klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Monday
Smackdown got a 2.0, which is their highest rating in a very long time.
Monday Night Raw
Date: August 1, 2011
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indianapolis
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
Tonight we continue the road to Summerslam with the first public statement from the champ (I think) CM Punk. HHH is still in charge and in theory JR will he here as well. We'll probably start the building to the PPV as there are only two Raws left before the show, which has really snuck up on us. Let's get to it.
We open with a recap of what got us to have two champions. I still don't see why Vince didn't strip Punk of the title as MITB went off the air or book him in a champion can lose the title by countout match with anyone he could find.
Here's Punk, still with the new song, to open the show. He holds up the belt to a solid reaction and declares that THE CHAMP IS HERE. He has a story to tell us. Punk says he knew for about a year that his contract was going to be up. He loves working in WWE but not the bosses. He spoke his mind and we managed to get some change out of it. Vince has been relieved of his duties and that's change.
Punk takes some credit but the fans are to be thanked also. Punk is here to make this fun again but he couldn't do that from his couch in Chicago. He made the call to come back and the timing couldn't be better. Cena may have a belt but what Punk has is a championship title. This title means that he's the best wrestler in the world.
Cue HHH who says he brought back Punk because it was good for business. That's why he brought back JR and Morrison (again, when was he actually gone other than to injury?): business. Personally though, HHH thinks Punk is smug, overrated and believes his own hype too much. Punk says it's like looking in a mirror.
The champion talks about how Vince has let guys go that are main event level talent: guys like Batista, Foley, Jericho and Lesnar. HHH says if you want to tell the truth, why not do it about why you re-signed? Punk isn't sure about this but HHH says it's because he wanted to hear his own voice. Punk has called the microphone a pipe bomb, but what happens if no one is around to hear a pipe bomb? He needs the WWE Universe for the platform.
Punk calls that a 50/50 shot, but the truth is that he's the WWE Champion. HHH says that's true but so is Cena. HHH says he'll fix that tonight and his music plays him out. Punk says cut the music, even though he loves Motorhead. He says he's just getting warmed up. Punk isn't going to shut up just because he signed a contract. If Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Punk's words) wants to talk about egos, let's talk about HHH's.
We get references to HHH using his power backstage that he got from sleeping with the boss' daughter and how he held everyone down. That's true to a degree but that's a big debate for later. HHH says because he's the boss, he can't break certain rules, even though he wants to take Punk's head off. Can you do that, or do you need to go ask your wife first? Punk leaves HHH who is kind of smiling.
Rey has a tag match later and Morrison dives over him. They get Miz/Truth later.
Oh great there's a Divas battle royal next.
Divas Battle Royal
Picture every Diva who isn't champion and they're in this. Kelly is on commentary here. They're going out incredibly fast. We're down to Alicia, Beth, Natalya, Eve and the Bellas. Scratch Nattie from that. This match actually takes a break. Really? Back with more boring Divas action. Alicia is out. There's nothing to talk about here because they're just trying to put each other out. Even looks good in pink though. Eve is out and landed pretty badly. Beth puts both Bellas out (one on each shoulder) to win at 7:18.
Post match Kelly goes in to hug her like an idiot and Beth turns heel and kills her, thank goodness.
Truth comes up to Miz and says they're a lot alike. Miz disagrees so Truth says that having two WWE champions is bad. It's horrible. It's.....A conspiracy? Miz doesn't like this and tells Truth to leave. Truth wants to know why HHH had them in a tournament if he was just going to bring back Punk. I guess we're ignoring Vince making that tournament now.
Cena says his focus tonight is HHH because there are two WWE Champions. The decision is tonight so Cena will be there for it.
The Miz/R-Truth vs. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio
Miz vs. Morrison starts us off. John keeps going after Truth which lets Miz get a shot in. Suplex gets two. Nice leg sweep puts Miz down and it's off to Rey. Seated Senton off the top gets two. Miz is sent to the floor as is truth. Rey hits a seated senton off the apron to take Truth down and John dives over the top with a corkscrew dive to mostly hit Miz and we take a break.
Back with Truth holding Rey in a camel clutch. During the break the evildoers actually didn't cheat to take over. Nice to see for a change. Truth continues his old school offense with an abdominal stretch. Rey fires off but it's off to Miz who gets a seated boot for two and we hit the chinlock. Enziguri puts Miz down but he keeps the tag from being made. Back to the chinlock, this time by Truth.
Big spinning forearm gets two on Mysterio. Rey dives again for the ropes but Miz makes the save again. Nice little story there for the match. Miz hits his corner clothesline but goes up and dives into a dropkick. There's the hot tag to Morrison who gets a solid pop. See what happens when you build something up?
He cleans house and hits the C4 to Truth for two. He loads up Starship Pain but Miz pulls Truth out of the way. Back inside an axe kick misses and a Pele kick sends Truth into the 619 position. Miz makes the save and sends him into the crowd. Moonlight Drive hits Miz but Morrison walks into that jumping downward spiral for the pin at 11:03.
Post match Truth hits Morrison with a bottle of water and Morrison takes the Finale.
HHH says nothing of note.
Summerslam Recall is Warrior taking the title from Honky in probably the best Summerslam moment for the vast majority of the series.
Here are Dolph and Vickie. I'm still not sure on the song. Vickie says her catchphrase a lot and wants to know why Dolph hasn't been getting enough attention. Dolph says he's more of a man than anyone in the arena and anyone in the back. Cue.....Alex Riley? I think I can work with this. Riley wants to know when Ziggler is going to accomplish something without Vickie. Dolph has Vickie step aside....and leaves.
Santino Marella/Zack Ryder vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty
This is non-title and the Nexus name has been dropped it seems. King mentioned Ryder's show before the breaHe gets the hot tag to a ROAR but gets beaten down after a brief flurry. Santino is sent to the floor and Ryder misses the Rough Ryder. He gets caught in something like a Demolition Decapitator at 2:22. This was fine.
We get some of the earlier exchange between the Game and Punk.
Punk says he's the champ.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Evan Bourne
Bourne runs into a boot to start and the beating begins. Del Rio's arm work is great as the psychology of the match is perfect for him. His finisher is an arm hold so why would he work on anything but the arm? That's basic psychology for you: why would you do something to say Bourne's back if you're going to work on the arm to end it? Bourne makes a brief comeback and the armbreaker ends this at 2:30.
Post match he puts the hold on again and Kofi comes out for the save.
Here's HHH for the big announcement on who should be champion. He's about to say it but John Lauranitis (you try to spell it) comes out and says executive VP and in charge of signing talent. HHH doesn't look happy here. Johnny Ace (see why he got that name?) says Vince would want Cena stripped of the title. That brings out Cena who says that Ace never thinks and is the yes man that Punk was talking about.
Cena says that he's not going to strip the title because it would devalue the title. He talks about how he wants to hit Ace again because that was his favorite part about Money in the Bank. HHH: I don't have any problem with that. Ace leaves and HHH says he's not stripping the title. Punk only came back to WWE when Cena was pinning Rey and said to hit his music. HHH again says he won't strip the title and that brings out the other champion.
Punk doesn't like the idea that HHH is going to strip him of the title which he has a legit claim to also. HHH says that's not what he was going to do and tells them to quit whining. Also to Cena, it's not Hunter. He's Cena's boss. At Summerslam it's the rematch for one undisputed champion. Kind of lackluster the way he said it but it's the only way they can do it.
HHH leaves and they stare each other down. Punk holds up his title and his music plays us out. Scratch that as Cena holds his up and that music plays us off. Punk goes onto the ropes and now HIS song plays. This is kind of awesome. Now Cena does the same but Punk's is the last one heard after it changes like 8 times total.
Results
Beth Phoenix won a Divas Battle Royal
The Miz/R-Truth b. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio What's Up to Morrison
Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga b. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella Middle rope elbow/backbreaker combination to Ryder
Alberto Del Rio b. Evan Bourne Cross Armbreaker
Tuesday
Raw got a 3.3, up from last week.
NXT
Date: August 2, 2011
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: William Regal, Todd Grisham
We're in week twenty-whatever here and there's no sign of this wrapping up anytime soon. They at least have a story going here with the heels teaming up to take out the force of O'Neil, which is a lot better than what we've sat through for the majority of the season so far. More of the same tonight I'd assume. Let's get to it.
This is being written on Wednesday, after I watched the show live last night.
We open with a recap of the last few weeks with O'Neil getting double teamed after dominating for months on end.
Here's Titus minus the leprechaun. He thinks the alliance between the heels is cute. Titus says he's the most dominant rookie ever so he's not worried about Bateman or his family. During this promo Bateman's video started playing but you can't see it on the broadcast. Bateman and Young come out and Bateman points out that he beat O'Neil last week, which Titus agrees to. Young says he's dominated NXT but Titus is in the points lead because he's pandered to the fans.
Striker says that it's not a bad strategy because the fans are 50% of the vote. Young says he doesn't care because he doesn't need the fans or a pro. Bateman says he and Young agree that Titus needs to go. Titus suggests a tag match and the heels agree, if they can pick the partner. Titus says cool, so they pick Striker. He protests, saying he hasn't been in the ring in four years. The pop for this was a lot louder than it appears to be on TV.
JTG vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Vladimir is gangsta here. To be fair he plays it pretty well and the fans laughed at this which is the idea. The tag is on the back of his jeans still. He does a decent JTG impression. Actually he doesn't because Kozlov is kind of amusing and interesting like this which JTG never has been. They stare each other down and do the comedy bit where they mirror each other.
JTG jumps him as Grisham says this should have been at Wrestlemania. Thankfully he's kidding because even he's not that stupid. Kozlov catches him and hits a fallaway slam to put him outside. Back inside and JTG finally gets a boot up in the corner to break the Russian's momentum. We take a break to advertise an old video game (by video game standards 4 months is old right?) and come back with Kozlov getting a kick to the ribs.
That doesn't get him anywhere as JTG hits a decent middle rope dropkick for two. We get a lot of rest holds here and the fans always started clapping almost immediately for Vlad to get out of them. Impatient lot they are. Vlad with the grill on his teeth is kind of hilarious. JTG gets his facejam off the top (Mugshot) for two. That starts Kozlov's comeback which results in a bunch of power moves. Powerslam sets up the Iron Curtain and we're done at 7:42. I timed the match last night and it was 8:00 even so not much was cut out.
Post match Kozlov takes Grisham's phone and planks on JTG. Yeah it's still not funny.
Raw ReBound. This didn't air until between Superstars and NXT in the arena.
Tyson Kidd comes out and we get a clip of him beating up Yoshi last week. He talks about his heritage coming out of the Hart Dungeon. In his WWE, there's no room for stupid shrines or Yoshi Tatsu. In his WWE, there's only room for him.
Sheamus vs. Henry video. That line of I'll fight him is great.
Derrick Bateman/Darren Young vs. Matt Striker/Titus O'Neil
Striker gets a pretty nice reaction. AJ, who looks about 12, comes out with Horny and they sit in on commentary. Titus and Bateman start us off. Horny starts a Bill Cosby impression for some reason. Or maybe that was AJ. Off to Striker after Titus dominates for a bit. The announcers point out that it's kind of odd that Striker brings his boots with him when he hasn't wrestled in four years but Regal says it's normal. Ok then.
Striker does pretty well for himself and it's back off to Titus. Horny is making his usual noises and Regal is chattering with him. Titus sends Bateman to the floor so Horny can bark. Thankfully that takes us to a break. Back with Striker holding a headlock on Young. Striker tries to speed things up but runs into an elbow in the corner.
Bateman throws on a chinlock as Horny is throwing M&Ms into AJ's mouth. Regal says he got a Rosetta Stone course in Leprechaunese. I give up. Bateman pops O'Neil to break up a tag. Striker gets a chop in but a forearm takes him down for two. AJ doesn't want to talk about her time on NXT. I can't say I blame her. She has a good voice. Bateman goes up but crashes. Hot tag with a dive to Titus. Domination begins but the heels cheat to get a sunset flip. Striker breaks up the cheating and the Clash of the Titus ends Young at 11:06. That's about right with my time.
The faces celebrate and we get a decent line to end it. Grisham: Give me a hug William. Regal: No. The bluntness of it is great.
Results
Vladimir Kozlov b. JTG Iron Curtain
Titus O'Neil/Matt Striker b. Darren Young/Derrick Bateman Clash of the Titus to Young
Wednesday
Nothing of note today.
Thursday
WWE released their second quarter financials today and PPV buys are up over the four show period than last year by 170,000. That's a good sign I'd think.
Amazing Red is gone from TNA.
Impact Wrestling
Date: August 4, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
It's the go home show for Hardcore Justice which is looking like a pretty well built card. Angle vs. Sting is a match I only kind of want to see so there isn't much there. Other than that we have more of Immortal's implosion tonight with Ray vs. Anderson in a feud that scares me to death. There are a lot of loose ends right now in TNA so I'm actually interested in seeing the show so far. Let's get to it.
We open with a quick recap of the ending to last week's show with Sting and the bird plus the issues with Anderson and Ray.
Here's Immortal in the ring with Ray introducing all of them. Ray says Abyss is the only person he's afraid of. After the introductions are done, Ray says that this town ain't big enough for Immortal and Fourtune. Anderson says this ring ain't big enough for him and Ray. Anderson isn't happy with Ray volunteering him for the match last week and then screwing him over.
It may not be tonight or next week or next year, but one day Anderson will get him back. Ray wants to now who Anderson is again. Ray talks about how Anderson lost the title in one week. He says he's Bully Ray, a 23 time world champion. When Hogan and Bischoff aren't around, he's in charge of Immortal. Anderson is just something on Ray's shoe on his way to the title. Anderson wants a match at Hardcore Justice and Ray is all cool with that. Anderson....I think sings a song and they start brawling.
Immortal pulls them apart and here's Fourtune. Kaz talks for a bit and here comes Fourtune for the brawl. Fourtune has a six man with Immortal on Sunday against I guess Gunner, Abyss and Steiner. Storm legit hurt his back in this but from what I understand it wasn't anything serious.
Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher
Mickie is on commentary here. Tara comes out with her tag partner Tessmacher. And never mind as Tara is sent to the back just before we get started. Madison takes over quickly and does her hump the mat with the chick's head move. Madison yells at Mickie and gets rolled up for the pin at 1:35.
Post match Madison chokes Tessmacher and Mickie goes to make the save, only to be blasted by Angelina. Mickie fights her off but Winter comes out and beats her down even more.
Bound For Glory Standings
Crimson 40
James Storm 33
Rob Van Dam 28
Gunner 28
Bully Ray 28
Bobby Roode 28
Matt Morgan 24 (eliminated due to injury)
Devon 23
AJ Styles 21
Scott Steiner 14
Pope 7
Samoa Joe 0
Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Devon
Basic stuff to start with AJ avoiding various offense using speed. Pope is with D-Von's kids again. D-Von gets a back elbow for two and spots Pope. AJ grabs a rolling cross armbreaker but D-Von makes the floor. Styles Clash is blocked as in D-Von's reverse inverted DDT. Pele gets two as Daniels is seated at ringside cheering AJ on. AJ goes to yell at him and misses a springboard, letting Devon rolling him up for a pin at 3:35. Yes that really happened.
Post match AJ blames Daniels for the loss. Daniels says he's been waiting on AJ to talk to him about something but AJ is mad.
We recap Angle vs. Sting which is about how they've had a long history. It helps that they acknowledge Angle has beaten Sting before, just not cleanly. I can live with that.
Pope says he'll beat D-Von at the PPV.
Bound For Glory Series: D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe
Dinero uses his boxing background to make Joe back off and then locks on an armbar. They head to the floor and Dinero runs a bit. Dinero takes over and here comes Devon. I don't think Pope sees him but he gets caught in a Koquina Clutch and we're done at 2:45. And then Joe won't let go so the decision is reversed. Dinero gets 3 points for the DQ win and Joe is now at -10.
In the back Joe snaps on management, saying they don't want him near the top because he's a threat. He's coming strong later.
Storm says his back is too hurt to go in his street fight so Roode is taking his place in it.
Bully Ray is on the phone with Hulk and says Anderson started the fight. It sounds like a parent and their child. Ray is told to apologize and says he'll do it out of respect for Hogan.
Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode
This is a street fight and Roode is subbing for Storm who is injured. Roode is in street clothes. He sends SuperMex to the floor and dives on him, only to get caught in the back with a chair shot. Back into the ring now and Hernandez is in total control and choking with his belt. Hernandez runs him over and smacks him in the head with a trashcan lid. It gets two because Roode is in the ropes. In a hardcore match. I'll never get that rule.
Roode makes a comeback, including the Blockbuster and a bunch of cane shots. Border Toss is reversed into the armbar by Roode. SuperMex taps but the referee doesn't see it. Everything breaks down and Hernandez gets a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the pin at 7:23.
Ray goes to apologize to Anderson and when he finally accepts it, Ray hits him in the balls.
Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley
Aries jumps him in the corner but Shelly takes over quickly, hitting an enziguri for two. Aries tries one of his own which doesn't work and La Magistral gets two. There are going to be new X-Division guys brought in next week. Shelley gets some kind of inverted reverse figure four but it doesn't last long. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Aries sends him to the floor and hits a big dive which gets two in the ring.
Superplex is broken up and a flying superkick puts Aries on the floor. A suicide dive hits and we go back inside. Double stomp misses for Shelley and Aries tries Sliced Bread which fails as well. Aries sends him to the floor again (we get it already) and puts on Shelley's vest/jacket. The referee protests and gets dropped by accident. Shelley gets sent into the post crotch first. Brainbuster ends this at 6:00.
Post match Aries beats on him a bit until Kendrick makes the save.
Eric Young is getting acting lessons. It's more comedy.
Now we get something different. Angle is in the production truck and is going to give commentary on the empty arena match from February of 2009 with him and Sting. I'm not sure if this is clipped or not but it's eating up a lot of time and is just like a DVD commentary. Well that was rather pointless.
Sting is here now.
Bound For Glory Series: Scott Steiner/Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam/Crimson
Only the person that gets the fall gets points. Crimson is in white shorts now. We're told that the points leader in the Series after No Surrender goes to BFG, not necessarily the winner. Rob and Scott start with the power game working well for Scott. Off to Gunner who hammers down RVD as well. Gunner vs. Crimson now with Crimson in control. Steiner comes in to suplex Red Boy a bit and drop the elbow for some pushups.
Belly to back gets two for Gunner but he jumps into the Red Alert (old finisher) to put him down. Double tag brings in Scott and Rob again with RVD taking over. Everything breaks down after Rolling Thunder hits Steiner. Crimson hits a big old spear to take Gunner down and Rob hits the Five Star. Steiner takes Rob down with a Downward Spiral for two. Steiner takes Rob to the corner for something but Crimson breaks it up and Rob hits the Five Star again for the pin on Steiner at 7:12.
RVD and Crimson both say they'll win at the PPV.
Time for the contract signing. They're kind of pushing it as the match is only in three days. Angle signs pretty quickly. Sting does as well and there are no issues it seems. Well that's anti-climactic. Angle says Sting is an icon and it'll be a great match Sunday. It's going to end in a handshake.
Sting says he doesn't feel like laughing. He feels like he's accomplished something in his 25 years now but he's just as big a fan as Angle. Sting praises Angle for being able to do anything in the ring. Sting says he has to be champion to right the wrong that Bischoff and Hogan have done and get the company back to Dixie Carter.* That's real and it will be on Sunday, end of show.
Results
Miss Tessmacher b. Madison Rayne Small Package
Devon b. AJ Styles Rollup
D'Angelo Dinero b. Samoa Joe via DQ when Samoa Joe wouldn't let go of the Koquina Clutch
Hernandez b. Bobby Roode Rollup
Austin Aries b. Alex Shelley Brainbuster
Crimson/Rob Van Dam b. Gunner/Scott Steiner
Smackdown got a 2.0, which is their highest rating in a very long time.
Monday Night Raw
Date: August 1, 2011
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indianapolis
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
Tonight we continue the road to Summerslam with the first public statement from the champ (I think) CM Punk. HHH is still in charge and in theory JR will he here as well. We'll probably start the building to the PPV as there are only two Raws left before the show, which has really snuck up on us. Let's get to it.
We open with a recap of what got us to have two champions. I still don't see why Vince didn't strip Punk of the title as MITB went off the air or book him in a champion can lose the title by countout match with anyone he could find.
Here's Punk, still with the new song, to open the show. He holds up the belt to a solid reaction and declares that THE CHAMP IS HERE. He has a story to tell us. Punk says he knew for about a year that his contract was going to be up. He loves working in WWE but not the bosses. He spoke his mind and we managed to get some change out of it. Vince has been relieved of his duties and that's change.
Punk takes some credit but the fans are to be thanked also. Punk is here to make this fun again but he couldn't do that from his couch in Chicago. He made the call to come back and the timing couldn't be better. Cena may have a belt but what Punk has is a championship title. This title means that he's the best wrestler in the world.
Cue HHH who says he brought back Punk because it was good for business. That's why he brought back JR and Morrison (again, when was he actually gone other than to injury?): business. Personally though, HHH thinks Punk is smug, overrated and believes his own hype too much. Punk says it's like looking in a mirror.
The champion talks about how Vince has let guys go that are main event level talent: guys like Batista, Foley, Jericho and Lesnar. HHH says if you want to tell the truth, why not do it about why you re-signed? Punk isn't sure about this but HHH says it's because he wanted to hear his own voice. Punk has called the microphone a pipe bomb, but what happens if no one is around to hear a pipe bomb? He needs the WWE Universe for the platform.
Punk calls that a 50/50 shot, but the truth is that he's the WWE Champion. HHH says that's true but so is Cena. HHH says he'll fix that tonight and his music plays him out. Punk says cut the music, even though he loves Motorhead. He says he's just getting warmed up. Punk isn't going to shut up just because he signed a contract. If Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Punk's words) wants to talk about egos, let's talk about HHH's.
We get references to HHH using his power backstage that he got from sleeping with the boss' daughter and how he held everyone down. That's true to a degree but that's a big debate for later. HHH says because he's the boss, he can't break certain rules, even though he wants to take Punk's head off. Can you do that, or do you need to go ask your wife first? Punk leaves HHH who is kind of smiling.
Rey has a tag match later and Morrison dives over him. They get Miz/Truth later.
Oh great there's a Divas battle royal next.
Divas Battle Royal
Picture every Diva who isn't champion and they're in this. Kelly is on commentary here. They're going out incredibly fast. We're down to Alicia, Beth, Natalya, Eve and the Bellas. Scratch Nattie from that. This match actually takes a break. Really? Back with more boring Divas action. Alicia is out. There's nothing to talk about here because they're just trying to put each other out. Even looks good in pink though. Eve is out and landed pretty badly. Beth puts both Bellas out (one on each shoulder) to win at 7:18.
Post match Kelly goes in to hug her like an idiot and Beth turns heel and kills her, thank goodness.
Truth comes up to Miz and says they're a lot alike. Miz disagrees so Truth says that having two WWE champions is bad. It's horrible. It's.....A conspiracy? Miz doesn't like this and tells Truth to leave. Truth wants to know why HHH had them in a tournament if he was just going to bring back Punk. I guess we're ignoring Vince making that tournament now.
Cena says his focus tonight is HHH because there are two WWE Champions. The decision is tonight so Cena will be there for it.
The Miz/R-Truth vs. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio
Miz vs. Morrison starts us off. John keeps going after Truth which lets Miz get a shot in. Suplex gets two. Nice leg sweep puts Miz down and it's off to Rey. Seated Senton off the top gets two. Miz is sent to the floor as is truth. Rey hits a seated senton off the apron to take Truth down and John dives over the top with a corkscrew dive to mostly hit Miz and we take a break.
Back with Truth holding Rey in a camel clutch. During the break the evildoers actually didn't cheat to take over. Nice to see for a change. Truth continues his old school offense with an abdominal stretch. Rey fires off but it's off to Miz who gets a seated boot for two and we hit the chinlock. Enziguri puts Miz down but he keeps the tag from being made. Back to the chinlock, this time by Truth.
Big spinning forearm gets two on Mysterio. Rey dives again for the ropes but Miz makes the save again. Nice little story there for the match. Miz hits his corner clothesline but goes up and dives into a dropkick. There's the hot tag to Morrison who gets a solid pop. See what happens when you build something up?
He cleans house and hits the C4 to Truth for two. He loads up Starship Pain but Miz pulls Truth out of the way. Back inside an axe kick misses and a Pele kick sends Truth into the 619 position. Miz makes the save and sends him into the crowd. Moonlight Drive hits Miz but Morrison walks into that jumping downward spiral for the pin at 11:03.
Post match Truth hits Morrison with a bottle of water and Morrison takes the Finale.
HHH says nothing of note.
Summerslam Recall is Warrior taking the title from Honky in probably the best Summerslam moment for the vast majority of the series.
Here are Dolph and Vickie. I'm still not sure on the song. Vickie says her catchphrase a lot and wants to know why Dolph hasn't been getting enough attention. Dolph says he's more of a man than anyone in the arena and anyone in the back. Cue.....Alex Riley? I think I can work with this. Riley wants to know when Ziggler is going to accomplish something without Vickie. Dolph has Vickie step aside....and leaves.
Santino Marella/Zack Ryder vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty
This is non-title and the Nexus name has been dropped it seems. King mentioned Ryder's show before the breaHe gets the hot tag to a ROAR but gets beaten down after a brief flurry. Santino is sent to the floor and Ryder misses the Rough Ryder. He gets caught in something like a Demolition Decapitator at 2:22. This was fine.
We get some of the earlier exchange between the Game and Punk.
Punk says he's the champ.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Evan Bourne
Bourne runs into a boot to start and the beating begins. Del Rio's arm work is great as the psychology of the match is perfect for him. His finisher is an arm hold so why would he work on anything but the arm? That's basic psychology for you: why would you do something to say Bourne's back if you're going to work on the arm to end it? Bourne makes a brief comeback and the armbreaker ends this at 2:30.
Post match he puts the hold on again and Kofi comes out for the save.
Here's HHH for the big announcement on who should be champion. He's about to say it but John Lauranitis (you try to spell it) comes out and says executive VP and in charge of signing talent. HHH doesn't look happy here. Johnny Ace (see why he got that name?) says Vince would want Cena stripped of the title. That brings out Cena who says that Ace never thinks and is the yes man that Punk was talking about.
Cena says that he's not going to strip the title because it would devalue the title. He talks about how he wants to hit Ace again because that was his favorite part about Money in the Bank. HHH: I don't have any problem with that. Ace leaves and HHH says he's not stripping the title. Punk only came back to WWE when Cena was pinning Rey and said to hit his music. HHH again says he won't strip the title and that brings out the other champion.
Punk doesn't like the idea that HHH is going to strip him of the title which he has a legit claim to also. HHH says that's not what he was going to do and tells them to quit whining. Also to Cena, it's not Hunter. He's Cena's boss. At Summerslam it's the rematch for one undisputed champion. Kind of lackluster the way he said it but it's the only way they can do it.
HHH leaves and they stare each other down. Punk holds up his title and his music plays us out. Scratch that as Cena holds his up and that music plays us off. Punk goes onto the ropes and now HIS song plays. This is kind of awesome. Now Cena does the same but Punk's is the last one heard after it changes like 8 times total.
Results
Beth Phoenix won a Divas Battle Royal
The Miz/R-Truth b. John Morrison/Rey Mysterio What's Up to Morrison
Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga b. Zack Ryder/Santino Marella Middle rope elbow/backbreaker combination to Ryder
Alberto Del Rio b. Evan Bourne Cross Armbreaker
Tuesday
Raw got a 3.3, up from last week.
NXT
Date: August 2, 2011
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: William Regal, Todd Grisham
We're in week twenty-whatever here and there's no sign of this wrapping up anytime soon. They at least have a story going here with the heels teaming up to take out the force of O'Neil, which is a lot better than what we've sat through for the majority of the season so far. More of the same tonight I'd assume. Let's get to it.
This is being written on Wednesday, after I watched the show live last night.
We open with a recap of the last few weeks with O'Neil getting double teamed after dominating for months on end.
Here's Titus minus the leprechaun. He thinks the alliance between the heels is cute. Titus says he's the most dominant rookie ever so he's not worried about Bateman or his family. During this promo Bateman's video started playing but you can't see it on the broadcast. Bateman and Young come out and Bateman points out that he beat O'Neil last week, which Titus agrees to. Young says he's dominated NXT but Titus is in the points lead because he's pandered to the fans.
Striker says that it's not a bad strategy because the fans are 50% of the vote. Young says he doesn't care because he doesn't need the fans or a pro. Bateman says he and Young agree that Titus needs to go. Titus suggests a tag match and the heels agree, if they can pick the partner. Titus says cool, so they pick Striker. He protests, saying he hasn't been in the ring in four years. The pop for this was a lot louder than it appears to be on TV.
JTG vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Vladimir is gangsta here. To be fair he plays it pretty well and the fans laughed at this which is the idea. The tag is on the back of his jeans still. He does a decent JTG impression. Actually he doesn't because Kozlov is kind of amusing and interesting like this which JTG never has been. They stare each other down and do the comedy bit where they mirror each other.
JTG jumps him as Grisham says this should have been at Wrestlemania. Thankfully he's kidding because even he's not that stupid. Kozlov catches him and hits a fallaway slam to put him outside. Back inside and JTG finally gets a boot up in the corner to break the Russian's momentum. We take a break to advertise an old video game (by video game standards 4 months is old right?) and come back with Kozlov getting a kick to the ribs.
That doesn't get him anywhere as JTG hits a decent middle rope dropkick for two. We get a lot of rest holds here and the fans always started clapping almost immediately for Vlad to get out of them. Impatient lot they are. Vlad with the grill on his teeth is kind of hilarious. JTG gets his facejam off the top (Mugshot) for two. That starts Kozlov's comeback which results in a bunch of power moves. Powerslam sets up the Iron Curtain and we're done at 7:42. I timed the match last night and it was 8:00 even so not much was cut out.
Post match Kozlov takes Grisham's phone and planks on JTG. Yeah it's still not funny.
Raw ReBound. This didn't air until between Superstars and NXT in the arena.
Tyson Kidd comes out and we get a clip of him beating up Yoshi last week. He talks about his heritage coming out of the Hart Dungeon. In his WWE, there's no room for stupid shrines or Yoshi Tatsu. In his WWE, there's only room for him.
Sheamus vs. Henry video. That line of I'll fight him is great.
Derrick Bateman/Darren Young vs. Matt Striker/Titus O'Neil
Striker gets a pretty nice reaction. AJ, who looks about 12, comes out with Horny and they sit in on commentary. Titus and Bateman start us off. Horny starts a Bill Cosby impression for some reason. Or maybe that was AJ. Off to Striker after Titus dominates for a bit. The announcers point out that it's kind of odd that Striker brings his boots with him when he hasn't wrestled in four years but Regal says it's normal. Ok then.
Striker does pretty well for himself and it's back off to Titus. Horny is making his usual noises and Regal is chattering with him. Titus sends Bateman to the floor so Horny can bark. Thankfully that takes us to a break. Back with Striker holding a headlock on Young. Striker tries to speed things up but runs into an elbow in the corner.
Bateman throws on a chinlock as Horny is throwing M&Ms into AJ's mouth. Regal says he got a Rosetta Stone course in Leprechaunese. I give up. Bateman pops O'Neil to break up a tag. Striker gets a chop in but a forearm takes him down for two. AJ doesn't want to talk about her time on NXT. I can't say I blame her. She has a good voice. Bateman goes up but crashes. Hot tag with a dive to Titus. Domination begins but the heels cheat to get a sunset flip. Striker breaks up the cheating and the Clash of the Titus ends Young at 11:06. That's about right with my time.
The faces celebrate and we get a decent line to end it. Grisham: Give me a hug William. Regal: No. The bluntness of it is great.
Results
Vladimir Kozlov b. JTG Iron Curtain
Titus O'Neil/Matt Striker b. Darren Young/Derrick Bateman Clash of the Titus to Young
Wednesday
Nothing of note today.
Thursday
WWE released their second quarter financials today and PPV buys are up over the four show period than last year by 170,000. That's a good sign I'd think.
Amazing Red is gone from TNA.
Impact Wrestling
Date: August 4, 2011
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
It's the go home show for Hardcore Justice which is looking like a pretty well built card. Angle vs. Sting is a match I only kind of want to see so there isn't much there. Other than that we have more of Immortal's implosion tonight with Ray vs. Anderson in a feud that scares me to death. There are a lot of loose ends right now in TNA so I'm actually interested in seeing the show so far. Let's get to it.
We open with a quick recap of the ending to last week's show with Sting and the bird plus the issues with Anderson and Ray.
Here's Immortal in the ring with Ray introducing all of them. Ray says Abyss is the only person he's afraid of. After the introductions are done, Ray says that this town ain't big enough for Immortal and Fourtune. Anderson says this ring ain't big enough for him and Ray. Anderson isn't happy with Ray volunteering him for the match last week and then screwing him over.
It may not be tonight or next week or next year, but one day Anderson will get him back. Ray wants to now who Anderson is again. Ray talks about how Anderson lost the title in one week. He says he's Bully Ray, a 23 time world champion. When Hogan and Bischoff aren't around, he's in charge of Immortal. Anderson is just something on Ray's shoe on his way to the title. Anderson wants a match at Hardcore Justice and Ray is all cool with that. Anderson....I think sings a song and they start brawling.
Immortal pulls them apart and here's Fourtune. Kaz talks for a bit and here comes Fourtune for the brawl. Fourtune has a six man with Immortal on Sunday against I guess Gunner, Abyss and Steiner. Storm legit hurt his back in this but from what I understand it wasn't anything serious.
Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher
Mickie is on commentary here. Tara comes out with her tag partner Tessmacher. And never mind as Tara is sent to the back just before we get started. Madison takes over quickly and does her hump the mat with the chick's head move. Madison yells at Mickie and gets rolled up for the pin at 1:35.
Post match Madison chokes Tessmacher and Mickie goes to make the save, only to be blasted by Angelina. Mickie fights her off but Winter comes out and beats her down even more.
Bound For Glory Standings
Crimson 40
James Storm 33
Rob Van Dam 28
Gunner 28
Bully Ray 28
Bobby Roode 28
Matt Morgan 24 (eliminated due to injury)
Devon 23
AJ Styles 21
Scott Steiner 14
Pope 7
Samoa Joe 0
Bound For Glory Series: AJ Styles vs. Devon
Basic stuff to start with AJ avoiding various offense using speed. Pope is with D-Von's kids again. D-Von gets a back elbow for two and spots Pope. AJ grabs a rolling cross armbreaker but D-Von makes the floor. Styles Clash is blocked as in D-Von's reverse inverted DDT. Pele gets two as Daniels is seated at ringside cheering AJ on. AJ goes to yell at him and misses a springboard, letting Devon rolling him up for a pin at 3:35. Yes that really happened.
Post match AJ blames Daniels for the loss. Daniels says he's been waiting on AJ to talk to him about something but AJ is mad.
We recap Angle vs. Sting which is about how they've had a long history. It helps that they acknowledge Angle has beaten Sting before, just not cleanly. I can live with that.
Pope says he'll beat D-Von at the PPV.
Bound For Glory Series: D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe
Dinero uses his boxing background to make Joe back off and then locks on an armbar. They head to the floor and Dinero runs a bit. Dinero takes over and here comes Devon. I don't think Pope sees him but he gets caught in a Koquina Clutch and we're done at 2:45. And then Joe won't let go so the decision is reversed. Dinero gets 3 points for the DQ win and Joe is now at -10.
In the back Joe snaps on management, saying they don't want him near the top because he's a threat. He's coming strong later.
Storm says his back is too hurt to go in his street fight so Roode is taking his place in it.
Bully Ray is on the phone with Hulk and says Anderson started the fight. It sounds like a parent and their child. Ray is told to apologize and says he'll do it out of respect for Hogan.
Hernandez vs. Bobby Roode
This is a street fight and Roode is subbing for Storm who is injured. Roode is in street clothes. He sends SuperMex to the floor and dives on him, only to get caught in the back with a chair shot. Back into the ring now and Hernandez is in total control and choking with his belt. Hernandez runs him over and smacks him in the head with a trashcan lid. It gets two because Roode is in the ropes. In a hardcore match. I'll never get that rule.
Roode makes a comeback, including the Blockbuster and a bunch of cane shots. Border Toss is reversed into the armbar by Roode. SuperMex taps but the referee doesn't see it. Everything breaks down and Hernandez gets a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the pin at 7:23.
Ray goes to apologize to Anderson and when he finally accepts it, Ray hits him in the balls.
Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley
Aries jumps him in the corner but Shelly takes over quickly, hitting an enziguri for two. Aries tries one of his own which doesn't work and La Magistral gets two. There are going to be new X-Division guys brought in next week. Shelley gets some kind of inverted reverse figure four but it doesn't last long. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Aries sends him to the floor and hits a big dive which gets two in the ring.
Superplex is broken up and a flying superkick puts Aries on the floor. A suicide dive hits and we go back inside. Double stomp misses for Shelley and Aries tries Sliced Bread which fails as well. Aries sends him to the floor again (we get it already) and puts on Shelley's vest/jacket. The referee protests and gets dropped by accident. Shelley gets sent into the post crotch first. Brainbuster ends this at 6:00.
Post match Aries beats on him a bit until Kendrick makes the save.
Eric Young is getting acting lessons. It's more comedy.
Now we get something different. Angle is in the production truck and is going to give commentary on the empty arena match from February of 2009 with him and Sting. I'm not sure if this is clipped or not but it's eating up a lot of time and is just like a DVD commentary. Well that was rather pointless.
Sting is here now.
Bound For Glory Series: Scott Steiner/Gunner vs. Rob Van Dam/Crimson
Only the person that gets the fall gets points. Crimson is in white shorts now. We're told that the points leader in the Series after No Surrender goes to BFG, not necessarily the winner. Rob and Scott start with the power game working well for Scott. Off to Gunner who hammers down RVD as well. Gunner vs. Crimson now with Crimson in control. Steiner comes in to suplex Red Boy a bit and drop the elbow for some pushups.
Belly to back gets two for Gunner but he jumps into the Red Alert (old finisher) to put him down. Double tag brings in Scott and Rob again with RVD taking over. Everything breaks down after Rolling Thunder hits Steiner. Crimson hits a big old spear to take Gunner down and Rob hits the Five Star. Steiner takes Rob down with a Downward Spiral for two. Steiner takes Rob to the corner for something but Crimson breaks it up and Rob hits the Five Star again for the pin on Steiner at 7:12.
RVD and Crimson both say they'll win at the PPV.
Time for the contract signing. They're kind of pushing it as the match is only in three days. Angle signs pretty quickly. Sting does as well and there are no issues it seems. Well that's anti-climactic. Angle says Sting is an icon and it'll be a great match Sunday. It's going to end in a handshake.
Sting says he doesn't feel like laughing. He feels like he's accomplished something in his 25 years now but he's just as big a fan as Angle. Sting praises Angle for being able to do anything in the ring. Sting says he has to be champion to right the wrong that Bischoff and Hogan have done and get the company back to Dixie Carter.* That's real and it will be on Sunday, end of show.
Results
Miss Tessmacher b. Madison Rayne Small Package
Devon b. AJ Styles Rollup
D'Angelo Dinero b. Samoa Joe via DQ when Samoa Joe wouldn't let go of the Koquina Clutch
Hernandez b. Bobby Roode Rollup
Austin Aries b. Alex Shelley Brainbuster
Crimson/Rob Van Dam b. Gunner/Scott Steiner