9-16-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 16, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with Daniel Bryan coming to the ring. He poses with the title & then HHH comes out. He says that Daniel’s win last night was tainted because the referee Scott made a fast count. Then HHH has Armstrong come out. HHH wants to show some footage that shows how Scot Armstrong normally counts. They show him counting at 1 point during last night’s title match. Then HHH has the “final call” shown. HHH wants to see it again so they show it a second time. HHH now wants to see both counts side by side. Then HHH says Armstrong made a fast count. Scott says he made a mistake. HHH says Armstrong is a senior referee in WWE. That kind of mistake just doesn’t happen. Armstrong again says he made a mistake. HHH has never seen him make this kind of mistake before & thinks Armstrong isn’t telling him everything. Then Armstrong says something to Daniel & HHH says it sounded like Armstrong said, “They got us.” HHH sends Armstrong to the back. Then he chews out Daniel Bryan for conspiring with a referee. Then of course HHH strips Daniel of the title but doesn’t return it to Orton. HHH will investigate this but as of right now there is no WWE Champion. HHH needs Daniel to do the right thing & hand the WWE Title over to him. HHH says that Daniels has embarrassed & disgraced himself & the WWE Title. He thought Shawn would’ve taught him better. HHH tells Daniel to hand over the title or he will take it. Cue Orton’s music & out he comes. HHH tells both guys to calm down. HHH has got this. There will be no fight right now. HHH tells Daniel to be reasonable. The title is held up & there is no champion. HHH will get to the bottom of this but Daniel needs to hand the belt over or HHH will take it. Daniel holds the belt for a bit & then says no. Then Orton gives Daniel an RKO. HHH takes the belt & heads to the back & in the ring Orton stands over the fallen Daniel. This was a decent opening segment. I thought that either HHH was gonna hand the title back to Orton or he was going to have the title held up. If he had handed the title back to Orton it would’ve been like back in 2000 when Jericho beat HHH for the title after a fast count & then the title was given back to HHH. Backstage we see HHH & Stephanie. Orton comes in asking HHH who he thinks he is. Stephanie asks Orton what happened to the sadistic Orton who cuffed HHH to the rope & gave her a DDT? Till Orton finds that version of himself maybe WWE needs a new face. This wasn’t bad either. Dolph Ziggler vs. U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose in an NOC rematch but this one is nontitle. Dolph gets the pin. This was a solid back & forth match but I’m not sure why the same match the night right after it was on PPV. So it looks like Dolph will face Ambrose for the U.S. Title again. Dolph celebrates with the fans & for some reason Justin Roberts announces that Ambrose is still U.S. Champion. That was weird. Backstage we see Big Show in the GM office. Brad tells him HHH & Stephanie (Or Ms. McMahon as Brad called her) will be there in a moment. Break time. Back from break. HHH & Stephanie are in the office. Brad wants to make sure that he has Hunter’s orders right. HHH wants Daniel Bryan to face Roman Reigns tonight. Then Brad says that he likes Hunter’s decision to hold up the title. Then Brad tells Stephanie that Dusty is in the building. Then Stephanie reminds Big Show that he was suspended on Smackdown. So tonight Big Show will watch the show in the office & if Stephanie needs him she will let him know. This was weak. I’m tired of Big Show being in this position. I’m really hoping they don’t have him be the reluctant heel. Fandango & Summer Rae come out. He will be in a match next. Break time. Back from break & out comes R-Truth. They reshow the cheesy dance off bit from Smackdown. R-Truth vs. Fandango. Fandango gets the pin. This was ok. Backstage Dusty Rhodes is with some of the roster. Break time. Back from break & Dusty Rhodes comes to the ring. He says he isn’t here as the American Dream. He’s here as Virgil Runnels. He has something that he wants the McMahon family to hear. He talks about being down the hard road, wondering where the next dollar will come from. But you reach down because of the love of your sons & find a way to do it. This is about Cody’s job. In 1 night we saw a suffering young guy lose his job. Then Dusty mentions that apparently firing Cody after losing is what’s “best for business.” Goldust stepped up & took a mighty swing. Having 2 sons that you love with all your heart is what’s best for business. We exist to be the best. Before Cody was 22 he was Intercontinental Champion twice. Dusty didn’t call for this meeting or to beg for Cody’s job. He wants Cody to have a chance to earn his job back. Then he tells Stephanie to come to the ring & tell him what business proposal she has in mind. Out comes Stephanie. Stephanie says from 1 parent to another “Virgil’s” promo was remarkable. Stephanie is sorry if Cody getting fired put a damper on Cody’s wedding so Stephanie has a gift for Cody & his bride. Dusty tells Stephanie to get on with the proposition. Stephanie says Dusty is the son of a plumber & she’s the daughter of the genius. The “Genius” behind this sports entertainment phenomenon. Stephanie then says that she will either give Cody back his job or she can give it to Goldust. The choice is Dusty’s. Dusty won’t make that choice. Stephanie says that she can either give this job back to Cody, the glorious baby boy who does everything right or to Dustin, the son Dusty has neglected all these years. She says Dusty blames himself for Dustin’s problems & he can be a hero to his sons. Dusty asks Stephanie if she looks at her daughters & prefers 1 to the others. Stephanie says this Dusty is making this all about himself. What about his sons? She hopes they can forgive him. Dusty says Stephanie can go straight to hell. Stephanie is sorry he feels that way. Then out comes The Shield. Stephanie says she’s got someone to “even things out.” She asks Big Show to come out. She says that since Dusty couldn’t decide which son would get their job back does Dusty want to get beaten down by The Shield or knocked out by the Big Show. Then she tells Big Show to knock out Dusty. Big Show doesn’t want to. Then Stephanie tells The Shield to get Dusty. They bring chairs in the ring. Big show cries & hugs Dusty. Then Big Show says that he has no choice. Then he knocks out Dusty. Then Stephanie & The Shield leave & Big Show stays in the ring with Dusty. Also a medic comes in & checks on Dusty. Dusty was great here. His promo was just awesome & Stephanie was good here too. I knew that Big Show would reluctantly knockout Dusty after doing more of his crying when he came out. Dusty & Stephanie both said a lot & it was impossible to write word for word what they said. My apologies if I missed some of this. Backstage we see Dusty on a stretcher & being wheeled into an ambulance. Big Show is there & he gets in the back of the ambulance. AJ Lee & Natalya are on commentary. Natalya’s headset wasn’t working so Lawler gave her his. Naomi, Cameron & Brie Bella vs. Aksana, Alicia Fox & Layla. Naomi, Cameron & Brie win when Brie gets the pin. This wasn’t much. Then Natalya gets in AJ’s face & AJ holds up the Divas Title. Damien Sandow is in the ring. They show Sandow winning the MITB match back in July. Then Justin Roberts introduces Ricardo & he introduces RVD. Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow. RVD gets the pin. This was a decent match but once again Sandow loses cleanly. Also after RVD got the pin they played Sandow’s music by mistake. Then Sandow says that he is still the MITB contract holder & the guaranteed next world champion. You’re welcome. Backstage HHH tells Scott Armstrong that he’s in a jam. This whole fast count bit has gotten out of control. HHH had to hold up the title & there’s a problem. Referees have to have integrity. Armstrong’s been there for 20 years but HHH says he has to let him go. HHH will take care of him. This was the same HHH promo we’ve been getting. The Miz vs. Randy Orton. Miz goes over to his parents who are in the front row. Then Orton attacks Miz. The match never started. Break time. Back from break & Orton is in the ring while referees are with Miz by the entrance. Then Miz gets in the ring. The Miz vs. Randy Orton. The match goes to a double count out. Then Orton throws Miz over the announce table. Orton continues to beat down Miz. He sends Miz over the barrier. Miz fights back & Orton goes over the barrier. Then Miz clotheslines Orton back over the barrier. Orton gets the upper hand & beats down Miz some more. Then he gives Miz the IE DDT off the barrier to the floor. Then Miz drags Orton back in the ring. Then he gets a chair & looks at Miz’s parents. Then Orton gets in the ring & places Miz’s head inside the chair. Then Orton drops a knee on Miz’s head. This was a solid bit. Orton was good being the pissed off crazy guy but WWE had Miz get the crap beat out of him in his home town. I don’t know why WWE always does that. Ryback, Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman (Who is in a wheel chair) come out on the stage. Heyman says he himself is the best in the world. The fans can boo that all they want. It must be hard for the fans to compare their meaningless lives to Heyman’s. Heyman says the fans can’t say they pinned Punk but Heyman can say it over & over. Every time he does that it will be the truth. The best part of this is that the record books will forever give testimony to the fact that the first time in history Heyman & Punk came face to face in the ring Heyman won. Even more significantly the loser was the fans’ hero, CM Punk. Heyman would love to take credit for having a master plan but there wasn’t one. Punk had him & delivered a beating to him that was so bad Heyman is in the wheel chair. Punk gave him the most vicious beating in WWE history. It’s a miracle Heyman’s not rotting away in a nursing home. He is here tonight because 1 man stood up when all other Heyman guy sat down. Everyone thought Heyman would finally get the beating he deserves. Heyman will continue to torment Punk & the fans because of Ryback. Heyman wants the fans to know from the bottom of his heart that he owes his life to Ryback. Ryback says he can’t stand bullies & Punk bullied Heyman last night. Did Heyman deserve that? The fans cheer of course. Then Ryback says that Heyman is a human being. Ryback doesn’t like anything about Punk. Punk’s a bully & he’s here to stop him. Ryback tells Heyman not to worry because as long as he’s around Punk will never get his hands on Heyman. This was good. Heyman was great on the mic like always & Ryback’s promo good too. I like that they have Heyman managing Ryback & it looks like Ryback will be the next Heyman guy Punk will have to get through. Los Matadores are coming soon. Tons of Funk vs. The Usos vs. The Real Americans in a 3 way tag team elimination match to determine the number 1 contenders for the tag titles. The Usos win. * Cesaro pins Sweet T * Jay pins Swagger. This was a solid match. WINNERS – THE USOS Michael Cole mentions that Miz doesn’t have a broken neck but he does have a damaged thorax. Then Lawler says that Dusty is ok but is being kept in the hospital overnight for observation. Time for a Wyatt family video. Bray says that patience is a virtue but to him it is a lost art. Then he says how people want more of everything. They don’t realize there’s another world full of animals. In Bray’s world when an animal is sick they put him down. He tells Abigail not to worry. They’ll put them all down. This was a typical Weird, creepy Wyatt video. Backstage we see Daniel Bryan. R-Truth & others cheer him on & Brie hugs him. Before the main event match starts Randy Orton comes out. He will be at ringside along with Rollins & Ambrose. Daniel Bryan vs. WWE Tag Team Champion Roman Reigns. Daniel wins by DQ when Orton comes in. Then Daniel gets Orton in the yes lock but The Shield attacks Daniel. Then Orton stomps on Daniel for a bit. Then Orton gets a chair & gets in the ring. Orton sets Daniel’s head in the chair. Before he can do anything Kofi Kingston, The Usos, The Primetime Players, R-Truth, Dolph Ziggler & RVD (I think Zack Ryder & Justin Gabriel too) come out & we get a brawl. Reigns spears Kofi. Then Dolph gives Ambrose a Famasser & then RVD gives Ambrose a super kick. Then the Usos give Reigns a double super kick. Then Daniel gives Rollins a flying knee. Daniel & the other guys chant yes & the Primetime Players hoist him up on their shoulders. They along with the fans do the yes chant to end the show. This was good. I liked the match & I also liked that they finally had the talent come & help out Daniel Bryan. I thought this was a solid show overall. The opening segment was decent & I was ok with HHH vacating the title. The Daniel-Reigns match was good & I liked that they finally had the other wrestlers come & help Daniel Bryan out. I also liked Dusty’s promo & Stephanie was decent here too. I wasn’t a fan of Big Show doing the same old bit. Having him crying & reluctantly doing what HHH & Stephanie tell him to is old. HHH “letting Scott Armstrong go” was a typical HHH bit. R-Truth vs. Fandango was ok, RVD-Sandow was decent but Sandow lost cleanly once again. The 3 way tag match solid & I liked that it was an elimination match. The 6 divas tag wasn’t much & felt like background to Natalya & AJ being on commentary. It does look like they’re building to Natalya vs. AJ though & that should be good. Paul Heyman cut a great promo like usual & Ryback’s promo was good & short. I like that they have Ryback with Heyman but what will happen to Curtis Axel? He wasn’t even on the stage during the whole promo. The Wyatt family video was the typical creepy & weird stuff we get from that group. The Miz-Randy Orton match was more about Orton being pissed that he lost the title than a match. I did like the Miz-Orton post match brawl & Orton was good at being the sadistic heel but I don’t get why they had to have Miz get laid out in his home town. That’s a bit WWE always does for some reason & it’s stupid. Dolph-Ambrose was solid too but I wasn’t sure why they had this the night after it was on a PPV. Overall though I thought this was a decent to solid show.

9-13-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 13, 2013 episode of Smackdown The show starts with Big Show coming to the ring. Then they reshow the end of Raw where big Show wouldn’t KO Daniel. Big Show gets the mic & has a sheet of paper in his hand. He reads what’s on there, which of course is an “apology” for what happened on Monday. He “apologizes” to HHH for not doing the “simple” job that he was “asked” to do Monday. Then he “apologizes” to the other superstars for setting a ‘poor” example as a locker room leader. Most of all he “apologizes” to the fans for “letting them down.” Cue King of Kings & out comes HHH (This has really gotten beyond stale). After welcoming everyone to Smackdown he thanks Big Show for his “apology”. HHH does say that he doesn’t think it was very sincere but it was still an “apology” & he again thanks Big Show. HHH isn’t trying to pick on Big Show, he’s just asking him to be a “business man”. Big Show is a leader of this entire roster & like Booker T said, HHH needs Big Show to be “professional.” In any business if the company’s COO asks you to do something & you refuse it is “grounds for dismissal.” So HHH has no choice… Then Big Show chimes in & pleads with HHH not to do “this.” HHH then says that he will not fire Big Show but he is suspending him for the night without pay. That might not seem like a big deal to a lot of the fans but to Big Show a night without pay really stinks because as we all know Big Show is “broke. (When was that supposed to have happened)? HHH heads for the back. As Big Show was about to leave the ring we hear the theme music for The Shield. They get in the ring & triple team Big Show. Big Show throws them off & he fights back. He throws them around for a bit but then Ambrose kicks Big Show in the knee & he falls out of the ring. Then Big Show gets on the announce table. The Shield goes after him. Reigns hits him in the leg with a chair, he goes to hit him a second time but Big Show punches the chair & continues to fight off The Shield. Ambrose gets on the announce table & Big Show throws him off. Then he jumps off the table & tackles Reigns to the floor. Then Show rolls Reigns in the ring. He grabs his throat & then he grabs Ambrose’s too. Then Rollins comes off the top rope but Show chops him on the way down. Then Show set up his fist but then Reigns hits him in the back with a chair a few times & Big Show falls to the mat. Ambrose then says they didn’t want to have to do that but this was Big Show’s fault. Then they give him the triple power bomb. This was a decent opening segment. Big Show’s “apology” & Triple H’s promo were weak but I liked the Big Show-Shield brawl. AJ Lee comes out for commentary. Natalya, Naomi & Brie Bella vs. Layla, Alicia Fox & Aksana in a Raw rematch. Natalya, Naomi & Brie win when AJ gets in the ring & hits Natalya. Then Natalya, Naomi & Brie surround AJ. Natalya tells AJ that AJ is not a champion. Then Natalya slaps AJ & then Brie gives AJ a face plant. Then Naomi gives AJ a spinning heel kick. Then Natalya sets up AJ for the sharpshooter but then heel Divas pull AJ out of the ring. Michael Cole announces that Dolph Ziggler will face Dean Ambrose tonight. If Dolph wins he gets a U.S. Title match at Night of Champions. (That match has already been announced for the PPV). Vickie Guerrero is in the ring. She says it’s time for a super star dance off. The contestants are R-Truth & Fandango. Before this crap can get started The Miz comes out wearing a dumb looking Afro wig. Then he says there can’t be a super star dance off unless you have the “most must see super star of all time.” Normally he is The Mix but tonight he is “Mizco Inferno. (Man this is hokey). Then he gets a pink glittery jacket some fan. Vickie says how dare Miz interrupts her segment, but since he’s out there he can be in the contest too. Miz puts on the dumb looking jacket & then out comes the Great Khali. He wants to be in the contest too. Vickie says the more the merrier. Truth goes first. Then Fandango & Summer Rae. Next is The Miz. Khali goes fourth. Then Vickie says that the winner will be determined by who gets the most applause from the fans (naturally). Miz wins. Then Fandango says the others are a disgrace to the art of dance. Then he takes a swing at Miz but Miz & Truth double team him & Miz throws him out of the ring. Then Miz & Truth dance & Khali leaves the ring. This was really cheesy. Los Matadores will be coming soon. Backstage Ryback is getting his own interview segment. He says that a lot people don’t know that he is multitalented. He plays the piano & has good linguistic skills. Then he thanks Vickie for this opportunity because he happens to be a great interviewer. In comes Ryback’s guest. RD Evens from ROH. Ryback asks what his name is. It’s Robert Evans & he’s from right here in Ottawa. Ryback says he is the hometown hero. Ryback says Evans looks like he’s dressed to compete & asks Evans how tall he is. Evans says that he is 6’4”. Ryback asks how much he weighs. He weighs 185. Ryback asks what Evans sees when he looks in the mirror. Ryback bets that Evans has dreams of being a WWE super star 1 day, being in the main event & being at WrestleMania. Evans says yeah. Then Ryback says that Evans is hoping to get in the ring with a guy the caliber of Ryback. Evans reluctantly says yeah. This makes Ryback happy that Evans has dreams. Everybody has dreams. Ryback has dreams & then he slaps Evans to the floor. Ryback says that is dreams are beating on people like Evans. Then Ryback kicks him. Then he asks Evans if he has anything to say to the fans. Evans groans & Ryback sends it back to ringside. This was pointless. The Ryback character is terrible. Then we see Vickie in the GM office & Ricardo comes in. She tells him that he will not be in RVD’s corner at NOC. Things are out of control & she “fears for his safety.” Ricardo protests & they go back & forth in Spanish. Then Vickie says that if Ricardo wants to be in RVD’s corner at NOC then tonight RVD can be in Ricardo’s corner tonight when he faces Del Rio. This was kinda weak. Damien Sandow comes to the ring. Break time. Back from break & it looks like Sandow was in mid promo. He tells his mouth breathing neighbors to the north that as their intellectual savior & uncrowned world champion he will beat Santino & save the fans from their own ignorance (the usual Sandow promo). You’re welcome. Santino Marella vs. Damien Sandow. Santino gets the pin. This wasn’t much. Damien loses cleanly once again. Michael Cole is in the ring. He says that this Sunday at NOC Punk will be in 2 on 1 handicap elimination match against Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman. Heyman & Axel come t0 the ring for their interview. Cole says that before they start the interview he would like to take a look back at the relationship between Heyman & Punk. They show Punk-Heyman video package. Then Cole says that for 434 days Punk held the WWE Title & Heyman was at his side every step of the way. But as soon as Punk lost the title their relationship began to fracture & it eventually blew apart. This Sunday Punk has guaranteed that he will get his hands on Heyman. Then Cole asks Heyman how he & Axel plan as a team to make sure that Punk doesn’t get his hands on Heyman Sunday. Axel asks Cole what’s wrong with him. Heyman is stressed out & is under a lot of pressure. All this speculation is ridiculous. Punk won’t get to Heyman this Sunday because Punk can’t beat Curtis Axel (Even though we’ve seen Punk beat Axel before). Heyman asks Cole if he thinks he doesn’t get what Cole’s doing. Just because Heyman has a persecution complex doesn’t mean that he is not being persecuted. Heyman’s not a fighter or a man of war. Heyman is an advocate of peace. Which is why he comes to the fans tonight with great humility & he calls for a public boycott of the NOC PPV. The fans are booing Heyman but do they really need to spend their money to see Heyman’s destruction? Haven’t the fans got something better to spend their money on? Isn’t there a college fund for their kids that they can invest in? Maybe someone’s wife needs new shoes. Heyman then says that if you get NOC you will see Punk get his hands on him. With all due respect to Axel Heyman taught Punk how to turn the system against itself, which means Punk will figure out a way to get past Axel. Not because Punk is a better fighter or wrestler than Axel but because Punk was Heyman’s prodigal son. That means that if you don’t boycott NOC Punk will hand Heyman such a beating…the fans cheer that. Heyman then says that Punk doesn’t want to wrestle him. Punk is going to fight Heyman & slaughter him to the point where this will be the final we will get to see Heyman. Heyman wants to state publicly that if this is the final time they will have together Heyman will always love Punk but he will never forgive the fans. Then the fans sing the hey hey good bye to Heyman. This was the usual good promo that we get from Heyman. Ricardo Rodriguez (With RVD) vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio gets the pi. This was actually pretty decent. Ricardo got in some good offense before being pinned. Then Del Rio locks Ricardo in the arm breaker. Then RVD comes in & round house kicks Del Rio. Then RVD mounts & punches him & then give him the 5 star frog splash. Then RVD holds up the world title. They show a video package on the HHH being the COO heel storyline. HHH says he’s the COO Daniel isn’t the face of WWE. He is the wrong image for WWE. He talks about all the decisions that he has to make for the good of the company. Then he talks about Big Show “not doing his job.” If everyone did that there would be anarchy. HHH did what he did because he cares about Big Show. Then he brings up Cody Rhodes. He feels bad about that. You have to look at people’s attitudes & see how that affects the locker room & if Cody had to be the egg that got cracked to make WWE a better place Triple H is willing to make that sacrifice. HHH isn’t the enemy. If Daniel proves him wrong he will be the first guy to shake his hand & says that Daniel proved him wrong. I wasn’t really into this. Dolph Ziggler vs. U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose. Dolph wins by DQ when Rollins & Reigns come in. This match was good & I was ok with the DQ finish. Then The Usos come out to even the odds. Then out comes Vickie. She says that since Dolph won the match by DQ he got his U.S. Title match for NOC. Then she says that since The Usos want to stick their noses into this she is now making this a 6 man. This was good. I liked that this lead right into the next match. Dolph Ziggler & The Usos vs. The Shield. The Shield wins when Rollins pins Jimmy. This was a great match. Edge comes to the ring for the cutting edge. He says that HHH has decided to allow him to host the cutting edge on Smackdown because that’s what’s good for business. The only reason Edge is there is because of the fans. That doesn’t that he will forget about what happened between HHH & himself Monday. He has no respect for HHH & says that he married into his job & that HHH lost his genitals somewhere along the way. Edge is also not going to forget about what The Shield did to Christian. He knows that Christian is watching. When Christian comes back it won’t be for 1 more match. He tells Christian to come back & tear The Shield apart. The cutting edge is the show where they cut through the crap. So with that, let’s get right to it. He brings out the 2 guys who will face each other for the WWE Title at NOC. First he brings out the supposed face of WWE Randy Orton. Then Edge introduces Daniel Bryan. Edge says there’s an awkward amount of testosterone right now so let’s cut right to it. Edge asks Orton how it feels to be a sellout. Orton asks if these are the tough questions. Then he says that sounds like a cheap shot from a guy who is jealous that Orton has been champion 10 times & that Edge is a washed up talk show host who can’t wrestle anymore. Then Daniel tells Orton to show Edge some respect. Edge says that Orton forgets that Edge is an 11 time world champion but this is about the fact that Daniel will beat Orton at NOC. Edge tells Orton that he can say what he wants. Orton tells Edge & Daniel that he is not a sellout. Orton did what anybody would have done. He took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself to him. HHH, Stephanie & Vince have all looked to Orton to be the “future” face of WWE (How can he be the future when he’s been there for 11 years & has been world/WWE Champion 10 times)? After 10 years of Cena they needed a change (So they have the guy who came in the same time as Cena in the spotlight). Daniel wasn’t meant to be a part of that change. Daniel’s a great wrestler & he has a nice little following. Daniel is good for business but Orton’s “best for business.” Then Edge says that he thinks he knows what it best for business & the fans know too. Then Edge asks Daniel if he thinks he is what is best for business. Daniel says that he knows everyone wants him to point his fingers in the air & say yes, but to be honest he doesn’t care what is best for business. Then Orton says Daniel is naïve. Daniel will never be champion or the face of WWE. Daniel will always just be…Daniel tells Orton to shut up. Daniel’s been listening for weeks as Orton, HHH, Stephanie & Vince come out every night & talk about Orton being the face of WWE & what’s “best for business” as if all of this is about adding numbers to some giant cooperation. The most important things in Daniel’s life have nothing to do with what is “best for business”. Daniel is talking about love, satisfaction, passion & dreams. The WWE Title is Daniel’s dream & it isn’t on anybody’s balance sheet. Daniel has never once in his entire life dreamed of being the face of cooperation. Ever since Daniel was a little kid all he’s ever dreamed of is holding this title. At NOC Daniel will achieve his dream when he beats Orton & wins the WWE Title. Orton says that he will do Daniel 1 better. He will help Daniel achieve his dream right here tonight. Then Orton tackles Daniel to the mat & pounds on him for a bit. Then he gets in Edge’s face. Then he goes to beat on Daniel some more but Daniel gets him in the yes lock & Orton taps. Then referees come in to get Daniel off of Orton. They eventually do & Orton rolls out of the ring. Then Daniel’s music plays & he does his yes bit. Orton heads up the ramp with the title as Daniel & the fans chant yes to end the show. This was good. Edge & Daniel were both great on the mic & I liked that they had Daniel get the better of Orton again. I thought this was a decent show for the most part. The Big Show-HHH opening promo was weak but having Big Show brawl with The Shield was good. The cutting edge segment at the end was well done. The dance off was idiotic & so was Ryback “interviewing” RD Evans. Ricardo-Del Rio was decent & Ricardo got some offense in. I wasn’t into the video package with HHH giving comments. The Dolph-Ambrose/Dolph & Usos vs. The Shield was great. I also liked the Paul Heyman-Curtis Axel interview. Heyman was great with his promo like usual & Axel was solid here too. I thought Michael Cole also did a good job. The 6 Diva tag wasn’t much but I was ok with the 3 challengers going after AJ. Santino-Sandow wasn’t much either. Other than that I thought this was a decent show overall.

9-12-13 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 12, 2013 No Surrender Part 1 episode of Impact They show AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode & Magnus arriving in the building from earlier in the day. Then they show a video package on the BFG Series final 4. That’s followed up with a Ken Anderson-Bully Ray/Aces & 8s video recap. The actual show starts with Bully Ray & Brooke Tessmacher coming to the ring. He says he’s in a very bad mood so it’s in everyone’s best interest to let him say what he has to say. Things in the family haven’t been going right. He & Anderson aren’t on the same page but he’s willing to forgive Anderson because the main problem is Hulk Hogan. Out comes The Hulkster. He welcomes everyone to No Surrender & it’s live on Spike & happening in St. Louis. By the end of the night we’ll know the BFG main event. Before we get there Ray should be worrying about defending his title against 1 of his brothers “brother.” Ray says he knows Anderson will do what’s right. If Anderson’s there he wants him come out right now & talk face to face. Out comes Anderson. Ray mentions that Anderson turned his back on Hulk. The Aces & 8s colors are stronger than Hulk will ever be. All Anderson has to do is apologize to Ray & it will all be over. Anderson says he was out of line & can’t wait to get out of line tonight. Then he decks Ray & says there will be a new world champion. MR. ANDERSON. Wait for it. ANDERSON. Hulk wishes Ray luck & says the title match will be a last man standing match “brother.” This was a good opening segment. AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries in a BFG Series semifinal match. AJ gets the pin. This was great! AJ gave Aries a Styles Clash off the ropes for the pin. Backstage Sting reminds Magnus MEM started with all former world champions but they made an exception for him. They know that he is only 2 wins away from a chance at becoming world champion. Magnus thanks MEM for all they’ve done for him, but he’s tired of being called the future. Tonight the future is now. Sting & Joe agree. This was a decent backstage bit. Bobby Roode is at ringside & he wants Magnus out there now. Well he won’t to wait. Out comes Magnus. I’m not sure why they had this bit. Magnus vs. Bobby Roode in a BFG Series semifinal match. Magnus gets the pin. This was a good back & forth match. I was surprised they had Magnus win but he & AJ should have a great match. So the BFG Series finals is AJ Styles vs. Magnus. Backstage Bobby Roode is all upset & throws stuff around. Daniels & Kazarian come by to calm him. Then Roode says Hulk screwed him & he’s gonna screw him back. If none of them can be in the BFG finals then no one will be. Then we see Hulk with TJ Perkins AKA Manik. Hulk says how great TJ is since he’s dawned the mask. TJ says that he wants to face Jeff Hardy. Hulk tells him that Jeff is no walk in the park but he’s got it. Then Dixie comes in & TJ leaves. Then Dixie tells Hulk that Bellator has Rampage & Tito has from Impact. This was idiotic. I have no idea why they have TJ Perkins in this costume & talking to Hulk without the mask. The Dixie part was pointless too. Who cares what Rampage & Tito will be doing? Then we see Bully Ray. He can’t believe what’s happened to this club. When he looks at the others he thinks they’re happy Anderson turned on him. He thinks they might want Anderson to be their president. Ray put this club together for them while Anderson has done nothing. Then he asks Knox, Wes & Garrett if they want Anderson as champion. Then he says he knows they don’t. Ray’s proud of them & he hopes they feel the same way about him. They show a Ken Anderson-Bully Ray video package. Ken Anderson vs. TNA World Champion Bully Ray in a last man standing match for the Title. Bully Ray wins. During the match Ray gets in Earl Hebner’s face, Hebner pushes him & then Ray shoves Hebner into the turnbuckle, knocking him out. Knox, Wes & Garrett come out. They pick Anderson up & then Tessmacher comes in & hits Anderson from behind in the groin. Then they give Anderson the Shield triple power bomb. Then Ray revives Hebner & Hebner counts but Anderson gets up at 9. A bit later Ray hits Anderson with a chain but Anderson gets up at 9 a second time. Then Ray spears Anderson through the table that was set up in the corner. That keeps Anderson down for a 10 count. WINNER & STILL TNA WORLD CHAMPION – BULLY RAY. This was a really good plunder match. Then Medics come in & place Anderson on stretcher. Before they can wheel him to the back Ray heads towards the stretcher & the medics flee. Then tells the unconscious Anderson & that he is the last person he will see. Then he pushes the stretcher over. Then Ray yanks Anderson’s Aces & 8s vest off. Then Ray pile drives him on the ramp. Then Ray kneels over Anderson & says he is the guy who just took him out. This was good. Break time. Back from break & Gunner & James Storm come to the ring. Back to break (I hate when they do that) Back from break & backstage ODB says she hasn’t been “knocked up” champion in over 3 years. She’s been training hard for this & she almost gave up drinking. She’ll see Mickie next week. Back to Gunner & Storm. Storm puts over St. Louis & says there must a lot of beer drinkers in the place. Storm says to Gunner they were watching the BFG Series. As much as Storm wants to kick back & drink beer all night, Gunner wants to fight so why not do both in 1 night. It doesn’t matter if they face Robbie & Jessie, Daniels, Kazarian & Roode or the Aces and idiots. Storm says there has to be someone to man up. Hernandez & Chavo come out. Chavo says last year’s BFG is when he & Hernandez first won the tag titles. Storm’s a great wrestler & 1 half of the greatest tag team of all time. The greatest team of all time is any team Chavo’s in. Then Chavo says how jacked Gunner is but Hernandez is stronger than Gunner. Chavo says Gunner & Storm have been on a losing streak. Then Chavo says that if he & Hernandez challenge them for the tag titles the losing streak will continue. Gunner says he likes to fight & challenges them to a match for next week. Then he says if they stick their noses in Gunner’s & Storm’s business 1 more time he will drill them with the tag title. This was ok but not great. Storm cut his usual “fight & get drunk” promo & Chavo was really annoying. Gunner was ok but his promo wasn’t really too memorable. AJ Styles vs. Magnus in the Bound for Glory series finals. AJ gets the pin to win the series. Early in the match Daniels, Kazarian & Roode come in & go after both AJ & Magnus & lay out both guys. Then more referees come out & the heel trio continues the beating before heading to the back. The match continues & eventually AJ hits the Spiral Tap for the win. BOUND FOR GLORY SERIES WINNER – AJ STYLES. This was also a great match. Then AJ says he said he was gonna do it & he did in St. Louis. He couldn’t have done it without the fans. He got a lot of response from what he said 2 weeks ago but never got 1 from Dixie. He pointed out a lot of mistakes over the last 11 years. He tells Dixie to remind her secretary to show up next week because he’s gonna mention the biggest mistake. This is Dixie’s wake up call for next week. AJ poses in the ring to end the show. I really enjoyed this week’s show overall. I loved the BFG Series matches & AJ’s promo at the end was also good. The opening segment with Anderson & Ray was also decent & the title match was a great brawl. The Storm & Gunner-Hernandez & Chavo promo was ok but not too memorable. It looks like Hernandez & Chavo will beat the champs & challenge for the titles at Bound for Glory. On the whole though I thought this was a really good show.

9-9-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 9, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with Edge coming to the ring to a hometown pop! The ring is set up for the Cutting Edge segment. He says every time he comes out there the fans remind him why this is home. It’s been too long since he’s said this, “Welcome to the cutting Edge.” He’s here because he was requested by HHH to come out because it would be good for business. HHH thought it would if Edge had a reunion, not with Christian, but his partner in Rated RKO, Randy Orton. Edge has known Orton a long time & Orton has nothing interesting to say. He doesn’t have a problem with Orton cashing in MITB because Edge himself wrote the blueprint on it. Edge’s problem is that Orton is Triple H’s lackey & has The Shield do his dirty work. SO Orton will not be the guest on the cutting edge. His guest is good for business & tells the fans to say yes if they agree with him. His guest is Daniel Bryan. Out comes Daniel. Then they reshow Big Show knocking out Daniel from the end of last week’s Raw. The fans chant Daniel Bryan very loudly. Edge says Daniel’s been through a lot. Daniel says it helps when you have so many people chanting your name. Then the fans start the yes chant. Daniel says last week HHH said if he didn’t give up his title shot he would get hurt & he has been. Orton attacked him with the title, but there’s satisfaction in the struggle. No matter how many attacks he gets from Orton or the Shield & no matter how much HHH tries to hold him down Daniel will beat Orton & become WWE Champion. YES! Edge says he & the fans love Daniel because he looks at an obstacle as an inspiration. Wrestling is something they’ve both wanted to do since they were kids. Edge isn’t if Daniel can beat Orton but he deserves a shot at him. Edge asks Daniel if he think he can beat Orton. Daniel says yes. He asks Daniel if thinks he can shove t Orton’s face & become champion. Yes. Then out come Orton. He tells Edge what a shame it is that when Edge decides to come back Canada is the only place that cares. It’s also a shame that Edge’s body failed him at such a young age. Edge says it’s a shame Orton’s supposed to be the face of WWE but acts like a different body part. Edge mentions Randy’s dad having his arm in a cast for years. Edge says he has a problem with his spine but at least he has 1. Orton has become Triple H’s puppet. Edge then says that HHH sucks at picking out new talent. Then out comes HHH. He tells Edge to say whatever he has to say to his face. Edge says he’s not a WWE employee. He says HHH didn’t think Edge or Chris Jericho could make it. HHH was talking about Cena saying he couldn’t make it either. Edge knows HHH’s nose is huge but he has to look past it. HHHH says it’s great to see Edge because it’s what’s best for business. HHH secured a large sum to have Edge come on & plug Haven. Then HHH says when that show’s on. Then HHH says Edge questions his ability to judge talent. He admits Jericho proved him wrong. HHH was certainly wrong about Cena & time will tell if he’s right or not about Daniel. There was 1 guy he was right about when he said this guy would flop & that’s Edge. The rated R superstar experiment didn’t work & Edge never drew a dime. HHH says when he says this he wants these guys to prove him wrong & he’s giving Daniel another chance to do that tonight when Daniel faces Dean Ambrose. Ambrose will have The Shield in his corner so HHH will have Big Show in Daniel’s (Naturally). It would be so much easier if everybody got along with HHH. He’s not a dictator. Edge didn’t have to marry into success, he earned his HOF ring. HHH says it’s easy to cross a line with a neck that’s a stack of dimes & no one can touch him. If HHH can’t hurt Edge then maybe he can hurt the ones he loves. Then The Shield drags out a “beaten down” Christian. Edge goes over to him & referees do too. This was a mixed bag opening segment. Edge was awesome with his promo while HHH was his usual obnoxious self. I hated that he used the “neck is a stack of dimes” line & I wasn’t surprised that he said Big Show would be in Daniel’s corner tonight since Big Show “can’t do anything.” I was ok with the storyline reason to write Christian off TV since he does have a legit concussion & will be out for awhile. I liked Edge’s line about HHH needing to be able to see past his nose. I also liked Edge’s line about earning the Hall of Fame ring. He also did a better job of putting Daniel over than WWE has all month. Can Edge stick around? Backstage we see HHH & Stephanie. The Shield is there too. Then Edge comes in & The Shield gets in the way. Edge then says he wishes Drs. Would clear him so he can get his hands on HHH. HHH says Drs. Would never clear Edge because his neck is a stack of dimes & asks Edge who he thinks he is to walk into “his town/city” & his show. Then he tells Edge to get out of “His town & show.” If Edge won’t go by himself HHH can have him escorted out. This was typical HHH stupidity. Triple H’s promos are beyond painful! I’m guessing Edge will be back at the end of the show though. Kofi Kingston vs. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. Kofi wins by DQ when Axel keeps hitting Kofi with his knee in the corner. Then Heyman comes in & tells Axel this can’t happen Sunday. If it does everything he & Brock have built is gone. Axel says it won’t happen. Then Axel goes after Kofi again but Kofi gives him Trouble in Paradise. This was a mixed bag too. The match wasn’t much but I liked Heyman flipping out when Axel got DQ’d. What did bother me though is that they had Axel be more aggressive & then they have Kofi lay him out. They mention that Goldust will face Randy Orton tonight & that if Goldust wins Cody gets his job back. Then they show a Goldust video package. Backstage they show Axel & a referee helping Heyman get t the trainer’s room. Apparently Heyman slipped on something. Heyman says that he has his own Dr. & doesn’t want the WWE Dr. there. Then they put an ice pack on his leg. In case you forgot what happened last Monday they give us a video package on the Daniel Bryan-Big Show match with HHH & Stephanie blackmailing Big Show. I can’t stomach this idiocy!! Backstage we see Big Show. Booker T comes in. Booker knows last week was 1 of Show’s worst. They’ve known each other for a long time. Booker was there when Show first started in this business. Cody got fired for speaking his mind & everyone’s calling Show a sell out. Booker says he would’ve done the same thing if was in Show’s spot. The fans will want Big Show to be the hero. When that happens Show needs to think about his family. When Show’s in Daniel’s corner tonight he might be feeling rage but it will really be pride or something along those lines. He tells Show not to let his pride screw him up pretty much. Big Show says that he doesn’t know if he has anything left. This was lame. I’m tired of this whole storyline. I also don’t get why last week they had Booker T tell Daniel to give up his title shot last week & then this week they have him tell Big Show to think about his family & not “screw up” when he’s gonna be at ringside with Daniel. Is Booker T turning heel? Time for a Wyatt family video package. Dolph Ziggler is in the ring. Then out go the lights & the Wyatt family comes out. Then the lights come back on & it looks like Bray will face Dolph. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt. Bray gets the pin. This was a solid match but I was a bit surprised that Dolph lost cleanly. The show another Goldust video package. Paul Heyman, Curtis Axel & some other guy come to the ring. Heyman is on crutches. Heyman says he is not an advocate for socialized medicine. He doesn’t believe in the Canadian Health plan system. Which is why when he comes to Canada he brings his own Dr. from NYC with him. Heyman says that the doc told him that he got some kinda tear, & Heyman is withdrawing himself from competition at NOC. He looked forward to teaming with Axel & finally putting Punk out of his misery, but he’s injured. There fore he will leave the fans good graces, go back to NY, get the proper care & like Edge promised, Heyman will be back when he can. Then out come Brad Maddox & Dr. Sampson. Brad says there’s a fully staffed group of Doctors & they can check on Heyman. If Heyman is really injured the only way to be removed from the match is to be evaluated by the WWE Dr. Dr. Sampson brings a chair in the ring for Heyman to sit in. Sampson checks on Heyman’s right leg. Heyman says he slipped on water, he says where it hurts & the fans chant this is awkward (It is). Sampson checks on Heyman’s leg as Heyman winces & the fans chant CM Punk. Then Sampson says there doesn’t seem to be any injury & Heyman’s ok. Heyman tells Brad he can’t stand on his 2 legs. Then out comes CM Punk with a Singapore cane. He goes after Heyman but he bails. Then Punk hits Axel with the cane as Heyman runs away through the crowd. Then Punk looks at Heyman’s Doc. Punk holds the rope open for him & then canes the crap out of him. This was a good segment. It started out kinda weird but Heyman was great on the mic like always. Punk coming out, running Heyman off & then hitting the fake doc was good. The Punk-Heyman story is the best 1 WWE has going right now! AJ Lee skips to ringside for commentary. Natalya, Naomi & Brie Bella vs. Layla, Aksana & Alicia Fox. Natalya, Naomi & Brie win when Natalya makes Fox tap. This was a typical Divas match. Then Natalya, Naomi & Brie stare down AJ. This was odd. I don’t get why they’re having Natalya, Naomi & Cameron team with The Bellas. The Bellas have been the egotistical heels who have been feuding with Natalya & the Funkidactles & now they’re together because they’re all on this Total Divas show? That makes little sense to me. I also didn’t get why Natalya, Naomi & Brie were a team when they’ll be facing each other & AJ this Sunday. Time for a third Goldust video package. In the Goldman Box RVD says that Del Rio might World Champion now but come Sunday there will be a new champion. His name isn’t ADR, his name is RVD. R-Truth vs. World Champion Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio wins by submission. This was a decent match. I was surprised that Truth got in as much offense as he did. I thought this would be a squash. They announce that Tons of Funk, The Usos, The Primetime Players, The Real Americans & 3MB (They didn’t say which 2) will face each other in a tag team turmoil in the NOC kickoff match. The winning team will challenge Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins for the tag titles on the PPV. Zeb Coulter & Antonio Cesaro are in the ring. Zeb says that Canada is a neighbor to the U.S. in name only. He can’t recall the last time Canada helped America out with anything. To American’s Canadians are the moose hunting boring cousins. But it’s not too late find a passion for more than a stupid hockey game. We the…Cue Santino Marella’s music & he makes his return. Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro. Santino gets the pin. This was a decent match & Santino’s first night back in the ring so having him win made sense. During the match Cesaro gave Santino a really long giant swing. That was a cool spot. Damien Sandow is in the ring. When he cashes in his MITB case he will assume his throne in WWE. But till then he remains the uncrowned world champion. And as his subjects…Cue The Miz’s theme music & he comes out. The Miz vs. Damien Sandow. Sandow gets the pin. This was ok. During the match Fandango’s music plays & he & Summer Rae come out. Miz gets distracted by this & Sandow rolls up Miz for the pin. Then Fandango says his name. That’s right. Sandow can only get a win when his opponent is distracted! Then after he pinned Miz he disappeared. Backstage Renee Young interviews the returning Goldust. Is he mentally prepared for his match with Orton? He says it’s no secret that he’s been the screw up of the family. Cody’s gone down the right path. Dustin’s received multiple chances & has screwed up every time. HHH damaged the Rhodes family name. After tonight Orton will never forget the name…Then HHH comes in & says Dustin Rhodes. He says Dustin has to be nervous because he knows Cody & his bride to be will be watching. Goldust has a lot of pressure on his first night back in 3 years. HHH wishes Goldust luck & hopes he doesn’t let Cody down. This was a mixed bag promo. Goldust was good here but I’m really tired of HHH. Goldust vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton. Orton gets the pin. This was a good match but I knew Orton would win. There were some good near falls here from Goldust though. Then Orton gets the mic, stands over Goldust & he says it looks like Goldust’s dream of saving Cody’s career has been shattered. Just like Daniel’s dream of taking the title from him will be shattered at NOC. Thankfully this was a short promo. Los Matadores will be coming soon. Backstage we see Goldust all upset. Stephanie comes by. She says he must be so disappointed. Cody & his bride to be are. Cody no longer has a job because of Dustin. Dustin let Cody, Dusty, the whole Rhodes family & the fans down. How does it feel to be a loser just like his brother? She tells him to go join him in the unemployment line & tell his dad she said hey. Goldust was good in selling the loss & even Stephanie was decent here with her heel promo. Before the next match Alberto Del Rio comes out. He tells RVD that he’s nothing but a washed up loser & Ricardo is just a peasant. Without Del Rio Ricardo is nothing. RVD & Ricardo belong together just like he & the World Title belong together. At NOC the fans won’t be chanting RVD, they will be chanting ADR. Rob Van Dam vs. Ryback. RVD wins by DQ when Ryback rams RVD crotch first into the post outside the ring. LAME! Afterwards Ryback gives RVD shell shock. This match wasn’t much & this DQ finish was idiotic. Backstage Stephanie tells Big Show not to lay his hand on The Shield. She can’t have mass chaos happen tonight. So if Big Show goes after The Shield he will be terminated. “It’s what’s best for business.” Then Big Show flips & throws something down. I’m really tired of this whole “Big Show has to watch at ringside & not do anything” crap! This storyline is anything but “good for business.” The Shield comes out through the crowd. Then out comes Big Show who again has to just watch & not do anything. Then Daniel Bryan comes out for his match with Dean Ambrose. Daniel Bryan vs. U.S. Champion Dean Ambrose. Daniel gets the pin. This was a good match. Then Daniel launches Ambrose into the other 2 Shield guys. Then out comes Orton. Daniel gives him a suicide dive. They go at it but then The Shield attacks Daniel. Then Big Show gets up & holds the chair. He thinks about attacking the heels but he doesn’t. Then the heels roll Daniel back into the ring. Then Orton holds up Daniel & gives him an RKO AGAIN! Orton’s music plays & he stands over Daniel. Then HHH & Stephanie come out. HHH tells Show to put aside his personal feelings of what’s right & wrong. He wants Big Show to KO Daniel AGAIN! (They did this crap last week)! Big Show gets in the ring but is reluctant to KO Daniel again. Then Orton gets in Big Show’s face. Show says he’s not knocking Daniel out. Orton picks up Daniel & tells show to KO him. Big Show doesn’t. Orton gets in Show’s face again. Show tells him to leave him alone. Orton tells him not to talk to him like that. Then he tells Big Show to KO Daniel. Then Daniel gives Orton a running knee to the face. Then he holds up the title & does the yes bit. Daniel stands over Orton holding the title over his head this time. Daniel says the title is coming home to him & that ends the show. The match was good & I liked that they FINALLY had Daniel be the guy standing at the end! I thought this was better than last week’s show overall. The opening segment with Edge, Daniel & HHH was a mixed bag. Edge & Daniel were good but HHH was his usual annoying self. I didn’t like that they only had Edge be on the start of the show though. HHH kicking him out & Edge not coming back at the end of the show was weak. The Daniel-Ambrose match was good. I liked that they finally had Daniel stand over Orton with the title for a change & Big Show defying HHH & Orton was solid too. Kofi-Axel wasn’t much as far as a match goes. I get why they did the DQ finish here though. What I didn’t get is why they had Axel get all aggressive for a bit only to get laid out right afterwards. Heyman’s promo later on about how he “injured” his leg was good. The whole bit with the doc checking on it was a bit odd but Punk coming out & running off Heyman was good. The Punk-Heyman storyline is the best 1 they have right now! RVD-Ryback wasn’t much & the DQ finish here was lame. Santino-Cesaro was decent too. Miz-Sandow was meaningless & having Sandow get the win by Miz being distracted by Fandango was weak. The Goldust-Orton match was good also. I knew Orton would win but Goldust got a good amount of offense & near falls here. So for the most part I thought this week’s Raw was better than last week’s but it really didn’t make me wanna see Night of Champions. The build to the PPV (or lack thereof) before this week was lousy.

9-5-13 Smackdown results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 6, 2013 episode of Smackdown The show starts with Triple H, Brad Maddox & Vickie Guerrero in the ring (HHH starting EVERY SHOW is way beyond annoying at this point)! The Shield are also at ringside again (That’s gotten old too) & the whole is ONCE AGAIN standing on the stage (This has gotten really stale also & that’s a kind way of saying it). HHH says before they get started he just wants to take a moment to inform everybody that “regrettably” after Monday Cody Rhodes is no longer a WWE super star (For now). HHH wants to explain why as Cody was fired for “just cause.” Cody was disrespectful to HHH (Or as he says “The position of COO). The COO of WWE represents WWE. So as COO HHH is WWE (Yeah we’ve noticed). Cody was disrespectful to all the fans & the roster (Man I’m tired of this crap). That’s something HHH won’t stand for. He gave Cody the chance to fight for his job. He asked Cody to go to the ting & perform his job & Cody failed. HHH didn’t fire Cody, Cody fired Cody (Great so now HHH is giving us a “Bret screwed Bret” line. UGH)! That pains HHH (This idiotic storyline is what pains me)! HHH is friends with Cody. You know how hard this job can be. HHH is friends with Cody, Dustin & Dusty. It’s painful for HHH to have to do that but that’s the burden he takes as COO of WWE. There are hard decisions that have to be made & sometimes when you make those decisions you come across as the bad guy & HHH gets it. He’s willing to accept that responsibility to do what is “best for business.” (I am so tired of hearing that line)! That is why they’re there tonight. HHH is here for the whole WWE roster. HHH wants to have an open form because he feels like there might be some misunderstanding of how business is being done & he doesn’t want anybody to have to fear for their jobs, so he wants this open form. He wants to open the mic up to the WWE Super Stars & he wants them to ask him anything that’s on their mind with no fear. HHH asks who will go first. No one volunteers. HHH knows they’ve got something to say. There’s also a mic on the stage. HHH says that he works for all of them & wants to continue to but he can only work for them all if they open up to him. Everyone has to tell him how they feel (This is beyond stupid)! If they do he will work harder than any man on this planet for the whole roster. He wants the fans & the roster to grow & so does he. But they can only grow if they’re honest with each other. He asks for someone to be open & tell him what they’re thinking (You all know I’m thinking)! Damien Sandow goes first. He supports the termination of Cody Rhodes. Cody exemplifies everything that is “bad for business.” For that Sandow commends HHH as their “Fearless leader.” HHH says this isn’t about them kissing his rear end. He wants this to be open & honest. He pleads for someone to speak up. He asks Alicia Fox if she has something to say. (She should be asking “Why am I not on TV?). But nope she’s got nothing to say. Then Kofi says that ever since HHH fired Cody the whole locker room has been living in fear (What they weren’t before that?) & maybe it’s Kofi but he doesn’t see that as what’s “best of business.” Cody was out there fighting for his life & HHH took his livelihood. HHH says that’s a fair point & he can understand how from Kofi’s point of view Kofi wouldn’t get that. How could he? Then Heath Slater steps in front of the mic & says that no one cares about Kofi’s question (Actually is was more of a comment). Slater’s got something he needs to say (He should be asking why he’s always been a jobber & why he’s in this goofy 3MB gimmick). But nope. Slater says that he’s uncomfortable with their resident giant. He says Big Show just stand around & hardly does anything & just watches everything go on (That’s cause HHH TOLD HIM TO)! That’s Slater’s problem. Then Heath thanks HHH because he thinks he has great style (Are you kidding me?) & that HHH is doing a “great job.” (This is going on WAY too long)! HHH thanks Heath for emptying what was surely the entire content of his mind (He wants the talent not to be afraid of him & then he insults them. This is bad)! HHH continues to plead for someone to open up & be honest (just so he can put them down & call them idiots). RVD is gonna speak. He mentions that HHH is the guy who brought him back to WWE a couple months ago. RVD was under the impression that things were better now. But this whole vibe they’re all feeling is not cool “dude.” HHH wants to say personally that he’s been since probably 200 to have RVD call him “dude.” He wants to say to RVD that he still has the same faith in him that he had a few months ago when he made that call to bring RVD back. RVD is a true super star. Then the fans chant RVD. Then HHH asks if anyone else has anything to say. Ryback’s turn. He’s tired of everyone calling “the big guy” a bully. HHH says that’s a fair point. Then HHH mentions Monday & says that it’s not Ryback’s fault that Dolph was injured when Ryback got to the ring. Ryback did his job the way he’s supposed to. Ryback beat Dolph but he get criticized for it when it’s not his fault. Tonight HHH will give Ryback the opportunity to redeem that. Tonight Dolph will face Ryback in a rematch from Monday. Then HHH says that this is great. They’re all “opening up.” Before they go any further HHH would like to say 1 thing. He mentions that Daniel Bryan is not on the stage. Daniel not being there is symptomatic of Daniel’s problems. Daniel’s problem is his ego & says that it’s out of control. Daniel’s ego has gotten so big in the last few weeks that he can’t even be bothered to stand on the stage with the rest of the “little people”. Daniel’s “bigger than that.” HHH says that’s a shame because he wanted to look Daniel in the eye & tell him what he will be doing tonight. The show Big Show looking upset after what happened Monday. HHH says that Daniel will be in this ring & he will get the opportunity to which member of The Shield he wants to face tonight (This again?). Then HHH says that this has been really helpful for him & he’s happy for the people who spoke up & he would like to “reward” them. Kofi spoke up & that means a lot to HHH. Kofi’s a true locker room leader & HHH would like to “reward” him by having him face Curtis Axel in a non title match. Then he says that RVD will get the chance to get in the ring right now & face the guy he is about to introduce. He is “The face of this whole thing.” (Enough with this whole “Orton is the face of WWE” crap)! HHH brings out the champ, Randy Orton. This was WAY too long & very painful to watch! Need I say more? Alberto Del Rio is on commentary for Van Dam’s match. Rob Van Dam vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton. Orton gets the pin. During the match Del Rio threw Ricardo into the turnbuckle. Then RVD dove outside on Del Rio. Then Orton threw RVD into the announce table & gave him the IE DDT on the floor. Then back in the ring Orton gave RVD the RKO for the pin. WINNER – RANDY ORTON. This was actually a good back & forth match. Orton leaves & then Del Rio gets in the ring & beats on RVD & then locks him in the arm breaker. Then they show a Real Americans video package with Zeb Coulter narrating. This is another gimmick I’m tired of. Backstage Renee Young interviews Daniel Bryan. She asks for Daniel’s reaction about HHH mentioning that he wasn’t on the stage earlier. Daniel says that he doesn’t think he’s a better person than anybody. He was told by management not to go out there because he wasn’t invited. Then Daniel says that if by “ego problems” does HHH mean that Daniel wants to be WWE Champion? Then the answer to that question is yes. As far as facing 1 Shield guy, everyone knows that it won’t be 1 on 1. Daniel will let The Shield decide who wants to get beat up first before the other 2 jump in because Daniel knows that he can beat any member of The Shield just like he knows that he can beat Orton for the WWE Title. Good Daniel Bryan promo. Backstage we see AJ Lee. She runs into Layla, Aksana & Alicia Fox. AJ knows that they don’t entirely like but she’s used to it (I thought AJ & Layla were buddies now! We’re supposed to forget that too?). She wanted to tell them that she would rather defend her Divas Title against any of them than any of those “Total Divas” (She’d rather face any 1 of these 3 than Natalya). Those “E! Network darlings” that are covered in sparkles. Then she says that Natalya, The Bellas, Naomi & Cameron think that just because they’re pretty that gives them a shot at the title (I doubt that’s what Natalya really thinks). It’s more than just the Divas Title. The “Total Divas” think they’re better than the other Divas. AJ says these 3 are so talented & their talent is being “wasted” & their TV time is being taken. AJ isn’t gonna let that happen. They all agree. AJ has an idea. What if they…Then they cut away to go back to the ring. This was a typical Divas segment. Not much to it. Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback. Ryback gets the pin after Dean Ambrose (who apparently showed up out of nowhere to do commentary) distracts Dolph. Dolph went after Ambrose & then Ryback clotheslined Dolph. Then back in the ring Ryback gave Dolph shell shock for the pin. WINNER – RYBACK. This was ok. Kofi Kingston vs. Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. Kofi gets the pin. This was a solid match. The fans cheered for Curtis Axel since they’re in Minneapolis. They show the Wyatt family video that they showed Monday. Backstage we see Paul Heyman on his cell phone all worried. Then Renee Young comes by. She says that if Curtis Axel is defeated in the handicap elimination match at NOC like he was just a little while ago then Heyman will find himself alone in the ring with Punk. Does that concern Heyman? Heyman says to just ask if he is afraid. Is he stressed? Are his nerves frazzled? Tonight was a judgment error. Heyman & Axel overlooked Kofi because Heyman has been so “concerned” over Punk’s obsession with getting his hands on him. That wasn’t Curtis Axel’s fault. That was Heyman’s strategy & he takes accountability for it. It was Heyman’s mistake. It was a mistake he & Axel will never make again & a mistake they won’t make at NOC. If Punk gets by Axel & Punk gets his hands on Heyman Punk will rip him limb from limb. Punk promised to break Heyman’s face. He bets Renee would probably like to see that. Heyman then says that Punk promised that he will show the whole world a side of himself that the fans might not be comfortable with. This will be Punk at his worst. Heyman always accepted Punk at his worst. But Heyman’s worst is a lot better than Punk’s. Heyman promises. Then Renee says that Punk also said that he guaranteed that he would beat Curtis Axel & that he would give Heyman the beating of his life. Heyman is upset by this & then he walks off & slams a door. This was the usual good promo we get from Heyman. Naomi vs. Brie Bella. The match goes to a no finish when AJ, Aksana, Alicia & Layla come in. Layla, Aksana & Alicia go after Naomi, Cameron & The Bellas as AJ watches. Then the brawl goes into the ring. AJ picks up Brie by the hair & Layla gives Brie a round house kick to the head. Then AJ gets the mic & says, “Ladies & nerds your WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee.” This actually wasn’t that bad. AJ is really good & the other Non Total Divas got some TV time. Los Matadores are “coming soon.” Yay. Zeb Coulter, Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro are in the ring. Zeb tells real Americans everywhere to say we the people. Thank God that was all. The Usos vs. The Real Americans. The Real Americans win when Cesaro pins Jimmy. This match was solid too. Backstage we see Big Show in the GM Office. Then HHH comes in & says that Big Show has had this look on his face all day. HHH asks Big Show what’s going on. Big Show says that HHH knows exactly what’s wrong. HHH says it’s 3MB. HHH can’t believe those guys said that to him. This is the Big Show. A legend in this business, a locker room leader. Who are 3MB to say anything to Big Show? It was disrespectful & HHH is not gonna let anybody disrespect Big Show (Except for himself of course). Big Show has the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. HHH gets that Show has a lot of rage boiling up inside of him. HHH will let him get some of it out. He wants Big Show to go to the ring & HHH will send 3MB out there. Then he tells Big Show to take his giant fist, ball it up real tight & treat those guys like human stress balls. He tells Big Show to blow off some steam because he deserves it. This wasn’t as bad other HHH segments. Time for the Raw Rebound (Can they get rid of that?). Big Show vs. 3MB. Big Show wins when he pins Heath Slater. This was a total squash (No surprise there). Then as Big Show walks up the ramp The Shield’s music hits. They make their way to ringside through the crowd like always. Then HHH comes out. He & Big Show head to the back. That was entirely pointless. Break time. Back from break & The Shield is in the ring. Then out comes Daniel Bryan. Which Shield guy will he be taking on? The bell rings & all 3 Shield guys are still in the ring. Then Reigns gets in Daniel’s face & makes like he will be facing Daniel but then Rollins attacks Daniel from behind. Daniel Bryan vs. WWE Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins. Daniel gets the pin. This was a decent match but a bit short. Reigns & Ambrose got involved too of course but Daniel fought them off. Then Daniel does the yes chant on the stage out comes Orton & he hits Daniel from behind with the belt. Then Orton stands over Daniel & holds up the belt to end the show. This whole bit with Daniel getting knocked out/beaten by Orton & then Orton standing over him at the end of every show is too predictable & it’s just plain idiotic! I thought this was a mixed bag show. The HHH “town hall” segment was the usual painful crap we’ve been getting from him. Daniel-Rollins was decent but short & I’m tired of Orton standing over Daniel at the end of EVERY show! Kofi-Axel was solid & I liked Heyman’s promo backstage, The Usos vs. The Real Americans was solid too & the Big Show-HHH segment wasn’t too bad & Big Show vs. 3MB was a squash. I also liked having AJ aligning herself with Aksana, Alicia & Layla to take out the “Total Divas” The Naomi-Brie match wasn’t much but having those 4 comes out & brawl with Naomi, Cameron & The Bellas was pretty good. Dolph-Ryback was ok but there wasn’t really much to it. Daniel Bryan’s promo was good too. I liked that he said that no matter which Shield guy he’d be facing the other 2 would get involved anyway. The RVD-Orton match was also good. So overall I thought this week’s show was hit & miss.

9-5-13 Impact results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 5, 2013 episode of Impact The show kicks off with a recap of what happened last Thursday. Then we get comments from the BFG Series guys about tonight’s “gauntlet”. The actual show starts with Aces & 8s coming to the ring. Bully Ray wants to start off by telling us that the Aces & 8s are in total control. They’re the best bunch of brothers a president could have. Without these guys he’d be nothing. They watch his back & they hang together. Last week might’ve been a bit harsh but that’s the past. Then he hugs all his guys. The fans chant you suck at Tito. Ray tells him that they envy him & that they aren’t as tough as Tito is. Anderson is the best VP a guy could ask for. He’s got more love for Anderson than for Devon. Then he says that tonight Knox will face Chris Sabin, Wes Briscoe & Garrett Bischoff will face the tag champs Gunner & James Storm & Anderson will take care of business in the gauntlet (rumble) match. Ray has Hulk in checkmate & accepts the challenge from Sting. He will beat Sting just like he did at Slammiversary. He tells Knox to stay in the ring as he & Brooke will watch him destroy Sabin. Out comes Chris Sabin. This was a solid opening promo. Ray’s always good on the mic. Chris Sabin vs. Knox. Knox wins by DQ. Knox distracted the referee & Ray tosses the hammer into the ring. Sabin kicks Knox to get a hold of the hammer & he hits Knox with it & of course the referee sees this & calls for the bell. WINNER BY DQ – KNOX. The match was solid but the finish was predictable. Backstage we see Chris Sabin & Velvet Sky. She tries to calm him but he flips because of the hammer being brought into the ring. She says he doesn’t need the hammer. Sabin didn’t bring the hammer into the ring. He only used it against him because he brought it in there. Velvet still tries to calm hi but he’s still steam. He says this is crap & storms off. Then Velvet cries a bit & asks herself what just happened. This was lame. Why are they bringing the real life relationship into this storyline? They’ve always done this in wrestling & it almost always flops. Mickie James comes to the ring. Not only is Cleveland the home of 1 of the last Impacts of the summer but it’s also the home of the rock n roll hall of fame. Then she rambles about some “act” that she put together (who cares) She’s bummed out that she wasn’t invited to the VMA’s but who need that when she has the MJA (Mickie James Award. Brilliant). Then she says Milie is trying to come out of her shell. Mickie knows how hard it is to be a massive star in the music world & the greatest Knockouts Champion of the century. She says more but then out comes ODB. ODB can’t believe Mickie’s talking about Milie Cyrus (Neither can I). ODB tells Mickie she needs to worry about her taking that title. Mickie doesn’t think so. Mickie’s a star & ODB isn’t. Then ODB turns her back & Mickie hits her with the trophy. Then they go at it for a bit. ODB gets the upper hand. ODB holds up the belt. Mickie snatches it & gets in her face. Then she rips Mickie’s shirt off but of course Mickie has another underneath. ODB says Mickie will never be rock n roll & won’t be Knockouts champ for much longer. This was a solid segment. Mickie is good at playing the cocky, delusional heel & ODB is ODB. Backstage JB talks about the BFG Series gauntlet. Then Hernandez & Jay Bradley come in. Jay might not have a lot to gain but he isn’t opposed to being business partners with Hernandez. This wasn’t much. Backstage we see Aces & 8s eating at catering or somewhere. Who cares? This was meaningless. They show Sting arriving from earlier in the day (I’m sick of these “Earlier Today” clips). Hernandez & Jay Bradley come out to start the “Gauntlet.” Before that starts Bradley says there’s a certain group that’s thrown a lot of money his way. All he has to do with Hernandez’ help is to eliminate someone in the match. Hernandez punches him. Match starts. 12 Man BFG Series “Gauntlet”. AJ Styles wins for 20 more points. Since AJ won he finishes in first place in the series. This was good. I usually enjoy these kinda matches. ENTRANCE SEQUANCE – 1. Hernandez 2. Jay Bradley 3. Joseph Park 4. Ken Anderson 5. Samoa Joe 6. AJ Styles 7. Frankie Kazarian 8. Christopher Daniels 9. Jeff Hardy 10. Bobby Roode 11. Austin Aries 12. Magnus ELIMINATION SEQUANCE – 1. AJ eliminates Park before number 7 2. Joe eliminates Anderson before number 8 3. Daniels & Kazarian eliminate Hernandez before number 9 4. AJ eliminates Bradley before number 11 5. Daniels (with assistance from Kazarian & Roode) eliminates Joe 6. Roode eliminates Jeff 7. AJ eliminates Kazarian 8. Daniels eliminates Magnus 9. AJ eliminates Aries 10. AJ eliminates Roode 11. AJ eliminates Daniels The final 4 in the BFG Series are now AJ Styles, Magnus, Austin Aries & Bobby Roode. Backstage Ray is so disgusted he can’t look at Anderson’s face. All he had to do was win his match. Knox won his. He’s sure Wes & Garrett will win their match. What has Anderson done for the club? Anderson says he was in there & fought for the club or something like that. Ray says he kicked out his own brother Devon. What makes Anderson think Ray won’t kick him out too? Ray tells Anderson not to disappoint him again. I think we all know that Anderson is gonna turn face. AJ Styles says he was out of the top 4 & now is in the lead. He gets to pick his opponent for No Surrender. He will win the BFG Series & beat Ray for the world title. Backstage we see Sting & Rampage. Sting says this isn’t about world titles for him. Tonight he owes Ray a thank you because Sting realized he needed back up. Sting has killers for a family. Sting’s confident he can take Ray out because MEM has his back & Sting has been on a rampage for a lot of years. Gunner & James Storm come out for their match & Wes & Garrett attack them from behind. They go at it on the outside for a bit. TNA World Tag Team Champions Gunner & James Storm vs. Wes Briscoe & Garrett Bischoff. Wes & Garrett win when Garrett pins Gunner after hitting him in the back of the head with a chain. This was a solid match. Magnus, Austin Aries & Bobby Roode come to the ring. Break time. Back from break & JB is in the ring. He plugs the finals of the BFG Series. He introduces the 3 guys who are in the ring & then brings out AJ Styles. JB says AJ is the points leader so he can pick his opponent for next week. Who will it be? AJ says decision 3 times. Then he gets in Roode’s face. Then he looks at Aries. AJ says Aries is the only guy that beat him the BFG Series, so AJ picks him. Aries says he’s not big on making predictions & doesn’t like making promises he can’t keep, but he can promise that the winners will be the fans. Aries wishes AJ good luck. Then Roode gets the mic. He says there’s a reason why he teamed up with Daniels & Kazarian. To get in the final 4. As far as Roode’s concerned he got the weakest link. Magnus might have beaten him but next week is a different day. He will beat Magnus & either AJ or Aries. Then he will win back the TNA World Title at BFG. Magnus says they each earned their points at each other’s expense. Unlike Daniels Magnus did it by himself. Daniels might have some new friends but Magnus has a family. Next week the playing field will be leveled. He will go through Roode next week, beat either AJ or Aries & win the TNA World Title at BFG. JB says that next week at “No Surrender” at will be AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries & Magnus vs. Bobby Roode. This was a good segment. All 4 guys were good on the mic here. That said I don’t get why they have this stip in the Bound for Glory series. Shouldn’t the guy with the most points in the series get the title match at Bound for Glory? Why bother with the points system if the guy who finishes first gets to pick his opponent in the semi final matches? Bully Ray, Tito Ortiz, Ken Anderson & Brooke Tessmacher come to the ring. Then Sting comes out. Ray says this is a non title match because Sting lost to him at Slammiversary & can never have a world title match again. Screw Sting & his best friend Hulk Hogan. Then Hulk Hogan comes out. He says he runs the show & Ray has been taking things from his family for awhile so now it’s time for Hulk to return the favor. Hulk has Tito sent to the back but he lets Anderson stay at ringside for some reason. Ray says Hulk can’t just come out here & pull that. Hulk says if Ray didn’t like that he won’t like this. Hulk says that this will be a No DQ match. Sting vs. TNA World Champion Bully Ray. Sting wins by submission. Sting hits Ray with a chair a number of times at 1 point. Then Ray takes apart the canvas just like he did at Slammiversary. Then Sting gets Ray in the Scorpion death lock. Then the rest of Aces & 8s come in but out come MEM to even the odds. Of course this leads to an MEM-Aces & 8s brawl. A little later Sting gets Ray in the scorpion a second time. Anderson makes like he’s gonna hand Ray the hammer but he tosses it away & Ray taps out. WINNER – STING. Afterwards Anderson gets in the ring. He gets in Ray’s face saying Ray couldn’t do it on his own. Then he asks Ray if he knows who he is. He’s the guy who will face Ray next week for the world title. He’s Ray’s worst nightmare & the next world champion. His name is Mr. ANDERSON! ANDERSON! Anderson holds up the title, throws it back to Ray & leaves. Ray sits in the ring all beaten & Brooke is by Ray’s side. This ends the show. I actually thought this wasn’t that bad. The match was solid & I thought Anderson was pretty decent here with his face turn. I thought this was a solid show overall. The opening segment with Aces & 8s was decent. Ray was good on the mic as usual. The Sting-Ray match was decent too & I was ok with Anderson’s face turn promo. I enjoyed the “gauntlet” match too & I thought the BFG Series final 4 segment was also decent. I don’t get why the guy with the most points doesn’t get the title match though. The tag match was also decent. Chris Sabin & Knox had a solid match too but I wasn’t a fan of the Chris Sabin-Velvet Sky backstage segment. The ODB-Mickie James segment was solid too. The Sting-Rampage Jackson backstage bit was pointless but thankfully it was short. I wasn’t really into Jay Bradley offering Hernandez to help him eliminate 1 guy in the “gauntlet.” This was a “bottom 2 guys in the series” angle but it didn’t really make sense. For the most part though I thought this was a decent to solid show this week.

9-2-13 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the September 2, 2013 episode of Raw The show starts with Triple H in the ring (UGH!) The Shield is at ringside too. HHH wants to introduce the face of a company, the WWE Champion Randy Orton (I am REALLY TIRED of this crap)! Out comes Orton. (This is gonna be terrible)! Orton says as the face of WWE protecting the company is his number 1 responsibility. If you disrespect him you disrespect all of WWE & need to be dealt with. The fans chant no. Orton mentions Daniel Bryan & the fans chant yes. Last week Daniel de faced Orton’s personal property. The escalade HHH gave him. So Orton had no choice but to de face Daniel. They re show the end of Smackdown where Orton beat down Daniel (Is that how every show will end)? Orton wants to play a Q & A game with the fans now. Should Daniel face him at Night of Champions for the WWE Title? They cheer & he says no. Does Daniel have the slightest chance of beating him at NOC? No. Will Daniel ever amount to anything in WWE or will he always just be a b + player? Should Daniel give up his chance to face Orton at NOC for the WWE Title? YES! HHH says as COO of WWE he has some responsibilities. One of those is to make sure they put on the best product every week. It’s what the most intense fans deserve. His other job is to ensure the well being of the other super stars & Divas. Daniel’s ego has been getting him into situations like what happened on Smackdown. HHH sees the fans throwing up their arms & chanting yes & that’s a problem because they’re causing Daniel to confuse popularity with what’s best for business. Popularity has nothing to do with what’s best for business. He mentions Doink was popular but there’s a reason why he was never WWE Champion, because it would’ve been bad for business. It’s ok that Daniel will never be WWE Champion. HHH can bring back the Cruiserweight & European Titles. Daniel can compete for those. Then Daniel Bryan comes out. Daniel says he’s thrilled to be compared with Doink. Then the fans chant Daniel Bryan. Daniel’s not sure if there was ever a loud Doink chant in 92 & the only clowns Daniel sees are the 2 in the ring. He gets they want him to give up his title match the same way HHH gave up being a man when he decided to become a corporate sell out. Then he says that Orton gave up being in the WWE Title hunt till the title was handed to him. Should Daniel give up his title match at NOC? The answer to that is the answer to the same question is Orton more masculine than Stephanie? No. Orton asks how often does Daniel have to get beat down before he realizes he can’t win. Daniel says he was told he couldn’t get to WWE & when he got there all he was told was that he would be a good little hand. He would never be world champion. Daniel loves scraping & crawling & has loved everything he’s had to do to get to where he is now. Orton will never get that because he was handed everything. Daniel doesn’t think he can beat Orton, he knows he can. Orton & HHH know it too otherwise they wouldn’t have him in gauntlet matches. They also know that Orton might have the genetics of a champion but not the heart of 1. Orton might walk around like a big dog… Then Triple H calls him a grumpy old troll. Daniel shouldn’t be mad at HHH & Orton. He should be mad at a 7 foot tall 400 pound guy with an iron clad contract who just watches on as Daniel gets beaten. HHH will let Daniel take his anger out on Big Show tonight. Because tonight Daniel Bryan will face Big Show. This sucked!! I’m way past tired of HHH & Orton telling us that Daniel isn’t WWE Title material & all that same old repetitive idiotic crap!? This is horrific story telling WWE! Backstage we see HHH & Orton. They bump into Cody Rhodes. HHH asks how Dusty is. Cody says Dusty’s doing ok. Then Cody says tonight’s main event will be great as long as no 1 gets involved. HHH asks why anyone would. He asks Orton why he’s avoiding a match with Daniel. Is Orton scared of Daniel? Then Cody says that Daniel vs. Orton is what’s best for business. HHH says he was deciding what’s best for business, not Cody. HHH thinks Daniel vs. Show is what’s best for business. Cody has a lot on his mind with his wedding (I had no idea Cody was getting married). HHH got him an early wedding present. A match tonight with Orton. Cody thanks HHH. HHH says that if Cody loses then he won’t be there for long. He wishes Cody luck. TERRIBLE!! We’re only 23 minutes into the show & it’s already painful! The Miz vs. Fandango. Miz wins by submission. This was decent. They showed Miz kicking Fandango in the face, which happened during the break. The announcers said that Fandango got his nose broken & the Doc checked him out. I’m not sure Fandango’s broken nose is legit or part of the storyline. My guess is if it was really broken the match wouldn’t have continued but I could be wrong. WINNER – THE MIZ Backstage we see Daniel Bryan. In comes Booker T. Booker needs to talk to Daniel. He knows Daniel wants to rage against the machine & fight the McMahon family but it’s a fight he can’t win. He tells Daniel that he can go back to wrestling in high school gyms for little money. Then he says that Daniel should think about giving up the title match. Daniel says Booker’s “Tell me you didn’t just say that” line. Then he says this isn’t about money or the title. This is about his life. Booker says Daniel could get a career ending injury. The McMahon power travels far beyond this arena. Daniel needs to tread lightly. I’m tired of this whole “Daniel needs to give up his WWE Title match” crap!! They show a video package recapping the Punk-Heyman bit from last week. That was easily the best part of last Monday’s show! Dolph Ziggler comes to the ring for a match. Then Dean Ambrose comes in from behind & attacks Dolph. Then Ryback’s music plays & he comes out. So Dolph will be facing Ryback. Or will he? I don’t get this! Why is Ryback teaming with The Shield after they took him out months ago? How come we’re supposed to forget all that happened? Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback. Ryback gets the pin. This was just as stupid as the rest of the booking. Ryback pounded on Dolph the whole match. Backstage we see HHH & Stephanie. Brad comes in. He tells them Big Show is refusing to face Daniel. Stephanie will handle this. It won’t be a private conversation. That’s not the way she rolls. This was more stupidity. Los Matadores are “coming soon”. Yippee. Stephanie McMahon comes to the ring (I’m really dreading this)! She would like to introduce someone who helped her out when she was younger. She grew up seeing the backstage end of the business & he helped her out a lot. She brings out her friend & giant the Big Show. She says she heard he doesn’t wanna face Daniel. He taught her it’s ok to things that you don’t want to as long as you’re willing to pay the price. Then she says that Big Show is flat out broke. He mad bad investments. He has nothing right now. There are public records on that. If he doesn’t perform his duties he is breaching his iron clad contract. There aren’t many 7 foot 500 pound leading men in Hollywood. She’s willing to tell him the truth at much as it pains her. Big Show’s giving all this up just because he won’t compete in 1 match. Then she says that giants don’t live as long as other people (That was tasteless). She says that he will face Daniel tonight. She’s sorry he is hurting but the only person hurting more is her of course. She leaves the ring & Big Show cries. MAN THIS WAS F’N TERRIBLE!! THIS WHOLE SHOW HAS BEEN PAINFUL! Edge will be on Raw next week. I hope he can make Raw more entertaining. They show Big Show backstage flipping out. This happened during the break on the APP. Time for the announcers to plug the APP. The Primetime Players vs. Heath Slater & Jinder Mahal. The Primetime Players win when Titus pins Jinder. This was a decent match. Backstage Brad is on his cell phone. Paul Heyman comes in. Heyman’s not doing to well because of Brad. Brad put his fate in the fans’ hands last week. Brad gave the fans the chance to let Punk get his hands on Heyman. Do you know what would happen if Punk got his hands on Heyman? You’d never see Heyman again. Now Brad puts him in a pretty much guaranteed spot that Heyman will get a beating from Punk at NOC. Is that best for business? In comes HHH. He approved the handicap match. Heyman asks why. HHH says it has nothing to do with their past. HHH watched Heyman for years as he weaseled his way out of situations. This match guarantees that Heyman won’t. Maybe Heyman does the unthinkable & does, but this could be the match where Punk gives Heyman the beating that he deserves. Either way HHH wins & that’s what’s best for business. Great so now HHH is ruining Heyman’s segments too. Time for a Bray Wyatt video. He says Icarus was warned to never let his waxed wings get too close to the sun. Pride can make people to foolish things. Icarus fell into the ocean & was never heard from again. Bray warned Kane. He told him that the fire he thinks is his friend would be Kane’s ending. When Kane let his pride cloud his common sense Bray knew he had Kane where he wanted him. Kane made his be & now he’s burning in it. This was good. Bray’s promos are creepy in a good way. Cody Rhodes vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton. Orton gets the pin. This was a really good match & easily the best part of this week’s show so far. I knew Cody would lose since he has his wedding coming up. Then HHH comes out AGAIN! He says let’s hear it for Cody. HHH says Cody fought like his life was on the line. Cody fought from the bottom of his heart & HHH respects him. But this is a business & in this business there has to be winners. It’s with “deep regret” that he has to tell Cody that he is fired. Cody sits in the ring in tears as the fans chant thank you Cody. Then Cody walks up the ramp as the fans chant his name. I hated that HHH had to be in this too but Cody did a good job selling his “firing” here. Cody will definitely be taking time off for his wedding. CM Punk comes to the ring holding a Singapore cane. Punk says “I promise”. Those are 2 words that don’t mean much to most people but Punk promises no more threats or talking. He’s having a hard time trying to figure out what he should say next. What’s left to say after last week? We’ve heard everything Punk has to say & Heyman’s said everything he wants the fans to believe. After what was done to Punk last week Punks wants to fight Heyman. If he has to fight Axel to get a shot at Heyman he’s all for it. He’d invite them out right now but he knows they wouldn’t come. Punk’s in such a dark place he wouldn’t wanna fight himself right now. Punk’s not talk the beat Heyman will get at NOC. Punk’s here to say something to the fans, friends & family. He has something to say to everyone who bought his t-shirt & made a sign to support him. Punk guarantees he will get past Axel & guarantees he will get his hands on Heyman At NOC you’ll see a side of Punk you’ve never seen & it might not be a side the fans like. Heyman said last week that Punk broke his heart. AT NOC Punk promises that he will break Heyman’s face. This was a great promo. They reshow Heyman & Axel beating down Punk from last week again. Punk’s still in the ring holding up the cane like a baseball bat. Backstage we see Daniel Bryan. Big Show comes in. He wants Daniel to know he didn’t want any part of this fight but he’s under a lot of pressure. Daniel says that what Show wants isn’t important. Daniel does what he has to do no matter what the obstacles are. It doesn’t matter if it’s The Shield, Orton or a giant. Show says he can’t let their friendship or what will happen to Daniel dictate what happens to Show’s family. Show’s in a no win situation. Daniel says that he is in a no win situation because he will Show just like he did to win his first World Title. This was decent but kinda odd too. When did Big Show & Daniel become friends? It kinda felt like they wanted us to remember that Daniel beat him for the World Title but also wanted us to forget they had a feud going. Before the next match AJ Lee skips to the announce table. Eva Marie, Nikki Bella & Cameron are also at ringside. Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Brie Bella to determine the number 1 contender to the Divas Title. The match ends in a no finish. Naomi had Natalya pinned but AJ broke that up & the referee called for the bell. Brie goes after AJ & then Naomi & Brie go after her too. They triple team AJ for a bit. Then the Divas walk up the ramp as AJ lies in the ring. This was a way for the Divas to get back at AJ. I’m not sure why this was even a match to see who will challenge AJ & have no finish. I thought 3 way matches were no DQ. Los Matadores vignette time. Damien Sandow is in the ring. Then out comes Ricardo to introduce RVD. Ricardo being Van Dam’s ring announcer makes no sense. Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow. RVD gets the pin. This was a solid match. Alberto Del Rio came out during the match. That distracted RVD & Sandow kicked him out of the ring. Once again Damien loses cleanly. They show during that during the break Natalya, Naomi & Brie were in Stephanie’s office. Stephanie says that at NOC AJ will face all 3 of them. I’m not surprised. Backstage security escorts Cody out of the building. But then Josh comes in & asks if Cody has any parting words. Cody says Orton was the better man. Cody shouldn’t be surprised because for over 2 decades the McMahon family have hated the Rhodes family. They gave Dusty a polka dot out fit & they made Dustin Goldust. Josh then asks Cody if he has anything to say to his fiancé. Cody walks out the door. This was a good emotional promo. The whole roster is standing on the stage for the main event AGAIN! Is this gonna be a weekly bit? They remind us that Edge will be on Raw next week. Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show. Big Show leaves the ring & was about to walk out but then King of Kings plays. Out come HHH & The Shield. HHH tells Show to get back in that ring in finish it. Then The Shield gets in the ring & they attack Daniel. Show gets back in the ring to go after them but HHH tells Show to do what’s right for his family & step back. HHH tells “Paul” he doesn’t wanna do this. Then The Shield gives Daniel the triple power bomb. HHH tells Big Show to ball up that fist & do what HHH does him for Show’s family. HHH tells him to KO Daniel. Big Show is really upset about this. The Shield holds Daniel but Show rolls out of the ring. Then Stephanie comes out. She tells Show to think about his family. She makes Big Show get back in the ring. The Shield holds Daniel & HHH tells Big Show to KO Daniel. Big Show cries hysterically. Then Show was about to deck HHH but Stephanie jumped in between them. Big Show continues to cry & then he knocks out Daniel. Then Big Show cries some more as HHH & Stephanie tell him he did the right thing. Then HHH, Stephanie & Big Show walk up the ramp. Daniel is lying in the ring out cold. Then Randy Orton comes out. He gets in the ring & looks the unconscious Daniel. Then he puts his foot on Daniel’s chest & holds the belt over his head to end the show. This was the same predictable & beyond painful idiotic crap that they’ve been doing every week! This is bad! They have the same beginning & ending to these shows EVERY WEEK!! This week’s show was terrible just like the last few have been! This whole McMahon dictatorship storyline is really bad & has been done before! I’M REALLY TIRED OF THIS PAINFUL CRAP!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!! Every segment that HHH & Stephanie were in sucked big time. The Cody-Orton match & the CM Punk promo were easily the best parts of this week’s show. RVD-Sandow was decent but Sandow losing was predictable. Miz-Fandango was decent too, the 3 way Divas match wasn’t much & I wasn’t surprised that Stephanie made a 4 way Divas Title match for Night of Champions. I thought Cody cut a good promo on his way “out the door.” He was good in getting all emotional. I also liked him saying that the McMahon family added that stip because the McMahon family has always hated the Rhodes family. Dolph-Ryback wasn’t much. Having Ambrose attack Dolph before Ryback came out made no sense (Nothing in this company does). Bray Wyatt’s promo was also 1 of the few good parts of this show. The Primetime Players vs. Heath & Jinder was also decent. Overall though this show was terrible! Right now the product is really beyond painful to watch!