WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 11/4/13 Review (My upload schedule sucks!)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 11/4/13. How does Raw turn out this week? Let's find out and begin. 

Follow the Indy Boys

We open up the show with CM Punk vs Luke Harper. This was actually a pretty good match. It's no Picasso, but it was entertaining for what it was worth. The finish comes when Punk gets a rollup victory on Harper. After the match, the Wyatt family attack CM Punk because the devil made me do it. Yes, the devil made me attack Wolverine, bitches!!! Daniel Bryan gets the memo and decides to help Punk by hitting Harper with the most unconvincing chair shot ever. Seriously, it's like he stuck out the chair and said, 'Okay, just run right into it…please?' Luckily, Punk shows him how to do a real chair shot and the indy duo take down the Wyatt family. It definitely seems Punk and Bryan will be teaming up for a while to deal with the Wyatt family. As I mentioned last week, I theorize that Bryan will be the Royal Rumble winner and in order for that to happen, he needs to take a break from the championship scene and deal with something else in the meantime. Seeing him team up with Punk isn't a bad idea at all. Looking forward to seeing this play out in the next few weeks/months. Speaking of which, Paul Heyman did speak via telephone and talks about all the injuries and mental scars he suffered at the hands of Punk. The conservation ended abruptly as Heyman started to cry. Looks like somebody ran out of cell phone minutes.

Can't think of a funny enough title for this one

I found a fast forward button and now we're seeing Randy/Big E? What happened during that time? Whatever happened, it was probably nothing worth mentioning. Hmmm… Hey, Big E Langston gots the claps. He's got the claps, man! In a competitive match, Randy Orton defeats Big E Langston with the RKO. I was actually surprised this match didn't end in a countout/DQ, but it was probably for the best. Meanwhile, WWE can't seem to get enough Rock/Cena talk and have to show it off in the latest WWE video game. Great, you can watch the same, bland match again, but now on a crappy video game…

Oh, and you gotta love how WWE is talking about how 'amazing' WWE2K14 is and are sponsored by Call of Duty. If WWE can throw in the Madden game before the end of the night, then we can have the trifecta of terrible games. New achievement unlocked! I probably pissed off the remaining readers on this page with that last statement… Oh well. 

By the way, it should be noted that Triple H has banned Big Show for life. I guess that means despite being fired, he was still able to get in the building. So, he's really band from the building? *Sob* That means he'll have to dig underneath the ground and come from under the ring in order to invade the show *sob*. Just imagine how long it will take for him to accomplish that? JUST IMAGINE HOW LONG!!! *SOB*… I don't think I can continue with this unsettling news. I'm gonna need a moment… Possible two…

Due to Total Divas establishing the relationship of Tyson Kidd and Natalya, you simply have to ignore the past couple of months when Natalya was hanging around Khali. Perhaps she was Khali's professional chef or something? Now that we got the wrestling logic out of the way, there's a mixed tag match between the Canadian Couple and the Dancing Dum-Dums. Maybe it was just me but did anybody else think Tyson looks like AJ Styles…

WWE reader: What's an AJ Styles? 

TNA reader: You can't let me have this one, can't you? 

WWE reader: What's a TNA?

TNA reader:… Sigh…

Moving forward

John Cena teamed up with the Golden Rhodes to take on Damien Sandow and the Almost Real Americans. It took a while for this match to get going, but it was very compelling towards the middle and end. If anything, the entire segment is enjoyable because of the competitive banter between Del Rio and Colter during the match. It was fun seeing them go back and forth and bringing mention to their rivalry earlier in the year. This match even contained the funniest moment of the night when Cena tossed Cesaro into Zeb. I don't know why, but there was something about it that was freakin' hilarious. Cena and crew pick up the victory. I should note that Sandow has moved on from losing the MITB and it seems WWE is shrugging it off as not being a big deal. If it means the further exposure like I mentioned last week, I don't mind him losing the MITB briefcase since he currently isn't ready for a world title. He's got the potential, but can use more development until claiming the brass ring… or maybe silver ring? … Eh, who cares?

Corporate Kane

We're gonna go ahead and skip past the diva match, the mid-card match and the 3MB raping since there's nothing worth mentioning during all of this. I think the only thing worth bringing up is El Torito being horny…

The final segment of the night is Big Show and Triple H working out the lawsuit and being able to settle on something since the Board of Directors feel this whole thing is ridiculous. I guess we learned that 'lifetime ban' means being banned for two hours. Damn, that was a tough two hours! Yeah, Show didn't have to dig underneath the ground to enter the building…

I'm convinced the WWE's security staff is literally a broomstick with a smily face on it. How else does s*** like this keep happening? Actually, it turns out the B.O.D. want Trips to settle this lawsuit since they don't want to risk a lawsuit at this time. Trips and Steph don't seem happy about it, but suck up whatever dignity they have left and give Show his two stipulations to drop the lawsuit. Get this, the lawsuit is dropped by giving Show his job back and a WWE title match…That's seriously it! You think he would had Trips beg or something or get his house paid off, but something so mundane is what seals the deal? I know wrestling logic is looming with things like this, but it would help if you thought about this for more than five-minutes, creative staff! Anyway, Shield is just standing there while wondering why they're there. Somebody messed up that order! Once the deal has been done, Trips sends the Shield and Randy to attack Show. That's when the corporation uses its secret weapon, Kane! OMG, I can't want to see what evil Kane is gonna--wait, what? Tha---That's Kane? That's not Kane, tha… that's just a guy in a suit. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting that. Can we even call him Kane anymore? Might as well call him Glenn Jacobs at this point. It does seem a bit odd to see Kane in a business suit but it isn't that glaring since we've seen Kane without his mask for years. This moment would've been more jaw-dropping if this was the first time we seen Kane without his mask, but that isn't the case. Still, you neutered a monster at the end of the day to turn him into a regular guy? That would be like taking Abyss and naming him Joseph Pa---Oooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh…

In all seriousness, I will give corporate Kane a chance. The program ends with Show being taken out by the corporate puppets. I'm not gonna lie, the ending is very hit and miss. Some of it was okay, but I just know more could've been done if the writers put more effort into it. Instead, this was about as basic as a sugar cookie. Outside of corporate Kane, this was a very predictable scene and that's where the disappointment comes from. 

Overall Impression:

Just like I said towards the end of this review, this show was very hit and miss. This definitely wasn't as fun as last week's episode. The show didn't end on the strongest note, but the beginning and middle portion of the show was not bad. It started strong with the Punk/DB stuff and the six-man tag match was very entertaining, but did slow down a bit with the ending. To be fair, the ending wasn't terrible but it could've been so much more. Don't know why this particular episode is getting a lot of hate since this was an average show at the end of the day and I've definitely seen the WWE put on worse. I think it's because a lot of people aren't really interested in Randy/Show. I'll admit that it doesn't spark my interest, but this is a filler feud and nothing more. It's just something to tide you over until we get closer to the Royal Rumble. It's not something that appeals to me, but maybe it can do something to draw me in. Well, all I can do is sit back and see what happens. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't enjoy it… Ummmm… See you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 10/28/13 Review (Security? Dafaq is that?)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 10/28/13. Hey, you're late with this review. I swear I didn't do that… I swear… I… Okay, I don't have anything, just start the damn review already!

You IWC rage moment of the night

We open up the show with the return of that s***-eating grin. Only John Cena can pull off that look. So, they make doctors so Cena can compete? I thought doctors helped everybody, but we learn something new each day. The doctor at your local clinic is, 'F*** you, you aren't John Cena! Back of the line, bitch!!!' After some more pandering from Mr. Breakfast Cereal, Damien Sandow comes out and cashes in the MITB after beating the crap out of Cena's elbow. He used the briefcase, the barricade, the ring, a chair. A freakin' chair and despite all of that, Cena shrugs it off because… He's John Cena. You know, the same guy who gets the crapped kicked out of him and somehow miraculously recovers and becomes more overpowered than Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone in an action movie COMBINED! Yeah, that's exactly what happens. Cena defeats Sandow and the 'smartest' person in the WWE now comes off as the biggest idiot of all time. Intellectual savior, my ass!!! I get it, WWE,  you want us to view Cena as a freakin' God to the masses! I'm just waiting for the day he puts on a cape and starts flying around the ring. It's coming eventually! Okay, let's get back to reality for a bit and talk about this. I know the outcome for this match has been getting a lot of negative attention from the Cena haters/Sandow supporters but I do want to say something… Sandow DID look great in this match and it does feel like THIS could be the defining point of Damien's career. His character has always been entertaining in my eyes, but he had more energy and drive in him on Monday. This could definitely be used to build up Damien and may I remind people that it was less than two years ago when people thought WWE was 'burying' (Seriously, LEARN this word, folks) Daniel Bryan by having him lose in 18-seconds. Yeah, remember that? I still think there's hope for Damien and it could be THIS moment that makes the man's career and becomes something special, but he has to prove it at the end of the day. If he can keep doing what he did on Monday, the future does look bright for Damien. Only time will tell where Damien's career ends up. I mentioned it in the HIAC review and I'll bring it up again, you gotta give these things time and have patience. I know this is coming off as me defending Cena and I've said it many times that while I respect Cena, I'm not a big fan of him because of the predictability of his booking and how he's literally played the same character since winning his first WWE Championship. I'm not trying to defend Cena because that man gets more than enough silver spoons in this industry. I'm just trying to look at the positives and try to look at the bigger picture. Then again, that's just how I like to view things. Okay, WrestlingNerd, get off the soapbox already and move forward with this s***!!!

The devil made me do it

Shield things… something… meh? Anyway, Shawn Michaels comes out and explains himself. He pretty much tells Daniel Bryan sorry for last night because while he wasn't proud of himself, he did it because Triple H wanted it and he will go to the end of the Earth to help out his best friend. He tells him that in this business, you cannot trust anybody and while he's still a DB supporter and continues to defend him, he wants him to shake his hand and accept this 'last lesson'. It's actually a great approach since it keeps Shawn neutral, yet intriguing. Yes, he looks like a douche for helping the bad guys, but gives Bryan helpful advice and still thinks he's has the potential to be an 'A+', but he must rely on only himself to get his goals. Bryan does shake his hand, but wants some revenge for the Sweet Chin Miss and slaps the Yes Lock on HBK. After the refs separate them, Bryan is about to have an interview until the Wyatt family comes out of nowhere and attacks DB. It seems for the time being, they've taken Bryan out. Well, this certainly got interesting. After weeks/months of the Wyatt family doing nothing, they went after some big fish and it really caught my attention. At the moment, it doesn't seem like the Wyatt family is working for the corporation and I honestly hope they're not. The Wyatt family works better by doing their own thing as opposed to taking orders from somebody. Why did they attack him? Because they're freakin' evil and deranged and that's honestly all you need. 

Oh where-o-where has my monster gone? 

It's everybody's favorite tag team match to watch…Los Matadores vs 3MB… Oh… oh… OH… OHHHHHHHH… Yeah, I don't care. The diva match was just there. Who competed in this match? Was it a Bella and Bigger Breasted Bella? That sounds about right. After Kane destroys his 'BFF' (According to the commentary from last night. You silly commentators and you ridiculous claims. You're so silly!), Kane calls out Stephanie and tells her she's on a power trip and it IS best for business. She's free to do whatever she wishes out from the monster, so he gives her his mask and walks away. It's definitely an interesting move on Kane's behalf. In many ways, he pretty much said Steph is allowed to use him in any way she feels like it. It will be interesting to find out what they decide to do moving forward. I kinda hope Kane keeps the mask. I won't be heart-broken if Kane goes mask-less again, but I like the mask. Wow, it does seem coincidental that Kane may have given up his mask close to Halloween. No Trick or Treat for you! Hey, I just thought of something. Stephanie's future quote, 'KANE… Choke him out!!!'

The devil made me do it… Again… He's very demanding

After the CM Punk/Ryback match (Which honestly didn't need to happen), the Wyatt family set their sights on Punk. Cult of Personality tries to fight them off, but it was too much to overcome. The segment ends when Bray finishes off Punk with Sister Abigail. Bray does say the same thing (The devil made me do it) when taking out DB earlier in the night, so that was certainly something. Geeze, we go from weeks of the Wyatt family doing nothing to them doing a lot of things this evening. Needless to say, it was about time they did something. Not sure where this is all headed but it certainly has my interest. If anything, I think it gets DB and Punk away from the WWE title picture for a bit. After all, if Bryan is the favorite to win the Royal Rumble and finally get his moment at WrestleMania, he should take a break from the world title matches. Regardless of such, it will be interesting to find out where this is all headed. 

Es mi destine para perder (It's my destiny to lose)

In a fun match, Almost Real Americans defeated Golden Rhodes (Copyrighting that s***) via submission. I don't mind the champs losing here since it sets up a future title match between the two teams. One of the things you do to make the tag division more interesting is by building story and developing the personas of the tag teams, which they have done with both of these teams. I look forward to what they can do with this future rivalry. Meanwhile, Alberto Del Rio talks about his rematch. This is hilarious since Del Rio won't mean anything in a few weeks after Cena has raped him some more. By the way, I know that graphics aren't everything in a video game (Hell, I enjoy playing 8 and 16-bit games just as much as current games), but the WWE2K14 graphics look really bad. In fact, the last few WWE games have looked lazily done in this department. Then again, sports games in general don't really do it for me. I'm more of a platformer/adventurer type of gamer. It's literally the same thing from last year but with THREE NEW CHARACTERS!!!

After all, it was either pay game developers more or give Cena another car and cuts have to be made at the end of the day… Life's a bitch! 

Big Lawsuit

The final segment of the night is Randy Orton's WWE title celebration. Oh great, it isn't like they did this two months ago or whatever. After Randy strokes his own cock, Big Show arrives to crash the party. WWE has the worse security ever. How does he keep showing up and appearing on the titantron? Show knocks out Randy and the program ends with WWE teasing Trips/Show. I guess I should mention Show has filed a 'lawsuit' against the WWE and will take whatever he can get since he has nothing to lose. He may have lost everything, but he still found a way to make a new T-shirt design. Maybe somebody was just generous? Anyway, it did seem Show/Trips was on the way after everything that's happened. The ending to the show wasn't too shabby. It wasn't great, but not bad. 

Overall Impression:

I really enjoyed tonight's episode of Raw. In fact, I think I enjoyed this more than Hell in a Cell, which was a slightly above average show at best. While most people won't say that after witnessing the first match, I try to find the bright side in things like this and don't want to assume things until the storyline stretches out. Some new things happened like the Wyatt family targeting DB and Punk and while we don't know why the attack was done, the curiosity alone makes it worth witnessing. Also, Kane's a giant question mark at the moment and I kinda like it. I think this episode is worth checking out. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. See you guys and girls in the next one and Happy Halloween.

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Hell in a Cell 2013 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Hell in a Cell 2013. Was this a PPV good, a bust, or somewhere in the middle? Let's find out and begin. 

Opening up strong

We open the show with a fantastic match for the WWE Tag Titles. This might be a ballsy statement, but this was the match of the night in my book. I know most people will take the main event as the best, but this tag match turned a match I had slight interest in and managed to keep me glued to my seat the entire time. Big ups to Usos, Shield, and Golden Rhodes…

Hey, screw you!!! I thought that was a creative name. I can't win anything around here. Anyway, definitely a must watch if you ask me. Cody and Goldie manage to keep their championships this evening by defeating the competition. 

Return of the Fruit Roll-up

After Miz called out the Wyatt family and got attacked by them (Great idea, genius), Kane makes his return and wants to pick a fight with the Wyatts, but he also Chokeslams Miz in the process. It's hard to base a whole lot on Kane's motives at the moment since… well, it's Kane. You know, the guy who beat the s*** out of Pete Rose and got a round of applause. The man can beat up anybody and still gets cheers. It did seem the commentators were trying to play up the fact that Kane committed a crime by attacking Miz, so I guess we have to take that into account… whatever that means. Besides, it isn't like Kane and Miz go way back. Yeah, because when I think of drinking buddies, I think Kane and Miz. Okay, I'll see you after the show…

Midcard awkwardness 

It's more like Fanforgetful…

Due to Curtis Axel being scrapped due to injury, Big E went up against Dean Ambrose for the US Championship. Based on the fact this match was put together at the last moment, you can tell it looked like it. Both guys couldn't really get any chemistry in this match and it just felt very awkward to watch. While I should blame the creative department for putting this match together, I can't really complain because this was the staff trying to make the best out of a bad situation. It blew up in their face, but nobody will remember this match come tomorrow so there's no reason to harp on it. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the plan was for Big E to become the new Belt-Shiner champion since Curtis is getting tired of shining the belt. If my theory is correct, Big E should eventually defeat Curtis between now and Survivor Series to become a professional belt-shiner. Ah, the next step up the ladder. Oh yeah, Big E won via countout in case you wanted to know. 

CM Punk's redemption

You know, part of me wonders what the hell is going through Paul Heyman's head when he decided to put himself on top of the cell structure. I know the man's scared of CM Punk, but wouldn't it be a worse idea to stand above the ring? What if WWE got the cheap crap and the cell would crumble if you threw a stapler at it? Was it on his bucket list to do a crappy reenactment of King Kong climbing the Empire State Building? Yeah, my mind went lost years ago. In fact, it was exactly like King Kong minus the woman… and the ape… and the building… and the climbing. Okay, it was NOTHING like King Kong! Why was he up there!!! I want an answer, dammit!!! After CM Punk hands Ryback the remains of his career (which wasn't a great match, but much better than the Battleground contest), Punk climbs the cell and proceeds to whip Paul's ass. You know, Paul, nothings' really stopping you from running away. What a bitch of a time to come down with a fear of heights. You know, that Zeb Colter whip would probably come in handy at the moment. Punk finally gets his months of scars and embarrassments by hitting Heyman with a GTS. I know that WWE was trying to go for that iconic moment on top of the cell structure, but you have to do something that leads to a reason to have people on top of that structure. Outside of the lazy writing for this spot, the moment itself wasn't too shabby and it should finally close the book on the Punk/Heyman storyline. This storyline needed to end tonight since its gone on long enough and both people can use a new program. 

Zeb gets violated

It's that time of the night where you get the impromptu match you've seen on Raw and/or Smackdown. Los Matadores take on the Almost Real Americans because…Umm, Zeb stole El Torito's slice of cheesecake? That's a storyline we can get down with! Let's start this party!!! I do like how they brought mention to Torito attacking Zeb. Thank you, El Torito, for goring a big pile of republicanism and hot dogs. Only the WWE can give you things like this. Of course, what's an Almost Real Americans match without the Cesaro swing…

Cena's back and it's like he never left…

John Cena made is return and defeated Alberto Del Rio for the WHC. Geeze, WWE is really going with the fact the internet has labeled Cena, 'Super Cena' based on the fact they keep throwing that around these days. I'm just waiting for the next Cena shirt to literally have the Superman logo mixed in with Cena's mumbo jumbo. I know this is off-topic, but does anybody think Cena looks like a Teletubby on steroids? Yeah, this was something I was thinking the other day… Yeah, I'm a very strange person. I know this is supposed to be a feel-good moment for Cena, but I can't help but think it's the same formula we've seen for almost the last decade. Even the commentators were trying to make this victory and comeback a big deal. Hell, JBL even had to admit he said something wrong and clap for Cena's comeback. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as negative, but it's hard for me to buy into the 'Cena's comeback' deal when he was only gone for two months AND this booking style has been done before. This isn't the first time Cena has come back from an injury and sooner rather than later, he always gets back in the spotlight and becomes champ. Yeah, he's the face of the company and is gonna be booked to look like a beast (Trust me, I get it), but part of me also feels a bit underwhelmed by this. Hell, I think it would've told a better story if Cena had lost (and I'm aware that it wasn't gonna happen) and struggled with the arm injury. It would've made him question himself and if anything, maybe bring something new out of Cena. It also would've added some credibility for Del Rio since his championship reign has been very lackluster, but that isn't what they wanted. They wanted to slap that championship on Cena as if the man never left and that's it. Part of the reason Cena gets so much hate is because of how predictable his booking is. This was a chance to do something a little different and for the time being, it's sticking with the same Cena formula we've seen for many years and I can't help but be disappointed by this. 

Bros over goats

Oh hey, it's everybody's favorite… diva match… yeah…meh… don't care…MOVING ON!!! Hey look, the Prime Time Players and Bob Backlund created an Oreo. There's money in this idea. PTP Oreos, now available at supermarkets! Okay, let's get into the final match of the night. The Orton/Bryan match was good, but it felt very similar to their previous encounters. Perhaps I'm growing tired of the Bryan/Orton matches since they aren't bad, but perhaps it's because I'm at the stage where I just want to fast-forward to the screwy finish. Come on, you know it's coming since the corporation is still new to the point where they're gonna pull out all the cards in order to get what they want, so I just want to see them get to the screwjob half the time. Triple H did come out in the middle of the match and kept pestering HBK to 'do the right thing'. After a ref bump, an unlocked cage and a knee to Trips' skull, the finish finally comes when HBK decides to avenge his fallen friend and kick his former student in the face. By the way, that Sweet Chin Music looked really bad. It didn't even look like he hit Bryan. Somebody messed up that delivery! Anyway, Randy picks the bones and Randy is your new WWE Champion… again. Based on Shawn's emotions, it didn't really seem like a heel turn and more like 'I'll be my best friend's bitch and do what he wants' sort of move. Keep in mind that at the time of this review, I haven't watched or read up on Raw so for the time being, I don't consider this a heel turn. It definitely has the elements for HBK to turn heel, but we have to wait until Shawn explains himself to really determine why he did this. As far as Randy winning the title, it was expected. Bryan probably won't win the title until WrestleMania time. In fact, Daniel Bryan is the early favorite to win the Royal Rumble, but I imagine many people are starting to think this as this time. I know people are raging over tonight's finish but as always in the pro wrestling world, you have to be patient and give these things time to flesh out. The payoff hasn't happened yet and in good time, it will eventually come. You can't jump to conclusions since storylines aren't gonna get their payoffs immediately. 

Overall Impression:

This PPV was very hit and miss in my book. It had elements where it was entertaining and enjoyable, but there were also moments where it just seem to run on auto-pilot. Even though this PPV had more story behind it than the last two PPVs, I don't think you're missing a whole lot if you missed out on this show. While the HBK turn can be a big enough of a surprise for some of you, something about it was always at the back of my mind and in a way, I saw it coming. While the PPV was a step in the right direction, part of me felt it was a bit disappointing. In fact, that's the best way to describe this PPV. While it did entertain me and this was much more enjoyable than Night of Champions and Battleground, I was still a bit disappointed with this showing. I felt like more could've been done with this PPV to really make it stand out. It's possible WWE held back a bit since they might have something game-changing at Survivor Series and want to save the bigger stuff for one of the big four, but I also wouldn't be surprised if this was their 'game-changing swerve'. If I had to give WWE Hell in a Cell 2013 a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average, I have to give it a 6 out of 10…

I think that's a fair score since I would say this was an above average PPV and nothing more than that. If you skipped out on this PPV, you didn't really miss out on much but there is enough here to keep you entertained. The PPV is at least worth viewing once, but maybe only once. I did enjoy this PPV for what it was worth, but I was still wanting more at the end of the day. Yeah, I'm a selfish WrestlingNerd. Anyway, that's gonna do it for this review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of tonight's show and my stupid thoughts. I'll see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd's Official score for WWE Hell in a Cell 2013: 6 out of 10

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 10/21/13 Review (Who signs contracts at contract signings?)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 10/21/13. How was Raw this week? Let's find out and begin.

Big Hacker

We open up the show with Triple H and Stephanie. They talk about Chinese food or something until Big Show interrupts the party via satellite. Nice to see the Rock's handiwork is being utilized by the other talents. How in the world did Show hack into the program? Does he have a top secret crew of people willing to work for a pocket full of quarters? Even MacGyver would be scratching his head right now. After telling the 'best for business' couple to f*** off until he gets cut off. We also get some more disrespect from Daniel Bryan by parading around the ring. I know the corporation wants to blame Bryan and Show, but the real people to blame is the production crew. Makes you wonder what their punishment will be…

In a decent opening match, Goat Man defeated Dean Ambrose. Remember when the US Championship had a storyline? Then again, I probably shouldn't be so harsh since all they had to worry about back then was Y2K and Donald Trump's hair! Anyway, Shawn Michaels had a segment with the power couple and mentions how they've changed for all the wrong reasons and have forgotten to have fun. Maybe building a water slide would solve all of this? Hey, I bet you weren't expecting that one this evening! 

Who pushed that fast forward button? 

Hey, it's Memphis everybody! Let's go out there and do some Elvis/music thing that makes no sense to entertain you. More like a jailhouse pen if you ask me…

We're gonna skip ahead a bit since there's no reason to bring up stuff like the CM Punk promo or the Orton/Dolph match since there's not much to say. We can also skip the diva match since it's dancing chesticales in a ring. Besides, why talk about that stuff when we can talk about the Paul Heyman promo. Jesus Christ, what the hell is Paul Heyman on? I think this is the result of getting a giant bag of cocaine and throwing it over a person. Still, that was the funniest thing I've seen all night. You can live you life on those words…Liquid magma, bitch!!! In fact, it looks like somebody in the back had a second bag to throw on R-Truth for that WWEShop promotion. He probably passed out after he was done with that ramble. Well, at least he found a way to get work. After all, that guy with the internet show isn't really having much luck. 

Big Face Langston

On last week's edition of Smackdown. Big E Langston made a face turn by helping out CM Punk and fight off Rybully and Curtis Something. It was a bit of a surprise to say the least, but also a surprise I welcome. There's something about Big E that really stands out. I don't look at Big E as just another musclebound light-pole because Big E actually shows some personality/charisma that makes him enjoyable. I hope to see good things from this face turn. After Vickie Guerrero pulls off a Teddy Long and creates a tag team match…

Punk and Big E defeat Paul Heyman Guys. The match does more build for Punk/Heyman and it also gave Big E an IC title match against Curtis at the HIAC pre-show. I won't say much about the Almost Real Americans/Tons of Saturated Fat contest, but I do have to mention the aftermath. Did Zeb Colter just pull out a whip? Talking about the immigration deal is one thing, but a whip seems to be pushing the boundaries a bit. Notice how the commentators were trying to say how it's a 'bull whip', but a whip is a whip at the end of the day. It seems a Real Americans/Los Matadores feud came about within the last week. It's a bit odd since both tag teams seem to be gaining some positive feedback, but they also could be the extra spark the tag division needs to make it what it was a year ago. 

JBL's stand-up

 'Eh, it's only Josh Matthews.'

Yeah, he's absolutely right. We can get another one those in the unemployment line; no harm done! That was my favorite JBL line of the night. If you're curious, the runner up was, 'I just got a 'oh snap' by Goldust?'. Due to all the craziness that is my life, I was unable to review Raw last week. One of the big things that happened on last week's show was Cody Rhodes and Goldust defeating the Shield to become the new WWE Tag Champs. I don't mind the title change before the PPV since it would've been redundant to have the same tag team match for two straight PPVs. I like Cody and Goldie getting the tag titles, but if this is anything like what happens with these type of championships, they won't do much with the titles after their feud with the Shield ends. Then again, with Real Americans and Los Matadores getting some attention, this tag title could be as meaningful as Team Hell No's title reign. To be fair, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns tag title reign was okay at the end of the day and I wouldn't say it was TOO under the radar. Due to Cody and Goldie getting involved with all the Shield antics, the #1 Contender match between Shield and Usos ended in a no contest. Due to this, it will be a Triple Threat match for the tag titles. I have no issues with that match since I think it could be a lot of fun. Nice touch!

Contract Arguing (Did they even sign anything?)

The final segment of the night was a contract signing between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. The thing I like about this is seeing DB, Randy and Trips talk to one another and HBK just standing there smiling. He's just there for the food. Can we give Shawn a hammock or something? Never mind, it appears Shawn has something to say after Trips claims DB isn't even good enough to fight him because he only fights 'stars'. This segment started to get really interesting when Shawn and Trips started to exchange some words. Randy and DB are ready to fight until… A semi truck shows up out of nowhere? I think the TNA wrestlers made a wrong turn at Albuquerque…

Actually, it turns out to be Big Show's semi. How did he afford that? I'm just gonna assume he stole it. Okay, who let that door open? I'm telling you, Show must have a secret organization that's pulling all these strings for him. How is he doing this? The show ends with Show and DB doing a 'Yes' chant. This was definitely one of the better segments for this evening. Gotta give them credit for that.

Overall Impression:

Tonight's show wasn't too bad. It wasn't perfect since there was a few moments that really didn't do much for me, but when the show did something worthwhile, it was pretty good. The last half of the show was definitely the most interesting to witness since it built up the bigger matches for HIAC. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the build for HIAC has been better than the build for Battleground and tonight's show has me invested in Sunday's PPV. This PPV has all the ingredients to do better than the last two WWE PPVs, but we won't know that until the show's over. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my ramblings and tonight's show. See you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 10/7/13 Review (Improvement)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 10/7/13. Will this be better than Battleground? Let's just hope that's the case… Let's begin. 

He's fired again?

We open the show with Stephanie and Bipolar Show. She lashes out at him for his actions at Battleground while Big Show doesn't seem to care. The big guy admits he knocked out Daniel Bryan since Steph told him to do it, but had enough and started to punch everybody out. After some more rebellion from Show, Steph fires him while Show seems happy. YAY, I'M UNEMPLOYED!!! WOOOOOOO!!! So, let me get this straight. Steph wanted Randy Orton to unleash his dark side, but wanted to help him win the WWE title at Battleground? Ah, the loveliness that is wrestling logic…

You know, that sums it up perfectly. Show's fired for the second straight year and I'm sure it won't last as long as the last one. In fact, let's start taking a poll in when Show will get his job back. Based on how things are going, I'm gonna shoot for Hell in a Cell. What do you think? I love how they insert the fact Show's been escorted from the building. Oh yeah, I'm sure he will NOT be showing up later in the show… yep… guara-damn-tee it!

The stuff people forget about

Dolph and Damien throw some punches 'n stuff… the match is over. This was pretty much the same match you got if you checked out the pre-show, but you ended up saving your brain cells then you got something decent. I will agree that the match does nothing for either person since both guys need some type of program/rival since they're stuck in their own limbo at the moment. I just hope something changes soon with them. Meanwhile, we can watch the Total Divas put those 'amazing' skills to the ultimate test. I know I shouldn't be too harsh on these ladies since they're still learning techniques in the ring and are mostly on the WWE roster for sex appeal but they clearly were not ready for this match. Wannabe Jessica Rabbit couldn't even master the art of tagging in a partner while the potato wedge did nothing during this match… And I think Natalya was somewhere. Bonus points if you were able to spot here, but unfortunately for you, there's no prize in this contest. In other matches, Los Matadores defeated 3MB-1. I'm still getting a kick out of this tag team and El Torito. It's NOT supposed to be taken seriously and is being played up for laughs so I'm actually getting a kick out of it. I understand if you don't like it since it's too goofy but everybody has their own preferences/taste. Well, I think it's about that time. It's time to grab life by the horns…

Heyman's in a baaaaaaaad mood

Ryback and Curtis Axel teamed up to take on CM Punk and R-Truth because Paul Heyman remembered that he agreed to manage Axel. Yeah, you almost forget that's a thing considering Curtis has regressed to whipping boy since Heyman found something more meaty. The match wasn't too bad and it was enjoyable, so at least it had that going for it. It does seem odd that Truth has started a rivalry out of nowhere with Curtis for the IC title, but that's probably because the staff forgot Curtis was IC champion in the first place. Well, at least Axel's glad to be the toilet paper champion. 

The WWE App brought to you by voting

The Randy Orton/Kofi Kingston match was at least entertaining but it was nothing out of the norm. After the match, Bryan attacked Randy for stiffing him on the check from last night. Randy would get a chance to repay him later in the show by doing the same thing. Wow, what an asshole! I should note that Randy vs DB will happen at Hell in a Cell and it will indeed be a HIAC match. A HIAC match at HIAC!? Who would've thought of that!!! WWE, you're indeed a genius for this… Okay, this joke is going nowhere. There will be a special guest referee for the match and that will be determined by the WWE App. I think in the next year, you will have to have the WWE App surgically attached to your ass JUST to watch this show. It's getting to that point. Anyway, the choices for the guest referee is uninteresting choice #1, uninteresting choice #2, and SHAWN MICHAELS. VOTE NOW!!! VOTE NOW!!! VOTE NOW!!! One of the things that always makes me laugh is how the commentators say every vote on the WWE App broke the previous record but they NEVER tell you any of the metrics. I think I'm just gonna let that one speak for itself. Of course, HBK won the poll but I wanted to see Mr. Backlund slap somebody with the cross face chicken wing. That was about the only thing I was able to decipher from his promo. In fact, Bob Backlund is the only person I know that speaks fluent english and you still need to get a translator for him. Still, Backlund was very entertaining this evening. It makes sense for HBK to be the special guest referee since it makes you wonder which side of the coin he's gonna take. Will he help out his former student…

…or will he support his best friend? It's that element alone that makes the Orton/Bryan match even more intriguing. I just hope the match lives up to the expectations. 

Kryptonite is bulls***!

So, how many times has Alberto Del Rio tried to sweet-talk Vickie Guerrero and how many times has it failed? Well, you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed, try try try try try try TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY F***ING AGAIN!!! Of course, it blows up in his face and now has to face John Cena at HIAC…Wait, John Cena? He's back already? Yeah, so I was instantly puzzled by this announcement. I'm not sure if the man's healthy enough to compete or not but it definitely has my interest. Is Cena healthy enough to compete? If he isn't 100%, how will the match go? With a triceps tear, I still think he's got a ways to go in the recovery process. At the same time, I'm not a doctor and can't claim to know anything about a triceps tear, but it sounds like it would keep you on the shelf longer than 6-8 weeks. You know, WWE, he ISN'T really Superman. The internet gives you a nickname for so long that you start believing it's actually true. Joking aside, this matchup does make things interesting. So, a special guest referee and Cena returning early? I think HIAC already has done better build in one day than Battleground did in those three weeks combined. Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Ricardo Rodriguez taking advantage of the situation and got a rollup victory on Del Rio. That s*** was hilarious! Unfortunately he didn't get to laugh for very long. Ricardo, your arm's not looking so good there. 

More stuff people forgot about

With WWE having Brad Maddox apologizing for his actions, I wonder if they were secretly using Maddox to have him apologize for the entire Battleground event. Fandango defeated some guy who lost his 15 minutes of fame years ago. More like Fandumbo…Naw, that was a terrible. Give me time on that one. More Punjab-A-Whirl thanks to Antonio Cesaro. Notice how the Cesaro swing is quickly making the audience root for the Real Americans. I'm even starting to hear some 'We the people' chants going on here. Antonio, you might be on to something with this craze. Bray Wyatt decided to pick on the Miz this evening, but Miz fought back. He did manage to hold his own against Bray, but Bray seemed to get off on this. Again, I'm not sure if the Wyatt family are getting new opponents or they're just going after everybody, but at least it's a start. 

FINISH HIM…

According to my sources, WWE is gonna trademark 'it's good for business'. Why? Because it's good for business…

The final match of the night was the Shield taking on Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. While the match was fine, it was the aftermath we're looking forward to so let's just skip ahead. The match is about to end in another no contest until Triple H decides to restart the match and make it a No DQ match. Randy runs interference and Shield is able to steal another match. Big Show arrives once more and is searching for Trips. Oh yeah, now that he's fired, he can knock me out now… I…I didn't plan this very well. At this point, I imagine Triple H is thinking this…

Sure enough, the episode ends with Show knocking out Triple H. After weeks of build, the payoff finally happened and Show knocked out the corporation. As mean and unsettling it would've been for people, I kinda wanted to see him knock out Steph as well, but one thing at a time. This was actually a good ending to the show. I know people will argue this should've happened at Battleground, but that PPV was doomed the second it started, so it was best to cut your loses and just wait until Monday night to do something better. Like I mentioned earlier, it makes you wonder how Show ends up getting his job back, but only time will tell.

Overall Impression:

I think it goes without saying, but this was miles better than Battleground. I wouldn't call this one of the best episodes of Raw I've seen this year, but it was entertaining for what it was worth. The matches were decent to sit through and the storyline progression was more intriguing than what occurred at Battleground. In fact, let's pretend Battleground never happened and we'll be perfectly fine moving forward. The announcements for HIAC are very interesting and I'm already looking forward to this PPV. Definitely a swing in the right direction after…THAT thing we won't mention anymore since it NEVER HAPPENED! Well, I think it's time to wrap this up. Thank you for reading my stupid thoughts. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/30/13 Review (CM Griffin)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/30/13. After a week of fighting space aliens from planet beebleblabble with snowballs, it's time to get back to some wrestling. Let's begin. 

Opening

We open up the show with CM Punk and how his storyline is predictable. You think for a man who's aware of the predictability would stop falling for these traps, but I guess he does it to add excitement to his life…

Anyway, Mr. Buttkisser arrives to inform Punk he won't get Pauly, Ryback, and Curtis Axel since it isn't good for business. Ever feel the creative staff has been watching way too much 'Pirates of the Caribbean 3' lately? That's seriously what I think every time somebody says 'it's good for business'. Big E arrives to deliver the promo of a century. Ah, it makes my heart flutter. It doesn't take long for a match between Punk and Big E to begin. Big E makes it interesting, but Punk finds a way to fight back and picks up the victory. It was a good victory for Punk to lead into his match against Ryback this Sunday, but maybe it wasn't THAT big considered Big E has been in limbo since not being able to get in AJ's pants. Come on, he's horny and not getting anything else in the meantime. Of course he would be off his game. The build for the Punk/Ryback match has been what I expected. Punk and Heyman continue to add intrigue to the match with their promo while Ryback will just nod his head while thinking about all the lunch money he could get by attending high school once more. It seems like a good balance. 

Oh yeah, the Wyatt family…

After Kofi dances on the remains of Fandango's career, Bray Wyatt arrives after the match to cut a promo. It's difficult to say if the Wyatt family is targeting Kofi, giving out a warning to everybody else or both but it was interesting to say the least. He talks about always having to go through hardships and how he will make others fall around him. I really hope this leads to the Wyatt family doing something since they've done nothing since sending Kane to a movie studio. Don't get me wrong, I like the Wyatt family and I really enjoy listening to Bray's promo, but they need to do more than just beat people up. A new opponent or some type of rivalry would definitely be a positive. There's a ton of potential with the Wyatt family and it's a shame that they've been forgotten since the birth of the corporation, but there's still time to turn his ship around and get the Wyatt family back on the right course. 

LOLZ

Los Matadores finally made their debut/repackage tonight. I'm gonna admit something to you folks. I've actually enjoyed watching the vignettes for Los Matadores. I can't really explain it, but there was something about them that made it charming in it's goofy fashion. Yes, I understand it's a bit ridiculous to have a couple of Puerto Ricans play Spaniards, but if they can be entertaining I don't see the problem. Of course, we haven't even talked about the actual debut yet. I know the internet is gonna s*** all over El Torito and just how silly it looks, but I was laughing my ass off when I saw this. I'll admit that it looks stupid, but the gimmick is already goofy so why the hell not? How was the match? I don't know. I was too distracted by the jumping mascot to pay any attention to it. I wanna see what else that guy can do. Look at him go!! Woo!!! I know the internet is gonna hate me for saying all of this, but I'm just sharing my honest thoughts. It's pro wrestling and is always gonna be over-the-top, so having these three seems like another day in the office. 

Rhodes vs McMahons

Triple H and Stephanie invite the Rhodes family to the ring. I'm surprised that Cody didn't respond by saying he use that Bed, Bath, and Beyond card to wipe his ass. It was a golden opportunity! Anyway, Cody and Goldust have to defeat Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in order to get their jobs back, but the catch is the Rhodes family will never be able to work again if they lose, thus Dusty Rhodes loses his job as well… For about three weeks since wrestling logic has an expiration date. Hey, there's gotta be repercussions now. After the announcement, Shield take out the Rhodes family with a sneak attack. I've really enjoyed this storyline and I look forward to seeing if some type of plot twist could happen with this match. Maybe something along the lines of Cody betraying his family and siding with the corporation? It's always a possibility, but I won't be surprised if Cody and Goldie end up getting their payoff and reclaim their jobs. 

Show's got the crazy eyes

After R-Truth defeated the Tin Man, there's a diva match taking place. Here's a lollipop for sitting through that match… Not sure if Randy threatened Brie Bella by hinting at breaking Daniel Bryan's legs or buying him a segway. I think Brie won the match or something. Still have no idea if the Bellas are playing faces because of DB, but it's best to not think on it too hard. Meanwhile, Heyman is thinking marriage with Ryback. Move over Billy and Chuck, you've got some company! There was also a disturbing scene where Big Show talked about knocking out Triple H since he's been pushed too far. Oh my God, Show's gonna eat me!!! Did you see his face? My God, look at him? He doesn't look like he wants to punch somebody. He looks like he's gonna kill somebody and then proceed to dance on their grave while drinking smoothies made out of their blood. Damn, that was scary. Try hanging that photo in your child's room and see if they find Show to be a gentle giant. 

Love is in the air

So the marriage proposal from Heyman to Ryback was to become a Paul Heyman guy, but it surely seemed like there was more to it than meets the eye. Just look at Ryback's face when he hears this news and tell me he isn't thinking of something different? CM Punk is about to crash the party, but…

Of course, it was nothing more than a ploy to get Heyman and Ryback to drop their guard as Punk would utilize a kendo stick to gain the upper hand. That clever bastard! I'll admit that was a pretty good fake out. 

Masculinity 

The Shield vs Dolph/Usos match wasn't too shabby. It ended when Reigns hit the Spear on Dolph the normal Shield antics. As Show prepares to get ready to knock out Trips, the police is about to arrest Show for threatening an employee. We have a police? Steph uses this excuse to get Show to not do something rash and talk about how he isn't man enough to please his wife. You're a spineless, pale pathetic lot and you haven't got a clue. Somehow I'll make a man out of you! You had to figure Show wouldn't follow through with knocking out Trips yet, but it's certainly on the way. FREEZE TIME!!! In other news, it's time for another edition of Spin the Santino…

It's sometimes the little things that make you happy. The final segment of the night was Daniel Bryan confronting Randy Orton. Just like earlier in the night, Randy continues to take shots at DB and Brie since he thinks of himself as superior manliness. Isn't this the same guy who cried like a girl a few weeks ago? After some insults from the two, they start to fight. Brie shows up to check up on her fiancee, but that might've done more harm than good for DB. The show ends when Randy sends Bryan through an announce table with an RKO. I really have nothing more to say about this match since I've pretty much said the same thing over and over again. Not sure who wins this match so that's one positive going into Battleground. 

Overall Impression:

This episode was okay. It wasn't great but I also wouldn't call it horrible. I will admit that this episode didn't do the best job in building up Battleground. In fact, I've felt the build going into this PPV seems very forgettable. I almost forgot there was a PPV coming up this week. It does seem like the major storyline of WWE has lost some of its flavor in the last few weeks, but all it takes is one night to change that around. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised to see nothing that grand out of Battleground since there's another PPV coming up in another three weeks. I just hope this PPV does better than Night of Champions. Hey, I can at least hope. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Night of Champions 2013 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Night of Champions 2013. Would this evening be able to offer something to the table? Let's find out and begin. 

Is there still an Intercontinental title? 

We open up the show with Triple H's ego. Once the guy pretty much mentions everything that's happened to Daniel Bryan, Paul Heyman tries to bargain with Trips since he announced his match against CM Punk would be a No DQ match. You have to love how heels freak out over the fact the match is now No DQ. They're actually giving you the option to cheat. You can probably use a hand grenade as a weapon. Hey, it's no DQ, right? Since Curtis Axel didn't have the IC title on the line and Punk would use the championship as toilet paper, it's decided to give the title match to the first person Trips runs into. I think Kofi Kingston lucked out in that department since it was originally gonna be cameraman #9087234, but my guess is Trips gave Kofi the match since he washed his car over the weekend. Just because the corporation's evil doesn't mean they can have dirty cars. The match was given a decent amount of time and it ended when Curtis hits the most unconvincing finisher ever. I'm sorry if you like this finisher, but it looks like the person who receives this move is intentionally taking a dive. The rest of his in-ring skills are fine, but get rid of the… Un-neckbreaker. Congratulations to Axel for keeping the IC…

My guess is he kept the belt since nobody else wanted to hold onto it for the remainder of this month. I mentioned a few months ago that Axel would most likely hold onto the IC title and do nothing with it until it comes time to give it to the next guy, and that's exactly what's happened thus far. I know it's prestigious and historic, but if you aren't gonna do anything with it, you might as well retire the title. I want to see more done with the mid-card championships and I know the WWE is capable of writing storylines for these belts, but it seems like they really don't want to. I know it seems harsh saying something like that, but it might be better to get rid of one of these titles. I want to see things change with this division, but it's more of an afterthought in the current era of the WWE. 

Crazy divas

Layla and AJ were a 'team' a few weeks ago, but now it's like it never happened? My guess is Layla got amnesia last week and is still in the recovery process. In all fairness, it makes sense for AJ to fly solo in this storyline, so I don't mind the abrupt change. The Fatal 4-Way diva match wasn't too shabby. Not something I would watch again, but it was decent under the circumstances. AJ made Natalya tap out to the Black Widow. You think that the Total Divas would work together to make sure AJ lost the match, but not even their egos and attention spans would allow such a thi--hey, a housefly! It made sense for AJ to keep the championship since she's still the best thing going in the divas division and that's all I got on this scene. Okay, next match. Let's go! Let's go! Next one! GO!!!

There's some matches here and stuff

RVD defeated Alberto Del Rio and became the new WHC. Ricardo then turned on him after the match to his new client, Damien Saaaaaaaaaaaandooooooooooow. The two celebrated with a mojito… De nada!!!

No, that's not what happened. It would've been more exciting if this was the story, but all that occurred was RVD winning the match via DQ since Alberto refused to listen to the referee's orders, thus Del Rio is still the WHC. RVD did hit the Van Terminator…

The match was okay to sit through, but it was the lack of a storyline that really kept me for getting into this contest. I almost forgot the match even happened. That's how little of an impact it made in my book. In fact, the Miz/Fandango match also falls in the same category. I almost forgot this happened. Miz won the match with the Figure Four in case you were curious. Were you? Probably not…

Hey look, the PPV wants to do something…

It's now time for the handicap match between Punk, Axel, and Heyman. So, why is this called a handicap match? Based on what I saw and the rules to the match, it sounded like Punk would get a match with Heyman if he beat Axel. Isn't this more of a Gauntlet match rather than a handicap contest? I get what they're trying to do here, but what crack did you smoke to end up with these rules? It's like they took a bunch of rules, threw them against a wall and *BAM*, instant match. While the IC champ is good enough to defeat Kofi, he stood no chance against Punk, proving that this storyline has nothing to do with Axel and is more of a pawn in this entire thing. It really shouldn't be that surprising since all Axel's done for 4-5 months is shine Heyman's shoes. Punk finally gets Heyman! He's gonna get you, Paul! Run, chubby run!!! Look at him go!!! The chase scene was almost like watching a nature special, but instead of a cheetah eating a gazelle, it was a wrestler beating up a balding man. Still, it was very entertaining. After a few rounds of smacking the Heyman Pinata, the match ends when Ryback arrives and sends Punk through a table. Thanks to the attack, Heyman was able to pick the bones and Pauly defeated Punk. Waaaaaaaaa? Yeah, so Ryback attacking Punk was a bit of a surprise. In fact, it was at this moment where the PPV started to wake up for a bit. It was about time something different occurred, but better later than never. Ryback being the latest edition of 'Paul Heyman guys' is a welcome edition. Since Ryback has pretty much regressed to the role of Biff Tannen on a weekly basis, teaming up with Heyman will offer him a lot more. I actually like Ryback getting in the middle of this rivalry and I don't mind the Punk/Heyman feud continuing since I felt it would've been somewhat disappointing to see this rivalry end at NoC. Don't get me wrong, I can understand as to why the feud would end, but it just feels like Punk and Heyman can do a lot more. The match was investing enough to be intriguing and the ending continues to get me coming back to check out this rivalry, so I think this was a positive for NoC…That's one thus far…

Shield antics

I was a bit surprised to see Dean Ambrose defeat Dolph Ziggler in clean fashion. A win like this is gonna put Ambrose's stock on the rise. When it eventually comes time to break up the Shield, Ambrose will most definitely have a place on the active roster. Unfortunately, this win does come at a cost to the Ziggler fans. I know this is gonna make the 'Dolph's jobbing' comments more loud, but I'm still optimistic that Dolph still has a decent place in the future of this company and this minor setback is only for the time being. I know it's kinda odd that I personally see challenging the US title more rewarding than the WHC since the WHC has dropped so much value and the US title is being held by one of the corporation members, but that's just how I see it at the moment. I will say the US title match between Ambrose and Dolph was about what I expected, but part of me felt a bit of a letdown when it wasn't given as much time as I would've liked. It was still a good match, but I felt it could've been better if given a few more minutes. Speaking of the Shield, the tag team match between Rollins/REIGNS and the Prime Time Players was next on the schedule. I should note that the PTP won the Tag Team Turmoil match in the pre-show. The fact this was regulated to the pre-show was puzzling. It was a good match and it was a shame it was subjected to pre-show status. In fact, why wasn't Miz/Fandango given the pre-show treatment? Mr. Pre-Show must've slipped a $20 and got himself on the PPV. Anyway, the tag team match was okay and it ended with the Shield retaining the title. If you're keeping score at home, we have one match to go and there's been no championship changes thus far. To be honest, I expected that to be the case since none of the titles were being built to change hands, but surely we gotta get one, right…right…right?

Corporation not too sure of themselves? 

The final match of the night was Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Just like the Punk match, this was one of the few moments where it felt like the PPV was actually trying to do something. The match between Randy and Bryan was good and I would say it was the best match of the night, but it didn't have a ton of competition so I would consider this a small reward. Bryan hits the running knee and has finally defeated Randy…

Yeah, we have a new WWE Champion… Surprised? I would have to say so… but we obviously aren't addressing the giant elephant in the room in all of this. The referee made a fast count for Bryan, thus this is gonna be the basis for Raw. In fact, it's almost a guarantee for Bryan to get stripped of his championship on Raw and possibly end up in the hands of Orton. I should note that at the time I'm writing this, I have NOT watched Raw and this is all speculation at the moment. We'll talk about Raw in the Raw review for this week, but I'm just sticking to what occurred at NoC and only NoC for this review. Just wanted to get that out there in case somebody wanted to be the 'know-it-all' smark. I actually do like the ending to this show since that fast count is gonna keep you guessing as to what's gonna happen on Raw. It's nice to stir the pot a bit, but it does make you question why the corporation didn't realize sooner if Randy's deserving of special treatment or not. I'm guessing if you have two McMahons yelling in your ears, you will start going insane and make rash decisions. Hey, it would explain a lot of things. 

Overall Impression:

I don't hate this PPV because it didn't feature title changes. In fact, I don't hate this PPV at all. Let me explain myself. None of the titles were really being built up to change hands, so I don't see that as the problem of NoC. The real problem we have on our hands is how this PPV just feels like it's there. Seriously, why did this need to be here? Outside of the fast count and the Ryback interference, what else did you really get out of this? The answer, not a whole lot. This is a PPV that I wouldn't classify it as 'bad', but mostly what I would consider disappointing. In the last few months, we've seen WWE put some really good PPVs out there and I felt they really went out there for their SummerSlam PPV and put one of the best shows in a really long time. To see THIS being the follow-up to that PPV is very unfulfilling. This PPV doesn't do anything for me and I cannot express how disappointed I am with this PPV. In fact, 'disappointing' is the best way to describe this PPV. It isn't terrible or horrible, but the routine route really doesn't make the replay value for this event stick out. In fact, I almost forgot this was a PPV since this felt nothing like a PPV, thus showing how this event really didn't need to exist at the end of the day. This PPV almost has nothing going for it. In conclusion, I'm still interested in the corporation storyline and I still like what WWE is doing at the moment. I may not like everything they're doing, but I'm satisfied with what I'm seeing on a weekly basis. I still have interest to see what will happen tomorrow night, but this event didn't do the best job to engage you and it just leaves you with an empty feeling. If I had to give this PPV a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average, the best score I can give this event is a 5 out of 10. This is a very average showing at the end of the day and while the matches are good, there's not enough going on to really make this event stick out. I apologize to all of those that got a kick out of Night of Champions. If you like it, there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I'm just expressing my thoughts on the matter. Well, I think it's time to wrap this up. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd's Official score for WWE Night of Champions 2013: 5 out of 10

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/9/13 Review (Edge must save him...later...)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/9/13. What happens this week? Let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with an apology from me. Sorry there was no Smackdown or Impact reviews last week. I'm in the middle of recovering from a cold and just taking it easy until I'm healthy once more. I should also note that the likelihood of SD and Impact reviews this week probably won't happen due to the fact that I'll be out of town once more due to personal reasons. Again, I apologize for the choppy schedule, but hopefully I'll figure out some type of system to get this a little more consistent. I know it bothers people and it honestly bothers me, but just be patient and things should hopefully get back to normal real soon. 

Show up... plug a show... leave

Anyway, Edge opens up the show with the Cutting Edge. He basically says Randy Orton is a little bitch due to the fact he's the corporate puppet, so he's gonna have a different guest in Daniel Bryan. After some talk from the hopeful underdog, Edge pretty much calls out all of Triple H's garbage and how he sucks at picking talent. Trips says while he admits to being wrong about talent, but thinks Edge was never that great of a talent and was overrated. I know the line was used in the show, but Trips really puts the 'dick' in 'dictator'. And it's nice to see Trips living up to his new persona by having Christian beaten up off-screen. Of course, it was reported that Christian did have a concussion, but I thought it was a clever touch to write him off in this fashion. I especially love this scene where Trips is telling Edge this is 'his' town and wants him out, but I mostly love it because of Dean Ambrose. He just has that look where he isn't paying attention to what's being spoken and is thinking to himself. Hmmm… Did I leave the oven on his morning?… Well, that's gonna be a problem when I get back. So, how does Edge get his revenge? By doing absolutely nothing! I know the man is limited in what he can do, but it would've been a nice touch to see him run out there and screw over the corporation to some degree. Eh, oh well…

Dr. Punk

Curtis Axel's anger gets the best of him and it gives Kofi Kingston a DQ victory. Well, that was nice of him. Let's celebrate by offering him a plate of d--kick to the face… Well, that plan backfired, what do you want from me!? To continue with this storyline, Paul Heyman 'trips' on water backstage and wants to have his own doctor take a look at him…

As you would guess, Heyman uses this 'injury' as a means of getting himself out of the match against CM Punk this Sunday. In order for this to work, Heyman has to allow the WWE medical team to evaluate his condition. That's right folks, we have a medical evaluation going on in the ring right now. I think some would like to call bulls*** on this, but this is also the same show that had a paternity test as well so anything can happen on here. Next week, we get to see a bully intervention for Ryback. YAY!!! After Heyman calls the doctor a quack, Punk arrives to give him a third opinion. While not as strong as last week's segment, this was still entertaining enough to keep me invested. It was campy and over-the-top, but very enjoyable from my perspective. 

Divas segment

During the Total Divas vs other divas match, AJ continues to be outspoken on the ladies and their reality TV show status. I like the new AJ. She has more fire with her words and it seems more natural for her. It was almost a good fit for her to go down this direction. I'm gonna ask an honest question… Did you even watch the diva match or were you listening more to AJ's words? I honestly don't remember a thing from the diva match. Let's see… there's a couple of women fighting… I think a Sharpshooter showed up…somebody wore blue… that's all I remember. Once again, we get mixed messages since one week the actions in the ring showed you were supposed to be concerned with AJ, but this week, Cole and Lawler were basically attacking her while on commentary and she even insulted them in the process. We're getting some mixed signals with who's playing face/heel for this rivalry, but I think it's for the best. Leave it up to the audience to determine who's in the right/wrong here. I'm personally pulling for AJ, but that's just me. 

Goldie vs Golden Boy

One of the main themes of tonight's show was Goldust trying to avenge his brother's firing by fighting to get his job back. In order for Cody Rhodes to be hired once again, Goldust would have to defeat Randy Orton in a singles match. I've always enjoyed Goldust's work throughout his career. Sure, the man's character is very odd and can seem a little bizarre, but I've always felt he went out there and gave his best and found a way to be enjoyable. Goldie gives it his best shot to defeat Randy, but it wasn't enough. Due to the defeat, Goldust has to…Umm…He…Ummmmmm…Hmmm…What exactly is the punishment if Goldust lost the match? Does he have to pay? Does he have to give up his wardrobe? Does he have to wash Trips' car? What's the punishment? Oh well, I guess the punishment of Stephanie unleashing bitch-mode on you for disappointing the Rhodes family is punishment enough. Speaking of which, right on time, Steph! Aww, poor Goldust. I haven't seen him this down since breaking up with Booker T. I really liked how this came across. Makes me wonder what the Rhodes family will do in order to get one over on the McMahons. 

WrestlingNerd's ADD moment(s) of the night

Bray Wyatt defeated Dolph Ziggler due to all the help from the Wyatt family. Hmmm, I wonder if Dolph is missing AJ and Big E at this point? Hey look, it's RVD and Alberto Del Rio building up something… or someone…I got nothing. Although, I thought it was funny to have RVD vs Ryback. Turns out the loser of the match would have to get a new artist for their attire. Antonio Cesaro went up against Santino this evening. It's been awhile since we've seen Santino and it was great to finally seem him back. The best part of the match was seeing the spinning Santino. It's the WWE Game Show: Spin the Santino… WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I want to play! I know it would've been dangerous, but part of me wanted to see him fly into the audience. How far can he go? Nobody knows!!! Why did I talk about any of this? I don't know!!!

DB lives?

The final match of the night was Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose. Big Show was forced to watch on the outside since Show's contract states he must cry at least once a week. After all, the man's 'broke'. I also find it funny when it breaks things backstage since I imagine he has to pay for that. Instead of feeding the family, I must break or blow up stuff. Blow s*** up! Anyway, DB defeats Ambrose despite some Shield assistance. After the match, Shield attacks while Sad Show continues to be tortured. Randy Orton comes out and hits and RKO. This seems to be the end of the show, meaning that the IWC can bitch about the show ending the same yet again….BUT WAIT!!! Trips comes out and wants Show to deliver a KO punch to DB. Show continues to question him while Randy is getting in his face to follow orders. After some more bitching from the substitute golden boy, DB gets back up and hits Randy in the face with a Captain Falcon knee. It's like a rising knee to the face! Yeah, so the show ends with Bryan standing tall for once. I know it's gonna be common for the corporation to stand tall in future episodes, but you gotta mix it up once in a while. I know the likelihood of Bryan actually winning this Sunday is 0-1%, but I just hope to see an entertaining match until it comes time to perform the shenanigans. 

Overall Impression:

This episode wasn't too bad. I really liked the opening, but it does leave you with an empty feeling and it did bother me a bit. I realize Edge is very limited in what he can do, but interference by waiving his arms in the air would've been appreciated. Outside of that, I thought this was a decent episode to go into Night of Champions. I know it looks like NoC can be one of those filler PPVs since there most likely won't be a WWE title change, but something can happen in the WHC department since that guy in the robe is still lurking. Yeah, I really don't have much to say about this episode. It wasn't bad or anything since it was still pretty good episode, but it doesn't hold up against some of the other episodes as of late. Like those episodes have been so good that even a decent episode can be look at as average. Does that make any sense? Well, I think I need to wrap this up. Thanks for checking out the review and tell me what you thought of the show or the review. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/2/13 Review (Emo Show)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/2/13. What happens on this Labor Day edition of Raw? Let's find out and begin. 

Intro time

We open up the show with Triple H and Randy Orton. Randy basically tells you that you have to respect him. If you don't, you can screw your family, friends, career, well-being, pet goldfish, 3rd grade teacher, and die. Yeah, that's a good representation of Randy's words. As Triple H continues to piss off the IWC with all this Cruiserweight talk, Daniel Bryan interrupts. After a little more pushing and shoving, Trips books DB vs Big Show for later this evening…

To add to his douchebaggery, Trips and his bitch run into Cody Rhodes. Cody starts to speak his mind about the corporation's ego trip, so this leads to Cody's career being on the line against Randy later this evening. Wow, so a lot going on in this episode and we're barely 20 minutes into the show. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting this due to the fact it's a holiday, but I like this approach. If the train is still going, why slow it down? 

Dolph's spot

After a quick match between Miz and Fandango, Booker T tells Bryan to get with the program since he's fighting a war he can't win. Since Bryan is the lone wolf, he turns down his offer. Hey, it's Booker T's new job, the un-motivational speaker. He does his job well. Dolph Ziggler is getting ready for a match against Ryback, but Dean Ambrose attacks Dolph before the match. You think the referee would call off the match, but he's probably forced to not question it if he still wants a weekly check. Thanks to the attack, Ryback has an easy time defeating Dolph. One of the things I wanted to bring up is Dolph's placement since it seems a lot of people feel that Dolph has regressed a bit since losing the WHC. First of all, he's being used in the main storyline of the show. To me, that's higher on the pecking order than the WHC. In fact, the WHC has dipped quite a bit during that time since it feels more like a mid-card title than a world title. I just feel Dolph has more to gain by being apart of the heroes vs corporation storyline, so I don't think it's a big deal if Dolph's completely done with the WHC. It's just something I wanted to bring up since since it seems people think you're getting mistreated if you don't have something shiny on your shoulder and/or lose a few matches. Besides, the matches he's losing are being used to build the storyline and not as a use of punishment… Well, kayfabe punishment, not real-life punishment… massive punishment?…NEXT SCENE!

CM Punk follow-up

I like how Paul Heyman complains about the match at Night of Champions and Trips basically says 'F*** you, you're doing the match'. How will Paul get out of this one? Will he be punked? Tune in next week to find out. CM Punk does go out there to cut another good promo on this storyline. Once again, I really enjoy seeing how Punk and Pauly can work off of each other and see how the other can 1-up the other. Good segment that's worth checking out if you're curious. 

Common family vs corporate family

While there's not a whole lot to discuss with the Prime Time Players/3MB match, it was a nice distraction and it's at least worth a viewing. The next match was Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes. This is what I would consider to be the best match of the night. It was given a decent amount of time and the match meant more when the audience showed so much support for Cody. While Cody did everything he could to win, it still wasn't enough and Randy wins with the RKO. After the match, Trips fires Cody Rhodes… For probably a few weeks since I highly doubt the man is truly fired. If anything, this is to add another individual to this gigantic storyline and we'll see Cody in the near future. Not sure how he'll get brought back and how it'll connect to the main storyline, but I await his return. I've enjoyed what he's done since the funeral of Rhodes Scholars, so I'll await his return with patience. Later on in the evening, Cody explains the Rhodes/McMahon family dilemma and how the McMahons have always made the Rhodes nothing but sideshow attractions. Considering Dusty Rhodes was the originator of every dancing character in professional wrestling and Goldust is the originator of every gender, confused, character in pro wrestling, I can see how there has to be something there from a real-life perspective. It was a good shoot by Rhodes and can't wait to see him return after the honeymoon. 

A diva segment with a switch-a-roo? 

There was a #1 Contender match to determine who gets a Divas title match. As the Total Divas beat the crap out of each other to determine who's deserves the opportunity, Harley Quinn's adopted sister joins us for commentary. It seems Naomi is about to win the match, but AJ interrupts the match since she feels none of them deserve this opportunity. All of the sudden, the Total Divas take out AJ…Huh? I don't know why since this is how the body language in the ring sold it, but why does it seem the roles for this match just flipped sides? The Total Divas taking her out as a team seems more like a heel move while you're given this scene where you're supposed to feel sorry for AJ. Yeah, I wouldn't blame you if your feelings are all over the place on this one. I need to see more with this storyline to see where it's headed, but it still has my interest because of the events of last week and tonight. I should also note that at NoC, it will be a Fatal 4-Way for the Divas title. Like I said before, this makes things rather complex to say the least. 

WHC or US Championship? 

You know what? I'm convinced they put Ricardo Rodriguez with RVD because they wanted Ricardo to still roll his 'r's'. So far, that has been the only proof available for pairing these two up. I know Ricardo has some beef with Alberto Del Rio, but teaming up with RVD? Oh well, let's just move on. RVD defeats Damien Sandow, Del Rio looks on, and this sets things up for their upcoming Intercon--er, I mean World Heavyweight Championship match. Yeah, that's totally what I meant to say… Totally…

Big Show tears

Okay, so it's now time I finally talk about the Big Show conundrum. I saved this segment for last due to obvious reasons you will read about in a few moments. Before I do that, let's address a few things that made me laugh. I like how Show throws a temper tantrum backstage after Steph forces him to do her bidding. No, Big Show!!! You can't break those things! You can't afford it!!! I also love how minutes after an emotional segment, the commentators jump from tears of sadness to the WWE App. Wow, Show's really having a moment here…Hey, the WWE App! Stephanie explained to us that Show is in no position to fight the corporation since he's broke. They explain that Show made some terrible decisions that made him broke but they probably could've dived deeper into the problem. I thought it would've been funny if they explained Show had a gambling problem or spent his wealth on robotic hookers, but I guess they were trying to do something a little more realistic. The reason this was brought up is Show doesn't want to fight Bryan because he considers him a friend…Even though there's been NO indication of this on the show. It isn't like you see Show and Bryan talking with one another all the time and hang out all the time. You're just supposed to accept that they're friends and nothing more. Yeah, I'll admit that was a bit of lazy writing on their part considering Kane would've been a better option in all of this since Kane and Bryan HAD that interaction on the show, but it would feel a bit strange to see Kane having to shed tears of sadness. You can see why that idea would be scraped, but let's get back to the Show/Bryan deal. Like I said, I understand the reasoning for picking Show to be in this storyline since the man plays his part very well, but it would've been nice if they showed more interaction that they're friends other than just saying 'They're friends' and nothing more. Due to Stephanie naming off Show's secrets, Show is basically forced in a corner to do the corporation's evil deeds while being very emotional about it. To be honest, there was really no point to bring up the fact that Show's broke. It would've been fine if you showed Show and Bryan being friends and then blackmail the giant to do your evil deeds. By doing that, you would've achieved the same result as what you saw tonight. I know you can argue that Show's financial issues can add more to it, but I still find it unnecessary. So, let's break it down. You're either gonna enjoy the idea that Show's broke or you're gonna hate this idea. For me, it's too early to say if I'll like it or not since I'm pretty neutral about this new information. With that said, I really liked the interaction between Bryan and Show on tonight's episode. From the beginning of the night all the way to their match where Show was forced to hit the KO punch on Bryan, it was persuading due to the fact that Show sold his emotions rather well. In fact, Show has sold his emotions very well during this entire storyline. I know people are complaining due to the fact that the program has ended the same way for three straight weeks, but you have to give these things time and learn to be patient with some of these things. It's another thing I wanted to bring up since people tend to want the payoff way sooner than it should happen and I think you just have to give it more time before you start waiving the flag. Yeah, I may have some hangups with Show having money issues or the sudden grasp of Show/Bryan's…Ummm, Twitter friendship, but the acting/storytelling can usually be the saving grace for things like this and I think it has. 

Overall Impression:

I went into tonight's show not expecting a whole lot due to the fact it was a holiday and most people would be away from their television sets this week, but I would suggest checking this one out if you did miss the telecast. I personally think WWE has done a great job in the last few weeks in the storytelling department. Of course, there's gonna be a few head-scratching moments or things you aren't gonna like about it, but no storyline/segment is perfect and I think the positives cancel out most of the negatives. This has been one of the more intriguing storylines for quite some time and the storyline itself is too interesting for me to really spend a large amount of time harping over some of the little things… Even though some of those little things could at least use a polish here and there. Again, this is personal preference at the end of the day and I totally understand why some people aren't really enjoying the major storyline. It's only my opinion at the end of the day and if you don't enjoy this storyline or totally disagree with me, that's totally fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and there's nothing wrong with that at the end of the day. I liked tonight's episode and I think it's worth checking out, but take of that whatever you will. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of tonight's episode or the review. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.