klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Monday
Raw
Date: August 9, 2010
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
Let’s go home to Summerslam. Bret/Cena vs. Jericho/Edge with Nexus as lumberjacks as the main event.
Here’s Bret, in a Batman shirt of all things. He talks about how things have fallen apart in the past few weeks and tonight they need to make things right for Sunday. He wants Jericho and Edge to come out but only gets the former. Bret yells at Jericho about how he needs to do the honorable thing and the speech is rather standard but well delivered.
Jericho says no and that Bret is only thinking about himself and how he’s afraid of the beating tonight. Chris only wants to beat Bret right here tonight and doesn’t care about Nexus or the match on Sunday. Here’s Edge and he seems to respond better to Bret. I smell a swerve but that’s Edge for you. He talks about everything that Bret meant to him as a kid and says Bret can count him in. Oh of course Edge jumps him but Bret is ready for him. Sharpshooter is blocked by a thumb to the eye from Jericho.
Natalya bounces down and is crying. On the screen we see the Hart Dynasty getting the hell beaten out of them by Nexus. They were my picks for the replacements too. Can we give Nexus some damn titles already? Bret and Nattie run off for the save and we take a break.
Trainers are looking at them and Bret stands guard with a chair. Cena pops up and says he’s going to go talk to Khali and Bret stays with his family.
The Miz vs. Evan Bourne
Simple yet effective. Can’t go wrong there. Is there a reason this isn’t for a title though? Some NXT rookies are fighting tonight. Miz dominates to start and gets a MIZ IS AWESOME chant. The running clothesline hits and we’re getting close to squash territory. Bourne makes a small comeback, complete with a cool spot where he’s on the middle rope and jumps backwards into a rana. Rey did it off a running springboard around the time he debuted. Miz blasts Bourne and the Skull Crushing Finale ends it.
Miz says he’s ready to cash in at Summerslam no matter who wins.
We recap the Divas thing from last week to set up this.
Melina vs. Alicia Fox
Non-title of course. Alicia is all aggressive and such but not a lot of people seem to care. Melina goes into the post and then into a body vice. Melina slips down the back and hooks into what’s called a sunset bomb which is a fast sunset flip that starts from when she’s sitting on the back and then snaps forward with a bomb.
Khali’s brother isn’t here but he says WWE then challenges Barrett for a one on one tonight.
Email during the break sets up the women’s title match. Moving on.
Jericho and Edge say they’ll survive whatever happens with Nexus and that tonight they should take out Cena and Hart.
Henry volunteers to join Morrison, Truth and Team Cena on Sunday.
Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry
Henry tries to get in but Gabriel and Slater are waiting. Here’s the rest of Nexus minus Barrett for the huge beatdown. Henry is out cold after being slammed into the steps and it’s stretcher time.
Is there an allergy to wrestling tonight?
Sheamus is here and says he isn’t afraid of Orton and will hurt him Sunday. We get a video about Sheamus’ career highlights which is kind of cool. Here’s Orton for your usual showdown. Orton says he’s not HHH and all that jazz. An e-mail says if anyone interferes they’re suspended. If Orton loses, no rematch. The GM suggests Sheamus do something right now. The pale one pulls back for a punch and stops but Orton jumps him. The kick is missed and Orton hits his backbreaker move. He has the Punt ready but stops cold, letting Sheamus think about it. Yep Orton is an idiot.
Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon vs. Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris
Well this allows us to get them on TV and keeps us from having to risk another injury. Sheamus is outside which is likely going to involve Miz in some form. Kaval is only 1-5? That more or less secures the Danielson comparison. I’d like him a lot more if he stopped using kicks all the time which I know I’ve said before. Harris hits his backsplash on Kaval to end it. Sheamus annihilates them afterwards, or at least the ones he can get to. Kaval gets the worst and Sheamus says that was a message to the GM and Orton that he’ll win Sunday.
John Morrison/R-Truth vs. William Regal/Zach Ryder
This is going to be really quick. Morrison hits the C4, which is a Rock Bottom but he backflips into it. Paul Burchill used to do them off the middle rope. It gets two of course because you can’t let a big new move like that end it. Starship Pain is MUCH better here as he sets Ryder up further towards the middle.
Gail Kim/Eve Torres vs. Maryse/Jillian Hall vs. Bella Twins
This is a Summer Spectacular or something. They’re all in swimsuits, but of course one pieces. Santino and Kozlov are here too and they come in on a water slide. This goes like 3 minutes and one of the Bellas hits a cross body to beat Jillian. Tamina comes out in a swimsuit as well and slaps Santino on the ass. Yep it’s Glamarella all over again.
Summerslam Recall is the Jailhouse Match from 91 which resulted in a lot of gay jokes which aren’t shown here.
Nexus jumps Khali to take him out too, injuring his knee. No match with Barrett I guess.
Nexus, the lumberjacks, talk before the match starts. They say they’ll dominate and that no one should join or they’ll be next. We cut to the back where Miz kind of volunteers but that Bret has to make the invitation. Bret asks but wants to hear it from Cena too. Cena asks and Miz says he’ll let them know Sunday. NICE. Not sure why but that was awesome. Ok it’s 10:53 and we’re going to a break? Seriously?
There’s a guest host next week named Justin Long who I’ve never heard of at all.
Bret Hart/John Cena vs. Edge/Chris Jericho
Cena gets jumped by Nexus as they’re all on one side of the ring. Jericho throws him out there too. Jericho gets thrown out there and nothing happens. Any wrestling in the ring is pure backdrop for the Nexus stuff. This is in essence a handicap match here as Bret can’t do much. Jericho gets knocked into Barrett and goes to the floor again and the beatdown is on.
Edge goes for the save and Bret picks off Gabriel which lasts about a second. LOUD Cena chant. The showdown is on as Morrison and Truth come down to make it 7-4. The Canadians come back to a HUGE pop and it’s 7-6. HERE WE GO! WWE clears the ring and the Nexus is scattered into the crowd.
Results
The Miz b. Evan Bourne – Skull Crushing Finale
Melina b. Alicia Fox – Sunset Bomb
Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris b. Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon – Back splash to Kaval
John Morrison/R-Truth b. William Regal/Zach Ryder – Starship Pain to Ryder
Bella Twins b. Jillian Hall/Maryse and Gail Kim/Eve Torres – Cross Body to Jillian
Tuesday
Raw got the same as last week, a 3.3.
Linda won the Senate primary.
NXT
Date: August 10, 2010
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews
We open with Cole dressed in a combination of like 8 wrestlers’ apparel. Striker has a machine that tests how hard you throw a punch. Matthews beats Cole and he storms off. This was in front of an empty arena. What the hell did I just watch?
Theme song.
Here are the rookies and their pros. Henry isn’t here due to injuries. Such a shame but at least half the company gets to eat now. The finale is in three weeks. First I’ve heard of that but cool. We do a challenge with the boxing machine. The prize is a spotlight appearance, whatever that is, on Raw.
Michael gets a score of 863. This is going to go fast.
Kaval kicks it and gets 297. Laycool is in the shorts again which are NICE.
Percy gets less than Cole got. WOW he sucks.
This is designed for Husky to win by the way. Cannon gets 744 which I don’t think beats Matthews.
Harris messes up and doesn’t break 400. Hokey smoke.
Riley punches the hell out of it and wins it with something like 900. This whole thing MIGHT have taken 3 minutes which is nice for once. Riley cuts a short promo saying while Miz is a reality star, he’s a star in reality. Nice line.
Miz and Morrison argued during the break with Miz saying Morrison needed him on Team WWE (even though Nexus are WWE guys now) at the PPV. He wanted Morrison to say they needed him and Morrison won’t do it. Miz vs. Morrison tonight.
Kaval/Percy Watson/Alex Riley vs. Lucky Cannon/Husky Harris/Michael McGillicutty
This was on Raw last night. Watson hits a fireman’s carry from his knees (FU) and shows some decent mat work. Watson knocks Riley OUT for a bit but it doesn’t last long. I don’t think Kaval has been in yet so when he gets the tag expect him to come in. Bad hip toss by Watson. Riley’s team starts arguing so Cannon does a big dive over the top to take Riley out as we take a break.
Cannon used a big boot. The LD made jokes for me so I began to smile. There is zero flow to this match and it’s just a bunch of random stuff going on with each guy trying to get stuff in. Kaval finally comes in and hooks a Dragon Sleeper but Harris makes the save. Watson hits the one move he’s really good at, the dropkick, to take out Harris. McGillicutty misses the neckbreaker and the Warrior’s Way ends it clean.
LONG recap of the Nexus vs. Cena’s Army match. Khali is likely out. Oh and there are other matches at Summerslam too apparently.
The Miz vs. John Morrison
Well we have about two minutes before the break and nothing of note happened in it. Literally I watched it and had nothing at all to write down. Apparently during the break Morrison hit a huge corkscrew plancha. Not like we saw it live or anything but whatever. LONG chinlock follows just to annoy me. Morrison makes his comeback and hits the Flash Kick for two. Shining Wizard misses and Miz hits a big boot. I give up. Starship Pain misses a few times and then the Skull Crushing Finale ends it. Morrison might have hurt his ankle which I’m 99% sure is kayfabe.
It’s Poll Time and the rookies are asked who should go home. Michael and Kaval say Lucky. Percy doesn’t want to answer but picks Riley for talking too much, despite him having a talk show segment. Lucky says everyone other than him. Harris says Cannon due to his record. Riley says Striker because of his stupid questions which got a legitimate laugh out loud from me. He picks Michael too. Here’s the poll.
1. Kaval
2. Michael McGillicutty
3. Percy Watson
4. Husky Harris
I actually had Riley typed out. There is NO WAY Riley can lose here.
5. Alex Riley
6. Lucky Cannon
And it finally ends. I’m more surprised about Riley being in 5th. He did well tonight though. Lucky says he has nothing to say to Kaval which is odd. He says he isn’t going to flip out and that he enjoyed his time here. This was pretty well composed.
Riley says he doesn’t get why he’s hated so much. Two eliminations next week.
Results
Alex Riley won the Power of the Punch Challenge
Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon b. Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris – Warrior’s Way to McGillicutty
Miz b. John Morrison – Skull Crushing Finale
Lucky Cannon was eliminated in 6th place.
Wednesday
There was a huge rumor today that Hogan and Bischoff have left TNA, but it has been proven to be a fake. So close, yet so far away.
Thursday
NXT’s rating is a 1.0, which is WAY up from the .8 last week. People clearly like the eliminations.
Impact
Date: August 12, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: The Whole F’N Show
This is the PPV caliber show, since they NEVER have PPV style matches on TV. Nope, not TNA. I guess this is supposed to be like their Clash of the Champions or whatever. The ratings here should be most interesting. Hopefully there are no ECW guys tonight and remember: NO TALKING ALL NIGHT. Any bets on that one?
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
If Angle loses he retires. AJ has a tattoo on his side which looks weird but it has his initials and his kids’ birthdays so I can live with that. Angle gets a SWEET suplex on the floor. This is non-title which just about gives away the ending as well as you could want it to. AJ is freaking awesome to watch, which is what irritates me about the whole Flair tribute thing. There’s no need to add that in with his great stuff.
AJ does all of his usual stuff but can’t get the pin. He hits the forearm and the Pele but none of them work. This isn’t Angle’s usual formula yet but of course it’s good given who is out there. AJ avoids the running belly to belly but Angle hits a middle rope moonsault press which was NICE.
Ankle lock goes on and from that angle Kurt looks FAT! AJ misses his moonsault DDT thing which he hasn’t busted out in years but the recovery was fine. Angle Slam gets two as this is a very fast paced match. Angle blocks the low blow into the ankle lock with the grapevine for the tap. Nice match but they needed more time, as in like twice the time.
Knockouts Title: Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne
Now, can we break the streak of title changes without an actual pin? How are we supposed to take this division seriously with the commentary the way it is? Naturally a lot of the moves from Madison are shall we say suggestive? And make sure you get the ass shots. Love kills her with a bunch of stuff and here’s the motorcycle chick.
The crowd chants Tara as they know what’s coming. Skye pops up from behind and DRILLS her with a chair. The helmet comes off and she’s wearing a mask underneath. It comes half off but all we see is a mouth. Back in the ring Lights Out ends this and Love is a five time champion.
Mr. Anderson vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan
Anderson is the only one to get a TV intro. The faces go after Morgan which doesn’t work at all naturally as they wind up fighting over it. The rankings will be announced next week due to….something. Anderson with a Thesz Press as Morgan sits on the floor and lets them fight, which isn’t a bad idea at all. Mic Check to Dinero and Morgan slides in for the save and to steal the pin. I’m not sure if this was longer than the women’s match or not.
Jeff Hardy vs. ???
I’ve heard that this is supposed to be a debut and that this isn’t a debut. If it’s a debut, the common guess would be Helms, which would be somewhat exciting. And it’s Shannon Moore.
Jeff Hardy vs. Shannon Moore
When will wrestling companies get that no one cares about Moore? Why does this guy keep getting a job? They’re brothers apparently, or at least that’s what Shannon says. No reason why but whatever. We’re told they’re friends which is news to about 90% of the wrestling audience but whatever. Jeff keeps running into the corners after Shannon and ramming into the buckle like an idiot in a bad comedy movie.
Moore dominates for the most part until Hardy realizes he’s a three time world champion and Shannon Moore is Shannon Moore. A name change might help him a lot actually. Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton into the knees. Shannon gets shoved off the ropes and lands in perfect position for the Swanton and the pin.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns
This is 2/3 falls. I’ll give TNA this: when they find something that works, they RUN with it. Shelley and Roode start us off and the crowd is WAY behind Shelley. The Guns do their usual insane speed stuff which is always cool looking. Roode does the old classic heel tactic of slapping his hands to convince the ref that there was a tag. It doesn’t work but it’s always awesome.
Sabin breaks through the endless domination of the heels as the fans are just getting irritating. NICE (I think) double team spot from the Guns as we get a downward spiral combined with a DDT and a missile dropkick. Roode takes Sabin’s head off with a big boot and the Guns clear the ring. Back in the ring a Backstabber sets up DWI on Shelley to make it 1-0 Beer Money.
Never a fan of challengers getting clean pins in the first fall of a 2/3 match. It makes the champions look like they lost completely clean. Nice double dropkick by Sabin to clean house again. The splash/neckbreaker ties it up after about two minutes. That move needs a name.
Roode does a HUGE dive over the ropes which they screw up by changing the camera at the last second. After a break it’s more even fighting. This has been a great match. Sabin hits a springboard DDT on Roode which I loved. Granted that might be because the DDT is my favorite move. Both teams hit a sweet double team sequence.
Sliced Bread #2 is countered as is DWI. Last Call superkick ends Roode and the double team combo DOESN’T get the pin on Storm. I would have bet on that ending it. Another one does in fact end it though, which is a bit anticlimactic but still, GREAT match here, although just a step behind the initial win at the PPV. Still though, great match.
TNA World Title: Abyss vs. Rob Van Dam
Janice, the board with nails in it, is above the ring and can be used as a weapon, which of course it won’t be. You win by pinfall. Eric Bischoff is the referee for no apparent reason. I mean that literally: no one can come up with a reason for him to be out there. Abyss goes up the ladder as RVD is coming to the ring but gets caught. That was very smart.
Rolling Thunder misses and RVD hits the ladder. After a break Abyss misses a chokeslam onto the ladder. They do the run up the ladder as a ramp spot which is ok. This is about 5 minutes into it not counting the commercial and it’s 10:33. This is going to be a long match or the announcement is going to take forever.
This is a pretty standard ladder based match but it’s not bad. The pinfall being the way to win makes Abyss a much bigger threat here which is very smart thinking. There are the thumbtacks of course since those are perfectly normal in a match like this. Let’s pour some glass on top of that too. Abyss of course lands on them since he has the shirt on which telegraphs it completely. His ass landed on them but whatever.
Barbed wire board is brought in and of course Van Dam puts Abyss into it plus a few more spots which look cool if nothing else. Van Dam gets his hand on the board and they botch a spot as he gets shoved off and BANGS HIS FACE on a ladder that is set up like a bridge between the ring and the barrier. Holy shit that looked terrible. Abyss gets the board.
Naturally he puts it down to punch RVD a bit. For like the third time it gets stuck in the buckle. RVD looks ok and at least his face is still in one piece. He gets some chair shots in and then the Van Terminator into the barbed wire board into Abyss and the Five Star eventually gets the pin. Solid fun match but again I ask: WHY WAS BISCHOFF THE REFEREE?
Hogan comes down and we go to a break. RVD is still here and Hogan talks, since there can’t be any talking right? Hogan declares that TNA is the top wrestling company in the world and that Hardcore Justice set the bar. He brings out the ECW guys, or at least the main ones. Even Sabu is here.
Hogan says he gives them the ring in a show of respect. There are like 10 or more guys in there. Dreamer is the mouthpiece and thanks everyone. RVD kisses him on the cheek and the lights go out. And here’s Fourtune plus Williams and Morgan. Raven and Sandman come out to even the odds as it’s a massive beatdown. Abyss comes back and beats up Van Dam some more. Flair comes out as the fans cheer this. In the back Van Dam is covered in blood and Abyss holds up Janice. Flair yells at Dixie, saying she caused this, as we end it.
Results
Kurt Angle b. AJ Styles – Ankle Lock
Angelina Love b. Madison Rayne – Lights Out
Matt Morgan b. D’Angelo Dinero and Mr. Anderson – Pinned Dinero after Mic Check from Anderson
Jeff Hardy b. Shannon Moore – Swanton Bomb
Motor City Machine Guns b. Beer Money – Neckbreaker/Splash Combination
Rob Van Dam b. Abyss – Five Star Frog Splash
Friday
Lance Cade passed away at age 29, allegedly from heart problems. Since it’s in wrestling and he was very young, I think we all know what’s implied here, especially given that he was in rehab once before.
Tiffany was suspended for some incident at her hotel with Drew McIntyre, her husband.
Impact got a 1.15, which is down from last week but just slightly. Next week is the interesting one though as we see the reaction to the big angle last night.
Smackdown
Date: August 13, 2010
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Attendance: 17,463
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham
It’s the go home show here so don’t expect much to happen at all. This should be a decent show since it’s Smackdown though so I’m looking forward to it. The show is starting now so let’s get to it.
The theme songs starts us, which seems to be becoming their custom.
Vickie is in the ring with a lei around her neck. She brings out Dolph, complete with Hawaiian shirt and a lei of his own. She says how great he is and they’re going to Tahiti. Cue Kofi for another beatdown with a cool visual of Kofi jumping from off camera to get a shot in so it looks like he’s flying. Teddy comes out and says the rematch is at Summerslam. Dolph vs. Rey and Kofi vs. Kane as well.
We get a recap video of Kane and Rey accusing each other of jumping Taker and see Kane coming to the ring, pissed beyond belief.
Kofi Kingston vs. Kane
Non-title of course. Kofi is still trying out the aggressive thing here and manages to put Kane on the floor. Of course the announcers are talking about the Rey/Kane thing and I begin to wonder how would Rey know it was Kane? Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise and slams into the post which looked painful. Kane goes for the foot/ankle which is the strategy he’ll have for Rey on Sunday in a nice bit of continuity I guess.
A brief comeback by Kofi results in him getting chokeslammed off the top and more or less being dead. This hasn’t been a squash but it’s been kind of close. Tombstone ends Kofi for good as I guess that’s back as his official finisher to avoid being confused with Big Show or something.
Kane talks about how this is for Taker and insists Rey did it. I guess we’re continuing the whole you did it no you did it thing. Kane has been awesome through this whole thing, he really has. He goes for the fire from the posts and here’s Rey of course. He says Kane gained the most, including the world title. You know, the same one he won when he took Taker’s place and all that jazz.
Christian vs. Cody Rhodes
Before the match we see Drew and Cody talking and a clip from Drew beating Christian two weeks ago. Back from a break and Cody is working on the arm while Drew watches from the back. That’s rather creepy in some ways. They start rather slowly as Rhodes is known to do. Christian makes his comeback and gets a shot to the face, FREAKING Cody out very badly. In a nice ending though, Cody goes for the arm again and it lets him get Cross Roads for the win.
After a break and a quick recap of SES vs. Show, we get to this.
Big Show vs. Fernando Vega/Derek Werley/Jody Reese
I love jobber squashes. Show has a big glove/cast on his hand. What are you really expecting here? It’s a minute and a half or so. The SES is on the stage and Punk has a shirt that says I Broke Big Show’s Hand. Punk gets after Gallows for trying to talk which is likely a seed for the split. He talks about how this Sunday will be an opus for Show which I think is a cool metaphor but I’m not sure.
Matt is in the back and Kelly wishes him luck for no apparent reason.
Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre
Another old rivalry revisited here. They hit the floor almost immediately and Drew gets launched into a chair while Matt hits Side Effect on the floor. Drew goes for the back of Matt’s head which they explain the point of, making me smile. Hardy spears him to the floor through the ropes but Drew uses the steps to Pillmanize the ankle. How did the referee not see that? Futureshock ends soon after that.
Another recap of Nexus. Is there going to be a test or something on this given how many times we’ve heard it?
Here’s Jack Swagger and we hear about how far he’s fallen lately. He talks about how much his life sucks and how much he’s had to go through for the past few weeks and months. Swagger says he should be in the main event of Summerslam since it’s lost its Swagger. Cue MVP of all people to say that no one cares about Swagger. Swagger punches him with the mic without saying a word and I guess it’s on.
Jack Swagger vs. MVP
MVP isn’t all the way here since Swagger jumped him before the break. Crowd is kind of dead here. Ankle lock doesn’t work as it’s all Swagger. He plays to the crowd and they wake up a bit but the Vader Bomb misses. Swagger dominates a bit more and then goes for the ankle again but gets rolled up for the pin.
Cody tells us how to get rid of earwax.
Alberto Del Rio debuts next week. It’s about freaking time.
Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler
This starts off pretty basic as the announcers put over the theory that things are going to be similar for Dolph on Sunday since he’s up against a high flier but not similar for Rey since he’s up against a monster. There isn’t much going on in the first few minutes other than hearing about how awesome the champion is. Rey gets him in trouble and sets for the six one nine but here’s Kane for the save with a casket. There’s a lot of time left though and we take a break with like ten minutes to go in the broadcast. In the words of JR, BUY MY BARBECUE SAUCE! Wait that’s not the right line. Never mind.
Kane stands by the casket and Ziggler has the chinlock on Rey. Rey’s knee/ankle might be hurt again but it’s not like he’d sell it or anything so it doesn’t really matter. Rey makes his comeback and we do some close near falls. Both guys try sleepers and Rey actually gets his. 619 is blocked but Rey reverses into a rollup for the pin. Kane attacks afterwards but Rey puts him in the casket.
Results
Kane b. Kofi Kingston – Tombstone
Cody Rhodes b. Christian – Cross Roads
Big Show b. Fernando Vega/Derek Werley/Jody Reese – Knockout Punch
Drew McIntyre b. Matt Hardy – Futureshock DDT
MVP b. Jack Swagger – Rollup
Rey Mysterio b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup
Raw
Date: August 9, 2010
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
Let’s go home to Summerslam. Bret/Cena vs. Jericho/Edge with Nexus as lumberjacks as the main event.
Here’s Bret, in a Batman shirt of all things. He talks about how things have fallen apart in the past few weeks and tonight they need to make things right for Sunday. He wants Jericho and Edge to come out but only gets the former. Bret yells at Jericho about how he needs to do the honorable thing and the speech is rather standard but well delivered.
Jericho says no and that Bret is only thinking about himself and how he’s afraid of the beating tonight. Chris only wants to beat Bret right here tonight and doesn’t care about Nexus or the match on Sunday. Here’s Edge and he seems to respond better to Bret. I smell a swerve but that’s Edge for you. He talks about everything that Bret meant to him as a kid and says Bret can count him in. Oh of course Edge jumps him but Bret is ready for him. Sharpshooter is blocked by a thumb to the eye from Jericho.
Natalya bounces down and is crying. On the screen we see the Hart Dynasty getting the hell beaten out of them by Nexus. They were my picks for the replacements too. Can we give Nexus some damn titles already? Bret and Nattie run off for the save and we take a break.
Trainers are looking at them and Bret stands guard with a chair. Cena pops up and says he’s going to go talk to Khali and Bret stays with his family.
The Miz vs. Evan Bourne
Simple yet effective. Can’t go wrong there. Is there a reason this isn’t for a title though? Some NXT rookies are fighting tonight. Miz dominates to start and gets a MIZ IS AWESOME chant. The running clothesline hits and we’re getting close to squash territory. Bourne makes a small comeback, complete with a cool spot where he’s on the middle rope and jumps backwards into a rana. Rey did it off a running springboard around the time he debuted. Miz blasts Bourne and the Skull Crushing Finale ends it.
Miz says he’s ready to cash in at Summerslam no matter who wins.
We recap the Divas thing from last week to set up this.
Melina vs. Alicia Fox
Non-title of course. Alicia is all aggressive and such but not a lot of people seem to care. Melina goes into the post and then into a body vice. Melina slips down the back and hooks into what’s called a sunset bomb which is a fast sunset flip that starts from when she’s sitting on the back and then snaps forward with a bomb.
Khali’s brother isn’t here but he says WWE then challenges Barrett for a one on one tonight.
Email during the break sets up the women’s title match. Moving on.
Jericho and Edge say they’ll survive whatever happens with Nexus and that tonight they should take out Cena and Hart.
Henry volunteers to join Morrison, Truth and Team Cena on Sunday.
Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry
Henry tries to get in but Gabriel and Slater are waiting. Here’s the rest of Nexus minus Barrett for the huge beatdown. Henry is out cold after being slammed into the steps and it’s stretcher time.
Is there an allergy to wrestling tonight?
Sheamus is here and says he isn’t afraid of Orton and will hurt him Sunday. We get a video about Sheamus’ career highlights which is kind of cool. Here’s Orton for your usual showdown. Orton says he’s not HHH and all that jazz. An e-mail says if anyone interferes they’re suspended. If Orton loses, no rematch. The GM suggests Sheamus do something right now. The pale one pulls back for a punch and stops but Orton jumps him. The kick is missed and Orton hits his backbreaker move. He has the Punt ready but stops cold, letting Sheamus think about it. Yep Orton is an idiot.
Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon vs. Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris
Well this allows us to get them on TV and keeps us from having to risk another injury. Sheamus is outside which is likely going to involve Miz in some form. Kaval is only 1-5? That more or less secures the Danielson comparison. I’d like him a lot more if he stopped using kicks all the time which I know I’ve said before. Harris hits his backsplash on Kaval to end it. Sheamus annihilates them afterwards, or at least the ones he can get to. Kaval gets the worst and Sheamus says that was a message to the GM and Orton that he’ll win Sunday.
John Morrison/R-Truth vs. William Regal/Zach Ryder
This is going to be really quick. Morrison hits the C4, which is a Rock Bottom but he backflips into it. Paul Burchill used to do them off the middle rope. It gets two of course because you can’t let a big new move like that end it. Starship Pain is MUCH better here as he sets Ryder up further towards the middle.
Gail Kim/Eve Torres vs. Maryse/Jillian Hall vs. Bella Twins
This is a Summer Spectacular or something. They’re all in swimsuits, but of course one pieces. Santino and Kozlov are here too and they come in on a water slide. This goes like 3 minutes and one of the Bellas hits a cross body to beat Jillian. Tamina comes out in a swimsuit as well and slaps Santino on the ass. Yep it’s Glamarella all over again.
Summerslam Recall is the Jailhouse Match from 91 which resulted in a lot of gay jokes which aren’t shown here.
Nexus jumps Khali to take him out too, injuring his knee. No match with Barrett I guess.
Nexus, the lumberjacks, talk before the match starts. They say they’ll dominate and that no one should join or they’ll be next. We cut to the back where Miz kind of volunteers but that Bret has to make the invitation. Bret asks but wants to hear it from Cena too. Cena asks and Miz says he’ll let them know Sunday. NICE. Not sure why but that was awesome. Ok it’s 10:53 and we’re going to a break? Seriously?
There’s a guest host next week named Justin Long who I’ve never heard of at all.
Bret Hart/John Cena vs. Edge/Chris Jericho
Cena gets jumped by Nexus as they’re all on one side of the ring. Jericho throws him out there too. Jericho gets thrown out there and nothing happens. Any wrestling in the ring is pure backdrop for the Nexus stuff. This is in essence a handicap match here as Bret can’t do much. Jericho gets knocked into Barrett and goes to the floor again and the beatdown is on.
Edge goes for the save and Bret picks off Gabriel which lasts about a second. LOUD Cena chant. The showdown is on as Morrison and Truth come down to make it 7-4. The Canadians come back to a HUGE pop and it’s 7-6. HERE WE GO! WWE clears the ring and the Nexus is scattered into the crowd.
Results
The Miz b. Evan Bourne – Skull Crushing Finale
Melina b. Alicia Fox – Sunset Bomb
Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris b. Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon – Back splash to Kaval
John Morrison/R-Truth b. William Regal/Zach Ryder – Starship Pain to Ryder
Bella Twins b. Jillian Hall/Maryse and Gail Kim/Eve Torres – Cross Body to Jillian
Tuesday
Raw got the same as last week, a 3.3.
Linda won the Senate primary.
NXT
Date: August 10, 2010
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews
We open with Cole dressed in a combination of like 8 wrestlers’ apparel. Striker has a machine that tests how hard you throw a punch. Matthews beats Cole and he storms off. This was in front of an empty arena. What the hell did I just watch?
Theme song.
Here are the rookies and their pros. Henry isn’t here due to injuries. Such a shame but at least half the company gets to eat now. The finale is in three weeks. First I’ve heard of that but cool. We do a challenge with the boxing machine. The prize is a spotlight appearance, whatever that is, on Raw.
Michael gets a score of 863. This is going to go fast.
Kaval kicks it and gets 297. Laycool is in the shorts again which are NICE.
Percy gets less than Cole got. WOW he sucks.
This is designed for Husky to win by the way. Cannon gets 744 which I don’t think beats Matthews.
Harris messes up and doesn’t break 400. Hokey smoke.
Riley punches the hell out of it and wins it with something like 900. This whole thing MIGHT have taken 3 minutes which is nice for once. Riley cuts a short promo saying while Miz is a reality star, he’s a star in reality. Nice line.
Miz and Morrison argued during the break with Miz saying Morrison needed him on Team WWE (even though Nexus are WWE guys now) at the PPV. He wanted Morrison to say they needed him and Morrison won’t do it. Miz vs. Morrison tonight.
Kaval/Percy Watson/Alex Riley vs. Lucky Cannon/Husky Harris/Michael McGillicutty
This was on Raw last night. Watson hits a fireman’s carry from his knees (FU) and shows some decent mat work. Watson knocks Riley OUT for a bit but it doesn’t last long. I don’t think Kaval has been in yet so when he gets the tag expect him to come in. Bad hip toss by Watson. Riley’s team starts arguing so Cannon does a big dive over the top to take Riley out as we take a break.
Cannon used a big boot. The LD made jokes for me so I began to smile. There is zero flow to this match and it’s just a bunch of random stuff going on with each guy trying to get stuff in. Kaval finally comes in and hooks a Dragon Sleeper but Harris makes the save. Watson hits the one move he’s really good at, the dropkick, to take out Harris. McGillicutty misses the neckbreaker and the Warrior’s Way ends it clean.
LONG recap of the Nexus vs. Cena’s Army match. Khali is likely out. Oh and there are other matches at Summerslam too apparently.
The Miz vs. John Morrison
Well we have about two minutes before the break and nothing of note happened in it. Literally I watched it and had nothing at all to write down. Apparently during the break Morrison hit a huge corkscrew plancha. Not like we saw it live or anything but whatever. LONG chinlock follows just to annoy me. Morrison makes his comeback and hits the Flash Kick for two. Shining Wizard misses and Miz hits a big boot. I give up. Starship Pain misses a few times and then the Skull Crushing Finale ends it. Morrison might have hurt his ankle which I’m 99% sure is kayfabe.
It’s Poll Time and the rookies are asked who should go home. Michael and Kaval say Lucky. Percy doesn’t want to answer but picks Riley for talking too much, despite him having a talk show segment. Lucky says everyone other than him. Harris says Cannon due to his record. Riley says Striker because of his stupid questions which got a legitimate laugh out loud from me. He picks Michael too. Here’s the poll.
1. Kaval
2. Michael McGillicutty
3. Percy Watson
4. Husky Harris
I actually had Riley typed out. There is NO WAY Riley can lose here.
5. Alex Riley
6. Lucky Cannon
And it finally ends. I’m more surprised about Riley being in 5th. He did well tonight though. Lucky says he has nothing to say to Kaval which is odd. He says he isn’t going to flip out and that he enjoyed his time here. This was pretty well composed.
Riley says he doesn’t get why he’s hated so much. Two eliminations next week.
Results
Alex Riley won the Power of the Punch Challenge
Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon b. Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris – Warrior’s Way to McGillicutty
Miz b. John Morrison – Skull Crushing Finale
Lucky Cannon was eliminated in 6th place.
Wednesday
There was a huge rumor today that Hogan and Bischoff have left TNA, but it has been proven to be a fake. So close, yet so far away.
Thursday
NXT’s rating is a 1.0, which is WAY up from the .8 last week. People clearly like the eliminations.
Impact
Date: August 12, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: The Whole F’N Show
This is the PPV caliber show, since they NEVER have PPV style matches on TV. Nope, not TNA. I guess this is supposed to be like their Clash of the Champions or whatever. The ratings here should be most interesting. Hopefully there are no ECW guys tonight and remember: NO TALKING ALL NIGHT. Any bets on that one?
AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
If Angle loses he retires. AJ has a tattoo on his side which looks weird but it has his initials and his kids’ birthdays so I can live with that. Angle gets a SWEET suplex on the floor. This is non-title which just about gives away the ending as well as you could want it to. AJ is freaking awesome to watch, which is what irritates me about the whole Flair tribute thing. There’s no need to add that in with his great stuff.
AJ does all of his usual stuff but can’t get the pin. He hits the forearm and the Pele but none of them work. This isn’t Angle’s usual formula yet but of course it’s good given who is out there. AJ avoids the running belly to belly but Angle hits a middle rope moonsault press which was NICE.
Ankle lock goes on and from that angle Kurt looks FAT! AJ misses his moonsault DDT thing which he hasn’t busted out in years but the recovery was fine. Angle Slam gets two as this is a very fast paced match. Angle blocks the low blow into the ankle lock with the grapevine for the tap. Nice match but they needed more time, as in like twice the time.
Knockouts Title: Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne
Now, can we break the streak of title changes without an actual pin? How are we supposed to take this division seriously with the commentary the way it is? Naturally a lot of the moves from Madison are shall we say suggestive? And make sure you get the ass shots. Love kills her with a bunch of stuff and here’s the motorcycle chick.
The crowd chants Tara as they know what’s coming. Skye pops up from behind and DRILLS her with a chair. The helmet comes off and she’s wearing a mask underneath. It comes half off but all we see is a mouth. Back in the ring Lights Out ends this and Love is a five time champion.
Mr. Anderson vs. D’Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan
Anderson is the only one to get a TV intro. The faces go after Morgan which doesn’t work at all naturally as they wind up fighting over it. The rankings will be announced next week due to….something. Anderson with a Thesz Press as Morgan sits on the floor and lets them fight, which isn’t a bad idea at all. Mic Check to Dinero and Morgan slides in for the save and to steal the pin. I’m not sure if this was longer than the women’s match or not.
Jeff Hardy vs. ???
I’ve heard that this is supposed to be a debut and that this isn’t a debut. If it’s a debut, the common guess would be Helms, which would be somewhat exciting. And it’s Shannon Moore.
Jeff Hardy vs. Shannon Moore
When will wrestling companies get that no one cares about Moore? Why does this guy keep getting a job? They’re brothers apparently, or at least that’s what Shannon says. No reason why but whatever. We’re told they’re friends which is news to about 90% of the wrestling audience but whatever. Jeff keeps running into the corners after Shannon and ramming into the buckle like an idiot in a bad comedy movie.
Moore dominates for the most part until Hardy realizes he’s a three time world champion and Shannon Moore is Shannon Moore. A name change might help him a lot actually. Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton into the knees. Shannon gets shoved off the ropes and lands in perfect position for the Swanton and the pin.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns
This is 2/3 falls. I’ll give TNA this: when they find something that works, they RUN with it. Shelley and Roode start us off and the crowd is WAY behind Shelley. The Guns do their usual insane speed stuff which is always cool looking. Roode does the old classic heel tactic of slapping his hands to convince the ref that there was a tag. It doesn’t work but it’s always awesome.
Sabin breaks through the endless domination of the heels as the fans are just getting irritating. NICE (I think) double team spot from the Guns as we get a downward spiral combined with a DDT and a missile dropkick. Roode takes Sabin’s head off with a big boot and the Guns clear the ring. Back in the ring a Backstabber sets up DWI on Shelley to make it 1-0 Beer Money.
Never a fan of challengers getting clean pins in the first fall of a 2/3 match. It makes the champions look like they lost completely clean. Nice double dropkick by Sabin to clean house again. The splash/neckbreaker ties it up after about two minutes. That move needs a name.
Roode does a HUGE dive over the ropes which they screw up by changing the camera at the last second. After a break it’s more even fighting. This has been a great match. Sabin hits a springboard DDT on Roode which I loved. Granted that might be because the DDT is my favorite move. Both teams hit a sweet double team sequence.
Sliced Bread #2 is countered as is DWI. Last Call superkick ends Roode and the double team combo DOESN’T get the pin on Storm. I would have bet on that ending it. Another one does in fact end it though, which is a bit anticlimactic but still, GREAT match here, although just a step behind the initial win at the PPV. Still though, great match.
TNA World Title: Abyss vs. Rob Van Dam
Janice, the board with nails in it, is above the ring and can be used as a weapon, which of course it won’t be. You win by pinfall. Eric Bischoff is the referee for no apparent reason. I mean that literally: no one can come up with a reason for him to be out there. Abyss goes up the ladder as RVD is coming to the ring but gets caught. That was very smart.
Rolling Thunder misses and RVD hits the ladder. After a break Abyss misses a chokeslam onto the ladder. They do the run up the ladder as a ramp spot which is ok. This is about 5 minutes into it not counting the commercial and it’s 10:33. This is going to be a long match or the announcement is going to take forever.
This is a pretty standard ladder based match but it’s not bad. The pinfall being the way to win makes Abyss a much bigger threat here which is very smart thinking. There are the thumbtacks of course since those are perfectly normal in a match like this. Let’s pour some glass on top of that too. Abyss of course lands on them since he has the shirt on which telegraphs it completely. His ass landed on them but whatever.
Barbed wire board is brought in and of course Van Dam puts Abyss into it plus a few more spots which look cool if nothing else. Van Dam gets his hand on the board and they botch a spot as he gets shoved off and BANGS HIS FACE on a ladder that is set up like a bridge between the ring and the barrier. Holy shit that looked terrible. Abyss gets the board.
Naturally he puts it down to punch RVD a bit. For like the third time it gets stuck in the buckle. RVD looks ok and at least his face is still in one piece. He gets some chair shots in and then the Van Terminator into the barbed wire board into Abyss and the Five Star eventually gets the pin. Solid fun match but again I ask: WHY WAS BISCHOFF THE REFEREE?
Hogan comes down and we go to a break. RVD is still here and Hogan talks, since there can’t be any talking right? Hogan declares that TNA is the top wrestling company in the world and that Hardcore Justice set the bar. He brings out the ECW guys, or at least the main ones. Even Sabu is here.
Hogan says he gives them the ring in a show of respect. There are like 10 or more guys in there. Dreamer is the mouthpiece and thanks everyone. RVD kisses him on the cheek and the lights go out. And here’s Fourtune plus Williams and Morgan. Raven and Sandman come out to even the odds as it’s a massive beatdown. Abyss comes back and beats up Van Dam some more. Flair comes out as the fans cheer this. In the back Van Dam is covered in blood and Abyss holds up Janice. Flair yells at Dixie, saying she caused this, as we end it.
Results
Kurt Angle b. AJ Styles – Ankle Lock
Angelina Love b. Madison Rayne – Lights Out
Matt Morgan b. D’Angelo Dinero and Mr. Anderson – Pinned Dinero after Mic Check from Anderson
Jeff Hardy b. Shannon Moore – Swanton Bomb
Motor City Machine Guns b. Beer Money – Neckbreaker/Splash Combination
Rob Van Dam b. Abyss – Five Star Frog Splash
Friday
Lance Cade passed away at age 29, allegedly from heart problems. Since it’s in wrestling and he was very young, I think we all know what’s implied here, especially given that he was in rehab once before.
Tiffany was suspended for some incident at her hotel with Drew McIntyre, her husband.
Impact got a 1.15, which is down from last week but just slightly. Next week is the interesting one though as we see the reaction to the big angle last night.
Smackdown
Date: August 13, 2010
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Attendance: 17,463
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham
It’s the go home show here so don’t expect much to happen at all. This should be a decent show since it’s Smackdown though so I’m looking forward to it. The show is starting now so let’s get to it.
The theme songs starts us, which seems to be becoming their custom.
Vickie is in the ring with a lei around her neck. She brings out Dolph, complete with Hawaiian shirt and a lei of his own. She says how great he is and they’re going to Tahiti. Cue Kofi for another beatdown with a cool visual of Kofi jumping from off camera to get a shot in so it looks like he’s flying. Teddy comes out and says the rematch is at Summerslam. Dolph vs. Rey and Kofi vs. Kane as well.
We get a recap video of Kane and Rey accusing each other of jumping Taker and see Kane coming to the ring, pissed beyond belief.
Kofi Kingston vs. Kane
Non-title of course. Kofi is still trying out the aggressive thing here and manages to put Kane on the floor. Of course the announcers are talking about the Rey/Kane thing and I begin to wonder how would Rey know it was Kane? Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise and slams into the post which looked painful. Kane goes for the foot/ankle which is the strategy he’ll have for Rey on Sunday in a nice bit of continuity I guess.
A brief comeback by Kofi results in him getting chokeslammed off the top and more or less being dead. This hasn’t been a squash but it’s been kind of close. Tombstone ends Kofi for good as I guess that’s back as his official finisher to avoid being confused with Big Show or something.
Kane talks about how this is for Taker and insists Rey did it. I guess we’re continuing the whole you did it no you did it thing. Kane has been awesome through this whole thing, he really has. He goes for the fire from the posts and here’s Rey of course. He says Kane gained the most, including the world title. You know, the same one he won when he took Taker’s place and all that jazz.
Christian vs. Cody Rhodes
Before the match we see Drew and Cody talking and a clip from Drew beating Christian two weeks ago. Back from a break and Cody is working on the arm while Drew watches from the back. That’s rather creepy in some ways. They start rather slowly as Rhodes is known to do. Christian makes his comeback and gets a shot to the face, FREAKING Cody out very badly. In a nice ending though, Cody goes for the arm again and it lets him get Cross Roads for the win.
After a break and a quick recap of SES vs. Show, we get to this.
Big Show vs. Fernando Vega/Derek Werley/Jody Reese
I love jobber squashes. Show has a big glove/cast on his hand. What are you really expecting here? It’s a minute and a half or so. The SES is on the stage and Punk has a shirt that says I Broke Big Show’s Hand. Punk gets after Gallows for trying to talk which is likely a seed for the split. He talks about how this Sunday will be an opus for Show which I think is a cool metaphor but I’m not sure.
Matt is in the back and Kelly wishes him luck for no apparent reason.
Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre
Another old rivalry revisited here. They hit the floor almost immediately and Drew gets launched into a chair while Matt hits Side Effect on the floor. Drew goes for the back of Matt’s head which they explain the point of, making me smile. Hardy spears him to the floor through the ropes but Drew uses the steps to Pillmanize the ankle. How did the referee not see that? Futureshock ends soon after that.
Another recap of Nexus. Is there going to be a test or something on this given how many times we’ve heard it?
Here’s Jack Swagger and we hear about how far he’s fallen lately. He talks about how much his life sucks and how much he’s had to go through for the past few weeks and months. Swagger says he should be in the main event of Summerslam since it’s lost its Swagger. Cue MVP of all people to say that no one cares about Swagger. Swagger punches him with the mic without saying a word and I guess it’s on.
Jack Swagger vs. MVP
MVP isn’t all the way here since Swagger jumped him before the break. Crowd is kind of dead here. Ankle lock doesn’t work as it’s all Swagger. He plays to the crowd and they wake up a bit but the Vader Bomb misses. Swagger dominates a bit more and then goes for the ankle again but gets rolled up for the pin.
Cody tells us how to get rid of earwax.
Alberto Del Rio debuts next week. It’s about freaking time.
Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler
This starts off pretty basic as the announcers put over the theory that things are going to be similar for Dolph on Sunday since he’s up against a high flier but not similar for Rey since he’s up against a monster. There isn’t much going on in the first few minutes other than hearing about how awesome the champion is. Rey gets him in trouble and sets for the six one nine but here’s Kane for the save with a casket. There’s a lot of time left though and we take a break with like ten minutes to go in the broadcast. In the words of JR, BUY MY BARBECUE SAUCE! Wait that’s not the right line. Never mind.
Kane stands by the casket and Ziggler has the chinlock on Rey. Rey’s knee/ankle might be hurt again but it’s not like he’d sell it or anything so it doesn’t really matter. Rey makes his comeback and we do some close near falls. Both guys try sleepers and Rey actually gets his. 619 is blocked but Rey reverses into a rollup for the pin. Kane attacks afterwards but Rey puts him in the casket.
Results
Kane b. Kofi Kingston – Tombstone
Cody Rhodes b. Christian – Cross Roads
Big Show b. Fernando Vega/Derek Werley/Jody Reese – Knockout Punch
Drew McIntyre b. Matt Hardy – Futureshock DDT
MVP b. Jack Swagger – Rollup
Rey Mysterio b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup