From  The  BOK  (Bank  of  Oklahoma)  Center  in  Tulsa,  Oklahoma:

Hosted  by  John  ”Bradshaw”  Layfield  (JBL),  Michael  Cole  and  WWE  Hall  of  Famer  Jerry  ”The  King”  Lawler.

HOUR  1:

1.  A  DANCE-OFF:  Fandango  and  Summer  Rae  vs.  Chris  Jericho  and  Dancing  With  The  Stars’  Edyta  Sliwinska.

Summer  Rae  twisted  her  left  ankle  during  her  and  Fandango’s  routine.  When  Chris  Jericho  and  Edyta  Sliwinska  went  to  check  on  her,  Fandango  left  the  ring,  but  jumped  back  in  and  ambushed  Jericho.  After  the  assault,  it  turned  out  that  it  was  all  a  set-up  by  Summer  Rae.

2.  Zack  Ryder  vs.  RyBack.

THE  WINNER:  RYBACK!!!

3.  TAG  TEAM  MATCH:  The  Prime  Time  Players (Darren  Young  and  Titus  O”Neill)  vs.  Tons  of  Funk  (Tensai  and  ”The  Funkasaurus”  Brodus  Clay)  with  The  Funkadcatyls  (Naomi  and  Cameron).

THE  WINNERS:  THE  PRIME  TIME  PLAYERS.

Last  week  on  SmackDown!,  ”A  Real  American”  Jack  Swagger  kicked  WWE  World Heavyweight  Champion  Dolph  Ziggler  in  the  face  causing  a  concussion.  According  to  reports,  Ziggler  has  lost  parts  of  his  memory  and  will  be  away  for  awhile.  In  the  wake  of  this,  SmackDown!  Senior  Advisor  Theodore  R.  ”Teddy”  Long  appeared  on  the  show  to  announce  a  change  for  the  WWE  World  Heavyweight  Championship  match  that  was  scheduled  next  week  for  Extreme  Rules.  Ziggler’s  two  opponents  ”A  Real  American”  Jack  Swagger  and  Alberto  del  Rio  will  face  each  other  in  a  #1  Contender’s  ”I  Quit”  Match.

4.  A  NON-TITLE  MATCH:  WWE  United  States  Champion  Kofi  Kingston  vs.  Damien  Sandow.

THE  WINNER:  KOFI  KINGSTON!!!

HOUR  2:

INTERVIEW:  ”The  World’s  Strongest  Man”  Mark  Henry.

Josh  Matthews  interviewed  Mark  Henry  about  how  he  plans  to  defeat  Sheamus  in  the  Strap  Match  next  week   at   Extreme  Rules.  He  demanded  that  Josh  wrap  the  other  end  of  the  strap  around  his  wrist,  and  then  knocked  him  down  as  he  demonstrated  how  to  win  the  match.  He  then  removed  the  strap  from  Josh’s  wrist  and  called  out  Sheamus.  Sheamus  arrived  and  Henry  challenged  him  to  come  to  the  ring.  Sheamus  refused,  but  came  anyway.

He  then  pulled  out  a  leather  strap  from  under  the  ring,  and  both  men  began  to  assault  each  other  with  the  straps  until  Henry  escaped.

5.  Antonio  Cesaro  vs.  Randy  Orton.

THE  WINNER:  RANDY  ORTON!!!

6.  Heath  Slater  with  Jinder  Mahal  and  Drew  McIntyre  vs.  The  Miz.

THE  WINNER  VIA  SUBMISSION:  THE  MIZ!!!

7.  A  SIX-MAN  TAG  TEAM  ELIMINATION  MATCH:  WWE  Champion  John  Cena  and  WWE  Tag  Team  Champions  Team  Hell  No  (Kane  and  Daniel  Bryan)  vs.  The  Shield  (Seth  Rollins,  Dean  Ambrose  and  Roman  Reigns).

THE  FIRST  WRESTLER  ELIMINATED  VIA  COUNT-OUT:  KANE.

THE  SECOND  WRESTLER  ELIMINATED:  DANIEL  BRYAN.

THE  THIRD  WRESTLER  ELIMINATED:  SETH  ROLLINS.

THE  FOURTH  WRESTLER  ELIMINATED:  ROMAN  REIGNS.

Roman  Reigns  shoved  WWE  Referee  Mike  Chioda.

THE  WINNER  VIA  DISQUALIFICATION:  JOHN  CENA!!!

The  disqualification  happened  when  Seth  Rollins  and  Roman  Reigns  attacked  John  Cena  when  he  had  Dean  Ambrose  in  his  STF  submission  hold.  After  the  match,  The  Shield  triple  powerbombed  Cena,   and  RyBack  came  to  the  ring,  pulled  out  a  steel  chair  and  hit  his  right  ankle.

This  match  went  into  the  first  nine  minutes  of  Hour  3.

HOUR  3:

8.  Big  E  Langston  with  A.J.  Lee  vs.  ”A  Real  American”  Jack  Swagger  with  Zeb  Coulter.

THE  WINNER  VIA  COUNT-OUT:  ”A  REAL  AMERICAN”  JACK  SWAGGER.

NOTE:  After  the  match,  Alberto  del  Rio  and  Ricardo  Rodriguez  attacked  Jack  Swagger,  so  did  Big  E  Langston.

9.  A  DIVAS  MATCH:  A.J.  Lee  vs.  Natalya  Neidhart  with  Hornswoggle  and  The  Great  Khali.

THE  SPECIAL  GUEST  COMMENTATORS  FOR  THIS  MATCH:  WWE  Divas  Champion  Kaitlyn  and  The  Bella  Twins  (Brie  and  Nikki).

THE  WINNER  VIA  SUBMISSION:  A.J.  LEE!!!

INTERVIEW:  Chris  Jericho.

Matt  Striker  wanted  to  know  Jericho’s  thoughts  on  the  aftermath  of  the  Dance-Off,  and  he  vowed  that  will  not  play  by  anyone’s  rules  when  he  faces  Fandango  on  Sunday.

Triple  H  (Hunter  Hearst  Helmsley)  stood  in  the  steel  cage  as  he  labeled  the  ring  the  place  where  he  learned  how  to  fight,  and  became a  man.  He  was  once  told  that  ”If  you  want  to  thrive  at  this,  you  have  to  learn  how  to  hate”.  And  over  the  years,  he  did.  He  then  called  out  Brock  Lesnar,  and  Paul  Heyman  informed  Hunter  that  he  will  be  too  embarrassed   to  face  his   family  after  this  coming  Sunday.  Heyman  stated  that  Lesnar  is  ready  to  fight,  but  not  until  Extreme  Rules.

They  Tried  to  leave  when  Hunter  stopped  them  and  wondered  why  Lesnar  won’t  face  him  like  a  man,  and  Hunter  viewed  it  as  Heyman  not  being  able  to  afford  it.  Hunter  believed   that  when  Lesnar  loses  on  Sunday,  he  will  lose  his  mystique  and  he  also  wondered  if  Lesnar  is  scared  of  him.  Lesnar  advanced  towards  the  cage  as  Hunter  dared  him,  while  Heyman  and  the  referees  told  him  not  to.  Lesnar  didn’t  listen,  entered  the  cage  and  both  he  and  Hunter  went  at  it.  Heyman  closed  the  cage  door  while  Lesnar  charged  at  Hunter  and  was  thrown  head  first  into  the  cage!!!

Hunter  punched  him  repeatedly  and  then  threw  him  through  the  cage  door,  knocking  down  Heyman  and  the  referees  while  he  landed  in  the  floor!!!

Matches  6  and  7  are  the  highlight  matches  of  the  night!!!!

Heath  Slater,  The  Miz,  John  Cena,  Team  Hell  No  and  The  Shield  are  the  wrestlers  of  the  night!!!!!

Triple  H  throwing  Brock  Lesnar  head  first  into  the  steel  cage  and  through  the  cage  door  were  the  highlights  of  the  night!!!!!

ANALYSIS:  The  Dance-off  was  unnecessary,  the  Divas  match  should  have  gotten  more  airtime  and  there  were  parts  from  the  first  hour  that  were  not  needed  at  all!!!!!!!!!

We begin Raw with Chris Jericho vs. Fandango in a Dance Contest
I have gone blind! Raw began and Fandango walks out in some Technicolor jacket blinding all my senses. Oh the inhumanity! Dancing with NXT Diva, Summer Rae, Johnny “Fandango” Curtis gyrates his way into the ring while maintaining the same face when I have difficulty smashing one in the toilet. Speaking of toilets, here comes a man whose career is starting to spiral down in similar fashion, Chris Jericho with his dancing partner Edyta Sliwinska. The ring actually has a dance floor. Jerry Lawler is officiating. Lawler reminds the crowd this is not a popularity contest, just like when Fandango lost a recent contest to Khali. This is a contest about actual dancing. So, we have a character who is dancer, and a lead singer who failed to be a dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Jericho reflects on his win in Raw Musical Chairs, and even winning a game when Bob Barker was guest host, so winning Raw Dance Off will be easy.

Fandango and Summer Rae begin their routine. Except they do nothing. Fandango stands frozen as the music runs, resulting in a crowd chant of “You Suck” towards this event. Well, they actually start dancing and then within moments Summer Rae dramatically falls obviously hurting her ankle. Fandango leaves in disgust and Jericho and Sliwinska tend to the fallen Rae. Suddenly, Fandango returns and drops Y2J with a running boot. They brawl all over ringside, Fandango gaining the upper hand with ease, concluding with a promise to defeat Jericho at Extreme Rules.

Fandango gets back in the ring, and Summer Rae jumps up and into the arms of her man. It was a setup! Pretty funny stuff actually. Very well done. So, Sliwinska, a supposedly high-profile dancer got paid … to do nothing. You know what WWE, hire me to do nothing and pay me half of what you paid her. That would be enough to cover my student loans. Please?

The announcement for a big match tonight: An Elimination six-man tag team match! Team Hell No and John Cena vs. The Shield!

Ryback defeats Zack Ryder by Pointless
I would like to present the “Why Is This a Match?” award to Zack Ryder, but he has fallen so far down the pit of jobberdom, he does not have a signal.

Lots of promos tonight. Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock.

The Prime Time Players defeat Tons of Funk by pinfall
Hey, a real match! Where is Rufus “Pancake” Patterson at? Back to reality, Titus is incredible, and now Tensai even has a few more moves. Clay lobs Titus across the ring with a T-Bone Suplex, and is about to go for the big splash, but Darren Young uses a foreign object to stun Clay, allowing Titus to roll the Funkasaurus up for the pinfall victory. Short, but good match.

Recap from SmackDown, showing Swagger punting Ziggler in the head, for real, and causing the World Champion to suffer a concussion. Knowing Ziggler, he will want to compete on Sunday. Not the storyline, but because Mr. Ziggler is just that dedicated. Hopefully smart though, if he really is injured, then he needs to sit on the sidelines if he wants a long career.

Theodore Long comes to Raw to make an announcement about the World Heavyweight Championship match, but is immediately interrupted by Swagger with Zeb Colter, but they are interrupted by AJ Lee and Big E. Langston. The result is, Swagger will go one-on-one with Alberto del Rio in an “I Quit” match to determine the number one contendership to the title. Well, that is disappointing.

In case you missed it, tonight, Team Hell No will team with John Cena to challenge The Shield in a six-man elimination tag match!

Cole and JBL announce Kofi Kingston will defend the United States Championship against Dean Ambrose at Extreme Rules. Gee golly folks, I predicted that announcement last week, now didn’t I. In the words of my favorite genius, “You’re Welcome.” Speaking of whom, our next match features the intellectual savior of the masses against the United States Champion.

Kofi Kingston defeats Damien Sandow by pinfall
Sandow hits the Elbow of Disdain, but then Kofi takes control. Kingston misses a top-rope splash, allowing Sandow to hit a jumping swinging neckbreaker. Unfortunately, the Duke of Decency could not capitalize and Kofi struck down Sandow with the Trouble in Paradise. Good match but too short.

Short promo for an elimination six-man tag team match with The Shield taking on the pairing of John Cena and Team Hell No. Tonight! Wow!

Mark Henry and the Hall of Pain
Henry addresses the crowd, sweating with each word. Flashback to last week on SmackDown, where Henry pulled two tractor trailers, total of 55 tons, actually breaking a world record. Well, to top that, this week he puts a strap around interviewer Josh Matthews and drags him around the ring, touching each corner demonstrating the rules of the Strap Match, the type of match in which he will face Sheamus at Extreme Rules. Sheamus comes out and engages in some witty banter and I will give it to Henry, he is good on the mic. He says Sheamus traded in his green for the coward’s yellow. Very clever. Sheamus brings out his own strap and they whip each other senseless. Henry makes the retreat this time.

More promos. Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock Brock.

Randy Orton defeated Antonio Cesaro by pinfall
Well, we get the rematch from Main Event. Nice to see a good match on the A show. Maybe Orton is improving since he has to keep pace with an actual wrestler in Cesaro. The Swiss Sensation takes control of the match, because he can. Good back and forth match, Orton goes for his second rope DDT but Cesaro counters into a roll-up but only gets a two. Both men up fast and Orton drops Cesaro with an RKO out of nowhere! Orton covers and earns the three count. Good match, but again, short. Is Hornswoggle scripting the matches tonight?

The Miz defeats 3MB by submission
Well, no. Just Heath Slater. Or Jobber #1. Cole, Lawler, and JBL must all be drunk because they have made no sense on commentary during this one. Miz dominates most of the match, until Slater does something which resembles a wrestling move. Slater with a reverse chinlock, the choice move of jobbers. Miz breaks out and just floors Slater back and forth over and over like a bad cartoon. At some point, I do not hear any commentary, just laughing and snickering. Everyone had enough to drink? I surely have not. Miz wraps up Slater in the figure-four and earns the tap-out victory.

WWE/Susan B. Komen video package. Beautiful stuff. This is what WWE is all about, not just entertainment but using their stardom for good causes and outstanding outreach.

Reminder: We have a big match tonight! It is an elimination six-man tag team match! Daniel Bryan, Kane, and John Cena vs. The Shield! Did we not mention that already??

More promos for Triple H and Brock Lesnar. Brock Brock Brock HHH HHH Brock HHH Brock HHH HHH HHH Vince McMahon.

Hey! Here is a surprise! The main event is right now?! Oh… The Main Event is going to be a face-to-face confrontation between Brock Lesnar and Triple H. Oh wait, not surprised.

Announcement for Extreme Rules: Rollins and Reigns will challenge Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Hmmm… Did I predict this only a month ago? Why yes, I think I did. You’re Welcome.

John Cena & Team Hell No vs. The Shield
Kane mauls Ambrose from the start throwing him from corner to corner. Bryan gets the tag and kicks over and over all over Ambrose. Bryan puts on a very painful hold, using his foot to bend the arm of Ambrose backwards. Rollins manages to tag in, but is immediately met by Bryan and back from commercial we get the Kane/Bryan double-team. Bryan gets backed into Shield territory and the tide now turns. Reigns barrels over Bryan. Why is Bryan always the one beaten down in these sorts of matches? Let Cena take some bumps. He can take it. I thought he was Super Cena? The Shield trio executes a nice triple team, with Reigns hold Bryan and allowing Ambrose and Rollins to attack with two consecutive running dropkicks. Great teamwork, these three work very well as a unit. Kane finally gets the hot tag, runs over Rollins and Reigns, then crushed Ambrose with a huge DDT. This is elimination style, and no one is gone yet! Kane clears the ring and goes to the floor attacking all three Shield members. His assault weakens the trio, throwing them into the barrier, hitting them with the ring stairs, and so on. This results in his own elimination… either by DQ or count out, I am not sure but the ref ejects the Big Red Machine from the match. Back from another commercial, Cena is the one taking the beating, having just eaten a huge knee strike from Rollins coming off the top rope. Cena makes a hot tag to Bryan who erupts like a house on fire dodging a clothesline by Rollins and dives to the floor taking out Reigns. Bryan back in the ring floors Rollins with a top rope dropkick but only gets a two count. Rollins counters out of an attempted No-Lock, allowing Ambrose to make a blind tag in, Bryan caught unaware is cracked in the side of the head with a jumping kick by Rollins, and Ambrose finishes off Bryan with a forward DDT drop, eliminating him. Cena in, and overwhelmed by the numbers. Somehow he powers out and hits all his signature moves on Rollins, and eliminates him! What? Oh come on. Cena now gets Ambrose up for the Attitude Adjustment, but Ambrose held onto the ropes. Reigns readies for a spear, but the ref stops him! Reigns shoves the ref, hitting the spear anyway, and the ref DQs Reigns from the match. Ambrose taunts Cena, who then perks up, locking the remaining Shield member in the STF. Rollins and Reigns dive back in and cause the DQ finish, not that it matters to them as they triple powerbomb Cena.
Match Result: Either Cena won by DQ or No-Contest. No announcement was made. If there was, I clearly did not pay attention.

So after a 15-minute match, Cena eliminates one person, the other gets DQ’d just moments later, and then ends with a DQ finish. Wow. This was a great match, until it was down to Mr. Cena. Way to be a buzzkill. Oh, now Ryback comes out. Walks into the ring, looks down at Cena, leaves. No wait, he comes back with a chair in hand and blasts Cena in the leg. Sigh.

I just lost an eBay auction for a RobotMasters Starscream “black” version. This is my punishment.

Promo for the main event: Brock HHH Brock HHH HHH HHH Brock Brock Brock HHH. Yawn.

Big E. Langston vs. Jack Swagger
This match was put together by you, the WWE fans. Yep you voted for this one. The choices of opponents, Jack Swagger and Alberto del Rio. You chose the Real American, Jack Swagger. I wonder if people are already tired of the Mexican Aristocrat being a good guy. It is too funny to hear JBL, Jerry, and Cole try to rationalize it as “the WWE Universe wants to see these two hurt each other” or “the fans want to see Swagger beaten up by Langston.” Maybe one of those statements could be the truth, or just more smoke, or alcoholic breath in the case of JBL. Swagger won by a landslide. It does not help the cause JBL, when you say “I can’t believe Alberto didn’t win” and “I’m surprised.” It also does not help when Lawler chimes in, repeating his surprise over and over again. We get it already. I know WWE fans are not the brightest, but I think they can figure even that cover up out. Anyway, this match has been a lot of back and forth nothingness. Langston is a big man, big power, but as I say every week, something is missing. Swagger is a freakin’ wrestling pro. This match for some reason does not show the strengths for either wrestler. Nice top rope superplex by Langston, planting Swagger down hard. The Real American cinches in the Patriot Act ankle lock, but Langston reaches the ropes. On the floor, Langston throws Swagger into the barrier, charges, but Swagger backdrops Langston over and into the crowd! Swagger rolls back into the ring, and Langston is unable to return to the ring by the time the ref counts to 10!
Winner by Count Out: Jack Swagger

Post match, Alberto del Rio charges the ring and brawls with Swagger, locking in the Cross Arm-breaker until Langston arrives to try to inflict damage, but both Swagger and Langston are downed by Del Rio.

AJ Lee defeated Natalya… by Submission
No, I am not making this up. With a disastrous commentary supplied by The Bellas and Kaitlyn who gets a mysterious gift, Natalya owns the match until AJ is seemingly knocked out. As Natalya lifts AJ for a backbreaker, the sly devil quickly spins around, locking on what appears to be a version of the Octopus Stretch to earn the tap out victory. I do not know what to say anymore.

Clips of the dance-off where Jericho got played. Backstage, Matt Striker talks to Jericho, who is clearly pissed off and says the time for games and jokes has come to an end, and Jericho promises Fandango a very special dancing lesson come Extreme Rules.

The final 10 minutes of the show is allotted for Triple H and Brock Lesnar to breathe heavily in each other’s faces, sweat all over the place, and grunt like bears. Welcome to the Main Event of Monday Night Raw!! Hell, I would have taken the six-man tag match over this, even with the lame ending and Ryback being Ryback. Well, Trips comes out dressed in his brawling attire. To add some sort of drama, a steel cage is lowered around the ring. Triple H rambles about hate and he hates Brock. Lesnar and Heyman come out to the stage, and The Game interrupts Heyman within three words. Hunter wants to fight now, and Heyman does not oblige. Heyman cuts a good promo on The Game, turning his own words against him. Heyman reminds everyone, that while The Game and everyone else want to see a fight tonight, Heyman repeats, Brock does not “fight for free.” Before the duo leave, Triple H says Heyman is afraid he will beat Lesnar again. HHH says Brock is a beast, but since losing at WrestleMania 29, Heyman is afraid Lesnar is not the beast anymore. The taunting works, and Brock is on his way to the caged ring. The opponents go at it, unloading into each other until Brock ducks a swing and launches HHH with a huge German Suplex! Somehow, Trips gets back into it, throwing Lesnar out of the cage. The show closes with The Cerebral Assassin standing tall in the cage.

My Extreme Rules preview column will hit later this week, but here is a quick look at the matches we can expect to see.

I Quit Match – Alberto del Rio vs. Jack Swagger. Both men have submissions as finishers could make for an interesting match. Winner becomes the number one contender to the World Title currently held by the cranially injured Dolph Ziggler.

United States Championship – Kofi Kingston defends against Dean Ambrose. This might be the actual show-stealer in the absence of the triple threat ladder match.

Tag Team Championship – Rollins and Reigns challenge Team Hell No for the belts. Could be another great match. Will the Shield sweep?

Steel Cage Match – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H. This will be a brawl.

Pre-show: The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes. Just announced tonight. The Miz is Mr. Preshow now?

Mark Henry vs. Sheamus in a Strap Match. Will be brutal, I see lots of pain.

Chris Jericho vs. Fandango – Yep. It is happening again.

Randy Orton vs. The Big Show in an Extreme Rules match. No rules I suppose.

John Cena vs. Ryback in a Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship. I just do not know what to say about this one. I feel like it could be a disaster, yet a glimmer of hope this could be decent.

Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan. What more can you ask for?

NC State

• Ryback is a guest on the Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Ryback and Jericho both look bad ass in their black leather motorcycle jackets. They argue about the respect of the fans and shit. Teddy Long makes Ryback vs. Jericho the main event. Ryback levels Jericho, as if you didn’t know that was going to happen. Yeeeah! Love this main event!
• Jericho has to be one of the top 3 guys in the WWE when it comes to overall name recognition and fan support. He always receives some of the bigger pops of any event he’s involved in. I think Jericho deserves a few more major title runs. For some reason, I feel like Ryback has lost a lot of steam when you compare his run six months ago. This heel thing seemed hastily patched together.
• Kofi Kingston pins Cody Rhodes via Trouble in Paradise. This was short, but the concept of the finish was particularly dope. Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise while Cody was in the mid-air of a Beautiful Disaster Kick. Funny how I commented on both wrestlers last week on Twitter. Oh how I wish they were allowed at least 10 minutes to do their thing.
• They replay the Brockness Monster attack on Triple H’s offices on RAW. All I know is that Paul Heyman is carrying this whole angle. He’s doing the best work of his career. Bravo.
• Backstage, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter puts over Jack Swagger and hypes up Swagger vs. Langston later on the tonight.
• Big E. Langston comes out and does LeBron’s powder clap (does Bron Bron still even do that shit?) at the top of the entrance. His music is just ai’ight but I suppose it fits.
• Big E. Langston vs. Jack Swagger never even gets started. Swagger takes Langston out with a ladder and then clotheslines him out of the ring. ADR, who is doing guest announcing duties, smashes Ziggler and Swagger with the ladder. The crowd gives ADR a nice “Si” chant. ADR symbolically climbs a ladder and holds up the World Title as his music plays. I’m trying my best NOT to have high expectations for their PPV match. I have a feeling the finish is going to be overbooked. I hope I’m wrong.
• Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan wrestle to a no contest. Kane and the Shield interfere, and Kofi joins in the melee. The only annoying thing was Michael Cole trying to get over Ambrose’s “chaotic” ring style. Ugh. Shuddup, Cole!
• The match itself had a slow and lovely build. Ambrose eventually matched Daniel Bryan’s intensity near the end when the match went off the hinges. It was nice to see Kofi get the rub from being involved with the WWE’s biggest, most compelling storyline.
• Mark Henry pulls two semi trucks, which they claim is some sort of world record. Henry collapses, coughs up some spit, slowly gets up and yells out, “THAT’S…WHAT I DO!”
• Cool segment. Glad he wasn’t jumped by Sheamus and powerbombed on the top of one of the semi trailers. That would have been wack.
• Randy Orton is interviewed backstage and he says he’s going to destroy the Big Show.
• Big Show defeats Tensai via KO Punch. Poor Giant Bernard. I liked how Tensai put the pressure on Show early but was stopped cold from a KO Punch out of nowhere.
• After the match, Show picks on Brodus Clay and spears him. Orton RKO’s Show before he could finish Brodus Clay with the KO.
• Backstage Kaitlyn talks to AJ about her secret admirer. The ladies diss each other with snappy put downs. Natalya interrupts and AJ scrams and gets in one last mannish dig. They pan to the Great Khali with a Rey Mysterio mask on, and then with a mustache. Oh lord.
• Chris Jericho defeats Ryback via DQ when Ryback rammed Jericho’s crotch into the ring post. Ouch!
• Solid main event with Ryback doing some amusing heely-heel shit like chanting his own name while he twisted Jericho’s head in a chinlock. Ryback also had some cool counters to Jericho’s running bulldog, and even the Codebreaker. The move of the match had to be Jericho crawling out of Ryback’s Shell Shocked, rolling Ryback up, and then putting him into the Walls of Jericho.
• After the match, Ryback clotheslines Jericho over the announcing table as the show ends.
• Overall this was an entertaining show with some very good wrestling. I enjoyed the Ambrose-Bryan match a lot despite the no contest finish. The brawl with ADR, Ziggler, and Swagger was also fun to watch.

I’ve been doing extra house cleaning to make room for my lady friend. Baby Momma Drama is supposed to be exiting to make space for her. I just finished cleaning out the pantry to make room for all of her baking equipment. I love cooking but don’t do much in the baking department. I’ve already hit my closet to make room for clothes. It’s been nice shedding stuff I haven’t worn in years. Anyway, it’s getting late enough. I got my intro in. Let’s roll.

It looks like we’ve got ourselves a dance off to start the night. I FF thru their entrances. Fandango‘s outfit is outstanding. Is Jericho‘s partner from Dancing with the Stars? I don’t care to rewind. I’m hoping they’re giving them more mic time than dance time. The old berate the woman gimmick. Nice way to go with him. If they go with Summer Rae being in on it, I’ll like it even more. Good of Fandango to finish off Jericho with the dance floor. Awesome, she was in on it.

Zack Ryder continues to get TV time as a jobber. That usually leads to some mediocre gig like 3MB. I’m glad Alberto Del Rio is on the WWE App. I’m not downloading it. I watch too much already. Ryback rules.

Tons of Funk get a very short entrance while the Prime Time Players got squat. Sweet Tea starts against Darren Young. Wow, that was worthless. Young gets the hair pick to the throat of Clay so that O’Neil can get the roll up. Unlike ROH getting something of a pass from me for the Paul London situation, the WWE in no way gets a pass for having Dolph Ziggler wrestle anytime in less than a month. Anyone that loses that much memory needs recovery time. For probably much longer than a month. Fuck Jack Swagger.

Teddy Long comes out to give the verdict. Of course the clown car out for the verdict. Number one contender’s match for Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio. Big E Langston takes on Del Rio or Swagger but I have to download the WWE App to vote. Piss off. No.

Dean Ambrose challenges for Kofi Kingston‘s US Title at Extreme Rules. Damien Sandow tries to sell us on his ability to beat Kingston before said PPV. Ha. Sandow is doing a much better job in the ring being convincing than with his mic work. Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere. I hope they have Rollins & Reigns go after the tag titles now so that they can all have gold. I like faction gold hoarding.

Josh Matthews gets to serve up Mark Henry‘s promo on a tee. I love the other announcers calling Matthews a moron because he is. Sheamus and Henry end up lighting each other up with straps. That should be a fun match on Sunday. They’ve been selling this PPV something fierce.

Randy Orton takes on Antonio Cesaro again. Good on Jerry Lawler and later JBL to sell their previous match. RKO out of nowhere. That seems familiar for some reason.

3MB is in the ring for the Miz. I feel like he has been missing but in no way do I care. Lawler is animated tonight, sneaking in an Indians reference. The Pirates are doing okay themselves too. Tonight was not a banner night though. Heath Slater gets to catch a beating. Kind of a cool spot having Miz toss Slater onto 3MB. It didn’t look that smooth though. Figure Four for the win. Ah, big return says Mitchell Cool. Thank you sir. He did defend trying to call the match earlier this segment. He does the right thing sometimes.

Awesome, Reigns & Rollins are going for the tag team titles on Sunday. Make like dwarves and hoard some gold. Ambrose starts the match which gets the announcers to mention the idea. Kane starts out for his team. Holy shilling the app Batman. I’d actually be up for just seeing the matches the whole way thru. Evidently it’s an elimination match so Kane got tossed right before the second break. This crowd is going nuts for Daniel Bryan. The numbers game catches up to Daniel Bryan while John Cena was taking an Edge Coffee Break (TM). Cena hulks up from the fans. Attitude Adjustment on Rollins for an elimination. Reigns gets tossed for shoving the ref. Ambrose can’t get the cheap pin though. He gets caught in an STF. Reigns & Rollins attack to cause the DQ. Triple power bomb. Ryback came down and whacked the ankle with a chair.

Ryback isn’t going to play by the rules any more. Ryback rules. Big E Langston is going to end up taking on Jack Swagger. More app TV time infill. Good to see Ziggler doing media from his place still. This match is getting nothing from the crowd. Langston makes it to the ropes while Swagger has on the Patriot Lock. I was interested to see what they’d do with him. He’s gotten some squash matches but Swagger is a step up from that. Big E gets counted out. Nice way around him being pinned. Alberto Del Rio goes on the attack. They trade finishers. Langston joins the fun. Del Rio stands tall. The crowd is still sitting on it’s hands.

AJ Lee is taking on Natalya while a zoo is on the outside including the Great Khali, Hornswoggle, Kaitlyn and the Bellas. The later three are on the head sets. The secret admirer thing is so 1980s. The Bellas still stink on wheels. Kaitlyn doesn’t know what to do on this shit show. AJ locks in the Black Window for the tap out win. Interesting. AJ’s heat is dead.

Chris Jericho tries to look serious. The camera angle was weird. The promo was okay. He needs to be more heelish.

HHH comes out. Oh boy, he became a man in the ring. He feels alive in a cage. Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman come out. Trips wants to fight. After much very good blathering, Brock doesn’t fight for free. Brock is up to 320? Ha. He’s bigger than his UFC days but not that much bigger. HHH calls him a bitch for the I don’t know how many-eth times. Lesnar acts like he’s taking the bait. Thet brawl. Not like we haven’t seen it before. Brock better win on Sunday. Even steven booking agrees with me. -Kevin

Ryback Vs. Zack Ryder

Ryback is all over Zack with clubbing shots then he knocks him down in mid air. Zack fights back with lefts & rights but a shoulder blocked followed by the shell shock ends this one.

Winner: Ryback

Tons of Funk vs. Prime Time Players

Sweet T avoids a charge, tag to Clay and he connects with clotheslines. Big corner splash by Clay, tosses Young to thefloor and as Clay goes for a splash, Young in. Clay tries to take him out, but Young hits him in the throat with his hair pick and O’Neil gets a quick roll up and the tights for the win.

Winner: Prime Time Players

Teddy Long comes out & talks about the 3 Way World title match situation. Dolp Ziggler is out for the match, Jack Swagger says he should have the title. Langston & AJ Lee comes out to defend Ziggler. They will have a a I Quit match between Swagger & Del Rio at Extreme Rules.

-Matt Striker introduces Teddy Long, who is the senior advisor to Smackdown. They say that Ziggler will not be cleared for Extreme Rules. Long says that since Ziggler cannot defend the title… Wait, Dirty Dutch and Swagger are here and say Ziggler should be stripped and Swagger should be champion. AJ and Big E are out and say the title will go nowhere. AJ says Swagger should be suspended for his actions. Long chimes back in and says that Ziggler will not be stripped of the title. On the PPV, Swagger and Del Rio will face off in a number one contender’s I QUIT match. Langston will wrestle tonight against Swagger or Del Rio. The WWE Universe will vote for the opponent.

-Damien Sandow says he will not be signing a song tonight, because Kofi’s song, just like his title reign, is foolish. The founding fathers were men of their word, so Sandow says mark his words, Kofi’s reign as champion will soon come to an end. You’re welcome.

Non-Title Match: Kofi Kingston © vs. Damien Sandow

Quick roll up by Kofi for 2. Knee by Sandow, and then lays the boots to Kofi. Knees follow and then the Russian leg sweep Elbow with the fancy name connects for 2. Abdominal stretch by Sandow, Kofi fights out and sends Sandow to the corner. Chosp by Kofi, dropkick follows. A clothesline off the ropes connects, boom drop follows and also connects. Kofi then misses a cross body off the top, neck breaker by Sandow gets a close 2. Kofi counters a suplex, trouble in paradise and that is all.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Kofi Kingston @ 2:00 via pin

-Mark Henry heads to the ring. To hype the strap match between Henry and Sheamus, they show highlights of JBL vs. Eddie Guerrero. Josh Matthews is in the ring with Henry, and we see a video history of the feud between the two men, and last week’s whipping by Henry. Henry promises a true WHOOPIN on Sunday. We then see footage of Mark Henry being STRONG on Smackdown. Henry then says he will show Matthews how he will do things, and demands Matthews put the strap on his wrist. RUN DUMB ASS RUN! Henry then explains how he will do things by tossing Matthews to the mat and then starts touching corners as he drags him around. Henry releases Matthews and calls him a rat. He’s feeling generous, and says why wait and calls out Sheamus. Sheamus makes his way out to the ramp and says that Henry may be strong, but he is not smart. Henry then says Sheamus is talking, but he is RIGHT HERE and says to come on down if he feels like getting some. Sheamus doesn’t want to hit the ring because Henry has the strap, and Sheamus says he never backs down. Sheamus then makes his way to the ring and then tells Henry to back his big ass up so he can enter the ring. Sheamus says he was out there earlier and left a present for Henry and retrieves another strap. They start brawling and whip the shit out of each other and Henry has to bail. Sheamus stands tall.

Randy Orton vs. Antonio Cesaro

Lock up, to the corner and they break. Side headlock by Cesaro, but Orton battles back and lays the boots to his face. They work to the corner, head butt by Cesaro as the ref was working to get them to break. Charging uppercut by Cesaro and a cover gets 2. Cesaro now works a Chinlock, trying to ground Orton. Orton works to his feet, off the ropes and an overhead throw by Orton. A clothesline follows by Orton, and then the snap slam connects. Cesaro to the apron, Orton snags him and looks for the hangman’s DDT, but Cesaro counters with a roll up for 2. RKO by Orton, and that is all.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Randy Orton @ 2:30 via pin

Heath Slater w/McIntyre and Mahal vs. The Miz

Lock up, Miz works the arm but Slater elbows out. Off the ropes and a knee by Miz. Running boot connects, and then the corner clothesline countered. Miz slides under and rolls up Slater for 2. neck breaker by Miz and a cover gets 2. Mahal and McIntyre distract Miz, leg lariat by Slater gets 2. Rights follow and Slater celebrates, and follows that with jabs. Chinlock by Slater, Miz elbows out and snap mares Slater. Miz with a clothesline, running knees follow. Corner clothesline by Miz connects, up top and gets the double axe handle. Figure four by Miz, but Slater gets to the ropes before he locks it in. Slater up top, Miz stops that and then follows him up and lands rights. He fights off Mahal, and tosses Slater onto McIntyre and Mahal. Miz tosses Slater back in, dropkicks the knee and locks in the figure four. Slater submits.

OFFICIAL RESULT: The Miz @ 4:00 via submission

-We see video of Triple H’s return and beating of Brock Lesnar. They go face to face later tonight.

-On the Extreme Rules pre-show, Cody Rhodes faces The Miz.

-This week on Main Event, Kane battles Seth Rollins in the featured match.

ELIMINATION RULES TAG MATCH: John Cena, Kane and Daniel Bryan vs. The Shield (Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns)

Kane and Ambrose to begin the match. Off the ropes and a shoulder block by Kane. Side headlock takedown, Ambrose fights to his feet and takes Kane to the corner. They trade rights, tag to Bryan and he lays the boots to Ambrose. Bryan takes him down and works a submission, into a hammerlock but Ambrose elbows out. Rollins tags in, front facelock by Bryan and a tag to Cena. He tosses Rollins to the corner, running bulldog connects for 2. We head to a commercial…

Back from a commercial as Bryan works for a surfboard on Ambrose. Bryan tags in Kane, who connects with the basement dropkick, and he covers for 2. back to the corner, tag back to Bryan and uppercuts connect on Ambrose. Ambrose shoves Bryan to the corner, tags in Rollins and he lays the boots to Bryan in the corner. Tag to Reigns now, and he slams Bryan face first to the mat. Shoulder block also connects, and then works the chinlock. Bryan tries to elbow out, off the ropes and runs into another shoulder block and Reigns covers for 2. Tag back to Ambrose, dropkick to Bryan and Rollins blind tagged in and hits a charging dropkick and covers Bryan for 2. Shield in control here as Rollins grounds Bryan with the chinlock. Bryan again looks to battle out, but Rollins cuts him off and tags in Ambrose. Elbow drop by Ambrose, and a cover gets 2. Ambrose with a chinlock now, Bryan works to escape and does. Elbows follow, off the ropes and a knee to the gut by Ambrose. Bryan rallies, tags Kane and he gets the corner clothesline on Ambrose. Side slam follows, knocks Reigns to the floor and DDTs Ambrose and covers for 2. Kane up top, clothesline connects. Sets for a chokeslam, Rollins in and Kane tosses both of them to the floor. He fights off Reigns as well and Kane then to the floor. Tosses Ambrose to the barricade, and then tosses Rollins to the post and Reigns to the steps. Kane grabs a piece of the announcer’s table and hits Ambrose with it and is eliminated due to disqualification. Kane is gone as we head to commercial.

Back from commercial as Ambrose plants Cena with a DDT and covers for 2. Tag to Reigns, and he lays the boots to Cena. Leaping Superman punch from Reigns, and that gets 2. Clubbing shots to the back by Reigns, looks for a suplex by Cena counters. Tag to Rollins, up top and leaps off and hits the flying knee and covers for 2. Rollins then lays the boots to Cena and locks in the sleeper with the body figure foured. Cena to his feet with Rollins on his back. He looks for the tag, gets close and makes the tag. Bryan in and dropkicks both Ambrose and Reigns to the floor. Rights to Rollins, counter and SUICIDE DIVE to Reigns! Stops Rollins as he looked for a dive up top, MISSILE DROPKICK and Rollins is out at 2! Kicks by Bryan to Rollins, looks for the no lock, Rollins fights and Ambrose blind tags in and a leaping kick by Rollins and bull dog driver by Ambrose is enough to eliminate Bryan. It is three on one here with the Shield in full force against John Cena. Cena in and charges their corner and looks to fight, but Reigns is in and he and Rollins lay the boots to Cena. Cena battles back again, shoulder blocks to Rollins. Proto bomb, five-knuckle shuffle connects. AA countered, Cena tosses Ambrose. Tosses Reigns. AA on Rollins connects and Rollins is eliminated. Reigns tosses the ref aside and SPEARS Cena and Reigns is eliminated as he was saving Ambrose from the AA. It is Cena vs. Ambrose, and he crawls in and covers Cena for 2. Ambrose slaps Cena, who then grabs him in the STF. Rollins and Reigns make the save for the DQ.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Cena, Kane and Bryan @ 24:00 via DQ

-The Shield beat down Cena and hit the Shield Bomb to stand tall. Ryback’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Ryback stands over the fallen Cena, and then walks away. Nope, changes his mind and returns. He grabs a chair and nails Cena’s bad ankle with it. Ryback apparently rules.

-Ryback walks and Matt Striker catches up with him. Ryback says he played by the riles, but he constantly got screwed. Not any more, at Extreme Rules, everyone will know Ryback rules.

-The WWE Universe voted for Langston’s opponent, Swagger won with 65% of the vote.

Big E Langston w/AJ vs. Jack Swagger w/Dirty Dutch

Lock up, they work around the ropes and Swagger gets a headlock takedown. Langston to his feet, off the ropes and they collide mid-ring. Again and neither man will move. They stand off, rights by Langston connect. Shoulder blocks in the corner by Langston, shoots Swagger to the corner, but then misses a charge. Swagger tries the ankle lock but gets kicked to the floor. Stuns Langston off the ropes, gets a but slam and covers for 2. We head to a commercial break…

We are back from commercial as Langston connects with several side back breakers for 2. Shoulder blocks in the corner by Langston, and Swagger is down. Langston misses a charge in the corner and posts himself, and Swagger gets a corner splash and clothesline. Vader splash out of the corner gets 2. Rights by Langston, off the ropes and Langston levels Swagger. Langston sets Swagger up top, follows and looks for and gets a superplex. Langston crawls over and covers for 2. Langston drops the straps, looks for the big ending, Swagger counters and clips the leg. Ankle lock applied and Langston struggles and gets the ropes. Back elbow by Langston and tosses Swagger to the floor. Langston follows and tosses Swagger to the barricade. He sets, charges and Swagger moves and Langston flies to the floor over the barricade. Swagger back in the ring and wins via count out.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Jack Swagger @ 10:00 via count out

-Del Rio hits the ring and brawls with Swagger. Swagger gets the ankle lock, Ricardo breaks that up and eats a kick to the face. Del Rio recovers and gets the cross arm breaker and Swagger taps, but Langston is back in and brawls with Swagger. Kick by Del Rio to Langston, and Del Rio sends Swagger to the floor to stand tall.

-The Bellas and Kaitlyn are in for commentary. Khali and Hornswoggle are also out there.

Natalya vs. AJ

AJ skips around, go behind and takedown by Natalya. Someone sent Kaitlyn a gift again, snap suplex by Natalya. Natalya then slams AJ to the corner, ref break and AJ tries to bail. She slaps Natalya and then runs from her. Back in, and back out. More running and a kick by AJ. AJ blows kisses to Kaitlyn, and Natalya shoves her to the floor. Natalya drags AJ back into the ring, picks her up and AJ counters into an octopus hold, and Natalya taps.

OFFICIAL RESULT: AJ @ 2:30 via submission

-Kaitlyn checks on Natalya and helps her from the ring as Khali is over as well to check on here.

-JR is not here tonight because he is hunting hogs with HBK.

-Striker is with Chris Jericho. He asks if Jericho felt fooled, and Jericho says it is all his fault by playing by other people’s games. No more jokes, dances or scoring. He knows who Fandango is, but Jericho is a six-time world champion who has beaten them all. He is Chris Jericho, and Sunday if he wants to dance, Jericho will teach him to dance Jericho style.

BROCK LESNAR GOES FACE TO FACE WITH TRIPLE H

Triple H makes his way out to the ring first. His hands are all taped up, so he’s ready to rumble. The cage also is lowered.

After a commercial, Triple H stands in the cage, waiting on Lesnar. He says that they have been at war for a year, they have bled, broken bones, but nothing has been settled. But it will be on Sunday. He grew up in the ring, became a man in this ring and learned it all here. But he also learned to hate in this ring. As consequences grew, he learned to hate ad thrive on the hate. And he always felt at home in this ring, especially when steel surrounded it. It can rip flesh and break bones, so Brock Lesnar, we’re both here, the fans are here and the steel is here. So come and try to take my home.

Lesnar’s music hits and here he comes with Paul Heyman at his side. They stand on the ramp and Heyman has the mic and introduces himself until Triple H cuts him off. He says we all know who they are and demands Lesnar come to the ring. Heyman tries to hold Lesnar back and says that they are about the pleasures in life. Like the fact that Triple H has been driven to use the word hate, which is taboo in WWE. But that is where he gets pleasure, because Triple H and Lesnar hate each other. This Sunday, Lesnar will teach Triple H the true meaning of the word hate. Lesnar is a cage fighting carnivore and Triple H is a big old slab of meat. And after Sunday, Triple H will hate facing his family after Lesnar disfigures him. Hate facing Vince and knowing he let him down. He will hate that Lesnar will emerge from a war the winner, while Triple H will be the loser. Now Lesnar is here tonight and s ready for a fight, one Triple H will have to wait for Sunday for, because Lesnar doesn’t fight for free.

Heyman and Lesnar leave, but Triple H stops them and says he should have saw this coming. He says Lesnar is a supposed destroyer but will not face him like a man. Triple H says it has nothing to do with Lesnar, but it is because Heyman cannot afford Lesnar to do it since he KO’d Lesnar at WrestleMania. And then he beat him. And if Lesnar comes down here and if it maybe happens again, then it doesn’t bode well for Heyman. And if Sunday he beats Lesnar again, then the sound you will hear is Lesnar’s mystique flying out the window along with Heyman’s meal ticket. He knows Lesnar believes he is the baddest man in the room, but Heyman doesn’t believe it. Triple H asks Lesnar what he will do, will he come to the ring to prove he is BROCK LESNAR, the beast? Or will he just look to Heyman and be the bitch.

Lesnar shoves Heyman aside and walks to the ring. Heyman begs him not to do it, but Lesnar enters the cage slowly and it’s ass-beating time as they brawl! They brawl to the corner, big overhead throw by Lesnar and he demands that they shut the door. Lesnar charges, but Triple H sidesteps him and sends him to the cage. Big rights by triple H, and sends Lesnar to the door and he flies out the door and wipes out Heyman and the referees that were ringside. Triple H challenges Lesnar to come back into the cage. We see replays of the action. Lesnar picks up Heyman and the retreat to the back as Triple H stands tall to end RAW.

Thanks for watching along with me.
What do you think leave it in the comment area below & Let me hear from you.  tweet me @AR_Official_94 or you can watch me on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/NGWSOfficial/videos

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Chris Jericho took to Twitter on May 13 to reveal his dance partner for tonight’s WWE Raw and taunt Fandango.

“Having a Danceoff with @WWEFandango on #Raw is like having a game of musical chairs on #Raw…oh yeah I won that too,” Jericho tweeted. “Ok I’ve been practicing @WWEFandango name & I can finally say it! Fandunghole…Fannypack…Fandingbat…FandangDoh..this is hard! Can u guys try?”

Fandango responded, “@IAmJericho How do you expect to pronounce @Edyta_Sliwinska when you can’t even pronounce Fandango? … Hey A dancing tip for @Edyta_Sliwinska: Avoid breathing through your nose when dancing with @IAmJericho #RawIsFandango #danceoff.”

More Chris Jericho News
More Fandango News
More WWE News

Source(s):

Chris Jericho’s Twitter
Edyta Sliwinska’s Twitter (photo)
FitnessRXMag’s YouTube
Fandango’s Twitter ]]> http://wrestlinghype.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/michael-cole-addresses-mocking-y2j-during-recent-wwe-segment/ Mon, 13 May 2013 22:36:00 +0000 wrestlinghype http://wrestlinghype.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/michael-cole-addresses-mocking-y2j-during-recent-wwe-segment/

Michael Cole talked to Sam Roberts about mocking Chris Jericho during a recent WWE segment.

“What I felt bad about is that I disrespected Chris, who has obviously been in this business longer than I have. He’s one of the legendary greats of all-time. More importantly than all of that, Chris is a friend of mine,” Cole said. “Believe it or not, I felt bad. I felt bad for a number of reasons… because I didn’t go to Chris and explain to him what happened, so he had to hear through the grapevine the next day. So he wasn’t happy with me. We ironed things out and he’s a great guy.”

More Michael Cole News
More Chris Jericho News
More WWE News

Source(s):

NotSam’s YouTube
WWE.com (photo)

RAW comes our way live tonight from Tulsa, Oklahoma and here’s the known things that we can expect to see on the show tonight.

- Triple H and Brock Lesnar will come face-to-face just six days before their Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules.

- Chris Jericho will have a dance off with Fandango, and Jericho’s dance partner will be the lovely Edyta Sliwinska (she is a professional ball room dancer and is featured on Dancing With The Stars).

- There will be a health update regarding current World Champion Dolph Ziggler, who suffered a bad concussion and retrograde amnesia following a hard kick to the head from Jack Swagger during the Smackdown taping last Tuesday.

- Finally, WWE should be pushing for fans to purchase Extreme Rules as tonight’s RAW is the go-home show before that PPV airs this Sunday so expect to see all the current feuds receive some time tonight.

RAW airs at 7pm CST on USA Network.

After Brock Lesnar destroyed Triple H’s office at WWE headquarters last Monday, The Game issued a bold challenge: face him in his other office — the ring! With the challenge accepted, what will unfold when the two Superstars come together less than a week before their Steel Cage showdown at Extreme Rules?

2. Jericho vs. Fandango Dance-Off

For the first time ever, Chris Jericho and Fandango will showcase their moves in a Dance-Off. Will The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rollah (who has chosen Edyta Sliwinska as his dance partner) prevail, or can the up-and-coming Superstar find a way to beat the wily mat technician as he did on The Grandest Stage of Them All?

3. Who will Ryback target next?

At the close of last week’s Raw, Ryback unleashed his rage on WWE Champion John Cena with a steel-chair attack. On SmackDown, it was Chris Jericho who felt the beast’s wrath. With their Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules looming, will Cena or his challenger make the next move to gain momentum before the May 19 pay-per-view?

4. Will Kaitlyn’s secret admirer reveal himself?

The WWE Universe continues to speculate as to who could be WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn’s secret admirer. Even The Great Khali has been on the case, trying to track down the mystery man. Will he finally reveal himself this week, or will he continue to admire the Divas Champ from afar?

5. What is the status of the injured World Heavyweight Champion?

World Heavyweight Champ Dolph Ziggler suffered a concussion on SmackDown when he interfered in Big E Langston’s bout with Jack Swagger. With the Triple Threat Ladder Match against Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio at Extreme Rules less than a week away, will one of his challengers be looking to strike the vulnerable champion? For the latest on Ziggler’s condition, tune in Monday at 8/7 on USA Network.

Taken from WWE.com

The May 13, 2013 edition of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” will emanate from The BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. live Monday at 8 p.m. The broadcast will serve as the go-home show for the “Extreme Rules” pay-per-view, which airs Sunday night.

Read more at MStars

- Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Confirmed for tonight’s show is a dance-off between Chris Jericho and Fandango plus a face-off between Triple H and Brock Lesnar. WWE should also finalize the card for Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight’s show:

* What will unfold when Triple H and Brock Lesnar come face to face?

* Can Fandango find a way to out-dance Chris Jericho?

* Who will Ryback target next?

* Will Kaitlyn’s secret admirer reveal himself?

* What is the status of the injured World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler?

- Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Confirmed for tonight’s show is a dance-off between Chris Jericho and Fandango plus a face-off between Triple H and Brock Lesnar. WWE should also finalize the card for Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

WWE is focusing on the following points for tonight’s show:

* What will unfold when Triple H and Brock Lesnar come face to face?

* Can Fandango find a way to out-dance Chris Jericho?

* Who will Ryback target next?

* Will Kaitlyn’s secret admirer reveal himself?

* What is the status of the injured World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler?

From  The  PNC  Arena  on  the  campus  of  North  Carolina  State  University  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina:

Hosted  by  Michael  Cole,  Josh  Matthews  and  John  ”Bradshaw”  Layfield  (JBL).

1.  THE   HIGHLIGHT  REEL  with  Chris  Jericho:

HIS  GUEST:  RyBack.

In  the  wake  of  RyBack’s  war  against  John  Cena,  Chris  Jericho  told  him  that  he  knows  where  he’s  coming  from,  but  wondered  about  ”RyBack’s  Rules”.  He  knew  that  he  wants  to  get  to  the  top,  and  looked  back  at  when  he  became  WWF  Undisputed  Heavyweight  Champion  in  December  2001  (Remember  that?),   and  the  enemies  he  made  along  the  way.  RyBack  asked  him  if  he  was  judging  him,  and  Jericho  stated  that  it’s  the  fans  who are  doing  it.  This  goes  back  and  forth  for  a  few  minutes,  and  the    two  nearly  come  to  blows  when  Theodore  R.  ”Teddy”  Long  appears  and  orders  both  men  into  a  match  later  on  in  the  show.

2.  A  NON-TITLE  MATCH:  Cody  Rhodes  vs.  WWE  United  States  Champion  Kofi  Kingston.

THE  WINNER:  KOFI  KINGSTON!!!

3.  Big  E  Langston  with  WWE  World  Heavyweight  Champion  Dolph  Ziggler  and  A.J.  Lee  vs.  ”A  Real  American”  Jack  Swagger  with  Zeb  Coulter.

THE  SPECIAL  GUEST  COMMENTATOR  FOR  THIS  MATCH:  Alberto  del  Rio.

THIS  MATCH  WAS  A  NO-CONTEST  AS  DOLPH  ZIGGLER  INTERFERED.  SO  DID  ALBERTO  DEL  RIO.

4.  Dean  Ambrose  with  Seth  Rollins  and  Roman  Reigns  vs.  WWE  Tag  Team  Champion  Daniel  Bryan  with  WWE  Tag  Team  Champion  Kane.

THIS   MATCH  WAS  A  NO-CONTEST.

Two  matches  that  ended  in  a  no-contest.  SHEESH!!!!!!!!!

“The  World’s  Strongest  Man”  Mark  Henry  broke  a  world  record  by  pulling  two  tractor  trailers   at  once.

INTERVIEW:  RANDY  ORTON.

Renee  Young  asked  Randy  Orton  about  The  Big  Show,  and  he  isn’t  worried.

5.  The  Big  Show  vs.  Tensai  with  ”The  Funkasaurus”  Brodus  Clay  and  The  Funkadactyls  (Naomi  and  Cameron).

THE  WINNER:  THE  BIG  SHOW!!!

6.  THE  MAIN  EVENT:  Chris  Jericho  vs.  RyBack.

THE  WINNER  VIA  DISQUALIFICATION:  CHRIS  JERICHO!!!

Match  #4  and  the  main  event  are  the  highlight  matches  of  the  night!!!!!!!!!

Daniel   Bryan,  Dean  Ambrose,  Chris  Jericho  and  RyBack  are  the  wrestlers  of  the  night!!!!!

Mark  Henry  breaking  a  world  record  was  the  highlight  of  the  night!!!!!!!!!!!

ANALYSIS:  This  week  was  slightly  decent.

Wrestling Debate Podcast

With Billy James & John Mayer

Welcome to another edition of the Wrestling Debate with me; Simply Sensational Billy James. This week we’ll give our thoughts on this week’s WWE Raw, Smackdown and TNA Impact Wrestling. We’ll also talk about the latest wrestling news including the end of Saturday Morning Slam, update on the newest TNA Knockout, backstage news on Sheamus, update on Christian’s status and update on Summer Rae’s status. Also John and I will give our thoughts on Dolph Ziggler’s concussion, Kaitlyn secret admirer storyline, time change for Impact Wrestling and the return of Abyss. We have the “Tell Me He Didn’t Just Say That” quote of the week. We will also answer questions from the inbox. Finally we’ll also name the Super Star and the Wrestling Babe of the Week.  So just click the link the below to listen.

https://sites.google.com/site/wrestlingdebate/home/podcast-05-11-13

Riley’s Corner

With Riley Ross

Welcome back to Riley’s Corner where I breakdown each match and segment for SmackDown. On commentary we have Michael Cole, the ever so loud and obnoxious JBL, and the seemingly hapless Josh Matthews on commentary tonight. I will state my opinion once more JBL sucks on commentary. He is unfunny and if you listen to him long enough, well that might cause bleeding from the ears. So please for the love of all that is wrestling related, either mute him or send him packing.

The show opens up with the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho. His special guest is Ryback. A recap of the Ryback/Cena feud is shown and zero fucks are given as this feud bores me to tears. Neither man deserves to be the WWE champion. Jericho starts off the interview with stating that he sees where Ryback is coming from with his feud with Cena. Rytroll is openly hostile and confrontational. Ryshrek threatens to drop Jericho and a stare down ensues.  Here comes Teddy Long to make a match between the two men. Ryback hits Jericho with a sucker punch before huffing and puffing his way up the ramp.

Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes—they go for a lockup and Cody knocks Kofi down. Kofi is flipping Rhodes around like he was a ragdoll. Rhodes hits Kofi with a high knee to the belly. He goes for the pin but Kofi kicks out. Rhodes is working the left arm of Kingston. Kofi is fighting to get to his feet and he takes Rhodes down with a drop kick. He goes for the pin but Rhodes kicks out. Rhodes comes back into the fight with a kick and flings Kofi into the corner. Kofi kicks him in the face and goes up top for some high flying action. He delivers a cross body and goes for the pin but Rhodes rolls him up. Kofi kicks out. Rhodes goes for the Disaster Kick but Kofi hits him with Trouble in Paradise. Winner: Kofi Kingston

A recap of Brock “Temper Tantrum’ Lesnar is shown. How the fuck is this relevant? He knew Triple H wouldn’t be there. How in the hell does it make you an ass kicker when you destroy furniture? It doesn’t because it makes Brock look even more incompetent. Also please remind him to never speak when he is having a temper tantrum. Someone might get confused as to what his gender is and offer him some Midol and a tampon. Brock Lesnar is irrelevant to wrestling, he has no credibility and needs to take his shriveled up balls and get the fuck out. Whenever they call Miss Lesnar the beast, they should change beast to whiny little bitch. He’s so bitchy and whiny that he makes Zack Ryder seem not so bad.

Renee Young is interviewing Zeb ‘Windup toy’ Colter and Jack ‘Weed the People’ Swagger about what happened on Monday Night Raw. Pretty Boy Colter interrupts her and goes on a long winded speech while Swagger looks on. Swagger is nodding like he understands the big words Colter is saying. I think I liked Swagger better when he was on hiatus.

Big E ‘I need a bigger uniform’Langston vs. Jack Swagger—Big Boob E is accompanied to the ring by Noodlehead Dolph Ziggler and AJ ‘Blankeyes’ Lee. Alberto Del Rio is on commentary and they are talking about Swagger’s attack with the ladder on Monday. Swagger is trying to talk trash to Big E, my advice to Swagger is don’t talk. When you open your mouth and speak you lose credibility as a tough guy. Del Rio puts a ladder into the ring. Noodles goes for the ladder but Swagger kicks him in the head. Now Big E and Jack are having a tug of war match over the ladder. Colter hits Big E and Swagger sends Big E flying over the top rope. Here comes Ziggler to interfere. He drop kicks Swagger while he holds the ladder. He takes out Colter. Del Rio takes down Ziggler with a kick to the head and then uses the ladder as a weapon. Del Rio tosses the ladder into Swagger. Del Rio sets up the ladder and climbs to the top with the championship in hand. Match never started. Thank you Wrestling Gods for interfering.

Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan—Ambrose is accompanied to the ring by Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Daniel Bryan is escorted to the ring by his tag partner Kane. They hit the ring and the Shield clears out. DB starts off the match by taking down Ambrose with a running high knee. DB was owing Ambrose but Ambrose is quick on his feet. DB is back in control as he delivers knees to the back of Ambrose. He follows up with a knee to the face. Here comes Ambrose to counter and he flings DB into a corner. DB takes him down with a clothesline and follows up with kicks to the chest. Ambrose goes to the outside and while Reigns is trying to motivate his partner, DB launches himself into Ambrose. Both men are down as we go to commercial break. Back from commercial and both men are in the ring. Ambrose is in charge as he delivers an elbow and goes for the pin. DB kicks out. Ambrose is selling this match with his facial expressions. DB fights his way out of the submission move and gets knocked down by Ambrose. Ambrose goes for the pin but DB kicks out. Ambrose is sadistic as he delivers a knee to the back and twists the head of DB. Dean, my favorite member of Shield, Daniel Bryan isn’t a Barbie doll and you cannot yank his head off of his shoulders. DB is trying to fight back with a flurry of punches but Ambrose takes him down. Ambrose’s eye is busted open. He goes to launch himself at DB but his shoulder connects with the steel ring post. DB launches himself at Dean and connects with a kick to the face. DB is kicking Ambrose and has him hanging upside down on the ropes. He follows up with dropkick the gut and goes for the pin. Ambrose kicks out. DB connects with a Missile Drop kick and goes for the pin but Ambrose kicks out. Ambrose plants DB and goes for the pin but DB kicks out. Ambrose apparently goes a psychotic place and takes his aggression out on DB. DB somehow gets the No Lock submission move locked in and Rollins distracts the referee and Kane so Reigns can intervene. Here comes Kofi Kingston to interfere and the match is over. Winner:  No Contest

Mark Henry is pulling a tractor trailer earlier in the day. Coming up next and he will attempt to go for a world record of pulling not one but two tractor trailers. Really? Really? Why in the fuck are we subjected to this shit? We want wrestling. We don’t want to see him possibly give himself a hernia. We learn that Mark Henry and Sheamus will have a Strap Match. Ohhh I’m so excited about this match. (NOT) Zero fucks are given about this match. Mark Henry is hooked up to two tractor trailers. Matt Striker wants to interview him as others look on.  I cannot stop giggling as his cheerleaders try to encourage him. He finally has the trucks moving and he is on the ground.  All you hear is grunting and heavy breathing from him. I cannot take him seriously. It’s wrestling not a fucking tractor pull.

Renee Young is interviewing Randy Orton. A recap is shown of Big Show attacking him. Big Show is starting to remind of a crazy ex-girlfriend that will stalk you, abuse you, and then stalk you again. Someone please enroll him in therapy. Oh lawd, he is making it clear he is going after Big Show at Extreme Rules. This is one match that I would definitely watch.

Big Show vs. Tensai—Best thing about this match is seeing Cameron and Naomi. Match starts off with Big Show going on the attack. Sweet T is fighting back. Show knocks him out. Winner/Whiner: Big Show

Brodus Clay is checking on his partner but Big PMS Show attacks him. Randy Orton! Randy Orton! Randy Orton with an RKO out of nowhere! Yes I channeled JR for that.

Kaitlyn is in the back sending messages to her secret admirer when ‘Dead Behind the eyes’ AJ comes up to attack her. Kaitlyn, I like you but please change your hairstyle. Great Khali is wearing a Rey Mysterio mask and OMG just noooooooooooooooooooooooo. Please never ever again. I’m bleeding from my eyes and ears from this segment.

Chris Jericho vs. Ryshrek—match starts off with a lockup before Ryback slams Jericho down. Jericho is fighting back and dropkicks Rytroll. Ryback throws Jericho over the top rope while the announcers discuss John Cena’s ankle injury. Jericho needs to leave the ring, as will kill him. As much as I love Jericho, I cannot get into this match. It seems awkward and it’s not due to Jericho. Ryback gets knocked off of the apron by Jericho. Back from commercial and Ryback is brutalizing Jericho by stomping. Jericho fights his way to his feet but Ryback picks him up and slams him down to the mat. He picks Jericho up by his neck repeatedly and slams him down to the ground repeatedly. He is trying to pull Jericho’s head off of his shoulders as Jericho gets to his feet. Jericho to the top rope with an ax handle smash. Ryback scoops him up and slams down. He goes to slam down on Jericho but he moved out of the way. Jericho goes for the codebreaker but gets slammed down. Josh Matthews, I suggest you shut your fucking pie hole. If you say one more word about JR, you will get my foot shoved down your throat. You three ladies should take lessons on how to call a match. But no you three moronic twits want to sit there and be petty, petulant whiny ass little girls. Focus on the match and stop sucking Cena’s dick. Jericho takes down Ryback with a dropkick to the knees. Ryback makes a comeback and slams Jericho down before delivering the meat hook clothesline. He goes for Shellshocked but Jericho counters and locks in the Walls of Jericho. Ryback grabs the ropes and the Jericho breaks the hold. Jericho hits the Codebreaker and Ryback gets out of the ring. Jericho goes to help Ryback in the ring but Ryback rudely slams him into the guard rail.  Ryback picks Jericho up and slams him groin first into the ring post. Winner by DQ: Jericho.

The Shrek clone comes back and knocks Jericho over the announcer’s booth. Ryback, when you beat your chest like that, you remind me of King Kong and that is not a compliment.

Match of the night goes to Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose. Two of the best wrestlers on the roster and they put on a brutal but awesome match.

WTF moment goes to Mark Henry, Big Show, and the announcing team. It’s wrestling not the Mark Henry show. Big Show please either grow a set of balls or I will buy you some tampons. To the three morons on the microphones, kindly stop hurling insults back and forth. If I wanted to see three bitches fight, I would watch the Bravo channel. Focus on wrestling and DO NOT EVER INSULT JR AGAIN. So pull your heads out of your asses and take lessons from him on how to commentate and sell a match.

In closing I thought SmackDown was blah as hell. A majority of the matches didn’t have clean finishes. It seemed like the matches were hurried and rushed. The only saving graces for this show was the Shield and Randy Orton. I give the show a B+. Thank you Orton, Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns for saving me. Make sure you all check out http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-shark-attack-live. We’ll be airing Tuesday at 10pm ET Call in at (347) 945-6363. Have a good night and a better tomorrow!

Opening Match: Randy Orton defeated Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere Match: They brawled just about everywhere, including backstage. Eventually, they made themselves back into the ring. Orton went for the RKO, but Kane blocked and drilled a chokeslam for a near-fall. Kane went for the Tombstone onto a chair, but Orton escaped. Kane went for a clothesline, but got RKO’ed onto the chair instead for three @ 16:30.

Synopsis: This was an effective way to open the show. It was a fun all-over-the-place scuffle with some  nifty and cunning spots. Randy Orton got his win back by avenging the psychotic, powerful monster in a match that ought to have suited him more. In a company similar to TNA circa 2007, this would have been labeled another garbage spot-infested brawl. But due to its uncommonness in WWE, it came off as something refreshing, proving that when you do something less, it means so much more. ***

Backstage, Eve brought in Teddy Long, who was wearing a “Hello, My Name Is Teddy Long” tag. It was all fun and games until Ace realized HHH was calling him. He left the room for privacy.

 Brodus Clay vs. Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler got  heat on Clay, which setted  up Clay’s comeback. Clay nailed a headbutt to a running Ziggler—who sold it like a champ. Clay then nailed a big splash for three @ 4:30. After the match, Clay and his ladies danced.

Synopsis: Ziggler had his carry shoes on, but due to both lack of time and that he was working with Clay, he came up a bit short. But because of Ziggler bumping like a fish out of water, I will give this match a *.

IC Title Match; Tables Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show ©:  Show attempted to toss Rhodes into a table, but Rhodes ran off the table and nailed the disaster kick. The match carried onward to the floor, where Show beat up Rhodes. Show nailed Rhodes with a chop to the chest. Later on, Rhodes caught Show with a leg kick as he was trying to get back in the ring, putting him (barely) through the table and ending the match @ 4:30. After the match, Big Show beat up Rhodes to regain his heat.

Synopsis: This was just a way to put the title back onto Rhodes without damaging Show’s credibility. The match had a few good spots, but it had too much down time for something that was less than five minutes. A completely unmemorable tables match. *

Backstage, Daniel Bryan made fun of Matt Striker, saying teachers like him are the reason why many people in the USA are stupid. He then made fun of the crowd, saying they are like Sheamus: overrated.

WHW Title Match; Two out of Three Falls: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus: This is their rematch from their infamous 16 seconds match. Bryan purposely lost the first fall to use a chair to inflict damage onto Sheamus. It worked enough to get him another fall as he made Sheamus pass out to the yes lock. Whilst Sheamus was knocked out, Bryan was too busy chanting “YES” and pandering to the crowd. Sheamus had enough in the tank to make with a comeback, and then he nailed the Irish Curse backbreaker. He then hit the Brogue Kick to remain champion @ 23:00.

Synopsis:  Even though Sheamus was working with one of the best in-ring technician today, it still made me realize that Sheamus had some aptitudes after all.  The match was highlighted by Bryan effectively portraying a   strategic gamplan to try and win the match.  Truth be told, I will take psychology and storytelling over a series of spots any day, and it is a shame that WWE does not implement it into their matches more often. This was the first match that non-independent fans understood all the praise  Daniel Bryan received.   **** ¼

Ryback vs. Two Jobbers: The highlight of the match was Ryback receiving a great deal of Goldberg chants. Ryback finished both jobbers like nothing and picked up the win @ 1:03.

Synopsis: It was just a buffer match. N/R

WWE Championship Match; Street Fight: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho: Throughout the match, Jericho showed why he is one of the greatest heel wrestlers of all time—as he wrestled exactly how his outside the ring character was portrayed, dictated the pace of the match, and effectively read the crowd. Later on, Jericho lifted Punk up to give him the GTS, but Punk it and threw Jericho into the exposed turnbuckle. Punk gave Jericho the GTS to end the match @ 25:00.

Synopsis: This was on its way of being a mirror image of Jericho’s epic street fight with HBK at Unforgiven 2008, but unfortunately  never quite got there due there not being enough feeling of hatred between the two. Still, this was a very good street fight that did not get marred by any noticeably contrived spots. In fact, everything came off natural and realistic, and Jericho effectively set up spots well and “weapon grabs” when he appeared to be in peril. *** ¾

Backstage, Eve told Nikkie Bella that Beth Phoenix was too injured to wrestle tonight. However, she had a replacement for her, but it would not be Awesome Kong (BOOOOO!!!!).

Diva Championship Match: Nikkie Bella vs.Layla: After some back and forth action, Layla got the pin fall @ 2:45. And there’s that.

Synopsis: Did not care. Just a buffer match. ½*

Extreme Rules Match: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar:  Through most of the match, Cena took a merciless beat down curiosity of Lesnar. Later on, Cena entered the ring, but Lesnar hit off the ropes and hovered into a flying-splash on top of Cena. Lesnar shook it off  and then sadistically smiled. Meanwhile, Cena had a chain around his fist. Lesnar went for another flying slash, only to be drilled in the cranium with the chain. Cena got fired up and then FU’D Lesnar onto the stairs for the three count @ 17: 34. After the match, Cena cut a promo saying he was going to have to take time off (which never happened).

Synopsis: Goddamn, what a marvelous match. Brock Lesnar delivered one of the most authentic heel beat downs I have ever witness. In fact, the beat down was so realistic—I thought they were going to have stop the match. Kudos to John Cena as well, for doing such a believable job of selling the destruction inflicted to him. The match was booked and wrestled so well; it had no down time whatsoever and never allowing the viewers to get a grasp on where the match was heading.

With Cena going into this match with a losing streak, you just did not know what to expect. And at times, I thought something major was going to happen to the Cena character because of this match. But that ended up being not the case.

And saddest part was, they could have redeemed themselves by Cena taking time off and then wanting to get revenge on Lesnar for putting him on the shelf. Besides Lesnar obviously would have wanted a rematch too—because in his eyes, he underestimated Cena and should have ended the match on the many occasions he should have instead of toying with him.

However, WWE ignored Cena’s promo just stick him in a terrible feud with both Johhny Ace and the Big Show. Meanwhile, Lesnar was inserted into a feud with Triple H that ended up being a muddled mess. Moreover, the feud slayed a great deal of Lesnar’s momentum he until the leading seconds of this match. And now these days, Lesnar feels like just another wrestler on the roster.  **** ½

Final Verdict: It would be sicken on WWE’s behalf to figure out how much money they lost off this one idiotic decision. After all, John Cena became the same exact character that most of the WWE’s audience is sick of, while Brock Lesnar became just another wrestler on the roster. This PPV honestly reminds me of Capital Combat 1990: It was a terrific PPV that was completely overshadowed by one idiotic decision—the debut of Robocop. Despite the main event’s outcome, this was one of the best recently published WWE PPVS. It was one of those rare nights where the crowd is white-hot and the wrestlers, road agents, production team, bookers, and even the announce team, brought their A-game.

I’ve wanted to do some type of awards article for the longest time now. Then that turned into doing an awards podcast, but Thomas and I never brought that to fruition (my fault, I was too busy making music). Then the idea got away from me until I realized what just passed: WrestleMania NY/NJ (XXIX!).

In the world of WWE, WrestleMania is the championship game. So, assuming that the season starts with the Raw after WrestleMania last year (when Brock Lesnar F-5-ed Cena) and continued up to the final scene of NY/NJ this year (Cena celebrating while giving The Rock his unjust due. I hated that match. Hated it.), there are a slew of things that happened in between.

So without further ado, I give you the Promos By Hyphen 2013 WWE Year End Awards.

Best Championship: WWE Championship

This one was a no-brainer. Not only did my favorite wrestler in the company hold it most of the season (CM Punk) but there really wasn’t much competition. Sheamus held the World Title (for too long) until October when he dropped it to Big Show. That belt’s seen some great matches since then but the window is too small of a sample size to really give it Best Belt precedence.

Punk defended his Belt successfully against Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Daniel Bryan (3x), Kane, John Cena (4x), Big Show, and Ryback (3x) before dropping the Title to The Rock at the Royal Rumble. And that’s not including most of the defenses on Raw, SmackDown, and house shows throughout that period.

Punk put the WWE Title around his waist and ran with it, partly as a face (until he turned on The Rock at Raw 1000) and partly as a heel. And despite his lack of main event PPV defenses, there was no question who was the Best In The World when it came to the company’s biggest belt.

Honorable Mention: Intercontinental Title. Despite a weird 1 day reign for The Miz after NY/NJ, it actually changed hands 6 times and Cody Rhodes and Big Show were the only people to hold the Title for 30 days or less. It’s still the most prestigious minor belt in the company; I’d just like to see more of its holders move to the main event picture.

Best T-Shirt: Tie: CM Punk – In Punk We Trust, Paul Heyman – I’m A Paul Heyman Guy, Dolph Ziggler – It’s Not Showing Off

One of the coolest things about being a wrestling fan for me is wearing the same merchandise that the wrestlers wear to the ring. Since I’ve jumped on the Punk bandwagon, I’ve purchased every t-shirt and I’m getting ready to purchase his newest one. I’ve even considered the GTS hoodie he sported leading up to NY/NJ.

As far as the Best Shirt of the season goes, I couldn’t decide. If this was last year’s awards, Punk’s Best In The World tee would have been a runaway winner. But there’s no way I can not give props to Ziggy’s pink “Showing Off” shirt or Heyman’s pitch of being The Voice of the Voice of the Voiceless. And while Punk’s GTS and Knees2Faces shirts were good, they didn’t match his In Punk We Trust shirt that he wore for a large chunk of the season.

Honorable Mention: Tie: Sheamus – Brogue Kick Hooligans and The Rock – Soldier. Went with another tie since I’m basing this on shirts I’d actually wear. I actually considered getting Sheamus’ ode to the Brogue Kick shirt…until he got the one that followed it. And I can’t leave out The Rock’s Soldier shirt he had for Raw 1000. It’s a shame he didn’t give that design more burn when he returned in January.

Worst T-Shirt: Tie: Sheamus – Brogue Kick and any of Brock Lesnar’s shirts

I don’t know how much input wrestlers have about what goes on their shirts but Sheamus should have stopped this one. How do you go from a classy looking black shirt to a dingy looking gray one with a foot on it? In fact, I hold this shirt personally responsible for Sheamus’ fall from World Title contention to Randy Orton’s tag partner.

But don’t even try to justify any of Brock’s shirts. It’s bad enough that he’s a monster heel who can’t talk who only wrestled 3 times the entire season (and went 1-2 at that). But those shirts are hideous. His back tattoo and a weather vane? No thank you, Mr. Lesnar.

Dishonorable Mention: Triple H’s current shirt. While I defended him in my previous article, there’s never been a Triple H shirt that I’ve liked, just DX ones.

Best Promo: CM Punk, January 7, Raw

While he failed to continue his 434 day reign as WWE Champion, there was no promo cut this season that came close to this one by Punk. After defeating Ryback in a TLC match to retain his Title (with help from The Shield) earlier in the night, he and Heyman returned to the ring and talked shit. USA had to cut to commercial mid-rant but when we returned, Punk and Heyman were still in the ring goading. The arrival of the People’s Champion didn’t slow things down as he and Rock launched into a war of words for the ages. The results? The Rock called Punk Cookie Puss. Punk told Rock that his arms were too short to box with God. Advantage: Punk.

Honorable Mention: The Rock, Raw. Despite my efforts to find a date, let’s just say on one of the Raws that The Rock actually did appear on after Elimination Chamber, he and Cena met face-to-face for the first time since WrestleMania XXVIII. Cena was all business and delivered a good promo about how he needed to beat The Rock to right the downward spiral he had been in since last year’s ‘Mania. Rock, in one of the best promos he cut during this run, was all business as well but ended things with a definitive “I know I can beat you.” It gave Rock/Cena II a little jolt that was sadly not built upon leading up to NY/NJ.

Best Moment: CM Punk lays The Rock out with the GTS, Raw 1000

I was really close to giving this moment to the reformation of D-Generation X on this same show. But two things happened when CM Punk laid out The Rock that night: 1. Punk returned to true heel form for the first time since Money In The Bank 2011 and 2. I lost my shit.

Raw 1000 was a top notch Raw but with Rock’s announcement that he would get a Title shot at the Rumble and all the surprises of the night, our boy John Cena’s match with Punk for the WWE Title seemed overshadowed. I also was living with the fear that Cena’s win at Money In The Bank would lead to his 11^th WWE Title reign.

All the pieces were there. Punk, while competitive, didn’t look like he was going to come out on top in this match. Then Big Show interfered and Cena won by DQ but Punk retained. Punk let Big Show pummel Cena after the match, looking too exhausted or uncaring to help. Seeing this,¹ Rocky came out to the large pop to hit the Spinebuster on Show and the inevitable People’s Elbow…

…and then Punk laid him out with the clothesline. And I was jumping up and down.² And then Punk hit the GTS and Raw 1000 was over. But the second phase of Punk’s WWE Title reign had begun.

Honorable Mention: Tie: DX reunion at Raw 1000 and the birth of Team Hell No. As great as it was too see the New Age Outlaws and X-Pac in a WWE ring again, you can’t leave out the great work of Daniel Bryan and Kane this year in going from a regular feud to Tag Team Champions. Even their recent backstage segment before The Shield attacked them on Raw a few weeks back reeks of chemistry. The Tag Team division might be worse than the Divas at times but at least they got something right with these two.

This way for Part 2!