WWE Roadblock Live Blog

Roadblock was an abolute top 5 favorite WCW syndicated guy for me, and it's cruel they're taunting me like this, and even more cruel that they never gave him a fair shake after WCW folded. Roadblock looked like my childhood-through-high school friend Ben, and I loved them both, though for different reasons. How dare you play with my emotions on a Saturday night WWE.

1. The New Day vs. League of Nations

ER: It's funny how quick the expiration on some WWE stuff is. A few months ago I found myself chuckling at a few New Day segments. Now I find myself fast forwarding their segments about 30 seconds in. According to Byron Saxton, Sheamus and Barrett competed against each other for "about 10 years" before they got to WWE. I'm gonna call bullshit on that one. Unless Barrett is a 20 year vet. I suppose it's possible. Regal and tons of other awesome vets started in their teens. But holy shit if Barrett has been doing this for 20 years and presently wrestles like Wade Barrett?? Sheamus and Barrett are a nice little team though. I'm really loving each guy suplexing Kofi around. Wade busts out a cool tornado snap suplex, starting like a tornado DDT but planting his feet and snapping off the suplex. Really dug Sheamus' twisting vertical suplex into a low Barrett superkick. Big E has the greatest standing splash of all time. I don't think it's even arguable. How many big fat guys have had disappointing standing splashes? Many. Big E not only gets the most height, but lands with the most weight. It's the best. I loved Kofi catching Sheamus on the floor with a leaping bulldog off the steps. I didn't see it coming, Sheamus took it like a guy who also did not see it coming. Nice opener.

ER: I'm not sure who the guy is holding the mic for Heyman, but damn that is some grade A asshole hair right there. Is he being ribbed? Look at the side angle, as his forehead forms a perfect straight line up to his fade. Kudos for the camera crew zooming to a tighter shot of just Heyman, as that goon standing in frame would have been far too distracting.

2. Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger

ER: Jericho makes some pretty terrific smug unamused faces on his way to the ring and while soaking up boos during his promo. I loved him running down his people, but disappointed that he twice stated they were always playing catch-up, yet somehow didn't make a ketchup chips joke. Sohrry. They "asshole" chants sound incredibly Canadian. It's glorious. I get less and less excited with every Jericho return, but if he has to wrestle on TV a lot then clearly heel Jericho is a much better option. If only because then we get the return of the mocking kicks!! Those were my favorite part of his offense when I was in high school. I still wish late career Shawn Michaels had done a heel turn. He could have been such an incredible John Tatum. His outfits work so much better as a heel, and by that point he could have had so many fun comedy reactions based around his hair tuft. It's pretty easy to forget Swagger exists on the roster. I need to start watching Main Event and Superstars to see if there are any gems popping up there. Boy, Jericho sure looks off a couple steps in every one of his return matches. Although it kinda works for his heel persona, there's still no denying he's kind of on par with an average divas match at this point. Match itself was nothing to write home about. Swagger still doesn't know how to make an ankle lock look effective. But hey, mocking kicks!!

3. Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. The Revival (Dawson & Dash)

ER: I am a literal 24 months behind on my NXT, so it will be weird to see how some of these guys look in this flash forward. Colin Cassady is a constant source of giggles for me in 2014 NXT, so we'll see if he's figured out how to work big and not work like a super tall Steve Simpson. I have never seen The Revival before. You will be with me as I learn which one is Dawson and which one is Dash. Dash is the one with hair. I figured it out super quick. Dash throws a stiff elbow and takes a nice back drop. Enzo's low crossbody is cool. Enzo seems like a real good FIP, and Revival are good ring cutter offers. Loved Dawson's hard stomps on Enzo's arms. And HOLY SHIT Enzo running for the tag only to get POUNCED by Dawson was one of my favorite spots I've ever seen related to a tag. We've fallen into such a pattern of hot tags turning into double tag outs, with both guys sneaking peaks at the other making sure they time it right, then something like this comes out of nowhere and knocks my socks on my ass. Then they did the double tag afterwards. But Dash did it nicely. Dawson's missed punch segment against Enzo was pretty terrible. Those things were missing by 4 feet. Overall this was a nicely done tag. Enzo fed The Revival really well, and that made the match. I will see more of these guys when I'm all caught up to 2016 NXT in three years.

4. Natalya vs. Charlotte

ER: What does Ric Flair have against button up shirts? T-shirts and suit jackets is a pretty tragic look. If you're smart enough to wear a pocket square, just buy a couple button ups. And you know Flair's t-shirts probably cost some stupid amount. Like they're some kind of "dress" t-shirt. Ugh. Natalya dedicating the match to Bret Hart comes off like such a desperate move. "How about those 2015 NLDS Champion Blue Jays, right? RIGHT??" So do they have Flair constantly with Charlotte just because they're afraid what Ric might do to himself if he wasn't on the road around people? Horrible thought, but it didn't sound unbelievable as I typed it. Her aping Flair spots and leaving the talking to her dad certainly isn't helping her grow as a performer. Man, Bret Hart gets prostate cancer and then his niece loses on a WWE Network special in a match dedicated to him. Tough month. For all of Cole's idiot talk of Natalya needing to "get some blood flowing back to that knee" (huh?) I wasn't ever feeling the knee injury much. The powerbomb hope spot was nice, but I just can't get into Charlotte matches. I strongly dislike her "I'm disgruntled" face, and Flair getting involved in every single one of her match finishes is so beyond tired at this point.

5. Brock Lesnar vs. Luke Harper

ER: Lesnar/Harper is a modern dream match for me, so I'm loving this. Hopefully we get Lesnar clotheslining Brown Snowman in the jaw again. And damn poor Harper. He laces into Lesnar with great punches, a big boot, big man tope, but then has to suffer through so many damn Germans. And sadly for Harper, he takes Germans realllllly well. He folds up so perfectly. It's like gorgeous poetry. I was obviously hoping for a much longer match, at least 8 minutes. The action was solid gold but just left me wanting mooooooore. Brock needs to come back out and demolish HHH in the main.

6. Sami Zayn vs. Stardust

ER: Does Sami always have the ska intro? Or is that his new WWE theme? It's a little high school, but amusing. I wonder if he also sent away for dozens of different ska zines from across the country? And if all of them featured interviews with Mustard Plug. I wanted to start my own ska zine just so my one and only issue could proclaim "We will NEVER interview Mustard Plug". The whole zine would likely just be about Bad Manners. I would call it Chex. And boy for a guy who just made a big "debut" this week, it's weird seeing him just get dominated by Stardust. I mean 5 minutes in and Zayn has just been taking it and taking it. 8 minutes in and Zayn finally finds a way to crack the Stardust code that's been dominating the fed for years. Zayn gets to kick out of the Disaster Kick and wins shortly after, but no matter how much Cole thinks getting a win over Stardust is a way to really make an impact, this was a disaster. Whose idea was it to give freaking Stardust 95% of this match??

7. Dean Ambrose vs. HHH

ER: During the Shield/Evolution matches Ambrose still wrestled like Ambrose, but here he is wrestling almost, really slotting into the HHH cookie cutter match structure. Things get momentarily good when Ambrose dropkicks the his knee while HHH is in the ropes, but moments later HHH is suplexing him on the floor and walking around just fine. HHH is still trying to #TaketheCripplerCrossfaceBack. Man this is methodical. Realllll businesslike. The man really knows how to silence a crowd. Although watching Stardust dominate a match for 10 straight minutes probably didn't do HHH's established formula any favors. God this is dull. We get some perfunctory submissions in the middle of the ring, Cole screaming about how HHH is just about to tap AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS FINISH!?!?!? Apparently Ambrose's legs were UNDER the rope when he pinned HHH? Oh, brother. It somehow worked on the crowd, though. I expected them to turn hard but it actually made them interested in the match for the first time. Ambrose misses the elbow through the table and valiantly fights his way into a Pedigree. Man what a dogshit match. That false finish was maybe the dumbest fucking false finish I have ever seen. Whoever laid out that spot done fucked up. I can't believe that HHH would be shown getting pinned anyway, but man bringing up a fake rule after Ambrose beats him with a leg possibly sort of maybe under the plane of the ropes looked waayyyyyyy worse than the Starrcade "slow" count. I guess it was supposed to make Ambrose look strong? Man the visual of that just looked so fucking stupid.

Read more!

Wrestlemania 31 Several Days Later Not-At-All-Live Blog

Not really excited for this show and truthfully kinda wiped after attending Evolve 40 and the WWN Supershow this weekend, but we've kinda established this trend and now we're stuck with it!!!

1. The Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. The New Day vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd

ER: Oh man the Uso's 49ers gear is awesome. Love that red and gold. It mildly annoys me that JBL and Cole act like the Usos running corner hip attack was an old Rikishi move, when it wasn't at all. It was Umaga. This match actually got a ton of time and was really fun. They found something for everybody to do and it wasn't a standard "EVERYBODY HIT THEIR SHIT IN 4 MINUTES!" Naomi got a few great moments hitting a wild dive over the top and nailing Nattie with the Rear View, which I actually think it maybe the best butt-butt in the history of wrestling. Great spot for her. Cesaro gets some fun cut off spots, Kofi/Big E's finisher hits great, Torito gets a big dive, Uso hits a million superkicks, etc. The whole thing was worked exactly how it should have been, and got tons of time to succeed. Nice start to things.

2. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

ER: Even though I'm so-so on him I'm glad they gave KENTA a few showcase spots in this. Crowd dug it too. Him beating down and booting Bo Dallas over the top was great. KENTA also had a great section with Goldust. Goldust looked killer all throughout this throwing the best right hands you'll see to everybody that came close to him. Zack Ryder took a great elimination bump right on his face. Loved the Big Show elimination tease with Show using CORE STRENGTH to keep his feet from touching. Really so far there's been nobody looking bad in this. Nobody pussed out on their eliminations, everybody was taking big tumbling splat bumps. I had predicted Mizdow winning this thing and the final showdown with him and Show was great, and I know it's a pointless pre-show battle royal that they've already proven means jack shit (with the almost immediate de-push of Cesaro last year), but why put Big Show over in this? Give Mizdow a fucking moment.

Ladder Match!

3. Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Luke Harper vs. R-Truth vs. Dean Ambrose

ER: Dolph looks like he was playing beauty school in the back with his little french braid. Opening dive train was good with Cody's great Falling Star, Ziggler getting launched on a backdrop, Harper hitting a big tope, Ambrose hitting the elbow drop off the tallest ladder. Stardust's missile dropkick to a ladder with tons of guys on it was beautiful. Ohhhhh shit the Star Ladder!! Excellent touch. Ambrose/Harper is such a great match up, and Ambrose's chop/jab combos looked killer, with it all capped off by the biggest boot by Harper and a nasty hotshot into a ladder. He drills Ziggler for good measure. Cody has looked really great in this, loved the nutso superplex he took off the tallest ladder. Ambrose does a rebound "push over a ladder" which is wholly goofball yet I love him for it. And dear god Ambrose might be fucking dead as he takes a powerbomb from the ring through a ladder and just folds in a gross way. I guess if you need a believable way to keep someone out of a match for a length of time, go for broke right? We get a bunch of genuinely good belt grabbing teases at the end, and Ziggler looked so awesome sprinting up the ladder. He and Bryan punching each other at the top looked nasty. Bryan especially was laying 'em in. That might be the most immediate and violent "two guys fight on top of ladder" spot I've seen. Usually guys are too busy moving slowly and "being in a WAR" but these two were scrambling and punching and headbutting messily. I had low hopes for this match but it totally delivered.

4. Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

ER: Boy am I not excited for this one. Rollins leans way into an Orton clothesline, J&J take draping DDTs to the floor like wackos, and the Rollins hits a nasty tope so okay okay this is good so far. Orton has been setting up his somewhat problematic signature offense in really smart ways. The way he set Rollins up for the draping DDT was real slick, using Rollins momentum against him. Orton also hits a nice crossbody off the top (though I don't love that reversal spot). Rollins breaks out an asai moonsault to the floor which resulted in horrible landings for everybody. Finish was well structured and Orton took the Curb Stomp wonderfully. But even though I expected it I really have no interest in Orton going over and being back in the main event scene. Full credit to him for turning it on on the big stage, but fuck if I can think of another big star that I want to see less in matches.

5. Sting vs. HHH

ER: Ho. Lee. Shit. Have you EVER seen a bigger large stage jack off experience than HHH's Terminator entrance? That entrance had to have been taken from a letter written by a 13 year old and sent to Heavy Metal magazine. I assume my feed cut out and I missed him being surrounded by naked women with fake tits and he ends up fucking them all to death.

"The dream match that nobody thought would ever happen!!" Well, that's true Cole, but that's mainly because not one superfan ever considered fantasy booking this particular match. Although I do have a long running well documented love of matches where the combined age of the two participants is over 100. HHH gets a crazy bruise on his leg, and Sting gets a nice red welt after missing a Stinger Splash into the barricade, Sting also takes a nice spill into the ring steps. HHH takes the boss Race bump and later takes a big one on a backdrop to the floor. Billy Gunn also went for broke on his run in, sprinting down in half the time as X-Pac and Dogg, and taking a nice bump to the floor for Sting. We get the nWo/DX showdown with X-Pac taking a big bump on the ramp for a Hogan punch, Sting hits a huge dive from the top to the floor (is that a first? Felt like a big deal, especially for a guy in his mid 50s) and it all led to a nice false finish off a Scorpion Deathdrop. GREAT spot where Sting breaks HHH's sledgehammer in half with his baseball bat. And then HHH wins, which I must say is not surprising per se, yet kind of surprising. But not surprising. HHH worked hard in this and Sting came in shape, so this was realistically the best match these two probably had in them.

6. AJ Lee & Paige vs. The Bella Twins

ER: Only 5 minutes but they fill the time nicely. Nikki is firmly accepted as a good worker at this point, and she does well here, running face first into a nice boot from Paige, and I LOVE how great she takes AJ's Black Widow, really getting bent in a nasty angle while holding up all of AJ's weight. Brie hits some nice knees here and yeah this is totally fine.

7. John Cena vs. Rusev

ER:

***Sorry I got interrupted while watching this show, hope to have the review finished within the next couple days***

Read more!

WWE Fastlane Live Blog

1. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan & Ryback vs. Seth Rollins, Big Show & Kane

PAS: Pretty fun poor man's Shield trios match. They should just open every PPV with a six man, and give it some time. It is a good way to hide limited guys, they can just come in and hit their stuff. Thought Rowan looked really good, the bump to hurt his knee was cool, and his selling was good. Finish run wasn't as great as your Shield end runs, but I loved the running KO punch finisher. Not the most unique way to reintroduce Orton, but it was a good idea to have him go away for a bit.

ER: A six man is pretty tough to do poorly if you give it time, and this was a perfectly good six man. I read they had plans to make Rollins look strong on this show going into WM, and Rollins arguably looked like the weakest guy in the match. Rowan owned this match, if they wanted to push it as such it could be a real nice way to advance him. He looked strong in all his early stuff, big elbow and leg drop, and was going toe to toe with the big guys, until the brutal spin kick into the post (which looked good). Then he was a good FIP (even putting over Show doing goofy-but-amusing Indian deathlocks) all building to him using his dead leg to spin kick Rollins. Ryback was over and came in and hit some cool stuff, loved his powerbomb that just launched Rollins. Finish was a little lackluster and Kane really needs to stop getting PPV wins, and I was really enjoying my Orton vacation, but again the six man is tough to mess up and this worked  in a vacuum. As far as booking going forward? Rollins was an afterthought throughout, Ziggler refuses to not get any sort of chance, and I doubt Rowan gets a strong singles push.

2. Goldust vs. Stardust

ER: I thought they did about as much as possible with the full non build they received. A rushed break up one week before the show, thrown out on PPV with not much story or reason. I'll never understand their obsession with breaking up teams who nobody actually thinks will be better off solo. They've tried Cody solo, he's always far more successful in team. Goldust is obviously a great singles worker but they're not actually going to push him as a singles star. So I thought the match was fine even though Cody works much better as a tag guy. Goldust tried his damnedest to get the crowd into it and I liked his selling of the body vice, even holding his side convincingly all through the post match. Goldust dished some nasty back elbows while in the vice, and even though that finisher came out of nowhere I thought Goldust setting it up was super impressive. The guy is 45 and moved through all those reversal sequences like butter. Cody only really looked good in the backstage post match stuff, lacing into Goldust with stiff rights and nailing a low superkick. Still not sure about the need to break them up, or where the hell they take things from here.

3. Usos vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd

ER: Cesaro is wearing knee pads and after years of being conditioned the other way this now looks weird (even though it took a long time to get over guys like Casas who go in there with just boots and undies). And damn I really dug this. Cesaro/Kidd worked really great as a team. Usos have been dry as dirt the last few months so I liked Cesaro/Kidd working over the leg in the first part. The knee stuff was cool with Cesaro hitting the wild double stomp. This is the best Kidd performance I've seen in some time, he looked really on point and his timing was spot on. Loved the stuff on the apron with him booting an Uso in the face, going for another and getting rocked with a Samoa drop into the guard rail. That was a great spot. Cesaro gets to break out his epic superplex lifting the guy from the apron, and I'm glad they put the titles on them. Usos had a good run and I think they need to go back to fighting from under. Finish was abrupt but I liked the call back to the leg as Kidd blasting him in the knee was enough to allow him to hit his rolling fisherman suplex to win it. Nice tag. Still kinda crazy to think that we were getting a couple tags better than this every week on TV one year ago.

ER: I have zero interest in seeing a HHH/Sting confrontation. It will lead to HHH vs. Sting, which sounds horrible. I switch over to the Oscars during this. I saw most of the Best Picture noms this year. Boyhood and Whiplash were really great. Imitation Game was brutally bad. I liked what Birdman went for but felt more like a good idea than a good movie to me. Not a shock I loved Grand Budapest as well. American Sniper sounds like the name of a Toby Keith album.

4. Paige vs. Nikki Bella

ER: Boy another abrupt finish. Paige looked somewhat clunky, as her roll up into a turnbuckle was really weird. Dug the kick to a charging Nikki's arm, liked Nikki's selling of it, loved her big powerbomb. But I've seen better Nikki performances.

5. Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett

ER: Crowd is ice cold for this whole show and I think it's making things come off way worse than they actually are. Some guys have gotten chants but for a full looking house (all the cheap seats look full on cutaways) there have been a lot of silent moments. There's a black dude dressed up as Sting in the crowd but with his beanie it's reading more like Dead Presidents.

Oh god and we a DQ finish for not breaking a hold? Are we back to that thing where refs are supposed to call matches as if they were a shoot? That was about as limp a way to end a PPV match as possible. And hilariously it happens one minute after the crowd was actually threatening to get into the match. Both guys leaned way into each other's shots with Dean making all of BNB's big boots look great, and Wade really taking Dean's running dropkick and two rebound lariats nicely. Loved Dean's rebound lariat on the floor when BNB tried to throw him into the ring, and the rebound in the ring was the most the fans reacted to anything all night it seemed. And then. that. finish. Good gracious.

ER: Pretty sure the only people in the arena who thought Undertaker was in that casket was Cole and JBL. Although it is amusing to think about Bray Wyatt going through the process of hiring druids for this bit. Also liked them putting over how silent the crowd was out of reverence to the Undertaker. Looks like they've been paying that reverence for almost 2 hours now.

ER: I was just reminded that we didn't get Elimination Chamber this year because we got this show. Blecch. The Chamber was my favorite WWE gimmick match, always a fun way to use 6 guys. But hey. We got Fastlane.

6. John Cena vs. Rusev

ER: Really excited for this one as Cena vs. Monster matches are usually almost as dependable as Lawler vs. Monster matches. And the match ended up being good. Not the epic I was hoping for, but hopefully setting up an epic. I'm glad Rusev went over (although with their booking that usually means he will be going down at Mania), and I like him blasting Cena in the nards and locking on The Accolade. Cena's biggest strength has always been his bumping so he's always really effective in these kind of matches. Rusev still sometimes comes off as a guy with fake "real strength" but Cena is good at working with those types too, making throws seem more devastating. Cena also totally plants himself on a DDT that was a great spot. Loved the reversal into a Crossface by Cena, and enjoyed the match as a whole.

7. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns

PAS: Man you forget how good Daniel Bryan is at wrestling. This was really excellent. Reigns is a guy with some impressive spots, and Bryan built a really cool match around those spots. The liver kick was an awesome looking counter and working around him being stunner, makes Bryan smacking around a bigger guy much more credible. I loved Reigns as Rampage Jackson beating his way out of submissions with nasty forearms. I would hope that we get a rematch if Reigns wins the title. The Memphis crowd acting like this was Bill Dundee v. Big Red Reese hurt this a bit, but I still think this was WWE Match of the Year.

ER: Yeah this was really good, although I didn't love the finish of Roman taking tons of abuse and hitting a flash Spear. Not really loving the idea of The Spear as a death move, and didn't love how Reigns not only got to kick out of the knee but acted like he was pretty okay afterwards. Those are my complaints, the rest of the match was awesome, easily the best singles match Reigns has been a part of, and an awesome return to form for Bryan. This had some great moments and an epic build. I loved Reigns getting caught in an armbar, and then it looked like Bryan lost it but it worked great kayfabe as it allowed him to maneuver naturally to the center of the ring and lock in a particularly nasty YES lock. Bryan really laced in with those kicks, and the sequence of Roman catching that last kick (and you knew Bryan was taking just a biiiit too long to throw it), leading to them throwing slaps was awesome. Also loved Reigns catching the second dive was great, as after the first dive I thought "That didn't have the same impact his dives normally do" so it was already in my head that it was blockable, and then bam, caught, nasty throw. Jeez then we had the one spear attempt countered into the small package. Great match.

Read more!

Survivor Series Live Blog

ER: I'm doing even more internet wrestling writer self-flagellation than Phil as I'm skimming through the pre-show to see if there's anything hidden in there. It said on the screen "Exclusive match" so we'll see if that means an actual exclusive match, or just Booker T HOT TAKES. Every one of Booker T's hot takes boils down to "Me and my brother used to fight all the time, but we had each other's backs". I swear no matter what feud he's talking about, he immediately brings it to that.

We get a Bad News Barrett promo where he basically throws his hat in the ring as the new authority figure depending on how tonight shakes out. AJ also does a promo rolling her eyes at all the sister drama. This stuff feels like stuff that should be relegated to a pre-show. Cesaro in-ring promo is interrupted by Zeb, and Rachel hilariously points out that the moment Zeb comes out there was a prompt on the bottom of the screen saying that the broadcast is available in Spanish. Intentional or not that made me laugh.

1. Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger

ER: This is a nice little pre-show match. Can't complain about this. I was expecting something with some lesser guys like Fandango or Heath Slater. This was their Worldwide match, as it gets about 5 minutes and isn't great, but it's good enough. Cesaro gets a few nifty throws in including a nice overhead belly to belly. He sells an early ankle injury adequately, although it seems like a bit TOO much as he's selling it after being in the patriot lock for a few seconds which would be already selling the patriot lock more than it's ever been sold. There was a cool moment where Cesaro limps towards the corner, but uses it to decoy Swagger into a missed charge (which he runs nicely into the turnbuckles). Surprised to see Cesaro go down so easy and clean to the lock. I haven't been following the TV much lately, so it would appear like Cesaro's stock is plummeting like I assume WWE's is doing ever since launching the Network.

PAS: Opening up with a long Helmsley promo is a rough way to start a PPV, man I can't even fast forward through this like I can on RAW. I hope you fucks appreciate this. They are hitting the Cena heel turn so much here, that it feels like a rib on the Opinions for You bloggers. I can already see the long terrible Masked Man Grantland article I won't be reading on Monday.

ER: Opening MacMahons promo really felt like "hey none of you have been watching TV for the past month so here's a point by point rundown for you." I loved how apparently Stephanie didn't understand the match stipulations until she was literally standing in the ring at the PPV.

2. Mizdow vs. Usos vs. Dust Brothers vs. Matadores

PAS: The last three minutes of this were kind of fun, I liked the dive train and the crazy superplex was kind of neat. Didn't care for much else, I didn't hate Mizdow last week but it has moved over into Chikara territory for me now. Unfortunately I think this means the end of good PPV tag matches for a while.

MattD: I'd really wanted this to be Gold/Star vs Matadors since I want another month or two of featured Dustin matches and I didn't think they'd put the belts on the Matadors, but Miz/Mizdow is pretty much primed for that sort of focus as they build to a split.

I kind of love how after last year when the tag titles were used as sort of a big middle of the card match, now they're used to start off almost every PPV with a high speed, high action sort of match. They're the new cruiserweight title.

The best part of this match was the Gold/Star heeling in keeping Mizdow out: Stardust teasing it and then refusing, Dustin blind tagging him when he finally got in, just ramping up the anticipation for when he finally made it in at the end. Goldust working brunt of this match was the best way to run it. The double team with the sunset flip and the German was ridiculous but fun. I loved Stardust pushing a Matador into the post which set up the Usos getting tagged in later, and the hot tag set up with the tombstone fight into the spinning DDT was pretty great too. And I liked how they teased the Usos dive before they actually gave it to the crowd with the crazy dive sequence.

Finish was pretty much what I was expecting (well, not the goofy trainwreck belly to back suplex spot). It's Sandow's first actual title which is kind of amazing in this day and age. Hopefully Dustin can keep enough q-rating to make it to a Mania match vs Cody.

ER: Pre-match JBL hilariously and accurately rips apart the psychology of the match, saying "Why the hell would you ever tag yourself out!?" Yep, that's kind of why these matches are usually pretty stupid once you think about them for two seconds. Way to connect the dots for the blissfully ignorant. Cole desperately tries to explain why it might be good to tag out but since it is always a horrible idea, his explanation was really just stammering. I really dig Cody's gear, that red/gold/black combo looks really cool. Also really shocked at how over Damien Mizdow is. Was not expecting to hear a "We want Mizdow" chant. Good for him. Also love Goldust immediately tagging Mizdow out when he finally gets in.

Pretty sure none of the commentary crew can tell Los Matadores apart. Goldust was the easy highlight of this as he was able to make everybody look good, leaned way into the Usos hip strikes (I had written "leaned way into the Usos asses" but decided to change that a bit) and his offense looked consistently better than everybody else's. Miz still takes strikes like a guy who's suffered tons of concussions and is scared to get another one, as he actively leans out of all strikes while holding his hands out in front of his face. He made an Uso superkick land two feet in front of his face by jumping away from it so quickly. He's taken offense like this for the last 4 years. I dug Stardust's "Falling Star" tope en reverse. Kudos to Goldust for saving Torito from being on the bottom of a dive train dog pile. You can see Goldust lift him out of the way at the last second. Match was a pretty big mess and would have been much better with any of the team combos in just a normal tag match.

3. Divas Survivor Series Match

PAS: Wow this was given a bunch of time. Weird booking to have all of the heel eliminated and then have the heel champion fighting the odds. Man I don't watch most Diva matches, but they have some really nasty dangerous moves. What the hell was that released suplex Natayla did? JBL seemed like he was on the verge of burying this match like Mike Awesome v. Masato Tanaka.

MattD: Nattie looked like something out of the live action Masters of the Universe coming down. I saw Paige's great forearm and then had to deal with my wife freaking out about the winter storm we're getting on the I-95 corridor and explain to my Paige-pale 12 year old (as he played Minecraft) that no, he can't pull off calling people "sucka." He then explained to me that "Brotha' from another motha'" has become a very popular phrase. I'm sure somewhere Joel Gertner is proud. My feed froze during Summer being absolutely terrified at Naomi skidding across the ring towards her. I kind of wish I hadn't refreshed it after that.

The best part of this match was Paige repeatedly telling Summer she was an idiot, then trying to walk out in disgust. There were some decent enough exchanges in this but it was interminable. How did they give this thing so much time?

ER: I can safely say that I watch more Divas matches than any of the other Segunda Caiders. And I feel pretty safe saying that this is the best the division has ever been. I don't know this for sure but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Finlay was working with them again. JBL namedropping Aja Kong as having the most dominating "diva" Survivor Series moment is pretty great. Even pronounces her name "Ah-zhya" and everything. Boy I was really surprised this got 15 minutes. I thought a lot of the divas looked good. I'm a big Naomi fan, her stuff always has a nice snap and she gets crazy height for her "Rear View" from a standing position. Loved her headscissors to a kneeling Paige, and loved how Paige whipped her head right into it. Smart move getting Cameron out of their early, and dug some of Summer Rae's front kicks and her splashes to Naomi's arm. Alicia Fox is one of the best divas singles match workers, even tag matches, but she seems to be not good in multi man matches for whatever reason. I'm not sure why. This match would make a really good clipped highlight video. There were tons of great individual moments. They did not add up to 15 minutes worth of good match.

4. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose

MattD: In watching old PPVs on the network, I've come to appreciate these video recap segments before the matches so that you get some sense of the feud, but they're a pain in the neck to watch on a PPV you already "bought."

They started this exactly as they should, charging at each other. Ambrose's little rotation preventing himself from getting tossed back into the ring was great. I'm sure he's done that before but I don't remember it. Ambrose chasing Bray across the ring after his Raven pose was a great spot too, and they followed it up with the counter off the dive. Nice little tease before Wyatt really took over. The Vader Attack cutoff followed by how much impact they put into the double clothesline on the floor was all good stuff.

Good last third WWE match stretch, with both Ambrose and Wyatt throwing bombs, countering each other's token moves, and both of them paying for going up top. The standing elbow drop was something out of a badly programmed NES wrestling game but in the best way. The ending worked well enough. You knew we weren't going to get something clean since it was a start of a feud and this set up TLC nicely, and really, was just what Dean needed on this PPV by showing the crowd how he's NOT Cena.

PAS: I really liked this, just a nasty fight with both guys beating the shit out of each other. I loved all of the car crash spots as both guys were just colliding into each other with abandon. Dean's crazy dive off the apron was and although the Bray on the microphone was a bit hokey, it kind of worked for me. Finish wasn't the craziest bit of table work we have seen but the character stuff by Dean really made it. These guys could have a great TLC match I am really looking forward to it.

ER: So much good stuff in this. I was expecting a good match and they more than delivered. I think "unorthodox" might be the most overused term by WWE announcers. I think at this point they've called every worker unorthodox. I'm not sure who they think is orthodox. And while technically inaccurate, it's a shame Goldberg wasn't here during this period. Ambrose has been my absolute favorite wrestler this year and he really is the greatest possible version of Roddy Piper in They Live. They were just constantly slamming into each other during this and I expect they had a bet going to see who could dislocate both shoulders first. Every single exchange was just super violent and I have no clue how Ambrose has been relatively healthy his whole career. Seems like I always want to write the word "fling" when talking about Ambrose. It's really the only time I use it. I no longer have "flings" so the word is useless to me in that sense. But every Ambrose match I always end up talking about he just "flings" his whole damn body at his opponent. He really does, and it looks fabulous. I think we can definitively say that their double clothesline spot was the greatest iteration of that spot in wrestling history. Normally it's a spot that predictably defies physics, but here Bray charges at fairly full speed and both appear to try and clothesline each other as damn hard as possible. I'm surprised neither guy got their arm ripped off, like two drag racers getting too close and knocking each others mirrors off. I like how the rebound elbow really only works for Ambrose 2/3 of the time, it's fun in an "opponent scouted it" kind of way. Every shot in this match landed with a nice thud, all of the nasty clotheslines, all the elbows, Bray going forehead first into a chair on that DDT. Their strike exchanges look truly unique, not like two guys who mapped them out, but like two off balance guys trying to sneak shots in. Ending was flat but it kind of should have been since no man should get a leg up on the other yet. I loved all of this.

5. Adam Rose/Bunny vs. Heath Slater/Gator

PAS: I was really disappointed that Sting wasn't revealed as the Bunny

ER: Adam Rose does nothing for me. He comes off as a really embarrassing old guy trying to be cool, but it's some weird version of what WWE thinks is cool. I guess "cool" is pretty subjective, but whatever Rose is supposed to be doesn't strike me as cool, interesting, fun-loving, entertaining, whatever. I'm sure some people think eye liner and greying goatees are cool though. Bunny had a nice missile dropkick.

ER: Backstage HHH addresses his team and says that there are no other 5 guys that he would have on his team. Normally those kind of statements can pretty easily be shot full of holes, but in a kayfabe sense when you think of guys he had at his disposal, that statement seems pretty accurate.

6. AJ Lee vs. Niki Bella

PAS: I couldn't have taken another Diva's match so no beef with that.

ER: I thought this was an okay way to move the title off AJ. She doesn't lose too much luster as she basically got tricked, but at the same time Nikki comes off like she outsmarted using a weird tactic that AJ wouldn't have thought of. Nikki is a shockingly better wrestler than people give her credit for so I was actually looking forward to the match, but I got other shit to do tonight so I'm not complaining about this.

7. Team Cena v. Team Authority

PAS: Liked parts of this a lot. Was pretty amazed at how irrelevant Cena felt in this match. Obviously Ziggler was the focus of this match, but honestly Erik Rowen got more showcase moments then Cena. I have never been a big Ziggler fan, but this was a pretty great performance, big time main event matches make his kind of bumping and selling appropriate, in a way it always seemed silly in four minute Smackdown matches. I was a little bummed to see Henry go out so quickly, no problem with the quick KO f but Kane is right there to be out in 20 seconds. Also didn't they just do remorseful Big Show making a decision for his family a year ago? Mainly that whole sport entertainment finish with Sting took forever and felt like the early days of weekly TNA PPVs where they would do a surprise debut every show (It's Vader! It's Sandman! It's Fat Tony Schivonie in a T-Shirt.) Still this kind of match is a fun showcase for a lot of guys, and a good way to hide limited guys who can do a couple of things.

MattD: So, I was putting the toddler down during the last two matches and the tablet can't run the Network well; it can run YouTube though and I watched Funk vs Hansen from 1982 instead and I think it's safe to say it was a better use of my time.

It bugs me that Noble and Mercury's ties don't match. I spent the entire babyface entrance annoyed that Kane and Rusev weren't switched in place so it could be Rollins in the middle, the giants on the end, and the champs in the middle. I was disappointed when Steph and Triple H left the apron since I really hoped that they did the "someone tries to tag Steph" spot. I like Kane a whole 14% more than the next guy, but couldn't he have been the one to eat the KO punch instead of Henry? I for one am glad that Ryback's gear says "Then" and not "Than." like it did last week. They really couldn't find a better way to protect him?

The Show-in-Peril segment was really good, with the heels making quick tags well. I didn't like the one on Dolph as well; it seemed to drag to me, though the hope spot cut offs were all pretty enjoyable. Cena is a really poor man's Mizdow on the apron. i wonder if Mercury and Noble can hear the Vince-Yelling-At-The-Announcers feed through those gimmick earpieces. It all ended with Rusev power bombing Dolph onto everyone and I swear I thought he was about to follow it up with a dive. Instead he missed the splash on the table and Dolph KOing himself on the stairs was probably the most ridiculous thing on a night of ridiculous things.

I like how they teased Rowan vs Haper before letting it happen. Rowan against giants is great, both the dropkick he did to Show and the hanging sleeper he tried on Rowan. The single best thing Rollins does is come flying in off the side of the screen. He'd be a good mid-card trios match tecnico in Mexico.

And that's what they went with with Cena? Really? I guess that really running Dolph vs the World could make Dolph. They do it too, with it all culminating in the domino spot and Triple H really noticing Ziggler for the first time in years. It's obvious that the Armstrong Curse is what summoned Sting. And say what you will about over the hill Sting but that felt like only the third or fourth special moment WWE's had all year and I think it lived up to whatever possible hype they could have had for Sting. Rollins and Dolph are the real winners of the injury bug this year. Survivor Series matches have low ceilings and they're really about something other than star ratings and in that regard this delivered in the way they needed it to with the eyes on it.

ER: Analytically I like the Henry elimination, but as a guy actually watching the match I was hoping to see a LOT of Henry in this as I like him opposite all the members of Team Cena. Fun little Ryback run with Rollins taking a massive Eddie style backdrop into the ropes and Ryback doing an awesome delayed vertical suplex on Harper. It's pretty impressive how quickly Rusev has improved since being up on the main roster. I thought he looked pretty bad earlier in the year in the NXT I watched, and now he's a guy with tons of cool unique offense (love his axe kicks and knee lift varieties) who knows how to play to his strengths. The table spot was really fun and he really just dove into an empty pool on it.

I really liked Ziggler in this, and I really LOVED the final few minutes with Rollins/Ziggler. I can't always get into "athletic men wrestling athletically with athleticism" but that was a cool hot stretch. I love that Rowan got a great fired up run, sprinting all over and KOing dudes off the apron, big spin kick on Harper. Harper also came off like a star in this and it's cool to see a guy like him treated like a big deal. His dive always makes me flip out.

So that ending. I was into it. Loved the Ziggler/Rollins stuff, loved the falling dominoes Steph spot...and then Sting came out, and we had some silent staring, and the fans were way more into it than I would have guessed, and then eventually Ziggler gets the win. So....Ziggler and Rollins were just knocked unconscious for like 7 minutes!? Both of them were just lying there not moving, and then Sting put Ziggler's limp lifeless body on the also lifeless Rollins for the win. I must say that after 7 minutes without resuscitation it's quite possible that Rollins and Ziggler now will have pretty nasty brain damage to deal with. Pretty selfish, Sting. Your long entrance may have caused mild retardation in two of the most popular guys in WWE.

Read more!

WWE Hell in a Cell 2014 Live Blog

We are giving this another shot. Phil will be in for sure. Eric is a maybe

Dolph Ziggler v. Cesaro

One of the better Ziggler matches I have seen, Cesaro clearly is the PPV show stealer at this point. It got a little counter movey for me, but there was a bunch of pretty great counters. I liked all of the early matwork and all of the work out of the choke which ended up with Cesaro lifting Ziggler into the superplex was great. Cesaro seems to work in a new cool strength spot in every match. I do like them mixing it up with Ziggler winning 2 straight falls, although I think Cesaro needs to win one of these matches one of these days.

Nikki Bella v. Brie Bella

Not exactly professional looking stuff, but I have to give it to them, if it is going to look awkward you might as well make it violent. There was a knee which looked like it broke a Bella nose and another running knee which looked gross. Kept it moving and didn't drag. Gets the full worldwide point.

Stardust/Goldust v. Usos

Have to love we are getting a long Dustin Rhodes PPV match every month in 2014. I loved Dustin in this, he is really nasty when he is on offense, and a great heel in peril. Loved his spinebuster and that crazy face first over the top bump, also liked the finish, felt like a nifty way to steal a victory, with the kick to the knee.

John Cena v. Randy Orton

I have to give these guys some credit, I had no interest in this match up, but ended up enjoying it OK. I really liked both Orton RKO counters, the one out of the shoulder block was a cool way of mixing up a stale set of spots. We knew this was going to have a ton of kick outs, but they at least tried some different stuff. I really think they need to mix up the standard WWE brawling staples of chairs and tables, I hope Ambrose and Rollins bring some different stuff.

Miz v. Sheamus

I think I am in a good mood, as I enjoyed this too. The Mizdow stuff is fun comedy, while still existing within the world of wrestling rules. Has Miz always worked this stiff, his kicks were pretty nasty looking and the elbows in the corner after the clothesline was actually violent looking. Everything on this show so far has been pretty good.

Big Show v. Rusev

I liked this a bunch too. Rusev had some cool spots, the suplex was really impressive looking. I also really liked the finish with Rusev chopping down the Big Show with superkicks like an axe felling an oak. Big Show is awesome, I prefer heel Andre to heel Big Show, but face Big Show is the best babyface giant ever. Also happy they didn't do a hack Mark Henry turn.

AJ Lee v. Paige

That bump on the barricade was pretty nasty, but the rest of this match looked pretty awkward. This was the first bad thing on the show

Seth Rollins v. Dean Ambrose

Man that is two PPV's in a row with really dogshit endings to otherwise good matches. I liked Rollins and Ambrose as sort of a bloodless CZW Cage of Death. Rollins took a huge beating, and the double cage falls kind of built this up as a big deal, but man what a deflating way to end this feud. I really hate when they try to set up the next show by taking all of the steam out of the show you are watching. I imagine Ambrose v. Wyatt family will be fine, but just run the angle after the match is over.

Read more!

WWE Night of Champions Live Blog

We figured we would give this another shot.

ER: I skimmed through the pre-show as it said on the heading there would be an "exclusive match". Unless it was 90 seconds long, I didn't see one. What I did get to see was Alex Riley talking about an abdominal hernia, Goldust with cool new facepaint, and Randy Orton making a 15+ year old South Park reference. Also, when they were showing highlights of Mark Henry rallying America, Alex Riley said "Now THAT was a solid American rally!" I hate watching preview shows for actual sports, not sure why having a show with Alex Riley is necessary with 5 hours of weekly TV already acting as a PPV preview show.

ER: Tag title match is up first, and they show photos of past tag champs, showing the Blackjacks, Hart Foundation, Legion of Doom, Edge & Christian and…Tony Atlas & Rocky Johnson?! They picked 5 tag teams to show, not sure how Atlas/Rocky made the cut. I guess they didn't have a good enough file photo of Bull Buchanan & The Godfather.

1. Goldust/Stardust beat the Usos

PAS: Man this was a great match. I have talked ad nauseum about how great Goldust is as a face in peril, but he is really great as an Arn Anderson heel working over a face in peril. Just nasty, I liked weirdo heel Stardust too, that glove slap spot was odd but worked with what they were doing. They had some neat counter spots, like Cody turning a Samoan drop into a neckbreaker and Dustin ducking one enzigiri and getting caught with a second. We had a great DGWWE crazy spot run finish and a great ending. Really looking forward to the rematch and whatever other face teams the Rhodes boys wrestle.

ER: Seriously Goldust's makeup is killer here. He also continues his 5 year streak of managing to look in better and better shape. The Dust Bros. have been one of my absolute favorite teams in WWE history, and the Usos are up there too. It's weird what happens when you let guys team for a long time. And this match was killer, a WWE tag match that finally lives up to the hype of all the really good ones earlier this year. Goldust is probably the most versatile guy in the company as he's easily the best FIP, but he's also an incredible aggressor. Here he adds an extra wrinkle by being the guy waiting to ambush an Uso when Stardust's eccentricity allows the Usos an opening. Jimmy hits Cody with a press off the barrier, Goldust is there with a nasty powerslam on the floor. Cody's squirrely goofball is a good thing for his ring work as it adds an intensity that wasn't there before. Him stomping an Uso while holding him by the puka shells was something that wouldn't happen before. Usos are real good FIP and their comeback uppercuts looked as good as ever, also really loved the connecting enziguiri on Goldust (after he ducked the first attempt) that led to the hot tag. I loved Stardust's cool neckbreaker out of a Samoan Drop. This was just a hot tag match, right up there with all the best ones from WWE this year.

2. Sheamus beat Cesaro to retain the US Title

PAS: That was as nasty as you would hope it would be. Really felt like a modern version of a Valentine v. Garvin match, with both guys just unloading with shots 1/3 harder then anyone else in this fed (except maybe Lesnar, we will see). Started out with some pretty gritty amateur wrestling and it kept building and building until it finished with the nastiest version of a New Japan slap finish, Okada and Tanahashi need to watch the end of this match on a loop.

ER: Opening standing and mat scrambles remind me of recent Thatcher/Gulak stuff, which is appropriate as those guys always remind me of Cesaro. Feels like Sheamus is a guy who should get pimped more as a top shelf guy. Maybe people are put off by his goofy promos? I think he's doing a fine job of replacing the Irish asskicker hole in my heart that Finlay's retirement left. Sheamus doing a drop toe hold, with Cesaro fighting it and Sheamus finally dragging him down by yanking on his arm was beautiful. These guys mesh so well together and neither has a problem laying in nasty shots. Both guys take turns seeing who can do a nastier kneedrop to the others' temple. I loved Sheamus getting flashy and "skinning the cat" to pull himself up to the top rope, but because of it not going smoothly it allowed Cesaro to immediately catch him with a big time uppercut. Phil made a WWEDG reference up above, made even more apt with Sheamus breaking out CIMA's Iconoclasm on Cesaro. SHIMUS? Finishing run of this is awesome, with both guys tossing each other around in cool feat of strength ways. Cesaro deadlifting a butterfly suplex and doing a weird fireman's carry slam made me rewind. God Cesaro has a great thrust kick and then follows that up with cool punches that he hardly ever uses. Sheamus pulling out the counter Brogue Kick was a fitting end as it was nowhere close to a decisive victory, so should hopefully lead to more of these two. Great match.

ER: Backstage Big Show pumps Henry up by telling him that 318 million Americans are Henry's tag partner tonight. Really though, there's a LOT of dead weight on that team.

3. The Miz beat Dolph Ziggler for the IC Title

PAS: Not bad for two guys I don’t care about and was stuck as a background to shilling that country act.  Actually built to a fun finish run, with the figure four being put over pretty hard,  I liked Ziggler selling the knee as part of the famasser. Full Worldwide point.

ER: Florida Georgia Line on commentary for the whole match makes me even less excited for this one. I'm a Ziggler fan but Miz is almost always FF time for me. I liked Ziggler in this, loved his rapid fire elbow drops. One of the guys in FGL has Beavis's hair. I'm sure Phil right now is talking about disliking Ziggler (note: I was totally right), but Ziggler is one of the athletic bumper type guys that Phil always dislikes, but usually likes something new he does in every match. Will they or won't they, right? The match did about as good as possible at using the seconds and FGL, and I really liked Ziggler putting over the Figure 4 as an actual damaging submission. That thing has been raked through the muck so much over the years that it was refreshing to see. Fun match that didn't overstay its welcome.

Reigns had emergency hernia surgery so the Rollins/Reigns match is off

4. Seth Rollins "beat" Roman Reigns by count out

PAS: Seth Rollins and Ambrose brawl was a nice piece of pro wrestling. I think everyone knew Ambrose was coming out, but no one does out of control nutcase as good as anyone. I loved his plancha on Jamie Knoble and Finlay, and I liked him being dragged out of the ring. Excited to see that match up again.

ER: I loved the camera showing Ambrose journey from backstage to ring. Actually felt like something they don't do that much anymore. Rollins flies over the top from a giant Ambrose clothesline and then gets tossed like a nut over the barrier. Ambrose does the best "through the crowd" brawls since Jimmy Jacobs or Necro Butcher. Ambrose cannonballed into a sea of agents like Gary Busey jumping into the pool in Point Break. God Ambrose would have been a perfect cast member of Point Break. I need a Point Break sequel with Ambrose as Bodhi Jr. You know Bodhi had to have tons of illegitimate children scattered around Santa Monica.

ER: Before the next match Lilian Garcia sings the National Anthem and Henry wells up with tears. I loved Henry's facials during the anthem, putting the song over more than any black man since Marvin Gaye at the All Star Game. Wrestling always seems to use the Anthem as a cheap pop but here it was fitting and Henry made it a legit powerful moment.

5. Rusev beat Mark Henry

PAS: I liked how this was worked at a slower pace then the earlier match, as it was built on stiffness and selling. Henry is great conveying emotion and selling. I loved the struggle when he finally got the worlds strongest slam up, and I liked how that was the last gasp Henry had in him. I feel bad because they built this up as a huge moment for Henry and had him fail. I am emotionally involved in Henry and I felt real disappointment.

ER: I liked this match but it was the first match of the night to fall below my expectations. Still, it was paced smartly and Henry was able to show how great he is at selling. I was very surprised they put Rusev this strongly over Henry, as he got to overpower and break him down. Rusev's superkick really looks great with the extra pump he puts into it, and I loved the one thrown at a hurt Henry while he was draped over the ropes. Henry's screams as Rusev locked on The Accolade were shockingly real. Henry's emotions in all this were incredible. I really hope they continue with this feud as I think it's good for both.

6. Randy Orton beat Chris Jericho

PAS: I have to give these guys credit for really trying their hardest to have a classic. Jericho was blistering Orton with chops, taking crazy bumps and working some really nifty counters and near falls.  That over the top bump was truly nuts for an old guy.  I am utterly indifferent to both guys, and they actually got me into it at the end.

ER: Man I wish there was a way to watch matches on the Network in double speed. Jericho looked good though, some of his chops were aimed at the throat, like Benoit used to do in matches against Regal. Jericho taking a crazy bump over the top past the turnbuckle got my attention. Michael Cole is the least convincing Diet Mountain Dew pitchman ever. I'm pretty sure the only people who buy Diet Mountain Dew are dads who bought it because they meant to buy regular Mountain Dew, the same accidental purchase market that allows Cheese Nips to exist. Jericho follows up his nutty earlier bump with a nice bump to the floor after Orton kicked him off a Walls attempt. Match overall was better than I expected and Jericho really busted ass. Orton is such a flatline for me though.

ER: Brie Bella is one of the worst stick workers in company history. Really lends creedence to a lot of Total Divas conversations being unscripted, as she actually sounds like she's having a real conversation most of the time on TD. But whenever she does a promo on TV she sounds like an alien trying its best to blend into American society.

7. AJ beat Paige & Nikki Bella for the Divas title

PAS: This is the night of everything exceeding expectations (except for Henry v. Rusev.) I have no reason to want to watch a longish Divas three ways, but this was pretty stiff and relatively entertaining. I liked Paige yelling "Why don't you love me" while headbutting her. I don't know the angle but Paige sort of got me into it in ring. Nikki Bella was sort of useless, but I might not fast forward through the Paige v. Lee rematch.

ER: I dug Nikki in this. She was probably useless as an addition to the match, but I didn't think her work within the match was useless. She cut real low on clotheslines, talks shit within matches more naturally than 90% of WWE workers (who usually work their matches silently) and had a couple cool slams (really liked her trapped arm forward slam). I'm actually amused by the AJ/Paige interplay, the weird not-totally-explained dynamic. I actually sorta kinda like Divas matches, which always leads me to telling Phil about them, and him telling me he won't watch them. So I'm glad he had to watch one here.

PAS: I really liked the stats intro for the Brock v. Cena match. The MMA stuff doesn't work for most match (it would be silly for something like Jericho v. Orton) but it works here.

ER: WWE seems to actually know when to smartly use stats breakdowns to hype matches, which is directly offset by the constant ear poison of their relentless Twitter stats and odd Facebook "like" brags (WWE has more likes than the U.S. Air Force!). But I dug the numbers breakdown here, and I love when they use the numbers to hype the Royal Rumble every year.

8. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title

PAS: I thought the first match this year was more of a spectacle then a great match, the rematch was more of an awesome wrestling match, with Cena learning from his mistakes and firing back with some really nasty looking potato punches and elbows. I also liked how Lesnar kept mixing in the Kimura.  I liked Cena totally unloading his entire arsenal on Lesnar, and I would have bought that being the finish. Really didn't like the Rollins run in, there had to be a better way to set up the third match.

ER: First match kind of left me a little speechless. I had no real way to analyze it. How many other times has a huge star taken that much of a beating without getting any real shine? So I was real excited for the follow up and I thought they delivered big time. I LOVE Cena getting German'd by Lesnar. I could watch that all day. Cena takes them impossibly great, like Inoki getting tossed by Vader. All of Cena's comebacks here were (I assume intentionally, though never picked up by the crack commentary team) based on Lesnar's past MMA weaknesses: Cena picking his ankle had echoes of Mir grabbing him, Cena overwhelming him with stiff punches and elbows was like Cain Velasquez completely overwhelming him with strikes. Cena's strikes here were really rough, especially his awesome back elbows (Rachel watching with me said "It looks like Cena's trying to hit Brock for real" which made Lesnar getting up with a bloody nose even cooler). The kimura reversals were great, and damn Lesnar holding Cena vertically in a kimura looked brutal, and I love Lesnar kicking out of Cena's AA's on the one count. I actually wasn't expecting a run-in, and I hope they don't do something silly like build a 3 way. But I did like the way Rollins stuff was handled even if it left the match really flat.

Read more!