Payback From an Alternate Universe

I was going to write a RAW recap but Monday’s episode was one of the dullest in months and didn’t interest me enough to make me want to spend time doing that. Instead I thought it would be interesting to write about the direction WWE seem to be taking for their next pay-per-view, Payback, and what I’d do differently.

Monday’s RAW made it clear that the issue between Daniel Bryan and Kane isn’t over. It should be, because D-Bry cleanly defeated ‘The Big Red Machine’ in the main event of Extreme Rules. As an audience we have no doubt that Bryan can beat Kane, which makes another title match between them a pointless exercise.

The reason WWE are taking that direction is that they haven’t prepared any other heel challengers for Bryan. That should have been a priority directly after (and ideally before too) WrestleMania. The Kane feud would have made a nice placeholder while somebody else was built up to work with Bryan after Extreme Rules. Kane was fine for a month but going beyond that is too much. Someone new should be in the spot.

If you want to go by rumours then apparently Batista declined the Payback title match with Bryan. If that’s true then it’s a pity. Bryan versus Big Dave would have had incredible heat to it: the company’s most popular against the company’s most hated. With Bryan involved it wouldn’t have been a bad match either. With the right story, length and crowd it could have been very good.

The other matches that seem likely for Payback are also rematches: The Shield v Evolution and John Cena v Bray Wyatt. While going with rematches helps the show’s name make sense it doesn’t really do anything to encourage people to tune in. The Shield v Evolution rematch is fresh enough to warrant another airing but it will be the third supershow in a row to feature Cena taking on ‘The Eater of Worlds’ (and Cena has also clashed with The Wyatt Family on various episodes of RAW and SmackDown), and I’ve lost count of the number of times Bryan and Kane have wrestled each other over the last two years.

Bray Wyatt would have made a good challenger to Bryan at Payback.
Instead he'll face John Cena. Again.

I’d have moved Wyatt into a programme with Bryan and pitted Cena against someone new. This would have created two fresh matches for Payback, one of which would have featured the WWE champion defending against a man who was not only coming off a win (albeit a fairly unconvincing one) over the company’s top star but who had beaten Bryan decisively and fairly at Royal Rumble. A DQ finish at Payback (not ideal but feasible if the match were not going on last, which would be an option with Evolution v The Shield to do main event duties) could have led to a rematch at Money in the Bank which Bryan could have won decisively.

After his unsuccessful championship challenges Wyatt would have been free to slip back into his programme with Cena for a third and deciding encounter at Battleground (to be held in July) or SummerSlam. Meanwhile Bryan would have been free to defend against Randy Orton, Triple H or one of the names mentioned below at Battleground before facing Brock Lesnar at ‘The Hottest Show of the Summer’.

Several guys could have been picked to oppose Cena at Payback and Money in the Bank. Cesaro is an obvious guy to mention, although WWE seem to be taking things slow with him and waiting until people are desperate to see him pushed into the main event to do something substantial with him. Which is an approach hard to argue with after the success of Daniel Bryan. ‘The King of Swing’ strikes me as someone who’d get a great match out of Cena in a pay-per-view environment. A match between Cesaro and Bryan would definitely be good enough to headline any WWE pay-per-view.

A bit more of a stretch would have been Jack Swagger. ‘Big Hoss’ has been treated as a mid-carder with no prospects of advancement for years now. That would have made a programme with John Cena pretty surprising. But they could have had some passable matches, and if Cena had lost just one (not impossible with the booking options Zeb Colter’s presence provides) Swags could have been credible enough to be used as a challenger to Bryan in July, especially if he’d been booked strongly against the champion before their PPV meeting.

Alexander Rusev (who may now simply be going by Rusev) would have worked too. He’s only been squashing jobbers for a month but I think we all know he’s going to be pitted against Cena at some point. It’s such an obvious story that WWE won’t be able to resist: an unstoppable foreign heel who loves a bit of Vladimir Putin attacks Cena a few times before facing him in a regular match to get the loss he deserves for not being American. It’s one of the most successful wrestling storylines there is.

Of the three I’d have gone with Swagger. I think moving Cesaro into two such high profile feuds could result in a backlash against him. As I say, he’ll benefit from moving up gradually as Bryan did. Rusev could work but he’d probably benefit from another month or two of squashing guys and winning low key feuds. I think we’ll see him tangle with Cena at SummerSlam for real. He’ll be as well prepared as he needs to be by that point if the current approach is stuck to.

This man needs challengers.

So at Payback I’d have had Swagger face Cena, Wyatt challenge for the championship and Evolution face The Shield. That would provide two fresh matches, help prepare a fresh challenger for Bryan (and Bryan v Swagger could be an excellent match), and give a second outing to a match and feud people seem keen on. By the summer you’d have Orton, Triple H, Batista (if he’s still around), and Swagger ready to work a pay-per-view match with Bryan. Options are what WWE needs at the moment.

Basically a good job was done getting the title onto D-Bry but they forgot to do any work creating challengers for him. It wouldn’t take them long, no more than a couple of months, but at the moment it doesn’t look like it’s a priority. They seem more interested in putting their popular champion into silly backstage skits and having him face characters that nobody believes will beat him. They’re spoilt for choice for guys to elevate into challenger roles. They should pick three and get to work.

Extreme Rules 2014 preview

The first important thing to note here is that this is not Washington. I mention this because a couple of months ago I wrote this. Basically it had been revealed, by official websites no less, that Extreme Rules was to be held in Washington, the home state of Daniel Bryan. That set me off writing the post I've linked to in which I drew parallels between the Daniel Bryan of today and the Chris Benoit of 2004.

I stand by the ideas. I would have been completely right about the potential storylines. If, y'know, Extreme Rules was being held in Washington and not the Izod Centre in New Jersey. 

The event being held where it is is a good thing of course. This is the building that hosted the famed April 8 2013 RAW. There were fans from all around the world there that night, because it was the night after WrestleMania XXIX, but that doesn’t mean that there were no local fans there making noise. There were. Which means we’re as good as guaranteed an excitable crowd for Extreme Rules. And lively crowds can turn very good events into great events.

There are certainly enough big matches to make this a memorable show: Kane versus Daniel Bryan for the WWE championship, the six man tag meeting between Evolution and The Shield, and John Cena’s caged clash with Bray Wyatt. It says something that Cena is in what is in the least significant of the three. When the company’s biggest star is not involved in either of the top two bouts on a pay-per-view (or is that special event?) you know things are pretty crammed at the top.

This is the second major meeting between Cena and ‘The Eater of Worlds’. They had a singles match at WrestleMania and beyond that have only interacted in handicap matches, brawls and run-ins. This means that their feud still feels fresh, even though it officially began at Royal Rumble when The Wyatt Family cost Cena the WWE championship (although that development was actually ignored for a month). 

So far it seems to be based around Bray considering Cena a false idol for fans and wanting to reveal him as a fraud. For his part Cena seems to have no real problem with the Wyatts beyond the fact that they keep attacking him. The guy just wants to be left alone.

As already stated this will be a cage match, something ‘The CeNation Leader’ suggested as a way of allowing Bray to prove he doesn’t need to rely on Luke Harper and Erick Rowan (who I think should be referred to as ‘Eerie’ Erick Rowan) to win. I was pretty sure Wyatt would defeat Cena on this show even before the cage stipulation was announced. If anything that’s made me more certain of the result. By beating Cena without direct aid Wyatt will be shown to be on or close to Cena’s level. That he lost with aid (at ‘Mania) will only serve to further highlight the magnitude of the accomplishment. That it’s a cage match gives WWE a handy get out whereby they can have Wyatt win without having Cena suffer a conventional loss. The preacher can simply climb out of the cage.

That said I expect Harper and Rowan to appear at some point during the match. Just because WWE can give Wyatt a clean(ish) win here doesn’t mean they will. I expect the Wyatt boys will do something like pass handcuffs to their leader. Maybe they’ll climb into the cage and take AAs. They’re too prominent to simply omit from Extreme Rules completely.

If Main Event and Friday’s SmackDown (spoilers of which are available at time of writing) are anything to go by Harper and Rowan are going to begin working against tag team champions the Usos fairly soon. I don’t dislike Los Matadores or RybAxel¹ but The Wyatt Family are clearly in a different league when it comes to audience acceptance. The tag titles should get a boost from the feud. 

The unwanted but apparently necessary filler match will see Xavier Woods and R-Truth team up to take on Alexander Rusev. Wrestling logic dictates that the powerful heel who has so far proven unstoppable will easily defeat the two disposable babyfaces he’s being pitted against. It’s just one of those things that you know. It’s nice that the match has a bit of a story behind it (Rusev has defeated both men in singles matches and attacked them afterwards) but there can’t be any doubt that ‘The Bulgarian Brute’ will win.

A match with significantly more substance to it is the Cesaro v Jack Swwagger v Rob Van Dam match. It’s nice to get a triple threat match from WWE that is not based around a championship. Here the problem started when Cesaro quit Team America and became Paul Heyman’s latest client. The singles feud we expected has evolved to feature RVD as Swags and ‘The King of Swing’ have interfered in each other’s bouts involving Van Dam. 

This match would be good either as an opener or sat towards the middle of the card. Wherever it goes I think it will be amongst the best offerings of the night. If it doesn’t feature a spot where Van Dam does something to Swagger as he’s being given a Big Swing by Cesaro I’m going to be very disappointed. They could surprise us with a Van Dam or Swagger win but I think Cesaro’s the sane pick.

Speaking of Cesaro, I’d originally expected him to be the man challenging Big E for the Intercontinental championship. He didn’t even make it to the finals of the number one contenders’ tournament. Nor, for that matter, did Sheamus, the man I assumed ‘The Swiss Superman’ would defeat in a hard-hitting hoss fight. Instead ‘The Celtic Warrior’ fell to Bad News Barrett in the semi-finals while Cesaro went down to Rob Van Dam. The RVD v Bad News final was one I hadn’t expected to see, which in a way made it more enjoyable. From the moment it was set up I wasn’t really in any doubt that Barrett would be the man advancing to Extreme Rules and I was right.

Big E defending against Barrett is in a sense the most intriguing match on the show. They’re not wrestling because they have some grudge to settle, the standard WWE approach. In fact they haven’t really interacted with one another at all. They’re wrestling simply because both want the Intercontinental championship. This is something many people (myself included) have been waiting to see for quite a while: WWE reintroducing some lustre to the IC gold. The simplest way of doing that is by having guys talk about how much they want to win it.

I think there’s every chance the match will be a thriller. Think back to Elimination Chamber where Big E tore the house down with Jack Swagger in a match stuffed with big bumps (neither is a small man, making those falls particularly impressive) and near falls. Nobody but the most ardent fan of either man had expected that sort of performance and I think the same is largely true here: nobody expects Barrett versus Big to be anything special. But it could be. Barrett is of a similar size to Swags and wrestles a not dissimilar style. I want Big E to prove that he can pull an Elimination Chamber level performance out of the bag regularly. And I also want Barrett to have a cracking match. He deserves to after waiting patiently on The JBL and Cole Show for months and refining this new gimmick.

I’m picking Big E to win. If WWE are intending to make the IC strap relevant again the best way to do it would almost certainly be to keep it on one guy for a while and have him wrestle a series of exciting defences. That’s something Big E will hopefully prove well suited to. 

A title match it’s harder to get excited about is Paige versus Tamina Snuka. I like Paige a lot but Tamina is not someone who thrills me. It’s also another match where the competitors haven’t really had a rivalry as such. Tamina simply earned a title shot by winning a match. That worked for Barrett and Big E because there was a tourney that stretched over several weeks. It’s a different story for the Divas belt because Tamina won a one off match and then did nothing else. Plus no matter how battered the Intercontinental title’s rep may get it would take a lot more than what it’s been through to mean less than the Divas strap.

I think the match itself will be good, it’s just that there’s very little to get invested in. It would be a different story if AJ was still on TV. They could have done a straight rematch then, or a three-way. They could even have done this match and played up AJ being irked by being a position where she has to cheer for her bodyguard to win something she considered hers. But that’s not the world we live in. The sooner ‘The Anti-Diva’ retains here and moves on to wrestling Emma or Natalya or even the Bella twins the better.

Back up at the top of the card we have WWE champion Daniel Bryan defending against Kane. It’s a match that could be said to have to years of history to it. The two first crossed paths in the summer of 2012 in a three-way feud with WWE champion CM Punk before putting their differences aside (in anger management therapy sessions) and becoming one of the most notable odd couple tag teams ever. They won the tag team titles and held them for an impressive eight months before losing them (at last year’s Extreme Rules funnily enough), then quietly went their separate ways.

For Bryan that meant a clean WWE championship win over John Cena at SummerSlam and a feud with lead heel faction The Authority and a series of mildly disappointing outings opposite Randy Orton. For Kane it meant a series of jarring plot leaps (something which has become as much a part of the character as anything else): after being abducted by The Wyatt Family² he returned to TV and attacked Miz³ and then joined The Authority as Director of Operations⁴. 

They didn’t interact in a meaningful way for quite a while, and their former status as friends was frustratingly never really acknowledged or explained. Eventually they started having matches against one another on RAW (and they were apparently going to face off at WrestleMania before CM Punk walked out, although it’s possible that would have changed when it became apparent fans weren’t willing to accept a ‘Mania card that didn’t include Daniel Bryan getting his due spot). Then they drifted apart again as Bryan started being prepped for a match with Triple H and Kane developed problems with The Shield. 

The latest chapter in the storied Bryan-Kane rivalry has seen ‘The Big Red Machine’ put the mask back on after being belittled by Stephanie McMahon. That supposedly “unlocked his sadistic side” and prompted him to viciously assault D-Bry on the April 21 RAW, giving him three Tombstones before wandering off. That showed Bryan can be dominated by his challenger and created storyline damage for him to sell (the Tombstone remains one of the most protected moves in WWE), which in turn creates a match at Extreme Rules in which Bryan is even more clearly the underdog than he is usually.

Basically, after two years we once again have Bryan and a masked Kane at odds over the WWE championship. The only major difference is that CM Punk’s not involved here. There’s a lot of history to the pairing but it’s not one that easily translates to a video package, even one put together by the talented team at WWE’s disposal. For that reason I expect the video package for this feud to focus only on the last month or so. It could be used as the blow off to an epic two year story but I just don’t think it will be.

The quality of the match itself should be great. Bryan is very clearly one of the best wrestlers in WWE and doesn’t really ever have bad matches. The same isn’t true of Kane, but he has plenty of experience working with Bryan, is currently in the psycho monster role he functions best in⁵, and has an Extreme Rules stipulation allowing shortcuts that will help both tell a story.

I can’t imagine a world in which Kane wins the title at Extreme Rules. It would be the most pointless exercise imaginable. Bryan has been built up for months and, despite the solid work done reheating him, nobody takes Kane seriously as a regular top line performer now. The match exists to give Daniel Bryan an obstacle to overcome while he’s waiting for Batista, Randy Orton, Triple H or a combination of the three to give him his first major challenge.

The reason none of those three men are challenging Bryan at Extreme Rules is that they’ve reformed Evolution for a match with The Shield. This is another one with a bit of history to it. The Authority had used ‘The Hounds of Justice’ as enforcers and to keep the WWE championship on chosen one Randy Orton. Trouble started brewing between the men in black and their benefactors in the build-up to WrestleMania when Kane ordered beatdowns on the trio (which was later revealed as something Triple H had “masterminded”). The post-WrestleMania RAW saw The Shield officially turn on The Authority when they cleared them from the ring and saved Daniel Bryan from a beating.

Since then we’ve had the standard promos and attacks. It’s been inoffensive stuff, necessary to fill TV minutes and keep interest bubbling away in the match. It didn’t need to be anything much more than that because the allure of The Shield taking on Evolution is enough. Even if people aren’t aware of Evolution’s history (which is possible because the group split nine years ago) or who Batista is (equally plausible seeing as he left for four years) this match holds massive appeal. The Shield are massively popular and, more to the point, have built up a reputation of having excellent six man tag matches when it counts. Seeing them face the boss and one of the promotion’s top heels (Orton) is a big deal. Knowing the significance of Evolution within WWE simply to what’s already there.

I think this stands a strong chance of being the match of the night. Everyone involved knows how to play their role and five of the six are amongst the best performers in the promotion. The sixth is Batista, and he’s not as bad as people like to make out. A major part of the reason he’s so disliked is because of what he represents: part-timers nicking spots. No, he’s not as good as the other five, but he gets audiences riled up and a multi-man match is the best place for him: his ring time becomes limited but his screen time doesn’t. 

Either team could win this. That’s the reason I think it should go on last. The result of Kane versus Bryan is simply too obvious to be able to follow this. I’m leaning towards The Shield. As the younger guys who have lengthier in-ring futures than Evolution they need the win more. Roman Reigns pinning ‘The Game’ would be nice, setting up their SummerSlam encounter, but it seems a bit early for that. If it happens now, four months before the event, where does WWE go with it?

Extreme Rules does not look like the greatest WWE show possible. You’d need to give Paige a better opponent and scrap the handicap match for it to be in with a chance of getting that honour. But it doesn’t look bad. The top three matches should all be worth watching and the Intercontinental title match and triple threat have potential to be great too. I think I’m going to get my hopes up. Let’s hope it’s worth it.

Predictions summary:

The Shield to defeat Evolution

Daniel Bryan to defeat Kane

Bray Wyatt to defeat John Cena

Big E to defeat Bad News Barrett

Cesaro to defeat Jack Swagger and Rob Van Dam

Paige to defeat Tamina Snuka

Alexander Rusev to defeat R-Truth and Xavier Woods

                                                                           ***

¹ On a side note here I had a dream the other night that RybAxel got some matching ring gear and started being managed by Paul Heyman again. I can’t remember much beyond that but I’m pretty sure there was a feud with The New Age Outlaws going on.

² He made a sequel to the See No Evil flick, one of the first offerings from WWE Studios many years ago. Nobody wanted it. That didn’t stop WWE from making it.

³ This went nowhere, which surprised no one.

⁴ Kane was impressed by their contempt and disregard for humanity. Or something.

⁵ Clarification: Glenn Jacobs wrestles his best matches in the psycho monster role. He does his best work in a comedy role sending up the nonsensical nature of his character.

That RAW Recap 14.04.14

The opening of the April 14 RAW was not what WWE had planned when the previous week’s episode went off the air. Instead of a promo from Triple H about how he was irked by The Shield and Daniel Bryan (or whatever) we got a tribute to The Ultimate Warrior, who died of a heart attack on Tuesday April 8. The entire roster started the show stood on the stage as Jerry Lawler introduced a video package for the Hall of Famer. It was a touching compilation of rope-shaking and match footage. Afterwards Triple H instigated a Warrior chant, which everyone in the building joined in with.

The tributes would continue throughout the night, taking the form of career highlight videos focusing on specific Warrior matches. The bouts selected for inclusion were his Intercontinental title victory over the Honky Tonk Man at SummerSlam ’88, his iconic clash with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI, his SummerSlam 1990 cage match opposite Rick Rude, and an edited version of his final RAW promo. WWE did a good job making Warrior look a star.

The show proper kicked off with Alberto Del Rio taking on Rob Van Dam, one of four first round matches in a tournament to determine the number one contender to Big E’s Intercontinental gold. The match was nothing special. In fact it was pretty sloppy in places. The most notable thing about it was that the announce team mentioned Van Dam’s hybrid style. For whatever reason (quite possibly because I often try and tune them out) I’d never registered that they say this in every RVD match. It’s incredibly lazy, but that won’t stop them saying it next week. Van Dam progressed to the second round after yanking ADR off the top rope and hitting him with a Five Star frog splash.

After a recap reminding us of what went down with Evolution, The Shield, and Daniel Bryan (who was on his honeymoon with Brie Bella and wouldn’t make an appearance) the week before we were shown Triple H shaking hands with Orton and Batista in an office. ‘The Game’ told his boys that he didn’t think The Shield were going to let either of them near the WWE championship and said it was an attitude that reminded him of Evolution (which was probably meant as a compliment). Then he said he doesn’t think anyone can stop them then immediately contradicted himself and said a united Evolution could. Both Batista and Orton told Tripper that he was on his own. ‘The Animal’, you see, just wants to be champ.

I suggested Goldust's robe on a TWP
episode. Maybe they're listeners.

The evening’s second match was Goldust and Cody Rhodes v RybAxel. It was enjoyable, as most things involving Cody Rhodes are. Perhaps surprisingly the heels won clean, Ryback pinning Cody off a Meathook clothesline as Cody went for a Disaster kick. It meant we got to hear RybAxel’s hunting horn heavy theme tune again, so I was all for that win.

In his latest hype video Bo Dallas told us today is a gift, which is why it’s called the present. I can’t wait until he’s on TV with this ridiculousness. There’s a lot of potential in character and I’m hopeful WWE are going to do something worthwhile with him.

Out next was Paige. We were reminded of the circumstances of her debut and title win but there was no victory promo from her. Nor was there any appearance from former champ AJ Lee. I’d expected the latter in order to set up a rematch at Extreme Rules. Presumably she was elsewhere and her reaction to the loss of her title will come next week. The new champion faced Alicia Fox in a non-title match. Fox dominated much of the match. Eventually Paige turned the tables with a kick and applied her scorpion lock for the submission victory.

Hour two opened with WWE tag team champions Jimmy and Jey Uso (whose continued popularity surprised and pleases me) facing Randy Orton and Batista. The story behind it was that the Usos had challenged the Evolution boys after the beating they’d taken around ringside the week before. The Usos started off with a barrage of punches and a pair of dives on to their foes but the match quickly proceeded into a slow pace with Team Ortista keeping things under control.

It didn’t last long. After a few minutes ‘The Viper’ left the ring to give Jimmy a beating around ringside (again) and got attacked by The Shield. Big Dave was left alone in the ring. Rollins and Ambrose sacrificed themselves distracting him to allow Reigns the chance to get into the ring and drop ‘The Animal’ with a Superman punch. That Ambrose and Rollins got taken out is a small thing but a nice touch: it demonstrates that The Shield can and do work together to accomplish their goals (here it was getting their hands on Batista) and that each man works towards the greater good. It’s something we’ve not really ever seen in WWE. For that reason alone it should be supported.

After a break Batsy and Orty were shown walking through a backstage tech area. They came across Triple H and Stephanie, who were just standing around instead of running the show. Trips said he’d told them so and wandered off. The two were left to look sour together and glare after him.

Out at ringside Paul Heyman walked out to brag about Brock Lesnar ending The Streak. He had photos cued up to remind us how everything played out at ‘Mania and said that nobody had believed him when he said The Streak would end. By his logic we should now believe everything he says and announced that Cesaro was going to be the next major star in WWE. They should play up Heyman being some sort of pro wrestling oracle. That’s a character development that could really go places.

Check out the walk on Cesaro.

‘The King of Swing’ came out to no music but was wearing his lovely, shiny ring jacket. He was there to wrestle Mark Henry in an IC tournament match. After plastering ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ with uppercuts and avoiding a World’s Strongest Slam Cesaro won the match with a Neutralizer. His win got a split reaction. I think that was as much because of the lack of a Big Swing as anything else.

Another Triple H and Stephanie segment occurred backstage. This one saw Brad Maddox dispatched to tell The Shield they had a six man tag match in the main event. The identities of their opponents were not disclosed. This was Maddox’s only contribution to the show. Sooner or later a new role is going to be needed for him. The GM spot has become obsolete (again).

Back in the arena Lana talked up Alexander Rusev in both Russian and English. After posing and talking to himself in the ring ‘The Super Athlete’ defeated Xavier Woods in a squash match with The Accolade (or the Steiner Recliner for those of us who enjoy referencing Scott Steiner). After the match R-Truth attacked Rusev. That didn’t end well for Truth. Worth noting was that Lana was shown to call Rusev off of Truth for a moment. I’m sure that was done to demonstrate that she’s the one in charge, not Rusev.

After some merciless Network plugging the third tournament took place, this one pitting Sheamus against Jack Swagger. Those who enjoy hoss fights were well served by this match. The match was a little slow for my tastes, although I did appreciate the two men not going light on one another. Sheamus won with a surprise Brogue kick after gritting his way through an ankle lock. He did a good job of selling the effects of the hold after the match.

An Adam Rose promo followed that. It was the same one that was on the week before. A new one would air later in the night, this one showing Rose winning a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos and then telling his bunny (a fully grown man in a bunny suit) not to be a lemon but a Rosebud. I love me some Adam Rose. He’s a marvellous gimmick.

A break was followed by Damien Sandow telling everyone that he was the most deserving man in WWE. Big Show waddled out but that didn’t stop ‘The Intellectual Saviour’ talking: he shouted that he wouldn’t be silenced and told people to sit back down and listen to what he had to say. It’s material like that that sets the Sandow character apart and makes it work. Sandow continued talking once Show arrived, claiming people should be begging to touch him as he walks to the ring. He said he deserves “it”, failing to specify what “it” is, because he’s earned “it”. He prodded Show in the chest and got a WMD punch for his trouble.

Presumably the segment existed to set something up for Sandow. I’ve no idea what it could be. He looked pretty pathetic here. Not only did he crumple to Show (that was to be expected frankly) but he was instructed to cut a promo that wasn’t really about anything. All we know is that Sandow feels he’s earned respect. We don’t really know he suddenly feels the need to address it on TV. Perceived lack of respect can’t be the reason: that’s something he’s been putting up with for months.

Hour two kicked off with a Bray Wyatt speech. He talked about The Man and said John Cena’s made a career out of lying to people. Cena is, according to Wyatt, not a man but a beast. Wyatt promised all the kids that he wouldn’t let Cena lie to them anymore and confided that he had Cena where he wants him, up against the ropes, and all he needs to do is give him one final push. My immediate thought was that Cena’s had enough pushing.

Bray Wyatt, 'Eater of Worlds'... and lights.

Wyatt invited Cena to come to the ring. He did, natch. The first thing he did was make a remark about pushes. So there we go: I sometimes have the same train of thought as John Cena. Cena said the monster Wyatt talks about doesn’t exist and then cracked jokes at the expense of the Family. This led to one of WWE’s favourite tropes: obviously doctored photographs. We were shown Abigail Wyatt on Myspace (Wyatt’s face on a woman’s shoulders), Mama Wyatt (Luke Harper in a dress, found via Tinder) and a Wyatt baby (Erick Roan’s head on a swaddled baby’s body). It wasn’t funny but Michael Cole dutifully mugged along anyway.

Wyatt said Cena always falls back on his jokes, so then Cena did his serious voice. He said Bray relies on Harper and Rowan and challenged him to give them a rest and face him in a cage match at Extreme Rules. Wyatt liked that and accepted the challenge. Then he sang. He has a majestic voice.

Match seven was Emma and Santino v Layla and Faaaaaan… daaaaaan… goooooo. Yeah, Summer Rae’s out and Layla’s in. The storyline reason is that Fandango grew bored of Summer and wanted a new “dance partner” (to this end we got an amusing video in which Fandango told Summer Rae “It’s not me, it’s you”). The actual reason is that Summer Rae is expected to become more significant now she’s made it to Total Divas so the decision’s been made to split her off from the mid-card dancer. Layla’s replaced her because she had nothing else to do, but it works out well because she has a dance background. Summer did not. Everyone benefits from the change really.

As all of the recent mixed tag matches between this lot have been this was nothing but basic filler. These matches are designed more to drive forward stories than anything else. Layla won after pulling Emma off the top rope. Yeah, that’s a finish now.

Backstage Stephanie gave Kane a telling off. Once he’d had enough of Steph’s yammering Kane stood up and started doing his heavy breathing routine, just as the camera angle changed to reveal that his old mask (and wig) were sitting on a table inside a glass cabinet. If that being there wasn’t weird enough (and it was) Kane reverently took hold of the mask and promised Steph that he would destroy Daniel Bryan.

The final tournament match of the evening was Dolph Ziggler v Bad News Barrett.  Bad News was surprisingly popular. I hadn’t expected that, attributing the cheers he got the week before to the large number of British fans at the event. I suppose people can sense how much Barrett enjoys playing the character and that makes them appreciate him more. The match itself was the best of the night. ‘The Show Off’ survived Barrett’s old Wasteland finisher. In turn Barrett was able to kick out of a top rope X Factor. Bad News next escaped from a Fameasser. Seconds later Ziggler slipped out of Barrett’s wild sidewalk slam. Barrett’s first Bullhammer attempt was ducked, Ziggler sneaking in a roll-up that should have gotten a better reaction as a potential finish than it did. Barrett kicked out and connected with his second Bullhammer attempt for the win.

After the match Bad News proclaimed himself the next Intercontinental champion and did the Scotty Riggs overhand claps again. Now seems a good time to discuss the title tourney. As enjoyable as Bad News has been in his last two RAW appearances I don’t think he’s getting to the final. He will face Sheamus in the second round while RVD faces Cesaro. The matches seem designed to give Sheamus and Cesaro opponents that can have great matches with them, and it’s them that I expect to go to the final. Van Dam is an enhancer at this point while BNB can fall to a former world champion without looking week, especially when he’s had two enjoyable wins leading up to it.

I could be wrong but it seems like ‘The Swiss Superman’ is the clear favourite to win the tournament. I can’t imagine anybody facing Big E for the IC gold. Given the selection I don’t want to either. Big E showed back at Elimination Chamber that he can have a good power match if he gets the time to do so. And that was with Jack Swagger. He should be able to accomplish far more with Cesaro.

Before the main event a Kane promo aired. ‘The Big Red Machine’ was shown wearing his mask and walking through various fiery locales. It was put together very quickly, considering the mask had only been put back on less than an hour before. It’s like it’s all scripted or something…

The main event saw The Shield take on Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger and Fandango… along with 3MB, Titus O’Neil, RybAxel, Alexander Rusev, and Bad News Barrett. Instead of taking the obvious beatdown direction the eleven men actually tagged in and out in a handicap match against Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns. Rollins was isolated, with all the heels tagging in for twenty second stints to hit him with some basic move or other. Reigns eventually got bored and went round to his foes’ corner to spear Ryback. That prompted a ringside brawl which featured dives from Ambrose and Rollins and then spilled into the ring, where the heels got the advantage on ‘The Hounds’.

It's another Triple H faction reunion!

Then Evolution’s music hit and Triple H, Batista and Orton walked out and dismissed the mid-carders. They gave Rollins a kicking and then hit Reigns with an RKO and a Batista bomb. Rollins got the same. Meanwhile Ambrose was finished off with the Batista bomb-RKO combo that was debuted at WrestleMania. Triple H encouraged Reigns to try and fight back to his feet then had him pulled up so he could give him a Pedigree. Evolution then spent the last minute of the show posing.

This was another good episode of RAW. There were no great matches, but there were good ones in Bad News Barrett v Ziggler and RybAxel v the Rhodes bros. The purpose of the show was not to give us a plethora of excellent matches, it was to get things moving for Extreme Rules. Cena versus Wyatt in a cage match is a good tone setter for the card. It looks as though a six man tag match between Evolution and The Shield and a WWE championship defence from Daniel Bryan against Kane will also be added. The title match should be fun enough but D-Bry will need a more credible opponent for Payback. The six man, on the other hand, should be a great addition to the card, and a worthwhile “special show” (they’re not pay-per-views anymore, ‘member?) main event.

That RAW Recap 07.04.14

WrestleMania weekend ends not with WrestleMania but with the RAW after it. ‘Mania provides the hype, spectacle and closure while RAW sets things up for the future. It’s just as important, perhaps more important, than ‘The Granddaddy of Them All’ because it’s used as a tool to prepare new things as opposed to revelling in its own grandiose existence. It has developed into being amongst WWE’s most important annual shows by virtue of exploring the fallout from ‘Mania.

The post-‘Mania RAW has also become known for its rowdy crowds that react to things the way they like, not necessarily the way WWE desires. Which is important to note, because these crowds have been important in the ascent of Daniel Bryan over the last two years. It was such a crowd that firmly established the “Yes!” chants as a thing the night after WrestleMania XXVIII and, more than that, embraced Bryan as a star based on his ability and personality. Without those reactions he wouldn’t be on top now. Without those reactions it’s entirely possible Batista would be the WWE champion now.

Worth waiting for?

Daniel Bryan referred to this in his show opening speech on Monday’s RAW. Before that we were treated to the video package that had preceded his match with Triple H the previous evening, which was just as good a second time, and over a minute of “Yes!” chants from the crowd. After acknowledging that it’s harder to lift his arms to chant while holding two belts, something the audience ate up, Bryan heard “You deserve it!” chants. He told the crowd that he deserves it only a bit and that we’re the ones who really deserve it.

Then he was joined by Triple H, entering to his bad guy ‘King of Kings’ theme. Trips didn’t get into the ring because he didn’t want to hurt Bryan (ahhhh… the old “I’m scared what I’ll do to you” routine, it’s a classic), instead standing on the apron to inform Bryan that he still intended to destroy the Yes Movement. Bryan held his belts up in ‘The Game’s’ face and led a thunderous “Yes!” chant.

Tripper said Bryan’s moment would not last the night then booked himself into a title match in the main event. That was received well by the crowd: they wanted to see Bryan give Triple H another good kicking.

After the first break we got some more Triple H. He and Stephanie stood backstage discussing the end of Bryan’s Yes Movement. Then Batista walked in, followed seconds later by Randy Orton. They wanted title shots against Bryan for themselves. Batista said he’d earned a singles match for the title by winning the Rumble (which isn’t actually the case) and Orton reasoned that as the former champion he was entitled to a rematch. They were both peeved that Tripper had given himself first crack at Bryan. The boss soothed their egos and said he’d get them both world championship matches in the future, then booked them for a tag title match against the Usos.

No mention was made by any of the three that they’d been involved in a feud the week before, cheerfully overlooking Bryan and expecting to battle amongst themselves for the title. This was particularly incongruous considering the knocks Batista had sent Stephanie’s way. In fairness the rest of the show, this thread in particular, was pretty well put together, so a relatively minor aspect like this can be overlooked. The union did ultimately make sense, and that’s what counts.

The first match of the night was a six man tag pitting Big E, Sheamus and John Cena against The Wyatt Family. You know it’s a packed show when Cena’s in an opening six man tag. The bout was okay but nothing special. There was no real reason for it to be happening beyond Cena’s issues with Bray. Shaymo and E had had zero troubles with The Wyatt Family and none were created by this. Unless of course you think Bray pinning E after Sister Abigail was done to set up an Intercontinental title match, which I don’t. It was an excuse to get Cena and Wyatt together and Big E and ‘Great White’ on to the show.

Between the first two matches we got the first of two vignettes for Bo Dallas. They had a motivational speaker vibe to them, playing into his gimmick of acting like a 1980s babyface who thinks he’s adored but is actually hated. I hope this run goes better for Bo than the one he got last year did. So much can be done with his deluded character.

Match two was a mixed tag match pitting Emma and a bearded Santino against Summer Rae and Faaaaaan… daaaaaan… goooooo. WrestleMania and the RAW after it are the two nights of the year where Fandango is massively over (thanks to his entrance music) so I’m pleased he got something to do on the show. The match was very short. The ladies tagged in almost instantly and Emma submitted Summer with an Emma Lock. Santino and Emma celebrated awkwardly together afterwards.

Hour two started with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman sauntering to the ring to gloat about ending The Undertaker’s Streak the previous evening. Heyman spent several minutes hyping up ‘The Beast’ as someone truly remarkable within wrestling and sports in general for accomplishing things nobody else can. It was a necessary speech because the whole point of having Lesnar snap The Streak is to turn him into an unstoppable force of nature, but I zoned out halfway through. Heyman’s Lesnar-themed promos have all started to sound alike. Lesnar is an impressive athlete with a main event aura to him but I can only hear the same accomplishments reeled off so many times.

After the commercial break we got another vignette, this one the first of two for Adam Rose and his Erotic Express. I was surprised to see him getting promoted to RAW because the character only appeared on NXT a month or so ago. I’m pleased though. Adam Rose is a fun character, exactly the sort of thing RAW needs. Hopefully a call-up for Adam Rose is also a call-up for Bowler Hat Guy, Masked Bodysuit Guy, and The Spartan. The gimmick will only work if he keeps his beefy entourage.

The evening’s third match was the tag team title match. Orton and ‘The Animal’ got their own separate entrances. I was disappointed they didn’t wander out to the Evolution theme. For two guys who’d hated one another the night before they looked very chummy as they huddled in a corner chatting as the Usos shimmied their way down to ringside. Maybe they were griping about WWE’s recent ban on baby oil.

Poor Jimmy (that's Jimmy).

The match went to a double count out within a few minutes. Batista and ‘The Viper’ battered Jimmy and Jey at ringside, Orty hitting his draping DDT off a barrier and Batista hitting a Batista bomb onto some steel steps. The point was clearly to show how dangerous Orton and Batista are when working together and to hint at a permanent union as part of a reformed Evolution.

That match was followed by the return of Rob Van Dam. He faced Damien Sandow in what is best described as a typical RVD match. He did some of his popular spots. The crowd popped for them and chanted his name. It didn’t take long for ‘Mr Monday Night’ to hit a Five Star frog splash for the win. I’ve no idea what they’re going to do with him now he’s back. No obvious storylines present themselves. At least not featuring performers WWE wants us to care about.

After another break Rey Mysterio came to the ring. He got a polite reaction. At this point it’s pretty clear the memories of Mysterio’s good work have been erased by years of bad knee related subpar performers and lengthy layoffs. I still think he should conserve his energy for one short and final meaningful run culminating in a match at SummerSlam or WrestleMania. In 2014 throwaway matches on RAW do nothing for him, WWE, or fans.

Mysterio was wrestling Bad News Barrett, who entered wearing a luxurious cape. For the record this was the first televised match Barrett has wrestled under the Bad News moniker. He started by grabbing a microphone and telling Rey he had some bad news. The fans loved that but were less keen on Rey peppering him with punches before said news could be delivered.

Barrett's bad news was that Rey's knees are knackered.

Bad News soon regained control and worked the match as a babyface, a decision at least partly made because there were so many English fans in the crowd. They joined in with his “BOOM!” shouts and chanted both for Bad News Barrett himself and for Eng-ur-land. All of Rey’s moves were met with boos. Bad News got the massively popular win with a Bullhammer elbow. After the match he celebrated by shouting “BOOM!” and doing the overhead double clap that Scotty Riggs used to do. So that’s something.

Another break was followed by Lana coming out to the stage where she introduced Alexander Rusev for his debut. They’re very clearly doing a Cold War thing with these two, and an aspect of it that’s been overlooked is that Rusev’s name graphic is not just written in Cyrillic but has a grey, understated background and off centre placing on-screens. It’s a small touch but a great one.

Lana's legs. That is all.

‘The Bulgarian Brute’ beat Zack Ryder in a basic match with the camel clutch. Here the move was called the Accolade. The shoulders over the knees application variant Rusev used here used to be known as the Steiner Recliner.

The final hour kicked off with The Ultimate Warrior. He walked out wearing a suit with a gimmicked jacket over it (which had a painting of him on the back) and started by saying “Speak to me, war-yerrrrrrrrrrs!” and snorting. TThe fans ate his act up, bursting into an enthusiastic “Warrior!” chant. He said it was hard for him to find the words to speak so he pulled out a string Warrior mask and put it on. The crowd were less into that, regarding it as the strange act that it was.

“Well then, you shut up Warrior and let meeeeee do the talking,” were the next words out of Warrior’s mouth. Yes, WWE booked a schizophrenic breakdown for the RAW after WrestleMania. He talked, in a roundabout, Warrior-esque way, about the fans helping to make WWE stars what they are. The audience didn't seem to follow all the ins and outs of what Warrior said, but they got the gist and gave Warrior a rousing ovation as he left the arena.

Out next was AJ Lee. She continued her CM Punk tribute act by talking about having held the Divas championship for 295 days and referring to herself as the best Divas in the world. Yeah, AJ trolled the RAW crowd into giving her a CM Punk chant. Once that had died down some new music hit and Paige walked out, in her ring gear natch, and stepped into the ring. The audience chanted her name (I was a bit disappointed they didn’t go with a “Zebra Kid!” chant), demonstrating why WWE had chosen to have debut on this episode: she was a known quantity to the diehard fans in attendance and was ensured a good reaction. That made her RAW debut feel like an event.

Paige said she was just there to congratulate AJ on her win at WrestleMania. AJ told her she didn’t need congratulations and ordered her back to NXT. Then she challenged Paige to a match but Paige said she wasn’t ready. The champ gave her a slap and told her they were having a match and that as a “WrestleMania gift” she’d make it a title match. The crowd exploded at that. They could sense what was coming.

The match was short. AJ immediately attacked Paige, skipped around the ring, and applied the Black Widow. There was an awkward moment where it looked as though Paige was tapping out but in actuality she was just shifting AJ’s weight so she could reverse out of the move and perform her Paige Turner finisher. That got her the three count and the title.

The shot in the arm the Divas division needed.

The audience exploded again. AJ was left to seethe and shriek in the ring as Paige dashed up the aisle looking shocked. I think this was the closest thing on the show to Ziggler’s cash-in last year.

The penultimate segment of the evening saw Hulk Hogan hit the ring to formally present the Andre the Giant memorial trophy to battle royal winner Cesaro. ‘The Hulkster’ started off with a Superdome reference and then briefly chatted about his memories of Andre the Giant. The amount Hogan talks about Andre you’d think they’d been married.

The crowd gave Cesaro a huge reaction when Hogan introduced him, and he was treated to his (Real Americans) entrance theme being hummed. Zeb Colter was with him, which made sense: Cesaro’s association with The Real Americans faction needed to be addressed and Zeb needed to be there for that. In the ring Cesaro (who was sporting a natty black jacket from the Chris Jericho range) posed with the trophy and got congratulated by Hogan.

Before Cesaro could speak Zeb took the microphone and told him he’d take care of things. That got some heat, as did his “Let’s let a real American talk here” comment. Zeb said he’d hand the microphone back to Cesaro after he’d finished so Cesaro could tell the world what kind of guy he is. Then he talked about bringing Cesaro into the fold as a real American, even though he’s a foreigner, and making him a Zeb Colter guy.

Having heard enough Cesaro took the microphone and told him he wasn’t a Zeb Colter guy… he was a Paul Heyman guy. Heyman strode out to “Yes!” chants and proclaimed himself the new advocate for the ‘King of Swing’ Cesaro. Heyman informed Zeb that his services were no longer required and then headed to the commentary table to brief Cole and his crew on how he wanted Cesaro discussed. It took seconds for a ‘King of Swing’ chant to break out and a hashtag to trend on Twitter.

The inevitable Jack Swagger attack wasn't far behind. He not only knocked Cesaro out of the ring but also lobbed the (coveted) trophy to the floor, smashing it into pieces. A break followed and when we returned there was a match in progress between the two former teammates. After a few minutes of back and forth Cesaro went for a Swing on Swagger but Swagger slid under the bottom rope and took a count out loss.

The entire sequence was excellent. Cesaro received a great face reaction that only improved when he was paired up with Heyman. The split of The Real Americans was made to mean something and a match was teased, which is exactly what should happen when a double act splits. Any concerns of a babyface Cesaro being managed by a heel Heyman should be forgotten. WWE have been moving away from such clearly defined terms for a while now (as you can read here). Besides which Heyman is fully capable of working as a heel and a face in different segments of the same show, as he proved here. I already much prefer him with Cesaro than with Lesnar. The latter pairing stems from necessity, Lesnar being unable to articulate his own storylines. The Cesaro pairing comes from WWE actively trying to turn Cesaro into a name player.

Between the final two breaks of the night we saw The Shield backstage with Stephanie McMuffcakes. The Authority were still keen to make use of The Shield even though they’d officially turned face several weeks before and come to blows on various occasions with Director of Operations Corporate Kane. Speaking of Kane he was there too, arguing with ‘The Hounds of Justice’ and insisting that Steph couldn’t trust them. It all ended when Steph got everyone to agree that their goal was to see Triple H leave New Orleans as WWE champion.

Daniel Bryan entered first for the main event, to an explosion of “Yes!” chants. Before Triple H could appear Batista and Orton rocked up and attacked Bryan. Kane strode out and called them off. Bizarrely the commentary team acted as though Kane was going to be the voice of reason call Batista and Orton off in the name of sportsmanship and fair play. The backstage segment we’d just seen, plus the fact that he’s very clearly been allied to The Authority for months and shown no signs of turning on them, told us, and should’ve told Cole, that was not going to be the case. Anyway… ‘The Big Red Machine’ choke slammed Bryan and then Triple H came out for his scheduled match.

‘The Game’ smirked at the crowd when the match began. What he should have done was go for a cover while things were obviously going his way and Bryan was prone, but he’s a heel and heels don’t do that kind of thing. They gloat. At this point I was expecting Tripper to go to pick Bryan up and get caught with a small package for a swift Bryan victory, triggering a brawl in which The Shield would make the save. What we got was better.

The standoff.

Before H3 made a move against Bryan The Shield’s music hit and the trio stormed to the ring through the crowd. They lined up outside the ring on the commentary table side with Batista, Kane and Orton lined up on the aisle side. Triple H looked at the two opposing factions with concern, which only grew when The Shield stepped up on to the ring apron. On the opposite side of the ring The Authority boys responded in kind. Triple H barked for nobody to get into the ring so naturally that happened too, with the two sides staring one another down and Triple H caught in the middle.

Triple H told Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns to stand down and then backed up Kane, Orton and Batista, telling them he didn’t want a war. When he turned around to address The Shield again he got speared by Roman Reigns, triggering a fight between the two factions. Orton and Batista were sent tumbling to the floor then took a pair of dives from Rollins and Ambrose. Back in the ring Reigns powered out of a choke slam attempt and dropped Kane with a Superman punch.

Bryan and The Shield versus The Authority? Sounds good to me.

The Shield surrounded a prone Triple H in the ring. He slowly got to his feet, trying to talk his way out of a hiding and then turned around into Bryan’s running knee. Kane quickly grabbed the boss and pulled him out of the ring, leaving The Shield and Daniel Bryan standing tall as the show went off the air.

The ending was great. It sets up potentially interesting singles and tag matches involving Orton, Batista, Kane, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns, as well as the obvious six man tag match. It kept the Bryan versus Triple H issue alive for another match there too. Longer term it keeps Orton and Batista around as challengers for Bryan (and potentially makes the tag division more interesting if they go for the belts again) and lines Triple H up for singles matches with each member of The Shield. Reigns versus Triple H could be big if teased long enough and held on a larger show. SummerSlam for example.

The rest of the show was great too. Yes there were some throwaway matches but there was nothing actively bad. Crucially even the throwaway material always featured someone over or new. It felt like a fresh start.

The absence of The Undertaker, CM Punk and Sting, all of whom had been talked of as potential surprises for the show, didn’t stop my enjoyment at all. In fact it probably added to it. The only return I would have liked to see was Vince McMahon, and the quality of the show we got without him made his involvement completely unnecessary. WWE was unconcerned with kisses to its past during this RAW. They were all about building for the future. And it looked bright.

NXT ArRIVAL review

I believe that NXT is WWE’s best weekly show. The one hour run time means that performer’s don’t become stale through overexposure. The focus on actual wrestling is refreshing and well-suited to the talented roster, featuring as it does many former indy standouts. Everyone on the show has something to prove and is hungry to impress to gain promotion to the main roster. And everyone there is a relative newcomer to the WWE system, meaning that the stagnation that plagues RAW and SmackDown isn’t present.

These were some of the reasons that I was excited when WWE announced an NXT special would be airing. Another was that it would be live. It’s in the live environment that WWE does their best work. I was also pleased because it was essentially the equivalent of a pay-per-view for the league, the chance for the regulars to perform for a wider audience and impress new eyes. And I’m sure there were new eyes on the show, because it was broadcast on the WWE Network.

Finally I was pleased because it showed that WWE has faith in the NXT wrestlers. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have centred the first of what one assumes will be many live special of the Network on them. It’s nice that the company recognises how good the men and women in the league are.

Dramatic music and lighting started the evening. From the gloom Triple H asked the crowd if they were ready (twice, naturally) and then a spotlight turned on to reveal him stood in the ring. It was a particularly unsubtle way of reminding us who the big star was. Thankfully it as the only instance of overshadowing for the whole show and was easily overlooked. Some fireworks went off and an NXT chant started before a hype video played that showed the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin before giving way to the NXT regulars.

The announce team Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and William Regal welcomed us to the show as Sami Zayn and Cesaro made their entrances for the night’s opening contest. Both were cheered, which wouldn't have surprised anyone who watches NXT regularly. A "match of the year" chant started up as the bell rung and became duelling chants of "We the people" and "Sami Zayn" when they locked up.

Cesaro took charge for the first several minutes of the match, doing a lot of out of the ring brawling. A particularly enjoyable saw Zayn try to dive through the ring ropes in the corner only to be met with a European uppercut. Not only was it a nice spot well performed but it was also a call back to their previous encounter, something we don't get often in WWE, even in bigger matches. It spoke of their time working for smaller, more wrestling-focused organisations.

Cesaro, grinding that knee like a pro

Cesaro continued to control the match back in the ring as he switched his focus to Zayn's previously injured knee, stomping, grinding and dragon screwing it before applying a single leg Boston crab. Zayn tried to turn the tables with a moonsault after back dropping Cesaro to the outside but got caught and dropped on the entrance ramp. The duelling chants were back when the Canadian rolled back into the ring, turning to cheers when he head and arm suplexed 'The Swiss Superman' into a turnbuckle. He stayed on offence with a blue thunder bomb, which got him a two count, and the Koji clutch. Cesaro twisted his way out of that and countered into the Stretch Muffler, damaging Zayn's knee before he could reach the ropes. Cesaro followed up with his phenomenally over Big Swing and a chunky uppercut in the corner. They exchanged pin attempts before Cesaro double stomped Zayn's face.

Not to be outdone Zayn performed a top rope hurricanrana and followed up with a yakuza kick for a close two count. Cesaro dropped Zayn with an uppercut and told him to stay down. Zayn was up at three, only to get put down again. He was slower to get up the second time, getting back to his feet for seven. The time he staggered up to his feet Zayn managed to absorb Cesaro’s uppercut and fire back with punches, then a crisp German suplex. Cesaro tried coming back with a Neutralizer but Zayn countered with a rollup for two. Seconds later he got another near fall with a sunset flip bomb. Zayn kicked out at one from a Swiss Death, prompting Cesaro to go one better and hit a rolling uppercut and a leaping Neutralizer to finally get the win in an incredible bout.

Afterwards fans chanted "Match of the year!" It's early to be saying that but I'll be surprised if it's not in a lot of top match lists come December. It was easily the best match of the ArRIVAL show.

Cesaro swaggered around the ring posing and walked into the aisle before looking back at Zayn, who was doing a beautiful job of selling the importance of the loss and the devastation he was feeling. Cesaro returned to the ring and stood over Zayn as the fans chanted "Hug it out!", a call back to Zayn's time working as El Generico (as are the olé chants heard during each of his matches). Cesaro pulled Zayn to his feet and, surprisingly, they did hug. I'd expected a handshake. Cesaro then left Zayn alone to soak up the cheers of the fans. I can't imagine a better match and post-match segment to start a show designed to illustrate how good NXT is at its best.

The first man of the night to hear solid boos was CJ Parker. His opponent was Mojo Rawley. His gimmick is basically that he has unlimited energy. Perhaps he’s addicted to Red Bull. He also wears very large trunks. Mojo won a simple but fast-paced match with his sitdown splash Hyperdrive move.

Backstage Emma was shown prepping for her women's championship match. Then a video was shown recapping her NXT career so far. It did a nice job of blending the seriousness with which she approaches with the more humorous aspects of her persona.

That was followed by a similar video for Konor and Viktor, The Ascension. They came out to defend their titles afterwards. For the record they now enter to generic rock music and have dropped the Game of Thrones inspired entrance gear. It's a shame. That was one of the most interesting parts of their act and something that helped set them apart. That said they’re still considered "the total package" by none other than Kevin Nash, so they must be doing something right.

The greatest act in NXT? They're definitely not the worst

We were informed by Tom Phillips that The Ascension had issued an open challenge for a title match. It was answered by Too Cool. Amazingly they were heavily cheered. There are clearly lots of positive people in Orange County, Florida. Grandmaster Sexay was kept isolated by The Ascension for several minutes before he finally made the hot tag to Scotty 2 Hotty. He tried for The Worm but got hung up on the ropes and hit with The Fall of Man (a.k.a. Total Elimination) for the three. For what this was, an example of The Ascension being a rough, tough and impossible to stop team and a chance to see Too Cool again, it was a fine match.

Next up Paige got the video package treatment. She put over the championship and Emma. Again, it did a very good job accomplishing its goals. If the students at Full Sail University are involved in this area of production, one of the reasons NXT is recorded there, then they’re learning from some of the best.

Stephanie McMahon came out before the women's title match and talked up the Divas divisions of WWE and NXT. She introduced Emma and Paige and shook hands with both before the match. Presumably that was supposed to be meaningful but it didn’t feel it. It felt like a misguided attempt at doing some sort of women’s pride thing. When Triple H puts people over it has meaning because he’s been a wrestler and a multi-time world champion. When Vince puts people over it has meaning because he’s the greatest wrestling promoter ever and knows a good act when he sees one. Stephanie is a former WWF women's champ, I suppose. But how many of you actually remembered that? It’s certainly not what she’s known for.

Anyway, the story of the match was that the two knew one another very well and were able to counter each other's moves and, to use a cliché, their counters. Emma dominated Paige for a lot of the match, working over her back with submission holds and even using a power bomb, not something you see in the standard Divas' match. She was even able to kick out of Paige's usually reliable Paige Turner. Eventually Paige applied a move Regal referred to as the Scorpion Cross (it looks a little like a reverse Sharpshooter but sees the person applying the hold taking their opponent's arms and hoisting the torso up from the mat) and won via submission. It was a great match. The sooner Emma and Paige are on the main roster facing AJ Lee the better.

A hype video was shown for Adrian Neville. He's the sort of performer who lends himself to a highlight video because he performs so many fun to look at aerial moves. It was excellent and once again not only showed how good a wrestler its subject was but also saw the subject put over the importance of the match they'd be having.

Before the main event it looked like we'd get Xavier Woods versus Tyler Breeze. 'The Sultan of Selfies' got a better reaction than R-Truth's protégé, including a "Breeze is gorgeous!" chants. The match didn't happen though. Alexander Rusev stormed to the ring and jobbed out both Woods and Breeze. Lana cut a pro-Rusev promo and got a “USA!” chant (c’mon guys, it’s 2014). Rusev spoke in Bulgarian and got the “What?” treatment.

NXT champion Bo Dallas was the last man of the night to get the vid treatment. The focus was on establishing Bo as a face unaware that he's a heel for new viewers. It also covered some of his "Bo-lieve" highlights. Then a second video aired looking at the Dallas v Neville feud. That was just as good as the others that had aired. It was a good night for video package fans.

Shawn Michaels came out to hang the championship belt above the ring and talk up the importance of NXT and the match we were about to see. If WWE were willing to get him in for the first live NXT special surely they could have got him for the first RAW of the Network era too? He would have added something to what was otherwise a fairly flat episode of RAW. But that's by the by.

Look at that action!

The challenger got cheered when he entered. The champion got heavy boos that petered out to a fairly flat reaction. Both got a handshake from HBK. The match that followed was good. There have been better ladder contests but it was impressive for two guys making their first attempts at the gimmick. Neville took some hearty bumps and kept the crowd behind him. Dallas took fewer spills but did do a good job when it came to ensuring the crowd kept riled. That's one of his strengths as a performer.

The finish saw Dallas buckle bomb Neville into a ladder and then get a ladder kicked into his face as he charged the flagging challenger. Neville then scooped the champ onto a ladder and connect with a Red Arrow and left him free to climb the ladder and snatch the belt for the win. He got a long time to celebrate as the announcers talked up his winner and status as a future star. To really hammer the point that he’s a man to watch home John Cena was shown applauding him from the crowd.

This is something that could hint at an imminent promotion for Adrian Neville. If it were to happen it’s unlikely the NXT belt would be shown or even referred to, but Big E made the move to the main roster just after losing the strap, as did Seth Rollins, and Dallas himself had enjoyed a brief flirtation with the bright lights of Monday Night RAW only a couple of months before he captured the gold. NXT title reigns are linked to promotions if history is anything to go by.

I think more ladder matches are in Adrian Neville's future

I like Adrian Neville but I hope that isn’t the case here. A call up while WWE’s focusing on WrestleMania, or even in the weeks immediately following that big card, would almost certainly result in him being left adrift. So would, I suspect, moving him up as a singles performer. There are so many guys working solo in WWE right now that it’s tough to imagine anyone, no matter how good they are, making a sufficient impact.

Personally I think Neville would be best served working on the main roster in a tag team with a fellow flier like Kofi Kingston, Justin Gabriel, or Evan Bourne (remember that guy?). Being part of a team would lead to more use as the tag division’s getting a little light, and it would also allow him to grow on people over time. That said WWE have shown they know what they’re doing with moving people up during the last eighteen months, so if Neville, or anybody else, gets moved out of NXT I’ll assume they know what they’re up to until I see otherwise.

WWE did an excellent job with NXT ArRIVAL. It highlighted NXT’s excellent roster and illustrated why it’s a programme worth watching. As special as it was it was not that far above the levels of quality seen on an average episode, which speaks more to the programme’s consistency than anything else. I hope a lot of people with the WWE Network (being in Britain I wasn’t one of them) tuned in for this. It deserves to be regarded as a success.