CM Punk Quits WWE

This is not a lie. This is not a fabricated story. Check Bleacher Report, check CBS Local, check any wrestling website that reports any sort of wrestling news, this is the real deal. CM Punk pulled a Stone Cold, and basically took his ball and went home. He straight up told Vince McMahon, "I'm going home."

CM Punk, the man who -- up until the Daniel Bryan craze -- was arguably THE most popular superstar in quite some time. He debuted in 2006, and held the WWE Championship for a year in 2011. The only problem is that his title reign was mostly in the mid card, while John Cena was taking the Main Event spots.

This is what I mean. You have a somewhat young talent like CM Punk that lit the world on fire with his promo back in 2011, you give him the WWE Championship for 1 year, but WWE didn't want to run with him as the man closing out each show. He was put in the middle of the show while John Cena main evented most of the pay-per-views. CM Punk was quite possibly the best talker on the mic in this PG Era and one of the only bright spots.

But I'm not going to bash Punk on this one. He was starting to get buried. Anybody with eyes could see that. You could even see it in his face. His promos were getting dull and lacking the same energy they used to, he looked he was just going through the motions at this point. It was honestly a matter of time. CM Punk knew what was going on. He knew what time it was. If I was getting the burial treatment when the man should still be in the Main Event scene over guys like Cena, Batista, and Orton, I'd pack up my bags and head out too.

This is an example of WWE keeping down popular superstars that people want to see and sticking people that we don't want to see in the main event spot. It's ridiculous. Unlike some people, I didn't hop on the CM Punk bandwagon in 2011, I was a fan of the man when first debuted in WWE's ECW program. Great talker & in ring worker, related to a lot of the fans, had his own style, etc. That's why he was so popular. He was "cool" and people loved him. But no, let's give him the company's Top Championship, put him in the middle of the show, and push people who's time was clearly up years ago.

I can tell he was getting frustrated at the amount of part-timers WWE had to bring back and the fact they were put in the Main Event scene right away. That's partly WWE's fault for not pushing their young guys properly. If they booked them right away and gave these guys pushes, they wouldn't have to bring back The Rock, Undertaker, Lesnar, Batista, etc. to get more people to watch. They are too dependent on the past and aren't spending enough time building for the future.

I'm not mad at you CM Punk. You do your thing. WWE severely misused this guy, didn't want to take a chance with him as the face of the WWE, and once he lost the belt, the burial process started. Now, he's gone. I don't know if he's gone for good, or if he's taking a vacation. I hope he's gone for good. WWE really doesn't deserve a talent like this guy.


Just my two cents.



Feel free to Comment.



By Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WrestleMania 29 Reaction!

WrestleMania. The biggest show in WWE's industry. The showcase of Immortals. Let's see how the show went. BIG crowd. BIG arena. LITTLE hype.

Pre-Show:

The Pre-Show was pretty damn good. Reminded me of Sunday Night Heat. An hour long, covering all the matches, and we have a panel now. This Scott Sanford guy, Jim Ross (who should be commentating), Kofi Kingston, and The "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Wade Barrett (c) vs The Miz

Not much of a feud between these two, but these two had a nice little match. Back and forth and not much lagging or lull in the action. I'm not a fan of the characters, but I know Barrett and Miz can go in the ring. A short match to set the pace, and Miz wins with the figure four. Miz is the new IC Champion like I called.

The Pre-Show closed with one last look at The Rock and John Cena.

Not a bad Pre-Show. I remember when they had Sunday Night Heat before each pay-per-view in the Attitude Era showing promo packages highlighting the main feuds and I loved that. This was a nice little show to get everybody hyped and ready for WrestleMania. JR and Kofi were the two best commentators/analysts. I would've preferred it was just those two to be honest.

And now, on to WrestleMania!

WrestleMania 29:

No celebrity singing the National Anthem. We instead get a video covering Hurricane Sandy. Ok? Moving on.

We get a pretty sweet video package and it's time to get this show started!

6 Man Tag Team Match
Randy Orton, Sheamus, & The Big Show vs The Shield

WrestleMania kicks off with the The Shield taking on Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus. The fans were HOT for The Shield. Everything about these guys is great. I've said it on many occassions, so I won't repeat myself. I'll get to the match.

Definitely one of The Shield's shorter matches, but you don't want a LONG opener for WrestleMania, so this match was satisfying. The Shield looked great in their Mania debut. They kept that fast pace and quick tags. Rollins looked like he took one too many flying moves because when went for a suicide dive, he looked he flew right into the barricade.

Show was in for a while, but Sheamus was the best member of that team. He brought it tonight. The ending saw Orton reaching out and stealing a tag from Show and that was a theme in this match. Orton didn't want to tag Big Show. Reigns hit his HUGE spear on Orton and Ambrose got the cover and win while Show didn't do anything.

After the match, Show knocked out both Orton and Sheamus because he literally only got ONE tag in the match. Specifically, it was Orton who didn't want to tag him in. So, this whole time, I thought Orton would turn heel, but he sort of did. He acted a little heelish to a Big Show who was trying to be good.

Maybe a Show/Orton feud in the works?

All in all, The Shield looked great in their WrestleMania debut and scored a strong win over Show, Sheamus, and Orton. It was a decent opener missing a little something, but a good match to get the crowd riled up. Maybe now, The Shield can move on to other things. Sheamus can move on. Show will probably go on to feud with Orton after tonight.

But what does The Shield move on to? They've beaten every top star in the WWE? Where is this going? We'll have to wait and see.

Ryback vs Mark Henry

This is one of the matches I was looking forward and I was underwhelmed.

Love Mark Henry. His attitude, theme music and Monster gimmick. Ryback was supposed to be his Kryptonite, but didn't look like it here.

The started with a staredown and got it on. Mark Henry dominated pretty much the whole match, making Ryback look very weak in the bulk of the match.

Here's where I get confused. Ryback start to build momentum and hits the meat hook clothesline. He gets him up for the Shellshock, but Henry grabs the rope, Ryback crumbles under the weight and falls and Henry gets the win. What?

But then Ryback hits the Shellshock and celebrates. He didn't win the match. Yeah, he looks strong, but HE DIDN'T WIN THE MATCH. Ryback has jobbed the last 5 pay-per-views. I'm not a big Ryback fan, but constantly losing makes him look very weak.

That was bad. Really one sided and Ryback didn't get the win. And they were pushing him as one of the top faces? He needs to WIN some pay-per-view matches first.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Team Hell No (c) vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston (w/AJ Lee)

Tag Team Championship Match for the first time in 3 years. I was excited to see this match. I was hoping Team Hell No dropped the belts, but boy was I wrong.

The match itself was another short one. Bryan and Ziggler worked a bulk of the match. Big E. looked strong in his debut. He manhandled Kane and when he was in, he displayed a lot of power moves. I'm not a fan of this guy yet, but he could grow on me.

I like the tease they did with Bryan/Ziggler/AJ. They were trying to do to Ziggler what Sheamus did to Bryan last year. That was funny. I would've been legit upset if the match ended there.

Not much to say with this match. It was a good match, don't get me wrong. I felt like it could've been a little longer. Too short, and seemed rushed. Kane and Bryan double team Ziggler and Bryan picks up the win after a flying headbutt.

Team Hell No wins and retains the tag titles. Ok, I like Team Hell No. I really do, but their tag team title reign has gotten very stale. This was a fresh feud for the tag team scene, and I really thought Ziggler and Big E. were going to walk away with the belts, but I guess WWE still wants Team Hell No to parade around with the tag titles. I hope this feud isn't over. I would like to see these two teams feud a little more.

Chris Jericho vs Fandango

The WrestleMania debut for FANDANGO and he's taking on Chris Jericho. Fandango had a pretty cool entrance with multiple exotic dancers. Fancy entrance for a guy who's making his debut at WrestleMania.

I was excited to see this match and it didn't disappoint. Jericho dominated a bulk of the match, but when Fandango got it going, he pulled off some great moves. The kid sold moves well, when he countered Jericho, he hit a great kick, and he can get some air when he wants to. I thought it was over when he hit that legdrop. Jericho wasn't going to be outdone hitting the spot of the match with a BIG cross body on the outside.

Something I liked about this match is that it had a fast pace to it. When they moved slow, it wasn't for the whole match, it would be for a little while. These two guys put on a show in that ring and told a good story. It was physical, fast, and had a good pace. Not too long, or short. Great match. Ending saw Fandango counter Jericho and get him into a small package for the upset win. It could'be been executed better, but it was nice that the upstart heel got the win over the top face.

Not surprised here in the least to be honest. Who didn't think Fandango would win? For a guy who's first match was at WrestleMania, I say he did a damn good job. It also helped that he had a guy like Chris Jericho to work with. The ending was VERY sloppy, but the rest of the match was good.

I don't think this feud is over. I'm not sure how long Jericho is around for after tonight, but if he's sticking around for a while, I would love to see this feud continue.

Match of the Night so far for me. I may be biased because I like this Fandango guy, but this was still a good match.

For all the people complaining about Jericho losing, he's back to PUT PEOPLE OVER. Get over it. It's his job. You can't build new stars by having them lose. Jericho is being a company guy.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs Jack Swagger

The World Heavyweight Championship didn't last 18 seconds this year. Good start. Jack Swagger got a jobber entrance. As in, we didn't get to see him even enter the ring. I knew then, he wasn't going to win.

I'll keep this brief. The crowd was dead, but the match was pretty solid to me. It seemed sluggish and lagged at times, but it kept a consistent pace and we got to see a little interaction with Zeb Coulter and Ricardo on the outside. I really can't say much about this match. It was a good, solid match with one cool spot where Del Rio countered the ankle lock into his cross arm breaker. That was a great reversal. Never seen somebody counter the ankle lock like that before. Del Rio and Swagger wrestled as good as they could, but in the end, it felt like I was watching a SmackDown Main Event.

It's a shame. I had high hopes for this match. Don't get me wrong, it was good. I just felt like more could've been done with it.

Del Rio retains and Ziggler does NOT cash in. Told ya.

The Undertaker vs CM Punk

Most of the hype was on this match. A LOT of people were calling this the match of the show. I thought it was going to be slow and methodical, but I was blown away. Taker maybe an old man, but he can still work a damn good match and move like he's around his 30s.

This match started off fast and the crowd was HOT. Some of what Punk did in this match reminded me of what Randy Orton did in his match Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. He slapped Taker a few times to set the tone and get him riled up. They took it to the outside where Taker beat him down and dominated the early goings in this match. Taker missed a big boot in the corner and Punk took advantage. He hit a great crossbody, did old school, and dominated the latter parts of this match. They went back and forth a few times, but ultimately, they wanted to make Punk look dominant for most of this match and this man was good. Punk hasn't wrestled in a while, so I forgot how good he actually is in the ring.

Let's move on a little bit. Punk tries to pull a Shane McMahon later in the match hit an elbow from the turnbuckle to Taker on the announce table. Unfortunately for them, the tables don't break as easily as they used to. The ref gets knocked out and Punk uses the urn to drop the Undertaker. Punk does Undertaker's pin much like HHH at WrestleMania 27 and he kicks out! Taker hits the Tombstone and Punk kicks out! I gotta admit, I'm not a fan of the whole kicking out of finishers thing except when it's at WrestleMania.

CM Punk goes for the GTS one last time, but Taker comes back with a sweet reversal and hits the Tombstone for the 2nd time. 1, 2, 3!

21-0.

THAT is now Match of the Night. It's gonna be a tough act to follow without question. The pace in this match was so well done. Taker proved he can still work a good match at his age and Punk showed he can hang with The Deadman. This was a great match. BUT Taker vs HHH in Hell in a Cell last year was better, and there no point where I said, "OMG IT'S OVER!" but this was a great match for those who said Taker didn't have it anymore. I'll put this in Taker's top 10. Maybe.

This match really reminded me of Orton vs Taker at WrestleMania 21. Go back and watch that match. You'll see I'm right. Only difference here is the crowd was better and the match was longer.

The Streak will never die. Is Taker done? After tonight, he can probably do this for one more year or two. I heard Punk was going to take time off so I'm not sure if he'll be on RAW tomorrow night.

This will be a tough act to follow.

No Holds Barred
Triple H vs Brock Lesnar

This was the match I thought would be match of the night, but it didn't really live up to what I thought.

This was a GREAT brawl, but I expected a little more from it. There was a lack with weapon use. They barely used the chairs and HHH only used the sledgehammer ONCE. It started out fast and Lesnar suplexed HHH through the announce table that Punk tried to break earlier. I liked the story they built. Lesnar is a Monster so I'm not surprised that he dominated almost the whole match. I think it would've been better that instead of punishing him with wrestling holds, it would've been more suitable in a No Holds Barred Match to punish him with weapons, make him bleed, make him suffer. This is what this match needed.

Anyway, it picked up more towards the end when Brock Lesnar introduced the steps into the match hitting Triple H with them twice. Triple H came back and tried to use Brock Lesnar's submission move to beat him and Lesnar powered out of it THREE times, showing how strong he is. It would've been pretty weak to make Lesnar, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, TAP OUT to his own submission move.

Triple H hits the pedigree on the steps for the win over Lesnar. Not too surprised there.

Great brawl. I'll say that. It towed the line between wrestling and brawling. Lesnar dominated the match to push his Monster gimmick so that HHH could stage that comeback. The fans were drained from Taker/Punk so they didn't get loud until the closing moments of this match. It got good and they turned it up. As a old school guy, I needed to see more violence in this match. It seemed too laid back and normal for a No Holds Barred match. The match told a great story, but more violence, adds to that story. Great match though. I'm not taking anything away from the match. They worked their asses off. Just expected a little more.

8 Person Intergender Tag Team Match
Tons of Funk & The Funkadactyls vs Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins

The match didn't happen. All 8 of them got hosed. Poor Damien Sandow. Moving on.

WWE Championship Match
The Rock (c) vs John Cena

No special entrances for either men and no last minute hype/sell right before the match. Interesting.

Right off the bat, the crowd was a dud for a good portion of the match. The match started out much slower than last year. They spent like 5-10 minutes in the feeling out process trying to get the upper hand on each other. The crowd was bored. I liked the storytelling early on, but they spent just a tad bit too much time on it. It took a while for the match to really get going. There were a lot of holds and a very slow, methodical pace. And no, it wasn't because Rock was gassed. It's called selling. Sheesh.

Let's get to the part where the crowd woke up. Cena was going for the 5 knuckle shuffle and the crowd exploded with boos. Rock counters and goes for the People's Elbow and the crowd erupts! From that point on, it was an endless number of reversals, near falls, kicking out of finishers, and etc. Too much for me to even go into. I do know that Cena kicked out of THREE Rock Bottoms. THREE. Sheesh. I knew that only one thing could make this match better: Using each other's finishers! Cena used The Rock Bottom and I was waiting for Rock to use the AA, but it never happened. Cena reversed the Rock Bottom for the umpteenth time and hit the AA for the third time, if I remember correctly and got the win.

Rock and Cena then pulled a Rock/Hogan and shook hands in the middle of the ring. Cena left and Rock soaked in the cheers. This is most likely his sendoff. I'll miss The Rock unlike some marks that confuse him with David Arquette circa 2000. But The Rock made WWE watchable for a while when it was unwatchable. I thought he was advertised for Extreme Rules but I guess not.

Rock and Cena raise each other's arms at the top of the set and the pyro goes off.

Show ends.

NO CENA HEEL TURN! I told you WWE doesn't have the guts to turn Cena heel. Maybe now people will drop that subject because it's not going to happen. Cena is once again WWE Champion. Lord help us.

I'll admit, last year's Rock/Cena was better. Much better. Even the crowd was better last year. There was no 10 minute feeling out process and it was more fluid. It's weird because that was their FIRST meeting. You would think Part 2 would be better. As much as I don't like Cena, I admire the whole Rock/Hogan way to end the show. The match didn't have that one HUGE moment. It had good moments, but you kinda expected what was going to happen in this match.


So, THAT was WrestleMania. I will say this. WrestleMania 28 was better. MUCH better. It started off really good. I thought we were in for a show that blew WrestleMania 28 away, but nope. WM 29 was good, but I was expecting more. It didn't beat WrestleMania 28 in my view. I'll give it a 7/10. Generous number. Henry/Ryback was horrible, Rock/Cena was a letdown, and only ONE title changed hands. Tag Title match and Jericho/Fandango was too short, Del Rio/Swagger was meh, The Shield match was good, HHH/Lesnar was still good, but missed something, and Punk/Taker stole the show.

I enjoyed the show, but nothing about it was exciting. No twists, no turns, no HUGE moment that you'll go back watch over and over.

Let me know what you think.


Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WrestleMania Predictions

This Sunday is WrestleMania 29. I sound excited don't I? WWE's biggest show. The grandest stage of them all. The showcase of Immortals. The build has been very lackluster, but it's WrestleMania. When you've been a fan for as long as I've been, you don't miss a WrestleMania. If you're going to watch at least ONE WWE show, make it WrestleMania.

9 matches, 3 titles on the line and 3 HUGE Main Events. Despite the poor build, I'm sure this show will deliver. The crowd is sure to be hot. It's in New York. These crowds are almost always HOT. Let's get right down to the card and my predictions and thoughts for each match.

The Rock vs John Cena. One more time for the WWE Championship. It's no secret who I'm gonna be rooting for. Last year, the build these two had was pretty good cause it was the first time encounter and we got to see them interact with each other and build their feud every week leading up to Mania. This year, the WWE Championship was thrown into the mix and Cena is looking for redemption. That makes sense, but what doesn't make sense is that he's saying his loss to The Rock ruined his whole year? I guess headlining every pay-per-view and even becoming Mr. Money in the Bank since then must've been really depressing. 

But anyway, Rock/Cena has been fine this year. They weren't at each other's throats every week, because too much would be an overkill. That's why Rock was gone for a few weeks. There's a difference between selling and overselling. There were two face offs and then the final words between both men last Monday on RAW. It was also wise not to have them face to face too. Adds tension to their match. I think these two will put on a better match than last year. Their match was last year wasn't garbage, but it was solid. It was neither man's fault. Just a lack of chemistry between the two. But there has been a lingering question going on....

Will John Cena turn heel? They've been teasing it an awful lot. The way he ended his promo on RAW by dropping the mic and soaking in the boos, a few weeks ago he said, the people might see something they've never seen before, and even the return of John Laurinatis teasing maybe Cena joining him. I don't think they'll do it. I don't think they'll turn their top draw into a heel. They could do it with Austin because they had other top faces to carry the load. I don't think WWE has the guts to flip the switch and turn John Cena heel and lose all the little kiddies. If they do it, then it's a HUGE move. If they don't, they teased it awfully well. But as for now, John Cena beats The Rock. This is one is terribly predicable. Cena wins and he rides off into the sunset with the WWE Championship. I hope he is prepared to get booed HEAVILY. 

Prediction: John Cena wins the WWE Championship -____-

CM Punk vs The Undertaker. The Best in the World vs The Streak. This feud has been a colossal let down, in my opinion. They focused this storyline TOO much on the death of Paul Bearer. That would be fine if it was a normal feud, but this is The Undertaker's Streak. That should've been the central theme of this feud. Interrupting Paul Bearer's tribute was a good touch, but that should've been the end of it. Now, we'll never know what it is they were going to do with these two had Paul Bearer not died. Instead, we get Punk doing funny voices with the urn, and no sense of consistency during the feud. 

Last Monday on RAW was the only time I felt like Punk truly got the upper hand on Taker and looked a threat to the streak. Everything before that fell flat. They were milking the whole Paul Bearer thing to death. It just felt lazy. But of course the Punk marks are saying Punk is a legitimate threat to the streak. If there was anything this feud told me is that Punk has absolutely no shot of ending the streak this Sunday. This is wrestling 101, when the bully keeps poking and prodding at the face, eventually he's gonna get what's coming to him. The feud has really been one sided and that's why I think Punk has no shot. 

It's going to be a solid match. I love Punk's work in the ring and I think he and Taker are gonna have a good match. Great storytelling and it should be a classic. I had high hopes for this feud and it's a shame that it only got good last Monday. Despite all that, the match is still going to deliver. I'm not too worried about that. But Taker goes 21-0.

Prediction: Undertaker defeats CM Punk and goes 21-0

I personally don't get how Triple H's career is on the line when he barely wrestles to begin with. It should've just been a typical No Holds Barred match. You don't always need a stipulation thrown in. I liked the base for how this feud started. Triple H said he was waiting for a reason to come back and Brock Lesnar gave him that reason by attacking Vince. I liked that. Paul Heyman's been the best on the mic in this feud since Lesnar can't speak for himself. And now there's the ace in the hole in HBK. He will be in Triple H's corner this Sunday. Last Monday's segment was anti climactic. Very poor final sell before WrestleMania. 

The match itself is gonna be physical. In a normal match, these two worked well, but in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania, I hope Vince lets these guys loose. Lots of weapons, violence, and at LEAST some  blood. I'm expecting a knock down, drag out, WAR between these two. Triple H used to be THE MAN in these types of matches. I'm hoping he taps into his inner Triple H. I don't care very much for the stipulation, but I'm looking forward to this match. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

As far as my prediction goes, it's gonna be Triple H. Lesnar won at Summerslam and "broke" his arm. He's not only fighting for himself, but he's fighting his career and the McMahon name. No way he loses this match.

Prediction: Triple H defeats Brock Lesnar

For the first time in two years, the World Heavyweight Championship scene has a decent feud behind it. 2 years ago, Del Rio was a heel challenging for the World Title. Fast forward to today, and he's a face defending it. Not bad. Then you have his challenger, Jack Swagger. I'll tell you, if not for Zeb Coulter, I don't know if I would've bought into old Jack Swagger.

This feud started out with some potential, but the build slowly started to fall flat in my opinion. They sort of wasted all their ammo in the beginning. That segment with Del Rio/Ricardo/Swagger/Coulter on MizTV happened a little too soon in my opinion. Especially if they couldn't keep the feud interesting for the next few weeks. Last Monday, Swagger cut a decent promo about what winning the World Title means to him and what it could mean for the people of America. It was good, but the brawl on RAW needed something more. I should've ended with Swagger posing with the World Title over Del Rio's body with his music playing. The heel has to pose with the title at least once. I felt like this feud was inconsistent at times and very on and off. One week they would pull off something good, but do something stupid the next, so on and so on. 

I had high hopes for this feud and it delivered for the most part, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They're really pushing Swagger being the next American Patriot heel type of character. But will they give him the win over Del Rio? I don't see it happening. I feel that Swagger will win the World Title in the near future, but we'll just have to wait for Jack Swagger's America. I see Del Rio retaining, and then MAYBE Dolph Ziggler cashes in the Money in the Bank. But seeing as how that would be a little too predictable as everyone's been saying it for quite some time, I don't think it'll happen. I think Del Rio will have his moment on top this Sunday.

Prediction: Alberto Del Rio retains the World Heavyweight Championship

Oh yes. The WrestleMania debut of The Shield. It's no secret that these guys are one of my favorites of the WWE right now and they're undefeated on pay-per-views at the moment. I've mentioned this before, but even their wrestling styles are amazing. I love the fast pace, quick tags, power of Reigns, speed and agility of Rollins and mixed with the technical prowess of Ambrose and The Shield is one hell of a unit. Love these guys.

I enjoyed the early stages of this feud for a few reasons. The Shield were attacking a heel character for once in Big Show, and instead of being The Shield for injustice, they were dealing a thorn in their side. And then, there was the variable of can Big Show get along with Randy Orton and Sheamus? It seemed like they finally got their act together on RAW last Monday. I like they kept it simple between the three. They didn't over do it by Show, Sheamus, and Orton being all buddy buddy. Let's not forget Show and Sheamus feuded a few months ago as well.

This feud hasn't been really eye popping either in the last few weeks. It was just lacking something. The Shield cut good promos and I like the whole Big Show/Sheamus/Orton trust angle, but it was just missing something. It was already solid, but it needed something more to make it good.

I think The Shield takes this one. Why? Because I think Randy Orton will turn heel. Orton will turn, screw Sheamus and Big Show allowing The Shield to pick up the win. Orton's been wanting to turn heel for a while. Orton turns, The Shield get the win and everybody goes home happy. Besides, if Sheamus can't beat The Shield with Ryback and John Cena of all people, what makes you think he can get it done with Randy Orton and The Big Show?

BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD!!

Prediction: The Shield defeats Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus

One of the matches I'm looking forward to. It's been a while since WrestleMania had this kind of "Invincible Force meets Immovable Object" type of match. Mark Henry has been another favorite of mine since he returned and his attitude fits him perfectly. The way we walks, how he cuts his promos now, and even his music have evolved his character so much.

And now, he's gotta face Mr. "FEED ME MORE" in Ryback. The feud was pretty decent, it kinda spiced things up with the no contact clause and it adds some tension and makes the people excited to see them finally get their hands on each other at WrestleMania. I think these two can put on a good, short match. They don't need 20 minutes. These two big guys can make a 10 minute match look good. Start with a staredown, a few power moves, and we're gonna find out if Ryback can get Mark Henry up for the Shellshock.

Ryback struggled to do his finisher on Paul Heyman for God sakes. Mark Henry is going to have to REALLY help out Ryback to make sure he hits it. This is Ryback's WrestleMania moment right here.

Prediction: Ryback defeats Mark Henry

THIS match is going to be GOOD. This is the ONE match that I'm legit excited to see. Everything they've done in this feud has been amazing. From the moment Jericho and Fandango had that backstage segment, I knew they would have a good feud. I just didn't know they would have these two face off at WrestleMania. At first, the only thing I liked about Fandango was his cool ballroom dance entrance music, but the more he teased wrestling, and left, he sorta grew on me. 

His feud with Jericho has been good. Because you know what it has? Consistency. Jericho made fun of Fandango, Fandango struck back by attacking him, Jericho jumped him the following week, and then last Monday, Fandango held up scoring cards rating Jericho on his moves during his match with Cesaro. Once Jericho got the win, he attacked him and hit his legdrop twice on him. 

Whether people want to believe it or not, Fandango's got potential to be a star in this company. You give him and Jericho 15 minutes at Mania and they can steal the show, no match would come close. Fandango has the traits of an old school heel. He's got character, he's got a mean streak, he's got the looks, and loves shouting "WHAT'S MY NAME?!?!" in people's faces and has a valet. This kid has all the traits. He and Jericho are going to have a good match. Fandango should go over Jericho here to give his career a proper start, but there is a way that Jericho can win and still make Fandango look like a stud. If anyone can make somebody look good in a loss besides HBK, it's Y2J.

There literally is not one bad thing I can say about this. The feud's been good and the match will be even better. Can't wait.

Prediction: Fandango defeats Chris Jericho

Another match that I'm excited to see. I'll say this, I'm more excited about WrestleMania's undercard than their Main Events. That's....sad. 

But getting to this match, it's 3 years since the Tag Titles have been defended at WrestleMania and this is going to be a great match. Team Hell No dominated the Fall season as one of the best acts in the tag team division and slowly fizzled out around Winter time. Ziggler and Big E. are the biggest challenge to the Tag Team Champions by far. Their feud with The Rhodes Scholars was so one sided. 

What I like about this feud is a few things. For starters, they're bringing up the past between AJ/Bryan/Kane and using that in this feud. Also, all four guys bring something to the table. Ziggler's selling and athleticism, Bryan's wrestling expertise, Kane's Mania experience, and then you have the mystery of Big E. Langston. All we've seen is his finisher. What can he do in a full match? What role will AJ play? A lot of variables go into this tag team title match. I personally think Kane and Bryan's time as the Tag Team Champions are up. They haven't done much with them. These four guys are gonna bring it and I can't wait. This is going to be a really great match, and I have a feeling we might crown new tag team champions.

NOTE: This match may be changed to include AJ and Kaitlyn to make this a Winner Take All match for the tag tiles and Divas title. That's what they should've done IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Prediction: Ziggler and Big E. win the WWE Tag Team Titles

I'm a BIG fan of Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes. I'm happy these two made it onto the main card for WrestleMania, but it's a shame that this is the match they're in. A match they're probably going to lose.

The team of Brodus and Tensai has been ok. They're like a wannabe Too Cool, but at least they don't over do the childish antics and humor.No offense to Cameron and The Bellas, but Naomi is the best Diva wrestler out of the four. Not saying they're all bad, but Naomi is an exceptional athlete. Rhodes Scholars and Bella Twins are a solid on-screen unit and have the momentum going into this match. I think they can add a lot to The Rhodes Scholars.

As much as I would like to see the heels pull this one out, it's not going to happen. Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls are gonna get the win which means all the kiddies are gonna get to dance in the ring. Lovely.

Prediction: Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls defeat Team Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins

Two years ago, The Miz headlined WrestleMania and beat John Cena. Two years later, he's facing Wade Barrett on the WrestleMania PRE-SHOW. This match WAS a part of the card, but it was moved to the pre-show.

I really could care less about this match. It's a shame because the Intercontinental Championship is supposed to be a major title. It hasn't been since last year when Cody Rhodes held it. Miz's face turn has fell flat. His jokes are forced and corny and he's much better as a heel. Wade Barrett has had almost no air time, no promo time and is on a losing streak as the Intercontinental Champion. It'a amazing how the Intercontinental Champion is a weekly jobber.

Anyway, I see Miz winning this. Having the face win sets the tone for the show and Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship. They can put on a solid wrestling match, but I'm not invested in it at all.

Prediction: The Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship

Ok, so there you have it. My WrestleMania predictions. Oh and let's not forget, the Hall of Fame Inductees will be there and P. Diddy will be performing. 

All in all, WrestleMania should be a great show. It's a shame that the build wasn't good enough to justify looking forward to the payoff for all the matches. I mean, I'm more excited to see Jericho vs Fandango than Punk vs Undertaker. But of course, it's WrestleMania. It always delivers one way or another. 

For those will be going, I hope you all have fun. I'll be watching from my house and I hope to see some great wrestling and an overall great show. And of course, I'll be back Sunday Night with my post WrestleMania reaction blog.

Feel free to comment.

By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WrestleMania Season?

Is it WrestleMania Season? Besides all the returns, I haven't noticed. There's still two weeks of build left, but it's been bad. I mean, really, REALLY bad. Did anybody watch RAW last Monday? Last year's build to Mania was MUCH better. For the first time in a long time, EVERY match had a decent story and build behind it. All these storylines, and of course Rock vs Cena, is what got WrestleMania 28 its 1 Million buys. I have no doubt WrestleMania 29 will be great, but the build has been subpar at best.


The Rock vs John Cena for the WWE Championship

- I've heard A LOT of pissing and moaning about how The Rock hasn't been on TV in 2 weeks to promote his match with John Cena. First of all, the match is already sold. It's THE ROCK VS JOHN CENA. What more do you want? They already sold the match with their amazing promo on Old School RAW a few weeks back. Secondly, there's a difference between selling and OVER-selling. Having Rock and Cena take jabs at each other EVERY week would get boring. It got a little boring last year. What more can be said between the two?

The RAW ratings have dropped week after week on this Road to WrestleMania and people are blaming The Rock for that? It's not The Rock's fault that 90% of the roster can't keep the people entertained for 3 hours. It's not his fault that his match is already hyped. If you think ratings are bad now, wait until you see how they are when Rock, Lesnar, HHH, Jericho, and Undertaker all leave. You'll be begging for them to come back.


CM Punk vs The Undertaker

- A lot of Punk marks have been saying this is the best feud going into Mania and how Punk is a legitimate threat to the streak. You have got to be kidding me. I love CM Punk just as much as the next guy, but I am not convinced Punk is a threat to the streak. I understand what they're doing. They're making Punk use the whole Paul Bearer thing to get under the skin of Taker. They're trying to have Punk be the first guy to play mind games with Undertaker so that the "jackass" will finally get what's coming to him. Too bad it's already been done before. Remember DDP from 2001? This isn't the first time somebody's tried to play mind games with The Deadman. It's just expert timing to do it at WrestleMania with the streak on the line.

That would work in a normal feud. But at WRESTLEMANIA with THE STREAK on the line, it's time to get serious. Show us how aggressive CM Punk can be and prove to us that he might have a legitimate shot at ending the streak. So far, this feud is telling that Punk has absolutely no shot in ending the streak. The last time I thought somebody had a legit shot at ending the streak was Triple H last year and before that Randy Orton in 2005.

This is what the feud should be. Not CM Punk making funny voices with Paul Bearer's urn:

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar

- THIS is the match I'm looking forward too. Brock vs Triple H in a No Holds Barred match at Mania. I can't see this being a normal match with chairs involved. These two are gonna go the extra mile. It's WRESTLEMANIA. As for the build.....it's lacking. How can you put Triple H in a Retirement match when the man barely wrestles as it is? Maybe if the stipulation was, he must step down as COO if he loses, then that's better I guess, but this seems...meh. That contract signing on RAW dragged on forever and it took a long time to get to the point. They have two weeks to make people interested again.


Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger for the World Title

- If not for last Monday on RAW, I would have zero interest in this match. When the feud first got started, it started off a little slow. It got a little TOO political for my taste and drifted away for the central objective and that's the World Heavyweight Championship. What happened on RAW got me right back into it. That Del Rio/Swagger brawl on RAW was very well done and gave the World Title match some much needed build up. For a while, I thought they forgot about it. But it's sad that this match is the only match with some decent build behind it.


As far as the other matches go, there isn't much to talk about. The Shield vs Orton/Sheamus/Show is intriguing, but I don't why they had that to go with that charade of putting Ryback in the match only to take him out after he had a face to face to Mark Henry and The Shield clearly wasn't bothering him anymore. But whatever. Most of the build for this has been on SmackDown. Nuff said. While we're on Ryback, I can probably already tell how they're gonna build the feud with him and Mark Henry: a bunch of staredowns. But seriously, Ryback has lost some steam lately and this is the feud to get him back on track. And then we have Ziggler/Big E vs Hell No for the Tag Titles. I don't mind this match. I'll leave it alone because the Tag Titles haven't been defended at WrestleMania since WrestleMania 26 and NO the preshow match last year didn't count.

This leaves us without no US Championship match, no Intercontinental Title match, no match for the Divas, and Jericho is probably going to face Fandango. The US Championship hasn't been defended at WrestleMania in 6 years. Let me repeat, SIX YEARS.

The build has definitely been underwhelming, but the card leaves me optimistic that every match will deliver. It's WRESTLEMANIA. A lot people like me may bash the card, but am I really going to NOT watch WrestleMania? Of course not. I may be opinionated, but I'm not stupid. I've been a fan of the WWE for a VERY long time. WrestleMania is still WrestleMania. I'm going to be watching, and I know you will be too.

They have 2 weeks left and I feel like they haven't really kicked it into full gear. I mean, a complete kickass show from start to finish. They've got 2 weeks to really put some intrigue in these matches and make us feel like WrestleMania is upon us. So far they haven't and the ratings have clearly shown that.

People have been blaming low ratings on The Rock because the rest of the roster can't pick up the slack. But when The Rock shows up for the home stretch, all they'll do is complain. Fans are hard to please these days.

How do you feel about the build?


Feel free to Comment.



By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

Who cut the better promo on RAW? CM Punk or The Rock?

For those of you looking for a College Football blog, neither of us will be making one. Why? College Football is a joke and the BCS is a joke. Notre Dame shouldn't have been on the field with Alabama. Alabama should've played Oregon and Notre Dame should've played Ohio State in the Rose Bowl or something. The playoff system can't come soon enough.

But anyway, getting to the point of this blog: The Rock and CM Punk. Last night was the start of the build up to their match at the Royal Rumble. So, the question is, who cut the better promo last night? Rock or Punk? I'm gonna dive into the promo exchange and then bring all the Rocky haters and CM Punk fanboys down to earth.

Now, CM Punk cut a great promo BEFORE The Rock came out. He cut a promo on the fans and mentioning most of the WWE superstars on the roster. He says how you do in this business depends on how popular you are, and he brings up R-Truth and Brodus Clay and their ridiculous gimmicks. He went on to say how he became successful in spite of the fans and not because of them. He says he's the greatest WWE Champion of all time and not just the modern era. He talks for a little while, before he gets cut off and we take a commercial break. Some great stuff there by Punk.

After the commercial, The Rock comes out and it's time to see what both men got on the mic. And I'll be honest, this promo exchange lacked any sort of intensity. It was good, not great. When people talk on the mic these days, there's no sense of realism anymore. I really don't know who's to blame there. The only line worth mentioning is when Punk said to the Rock, " you're going to realize that your arms are too short to box with God." That was his only good line, the rest of the promo was enjoyable. Rock had some great catchphrases and pretty much said "Time's Up." Punk talked and Rock had his jokes, which kinda made me chuckle, and afterwards he gave Punk a Rock Bottom.

If I were to choose and say who did better, I would say it would be The Rock. Simply cause he had the fans in the palm of his hands like he always does. This what The Rock does. I enjoyed him and other than Punk's "Box with God" line he didn't really OWN like everybody is saying. Rock made the promo enjoyable and made Punk step his game up.

People are probably gonna say Punk did better cause he didn't have cheesy jokes right? Let me let people in on something, The Rock has been making jokes for YEARS now. That's been his thing since the Attitude Era. You people ate it up as kids and now that you've "grown up" his jokes are cheesy, boring, and repetitive? You ask for The Rock to come back, but you bitch and moan when he does. You people complain when The Rock comes back to wrestle, but don't make a peep when it's Triple H, Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar, Stone Cold, or The Undertaker. You say he comes back for the money, but he makes A LOT more money making movies. Just because he found something else he's good at, you people wanna crucify him for it. Stop drinking the John Cena Kool-Aid and come back to reality please. Maybe we'll forgive you.

And by the way, since when did CM Punk become the gold standard when it comes to talking on the microphone? You guys really need to relax.

Bottom line, this was a great start to the first of many Punk/Rock confrontations. I already think this feud can be better than Rock/Cena. But I'll save that blog for after the payoff match at the Rumble.

But who am I right?

Watch the promo and you be the judge.

Feel free to Comment.

Reaction To Survivor Series Main Event Change

Due to Hurricane Sandy, I didn't have any power for a week, so I haven't been on the blogs lately. But now I'm back to talk more NFL, NBA, and WWE. And also, those who were affected by the Hurricane, you're all in our prayers here at Sports Monarchy.

Let's start with the WWE and how they can't book proper storylines anymore.

So, originally the main event for Survivor Series was:

Team Foley: Ryback, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Kane, & Daniel Bryan

Vs

Team Punk: CM Punk, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Damien Sandow & Cody Rhodes

The night after Hell in a Cell, a little showdown between Foley and Punk led to that match. At first it sounded good because it's been a good 7 years since Survivor Series had a Classic Survivor Series Elimination match that was worth watching and this had promise even though all the major titles were in that match putting the card in jeopardy. 

But here's where it gets serious. Apparently, the "Powers That Be" in the WWE received a lot of negative buzz for that match and last night, rather awkwardly, they changed the main event and the Survivor Series Elimination match. So, now the main event of Survivor Series is:

CM Punk defending the WWE Championship against both Ryback and John Cena. THIS should've been the main event in the first place. I see what they were trying to do with Team Punk and Team Foley: They were building towards a Punk/Foley match along with combining three other feuds (Orton/Del Rio, Kofi/Miz, Bryan&Kane/Rhodes&Sandow) into this match to progress those feuds even further, but Ryback needed his rematch sooner than later after what happened in Hell in a Cell and Foley seemed to pop out of nowhere. The only way this Survivor Series match would've been a bit more interesting was if it was Winner Take All and all the titles were up for grabs. If that was the case, THEN you've got something.

But for as much hype as they've been putting in CM Punk's title reign, it HAD to be defended at Survivor Series. Maybe Punk vs Ryback II with Foley as the guest referee would've been more appropriate?

And then you have John Cena. This match tells me that WWE NEEDS Cena to be in the Main Event for the pay-per-view to be successful. The WWE can't depend on the new star they made and the Current WWE Champion to carry Survivor Series. John Cena had this pointless storyline with AJ and Vickie Guerrero which will now get no payoff because Cena is in the WWE Championship match. I thought they were going for Cena/AJ vs Dolph/Vickie type of match or maybe they could've done a Team Ziggler vs Team Cena sort of thing, but obviously none of that is happening. 

Don't get me wrong, I am VERY pleased that they made this match instead. They just did it too late. Survivor Series is next Sunday. They don't have a lot of time to properly build this match, (or the show for that matter) the way that it should be built up. I mean this match is BIG. You have the face of the WWE vs the Current WWE Champion vs The Rising Star. I am a fan of good build. Build a good story, and make me interested to see the payoff to the match. If no time and effort is put into a story, or it's poorly built, I won't give two shits about the match. This is why WWE these days isn't that good. But that's a blog post for another time.

So now Ryback and Punk are no longer in the Survivor Series Elimination Match and Team Punk is now Team Ziggler. This is what we're left with:

What point is there for Foley to even be around in this anymore? The sole reason he was Team Captain is for CM Punk. Now that he's gone, what point is there? Why is Ziggler here? None of this is any of his business. They couldn't have just done 4-on-4? And what happened with The Miz? Why is Wade Barrett there? Barrett deserves better than to be involved in some Survivor Series match. 

Also, let's be honest, it's no longer Team Foley, it's Team Orton.

And Team Foley has a "surprise" member now. Gee, I wonder who it's gonna be. Could it the guy that left Team Punk in the first place? Maybe surprise us and have Christian come back. 

The pay-per-view is in one week and they have three matches signed. Even with a Divas match and another Survivor Series match thrown together with random jobbers, you still have 5 matches which means more filler matches including the continuous disrespect of the US Title and its Champion. What about AJ and Vickie? Give those two a match or something.

At this point, they can't salvage Survivor Series. This has been one of the poorest pay-per-views in a long time which is sad because this was once a great event. But now, Money in the Bank is better, Elimination Chamber is better, hell even Extreme Rules is better! They continue to shit on tradition and instead of building stars for the future, they put all their chips in one basket and have to depend on Attitude Era stars to bring in fans. They continue to improperly build feuds, develop poor storylines, cater to the little kids, try to push people who we don't care about and plugging a bunch of nonsense. The only time they even get remotely serious is WrestleMania Season. I mean, what happened to the WWE?!?!

My rant is over. Feel free to Comment. I'll be back with my Survivor Series Predictions.

By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

Punk vs Ryback: My thoughts

CM Punk vs Ryback for the WWE Championship has been set in stone for WWE Hell in a Cell. Before I comment on the match itself, I just wanna make some quick points about last night's RAW.


1) The Sheamus/Big Show feud is boring. Sheamus is boring, Big Show is boring, there's been no build, and no story. Yet, it's inside the Hell in a Cell. I remember when Hell in a Cell was used solely to put an end to feuds.

2) AJ has had 3 months to win me over as RAW GM, but she hasn't. Her character has gotten boring to me too. She can't control her show, her delivery on the mic takes away from certain promos, and I just can't take her seriously.

3) If they're really going to push Rhodes and Sandow as a legit tag team, give them some mic time. This is just telling me that they're only together to job to Bryan and Kane at Hell in a Cell.

4) Miz vs Kofi. Tonight was a good start to what could be a good feud if built up correctly.

5) Antonio Cesaro is exceptional athlete, but sometimes I forget he's the United States Champion. Maybe if he.....I don't know......DEFENDED the title sometimes and actually had somebody to FEUD with, rather than beat down Jobbers all the time, I'd be more invested in him.

6) Nobody cares about the Divas anymore which is sad. It's like nobody even cares about this division anymore and the crickets during the divas match last night only continues to show how far the division has fallen.

7) I thought this hugging nonsense was through. I guess not.


Ok, now let's get to Punk vs Ryback. The contract signing to end RAW pretty much went down like this: Cena gave up his title shot to Ryback and Ryback dropped Punk. All this because John Cena had to have injury on his shoulder. They've done a good job working Ryback into this story. His staredown with Punk a few weeks ago was intense.

I think this match will work and will draw in a lot of people. The pops for Ryback have gotten bigger and bigger each week and every moment he's in the ring with Punk is must see. But what kind of match is this going to be. The monster has to dominate, but this is the WWE Champion we're talking about. He shouldn't be destroyed. It makes the mechanics of this match very interesting.

But now that this match is set, what do you do? Who wins? There's no DQ or count out finish to be done here because the match is inside the Hell in a Cell, so somebody has to win. CM Punk has to leave Hell in a Cell the WWE Champion. Here's why:

Ryback CAN NOT be pinned clean. That's out of the question. His momentum will die right there. If CM Punk beats Ryback, Ryback loses A LOT of steam that he picked up during this feud and then what? People won't take him as serious and he's only going to go down from here. Also, let's be honest, Ryback is not ready and not established enough to hold the WWE's top Championship. I don't care how over he is, he's not legitimate enough to hold the title. The only way Ryback loses the match without losing any momentum is if Punk has some help. And by help, I mean somebody interfering on his behalf and costing Ryback the match.

You can't put the belt on Ryback either. If WWE are really pushing for CM Punk to face The Rock at The Royal Rumble, you can't kill the champ's momentum and drop the belt to Ryback only to regain it later. The booking there makes no sense and a loss to Ryback will only kill CM Punk's credibility as Champion. You've gotta make Punk look as strong as possible so that when he does face The Rock, it's a BIG moment.

The only other scenario they do now is, if healthy, add Cena to the match. If Cena isn't 100% ready to go, make things really interesting and make Cena the guest referee.

Either way, if it stays Punk vs Ryback, Punk HAS to win. The only way that happens is if somebody interferes and that somebody will be Brock Lesnar. Lesnar costs Ryback the match, Punk retains the title, and nobody loses any momentum.

Lesnar doesn't half to interfere for Punk. You forget Punk is aligned with Paul Heyman. So is Brock Lesnar. Keep that in mind.


Feel free to Comment.


By Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WWE Money in the Bank Reaction

I been gone for a while but now I'M BACK!

And it's time to dish out a review for WWE Money in the Bank. Another WWE pay-per-view is in the books and I think successfully rebounded from No Way Out which was carried by Punk/AJ/Bryan/Kane.

But anyway, Money in the Bank is always a great show, so let's get down to business.

Kofi & Truth get another win!

We're gonna start things off with the pre-show match. Kofi and Truth taking on Hunico and Camacho in a Non-Title match.

This match exceeded my expectations. I thought this was going to be some 2 minute squash throwaway match, but this was a lot more. This match showcased how underrated Hunico and Camacho actually are. These two are pretty good in-ring talents, but need something a little more before people can take them seriously.

Nonetheless, it was a solid match. Back and forth action that showcased that teamwork and speed of Kofi and Truth and the Brawler/Power combination of Hunico and Camacho. Kofi and Truth get the win after Truth connects with the Lie Detector for the win.

It would've been cool to actually see the tag titles on the line. Haven't seen that happen in quite some time now. But that's beside the point.


Let's get to the PPV!

World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Christian vs Cody Rhodes vs Santino vs Dolph Ziggler vs Tensai vs Tyson Kidd vs Damien Sandow vs Sin Cara

You talk about setting the tone, this match did that to perfection. Every guy in this match filled their roles. It started out slow like most matches do and they weren't a lot OMG Ladder spots, but that quickly changed midway through the match.

Tensai was entertaining and dominant with spots like powerbombing Sin Cara onto the Ladder and sending Dolph Ziggler flying into the announce table which looked absolutely great. Some cool spots were Tyson Kidd jumping from Ladder to Ladder and hitting a sunset flip in the process, Christian spearing Rhodes off one Ladder and Ziggler hitting the Zig Zag taking Rhodes off the Ladder. In short, when this match really picked up and got going, it got really good. Everybody started being more aggressive and made this match exciting until the end.

When all the action settled, there was one man left in the ring and that was Dolph Ziggler. The crowd was HOT for the whole match and popped when Ziggler grabbed the briefcase. I honestly thought they were going to give this one to Cody Rhodes because I didn't think Ziggler needed the briefcase to get a World Championship match, but it's always good to try out something new. Let's see where this goes.

Great way to kick off the show.

The Miz Returns!

The Miz returns after being gone for two months filming The Marine 3 sporting some facial hair and informs everybody that the WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match will now feature five former Champions: John Cena, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, and now The Miz.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (c) vs Alberto Del Rio

World Title on the Line already and it was a pretty solid match. It was very slow, methodical, with a lot of submission style wrestling. I didn't mind it, and it had some storytelling with Del Rio constantly going to work on the injured arm of Sheamus. Other than that, it was pretty slow and uninteresting until the closing moments with several nearfalls. This is no knock on the abilities of both men, they're both great competitors, and gave a little bit of chemistry in the ring, but nothing really stood out for me in this match. Not story, no hatred, no intensity. Good match nonetheless. But after a botched Enziguiri in the corner, Sheamus closes the deal with White Noise and Brogue Kick.

But after the match, Del Rio and Ricardo beat down Sheamus for a while and Dolph Ziggler's music hits and he marches down with the briefcase. He gets in the ring and wants to cash it in, but argues with Del Rio. Ziggler lays him out with the briefcase which gives Sheamus enough time to get up and drop Ziggler with a Brogue Kick. As Michael Cole put, since the bell never rang, it wasn't an official match, therefore Ziggler still has his briefcase.

That would've been a great spot had Ziggler cashed it in on Sheamus right there, but there's always another day for that.

Primetime Players (w/ A.W.) vs Primo & Epico (w/ Rosa)

Not much to say about this match. It was a pretty standard tag team match with teams that the crowd could barely care about. Ok, let me not be that blunt about it, it was a good match but the Primetime Players became the #1 Contenders at last month's pay-per-view and have still not gotten their title shot. Not only that, but they lost this match to Primo and Epico.

After the match, they confront the tag team champs who are conveniently sitting at ringside and get embarrassed as Truth throws water in the face of A.W. for getting too close to the announce table.

A.W. is a good manager, but his talking during the match on his own microphone was annoying at times. I really hope this is temporary because this can't be an every week thing. The man is funny, but he talks a little too much.

I guess a win from Primo and Epico ensures us that these two aren't out of the tag team title hunt which is good because the tag team division could use some boosting up. Obviously they're building towards a feud with the Champs and Primetime Players, but it doesn't say a whole lot when they lose. Food for thought.

WWE Championship Match - AJ as special guest referee
CM Punk (c) vs Daniel Bryan

Ok, here we go. CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship and for AJ.

Well, as much as I like seeing these guys wrestle each other, I feel like this match dragged on way too long towards the end. As much as I loved this storyline, I feel like AJ brought the match down. When AJ got knocked out 5-10 minutes into the match and had to go to the back, these guys really got down to business. It was reminiscent of their great match from Over the Limit but with more leeway to the rules because it was made No DQ. A lot of great wrestling and aggressiveness from Daniel Bryan with the weapons. The crowd was also pretty hot for this match as well. Punk and Bryan continue to show us that they have great chemistry in the ring and can go for a while.

But then AJ came back and the match quickly dropped in quality IMO. Everything seemed so annoyingly awkward. Both men's minds weren't on the title, they were on AJ. I understand that was the point of the storyline, but it got too out of hand. The match dragged on for far too long because of long pauses, dramatic facial expressions, and AJ's mannerisms that would eat up more and more time. It was getting to a point where I felt like the match should've ended 10-15 minutes earlier than when it actually ended.

Not to take away from the match itself, because it was great. Anytime Punk and Bryan face off, it's a five star match, but the AJ factor sucked a little bit of life out of the match and made it go on for too long and that's really a no-no.

The ending came when Punk delivered a back suplex on Bryan through a table and covered him for the win. AJ hands Punk the title and he celebrates and that's really about it.

This should be the last we see of this this love triangle, but I feel as if there is still no payoff. Punk needs to move on after this, but something tells me this story isn't over yet, because once again, I feel like there was no proper ending. Is there going to be some new guy introduced that falls for AJ and feuds with Bryan, or will this love triangle stretch all the way out to Summerslam? I hope not.

I personally think this should've been resolved at No Way Out, and tonight there's still no clear ending to this story. Guess we have to wait and see what happens next.



Ryback vs Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins


Not your typical Ryback squash as he looked like he struggled just a little bit against these two guys. In the end, once he got the situation under control, Ryback destroyed both of them. I think this was probably the first win that he actually started to sweat through a little bit.



Divas Match


Layla, Kaitlyn, and Tamina defeat Beth Phoenix, Eve, and Natalya in a meaningless, two minute match of nothing. The faces win, the divas title continues to not be defended, and the divas themselves continue to be irrelevant.

This annoys to me to end. Divas like Trish, Lita, Candice, Mickie James, Molly Holly, Melina, Victoria, and so on paved the way for new divas and this is what we get. What happened to the Divas Division? You know what, I won't get into it right. That's a different topic on its own.

WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match

John Cena vs Chris Jericho vs Kane vs Big Show vs The Miz

It's rare that we have a Money in the Bank Ladder Match actually headline the Money in the Bank pay-per-view itself but if John Cena is in the match, then for some odd reason, it will be the main event.

But this match had a good flow to it. The addition of Miz helped in a good way providing room for more spots. Unlike the SmackDown Money in the Bank which started slow, this one started out HOT. When I mean HOT, I mean John Cena delivering an AA to Big Show through the announce table 5 minutes into the match HOT. Not to mention being buried underneath some Ladders.

But getting back to the match, there weren't a lot of noteworthy spots because these superstars really aren't spot monkeys, so they couldn't really do a lot, but from the little that they did, it worked very well. Suplexes onto ladders, using it as a projectile, and other little things made everything work. One good spot, sort of, was Big Show pulling out a Giant Gold Ladder that I've never seen before. It was pretty cool.

Now, anybody wanna guess who won this match? You can tell by looking at the picture above.

John Cena won, but it was pretty funny how he did it. He and Big Show were atop the Ladder and he drove the briefcase into Show's head and the clasp that held the briefcase broke and John Cena was declared the winner. It was a funny botch, or at least I think it was a botch. Who knows? John Cena wins Money in the Bank and my guess is he's going to challenge CM Punk to a match at Summerslam like a good little boy.

My problem that all seems a little too easy. WWE cannot be THAT predictable....can they? I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if that's what happened. Let's hope WWE can pull a swerve or something so we don't have to sit through five weeks of

"I have a lot of respect for you, but I want you to know that I will be the next WWE Champion."

"Let's go out there and have the best match we can have and may the best man win."

"We may be friends, but I want that title."

I don't want to hear it. If they are going to do Punk vs Cena at Summerslam, then at least make a story of it. I do not want to hear the aforementioned quotes I just typed. A good face vs face feud needs to have a story where these guys develop a backbone and realize they're fighting for the WWE Championship. I know there's a better way to phrase what I'm trying to say, but I can't think of it right now.

There is another route that WWE might go which might make things a little interesting. Why not insert John Cena in this Punk/Bryan/AJ Love Triangle? If Cena can steal Eve away from Zack Ryder, he can steal AJ away from Punk and Bryan as well. AJ can fall for Cena just as easy as she fell for Punk and Kane.

Then again, that's also something I don't want to see. God help us is if that's what they do. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if that is what they go through with.


Overall, I enjoyed Money in the Bank. I always end up enjoying the SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Matches because there's that unpredictability where you don't know who's going to win whereas with the RAW match, there's always a clear idea of who's winning. And there's a lot more spots.

I enjoyed this more than No Way Out. The only bright spot about No Way Out to me was the Triple Threat WWE Championship Match. Money in the Bank is always an enjoyable pay-per-view. The big matches delivered and the filler matches provided some bathroom breaks. Now, the next big pay-per-view is Summerslam. Let's see what WWE has up their sleeve for this one. But let's see what they do for RAW tomorrow first.

Until next time!



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By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete