supersonic

Survivor Series 2015: The Good Shit WWE Title Tournament Semifinal Match Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns Some good psychology in this one as Alberto first targeted the right shoulder of Reigns to gain control, coming just six days after it being damaged against Cesaro. That would be short-lived though as Alberto would switch up his target to the left shoulder, perhaps as a force of habit. There were definitely great teases that paid off in this one, and the left shoulder of Reigns played a significant part in that regard. Teased moves that got delivered later included the Superman Punch, spear, superkick, stidown powerbomb, and cross armbreaker, with Alberto keeping that locked on when placed on the turnbuckle and using his leverage to go over the ropes and cause more damage. It was ballgame though once the spear got hit to nobody’s surprise. This is probably Alberto’s best one-on-one match quite easily since his return. ***1/2 Jo Jo interviews Reigns backstage, getting congratulations from Dean Ambrose with them hoping to face each other in the tourney final. After Ambrose leaves, IC Champion Kevin Owens interrupts, who vows to be the one facing Reigns later and he’ll sabotage his coronation, putting his accomplishments over. WWE Title Tournament Semifinal Match Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose Another quality semifinal here. Owens would cost himself terrific opportunities to finish off Ambrose due to his egotistical desire to gloat, talk trash, and make demands towards Michael Cole. Not the most effective direction to take for someone who’s trying to not just reach the mountaintop, but keep Ambrose from IC Title contention. He was hilarious taking Ambrose on a self-proclaimed tour to Chinlock City. Perhaps had Owens spent more time in the film room than on coming up with new forms of trash talk, he would’ve seen obvious signature moves coming at first such as the suicide dive and rebound lariat. The latter is inexplicable for Owens when of course considering his feud against Nigel McGuinness back in the day. To his credit, he scouted the signature moves when Ambrose would to that well again, catching Ambrose on the second suicide dive attempt and dropping via a light F5 onto the commentary table, but not a devastating one at all. Owens picking up on Ambrose’s habits came into the equation during the finishing sequence. Ambrose evaded the pop-up powerbomb, but landed a superkick. Ambrose tried using the momentum for a rebound lariat, only to eat another superkick. Ambrose is Irish Whipped for another pop-up powerbomb attempt, but he hits a hurricanrana, catching Owens off-guard just long enough to hit the double underhook DDT to advance to the finals against his best friend Reigns. These two obviously have standard match chemistry; I want a blood feud now. ***1/2 Just like back in July, the New Day bury Atlanta, including hometown boy Xavier Woods, who is sporting an all-time great heel hairstyle, only further making him come across as a condescending prick. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, they’re grateful to be Tag Champs, while also pointing out their partners’ accomplishments, that being Sheamus (Mr. MITB) and Wade Barrett (the 2015 King of the Ring.) They then brag about having more titles than the Braves, Hawks, and Falcons combined for great heel heat, and Woods rub in another dig at them for good measure. I cannot believe seeing Sheamus dance to the New Day’s theme music, then he cuts an absolutely curtain-jerker type of buzzkill comedy promo. Absolutely wretched booking of Sheamus in that moment there when it was so obvious how this evening would end. WWE Title Tournament Final Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns The crowd is largely behind Ambrose to the surprise of nobody who understands audiences in 2015. With this being their first ever singles match on the main roster, the atmosphere isn’t quite as hot as I’d want it to be. There are so many reasons for that and I'll briefly go over that in the match assessment. Despite the handicapped booking going into this, these two good professional wrestlers managed to have a good match with some solid psychology, specifically Ambrose targeting the left arm of Reigns, including locking in a Fujiwara Armbar. Reigns did a good job selling the damage on that joint inflicted by Ambrose and Alberto, including snapping it into place which I appreciated. They also sat up simultaneously near the end of the match and challenged each other into a striking contest. Ultimately, after a match that had some very good scouting due to these regular tag partners being so aware of each other, Reigns scouted Ambrose going for the corner elbow smash, so he hit him with a spear to capture his first WWE Title. For a culmination, no matter what was about to happen, I should be using an exclamation mark, not a period, when describing Reigns finally reaching the mountaintop. Maybe if the semifinals had been before this show, giving 3 to 6 days of advertising for this Ambrose vs. Reigns final, this would’ve been more heated and deserving of an exclamation mark. I'm sure these guys both pulling having already wrestled earlier in the night, when also considering the schedule WWE has for its roster, didn't help. But this feels flat, despite Ambrose congratulating him and all kinds of pyro and confetti. This was a good Raw main event masquerading as a historic PPV collision. Triple H comes out to congratulate Reigns, but the handshake is refused. Reigns instead spears the COO, but then gets Yakuza kicked by Sheamus, who is cashing in his MITB contract. Reigns kicks out, but eats another Yakuza kick as Sheamus reclaims the WWE Title and celebrates with HHH. Unlike the closing moments of SummerSlam 2013 that this is obviously ripping off, there’s no visceral atmosphere at all to this segment. The crowd doesn’t care about Reigns as he stands in the ring empty-handed. I had said that Ambrose vs. Reigns, bell to bell, was a good match. However, because I factored in the Randy Orton cash-in at SummerSlam 2013 and Seth Rollins cash-in at WrestleMania 31 when handing out ****1/2 each to John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, I have to include this flat cash-in as an entire Ambrose vs. Reigns segment. Ambrose vs. Reigns was a clean three snowflakes, only to be taken down by a cold storytelling moment that was awfully built to. So therefore, Ambrose vs. Reigns officially gets no rating from me. This ending segment was so lazily written. Reigns obviously isn’t sympathetic like D-Bry. In addition, D-Bry was suckered by a turning HHH, and Orton, stale as he was before that wonderful summer night in Los Angeles, was a significantly hotter, far more formidable threat than Sheamus here when he cashed in. There was no surprise turn to make the psychology work here, and it’s absolutely stunning that Sheamus was in no way groomed for this moment to be taken at least somewhat seriously the moment he won the MITB contract. As pointed out to me, why the fuck didn’t his feud against Orton earlier in 2015 ever have the contract up for grabs? Why did Sheamus got so easily chokeslammed by Kane two months earlier? Why was he booked as lighthearted midcard filler the night of him cashing in? With that said, because of how abysmally WWE progressed towards this moment, I said this at the time, and I’ll say it now: due to how poorly Sheamus had been and would continue to be booked once he’d cash in, I’m glad to see it done now during the least important period of the year. Get that shitty elephant out of the fucking room before ‘Mania season hits, as nobody would’ve wanted his MITB contract looming over the WWE Title match at AT&T Stadium.

If you plan to read this, get comfortable. This is a long entry thanks largely to a plethora of match quality. ROAD TO SURVIVOR SERIES 2015 Raw – October 26, 2015: The Good Shit The Authority inform WWE Champion Seth Rollins that since he’s beaten so many challengers, it’s time to establish a new #1 contender tonight. There will be four singles matches involve the various winners from Hell in a Cell 2015, with the four winners of those matches meeting in the main event for a WWE Title shot. MISSED RATINGS OPPORTUNITY: As stated, I’m tired of guys breaking themselves down quicker by wrestling multiple times on the same card. Have the four WWE Title Shot Qualifiers tonight, then the actual WWE Title Shot match on SmackDown! Maybe even better, have two of the qualifiers tonight, two the qualifiers on SmackDown!, and then the winners are advertised a few days in advance for the following week’s Raw. Anyway, Roman Reigns interrupts to tell Rollins he’s be dethroning him. WWE Title Shot Qualifier Kofi Kingston vs. Roman Reigns Big E & Kingston bury the style and greasy hair of Reigns, then brag about being champions unlike him. The Dudleyz are in their past, Xavier Woods is in their hearts, and their opponents tonight in the ground. They’re once again sporting XW arm bands. Kingston got cocky early over brief cat-and-mouse, with E on the outside gloating. Reigns got the upper hand of course since he’s a juggernaut, and I love New Day calling a timeout as the match broadcast takes a commercial break. Back from commercial, Reigns has continued dominating, so E talks shit to distract Reigns on the outside. This allows Kingston to blindside Reigns with a baseball slide and regain control for a couple minutes. But nothing was gonna stop Reigns from making a comeback and winning, with E taking a Superman Punch on the apron for trying to distract Reigns again. *** WWE Title Shot Qualifier Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro Owens focuses on Michael Cole early so Cesaro attempts a schoolboy rollup. Owens would try the same shit later and pay for it again as Cesaro blocked a suplex attempt, hitting a delayed vertical suplex of his own. The rest of the way was pretty much an action-packed contest, including a mutual clothesline on the outside, a running European uppercut on the outside, a somersault plancha off the apron, a countering sequence featuring a giant swing turned into a baseball slide attempt, that Cesaro rotated on his feet from, only to leave himself prone to a DDT. The second giant swing attempt would be Cesaro’s undoing, as Owens stayed in the ropes while Cesaro debated with the ref, leaving him prone to eat a superkick and pop-up powerbomb. ***1/4 Zeb Coutler deems the duo of himself and Alberto Del Rio to be Meximerica, complete with a flag that is half-Mexico, half-America. I would love to meet the person who, with a straight face, pitched this idea. Easily a future WrestleCrap Hall of Fame induction. WWE Title Shot Qualifier Alberto Del Rio vs. Neville - *** WWE Title Qualifier Big E vs. Dolph Ziggler Tyler Breeze & Summer Rae are at ringside. E cuts off Ziggler early while Kingston gloats “hips don’t lie” on the outside. This really turned out be a highly competitive contest, as it was back-and-forth action. Off the top of my head, highlights include E slapping Ziggler’s ribs to the tune of “New Day rock/sucks” while locking in an Abdominal Stretch, E immediately hitting Ziggler with a clothesline after being distracted by Kingston, and a Fame-Asser being countered into a powerbomb. The end came when E got overzealous against the former World Champ, charging in the corner only to have a shoulder eat the ring post, then immediately going down to the Zig-Zag. I’ll be curious to see if Ziggler and Reigns, be it together or with separate partners, request a Tag Titles match after beating the champs tonight. ***1/4 Why is Dean Ambrose happily allowing eight combatants to battle for a WWE Title shot while he sits on the sidelines? WWE Title Shot – No DQ, No Count Out Match Kevin Owens vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Roman Reigns Rollins is providing commentary. Plenty of fresh matchups in this one, so this should be interesting. In particular, this will be the first time ever Owens and Alberto collide, as Owens was hired the same month Alberto got fired. It starts as Owens vs. Ziggler and Alberto vs. Reigns, but quickly gets away from that with both matchups spilling to the outside. Alberto takes out Ziggler and the heel champions target Reigns, but he fights them off since he’s a juggernaut, then takes out Ziggler when he gets back in the ring. Reigns seems very much more adored than usual from the San Diego crowd. Reigns continues cleaning house with multiple drive-by slides on the heels, only to eat a lethal superkick instantly from Ziggler as it goes to commercial. Back from commercial, the heel champs double-team Ziggler in the ring while Reigns is still selling the superkick. They takes turns on Reigns to keep him out of the quation, then actually go at it for the first time ever after Owens doesn’t allow Alberto a pinfall attempt. They definitely show some chemistry and Owens rolls to the outside after a superkick. Reigns gets back in to capitalize on the emotional Alberto, dominating the US Champ. Alberto is punched out, and now Ziggler’s in for a babyface showdown and the Zig-Zag is blocked; I don’t believe a Ziggler vs. Reigns singles showdown has ever taken place, not even when the Authority would use the Shield to bury Ziggler two years earlier. Reigns eats Ziggler’s dropkick and stalling DDT for a near-fall, which causes Rollins to express some tremendous anxiety. A terrible Fame-Asser attempt is rightfully scouted by Reigns and turned into a powerbomb; as this happened, Rollins said it wasn’t fair to Ziggler to have his qualifier match just moments before this while Reigns got a two-hour break. While Rollins of course doesn’t care about Ziggler and is just being a politician since he knows Reigns is his biggest threat in this series, he is correct actually. By competing in the first match, Reigns benefitted from more than a two-hour break – he got to scout everyone else, so he saw and copied Big E’s exact same counter to the Zig-Zag. Ziggler had a huge disadvantage going in this, since he was in the last qualifier, he had 10, maximum 15 minutes to do any film study in addition to getting any standard medical attention. All the more reason to have spread out this series over different broadcasts. Reigns delivers a Superman Punch to Ziggler, then gets shoved by Alberto and he tries to steal the pin, but it’s a near-fall. Crowd’s starting to go crazy here. Owens shoves Reigns into steel steps, then eats an Enziguri from Alberto. Alberto tries that on Ziggler but the latter scouts from their series in 2013, then he delivers the Fame-Asser for a near-fall. That makes sense since that’s a signature move, not actually an established finisher. Crowd’s going crazy again as Rollins puts over the match. The exhausted Alberto and Ziggler get up simultaneously with the former gaining the advantage, while Owens and Reigns are still outside selling their attacks. Ziggler attempts a Superplex, but gets placed on the shoulders of Owens for a Doomsday or Electric Chair move; as Alberto sets up for his end of the bargain, he’s Superman Punched by Reigns. Owens tosses Ziggler off his shoulders, who then superkicks Reigns out, only for Owens to give him a treat to Suplex City. Owens delivers a cannonball to Alberto, who simultaneously eats a Drive-By Slide from Reigns. Owens and Reigns have a stare down and San Diego is HOT. Reigns eats a Superkick, gets Irish Whipped, and he counters the Pop-Up Powerbomb by Superman Punching Owens in mid-air for the victory! Rollins may as well be shitting his pants as he tries convincing everyone, including himself, that Reigns will fail once again. They then have a stare-down and Reigns confidently walks away as the broadcast goes off the air. A truly great match with fresh encounters, a yin-and-yang dichotomy of a heel showdown and a babyface showdown, nonstop action, elements of film study, and absolutely sensational counters. Of course, there was the tremendous San Diego crowd as mentioned adding to this, pounding the barricade and counting along with the near-falls, chanting for Reigns as he got in the face of Rollins. I absolutely adore this match, and I shit you not, I was blissful to see Reigns win, not just from a business and booking analysis perspective, but because this match got me to establish an emotional connection to him. I cannot wait to see Rollins vs. Reigns, for the top prize in the business, in a main event supercard slot, with a VERY likely title change and coronation, take place. It’ll be nice for the two of them to redeem all of their prior singles matches on TV, which have ranged from nothing special to tedious shite. **** Main Event – October 27, 2015 Brie Bella vs. Becky Lynch - *** NXT – October 28, 2015: The Good Shit An excerpt of the wonderful Finn Balor: The Demon Revealed re-airs from the summer. American Alpha vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano Chad Gable and Ciampa start with a knuckle lock that goes back and forth, including the counters with eventually Gable winning that battle. Ciampa & Gargano eventually cut the ring in half on Gable, which is perfect since he’s smaller and has connected incredibly with the Full Sail audience. However, before that segment, Gargano’s left arm was damaged when Jason Jordan was in for a brief period. That got really bad for Gargano when he charged at Gable on the apron, only to get a cross arm-breaker locked on. Gargano was tremendous selling the left arm, trying to shake off the pain when waiting for the tag or after delivering chops later. After the hot tag to Jordan, he ended up getting the ring cut in half on him as well, eating a number of vicious attacks including a slingshot DDT by Gargano. The indy superstars played the default heels which made for great crowd psychology, Gargano choosing to yank Gable off the apron to prevent Jordan from making a hot tag. Once Gable managed to get tagged in again though, it was all over, CIampa being taken out of the equation and then Gargano eating the Grand Amplitude. Damn good tag team wrestling. ***3/4 Who is Apollo Crews? Pt. 2 This edition focuses on his brief time in WWE so far, particularly his debut and the battle royal from two weeks earlier. Simply put, while he admits to still have plenty of room for improvement, he is here to be champion, and next week, he will dethrone his good friend Finn Balor. Samoa Joe vs. Tyler Breeze Breeze takes a bunch of powders early to lure Joe, who takes the bait out of anger. Breeze’s control is brief though since he cockily relaxes on the top turnbuckle, leaving him prone for Joe to unleash a fury on him, ending and peaking with an Elbow Suicida going into the commercial break. Back from break, Joe continues dominating. Breeze regains control by blocking an Irish Whip and a series of strikes along with a modified Lungblower. Once again though, he allows his frustration to distract him into an argument with the referee during a five count, and thus allows Joe to regain control. Breeze cuts him off with a dropkick, and after a bit more control, Joe regains control and pretty much controls the rest of the match, not being thrown off of a Sunset Flip counter off of a musclebuster attempt, ending with a counter in the Coquina Clutch. This would turn out to be the unadvertised NXT swan song for Breeze. I’m worried about him on the main roster for the reasons I stated before, plus he got no reaction in San Diego, which was otherwise a hot crowd earlier in the week. ***1/4 SmackDown! – October 29, 2015: The Good Shit IC Champion Kevin Owens interrupts Roman Reigns and does a very weak burial of what happened on Monday, so Reigns challenges him to either put up or shut up. Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns Reigns dominates early and then doesn’t allow Owens any breathers on his attempted powders. The domination continues and then Owens eventually gains control with a Stunner on the ropes. After an Irish Whip and Fall Away Slam on the barricade, he idiotically takes time to gloat in the ring, having learned nothing from his feud against John Cena, and the juggernaut Reigns immediately makes a comeback because of that. Owens attempts to forfeit the match by count out, but Reigns doesn’t allow that either. Back in the ring, Owens regains control briefly thanks to a successful German Suplex, but is scouted for it on the second attempt as well as when setting up for a cannonball, eating a jumping clothesline while charging at Reigns. Reigns attempts a Fireman’s Carry but is fought off so he plays Owens on the top turnbuckle. A Superplex attempt by Reigns is blocked, then a Super Fisherman’s Swinging Neckbreaker is as well, so Reigns delivers a Superman Punch, knocking Owens to the floor. The IC Champ forfeits the match by count out, leaving with his IC Title through the audience. Incredibly interested in an actual feud between these two in the future. ***1/4 Big E & Kofi Kingston debut Unicorn Horns merchandise while still sporting enlarged XW armbands, then provide commentary for a meaningless fourway tag match. They make a mockery of the entire experience, bringing back memories for me of the nWo and original DX. Phoenix crowd chants “We want New Day!” as well, proving they’re far more ambitious about getting over than most of the roster. Dean Ambrose and Cesaro, while clearly looking like stars in their various attire, deliver dialogue towards each other in absolutely atrocious fashion. Tyler Breeze assaults Dolph Ziggler after the former World Champ’s gimmick hardcore match against the Miz. Good to see a vicious side, but there’s still not much depth to his gimmick. Raw – November 2, 2015: The Good Shit The Authority confirm Seth Rollins will defend the WWE Title against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series 2015. That should be epic. To prepare for that event, each will select four partners for a 10 man Survivor Series Styles Elimination match in the main even tonight. Tyler Breeze distracts Dolph Ziggler, causing a loss to Kevin Owens. The booking towards Breeze & Summer Rae is quite moderate, which is the concern I had. Nobody cares about him taking a selfie while posing over Ziggler’s prone body. These writers probably saw the Cassie Cage character’s selfie fatality get all kinds of praise in Mortal Kombat X released earlier in the year, and wonder why something similar ain’t working here. That’s because Cage, a fucking fighting game character, has more depth to her than snobby, narcissistic selfie addict, plus it was a clever display of evolution from that franchise's developers and writers. Rollins recruits Owens for his team, with the condition that he’ll owe Owens one in the future. Wonder if this segment will be remembered in the future. Becky Lynch delivers quite the strong promo, channeling her quirky personality in effective fashion, not even thwarted by Brie Bella’s barbs. The New Day, including Xavier Woods, volunteer to help Rollins in tonight’s main event, which he accepts. Love this 100% heel champions team, and all of them are actually OVER, leaving Alberto Del Rio out since he wouldn’t belong. The team makes sense too since Rollins has a history of teaming with New Day and Owens. Divas Title Shot – No DQ, No Count Out Match Brie Bella vs. Paige vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks - ***1/4 For the main event, the heel champions come out first. The New Day are visibly pissed that Reigns has recruited the Usos, Jey back in action for the first time since WrestleMania 31. Ryback’s also been recruited and to nobody’s surprise, Dean Ambrose has as well. Survivor Series Style Elimination Match Seth Rollins, The New Day, & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos, Dean Ambrose, Ryback, & Roman Reigns The cocky Woods is eliminated immediately by the Usos. Confirmed during this match is that Randy Orton is out of action for an extended period of time due to a shoulder injury. Another domino falls to obliterate Vince McMahon’s plans for Dallas, as well as my fantasy card. Pretty boy Orton going up against the freak Bray Wyatt in a battle of mentals just wasn't meant to be on the grandest stage in company history, and I suspect that Orton was gonna be slotted against Brock Lesnar that night. The heels dominate Jey for a bit before he tags in Jimmy. Absolutely insane to see the Usos execute Stereo Planchas on Big E & Kofi Kingston, considering Jey is returning from a shoulder injury and just moments after Michael Cole broke the news about Orton on commentary. The Usos eliminate Kingston in the meantime for a 5-on-3 advantage. E immediately goes after Jey and with the help of Owens eliminates him after a Big Ending. Owens moments later eliminates Jimmy with a pop-up powerbomb to make it a trios match now. Owens and Reigns have a battle with Rollins trying to bail out his partner, then Ambrose inserts himself as the equalizer, He gets ran over by E on the outside, then Ryback runs E over too. Rollins distracts Reigns to allow Owens to land a superkick, but both legal men collapse since Owens is selling damage. The match goes to a commercial break. Back from commercial, the heels dominate Reigns. Rollins goes for a rest hold, but two things keep it from being tedious as compared to Bray Wyatt: Rollins at least bothers to reestablish his grip, squeezing as much as he can, and the production team airs the prior eliminations during this valley. Reigns of course teases a comeback, only to be cut off via a Sling Blade. Owens piles on once tagged in and is of course cocky, then tags Rollins back in for a double vertical suplex. As Rollins trolls Reigns, he only ignites a successful comeback after getting overzealous and Reigns get the hot tag. E and Ryback have a heavyweight battle in the ring with Owens trying to help out, so Ambrose gives him a missile shotgun dropkick and then a rebound lariat on the outside. Rollins throws Ambrose into the steel steps as Ryback eliminates Big E via the Shell Shocked. The Usos will obviously gun for the Tag Titles immediately, but I wonder if Ryback will request a shot as well. Rollins immediately attacks Ryback from behind and eliminates him via a Pedigree, making this quite the star-studded tag match remaining of Rollins & Owens vs. Ambrose & Reigns. Rollins knocks Reigns off the apron so Ambrose can be legal after being thrown into a barricade by Owens. A Pedigree is blocked but Rollins prevents a hot tag. Ambrose still fights him off and keeps Owens at bay while Reigns is struggling to be ready for a tag. Rollins benefits from an Owens distraction but gets pounced on by Reigns to break up the pinfall attempt, and Reigns gets in as many shots as possible on the WWE Champ. Owens gets tagged in to pick the bones of Ambrose, mocking him in the process and talking shit to Reigns. I absolutely LOVE Owens grinding his forearm and clubbing the face of Ambrose with crossfaces while talking shit. That’s the kind of violence I wanna see and wouldn’t be in violation of PG standards. Ambrose emphatically kicks of a Rollins springboard knee strike, and the Denver audience is behind him as the heels continue to cut the ring in half on him. Owens cuts off an Ambrose comeback and leaves him open for Rollins, but Rollins just keeps talking shit and that allows Ambrose to make a comeback, including Rollins hitting a springboard knee strike on Owens. Ambrose finishes Owens off with a follow-up double underhook DDT, leaving Rollins alone against the two men he broke onto the main roster with and then betrayed to reach the top. I’d expect Ambrose to request an IC Title shot now. Rollins attempts to bail twice but Ambrose & Reigns cut him off, not letting up whatsoever. This is a one-sided destruction that brings back memories of Prince Nana against Austin Aries & Roderick Strong, but because Rollins is actually a champion combatant, he doesn’t quite get his comeuppance, attacking Ambrose & Reigns with a chair to disqualify himself. Post-match, Rollins continues attacking Reigns, wanting to soften him up for Survivor Series 2015. But once back in the ring, Reigns takes him out of the ring via a Superman Punch, and the champ retreats, leaving his former best friends to stand united together in the ring while he desperately clutches his title on the entrance ramp as the broadcast ends. Thoroughly entertaining match with all kinds of interesting stories come out of it, and I enjoyed this a bit more than the Survivor Series 2014 main event. A surprise return, new potential contenders for the champions, various compelling matchups, and a poetic ending between three men literally 17 months in the making. Of most importance, I am legitimately anticipating Rollins vs. Reigns in what should be a high note conclusion to a horrendously booked reign, even if it means Sheamus may ruin the moment. Of course, with what was about to happen in less than 24 hours, this match only becomes even more poetic as I’m about to detail. ***3/4 WWE in Dublin, Ireland – November 3, 2015 Finn Balor vs. Sheamus Good but nothing special house effort. *** Of far more importance, and in no way considered the Good Shit, the injury bug now strikes WWE Champion Seth Rollins, shredding his right knee in the main event against Kane. There’s absolutely no way the injury is better than it looks, and that not only means he’ll have to forfeit the WWE Title and thus Rollins vs. Reigns is cancelled, but yet another domino falls to obliterate WrestleMania 32 plans. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirmed Rollins was to face Triple H, which was obviously inevitable and can still be done upon his return. I of course was hoping that’d be done sooner and we’d finally have the former Shield colliding for the top prize, nobody else involved. There’s an incredibly strong chance that can still come, but in addition to Undertaker vs. Sting and Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton, I have to kiss Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns goodbye. At least in the latter two's case, the door isn’t shut forever, and it was truly poetic that the final moments of Rollins in a match during the 2015 calendar year would be trying to thwart off Ambrose & Reigns. NXT – November 4, 2015: The Good Shit The Revival interrupt Carmella as she gives a medical update on Colin Cassady & Enzo Amore, mocking her and the sprained MCL they gave Cassady, while also vowing to win the NXT Tag Titles next week. American Alpha have an amusing promo, realizing that they’re ascending and by becoming the best team in the business, everything else (winning the titles) will come to fruition. Chad Gable says they’ll become the “world’s greatest tag team,” which Jason Jordan frowns upon. Emma denies being terrified by Asuka, telling Dana Brooke that she’ll need to give the puro star a proper welcoming. Looking forward to it. NXT Title Match Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews New NXT championship matches tradition here as the lights dim and a spotlight shines on the combatants during the introductions. Love it. They have a stalemate before the commercial, which kicks in after just a couple minutes tops. They continue having a back-and-forth with various dropkicks and suplexes, neither gaining significant control yet. Balor finally gains control when he avoids an elbow drop and hits a soccer kick. He cuts off a comeback attempt, returning to the Cobra Clutch. Crews uses his power to break the hold and then dropkicks Balor to gain control. The timing is impeccable in this match, as Balor regains control by knocking Crews out of the ring with an Enziguri and then follows up with a somersault plancha. For whatever reason, the match goes to another commercial just five minutes after the first one. Balor has maintained control, not letting up. He looks to attempt a Reverse Bloody Sunday, but Crews blocks it and hits a Fall Away Samoan Drop. After being teased, each man hits a signature move, Crews the Military Press Slam (but Balor gets the knees up on the follow-up standing moonsault) and Balor the Reverse Bloody Sunday. Balor hits the running shotgun dropkick but the double footstomp is evaded. Crews lands a Yakuza kick, but Balor has enough to land a Pele kick before collapsing. The crowd is quite enthused with this match. Unfortunately, Baron Corbin interferes to have the match thrown out, specifically targeting Crews due to being butthurt and entitled about the battle royal a few weeks earlier. ***1/2 Samoa Joe arrives to fight off Corbin, who takes a powder. Balor and Joe are left in the ring, the latter appearing conflicted before attacking the champ! Joe is still conflicted as he continues the assault and leaves the champ laying with a musclebuster, screaming “I did this to you!” Joe leaves the title on the fallen Balor, obviously gunning for it as hinted two months ago. TREMENDOUS BOOKING and I cannot wait for this dream match to occur. SmackDown! – November 3, 2015: The Good Shit Alberto Del Rio vs. Neville - ***1/4 IC Champion Kevin Owens interrupts Dean Ambrose’s interview with Renee Young, politicking and trying to dismiss Ambrose pinning him on Raw. Owens gets incredibly smug saying Ambrose has to prove himself in singles tonight, which Ambrose is looking forward to. These two have got some EXCELLENT verbal chemistry potential. We get confirmation of WWE Champion Seth Rollins shredding his right knee in Dublin. He’s out 6-9 months and a tournament will be held to crown a new champion at Survivor Series 2015, with more details to come next week. Dream Match Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose Great dynamic early as Ambrose locks an arm twist on and Owens immediately goes to a rope demanding a rope break, so Owens slaps his head as he lets go. They exchange headlocks, with Owens saying “my headlock’s better than yours.” Awesome. Ambrose gets a couple arm drags so Owens takes a powder as the broadcast takes a commercial break. Ambrose lands another arm drag and then works on the left fingers of Owens when the broadcast returns. Owens regains control and cuts off Ambrose, only to eat a crossbody and clothesline to the outside. Back in the ring, Owens cuts Ambrose off with a stunner on the ropes, then delivers a receipt by tossing Ambrose into the barricade twice, boasting over it. Owens continues dominating in the ring, talking trash while locking on a sleeper hold. He cuts off a comeback attempt to continue dominating and talking trash. He fucks up by wasting time telling Jerry Lawler to pay attention and Ambrose takes advantage. Owens attempts the Super Swinging Fisherman’s Neckbreaker, but Ambrose cuts it off to deliver a Superplex and make the match even. Ambrose delivers a tornado DDT that Owens takes a beautiful bump for. Owens delivers a Schwein after blocking a crossbody for a near-fall. He’s getting visibly frustrated, concerning that he won’t be able to knock Ambrose out of IC Title contention. He talks trash to Ambrose on the top rope; that stupidity costs Owens as Ambrose punches him down and delivers a shotgun missile dropkick. Ambrose eats a Stun Gun, but evades a pop-up powerbomb, eats a superkick, and then uses the momentum to deliver a rebound lariat. Awful scouting by Owens there, especially due to history against Nigel McGuinness. The match comes to an end when Ambrose kicks Owens in the guy, but the IC Champ sells it as a low-blow. The replay confirms the obvious, that Owens lied and embellished like NBA players flopping and NHL players diving. Referee Charles Robinson scolds him and Ambrose goes on the attack with a couple suicide dives, and Owens scurries away. Poor Robinson being involved in ANOTHER controversial finish in 2015. Looking forward to this dream feud continuing after that outstanding storytelling finish. These two have tremendous chemistry. ***1/4 Raw – November 9, 2015: The Good Shit Looks like a great sellout crowd in Manchester tonight. Triple H kicks off the show to put over former WWE Champion Seth Rollins, and the crowd chants “Thank you Rollins!” He acknowledges that Roman Reigns earned a WWE Title shot two weeks ago, then requests him to appear. The previously announced tournament begins tonight, and HHH offers Reigns a bye to the final if he agrees to replace Rollins as his protégé. Reigns declines, incorrectly stating that he’s “always” achieved his success on his own. I must have missed all of 2013. Reigns is slotted in the tournament as a result of this with 15 other participants. So a few things coming out of this to go over: This segment obviously telegraphs Triple H vs. Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 32. Not sure what makes Reigns sympathetic in this scenario; he lacks that type of charisma that Daniel Bryan had in the same spot two years earlier against HHH. HHH also put over Reigns here as a potential A+ player, while he constantly dismissed D-Bry as a B+ player. In addition, while HHH outright sabotaged D-Bry left and right, here he’s just simply putting Reigns in a tournament, no actual disadvantage. The psychology is thus completely missing for what the goal is here. I’m wondering if Jimmy Jacobs pitched this tournament idea with Reigns being inserted, as it’s incredibly similar to ROH in 2013. Michael Elgin had earned an ROH Title shot by defeating Jay Lethal at Supercard of Honor VII, then the ROH Champion Jay Briscoe was briefly shelved due to injury a couple months later. A tournament was held to crown a new ROH Champion, and rather than Elgin getting any kind of bye, he was inserted with 15 other participants. Speaking of 16 participants in this tournament, an absolutely terrible idea with John Cena away and Randy Orton on the shelf. Perhaps had this particular week been in North America, Brock Lesnar would’ve been flown in as a last-minute star power emergency, as he obviously deserved and had a claim to challenge for the WWE Title. I also wonder where the Hell is Chris Jericho? He can easily be inserted based on his resume and star power alone; nobody would deny his claim to be entitled to a spot in the tournament. So without Cena, Jericho, and Lesnar, I would’ve made this an 8-man tournament instead, for this is your first round which is revealed throughout the night, but I’ll list here: Big Show vs. Roman Reigns Sheamus vs. Cesaro Alberto Del Rio vs. Stardust Kalisto vs. Ryback Kevin Owens vs. Titus O’Neil Wade Barrett vs. Neville Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze Reigns, Cesaro, Alberto, Owens, Barrett, Neville, Ziggler, Ambrose. That’s your proper tournament, and Sheamus can decline a spot when offered by the Authority since he’s got the MITB contract. Kevin Owens manages to turn the UK fans against him, burying them for worshipping the Queen of England. Perfect promo here and I cannot wait for this guy to be in the main event picture again. WWE Title Tournament - 1st Round Match Sheamus vs. Cesaro Sheamus comes out with Wade Barrett before the commercial break. During the break, Barrett talks shit to future soccer HOFer Wayne Rooney, saying he’d love to fight him, but wouldn’t wanna embarrass Rooney’s son. The Manchester crowd pops when Barrett buries Manchester United as well. This was another quality addition to one of my favorite bell-to-bell rivalries in the company. Sheamus and Cesaro were pretty much even early, but Cesaro I’d say dominated the second act. Sheamus did a tremendous job avoiding the giant swing, which I think for crowd heat purposes, was a mistake to book. Really shitty circumstances entered their ugly head when the two had a vertical suplex battle that had both spill to the outside, causing Cesaro’s right elbow to violently strike the apron. Imagine the brief pain when accidentally stubbing your funny bone, and multiply that by 100. Cesaro is visibly injured as he constantly clutches his right arm. He tries to avoid using it, but force of habit gets him to use it at times, although he does use his left arm to deliver some European Uppercuts. Two incredible counters from him were ducking a Yakuza kick and locking Sheamus in the Scorpion Death Lock, and rotating out of a Uranage Backbreaker, immediately dropping the Irishman with an Alpamari Waterslide. The finishing sequence came on the outside when Cesaro executed a running European uppercut, causing Sheamus to fall over the barricade. Barrett distracted Cesaro, allowing Sheamus to attack the former indy sensation from behind. Sheamus talks shit to Rooney, then Barrett has his turn. Barrett makes the mistake of placing his finger on Rooney, giving the soccer icon the legal right to slap him to a tremendous pop. Sheamus allows himself to be distracted and Cesaro capitalizes with a modified cradle pin for the victory. Very good match and the injury looked legit for Cesaro, however it added to the psychology of this match and he did a great job working with it. Looking forward to the Cesaro vs. Reigns quarterfinal, as it’s a powerhouse singles match I’ve been wanting to see since around WrestleMania XXX season. ***3/4 The New Day are outraged by being completely left out of the WWE Title Tournament. They have a point for sure when looking at that tournament roster again. NXT - November 11, 2015: The Good Shit Baron Corbin squashes Tye Dillinger in seconds, and then gets in a heated brawl with Apollo Crews, who’s pissed about being fucked out of the NXT Title. Tremendous fire by Crews here, further putting over how valuable that title is to him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4pDV1eX8ao Bayley reacquires her NXT Women’s Title from a bailing Alexa Bliss, then runs into Nia Jax. Bliss attacks Bayley from behind, while Jax grabs the belt and stares at it before handing it back to the champ. NXT Tag Titles Match Vaudevillains vs. The Revival Vaudevillains dominate before the commercial break, including work on the left arm each on Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder. The challengers play clever games to gain a brief advantage but that fails. It takes Dawson giving Aiden English’s left knee a chop block for an advantage going into the commercial break. Back from commercial, the Revival continue attacking English’s left knee. A Dragon Screw, strikes, submission, slamming it against the ring post, their attacks are just pure textbook. This is obviously terrific psychology and storytelling, but I must also mention the old-school brilliance of the ring being cut in half on English. English teases a hot tag only for Dawson to cut him off and the Revival continue their underhanded tactics. It doesn’t get any prettier for English as the challengers continue attacking his left knee. He finally gets a hot tag to Simon Gotch, who’s a textbook house of fire. Gotch idiotically tags the injured English back in and he gets immediately chop-blocked. Corey Graves thankfully points out Gotch’s stupidity for that. Gotch goes after the Revival to the outside but they take him out to isolate English, delivering a top rope stomp on the left knee. Dawson forces English to tap out to the Reverse Figure Four Leg Lock. No snowflakes, but damn tremendous storytelling to elevate a heel team for their title victory. The Revival cut a backstage promo, proud of themselves for claiming the NXT Tag Titles after staying true to themselves for a dozen years in the business. Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss for the NXT Women’s Title next week. Once again, crazy concept to advertise matches more than 2 hours in advance. Samoa Joe explains his actions, claiming to have carried Finn Balor on his back en route to them winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. That’s a pretty subjective perspective even with Balor’s knee injury at Takeover: Respect. What makes sense though is that Joe’s pissed for Balor not going to bat for Joe to challenge him for the NXT Title. Joe says it was insulting for him to be in the battle royal, having earned it. He’s correct in that regard based on him not losing at all for five months, but then says that the day he walked in the door, he was owed and ENTITLED to an NXT Title match. Who can really blame Joe for this after seeing Kevin Owens walk in and manipulate his way to a title match in just two months? Balor interrupts and vows to kick Joe’s ass as refs hold both back. Joe attempts to goad Balor, then shoves a ref into Balor for a cheapshot Coquina Clutch and they can’t pry him off! Joe poses with the title, then drops it on Balor. Tremendous main event segment that showed up, got its point across, and didn’t overstay its welcome like main roster segments with similar goals so frequently do. SmackDown! – November 12, 2015: The Good Shit WWE Title Tournament – 1st Round Match Wade Barrett vs. Neville Gotta point out that Booker T.’s WWE Title match history was quite fuzzy, stating this is the biggest match of Neville’s career. He obviously forgot about Neville already having a title shot 3 months ago against Seth Rollins, which is surprising because Booker was making quite a few boxing and MMA references during this match, including Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and Muhammad Ali. Neville gets the advantage early thanks to some headlocks, so Barrett uses his own tall frame to place Neville on the apron and force a rope break. Barrett then drags Neville by the hair and slams him down to gain an advantage. Barrett dominated the majority of the match’s remainder, being vicious but also a bit too cocky like he’s Kevin Owens. The Manchester crowd picked up on him being the obvious default him against his fellow Brit, although it wasn’t as heated as Owens would make it, or even Sheamus earlier in the week. Barrett requested Jerry Lawler to proclaim him the next WWE Champion on commentary, allowing Neville to walk the barricade and surprise him with a front somersault. This brought the match even and Neville hit a Standing Shooting Star Press in the ring. Barrett blocked a Deadlift German Suplex but still cut him off with a back kick to the gut. After a kickout, Barret cornered referee Charles Robinson and asked “How much is he paying you?” After teasing the deadlift version earlier, Neville got the Snap German Suplex Variation on Barrett but ran into a shitty Winds of Change for a near-fall. That would’ve been an awful finish. Neville blocked the Elbow Smash finisher, hooking Barrett’s right limbs for a cradle variation. While in a fireman’s carry position, Neville took advantage of Barrett talking more trash, planting him with a DDT and finishing him off with a Sky Twister. Quality first round match here, and I liked the four Europeans in the tournament were slotted against each other in Manchester. ***1/4 Quarterfinal matches for the next Raw in Greenville, SC: Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns Alberto Del Rio vs. Kalisto Kevin Owens vs. Neville Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler Why not have a couple of those on SmackDown! next week to spread this out for ratings? Raw – November 16, 2015: The Good Shit WWE Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match Kevin Owens vs. Neville Back-and-forth match at first, with Owens eventually taking a powder when Neville gets on the top rope. Neville then improvises and hits a Moonsault Press on Owens to the outside going into commercial break. When the broadcast returns, Owens has regained control thanks to some attacks on the outside. He talks his usual trash while dominating, even blaming the ref for a slow count at one point. Neville stays in the game with comeback attempts, with it becoming legit when Owens takes too long setting up a corner-to-charge. Because of that Neville hits a Snap German Suplex and middle-rope Sky Twister for a near-fall. A full Sky Twister gets evaded but Neville gets on his feet to hit an Enziguri. Neville goes for another Sky Twister but Owens moves so Neville lands on his feet again, only to eat pop-up powerbomb, taking a wonderful bump for it, and the IC Champ advances. Quality addition to their quality series. ***1/4 WWE Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler Really good psychology here, as after some a struggle for each to get control, Ambrose targets Ziggler’s left leg. He didn’t quite attack it like the Revival would, but it would come in handy later. Ziggler was great at teasing the superkick, which Ambrose constantly evaded; meanwhile, Ziggler did a great job avoiding various signature moves such as Ambrose’s suicide dive, the rebound lariat, and double underhook DDT. When Ziggler tuned up the band like Shawn Michaels, it actually meant something since he had yet to successfully land one superkick yet. They each had some great counters for each other as well. Ambrose pulled off a backslide near-fall on a swinging neckbreaker attempt, while at another point Ziggler stalled Ambrose on a rebound lariat by kicking the knee and hitting a Fame-Asser for a great near-fall. Every teased move came to fruition at some point, including a great rebound lariat from Ambrose after eating a Stunner, and he sold that damage by struggling to get up. Another great and highly critical moment came when Ziggler landed a Super Facebuster on Ambrose, re-aggravating the pain in his left knee while Ambrose intelligently rolled out of the ring. Ziggler was quite exceptional selling the left knee, constantly hopping around. They had a brief strike exchange with Ziggler head-butting Ambrose and going for a Zig-Zag. That got blocked so Ziggler went for a schoolboy pin, but Ambrose blocked that and positioned Ziggler for a successful double-underhook DDT. I found this MUCH more interesting than their 2013 series, surely because this time Ziggler wasn’t in the middle of a counterproductive burial. When Ambrose inevitably turns heel, I’d love these two to have a marquee program. ***1/2 The New Day dismiss the milestone of Undertaker’s 25th anniversary, saying their one-year anniversary is far more important and newsworthy. They also bury the Usos, claiming to be responsible for Jey’s shoulder injury, and then mock their chant. Of course they’d take credit for something they’re not responsible for at all. Tremendous promo. WWE Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns Reigns has a pre-match promo in which he claims he has never sold out. Fuck off cunt, you broke through as part of a mercenary and Authority enforcement faction. I wouldn’t be surprised if plot hole writing like this gives his detractors extra reason to hate the Reigns character – he’s very clearly full of shit there. Cesaro has his right arm bandaged due to last week’s injury. After a lockup, Cesaro teases a European uppercut on the clean break. After some headlocks, they exchange kip-ups to competitively one-up each other. A creative moment early occurs when Cesaro does a cartwheel off the turnbuckle to escape Reigns and gain control. He hits a gut wrench suplex on Reigns, catching the former Royal Rumble winner off-guard. Reigns gains control via a tilt-a-whirl slam but continues selling his abdomen, which is costly. Since Reigns stalls due to the pain, Cesaro regains control with a springboard twisting European uppercut. The real story of the match begins. Reigns uses his leg strength to block a giant swing and then charges at Cesaro in the corner, only for his right shoulder to hit the middle turnbuckle, then Cesaro immediately shotgun dropkicks him from behind, jamming that body part into the steel post. Absolutely brilliant to bring this match even and on the same body part after Cesaro’s injury last week.Reigns is in agony on the outside so Cesaro capitalizes with a running European uppercut going into the commercial break. Cesaro is still working on the right arm and shoulder of Reigns, having him in a submission. Reigns is tossed to the outside, then he scouts Cesaro coming with the uppercut again, dropping him with a big boot. Reigns once again is only brief with his control though, once again still selling his right arm. This allows Cesaro to hit some more uppercuts. Reigns displays more great scouting, cutting off another uppercut attempts with a forearm, but his force of habit has him using the damaged right arm. He uses it also for more strikes, but the pain stalls him and Cesaro is on him like white on rice with uppercuts. Reigns won’t allow Cesaro to regain control though, using his right arm to hit another clothesline and then executing a belly-to-back suplex. Cesaro scouts the drive-by slide, and grabs Reigns to hit the giant swing then follows that up with a Scorpion Death Lock! This is just tremendous. Reigns is reaching for the ropes, so Cesaro puts him in a Cripple Crossface and keeps it locked on when Reigns attempts to roll out of it; of course his right arm is the one locked. Reigns powers out and uses the positioning to hit a Samoan Drop, but Cesaro was awesome trying to grind his face to prevent it. Little things like that add so much to a match’s storytelling. Both exhausted men get back and Cesaro is launched to the outside, his damaged right arm striking the apron. Because of this, Cesaro is prone to a successful drive-by slide and Reigns is back in control. In another brilliant moment, Reigns shakes off his right arm after various strikes with it; this brief selling allows Cesaro enough time to block another strike by hitting that body part. Cesaro is clearly in pain and his stalling allows Reigns to roll over and deliver a sitdown powerbomb for a near-fall. Both men are once again down in pain and exhaustion. Reigns is up first, signaling for the Superman Punch to Greenville’s disapproval. But Cesaro uses the leaping of Reigns to lift him up for a European uppercut counter! Incredible near-fall for that one. However, just like Reigns, he used his damaged right arm, so he’s selling it. Cesaro dropkicks Reigns off the turnbuckle onto the apron, then goes for the apron superplex. Reigns blocks it and delivers a Superman Punch and sets up for the spear. Cesaro counters that with an uppercut and goes for the cradle facebuster, but Reigns deadlifts him overhead. Cesaro lands on his feet and Reigns goes for antoher cloethesline, but Cesaro turns that into a backslide near-fall. Reigns lands another Superman Punch and immediately hits a spear, finally putting down the pesky Cesaro. They shake hands afterwards, a true show of respect. An absolutely excellent match between two powerhouses that couldn’t be any more different from one another. Visually they couldn’t be any different, their styles are totally different, their personas are totally different, and they blended together beautifully. Since they’d very rarely collided in matches involving other participants and I don’t believe had ever done so in singles before, this was definitely a fresh matchup. Tremendous counters, scouting, psychology, selling, and I loved the mirror image right arm damage narrative weaved into this. Reigns may never win many of his naysayers over just like John Cena, but bell-to-bell he’s talented enough to be elevated into truly special matches; enough of him working programs against the likes of Big Show and Bray Wyatt; put him in the ring with studs like Cesaro, Cena, Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, etc. Of course, MAJOR kudos to Cesaro being a team player and working this match on a very real injury, going above and beyond to make sure the company’s top project not only shines, but learns from him. He’s definitely redeemed himself for SummerSlam 2015, the Greenville crowd far more connected to his comebacks and counters than Brooklyn was. That’s not an error or typo. One of the best Raw matches EVER. ****1/2 The rest of the tournament will take place at Survivor Series 2015. The semifinals are Alberto Del Rio vs. Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose. MISSED SMACKDOWN! RATINGS OPPORTUNITY HERE, plus you guys know how I feel about double-duty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa5K60iTpfo NXT – November 18, 2015: The Good Shit Nia Jax makes quick work of Carmella. Alexa Bliss cuts an effective promo for tonight’s main event for the NXT Women’s Title against Bailey. She’s informed by a referee that GM William Regal has banned Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy from ringside. Emma makes quick work of a jobber. Dana Brooke challenges Asuka for a rematch next week, which is obviously accepted. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Title is official for Takeover: London. OH FUCK YES~! A promo from earlier in the day airs from Joe. Regal doesn’t want Balor to jeopardize their match, but Joe says the reality is he has the week off to protect Balor. Contract signing next week. NXT Women’s Title Match Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss - ***1/4 (Plenty of “Hey we want some Bayley!” chants and Bliss has a great gotten-to face. Looking forward to being a part of that chant in Dallas.) Nuclear heat post-match as Eva Marie informs Bayley they compete next week for the NXT Women's Title. She’s absolutely terrific when she gets tired of the booing and says “Shut up, ya dorks.” SmackDown! – November 19, 2015 Cesaro works his last match of 2015, with the news coming days later that he’ll be out 4-6 months to get shoulder surgery. No shock based on what happened in Manchester. While there’s never a good time to be injured, for the sake of his creative direction, perhaps it was a blessing: he was just starting a surefire feud of the year contender with Stardust. I’m sure Vince McMahon had no big plans for him, but this is yet ANOTHER domino to obliterate my dream WrestleMania 32 card, as I had Cesaro slotted to finally get his elusive singles victory over John Cena for the US Title. The New Day have fun mocking Kalisto for being a short luchador. I legit laughed over it. An otherwise terrible, utterly meaningless go-home show. The WWE Title Tournament semifinals needed to be on this broadcast. No sympathy here for the lack of depth, and the main roster deserves incredible kudos for one of the most compelling match quality months of 2015. I’ve pitched so many ideas on what to have done with the tournament, but ultimately it was impossible for the company to dig itself out of the hole, as this was a culmination of not protecting its midcard backbone as insurance policies for this kind of emergency situation.

Meltzer's sources do not have any confirmation, but are concluding that at least one is WWE bound.

Hell in a Cell 2015: The Good Shit On the preshow, a pretaped Kevin Owens promo airs from outside the STAPLES Center. He buries sports fandom for it attracting the “simple-minded.” That’s interesting coming from a professional wrestler. He accurately says he’s aware the Lakers suck, and points out the foolishness of the Magic Johnson statue, calling him a false idol just like Ryback will be tonight. Rusev, Sheamus, & Wade Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler, Neville, & Cesaro - ***1/4 (Good to see Rusev and Sheamus teaming together, without explanation, after what happened at MSG.) And now, the PPV portion. US Champion John Cena quickly gets through his promo, not wanting to waste any time. Zeb Coulter returns for the first time in over a year, saying Cena divides audiences, but it’s time for people to become united and for Cena to be dethroned as well, someone who will do much bigger things with it. US Title Match (Open Challenge) John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio Great novelty pop for Alberto, perhaps the only thing he enjoyed about this segment, as he appeared to get as much bliss out of this return as I did. This match simply sucked, as Cena appeared disinterested and lost in several minutes clean to Alberto. It was amusing to hear the commentators try to narrate it as Alberto’s return catching Cena off-guard. Both looked like they’d rather be elsewhere than opening a WWE supercard event inside the West Coast’s most prestigious arena. There’s a cliché that the people never know what they really want. They can come up with a million ideas, have it handed to them, and they’ll still be unhappy. There are times when this cliché is accurate. Nobody demanded, nobody requested, nobody wanted, nobody needed to see Cena’s epic run as US Champ, after so many classic matches and breakout performances from opponents, come to an end not just to Alberto Del Rio (who was as over as a heavy metal band at a black gospel church when being fired in August 2014), but in such anticlimactic fashion. This was far more inexcusable than Undertaker’s Streak ending in disappointing fashion; that sucked due to Taker’s concussion. Nobody demanded, nobody requested, nobody wanted, nobody needed to see Zeb Coulter and Alberto Del Rio ever patch things up and unite. They displayed zero chemistry together. I’d argue that whoever pitched and laid out this entire segment committed a suspend-able, if not fire-able, offense. There was nothing good about this segment. NOTHING. Don’t tell me the pop at the end meant anything, as it was just a pop for the title change novelty and nothing more. Dogshit segment. What’s even more irritating about Alberto dethroning Cena, on this particular night, and with this being Cena’s last night before taking some time away? Let’s rewind to June. Cena’s in the middle of a juicy feud against Owens. A friend of mine brought up something I hadn’t even picked up on; neither of the first two Cena vs. Owens classics had even spilled to the outside, 100% of the action staying inside the ring. So here’s what I had in mind at the time, and now knowing that Cena would be taking time off after this very show, I present the following: Battleground 2015 – Cena has a US Title open challenge against someone other than Owens and retains; Owens has a post-match brawl with Cena, getting the last laugh after making quick work of a jobber. SummerSlam 2015 – Cena vs. Owens III with a Dusty Finish, that being a double count out due to a brawl that becomes so heated they have to be pulled apart. The Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns feud ends here in a hot-as-shit chaotic tag match involving Luke Harper and Dean Ambrose. Raw: SummerSlam 2015 Aftermath – Cena and Owens have another brawl to close out the show, an extremely heated brawl on par with Brock Lesnar and Undertaker the month before, and both agree to a fourth match under Last Man Standing rules at Night of Champions 2015. This brawl is the white-hot segment going into the fall as an incentive to not tune out against Monday Night Football and the MLB playoffs. Night of Champions 2015 – Cena barely wins the Last Man Standing match in a controversial fashion that leaves a sour taste. Raw: Night of Champions 2015 Aftermath – Owens viciously assaults Cena, briefly putting him out of action, and steals the US Title. Raw: Hell in a Cell 2015 Go-Home – Cena makes his return from injury to target Owens and says he wants to give Owens one last shot at the US Title rather than steal it. They agree to settle it once and for all inside Hell in a Cell. There's no Cell overkill since Wyatt vs. Reigns ended in Brooklyn. Hell in a Cell 2015 – Owens wins the feud and dethrones Cena’s epic, interrupted reign as US Champion inside Hell in a Cell, and puts Cena out of action again, with the narrative being “this time it may be for good.” This five-month feud establishes Owens as a force to be reckoned with going forward, whether it be it a returning Sami Zayn or against main-eventers like Brock Lesnar and Undertaker, come April 3 in Dallas. It also spares us from Owens wasting his time in a feud against Ryback. You tell me that doesn’t sound plausible and far more effective than what we actually got. Hell in a Cell Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns This was a glorified plunder-fest, a good but not special one. Highlight include kendo sticks, face-smashing into a chair stuck on the Cell, and Reigns eating a Uranage Slam off the apron through a table on the floor, igniting a light “This is awesome” chant. With a table mid-ring, they had a struggle on the turnbuckle, and Reigns got underneath Wyatt to powerbomb him through the prop for a great near-fall. Both sold this powerbomb and earlier punishment after that spot, and there were lights “This is awesome” chants. Honestly though, the crowd should have been going crazy here as both men were down, which is a failure on both characters not being over as strongly as they’re pushed. They excited the crowd again with a Sister Abigail being turned into a roll-up, then a Superman Punch being a near-fall. Moments later, Wyatt ate a spear through a table on the floor for another great pop, triggering light “This is awesome” chants again. There was a great counter, as Wyatt blocked a spear and hit the Sister Abigail for a near-fall, and Wyatt can only laugh in reaction. But Wyatt cost himself when he sit up the sticks to protrude outward, talked shit to Reigns, got thrown towards the sticks, and then ate a spear. I’d like to see these work a Cell match against others, as both have thrived in gimmick matches against other opponents. ***1/4 Big E & Kofi Kingston cut another entertaining pre-match promo, burying the Lakers and mourning the absence of Xavier Woods tonight, while also carrying his broken trombone. They retain again to nobody’s surprise. Hell in a Cell Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker Taker shuts the door with authority to a tremendous crowd pop as he enters the Cell. Crowd has hot duel chants as they have a slug-fest to begin, including Taker knocking Lesnar off his feet in the corner. A great piece of psychology early when Taker uses his hips to throw Lesnar to the floor during a German Suplex attempt. Moments later, Lesnar is showing color as he gets shoved forehead-first into a steel post. After Lesnar is thrown in the ring and disgustingly wearing a crimson mask, he immediately gives Taker a spinebuster to regain the advantage and uses a chair, then collapses to sell the inflicted damage and get his color wiped off. Outside the ring, Lesnar continues the attack but Taker blocks a suplex attempt to deliver a snap suplex of his own on the floor. Dueling chants again once they’re back in the ring, and Taker slams Lesnar’s throat on the top edge of the chair. Taker is now showing color as well btw. Lesnar gets an adrenaline rush upon being Irish Whipped into a corner and has Taker now visiting Suplex City. After 3 German Suplexes and an F5, Taker sill kicks out and the doctor comes to check on Lesnar again, only to get tossed aside. Lesnar executes another F5 for a wonderful near-fall. No need for Lesnar to get frustrated, as it took 3 F5s to end the Streak. Lesnar introduces steel steps into the ring, then uses it to club Taker for another nearfall. Lesnar delays for a brief fraction of a second using them again to strike the fallen Taker, who takes advantage and rolls out of the way. Lesnar again takes too long due to blood loss and exhaustion so Taker shoves him away with his feet. Taker locks in the Hell’s Gate on the prone Lesnar, who pummels his way out of the submission and throws in a few punches more before collapsing. Lesnar then rips the apron mat, exposing the padding and then wooden panel underneath as Taker sits up. Taker chokeslams Lesnar onto the unpadded wooden board. However, he is too exhausted to even attempt a cover. Lesnar then eats a follow-up Tombstone Piledriver for an incredible near-fall, surprising Taker and both are down in exhaustion again. When Taker gets up, he motions to finish Lesnar, only to eat a low-blow and follow-up F5. That brings their iconic feud to a proper storytelling conclusion, with Lesnar winning every encounter except for one in which Taker did the same to him but in illegal fashion. This will get the same rating as the original 13 years earlier, and therefore I’d say is roughly the same level of excellence, but this lacked the genre-defining ingredient of No Mercy 2002. Perhaps that’s because of the pink breast cancer awareness ropes and lack of unfathomable underdog story, but make no mistake – this is tremendous. ****1/4 Post-match, Taker is left alone and thanked by the crowd, but is attacked by the Entire Wyatt Family, who then carry him out like a human sacrifice as the show goes off the air. Like I care about that feud. Voices of Wrestling’s Joe Lanza is correct – an overall awful show until the fantastic main event. Nothing else is required viewing.

ROAD TO HELL IN A CELL 2015 SmackDown! – October 8, 2015: The Good Shit The New Day cut a mildly amusing promo on Philadelphia, including a burial of Chip Kelly and the Eagles. A well-deserved burial, obviously. Xavier Woods talking shit is the obvious highlight of the Big E vs. Dolph Ziggler match. Kevin Owens on commentary highlights the Rusev vs. Ryback match. Yes, what better way to kickstart this IC Title reigns for Owens and rebuild its prestige than to have him continue feuding with Ryback through late October? Raw – October 12, 2015: The Good Shit John Cena puts over Chicago like usual and it’s the return of a 2015 highlight. US Title Match (Open Challenge) John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler After a left arm submission, Ziggler takes a powder and allows Cena to congratulate a couple in the audience just getting engaged live in the Allstate Arena audience. Like Cena did to Rollins for taking in the Houston audience a few weeks earlier, Ziggler takes advantage of Cena congratulating them again with an arm drag as the broadcast goes to a commercial break. Back from commercial break and the match follows the usual Cena style against a workhorse performer, meaning that he gives quite a bit, allowing Ziggler to shine. This was a VERY refreshing change to see Ziggler do more than just take a beating, only to have him spam moves without selling anything on a comeback. Instead, he avoided spamming superkicks prior to teasing it like Shawn Michaels as a finisher. Then when it was hit later, it actually meant something. Highlights from my memory of this match include Cena’s attempted Super Death Valley Driver backfiring, instead having him eat a Super DDT from Ziggler, Cena blocking the mentioned superkick tease and delivering a lariat for Ziggler’s troubles, and Ziggler pushing himself off Cena during a regular Release Death Valley Driver to hit a Fame-Asser for an incredible near-fall. Both men sold their exhaustion well, and the top highlight to me was when Cena blocked a Zig-Zag, turned around to eat a superkick as was teased earlier, and then Ziggler capitalizing on Cena’s positioning to hit the Zig-Zag for another incredible nearfall. So how did Cena win with his Release Death Valley Driver? By doing what he always does – using his experience as a cream-of-the-crop winner to find any opening he had to land it, and he did. Exceptional chapter to Cena’s iconic in-ring 2015. ***3/4 NXT – October 14, 2015: The Good Shit After Bayley gives a typical goodwill speech for the emotional MOTYC last week, she’s interrupted by Alexa Bliss, Wesley Blade, & Buddy Murphy. Bliss unconvincingly puts her over, then grabs the NXT Women’s Title to say she’s coming for it. The Revival state that by eliminating the Vaudevillains in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament, they are the #1 contenders for the NXT Tag Titles. No arguments here. NXT Title Shot Battle Royal Total of 22 participants in this one, so that means like most battle royals with that much overcrowding, this was a chore during its first half. Should’ve just gone with a dozen participants, as nobody bought Adam Rose or Mojo Rawley having any chance of winning this. I did like that the Revival, Rhino, and Baron Corbin immediately targeted Samoa Joe at the start, bitter about the week before. But nothing of interest happened until the second half when it was down to about a dozen participants. Corbin made a business decision and eliminated Rhino, which he can’t be blamed for at all. The crowd was SUPER behind Tyler Breeze to win this, taking notice that he was a veteran that have paid his dues in front of them and yet to reach his break yet. The crowd was so behind Breeze that they were pissed when Joe eliminated him, then delighted when Breeze retaliated by yanking him off the apron for an elimination! Looks like Breeze chasing the NXT mountaintop could have some legs to it. So it came down to Corbin and Apollo Crews, which was a fine final, although nowhere near the acclaimed Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker and Chris Jericho vs. Sheamus finishing stretches from their respective Royal Rumble matches. After a good closing few minutes, Crews managed to eliminate the entitled former gridiron player, securing himself a shot at the title less than 2 months since his debut, just like Kevin Owens earlier in the year. Prince Devitt vs. Uhaa Nation would definitely quality as a smark’s dream match. *** Raw – October 19, 2015 The only quality segment is WWE Champion Seth Rollins interrupting Shawn Michaels, the two of them face-to-face and having a verbal confrontation. However unlikely, if HBK were to come out of retirement to face Rollins before he gets too old… Everything else was such a waste, doing a HORRIFIC job not just as a go-home show for Hell in a Cell 2015 and failing to do anything of note with Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, and Undertaker, but throwing the Shield together for one night as a desperate ratings move. Unless, of course, the fine folks of Dallas, who will be hosting WrestleMania 32, saw the Shield together as a tease of sorts for something historic to come in six months… Main Event – October 20, 2015 Kevin Owens vs. Neville - *** NXT – October 21, 2015: The Good Shit Fun novelty on this show as James Storm makes his only appearance. The Full Sail crowd goes crazy, with the camera showing a mark losing himself like a girlfriend who just had marriage proposed to her by her soulmate. The crowd gives Storm a “You belong here” chant as he makes pretty easy work of a jobber, then delivers his “Sorry about your damn luck!” catchphrase to the jabroni. A shame WWE wouldn’t increase their offer just a bit more to beat out TNA, as Storm would’ve brought a different flavor to NXT and also be a great foil and mentor for Baron Corbin. Who is Apollo Crews? Pt. 1 Basic but effective interview package about Crews chasing his dream to become a WWE superstar. It’s very obvious that he came from a loving mother, who busted her ass to raise him and his siblings, instilling a work ethic in him that’s gotten him this far. Alexa Bliss reminds everyone she’s still coming for Bayley’s NXT Women’s Title after making quick work of a jobber. The broadcast ends with a backstage Samoa Joe promo, he’s pissed at Tyler Breeze. What a crazy concept, these two guys are at each other’s throats because both are aiming for the NXT Title. SmackDown! – October 22, 2015: The Good Shit Big E & Kofi Kingston are amusing being mad about Xavier Woods being put through a table this, sporting XW arm bands. Kane is admittedly amusing mocking them for their attempts at sympathy. This is on YouTube but I’m excluding it since Kane and Seth Rollins interact. Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro - ***1/4 MizTV Guests: Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae Ziggler tells Summer that he’s just into her, after trying to disguise it as not wanting to be used. Summer has a new man though… Tyler Breeze! He buries Ziggler for being an “uggo” and “mistreating” Summer, then Ziggler for whatever reason refers to Breeze as a lazy millennial; he must not watch NXT. Breeze attacks him and leaves him laying though, including using his selfie stick to attack Ziggler’s throat, which put him out of action a few months earlier when feuding with Rusev. I’m optimistic about these two flamboyant workhorses from a bell-to-bell perspective. However, I have major concerns about Breeze debuting already. Just two weeks earlier, Full Sail was going crazy for him, as he earned their respect by paying his dues there and busting his ass to have quality matches. So there’s PLENTY of juice left for him there, perhaps all the way through Dallas. In addition, while his gimmick got over in NXT, it’s honestly very one-dimensional and lacks legs to be anything substantial on the main roster. So I hope for two things: he’s transitioning for a while from NXT, and by the time he’s fully promoted (assuming this segment wasn’t that), his gimmick will have a bit more substance so that he can flourish. IC Champion Kevin Owens admits to being an asshole and says being respectful hasn’t worked out for Ryback, while burying the title’s lineage until he won it. Tremendous character work. An awful five weeks of build after Night of Champions 2015, with a huge failure to pick up on the white-hot momentum of Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker from the summer as they head towards their final battle.

NXT Takeover: Respect Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Semifinal Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. The Revival Dash Wilder goes for the early advantage, knocking Balor off the apron when the match starts, but Joe cuts off pretty quickly. Wilder quickly regains control though and Revival briefly cuts the ring in half on him, building to a semi-hot tag. When Balor gets involved, he’s a house of fire at first, laying in his usual arsenal and neutralizing both by himself, highlighted by a somersault plancha. Wilder would distract Balor though, allowing Scott Dawson to chop-block his left knee and the Revival were just vicious on Balor, feasting on that body part. Submissions, banging it against the ring post, wrapping it around the ropes, the Revival would not let up on Balor. With Balor playing the FIP, a much more significant hot tag was built, which made perfect sense since Joe works more of a powerhouse style. But when it looked like it’d happen, Wilder removed Joe off the apron, continuing the ring to be cut in half on Balor. The Revival ultimately cost themselves the match when Wilder got tagged in, then wanted to tag Dawson back in seconds later for assumedly more double-teamed work. Dawson was still dazed from a Balor blow though, so while Wilder was trying to reach him, this allowed Balor to break the grasp and get the hot tag on Joe, who quite easily finished off Wilder with a musclebuster. In another moment of stupidity, but perhaps because he believed the Revival needed an extra finishing touch, Balor requested to be tagged in, to which Joe obliged, and Balor followed-up on the musclebuster with the double foot stomp, further harming his damaged left knee in the process as he went for the victorious cover while Joe kept Dawson away. Quality opener here that put the Revival on the map and showed that Balor, after a bit of a dry spell as a babyface character in the build to the rubber match against Kevin Owens, may actually have a calling in filling Dolph Ziggler’s spot at some point. That spot would be as a babyface that can take a sympathetic beating with the added bonus that Ziggler lacks, which is to make believable comebacks, while also selling the damage. ***1/4 New tag champs please! Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournment Semifinal American Alpha vs. Rhino & Baron Corbin American Alpha eventually gain the advantage on Rhino by targeting his left arm, showcasing their spectacular teamwork, the highlight being a double Northern Lights Suplex. Eventually the smaller Chad Gable found himself playing the FIP when Corbin attacked him on the outside. The heels were a bit dry when working on Gable, especially following the Revival’s far more focused, purposeful attack in the prior match. Once Gable got the hot tag on Jason Jordan, the match became a breakout for American Alpha and advanced Corbin’s improvement. There were all kinds of great moves and technique vs. power battles in this one, and the highlight of the match came down to Gable vs. Corbin, as the former managed to hit a Chaos Theory on the latter! The damage Gable ate earlier though became too much once Rhino took out Jordan, allowing Corbin to hit the End of Days on a failed shoulder rotation move by the fatigued Gable. Definitely American Alpha’s breakout match, and Gable was incredibly over. He could very easily be a future NXT Champion before being promoted to the main roster should he and Jordan pursue singles careers. I know many were saying AA should’ve advanced due to how over they were, I say the same but for a different reason: one of the regular teams should’ve advanced, and it makes most sense for Rhino to take a pin rather than Balor, Joe, or Corbin based on booking goals. Still very good booking overall though that got everyone over more than before. ***1/4 Asuka’s WWE Debut Match Asuka vs. Dana Brooke Glorified squash here to present Asuka as a killer. She tried to play nice at first but Brooke wanted to troll and play mind games which magnificently backfired. Asuka was on her like white on rice, including rolling along with Brooke to maintain a hammerlock early. Asuka showed that she’s not here to be Bayley, as she also mocked Brooke’s antics, turning the mind games back on the fitness model. Emma had to bail Asuka out, but the writing was on the wall as soon as Asuka easily escaped a body-scissors submission. Once she got the armbar on, Brooke rolled over, and Asuka used the positioning to lock on a Danielson-style Crossface Chickenwing, it was all over. Post-match, Asuka knocks the shit out of Brooke for trying to be a sore loser, then intimidates Emma on her way out. Spectacular segment that fired on all cylinders. I like what this is teasing... Apollo Crews vs. Tyler Breeze Crews dominated early with his size, power, and agility, including a shoulder charge on the floor. It would take an elbow to the face and running into a turnbuckle to allow Breeze to gain control, giving him the opportunity to dump Crew to the outside vis a schoolboy roll. On the outside, Breeze tossed Crews towards the ring’s electronic board and Crews landed back-first on it. This allowed Breeze to target the back and neutralize the agility of Crews, who had difficulty sustaining a comeback because of it. After a modified Lungblower, Scorpion Death Lock, and other work on the back, Crews countered a cross-body attempt with a powerslam, then managed to military press slam Breeze, but the NXT veteran grabbed the legs of Crews, who shook him off. Breeze then got his knees into the gut of Crews during the follow-up moonsault. Breeze ultimately cost himself the major singles victory that had eluded him in 2015 by becoming predictable with multiple corner charges. Crews scouted it and hit a Yakuza kick and wasted no time getting his combination military press slam and moonsault on the dazed Breeze. ***1/2 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Rhino & Baron Corbin Dusty’s daughter-in-law Eden Stiles does the introductions. Balor started the match so that he and Joe would prove his left knee was good to go. This seemed to work for a while as Balor held his ground about the heels. Once Joe got tagged in, he ended up playing the FIP for a bit as he appeared to his lower back during a chokeslam variation by Corbin. When Balor got tagged in, he was good until he re-aggravated his left knee and Rhino chop-blocked him. With Balor’s knee acting up, Corbin went to work on it, copying the Revival’s steel post slam attack from earlier and beating on the NXT Champion. But Balor got too cocky like usual, gloating over his control and predictably running the ropes to deliver a punch, which the champ scouted to deliver a Sling Blade. Balor got the hot tag to Joe as Rhino got tagged in, and Joe owned the former ECW Champion. Balor took care of Corbin on the outside, using his right leg to finish the former gridiron player with a soccer kick, and got tagged in so Rhino could eat a combination musclebuster and double foot stomp, just like the semifinal match. Joe is genuinely giddy over the victory. Damn good tag team wrestling here that I’m sure would’ve made Dusty proud, and a major breakout night for Corbin. ***1/2 Post-match, the Rhodes family celebrate with Balor & Joe for the trophy presenation, with Dustin and Cody there, the latter willing to drop the Stardust nonsense because of how important this is. Cody says that tonight, “we are all Rhodes.” A tremendous segment, the first part that defined the name of this event. OH FUCK YES~! FINALLY CRANKING UP THE BALOR VS. JOE DREAM MATCH BUILD~! NXT Women’s Title – 30 Minute Iron Man Match Bayley vs. Sasha Banks Bayley is donning the red and gold colors of the Iron Man character, while Banks is decked in pink and yellow, which she apparently wore when breaking into the business in 2010. They soak in the moment and audience adulation to use up an entire minute, and the atmosphere is quite electric, with chants such as “Main event!” and “You deserve it!” directed at both women. The two lockups at the beginning are quite sensational, neither appearing to be in any hurry to unleash an offensive flurry, realizing that this is a marathon. After the feeling out process though they have sensational pinfall variation attempts, including a jackknife, La Magistral Cradle, and backslide, just to name a few. They have to be given credit for covering a bitch perfectly, as Banks didn’t get a full rotation for a Sunset Flip, so she immediately just went for a standard cover. This sequence ended when Banks dropkicked Bayley into the corner. Banks landed nastily on her left shoulder during an overhead arm drag, but she valiantly kept going, not wanting to piss away such a historic opportunity. They displayed some terrific scouting of each other, as Banks quickly shoved herself from a belly-to-belly suplex. Bayley goes a bit overboard with the respect, allowing Banks to catch her off guard but the champ regains control, causing Banks to take a powder. Bayley doesn’t let up though, knowing she has to stay aggressive when there’s potential blood in the water. Banks rolls her up though but gets caught with her feet on the ropes, then blocks the ref’s vision to deliver an eye poke for the 1-0 advantage. A tremendous first fall. Banks gives Bayley no rest period, so the champ matches the intensity, but a face crush attempt in the corner backfires, allowing the challenger to regain control They continue cutting off major moves for each other, only for Bayley to hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a 1-1 tie. The challenger takes a powder immediately to sell the finisher. Bayley makes the mistake of going for dropkicks on the outside, as Banks scouted it from earlier in the match, caught her, and slammed her into the steel steps. Banks repeats the steel staps slamming, then talks shit to Izzy for incredible crowd heat. Bayley continues kicking in despite the pain, then tweaks her knee when tossed to the outside. We then get a highlight as Banks throws Bayley into an LED board, then steals the hair bow from Izzy, getting a count out fall for a 2-1 lead, mocks Izzy, throws the bow back, and in the process gets PHENOMENAL heel heat! Bayley ensures she’s not counted out again, but Banks keeps the attack, getting cocky and mocking Bayley while targeting her back. This is just tremendous as the crowd are having the vintage dueling chants regarding Banks. She shows off her film study by talking shit to Bayley in the corner; the champ attempts to kick her, only for Banks to use the positioning to deliver a backbreaker! They have a tremendous near-fall as Banks locks on a standing Boston Crab, then stomps Bayley’s arm to move on. Banks goes for it again though and pays for it, as Bayley rolls her up for a 2-2 tie. The champ evades double knees to the back to regain control, hitting an ugly reverse Sling Blade, but it worked since she pulled the hair of Banks. She keeps selling exhaustion and back pain, showcasing what should make her a huge star on the main roster. They exchange Tree of Woe strikes, first Bayley giving an elbow drop, and a minute or so later Banks regaining control and delivering the double knees successfully, more than 20 minutes into this classic. Bayley does a sit-up in another Tree of Woe, allowing the charging Banks to crash her left shoulder into the steel ring post. That ain’t a good sign after the bad landing early on the overhead arm drag. Bayley gets some poetic justice from Brooklyn, slamming the left hand of Banks on the steel steps, selling the progression of a killer instinct. Bayley evades another charge from the desperate banks, and Banks for it by eating a left arm takedown, causing more pain on that side of her body, neck to hand. Banks experiences her left hand being smashed on the steel steps again, then Bayley runs on the steps for a running forearm attack, further selling her killer instinct, but Banks shoves her towards the steps. Banks attempts a suicide dive, but gets caught and eats a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor! That’s a nearfall in the ring, and would’ve been a decision had it not happened on the outside. Crowd is going crazy chanting “Iron woman!” Once again, Bayley is selling her back from the work of Banks earlier, struggling to mount the challenger on the top rope and capitalize. After the struggle, Bayley hits a Super Belly-to-Belly Suplex, but Banks is too close to the ropes on the pinfall! Just a few minutes remain and both are absolutely spent with a 2-2 tie. They have a SENSATIONAL near-fall as Banks lands on her feet when Bayley executes a Super Reverse Hurricanrana, and then the challenger hits a belly-to-belly suplex of her own! Bayley kicks out and rolls on her belly, so Banks immediately locks on the Bank Statement! Due to the left hand smashes, Banks cannot get a full grip on the submission, which Corey Graves terrifically points out. Banks copies Chris Benoit in the final moments of his classic match against Kurt Angle at Unforgiven 2002, bouncing her foot off the ropes to force both to roll backwards and prevent a rope break. Instead of going for a pinfall though, Banks locks the Bank Statement on again, still not getting a full grip, stomping Bayley’s hand. With less than a minute left, Bayley brakes the grip, then grabs the sore left hand for leverage and smashes it on the mat to neutralize Banks. Bayley rolls backward on a Lungblower due to the challenger’s sore left hand and locks Banks in a shoulder submission, then stomps her head for the victorious submission just seconds before the clock ran out! Both are absolutely spent and the Full Sail crowd obviously gives both women a well-deserved standing ovation. Just a shade below their Takeover: Brooklyn work of art, but this stands on its own as a MOTYC candidate as well. A tremendous atmosphere, an appreciative crowd, selling, psychology, callbacks to their prior classic, picking up on each other’s habit, Bayley showing a more aggressive side to prove Brooklyn wasn’t a fluke, Banks being a masterful heel, this really had it all. An absolutely breathtaking NXT swan song for Banks, putting an exclamation mark on this part of her career and making the champion as hot as possible on the way out. ****1/2 Post-match, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, various NXT officials, and the roster are at the entrance. Banks is presented with flowers from Regal and is in tears as the crowd thanks her for everything, knowing this is her NXT swan song. HHH presents flowers as well to Bayley in the ring, who’s also in tears of course, being part of such a historic and emotional presentation. For those wondering why NXT draws such a strong emotional connection to its audience like ECW, ROH, PWG, and NJPW, this segment, along with the trophy celebration of the prior match, are the evidence all one needs. This along with the Rhodes family segment show exactly what those in charge of this NXT operation feel about the business, its roster, and its viewership, and that is respect. This symbolizes how NXT has drawn the audience that was once in love with ROH, and is a defining reason why I have such a passionate fandom for this business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RrfGeatn9E Easily the show of the year from WWE, be it NXT or the main roster. EVERYTHING delivered and meant something, capped off with two incredibly classy moments and a historic MOTYC that bid farewell to one of its pioneers. I have nothing to nitpick about this show when looking at it as a whole package. This was a truly rewarding experience for this viewer and gets my strongest recommendation; it's required viewing for any degree of professional wrestling fan.

ROAD TO NXT TAKEOVER: RESPECT Raw – September 21, 2015: The Good Shit Why is Ryback vs. Bo Dallas worth watching? New IC Champion Kevin Owens on commentary, of course. I need say no more. Hope this Owens vs. Ryback feud doesn’t go all the way through Hell in a Cell 2015, though. Big E, Kofi Kingston, & Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler & Dudleyz One of the most entertaining matches of the entire year. New Day have the most entertaining promo of their feud against the Dudleyz, outraged over Xavier Woods being put through a table the night before. They even pose with Rusev during his pre-match routine. Highlights include Woods playing Rusev’s theme on the trombone, New Day going crazy over Rusev’s dominance, and even a brief encounter between Rusev and Bubba, which I’m in agreement with JBL in hoping for a singles match between the two in the future. All of that paled to the peak of the segment though, in which Summer Rae started playing along and dancing to the rhythm of Woods on the trombone, clearly having fun. A refreshing visual for Raw. In case anyone wonders why ratings dwindled severely and many fans had moved on to doing more interesting things with their leisure time, Big Show squashes Cesaro and cuts a promo on Brock Lesnar. Cesaro’s crime at SummerSlam 2015 doesn’t fit this punishment, as him having a shot at the Beast would be far more interesting to the New Yorkers at MSG on October 3, especially since he’s a far more recent Heyman guy. Don’t try to sell me on “the masses” caring about this Big Show push, as most lapsed casuals would see this and roll their eyes at the lack of fresh faces on top. Astonishing that Kane and Big Show get pushed AGAIN in 2015, this time in a lazy, pathetic attempt to lure viewers away from Monday Night Football. US Title Match John Cena vs. Seth Rollins This is booked by Kane and that’s all the detail I’ll provide since I’m not discussing the Rollins vs. Kane feud. Rollins is selling the pain of the prior night’s double-duty and attacks Cena immediately to offset that. Rollins dominated as usual in his matches against Cena, who would look for any moment possible to finish off Rollins. This understandably lacked the heat of their prior 3 matches, and why wouldn’t it? This was a meaningless match that everyone knew wouldn’t have a title change. The ending sums it up perfectly, as they channel the Electric Chair Drop Face Plant and Rollins successful High Fly Flow with weak abdomen from their SummerSlam 2015 work of art, resulting in Cena rolling from it immediately and planting Rollins with a Release Death Valley Driver for the victory. Why even have this match here, rather than a promo segment hyping up a rematch at MSG? *** NXT – September 23, 2015: The Good Shit Kana makes her debut as she’s welcomed by NXT GM William Regal, and displays that her stage name going forward is Asuka. Her enthusiasm feels incredibly authentic, igniting an NXT chant as she says this is a dream come true. Most importantly, she says she’s here to become NXT Women’s Champion and then signs the contract with Regal as Full Sail chants for her. This moment is course interrupted by Emma & Dana Brooke. “Asuka’s gonna kill you!” from the crowd, and they’re completely condescending towards Asuka and tell her to leave the ring, which she obliges. But at the entrance ramp, she simply turns around and smirks at them, letting them know with one simple facial expression that they fucked with the wrong motherfucker. Terrific buyer’s remorse body language and facial expression from Emma & Brooke. Terrific debut segment that set the wheels in motion for the end game of Asuka getting a championship match on a particularly important, if not THE most important, weekend of the year. Tyler Breeze is miserable when asked to comment on his match against Apollo Crews at Takeover: Respect, and the joyful Crews rubs that misery in his face. American Alpha cut a vastly improved promo, although it’s odd to see that Chad Gable never looks directly at the camera, while Jason Jordan does. The show ends with a Finn Balor & Samoa Joe promo, with the most notable part saying “Ain’t that right, champ?” as Joe slaps the NXT Title, which briefly catches Balor off-guard. SmackDown! – September 24, 2015: The Good Shit New Day punk out some geek backstage in an amusing little segment. Cesaro eeks out a win over Bo Dallas. You read that correctly. Let’s move on. IC Champion Kevin Owens is amusing stealing some spotlight during his partner Rusev’s pre-match routine. Why can’t every wrestler be this dedicated to the most minute details of their persona? Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose - *** Ambrose wins via O’Connor Roll when Kane does his lights out shtick to distract Rollins. That right there is what kills SmackDown! ratings – the champion gets pinned and yet the winner gets no title shot stemming from this match, because we just gotta push Kane. I’m trying to avoid the Rollins vs. Kane feud, dammit. Raw – September 28, 2015 One of the most pitiful efforts of the year from WWE. Remember that Raw has ratings competition against Monday Night Football too. NXT – September 30, 2015: The Good Shit A terrific Asuka video package airs that I’m unable to find posted by WWE. NXT GM William Regal grants Dana Brooke a match against Asuka at Takeover: Respect, then shows her and Emma some footage of her that scares the shit out of them, killing their cockiness. Emma hilariously wishes Brooke “good luck with that.” Back from commercial break, Asuka’s footage of her is shown just kicking a punching bag and smiling. American Alpha once again display that they’ve developed into a solid, effective promo duo and they get interrupted by the Revival, both teams debating on who will fail to advance to the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final next week. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Breeze – ***1/4 Rhino & Baron Corbin are way too confident in themselves about winning the tournament. Takeover: Respect lineup Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Semifinals Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. The Revival American Alpha vs. Rhino & Baron Corbin Asuka's WWE Debut Match Asuka vs. Dana Brooke Apollo Crew vs. Tyler Breeze Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Final NXT Women’s Title – 30 Minute Iron Man Match Bayley vs. Sasha Banks SmackDown! – October 1, 2015: The Good Shit Live From Madison Square Garden: The Good Shit Of note are that Sheamus & Rusev had an ugly post-match after losing a tag match together. Paul Heyman cuts a great backstage promo, promising MSG becomes Suplex City tonight. IC Title – Dream Match Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho – ***1/4 New Day cut a very good pre-match promo and then hold onto the Tag Titles over the Dudleyz, who are either toast, or their elusive 10th Tag Title victory under the WWE umbrella is being held for a stage more important than their hometown. Whatever, the sooner they turn heel for when the Usos return and also face Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns, the better. Raw – October 5, 2015: The Good Shit Tremendous opening segment as Paul Heyman & Brock Lesnar air footage from WrestleMania XXX and SummerSlam 2015. Heyman is absolutely magnificent articulating Undertaker’s consistent last laugh over the past quarter century, but had yet to do so against Lesnar. He says that Hell in a Cell isn’t Taker’s match, it’s Lesnar’s match! Without it being mentioned, that would be a fact, as Lesnar defeated Taker in their genre-defining first match inside the Cell 13 years earlier. This will be the end of their feud, as they’re never crossing paths again, one will ascend as the victor, the other will be left conquered. Big Show comes out right at Heyman’s promo ends, bringing a bit of a buzzkill to this segment. But it just turns out to be an excuse to keep Lesnar from standing by Heyman’s side, as Show is rejected when offering respect. That fits Lesnar’s gimmick, and him blowing off Show fits in perfectly with the Go to Hell Tour as well. Show trolls Lesnar about losing to Taker “again,” so Lesnar makes him pay. Luke Harper, Braun Strowman, & Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Randy Orton – ***1/2 New Day lay out US Champion John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, and the Dudleyz. This is New Day overload, and the time wasn’t right to turn them into a grittier threat. That time will come, but this reeked of Vince McMahon becoming a New Day fan and giving way too much of a dose of them to the audience, desperate against the ratings-magnet Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

THE END OF AN ICONIC FRANCHISE Night of Champions 2015: The Good Shit Preshow notes: Kevin Owens gives a great interview dismissing all the IC Champions of the past, saying tonight’s focus is solely on his acquisition of another prize. Booker T. at the analyst table hopes for Rusev to become a killer again and stop worrying about honeys. If the writers know that Rusev’s stock has fallen from this, why not just go back in that direction? Cosmic Wasteland vs. Neville & Lucha Dragons - ***1/4 New Day dismiss Tom Phillips from their Twitter Q&A. Tremendous responses to every question. Xavier Woods could not be any more of a douche-bag the way he has his hair styled and colored. Reminds me of a bushy Chris Jericho in the early 2000s. And now, the PPV portion. IC Title Match Ryback vs. Kevin Owens Very good pop for Owens when his music hits. Ryback dominates early but Owens gains control when he gives Ryback’s left arm a takedown on the top rope. This becomes the story of the match as Owens just targets Ryback’s left arm and shoulder with various strikes, bombs, and submissions. When Ryback made a comeback, he hit a couple left shoulder charges, but due to the pain, used his right arm the rest of the way. Owens managed to get out of the Shell Shocked since Ryback didn’t have enough strength in his shoulders; on a second attempt, Owens raked the eyes since the referee was out of position and captured his first IC Title to a wonderful pop! *** OH FUCK YES~! BROCK LESNAR VS. UNDERTAKER HELL IN A CELL II~! Well that definitely means there’s been a change in plans for Lesnar and Taker at WrestleMania 32. Perhaps we will finally get Taker, once labeled the "Conscience of the WWE" colliding against a certain WCW franchise icon? Can a certain goat-faced workhorse get cleared and we also get the greatest David vs. Goliath dream match of all-time? The New Day cut their typically entertaining pre-match promo, including spoofing State Farm’s “Like a Good Neighbor” slogan. Big E & Kofi Kingston retain the Tag Titles when Xavier Woods interferes for a blatant disqualification. Obviously the title change will be at MSG for a perfect Dudleyz homecoming. Of course, the New Day are hypocrites and get the tables to assault the Dudleyz. It backfires when Woods eats a 3D to the crowd’s delight. Dudleyz getting their heat back further telegraphs a title change in a rematch at MSG. Divas Title Match – No Champion’s Advantage Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte Charlotte is able to overcome taunting, mockery, and a tweaked knee that Nikki targeted like Owens did to Ryback’s left shoulder earlier in the evening, to mercifully bring the lackluster reign to an end, and more importantly, begin the next chapter of women’s wrestling. At least that’s the theory on paper. Why should I have faith in WWE actually DOING a change in direction, when they spent the last two months just TALKING about it? I do notice that Ric Flair and Becky Lynch are overjoyed for Charlotte, while Paige just applauds politely. In another great backstage interview, new IC Champ Kevin Owens completely deflects from the eye rake controversy, instead choosing to bury Ryback for reading self-help books and boast about having a prize again. Luke Harper, Braun Strowman, & Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho, & Roman Reigns Not much of a surprise for the mystery opponent, but it works since Jericho is a novelty and has history with the Wyatts. Perfectly executed match. After the babyfaces started with hot fire, the Wyatt Family cut the ring in half on Reigns, telling the story of him taking a beat down for a hot tag rather than play cleanup hitter. It really worked in this match as the crowd, which was actually a great crowd all night, was rooting for Reigns to make the hot tag. Once the hot tag was made, the match became an action-packed firecracker, with Ambrose in particular bringing the punishment. It eventually broke down to Strowman vs. Reigns, and the apparent heir to John Cena’s throne was scraping out a victory, including knocking down the new titan with a spear. As he prepared for a Superman Punch in the corner, Jericho tagged himself assuming he'd be fresher, having seen that Reigns was still sore from playing the FIP earlier. This proved to be costly, as Jericho didn’t have the firepower to stop Strowman, passing out in the bear hug. Post-match, Jericho just left without explanation, bumping shoulders unpleasantly with Ambrose, all of them bummed out. ***1/2 After the Authority give WWE/US Champion Seth Rollins a pep talk, Sheamus reminds them that his MITB contract is still looming. It’s time for our double main event. US Title Match Seth Rollins vs. John Cena Easily the match of the night. On repeat viewings, this fell off a bit due to Cena’s early sloppy punches and a moment later when Rollins was in position to deliver his jumping corkscrew roundhouse kick, but stood momentarily and grabbed at Cena, exposing that the plan was for Cena to back-drop him. This was still a very good match with a tremendous crowd, one that was so good that once Rollins got comfortable after dominating early, having an answer to everything Cena was dishing out, he wasted time soaking in the atmosphere, going in 360 degrees as the crowd did the wave in sync with him. Of course, the first-ballot HOFer Cena pounced right on it with a schoolboy attempt, showing Rollins needed to remain disciplined and not let up on his control. There were a number of highlights in this match, including a failed High Fly Flow from Rollins, Cena countering a Buckle Bomb attempt with a hurricanrana that caused Rollins to bounce spine and neck-first off of the turnbuckles, and a somersault plancha fairly early from Rollins to keep the punishment coming to Cena. But the answer became clear in the finishing stretch as to whether Rollins could defeat Cena on his own, and it was a resounding no, falling to the Release Death Valley Driver and allowing Cena to pick up where he left off after a brief interruption to his US Title run. Rollins gave his all to hold onto it though, rather than throwing the match away for the more important WWE Title defense coming up immediately afterwards. This showed the pride he took in being a champion, his thirst to maintain the bragging rights as a dual champion and sabotaging Cena to boot, and in the process put over the importance of the US Title, which I deeply appreciate. ***3/4 Post-match, Rollins attempts to just leave with the WWE Title, but Cena says it’s time to back up what he signed for. Cena gives the WWE Champ a Release Death Valley Driver on the floor, throwing him into the ring. I’m sure Cena was happy to see Rollins have to back his double-duty shit-talk like Jay Lethal on the same weekend or Christopher Daniels in the beginnings of ROH, for he, Dolph Ziggler, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and Low Ki had been booked in multiple matches and went through with them, often with smiles on their faces, welcoming the challenge, and overcoming the adversity. WWE Title – Sting’s Final Match Seth Rollins vs. Sting Another match that fell off a bit, as this was quite sloppy but for very understandable reasons. I’ve made it clear time and time again that I’m tired of wrestlers working multiple matches on the same card, especially both matches being singles. So it made sense that Rollins couldn’t go at the killer speed as the prior match, which was truly PPV quality. After Sting dominated early over the fatigued, damaged Rollins, the champ got the advantage and perhaps set the unfortunate wheels in motion for what was to come less than 15 minutes later. Sting was shoved and took a commentary table bump, and his head came AWFULLY close to hitting a monitor and almost giving him a concussion. Of course, based on the circumstances of what was soon to unfold in front of this excellent Houston crowd, a concussion here, thus causing the match to immediately end, would’ve actually been a blessing. Sting took so long to get up that the referee stopped the 10 count on both men, and Rollins considered just leaving with the title, looking like he’d possibly win by medical stoppage. Once Sting was up though, the closing bell not rung yet, the champion pounced on the HOFer (which I’m so glad I can use in reference to the Stinger now.) Sting was valiant though, shoving the still-fatigued champ off the apron to the barricade, allowing himself to make a comeback. Sting was very good in this portion of the match, but he was poor earlier delivering hope spots, if any, when Rollins had some control prior to this, and the commentary table bump can’t be solely blamed for that. When Rollins started regaining control, Sting clenched his own fists and wiggled his arms a bit while lying on the mat, indicating there could be an issue with his neck or shoulders. With the biggest prize in the industry on the line though, he kept going, until the shitty occupational hazard side of this industry kicked in, eating a Buckle Bomb and suffering a legitimate neck injury, and struggling to stay upright, not having the ability to run without collapsing. After attention from the doctor, Sting keeps it going, even though he knew his name would never get to be added to the WWE Title lineage, wanting to give the paying fans a fight to the bitter end. He blocked two Pedigree attempts from Rollins, turning both into Scorpion Deathlocks. The first was applied poorly since Sting could barely stand on his own two feet, and his injury caused him to over-rotate the second time, allowing Rollins to roll him up for the three and, seeing how scary this is, along with the fact that Sting would be 56 years of age at the time of this match, officially bringing an absolutely epic era to an abrupt conclusion. Gotta be crushing for Rollins as Sting was one of his favorites growing up; he isn’t alone in feeling that emotion. Sting is able to walk to the back with help from medical staff, and Sheamus comes out to Yakuza Kick the gloating Rollins. Before he can officially cash in the MITB contract, Kane’s music hits and Sheamus avoids using his title shot, not wanting Kane to ruin it. Kane chokeslams Rollins and Sheamus asks for him to do it again and allow Sheamus an ever easier WWE Title victory, but Kane just does it to Mr. MITB instead. I didn’t buy into Sheamus not shrugging Kane off; perhaps that’s because I’m not buying ANOTHER Kane push in 2015, and thus this is the final time I cover the Rollins vs. Kane feud. Damn good show that’s required for abrupt historical purposes. This would happen to be the first domino falling to obliterate my dream WrestleMania 32 card, since although it was unlikely to happen, Sting vs. Undertaker was one of the marquee matches I envisioned. It was just never meant to be, and I’ve come to grips with that, instead appreciating what we as wrestling fans DID get for 30 years. This also cancels Sting's actual planned match, confirming the conclusion I had jumped to earlier in the month, courtesy the Wrestling Observer Newsletter: I’m not going to even try to do justice to Sting’s career. There are better people to do that than me, even if I was to try. I cannot do justice to his Hall of Fame career that spanned three decades. Since I “grew up” as a viewer and started writing reviews four years ago, I’ve only managed to see three of Sting’s matches, none of them from the 20th Century, none of them from WCW, none of them even from the 2000s decade. Because of that, I don’t have the proper perspective to go as in-depth into what Sting contributed to this business as I’d like to. What I will instead do is explain what he meant to me as a 10-year-old boy that was introduced to this wacky form of entertainment, and why he left the business in a state better than before he came into it. I’ve been a wrestling fan since November 1997, I believe a week after the Montreal Screwjob. I can remember exactly who the childhood friend is that converted me into a wrestling fan. (Ironically enough, he’s now a resident of the DFW metro area.) I firmly believe after all these years that the reason I latched onto wrestling is because it was a natural crossover form of entertainment to me, as I have always been a HUGE fan of fighting games since my mother introduced me to Mortal Kombat during my early days of elementary school (proving that mother knows best as she accurately assumed I’d love that video game.) I couldn’t have jumped onto the pro wrestling bandwagon at a more appropriate time, as I was first introduced to WCW right as the historic, highly anticipated Starrcade 1997 was just several weeks away. While I now wish I had been introduced much sooner to capture the birth of the nWo and experience the iconic Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin feud in real-time, it was really perfect timing to hook me during the thick of the War. Within a month, having also discovered the World Wrestling Federation right as it was unleashing its Attitude Era, I can think of the four wrestlers that immediately grabbed me for different reasons, all of them babyfaces at the time: Sting, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, and Rey Mysterio. Of the four, Sting was easily my favorite wrestler at first, partially due to the meticulous ascension he was taking towards finally thwarting the New World Order, and my parents, despite me only being a fan for a month, ordered Starrcade 1997 for me as a Christmas gift. Those of you reading this are well-aware of what a shit-show that PPV turned out to be. I’m not gonna dig into the details here, as the Observer exists for that reason, and the fine duo over at the Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast will cover it tremendously in the coming weeks, hopefully by the time I’m in Dallas. Despite what a wretched abomination that event turned out to be, and being the naïve boy I was at the time, I was happy to see Sting win the WCW Title, not fully grasping the shady antics to undermine him that had occurred in his iconic showdown against Hulk Hogan. There is a VERY good chance that if not for Sting, I may have never been converted to a lifetime pro wrestling fan. None of you would be reading this, would’ve ever met me, if it wasn’t for Sting. While my favorites would change as time went on, I always still liked him, rooted for him, and eventually gained a deep respect for him as I got older, a respect that was legitimately earned by him. I know I’m not alone in this case, as there are numerous fans who express the same, such as LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, Shelton Benjamin, and Bray Wyatt, who stated when discussing the possibility of what would turn out to be a planned match at WrestleMania 32, “I have to have [that] before I die; I don't care if it happens outside a Waffle House, somewhere.” Sting was also held in such regard that when the Dwayne Johnson was pitched a match against Shawn Michaels for WrestleMania 21, the Rock instead suggested to work a match against Sting or Randy Savage. Since I became a reviewer in May 2012, the 3 matches I’d seen involving Sting were obviously way past his peak; two of them I saw live, the other on broadcast as his career abruptly ended. The first time I saw him perform was in a totally meaningless Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown 2013 in San Antonio, shortly before I returned home to Seattle. While I was happy to see him live at least once considering I never saw Bret Hart, Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, or Kenta Kobashi, the match still left a lot to be desired for me as a Sting fan and it wasn’t his fault. Thankfully the chickens finally came home to roost for that federation, causing Sting to make his elusive WWE debut and allowing me to see him in a much more satisfying match against Triple H at WrestleMania 31. For that, I feel both privileged and grateful, and I believe I did that dream match justice when I reviewed it at the beginning of this Road to WrestleMania 32 project. Sting’s influence obviously cannot be denied on the industry, including names such as Kane, Goldust, Bill Goldberg, Tyson Kidd, and AJ Styles. His fingerprints are still felt today both as a persona and in-ring character. There’s the argument that he took too long to develop into a quality promo, that he wasn’t the most effective draw, and sometimes was too lackadaisical to be considered a Hall of Famer. When arguing about his HOF candidacy, I point to Sting’s importance during the War, drawing the biggest box office in WCW history, and his legendary feud against Ric Flair as evidence of his drawing power. Once he, AJ Styles, and Bad Influence departed TNA, Impact ratings dipped significantly enough to get phased out by SpikeTV. In every locker room, from the grimy territories, to Jim Crockett Promotions, to WCW, to TNA, and ending in WWE, there won’t be one piece of shade thrown in Sting’s direction. Like another favorite wrestler of mine that I’ll be reflecting on later in this Road to WrestleMania 32 journey, Steve Borden was by all accounts too good for this business, the consummate professional and quality human being that is so rare to see in an industry with carnival roots. Professional wrestling is better because of Steve Border’s contributions as Sting, both on and off the screen, inside and outside of the ring. While his spot in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame still eludes him, I am ecstatic to know that WWE will honor him in his new hometown of Dallas, and he will get his moment in front of nearly 100,000 loved ones, peers, and devoted fans at WrestleMania 32. While I have no plans to attend his induction ceremony, I greatly anticipate being in attendance at AT&T Stadium to give him his deserved Hall of Fame pop. I didn’t quite realize six months ago when his career ended how much Sting meant to me a wrestling fan. It is with tears in my eyes today that should he ever read this, I have only a simple statement for him: Thank you, Sting. Thank you for everything. Thank you for drawing me into this wacky business and causing me to fall in love with professional wrestling. Thank you for proving that sometimes our childhood idols actually are good, respectful, kind-hearted, God-fearing people. There will never be another one like you.

Spectacular squashing here that had to have been inspired by Super Bowl XLVIII. And just like the Broncos managed to squeak in one touchdown in that laugher, Cena did find ways to get some offense in and get a nearfall on the superior Lesnar with a Death Valley Driver. Other than that and his attempts to make comebacks though, this was the Brock Lesnar Show. Sixteen German Suplexes, numerous knees to the gut and ribs, and just nonstop shit-talking from Lesnar made this an uncomfortable sight to witness. Some idiots, having zero instinct on what the ultimate purpose of this match was, even get bored because this is such a one-sided ass-kicking. Lesnar has enough and conquers the face of the company for the last decade, winning the WWE Title for the first time in that time span as well. Like Brie vs. Steph, no special rating from me, but a special match with historic value that may have an ever greater legacy depending on what happens when WM31 closes.

Danielson's 2010 matches against Fish and Suwa are must-see.

Still waiting for your detailed, elaborate piece on this.

http://www.cubedcirclewrestling.com/blog/feature/the-final-conquest-why-nxt-may-be-a-long-term/ A *TREMENDOUS* piece of caution as WWE is about to have its likely best of the year, in addition to its biggest show of the year on the same weekend.

ROAD TO NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS 2015 Raw – August 24, 2015: The Good Shit Earlier today at “WWE World Headquarters in Stamford, CT,” Triple H boasts about SummerSlam 2015 living up to the hype, and then accrediting WWE Champion and new US Champion Seth Rollins for that. The double main event sure lived up to the hype and Rollins was the best performer among the four participants, that’s for sure. He asks for a statue in his honor, which HHH agrees to for tonight. They hug, just rubbing it in that while of course not sexual, this business relationship is beyond professional, especially when comparing to NXT GM William Regal’s interaction with Bayley earlier in the month. Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar kick off the show, both visibly pissed and the latter showing the bumps and bruises from the prior night’s war against Undertaker. Heyman shows the footage of Taker tapping out, then buries Taker’s mystique as a fable and Pavlovian belief. The footage clearly shows that Taker was admitting he could no longer let Lesnar bring the pain and that the Beast is clearly the alpha between the two. Lesnar isn’t pissed at the referee or timekeeper, as they were just doing their jobs in the circumstances presented, with the latter having “compassion” seeing Taker tap out. This is just tremendous, especially when he says he has enough material to keep talking for all 3 hours, which the crowd reacts to with great glee. It continues as Heyman points out Taker’s desperation by going for the low blow and taking the tainted victory. “Brock Lesnar told you G.F.Y.” upon giving Taker the middle finger, and that Taker just can’t hang with him. Lesnar wants a rematch tonight, which obviously isn’t happening. “Brock ain’t waiting ‘till Hell,” and we’ll do this “Brooklyn style.” That first quote… possible foreshadowing? But Bo Dallas comes out to be incredibly condescending to Lesnar. The response is a visit to Suplex City, with extra ones plus an F5 at Heyman’s request, confirming these two are clearly anti-hero babyfaces at this point. This is clearly a way to appease those who tired of Lesnar just standing next to Heyman when appearing on Raw, and it clearly worked as the crowd kept wanting more. Braun Strowman debuts as a Wyatt Family member to destroy Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns. Like I could give a shit about such a green horn or even believe there’s any possibility that his size (which is the entire shtick) is gonna move the needle competing against football season and the MLB playoffs. MizTV Guests: Team PCB Here you go, folks. Jon Stewart comes out to explain his actions the night before, getting significant appreciation from the NYC audience for it. He simply states his goal wasn’t to help out Rollins, but to prevent Cena from trying Ric Flair’s promoted World Title reigns. “As far as I’m concerned, the champ… is… Flair!” Flair comes out to reveal Stewart fucked up, as he was rooting for Cena. He wants someone that he respects to have the bragging rights when the record is inevitably broken. The crowd disapproves, so Flair responds with “Hey, hey, hey, you don’t gonna like it, you gotta learn to love it because it’s coming from the best thing today, baby. Remember that. Don’t forget… God’s in the house tonight.” Awesome. These two are just great with their interactions, Stewart regretting not coming to Flair ahead of time for his blessing. Flair says Stewart has “messed up everything” and Cena comes out. He’s tremendous pacing back-and-forth, furious about what happened, while Stewart is tremendously nervous. Make this guy the lead authority figure going forward please. Cena is at peace with not trying Flair’s record; instead, he’s far more pissed that now the US Title is around the waist of Rollins, since now that title also has political poison surrounding it and less guys under the glass ceiling will have opportunities to excel. Everyone here is just perfect, with Flair staying quiet and letting Cena have at Stewart verbally. Stewart says as a fan though, he could not allow Cena to tie Flair’s record and apologize, ever so nervously. He then tries to spin it back saying Cena has a chance to regain the US Title. Cena gives him a receipt in the form of a Release Death Valley Driver, with Flair gazing down at Stewart, embarrassed for him but knowing he made his bed. Excellent segment allowing Flair and Stewart to give Cena a bit of rub, putting over the promoted Flair record, and putting over the importance of the US Title. In a rarity, Cena was actually pissed about being cheated out of victory, rather than shrugging his shoulders with the assumption that he'll make it right in the near future. Back from commercial break, Cena says in an impromptu interview with Renee Young he’ll have a talk with Rollins later tonight. Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, & Randy Orton vs. Big Show, Rusev, Sheamus, & Kevin Owens – *** The Authority use Cena’s receipt on Stewart shortly later to throw him out so he doesn’t ruin the presentation of the Rollins statue. Raw – August 31, 2015: The Good Shit Sting kicks off the show with mostly an effective promo, making it clear that he at least respected Triple H, but doesn’t respect the pampered WWE Champion Seth Rollins, and he’s coming for that elusive WWE Title. He goes overboard with the HHH respect when saying Rollins isn’t “half the man Triple H is.” Otherwise this was perfect, as Sting made his points passionately and did so in just several minutes, not overstaying his welcome. Puzzling that he got no promo time during the HHH feud. On the other hand, Rollins being a pampered teenager to his Authority parents does a shitty job of following up on the hard work of Cena the week before, doing no favors to reinforce him as a legitimate menace, and of course devaluing the WWE Title. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens - ***1/4 (I was 100% correct about Cesaro’s lack of crowd connection at SummerSlam 2015. He’s already getting cooled down and only used to reheat Owens.) The New Day cut an amusing promo trying to shame the Dudleyz from using tables. Not much mileage in that, but they get everything they can out of the shtick. Dudleyz win a non-title match over Big E & Kofi Kingston. In what could just be a coincidence to ROH’s booking of Jay Lethal and reDRagon, Rollins not only has to defend the WWE Title against Sting, but also the US Title against John Cena at Night of Champions 2015, which is confirmed by Stephanie McMahon. I hate the idea of “all championships are defended” as a gimmick novelty, but in this instance, it worked: Rollins has two titles, he must defend both in separate matches and lick the figurative egg off his face. Main Event – September 1, 2015 Jack Swagger vs. Kevin Owens - ***1/2 NXT - September 2, 2015: The Good Shit Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano make their first WWE on-screen appearances, as he books them against Bull Dempsey & Tyler Breeze next week in a first round match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. In a backstage interview, Finn Balor & Samoa Joe are excited to team up in the tournament, but Joe isn’t that subtle in congratulating him for retaining the NXT Title against Kevin Owens. If an inevitable main event feud for the brand’s top title against Fergal Devitt doesn’t motivate Joe to try returning to his greatness of a decade earlier, then nothing will. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament – 1st Round Match American Alpha vs. Neville & Solomon Crowe - ***1/4 SmackDown! – September 3, 2015: The Good Shit The New Day kick off with another amusing promo about tables shaming. It becomes the standard, easily forgotten interruption promo involving the Dudleyz and Prime Time Players. New Day are amusing on commentary during the Dudleyz vs. PTP match. They continue to be amusing after the Dudleyz victory. In short: the New Day carry this entire segment and everyone else are just bodies to be mocked, shamed, and laughed at by New Day. We get back from commercial with the New Day in a jolly mood. They’re stunned when Renee Young informs them they’re facing Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns tonight. Awesome reaction from them. Sheamus vs. Cesaro – *** (Cesaro’s cooldown project continues coming out of SummerSlam 2015 as I suspected, but on the other hand, the Money in the Bank contract holder should be given a credible win more often.) The Wyatt Family tease a match against Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns at Night of Champions 2015. That’ll obviously be a trios match. Raw – September 7, 2015: The Good Shit Sheamus interrupts the monotonous, never-ending Seth Rollins promo to remind him he could cash MITB in at any moment, and perhaps it’ll be best to do it at Night of Champions 2015 after both of the champion’s title matches. Makes sense to me. Backstage, Rollins finds Stephanie but wants to talk to Triple H, who’s in the room too. To prepare Rollins for his upcoming double-duty, he’s doing it tonight, first in singles against Ryback, then teaming later with the New Day against John Cena & Prime Time Players. While the double-duty preparation makes sense for the month’s storyline, this entire direction doesn’t benefit Rollins at all, nor Raw now going up against Monday Night Football starting next week. Rollins was presented once again as going to mommy and daddy for help, then unhappily accepting his matches for the night like a chump, and by pulling double-duty tonight, that’s just more mileage for him, AND it guarantees a THIRD segment for him tonight just at ringside, not even counting any backstage skits. That’s just overexposure. No matter how talented this young man is, he doesn’t have the overwhelming charisma, personality, effective promo ability, and connection yet (and may never) to be showcased as much as CM Punk and Daniel Bryan could before him. Ryback’s promo about Rollins is interrupted by Kevin Owens, who's surprisingly eating an apple, a healthy food! He doesn’t spit his bites in Ryback’s face like Carlito would, but says to be careful “not to bite off more than you can chew.” Subtle irony here as Owens points out that Ryback looks hungry. Ryback picks up a win over Rollins when the WWE/US Champion is distracted by Sting, who’s waiting somewhere on the arena premises with the stolen statue. Way to build up credibility for when someone dethrones Rollins, plus Ryback doesn't at least get a strong win to earn a WWE or US Title shot either. Sting’s not presented in the most effective fashion either, using goofy personality traits like a portion of his time spent in TNA. The Wyatt Family assault Randy Orton after his victory against Sheamus. So much for keeping the MITB contract holder credible. Now I’ve been looking forward to Wyatt vs. Orton as a WrestleMania 32 match. By having this segment already in September, while the reason is obvious to keep him from teaming with Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns at Night of Champions 2015, it tells me that Orton will be Wyatt’s next feud after Reigns, which to me is very obviously concluding at Hell in a Cell 2015. Therefore, no Wyatt vs. Orton at Jerry World; since Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker is reported to have their feud end at the Granddaddy of ‘Em All, that means Sting ain’t getting Taker. Therefore, that telegraphs Sting vs. Wyatt for the Showcase of the Immortals. Big Show interrupts Cesaro vs. The Miz. Yep, Cesaro’s getting buried again, as he eats a knockout punch from Show. Are we really booking ANOTHER substantial push for Big Show after he was vociferously rejected earlier in the year? Even though Cesaro failed to connect on the second biggest show of the year, does THIS punishment fit the crime? Seth Rollins, Big E, & Kofi Kingston vs. Prime Time Players The Xavier Woods Show here, as he delivered his most sensational performance probably since New Day turned heel. He was just on fire as E & Kingston dominated Cena. All the work into making New Day shine seemed to be a waste when Cena easily pinned Kingston at the end, but we gotta make sure Cena is strong. Why not have Cena take the pinfall to Rollins here? It gives Rollins bragging rights, while Cena can say “Congrats, you did it in a trios match after the other guys did all the work. We’ll see what happens at Night of Champions.” Losing a match here and there ain’t gonna hurt Cena, trust me. This match really seemed to book everyone in a corner, as the writers clearly didn’t want Cena to take the pin, it would’ve been ludicrous to have Rollins take his second pin of the night, and PTP were getting the Tag Titles shot next week. Weird match, but worth checking out just for New Day’s performance, Woods in particular. Then after the match, Sting channels Heath Ledger’s Joker a bit more, dumping the Rollins statue in a dumpster truck. The writers were clearly influenced by The Dark Knight here, as we see a man with his face mainly painted white (not in the sexual way of course), acting a bit loony, and riding alongside a dumpster truck as it takes off. Way too silly of a direction; instead of going in this mind games direction that makes Rollins look like even more of a bitch, how about continuing to focus on Sting’s thirst to capture the elusive WWE Title and that Rollins is gonna do his damnedest to hold onto it despite the circumstances when they collide? (What these writers should’ve booked on this edition of Raw based on Night of Champions 2015 direction: no double-duty for Rollins. The main event is Rollins & Owens vs. Ryback & Cena with Owens pinning Ryback to earn an IC Title shot since that was clearly a telegraphed program on this night already. Ryback and Owens have a brawl that takes them away from ringside; Cena gives the cocky Rollins a Release Death Valley Driver after Sting has the lights go out, presenting himself in a brooding, mysterious fashion rather than lighthearted dark comedy babyface. Boom, now three title matches for the PPV have just been highlighted without anyone looking like a complete bitch.) Main Event – September 8, 2015 Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens – ***1/2 NXT – September 9, 2015: The Good Shit Finn Balor & Samoa Joe check on each other to make sure they're ready for tonight’s main event against the Lucha Dragons. No subtlety at all when Joe reminds Balor to not forget his NXT Title. In their debut match, Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano defeat Bull Dempsey & Tyler Breeze to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. In a backstage interview, Dana Brooke says she made some big sacrifices to be in WWE and wants to become NXT Women’s champion and the best female wrestler on the roster. New NXT Women’s Champion Bayley returns to Full Sail next week! Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament – 1st Round Match Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons Taped August 25, 2015 in Providence, RI Quality match here as everyone had chemistry. There’s not much to comment on here other than to say it looks like Joe is really finding his groove again that fans of TNA and the independents were privileged to witness a decade earlier. I’m DEFINITELY interested in a Joe vs. Kalisto singles match at some point. Of course the champ and obvious future #1 contender advance. I do really hate that the show just fades out as Balor & Joe celebrate, not one mention from the commentators or a thrown-in video to promote next week, leaving this feeling much like a tacked on extra on a DVD release. ***1/4 SmackDown! – September 10, 2015: The Good Shit Sheamus once again warns Seth Rollins that he holds the MITB contract. The trios match pitting the New Day against Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Jimmy Uso is on its way to getting ***+, but Jimmy gets attacked in darkness by the Wyatt Family to send a message like they did using Orton. Would’ve much preferred the babyfaces winning here, do the sports-entertainment shit in the post-match, and have Ambrose & Reigns get a Tag Titles shot next week. Lumberjack Match Seth Rollins vs. Ryback A quality lumberjack match here, making it one of the best ever of course. This one was just booked incredibly. Big Show would attack Ryback and Mark Henry would step in, only to get knocked out and then the babyface lumberjacks would force Show out. There’s that Big Show push all of you were demanding. When the heel lumberjacks would pounce on Ryback, it was noticeable that Kevin Owens just stayed in his spot, seeming either disinterested or with a hidden agenda as his body language displayed as soon as he came to ringside before the match. Heels would interfere in the ring and attack Ryback, then the babyfaces stepped in. With the match even again, Ryback got the upper hand on Rollins, deadlifting the WWE/US Champ on a Pedigree attempt and getting him in position for the Shell Shocked, but Owens would grabs Ryback’s foot, causing him to trip and for Rollins to finish him off with a Pedigree. It was obvious Owens had something going on in his mind, and he was tremendous during this entire segment, making it clear again that he’s coming for the IC Title. Good action start to finish as well. ***1/4 Raw – September 14, 2015: The Good Shit The company is clearly concerned already about the season premiere of Monday Night Football, as the Authority confirms Sting competes tonight for the first time ever on Raw. A complete lack of forethought not to have planned this when Sting returned in Brooklyn, as this historic match could’ve possibly popped a rating if advertised a week or so in advance. Sting faces Big Show, by the way. Again, the Big Show push you were all demanding, but it makes sense since he’s familiar with Sting, as much as I’d love to see Sting in dream matches against John Cena, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, or even Kevin Owens. Also, I recall some feeling that Sting is made as less of a big deal by working a match on free TV. Bullshit, as Undertaker has worked plenty of free TV since becoming a part-time special attraction. The Authority are amusing dancing with the New Day after introducing them to the ring. Big E & Kofi Kingston of course retain the Tag Titles against the Prime Time Players. As usual, Xavier Woods is sensational, using the trombone to provide a sample of the “The Pink Panther Theme.” Since Seth Rollins is having problems with both, Triple H books Sheamus vs. John Cena tonight. Now this is a match Sheamus can lose without being hurt, as Cena is clearly still a priority, as compared to losing last week to Randy Orton, who’s just running on a midcard treadmill. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns inform the Wyatt Family on MizTV that they found a partner for a proper trios match at Night of Champions 2015. Sheamus vs. John Cena - ***1/2 Kevin Owens mercifully interrupts IC Champion Ryback’s promo, mocking him for regaining his confidence from reading The Secret. Owens says Ryback should’ve never hit rock bottom, because look at him, he’s muscular and got chances handed to him, as compared to Owens, not chiseled, having to scratch and claw for over a decade to get on WWE’s radar. Owens takes exception to Ryback as IC Champion, and when the champ retorts, Owens is great just smugly smirking to dismiss it. Ryback puts Owens over for the journey he took to get to WWE, but Owens scoffs at that respect, and says that while he failed at first, he climbed back to become a success and champion. Owens promises to dethrone him at the first chance, and Ryback confirms they’re having a title match at Night of Champions 2015. Very good dynamic here and quite refreshing for Owens to get substantial promo time again. Nikki Bella holds onto the Divas Title against Charlotte via Dusty finish, allowing her to break AJ Lee’s record for longest reign in that championship’s history. Stephanie McMahon books a rematch for Night of Champions 2015. The chase for the record and Nikki’s tainted achievement of it are presented as a great deal, so that’s why it’s being mentioned here. But honestly, when considering the following: The lackluster majority of that title’s existence The previous usually lackluster Women’s Title that was unified with it in lackluster fashion at Night of Champions 2010 Nikki’s totally lackluster reign since dethroning Lee in lackluster fashion at Survivor Series 2014 The absolutely fucking WRETCHED “Divas Revolution” I cannot possibly give a shit. That said, I *AM* looking forward to Charlotte’s obvious win coming up so that WWE’s female wrestling division can finally turn the page into being respected and trusted to deliver storylines, segments, and matches that qualify as The Good Shit. Everyone does deserve tremendous credit for selling the emotions of this Dusty finish, I just can’t be won over quite so easily due to the reasons I listed. Sting vs. Big Show is ruined by Seth Rollins interference but Cena comes to Sting’s aid, leading to an obvious impromptu main event. Once again, a top star pulls double-duty. Seth Rollins & Big Show vs. Sting & John Cena A very fun and obviously historic match, as Sting makes the only Raw in-ring competition of his career matter, having a hot finish as he forces Rollins to tap out to the Scorpion Death Lock. Little did we know what a historic novelty this would be. NXT – September 16, 2015: The Good Shit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac79GiWVG3o Emma & Dana Brooke feel overlooked, vowing to properly introduce the newbies. That’ll be hilarious. Sasha Banks is in the house! Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament Quarterfinal Rhino & Baron Corbin vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano - ***1/2 New NXT Women’s Champion Bayley has a wonderful Full Sail homecoming, going through the audience and bringing Izzy, a 9-year-old girl who’s her biggest fan, into the ring so they both can pose as champions. Bayley takes care of Sara Dobson in a quick glorified squash, but she allows Dobson a little bit of offense, giving back to those who haven’t reached her heights yet. I’d have just skipped the match entirely and had a homecoming ceremony, as this match made no difference. Banks interrupts Bayley’s post-match promo, putting over what happened in Brooklyn, but she still feels that it was a fluke. Bayley’s willing to provide a rematch, but Banks wants to prove a point and send a message to the rest of the division, which makes sense based on her attitude during the BK classic. Banks wants to beat Bayley “again and again and again and again.” William Regal grants the rematch they want, as it’ll be Bayley vs. Banks II on October 7 in a 30 Minute Iron Man match at Takeover. In addition, NXT will SHOW, rather than tell, a true “Divas Revolution,” as it’ll be the main event of the evening. Crowd is going apeshit as expected. SmackDown! – September 17, 2015: The Good Shit Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens Ziggler marks would point to this as just him getting beaten down again, which is correct. However, Owens did something unfathomable to make Ziggler look like a threat: he sold Ziggler’s jumping DDT significantly. Owens not only rolled out to avoid having to use extra energy on a kick out, but upon getting back in the ring after executing an adrenaline rush Fall Away Slam to Ziggler on a barricade, could barely stand up straight, having to use the ropes to remain upright. It is not impossible to SELL a spectacular bump and compel the crowd in doing so. Also, Owens selling his neck, struggling to get on his own two feet, is quite eerie considering what was to come in three days… Owens of course talked his usual trash, and when he was about to deliver an apron powerbomb, Ryback got fed up and came to fight him, but Owens of course scurried away to escape the Shell Shocked. At some point I’d appreciate an actual Ziggler vs. Owens feud with significant promo time and storytelling ups and downs, rather than just a series of matches. ***1/4 Seth Rollins & Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns Everything was executed as everyone was obviously asked by the agents and writers, but the direction of the match was completely wrong. I counted a grand spanking total of ZERO references to the Shield’s history, as the commentary focused on the bickering heels and the Ambrose/Reigns program against the Wyatt Family instead. But even Ambrose & Reigns didn’t bring the most compelling story to the ring. Sure, have Rollins & Sheamus bicker based on the WWE Title picture. Then why didn’t Ambrose & Reigns troll the heels, specifically Rollins, and take great joy over that bickering? How about Ambrose taking advantage of Rollins bickering, dishing out grinding forearms and vicious strikes, telling Rollins “Don’t be looking past us, Seth. We ain’t forgotten what you did.” Another great piece of trolling from Reigns to Rollins would be “That’s right Seth, you left us high and dry to be alone at the top. Now you can’t even trust Sheamus to stop us!” "You screwed Dean and me to beecome the champion, now you have to stand on your own two feet! I ain't forgot about WrestleMania!" Obviously, I’m getting fed up with the interactions between Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns that fail to enhance the history between them and make the crowd salivate for the inevitable main roster dream match between the three. I don’t care for matches between storied opponents just being thrown out to fill TV time or have their histories completely ignored just to sell another story. If a new viewer were watching WWE for the very first time tonight, he would have ZERO clue that the Shield ever existed, let alone had an ugly split. That’s unacceptable storytelling, and quite frankly, I believe all these meaningless, thrown-together TV matches involving the three are a major reason why there’s some small backlash against the dream threeway to come in the future.

NOAH: KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama - July 16, 2003 ****3/4 KENTA Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - April 25, 2004 ***** Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama - Departure 2004 ****3/4 KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima - July 16, 2006 ****3/4 ROH: Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson - Round Robin Challenge ***** Low Ki vs. Doug WIlliams vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Christopher Daniels - Crowning a Champion ****3/4 Paul London vs. Bryan Danielson - The Epic Encounter ***** AJ Styles vs. Paul London - Night of the Grudges ***** Briscoe Bros., John Walters, & Jimmy Rave vs. Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, & Jack Evans - Generation Next ****3/4 Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Homicide vs. Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson - Survival of the Fittest 2004 ****3/4 Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson - Midnight Express Reunion ***** Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - Joe vs. Punk II ***** Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - All Star Extravaganza II ***** Austin Aries vs. CM Punk - Death Before Dishonor III ****3/4 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi - Joe vs. Kobashi ***** Low Ki & Samoa Joe vs. Homicide & Kenta Kobashi - Unforgettable ****3/4 Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong - Vendetta ***** KENTA vs. Low Ki - Final Battle 2005 ****3/4 CIMA & Speed Muscle vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, & Genki Horiguchi - Supercard of Honor ***** Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong - Supercard of Honor ****3/4 Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Pearce vs. Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher - The 100th Show ****3/4 Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness - Weekend of Champions Night 2 ****3/4 Homicide vs. Necro Butcher - Ring of Homicide ***** Team ROH vs. Team CZW - Death Before Dishonor IV ***** Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness - Unified ***** Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA - Glory By Honor V Night 2 ***** TNA: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels - Against All Odds 2005 ****3/4 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe - Turning Point 2005 ****3/4 WWE: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - Survivor Series 1996 ****3/4 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - WrestleMania 13 ***** Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk - SummerSlam 2013 ****3/4 The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family - Elimination Chamber 2014 ****3/4 Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania XXX ****3/4 Sasha Banks vs. Bayley - NXT Takeover: Brooklyn ****3/4

Tremendous entrances for both here, as Bayley has an extravagant attire and Dusty Rhodes gear, while Banks is brought out via an Escalade and escorted by personal security. Epic, goosebump-inducing presentation already in a billion-dollar venue. Banks gets condescending and talks shit at the beginning, so Bayley gets the brief early advantage as a house of fire. When Banks starts stomping Bayley’s head in the corner, the challenger gets an adrenaline rush and turns it around on the champion, putting her in a Tree of Woe in position for a springboard elbow drop. They tease Banks regaining control with a schoolboy pin, but Bayley cuts that off rather quickly by reversing an Irish Whip in the corner to hits a springboard back elbow. With Banks to the outside, Bayley hits a baseball slide dropkick. But Banks cuts Bayley off was they get back in the ring and have a struggle on the turnbuckle, with Banks getting his first true advantage by kicking Bayley’s right knee to knock her to the outside. She is fabulous as she mockingly counts along with the referee, and is merciless as Bayley slides back in. As Banks continues to have the heat, she mocks Bayley’s signature pose, capped off with a disrespectful slap. It appears that Banks is targeting Bayley’s back, which would make a belly-to-belly suplex difficult later on, and locks on a Straight Jacket Submission. Bayley attempts a couple comebacks in the corner, only for Banks to catch her while in air and ramming her head-first into the top turnbuckle. Bayley’s placed horizontally on the top rope, eating double knees, which is perfect to attack the abdomen to fully marginalize her torso and make a belly-to-belly suplex impossible. As Bayley sells the pain, Banks gets too cocky attempting to belittle her and pays for it via a kick to the shoulder as Bayley regains the advantage. Bayley sucks whatever pain she’s in for a brief house of fire, only to be quickly cut off as Banks gives her right arm a takedown on the second rope, On the outside, Banks finally starts targeting Bayley’s previously damaged right hand, removing its protection just as she stated she would 11 days earlier. This is marvelous storytelling, as Bayley’s right hand is smashed on the steel steps, stomped on in a wristlock position on the floor, and then smashed into by the steel steps. Long Island then gets a reminder of Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio from SummerSlam 2002; the referee tries to keep Banks at bay in the ring, so as he’s down, she hits an over-the-top-rope somersault plancha as the crowd goes apeshit! Definitely alarming to see Banks land back-first on the outside though. Back in the ring, Banks belittles Bayley while running the top rope to target Bayley’s right hand, only to be shoved off the outside. They exchange blows in the ring, and Bayley is sensational selling her right hand, reminding of Roderick Strong in similar situations and having to use her left arm to deliver damage, then going for Polish Hammers. Bayley is finally making a genuine comeback, hitting a splash in the corner and then a corner suplex as she’s got the crowd behind her. Banks blocks a belly-to-belly suplex and what looked to be an attempted Chaos Theory. She manages to hit a Lungblower on Bayley’s right hand, then gets her in the Bank Statement! The atmosphere is just sensation as Bayley desperately crawls for a rope break, only for her right hand to be stomped on by Banks! Bayley manages to still get her left hand close to the ropes, so Banks use her right foot to try to bounce them back into position, but Bayley reverses into her own Bank Statement for a breathtaking near-fall submission! Crowd is bonkers here! Bayley drags Banks up by the legs and hits a sudden belly-to-belly suplex for another sensational near-fall, and “This is awesome!” chants have been reignited. Bayley crotches Banks for a super belly-to-belly suplex but blocks it, then shoves Bayley off on a Super Hurricanrana attempt, and Bayley takes an ugly fall. They have another great near-fall as Banks hit a fluid double knees pin attempt. Banks appear to physically and emotionally exhausted at this point, having never been challenged to this point before as champion or challenger. They have another turnbuckle struggle, only for Bayley to a Super Reverse Hurricanrana, then immediately capitalizing on the dazed champion to hit the belly-to-belly suplex and achieve her dream, capturing the title! In what is their NXT swan song, Charlotte and Becky Lynch come embrace Bayley, and knowing that this was a special moment and match, Banks gives in too, all four having a curtain call moment. True to the Bayley character, all four hug, paying off an incredible journey that had only been kicked off several weeks earlier. Many supposed smarks believe the NXT’s female division is incredibly overhyped. I point to this match as the proof that these women live up to the hype. This match was the result of the division being treated seriously for years, a champion that had survived in wars, and two characters striving for the same goal from two drastically different mentalities. This was a grand stage with major stakes, stealing the show and holding its end of the hype bargain from Stephanie McMahon. This was a match that rewarded its audience for supporting the NXT brand, in the same breath as Neville vs. Sami Zayn eight months earlier. The story was quite simple, a cocky, ruthless champion snubbing her nose down at the injured, less accomplished challenger. The champion did her damnedest to make a statement to anyone else who’d dare challenge her, vocally and physically shouting out her supremacy in the division. Then going deeper than that, Bayley’s selling enhancing the emotional impact of this story, sending a message to other wrestlers, both male and female in every locker room. THIS is the proper way to make a comeback for the ages. With all of that, these ladies still managed to have the perfect timing of near-falls and high-spots to have the crowd in a frenzy. My only nitpick complaint is there were a couple moments when it seemed to indicate that this match was rehearsed, not being quite as fluid as Randy Savage, Kenta Kobashi, and Mitsuharu Misawa at their best. That is an extremely minor complaint on my part. Nonetheless, as Kevin Owens stated on the WWE 24 episode about this show, he and Balor have got a very tough act to follow. This is my Road to WrestleMania 32 Match of the Year up to this point. I’ll be stunned, ever so pleasantly of course, if anything else on the ultimate journey to Dallas dethrones this incredible roller-coaster. ****3/4

No review, just ***.

No review, just ***3/4.

Excellent main event that showed Reigns is quite capable of being carried to the best match of his career to date by best wrestler on the roster. Time will tell if Rollins will be able to pull this off too. Reigns really shined here with his physicality, and for those who wanna speculate that D-Bry isn't physically ready to work a dream match against Brock Lesnar, eat this fact: Reigns gave D-Bry the same overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor that Lesnar gave CM Punk at SummerSlam 2013. This is nowhere near the work of art of that Lesnar vs. Punk classic I mentioned, but this definitely delivered. D-Bry kept pulling out his submission arsenal, digging more into it every time Reigns would power out with his superior size and strength. He then gave a preview of what will come when the day arrives that he faces Lesnar, busting out THREE tope suicidas, only to get caught and powerslammed by Reigns on the third one. They exchanged nearfalls on a spear and Busaiku knee, as well as Reigns reaching the ropes while in the Lebell Lock. Another one later had Reigns trying to pummel on D-Bry, but found himself in a Triangle Hold that was broken via a powerbomb. A spear attempt was countered with a fantastic small package nearfall, a move that D-Bry had used to put down Kane in the past as well as many of his greatest opponents on the indies. With both exhausted, they emptied their gas tanks, ending with Reigns getting a spear on D-Bry during a Busaiku knee attempt for a great finish. Post-match, D-Bry congratulates him and says he better slay the Beast. This was obviously the wrong choice, but they got the most out of it. Reigns showed he was capable of having a great match, and D-Bry proved nobody on the WWE roster is more reliable in getting a pet project over. ****

Glorified finishers match, but that's the power of protecting a monster heel and the other guy for a decade. They did everything to escape each other's finishers, then reached the ropes and kicked out for quality nearfalls. Cena broke the Camel Clutch, then moved Rusev's arm the second time, but Rusev kept locking it on. Frustrated by his greatest challenge to date, Rusev low-blowed Cena when Lana jumped on the apron, causing the face of the company to pass out in the Camel Clutch. Tremendous layout to lead to the obvious rematch at WrestleMania 31. This show is on a roll with its focused direction. ***1/2

Quality storytelling here obviously influenced by John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014. After getting corner punches, Owens drops Zayn face-first on the turbuckle and dominates his archnemesis. It is a destruction with Owens busting out all kinds of shit and displaying an attitude that contradicts his claim that this is merely about business and being champion. All of Zayn's hope spots the first half of the match are for naught as Owens constantly cuts him off. Zayn does manage to make a comeback in the second half of the match, selling his beating and thus having to dig down deep to maintain the heat, including a brawl on the outside. But a blow to the face as well as his head hitting the steel entrance ramp caused him to get woozy. This made him lose his balance and footing on a Yakuza kick attempt, so he went for it again but Owens knew it was coming. After numerous powerbombs and medical staff trying to help Zayn, the ref calls the match off, Zayn's reign coming to a screeching halt to his archnemesis due to TKO ref stoppage. Owens is great posing over Zayn's carcass. I want a rematch at WrestleMania 32 dammit. ***1/2

Nice spotfest here with Lynch & Banks working together at first, throwing Charlotte into a hard LED screen hanging off of an apron (what a stupid engineering idea actually.) They'd of course go at it, resulting in Lynch grabbing Banks from behind and giving a pumphandle slam to her friend. They'd all dive on the outside and then Charlotte got back in, only for Banks to get in and go to war with her again. Banks kept Bayley and Lynch on the outside and got a tremendously angled crossface on Charlotte. The champion couldn't reach the ropes but refused to tap out, so after having enough neck damage inflicted, Banks rolled her over for a crucifix pin to get that elusive championship victory. ***1/4