Mr.Showtime

I just thought it was because Orton was always staying around longer than Batista and so could benefit at some point from the "I wasn't pinned to lose the title" stuff.

The "NXT 24" hour-long that went up yesterday is a fun watch, as you'd expect. Follows the main players leading up to, and including, the Brooklyn show. If you got emotional throughout the NXT diva stuff leading up to the show I'm sure you'll be the same here as the diva's mums are added to the mix...

I'll never get a tattoo but if I had to get a wrestling one it'd be something like Kurt Angle's three I's in a weird language or something. A reference to wrestling and that's it.

New random thought: Just watched the Divas Table for 3, I still fancy Molly Holly. I never realised how young she was during her WWE stint, she's only 38 now!

Only read the results, but this Kane stuff, alongside the PPV stuff...I can't decide if Seth Rollins is the biggest idiot in the world or Trips and Steph are. How can people who have got to their position be completely clueless, or in the case of the Authority, why are they feigning cluelessness in regards to Kane? Not sure how it played on TV but it all seems a bit silly.

I missed much of the In Your House PPVs at the time so I'm going through them from the start. In the first one they actually gave away a house in Orlando in a competition, and I was immediately like "ach I really wanna know what happened to the house!" Thankfully, WWE thought the same thing a couple of years ago:

http://www.wwe.com/classics/in-your-house-winner-interview

Boring show, I gave up before the main event, but the Eva Marie match has to be seen for the crowd reaction after what was described earlier in thread. And also for the general awfulness of the bout.

All that stuff has been on for a few months ago, it's awesome. Old WCW stuff, new NXT themes, classic WWE. Am I the only one who loves Stardust's theme? It's a shame the character hasn't taken off as much as it could have done, and maybe the music doesn't come off as well in arenas or on TV but on it's own I think it's a great piece.

Oh yeah, how did I get that mixed up? Whoops.

It could also be used for the ECW Title one year but the Undertaker, understandably, decided not to take on Lashley and went for Batista's gold instead.

As Cena beat Rollins on Raw a few weeks back, broken nose and all, I can't see Rollins losing clean this time. But a Rollins win is not the way I want to see Cena's US Title reign end either, though.

Cheers matey.

Just watched back Taker v Flair from WrestleMania X8. At the end, Taker couldn't get Flair up for the Last Ride (or Flair was trying his hardest not to take it), then Taker just whipped him up and Tombstoned him instead. It looked (to me) like it was supposed to end with a Last Ride. Would Taker have decided not to try it a second time, or was Flair angling to be finished off with a proper Mania finisher?

Probably better for the Lucha thread, but in case anyone misses it, its Lucha Undergrounds season finale tonight. Their WrestleMania of sorts. Its got Alberto vs John Morrison, a big cluster fuck of a 7 man. ALSO the return to the ring of Vampiro. Which probably doesnt sound like much, but just watch the trailer for tonights show. Its just amazing.

Thanks for the reminder of this - I started watching this a month or two back and it's lots of fun. Agree with the Vampiro stuff too. The kooky medallion storyline opening segments are great, reminds me of Sunset Beach, which of course was amazing.

Only recently started bugging me, but the Tajiri-style handspring elbow. Why does nobody just step or roll to the side? I remember Tajiri did it so often that people did start to counter it, but today every time I see it the victims just stand there for what seems an age before getting hit with it.

Bloody hell that Owens/Cesaro/Rusev match went on forever, and Cena/Rusev went on longer than I thought it would, but it worked. It's noted often here, but do WWE even realise how they've portrayed Rusev most of this year? I felt so sorry for him getting bullied around by Cena with no energy to do anything about it, and cheered like crazy with that super counter into his finisher.

So, was there a decent storyline reason for the end of Raw last night?

Watched the show over the weekend - Becky v Sasha was just brilliant. I hadn't seen much of either before that but I was very impressed. Just a shame the odds are against them when they follow Emma (and others) up to Raw and are forced into 3-minute bouts ending with roll-ups. Let's hope they get more luck.

Just thinking, I'd like to see Big Show retire as an in-ring competitor and turn full-on manager. In storyline he's with the authority to provide stability in his working life. Backing up Rollins means he doesn't seem to want a final title run any time soon. I think he'd make a great traditional manager who can talk, bump and provide a genuine threat on the outside to any of his client's opponents.

Really enjoyed the Hideo Itami stuff, great to see a little journey of a superstar's weekend/month/year, lots of backstage footage etc. I haven't seen much of the current NXT lot outside WWE-land so yeah, I enjoyed it.

Bray Wyatt has taken over as the WWE's only face of fear, stealing Undertaker's light show tricks. The Undertaker is seemingly just coming back to slap Wyatt about for being a cheeky bugger. Therefore it makes sense to me that the Taker we should be seeing on Sunday is the American Bad Ass. Just come down in jeans, t-shirt, bike and swagger and knock Bray about the arena for 10 minutes. I'll be in the minority but I'd love it if we got that version of Taker instead as a nice swerve.

The internet was going wild for RKOs outta nowhere. WWE in response pull Orton off TV for longer than necessary then, on his return, make him slowly torture his rival for an age before hitting an RKO, not outta nowhere. WWE are definitely just taking the piss.

Watching Raw is War from May 10, 1999 and the main event is HHH, Taker & Shane vs Rock, Austin & Vince. There are two clips throughout the show of Stone Cold backstage preparing for the main event, and he's wearing the black boots, black knee brace, black wrist bands, black 3:16 jacket...and RED SHORTS?! It looks so weird! I remember watching these episodes at the time but not him wearing shorts at any time (apart from jean shorts, obviously). When Austin hits the ring, they've disappeared. Can't find any images of them online.

On another note, Patterson & Briscoe are megastars as they take on the Mean Street Posse. Mental.

It's amazing the types of daft sessions you can have watching random stuff. I missed a lot of WCW, and particularly the wrestlecrap stuff, so today I watched the debut of The Yeti, the 60-man World War 3 match in which he (now dressed as a ninja instead of a mummy) was basically eliminated first, and his bout with Juventud Guerrera while he was in the Flock and called Reese. Great stuff.

EDIT: My first choice was actually going to watch some D'Lo Brown matches but his name came up with nothing in the search. Why is searching for full old episodes of Raw and SmackDown so difficult? I know there's not many on there at the moment but I can't find any at all!

I'm super bored so decided to go over what happens as I watched the show. Having avoided any possible spoilers or speculation today we'll see if that makes a difference in my viewing pleasure!

We open with a clip from SmackDown in which Triple H announced he had a problem with the "controversial" Royal Rumble match. We also saw the footage of The Rock assisting Roman Reigns in said match. Trips is vowing to address the issue tonight - cue Raw intro!

We're in the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, and Lilian Garcia introduces us to The Authority of Trips and Stephanie! Both stylishly attired as usual. The roster is standing backstage watching a monitor - the most prominent ones at the front being Rusev, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara...

Stephanie begins by mentioning the SuperBowl and gloating that the Patriots won. The fans boo. She says that they won because that's what's best for business. Weird. Triple H jokingly says he hopes the NFL survives with the trending hashtag #canceltheNFLnetwork going on. Nope, that didn't work.

Triple H says we can't let something like this happen, and points to footage (again) of Reigns getting an assist from The Rock. Triple H says the Big Show and Kane were unsportsmanlike getting back in the ring. But he doesn't mind that - he does mind The Rock sticking his nose in. The fans chant for The Rock. The Rock is no longer a WWE Superstar, but it's partly Triple H's fault for letting people back in once they disappear. Trips then moans about Sting and talks about calling him out at the next Pay-Per-View. Sting hasn't replied, but Stephanie confirms we can get Sting at the PPV, on the Network, for $9.99.

Back to Roman Reigns. Stephanie ponders what would have happened if the Rock didn't stick his nose in. They questioned the result, acknowledge they can't change the record books but wonder if Reigns should still get his title shot. Roman Reigns' music hits to a mixed reaction, but plenty of cheers.

Reigns isn't happy. He looks like he wants to smash Trips right up. Stephanie tries to calm things, telling Roman about his family. And then more music hits. It's Daniel Bryan! Bryan gets right to the point - the controversy is that he was stripped of the title and never given a rematch. Triple H says Bryan failed in his contractual obligations, threw himself in the Rumble and failed. But at the same time, Brock Lesnar never beat Daniel Bryan...and now here comes Seth Rollins! Rollins mic cuts off, Stephanie says "we can't hear you" and we are quickly taken to a break...

Advert thought: This is something I don't much like about Raw "announcements" that happens quite often...there's an announcement coming up, superstars interrupt, there's a discussion, then the announcement is made involving the superstars who showed up. What would the announcement have been if they didn't show up? Was their original idea that crap they could just throw it away when someone shows up to talk to them? Let's see...

Seth Rollins: "Live TV huh? Hahaha!" Rollins moans about Daniel Bryan. "Listen - Brock Lesnar would EAT YOU ALIVE." Rollins moans about The Rock helping Reigns. Randomly I just remembered the time the Shield tried to stop the Rock beating CM Punk for the championship. Reigns cuts off Rollins. Triple H talks to Steph then says: "Okay - change of plan...tonight, Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins. The winner will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane. The winner of that match faces Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania."

Booker T: "Roman Reigns just got screwed here." Triple H likes Daniel Bryan all of a sudden. Trips and Stephanie psyche up Roman, telling him this is his chance to prove he belongs. Seth Rollins jokes about Bryan being out of his league and Roman being scared of him. Triple H gives Roman the choice to accept the challenge or not. Bryan gets the fans to chant yes. "Screw it," Reigns says, but he's not happy. Triple H tells Reigns he has a match now. You can already hear the theme music, can't you?

Advert thought: Rusev must be raging even more than he has been. Why didn't he go down to the ring? And it was weird seeing so many people jostle for a championship shot, with John Cena nowhere to be seen. He always butts in.

Roman Reigns vs The Big Show
Back from the break and the Big Show has Roman Reigns in a bearhug. At ringside stand Seth Rollins and J&J Security. Reigns gets and and batters Show with numerous clotheslines. J&J distracts letting Big Show hit a spear and a near three count. Reigns fights out of a chokeslam, hits Show with the superman punch - but Rollins uses the briefcase against Reigns' back, Big Show gets the chokeslam, and pins Roman Reigns 1-2-3! Jesus of Nazareth. JBL: "This is the worst night of Roman Reigns' life."

Triple H is watching a monitor: "Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Stephanie says they manipulated Reigns, said the right things so Bryan came out, and the whole intro worked perfectly. Seth Rollins will deal with both of them. Stephanie asks how he'll deal with Stone Cold Steve Austin in his podcast later on. "I'll manipulate Austin just like I did everyone else."

Advert thought: Props to whoever came up with the manipulation explanation for the announcement segment!

It's Curtis Axel! He storms to the ring. "Don't turn the channel, because I have something I want to say! I was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble! If I wasn't sucker punched I would have won it! I want justice!" He points to the WrestleMania sign. "I want Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania." He's super serious, and the commentators are laughing at him. I love this Curtis Axel. Dean Ambrose comes out, batters Axel, and throws him over the top rope. Ambrose takes a mic. "Now you're eliminated."

Ambrose points out he beat Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett two weeks ago, and is now coming after the title at Fast Lane. Curtis Axel blind-sides Ambrose but quickly succumbs to Dirty Deeds.

The Ascension vs Goldust and Stardust
No intros for these guys. I can't see the match for the constant shouting match between JBL and Booker T about tag team history. About two minutes into the match, Goldust takes their finisher and is pinned, Stardust wasn't on camera so not sure where he was. He certainly wasn't hurt. Stardust moans at Goldie, annoyed, and walks off.

UP NEXT! John Cena welcomes Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan back to Raw! Aww, this is sure to be fun-filled and full of balloons and confetti and handshakes all round.

Backstage, Goldust is trying to speak to Stardust, who is muttering to himself. "Stardust! Stardust! CODY!"

Stardust: "Don't you EVER...call me Cody. HISSS!" Stardust storms off. Again.

Blue and Yellow John Cena enters the ring. It's confirmed that at Fast Lane Cena will challenge Rusev for the United States Championship. Cena looks a bit haggled - he has a dodgy eye and says he's beat up. Cena plugs the Stone Cold podcast after the show. Cena is irked at Triple H calling him the past last week. Cena acknowledges that Trips has a whole stable full of future WWE Superstars in NXT. He doesn't mind the fans saying what they think in Cena's face, but Triple H hides behind others. Cena says he's been put through crap by the Authority but will never give up. He does it for moments like 2 weeks ago when Sting assisted Cena with a win over Seth Rollins.

Cena introduces Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan, who all come down to Ryback's music. Cena doesn't talk to the three guys at all, and goes on about Rusev instead. Welcome back, guys. Stephanie McMahon hits up the TitanTron - Dolph Ziggler mouths off at her immediately, so Steph puts him in a match with Bray Wyatt. Erick Rowan is put in a bout with Rusev. And Ryback will be in action next! The fans chant feed me more...

Advert thought: After Reigns losing to Big Show earlier, we could have a clean sweep for the heels tonight if Ryback can't overcome his opponent...

Ryback vs Luke Harper
The fans are well behind Ryback tonight. Ryback keeps Harper up in a super delayed suplex for ages - the commentators don't exactly big it up though. Ryback then hits a splash from the ropes! Harper comes back at him and boots Ryback to the floor. Harper does that over-the-top-rope plancha back into the ring thing Eddie Guerrero used to do, prompting JBL to say it looked like a zombie version of Eddie Guerrero. Ryback makes a comeback with a roll-up, then a Thesz press, then another big splash, but Harper then hits a Boss Man Slam for a close count. Ryback gets the upper hand and goes for the Meat Hook clothesline but Harper cuts it off with a superkick and a very close count! Ryback lifts Harper up for Shellshocked, Harper rolls out of it, Ryback hits the Meat Hook and on the second attempt hits Shellshocked for the three count! A fine little match.

Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso & Naomi) vs Cesaro (w/Tyson Kidd & Natalya)
Not much to say for the first few minutes, then Cesaro takes over with a double foot stomp, a very short giant swing and a double underhook powerbomb. A top rope axehandle is countered with a superkick. Uso goes to the top for a finishing splash but Tyson Kidd distracts long enough for the splash to be countered with a huge uppercut for the one, two, three! As Jey Uso consoles his bro, Tyson hits a drive-by dropkick to the face, leaving both Usos laying and Kidd/Cesaro laughing. The commentators ponder what this means for the upcoming double-date between Natalya/Tyson and Naomi/Uso. Oh no!

Backstage, Damien Mizdow is eating fruit! The Miz tells a man who wants Mizdows' autograph to fuck off. The Miz rants and raves at Mizdow, who just stands and takes it. The Miz fires Mizdow as his stunt double and re-hires him as his personal assistant. He tells Mizdow to never mimic him again.

Erick Rowan approaches John Cena in the locker room, and tells him nobody has ever stood up for him before. Rowan wants to repay Cena by taking on Rusev tonight. Cena tells him to be on top of his game, and they shake hands. Aww.

Advert thought: Only now thinking about the upcoming main event and looking forward to it. Bryan and Rollins should hopefully be given enough time to make it a worthwhile match.

Dolph Ziggler vs Bray Wyatt
As Ziggler waits for Wyatt we see a sign in the crowd: "Paige is as pale as WWE booking". Heh. There's a duelling chant for the two competitors early on. We notice this won't be a non-starter or a short match as they're promoting a #WyattvsZiggler hashtag in the top corner. We get rest holds and stalling tactics early on. Wyatt keeps leaving the ring. Booker T: "Ziggler needs to just go out there and get him!" Ziggler goes out to get him and immediately gets his head smacked off the apron. Booker T: "That was a bad move."

After the break Ziggler keeps trying to fight back. At one point Wyatt hits a mean clothesline which stops Ziggles dead. Wyatt takes control again and signals for the end. Ziggler avoids some attacks and knocks Wyatt down for a two-count. The two go toe-to-toe with punches, Ziggler gets the upper hand and hits the Famouser - but Wyatt no-sells it and grabs Dolph with Sister Abigail and picks up the win.

Backstage Seth Rollins asks Trips and Steph about the plan. They tell Seth not to worry about Daniel Bryan. They bring up Randy Orton getting taken out ages ago. Rollins vows to stamp out the Yes Movement once and for all.

Alicia Fox vs Paige
The Bellas are on commentary. After a move, Paige wrestles with her top, I assume trying to make sure it doesn't unzip away from her boobs. Alicia Fox gets a rest hold on her, and then...and then the feed cuts out! A WWE fault screen shows, and then a Sky Sports "temporary fault" screen. Well if it was gonna happen at any time, during the Divas match was probably the best idea.

After around a minute the feed returns, and we see Paige upset in the ring. The Bellas are gone. Alicia Fox is gone. The commentators turn their attention to Triple H and Sting.

Sin Cara vs The Miz
Damien Mizdow tries to copy the Miz's entrance but Miz quickly tells him to stop and stand still behind him. Sin Cara gets a full intro. Mizdow looks like he'd finding it difficult to stand still at ringside, as the fans chant for him. He thinks about getting involved and the Miz again gets in his face. The Miz is getting rather annoyed that Mizdow is not doing a thing yet getting all the crowd attention.The inevitable happens when Mizdow distracts the Miz once too often, and Sin Cara rolls up Miz for the win.

Bray Wyatt talks. In short: "I've been watching you for quite some time. Oh, how they used to fear you. But look what you gone and did. I am the new face of fear! The devil is real man - and he can't wait to see you again. I know you're listening. Find me."

Rusev vs Erick Rowan
Rusev attacks Rowan before he even steps through the ropes, he then throws him into the ring post as the fans chant USA. The fans are trying, bless them. The referee is trying to get Rusev to lay off Rowan so he can, y'know, ring the bell to start the match, but Rusev just bleats at him in Russian. Or Bulgarian. Poor Rowan is getting hammered, and the camera doesn't pick up the kick to the head first time but we see it on replay. "It's a message to Cena, Rowan never had a chance!" says Cole as Rusev locks in the Accolade and refuses to let go for quite a while.

Lana: "Now that we have your attention...we want to invite you to a special movie surprise. It's Oscar season! But this movie will not have a fairytale ending." We get a video package of Rusev smashing everyone up. Great, short video. Rusev looks hyped up. His music hits. The Russian flag lowers from the roof...but the flag doesn't unfurl properly and gets stuck! The fans laugh, and Rusev is livid! Don't think that was meant to happen but it worked out okay.

Backstage Daniel Bryan sits next to Roman Reigns. He tells Roman he'll be facing him at Fast Lane. Roman isn't taking any shit from Bryan, doesn't care who he's facing at the PPV, and tells Bryan to "get the hell out of my locker room."

Match to determine opponent for Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns at Fast Lane
Seth Rollins vs Daniel Bryan
Bryan goes straight for the left arm early on, and then gets a Del Rio armbar but Rollins gets to the ropes. Bryan is turfed out of the ring, and J&J Security throw Bryan back-first against the barricade before Rollins hits a suicide dive through the ropes. Bryan clutches his neck as we head to the last (I bloody hope) break.

Advert thought: Good to see Kane nowhere on the show (yet) after being chucked into a casket last week.

The Big Show is now at ringside. Great. Bryan tries to make a comeback but Rollins pulls him into the turnbuckles, giving him another opportunity to pull the ref aside as his security gets a cheap shot on D-Bry. The fans get right behind Bryan, as he kicks Rollins again and again but only gets a two count. Bryan attempts a top-rope huricanranna but Rollins rolls through into a pin and almost gets the three. Bryan knocks J&J off the apron, then Rollins onto them both, then throws himself through the ropes onto all three, sending Rollins and his security over the announce table! Seconds later Bryan hits Rollins with a top rope back bodydrop, landing right on his neck. He's not giving a shit about his neck, that's for sure. A close two-count.

A running knee is countered into a powerbomb by Rollins onto the turnbuckles, then a kick to the face for a two count. Bryan suckers Rollins in and locks in the Yes lock, but Rollins gets his long legs back onto the ropes to break the hold. Rollins rolls outside and is comforted by the Big Show. Big Show, who has done nothing all match yet, is speared outta nowhere by Roman Reigns. Jamie Noble hits the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase, but the referee stops him. Reigns hits Rollins with the Superman punch with the ref's back turned, Bryan gets the running knee and wins the match.

Renee Young asks Triple H what he thinks about the telly tonight. Trips says he'll tell Stone Cold Steve Austin, not Renee Young. Michael Cole asks Daniel Bryan how he feels in the ring. Bryan says the fans have put him in this spot - he's going to beat Roman Reigns and main event WrestleMania. It just doesn't feel the same as last year...

Raw goes off the air with the fans chanting with Daniel Bryan.

Final thought: the show takes so long to get through live, with all those adverts, at 4am, that I'd pretty much forgotton Reigns got beat by Big Show in four minutes at the start of the show...

The last five minutes was fun, so glad I didn't run into any spoilers before watching. Wasn't a bad show but still plenty to skip through. Shame we didn't get a Faarooq spinebuster but we did get Roman Reigns keeping his mouth shut.

You'd think after this Cena cock-up the Authority will try even harder to stop Bryan winning on Smackdown, that should also be fun.