WWE RAW 1000 – 23rd July 2012 – Past and Present combine for a great night!

WWE RAW 1000

Date:                  23rd July 2012

Venue:               St Louis, Missouri

Commentators:  Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

And here we are. The 1000^th episode of RAW is here and I am excited to see this. Note I am reviewing this the day after the show and I have no idea what has occurred on this show, so it will all be a nice surprise, I hope. We have nostalgia acts galore, a reunion, an answer to a challenge and two title matches and that’s only the beginning. Let’s begin!

A recap of the main memories of RAW over 999 episodes. A really cool feature! This alone gets me pumped for this episode.

Segment 1: Degeneration X reunion!

Vince McMahon comes out and gets warm “Thank you Vince” chants from the crowd. Oh they pop massively for Degeneration X though. Triple H: “Didn’t there used to be more of us?” The roof comes off this place when X-Pac, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn come out. The catchphrases are done as usual… until Damian Sandow of all people comes out and runs down DX. Yeah I think you know the drill here. After some “planning” by DX, Sweet Chin Music and Pedigree takes Sandow out and a “SUCK IT” ends it. For once, we have an AWESOME promo to kick off RAW, if only for the nostalgia. Rating: A

We go through the list of tonight’s events.

Segment 2: Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara/Sheamus defeats Alberto Del Rio/Dolph Ziggler/Chris Jericho

JR is back on commentary, much to EVERYONE’S delight. Decent six man tag match but it was too short to see the talents from everyone. Sheamus gets the Brogue kick after Ziggler knocks out Jericho. SummerSlam match between these two anyone? Rating: C

JR was only on for one match. Really, only one match?

Charlie Sheen is skyping on RAW from LA. Never seen that feature before and hopefully never again.

Recap of Bryan’s proposal to AJ Lee last week. YES! YES! YES! AJ seems to be in her own world, when she tells Layla the whole WWE is unstable. Yes that includes Mae Young’s hand… I mean son. Oh sweet God! WHY?

Segment 3: Brodus Clay defeats Jack Swagger; return of Dude Love

Have a guess what happens here? OH SHIT HERES DUDE LOVE! It’s been years since I have seen him! Splash by Clay and that’s it for Swagger. Ah who cares, as Mr Socko makes an appearance and takes out Swagger. A nice shocker here with Love returning. Rating: B+

Triple H practices yoga with Trish Stratus and he ends up in front of her as the rest of DX walks in. De ja vu much to any of the older fans?

Segment 4: The wedding of Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee

Slick is the reverend for this wedding, which I won’t argue with. For those of you who don’t know or remember, Slick was a manager of many heel wrestlers in the WWF in the 1980’s. AJ looks STUNNING here! We go through the vows until the speak objection part… when no one comes out. The crowd chant NO loudly, as Bryan spews his bullshit about how he loves her. Seriously, I can smell the bullshit from here. AJ says YES…. to another man’s proposal (Slicks face was goddamn funny here!). Enter Vince McMahon (?) who says its not marriage…. AJ is the new GM of Monday Night RAW! YES! All I can say here is Daniel Bryan should grovel and beg for forgiveness from AJ, as his life will be made hell from now on. Awesome moment as the wedding going wrong was pretty much a given. Rating: B-

Segment 5: Punk/Bryan/The Rock

All I can say about that swerve by AJ is Bryan deserved it after the way he treated AJ months ago. Bryan is still in the ring when CM Punk comes out and rubs it in his face. Bryan stated he was the best WWE superstar of all time…. so enter the People’s Champion. The Rock! Major announcement: Whoever the WWE Champion is at the Royal Rumble, will face the Rock for the WWE Title. Imagine this: CM Punk versus The Rock for the title. Gives me shivers thinking about it.

Oh and a Rock Bottom to the oompah… I mean to Daniel Bryan. I tell you what, Punk; Bryan and The Rock in the same promo. I never thought I would see it happen. Rating: A

Segment 6: WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz defeats Christian (c)

Bret Hart is the guest ring announcer for this match. I didn’t like the fact Christian dominated this match, as we didn’t see much of The Miz, but he did good selling of the knee when he had to. What surprises me the most is the fact Miz won cleanly after the Skull Crushing Finale when the knee came into play. Decent match and ring psychology but the crowd was dead for the most part, which saddens me. That is how little the IC title means anymore, but Miz needed this win badly. Rating: C+

Segment 7: Brock/Heyman answers Triple H’s challenge

At least they recap Lesnar’s attack on Triple H THREE MONTHS AGO! The major problem with this whole angle is it has gone on too long with too little interaction between the two of them. After much goading by HHH and Stephanie (who verbally took Heymans manhood by calling him a failure at WCW/ECW and WWE), Heyman says YES to Triple H’s SummerSlam match with Lesnar. Lesnar and HHH brawl to end this promo, with HHH coming out on top. That took about twenty minutes but was pretty damn entertaining throughout, although I can’t understand why Lesnar was not made to look strong here. Rating: B-

RAW Moment: Steve Austin versus Vince McMahon during the late 90’s. That was a monumental rivalry.

Segment 8: No DQ and No Countout match: Lita defeats Heath Slater

Good to see Lita again. She did some protection though…. APA! Slater runs away only for EVERY legend who has faced Slater to throw him back in. Twist of Fate, Clothesline from Hell, moonsault and its over for Slater. Ron Simmons: “DAMN!” Love it! Nostalgia overload, but who cares? Rating: B

Sean Mooney (from the 1^st ever RAW!) interviews Bryan. Bryan goes off on one on Charlie Sheen. Ok then.

Rock and Cena face to face, when Rock wishes Cena luck too tonight. Rematch down the road. Book it.

Segment 9: Kane… has no match

Jinder Mahal leads down some other guys, including Hunico; Camacho; Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins, to beat down Kane before a match ever happens. BONG! Enter the Undertaker and the beatdown is on, with a double chokeslam and tombstone to Hunico and Curt Hawkins. That didn’t last long and what a moment to see when they both pose. I reckon it will never be seen again.

Charlie Sheen says he will shake the beard off Daniel Bryan’s face. Is this a challenge for SummerSlam? I hope not!

Segment 10: WWE Championship: CM Punk v John Cena

We all knew this would not be as good as Money in the Bank last year, but this was good enough. As expected, a dusty finish occurred when Big Show interfered twice to draw the DQ win for Cena (does that make Cena the first man to fail at cashing in Money in the Bank?). It set up the post match stuff, which is newsworthy enough. Rating: C+

Rock comes in after Big Show as Punk slides away from ringside. Rock goes for People’s elbow… and gets clotheslined by Punk and then the GTS to end it!! That caught me by surprise but it was either him or Cena I guess. In all fairness, is this a full heel turn? Punk looks confused and conflicted to end the show.

Overall: A- With so much nostalgia and future plans made for future RAW’s, how can this show not be considered a success? Going forward, we have a new RAW General Manager, a new IC Champion, Triple H/Brock Lesnar, Bryan’s life to be made a misery and a new heel WWE Champion. The Punk heel turn will be interesting to see over the next few weeks and months but I am willing to wait it out. Awesome show of laughs, drama and great promos. More next week please!

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WWE SmackDown – 20th July 2012 – Average is the word of the day here.

WWE SMACKDOWN

Date:                  20^th July 2012

Venue:               San Diego, California

Commentators:  Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews.

The final push for RAW 1000 tonight, despite the fact it’s SmackDown, but when has that stopped this company from making this a recap show? I have no idea what has been announced for tonight, so everything here will be a surprise to me. Plus, Rey Mysterio returned on RAW earlier this week, so he may play some part in tonight’s episode. Let’s begin.

Segment 1: Rey Mysterio returns to SmackDown

Mysterio has been out since last August with another serious knee injury. So this promo has Mysterio, Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus argue over who should be the next No 1 contender and then a tag team main event match was made for tonight. Standard opening promo for SmackDown, which we have seen a million times before. Rating: C-

AJ/Daniel Bryan (fiancés now of all things) are on the Peep Show with Christian tonight.

Segment 2: Prime Time Players/Hunico and Camacho defeat Primo/Epico and Kofi Kingston/R-Truth

I think this officially makes the Colon’s a face team then, although no one could care less I think. This was a decent little eight man tag team match, with A.W providing good voice at ringside. Have to love that gimmick he has. Young and O’Neil combined to get the pin on Primo I think. Rating: C+

Big Show comes down after the match and knocks everyone except The Prime Time Players out. Why destroy the tag teams like this?

Raw moment: Jeremy Piven hosting RAW. No. Just no.

We recap Cena’s ENTIRE WEEK from Money in the Bank until RAW and declaring his cash in for the WWE Title at RAW 1000. Did we have to see all that?

Segment 3: Damien Sandow defeats Zack Ryder

Aggressive start by Ryder but that is ended by Sandow. Cross arm neckbreaker by Sandow ends this quick. Too short too rate, but Sandow looks like a madman in the ring.

Segment 4: Peep Show with Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee

Christian hosts this segment. A clip of AJ/Bryan planning the wedding looks so sweet, so its a shame something is likely to happen on RAW 1000 at their wedding (yeah apparently they only need a week to plan it!). Christian looks as though he cannot believe the wedding is happening and gets slapped by AJ for it eventually. Its then announced Bryan has to face AJ’s former boyfriend… KANE (??). Were they EVER together? Good segment here that got to the point and teases a Christian/Bryan feud down the line. Rating: B-

Segment 5: Kane defeats Daniel Bryan (via DQ)

Typical big versus little man match here, as Bryan tried to survive Kane’s attacks. After AJ nearly got knocked over by Kane, Bryan checked to make sure she was ok before a boot to the back of the head. THAT was a little difference to how Bryan treated her before and it appeared genuine. AJ jumps on Kane off the top for the DQ win, which sets up the post match stuff. Rating: C-

Chokeslam for Bryan, as AJ is pulled round to the front of Kane and its de ja vu (RAW 18/06/2012), when AJ kissed Kane. Bryan pulls her out before anything happens. Please say Kane is not gonna go after AJ. I am dreading the wedding now.

Segment 6: Road Warrior Animal defeats Heath Slater

MASSIVE chant for the LOD, which was always good to hear back in the day. SWEET looking powerslam and elbow for the win. Animal is in his 50’s I believe but he looks like he could have a good couple of matches. Rating: B- (for nostalgia)

Rodriguez gets told off by Vickie and responds in Spanish. Oh and Vickie screams. Funny and irritating skit at the same time.

We go over what will take place on RAW 1000.

Segment 7: Sheamus/Rey Mysterio defeats Dolph Ziggler/Alberto Del Rio (via DQ)

Another decent main event tag match, but we have seen the same thing all before. Ziggler looked good out there though, on offence and taking the bumps. As for Mysterio, it looks like he hasn’t missed a step since his injury way back last year. Rodriguez stops the Brogue Kick for the DQ. Rating: C+
Dolph tries to cash in after Del Rio attacks Sheamus, but gets beaten down by Mysterio/Sheamus to end the show. Way to keep your Mr Money in the Bank strong guys.

Overall: C Yeah this was your average run-of-the-mill SmackDown episode. It will be interesting to see if this improves after RAW 1000, but until then, SmackDown is in limbo at the moment. Have to say, it went by quickly though.

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WWE RAW – 16th July 2012 – RAW 1000 is coming!

WWE RAW

Date:                  16th July 2012

Venue:               Las Vegas, Nevada

Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Money in the Bank is in the books and Punk is still your WWE Champion, after AJ Lee called the match down the middle…. sort of. Also, Cena is your new RAW Money in the Bank winner, amid a sea of predictability and criticism considering Cena doesn’t really need it. Either way, I think we all know which way this is going. Let’s begin.

Segment 1: CM Punk and Big Show

Doesn’t seem long ago since Punk dropped that pipebomb in this venue last year does it? Even Punk acknowledges this and even when Big Show comes out to interrupt, he still manages to verbally beat down Show. Speaking of verbal beatdowns, Show mentions that the company revolves around Cena and that Punk is nothing special. That’s two weeks in a row that Punk has been told that so they must be leading somewhere with this, surely? Show versus Punk in the main event tonight.

Segment 2: WWE Tag Team Titles: Kofi Kingston/R-Truth defeats Prime Time Players (w/ A.W)

Why was this match not on last night? And why have the PTP lose twice in a row? Fair enough, after their losses its best they do not win the tag team titles yet but they need to build this division up quickly if it is to be of any interest to us fans. Good match here, with Kingston/Truth flying all over the place. A.W continues to impress me on the mic. Rating: C+

Bryan apologises to AJ, until Eve interrupts and tells them it Bryan/AJ v Eve/???. A kiss from Bryan to AJ? Hmmm this will be interesting to see.

Segment 3: Alberto Del Rio defeats Zack Ryder

Total squash here, as Del Rio worked over the arm for the submission win after a few minutes. It was mainly to set up the post match return of….. REY MYSTERIO! Hell yes, it’s about time! Del Rio eats a 619 after a few strikes. I sense a RAW 1000 or SummerSlam match between these two.

RAW Moment is…. Heath Slater on RAW??? I have nothing for this.

Segment 4: Heath Slater v ???

The legend this week is… RIKISHI!! YES! Of course, the crows give a warm reception to Rikishi which is always good to see. And it’s the return of the Stinkface and the Samoan Spike (?) and a middle rope sitdown splash (?) for the pin. Ah it was good to see Rikishi back for one night. Rating: B-

Rikishi then dances with his son’s, Jimmy and Jey Uso in a cool moment.

Segment 5: Daniel Bryan/AJ Lee defeats Eve Torres and The Miz

Eve’s partner is the Miz, who returned at Money in the Bank for the WWE Title Contract Ladder Match. The story to this match is Bryan left Eve during the tag team match on RAW last week, when AJ pinned Eve. Short match here, which is fine as it merely sets up the post match promo in a moment. At least The Miz didn’t take the pinfall loss here as I feared.

Bryan to AJ: “AJ, I Love you”. And then he propose’s to her with a ring this time. She says YES! That’s like the third proposal in two weeks, so I guess RAW is the new dating show now. I give up sometimes, yet it seems funny somehow.

RAW Moment: Rock throwing the Smoking Skull belt and Austin into the river. Classic.

The Bryan/AJ Lee wedding is on RAW 1000. Already?

Segment 6: Ryback defeats Jack Swagger in a non-match

Swagger beats down Ryback before Ryback makes a comeback. There was no match at all here. Small feud here? Unlikely, but one can only hope.

Segment 7: Dolph Ziggler steps up

Ziggler is the new Money in the Bank holder for a world title shot and proclaims himself to be better than Bret Hart, Stone Cold and The Rock when he becomes champion. Prove it first then say it Dolph! Oh he forgot Jericho, who comes out and gets roasted by Dolph for being a loser. Jericho gets a Codebreaker in and never says a word. See, this is how you help to put over new talent, by giving them time to cut a promo and then give them a possible program with a veteran like Jericho who is great at what he does: wrestling and putting talent over. Rating: B

DX reunite next week. Are you ready?

Segment 8: Brodus Clay defeats JTG

Damn I forgot JTG works for this company still. Typical squash here aside from a few JTG attacks to Clay’s leg, which is still injured apparently. Belly to belly suplex, headbutt and squash end this squash.

Segment 9: CM Punk defeats Big Show (via DQ)

Story to this match is simple: Punk had to survive getting knocked out by Big Show and the ever present danger of Cena and his Money in the Bank briefcase being cashed in. You have to love WWE drama sometimes. I am actually surprised that this happened to be a good match, with Punk trying to avoid the WMD. Punk tried some offence but it didn’t work most of the time. Show shoves the referee down for the DQ, but it sets up Cena for this… Rating: B

Cena runs out… and announces he is cashing in for next week on RAW 1000 with Punk down and out. Surprise surprise! Show calls Cena a fool for not cashing in now and gets knocked out with the briefcase to the head. Cena and Punk pose to end the show.

Overall: B- I have to say I enjoyed this one tonight. Normally, the shows after a pay-per-view are throwaway episodes, but with RAW 1000 next week, this pushed that show no end. Also, about two or three stories were pushed here tonight, along with a couple of good matches, so I can’t complain much here.  Considering the main event was a good match as well surprisingly, says everything about Punk’s ability, although Show played his part well here too. Good stuff tonight.

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Keep up to date with me on Twitter: @Irishwarrior006

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