Night of Champions Reaction

At first, I didn't want to even bother writing a blog on this show, but I changed my mind.

Pre-show Battle Royal to determine #1 contender for the US Championship
Participants: Brodus Clay, Tensai, Primo, Epico, Justin Gabriel, Michael McGuillicuty, Zack Ryder, Primetime Playas, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Ted Dibiase Jr., Heath Slater, Santino

I won't get into much greater detail than this because this: It was a pretty standard battle royal. Not many faces people would know because they're never on TV, but nonetheless, it was an interesting battle royal. It came down to Tensai and Zack Ryder and Long Island's Finest came away with the win. So, therefore, we will have Zack Ryder vs Antonio Cesaro later on for the US Championship.

I'm sure you all heard what happened to Jerry "The King" Lawler on RAW. If not, then allow me to fill you in.

The King had a heart attack during a match on RAW last Monday. At one point, you could hear him snoring sort of, and then you just hear silence. WWE personnel rush over, and EMT's bring King to the back worked on him for 15 minutes to do CPR. King was treated in the hospital over night, and by Wednesday (?) He was up and feeling better. He posted a tout and all was right with the world. Thank god he's ok and back on his feet, and at home recovering.

While King is at home recovering, JBL came back tonight and took over color commentating duties for the show. Let's get to the event.

Fatal 4 Way Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (c) vs Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes vs Sin Cara

This was a good opening match to be honest. Solid action from all four men, we got to see Mysterio and Sin Cara put on a little show, and we had some great spots as well.  An interesting ending here, when Miz was going to power bomb Sin Cara and got a mask put on him. With Miz being able to not see and all, he grabbed the first body and hit the skull crushing finale and got the win. Solid match, I would've expected a little more of a faster pace to the ending, but this works too.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Kofi & R-Truth (c) vs Kane & Daniel Bryan


First off, I gotta say that Daniel Bryan and Kane have become the entertaining portion of the show for the past two weeks, and these anger management segments have been funny. Getting to the match, it was solid, and told a good story. Kane and Bryan argued during portions of the match, even going so far as to hugging it out during the match when they got upset. They were so over that Kofi and Truth, who are also fan favorites, started to get booed at. But this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened.

The ending sees Kane on the top rope, still arguing with Daniel Bryan. Bryan shoves him off and he lands on Kofi and gets the win and we have NEW Tag Team Champions. And afterwards, they argue and Kane leaves.

This is a great move by WWE here. Kane and Bryan have gotten super over ever since these anger management segments and giving them the tag team titles is a good move. My only thing is, where do they go from here? Who are they gonna find to challenge Kane and Bryan? Unless they throw two other upper mid-carders together to face them. But I don't think the belts will come off these guys any time soon.

United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (c) (w/Aksana) vs Zack Ryder

Solid match. I didn't expect much from the match anyway, but not bad. I said this in my Summerslam reaction blog, I like watching Cesaro wrestle. The man knows what he's doing in there. Also, there was one spot in the match where he sent Ryder in the air and on his way down, he hit him with an uppercut. He used this great move in ROH and other indies before coming up to WWE. It's pretty lethal.

Cesaro wins with the Gotch Neutralizer after Aksana distracts him. So, Cesaro hangs on to the US Title which is a good thing cause this might be what he needs to make him relevant. Cesaro is a great talent and with some work, he could be something big. Maybe WWE can start putting him on RAW too.....a show that people will watch. SmackDown isn't as watchable as it was in the past.

Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler

When you think of a match that could be the possible showstealer, this was it. I'm not surprised because these two always put on great matches. Both of these guys have so much chemistry in the ring and this match was amazing. It was slow, fluid, methodical, and fast pace at times, but it didn't really need it. It ended with Orton lifting Ziggler in the air and hit him with an RKO on his way down.

Match of the night so far. But where does Ziggler go from here. He's getting absolutely no steam and no momentum. I mean yea, he's Mr. Money in the Bank, but what does that mean if he keeps losing?

Then again, Daniel Bryan kept on losing matches when he was Mr. Money in the Bank and look where his career is at now. Nuff said. We're just going to have to wait and see when Ziggler will get his chance to shine.

Divas Championship Match
Layla (c) vs Eve

Well, with Kaitlyn out of the mix, Eve takes her spot and faces Layla for the Divas Championship. What happened to Kaitlyn you ask? If you care enough to read, I'll explain.

Earlier on in the night, Kaitlyn "injured" her ankle backstage and was in no condition to compete apparently. How convenient. They didn't build up Kaitlyn one bit, and now she's "injured." Why put her in the match if you were planning to take her out of it? Later on, Booker T. named Eve as the replacement to face Layla. Shocking stuff. Why didn't you just add her to the match in the first place?

I wasn't too sold into this match for obvious reasons. But unlike the crowd, I appreciate a Divas match when both of them can actually wrestle. Layla always had talent, and Eve got better and better in the ring with her move set. That being said, the match was solid and we crowned a NEW Divas Champion in Eve.

I'm not that annoyed with the decision, but let's look at this for a minute:

Kaitlyn was "taken out" earlier on in the night, Eve is her replacement, and then wins the Divas Championship. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Eve was behind everything and it worked out in the end as she wins the Divas Title. All this in order to get Eve over as a heel. Eve lost A LOT of steam since her heel turn on Ryder back in March (?) But Eve wins the title, and I'm pretty sure Layla and Kaitlyn will be back after her.

The only twist they can come up with here (which they'll probably do) is for Eve to have paid someone to take Kaitlyn out so that her hands are clean of the situation. That would at least make the Divas division a little more interesting.

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

Before the match gets underway, Booker comes out and makes the Brogue Kick legal again taking away all the "suspense" in this match in whether or not Sheamus can win without The Brogue Kick.

So, now that we have that out of the way let's get to the match. It went on for a little while, but it had a slower pace than their match at Summerslam, but this match was still good and told a good story. Del Rio continuously worked on that arm and every time Sheamus would go for the Brogue Kick, he would miss. When Sheamus was locked in the cross armbreaker and looked like he was going to tap, he fought his way to the ropes, twice.

Eventually, Sheamus nails Del Rio with the Brogue Kick and this one is over. And there is no appearance from Ziggler. So, I really don't know where Sheamus will go from here. My guess would be a feud with Orton, or maybe Wade Barrett. But I know THIS should be the last time Del Rio competes for the World Title, at least for a while.

WWE Championship Match
CM Punk (c) vs John Cena

Before the match, Paul Heyman is in the ring and says he's going to be at ringside to watch this match and introduces CM Punk out and here he comes wearing a hoodie and sporting NY Yankee pinstripe trunks clearly since they're in Boston and all. Cena comes out wearing Pink and Black for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Both men get separate introductions and it seems like for once, Boston is actually cheering Cena.

This match had a big fight feel and it didn't disappoint. Then again, Punk and Cena never disappoint. I know I bash PG WWE A LOT, but one thing I'll say is that Cena and Punk know how to put on a damn good show and making every minute worth it. This was another classic match that saw Cena doing a ring dive, multiple kickouts from finishing moves, escapes from submissions, other nearfalls, and just excitement all around. It was simply amazing.

But here's where I scratch my head. Ok, so at the end, Cena does a German Suplex from the top rope and the ref counts and apparently Cena wins the WWE Title! But wait, once Cena is done celebrating, the ref takes the belt away from Cena and says both his and Punk's shoulders were down on the mat when he counted the fall. Mr. Referee ends this match on a draw. Therefore, Punk keeps the WWE Title. And afterwards, while Cena is complaining about the decision, he turns around and Punk drops him with the belt.

I had to let this sink in for a bit. They really couldn't have Cena lose in his Hometown? Really? I mean it's not like it hasn't happened before. Anyway, they didn't want Cena to lose in Boston, and they didn't want Punk to lose the title, so this draw scenario is actually kind of interesting. Not only does it leave the people of Boston extremely upset which gives Punk more heat, but it shows how even they are. They did everything to each other and nobody walked out with a clean win on one another. I just feel like they could've executed it better. I mean when they showed the replay, Cena's shoulders were barely on the mat. I commend the move, but it just seemed off.

We're going to see Punk/Cena again at Hell in a Cell, and do you have Punk win there? There have been talks of Punk holding onto the title up until The Royal Rumble, but this scenario seems too familiar. Cena doesn't win the first match, but almost always wins the rematch. There is a method to all this madness.


Overall, this show was pretty damn entertaining. Way better than Summerslam that's for damn sure.

As much as I hate to say it, Cena/Punk surpassed Orton/Ziggler for Match of the Night, and we crowned two new Champions. All this adds up to a must see RAW tomorrow night. Good show, great wrestling, but a sloppy ending. I'll give a 7/10. WWE still has a lot to do in the world of building up every match like they used to do before the PG Era started.



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!



Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete