NXT Takeover: London review

Three days after WWE had presented a decidedly mediocre show in TLC its developmental crew were dispatched to London for a show of their own. Imaginatively titled Takeover: London the show was the culmination of NXT's first tour outside of the United States and its biggest show to date that hasn't piggybacked off the success of a major WWE card. Held in front of 10,079 at a sold out Wembley Arena this was the latest piece of evidence that the NXT name is a force to be reckoned with.

NXT shows, Takeovers in particular, tend to get better as they go feature the better matches in the semi-main r main event slots. Takeover: London uncharacteristically saw the first two matches be the best of the evening.

Asuka and Brock Lesnar are neighbours.

The first was the grudge match between Asuka and Emma. They kept things even for the majority of the match. Which was smart: Emma is the longest tenured women in NXT at this point, has been used on the main roster, and world make a credible challenger to Bayley or a future women's champion. Having her look competitive against Asuka was absolutely the right thing to do because in NXT terms she was the newcomer's toughest opposition to date.

Naturally Asuka won. She was always going to. After Dana Brooke interfered and got sent backstage by the ref Emma tried to sneak in a cheap win by smacking Asuka with... something (it looked like a knee brace). Asuka ducked that and floored Emma with a roundhouse kick. A few minor miscues and wobbles aside this was an ideal opener.

The second was the tag team championship match, champions Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder defending against Enzo Amore and Big Cass. Bumped from the traditional second-from-the-top slot it's possible these lads felt they had something to prove being so low down the card (although there were only five matches on the show and every one of them had been built to very nicely). They had the match of the night, not something you'd expect to be said of a Realest Guys match usually but they worked their socks off here.

The match featured the usual Enzo and Cass routine of Enzo being worked over and working towards a hot tag to Cass. Dash and Dawson were perfect opponents for this approach as they're entire act is about them being a precise team who know how to isolate an opponent and target a body part. What was different here was that when Cass tagged in he found himself getting worked over. Dash and Dawson being so in tune with one another that they can break down a big man like Cass gave their credibility a healthy boost.

This would not get the Realest Lads the belts.

The match was built around Enzo and Cass constantly working towards tags and getting and escaping from near falls. The finishing sequence was tremendous. Cass got a desperation rollup on Wilder who got kicked out and then walloped back down by a Cass boot. Enzo was tagged in and hit his assisted top rope splash for what the audience knew would be the three count. And it would have been had Dawson not pulled Enzo from the ring. After trying to use Carmella as a human shield (in a nice touch Carmella showed she didn't need her lads to save her by elbowing Dawson in the face herself) Dawson threw Cass into the ring post and the champions hit Enzo with a Shatter Machine from the second rope to successfully retain their belts.

The build to and pre-match video for this bout made it seem as though we'd be getting a title change. That Dash and Dawson managed to retain through craftiness makes them a legitimate threat and gets the right kind of heat on them. It also keeps Enzo and Cass in the chasing babyfaces role they seem best suited to right now, and keeps long term NXT fans hungry for their eventual title win. At this point Dash and Dawson's team name should be The Dream Killers.

Speaking of the right kind of heat (yes, I did just mention it, check back a few paragraphs) Baron Corbin was on fine form on this show. He isn't a man looking to be the cool anti-hero or the edgy bad guy. He wants people to dislike him because he's a heel and heels are supposed to be disliked. More wrestlers should take that approach. He has some of the most real heat in WWE today.

What made him so good here was his ridiculous attempts at trash-talking. He did everything from claiming Crews was in "his house" to shouting at Apollo that he should have "stayed in Ring of Honor." Crews has never worked there (the closest he came was a string of PCW shows co-promoted with ROH) and this was the kind of crowd that was going to know that. He was unintentionally hilarious, which only helped to up the already strong jeers from the crowd.

Big Match Barry Corbin.

The match itself, while nothing special, was good. They set a brisk pace and worked competently, avoiding any major slip ups, and did some ringside brawling (surely the style Corbin will become most known for). They were never going to have a workrate spectacular but they had the best match they were going to.

Corbin won, clean as a sheet, with End of Days. It was the right win. Corbin has been built up as a guy who loses rarely. It's part of what makes him so effective as a heel. This was a logical first loss for Crews to take. And it positions Corbin for a title shot soon, also a logical move.

Bayley versus Nia Jax was preceded by the crowd singing to Bayley. There were lots of examples of fun and amusing chants from this crowd but this song for Bayley was my personal highlight. It was clever and fit perfectly with Bayley's popularity-based character.

Jax dominated the bulk of the match
but it wouldn't get her the title.

The match itself was not the sort of exchange we've become accustomed to from the women's divisions. It was not Sasha Banks versus Charlotte but the pair played to their strengths. After an opening flurry in which the more experienced champion tried to put her challenger away quickly and decisively Jax took control and unleashed a terrifying onslaught of offence against 'The Hugster'. The story they told was all about Jax doing everything in her power to destroy Bayley as she has every jobber she's run up against so far and Bayley weathering the storm with her usual resilience and determination. The finish played into this, Jax making one mistake, putting herself into a foolish position because of inexperience, and Bayley capitalising on that to lock in a front face lock and body scissors for the submission win.

This match was easily the best work we've seen from Jax to date. It was also more confirmation that Bayley doesn't need the other three of the Four Horsewomen to have gripping matches. Which is important if she's to earn herself the larger main roster role she clearly deserves.

#dives

The show closed with Samoa Joe versus Finn Bálor for the latter's NXT championship. Of course this match was good. It wasn't going to be anything less with two very experienced lads involved. They did everything we'd expect: all their usual spots, kick outs from big moves, topes, ringside brawling, and reversals of finishers. But it never seemed to quite hit the heights it could have. Perhaps this is a side effect NXT being such a good product, it's more noticeable when a main event doesn't live up to the standards of a strong undercard. If so I know it's an unfair complaint. But the fact remains that Finn and Joe weren't in the best match of the evening and Enzo Amore was.

Takeover: London was a fine show. It was not the best Taleover card we've had but I think we've reached a point now where that's not just understandable but it's too be expected. The roster could not keep on topping exceptional shows. This was good, just not the best we've had. It was markedly better than the main roster though, and for a team branded " developmental" that should always be the goal, because if they can better the main crew the NXT regulars know that sooner or later they'll get moved up to join them.

***

Results summary:

Asuka defeated Emma
Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass to retain the tag team championship
Baron Corbin defeated Apollo Crews
Bayley defeated Nia Jax to retain the women's championship
Finn Bálor defeated Samoa Joe to retain the NXT championship

WWE TLC 2015 review

TLC is a funny show. It's always held at a time when WWE is in some sort of holding pattern between whatever their big summer angles were and the beginning of 'Mania Season at the Royal Rumble. Sometimes this can result in desperation plots that catch on and become great. Other times it can result in an uninspired show that can't be taken as anything other than the filler it is. Sadly, this year's show fell firmly into the latter camp.

The lads.

It started well though. The three-way tag title ladder match was exactly the kind of opener a WWE pay-per-view needs. New Day headed out first, talking about the Lucha Booties and "Uso" sounding like a disease and their desire to become the faces of the division. They also reminded everyone they were heels by having Xavier say he hadn't done anything special with his hair because he wouldn't waste the effort on Boston.

Being a tag ladder match there was no shortage of memorable spots. They included: stereo moonsaults to the outside by the dragons on New Day; stereo topes onto a ladder by the Usos on everyone; a belly-to-belly suplex onto a ladder from Big E to an Uso;a hilariously unspectacular belly flop from the top rope onto Kofi by Sin Cara, followed seconds later by a tope into a Swanton bomb on ladder-covered Usos; Big E bench pressing a ladder off himself with both Dragons still on top, Kalisto leaping off with a cross body block on Jimmy and Jey; the Usos smacking Kofi with a ladder as he was trapped in a tree of woe; Sin Cara monkey flipping Kalisto onto a ladder atop an Uso; Xavier Woods talking about stamina bars on commentary; Kalisto headscissoring Kofi into a ladder; Soledo del Sol from the top of one ladder onto another; and a Jimmy Uso splash off the top rope onto Big E, who was under a ladder (obvs). New Day retained after Woods threw his trombone at Kalisto, stunning him and allowing Kofi to pull him off the ladder and climb up to retrieve the belts.

Knowing they couldn't top that match WWE wisely decided to follow up with Ryback versus Rusev. If there was an official big lads championship in WWE it would have been on the line here. These are two of the company's premier hosses and it showed in a match that should have satisfied anyone who likes this kind of thing. A Lana distraction eventually led to a Rusev victory via Accolade. While dull, it did at least work as a way of re-establishing Rusev and Lana.

Chairs matches are bad. This was no exception.

After a stilted, unnatural conversation between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (Reigns really, really shouldn't speak) we got match three. That was a chairs match for the United States championship, Alberto Del Rio defending against Jack Swagger. They kicked off with a duelling chairs spot and then had a basic encounter featuring basic weapons spots. I imagine I'd have been more interested in this bout if I weren't bored by ADR. But I am so I didn't. 'The Essence of Excellence' won with a double stomp onto a pile of chairs.

That was followed by the Wyatt Family v the Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno in a tables match. Trash cans (dustbins) and kendo stocks were brought in immediately, seemingly so Strowman could no-sell them and look powerful. He was briefly teamed up on by Team ECW but was saved by Erick Rowan. He was put through a table, eliminated, for his trouble.

Harper and Wyatt took over after that. At one point Harper hit a Michinoku driver and Michael Cole called it correctly. That was surprising. Rhyno was their first victim, getting booted through a table by Harper. The Dudleys slipped back in to hit Harper with a Doomsday Device. Bubba got distracted targeting Strowman (possibly a shoot considering his reputation), leaving Devon to set up a table. He was immediately thrown through it by Wyatt.

E-C-dub, E-C- ahhh, I can't be bothered.

That left Tommy Dreamer and Bubby Ray against the three remaining Wyatts. Which was a really odd call. Dreamer didn't last long though: he got eliminated after a tope through a table by Harper. Bubba responded to being left alone by dousing a table in lighter fluid. Because that clearly wouldn't have been PG it came to nothing. Strowman wandered in and choke slammed Bubba through the table to get the win for his team.

The match was better than I'd expected but was by no means good. That the Wyatts weren't permitted a clean sweep was the biggest weakness. It really would have helped their standing as a faction had they not lost anyone. Maybe something will come of Rowan being eliminated. I hope not, frankly. He already has one failed singles push to his name. We don't need another.

The Intercontinental championship match was preceded by a promo from Kevin Owens. He laid into Bostonians living vicariously through their (presumably) successful sports teams before turning his attention to Dean Ambrose. Naturally enough he said Ambrose and the Boston fans had plenty in common.

A disinterested referee watches Ambrose risk his neck.

They had one of the night's better bouts, an indy-styled altercation built around familiar spots and near falls. This is the sort of thing that both men (though Owens in particular) excel at. It was nice to see them given the chance to do their thing here after an ever-so-slightly disappointing meeting at Survivor Series, although they still didn't get that long. 'The Lunatic Fringe' got the surprise win, playing into the false finish theme by reversing a pop-up power bomb that felt like a definite match-ender and getting the pin and the title. It's a bit of a shame that Owens' reign is over so soon but at least he lost to someone with some name value. I'm interested to see whether WWE get it right with Deano now.

The Divas title match between Charlotte and Paige took the semi-main event slot. That's been the traditional slot for female wrestlers over the last decade. One aspect of that tradition has been giving the matches little time and less reason to happen. That's something that has, pleasantly, been dropped from the women's division since the Divas Revolution over the summer. The story itself largely failed at everything except introducing new names to the roster but it's nice that's it's had a more positive long term effect.

The story going into the match was that Charlotte had become increasingly like her father, bragging about her abilities and cheating to win. This included her sneaking an unfair victory out of supposed friend Becky Lynch. It doesn't matter that aping her massively charismatic father doesn't play to her strengths, this has been a step in the right direction for Charley. She's a more natural heel than face at this point in her career and this is good for her.

Time for a new title belt, I reckon.

That said it did make the match peculiar. Charlotte has clearly been cast as a heel and Paige has spent months in that role too. The crowd decided 'The Nature Girl' was the default heel and threw their lot in with 'The Anti-Diva'. The action was most notable for Charlotte honing her Ric Flair tribute act, although she did get a (ropey) cross body from the top and a big boot that he'd never have hit. She retained after slinging Paige face first into an exposed turnbuckle, which she'd set up as her dad distracted Paige and the referee.

Which left only the main event: Roman Reigns challenging Sheamus for the WWE championship. They set the tone from the opening seconds of the match when Reigns raced across the ring and lamped Sheamus square in the mouth with a right hand. It was a "snug" encounter ful of the prerequisite ladder and tables bumps, neither man putting a foot wrong. Both wrestled like they had something to prove. Let's face it, they did. Reigns needed to prove he warranted his position as the anointed one and John Cena's heir. Sheamus needed to show people he's worth more than an interim run as world champion and that he should have had this spot on his own merit.

"Bah gawd, look at the physicality! Look at the carnage!"

What this was was a fitting main event that saved the pay-per-view from utter mediocrity. What this was not was Roman Reigns' night. After Superman punching 'The Celtic Warrior' off the top of a ladder just as he laid his hand on the title belt Reigns seemed to have the match won. He steamed up the ladder as Michael Cole screeched that this was his chance. But it wasn't. Rusev and 'Dirty' Berty Del Rio, Shaymo's League of Nations stablemates, hit the ring and assaulted Reigns.

They teased Reigns overcoming the odds as long as they could. ADR helped Sheamus recover as Rusev trapped Reigns in the Accolade. Reigns broke free, clobbered the interference runners, and yanked Sheamus off the ladder. That earned him a Brogue kick which sent him sailing out of the ring. Obvious Sheamus victory right? Well, yes, but not before Reigns had puled himself back into the ring and over to the base of the ladder, prompting a look of stunned disbelief from Sheamus and a hurried unbuckling of the title belt.

After the match Reigns destroyed everyone. He speared Del Rio and Rusev as they hoisted Sheamus up on their shoulders. Then he hit all three with a chair. A lot. Triple H and Stephanie showed up at ringside. Reigns continued his assault, sporting the expression of a man who'd had enough of having obstacles thrown and had finally snapped.

Roman Reigns losing his mind there.

'The Game' got into the ring to help Sheamus and ended up taking a beating too. Reigns gave him a Superman punch and seven chair shots before power bombing him onto the Spanish announce table. I say onto because it didn't break. Not to be denied a memorable visual Reigns leapt off the English announce table and hit the COO with an elbow drop. Then, just for good measure, Reigns speared Trips as he was being helped to hobble backstage.

This sequence ensured the show ended on a strong note. It was Reigns snapping, taking his frustrations out on the people who have held him down in storyline and bored viewers in real life. It was the perfect way to win the crowd over and get them firmly on Reigns' side. The show went off the air with the fans going crazy for the chosen one.

And it set the stage for a heck of a RAW...

Results summary:

New Day defeated the Usos and the Lucha Dragons to retain the tag team championship
Rusev defeated Ryback
Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger to retain the United States championship
The Wyatt Family defeated the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte defeated Paige to retain the Divas championship
Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns to retain the WWE championship

Survivor Series 2015 review

Let's start off with some honesty. Survivor Series was not a great show. When the longest match of the evening takes place on the pre-show you know you're in for a rough night. It's too early to attempt a redemptive reading of this card (not that redemptive readings of pay-per-views should even be a thing because it's massively pretentious but whatevs) but even if it weren't I don't think much could be done. There were good matches but not where it counted. And the ending of the show, a bigger deal here than normal because a new world champion was to be crowned, was a spectacular misfire. There's not really a way for a wrestling show constructed so heavily around its main event to come back from that.

Reigns figuratively Superman punching rebelling fans in the face.

The official opener saw tourney favourite Roman Reigns take on Alberto Del Rio. The reasoning of making this match was sound enough, it was intended to keep the crowd on side on stop them revealing against Roman. It achieved its goal because ADR is massively boring and has a confusing gimmick to boot (he's pro-multiculturalism but we're meant to dislike him for an unspecified reason). But having your show begin with a man who's main method of getting heat is being tedious to watch is a bad idea for very obvious reasons. Reigns went over clean and will show no interest in the United States title in the foreseeable future.

Things improved with the other semi-final match. That saw Dean Ambrose defeat IC kingpin Kevin Owens in exactly the kind of gripping affair everyone expected from them. Even though an Ambrose win seemed likely they managed to cast doubt on the outcome until it rolled around, in which Ambrose reversed the pop-up power bomb into a hurricanrana and then hit Dirty Deeds for the pin.

That was followed by a traditional Survivor Series elimination match, the only one on the show (although that pre-show bout I mentioned was one). Rybsck, the Usos and the Lucha Dragons took on King Wade Bad News Barrett I, Sheamus and New Day. There was fun to be found because New Day are the best act in WWE. They hit the right mix of fun and threatening which is exactly right with them portraying heels. Also, Xavier Woods had a new haircut!

Unfortunately the match wasn't good. There were moments of delight to be had but there were too many bodies in the ring to avoid blown spots and sloppiness. The wrong team survived too. This was the perfect chance for New Day to be established as unstoppable when they're at full strength (it would have given us another heel victory on the show, which could have been a help). Instead they were treated as generic heels and, bafflingly, walked out on the match together after Big E was eliminated. It's not that that went against character, it's that it was a stupid idea that did nothing to put them over as an effective trio. 

This weird team though...

The tag team champions, the King of the Ring (remember when that tournament was treated like it meant something?), and the man who would leave end the night as WWE world champ were outlasted by Ryback, Kalisto and Jey Uso. Yes, Jey Uso. It's worth noting that Ryback got the pin on Shaymo. That's a potential world title feud. Harrowing to think about, I know.

Paige's challenge for Charlotte's Divas championship followed that. This card being relatively light on matches ensured that they got plenty of time, a shade under fifteen minutes. The match wasn't bad but they weren't lively enough to hold attention for that amount of time. Too many rest holds made this somewhat of a chore to sit through. The by-the-numbers ringside excursion did nothing. Charlotte won with the figure eight.

Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler were only given enough time to have a match slightly better than what they'd have had on RAW. They made up for it by having two of the best outfits of the evening. 'Prince Pretty' looked good, as he should have done in his PPV debut, but the match was nothing special. He got the win too, again as he should have done. Interestingly he did so with the move Christian once called the Unprettier. Apt.

Expert selling from Harper there.

Undertaker's twenty-fifth anniversary match took the semi-main event spot. As I wrote in the preview this was a wasted opportunity. 'Taker tagging with Kane against Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt just didn't feel like a big enough deal for such a significant milestone in the man's career and the character's history. More should ahve been done in advance to build towards this. I understand that WWE has been hit by an unfortunate spate of injuries but nothing across the last month or two of television indicates that anything of any greater worth was originally planned for 'The Dead Man' at Survivor Series. The company knew this anniversary was coming up and could have made it a far bigger deal had they wished. We're left to assume that they didn't want to, which begs the question of why they made even this token attempt.

The match itself was okay. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper were wisely picked as the representatives of their Family and got to look reasonably competitive against the Brothers of Destruction before they took the loss. That said they were also shown to rely heavily on interference and still couldn't win, even against a 'Phenom' who was very visibly off his game, quite possibly feeling the pressure of the moment. Or maybe he was feeling his age. Harper was pinned by Undi' following a Tombstone. No other pinning combo was an option: 'Taker had to get the win and Bray couldn't take a loss.

Which left only the main event (although in actuality it didn't). Notable omission of a handshake at the start aside, odd because of the brother versus brother narrative WWE was going with and their well-established on-screen friendship, the two had an entirely believable and completely natural face versus face match. Neither was too aggressive, both got in an abundance of their signature moves and high spots. They packed in plenty of near falls too, although it's possible too many of them relied on finishers. With only ten minutes to play with it did feel a very busy match at points.

No heel turn here.

Then Reigns hit a spear and just like that it was over. Reigns got his moment to celebrate as JBL, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler gushed about his achievement and the legacy he comes from. He and Ambrose shared a hug before the loser gracefully exited the ring and Reigns was flooded by confetti. This was, of course, designed to make Reigns' subsequent fall all the harsher.

Triple H hit the ring. He applauded Reigns and raised his hand before offering a handshake. Reigns responded with a weak spear. Sheamus then showed up, Brogue kicked Reigns, and officially cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Even when losing to a surprise cash-in Reigns was kept strong, kicking out of the move (which not let forget has been well protected over the years) before falling to a second.

There's more to Ireland... dan dis!

And here's why this show was a failure. The main event, despite being pretty good in and of itself did nothing to play up to the situation. There was no corrupt boss, no Survivor Series '97 callback, no swerve heel turn. None of these things were necessary but with the circumstances as they were it was reasonable to expect some of these aspects to come into play. The decision not to use them was a bold one and something that could have worked had the writing team had the courage of their convictions and given the main event the time to be the classic encounter they intended it to be.

Instead we got yet another sneaky heel champion aligned with The Authority and Michael Cole bleating about history being stolen. This is not the stuff that memorable pay-per-views are made of.

***

Results summary:

Roman Reigns defeated Alberto Del Rio
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens
Ryback, the Usos and the Lucha Dragons defeated Bad News Barrett, Sheamus and New Day
Charlotte defeated Paige to retain the Divas championship
Tyler Breeze defeated Dolph Ziggler
The Undertaker and Kane defeated Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
Roman Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose to win the WWE championship
Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns to win the WWE championship

WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 review

Hell in a Cell was always going to struggle to be a fully satisfying show. The reliance on rematches made it seem a very familiar card. And if there's one thing that hinders a wrestling card more than anything else it's bouts feeling overly familiar. The main event was actually something first seen thirteen years ago, for example. There was no way to disguise it and so WWE didn't bother, they simply didn't acknowledge it. Which was the smartest thing they could do in the circumstances but longer term it may be nice if they could maybe plan ahead and change things up a little to avoid something like this happening again.

The opening segment saw John Cena stride out and issue his Open Challenge. He didn't spend too much time getting to it and it was accepted by... Zeb Colter. Yes, really. Zeb Colter in John Laurinaitis's scooter. He cut a promo about people with differing views and from different countries coming together before introducing his new client: reigning AAA mega champion Alberto Del Rio. Guess they came to terms after ADR realised he was burning through bridges too quickly outside of WWE.

Another former world champion taking a backwards step in terms of titles.

 'Mexico's Greatest Export' was given a hero's welcome by the LA crowd, getting chants of "Si!" and "Welcome back!" as Michael Cole hyped him up to remind viewers why they should care about him being Cena's challenger. Sadly the crowd died down early in the eight minute match and didn't seem interested in waking back up, despite some good work from Cena and Del Rio, before the finish. That saw ADR slip out of an AA to hit Cena with a backstabber and a super kick, pinning Cena clean.

The pairing of ADR and Zeb Colter is peculiar but there's time for it to be fleshed out and given context. Del Rio doesn't do a huge amount for me as a wrestler but it's nice to see someone being added to the roster who can freshen things up a bit. WWE's improved considerably over the last year but additions are always welcome in a company so keen on recycling. He was introduced in a strong fashion too: not just anybody gets to pin Cena clean. Notably not even WWE champ Seth Rollins has been permitted that honour.

We were then treated (and I use that term loosely) to a backstage segment with The Authority. Rollins hyped himself up and Triple H and Steph mentioned his match with Kane. The Director of Operations then showed up, showed us his marvellous take on a multiple personality gimmick, and was dismissed by Trips. It was boring.

The long-running rivalry between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt was settled after that in the night's first Hell in a Cell match. Don't let the fact that they've only had two singles matches on pay-per-view fool you, these two have been at odds for a while. Specifically since June when 'The Eater of Worlds' returned from a TV absence and cost Reigns the briefcase. After a few weeks of awkward but well-produced segments revolving around Reigns' daughter (awkward mostly because of how clearly uncomfortable Reigns was with the situation) the pair settled into a more natural take n the family feud, specifically the revival of their Shield versus Wyatt Family dynamic. Wyatt brought Luke Harper back into the fold and debuted Braun Strowman while Reigns called on his bessie mate Dean Ambrose and a string of ragtag helpers to wage his war.

The long-running Wyatt v Reigns spat is finally over. Breathe a sigh of relief.

Basically this HIAC match had to pay off a fair bit of story, the vast majority of which had been underwhelming, in addition to the standard requirement of keeping Roman looking strong and giving him a hot match. Pleasingly, it accomplished both. This was all down to the keenness of both men to make the match good. This wasn't the best Cell match ever, nor did it break the years-long trend of these matches being a bit pointless, but it was engaging and accomplished everything it needed to. They used chairs, tables and kendo sticks to make an impact en route to Reigns going over with a spear.

The awkward post-Cell lull spot was handed to the Dudley Boyz and New Day. Big E and Kofi cut a typically entertaining pre-match promo about Xavier Woods being injured. They also danced. Then the Dudleys came out and we were subjected to another subpar match between the two teams (the highlight of which was a spectacular inverted Rocker Dropper botch by the Duds). New Day won after E hit Bubba with a broken trombone and Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise.

I like both of these teams but this feud has been uninventive after an initially good week or two and we've yet to see any good matches come out of it. It may be time to accept they don't have especially good chemistry, switch the belts in a tables match, and do something new. Continuing like this will achieve nothing.

Nikki bella got her Divas title rematch against Charlotte after that. All seconds were banned from ringside to ensure a fair match. The storyline reason was that this created a fair playing field. I suspect the real life reason may have been some sort of test to see how Charlotte did in a singles pay-per-view match with just her, an opponent and a referee.

Nikki telling a story there. Great stuff.

If it was a test she did fine, but Nikki handled the bulk of the work. She was on offence for the majority of the match, with Charlotte only firing up and hitting certain moves at select points. Anyone doubting Niki's ability to lead and construct a good match should really just pay attention to this. She was very, very good and told a different story to their previous matches. I'd like to see what she could do in a pay-per-view match with someone more talented than 'The Nature Girl', like Sasha Banks for example. Charlotte overcame Nikki's targeting of her back and managed to apply the figure eight long enough to get the submission victory.

That was followed by a scene in which Dean Ambrose congratulated Roman Reigns on his Hell in a Cell victory. They said they'd celebrate and also referred to knowing where they had to go next. They said that would be discussed on RAW. It seemed like the weirdest teaser WWE's done for TV in  while.

Kane challenging Seth Rollins for the WWE world championship came next. Kane dominated at the opening before Seth slowly turned things around, starting with an opportunistic attack as 'The Big Red Machine' lumbered onto the top rope. They did the standard issue ringside brawling, including a table spot, before Rollins went over with two top rope knees, two super kicks, a frog splash and a Pedigree (because Kane must be kept strong for whatever reason). It was the best Kane match I can remember seeing in ages but Rollins is capable of, deserves and needs, if he is to be the valuale asset he so clearly can be, so much better.

The semi-main event spot went to Ryback and Kevin Owens. They had a fun enough match but it was too short to amount to much more. KO went over with a pop-up power bomb on 'The Big Guy'.

 

One last time.

Finally we had the evening's main event: the Final Ever Confrontation™ between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. Within minutes Lesnar had found a suplex attempt blocked and been busted open. A foray to the outside of the ring was controlled by 'Taker, with 'The Beast' taking over with a chair back in the ring. 'Taker regained control and used the chair himself, placing it against Lesnar's throat and sending him down into the mat.

Lesnar sold for maybe a minute before bouncing out of a corner and nailing a German suplex. Then he hit another. And another. Then an F5. 'Taker kicked out. Another F5. Another kick out. Lesnar used ring steps to Undie's head. He kicked out again. Lesnar tried caving his foe's head. Undertaker moved.

Undertaker kicked up at Lesnar, sending him falling backwards with the steps landing on top of him. A desperation Hell's Gate was applied. Lesnar forced his way out and clubbed away at 'The Last Outlaw' with left and right hands. With his foe subdued Lesnar ripped up the mat covering only for 'Taker to sit up and choke slam him onto bare wooden boards. Brock kicked out so 'Taker hit him with a Tombstone.

Lesnar kicked out. Undertaker sold utter disbelief and struggled back to his feet. He signalled for another Tombstone but Lesnar low blowed him, paying Undertaker back for SummerSlam. Following up with an F5 Lesnar got the pin, winning his feud and, in Michael Cole's words, cemented his legacy as 'The Conqueror'. It was a slow starter but once they started breaking into the finishers this was a good match.

After the match Lesnar walked up the aisle and 'Taker gave him a knowing look before lying back in the ring and accepting his defeat. After a few attempts 'The Dead Man' did his bolt upright sit up spot. He just looked like a knackered old bloke but I think we were meant to see it as his magic failing him. The crowd played along and chanted "Thank you, Taker!" as he staggered up to his feet.

Newest recruit or next opponent? Next opponent, obvs.

Sinking down to his knee, UT went for his signature pose. But he was interrupted by the Wyatt Family. Harper, Rowan and Strowman swarmed him and took him down to the mat. Then they held him up for Wyatt to give him a few punches and carried him out of the arena. Going completely overboard JBL bellowed about honour and Undertaker being a warrior as the show went off the air.

Despite the number of rematches I thought Hell in a Cell was a worthwhile watch. It's not something that will make any show of the year polls but it had some memorable moments and only one out-and-out dud bout (the tag title match). It was a basic PPV offering form the Fed, but sometimes that's okay. It helps you appreciate the better stuff that little bit more.

***

Results summary:

Alberto Del Rio defeated John Cena to win the United States championship
Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt
New Day defeated the Dudley Boyz to retain the tag team championship
Charotte defeated Nikki Bella to retain the Divas championship
Seth Rollins defeated Kane to retain the WWE championship
Kevin Owens defeated Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship
Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker

NXT Takeover: Respect review

Women headlining wrestling shows isn't unheard of. It happens on every SHIMMER and SHINE show. But with those being all-female rosters that's less impressive than it sounds. It's a rarity in mainstream wrestling where weekly TV shows are involved. In fact the last time I can remember it happening in WWE is the Stephanie McMahon versus Lita women's championship match on 21 August 2000. Even if it has happened since (which is entirely possible) that this is the last instance I can remember demonstrates how rare it is.

Takeover: Respect gave us a long overdue more recent example. Sasha Banks and Bayley got to main event this card in a title match and that's a big deal. A competitive match between two of the best in WWE's women's division getting the headline spot in one of the company's acclaimed Takeovers is a significant step forward for the way women are presented by the company (and in the careers of the wrestlers in question too). What's nice is that they weren't handed it as a stunt or an empty gesture, they and the rest of the division earned it by proving they can put on matches befitting the position.

As is always the case with Takeovers this wasn't a one match card, evidenced perfectly by the NXT champion wrestling in the opener. Finn Bálor teamed with Samoa Joe to take on Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, a team that once upon a time went by the excellent name The Mechanics, in the first semi-final of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Not only did the match work as the tribute to Dusty it was intended to be it also worked as a satisfying opener and fulfilled one of the stated goals of NXT: giving wrestlers a platform to improve. Dawson and Wilder got to share the ring with talented veterans Bálor and Joe. They may have been tagging for years but they've not shared matches with names like them that often.

This is why they were called The Mechanics!

Dawson and Wilder isolated Finn for the majority of the match, stoking the crowd like pros to keep them invested in the champ's plight to make a tag to his burly comrade. He eventually broke free and hot tagged Joe, who cleaned house and set Wilder up for a Muscle Buster. Bálor pleaded to get back into the match legally and end things for his team. Joe acquiesced, tagging out before hitting his move and hit his move. Bálor followed up with the Coup de Grâce and got the pin for his team but he hurt his knee in the process. It was a development that would (obviously) come back to haunt him later in the night.

The second semi-final saw Jason Jordan and Chad Gable face Rhyno and Baron Corbin. It was an amazing match, not least because of how raucously the fans reacted to everything Gable did. After opening with some slick teamwork Gable and Jordan got split, Gable being cut off by the heels. He eventually managed to escape to his corner after Rhyno missed a top rope splash. JJ battered everyone. After the match broke down with big moves and near falls Corbin caught Gable with End of Days and pinned him. It was a disappointing result because Gable and Jordan v Joe and Bálor could have been incredible but the match was still damned fine. And they did at least have a reason for this ending: continuing to build up big, bad Barry Corbin for better things by sharing the ring with NXT's two most significant regulars. A run at the NXT title can't be too far off for him.

Dat entrance gear doe.

Match three saw Asuka make her in-ring debut for both WWE and NXT. She faced Dana Brooke, who I maintain is good and constantly improving, although she clearly wasn't in the league of ten year veteran Asuka. They had a spirited match with Asuka easily upstaging Brooke and working over her arm with multiple armbars. Emma interfered but it came to nothing. Asuka tapped out 'The Total Diva' with the arm-centric Asuka lock and mocked her signature poses afterwards.

After the match Asuka fended off an attack from Brooke and then intimidated mean girl Emma at ringside. She left smiling. The segment made her look like an absolute beast. As an intro this couldn't have been better. We saw her trademark stiff work and her charisma as she mocked Brooke's posing. The NXT women's division has been made very strong with her addition.

After a shot of Finn Bálor being looked at by a doctor, while Samoa Joe had what looked to be a right old go, and a vignette for the still-yet-to-debut Nia Jax it was time for Apollo Crews versus Tyler Breeze. Their match was fast and filled with good stuff: 'Prince Pretty' going on an extended period of offence after an attack outside the ring; Breeze using a Sharpshooter; Apollo lamping Breeze with a leaping super kick; a great close two off a super model kick; Apollo catching a Swanton bomb and turning it into a power slam; Breeze getting his knees up on a standing moonsault and turning it into an inside cradle for two; and the match winning belly-to-back into a power bomb by Crews.

They didn't get as long as they could have (the match was just shy of ten minutes) but they did lots with what they had. The crowd were into everything the pair did and, even though it was frustrating to see 'The King of Cuteville' stare at the lights on another Takeover, it featured the right result. Breeze is the more established of the two within NXT. Crews is just starting out in the company and a win here was required to illustrate that he is the big deal he's made out to be.

The tournament finals were preceded by a reminder that Finn Bálor had a hurty knee from the opening match and that Corbin and Rhyno are Big Lads. Bálor continued to sell the knee as he entered. Corbin and Rhyno continued to be big lads. So did Samoa Joe for that matter.

Bálor started the match for his team, immediately going for quick rollups on 'The Man Beast' before drop kicking Corbin and tagging out to Joe. It was a sequence designed to demonstrate that he was feeling the injury. It did exactly that. Once it was established that the champ was hurt Joe was isolated by the heels (Corbin getting loud boos whenever he tagged in) as the commentary team teased that Joe was possibly trying to go it alone to improve his team's chances of winning by not tagging out.

Naturally he did end up tagging Bálor in. Despite a minor twinge he controlled the pace against Corbin. But he couldn't overcome a cheap shot from Rhyno or the targeting of the knee that 'The Wolf Shaman' followed up with. Bálor got flattened for several minutes before getting a desperation slingblade on Corbin and tagging back out to Joe, who cleaned house before getting hit with a Gore. Bálor broke up the following pin attempt and threw Corbin out of the ring. The faces then hit their Muscle Buster-Coup de Grâce combo for the win at just over eleven minutes.

Note the lack of Stardust.

Dusty's family hit the ring to congratulate the winners. Cody Rhodes (as Cody Rhodes, obviously) gave a heartfelt speech talking about Dusty's impact and significance in wrestling and NXT specifically. His dad's Common Man theme then hit as the audience chanted "Thank you, Dusty!" It was the perfect cap to the tournament. Nice to see that it wasn't used to hotshot a Joe and Bálor feud too. That was teased and I wouldn't have been against seeing it but there was something nice about two mates winning and celebrating together.

That left only the main event: a half hour iron woman match for the women's championship. Bayley defending against Sasha Banks. It was preceded by a recap of the Bayley versus Banks feud, which was obviously great, and a shot of Lita, Stephanie McMahon, Charlotte and Becky Lynch chilling at ringside. Because I'm sure Steph hangs out with the talent all casual like all the time. This wasn't designed to paint her in a specific light at all. Definitely not.

Their last match before Bayley gets called up to join 
the other Horsewomen on the main roster.

"Women's wrestling" and "You deserve it" chants rang out at the start of the match. The pair were slow to get going, understandably not wanting to rush when they had half an hour to play with. Banks was first to get advantage, going for flash pins on the champ. Bayley retaliated in kind. 'The Boss' would come back with a drop kick and the top rope arm drag before trying a Bank Statement. Bayley sandbagged her then offered a handshake. Banks accepted only to sling Bayley down to the mat. Because hey, she's a devious heel and Bayley was naive to trust her. Bayley fired up and came back to hammer Banks with clotheslines and her drop kick through the turnbuckle spot.

Back in the ring Banks tried a rope assisted rollup but the ref caught her in the act. He didn't catch her thumb gouging Bayley's eye seconds later though. That was enough to get Banks the first three count of the bout.

'The Hugster' threw Banks head first into a turnbuckle. Sasha turned the tables and tried her double knees. Bayley escaped and got her Bayley-to-belly for a three count. Banks rolled out of the ring looking for space. Bayley followed and tried for her turnbuckle drop kick again but Banks caught her and tossed her into steel stairs. Then she picked her up and tossed her in twice more before getting herself some crazy heat by rubbing her success in the face of Izzy (Bayley's ever present ringside super fan) and rammed her into the LED board in the entranceway to earn herself a count out victory (and set up Bayley for the big comeback, natch).

Banks had a 2-1 lead when Bayley crawled back into the ring. She immediately tried to extend it to 3-1 with a cover but Bayley kicked out. Sasha ran her mouth and cut off a comeback with a backbreaker and the Lion Tamer. Bayley made the ropes and then surprised the challenger with a hurricanrana to even the score to 2-2.

Bayley continued to fire up with clotheslines, forearms, elbows and a spear before popping off the second rope with a back elbow and a suplex into the tree of woe to set up an elbow drop. Banks fought back with her corner hung double knees and a tree of woe of her own. Bayley pulled herself up to avoid a spear from Sasha then drop kicked her outside the ring and slammed her hand into the steel steps, a call-back both to Sasha's actions earlier in this bout and their collision in Brooklyn back in August.

Bayley leapt off the steps with a clothesline then got kicked back into them by the challenger. As the clock hit five and a half minutes Banks flew out of the ring with a suicide dive, only to be caught and Bayley-to-bellied on the outside. Back in the ring Sasha kicked out. Then they headed to the ropes for a reprise of their exchanges at Takeover: Brooklyn. Bayley got a second rope Bayley-to-belly but Banks saved herself from the pin by getting her foot onto the ropes.

Desperate for a decisive win, Bayley hauled Banks to the second rope again, this time hitting an inverted hurricanrana. Banks rolled through and hit a belly-to-belly of her own then clamped on a Bank Statement. The crowd lost it at that, a combination of the two women telling a great story and the timing of bringing out such an over and protected move. It's been so well-established as a match-ender that people could easily believe Bayley would tap and be left prone to further pins from Banks.

Bayley fighting to survive Banks' devastating finisher.

Bayley was still in the hold at the one minute mark. She loosened Banks' grip then slammed her hand to the mat (another nice call-back). Banks again went for the Statement but Bayley reversed it, an armbar with some nasty torque. Banks gave up to the hold seconds before the match ended. It was absolutely worthy of the main event slot. A great match between great wrestlers for a belt that means so much.

After the match champion and challenger were greeted with a standing ovation from the entire roster in the aisle. Banks got a "Thank you" chant from the crowd, this very obviously being her last regular appearance at Full Sail. Meanwhile Bayley was congratulated by Triple H in the ring. It was the perfect end to yet another top notch NXT Takeover.

***

Results summary:

Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe defeated Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semi-final
Baron Corbin and Rhyno defeated Chad Gable and Jason Jordan in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic semi-final
Asuka defeated Dana Brooke
Apollo Crews defeated Tyler Breeze
Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe defeated Baron Corbin and Rhyno in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals
Bayley defeated Sasha Banks 3-2 in an iron woman match to retain the women's championship

WWE Live From MSG: Lesnar Versus Big Show review

This was not a pay-per-view. It was a Network special. That was an important distinction to remember watching this event because the standard of WWE PPVs is generally pretty high while the previous two Network exclusive cards had been rejigged house shows with a camera crew and a production budget. By now it's clear that Network shows are not going to be of a pay-per-view standard. It you expected a lot from this show you were always going to be disappointed. But was it good on its own level? Let's find out...

After a brief opening video package focusing on the Cena v Rollins cage match and Big Show v Lesnar we were introduced to the show by Rich Brennan, JBL and Byron Saxton. JBL has lost his edge and Byron is irritating but Brennan is good and warrants more chances to call bigger shows like this. It's cool to see a bit of experimentation with the commentary lineups even if two of the guys have their drawbacks. Announcing is probably one of the most stale parts of the product.

The opening match was Rusev and Sheamus versus Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton. That Orty was on curtain jerk duty demonstrates that he has virtually nothing going on right now. This was a holdover from his rivalry with Sheamus which ended a while ago. There was no reason for it to be revived here beyond a mentality of "Welp, let's stick Orton on the spesh!"It was also strange that this was the first broadcast match in which Rusev and Orton faced each other because that's a singles pairing that could have been saved and built up. They could have done it here. The venue was ideal and it would have made Network specials seem more worthwhile, even if the match had ended up relatively basic.

The four ran through standard house show stuff, something which would be a theme throughout the evening. The faces larked about because they're Great Mates (or something) while the heels glowered. Shaymo and Rusev controlled most of the match before a hot tag was made, ultimately leading to the finish. The Show Off Vipers won when Orton sidestepped a brogue kick and Ziggler super kicked 'The Celtic Warrior' into an RKO.

After the match Rusev called Sheamus a "stupid non-American" (implying Rusev's hate campaign now includes both Americans and non-Americans, truly a vast scope) and berated him for being stupid, losing the bout, and being more useless than Lana. Sheamus Brogued him and sauntered to the back. The purpose of this was lost on me. They're not going to do Rusev v Sheamus. They're not going to turn either man face. It was just a way of killing a little bit of time.

Next was a recap. We were shown Rollins Pedigreeing Kane on RAW and the whole multiple personality thing that's going on with the COO pretending his unaware of his antics as 'The Demon'. Then Renee caught up with him in the back. He teased being out of control but ultimately assured Renee that if the demon that's been terrorising Seth appeared he'd come running. This isn't the best feud for Rollins or the best spot for Kane in 2015 but Kane is great with the material he's being given. He's one of WWE's better wrestlers at handling comedy segments.

Match two was Stardust v Neville. It was a fun match but there was nothing exceptional on offer. It was the quality of a standard TV match between the two. Neville won with the Red Arrow. I was disappointed we didn't get to see the Cosmic Wasteland out in full force, either as backup for 'The Prince of Dark Matter' or as part of a trios match.

Renee Young got more screen time after that when she chatted to Paul Heyman. He taught her how to do hyperbole, introducing himself and the show, building up MSG and dropping an uncharacteristic sports team mention. He ended by telling Big Show he'd be losing to Barack Lesnar. It was standard Heyman. Not that that's a bad thing.

Team Bella got a loud pop when they entered for their six woman tag match, actually louder than the ones Paige, Becky lynch and Charlotte got for their individual entrances. This illustrates that for all certain people hate on them the Bellas are genuinely popular with the majority of WWE crowds. That's overlooked too often. Their popularity is why the Bellas are so valuable to the company and they haven't been quietly de-pushed in favour of the new batch of call-ups.

The story of the match was that Team Bella had better teamwork than Team PCB because they all get on, although this came as much from commentary as it did from anything anyone did in the majority of the match. Aside from Paige showing some generally snarky body language and tagging herself in on Charlotte PCB got on fine. The Bellas and Fox managed to control the match less because of problems on the opposing team and more because they were simply better and outwrestled their opponents. This sort of booking will only help those face reactions. It makes Nikki, Brie and Alicia look competent, and modern audiences like competent wrestlers.

Dissension did play a part in the finish. Paige had tagged herself in and been worked over for a while. She finally managed to break away to make a tag only for Charlotte and Becky to jump to the floor. A shocked Paige was left alone to eat a Rack Attack from Nikki, putting her down for three. After the match Paige said she'd never behave like that and that she couldn't forgive their behaviour. This made sense for the PCB characters and long term stories it's just a pity it was all tied together with an average match.

Chris Jericho cut a promo about his twenty-five years in the business and pointed out Lance Storm before his IC championship bout with Kevin Owens. He pandered to the crowd by chatting about his dad playing hockey at MSG and pointing out more friends in the crowd (including one of my faves, Don 'Cyrus' Callis) and running through his catchphrases. The audience responded well to this but it didn't put them off KO. They were always going to pop for the former NXT champ.

This was the best thing I've seen involving 'Y2J' in I don't know how long. I'm chalking that up to Owens, a guy whose character and ring work I enjoy, because 'Y2J' did nothing outside of his usual "embarrassing dad" routine. Y'know, the same moves and mannerisms he's been doing for years. The match was lacking  in big moves from KO but that was okay, it played into his character: he got a cheap win raking Jericho's eyes and rolling him up as he tried for the Walls of Jericho. Then he left shouting "Happy anniversary!"

The first truly great moment of the night was New Day's pre-match promo on the Dudleys. They danced, the mocked the Dudleys' routine, and Xavier played the trombone. I'd recommend watching this skit and the last two matches from this show.

Sadly the match that followed couldn't equal that greatness. It was good, maybe slightly better than their clash at Night of Champions, but it was let down by another disqualification finish. The Dudleys caught Kofi with a 3D (outta nowhere) and Xavier, not legally in the match for his team, broke the pin up to save the belts. As with NOC New Day grabbed a table after the match only for Bubba and Devon to make a miraculous comeback and put Xavier through it with another 3D.

I understand the logic here. The Dudleys are chasing the belts and keep getting denied them by the rotten, cheating bad guys, which will eventually lead them to issuing the challenge for a tables match. But the specifics are uninventive. They could at least have come up with a different sequence to end on. Network specials may be treated internally as house shows but if we're expected to take it as a reason to subscribe (or stay subscribed) to the Network it needs to present us with more than reruns. DQ finishes aren't really the problem, the repetitiveness of them is. 

A picture of your boy Brock Lesnar. Because why not?

Big Show and Brock Lesnar took the semi-main event slot. They deviated from the Lesnar format established over the last few years with Show fending off the clotheslines, double leg takedowns, and suplex attempts thrown at him and dropping 'The Pain' with three choke slams. Lesnar would kick out and comeback with four suplexes and an F5 to win a four minute match. No, it wasn't exactly Show trouncing Lesnar and Lesnar getting a fluke win but Show got a lot more on offence in than I'd expected him to. 'The World's Largest Athlete' let tone giants everywhere down. Andre watched on from the big ring in the sky shaking his head sadly.

After the match Lesnar left then returned to give Show a belly-to-belly and an F5. Because there's time that needs filling on that there Network.

After some ads and a reminder of the two previous PPV encounters in their feud, including Jon Stewart's (who was in the front row) interference at SummerSlam, the cage lowered and we got the main event: United States champion John Cena defending against world champion Seth Rollins. In terms of match quality nothing else on this show came close to this, not that that's saying a great deal. They traded escape attempts, top rope moves, near falls (for the record I hate pinfalls and submissions being a thing in cage matches, but at least these guys made good use of them), an amusing but brief top-of-the-cage boo-yay, and signature and finisher attempts before Kane wandered out and scared Rollins back into the cage just as he was about to escape and regain the US title. Rollins dithered between leaping down and getting the title, leaving himself prone to an attack from Kane, and returning to the ring to defeat Cena honourably, something against his standard behaviour. 'The Future' chose the latter, leaping off the cage with a frog splash. Cena rolled out of the way and immediately scooped Seth up for an AA. That was enough to earn Big Match John a three count. Arguments could be made that this weakened the WWE champ but I'd disagree. He fell to an established match-winning finisher from a top guy after throwing himself to the mat from ten feet in the air.

After the match Kane got into the ring and choke slammed and Tombstoned the WWE champion. The show closed with 'The Demon' dropping the title belt on Rollins and leaving. Because, hey, there are rivalries to keep heated here for the more important shows, okay?

Taken as the glorified house show from a major arena that it was this special was fine. The main event was good and Lesnar v Show provided what it needed to and surprised us as it did so. Everything else would have fitted in on an episode of RAW but this was at least shorter.

***

Results summary:

Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus and Rusev

Adrian Neville defeated Stardust

Team Bella defeated Team PCB

Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental championship

The Dudley Boyz defeated New Day by DQ

Brock Lesnar defeated Big Show

John Cena defeated Seth Rollins to retain the United States championship