WWE Main Event 16/09/2014

Dolph Ziggler & R Ziggler vs The Miz & Damien Mizdow

Here, R-Truth is cosplaying as Ziggler to counteract the Miz/Mizdow duo. The face team is pretty unexciting in the early stages, so it’s nice when Mizdow breaks their momentum with a headbutt to Ziggler. Liked Miz ducking a superkick to protect his face, allowing Ziggler to roll him up for two. Ziggler briefly plays face in peril, but makes the tag with no real build up. Miz does a terrible job of selling the Fameasser, but Truth does manage to hit Ziggler’s leaping DDT without the need for to slap Miz’s back, making it much better looking. Truth hits a Lie Detector on Mizdow, but Miz is the legal man, and he hits the Skull Crushing Finale to win.

Brie Bella vs Cameron

Surprisingly decent, albeit not particularly long. Both women seem pretty aggressive to start, felt like they were actually battling over moves. Loved the rolling crab Brie gets as Cameron runs the ropes. Cameron gets a brief control that looks decent, hitting a standing splits legdrop and working over Brie’s back. Bella comes back with a diving clothesline and a facebuster to win. Genuinely decent stuff.

Big E vs Seth Rollins

They get a reasonable amount of time – just over fifteen minutes – but unfortunately they don’t make the most of it. A lot of this match sees Rollins in control, and he really drags it out. His beatdown is methodical and not especially interesting, and he fills more time with two long chinlocks. His standing enzuigiri looks nice, but it’s Big E who really impresses here. Aside from his attempt at press-slamming Rollins from the floor to the ring – where Rollins gets stuck in the ropes, and his eventual landing seems him fall not very far – his stuff looks great. He catches a Rollins crossbody to hit multiple backbreakers, he hits full-bodied corner charges, his overhead belly-to-belly and standing splash are both great looking moves, and his spear to the floor looks mental. In the end, Rollins throws him into the corner twice, and the Curb Stomp gives him the win. 

WWE Main Event 22/07/2014

Seth Rollins vs Fandango

Perfectly fine match, with the up-and-coming main eventer getting a clean win over the lower midcarder. Rollins’ kneeling flatliner in the corner looked a bit weak, despite Fandango trying his best to save it with a big sell, but the rest of this was competent professional wrestling. Fandango shows nice fire on his comeback, but gets planted with a buckle bomb and a curb stomp for a quick win

Jey Uso vs Ryback

Decent stuff here, as they work a nice speed vs power section at the start. Uso throws some really nice right hands before using his speed to get two counts from a roll-up and a crucifix. Ryback catches him from the second rope with a huge spinebuster that looked great. Meathook clothesline gets reverse to a big Samoan Drop, but a Curtis Axel distraction allows Ryback to hit a second attempt to win.

Slater Gator vs Big E & Kofi Kingston

Bit of a curio here, as the proto-New Day are accompanied by Xavier Woods in glasses and Brother Love’s clothes, barking orders at them throughout the match. Titus does get to chuck around Kofi at the beginning, but he soon tags out after Slater and O’Neill start bickering. Big E blitzes them both, the New Day hit their own twist on Demolition Decapitation to both (with a Kofi top rope stomp replacing the elbow, looked a bit shit to be honest) and Xavier yells at them to stack Slater Gator on top of each other for the win. Interesting glimpse into what might have been, but I think their current direction was a better choice.

Jack Swagger vs Rusev

Both come into this nursing wounds from their previous matches – Rusev has a bad ankle, that Swagger tries for from the opening bell, whilst Swagger has a suspected concussion from hitting his head on a ring post. We get a break, with Rusev fully in control on the return, kicking Swagger repeatedly in the head and using it as a focal point. Loved Rusev stomping and standing on Swagger’s head whilst holding onto his arm for leverage. Swagger’s comeback is nice, huge overhead bodyslam and he hooks the ankle lock after grabbing the foot on an attempted block of the Swagger Bomb. Ending is a bit disappointing, as they head outside and Rusev uses the Russian flag to draw a DQ, but the meat of this was really fun

WWE Main Event 15/07/2014

Emma vs Cameron

Not a match I was looking forward to, but credit where it’s due I thought Cameron showed some nice aggression here. She looked like she really disliked Emma, and getting boots up on the corner cross body looked nicely timed. Emma takes a big bump to the floor when she gets dumped attempting a tarantula. Emma gets the win though, when she gets a small package after Cameron was distracted by taunting Naomi at ringside. Short, but surprisingly effective.

Rybaxel vs Big E & Kofi Kingston

This is pre-New Day, but I think only a week or two before they formed. This was really fun, Rybaxel had become a legit good team at this point. Love Axel grape-vining a free arm with his legs whilst holding Kofi in a side headlock. The inevitable Big E/Ryback big lads face off is great, both guys move really well and it’s a fast paced little segment filled with unlikely leapfrogs and nice rope running. Axel might well be the MVP of the bout though, loved his running knee to the face of Big E and the diving clothesline from the apron that makes E the face in peril. It leads to a hot finishing run and a great end as Big E just hurls Axel upwards, he bounces off the canvas and straight into Trouble In Paradise for the New Day win. Great stuff.

Sheamus vs The Miz

This is right after the Miz came back and was working the “money maker” defending his face schtick. Sheamus is a guy who’ll totally blast you in the face, so this was a fun pairing. Miz works a load of fun avoidance spots that lead to him taking more punishments, like not being able to stop the 10 blows to the chest due to covering his face. Sheamus happily works some meaty sounding body shots whilst Miz is concerned with his face. This plays nicely to the end too, as Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick, Miz cowers with his face covers, and Sheamus locks in a really tight roll up to win. Fun stuff.

WWE Main Event 01/07/2014

Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs Xavier Woods & R-Truth

Bit of a disappointment here, as not only is this an extended squash, but Woods and Truth look a bit off the pace here, awkward and hesitant in their movements. I did like the big boot to the face that Harper hit on Truth and Rowan’s match-winning sitout uranage on Woods was decent.

The Funkadactyls vs Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox

Another very short match, and this was mostly all angle. Nikki had lost a handicap match to the Funkadactyls on Raw (in the midst of her feud with Stephanie McMahon). Here, she’s been given Alicia as her tag partner, and we’re all just sat waiting for the moment that Fox turns on her. The bulk of this is Cameron “controlling” Nikki with a submission, before Nikki tries the hot tag…only for Fox to shockingly move out of the way and kick her in the head for the Cameron pinfall. Match was barely two minutes, thankfully.

Dolph Ziggler, Big E & Rob Van Dam vs Cesaro & Rybaxel

On the last Main Event, I waxed lyrical about how a six-man tag match is a pretty solid format, making it easier to hide the sins of the less capable performers in the match. Thus, it feels sad that just one episode later I’m pretty disappointed in this one. Cesaro is working an “injured eye” bit, complete with an eyepatch, so it makes it a bit more jarring when “babyface” shitbag Ziggler attacks his eye and rips off his eyepatch. What a cunt. There were a few bits I enjoyed here – Ryback blocking a Big E belly-to-belly with a few headbutts was nice, and the eventual overhead belly-to-belly by Big E was super impressive. But we get a lengthy RVD face-in-peril section that wasn’t very interesting. Ryback hits a snake eyes on him that has visible space between the turnbuckle and his head, and Cesaro works a long chinlock to the delight of no-one. Ryback at least commits fully to missing the top rope splash that leads to the hot tag. Ziggler runs through all his worst offence – the un-countalong corner punches, the back-slap DDT and the dreadful fameasser – before pinning Cesaro with a zig zag. Yeah, this was a bit of a shit episode.

WWE Main Event 21/04/2014

Proper good episode of Main Event. Four matches, all worth a watch. Good use of an hour.

Big E vs Alberto Del Rio

Pretty decent little sprint here. Both move pretty quickly to start, with Del Rio showing a vicious side as he tries to wear down the bigger man. Loved Del Rio headbutting his way out of a belly-to-belly attempt, followed by a vicious kick to the head. Also loved a really nice sequence where Alberto escaped the Big Ending, shoved Big E into the corner and immediately followed with an enzuigiri. Big E makes a comeback and, in a rather slick sequence, catches Del Rio on a tornado DDT attempt and hoists him onto his shoulder for the Big Ending. Dug this.

El Torito vs Hornswoggle

The commentary team only play this for comedy, which is a shame, as the match is pretty fun. El Torito in particular is pretty good on the mat, tying Hornwoggle up in a leglock. Torito looked great with a nice top rope crossbody, but Hornwoggle had some surprisingly nice bits too. Loved his vicious running kick to the skull. Torito goes for a moonsault, but is distracted by Heath Slater, causing him to miss and letting Hornswoggle hit the Tadpole Splash to win. Fun stuff.

Sheamus vs Titus O’Neill

This was pretty boss. Considering their respective place on the card at the time, Sheamus was especially giving to make Titus look like a beast. Right away, Sheamus takes a big pinball bump out of the ring to put over O’Neill’s strength. Loved how these two guys were both happy to lay in the blows, with the body shots from both making a lovely thwacking sound. Sheamus takes a big bump, as he tries to hit the slingshot shoulderblock into the ring, but meets a big forearm and tumbles to the floor. Really nice show of strength as Titus catches a top rope crossbody to hit a fallaway slam, which looked great. Even the end helped keep Titus strong, as he spends too long shit-talking Sheamus, holding him by the face, only to meet a quick headbutt and a Brogue Kick for the win. This basically ruled.

Ryback vs Jimmy Uso

Ryback and Jimmy also seem happy to lay in the blows on this match, so we’ve got quite a fun episode of Main Event this week. Really enjoyed Uso going for a big out of control dive early, knowing he’s got to take it to the Big Guy early. It’s slightly disappointing that we go to a break with Ryback out on the floor, and return to find Uso in the same position, takes away from the match a bit. Ryback’s control is pretty standard, punctuated with some really nice bits. Loved his massive spinebuster and the meathook clothesline always looks devastating. Uso kickstarting his comeback by powering out of a Ryback powerbomb attempt feels unlikely. The end sees Ryback hit the Shellshock after Curtis Axel distracts Uso, and this was a perfectly fine match.

WWE Battleground 2016

Bizarrely, this is one of the few times I've written a review of a recent WWE PPV on the blog since I did Battleground 2013 a few years back. I'm normally to lazy to write up thoughts on a show, as there's usually one match I fancy skipping, but this year, the entire show looked decent. As it turned out, it was a good show all in all.

Dana Brooke & Charlotte vs Sasha Banks & Bayley           

Huge pop for Bayley as the mystery partner. Bayley and Sasha milk the audience reaction, so the heels jump them to start, which makes sense. I also liked the ref checking with a beaten-down Bayley if she wanted him to ring the bell, made it look like she was a fighter. The match was a really hot opener, and I think all four women contributed to that. I’m not as high on Sasha as a lot of people, and there were a few sloppy moments here (including a terrible looking flying headscissors), but I think she did a good job on the apron waiting for the hot tag. Likewise, I’m not as down on Dana as a lot of others, I think here she showed she’s got a brain for how wrestling works. Loved her petty little kicks in the corner after a few stomps, and her trash talking is on point. Bayley takes a few nasty bumps here, including hitting the back of her head on the turnbuckle, and both here and Dana really collide on a double clothesline spot. Sasha nails a beautiful looking knee to the side of Charlotte’s face. It all breaks down before Bayley wipes out Dana with a nice leaping kick through the corner of the ring, and Banks locks in the Bank Statement on Charlotte for the win.

The Wyatt Family vs The New Day

A nice reminder of WWE circa 2014, where there were great 6-man tags on a near weekly basis. This was the best the Wyatt’s have looked in a long time, with Rowan and Bray both looking great. Rowan really laid in his blows here, whilst Wyatt looked dynamic, getting great height on his senton. Kudos to Kofi here, he made the Wyatts look gold, with a big bump landing him on his head off a Wyatt clothesline. Big E looks great coming in off the hot tag – he’s so athletic and his size makes him look like a missile as he runs the ropes. His overhead belly-to-belly on Rowan was superb. The match had a fun underlying story, with Xavier Woods still scared of Bray and showing signs of falling under his spell, before Kingston attacking Bray snapped him out of the trance. However, Bray does the spider walk to put Woods off his game for a second and Sister Abigail gets three. Really fun.

Rusev vs Zack Ryder

Hard not to love Rusev’s trunks having “US Champ” on the waistband. This was fought just about right for the respective levels of these two. Rusev is so good right now, he was portrayed here and the dominant force, with Ryder getting some well timed comebacks. Loved the brutality of Rusev just laying into Ryder on the mat. I thought Ryder did well to show some spirit here – for example, when Rusev caught an attempt at a boot, Ryder kept punching Rusev in the head to try and get him to drop the foot, rather than just standing like an idiot. I also loved Ryder hitting a desperation missile dropkick from the barricades after getting dumped there by Rusev. In the ring, Zack hits the Rough Ryder, but hasn’t worn down Rusev sufficiently, so the El-Bro hits knee. Ryder still looks strong in defeat as Rusev is forced to use the super-Accolade for the tap. Good filler.

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens

It’s nice to see a feud ending match without any stipulations for a change, just two guys finally sorting out who is the best. Loved Owens immediately escaping the ring when the bell rings, suckering Sami outside to hurl him into the barricades. Owens is great at making stuff look natural – for example, after crotching Zayn on the top rope, Sami lands in the corner and Owens seizes the opportunity by quickly going for a cannonball. It’s the look he gives as if he’s just realised where Sami is, and that he can hit a big move if he just goes for it quickly. Really enjoyed how Owens worked the chinlock, including grinding his stubbly beard into Sami’s head just to be a dick. Sami takes a nasty looking spill on a moonsault press, landing on a shoulder which Owens then works on. There are some really big bombs thrown here, and a lot of stuff kicked out of, but it works here in the context of two guys who know each other so well and hate each other laying it all out in one last grudge match. Zayn hitting a brainbuster on the apron looked sick, and Owens sells it perfectly. Owens preventing the corner tornado DDT and hitting another cannonball to the back of Sami’s head was a lovely twist on a familiar move. The end is suitably climactic as well – Zayn nails the Heluva kick, but instead of trying the pin, he looks at the beaten frame of his once-best friend, and quickly nails a second knowing that one wont be enough to finish Owens off. Really great match, really felt like a suitable ending to their feud.

Becky Lynch vs Natalya

Hard not to feel bad for Becky being stuck in a feud with Natalya, whilst Bayley and Banks soak up the adoration of the crowd in the opener, especially as she’s now stuck on a show with no women’s title. Fun start to the match, with Becky outwrestling Nattie and keeping her grounded. Natalya is a bit robotic in her movements, but I enjoyed her heel work here, as well as her focused legwork. Combining the two by posing whilst standing on Becky’s leg is terrific. Hard not to love Nattie’s trash talking of “my cat is better than you”. Becky showed great fire on her comeback, still selling the legwork, and I loved Natalya just ramming her hand into Becky’s face to allow her to put on the sharpshooter. Becky escapes, but Natalya kicks her leg out from behind the official on a rope break and locks in another sharpshooter for the win. You can tell Natalya raised her game working with arguably the best woman wrestler on the roster, and this was her best match in years.

Darren Young vs The Miz

I’m so ready for this Darren Young mini-push, and it feels like he is as well. Loved him throwing some big forearms, hitting great looking overhead suplexes and still taking big bumps to the floor. Miz’s control wasn’t particularly interesting, which is a shame as he’s been good this year, but it felt a bit lacklustre here. Still, the good vibes I’ve had from the quality of the show so far meant I was into this enough that I actually cared about the outcome of a Miz/Young backslide struggle in 2016, so this did it’s job. Terrible ending though, with both men disqualified after Bob Backlund and Maryse get involved outside, but I did like Darren Young’s crazy eyes after he’d snapped.

The Club vs John Cena, Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady

Enzo cuts a decent promo before the match, followed by a pretty wretched effort from Cassady. His delivery is terrible. Luckily for the match quality, Cassady doesn’t spend much time in the ring, and when he is in there he’s mainly just throwing Enzo into their opponents. Luke Gallows may have the worst ring attire in the company, but I really enjoyed him here, hitting a nice Jackhammer on Amore and later hitting a Baldo Bomb on Cassady which looked impressive. The Club work a long heat on Enzo, and AJ in particular shows an impressive nasty streak. Loved him hurling Enzo into the barricades. There’s a great cutoff of a hot-tag as Anderson just throws himself at Enzo to prevent him reaching his corner. The match does break down a bit towards the end, with it kind of degenerating into people entering the ring, hitting a finisher, then turning around to get hit by the new guy entering the ring. Also, there’s a horribly clunky moment when Cena sort of catches Enzo in the air, and Gallows has to stand staring like a twat before Cena uses Amore as a weapon. Still, this was pretty good, Cena finishing off AJ with a top rope Attitude Adjustment

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns

Despite a few nice moments, this really is a match that didn’t feel like it added up to the sum of it’s parts. It starts well, with Reigns and Ambrose teaming to repeatedly eject Rollins from the ring, and I liked the work by both Ambrose and Reigns here. Roman felt like a big brick wall of an opponent, ploughing through both guys on offence and standing up to a lot of Rollins’ attacks. With this in mind, it made sense that mortal enemies Rollins and Ambrose teamed up to powerbomb him through a table to take him out of the match. Ambrose really felt like the scrappy underdog champion, and I loved the spot where the other two were so preoccupied with fighting each other that they failed to spot Ambrose running along the announce tables to hurl himself at them. Two things let the side down: firstly the typical triple threat format which required one person to be predisposed at any one time whilst the other two fight. Secondly, I didn’t enjoy Rollins’ contribution to the match as much as I did the other two. Hate his superplex which he chains into a falcon arrow, it takes away all the impact of hitting a big top rope move. He also has a dreadful looking pedigree, which he needs to bin off ASAP. The callback to the Shield split with Rollins chairshotting both guys in the back was a nice touch, but this match didn’t wow me. Still, good to see the champion put over strongly with a clean win, leaving both opponents down for the count.

WWE Main Event 25/03/2014

Pretty disappointing episode of Main Event here. Fuck knows what I did to deserve two Ziggler matches.

Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler

Christian had won a four-way on Raw to face Big E for the IC strap on this episode of Main Event, but had picked up his career ending concussion, so the other three from the match had this triple threat to see who got the match. Nice little one-show angle. The problem this match suffers from is that you’ve got two guys really laying in their blows, putting in a sense of struggle when trying to escape holds, and it clashes with the wrestling style of Ziggler, who’s offence looks milky in comparison and isn’t the kind of guy who puts in realistic touches. Compare Del Rio punching at Sheamus in a failed attempt to prevent the rolling senton with Ziggler hitting his “opponent holds me in the air until I slap his back to let him know it’s time for a DDT” DDT. With Del Rio being the only heel, he controls a good part of this match, working over Ziggler and keeping Sheamus on the outside (I appreciated ADR going back to make sure Sheamus couldn’t get back in, rather than Sheamus mysteriously vanishing for ages as in most triple threats). Sheamus’s comeback is great, he’s a terrific offensive wrestler and I love how he builds up momentum, hitting more and more moves from the ropes so he’s like a big block of muscle crashing into his opponents. The end sees a really hot sequence between ADR and Sheamus, before Sheamus misses a Brogue Kick and ends up stranded on the ropes. ADR hits the backstabber, but Ziggler comes in to hit the Zig Zag on him at the same time. Even though Del Rio landed in exactly the same way that he was going to, this earns the win for Ziggler. Dolph really was a subtraction by addition to this match.

Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Emma & Eva Marie vs Layla, Alicia Fox, Tamina, Summer Rae & Aksana

AJ Lee is on commentary, as this is just a brief bout to showcase the entrants in the “AJ Lee vs the world” match at Mania. Being so short, no-one really gets the chance to stand out, bar Layla looking awesome as a stooging heel. She’s not afraid to look daft to put her opponent over, even doing a goofy version of the Robot to counter Emma’s terrible dance. Eva Marie becomes face-in-peril, and surprisingly working heat on the least popular and least sympathetic member of the face team doesn’t generate much reaction from the crowd. Naomi gets the hot tag and immediately hits a terrible rana on Tamina. She improved SO much on her heel turn. It all breaks down, leaving Tamina to nail a superkick on Naomi for the win.

Big E vs Dolph Ziggler

This match really doesn’t work, as both guys seem to have trouble clicking. They’re in a strange boat where the bigger face IC champ is taking on a smaller guy who wrestled a ten minute match earlier in the hour, so they need to find a way to make sure Big E doesn’t look like a bully. Seemingly the solution they choose is for Ziggler to sell zero exhaustion from his earlier match, which has the unfortunate side effect of making Big E look weak as he ends up selling more than Dolph in this match. There’s too many odd moments here that don’t work: Big E jams his shoulder on the ring post on a corner charge, but this doesn’t get worked over or sold again in the bout. Ziggler’s offence is reduced to just dropkicks, whilst Big E keeps on hitting clotheslines. It’s just not a very good match, though I liked the ending: Big E throws Ziggler up in the air, causing him to splat on the mat and grabs him as he bounces upwards to hit the Big Ending for the win.

WWE Superstars 21/2/2014

Continuing our run through WWE C-shows, it's time to hit up Superstars. Based on this episode, I suspect I'll enjoy it less than Main Event, with too much time spent on Raw/Smackdown recaps. Stuff that noise, use that time to give me a Fandango vs Heath Slater match!

Natalya vs Tamina
This match starts really oddly, as Natalya walks towards Tamina with her arms raised up high and takes a punch to the stomach straight away to give Tamina the advantage. Made Nattie look like an idiot. Tamina basically controls the bulk of the match from hereon, maintaining her advantage with a vicious looking clothesline. Tamina hits a slightly clumsy looking powerslam before Natalya starts her comeback. Nice to see Natalya showing some real fire too, but her spinning clothesline gets blocked with a big boot to the face. Tamina tries a Samoan drop, which Nattie escapes and puts on the Sharpshooter straight away for the tapout. Really poor structure, as Tamina basically dominates in an uninteresting way, then Nattie gets the win with one of her first real offensive moves.

Big E vs Drew McIntyre
Man, Big E really was the C-show king at this time. I actually thought this was a step up from the Main Event match the same week. Loved Big E showing off his power by catching a McIntyre crossbody and hitting 3 backbreakers. Drew gets control following the smallest Jinder Mahal distraction, as his leaping on the apron gives Drew an extra second or two to avoid a corner charge. Like the Main Event match, Drew works over Big E's arm, but it's more effective this time. Firstly because it makes sense with Big E jarring his shoulder on the corner charge, but also due to how Drew uses it. Here, he's more actively trying for pinfalls and, when he only gets two, goes to the arm as a weak point to control Big E to buy some time to think. In the end, it's Drew's overconfidence that costs him: he starts pounding Big E in the corner, but pauses to lambast the crowd for counting along. This gap allows Big E to throw him down and run though his finishing sequence to hit the Big Ending for the win. Really fun match here, though at this point I'd like to see Big E mixing up that finishing run a bit. Still, enjoyed this.

WWE Main Event 11/02/2014

Well, these shows feel like they're going to be enjoyably quick to blast through. This show was a lot of fun, and the opener was legitimately very good.

The Wyatt Family vs Sin Cara & Los Matadores
Well, this was really great. This was shortly before the Wyatts took on the Shield at Elimination Chamber, and they still had all their aura. Here, they beast the high-flying face team, but allow them some well-timed moments of hope to keep this competitve, and the crowd do get behind the face team. The Wyatts dominate Fernando, tagging quickly and hitting some nasty looking offence. I loved Bray just unloading with nasty looking body shots in the corner. Sin Cara looks great as the hot tag, all kinetic energy as he uses every side of the ring to bounce back at Luke Harper with crossbodies and elbows, but gets caught springboarding in by a big boot to the face. Bray was so explosive here, it's really easy to remember why everyone was so hyped for the big Shield match. Loved Bray's big avalanche in the corner. Diego is the matador who gets the hot tag, and as the least-beaten down face, it makes sense for him to look solid, outsmarting Rowan (again, the right choice of Wyatt to outsmart). He gets a really close nearfall on Rowan after Cara kicks him in the face. After a fun series of dives and nasty bumps, we end up with Bray and Cara in the ring, with Sister Abigail picking up the win in short order. Really fun competitive squash.

Natalya vs Aksana
I had totally forgotten Aksana existed, so it took me a few seconds to place the porno sax theme tune. This is shortly after she shattered Naomi's eye socket with a clumsy knee, so she keeps patting her knee to taunt Nattie with it as a weapon. Early on, Aksana downs Natalya with a sudden clothesline that looked really good, and a match I had no hope for actually turned out pretty fun. Aksana used to be a powerlifter and Natalya has always been one of the more powerfully built divas, so there were moments here where both girls collided with greater gusto than you normally see. There's a spot where they both try a crossbody that looks suitably hurty. Aksana is actually pretty good at cutting off Natalya's comebacks, and I thought her getting a 2 count by snatching a small package off a Sharpshooter looked smooth. The end saw Aksana try to knee Nattie in the face, only for Natalya to catch the leg and swiftly lock in the Sharpshooter for the win. This surprised me.

Big E vs Drew McIntyre
We've lost the "Langston" surname this week, the second week in a row the IC champ has been on Main Event. They play up Big E facing former IC champs back-to-back weeks. Loved the start as Drew gets more and more frustrated at Big E avoiding his attacks, and thus getting more sloppy with each attempt. Drew takes control and hits a lovely clothesline from the top rope. A lot of Drew's control work is based on working Big E's arm on the mat, which doesn't really go anywhere, but things heat up towards the end with Big E's lovely running splash, Drew nailing a big boot to the face and an excellent finish with Big E grabbing a running McIntyre with a tilt-a-whirl straight into the Big Ending for the win.

Big E vs Jinder Mahal
After the match, Jinder demands a match right away. With the slider showing 2 minutes left, I knew this would be quick, and Big E shakes off some blows, hits a huge clothesline and the Big Ending to squash Mahal. Harmless fun.

WWE Main Event 04/02/2014

Given the amount of content on the WWE Network, it dawned on me that I don't go through anywhere near enough of it, including never watching the C-shows Main Event and Superstars that go up on there. Considering that these shows are just fun hour-long episodes with solid TV wrestling matches, that felt like something I should address, so I'm going to start running through the two C-shows from the earliest Network episodes, hopefully picking out some hidden gems.

Fandango vs the Miz
Santino Marella and Emma are guest commentators and fuck me, Emma is unbearable. Just irritating faux-bubbliness, a world away from how good she currently is on NXT. The commentary mostly ignore the match to concentrate on shit Emma-based puns. Shame, as the bout is actually pretty good, despite featuring face Miz. I thought Fandango was excellent here, loved him ending a chop battle with a big leaping kick to Miz's arm, and then ramming him into the ring post leading to a big bump by Miz. Fandango works over the arm nicely, dropping knees to the injury then grinding them in. Miz's comeback is weak, with a running knee looking shit. Miz goes for the figure-four several times, despite not having worked over Fandango's leg. Whereas Fandango's bodypart work continues with a great hammerlock Northern lights. He also transitions fluidly from trying a roll up straight into an armbar. Just great stuff, making it more sad when Miz locks on the figure four to get the tap from out of nowhere.

Alberto Del Rio vs Zack Ryder
The commentary team are hyping up a mini-feud between Del Rio and Batista, so you don't give Ryder too much hope here. Zack keeps up with Del Rio for the first minute or two, before getting draped over the top rope then hurled into a barricade. Loved Del Rio showing some aggression as he just punches Ryder in the back of his head on the mat. Ryder makes a brief comeback including a shitty neckbreaker, but both guys telegraph a Rough Ryder reversal so badly that they're both preparing the reversal before the move starts. The ending is odd, as Del Rio viciously drops a knee on the arm, seemingly in preparation for the cross-armbreaker, then immediately superkicks Zack in the head for the win. This was fine.

Big E vs Curtis Axel
Big E is still the IC champ at this point, and still has the "Langston" surname. This is a semi-competitive squash for Big E, who controls the bulk of this match. Axel sells his arse off here to make Big E look good, including a fun bump when getting clotheslined out of the ring, pinging his face off the apron. Axel isn't a small guy, so Big E catching him in the air is pretty impressive, as he reverses a crossbody into a backbreaker. Love the explosiveness of Big E's offence, flying into the corner on shoulderbarges. Axel cheapshots don't give him a sustained advantage, as Big E keeps cutting him off, until he lures Big E out and rams him into the apron and ring steps. The Axel offensive run isn't very exciting, so it's probably for the best that it doesn't last long. Axel does hit an unlikely PerfectPlex for 2, but the Big Ending soon polishes it off.

WWE Extreme Rules 2015

Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper

This was a pretty fun deal, and I liked Ambrose’s high-energy assault to start. The kendo shots on Harper sounded really nasty, but not as nasty as the suplex onto an open chair that Harper hits. Harper lawn darting Ambrose into a chair in the corner was pretty great. I really like that Ambrose has these quick flurries of energy when on the offensive, and the quick offensive burst that ended with his diving elbow drop was fun. There was a lovely spot on the outside where Harper tried to throw Dean into the ring, only for Ambrose to pivot his body on the apron and burst out with a clothesline. Really fun spot. They brawl to the back and, as Harper tries to escape in a waiting car, Ambrose dives into through the passenger window and off they drive…

Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler

The first few minutes of Ziggler offence were pretty meh, including Ziggler hitting a horrible “carry me round” tornado DDT to the floor. As soon as Sheamus goes on offence though, things quickly improve, as Sheamus hits a lovely knee to the temple of Ziggler. Even a Sheamus chinlock looks great with how he cranks at Ziggler’s neck whilst holding it. Ziggler gets the odd hope spot, but this match is all about great Sheamus offence. I loved him catching a superkick, hurling Ziggler down and just flipping him into the Cloverleaf. Ziggler gets the win with a fluke roll up, but it’s Sheamus who comes out of this looking great.

The New Day vs Cesaro & Tyson Kidd

Xavier Woods was incredibly annoying as a face, so he’s perfectly suited to the role of heel cheerleader here. I actually saw a version of this match at a houseshow in Nottingham, so I wasn’t surprised that this was pretty great. Loved Kidd and Cesaro stomping their opponents to the beat of “New….Day Sucks”. Kidd hits a beautiful dive through the ropes, taking him straight through Kingston. This is actually the most I’ve enjoyed Kofi Kingston, as this heel role has given him a bit more of an edge. Now, he’s using his speed for quick cut-offs, which look more effective than they did as actual match-winning offence. Cesaro whipping his opponent from corner to corner, peppered with uppercuts, is a really neat face spot, whilst Big E spearing through the ropes to send Kidd flying to the floor is an ever-impressive bump. Kingston gets the win with a handful of tights on a roll-up, and I want to see this match every month.

Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper

….and we return to these two guys as they drive back into the arena. Ambrose hits a great elbow from the top of the car onto Harper and a celebrating New Day, before the match returns to the ring. There’s a great visual as both guys throw chairs into the ring, and suddenly make eye-contact from opposite sides. The match ends with Harper trying an ill-fated top rope move, instead getting hurled from the top onto the chairs, and Ambrose hitting Dirty Deeds for the win. Fun deal.

Rusev vs John Cena

Given the PG nature of WWE programming, this was never going to live up to my ideal of a brutal chain match, but I did hope for something a bit better than this. This was fought under touch-the-four-corners rules, with lights to indicate the scores on each turnbuckle. The problem with this stipulation is that it makes the match pretty repetitive and dull, with lots of drama-free tug of war spots. I did enjoy Cena yanking Rusev into the ring post when they were brawling outside, mainly because Rusev took an insane bump into the steel. However, the match was typified by Rusev, a man not known for his high risk moves, climbing to the top rope solely so that Cena could pull him off using the chain. The match is pretty much a spectacle of watching two talented guys slowly walk between turnbuckles that they’d normally zip between, just to try and create some drama. The end sees both guys somehow tied on three posts each, both needing the same final turnbuckle to win. Rusev goes for it, is pulled back and nailed with the AA for the Cena victory.

Nikki Bella vs Naomi

This heel turn has worked wonders for Naomi. Showing her more aggressive side has slowed her down, eliminating some of the athletic, but sloppy, moves she used to do. Also, her statuesque form makes it convincing for her to boss other women in the ring. I thought her hitting a running bulldog through the rope to send Nikki face first into the second turnbuckle was great. She also hit a slick full Nelson bomb into a pin, which looked good. Nikki’s offence looked a bit weaker than usual here, with a springboard kick looking pretty milky, and we didn’t get to see her awesome forearm smash. Nikki gets the win with the Rack Attack after Brie Bella kicks Naomi behind the referee’s back. This was pretty good.

Roman Reigns vs the Big Show

From the get-go, you could tell this was going to be good, as both guys were clearly not afraid of laying in some punches. I loved Big Show refusing to use weapons, confident enough that his size made him enough of a weapon in his own right. It also allows Reigns to get some big pops whenever he brings out the plunder. Of course, when Big Show only gets an 8 count following the KO punch, he suddenly decides to start using the weapons after all. I like how smart Big Show is in breaking the count by rolling out of the ring, as it gets him back to his feet with the least amount of effort. There is a negative part where Big Show uncharacteristically goes to the top rope, which is clearly only so Reigns can throw him off. Show chokeslams Reigns over the top rope to the floor through two tables in a massive bump. Looked great. Big Show sets up more stuff over by the announce table, giving Reigns time to recover, and even when Show returns to the ring, Reigns can only take control by avoiding a Show offensive move, rather than via his own attack. Show rolls out to his feet again, so Reigns knows he has to down the Big Show outside of the ring. A huge spear through the Spanish announce table looks to have done this, but Show is able to get up at 8. This leaves Reigns little choice but to bury Show underneath the main announce table, which finally gets him the 20 count. Really great match, logically laid out and with some massive bumps by both men. With Reigns now having the match-of-the-night for three PPV’s in a row, can we now just accept he’s actually really great? 

Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton

This is a world title match in a steel cage with the RKO banned. The problem this match has is that no-one believes they’ll take the title off Rollins already, and no-one believe the steel cage will keep anyone out of the match. In fact, most of the match is a background to the drama between Kane, the external gatekeeper, and Rollins. I mean, I love Kane’s new “frustrated middle manager” gimmick, but it shouldn’t be overshadowing your brand new world champion’s first defence. That said, a lot of the action was good here. I dug Rollins, like a chickenshit, fleeing to try and escape at every opportunity, especially from an Orton slingshot. There was another moment where Rollins avoided Orton’s snap powerslam and tried to quickly escape while Orton was regaining his bearings. It also built up the later spot where Orton caught Rollins as he springboarded into the ring with a huge snap powerslam. Orton hit a lovely looking superplex, and I loved him doing the pose for the RKO, but hitting a pedigree instead, as a “fuck you” to the Authority. Ultimately though, it built up to a shitty end, as Kane gets in, J&J Security get in, Kane flip-flops between who he’s going to help and finally Rollins nails Orton with an RKO before escaping. It’s a shame that a decent match ends with the commentators arguing semantics over whether or not Rollins was allowed to use the move.