Saturday Morning Slam 11/17/12
R-Truth defeats William Regal with a rollup. Truth spends most of the match distracting Regal with Little Jimmy.
Kofi Kingston defeats Zack Ryder with a crossbody from the top rope.
Thoughts: The Regal/Truth match was short and more of an entertainment session than an actual contest. I liked the little jimmy games throughout, but William Regal is capable of so much more. My only confusion to the match is that Regal was acting like a villain, yet on Smackdown he stands by Sheamus’ side. It makes me wonder if Regal could turn heel on Sheamus and help the Big Show retain the title at some point in the future. Kofi and Ryder had a fast paced and very entertaining contest. Ryder kept trying to slow the match down and get the advantage on the speedy Kofi, but in the end Kofi caught Ryder off guard when they both failed to execute their finishers and Kofi caught the lucky crossbody. I liked the finish because it makes neither guy look weak, and I’d like to think that if Kofi is ever able to move into the main event scene that Zack Ryder might get a shot at the IC Title. Fun show once again this week.
WWE NXT 11/21/12
Kassius Ohno is interviewed about his match with Trent Barreta tonight. He says Trent will find out how dangerous and cruel he is tonight.
Paige defeats Alicia Fox with the “paige-turner.”
Big E Langston defeats Camacho.
Trent Barreta is shown backstage and he’s been attacked. Leo Kruger is shown hiding behind a wall with a smile on his face.
James Bronson defeats Nick Rogers.
Bray Wyatt cuts a promo and then Luke Harper defeats Mike Dalton on his behalf as Wyatt looks on from a chair at the top of the stage.
Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal are shown brawling backstage.
Ohno comes out and cuts a promo for his match with Barreta. Dusty Rhodes comes out and introduces Ohno’s new opponent for tonight, Richie Steamboat.
Richie Steamboat defeats Kassius Ohono using the slingblade for the win.
Thoughts: Paige and Alicia had a short match but they both worked hard. I think Paige is more like Natalya and Beth Phoenix than Eve in the sense that she can actually wrestle a really good match. The idea of Paige and Kaitlyn competing over the Divas Championship in the future is a nice possibility. Big E Langston bores me, and I don’t see it changing no matter how much JR endorses his character; the same thing could actually be said for James Bronson, but the upside to Bronson is that he’s a brawler where you could do more with his character. Langston is just more of another Bobby Lashley to me, and that spells trouble for any real wrestling fan once Vince McMahon gives this guy a push. I like Bray Wyatt’s cult leader gimmick, but I’d much rather see him in action than just sitting on the sidelines. Luke Harper is a big guy that doesn’t move all that well in the ring; I would expect the same end result for him that Wyatt’s last protégé faced. Does anyone else feel like Mahal and Rollins have been feuding for ages? Steamboat and Ohno wrestled an awesome match once again. I like both of these guys a lot, and Ohno’s upside is his size with his personality. Finding those two traits with the ability to actually wrestle good matches is so rare nowadays. I don’t quite understand WWE pushing Roman Reigns ahead of Ohno when I feel like Ohno is the much more exciting performer. Richie Steamboat, on the other hand, has some very big shoes to fill and I’m not sure WWE knows how to properly market someone like him. Ricky the dragon was rarely used properly in WWE and saw most of his success in the NWA and WCW. I really hope WWE isn’t investing all this time into Richie to not use him in proper fashion down the road. Great show this week from NXT!
WWE Main Event 11/21/12
The Miz and Dolph Ziggler exchange words before their match. Ziggler defeats Miz after a very competitive match. Matt Striker tries to interview Ziggler after the match but he takes the mic and tells Striker to beat it. Ziggler says he proved yet again that he backs up everything that he says.
Wade Barrett defeats Justin Gabriel with the bull hammer.
Damien Sandow comes out and announces that he will face John Cena next week on Main Event.
Thoughts: During a week where a bunch of good to great matches took place, Miz and Dolph Ziggler may have worked the best one of them all. The duo had phenomenal chemistry and both showcased just how far they’ve come since their arrival in WWE. The Gabriel/Barrett match was short but good, and I definitely wish WWE would give Justin Gabriel a US Title run sometime in the future and allow him to show his stuff as a top midcard guy. It’s just disappointing to see so much talent just hovering at certain levels with no creative plans in sight. Sandow facing Cena next week excites me! John Cena is known to have the best brought out of him by great wrestlers and it usually makes for a very entertaining contest!
WWE Superstars 11/22/12
.Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal defeat CoBro.
Justin Gabriel defeats Darren Young.
Thoughts: Like I said before, I like the 3MB but they need new opponents. You can only beat down the same people for so long before the storyline becomes very stale. This is where WWE creative seems to fail us with long term planning. These guys came in as a fresh group with loads of potential, but now they’ve decided to keep pushing the same match over and over without anyone else for them to feud with. I would love a solid feud between International Airstrike and the PTP, but it looks more like Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd are doomed to continue down this path of making people look better than they are. Now, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be in that position, but there are fans of high quality wrestling that want to see more for the most talented athletes on the roster.
WWE Smackdown 11/23/12
Smackdown opens with MizTV. Miz brings out John Cena first and talks about the AJ scandal. Cena avoids the question about the kiss and Miz brings up the knee. Cena says the knee will be fine. Miz asks Cena if he an AJ are more than friends now. Cena says there is nothing to it but that AJ is a darn good kisser. Miz brings out AJ. Miz asks Cena if he has feelings for AJ. Dolph Ziggler interrupts. Ziggler tells Cena that AJ is trouble. Vickie Guerrero comes out to back up Ziggler and she talks about how Dolph kisses someone better than AJ. Cena calls her a liar and says Dolph kissed her and it can’t be medically proven that she is a woman. Dolph tells Cena and AJ that they deserve each other because they’re both losers.
^Too much soap opera here. Miz and Cena getting along is pretty weird, but I’m actually enjoying Miz a lot in this face role. A lot of people will argue that he became boring, but I actually think he can win over a lot more people this way and be recognized as a top performer as he works his way back into the main event picture.
Ryback squashes Darren Young with Titus O’Neil on commentary. Titus confronts Ryback after the match and gets shell shocked.
^All you hear during Ryback matches now is the fact that he SHOULD be WWE Champion and how he was robbed. You would think anyone with half a brain would see him work these matches and realize that, despite his improved ring presence, he’s NOWHERE near ready for such a major role. His ability is still very limited and his endurance is apparently non-existent in terms of wrestling longer than six minutes(and I’m being generous with that time) in the ring.
R-Truth defeats Antonio Cesaro in a short match.
^I love how Truth became number one contender through a few confrontations and how now he’s reclaimed another title shot by actually defeating Cesaro. I know this was booked to give people hope that Truth can actually win the title in this rivalry, but it’s more than clear that these guys will have another match at TLC for the gold where Cesaro will retain. I like Truth as much as the next guy(probably more because a lot of people find him boring), but he’s not going to be given another major run in the company. I guess what I would like to ask for from WWE is for these guys to get at least ten minutes to go one on one at TLC for the gold. Ten minutes affords two great performers the opportunity to tell a decent story and show why they belong at the top of the midcard.
Sheamus arrives. Booker T comes up and books Sheamus and Big Show in a chairs match at TLC. Booker tells Sheamus that Show is competing tonight in a handicap match against Team Hell No!
^This was made somewhat predictable at the Survivor Series with Sheamus’ thirty chair shots on Show. I somewhat dislike it when a major ppv like SS has a match that is used to setup another match for the following show; it’s crap booking and lazy on all accounts. People pay for a show and deserve a decent finish.
Alberto Del Rio defeats Sin Cara when he converts an arm drag from the top rope into a cross armbreaker.
^Good match from both competitors. I’m more on the Del Rio bandwagon than ever before, and I’m hoping he’s able to rival with both Orton and Dolph Ziggler as soon as they’re back in the World Title picture. Whatever rumored grumbling there was about Sin Cara and Del Rio having heat in the past, it seems to be out of the way as both men were total professionals in this one and gave the crowd quite a show. I wasn’t impressed with the dimmed lights for this match, but you can’t always get what you want.
Kane and Dbry are shown arguing backstage. Dbry proposes than Kane can come to his place for Christmas if they win their match tonight. Kane says he wants to beat up Santa Claus and it’s a deal.
^These two continue to be hilarious together. Who would’ve guessed after their Summerslam match that WWE would make them so important just by pairing them up and throwing together a few comedy skits? It’s so simple but it’s pure gold in terms of entertainment.
Big Show pins Daniel Bryan to win the handicap match. Kane walks away when Dbry tags in and tries to get the win. Show chokeslams Bryan for the victory. Kane comes back and gets in a shoving match with Show until Dbry helps Kane force Show out of the ring. Show talks to Sheamus in the luxury box after the match and asks Sheamus if he thought about a giant with a chair in his hands the next time they face off and what it would mean.
^Guess Kane won’t be coming to Dbry’s for Christmas. This was another okay match but it definitely lacked wrestling. It was done more to put over the match between Show and Sheamus, but it was also done to show the tag team champions continuing to have problems. The segment was effective overall, but it felt something we see on Raw more than Smackdown.
Kofi Kingston defeats Damien Sandow with Wade Barrett on commentary to retain the IC Title. Barrett gets on the mic and tells Kofi his next title defense against him will be his last.
^If not for the main event of the show, this would’ve been match of the night. Kofi continues to show why he’s at the top of the midcard by being one of the most unique and exciting performers to watch in the ring. Sandow seems to have a good match with anyone he’s matched up against, and a contest with Kofi was no different. My concern here is genuine for Barrett, Kofi, and Sandow however. There is just so much talent hovering in the midcard scene and all three of these guys are capable of moving up the roster to go after a World Title, but the problem here is that with two World Titles and a dozen guys qualified to hold them, the math just doesn’t add up. Props to WWE for keeping both World Titles important and for keeping the top guys without gold in the fold and ready for the next big push at anytime.
Dolph Ziggler defeats Randy Orton in the main event with a rollup. Ricardo and Del Rio try to attack Orton after the match but Orton hits an RKO on Ricardo. John Cena jumps Ziggler from behind at the top of the stage and applies a modified STF/headlock on Ziggler to end the show.
^Orton and Zigs continue to have the best matches out of anyone. I saw these guys in person at Night of Champions and their chemistry is just unbelievable. I like Ziggler getting the win and finally looking strong against top guys. It feels like Dolph was just hanging out and getting beat by face after face for the last year, but his top notch performances have proven that he deserves more than that. Cena and Ziggler at TLC will be awesome to see, regardless of the type of match they get booked in. I know the local advertising has them booked in a TLC Match and that usually means something on the line hanging above the ring, but I personally feel like these guys don’t need anything to be on the line to have a good match. Great show this week once again!
News Items:
McMahon/TNA: Vince McMahon asks WWE employees to watch TNA. I’m sure this was no secret, but to have it confirmed is comical to me. This past week on both Raw and Smackdown, a narrative voice was used for the opening video packages to start the show. This idea was taken directly from Impact after it was pitched to Vince and he decided that WWE could do it better. Well Vince, maybe alternative products can be a benefit for you after all? I’m surprised WWE hasn’t found some way to incorporate the six sided ring into their show.
Styles/Daniels: One last time: Finally! AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels are going to wrestle “one last time” at Final Resolution. I sincerely hope that this is the end of their rivalry. It would be a completely different story if Styles and Daniels had done different things and then wrestled every now and then, but instead they’ve been rivaling for years in TNA without much of a break. These guys always give us a good show and I’m excited to see what they deliver in this “final” encounter.
New Talent: The Ascension, The Rotundos(Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt), Kassius Ohno, Richie Steamboat, and Big E Langston are all rumored to be joining the main roster early in 2013. I love this! I guess the only problem would be looking at what’s left it developmental after you bring all these guys up. The talent that has been in development for awhile is mostly roster ready, so I’d speculate that they might start searching far and wide for new talent to bring in to NXT. I doubt WWE would just dump the NXT product altogether, not with all the money that they’ve put into and how effective it has been as a developmental system. Maybe guys that have been absent as of late(Percy Watson, Curt Hawkins, ect.) could get more of a chance on NXT to become future stars.
It was a great week to be a wrestling fan when you look at all the quality matches we were given. I do have one chief complaint though. Where the hell was Michael McGillicutty? And aside from showing up at ringside for a match, where was Tyson Kidd? Why are two of the best young talents just sitting on the sidelines not being involved in relevant storylines or even filler matches? Alright, I’m done complaining for now because it was still a very entertaining week for us as fans.
That’s all for the rundown! It’s been a long week of work and holiday travel to spend Thanksgiving with the family, but I’m thankful that I was able to get back and get this done on time. I put a lot of work into the rundown, so if you have any suggestions to make it better or different, feel free to send them my way. Thanks for reading!
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