WWE Night Of Champions 2013 Review – WWE Give Us The Worst Pay-Per-View Of The Year As Daniel Bryan Wins The WWE Title Off A Fast Count!

Wrestling fans, I am “Big Hungry” Tom Robinson here again. We’re coming off Night Of Champions with a lot of controversy coming off the main event and a lot of things to address because I really wasn’t impressed by last night’s event. Nothing really stood out for me, other than the main event. There was only one title change and all the matches seemed really flat to me, as did the fans for all but two of the matches. Let’s get to it…

An Impromptu Intercontinental Title match sees Curtis Axel FINALLY defeat Kofi Kingston

We start off the show with COO Triple H addressing the WWE universe and stating that the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton would have ZERO interference, making it a fair one on one encounter. This was interrupted by Paul Heyman and Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, with Heyman making a last-minute plea to Triple H to cancel his and Axel’s handicap elimination match against CM Punk later on. Triple H started to mess with Heyman and Axel by questioning Heyman’s trust in Axel’s ability and refused to cancel the match. Curtis Axel then got the mic and suggests that Triple H is still holding a grudge over his defeat to Axel on May 20th 2013. Yes, Axel actually stated when his first victory over HHH took place. Axel’s talking got him into trouble as HHH would then put Axel in an IC Championship defence to start the show against the first person he sees when he goes to the back (which just so happens to be Kofi Kingston, the guy Axel has lost to a couple of times in the last few weeks. How convenient). Two things were really off about this segment I believe….

1. Triple H still having a grudge with Heyman and Axel sort of makes the new corporation seem sort of face if you will. It takes away the heat that the corparation has when he messes with fellow heel Paul Heyman.
2. I hated that the fans were chanting “BORING” during Axel’s promo. For god’s sake, give the guy a chance to talk. Yeah, Axel’s not the greatest talker but at least give him the chance at least without unleashing a “BORING” chant.

The match itself was really good in comparisons to their matches on RAW and SmackDown! over the last couple of weeks. Some really good near-falls during the match, including Axel kicking out of the S.O.S. Axel got the victory and gives himself confidence ahead of going up against CM Punk in the handicap match, which was actually upgraded to a No-DQ Elimination Handicap Match. Good way to start off the show.

 

Awkward Botch Ruins An Already Awkward Divas Title Match

Before AJ Lee’s Divas Title defence against Naomi, Natalya and Brie Bella in a fatal four way, Alicia Fox and Aksana both ended their alliance with AJ, with Layla possibly doing the same. This was like the shortest stable in WWE history! It lasted like 2 weeks and it could have actually been a decent stable if they didn’t lose their first match together last week on RAW. Anyway, it appears AJ will have no back-up against the 3 divas from “Total Divas” that she slandered on RAW 3 weeks ago.

To be honest, it was a decent effort by all 4 women. They tried to make the match as interesting as possible and you’ve got to commend them for that. All 4 women had their fair share of time to show their stuff. But to be honest, this never seemed to get the fans interested one bit. It felt so awkward and out of place. The only time the fans popped during this match was then Natalya locked in the double sharpshooter. Also, it didn’t help when the referee made a HUGE error near the end of the match…

Right, Natalya scoop-slammed Brie Bella onto Naomi who was taken out before. Anyway, Brie Bella’s laying on top of Naomi for about 20 seconds, Naomi’s shoulders were down, and the referee did NOTHING. He was supposed to make the count and all he and Natalya were doing was just staring at both women. Sure, it’s nice to stare at two women on top of one another but he should have made the god-damn count. Even the commentators were even yelling at him to make the count. It was one of the most awkward botches of the year in my opinion. Anyway, the one thing to take as a positive from this match was that AJ Lee retained the championship.

 

A disqualification sees RVD’s World Title Hopes Shattered By Alberto Del Rio

To be honest, this match was nowhere near as good as Del Rio’s recent title defences against Dolph Ziggler and Christian in recent pay-per-view, but it was at least a decent effort. The only thing that was off-putting about this match was the fact that it ended in a disqualification. When RVD got to the ropes after being locked-in the Cross-Armbrearker, Del Rio refused to break the hold and was disqualified. This hurts Del Rio’s credibility a bit as this is the second time in 3 PPV World Title defences that Del Rio’s retained the title on a disqualification. Del Rio should have made RVD tap out. Maybe their setting up a rematch at Battleground for all I know. At least I hope so because I think will a bit more time this match could be a lot more improved at Battleground.

 

The Miz and Fandango Are Given A Match On A PPV… why?

The Miz vs Fandango has been like the least appealing rivalry of the year and for some absurd reason they were given a PPV match. Really? I mean it’s bad enough that Fandango showed up to ANOTHER PPV but he has to go up against The Miz of all people? Two guys who I can’t stand right now and their match was such a bland match. I hope this is the end of their feud because the fact that I had to sit through that match just really wound me up. -.-

 

Ryback Helps Heyman Against CM Punk And Becomes The New “Paul Heyman Guy”

This match went exactly as I thought it would. Axel fights Punk. Punk beats Axel. Beats Up Heyman A Little Bit. Taken Out By A New “Paul Heyman Guy”. While I didn’t like the predictability of it all, I like the way it was executed. It was a really brutal exchange between Axel and Punk, with kendo sticks and chairs being used in the fray, as well as a table being set up. However, CM Punk would make Axel tap out, leaving Paul Heyman to Punk. After chasing him around a little bit, Punk finally got his hands on Heyman and beat the crap out of him with the kendo stick. He event handcuffed him and then unleashed a fury of kendo stick shots on Heyman. Just as Punk had finished the beatdown, Ryback made his way to the ring and speared Punk through the table. This proved to be enough to put Punk down for the count to three as Heyman picked up the victory over Punk.

I do feel that CM Punk should have took a lot more damage from Ryback before getting pinned. I think it should have been more than a spear through the table to put Punk away considering how resilient he was against Brock Lesnar during their feud. It seems a little bit unbelievable that Punk can take a beating from Lesnar and still keep fighting, but one spear through the table from Ryback and he’s done. However, this was a good way to introduce Ryback as the new “Paul Heyman Guy” though. Ryback does need Paul Heyman as his manager. Ryback’s bullying gimmick had to stop and with Heyman on board he could actually go places. But the question is, with Ryback supposedly on board, where does that leave Curtis Axel?

 

The Shield Retain All Their Gold At Night Of Champions With Dolph Ziggler and The Prime Time Players Getting A Taste Of “Justice”

Yep. The Shield still have all the gold they won back at Extreme Rules in May. Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the US Championship and Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defeated The Prime Time Players to retain the tag titles.

Let’s talk about the US Championship. It’s clear that Ziggler is still not sitting well with WWE right now just because the manner of his loss. No screwjob. No Shield-interference. He flat-out LOST to Dean Ambrose. It’s sad to see Ziggler being punished by WWE. I mean it’s not like the match was a great match anyway. It sort of felt like a TV match. It’s was OK, but it didn’t deserve to be on the card if it was going to be just… OK. If Ziggler was going to lose like we all knew he would, he should have at least had a great match with Ambrose which we know he’s capable of. But of course, when you’re in the WWE Dog House, the chances of you getting to look good goes right down the drain.

And the Tag Team Championship match. A very decent match and the fans were all over the Prime Time Players. Both guys looked strong against The Shield and I actually thought they’d beat The Shield near the end. But I think this might be just a prelude to their title win in weeks to come. I think after this match, the PTP look in a strong position to win the gold despite not winning in Detroit, Michigan.

So, up until this point, every champion has retained their championship. Only one champion remains to defend their title… WWE Champion Randy Orton…

 

Randy Orton Vs Daniel Bryan For The WWE Championship

It was not the greatest of main events. In my opinion, Daniel and Orton have had plenty of better matches than this one was. It was really slow paced and it ended abruptly (I’ll get on the ending in a bit). It was one of Orton’s better matches and it’s good to see Orton’s been developing his wrestling as of late. He’s had a couple of stellar matches in the last few months. But, of course the thing that annoyed me about the match was the result. Daniel Bryan won of the flying kick he used to win the title from Cena at Summerslam… oh and a FAST 3 COUNT BY SCOTT ARMSTRONG!

Really? The night ended with a fast count? I read somewhere after the match that the commentators were not meant to mention the fast count, but they should have said at least something about it, especially JBL. The Heel Commentator JBL would have PLENTY to say about a fast count. I mean yeah – if Daniel won of the fast count and Triple H came out and reversed the decision that night, it’d make sense. But we’ve got to wait until RAW to find out the fate of the WWE Championship? I

All I’ll say is this… if Daniel’s title win stands, then it was a daft way for it to go down, and his regaining of the title came WAY too soon. I mean what does that say of the heel regime when they don’t have the WWE Championship anymore? I hope Triple H reverses the decision of the match on RAW. Because a face winning the title of a FAST COUNT makes zero sense. And Orton would have gotten royally screwed if the result of the match stands. Let’s just hope for the best, because I am not happy with how that “title change” took place.

Overall it was a really under-whelming PPV. I think it was the worst PPV of the year so far. While the WWE, IC and Tag Team title matches were all decent matches as was Punk vs Axel and Heyman , the Divas match was EXTREMELY AWKWARD, the US Title match was such a disappointment and the World Title match ending made Del Rio look weaker as a champion. The crowd weren’t into half of the matches, and that’s worrying and really decreases how good a show is when the crowd isn’t into it? With Battleground only 3 weeks away and Hell In A Cell only 3 weeks after that, PPVs are coming in thick and fast and WWE are going to have a hard time building up each one. I just hope that RAW can recover a badly-delivered PPV.

That was the Night Of Champions review. I’m Tom Robinson!

RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE POST! Vegeta from the Dragonball Z series being the expert counter that he is! Hey, I told you it was random! XD Follow the @ArmbarExpress On TWITTER!

WWE Night Of Champions 2013 Predictions – Will Daniel Bryan Dethrone The Corporate Champion?

Wrestling fans, I’m “Dragon Dragon” himself Tom Robinson. I’m so good, I’m double the Dragon! XD

Night Of Champions PREDICTIONS! Which champions will retain their titles, and which contenders are going to walk out Detroit, Michigan a champion?

 

Pre-Show: The Prime Time Players vs The Real Americans vs The Usos vs 3MB vs Tons Of Funk in a tag team turmoil. Winners Face The Shield For The Titles On The PPV.

Background: On RAW, It was announced that with the tag team division heating up with the rise of the Prime Time Players and The Usos that a tag team turmoil will take place on the Night Of Champions Pre-Show to determine number one contenders to The Shield on the actually Pay-Per-View itself.

What Should Happen?: Either The Usos or The Prime Time Players Win. But if I had to pick out of them two, I’d say The Usos because their pre-show match with The Shield at Money In The Bank was an incredible tag team match and I really want to see The Usos finally get a run at the titles.

What Will Happen?: I’m going to say that the WWE are going to keep backing the Prime Time Players with this new push and have them challenge The Shield later on in the card.

 

“The Shield” Roman Reigns (c) and Seth Rollins (c) vs Whoever Wins The Tag Team Turmoil For The WWE Tag Team Championship

I’m going to just split this off for each possible outcome of the turmoil and judge each team’s chances of winning the titles if they get the shot and if they should win the titles. So…

3MB: To put this nicely…. there is no way in HELL of 3MB getting close to the tag team titles. So if by some divine intervention that they win the turmoil, 3MB will have literally a 1% chance of winning the tag team titles. Sorry guys. A 3MB Tag Team Title reign would be money though. XD

Tons Of Funk: Errrr… no. Tons Of Funk have jobbed to The Shield so much in the year that if they do get the title shots, I think they’ll just job to them again. Also, I really don’t think Tons Of Funk is in a remotely good position to be considered worthy to be champions. Way too far down the tag team food chain.

The All-Americans: Just for that huge spin on Santino Marrella on RAW this Monday, Antonio Cesaro deserves to win both the WWE Championship and The World Title never mind the Tag belts. I doubt that the All-Americans would win the titles if they won the turmoil, unless of course WWE are going to somehow turn them face and have them be a really pro-USA team or something. I’ll give them a 205 chance of winning the titles if they make it to the title shots. Do they deserve it? Hell yeah does Antonio Cesaro deserve it!….. oh and Jack Swagger deserves it too, I guess.

The Prime Time Players: With their new push due to Darren Young’s coming out, I wouldn’t be surprised if the PTP finally got the belts they should have had more than a year ago. Should they be champions if they do beat The Shield? It’s a good opportunity for WWE to capitalize on the Publicity. But if I do think there’s a team that should be given the belts, it should be…

The Usos: These guys NEED to get them belts. And their rematch with The Shield needs to happen. They’ve got a good thing going and it’d be a damn shame if the PTP’s push gets in the way of The Usos rise to the titles. I can see WWE giving the belts to The Usos if they do win the Turmoil like. But, that’s all down to if the WWE choose The Usos over the PTPs to win the tag team turmoil

 

Dean Ambrose (c) vs Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship

Background: Dolph Ziggler was one of the first to speak out against Triple H’s actions at Summerslam via Twitter. As punishment, the RAW after Summerslam he was booked in a 3 on 1 handicap match with The Shield. This match eventually led to Ziggler receiving more beatdowns by The Shield, specifically the United States Champion Dean Ambrose. This eventually led to Ziggler being booked in an United States Title match with Ambrose for Night Of Champions on the SmackDown! before the event.

What Should Happen?: Dolph Ziggler shouldn’t really be competing for the US title anymore. It seems such a huge step down considering he was the World Champion in June. But I guess that’s what happens when you get in the proverbial WWE “Dog House”. Honestly, I’d rather not have Ziggler beat Ambrose to be honest, because once he gets a mid-card title again it’ll be hard for him to get back in the main title picture. Dean Ambrose wins.

What Will Happen?: Dean Ambrose wins, because Dolph Ziggler is in SERIOUS shit with WWE. Poor guy. 😦

 

CM Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman in an Elimination Handicap Match

Background: After being double-crossed by Paul Heyman at Money In The Bank, CM Punk has been craving the chance to get his hands on Heyman. At Summerslam, he had to go through one of his clients Brock Lesnar in a No Disqualification match. Despite not being able to defeat Lesnar, he was able to lock in the Anaconda Vice on Heyman during the match. However, this was nowhere near good enough for Punk. While Heyman wanted to “take Punk back”, Punk wanted to get his hands on Heyman further. So Heyman set his other client, the Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel. After a brutal brawl between Axel and Punk on the RAW after Summerslam, Punk vs Axel was made for the next week’s RAW. Due to a vote by the WWE Universe, if Punk was able to defeat Axel, Punk would be able to get Heyman in the ring post-match. Punk got the victory and seemed like he was finally going to get a little bit more than an Anaconda Vice on Heyman. However, Axel made sure that didn’t happen and with Heyman delivered a brutal beatdown with a kendo stick to Punk. An irate CM Punk confronted RAW General Manager Brad Maddox and demanded a shot at Heyman. Maddox granted Punk’s wish and made an Elimination Handicap match between CM Punk and the team of Heyman and Axel at Night Of Champions. With it being an elimination match, if Punk beat Axel first, he would have every right in the world to fight Heyman. With Curtis Axel suffering back-to-back defeats to Kofi Kingston in the weeks before NoC and Heyman being told that if he tried to get out of the match he’d be fired, the chances of Punk getting his hands on Heyman seems a very likely possibility.

What Should Happen?: I don’t care how much internet fans bum off CM Punk, Curtis Axel needs to beat Punk. WWE have done a really bad job at promoting this themselves. While Punk and Heyman have delivered wonders on the mic in the build up, the fact that Axel is being made out to be such a weak opponent for Punk is just ridiculous. Axel being the IC Champion should have been booked to look strong against Punk, like he did when they brawled on the RAW after Summerslam. If WWE are giving up Axel this early then it’s a damn shame. While it seems inevitable that WWE are going to introduce a new “Paul Heyman Guy”, what’s wrong with the old one? Give him a decent win for once. Axel beats Punk.

What Will Happen?: This is probably one of the most predictable matches of the god damn year. Punk’s going to be Axel. Heyman’s going to try to escape from Punk. Punk’s going to get some digs in. And then this new “Paul Heyman Guy” will help Heyman out. I’m guessing this guy will probably appear to attack Punk causing a disqualification, but either way Punk will end up the one being laid out at the end of it.

 

AJ Lee (c) vs Natalya vs Brie Bella vs Naomi in a fatal four way match for the Divas Championship

Background: 8 days after Summerslam, AJ Lee appeared after a divas match between Natalya and Brie Bella, two divas that have starred in the new “Total Divas” reality show. AJ delivered a scratching promo bad-mouthing the divas, accusing them off being interchangeable, useless women that weren’t good enough to be wrestlers so they were given a reality TV Show. AJ said that the majority of the divas on the show had to “suck up” to the right people to get to the WWE and that Natalya was only in WWE because of her association with the Hart family and her father being WWE legend, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. These comments infuriated the divas on the show so much that they attacked AJ when she appeared to watch the number one contendership divas title match between Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi 2 weeks ago on RAW. With a number one contender not being crowned, Stephanie McMahon gave Brie, Natalya and Naomi a shot at the title in a fatal four way with AJ at Night Of Champions.

What Should Happen?: AJ Wins. If another result happens, I give up on the divas division. I could sort of accept Natalya as champion, but she’s still an incredibly bland diva despite having tremendous wrestling abilities. But AJ has the overness and the mic skills to be champion, and no-one is really worthy enough to be champion yet. Especially not Naomi or Brie Bella.

What Will Happen?: AJ Wins… somehow. AJ will likely be taken out the picture earlier on, but will come in later to steal the victory. While I think WWE will be tempted to put the belt on one of the “Total Divas” due to the series coming to an end, I still think with how heavily AJ’s been booked that she’ll be champion for a LONG time.

 

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs Rob Van Dam for the World Heavyweight Championship

Background: After Ricardo Rodriguez inadvertently cost World Champion Alberto Del Rio a non-title match with Rob Van Dam a month ago, Ricardo suffered a beatdown and a firing from his employer Del Rio. After a couple of weeks out, Ricardo returned and announced that he would be the new personal ring announcer of Rob Van Dam. A week later, RVD was given a non-title match with Del Rio. If RVD won, he would get a shot at the World Championship at Night Of Champions. And luckily for RVD… he did!

What Should Happen?: I stressed this on my article on Del Rio for WhatCulture, Del Rio needs to keep beating his competition in a clean and fair way to keep up the prestige of the title up and Del Rio’s legitimacy as champion up. While having Ricardo turn on RVD and join Del Rio again would be the sensible thing to do to get Ricardo of RVD’s case, a Del Rio clean, submission victory would be huge for him. So just like how Del Rio submitted Christian at Summerslam, Del Rio should do it again to RVD. Oh and one other thing… please keep RVD and Ricardo apart. Seriously, that partnership won’t be missed.

What Will Happen?: I’m guessing WWE will just ignore me and have Ricardo screw over RVD and help Del Rio retain the title. Yawn. But whatever the case, Rob Van Dam will probably not win the World Title.

 

Randy Orton (c) vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship

Background: At Summerslam, Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena after a hard-long battle with COO Triple H as the special referee to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career. But coming out to ruin the party was the WWE Championship Money In The Bank holder Randy Orton. Just as it seemed like he wasn’t going to bother cashing in the briefcase, Triple H stunned us all as he hit Daniel with the Pedigree – giving Randy the opening he needed. Taking advantage of opportunity, Orton cashed in and pinned Daniel to become the new WWE Champion. Triple H justified his actions the next night on RAW, stating that Randy Orton being Champion was “best for business” and that Daniel Bryan should not be the one to be the “face of the company”. An irate Daniel tried to ruin Randy’s coronation as WWE Champion, but was foiled by Triple H’s newly hired guns The Shield. Despite being considered nothing more than a B+ by the new corporation, Daniel was given his rematch clause at the title for Night Of Champions. However, the corporation has not made Daniel’s road to that event easy. The Shield has been constantly set on Bryan by Triple H, with just about every superstar in WWE being to scared of being fired to speak out against it or help Bryan out.  Despite the odds, Bryan stood tall at the end of this Monday’s RAW having beaten Dean Ambrose and laying out Randy Orton. But will he stand tall as champion at the end of Night Of Champions?

What Should Happen?: Orton wins. How bad would the corporation look if their champion would have lost the title within a month of winning it? Sorry Daniel, but he should wait a little longer before getting the gold. Orton needs to establish himself as THE guy in the WWE right now.

What Will Happen?: Orton retains. I don’t see someone turning heel to help Orton win. I just think Triple H is going to screw Daniel over somehow. I think it’ll be like when Mankind was screwed out of the title at Rock Bottom 1998. Daniel will make Orton pass out to a guillotine lock or something and then Triple H will come out and say “Since Orton didn’t get pinned or submit, Orton remains champion”. I know this corporation is not going to be exactly like the one in late 1998 and early 1999, but I do think some similar stuff will happen. Daniel’s getting screwed at Night Of Champions.

That was the Night Of Champions predictions. I am Tom Robinson. Follow me on Twitter. Follow @TomRobinson5199 and the official Armbar Express Twitter account @ArmbarExpress for blog updates and other wrestling news. Also, please read and share this new article I’ve had published for a website called WhatCulture! at this link. It’s an article by me which stresses why the Cruiserweight Division needs to be brought back to the WWE. If you click on my name at the top of that article, you’ll hopefully be able to see the other article’s I’ve uploaded on that site including one on why WWE are getting it right with Alberto Del Rio as World Champion at this link.

Random YouTube Video Of The Day! I’ve actually had a really hard week this week so I really needed to listen to a very inspiring speech  and I found one from the Rocky Balboa film which really did give me the drive to put all the shit that’s happened in the past and move forward. If you ever feel like you just wanna give up and need that drive to keep you going on watch this video. Anyway, I’ll see you later on in the week for the Night Of Champions review and possibly a RAW review. Keep connected with the @TomRobinson5199 and @ArmbarExpress Twitter accounts to keep up with all the projects I’ve got going on for the blog and for WhatCulture! Expect a lot of Social Media activity in the build up to my return to uni.

09/09/2013 RAW Review – Edge Returns And Speaks Out Against The Regime

‘Sup guys? I am the “One Man Gang” Tom Robinson with the RAW Review. A great RAW it was on Monday being held in Toronto, Canada, which is always a lively place especially for WWE. We had a lot to look forward too. Edge’s return, Goldust vs Randy Orton. Let’s get down to it!

The Returning Edge Speaks Out Against The New Regime… and his friends suffer the consequences

Great opening to the show. Edge made his return to his hometown Tornoto, Canada. Got a THUNDEROUS pop from these Canadian fans. The fans are always great when you come to Canada. It really is “Bizarro World” there. Edge justified the reaction and did some incredible work on the mic. I think when he comes back, he does help with the stories he’s put with. Here he’s helping the Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton feud. Before when he’s made these sporadic appearances, he’s help the rise of Team Hell-No, the Cena/Lesnar feud and even with Christian’s feud with Randy Orton. He’s definetly had the upper-hand in the verbal exchange with Triple H in the opening segment, and he decimated Randy Orton on the mic. He came up with a line to Orton which was something like “While my spine is in a really bad way, I least I have one”, which I thought was a great line. Anyway, after being torn apart by Edge on the mic, Triple H stated while he couldn’t really have The Shield attack Edge or put him in a match since he doesn’t work in WWE, he could go after his friends. And with that, Christian was on the receiving end of a Shield beatdown. Great opening, but again… Randy Orton seemed overshadowed by Edge, Triple H and Daniel Bryan. He only said like three sentences through-out the entire thing, and I’m sorry if I keep saying this every week but he needs more mic time.

Oh on a side note, I love how Tony Chimel has become Edge’s new personal ring announcer. Just whenever Edge returns, Chimel is brought in to unleash his patterned voice-break!  XD

Edge and Triple H have an intense backstage segment. Edge gets kicked out.

Edge and Triple H had a REALLY intense backstage segment after Christian got taken out. You can tell that the real venom Triple H had within him as heel came back because of the way he growled at Edge. Triple H could make brushing your teeth sound intense. That’s a quality that I’ve always admired him for. Yeah, at times I’m not his biggest fan, but I love him when he’s heel. You can sort of forget about how you feel about him personally when you see him as a heel just unleashing anger. Anyway, Edge got kicked out and obviously the Canadian fans booed. Both Edge and Hunter were awesome here.

Curtis Axel’s Disqualification Sees Paul Heyman’s Confidence “Slip” Away

Curtis Axel has a rematch with Kofi Kingston (who defeated Axel on SmackDown! in a poor booking decision in my opinion). It proved to be a short match as Curtis Axel gets disqualified early on for being too aggressive and ignoring the ref’s 5 count. This was followed up by Kingston hitting the Trouble In Paradise on Axel post-match, further unsettling Axel’s manager Paul Heyman. Since the handicap match between CM Punk and the team of Heyman and Axel at Night Of Champions is an elimination match, Axel getting disqualified could mean that Heyman would have to step in the ring with Punk. With his confidence in Axel dropping, Heyman dropped to the floor after apparently slipping on some water. Heyman tried to use this as an excuse to get out of the handicap match, until General Manager Brad Maddox had WWE’s Dr Samson check Heyman. After Heyman was cleared, Punk came out with kendo stick in hand and brutally beat Heyman’s personal doctor (which Heyman brought because he didn’t trust Canada’s doctors) with it. I’ve got two complaints…

1.  I get that Curtis Axel getting beat over and over and Heyman’s confidence dropping is supposed to make Axel look weak as hell in comparison to CM Punk. But, WWE have got to take into account that Curtis Axel still holds the very prestigious Intercontinental Championship. If Axel loses to a regular mid-carder like Kofi over and over, the title loses prestige. And considering the pay-per-view their handicap match is taking place is called “Night Of Champions”, he still needs to look strong against Punk and I don’t think WWE have got it right by making him look bad.
2. The fact that Brad Maddox and WWE doctors had to come out to clear the heel Paul Heyman to compete kind of takes away from the supposed evil empire of Triple H if there hindering the heels. Sure, Paul Heyman and Triple H have history blah blah blah, but it makes Brad Maddox almost seem like a face when he’s helping CM Punk. It takes away some of the evilness from the Triple H empire.

And I know a third complaint from you guys would be that CM Punk has had little to no interaction with the Triple H regime yet which completely throws continuity out of the window. But then again, WWE booked themselves into that corner when they decided that the Paul Heyman/CM Punk feud would continue after Summerslam. Having Punk drift of from the feud to confront Triple H in the build to Night Of Champions is not good for his own match. I personally think CM Punk will get involved in the “Corporation 2.0” storyline or whatever you want to call it. I just think it’ll be either after Night Of Champions, unless him and Heyman have some more unfinished business after NoC. I don’t think they’ve forgot about Punk as far as the main storyline is concerned.

Booker T tells Big Show to stay professional

OK, I have no idea what Booker T’s role in WWE is supposed to be anymore now he’s been sacked as SmackDown! General Manager. Two weeks in a row on RAW, Booker T has acted as Yoda to superstars and told them to “stay professional”. Is he just supposed to keep doing this each week or has WWE actually got something for him in mind? Booker T needs something other than this. Put him back on commentary or something. These backstage segments are becoming a little tedious.

Dolph Ziggler’s run in the dog-house continues as he loses to Bray Wyatt

This is a grave period for Dolph Ziggler fans as he is in the proverbial “dog house” of WWE. This week, he went down to Bray Wyatt as he beat him with the Sister Abigail to win. It’s a shame that drops to this level only a couple of months after he lost the World Title. Now it seems like it’s going to be a LONG way back to the top for Ziggler. He tried talking himself out of it by defending the Corporation 2.0 storyline in this article. But I doubt he’ll be anywhere near the title picture in the near future, which is a shame.

AJ Lee decimates Jerry Lawler On Commentary

Yeah, my 2nd top highlight of the show was AJ Lee’s commentary during the 6 women’s tag team match between the team of Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi from Total Divas and the team of Layla, Aksana and Alicia Fox who are a part of AJ’s new crew. The Total Divas won a very short and un-interesting women’s match. But the best part was the commentary. AJ was at ringside and she just ripped Jerry Lawler to shreds. Really feisty on commentary, She ripped Jerry by saying “I’m a little too old for you Jerry. I’m 26. I heard you like them young” which was a really good line. I put the link to the match and her commentary below. You really should watch/listen to this. Great way to hype up the Divas title match at Night Of Champions.

Alberto Del Rio makes quick work of R-Truth, Fandango distracts The Miz

Del Rio picked up a submission win over R-Truth in preparation to his World Title match against Rob Van Dam. Slapped on the cross-armbreaker, R-Truth tapped, game over. Fandango also distracted The Miz during his match with Damien Sandow, costing Miz the match after Sandow rolled him. This thing with Fandango constantly interrupting matches is really getting annoying, as is this feud. I swear, this feud between Miz and Fandango is so bland and dull as are the both of them. -.-

Santino Marrella Returns To RAW To Upset Antonio Cesaro

A very entertaining match here between Antonio Cesaro and the returning Santino. I loved that Santino was starting to look like a good grappler in the match. Of course he’s a good wrestler, I’ve known that for years. It’s just WWE never seem to let him showcase that talent, and he might be getting that chance to. Also… Antonio Cesaro did one of the greatest feats of strength I’ve ever seen him do, which was in fact my top highlight of the show. He did his giant swing on Santino… and swung him for about 30 seconds non-stop! It really was incredible. Here it is…

Unbelievable strength. And despite all of Cesaro’s swinging… he still lost. XD

Ryback lays out RVD after getting this disqualified

A short but sweet match saw Ryback get DQ’d and follow it up with a Shell-Shocked To Rob Van Dam. The booking for the end of the match seemed a little off. Why did they have Ryback destroy RVD and make him look weak before his World Title match with Del Rio? Especially considering that RVD bested Ryback in a battle royal a month or so ago. They must have something big for Ryback to have him attack the number one contender for the World Title a week before his match.

Randy Orton Dashes Goldust’s chance to get Cody Rhodes rehired

It was a really good match between these two. Mostly because of the build around it. While it wasn’t a technical classic of a match, there was a lot of emotion behind it. Goldust showed that he was still as slick as he’s always been in the ring. The fans were into it and I loved it when Goldust hit Randy with his brother Cody Rhodes’ finisher “Cross Rhodes”. However, Randy ultimately prevailed. It was a really good match with a lot of feel towards. That was added on in the backstage segment afterwards when Stephanie rubbed salt in wounds and called him a loser. She berated Goldust with such vindication. She really has that venom in her voice as well similar to her husband Triple H. Having her do a segment is always great to see.

Daniel Bryan Finally Gets The Upper Hand On Randy Orton

After weeks of the Corporation 2.0 getting the best of Daniel Bryan, Daniel finally got his own back firstly with a win over Dean Ambrose. It was a good match and he beat him clean and beat of the Shield as well. Post-match, The Shield attack Daniel with Big Show being forced to watch on. Then the WWE Champion Randy Orton came down to the ring claiming to have Triple H’s permission to tell Big Show what to do. He instructs Big Show to knock Bryan out just as he did last week, but Big Show refused. Randy said he’d pick him up for Show, but Bryan served up a flying knee to Orton. Bryan then posed with the WWE Title. It’s good that WWE finally give Daniel something to cheer about. It doesn’t make it seem that the Corporation 2.0 is over-whelming Daniel and that he’s actually got a chance. It was a good way to end RAW.

Overall, good RAW in Canada. Great match between Goldust and Randy Orton and some great promos being cut by all sorts of people. AJ Lee, Stephanie McMahon, Edge, Triple H and even Goldust all delivered goods on the mic in build up to the pay-per-view this Sunday. I’ve just got a question… why isn’t the US Champion Dean Ambrose on the card considering he himself is a champion and all titles are supposed to be defended at Night Of Champions?

That was this week’s RAW Review. I’m Tom Robinson. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Follow us at @ArmbarExpress on Twitter and go to https://www.facebook.com/ArmbarExpress to like the Facebook Page. My Twitter account is @TomRobinson5199 so gives us a follow there as well. Also, its great to see that my Alberto Del Rio article on WhatCulture is getting a lot of views. It’s got 1000+ views since it was published on September 1st which is awesome. I’ve got something else planned on that site so stay tuned. And also, today’s the 12 year “anniversary” of the September 11 attacks. Thoughts and prayers to those affected by them horrific attacks 12 years ago.

Random YouTube video of the POST! A video I’m made of Cesaro swinging Santino… with the sound being replaced by a very appropriate song. Let’s just say this song will spin you right round! XD Someone had to do it!

17/06/2013 RAW REBOUND – Brock vs Punk, AJ vs Stephaine, and Ziggler’s Revenge

Hello lovely, lovely wrestling fans. I am “The One Man Gang” Tom Robinson. And YES, I am actually reviewing RAW! And it was a good RAW. With a LOT to talk about. I want to focus on a couple of things….

Mark Henry’s “Retirement”

MARK HENRY: Certainly Digging The Suit Bro

Yeah after a dozen of cryptic messages on Twitter teasing a potential retirement, Mark Henry interrupted WWE Champion John Cena’s promo late on in the episode of RAW. Mark Henry came out and made a typical retirement speech which was actually pretty funny. He basically thanked the fans and said “I’m coming home”. He then went to hug John Cena… and delivered a WORLD’S STRONGEST SLAM to the champion and saying he’s still got a lot in the tank. Mark Henry made an emphatic statement and challenged Cena for the WWE Championship. Later on, the match was booked by Vickie Guerrero for Money In The Bank. Just a little curious why WWE would go this route if Daniel Bryan was supposed to be next line for a title shot? Sure, Daniel did hint at challenging for the WWE title himself last night but I’d figure they wouldn’t announce a WWE Title match at Money In The Bank such a short amount of time after the last one. Maybe things will change. Maybe D-Bry might fight Henry for the spot at Money In The Bank. We’ll have to wait and see.

Unlikely Alliances Sees Zeb Colter and Antonio Cesaro Join Forces

ANTONIO CESARO AND ZEB COLTER: Yeah, because this makes total sense right?

Really WWE? Really? This has no logic in it at all. You’re telling me that Zeb Colter, a man who has banged on for months about being a “Real American” and people from other countries coming into America and taking their jobs, is suddenly going to join forces with a Swiss-Born man who shits on America all the time Antonio Cesaro? This is probably the dumbest thing WWE has ever done. Yeah if WWE had Colter change his ways and start appreciating foreigners it’d make some sense. But Colter said Cesaro embodies a “Real American”. It’s hypocritical and it baffles me beyond belief. How can this alliance possibly work? It’s ridiculous. Oh yeah, his match with one William Regal (yes he got a match on RAW for once) was a short but sound technical wrestling bout. It’s nice seeing grapplers like this squaring off. We need more on the scene in WWE.

Damien Sandow defeats Sheamus… sort of

DAMIEN SANDOW: Big Victory For The Intellectual Saviour Of The Masses

Well Sandow won a handicap match with Cody Rhodes, but it’s cool that Sandow’s not walking out of this feud (assuming it’s over) winless. Big win over a top superstar for Sandow, even if it was off a roll up. Sandow beat Sheamus and that’s awesome.

“The Instant Classic” Christian Returns After 10 Months On The Shelf

CHRISTIAN: Returning Christian Acting Like He’s Won The Olympics

Good news for the Christian Coalition. Christian returned and defeated Wade Barrett (-.-) on his return. It’s nice seeing Christian back around Money In The Bank period. I hope that Christian gets pushed back into the World Title scene, especially with Del Rio as World Champion. His match with Barrett was short, but the return got the fans excited and let’s see what Captain Charisma has in store for us.

The AJ Lee/Stephanie McMahon Confrontation

AJ LEE AND STEPHANIE MCAMAHON: If you could have any two women in a WWE segment, it’d likely be these two.

Now I LOVED this segment. Two of my favourite women in professional wrestling history engaging in a confrontation on RAW. The similarities between these two are so evident and AJ held her own against Stephanie on the mic. It’s good that the Divas Champion AJ has got a chance to have a verbal exchange with someone as important in WWE as Stephanie. AJ is also documented of being a HUGE fan of Stephanie and this has to be a little buzz for her too. This was a great segment and when it gets uploaded on YouTube (Give it time. It will) watch it. This was such a great segment to see. Of course, Kaityln and the rest of the divas sort of ruined it at the end but I bet a lot of you were buzzing after watching that segment. I know I was.

POWER IS EVERYTHING – Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie battle for control of RAW

I’m starting to dig this storyline of power-struggle between the McMahons. Who doesn’t like a good family feud? It was class seeing Vickie Guerrero in the middle of Triple H and Vince arguing about how to handle business and Stephanie getting a little bit of input too. This storyline could really work, but I didn’t get why the Triple H vs Curtis Axel thing was sort of dropped? I mean they did advertise it on WWE.com. Hmmmmmmmm.

Daniel Bryan Injured In Battle With Randy Orton

DANIEL BRYAN: Hurt After NoDQ match with Randy Orton

Yeah, apparently this was not a storyline injury. According to this article in NoDQ.com, “the storyline where Daniel Bryan suffered a stinger during his match with Randy Orton was actually a legitimate injury. Bryan was originally scheduled to win against Orton, but once the injury occurred, plans changed and the match was stopped.” Yeah, this may have been the reason why Bryan was pulled from Money In The Bank but I hope this isn’t too serious. Daniel Bryan is on a roll. He’s super-over with the fans, his in-ring has been exceptional. The writers are behind him. However, an injury will cause all that momentum to crack. He is still scheduled to compete against Dean Ambrose on the SmackDown! tapings so I wonder if he’ll be pulled.

Alberto Del Rio Turns His Back On The Fans And Dolph Ziggler Gets Revenge

DOLPH ZIGGLER: Payback For Getting Beat at errr… Payback

Funnily enough, RAW actually started with the World Heavyweight Champion. When was the last time the World Champion started-off a RAW post-PPV? Normally it’s either John Cena or some other mega-star. I guess they want the World Title to mean something again. And I think that was confirmed when CM Punk of all people confronted the new World Champion (we’ll get on to CM Punk in a bit). Anyway, Del Rio vs CM Punk was booked for the main event. The match was alright, but it ended in a count out when Del Rio chose the cowardly route out of the match with Punk. And while he ran, Ziggler attacked Del Rio! Ziggler got a great reaction. The fans wanted Ziggler to come out all night and Ziggler got a massive FACE reaction. This double-turn with Del Rio turning heel and Ziggler turning face might actually be a stroke of genius on WWE’s part. Now on to the big one….

Brock Lesnar confronts CM Punk

CM PUNK AND BROCK LESNAR: If you watched this, you got goosebumps.

Yeah, what a way to end RAW. The show saw CM Punk seemingly show Heyman the door. He said he’s always going to be a Paul Heyman guy, but he needs to be by himself right now and gain momentum. And Heyman agreed to not get involved in his match with Del Rio. Then CM Punk won via count-out against Del Rio. CM Punk celebrates in the ring. BUT THEN…..

HOLY SHIT! LET THE ROAD TO SUMMERSLAM BEGIN! Brock Lesnar comes out at the end of Raw and F5’s CM Punk. What a class ending. This feud has been rumoured and talked about for years! And now it’s finally coming to fruition. It’ll likely be Summerslam. I don’t think these two will clash at Money In The Bank. I think this is just laying the ground work. CM Punk will do something else at Money In The Bank and fight Lesnar at Summerslam. The battle of the Paul Heyman Guys! I’m looking forward to the next couple of months in the build up to this match. It appears CM Punk will be the face in this feud and that’s fine. It’s gonna be a hell of a journey from now until Summerslam for these two. HERE COMES THE PAIN!

Anyway! Epic RAW. Loving everything that went on last night. There are a couple things I haven’t talked about like Chris Jericho’s match with Heath Slater and Curtis Axel vs Sin Cara but there was a lot of things going on last night. I just had to focus on the big areas of last night. Really good RAW heading into Money In The Bank. A couple of returns, a couple of confrontations and we saw BROCK LESNAR. It was probably the best RAW I’ve seen all year. And yeah, that beats the RAW after Wrestlemania. Just a great night of wrestling and drama last night.

That was the RAW review. I’m Tom Robinson and I want too leave you with this random theme song that is really fit for the real man’s man. XD

WWE Payback 2013 Review – CM Punk vs Chris Jericho III, Shocking Title Changes And Double Turns In Chicago

Morning wrestling fans, I’m “The Ultimate Warrior” Tom Robinson here with a review of WWE Payback. Yes, I watched it live last night! 1am to 4am. Shattered at the end of it, but it was certainty worth it. WWE put on a great show here. I think it was just better than Extreme Rules, and that’s saying a lot considering how good Extreme Rules was. Anyway, let’s get down to the REVIEW!

Curtis Axel Gives His Father The Perfect Father’s Day Present With The Intercontinental Title

CURTIS AXEL AND PAUL HEYMAN: A “perfect” end for Curtis Axel

We kicked off the show with a decent triple threat Intercontinental Championship match. Chicago booed The Miz, sort of on the fence with Wade Barrett… but cheered the hell out of the son of the late “Mr Perfect” Curt Henning, Curtis Axel. It was a slick match with a really cool ending. And Chicago went wild when the inevitable happened – Axel became the new champion following his father’s footsteps. As Miz had Barrett in the figure four (still being booed), Axel covered Barrett for the pinfall while he was locked in the submission. A clever way to end the match. As much as I don’t like Wade Barrett losing the title, this was a great moment mostly due to the Chicago crowd going nuts, especially when Axel hit his father’s Perfect-Plex. Good opening to Payback

AJ Lee FINALLY wins the Divas Championship In The Best WWE Women’s match In Years

AJ LEE: Totally marked out when this happened. 🙂

AJ and Kaitlyn really did have something to prove. TNA unleashed the epic Last Knockout Standing match between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell at Slammiversary a couple of weeks back, and WWE had to top that if WWE at all cared about their divas division. And I for one was really impressed with what AJ and Kaitlyn were able to pull off last night. For one it lasted a hell of a lot longer than most divas matches in WWE. Second, the match had great story-telling behind it. Remember, these two started in WWE together in 2010, been a tag team, slapped each other in the place a lot, break each other’s heart and finally have the one on one encounter. These two actually put on a decent show in Chicago. Was it on the par with Gail vs Taryn? No. But I wouldn’t be surprised if more matches will result in better quality in the ring. AJ is already a great women’s wrestler. Kaitlyn is improving and we could see that here. AJ winning is definetly something that should have happened ages ago. But, at least it’s finally happened and I actually marked out when it did.

I hope this feud continues on. I want to see what these two can REALLY do together. If WWE play it right, they can use these two to rebuild the women’s division into something worthwhile. I think this feud will continue because Kaitlyn’s starting to become the emotional wreck AJ was last year, when she cried after losing the title. To be honest, I thought the crying was a little over the top. In fact my exact thoughts at that time was….

US Champion Dean Ambrose Retains After Count Out Win Against Kane

DEAN AMBROSE: BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD!

A little bit disappointing match with a disappointing an end. I’m not a big fan of matches ending in a count out, especially PPV matches. PPV Title matches should always have a legit winner by pinfall or submission. This match seemed pretty much like the match they had on RAW except the ending was different. I think if they’d given Ambrose and Kane a no dq match, things would have actually been a little bit better. I think they will do that eventually because of the DQ and Count Out endings in their last to matches.

The Whole F’Ing Show Comes Back At Money In The Bank!

This promo video is purely orgasmic. RVD back in the WWE. Back where he belongs is awesome. As much as I like TNA, Rob Van Dam wasn’t really a fit there. Him back in WWE was epic and the fans just chanted “RVD” the rest of the night in Chicago. Even if this is a short-term contract for Van Dam, the time he is back will be the time I will be most appreciative of. There are so many matches I want him to have while he’s here. Matches with CM Punk. Matches with Daniel Bryan. Matches with a lot of superstars. RVD is here and I am loving this. He has been one of my favourites since I started watching wrestling and it’s great to see him back.

Double Turn Shocker Sees A New World Champion!

ALBERTO DEL RIO: Another Del Rio title reign… can he really cut it as a World Champion?

And his name is….

Yeah, total shocker here. An incredibly one-sided match which Alberto Del Rio targetted Dolph Ziggler’s head saw Del Rio regain the World Title in a very hell way. Because of Ziggler’s recent concussion Del Rio delivered brutal kicks and brutal attacks to Ziggler and a superkick to the face was enough to pick up the win for Del Rio. Not exactly a fan of Ziggler’s title reign being cut short, but I’ll give WWE credit for the Double Turn. The crowd was rightly outraged and Del Rio gained a LOT of heat. Del Rio was gaining heat anyway against this pro-Ziggler crowd, but after the manner of his victory and the promo cut afterwards Del Rio was booed by all. Ziggler refusing to stop the match also gives him a lot of credibility as a face. But now we have a new champion in Del Rio and we had a double turn, with Dolph Ziggler turning face and Del Rio turning heel. It was kinda cool to see because double-turns are really rare nowadays. I’m not exactly sure I’m looking forward to Del Rio as champion again, but Ziggler as a face will be amazing to watch. I hope he gets the title back PRONTO.

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho III – The Return Of Punk

CHRIS JERICHO AND CM PUNK: Locking up in Chicago

For the third time in Pay-Per-View Chris Jericho and the returning CM Punk clashed and for the third time in pay-per-view they blew the roof off the place. Such true technical wrestling ability combined with the quickness and pure talent both Punk and Jericho provided. This match was easily the best in their trilogy with near-fall after near-fall and epic moment after epic moment. This will go down as one of the best matches of the year and these two were a delight in Chicago and Chicago loved every second of it. After an epic encounter, it was CM Punk who reigned supreme… again. I would’ve like for Jericho to get a victory over Punk for once but I’m sure Jericho’s going to get the win… eventually. But this was Punk’s night. I wonder what the future has in store for the Best In The World.

AGAIN! Randy Orton doesn’t turn heel! -.-

DANIEL BRYAN: Nice suplex off the top of the turn-buckle. He’ll be champion again. You wait and see!

Please turn him! That’s all I ask of you WWE. He should have done it at Mania but he didn’t. He should have done it here but he didn’t. His tag match with Daniel Bryan against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins wasn’t much special, but at least Randy Orton could have RKO’d Daniel again or something. Really disappointed. Speaking of disappointment…

Ryback vs John Cena – 3 STAGES OF HELL

JOHN CENA: Standing tall at the end of Payback

Yawn. Can’t believe I stayed up to watch this. Boring as hell. You know after their quality Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules, I was expecting a good match here. Instead we got a short and unproductive Lumberjack match. We got boring as tables match. And we had an ambulance match that made you want to kill yourself. -.- John Cena walked out the champion and that was an awful way for the feud to end. It ends just like every other one of Cena’s feuds with big guys end. Batista, The Great Khali, Kane and now Ryback all end in the same god damn way. Go watch the endings to them feuds. It’s the exact same thing over again. -.- At least John Cena vs Daniel Bryan is lined up for Money In The Bank. CANNOT wait for that. We might actually see one of the matches of the year in MITB.

Anyway, that was the Payback review. I’m Tom Robinson. And I’m going to leave you with this great song declaring my love for the great place known… as Chicago.