RAW and Smackdown GO HOME shows commentary.

RAW 500 6/8/2015

*NOTE* There was no commentary on RAW and Smackdown last week. This was because of a glitch with my cable that went out during RAW and I missed most of the show. I did eventually watch RAW on Hulu, but not until this past Sunday. *END NOTE*

Yeah, I know this is way late, tough week. Now, read on.

A stumbling block. That is what this Monday’s RAW was. It was the most lackluster and average show that WWE had produced for RAW since Mania. Considering how bad the show was from last Summerslam until Mania that is saying a lot.

Hopefully, this is just a stumbling block and not a sign that things are going backwards.
Even if Cena and Owens’ segment was a step backwards.

The show opened up in the worst way possible, with Cena and Owens in and segments that took their feud down and familiar and oft-trodden dead end. This feud started out as Owens wanting to make his mark and prove his superiority. It should have stayed there.

It has now devolved into every other Cena feud – time to expose the ‘lies’ of Cena. Only this time Owens mentioned his son as a catalyst for this.

So wait, they had a great match right? Right. They could have another great match this Sunday, right? Could be.

If anyone thinks this is a fresh angle for this feud, or that it is a good angle, I question how long you have watched the WWE? About two weeks?

The motivation for this feud is weak at best not. Cena just ended a feud with Rusev, who also promised to expose the ‘lies’ of John Cena. Bray Wyatt, Kane, The Rock, JBL, Edge and countless others feuded with Cena over the exact same reason as Owens now is.

I want another great match. I also want something fresh and different.

The theme of the entire night retread another story: potential disbanding of the Authority.

Seth Rollins has claimed recently that he doesn’t need anyone, JJ, Kane or the Authority. He backed off of that though, as he said he DIDN’T mean Steph and Hunter. Hunter put Seth into a position to prove he doesn’t need the Authority, he win a match without them, and he ca choose his own opponent.

The source of Seth’s recent lashing out, Dean Ambrose, hung out around New Orleans with Seth’s title belt all Monday evening. Posting picture of his ‘celebration.’

After a confrontation between J&J and Seth that got physical, we had our main event. Seth decided to face J&J, to prove he doesn’t need them.

Unfortunately for Seth, the main event match up proved two things, neither one a positive for Seth.
First it proved that Jaime Noble and Joey Mercury can still go. These two have skills and proved it Monday Night.

The second things it proved is that Seth does need the Authority. Joey Mercury pinned Seth for the win! Of course, Ambrose had a little to do with the outcome.

This was a nice twist, as they actually went further with teasing Seth leaving the Authority then they have. This time there was no swerve that it was all a set up. This time Seth lost.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Over all this was a lackluster RAW Broadcast. It basically retread every current feud from Elimination Chamber and added little. For a GO HOME show leading into the Money in the Bank PPV it was weak. This is a problem caused by have two major events within two weeks.

The Main Event saved this broadcast to a small degree.

FINAL RATING: 6

MATCH OF THE NIGHT: J&J versus Seth Rollins
WRESTLER OF THE NIGHT: J&J
IMPACT OF THE NIIGHT: NA
LOW POINT OF THE NIGHT: The Divas

SMACKDOWN SALVO

Much like RAW Monday Night, SMACKDOWN was a lackluster show and didn’t really deliver on being a GO HOME show for Money in the Bank.

The one high point of the show was Dolph Ziggler versus Seth Rollin – which is wasted here. This is a Main Event, World Title feud match up.

The only real build up was done for the World Title match in an opening promo segment between Dean Ambrose and Rollins. The segment was hilarious with Dean recounting his adventures in New Orleans with the World Title, and Seth coming out and demanding the title.

In a sudden change of attitude, Dean laid down the belt and let Rollins have it. Rollins was happy until the reveal – it was a WWE Toy Replica Belt!

As Dean left, Kane appeared and booked the above references Rollins v Ziggler match.

Ryback and Miz finally had their IC Title match, and Ryback made his first successful defense. Following that, Big Show came out, promising the win Sunday. They have done more this past week to build up this match than any other match of then the World Title and Cena/Owens matches.

During the show Nikki Bella cut a promo that repeated her RAW promo. Didn’t really help promote or set up the match.

In her match Paige struggled against Alicia Fox, but looked strong in a tap out victory.

The lone set up for the actual Money in the Back Match was a six man main event. It was not a good match and didn’t have a finish. It ended with everyone laid out on the ground, and Neville standing on a ladder symbolically holding up a Money in the Bank briefcase (We can only Hope).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Much like RAW this was a lackluster, average at best SMACKDOWN Broadcast. If RAW was a retread, this was a retread of a retread. All it basically did was reiterate what matches will be taken place Sunday, but did little to make anything special, or encourage anyone to watch.

FINAL RATING: 5

MATCH OF THE NIGHT: Dolph Ziggler versus Seth Rollins
WRESTLER OF THE NIGHT: Seth Rollins
IMPACT OF THE NIGHT: N/A
LOW POINT OF THE NIGHT: Ryback versus The Miz

Elimination Chamber 2015

After being pulled from the PPV Schedule, and only announced two weeks before it was held, the Elimination Chamber made its return this past Sunday (May 31). For this return it was a WWE Network Exclusive (in the US), so those without the Network, sorry about your damn luck.

Going into the Elimination Chamber, it had one glaring problem that could not be dealt it. There were only two really stories going into the event to carry it. Three if you included The New Day’s constant promos for the event, telling everyone how this was unfair to The New Day.

The big push going into this event was the crowning of a new IC Champion, but that wasn’t even the main story for the show. None of the guys were working angles with each other and only Ziggler and Barrett had any recent heat.

But that doesn’t a story make.

There was also the mini-feud with Neville and BoLeave (Please!), and the issue for the Divas Title. Again, none of those were really a story.

All of them were so rushed, they felt like an afterthought.

The World Title match was one of the two stories, even if its setup was completely rush. What helped here is the long standing feud between Rollins and Ambrose and the fact that people want to see Ambrose win.

The MAIN story for this event was Cena versus Owens, and what a buildup this had with only two segments. I like Owens (Steen), and Cena Sucks. If Cena is good at one thing, it is building up a match. Their first face to face where Owens laid Cena out was good enough to build interest. Owens blindsiding him later, only added to it.

This should have been the main event.

The Matches:

WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The show started with the much hyped World Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match featuring, Cesaro/Kidd, Los Matadores (and El Torito), The Prime Time Players, The New Day, Lucha Dragons and The Ascension.

This match didn’t really deliver. A big portion of the match was more of a ‘spot match.’ Case-in-point when Calisto climbed to the top of the cage and dropped down. Yes, just dropped. Stupid.

At one point, Tyson and Cesaro dominated the match, and things really heated up when The Prime time Players entered. The New Day were last to enter. All three member of The New Day were allowed to compete, Per Kane.

In the end the New Day would retain.

I can say one great thing about this match: Darren Young has arrived. Darren shined bright in the match and was easily the best thing in the Chamber.

DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP

Now it is time for Nikki Bella to face Naomi and Paige in defense of her title. Once again, Naomi is in the title picture and Paige is screwed out of her one-on-one match.

Except for Paige, the Divas wish they were the NXT girls. We get an average match at best, after what Banks and Lynch did at Unstoppable?

Nikki Bella retained in what may have been her best outing ever. If it means anything, Nikki is getting better, but it may be too little too late. Her stage of development now, is where she should have been four or five years ago.

JOHN CENA VERSUS KEVIN OWENS

MATCH OF THE NIGHT.

CENA’S MATCH OF THE YEAR.

TOP 10 MATCH OF THE YEAR TO DATE.

I can’t believe I am about to say this concerning a Cena match, but HEY, REST OF THE ROSTER! Sit your asses down and watch this match. Learn from this one in how to tell a story, build tension, create drama and put BOTH guys over.

They pulled out everything, and both guys kicked out of everything! In the end, Owens delivered, getting a clean pin on Cena.

FIGHT OWENS FIGHT.

NEVILLE versus BO DALLAS
Skip this match. As Awesome as Neville is, Dallas is that much worse.

IC CHAMPIONSHIP ELMINATION CHABER MATCH

Mark Henry, Sheamus, R-Truth, Ryback, Barrett and Ziggler all battle for the vacant IC Title. This is a far better match then the Tag Title Chamber Match. This match was faster paced, far more aggressive and hard-hitting and it felt more like the guys were fight for something.

And the bumps! Dolph took two massive bumps into two different pods and both times knock out the ‘bullet-proof’ Plexiglas. The first time caused Mark Henry’s pods to bust open and Henry entered the match early.

The best part of the match was when Sheamus used his Celtic Cross to block his pod door from opening, allowing him to stay safe until he wanted to enter the match. It was to no avail though, as Sheamus would be the last one eliminated by the new IC Champion Ryback.
Long overdue for a title reign, let’s see if Ryback can handle it and step up.

WORLD TITLE MATCH
This was the second best match of the night. Ambrose and Rollins brought their A+ games and delivered a nail-biting world title match. There was no doubt Ambrose wanted to win. Rollins doesn’t seem to care about winning, only retaining the title. Which makes for a good heel champion.

It had a nice flow, went back and forth and really brought forth the feeling of two guys who hate each other. Toward the end, the Lunatic would go for his elbow off the top rope, only for Rollins to pull the ref into the way.

It wouldn’t work for Rollins. Second lately, Ambrose would hit dirty deeds and a second ref would count him down! Ambrose wins?!?!?

By DQ. The original ref DQ’d Rollins. Ambrose wins, Rollins retained.

I don’t mind this ending at all. It makes sense to go with what happened in the match. It also serves to further the feud and continue having the Face chase the Heel champion. Good for business. Good for fans if we get more matches like this.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This wasn’t a great event, a good one, but not great. I enjoyed it. Two Great matches, one stinker, and three average.

RATING: 6.5

MATCH OF THE NIGHT: John Cena versus Kevin Owens
IMPACT OF THE NIGHT: Kevin Owens CLEAN pin fall victory.
WRESTLER OF THE NIGHT: Kevin Owens
LOW POINT OF THE NIGHT: Neville versus Bo Dallas

Hello

Hello,

No!

No this isn’t another State of Piece, just a statement of why I stopped posting around Mania and never finished the State of the WWE series of articles. Those will restart soon, from scratch to reflect how the WWE has improve post-Mania.

This is a shorter, and re-written to fit into Wrestlemenatry, version of the post I posted on my State of the Master Blog a day ago.

At the end of March I was all caught up, my blogs were on time, I was getting more active, then BANG on April 2 my mother fell and badly hurt her foot. Bad enough that we went for a trip to emergency. She didn’t break it, but had/has high grade 1st degree sprain. She spent a week unable to walk, and we didn’t work for three weeks.

I couldn’t do anything less then take care of her during this time, not after how she looked after me with my aneurysm last year.

Okay, one way or another Wrestlementay will return on June 1st or 2nd. I may review Elimination Chamber, or just start fresh on Tuesday and begin the coverage (again) with RAW.

Ace

The Giant's Show

When I look back over the 20 year career of the world’s largest athlete, The Big Show Paul Wight, it’s easy to see the impact he’s had on the industry. He’s either tagged or feuded with some of the greatest names in wrestling history and, win or lose, always put over the other guy - because he’s so big!

The Giant was introduced back in 1995 in WCW with a championship title win right off the bat and he never had to look back as his colossal sized shadow would soon dominate the scene. When he joined WWE in 1999, the accomplished South Carolina athlete morphed into The Big Show - a giant with an attitude who would switch allegiances as he pleased, all to his benefit.

That malleability has served him well as a personality all these years. Show is able to sell as a heel or baby face equally well because he is just that good, both on the mic and as an actor.

His athleticism and range of wrestling moves have delivered him multiple championships to back up his words. No wonder when the fans either cheer or boo him, The Big Show always gets a big pop.

But here in 2015, The Big Show is falling out of favor with the fan base. Calls that he’s too old and his allegiance to the Authority, have overshadowed all his past accomplishments, even his recent victory at the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania. To me, it’s more a case of the WWE universe taking this shoo-in Hall of Famer for granted. Have they not witnessed Big Show’s full range of wrestling skills on display the past year? His quickness is still amazing for someone his size AND age. And he has picked up a LOT of the slack in the heel department after the departure of Alberto Del Rio last year with added mic time. Just ask Roman Reigns what a choke slam on top of a taxicab will do for your career!

It’s easy I suppose to forget all the classic wins over Kane, Brock Lesnar and The Rock that he’s had in the past and just believe whatever the storyline is this month, but real fans and the guys in the locker room know what’s up. Paul Wight is more than just a good soldier for the company and the sport, he is the greatest Giant of all-time and the Big Show can still go!

- Dave Parrish


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Ensuring a better future, for ALL
http://www.operationsavetheearth.com

Wrestlemania 31 World Heavyweight Title Match - Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns is not a dream match of mine. I have no real problem with the match, but it is not a match I am looking forward. One reason is that I am not a fan of either men, and the buildup has been bad for a title match.

I am not a fan of Roman Reigns in any aspect of his career. He has no personality, little charisma and most of the time looks like he thinks it is all a joke. I honestly believe he is on the verge of laughing nearly anytime I see him.

Outside of the Superman punch and spear, what does Reigns bring in ring? Not much. He has the look, the build and the style that WWE seems to love so much. That is about it.

All that aside, Roman busted his ass over the last few weeks to promote this match, without Brock around. Yes, there was Heyman, but he isn’t in the match. It fell on roman to do the heavy lifting. He almost succeed and last week’s promo was his best.

Brock, on the other hand, brings so much ability as a wrestler it is ridiculous. He also suffers from the lack of personality and charisma, but it doesn’t affect him as much. Of course, when he does his ‘sit down interview’ he is awesome.

Don’t expect a great Mania World Title Match here. Or a wrestling match. Expect a fight, a brawl, and for Brock to carry the load.

Personally, Roman is not on Brock’s level.

The problem is, Brock’s lack of appearances and lack of defenses have seriously devalued the title to the point of being worthless. The title means nothing in the hands of Brock Lesnar, and his is the worst title reign in WWE history.

Brock has to lose the WWE title, and lose it now. Reigns may not be my ideal champion, but he can restore some luster to the title. At least he will be around to defend the title and be on Raw and Smackdown on regular basis.

Ace Masters

WrestleMania 31 Intercontinental Title Ladder Match

Wade Barrett v Stardust v Dolph Ziggler v Luke Harper v Dean Ambrose v R-Truth v Daniel Bryan

The first person to climb the ladder, retrieve the belt and hopefully NOT get it stolen, is the Champion. Or, in the case of Barrett, remains the Champion.

This is the match I am looking forward to more than any other at Mania, even over Sting versus Hunter. 

This match has had the best build up. Everyone involved in the match has been involved in the buildup, and all of them are scrambling to be the Champion. It is Awesome to see so much talent demanding their time to shine. This brings a whole new level of prestige to the IC Title.

Everyone wants the Championship, and all of them have been in possession of the Belt over the last few weeks, despite not being the Champion. It has been fun watching Barrett chase after his own title as it continual gets stolen, especially in unique and hilarious ways by R-Truth.

Along the way, we have gotten some great matches and intrigue. Dean and Dolph called Bryan a ‘turd,’ is this going to play into the match?

It seems that Barrett can lay out everyone to get the actual belt back, but can’t seem to win a match lately. Good thing they have all been non-title. Good thing all he has to do Sunday is lay everyone out.

R-truth has been stellar in his role in this build up.

With the talent involved, this match should steal the show. With this level of talent, if it doesn’t, some heads need to role.

Ace Masters

Wrestlemania 31 Randy Orton Versus Seth Rollins

If it wasn’t for the IC Ladder Title match, I would call this match to steal the show. In fact it still might.

Randy Orton is a great talent.

Seth Rollins might be an even better talent.

This match has easily the best back story and the best build of any match on the Mania card. It is certainly the most personal. Yes, even over Hunter/Sting.

Orton never trusted Rollins, which lead to his ouster from the Authority.

Rollins tried to end his career then bragged about it.

Orton returned, rejoined the Authority then destroyed Rollins – singlehandedly. He made fools out of the Authority – which is why I expect interference in this match.

This match should be a roller coaster of back and forth action, with neither man able to gain the advantage. The authority should interfere, forcing Orton to overcome great odds and frustrating Rollins with Orton’s will to survive.

This has all the earmarks of a classic.

- Ace Masters