Brock Lesnar Responds To Steroid Allegations

Few people have accomplished as much as Brock Lesnar he’s ‘The Beast Incarnate‘ , ‘The Next Big Thing‘, he’s conquered the squared circle otherwise known as the WWE being a four time WWE Champion and also conquered the octagon winning the UFC Championhip on one occasion.

It’s no surprise that controversy follows Brock around, be it his relationship with Sable, his close relationship with Paul Heyman or breaking the Undertaker’s streak at Wrestlemania.

So it’s no surprise that when Brock was asked about the allegation that he takes steroids that was thrown at him by UFC 200 opponent Mark Hunt, he hand the following to say.

“I’ve been dealing with that my entire life,” Lesnar said on today’s UFC 200 media conference call. “I’m a white boy and I’m jacked. Deal with it. What do you want me to say? I’m a white boy and I’m jacked, deal with it.”

Whereas most other fighters would have a filter applied to their mouth, either by the media or their agents, this is what I love about Brock, his speak first and deal with the consequences later attitude.

Not only that but when asked if his fight and a potential loss at UFC 200 would harm his standing in the WWE he reponded by saying.

“I really don’t give a s–t,” Lesnar said during a media conference call Thursday.

I for one will be watching to see what happens at UFC 200 to see if ‘The Beast Incarnate’ can once again become the king of the octagon.

 

RUMOR MILL: Tajiri To Return To The WWE?

According to reports that are surfacing online The Japanese Buzzsaw aka Tajiri is scheduled to make a permanant return to WWE once his involvement in the Cruiserweight series is over.

With the roster split coming soon, WWE top brass will be looking to pad out thier roster, due to thier currently incredibly thin talent pool to chose from and have been reaching out to past stars who featured for the company in the past.

Tajiri is no stranger to WWE, not only is he a 3 time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, 2 time WWE tag champion, and a former WWF Light Heavyweight Champion he also featured in ECW winning the ECW tag team and television championship as well as the WCW United States Championship.

Even if Tajiri does not make an active return to the ring, he still has a lot to offer as a trainer or road agent. I for one would love to see Tajiri return, to quote Star trek, make it so Mr McMahon!

Cody Rhodes To Guest Star On Arrow

Stephen Amell had a big surprise for the Arrow fans at Heroes & Villains fanfest in New Jersey during his panel with Cody Rhodes. Why would he have a panel with Cody Rhodes? That’s a question I asked myself too. But I guess it made sense after his announcement during said panel.  Stephen Amell told the audience that none other than Cody Rhodes will guest star on the show starting in episode 3 of season 5. And from what I could gather it wouldn’t be a one episode stint.

For those of you wondering what the connection is between Stephen Amell and Cody Rhodes, it is Stardust. Stardust is a character that Cody played (he retired the character) on WWE. The character followed a comic book super villain resemblance who had a tiff with Stephen Amell’s character on Arrow. Which ended up with Stephen Amell wrestling with Neville against Stardust and King Barrett at Summerslam in 2015. A great wrestling match to see by the way.

But back to Cody Rhodes. According to his tweet Cody Rhodes will enter Arrow and its fandom with the utmost respect. As he complemented Stephen Amell who did the same when he visited the WWE. Which shows a lot of character if you ask me.

I step into this respectfully, humbly, and looking to do it justice for the fandom #HVFF @CW_Arrow pic.twitter.com/UbU0lzG4df

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) July 2, 2016

I haven’t seen Cody Rhodes acting, besides Stardust (a loud obnoxious person who is in your face a lot), but I am looking forward to see what character he plays and how he does it. I don’t know the character Stardust well, or at all, but to play such a character (I don’t know the right word to describe him), you need to have some skills. I could tell one thing and that is that Cody Rhodes takes it very seriously, so he will do his best. And if he acts as well as he plays Stardust he won’t fail Star City.

So if I did my calculations right Cody Rhodes‘ first episode on Arrow will air on a Wednesday on the CW at the end of October or at the beginning of November depending on the holiday schedule in the US.

Smackdown 30/6/16

Welcome back to our Smackdown reviews. This week’s Smackdown follows on from a promising Raw that didn’t deliver on the potential plot progression it supplied with AJ and Cena. Tonight we have a Fatal 4 Way to decide the #1 contender for the US title and a title match later on. I doubt that Rusev will drop the title but I hope we have a set up

We go into the Fatal 4 Way immediately, with Del Rio and Cesaro focusing on each other and Sheamus immediately dragging Apollo out of the ring. This later evolves to Sheamus helping Del Rio attack Cesaro while Crews sprints between opponents like a tank. I’m glad that the feuds are intermingling in this match since usually feuds just exist in their own place without showing any impact on any other wrestlers. Here we see the feuds affecting each other in ring which is refreshing to see. While this 4 way lacks the urgency and energy of the 4 ways shown in the run up to MITB, the winner of this match was hard to determine as the match went on. I’m glad that Cesaro managed the win by submission, I think that him and Rusev can put on some good matches down the line. Obviously tonights match will be hindered by Del Rio’s attack of Cesaro immediately following the match.

Winner by Submission: Cesaro

Rusev vs Cesaro US Title Match

Rusev stalks down to the ring after the match to congratulate Cesaro for achieving mans greatest glory, facing him for the title. Rusev challenges Cesaro to have the match there and then, while Cesaro is still on the ground. Cesaro looks hesitant before Rusev calls him a coward

Typically, Cesaro gets into the ring and actually manages a good match even following the 4 way. Most of my focus in this match was on the crowd chanting ‘USA’ in a match between a Swiss and a Bulgarian. Although he was *injured , Cesaro manages some great high flying moves, with the European uppercut always pleasing the crowd.  The end of the match is a game of submissions with a sharpshooter from Cesaro proving ineffective before Rusev manages the Accolade to force a win from Cesaro. This match was a lot better than I expected .

Winner by Submission: Rusev

We get some a promo with Rusev earning some more heel points as he suggests that Independence Day be renamed to Rusev Day. He is then told that his holiday will be interrupted as he has to defend the title against Titus O Neil on the July 4^th Raw. What’re the odds that Rusev has to end his great Title run in match against the Floridian? I hope he ruins another public holiday like he did on Father’s Day to retain.

Dana Brooke vs Billie Kay

You know things aren’t going well when we need to recruit NXT Stars to the main roster to job to Dana Brooke. No other main roster star is willing to lose to Botchmaster Brooke. At least  Kay has the chance to see how things are run on the main roster matches. Kay knows how to sell at least while Brooke spends the entire match yelling rather than fighting properly. Kay is allowed to use like four moves and they’re all interesting, impressive spots. Then she takes a Samoan Driver and that’s it. One day I think Brooke could be good, I have no idea how she’s gonna do it but she through some magic she could.

Winner by Pinfall: Dana Brooke

Sasha Banks put on a good promo attacking Charlotte and Brooke before… Oh My God theyre actually letting Summer Rae continue appearing on the main roster. Thank God. Sometimes you can be forgiven for thinking that there are six people on the womens roster, hopefully with Summer coming back to stay we can expect some more women staying for multiple feuds at the same time.

The Miz is back from Monday’s destruction to put on an episode of Miz TV, potentially the last one we’ll see on Smackdown with the brand split coming, maybe the first of many. Ambrose comes out halfway through his introduction holding a paper bag. While Miz yells at him for coming out early he begins to dig in to the sandwich. I’m enthralled. I don’t know how he can get so many inanimate objects over with the WWE Universe. I hope the sandwich comes in at number 30 for the next Royal Rumble.  Anyway, no one wants to read my fantasy booking, back to Miz Tv. Ambrose reminds the Universe about his championship win, before talking about how he came out to see how other talk shows run. Ambrose needs to be champ for a long time, bullying Miz or his $40 director’s chairs before starting a match due to a complaint about Mitch from Miz. As a true champ would, he gives Miz one last chance at the sandwich before he gets into the big arguments. Dean wipes his mustard coated face on Miz’s suit, starting another feud over a ruined jacket. Ambrose takes a kick to the face before returning to his sandwich.

Oh my god I just remembered that Jerry Lawler isn’t here.  Last week David Otunga replaced Lawler as commentator and is here to stay, although he doesn’t have the same presence as Lawler, he’s doing a pretty good job filling his shoes on the commentary team.

Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman vs Jobbers

The Wyatts have come out to do some Wyatt things. They are out tonight fighting –LOCAL COMPETITORS-. Seriously, they’re even listed as that on the official WWE Youtube video of the match.  They are fed to The Wyatts in about 2 minutes before Strowman drops one on the other before pinning both at the same time. I’m not sure if –LOCAL COMPETITORS- are the same Jobbers that Enzo and Cass murdered earlier on Raw  but I don’t think it matters.

Winner by Pinfall: Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman

Kofi Kingston comes out on the Titantron with a still fearful Xavier and an excited Big E. They question what Bray fears. Big E thinks it might be women with big bootys. I wonder if Sister Abigail had a big booty. Bray questions why Woods isn’t laughing before revealing that the devil calls for him in particular.  I’m actually really happy with this feud, can’t wait to see where it’s going… I miss Luke Harper.

Summer Rae vs Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks is just so good to watch in the ring. Her moves are just so impressive in comparison with the other stars on the roster. She can also actually sell properly in ring. That being said, Summer definitely holds her own in this match up, giving as much as she gets. I’m glad that there’s room on the card for multiple woman’s matches, something that isn’t seen very often in main roster cards. The impressive match comes to an end with a bank statement before we move on to the main event.

Winner by Submission: Sasha Banks

The Miz vs Dean Ambrose

We end the night with a match between champions.  Following on from the Miz TV segment from earlier we have Ambrose proving to The Miz why he’s champion. I’m glad that Ambrose isn’t trapped in an endless cycle of Rollins matches before Battleground, this respite is interesting as it is refreshing.  After all those months of Reigns only fighting feud matches, we have a champion that fights matches that aren’t exclusively story driven. We haven’t had a champion vs champion match in a while either so this is interesting anyway. I’m glad that this match was saved for the main event rather than the US Title match taking the spot. We’re definitely seeing that the WWE is putting more value into the brand with 3 champions fighting in one night. We aren’t seeing them save their bodies for Raw either, they all put on risky moves to make the best show possible.  How does Ambrose always seem to be the underdog in matches even while he’s the champ? I think it’s because of his sheer ability to sell convincingly in his matches, something that Reigns lacked during his championship run. It definitely makes his matches more convincing and engaging to the viewer.  I’m glad that The Miz is being allowed a match that goes to the finish rather than running away like he did on Monday, it gives him the chance to show of everything in his arsenal  rather than being overshadowed by the great competitors around him. The match ends with a Dirty Deeds finishing The Miz to close out Smackdown tonight.

Winner by Pinfall: Dean Ambrose

Overall I’d say that was a good Smackdown, with most of the matches performing above my expectations for each of them, even the Brooke match. The world is a brighter place with no ‘Make Darren Young great again’ segments.

Follow me on Twitter @oliverwoodster.

WWE Raw Review: 27.6.2016

OPENER

With the shocking announcement of Roman Reigns’ suspension after last weeks the WWE Universe has been eagerly anticipating this week’s episode of Raw, wondering what the official response from the WWE will be. Well, we immediately got our answer at the start of this week’s Raw as Seth Rollins made his way out to the ring in order to discuss the upcoming triple threat at Battleground. Seth claims that “they said I wasn’t allowed to talk about this”, but talk he did and we find out that the WWE are going to acknowledge the suspension on TV, though I am sceptical it seems that the suggestions this suspension could possibly be a work might be legit (check out the article on Skatronixxx.com about this specific topic). As expected Roman has not been removed from the match to Rollins’ chagrin (he has a point though). Seth suggests that it becomes a singles match between him and champion Dean Ambrose, however after interruptions from superstars AJ Styles and John Cena, as well as the princess of wrestling herself Stephanie McMahon, it is revealed it will still be a triple threat with the possibility of becoming a fatal five way. Tonight Cena will face Rollins and Styles will face Ambrose in order to earn a spot in the title match at Battleground. Holy crap those are some big matches.

PAIGE & BANKS def. CHARLOTTE & BROOKE          

I feel like saying this might get me crucified by the IWC who rightfully adore Sasha Banks as she is definitely an amazing performer, however, this is the second time she has been in a title feud on the main roster and it is also the second time that her involvement has felt forced and undeserved. Sasha has been gone for months now and all of a sudden she comes back and overshadows Paige who has 2 legitimate clean wins over the champion Charlotte. I’m sure they will make something good out of this feud but the Women’s division deserves more. The match itself was pretty standard with the babyfaces coming across strong as they got the win, Banks especially continues to look like a force to be reckoned with after submitting Dana Brooke.

TITUS O’NEIL def. RUSEV (UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP – COUNTOUT)

The match started with a beat down from Titus as he continues to take out his rage on Rusev, eventually after trading control things get moved outside the ring and eventually lead to a count out victory for Titus after a double clothesline spot. They continue to build this feud for absolutely no reason. I have no issue with Titus but he is not the tight person to be challenging the Bulgarian Brute like this currently. Titus is not a credible singles champion and was an okay victim to build Rusev’s monster status but this is not how you do it. Titus is being portrayed as a serious threat towards Rusev seen by this count out victory.

• Corporate Kane makes his return to speak with Stephanie McMahon, once again pleading for the job as Smackdown manager. They are interrupted by a returning Miz who rudely complaining about the lack of a movie star treatment. In response, Kane sets up a surprise IC title match. (Call me crazy but I was hoping for an NXT call up, especially hoping for my man Finn).

SETH ROLLINS def. JOHN CENA

Now if you were around during Summerslam last year and saw the Rollins/Cena over both the WWE and US titles, also paired with the fact that Cena can really raise his game when put with world class performers (examples being  Michaels, Styles, and Punk), then you should have known that this was going to be a good match. Well, we aren’t disappointed as what we receive is definitely the match of the night with some great spots, such as the falcon arrow from Seth and the near fall after the AA from Big Match John. Seth eventually picks up the win but not after a run in from The Club which is not surprising as we all know a clean win over John is hard to come by. I would have liked Seth to get the win clean, however. I know this is a lot to ask the WWE, especially for a heel but it would be nice to see Rollins become the cocky heel who really is that good, making him that much of an asshole. This does make sense however as they want to keep both Cena and Rollins protected going into their big matches at Battleground.

ENZO AND CASS def. JOBBERS

It would take me longer to recap this match then for it to actually take place. So Enzo & Cass win. Easily. The only thing of note is that the Social Outcasts come out to the ring after the match and make a penis joke. It’s as bad as it sounds.

• I am beginning to wonder when all these Darren Young promos are going to lead to something. We have been seeing them for a while now, maybe they are waiting for the general elections?
• Becky Lynch had a scheduled match with Summer Rae (underrated by the way) but it never happens as she decides to attack Natalya who is at commentary. It is good to see Becky look like less of a victim.

THE HIGHLIGHT REEL – SAMI ZAYN AND KEVIN OWENS

Jericho sticks with his heel shenanigans and starts to insult our WWE Champion Dean Ambrose (depending how long Dean is champ this is definitely a possible future championship feud). Y2J announces his guests, former best friend’s now bitter rivals, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. I enjoyed this segment as they brought up the storied past between the two, both recent and not so recent events. My only complaint is that Jericho felt uneeded in this segment and though he tried to stay out of focus he interrupted enough that it became annoying, even if it did end with a cool double kick spot. Both Owens and Zayn were great in this segment but I have to highlight Sami especially as he brought some real fire to his promo on Kevin Owens and anyone who doubted his serious mic skills needs to watch this segment.

DEMON KANE (SIGH) def. THE MIZ (INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP – COUNTOUT)                    

Earlier in this review, I said that the best case scenario for this surprise Intercontinental title match was a call up for NXT star Finn Balor, who has to be arriving soon due to the upcoming brand extension. It seems that WWE decided to mock me as we did end up getting a demon. It just happened to be the wrong one. Kane completely dominated The Miz in this short-lived match up that is until Maryse Streep took a dive that looked like it belonged on a football pitch (soccer for my Yank readers). In order to save his lady love Miz receives a count out loss which of course allows him to keep his title. This was really a crowd killer as it was the second title match that ended in a count out, plus the reveal of Kane was extremely underwhelming. Bad match.

• Maryse reveals to Miz that she was faking the injury in a masterclass of acting that it worth an Emmy.
• Jojo interviews Dean Ambrose but they are interrupted by Stephanie who tells Dean that she is furious that he is a champion and cannot wait until he is no longer champion. I understand that Dean is meant to be the anarchist/renegade face who hates the authority so they are getting big heels to hate him but why does Steph hate him so much? She has a bigger and more and more troubled history with Reigns.

CESARO & CREWS def. SHEAMUS & DEL RIO          

I can’t think of much to say about the action of this match. The most striking thing about it was that there was an unusual focus on Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio who despite being former teammates they are not in a rivalry, unlike Sheamus and Apollo Crews, and possibly Del Rio and Cesaro. I’m still waiting for Apollo to turn it up a notch like I know he can. Also, it is upsetting to Cesaro without a solid storyline which he deserves. Not inherently bad, just there is nothing to make me care about this at all.

• The New Day impersonate The Wyatt Family by coming out to a parodied version of their entrance while wearing similar clothing. The interactions between Xavier Woods and Bray Wyatt is absolute gold as Woods continues to be the star of this rivalry so far. They are continuing to play on the possession angle they introduced last week.

DEAN AMBROSE def. AJ STYLES

This match has never been considered a dream match by a lot of people but as soon as it was announced I couldn’t wait to see it. On top of this surprise main event, we get some Seth Rollins commentary as he hilariously has to deal with the fact that he is rooting for his arch rival The Lunatic Fringe. The match is quite good as both men seemed to adjust comfortably with working with each other. We get to see some varied move sets from both of the wrestlers, including a brain buster from Styles (I bet Vince wasn’t crazy about that). In the end, Ambrose gets the win with a Dirty Deeds on Styles after Cena provides some distraction. Raw ends with Cena being taken out with the Magic Killer at the top of the ramp while Seth takes out Ambrose in the middle of the ring. Once again Styles proves how insanely good he is in the ring, as he was able to really show off and frankly he overshadowed Dean a little bit. Not that Dean isn’t also good, just that you need someone special to keep up with AJ.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• Tonight’s MVP: AJ Styles
• Match of the Night: Seth Rollins vs John Cena
• Moment of the Night: New Day and The Wyatts
• Cena, can you PLEASE call your spots a little quieter? It’s like you’re a guest commentator for your own matches.
• Enzo and Cass are definitely popular with the fans but that wave stuff is way cooler when it is spontaneous
• Let us all pray to God that we do not get a Miz/Kane feud
• So no new additions to the Battleground main event. Not really surprised but at least the matches we got were good.

This week’s Raw was poor for a 3-hour show, but it is saved by a good New Day/Wyatt segment and the two qualifying matches. I am going to give this week’s episode a 6/10.

CM Punk Finally Set To Make UFC Debut At UFC203

So it’s been announced that Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks may finally make his UFC debut in September after being added to the UFC 203 fight card in September along side the likes of Ronda Rousey and Connor McGregor.

CM Punk was due to make his first UFC appearance at UFC 199 against Mikey Gall but was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Mikey Gall is undefeated in his two UFC fights so far and is considerably younger being 24 and CM Punk being 37 so this should be an interesting fight as CM Punk is still a mystery due to having no previous fighting experience except for the choreographed fighting in the WWE.

CM Punk had this to say.

“The instant I got cleared I got on the horn with [UFC president Dana White] and we nailed everything down so I will be debuting September 10 in Cleveland,” Brooks told the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “I’m super excited. For obviously a myriad of reasons. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

So there we have it not long to go until we finally get to see what CM Punk is made of in the Octagon. I don’t hold out much hope but I’m always open to being proved wrong when it comes to fights in the UFC.

As always for all your UFC ground and pound needs stick with @Deadpool_1984 only at skatronixxx.com

The Rock Almost Considered Joining The UFC

So it has come to light from the Matt Serra UFC Unfiltered Podcast that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson almost joined the UFC 10 years ago before Brock Lesnar and CM Punk but the only thing that stopped him was the long, grueling training process that goes hand in hand with being a UFC fighter.

He had this to say in the interview

“There was a time there where I thought, man, I achieved everything I wanted to achieve in WWE, my movie career is floundering a little bit, what do I do? I was relatively still young, I think I was 34. I thought, oh well maybe UFC. Maybe I should do something like that”.

“In my head, I felt like it was at least a two-year process for me to even get in the [Octagon], let alone the UFC. I wasn’t quite too sure what to do or what kind of people to put around me at the time, so the idea kind of fizzled out and I continued to stay on the path of movie making”.

Now granted The Rock is a bit of a legend of mine I’m not quite sure if making the move to UFC would have been the write move for him after he left the WWE and I’m probably guessing that at the moment he is thinking the same thing. After his role in Fast and Furious 5 launched his movie career in the right direction and he is now appeared in  moire of these movies along with movies such GI Joe – Retaliation and Hercules. This also coupled with the fact that The Rock is now the highest grossing actor in Hollywood.

He is also know as a big fan of the UFC and will be be tuning in to watch Brock Lesnar take on Mark Hunt at UFC 200 but is torn on who he wants to win after reading Mark Hunts autobiography.

As always for all your UFC needs stick with @Deadpool_1984 only at skatronixxx.com

The NXT Review – June 22, 2016

Whats Up Wrestling Peeps! After a heck of a showing at Money In The Bank where a Lunatic ascended to highest-highs that the WWE has to offer (you know, other than Hall of Famer, which at this point The Shield seem a shoe in, no?). A Roman Empire fell and an Architect Redesigned, Rebuild and indeed Reclaimed his World Heavyweight Title, however briefly. Its safe to say that the company is in a state of flux.

After last weeks Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura capper to the show, it seems that a similar Lunatic Fringe Phenomena is seeping into the fabric of the Yellow Brand. As the guys and gals of NXT appeared to throw caution to wind and go balls to the wall in order to stand out.

I smell a Brand Extension in air … and I’m loving it!

A man who seemingly should have no problem standing out is The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger. But as followers of The 10 have come to know, our favourite Heel-Candy has been suffering from a bad case of the Ziggler effect. Symptoms include: stealing shows, getting guys over, exceptional mic skills and – as Derek Zoolander can attest too – being “really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking.” Resulting in a bad case of no push-alite-tus.

And nothing change tonight.

In a match that was slow and showed minimum offence from Oney Lorcan, we did get a ton of intensity from Dillinger, which as Corey Graves and Tom Phillips mentioned, is an aggressive side to the cocky Heel that we rarely see. With Lorcan going over in the match, the only glimmer of hope coming out of Graves & Phillips numerous references to this losing streak that Dillinger has found himself in. Is the possibility of greater things to come.

Could this mean a Babyface turn for the super-over wrestler? Or a peek at a larger redemption story perhaps? Who knows, at this point however, I prescribe a course of bed rest until this sickness is over.

Speaking of sickness. A dose of No Way Jose is enough to ruin anyones day. Lucky for me Austin Aires was there to take out the trash. After a stellar bit of Dad-Dancing of course.

I can hear the Chris Jericho “Stupid Idiot” even as I type.

This was a great swerve by Aries that had me laughing my arse off. Yes harsh, but this is the Aries I’ve been waiting to see. And If anyone can get Jose over for me, it might take the talents of Ol’Sparkle Pants to accomplish it.

Finally! After weeks of waiting we get Deonna Purrazzo back in the ring. Nah, I’m just funning Ya. Of course the star attraction in this match up was the Huggable one herself, Bayley.

After recovering from an injury at the hands of Nia Jax, the Hugster was on top form against Purrazzo who was destined to lose yet again. I would feel bad for the girl but I’ve been wanting to see Bayley have another shot at the NXT Women’s Title before her inevitable call-up that, at this point, seems months overdue. So a win here means that she is on her way to achieving that.

Back to the action though and Deonna was more than a match-up for the former Women’s Champ, with this perpetual loser showing great chemistry and ability to keep up with the pace that Bayley was setting. But as predicted, Purrazzo unwisely angered our Bayley who Hugged-Out and ended the dream of Deonna’s first win on NXT with a Bayley-to-Belly for the pin.

Isn’t it fun that Liv Morgan is so small? Nia Jax could quite literally launch her out of the arena and back to New Jersey with a mere flick of the wrist.

I have yet taken the pulse of the WWE Universe in relation to Jax (future Twitter Poll perhaps) but I enjoy her Beast Mode style so much, which is rare for me. As a Wrestling fan I’m more pre-deposed to fast pace showings but Nia’s ability to destroy a women in a few powerful moves is delicious.

That being said, I want her to get more time to show-off her skills because as yet, a Monster Heel who dominates is all she has shown us. But I reckon she can get fast and creative if given the time.

Lets put a pin in that for the future.

On to the main event and despite Nakamura and one half of my favourite – and currently on hiatus – Tag team. This match-up was so-so.

Nakamura was on fire as ever but Buddy Murphy fails to shine on his own. It’s no bad thing to be a Tag Team wrestler, look at The New Day or even Enzo & Cass. So lets drop this experiment already and give me Blake & Murphy back. Ideally with Alexa Bliss in tow but unlike her boys, she has greater things in store as a solo act. Thats for sure.

So after literally folding Murphy in half, The King of Strong Style picked up another win. Hang on, has he actually lost yet? I don’t think so … wow. An undefeated Nakamura matching up against a harden Champ such as Balor in three weeks time …

I can’t wait!

For all your NXT News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

Was Roman Reigns ‘Suspension’ A Work?

Let’s face it, everyone loves to chip in with their thoughts on WWE. We all do it, we plot returns, turns and swerves and debate the latest episodes, then say ‘I told you!’ if you get it right or moan and threaten to switch off if they get it wrong.

WWE wants us to think they are in a ‘new era’,  gradually the shows are getting more edgy with the lunatic Dean Ambrose as WWE champ, you can hardly call it, the PG-era still can you?

That’s why the recent news about Roman Reigns, drug suspension shocked me. Reigns was Vinnie Mac’s poster boy of the ‘new era’, he liked to remind us by saying

Drug suspensions  within the WWE are usually like a sidenote to its shady reality and past they  hoped to forget. Normally when a ‘superstar’ is suspended they post an article on WWE.COM with the wrestlers name and reason why they won’t be seen  on programming for a while.

I remember the Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio saga a few years back. Half of the roster were suspended for using banned substances, don’t believe me look it up.

Maybe it’s because he was champ and the company wanted to punish him publicly. With him returning just in time for the next WWE pay per view. Conspiracy theorist got thinking and so did I!

So I ask you to think is the Roman Reigns drug suspension actually a work? Consider this?

Wrestlers returning normally from a ‘break’ more often than not get a massive boost if they’re a face or heat magnet. Either way all eyes are gunna be waiting for his return. An example of this is the Triple H Royal Rumble return.

Roman was getting stale and stagnant. The crowd was starting to boo him regardless. Returning after a  holiday oops I mean ‘suspension’ would give us a break from Boo-man before he got X-Pac heat. No one want’s X-pac heat SERIOUSLY!

You gotta remember Vinnie Mac is crazy plot wise, I remember the Mae Young hand scenario. If you’re too young to remember this, let me explain, Mae Young (RIP) was one of the greatest and back in the day best female wrestlers in her first run. Flash forward to the ‘Attitude Era‘ and she has sexual relations with ‘Sexual Chocolate’ Mark Henry and they gave birth to a hand. Yes a hand, don’t believe me? Check it out below!

Then you got The Rock and the money WWE invested in him. WWE has spent loads on Roman and how will they recoup it? Plus you gotta be careful you don’t piss off arguably your biggest stat since Hogan!

If I was Vinnie Mac I’d punish him MVP style, make him go on a massive losing steak to see how he rebounds. If he’s the star they think he is,he’ll recover. If not it’s setting an example to fans not to do drugs. To quote Roman again.

After all WWE are idiots if they push a champ so quick after being banned. Then you got Titus, anothy floundering star who got suspended for man handling I mean touching Vinnie’s arm. Really Vinnie you made Droz puke at will.

Then Titus returns BOOM instant US title shot push. Either Vinnie realised he over reacted or gave Titus s sabbatical to recharge, refresh and gain momentum on his return.

You can see how I  came up with this crazy theory. Seriously if it’s legit Vinnie is a douche or creative genius but then again wasn’t he both already?

WWE Raw Review: 20.6.2016

OPENER

Well, it has finally happened guys. Sunday night marked the dawn of a new era, the era of Dean Ambrose. Everything about last night’s main event shined a new light on the future of the company and with Dean walking out as champion the consequences are going to be seen tonight. So to open the show Dean made his way out to the ring as the new champion and cut a promo about how long this day has been coming. Dean celebrates with the crowd but soon enough his brother in arms Roman Reigns comes out to congratulate Deano, though he is still getting booed in the process, (also he can definitely wrestle guys, he just sucks at everything else). Not wanting to be the only Shield member left out of the fun times, Seth Rollins made his way out demanding his rematch saying that he has a better claim than Roman, which he does. Dean is able to take a backseat as he watches the squabbling between both former champions until Shane O Mac makes his way out to put everything in order. We find out that the main event tonight will be Seth vs Roman for the number 1 contendership at Battleground. Already I am extremely excited for the main event as the match the night before wasn’t perfect but very enjoyable.

SAMI ZAYN vs KEVIN OWENS

This is obviously your standard Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn match, meaning it is a good one. The two have fought so much over the years I’d be surprised if they even knew how to put on a bad match with each other at this point. Both men were selling injuries from the hectic Money In The Bank ladder match from the night before, however, that did not stop them from going full speed in the match as they spilled outside with Sami suicide diving over the top rope. It looked like Owens was about to pick up the win after he used a superkick to set up the pop-up powerbomb, but Zayn is able to reverse this into a roll up and his able to steal the victory. The fighting did not stop there however as both men fought at the top of the ramp with officials coming down to separate the pair.

• After the break we see that the refs were not enough to stop Owens and Zayn brawling and we get some awesome parkour action from Sami backstage. On commentary Cole also hints that Owens and Zayn could be split up which wouldn’t surprise me.
• We also get a surprise visit from John Laurinaitis. Now I have all the respect in the world for Laurinaitis, who created the cutter (aka the RKO) back when he was Johnny Ace, but Jesus Christ I hate his voice. As expected, John is the latest former GM to stake claim to running Smackdown but Shane is quick to come out and put a stop to this.

ENZO & CASS vs THE VAUDEVILLAINS

This was basically a squash match, as while they didn’t dominate the Vaudevillains Enzo and Cass did beat them handily in roughly 3 minutes. Enzo is able to pick up the win by pinning Aiden English but once again Cass is the man who looked undeniably dominant in-ring. What this match established is that the Vaudevillains are out of the title chase for now whereas Enzo and Cass are still involved.

APOLOGIES FOR EVERYONE

An angry AJ Styles reveals that he had no part in the Clubs interference in his match on Sunday. He demands an apology from Gallows and Anderson as well as asking them to apologise to John Cena. Big Match John makes his way out to tell us that he doesn’t care about these fake apologies and claims that AJ broke his contract because he isn’t as good as he thinks he is. Well, John I watched Money In The Bank and Styles ran circles around you for most of the match. Styles tells John that he can have a match with anyone from The Club besides Styles himself as he has to do the Stone Cold podcast.

JOHN CENA vs KARL ANDERSON

While it is good to get this match done quickly as it was obvious that Cena was going to get ambushed by the other members of the club and get a DQ victory, Cena did not need to squash Anderson like that. Cena completely took out Karl Anderson in around 3 minutes and it really made Anderson look weak.

• Jojo interviewed Seth Rollins backstage. Seth tells us that he proved that he was better than Roman Reigns last night (which he did). Rollins also claims that Ambrose proved that he was a thief as he snuck up on Seth from behind. They emphasised the question of who is the best in the Shield.
• Renee Young interviewed Becky Lynch about the betrayal from Natalya the previous night. Becky is definitely the ultimate babyface of the Women’s division on the main roster at the moment. Natalya comes from behind Becky and ambushes her, saying she is only looking out for herself from this point onwards.

BARON CORBIN vs ZACK RYDER

Firstly Zack Ryder deserves his own entrance, he’s better than jobber status. Secondly, YAY Baron Corbin isn’t wrestling Ziggler. For a very short match this was quite competitive with Zack being able to land some big moves such as a top rope elbow drop but ultimately he is unable to overcome Corbin who hits the End of days for the win.

• It may have been spoiled by the pre-show but as a Bray Wyatt mark, I am still hype for the Wyatt family return.
• Paige tries to give an interview backstage but is distracted by Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Paige gives Dana the deadly head pat and gave a quite intense speech about how she would win tonight. At least Paige is relevant again

PAIGE vs CHARLOTTE (WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP)

Charlotte immediately goes for the pinfall as soon as the match starts, but she is unable to keep Paige down. The English native dominates the match early on as she is able to hit the Women’s Champion with some strong strikes. Charlotte is able to turn the tide of the match as she throws Paige from the turnbuckle then hits the moon sault to get a near cover. Paige is quickly able to regain control as she hits the Rampaige but due to some help from Dana, Charlotte’s leg gets to the ropes. Shortly after this Charlotte is able to pick up the win to retain her title by hitting Paige with the natural selection. Overall this was a good match, with Paige looking especially fired up for this. Let’s hope she sticks around as she is still one of the most talented Women on the roster. After the match finishes Charlotte and Dana continue to beat down Paige however their celebrations are ruined by Sasha Banks who has been missing for a while now due to injury. Paige and Sasha take the fight to Charlotte and Dana driving them from the ring.

• Roman Reigns is interviewed by Jojo about his match last night and tonight. Reigns claim he is just here to beat Seth despite what happened last night.

HE’S HERE

I am so happy to see Bray Wyatt back in action and clearly I am not the only one as he gets a “Welcome Back” chant from the crowd. Bray claims that the Wyatt family is as strong as ever. Bray is interrupted by The New Day who claims that Bray talks too much (not as much as Cena). It seems that Xavier Woods falls under some cult possession momentarily, which I hope is a sign of Bray’s skills as a cult leader actually being relevant for once. A feud between the Wyatt Family and New Day seems possible, maybe Strowman and Rowan will be the ones to take the tag titles from them?

• Another Make Darren Young Great Again segment. Still don’t care
• Rusev is set to fight Titus in a MITB rematch after Titus demanded it due to Rusev disrespecting his kids. The match never starts as the two brawl and what a brawl it was. Titus especially displayed intensity that we have never seen from him before.
• WWE Brand Split draft hype in the form of a video package.

• The commentators question whether Miz and Maryse will be split up (WHY IS THAT YOUR QUESTION), we then get Miz being an asshole to one of the movie crew. Textbook heel
• From one great heel to another Jericho goes to Shane in order to demand a title shot against Dean Ambrose.

SETH ROLLINS vs ROMAN REIGNS

As with last night’s match, this was a great main event between Seth and Roman who gave each other their beast and did their best to make sure they walked out with the contender spot. We didn’t see any crazy moves or finishers like we did last night which is understandable but what we did get was action packed and well worked. Once again the face and heel dynamic was the opposite of what you would expect as Roman played the role of dominant monster and Seth as the underdog competitor. Roman was using heavy hitting strikes in order to bully Seth around the ring whereas Rollins was wrestling with a technical style, trying to wear down Reigns. Seth’s quickness came in handy when he was successfully able to avoid being put through one of the announce tables and eventually the shenanigans outside the ring cause a double count out making this match a draw. Shane O Mac comes out to make a decision regarding Battleground. We learn that at Battleground we will finally get the Shield Triple Threat match (wait what? At Battleground? Really?). The show ends with Ambrose taking out both Roman then Rollins, standing tall once again.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• Tonight’s MVP: Of course, it is going to be Dean Ambrose
• Match of the Night: Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns
• Moment of the Night: Bray Wyatt return
• Was the New Day possession a joke or a hint at some Bray character development?
• Enzo and Shane bonding over sneakers was awesome

So this was a great episode to start of the Ambrose era. Unfortunately, this will be overshadowed by the shocking news of the Roman Reigns suspension that was revealed barely 2 hours ago. In fact, I only discovered this 1 hour after writing this review. Anyway, I am going to give this week’s episode a 7.5/10.