WWE Raw (8/1/22)

WWE RAW

TOYOTA CENTER

HOUSTON, TX

AUGUST 1, 2022

Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton

Ring Announcer: Mike Rome

Now that Summerslam is over, it is now up to Triple H to reverse the damage Vince McMahon caused the last 13 years or so. Let's see what he has in store, but first.....in case you missed it, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar on Saturday night to remain Undisputed Universal Champion, The Usos defeated The Street Profitz to remain the Undisputed Tag Team Champions, Logan Paul defeated The Miz, The Mysterios defeated Judgment Day thanks to the returning Edge and Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to become the new Raw women's champion. We also had the return of Bayley & Iyo Sky from injury along with Dakota Kai who was released in April to confront Bianca and the now injured Becky. Things are looking up already so let's get started.

Jimmy Smith welcomes us to start the night as Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring with her right arm in a sling. We go to highlights of Summerslam where Bianca defeated Becky and Becky hugged her after to turn face. All of a sudden Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai came out basically all turning heel and confronting Bianca & Becky. I assume the idea was going to be those two and another against Bayley's crew but now Becky's hurt. Becky gets on the mic and says "Houston, welcome to the big time!" Becky basically gives a speech saying she lost herself and now she's seen the error of her ways. She says she separated her shoulder but gave it everything she had. She says a new era starts now and she wants to bring out Bianca Belair. Bianca comes out in a pantsuit missing a pantleg and gets in the ring. Bianca says she's the man and they hug much to the crowd's delight. Becky says she'll see her soon and leaves. Now by herself, Bianca says she has nothing but respect for Lynch. She goes on a speech about respect but the camera picks up Bayley, Iyo and Dakota attacking Becky with a chair. Bianca makes a mad dash to Becky's aid with the heels gone. This was their way of writing Becky off TV to heal her shoulder, she'll be back. The commentators go over what we just saw and shill tonight's main event of The Mysterios vs The Uso's for the Tag belts. We also are going to see Edge tonight and two triple threat matches. Dolph Ziggler battles Tomasso Ciampa and Chad Gable while AJ Styles takes on Mustafa Ali and The Miz. The winners will face each other later tonight in a number 1 contender's match for the WWE United States Championship. We go to more Summerslam highlights before we cut to commercial.

Back from commercial we get a nice montage narrated by JBL about the legacy of the United States championship using old footage from Mid-Atlantic, WCW and old school WWE. With HHH in charge, I guess he wants the secondary titles to mean something again. Good on him, let's get to our first match.

Match 1

AJ Styles vs Mustafa Ali vs The Miz in a Triple Threat Match

The winner of this match faces the winner of the other triple threat match to decide who's the number 1 contender to Bobby Lashley's US title. The Miz makes his entrance with a highlight package of him losing to Logan Paul with AJ taking out Ciampa during the match. Then we're shown Logan crowing about it on a Twitter video and saying he'll be back. Miz' ribs are still taped as Mustafa Ali makes his entrance during the montage. Bell rings and Miz bails immediately to allow Ali to hit a hurracarana on Styles. Miz hops up on the apron and trips up Ali. Styles hits a baseball slide on Ali and flips over into a sunset flip. Styles goes for the Styles Clash but Miz trips up AJ and pulls him outside. Miz rams Styles into the announce table but Ali suicide dives through the ropes onto Miz. Ali tosses Miz back in and fakes him out in the corner then sends him into the second buckle. Styles gets in and chops Miz in the corner but is also thrown into the second buckle. Miz charges and hits a splash before dropping Ali off the apron. Miz sunset flips Styles for a two count but Styles counters with a right hand. Styles is whipped into the corner but he blocks a monkey flip. Him and Miz battle on the second rope but Miz knocks Styles down. Ali jumps up but is sent down as well into Styles who hits a back suplex. Miz hits a ddt on Styles and covers for 1..2....nope. Graves says he forgot to hook the leg or else it would be over. Miz kicks Styles in the chest as a graphic shows Alexa Bliss facing Asuka later tonight. Styles counters with an enziguiri before Ali and Styles slug it out. Styles slaps Ali full force in the face as Graves says Ali might not know his own name after that. Styles does a reverse ddt at the same time Ali catches him with a neckbreaker. Ali covers Styles for two then Miz for two as well. Ali goes upstairs but misses the 450 splash and AJ hits a neck crusher before hitting a Pele kick on Miz to knock him out of the ring. AJ gets pulled out of the ring by Miz and AJ slams Miz rib first into the table. Ali from out of nowhere hits a top rope tornado ddt on the floor. Ali rolls Miz in the ring but walks right into the Skull Crushing Finale. Miz takes forever to cover because of his ribs and only gets a two count. Miz kicks Ali in the corner but eats a superkick. Ali goes for another 450 splash and hits hit but AJ grabs him then hits the Styles Clash right ontop of Miz. Styles covers Ali for 1...2...3...to win the match. The HHH era starts with a bang with a great match. Styles will face the winner of the other triple threat match later tonight.

Time of match: 8:41

Winner: AJ Styles by pinfall

We go to Becky being attacked from earlier before cutting to the trainer's room. Becky asks for ice with Adam Pearce looking on concerned. Cathy Kelley catches up with Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai and asks why they targeted Becky Lynch. Bayley says its not about Becky or Bianca but its about them and everyone will find out shortly. The Uso's make their way in as the ladies leave and they both check them out after saying hi. Cathy asks if they have a chance to win tonight against The Mysterios. Jey says 100% they'll win and Jimmy says it'll be business as usual. Jey says the Mysterios are the twos and Jimmy says they the ones. 

Seth Rollins makes his way to ringside as we get a recap of the Rollins/Matt Riddle feud so far. Rollins curbstomped Riddle on the steel steps on Raw to postpone their Summerslam match. At Summerslam, Riddle jumped into the ring and called out Rollins for a fight. Rollins obliged and and had a free for all in the ring which ended with another curbstomp. Back in real time Rollins says welcome to Monday night Rollins and he's the host. He says tonight is a night of celebration because Matt Riddle isn't here. There's a line between gutsy and stupid and Riddle crossed the line. Now Riddle can join Randy Orton which leaves Seth free to chase Roman Reigns which actually gets a babyface pop. But wait! The Street Profitz of all people hit ring side for a rebuttal. Rollins says "No no no no no no no shut it down. Stop it! Stop it!" Rollins is irate the crowd pops and says the Houston Rockets are losers as well as the Profitz. Rollins says all they do is lose and to get lost. Dawkins says they beat Rollins for the tag belts and Seth lost to Cody Rhodes who only had one "boobie". Seth gets mad and says he'd love to fight but he's outnumbered. The Profitz play rock, paper, scissors to see who faces Rollins next and Montez tosses Dawkins the mic then heads to the ring with the ref. Brilliant!

Match 2

Montez Ford vs Seth Rollins

Ford almost gets curbstomped immediately but slides out of the way. Ford slides in and Rollins slides out to take off his ring jacket. Ford sheds his jersey and clotheslines Rollins over the top to the outside as the bell rings. Ford takes it to Rollins outside and makes fun of Seth's entrance. Rollins rolls Ford in but eats a superkick. Ford covers for 1...2....nope. Ford goes upstairs but Rollins bails outside causing Ford to follow. Rollins tries a pedigree but gets backdropped before they go back inside. Rollins front suplex's Ford across the top rope then rams him ribs first into the ring post. Rollins rolls inside and the ref starts to count out Ford. Ford makes it just before the 10 count and Rollins goes to work on Ford then chokes him on the second rope. Rollins chops Ford as Graves says Ford is one of the few that is more athletic then Rollins. Ford chops him back but Rollins gets in some knees to the ribs then delivers a gut buster. Rollins covers for 1...2...nope. Rollins goes to a waistlock then hits a back suplex followed by a replay of it. Rollins slaps Montez on the head and goes for the suplex back into the ring. Ford blocks it and hits a kick to the head. Ford goes to the top rope and hits the crossbody for 1...2...no. Smith says that took the wind out of Ford but Montez and Seth slug it out in the ring. Ford drops Rollins with a clothesline, two kicks and an enziguiri. Ford hits a moonsault and covers for 1...2...no. Rollins goes for the back suplex but Ford rolls out of it, ducks the line and hits a blockbuster. Montez covers for 1..2....noooooo. Saxton says this is where a tag to Dawkins would be but its one on one. Ford eats an enziguiri and Rollins rolls him up for 1..2...no. Rollins hits a superkick and covers for 1...2..no. Rollins calls for the curb stomp but misses. Ford's superkick is blocked and Rollins goes for a powerbomb. Ford lands on the second rope and hits a tornado DDT for 1...2...no, Seth gets the foot on the rope. Ford gets crotched on the top rope and Rollins hits the buckle bomb in the corner. Rollins hits the falcon arrow and covers for 1...2....nooooooo. Rollins goes to the top rope but misses the big splash. Montez goes to the top rope but Rollins gets his knees up on the frog splash. Rollins hits the curb stomp and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Hell of an effort and hell of a match by Rollins and Ford. 2 for 2 so far tonight.

Time of match: 10:41

Winner: Rollins by pinfall

After the match Rollins goes for another curb stomp but Dawkins runs in to save the day. Rollins laughs his way up the ramp as the announcers put over Montez' effort. Smith talks about Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar then sends us to a clip of the main event including the tractor. It'll be a while before we see Lesnar again. Graves in real time says he has chills from that match and we have bonus footage of that night later. Then we get a graphic for Clash at The Castle coming up with Roman Reigns defending the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre on September 3rd in Cardiff. We then get a montage of all the media coverage Summerslam got. On to the next match.

Match 3

Alexa Bliss vs Asuka

Alex comes out with her demented doll and the announcers say Alexa wants a title shot against Bianca. Bell rings and they shake hands to start. They tie up but Asuka lands a forearm to the face but Alexa counters with a Peterson Roll for 1...2..no. Alexa hits a dropkick and does her pose then rolls Asuka up. Alexa drops Alexa with a shoulderblock then mocks her pose. Alexa whips Asuka into the corner but Asuka misses the dropkick. Alexa covers for a deuce then Alexa punches away at Asuka. She covers for a deuce then locks in a chinlock. Alexa does the double knee drop but misses the moonsault. Asuka does a dropkick on the ground and screams. Asuka hits chops and kicks before doing a german suplex. Asuka delivers a knee to the face but here comes Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky and Bayley for the triple team beatdown. Bayley hits a knee to the head of Alexa then Dakota hits a kick to the head of Asuka. Kai puts a chair on the faces but here comes Bianca to chase them off. Bianca grabs the mic and says she doesn't care who but she wants one of them tonight in a match. Iyo stands in front of the others and says bring it. Guess its going to be Bianca and Iyo later tonight. This match was doing well but it was broken up.

Time of match: 2:31

Winner: No one (No contest)

We cut to commercial and when we come back, we get a highlight of the post-match beatdown and Bianca's challenge. Then we get a graphic that Bianca will face Iyo later tonight. On to the next match.

Match 4

Dolph Ziggler vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Chad Gable in a Triple Threat Match

The winner of this takes on AJ Styles for the US title shot. Gable comes out with the mic and says "Shoooooosh, Houston we have a problem. He says the Houston Astros are a failure of an organization (which did not age well, the Astros went on to win the World Series two months later). Bell rings and Ciampa attacks Ziggler at the start. Dolph hits a dropkick and Gable rolls him up for nothing. Dolph hits a dropkick on Gable and Ciampa throws him off. Dolph goes up and over and Gable forearms him from behind. Gable and Ciampa double team Ziggler with both men working over the left leg. They do a double back elbow but Gable goes for the cover. Ciampa pulls him off and shoves him then Ziggler rallies with right hands. Ciampa slingshots Dolph into the ring post and Gable goes for the Oklahoma roll on Ciampa. Gable shouts Shoooosh and surfboard stomps Ciampa but Ziggler catches Gable with the fameasser. Ziggler covers for 1...2...no. Back from commercial Gable has the anklelock on Ziggler then Ciampa locks in the Cripper Crossface on Ziggler. Ciampa and Gable try to kicks each other off and Ziggler rolls up Gable for 1...2....no. Ciampa hits Gable with a fameasser and covers for 1...2....no. Ciampa works over the left leg of Ziggler and hits a Samoan drop from off the top rope. Ciampa covers but Gable hits a flying headbutt to stop the count. Ciampa hits a roaring elbow but Gable rolls through for a german suplex. Ziggler covers Gable for 1....2..no. Gable is sent outside and Ciampa does an O'Connor roll for 1....2....no. Ziggler counters with his own for 1...2....no. Ziggler hits the superkick on Ciampa but Gable throws Ziggler outside. Gable covers but Dolph pulls him outside. Ciampa knees Ziggler outside but Gable backslides for 1...2...no. Ciampa hits Fairy Tale Ending on Gable and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good match and Tommaso goes from Miz' stooge to one win away from being number one contender to the US title.

Time of match: 10:30

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall

We cut to a vignette of Edge forming Judgment Day and then getting thrown out of it after Finn Balor joined. Damien Priest hitting the concerto on Edge put him out on June 7th. Then Judgment Day tries to recruit Dom Mysterio in between him getting beat up by Rhea Ripley. Then we see the Summerslam match where Edge returned to aid the Mysterios against Balor and Priest.

Back from break we get some Summerslam highlights and then here comes Edge for a soliloquy to his old Metalingus theme. Edge thanks the fans for the ovation and says he's been a bit of an asshole the last few months. Edge says now we all get what we want and he created Judgment Day to help underutilized talent. He says he wanted to pass knowledge on to Rhea and Damien who get loudly booed. Edge says it felt like they were just getting started but the taste of power clouded their judgement. They were DAMN wrong thinking they knew it all. Edge admits he didn't see the attack coming but he pulled himself out of the hell they put him in, and its time to kill what he created. Edge says he's going to end Judgment Day and drops the mic. Quick and to the point, no rebuttal, no interruptions, good stuff.

The Mysterios are interviewed by Kevin Patrick about their chances tonight. Rey says Judgment Day is in their rearview and they have no idea what a savage Edge will be. Rey thanks Edge for his help and tonight they want to defeat the Usos to become champs. We get a graphic for Iyo vs Bianca coming up next before we go to break. Back from commercial we get a vignette of a tryout for the Performance Center where even Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets tried out. Next, Sarah Schreiber interviews Bayley and her new crew. Bayley cuts her off and says everyone's talking about them, not Bianca and Becky. Bayley says Raw has been a downward spiral since she left so she outsourced for help. Dakota says they know how to play the game and Bayley says they're in control. On to the next match.

Match 5

Iyo Sky (with Bayley and Dakota Kai) vs Bianca Belair

"The genius of the sky" Iyo takes on the Raw women's champion in a non-title match. Bell's gone and Bianca backs her into the corner to start. Bianca sends her into the buckle and kicks away at her.  Bianca moonsaults over Iyo and dropkicks her into the corner. Iyo snaps Bianca off the top rope and hits an Asai moonsault onto Bianca as we cut to commercial. Back from break Bianca hits a scoop slam, slides outside and runs in to shoulderblock her down. Bianca hits a dropkick but Iyo counters a full nelson by jumping on Bianca's back. Iyo chokes Bianca with her boot as Graves says Bayley's team are not rookies. Iyo covers Belair for 1......2..no. Iyo takes Bianca down and locks in a chinlock then a Russian leg sweep. Iyo covers for 1...2....no and Iyo taunts the irate crowd. Iyo goes for a crossbody but Bianca rolls through it and hits a fallaway slam. Bianca tells Iyo to get up and hits a Glam Slam then a springboard moonsault for 1...2..no. Tajiri and Beth Phoenix would be proud of her. Bianca scoop slams Iyo then goes up to the top only for Bayley and Dakota to get her attention. Iyo stops Bianca with a right hand and hits a top rope frankensteiner. Iyo covers for 1...2....no. Bianca's suplex is countered into a cradle for a two count but Bianca rolls through still holding on. Bianca finally hits the suplex and goes for the KOD. Iyo lands on her feet and Bianca catches herself on the apron. Both women are on the apron and Bianca tries to german suplex Iyo to the floor. Iyo blocks it and goes for the frankensteiner off the apron but Bianca catches her.  Bianca heaves Iyo into the barricade head with Bayley looking concerned. They sit on the apron and distract Bianca when Asuka and Alexa Bliss come down to even the odds as we go to break again. Back from commercial, Bianca hits a superplex off the top rope. Bianca hits a standing moonsault and covers for 1...2...no. Bianca ducks the enziguiri and Bianca goes for a waistlock. Iyo victory rolls out of it and stomps Bianca in the ribs. Sky hits the double knees in the corner but Bianca catches a second attempt, landing a spinebuster. Bianca goes for another springboard moonsault but Iyo gets the knees up. Bianca gets tripped up by Bayley but still tries for a big boot. Iyo moves and rolls up Bianca with the feet on the ropes, but Alexa pushes her feet off. All four outsiders get in the ring and brawl as the ref calls for the bell. Asuka nails Bayley with a knee to the head and Alexa does the same to Dakota. The referees get in the ring along with the Suit Brigade & Adam Pearce break them up. Jamie Noble tells Bayley's crew to get lost as Adam Pearce holds back Bianca's crew. Good match and the screwy ending actually works because you don't blow Iyo's comeback or make Bianca look weak. HHH is cooking so far. This feud is FAR from over.

Time of match: 17:19

Winner: No one (no contest)

The Miz is hyping up Tommaso Ciampa in the back. He starts naming past US champions and Kevin Patrick sneaks up to ask about Miz's thoughts on Ciampa and Logan Paul. Miz says he had Paul beat but AJ Styles blindsided Ciampa. Ciampa says AJ Styles chose the wrong side at Summerslam and he used to respect him. Ciampa says Paul is mocking "our home" and he's going to crush Styles. Miz says Ciampa has passion and emotion and because of him, you're looking at the next champion. Least we're getting good matches out of this. Before we go to break we get a "just say no" ad for vaping before some Kevin Owens facts like he was born in Quebec....yay. Before the next match, our special guest commentator for the US title match is.....FIVE TIME, FIVE TIME....WCW CHAMPION BOOKER T! We got four guys at the table for our next match.

Match 6

AJ Styles vs Tommaso Ciampa (with The Miz)

Winner gets Bobby Lashley and a US title shot. Graves says AJ is favoring his neck after the match he was in earlier as the bell rings. AJ and Ciampa get a test of strength to start and Tommaso gets in a headlock. Ciampa drops AJ with a shoulderblock and chokes him with his boot. Ciampa goes back to the headlock but AJ counters with a side backbreaker. AJ does a second side backbreaker but Ciampa rolls out of a suplex attempt, throwing AJ shoulder first into the ring post. Outside Tommaso gets a knee to the head and slides in to cover 1....2...no. Styles misses the Pele kick but Ciampa runs into the Lethal Combination. Ciampa regroups with Miz outside before being chased back in. Styles ducks the line and hits a dropkick to send Ciampa to the outside again. Styles hits a slingshot plancha as we got to break. Back from commercial, they slug it out in the middle of the ring before Styles hits the running forearm. A stinger splash in the corner is followed by a death valley backbreaker. Styles covers for 1...2....no. Styles goes for the Styles Clash but Ciamoa counters with a roaring elbow. Ciampa hits a fameasser and covers for a deuce before missing a running knee. Styles goes for a Canadian Destroyer but Ciampa kicks out of it. Styles suplexes Ciampa into the corner and catches his breath. AJ hits a big forearm and goes for the Phenomenal Forearm but Ciampa counters with a knee to the head. Ciampa covers for 1..2....no. Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa and covers for 1...2..no. Ciampa chops AJ in the corner and says he deserves the title shot, not AJ. Ciampa goes for White Noise off the tope rope but AJ counters it with Styles Clash. AJ covers but Miz puts Ciampa's foot on the rope. Smith says Ciampa was done but Miz saved the day. AJ clotheslines Miz into the timekeeper's table but Ciampa throws him first into the ring post, then into the timekeeper's pit as well. Styles has to run back in to beat the count but Ciampa hits him with a knee lift. Ciampa hits Fairy Tale Ending and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Another damn good match even with the dicked ending. Ciampa's two wins tonight are more important than anything else he's done the last six months. HHH taking care of his NXT guys big time so far. Its gonna be Bobby Lashley against Tommaso Ciampa next week.

Time of match: 13:41

Winner: Ciampa by pinfall

Back to Kevin Patrick with Bobby Lashley himself. He asks what he thinks of Ciampa and Lashley says he'll defend his title every week if needed. He praises Ciampa for getting this far and he's dangerous with Miz in his corner. Lashley says he'll take anyone and he humbled Austin Theory, he'll put Ciampa in the Hurt Lock. We get a graphic for our main event as we go to break. Back from commercial, its time for the tag title match.

Match 7

The Mysterios (Rey Jr and Dominik) vs The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) for the WWE Tag Team Championships

Before the match, we see the carnage of Summerslam after they went off air with Brock Lesnar tipping his hat in the elevated ring. Rey starts with Jey Uso and Jey runs into the corner but heave Mysterio under the rope. Rey pulls the top rope down to send Jimmy flying and he makes the tag to Dom. Dom dives on top of both Usos as we go to break. Back from commercial Jimmy is in the ring with Rey. Jimmy chops him in the corner and sends him sternum first into the buckle. Jimmy locks in a chinlock until Rey powers out of it. Jey tags in to prevent the tag and he taunts Dom. Jey calls for the ass bump and hits it and covers for 1..2....no. Jimmy tags in but Rey rallies with right hands. Rey lands a headscissors to send Jimmy into the ring post. Dom gets the hot tag and hits a crossbody on Jimmy. Dom rallies with clotheslines to an interfering Jey. Dominik hits a neckbreaker on Jimmy for 1...2..no. Dom hits a bulldog on Jimmy and dropkicks him into the second rope. Dom goes for the 619 but Jimmy rolls outside. Dom goes for a plancha but both Usos catch him, ramming him into the ring post as we go to break. Back from commercial, Jimmy goes for a top rope samoan drop but Dom counters with a tornado DDT. Rey and Jey get the tag and Rey hits a spinning arm drag on him. He hits a baseball slide on Jimmy outside and hits the West Coast Pop on Jey. Rey runs right into a superkick by Jey and he covers for 1......2.....no. Rey blocks the 1D and dropkicks Jimmy into the second rope. Dom tags in for the double 619 and Dom hits the frog splash off the top rope. He covers for 1......2.....NOOOOO, Jey breaks up the count at the last second. Rey throws Jey out of the ring and he pulls Rey out with him. Jey hits Rey with the superkick but Dom takes Jey out with a suicide dive. Dom goes back to the top rope but Jimmy uppercuts him. Rey blocks the superplex and shoves down Jimmy. Dom flips over Jimmy and hits a dropkick to send him to the second rope. Dom dials up the 619 but Jey tags himself in. Dom runs right into the 1D and Jey covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Awesome match and the Mysterios looked like they had it a few times. The Uso's incredible reign continues.

Time of match: 15:34

Winners: The Usos by pinfall (Still tag team champions)

Post match Judgment Day attacks the Mysterios and the Uso's just shake their heads and walk away. Rhea Ripley wraps her legs around Dom in the corner with Finn and Priest kicking away at Rey. Here comes Edge to even the odds, clotheslining Priest over the top to the floor. Edge hits Edgecution on Balor and goes for the spear but somehow Rhea pushed Dom in the way. Edge spears Dom out of his shoes and Judgment Day bails. Rey gets in and looks at Edge with an angry look, he must not have seen Rhea push Dom in the way. EMTs and Rey tend to Dom inside the ring as we sign off.

Triple H came out of the gate firing bullets tonight. Bayley's crew are established as a threat, Tommaso Ciampa gets pushed, Montez Ford had a hell of a battle with Seth Rollins and babyface Edge is back. The Usos still are the tag champs and things are looking up. Less comedy, more wrestling, was that so hard? Hopefully Smackdown will pick up where Raw left off and they got the guys to put on great matches too. Judgment Day got one over on Edge and the Mysterios and it looks like Dom might turn soon, he didn't seem to happy Rey praised him earlier and then this happened. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. 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.