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Notes from Tuesday’s TV tapings in Miami:

– The show opened with a comedy segment with the New Day complaining that the Dudleys are endangering furniture. The Dudleys came out, as did the Prime Time Players and it led to a match with Dudley vs. PTP.

– The Dudleys b Prime Time Players

– Stardust was to face Neville next, but The Ascension came out and laid out Neville which appeared to be on the orders of Stardust.

– Cesaro was doing an interview. Sheamus interrupted him.

– Sheamus b Cesaro

– The Miz TV segment with Lana saw Summer Rae come out and the two women got into it.  Miz and Dolph Ziggler pulled them apart.

– Bo Dallas b R-Truth

– Charlotte b Tamina Snuka. Team Bella came out and Nikki raised the title belt in the air.

– Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose b WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) via DQ

Submitted anonymously

WWE Superstars:

– R-Truth def. Adam Rose. Rose did the party pooper gimmick he was doing at the weekend house shows.

– Neville and the Lucha Dragons def. Stardust and The Ascension when Neville hit the Red Arrow for the pin and win.

Post Raw:

After Cena and Sting left, Cena came right back out to his music. This led to…

– John Cena & Randy Orton def. Seth Rollins & Sheamus when Orton pinned Sheamus in 10 minutes after a lot of AA’s and RKOs.

Notes:

– The crowd was into Sting in the opening segment.

– The women’s beat the clock series was very disappointing. PCB and Sasha Banks got big reactions for their entrances, but it was quiet during the first two matches. Lots of Sasha and Paige chants for the short amount of time that lasted.

– Big reaction for Kevin Owens. Ambrose and Reigns were also over. No boos at all for Reigns.

– Dudleys and New Day got big reactions when they came out, but crowd got tired during this match.

– Cena reaction was about 75 percent favorable.

– Interesting that Rollins’ line about Sting killing WCW got a lot of boos. WCW did big business in Florida, but we’re talking 15-20 years ago and even further beyond that.

Submitted by Charles Parker

– Good house for the show. Eden Styles was the host and ring announcer

WWE I-C Ryback def. Big Show

Standard big guy match though for some reason Ryback is using chops in his offense. Ryback kicked out of both the Chokeslam and the WMD, He hit the Shellshock (barely) for the pin. Show got a lot of applause and polite cheers after the match. I kept thinking of the interview he did with Jericho recently. Show went to the top once and got slammed off it (though in truth Show just rolled into the ring on his own mostly).

Bo Dallas came out and told everyone he would be victorious because he ‘bo-lieved’ in himself but we would not be because we didn’t bolieve. This led to Cesaro’s music hitting.

Cesaro def. Bo Dallas

Cesaro came out wearing that Cesaro/Kidd shirt oddly. Dallas bailed out of the ring early and often to start. Eventually they started wrestling, Bo’s gut is noticeable from the side. Cesaro’s comeback included hitting corner to corner running European-style uppercuts. Got the Giant Swing on his second try then hit the Neutralizer for the pin.

Natayla def. Emma

Emma wearing her heel attire reveals a lot more skin which is odd for a heel. Natayla got the first surprise pop since no one expected her and not as many people recognized her. She still her had full body suit. Emma throws the worst punches this side of Nikki Bella. Mostly mat-wrestling aside from Emma’s cross-body in the corner. Nattie eventually gets the sharpshooter for the submission.

Luke Harper comes out and takes the mic. Says that Bray will destroy Reigns and the Wyatt family is back and stronger then ever. Proclaims himself the new face of desolation/destruction and to send someone out but not anyone they (in the back) wanted to see again.

Chris Jericho def. Luke Harper

Jericho got by far the loudest surprise pop the night. No one knew he was coming despite being advertised apparently. He came out with his light-up jacket and highly be-dazzled trunks. Good match though Jericho used John Cena level punches on the ten punches in a corner routine. Harper got out of the Lion Tamer twice, first by leg twist, second by making the ropes. Jericho eventually it the Code-breaker for the Pin.

Randy Orton def. Sheamus

Sheamus got mostly boos but Orton got the loudest reaction of the night that was overwhelmingly positive. Standard match between the two at this point, Orton using ‘Sheamus 10 Beats to the Belfry’. Sheamus eventually got the mic and stood over Orton while the latter was on his hands and knees, berating him and saying he ‘looked stupid’. You can guess how that worked out.

– Intermission: Warrior/Conner tribute video.

Neville def. Stardust

No one really knew who Neville was but they definitely wanted to see the Red Arrow. ‘Cody Rhodes’ chants. Stardust spat water from a water bottle to get the early advantage while the ref was turned away. Neville at one point did the same to him. Neville hit a running dive over the ropes onto Cody on the outside. Neville eventually hits the Red Arrow for the pin.

R-Truth def. Heath Slater

Truth’s music hit and all the kids went down to sing with him, he barely made the ring before Slater attacked. Someone behind me, called Slater ‘Finn Balor’. throughout this, saying he hated him. Slater got the mic and said we were going to see the quickest match in WWE history. He then ate an Axe kick and was pinned.

Lucha Dragons def. Los Matadors with Torito

Both teams cheered a lot though the Dragons were louder. Matadors did subtle heel stuff including bullying Torito to establish themselves. At one point Torito got in the ring and did a go behind sequence with Kalisto. Finish saw the car crash spot outside involve Kalisto and a Matador, Torito got in the ring and tried to hit a frankensteiner from the top rope on Sin Cara who ducked and Torito took out one of his teammates. Sin Cara hit a senton for the pin.

Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt in a street fight

This match was billed as a street fight. A street fight that started with a collar and elbow tie-up by both men. Reigns has a stunning array of punches which was pretty much all he did except his drop kick on the apron and a powerbomb through a table Wyatt set-up. Finish saw Luke Harper get involved and take a Superman KO punch then the lights went out and Braun was in the ring again.

Roman hit with two punches that Braun no sold and he was hoisted in the air to be choked out. This led to Truth running out and getting choked out instead. Followed by Neville and he got slammed as well. Finally Ryback made his way out and he hit Braun with a meathook clothlesline that staggered him enough for a Superman Punch from Reigns to knock him out of the ring. Reigns then Speared Wyatt for the pinfall.

Notes:

This was a fun show but it seemed very obvious how thin the roster was in terms of real stars. Outside of Reigns, Jericho and Orton, the next two over guys were Show and Wyatt. Also, they tried playing clips of various shows from the Network but there was noticeable buffering when they did so.

Submitted by Chris H.

Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens with Dirty Deeds

Best match of the night with each guy hitting all their usual stuff, including a tope by Dean, and a top rope fisherman’s bomb by Owens.

Miz TV with Jimmy Uso

Adam Rose came out instead announcing he was a party pooper and this party was over. Seriously. Uso came out from behind and superkicked him. He then had a dance off with Miz, and Uso laid out Miz with the super kick after his dance.

Jimmy Uso def. Baron Corbin

Corbin attacked Uso on his way back up the aisle. Uso wins a short match with a top rope splash after kicking out of the end of days.

PCB def. BAD

Charlotte made Tamina submit to the figure eight.  PCB were very over, but little reaction for Sasha, which was surprising given it was in Orlando.

Dolph Ziggler (with Lana) def. Rusev (with Summer Rae) in a no DQ match

Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for the pin. For the first time since Owen Hart vs. Mick Foley in front of Dave Meltzer, popcorn was used in the match. They struck each other with a fan’s popcorn bucket, which Rusev eventually put on Dolph’s head. They had a match that was better than their Summerslam one. The ladies got involved, which distracted Rusev and Ziggler hit the zig zag for the win.

Jack Swagger def. Tyler Breeze

Swagger won with the ankle lock. Pretty good little match, but again a surprisingly small reaction for a NXT superstar with Full Sail so close.

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) retained the tag titles over the Prime Time Players

Good match until a sloppy finish. Titus was running wild when Kofi hit a jumping kick behind the ref’s back.  Woods rolled up Titus but he was too close to the ropes.  It was a slow roll up and he was on the ropes initially so the ref didn’t count, but Woods moved him off for the 3 count.  Probably would’ve been a good spot for an improvisation.  Crowd was mixed but loud for the New Day until the flat finish.

John Cena def. WWE Champion and US Champion Seth Rollins by DQ

Rollins attacked Cena before the bell with the belts, then announced he wanted to put both belts on the line.  A mini version of their Summerslam match, Rollins was great and Cena had his usual effort.  Second best match of the night due to a bad finish.  At the end, Cena went for the AA but Rollins ducked behind and hit a low blow for the DQ. I know they don’t want to have the heel champ retain clean on the house shows, but should’ve put some thought into a better finish after a 15 minute match.

Both men cut promos after plugging the Rumble ticket on sale. Big crowd at the box office for that on the way out, despite a thunder and lightning show going on outside.

Notes:

– Royal Rumble 2016 was announced for Amway Center, for January 24, 2016.  Presale began after the show at the box office and online with the code ORLANDO16.

– NXT announcer Greg Hamilton was the house and JoJo was the ring announcer.

– Upper level of the arena was tarped off with the 2 lower bowls full. Estimated 8000. 

Submitted by Louis Izzo

– From the Germain Arena, Ft. Myers, FL

Dolph Ziggler def. Rusev in a No DQ match

Lana and Summer Rae were both at ringside. Rusev dominated with his power stuff and Ziggler got hope spots here and there. Very little, if any, stuff that would involve being DQ’ed. Lana and Summer Rae had their catfight in the ring, Rusev tried using Summer Rae as a shield but Lana KO kicked her, and Ziggler won clean with the Zig-Zag at the 13-minute mark.

Jimmy Uso def. The Miz

Mostly a comedy match, with Miz showing off his dance skils via the river-dance. Is that still a thing? Good back and forth, with Jimmy getting the clean pinfall off a top rope splash at the 10-minute mark. I was a bit surprised by Uso going over since he’s a non-factor on TV.

Team PCB def. Team B.A.D.

Good crowd reaction for Paige and Charlotte, but the rest of the bunch not so much. Crowd seemed very apathetic towards Tamina. Naomi worked most of the match for the heels and Paige played the face-in-peril. Charlotte didn’t see much ring time, except for the hot tag. Becky Lynch got the tap-out on Sasha for the victory at the 10-minute mark.

Tyler Breeze def. Baron Corbin

The crowd must’ve not expected an intermission, because they left in droves for the concessions and bathrooms. Breeze’s entrance is cool, and Corbin tried getting cheap heat by running down the crowd, but nobody cared. Fairly short with Breeze getting a fluke pinfall. Corbin laid him out post-match with his finisher.

Dean Ambrose def. Kevin Owens

Both guys got solid responses, but Ambrose was the clear favorite. They worked hard early and had a very strong finish with lots of near falls off of stuff like the top rope elbow and the fisher-man buster. Owens went for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Ambrose leap frogged him and hit Dirty Deeds for the clean pinfall at the 14-minute mark.

Intermission.

Jack Swagger def. Adam Rose

Rose cut a pre-match promo about not alllowing us to have fun because we wouldn’t have fun with him, and threatened to poop all over our party. Swagger made him tap to the Patriot Lock in less than a minute. A lot of people weren’t back from concessions yet.

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day def. The Primetime Players

Tag Title Match. Kofi and Big E. worked the match while Woods was trolling at ringside. The New Day’s energy is just too contagious, with all their dancing and goofing around. Surprisingly solid responses for the PTP. Young played face-in-peril for a few minutes. Titus cleaned house, but chaos erupted and somewhere in the carnage Kofi stole a pin on Young to retain at the 12-minute mark.

John Cena def. WWE Champion & US Champion Seth Rollins by DQ

This was advertised as a title match and a No DQ Match, but neither was introduced. Almost a solid 100% babyface response to Cena. Shortly into the match, Rollins decided he would show Cena up and make this for both belts. Good, TV Main Event style match, with both men hitting all their signature spots. Rollins kept escaping the AA, and eventually went with a low blow to draw the DQ at the 20-minute mark. Cena gave him the AA to send the crowd home happy.

Notes:

– Good show overall, with only one match being weak, and even that was short. Top babyface reactions were definitely Cena, Ambrose, and I’d say Ziggler and Lana for 3rd. For heel reactions, Rollins, Rusev, and the New Day because the crowd was more into boo’ing them than anyone else on the card.

– I don’t know the exact numbers, but from the looks of things, it was a full crowd, with the exception being the section next to the entrance ramp, which was closed off. 

Submitted by Mike Omansky

— WWE returns to Barclays on Monday, 12/28 for RAW with a presale code of WWERAW.

— WWE Superstars:

– Zack Ryder def. Heath Slater after hitting the RoughRyder.
– Los Matadores (with El Torito) def. Ascension after hitting the Backstabber and pin thanks to a distraction by Torito.

— Post RAW:

– The advertised six man tag main event didn’t happen. Lillian Garcia thanked fans for coming and that was that. 

– Crowd was hot most of the night, except for the divas tag match. Chants included “CM Punk”, “We are awesome” and “boring”.  There were also several waves done by the audience.

Thumbs in the Middle
Best Match: Undertaker v Lesnar (until the ending)
Worst Match: Miz v Big Show v Ryback

This PPV would have been a clear thumbs up, but I feel like the ending for a lot of the key matches tainted the overall PPV experience.  I was expecting Reigns to turn on Ambrose at the end of their tag match and it didn’t happen.  So I wonder where they’re going next with these two.  The Divas revolution seems to really have done a 360; we’re back to where we started.  The match was very lackluster and is a stark contrast to the women’s match on the NXT special last night.

The Rusev v Ziggler countout ending seemed pretty anticlimactic but I suppose they’re building to a mixed tag team match on the next PPV.

The Cena v Rollins match was a great showcase, again for Rollins talents.  Cena, although booed at first, really seemed to turn the crowd with his performance as well.  I don’t think it needed the swerve ending, so I hope there’s a good explanation on Raw. Perhaps he didn’t want someone tying Ric Flair’s title record?  That’s the first thing I thought.  Other than that, going in, I thought that Rollins was going to win, only because I could really see him bragging the hell out of holding two titles and being the best champion ever.

The Taker v Lesnar match was fantastic, again, up until the ending.  Compared with their Wrestlemania match, the stakes seemed higher and emotions seemed more intense and it really showed in both performances.  I still don’t know what to think of the ending.  It seemed like a botch at first.  And then it turned out it wasn’t.  So really, Brock did get screwed.  Is this to build to an Undertaker final heel run?  WIth this ending and all the low blows he’s been using lately, one would think so. But it’s Undertaker and perhaps those conventions don’t apply.

Overall, it was a thumbs in the middle, but it would have been up were it not for one too many shitty endings.

Thanks for all the work Dave!

Jeff Lam

Toronto, Ontario

 Thumbs upBest match:  Rollins v CenaWorst match:  Ryback/Show/Miz Good show, but some strange finishes.   A double count-out, a celebrity run-in, and a timekeeper’s “mistake”…and the one match I thought for sure would end with a screwjob (Reigns/Ambrose v Wyatts) ends with a clean pin and no turn.  I’m a bit perplexed about the Jon Stewart angle.  That wasn’t the match I thought he’d be getting involved in, given the build-up.  Incidentally, no one should be selling for a guy of Jon Stewart’s size even if he has a chair.  I’m game to see how they explain the Taker/Lesnar finish on Monday…especially considering the thousands of visual pinfalls and submissions we’ve seen in wrestling that don’t matter a bit.  What I really want to mention here, though, is what a lousy experience we had watching this on the Network.  Lots of graininess and freezes, especially early on, and some skipping a few seconds back and forth throughout the evening.  Given that I don’t watch the network for historic content anymore (way too much buffering, and not nearly enough content added lately), and could care less about their crop of new shows, I’m left paying an average of $30 per PPV for the ones I watch.  Would I pay around twice that to have those events delivered to me in a way that’s always been in high quality?  I haven’t yet, but one more experience like this and I just might.  So much for the phenomenal value of the Network.

D Koormon

Thumbs in the middle

Best Match:  PTP v. New Day v. Matadores v. Lucha Dragons

Worst Match: Big Show v. Ryback v. The Miz

For all the promotion Summerslam received, I expected a bigger and more dramatic show.  The two disputed finishes in the WWE Title and Lesnar v. Taker matches really hurt the show.  To put it another way, the “Too Big For WrestleMania” tagline could have also been, “Big Commercial For Wrestlemania.”  WWE put on a bunch of pretty good wrestling matches tonight, but the quality was on par with Raw or Smackdown main events (omitting the very good tag match and the title match).

This is the third match in a row where the Undertaker looks and fights like a nostalgia act.  His moves look less and less like wrestling moves and more like weird looking spots.  Lesnar has to climb the ropes and wait because Undertaker needs to hit the Last Ride spot.  Lesnar needs to bend over and wait with his arm draped nonchalantly over the Undertaker’s torso because the Hell’s Gate spot is next.  I would think that at some point the fans would reject a wrestler who paces around for a minute to catch his breath after every move, but it hasn’t happened yet and maybe it never will.

Casey Goldman

HI Dave

Some Summerslam feedback for the site:

Thumb: In the middle

Best Match: Cena vs Rollins

Worst: IC Title 3 way

This is the first WWE PPV I’ve bought since the 2014 Summerslam. Quite the mixed bag. The opening with Stewart and Foley was Thunder level rubbish. Why this was on my PPV I don’t know. What exactly did it accomplish? Is Foley getting killed on Raw tomorrow by Rollins? And then came out Orton and Sheamus, two workers who need to leave my TV for at least a year. I just don’t care about either guy, and a **1/2 match won’t change that. Tag Team fourway was damn fine thou, best bout of the non main events. Rusev vs Ziggler was a fun 10 minutes. The ICT match isn’t worth talking about, while the Arrow match was fine for what is was.. Cena and Rollins were having an excellent fight until the silly John Stewart “turn”. Clearly they needed far more time rehearsing that with him, since he blew the spot. But beyond that, why should I care if a middle aged guy attacks Cena? I guess it serves as a way out, because God forbid Cena could lose clean. Not sure a clean loss would have been worse than losing because a talk show host hit you with a soft chair shot. Would have been ****+ but that finish brings it down. No doubt this gets Stewart in their HOF come 2017.Moving on, the women all try hard, but it’s like watching ballet rather than something akin to a fight.  Owens-Casero should have gone on it the ICT title slot, would have been a gem if the crowd weren’t burnt out. Taker vs Lesnar was a great spectacle, but again the ending takes it down quite abit. Too clever by half, and this is the big angle for WM2016? Vince needs to give us Rock vs Brock in Dallas. In the end the PPV was decent, but far too long, and at $30+ in the UK, I really don’t believe I got value for money. I can’t see myself purchasing another for a while. But hey the G1 was great, eh?
Geoff Johnston

Hi Dave,  Just wanted to give my 2 cents on the Taker/Brock match. I thought it was such a botched finish to an otherwise really good and stiff looking match (which is what people wanted to see originally at WM30 after their kayfabe UFC confrontation). The finish was sooooo butchered, it was right up there with Sting vs Hogan @ Starrcade IMO.  *IF* you’re going to do that finish you have to have the perfect camera angles and posititioning. Taker’s arm needs to be in a position where the time keeper can see it, while the ref is on the other side of him and doesn’t. The audience needs to see Taker tapping, so you’re sitting at home going “HE’S TAPPING!”, then the bell rings and you’re fooled into thinking Brock has legitimately won. Then the ref does the whole “I never called for the bell” thing.  Instead, it came off as a screwjob fast count as Charles Robinson was in the middle of a pin-count, so nobody is thinking about a submission in that moment – and of course the announcers were clueless as always and had no idea what was going on either.  Compare this to a similar finish from Rock vs Benoit @ Fully Loaded 2000 and see how flawlessly this was executed in terms of timing, camera angles, ref positioning, etc. It’s night and day. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz5063_the-rock-vs-chris-benoit-fully-loaded-2000-wwf-championship_sport Tim Dudley
in Toronto

Thumbs Up

Best Match: Rollins vs. Cena

Worst: Rusev vs. Ziggler

I thought that every match on the show served its purpose. I know we’re supposed to boo New Day, but it’s hard to do that when they are as entertaining as they are right now. Rollins would have completely stolen the show with a clean win among wrestling fans, but having Stewart help him means more for mainstream exposure in the long run. All of the finishes made good sense. No match was really bad, but the Rusev/Ziggler match, while it builds to a mixed tag or something along those lines, just felt like the one that was the most “there” with no one really looking forward to the follow-up.

Jason Hanes

Woodstock, Ga.

NXT & SummerSlamNXT TakeoverThumbs Up: Overall just good but the fans made it great. NXT is like the combination of Japanese booking with the over the top characters and gimmicks of WWE in the 80’s. Everyone has a role and they act according to that, can’t say the same about RAW or Smackdown.Best Match: Bayley vs. BanksWorst Match: None 1. Liger vs. Breeze. Fine opener. Crowd seems to know Liger’s move which is odd to in a sense. *** 2. Vaudevillians vs. Blake & Murphy. The hot crowd really helped this one. Both teams are good. ***1/4 3. Crews vs. Dillinger. WWE should be very carefull with Crews, he has the potential to be the black star that they are lacking. ** 4. Joe vs. Corbin. Slow at times but fine overall. **1/4 5. Bayley vs. Sasha. The best women match since the glory days of All Japan Women in the mid 90’s.  Bayley has the best underdog act in the business and Sasha is just a complete performer. The post match was even better. It’s a shame that WWE blew the debut of Sasha (and Charlotte and Becky) on the main roster with Stephanie telling them what to do like girl scouts. ****1/2 6. Balor vs. Owens. Very good match but they couldn’t follow the women. Plus the dynamic wasn’t the best as the heel, Owens, was the one chasing the title and that never works as good as the other way around. ***3/4  ===================SummerSlamThumbs in the Middle. Overall good but some of the matches didn’t deliver as expected.   Best Match: Rollins vs. CenaWorst Match: Divas 3-way 1. Sheamus vs. Orton. Good but this was helped by being the opening match, in any other position this would had got the boring chant treatment. *** 2. New Day vs. PTP vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Matadores. Sometimes luck is better than talent, and that’s exactly what happened with WWE and the New Day gimmick; it started as a borderline offensive stereotype and now is the only hot was act in the tag division. Match was all action and fun. ***1/2 3. Ziggler vs. Rusev. Fine but nothing more. Hope this feud ends with Lana back with Rusev. **1/44. Stephen Amell & Neville vs. Barrett & Stardust. Amell looked fine by outsiders standards. Hard to rate this one. *3/4 5. Ryback vs. Show vs. Miz. Average in every sense of the word. ** 6. Ambrose & Reigns vs. Wyatt & Harper. Lots of spots but not real heat. The more they push Reigns the more fans hate him. **3/4 7. Rollins vs Cena. Show stealing performance by Rollins. He is right there for the MVP Award, or at least best in the ring since nobody means anything when it comes to the business aspect except for Cena. Seth delivered a five stars match but Cena took it down, his punches are terrible and he missed the Stunner spot by a mile. ****1/2 8. PCB vs. Team Bella vs. BAD. My God this was boring and pointless. This whole Diva Revolution deal is just a weak excuse for a real change. They didn’t get any reaction here, which is saying something as it was the same building that Sasha and Bayley steal the show the day before. After the post match deal on NXT, I thought that they would drop the whole stables thing and go with a NXT women vs. Total Divas feud. Sadly, it didn’t happened. I think it’s just a matter of time before the fans turned on them. And I’m usually right about that stuff. It seems that WWE is waiting for Mania to pull the trigger on Charlotte, and if that’s their plan it won’t work since it’s expected that Ronda will be there with Step (in any role) and there is no way that those two are going to be outperformed; so it doesn’t matter what the regulars do, on that day, all eyes would be on Ronda and they will just be an afterthought. *1/2 9. Owens vs. Cesaro. Why this was booked so late on the show is anyone guess. This same match could had steal the show if early on the show. If they switch places with the opener no one could have follow but here it was just good. ***1/4 10. Undertaker vs. Lesnar. This was great until the finish. The rematch is just a matter of time, so no Sting or Cena for Taker. ***1/2

Leonardo Toledo Mendes

Thumbs up
Best: Cena vs Rollins
Worst: Ryback vs Big Show vs Miz

John Cena continues his march to wrestler of the year, but Seth Rollins was by far the MVP tonight.  Outstanding performance tonight at a point that the show needed it.  The four hours works much better for Wrestlemania when it’s a big spectacle, matches generally get more time and there is some variety.  This was endless 10-15 minute matches until the title match, which was a needed change in pace.  The match was so good I’m even overlooking the non-sensical finish, especially since I was expecting DQ all along.

I think we can officially blame Undertaker’s concussion for the lousy Wrestlemania match between he and Brock Lesnar, as they delivered in the main event spot tonight.  I can see how the finish of the main event sounded good on paper, but the execution fell flat in my eyes.  Maybe it would’ve made more sense if we saw Taker tap out live and not wonder why the bell rang.  Or if they showed the timekeeper telling Charles Robinson that he saw a tap.  Anyway, the nuances of this were unbelievable — from the laughing after the tombstone to Brock telling Taker to F-off instead of tapping when he was going out in the gogoplata, and we know they’re headed to Cowboys Stadium, it’s just a question of what the stip will be and if it will be Undertaker’s last match.

My only other nit-pick: I would have had Owens and Cesaro open the show.  Hot crowd would’ve been more receptive to two people they like, and they had a great match too.

– Chris H.
Lakeland, FL

Sent from my iPhone

WWE Summerslam 2015 Feedback
Thumbs Way Up
Best Match: Cesaro vs Kevin Owens
Worst Match: Ryback vs Big Show vs Miz

I loved this show. A lot of the matches were good in their spot. Sheamus vs Orton was good and the tag title match was very entertaining and probably a career night for The New Day to this point. Ziggler vs Rusev was quite entertaining with both guys moving really well and Lana and Summer Rae having fun interactions. I liked the finish as well because double countouts are not overdone.

Stephen Amell was far better that I would have expected and I thought it was one of the best celebrity performances I’ve seen. It was a good rub for Neville and Stardust came a long way tonight. And then Reigns and Ambrose vs Wyatt and Harper was close to the best match. Reigns and Ambrose play off well as best friends who are on call for each other and Wyatt and Harper are much better together than apart.

Jon Stewart really played off well all night. And then Rollins transformed himself into a long-term main eventer with a great match against Cena. I am a defender of using Stewart in the finish and think he would be part of a good build-up of a possible Rollins vs Lesnar match at MSG

The women’s match was a real letdown after last night. They really need to let the girls called up from NXT work great matches against each other rather than trying to have them drag good matches out of the Bellas. I did like seeing Becky Lynch go over and think she should get the title next.

Owens vs Cesaro was a great match. Both really tore into each other and had a solid match. Owens is up there with the best and so is Cesaro. I hope Owens get the IC title as that could be a great run for the rest of this year.

Taker vs Brock was off the charts and I am also a defender of the finish. Some of the execution production-wise could have been better but I think it build them well for Mania. The match was  very physical and was the best I have seen Taker since the Punk match.

Dave Musgrave
Oshawa, Ontario

Hi Dave,

Thumbs Up
Best Match: 
Worst Match: Ryback vs. Big Show vs. The Miz
Best Moments: The New Day Singing, New Day Celebration, Xavier destroying Torito, Undertaker & Brock laughing at each other

*Orton vs. Sheamus: Okay match. Sheamus is the smartest man in WWE because he stepped over the ropes rather than letting Orton drape him for a DDT. Of course then he ate an exploder over the ropes so maybe don’t make Randy mad. Surprised to see a MitB holder win a big match.

*Tag Title Match: This was my favorite match of the night (not the best star rating but the most fun). The New Day are great! I am going to rewatch this tomorrow because I missed many Xavier lines due to people out loud laughing where I watched. The spot where Xavier caught Torito and smashed him was great if only because Xavier looked sooo pleased with himself for doing it. The Big E splash onto Darren on the apron looked like it could cause internal bleeding. The celebration and singing and celebration were wonerful. The New Day is my new favorite team.

*Ziggler vs. Rusev: What did Dolph do to Lana!? Why?! The match was a letdown I felt like I could see on Raw.

*Neville & “The Star from Arrow” vs. Barrett & Stardust: Cody’s gimmick is now Jim Carrey’s Riddler right? Seems timely enough for Vince. Amell looked better than most celebrities who have entered the ring. This wasn’t much match-wise but glad to see Neville get the pin.

*Ryback vs. Miz vs. Show: The only thing I really remember is that Show throws the slowest punch in wrestling. Miz had to run into his fist. I didn’t care at all. Ryback is the least of three evils in my opinion.

*2/3 Shield vs. 2/3 Wyatt Family: Pretty fun match. “Roman’s sleeping” chant cracked me up. Seriously, the guy took a minor bump and was gone for like three minutes. Decisive win considering the JBL and Cole said they didn’t expect anything to be settled tonight right before it started.

*Rollins vs. Cena: Seth Rollins came out looking like the White Power Ranger. Then without the shirt he looked like he belonged in the Beegees. I really liked this match up until the nonsense ending. Seth looked impressive and Cena was really good. The ending seemed straight out of Russo’s playbook. At least Cena isn’t back on top. I like him much more recently since he wasn’t chasing/defending the WWE Title.

*Divas “Revolution” Match: One of the announce crew summed it up perfectly when he said the Bellas had quelled the Divas Revolution. Seriously, someone add up all the minutes Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky were actually legally in the match. I bet it was less than 5 of the 15 minutes this match took. Sasha’s team was eliminated early and then we got a LONG heat segment on Paige from Team Bella. The right team won but this was not the showcase I was looking for.

*Owens vs. Cesaro: Why did this go on after the WWE Title match? They both looked very good but they can’t possibly get over because one is Swiss and the other is fat. I really liked the match and at least someone got over with a win unlike Ziggler vs. Rusev.

*Taker vs. Lesnar: Best Taker match in years (I know he hasn’t had many). I figured they would give Taker the win but I still thought Brock should. The finish helped keep Brock looking strong since Taker did tap. About as good as your likely to get out of Taker at this point. The laughing at each other bit was unintentionally hilarious. Also, Brock is a vile man to look at when he’s sweating.

–Christian Norman
Atlanta, GA

WWE Summer Slam: Thumbs Up
Best Match: Rollins vs. Cena
Worst Match: Ziggler vs. Rusev

Enjoyed what Jon Stewart brought to the table and nice to see Mick Foley help open the show.  Orton vs. Sheamus was fine, but not as good as expected.  Sheamus needed a win since he seems to lose a lot as of late.  Tag Titles was entertaining even with some botched stuff.  New Day winning makes the most sense as they should have never lost in the first place.  They still need some new teams in the mix because the same guys over and over again gets old real fast.  Ziggler vs. Rusev was nothing special and given the double count out is why I put as the worst match for the night.  I do give points just for Lana being out there, but she needs to get with someone in a better spot than Dolph.  Stephen Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and Barrett was enjoyable.  Neville is awesome and Amell was good for being a celeb.  I still wish Barrett and Stardust would get a chance to do something.  Perhaps they throw them into the Tag Title mix.  Triple Threat I-C Title match was okay and I didn’t expect much from it.  Miz badly needs to be rehabed and I hope this feud is over.  Reigns and Ambrose vs. the Wyatts was a good one, but again there are just too many guys who are running in place and not advancing.  Ambrose is another one who deserves more opportunity.  Rollins vs. Cena was tremendous and the finish with Jon Stewart was good, although I don’t know how Cena can get revenge on him or why Stewart would go heel, but maybe he will be making more appearances.  I assume Rollins won’t hold both belts for too long.  Maybe he loses one or both at Night of Champions.  Divas match was pretty good, but again I don’t know why they can’t book a match like they do on the NXT show from last night which was fantastic.  Cesaro vs. Owens was another good one, but should have been earlier in the show when people still cared.  Lesnar vs. Taker was very good and I had no problem with the disputed finish since they are probably saving another meeting for Mania.  All in all a good show. 

Robb Block

THUMBS solidly in the middle.

It was the best of times, and the worst of times.  A lot of good things happened, but a lot of not good things happened.

The fist match of the show was very blah.  I like the New Day as champs.  I hate that they have ruined Lana’s very good gimmick as a valet for absolutely no reason.  But Rusev put on a great performance.  I had a hard time caring about the IC match, and even the remnants of what could have been a great Wyatt Family vs. Shield program that missed its chance.  I was more interested in seeing how Amell would do, and he did great!

Rollins put on the performance of the night, and carried the Cena match, but I did not care for the finish.  Maybe this is a good chance to retire the US title.  I was also underwhelmed by the Divas match, but it did have some decent spots, even some by the Bellas.  I had high expectations for Cesaro-Owens, and while it was a strong match, it under-delivered my expectations.  I like both guys, but I’m glad Owens won.  He needs it more than Cesaro.

The excitement that follows Lesnar is undeniable.  I was somewhat uncomfortable watching this match, because I have a lot of fondness for the Undertaker, and I just worry about his well-being, stepping in there with Brock at his age.  Brock is almost too tough for great athletes in their prime, like Rollins & Reigns.  The sight of him throwing around a 50 year old man might be fine if you labor under the idea the idea that wrestling is fake.  I found myself worrying about him.

BEST MATCH:  That said, and things considered, including execution and anticipation, and even the complex finish, Taker-Brock was the MOTN.  Both guys did a great job, even though I’m not sure Taker should still be doing this.  I did like the way they laid out the match, and incorporated many signature UT spots early in the match.  I initially hated the finish, but the more I think about it (like the streak being broken, actually) the more it is growing on me.  Unlike everyone’s predictions that the UT should go out on top, he is now poised to go into his retirement match as a heel, take a clean loss, and have his retirement be his permanent babyface turn.

WORST MATCH: Orton-Sheamus.  This match could have been left off the show.  It didn’t begin or further any story.

I am waiting for this HUGE surprise tomorrow, because frankly, I wasn’t exactly blown away by tonight.
Richard Orloski

Show was a thumbs up though four hours is probably too long.

Best match: Rollins/Cena. Rollins was ridiculous in this match and the ending actually made me want to see what’s next.

Worst match: Orton/Sheamus. Both guys bore me silly.

I wasn’t thrilled with the ending of the Brock/Undertaker match. It’s only going to lead to a third match that Taker will win so why bother? At least Kane didn’t get involved.

Tom Wagner

Hey Dave,

Overall: Thumbs up show. This was a long show with a lot to like, a lot to digest, and a lot to discuss. Many will start by stating how much better the NXT show was than Summerslam. As a whole, the NXT event was the better show, but that statement should be made with some caveats.  First of all, even though this was in the same building, the crowd was incredibly more easy last night than they were this evening. Last night they came ready and willing to enjoy themselves to the fullest extent. Tonight, it felt like they sat on their hands waiting for the wrestlers to impress them. The wrestlers did their part. I am not sure the booking did the athlete’s efforts justice.  I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point. Tonight ended with a semicolon and a question, “what is next.”

Best Match: Rollins and Cena was a fantastic match and an excellent showcase for Rollins. When the harness is off, Rollins is the most athletically gifted and promising talent in professional wrestling today.
Worst Match: The women’s match was bad.

1. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus. The match started slow and treaded dangerous waters, risking eliciting a negative reaction from a rabid crowd. As normal the match built nicely, including just enough innovation beyond the norm to turn in the Randy Orton trademark three star standard.  Fine opener and a surprising win for Sheamus.  Orton epitomizes the concept of doing enough to get over and stay over. ***

2. WWE Tag Title Match: Los Matadors vs. Prime Time Players vs. New Day vs. Lucha Dragons. Gotta love the New Day. The singing performance was classic. The match itself was a mixed bag; it had some slop and some cool highspots. Particularly, Sin Cara appeared to be having a rough night. The finish peaked nicely with a very energetic hot tag by Titus and a chaotic close that allowed the hottest heel tag team to steal a victory. Fun match. **1/4

3. Rusev w/ Hot Summer vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Lana. For the third consecutive match, the crowd started cold. The action was fine, but nothing really hooked the live crowd during the body of the match.  New York has traditionally been a Ziggler friendly region. Has he lost that much steam? The Lana effect brought the crowd alive, but the double count out finish killed them dead.  The finishing cat fight revived them. Obviously, nobody likes a double count out finish, but it does serve as an effective vehicle to set up the heavily predicted mixed tag match. **1/4

4. Steve Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and King Barrett. This was a lot different than I anticipated. Amell was in the ring taking a beating for much longer than I believed he would. His offense was serviceable, his selling was lackluster. I appreciate the fact that the match built to a Neville hot tag. Neville was given more of a showcase than Amell and his speed and fire were impressive.  As for celebrity in ring performances, Amell ranks among the best. Fun match. **

5. IC Title Match: Ryback vs. Miz vs. Big Show. Short and sweet. This fell on the high level of my expectations. The pacing and action was faster then I would have expected. The MIz played his role exceptionally well. Not sure I would have had Ryback “steal” the victory. A big badass should not have to resort to such means. **

6. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Wyatt Family. When the crowd is cold, start hot. That is exactly what these guys did. Loved the chaos at the onset. It is consistent with the mood of the storyline. They employed the old Shield template of building the hot tag to Roman. Unfortunately, the crowd is too smart for this in 2015. Nonetheless, the action was solid and aggressive from start to conclusion. The finish was about as clean and definitive as it gets. No dissension, no reveal, no turn, no shenanigans. ***

7. WWE Title and US Title Match: Seth Rollins vs. John Cena. Rollins has been limiting himself physically over the last year to avoid receiving a respect response from the crowd. Tonight, he tossed that strategy out the window and gave the WWE a glimpse of what he is actually capable of.  Cena manufactured his 2015 match template, and Rollins fulfilled the role of the credible counterpart. Even though he did not cheat until the end, he cheated when it meant the most. How John Stewart and Rollins explain this will be interesting. ****

8. Divas Tag Elimination Match: Team Bella vs. P.C.B. vs. Team B.A.D. These ladies were given a lot of time, and most of it was wasted. Train wreck of a match that was reminiscent in quality of the Divas matches on WWE over the last 5 + years.  I cannot explain why the Bellas were given more of a shine than anyone in the match sans Becky. They have been given way too many chances for way to long. Hard to explain how two women’s matches from the same company, in the same arena, with similar talent could produce such drastically different results. The fact that they are still trying to sell these Diva’s train wrecks as good when they are obviously not is borderline offensive.  *

9. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro. They started out of the gates with aggression looking like they were set on stealing the show. It did not happen. The action and moves were fantastic. But, getting over with moves and getting your character over are two different things. No matter what they did, the crowd did not fully invest. It is easy to blame the fans or blame the match placement, but in the end, one must admit the story in the ring did not resonate with the live crowd. A strong match, but I feel like they did not get back what they put in.  ***

10. Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. It was an all out war from the start. Taker is old, but he put his health in jeopardy to give fans the fight they hoped for at WrestleMania 30.  The action delivered and provided the big fight atmosphere. Unfortunately, the finish did not due justice for the work put in. I understand they wanted to protect both guys, but in doing so they upset a lot of people.  I wanted this to end with a period or an exclamation point, instead it ended with a , “to be continued.” ***1/2.

Thanks, Derrick Hubbard

Thumbs Up
Best Match: Owens v Cesaro
Worst Match: Divas

So first off for what everyone may comment on; I dont mind a controversial finish to add to a mania rematch but why not go for the easy simultaneous double pin tap out? The ringing of the bell without that really killed it for everyone. The Lesnar FU while passing out was tremendous, would have been great to use (for either of them) in a Mania match. I dont think it took away from how good the match was just think it became very disjointed. Was tough to not give it MOTN but just couldnt go against Owens-Cesaro.

Glad to see Owens get a high profile win again and Cesaro continued to show more and I think keep pace while losing. This was the first high profile Owens match where I felt the opponent “did more” which is a good takeaway shine more on the loser while giving Owens something back in the W column.

Rollins and Cena had a great contest, man Stewart was a shock on paper BUT as soon as he came in he looked right at Cena. How did someone not tell him to never once look in his direction? And he should know that being a fan. Im looking forward to the promo explaining him helping Rollins tomorrow. Interested in what they do with the US title as well.

Anyone else see Sheamus win and automatically say “well no cash in now”?  Amazing how we can all read some of the even steven booking thought processes. Nothing was bad on the show. Likely due to the length and some of the lulls it couldnt match last nighta overall excitemtnt. Divas were back to being filler but better than normal filler. Some reward for sasha though to be out first. Remember when crowd cared about Rusev? Just nothing there til Lana got involved and even then so much for what they had going.

This was a great WWE weekend though and with all that talk about a big Raw tomorrow we heard before tonight and the natural follow up, really does feel like a Mania for the summer!

Michael O’Brien

Hi Dave, 

Thumbs in the Middle
Best Match: Owens vs. Cesaro
Worst Match: Ziggler vs. Rusev


-Sheamus def. Orton. Good match, the top rope draping DDT was sick. ***1/2
-New Day def. PTP(c), Matadores, Dragons. Good, probably should’ve been the open.New Day is awesome. Xavier might just be the manager of the year if he keeps this up. ***1/2
-Rusev (draw) Ziggler. This was pretty awful. Lana had horrible outside reactions. When Ziggler was beating up Rusev, but Rusev was kicking out, she was concerned. When Ziggler was being beaten, but still kicking out, she was happy. Double count out. Bad. Bad. Bad. 1/2*
-The Arrows def. Stardust & Barrett. Amell wasn’t too bad, but didn’t get a great reaction. Thank god for Neville, who saved this. *1/2
-Ryback(c) def. Big Show, Miz. This was about what you’d expect to get from a 5 minute match with these three. Big Show knocked out Miz and Ryback tossed him to steal the win. Not a good night, or year for that matter, for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner. **1/4
-Ambrose & Reigns def. Wyatt Family. Really good action, but the crowd wasn’t really having it. Reigns was laid out for far too long at one point, and the crowd chanted “Roman’s sleeping.”. This face run is still not working for Reigns. Good fast paced brawl nonetheless.  ***3/4 
-Seth Rollins(c) def. John Cena(c). Cena needs to drop the springboard stunner, he misses it about 80% of the time. The audience isn’t reacting to Cena’s match formula as much as they were with Cesaro, Owens, ect. The AA needs to be rebuilt, it’s hard to buy the first one as the finish. My last complaint… Jon Stewart? Of all people, why Jon Stewart? All that said, it was a very good match. Rollins was on his game, breaking out a running shooting star press and a frog splash. Cena using the figure four was a great touch. But seriously… Jon Stewart? ****
-P.C.B. def. B.A.D., Team Bella. Believe it or not, Banks vs. Bayley was better. This went far too long. Alicia, who showed to be by far the best on Team Bella, got the least amount of offence on her team. *1/2
-Kevin Owens def. Cesaro. Great match. Should’ve been given more, especially considering there’s nearly 50 minutes left. ****1/4
-The Undertaker def. Brock Lesnar. The crowd was about 60/40 in favor of Taker. This match was very good until the finish, which was awful. Neither man got over. Of all the ways to set up match three, this was far from the best. ***
Casey Goss
Virginia

Notes from tonight’s Smackdown tapings in Tulsa:

Seth Rollins did an interview taking credit for breaking John Cena’s nose.  Cesaro came out and challenged Rollins to a match.

Rollins NC Cesaro when Kevin Owens, who was doing commentary, interfered.  Owens & Rollins beat down Cesaro.

Los Matadores & Lucha Dragons b New Day & The Ascension. 

The main event was announced as Rollins & Owens against Cesaro and a partner of his choosing.

Rusev & Summer Rae did an interview talking about Lana and Dolph Ziggler.

Rusev b Jack Swagger with the Accolade.  Swagger was really over in Oklahoma.

Stardust b R-Truth.  Stardust did a promo after the match and Neville chased him out of the rnig.

Cesaro & Dean Ambrose b Owens & Rollins when Cesaro pinned Owens after a roll-up.