Randy Orton's Battle with Development

Sticking with part of yesterday's topic, when is someone going to get around to freshening up Randy Orton's act. He's had the same dreary entrance music since 2008. The last time he changed up his look was in 2011 (and that was just the addition of a closely trimmed beard, hardly revolutionary stuff). I can't remember the last time he debuted a new move or participated in a non-pay-per-view match where he came across as motivated to have a great match.

These are all things that would be easy to fix. Jim Johston, WWE's resident musical composer not-so-extraordinaire, could be prodded into producing something new for 'The Viper' or outsourcing it to one of those generic bands he likes. Orton could grow out his hair or shave his head completely. The latter is something he flirts with on occasion but never goes all the way with, always retaining the closest of buzzcuts.

Some different coloured trunks could be ordered. Orty likes a primary coloured squiggle on black a lot of the time and that's served him and many other wrestlers well. But it's dull and contributes to the overall dullness of Orton's character. Even something as simple as switching to white trunks could help give Orton an air of freshness.

Blandy Borton.

He could work on his promos, debuting a catchphrase or altering his cadence. He could implement a new move, either a transitional piece or a submission finisher. The dragon sleeper's free and I feel that, accompanied by a body scissors, would fit well with Orton's character. In longer, more important matches he could even target his opponent's neck, softening them up for the dragon sleeper and the RKO.

Imagine how much good it would do Orton to take a month or so off TV and return with a new haircut, a new submission move, new entrance music, and a lively, spirited promo style. He would seem like a new man, which may encourage people to show some interest in him. That in turn may encourage Orton to start tying a little harder.

It's notable that John Cena, a man who's been around as long as Orton and enjoys the same level of status within the company, continues to switch up his move set and makes a point of introducing new merchandise every few months. Yeah, the T-shirts are there to keep the money coming in more than anything else, but it helps Cena's look to constantly change. It's something Orton really needs to work on but he won't. Because of complacency.

Yeah, complacency will stop any of my suggestions from coming to pass. Orton knows he's guaranteed a certain status within WWE no matter. He has no reason to try and impress anyone because he has nothing to gain from it beyond the respect of people he very likely doesn't care about ("internet smarks"). Orton and his bosses are happy with how he looks, acts and wrestles. Therefore we're stuck with the same routine we've had for years.

The Look Versus Charisma

Randall Keith Orton was booked to criticise indy darling Kevin Owens' physique earlier this week, mockingly asking if the former NXT champion had put on weight during a promo on RAW. It's true that KO is something of an anomaly on the WWE roster, not possessing shredded abs or twenty-four inch pythons (not that that particular breed of python is en vogue these days after recent... revelations). But is that such a bad thing? Owens is far from a slob and his look helps him to stand out. Being able to pass as a cover star for Muscle & Fitness isn't the be all and end all for wrestlers, despite beliefs to the contrary over at Titan Towers.

Massively out of shape apparently.

This is an old problem within WWE. So much so that it's not really worth me going into great detail on the back-story here. These are issues that have been documented elsewhere by people far more knowledgeable than me. The gist, for any newcomers to wrestling and WWE in particular, is that decision makers in The Business frequently opt to push guys based on their "look" (that is to say their general attractiveness and dedication to hitting the gym) as opposed to generally more sensible qualities like experience, aptitude and ability.

It's a tendency particularly associated with WWE and Vince McMahon. There are dozens of stories floating around online and in shoot interview DVDs (most of which are also, I realise, available online, but whatever) about Vince's love of signing muscled up dudes to big money contracts despite them having little or no wrestling experience. They range from the signings of duds like The Great Khali and Lex Luger to the debacle that was the World Bodybuilding Federation, a company Vince set up to showcase muscled lads doing a flex and that, funded by money from his wrestling promotion¹.

The drawing power of lads with big muscles is not great. Yeah, Hulk Hogan and, to a far lesser extent, Ultimate Warrior did well and were by any reasonable definition, body guys. But in both cases a substantial part of their attraction lay in their charisma. People paid to see them because they were larger than life characters, not because they had big muscles. Their looks were definitely a part of their charm, I'm not denying that. A Hogan promo delivered by a guy with the physique of Mr Bean would not work anywhere near as well as they were delivered by a six foot six pulsating mass of steroids. But there was more to them than being big.

There are far more failures than there are successes when it comes to body guys in wrestling. Lex Luger, Kevin Nash and Billy Gunn (even Orton himself, ultimately) all have enviable bodies but none have ever proven to be a draw, and all were given ample chances to be. Meanwhile guys like Mick Foley, Ric Flair and Kurt Angle, while all in good shape in their primes, didn't have megastar bodies yet were successful contributors to the success of their employers. Meanwhile the closest 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, a guy I personally believe to be the single most important wrestler in WWE history, came to a six pack when he was in his prime was his post-match beer-swilling celebration.

"Yeah, I see your double jump moonsault and Swanton bomb. What else ya got?"

Look is important in wrestling. Having a good body is too, and it has the added bonus of ensuring that you're healthier and likelier to live longer. But there's not really any tangible correlation between having the proverbial million dollar body and being of great benefit to the company. On some level the people that run WWE know this. If they didn't then Cesaro, who is a great wrestler, a great promo, can speak five languages, is very, very strong, and is in amazing shape, would be headlining pay-per-views.

WWE is wrong to criticise Owens based on his look alone, and even more wrong to use Orton as the man to deliver the message. Owens has proven is talent again and again during recent years, including his time in WWE's own developmental territory. I've not seen 'The Viper' bust out many double jump moonsaults lately, despite being in such better shape. I'd rather look like the one time 'Mr Wrestling' and have his attitude and outlook on life than look like Randy Orton and think it's okay to defecate in people's bags and be a general under-achiever despite being given every opportunity to become The Man in WWE. And judging by the comment made during RAW WWE seems to think it's Orton, not Owens, who's the better role model.

***

¹ A running theme with Vince is that he routinely takes money from the one thing he's successful at, that being promoting pro wrestling, and diverts it into vanity projects designed to show that he is capable of succeeding at literally anything else. These have included the WBF, a film studio, and, perhaps most ludicrously, a football league. That none of these things have never succeeded to the point of being self-sustaining has taught Vince nothing².

² In fairness this is part of Vince's charm.

WWE Battleground 2015 preview

With a Rollins versus Lesnar championship match in the main event slot WWE could have taken it easy with the Battleground undercard. They've done such a good job building Lesnar up (keeping him strong, if you will) over the last eighteen months that getting to see him wrestle can be considered a special occasion. Even when it's on a house show in Japan against Kofi Kingston.

But they haven't taken it easy. The undercard of the Batteground show has clearly had some thought put into it, with some matches that will almost certainly be very good and others designed to heat people up for bigger, better things sometime in the (presumably not too distant) future. Of the former we have Sheamus versus Orton and the tag team championship match. Of the latter we have Reigns versus Wyatt and (potentially) the IC title three-way. Meanwhile Owens versus Cena can fit snugly into both categories.

That comment about the three-way may confuse some people so I'll talk about that first. I don't think Miz, Big Show or Ryback should be considered locks for top card spots. Miz had his chance in 2010 and 2011 and he blew it. There's always a chance Show could be slotted back into a top spot in an emergency but on the whole I think we should be expecting to see him at this upper mid-card card level from now on.

But something big could be planned for Ryback. His status has been all over the place over the last few years. He went from main eventing shows against WWE champion CM Punk to being in a nothing tag team with Curtis Axel before being sensibly turned face again so that he could be slowly shifted up the ranks once more, which is where we find him now. This match is clearly designed to boost his standing by having him beat a monster and an irritant at the same time. It's possible that the intention is to have him ready for something big by the end of the year. Whether that's the case or not he'll be leaving with the gold.

The Reigns v Wyatt match is more definitely about making someone look good and getting them ready for something else. It's just not obvious who that is. I can fully understand people expecting Reigns to win this match but I don't think it's anywhere close to a foregone conclusion. We know that WWE likes to stretch feuds between major names (which Reigns and Wyatt are) over two or three pay-per-views. I fully expect to see a rematch at SummerSlam. And because of this it's possible 'The Eater of Worlds' will defeat WWE's favourite Samoan.

If that happens I don' think it will be a clean victory. It almost certainly wouldn't, in fact. Reigns is considered the more important of the two long term and as such he's the only man in this feud likely to gain a win clean. But Wyatt winning via shenanigans at Battleground would be the simplest way of setting up the SummerSlam rematch. It would also be unexpected and allow the creative team to do some sort of distraction finish with Wyatt utilising Reigns' daughter in some way, which is something they seem inexplicably big on right now.

Owens v Cena III: The Reckoning should be amazing. Their first two matches have both been match of the year contenders, adding to Owens' generally strong body of work from his six months in NXT and Cena's surprising, welcome, and mildly baffling string of wondrous matches against mid-card wrestlers. They're currently tied at one win a piece. That would usually make me lean a little more towards a Cena victory because it's rare for him to fall behind on the victory tally when he's in a series with someone, especially someone not yet established. You need only look at the Rusev programme from earlier this year for a perfect example of Cena losing an initial meeting only to go on to win each subsequent bout, despite it not being in the company's long term best interests.

Things are different with Owens. Not only does he have more momentum than 'The Bulgarian Brute' but WWE seems generally more interested pushing him, presumably because they see more potential in him than Rusev (rightly so, if true). By the time we were midway through Rusev v Cena it was clear they didn't really see Rusev as someone who'd be headlining soon (a shame because had Rusev not lost at all to Cena, or even just had one more win and looked a smidge more competitive in his losses he could have been a great world title contender by now). Owens is being afforded time to flesh out his character and being presented as a man who could very well be Cena's equal in the ring. This is, basically, a programme that features a man who has a future at the top of the card and a man who is the top of the card.

I think this is a bout Owens has to win. His character is one that needs the advantage over Cena at this point. We need to be shown that he'll keep pushing himself after suffering a loss, and a second win over Cena would be so much better for the longevity of this rivalry. The best route that could be taken with this feud is presenting Owens as the surly, indy-friendly version of Cena, which he pretty much is. For that to truly work he needs to have Cena's skill of rebounding from a loss with a more dominating performance.

The only downside of an Owens win would be the loss of Cena's weekly US Open Challenge from RAW.  It's been the highlight of most RAWs since it was introduced a few months ago and has allowed Cena to have what I think is shaping up to be the strongest in-ring year of his career. But this would be a small price to pay to enhance Owens for a bit. And there's no reason 'Mr Wrestling' couldn't do his own weekly challenge, which I'm sure would keep the good matches coming and be an interesting way of keeping the Cena v Owens rivalry alive.

On a similar note, I expect Sheamus v Orton to be good as well. They generally have enjoyable matches together, bringing out the best in one another and having good timing together. It's a shame they don't have more of a story beyond "Randy came back after his hols and took out his latest indecipherable babyface frustrations out on Shaymo" because if they did I think I could have been tempted into caring about this. Sheamus will presumably win because he's got the Money in the Bank briefcase and he'll need to be kept strong for whatever angle that earns him.

The Prime Time Players v New Day should be a reliably fun match too. New Day's ability to get insane heat from audiences should keep people interested and help to encourage cheers for the PTPs. The last couple of months have demonstrated that Young and O'Neil can contribute good matches if the booking's right and they're given long enough to pull themselves together. Hopefully that trend will continue. As far as winners go I'll go with the Players because they've only had the titles a month. Should New Day win it will be after cheating, quite possibly Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston swapping places at the finish. Because sneaky heels, am I right?!

Which leaves us only the main event to discuss. I'll start with the obvious and say this match should be very good. Lesnar and Rollins have interacted a fair bit this year what with their interaction in the Royal Rumble triple threat and their handful of intense scuffles. This, along with the fact that Lesnar matches always benefit from a lot of planning and forethought, should ensure they put on a good show. It's interesting to note that this is their first ever singles match despite them interacting as long ago as Night of Champions last September, when Rollins caused a DQ with a failed Money in the Bank cash-in.

The story of the match seems easy to guess. Lesnar will be the unstoppable monster he always is and Rollins will play the coward. Lesnar will dominant the early going before Rollins cheats to gain an advantage for a while. There things get hazy. Lesnar will obviously make a comeback but it won't necessarily lead to a win and his fifth WWE world championship. A month before SummerSlam doesn't seem like the right time for a title switch. For that matter Lesnar doesn't feel like the guy to take the title from 'The Future'. That would be Roman Reigns.

So I'm going to say we'll see Rollins retain the championship. I can't see it being a straightforward win. Lesnar's unlikely to take one of those for someone not named Roman Reigns.

Battleground looks like it could be a good show. Despite the puzzling absence of Dean Ambrose and the depressing absence of the Divas division, which had only been rejuvenated on Monday (although there's time for a women's match to be added I think it's sad that after doing such a good job of creating interest in the division nothing was immediately announced to capitalise on the momentum), I think there's a lot to look forward to. Owens v Cena and Lesnar v Rollins alone are worth watching this show for. Anything else being good is pretty much a bonus.

***

Predictions summary:

Seth Rollins to retain the WWE championship against Brock Lesnar via shenanigans
Kevin Owens to defeat John Cena for the United States championship
Bray Wyatt to defeat Roman Reigns
The Prime Time Players to retain the tag team championship against New Day
Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship
Sheamus to defeat Randy Orton

Questioning Authority

When The Authority was first formed at SummerSlam 2013 it had purpose. Triple H was following in that grand old McMahon tradition making "his guy" the champion at any cost. In the case of SummerSlam 2013 it was Randy Orton. The group was also very much about making sure the championship wasn't on alleged B-plus player Daniel Bryan. The initial Authority run was very much characterised by Bryan v Orton matches and Triple H putting down D-Bry in promos.

Things got samey pretty quickly. You can only see D-Bry shout "Yes!" before getting beaten up so many times before you start wanting something with a little more depth. For that matter the novelty of laughing at Randall Keith Orton wandering around in just a T-shirt, giving him the like of a fashionably-shaven sex pest, wears off pretty quickly too. But even though there wasn't much variety at least The Authority had a reason to exist and stay together. As far as wrestling storylines went it was A Good Thing.

This man likes trousers.

Contrast that with now. There's no one standing out as definitive opposition to the group. Randy Orton has been replaced as centrepiece by Seth Rollins¹. Fair enough, a decent story was told in 'The Future' replacing 'The Apex Predator' and it was a development that made sense in terms of long-term development. But The Authority of 2013 and '14 was all about doing whatever was necessary to ensure its selected wrestlers won. The modern day incarnation does not do this. The last several months have seen an eye-wateringly dull string of teases regarding Authority members walking out on WWE champion Rollins. The most prominent was the peculiar Rollins versus Kane rivalry in which it was implied several times that 'The Big Red Machine' would turn on Rollins and his McMahon paymasters in order to claim the championship for himself. Instead of quietly retiring like everyone wants him to.

J&J security, Rollins' stooges, have gotten in on the act too, which was possibly even more dull than the Kane teases because there was never any chance they'd be portrayed as serious threats to the title, rendering the entire scenario even more pointless. But the most recent development of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon bringing Brock Lesnar back to the company as "the ultimate test" for their boy makes no sense at all. The Authority, we've been shown and told, want to control the WWE championship because that helps them control how the company is presented to the outside world. Which doesn't tally with the decision to put their cowardly heel champion who relies heavily on assistance against the most dominant man the roster's seen in years. Why would they want to give Lesnar the chance to win the title when it's been established he's his own man and he won't play The Authority's game.

It's a decision that plays down Lesnar's actions the night after WrestleMania. Y'know, the night he F5ed Michael Cole out of his shoes and attacked a cameraman (well, an indy wrestler cosplaying as a cameraman). Yes he offered a storyline apology for these actions but that still doesn't adequately explain why The Authority would bring him back with an all-is-forgiven-and-forgotten edict. Look back at how irate Stephanie was when she initially suspended 'The Beast'. It makes no sense that a few months later she'd simply bring him back and award him a title match to test her crown jewel.

At this point the most sensible thing to do would be to dissolve The Authority. Tripper and Steph would be fine with a reduced presence. Kane would be fine retiring or playing a comedically overworked and stressed middle management matchmaker in place of the McMahons. Brad Maddox could be brought in as his chief of staff or assistant. There's fun to be had there. Noble and Mercury could simply be phased out as TV presences. Rollins, easily the most important member of the faction as he's the one who'll be main eventing pay-per-views for years to come, would be better off on his own right now. It's not that he can't benefit from being the main attraction of a dastardly heel stable. It's that The Authority just isn't that dastardly anymore.

***

¹ It's interesting to note that Rollins wrestles in trousers, making him a perfect contrast to the trouser averse Orty.

WWE SummerSlam 2004 review

A few weeks ago I watched SummerSlam 2004 and tweeted about it. The only thing I initally remembered about the show was the main event in which Randy Orton won his first World Heavyweight championship. The rest of the card turned out to be a mostly pleasant experience. Booker T v John Cena, Triple H v Eugene and JBL v The Undertaker were all a bit of fun if you could look past their shortcomings (Cena's ropey wrestling, the offensiveness of the Eugene character, and JBL being in a WWE title match respectively) and the Intercontinental title three-way was good fun. Plus there was fun nonsense on offer from the Diva Dodgeball showdown (featuring a bunch of women you almost certainly don't remember or have never even heard of) and Matt Hardy v Kane for the right to marry Lita. Here's what I thought in tweet form...

Intro

Tweet 1: Watching SummerSlam 2004. I remember very little about this show other than the main event of young boy Randy Orton versus -REDACTED-.

Tweet 2: Opening package is highlighting how strange this is. Heavy on Teddy Long. Mid-card Cena. Kane v Matt Hardy for the right to marry Lita.
Tweet 3: Wall-to-wall nonsense by the looks of it. Excited for this show. No idea if this is good or a train wreck.
Tweet 4:

The Dudley Boys v Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman and Paul London

Tweet 5: Dudleys in a six man opener. This is during that weird phase where Spike was heel and bossing Bubba and D-Von. Forgot all about this.

Tweet 6: "This is going to be a rough and rumble match-up" - Michael Cole on the Dudleys v Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman and Paul London
Tweet 7: I like that quote. It's basically Cole saying the Dudleys are going to stiff some cruiserweights for lols.
Tweet 8: Spike Dudley there, spitting on Mexico's greatest legend Rey Mysterio.
Tweet 9: "I'll beat your face in!" - Bubba Dudley with the loudest spot call I've ever heard
Tweet 10: "Vintage Dudley Boys" - Michael Cole
Tweet 11: Mysterio v Spike in a cruiserweight exchange for the ages now. Still-good-Rey's fluidity against Spike's stomps. Gold.
Tweet 12: Just been reminded Kidman did a move called the BK bomb. Christ...
Tweet 13: Spike's better than I remember as a straight up wrestler. He doesn't really work as a heel though.

Till Death Do Us Part: Matt Hardy v Kane

Tweet 14: Till Death Do Us Part match. Ambrose and Rollins will get to this as their never-ending feud gets into more obscure stips.

Tweet 15: Recap of the Matt Hardy v Kane feud that would go on to secretly involve Edge in 2005. Loved this nonsense at the time.
Tweet 16: I'm not comfortable with Lita being so blatantly presented as a prop in this match. Or with the rape connotations, obviously.
Tweet 17: Typical that heel Lawler is bigging up Kane for impregnating Lita. I'm waiting for the unsavoury comments to start.
Tweet 18: Corporate Kane is way better than mid-00s baldy Kane. Not least because he acts like David Puddy.
Tweet 19: "I think Kane might make an alright husband" - Jerry Lawler on storyline rapist Kane
Tweet 20: They just did a nice choke slam off the ropes for the finish so at least the match ended well.
Tweet 21: Poor old Lita though. She's been married to Kane for ten and a half years now.
Tweet 22:

Todd Grisham interviews Randy Orton

Tweet 23: Randy Orton is telling Todd Grisham he's going to beat the man. I dunno, mate...

Tweet 24:

Tweet 25: Orton and Cena bickering backstage. Is the origin of their aeons-long feud?

John Cena v Booker T

Tweet 26: I'd forgotten all about Booker T and Cena having a best of five series too. I hadn't forgotten Cena's #BasicThuganomics intro theme though.

Tweet 27: I'm interested in this match. I want to see early Cena work and Booker's great. Good combo.
Tweet 28: Also it seems to be heel Booker. Second only to King Booker in the League of Bookers pantheon.
Tweet 29: "Shades of the great Iron Sheikh" - Michael Cole on a Booker T camel clutch
Tweet 30: Yeah. Cena's early work is, unsurprisingly, rough around the edges. He just did one of the worst small packages I've ever seen.
Tweet 31: Just remembered that there's a triple threat match on this show where Toronto turns heel and boos their hometown boy Edge.
Tweet 32: Cena wins lol.

Teddy Long and Eric Bischoff chat about being general managers backstage

Tweet 33: Pointless backstage natter with Long and Big Boy Bisch here. Teddy wants to sign Eugene and make him a big star.

Tweet 34: Eugene. Oh lord.
Tweet 35: Diva Dodgeball now. What even is this show?

Intercontinental championship: Edge (c) v Batista v Chris Jericho

Tweet 36: That was just a plug. We're getting Big Wave Batista v Edge v Jericho first. I bet this'll be a classic with Wave involved.

Tweet 37: This is back when Jericho was reasonably enjoyable. Never been a massive fan though tbh.
Tweet 38: "He's never met his father!" Steady on, JR.
Tweet 39: I like JR choosing to get Batista over by saying he could play in the NFL. Good one, Jim.
Tweet 40: The flaps of Edge's left boot have come loose. Technical wizard Wave Batista will target the boot and get a win via tapout.
Tweet 41: Speaking of Edge's boots, it looks like he has Shane Douglas's Franchise symbol on them. Probably some sort or rib masterminded by The Kliq.
Tweet 42: I'm a fan of Shane Douglas's career of poorly chosen shoot comments.
Tweet 43: That match was better than I half-remembered it. Amazed at how good Batista looked.

Eddie Guerrero v Kurt Angle

Tweet 44: Eddie Guerrero v Kurt Angle? Saywhaaaaaat?!

Tweet 45: This recap of Eddie winning the title has made me realise I'm going to see a JBL WWE title match.
Tweet 46: Remember that time Kurt Angle died?

Tweet 47: Roman's long lost brother LUTHER REIGNS!
Tweet 48: Eddie's gimmick was basically that he was a great wrestler who loved stealing cars.
Tweet 49: Toronto, Canada getting behind wrestling's Captain America, Kurt Angle. Eddie's thievery has made him a pariah north of the border.
Tweet 50: Just noticed Baby Brian Hebner refereeing this match wearing his stupid blue trainers. Never been a fan of his work. He draws the eye.
Tweet 51: WWE missed a trick not releasing Pirates of the Caribbean-esque Luther Reigns earrings. #merch
Tweet 52: This is an odd match. Slow paced, based on the mat, and they're both using Angle's moves. It's not bad but it's not what I expected.
Tweet 53: I always find it weird when wrestlers take off their boot and use it to knock someone out.
Tweet 54: Because, y'know, when they kick it does minimal damage.
Tweet 55: Fun match. Probably match of the night considering there are Eugene and Johnny Layfield matches to come.

Triple H v Eugene

Tweet 56: Let's not forgot that Eugene was in Evolution with Playboy editor-era Triple H.

Tweet 57: "Eugene, I was NEVER your friend!" - Triple H, with the greatest heel promo of all time
Tweet 58: He followed up by near murdering his former Blue Bloods pal William Regal. This was powerful stuff.
Tweet 59: JR making the strong accusation that Triple H is guilty of conduct unbecoming of a RAW superstar. Serious business.
Tweet 60: Trips using Lilian Garcia, every man's weakness, as a foreign object there.
Tweet 61: Trips doing the Flair Flop better than Flair. Didn't even see the hands come up. Because he's a pro, dammit.
Tweet 62: Hilarious "Eugene sucks!" chant going on right now.
Tweet 63: I'm enjoying Triple H's general lack of selling here. It's refreshing. Don't get enough no-sells in 2015.
Tweet 64: Did Eugene ever give a reason for Tripper being his fave number one wrestler of all time? I'd be interested in his reasoning.
Tweet 65: Now's as good a time as any to mention that I never liked the Eugene character. It was poor taste. Not that WWE cares about taste.
Tweet 66: Eugene using all these moves he's "seen on television." What about those Don't Try This At Home ads, mate?
Tweet 67: Triple H kicking out of the leg drop as a big middle finger to Hogan there.
Tweet 68: Flair's been at ringside less than two minutes. He's already taken his jacket off and started throwing a fit.
Tweet 69: Triple H wins with the Pedigree. He probably got flack for that at the time. Makes sense though...
Tweet 70: He's a former world champion. Eugene should have lost. Plots he cheated to win. Eugene was protected and it was a memorable first defeat.

Diva Dodgeball

Tweet 71: Meanwhile, over in a high school gym, Jonathan 'Coach' Coachman is adjudicating Diva Dodgeball.

Tweet 72: No idea who most of the Diva Search lasses are. I recognise Mrs Michael Bennett, TNA announcer, and 'Taker wife but that's about it.
Tweet 73: This is a Divas division for workrate though. Trish, Jazz, Molly Holly, Victoria and Gail Kim are there. Plus Stacey Keibler.
Tweet 74: Amused by Coach's commentary.
Tweet 75: Also: NIDIA.
Tweet 76: I'd like Nidia to reappear on RAW in a backstage segment with Jamie Noble. Lols to he had there.
Tweet 77: Jerry Lawler offering to help restrain Trish Stratus. #stillgotit

WWE championship: The Undertaker v John Bradshaw Layfield (c)

Tweet 78: Oh no...

Tweet 79: I don't mind Undertaker or JBL but they did not work well together. Part of the problem was that nothing was made of their Ministry history.
Tweet 80: John Ladshaw Layfield.
Tweet 81: The mystique of that Undertaker entrance was slightly ruined by a guy in the front row give him double middle fingers.
Tweet 82: Only just now remembering Orlando Jordan's transformation from innocent young boy into sinister Chief of Staff, overseeing the Bashams.
Tweet 83: JBL running is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Tweet 84: Worth nothing that in August 2004 Mark Calaway looked more like Fake Undertaker than real Undertaker.
Tweet 85: It's like he's done himself up as an Undertaker parody.
Tweet 86: The crowd are doing a Mexican wave. 'Taker should use the dark arts to make them pay attention.
Tweet 87: This match isn't doing much for me but I can recognise they're doing good stuff. JBL taking a superplex, for example.
Tweet 88: Did this feud progress to JBL stealing Undertaker's urn? If not, why not?
Tweet 89: Great potential in a segment with JBL melting the urn down and turning it into a magical gold cowboy hat.
Tweet 90: Tazz is hyping boots. Might be at the bottom of the barrel here, folks.
Tweet 91: When selling, Nick Patrick looks like Johnny Vegas.
Tweet 92: Loads of interference and assorted shenanigans in that match. Makes the DQ ending a disappointment.
Tweet 93: Undertaker will get revenge by Tombstoning JBL's limo.
Tweet 94: Lol at 'Taker choke slamming JBL through the roof of the limo. Textbook mid-00s overkill.
Tweet 95: Even funnier is Jordan dragging JBL, who could have spinal injuries after being THROWN THROUGH A ROOF, out onto the concrete.
Tweet 96: EMTs coming out to help JBL. Remember when WWE introduced BB as an EMT?
Tweet 97: She lasted about three months, married 'Hard to the Core' Robert Holly, then was never heard from again.
Tweet 98: Maybe she'll turn up with Kayfabe Commentaries one day.

World Heavyweight championship: Randy Orton v -REDACTED-

Tweet 99: Can Randall Keith Orton do it? Can he become the youngest ever world champion? Can he beat -REDACTED-?

Tweet 100: Love WWE trolling the Canadian fans by having Earl Hebner ref this.
Tweet 101: Lawler pushing Orton as "a Greek god." It's possible he's being fed material by Vince.
Tweet 102: The crowd don't seem as into this as I'd thought they'd be. Silence for this -REDACTED- wrist lock, for example.
Tweet 103: Orton gets a shoulder block. Crowd explodes.
Tweet 104: More trolling with Orton slapping on a Sharpshooter. *slow clap*
Tweet 105: -REDACTED- with a sloppy reversal there. I don't think he's even Canadian. Real Canadians have perfected the Sharpshooter by age five.
Tweet 106: This isn't about -REDACTED-, Orton, or Orton's first world title. It's about Hebner earning forgiveness from Canada by officiating fairly.
Tweet 107: What was WWE's thinking for pulling the trigger on this Orton main event push? Was it just a case of "Welp, we need new guys"?
Tweet 108: It's taken a while but this match is hotting up. That's been a theme across this show tbh.
Tweet 109: Orton with a cross body, a move he once used as a finisher. Like a 1970s babyface.
Tweet 110: Love -REDACTED- foregoing the -REDACTED- Crossface and using the Sharpshooter because he's in Canada.
Tweet 111: Part of the reason this crowd's getting behind Orton is because he's being presented as a fiery babyface who won't give up.
Tweet 112: Knees up on that top rope headbutt. That may explain some things...
Tweet 113: "RKO outta nowhere! RKO outta nowhere!" - Jim Ross
Tweet 114: Orton should cry more often.
Tweet 115: The handshake that turned Randy Orton from a crying young boy into a #manly world champion.

Tweet 116: That was a laugh, weren't it?

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 review

With several years of action-packed shows to follow the sixth annual Money in the Bank show faced a tough job this year. It had a good frame of matches to work with in Cena v Owens II, the latest Ambrose v Rollins match and, of course, the Money in the Bank match itself, but it also had Ryback v Big Show and a pre-show which saw R-Truth defeat King Wade Bad News Barrett I. Was it any good? The answer, pleasantly, was a resounding yes.

The main card kicked off with a ten bell salute to 'The American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. His music played afterwards. The audience and some of the wrestlers clapped along. Vince was amongst those who joined in. Randy Orton was amongst those who did not.

That was followed by the typically great video package recapping the build to the highlighted matches. In this case that meant Ambrose v Rollins, Cena v Owens and the Money in the Bank match. The latter kicked off the show. Which surprised me. With there being only one Bank match, and it being guaranteed to be a highlight of the show, I would have thought it would be saved for closer to the top of the card. Then again there was also a ladder match going on last, so spacing them out did make sense.

Randy Orton and Neville both got loud cheers when they entered. Kane got half-hearted boos. Dolph Ziggler got a monster pop, which got even more monstrous when people noticed Lana was present to give him a good luck kiss. Kofi Kingston got huge boos when he skipped to the ring. Sheamus was booed too, but not as much (yeah, New Day has more heat than Shaymo). Roman Reigns, naturally out last, got a mostly positive reaction. The writing team have done a good job turning him around.

The lads.

The match started with everyone except Kofi pairing off and the New Dayer taking the chance to try and sneak up a ladder to grab the case. The rest of the field turned against him, throwing him out of the ring before slipping into a standard issue brawling segment. Sheamus came out of that on top after going wild with a ladder. He was phased out of the match a few minutes later to make way for an all too short exchange between Kofi and Neville, the highlight of which was Nev hitting a monkey flip only for Kingston to land upright and immediately start climbing a ladder.

Reigns put a stop to Neville v Kingston, power bombing Kingston onto a ladder and Neville onto Kofi. The crowd, it's worth noting, ate this up. Kane put a stop to Reigns' attempted briefcase grab with a choke slam before taking an RKO from 'The Viper'. Kofi returned to stop Orty climbing the ladder and took an RKO too. Neville then springboarded back into the ring, over Orton, and shot up the ladder. He was yanked off the ladder and took a mid-air RKO, easily the best of the three.

Sheamus reappeared to halt another Orton attempt. 'The Apex Predator' put up a fight before being thrown head first into a ladder and smashed with a Brogue kick. Ziggler cut Sheamus off at the top of the ladder to a big reaction from the crowd. They traded punches and lunges at the wildly swinging case before 'The Show Off' slipped around behind Sheamus and took him off the ladder with a Zig Zag. Neville popped up to hit Sheamus with a Red Arrow immediately afterwards. It didn't realy make sense as far as winning the match went but it did at least please the crowd.

After selling his own move for a bit (ala Rob Van Dam and the Five Star frog splash) Nev dragged himself up the ladder for a punch exchange with Ziggler. 'The New Sensation' got the best of that when he smacked Ziggler's head into the top of the ladder and sent him falling to the mat. Before he could grab the briefcase Kane wandered back into the ring and grabbed him for a choke slam. Ziggler made the save with a crisp super kick. Ziggler and Nev took hold of a ladder and tried to batter Kane with it but he knocked them to the ground and then baseball slid the ladder into the pair on the outside.

Kane wasn't alone in the ring for long. Reigns returned to smack him with a Superman punch then did his tope onto everyone at ringside. This was the cue for Big E and Xavier Woods to sprint to ringside and throw Kofi back into the ring. Selling like mad, Kofi crawled up the ladder as Woods and E smacked the mat (triggering a "New, Day sucks!" chant). Reigns shot into view from the right of the screen to hit the interfering heels with his running drop kick in a great spot.

We're all interested in Wyatt v Reigns, right?

In the ring Kofi kicked at Reignsa few times before getting plucked off the ladder and power bombed onto a gaggle of lads outside the ring. Orton appeared and tried an RKO (outta nowhere edition) only to be dropped with a spear. The path was clear for Reigns. He started climbing the ladder before the lights went out. When they came back on seconds later Bray Wyatt was in the ring. He shook the ladder, grabbed Reigns, and hit him with Sister Abigail before disappearing.

Sheamus pulled himself back into the ring and clambered up the ladder. Neville sprinted to the top to try and stop 'The Celtic Warrior'. He put up a good fight but couldn't combat a fearsome eye gouge from Shaymo. That sent him off the ladder, leaving Sheamus free to grab hold of the briefcase to become the new 'Mr Money in the Bank'.

Naturally Jerry Lawler and Maggle Cole reacted to this as though it was the most sickening thing ever, even though Sheamus hadn't done anything wrong. Lawler even went so far as to say that Sheamus has taken the WWE championship out of Reigns' hands. It's comments like that that cause some people to give Reigns such a tough time.

Backstage Paige talked to Renee Young about being disappointed that no other Divas had offered support to help her bring down the Bella twins "empire". She said she'd win the belt to bring about change in the Divas division. Basically the feud is about Nikki and Paige both wanting change in the Divas division but not being able to agree on the form that change should take. They're basically Magneto and Professor X.

While the match didn't reach the heights of Banks versus Lynch it was better than the average Divas match. The pair broke out super kicks, spinebusters and an Alabama slam before Paige locked in the STF (the significance of which seemed to be completely lost on the crowd and the commentary team). They used their signature moves to good effect too: Nikki escaped a PTO and went for the Rack Attack, only for Paige to wiggle free and hit the Ram-Paige for a convincing near fall.

The Bella twins: masters of heel shenanigans.

Nikki would cheat to win. Brie and Nikki switched places (Brie had probably been hiding under the since the lights went out for Wyatt) and Brie went for a small package. Paige reversed it and got a three count, being announced as the winner and new champion. Brie grabbed the referee and revealed that she wasn't Nikki, proving this was the case by pulling padding from her bra (an amusing touch). Instead of disqualifying Nikki for outside interference the ref simply watched as Nikki ran back into the ring and blasted Paige with a Rack Attack then counted the three for her.

Before the Intercontinental title match The Miz came out to talk about how he'd transcended Ohio (the state the show was being held in) and deserved a title shot. The promo wasn't bad but Miz did a horrible job of linking his two points. The match was better. 'The Big Guy' immediately ploughed through Big Show with a spinebuster and the meathook clothesline before clotheslining him out of the ring. There he was distracted by Miz sitting at commentary, allowing Show to jump him when he got back into the ring and gain the advantage.

Ryback gradually worked up steam with a Fujiwara armbar and a suplex before Miz slid into the ring and jabbed at both guys with some weak punches and swaggered backstage. So Ryback's first title defence ever ended in a DQ in favour of Big Show. This was a disappointment. The match had been far better than I'd expected until Miz involved himself. Presumably they'll get to give us a more conclusion in a triple threat match at Battleground.

Looks like he's learned not to take this on his elbows...

John Cena versus Kevin Owens was preceded by a nice video package showing some of the many highlights of the interactions between the pair over the last few weeks. The match was good too, perhaps a smidge better than their rightly praised first encounter from Elimination Chamber. Sadly, it had the wrong result. Cena went over with the third AA of the match. While Owens got to survive the STF, an electric chair drop, two AAs (the first of which Cena did a solid job of selling by arguing with the referee), a snap sunset bomb and hit Cena with the cannonball, a super kick, the package piledriver (safety edition), the double jump moonsault, a second rope fisherman buster, and Cena's own shoulder tackles, belly-to-back and Five Knuckle Shuffle the fact that he lost was still saddening. A win could have done so much to elevate him and make him look like a dominant and unstoppable force. He didn't look weak in defeat but a win would have been far more beneficial both for this feud and in the long term.

After the match Cena gave Owens an off-mic pep talk, handed him the championship belt and offered a handshake. Owens accepted before kicking Cena in the stomach. Cena fell to the mat and rolled out of the ring (because he doesn't know how to make sequences like this look natural) and Owens followed him out to hit an apron bomb. He walked backstage laughing like Cesar Romero's Joker a the announers talked in Serious Voices™ about how Owens had gone too far. It currently looks like this rivalry will run through SummerSlam.

After a Total Divas ad Renee Young informed us Cena was being tended to by the medical team (something tells me he'll be fine). She then introduced Dean Ambrose, still in possession of Seth Rollins' WWE championship belt. Ambrose did a nice job of reminding us of his year-long problems with The Authority and explaining why he's keeping hold of the title belt. It didn't make me believe he'd leave the show a winner but it was a good bit of character work.

After a touching Dusty Rhodes tribute video Big E and Xavier Woods clapped down to the ring for a pre-match promo. They said Kofi had had the Money in the Bank match stole from him then talked about an Ohioan sports team that I've never heard of being cheaters. They ended by clapping and trying to start a "New, Day rocks!" chant. They fans chanted sucks instead causing Xavier to snap. Big E calmed him down.

Tag titles equal... millions of dollars!

This was a basic tag match which benefited greatly from the heat of New Day. Darren Young was isolated by the champs from the start. He made a single tag out to Titus then got wiped out by Big E's spear off the apron. That was a mistake from Big E: it left Xavier alone with Titus. He took a Sky High and was pinned within seconds. I'm disappointed New Day lost the tag gold because all three have been doing some of the best work of their careers in the group. It's nice to see the PTPs get a long overdue tag title win though.

The main event was preceded by a kick-off segment. They discussed the Money in the Bank match, the tag title match and Owens v Cena and made some main event predictions before throwing to a recap of Wyatt costing Reigns the briefcase. It was filler of the highest order.

More enjoyable filler followed in the form of Rollins being confronted by The Authority. Kane and J&J sniggered about how S-Roll was all alone. Stephanie piled on the pressure by talking about how the future of the company wrested on his shoulders. Triple H reminded him that going it alone in a ladder match was what Seth had wanted then barked at him to "show them" that he could do it. This version of the Triple H character, the guy who gives pep talks to his heel chosen few, is great.

The never-ending feud.

This was another enjoyable entry in the Ambrose-Rollins series. With over half an hour to play with they started out slow and built up to their more dramatic spots. They also took the unusual, but welcome, decision to have Rollins targeting Ambrose's legs. You don't get that in ladder matches despite it being a logical story to tell.

Rollins kicked his gameplan off when he crushed Ambrose's leg in a ladder. From there he smacked it with a chair and applied a ring post figure four before stomping away back in the ring and slapping on a traditional figure four. Ambrose punched his way free but would soon be hung up in a tree of woe with Rollins taking a chair to his knees.

Ambrose would return to his feet within a few minutes to lob a chair at Rollins' head and clothesline him off the top rope. Ambrose took a spill out of the ring, avoided a ladder that was chucked at his head, then got back into the ring to hit his rebound lariat (countered with an enziguri on the first attempt but hit on the second). He went for Dirty Deeds but Rollins escaped and ran into the crowd, triggering a brief chase-brawl sequence.

When they got back to ringside Rollins set up a ladder and took a back drop from the ring on to it. It was a nasty fall and something that shouldn't really be necessary. It was a good addition to the match though, and will make a fine addition to future Rollins highlight packages.

They brawled some more. Ambrose hit a Dirty Deeds on the Spanish announce table. Rollins grabbed a monitor an bashed Ambrose in the leg with it as he was close to the title belt. Ambrose got Pedigreed. Rollins got pulled from the ladder and thrown out of the ring but grabbed 'The Lunatic Fringe' before he could make it up the ladder. He then hit the running power bomb into the ladder and the barricade before hitting a slightly more traditional power bomb onto a pile of chairs. After dropping a ladder and some more chairs on top of Ambrose 'The Future' rolled back into the ring and clambered up a ladder.

Ambrose got back into the ring and pulled himself up the ladder. Both got their hands on the title and struggled back and forth. They fell and the belt came with them. When they hit the mat it was Rollins who had possession of the strap. His music hit and Cole referenced a football rule to explain why he'd retained.

Rollins wins lol.

Triple H came out to celebrate with his top guy as Ambrose sat in the ring looking sad. Jojo wandered out and asked him if there was anything he wanted to say. Rollins said he told us so and that nobody could hang with him. And on that note the show went off the air.

I was impressed with Money in the Bank. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is what it means for the future. We know that Reigns' inevitable world title win has been postponed again thanks to a new issue he has with Bray Wyatt. It's tough to imagine Money in the Bank holder Sheamus interacting with WWE champion Seth Rollins, which likely means he'll be the man to feud with Reigns once Reigns is champion.

The main attractions were the WWE title match, the Money in the Bank match, and the Cena v Owens rematch. All got plenty of time to tell satisfying stories and packed a bunch of stuff in. Of the less important matches only Big Show v Ryback (and R-Truth v Barrett if you want to include it as an official part of the card, which I don't) felt disappointing. The tag title match was saved by New Day's heat and the Prime Time Players getting the tag title victory they should have had a couple of years ago. Nikki v Paige was a good match and although it had a screwy finish it did at least make sense. It didn't quite hit the heights of Elimination Chamber, but I suspect that's mostly because expectations weren't as high for EC. Overall this was another very good show from WWE.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus won Money in the Bank
Nikki Bella defeated Paige to retain the Divas championship
Big Show defeated Ryback by disqualification
John Cena defeated Kevin Owens
The Prime Time Players defeated New Day to win the tag team championship
Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE championship

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 preview

It's been ten years since the first Money in the Bank match took place at WrestleMania 21. Since then it has become WWE's top stunt match and a reliable star-making tool. It's also broken away from WrestleMania to get its own annual show, which is routinely one of the most exciting and eventful pay-per-views of the year.

What's nice about the Money in the Bank show is that it's far enough removed from WrestleMania for the writing team to have moved beyond reruns and be offering something new, generally making the card feel fresh and vibrant. It can usually be taken as an attempt to do something new and get things in place for SummerSlam. Free of the pressures of building towards a fast-approaching 'Mania, or paying it off, Money in the Bank is perfectly placed to be experimental and interesting.

That said there are numerous rematches this year but the big two, Owens v Cena and Ambrose v Rollins, are only rematches because of the last minute addition of Elimination Chamber to the special event line-up. Had that not happened both of those matches would be much fresher. Brand new in the case of Owens v Cena.

The Money in the Bank ladder match itself helps too, of course. It's a match so busy that it almost always features something memorable as everyone tries to cram in some new, death-defying spot or insane bump. As it generally features many of WWE's top names, and is a key part of the show's appeal, the layout of the match and it's bigger spots get a lot of attention. Those same big names get people invested. As does the prize: a WWE world title shot anytime, anywhere during the following year. The briefcase has been built up so well over the last decade that winning it means something. People know that and react as though winning the briefcase means something. Because it does.

This year's show will feature two ladder matches, one for the title match-bestowing briefcase and one for the WWE world heavyweight championship. The latter will feature Seth Rollins defending against Dean Ambrose. It's come about because just over a week ago Ambrose pinned Rollins to win the WWE championship at the Elimination Chamber show, only to have the title cruelly snatched away from him after the match's original referee altered the decision and disqualified Rollins for assaulting him. Ambrose kept the win but lost the prize.

'The Lunatic Fringe' earned another shot at Rollins via some Steve Austin lite jiggery pokery the next evening on RAW. The match was given the ladder stip because Rollins and Ambrose haven't done one yet and it's the traditional WWE method of sorting out title disputes of above average complexity. Ambrose being in possession of the title belt while Rolins is recognised as champ qualifies as above average complexity by wrestling standards.

I'll say the same thing about this match as I do about every Rollins v Ambrose match: it will be really good because Ambrose and Rollins don't have bad matches against one another. I imagine they'll do some interesting stuff with the ladder gimmick, even though we've seen it so many times before that being genuinely innovative is nigh on impossible. I'll be very surprised if Rollins doesn't leave with the title. He has a rematch with Brock Lesnar waiting for him some time in the next few months. It could be a non-title match but I don't think it will be. We've also yet to see him defend the gold against Roman Reigns.

There's also the fact that nobody seems to know what to do with Dean Ambrose. He's immensely popular, despite being given little to do for months on end, but nobody seems to know where to slot him on the card in the long run. I can sympathise with this: I love a bit of fantasy booking but I haven't got a clue what to suggest for Ambrose beyond having him be the vaguely rebellious character he already is. The thing is that I'm not paid to come up with things for wrestlers to do and the writing team is. Right now I think the best we can hope for regarding Ambrose is a commitment to properly building towards either a Rollins v Reigns v Ambrose triple threat or a Shield reunion. Both will happen at some point but I don't think Ambrose will do anything meaningful beforehand.

In other title matches the Prime Time Players will challenge New Day for the tag team championship, Big Show will change Ryback for the Intercontinental championship, and Paige will challenge Nikki Bella for the Divas championship. Darren Young and Titus O'Neil were booked very strongly in the tag team Chamber match last month, designed to set them up as credible challengers here. I don't think they'll win but I do like the fact that WWE are finally doing something with them and offering a division that doesn't just consist of two teams feuding over the titles and a bunch of others having meaningless matches. This should be enjoyable (I'm particularly interested in a Big E v Titus stretch) with the PTPs losing following New Day shenanigans. It's the Lucha Dragons we should be looking at as the men who'll relieve Big E and co of the gold.

I have little interest in Big Show versus Ryback. Extreme Rules demonstrated that Show can participate in worthwhile matches when enough planning goes into them, but his opponent there was Reigns and I think there was a sense of urgency to elevate him that isn't felt with 'The Big Guy'. I expect Ryback to win but I don't think this match will do him the favours Reigns' match with 'The Giant' did.

The Divas title match is a peculiarity. Last month both women were faces. The night after Elimination Chamber Nikki and Brie switched places during Nikki's title defence against Paige, allowing the fresh Brie to get the win on her not-really-identical-anymore sister's behalf. That was a distinctly heelish move, odd considering Nikki had only officially become a face less than two months earlier. It's an example of how little thought goes into the main roster's women's division, as is the fact that we're getting the fourth Nikki and Paige meeting at a special event in the last six months.  

I think we could be due a title change. That Michael Cole has been harping on about the length of her reign recently makes it seem as though they're positioning her (or trying to) as a dominant champion, the implication being that whoever defeats her for the title will have really achieved something. I could be wrong though. It could just as easily be a new trend that's going to continue throughout Nikki's record-setting title reign.

Speaking of big achievements, Money in the Bank will play host to a Cena v Owens rematch. They stole the show at Elimination Chamber. With two ladders matches on the this show it'll be harder for them to do that here. They'll also be hampered by raised expectations. As long as they hit the same blend of punch exchanges, big moves, and kick outs I'll be happy. It's not to everyone's tastes but it satisfies mine.

The right outcome (and it most certainly would be the right outcome) would be an Owens victory. It would make it clear that the newcomer has the veteran's number and that the outcome of their first meeting wasn't a fluke. Nothing about it would weaken Cena. It would take something far more drastic to lower his standing after his decade on top of the company than simply losing back-to-back matches to a (well-introduced) newcomer. It would boost Owens' standing. As he's the NXT champion it would probably do NXT some good too.

Sadly every Cena rivalry of the past tells us that Owens will lose. Just look at what happened with Rusev. Cena lost the first match in the series then went on to defeat 'The Bulgarian Brute' three shows in a row. Rusev, previously unpinned and unsubmitted, had his momentum crushed with his prolonged interaction with Cena. Owens has less momentum to lose, but a loss would still harm him. He'd become just another guy who lost to Cena after getting lucky one time. There's something to be said for feuds where one guy always wins. Cena desperately needs a feud like that like that. Handled right it could stretch for years, on and off, without ever becoming boring.

Finally there's the Money in the Bank ladder match. The official entrants right now are Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Adrian Neville, Sheamus, Kane, Kofi Kingston and so-called 'Big Dog' Roman Reigns. Kane aside this is a nice blend of talent, mixing established names with guys who can make this sort of match work and guys who could make convincing winners. Orton can never be completely written off in a situation like this. Sheamus and Ziggler are both in a position where they could get a surprise win. Roman Reigns is the obvious favourite. That's half the guys in the match that could theoretically win. Two of the other three should do something memorable in the match.

I can't pick against Roman Reigns with this match. He's been getting The Push since the start of the year. The company held off on crowning him world champion at WrestleMania for fear of a harmful backlash from the hardcore crowd. Undeterred they continued building Reigns up with a better than it had any right to be match opposite Big Show at Extreme Rules and a strong showing in a four-way at Payback (in which it was Randy Orton who was booked to take the pin). It was too early for Reigns at 'Mania because WWE hadn't been making him look like a credible singles guy for long enough. That's no longer the case. Reigns is ready and the Money in the Bank briefcase is his route to the top.

Money in the Bank looks like an above average show, as usual. It should easily better the majority of WWE shows this year although it will have to be something special to be more enjoyable than the Elimination Chamber Network special. It has the potential to do it though, and I hope it does. Because done right Money in the Bank is one of the best wrestling concepts out there.

***

Predictions summary:

Seth Rollins to defeat Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns to win Money in the Bank
Kevin Owens to defeat John Cena
New Day to defeat the Prime Time Players
Ryback to defeat Big Show
Paige to defeat Nikki Bella for the Divas championship

WWE Payback 2015 review

I didn't have particularly high hopes for Payback. The card was heavy on rematches and had what felt like a squandered opportunity to do something special in the main event. It didn't help that the pre-show got underway with R-Truth beating Stardust. Things didn't get better with The Ascension v Mandow and Axel but when the show proper started I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a fantastic show or anything (I knew it wouldn't be that) but it was good more than it was bad and all the matches I'd expected to be good were.

Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus opened the show. Cole claimed that the match had "become" personal. Was it not personal last month when they fought in a Kiss My Arse match? Because that seems like a fairly personal stip to me. Backwards booking of this feud aside the match was good. 'The Show Off' took the early lead. Sheamus turned the tables when he caught a super kick and elbowed Dolph's knee. Ziggler came back with a series of forearms before pulling up his trunks and rubbing his backside into Sheamus's face, retribution (or, if you prefer, payback) for the finish of their Extreme Rules collision. The pair traded finishers and signature moves to ratchet up the tension, Ziggler getting two counts off a Fameasser and a super kick. Sheamus got one of his own wren he trapped Ziggler in a cloverleaf. The match closed with a bleeding Ziggler being Brogue kicked for the three count.

After that Seth Rollins and Kane had an overly rehearsed exchange designed to get everyone up to speed on their grudge. Kane had been told by Triple H that he'd lose his Director of Operations job if Rollins lost the title. Kane told Rollins here that he didn't need that job and explained he still hadn't decided what he'd do in the main event. The segment ended with J&J threatening Kane. As a reminder this was all fine.

Better than fine was New Day's entrance promo. They talked about positivity and trashed a local sports team. It was, as these things go, highly enjoyable.

The first fall of this two-out-of-three falls match saw Cesaro and Kidd dominate Kofi and Big E with double team moves. Particularly impressive was Cesaro. He caught Big E in mid-air (just like last month) and made short work of Kofi with uppercuts and jumping stomps. The challengers got a quick pin after the Big Swing into a drop kick on Kofi. That prompted Xavier Woods to leap onto the apron screaming about the Freebird rule. Natalya pulled him down to the floor where he was wiped out by Tyson. That left Kofi and Big E to compete in the second fall. They got off to a better start here when E grabbed Tyson as he went for a suicide dive and gave him a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor.

The second fall was built around Tyson trying to tag out as he was worked over by New Day. New Day pinned him after E speared Cesaro off the apron and he and Kingston gave hit the double team Big Ending. They stayed on Tyson as the third fall began, still with Big E and Kofi as the legal men. Tyson tagged out almost immediately and Cesaro came in to batter Kofi with uppercuts and hit E with a double underhook power bomb. The uppercuts were incredible. The bomb was botched.

Kofi survived a wild Cesaro uppercut, a backbreaker-elbow drop combo, and a Kidd Sharpshooter before being hit with a pop-up by Kidd and an uppercut from Cesaro for what we were primed to see as the definite finish. Big E broke that up and as the referee busied himself getting him out of the ring Woods slipped into the ring and got a small package on Cesaro. The referee, unable to see Woods' face when he turned around, counted the fall and New Day retained. It was a good finish, one that played into New Day being cheats and kept the feud alive.

Backstage Ryback cut a Warrior-esque promo to Byron Saxton. He told us he's not a lab rat and that he lives his life by the motto "Start full, end hungry." It was entertaining stuff. As it turned out it was more entertaining than the match that followed it. Both Wyatt and Ryback have their strengths as wrestlers but they didn't mesh well here. They included some impressive spots (Ryback taking a DDT on the apron and Wyatt leaping from the ring to the floor with a senton) but overall the match was pretty basic. It got a better reaction than it deserved because both lads are over as characters. Wyatt won after shoving Ryback into an exposed turnbuckle (which just fell off as they tussled with one another, a lazy bit of booking designed to protect 'back) and giving him Sister Abigail.

The Final Confrontation Ever (for now) between John Cena and Rusev followed that. Before Cena was even in the ring the growing divide between Lana and Rusev was being emphasised, the crowd playing their part by chanting for Lana. It was clear Lana was going to play a part in the finish of the match. Rusev offering Cena the chance to quit before the match began didn't fool anyone. It did get amusingly mixed "Yes!" and "No!" chants when referee Mike Chioda asked Cena if he'd accept the offer though.

After Rusev had repositioned Lana on a chair by the commentary table (prompting Lawler to openly admit he'd perv on her as she was so close) the match got underway with some solid big lad action. Cena surprised Rusev with an AA. Rusev responded with some drop kicks and a heel kick then went to have a word with Lana. Moments later he had her pass him the Russian flag so he could wave it about. Cena turn surprised him with a Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Rusev quickly regained control. He threw Cena into ring steps on the outside and whipped him into the on the inside. A piledriver attempt on the steps failed but a sidewalk slam didn't. Cena withstood it, refusing to give up. Because that's his slogan, innit. He then got a desperation AA on the steps and lobbed the steps at Rusev's head after he rolled to ringside. 'The Super Athlete' sidestepped it.

Cena threatened to put Rusev through a crowd barricade if he didn't quit. Rusev refused so Cena did indeed spear him through the barricade. An extended brawl through the crowd followed. They spent several minutes playing around near an incredibly flimsy table before Rusev discovered the pyro tech area. He attempted to their Cehs onto it but Cena countered, giving Rusev a AA on a crash mat several feet away from the pyro shooters. This inexplicably caused some pyro to go off. The commentary didn't even sell it, so what was the point.

Lana ran to the entrance area looking concerned. Rusev refused to give him so Cena hit him with a guard rail. 'The Bulgarian Brute' put the guardrail to use himself by suplexing Cena onto it. Back in the ring Rusev Hulked up, kicked Cena in the face and applied the Accolade. Cena sold it for all of ten seconds before clambering to his feet and smacking Rusev into a turnbuckle. The hold remained locked in and Cena sagged back down to his feet. Cena passed out in the hold and Rusev celebrated like he'd win. When he was told he hadn't he undid the top rope and poorer water on Cena to revive him. His plan was to swing the metal corner piece into Cena's head but Cena ducked and dragged him down into the STF. Rusev started cutting a promo in Bulgarian, prompting Lana to slide into the ring screaming that he quit.

Yes, the finish was predictable but the match as a whole was very enjoyable. They were given plenty of time and a bunch of shortcuts and made the most of both. It was the best entry in their series. This sort of match is Cena's strength. Rusev has looked good in the environment too. If he's kept around the top of the card he could probably develop a pretty mean reputation in these sorts of brawling matches.

The mood was lightened after that, with New Day toasting their title victory by drinking milk. Byron Saxton rocked up and told the trio that they'd be defending their titles in an Elimination Chamber at the EC Network special. New Day weren't impressed. Big E said they were too big to fit in a pod. Kofi was the standout of the segment. He's doing great work as an antagonist.

After a fast-paced tag match pitting Naomi and Tamina against the Bellas, won by the heels after Naomi simply threw Nikki off the top rope, we were shown Lana and Rusev in the back. Rusev wasn't happy, obvs. He ranted in Russian before switching to English to tell Lana to get out. It would be nice if the sword to English was done because Rusev didn't feel Lana warranted Bulgarian or Russian but the reality was that the line needed to be in English to make it clear to viewers that Lana wasn't simply walking out on Rusev.

King Wade Bad News Barrett I versus 'The New Sensation' 'Don't Call Me Adrian' Neville took the pre-main event slot. WWE apparently still feel audiences can't handle two hot matches between headline talents in a row and pack in a lengthy cool down period before a main event. I think they should trust audiences more, to be honest. Better running orders could really benefit a lot of their pay-per-views. They didn't get long but they had a good match for the time they had. The finish was disappointing though: Barrett rolled out of the ring to avoid a Red Arrow and took a count out loss. He roughed Nev up after the match. Neville got the last laugh when he lamped Barrett with the plastic sceptre and launched himself off the top rope with the Red Arrow.

The main event was predictably excellent. Noble and Mercury grabbed Reigns and Ambrose at the start. Within moments Reigns had broken away to hit an impressive Undertaker-like leap over the top rope onto a human crash mat at ringside. Some fluid action followed from all four. Sadly it wasn't long before Kane interfered: he pulled Reigns from the ring as he set up for a spear on Rollins. Team Rollins then attacked Reigns and Orton, leaving Ambrose and Rollins to battle in the ring. They did the great work they always do with each other before Kane interfered again, this time choke slamming 'The Lunatic Fringe' just before he spiked Rollins with Dirty Deeds.

Orton and Reigns finally took care of Kane at ringside before 'The Viper' headed into the ring for his singles stretch with Seth. The highlight here was a high-arcing superplex from Orty. It also lead to the spot of the match: Orton clearing the announce table only to be beaten down and power bombed through it by Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns. Ambrose and Reigns turned on Rollins immediately afterwards and got attacked by Kane. That didn't the well for him. He was power bombed onto Rollins through the Spanish table. Twice, because it didn't break the first time.

Ambrose and Reigns slipped into the ring for a singles stretch opposite one another. Ambrose was easily the more popular, winning out on a yay-boo exchange, but it was Reigns who dominated. Ambrose kicked out of a Superman punch and countered a spear with the knee. Reigns escaped a Dirty Deeds attempt and dropped Ambrose with a spear. Rollins returned to break it up then did a lap around ringside to escape Reigns' wrath. Back in the ring Reigns was dropped with Ambrose's rebound clothesline and Rollins with Dirty Deeds. Kane made the save by pulling Ambrose out then smashed both of them with steel stairs.

Orton knocked Kane into a ring post and then headed into the ring to RKO J&J and catch Rollins with a power slam as the champ leapt off the top rope. 'The Big Red Machine' interfered again, distracting Orton long enough to allow Rollins to sneak in a Pedigree for a successful title defence. His reward for this victory was having his hand raised in the aisle by 'The Game' himself, Triple H. High praise indeed for 'The Future'.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler
New Day defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd to retain the tag team championship
Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback
John Cena defeated Rusev to retain the United States championship
Naomi and Tamina defeated the Bellas
Adrian Neville defeated King Barrett
Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE championship