tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26158674245615273242024-03-12T20:17:00.484-07:00Simply, a pro wrestling fanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-37202884710087797162013-10-07T10:11:00.001-07:002013-10-07T10:11:24.763-07:00My WWE Battleground 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Now this was a feel good moment. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler pinned Damien Sandow</strong> in a decent pre-show bout. I was expecting a passable kick off match here but it exceeded that for me, with worthy efforts from both wrestlers, especially the always reliable Ziggler. It was by no means the best pre-show bout I've seen but it was enjoyable enough.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio (c) forced Rob Van Dam to submit in a Battleground Hardcore Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship</strong>. In their finest singles contest to date both men delivered stellar performances, utilising steel chairs, a trashcan and a ladder (although unfortunately no table which the fans, and myself, seemed keen for). <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez </strong>also played his part as he attacked the champ with a bucket to halt an armbreaker attempt, only to soon fall victim to a vicious kick to the head by his former boss on the outside, thereby taking him out of the match. Del Rio's submission win came after he latched on his armbreaker while RVD's arm was wrapped in a steel chair. </div>
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While it was a fun watch, I still couldn't help but feel a bit deflated at the result. I just feel Del Rio as champion has worn thin by this point and RVD would be the ideal wrestler to bring interest back to the title again.</div>
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<strong>The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger) defeated The Great Khali and Santino Marella</strong> in an uninspiring tag bout up until the finish when Cesaro applied an impressive giant swing on Khali for the winning pinfall. Most of the match was pretty drab to be honest, with most men bar Antonio giving average showings.</div>
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<strong>Curtis Axel (c) pinned R-Truth to retain the Intercontinental Championship</strong> in a fair outing. Both wrestlers were competent and delivered worthy efforts but I simply struggled to get engaged, much like the fans in attendance who soon lost interest. Not a bad match by any means but not one I'd recommend. </div>
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<strong>AJ Lee (c) bested Brie Bella to retain the WWE Divas Title</strong> in a passable affair. For some reason they had AJ target Brie's arm early on, which had no effect later as Brie seemed to use said arm with no problem as she made a comeback. The match could've been allocated a little less time too, it began to drag as the charismatic champion dominated. That all being said the bout was better than I'd predicted, but still nothing that special. </div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes and Goldust bested The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)</strong> in a dramatic tag contest to gain back their jobs in WWE. As expected it was an exciting ride, with effective near falls and solid wrestling to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout, and an electric crowd too.</div>
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Of course the legendary <strong>Dusty Rhodes </strong>also played his part as he blasted <strong>Dean Ambrose </strong>with a bionic elbow and distracted Reigns so son Dustin could take him out, leaving Cody to hit the Cross Rhodes on Rollins for the vital one-two-three. As a nice touch various members of the locker room came out to celebrate (including <strong>'Fit' Finlay </strong>and<strong> Arn Anderson</strong>).</div>
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<strong>Bray Wyatt pinned Kofi Kingston</strong> in a decent enough match up. Much like the earlier IC Title contest we received admirable displays from each wrestler but it felt like it was lacking a bit. </div>
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<strong>CM Punk beat Ryback</strong> in a match with a drab first half but satisfying second. While Ryback dominated the bout became rather tedious, but Punk (who delivered a worthy performance) as any good face does made a comeback and brought some much needed excitement back.</div>
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For the finish Punk managed to low blow Ryback with a swift back kick for the winning pinfall as the referee was distracted by <strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Paul Heyman </strong>at ringside, who was about to strike his former protege with a kendo stick. </div>
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<strong>Randy Orton versus Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship ended in a no contest</strong> after <strong>Big Show </strong>came down and KO'd two referees (the first one when Bryan locked on a Yes Lock and the second being the returning <strong>Scott Armstrong </strong>who ran down after the first ref was taken out), Bryan and finally Orton. It was a strange and anti climatic end to the event, and one that made the already fairly weak build up to the title clash seem worthless.</div>
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The actual match itself had been solid for the most part, with stellar wrestling on both men's behalf and exciting near falls and submission attempt. The fans in New York also provided a terrific atmosphere for the top contest of the night, being thoroughly behind Bryan.</div>
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Overall it was a rather forgettable pay-per-view for the most part, with most bouts ranging from fair to average. That being said my highlights were RVD versus Del Rio, Cody and Goldust versus The Shield (at least we got a feel good moment from that) the second half to Punk versus Ryback and the majority of the main event. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-64177956126668149832013-10-06T13:41:00.001-07:002013-10-06T13:43:17.933-07:00My WWE Battleground Predictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wwe.com/f/wysiwyg/image/2013/09/20130918_EP_LIGHT_battleground-matches_bryan-orton_C-homepage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://www.wwe.com/f/wysiwyg/image/2013/09/20130918_EP_LIGHT_battleground-matches_bryan-orton_C-homepage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWE Championship Match - Randy Orton versus Daniel Bryan:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much like their previous PPV clash I'm not expecting anything but a solid outing, although I feel the build up has been fairly weak compared. Bryan winning the vacant strap seems like the more interesting choice, but I just can't help but see 'The Viper' win via suspicious circumstances, although I admittedly thought the same thing last month so I could be way off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Randy Orton</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">World Heavyweight Championship Battleground Hardcore Match - Alberto Del Rio (c) versus Rob Van Dam:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">I'm relieved that they added the Hardcore stipulation here, this match needed that extra intriguing factor for me. I enjoy both men in the ring and they shouldn't have any excuses not to deliver an exciting bout here, not the least with my predictive victor RVD obtaining the title. But if he does then I wouldn't be shocked to see Mr. Sandow cashing in his MITB contract, it'd be the perfect way to gain him some heat. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Rob Van Dam</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CM Punk versus Ryback:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Unfortunately even against a superior talent I don't envisage this outing topping the great ones Ryback had with Cena over the WWE Title. This could be fun and should be enjoyable but nothing outstanding, hopefully I'm proven wrong. Will this be the end of Punk's feud with Heyman? I'm starting to hope things wind down now between them so they can move on to fresh foes. Punk to win and finally get some retribution on Heyman but not enough to end the rivalry just yet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>CM Punk</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWE Divas Title Match - AJ Lee (c) versus Brie Bella:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Like any Bella-involved bout I don't hold high expectations, and certainly don't expect anything close to AJ's matches with Kaitlyn over the belt. That being said sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised (with Taryn Terrell's entertaining contests with Gail Kim being a prime example), but I doubt it tonight with this one. And I reckon AJ to retain, I don't see any reason for her to drop the strap just yet, recently bringing in Tamina as her new body guard would make it a strange choice too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>AJ Lee</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cody Rhodes and Goldust versus The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns):</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">For me this bout has had the best build up out of any on the card tonight, and I'm very interested in the outcome so job well done there. Should be a dramatic one. I'm going with The Shield to somehow come out with a dubious win here, adding another twist to the Rhodes storyline.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winners: <b>The Shield</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intercontinental Title Match - Curtis Axel (c) versus R-Truth:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Could be a decent match up, and both men should make the most from being on the main card of a PPV tonight. Can't see beyond Axel winning here after Truth's definitive loss to Ryback on SmackDown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Curtis Axel</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bray Wyatt versus Kofi Kingston:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Bit of a strange one I thought when this was put together, considering the more interesting possibilities for Wyatt to face off with. Nothing against Kofi but after all his failed pushes I just struggle to invest in them anymore. Should be a fair match up. Wyatt to win considering his current momentum.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Bray Wyatt</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santino Marella versus The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger):</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">How this found it's way onto a PPV card ahead of Ziggler and the Money in the Bank holder I'm still trying to understand, oh well. I'm just hoping for Cesaro to swing around Khali to deliver something memorable, it's up to the stellar Antonio to make this match worth watching at all I reckon. The Real Americans in the long run seem like the more sensible choice to put over here, but I can see Santino and Khali walking away the winners.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winners: <b>Santino Marella and The Great Khali.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Battleground Kickoff Match - Dolph Ziggler versus Damien Sandow:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At first I wasn't too sure about this thrown together bout, but Ziggler is such a consistent performer that I'm expecting an enjoyable contest against the MITB Contract holder. But despite Sandow holding the briefcase I see Dolph gaining the one-two-three.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Dolph Ziggler</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-65442727391383997772013-10-01T07:01:00.002-07:002013-10-01T07:02:04.317-07:00My WWE Raw, 30th September 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">It was a priceless moment. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>CM Punk</strong> kicked off the show (to a very healthy response) by stating that he contributes to the unpredictability of the show when he comes out but claimed that Heyman was predictable last week when he orchestrated the beat down of Punk in his hometown of Chicago. He want on to add that he will end the story when he takes out Ryback, whether it be on a Raw leading up to <strong>Battleground </strong>or at the event itself, and while Heyman may have pinned him on the mat at <strong>Payback</strong> he will get his revenge and put him out of his misery. </div>
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Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>then joined Punk and cautioned him about taking on Ryback before their PPV clash, saying that it would simply be <strong>"bad for business," </strong>of course. But Maddox did agree to grant Punk a match that night to let out some aggression, this cued <strong>Big E Langston </strong>to come out and kick start their impromptu match by clobbering Punk.</div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>CM Punk pinned Big E Langston</strong> after hitting a GTS in a fair encounter. Much like Ziggler in his series with Big E, Punk deserves credit here for what he was able to accomplish against the limited Langston.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Kofi Kingston beat Fandango</strong> in a passable, if fairly forgettable match up. Kofi did a decent job here and managed to add a few parts worth a watch, and eventually applied a Trouble in Paradise kick for the one-two-three. <strong>Bray Wyatt </strong>then delivered one of his mysterious promos on the ramp where he described his hard life and finally claimed that </span><strong><span data-mce-style="line-height: 1.4;" style="line-height: 1.4;">"one by one, they must all fall down."</span></strong></div>
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Backstage <strong>Randy Orton </strong>warned <strong>Brie Bella </strong>to schedule her wedding to Daniel Bryan before their title match on Sunday, as he might not be fit for it afterwards, </div>
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<strong>Los Matadores (Fernando and Diego, formerly Epico and Primo) bested 3MB (Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater)</strong> in an enjoyable tag bout. Both members of the winning duo looked solid here, and had a fun entrance which included their own little bull called <strong>El Torito</strong>. Admittedly the crowd reaction wasn't anything outstanding for the team's debut but hopefully that will come, I personally enjoyed them and look forward to more. </div>
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<strong>Triple H </strong>and <strong>Stephanie McMahon </strong>invited out <strong>Cody, Dustin </strong>and <strong>Dusty Rhodes </strong>and asked why they were so mad at them considering the apparent 'chances' they'd given them to get their jobs back. The COO then revealed the reason he'd held the family summit and offered the chance for Cody and Dustin to face the tag champions Rollins and Reigns at Battleground and if they win they get their jobs backs in WWE, but if they fail then none of the three will ever work for the company again. The Rhodes accepted the challenge. </div>
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Dusty then got in Triple H's face in the most intense part of the summit and claimed that he would be there in his sons corner. Shortly after Stephanie and 'The Game' left the ring <strong>The Shield </strong>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins</strong>) battered Cody, Dustin and Dusty, finally Triple Powerbombing Cody to end the entertaining segment.</div>
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<strong>R-Truth pinned Curtis Axel</strong> in a brief and average contest after CM Punk's theme music hit and distracted the IC Champion, allowing Truth to strike with a Lie Detector for the victory. The wrestling was kept at a decent enough standard, but I just failed to find the interest. </div>
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<strong>Brie Bella defeated Alicia Fox</strong> in a passable Divas match up. While it was never anything special, it was certainly above average for a bout involving a Bella. Unfortunately for the competitors the crowd in attendance were pretty indifferent to the whole thing, you could actually hear a pin drop. </div>
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During an interview an enraged <strong>Big Show </strong>admitted that he couldn't take any more of the sick and twisted orders he's been receiving from Triple H and Stephanie and stormed towards the COO's office to knock him out.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio forced Zack Ryder</strong> <strong>to submit</strong> via arm breaker in a satisfying outing. Surprisingly Ryder was made to look competitive against the World Champion here as he controlled the start of their match up and briefly came back towards the end. Del Rio as standard was on solid form in the ring.</div>
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<strong>Paul Heyman,</strong> accompanied by <strong>Ryback</strong>, came to the ring and declared that he had to have CM Punk beaten up by his two associates in his home town last week. Ryback then took the mic and called Punk ungrateful for all that Heyman had done for him, claiming that Paul was a genius and that <strong>"there's nothing I wouldn't do for</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>"</strong> him.</span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;"> </strong></div>
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Heyman went on to say that since Ryback had saved him he had a spring in his step and the World seemed like a better place. Paul continued to brilliantly lead us down the path of believing that he was about to propose marriage to Ryback, it was superb work on his part and I'll admit I was hoping he would for the sheer shock and impact, but of course his proposal was for Ryback to be his latest client instead.</div>
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CM Punk then attempted a sneak attack from behind but tripped over the barricade and feigned an obviously fake knee injury, only to suddenly chase off Heyman and Ryback with a few kendo stick strikes and attack Axel, who he GTS'd to finish off.</div>
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<strong>The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) beat Dolph Ziggler and The Usos in a six-man tag bout</strong>. It was a stellar affair for the majority, with fine displays from ever man involved.</div>
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The police arrived to confront the pacing Big Show who was still awaiting Triple H's arrival, and as they were about to arrest him for threatening the COO Stephanie stepped in and once again aired Show's dirty laundry to help explain his stress and claimed that she would vouch for him, so they let him off.</div>
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<strong>Santino Marella pinned Antonio Cesaro</strong> in a fun outing for the most part. As usual Marella performed his usual comedy routing, while Cesaro delivered a worthy effort. Marella caught Cesaro with a quick pinfall for the win.</div>
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<strong>Jerry Lawler </strong>brought out Battleground competitors <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>and Randy Orton for their 'Face Off' in the ring. After being asked on his thoughts on Bryan being stripped of the WWE Title Orton explained that not directly receiving the strap back motivated him to become the real 'Apex Predator' once again. He also added that he was genetically superior to the smaller Bryan.</div>
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Bryan retorted by complimenting Orton talking a good game, albeit being a little monotone. He also claimed that he believed that Triple H had to motivate Orton in order for him to reach his full potential, but he didn't need any motivation. Finally Bryan lost his patience and began striking Orton when 'The Viper' asked why his fiancee Brie Bella would settle for him. </div>
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Orton eventually gained control and performed his signature DDT off the apron onto the mat in front of a begging Brie Bella, and then RKO'd his rival through the announce table. It was a strong end to the show, and an ideal way to head into their title clash on Sunday.</div>
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Overall it was a fair Raw, unfortunately most contests were pretty uninspiring but there were more than a few segments that made it worth watching. My highlights were The Shield versus The Usos and Ziggler, Los Matadores entertaining debut, Heyman and Ryback's segment, the Rhodes family summit and the finale. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-19616456176866999402013-08-30T11:00:00.000-07:002013-08-30T11:00:51.535-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 30th August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>The Miz </strong>brought out his latest 'Miz TV' guests, <strong>Big Show </strong>and <strong>Dolph Ziggler </strong>and brought up the fact that they and many other wrestlers had to witness the beat down of Daniel Bryan at the hands of the COO, The Shield and Orton on this Monday's Raw. But when asked to comment on it Show and Ziggler struggled in fear of their punishment from management, so as Miz was about to discuss it <strong>Triple H </strong>interrupted him.</div>
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'The Game' once again questioned why the situation with Bryan was being taken so personally, and claimed that making Orton the face of the company was better for business and therefore better for them. He then booked Miz against Orton and Ziggler in a Handicap Match versus The Shield. But when it came to Show he ordered the clearly infuriated giant to sit at ringside for the night. As usual Trips was stellar on the mic, but he's been even better and convincing as of late back in the heel role.</div>
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<strong>Randy Orton pinned The Miz</strong> in a decent effort. There were some fairly drab periods but it was a watchable encounter on the whole. <strong>The Shield </strong>(<b>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </b>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) made their way out midway in the match and stood at the front of the ring. After the champ pinned Miz with an RKO he had the trio join him in beating on Miz until <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>raced down and chased them off with a steel chair in hand. </div>
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An upset <strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>(who's now suddenly turned heel again over the last couple of weeks for some unexplained reason) accused Bryan of being a bully and as punishment booked him against <strong>Ryback</strong>. </div>
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<strong>Rob Van Dam defeated Damien Sandow</strong> in a short but entertaining outing. RVD hit some fine form again with his trademark lively offence after a shaky match against Del Rio last Monday. The only downfall here was yet another clean pinfall on the Money in the Bank holder Sandow, for me he still needs work in the ring and some serious building up if he's going to hold the World Title. <strong>Alberto Del Rio </strong>came out afterwards and after calling <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez </strong>a traitor claimed that while RVD had his rolling thunder he was going to rain on his parade at <strong>Night of Champions</strong>.</div>
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<strong>The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) beat Dolph Ziggler </strong>in a solid Handicap Match. It wasn't as exciting as the last three on one bout these four had but the action was stellar and there were no dull moments to be had. The trio further assaulted 'The Show Off' after and finally triple powerbombed him to tease Big Show.</div>
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<strong>Paul Heyman </strong>explained that his beating on <strong>CM Punk </strong>on this past Raw was a result of being forced into a corner by the fans online vote putting him in the ring with his former client. He also went on to admit that he was afraid regarding his and <strong>Curtis Axel's </strong>match at Night of Champions versus Punk because it guaranteed that he'll have to face his adversary in the ring like a man. But he also claimed that his actions against Punk have been a result of his Fatherly love, so imagine what he'll do against him when backed into a corner, finally adding that at NOC he and Axel <strong>"will own CM Punk."</strong></div>
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<strong>Luke Harper and Erick Rowan bested Tons of Funk (Tensai and Brodus Clay) </strong>in an average tag bout. Fortunately it was kept short as the wrestling was pretty uninspiring from the get go. <strong>Bray Wyatt </strong>entered the ring after to hit Tensai with the Sister Abigail.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan won via disqualification versus Ryback</strong> after Orton ran in while he had Ryback latched in a Yes Lock and was caught himself in the submission hold until Shield once again helped him out in clobbering the number on contender to the WWE Title. The match of the night itself had been an engaging one, with good displays from both men as they battled back and fourth.</div>
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Big Show finally had enough and entered the ring to Bryan's protection as the four men continued to beat on him. But an angry Triple H demanded him to leave, so he did. The show ended with Orton spray painting 'No' on Bryan's chest as he had done on his car last Monday night. </div>
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Overall it was a satisfying show, with the majority of it worth checking out. My highlights were RVD versus Sandow, the opening segment, The Shield versus Ziggler, Heyman's promo and the main event. <span style="line-height: 1.4;">Unfortunately outside of them it was quite forgettable and probably not worth your time.</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-30621129283334352512013-08-27T07:14:00.000-07:002013-08-27T07:14:25.651-07:00My WWE Raw, 26th August 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">The champ looks on at his handiwork. Photo credit: WWE.com </span></div>
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<strong>Triple H </strong>kicked things off by reminding us of his actions towards Daniel Bryan at <strong>SummerSlam </strong>and on last week's Raw, explaining that what he did at SS was for <strong>"business" </strong>but the beat down he orchestrated on the former champ last Monday was <strong>"personal"</strong> after the way he'd spoken about his family. 'The Game' then claimed that the ratings and social media scoring were through the roof last week due to their new WWE Champion that he brought out, <strong>Randy Orton</strong>.</div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">The COO rewarded Orton for grabbing the brass ring and running with it (in his words) by gifting him a brand new Cadillac payed for out of his own pocket. <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>then also came out and first thanked all the fans for supporting him, <strong>John Cena </strong>for giving him the title match at SummerSlam and finally Triple H for revealing his true self when he Pedigreed him at the aforementioned event. He also added that he'll most certainly be recapturing the WWE Title come <strong>Night of Champions</strong>. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">Trips retorted by claiming that in the real world dreams don't always come true and then booked Bryan in a Gauntlet Match against <strong>The Shield </strong>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </strong>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) who'd also been guarding the ring during the enjoyable opening segment. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Cody Rhodes pinned Fandango</strong> in a brief and unremarkable encounter that existed only to lead on to another match up afterwards. Rhodes caught Fandango in a roll up for the one-two-three after the ballroom dancer was distracted by <strong>The Miz </strong>reenacting/mocking his entrance. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Damien Sandow </strong>(who'd provided guest commentary) took this chance to attack his rival Rhodes along with Fandango, so Miz saved Cody from the double team attack and helped send them packing. Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>then predictably booked all four men in a tag team match, amusingly even mentioning that fans should see what's coming here. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Cody Rhodes and The Miz bested Damien Sandow and Fandango</strong> in an average to fair tag bout. The wrestlers did fine, but you wouldn't miss a great deal by fast forwarding through this one. Miz gave the only real worthwhile performance, and also gained the win with a Skull Crushing Finale on Sandow after Fandango had abandoned his partner and walked up the ramp.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>CM Punk defeated Curtis Axel</strong> in a stellar back and fourth contest. As usual these two delivered top displays in the ring, never putting a foot wrong. As per the stipulation (as voted for online by the fans) <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>had to then enter the ring with Punk, at first he tried to run away but he was then dragged into the ring by officials much to Punk's delight. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">But as the victor was about to get his hands on his former mentor, Axel popped up with a low blow and handcuffed him. Punk made a brief comeback and got in a few kicks on Heyman and the IC Champion but once again Curtis came to the rescue of his manager and cracked him with a steel chair. Heyman then received a kendo stick and began viciously beating on Punk in and outside the ring to end the dramatic segment, screaming that he once loved him and he broke his heart.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Brie Bella beat Natalya</strong> in a forgettable outing. Natalya did the best she could but unfortunately some sloppiness and instructions clearly being told by Brie spoilt it a bit. Much like their last match their fellow Total Divas counterparts tangled outside the ring.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">Divas Champion <strong>AJ Lee </strong>then addressed the divas and their 'reality' show, receiving support from the fans for putting down the show that's been rammed down our throats every week, thereby encouraging more Bellas in the ring unfortunately. She added that all they were to her were <strong>"cheap, interchangeable, expendable, useless women,"</strong> which for all of them bar Natalya, I agree with. She went on to claim that she'd done more in a year than all of them in their collective careers, which again is true for most of them. It was the strongest promo AJ's ever given, and I agreed with every single word of it. It was funny to see the sour reactions from the rest of the female wrestlers too.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Rob Van Dam pinned Alberto Del Rio</strong> in a passable, if a bit of a disappointing affair. I was personally expecting a bit more here from these two talents. Don't get me wrong it wasn't bad but there were a few botched moments and I never really got into it like I did with the far superior bouts the World Champion has had with Christian recently. I can see <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez </strong>turning on RVD come Night of Champions in the title match which Van Dam earned with the win here. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">During an interview <b>Ryback </b>grabbed <strong>Josh Matthews </strong>by the head and chucked him to the ground after being questioned about his bullying antics backstage as of late. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Randy Orton beat Christian</strong> in an entertaining effort. Much like the brilliant series they had back in 2011 both men worked very well together. Granted there were a few off moments, but the tight wrestling and effective near falls more than made up for it. Orton gained the win after poking Christian in the eye unknown to the referee, then struck with an RKO. Afterwards Bryan appeared on the big screen and sarcastically congratulated him on the win, then revealed that he'd spray painted 'Yes' all over his brand new Cadillac.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">Triple H ordered Brad Maddox to bring out every WWE wrestler to the stage and watch Bryan's match later on as a lesson, and if any of them interfere they're immediately fired.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1"><strong>Titus O'Neil bested Jack Swagger</strong> in a fair but unmemorable bout. It was watchable, but there was nothing remarkable about it. It felt more like filler than anything, although I understand utilising <strong>Darren Young </strong>with his current popularity.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">Backstage a furious Punk demanded a match with Heyman from Brad Maddox. So the GM booked him in an elimination handicap one against Heyman and Axel at Night of Champions, and if Heyman tries to get out of it he'll never be seen again.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="1">Before the main event <strong>Renee Young </strong>tried to interview <strong>Big Show, Dolph Ziggler </strong>and The Miz on the Handicap Match they were about to witness and the current situation with Triple H, but they refused to answer in fear of loosing their jobs. </span></div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan won the Gauntlet Match versus The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose)</strong>. Daniel Bryan first defeated Seth Rollins in a superb contest. It was gripping stuff from the opening bell, and the best one on one match Rollins has had on the main roster. Both men deserve credit for top efforts here.</div>
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Bryan went on to win via disqualification versus Rollins and Ambrose after each of them would break up his Yes Lock attempts on the other Shield member. The trio continued to assault Bryan after, spearing him and then triple powerbombing him with the nod from Triple H. The COO looked on at the wrestlers on the stage, checking if anyone wanted to say something, but no one did. Orton also came out and RKO'd Bryan for good measure. Big Show looked desperate to do something but refused to, which struck me as odd considering he has an iron clad contract anyway, he couldn't have gotten fired? </div>
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Overall it was an enjoyable Raw, with a few solid and above average bouts for TV and significant progress in the bigger storylines. Plus that tremendous (and truthful) promo from AJ. Admittedly it wasn't as strong as last week's show, but that was pretty exceptional. my highlights were CM Punk versus Axel, Christian versus Orton, AJ Lee's speech and the lively Gauntlet Match. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-8843038872190993442013-08-23T14:18:00.000-07:002013-08-24T03:40:21.097-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 23rd August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
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<span style="text-align: start;">Bryan explodes with a knee on his way to the win. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>started things off by introducing the WWE Champion <strong>Randy Orton</strong>, who claimed that he wanted to be a champion the fans could look up to, a role model. He went on to say that while he appreciated The Shield, <strong>Triple H</strong> and the <strong>McMahons</strong> help on Monday's Raw, he didn't need it. 'The Viper' also once again reiterated Vince's words that he was now the <strong>"face of the WWE."</strong></div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>then joined Orton and first thanked <strong>Cena </strong>for the chance to challenge for the title at <strong>SummerSlam</strong>. He then turned his attention to the champ, who he admitted was prettier, taller and more chiselled than he was, but he also reminded him that he had to earn every single thing in the pro wrestling business while Orton had it handed to him by WWE.</div>
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Bryan also added that he had a rematch clause due for the strap and wanted to have it that night. Unfortunately Orton told Bryan that he'd have to wait until <strong>Night of Champions</strong>. As 'The Viper' was leaving he tried a sneaky RKO but Bryan got the best of him and reversed it and dropkicked him out of the ring. It was a stellar start to the show, with both men on great form right now.</div>
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<strong>Curtis Axel defeated Cody Rhodes</strong> in a decent outing. Both wrestlers gave worthy efforts here, adding another enjoyable match up to Rhode's current streak. Axel delivered a hangman's facebuster (cool name for a finisher) for the win after <strong>Paul Heyman</strong> distracted Cody from the outside. Afterwards Heyman<strong> </strong>took to the mic and accused <strong>CM Punk </strong>of causing him emotional distress following his recent actions, stating that he was on a downward spiral since he left him and his actions on the past Raw were <strong>"befitting a mad man." </strong></div>
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<strong></strong>Axel claimed that Punk didn't deserve a IC Title shot and added that he had a brighter future than him and the advantage of Heyman in his corner, then challenged him to a match next Monday night. It's good to see Axel back in the spotlight.</div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler pinned Big E Langston</strong> in a fair contest. As standard Ziggler was on solid form, making the best from the more limited Langston. There were some nice moments but it was rather forgettable on the whole.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio forced Christian to submit</strong> in a great back and fourth encounter. I know these two have faced off a lot recently, but when the quality of matches is this high I struggle to get tired of it. Both men are two of the most consistent in ring performers in the company today.</div>
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Afterwards Del Rio bragged that there was only one of him, and that his Latino fan base couldn't live up to his standard due to being <strong>"peasants."</strong> But he asked them to still follow him to greatness. The champ's former announcer <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez</strong> then came out and told Del Rio that he and the rest of the Latinos didn't want to follow him, but would rather follow his new associate <strong>Rob Van Dam</strong>, who hit Del Rio with a rolling thunder after Christian struck with a missile dropkick as retribution for ADR refusing to let go of his signature arm breaker after he'd already won the bout. I look forward to the inevitable title clash between RVD and Del Rio at Night of Champions. </div>
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<strong>Big Show and Mark Henry beat 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal)</strong> in a passable Handicap squash match. Henry was down for a short time, but he and Show dominated for the most part. It was never great but it was watchable.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Afterwards the tag champs </span><strong style="background-color: white;">Roman Reigns </strong><span style="background-color: white;">and </span><strong style="background-color: white;">Seth Rollins </strong><span style="background-color: white;">appeared on the big screen and sarcastically applauded their win, then stating that while Show and Henry were an intimidating unit they weren't good enough to beat them.</span></div>
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<strong>Darren Young bested Antonio Cesaro</strong> in a competent contest. I understand Young's recent push, but it still frustrates me to see Cesaro relegated to this spot he's in at the moment. The sooner he ditches the drab <strong>Zeb Colter </strong>and <strong>Swagger </strong>the better.</div>
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Backstage <strong>Ryback </strong>lost his patience with a Dad getting his autograph for his son when he revealed he didn't even know who Ryback was. In response the obnoxious Ryback, who was actually very amusing here, tore up the autograph.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett in an entertaining Steel Cage Match</strong>. I was expecting a fun main event but this exceeded that, with solid wrestling and exciting moments in the best televised match these two have had to date. Afterwards as Bryan celebrated Orton snuck up and applied an RKO, standing tall with his strap as the show ended.</div>
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Overall it was a decent show, most matches were watchable but two were above average for televised contests. It was also nice to see some progression in the interesting Bryan Orton feud, with hopefully some more inclusion from Triple H and the McMahons next Monday night. My highlights were the main event, Axel versus Rhodes and Christian versus Del Rio. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-41896023564886170552013-08-23T06:54:00.000-07:002013-08-23T06:54:09.930-07:00My TNA Hardcore Justice, 22nd August 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHMMcLlpDbQWIkSWMwAU0y-dX1K7i1BA2rob2-o5-goTlkQKDFvEu-sc8XCUpucKx5lMOV5v6ndS1qVv6cmDAWirmZjgqVCnIOe0XFrA0AjFo2iBtNNUfUY1FfpN0w43rdPNdfaZndSM/s1600/IMG_8906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHMMcLlpDbQWIkSWMwAU0y-dX1K7i1BA2rob2-o5-goTlkQKDFvEu-sc8XCUpucKx5lMOV5v6ndS1qVv6cmDAWirmZjgqVCnIOe0XFrA0AjFo2iBtNNUfUY1FfpN0w43rdPNdfaZndSM/s400/IMG_8906.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">The reformed AJ Styles leaps at the now fired Devon. Photo credit: impactwrestling.com</span></div>
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<strong>Bully Ray </strong>and <strong>Mr. Anderson </strong>exchanged a few concerned words backstage, with the former asking why he wasn't informed about Tito Ortiz joining <strong>Aces & 8s</strong> and why the World Champion hadn't been returning his texts or phone calls. The Aces leader responded by telling Anderson to worry more about getting his own business in order.</div>
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<strong>Bobby Roode, Christopher Daniels </strong>and <strong>Kazarian </strong>(or the <strong>Extraordinary Gentlemen's Organisation </strong>as they're now called) came out and first congratulated Bully on obtaining the World Title last week, but also warned him that he has a target on his chest and one of them will be facing him come <strong>Bound for Glory </strong>as they've intelligently teamed up to help each other in the BFG Series. </div>
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Just as Roode then asked Austin Aries to also team with them (which would be another great acquisition) the tag champs <strong>James Storm </strong>and <strong>Gunner </strong>joined them. 'The Cowboy' warned Daniels and Kaz not to trust Roode as he'll turn on them as soon as they've played their part just like he did with him. 'The It Factor' claimed that Storm was just jealous, which he denied and then challenged them to a match right there and then and with the help of Gunner sent them out of the ring to get things kicked off.</div>
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<strong>Bobby Roode and Kazarian defeated James Storm and Gunner</strong> in a solid tag bout. It wasn't too long but maybe that was a positive since you were constantly engaged by what was happening. It was simply a fun watch and a lively start to the show. </div>
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<strong>Manic pinned Sonjay Dutt</strong> in a decent encounter. Both men delivered fine efforts, but I admittedly found the match lacking a little something. Maybe that's just me being fussy. I am relieved to see they've switched X Division back to one on one bouts too, it never made any sense to me having three-ways all the time, it grew tiresome.</div>
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<strong>Joseph Parks bested Jay Bradley, Christopher Daniels and Hernandez in a Bound for Glory Series Street Fight</strong>. It was an entertaining outing on the whole, and I'm very thankful for the Street Fight stipulation as it would've probably been fairly pedestrian otherwise. <strong>Austin Aries </strong>appeared to have joined the Extraordinary Gentlemen's Organisation as he high fived the trio, but then quickly turned and brainbustered Daniels before leaving.</div>
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Parks gained the victory after having one of his aggressive turns after seeing his own blood, Black Hole Slamming Bradley for the one-two-three.</div>
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New TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bully Ray came to the ring to boast that after winning back the strap and having <strong>Tito Ortiz </strong>by his side everything was now right again in TNA. He went on to also bring out his partner Brooke, but it turned out not to be <strong>Brooke Hogan </strong>(who has now been let go from the company) as we were led to believe, but <strong>Brooke Tessmacher, </strong>or <strong>"hot Brooke"</strong> as Bully referred to her. Just before the champ had Tessmacher suck his wedding ring from his finger he asked <strong>"does anybody doubt that Bully Ray can ever be stopped?"</strong></div>
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<strong>Gail Kim beat ODB</strong> in a fair contest. The action was pretty stellar for the majority, and although it wasn't up to the standard of recent matches involving <strong>James</strong>, Kim and <strong>Terrell</strong> it was still superior to anything you'll get from the female talent on the main WWE roster right now. </div>
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Before the main event, where the man pinned or submitted is fired from TNA, Mr. Anderson offered the one-man short <strong>Main Event Mafia </strong>the chance to pick someone to lay down and be terminated. Of course the Mafia flat out refused. <strong>AJ Styles </strong>then strolled out, only to have his older music hit and revert back to his 'Phenomenal One' persona and join the MEM. It was a cool moment and he received a healthy pop for it. </div>
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<strong>Main Event Mafia (Sting, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Magnus and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson) defeated Aces & 8s (Devon, Mr. Anderson, Garett Bischoff, Wes Brisco and Knox) in a five on five tag bout</strong>, and as a result of being pinned by Styles, Devon was fired from TNA. </div>
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It was a pretty enjoyable main event, with constant action in and around the ring to keep you interested. The only let down were the displays of the more limited wrestlers involved, such as Bishcoff and Brisco. There were certain periods that were a little more drab too but on the whole it was a watchable affair.</div>
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Overall it was a decent enough show, it wasn't as exciting or memorable as last week's other special Hardcore Justice edition of Impact but it wasn't a bad show by any means. There were no bouts that fell below average and we had some nice progression in storylines with Brooke Tessmacher joining up with Bully and Devon being terminated (although does anyone really care too much about that?). My highlights were the main event, the street fight and Storm and Gunner versus Roode and Kazarian. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-23308506182909807762013-08-20T09:36:00.000-07:002013-08-20T09:42:28.513-07:00My WWE Raw, 19th August 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large/public/photo/image/2013/08/RAW_1056_Photo_270-1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large/public/photo/image/2013/08/RAW_1056_Photo_270-1" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">The new champion and his supporters</span><strong style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">. </strong><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>John Cena </strong>started things off by admitting that Bryan was the better man at <strong>SummerSlam </strong>in their title clash and announced how disgusted he was with Triple H's actions the previous night when he Pedigreed the WWE Champion Bryan which allowed Orton to easily cash in his MITB contract and obtain the strap. Before introducing <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>Cena also informed everyone that due to his elbow injury he was going to be out for 4-6 months. </div>
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Before Bryan could even utter a word <strong>Stephanie McMahon </strong>joined him and explained that her husband's actions were <strong>"best for business"</strong> and that Bryan simply didn't have the right image to represent the company. An upset Bryan claimed that he wouldn't have been surprised if it'd been her or Vince that had screwed him and also added that <strong>"When you lye down with trash, sooner or later you start to stink." </strong></div>
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<strong></strong>As Stephanie tried to calm down Bryan he warned her that he didn't care if he was fired and would do something to Triple H or Orton to at least earn his termination. Finally Stephanie had security come out to escort the former champ out of the building. It was a strong segment to start the show.</div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes pinned Damien Sandow</strong> in a decent outing. Much like the night before both men delivered fine efforts, with Cody especially on good form. Cody grabbed the one-two-three with a quick roll up from the corner. Afterwards the victor told <strong>JBL </strong>that he should have a shot at the World Title. That's a match I definitely wouldn't mind seeing. </div>
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Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>booked Dolph Ziggler in a three on one match with The Shield later on that night, saying that it wasn't due to his remarks online claiming that he never trusted Triple H, but rather because he's the 'Show Off' and should be given the chance to prove it.</div>
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<strong>Paul Heyman </strong>came out and first conceded that CM Punk<strong> </strong>gave <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>all he could handle at SummerSlam in their superb match up. He also went on to forgive Punk for his actions and asked him to join him again, where together they'll regain the WWE Title and go on to main event <strong>WrestleMania</strong>. </div>
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<strong>The Funkadactyls (Naomi and Cameron) bested Layla and AJ Lee</strong> in a fair, but pretty unremarkable tag bout. There weren't any poor performances, in fact Cameron didn't even enter the ring (which is probably for the best) but you wouldn't miss much by skipping this.</div>
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<strong>The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) beat Dolph Ziggler in a Handicap Match</strong>. It was a solid affair from the get go, with Ziggler managing to hold his own and even come close to outdoing the trio until Reigns struck with an awesome spear for the win. Afterwards the victors triple powerbombed Ziggler for good measure. </div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio won via referee stoppage versus Sin Cara</strong>. The stoppage occurred when Sin Cara injured (for real) his wrist after he went flying with a suicide dive. Afterwards the World Champion once again called himself a hero to the Latino community, someone for them to look up to since they have no one else.</div>
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Del Rio's former announcer <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez </strong>then made his return after his beating from the champ and informed him that he was now representing <strong>Rob Van Dam </strong>instead. RVD and Del Rio soon tangled in the ring, with Van Dam almost going for the Five Star Frog Splash before Del Rio made his getaway.</div>
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<strong>The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) defeated The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger)</strong> in a passable tag match. While the wrestling was always decent it was fairly drab for the most part, although the finish after Young came in from a hot tag was fast paced and fun. Credit to Cesaro and Young for the best displays here. Young was clearly very up for it after all his support from fans and colleagues for bravely coming out last week. </div>
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Backstage <strong>Ryback </strong>had one of his signature segments where he bullies some spineless goon into doing whatever he tells them. This time he ordered a guy to open up his bag in the showers and fill it up with water. These scenes are just annoying, as if by that point you would still just be standing there and taking it? Even if Ryback is that large everyone has a limit.</div>
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<strong>The Shield beat Big Show in an enjoyable Handicap Match</strong>. Much like Ziggler earlier, Show was booked against the trio after making unflattering comments about Triple H. The giant was in control for the majority, but sure enough the 'Hounds of Justice' made their comeback and finally speared and triple powerbombed Show for the hard victory. </div>
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<strong>CM Punk </strong>hobbled out and before responding to Heyman's comments earlier dared a tubbier member of the crowd who decided to boo him to enter the ring and take him on, warning him that he'll make him <strong>"toothless."</strong> Punk then asked Heyman to come out (which he did, along with <strong>C</strong><strong>urtis Axel</strong>) and said that he was sorry that he hadn't exacted more retribution and dealt more damage on him the night before. Punk also dared Heyman to enter the ring with him.</div>
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Heyman responded by asking his client Axel to tape up and finish off what Lesnar had started the night before, warning Punk that he'd pushed him too far. So the IC Champion made his way out again and began brawling with Punk, with the latter viciously attacking him around the ring, including some strikes with the ring bell.</div>
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Axel managed to target Punk's hurt leg and had the upper hand for a while until Punk avoided a top rope attack and finally GTS'd Heyman's client onto some steel steps. It was an engaging segment, with stellar mic work and an intense fight. I can only presume that Punk and Axel will have a stipulation match over the Intercontinental Title at <strong>Night of Champions </strong>to keep the feud going.</div>
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<strong>Bray Wyatt pinned R-Truth</strong> in a brief encounter which the winner dominated for the most part. There wasn't anything that remarkable to see here really, both wrestlers did fine.</div>
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We witnessed a VT for a brand new tag team of matadors simply called <strong>Los Matadores</strong>, of course. I'm not sure about everyone else but I'm looking forward to seeing them, look like fun. </div>
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<strong>The Usos bested 3MB (Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal) </strong>in a lively tag match once it got going. Technically it wasn't great but you could switch off a bit and just enjoy it.</div>
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<strong>The Miz won via disqualification versus Wade Barrett</strong> after <strong>Fandango </strong>hit him with a flying leg drop as retribution for punching him at SummerSlam. The bout itself had been reasonable enough, much like a lot of these men's contests you get the impression you'll probably have forgotten about it come next month. </div>
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<strong>Vince</strong> <strong>McMahon </strong>congratulated <strong>Triple H </strong>on ensuring that Orton won the WWE Title at SummerSlam, declaring that he would be a champion everyone could be proud of. Triple H<strong> </strong>then took to the mic and said that he took action for all the fans and everyone in the company so that the WWE will still exist long into the future, explaining that Bryan wasn't the face for the company. </div>
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'The Game' the introduced the brand new WWE Champion for his coronation, <strong>Randy Orton</strong>, who shook hands with Vince and Triple H and even hugged Stephanie. Orton thanked Triple H for all he had done for him. The COO then asked Bryan to come out and vent his frustrations, asking no one to touch him. This was of course all a ruse as Bryan was attacked by The Shield on the way to the ring and then RKO'd by the champion after Triple H casually asked the trio to stop their assault.</div>
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I thoroughly enjoyed the whole segment, it had an old school feel to it with a strong face in Bryan trying to overcome the odds of the McMahons. It's also a much needed revitalisation for Orton too. </div>
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Overall it was an entertaining show for the most part, with the red hot Bryan's screw job getting more and more interesting. Plus Triple H and Orton turning adds that bit more intrigue as to what's going to happen next. This is already looking to be one of the best pro wrestling storylines of the year I reckon. My highlights were the opening, CM Punk, Heyman and Axel's portion, both of The Shield's handicap contests and of course the ending. A memorable show that has me wanting more, keep it coming!<strong> </strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-46980531673399143392013-08-20T04:58:00.000-07:002013-08-20T04:58:13.116-07:00My WWE SummerSlam 2013 Recap<div class="p1" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Rob Van Dam won via disqualification versus Dean Ambrose (c), thereby Ambrose retained the United States Title</strong>. It was a stellar pre-show contest, with both talents delivering more than worthy displays. The quality found here was hardly a surprise, but the added factor of <strong>Big Show </strong>and <strong>Mark Henry </strong>coming out and supporting RVD with <strong>Seth Rollins </strong>and<strong> Roman Reigns</strong> also at ringside added some more interest. The DQ occurred after Van Dam hit the most likely match-winning Five Star Frog Splash and Reigns struck with a spear as the challenger was about to cover Ambrose. Show and Henry were too late into the ring and The Shield made their getaway. </div>
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<strong>Bray Wyatt defeated Kane in a Ring of Fire Match</strong>. It was an entertaining outing for myself, the spectacle of it alone engaged me, I can't imagine how great that must've been for the fans in attendance. Technically it wasn't anything much to look at, but I still had fun watching it and both men did their jobs well. For the finish the 'Wyatt Family' <strong>Luke Harper </strong>and <strong>Erick Rowan </strong>managed to cover part of the fire with a protective blanket and make their way into the ring to help Bray after receiving a few ChokeSlams to eventually apply a Sister Abigail on Kane for the one-two-three. Afterwards the victor had his 'brothers' drag the 'Big Red Monster' onto some steel steps and crack some more steps on his head.</div>
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Before their following match up, <strong>Damien Sandow </strong>compared Team Rhodes Scholars to some of the all-time famous duos, claiming that much like in all of them there was the inferior <strong>"lackey"</strong> in the pairing, that being <strong>Cody Rhodes</strong>. He also stated that he would send Cody back to his 'carnie' family.</div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes pinned Damien Sandow</strong> and had the last laugh in a decent affair. I'll admit I was expecting something fair here but nothing much, and it certainly exceeded that. Cody especially did well, and I'm relieved to see him back on the right track with his recent wins and elevated status. </div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio (c) forced Christian to submit in order to retain the World Heavyweight Championship</strong> in a gripping back and fourth bout. In their greatest match yet both wrestlers were technically tremendous, crafting some superb sequences with effective near falls. Del Rio managed to latch on his trademark arm breaker for the victory after Christian hit a spear using the shoulder he'd injured earlier in the title clash, it was a logical end and it was refreshing to see an injury being sold so well. </div>
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<strong>Natalya beat Brie Bella</strong> in a largely uninspiring match. To be fair Brie looked better than normal, although that still isn't saying much. <strong>Cameron </strong>and<strong> Naomi</strong> began inevitably tangling with <strong>Eva Marie </strong>and <strong>Nikki Bella </strong>at ringside to spur on more of the fake feud started in the Total Divas 'reality' show. Fans soon lost interest and began chanting such things as the commentators names and <strong>"We want tables!"</strong> to entertain themselves. Natalya caught Brie with a Sharpshooter for the win. </div>
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<strong>Brock Lesnar bested CM Punk in a No Disqualification Match</strong>. I believe awesome is probably the most suitable word to describe this special outing. Much like any Lesnar bout since his return you were hooked from the start (at least for me anyway) with both men battling (and I mean <em>battling</em>) with edge of your seat submission attempts and near falls, the drama truly never let up as both wrestlers travelled in and around the ring. Of course <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>played his part brilliantly too, halting Punk's oh so close efforts to win and finally leading his former associate and best friend into the winning F5 from 'The Beast'. </div>
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Punk has once again been involved in one of the match of the year contenders (the other one was against a certain 'Dead Man') and I cannot urge you enough to watch this enthralling fight, although if you're reading this I doubt I even have to right?</div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn defeated Big E Langston and AJ Lee</strong> in an enjoyable mixed tag bout. The match wasn't too long but I felt that only benefited it really, Kaitlyn and AJ did well with their time and Big E is probably better suited to short and powerful bursts in the ring. Plus if it'd been allocated more time it might've gotten fairly tiresome. In the end Kaitlyn took out AJ with a spear on the outside and Ziggler managed to escape a Big Ending and strike with a Zig Zag for the win.</div>
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Backstage the <strong>SummerSlam</strong> host <strong>The Miz </strong>was interrupted by <strong>Fandango </strong>and his dancing partner <strong>Summer Rae, </strong>as he had been all night. So a frustrated Miz simply clocked Fandango with a swift punch to finally stop him.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan pinned John Cena (c) to obtain the WWE Championship with Triple H as special guest referee</strong> in an exciting and highly memorable main event. The fans were electric, there were plenty of suspenseful moments and you will remember this and the events afterwards for a long time, all that adds up to a great main event. Granted it wasn't perfect or the match of the night, there were a few slight mistakes here and there but that's probably just me being a bit picky. Both men were battered and exhausted as the final few minutes rolled in, with Bryan attacking with a vicious knee to Cena's head for the most important three count of his career so far. But the night wasn't over yet.</div>
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<strong>Randy Orton </strong>then made his way casually down the ramp, with Bryan daring him to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, but 'The Viper' instead walked away. That was until Triple H suddenly Pedigreed Bryan and Orton cashed in, winning the WWE Title. It was a shocking way to end a successful event, and one that will have plenty of fans wanting answers the next night on Raw. So a smart finale then.</div>
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Overall it was a strong show, with the push of up and coming talent and most matches being decent and three being exceptional. And for me any event with at least three strong bouts is a triumphant one. My highlights were Christian versus Del Rio, CM Punk versus Lesnar, the cash in and the main event. I was very much looking forward to SummerSlam and it didn't disappoint. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-60674341030848424382013-08-16T12:30:00.001-07:002013-08-16T12:30:53.784-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 15th August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Bray Wyatt</strong>, accompanied by his 'brothers' <strong>Luke Harper </strong>and <strong>Erick Rowan</strong>, gave another intriguing promo where he spoke about the apparent life of a young Kane who was bullied at school for being different. He then turned his attention to their Ring of Fire match at <strong>SummerSlam</strong>, stating that he looked forward to it.<strong> </strong></div>
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<strong>Kane </strong>himself then snuck up on the trio after tricking them with his trademark entrance fire and began to tangle with Wyatt after chucking his associates out of the ring. But the numbers soon caught up to 'The Big Red Machine' who was eventually taken out by the Wyatt family, with Bray finally hitting him with the Sister Abigail (love the mysterious name of that finisher). It was a decent segment to kick things off, with Wyatt still as entertaining as ever. </div>
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<strong>Christian pinned Damien Sandow</strong> in a fair outing. Unfortunately they weren't given enough time to really leave their mark, but it was enjoyable enough. Afterwards Christian thwarted an attack from an upset Sandow with a spear, and then did the same to <strong>Alberto Del Rio </strong>as he reversed an arm breaker attempt into a Killswitch. </div>
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<strong>AJ Lee and Layla bested Kaitlyn and Natalya</strong> in a passable tag bout. To be fair it was certainly above average for most Diva contests you receive nowadays, with good efforts especially from Natalya and Kaitlyn. For the finish Layla kicked Kaitlyn's leg before leaving the ring, allowing AJ to apply a Shining Wizard for the victory.</div>
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<strong>Rob Van Dam, Big Show and Mark Henry defeated The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)</strong> in a solid six-man tag encounter. It was one of the better six-man matches The Shield have had since around WrestleMania time, with every wrestler putting in a good display. </div>
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<strong>The Miz beat Jack Swagger</strong> in a pretty unremarkable affair. Both men did fine, the match was just lacking in any real excitement or interest. Miz rolled up a distracted Swagger for the winning pinfall after the referee had told <strong>Zeb Colter </strong>and <strong>Antonio Cesaro </strong>to leave ringside.</div>
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<strong>Curtis Axel pinned Zack Ryder</strong> in a fine contest. There was nothing outstanding to be found here but it was a fun watch still, worth a look. Afterwards Axel's manager<b> Paul Heyman </b>grabbed a mic and admitted that <strong>CM Punk </strong>outsmarted himself and <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>on this past Monday's Raw, but he'd have his revenge in the form of Lesnar beating him this Sunday.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan defeated Wade Barrett in a No Disqualification Match</strong>. And what a lively main event this was. As Bryan had Barrett on the ropes (not literally) <strong>Vince McMahon </strong>strolled on down and distracted Bryan, allowing Barrett to get back into the match.</div>
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McMahon also decided to drag the referee out of the ring when Bryan latched on the Yes Lock on his foe, and then called down <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>to officiate the bout instead. But Maddox's time was fairly short lived as he was accidentally struck by Barrett later on. Towards the end <strong>Triple H</strong> marched down and counted Bryan's winning pin after striking with a diving headbutt before McMahon was about to enter the ring with a ref's top himself. It was a stellar end to the show I felt, with a memorable finale and an exciting match up. Good way to enter SummerSlam.</div>
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Overall it was a fun show for the most part, with a couple of strong match ups and the rest being decent enough, but nothing bad to speak of. My highlights were Wyatt's promo, the six-man tag bout and the main event. Now onto SummerSlam! Which has a pretty strong card, should be good.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-19959628835320535172013-08-16T07:09:00.001-07:002013-08-16T07:09:13.382-07:00My TNA Hardcore Justice, 15th August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Kazarian bested Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and AJ Styles to win a four-way Bound for Glory Series Ladder Match</strong>. It was an entertaining start to the special edition of Impact, and a smart choice to get the crowd going with exciting action from the get go. Every wrestler delivered here, but if I had to pick a standout performer I'd go with Aries.</div>
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Kaz managed to grab the twenty points with the help of his associates <strong>Bobby Roode </strong>and <strong>Christopher Daniels</strong>, with the former handing him an appletini to throw in Hardy's face on the way up the ladder and Roode preventing Hardy from climbing up moments before. </div>
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<strong>Dixie</strong> <strong>Carter</strong>, accompanied by the <strong>Main Event Mafia </strong>(<strong>Sting, Samoa Joe, Magnus </strong>and <strong>Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson</strong>) expressed her and the other men in the rings support for <strong>Kurt Angle</strong>, who after another drink driving incident recently has wisely entered into rehab.</div>
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Some members of <strong>Aces & 8s </strong>then joined the MEM, with <strong>Mr. Anderson </strong>cockily reminding them that they're currently a man down for their five on five contest next week, with whoever's pinned or submitted being terminated from TNA. Magus retorted by claiming that they won't struggle to find a replacement for Angle. Things inevitably turned ugly as Aces then beat down the Mafia unit, standing tall in the ring.</div>
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<strong>ODB beat Gail Kim and Mickie James (c) in a Hardcore Three Way to obtain the Knockouts Championship</strong>. The bout had enjoyable moments, and it was lively for the majority but it admittedly failed to leave the same impression as Kim and <strong>Terrell's </strong>stipulation match ups in the past. </div>
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'Rampage' Jackson, along with Samoa Joe, came out and admitted that he was sad at the reaction of some of the MMA fans when he came to TNA, reminding them that he started out wrestling in high school and has always been a pro wrestling fan. He then went on to call out his future opponent in Bellator (which they mentioned more than once) <strong>Tito Ortiz </strong>and asked him to join the MEM. He was forced to do so after Sting failed to convince Aries to join them earlier.</div>
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But before Tito could answer <strong>Bully Ray </strong>marched out and boasted that if he didn't have a title match later he would've <strong>"beaten the piss" </strong>out of them. Bully's promo was the only entertaining part of the segment. </div>
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<strong>Bobby Roode outdid Magnus, Samoa Joe and Mr. Anderson in a BFG Series Tables Match</strong>. It was a solid affair, with worthy efforts all round. It may not have been as enthralling as the opener but it was more well planned out and didn't feel so rushed. Much like the aforementioned match up the victor had some outside help in the form of Daniels and Kazarian, who aided Roode in powerbombing Magnus through a table.</div>
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<strong>Bully Ray pinned Chris Sabin (c) to obtain the TNA World Heavyweight Title in a Steel Cage Match</strong>. It was an engaging main event and superior to their first title clash, although unfortunately much like their last encounter it also had a finish that wasn't particularly satisfying at all. Mr. Anderson blocked off Sabin as he was about to escape through the door, so 'Rampage' and Ortiz came out to move the Aces VP along, only for Tito to then crack Jackson with a hammer. Bully then powerbombed his rival for the one-two-three and the strap.</div>
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I'm struggling to see the point of Sabin's title reign at all to be honest. It's always nice to see the hard working, talented wrestlers given their due, but his rise was not strong enough (unlike Aries' one last year) and his reign lasting less than a month isn't going to fill fans with real belief in him. But putting all that aside both men did a fine job in the main event.</div>
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Overall it was an eventful and fun show for the most part, despite an iffy end for myself. My highlights were the main event, Bully's mic work and the Ladder and Tables matches. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-51248304520736445432013-08-13T15:48:00.000-07:002013-08-13T15:48:00.602-07:00My WWE Raw, 12th August 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Cena and Bryan get intense in a great segment. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>Wade Barrett pinned Daniel Bryan</strong> in a pretty enjoyable opener. Bryan was on good form while Barrett did well enough. It was fun for the most part but there were a few slightly sloppy moments (Wade didn't receive some of Bryan's moves so well). Barrett gained the one-two-three with a schoolboy as special referee <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>made a dubiously fast count. Bryan was about to exact some revenge after but the Raw GM managed to escape the ring first.</div>
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<strong>Randy Orton beat Damien Sandow</strong> in a fair outing. The first half was fairly drab to be honest, but things picked up towards the end and it became a decent watch. Orton RKO'd his fellow Money in the Bank holder for the win after <strong>Cody Rhodes </strong>(who'd provided guest commentary) distracted Sandow at ringside by trying to take his briefcase which was handcuffed to a ring post. </div>
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<strong>Natalya and The Great Khali bested AJ Lee and Big E Langston</strong> in a strange mixed tag bout. The wrestling itself wasn't anything remarkable, and we only got to see AJ and Natalya tangle during the actual mach up. Natalya scored the win by forcing AJ to tap to the sharpshooter not once, but twice. The first time apparently didn't count so they carried on and Natalya just applied the submission hold again.</div>
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Afterwards Big E attempted to attack Khali but failed miserably and was instead chopped down by the giant. <span style="line-height: 1.4;">Why have the two wrestlers going into the bigger match at</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">SummerSlam </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">treated in this fashion? I've always been indifferent to the Total Divas show, but when it starts to affect the product as negatively as it has then it begins to get on </span>my<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> nerves (Natalya later challenged <strong>Brie Bella</strong> to a bout this Sunday as a continuation of their feud from the 'reality' show). </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Vince McMahon </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">brought out Brad Maddox and questioned him over his fast count in the earlier Bryan versus Barrett match. Maddox claimed that he was maybe a little overexcited and admitted to making a mistake.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">The GM then requested that he make amends by </span>refereeing<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> the WWE Title match at SummerSlam, so as McMahon was about to </span>officially<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> announce this his son in law <strong>Triple H </strong>joined them and agreed that they should allocate a special referee to take order this Sunday, but that it should be him instead. To really make Vince livid 'The Game' then pedigreed Maddox. </span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Kane pinned Titus O'Neil</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> in a short squash match. </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Bray Wyatt</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> and his 'family' </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Luke Harper </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">and </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Erick Rowan </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">then attempted to perform their trademark attack after </span>turning<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> out the lights, but Kane had the </span>upper hand<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> this time as he'd already made his way down the ramp.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Alberto Del Rio forced Kofi Kingston to submit</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> in a passable encounter. There were some solid parts and effective near falls, but on the whole it wasn't a very memorable bout. Kofi's return has been quite </span>disappointing<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> too, they could've really freshened his persona up a bit or even turn him heel with his latest comeback. It's a shame really.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>The Usos defeated The Ream Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger)</strong> in a decent tag match. It wasn't anything amazing but still lively for the most part so you were never bored.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">The Miz </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">introduced his guests for the latest </span>instalment of<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> 'Miz TV' <strong>John Cena </strong>and Daniel Bryan, who both agreed with Triple H as the referee for their title clash. As things got a bit more heated Bryan stated that it was because of people like Cena, who are more <strong>"style than substance"</strong> and just in it for the fame that he doesn't watch TV.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Cena retorted by claiming that he doesn't wrestle to impress him, but for the fans that remain loyal to him. That included a young child from Make a Wish that he visited that afternoon, which rightfully received a </span>standing<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> ovation form the fans. He also spoke about receiving the same </span>criticisms<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> for years, and that he hopes Bryan underestimates and treats him as a parody come Sunday. It was strong promo from the champ, one of the strongest he's ever </span>delivered<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> for me.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Bryan then explained a Japanese custom where a wrestler would slap another </span>wrestler<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> to get them fired up, but he didn't believe that Cena deserved it as he wasn't a real wrestler. An </span>aggravated<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> champ slapped his future challenger in the face, but Bryan failed to take the bait and refused to slap him back. Triple H then hurried out and managed to settle things just before Orton also walked out calmly and held up his MITB briefcase as a clear message to champion and challenger. It was a great segment, in fact the best since their feud begun, with terrific mic work from both men.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Fandango</strong> and <strong>R-Truth</strong> had a brief dance off, although that may be the wrong word for what they did. Things soon turned uglier however as Fandango clobbered Truth from behind, only to have him turn things around quickly and send the ballroom dancer out of the ring. It was a nothing segment.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Rob Van Dam won a Battle Royal to earn a United States Championship shot at SummerSlam</strong>. Once the match dwindled down it became an entertaining watch, with Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry and RVD being my standout performers. Speaking of the last two, they delivered an exciting end to the contest as the final two men.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Henry congratulated the victor after, and then stood by him as <b>The Shield </b>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </strong>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) made their way out. As the trio were about to enter the ring, <strong>Big Show</strong> made his return and helped scare them off. I was starting to wonder if they were going to save Show's comeback for after SummerSlam. So it would seem that him and Henry will team up to face Rollins and Reigns for the tag title, which could be interesting. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Before their match up<strong> Paul Heyman </strong>claimed that Punk's need for the fans adoration instead of his since their split was going to be his downfall, and that he planned to take that away from him with a trap he'd set up with the man he next introduced, <strong>Brock Lesnar</strong>. The trap was simple, either Punk comes out as the hero and faces both Heyman and Lesnar, or he leaves the arena and lets all the fans down.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">But </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">CM Punk </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">had a plan of his own and snuck in from behind and cracked Brock a few times with a camera he stole from a </span>cameraman<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> at ringside and hit a suicide dive. He then gave chase to Heyman, but <strong>Curtis Axel </strong>slowed him down enough for him to escape. Punk took Axel down with a few chair shots and applied a GTS to end the show, and a solid way it was to end it too.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Overall it was an entertaining show for the most part, with only a few unmemorable or mediocre bouts and a dance off letting it down. My highlights were the final segment, the Battle Royal, Bryan versus Barrett and the tremendous 'Miz TV' segment. It was a strong way to go into SummerSlam I felt, with stellar build ups for the high profile match ups, just the way it should be. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-48268178958346380142013-08-09T11:28:00.001-07:002013-08-09T11:28:42.143-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 9th August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Randy Orton pinned Rob Van Dam</strong> in a great opener to the show. It's hardly a shock considering they're two of the most consistent performers in the company but both men delivered solid displays here as they went back and fourth. The match had gripping sequences and terrific action, with a nice finish too as Orton RKO'd RVD after a Frog Splash attempt for the one-two-three.</div>
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<strong>The Miz</strong> brought out his latest guests for 'Miz TV' <strong>AJ Lee </strong>and <strong>Big E Langston</strong>, and quizzed them on their relationship status to which AJ explained Big E was her <strong>"best friend."</strong> When then asked about her previous relationships in WWE, AJ claimed that all the men involved used and abandoned her, and that her Divas Title was the only thing left that wouldn't leave her.</div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler </strong>and<strong> Kaitlyn </strong>then joined the show and stated that they were over them and didn't understand AJ's obsession still. To settle things (for a moment at least) Miz then booked all four in a mixed tag match for <strong>SummerSlam</strong>, apparently being host gives you that power? Inevitably all four then began scrapping with each other, with Ziggler and Kaitlyn finally sending their rivals packing by each hitting their respective finishers. </div>
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<strong>Fandango beat Kofi Kingston</strong> in a passable encounter. It was pretty unremarkable for the most part, with fair wrestling. For the finish <strong>Summer Rae </strong>feigned an ankle injury after having to dodge out of the way of an aerial attack from Kofi, so Fandango managed to throw a concerned Kingston into a ring post and apply his signature flying leg drop for the win.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan forced Wade Barrett to submit</strong> in a fine contest. It's a shame it wasn't allocated a bit more time but it was entertaining enough while it lasted, with worthy efforts from both wrestlers.</div>
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<strong>Kane beat 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) in a Handicap Match</strong>. This squash match didn't last too long, with Kane dominating bar one kick from McIntyre. Afterwards <strong>Bray Wyatt </strong>appeared on the big screen and gave one of his cryptic speeches regarding their Inferno Match at SummerSlam (although they've failed to refer to it as an Inferno Match for some reason) claiming that the fire couldn't stop his brothers and that he was <strong>"already dead."</strong> This guy is always worth watching.</div>
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We were shown a VT of an interview with <strong>Brock Lesnar</strong>, who explained that he had a dislike for <strong>CM Punk</strong> long before he dropped <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>as his manager, due to his undeserved arrogant attitude. He also added that at SummerSlam Punk will know what it's like to <strong>"truly be victimised by Brock Lesnar."</strong></div>
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<strong>Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio </strong>in an engaging main event. As usual these two terrific in-ring talents provided stellar showings in this enjoyable bout. It's a rare occasion that either of these men don't deliver to be honest. Christian once again caught the World Champion in a quick roll up pin for the victory. A sour Del Rio attempted to take out his frustration on Christian but 'Captain Charisma' managed to strike with a Killswitch first.</div>
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This prompted <strong>Damien Sandow </strong>to race down and almost cash in his Money in the Bank contract (in a fancy new briefcase) until <strong>Cody Rhodes </strong>intervened and attacked Sandow, finally hitting the Cross Rhodes to end the show.</div>
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Overall it was a decent show, with most matches above the average standard (two of which were very good) and some significant advancements for SummerSlam. Unfortunately most of the interviews and promos weren't must see and quite forgettable, bar Wyatt's and Lesnar's which I enjoyed. My highlights were Orton versus RVD, Lesnar's interview VT, Bryan versus Barrett and the main event.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-1070642718439897802013-08-09T07:41:00.000-07:002013-08-09T07:41:28.061-07:00My TNA Impact Wrestling, 8th August 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fHOkacsG-PjwMznRm2cNd-mR_G-vv4uTGJQSuMilY_HmBuJTbcgN-YUZhErRkI8T1mUlJQLnOMun_mB1HewDS6q2kyf4r07OOmV2TCAlcnNfyDGBUZ5uyAeVsnh8PxIK_8_HAnaDe2o/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-08-09+at+15.32.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fHOkacsG-PjwMznRm2cNd-mR_G-vv4uTGJQSuMilY_HmBuJTbcgN-YUZhErRkI8T1mUlJQLnOMun_mB1HewDS6q2kyf4r07OOmV2TCAlcnNfyDGBUZ5uyAeVsnh8PxIK_8_HAnaDe2o/s320/Screen+shot+2013-08-09+at+15.32.58.png" width="319" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Photo credit: impactwrestling.com</span></div>
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Backstage <strong>Taz</strong>, accompanied by some other <strong>Aces & 8s members</strong>, told <strong>Mike Tenay </strong>to take the night off so he could take his spot back at the announce desk after being turned away last week. They then made their way out to the ring where Taz also threatened his superior substitute <strong>Jeremy</strong> <strong>Borash</strong>, claiming that <strong>"this is my desk."</strong></div>
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<strong>Bully Ray </strong>then stated that he was in a foul mood, not just because of Tito Ortiz's<strong> </strong>debut last week (I think many fans were in a bad mood after that) but because he and <strong>Devon </strong>were booked in a tag team match that night against Sabin and a mystery opponent from Main Event Mafia. So soon enough after asking him to come out to sort their contract for the World Title match at <strong>Hardcore Justice</strong>, <strong>Chris Sabin </strong>joined Bully and told him that he always believed he could best the former champ and will next Thursday.</div>
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Bully soon had enough and asked Hogan to also join them to sign the papers, but it was <strong>Brooke </strong>not <strong>Hulk</strong> that came out and read an email from her Dad (who was out of town) that revealed that if Bully fails to win the Steel Cage Match next week, he will not receive another World Championship opportunity. An angered Bully reluctantly signed the contract after being embarrassed by his wife, who claimed that he was <strong>"all talk and very little action."</strong></div>
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<strong>Jeff Hardy pinned Samoa Joe in a decent Bound for Glory Series contest</strong>. I was personally expecting a bit more from this match up, but maybe that's just me being a bit picky. On the whole it was a fun bout, with both men on good form as they went back and fourth. Hardy caught Joe in the winning pinfall after <strong>Mr. Anderson </strong>(who'd provided guest commentary) stood up and distracted the 'Samoan Submission Machine'. </div>
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<strong>Mr. Anderson won via DQ versus Magnus in a BFG Series outing</strong>. The disqualification occurred when <strong>Bobby Roode </strong>attacked Anderson with a chair, purposely costing the BFG Series leader Magnus points. It was a fair match, nothing that will leave a lasting impression from either man.</div>
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Before <strong>Tito Ortiz </strong>could explain why he was in TNA, <strong>Kurt Angle </strong>interrupted him and warned the MMA fighter that although he appreciates what he's achieved, he better respect his space in the company. The brash Bully Ray also came out and told both that he has no respect for them and that he could easily take them out, also ordering Tito to stay out of his way.</div>
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<strong>James Storm, Gunner and ODB bested Bro Mans (Jesse and Robbie E) and Mickie James</strong> in an enjoyable mixed persons tag bout. As usual Storm delivered a stellar display, being the standout wrestler for me here. It's a shame we don't see so much of Storm and Gunner as of late, they always seem to deliver. Afterwards <strong>Gail Kim </strong>attacked ODB before being escorted away by an official, allowing Mickie to also strike her.</div>
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<strong>Kazarian versus Christoper Daniels in a BFG Series match ended in a double count out</strong> after both men simply stood outside and waited for the count to hit ten. There was a brief period of actual wrestling that was decent enough. Bobby Roode then joined Bad Influence and revealed that they had joined forces to aid each other in making sure one of them win the BFG Series. It's a smart plan, and as a fan of all three it's intriguing too.</div>
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<strong>Chris Sabin and Kurt Angle defeated Team 3D (Bully Ray and Devon)</strong> in a solid main event. Before things got going Sabin pretended that <b>Sting </b>was his tag partner, allowing Angle to sneak attack their rivals. The match started off a little slow, but once it got going it was a fun watch, with effective near falls and even a table thrown in. Towards the end Bully and Devon were about to send the World Champion through a table after they'd 3D'd Angle, but Sabin managed to move out of the way and Bully went charging into it himself. Sabin finally applied a crossbody on Ray for the one-two-three.</div>
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Overall it was a fair Impact, not up to the standard of many superior ones this year but it still had some entertaining parts. My highlights were the mixed six-persons tag bout, Hardy versus Joe and the main event. Roode, Daniels and Kaz uniting is interesting too. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-72695497443431601432013-08-02T16:18:00.001-07:002013-08-03T03:48:32.659-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 2nd August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
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<span style="text-align: start;">RVD wallops Christian with a nice kick. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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World Champion <strong>Alberto Del Rio </strong>started things off by thanking the fans, for nothing that is, reminding them that they turned on him when he was trying to be their champion. Which was true, but a lack of character will have that effect. He also sincerely thanked SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero<strong> </strong>for allowing him to choose his own opponent for <strong>SummerSlam, </strong>just like <strong>John Cena</strong>. So after mentioning a few possible options, Del Rio revealed his personal announcer <strong>Ricardo Rodriguez </strong>as his hand picked challenger.</div>
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An upset <strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>then stormed out and expressed her disappointment in Del Rio's choice so instead booked a Triple Threat between Christian, Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton to determine his opponent for the big event. I was most happy with that match line up, and they duly delivered, but I'll get to that later...</div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes pinned Jack Swagger</strong> in a fair, if unmemorable bout. Both men looked okay in the ring, nothing that significant or remarkable to take away from it though. During an interview afterwards <strong>Damien Sandow </strong>attacked Rhodes from behind, eventually taking him out by slamming his head into a nearby container. </div>
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<strong>Big E Langston beat Sin Cara</strong> in a pedestrian outing. Big E understandably dominated for the most part, with Sin Cara managing a few offensive moments in there. Unfortunately the whole thing lacked in excitement or interest.</div>
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<strong>CM Punk forced Fandango to submit</strong> in a decent contest. Both men gave stellar showings and delivered a match that exceeded my expectations. In a nice finish Punk rolled over after applying a superplex on his opponent and latched on an Anaconda Vice for the win. It's always a treat to see his signature submission move make a return.</div>
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<strong>AJ Lee (c) defeated Kaitlyn to retain the Divas Title</strong> in passable encounter. It wasn't a great bout by any means, but it was wisely kept short and at least had a twist (which you could admittedly see coming a bit) when <strong>Layla </strong>betrayed Kaitlyn by preventing a spear on the outside and revealing how friendly she was with the Divas Champion afterwards. </div>
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<strong>Christian bested Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat to become number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship</strong>. And what a tremendous main event this was, with engaging action and superb displays from the opening. Every man put in a great effort here, which is hardly a surprise considering the talent involved. For the finish Orton attempted to hit Christian with an RKO after taking out RVD with one, but failed when 'Captain Charisma' reversed it into a backslide pin for the one-two-three. As a sentimental favourite of mine I was very happy with Christian winning.</div>
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The victor shook hands with both of his competitors after, only to then be attacked by Del Rio and finally kicked in the head by the World Champion. </div>
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Overall it was a mixed bag of a show, with a few fairly average match ups that felt more like filler and a couple of enjoyable ones, including the terrific main event. My highlights were CM Punk versus Fandango and (take a wild guess) the Triple Threat. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-85639742529722808662013-08-02T13:59:00.001-07:002013-08-02T13:59:08.234-07:00My TNA Impact Wrestling, 1st August 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
We witnessed <strong>Taz </strong>being told by security that he couldn't enter the building under strict orders from Hulk Hogan. The furious announcer stormed off, claiming that he'll have their jobs for doing that to him.</div>
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<strong>Austin Aries </strong>came to the ring and first congratulated the new World Champion Chris Sabin, also warning him that everyone was now gunning for his strap, especially himself. When speaking about his opponent that night, AJ Styles, he stated that Styles was the man that carried the company for a decade, while he would be the one to carry TNA for the next decade. </div>
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<strong>Bobby Roode </strong>then joined his former tag partner and boasted that he's going to get back on track with the Bound for Glory Series (the 'It Factor' has failed to score any points as of yet) and bring back his glory period of being the longest reigning World Champion in the company's history. Aries responded by telling Roode that he hopes he does get to the finals so he can beat him once again.</div>
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<strong>Bobby Roode pinned Hernandez</strong> <strong>in a decent Bound for Glory Series encounter</strong>. You're never going to get an amazing singles bout with Hernandez let's be honest, but he still has some impressive moves and him and Roode (who was on good form) worked well together here.</div>
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Much like at <strong>Destination X </strong>Roode snapped (this time after failing to get the three-count after low blowing his opponent), chucking chairs into the ring, but this was a distraction for the referee as he then cracked a beer bottle over 'Super Mex's' head for the one-two-three as the ref was removing the chairs. It did look daft that the ref failed to see any of the many bits of shattered glass in the ring though.</div>
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<strong>Joseph Parks bested Jay Bradley</strong> <strong>in a rather pedestrian and unmemorable BFG Series outing</strong>. Under the advice of <strong>Eric Young</strong>, Parks wore a protective head mask to prevent any possible bleeding and him turning all Jekyll and Hyde and attacking an official like he had before when facing Jeff Hardy. The match wasn't bad, but it failed to gain my interest with pretty drab action. </div>
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<strong>Chris Sabin defeated Manic</strong> in a stellar contest. As expected there was a fast pace throughout, with well executed sequences and exciting wrestling. Afterwards <strong>Bully Ray </strong>crept in and began beating down both men, but Sabin managed a comeback and sent Ray packing with an enziguiri. </div>
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<strong>ODB versus Gail Kim ended in a double count out</strong> after both women continued their fight on the outside, forgetting about the count. The bout itself had been fair, nothing that exceptional, and certainly not up to Kim's recent match ups with <strong>James</strong> and <strong>Terrell</strong> lately. </div>
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<strong>Austin Aries beat AJ Styles in a gripping BFG Series match up</strong>. Both men delivered top quality performances here, with tremendous wrestling and effective near falls and submission attempts that had you glued to the screen. One of the finest televised bouts from TNA this year so far for me, so if you wouldn't normally watch Impact then at least check out this bout. Aries gained the winning pinfall after Styles hit him with a Pele Kick, causing the victor to collpase on the exhausted Styles with his arm covering him.</div>
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The <strong>Main Event Mafia</strong> (<strong>Sting</strong>, <strong>Kurt Angle, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Samoa Joe </strong>and <strong>Magnus</strong>) asked <strong>Aces & 8s </strong>to join them so they could present their offer that they <strong>"couldn't refuse."</strong> So sure enough some of the gang's members came out, including <strong>Mr. Anderson </strong>who accused them of being <strong>"cheaters" </strong>and claimed that was the only reason Sabin was champ.</div>
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Angle retorted by finally revealing the mysterious deal of theirs, which was to have a five on five contest at <strong>Hardcore Justice </strong>and the man who is pinned or forced to submit will have to leave the company. After a brief scrap between the factions, an irate Anderson accepted the match. The lights then went out and the mysterious person behind the August 1st warning was revealed to be <strong>Tito Ortiz</strong>.</div>
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I'll be frank, like many fans I was deeply disappointed and just confused by this. I understand the deal between TNA and Bellator MMA but I don't find these acquisitions appealing at all. I was fairly optimistic when 'Rampage' came in, but to be honest he hasn't exactly set the world alight in TNA. Using a pro wrestling company to promote upcoming MMA events just doesn't work for me, and is taking up time from the actual pro wrestling. I'm an MMA fan but there's no place for it there unless the fighters have trained for pro wrestling and aren't still fighting elsewhere. That's just my opinion.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-36167559461577220002013-07-30T06:50:00.002-07:002013-07-30T06:51:11.255-07:00My WWE Raw, 29th July 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: start;">Bryan proving his </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">popularity</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: start;"> with the fans. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>Vince McMahon</strong>, accompanied by Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox</strong>, kicked off the show by admitting that Maddox might've been onto something last week when he referred to Bryan as a <strong>"troll."</strong> <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>himself then came out and accused Maddox of simply following orders from McMahon and repeating his own words. The COO retorted by claiming that Cena only chose to face Bryan at <strong>SummerSlam </strong>because he saw him as an easy challenger to the WWE Title, and that he'd manipulated him and all the fans.</div>
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McMahon went on to state that there was no way he could dethrone Cena and that it would be an embarrassment to the company if he did, but he'd also had enough of the champ who he felt walked around like he owned the place. Bryan responded by using McMahon's own words and telling him that it didn't matter what he thought but instead what the fans thought, who he received a resounding <strong>"Yes!"</strong> chant from when he asked if they wanted to see a new WWE Champion. It was an entertaining segment to open Raw.</div>
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<strong>The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated The Usos and Mark Henry</strong> in an enjoyable enough six-man tag contest. Like the majority of Shield matches it was worth a watch (although far from their best) with fair displays from all involved. Afterwards Henry continued to assault his new foes and threw the trio out of the ring.</div>
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We witnessed footage from earlier in the day where <strong>Ryback </strong>began picking on an unknown member of staff as they were grabbing some food, claiming that they looked like they were about to say something and slapping some food into their face. Ryback eventually put them through a table, hyping up his Tables Match with Cena later on. </div>
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<strong>Rob Van Dam won via count out versus Fandango</strong> in a fun outing. RVD was on good form once again, and Fandango hit a few nicely executed moves himself too. The count out occurred after Fandango had enough and decided the match wasn't worth it and walked off with <strong>Summer Rae</strong>. </div>
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<strong>Kaitlyn pinned AJ Lee</strong> in a pretty average bout that went on a bit longer than necessary. Most of the match was fine, if unremarkable, but unfortunately the final third of it began to drag, with the fans pretty indifferent to the whole thing. Kaitlyn gained the one-two-three after applying an uncharacteristically clumsy spear. <strong>Dolph Ziggler </strong>then joined them, congratulating AJ on her loss and challenging <strong>Big E Langston </strong>to a match right there and then.</div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler won via disqualification versus Big E Langston</strong> in a rather forgettable affair. Both men looked all right, nothing special to be fair. Unfortunately the match up just never engaged me. The DQ happened when AJ ran into the ring and began viciously clawing at her ex Ziggler. </div>
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<strong>Christian bested Alberto Del Rio</strong> in a stellar contest for the most part. There were a few slight hiccups that let it down a bit but not enough to really spoil it for me. These two talents as usual delivered worthy displays in-between the ropes, with Christian finally catching the World Champion out with a quick roll up for the winning pinfall. </div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes beat Wade Barrett</strong> in a largely lacklustre outing. Neither wrestler gave a bad performance, but the match up never gave us much excitement until the final few minutes when Cody struck with a moonsault and nicely reversed a pumphandle slam attempt into a Cross Rhodes for the victory. </div>
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<strong>Damien Sandow </strong>then stormed out and berated Rhodes for chucking his Money in the Bank briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico on last week's SmackDown, and went on to call his former tag partner's family a bunch of clowns, saying that <span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>"carnie folk are beneath my constitution."</strong></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Daniel Bryan defeated Kane</strong> in a decent back and fourth effort. It's worth a watch, just don't expect anything too incredible here. Bryan managed to reverse a Chokeslam to catch Kane in the winning small package. A furious Kane Chokeslammed Bryan after, and was shortly joined by <strong>Bray Wyatt </strong>and his 'family' <strong>Luke Harper </strong>and <strong>Erick Rowan </strong>who once again took him out.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Brie Bella pinned Natalya</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> in a mediocre and unmemorable bout. Natalya did quite well considering what she </span>had<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> to work with. During the match </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Nikki Bella </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">came out and distracted Natalya by making duck noises (backstage earlier they'd </span>referred<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> to her as an <strong>"ugly duckling"</strong>) which of course cost her the match as Brie managed to grab the win with a roll up.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Curtis Axel versus R-Truth</strong> <strong>ended in a no contest</strong> after <strong>CM Punk </strong>came racing down and began attacking the IC Champion. Punk then turned his attention to his real target <strong>Paul Heyman</strong>, who managed to make a getaway after his client held off Punk long enough. The match itself was short, but was enjoyable enough while it lasted.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>John Cena beat Ryback in a Tables Match</strong>. It was an entertaining main event. As standard when these two meet it was fun, just don't expect anything technically amazing. Cena managed to AA Ryback through a table propped up in the corner for the win. Bryan then came down and was about to hand over the WWE Title belt but instead teased him with it until an angry Cena snatched it back. There was a nice intense moment between the two, and I'm still just as excited about their title match next month. </span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4;">Overall it was a pretty average Raw, with most matches </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">failing</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4;"> to be anything more than fair. The opening segment, RVD versus Fandango, Christian versus Del Rio, Bryan versus Kane and the main event were my highlights. Unfortunately there were also no more matches announced for SummerSlam, I can only presume that McMahon and Triple will have some kind of match (or representatives) with their positions on the line or something like that. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-57330158267317925872013-07-26T14:46:00.000-07:002013-07-27T04:12:46.303-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 26th July 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
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<span style="text-align: start;">Apparently he can't swim. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>Randy Orton pinned Damien Sandow</strong> in a fair outing. Both Money in the Bank holders gave worthy enough efforts, but I failed to engage in the match and find any excitement. Orton applied the RKO for the one-two-three after <strong>Cody Rhodes </strong>walked down and walked off with Sandow's MITB briefcase, distracting the 'Intellectual Saviour'. </div>
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<strong>CM Punk </strong>came out and confirmed for us again that he will indeed face <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>at <strong>SummerSlam </strong>in a few weeks. He went on to also claim that Lesnar's biggest weakness was once his own, his trust in <strong>Paul Heyman</strong>, and Heyman's was and always has been his ego.</div>
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He also added that he will take everything away from Heyman when he stands up from Lesnar's attack and continuously kicks him in the head until he's unrecognisable. I'm a big Punk fan but I just struggle to believe it when he states he'll do this kind of thing to someone much larger and muscular in Lesnar. Amusingly <strong>Fandango </strong>then interrupted Punk and came out for some unknown reason, which prompted him to crack the dancer with his microphone and some punches before hitting him with the GTS. The segment was entertaining and Punk is always a welcome return on the blue brand for me. </div>
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<strong>Mark Henry and The Usos bested the Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) and Wade Barrett</strong> in a passable six-man tag bout. It had decent moments, but was pretty forgettable to be honest. The winning teams upcoming match with <strong>The Shield </strong>should be far better.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio beat Rob Van Dam</strong> in a match that was far, far too brief. The World Champion managed to quickly pin RVD after a swift superkick after distracting the referee in the corner. I can only imagine <span style="line-height: 1.4;">(and sincerely hope) that </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">they're planning to have these two face off for the strap at SummerSlam. That could be a terrific title match.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">AJ</strong> <strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Lee</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">, accompanied by </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Big E Langston</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">, explained that despite being dumped by Ziggler and loosing her best friend </span>Kaitlyn<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> she would be fine due to still being the Divas Champion and </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">"saviour"</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> of the division.</span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;"> </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">She then revealed Dolph's keys to his house that he'd given her and claimed that she was ready to move on and get rid of them.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Dolph Ziggler </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">then joined them and told his ex that he'd passed around plenty of sets of keys to girls and changed the locks just to be safe anyway, and also told Lee and Langston that they were both </span>replaceable too, much like all his belongings in his suitcase which AJ began to destroy in the ring. As a furious Divas Champion left the ring <strong>Kailyn </strong>hit her with a spear, and Dolph took out Langston with a fameasser. Looks like we'll be having a mixed tag match with this lot at SummerSlam. It was an enjoyable segment, mainly due to Ziggler's great work on the mic which was possibly his strongest to date. His face turn has been very successful so far.</div>
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<strong>Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated Tons of Funk (Tensai and Brodus Clay)</strong> in a short squash tag contest. After watching the 'Wyatt family' for a while now on NXT their performance was pretty standard for them, they're never the most exciting but they do their job well enough. Afterwards <strong>Bray Wyatt </strong>said that he was welcoming <b>Kane's </b>return next Monday, seemingly having no fear over the possible ramifications of their beat down on him a few weeks ago.</div>
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<strong>Christian pinned Jack Swagger</strong> in a solid encounter and best one of the night. In one of Swagger's finest match ups since his return earlier in the year we received good displays from both men, with Christian especially on stellar form as usually expected from him. </div>
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Damien Sandow stormed out after the main event and demanded that Rhodes return his MITB briefcase and that <strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>fire him immediately. Cody then appeared on the big screen and revealed that he was right by the Gulf of Mexico with the briefcase in hand, telling Damien that all he had to do was come and get it.</div>
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So a frantic Sandow raced across the street, begging Cody not to chuck it into the river and complimenting him in almost every department. But that wasn't enough for Rhodes who tossed it in anyway. Sandow attempted to retrieve it but failed as he admitted that he couldn't actually swim. It was a fun end to the show. </div>
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Overall it was a mixed bag of a SmackDown, with most of it being pretty unmemorable but a few entertaining offerings still to be had. My highlights were Punk's promo, the Ziggler and AJ segment, Christian versus Swagger and Sandow and Rhodes visit to the Gulf of Mexico. Outside of those parts it was unremarkable or fairly drab for myself. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-49966423911052495362013-07-23T06:18:00.000-07:002013-07-23T06:23:27.297-07:00My WWE Raw, 22nd July 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large/public/photo/image/2013/07/RAW_07222013ej_1399-1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/photo_large/public/photo/image/2013/07/RAW_07222013ej_1399-1" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">The red hot Bryan strikes with a mean kick. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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The Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>opened the show by bringing out <strong>John Cena </strong>for his WWE Championship match contract signing for <strong>SummerSlam</strong>. Maddox questioned Cena's choice and asked him why he chose Bryan out of all the possible wrestlers to challenge for his strap. Before the champ could answer <strong>Daniel Bryan </strong>joined them, to a very healthy response from the fans.</div>
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Cena then mocked Maddox and claimed that the size of a wrestler doesn't determine their worth, but their talent and heart. Cena even called some of the people in the back idiots for sometimes not seeing the level of talent in front of them. I really struggled to buy into any of this speech, Cena has had the power and influence in the company for years to put over many up and coming pro wrestlers (most smaller than him) but has rarely ever done so. But Cena also went on to warn Bryan that while he's great, that won't be enough to beat him.</div>
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As Bryan was about to respond after signing the contract, Maddox interrupted him, so an angry Bryan warned him that he'd been waiting a long time for this moment and he wouldn't let him ruin it. The GM retorted by booking the number one contender against some unknown opponents to prove his worth later that night.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio pinned Sheamus</strong> in a fair outing. I can't really fault either man's performance here, but it still felt like the match was lacking in excitement. Del Rio managed to hook up Sheamus' still injured leg from Money in the Bank for the winning pinfall.</div>
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<strong>Christian defeated Titus O'Neil</strong> in a decent contest. Both men delivered worthy efforts, with Christian as usual on solid form. O'Neil once again proved he's got character here, especially when he began amusingly blowing a whistle as he kicked Christian in the corner.</div>
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<strong>Mark Henry </strong>came to the ring and stated that he was proud of his efforts against Cena at MITB, and also announced that he was ready to deliver a <strong>"whoopin'" </strong>to The Shield after their beat down of him last week. So sure enough <strong>The Shield </strong>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </strong>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) came down and began clobbering on Henry, that was until <strong>The Usos </strong>raced out and helped him chase off the trio. </div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler bested Darren Young</strong> in a passable encounter. It wasn't anything that remarkable, but there were some nice moments of wrestling here and there. Afterwards <strong>Big E Langston, </strong>accompanied by <strong>AJ Lee</strong>, entered the ring and attempted to attack Ziggler but was outmanoeuvred by 'The Show Off' who managed a quick getaway. </div>
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<strong>The Miz </strong>announced himself as the upcoming host of SummerSlam and introduced all the main Divas appearing in the new reality show (although I'm certain it'll be largely scripted) Total Divas, including two new faces in <strong>Eva Marie </strong>and <strong>Jo-Jo</strong>. Miz asked <b>Jerry Lawler </b>to join him in the ring, so after 'King' introduced himself to the two new Divas, Marie claimed she wanted to make an impression and slapped Lawler, sending him back to his seat. I can't say any of this got me interested in the upcoming show. </div>
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<strong>Cody Rhodes pinned Fandango</strong> in a pretty forgettable bout. I just failed to find the interest here to be honest, not to say either wrestler looked bad on any level but they didn't deliver great displays either. For the finish <strong>Damien Sandow </strong>(who'd provided guest commentary) distracted Cody, but was then charged off of the apron when Rhodes managed to dodge an attack from Fandango and apply a Disaster Kick to them both, then hitting a Cross Rhodes for the one-two-three.</div>
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<strong>CM Punk </strong>admitted that last week <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>man handled him, claiming that his biggest weapon has always been <strong>"fear,"</strong> but he was not afraid of Heyman's monster and he was still able to stand after Lesnar's brutal attack last week. Punk also went on to warn Heyman once again that he will make him pay for his double cross, and challenged his client to a match at SummerSlam. <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>then appeared on the big screen and reminded Punk of how beat up he still was and how foolish the challenge was, but nonetheless accepted on Brock's behalf. As usual a segment involving these two was one of the highlights of the broadcast.</div>
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<strong>Rob Van Dam beat Wade Barrett</strong> in an entertaining affair. Much like his previous few match ups since returning to the company, RVD looked to be on fine form and is still receiving terrific responses from the fans. I know he's facing Del Rio on SmackDown this week but I was personally hoping he'd have a shot at the World Title at SummerSlam to add a bit more interest to the strap.</div>
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<strong>Daniel Bryan forced Jack Swagger to submit</strong> in an enjoyable first match in the series. Given more time they could've made even more of it, but it was fun as it was. </div>
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Next up <strong>Bryan pinned Antonio Cesaro</strong> in a tremendous back and fourth contest. From the very start you were hooked here, with such high quality wrestling from two top talents in probably Cesaro's finest outing in WWE to date. Bryan finally caught Cesaro with an impressive small package as the Swiss attempted a European uppercut in the air. A great end to a great bout.</div>
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Finally <strong>Daniel Bryan won via disqualification versus Ryback</strong> in a satisfying match up for the most part. Granted it was always going to be tricky for them to outdo that previous outing, but they both did decent jobs and had a solid final third to the match after a little bit of a drab period of Ryback dominating. The DQ came after Ryback powerbombed Bryan through a table he'd pulled out from under the ring earlier on. Cena then came racing out to chase off Ryback and challenged him to a Tables Match next week, which Ryback agreed to.</div>
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Backstage <strong>Vince McMahon </strong>then convinced Maddox to book Bryan against his former tag partner <strong>Kane </strong>for next Monday's Raw, as part of his ruse to take out Bryan as he doesn't deem him the right type to be WWE Champion.</div>
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Overall it was a pretty fair Raw for the majority, with the CM Punk/Heyman segment, RVD versus Barrett and Bryan's three match ups (especially the superb one against Cesaro) being my highlights. I agree with JR's recent assessment that with his talent Bryan would've shone in any era of the business. Outside of those the show wasn't anything that remarkable, although to be fair we had some more advancements on feuds leading into SummerSlam at least. And what happened to the return of <strong>Big Show</strong>? Guess that's been moved on. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-81806253014378341952013-07-19T14:58:00.001-07:002013-07-19T14:58:14.496-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 19th July 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Teddy Long </strong>started things off by announcing that <strong></strong>he would receive a job evaluation that very night, potentially earning the spot of SmackDown General Manager. But current GM <strong>Booker T </strong>then made his return, shortly followed by <strong>Vince McMahon </strong>who asked each man to book a match for the show to test them and see who deserves the position. <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>also joined them and tried to convince McMahon that he should have the job.</div>
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After contemplating it for a few seconds, Mr. McMahon announced <strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>as the new GM for the blue brand, who first thanked him for appointing her and then screamed at the fans that she hated them. Did the fact that she lost her job on Raw due to the fans dislike of her not sink in? I'm still struggling to see the advantage of her back in a management position so soon, although it makes sense regarding how upset Vince was when she was terminated to bring her back so fast. Well it could've been worse, we could have had <strong>Laurinaitis </strong>back. </div>
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<strong>Dolph Ziggler pinned Jack Swagger</strong> in a short but fair contest. Given a bit more time they could've had a far more remarkable <span style="line-height: 1.4;">encounter, as it was they both delivered passable performances. Ziggler grabbed the one-two-three after hitting Swagger with a Zig Zag after an </span>ankle lock<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> attempt. Afterwards Dolph said he was <strong>"sorry"</strong> to his ex <strong>AJ Lee</strong>, sorry for not </span>dumping<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> her sooner that is. Backstage a furious AJ began throwing a tantrum until <strong>Big E Langston </strong>consoled her, almost leaning in for a kiss but instead just pecking her on the forehead. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Before their match could get underway <strong>The Usos </strong>and <strong>The Shield </strong>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </strong>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) began to brawl in the ring, with the Usos eventually being sent out. But then an angry <strong>Mark Henry </strong>marched down and helped Jimmy and Jey even the odds and send the trio on their way.<strong><br /></strong></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Daniel Bryan forced Wade Barrett to submit</strong> in an enjoyable enough outing. Again, like the Swagger versus Ziggler bout this was a bit brief for my liking, but Bryan as standard for him lately was on great form and made the most of the time allocated.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">The Miz </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">deemed his guest on the latest 'Miz TV' too </span>contemptible to even question, so instead he simply allowed him to say whatever he wanted. Heyman warned <strong>CM Punk </strong>to <strong>"stay down,"</strong> claiming that he still had love in his heart for him and knew it would be best for his well being, otherwise he will feel the wrath of his client <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>once again. Miz was so disgusted with Heyman's double cross, and even more so with the fact that he swore on his children's lives while lying to Punk, that he had to leave.<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> It was a decent segment, you can't really go wrong when Heyman </span>has<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> a mic in hand.</span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Curtis Axel (c) defeated Chris Jericho to retain the intercontinental Title</strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> in an engaging affair. Once again these two put on a stellar bout, each giving </span>displays<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> to be proud of as they went back and fourth. Afterwards <strong>Ryback </strong>decided to come on down and after Y2J clobbered him with a few strikes, managed to Shell Shock his Money in the Bank opponent and kick him in the gut for good measure. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">'Mr. Money in the Bank' </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Damien Sandow </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">claimed that he did no wrong at Money in the Bank when he tossed former tag partner Rhodes from the ladder and grabbed the briefcase for himself, reminding everyone that it was every man for himself in that environment. He went on to ask Cody to join him so they could settle things in an orderly fashion.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Once </span><strong style="line-height: 1.4;">Cody </strong><span style="line-height: 1.4;">came out, Sandow forgave him for attacking him on Raw an offered him a consolation in the form of becoming the '</span>honorary<span style="line-height: 1.4;">' Money in the Bank briefcase protector. After feigning </span>appreciation<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> for this </span>opportunity, Cody thrust the briefcase into Sandow's face and then began beating on him, eventually chasing him out of the ring.<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> Hopefully this face turn will be just what Cody needs to get back on track, he's been a punching bag for too long now. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Rob Van Dam beat Darren Young</strong> in an entertaining match up, largely thanks to the efforts of RVD. It wasn't an exceptional contest by any means, but you couldn't help but have fun watching Van Dam do what he does best.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><strong>Randy Orton bested Alberto Del Rio</strong> in a solid main event. I'll admit neither has the most exciting persona nowadays, but in-between the ropes they're two of the most consistent in the company next to the likes of Bryan, Ziggler and Christian. A clean pinfall over the World Champion must surely earn 'The Viper' a title shot in the near future? If he was to obtain the strap that could make a potential cash in on the WWE Title extremely interesting...</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">Overall it was a pretty satisfying show for the most part, with no bad match ups and some entertaining promos. My highlights were Axel versus Jericho, the 'Miz TV' segment and the </span>main<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> event. My only issue with the show was Vickie </span>Guerrero<span style="line-height: 1.4;"> brought back as the GM, I just see this as a step back, there's nothing more we can get from her in that position. Why not just have her return as Ryback's manager or something along those lines? </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-52961616391680296262013-07-19T08:53:00.003-07:002013-07-19T08:53:39.885-07:00My TNA Destination X, 18th July 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig7jZWmJa-mVOn8EzRL_k4myevn-99koMhyFC5yKXuSiaRTaZTSX4tq1oh_3JTejipeGZp8NFMLUSGvc8Xjyoyv3wfBHUiX0GJ9jnvlUXjqFlHM0ccxittRJb4vbXCwY8imS0O86X_Xl8/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-07-19+at+16.52.03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig7jZWmJa-mVOn8EzRL_k4myevn-99koMhyFC5yKXuSiaRTaZTSX4tq1oh_3JTejipeGZp8NFMLUSGvc8Xjyoyv3wfBHUiX0GJ9jnvlUXjqFlHM0ccxittRJb4vbXCwY8imS0O86X_Xl8/s400/Screen+shot+2013-07-19+at+16.52.03.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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World Champion <strong>Bully Ray </strong>opened <strong>Destination X</strong> by claiming that the challenger to his title later in the show, Chris Sabin, had no shot against him. He also boasted that it was the perfect night to end Main Event Mafia and that he was the <strong>"most hated man in pro wrestling, and that's just the way I like it!" </strong></div>
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<strong></strong>Bully went on to call out his wife <strong>Brooke Hogan</strong>, who told him to <strong>"move on"</strong> like she now had, but he couldn't accept that. So the champ's furious father-in-law <strong>Hulk Hogan </strong>stormed out and told Bully that <strong>"enough was enough"</strong> and walked away with his daughter. As Bully continued to yell at them <strong>Kurt Angle </strong>and the rest of the <strong>Main Event Mafia </strong>appeared on the big screen and warned Ray that they'll be bringing the fight to <strong>Aces & 8s</strong> very soon.</div>
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<strong>Austin Aries pinned Bobby Roode in an enthralling Bound for Glory Series encounter</strong>. As usual these two worked brilliantly together, putting together exciting sequences and effective near falls. I don't think I could ever get tired of watching them go at it (mind out of the gutter). Afterwards a furious Roode, who has failed to obtain a single point in the series so far, began chucking around various items at ringside. </div>
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<strong>Sonjay Dutt bested Homicide and Petey Williams</strong> in an entertaining three-way contest. In traditional X Division-style the match was fast paced with innovative wrestling from the get go, and to be honest with this level of talent (and three of my personal favourites from the X Division's past) the quality of the match was never really in doubt. As a result of the win Dutt qualified for the three-way Ultimate X match to crown a new X Division Champion next week.</div>
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<strong>Manik beat Kenny King and Chavo Guerrero</strong> in a largely enjoyable three-way to qualify for the X Division Title match. Although it wasn't quite as exciting as the previous affair it was still a fun watch.</div>
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The <strong></strong>Main Event Mafia (<strong>Sting</strong>, Kurt Angle, <strong>Samoa Joe</strong>, <strong>Magnus </strong>and <strong>Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson</strong>) came to the ring and asked Aces & 8s to join them so they can settle things and finally rid the company of the gang that's been terrorising them since last year. But instead <strong>Mr. Anderson </strong>appeared on the big screen and goaded them into coming backstage to confront them.</div>
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So after the MEM began tangling with Aces backstage they were locked in a room so Bully Ray was able to crack Angle against a wall and then throw him into the back of a truck and send him on his way.</div>
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<strong>Greg Marasciulo outdid Rubix and Rockstar Spud</strong> in another stellar three-way to qualify for the X Division Title match. All three men provided worthy efforts, and although he still may have a bit of work to do in the ring, Rockstar Spud certainly showed character here. I'm glad to see Marasciulo (formerly Trent Barreta in WWE) appear in TNA. I always felt he was a solid talent and hope he's given more of a chance to show what he can do.</div>
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The charismatic Knockouts Champion <strong>Mickie James </strong>presented a VT of highlights from a gig of hers in Tennessee last week, renaming it <strong>"Mickie City."</strong> However she was soon interrupted by the number one contender to her strap <strong>Gail Kim</strong>, who called the champ <strong>"delusional"</strong> for believing that people were paying more attention to James' music than her Ladder match against <strong>Terrell </strong>last week. </div>
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After a few more exchanges the two began attacking each other until they were separated by referees. As the two top female talents in the company I'm very much looking forward to their title clash. I'm also still really into James' new obnoxious heel persona, she's pulling it off well. </div>
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<strong>Chris Sabin pinned Bully Ray (c) to obtain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship</strong> in an eventful main event. The action was solid, with Bully logically targeting the formerly injured knee of the challenger and dominating for the majority, and the fans were very much into it.</div>
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While I did enjoy the outing, the outside interference between Aces and the Mafia did feel like overkill and spoil it a bit for me. Towards the end after the referee was KO'd by accident (which looked daft) the two factions faced off and brawled in the ring and ended up travelling down the ramp to the back. Meanwhile Bully had been handed a hammer, but Sabin managed to snatch it and crack the champ in the head as he went for a powerbomb and grabbed the momentous winning pinfall. </div>
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Last year when Aries won it felt even more satisfying to me, maybe it was the build up and Aries' record-breaking X Division Title reign leading up to it, but I reckon it was due to his cleaner and more defining victory. Don't get me wrong I'm still excited by Sabin winning the strap as a big fan of his, and it certainly makes things interesting, but I just wish they'd had a simpler one on one match with the Mafia erasing Aces from the equation like they promised to last week. </div>
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Overall it was a solid show, with not one bout failing to entertain and some enjoyable segments. My highlights were James' promo, Dutt versus Homicide versus Williams, the main event and Aries versus Roode. It didn't quite live up to last years Destination X but for an Impact broadcast it was a very satisfying and memorable show. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-50129830340377051532013-07-16T06:29:00.000-07:002013-07-16T06:29:03.867-07:00My WWE Raw, 15th July 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9_i7Gysml9QmLUjxlrPV_fKHcOPBhVY-4QiYulxqZ2lFhOiG4r3ia7-OEKTg8pj1wE9XUrXH-aMrFpfFr3Qv18GPawuy6MbDAIyAxAXxTym_5V74r4EaM35u5JTB5XJh7bZGUW2kOlo/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-07-16+at+14.23.48.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9_i7Gysml9QmLUjxlrPV_fKHcOPBhVY-4QiYulxqZ2lFhOiG4r3ia7-OEKTg8pj1wE9XUrXH-aMrFpfFr3Qv18GPawuy6MbDAIyAxAXxTym_5V74r4EaM35u5JTB5XJh7bZGUW2kOlo/s320/Screen+shot+2013-07-16+at+14.23.48.png" width="284" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">Bryan a little happy at Cena's decision. Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>kicked off the show by boasting that the Brooklyn fans will one day be able to tell their grandkids that they were there to witness the start of the <strong>"Brad Maddox era."</strong> WWE Champion <strong>John Cena </strong>soon interrupted him and admitted that he deserved a chance to prove himself as GM before he judged him. Maddox then informed Cena that he will get to pick his own opponent to defend the title against at <strong>SummerSlam</strong>.</div>
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Money in the Bank winner <strong>Randy Orton </strong>decided to join them both and warned Cena that when he cashes in he won't squander the opportunity like the champ did last year. If I hadn't watched the product in a while I would've sworn that Orton was a heel the way he put down Cena. <strong>Fandango </strong>then made his way out to a terrific reaction and claimed that the challenger the fans would like to see Cena face was himself. It was a hilariously delivered promo. Things soon turned physical however when Orton and Fandango began brawling in the ring, so Maddox booked them both in a match there and then. It was an entertaining start to the show.</div>
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<strong>Randy Orton pinned Fandango</strong> in a decent outing. There were worthy efforts provided by both men here, with this probably being Fandango's finest singles match to date. It may have started fairly slow but things soon picked up. Like many fans I'll admit that Orton's persona has grown a bit stale, but he's still one of the most consistent performers in the company for me and it's rare he doesn't deliver in the ring. </div>
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Backstage <strong>Dolph Ziggler </strong>told <strong>AJ Lee </strong>that he was ending things between them. AJ was understandably distraught, but we'll get to more of that later...</div>
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<strong>Mark Henry </strong>came to the ring and admitted that Cena was the better man the previous night in their title clash, and asked that he gave him one more chance at SummerSlam for the strap. <strong>The Shield </strong>(<strong>Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins </strong>and <strong>Roman Reigns</strong>) then walked out and after being repelled by the beastly Henry, managed to wear down the 'World's Strongest Man' and triple powerbomb him. So it looks like Henry's turning face, which could work.</div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler</strong> in an intense back and fourth affair. Once again these two delivered a terrific match up, with engaging action throughout and top displays from each of them. The finish came after the upset AJ Lee rang the ringside bell, causing Ziggler to become distracted and Del Rio to hit a swift kick to the head and gain the one-two-three.</div>
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As the former couple argued in the ring, <strong>Big E Langston </strong>snuck in and ran Ziggler over with a mean clothesline and applied a Big Ending. Guess we know who 'The Show Off' is facing at SummerSlam. </div>
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Before their match could begin, <strong>Bray Wyatt's '</strong>family' took out a surprised <strong>R-Truth</strong>. Wyatt then gave a cryptic promo on how heroes no longer existed and that people can no longer trust even their own flesh and blood, but he was still trustworthy. Truth then entered the ring again with a steel chair in hand, but was soon caught out and beaten up by Bray and his associates. Well Wyatt is certainly one of the freshest and most interesting acts in the company right now.</div>
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<strong>The Usos bested The Real Americans</strong> in a fair tag bout. The match was fun while it lasted, it's just a shame they weren't allocated a bit more time to really excel, especially after The Usos's solid Tag Team Title match the night before. </div>
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<strong>Christian pinned Damien Sandow</strong> in an enjoyable enough encounter. Much like the previous match they weren't given too much time, but they made the most of it. Christian catching MITB victor Sandow with a pinfall win seemed like odd booking though, but this failed to phase him as he still announced himself as the <strong>"Intellectual Saviour of Money in the Bank"</strong> afterwards.</div>
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An enraged <strong>Cody Rhodes</strong> then began clobbering his former tag partner who stabbed him in the bank the night before, with Sandow managing a quick escape after some security held Rhodes back. <strong> </strong></div>
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<strong>Naomi beat Brie Bella </strong>in an unremarkable affair. To be fair it was okay compared to the usual standard of match they deliver, but it still wasn't anything to shout about. Naomi gained the winning pin after applying a cross body from the top rope.</div>
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A stern <strong>CM Punk </strong>demanded that Heyman and Lesnar, who he was aware were in the building, enter the ring with him. So <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>made his way out, claiming that he now fails to exist in his eyes and was no longer the best in the World since dumping him as his associate, which was also the reason that he double crossed him by manipulating him and at Money in the Bank when he slammed a ladder into him multiple times. He also added that his children made it all clear when they asked why Punk didn't follow his orders like Lesnar did, who he also stated Punk could not beat.</div>
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Punk retorted by warning Heyman that he will gain retribution on everyone associated with the double cross, leaving him for last so he can witness it all. A confident Heyman then brought out his client <strong>Brock Lesnar </strong>who began brawling with Punk. While Punk managed brief comeback strikes, he was overpowered by Brock at every turn and eventually F5'd onto the announce desk. It was an enthralling segment from start to finish, with tremendous mic work from Heyman and an entertaining scrap.</div>
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<strong>Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho</strong> in an engaging contest. They've certainly had superior match ups in the past, but that's not to take away from this one which had a few slightly sloppy moments but was enjoyable on the whole and well received by the fans in Brooklyn. </div>
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After asking for the crowds opinion on who he should face at SummerSlam for the championship, John Cena finally announced the hottest wrestler in the company today as his challenger, <strong>Daniel Bryan</strong>. The fans gave a very healthy response to that pick, and it should be an interesting match next month.</div>
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Overall it was a solid show, with some good storyline developments and most match ups and promos worth checking out. My highlights were RVD versus Jericho, Del Rio versus Ziggler and the Punk, Heyman and Lesnar segment. Good start to the road to SummerSlam, let's hope they keep up the momentum. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-47322098840336225212013-07-15T07:18:00.000-07:002013-07-15T07:18:40.683-07:00My WWE Money in the Bank 2013 Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-4ImirvRhVCEgZhC8u8bxkEYwHotbByEoBdjCy2FbZ_r1NDeps-7PqWF3fXWT3oHk42H9wYLOqa8WLqy2Oe_taA3E3Ty4FZhhhePHiJNVKOQ6m-xZeqZXSBUJOYuYQp7BTL6RMgNO28/s1600/MITB13_Photo_285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-4ImirvRhVCEgZhC8u8bxkEYwHotbByEoBdjCy2FbZ_r1NDeps-7PqWF3fXWT3oHk42H9wYLOqa8WLqy2Oe_taA3E3Ty4FZhhhePHiJNVKOQ6m-xZeqZXSBUJOYuYQp7BTL6RMgNO28/s400/MITB13_Photo_285.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: start;">All six men go tumbling off of the ladders, crazy! Photo credit: WWE.com</span></div>
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<strong>The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) (c) defeated Jimmy and Jey Uso to retain the WWE Tag Team Title</strong> in a solid pre-show bout. Surpassing my prediction of a decent tag match, this was a really fun watch with innovative action (which I would like to see more of from the WWE tag division) and a fast pace to keep you engaged. All four men deserve credit.</div>
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<strong>Damien Sandow bested Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match</strong>. In this exciting and highly entertaining opener every man gave us a memorable moment, whether it was Ambrose flipping from under a ladder to on top of it and then being chucked out of the ring by Cesaro and Swagger who were holding it, to Cody muscle busting Cesaro onto a ladder in the corner. I was expecting good things here but it definitely exceeded my expectations.</div>
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For the finish Ambrose was thrown from the top of the ladder onto everyone outside the ring by Rhodes (including his Shield teammates who had run down to help him but were soon attacked by the Usos and most of the other participants) but unfortunately for Cody as he climbed the ladder he was thrown off by his tag partner and 'best friend' Sandow, who had been hiding on the outside of the ring awaiting his chance to pounce and indeed did here as he managed to unhook the briefcase.</div>
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It was a surprising win which I did envisage happening in this MITB match, and a very nice set up into a Rhodes and Sandow feud. Cody had been a force towards the end of the match and had the fans behind him, acting every bit the face. I still don't think Sandow is quite ready to be World Champion but hopefully by the time he cashes in he will have improved in the ring.</div>
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The brand new Raw GM <strong>Brad Maddox </strong>came to the ring and first thanked <strong>Vince McMahon </strong>for appointing him as the General Manager and then <strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong>(who was up with the rest of the MITB panel in a box) for everything she'd done during her time in the WWE and presented a highlight package of her time there, which mainly included her falling over, screaming and generally embarrassing herself. It was a bit of a strange segment, but fortunately Maddoxs' charisma managed to save it.</div>
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<strong>Curtis Axel (c) pinned The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Championship</strong> in a largely stellar encounter. Both men were on good form here as they went back and fourth, providing well executed sequences and effective near falls and submission attempts, namely a Figure Four Leg Lock that was turned over a couple of times towards the end. Miz also managed to get <strong>Paul Heyman </strong>evicted from ringside early in the bout after falsely accusing him of striking him outside the ring to the referee. The fans in Philly were not amused by that.</div>
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<strong>AJ Lee (c) forced Kaitlyn to submit to retain the Divas Championship</strong> in a passable contest. Much like their title clash last month this was decent at parts but it was still lacking a bit for me. My favourite part was actually the nice selling of a shoulder injury from Kaitlyn, which was logically used when she failed to reach the champ for a pin attempt after hitting a spear and in order for her to have to tap out once AJ latched on her Black Widow submission hold.</div>
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<strong>Ryback beat Chris Jericho</strong> in a decent enough affair. Both men gave fine displays, and while it will admittedly never go down as one of either's greatest matches it was enjoyable enough. Ryback caught Jericho after a Lionsault attempt with a quick roll up for the one-two-three. </div>
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<strong>Alberto Del Rio (c) won via disqualification versus Dolph Ziggler, thereby retaining the World Heavyweight Championship</strong>. What a tremendous title match this was, and for me the finest bout these two have ever had. Both men were on top form as they went back and fourth, with smooth wrestling and edge of your seat action as the near falls kept on coming.</div>
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The DQ occurred when Ziggler's partner AJ came down to the ring and ignored his cries to go to the back and ended up racing into the ring and cracking Del Rio with her title belt as he was preparing for a Zig Zag. An understandably frustrated Dolph had to leave her after a heated argument.</div>
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<strong>John Cena (c) defeated Mark Henry to retain the WWE Championship</strong> in a match that took a while to get interesting but finished nicely. Henry dominated for the most part, with the majority of fans firmly behind him as he manhandled the champ. Of course Cena made his comeback as any good title holder does and he managed to finally catch Henry in an STF for the submission victory. While the match had satisfying parts, I can't say a rematch would have me all that excited unless it was under the right stipulations.</div>
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<strong>Randy Orton bested Rob Van Dam, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Christian and CM Punk to obtain the WWE Championship Money in the Bank contract</strong> in an enthralling main event Ladder Match. This one had my firm attention from start to finish, with sterling performances from all involved. <span style="line-height: 1.4;">As with any previous MITB Ladder Match there were more than your fair share of impressive spots, although not as mental as the one earlier in the night.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.4;">We also had another betrayal much like the earlier MITB contest when Paul Heyman smashed a ladder into Punk's back multiple times as he was clear to grab the briefcase. This happened after Axel had run down and taken out Bryan as he was close to winning, but an unhappy Punk GTS'd the IC Champion for interfering, with Heyman also acting angry at his client. Many fans (and myself) were hoping that this was going to instigate an appearance from <strong>Lesnar</strong>, but that wasn't to be.<strong> </strong>This left things open for Orton to unhook the case and walk away with a guaranteed WWE Title match at any time he pleases. Hopefully this could be the start of the long rumoured heel turn for 'The Viper', we shall see.</span></div>
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Overall it was a solid and very fun event, with some memorable match ups and nice developments to take away from it. Heyman and Sandows' betrayals make things interesting going forward into <strong>SummerSlam </strong>next month, and a face turn for Rhodes can only be a good thing for him at this point really. Looking at the actual matches on the card I can't say there were any bad ones at all, and we had three high quality bouts in the two MITB Ladder Matches and the World Heavyweight Title contest, so I'd definitely put this PPV down as a big success and one of the best of the year so far. Just a shame there was no <span data-mce-bogus="1" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Bray Wyatt</strong><span data-mce-bogus="1" id="_mce_caret">, but we only have to wait until tonight... </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-54319073675141359172013-07-14T13:02:00.000-07:002013-07-14T13:03:52.003-07:00My WWE Money in the Bank 2013 predictions<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpglc6x-ayKorOdnHuQIr8YmnfRZOaz6QRgzGBunhHqDYbwaNOScyd-_z5zpuVy-5AqjgwZBN9PpmI9v_KoaTrc50uK08SdggO0e20g9LnsZSK2c_DC1Q4F8k8GpPldEmGUKkIT6w0tw/s1600/20130701_EP_LIGHT_MITB_matches_7man_homepage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpglc6x-ayKorOdnHuQIr8YmnfRZOaz6QRgzGBunhHqDYbwaNOScyd-_z5zpuVy-5AqjgwZBN9PpmI9v_KoaTrc50uK08SdggO0e20g9LnsZSK2c_DC1Q4F8k8GpPldEmGUKkIT6w0tw/s400/20130701_EP_LIGHT_MITB_matches_7man_homepage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photo credit: WWE.com</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWE Championship Match - John Cena (c) versus Mark Henry:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While this feud started off strongly, with Henry delivering the promo of his career, I've started to loose interest fairly quickly since. I feel like we've received the same old template speeches from both men in the two weeks leading up to this. But putting that all aside I'm expecting a passable title contest, nothing that spectacular but fun enough. I also see Cena retaining, I just can't imagine Henry taking the belt from him tonight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>John Cena</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match - CM Punk versus Rob Van Dam versus Daniel Bryan versus Sheamus versus Randy Orton versus Christian versus ?:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My prediction for match of the night, and looking at the solid line up potentially one of the finest MITB match ups we've ever seen (although it'll take some to outdo my personal favourite at WrestleMania XXIV). As for the man to unhook the coveted briefcase, I have to go with the wrestler with the most momentum and that's Bryan. With his significant wins as of late and terrific reactions from the fans, it all seems to be building to him obtaining the contract and cashing in on Cena in the near future, well that's what I reckon anyway. And plus we also have that mystery guest spot. Some have mentioned <b>Bray Wyatt </b>taking it, but I'm not so sure, it's intriguing though...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Daniel Bryan</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">World Heavyweight Championship Match - Alberto Del Rio (c) versus Dolph Ziggler:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the action should be stellar here, I'm just really tired of this feud now and hope it nears its end tonight, mainly due to my lack of interest in Del Rio and his rather drab persona. I'm still torn between who I see coming away with the strap, so I'm just going with Ziggler for now as he's the wrestler I feel has a much more potentially interesting reign ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Dolph Ziggler</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Wade Barrett versus Damien Sandow versus Antonio Cesaro versus Cody Rhodes versus Jack Swagger versus Dean Ambrose versus Fandango:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the line up here is a bit of a mixed bag, this should still be an exciting match with the younger wrestlers itching to leave an impression in this environment. This is also a tricky one to call. While you can almost rule out Rhodes and Sandow winning here, you never know if WWE fancy surprising the fans with a shock victory. Who can forget Bryan grabbing the briefcase a couple of years back at this event? Now who <i>honestly </i>expected that? But I'm going with who seems the most likely and logical, and that's Ambrose. He's been on very good form and clearly impressing the right people in the back, plus it would be the next step up for The Shield. I mean where do they go from their current position? But as I said there could well be a shock win so I could be way off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Dean Ambrose</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Jericho versus Ryback:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This could potentially be a very enjoyable outing, although with Ryback it can be tricky to tell. Jericho's been on solid form since returning at the Royal Rumble and I'm sure we'll get a fine performance from him, but while Ryback's been involved in some very entertaining encounters (his series with Cena, the tremendous TLC match versus Shield with Team Hell No) he's not consistent. Considering Y2J will be leaving on tour fairly soon it would seem foolish to have him victorious here, and Ryback really needs a significant PPV win.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Ryback</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Intercontinental Championship Match -</b> <b>Curtis Axel (c) versus The Miz:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not anticipating anything extraordinary with this contest, but it should be decent enough and Axel has looked very good in-between the ropes lately, plus Miz almost always gives a worthy effort. Although Axel lost to Y2J on SmackDown this week (loosing his temper afterwards) I imagine he'll retain the belt here, I wouldn't see the point of him dropping it just yet to Miz.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>Curtis Axel</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Divas Championship Match - AJ Lee (c) versus Kaitlyn:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The contract signing segment on SmackDown got me interested in this feud again a bit, but I'm going to be realistic and admit that this will most likely be another fair and unremarkable bout between the two. It's a relief to see WWE investing time and actually building a relevant feud in the Divas division, but they really still need to invest in some female talent with experience and that are much more capable and exciting in the ring. Oh, and AJ to retain, seems most likely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: <b>AJ Lee</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pre-Show WWE Tag Team Championships Match - The Shield (c) (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) versus Jimmy and Jey Uso:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good choice to have in the pre-show slot, should be a lively affair to get the Philly crowd going, plus with the titles on the line it adds that bit more significance. While Usos have been on a fair push as of late, I struggle to see them outdoing Shield tonight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Winners: <b>The Shield</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2615867424561527324.post-25526464670287828212013-07-12T14:18:00.000-07:002013-07-12T14:18:13.987-07:00My WWE SmackDown, 12th July 2013 Recap<div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Daniel Bryan forced Christian to submit with the Yes Lock</strong> in a terrific back and fourth opener and match of the night. Both men as usual provided stellar showings here, with great sequences and smooth wrestling.</div>
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<strong>Seth Rollins pinned Jay Uso</strong> in a decent enough contest. Like I normally do with both Usos I found Jay competent enough in the ring, but I still feel like there's something lacking there that fails to grab me and get me really engaged in the match up. <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Roman Reigns </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">and <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Jimmy Uso </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">also attacked each other outside the ring as the bout took place. These four should put on a fun tag match at <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Money in the Bank</strong></span> I reckon, with Shield most likely retaining. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><strong>Chris Jericho won via count out versus Curtis Axel</strong> in a solid affair. Like Monday night these two worked well together, with Axel starting to look very impressive in the ring and certainly not out of place against someone of Jericho's experience and talent. The count out occurred after Jericho Codebreakered Axel as he was about to reenter the ring. Afterwards an upset Axel began to throw a tantrum and chuck around various ringside items until manager <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Paul Heyman </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">calmed him down</span></span>.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><strong>Ryback beat The Miz</strong> in a fair, if unremarkable encounter. Miz gave a decent enough effort here, and Ryback looked all right but the match lacked in excitement and was pretty forgettable. Ryback clobbered Miz with a meat hook clothesline and hit him with the Shell Shock for the one-two-three after exaggerating a knee injury and almost having the ref end the bout.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true">Before they each signed the contract for the Divas Title match on Sunday, <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>AJ Lee </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">boated to <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Kaitlyn </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">how since she won the strap from her people cared about the Divas division again (not really) and how she was going to beat her once again at MITB. Fortunately <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Teddy Long </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">did us a favour and told AJ to hurry things along and just sign the contract.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true">After Kaitlyn also signed it, AJ revealed some private texts of Kaitlyn's from the time she believed to have a secret admirer. Eventually a fuming Kaitlyn claimed that she'd had enough and would regain her title on Sunday and then pushed AJ (and the table and chair from the set that the champ was still on) into the corner and began beating on her until <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Big E Langston </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">grabbed her, so she responded by slapping him and then applying an awesome spear on AJ that sent her spinning. The segment ended strongly, although I'm still not expecting much from their title clash.</span></span> </span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><strong>Fandango bested Wade Barrett</strong> in an average bout that only existed to remind us of the World Title Money in the Bank Ladder match. The match had too many outside distractions and not enough time to really make any kind of impression. <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Team Rhodes Scholars </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">(<span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Damien Sandow </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">and <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Cody Rhodes</strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">) came out to confront <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Zeb Colter </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">(who'd unfortunately provided guest commentary), <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Antonio Cesaro </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">and <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Jack Swagger</strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"> after their argument on Raw this week. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true"><span data-mce-bogus="true">As <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Alberto Del Rio </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">was preparing to face <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Sin Cara</strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">, the masked wrestler was instead replaced by <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Dolph Ziggler </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">wearing his attire who aggressively beat on the World Champion and struck him with a Zig Zag before leaving. <span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret"><strong>Vickie Guerrero </strong><span data-mce-bogus="true" id="_mce_caret">then appeared from the crowd and screamed that she'd been unfairly treated since being fired on Monday night and demanded that Teddy Long be fired for being a liar, lying about what exactly? So Long came out and had security escort Vickie out of the building. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true"><strong>Randy Orton versus Sheamus ended in a no contest</strong> after Daniel Bryan ran down and rammed both men with a ladder from under the ring. As he attempted to climb the ladder and grab the MITB briefcase above the ring, Christian and Sheamus also each battled to grab it, with Orton finally unhooking it after RKO'ing Bryan. The actual main event had been fairly forgettable. Don't get me wrong, both wrestlers gave good performances but I just felt like I'd seen the same match a ton of times before and struggled to find the interest.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-bogus="true">Overall it was a passable show, with Bryan versus Christian and Axel versus Jericho being my highlights. Outside of those there was nothing that memorable or special to speak of, although the ending of the Divas Title contract signing was nicely executed. While I'm still looking forward to Money in the Bank, which tends to be one of the better pay-per-views of the year, this SmackDown heading into it didn't really promote the event as strongly as it maybe could have. An appearance (even briefly at the end) from Punk once again on the blue brand might've been a nice touch, or another attack from the Wyatt family would have been interesting.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938275231271391727noreply@blogger.com0