WWE ROAD BLOCK: END OF THE LINE

from Pittsburgh

RUSEV vs. BIG CASS (4:30): I'm still a little confused about the title of this show. The "End of the Line" moniker I kind of get because it's the last ppv of the year (and since the WWE network is now killing off the ppv buys I should probably stop calling these shows pay per views). The "Roadblock" name, though, seems superfluous. I guess they ran out of names now that there's usually two ppv's a month? Or they're just lazy and/or creatively empty. Either way, this match was on the pre-show and was forgettable. Cass got counted out after they brawled in the crowd. And Lana used to get a ton of heat for being pro-Russia and pro-Putin, but since Trump won and he loves Putin and a good majority of wrestling fans adore Trump...will Lana still get boo's and heat for that? Will they have to change that? I'm probably thinking too deep about a show with grown men fake fighting. 1/2* (out of ****)

CESARO & SHEAMUS vs. THE NEW DAY (10:10): This was the best match on the show. The New Day broke the record for consecutive days as tag team champs last week on RAW. They made a huge deal out of it, having TND wrestle to open RAW and close RAW (the main event, with TND vs. Rollins & Reigns vs. Jericho & Owens, was fantastic). So of course The New Day loses their titles tonight on their first defense post-record. There were a ton of near-falls and a ton of interference and it was pretty wild. Good opener. ***

SAMI ZAYN vs. BRAUN STROWMAN: This was a ten-minute match. If Zayn could last ten minutes he would win. Foley came out at the 7 minute mark ready to throw in the towel but didn't. There were no pins. I guess it makes sense for the WWE to build up a wrestler like they're doing with Strowman. Hell, they never seem to do it with anyone. But does anyone believe Strowman is this indestructible force? No. Who has he actually beat? If you want to build him up, have him beat Reigns or Owens or someone. This was pretty dull. Maybe they should throw Zayn into the cruiserweight mix. Both Zayn and that division need all the help they can get. *

SETH ROLLINS vs. CHRIS JERICHO (17:05): Jericho has been more entertaining lately than he's been in years. Sadly, that's only on the mic. In the ring he's gotten old. This was too long and just okay. Owens came down and interfered but it didn't help. *1/2

RICH SWANN vs. T.J. PERKINS vs. BRIAN KENDRICK (6:00): I loved this division for like two weeks. Now it's a bore. I'm not sure what happened. The silent arenas while they wrestle? That there's these three guys and kind of no one else of consequence? This was short and average at best. *1/2

CHARLOTTE vs. SASHA BANKS "IRON WOMAN MATCH" (34:45): The last ten minutes were great. But, like most "Iron Man" matches (why the WWE didn't call this an "Iron Woman" match is beyond me), they started off like they were milling about in quicksand. It's a 30 minute match. You don't have to be super-slow and do arm bars for ten minutes. Banks got destroyed in this match. She either wrestles like a rag doll or was truly hurt most of the time. She took a wicked bump off the apron onto her head and hands onto the steps. She had her nose busted open in the over-time and the lower half of her face was a bloody mess. Sasha was up 2-1 with one minute left to go but was in Charlotte's Figure Four. With three seconds left she tapped which led to OT. Charlotte won when Sasha tapped in OT. Charlotte has now won every ppv match this year. Which is good, except the fact that Sasha beat her for the title 3 times on RAW. I'm not sure why they're doing these see-saw title changes. Stick with one champ, dudes. **1/2

KEVIN OWENS vs. ROMAN REIGNS (23:20): This was just okay. Owens did a Frog Splash through Reigns on the announce table. It didn't break so he tried it again and it broke. Jericho came down and gave Owens a Code Breaker. The ref called for the DQ and Owens won and retained his title. But it was a ruse! Jericho and Owens are still pals. So Rollins ran out and him and Reigns put Jericho through a table and then put Owens through the announce table up on the stage. The post-match stuff was fun but the match was so-so. I truly hate this company split because I'm already tired of all of these matches we've seen a million times. Owens vs. Reigns. Owens vs. Rollins. Jericho vs. Reigns. Jericho vs. Rollins. I'm fucking bored. **

WWE TLC

from Dallas, TX

THE HYPE BROS & AMERICAN ALPHA & APOLLO CREWS vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS & THE ASCENSION & CURT HAWKINS (12:03): Your typical, forgettable pre-show match. There were four actual tag teams in this match yet the tag team championship match after this featured random wrestlers put together. I guess that says a lot about what the WWE thinks of their tag division. American Alpha was so dynamic on NXT and now they're sort of an after thought. Odd. *1/2

BRAY WYATT & RANDY ORTON vs. HEATH SLATER & RHYNO (5:53): Wow. This was short. The Wyatt Family won the tag titles. It was average stuff. *1/2

NIKKI BELLA vs. CARMELLA "NO DQ MATCH" (7:39): Ugh. Carmella should just go back to being Big Cass and Enzo Amore's hot ringside girl. She is just awful. Nikki at least has some charisma. 1/2*

THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER "LADDER MATCH" (25:10): Good but not great. Maybe these two have just wrestled each other way too much lately. There were no suicidal/epic spots...although some of it was brutal. The end had The Miz kicking Dolph in the balls and then pulling the IC title down. It's really a shame that Daniel Bryan is retired because the best feud in the WWE is The Miz and Bryan. They had another crazy argument on the post-show until it was unexpectantly cut off for a Royal Rumble history show. **1/2

BARON CORBIN vs. KALISTO "CHAIRS MATCH" (12:51): Kalisto is awesome, so this was perhaps Corbin's best match ever. Chairs matches suck, (can you believe that the main event of a TLC ppv a few year's ago was a chairs match?) but they did some sick, hard-hitting stuff here, including Corbin going through six or seven set up chairs together in the ring. **1/2

BECKY LYNCH vs. ALEXA BLISS "TABLES MATCH" (15:16): I love Alexa Bliss. Probably because she looks like a High School cheerleader with a Harley Quinn makeover. But she is a total bore in the ring. This match was too long and too slow and too dull. Bliss won the title by putting Lynch through one table. Awful stuff. 1/2*

AJ STYLES vs. DEAN AMBROSE "TLC MATCH" (30:50): The second half of this match was excellent. Dean did an elbow drop (off a ladder that was on top of the announce table) onto Styles laid out on an announcer's table. AJ did a 450 splash off the top rope onto Dean on a ringside table. The finish had James Ellsworth pushing Dean off a ladder and down onto two ringside tables, which led to Styles winning. Ellsworth didn't turn heel...he just wanted a title shot at Styles because he says that he has Styles' number. This was a good main event but this show would have been better if the company never split. There's way too much filler on these B-shows. And Nakamura can't come to Smackdown soon enough. ***

ROH's FINAL BATTLE

from New York City

THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS & DONOVAN DIJAK vs. THE REBELLION (12:22): This is, apparently, Ring of Honor's biggest show of the year. It was a good one, thanks mostly to their pact with New Japan (The Young Bucks, Liger, Kushida, and Ospreay also wrestle over there). This opener was one of the night's best. I haven't seen the MCMG's in a long time. They were in TNA for awhile and popped up in NJPW a few times since then. I guess they're back for good? Thank God. They're one of the most exciting tag teams out there. The Rebellion has Kenny King, who did some cool high-flying leaps and dives. It was just a fun, fast opener that the crowd (at the awesome Hammerstein Ballroom) ate up. *** (out of ****)

SILAS YOUNG vs. JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER (11:04): Liger is fun but too old to still be doing this, as sad as that is to admit. Silas Young is a brute bore. This was fairly forgettable. *

DALTON CASTLE vs. COLT CABANA (10:22): Castle has two King Kong-esque native boys that accompany him to the ring and jump around at ringside during the match. They're the highlight. This was average stuff. *1/2

CODY vs. JAY LETHAL (13:15): Cody Rhodes turned heel and kicked Lethal in the balls when the ref wasn't looking then scored the pin. He then flipped off Lethal, threw a drink at the ref, turned over the ring bell table, and smiled at the crowd. That stuff was cool. This match was pretty pedestrian, though. **

THE KINGDOM vs. KUSHIDA, JAY WHITE & LIO RUSH (15:25): The Kingdom won the new 6-man tag titles. NJPW did have a 6-man tag title awhile back but kind of forgot about it. Kushida was awesome as always here. There was some cool dives and flips from the ring to the floor. It heated up at the end but early going it was average stuff. **1/2

MARTY SCURLL vs. DRAGON LEE vs. WILL OSPREAY (10:46): Excellent match. Dragon Lee and Kamaitachi had such brutal, ridiculously insane matches in CMLL in 2015 and early this year that both guys got picked up by other companies. Kamaitachi is wrestling Kushida at NJPW's big Dome show on Jan. 4th and Dragon Lee is now in ROH. This match, for the TV title, originally had Bobby Fish as the 4th competitor. He had to go home for his mom's funeral. Ospreay ended up being the star of the match and the entire show. He's the top high-flyer in the world at the moment, and tonight he was on top of his game. This was fast-paced and crazy and a lot of fun. ***1/2

THE BRISCOE'S vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (15:37): These two teams wrestled each other a few month's ago in NJPW and it wasn't that good. The Bucks usually work better in a comedy type of match whereas The Briscoe's are more hard-hitting and brutal. But this match, for the tag titles, was great. It didn't have the funny, typical Bucks component, but it was entertaining and wild and there were a ton of near falls until the Super Kick extravaganza at the end that culminated in The Bucks winning. After the match, "Broken" Matt Hardy came on the entrance screen to challenge both teams to a match. The crowd went ape shit when they saw Hardy. ***

KYLE O'REILLY vs. ADAM COLE "NO DQ MATCH" (18:48): Good main event, thanks mostly to the blood, the tables, the thumbtacks, and the trash cans (the chain came in the ring but wasn't used). O'Reilly is really good at just wrestling so it was kind of a surprise that they went the hardcore rout. Cole belongs in the WWE. He just has that cocky, heel feel that would work well there. O'Reilly cinched on his submission hold on Cole on top of the tacks (he wanted the win that bad that he didn't care about the pain!) and won the title. ***

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES

from Toronto

NOAM DAR, RICH SWANN & T.J. PERKINS vs. ARIYA DAIVARI, DREW GULAK & TONY NESE (11:50): This was the first forgettable pre-show match. All these cruiserweights flying around should have produced some fireworks. The crowd was a tomb save for one or two of the over the top rope dives. Eh. This division deserves better (they are getting their own show next week on the Network). *1/2

 KANE vs. LUKE HARPER (9:10): A pre-show match (the pre-show started at 6 PM and the whole show ended a little before 10:30 PM). Why does Kane still exist? 1/2*

TEAM RAW (CHARLOTTE, BAYLEY, NIA JAX, ALICIA FOX & SASHA BANKS) vs. TEAM SMACKDOWN (NATALYA, BECKY LYNCH, ALEXA BLISS, CARMELLA & NAOMI) (17:30): The problem with 5 on 5 elimination matches is that you see multi-person matches so much on RAW and Smackdown that seeing a whole ppv of them is dull. I guess this show had the caveat of seeing RAW and Smackdown wrestlers against each other that you typically don't see. That wasn't enough. This show was mostly a drag. A singles match between Charlotte and Sasha would have been ten times better than this: a glorified RAW match. Nia Jax was a monster. Bayley won by pinning Becky then Charlotte beat up Bayley. Natalya subbed for Nikki Bella who was attacked by someone (or something!) backstage. This was average stuff. **

THE MIZ vs. SAMI ZAYN (14:05): If Zayn won then the IC title would have moved to RAW. The Miz ended up winning an okay match. A Dolph Ziggler/Zayn match would have been better, but, alas, The Miz beat Ziggler last week to win the title again (he's a 6-time IC champ). Zayn is awesome. I wish they'd give him a real feud with some real wrestlers for once. **

TEAM RAW (THE NEW DAY, GALLOWS & ANDERSON, SHEAMUS & CESARO, ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS & THE SHINING STARS) vs. TEAM SMACKDOWN (HEATH SLATER & RHYNO, THE HYPE BROS, AMERICAN ALPHA, THE USOS & BREEZANGO) (18:55): This was the tag-team elimination match. Seeing 9 guys standing around both corners of the ring was kind of ridiculous. The New Day got eliminated early which was a surprise. Besides a bunch of people leaping over the ropes onto a pile of bodies, this was fairly pedestrian. **

BRIAN KENDRICK vs. KALISTO (12:25): Decent until the end. Baron Corbin came in and beat up Kalisto to cause a DQ. If Kalisto had won the Cruiserweight title then the whole division would have went to Smackdown. The best moment was when, on the edge of the ring outside of the ropes, Kalisto did his Del Sol flip/slam move down onto the floor. Sadistic. Fast-paced match but nothing spectacular. **1/2

TEAM SMACKDOWN (AJ STYLES, DEAN AMBROSE, BRAY WYATT, RANDY ORTON & SHANE O'MAC) vs. TEAM RAW (KEVIN OWENS, CHRIS JERICHO, ROMAN REIGNS, BRAUN STROWMAN & SETH ROLLINS) (52:55): Jesus. This match was almost an hour long. Brutal. There were some highlights. Shane did an elbow drop from the top rope onto Strowman on the announce table. The Shield reunited to power-bomb AJ Styles through an announce table (Dean Ambrose is feuding with his teammate, Styles, hence the reasoning). James Ellsworth grabbed Strowman's ankle to keep him out of the ring and count him out...leading to Strowman tossing Ellsworth off the stage through a table. Shane tried a Van Terminator and was speared in mid-air by Roman. This legit knocked the wind out of Shane and instead of being pinned the ref just said Shane was eliminated and he had to be helped to the back. I love Shane...but he's probably too old to be doing crazy shit. If this was a wake up call, then it's a bitter pill to swallow knowing we might not see another Shane O'Mac match. The final had the Wyatt Family (Orton, Bray, and Luke Harper, who wasn't in the match) being the final members left to win it. This was way too long but fun in spots. **1/2

BROCK LESNAR vs. GOLDBERG (1:30): The re-match 12 years in the making...that nobody wanted to see. I've never watched the infamous Lesnar/Goldberg Wrestlemania match. It was apparently one of the worst matches ever and the fans booed because Lesnar was going to UFC and 'Berg was just quitting. But nostalgia is king these days (thanks mostly to Netflix, who have revived old shows like Gilmore Girls and Full House for no good reason). Goldberg is the WWE's newest pet project. He's the face of the WWE's new video game and he had his first wrestling match in 12 years tonight. I'm guessing his stipulation for one more match was to easily defeat Lesnar in a few minutes? Otherwise, I'm baffled. Lesnar picked up Goldberg and rammed him into the corner. Then Goldberg pushed him to the ground, gave him two spears, Jack Hammered him, then pinned him. No Suplex City. The Beast lost for the first time since this year's Royal Rumble and got massacred for the first time since coming back to the WWE. Since Goldberg isn't sticking around for any sort of feud...what was the point of this? To sell more video games and Goldberg DVD's? Because it sure makes Lesnar look like a chump. Strange ending to a mediocre show. *1/2

NJPW POWER STRUGGLE

from Osaka, Japan

 HIROYOSHI TENZAN, JUICE ROBINSON & SATOSHI KOJIMA vs. MANABU NAKANISHI, TERUAKI KANEMITSU & YUJI NAGATA (5:49): The pre-show match. Kind of an old man and fresh faces mix. Nothing too this, but semi-entertaining. **

DAVID FINLAY, JUSHIN THUNDER LIGER, RICOCHET & TIGER MASK vs. ANGEL de ORO, FUEGO, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & TITAN (5:30): The Mexican team came out dancing. That was one of the more amusing things on this show. Ricochet was the other. He's so awesome that it's kind of a shame they fly him all the way to Japan just to be in a five minute forgettable match. But his awesomeness was on display for a short while. And, hell, I'd pay to see him face Bone Soldier. He's that good! **

BONE SOLDIER, CHASE OWENS & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI vs. TOGI MAKABE, HONMA & YOSHITATSU (7:36): Voicesofwrestling.com had a hilarious preview of this show where they ripped apart Bone Soldier and his feud with Yoshitatsu. Yes, Bone Soldier is awful. Honma is fading but still fun to watch. But, alas, this was pretty awful. *

GUERILLAS OF DESTINY vs. ISHII & YOSHI-HASHI (14:32): Shocking, but this match was better than the next one. Perhaps because the crowd got into it to cheer on Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi. There were some exciting near-falls and drama at the end. It was better than I expected, considering the Guerrillas fucking suck. **1/2

RAPPONGI VICE vs. ACH & TAJI ISHIMORI (18:49): This was the finals for the Jr. Tag Team tournament. The problem was that either of these teams would have been in a better match with the Bucks (ACH and Ishimori beat the Bucks a week ago in the tournament in a good match). ACH, from ROH, is a lot of fun, and him and Ishimori do some crazy high-flying leaps and jumps (their finisher is a double Shooting Star Press). But this went too long. Rappongi Vice will go on to face the Bucks for the titles at the Dome. **

KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI (15:11): Bushi just won the Jr. Heavyweight title...yet he lost it already. The end was odd. The ref just called it when Bushi was in a submission hold for awhile. Bushi is not the best cruiserweight, so I'm not sure why they even gave him the title in the first place. This was just okay. And is Kushida going heel? It seemed like it. Post-match, out came Kushida's Dome challenger, the arrogant, brash Hiromu Takahashi, who was wrestling spectacular matches in CMLL earlier this year against Dragon Lee. **

ADAM COLE, THE YOUNG BUCKS & KENNY OMEGA vs. OKADA, GEDO, GOTO & WILL OSPREAY (14:01): These four Bullet Club members are, right now, the most entertaining team in wrestling. Even the Japanese crowds love to yell, "Baby!" when Adam Cole does his stupid yet amusing, "Adam Cole...Baby!" refrain mid-match. And the Bucks are as awesome as ever these days. And Omega is perhaps the wrestler of the year. Add Okada to this mix and add Ospreay's super-jumps and cat-like speed and, hell, this was one of the most entertaining matches I've seen all year. All four BC members super-kicked Okada and Gedo and Omega pinned Okada to win. ***1/2

EVIL vs. SHIBATA (16:15): Wow. Evil, the boring brute, won the NEVER title here. I guess this is so Shibata can go and have his match with NOAH's Go Shiozaki without a title on the line. Either way, this was good but not great. Hard-hitting. Surprise ending. Probably Evil's best single's match this year...which isn't saying much.  **1/2

 HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. SANADA (21:33): Sanada never did sign a full-time contract yet with New Japan. Maybe that's why he always looks like he doesn't want to be there. And while he's tall and athletic...he has zero charisma. The end did have a good sequence where Tanahashi kept blocking Sanada's finisher. And we got a High-Fly Flow. It was average stuff. **

JAY LETHAL vs. NAITO (24:29): Lethal used to be entertaining and in good matches back when he was a high-flyer in the X-division in TNA and he dressed up as The Macho Man. He had the ROH title this year but lost it to Adam Cole and now he's a good guy again. The reason he was in this match was because Elgin was injured. And this ended up being a bore. Lethal just does not put on good shows in Japan for whatever reason. Naito is the type of wrestler who's usually only as good as his opponent...so this was long and mostly dull. It was for the IC title, which Tanahashi will challenge Naito for at the big Dome show in January. Towards the end there was some drama and near-falls and it started with Lethal doing three straight dives through the ropes to Naito on the outside. But the majority of this just didn't work.  **

WWE HELL IN A CELL

from Boston

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, LINCE DORADO & SIN CARA vs. TONY NESE, DREW GULAK & ARIYA DAIVARI (9:45): This was on the pre-show. Gulak used to wrestle in CZW and got to keep his name, which is cool, unlike Dean Ambrose (who was the CZW champ Jon Moxley). This was filler stuff, but at least entertaining. **1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. RUSEV "HELL IN A CELL" (24:35): So the first match of the triple main event went on first at 8 PM. Hmmm. Do main events go on first? No. So why even call it that? This also ended up being the longest of the three Cell matches. They used a Singapore cane, a chain, and the ring steps. It was good but nothing too exciting. **1/2

BAYLEY vs. DANA BROOKE (6:30): This is why I hate the split...because we'd never see crap like this on a ppv. Bayley had some awesome matches in NXT. So far they haven't really given her much to do on the big stage. 1/2*

GALLOWS & ANDERSON vs. ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS (6:45): Ugh. Enzo is good on the mic. Maybe make him a manager like Paul Heyman? This was short at least. Gallows and Anderson are just awful in the WWE. 1/2*

KEVIN OWENS vs. SETH ROLLINS "HELL IN A CELL" (23:15): The big spot had Owens going through two stacked tables at ringside. Jericho snuck into the cell and helped Owens retain his Universal title. It was good, albeit nothing spectacular. **1/2

BRIAN KENDRICK vs. T.J. PERKINS (10:35): Lame. Kendrick is too old and too dull to be in this division let alone the champ. But the split dried up the rosters so they have to switch titles a lot to make things semi-fresh. So Kendrick faked an injury then drew Perkins in and made him submit. The cruiserweight division is the best thing about RAW...if they do it right. So far they're failing. *

SHEAMUS & CESARO vs. THE NEW DAY (11:15): The New Day lost by DQ but kept their titles. Maybe I should start watching Smackdown because I'm already sick of everyone on RAW. *

CHARLOTTE vs. SASHA BANKS "HELL IN A CELL" (22:25): Except for these two! With the split, we've already seen these two fight and change titles seemingly a billion times. But they always put on a show so who cares? The WWE could have made this an even bigger deal if they didn't keep bragging about how it was the first women's main event on a ppv and the first women's Cell match. Stop bragging and talking about it and just do it like it's same-old and it'd have been cooler. They both came out with big entrances; Sasha in a black SUV and Charlotte on a throne carried by men. They battled in the crowd before the match started and Charlotte power-bombed Sasha through the announce table. Cue the stretcher, paramedics, and story line! But Sasha got off the stretcher...to end up losing anyway...in her hometown. Way to end a show! This was sloppy as fuck (the last table break spot didn't break) but brutal and exciting. Charlotte is just awesome. She's already a fucking legend. **1/2

NJPW KING OF PRO-WRESTLING

from Tokyo

TIGER MASK W. vs. RED DEATH MASK (7:25): They didn't admit it...but Ibushi was wrestling under the Tiger Mask in this weird, cartoon pre-show match. Ibushi wrestled for the WWE in the Cruiserweight classic...but I guess he didn't want to sign full time with them? Either way, Ibushi did some cool, suicidal moves and it was decent. **1/2 (out of ****)

TOMOHIRO ISHII, WILL OSPREAY, YOSHI-HASHI vs. ADAM COLE, BAD LUCK FALE, YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (8:40): Jeez...why is the awesome high-flyer Ospreay always stuck in these forgettable low-card matches? Adam Cole is the ROH champ. Isn't this kind of slumming it? And without ROH, this show wouldn't exist, would it? Kyle O'Reilly, The Briscoe's, The Bucks, Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish, and Cole are all in ROH. Anyway, this match was probably the best of the multi-man tag matches New Japan loves that were on the show. **1/2

BOBBY FISH, RYUSUKE TAGUCHI, TOGI MAKABE & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. BARETTA, JADO, ROCKY ROMERO & TORU YANO (8:10): Honma! He was once awesome. I guess he's gotten old (he is balding). Romero and Baretta are amusing to watch. This was just a filler kind of house show match. **

GO SHIOZAKI, KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA, MASA KITAMIYA & MAYBACH TANIGUCHI vs. HIROYOSHI TENZAN, MANABU NAKANISHI, SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA (12:49): Who are these people? Well, Go Shiozaki is from NOAH and will face Shibata later this year for the NEVER title. This was basic stuff. If you love hard chops and aging legends than you'd have loved it. *1/2

THE YOUNG  BUCKS vs. RICOCHET & DAVID FINLAY (12:47): The Bucks retained the IWGP Jr. Tag titles. Good match, although substituting Finlay for Matt Sydal, who apparently couldn't get a travel visa to Japan for some reason, didn't help. Ricochet was on top of his game. He always is, though, and is perhaps the greatest wrestler in the world in terms of excitement and high-flying. It's too bad he's never in single, main event title matches, just these random, cruiserweight melees. They did a cool deal early on where everyone was doing crazy flips onto the floor but their opponents were moving out of the way and they ended up landing on their feet. I guess, like any Bucks or Ricochet match, you hadda see it to believe it. **1/2

GUERILLAS OF DESTINY vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS (13:57): Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa won the IWGP Tag titles. Not good. I like the Briscoe's...but I'm not sure why, as they're never in great matches. The Guerillas are like The Uso's without the excitement. This was rough and tough but a little too dull. *1/2

HIROSHI TANAHASHI, JAY LETHAL, KUSHIDA & MICHAEL ELGIN vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES (11:42): Naito kicked Elgin in the face and broke his orbital bone, so who knows if their match next month for the IC title will still happen. This was decent, average stuff. Lethal did barely anything, but Kushida and Bushi were great together and Naito was a bit more energetic than usual. Surprisingly, the biggest draw in the company, Naito, was pinned by Elgin. **1/2

KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. KYLE O'REILLY (18:09): Shibata retained the NEVER Openweight title. Early on they wrestled like they were competing in an NCAA wrestling tournament. Yawn. But by the second half they were destroying each other with brutal kicks. It was high intensity and hard-hitting as hell. Shibata really should be in the main event picture by now. He finished off O'Reilly with the sleeper hold. ***

KENNY OMEGA vs. HIROOKI GOTO (21:52): A stellar second half made this the best match on the show. Omega is probably going to end up being the best wrestler of the year considering how many great matches he's been in. Sure, he over-acts, but he's insane and fun to watch. He took a sick table plunge from the top rope and also did an over-the-top-rope suicide dive onto Goto ring-side where his one foot landed right on the metal guardrail. This match was for the title shot at Wrestle Kingdom in January at the Tokyo Dome, their Wrestlemania. The problem was that Omega beat Goto in the G1 final to already win that. So this was pointless but nonetheless a good match. ***

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. NAOMICHI MARUFUJI (28:00): Okada retained the IWGP Heavyweight title. The final few minutes were dramatic as hell, albeit nobody thought Marufuji, who isn't even a New Japan wrestler (he's in NOAH), would win the title (especially considering who ever won the title would main event the big Dome show in January). Marufuji was the big surprise at this year's G1 tournament, beating Okada to kick it off and having good matches with just about everyone. He's fun to watch. He's cat-like, does a lot of kicks to the skull, and has a cool finisher where he grabs his opponent by the neck, runs up the turnbuckles and flips over to deliver a DDT. Marufuji also beat the shit out of Okada. It was a little one-sided at the end. But Okada won with his Rainmaker clothesline. Not the greatest match, but the end was awesome stuff. **1/2

WWE NO MERCY

from Sacramento, CA

THE HYPE BROTHERS & AMERICAN ALPHA vs. THE ASCENSION & THE VAUDEVILLAINS (9:00): This was a decent pre-show match. Although I remiss about the glory days when American Alpha battled The Revival in NXT and were a lot more entertaining. **

AJ STYLES vs. JOHN CENA vs. DEAN AMBROSE (21:40): The first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary got the highest ratings ever for a debate. Tonight at 9 was the second debate so they decided to put the main event of the show on first at 8. It turned out to be a good match but not as good as it might have been later on. It just felt weird. Maybe the drama was missing? Or maybe I'm just sick of these three fighting each other. This wasn't as good as AJ/Dean from last month's Backlash or AJ/Cena from Summerslam. It felt rudimentary. Cena seemed sloppy. It was good, but really, a frigging Miz match was better. That tells you something. AJ hit Cena with a chair and pinned him to retain the title. **1/2

NIKKI BELLA vs. CARMELLA (8:05): Carmella was great in NXT with Enzo and Cass ("She's hot as hell and you can't change that!" Remember?). Now she's just a pretty face forgotten. This was at least fast paced. **

HEATH SLATER & RHYNO vs. THE USO'S (10:20): The coveted Smackdown tag title was retained by the ridiculous team of Slater and Rhyno. This was fast and fun, though. I guess I can't complain. Rhyno is still awesome. **1/2

BARIN CORBIN vs. JACK SWAGGER (7:30): Ugh. Why? -No Stars-

THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (19:45): The Wrestling Observer noted that this was the best match of The Miz's career. Granted, that's not saying much (has he ever even been in a good match?). This was an IC title vs. Career match. Dolph won the title so didn't retire. Two members of The Spirit Squad showed up to beat up Dolph because...why? I don't watch the B-show so who knows? That was the only lame part of this great match. A ton of pinfalls intensified the drama. It was high energy. And Maryse is the best eye-candy the company has. So it was a good one. ***

NAOMI vs. ALEXA BLISS (5:25): Seriously, this match was -* (minus one star). It was atrocious. The women's champ was injured so Naomi faced the challenger Bliss (who's very cute and somehow I've never seen or remember?). Just a God awful mess. I was embarrassed watching this.

BRAY WYATT vs. RANDY ORTON (15:40): Hmmm. This was the main event? I hate the split. The "big" finish had the lights going out and coming back on with Luke Harper in the ring (who just stood there). This caused Bray to deliver his finisher and pin Orton. Dull match. 1/2*

Talking Smack, a post-show talk show ran after this because the show was so short (it ended a little after 10:30). Shane O'Mac looked bored as hell but Daniel Bryan is fucking awesome; excited, funny, exuberant. Even not wrestling he's king. Now, seriously, quit and go wrestle in NJPW.

WWE CLASH OF CHAMPIONS

from Indianapolis

NIA JAX vs. ALICIA FOX (4:55): While this show was average at best, at least the card resembled a real WWE ppv card as opposed to Smackdown's Backlash two weeks ago. RAW tied it's worst rating ever last week which means I'm not the only soul who hates this split. But, if you love content, here was another extra long show for you. It ended at 11:07 PM and this pre-show match started around 7:40. It was another forgettable women's match. I thought they got rid of those? -No Stars-

THE NEW DAY vs. LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON (6:45): Maybe Gallows and Anderson should, like, come up with a team name. The Ex-Japs? The Thugs? The Bores? The New Day kept their titles again. Yawn. Their act, sadly, has grown stale. *

T.J. PERKINS vs. BRIAN KENDRICK (10:31): The WWE had a terrific cruiserweight tournament on the Network over the summer that finished with Perkins as the champ. The problem was making his first defense against the worst cruiserweight out there; Kendrick. Perkins is young and fast and awesome. So there's that. This was half as good as the three matches on the cruiserweight finale show, though. **1/2

CESARO vs. SHEAMUS (16:36): The final match of the Best of 7 series ended in a no contest. I guess let's forget it ever happened (good) or have another last match (bad). Cesaro did a through the ropes dive and landed on his head. It made me cringe. He's lucky he's not paralyzed. A lot of it was brutal and entertaining...but this whole series was utterly pointless (the winner gets nothing!). **1/2

CHRIS JERICHO vs. SAMI ZAYN (15:22): Why Jericho won is just about as baffling as why he beat AJ Styles at Wrestlemania. Does the WWE not believe in creating new, winning stars? Add that to the fact that Jericho hasn't been in good matches since the 90's and you got a fairly uneventful slog. At least Zayn is excellent. Why not...I don't know? Give him a better opponent? *1/2

CHARLOTTE vs. BAYLEY vs. SASHA BANKS (15:28): Good match but not as good as either one of their single's matches. The chemistry didn't really mesh. Charlotte's perfect moonsault on both of them was great, though. Charlotte pinned Bayley. It was light year's better than the women's matches of old. Which is a good thing. But lately they've hit a peak that's hard to reach again. **1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. RUSEV (17:07): Reigns won the U.S. title here. It was average stuff. Did I mention the split sucks? *1/2

KEVIN OWENS vs. SETH ROLLINS (25:07): Mediocre. The end, with Jericho showing up and a ref bump, was good, but so much of this was pedestrian and these two just don't work well together. Rollins has a great move set and arsenal but, man, he's rarely in great matches. Perhaps he's the problem? **

WWE BACKLASH

Richmond, VA

APOLLO CREWS vs. BARON CORBIN (9:55): Corbin, the king of the pre-show. I was watching the U.S. Open final so I didn't see this (Wawrinka beat Djokovich in 4). Since the ppv ended at 10:38...why did they even have a match on the pre-show?

BECKY LYNCH vs. ALEXA BLISS vs. CARMELLA vs. NAOMI vs. NATALYA vs. NIKKI BELLA (14:40): Well, this is the Smackdown women's division. So...get used to being sick of seeing the same six women wrestle each other every week. If you weren't sure if splitting the company again was good or bad just look at this card and you're mind will be decided. Seriously, the split has made both shows worse and we're stuck with lame B-level ppv's like this. RAW is already worse and the ratings are low. I never even watch Smackdown (they did the split because USA was unhappy with the Smackdown ratings). This match was fast paced and entertaining but a bit too sloppy (Naomi, I'm looking at you). Lynch won the title. **1/2

THE USO'S vs. THE HYPE BROTHERS (10:11): This was the first match in the tag team tournament, a tournament that wasn't helped when Chad Gable was injured last week and his team, American Ultra, wouldn't be competing on this show. The split would work if one show had all the women and one show had all the tag teams. I guess the WWE isn't interested in logic so we're stuck with weak women and tag divisions on both shows. This match was forgettable. *

THE MIZ vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (18:22): The Miz had his best moment in years when he confronted Daniel Bryan on the post-Smackdown show, Talking Smack, a few weeks ago and said that if Bryan cared so much about wrestling then he should quit and go wrestle in bingo halls. The Miz was on fire in that promo. The problem? Bryan is retired...so any heat or great story line will never result in a match, so what's the point? And as for Ziggler...the new split seemed to bring up the idea that lower-card workers would get their deserved pushes. Ziggler was immediately put in the title match at Summerslam. The problem is that this Ziggler push so far has resulted in him losing to Ambrose for the title at SS and now losing to The Miz for the IC title. More like an anti-push. A burying push. And why was Smackdown's biggest star, Cena, not even on their first ppv? Questions, questions. Ziggler, anyway, was energetic. This was semi-entertaining. It didn't help that the WWE obviously added fake crowd noise to this ppv like the Yankees do on their Yes network. Lame. **

KANE vs. BRAY WYATT (10:55): Randy Orton was supposed to wrestle Bray. Instead we got a No DQ match with Kane and Bray. They used a chair and Wyatt jumped onto Kane through the Spanish announce table. Orton came out at the end to give Wyatt an RKO. *

HEATH SLATER & RHYNO vs. THE USO'S (10:02): So you want a reason why this split sucks? Your new Smackdown tag team champs are Heath Slater and Rhyno. Why they're even a team boggles my mind. And does Rhyno age? He's like the Jonas brothers in that classic SNL skit where they had a wizard that gave them the secret to youth. I swear if I go on youtube I'll find Rhyno matches from the 70's where he looks the same. *1/2

AJ STYLES vs. DEAN AMBROSE (25:01): Excellent match. It started slow but built up to a frenzy of big and sick moves culminating in a ref bump, an AJ low blow on Dean, and an AJ victory. He's the champ! Of Smackdown...which isn't all that great, is it? I remember two years ago when the WWE finally condensed the titles into one main title. I was so happy. Now we're back to two lesser titles. How far are we from them going back to Super Smackdowns and Cena showing up on RAW for no reason? I guess amidst the suck we did this great match...so there's that. ***1/2

WWE SUMMERSLAM

from Brooklyn

AMERICAN ALPHA & THE HYPE BROTHERS & THE USO'S vs. BREEZANGO & THE ASCENSION & THE VAUDEVILLAINS (14:32): This show was way too long! It started at 5 PM and ended at 11:05 PM. Granted, the first three matches were amidst the two-hour pre-show, but still. And it was already a hell of a weekend and month for MMA and wrestling. Last weekend, NJPW finished off their 19-show G1 tournament (and while it wasn't the best G1, Ishii/Okada, Naito/Omega, and Tanahashi/Okada were all match-of-the-year contenders). ROH had a ppv on Friday (Adam Cole won the title). EVOLVE had two shows with Cody Rhodes debuting. NXT Takeover Brooklyn II went down on Saturday night (Nakamura won the title). UFC had their biggest fight of the year on Saturday when Conor McGregor won his re-match against a bloody Nick Diaz. And NJPW had the finals of their Super-J Cup on Sunday morning (Kushida won). Exhale. Time to go outside and communicate with nature now. Or, at least, not watch the WWE pre-show matches. This was simple, same-old. American Alpha are exciting. *1/2

SAMI ZAYN & NEVILLE vs. THE DUDLEY BOYZ (7:55): The Dudley Boyz retired on the Monday Night RAW after Summerslam. What a last match! Seriously, Sami Zayn and Neville deserve better. *1/2

SHEAMUS vs. CESARO (14:10): A fan held up a sign at ringside that read "Cesaro Deserves Better." This was the first match in a Best of 7 series between these two. The only reason? To punish us fans, apparently. The winner doesn't even get anything. It was average stuff. **

CHRIS JERICHO & KEVIN OWENS vs. ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS (12:08): They seemed to waste a lot of big names in these early, lame matches. Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro could have been a better Summerslam main event. And Owens, one of the true heel stars, should have been in one of the numerous title matches. But no, they've teamed him up with Jericho because...they're both from Canada? Jericho and Owens are hilarious on the mic...but this was a RAW match, not a ppv match. I will say that Enzo and Big Cass are perhaps the hottest team to come out of NXT right out of the gate. Usually it takes time for fans to get familiar with the new NXT call-ups or "get" them or learn to like them or whatever, but Enzo and Cass were fan favorites right away. Unfortunately, they're not the greatest in the ring. Which meant that this match was mediocre. ** 

CHARLOTTE vs. SASHA BANKS (13:55): Good match. Probably not as good as the match last month on RAW when Sasha won the title from Charlotte, but super-entertaining nonetheless. Sasha really takes a beating, doesn't she? Maybe she needs to take lessons on how to take a bump properly or something. It sure makes her matches exciting, though, like her hurricanrana out of a Razor's Edge off the top rope on Charlotte. The ending was unique, too. Sasha had her submission finisher locked on and Charlotte rolled back onto Sasha and pinned her. Definitely a surprise, as Sasha hasn't had the title long. ***


THE MIZ vs. APOLLO CREWS (5:45): Ugh. Why? 1/2*

AJ STYLES vs. JOHN CENA (23:10): Spectacular. This was much better than the first match in June at Money in the Bank. It wasn't as good as Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles II nor the first two Kevin Owens/John Cena matches from last year. It was very similar to the Owens/Cena matches, though, in that they brought out new moves and kept kicking out of everything. AJ won clean which was a big shock. I really hope we get to see an AJ/Lesnar title main event match someday. I can't be the only one dreaming of that, right? ***1/2

LUKE GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON vs. THE NEW DAY (9:09): John Stewart, the former host of The Daily Show, showed up as The New Day's 3rd man (since Big E. was hurt). The crowd did not like or want to see Stewart (and in fairness, he's been retired from TV for a year so...maybe people forgot him?). But Stewart does a hilarious Three Stooges/Marx Brothers type of zany/physical comedy that I found more entertaining than this dull slog of a match. Gallows and Anderson were boring in New Japan...which is hard to to! So I didn't expect them to work here. Big E. came out at the end when Gallows and Anderson were about to slam Stewart's balls into the ring-post. So the match ended up being a DQ win for the bad guys. And it was nice to see Stewart because, boy, that new Daily Show host is awful. **

DEAN AMBROSE vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (15:18): Ambrose got screwed. He finally won the title and then a month later they split the brand and now have two titles. And I guess giving Ziggler this shot is to appease the fans from three years ago who thought he should be pushed (he was, sort of, winning the title on a hot, post-Wrestlemania RAW and then getting injured). I doubt there are any Ziggler fans anymore. The crowd was a silent tomb during this match (and, to be honest, during most of this show...maybe because it was so long and maybe because AJ/Cena was the only match anyone wanted to see). Ambrose won. It wasn't terrible, just nothing exciting happened. They probably should have, like, pushed Ziggler and given this match a story line instead of it just happening all of a sudden. **

NATALYA & ALEXA BLISS & NIKKI BELLA vs. BECKY LYNCH, NAOMI & CARMELLA (11:07): Nikki Bella made her return (she was gone?) in too-short latex shorts. I guess these are the Smackdown women? Why they split the women's division is beyond me. Why they even did the split is beyond me. Now RAW is worse. And we're stuck watching 7 Smackdown and RAW ppv's that will obviously suck. Last time they did this it was a disaster. Ratings on both shows dropped. The Smackdown ppv's were horrendous. Remember, JBL had the frigging Smackdown title for like a year or something during the last split. My God we better not get a Baron Corbin year long title reign. And, back to this match...why isn't there a Smackdown women's title? Eh, who cares? 1/2*

SETH ROLLINS vs. FINN BALOR (19:24): Finn Balor won the RAW title clean. It's stupidly called the Universal Heavyweight title. The problem? Balor hurt his shoulder when Rollins power-bombed/threw him into the black crowd barrier wall at ringside. So Balor relinquished his title on RAW and next week there's a fatal four way for the title with Reigns, Owens, Rollins, and...Big Cass. Yep, I guess you know who they're pinning. Balor is out 4-6 months...so should be back for the Rumble. And Brett Hart was ranting on various web-sites how Rollins needs to change his style because he injures too many people (he broke Cena's nose last year and gave Sting a neck injury). Balor has been in some very good matches lately but this match was just so-so. I guess the two just didn't connect? The last few minutes were exciting, though, and I was shocked at the outcome. **1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. RUSEV: They beat each other up and the match never started. Reigns is turning into Cena. I don't like Reigns but I admit that he's been in some good, brutal matches. His second match with AJ this year was one of WWE's best of the year. And I don't like Cena but he usually pulls out good matches on the ppv's.

RANDY ORTON vs. BROCK LESNAR (11:45): Well...this happened. It was an okay match. Lesnar threw Orton at the Spanish announce table and it broke. Orton gave Lesnar an RKO on the announce table and it didn't break. They both kicked out of each other's finisher. The finale had Lesnar using his elbow to draw blood. This worked! Orton bled like a stuck pig from his head, the refs and docs came out, the ref called it a TKO win for Lesnar. Shane ran out and got F-5'd by Lesnar. Orton needed staples in his head. Weird, anti-climactic ending. The fans were bored, confused, and tired. I guess don't have this go on last if you're doing that finish? And, really, the plan was for Lesnar to elbow Orton until he got cut and bled for real? That's a plan? Orton was okay with that? Even Jericho apparently confronted Lesnar backstage post-match because he thought it was off-script. I think this all would have been better if this match had a story or a build beyond, "Hey, these two guys are wrestling for no reason at Summerslam." **

WWE BATTLEGROUND

from Washington, D.C.

If you're a wrestling fan, this was a fairly eventful week for you. New Japan's G1 tournament started on Monday and, so far, has had 4 shows (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the other three). New Japan also started their 2 day Super J Cup on Wednesday (the final night is next month for some reason). And now Battleground...featuring the legendary Shield 3-way match for the title...a match much-rumored for the main event of a Wrestlemania, now being held in July (?). I do have to admit...Battleground was the best show I watched all week. Losing Nakamura and AJ Styles really hurt this year's G1. Oh, well.

CHARLOTTE & DANA BROOKS vs. BAYLEY & SASHA BANKS (7:25): This was the best match on the show. Bayley was Sasha Banks' surprise tag team partner. She's still on NXT, and the crowd fucking loved her (good crowd tonight in D.C.). Bayley and Sasha actually had a match last year that made my Top Ten Best Matches...so I am entertained by them. But this match was wild. It was short but super-entertaining. Everyone was flying around and getting destroyed like rag dolls. The Banks/Charlotte match at Summerslam for the title should be awesome. And when I have ever been excited about a women's match on a WWE ppv? ***1/2

THE WYATT FAMILY vs. THE NEW DAY (8:47): The final flurry was great. It started a bit slow, but by the end when everyone was in the ring and all over the place it was kinetic and fast-paced. Big E. almost landed on his head doing his stupid spear to the floor. Bray pinned Xavier Woods after Xavier put a wild beat down on everyone. **1/2

RUSEV vs. ZACK RYDER (7:01): I didn't watch this. Rusev retained the U.S. title that, unfortunately, nobody cares about. Remember last summer when the U.S. title was a big deal?

SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS (18:22): Good match. Zayn attempted a bounce/flip off the top rope to Owens on the floor but ended up just falling onto the edge of the ring. It seemed like he legit hurt his shoulder or arm, although perhaps that was just part of the story since he did finish the match. By the end they were both delivering big moves and both were kicking out. Zayn finally gave Owens two Hula kicks and pinned him. ***

NATALYA vs. BECKY LYNCH (9:04): Half paid attention to this. These two are on Smackdown. They split the company in two last week because USA didn't like Smackdown's low ratings...so now Smackdown is live on Tuesdays and they split the roster. RAW has Stephanie and Mick Foley running the show, Smackdown  has Shane O'Mac and Daniel Bryan in charge. If you recall, they did this about ten years ago and what happened was the Smackdown-only ppv's sucked and the ratings for RAW and Smackdown both went down. They're repeating the same mistake...which I'm not happy about at all. And most of the women are on RAW...but these two are on Smackdown...so, what, are they going to fight each other every week until the end of time?

THE MIZ vs. DARREN YOUNG (8:41): This was for the coveted IC title. It was lame. I only saw the ending. Young used to be part of the awful tag-team, The Prime Time Players. Now he's coached by Bob Backlund. Yep. It's 2016.

JOHN CENA, ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS vs. THE CLUB (14:30): I would have rather just watched a Cena vs. AJ match. This was just a RAW main event, really. Enzo Amore is amusing on the mic...but out of NXT these two are just mediocre in-ring. The ending was decent with some good action, but, eh, it was just okay. Cena's big final move was an AA on AJ off the top rope...but Cena struggled to finally pull it off. Maybe Cena is just officially over-the-hill? **

THE HIGHLIGHT REEL:  Randy Orton returned to be interviewed by Chris Jericho. Jericho is a lot more entertaining on the mic than in the ring, so this was a lot of fun. Orton made a joke about Brock Lesnar being, "enhanced" (he's facing Lesnar at Summerslam for no reason...and Lesnar, after winning his first UFC match in years a few weeks ago, tested positive for a steroid). Jericho got an RKO. I guess they could've just had this on RAW? Because this show ended at 11:17...a little too late, no?

DEAN AMBROSE vs. SETH ROLLINS vs. ROMAN REIGNS (18:03): Decent main event, albeit not spectacular, nor something anyone should go out of their way to see. Rollins and Ambrose teamed up to put Reigns through the Spanish announce table. Rollins had a near-pin on Reigns and Michael Cole thought it was three (which means this "story line" will assuredly lead to a new RAW-only title for who ever wins between Reigns and Rollins at Summerlsam). Dean Ambrose surprisingly pinned Reigns clean and kept his title. I was a little surprised, as I figured they'd do a stupid double pin or something. The funny thing is that this should have been a really big main event for a big show like Wrestlemania or Summerslam. A 3-way Shield match for a title? Reigns tested positive for a steroid and was suspended for a month...so he wasn't around to build this match up. Ambrose just won the title last month and has been treated like a joke by Stephanie and JBL which doesn't exactly make his championship reign seem important. And Ambrose is now only on Smackdown whereas Rollins and Reigns are only on RAW. It was an entertaining main event, just not the epic, awesome match we all wanted. **1/2

MONEY IN THE BANK

from Las Vegas

THE NEW DAY vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS vs. KARL ANDERSON & LUKE GALLOWS vs. ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS (11:43): Weird...but on the same day as this show there was one of the bigger New Japan shows...and on that show was a four-way tag-team match. And even though the NJPW match had The Young Bucks, Matt Sydal, Ricochet, and Kyle O'Reilly...this match was better. Shocking. Anderson and Gallows of course used to be in The Bullet Club in NJPW. The WWE can't use The Bullet Club so in the WWE, Anderson and Gallows and AJ Styles are in The Club. Yes, it's not very creative. Gallows totally fucked up at the end of this match to ruin it, although it was mostly Big Cass's fault. Big E. picked up Anderson and Gallows stood there and didn't do anything because he was supposed to be diverted to kicking Big Cass. Cass wasn't in the ring and so Gallows stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Cass finally came in the ring which led to Gallows kicking him and being sidelined while Big E slammed Anderson and The New Day won. It was entertaining. **1/2

AJ STYLES vs. JOHN CENA (24:10): Maybe it's because this was Cena's first match back after a seven month injury layoff...or maybe it was the horrible ending (the ref was out and Gallows and Anderson laid out Cena to cause AJ to win)...but this was not a great match. It was good, though, but perhaps these two just don't have the chemistry. That's a shame since they'll be wrestling each other all summer (and rumored to be the two top stars on Smackdown when the new brand split happens in July). AJ's match last month against Reigns was awesome...giving me hope that his epic, NJPW match days aren't behind him. This stalled that theory. **1/2

DEAN AMBROSE vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS vs. CESARO vs. CHRIS JERICHO "MITB LADDER MATCH" (21:38): Brutal, yes, but this was another one of those ladder matches without any suicidal big/sick shocking moments. Ambrose did deliver a clothesline from the top rope...and Owens did a frog splash from the top rope onto Ambrose on a ladder...and they all fell off the ladder and got hit with a ladder...but this match was missing one of those Jeff Hardy-type insane moments. And so it was entertaining but a little less exciting than it could have been. The finale was a tad lame as well. Ambrose pushed Owens off the ladder and onto a ladder bridge and then Ambrose grabbed the briefcase to win. Fairly tame in actuality. **1/2

SETH ROLLINS vs. ROMAN REIGNS (26:00)/ DEAN AMBROSE vs. SETH ROLLINS (0:09): The show ended around 11:23 PM. Why was it so late and so long? I didn't even bother to watch or review the two pre-show matches or the four other matches. And while this was a truly stellar card...it didn't turn out to be that great of a show. The surprise of this match was that Rollins pinned Reigns clean to win the title. I had really thought that Reigns, the WWE's boy, would reign for awhile. But the story made sense. And it sets up a Shield match against each other that probably should have happened a long time ago. Ambrose cashed in his MITB contract that he won an hour earlier and won the title. This, of course, would have been better a year ago. Ambrose beat Rollins last year to win the title but on RAW he was stripped of it because of a fast-counting ref. It reminds me of Daniel Bryan winning the title or almost winning the title so many times and then when they finally gave him a title reign it was kind of too little too late. Ambrose was hotter and more popular a year ago. As for this match...it was okay. Since the MITB contract is already cashed in, it kind of takes away the drama of waiting to see when it would occur. But I'll take Ambrose as champ any day. From CZW champ to the WWE champ. I guess I figured it'd happen with someone someday. **1/2

NJPW DOMINION

 from Osaka, Japan

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. RICOCHET & MATT SYDAL vs. reDRAGON vs. RAPPONGI VICE (15:23): There were four matches on this four and a half hour show that I didn't watch. I doubt I missed anything, but this show wasn't as good as last year's Dominion, which I named the best show of 2015. AJ Styles and Nakamura went to the WWE in January, and Tanahashi is injured, so this show was missing three major players. It still felt like the old New Japan, though, as these four teams battled yet again for the Jr. Tag Team titles. To mix it up they made this an odd, over-the-top-rope elimination match...which negated any cool high flying out of the ring maneuvers. Which meant that this wasn't as good as previous bouts between these eight awesome wrestlers. **1/2 (out of ****)

KUSHIDA vs. WILL OSPREAY (14:36): Losing AJ and Nakamura was tantamount to a death blow...but gaining Will Ospreay, the best free-agent in the world, certainly helped. Ospreay won the Super Juniors tournament last month...but this was his second straight loss to Kushida. It was exciting and fun (Ospreay is one of the best high-fliers in the sport), but not as good as their April match. Ospreay is still young, still learning, so perhaps one day he'll be in a masterpiece. **1/2

THE BRISCOE'S vs. GUERRILLAS OF DESTINY (14:02): Jay and Mark Brisco are wild and energetic, so that helped. They won the tag titles here, a pointless trophy since all the good teams are in the Jr. division. The Somoan bores, Guerrillas of Destiny, are like a bad team from WCW Thunder days. *1/2

SHIBATA vs. NAGATA (14:53): Good, hard-hitting, dramatic stuff. Nagata lost the NEVER title here. He had just won it last month from Shibata. Nagata is 48 years old, but he can still go, and the story here was that Shibata had to gain the respect from his elders, which he did. Shibata goes on to probably face Honma sometime in the future, but, really, Shibata deserves to be the champ and main eventing. He's just awesome. **1/2


KENNY OMEGA vs. MICHAEL ELGIN "LADDER MATCH" (33:32): This was a kitchen sink match; it had pretty much everything. Ladders, tables, trash cans, handcuffs, outside interference, etc. It was, simply, a typical WWE ppv main event. Which was odd...as this show was on the same day as WWE's Money in the Bank ppv. And New Japan never does gimmick matches, and yet this match blew away anything on MITB. It would probably have been better if I hadn't seen all this shit all the time in the WWE over the years. And, sure, it went on way too long...but it was pure spectacle; a true cluster fuck of brutality and chaos. Hiroshi Tanahashi was supposed to face Omega here. It would have been their re-match from February when Omega won the Intercontinental title. Tanahashi was hurt so they threw in the big man, Elgin. And while Elgin took some hard bumps (power-bombed onto a ladder resting on two trashcans in the ring), Omega might be in the hospital for awhile. Omega was slammed off a ladder onto two tables that didn't break at ringside. He was tossed onto a ladder bridge at ringside. Even the hits to the face with the ladder to Omega looked like they broke his jaw. He's certainly putting himself out there this year trying to make a statement as the new Bullet Club leader. When the Young Bucks ran down and handcuffed Elgin to the ring post, Ricochet and Matt Sydal ran down for the save. The Bullet Club beat them up while Omega climbed the ladder. But Elgin is so strong he broke free from the handcuffs! He tipped the ladder, spilling Omega off the ladder and out of the ring onto the other BC members. And Elgin won. This was a very exciting, wild match. ***1/2

NAITO vs. OKADA (28:58): This was pretty boring actually. The best moment came when Okada delivered his pile driver then Rainmaker clothesline finisher and Naito kicked out. Wh-wh-what? My God, man! Okada ended up having to give Naito three more Rainmaker's in a row to pin him and reclaim the title he lost in April. I was kind of surprised that Naito lost the title already. Why did they even give it to him in the first place? Naito is a heel now, part of Los Ingobernables, which is apparently super popular in Japan...but not in Osaka, where this ppv was held. Osaka hates Naito...and he hates them back (he spit at the crowd numerous times). I guess they didn't want to tarnish Okada by having him lose at straight big shows. And the heel Naito is amusing but fairly dull. He slowly walks to the ring, slowly takes off his suit...slowly wrestles except in spurts. The final few minutes were dramatic but it was mostly dull. **

WWE EXTREME RULES

Newark, NJ

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. BARON CORBIN "NO DQ": On the pre-show, The Dudley Boyz came out and mocked the crowd then got beat up by Big Cass. Then this short match. Corbin hit a low blow then pinned Ziggler. Alas, the pre-show probably shouldn't exist. *1/2

DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON vs. THE USO'S "TORNADO MATCH": For an extreme rules show, this was fairly normal. The Asylum match was really the only gimmick match. This match, with all four combatants in the ring at once, was at least fast paced. The crowd tonight was loud and awesome, a huge plus. **1/2

KALISTO vs. RUSEV: So Rusev won the U.S. title here. Do you care? *1/2

THE NEW DAY vs. THE VAUDEVILLAINS: A short match. It's almost as if The New Day doesn't even have to wrestle. They can just come out and talk and dance then leave. *1/2

THE MIZ vs. SAMI ZAYN vs. CESARO vs. KEVIN OWENS: Stellar match. The Miz retained the IC title. The final few minutes were a crazy frenzy of near-falls and big moves and the crowd was riotous. I also believe that, quite possibly, this was the best match The Miz was ever involved in. ***1/2

DEAN AMBROSE vs. CHRIS JERICHO "ASYLUM MATCH": Vince Russo is back writing this crap, right? How else to explain this match? A cage match with a locked door and weapons above it...but weapons crazy people might use...like a mop and bucket, straight jacket, and a barbed wire wrapped 2x4. The only weapon not used was the potted plant. But the finale, involving Jericho being slammed onto a bed of thumbtacks, was sick and amusing (the tacks were in a bag in the bucket...duh). At 26 minutes, this was way too long. Ambrose did leap off the top of the cage to deliver a clothesline. But it was too dull for a good majority of it. **

NATALYA vs. CHARLOTTE "SUBMISSION MATCH": Ugh. Has there ever been an entertaining submission match? Some new girl came out dressed as Ric Flair to distract Natalya and cause her to lose. Not good. 1/2*

AJ STYLES vs. ROMAN REIGNS "EXTREME RULES MATCH": Excellent match...albeit with the lame, crowd-booing ending of Reigns winning. AJ especially took a beating. He was put through two announce tables and got his head swung into the side of the ring that has the new, graphics screen. The Uso's and Gallows and Anderson came out to beat each other and everyone up. Seth Rollins ran out after the match to pedigree Reigns. It was nuts, wild, and super entertaining. ***1/2

WWE PAYBACK

Rosemont, Illinois

BARON CORBIN vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: A pre-show match. Way to promote Corbin, who just came from NXT to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at Wrestlemania. Corbin is awful, however, but he has the "look." This was super short. Ziggler snuck away with a win. **

KALISTO vs. RYBACK: Pretty good, mostly fast-paced, short, pre-show match. Kalisto retained a title that announcer Mauro Ranallo thought was the frigging Ark of the Covenant or something. **1/2

ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS vs. THE VAUDEVILLIANS: Enzo was thrown into the ropes and was supposed to slide under but hit his head on the second rope. This snapped his head back hard onto the mat and he fell out of the ring like a rag doll. The match ended as he was taken out on a stretcher. The announce team later said it was only a concussion.

SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS: Really good match. These two should be wrestling in main events for titles...not early on the show in a match for nothing but payback. They both did a ton of brutal, crazy moves. The second-half was high drama. Owens won clean then did commentary for the next match. ***

THE MIZ vs. CESARO: Decent match. Re-hiring Maryse was the greatest thing to happen to The Miz's career since MTV picked him for The Real World. Having the white-haired, French minx at ringside actually makes The Miz's matches semi-watchable now. During the match, Sami Zayn ran out to beat up Kevin Owens who was doing commentary. This led to The Miz winning because Cesaro was distracted. And then all four beat each other up. **

CHRIS JERICHO vs. DEAN AMBROSE: This was lackluster, although the last few minutes were fairly entertaining. Ambrose seems to only be in great matches when they involve Seth Rollins. And Jericho is a faded star. Ambrose won clean. *1/2

CHARLOTTE vs. NATALYA: Brett Hart came out to be in Natalya's corner. Ric Flair was in Charlotte's corner. The match was mediocre. It felt like they were just going through various, rehearsed spots for a big chunk of it and it came off as being robotic and weirdly stale. Charlotte tapped but the ref didn't see it...then the ref, Charles Robinson, aka L'il Natch (if you remember), rang the bell even though Natalya never tapped. This was an old reference from the 1997 Montreal screw-job that only die-hards remember. Post-match, Brett Hart put Ric Flair in a sharp shooter and Natalya did the same to Charlotte. *1/2

VINCE, STEPH, & SHANE: The family came out and Vince had to decide who would run Monday Night RAW. After the crowd chanted, "CM Punk," Vince decided that both his kids would run RAW. Okay...

AJ STYLES vs. ROMAN REIGNS: This was a strange match, albeit the most entertaining one on the show. The best WWE main events are usually the ones that end up having a ton of outside interference and drama, and this match had a ton. It was a typical, so-so match until AJ jumped off the top rope and delivered a forearm to Reigns and both men crashed through the announce table. Reigns didn't make the ten count so he lost the match but kept his title. Shane O'Mac came out to re-start the match. Reigns hit AJ with a low-blow and got DQ'd but still kept his title. So Stephanie McMahon came out to re-start the match. Then Gallows and Anderson, the big, dull thugs from NJPW, came out and beat up Reigns. Then the Uso's came out to beat up Gallows and Anderson. Finally, Reigns speared AJ and pinned him in a long, exhausting, but very good main event. Everyone thought Gallows and Anderson would join AJ in a new Bullet Club group, possibly with the debut of Finn Balor...or Gallows and Anderson would join a new-heel Reigns to form a new Shield. None of that happened, which was a bit of a disappointment. It was also a little lame that AJ in the main event wasn't really built up properly. That, and the fact that Reigns and AJ are both good guys feuding, is odd. But it was a good end to an average show. ***

WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXXII

From AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX

KALISTO vs. RYBACK (8:58): This match started at 5:45 PM Eastern time. The show ended at 11:47 PM. That's six hours of wrestling. Too much! It was even longer than a NJPW ppv...which is saying something. And Wrestlemania was a good, entertaining show. Either it's always been like this or it's new...but Wrestlemania isn't really about year-long feuds ending in big matches or a show featuring the best matches of the year. No, Wrestlemania is more about spectacle. Snoop Dogg! Shaq! Old wrestlers from the past showing up and only fake punching! If you wanted a masterpiece of a match you had to watch Friday's NXT Takeover show. Shinsuke Nakamura made his debut against Sami Zayn and it was a great, brutal match (the crowd chanted, "Fight forever!" at one point). And while I haven't seen them yet, the independent wrestling promotion EVOLVE apparently put on two of the best matches of the weekend with Will Ospreay vs. Zach Sabre, Jr. and Will Ospreay vs. Richochet. And ROH and CZW put on shows in the Dallas area. So while this Wrestlemania was a great show or anything, the whole weekend is a lot of fun for wrestling fans even if you're not in town. As for this match...for the coveted U.S. title...it was simple, short, harmless. Ryback sucks and always will. The WWE should probably have figured this out by now. *1/2

TEAM TOTAL DIVAS vs. TEAM B.A.D. & BLONDES (11:25): So this was the first pre-show match (shown on the USA network). I guess the Kalisto/Ryback match, on the WWE Network, was the pre-pre-show. So this was a ten woman match with all the stars of a show I don't watch, E!'s Total Divas. Eva Marie, the red-haired chick that looks like a porn star, was booed heavily. Paige was there. The Bella twins shows up, though one's retiring and one's quitting. It was at least entertaining with so much chaos. **1/2

THE USO'S vs. THE DUDLEY BOYZ (5:18): Another pre-show match. The Uso's both jumped off the top rope onto The Dudley's on tables at the same time. That was cool. The Dudley's have to leave. Their time has passed. *1/2

ZACK RYDER vs. SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS vs. SIN CARA vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. THE MIZ vs. STARDUST "LADDER MATCH" (15:23): The best match on the show. This was a typical spot-fest. Sin Cara was pushed off the ladder and landed onto Stardust who was laid out on a ladder bridge at ringside. Sami Zayn leaped through a ladder and the ropes to the floor to topple everyone. Zack Ryder did an elbow drop from the top of the ladder. The finish was great. The Miz, alone at the top of the ladder, decided to relish his presumed victory by sitting on the top of the ladder and basking in the crowd hatred. Zack Ryder climbed up the ladder, pushed The Miz off, and won the IC title. Zack Ryder! Who wasn't even on TV in years. Or was he? It was cool to see a nobody win, to see someone new get a push. The crowd loved it. Then he lost the IC title to The Miz on RAW. Oh, well. ***1/2

CHRIS JERICHO vs. AJ STYLES (17:10): Jericho is old and not as entertaining in the ring. AJ Styles is awesome but even he can only do so much. Jericho won for no good reason (I guess they want to reward him for coming back every year). The big problem was that this was their third singles match. After that they teamed together briefly then had a falling out. So we're sick of these two facing each other. It was okay. **

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS vs. THE NEW DAY (10:03): The best part was The New Day's entrance. They came out of a giant Booty-O's cereal box. The match was forgettable, but afterwards Shawn Michaels, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, and HBK came out to take on The League of Nations (who, post-match, had said that nobody could beat them or something ridiculous). So we had some 'Stone Cold' stunners and Mr. Socko and super-kicks and beer and The New Day showing the old-heads how to dance and the crowd fucking loved it. It was fun. **1/2

DEAN AMBROSE vs. BROCK LESNAR "STREET FIGHT" (13:06): Probably the one true disappointment on the show...only because with these two and it being a Street Fight you'd except a wild melee. They used Singapore canes and steel chairs. No tables broken. It was mostly a one-sided beat down. Ambrose pulled out a barbed wire bat and a chainsaw from under the ring but never used them. The best matches Lesnar has been in since returning have been the ones that are back and forth. When it's like this and mostly a destruction it's just kind of boring. **

CHARLOTTE vs. BECKY LYNCH vs. SASHA BANKS (16:03): Good match. Charlotte doing a moonsault off the top rope to the floor was the best part. Sasha Banks is a true star. She's the best women's wrestler in the WWE since AJ. She's gorgeous, good in the ring, and has the swagger and personality for this business. But she lost thanks to Ric Flair's interference. This was also the first match for the Women's title. Diva's no more. ***

THE UNDERTAKER vs. SHANE McMAHON "HELL IN A CELL" (30:05): This match was both mostly awful and exactly what we wanted. It's a tough one to grade because early on this was one of the worst matches ever. Seeing Shane put The Undertaker in a submission hold and then kick out of The Last Rites was just ridiculous. But Shane did what we all wanted to see: jump off something high. And he certainly did that. After The Undertaker grabbed Shane and plowed him through the side of the cage and it broke open, things got interesting. Shane put The Undertaker in a sleeper hold (groan) and they ended up both crashing through an announce table. Then Shane laid 'Taker on the main announce table and climbed up the cell. I really didn't think anyone would ever jump off that thing ever since they made it higher (Mankind was thrown off it and Rikishi was pushed off onto a truck filled with sawdust...but the cell wasn't as tall then). Shawn Michaels, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins have fallen off the side of it. But man, Shane O'Mac jumped off the top of it and crashed through the announce table ('Taker moved away and the cameraman ran for the hills). The table wasn't the usual table. You could tell they built it special for this. And it was certainly a memorable Wrestlemania moment. It may be the craziest thing I've ever actually seen in wrestling, albeit I think Shane's leap from the Titantron against The Big Show was higher. If he had missed or tripped he'd probably be dead or paralyzed. And what does that say about him? About us? The crowd was even chanting, "Don't do it!" when he was standing at the top. I guess it's too bad the rest of the match was fairly awful (The Van Terminator was cool...and after the big leap, 'Taker pulled Shane back in the ring to Tombstone him and win). Does it matter? It was a highlight that will be shown and talked about forever. And it was fucking awesome. ***

THE ANDRE THE GIANT BATTLE ROYAL (BARON CORBIN) (9:41): Well Shaq showing up as a participant was amusing. The rest...not so much. Baron Corbin is everything that's wrong with the WWE. He "looks" the part; he's big, tall, mean. But he's a fucking bore. But he's on the main roster now after an uninspiring stint in next (even The Greatest Man That Ever Lived couldn't get a good match out of him on NXT Takeover on Friday). He won this after pushing Kane out. **

THE ROCK vs. ERICK ROWAN (0:06): The Rock came out, used a blow-torch gun to light a R.O.C.K. sign on fire, told the crowd the attendance number, then was interrupted by The Wyatt family. "You say you're the eater of worlds," The Rock said to Bray Wyatt. "But I think you're just the eater of Hot Pockets." So The Rock said he was ready to wrestle a match, and tore off his outfit to reveal wrestling trunks. So he wrestled Erick Rowan and gave him a Rock Bottom and pinned him right away. John Cena came out and they both beat up The Wyatt family to generous crowd approval (although the crowd noise live and what was heard on TV are apparently two different things...during the main event it was said that they muted the boos for Roman Reigns...hence the funny sign on RAW someone held up). **1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. HHH (27:11): Wrestlemania hasn't had a great main event on paper in awhile, have they? Last year was Reigns vs. Lesnar. Two years ago was Batista vs. Orton vs. (maybe) Daniel Bryan. I guess the years of Andre/Hogan, Rock/Austin, etc. are over. The WWE could have a great Wrestlemania main event if they got their head out of their ass. AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar? Hello? Either way, this match went on so late (starting after 11 PM eastern time) that they probably would have had to bring out a reunited Shield to have surprised and entertained us (they didn't). So the match turned out to be a basic PPV main event. The only highlight was Stefanie (who looked super hot in her black leather, slut outfit) getting speared. The other cool moment was Reigns spearing HHH through one of the barricades at ringside. Reigns won clean and is the new champ. Not a memorable nor a particularly good Wrestlemania main event. ** 

WWE FASTLANE

from Cleveland

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. KALISTO "2 OUT OF 3 FALLS": This was, honestly, the best match of the night. It wasn't even on the show, it was on the pre-show. It probably didn't help that I watched the much better NJPW show, The New Beginning in Niigata, earlier today (Omega vs. Tanahashi was crazy awesome). Nothing the WWE was going to put on would deliver anything that good. But this was a fine, fun, entertaining opener. Kalisto is one of the more entertaining wrestlers in the WWE. And very, very few people can make a match against Del Rio watchable. Kalisto retained the U.S. title. *** (out of ****)

SASHA BANKS & BECKY LYNCH vs. NAOMI & TAMINA: Well...Sasha Banks is a fucking star. She's super hot, talented, and has the right persona for this business. It doesn't help that she's stuck in lame matches like this. But at least the crowd was into it because it was early. *1/2

KEVIN OWENS vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: It probably would have helped if these two hadn't wrestled each other every week on RAW for the last six month's. It was basic stuff, really. Owens retained the IC title. *1/2

BIG SHOW & KANE & RYBACK vs. THE WYATT FAMILY: Bray Wyatt didn't even wrestle. But Kane and Big Show, two guys who should have retired ten year's ago, did. Ryback at least tries hard. He even does CM Punk's running knee in the corner move now. But it was mostly a bunch of big, lumbering idiots milling around which is what everyone expected. *1/2

CHARLOTTE vs. BRIE BELLA: I guess building up Charlotte as a solid, evil title holder is good...it's just too bad her matches are stale. This was mediocre stuff. *

A.J. STYLES vs. CHRIS JERICHO:  Styles has been in the WWE for one month and this is already the third match between these two. And I didn't want to see it again. Did you? It was average stuff, a little sloppier and slower than their first two. Jericho is too old to be doing this. Styles should be facing real contenders like...well, okay, the WWE has very few contenders. **

EDGE & CHRISTIAN SEGMENT: This involved Edge and Christian, The New Day, and the League of Nations trading insults. It was amusing. It also reminds me how much better Edge and Christian are on the mic than anyone actually still in the company week to week. Sad. **1/2

R. TRUTH vs. CURTIS AXEL: Yes! A filler match! And what a filler match! Why R. Truth and The Social Outcasts are still in the WWE is beyond me. -No Stars-

DEAN AMBROSE vs. ROMAN REIGNS vs. BROCK LESNAR: It really tells you something about the state of this company when the main event of their biggest show of the year, Wrestlemania, has a guy routinely booed (Reigns) facing a retired guy that was popular fifteen plus years ago (HHH). It also makes zero sense that they're keeping a ton of stars separate on NXT (Sami Zayn, Somoa Joe, Finn Balor) when this show badly needed more big star matches. Oh, well. This main event was not great, as I thought it'd be. They told the same story that last year's great triple threat Cena-Lesnar-Rollins match told: the two guys put Lesnar through the announce table to take him out of the match while they fight in the ring. Tonight, Lesnar was put through two announce table's after an early, one-sided beat-down that Lesnar delivered. Lesnar got back but Ambrose hit him with a chair a few times then Roman speared Ambrose and won. It was a good match, just nothing new. And the outcome was way too obvious, meaning their wasn't any true drama. It says a lot that I'm looking forward more to NXT Dallas (Nakamura's debut! Zayn vs. Balor!) than Wrestlemania. **1/2

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

From Orlando, Florida

KEVIN OWENS vs. DEAN AMBROSE "LAST MAN STANDING MATCH": Good match. And these two have been facing each other a million times in the last month, so it's nice to know it's good enough to not get sick of (kind of how you never got sick of seeing Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins during their endless feud). They used Singapore canes. Owens power-bombed Ambrose through two sitting-up chairs. Ambrose delivered a top rope elbow through Owens on a ringside table. The genius finale had Owens on the top rope ready to flip onto Ambrose who was laying on a bunch of chairs set up. Ambrose got up and pushed Owens from the top rope and through two tables set up on top of each other at ringside. Good opener. Ambrose retained the IC title. *** (out of ****)

THE USO'S vs. THE NEW DAY: This was about as good as a Smackdown match. The crowd tonight was total insider wrestling fans. They booed The Uso's and cheered The New Day. The New Day retained the tag titles when Big E. caught a leaping Uso off the top rope and slammed him and pinned him. Entertaining but average. **

KALISTO vs.  ALBERTO DEL RIO: Kalisto did some cool, high-flying moves...but Del Rio is so fucking boring. Kalisto won the title clean after delivering a second Salida Del Sol. Kalisto winning would be a big deal (it was for the U.S. title) if he hadn't already won it on RAW (he quickly lost it on Smackdown). Bringing Del Rio back was a major mistake. *1/2

BECKY LYNCH vs. CHARLOTTE: The best part? After Ric Flair interfered to cause Charlotte to retain the Women's title...Sasha Banks came out to a big crowd pop. She kicked Lynch out of the ring and then turned on Charlotte and put her in a submission hold. I guess it's a good thing that the Women's division is more relevant than usual...but the problem is all the best matches with the Diva's are happening in NXT. *1/2

THE ROYAL RUMBLE (TRIPLE H): The favorite won, even if HHH was unannounced and entered as the surprise #30. The biggest deal was AJ Styles debuting in the WWE at #3. He got big crowd chants all night. Kevin Owens eliminated him about halfway through. The big story line was that Roman Reigns was defending his title and entered at #1. During the match, Vince and The League of Nations came out and dragged Reigns under the ropes, beat him up, then Rusev ran across the announce tables and splashed onto Reigns and through the collapsing French announce table. Reigns was taken to the back by the EMT's and later came back out looking perfectly fine. Brock Lesnar was in the match. Unfortunately it was only to set up a Wrestlemania match with Bray Wyatt that no one wants to see. The Wyatt Family teamed up to eliminate Lesnar. The final three were Ambrose, HHH, and Reigns. HHH tossed Reigns out. This was set up so that Reigns and HHH weren't left alone. Reigns was booed all night. They didn't want HHH to be cheered since he's the evil heel. They knew Ambrose would be cheered and he was. Manipulating the live crowd so often lately just to protect Reigns has to tell the WWE something, right? Like...maybe he isn't the guy? Either way, Wrestlemania has Lesnar vs. Wyatt and HHH vs. Reigns and those are two extremely lame match ups. This Rumble was entertaining in spots. It had too much of the usual guys-walking-around-fake-punching filler as usual. Seeing AJ Styles on the big stage was pretty cool...but knowing that this year we won't be seeing him in any NJPW masterpieces just breaks my heart. **1/2