World Wrestling Entertainment presents Smackdown
Date: 1/27/2012
From: Tucson, AZ

Tonight, Randy Orton returns to wrestle his arch nemesis Wade Barrett. Also, Mark Henry will be in action against Big Show. It’s the last stop before the Royal Rumble this Sunday!

A video promoting what happened two weeks ago between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and Big Show is aired. Of course, they highlight what happened to AJ, again.

Big Show makes his way out to the ring to kick off the program this week. Show comes out to apologize for what happened to AJ and she accepted his apology. He wants the fans to do the same but he has been having a hard time forgiving himself. He talks about not knowing his strength when he was young and says he loves his job. He doesn’t think he can continue his career now due to what happened. That brings out the WWE World Champion, Daniel Bryan who reminds Show that he put AJ in the hospital. He says that AJ doesn’t remember him visiting because she was on heavy medicine. Bryan tells Show that he isn’t like Andre the Giant, but rather he is a freak. Bryan says that if Show really meant his apology he would just retire and do so right now! Bryan slaps Show and says he isn’t a man, but rather a monster. Show loses it and backs Bryan into a corner to tell him that what happened to AJ was an accident, but what happens at the Rumble will not be. Mark Henry makes his way out to the ring to get in on the talking. Henry says he felt compelled to remind them that he is involved in the steel cage match this Sunday. He doesn’t care about Show’s hurt feelings nor does he care about Napoleon complex for Bryan. Henry wants to take care of Bryan for sneaking out a win last week. Teddy Long makes his way out and says that tonight Mark Henry will face Big Show tonight.

– Commercials–

Opening Contest: WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel
This is a rematch from last week. Gabriel nails Rhodes with a spin kick for a near fall early on. Rhodes quickly hits a double leg slam and stomps away on Gabriel. Gabriel knocks Rhodes to the floor and hits a twisting dive over the top rope! Back in the ring, Gabriel hits a springboard cross body but Rhodes nearly rolls through for a win. Rhodes avoids Gabriel to hit a springboard kick to the face and finishes Gabriel off with the Cross Rhodes for the win.

Your Winner: WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes via pin fall
Match Rating: *1/2

Backstage, Santino Marella is pitching Teddy Long ridiculous match ideas. Yoshi Tatsu apparently is going to be the next tag partner of Marella. However, they can’t agree on the team name. Drew McIntyre enters the picture and tells Long he hates his current slump. Long books him in a match against Sheamus!

Commercials –

Second Contest: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
McIntyre hammered away on Sheamus until he was met with a short clothesline. Sheamus drives McIntyre down to the canvas with a rolling fireman’s carry but is dropped throat first across the top rope. Drew clotheslines Sheamus several times into the corner and hits a northern lights suplex for a two count. Drew tries to get a win after a snap suplex but isn’t able to keep Sheamus down long enough. Sheamus delivers the Brogue Kick and wins the match.

Your Winner: Sheamus via pin fall
Match Rating: **

Commercials –

Third Contest: Santino Marella & Yoshi Tatsu vs. WWE World Tag Team Champions Epico & Primo
Primo and Marella start off the contest with Marella controlling Primo with some mat wrestling and plays to the crowd. Tatsu delivers an ax handle off the top rope and chops Primo down to the mat a few times. Epico clotheslines Tatsu from behind and gets the cheap advantage. Epico gets a two count after a double under hook suplex. Marella tags in and jabs Tatsu several times before hitting a falling head butt. Primo clotheslines Tatsu to the floor. Marella hits Primo with the Cobra but Epico hits the Back Stabber on Marella to win the match!

Your Winners: WWE World Tag Team Champions Epico & Primo via pin fall
Match Rating: *1/2

Backstage, Daniel Bryan looks to talk to Mark Henry. Bryan says he was willing to give Henry a title shot because he respects Henry. Bryan believes that Show doesn’t have any reason to be in the title match this Sunday. He wants Henry to take Show out tonight so he will not be in title match.

Commercials –

Before the next match, Wade Barrett comes out to cut a promo about the return of Randy Orton tonight. Barrett says that he has good sources saying that Orton may be physically fine but he is a broken man spiritually. He says that the voices in Orton’s head are telling him that Barrett is a vicious competitor We see Orton making his way to the ring backstage.

Fourth Contest: Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton
Orton hammers away on Barrett on the apron and clotheslines Barrett back in the ring. Several referees come out to try and stop Orton already. Orton knocks Barrett down on the floor again and continue to punch Barrett several times. Teddy Long sends Trent Barretta, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks to break up the fight along with the Uso’s. Barreett leaves the ring and heads up the ramp way. Orton is held back in the ring and they have a stare down as the fans chant for Orton. Orton hits everyone with the RKO. Yes, we didn’t get an advertise match between these two.

Commercials –

Backstage, Daniel Bryan is talking to Kaitlin. Bryan wants her to tell Big Show that Henry is going to injure him tonight. She agrees to talk to Show. She wants to know how Bryan really feels about AJ. Bryan avoids answering the question. She is suspicious of him, though.

Fifth Contest: Hunico vs. Ted DiBiase
DiBiase has a cast on his left wrist, but he is still ready to compete. DiBiase clotheslines and big boots Hunico for a near fall. Hunico takes DiBiase down to the mat and leg drops his injured arm. He continues to work on the arm with an arm bar. Hunico avoids Dream Street and hits a modified Olympic Slam after driving his knees into DiBiase’s injured wrist to win the match.

After the match, DiBiase is attacked some more. Hunico stomps on DiBiase’s wrist as it was placed on the ring steps.

Your Winner: Hunico via pin fall
Match Rating: *1/4

Backstage, Teddy Long is with Aksana. Natayla wants to get a rematch with Tamina. Natayla calls Aksana a whack job. Long books them in a singles match later tonight. You’ve got to be kidding me. They have it so Natayla farts and Santino Marella walks into the room only to run away due to the smell. Yes, that just happened.

Commercials –

Sixth Contest: Alex Riley vs. Brodus Clay
Remember when Alex Riley was in a feud with the Miz and challenging for the US Championship? Yeah, neither do I. As Clay dances, Riley is dancing a little bit in the background. Riley decides to dance a little bit to try and be friends with Clay. Well, that doesn’t work as Clay tosses Riley over with a suplex, splash in the corner and hits a leaping cross body for the quick win.

Your Winner: Brodus Clay via pin fall

Backstage, Kaitlin is talking to Big Show, but we don’t hear what she exactly says to him.

Commercials –

We see the full segment involving Kane, Zack Ryder and John Cena from RAW this past Monday.

Seventh Contest: Natalya vs. Aksana
Okay, so Natalya distracted by apparently wanting Tamina. Aksana quickly rolls her up and wins the match in three seconds.

After the match, Natalya puts the Sharpshooter on Aksana until Tamina comes out and hits a Samoan Drop on Natalya. Tamina leaps off the top to hit a big splash.

Your Winner: Aksana via pin fall

Commercials –

Main Event: Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Daniel Bryan came out before the match overly celebrating the fact he is champion, like usual. Show knocks Henry to the floor where Henry stares at Bryan until Show comes out and punches Henry several more times. Show chops Henry only for Henry to fight back with a right hand. Henry appears to injure his leg and rolls to the floor as we go to commercial.

Back from the break, Show has won by count-out and Bryan tries to work on Show with a steel chair but that doesn’t work at all. On the floor, Bryan dropkicks Show’s leg and whacks Show over the back with the chair a few times. Bryan puts the LeBelle Lock on Show in the middle of the ring. Show breaks free from the hold and chokeslams Bryan! Bryan gets up and bails to the floor as Show looked to deliver the knockout punch. Bryan is on the floor clearly afraid of Show. Show signals that he is going to win the gold to close the show.

Final Thoughts:
I’m not going to have a long final thoughts section this week. I found the show to be really boring as there weren’t any matches that went over three minutes, but at least there were eight of them, I guess. I really don’t know what to say. The Smackdown side looks to be rather depleted roster wise and having the same matches over and over again is hurting the brand, in my opinion. This week’s show gets a big thumbs down from me.

Total Non-Stop Action presents Impact
Date: 1/26/2012
From: Orlando, FL

Tonight, Alex Shelley returns to action against Zema Ion. A new number one contender for the TNA Knockouts Championship is crowned and a tag team tables match is the main event!

The show starts off with Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy brawling backstage. Hardy is working on Ray with a broomstick. Ray is able to get a brief upper hand before missing an elbow drop. Bobby Roode appears in the parking lot and helps Ray beat up Hardy. Ray drops a wooden crate onto Hardy a few times. They decide to toss Hardy into the trunk of a truck when James Storm shows up and helps Hardy by fighting off both Roode and Ray. Storm is beaten up as well by Ray and Roode. Sting comes over and hits both Ray and Roode with a baseball bat before chasing them away. That was a different way to start the show, which I don’t mind.

Opening Contest: #1 Contenders Match
Velvet Sky vs. Tara vs. Mickie James
The winner of this match will meet Gail Kim at Against All Odds. Tara avoids a clothesline from James, who instead clotheslines Sky. Sky breaks up the pin by dropkicking James. Sky sends James to the floor but Tara rams her back first into the corner. James kicks Tara in the midsection and gets a two count on a roll up. This match really sucks already. Their timing is all off and they seem really slow to me. James hit a top rope Thez Press onto Sky but isn’t able to earn the win later on in contest. Sky prevents Sky from hitting a DDT on Tara by delivering a face buster. Tara slams Sky onto James and pins James to win the match.

Your Winner: Tara via pin fall
Match Rating: 1/2*

Sting, James Storm and Jeff Hardy make their way down to the ring. Sting calls out Bobby Roode and Bully Ray to come down to the ring. They appear through the crowd and we see a continuation of what happened earlier in the night. Sting gains order in the ring and tells them to calm down. Sting is going to let them all fight tonight on Impact. Tonight, there will be a tag team match! James Storm wants the match to be a tables match after a brief brawl. Sting asks the fans and he grants the match.

Backstage, Alex Shelley says once he beats Zema Ion tonight his eyes are on Austin Aries at Against All Odds.

Backstage, Eric Young is talking to an Impact worker but he thinks he is a musician. Angelina Love and Winter come over and begin to flirt with Young. Love suggests they do something other than fighting. Love tries to low blow Young but he was wearing a cup and she hurts her knee. ODB heads over and reminds him they have a tag match tonight.

Second Contest: Zema Ion vs. Alex Shelley
Shelley rolls Ion up early on but isn’t able to keep his shoulders down long enough. Shelley chops Ion after being shoved and kicks Ion in the back. Ion is begging Shelley to not him in the face while in the corner. Ion hits a twisting cross body from the middle rope for a two count. Shelley counters a head scissors by driving Ion face first into the mat and clotheslines Ion to the floor. Shelley misses a baseball slide and is dropped with a neck breaker by Ion back in the ring. Ion dropkicks Shelley to the floor but Shelley returns to knee lift and clothesline Ion before delivering a kick to the side of his head. Ion is sent face first into the middle turnbuckle but Shelley misses a double stomp off the top. Ion plants Shelley with a DDT before going up top where he misses the 450 splash. Shelley hits the Slice Bread and wins the match.

Your Winner: Alex Shelley via pin fall
Match Rating: ***

Backstage, AJ Styles is talking about how the business has changed Daniels and Kazarian but not himself. He says we are going to get to the bottom of what is going with Kazarian tonight!

Backstage, Tara says she is going to win the TNA Knockouts Championship and says she will do anything to win it just as Gail Kim will do whatever it takes to keep it.

Apparently, Eric Bischoff went to Garrett Bischoff’s training station. After a commercial break we go to that video. Eric doesn’t believe that anyone wants to train his son. Eric doesn’t allow the cameraman to see who the trainer is! It’s probably just Hogan.

Third Contest: Winter & Angelina Love vs. Eric Young & ODB
I don’t care about this one, sorry folks. This gets a long story short treatment. I think that’s the first one of the 2012 year. ODB and Young deliver stereo airplane spins and ODB pins Love. This segment went nearly ten minutes. That was just not necessary.

Your Winners: Eric Young & ODB via pin fall

Backstage, Bully Ray is asking Bobby Roode when did James Storm grow a set of balls. Roode has now idea. They don’t understand why he would challenge Bully Ray to a tables match. Ray says that Roode isn’t the champion for long, but doesn’t elaborate on that. They can’t decide on who leaves the room but they leave at the same time. I’m thinking Bully is going to turn face soon.

A video promoting the issues between the teams of Morgan & Crimson and the team of Magnus & Samoa Joe.

Fourth Contest: TNA World Tag Team Champion Matt Morgan vs. Samoa Joe
Joe kicks Morgan in the thigh before jabbing Morgan in the corner several times. Morgan fights back with right hands in the corner along with a chop to his chest. Morgan jumps on Joe’s back as he was backed up on the ropes. Morgan leg drops Joe across the apron as well. Joe gets a choke on Morgan in the corner but is rammed back first into the corner. Morgan elbows Joe a few times in the corner. Morgan clotheslines Joe for a two count only on the cover attempt. Joe leaps off the middle rope to hit a leg lariat. Joe kicks Morgan in he corner but isn’t able to put Morgan away. Morgan clotheslines Joe in the corner two times and drives Joe down with a side slam for a two count. Joe fights back with a senton splash but Morgan kicks out before three. Morgan hits a discus clothesline and that’s good enough for the win.

After the match, Magnus sends Crimson into the ring steps. Joe chop blocks Morgan’s leg and Magnus hits a middle rope elbow drop to leave the champions laid out.

Your Winner: Matt Morgan via pin fall
Match Rating: **1/2

Backstage, James Storm says they are going to beat Roode and Ray in their own game tonight. Jeff Hardy says they are going to finish off the show with a boom!

AJ Styles makes his way out to the ring to cut a promo. Styles talks about Kazarian costing him his match against Gunner and says he could care less about Kazarian. He wants to know why Christopher Daniels was telling Kazarian what to do, and wants to know why Kazarian was allowing it. That brings out Daniels and Kazarian. Kazarian tries to speak but Daniels ask for the microphone, which he gets. Daniels says that Styles usually complains on the microphone. He says that AJ complains as soon as there is an issue. Daniels says that Styles throws tantrums and they aren’t going to play that game. He says that Kazarian doesn’t owe Styles anything. Styles decides to fight Daniels but stops on the apron. Instead, Styles turns his back and will allow Kazarian to take his head off. Daniels wants him to do it. Kazarian gets to the apron but turns around. Daniels wants him to do it. Styles kicks Daniels to the floor! Styles doesn’t care what Kazarian is doing with Daniels. He wants Kazarian to shake his hand and they will move past their issues. Kazarian gets on the apron and enters the ring but Daniels gets on the microphone and tells Kazarian that he knows exactly why he isn’t going to do it. He demands Kazarian to leave the ring and he does. Daniels says he is going to propose a match for Against All Odds that will see AJ Styles wrestle Kazarian.

Main Event: Tables Match
Jeff Hardy & James Storm vs. TNA World Champion Bobby Roode & Bully Ray
All four men brawl on the floor with Storm going after Roode and Hardy working on Ray. Ray hammers way on Hardy and Roode turns the tables on Storm by ramming him into a table face first. Hardy counters a suplex attempt on the floor and punches Ray. He was nearly sent through a table. Storm spits beer into Roode’s eyes on the ramp way. Roode hits a snap suplex on the ramp on Storm. Ray slams Hardy on the floor as well. Ray is working on Storm with a chain but misses a shot. Storm fights back on both men and Hardy hits Roode with a clothesline to help his partner as we go to commercial.

Ray whacks Hardy over the back with a chair. Storm spits beer into Ray’s face and sends him into the guard railing face first. Hardy catapults Roode face first into the ring post. Hardy sets a table up in the ring. Ray pulls the table out of the way to save his partner from being slammed through it. Ray clotheslines Storm and Hardy. Storm saves Hardy from being backdropped through a table by moving the table. Hardy clotheslines Roode but Ray enters the ring and clotheslines Hardy. Ray misses a big boot attempt and his foot goes through the table. Storm nails Ray with the Code Breaker. Roode drives Storm down with a spine buster.

Roode brings another table into the ring while Ray yanks on Hardy’s hair on the floor and punches his head against the ring post. Roode attempts a superplex on Storm with Hardy on the table, but Hardy moves and Storm fights Roode off. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate on Roode! Roode is placed on the table and Storm gains footing on the top rope. Storm leaps off and elbow drops Roode through the table to win the match!

Your Winners: James Storm & Jeff Hardy
Match Rating: **1/4

After the match, Bully Ray attacks Storm’s left ankle with several chair shots and hits Hardy with the chair as well. Ray continues to beat down the winners of the match. Ray sets another table up and puts Hardy on the table. Ray wants to hit a power bomb off the middle rope. Roode gives Hardy to Ray who power bombs Hardy off the middle rope through a table! Roode gets his championship and holds it in the air to close the program.

Final Thoughts:
I thought the show this week was okay. The match between Shelley/Ion, Morgan/Joe and the Main Event were all fine matches, in my opinion. The program started off slow but it picked up and held my interest. I’m still not sure what they are trying to do with the whole Styles/Daniels/Kazarian situation and really hope there is an angle there. If they drop it without any kind of finish to it I wouldn’t be surprised. Whatever Daniels is holding over Kazarian, it better be shocking. I’ll give this weeks episode a mild thumbs up. It seems like TNA has been putting on some fine television so far in 2012.

Thanks for reading.

WCW Saturday Night 5/6/1995
WCW Saturday Night 5/13/1995
WCW Saturday Night 5/20/1995
WCW Saturday Night 5/27/1995

WCW Nitro 8/14/2000
WCW Thunder 8/16/2000

WWE Smackdown 1/2/2009
WWE RAW 1/5/2009
WWE Smackdown 1/9/2009
WWE RAW 1/12/2009
WWE Smackdown 1/16/2009
WWE RAW 1/19/2009
WWE Smackdown 1/23/2009
WWE RAW 1/26/2009
WWE Smackdown 1/30/2009

ROH on HDNET 6/21/2010
ROH on HDNET 6/28/2010
ROH on HDNET 7/5/2010
ROH on HDNET 7/12/2010
ROH on HDNET 7/19/2010
ROH Bluegrass Brawl 7/22/2010
ROH Hate: Chapter II 7/23/2010
ROH Salvation 7/24/2010
ROH on HDNET 7/26/2010

NWA Hollywood 9/24/2010
NWA Hollywood 10/1/2010
NWA Hollywood 10/8/2010
NWA Hollywood 10/15/2010
NWA Hollywood 10/22/2010
NWA Hollywood 10/29/2010

In July 1995 vignettes promoting a man named Goldust began to air on WWF television. He was rather bizarre as he was obsessed with Hollywood and painted his face gold while also wearing a blonde wig. Early on he competed in singles match on pay per view against Marty Jannetty and Bam-Bam Bigelow. He would win those matches and would quickly enter his first high profile feud.

It started at fifth In Your House pay per view in December 1995. WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon teamed with Marty Jannetty to take on 1-2-3 Kid and Psycho Sid. During the match, Goldust told everyone that he was keeping his eyes specifically on Razor Ramon. He was clearly setting his eyes on the gold. The following night on RAW, Ramon declined to reveal what a letter written by Goldust the previous night had said. It was apparent that Goldust had something much more on his mind for the Bad Guy.

Ramon’s boiling point game when an usher gave him flowers. On the January 15th edition of RAW, Ramon took his frustration out on Goldust in the backstage area. It was a memorable moment as he beat Goldust up outside the arena. These two men would wrestle at the Royal Rumble.

At the Royal Rumble, Goldust was able to successfully win the WWF Intercontinental Championship by defeating Razor Ramon after the 1-2-3 Kid hit Ramon with a kick off the top rope. In just four months in the WWF, Goldust won a championship. The next night on RAW, he would lose to WWF World Champion by submission. On February 19th, Ramon challenged Goldust to a fight after the champion bailed on their match.

Ramon would end up being suspended by the WWF and Goldust would be put in a feud against Roddy Piper, who had recently returned to the WWF as the interim President. Goldust continued to use sexual comments to get under his opponents skin. There were several instances were Goldust would taunt Piper. He even sexually assaulted a mannequin dressed up as Piper! Goldust and Piper would end up competing in a Hollywood Backlot Brawl at WrestleMania XII.

At WrestleMania XII Piper was able to get the better of Goldust. Piper ended up stripping Goldust down to his lingerie in the ring after they had a brawl in the parking lot for several minutes. Piper had gotten suitable revenge against Goldust. It didn’t get any better for Goldust as he was stripped of the WWF Intercontinental Championship after a match with Savio Vega on April 15th. Luckily for Goldust he would regain the championship the next night thanks to Steve Austin getting involved and costing Vega the championship.

Goldust would wrestle the Ultimate Warrior at In Your House Good Friends… Better Enemies. They didn’t really have a match as Goldust just avoided Warrior before losing the match by count-out. Goldust proceeded to have a feud with the Undertaker for a brief time. Goldust was clearly afraid of caskets and the Undertaker used that to his advantage. Goldust would trap Taker in a casket and helped Mankind destroy it with a lead pipe. They would wrestle at In Your House Beware of Dog on May 26th. Goldust was the winner after several heels came out and attacked the Undertaker to help Goldust win the match.

On May 27th, Goldust would try to save the life of Ahmed Johnson. No, Johnson didn’t actually need his life to be saved. You see, Johnson had just lost his first match on television against Vader and wad laid out. Goldust came out to give Johnson mouth to mouth. That obviously didn’t sit well with Johnson. Johnson went looking for Goldust in the backstage area in a fit of rage.

Ahmed Johnson would get his hands on Goldust at the King of the Ring on June 23rd. Goldust didn’t learn his lesson and attempted to revive Johnson during the match with mouth to mouth. Johnson recovered and hit a spine buster followed by the Pearl River Plunge to end Goldust’s championship reign.

In my opinion, Goldust’s WWF career started off really strong and there was a high level of interest. He was getting a lot of heat from the crowds all around the country and quickly rose up the card to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in only four months in the company. For me, the moment he lost to Bret Hart on RAW, his interest diminished. They should have held off on a champion vs. champion type of match for a much later date and on pay per view. Again, for me that moment really hurt Goldust in my eyes.

His feud with Piper was fun because everyone knew that Piper wasn’t going to just allow Goldust to get away with what he was doing. Piper and Ramon had the same character traits and replacing Ramon with Piper didn’t hurt the impact of the feud. His brief feud with Warrior was just a filler it seemed and there weren’t any notable moments. I did like his stuff with the Undertaker, especially the fact that he won a casket match over the Undertaker. Sure Goldust needed help of a bunch of heels, but it was still a big victory.

There was only one guy that Goldust could have lost the championship to and should lost it to was to Ahmed Johnson. Johnson was a very popular new character that was getting over due to his intensity. The fans were chopping at the bit to see Johnson destroy Goldust, I know I was. It was an effective way to get the belt off of a strong character and on to a new character.

Overall, the title run started off really well. The moment they had him drop the title to Vega was kind of a negative turning point, but I think by the end he was able to recover the title reign to make it an enjoyable title run despite a weak under card to work with.

What did you think of Goldust’s title run in the WWF back in 1996? How would you compare it to Cody Rhodes’s current championship reign?

Thanks for reading.

World Wrestling Entertainment presents RAW
Date: 1/23/2012
From: Phoenix, AZ

Tonight, Zack Ryder gets his shot at revenge against Kane in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The Miz and R-Truth collide in a match where the loser enters the Rumble as the number one entrant. Plus, WWE Champion CM Punk teams with John Cena to take on Dolph Ziggler and WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger!

WWE Champion CM Punk kicks off the show. Punk sits down in the middle of the ring and talks about his title match against Dolph Ziggler. He mentions that Johnny Ace is the special referee and calls him a failure as a wrestler and as an executive. “These are facts. I checked it on Wikipedia” Now you know it’s the truth. Punk shows a clip of Ace telling the truth last week that he is going to screw Punk out of the championship on Sunday at the Royal Rumble. Punk says he will break Ace’s arms. He calls out Ace to tell Punk all the things he said last week to his face. The fans are chanting for Punk big time tonight! Punk is going to find Ace instead. Wait a second, out comes John Cena! Cena comes out and doesn’t play to the crowd. He looks to be dead serious. Cena says he was sick of Punk rambling. Cena says that Ace will appear in minutes. Cena wants Ace to give Zack Ryder a rematch tonight for the WWE United States Championship. Cena also wants Kane in a singles match tonight. He is saying that Ace will also resign as the interim general manager of RAW. Johnny Ace does come out and introduces himself as if no one knows who he is. Ace says that last week he meant what he said and he isn’t going to be intimidated by either Cena or Punk. Punk suggests he come down to the ring so he can hear him better. Ace says he apologized to Ryder for last week. He announces that Ryder will wrestle Kane in a falls count anywhere match! If Cena gets involved then Ryder will never get a rematch for the WWE United States Championship. He also books a tag team match for Cena and Punk. Vickie Guerrero comes out with Dolph Ziggler and WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger. They will be the guys to wrestle tonight. Ziggler suggests that Punk be worried about him instead of Ace. Ziggler is going to flat out beat Punk tonight just as he has in the past. Swagger chimes in to say that Cena is dead meat for what he did to him last week. Those are some tough words!

Opening Contest: WWE Champion CM Punk & John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler & WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger
Cena and Ziggler kick off the match with Cena controlling Ziggler with a headlock. Cena delivers a running bulldog on Ziggler for a quick two count early on. Punk tags in and kicks Ziggler in the back for a near fall. Punk tried for the GTS but Ziggler bailed to the floor as we go to commercial.

Back from the break, Cena is kicked in the gut by Ziggler. Ziggler ducks under a clothesline and taunts the crowd before tagging in Swagger. Cena quickly hits a snap suplex and knocks Ziggler off the apron. That allows Swagger to drop Cena from behind. Ziggler cheap shots Cena from the apron and Swagger gets a two count. Swagger has a front face lock on Cena, but Cena is able to backdrop Swagger. Ziggler enters and dropkicks Cena for a near fall. Ziggler delivers several elbow drops and proceeds to do some situps. Take that Scott Steiner! Cena continues to be worked on in the corner. Swagger hits a big splash off the middle rope for a near fall.

Cena drives Swagger down to the canvas with the Attitude Adjustment. Punk clotheslines Ziggler a few times and hits a swinging neck breaker. Punk delivers a knee in the corner and a running bulldog. Ziggler avoids the GTS but not a standing kick. Swagger makes the save on the cover. Cena brawls with Swagger on the floor and puts the STF on Swagger! Punk heads to the top rope but Ace gets on the apron tells him not push the referee. Ziggler sneaks up from behind and rolls Punk up for the win.

Your Winners: Dolph Ziggler & WWE United States Champion Jack Swagger
Match Rating: ***

CM Punk gets on the microphone and says that at some point he will beat the hell out of Johnny Ace. Punk decides to give Ace a present. He wants Ace to be something he has never been. Punk wants Ace to be a WWE Superstar for one night. Punk is going to make Ace famous tonight. He challenges Ace to a match for tonight! Ace accepts the challenge with a smile on his face.

Backstage, Chris Jericho is walking to the ring as he will host the Highlight Reel!

Chris Jericho makes his way out to the ring as we return from commercial. Jericho wants everyone to be quiet so he can speak. However, he is clearly not looking to actually speak. Well, he actually says hold on one second several times. So, he has actually spoken. He goes to the backstage area and gets a t-shirt launcher. Jericho is toying with the fans as to which side he is going to send the shirt to. He grabs the camera and twirls around. Jericho points to his television screen and get a hype video of sorts highlighting what he has done in his career. Jericho speaks! “This Sunday at the Royal Rumble. It is going to be the end of the world as you know it.” Fantastic segment, folks.

It is announced that R-Truth will compete against the Miz later tonight. Plus, Kane will meet Zack Ryder in a falls count anywhere match in case you forgot.

Backstage, Mick Foley is talking to Zack Ryder and Eve. Ryder thinks he is going to be alright tonight. Foley tells Ryder that he can do this and he is serious, bro. Eve tells Ryder that he doesn’t have to do this tonight. She doesn’t want Ryder to wrestle tonight against Kane. Ryder says he has to do it this tonight. John Cena appears and tells Ryder that he has his back. However, Ryder wants him to stay out of it because he wants his rematch.

Second Contest: Falls Count Anywhere
Zack Ryder vs. Kane
Kane kicks Ryder in his taped ribs early on and knocks Ryder off the apron into the announcers table. Kane drives Ryder back first into the ring post several times before slamming him down onto the floor. Ryder is sent back first into the ring steps as well. Oh lord, Eve has come out to ringside. She must not watch Smackdown. Kane rams Ryder back first into the announcers table as we go to commercial.

As expected, Kane has kept control of the contest as he punched Ryder off the top rope. Kane drops Ryder face first into the ring steps and gets a near fall on the floor. Kane starts to suffocate Ryder but lets go for some reason. Kane is tossed over the railing into the crowd. Ryder nails Kane with a briefcase but runs into an uppercut. They are now on the entrance way where Kane kicks Ryder in his ribs again. Kane sends Ryder into the steel WWE structure by the ramp way. Kane choke slams Ryder through the stage! Kane spots Eve and stalks towards her as he backtracks towards the ring.

John Cena appears at the top of the ramp and Kane exits through the crowd. Cena and Eve look down at Ryder who is obviously still laying under the ramp. Cena is greatly concerned for his buddy. Ryder is put on to another stretcher. Ryder is put into a stretcher and Cena looks pissed right into the camera as we go to another commercial.

Third Contest: Sheamus vs. Jinder Mahal
Mahal works on Sheamus in the corner until Sheamus clobbers Mahal with some strikes. Wade Barrett makes his way out to the ring. Sheamus hammers away on Mahal’s chest on the apron. Barrett is on commentary now. Sheamus goes to the top rope but Mahal yanks him off to the canvas. Mahal delivers a running knee strike to maintain control. Mahal has a chin lock on Sheamus. I really don’t care about this, if I’m honest. Sheamus battles back with a few forearm strikes and a rolling fireman’s carry! Sheamus looks for the Razors Edge but Mahal breaks free. Mahal runs into the Brogue Kick and Sheamus wins.

After the match, Wade Barrett decides against entering the ring ring. Sheamus tells Barrett that on Sunday he will be the only man left in the ring this Sunday.

Your Winner: Sheamus via pin fall
Match Rating: 1/2*

Backstage, Josh Matthews is with The Miz. Miz says that everyone who has crossed him have seen their careers come to an end. When you turn on Miz you become irrelevant. He is sure that he will main event WrestleMania after winning the Royal Rumble. R-Truth shows up and says he is a market researcher. Truth has research that says that Miz is annoying, whining, and number one W.E.I.O. That stands for “what else is on.” Truth calls Miz a jackass and they have an argument. Johnny Ace and David Otunga come out and tell them that Miz and Truth keep on distracting him as he prepares for his match tonight. Johnny Ace announces that the loser of their match will be the number one entrant in the Royal Rumble match this Sunday.

This Friday on Smackdown… Randy Orton returns! His eyes are locked on Wade Barrett!

William Regal is on commentary! First he was on Smackdown and now he is on RAW! Thank you!

Fourth Contest: Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater
Okay, Slater getting squashed is something I can cheer for. Slater says he slipped on a shoulder block and dropkicks Clay. He taunts the crowd and Clay uses his head to drop Slater. Clay hits an overhead suplex, a splash in the corner and hits a leaping cross body for the win.

Your Winner: Brodus Clay via pin fall

Fifth Contest: The Miz vs. R-Truth
Truth knocks Miz off his feet with a back elbow and knocks Miz to the floor. Truth clotheslines Miz on the floor before they return to the ring. Miz drops Truth gut first across the top rope and spears Truth off the apron to the floor as we go to commercial.

Miz has kept control of Truth with an abdominal stretch as we return from the break. Truth rolls Miz up but only gets a near fall. Truth hits a front suplex but Miz pops his shoulder up at two. Miz hits a neck breaker on Truth after a failed attempt the first time. Truth plants Miz with a Flatliner and wins the match. Miz will be the number one entrant in the Rumble.

Your Winner: R-Truth via pin fall
Match Rating: *

Jerry Lawler announces that Zack Ryder has suffered a broken back.

Backstage, Johnny Ace is getting ready for his match. David Otunga gives him a piece of paper and says Ace will not like what it says. Ace reads it and doesn’t say anything.

Main Event: WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Johnny Ace
Ace announces that he has received a fax from the board of directors. David Otunga reads the fax and says that they are upset with the way that Ace has been using his power. Otunga says they don’t like Ace favoring Ziggler at the Royal Rumble. Otunga says that Ace’s position is officially under review. Next week, he will have a job review. He could possibly be fired from his job. Triple H will review his job performance next week!

Punk says that if Ace screws him over at Rumble Ace will be out of a job. He now has no reason t not beat Ace up. Ace considers this to be a wake up call. Ace announces that Mick Foley is now in the Royal Rumble match. Ace says he was going to call the match fair and only said he wasn’t going to because Punk made fun of him. Punk hopes that Ace is fired next week by Ace. Ace doesn’t believe that will happen and says he has been here for ten years. He believes he is safe.

Ace reveals that their match isn’t going to happen. Instead, Punk will wrestle David Otunga. Otunga blindsides Punk and works on the champ in the corner with several short clotheslines. Punk locks the Anaconda Vice in and Otunga taps out quickly. Punk stares down Ace and moves towards him. Punk turns around to kick Otunga and turns back around to Ace. Ace wants to shake hands with Punk. Punk sets Ace up for the GTS and hits it!

Dolph Ziggler comes out and attacks Punk. Ziggler stands over Punk to end the program.

Final Thoughts:
The show opened up on a high note with the promo with Punk, Cena and Ace. Cena is obviously teasing a heel turn and I feel like his new found aggression has been a pleasant thing to see. The opening tag match was a good match and the best on the night by far. Ziggler winning yet again shows that he has Punk’s number and to some fans it could be a high possibility that Punk will lose this weekend. I’ve really enjoyed the buildup for their feud.

Ryder/Kane was a just an extended squash for Kane. I don’t know why they are going with a broken back storyline here. That should mean that Ryder is out for a long, long time. Seriously, he has to be gone for at least eight months to properly make that injury angle effective. I’m hoping there isn’t something more serious going here.

Chris Jericho is playing his role to perfection. I feel bad for the people who don’t get it. His promo tonight gave everyone even more reason to purchase the Royal Rumble this Sunday. That is when the questions will be answered.

The rest of the show was boring to me. I don’t care about a Mahal/Sheamus match and the Miz/Truth match was just really boring.

Brodus Clay is already stale. What has he offered to the program? Nothing.

I didn’t like the way the show ended this week. I hate that they had Punk hit the GTS on Johnny Ace this week. The fans were dead and quite honestly didn’t deserve to have that happened. People want to compare this angle to the Austin/McMahon angle. When Austin hit McMahon with the Stunner in MSG the fans went ape shit. When Punk hit the GTS on Ace there was a pop, but they would’ve gotten some bigger out of it. Plus, having Ziggler beat down Punk to end the show was unnecessary. I feel like Ziggler doesn’t need anymore momentum going into their match. Punk should have hit the GTS, and stood tall while having a stare down with Ziggler to end the show. I didn’t like the ending at all.

Overall, I wish I could say that I liked this show, but after first forty minutes I was really uninterested. I’m going to give this show a mild thumbs down.

Thanks for reading.

Ring of Honor TV
Date: 1/21/2012
From: Baltimore, MD

The program starts off with a video highlighting what happened at Final Battle between Eddie Edwards and ROH World Champion Davey Richards. Richards retained the championship after kicking Edwards in the head. After the match, Kevin Steen proclaimed that he was back in ROH and gunning for the ROH World Championship. “My name is Kevin Steen and I’m the Antichrist of Professional Wrestling.”

Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness are standing in the ring. They talk about the change in the tag team division at Final Battle. Rhett Titus has an injury and is out for several weeks. Kenny King will square off against Matt Jackson in singles action.

We hear from Mike Mondo who says that he wants to take advantage of a vulnerable Eddie Edwards tonight. Mondo is going to show what he is all about. He is going to make an example out of Edwards tonight. Eddie Edwards shares his thoughts saying he isn’t going to make excuses for what happened at Final Battle. Edwards tells Mondo he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Opening Contest: Mike Mondo vs. Eddie Edwards
Mondo has half of his head dyed blonde. Edwards is knocked down to the mat early with a shoulder block but battles back with an arm drag. Mondo is placed in the tree of woe and Edwards hits a dropkick which gets him a near fall. Mondo pokes Edwards in the eyes and delivers a shoulder breaker to gain the advantage. Mondo is working on the arm that has screws in it. Edwards delivers a leaping knee strike but can’t put Mondo away. Mondo hits a single arm Code Breaker but Edwards powers out at two. Edwards hits a top rope double stomp and follows up with the Die Hard for the win.

Your Winner: Eddie Edwards
Match Rating: ***

Footage from the tag match between the Briscoe Brothers and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team is shown. It looks like Haas and Benjamin have turned heel after they beat down the Briscoe Brothers with a chair. The Briscoe Brothers were able to win the match and thus became the ROH World Tag Team Champions.

We hear comments from Haas and Benjamin. Haas feels like they made a rookie mistake by allowing the fans to get to them. Haas says not acting like the best tag team cost them the titles. Benjamin says that the New York fans aren’t smart because they fall for the Briscoe’s act. They find it insulting that the fans turned on them after they came to Ring of Honor. Haas says everyone can go straight to hell. Jim Cornette chimes in saying that the fans are entitled to cheer for whomever they wish to cheer for. He says that people are fined $5,000 for using a chair over their opponents head.

Jim Cornette is in the ring to introduce the new ROH World Tag Team Champions Mark and Jay Briscoe! Jay Briscoe wants to know who gets the money that Cornette fined Haas and Benjamin. They feel like they should get the money. Jay says that if they get the money they would let everyone in the locker room come down to the ring and hit them with chairs! Jay tells Jim that they can’t help who the fans cheer for. They don’t care who challengers for the championships. Bring on the competition. They want the tag teams to MAN UP!

Second Contest: Ricky Reyes vs. Roderick Strong
Reyes works on Strong with an exploder suplex for a two count in the opening moments of the contest. Strong fights back with a series of chops but Reyes nails him with a leaping forearm in the corner. Reyes misses a splash in the corner and Strong hits a Back Stabber in the corner. Reyes is able to easily kick out of the cover, though. Strong connects with a gut wrench suplex for a two count. Reyes gets a near fall following a swinging neck breaker. The fans aren’t making any noise for Reyes. Reyes plants Strong with a DDT but can’t get a three count. Strong kicks Reyes in the head and manages to reverse a roll up for the win with a handful of tights.

Your Winner: Roderick Strong
Match Rating: *1/4

We hear comments from Kevin Steen backstage. Steen talks about how a lot of people at Final Battle got hurt. Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs and El Generico all got hurt thanks to Kevin Steen. Steen is wearing his old shirt with Generico to show support for him. Steen says he will be on Ring of Honor television in two weeks. He will show and tell everyone why he belongs in ROH. He is going to take ROH hostage until he gets what he wants. I find it funny that ROH is claiming to have a live television show.

Prince Nana and the Embassy share some comments. Nana puts over how the Embassy is the greatest stable to ever exist. Barrister RD Evans says they have a lot invested in Tommaso Ciampa.

Backstage, Veda Scott interviews ROH World Champion Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly. Richards talks about not doing tag team matches a lot because he is the champion but he is ready to put up a shot. O’Reilly says Adam Cole is cool with them tagging and suggests they could be the new American Wolves. The microphone for that promo appeared to be messed up for this.

Main Event: Kenny King vs. Matt Jackson
King backs Jackson into a corner and pie faces him. Jackson shoulder blocks King and taunts the fans. King drop toe holds Jackson for the upper hand. King hits a snap suplex and hammers away on Jackson. King arm drags Jackson several times back in the ring and continues to punch Jackson. King takes Nick out with a dive on the floor but Matt is up and delivers a baseball slide to gain control as we go to commercial.

Jackson misses a yakuza kick and King tosses him across the ring with an exploder suplex. Jackson misses a splash in the corner and King drops him with several clotheslines. King over shot Jackson on a standing moonsault for a two count. King kicks Jackson in the side of the head and hits a spine buster for a near fall. King walks into a super kick and Jackson hits a flipping ace crusher from the middle rope. Jackson springboards off the middle rope and somehow plants King with a DDT on the apron! That was a really nice move. King kicks out at two on the cover attempt. King blocks a 450 splash with his knees and hits a swinging side slam. On the floor, Nick Jackson has grabbed one of Rhett Titus’s crutches. King drops Matt throat first across the top rope. Nick whacks King over the back with a crutch and Matt is able to pin King.

After the match, security comes out to break up a brawl that takes place.

Your Winner: Matt Jackson via pin fall
Match Rating: **3/4

Final Thoughts:
Compared to all the other shows that ROH has put on thus far, this was a below average one. There were a few decent matches, but they aren’t must see or anything like that. It’s good to see Kevin Steen back on television as he will instantly give ROH an entertaining character. I’m looking forward to a possible Richards/Steen feud and an O’Reilly/Edwards feud as I think the promo by O’Reilly could easily make that a possibility. It wasn’t a bad show. There just wasn’t anything worth remembering.

Thanks for reading.

On November 26th, 2000 Scott Steiner won his first and only WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Steiner had been one of WCW’s most over heels dating back to early 1999. However, that was at a time when Hogan, Flair, Nash and Bret Hart were all playing a political game. By November 2000, Hogan was gone from WCW forever, Flair wasn’t active, and Bret Hart was on the sidelined with his career ending concussion. There weren’t a lot of options for WCW.

Scott Steiner probably should have gotten a run with the championship much sooner, but he had to settle for his run to happen when WCW was widely considered to be a joke. Join me as I relive his title reign in WCW.

At Mayhem on November 26th, 2000 Steiner was able to beat his longtime rival Booker T to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. For much of the summer Steiner was looking to get his hands on the championship. He wrestled Booker T the previous month at Halloween Havoc, but lost the match after hitting Booker with a lead pipe.

Prior to winning the championship, Steiner had wins over Goldberg (Fall Brawl) and knocked Sting out of action on the November 20th edition of Thunder. It was safe to say that Steiner was a dominate force in WCW prior to winning the championship. Steiner put Booker T on the shelf during their match at Mayhem Who could possibly set up and challenge Scott Steiner?

The next night on Nitro, Scott Steiner would have a title defense against Booker T’s brother, Stevie Ray. Ray would put his career on the line and Steiner would end his career. That brings the total up to three for Steiner. Steiner continued put people on the disable list after he beat Buff Bagwell on Thunder. However, Sid Vicious made his return to give the fans hope that he would be the man to put an end to Steiner’s reign.

On the next Nitro (December 4th), Steiner wanted to get his hands on Sid. Instead, he had to settle for WCW United States Champion Hugh Morrus. Steiner would win the match and afterward would put Arn Anderson in the Steiner Recliner. Sid would appear but they still wouldn’t get their hands on each other.

The following week on Nitro (December 11th) Steiner would finally get his hands on Sid. After successfully defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Sgt. AWOL (Yeah, that happened), he would have a parking lot brawl with Sid Vicious. Then, on Thunder, Steiner would do something that was rare to happen in WCW. He was able to make Meng submit to the Steiner Recliner. Sid would appear again and this time he would drop Steiner with his trademark chokeslam.

They finally meet at Starrcade on December 17th, 2000. Could Sid Vicious dethrone Scott Steiner after under a month as a champion? Nope. Steiner was able to lock in the Steiner Recliner and retained the championship. To close out the year 2000, Steiner would retain his championship by forcing Ernest Miller to submit to the Steiner Recliner on Thunder. Scott Steiner enters 2001 looking like an unbeatable monster!

As 2001 started it was clear that the CEO of WCW, Ric Flair, wanted the WCW World Heavyweight Championship off of Scott Steiner. He wanted that to happen so badly that he set up a four corners match at WCW Sin on January 14th. The match saw Scott Steiner defend the championship against Sid Vicious, Jeff Jarrett and a mystery man. This was the show where Sid Vicious suffered a broken leg after leaping off the middle rope. Steiner would prevail as the winner and the mystery man actually helped Steiner retain the championship. Ric Flair was now on the side of the champion.

The next night on Nitro, Kevin Nash was next to try his luck against Scott Steiner. He would get a title shot on the show, but only won by disqualification. Nash had his own army of guys consisting of Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Steiner, and the Cat. There was a war starting to develop.

On February 5th, 2001 Rick Steiner turned on Kevin Nash to rejoin his brother Scott Steiner. It would appear that everyone was joining the champion as he looked to keep the championship for a long time. Kevin Nash would get his chance for the gold at WCW Superbrawl Revenge against Scott Steiner. Ric Flair changed the rules of match after Nash pinned Steiner by making it a two out of three falls match.
Steiner ended up putting the Steiner Recliner on Nash and forces Nash out of WCW forever as a result. So, now Steiner had been responsible for taking out Sting, Booker T, Stevie Ray and now Kevin Nash.

Steiner would turn his attention to Diamond Dallas Page for his next feud. On February 26th, things just got worse for the champion as Booker T made his return to WCW television. Booker T made his return a memorable one as he was able to pin Scott Steiner on the program. Still, DDP was the next man to get a title shot. He would get his shot at Greed when he competed against Scott Steiner in a falls count anywhere match. Steiner used a lead pipe on DDP and was able to defeat the bloody DDP by knockout.

The following night on Nitro, Eric Bischoff revealed that Scott Steiner would defend the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T on the last Nitro to ever take place. Unknowingly to Bischoff, it was the last Nitro that he would ever be part of. The next week on Nitro Booker T would reclaim the championship he lost in November 2000 pinning Steiner on the first match of the last Nitro to ever take place. That ended Steiner’s reign as the champion.

In my opinion, Scott Steiner was one of the few bright spots for WCW during it’s dying days. They waited way too long to put the championship on Steiner and by the time they were smart to do it the reign was rather disappointing. The Sid feud was really not entertaining for the most part. The idea behind having Steiner take out all the top faces was good in theory, but without any real depth it left Steiner with very few, if any, credible challengers to have a program with.

Yes, I was a Scott Steiner fan but this championship reign was just poorly booked and poorly executed. Once Steiner got the championship his appeal seemed to diminished for me. Nonetheless, Steiner winning the title was a memorable moment and should have had happened over a year before it actually occurred. I think had he won the championship sometime in 1999, his reign would have been a lot better and would be remembered fondly.

Thanks for reading.

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Smackdown
Date: 1/20/2012
From: Las Vegas, NV

Tonight, Sheamus meets Wade Barrett in singles action. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan defends against Mark Henry. All that and much more on the Sin City edition of Smackdown!

A video highlighting what happened during the main event last week between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, Big Show and AJ is shown to kick off the program. For those of you who don’t know what happened, Big Show accidentally ran over AJ on the floor when he was chasing after Bryan.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan makes his way out to kick off the program. He is not in the usual upbeat mood. He isn’t showing off his title, but rather he looks serious and just walks down to the ring. The fans are giving him some good heat. Bryan says that the show is entitled Sin City because of what Big Show did to AJ last week on Smackdown. He believes that Show meant to run over AJ last week and believes the tears were not genuine. Bryan says that Show is bitter because his title reign was the shortest in WWE history. “He is a bitter, selfish, vengeful freak!” Bryan lists the injuries that AJ has suffered. Her career could be over because of what Big Show did on purpose. He says that AJ would put herself in danger because she loves him. Bryan has a great admiration towards AJ. He says that AJ will be in his corner in spirit. Bryan assures us that he isn’t afraid of Mark Henry nor is he afraid of Big Show. He is glad that Big Show isn’t here tonight because he doesn’t want to be held responsible for what he would do to him. Bryan wants Show to do the right thing and quit the WWE.

Booker, Matthews and Cole talk about the situation some more before we go backstage. Teddy Long is talking to Aksana. They have the roulette wheel for the show. WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes comes in and mentions how Goldust had a showgirl match when he spun the wheel. Rhodes spins the wheel and gets players choice. Rhodes chooses his opponent to be Ezekiel Jackson! Wait, no he chooses Hornswoggle!

Commercials –

Opening Contest: Players Choice Match
WWE Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Justin Gabriel
Rhodes shoves Hornswoggle down on the floor before the match and teases him with a few nudges with his boot. Justin Gabriel runs down and he attacks Rhodes with right hands and kicks. Apparently, they are going to have a match instead! It’s a non-title match, though. Gabriel hammers away on Rhodes in the corner and hits a dropkick. Rhodes avoids a backdrop with a throat thrust and connects with a dropkick of his own for a two count. Rhodes drives Gabriel down to the mat with a front slam and locks in a chin lock. Gabriel counters a scoop slam attempt with a neck breaker and connects with a spinning kick. Gabriel heads to the top rope but Rhodes crawls away.

Rhodes attempts the Alabama Slam but Gabriel breaks free and nearly rolls Rhodes up for a three count. Gabriel gets another two count after a springboard cross body from the apron. Rhodes drops Gabriel chest first across the top rope and gets the win after hitting the Cross Rhodes.

Your Winner: Cody Rhodes via pin fall
Match Rating: *3/4

Backstage, Mark Henry is with Teddy Long. Henry is there to spin the wheel. He doesn’t like the idea of Sin City. Long wants him to spin the wheel, but he refuses. So, Long spins the wheel. The match tonight will be a Lumberjack match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship! Henry tells Long that Bryan is going to enter the Hall Of Pain!

Commercials –

Second Contest: Tornado Match
WWE World Tag Team Championships Epico & Primo vs. The Uso’s
I can’t help but laugh during the Uso’s entrance for some reason. Uso’s have control early on hitting a back breaker/middle rope forearm drop on Epico. Primo sends Jey to the floor and they control Jimmy with a double gut buster and a snap suplex. Jimmy kicks out of a couple pin attempts. Jimmy fights back with a clothesline and Jey super kicks Primo. Uso’s hit splashes on the champs and they hit running butt splashes on the champs. Jimmy hits a top rope splash on Epico for a near fall. Primo hits a Back Stabber to get the three count.

Your Winners: Epico & Primo via pin fall
Match Rating: *1/2

Commercials –

Backstage, Aksana is flirting with Teddy Long. Sheamus enters the picture to end that. They spin the wheel and it’s revealed that Sheamus will wrestle Wade Barrett in a tables match. Sheamus approves of that stipulation.

Third Contest: Dance Off
Brodus Clay vs. Vickie Guerrero
After a commercial, Guerrero comes out to tell us that she is the opponent and is going to show off her thing. Oh lord, she can make it sizzle when she moves. She proceeds to do her dancing. It is truly awful. The fans boo her and now it’s Clay’s turn. He doesn’t do dancing at first, instead his dancers do the dancing. Clay shakes his body and that’s it for him. The fans are the judges for the dancing contest. The fans clearly vote for Clay to win the contest. Guerrero freaks out and decides to dance once again. Wait a second, here comes William Regal! YES! Regal can’t allow the fans to boo the poor, unfortunate lady. He wants Guerrero to leave with him, but Clay wants Regal to show his stuff unless he is a “funky chicken.” Regal decides to get in on the dancing. Regal busts some good moves and wants the ladies to call him. Clay cuts him off with a cross body off the ropes and some boos are heard. “My bad, somebody call his momma.”

Commercials –

Fourth Contest: Tables Match
Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus
Sheamus clubs away on Barrett in the corner to open the bout. Sheamus tosses Barrett over the top rope to the floor. Barrett drives Sheamus back first into the ring apron. Sheamus cuts Barrett off as he attempted to set a table up. Barrett is driven face first into the announcers table. Sheamus is sent shoulder first into the ring post. Barrett now has control of the bout. Barrett delivers a running big boot as Sheamus was tangled in the ropes. There is a table set up on the floor. Barrett looks for a suplex from the apron but Sheamus blocks it. Sheamus turns the tables and delivers ten overhand clubbing blows to Barrett’s chest. Sheamus knocks Barrett off the apron but he leaps over the table and hits the announcers table instead!

Sheamus rolls Barrett back into the ring and looks to bring a table in, but Barrett kicks the table into his face instead! Sheamus fights back with running ax handle shots and delivers a power slam. Sheamus puts Barrett on the table and heads to the top rope. Barrett rolls off and hammers away on Sheamus on the top rope. Sheamus avoids a superplex and hits a back breaker once they are both off the ropes. Sheamus sets the table up in the corner and looks for the Celtic Cross. Jinder Mahal runs out and distracts Sheamus. That allows Barrett to send Sheamus through the table to win the match.

After the match, Jinder Mahal sets another table up in the corner. He looks to slam Sheamus but that fails. Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick on Mahal! Sheamus picks Mahal up and rams him through the table!

Your Winner: Wade Barrett
Match Rating: ***1/4

Commercials –

Fifth Contest: Flag Match
Ted DiBiase vs. Hunico
Teddy Long spins the wheel backstage and it’s a flag match. They set up the poles with the flags right now. The announcers kill time to go over the rules of the match. We hear from pre-tape comments from DiBiase who says Hunico can have a pity party after he beats him.

Hunico hammers away on DiBiase to open the bout but DiBiase drives Hunico down to the mat with a spinning sit out slam. Hunico power bombs DiBiase off the middle rope to prevent DiBiase from reaching the flag! DiBiase stops Hunico with an electric chair slam! Hunico backdrops DiBiase to the floor. Hunico looks to grab the Mexican flag but DiBiase shoves him off the top and onto his buddy on the floor. DiBiase kicks Hunico away and drops him across the top rope before hitting Dream Street! DiBiase climbs up and grabs the flag to win the match!

Your Winner: Ted DiBiase
Match Rating: **

Backstage, Daniel Bryan is talking to a female backstage as we go to commercial.

Commercials –

Backstage, Teddy Long is talking to Drew McIntyre. Long says he is running out of luck. Long announces that McIntyre has been fired! Santino Marella comes over and wants Long to reconsider. Marella doesn’t like that people are saying his victory was lucky. Marella wants another match with Drew. They spin the wheel and it ends up being a blindfold match.

Backstage, Mark Henry is warming up for his upcoming match against Daniel Bryan.

Commercials –

Sixth Contest: Blindfold Match
Drew McIntyre vs. Santino Marella
Marella puts a blindfold on the cobra. Marella uses the fans to his advantage to try and find McIntyre. Drew is able to spear Marella to the floor through the middle rope. On the floor, Drew punches the ring post. Drew tries to cheat but still misses Santino with a big boot and crashes to the floor. Marella uses the fans to hit Drew with the Cobra to win the match.

Your Winner: Santino Marella via pin fall

Commercials –

Main Event: Lumberjack Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
(champion) Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry
Henry blocks a kick and tosses Bryan down to the mat. Bryan goes to the apron and warns the wrestlers to not touch him. Henry delivers a head butt and Bryan rolls to the floor where he warns the other wrestlers to not touch him. Henry works on the champ in the corner with a shoulder ram and a head butt to the chest. Henry stands on Bryan’s chest. Bryan tries to fight back but is stopped with a head butt. Henry clubs Bryan in the chest and continues to dominate the match. The fans begin to chant Sexual Chocolate. Bryan bails to the floor but the Wade Barrett and company roll him back into the match as we go to commercial.

Bryan is tossed across the ring by Henry. Bryan fights back with a few chops but is tossed away. Bryan charges towards the corner with a running forearm strike, kicks and a running dropkick! Henry is on his knees when Bryan hits a kick to the head for a near fall. Henry tosses Bryan to the floor. Bryan stares at the lumberjacks and returns to the ring. Henry drops the champ with a clothesline and tosses Bryan across the ring again. Bryan boots Henry but runs into a clothesline which gets Henry a two count on the cover attempt. Henry press slams Bryan over the top and onto several lumberjacks. Bryan begins to brawl with the lumberjacks! Henry tosses Bryan back into the ring but Bryan dropkicks Henry off the apron. The lumberjacks go at Henry but they all enter the ring to attack Bryan because he was provoking them. Henry tosses the other lumberjacks away. Henry tosses all the lumberjacks away who had entered the ring. Henry goes for the World’s Strongest Slam but Cody Rhodes stops that and all the lumberjacks start fighting with each other. Bryan has rolled to the floor to get away from the mess.

Bryan walks up the ramp way holding his championship while everyone else fights. The fans are booing this segment. Teddy Long meets with Bryan as he walks backstage. Bryan complains about thirty guys attacking him this week. Long announces that at the Royal Rumble Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Mark Henry and Big Show in a steel cage match!

Final Thoughts:
It was a fine episode this week. While the matches weren’t great they had some good spots during them. The focus on Daniel Bryan and his development as a heel has really been a bright spot for the show. The stipulations to the matches really provided more interest into the matches, I thought.

I’m still not a big fan of Brodus Clay and he even got a few boos for attacking William Regal. I think Regal has one last good run left in him and he should be used as babyface.

The main event, Hunico/DiBiase, Sheamus/Barrett and even the opener were the better matches this week. I say the main event because it really drove home the attitude change in Bryan.

Overall, I’ll give the show a thumbs up as it was a productive program this week.

Thanks for reading.

Total Non-Stop Action presents Impact
Date: 1/19/2012
From: Orlando, FL

Tonight, Mickie James squares off against Madison Rayne in a steel cage, AJ Styles squares off against Gunner, a number one contenders match takes place and a X-Division wrestler returns!

The new number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, James Storm makes his way out to the ring. He talks about beating the best wrestler to ever compete last week. He is going to Against All Odds and whoop Bobby Roode’s ass. He looks to say his catchphrase, and right after saying it, Jeff Hardy makes his way out. Hardy says he has been getting screwed the last several weeks and tells Storm that no one should get a title shot until he gets one final match with the champ. Storm tells Hardy that he was screwed first and with all the screwing that Roode has been doing, you would think Roode would have a lot of child support to pay up. That cues the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Bobby Roode to make his way out. Roode tells us that since there wasn’t a winner between himself and Hardy at Genesis, then Storm’s match is null and void! Roode tells Hardy that he isn’t going to give him another title shot since he failed on two attempts within five days of them! You would think Roode has made valid points. Sting comes out and books a number one contenders match between James Storm and Jeff Hardy for tonight!

Backstage, Angelina Love is complaining about Eric Young touching her last week. She is so mad! She wants a piece of Young tonight!

Opening Contest: Gunner vs. AJ Styles
Styles gets a near fall after a backslide in the early moments of the contest. Gunner comes off the ropes and is met with a dropkick. Gunner returns to the ring and clubs away on Styles before hitting a snap suplex for a two count. Gunner nails Styles with a high knee for a two count. Styles battles back with a few clotheslines and hits a springboard forearm shot from the apron. Christopher Daniels comes out with Kazarian telling him to do what he says. That allows Gunner to get the cheap advantage for a moment but Styles kicks Gunner in the head. Kazarian gets on the apron and clotheslines Styles. The referee was distracted for that by Ric Flair. Gunner plants Styles with the DDT and wins the match.

After the match, Gunner goes to the floor and exposes the concrete floor. Styles breaks free from a DDT attempt and bails through the crowd.

Your Winner: Gunner via pin fall
Match Rating: **

Backstage, Magnus and Samoa Joe talk about Magnus wrestling Crimson tonight. Magnus is going to beat up the meat head known as Crimson. That brings Matt Morgan and Crimson into the scene. Crimson is going to end Magnus tonight. They will settle their issues tonight in the ring.

Backstage, Sting is talking to Bully Ray. Ray assures Sting to not be afraid as he isn’t going to smack him around. Ray believes he should have a title shot because he has been undefeated in a singles role. Sting decides to not give him a shot and tells Ray to set up an appointment next time. Ray says he will set up an appointment next time and Sting will have to listen to what he says. Sting ends the segment by slapping Ray on the chest and says he looks forward to the meeting. Ray didn’t respond to the slapping.

Second Contest: Magnus vs. TNA World Tag Team Champion Crimson
Magnus attacks Crimson before the bell and delivers a running clothesline for a near fall. Magnus continues his offense with a vertical suplex. Crimson hits the Red Sky after Magnus charges towards him and he gets the three count.

After the match, Samoa Joe runs into the ring and attacks Crimson. Joe punches the referee as well. Crimson is double teamed as Magnus gets in on the attack. Matt Morgan finally runs out and makes the save. Joe chop blocks Morgan’s knee and Magnus hits a sit out slam on Crimson. Magnus takes Morgan out with a top rope elbow drop. The champs have been left laid out.

Your Winner: Crimson via pin fall
Match Rating: 1/2*

Backstage, Eric Young is looking at a poster of a MMA fighter. ODB ends up going over and talks about his upcoming match against Angelina Love. He doesn’t think he is allowed to wrestle against a girl. ODB says that Young can do a number on Love, she may do a number on him. Young thinks they will hold hands.

A video promoting the Eric Bischoff/Garrett Bischoff issues is shown. The video also features Garrett wrestling several people. Garrett believes that his father will be shocked when he finds out who his trainer is.

A video hyping up the steel cage match between Mickie James and Madison Rayne is aired. We go to the locker room where Gail Kim to calming Madison Rayne down before the match.

Third Contest: Steel Cage Match
Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James
James attacks Rayne as Gail Kim heads to the backstage area. Rayne kicks James away in the corner and tries to climb out but is met with a sit out power bomb by James instead! James nails Rayne with a seated dropkick for a two count. James maintains control with a headlock for a few moments. Rayne kicks James right in the face to get the momentum as we go to commercial.

James flapjacks Rayne and heads to the top rope. Rayne knocks her off with a forearm shot. Rayne delivers a neck breaker dropping James’s neck across the top rope. Rayne is now driving James face into the cage. Rayne hits a snap suplex and a neck breaker for a two count. Rayne drives James face first into the mat several times while having a head scissors locked in. Rayne with a splash in the corner and drives James face first into the canvas again. James battles back with a neck breaker. James slams Rayne head first into the canvas and they trade several blows.

Rayne is knocked down by James with several clotheslines. Rayne stops the offense with an eye poke. James tosses Rayne into the cage back first through the middle rope. James hits a leaping DDT and wins the match.

Your Winner: Mickie James via pin fall
Match Rating: **1/4

Backstage, Austin Aries wants everyone to stay tuned to hear what he has to talk about tonight.

Backstage, Tara and Velvet are celebrating Mickie James victory with her. Mickie tells them she still has to get her hands on Gail Kim. James is going to fight through a knee injury to get her hands on Kim.

Backstage, Jeff Hardy says he is desperate for a payoff and wants Bobby Roode in a no disqualification
match because that would be fair.

A video promoting Austin Aries current reign as the TNA X-Division Champion is aired. Aries doesn’t think there is anyone in the company who can beat him for the championship.

Austin Aries makes his way down to the ring. Aries continues to say that he has beaten everyone in the company and no one can beat him. He says if he wasn’t the best he wouldn’t have the championship around his waist. Aries knows that he is the greatest man to ever live. Aries believes he has to go somewhere else to get some competition. Alex Shelley makes his way out! Shelley talks about the injuries himself and Chris Sabin have had in the past year. He turns his attention to Aries saying that he couldn’t beat the piss out of a urine soaked sponge. Yikes! Shelley is sick and tired of a douchebag being the champion of his division. Shelley reminds us that the last time they wrestled Aries beat him after hitting him in the groin. Aries says that shouldn’t have hurt because there isn’t anything there anyway! Aries tells Shelley that he should just go home and wait for a partner. Shelley gets in the champs face and demands a title shot! Aries wants Shelley to find a guy in the backstage area and beat them to earn his shot. Shelley tells Aries he can pick his opponent and he will wrestle Aries at Against All Odds.

Backstage, Winter viciously attacks ODB with a pipe and her belt.

Fourth Contest: Angelina Love vs. Eric Young
Young is stalling for several minutes because he doesn’t want to wrestle Angelina. Young continues to lock up with the referee and has the referee back Angelina into a corner. Love low blows Young and loses by disqualification.

After the match, Winter and Angelina beat down Young until ODB runs out and attacks Winter. ODB cleans house as the fans cheer for Young. ODB kisses Young in the ring to end the segment.

Your Winner: Eric Young via disqualification

Backstage, James Storm says he has been in TNA since day one and believes it is his time. It is time to show everyone that he is capable of being the TNA World Heavyweight Champion again!

Main Event: Number One Contenders Match
James Storm vs. Jeff Hardy
Storm controls Hardy early on with a side headlock. Hardy gets out of the hold with a head scissors and takes Storm down with a side headlock. Storm shoulder blocks Hardy but runs into an elbow shot. Hardy clotheslines Storm and delivers a double leg drop. Storm avoids a splash in the corner as we go to commercial.

Hardy backdrops Storm to the apron and knocks Storm to the floor. Hardy takes Storm out with a cross body over the top rope. Hardy attempts a cover back in the ring for a two count. Storm fights back with a slingshot suplex for a two count. Hardy takes Storm down with a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Hardy comes off the top to hit the Whisper in the Wind for a near fall. Storm attempts the Eye of the Storm but Hardy gets out of it. Storm hits twisting face buster of some kind but Hardy kicks out at two. Storm is looking for the super kick but it’s blocked by Hardy. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate and goes up top but is cut off by Storm.

Storm attempts a superplex but Hardy tosses him off. Storm recovers and kicks Hardy in the head. That allows Storm to hit the superplex on a second attempt. Bully Ray has come out to ringside, which I didn’t even notice. Ray knocks the referee out. Ray attacks both Storm and Hardy with his chain. Earl Hebner wobbles his way down but is punched by Ray as well. Ray spits beer onto Storm and continues the attack. Ray knocks a third referee off the apron with a right hand. Sting makes his way out with a baseball bat and attacks Ray! Sting chases Ray to the backstage area.

Bobby Roode is now in the ring and he whacks Storm with the TNA World Championship. He nails Hardy with the championship as well. Roode grabs a microphone and announces that he is the most dominate champion in TNA. He also does Christy Hemme’s job by announcing that his match is a NO CONTEST to end the show.

Final Thoughts:
The opening segment was a fine way to promote the main event. I find it kind of amusing that Jeff Hardy continues to use excuses as to way he couldn’t win the championship from Roode. They may be valid reasons, but hearing a babyface complain is kind of annoying.

Gunner is clearly being positioned to be a top player for TNA this year. The match with Styles was okay, but it was more of a way to progress Styles issues with Daniels and Kazarian. Anyone else find it funny that RVD was written off television, but appears on the house shows? That’s weird to me.

The cage match between James and Rayne was a fine match. It was obvious that James was going over and she is clearly the main person to challenge Gail Kim for the TNA Knockouts Championship.

It’s about time that TNA found a guy to feud with Austin Aries. Alex Shelley returning to television is great! Those two are surely going to have great matches. I’m looking forward to that.

Lastly, the main event was a good match until the same old bullshit finish. It obviously sets up a three way between Storm, Hardy and Roode, but it could also set up a four way with Ray in the mix. I would even be interested in seeing a match between Ray and Sting. I think that is a possible match for TNA.

Overall, it was a good edition of Impact. There wasn’t really a bad segment on the show. Good job TNA!

Thanks for reading.

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