the tag titles on the line at Wrestlemania, these teams are all gunning for them with Diego & Fernando having the momentum.

Time of match: 5:11

Winners: Cesaro, Kidd, Diego and Fernando by pinfall

Back to Cole who says we're 17 nights away from Wrestlemania 31. Cole hypes up Triple H vs Sting and we go to a vignette of Sting.....with an overdubbed voice. Sting says he's been watching Triple H and knows how corrupt officials ruin things. He said WCW fell into the hands of a broken authority and failed to save it. Sting knows pain and the pain of loss and he'll make things right by beating Triple H. After that's over, we get a graphic saying Roman Reigns will respond to Brock Lesnar tonight. John Cena and Rusev's package is up next after break.

Back from commercial, tonight's main event is now Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan against Stardust, Luke Harper and Wade Barrett in a six man tag. R-Truth might be hiding under the ring for all we know. Then we get a vignette of John Cena/Rusev's feud so far and how Rusev refused to give Cena a rematch at Wrestlemania 31. Cena was resigned to his fate of not getting a rematch but will NOT allow Rusev to disparage the USA or he'll take him out. Sure enough, Rusev insulted America and Cena came out to whoop his ass. Cena locked in the STFU to render Rusev unconscious and Lana granted Cena the rematch. 

Ryback comes out for the next match as we go to break. Back from commercial, its announced the next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame is the late Connor "The Crusher" Michalek who showed more bravery in his final years than most people will ever show in their entire lives. He'll be getting the Warrior Award. Renee Young is with Miz and Damien Sandow and she says Ryback is one of the favorites to win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Miz runs down his own accolades saying HE is the favorite. He hasn't won the Battle Royal yet but that's his next target. Miz says he'll beat the brainless Ryback and Sandow interjects saying he's dangerous. Miz says he can beat Ryback by himself so Sandow can stay in the back and press his pants. He sends Sandow away and its time for the next match.

Match 2

Ryback vs The Miz

Feeding time for Ryback since Sandow is in the back. Bell rings and Miz still has his sunglasses on, finally removing them with Ryback starting a feed me more chant. Miz starts with a headlock as Cole actually brings up how Ryback and Miz were contestants on Tough Enough 4 eleven years earlier. Shows you how special Miz was that not only did he win the WWE Championship before Ryback in the end but the actual winner Daniel Puder. Ryback puts Miz on the top rope and continues to shout feed me more. Ryback throws Miz down and drops him with a back elbow smash. Ryback hits a delayed suplex but Miz dodges a charge in the corner. Miz stomps away on Ryback and chokes him on the second rope. Miz jumps on Ryback's back and covers for a one count. Miz kicks Ryback in the ribs and then in the head. Miz goes for another kick but Ryback blocks it and hits a spinebuster. Ryback signals for the meat hook clothesline and buries Miz with it. Ryback hits Shell Shock and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Not exactly a squash but clearly Miz can't beat him on his own without Sandow.

Time of match: 3:01

Winner: Ryback by pinfall

Coming up next is Roman Reigns' response to Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Oh good, more talking. Back from break, here comes Reigns for a conference. First we get Paul Heyman's promo on Monday where he listed Brock's accolades and Reigns can't beat him. Reigns goes on to say that Heyman claims to know him and his family, but he disrespected us by saying they're 3 generations removed from cannibalism. Reigns says he won't let disrespect go and nobody says he can't. All of a sudden here comes Mark Henry in wrestling gear to join him. Mark hasn't been seen since Survivor Series yet he says that too many coconuts hit Reigns in the head. Mark says he doesn't like people talking about his heritage either but he takes exception with Roman saying he "can". Mark says Roman can't because he himself couldn't beat Brock. Henry doesn't think Roman is ready and when Roman says "with all due respect" only for Mark to cut him off saying Brock doesn't respect him. The fans might but the boys in the back don't. Mark says Roman needs to earn it. Roman goes to leave but Mark stops him and asks where he's going. He shoves Reigns and Roman responds with a Superman punch. Henry bails to the outside but Roman goes out and spears him through the barricade. Roman stands on the announce table and says to hell with "I can't" because he can and he will, believe that. Sacrificing Mark Henry to make Roman look strong but not in a match is interesting. 

We cut to the announce table and says Brock & Paul had to have seen what just happened. Lawler says Heyman is sweating Crisco right now. Cole says on Monday it became official, The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt will happen at Wrestlemania. We get a vignette of Monday where the rocking chair is set on fire and Bray laughing at it. Apparently The Undertaker is Johnny Cash because "the man comes around". We get a graphic for our main event before we see AJ Lee and Paige heading to the ring. They're in action next after commercial. Back from break its on to the next match.

Match 3

AJ Lee and Paige vs Summer Rae and Cameron (with Alicia Fox)

Summer and Cameron get the jobber entrance and somehow Paige's white shirt from a minute ago is gone. The Bella Twins are sitting in on commentary and Cole asks why they always sit next to Byron. Nikki says Byron smells better than Cole. Paige drives Cameron into her corner immediately and tags in AJ. AJ drops Cameron with an elbow and splashes her in the corner. AJ hits a neckbreaker and a spin kick to the ribs. Summer distracts AJ and Cameron clotheslines her from behind. Cameron covers for 1...2...no. Bella Twins babble on and on about Total Divas as Summer Rae tags in. Summer drops AJ and covers for 1...2...no. Summer locks in a chin lock before dropping Paige off the apron. Cameron tags in to stomp away in the corner then tags Summer back in. AJ clotheslines both women then tags in PAige. Paige rallies with clotheslines on Summer and hits a dropkick. Paige drops CAmeron off the apron and hits a superkick on Summer. Paige locks in the PTO and Summer taps to end the match. Short and sweet with AJ and Paige getting some momentum before the Wrestlemania tag match against the Bellas. Nikki promises she'd never tap out as Paige and AJ call out the Bellas.

Time of match: 2:25

Winners: Paige and AJ Lee by submission

After the match Nikki and Paige go nose to nose but AJ and Brie hold their respective partners back. We cut to Cole talking about Reigns spearing Mark Henry earlier and a highlight of it. We cut to Renee Young in the back who asks Henry why he was antagonizing Roman. Mark says damn right he antagonized him and Reigns showed him something. Mark is a believer now and he just wanted to test Roman. Henry says he feels it now Don't know if this was a babyface turn or what but bottom line was Henry thinks Roman can beat Lesnar. Up next is an interview with Randy Orton about him turning on The Authority on Monday after we come back from break. 

After the commercial, we go to a vignette of Dolph Ziggler promising to bring kids to Smackdown tonight. Sure enough, the kids featured are shown in the front row. Then we cut to an interview with Randy Orton. He says getting curbstomped by Rollins changed him and just coming back at Fastlane wasn't enough. He wanted to gain the Authority's trust again before stabbing them in the back like they did to him. It was a lot of fun for him using Roman to gain Seth's trust. Then he used reverse psychology to tell The Authority what he really thought of them. Then he had Seth right where he wanted him, then he turned on Seth and says fear motivates men. He saw the fear in Seth's eyes and he enjoyed beating the hell out of him. Now it makes sense for Randy to turn face, but he could have done it at Wrestlemania to cost Rollins a big match, instead he played his hand early. Now its going to be Orton vs Rollins at Wrestlemania. On to the next match.

Match 4

Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper, Stardust and Wade Barrett

The participants of the upcoming Wrestlemania ladder match are gonna get it on in six man action here. Ambrose starts with a headlock on Barrett and drops him with a shoulderblock. Ambrose drops an elbow on Barrett and kicks him in the ribs. Ambrose locks in an STF but Barrett stands up. Ziggler tags in and works over the left arm of Barrett. Barrett gets a reversal and Stardust tags in, coming off the top rope on Dolph's arm. Michael Cole calls him the Gollum of WWE and Lawler says he should be beamed up to the Enterprise. Daniel Bryan comes off the top rope with an axehandle following a tag by Ziggler. Bryan applies a surfboard as Ambrose yells "Coooody". R-Truth is watching in the back as Stardust escapes to tag in Barrett. Bryan drops Wade with a toe hold and delivers some European uppercuts. Barrett rallies with strikes in the corner and Stardust tags in. Stardust is whipped into the corner and Bryan hits a dropkick. Bryan hits a top rope frankensteiner and Stardust bails to the outside. We go to break and back from commercial. its Harper covering Bryan for 1...2...no. Harper does a Gator Roll with Bryan and applies a chinlock. Harper throws Bryan down and tags Barrett in. Harper stomps on Bryan before he leaves as Barrett rams Bryan into the buckle. Barrett pounds on his back and covers for 1...2...no. Stardust tags in and kicks Bryan in between the leg. Harper tags in and Bryan rolls him up for a deuce before kicking Harper in the head. Ambrose gets the hot tag as well as Stardust. Ambrose bulldogs Cody and delivers an atomic faceplant but Harper pulls Ambrose out of the ring. Ambrose clotheslines Harper on the floor and pulls the top rope down to shitcan Rhodes. Ambrose goes up and over the top rope twice for no reason before hitting a crossbody on Stardust & Harper. Ambrose throws Stardust inside and hits the rebound clothesline. Ambrose kicks Barrett in the head and goes outside to ram him into the announce table. Harper hits a big boot on Ambrose as we go to break. Back from commercial Barrett boots Ambrose in the face then covers for a deuce. Barrett locks in a chinlock but Ambrose rallies with right hands and a kick to the head. Barrett hits a big boot and tags in Stardust who covers for two. Stardust stimps on Dean's hand and puts him on the top rope. Stardust goes for a superplex but Dean counters with a front suplex. Dean hits a missile dropkick as Stardust gets the tag to Harper. Ziggler gets the hot tag and he rallies with clotheslines and a big elbow on Harper. Dolph hits a dropkick and a fameasser on Harper before covering for a deuce. Harper rolls him up for two and Ziggler hits the superkick. He covers but Stardust pulls him off. Daniel Bryan kicks Stardust in the head out of the ring then backdrops Wade Barrett out of the ring. All three faces go for suicide dives but only Bryan and Ambrose hit theirs, Ziggler gets a big boot courtesy of Harper. Harper hits the powerbomb for 1...2...nooooo. Harper starts spazzing out and goes for the torture rack, but Ziggler counters with the torture rack. Bryan tags in to hit the running knee and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Fun match to end the snow as the IC title picture seems to be the only interesting part of the show since nobody cares about the tag team titles and most of the main eventers weren't here.

Time of match: 17:38

Winners: Bryan, Ambrose and Ziggler by pinfall

Cole gets in the ring to interview the winners and congratulates Bryan on the victory. Dolph cuts off Michael and says Ziggler stole the victory from him. He says every man for himself and last year DB had lady luck on his side, this time he's out there too. Ambrose congratulates both men then says Dolph stole the show just like everyone's been stealing the IC belt lately. Ambrose says he started it although Dolph has an inferiority complex since he's not as good as Bryan. Ambrose says he and everyone else in the back think Bryan is a turd and leaves. Ziggler says he doesn't agree with Dean with a lot of things, but Bryan is a turd. Ziggler leaves too as DB is shaking his head in the ring. We sign off with Ziggler taunting Bryan to end things. Kind of a weird promo there as both Ambrose and Ziggler were crapping on Bryan but then again, at Wrestlemania it will be every man for himself. All in all the show started out slow with the IC title conference and eight man tag, then slowly found its way. The problem was there was too many vignettes and not enough matches. How do you only have four matches on a 2 hour wrestling show? Still, the card for Wrestlemania 31 is just about set with the 7 man IC title match, Paige and AJ taking on The Bellas, Cena vs Rusev, Reigns vs Lesnar, Sting vs HHH, Rollins vs Orton and the Andre battle royal. The next show after this is Monday's Raw. I'll see you there.

WWE NXT (2/23/10)

 

WWE NXT

Bradley Center

Milwaukee, WI

February 23, 2010

Commentators: Michael Cole & Josh Matthews

Ring Announcer: Savannah

Host: Matt Striker

Its the debut episode of a new WWE show, NXT. With Vince McMahon mercifully killing off WWECW for good, we got a new "Tough Enough" style show but rather than insult the fans intelligence by having indy wrestlers "train" under Hardcore Holly, Al Snow, etc, this show format will take eight independent wrestlers and call them "rookies" with individual "coaches". This is still pretty absurd considering who some of the "rookies" are but we'll get to that soon enough. The show opens with a montage of the rookies and their coaches. Skip Sheffield is coached by William Regal (it was supposed to be MVP), Darren Young will be matched up with CM Punk, Justin Gabriel will be paired with Matt Hardy, Wade Barrett is with Chris Jericho, David Otunga will be coached by R-Truth, Daniel Bryan is matched with The Miz, Michael Tarver is coached by Carlito and Heath Slater will be matched with Christian. Before we do anything, we got a dark match.

Dark Match:

Jimmy Wang Yang & Slam Master J vs Tyler Reks and Vance Archer

With ECW biting the dust, a lot of the dregs of the roster had nothing to do so they put these guys in a tag match before the show went on air. Yang and J win.

Winners: Yang and J

We start the show after the opening montage with all 8 "rookies" posing for the camera. David Otunga looks Straight Outta Compton while Daniel Bryan looks like he's bored. The Miz sizes up all of them but singles out Bryan. Maz says he's US Champion and Tag Team Champion and calls Daniel an "internet darling" and a star of the "minor leagues". Miz asks if Bryan is ready and Miz says he has to expect anything. He wants Bryan to go to the ring, introduce himself, show charisma and to give the fans a reason to watch every Tuesday. Bryan says that's no problem and Miz says to use his music, Bryan counters with that's a problem (Ha!). Miz says to have a good catch phrase as Bryan leaves. Miz says what Bryan doesn't know is if Bryan doesn't show personality, he'll slap some personality into him.

Out comes Daniel Bryan as Michael Cole and Josh Matthews welcome us to ring side. Matthews sends us to our host, Matt Striker. Striker says he'll be waiting to get reactions from Bryan or Miz depending on how this goes. Bryan thanks the audience and shouts out The Miz to a chorus of boos. Bryan says "I'm sorry" because he wishes his pro was William Regal. He says he's been wrestling all over the world for 10 years and finally he has an opportunity here. Bryan says NXT is the next evolution but he's cut off by The Miz. Cole says he's not surprised since he dissed Miz and Miz says this is going to be a lot of fun. Bryan says to watch what he says or he'll submit him right now. Miz calls him cute and a submission machine but he needs charisma and personality. Bryan says he was going to go on a reality show, get a faux-hawk and act like an idiot...oh wait, that was Miz. Miz says that's fine and wants a catch phrase like "I'M THE MIZ AND I'M AWESSOMEEEEEE." Bryan says if Miz tries him, its "Tap or Snap". Bryan asks the crowd what they think and they love it. They cheer Bryan as Miz asks if he belongs in the same ring. Miz says Bryan failed and slaps him across the face. Bryan is barely fazed by it and smiles at him. Miz storms off and Bryan says "you got nothing on me" as we go to break.

I know they're going to explain it and I already covered Bryan a long time ago in his Velocity matches but what the hell. The reason this whole scenario is ludicrous is Daniel Bryan was born Bryan Danielson and he was trained at the age of 18 by none other than the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. He made his in ring debut in December of 1999 and worked in both the US and Japan with school alums & future WWE stars Lance Cade and Brian Kendrick. In 2000, he was signed to a WWF developmental deal with Memphis Championship Wrestling and was given further guidance by William Regal (hence the name drop earlier) where he got the nickname "American Dragon". He was released in July of 2001 without ever being called up to Raw or Smackdown. He did make sporadic appearances on Velocity for the next two years while working in Japan or Ring of Honor. In Bryan's WWE Blu-Ray story, he said John Cena got heat for letting Bryan get some shots in rather than squashing him in their Velocity match. After a 7 year run with Ring of Honor, he was finally signed by WWE again who put him in their new developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling in early 2010. At first he wrestled under his own name but before he was to make his NXT debut he had to choose a stage name. Apparently he had to choose between Buddy Peacock, Lloyd Bonaire and Daniel Bryan. Once again, where Vince got his names I'll never know but thankfully Regal bailed him out by calling him Daniel Bryan. What makes this storyline more absurd is while Bryan was literally on WWE TV doing jobs and working with Cena, Miz was making his pro debut in 2003 after being an MTV star before becoming a Tough Enough 4 finalist (outlasting the very same Skip Sheffield we'll see later) in 2004. Not that the Miz didn't scratch and claw his way to stardom, but what the hell could Miz possibly teach the guy personally trained by Shawn Michaels and William Regal? That's basically the storyline here moving forward. 

Back from commercial, Bryan is still in the ring and he says he's going to slap him back someday. After an out of place Triple H vignette, Matt Striker asks what Bryan feels about being slapped. Bryan says he slaps harder than Miz does. Striker says Miz is his mentor and Bryan says he can say that because he's been wrestling longer than Miz has. Striker says not in WWE and Bryan says he can be a star on his own. That's rich coming from the guy who was still a teacher when Bryan was on Velocity working with John Cena. 

Before we get to the match, we're told that Daniel Bryan will go one on one with World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho tonight. As if you needed any more proof that Bryan is a bigger deal than he's being presented as. Carlito comes out with a mic and says let's introduce Michael Tarver. Carlito says with his skills, Tarver will be the next breakout star. The video montage shows Michael grew up in Akron, Ohio and is known as "Mr. 1.9 seconds" because he can knock out anyone just like that. His father was professional boxer Tyrone Evans who was Mike Tyson's sparring partner. He would join his father and Mike in 5 mile runs in the snow before school & church. He figures that it doesn't matter how big someone is, you take out the head and the body falls. He says he had it hard sleeping in cars and earning just $20 for indy shows but this is his way to prove what he's capable of. He wants the other rookies to bring their A game because the world is in front of him. So what did that montage not tell us? He started wrestling in 2005 and was signed to a developmental deal in 2008. Because of his boxing background, he was one of Floyd Mayweather's bodyguards at Wrestlemania 24 if you looked closely enough. He spent the next 2 years in FCW where he and Wade Barrett were a tag team managed by Byron Saxton. So this is no "rookie" either.

Christian and Heath Slater come out next. Slater apparently is a rock star without the instruments and likes to showboat a lot. He wanted to be a WWE superstar since he was born and we get a video montage of him in the 90's with wrestling toys and backyard wrestling belts. Slater says being a superstar is the only thing he's ever wanted to do. He came up with the party boy thing and his motivation is to prove everyone wrong. He's about to blow your mind! So, what WASN'T said? Slater was born in Pineville, West Virginia and really did grow up a massive WWF fan. He was trained by none other than Mr. Hughes and made his pro debut in 2004 under his real name of Heath Miller. In 2006 he was signed by WWE and put in their developmental territory Deep South Wrestling then moved over to Florida Championship Wrestling where he had been a mainstay ever since. Just a few months prior, he and Justin Gabriel feuded over the FCW Heavyweight Championship. Now in NXT, he wrestles under the name Heath Slater. Let's get to the match.

Match 1

Carlito and Michael Tarver vs Christian and Heath Slater

Slater is going to start with Carlito as Matthews says these guys are meeting each other for the first time. Slater and Tarver just came from FCW together and Slater was actually in a feud with Carlito's brother Primo. I'm sure they've met before. Slater gets a quick roll up for a two count and Heath shouts "Yeah baby" to no pop. Carlito goes to town with strikes then kicks away in the corner. Tarver tags in and punches away in the corner with body shots. Slater hits a springboard splash and a few arm drags to no pop again. Tarver hits a drop toe hold onto the bottom rope and Carlito gets a cheap shot. Christian distracts the ref long enough for Slater to kick out of the pinfall attempt at two. Cole says Christian told him he could do without the Slater hair flip. Carlito locks in a chin lock as Christian tries to start a clap for Slater. Cole then goes on to babble on about Daniel Bryan as Tarver tags in to lock in a chinlock as well. Slater does manage to catch Tarver with a powerslam as Carlito tags in. Christian gets the hot tag as Cole brings up Christian qualifying for the Money In The Bank ladder match coming up at Wrestlemania 26. Christian drops Carlito with a forearm and a second rope dropkick. Christian covers for 1...2..no. Christian goes for Killswitch but Carlito rolls out of it. Carlito jumps off the second rope but right back into Christian's arms. Carlito elbows Christian but is kicked in the corner. Christian hits a second rope sunset flip for 1..2....no. Tarver tags in and whips Carlito into an elbow by Christian, whoops! Tarver's charge eats boot as Slater pulls Carlito out of the ring. Christian hits a second rope elbow smash and hits the Killswitch. He covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Kind of a short match but this whole episode is just an introductory showcase anyway. Christian and Slater celebrate as Christian does get a pop. Good, safe tag match to kick off NXT.

Time of match: 4:23

Winners: Slater and Christian by pinfall

CM Punk is joined by his Straight Edge Society members Luke Gallows and Serena with Darren Young babbling on inaudibly because Christian's music and Michael Cole's talking downs out whatever Darren is saying. Meanwhile R-Truth is talking to Otunga who looks like something out of an Eazy-E music video. Back from commercial, its time for our next match. The SES come out with Young who doesn't even get an introductory montage.....the hell?  Young was born Fred Rosser and he was trained in New Jersey back in 2001. He worked most of 2002-04 for local independents including Chaotic Wrestling. He actually got some WWE dark matches wrestling as Fred Sampson in 2005. I know this was still before the internet was as advanced as it is today, but how are you going to call someone who was wrestling on WWE TV in 2005 a "rookie" five years later when his "mentor" didn't even show up himself until 2006, no diss to CM Punk of course. Speaking of Punk, he gets his own mini-interview where he has no idea why he's here or who Darren Young is. Punk says he mentored Gallows and Serena so if Young wants in too, he has to live straight edge. Considering Young is trying to pass himself off as a "party boy" this isn't gonna work. Matthews wants to party with Young but we send it to a David Otunga montage.

Otunga says he's from Hollywood, California and he's a touch above everyone else. He's a very busy man and he's engaged to Jennifer Hudson. He's met President Obama, he's popular, nobody can touch him, you get the idea. He graduated from Harvard Law School and everyone's jealous of him. Great heel promo to be honest. Now for the real story....most of it is true. He really did graduate from Harvard Law school and passed the bar in Illinois. He made his name on the TV show I Love New York 2 where he came in third place. He really was engaged to Jennifer Hudson and they had a son together. He's not actually from Hollywood as he grew up in Illinois. He was signed to WWE in 2008 in a path similar to The Miz, cashing in on his ILNY2 fame. 

Match 2

Darren Young (with CM Punk, Serena & Luke Gallows) vs David Otunga (with R-Truth)

Otunga makes his entrance completely ignoring Truth's rapping at ring side during his entrance as the SES pretty much blow off Young as well. Bell's gone and Young gets in a knee to the ribs. Young drops Otunga with a back elbow smash and covers for a deuce. Otunga ducks a line, hits a few clotheslines of his own and damn near botches a Ron Simmons style spinebuster. Otunga covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. I know they were pressed for time since they had Jericho and Bryan later but that was ridiculous. That made Young look worthless. Otunga celebrates with Truth in the ring as the SES bails without showing any emotion. Otunga had the look and the charisma, but just could never do it in the ring.

Time of match: 38 seconds

Winner: Otunga by pinfall

We cut to earlier where Miz slaps Daniel Bryan and get a graphic for Jericho vs Bryan coming up. Back from commercial we get a Divas vignette and the "Raw rebound". John Cena on Raw complains that he won Elimination Chamber yet Vince McMahon forced him to wrestle Batista at the end of it. McMahon says he's going to face Batista in a match, and if he wins, he faces him again at Wrestlemania. Batista then demolishes Cena to earn a DQ but the beat down was to send a message that John couldn't take him. Its a shame it took damn near 5 years for Cena and Batista to get it on when they were neck and neck in popularity in 2005. Back to ring side where Cole says he's the mentor to Matthews and Josh fires back. A graphic saying Justin Gabriel will be making his NXT debut the following week.

Match 3

Daniel Bryan (with The Miz) vs World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho (with Wade Barrett)

As I said earlier, it was high praise to put Bryan in the ring with Jericho in his NXT debut when the others had to wrestle each other or in standard tag matches. We don't get an introduction vignette for either Bryan or Barrett so that might be coming next week. Before the match starts, Jericho grabs the mic and says he wants Barrett to introduce him instead. Barrett goes on about himself that he's a European champion and bare knuckles fighter. He says its an honor to be paired with Chris Jericho and tries to put him over, but Chris cuts him off. Chris says just introduce him as Barrett says "Have it your way." He introduces Chris and here comes The Miz and Bryan. Bryan runs right past him and gets in the ring, ha! Bell rings and Bryan wants a hand shake. Does he think he's in Ring of Honor? Jericho slaps his hand away and goes on about himself. He shoves Bryan and Daniel slaps him before dropping Chris with a dropkick. Daniel stops away in the corner but Jericho counters with a dropkick. Jericho kicks away at Bryan and delivers a back suplex. Chris gets a forearm to the back and a snap mare. Jericho locks in a half nelson but Daniel powers out of it. Daniel rolls him up for a two count and Jericho counters with an enziguiri. Chris slaps the back of the head and hits an elbow to the chest. Jericho hits forearms in the corner as Matt Striker sneaks ring side to ask Wade Barrett what he's learning. Wade replies that Jericho is quality and says he's going to get to his level. Bryan kicks Jericho int he chest, slides hunder him and goes for the dragon screw, but Jericho botches it by back bumping. Cole screams at Matthews for saying Bryan is a sensation and that he's wrestled in front of high school gyms. By the way, THIS was the start of the Michael Cole heel turn no one wanted. Bryan runs up the turnbuckle and backflips over Jericho and drops him with a clothesline. He covers for 1...2....no. Bryan nails Chris with a forearm against the ropes, causing Jericho to bail outside. Bryan goes for the suicide dive and it looks like Jericho countered with a powerslam against the announce table, but Bryan doesn't sell it. Jericho rolls inside and Bryan goes for a hurracarana but jumps right into the Walls of Jericho. Bryan rolls through and applies an Indian Deathlock. Jericho screams and barely makes it to the ropes. Jericho catches Bryan with the codebreaker out of nowhere to drop him. We're shown the "rookies" in the back all watching the match. Jericho locks in the Lion Tamer and Bryan taps immediately to end the match. Jericho gets the win but Bryan hit him with everything but the kitchen sink. In terms of the actual match, that was awesome. For damn near six minutes it was perfectly paced with Bryan pushing the action.

Time of match: 5:53

Winner: Jericho by submission

Post-match Miz gets in the ring and beats down Bryan. Jericho laughs and leaves with Barrett. Miz rams Bryan's head into the mat and screams at him that he disrespected him. We go to the replay and Matthews puts over Bryan while Cole uncharacteristically puts Miz over, what's that about? We're back with the seven "rookies" with Striker who says this is NXT before signing off. This was definitely the Daniel Bryan coming out party and the sad part was, this set the tone for the rest of the show's run. Bryan was clearly head and shoulders above everyone else and showcasing him first cast a shadow over everyone else. Still, there's still a long way to go and more matches to showcase the others. Even though this was glorified Tough Enough, the fact it was actual wrestlers will make the matches good at least. See you Thursday for Smackdown.