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May the 4th Be With You!
On this day in history in ....
1963 - The WWWF ran Baltimore, Maryland, headlined by Eduard Carpentier defeating Pedro Rodriguez.
1980 - Blackjack Mulligan & Dewey Robertson defeated Masked Superstar #1 & #2 in the main event of a live card held at the Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens.
1980 - Georgia Championship Wrestling returning to the Omni in Atlanta, featuring:
-Lars Anderson defeated Rocket Monroe.
-Leroy Brown defeated Bill Dromo.
-Bob Sweetan defeated Eddie Gilbert.
-Iron Mike Sharpe defeated the French Angel.
-Chief Jay Strongbow defeated Ernie Ladd via disqualification.
-Georgia Tag Team Champions Ivan Koloff & Alexis Smirnoff (with Rock Hunter) defeated Tony Atlas & Kevin Sullivan.
-Georgia TV Champion Tommy Rich defeated Baron Von Raschke.
-NWA World Champion Harley Race defeated Georgia Heavyweight Champion Austin Idol.
-Mr. Wrestling #2 defeated Dory Funk Jr.
-Mr. Wrestling #2 defeated NWA World Champion Harley Race in a non-title lights out match.
1981 - WWF ran Madison Square Garden featuring:
-SD Jones defeated Johnny Rodz at 15:36
-The Great Yatsu defeated the Hangman at 10:31; the bout was originally scheduled for Yatsu & Antonio Inoki vs. Hangman & Frank Savage.
-WWF Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales defeated Killer Khan at 4:26
-Dominic DeNucci pinned Baron Mikel Scicluna at 6:53 with a backslide
-Peter Miavia pinned Rick McGraw at 7:08 with a backbreaker
-In his Garden debut, Angelo Mosca defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund via disqualification at 13:51 when Backlund accidentally punched the referee when Mosca ducked the blow; after the bout, Mosca ran backstage with the title belt.
-Pat Patterson defeated Sgt. Slaugther in an alley fight at 14:25 when the Grand Wizard, who escorted Slaughter to the ring before the match, returned ringside and threw in the towel after Slaughter had been beaten a bloody mess.
-The Carolina Kid & Farmer Jerome defeated Sky Low Low & Kid Chocolate
-Tony Garea, Rick Martel, & Gorilla Monsoon (sub. for Andre the Giant) defeated Stan Hansen, Moondog Rex, & Cpt. Lou Albano (sub. for Moondog King) in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match at 14:01, 2-0; fall #1: Monsoon's team won via disqualification at 11:39 when all three heels began attacking Martel; fall #2: Monsoon pinned Rex at 2:22 with a splash.
-The Carolina Kid & Farmer Jerome defeated Sky Low Low & Kid Chocolate when Carolina pinned Chocolate.
1981 - It was announced by Vince McMahon that Andre the Giant had suffered a broken ankle. The injury was blamed on Killer Khan, setting up a series of grudge matches after Andre recovered. WWE maintained ownership of the giant cast used to set the ankle and often displays it at their annual Wrestlemania AXXESS events.
1983 - Tony Atlas defeated NWA champion Ric Flair in a non-title match in the main event of a GCW event in Akron, Ohio. The undercard featured:
-Matt Borne & Arn Anderson (with Paul Ellering) defeated Tito Santana & Brian Blair.
-Paul Ellering defeated Joe Lightfoot.
-Ron Garvin defeated the Iron Sheik (with Paul Ellering).
-Dick Murdoch defeated Killer Brooks.
-Tommy Rich defeated Larry Zbyszko.
1984 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Hampton, Virginia, featuring:
-Barry Hart (the future Barry Horowitz) defeated Jeff Sword.
-Jesse Barr defeated Bobby Bass.
-Brian Adidas defeated Doug Vines.
-The Junkyard Dog defeated Gary Hart.
-Ernie Ladd defeated Rufus R. Jones.
-The Junkyard Dog defeated Adrian Street.
-Dick Slater defeated Jay Youngblood.
-Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood defeated Jack & Jerry Brisco.
1985 - The WWF ran Baltimore, Maryland, featuring the following results:
-Tony Atlas defeated Bob Bradley.
-David Sammartino defeated Matt Borne.
-King Kong Bundy defeated Salvatore Bellomo.
-Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Lombardi.
-WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter defeated Lelani Kai.
-Ken Patera defeated Ivan Putski.
-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan & Jimmy Snuka defeated Roddy Piper & Bob Orton Jr.
1987 - The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) defeated The RPMs in a tournament final in Lubbock, Texas to win the World Class Tag Team Title.
1987 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Fayetteville, NC, headlined by The Road Warriors beating the New Breed, Dusty Rhodes defeating Dick Murdoch and Lex Luger wrestling Barry Windham to a no contest. The same evening, at the same time, the promotion ran Greenville, SC, headlined by the Rock N' Roll Express defeating The Midnight Express combination of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane.
1990 - The NWA ran Boston, MA, drawing 1,500 fans to the Walter Brown Arena featuring:
-Johnny Ace pinned Bobby Eaton
-Stan Lane pinned Dutch Mantell
-Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Mike Rotunda
-NWA World Tag Team Champions Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Doom via disqualification
-NWA U.S. Champion Lex Luger defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification at the 18-minute mark. Luger, who had travel problems, didn't arrive at the show until 10 PM, well after it was announced that Rick Steiner would substitute.
1991 - WCW ran Charleston, West Virginia, headlined by Sting & Brian Pillman defeating the One Man Gang & the Angel of Death and Vader defeating Stan Hansen by DQ.
1994 - New Japan Pro Wrestling holds their "Wrestling Dontaku" at the Fukuoka Dome in Fukuoka, Japan, drawing 53,500 fans. Results of the show:
- Satoshi Kojima defeated Yuji Nagata.
- Tokimitsu Ishizawa & El Samurai defeated Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa when Samurai pinned Takaiwa.
- Akira Nogami, Takayuki Iizuka, & Osamu Kido defeated Akitoshi Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara, & Tatsutoshi Goto when Kido forced Ohara to submit.
- Kuniaki Kobayashi, The Great Kabuki, & Kengo Kimura defeated Norio Honaga, Hiro Saito, & Shinichi Nakano when Kimura pinned Honaga.
- El Gigante defeated Tadao Yasuda.
- Jushin Liger vs. Satoru Sayama (the original Tiger Mash) fought to a ten-minute draw.
- Shiro Koshinaka defeated Yoshiaki Yatsu.
- IWGP World Tag Team Champions The Hellraisers (Road Warrior Hawk & Power Warrior Kensuke Sasaki) defeated Rick & Scott Steiner when Hawk pinned Scott.
- Rick Rude defeated Sting to win the WCW International World Heavyweight Title (the big gold belt). This would be Rick Rude's final match, as Rude severely injured his neck during the bout, ending his in-ring career. Rude would be stripped of the title on a technicality, and Rude would disappear from the wrestling scene until resurfacing in ECW in January 1997.
- Masahiro Chono defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara.
- Riki Choshu defeated Hiroshi Hase.
- Shinya Hashimoto defeated Tatsumi Fujinami to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title.
- Antonio Inoki defeated The Great Muta.
1995 - Atsushi Onita defeats Mr. Pogo in Nagoya, Japan to win the FMW World Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Title for the fourth time. Onita would vacate the title the next day after defeating Hayabusa in his retirement match. The retirement didn't last, with Onita coining the nickname "Mr. Liar" for breaking his vows to retire.
1998 - WCW held a Nitro taping in Indianapolis featuring: Fit Finlay winning the WCW World TV championship from Booker T after Booker was distracted by Chris Benoit. Other results from the taping saw:
-Scott Norton defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr.
-Scott Putski defeated Billy Kidman via disqualification
-WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated "Bore Us Malenko" via submission
-Public Enemy defeated the Barbarian, Hugh Morrus, & Jimmy Hart in a handicap streetfight at 2:57 when Johnny Grunge pinned Hart
-Hammer defeated Perry Saturn in a Loser Leaves the Flock match
-Juventud Guerrera defeated Sick Boy via disqualification
-Brian Adams defeated Konnan via disqualification
-Lex Luger defeated WCW World Tag Team Champion Kevin Nash via disqualification
2001 - John Zandig defeats Kintaro Kanemura in a tournament final to win the Big Japan Pro Wrestling Death Match Heavyweight Title in Sapporo, Japan. The belt had been vacated when Tomokai Honma walked out of the promotion.
2002 - WWE held Insurrection 2002, a UK only PPV event. Nick Spence filed the following live report from the PPV:
15 minutes to kick-off and The Fink gives the same speech he gave this time last year about professional photography, laser pens and throwing things into the ring (last year the PPV ended with a several full bottles of coke thrown towards Steph and Co.) as Fink introduces Debra who makes a small speech about how great London is and the UK fans are. JR and especially The King get massive pops from the vocal Wembley crowd.
In a dark match 8 minutes to the hour Mr. Perfect gets the win over Goldust with his patented finisher, a popular choice after ‘Goldust Sucks’ chants. Fink, ever the company man, plugs the encore presentation which starts at 9am Sunday morning on Sky Box Office “so fans can see themselves live” – which in reality means paying twice. A large ‘X’ dominates the entrance ramp. A Insurrextion promo is shown featuring tonight’s participants and brief run-down of recent storyline history. JR and The King are shown at ringside, Lawler waving a small Union Jack flag.
Up first is Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam for the Intercontinental gold. Eddie was last here a few months ago, the star of the indie supershow Revival. Both Eddie and Rob get massive pops. JR comments that as they are both evenly matched we are in for a treat. Van Dam catches Guerrero with a baseball slide and moonsault followed by a spilt-leg moonsault of the ropes. Both Eddie then Rob are in turn thrown out of the ring. A brief ‘Eddie Sucks’ chant begins as The King calls the UK fans ‘loopy’. The match after a flying start slows down and heads for the mat. A hold is broken as the ref spots Rob’s foot on the ropes. More ‘Eddie Sucks’ chants, Eddie nearly gets caught in a quick cradle as the action picks up, The King mentions ‘Latino heat’ for the 50th time tonight. JR puts over their high-risk offense , Eddie gets Rob in a painful looking leg hold as the action once again moves back to the mat. Eddie focuses again on Ron’s ‘injured’ leg using the ropes for leverage. Rob gets in a super kick as the momentum briefly changes. RVD gets in his rolling’ thunder move for a near falls count, followed by a moonsault. Heel kick takes Eddie down, but Eddie now bleeding from the mouth avoids another fall, grabs the Intercontinental belt brings it in the ring, pushes the ref, and gets a DQ on PPV. Great finish I don’t think although Van Dam lays out Guerrero after the bell with a frog splash. Van Dam wins by DQ. Good opening match running to 15 minutes.
Backstage the ‘Divas’ are interviewed by Terri who is called ‘trash’ by Mighty Morality Molly and the ever-silent Jazz. Mighty Molly berates the UK for its low morals and holds up a copy of the Daily Sport tabloid showing women topless which leads to Terri claiming Molly might be jealous and reforms her top to reveal a flesh colored bra.
Divas Tag Match - Trish Stratus & Jacqueline vs. Mighty Molly & Jazz in ‘victory for morality’ match. Molly & Jazz double-team Jackie, Jazz catches Jackie in mid-air, followed by a big boot and clothesline. Trish is in to make the big save, gets the better of Jazz and drags Molly over the ropes into the action. Trish is fast becoming a great worker. The King mentions puppies for the 69th time tonight, Trish’s head again bounces of the ring as the ‘virgin like’ Molly gets the upper hand. Trish makes the comeback much the approval of The King, Trish gets a long count missed by the ref attending to Jackie. Jackie hot-tags in but Jazz reverses a cradle and Molly interrupts a count. Jazz get a half-Boston crab on Jackie which JR does his best to sell. Jackie reaches for the ropes as a puppies chant briefly starts and Trish breaks up a STF. All four women are in the ring for the finale – a double pin as Trish Stratus & Jacqueline gets a popular win. The King asks if we can see the ‘whole match again’, those puppies are ‘heaving’ Lawler adds.
Backstage the NWO cut a promo on Bradshaw…
Match number three live from Wembley is Bradshaw (nice pop) Vs. X-Pac, still wearing the Kane mask. ‘X-Pac Sucks’ chants much to The King’s displeasure. Bradshaw gets in some big power moves early throwing X-Pac around like a doll. JR plugs the double main event. X-Pac tries to take the bigger Bradshaw down, making use of the exposed turnbuckle which opens up Bradshaw across the forehead. X-Pac continues to maintain the upper hand; JR hints that the ref may be forced to stop the match as Bradshaw continues to bleed. Bradshaw briefly regains the offense catching X-Pac with some big rights. X-Pac misses a kick, Bradshaw with a powerslam for a near fall. Bradshaw with a shoulder block off the top rope. Spinning heel-kick lays Bradshaw out. The Texan regains the advantage which brings Scott Hall to ringside with some unsuccessful interference. However after a second attempt by Hall makes some sort of impact and X-Pac wins with the X-factor after a low blow following Hall’s brief distraction.
Backstage, stood in front of a large WWF union jack flag, Coach interviews Undertaker as the first ‘WHAT’ chant starts up from the Wembley crowd. We cut live to the car park of the sold out Wembley Arena, which is hardly the Skydome. I was there last month for The Monkees.
Steven Richards is up next as JR fills in the recent history (from Raw) of the Hardcore belt, although what the challenger Booker T is doing tonight in a hardcore match is a mystery, still a great ovation from the UK crowd. Hardcore match starts off with a very softcore armbar drag. Booker T finally reaches for the trash cans and bounty under the ring. The action is taken outside the ring as Booker T reaches for a broom. Richards get in some Flair style chops back in the ring as JR says Richards is in the best shape of his life. Booker makes use of a trashcan, but Richards hits back with more chops and another low blow, this time legal under hardcore rules. More near falls as Booker T gets more positive chants, JR puts over his 5 WCW world titles, which is good to hear. Match is a bit disjointed as both Richards and Booker T can’t decide if it’s a hardcore rules match or a technical wrestling fest. Booker T makes use of the trashcan and eventually gets the win.
While he celebrates Crash Holly sneaks in under the 24-7 rule for the pin but Booker get the belt back in double quick time which brings out Justin Credible and Tommy Dreamer who grab a table, setting up Booker T. However Booker T fends them off only for Richards to return this time with Jazz who lows blows Booker T for Richards to regain the Hardcore belt. Match went much longer than any Raw hardcore match.
A major Brock Lesnar promo is shown – who looks like one of the Toy Soldiers come to life. Impressive. Backstage, an unhappy Shawn Stasiak is told by Paul Heyman to stay on the ringside apron and let Lesnar inflict the damage on the Hardy Boyz (minus Lita) as Lesnar looks menacingly on. Brock is actually allowed to cut a short promo on Stasiak as Heyman heads for the ring.
Lesnar & Stasiak vs. Hardy Boyz. Stasiak playing the fall guy again is pinned by the Hardys after having failed to read the Heyman endorsed script and getting himself involved from the outset, sliding into the ring as the bell rings for some brief offense as an indignant Heyman at ringside shouts ‘you suck’ at Stasiak. Lesnar, as expected eventually gets involved and squashes both Hardys with power moves but mistimes a charge across the ring which leaves a dazed Lesnar briefly winded against the ring post, which leads to an unexpected tag from the surprised Stasiak. In predictable fashion ,The Hardys set up a pin via a swanton bomb, which only further angers a now recovered Lesnar. After the bell, Lesnar, aided by Heyman now in the ring with his prodigy, squashes all three men including Stasiak who receives some stiff looking moves from the monster Lesnar. JR puts him over and his major future potential.
Following a taped plug and auction for the Make A Wish Foundation where Linda McMahon makes an appearance, William Regal cuts an excellent heel promo on the entire British nation. JR says Regal has a little of Boy George in him but doesn’t specify which bit. In a short, nothing-sort-of-match Spike Dudley retains the European Championship with an inside cradle having sold an ankle injury for most of the brief match. Prior to the win, a WWF trainer is brought into the ring to remove Spike’s boot following a nasty looking bump, but as he and the ref lift Spike carefully out the ring William drags him back in to dominate the remaining minute or two. After the shock win for Spike Dudley, Regal retaliates as predicted with the patented power of the punch flooring Spike. Regal slowly leaves the ring receiving the biggest heat of the night so far.
Next we see a recap of the recent Austin/Undertaker/NWO/Flair angles from Backlash and Raw. Which brings out Ric Flair wearing a WWF ref’s shirt. Flair cuts a promo saying although Nick Patrick will be tonight’s ref, Ric will officiate as second ref at ringside presumably fending off any NWO run-ins. Big Show is shown in NWO black & white heading to the ring, JR mentions he is full off Indian spices from his recent trip, let’s hope he doesn’t explode in the ring. Austin is out next, posing, after a brief stare down at ringside with our guest referee number two Ric Flair.
Steve Austin vs. The Big Show. The first half of the double main event sees both men starting on auto-pilot and stalling for time, exchanging tests and locking up, remember this is a UK only PPV, so don’t expect to see anyone busting a gut. Show looks like he enjoyed those Indian spices as he lumbers around the ring the size of a baby elephant. Neither man takes the advantage early on, lots of collar and tie ups, before Austin tries to ‘cut the big tree down’ with chops to the knee. Big Show takes another breather before indulging in some massive chops. More chants of “WHAT’ and ‘you fat b**tard’ (only in the UK) before Austin tries to take the legs away from Big Show, working over the left leg of Big Show. The King and JR acknowledge the ‘fat b**tard’ chants to comical effect, the action stays on the mat, so far Flair has not made his presence felt. JR claims Big Show is now visibly limping but Big Show regains the advantage and delivers a few boots followed by more big slaps. Big Show ‘stands’ on Austin’s kidneys, which JR claims, makes you urinate blood for several days. Big Show continues to manhandle Austin. Big Show throws Austin 8 feet (JR) no make that 10 feet (The King) into the air, Jerry Springer …sorry Lawler joins in with the ‘you fat b**tard’ chant which is laugh out loud funny. Lawler wonders if the crowd are talking about Big Show or JR. Flair continues to look on silently, so sign of Hall, X-Pac or Nash…yet. Big Show gets Austin in a bear hug, we may not need a run in as Show gets a near three count. Austin seemingly fading away from a second bear hug makes a Hogan style finger in the air comeback and from nowhere makes a big comeback before a big boot in the face from Big Show. Big Show nails the ref (Patrick not Flair) for some reason before getting a stunner and a three-four-five count from Austin who is unable to get the pin as the ref is out cold. X-Pac and Hall head down for a brief run-in but Flair springs into action with a mop and two sticks, sending the nWo running. Or so we think – out of the crowd comes Nash with the ‘nucks to aid Big Show. Austin double stuns both as Patrick recovers long enough for the rattlesnake to win. Which version of the New World Order did Vince sign up exactly?
As the heels flee, Ric the ref tries to make peace with Austin but after a couple of optimistic cold beers Flair receives a weak looking stunner from Austin and is left lying. The second main event is up next.
We are heading for another UK PPV early finish as Backlash and the history between Undertaker and Triple H is recapped, footage is shown of Triple H on Smackdown and the carnage that followed. UT is out first on his Harley, both JR and The King are anticipating an ugly war tonight. The Game stalks around the ring as the two finally connect with a series of right hands and a hard knee from Triple H. UT gets back dropped, the actions spills out to ringside. Triple H tries to open UT with another hard right hand before back in the ring UT gets in a clothesline. UT has the advantage now, several two counts follow. Arm ringer from UT using his height advantage, UT climbs the ring ropes only to be foiled by HHH. Suplex from HHH, more near falls, UT briefly begging for mercy before UT takes the action briefly back around the ring. UT gains the advantage, back in the ring with a clothesline. JR says UT eyes ‘scare him’, UT performs a leg drop off the apron as HHH hangs perilously out of the ring. HHH recovers make a comeback before UT finally remembers HHH’s dodgy knee that kept him out for a year and starts working over it the same way Austin worked over Big Show. Both take a breather on the mat as UT ties up HHH, match is a major improvement of Austin vs. Show. As HHH throws UT against the ring the top turnbuckle appears to snap and goes limp as UT is almost inadvertently tossed over the top rope. The ref briefly looks at the top rope, The King believes the ring post may have snapped. HHH recovers to suplex UT, good physical encounter from both men, UT misses a big boot to HHH’s face, the Game performs a second neck breaker and a spine buster on UT for a near fall as UT kicks out. HHH attempts a pedigree, UT goes for a chokeslam, but counters it for another exciting near fall. More damage – an audible crack – to that dodgy turnbuckle, the top rope is now very wobbly; UT gets another near fall with a high impact chokeslam then reaches for a steel chair despite Earl Hebnar’s attempts to stop him. HHH counters kicking the chair into UT’s face for another near fall. UT recovers enough to execute DDT, but HHH hits back to finally perform the pedigree. Triple H wins an excellent headline encounter on British soil. UT walking up the ramp looks back to Triple H celebrating in what’s left of the ring, with a look that implies their feud is far from over. (Show wraps up after 2 hours 25 minutes).
After the cameras went off air Triple H stayed in the ring posing for several minutes for the appreciative audience. However as he slowly made his way up the ramp an over enthusiastic fan wrapped his arms around the back of Triple H’s neck at the entrance which briefly led to an ugly scene before security bundled him towards one side. Triple H turned towards the crowd and mouthed: “what the f*** was that” before heading for the plane and back to the US.
2003 - The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that the daughter of former WWF World Heavyweight Champion the Iron Sheik, Marissa Vaziri, 27, the daughter of Hossein Vaziri was found dead by Clayton County police in bed in the apartment she shared with boyfriend Charles Reynolds. According to the medical examiners report, Vaziri was strangled to death. Reynolds apparently contacted his pastor after killing her, who in turn convinced Reynolds to turn himself in. When police arrived, Reverend Mark Medlin and two members of his church were present at the apartment. Reynolds confessed, according to the initial report, saying it was his fault. Reynolds was arrested. Captain Jeff Turner said that the couple had been drinking and taking pills prior to the incident.
2003 - WWE broadcast Sunday Night Heat. John Keane filed the following TV report:
Matches taped on 4/28 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Your Announcers are Jonathan Coachman and Al Snow.
We open with video from the closing moments of last Monday’s Raw-Linda McMahon, making one of her rare appearances on WWE TV, introduced Eric Bischoff to his new co-General Manager: Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Pyros go, Coach welcomes us in and announces Al as our newest Heat color commentator-Al, apparently oblivious to the fates of the last 3 people to occupy that position, seems pleased as punch to be here. We go to work…
1st Match: Lance Storm vs. Spike Dudley. Referee is Nick Patrick.
Good heat for Lance, surprisingly big pop for the youngest Dudley. Pre-match we get footage from last Sunday’s Backlash PPV. Spike’s brothers D-Von and Bubba Ray, after an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the World Tag Team Championships from Rob Van Dam and Kane, abruptly severed their ties with the Bischoff/Morley regime, laying out both Chief Morley (who’d served as guest referee during the match) and his occasional tag partner Lance. We’re reminded the elder Dudz are once again under suspension without pay.
Enough storyline stuff, bell rings, circling into a lockup, Lance goes behind, cinches in a waistlock, slams Spike face first to the canvas. Lance lays in a couple of slaps to the back of the head, gets to his feet, Spike grabs the boots, takes Lance down. Spike gets to his feet, takes a quick stroll down Lance’s spine, Lance up, Spike ducks under a clothesline attempt, trips Lance up, takes him down. Slaps to the back of the head by Spike, both men quickly up, Spike goes for the taunt, Lance wants a test of strength, gets it, forces Spike to his knees. Spike gets in a headbutt to the gut, maintains a hold on the arms, rolls through the test of strength, Lance in agony over the twisting of his wrists. Spike pulls Lance’s hands to the canvas, lets go, gets in a quick stomp. Lance doubled over, Spike grabs the arm, move that I want to describe as a fisherman’s backslide takes Lance down for 2. Lance rolls outside for a breather, Spike scores with a baseball slide to the chest, Lance down outside. Spike ascends a top turnbuckle, Lance gets to his feet, Spike flies, suicide dive sends both men down on the outside. Spike rolls Lance in, follows, goes for the quick cover, just gets 2. Spike gets to his feet, cinches in an armbar, Lance up slowly, knee to the gut forces Spike to break hold. Lance goes for the whip, Spike scores with the battering ram on the rebound, Lance doubled over, Spike looks for the Dudley Dog, Lance wriggles free, puts on the brakes, Spike drops to canvas after being whipped hard into a corner, Lance slowly covers, gets 2. Lance up, Spike to ropes, Lance goes for the boot choke, is quickly warned off by ref. Lance brings Spike up, delayed vertical suplex is good for another 2. Lance tries for the submission with a rear chinlock/modified hammerlock combo hold I have NO idea what to call, Spike gets to his feet, elbows out, Lance quickly whips him into a corner, charges, Spike gets the boot up to the face, Lance knocked goofy, Spike goes up top, hurricanrana follows, Lance down and up. Spike goes off ropes, Lance goes down to a shoulder charge, quickly gets to his feet, Spike again sends him down with a shoulder off the ropes, Spike brings Lance up, shoots him off ropes, Spike scores with the inverted Atomic Drop, clothesline follows, Lance down for 2. Spike quickly up, Lance begs off, Spike connects with the dropkick, sends Lance to a seated position in corner. Spike performs his trademark tapdance on the chest, takes a pose break before a roll-up, Lance kicks out at 2. Spike goes off the ropes, Lance gets to his feet, Spike tries for a sunset flip, Lance keeps his leverage, brings Spike up and sets him on a top turnbuckle. Lance gets in an elbow to the face, ascends 2nd turnbuckle, sets for superplex, Spike fires off punches to no effect, making a meal of Lance’s forehead and ear follows, Spike shoves Lance to canvas, flies, lands feet first on Lance’s chest, quickly covers, Lance gets his foot on the ropes before the count of 3. Spike signals for finisher, gets in a forearm to the back, brings Lance up at ropes, tries for the whip, Lance puts on brakes, Spike leaps atop his shoulders, grabs the ankles, tries for a victory roll, no luck, Lance again maintains his leverage, move can’t be completed. Lance keeps Spike’s shoulders pinned to the canvas for the count of 3.
Winner: Lance Storm.
During the match Coach and Al hinted that Stone Cold has already made his presence felt as Raw co-GM (case in point-I remember reading on a very recent house show report that Bubba Ray and D-Von claimed they’d already been reinstated by the Rattler.) More on Austin and Bischoff later, for now we break.
We return to footage from last Monday-some veterans of the Iraqi war were in the house for Raw.
Back to the ring…
2nd Match: Ivory vs. Molly Holly. Referee is Jacqueline.
Mild heat for Molly, OK pop for Ivory. Bell rings, usual bit of circling into a lockup, Ivory goes behind, applies the waistlock, takes Molly down. Waistlock is maintained, Molly gets to her feet, scores with the armdrag, Ivory down, Molly retains hold of the arm, can’t get Ivory’s shoulders to the canvas. Ivory somersaults through, applies a hammerlock, Molly gets to her feet, manages to turn to face, reaches under the leg, takes Ivory down. Molly cinches in an armbar, Ivory somersaults through, Molly wrenches the shoulder, Ivory remains down, Molly covers, just gets 1. Molly brings Ivory up, wristlock is applied, Ivory flails around in a vain attempt to break free, she finally gets to ropes, grabs hold, flips through the wristlock, takes Molly down with an armdrag. Both women down and up, Ivory charges, Molly drops to knees, shoves Ivory face first into 2nd rope. Ivory down, Molly gets in a quick boot before bringing her up in a corner, goes back to work on the arm before being warned off by ref. Molly STRAIGHT back to work on the arm in the corner, another warning follows, Molly wrenches the shoulder before backing off. Molly goes for the armdrag, scores big time, Ivory down for 2. Molly brings her up for more work on the arm, sit-out armdrag sends Ivory down for 2. Molly up for yet MORE work on the arm, Ivory slowly gets to her feet, forearms to the face force Molly to break hold. Ivory scores with a knockdown forearm to the face, follows up by bringing her up, Death Valley Driver is good for 2. Ivory brings Molly up, sets for DDT, Molly evades, sends Ivory face first to canvas with a wrench of the arm. Molly goes to ascend top turnbuckle, Ivory approaches from behind, sets her on shoulders, Electric Chair into a bridge is good for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Ivory.
Before we break, we get a quick clip from last Monday. World Champion HHH and Ric Flair were challenging RVD and Kane for the tag titles when the camera cut backstage to Shawn Michaels on his celphone informing parties unknown ‘He’s in the ring right now. He’s a sitting duck.’ Break.
Call of the Night: At last Sunday’s Backlash PPV, Kevin Nash, Booker T and Shawn Michaels took on HHH, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho in a 6-man tag match. Ref bump and a sledgehammer shot to Big Kev helped Hunter and co. pick up the win.
Coach and Al return for more Raw recap. We go to footage of the aforementioned tag titles match. End saw Hunter hitting Kane with the Pedigree and getting ready to put things away-when Kevin Nash, sledgehammer in hand, made his way down the ramp. Hunter performed the ol’ scalded dog routine and hightailed it backstage, Big Kev followed, tag champs quickly hit Flair with their Chokeslam/5 Star Frog Splash combo to pick up the win and retain their titles. In the back, Hunter jumped in a limo, Nash bashed in a couple of windows with the sledge before it peeled out of the arena.
Coach and Al guess we’ll see a continuation of the Nash/HHH saga tomorrow night. Break.
Back for more recap from last Monday. Raw opened with a new segment, ‘Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel’. Last week’s guest was Bill Goldberg, who was questioned as to why he came, uninvited, to WWE. Christian then took the stage to get in his 2 cents, taunting Bill about drawing boos at Backlash. Bill quickly got sick of the bigmouthed duo and invited them to come get their butts kicked-Jericho backed off, while Christian made his way down, Rosey, Jamal, Rico, Victoria and Steven Richards providing back-up. However, only Wacko Stevie had the guts to actually, you know, enter the ring. Goldberg quickly treated him to the spear as the gutless wonders backed off in abject terror. Later, Bill and Booker T traded notes about being newcomers to WWE-Book showed his class by extending his welcome to Raw. Next segment saw Booker and Christian going one on one until Rico, Jamal and Rosey interfered on the latter’s behalf. Post-DQ beatdown was halted when Goldberg arrived to make the save. Rico took the spear, Jamal the jackhammer (impressive!), Christian clotheslined Bill out of the ring and bailed. Goldberg quickly recovered, speared Rosey through a guard barrier and made his exit through the crowd.
And speaking of the burly Samoans….
3rd Match: Rosey and Jamal vs. Arch Kincaid and Jason Pacaro. Referee is Charles Robinson.
Arch and Jason already in the ring, low heat for the 3 Minute Warning boys-Rosey walks to the ring with a noticeable limp, presumably due to taking the spear last Monday.
(Commentary: But I thought all of tonight’s matches were taped before Raw went on the air last week…)
Anyway, bell rings, Jamal and Jason start, latter ducks under a clothesline, throws a couple of forearms to the face, Jamal shrugs the shots off, throws a forearm of his own, miraculously Jason stays on his feet. Jamal whips him into neutral corner, charges, Jason sidesteps, Jamal into turnbuckles. Jason tags in Arch, they go for the double-team whip to the ropes, Jamal easily puts on the brakes, sends both men down with a pair of clotheslines. Ref shoos Jason out of the ring, Arch crawls toward the ropes, Jamal gets in a quick boot before bringing him up, textbook body slam follows, Arch down. No cover, Jamal backs up to a neutral corner, charges in, drops the knee, Arch rolls clear, Jamal says ‘OW’, no other effect. Arch still down, Jamal drops a forearm to the face, brings Arch up, slams him right back down and drops a pair of elbows. Jamal taunts Arch to his feet, scores with a straight punch for a knockdown, Arch wisely tries to roll out of the ring, Jamal holds him back with a tug on the tights. Jamal props Arch up in neutral corner, whips him to opposite, charges, Avalanche sends the seemingly-unconscious Arch sprawling to the canvas. Jamal brings him up for another slam, Arch floats over, manages to tag in Jason before falling to the canvas. Jamal gets in a forearm shot to the side of Jason’s head before simply hoisting him up and tossing him back first to the center of the ring. Jamal notices Arch seated in the corner, decides to break off from Jason to administer the Butt-Splash of Obvious Total Death, guessing Arch is done for the evening. And after an elaborate sidewalk slam and the 1-2-3, so’s Jason.
Winners: Rosey and Jamal. (And yep, Rosey was never tagged in.)
Post-match Rico comes to the ring to congratulate his pals. Straight to break.
Coach and Al return to explain the whole ‘Austin as co-GM’ situation. Last Monday’s Main Event saw Trish Stratus taking on Bischoff. Odd match came about due to Trish requesting a shot at Jazz and her Women’s Championship. Eric, in complete slimebag mode, told her she could have the match next week provided she get a win over himself-BUT if she lost, she’d had to spend the night with him. Trish agreed, match ended up being a screw-job for the ages-right before the bell rang Eric decreed a no-DQ affair, and after run-ins by Jazz and Victoria on his behalf Eric picked up the easy win. As Eric gloated, Linda McMahon appeared on the Titantron and made her way to the ring. Eric’s attempt to kiss butt met with no success, WWE’s #1 lady quickly informed him his recent despicable behavior had earned him a partner as GM-Stone Cold. Show ended with Austin offering a handshake and Eric nervously accepting-until the Rattler reminded him their partnership didn’t officially start until the next morning and delivered the inevitable Stunner.
Coach mentions Austin has been spending some time at WWE HQ-looks like changes may be on the way. Final break.
WWE Rewind: From last Monday, the French team of Sylvan Grenier and René Dupree made their Raw debut with an old-school style beatdown of Scott Steiner.
4th Match: Rico vs. Maven. Referee is Chad Patton.
Looks like Rico and his buds have been hanging out in the ring all through the preceding recap! Maven gets a nice pop as he walks to the ring, ref quickly tells Rosey and Jamal to take a walk. They sullenly comply as Rico protests, Maven enters, bell rings, Rico gets in a bit more kvetching before laying into Maven with a slap to the face and a knee to the gut. Maven to ropes, Rico gets in a forearm to the face, Maven gets whipped off ropes, Rico misses with a clothesline, Maven goes off opposite ropes, Rico turns, goes down to a dropkick. Both men down and up quickly, Maven connects with another dropkick, Rico bails, heads up the ramp, Maven gives chase, tosses him back in, tries to follow, Rico drops the elbow, Maven rolls to apron, Rico to canvas. Both men up, Maven scores with an armdrag, Rico down, Maven follows up with an armbar. Rico gets to his feet, fakes trying to get to the ropes, instead tries for an armdrag-Maven rolls through, maintaining the armbar. Rico again gets to his feet, forces Maven to ropes, ref calls for the break. Rico gets in a knee to the gut, attempts a whip, Maven puts on the brakes, ducks under a clothesline, sends Rico down with another armdrag into an armbar. Rico gets to his feet, Maven wrings the arm, Rico gets out with my all-time favorite move, the ol’ thumb to the eye. Rico gets in a knee to the gut, Maven doubled over, Rico grabs the arm, steps over, scores with his trademark back calf kick to the face, Maven down for 2. Rico gets to his feet, lays in a pair of quick boots before laying in a rear chinlock, ref calls for the break when Rico adds in a raking of the face. Maven gets to a kneeling position, Rico again rakes the face, elbow drop to the forehead follows, Maven crawls toward ropes, gets in a quick kick to the chongs. Rico responds with a rear chinlock as Maven is tied up in the ropes, ref calls for the break, Rico gets in a nice chop to the neck before complying. Maven drops to canvas, Rico covers for 2. Both men attempt to get to their feet, Rico gets up first, Maven fires off forearms from the kneeling position, Rico keeps him down with another rake of the face. Rico gets in a straight punch to the side of the head, Maven crawls to corner, Rico brings him up, attempts whip, reversed, Rico to corner, Maven misses with a clothesline as he rebounds, Rico scores with a back kick to the gut, Maven doubled over. Rico sets him for what looks like a slight variant of the Edge-O-Matic, scores, Maven down for 2. Rico brings Maven to a seated position, wrenches the neck, Rico gets to his feet, elbows out, goes for the kick to the gut, Rico catches the boot, Maven connects with the enzugiri, both men down. Maven crawls to corner, Rico gets to his feet, charges, Maven scores with a drop toe hold, Rico goes face first into 2nd turnbuckle. Rico slowly to feet, Maven goes off ropes, Rico goes down to an elbow to the face, gets up slowly, Maven scores with a spinning calf kick, Rico down for 2. Maven tries to bring him up, Rico fires off a chop to the throat, tries for a whip, reversed, Rico off ropes, Maven brings him up, Rico gets pancaked to canvas. Maven ascends a 2nd turnbuckle as Rico gets to his feet, flying bulldog sends him right back down, Maven covers for 2. Maven goes up top, Rico staggers to his feet, Maven goes for the missile dropkick, Rico side-staggers, Maven to canvas. Both men up slowly, Rico goes for the desperation high spinning kick to the face, scores, Maven down for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Rico.
Coach and Al quickly hype tomorrow night’s Raw to end the show.
Decent show this week, matches went from passable to pretty good, recap was the usual. Al did a nice job, as he always did during a brief stint calling Heat while the Alliance storyline was playing out. I’m really wondering about this ‘co-General Manager’s’ angle-I hate being negative, but this one has me thinking train wreck.
2003 - WWE ran New Brunswick, Canada. James Fearn filed the following live report:
Smackdown House Show Results from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada Sunday May 4th 2003
First off, the Aitken Centre holds maybe 6 thousand tops, and was not anywhere near sold out. The floor seats were full but the upper deck was almost completely empty. I was in the second row and have to say it was a very good show. Matches could be out of order
Match 1 - Crash Holly with Shannon Moore vs. Funaki
Typical match. Not much in the way of high flying, a lot of ground action. Funaki was over with the crowd huge, Crash got an Elroy chant. Shannon tried to interfere with the Hardy Boys book but it backfired and Funaki got the win. Shannon told Crash to read the book and learn how to win.
Winner - Funaki
Match 2 - Sean O'Haire vs. Brian Kendrick
O'Haire is ripped. Basic match of Kendrick trying all his high flying moves and O'Haire dominating. Kendrick does some awesome high flying moves but loses to O'Haire's finisher.
Winner - Sean O'Haire
Match 3 - A-Train vs. Rhyno
A-Train nearly jumped the rail right in front of me to get at a guy. Big Shave Your Back Chant at A-Train. Rhyno seemed to hurt his shoulder early on, the referee came out of the ring to check on him to see if he was alright. Not much for excitement, Rhyno hit the gore for the win.
Winner - Rhyno
Match 4 - Cruiserweight Title - Matt Hardy with Shannon Moore vs. Jamie Knoble
No Nidia with Noble, she was out later. Good match. Noble had it won but Shannon interfered and set up the Twist of Fate for the win for Mattitude.
Winner - Matt Hardy
Match 5 - The FBI vs. Rikishi and Tajiri
Nunzio ripped the crowd to start, but still got no heat. The women cheered for Johnny the Bull a lot. Rikishi was mad over. Got one of the loudest pops of the night. Basic tag match with Tajiri doing most of the work. Johnny the Bull was cursing out the fans, called the woman next to me a B**ch and told another guy to F*ck off. The F.B.I got the win with help from Nunzio. Rikshi was going to stink face the referee for blowing the call, but Nunzio came back it with a chair and got it slammed into his face and got stinkfaced. Then Rikishi, Tajiri and the referee all danced.
Winners - FBI
Match 6 - The Big Show vs. Chris Benoit
Big Show is the biggest man in the world! HE came out with a backboard with REY, R.I.P on it. Benoit came out to a huge pop and Canada chant. Lots of whoooo's for Benoit's chops to the Big Show. The Big Show got the win with the Chokeslam. Benoit got up and put the crossface on the Big Show, A-Train ran in and attacked Benoit, Rhyno came in for the save and gored the Big Show while Benoit had A-Train in the Crossface.
Winner - The Big Show
Match 7 - Diva's Match - Dawn Marie vs. Nidia Special Referee Funaki
Torrie Wilson was advertised, with Dawn Marie being the referee. Huge heat for no Torrie even though she was on all the ads. Basic woman's match, Nidia got the win. Dawn attacked after the match, Funaki tried to restrain her and ended up in the doggy style position which he got a slap for. Nidia pulled Dawns pants off and she exited in just a thong.
Winner - Nidia
Match 8 - Tag Titles - Team Angle vs. Los Guerreros
Match of the night by far. The Guerreros, especially Eddie was huge over and kept cracking the crowd up. Eddie took the microphone and said that the referee told him that Charlie Hass nickname was Doyle, so everyone chanted Doyle at him and he got mad. Eddie did some more talking and cracking jokes and it ended up with Team Angle laughing as well. Charlie Hass was trying to act mad but was smiling, and Benjamin had his face in his arms laughing wildly. Once the match got started it was basically the tag match they had at Backlash. Eddie fought with the ref a lot about holding the tag rope, he would untie it and move it around and beg with the referee to not have to hold it. Hilarious for me since his tag corner was right in front of me. Team Angle got the win but the Guerreros attacked and stole the Tag titles. The Guerreros left with the Tag Titles and the Gold Medals (which they had when they came out).
Winners - Team Angle
Match 9 - World Title - Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
Cena cut a rap about Fredericton people being ugly and fat. Brock got the biggest pop of the night by far. Match was quite short with a lot of rest holds. Brock hit the F-5 out of nowhere to end it.
Winner - Brock Lesnar
Overall it was a very good show, with Los Guerreros stealing the show. My first show in over 10 years and I loved it.
Biggest pops
1) Brock Lesnar
2) Los Guerreros
3) Rikishi
4) Chris Benoit
5) Rhyno
Biggest Heat
1) Team Angle, especially Charlie Haas
2) Johnny the Bull for cursing everyone out
3) John Cena
4) A-Train - Huge Shave Your Back Chant
5) The Big Show
2004 - During an edition of Smackdown in Tucson, Arizona, Jacquelyn (aka Jackie Moore) answered an open challenge from WWE Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero, defeating him with a low blow inside of three minutes to win the Cruiserweight Title, the first woman to do so since the belt became a WWE property.
2005 - The Jeremy Borash promoted Hardcore Homecoming event, set for June 2005 at the ECW Arena, sold out nearly a month in advance. The show, headlined by Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas vs. Sabu in a no ropes barbed wire match, set the venue record with a $100,000 plus gate as the event was timed to take place the same weekend at the first-ever ECW One Night Stand PPV.
2006 - WWE publicly confirmed they were bringing the ECW brand back as a full-time entity and were signing talents to deals with the brand slated to debut at the June 2006 One Night Stand PPV. PWInsider.com had broken the news several weeks prior.
2007 - Ring of Honor publicly confirmed that The Briscoes, Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson, Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero, and Davey Richards had been signed to contracts in anticipation of their debut PPV taping.
2008 - In a column on WWE's ECW website, Tommy Dreamer addressed criticism of the new brand, writing, "There are many armchair critics of the show. Hell, I am one of them of every show. The Sopranos ending was the worst ever. The ending of Seinfeld, horrible. Those two examples made the ECW Zombie seem like a good idea. (OK, maybe not.) I watch a lot of TV and wish the writers did other things, but guess what: It is their show and they can do as they please. I, as the viewer, have two choices: Watch or change the channel. The Original ECW is still held dear in so many people's hearts, myself included. That is why the new ECW is so critiqued. The best part about sports-entertainment is things can change in a heartbeat. I would never have been in WrestleMania 23 standing with Rob Van Dam, Sandman and Sabu if it wasn't for the new ECW. The rematch against the New Breed was a great match. Remember Hardcore Holly and RVD matches? Or how about the rise of CM Punk, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, Big Daddy V ... hell even The Miz got better on ECW, and he sucked. Kofi Kingston will be a force in WWE because he is talented. I am sure Kelly Kelly will be the first ECW Diva on the cover of Playboy. I enjoy the Colin Delaney struggle for a contract and really loved our Extreme Rules Match in Chicago against The Miz & John Morrison. Bottom line is there are some great things about ECW and it is still a work in progress. I am happy to still be representing as the OG of ECW. You, the viewer, have two options: One, watch and don't give up, or two, change the channel. I will never stop trying to fight. I won't give up on you, the viewer, so please don't give up on me."
2009 - The Necro Butcher's scene with Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" where they brandish a staple gun in the midst of their hardcore CZW match was nominated for the very dignified "WTF Moment" MTV Movie Award. The scene did not win, but was one of many notable mainstream media mentions for Butcher that year, including a shout-out during the Academy Awards.
2009 - WWE Monday Night Raw aired live from Buffalo, NY. Ed Sherriffs filed the following report:
The date is May 4, 2009 and it's the "Go Capitals!" edition of Monday Night Raw. There's a lot going on heading into Judgment Day, and the big news tonight is that Randy Orton will be taking on Shane McMahon. And it's kicking the show off!
Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon
Randy Orton is caught off guard when Shane McMahon sneaks up in the ring. They spill out to the floor and fight up the aisle. Shane with some punches to Orton. As they go through the crowd, Orton regains control. Shane punches back and kicks Orton in the stomach. Shane throws Orton back to ringside, then leaps off the barricade with a clothesline. Orton is put on the announcer's table and Shane goes to the top rope, but Legacy strikes and all three of them beat up on Shane. MVP runs out to make the save, but Legacy is able to overwhelm him, too. They dump him from the ring and focus on Shane. Batista runs out and makes the save, chasing Legacy off.
Vickie Guerrero comes out to restore some order. She mixes it up a bit. Ted DiBiase will fight Batista. Cody Rhodes will face MVP. Win and you're in the main event and you get to join Shane or Randy Orton. So potentially, it could be a tag team match, or it could be a 3 on 1 beatdown.
Matt Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston
Kofi and Matt trade hammerlocks. Kofi goes after the injured hand. He knocks Matt to the mat. Kofi misses a springboard crossbody out of the corner. Matt pounces and kicks Kofi in the stomach, then he drops him stomach first on the top rope. Hardy with a vertical suplex. He goes for another, but Kofi escapes and hits a neckbreaker. Kofi back with a big drop kick. Cross body connects, but Kofi looks hurt, too. Kofi with his leg drop across Hardy's chest for two. Kofi avoids a back body drop and wins with a kick to Hardy's head.
Your winner, Kofi Kingston!
After the match, Kofi goes down when Matt hits him with the cast.
Santino is in the back with Kelly Kelly calling Vickie Guerrero pig like and making a swine flu joke. Chavo walks up and doesn't like that. He warns Santino not to make fun of his family. Santino agrees, then squeals like a pig.
Recap of John Cena costing Big Show the match for the number one contendership last week. Big Show walks into Vickie's office and says he wants to end Cena's career. Vickie says he is physically unable to compete, and he won't be cleared for two weeks. She offers to make the match at Judgment Day.
The Bella Twins walk up to MVP to find out about his View appearance tomorrow, then ask him out.
William Regal joins Cole and Lawler on commentary.
MVP vs. Cody Rhodes
They lock up and MVP gets the advantage with a side headlock. Rhodes with headscissors. MVP with a side headlock on the mat. MVP gets some early covers and knocks Rhodes down. Cody with a drop toe hold. MVP with a side headlock and shoulderblock. Rhodes attacks MVP's leg, then punches him in the head. Leg lock by Cody.
MVP with some crossfaces. MVP blocks a charge. Belly to belly suplex by MVP. MVP is Ballin'. Rhodes gets out of the ring as Regal offers Rhodes some assistance by taking out MVP's bad leg. MVP can't make it back in the ring, so Cody wins by count out. It goes without saying that he will pick Randy Orton's side.
Your winner, Cody Rhodes!
Jerry the King Lawler is in the middle of the ring. Tonight, there will be a sing off instead of a dance off. It's Jillian Hall vs. Festus, who looks spiffy in a bow tie. I'm sure Jillian is singing a song that's on the charts right now, but I don't listen to the radio. It's terrible, though. Festus does his best Chief imitation until Lawler has the bell rung. Festus sings "Tomorrow" from Annie. For whatever reason, Buffalo seems really into it. The bell rings and Festus stops. Festus is the winner by an overwhelming margin.
The Miz comes out as Jillian pleads for another shot. He takes the mic out of Festus' hand and tosses him out of the ring. He orders them to take the fat, bald virgin out of his ring (he's already out at this point). He recalls that Cena didn't come out to the ring last week, so he surmises that Cena is afraid of him. He asks him where his Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect is. While we ponder that, someone find out where Larry David's Judaism is. He says if he was being called out, he would come to the ring. Cena appears on the Titantron and walks towards the ring. Commercial.
Back from the break, Miz has been killing time waiting for the commercials to end and he is asking where Cena is. Maybe he is looking for his next movie script. Too late, Miz mailed it to the Rock, who needed more toilet paper. He is packaged for the kiddies and their Cougar moms. Miz calls himself the most talented Raw Superstar there is. He continues to ask Cena to come out. He wants the whole dame thing, not just some. Since Cena didn't show up again, he calls the score Miz 2, Cena 0. Lillian again refuses to count the "win", so he goes to do it himself.
Before he can, Cena slowly walks out from behind the curtain. He makes it to the ring, but just then Big Show comes out. Cena puts his hands up as if ready to fight, but he's in no condition and Show easily kicks him to the mat. Show kicks Cena and keeps him from getting up. He sits on Cena and stretches back with a Camel Clutch. Cena is face down on the mat as Show gets up and glares at him. It lasted longer than it looks when you read about it here, but I covered all the action.
Jared the Subway Guy of all people is the guest ring announcer. I hope Subway is giving WWE a lot of money.
Mickie James vs. Maryse
Mickie James wastes no time in attacking Maryse. Mickie with a Lou Thesz Press. Maryse gets the advantage and a two count with a weak cover. She applies a Camel Clutch. Mickie gets up, but Maryse keeps her on the mat. James fights back and kicks Maryse. Mickie blocks a charge, but is thrown off the top turnbuckle. Mickie comes back with a DDT for the win.
Your winner, Mickie James!
Batista vs. Ted DiBiase
They lock up and Batista pushes him off. DiBiase bails from the ring, then gets back in and stomps Batista. Batista is unfazed and he slams DiBiase on the mat. DiBiase floats over and tries to attack, but he is clotheslined to the mat. Batista with an elbow to DiBiase's back. DiBiase back with some punches to Batista's head. Dibiase scores with a neckbreaker, but Batista kicks out at two.
DiBiase with a chinlock. Batista gets him off and charges in the corner. DiBiase comes off the second rope, but Batista gets his foot up, then spears DiBiase in the corner. DiBiase with a slap to Batista, so he gets more spears in the corner. Batista doesn't listen to the ref count to five, so he gets disqualified. What a lousy finish.
Your winner, Ted DiBiase!
So Shane McMahon is on his own against Legacy.
In the back, Chavo reassures Vickie about taking care of Santino. He then says she has to make sure that MVP and Batista stay out of the main event tonight. If HE were GM, he would threaten to strip MVP of his title and Batista of his title shot. Chavo is clearly playing the role of GM by proxy now, or a less subtle Jeeves.
The Brian Kendrick vs. Carlito
Kendrick gets an early advantage. He whips Carlito in the corner, but Carlito comes out with a clothesline, back body drop, and a sit out spinebuster for two. Kendrick kicks Carlito in the head for two. Kendrick goes for Sliced Bread #2, but Carlito shoves him into the corner and gives him a backcracker for the win.
Your winner, Carlito!
Recap of Jeff Hardy becoming the number one contender on Smackdown.
Another Smackdown recap, this time it's how Sherri Shepherd came to be on Smackdown and how MVP will be on the View tomorrow morning. Will any of the View's viewers know who he is? Michael Cole claims to love it.
Batista apologizes to Shane in the back for messing up. He says Shane can count on him taking the title from Orton in two weeks. Well, Shane's got that going for him, then.
Legacy (Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase & Randy Orton) vs. Shane McMahon
Shane peppers Cody with punches to start. He clotheslines Rhodes to the mat, but Cody gets Shane into his corner. Shane quickly gets out. Cody tags Orton in. Orton punches Shane in the head. Shane back with some lefts and DiBiase tags in. DiBiase stomps Shane. Shane takes over and knees DiBiase in the back. Shane with a neckbreaker. He goes to the top rope and hits a top rope elbow drop and slowly covers for two when Cody breaks the pin up.
On the floor, Cody is thrown into steps and so is DiBiase. Shane gets a chair, but he is blindsided by Orton. Orton tags in and kicks Shane in the stomach, then stomps him. Orton with a knee drop to McMahon's chest. Cody tags in and stomps Shane. Cody goes for a moonsault, but Shane rolls out of the way. DiBiase tags in and punches Shane. Shane blocks a charge and clotheslines DiBiase.
Orton tags in. Shane tees off on Orton. Shane with a back elbow and he clotheslines Orton out of the ring, then knocks the rest of Legacy out. Shane takes the monitors out of the table and puts Orton on it. Shane goes to the top rope and jumps off, but Orton moves.
Legacy put Shane's leg on the steel ring steps. Orton smacks it against the steel with a chair. Orton takes the top step and drops it right on the foot that he had hit with the chair. The camera's catch it missing Shane's foot by accident. Orton admires his handiwork. Batista comes out to make sure no further damage comes to Shane. At the top of the stage, Orton tells Batista his Judgment Day is coming. Batista sets up for the post RAW dark match by saying the don't have to wait. Awful main event. Shane was beating three guys on his own for about ten minutes. A 20 minute segment that should have been done in five. Orton stares at Batista to end the show.
2010 - SpikeTV issued a press release confirming TNA Impact would be returning to Thursdays on 5/13/10. “The fans have spoken and with their input we have determined the best timeslot to maximize the TNA audience is on Thursday nights where we are confident it will be among the most-watched shows with young men,” said Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president, sports and specials for Spike TV, in the release, which also announced the addition of Reaction, a well produced series that followed up on Impact's developments. Reaction ended up running several months and on some weeks, was better than Impact.
2010 - It was announced that WWE Celebrity Hall of Famer and Major League baseball legend Bob Uecker's heart surgery the previous week was a "complete success." Doctors replaced Uecker's aortic valve, aortic root and part of his ascending aorta. Uecker also underwent a coronary bypass.
2010 - A fan who threatened to bomb WWE Headquarters because they released Mickie James was banned from going to WWE events. Zavr Peygumbari of Brooklyn, New York, described as an "emotionally disturbed" man in media reports, was ordered by Judge William Wenzel to not to contact WWE employees, go near the company's Stamford offices or attend WWE events following his arrest the previous Friday following after making a series of threats against WWE employees. He called the offices more than 20 times, "making threats to blow up the company's offices and saying he would visit the building with a machete and a machine gun." This resulted in him being charged with four counts of fourth-degree threatening, one count of second-degree harassment and two counts of second-degree threatening. Currently out on bond, he is due in court to face the charges on May 25th. His attorney, in responding to the charges, stated "It's a testament to the WWE that they get people so psyched up in the story lines." The release of James was not a storyline.
2011 - It was announced that Edge would join the Syfy series Haven as a guest star. Edge's work would lead to him becoming a recurring character on the series.
2011- It was announced that Mick Foley had raised over $500,000 for the RAINN charity.
2012 - Hulk Hogan's son Nick was granted an early release from the five year probation term he was given in 2008 after he pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving with serious bodily injury which stemmed from the 2007 car accident that critically injured his friend John Graziano. Given the terms of his sentencing being met, Nick will not have a felony charge on his record from the incident. Since being released, Hogan has gone into the electronica music world as a DJ.
2012 - Pro Wrestling Syndicate ran "Refuse to Lose" in Rahway, NJ. Mike Johnson filed the following live report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live coverage of Pro Wrestling Syndicate's return to Rahway, NJ, titled "Refuse to Lose"
The Reality Check, Kevin Matthews, Jay Lethal, Amazing Red and Devon Moore came to the ring. Lethal, who turned heel here last month, ripped on the fans for chanting "TNA sucks" at him and then going home and watching it. He said they have a plan for tonight and that's to take out The Young Bucks. Lethal asked why would you waste a plane ticket on the Bucks. Lethal said Red was the greatest wrestler he's ever seen, had something to get off his chest. Red teased speaking, then raised his middle fingers. Lethal said he was going to put PWS champion Sami Callihan on notice.
QT Marshal vs. Mike Dennis
Marshall did some mic work to establish himself as a heel early. Dennis shoulderblocked him down but was caught with an elbow when he tried to drop down for a leapfrog. Dennis used the ropes to springboard himself into a rolling headlock takedown.
Marhsal came back with a leg lariat for a two count. He locked on a rear chin lock. Dennis fought his way out but was slammed down for a two count. Marshall worked him over with a series of rapid fire right hands while Dennis was down on the mat.
Marhsall missed a splash in the corner, setting up a Dennis comeback. He ducked a punch and nailed a series of hard clotheslines. He backdropped Marshall over and nailed a running dropkick in the corner. He went to the top rope but Marshall crotched him. Marshall attempted a superplex but was shoved off. Dennis came off with a frog splash for the pin.
Your winner, Mike Dennis!
OK opener. Nothing was bad but it was a little long in the tooth.
The ring announcer introduced Bret Hart, who is here at guest Commissioner for the night. Hart took the mic and received a standing ovation as the crowd chanted his name. Hart thanked everyone and said he's had a great time in Rahway. He said it was great to be back in New Jersey, where he had some of his greatest matches. He said it's a pleasure to be here and with some of the wrestlers in the back like Demolition, who Hart Foundation have battled for years and Marty Jannetty, who fought the Harts when he was part of the Rockers. He said that he appreciates the support and he appreciates the fans and thanked them for having him.
Tag Team Gauntlet: Enhancement Talent vs. Demolition
This is a Gauntlet with the winners named as the top contenders to the PWS Tag Team titles. Big chant for Barry Darsow and Bill Eadie. Smash worked over one member of Enhancement and whipped him into the ropes for an elbow. Demolition double teamed him with shots to the back. The other enhancement hit the ring and ended up getting beat down as well. The Demos did a version of the Hart Attack and covered one of the Talents for the pin.
Enhancement Talent have been eliminated.
Mark Modest & Mark Matrix hit the ring and were quickly take down by the Demos. The referee tried to stop them from beating someone in the corner and they shoved the referee.
Demolition was disqualified.
The Demos nailed the referee and got a big pop for it.
The next team out was The Phat Pack, who came to the ring with Ox Baker. One of the Pack was DJ Phat Pat from NYWC. He used a rocket launder to send Matrix off the top to his spartner, who caught him and nailed a Samoan Drop, then a splash for the pin.
Matrix and Modest have been eliminated. Another team came out but I didn't catch their names and they were eliminated as well.
A team named Grave Encounters hit the ring and were wiped out in rapid succession as well. They were nailed with double Banzai Drops for the win.
Your winners, The Phat Pack!
Once Demolition was eliminated, it was a lot of young guys trying with various degrees of success. The crowd loved seeing the Demos.
Dan Maff vs. The Amazing Red
As Maff came to the ring, Reality Check jumped him in the aisle and beat him down. The referee rang the bell and began counting Maff out. He rolled in at nine and was attacked and beaten down by Red, who put on Maff's vest to mock him.
Red pulled Maff's led to the apron and slammed it. Red began working over Maff's ankle and leg. He turned Maff over into a single-leg crab. Maff made it to the ropes but Red kept working him over. Maff fell off the apron hard onto the floor, where Red kept trashing him.
Back in the ring, Maff fought back but was caught with a reverse rana for a two count. Red came off the top with a flying legdrop, then tied Maff up on the mat. He locked in an STF. Maff rolled out of it but was caught with a glancing (VERY glancing) spin kick. Out of nowhere, Maff came back with a spear and a clothesline for a two count.
Maff hit a Head and arms suplex from the outside to inside the ring. He naied the Burning Hammer and Reality Check ran down. Maff knocked Devoin Moore off the apron. The referee was distracted by Jay Lethal, allowing Kevin Matthews to nail Maff with a chair. Red rolled atop of Maff for the pin.
Your winner, The Amazing Red!
Good back and forth match. They told a nice story.
Matt Hardy vs. Colt Cabana
Once both were in the ring, Teddy Hart came to the ring and said that he can't let them have all their fun by themselves. He asked to be added in, Hart came to the ring carryng Persian cat and a very muscular blonde woman. Cabana was all for it. Hardy agreed as well.
Hart began doing moonsaults off the top. Cabana and Hardy attacked him and worked him over in the corner with chops. They teased doing the old Hardy spot where Jeff would jump off Matt's back but instead Cabana ran around him and clotheslined Hart.
Hart and Cabana went back and forth. Hardy grabbed Hart and tossed him to the outside and he nailed the guard rail hard. With Hart eliminated from the equation, Cabana and Hardy locked up and began exchanging armwringers and hammerlocks.
Hart returned and tried to moonsault them. Hardy avoided it and when Hart went to moonsault Cabana, he was shoved forward off the top and hit the ground rudely. Cabana and Hardy went back to working each other ovr. Hardy whipped him into the ropes and nailed a back elbow for a two count. Hardy went for the Sidewinder but Cabana battled out with a series of elbows. He whipped Hardy into the corner but was kicked off as he charged.
Hrdy went to the ropes and tried to come off with an elbow but missed. He and Cabana weere both nailed by a Hart moonsault. Hart dropkicked Hardy and nailed him with a hard DDT. Cabana drilled Hart over the top with a series of elbows. Hart made a comeback and nailed a Russian legsweep on Hardy for a two count. Cabana nailed him and then whipped Hardy into the corner and nailed The Flying a**hole. Hardy came back and locked on the front choke on Cabana.
Hardy was dipatched to the floor by Hart. Cabana nailed him and locked on a Sharpshooter. Hardy grabbed Cabana from behind in a sleepered and then snapped him down to the mat. Hardy drilled Hart with the Twist of Fate but Cabana broke it up. He went for the Twist on Cabana, who slipped out and locked him in the Billy Goat's Curse. Hart nailed Cabana with a Canadian Destroyer and scored the pin.
Your winner, Teddy Hart!
Entertaining bout. Hardy looked good. Cabana was his usual fun self with some good wrestling and Hart brought in some cool spots and crazy bumps. He was incredibly ripped.
One Warrior Nattion vs. Helter Skelter
The crowd chanted "This match sucks" and "No." Warrior Nation scored the win with a splash. The less said here the better.
After the match, Pure Black hit the ring and destroyed Skelter and his manager with the larger member of the team, Lucifer Darkside hitting them with insane moonsaults, which got the biggest pop of the night. The sight of this man landing the moonsaults was nuts.
The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Matthews & Devon Moore
The Bucks started out fast with some double team moves but Nick leapt off Matt's back into a splash on Matthews, only to be caught and slammed down on his brother. They worked over the Bucks until Nick made a comeback. He drilled Moore with a twisting elbow, then knocked Matthews off the ropes.
Nick leapt over the ropes into a Facebuster on Moore. The Bucks went for their stereo kicks but Matthews drilled him with a Late Rites. Nick kickedhim with a twisting kick. Moore went to the top and nailed a shooting star press but missed. Matthews was sent into his partner in the corner and the Bucks unloaded with a series of superkicks on Matthews.
Moore grabbed one of the Bucks and rolled him up for the pin.
Your wunners, Kevin Matthews & Devon Moore!
The Bucks got a nice round of applause on the way out. The match felt like they had cut a lot of time out of it and had gone right into the finishing sequences without a lot of time to build. So, there was something lost in the translation and it was just OK.
Marty Jannetty vs. Jerry Lynn
This is a first time ever match, believe it or not. They played to the crowd a lot early on. They locked up and avoided each other's moves early. Jannetty locked on a hammerlock and Lynn reversed it and turned it into a test of strength. Jannetty rolled through and took Lynn to the mat with his legs and they rolled around, reversing each other's moves. In the end, neither man gained the advantage and they faced off.
Jannnetty grabbed a hammerlock but Lynn turned it into an armbar. They locked up and Marty took Lynn down with a side headlock and maneuvered him into a head scissor. Jerry slipped out and grabbed a side headlock. Lynn slipped out and used a leg sweep to gain a two count, then went back to the side headlock.
Lynn and Marty kept exchanging hiptosses and nearly tossed each other out of the ring. They battled into the corner. Jannetty whipped Lynn hard into the buckles. :Lynn rammed Jannetty into the buckles but Marty came back with a charge. Lynn sent him up and over to the apron, then came off the buckles with a dropkick, sending Marty to the floor. Lynn nailed a baseball sliding kick to the outside.
They battled briefly on the floor. Jannetty slipped through Lynn's legs to return to the ring and they battled over a backslide. Lynn lost and was nearly pinned. He grabbed a small package for a two count. Lynn went up and over in the corner and rolled up Marty for a two count. They went into a series of near falls, which the crowd applauded. Marty was a few steps behind Jerry in terms of pacing but the crowd was being appreciative.
Jannetty went for a catapult into the corner and Lynn smashed the top turnbuckle. Lynn nailed Jannetty as he charged and covered him for another two count. Jannetty nailed a gourdbuster and went to the ropes for a fistdrop. Lynn rolled out of the way but Jannetty landed on his feet and nailed a DDT. He went back to the ropes for a flying bodypress but the momentum caused Lynn to roll through and he scored the pinfall.
Your winner, Jerry Lynn!
Lynn took the mic and said that he asked for this match since he's retiring this year and asked to wrestle Jannetty. He said that before he was a wrestler, he was a big fan of the Midnight Rockers and Marty Jannetty in the AWA. He praised Jannetty.
It was OK, but you could tell that it wasn't the match that these guys would have had in their prime. The match was placed a little too late in the card because you could feel the crowd getting restless with the matwork. The speech at the end was nice.
Adam Cole vs. Brian XL vs. Samuray del Sol vs. Zema Ion
Before they started they announced two surprise entrants. One was billed from Teddy Hart's wrestling academy. I couldn't make out the name beyond Tiger. The second was also from Teddy's school, billed as High Risk Andrew Hoss.
Hoss and Tiger started out. They locked up and Tiger worked on his arm, Hoss used the ropes to reverse it, flipping over. They went back and forth with hiptosses and armdrags. Cole tagged in and worked over Hoss, locking in a side headlock. He was sent into the ropes and when Hoss went for a leapfrog, Cole just bent down on his knee and allowed Hoss to land on it. Ouch!
Sol and Ion tagged in and dazzled with some crisp and fast Lucha style spots. Sol missed a dropkick and was lifted and slammed down. XL came off the ropes and nailed a rana to the outside on Ion. He chopped him hard in the corner and whipped him into the opposite corner, then nailed a running clothesline. Ion was sent into the corner and went up and over. He tried to do the same to XL, only to find XL had stopped and dropkicked him.
Cole tossed XL out of the ring before he had a chance to capitalize and then was tossed by Ion. Ion went for a dive but was clotheslined over the top by Tiger. Tiger nailed a tope con hilo to the floor Hoss then hit a nice Spira Tap to the floor on everyone. Sol then hit an insane springboard dive over the top to everyone on the floor.
Back in the ring, XL hit a springboard flying bodypress on Cole for a two count. Sol interfered asnd wss cayught with a back elbow as he rebounded off the ropes. Ion slammed Sol into the corner. Cole whipped Sol hard into the buckles. He and Ion teamed up to whip Sol hard into the corner again. Tiger hit the scene but was tossed rudely to the outside. Hoss hit the ring and nailed Cole with a leaping enziguiri.
Ion grabbed Hoss and sent him into the corner. He placed him on the top. Cole and Ion argued over which of them would superplex him. They then agreed to do it together. Sol and Tiger came from underneath andit turned into a Tower of Doom spot.
Cole drolled Sol with a superkick and a brainbuster over the knee. Tiger broke up the pin and drilled Cole with a stiff forearm and a fisherman's buster. Ion cut him off but was drilled with a leaping kick to the head. Tiger missed a swanton and was lifted into a move where he was dropped over Ion's knee. XL chopped away at Ion and came off the ropes with a tornado DDT for a two count.
Hoss attacked XL and nailed a pumphandle slam into a death valley driver for a two count. Sol nailed him with a kick but was booted in the face. Sol nailed him with a kick back and did the old Rey Mysterio springboard into a flipping rollup for the pin, which exploded the crowd.
Your winner, Samuray del Sol!
Great finish. Good stuff. It's hard to do something cohesive with so many guys but this was a really fun collection of back and forth strikes. The dives were all real impressive and the Hart students had a nice accounting for themselves.
Jillian Hall & Reby Sky vs. Maria Kanellis & Brittney Savage
Becky Bayless was the guest ring announcer.
Savage and Sky started out. Sky sent her down to the mat, but was kicked in the gut and rolled up for a two count. Hall tagged in but was nailed by a Savage dropkick. Kanellis tagged in and came off the ropes with an axehandle. She snapmares Hall and dropkicked her, covering Hall for a two count.
Maria worked over Hall in the corner with a series of punches. She charged but was sent into the middle buckle. Hall worked over Maria, then tagged Sky back in. Sky nailed her with several forearms and choked Maria against the ropes. Sky used her legs to choke Maria in the corner and covered her for a two count.
Hall tagged back in and teased letting Maria tag, then slammed her face into the canvas. Hall stomped away at her, then tagged in Sky, who dropped a legdrop across the mid-section. She stomped away at Maria on the mat and snapmared her over. Sky locked Maria in a aurfboard but Maria fought back. She charged and they clotheslined each other
Savage made the hot tag and clotheslined Hall over several times. She nailed a series of hipblocks in the corner. She barely hit a flying bodypress. They lost the crowd but got them back with a double bronco buster. Maria and Sky battled on the floor. Savage was distracted by it. Hall attacked her from behind and was nailed. Savage tried to hit a sunset flip off the turnbuckles but Hall simple sat down and held the ropes, scoring the pin.
Your winner, Reby Sky & Jillian Hall!
Not good.
PWS champion Sami Callihan vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal took the mic and said that he knows, just like everyone else here, that Callihan is a dirty cheater, so he's hired the greatest manager/bodyguard of all time, Out came, YES, the one and only Virgil!...and Virgil....walked back out. Uh,,,ok.
Callihan nailed a series of chops and controlled the match early. When he went to the top, however, Lethal "fell" into the referee, who hit the ropes and Callihan fell. Lethal controlled him for awhile, locking on a figure four leglock. Callihan finally turned it over and escaped but Lethal dropped him with an axehandle.
They battled to the floor, where Lethal lot up Callihan with chops. They battled into the first row before returning to the ring, where Lethal continued with the chops. Lethal drilled Sami with a gutbuster across the knees. Lethal whipped Callihan hard into the buckles several times.
Lethal whipped Callihan in again but Callihan exploded out with several clotheslines and stiff chops. He went to the top for a splash but missed. Lethal went to the top for the flying elbow, but missed as well. They battled to get to their feet but Lethal nailed Callihan. Callihan fired back and they exchanged blows. Callihan caught Lethal with a DVDR and nailed the springboard splash.
Lethal caught Callighan with an inside cradle for a two count. They exchanged blows. Lethal nailed a superkick and the Lethal combination for a two count. Kevin Matthews tried to hit the scene with a chair but was attacked and brawled to the back with someone I couldn't see.
Back in the ring, Callihan and Lethal battled to the top rope. Callihan came off the top with a sunset flip but Lethal kept nailing him with punches. Callihan reared back with a kick and locked on the Stretch Muffler. Devon Moore hit the ring and piledrove the referee. Callihan put him in th Muffler, then dispatched him. Lethal kicked Sami in the gut and DDT'd him. Lethal called for the flying elbow but Samo rolled out of the way.
Callihan locked on the Stretch Muffler again and a second referee hit the scene. Amazing Red followed him out and hit a standing shooting star press on the ref, wiping him out. Callihan took out Red and rolled up Lethal. Lethal slipped out as there was no referee and hit a handspring cutter. A third referee hit the scene but Callihan kicked out at two.
Callihan locked on a choke and Lethal tapped.
Your winner and still PWS champion, Sami Callihan!
An entertaining spectacle to close the show. That's it from Rahway!
2012 - TNA ran Ontario, California. Edward Alvarado filed the following live report:
Just got back from attending the TNA house show in Ontario, California. Had a great time as always when it comes to TNA house shows.
First match was Gunner vs the Pope D'Angelo Dinero - Gunner was victorious over the Pope. The crowd was not too happy about the Pope losing.
Match had the home town girl Tara defeating Winter in a very good but too short knockouts match. Good back and forth action, Tara won after hitting the widows peak after Winter was kissed by Earl Hebner.
Mr. Anderson defeating Robbie E was the third contest of the evening. Match started off with Robbie E interrupting Mr. Andersons's self introduction to fist pump. Match was rather quick. Fourth match was Jeff Hardy taking on Kurt Angle. Match was physical with Angle hitting a few nice looking suplexes . Hardy won with a twist of fate and swanton bomb. Crowd was split with the cheers in this one. After intermission Samoa Joe and Magnus took on Daniels and Kazarian in a very good match. Crowd was really into Joe and Joe seemed be enjoying himself. Match was a very good back and forth contest. Daniels and Kazarian did a good job riling up the crowd before the match. In the main event Rob Van Dam defeated Bobby Rude in a non title match. RVD had a live band playing his entrance theme. Match was ok, nothing special. RVD won after a 5 star frog splash to send the crowd home happy.
Notes:I'd say there were about 1,000 people in the building....A lot of fans thought that Hulk Hogan was going to be at the show tonight due to the local radio advertising. I did not hear the commercial so I can't say for sure if it was implied Hogan was going to appear....I have been to both TNA house shows and one WWE house show in this building and I must say that I have had a better time at the TNA shows.
2012 - WWE broadcast Smackdown. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We are live on tape from Dayton, Ohio and your announcers are Booker ‘Brass Monkey’, Michael ‘Wasn’t there wrestling here last week’ Cole, and Josh ‘Happy Cuatro de Mayo’ Mathews.
The World Champion makes his way to the ring and he has something to say. Sheamus is holding his arm as a result of what happened against Daniel Bryan on Sunday night. He says that he is out here to do what he loves and that is fight. He loves to fight. He doesn’t care if it is in the arena, a bar room, a parking lot, or the back yard of his grandmother’s house in Ireland.
That is what he is going to do in the next few minutes. Daniel Bryan almost tore his left shoulder off at Extreme Rules and he wants to finish the job tonight. Earlier tonight, he was asked if he would fight Daniel Bryan and he gave a one word answer . . . YES.
The crowd starts chanting ‘Yes’ along with Sheamus and then the man who made Yes famous makes his way onto the stage and Yes, he is not happy
Match Number One: Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan in a Non Title Match
They lock up and Sheamus with a side head lock and shoulder tackle, but Sheamus shows that his shoulder is still damaged from the match on Sunday. Bryan with a wrist lock but Sheamus with a punch and side head lock. Bryan with a drop toe hold and he returns to an arm bar. Sheamus with punches but Bryan with a single arm DDT.
Bryan with kicks to the shoulder as Sheamus tries to protect his arm. Bryan adds more pressure to the shoulder and he applies a hammer lock and drops knees to the arm. Bryan starts to work on the other arm by working on the wrist. Sheamus with elbows but Bryan with a European uppercut.
Sheamus with a punch but Bryan with a kick to the arm. Sheamus sends Bryan into the turnbuckles and he punches Bryan and connects with forearms. Sheamus with a running shoulder into the corner and a running knee lift. Sheamus with a clothesline to send Bryan over the top rope to the floor.
Ricardo Rodriguez with a cross body and the referee calls for the bell
Winner: Sheamus by disqualification
After the match, Del Rio kicks Sheamus and applies the cross arm breaker. Bryan gets back into the ring and he applies the Yes Lock.
Bryan has something to say to Del Rio about getting him disqualified. Sheamus wants to return to the ring, but the referees do not allow it.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a moments ago moment.
Sheamus is in the medical room and they are working on Sheamus’ arm.
We see footage from Monday night when R Truth and Kofi Kingston defeated Epico and Primo to become the new tag team champions.
Match Number Two: Kofi Kingston and R Truth versus Camacho and Hunico in a Non Title Match
Before the match starts, the former tag team champions Primo and Epico along with Rosa Mendes and Abraham Washington make their way to the stage to watch the match.
Hunico and Truth start things off and Truth talks to Little Jimmy but Hunico ‘slaps’ him. Truth with a double leg take down and punches to Hunico. Truth with a hip toss and hammer lock. Kofi tags in and Kofi with a flying forearm from the turnbuckles and he gets a near fall. Huncio holds onto the ropes when Kofi tries for a drop kick. Kofi is sent to the apron and Hunico knocks him off and then Camacho with a clothesline while the referee deals with Truth.
Hunico with a slingshot senton from the apron and he gets a near fall. Hunico chokes Kofi and then he tags in Camacho. Camacho with a front face lock and forearms followed by a delayed belly-to-back suplex. Camacho with a leaping leg drop for a near fall. Camacho with kicks to Kofi in the corner and Hunico is tagged back in.
Hunico with a slingshot baseball slide to Kofi and he gets a near fall. Hunico with a reverse chin lock and he sends Kofi into the corner. Kofi fights out of the corner and he arm drags Hunico but Kofi cannot make the tag. Truth punches Hunico and Kofi with a monkey flip.
Truth and Camacho tag in and he punches Camacho. Truth with the Truth Detector and then Hunico tries to interfere. Kofi takes care of Hunico. Truth with the Little Jimmy for the three count.
Winners: Kofi Kingston and R Truth
We go to commercial.
Match Number Three: Brodus Clay with the Funkettes versus Jack Swagger with Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler
Brodus with a belly-to-belly suplex but Swagger with a punch to the knee and head followed by elbows to the back of the head. Clay with a clothesline and then Ziggler tries to interfere but he gets to the floor before Clay can do anything to him. Swagger with a shoulder that knocks Clay to the floor.
Ziggler tries for a dive off the steps but Clay with a head butt and Ziggler goes down.
Swagger with forearms to the head but Clay pushes him away. Swagger runs into the corner and Clay grabs Swagger and hits the Sheeeeplex. Swagger rolls out of the ring and he doesn’t want to deal with Clay any more. Swagger helps Ziggler to the back and the referee makes the ten count.
Winner: Brodus Clay
After the match, a few children make their way into the ring to dance with Brodus and the Funkettes.
We go to commercial.
We are back with a look back at what happened at Extreme Rules between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. It did not end on Sunday, John Cena now has to face John Laurinaitis.
Josh says that Cena’s injuries were made worse on Monday night. Cole tries to justify what John Laurinaitis did on Monday night and mentions that John has taken a personal day.
Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan argue in front of Eve. Bryan says that he had Sheamus beaten but Del Rio interfered. Del Rio says that he is next in line for Sheamus’ title. Bryan reminds Del Rio that he has earned a WWE Title Match.
Daniel Bryan demands that he face Sheamus tonight. Eve says that she is in charge and will make a decision about whether Sheamus will compete tonight after talking to the medical staff.
Damien Sandow is walking in the back and he will make his in ring debut shortly. We go to commercial.
We are back and Damien Sandow makes his way into the arena for his debut match. The Intellecutal Savior of the Masses makes his way to the ring. Damien stands on the apron and he begs everyone’s indulgence for a moment. He introduces himself and he says that he is here to help all of us. Tonight was supposed to be a glorious night that would usher in the new era of enlightenment that the ignorant masses have been yearning for.
The crowd starts to chant ‘What’ and Sandow thanks them for their irrelevant opinion. However, in order to be a true role model, he cannot and will not engage this miscreant in the ring this evening. Damien says that it might be difficult for the simpletons. How would they learn or benefit from witnessing the Enlightened One going up against this simple minded ignoramus who is no different than anyone else in the building.
In short, Damien says that he will not be competing in a match tonight for the benefit of everyone. He says that everyone is welcome.
Derrick Bateman gets a mic. A mere five months ago, he earned a match on NXT to get a match on Smackdonw. Derrick demands his match.
Match Number Four: Derrick Bateman versus Ryback
Bateman with kicks and forearms but Ryback with a boot to the chest and then he slams Derrick’s head into the mat. Ryback wants Bateman to get up and Ryback presses Bateman over his head and then hits a backpack stunner. Ryback with a lariat and then he hits the muscle buster for the three count.
Winner: Ryback
We go to commercial.
Match Number Five: Kane and Cody Rhodes versus Big Show and Randy Orton
Rhodes and Orton start things off as former Legacy partners lock up. Orton with a side head lock and shoulder tackle. Orton blocks a hip toss and connects with a short arm clothesline. Orton gets a near fall. Rhodes with a kick and he tries to send Orton into the turnbuckles but Orton blocks it and turns the table on Rhodes. Rhodes stops short of Big Show and then Orton with a European uppercut.
Show tags in and he chops Cody in the chest twice. Rhodes gets sent into the turnbuckles and then Show with an Andre the Giant butt bump in the corner. Show slams Rhodes and tags Orton back in. Orton with the leaping knee drop to the upper chest and he gets a near fall. Orton with a standing drop kick for another near fall.
Rhodes with a kick and drop down uppercut before he tags in Kane. Kane and Orton exchange punches but Orton with a kick. Kane with a knee to the midsection to stop Orton. Kane with an Irish whip and punches in the corner. Kane goes with knees and then a shoulder to the midsection. Kane runs into a knee and then Show tags in and Show with a spear to Kane. Show hip tosses Rhodes into the ring and he chops Cody.
Show with punches to Kane’s midsection followed by a head butt. Kane with a running DDT to Show and both men are down.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Rhodes has tagged in and he is kicking Show and then he kicks Show in the head. Kane tags back in and kicks Show in the chest. Rhodes chokes Show with his boot while the referee deals with Orton. Kane with a drop kick for a near fall. Kane with a rear chin lock to keep Show on the mat.
Show gets to his knees and then his feet and he hits a belly-to-back suplex and both men are down. Orton and Rhodes tag in and Orton with two clotheslines. He avoids a clothesline from Cody and that means time for an Orton power slam. Orton sends Cody to the apron for the IEDDT but Kane punches Orton to stop him.
Kane tags in but Orton kicks Kane as he enters the ring and Orton with the IEDDT. Orton looks around and then he twists into the RKO push ups. Kane pushes Orton out of the RKO and Cody pulls down the ropes and Orton goes over the top rope to the floor. Kane tries to send Orton into the ring post but Orton escapes and Kane goes into the post. Kane with a boot to Orton and then he rolls Orton into the ring and gets a near fall.
Rhodes tags back in and he kicks Orton and kicks him in the ribs and then hits a knee drop for a near fall. Rhodes with punches but Orton blocks one and then he kicks Rhodes. Cody fires back with a standing drop kick for a near fall. Kane is tagged back in and he kicks Orton. Kane punches Orton and Irish whips him but Orton with an elbow and back breaker. Both men are down and Show wants Randy to make the tag.
Kane with a clothesline and Cody tags in and gets a near fall. Orton with a hammer lock using the leg and a reverse chin lock. Orton with punches to get out of the hold but Cody with a kick and he tries for CrossRhodes but Orton escapes. Show tags in and connects with clotheslines followed by a big back body drop. Show signals for the choke slam and Show grabs him.
Kane hits the clothesline off the top turnbuckle on Show but Orton with an RKO to Kane. Rhodes sends Orton into the ring post and then he tries for the Beautiful Disaster on Show but Show with a chop and then he knocks out Rhodes to get the three count.
Winners: Big Show and Randy Orton
Matt Striker is outside the medical room and Sheamus emerges. Sheamus says that he came here to fight and that is exactly what he is going to do.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Six: Layla versus Natalya in a Non Title Match
Natalya with a waist lock and take down into a front face lock but Layla with a hammer lock. Natalya with a fireman’s carry but Layla with a head scissors. Natalya escapes the head scissors. They lock up and Natalya works on the arm and wrist but Layla with a reversal.
Natalya with a reversal and a forearm and she sends Layla head first into the mat. Natalya with a discus clothesline for a near fall. Natalya with an abdominal stretch but Layla escapes. Natalya tries for a slam but Layla escapes. Layla with an arm drag into a rollup but Natalya kicks out. Layla with the Lay Out for the three count.
Winner: Layla
Aksana is in make up and Eve wants to make sure that everything is right. They are taking publicity photos for Antonio Cesaro and Aksana. Eve wants Antonio to be more intense. Eve thinks that something is wrong and Eve says that Antonio is too dry and she wants some oil for Antonio. Eve tells Aksana that she shouldn’t do it. Eve tells Teddy to apply the oil. Teddy refuses at first but then he applies generous amounts of oil on Antonio’s back. Aksana wants Teddy to apply some oil to Antonio’s chest.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Alicia Fox and Kaitlyn are talking when AJ Lee walks by. Alicia leaves before AJ says anything. AJ says that she cannot believe what she did to Kaitlyn last week. She understands if Kaitlyn does not forgive her because that was not the real her.
Kaitlyn says that she felt betrayed last week after being slapped. Kaitlyn says that she was trying to be AJ’s friend. She tells AJ that the pity party over Daniel Bryan has to stop.
AJ slaps the taste and maybe a few teeth out of Kaitlyn’s mouth and she walks away.
It is time for the Raw Rebound.
Josh tells us that Triple H suffered a broken arm and Cole says that Hunter needs surgery. Cole says that we hope to have and update on Brock’s situation this weekend or on Raw.
Ricardo Rodriguez introduces Alberto Del Rio and they come to the announce table to join Booker, Josh, and Michael.
We see what happened earlier tonight when Ricardo and Alberto attacked Sheamus.
Match Number Seven: Daniel Bryan versus Sheamus
Sheamus tries to protect his wrapped up shoulder and he pushes Bryan away. Bryan with a wrist lock to the injured arm but Sheamus with a punch. Bryan goes for the leg and then he applies a hammer lock but Sheamus backs Bryan into the corner and connects with elbows to the head.
Bryan with a drop toe hold and kicks to the injured shoulder. Sheamus tries to use the ropes to protect the shoulder from attack but Bryan with a few shots. Bryan with more kicks to the shoulder followed by a drop kick. Bryan wraps the arm in the rope and he tells the referee that I HAVE UNTIL FIVE.
Sheamus with defensive kicks as he tries to protect his shoulder. Bryan continues to work on the arm but Sheamus with a tilt-a-whirl power slam. Sheamus tries for the Brogue Kick but Bryan moves and Sheamus goes to the apron. Bryan with a drop kick to the shoulder and Sheamus goes to the floor. We go to commercial.
We are back and Bryan with a flying knee from the apron and it hits the shoulder. Bryan returns Sheamus to the ring and wraps the arm in the ropes. Bryan kicks Sheamus in the back of the head and Sheamus falls to the floor. Bryan with more kicks to Sheamus but Sheamus fights back. Bryan with a hammer lock and he sends the injured shoulder into the ring post.
Bryan sends Sheamus back into the ring and Bryan goes up top and hits the diving head butt to the injured shoulder but Sheamus fights through the pain to kick out. Bryan with a kick to the injured shoulder and Sheamus tries to fight back. Bryan takes the bandages off the arm and Bryan with a hammer lock. Bryan with knees to the arm.
Sheamus with an elbow when he gets back to his feet but Bryan tries to send Sheamus into the ring post but Sheamus turns the tables and sends Bryan shoulder first into the post. Sheamus with the forearms across the chest to Bryan on the apron. Sheamus with ten more forearms across the chest followed by a suplex for a near fall.
Sheamus runs into a knee from Bryan but Sheamus catches Bryan and hits a uranage back breaker for a near fall. Sheamus with knees to Bryan’s shoulder and the referee warns Sheamus. Bryan drops Sheamus’ arm on the top rope and then Bryan goes up top for the missile drop kick but Sheamus kicks out.
Bryan returns to the injured shoulder for kicks. Bryan comes off the ropes but Sheamus with a double sledge that almost flips Bryan in the air. Sheamus sets for the Celtic Cross but Del Rio gets on the apron. Sheamus sends Bryan into Del Rio. Del Rio goes to the floor and Bryan goes up top. Sheamus meets Bryan with a Brogue Kick for the three count.
Winner: Sheamus
We go to credits.
2013 - ECW documentary "Barbed Wire City" held its NYC premiere at the Gramercy Theater.
2013 - Ring of Honor held its Border Wars iPPV. Mike Johnson filed the following report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live, ongoing coverage of Ring of Honor Border Wars 2013 from Toronto. To order the iPPV, visit ROHWrestling.com.
I had some Internet connection issues early but C&C Wrestling Factory defeated ACH & Tadarius Thomas in what looked to be a great opener.
Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett
Bennett was wearing Zubaz inspired tights. No Bob Evans, but Maria Kanellis was there. Bennett stalled a lot early. They went to the floor, where Strong was sent into the barriers several times. Bennett brought him back in for a two count.
Back in the ring, Strong tried to make a two count but Bennett took him down and slammed him. Bennett nailed a legdrop for a two count. Bennett whipped Strong into the corner but was kicked away. Strong was caught and slammed down for a two count.
Strong mounted a comeback and nailed several clotheslines and leg lariat. Bennett kicked him away during a charge but Strong fought back. Strong got the better of the exchange and nailed a superplex for a two count.
Strong went for a suplex but Bennett nailed him with several elbows and a spinebuster for a two count. Strong leapfrogged over a charge and nailed a leaping forearm in the corner, followed by a back suplex for a two count.
Bennett fired back with a spear and a forward roll for a two count. Strong came back and locked in the Stronghold Boston Crab. Maria Kanellis got on the apron, distracting the referee from seeing Bennett tap.
Strong released Bennett to argue with the referee but was nailed for a two count. Bennett went for the Stronghold but Cheeseburger, the young student, ran out and kissed Maria. Bennett went after him but Strong nailed a leg lariat and scored the pin.
Your winner, Roderick Strong!
Good back and forth match.
They aired a video segment on SCUM beating down Kevin Steen.
I Quit: BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus
Steve Corino cut a promo before the match but I really couldn't make it out.
Whitmer hit the ring and attacked Titus. They fired back and forth with chops. Whitmer was sent into the ropes but Corino tried to trip him. Nigel McGuinness walked out afterward. Titus was sent to the floor and Whitmer nailed a dive. McGuinness returned with several referees and had them eject Corino from ringside. The crowd chanted, "Get the f*** out."
Whitmer worked over Titus on the floor with chops and tossed him back into the ring. He worked over Titus' neck. They battled on the top. Titus made a comeback and tossed Whitmer to the floor.
Titus worked over Whitmer on the floor and placed him on the apron near the ringpost. Titus charged and hit a running kick to Whitmer's head. He brought Whitmer back in the ring and locked on the Orienta; Torture Device for a submission attempt.
Titus kept working over Whitmer, who sucked it up and fired back with an explosive flurry of strikes. Titus begged off but tricked Whitmer into being slammed facefirst into the turnbuckles. He tried to ziptie Whitmer to the ropes but Whitmer fought him off and tied one of Titus' arms to the ropes, trapping him.
He tied Titus' other arm and worked him over with punches. Whitmer grabbed a chair but Corino returned and offered himself to be hit instead. Titus quit to stop Whitmer.
Your winner, BJ Whitmer!
Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton immediately hit the ring and attacked Whitmer. This led to Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal hitting the ring, so the scheduled tag match began.
Lethal & Elgin vs. Compton & Jacobs
All four brawled around ringside while ROH cut Titus out from the ropes. The stipulation here is that if SCUM wins, Steve Corino becomes the color commentator for ROH TV.
Lethal whipped Compton hard into the ring barrier. Elgin then clotheslined him over into the crowd. Back in the ring, Jacobs and Lethal exchanged chops and punches in a corner. Compton pulled himself back to the order.
Elgin tagged in and held Jacobs for a long delayed suplex. He held him for a long, long time before dropping him. Elgin and Lethal nailed a series of double team moves for a two count. Jacobs finally raked Lethal's eyes and tagged out to Compton.
Lethal came back with the handspring elbow for a two count. Elgin did the delayed vertical suplex on Compton. Lethal joined in and did one on Jacobs. The crowd loved that.
Compton was sent into Elgin by Lethal. Lethal then dropkicked Jacobs off the apron. Elgin nailed a spinning sit down Torture Rack. Lethal nailed a dive to the outside on Jacobs. Lethal began grabbing at his knee and was hurt. The referee checked on him outside the ring.
This led Elgin alone battling Compton. He nailed a Black Hole Slam for a two count. Elgin didn't know what happened to Lethal but went to the floor when he realized something was wrong. Corino began screaming for the ref to count out Lethal. Nigel McGuinness left commentary to check on Lethal.
Elgin finally returned to the ring and battled both members of SCUM alone. Lethal was carried out. SCUM kept out-maneuvering Elgin when he went for big moves. They finally worked over Elgin in the corner. Jacobs scored several two count on Elgin. Elgin made a comeback but there was no one to tag.
Kevin Steen hit the scene and demanded to be tagged in. He was tagged in and cleaned house on SCUM. Elgin went for a powerbomb in the corner on Jacobs but Compton speared his legs. Steen, who had been nailed in the eyes, recovered and tossed Jacobs over the top. He nailed a pop up powerbomb on Compton and went for the Package Piledriver but Jacobs rolled him up and scored the pin.
Your winners, SCUM!
They aired Taiji Ishimori vs. El Generico from a few years back to promote Ishimori. They then aired Paul London vs. Michael Shane Street Fight to promote their bouts tonight.
QT Marshall and RD Evans came to the ring. Evans cut a promo, leading to a video on the screen above the entrance announcing the return of Tomasso Ciampa, who had been out for a year with a knee injury. Ciampa then walked out the entrance. It was a nice entrance build.
Ciampa drilled Marshall and tried to nail him with a running knee but Evans pulled him to safety.
Eddie Edwards vs. Taiji Ishimori
Ishimori's Pro Wrestling NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight championship is not on the line. This is his first appearance in North America for ROH.
They locked up and reversed several moves before facing off. Edwards grabbed a side headlock and shoulderblocked him down. Ishimori nailed a head scirrors and teased a dive. They went into a series of moves. Ishimori hit another head scissors to the outside. Edwards was nailed with a standing moonsault to the floor from the corner.
Back in the ring, Edwards was locked into a rear chinlock. They battled to the apron where Edwards nailed an enziguri on Ishimori, sending him to the floor. Edwards nailed a big time dive to the outside.
Ishimori was tossed back into the ring for a two count. Edwards drilled him with a big dropkick then brought him to the corner for a hard chop. Ishimori and Edwards battled back and forth with chops. Edwards went for a back suplex but Ishimori landed on his feet. Edwards was able to overcome him and locked him in the Achilles Lock.
Ishimori came back with a big stomp and a big double knee strike off the top for a two count. Ishimori went for a handspring elbow but Edwards caught him and nailed an inverted sitdown suple. Edwards peppered him with chops in the corner, sending him down to the mat.
Ishimori reversed a whip into the corner but was caught with an elbow and a running knee strike. Edwards slammed him down for a two count. Ishimori came back with a version of the shining wizard for a two count. They went back and forth with a series of near falls. Ishimori hit a twisting kick but was drilled in the face by Edwards. They both drilled each other and were down and out. The crowd chanted for ROH.
They recovered and battled back and forth with strikes. Ishimori went to the top for a 450 splash but Edwards pulled his knees up. Edwards worked over Ishimori and placed her on the top. He nailed a top rope super rana. Ishimori was drilled with a pair of powerbombs across the knees for another two count.
Edwards finally drilled him with the Diehard Driver for the win.
Your winner, Eddie Edwards!
Really good match with some great near falls and sequences.
ROH TV champion Matt Taven vs. Mark Briscoe
Taven and Briscoe went back and forth. Briscoe ran him from the ring with a spinkick. Back in the ring, Taven backed Briscoe into the corner and drilled him with a chop, Briscoes returned and nailed several of his own, rode him to the mat and drilled him with a series of cross faces.
Taven was caught in an armbar and a series of armdrags. Briscoe sent him to the floor and nailed a dropkick through the ropes. Briscoe worked over Taven on the floor and suplexed him onto the apron.
I had some Internet issues but the finish was The Hoopla Hootties distracting Briscoe. He was rolled up by Taven, who hooked the tights to get the win.
Your winner and still ROH TV champion Matt Taven!
Truth Martini was nailed with Redneck Kung-Fu after and Martini was carried out.
Davey Richards vs. Paul London
London was wearing his old school tights, whih they said were the tights he wore the last time he worked here.
They had some nice back and forth wrestling early. The story was whether London could hang with Richards since he had carefully picked his competition in recent years.
Richards showed some real aggression. At one point, London was tossed to the floor and nailed a female photographer, who kept shooting. London made a comeback after being worked over for some time and nailed a flip dive over the top to the floor.
London nailed a double stomp off the ropes on Richards . He kicked off a Richards charge but was nailed with a kick and nailed with a German suple into a bridge for a two count. Richards drilled London with right hands as as the crowd rallied him.
London drilled Richards with a series of suplexes and a Dragon suplex with a bridge for a two count. They battled back and forth until Richards drilled him with a tombstone on the floor. London went for a double stomp off the top but slipped on London's sweaty chest as he hit Paul, slamming into his head. OUCH.
Richards maneuvered London to the top but London nailed a sunset flip powerbomb. London went for the shooting star press but Richards pulled his knees up and scored the pin on London.
Your winner, Davey Richards!
Richards took the mic and said that when he's in the ring, he's all business and he's kind of an a**hole but this match was his honor and said that without Paul London, this company would not exist. He asked the crowd to show some love for London.
London took the mic and said that he's been in the twilight zone for nine years and he snapped back into it tonight. He said that Richards gave him an asswhipping and he sort of liked that. He said the honor was all his.
Nice moment.
ROH champion Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole
They had a faceoff early and went back and forth with some nice wrestling. Briscoe nailed a series of shots and stomps. Cole was whipped hard into the corner but avoided a charge, sent Briscoe to the outside and hit a nice dive.
Cole tossed Briscoe back inside and hit a flying bodypress for a two count. He cinched in a side chinlock. Briscoe fired back with a series of elbows. He drilled Cole to the mat and slammed Cole down. He drilled an elbow for a two count.
Briscoe measured and drilled Cole in the corner and nailed a rebound elbow. He chopped Cole hard but was caught with a charge in the corner. Cole nailed a dropkick to the knee. Cole began working over Briscoes' leg.
Briscoe made a comeback and worked over Cole with a series of rights. Cole nailed him in the knee. Cole went after him but Briscoe snapped him into the turnbuckles for a two. Cole and Briscoe battled back and forth. Cole drilled Briscoe with a DVDR onto his own knee.
Cole went for the figure four leglock. He was fought off. Briscoe went off the ropes but was superkicked by Cole. Briscoe came back with the Falcon's Arrow for another two count. Briscoe went for the Jay-Driller but Briscoe's knee gave way. Cole nailed a neckbreaker but Briscoe kicked out at two.
They went to the outside, battling on the apron. Cole charged him but was caught with a DVDR on the apron outside. Big ROH chant. Briscoe nailed a big boot to Cole's face, then snapped him backward with a nasty neckbreaker for a two count.
Cole came back with a figure four leglock and nearly pinned Briscoe with it. They battled back and forth and ended up on the top. Cole hit an awesome back superple, then hit several superkicks and The Florida Key for a two count. Cole went back to the figure four. Briscoe kicked him off. Cole nailed heads with referee Todd Sinclair.
Steve Corino tried to get on the apron and give Cole a SCUM shirt. Nigel McGuinness teased going to get help but instead attackedCorino and hit the Tower of London. He dragged Corino out.
In the midst of this, Briscoe hit the Jay Driller on Cole for the win.
Your winner, Jay Briscoe.
Right after the win, my stream, which had been going in and out most of the night died.
2014 - WWE broadcast the Extreme Rules PPV. Mike Johnson filed the following PPV report:
Welcome to PWInsider.com’s coverage of WWE’s Extreme Rules 2014! Following our coverage, we will have our exclusive post-game show for PWInsider Elite subscribers. You can subscribe to Elite by this link.
WWE Network Pre-Game Show:
Sheamus, Josh Mathews, Alex Riley and Booker T are the panelists.
There was a pretty loud “CM Punk” chant behind them.
The panel promoted the “Wee-L-C” match and then discussed the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane bout for the WWE World Heavyweight championship. They aired clips of what went down on Raw with Kane, Bryan and Brie Bella.
The panelists discussed the title bout as the PPV announcers made their way to ringside.
They showed Torito getting warmed up in the back with Los Matadores, then showed Hornswoggle getting all psyched up in the back with 3MB.
The panel discussed the John Cena-Bray Wyatt issue and aired clips the spooky choir singing for Wyatt as Cena was disturbed.
When they came back from the video, there was another chant for Punk in the background.
Wee-L-C Match: Hornswoggle (with 3MB) vs. Hornswoggle (with Los Matadores)
They have a little person ring announcer, referee and even a little person commentary team dressed as the regular announcers. Short Sleeve Sampson was playing a mini-version of Jerry Lawler.
They began slugging it out at the bell. Hornswoggle took him down and went for a kick but missed. Torito nailed a headscissors, sending him to the outside and then hit a dive onto Swoggle and 3MB. Los Matadores came over to check on him. Hornswoggle went for a dive but messed up and bounced off the ropes in a comedy bit.
Torito went under the ring and retrieved a tiny chair. He used it as a springboard to nail a big kick to Hornswoggle. Jinder Mahal got involved but was headbutt in the ground. Hornswoggle got a small ladder but asked for a bigger one. It was a step ladder. He went to the top and went for a splash but Torito easily moved out of the way and covered him for a two count.
Hornswoggle slammed Torito as they went to a commercial. When they returned, 3MB attacked Los Matadores as they checked on Torito on the floor. They showed all these cool spots that took place DURING THE COMMERCIAL. Argh! Hornswoggle nailed Torito with a chair. He dove off the chair and nailed a sitdown splash. That was rude.
Hornswoggle did a parody of RVD’s Rolling Thunder (they called it Rolling Blunder). Torito went to the floor and was slammed by Hornswoggle. He made the little people commentary team move and placed Torito atop the table. Hornswoggle did a flying elbow off the apron, destroying the table. The crowd popped for that.
The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”
Torito was tossed back into the ring where 3MB returned and set up a table. Hornswoggle nailed Torito wirh a chair. Hornswoggle dropkicked Slater off the apron somehow and he took a table bump. The other members of 3MB worked over Torito on the top of a ladder. Los Matadores returned to the fray and came up behind Mahal. They held him on their shoulders. Torito nailed Hornswoggle off the ladder then did a Thesz Press onto Mahal and all four crashed through tables and ladders on the floor.
Hornswoggle nailed him with a chair and placed him on a table outside. Drew McIntyre nailed a tope con hilo to the outside but Torito moved and Drew destroyed the table in spectacular fashion. Torito nailed a splash on Hornswoggle and scored the pin.
Your winner, Torito!
Well, that was a hell of a spectacle.
Zeb Colter was interviewed. He said that the three way shows three sides of America. RVD is the people who think everything is cool and OK, which would destroy the country. Cesaro and Paul Heyman are the people who steal and scheme and Swagger is the hard working American. He promised Swagger would win and then they can get the hell out of New Jersey.
The panel showed what happened on Raw with Evolution and The Shield Monday. The panel discussed the match. Booker said that if The Shield wins tonight, they make their mark. He said they are unproven and can be proven tonight. Sheamus said they are hungry and Evolution is a big meal for them. Riley said if they work together and have the perfect match, The Shield will win but Evolution doesn’t need to have the perfect match to defeat them.
EXTREME RULES 2014
They had a great video package pushing the top three matches.
Elimination: Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman) vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter)
Heyman cut a promo and said WWE only gets it right once a year. He said that it’s when the tribe of extreme get together and celebrate….that his client Brock Lesnar ended the Undertaker’s streak. The crowd, which was about to chant “ECW” booed that. It was pretty funny actually. He said that the 11th commandment of Extreme is Thou shall not boo Heyman. He said the new commandment is to cheer the new Heyman Guy, Cesaro.
All three faced off. They began slugging it out and kicking at each other. The former Real Americans worked over RVD, then turned on each other. Cesaro drilled Swagger with a number of uppercuts. Swagger picked him up and drover Cesaro down to the mat. RVD returned to the fight and kicked Swagger with The Ryder Kick off the ropes. RVD nailed a monkey flip on Cesaro, slamming him over onto Swagger.
RVD went for a bodypress off the ropes but Cesaro caught him and slammed him. Swagger drilled Cesaro and covered him for a two count. Swagger slammed RVD’s head into the mat and brought him into the ring. He nailed him with a series of knees but missed a charge into the corner and was sent over the ropes to the floor. RVD saw Cesaro returning and nailed a sunset flip powerbomb to the outside. Swagger nailed a clothesline on the floor on RVD.
Swagger controlled RVD and nailed a Vader Bomb out of the corner for a two count. Cesaro nailed Swagger and hit the Big Swing. RVD kicked Cesaro in the face to end that and covered him for a two count. RVD went for the Five Star Frog Splash but Swagger caught him with a belly to belly superplex and locked in the Patriot Lock. Cesaro nailed a springboard uppercut off the ropes on Swagger.
Swagger nailed a right hand and went to the top but Cesaro caught him with an uppercut. Cesaro nailed an awesome superplex into the ring on Swagger. RVD came off the top with a five star frog splash, pinning Swagger.
Jack Swagger has been eliminated.
Cesaro nailed a series of Gutwrench suplexes on RVD. Cesaro nailed a back suplex with a bridge for a two count. RVD went to the floor. Cesaro came off the ropes with a double axe-handle. He grabbed RVD and throttled him into the barricade. RVD came back and draped Cesaro over the barricade, nailing the corkscrew guillotine legdrop. The IZOD Center chanted “ECW.”
RVD nailed Rolling Thunder on Cesaro for a two count. RVD nailed a Hollywood Star Press for a two count. RVD went under the ring and pulled out a trash can. Cesaro dropkicked it into him as Rob was returning the ring. This match is just a great, physical bout.
Cesaro rolled RVD in and then tossed the can in. He went to nail RVD with it but RVD took him down for a pinfall combination. RVD nailed a Van Daminator with the trash can. He placed it on Cesaro and went for the Five Star Frog Splash but Cesaro moved and Rob crushed the can. He may have cut the side of his head on impact. Cesaro nailed the Neutralizer on the can and covered RVD.
Your winner, Cesaro!
This was just a great, physical bout with all three really working their asses off and taking it too each other. Lots of really good sequences and brutal spots. Loved this.
Backstage, WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan was being checked out by a doctor backstage. Stephanie McMahon showed up and said that she wanted Bryan to know that she can’t control Kane. She said that it’s hard for her to admit but she can’t. She said that she’s afraid for Bryan, for his wife and his mother because they will have to witness what’s going to happen to him. She gave him the option not to compete and instead surrender the title. He told her, “Get out of my face” and said he was walking in as champion and will walk out, somehow, the same way. She told him he’s going to be walking out as Kane’s bitch.
Alexander Rusev vs. Xavier Woods & R-Truth: Handicap Match
Lana came out and made sure to show off her ass before announcing Rusev was now living in Russia and they dedicated this match to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yes, they did.
Rusev attacked them as they entered the ring. Truth was tossed into the barricade. He removed the apron from the ring and ran Woods into the “steel” under the ring. Rusev killed Woods with a Northern Lights suplex on the floor, then attacked Truth.
Rusev slammed him into the ring turnbuckle and then whipped him into the opposite corner. Rusev nailed a back splash in the corner. Truth kicked off a second charge and nailed a spin kick. Truth nailed a leaping splash in the corner, then a missile dropkick.
Truth nailed the spinning elbow while rebounding off the ropes and nailed the Axe Kick. He covered Rusev for a two count. The WWE medical staff checked on Woods, who never moved. Rusev cut off Truth and went for the Fallaway Slam but Truth landed on his feet. He rebounded off the ropes but was drilled. Rusev nailed a Uranage and locked in the Accolade. Truth tapped.
Your winner, Alexander Rusev!
As a spotlight for Rusev, it was good. Truth looked competitive here when he was on offense.
Rusev grabbed Woods on the floor and suplexed him again for good measure to show what a beast he is.
Lilian Garcia announced the Special Olympics would be in New Jersey next month and showed the American team.
Renee Young interviewed Evolution. HHH said that everyone says their ego will be their downfalls. He said he won’t deny they have egos but they have 31 World titles between them. He praised each of them, including himself. He said their egos are well deserved. Orton said that you either adapt or perish and that tonight, The Shield will perish. He said to believe that and they mocked The Shield’s signature pose.
WWE Intercontinental champion Big E. vs. Bad News Barrett
Langston’s power controlled Barrett early, leading to Bad News going to the floor. He kicked Big E, as he came to the outside and tried to toss him into the ringpost. Big E. blocked it and sent Barrett into it, then tackled him in the corner. Barrett was tossed back in the ring but caught Big E. with a kick as he returned to the ring. He kicked Big E. to the floor. He yelled “Bang Bang” and did the Cactus Jack elbow off the apron to the floor.
Barrett controlled Big E. and scored several two counts. He nailed a big boot to the face and began stomping him on the mat. He tied the champion up in the floor and nailed a series of knees to the face, then kicked him through the ropes to the apron. He put the champ across the top turnbuckle and worked him over, then charged. Langston caught him coming and nailed a big overhead belly to belly suplex. Langston was pissed and nailed a series of big clotheslines and a belly to belly suplex. He shoulderblocked him in the corner.
Barrett went to the apron. Big E. attempted to suplex him back in but was fought off. Langston speared him through the ropes to the floor. Langston set up for his big splash but was caught with a Black Hole Slam for a two count. Barrett sent him into the corner and nailed Wasteland for a near fall.
Langston caught Barrett with a big suplex and scored a two count. He nailed his signature big splash and set up for the Big Ending. Barrett slipped out and nailed the Bull Hammer, scoring the pin.
Your winner and new IC champion, Bad News Barrett!
Real good back and forth match with some nice moments for each competitor. That spear to the outside is brutal. Good, physical action.
They aired a promo for Adam Rose's Raw debut tomorrow.
They aired a video on Evolution vs. The Shield.
Evolution vs. The Shield
The Shield didn’t come right out, which the announcers said was the team playing mind games with Evolution by making them wait.
They had a brief brawl before being held apart. Seth Rollins started strong nailing a leaping knee on HHH and then clotheslining him over the top to the floor. Rollins nailed a dive through the ropes to the floor. He was killed with a clothesline that turned him inside out when he returned to the ring.
Batista tagged in and used his power, sending Rollins hard into the buckles. He trapped Rollins in Evolution’s corner and drilled him with a series of shoulderblocks. Evolution took Rollins apart, working him over. Batista nailed a kick to Rollins are he was hanging out of the ring. Evolution took turns working over Rollins, tagging in and out. Rollins was picked up for a suplex and dropped across the ropes hard.
Rollins tried to fight his way out and went for a tag but Evolution knocked Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns off the apron. Rollins finally made the tag to Ambrose, who cleaned house with a series of wild punches and stomps on Orton. He nailed Batista off the apron and drilled Orton with a clothesline. He went for a figure four on HHH but saw Orton coming and nailed him, then locked it on him.
Batista and Reigns brawled on the floor and Reigns sent him hard into the barricades. Reigns charged HHH but HHH moved and Reigns crashed hard into the ring steps. Orton had taken control of Ambrose and HHH tagged in. Evolution began working over Ambrose in their corner. Ambrose battled up to his feet but Orton nailed him with a dropkick. HHH tagged in and nailed a big right hand.
Ambrose was out on his feet and worked over in the corner. HHH went for the pedigree but Ambrose backdropped him and nailed HHH. Reigns tagged in and cleaned house on everyone, looking like a monster. Batista nailed Reigns and went for the Batista Bomb but Rollins sailed with the flying knee. Reigns nailed the Superman Punch and called for the Triple Powerbomb. They nailed it on Batista but Evolution pulled Reigns out at the two count.
They all brawled. Rollins went for a dive but crashed and burned. HHH nailed Reigns with the Pedigree. He rolled Batista on top but was attacked by Ambrose and they brawled on the floor. Reigns kicked up at two. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”
Orton nailed a RKO on Reigns. Batista covered him again but Rollins broke up the pinfall. He and Orton brawled on the floor. Orton was thrown into the barricade. The cameraman got dumped over on his rear and kept shooting. Orton and Batista worked over Rollins in the corner where the timekeeper sits. Ambrose sprinted across the announcer’s table and dove on them both.
They all brawled in the audience, leading Reigns and Batists in the ring. They could have really used Ronnie Lang and Atlas Security! They brawled to the top of the first level of the building. Ambrose was knocked down a flight of stairs and smacked into a concrete wall. Rollins dove off the first level of the Arena down onto them.
Back in the ring, Batista caught Reigns charging and nailed a Uranage. Reigns shoved him off during a Batista Bomb attempt and nailed a Superman Punch. Reigns speared Batista and scored the pin, ending an awesome match.
Your winner, The Shield!
Just a great, well worked and executed six man tag. It was breaking down in the Meadowlands, to be sure. The Rollins dive off the balcony was awesome. Reigns gets a big win and everyone looked awesome. This is one of those matches that make you love pro wrestling.
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt (with the Wyatt Family) : Steel Cage Match
Wyatt had no fear getting into the cage. Cena grabbed a side headlock but Wyatt sent him into the ropes and shoulderblocked him down. He worked over Cena but was kicked in the gut and nailed with a suplex. Cena started to climb the cage but The Wyatts were standing outside waiting to pounce so he changed his mind.
Wyatt nailed Cena and tried to send him into the cage. Cena blocked it and fought bac. Cena sent him into the corner but Wyatt blocked it and sent Cena into the cage. He shoved Cena’s face into the cage. He trapped him in between the ropes and the cage, allowing Erick Rowan to charge and nail Cena.
Wyatt continued controlling Cena. He tried to escape but Cena pulled him back and sent him into the cage. Cena ascended to the top of the cage but the Family were waiting. Cena still went over the cage but Bray caught him and pulled him back in. Bray was knocked back into the ring but prevented Cena from escaping. They brawled on the top rope. Bray was sent into the ring but crotched Cena on the top. Cena hung upside down into the buckles and Bray hit a running splash in the corner.
Wyatt grabbed the limp Cena and danced him around the ring then nailed a Uranage. He covered Cena for a two count. Cena came back with a clothesline on Bray. Wyatt did the crab walk towards the open door. He grabbed Bray but was kicked off into the cage and nailed with a big smashing elbow for a two count. Wyatt tried to send Cena into the cage but it was reversed and Bray ate steel instead.
Both men were down. Cena nailed the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Bray escaped an AA and grabbed the ropes to pull himself up on the cage. Cena went underneath and dropped him down in a powerbomb. Cena called for the door but Rowan held it shut. Cena powered it open but Luke Harper began shoving it closed as well. Cena powered it open against both but Wyatt recovered and nailed him from behind.
Cena was worked over but rolled out of the way of a move. He climbed to the top of the cage and began climbing down. Rowan came from under him and forced him back to the top on his shoulders. Cena was pulled down to the first row. He and Bray battled and Cena nailed a bulldog off the top for a two count.
Luke Harper climbed to the top of the cage. Cena knocked him down into the cage. Cena began climbing over. Bray tried to climb out the door but Cena kicked the door into Bray’s head. Cena tried to climb down but Rowan grabbed a chair and began swinging it. Cena returned to the ring but was slammed off the ropes and hit with a back senton splash for a two count.
Cena came back to lock in the STF. Wyatt pulled himself using the ropes to the open door. That forced a break. Bray tried to climb out but Cena grabbed his legs. Rowan grabbed Bray’s arm and it was a tug of war. Cena won the battle and pulled Bray in. Harper tried to attack but was sent into the cage. Bray nailed Cena and cut him off. Bray was nailed with a top rope AA.
Cena covered Bray but Harper broke the pinfall. Cena took out Harper and tried to climb over. Rowan climbed up the cage. Cena grabbed his beard and drove him into the top of the cage over and over. Cena came off the top to take out Harper. With everyone down, Cena crawled towards the open door and the Wyatt’s blackout happened.
When the lights came back on, a little kid was in Cena’s face lip synching a spooky version of “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” Cena backed up and Wyatt nailed the Sister Abigail. Wyatt walked out of the cage and was the winner.
Your winner, Bray Wyatt!
Bray embraced the kid and they all walked out together.
A good cage match with some entertaining action. The ending obviously was silly.
They went to the panel discussing the events of the night.
WWE Divas champ Paige vs. Tamina Snuka
They locked up and Tamina shoved her off. Paige took it right to her with big right hands and was aggressive going after Snuka in the corner. Paige avoided several attempts to grapple and rolled up Tamina, covering her up for two counts.
Paige nailed a forward roll for a two count. She went to the top but Tamina nailed her and sent her to the floor. Tamina shoved her backward into the apron. Tamina conrolled her with slams, scoring two counts.
Paige tackled Tamina and went through the ropes to the floor. Paige went for a rana off the apron but was caught and slammed into the barricades. Tamina brought Paige back into the ring and put her on her shoulders for a Samoan Drop. Tamina climbed the ropes but Paige slipped out and nailed a powerbomb off the turnbuckles for a two count.
Tamina was again drilled into the mat for a two count. Paige went for a bodypress but was caught and slammed. Tamina went for superkick but Paige caught her and turned her over into the Scorpion Crush for the submission.
Your winner and still WWE Divas champion, Paige!
Backstage, Bray Wyatt told the child “Little Johnny” that he did very well tonight. Bray said his message can no longer be ignored and that those ignored will flock to him and his message. He asked “Little Johnny” what the message was and it was “Follow the Buzzards.”
WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan vs. Kane: Extreme Rules
Kane gets the second entrance so Bryan can charge him in the aisle and attack him. They brawled and Kane sent him into the barrier. Kane grabbed a Singapore Cane from under the ring. They battled to the top, where Bryan nailed a rana into the ring. Bryan hit a running knee in the corner and then bodypressed Kane. They toppled over the top the floor.
Kane nailed Bryan and worked him over on the floor. He tossed Bryan into the ring and then tossed several chairs into the ring. He wedged one between the top and middle turnbuckles but Bryan grabbed the cane and nailed Kane with it. Bryan went to the top and came off with it but Kane nailed him coming off. Kane grabbed a chair and drilled Bryan in the gut with it, then nailed him across the back.
Kane set up a chair and nailed a sideslam through the chair for a two count. Kane went for a chokeslam but Bryan slipped out. Kane charged him in a corner but Bryan moved and Kane nailed the chair he had already wedged there. Bryan nailed a missile dropkick that sent Kane to the floor and then hit a suicide dive to the outside.
Bryan grabbed the top of the announcer’s table and nailed Kane with it, the followed by nailing Kane with a monitor. He continued to grab items from the announcer tables and nailed Kane. Kane nailed him into the Spanish announcer’s table and hit him with a piece of the table.
Bryan was placed atop one of the tables. Kane grabbed him for a chokeslam but Bryan shoved him off the table and nailed a kick to the head. Bryan then hit a tornado DDT off the table to the floor. The crowd chanted for Daniel Bryan. Bryan nailed several kicks but Bryan was cut off and sent into the ring steps.
Kane set up for a tombstone on the stairs but Bryan slipped out and shoved Kane into the ringpost. Bryan caned the hell out of Kane in the aisle but was nailed with a big right hand. Kane rammed Bryan into the digital board on the stage. He dragged Bryan backstage, which the IZOD Center booed the hell out of of.
Kane destroyed Bryan in the back and tried to throw a HD TV at him. Bryan moved and the TV sizzled when it was smashed. Bryan attacked Kane and they brawled all over the backstage area and outside towards one of the production trucks in the loading bay. Bryan grabbed a shovel and nailed Kane with it. He nailed Kane into the truck and Kane stumbled to a parked car. Bryan worked him over, then charged Kane. Bryan was backdropped onto the hood of the car, breaking the windshield.
Kane grabbed a metal canister and threw it at Bryan. He moved and it crashed into the windshield. Kane sent Bryan into another car and threw a punch. Bryan moved and Kane broke the window. Bryan went into the trunk of the car and nailed Kane with a tireiron that he found.
Kane was out but Bryan couldn’t pin him in the back, so he put Kane on a pallet and drove him back to the arena on a forklift. He drove Kane all the way to the ring, lifted him as high as he could, then parked it as close to the ring as he could. Bryan then dumped him into the ring. Bryan climbed to the pallet and nailed the flying headbutt. Bryan covered Kane, who kicked up at two.
Bryan set up for the running knee to the face. Kane sat up. Bryan went for the knee but Kane caught him and chokeslammed him. He covered Bryan, who kicked out at two. Kane was pissed and went after the referee for that. Kane grabbed a chair and signaled for a chokeslam onto the chair. He set it up but Bryan turned it into a DDT on the chair. He struggled to make the cover but Kane kicked up.
Bryan drilled the hell out of Kane with the chair over and over. Kane was down and Bryan just kept wailing away. Bryan locked in the Yes Lock. Kane felt his way around and grabbed the cane. He began nailing Bryan with it but Bryan used the Kane for additional momentum. Kane pulled himself out of the ring to break the hold.
Bryan went for a dive to the outside but Kane caught him and chokeslammed him through the announcer’s table. Kane then set a table up outside the ring and holy Dudley Boyz, he poured gas on the table with the idea he was going to light it on fire…and then he did!
He went to chokeslam Bryan off the apron but Bryan fought back and Kane took the bump off the apron through the burning table. They had fire extinguishers on him immediately. Kane hit the ruing but was nailed with the running knee and pinned.
Your winner and still WWE World Heavyweight champion, Daniel Bryan!
After the match, a pissed off Kane made his pyro explode as Bryan was leaving, sending the message that this wasn’t over.
The Extreme Rules Fallout broadcast opened with the panel in the dark as Kane’s music was still playing. The panel discussed the big moments of the PPV.
Josh Mathews noted that Stephanie gave Daniel Bryan the option to surrender his WWE World Heavyweight championship and he refused. Alex Riley noted that it was smart of Bryan to keep Brie Bella out of the way tonight so he could focus on the battle at hand.
They said they were waiting for Daniel Bryan to make his way to the podium backstage to discuss the Extreme Rules PPV. Alex Riley said that the issues between Bryan, Kane and The Authority aren’t over after tonight. They showed the final moments of Bryan vs. Kane. The announcers talked about how Kane had gone after his wife. Sheamus said Bryan is one of the toughest men he’s ever fought.
Booker said that Bryan took it to Bryan and they brawled all over backstage. He said Bryan was willing to go to the ends of the Earth to get the win. Riley talked about Bryan’s versatility and said that after beating Batista, Orton, HHH and now Kane, what’s next for him. Sheamus said that he has nothing to prove to the fans. He said that what the problem is that he’s the champion and he’s a marked man.
Booker said that Bryan still needs to prove himself to Stephanie and HHH and that’s something that is never, ever going to happen. Sheamus asked whether Bryan even cares at this point. They went to more highlights of the match.
Bryan was at the podium. He was asked if this was the most brutal match of his career and how he was feeling. He said he has a mix of emotions. He said that he came out as champion and he’s happy about that but his body feels horrible.
Bryan was asked if he felt any sign of his old partner or if the demon has taken over Kane. Bryan said he doesn’t buy into the Demon thing and said that it’s Kane, he’s bitter and angry and it’s people like that who make the world be in the place that it’s in.
Bryan said that he didn’t know if Kane was done with him and he likes that because Kane put his hands on Bryan’s wife and if anyone did that he would beat him within an inch of their life. He said he’s glad Kane’s not done.
Bryan said he wanted to thank the fans for supporting him. They gave him a chance to get the belts. He said that WWE doesn’t give the regular people a lot of opportunities. Thanks to the fans, he’s gotten those opportunities and it’s all thanks to the “Yes” movement.
Bryan said that he will go as far as he has to go to defend the championship. He said he loves to wrestle and is considered a technical wrestler but when he was on the indies there was a chant that said, “You’re gonna get your head kicked in.” He said you just have to be tough to kick someone’s head in.
Bryan laughed when he was asked where he learned to drive a forklift. He said he was from a small town and everyone learns that there. He said his dad worked in a paper mill for ten years.
Bryan said that when he saw the flaming table, he knew he had to get out of there. He then excused himself, saying his neck was cramping and he wanted to go see the trainer and get some ice.
The panel discussed Bryan’s comments and how he’s still willing, ready and able to keep battling Kane. Sheamus said that Kane made it extremely personal but Bryan has proven he’s a terrier and is a hell of a fighter. He said Bryan has continued to build his name.
They turned their attention to John Cena vs. Bray Wtyatt and the ending with Little Johnny, showing footage of the end. They wondered how powerful Bray Wyatt can become. Booker said we are watching the tide shift with Cena going from one of the more popular to fans having doubts about him. Booker said they are abandoning Cena. Sheamus said that Cena may be losing faith.
They went to Bray Wyatt, who was at the podium with The Family.
Wyatt asked what he accomplished tonight. He turned the question on the person asking, saying that he probably went to college and had all these people who helped him and prepared him. He said that he came from nothing but tonight, he’s something. He walked off and the Family flipped over the table.
The panel discussed Wyatt’s win and noted that John Cena wasn’t going to be appearing tonight.
They moved onto The Shield’s win over Evolution. Josh Mathews said he can’t wait for Raw to see how each side addresses tonight’s match.
Sheamus said there’s no MVP in the Shield and all three have great potential and futures in WWE.
They went to footage of The Shield at the podium. They were asked if Justice was served tonight. Rollins says that people fail to understand that justice was a metaphor. He said there was a lack of intensity when they came to WWE and they have set the pace and set the standard. He said they are better than everyone and they make everyone step their game up, including former World champions.
They were asked if they were concerned about The Authority retaliating. Reigns said “No” and they all laughed.
They were asked about Ric Flar’s comments on Raw. Ambrose said that Flair is in his own world but he gets what he meant. He said Flair sees work ethic and excellence with The Shield. Evolution are sitting on their buses and looking at their Rolexes while The Shield are all about getting it done. Reigns said it was cool to get the nod but they don’t need an old man to give them motivation.
They were asked what Extreme Rules mean to them. Rollins said it’s an environment they all seem to thrive in. He said they specialize in a lot of things and this works for us. It’s a special show for them.
They were asked if Evolution having a ten year layoff gave them the advantage. Reigns said it helped but it didn’t make them win the war. They skipped the friend stage and became brothers very quickly. He said they drive to every town together and they steamroll through every opponent together.
Rollins said Evolution aren’t the same guys who formed Evolution. He said they aren’t the same men they once were. Evolution was and never will be, what The Shield is.
They reviewed the Shield’s comments then moved onto Cesaro’s win in the Three Way. They showed highlights of the ending with Cesaro nailing The Neutralizer on the trash can.
Booker said the win was huge for Cesaro. Sheamus said that the loss was a hard one for Swagger. He said Heyman and Cesaro can do great things together and he wouldn’t be shocked to see Cesaro in the WWE World Heavyweight championship picture.
They showed footage of Cesaro and Paul Heyman at the podium.
Cesaro was asked why he cracks his neck before the Neutralizer. He said he trains every day of his life and the person asking obviously never has, so don’t dare question anything he does in the ring.
Cesaro was asked about whether his relationship with Jack Swagger was going to be an issue. Cesaro said no because as soon as he meets someone, he starts gathering information on them.
Heyman was asked if RVD had an issue with Cesaro that needed to be settled. Heyman said it was a good question and pointed out that Big Show, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger also have issues to be settled. He said that eventually everyone will have that issue because there is no one in the WWE locker room that can beat Cesaro.
They then went to footage of Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger at the podium. They were asked if there’s any jealousy of Cesaro given his success lately. Swagger said that Cesaro hasn’t won any World titles, he has a trophy that Swagger smashed. He said there is no jealousy, just hatred.
Swagger said his familiarity with Cesaro as a partner helps him in the ring as a competitor. He said he knows Cesaro’s strengths and can use them against him.
Colter was asked if they were going to focus on singles or a new tag team partner. Colter said “Both. I am going to go where the water level takes me.” He said that if Cesaro wanted to leave, he should have been a man about it and told them what the deal is. He said that their mission remains the same and “nothing has changed.”
They then went comments from Rob Van Dam, who had a cut across the left side of his face and all sorts of swelling.
RVD said there is absolutely a score to settle with Cesaro. He said that he’s got so much to give as a competitor and someone who won so many titles, he still has something to prove. He said that he’s a proven commodity and everyone knows how durable he is. He said tonight was Cesaro’s night and next time, we will see what happens.
They moved on to Bad News Barrett’s Intercontinental championship win, showing footage from the title win.
They went to Barrett at the podium. He said that the title win inspires him to want to give more bad news because it’s bad news about everyone else, not himself.
He said that Big E. is a hell of a competitor and had the belt as long as he did for a reason. He said he’s been knocking him and making comments but those were mind games and none of what he said was really true. He said that E. threw him around like a rag doll when he’s 250 lbs.
Barrett said that this is his fourth time with the IC title but this time, the prestige of the belt is higher because of the WWE World titles being unified. He said that he’s in a position now where he can carry it with the honor and dignity that the title deserves.
Barrett said he’s goal remains to become the first British World Heavyweight title here in WWE. He said that’s his future and what he’s focused on becoming but right now, he’s going to be the best IC champion there has ever been and he’s going to focus on everyone who’s gunning for him.
They went to footage of Big E. E acted like an idiot when asked about his loss and then stormed off.
That was it!
Thanks to www.thehistoryofwwe.com for their assistance with archival results.
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