WWE PAYBACK

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, from Chicago

WADE BARRETT vs. THE MIZ vs. CURTIS AXEL: I didn't realize it, but Axel is Mr. Perfect's kid. Mr. Perfect is dead. Totally forgot that. Axel is Paul Heyman's newest boy. This match was all action for awhile, so that was good. It didn't help that The Miz, Axel, and Barrett, aren't very good. **

KAITLYN vs. AJ: This was AJ's first title win. Really? Really. A typical women's match. I prefer AJ in skits. *1/2

DEAN AMBROSE vs. KANE: Ugh. Why is Kane still around? The 90's called and wants him back. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: Okay. So this match was, apparently, the reason the show was titled "Payback." Ziggler beat a hurt Del Rio for the title after cashing in his MITB contract the night after Wrestlemania. Ziggler hasn't wrestled in a month because of a concussion...so Del Rio kicked him in the head and stuff and won. Jeez. Who the fuck likes Del Rio? Well he's a heel again now but still can't wrestle. Ziggler is great. What a horrible title reign. *

CM PUNK vs. CHRIS JERICHO: The Chi-town crowd roared and cheered for Punk. Still...these two don't mesh that well. The end was good with a flurry of activity but Jericho is not as fast or exciting as he once was. **

SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS vs. DANIEL BRYAN & RANDY ORTON: They got the short end of the stick. It didn't get any time, felt pointless (Bryan battling The Shield has been the main event on Smackdown forever). *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. RYBACK "THREE STAGES OF HELL": So there was a lumberjack match that Ryback won. A tables match that Cena won. Then Cena threw Ryback through the top of an ambulance to win the ambulance match and keep the title. Still not sure why the roof of the ambulance was made of, apparently, cardboard. It was semi-entertaining. **

TNA SLAMMIVERSARY

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 from Boston

This is how great TNA is: I couldn't even remember the name of this show when starting to write this. Alas, this was a good show. The company only has 4 ppv's a year now...and the first two weren't good...so it's nice to see a good show from the Orlando boys.

KENNY KING vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. SUICIDE "ULTIMATE X MATCH": Sadly, I missed this match. From the highlights it looked mediocre. Sabin won and gets a title shot at Destination X which, confusedly, doesn't exist now (I guess they'll do it on Impact).

SAMOA JOE & MAGNUS & JEFF HARDY vs. GARETT BISCHOFF & WES BRISCO & MR. ANDERSON: I kind of wish there were more singles matches. A ton of great wrestlers like Aries and Hardy and Samoa Joe were stuck in these multiple dude matches. This match was good but nothing special. Hardy did a cool Senton Bomb on Brisco that looked like it hurt. **1/2

SAM SHAW vs. JOEY BRADLEY: Two fresh fishes, battling for a contract. I didn't bother to watch.

DEVON vs. ABYSS: Abyss is back! And more plodding than ever. 1/2*

CHAVO GUERRERO JR. & HERNANDEZ vs. AUSTIN ARIES & BOBBY ROODE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & KAZARIAN vs. JAMES STORM & GUNNER: Good action. Aries was on fire. Chavo is doing all these crazy moves he never did before...which is odd. Why the fuck didn't he do this in WCW or WWE? **1/2

TARYN TERRELL vs. GAIL KIM : The match of the night. Yep. But...all the WWE has to do is put their "divas" in a ladder match or something like this to get these type of results. It was brutal. Good. They really beat the shit out of each other. Taryn gave Kim a bulldog off the walkway entrance to the floor. The landing was off camera live but they did show the replay. **1/2
"LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH"

AJ STYLES vs. KURT ANGLE: It heated up towards the end. Both guys did some wicked back and forth action. The finish was fast and less than climatic but it was good. **1/2

STING vs. BULLY RAY "NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH": Good stuff...surprisingly. Bully Ray cut the ring ropes and exposed the hard, wood mat floor and gave Sting a pile driver on it. Aces & Eights came out. Sting beat them up. Mr. Anderson gave Bully a hammer and he used it to KO Sting. A wild, amusing main event. Now Sting can never wrestle for the TNA title again...ever. Not a bad thing. **1/2

WWE EXTREME RULES

Sunday, May 19th, 2013, from St. Louis

CHRIS JERICHO vs. FANDANGO: I like Fandango. He's amusing. In the ring he's not boring. Jericho won. No stips. It was okay. **

DEAN AMBROSE vs. KOFI KINGSTON: Another no stips match. I do like Ambrose. He's got charisma. *1/2

SHEAMUS vs. MARK HENRY "STRAP MATCH": Interesting. A strap match? What is this...Russo's WCW? I guess it was better than a regular match between these two. **

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. JACK SWAGGER "I QUIT MATCH": Well this was supposed to be a three way ladder match but Ziggler, the champ, got a concussion. So we got this. God is Del Rio an awful good guy. *

SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS vs. KANE & DANIEL BRYAN: I love Bryan but even I'm sick of his tag team. The Shield won the tag titles and earlier Ambrose won the U.S. title. **

RANDY ORTON vs. THE BIG SHOW "EXTREME RULES MATCH": They used a cane and a chair. Eh. *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. RYBACK "LAST MAN STANDING MATCH": A no contest! What the hell? Ryback slammed Cena through the stage and the set lights sparked and it was kind of cool but neither guy got up. **1/2

BROCK LESNAR vs. HHH "STEEL CAGE MATCH": Please retire, HHH. This was perhaps their best match. That's not saying a lot. Heyman low-blowed HHH and then Lesnar F-5'd him for the win. No blood but they did use a sledgehammer. It was okay. **1/2

WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIX

Sunday, April 7th, 2013 from Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ

SHEAMUS, RANDY ORTON & THE BIG SHOW vs. THE SHIELD: Sadly, this was a weak show. The post RAW was actually better. On RAW, Dolph Ziggler won the title and Ryback turned heel (plus the crowd more than made up for the dull Met Life Stadium crowd). I missed this first match...so perhaps it was epic and awesome. I heard it wasn't.

MARK HENRY vs. RYBACK: Wow. Dull. I was wondering why Ryback got a big push only to lose seemingly every match since October...but on RAW they pushed him big time. Ryback did lift Henry onto his shoulders in this match. That was pretty cool. 1/2*

DANIEL BRYAN & KANE vs. BIG E. LANGSTON & DOLPH ZIGGLER: Too short. And by releasing Bryan with Kane's music to enter the stadium it robbed of us an epic crowd roar. Bryan is, really, the most over guy in WWE. Big E. Langston made his in-ring debut. He's mediocre. **

CHRIS JERICHO vs. FANDANGO: This was also Fandango's in-ring debut. He's mediocre. First off, he's amusing. I'm waiting for a crowd to start chanting "fag" at him and it getting awkward. Second, what's the point of giving a new guy a stupid name like Fandango when you know saddled with that stigma of stupidity he'll never be a main eventer. Isn't the point to bring new guys up and groom them to be a star? With a lame name and gimmick like a ballroom dancer he's already ruined. I can see that the WWE wants variety...but, hell, give him a better name than the frigging movie ticket website. He did win in an okay match. **

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. JACK SWAGGER: Not good. Both wrestlers are boring. Del Rio is a lousy good guy. Swagger's anti-immigrant schtick never really hit it off. Eh. *

CM PUNK vs. THE UNDERTAKER: This was a good match, the best of the night, although riddled with the cliches of every 'Taker/'Mania match. Punk did a top rope elbow onto 'Taker and the Spanish announce table but it didn't break and thus the big spot fell flat. Both of them kicked out of a ton of finishers but, c'mon, nobody thought Punk was winning. **1/2

HHH vs. BROCK LESNAR: Lesnar has only been in two matches since returning. Against Cena at last year's Extreme Rules and against HHH at last year's Summerslam. One was great and one sucked...so of course they have a re-match of the bad match. This was a little too plodding and slow. HHH got beat up then miraculously had a few big counters here and there. Lesnar did toss HHH through the Spanish announce table and this time it broke. The finish involved a pedigree on the ring steps inside the ring...which was the same type of finish that the Cena/Lesnar match had. It was average. **

THE ROCK vs. JOHN CENA: Not good. Even the crowd chanted "boring" at one part. Cena won and was cheered even though he was booed after and before and during. This show just didn't have any great matches or moments. The set was pretty, though. *1/2

TNA LOCKDOWN

Sunday, March 10th, 2012
San Antonio, TX

ZEMA ION vs. KENNY KING vs. CHRISTIAN YORK: I missed this somewhere. When did King beat Ion for the title? Where's Jesse Sorenson? These are all pertinent questions. I actually really liked this match. It felt like going to a local, small time wrestling show and seeing a bunch of suicidal teens doing a lot of insane maneuvers and messing up most of them. The moves that weren't messed up and/or sloppy, though, were glorious. This was the best X-Division match I've seen in awhile actually. **1/2 (out of ****)

JOSEPH PARK vs. JOEY RYAN: They really gotta bring back Abyss. I missed most of the next three matches so there will be no review of them.

VELVET SKY vs. GAIL KIM: Seriously...do you care what happened in this one?

ROBBIE E vs. ROBBIE T: Or this? I mean...Robbie E versus his bodyguard? On a ppv! And there's only four of these a year you know. And "Jersey Shore" isn't on TV anymore but Robbie E is still around. TNA really & truly is a comedy of errors. Not that you didn't know that. Why am I even bringing that up? Well the bodyguard won. Nobody cared.

AUSTIN ARIES & BOBBY ROODE vs. CHAVO GUERRERO JR. & HERNANDEZ vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & KAZARIAN: Not as good as it could've should've been but still probably the most entertaining match on the show. Hernandez got a lot of props from the audience, including his head-first dive over the ropes from the ramp into the ring. Guerrero is doing all these crazy, high-flying moves that he never did in WCW or WWE. I guess he realizes the end is near. **1/2

KURT ANGLE vs. WES BRISCO: This was the first of three cage matches. Normally this show is all cage matches. I have no idea why they changed it (probably because it was stupid). But then why not put the tag team match in a cage? Daniels, after all, is only the second man in history to dive off a hell in a cell size cage. This match featured a nobody from Aces & 8's beating Kurt Angle. Yeah. 1/2*

STING & SAMOA JOE & JAMES STORM & ERIC YOUNG & MAGNUS vs. DEVON & DOC & GARETT BISCHOFF & KNOX & KENNETH ANDERSON: This match was called "Lethal Lockdown." Every single "Lethal Lockdown" match ever culminates with a roof of weapons lowering down. I guess the Alamo Dome was too spacious for this far-out concept of a roof being lowered so what they did was just have the last man enter, Sting, waltz out with two trashcans filled with weapons. So yes, this was a letdown. They did have one unique pyramid suplex maneuver that featured six men toppling over in a corner and Young did a top of the cage elbow drop...but, man, I was so pumped for that roof of weapons being lowered. *1/2

JEFF HARDY vs. BULLY RAY: Remember the N.W.O.? Well the reason it worked was mostly because it actually featured prominent stars of WCW like Hogan and Nash and Hall and eventually pretty much everyone at one point or another. TNA's big evil group is Aces & 8's, a motorcycle group that doesn't really have an agenda. At first it was a bunch of masked men...then Devon was unmasked as the leader. Nobody cared. Then more were unmasked and less cared; D'Lo Brown, Garrett Bischoff, unknowns called Doc, Wes Brisco, and others I forget. I guess even TNA realized that this group blows. It's a bunch of losers. So they had Bully Ray turn heel in this match and win the title. Now Aces & 8's is led by The Dudley Boyz. The match and turn were eh...but Ray on the mic post-match were great. He called Hulk Hogan's daughter and his TV wife a "bitch." And the fans threw bottles and trash into the ring. Good, amusing ending to, seriously, an awful show. **

WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER

Sunday, February 17th, 2012, from New Orleans

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. THE BIG SHOW: I missed the first twenty minutes of the show. Usually on this ppv they have one of the two Elimination Chamber matches on first. Thank God I didn't miss that. When I turned the show on, Del Rio had The Big Show in some submission hold and The Big Show tapped out. I really dislike Del Rio as a good guy. He's not particularly good at it and I wonder why anyone would cheer for him now or ever. He's a dud.

ANTONIO CESARO vs. THE MIZ: I, thankfully, didn't see this match. I think I was on Twitter or something. Either way, honestly, both of these guys are awfully boring.

CHRIS JERICHO vs. RANDY ORTON vs. MARK HENRY vs. DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE vs. JACK SWAGGER "ELIMINATION CHAMBER": Well this ended up being the only EC match on the show. I figured Henry would win but Swagger, who's anti-immigrant now, won. This sets up the worst title match in the history of Wrestlemania: Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio. That's not even worthy of Wednesday's Main Event show on ION. Jericho and Bryan started the match which was awesome. Orton took a wicked bump through the plexi-glass pod. Nobody climbed a pod. Henry lost then came back and slammed everyone. Good not great. **1/2

JOHN CENA & SHEAMUS & RYBACK vs. THE SHIELD: I thought that this was supposed to be an EC match. It should have been. Sheamus was speared through the crowd wall at ringside and the final minute was a flurry of excitement but, eh, it was just okay. **

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. KOFI KINGSTON: An unannounced match. Yee Gods, why? *

KAITLYN vs. TAMINA SNUKA: Yawn. They really should put these women in an EC match. -No Stars-

THE ROCK vs. CM PUNK: This was better than their match at the Rumble yet the announce table didn't break this time (last month it broke before the People's Elbow). There were ref bumps and Punk had it won but no ref. I guess since we all knew who was going to win it came down to how. The Rock did all his moves and won. Good match, nothing special. Kind of a lackluster show. **1/2

CM PUNK'S TITLE REIGN: 11/21/11 - 1/28/13

CM Punk won the title in November of 2011 and kept it until this month. That's a hell of a streak, especially considering the WWE has four weekly TV shows now and monthly ppv's. The one interesting thing is that he was not in the main event for 8 straight ppv's. The best match? Either the Daniel Bryan match at MITB or the Cena one at NOC. The worst? Duh. When he won the title. You probably won't see something like this for awhile if ever, so I thought I'd do a little retrospective.

 * means this match was the main event

(Survivor Series)
CM PUNK vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO: This was a super dull match. Punk may be a good talker but he's rarely in great matches. He did win the title. This means that Punk had the title in July, Cena in August, Punk in August, Del Rio in August, Cena in September, Del Rio in October, now Punk in November. Way to make it special. *

(TLC)
*ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. CM PUNK vs. THE MIZ "TLC MATCH": The surprise? Cena wasn't on this show. Another surprise? Del Rio's ring announcer took the biggest bump in this match, falling off a ladder and through a ringside table, backwards. There weren't as many big spots in this match, but it was entertaining. **1/2

(The Royal Rumble)
CM PUNK vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: John Laurenitis decided to let another, regular ref call the match. It was slow until the finish that had Punk beating Dolph four times while the ref was hurt outside the ring and John was tending to him. Both the ref and John L. did the final pin and Punk won. It was mediocre. **

(Elimination Chamber)
 C.M. PUNK VS. CHRIS JERICHO VS. THE MIZ VS. R-TRUTH VS. KOFI KINGSTON VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH: Good opener with a weird, anti-climatic finish. Jericho ended up being kicked in the head by Punk and falling out of the chamber (the door was open because Jericho threw the eliminated Kofi Kingston out). Jericho was knocked out and couldn't continue. So Punk ended up beating The Miz to win. I guess this sets up a Jericho/Punk 'Mania title match. **1/2 (out of ****)

(Wrestlemania XXVIII)
CM PUNK vs. CHRIS JERICHO: I was looking forward to this...but it was slow, awkward, and didn't get exciting and fast until the end. The crowd was also dead for most of it. Punk just has not been in a great match in forever. Maybe he isn't the best wrestler in the world? Jericho tapped out to the Anaconda Vice after a back-and-forth of submission holds. **

(Extreme Rules)
CHRIS JERICHO vs. CM PUNK "CHICAGO STREET FIGHT": A little awkward and slow early but it picked up at the end with a ton of gimmicks. Punk used a fire extinguisher and lept off the top rope and onto Jericho and the Spanish announce table. Punk's sister was ringside and slapped Jericho. Chairs and canes were used. These two just don't mesh well but it had enough craziness to work. & my god the crowd was awesome tonight. ***

(Over the Limit)
C.M. PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN: Good, not great. Really looked like a ROH match. Long, holds, back and forth. A crap WWE finish, though; Punk was in the Yes Lock but rolled over to pin Bryan and then Punk tapped. So kind of a lame ending but a good match. **1/2

(No Way Out)
C.M. PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE: Good, not great. Thank Kane. **1/2

(Money in the Bank)
CM PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN: Good match. They used a chair, a table, and kendo sticks. AJ didn't really sway the match...so what was the point of her being the ref? Punk put Bryan through a table from the top rope to win. ***

(Summerslam)
CM PUNK vs. BIG SHOW vs. JOHN CENA (12:34): Funny...but they did the same thing in this match that TNA did last week. Punk and Cena both put on submission holds on Show and two refs rang the bell but AJ came out to restart it. Punk has been the champ since last November. Wow. This match was dull. First off; Kane and The Big Show suck and have always sucked. I think Shane O'Mac was the only one ever to get a good match out of them. & he quit the company. *1/2

(Night of Champions)
*CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: A good, almost great main event. I guess the WWE learned how to produce a classic by re-watching the last few Undertaker Wrestlemania matches; make the guys kick out of every finisher. And Cena also kicked out of a Rock Bottom and the finale had Cena running up to Punk on the top rope to suplex him off like Kurt Angle does. Cena pinned Punk and won...but the ref said that both of their shoulders were down so it was a draw. A long (27 minutes) match with a lame finish. The crowd did chant, "This is awesome!" so I'm assuming they got their money's worth. ***

(Hell in a Cell)
 *CM PUNK vs. RYBACK "HELL IN A CELL":  I wrote this last November: "This means that Punk had the title in July, Cena in August, Punk in August, Del Rio in August, Cena in September, Del Rio in October, now Punk in November. Way to make it special." Are they reading my blog? Punk has had the title for almost a year. Wow. This match was the best of the night but not really that good. I loved the finish, though. Ryback was ready to deliver his finisher when the ref low-blowed him and Punk rolled up Ryback to pin him and end his Goldberg-esque undefeated streak. At least it was something different...and Punk needs to keep the title so he can lose it to The Rock at The Royal Rumble. What I loved was that the guys climbed on top of the cell. When was the last time the frigging cell was actually used? Nice unique ending albeit on RAW they didn't even bring out the evil ref. **1/2

(Survivor Series)
*RYBACK vs. CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: The plan for the past few months has been for The Rock to fight CM Punk at the Royal Rumble for the title. This plan would not make sense if CM Punk wasn't the champ. So the WWE does the worst thing ever and introduces an undefeated, new, fan-friendly star into the title hunt. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I guess to sell ppv's, although Cena vs. Punk would have done the job better. They probably didn't want Cena to lose again to Punk at Hell in a Cell...but he lost here, anyway, and Ryback was undefeated but has now lost in the main event at two straight ppv's. Logic? So now it's a matter of: how can WWE keep the title on CM Punk in the strangest ways possible? God forbid he win a match clean. Last month the ref was evil and during this match three NXT stars beat up Ryback and put him through the -guess- Spanish announce table (earlier, Punk & Cena teamed up to put Ryback through the regular announce table). This match had two table breaks but a poor ending (we already saw a NXT invasion). A very weak show. **

(The Royal Rumble)
*THE ROCK vs. CM PUNK: Poor. The Rock is a star, sure, but over acts and just isn't wrestling enough these days to be at his peak. The big spot, a Rock Bottom through the announce table, was botched when the table collapsed before the move. The swerve, the lights went out, The Rock was put through the other announce table by The Shield, CM Punk won, was awful. Vince let Rock re-start the match (also The Rock more or less gave himself this title match...?) and Rock quickly won. Really? I guess this was to shock those (everyone) that thought Punk would never win. But to have Rock win this way the big celebration finish was marred. Bad choice, dull match, mediocre show. *1/2