– Rich Swann beat Axel Tischer via an incredible standing splash maneuver
Great showing by Swann here. Instantly won over the crowd and worked a fast paced crisp match.
– Asuka, Adrien Reese and Aliyah beat Emma, Cameron and Billie Kay
Asuka caught Billie in the Asuka Lock.
– Tough Enough Josh promo segment where he was heelish and said his name is Bronson Mathews.
– Bull Dempsey beat Tino Sabatelli with a seated splash off the top
Comedy early. Bull did jumping jacks to upset Tino.
– Marcus Louis beat Oscar The Luchador with a rock bottom type slam
– Enzo, Big Cass w/ Carmella, and Levis Valenzuela beat NXT Tag Champions Dash & Dawson and Elias Samson
Pre match promo by Zo and Cass about taking the titles at Takeover. Long match. Cass hit a side slam followed by a top rope splash on Samson for the win. Post match, Cass told them to play Levis’ music and it was time to fiesta!
– Hugo Knox defeated Tucker Knight via spinning heel kick
Back and forth match.
– Nia Jax beat Daria in a squash
Tough Enough Daria was out to cut a promo but before she could start, Nia Jax interrupted and challenged her to a match.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor, Apollo Crews, and Tye Dillinger beat Baron Corbin, Constantine, and Riddick Moss
Long match, a lot of heat on Baron, crowd was behind Finn all the way. He received the the hot tag and finished off the match with the dropkick to the corner and the double foot stomp off the top.
Last week, WWE released Brad Maddox from his contract after the SmackDown tapings. This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with him for an exclusive interview to see how life is treating him now that he is out of the WWE and what he has planned for the new chapter in his career.
Some highlights from the interview that can be seen below:
– Whether using the word ‘prick’ in a dark match promo got him fired:
“It was because of that…That particular night was a bad decision on my behalf…I didn’t think anything of it, but Vince wasn’t happy about that. I don’t know if it’s a generational word that maybe used to be worse than it is now….I didn’t really think it through, but I should have been more careful in that moment because I knew Vince was watching. I tend to take chances at stupid times.”
– Being frustrated in WWE:
“It has been a long couple of years for me, working on angles and ideas trying to get (back) in. I’ve always wanted to wrestle…Absolutely, I wanted to wrestle from the get go…I could have talked to Vince more than I did, rather than sitting around in catering hoping that the writers were coming up with something for me.”
– Practicing promos with Vince and Stephanie:
“I’ve got to do some cool stuff. Going over promos with Vince in his office, or the bathroom of his office – for some reason! – with him and Daniel Bryan and Stephanie.”
– Why he choose OVW as a path into WWE:
“I researched on where to go. I didn’t want to waste my time, there are hundreds of thousands of indy promotions. I was either going to move to Atlanta – which was a good move because they shut down shortly after! – and I went to Louisville. Back then it was a lot different, you could actually train with the (WWE) contracted guys.”
– Additionally, we discussed why he watched WCW growing up, how he considers Joey Mercury a mentor, learning promos from Dusty Rhodes, being involved in angles with CM Punk, what he intends to do with his spare time and much, much more, especially in relation to his recent release and his frustrations around it.
To put the number in perspective, 3.16 million viewers tied the November 9th show for the second lowest watched non-holiday episode of the show since 1997. The Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens game on ESPN drew 10.11 million viewers, down four million from the week before when the New England Patriots played the Buffalo Bills.
The third hour dropped by 300,000 viewers from the first hour. The main event of the show was the new League of Nations faction (WWE Champion Sheamus, King Barrett, U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio and Rusev) teaming with WWE Tag Team champions The New Day to battle Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and The Usos in a handicap match.
The show opened with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos out. Some fans started a “Hug It Out” chant so Reigns and Ambrose hugged for a pop. The League of Nations came out along with The New Day. This built to where Ambrose and The Usos were to wrestle The New Day, and if Ambrose & The Usos didn’t win, then Reigns would have to face the League of Nations in a handicap match by himself.
Tyler Breeze beat Neville due to distraction from Summer Rae. Dolph Ziggler was watching the match.
Becky Lynch did an interview. She doesn’t believe Charlotte is like Paige. Brie Bella then made fun of her for believing that. Charlotte showed up and said she would always be behind Lynch.
Brie Bella beat Becky Lynch via DQ. Brie knocked Charlotte off the apron so she ran in for the DQ, costing Lynch the match. They teased more tension between Charlotte and Lynch.
Miz did an interview for his new program with Neville. He made fun of Neville for having no charisma and funny looking ears. He then gave Neville a DVD of his new movie.
Rusev & Lana vowed to destroy Ryback.
New Day beat Dean Ambrose & Usos when Woods pinned Jey after a shining wizard.
Bray Wyatt beat Devon Dudleys with Sister Abigail. The Wyatts beat down the Dudleys & Tommy Dreamer and put them through a table after.
Roman Reigns beat Sheamus & Barrett & Rusev & Del Rio when Sheamus was counted out. Ambrose and The Usos came out and cleaned house.
TLC 5: December 15, 2013; Houston, Texas, Toyota Center
WWE Champion, Randy Orton, competes against the World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, in a TLC match to crown a Champion of Champions.
The show starts with a cold open where HHH and Steph come out to make an announcement and they tell us how important this unification match is to history. Right. Hunter gives us a Lou Thesz vs. Buddy Rogers history lesson. This leads to a nice video package. WWE should just make video packages. Even when the product is terrible (read: now) they can produce the heck out of a package that will get you interested.
Cole, JBL, and King are on the pipes tonight as usual.
Pre Show Match: Fandango (with Summer Rae) defeated Dolph Ziggler in a singles match.
Remember last year when Dolph was in the main event?
CM Punk vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns in a 3-on-1 handicap match
I have no memory of how or why this was booked. It seems preposterous.
Punk is sporting the mutton chop look.
For a group that touted justice, The Shield sure seems willing to cheat.
Seth is wearing a vest he must have gotten from John Popper from Blues Traveler, as it appears to be able to hold a dozen harmonicas.
Reigns dove at Punk and tumbled over the announce desk. He apparently hurt his eye, which is how Punk was able to take advantage. The doctor checked on this, but it’s definitely an angle because every doctor knows that if it’s a matter of life, limb, or eyesight, you go to the ER right away.
Reigns, suffering from impaired vision, speared Ambrose, and Punk hits the GTS on Ambrose for the pin. The doctor must feel like a real jerk.
What if Punk wins his first UFC match via head and arm choke, i.e. the Anaconda Vice? That would be sweet. Luckily, I know the counter.
Ridiculous match concept, but it was good.
AJ Lee (with Tamina) is interviewed and AJ calls the Divas division, Natalya, the Slammy Awards, and the whole WWE a joke. Duh.
AJ Lee (c) (with Tamina) vs. Natalya for the WWE Divas Championship
This is mid AJ Lee super long title run, so I’m assuming she goes over. Spoiler alert.
So is the Tamina character out of the closet? I’m predicting that happens eventually.
Natalya hooks on the Sharpshooter, but AJ counters out.
AJ hooks up the Black Widow, but Natalya counters out.
AJ rolls up Natalya from another Sharpshooter attempt, and apparently grabbed the hair for the pin.
Good match, but nothing special.
We get another excellent video package showing some awesome champions. The problem is that both Cena and Orton have been champions, many times. Nobody is buying the validity of the unification.
Damien Sandow vs. Big E. Langston (c) for the Intercontinental Championship
Big E is doing the chalk hands gimmick. I’d like to see more stuff with him being really strong. It would be great if he were bench-pressing Xavier in a skit.
Sandow takes a nice Electric Chair drop by Big E. He should do that on Big Show.
Big E takes down the straps and hits the Big Ending for the pin.
A funny spot would be for a heel to take down his straps and then his trunks fall down.
Vince McMahon Jr. walks up to Orton backstage. The sound didn’t work. The only thing of note is that Orton was wearing basketball shorts. So it’s true; he does own leg coverings other than trunks.
Next we hear from the panel of Josh Matthews, Mick Foley, and Booker T, and they discuss what happened earlier in the night with Miz talking trash on Kofi.
Fatal Four Way for the Tag Team Championship: The Real Americans (Cesaro and Swagger with Zeb Colter) vs. Rey Mysterio and Big Show vs. Rybaxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) vs. Goldust and Cody Rhodes (c); elimination rules
Last team left wins the Jabroni cup.
Rey was gone for a year prior to this, and I guess “creative” didn’t have enough time to come up with something better for him.
Gold Dust rolls up Ryback for the first elimination.
Cesaro hit the Gant Swing.
Gold Dust hit the Code Red. What?
Cody hurt his knee, which put him out temporarily.
Big Show gives Cesaro the KO punch as Cesaro came off the second rope, then pinned him.
The action really picked up into quite a fun match. Then came a nice finishing sequence where Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Rey for the pin.
Then Big Show and Rey display good sportsmanship. Boooooo!
The Jabroni posse gets some airtime as Titus O’Neal and Darren Young break out the Brawling Buddies for an embarrassing segment that ended with Kane walking in and scaring Vicki and Brad Maddox. It was even dumber than it sounds.
Brodus Clay (with the Funkadactyls and Tensai) vs. R Truth (with Xavier Woods) in a Time Fillers match
This was a nothing match.
Why don’t they trust Xavier to wrestle?
Tensai and Clay get into it for some reason. Then Tensai walks out. Then the Dactyls peace out too for no reason. I guess because they were about to be famous and didn’t want to be associated with such a bad idea.
R Truth hits the standard WWE school-boy distraction finish.
Miz vs. Kofi Kingston
Kofi kicked the steal post. What about your kick pads bro?
Have I ever mentioned I hate kickpads? Why would you want to make your kicks less effective? You only wear those when you’re practicing!
We are really seeing the lack of start power tonight. Nobody is over. The crowd long since gave up.
The Miz has a sweet butt-cut. This match is worth sitting through just for that. His head looks like a 1-up mushroom.
Boring chant.
Kofi wins with the Trouble in Paradise.
Then they showed an AWESOME video package for the Raw 20th anniversary DVD, and in doing so completely exposed how awful the current product is with tons of awesome clips.
Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper) in ANOTHER 3-on-1 handicapped match.
Only one of them is named Wyatt. Rowan and Harper should stand up for themselves.
Someone should tell Bray that he’s wearing a fedora. What a gimmick. I bet he thought of it too. “Hey creative team, I should do a gimmick wear I sit in a rocking chair instead of wrestling.”
JBL suggests that Bryan just join them. Would that just end the match? Just pull a total schoolyard job, “Nuh-uh I was on base!” “Don’t beat me up I’m on your team.”
Bray finally tags in to work on a worn out Bryan.
Harper’s log roll, or gator roll, move is so dumb. The purpose of that move is solely to pin the man, not make him dizzy. He’s faking a real wrestling hold. I know, but it bothers me.
Bray offers a handshake and says it will all go away, so I guess that answers my question.
D Bry had a great comeback, but Bray caught him with the Sister Abigail for the pin, to end a really entertaining match.
Supposedly this is the first time these two titles have been competed for in the same match, but I’m pretty sure I remember that occurring as recently as 2002 and probably more recent than that. Oh well. At least we didn’t have a Chairs match tonight. Then they show another excellent video package, begging you to care about the same guys who have been on top for nearly a decade.
John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton (c) for the Unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship (but still two belts)
This is the 15th TLC match and Randy Orton’s first.
“CUCK FENA” sign. Ha! I popped.
Early garbage leads to both guys on the floor.
Orton lays out Cena and goes to set up a ladder.
Orton body watch: Much improved from last time we saw him which was 2011.
RKO out of nowhere!
Cena goes nuts with the steal steps and Orton is busted open.
A missed punt was countered with an AA through the Spanish announce team. Now Cena climbs and then Orton dumps him but Cena hangs on to the belts!
Randy handcuffed Cena to the bottom rope, but Cena uncoupled the turnbuckle and made a valiant effort to win, but it was too late. Orton wins after yanking Cena off the ladder.
Pretty good match!
Then HHH, Steph, and Vince all come down to celebrate.
Thumbs in the Middle. So now my TLC PPV rankings go from best to worst: 4,5,3,1,2.
Key Takeaway: A really unfocused episode of Breaking Ground, checking in with a lot of NXT personalities just to remind you that they exist, finishes off with three individuals getting raises from WWE executive Canyon Ceman and another getting released in the last scene of the episode.
Show Recap: We quickly check in with a few loose ends from last episode. An absolutely gassed ZZ gets a stern lecture from Jason Albert about his conditioning and the need to push himself past his limits to improve. Meanwhile, Jason Jordan steps up and has a strong performance as he and Chad Gable (who is working with an ankle injury) beat the Hype Bros to move on in the Dusty Rhodes Classic and earn a spot on the upcoming Takeover special.
From there, the episode jumps around a lot.
Cal Bishop gets back into the ring following his third shoulder injury (and second surgery). They even show footage of his shoulder blowing out in the ring in December 2014 (in his first match back from his first surgery). He says been much more keen with his rehab work and paying attention. He’s about a week away from getting medically cleared. He has an in-ring workout. It goes well, but he’s limited by his arm, and Albert and the rehab trainer express concerns about his ability to lift opponents with confidence.
Next we check in with Nia Jax. She explains her character by declaring “I am the main bitch and nobody’s going to mess with me.” She does mention that her cousin is The Rock, and that seeing his match at WrestleMania 28 made her want to become a wrestler. She discusses some concerns she has about her size, but also notes that her unique look, size and background help her stand out in a really crowded NXT womens division. We transition to a segment with Nhooph via the revelation that she and Nia are road buddies, which is a web series that we need to see – the tiny young girl and The Rock’s cousin traveling around America wrestling at shows. Anyway, Nhooph gets a ring name – Aaliyah – and has a meeting with William Regal to share her ideas for her character. She wants to emphasize her Middle Eastern background to stand out and Regal encourages her, noting that unless she is thinking and feeling her character and bringing it out through her eyes, fans will see right through her. Tyler Breeze appears, sitting down with the new girls in the ring and going over psychology – what drives their characters, why do they walk the way they do, how do they move or orient themselves – and it seems to blow their minds. (Later on, the coaches praise Breeze’s ability to connect with the new talent and his great attitude given his lengthy developmental tenure.) After a video session where the females sit with Sara Amato and go over old WWE promos, Nia has an evaluation with Amato that goes pretty well.
The episode ends with Canyon Ceman arriving and everyone freaking out (since in every episode he’s appeared in somebody’s gotten cut), culminating with a montage with Apollo Crews, Jason Jordan, Nia Jax and Cal Bishop being summoned to meetings. Crews, Jordan and Jax each get raises, while Bishop is released to end the episode.
There’s also a storyline with Tino Sabbatelli getting his brother a try-out that doesn’t go anywhere, as his brother blows his knee out on an indie show five days before the try-out and they have to re-schedule.
Final Thoughts: The episode attempted to build towards a dramatic climax where they wanted the audience to wonder which talent would get released. Unfortunately, it felt really hollow, as the three wrestlers that aren’t Cal Bishop are all on NXT television right now, so there was absolutely no tension. It was a bit frustrating that they went so far out of their way to sell Bishop as a hard-working guy with terrible luck, while at the same time showing ZZ to be a waste of time and real estate in the Performance Center.
At least it was a newsworthy show, which had some good ideas on paper. In practice, they weren’t executed well tonight. Sheamus has formed a new heel unit with King Barrett, Rusev and Alberto Del Rio called the League of Nations. They won in the main event, which needlessly also included the New Day on its side to beat Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and the Usos. Charlotte teased a heel turn after faking a knee injury to beat her friend Becky Lynch. And Lana reemerged as a heel, doing a complete reset of her character since February.
Show Recap:
The New Day came out with confetti and red carpeting like they were going to throw a party. They were there to introduce Sheamus as WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Of course, Sheamus thanked the Authority. He also thanked Roman Reigns. New Day pretended they couldn’t remember Reigns’ 5-minute championship reign, with Xavier Woods mentioning they were playing Street Fighter and heard something about it.
Sheamus said if Reigns’ hadn’t savored the moment after winning the belt, he would have seen Sheamus coming. They all laughed over Reigns’ being champion for 5 minutes and 15 seconds, which I think is the average length a Raw viewer stays around before they turn to the football game. Sheamus said you can have Austin 3:16, because Sheamus 5:15 said I just kicked your arse. Not much heat for Sheamus as a top heel, probably because he’s booked as the new Seth Rollins.
As Sheamus held up the belt, Reigns showed up, gave him the Superman punch and took the championship belt. Michael Cole and JBL had moments of awkward silence trying to get this angle over without saying the word “belt.” It’s like a game of “Password” on national television where “belt” is the clue but the announcers can’t say it. Somebody get these people a thesaurus.
Reigns showed off the belt to Dean Ambrose and the Usos when HHH and Stephanie McMahon showed up. HHH wanted the belt back. Reigns gave the belt back. Well, that gimmick was great. HHH said Sheamus wanted to face Reigns for the title tonight. Reigns jumped at that chance. Stephanie said the catch was Reigns could only win the title if he beats Reigns in under 5:15. Maybe they could call that a Quadrophenia Death Match. (Only fans of the Who will get that. Hate to go all Dennis Miller on you.)
Dolph Ziggler defeated Tyler Breeze (10:33)
There traded a series of about ten cradles in a row, all for two counts. After Dolph Ziggler kicked out of a schoolboy cradle by Tyler Breeze, Ziggler hit a Superkick for the win. Once again, Breeze’s ring entrance didn’t air in lieu of Cole talking about the main event. If they aren’t going to give Breeze the full trappings of his character, why bring him up from NXT? Pretty good match.
MizTV featured Rusev with Lana, making her return after her engagement to Rusev was publicly acknowledged. This was weird. Miz said Rusev had to be upset nursing injuries that forced him to miss the WWE World Heavyweight title tournament. Rusev missed the tournament because of injury? When was this acknowledged? Rusev said there was one person who had been there for him while he was injured, and it was Lana.
Lana came out dressed like she was a heel again. She lost her 1980s Great White video wardrobe. Even stranger, Miz said Rusev made Lana “Summer Rae 2.0.” Wasn’t it the other way around? Lana said she never went all the way with Ziggler. Crowd chanted “Yes, you did.” Lana said all the turmoil only made them a stronger couple. Rusev said he never went all the way with Summer. Crowd…ibid. Rusev said from now on, he will break people apart in the ring, but out of the ring his heart belonged to Lana. They started making out in the ring for a very long period of time unti Ryback came out.
Ryback said this wasn’t an episode of “Teen Wolf” and the big guy was hungry. This set up a match.
Ryback defeated Rusev via countout (1:44)
Ryback shoulder blocked Rusev into the ring steps, which slammed into Lana’s leg. Lana went down immediately. Even though he realized the count was on by the referee, Rusev stopped to check on Lana and got counted out. Rusev screamed at Ryback afterwards. A reminder that Rusev is supposed to be the heel here.
Ambrose met with HHH backstage. On Smackdown, Ambrose earned an Intercontinental Championship match by beating Kevin Owens in a nontitle match. HHH said if Reigns doesn’t beat Sheamus tonight in 5:15, then Ambrose would lose his title shot with Owens. Ambrose looked mad. I’m not sure why since I-C champions usually job all the time.
The Dudley Boyz came out. Bubba Ray Dudley said last week was a tough one for them as they were beaten up twice by the Wyatt Family. By doing what they did to the Dudley’s, Ray said the Wyatt Family had put their names on tables. Bubba unveiled tables with the names of each Wyatt Family member on them. Bubba challenged them to come out.
The Wyatts came out. Bray Wyatt accepted the Dudleys challenge, but said they should be careful to invite the devil into your backyard because he might like it and decide to stay.
Devon Dudley said the Wyatts had his family and they have theirs. This brought out Tommy Dreamer from the crowd. He brought out the typical trash can filled with weapons. Crowd chanted “ECW.” Dreamer looked tanned and looked younger than earlier this year when he was in TNA.
The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer went to a double DQ with Eric Rowan, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman (3:30)
They got a six-way brawl going after Dreamer made the hot tag. Then the bell just sounded, which got the most heat in the match and not in a good way.
Braun Strowman put Dreamer in the head-and-arm choke while Rowan and Harper laid out the Dudleys. Wyatt ordered the heels to get the tables. As they did so, Bubba Ray got up and pushed Wyatt off the apron and through a table at ringside. Crowd popped and the heels were incensed their leader had gone through a table.
Zeb Coulter cut a promo before the match saying the fans were more concerned with Anne Hathaway’s baby bump and social media than the country. Alberto Del Rio said Goldust was out of date and full of hate. Goldust popped him across the jaw. What is the purpose behind the Del Rio/Coulter pairing?
Alberto Del Rio (C) defeated Goldust in a nontitle match (1:57)
Del Rio pinned Golddust after the double stomp off the top rope as Golddust was on the Tree of Woe. Del Rio put Goldust in a flying armbar afterwards, leading to Jack Swagger coming out for the save and the “We the People” pledge.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch talked backstage. Lynch suggested they go to the Authority and ask for a singles match. Charlotte wasn’t hot on the idea. Lynch suggested they have a match like they were on NXT again. Charlotte agreed. Ric Flair walked in for a cameo to trade catchphrases with his daughter.
Lucha Dragons and the Usos went to a Double DQ (2:53)
The New Day were on commentary. Big E. was funny as hell. He tried to talk like Michael Cole. He sounded like Tony Gwynn. Jey Uso did a tope on Sin Cara that nearly ended his career. Then Big E. and Kofi Kingston ran in for another Double DQ. Xavier Woods explained that since neither team won, the New Day wouldn’t have to defend the tag team titles at TLC. Third screw job finish within an hour. On the other hand, it’s really scary that Big E. was more entertaining on commentary in 2 minutes than Cole and JBL have been all year.
Stephanie met with Lucha Dragons and the Usos backstage. They wanted a three-way match with the New Day. Stephanie agreed to put Lucha Dragons in the match. She also agreed to include the Usos, but only if Reigns defeated Sheamus tonight.
Sasha Banks defeated Brie Bella via submission (4:58)
Sasha Banks pinned Brie Bella after a distraction from Naomi. Banks got the tapout with the Bank Statement after a Bakc Stabber. Earlier, Alicia Fox got laid out by a superkick from Naomi and was taken to the back. Announcers explained that Nikki Bella was at home nursing an injury, so Team BAD had Team Bella outnumbered.
Roman Reigns defeated Sheamus (C) by DQ so Sheamus retains the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (4:37)
Sheamus now has a “Sheamus 5:15” shirt to get heat. Crowd got into the match as the time ran down. To his credit, Sheamus played the time-killing heel very well. Sheamus constantly grabbed rest holds and rolled out of the ring whenever Reigns was on offense. Reigns finally got Sheamus in the ring set up for the spear, but Rusev showed up to jump Reigns for the DQ while Del Rio and King Barrett helped Sheamus out of the ring.
Sheamus fell all over Lillian Garcia’s lap, and she didn’t look happy about it at all. He introduced Del Rio, Barrett and Rusev as a heel stable called the League of Nations. Ambrose and the Usos hit the ring. Reigns delivered an uppercut on Sheamus to knock him into the League of Nations. They set up a eight-man tag for the main event.
For the record, since Reigns won, Ambrose and the Usos will get their title matches at TLC.
New Day did a commercial introducing New Day t-shirts as part of Cyber Monday. This was during the final hour of the show, which gave viewers two hours to get to their computers in time to take advantage of the discounts.
Charlotte (C) defeated Becky Lynch in a nontitle match (4:37)
Charlotte teased a heel turn by faking a knee injury after a float over in the corner. Flair distracted Lynch, which led to Charlotte doing a nip up and pinning Lynch with a schoolgirl cradle. Lynch acted like she didn’t know what Charlotte was doing, but Flair strutted after his daughter proved the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Paige was on commentary saying she knew all along that Charlotte was someone who would win at all costs. It also proves Charlotte is a big UNC fan.
Lynch confronted Charlotte backstage. Charlotte said she didn’t cheat to beat Lynch, she lured Lynch into letting her guard down. Charlotte said it was just tough love and trying to teach her something and talked her into giving her a pinkie swear. Paige walked up to Lynch and said at least her friendship wasn’t affected.
Next came a segment called the Rosebush with Adam Rose. It’s meant to be a takeoff of Entertainment Tonight. I haven’t seen a segment like this since ODB’s old Trailer Park talk show when she had Magnus on one night. His closing line was “The dirt is always blooming,” which seemed like a shot at newsletters.
Stardust held up a Christmas star and called for the Ascension to rise. Instead, Titus O’Neal showed up and started singing Christmas carols like “Stardust got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Stardust starting hissing at him, but O’Neal threw a present in his throat and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Before the eight man main event could begin, the New Day came out again and announced they joined the League of Nations team to make the main event 7-on-4. They were selling merchandise 15 minutes ago and now they’re heels again? And shouldn’t the League of Nations establish themselves as a quartet before they receive extra help?
The League of Nations and the New Day defeated The Usos, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns (25:10)
Crowd was dead to begin with, but the weird booking just killed it dead. Plus, they went 10 minutes too long. Crowd was more into Ambrose than Reigns. Jimmy Uso started selling his knee from getting the heat and had to leave the match, leaving the babyfaces down 7-on-3. Didn’t we just see Charlotte fake the same injury in the previous match? Ambrose did a plancha onto five of the heels, and later took out Sheamus with a tope. Reigns hit Del Rio with a Superman Punch and gave Big E. a clothesline on the floor. As Ambrose took out Barrett, he walked into a Brogue Kick by Sheamus and was pinned.
Heels picked apart Ambrose until Reigns tried to make the save. Reigns got laid out with a Brogue kick and the heels posed.
SUMMARY:
I feel like using a facepalm emoji. Need a new heel unit? Great idea. Why water them down in the main event with three more heels? Main event was overbooked. Why does Ambrose continue to do more jobs when he’s the most over babyface they have? Becky Lynch could be a great babyface. This company doesn’t know how to make babyface stars anymore because she came off looking like an idiot on this show. Almost all the matches were too short, and the only one that wasn’t was too long. If this one does a 2.0 against a bad MNF game, who will Vince blame? He needs to start with the face in the mirror.
Ric Flair is scheduled to appear on tonight’s WWE Raw show in Pittsburgh, PA.
Flair is in Pittsburgh now, but he is at a lot of WWE shows backstage because of daughter and current Divas Champion Charlotte being in the promotion. However, he was scripted into the show as of earlier today. Most likely, his role will be something to do with Charlotte’s angle with Paige, but as we know, WWE can change on a dime when it comes to scripts.
With a weak NFL Monday night game as competition (Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns), as far as the competition goes, Raw should rebound over last week’s 18-year-record low in the ratings. A number approximating last week’s would indicate the problem is deeper than NFL competition.
No matches have been announced at this time for the show, which, given the three weeks between shows, should include announcements of most of the top matches for the 12/13 TLC pay-per-view show.
The Big Takeaway: Adam Rose continues to lose with this woeful gimmick and The Miz and Zack Ryder, of all people, had a good match in the main event.
*****
R-Truth beat Adam Rose (3:32)
Adam Rose came out for a promo. He blamed the WWE universe for blocking his path to fame. He said that in the future everyone would talk about him because he’s going to be “so famous”. This was dull but he got good heat.
Straight off the bat, Truth tries an O’Conner roll, but Rose kicks out and they exchange arm rings. They chain wrestle until Truth stops Rose in his tracks and gyrates his hips at him. Then he hip tosses him and Rose begs for mercy, going to the ropes. The ref stops things, urging Truth to back off, but Rose takes the opportunity to use a cheap shot and then throws Truth outside and does a running kick on the apron.
Rose rolls Truth back in and goes for the cover, which only gets a two count. He beats him down with elbows and a chin lock but a backdrop gets Truth out. Rose’s charge to the corner is blocked by Truth’s elbow and then Truth gets the heat with clotheslines, a heel kick, but then he misses a scissors kick. Rose hits Truth with a discus clothesline and covers him for two. Then Truth stays down, playing possum, and after the ref checks on him he pops up and hits Rose with the Lie Detector for the win. What a heel!
The Miz beat Zack Ryder (7:02)
I saw Miz live at the house shows on the European tour recently and was really reminded what a great heel he can be, particularly given the right context. He plays The Miz very well. Ryder, meanwhile, was featured on last week’s Breaking Ground where they profiled Mojo Rawley and focused in on the tag teams. He really comes off as a thoughtful and dedicated guy who just desperately wants to play a role that is taken seriously in this company. Anyway, here, these two had a good match.
Miz takes his glasses off at the bell – I still quite like this spot. Ryder shoulder barges him, so Miz takes a walk. When he slides back in, he uses a shoulder barge of his own and then mocks the ‘Woo’ fist pump. Miz goes for a neckbreaker, but it is broken up by Ryder who hits him with a beautifully timed drop kick, followed by a face plant. Ryder sends Miz over the top rope to the outside and then missile drop kicks him through the ropes. He rolls him back in, but as Ryder is mounting the apron, Miz sends him flying into the announce table. We head to a break.
Miz is stomping Ryder as we return. When Ryder kicks out of a pin at two, he hits him with elbows. Ryder takes a buckle bump well and Miz does his running corner clothesline. Miz comes off the top with a double axe handle, but is punched in the stomach by Ryder and so they both go down. Ryder then gets some hope with a flying clothesline, but a top rope drop kick is dodged by Miz who hits him with a DDT for two. Then Miz tries for a suplex but it is reversed into a neckbreaker by Ryder for two.
Ryder then misses the Rough Ryder, Miz misses a charge to the corner and so Ryder goes for the Broski Boot. This is scouted by Miz, who rolls outside. Miz then counters a sunset flip, and holds the ropes while pinning Ryder. The ref spots it and breaks up the pin. Ryder charges and misses a cross body and hits the ropes, so Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. This was an entirely solid match.
Decided at the last minute to take my son Ian (whose birth got a shoutout by Dave on wrestlingobserver.com a little over 7 years ago) to his first WWE event at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO.
Ryback vs. Erick Rowan.
Ryback won via Shellshock.
Bo Dallas vs. Zack Ryder.
Zack Ryder won via Ruff Ryder.
Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin.
Balor won via top rope double foot stomp.
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose.
Ambrose got huge pop. Owens was on the floor when Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds on Ziggler in the ring. Owens pulled Ambrose out of the ring and threw him into the steps and pinned Ziggler. Best match of the night.
Usos & Kane vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman.
Kane pins Harper with a chokeslam. Good match.
Naomi & Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch & Charlotte.
Charlotte submitted Naomi with the Figure Eight. Good short match.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Neville. No Zeb Colter.
Del Rio won with the top rope foot stomp with Neville lying in the ropes in the corner. Good match.
Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns.
Biggest pop of the night for Reigns. Huge “You look stupid” chant at Sheamus. Sheamus was the most hated man in the building and has the cocky heel persona down. Good match with Reigns kicking out of all of Sheamus’s big moves.. Kevin Owens ran in and attacked Reigns for the DQ leading to Ambrose making the save. Sheamus missed a Brogue Kick leading to Reigns hitting his spear to send everyone home happy.
Your Divas champion becomes the latest idiot babyface to fall victim to the deadly distraction/schoolboy combo.
Titus O’Neil w/Darren Young defeated Stardust by countout (3:40)
The first of two matches on this show that were set up on RAW the previous night. Titus of course took a wrong-turn into Cody’s backstage planetarium (not a euphemism) on Monday night, before pinning Cosmic Wasteland member, Konnor, in the subsequent six-man tag.
Very short back-and-forth TV match, with no real discernible structure to it. Usual shine stuff for Titus in the beginning where he channels the Big Show by delivering forehand chops to his foe’s chest in the corners. Stardust gets caught off a top rope cross body attempt, allowing Titus to hit his rib-breakers before tossing him with gay abandon. Speaking of which, Darren was on commentary for this one. He mentioned the “paywinda” twice. No-one laughed.
Titus does the Gator Bark to signal the splash in the corner, but Stardust bails and walks to the back for the lame countout finish. Gotta keep Stardust looking strong, ya know?
Ryback defeated Heath Slater by pinfall (2:58)
We get a clip of The Ryback ruining The One Man Band’s performance in Nashville the prior evening. Hey, I know this will be a squash match, but I appreciate that they’re at least creating the illusion that this show matters in the grand scheme of things.
Heath’s out for revenge. He dresses down Ryback before the bell, comparing himself angrily and favorably to one Garth Brooks. More like Chris Gaines, right?! Right?
Short enhancement match. Ryback gets the win by countering Heath’s patented top-rope flying nothing into a spinebuster, followed by a Meathook and a Shellshock.
Rusev defeated Zach Ryder by submission (4:17)
Mild “Let’s Go Ryder! WOO, WOO, WOO!” and “USA!” chants after the bell from this Indianapolis crowd. They must be an optimistic bunch.
A longer than expected enhancement match here, in which Rusev gave Ryder quite a lot, including two consecutive Broski Boots for a close two-count.
Unsurprisingly however, Rusev eventually locked on the Accolade and Zach tapped like Fred Astaire.
– No backstage segments on this week’s show, but we do get a recap of the main event segment on RAW, where Roman Reigns ran off Sheamus and his Euro buddies with a steel chair.
Brie Bella w/Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte by pinfall (9:34)
Yep, you read that right.
Opening bell rings amid the now obligatory “We Want Sasha” chants. Decent match – certainly better than last week’s psychology-free Naomi/Alicia effort – in which Brie worked Charlotte’s left arm consistently throughout the contest. Although quite what submission she was setting herself up for is very much up for debate. As is persisting to use your husband’s babyface kick sequence when you’re supposed to be a heel.
Back-and-forth finishing sequence, in which both women hit their signature moves, climaxing in a big boot and a spear from Ms. Flair.
And then, Paige’s music hit. And Charlotte walked to the ropes to gawp at her like an idiot. Before falling victim to the most electrifying move in sports entertainment – the schoolboy – for the one, two, three. Lame.
Final Thoughts
A much-less focused show than last week’s offering, which was all about bigging up Titus O’Neil. And from a wrestling perspective, two awful finishes and two squashes do not a happy Main Event viewer make. Recommendation to avoid.
– Air Date: November 26, 2015 – Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
The Big News:
Dean Ambrose became number one contender for Kevin Owens’ Intercontinental Title after defeating Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler. They also set up the Dudleys vs. Wyatts for a tables match and Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger for a chairs match.
Show Recap:
Former WWE Champion Roman Reigns came out to start the show as they recapped the story from Survivor Series and Raw. Reigns entered the ring which had tables and ladders and chairs set up inside already, so I guess he cleared this talking segment with the Authority.
Reigns said he and the Usos used to wrestle all over the house until they were banned from doing so after one Uso broke a coffee table with the other Uso. Reigns said they wrestled all over the yard and dreamt about becoming WWE Champion, but it always felt like just a dream – until Survivor Series when he won the title. The dream got shattered when Sheamus crushed his face (that’s the phrase he used) with a Brogue kick.
Sheamus came out. (They did another bad edit here, like a few weeks ago, where you could hear Sheamus’ entrance start, but on camera the lights didn’t change, and there was no reaction from the crowd or Reigns.) Sheamus told Reigns to get over it because he’s a walking, talking Adele song. He said Reigns has been talking about being champion longer than he actually was champion.
Sheamus made bad jokes about how short Roman’s title reign was and said the title looks better on him anyway. He put over Reigns’ effort in the tournament but Reigns’ moment became Sheamus’ moment, and yelled about how great it felt to become champion. Reigns challenged Sheamus to come to the ring so he could show him what he can really do in under five minutes.
Sheamus acted like he would go to the ring, but he didn’t. He’s the champion and all Reigns has is broken dreams. Reigns said he would break Sheamus’ jaw with a superman punch, break his back with a chair, powerbomb him through a table, climb the ladder and become champion. This wasn’t good. Sheamus in particular came off like a clown.
The Dudley Boyz beat Braun Strowman & Erick Rowan (w/Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper) via DQ
In an inset promo, Bubba said the Wyatts would “taste some Dudley wood.” Tons of piped in booing during the Wyatts’ entrance. An early highlight in the match was Rowan screaming in D-Von’s face and D-Von just smacked him. Wyatts got the heat on Bubba with help from Harper who superkicked his arm with the referee distracted.
D-Von made the hot tag and took out Rowan. It seemed like the Dudleys had the match won but they dumbly went for tables instead. They set one up in the ring but Harper superkicked Bubba for the DQ. Strowman took out D-Von was his standing choke and they put Bubba through the table. Strowman was noticeably bad in this match.
Paige beat Becky Lynch via pinfall
They showed Charlotte watching the match on TV backstage. Her entire body was facing the camera with her face turned to the TV. They always do this but it looked even dumber than usual here. Becky made her comeback which included an Exploder suplex. She went for the Disarmer but Paige bounced her off the ropes and rolled her up for the pinfall win.
Paige tried to get her feet on the rope for leverage but she was too far away. I’m not sure if that was a screw up or not, but Becky basically lost clean. Lawler made sure to mention that Paige tried to use the rope. Match was fine but the crowd didn’t care.
Backstage, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Naomi, Sasha Banks and Tamina were at the “1st Annual New Day Potluck Dinner.” Better trademark that one. Big E said he was thankful for tricep meat. Kofi was thankful for the tag-team titles and Big E chanted “Thanks to us” to the tune of “New Day rocks.” Naomi and Sasha danced along.
Heath Slater joined and brought some Slater Slaw. Big E noticed a bandaid in his dish. They freaked out and pushed Slater aside. Adam Rose gave them rabbit stew and left. Big E freaked again, thinking it was made of The Bunny, and Kofi yelled “We don’t want this!” (That was the highlight of the segment.)
Ascension showed up but they didn’t have any food so they got kicked out. Big E and Kofi said Xavier Woods would be bringing the turkey. The Gobbledy Gooker showed up. It was Woods. They chanted “turkey tail” as Woods shook his tail back and forth.
Non-Title: Jack Swagger beat US Champion Alberto Del Rio (w/Zeb Colter) via DQ
Colter called Swagger ungrateful and said he has blind American loyalty. Del Rio said Swagger would be thankful that he let him walk out of the ring after their match. Lame promo.
With the match barely under way, Swagger clotheslined Del Rio over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area. He began walking toward Zeb, allowing Del Rio to hit him from behind with a chair for the DQ. Del Rio hit him one more time with the chair and tossed him in the ring.
Swagger came back and attacked Del Rio with the chair, getting him about four times in the back. Del Rio ran away, selling his back. This was obviously just an angle to set up a chairs match at TLC. I didn’t really like how little of an effect the chair shots had on both guys. Swagger was fine after getting hit twice and Del Rio walked away on his own and posed with the title on the stage.
Backstage, the Usos said they didn’t want to know what “Slater slaw” was. Woods in his Gobbledy Gooker outfit ran by them. The Usos had an idea.
Non-Title: Lucha Dragons beat WWE Tag-Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Big E (w/Gobbledy Gooker) via pinfall
They showed the debut of Gobbledy Gooker in 1990. Lawler made sure to remind everyone that this sucked. Kingston seemed to have the match won on a pinfall attempt with his feet on the rope, but the Gobbledy Gooker pushed him off. Kingston yelled at him and the distraction allowed Kalisto to hit Salida Del Sol for the win.
After the match, Kingston and Big E continued to yell at Gobbledy Gooker, who remained outside the ring. An Uso came out on stage blowing an airhorn to the tune of “New Day sucks” and Xavier Woods was with him – in his boxers, hands and legs tied up, and mouth taped shut. Woods tried to say something, so Uso ripped off the duct tape and blew the air horn in his face. This caused Woods to fall and roll down the ramp.
They cut to the Gobbledy Gooker outside the ring and the commentators tried to act like they didn’t know who it could be. It was the other Uso. The four babyfaces took out the New Day, concluding with an Uso superkicking a helpless Woods and the other Uso finishing him off with a splash. Lawler was happy to see the Gobbledy Gooker finally get over.
They aired a video package for the Undertaker.
Backstage, Renee Young asked Dean Ambrose about his luck potentially changing tonight. Ambrose said he pinned Kevin Owens at Survivor Series and that wasn’t luck. Reigns pinned him and that wasn’t luck either – Reigns was the better man on that night. He said Sheamus cashing in wasn’t luck, it was right place, right time. Luck was winning the lottery, and Ambrose said he never won a buck off a scratch card. Ambrose intimated that if he were a betting man, he would bet on himself over Ziggler and Fuzzy Boots McGee.
I.C. Title #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match: Dean Ambrose beat Tyler Breeze (w/Summer Rae) & Dolph Ziggler via pinfall
Kevin Owens came out for commentary and faked out a young fan who wanted a high five. Lawler told Owens that Breeze was suing People magazine for naming David Beckham as sexiest man alive. Owens said he almost fell asleep as Lawler said that because he couldn’t care less. As they plugged Raw in Pittsburgh, Ambrose tossed his hoodie at Owens and Owens responded, “I guess he thought he was insulting me, but I’m keeping it, so joke’s on him.”
Booker asked Owens who he matches up with best. Owens said he and Ambrose are both brawlers, he and Breeze are both gorgeous, but he has nothing in common with Ziggler and is proud of that.
Ambrose hit a rebound clothesline on Ziggler and Breeze tried to steal the pin, but Ziggler kicked out. Ambrose followed with a flying elbow on Breeze for a two count. Ziggler and Ambrose did the double running crossbody spot but they sandwiched Breeze who was caught in the middle. That was cool.
Breeze superkicked Ambrose and Ziggler superkicked Breeze for a near fall. Ziggler caught Ambrose with a Zig Zag but Breeze broke up the cover. Breeze hit Ziggler with the Beauty Shot and went for the Unprettier but Ambrose nailed him with Dirty Deeds for the win. Owens seemed displeased. Good match, and Owens was great on commentary.
After the match, Ambrose went out to face off with Owens. Ambrose pushed Owens back into his chair. Owens popped up like he was ready to fight but just walked away.
-Just a fun reminder to check out the Wrestling Outsiders Podcast and our interview with Dave Meltzer, which is live right now at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/139049
The Big News: Despite WWE Corporate stacking the deck in Eva Marie’s favor, Bayley retained her championship in a fun, well booked main event.
The Medium News: Sami Zayn returns soon!
The Little Beaver-sized News: Michael Cole is in charge with Mr. Regal recovering from surgery
-Michael Cole is in the ring to oversee the contract signing for the Finn Balor-Samoa Joe title match at NXT Takeover. Cole is booed until he mentions that Mr. Regal has undergone successful surgery. Cole was booed again when he mentioned he was put in charge.
Cole says that Mr. Regal ixnayed the Bayley-Eva Marie match, but WWE Corporate overruled Mr. Regal and that match will happen tonight.
With that Finn Balor and Samoa Joe came to the ring for their signing. Balor came out first, took the mic and told Joe he is not entitled to the NXT Title and plans on sticking his foot down Joe’s throat.
Joe stormed to the ring, signed the contract and immediately walked away without saying a word. Balor was calling him a coward and tried to get Joe to stick around, but Joe was having nothing of it.
Finn walked away, but when he got to the top of the ramp Joe attacked him, ran him to the ring and threw him in there. After a brief flurry of punches by both men Joe locked on the Coquina Clutch and choked out Finn.
1.) NXT Tag Team Champions Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson defeated The Vaudevillians
It is a tag team championship rematch. Just two weeks ago The Vaudevillians dropped the belts to Dash & Dawson and now they are looking to reclaim the belts.
The champs got the heat on English by dropping him with a single arm DDT. It didn’t last long as Gotch got tagged in and went all manly on their foes until Dawson knocked his head off with a clothesline. Both teams went for their finish, but it got reversed both times. However, at the end of the day Dash blind tagged himself in, the champs hit their move and retained the championship.
As the champs celebrated we saw the return of Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady! The fans exploded as Enzo and Cass lay a hurting on the champions. Dash and Dawson are sent packing and it looks like their future foes have been decided.
-Eva Marie was sitting on William Regal’s desk. When Tom Phillips asked her why, she simply said that it is because she needs more space to get ready. Eva then went on to say that Bayley is a swell girl, but we need a real woman to be champion. She says she is happy to have the support of the entire WWE Universe, before showing a bunch of gifts left for her.
Eva then introduced her new friend, Nia Jax, and said nothing beats friendship.
-A video aired with a bearded man playing guitar. I bet he’s coming to NXT. All we saw was his beard and his clothes, with the video in black and white.
2.) The match between Asuka and Dana Brooke never started
On October 7 Asuka debuted at NXT Takeover by beating Dana Brooke all over the arena. Well Dana did not learn her lesson and here we are for a rematch.
Dana cut a promo while walking to the ring when Emma attacked Asuka from behind! Asuka took care of her quickly, but when Asuka turned her attention back to Dana, Emma attacked again and put her in the Emma Lock. The heel duo walked off together with no match.
As she got back to her feet, Asuka smiled. Someone is going to die.
-Bayley cut a promo saying that Eva Marie is pretty and has WWE Corporate on her side, but the difference is Bayley is a wrestler and tonight she will show Eva why she is the Women’s Champion.
-Sami Zayn returns soon. That’s good.
3.) Apollo Crews pinned Jesse Sorensen
Apollo is three weeks away from going one on one with Baron Corbin at NXT Takeover. Tonight he does battle with the man most famous for breaking his neck on a live TNA ppv. He has been on the show at least twice already, but the announcers acted like this was new.
The highlight of the match was Apollo holding Jesse up for a suplex for 21 seconds before dropping him. Sorensen got just enough offense so it wasn’t a total squash, but Crews won with a sit out power bomb.
After the match Crews officially accepted Baron’s challenge. I actually thought he did that last week. Oh well.
-Baron Corbin immediately replied with a promo saying Apollo is going to be the answer to a trivia question because no one will remember him.
-Charles Robinson walked to the ring before the main event and was added as a second referee. Robinson is here to ensure there will not be controversy in the match.
Next week: Samoa Joe vs Tommaso Ciampa
4.) NXT Women’s Champion Bayley pinned Eva Marie (Thank God)
This is not the first time these two wrestled. Last year they tried to re-debut Eva Marie and she had an atrocious match with Bayley that she was taken off tv for a year and it finished 5th in the Worst Match of the Year in the Observer last year. Eva Marie had Nia Jax for immoral support and Bayley had 300 screaming fans. They are really pushing the idea of WWE Corporate trying to set up Eva Marie winning here.
When they dimmed the lights for the introductions Eva Marie posed like a model while Bayley stood there and shook her head at the challenger. Eva was doing everything well, but was doing it a step slowly. At least nothing got botched. Anyway Eva hit a suplex, Bayley got up and hit the Belly to Bayley Suplex, but Nia Jax pulled the referee out, injuring him.
Charles Robinson took over as Nia jumped up on the apron and laid out Bayley with a headbutt behind Charles’ back, but Eva only got a 2 count. Eva used some more of her slow offense until the champ took her head off with a clothesline. Bayley went for a corner charge, but Charles stepped in front of her, claiming Eva was in the ropes.
Eva hit The Kendrick NOOO! YES! Bayley kicked out. Eva went for The Kendrick a second time, but Bayley pushed her into Charles, knocking him out of the ring. Nia interfered yet again, but Bayley yanked her off the apron, laying her out. After that Bayley hit a Belly to Bayley Suplex from the middle rope for the win!
That was a fun match. They kept it simple and threw in a lot of smoke and mirrors to cover up for Eva’s shortcomings.
After the match Nia laid out Bayley before dropping the championship on her prone body.
-That does it for this week. Thank you for reading and I wish my American readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
– Show opened with Roman Reigns out for a promo, pusing his TLC title match with WWE Champion Sheamus. Sheamus came out and called Reigns a walking, talking Adele song. They almost went at it.
– The Dudleys beat Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman via DQ when Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper interfered and put Bubba through a table.
– Paige pinned Becky Lynch.
– They did a Thanksgiving comedy segment. It was a Thanksgiving dinner party with The New Day, Heath Slater, Adam Rose and The Ascension. The Gobbledy Gooker showed up. It was revealed he was Xavier Woods.
Jack Swagger beat WWE U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio via DQ for using a chair. Swagger made his own comeback on Del Rio after.
– The Usos came up with a plan that was revealed later.
– Lucha Dragons beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) in a non-title match when the Gobbledy Gooker turned on New Day. It turned out it was Jey Uso in the costume. It later came out the Usos beat up Woods and stole his costume. Then Jimmy brought out Woods, all tied up, and Jey splashed him off the top.
– Dean Ambrose won a three-way over Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze to earn a WWE Intercontinental title shot when Ambrose pinned Breeze with Dirty Deeds.
