WWE Money in the Bank Review

Well that was awesome, with a new champion crowned, we finally have some plot progression in the WWE, and it couldn’t go to anyone more deserving. Dean Ambrose is the World Heavyweight Champion!

Money in the Bank was great, but something needs to be talked about. Cards on the table, if MITB seemed a bit filler filled, that’s because it was, it had to be. The WWE had a lot to contend with this Sunday, while MITB was on, so was game 7 of the NBA Finals, one of the tensest finals in years and The Battle of the Bastards, an episode that has received an entire season of build up. Whoever booked the card, knew that people would switch from MITB at times to watch one of those, that’s why we had filler matches. That’s why Corbin vs Ziggler, Crews vs Sheamus and Rusev vs O’Neil (Also arguably the Women’s match) were so spread out over the card rather than all at the start. Imagine how bad the WWE would have looked if people turned off Cena vs Styles to watch the end of the NBA Finals? That’s why the US Title match was so far down the card, during the end of the game (Which was tied with a minute to go). The WWE needed the filler. 

TheRealDills – Tag Team Fatal 4-Way (Tag Team Championship)

The opening match tonight was rough, to say the least. All 4 teams were pretty good tonight, however, this match type just breeds botches. On the positive side of things, we saw some good old-fashioned entertainment as all teams looked as if they were enjoying themselves when things went smoothly. If I take anything away from this match it will be how bad I feel for referees when the in-ring action is this chaotic. This match was just all over the place. We had a dodgy 3 count that the fans screwed up on leading everyone to think Enzo had picked up the win and more illegal men in the ring than I could count. The low point was when Luke Gallows decided he wasn’t a wrestler for a while and just stared down Big E while he held Anderson. The icing on the cake was that when The New Day got the pin it wasn’t even on the legal man. As for New Day winning, it was obviously going to happen. No way WWE wants to keep the record with Paul London and Brian Kendrick. I do think we are definitely going to get new champions soon but just like Nikki Bella and the divas title they just want to cement that legacy first.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 6/10

Parzy’s Rating 6/10

Parzy – Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler

All that being said about filler being needed, this was rough. What was even rougher was that it wasn’t pre show material.Instead, the pre show saw the Lucha Dragons vs The Dudleys and the grossest most humiliating match I’ve ever seen in The Golden Truth vs Sunburnt Breezango (Their skin was made up to look like it was peeling off of them). Having barely made the main show, this match was exactly what we’ve seen in the already, Dolph overselling, Corbin’s hairline visibly receding and Corbin showing little to no emotion throughout the entire affair. At this point, I enjoy ‘Make Darren Young great again’ segments more than this match up, at least we don’t see as many of those as we do Corbin vs Ziggler. I hope this is the final match of the feud but I won’t get my hopes up.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 4/10

Parzy’s Rating 3/10

Parzy – Becky Lynch and Natalya vs Charlotte and Dana Brooke

Boy oh boy, I hope that Dana Brooke stops tagging around Charlotte soon because I am fucking sick of her. I had my reservations when she first came up to the main roster, I gave her a shot when they kept pushing her after Emma’s injury, but enough is enough. She came up to the main roster far too early, it’s even worse that she’s now always in our faces since she’s partnered up with Charlotte. Let her develop on house shows until she finds her character then give her a solo run. Her complete lack of talent meant that Natty and Lynch’s loss was completely unbelievable. They were dominating, then Brooke and Charlotte get a leg up and run off. There was then an uncharacteristic betrayal by Natty as she beat into Lynch after their loss even though Lynch saved her from Charlotte in the first place. With the seeds of a Lynch/Natty feud in place, there looks to be two women’s matches at Battleground, giving the women’s division the push it’s been needing.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 5/10

Parzy’s Rating 4/10

TheRealDills – Apollo Crews vs Sheamus

Now I am a big fan of Apollo Crews who may lack some character and personality but in the ring, he is the complete package. However this placing of this match couldn’t have been worse for a feud with this little build, after 2 matches that were either filler or just simply uninteresting this match capped off a very boring middle of the show, and as someone who lives in the UK watching 3 back to back boring matches at 2am in the morning is bloody torture. The match was pretty standard and didn’t feel like a match worthy for the “greatest MITB of all time”, with both Crews and Sheamus doing nothing in particularly special. It seems obvious to me that they are going to do the exact same thing to this feud they have done to Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. They are going to trade wins until the newer guy, in this case, Apollo, comes out on top.

Rating: 4/10

Parzy’s Rating 5/10

Parzy – AJ Styles vs John Cena

This match was incredible, while this is expected of the two long time veterans, their performance was still noteworthy. Every spot was impressive and showed off both competitors talent, making predicting the winner during the match almost impossible. However, the end definitely has to be brought into question. After a ref bump costs Cena the count out, The Club run out and delivered a Magic Killer to Cena, before depositing Styles’ corpse on top of him for the count out. This should have voided the match since it went against AJ’s contract but it didn’t. AJ gets the hollow win. The only consolation to this is that it looks like AJ gets away without being buried for now, and we may see the two duke it out again at Battleground, if this match is anything to go by, they’ll put on another incredible bout.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 9/10

Parzy’s Rating 10/10

Parzy – Money in The Bank Ladder Match

The fantasy booking came through guys! Ambrose won! Then he cashed in! Now they’ve set up a Shield triple threat! Yay! I’m getting ahead of myself. This match was the tits. Every participant landed some excellent spots, especially Cesaro and Del Rio, with Cesaro’s flying uppercut off the ropes taking the throne as the most impressive maneuver of the night. The match was brutal in every way that a ladder match should be, Zayn slamming Owens onto the ladder being the primary evidence of that. That part definitely brought up some worries from their last ladder slam at WM which made me think Kev had died as well. The match was great but although every participant was great, Ambrose really took a back seat until the end, making some of us question whether he was deserving of the contract. Having fought the least, it seemed like it, we thought he had to save his energy for the end of the night, but all he did then was one Dirty Deeds? I think he had more in him for the match, but his win was still important.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 8/10

Parzy’s Rating 9/10

TheRealDills – Rusev vs Titus O’Neil (US Championship)

There are two things that I need to say/ask, firstly Rusev is the heel to top all other heels. It takes a special sort of man to beat a father on father’s day then to go up to said father’s kids and berate him and them about how much of a loser he is. Monster Rusev is coming back guys. The other thing I wanted to ask is do Dads kiss their children on the lips? Is that a thing in America or something? Anyway, it goes without saying that this match was a squash match and ultimately just a way to get Rusev over as a heel as Titus is the latest victim of the accolade.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 6/10

Parzy’s Rating 4/10

TheRealDills – Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns (World Heavyweight Championship)

So we finally get to out Wrestlemania calibre main event as we see two of the three members of the Shield collide, and as we all found out earlier the possibility for that third man to get involved is very likely. Now despite the fact that Roman gets hit with the “you can’t wrestle” chants we have come to see that Reigns is very capable of putting on a match of the year candidate as long as he has someone world class to work with as seen with Bryan, Lesnar and most recently AJ Styles. Now as Seth is one of those world-class wrestlers I expected one of those matches, but what we got was quite different. Firstly unlike the matches I mentioned this one saw Roman take the lead rather than Seth, which unfortunately did make the match suffer as Reigns just isn’t as good as Rollins in the ring. However, this was done for a very specific reason as it allowed Roman to play the role of monster heel all match with Seth fitting into the role of babyface underdog. The match wasn’t a classic like the Styles one at Payback but it was still great and we saw some great offense from both guys (please make the Razor’s Edge powerbomb Roman’s finisher). To everyone’s surprise, Seth actually ended up picking up a clean victory which only strengthens this heel-face dynamic possibly hinting at a double turn. Seth beating Roman clean was absolutely huge but it only got bigger when good ole Dean Ambrose made his way down to the ring in order to cash in on Rollins but hitting him from behind then laying him out for the pin. All 3 Shield guys were world champion in the same night and Ambrose finally has his deserved title run. That Shield triple threat is coming and it’s coming soon.

TheRealDills’ Rating: 8/10

Parzy’s Rating 9/10

Overall

The Real Dills Rating: 8/10

Parzy’s Rating 9/10

The matter of the bet from the preview must be brought up. For our predictions, I got 5 correct predictions, Harry got 6. That means that Harry got rights to name my first born child [REDACTED] Wood. Huh, guess I’m not really allowed to say his name due to the WWE’s removal of the name as a whole. Oh well, luckily I got a picture of the kid in the future. Here he is. 

So that’s it for our MITB Review, come back next month for our joint Battleground review and as always, follow our Twitters @oliverwoodster and @therealdills.

 

 

 

Money In The Bank 2016 Review

The Vaudevillains vs. Enzo and Cass vs. The New Day vs. The Club – Tag Team Championship

Both Enzo and the New Day started out this match with some laugh-out-loud funny promos. The Fatal Four-way set-up gave this match the chance to never slow down. There were some exciting spots, though I must confess that after Payback I winced when Enzo took a spill on the floor (especially since he grasped his head). The New Day won, which I’m split on. I like the New Day as much as the next guy, but I felt that after recovering from his serious injury, Enzo Amore was a legit hero and his team winning would have been more satisfying.

Overall rating: 3.75 (Out of 5) Stars

In between matches was another outright hilarious promo between the Money in the Bank compeitors

Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler

I was honestly floored that this made it to the main show when it reeked of pre-show. Despite the “boring chants”, I thought this match was… tolerable. Tolerable is not exactly high praise, and I think I only felt that way because I have missed most of their televised matches. If this had been the only filler match on the card, I could have forgiven it, but sadly filler piled up, making my opinion about this match dimmer.

Overall rating: 2.25 stars

Becky Lynch and Natalya vs. Charlotte and Dana Brooke

This match was also okay, but honestly with the women involved I expected better than just okay. I wish they had the chance to show how talented they really are. Then again, when I feel like complaining, I remind myself of the dark days where Bellas and Kelly Kelly matches were the norm. This match is mostly noteworthy for Natalya turning on Becky after the match.

Overall rating 2.75 stars

Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews

Yup, ANOTHER filler match. Both of these guys are normally extremely talented (though I can’t help but notice Sheamus only seems to bring his A-game when he’s in A-matches) so seeing these two duke it out in a match that felt like it belonged on The Main Event disappoints me. I heard McMahon sometimes goes through mood swings on who he likes/dislikes and Sheamus is a perennial victim of this – not too long ago, he was world champion, now he’s jobbing to new guys. I can’t call this match completely worthless as there were a handful of cool spots such as an off-the ring moonsault. Plus, I’m glad a young guy got over – mediocre match or not.

Overall rating 1.75 stars

John Cena vs. AJ Styles

Yeah, now we’re playing with power! This was one of the matches that had a lot of hype and for good reason – these are two tip-top talent, and the fans knew it. Like Cena or not, it’s hard to argue his matches usually have a big match feel. These guys are such names that the fans were cheering them even when they were just standing there, which gave them chances to pace themselves. As the match built up, they both had chances to perform, escape and kick out of each others’ finishers. Despite the buildup, the Club interfered after a ref bump. After doing SEVERAL clean jobs (including to Kevin Owens) I’m not going to play the Cena ego card, but I would have liked to have seen a clean victory. However, I do acknowledge that they could be building to SOMETHING so I’ll let time tell how this one is going to go. Tainted victory and all, these two put on a clinic – not the 5 star classic I expected, but a clinic nonetheless. I look forward to the great matches I know they’ll have.

Overall rating 4.25

Money in the Bank – Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Alberto Del Rio

Methinks I realize why there was so much filler on this show – half the A-talent was locked into this match! Being the type of match this is, WWE can usually throw one or two guys like Kane and Big Show into the fray as there are usually enough top guys and plunder to hide their limitations, but this year, they went for broke in putting the best guys on board – not to mention, most of these guys were actually believable as winning. (Only Jericho – who is on borrowed time – seemed like a dark horse.) This was the usual spot fest fans have come to expect from this match, but everyone was on point with some insane bumps. The one that made me cringe was when Zayn performed a Michinoku Driver to Owens onto a ladder. I only have two gripes with this match – In any money in the bank match, I’ve grown tired of spots where the person can clearly grab the briefcase but obviously stalls for time. Also, the ladder bridge did not add up to match. Dean Ambrose won the match, and while I’m a fan of everybody in that ring, Ambrose felt like the right guy – especially after years of his “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” push.

Overall rating 4.5 stars

Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil – US Championship

If I can praise Cena again, I kinda miss the size and importance he gave to US Championship matches. There were a lot of bad matches on this card and this may have been the best of the worst. Rusev is a great old school villain and one of the more talented big men. But still, this match had a “this should be on Raw” vibe to it. Giving credit where it’s due, the post-match promo where Rusev taunted O’Neil in front of his kids was classic heel behavior.

Overall rating: 2.5 stars

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Championship

Here’s another match I was pumped for, and it delivered… sadly, you wouldn’t know that by the crowd reaction. I don’t know if WWE lowered the crowd mic (again) or what was going on, but this crowd was inexplicably not into what was a stellar match. Putting aside opinions on how I think Roman is treated unfairly by the fans, I chalk a lot of the lukewarm reaction to the fact that both guys have been playing shades of grey. I praised the WWE for giving Roman more grey to his character since he wears that attitude well, but when both sides are showing signs of being kind of good and kind of bad, it leaves the fans without a clear hero.

Both men deserve that praise because this match was stellar. There were some cool spots such as Rollins countering a spear into a Pedigree. Rollins showed off his aerial abilities – again, kind of uncharacteristic of a heel. Reigns ran into the barricade during a spear attempt – again making me wince after one too many injuries. There was also a ref bump which saw Rollins kick out of the spear. Rollins did pin Reigns after a Pedigree so his stance as a clean victory is borderline.

Overall rating: 4 stars

However, the real story is what happened after the match. Admittedly I saw this coming as soon as Rollins won the title, but Ambrose came out and cashed in his money in the bank briefcase. As much as I would have liked to have seen Ambrose win the title in an actual match (but alas, I knew it would never happen), I am happy to at least see a fan favorite get his due.

Money in the Bank was… a mixed bag. The good parts were excellent while everything else felt like Raw fodder at best. Ambrose winning the championship admittedly helped put a positive shine on this event, but the filler is hard to ignore – especially since those matches caused the show to go into overtime. Check this out for Reigns vs. Rollins, Cena vs. AJ, the money in the bank, the tag four way, and Ambrose winning (and the women’s match if you have time to spare) and skip the rest.

Money in The Bank Preview

Hello and welcome to this month’s PPV Preview! As with last month, you have myself and resident Raw Reviewer, TheRealDills giving you our thoughts and predictions on the matches coming up this Sunday. We’ll tally up our correct guesses and declare an ultimate winner! (Winner gets to name the losers future first born). After last month’s astounding victory I’m sure to take it. In all honesty, ignoring the low card matches, which are kind of shit, this is one of the most stacked PPVs I’ve seen in a long time. I mean we have the MITB itself, a chaotic 4 way tag team championship match, Big Match John vs AJ Styles and Roman Reigns finally tussling with Rollins. This is sure to be a great event (Unless they truly fuck it up). Let’s get to it.

Parzy – Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin

In what is perhaps the most highly anticipated match of the night, we have our two strong top card competitors battling it out at the end of their critically acclaimed rivalry, surely this’ll be a match for the… I’m sorry, I just had to try and inject some excitement into this boring ass ‘feud’. Y’know how I said the low card was shit? Well here we are again with Corbin vs Ziggler! Again. I’m starting to feel like this feud will go on forever without anyone actually noticing. I mean come on, has anyone really noticed the build up to this? Never mind, this match will help boost Corbin’s career yada yada yada no it won’t. This match will solidify Dolph’s place in the Hall of Fame bla bla bla no it won’t. I had hope that this feud would end on a high note at Extreme Rules yet here we are, 4 weeks on. I’m as sad about this as you are, see if you can catch the first ten minutes of GOT, no one will judge you.

Parzy’s Prediction: Who cares? Corbin probably

TheRealDills’ prediction: Baron Corbin

TheRealDills – Apollo Crews vs Sheamus

So first up for my preview matches is the up and comer Apollo Crews set to face off against Sheamus at Money In The Bank. The feud has seen little TV as of recently, with the run in on this week’s Raw being the most important development the feud has had in weeks. This match should be decent at the very least as Crews may not be the most charismatic guy but he can definitely go in the ring and despite the Fuck Sheamus camp being as strong as ever at this point he is a seasoned veteran. The result could go either way depending on how long the feud is set to go on. If this is the end tonight then expect Crews to be going over The Celtic Warrior, however if they are looking to prolong this rivalry similar to Ziggler and Corbin then this could definitely result with a Sheamus victory.

TheRealDills’ prediction: Apollo Crews

Parzy’s prediction: Sheamus

TheRealDills – Rusev vs Titus O’Neil (US Championship)

Now there are two things WWE can do here. Either the right thing or the wrong thing. Rusev has yet to the hit the stride that his last run with the belt had but who can blame him? Titus ‘bear hug’ O’Neil is hardly a prestigious opponent for Rusev who is trying to restore the United States Championship to its former glory. Clearly it would be a grave mistake to take the belt off of the Bulgarian Brute this soon to someone with as little momentum as Titus. Yet in the back of my mind, I cannot let go of the fear that the father of the year is going to get a father’s day rub (as well as the “sorry we suspended you” rub). They can’t be that stupid can they? I’m going to be optimistic and pray WWE don’t screw this up.

TheRealDills’ predictions: Rusev

Parzy’s Prediction: Rusev

Parzy – Becky Lynch and Natalya vs Charlotte and Dana Brooke

This is the first PPV since Mania that there hasn’t been a Women’s Title defense so people are getting scared that the WWE doesn’t care about women anymore. Is the Women’s revolution over? My answer is no. We had a long string of Diva’s championship defenses stretching back to last year, the WWE still cares about the division. You should be a little worried if there’s no title defense next month, but for now, see it as a break. Admittedly, we could have had a break with a better feud than this but we get what we get. This match could have easily been Becky vs Charlotte straight up but absence makes the heart grow stronger, hopefully next month we’ll have a title match between them. This match is kind of slanted in Team Beckalya’s favour, what with Natty beating Charlotte multiple times and Dana just being smushed all around, but you have to make the champ look strong so this could go either way. I’m hoping Becky and Natty win to make Becky look good going into next month’s bout.

Parzy’s Prediction: Becky Lynch and Natalya (Beckalya)

TheRealDills’ prediction: Becky Lynch and Natalya

TheRealDills – Tag Team Fatal 4-Way (Tag Team Championship)

This is one of two matches on the card that I feel is really open for multiple people to win. Though the obvious favourites have been established on the recent episodes of Raw and Smackdown I feel like this is an open race. The match should hopefully be good as long as it does not get too chaotic, all 4 teams are great together and can put on a solid match. For me both The Club and The New Day have good arguments for why they should be the favourites but it comes down to the tag team record, New Day are so close to this record and with it being mentioned on Raw it seems as if they are likely to break it.

TheRealDills’ prediction: The New Day

Parzy’s prediction: The Club

AJ Styles vs John Cena

I could not come up with a better person for AJ to go heel against than Cena. I mean wow, what better way to prove yourself to the WWE Universe than to challenge the biggest dog at the park. AJ put in some incredible work against Jericho and Reigns, with even Stone Cold himself saying that AJ carried those matches, so I think he could have a chance with this one. I mean sure, Cena has uploaded some… disconcerting images on Instagram,

But I think AJ could truly assert himself with a win here, making him a concrete fixture in the WWE. Of course I say all of this while AJ is the current top seller of merch in the company, and is here to stay, but if AJ doesn’t think he’s made it, who am I to say otherwise. A win here would be phenomanal.

Parzy’s Prediction: AJ Styles

TheRealDills Prediction: AJ Styles

Parzy – MITB Match. Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Cesaro

The build up to this match has been incredible. Even after the wondrous Intercontinental push, this match is one to behold. The participants in this match are by far and away, the most fun to watch standalone superstars in the WWE today (except maybe Del Rio). They also have the most personality out of the standalone superstars. I have no doubt in my mind that this match will be masterful. The problem for your humble reviewers is the prediction. Ideally, Dean AMbrose wins this, cashes in for the Title Match and walks away champion, setting up a triple threat somewhere down the line. However, Creative hates us,  they hate our families, they hate our pets. This paired with Del  Rio’s desire to turn heel, gives me the uneasy feeling that he takes this. Ultimately, I need to go with my fantasy booking gut for this one, lest I fall to depression.

Parzy’s Prediction: Dean Ambrose

TheRealDills’ prediction: If you asked me this 2 weeks – 2 months ago I would have said, Owens, 100% but recent booking has changed my mind to Dean Ambrose

TheRealDills – Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins (World Heavyweight Championship)

I said it last week. I will say it again. There is no way (Jose) Roman Reigns loses the title before Summerslam. As much as I would love it for my lord and saviour Crossfit Jesus to get the win, it is just not going to happen. The WWE are committed to the Roman Reigns experiment whether we like it or not. Despite this inevitable ending, this will obviously be a great match. Though Seth has been off a long time but he is one of the best wrestlers in the world a future best in the world. As for Reigns, despite the deserved hatred he has received from fans, he has proven that with world class talent like Bryan, Lesnar and Styles he can put on tremendous matches. The only other question worth asking is will a Dean Ambrose MITB cash in occur? I have been going back and forth on this possibility and while it is likely Dean wins the MITB, I don’t see such an early cash in.

TheRealDills’ prediction: Roman Reigns

Parzy’s prediction: Please please please Seth Rollins

And that’s it for our Money in the Bank Preview! Make sure to come back after MITB for our review, where we’ll tally up our points and declare a winner. Also expect to see my either ecstatic over an Ambrose win or saltily bitching about Del Rio’s inevitable win.

TheRealDills: When I win, I’m naming Oliver’s kid Chris Benoit Wood, if it’s a girl, Yvette Wood, pronounced ‘I’ve eat’
I’m gonna name Harry’s kid Woody ‘Sin Cara’ Dillon when I win. Felicity Smoak Dillon if it’s a girl.

You can follow us on Twitter @Oliverwoodster and @Therealdills

WWE Raw Review: 13.6.2016

OPENER

Tonight we start with your WWE World Tag Team Champions the New Day, who cut a promo about the upcoming 4-way tag team championship match at Money In The Bank, though the main talking point was Kofi’s old man shoes. We are soon joined by Enzo & Cass who have a few things to add about Kofi’s shoes and some very serious allegations about a certain trumpet. The WWE Universe has been waiting for a long time for this battle of wit but it seems we have to wait longer as we are interrupted by The Vaudevillains and The Club who each claim they are the future of the tag team division. This was a fun segment even if we had to get a terrible Camp WWE joke from The Club, I am definitely curious to see who walks out of MITB as champion.

THE CLUB & VAUDEVILLAINS def. NEW DAY, ENZO & CASS

This was a good match where everyone played their parts well. As usual Enzo and Cass stuck to their scrappy fighter and big man roles, while the New and Big E especially got the crowd working. The Club and The Vaudevillains both played dirty in order to gain the advantage. Luke Gallows is able to get the win after they use the magic killer on Kofi Kingston due to some tag confusion with Karl Anderson. It’s refreshing to see the opening segment and match focused on the tag team division as we have been used to a Reigns/Authority/Stephanie promo at the start of the show. After this match, it seems if anyone beats New Day at MITB it will be The Club but that tag titles record is getting ever closer.

• Yet another Make Darren Young Great Again promo. Someone needs a Hilary Clinton gimmick where they get arrested by the FBI every match.
• Backstage we see Stephanie and a returning, Shane McMahon. They bicker some more about who gets what brand but stop when a returning corporate Kane makes an appearance offering to lead Smackdown. He even has a letter of recommendation from his brother The Undertaker (which is hilarious to think about). I noticed two fire references and wasn’t even paying attention.
• Zack Ryder is backstage talking to random guys in suits about
• The Shining Stars are still a thing apparently
• Titus O’Neil is about to make his way out for a match but is ambushed by Rusev who proceeds to annihilate Titus.

AMBROSE ASYLUM – SHEILD REUNITED

Dean Ambrose comes out and immediately puts over the upcoming PPV for being a possible Wrestlemania card, which is true. Dean introduces his guest, “scum of the earth” Seth Rollins and then Roman Reigns. The trio eventually begins reminiscing about the old times and Seth even gets a little emotional as he says that the best times he has ever had in this ring was with Dean and Roman (gotta love the Bootista chants). Despite Seth’s kind words it’s not long before Rollins sours it by claiming the very best times was when he betrayed the SHEILD and cashed in his briefcase against Brock and Roman. There is some back and forth between Roman and Seth who both claim they are the rightful champion, but we finally get a tease of what have been waiting for 2 years now. A SHEILD Triple Threat match tease, after Ambrose, points out that he could win the briefcase. Seth Rollins ambushes Dean and Roman as he leaves which results in a Superman punch on Rollins and a Dirty Deeds on Reigns.

• In punishment for making the Ambrose Asylum segment all about himself, Stephanie sets the main event for tonight, Ambrose vs Jericho

PAIGE def. CHARLOTTE

What has happened to a decent women’s storyline? We have had Charlotte feuding with Natalya for 3 months now and adding Becky Lynch into the mix doesn’t change that. Now they have been relegated to a 3-minute match on Raw where the champion loses cleanly to the same woman as she lost to last month. Screw Natalya and Becky, I’m wondering why Paige hasn’t demanded a match for the Women’s Championship. Not a fan of what is happening to the women’s division recently and I my only hope at this point is that by Summerslam things take a turn for the better.

• Renee Young tried to interview Cesaro about MITB and his match with Sami Zayn tonight but the underdog Zayn interrupted which led to a heated exchange between two former friends.
• Charlotte and Dana Brooke argue backstage with the Women’s Champion making it clear that with her there is little room for failure.

SHEAMUS def. ZACK RYDER

Ryder puts up a good fight as he is able to hit both the Broski boot and the Elbro drop but it is simply not enough to put away Sheamus who is able to end things quickly after he hits Ryder with a Brogue Kick. Not surprising that Sheamus gets the win as he is the only one of the two that is involved in a programme at moment. Post-match Sheamus takes his anger out on Ryder but Apollo Crews comes out to make the save and chase off Sheamus.

• Kevin Owens comes to complain about Alberto Del Rio being late and campaigns for Del Rio to be taken out of the Money In The Bank ladder match. Alberto shows up to make his case, as he believes KO is responsible for his lateness. Well, our favourite demon in a suit (not that there is much competition) Kane comes to the rescue and sets up Del Rio and Owens in a tag team match against the Luchadragons.

SAMI ZAYN def. CESARO

Cesaro is able to take control early on in the match, as he is able to uppercut Sami in the ring and then post commercial break we see him work down Zayn in the ring. Sami momentarily gains the upper hand with a cross body but an uppercut train derails Sami’s progress. After this point, the match becomes a lot more even with both men trading blows and manoeuvres. Eventually, Zayn is able to hit a beautiful code red onto Cesaro to pick up the win. This match was short but great. Both men displayed how talented they are and in such a short match they were able to show off what they could really do.

CONTRACT SIGNING STYLES AND CENA

Big match John Cena is the first to make his way out to the ring and before AJ Styles can make his way out John cuts a promo about the Money In The Bank PPV. Ever the company man, Cena puts over the show as another Wrestlemania, but he also criticises them for preventing AJ from joining. John goes all CM Punk on us as he lists ROH, PWG and NJPW as the places that AJ Styles has been and proven how good he is (never TNA though). Styles makes his way out and he and the WWE Universe learn he has two options a contract for 1 on 1 with Cena or a contract in which he is backed by The Club. Luckily he chooses the former.

OWENS & DEL RIO def. THE LUCHADRAGONS

Adding the stipulation that if Owens and Del Rio lost this match they would be out of the MITB ladder match made this very predictable. It was obvious who would win. Straight out of the gate the team of Del Rio and Owens are off to a rocky start and for most of the match, they are constantly fighting. The Luchdragons are able to dominate Del Rio for most of the time, despite an awful miss of a Swanton bomb from Sin Cara. Owens is able to pick up the win with a pop-up powerbomb on Sin Cara. After the match Del Rio takes out Owens with a kick. Overall this was an okay match, Sin Cara and Kalisto got to show off some flashy moves (with a few botches) and I am always happy to see a sassy Kevin Owens.

• We get a video from Miz at the set of Marine 5 (why did we keep the IC title on someone who isn’t here).
• Kevin Owens complains to Steph about Shane letting Sami Zayn on commentary for the main event so in return Kevin Owens demands a place on commentary which he is given. As it turns out now Del Rio feels left out so Stephanie allows him to be the special guest time keeper.
• Stephanie and Shane McMahon are arguing about the ringside MITB participants and then Shane reveals Cesaro will be special guest ring announcer (gee I wonder why all the participants are going to be in the same place?). They also discuss Kane who makes his way over to join the discussion only to be told that he is not getting the job, (good to see some continuity with Shane and the car battery reference).

AMBROSE def. JERICHO

The first thing that has to be pointed out is how funny Del Rio looks sat within the time keeper’s area. Especially as he is only wearing his trunks and no shirt. The match between Jericho and Ambrose was pretty average. Not only have we seen this specific matchup multiple times now but also this match honestly felt like a distraction to the real main event, Kevin Owens on commentary. Owens roasted everyone other than JBL, reminding everyone how poor the quality of Raw commentary is compared to him. Ambrose is able to win the match after multiple Dirty Deeds teases and to the surprise of no one, this leads to a brawl between all of the MITB participants. Zayn is able to take out everyone apart from Jericho after he dives from the top rope. Raw ends with Chris Jericho climbing to the top of the ladder and removing the vital briefcase. What does this mean? Well for sure it means that Jericho isn’t going to win this Sunday as he was the last man standing on the go home show.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• Tonight’s MVP: Kevin Owens
• Match of the Night: Sami Zayn vs Cesaro
• Moment of the Night: Dean Ambrose hits Reigns with the Dirty Deeds
• Owens is so sassy and I would have it no other way
• I hope we never get an answer as to why Del Rio speaks in Spanish so much
• Bootista is Bestista

This was a good go-home show for Money In The Bank on Sunday and I feel like though there are some clear favourites a lot of the matches on the card are still open for many to win. I am going to give this Raw a 7/10.

Smackdown 9/6/2016

Welcome to today’s coverage of Smackdown! Things are all setting into place for MITB with only one more Smackdown to go before the PPV. Let’s see if there will be any last minute developments before it arrives.

We start with AJ Styles and the Club coming out to boos, man they’re so over as heels and its only been two weeks. Never mind,they sound very artificial towards the end.  AJ Styles opens up to describe the upcoming MITB as the GOAT, I have to say I kind of agree, the card is stacked. The crowd starts chanting Cena’s name before he can finish. Thankfully AJ is a profesional and rolls with the punches, really shows his experience in comparison to those who corpse under the pressure (Charlotte). As AJ plays hypeman to The Club, the future tag team champions, Enzo and Cass come out(!!!). They’ve been on the roster for a few months now and I’m still filled with childish glee when their music hits. Cass christens them ‘The Mr Clean dream’.  The Club can keep up with Enzo and Cass hit for hit on this promo, I didn’t actually expect that. Enzo and Cass then take the stage for a tag team match.

The Club vs Enzo and Cass

I was really excited for this match during commercials, then The New Day came out on commentary and completely stole the show. As Byron feeds them grapes and they completely steal the commentary. We get a great set up for a hot tag, with Enzo getting battered and missing out on the tag multiple times. These teams are perfect for eachother, putting on a great match. The Vaudevillains come out and watch from the stage top. The match lights up when Enzo gets the tag and Cass puts on a great show dominating the Club. After a big boot puts gallows over the ropes and The Vaudevillains descend and The New Day go to meet them the match turns into chaos.  When the dust clears Enzo and Cass are the only two left in the ring, yelling at The Vaudevillains while The New Day drive off The Club. Man I’m actually so hype for this chaos match up, it’ll probably end up being pretty short though with all of those variables.

Match ends in No Contest

We then get a spot in memory of Muhammed Ali who died earlier this week. We get a part on Ali’s relationship with the WWE and his influence in the ring, Gorgeous George. As we see clips of Ali taking on wrestlers and his iconic appearance as referee in Wrestlemania I. The memorial is a heartfelt message from the WWE and I’m glad they saved the time for it.

Oh never mind, they’re using it to progress Rusev as a heel. As he declares himself to be the true GOAT and Titus comes out to argue against it I can’t help but cringe at how forced it feels. You can tell that no one there has their heart in the poor segment and it wasn’t really needed at all.

Cesaro and Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio

I can’t reiterate enough how glad I am that Creative knows how good these guys are together, but I’m not sure where they can go after MITB. The match goes well but is a bit vanilla until Kevin Owens calls it quits and walks off. I loved Del Rio’s face as he heard ‘Y’know what? you’re doing great on your own.’ Rather than turning the match into a 2 on 1, Zayn runs out after KO . The tag team match turns into a 1 on 1 with an interesting beginning. These two have been in the business long enough to know how to put on a good match and it shows, they carry the match until Zayn and Owens return, fighting down the ramp. Del Rio confronts KO about his desertion and they come to blows outside the ring before Zayn comes flying in to interrupt. The match continues with some great moves in ring before the ring is inhabited only by bodies. Cesaro continues fighting Del Rio until KO drags Del Rio out of the ring and steals the tag from him for the win. Organised chaos is so much fun with these guys.

Winner by Pinfall, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio

Becky Lynch vs Dana Brooke

This Brooke/Charlotte run just seems like a replacement for the Brooke/Emma relationship. I still don’t think she’s strong enough to be on the main roster at the moment, maybe if she had more time to develop before being thrown in with Charlotte. Anyway, this match saw the typical interruptions that come with Heel Charlotte in an otherwise slow match. It seems as if the match was only there for Natalya and Charlotte at ringside, the moment they’re ejected, the match is over in seconds. God I hope they don’t turn this Becky Lynch push into another Natty push. She deserves more.

Winner by Submission, Becky Lynch

Life Lessons with Coach Backlund

NO PLEASE STOP! ENOUGH! Wait is Backlund gonna come out as Young’s manager when he comes back?

Baron Corbin vs Kalisto

They’re still pushing the Corbin/Ziggler feud so we have Dolph as commentary for this match. What has to be done to end the feud? Hopefully it isn’t on the MITB card. As history has shown, Kalisto can work really well with big guys and Corbin is no exception. both athletes work really well to put on a stiff looking match, including a nasty looking whip into the steel sides of the ring from Corbin. The match doesn’t get enough time to shine unfortunately, with an end of days ending the match before it can get too good. I elt that this match could have had a little bit more time dedicated to it, if Kalisto had held onto the US Title, I wouldn’t have been against a title match between the two.

Winner by Pinfall, Baron Corbin

Time to double up on fulfilling contractual obligations. Get that TMNT promo in, get that Apollo Crews promo in… A bit shoehorned but eh, it was ok.

Dean Ambrose vs Chris Jericho

Continuing the trend of ‘Feuds that I thought were over’, we have another Ambrose/Jericho match up. I do enjoy this relationship though, Heel Jericho running away after screaming at Ambrose about the thumb-tacks of Extreme Rules. Heel Jericho is a treasure to the WWE, but as he flings a drink at Ambrose and continues screaming, I can’t help but become more aware of how bored I am with this feud. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both incredibly talented and out on a good match, but these two need to move on. The chain of pins before Ambrose ascends the turn buckle had me fully invested in the match. The competitors using newer moves that haven’t been seen in the rivalry was refreshing, with Ambrose using Lucha moves in an attempt to win. In the end, a CodeBreaker ends the matchup, as Jericho gets a hard fought victory over Ambrose.

Winner by Pinfall, Chris Jericho

An attempt to get rid of Ambrose before MITB ends with Jericho getting a ladder to the face after the end of the match. This turns into an elbow drop from the top of said ladder to close out Smackdown today. Overall, I think this would be a suitable final Smackdown before MITB, but it isn’t. I’m dreading how weak next weeks Smackdown coud potentially be.

You can follow me on Twitter @oliverwoodster

WWE Raw Review: 6.6.16

OPENER

We start the show with a big confrontation in the ring between the MITB ladder match participants. Each of the 6 are placed on ladders as they each get a chance to plead their case as of why they are going to win the MITB ladder match. Once again the star of this segment was Chris Jericho who rightfully points out he is the innovator behind the MITB ladder match but falsely claims he won the 1^st and the 6^th (Edge and Swagger by the way). Well, I say Jericho was the star of the segment, but I was just referring to wrestlers. The real man is someone who is very close to my heart, the mac militant himself Teddy Long. The former Smackdown manager makes his way out to throw his hat into the ring for the possibility of running a live Smackdown come July 19^th (something that would please me immensely). Teddy also tried his hand at booking the 6 men in the ring into a variety of matches, well Stephanie McMahon made her way out in order to put a stop to Teddy’s fantasy booking. Steph claimed that there was no concrete decision on the GM for either show yet and that each of the 6 MITB contenders would be facing each other tonight in singles matches. Overall I loved this opening segment, not only because of the Teddy Long return but also on the ladders each of the 6 showcased their characters extremely well. From what they said to the way they stood while saying it.

CESARO def. JERICHO

The first of our MITB contestant matches was a verY solid contest between the Swiss Superman Cesaro and Y2J Chris Jericho. It feels like I say this every week but once again Cesaro amazed with his athletic ability and technical prowess. His uppercuts looked impactful and the great feats of strength such as the super plex. Jericho was able to keep up with some great moves of his own such as the reversal codebreaker and many dropkicks. Cesaro is able to pick up the win after he swings Jericho into a sharpshooter and made Y2J tap. This was a great match between two great competitors and will take a lot to be topped tonight.

• We get a video package on Seth Rollins’ side of the story between him and Roman Reigns. This details the debut of the Shield, its eventual breakup, Seth’s road to the World Heavyweight Championship and how he lost it. WWE are obviously trying to keep Seth as the top heel but they are going about it in a weird way. On one hand we see Seth as the backstabber of the Shield but on the other we see the WWE24 special.

RUSEV def. JACK SWAGGER       

The United States Champion Rusev takes on hometown hero Jack Swagger tonight in a non-title match. Titus O’Neil joins the announce table for this matchup. The match is fairly balanced to begin with as both men are renowned for their big power moves. The Bulgarian Brute is able to pick up the win by count out after a ginormous collision with Swagger outside the ring, leading to Rusev pushing the Real American into Titus at commentary. The 3 men brawl after the match with Rusev being chased from the ring. It seems that Swagger may have possibly been added to this title contention after this. I guess we will find out. However, my interest in this feud is pretty low as it is clear that Titus and Swagger, if he competes for the title at all, are definitely not going to be the winner as they are obvious paper challengers.

CENA TALKS TO AJ

John Cena makes his way out to the ring and the first thing he does is address how big of a moment last week was. He even compares the electricity with AJ Styles to the same he felt with The Rock. Cena is quick to put this over as a dream match but he is also concerned with Styles’ actions last week and why he thought it was necessary to get the Club involved. Well AJ answers his call and makes his way out with Anderson and Gallows behind him. At first, AJ sticks to what people like Punk and Bryan said to Cena, that he is not as good of a wrestler. Cena is quick to point this out and tells AJ that he has underperformed since coming to the WWE and questions why this feud is Cena vs The Club and not Cena vs Styles. Well AJ has an answer for this too, he tells John that he has done it all over the world and has nothing to prove, but he knows that people like Cena bury people like AJ (META AS FUCK). Styles’ promos as a heel are completely different as a face and his heel work really give him a chance to shine. The numbers are against Cena as he alone has to take on the 3 members of The Club but luckily the New Day come to the rescue making it 4 on 3.

THE VAUDEVILLAINS def. ENZO & CASS (DQ)        

Before Enzo and Cass even come out to the ring we see a replay of the concussion that Enzo suffered at the hands of The Vaudevillains during Payback. After this Enzo and Cass make their way down to the ring and as usual they cut a promo that’ll knock your socks off, this one being very Ali inspired. Enzo then starts the match with Simon Gotch, and Gotch is very quickly able to get the upper hand. Both Gotch and Aiden English take turns in beating down Enzo when English decides that it would be a good idea to recreate said Payback injury. Well, this was one of the worst ideas of all time because it got Cass so enraged that he got himself and Enzo disqualified by beating the living shit out of both of the Vaudevillains. This match was definitely used to heighten the tension between both teams as it is becoming a fierce rivalry. This also demonstrated the bond between Enzo and Cass.

• Tom Phillips interviews Sami Zayn about his upcoming match against former MITB winner Alberto Del Rio. Sami points out how he is the underdog but this win would mean a lot for him. Del Rio makes his way over to put down Zayn’s chances in their match tonight.
• Teddy Long is grooving out to his killer music backstage when he runs into Stephanie and advises her to make a 4-way tag team match at Money in the Bank for the titles. The Vaudevillains vs Enzo and Cass vs The New Day vs The Club. Steph proceeds to kick Teddy out (aww) and steal his idea.

ALBERTO DEL RIO def. SAMI ZAYN

This match never really takes off the way the match between Cesaro and Jericho. Though both Sami and Alberto are world class performers it did not seem to flow as naturally as the first match on the show. Zayn misses his barricade moon sault early on but other spots in this match were well performed such as Zayn’s crossbody and Del Rio’s backstabber. Del Rio is able to reverse the Helluva Kick and pick up the win with his terrible corner stomp finisher.

• Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens confront each other backstage, with Owens trying to get into Ambrose’s head.
• We get the Roman Reigns version of the Sheild promo that played for Seth earlier. Roman’s differs from Seth as it is obviously from the perspective of the face who was betrayed then robbed. Reigns’ video package, like Seth’s, is very good and my hype for the MITB only gets bigger. They will say it until they run out of breath but this is truly a Wrestlemania main event worthy match.

AMBROSE def. KEVIN OWENS

Both Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens started this match at full speed as they have faced each other many times by now so they’re both knowledgeable of the other in the ring. Things get taken outside almost immediately as Owens throws Ambrose over the announce table. The fight continues outside as Owens is attacked as he tries to berate Byron Saxton. Back in the ring, the two men continue to go full speed ahead as they try to end this match quickly. As usual Ambrose’s offense is a mixed bag as most of his moves are smooth but his punches continue to look weak and his lariat clothesline continues to look forced even when countered. Ambrose is the victor of this match after he hits a Dirty Deeds out of nowhere, which felt a little rushed seeing as he was outside the ring being beaten down moments earlier. For me this match was a battle between the two biggest contenders of the MITB ladder match and I would not be surprised if either won the match on June 19^th.

• Another Make Darren Young Great Again video, I wonder what this is actually leading to?

THE DIVAS REVOLUTION IS BROKEN

The Women’s title match at Wrestlemania 32 was a high point for the Women’s division. They had ditched the term Diva and that joke of a belt and the performance they put on was possibly the match of the night. Sadly it has all been downhill since Mania and this segment proved it. This segment can be reduced to two words, bickering women. It’s such a shame that this catty mentality WWE has for women is still around. Also as a side note, no one should be made to perform in a wrestling ring if they are wearing high heels.

TYLER BREEZE vs R-TRUTH (NO CONTEST)

This match between R-Truth and Tyler Breeze goes on for 40 seconds before Goldust and Fandango get involved causing a double DQ and the result is a no contest. This is the feud that will never end people. I fear that in 10 years’ time I will still be watching these 4 wrestle.

• HOLY SHIT IT’S TEDDY LONG. AND 4 PEOPLE IN THE RING. COULD THIS BE A TAG TEAM MATCH? OH GOD HE SAID IT! Wait, security please don’t do this. We need Teddy and his tag team matches.
• Teddy Long is being escorted out of the building and is confronted by Stephanie who reveals that it will be her running Smackdown, not Teddy and not Shane. While this is huge news I am just bummed for Teddy. #TeddyLongRunningSmackdownLive
• The Club are in the middle of the ring when the New Day come out to start their match, beforehand, however, they cut a promo on The Club telling them that the only club that matters is being WWE Tag Team Champions. This leads to a brawl in which Xavier Woods gets hit with a Styles Clash on the outside causing him to miss the 6 man tag.

THE CLUB def. THE NEW DAY

Despite a strong start by Kofi Kingston and The New Day, The Club is able to take advantage using the numbers advantage. Big E specifically got beaten down by The Club as Gallows especially was able to use his size in order to keep Langston away from his corner. Eventually, Big E is able to get to Kingston who mounts an impressive comeback momentarily taking out Anderson and Gallows and hitting an amazing SOS on AJ. However he is unable to get the pin instead AJ picks up the win with a phenomenal forearm.

• After the match, The Club continues to beat on the New Day, but someone comes to their rescue AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA! (Sorry). Cena makes the save only to be ambushed by AJ Styles, however, The New Day return the favour as they save Cena from The Club and Raw ends with The New Day standing tall with John Cena.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• Tonight’s MVP: Teddy Long
• Match of the night: Cesaro vs Jericho
• Moment of the night: The return of Teddy Long
• I am so sick of the Golden Truth/Breezango
• This MITB is looking amazing despite a weak US match and no IC match so far.

While this Raw was by no means perfect it was definitely an improvement on what we have been getting recently. The Cesaro/Jericho match was a great start, the Cena/AJ feud it really heating up and we even got a surprise return. I give this Raw a 7/10. Holla Holla.

Snuka Ruled Mentally Incompetent To Stand Trial

For those of you like me that have not heard of Jimmy Snuka untill now, he was a professional wrestler for several promotions from 1970s to 1990s but most known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF now WWE) in the early to mid 1980 and is credited with introducing the high-flying style of Wrestling to the WWF and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996.

Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka  – Photo courtesy of Sportkeeda.com

So why is he on trial and why is he not mentally fit to stand trial?

Jimmy Snuka – Photo courtesy of cnn.com

Well it goes back to May 10, 1983, after defeating José Estrada at a WWF TV taping at the Lehigh County Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Snuka placed a call for an ambulance, when emergency personnel arrived at Snuka’s room at the George Washington Motor Lodge, they found that his girlfriend, Nancy Argentino had been injured. Nancy was transported to Allentown’s Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she died shortly after of “undetermined craniocerebral injuries”. The coroner’s report stated that Miss Argentino, 23, died of traumatic brain injuries consistent with a moving head striking a stationary object. The autopsy findings show Miss Argentino suffered more than two dozen cuts and bruises – a possible sign of “mate abuse” (Domestic violence) – on her head, ear, chin, arms, hands, back, buttocks, legs and feet. The forensic pathologists at the time Isidore Mihalakis who preformed the autopsy, wrote that the case should be investigated as a homicide untill proven otherwise.

Snuka & Nancy – Photo courtesy of mcall.com

Snuka was the only suspect involved in the subsequent investigation, although charges were not pressed at the time against Snuka, the case was left officially open. In 1985, Argentino ‘s parents won a $500,000 default judgment against Snuka in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia but Snuka appears not to have ever paid, claiming financial inability to do so. On June 28, 2013, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced that the still-open case would be reviewed by his staff. On January 28, 2014, Martin announced that the case had been turned over to a grand jury.

Nancy Argentino – Photo courtesy of  The Daily Beast

On September 1, 2015, 32 years after the incident, Snuka was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for Argentino’s death. It is the oldest case to result in charges in Lehigh County history. On October 7, Snuka’s lawyers agreed to forgo a preliminary hearing, which would be a waste of court resources, given the thorough grand jury investigation. In return, they received transcripts and other evidence from that investigation.

Crime scene – Photo courtesy of NY Daily News

On November 2, Snuka pleaded not guilty before judge Kelly Banach. A hearing to determine Snuka’s competency for trial began in May 2016. Snuka’s Attorneys argue that in May 2015 a forensic psychologist found Snuka’s mental and physical health to be deteriorating but prosecutors countered by showing a tape of Snuka performing wrestling moves at a May 2015 match. On June 1, 2016 a judge ruled that Snuka is not mentally competent to stand trial for the murder and that a new hearing will be held is six months to re-evaluate his competency, though his attorneys maintain that his condition won’t improve over time.

Jimmy Snuka – Photo courtesy of topropepress.com

Well clearly someone dropped the ball on this case 32 years ago and that in itself raises questions; in particular – how were charges NOT brought against him given Argentino’s injuries and the fact he was the ONLY suspect? So he is deemed incompetent to stand trial, and given his health I doubt he will ever be deemed fit for trial nor will he see the inside of jail cell. In my opinion he should stand trial with Ill health or not, If he was truly innocent of this crime then wouldn’t he want to protest and prove his innocence? To me its seems like the usual act, but this has gone on long enough for the Argentino family, they need answers after all its been 32 years of not knowing,  I’m not a parent but I couldn’t imagine how heartbreaking the last 32 years has been and now even more so as they open old wounds.

The NXT Review – June 2nd 2016 – “You Talk Too Much”

Whats up Wrestling Peeps! With just one week away from TakeOver:The End, the hype-machine was in full gear as we march towards NXT’s Network exclusive PPV. Which meant that The Revival got some mic-time which besides the usual “we’re gonna beat you” rhetoric, actually reminded me that these pair are pretty decent talkers.

With their program against the Tag Champs American Alpha already set-in-stone – I just want the damn match already – all I heard was ‘blah blah blah’ when it came to The Revival putting down their competitors. That being said, Dawson telling an interfering Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano to “go back to the Bingo Halls“, was pretty dope indeed. Even if it earn the ‘Top Guys’ a beat down and a main event match for their troubles.

What a specimen The Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger is. For a guy that laps up every inch of screen time he gets, he doesn’t get nearly enough of it in my eyes.

His match against a newly single and first name revived Buddy Murphy was surprisingly good. My shock isn’t a knock on either of these guys proven talents in-between the ropes, but rather my inexperience in seeing Murphy work a singles match for a long time.

His first singles effort was all for not however because without Blake & Alexa Bliss by his side, he fell to the Perfect 10. But then again, Murphy wasn’t winning with his friends in the corner anyway, so a new low for Murphy perhaps?

I just hope this the long game in bringing Blake & Murphy back to prominence atop the Tag Division. If Blake is to lose his next singles match, perhaps it will signal a renewed belief that together they are stronger rather than apart.

Like a DNA Digivolve or something. OMG, new gimmick!

Again a superior superstar matching up against Elias Samson has forced my hand in speaking about The Drifter. Urgh, I’m so over this boring gimmick. No I take that back, it’s not the gimmick, it’s the holding pattern that Samson is forced to take in-being labeled with this drifter moniker.

The gimmick itself has legs. For every match Samson appears in he could display something he has learned  from being on the road. An attitude, a unique move or even a character flaw, like a fear of fire or something. Akin to The Hound from Game of Thrones … he does look like him, slightly.

Just show us something besides that Damn Guitar already.

I would be remiss not to mention Austin Aires during my ranty-rant. Aires finally has a fire lit under his butt going into his match against Shinsuke Nakamura. A match that could potentially steal the show, a show that includes a Steel Cage Championship match no-less.

Oh, I like Dash Wilder’s new Red Jacket, is this a thing now? Can’t complain, its nice to be able to distinguish between the two.

Okay first, ouch! That knee from Ciampa to the side of Dawson’s head … just ouch! This was a great match, and I speak as a de-tractor of The Revival. Not that they aren’t great in the ring, because yeah obviously. But tonight is the first time they have proven they are more than just flying-fists. Perhaps it was the shocker of being great on the mic as mentioned earlier. I dunno, yet I see why WWE is pushing the Old school pair.

That didn’t stop them from losing however. And in a display of great sportsmanship, the pair proceed to beat-down Gargano & Ciampa before a save from American Alpha.

With so much heat between these two tag teams, next week’s TakeOver will be a war.

Contract signings are fun no? I mean, we all know that scarcely a table ever survives the ceremony and no-one ever brings up the fact that it’s perfectly okay for these things to, you know, occur off-screen in a non-violent situation.

I’m just saying, a case for negligence could be called into question against Mr. William Regal. But then again, would you dare stop either of these women from killing each other?

Without question, Nia Jax Vs Asuka has been a match I’ve been eager to see. Besides the obvious penance for violence both possess, it’s actually their contrasting wrestling styles that I’m excited to view.

After Asuka’s last TakeOver match against Bayley, I was part of the vocal minority that found the match awkward. For me, the pair’s in-ring style didn’t gel, with many spots feeling incoherent and sloppy. Rather than blaming Asuka I defend the fact it’s because she is one of the more unique Women performers in NXT today. So finding a partner that can match up to her skill-set is going to be hard.

Before her move onto the Main Roster, Emma fit that bill. The many matches she had with the Empress of Tomorrow were some of the best that Emma has had since day one in WWE. Catapulting not only herself into the fans conscience but helping in getting a newly signed Asuka over. Can Nia Jax step up to the plate?

If not, NXT will have to find someone who can match-up against Asuka or her days as NXT Women’s Champion may be short-lived.

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

WWE Raw Review: 30th May 2016

OPENER

So it has been a big week in the world of WWE, with news of the brand extension, every wrestling fan has been hoping for some concrete answers during this week’s Monday Night Raw. Naturally to start the show we have Shane and Stephanie McMahon come out to formally make the announcement and discuss the news with the crowd. Luckily the questions we have been dying to ask are presented to the McMahon’s in the form of the New Day, such questions as, who will lead what brand? And what will happen to our favourite superstars (such as the New Day)? So did we get any answers? No. However, we got a Game of Thrones reference from Big E which always makes me happy. The segment predictably provided no solid answers however these big questions are being acknowledged so that’s a start. The segment comes to a close with a dance off between Shane and Stephanie, Shane O Mac had some nice foot movement but the entrance of the Vaudevillains prevents us from seeing Stephanie throw some moves.

NEW DAY vs VAUDEVILLAINS (NO CONTEST)

Despite suffering a defeat at Extreme Rules, the Vaudevillains are still seen as a contender for the titles it seems as they have a chance at redemption in this match with the New Day. The most striking moment of this match had to be when JBL mentioned Gloryholes live on the air (if you don’t know what it is look it up unless you are <18), I wonder what his search history looks like. After this aforementioned gloryhole, the Vaudevillains are able to regain some control as Simon Gotch is able to wear down Kofi Kingston. Both teams tag in their partners into the ring and the momentum changes as Big E dominates Aiden English. The match, unfortunately, does not last long after this point as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson come down to attack first Xavier Woods, then the rest of the New Day. The match ends in a no contest.

• In an interview Anderson and Gallows tell Renee that they are “putting the tag team division on notice”, starting with the New Day. It seems that The Club are being pushed as a dominant tag team which is about time. Could they be the ones to dethrone the New Day?
• Big Show gives a pep talk to Apollo Crews after his beat down by Sheamus the week before. I notice that there is a conveniently located Warcraft poster in the room. I wonder if that will be mentioned in tonight’s episode (Spoilers, it will).

THE USOS def. BREEZANGO

For this match, the commentary team is joined by the Golden Truth, who are up to their usual antics. R-Truth is clueless, thinking that Byron is Jonathan Coachman, and Goldust is trying to justify that despite losing twice they are not two-time losers. Yes, they are. Predictably the jobbers that Tyler Breeze and Fandango are, lose to the Usos after Jey Uso uses a crucifix roll-up to pick up the victory. After this it seems that Breezango blames their defeat on the Golden Truth and try to ambush them at commentary, however, their plan backfires after some good teamwork from Truth and Goldust. The question is does anyone care about this angle yet? Me neither.

• WWE Champion Roman Reigns makes his way down to the ring, amidst the muted boos from the crowd (great work Kevin!). He criticizes Seth for being a coward while calling himself The Man, then we get the exact fucking same “The Guy” speech we have heard 1000 times by now. The next 4 minutes is taken up by Seth Rollins teasing a brawl but not actually going to the ring. I love Seth but this was not needed.

RUSEV def. ZACK RYDER                

You can’t keep Zack Ryder down it seems. Despite being a jobber for years and then having his IC title ripped away after 1 night, he is still a clear crowd favourite, shown in this match. Ryder gets a surprising amount of offense against Rusev, such as the broski boot and a diving dropkick from the second rope. However, the Bulgarian brute continues his dominant run after a missed rough ryder allows him to put the accolade onto Ryder forcing him to tap. After the match, Rusev tells the crowd that they are weak like all Americans and he should be what they aspire to be. This angers Titus O’Neil who claims that “he has some nerve to say this on Memorial Day” and the two end up brawling. I wonder if Titus will use his signature grab on Rusev anytime soon so he can finish this.

• The Shining Stars invite everyone to Puerto Rico. Again. How long before these guys are jobbing on Main Event?
• Stephanie absolutely destroys Charlotte backstage calling her an “embarrassment”. It’s god damn brutal to watch. Charlotte is definitely being set up to fall and it is only a matter of time before she does.

ENZO & CASS def. DUDLEY BOYS

If you ever want to see actual evidence that Enzo Amore and Big Cass are the most gifted tag team on the mic then just watch the promo the cut before this match. They somehow get a how you doing chant alongside Big Cass naming different types of cheese. They truly have the gift of gab. Enzo and Cass play to their strengths against the Dudley Boys. Cass looks dominating in the ring and his big boot looks like it is about to knock someone’s head clean off. Enzo is able to work the crowd like an expert as his wild mannerisms get both the Dudley’s and the crowd riled up. The Dudley’s are able to maintain a level of control however as they beat down Enzo during the middle of the match, as usual, Enzo’s helping hand comes in the form of a size 16 boot as Cass decimates the competition. Enzo & Cass are able to pick up the win after a rocket launcher on D-Von. E&C have beat the Dudley Boys countless of times at this point, I wonder how long they will stretch this out, not that I mind watching Enzo and Cass.

• Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro talk strategy for tonight’s 6 man tag match and it seems that no one likes Canadians.

10 YEARS IN THE MAKING

IT’S JOHN CENA! Wow, I really never thought I would say this, but Jesus Christ I have missed Cena. John gives a very emotional Memorial Day speech but also claims that despite being gone he will not be forgotten as the new era comes in. After this speech, the one, and only AJ Styles make his way to the ring. This moment was absolutely amazing, as a fan of both WWE and TNA I have been waiting for these two to face off for over a decade now and I hate to use this word but seeing it in person was surreal. The pair does shake hands but is interrupted by AJ’S former friends The Club. As Cena and Styles prepare to take on Anderson and Gallows, AJ attacks Cena from behind. It seems that The Club has never really been apart as they dismantle John Cena. It may have taken a heel turn to make it happen but a Cena/Styles feud has finally happened and I couldn’t be happier.

DANA BROOKE def. NATALYA     

Natalya has been wrestling for how long now? She has been on the roster for 8 years, and she has been wrestling years before that. So then why does she never learn? Natalya is constantly losing by distraction, and it makes her look like a fool. After losing by distraction to Dana Brooke, she is set upon by Brooke and Charlotte. Luckily the Lass Kicker Becky Lynch comes down to drive back Charlotte and Dana and help Natalya. This run in seems to suggest another feud between Becky and that Charlotte is near untouchable and they are waiting for Sasha Banks to return to knock her down. This means that they are setting up Becky for yet another failure.

• Jojo interviews Dolph Ziggler who claims that he didn’t give his all at Extreme Rules and that Baron Corbin had to use a low blow to win (so what? It was a no DQ match, he had every right). Ziggler then tries to recreate the famous 1004 holds speech from Chris Jericho.

BARON CORBIN def. DOLPH ZIGGLER (DQ)

Once both Ziggler and Corbin made their way down to the ring they prepared for the match ahead, with Ziggler going a little old school. Dolph puts on his headgear and puts in his mouthpiece, as it seems that we are getting ready for a technical masterclass from the show-off. However after the bell rings Dolph goes straight for the dick kick getting disqualified in a move that even Chris Jericho would be proud of. This was pretty funny I have to admit but seeing that Dolph is the heel it didn’t make much sense, other than to pay homage to Jericho.

• The Miz talks about Marine 5, from the Oscar-winning WWE studios, who brought you such great films as Citizen Kane and Casablanca
• Like with the face 3 man tag earlier the heel team of Jericho, Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio gather for a team talk, though this one is not as civil as the one we saw earlier.

ZAYN, AMBROSE & CESARO def. OWENS, JERICHO & DEL RIO

Cesaro opens tonight’s main event with a train of uppercuts. He continues to look impressive as he makes Del Rio, Jericho and Owens eat an uppercut. Tonight’s main event was definitely the match of the night, it provided the best in-ring work (hardly surprising considering all 6 men in the match) and there was a story for each person individually. The face tag team all had an agenda as they wanted to take out certain members of the heel group, and the heel group similarly wanted to take out the faces, while suffering from infighting within the team. While Owens, Cesaro and Ambrose all looked good in this match the real star was Chris Jericho. The Ayatollah of rock n rolla is 45 years old yet not only can he work the crowd second to none, but he is also able to keep up with men 15 years his junior in the ring. The crowd chanting stupid idiot and the lariat clothesline reversal into a codebreaker are definitely the two highlights of the match for me. In the end, it is the face team that is able to pick up the victory after Dean Ambrose hits the dirty deeds on Kevin Owens. This match was a very good Raw main event and the MITB ladder match is being set up very well for 3 weeks’ time. Of the 6 men confirmed for the match you can make a case for at least 4 of them winning the match and though there are clear favourites, I am definitely excited to see the outcome.

FINAL NOTES & SCORE

• Tonight’s MVP: Chris Jericho
• Match of the Night: The 6 man main event
• Moment of the Night: Everything about the Styles/Cena segment
• Just a reminder that JBL said gloryhole on national television
• The Dolph Jericho character tonight makes me miss heel Ziggler.
• I’m begging for a draft special on the network. It is set up perfectly.

This week’s episode had some few amazing high moments (I will never stop gushing about Styles and Jericho) but everywhere else the show was lacking as it felt like nothing really happened. The same usual feuds were carried on and there was only one stand out match. I give this week’s Raw a 5.5/10.

The Social Outcasts Announced As Stars Of ‘The Marine 5: Battleground’

Watch out Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt and Robert Downey Jr.! You fellas may have some competition in the acting world now.

A few days ago, it was announced that Heath Slater, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel will be starring alongside the Miz, Maryse and Naomi in ‘The Marine 5: Battleground’. This news surprised and confused many people but for me personally, I was ecstatic. For those who don’t know, the Social Outcasts are my favorite part of WWE TV every week. They are fantastic at what they do!

Just watch this week’s episode of Main Event and see how wonderful these guys are at what they do. On Main Event, they had stolen Xavier Woods’ ring gear so he had to compete in Big E’s gear. On top of that, they came out to a New Day style entrance with Dallas, Axel and Slater backstage screaming like Big E. The difference was they were not even sure what town they were in.

These three men are perfect in the roles they are currently in. It’s a shame everything happened with Adam Rose because he was great in the role as well. Unfortunately I feel these men go unappreciated, so let’s take a look at each of these three men!

Heath Slater is the biggest WWE veteran of the three. He’s been with WWE since the first season of NXT and would eventually join groups like The Nexus and The Corre. After those groups, he went out on his own and I must say he became my favorite part of Raw every week. On the way to Raw’s 1,000th episode, Slater would face the likes of Doink the Clown, Bob Backlund and many others. He consistently stole the show and it showed that WWE had a lot of faith in him in that role.

He then joined 3MB along with Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre. Slater ended up being the only one left with WWE after the group ended. After that, he had a memorable win in the main event of Raw against Seth Rollins thanks to help from Dean Ambrose. Slater then spent time with Titus O’Neil as Slater Gator. They disbanded when Darren Young came back from an injury. Slater now seems to be the leader of The Social Outcasts and its great to see him on my TV every week again. Slater excels at everything he does and may just be the most underrated performer in all of WWE.

Let’s look at Curtis Axel now.

Curtis Axel is a third-generation superstar and the son of Curt Hennig. He originally showed up on WWE TV on the second season of the original NXT. He was stuck with and awful name and never given many opportunities. He spent a good amount of years as that character but then things changed.

One day he became Curtis Axel and he was beating the likes of Triple H. He became Intercontinental Champ quickly after that. Since then, he has been in tag teams with Ryback and Damien Sandow. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I loved Sandow and Axel as Hogan and Macho Man. I honestly feel they would still be doing that gimmick today if the whole Hulk Hogan scandal did not happen. But now, Axel is in The Social Outcasts and able to show his worth next to Dallas and Slater.

Last but certainly not least is Bo Dallas aka my spiritual savior and the greatest man who ever lived.

For those who do not know, Bo Dallas is my favorite wrestler in the world today and he has been for many years. He first showed up on the new version of NXT as arguably the most hateable babyface of all time. A fantastic change was eventually made to the character in which he still thought he was a good guy but did bad guy type actions inside and out of the ring. He was given a long run as NXT champ but wasn’t given much to do on the main roster prior to joining The Social Outcasts. I must say that I’m very happy for Dallas that he is part of a group that appears on television on a consistent basis.

It will be interesting to see these three in a WWE film. For every John Cena and The Miz, you get a Mr. Kennedy or a Ted DiBiase. Who know if one of these men could be the next Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. All I know is, I BOlieve!