klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Monday
Smackdown got a 1.9, its highest rating on Syfy. Good because it was a great show.
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 10, 2011
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
We've reached the time period leading up to the Rumble and have the world title set. Tonight we'll likely see more about Miz vs. Orton and the beginning of the build to the Rumble itself which is in just under three weeks. This time is usually about establishing dominance for the Rumble and possibly qualifying matches. Also we might see the next steps for the now CM Punk led Nexus. Oh and Cena might be back tonight. Let's get to it.
Theme song opens us proper.
Tonight we find out the first entrant into the 2011 Hall of Fame and Cena will address the WWE Universe.
Santino and Kozlov are here to defend the titles but Nexus and Punk hit the ring to destroy them. Punk says that the title match is postponed. Nexus is now stronger than ever and al five of them can shine. Punk reminds us that Cena addresses the Universe tonight, but the days of Hustle, Loyalty and Respect are over. There will be an initiation tonight for all members of the group including the leader.
Otunga says thats cool, speaking for everyone. First up is McGillicuttys initiation. Hes beaten down everyone, including the Chairman of the Board. The crowd chants Cena. Punk: Yes, hes beaten down Cena too. Michaels initiation is to receive a Nexus beatdown and Harris has to start it off. He wont do it but Otunga will. Slater and Harris add their finishers. 450 and GTS end McGillicutty but hes officially initiated. They carry him off with him almost in a cross shape as we take a break.
R-Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio
I saw this match on Saturday night at a house show and got a good match out of it so this should be entertaining. On the way to the ring we hear more about the Hall of Fame entrant who Lawler says may be the best of all time. Im intrigued now. Del Rio hits a Backstabber which would be a good move for him to pick up actually. Truth gets a clothesline to the floor and actually hits the floor first with a thud. They slug it out on the floor but Rodriguez distracts Truth and its a countout at 1:50. Rodriguez shouting WHATS UP over and over was rather funny. No rating of course.
Alberto says that that was another victory but you already know that. He makes fun of American music including hip hop, Justin Bieber and worst of all, country music. Remember that were in Nashville here. He says that hell show us music in the form of Mariachi. Its going to be Ricardo singing though as he belts out La Cucaracha, which is the Mexican national anthem according to Roddy Piper. This was uh yeah.
Cena is next.
Morrison vs. Sheamus tonight also.
And never mind on the Cena thing as the rewind is of Miz jumping Lawler. Lawler says Miz is a coward while Cole says he should just apologize to Miz. We get an E-Mail saying that the GM supports Cole, even though hes a jerk, self-centered and various other insults. Apparently hes just kidding and Cole is awesome and various other nice things. Cole Miners are great too.
Lawler says hold it and that the WWE Universe has spoken and theyre sick of Cole and that Cole is a coward. According to Cole if Lawler touches him hes fired. Lawler slams the laptop and we get another E-Mail. It still works! The GM says that Cole and Lawler arent cowards. Tonight its Miz/Riley vs. Lawler/Orton.
Off to Punk in the back and its Harris turn for initiation, if he accepts it that is. Punk has a strap in his hand and every member is going to give him three lashes. Husky accepts and takes the position. Punk says take the shirt off and Harris is fine with it. Otunga drills him as does Gabriel. Those are some LOUD shots so if theyre being faked theyre incredibly impressive. Harris starts to fall after Slaters shots so Punk says get him up. Punk goes off on him, laying in probably 8 or 9 shots as we go to break. I guess Harris is initiated as well.
Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd
Ive always been a fan of throwing together two feuds into a tag match like this. Tomorrow night on NXT there will be a double date with Derrick Bateman (Bryans NXT rookie) and Bryan with the Bellas. Bryan fires away with kicks in the corner to DiBiase but nefarious double teaming gives Ted control. The following clothesline doesnt work though and Kidd and Henry both come in. Henry destroys everything in sight and the Worlds Strongest Slam ends Kidd in 2:40. No rating again for these short matches.
Big Show is here.
Back with a recap of Novak being eliminated, thank goodness.
Show wants to talk about Barrett, who already got knocked out of Nexus and hes going to get knocked out on Friday as well. Second up is the Rumble which hes serious about winning. Cue Nexus, now four strong with Punk, Gabriel, Otunga and Slater. Apparently this is Otungas initiation as he walks to the ring alone. Otunga slaps Show and I think you can figure out what the result of that is.
Otunga is thrown over the table and destroys Coles chair. Big slap to his stomach and a slam with a thud on the floor. Show shouts that he isnt someone to play with. David goes into the steps and then back into the ring. The fans chant KNOCK HIM OUT. Theyll settle for a chokeslam instead I guess. Actually Show isnt done yet and Otunga takes the punch while hes being held up by Show. The other three Nexus members salute Otunga.
Cena is still happening later tonight.
Morrison vs. Sheamus next.
John Morrison vs. Sheamus
This should be good and also interesting in that we might get to see if Morrison has lost momentum after last weeks loss and if so how much. Morrison is now the Prince of Parkour. We get a highlight package of the WWE Title match last week which makes Morrison look like a star. They keep teasing the Hall of Fame inductee and how great he is, which makes me think Shawn.
Sheamus gets a headlock to start. He hammers away on Morrison who is still a bit hurt from the brutal match last week. John fights back but takes a big running elbow to the face to end that. Rollup gets two for Morrison but he cant get a backslide. Here comes Johnny Boy with a leg lariat to take over. Sheamus ends that quickly and goes for the knee. Morrisons response is to kick Sheamus in the head. Why do something too complex I suppose.
Morrison sets for Starship Pain but gets shoved off the top as we take a break. Back with Sheamus holding a loose Crossface Chickenwing. We get a replay of Morrison crashing to the floor before the break which sounded great. The impacts on the floor tonight have all sounded good. Morrison may have a bad arm now. Sheamus gets a powerslam for two.
Back to a modified Chickenwing but Morrison fights back. Flash Kick misses but Sheamus charges and lands on the floor. Pescado eats knee though as Sheamus counters. These two have great chemistry together and this is another fine example of it. Front suplex onto the stairs has Morrison reeling. Back into the ring and Sheamus sets for the Brogue Kick but Morrison kind of falls down instead.
Sheamus changes his mind and puts Morrison on the top. Morrison fights him off and drops Sheamus head first onto the post. The running knee to the head ENDS Sheamus clean at 12:06. So much for the push being dead Id certainly think. That knee looked sick as hell too.
We recap the Nexus initiations tonight before we go to the back. Punk is holding a pair of kendo sticks before Slater and Gabriel. Hes not going to beat them with the sticks but rather the two of them are going to beat each other until Punk tells them to stop. Punks manipulation here is awesome. They stare each other down but cant bring themselves to do it.
Punk says if youre not in then youre out so you better swing for the fences. Slater still cant do it and neither can Gabriel. Punk says do it but they look at Punk instead. He says go ahead and closes his eyes, saying good. The former champions cant do that either and throw the sticks down before leaving. Punk has a half mad half happy look on his face.
The Hall of Fame inductee is next. Im really curious about this now.
Back with Lawler in the ring to announce the first member of the Hall of Fame. He talks about how important it is to get into the Hall of Fame and how this inductee has earned the respect of the fans. And its ..SHAWN MICHAELS! After a nice video about him, SHAWN IS HERE! He gets a mic and the fans chant one more match and heres Alberto before Shawn can say anything.
The fans chant HBK as Del Rio more or less says that Shawn is old news. The people cheer him now apparently. Alberto again says that hes going to win the Rumble and then a world title and then will be the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Theres a running theme with music tonight with Alberto. Earlier tonight he talked about country music, and here he experiences some Sweet Chin Music. Shawn poses but never said a word. He steals the scarf and leaves. That kick was great.
Back with Miz and Riley getting ready. Riley is all fired up but Miz keeps looking down at the belt. Hes upset because people are talking about Orton and not him. Riley tries to calm him down but Miz says it doesnt matter until after the match tonight.
Its Cena time but Cole wants to talk first. Punk, on the top of the damn Titantron no less, talks about the initiations tonight. This is his initiation though and he implies hes going to jump. Josh is on commentary now. His sacrifice is the ultimate one and he hopes that through it hell prove that not only was he a member of Nexus but that he was their leader as well. The visual on this from a long shot is great.
He asks the fans if he should dive off the tron. Wow hes not beating around the bush with innuendo at all. He asks if he should injure himself and then holds his arms up like a cross. He has one more question first though: how gullible are all these people? He has a harness on and has two spotters. This was the initiation for the fans, as hes not jumping of course. This was way more intense than it sounds.
The three initiated members come down, looking like hell. Punk comes down to the ring and says if anyone believed he was going to jump off the tron they were stupid. He has a harness on as he showed us earlier. Anyone that would dive like he threatened to is mentally challenged but hes mentally superior. Punk says he doesnt need an initiation as hes the leader of the new Nexus.
Punk says Cena isnt here because he got rid of him. Cue Cena on the screen and not in the arena. He goes through a list of insults about Punk and says that hes wasting everyones time. Cena wants to know what the point of the initiations was because he already beat them all up. He wants a piece of Punk and wants it next week. Punk says its on. Cena says everything Punk has said is true but next week he gets dealt with and gets all serious. He can turn it on at the drop of a hat like few others. Next week isnt about t-shirts or armbands but about Cena kicking Punks ass. Great segment but no way thats the blowoff.
The Miz/Alex Riley vs. Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton
Cole is in his element here as he says Miz belongs in the Hall of Fame already and that Lawler has to steal the spotlight again. It seems that theyre trying to shift Matthews into Lawlers spot by having Lawler in the ring more often which is fine. Riley vs. Lawler to start us off. Lawler goes off on Riley and beats up Miz on the floor, sending him into the steps.
Off to Orton who half kills both Riley and Miz. He gives Miz some hard stomps including one to the face. Back to Lawler now who gets run over by Miz. The corner clothesline hits .and we take a break at 11:04. Wow indeed. During the break it occurs to me that there are only four matches tonight. Thats low by Raw standards but even still its been good so I can accept that.
Back with Riley holding onto Lawler. Lawler ducks out of the way though and Riley hits the post. Orton gets the tag but Miz has the referee. Oh darn the luck. Miz sets for the Finale but Orton comes in with an RKO. Cole freaks out, shouting NO NOT AGAIN! Riley saves though but its hot tag to Orton. He takes over on Riley with all of his old favorites. Elevated DDT has Riley mostly dead.
Miz teases coming in to take down Orton but gets stared down. Riley tries to sneak up on Orton but Orton is all like oh no you didnt and kills him with the RKO. Off to Lawler who hits the strap down punch off the middle rope for the pin as Orton stares down Miz even more at 11:35.
Results
Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth via Count Out
Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry b. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd Worlds Strongest Slam to Kidd
John Morrison b. Sheamus Running knee to the head
Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton b. The Miz/Alex Riley Middle Rope Punch to Riley
Tuesday
Stevie Richards has quit TNA. I forgot he was there actually.
Raw got a 3.1, which is saying a lot considering the BCS Title Game got the highest rating in the history of cable. Thats not bad at all, especially considering they went up by 100,000 viewers.
NXT
Date: January 11, 2011
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham
Its the week between eliminations so this is likely going to be a contest heavy show. Novak is gone thank goodness, lowering the level of suck on this show dramatically. Tonights special feature is Daniel Bryan and Derrick Bateman on a double date with the Bella Twins. That should be .uh .interesting. Lets get to it.
We open with a recap of the trade with Saxton and Novak which is a good thing since Novak and Ziggler didnt work at all.
Theme song hits, get your reinforcements. Just not the Rat Boy as he sucks.
Theres another elimination next week according to Striker. Its challenge time which is worth two points. This is the slingshot challenge. The pros in the ring are going to use a slingshot to launch t-shirts to the rookies on the stage, most caught and dropped into a bucket wins. Truth and Curtis go first and Truth launches them way too high so there are none caught.
Ziggler and Saxton are second and Ziggler also launches them way too high. Ah theres one. Saxton has a Best Buy themed shirt going on this week. Its just one which is the mark somehow.
Third is Bryan and Bateman. Bryan bounces them off the Titantron for some reason. They have to be caught in the air which makes this a bit more competitive and also a bit more idiotic. Bateman gets one and cant get the second in time. Ok maybe he does. Yeah that gives him the lead with two.
Clay is up next and Maryse is shooting. And the shirt fell, almost like going limp. That cant be something that happens often with her. Ted takes over and cant get anything either. Its a total of zero.
Finally is Rat Boy and Del Rio who has heat on him now, drawing a boo for his name. They get one and then catch a second at the buzzer but it wasnt in the bucket so Bateman wins with two, gaining two points.
Ricardo is on the phone in the back and we have subtitles for no apparent reason. He says hes responding to an ad, saying he has a problem with a huge rat that stinks. Oh dear. Why are we giving this guy an angle on top of everything else?
Conor OBrian vs. Byron Saxton
Bit of a feeling out process to start here as it occurs to me that I dont remember a single one of OBrian matches. Saxton gets a forearm in the corner to take over. I like how they have the pros up on the apron like partners here. It adds on the teamwork thing instead of having them be like managers. Since theyre getting a tag title shot in the future that fits pretty well.
Chinlock by Saxton as he keeps him dominance going. Bulldog gets two and back to the rest hold. Conor tries to fight up but gets a knee to his back. This is kind of hit and miss to say the least. Saxton gets a clothesline for two which Ziggler thought would be three. Hes certainly into these matches and does well with what he does. ANOTHER rest hold by Saxton as Conor has had very little going for him here. Mat slam out of the corner gets two again for Saxton. And never mind as theres a Rock Bottom for the pin for OBrian at 6:25.
Ricardo has to announce him as the winner and certainly isnt thrilled with it, hence the rat problem.
We get a clip from last night after Raw with Bateman and Bryan getting ready. Bateman has American flag pants on and goes on about submission wrestling again. He likes to speak in initials and abbreviations for some reason. Bateman thinks the Bellas are both wildebeests for some reason. Both guys have sunflowers for the girls which Bateman is a bit confused about.
Should be noted that until now I had a phone call and was trying to do that and review at the same time. God bless headphones.
Its time for another challenge, in this case Superstar Password. Its an old game show with the idea being that one person has the password and has to give clues to the other guy to win. The rookie has to give the clues and its the most in a set amount of time.
Curtis and Truth go first. You cant say the name or a nickname I guess. There isnt much to say here. They get two right.
Saxton and Ziggler go second and Saxton is still breathing hard from his match. They also get two.
Bateman messes up and says Kane to start. Then he starts flying through them with basic clues like youre supposed to play this game and they get three. We even get a Lanny Poffo reference.
Clay and DiBiase are next and Maryse keeps guessing designers. DiBiase is really bad at this while Clay gives good clues. Clay: Bigger than me, bald, in a movie, doesnt like Kane. DiBiase; John Cena? He FINALLY gets Big Show and thats it.
Conor and Alberto are fourth and Rat Boy messes up and wastes time. OBrian wants to talk about how great Del Rio is. Bateman wins. This could have been great but they made it REALLY stupid. Bateman was the only guy that did this with any kind of intelligence.
Same Shawn video from last night. He certainly deserves it.
Ah ok the date was last night and were getting clips of it. Ok that makes sense. It also explains why they were in dresses at ringside. Theyre at dinner here and Bateman has his foot on the table. Bateman: Brie, did you know that you share your name with my second type of cheese? The girls argue over text messages or something and Bateman texts Bryan pickup lines.
This looks like the smallest restaurant ever by the way. Bateman FREAKS because something got on his pants so he turns the table over, throws a bag of change at Bryan and leaves. Bryan for some reason goes after him and leaves the girls. This was odd to put it mildly but Id be lying if I said Bateman wasnt kind of funny. Good segment overall.
Ted DiBiase vs. Johnny Curtis
Back and Matthews goes off about the date while pointing out very basic issues with it (why were they eating off paper plates?) and somehow were talking about college football. Crowd is dead for the match by the way. Kind of a standoff to start us off here. They keep fighting over a lockup as Matthews is turning into the Cole of this season. BIG backdrop by Curtis gives him momentum.
Semi-snap suplex by Curtis. Slingshot legdrop misses though as we take a break. Back with DiBiase holding a chinlock on Curtis. The following clothesline takes down Curtis as we talk about whos leaving next week. The general consensus seems to be OBrian and I cant say I disagree. All DiBiase here as he hammers away.
Total dominance by DiBiase who hooks on another chinlock. Big sitout spinebuster breaks any momentum that Curtis might have been trying to build up there. Running knee lift misses though and here comes Curtis. Another following clothesline is almost countered into a backslide. Curtis gets two off a mat slam. With Maryse distracting, Clay gets a big forearm to Curtis. Truth takes Clay out and Curtis pins DiBiase with a rollup at 9:30 to end the show.
Results
Derrick Bateman won the Slingshot Challenge
Conor OBrian b. Byron Saxton Rock Bottom
Derrick Bateman won Superstar Password
Johnny Curtis b. Ted DiBiase Rollup
Wednesday
The big story today is that allegedly Impact will be taken on the road in February. If so then thats a big deal and itll be interesting to see if they draw fans outside of Orlando. Apparently itll be in North Carolina.
Thursday
The X-Division may be abolished. That isnt a bad thing at all really which Ive explained already.
Impact
Date: January 13, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: The One That Got Away
It's the first Impact after Genesis and things are looking a bit different. Mr. Anderson is the new world champion following an unannounced title match and title switch at Genesis which I'll spare you my thoughts on because I'll yet again be told I don't get it or I'm an idiot or I don't like the company or some other short sighted answer like that. Anyway, also at Genesis we saw the debut of Matt Hardy which already is forming our main event tonight. It should be interesting to see where TNA goes from here so let's get to it.
The opening video is of Genesis from Sunday. Featured are Angle vs. Jarrett and the announcement of the retirement party plus the whole world title scenario. Anderson is considering giving Morgan the first title shot but isnt sure. Also he hates the look of the belt.
Jarrett and Karen got here earlier today.
Heres Anderson who says that hes worked forever to attain his dream. He was hired over there and was the next world champion. Anderson beat ten world champions but a little birdy (said in a HHH voice) got into the boss (Vince) head and said that he isnt ready for it. After being told everything he couldnt do over there, he got a call from Eric Bischoff.
Eric, Hogan, Dixie and Russo told him he could be himself and now hes the asshole that he is today. This asshole just became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He could have done it without the fans but hell thank them anyway. The other asshole that he has to thank is Matt Morgan so could he please come out here.
Morgan comes out and Anderson thanks him. Morgan says that the only reason Anderson has that title around his waist (Anderson: Its not around my waist.) is because Morgan let himself down. All Matt is thinking about is how to get the title and his next shot. 2011 is the year of the Blueprint and hes coming for the title. Hes being serious but civil/respectful here. Anderson earned it and Morgans hat is off to him. Morgan shakes his head and leaves.
Before we can go to a break heres Bischoff. He wants to know who Anderson thinks he is. The only thing he accomplished is putting a bulls-eye on his back. Eric says mark his calendar for February 3rd, 2011 (my birthday) that on Impact Hardy is getting his rematch and Hogan will be back.
Anderson gets in Erics face and Hardy pops up on the screen and says that in three weeks he gets his title back. RVD jumps Hardy but the other Hardy makes the save. Anderson runs off to make the save for RVD and luckily the interview area is right behind the curtain. The rest of Immortal comes in to beat down Anderson and RVD. The guys being laid out takes us to our first break.
Back and the main event is announced of Hardys vs. Anderson/RVD. Cant argue with the logic there.
We see Karen and Jeff Jarrett going into Immortals locker room and closing the door.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Motor City Machineguns
Oh look: its this match again. I get that its a good pairing, but can we PLEASE get a fresh team in there? This TNAs tag division is awesome theory is bogus. Before they go to the Guns say to expect a good match. The Guns hit the ring and its on early. Tonight is the first of four weeks of Genesis rematches. Well of course. I mean its not like its supposed to mean anything to buy the PPV right? Why buy it when you can just see the big matches over the next month? What a great way to get fans to buy future shows!
After a big beatdown by the Guns a trip up of Shelley gives Beer Money control and we get down to a traditional match. Its my first night watching the show in HD and it makes the ring look much smaller. Off to a chinlock by Storm on Sabin. Double tag brings in Shelley and a double stomp gets two on Roode who Tazz thinks is Storm for some reason.
Here comes the double teaming by the Guns which is fun to watch as usual. Skull and Bones hit Roode. Storm is busted open. Elevated DDT a la Orton takes down Sabin. Shelley sets for a superplex but Storm pulls him down into the Eye of the Storm. Shelley counters but gets caught in what looked like a TKO and a splash from Roode for two. DWI cant hit and here comes Sabin. The Guns hit a combination downward spiral/missile dropkick but Shelly accidently kicks Sabin on the ASCS Rush and DWI ends Shelley at 7:50.
Jarrett is nervous about something after coming out of Immortals locker room.
Kurt gets here.
Back and RVD and Anderson arent happy about getting beaten down and say they need to take the fight to them. Anderson has the same blood on his head that he had in the promo from after the PPV. Did he not take a shower since then? They grab some weapons which are a chair for RVD and what looked like a big board for Anderson.
Pope is here and the money is able to rain down from the ceiling again. His hair looks kind of different and I think its braided now or something. He talks about how Joe has been following him around and he hasnt done anything wrong. Pope says hes a Pope that the people can look up to. He forgives Joe but wants to know what would happen if the roles were reversed and Pope was following Joe. Well apparently he did just that and were going to look at the Dixietron to see what Joe and his wife look like.
And its a picture of two pigs mating. Next up is a picture of Joes wife giving birth and its a video of a pig nursing its babies. Here comes Joe and Pope bails. Uh, whats stopping Joe from going after him? Joe grabs the mic and says that for a man that is always pimping, he always runs like a little bitch. At some point in the future, Joe is coming after him and Joes Gonna Kill You.
RVD and Anderson storm the Immortal locker room and find Beer Money. I didnt see the previously mentioned weapons with them but whatever. The door closes and sound effects imply a big old beatdown. Anderson and RVD walk out and say thats two down and now theyre looking for the Hardys. Van Dam does have his chair with him as they leave so Id assume he had it when he goes in.
Back with Eric, Flair and AJ talking about how to get the title off Anderson. AJ wants to be able to soften him up but Flair says no because he needs to heal. They walk into the locker room and find Beer Money down and Flair says Jesus a lot. If they want a war theyve got one.
We recap Jarrett vs. Angle which is one of the longest running feuds in company history. And its still just a tease as Jarrett and Karen talk about how on Sunday Angle took it too far so tonight Jarrett is going to hang up his MMA boots.
Angle says that he and his ex have some catching up to do.
Here comes Jeff for his retirement party. If nothing else we can look at Karen. Maybe we cant actually as Jarrett comes out with the security dudes. Has he always had that mustache? A guy in an Elmo shirt yells at Jarrett. No idea why but that made me laugh. He says that no one has come close to defeating him in an MMA fight and hes certainly never lost.
At Genesis he could have injured Kurt but he didnt. He has nothing left to prove in MMA so hes done. Behind every great warrior theres a great woman so heres Karen. Instead we get Kurt so Jarrett sends out the security dudes again. They work about as well as an umbrella in a hurricane so Angle storms the ring. After hitting Germans on Gunner and Murphy he corners Jarrett but heres Karen with a mic of her own.
The distraction lets Jarrett get away. In a voice that could make Vickie Guerrero jealous, she talks about how Kurt has played games with their personal lives and hes not going to steal their happiness anymore. Next week shes going to tell her side of the story. Uh, why not say it now? You have a mic, you have him in front of you and your husband right next to you. Whats stopping you honey? Whatever as we go to another break.
Back with Angle cursing up a storm and breaking a lot of stuff.
Holy crap its a wrestling match!
Knockouts Tag Titles: Tara/Madison Rayne vs. Winter/Angelina Love
Is there any reason to have these belts anymore? We barely have enough girls for a singles title let alone tag belts. Before the champions come to the ring Velvet rants about Winter and for some reason is surprised that shes here for the title defense. After the referee holds up the titles for a very long time were ready to go. Angelina vs. Madison to start. Angelina gets two rollups to start and dominates this part of the match.
Madison has that glove on her hand which is apparently loaded. Off to Tara for some double teaming. After about a minute and a half heres Mickie to pull Madison out and drill Tara as well. Mickie tries to get the glove off Madison and chases her out of the arena. Bicycle Kick to Tara takes her down and Winter adds a double axe from the top. She snaps and gets a choke on Tara for the submission/pass out at 3:00. No rating as probably half of this was Mickies involvement.
The Hardys, from behind a cage no less, say that the business is all about making money and theyre blood, rather than a thief and a wrestler paired together.
Matt Morgan vs. Abyss
Non-title of course because you dont want to have the TV Title defended on TV right? Morgan charges right ahead and beats on Abyss for about a minute but cant hit the Carbon Footprint due to a distraction for Flair. A corner charge by the champion eats elbow but he gets a clothesline to Morgan to keep control. He takes too long on another charge though and gets caught by a Discus Lariat. Chokeslam by Abyss is blocked and the Carbon Footprint hits. Flair tries to save but cant stop the count and Morgan gets the pin at 3:20.
Post match Flair goes after Morgan but gets caught. Terry comes down and its a 3-1 beatdown.
After a break Abyss is in the back and someone (might have been Tommy Mercer/Reds brother) jumps Abyss and says that on February 3rd theyre coming for every member of Immortal. He chokes Abyss out and leaves him laying.
Tenay and Tazz confirm that it was him and his name is apparently Crimson.
Abyss goes into the locker room to talk to Eric but hes talking to the Hardys so it has to be later. Eric says that everything goes down on February 3rd. After the Hardys leave Abyss tells them what happed. Eric and Flair say hes having a flashback because Immortal is already here.
Hardys vs. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson
Its 10:38 when the entrances start so theres a lot of time for this. Back and the non-brothers go straight for the Hardys in the aisle. Oddly enough RVD goes after Matt. We get the bell and its on with a big brawl. We get it down to an actual match with RVD vs. Matt. I cant say Hardy anymore which is taking some getting used to. Matt hammers away in the corner as the bare arms look isnt working for him at all.
Tenay tells us that Matt is officially in Immortal which I think was pretty clear but its nice to have it be made official. Jeff and Anderson in now and Jeff reopens the wound on Andersons head. Tenay suggest that if the Hardys had stayed together they might be recognized as the best tag team ever. They werent even the best team in the company back in the day.
Matt goes up and misses a moonsault. In a related story, Floridas ground has been pushed into the ground by 9 feet. We take a break after RVD dives on the Hardys on the floor. Back with RVD hammering on Matt. After some Jeff interference a Side Effect gets two. Off to Anderson vs. Jeff again and theres the Mic Check with ease. Matt saves but it was kind of odd to see him hit it that easily.
Matt sets for the Twist but Anderson fights out of it. Down goes the referee and Matt gets a Mic Check of his own. Instead they just beat down the Hardys but Beer Money comes out to uneven the odds. After the big beating from Beer Money the Twist and Swanton pin Anderson at 13:50. Great way to treat your world champion in his first match as champion.
Immortal hits the ring to beat the guys down and stand tall as the show ends.
Results
Beer Money b. Motor City Machineguns DWI to Shelley
Angelina Love/Winter b. Tara/Madison Rayne Winter choked Tara out
Matt Morgan b. Abyss Carbon Footprint
The Hardys b. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson Swanton Bomb to Anderson
Smackdown got a 1.9, its highest rating on Syfy. Good because it was a great show.
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 10, 2011
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
We've reached the time period leading up to the Rumble and have the world title set. Tonight we'll likely see more about Miz vs. Orton and the beginning of the build to the Rumble itself which is in just under three weeks. This time is usually about establishing dominance for the Rumble and possibly qualifying matches. Also we might see the next steps for the now CM Punk led Nexus. Oh and Cena might be back tonight. Let's get to it.
Theme song opens us proper.
Tonight we find out the first entrant into the 2011 Hall of Fame and Cena will address the WWE Universe.
Santino and Kozlov are here to defend the titles but Nexus and Punk hit the ring to destroy them. Punk says that the title match is postponed. Nexus is now stronger than ever and al five of them can shine. Punk reminds us that Cena addresses the Universe tonight, but the days of Hustle, Loyalty and Respect are over. There will be an initiation tonight for all members of the group including the leader.
Otunga says thats cool, speaking for everyone. First up is McGillicuttys initiation. Hes beaten down everyone, including the Chairman of the Board. The crowd chants Cena. Punk: Yes, hes beaten down Cena too. Michaels initiation is to receive a Nexus beatdown and Harris has to start it off. He wont do it but Otunga will. Slater and Harris add their finishers. 450 and GTS end McGillicutty but hes officially initiated. They carry him off with him almost in a cross shape as we take a break.
R-Truth vs. Alberto Del Rio
I saw this match on Saturday night at a house show and got a good match out of it so this should be entertaining. On the way to the ring we hear more about the Hall of Fame entrant who Lawler says may be the best of all time. Im intrigued now. Del Rio hits a Backstabber which would be a good move for him to pick up actually. Truth gets a clothesline to the floor and actually hits the floor first with a thud. They slug it out on the floor but Rodriguez distracts Truth and its a countout at 1:50. Rodriguez shouting WHATS UP over and over was rather funny. No rating of course.
Alberto says that that was another victory but you already know that. He makes fun of American music including hip hop, Justin Bieber and worst of all, country music. Remember that were in Nashville here. He says that hell show us music in the form of Mariachi. Its going to be Ricardo singing though as he belts out La Cucaracha, which is the Mexican national anthem according to Roddy Piper. This was uh yeah.
Cena is next.
Morrison vs. Sheamus tonight also.
And never mind on the Cena thing as the rewind is of Miz jumping Lawler. Lawler says Miz is a coward while Cole says he should just apologize to Miz. We get an E-Mail saying that the GM supports Cole, even though hes a jerk, self-centered and various other insults. Apparently hes just kidding and Cole is awesome and various other nice things. Cole Miners are great too.
Lawler says hold it and that the WWE Universe has spoken and theyre sick of Cole and that Cole is a coward. According to Cole if Lawler touches him hes fired. Lawler slams the laptop and we get another E-Mail. It still works! The GM says that Cole and Lawler arent cowards. Tonight its Miz/Riley vs. Lawler/Orton.
Off to Punk in the back and its Harris turn for initiation, if he accepts it that is. Punk has a strap in his hand and every member is going to give him three lashes. Husky accepts and takes the position. Punk says take the shirt off and Harris is fine with it. Otunga drills him as does Gabriel. Those are some LOUD shots so if theyre being faked theyre incredibly impressive. Harris starts to fall after Slaters shots so Punk says get him up. Punk goes off on him, laying in probably 8 or 9 shots as we go to break. I guess Harris is initiated as well.
Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd
Ive always been a fan of throwing together two feuds into a tag match like this. Tomorrow night on NXT there will be a double date with Derrick Bateman (Bryans NXT rookie) and Bryan with the Bellas. Bryan fires away with kicks in the corner to DiBiase but nefarious double teaming gives Ted control. The following clothesline doesnt work though and Kidd and Henry both come in. Henry destroys everything in sight and the Worlds Strongest Slam ends Kidd in 2:40. No rating again for these short matches.
Big Show is here.
Back with a recap of Novak being eliminated, thank goodness.
Show wants to talk about Barrett, who already got knocked out of Nexus and hes going to get knocked out on Friday as well. Second up is the Rumble which hes serious about winning. Cue Nexus, now four strong with Punk, Gabriel, Otunga and Slater. Apparently this is Otungas initiation as he walks to the ring alone. Otunga slaps Show and I think you can figure out what the result of that is.
Otunga is thrown over the table and destroys Coles chair. Big slap to his stomach and a slam with a thud on the floor. Show shouts that he isnt someone to play with. David goes into the steps and then back into the ring. The fans chant KNOCK HIM OUT. Theyll settle for a chokeslam instead I guess. Actually Show isnt done yet and Otunga takes the punch while hes being held up by Show. The other three Nexus members salute Otunga.
Cena is still happening later tonight.
Morrison vs. Sheamus next.
John Morrison vs. Sheamus
This should be good and also interesting in that we might get to see if Morrison has lost momentum after last weeks loss and if so how much. Morrison is now the Prince of Parkour. We get a highlight package of the WWE Title match last week which makes Morrison look like a star. They keep teasing the Hall of Fame inductee and how great he is, which makes me think Shawn.
Sheamus gets a headlock to start. He hammers away on Morrison who is still a bit hurt from the brutal match last week. John fights back but takes a big running elbow to the face to end that. Rollup gets two for Morrison but he cant get a backslide. Here comes Johnny Boy with a leg lariat to take over. Sheamus ends that quickly and goes for the knee. Morrisons response is to kick Sheamus in the head. Why do something too complex I suppose.
Morrison sets for Starship Pain but gets shoved off the top as we take a break. Back with Sheamus holding a loose Crossface Chickenwing. We get a replay of Morrison crashing to the floor before the break which sounded great. The impacts on the floor tonight have all sounded good. Morrison may have a bad arm now. Sheamus gets a powerslam for two.
Back to a modified Chickenwing but Morrison fights back. Flash Kick misses but Sheamus charges and lands on the floor. Pescado eats knee though as Sheamus counters. These two have great chemistry together and this is another fine example of it. Front suplex onto the stairs has Morrison reeling. Back into the ring and Sheamus sets for the Brogue Kick but Morrison kind of falls down instead.
Sheamus changes his mind and puts Morrison on the top. Morrison fights him off and drops Sheamus head first onto the post. The running knee to the head ENDS Sheamus clean at 12:06. So much for the push being dead Id certainly think. That knee looked sick as hell too.
We recap the Nexus initiations tonight before we go to the back. Punk is holding a pair of kendo sticks before Slater and Gabriel. Hes not going to beat them with the sticks but rather the two of them are going to beat each other until Punk tells them to stop. Punks manipulation here is awesome. They stare each other down but cant bring themselves to do it.
Punk says if youre not in then youre out so you better swing for the fences. Slater still cant do it and neither can Gabriel. Punk says do it but they look at Punk instead. He says go ahead and closes his eyes, saying good. The former champions cant do that either and throw the sticks down before leaving. Punk has a half mad half happy look on his face.
The Hall of Fame inductee is next. Im really curious about this now.
Back with Lawler in the ring to announce the first member of the Hall of Fame. He talks about how important it is to get into the Hall of Fame and how this inductee has earned the respect of the fans. And its ..SHAWN MICHAELS! After a nice video about him, SHAWN IS HERE! He gets a mic and the fans chant one more match and heres Alberto before Shawn can say anything.
The fans chant HBK as Del Rio more or less says that Shawn is old news. The people cheer him now apparently. Alberto again says that hes going to win the Rumble and then a world title and then will be the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Theres a running theme with music tonight with Alberto. Earlier tonight he talked about country music, and here he experiences some Sweet Chin Music. Shawn poses but never said a word. He steals the scarf and leaves. That kick was great.
Back with Miz and Riley getting ready. Riley is all fired up but Miz keeps looking down at the belt. Hes upset because people are talking about Orton and not him. Riley tries to calm him down but Miz says it doesnt matter until after the match tonight.
Its Cena time but Cole wants to talk first. Punk, on the top of the damn Titantron no less, talks about the initiations tonight. This is his initiation though and he implies hes going to jump. Josh is on commentary now. His sacrifice is the ultimate one and he hopes that through it hell prove that not only was he a member of Nexus but that he was their leader as well. The visual on this from a long shot is great.
He asks the fans if he should dive off the tron. Wow hes not beating around the bush with innuendo at all. He asks if he should injure himself and then holds his arms up like a cross. He has one more question first though: how gullible are all these people? He has a harness on and has two spotters. This was the initiation for the fans, as hes not jumping of course. This was way more intense than it sounds.
The three initiated members come down, looking like hell. Punk comes down to the ring and says if anyone believed he was going to jump off the tron they were stupid. He has a harness on as he showed us earlier. Anyone that would dive like he threatened to is mentally challenged but hes mentally superior. Punk says he doesnt need an initiation as hes the leader of the new Nexus.
Punk says Cena isnt here because he got rid of him. Cue Cena on the screen and not in the arena. He goes through a list of insults about Punk and says that hes wasting everyones time. Cena wants to know what the point of the initiations was because he already beat them all up. He wants a piece of Punk and wants it next week. Punk says its on. Cena says everything Punk has said is true but next week he gets dealt with and gets all serious. He can turn it on at the drop of a hat like few others. Next week isnt about t-shirts or armbands but about Cena kicking Punks ass. Great segment but no way thats the blowoff.
The Miz/Alex Riley vs. Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton
Cole is in his element here as he says Miz belongs in the Hall of Fame already and that Lawler has to steal the spotlight again. It seems that theyre trying to shift Matthews into Lawlers spot by having Lawler in the ring more often which is fine. Riley vs. Lawler to start us off. Lawler goes off on Riley and beats up Miz on the floor, sending him into the steps.
Off to Orton who half kills both Riley and Miz. He gives Miz some hard stomps including one to the face. Back to Lawler now who gets run over by Miz. The corner clothesline hits .and we take a break at 11:04. Wow indeed. During the break it occurs to me that there are only four matches tonight. Thats low by Raw standards but even still its been good so I can accept that.
Back with Riley holding onto Lawler. Lawler ducks out of the way though and Riley hits the post. Orton gets the tag but Miz has the referee. Oh darn the luck. Miz sets for the Finale but Orton comes in with an RKO. Cole freaks out, shouting NO NOT AGAIN! Riley saves though but its hot tag to Orton. He takes over on Riley with all of his old favorites. Elevated DDT has Riley mostly dead.
Miz teases coming in to take down Orton but gets stared down. Riley tries to sneak up on Orton but Orton is all like oh no you didnt and kills him with the RKO. Off to Lawler who hits the strap down punch off the middle rope for the pin as Orton stares down Miz even more at 11:35.
Results
Alberto Del Rio b. R-Truth via Count Out
Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry b. Ted DiBiase/Tyson Kidd Worlds Strongest Slam to Kidd
John Morrison b. Sheamus Running knee to the head
Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton b. The Miz/Alex Riley Middle Rope Punch to Riley
Tuesday
Stevie Richards has quit TNA. I forgot he was there actually.
Raw got a 3.1, which is saying a lot considering the BCS Title Game got the highest rating in the history of cable. Thats not bad at all, especially considering they went up by 100,000 viewers.
NXT
Date: January 11, 2011
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Todd Grisham
Its the week between eliminations so this is likely going to be a contest heavy show. Novak is gone thank goodness, lowering the level of suck on this show dramatically. Tonights special feature is Daniel Bryan and Derrick Bateman on a double date with the Bella Twins. That should be .uh .interesting. Lets get to it.
We open with a recap of the trade with Saxton and Novak which is a good thing since Novak and Ziggler didnt work at all.
Theme song hits, get your reinforcements. Just not the Rat Boy as he sucks.
Theres another elimination next week according to Striker. Its challenge time which is worth two points. This is the slingshot challenge. The pros in the ring are going to use a slingshot to launch t-shirts to the rookies on the stage, most caught and dropped into a bucket wins. Truth and Curtis go first and Truth launches them way too high so there are none caught.
Ziggler and Saxton are second and Ziggler also launches them way too high. Ah theres one. Saxton has a Best Buy themed shirt going on this week. Its just one which is the mark somehow.
Third is Bryan and Bateman. Bryan bounces them off the Titantron for some reason. They have to be caught in the air which makes this a bit more competitive and also a bit more idiotic. Bateman gets one and cant get the second in time. Ok maybe he does. Yeah that gives him the lead with two.
Clay is up next and Maryse is shooting. And the shirt fell, almost like going limp. That cant be something that happens often with her. Ted takes over and cant get anything either. Its a total of zero.
Finally is Rat Boy and Del Rio who has heat on him now, drawing a boo for his name. They get one and then catch a second at the buzzer but it wasnt in the bucket so Bateman wins with two, gaining two points.
Ricardo is on the phone in the back and we have subtitles for no apparent reason. He says hes responding to an ad, saying he has a problem with a huge rat that stinks. Oh dear. Why are we giving this guy an angle on top of everything else?
Conor OBrian vs. Byron Saxton
Bit of a feeling out process to start here as it occurs to me that I dont remember a single one of OBrian matches. Saxton gets a forearm in the corner to take over. I like how they have the pros up on the apron like partners here. It adds on the teamwork thing instead of having them be like managers. Since theyre getting a tag title shot in the future that fits pretty well.
Chinlock by Saxton as he keeps him dominance going. Bulldog gets two and back to the rest hold. Conor tries to fight up but gets a knee to his back. This is kind of hit and miss to say the least. Saxton gets a clothesline for two which Ziggler thought would be three. Hes certainly into these matches and does well with what he does. ANOTHER rest hold by Saxton as Conor has had very little going for him here. Mat slam out of the corner gets two again for Saxton. And never mind as theres a Rock Bottom for the pin for OBrian at 6:25.
Ricardo has to announce him as the winner and certainly isnt thrilled with it, hence the rat problem.
We get a clip from last night after Raw with Bateman and Bryan getting ready. Bateman has American flag pants on and goes on about submission wrestling again. He likes to speak in initials and abbreviations for some reason. Bateman thinks the Bellas are both wildebeests for some reason. Both guys have sunflowers for the girls which Bateman is a bit confused about.
Should be noted that until now I had a phone call and was trying to do that and review at the same time. God bless headphones.
Its time for another challenge, in this case Superstar Password. Its an old game show with the idea being that one person has the password and has to give clues to the other guy to win. The rookie has to give the clues and its the most in a set amount of time.
Curtis and Truth go first. You cant say the name or a nickname I guess. There isnt much to say here. They get two right.
Saxton and Ziggler go second and Saxton is still breathing hard from his match. They also get two.
Bateman messes up and says Kane to start. Then he starts flying through them with basic clues like youre supposed to play this game and they get three. We even get a Lanny Poffo reference.
Clay and DiBiase are next and Maryse keeps guessing designers. DiBiase is really bad at this while Clay gives good clues. Clay: Bigger than me, bald, in a movie, doesnt like Kane. DiBiase; John Cena? He FINALLY gets Big Show and thats it.
Conor and Alberto are fourth and Rat Boy messes up and wastes time. OBrian wants to talk about how great Del Rio is. Bateman wins. This could have been great but they made it REALLY stupid. Bateman was the only guy that did this with any kind of intelligence.
Same Shawn video from last night. He certainly deserves it.
Ah ok the date was last night and were getting clips of it. Ok that makes sense. It also explains why they were in dresses at ringside. Theyre at dinner here and Bateman has his foot on the table. Bateman: Brie, did you know that you share your name with my second type of cheese? The girls argue over text messages or something and Bateman texts Bryan pickup lines.
This looks like the smallest restaurant ever by the way. Bateman FREAKS because something got on his pants so he turns the table over, throws a bag of change at Bryan and leaves. Bryan for some reason goes after him and leaves the girls. This was odd to put it mildly but Id be lying if I said Bateman wasnt kind of funny. Good segment overall.
Ted DiBiase vs. Johnny Curtis
Back and Matthews goes off about the date while pointing out very basic issues with it (why were they eating off paper plates?) and somehow were talking about college football. Crowd is dead for the match by the way. Kind of a standoff to start us off here. They keep fighting over a lockup as Matthews is turning into the Cole of this season. BIG backdrop by Curtis gives him momentum.
Semi-snap suplex by Curtis. Slingshot legdrop misses though as we take a break. Back with DiBiase holding a chinlock on Curtis. The following clothesline takes down Curtis as we talk about whos leaving next week. The general consensus seems to be OBrian and I cant say I disagree. All DiBiase here as he hammers away.
Total dominance by DiBiase who hooks on another chinlock. Big sitout spinebuster breaks any momentum that Curtis might have been trying to build up there. Running knee lift misses though and here comes Curtis. Another following clothesline is almost countered into a backslide. Curtis gets two off a mat slam. With Maryse distracting, Clay gets a big forearm to Curtis. Truth takes Clay out and Curtis pins DiBiase with a rollup at 9:30 to end the show.
Results
Derrick Bateman won the Slingshot Challenge
Conor OBrian b. Byron Saxton Rock Bottom
Derrick Bateman won Superstar Password
Johnny Curtis b. Ted DiBiase Rollup
Wednesday
The big story today is that allegedly Impact will be taken on the road in February. If so then thats a big deal and itll be interesting to see if they draw fans outside of Orlando. Apparently itll be in North Carolina.
Thursday
The X-Division may be abolished. That isnt a bad thing at all really which Ive explained already.
Impact
Date: January 13, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: The One That Got Away
It's the first Impact after Genesis and things are looking a bit different. Mr. Anderson is the new world champion following an unannounced title match and title switch at Genesis which I'll spare you my thoughts on because I'll yet again be told I don't get it or I'm an idiot or I don't like the company or some other short sighted answer like that. Anyway, also at Genesis we saw the debut of Matt Hardy which already is forming our main event tonight. It should be interesting to see where TNA goes from here so let's get to it.
The opening video is of Genesis from Sunday. Featured are Angle vs. Jarrett and the announcement of the retirement party plus the whole world title scenario. Anderson is considering giving Morgan the first title shot but isnt sure. Also he hates the look of the belt.
Jarrett and Karen got here earlier today.
Heres Anderson who says that hes worked forever to attain his dream. He was hired over there and was the next world champion. Anderson beat ten world champions but a little birdy (said in a HHH voice) got into the boss (Vince) head and said that he isnt ready for it. After being told everything he couldnt do over there, he got a call from Eric Bischoff.
Eric, Hogan, Dixie and Russo told him he could be himself and now hes the asshole that he is today. This asshole just became the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He could have done it without the fans but hell thank them anyway. The other asshole that he has to thank is Matt Morgan so could he please come out here.
Morgan comes out and Anderson thanks him. Morgan says that the only reason Anderson has that title around his waist (Anderson: Its not around my waist.) is because Morgan let himself down. All Matt is thinking about is how to get the title and his next shot. 2011 is the year of the Blueprint and hes coming for the title. Hes being serious but civil/respectful here. Anderson earned it and Morgans hat is off to him. Morgan shakes his head and leaves.
Before we can go to a break heres Bischoff. He wants to know who Anderson thinks he is. The only thing he accomplished is putting a bulls-eye on his back. Eric says mark his calendar for February 3rd, 2011 (my birthday) that on Impact Hardy is getting his rematch and Hogan will be back.
Anderson gets in Erics face and Hardy pops up on the screen and says that in three weeks he gets his title back. RVD jumps Hardy but the other Hardy makes the save. Anderson runs off to make the save for RVD and luckily the interview area is right behind the curtain. The rest of Immortal comes in to beat down Anderson and RVD. The guys being laid out takes us to our first break.
Back and the main event is announced of Hardys vs. Anderson/RVD. Cant argue with the logic there.
We see Karen and Jeff Jarrett going into Immortals locker room and closing the door.
Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Motor City Machineguns
Oh look: its this match again. I get that its a good pairing, but can we PLEASE get a fresh team in there? This TNAs tag division is awesome theory is bogus. Before they go to the Guns say to expect a good match. The Guns hit the ring and its on early. Tonight is the first of four weeks of Genesis rematches. Well of course. I mean its not like its supposed to mean anything to buy the PPV right? Why buy it when you can just see the big matches over the next month? What a great way to get fans to buy future shows!
After a big beatdown by the Guns a trip up of Shelley gives Beer Money control and we get down to a traditional match. Its my first night watching the show in HD and it makes the ring look much smaller. Off to a chinlock by Storm on Sabin. Double tag brings in Shelley and a double stomp gets two on Roode who Tazz thinks is Storm for some reason.
Here comes the double teaming by the Guns which is fun to watch as usual. Skull and Bones hit Roode. Storm is busted open. Elevated DDT a la Orton takes down Sabin. Shelley sets for a superplex but Storm pulls him down into the Eye of the Storm. Shelley counters but gets caught in what looked like a TKO and a splash from Roode for two. DWI cant hit and here comes Sabin. The Guns hit a combination downward spiral/missile dropkick but Shelly accidently kicks Sabin on the ASCS Rush and DWI ends Shelley at 7:50.
Jarrett is nervous about something after coming out of Immortals locker room.
Kurt gets here.
Back and RVD and Anderson arent happy about getting beaten down and say they need to take the fight to them. Anderson has the same blood on his head that he had in the promo from after the PPV. Did he not take a shower since then? They grab some weapons which are a chair for RVD and what looked like a big board for Anderson.
Pope is here and the money is able to rain down from the ceiling again. His hair looks kind of different and I think its braided now or something. He talks about how Joe has been following him around and he hasnt done anything wrong. Pope says hes a Pope that the people can look up to. He forgives Joe but wants to know what would happen if the roles were reversed and Pope was following Joe. Well apparently he did just that and were going to look at the Dixietron to see what Joe and his wife look like.
And its a picture of two pigs mating. Next up is a picture of Joes wife giving birth and its a video of a pig nursing its babies. Here comes Joe and Pope bails. Uh, whats stopping Joe from going after him? Joe grabs the mic and says that for a man that is always pimping, he always runs like a little bitch. At some point in the future, Joe is coming after him and Joes Gonna Kill You.
RVD and Anderson storm the Immortal locker room and find Beer Money. I didnt see the previously mentioned weapons with them but whatever. The door closes and sound effects imply a big old beatdown. Anderson and RVD walk out and say thats two down and now theyre looking for the Hardys. Van Dam does have his chair with him as they leave so Id assume he had it when he goes in.
Back with Eric, Flair and AJ talking about how to get the title off Anderson. AJ wants to be able to soften him up but Flair says no because he needs to heal. They walk into the locker room and find Beer Money down and Flair says Jesus a lot. If they want a war theyve got one.
We recap Jarrett vs. Angle which is one of the longest running feuds in company history. And its still just a tease as Jarrett and Karen talk about how on Sunday Angle took it too far so tonight Jarrett is going to hang up his MMA boots.
Angle says that he and his ex have some catching up to do.
Here comes Jeff for his retirement party. If nothing else we can look at Karen. Maybe we cant actually as Jarrett comes out with the security dudes. Has he always had that mustache? A guy in an Elmo shirt yells at Jarrett. No idea why but that made me laugh. He says that no one has come close to defeating him in an MMA fight and hes certainly never lost.
At Genesis he could have injured Kurt but he didnt. He has nothing left to prove in MMA so hes done. Behind every great warrior theres a great woman so heres Karen. Instead we get Kurt so Jarrett sends out the security dudes again. They work about as well as an umbrella in a hurricane so Angle storms the ring. After hitting Germans on Gunner and Murphy he corners Jarrett but heres Karen with a mic of her own.
The distraction lets Jarrett get away. In a voice that could make Vickie Guerrero jealous, she talks about how Kurt has played games with their personal lives and hes not going to steal their happiness anymore. Next week shes going to tell her side of the story. Uh, why not say it now? You have a mic, you have him in front of you and your husband right next to you. Whats stopping you honey? Whatever as we go to another break.
Back with Angle cursing up a storm and breaking a lot of stuff.
Holy crap its a wrestling match!
Knockouts Tag Titles: Tara/Madison Rayne vs. Winter/Angelina Love
Is there any reason to have these belts anymore? We barely have enough girls for a singles title let alone tag belts. Before the champions come to the ring Velvet rants about Winter and for some reason is surprised that shes here for the title defense. After the referee holds up the titles for a very long time were ready to go. Angelina vs. Madison to start. Angelina gets two rollups to start and dominates this part of the match.
Madison has that glove on her hand which is apparently loaded. Off to Tara for some double teaming. After about a minute and a half heres Mickie to pull Madison out and drill Tara as well. Mickie tries to get the glove off Madison and chases her out of the arena. Bicycle Kick to Tara takes her down and Winter adds a double axe from the top. She snaps and gets a choke on Tara for the submission/pass out at 3:00. No rating as probably half of this was Mickies involvement.
The Hardys, from behind a cage no less, say that the business is all about making money and theyre blood, rather than a thief and a wrestler paired together.
Matt Morgan vs. Abyss
Non-title of course because you dont want to have the TV Title defended on TV right? Morgan charges right ahead and beats on Abyss for about a minute but cant hit the Carbon Footprint due to a distraction for Flair. A corner charge by the champion eats elbow but he gets a clothesline to Morgan to keep control. He takes too long on another charge though and gets caught by a Discus Lariat. Chokeslam by Abyss is blocked and the Carbon Footprint hits. Flair tries to save but cant stop the count and Morgan gets the pin at 3:20.
Post match Flair goes after Morgan but gets caught. Terry comes down and its a 3-1 beatdown.
After a break Abyss is in the back and someone (might have been Tommy Mercer/Reds brother) jumps Abyss and says that on February 3rd theyre coming for every member of Immortal. He chokes Abyss out and leaves him laying.
Tenay and Tazz confirm that it was him and his name is apparently Crimson.
Abyss goes into the locker room to talk to Eric but hes talking to the Hardys so it has to be later. Eric says that everything goes down on February 3rd. After the Hardys leave Abyss tells them what happed. Eric and Flair say hes having a flashback because Immortal is already here.
Hardys vs. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson
Its 10:38 when the entrances start so theres a lot of time for this. Back and the non-brothers go straight for the Hardys in the aisle. Oddly enough RVD goes after Matt. We get the bell and its on with a big brawl. We get it down to an actual match with RVD vs. Matt. I cant say Hardy anymore which is taking some getting used to. Matt hammers away in the corner as the bare arms look isnt working for him at all.
Tenay tells us that Matt is officially in Immortal which I think was pretty clear but its nice to have it be made official. Jeff and Anderson in now and Jeff reopens the wound on Andersons head. Tenay suggest that if the Hardys had stayed together they might be recognized as the best tag team ever. They werent even the best team in the company back in the day.
Matt goes up and misses a moonsault. In a related story, Floridas ground has been pushed into the ground by 9 feet. We take a break after RVD dives on the Hardys on the floor. Back with RVD hammering on Matt. After some Jeff interference a Side Effect gets two. Off to Anderson vs. Jeff again and theres the Mic Check with ease. Matt saves but it was kind of odd to see him hit it that easily.
Matt sets for the Twist but Anderson fights out of it. Down goes the referee and Matt gets a Mic Check of his own. Instead they just beat down the Hardys but Beer Money comes out to uneven the odds. After the big beating from Beer Money the Twist and Swanton pin Anderson at 13:50. Great way to treat your world champion in his first match as champion.
Immortal hits the ring to beat the guys down and stand tall as the show ends.
Results
Beer Money b. Motor City Machineguns DWI to Shelley
Angelina Love/Winter b. Tara/Madison Rayne Winter choked Tara out
Matt Morgan b. Abyss Carbon Footprint
The Hardys b. Rob Van Dam/Mr. Anderson Swanton Bomb to Anderson