After taking a short vacation, I’m back with this week’s rundown. Raw 1000 was a big success and the overall week of wrestling was pretty enjoyable, so let’s take a look at it!
Since FCW has not yet been posted for this week, here is coverage from the past two shows that I didn’t recap.
FCW 07/12/12
Richie Steamboat defeats Antonio Cesaro in sudden death during an FCW 15 Championship match.
Benicio Salazar is defeated by Bray Wyatt in a squash match.
Raquel Diaz cuts a promo putting herself over.
Colin Cassady(7 feet tall) defeats Aiden English with a modified full nelson slam(east river crossing, as he calls it).
Kassius Ohno, Leo Kruger, Bo Rotundo(Bo Dallas), and Seth Rollins compete in a four way match with Rollin’s Florida Heavyweight Title on the line. Rollins pins Kruger after a curb stomp to win the match and retain his title.
Thoughts: Steamboat recently lost the F15 Championship to Brad Maddox at a taping, and then won the Florida Heavyweight Championship from Rick Victor. His match with Cesaro proved that he is more than ready for the main roster in WWE, and it looks like that push could be coming soon. Bray Wyatt looked good in the squash, and it’s unfortunate that he’s injured again and gone for some time. Colin Cassady is a big guy, which means he’ll get a good push if he gets any sort of crowd reaction at a WWE live event. Cassady looks to me like he needs a lot of ring work to work his way towards the F15 Championship scene. The World Title fatal four way was a match worthy of being on a WrestleMania card. The four talents featured could easily take over the main event scene on both Raw and Smackdown right now.
FCW 07/15/12
Mike Dalton and CJ Parker take on Corey Graves and Jake Carter for the Florida Tag Team Titles. Carter gets the pin on Parker after a powerslam with the assist from Graves.
Audrey Marie takes on Paige in a no dq match. Audrey wins the match using a ddt.
Dean Ambrose goes one on one with William Regal. The match is almost stopped several times after Ambrose dislocates his shoulder and later busts the side of William Regal’s head open on the turnbuckle. The match is officially stopped after Ambrose knocks Regal out when Regal asks him to.
Thoughts: Carter and Graves are both on their way to big time success if they are kept together as a tag team; Dalton needs to dump Parker and go after the FHC. Dalton has far too much talent and should at least be contending for Rollin’s NXT Title right now. Audrey and Paige put on one of the finest women’s brawls I’ve seen in a long time, and WWE needs to realize that we DO WANT DIVAS when they are used properly on TV.
Raw 1000 Final Thoughts: Raw 1000 was not about wrestling; it was about the celebration of 1000 entertaining episodes. I’m pleased with how the show turned out, and I’m glad the show received such high ratings. I don’t believe the high ratings will continue every week, because I’m pretty sure the amount of commercials are going to increase and the quality of wrestling will probably not be the center of the show.
WWE NXT 07/25/12:
Bo Dallas and Derrick Bateman team up to take on Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty. Curtis pins Bateman to win the match.
Antonio Cesaro defeats Alex Riley.
Kassius Ohno is interviewed by Dolph Ziggler’s brother.
Sofia Cortez defeats Natalya by countout.
Garrett Dylan and Dante Dash are defeated by the Ascension.
A Big E Langston video package is aired.
Drew McIntyre defeats Seth Rollins in the main event using a double arm DDT.
Thoughts: I wonder about Johnny Curtis and Derrick Bateman. Both guys have talent, but they’re both very limited in terms of being entertaining in backstage segments and promos. It was nice to see Cortez in the ring with Natalya; both women have talent and understand how to pace a match. They would do very well as knockouts on another show. The Ascension continue to squash tag teams after not winning the tag titles, and I wonder how far this gimmick can go once they’re moved to the main roster and face top tag teams. Drew McIntyre has NO business defeating Seth Rollins on any tv show, just as he had no business squashing mid card guys when he first came into the company three years ago. It makes ZERO sense in booking to have Rollins lose this match to a guy like McIntyre(who is famous for losing) and then win the NXT Title just a short while later.
Superstars 07/26/12
Sin Cara defeats Drew McIntyre using a hurricanrana pin.
Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd defeat Reks and Hawkins using the blockbuster on Reks.
Zack Ryder defeats Michael McGillicutty in the main event using the roughryder from the middle rope.
Thoughts: Sin Cara defeated McIntyre in the main event last week, and now he beats him in the opening match this week? Very clever, WWE. I’m sure that I’m the only fan that caught on to your stunt. The tag team match is something that should have been on Raw or Smackdown, because every WWE fan deserves to see the talent of those four individuals. Ryder and McGillicutty worked a solid battle, and I’m liking the repeated booking of McGillicutty on Superstars. The guys deserves to be moved into the IC Title scene ASAP and start getting pushed like the star that he is destined to become.
Impact Wrestling 07/26/12:
Sting is in charge tonight. Austin Aries joins him in the ring, followed by Kurt Angle. Bobby Roode comes out and points out to them that James Storm hasn’t been harmed and that he’s probably behind the attacks. Storm jumps Roode from behind and they brawl until Kurt Angle pulls them apart.
There is hype for Chavo Guerrero’s Impact debut tonight. Bobby Roode is shown “leaving” the building.
Madison Rayne and Gail Kim defeat Mickie James and Tara when Earl Hebner reversed the match decision for Madison.
Sting asks Austin Aries to give the X Division competitors some guidance.
Sam Shaw gets his second tryout for Gutcheck after being attacked by Aces and Eights last week. He loses to Doug Williams. Joey Ryan caused disturbance at ringside before the match and punched Al Snow in the face.
Gunner and Kid Kash interrupt Chavo Guerrero’s promo and attack him. Hernandez makes the save.
AJ Styles is attacked by Aces and Eights during his match with James Storm. They don’t touch Storm.
Al Snow says no, but Taz and Bruce Prichard say yes to Sam Shaw for a TNA Contract.
Austin Aries selects Kenny King to face Zema Ion for the X Division Title. Bobby Roode gets involved and helps Ion win the match and retain his title. A tag match is later booked for the four next week.
Kurt Angle defeats Bully Ray in the main event. Aces and Eights attacks them after the match. Angle, Aries, and Sting come down to make the save but get taken down. James Storm comes down and they clear the ring before he can touch them. Angle and Storm get into an argument as Angle questions him and the show goes off the air.
Thoughts: Here’s my theory: James Storm is being set up by Bobby Roode to look like the leader of Aces and Eights. It will probably be revealed that Bobby Roode is the leader, but then James Storm will also turn heel and join him. I enjoyed the knockouts tag match, but the Earl Hebner storyline is STILL annoying. Sam Shaw wasn’t that great, but I think the point here is to say yes to everyone except Joey Ryan and eventually make him into a regular on Impact. I like Chavo Guerrero joining TNA, but his signing really isn’t that big of a deal. We’ve seen Mexican America before, haven’t we? Kenny King appears to be on his way to winning the X-Division Title, and I have to say it’s well deserved. King has come a long way from season two of the original Tough Enough show, and I like his chances of being a big star in TNA. Ray and Angle put on a good main event, but the repeated near fall finishes grow old after awhile. In a title match or on a ppv, this sort of thing would’ve been exciting. For this TV main event, it was completely pointless and didn’t add to the excitement of the match. I’d have to say this episode saw a pretty fair balance between wrestling and promos, and I liked the overall booking of the show.
WWE Smackdown 07/27/12
Miz defeated Christian in an IC Title rematch.
Ryback faces Jinder Mahal. Mahal intentionally gets counted out.
Sheamus defeats Cody Rhodes with a brogue kick. Dolph Ziggler teases a MITB cash in, but he is attacked by Chris Jericho. Sheamus brogue kicks Ziggler, and Jericho hits a codebreaker on him.
Santino is defeated by Antonio Cesaro in a non-title match.
Yoshi Tatsu is destroyed by Damien Sandow as he wins the match using his neckbreaker finisher.
Alberto Del Rio wins a fatal four way against Rey Mysterio, Kane, and Daniel Bryan to become the new number one contender for the World Title. Del Rio pins DBry after Ricardo pulls Mysterio out of the ring.
Thoughts: In terms of wrestling, this was one of the best Smackdowns of the year. I love the way this show has delivered on a far more consistent basis than Raw. The IC Title match to open the show was exceptional, the Rhodes/Sheamus match was solid and should happen again in the main event of a ppv, and the Sandow, Ryback, and Cesaro victories boosted all their stock and centered on their rise to the top of the WWE Roster. Whether you like how Ryback is booked or not, there is no denying that he along with Sandow and Cesaro are a big part of the future of WWE. Great show! As far as the lack of a GM goes, I’m not complaining one bit. Do we need someone to book matches on screen when the matches are already scripted in advance? I think not.
Ring of Honor 07/28/12:
Rhyno defeated Rocco Abruzzi.
Tommasso Ciampa defeated Mike Sydal.
In ring segment between WGTT and ANX(funny, considering Kenny King is gone now)
Adam Cole defeated Roderick Strong to become the new ROH TV Champion.
Thoughts: Rhyno looked good, but I’m pretty sure we all knew he was a beast. This was filler material. Cole defeating Strong to become the TV Champion was a good match, but we knew the results several weeks back. I hope Cole and Strong have a rematch down the line. My big fear is that Strong is going to be cast aside for the continuation of the Cole/O’Reilly feud, and that would be terrible in terms of booking for the TV Title. I don’t mean that O’Reilly isn’t a strong contender for the gold, but I would expect that the guy who drops the belt doesn’t just fall into obscurity(Jay Lethal, anyone?) and not be seen for awhile.
News Items:
The Rock is slated to face John Cena for the WWE Title at WM29: No! No! No! See my facebook page for more info.
Nash wants an nWo reunion: Give it up already. Kevin, stop believing your own hype; it’s pathetic. The nWo was a creative storyline that became huge; it was also started 16 years ago. LET IT GO! It’s been done, and lots of things have happened since then that people would consider almost as big. Ever hear of the attitude era? You sure as hell weren’t a part of that. Remember the rebirth of Hulkamania in 2002? Oh yeah, that took off as soon as Hogan got you off his back. Fast forward nine years, and Triple H has to carry your sorry ass in one of the saddest TLC matches I’ve ever seen. Flair was older than you, and he had a better TLC match with Edge. Do the world a favor and please just shut the hell up.
Seth Rollins wins the NXT Championship: Good for Rollins. It’s somewhat sad to think that Rollins is among the top five most talented wrestlers in WWE, but is representing the top of developmental. The guy could easily be WWE Champion right now. But hey, what does a fan like me know?
That’s all for this week’s edition. I’ll have part three of my top Summerslam matches up in a couple days, and I’ll have the Raw analysis up early Tuesday. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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