Video Review- Elimination Chamber

01/25/11 NXT Full Episode- Rookie gets new coach, DiBiase vs Bryan

Rookie gets new coach after winning a 4-way against the other rookies

The show opens with a Rookie Challenge called “Out Think Howard Finkel”. According to our correspondent, no one wins the challenge.

Ted DiBiase b. Champion Daniel Bryan

Backstage, Ted DiBiase is talking with Rookie Brodus Clay. Maryse speaks in French.

Fatal 4-Way match with the winner getting to swap Pros
Brodus Clay wins, beating Byron Saxton, Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis
Clay chooses Alberto Del Rio (the former Pro of eliminated Conor O’Brian) as his new Pro. He hits his finisher on Ted DiBiase to end the show

01/24/11 Raw results- Cena refs Barrett vs. Punk: battle of The Corre and Nexus

John Cena has control of the fates of The Corre and Nexus in the rumble; Miz and Edge are both attacked by the challengers for their titles

Four man Battle Royal
Edge vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Jack Swagger vs. Drew McIntyre
This match was signed by the Raw GM as punishment for the last time Edge appeared on the show when he destroyed the computer. Edge threw all three men over the top rope to win the match.

The Corre confronted The New Nexus; Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk arranged

King Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio vs. Mark Henry, John Morrison
Alberto Del Rio and John Morrison start the match off for their respective teams. Del Rio gains control early and Morrison spends alot of the match fighting off the team of Sheamus and Del Rio. The highlights of the match were Sheamus hitting a titltawhirl back breaker on Morrison and Morrison hitting a head scissors, a plancha and a couple of high impact enziguris  on the King of the Ring Sheamus. After Morrison landed a plancha on Sheamus, Del Rio ran into the ring and hit his rolling cross arm breaker for the win on Henry.

Woman’s Title match
Melina vs. Natalya Hart(c)
Natalya managed to retain her title against Melina. After the match it was announced the Lay Cool would be facing Natalya for the title in a handicap match at the rumble

WWE Champion vs World Heavyweight Champion- Non title match
The Miz vs. Edge
Edge won via DQ when Dolph Ziggler interfered in the match, costing Edge a victory. After the match Randy Orton came out to attack The Miz and Alex Riley.

Daniel Bryan and the Bellas vs. Ted DiBiase, Maryse and Alicia FoxN
Nikki Bella was distracted by Daniel Bryan and her sister Brie, the distraction gave Maryse and easy victory over the Bellas and Bryan.

After the match The Bellas where shocked to learn the Bryan had been seeing Gail Kim for several months. The Bellas felt taken advantage of and attacked, the three women had to be seperated.

Non Title match
Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty vs. Vladimir Kozlov(c) and Santino Marella(c)
McGillicutty starts things off for his team against Kozlov. McGillicutty comes out like a house on fire and Kozlov is forced to tag in Santino. McGillicutty continues to look strong and tags in Husky Harris. Harris overwhelms Santino with his offense and Santino is unable to tag in his partner. Santino gains momentum with his quickeness and goes for his cobra strike on McGillicutty but misses. Harris takes advantage of the distraction and lays out Santino with his finisher for the win.

Wade Barrett vs. CM Punk w/ John Cena as the special guest referee
Wade Barrett comes to the ring with The Corre and CM Punk comes out with his Nexus. John Cena comes out to a massive ovation and precedes to ban Nexus and The Corre from ringside. Cena attacks both Barrett and Punk knowing that if either men attack him they will be disqualified and unable to compete in the rumble.

Punk attacks Barrett from behind and throws him out of the ring, then Cena throws Punk out. Punk flies back into the ring and curses Cena out, Barrett attacks Punk from behind and goes for the pin. Cena rolls out to ringside to sign merch for the fans instead of couting the pin for Barrett. Cena gets back in the ring and exchanges words with Barrett, Punk goes for a clothesline but Barrett counters with a clothesline of his own, laying eachother out.

Cena disqualifies both men for offensive language on a PG show. The Raw GM dings in and ammonishes Cena for his abuse of power, the GM forces Cena to go back into the ring and apologize. Cena does, then attacks Punk and Barrett bringing out Nexus and The Corre. As the factions prepare to attack Cena the Raw locker room empties out and we are treated to a preview of the Royal Rumble.

01/09/11 TNA Genesis results- New TNA Champion, Matt Hardy debuts

Genesis featured four title changes and the TNA debut of Matt Hardy

X Division Title match:
Frankie Kazarian beat Jay Lethal to win the title

Knockout Title match:
Madison Rayne pinned Mickie James to retain her title

TNA Tag Team Title match:
Beer Money won the titles from The Motor City Machine Guns

Bully Ray won via DQ against Brother Devon

TNA TV Title match:
Abyss beat Doug Williams to win the title

The debuting Matt Hardy pinned Rob Van Dam

Kurt Angle won via DQ against Jeff Jarrett in an MMA exhibition

#1 Contenders match:
Ken Anderson beat Matt Morgan to become the #1 contender for the TNA Title

TNA Title match:
Ken Anderson won the TNA Title from Jeff Hardy

01/03/11 Raw results- Miz retains his title, Orton gets next shot

Morrison gave it his all but still came up short in his quest to win the WWE title

Raw opened with Michael Cole informing the viewing audience that John Cena would not be on tonights show due to injuries sustained last week. Also missing from last night’s show show was Jerry Lawler who was selling Miz’s sneak attack from last week.

WWE Title match:
John Morrison vs. The Miz(champion)
Morrison was unable to win the title, but he had a great title match with The Miz. The match featured several cool spots from Morrison, including a plancha off of the WWE logo and a Starship Pain through a table to the outside. The finish came after Morrison crashed through the table missing The Miz, then Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin on Morrison.

Eve Torres, Brie Bella and Natalya vs. Melina, Maryse and Alicia Fox
Natalya dominated Fox and Melina with suplexes and clotheslines. The match ended when Torres hit Melina with a neckbraker for the win.

The Usos vs Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov
Jey Uso got the pin with a Samoan drop on Marella. After the match Marella and Tamina knocked out both Usos with a double cobra.

CM Punk came to the ring to gloat about knocking John Cena out of action. This brought out Wade Barrett who took credit for injuring Cena at a house show, he also insisted that he was still leader of Nexus. Punk and Barrett began to argue when the anonymous General Manager dinged in to announce a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match involving Barrett, Randy Orton and Sheamus to determine the a new number one contender for the WWE Title. Punk and Barrett then agreed that if Barrett won the match he would gain control of Nexus but if he lost Punk would be the group’s leader.

Alberto Del Rio def. R-Truth
The returning R-Truth challenged the cockiest Smackdown superstar Del Rio to a match after Del Rio promised he would dominate the Raw and Smackdown superstars in the Royal Rumble match. Del Rio proved he spoke the truth when he pinned the rapping wrestler.

#1 Contenders Steel Cage Triple Threat match:
Sheamus vs Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett
Barrett had the match won when fellow Nexus member CM Punk came to the ring. Punk met Barrett at the top of the cage and knocked Barrett back to the mat. This allowed Orton to walk out of the cage after he laid out the Celtic Warrior, King Sheamus with a RKO.

12/27/10 Raw results- CM Punk joins Nexus

CM Punk takes control of Nexus, Morrison will fight for the WWE title next Monday

John Cena confronted CM Punk

WWE Tag Team Champion Santino Marella def. Ted DiBiase

John Morrison def. Alex Riley, arranged WWE Championship Match

Mark Henry def. Tyson Kidd

Jerry “The King” Lawler def. WWE Champion The Miz by Count-out

Melina & Alicia Fox def. Eve & Gail Kim

U.S. Champion Daniel Bryan def. Zack Ryder; WWE Champion The Miz attacked Jerry Lawler

Randy Orton def. Sheamus

CM Punk attacked John Cena and joined The Nexus

12/19/10 WWE TLC results- Edge wins the World Title

WWE Tables, Ladders, Chairs ends two main event feuds as focus turns to Wrestlemania

Chairs Match:
John Cena def. Wade Barrett

World Heavyweight Title Ladder Match:
Edge def. World Heavyweight Champion Kane, Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio

WWE Champion Tables Match:
WWE Champion The Miz def. Randy Orton

#1 Contender for the WWE Title Ladder Match:
John Morrison def. Sheamus

WWE Tag Team Title Match:
Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov def. Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel

Divas Tag Team Tables Match:
Divas Champion Natalya and Beth Phoenix def. Team Lay-Cool

Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Ladder Match:
Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler def. Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger

WWE NXT results- Slater upsets Jericho

The show kicks off with NXT Host Matt Striker, who introduces the eight NXT Rookies as they prepare for their latest NXT challenge!

This week’s challenge was a physical test of strength of balance called “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookies” where two NXT Rookies will stand on pedestals and battle with barbell-style sticks with cushions on both sides and whoever knocks their adversary off of the pedestal will be declared the winner! The first two Rookies to take part in the challenge was the number four Rookie, Heath Slater, and the number five Rookie, David “A-List” Otunga with Slater being able to knock Otunga off of the pedestal to advance! Next up were the two big men of the NXT competition as Wade Barrett and Skip Sheffield and, in a close battle, it was Skip Sheffield narrowly beating Wade Barrett! Next up was Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver with Daniel Bryan winning after Michael Tarver willingly forfeited the contest! Then it was down to Justin Gabriel and Darren Young with Young knocking Gabriel off of his pedestal to be the final Rookie to advance to the semi-finals! With Heath Slater, Skip Sheffield, Daniel Bryan, and Darren Young in the semi-finals, who will win the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookies” competition to get their own feature on WWE.com?

The number five NXT Rookie, David “A-List” Otunga, was in action on NXT as he went one-on-one with the number three NXT Rookie, Justin Gabriel! After his WWE Pro, R-Truth, refused to help his NXT Rookie David Otunga get the unfair advantage on a roll-up counter, Justin Gabriel was able to roll Otunga up to pick up the win! How will David Otunga respond to R-Truth’s refusal to lend the unfair assist?

Then it was time for the semi-finals of the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookies” competition as Skip Sheffield was able to knock Heath Slater off of his pedestal to advance to the Finals! Next up was Daniel Bryan and Darren Young with Darren Young knocking Bryan off of his pedestal to advance to the finals of the competition!

After forfeiting the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookies” competition, Michael Tarver made an appearance in the ring and issues an open challenge to any NXT Rookie or WWE Pro! The challenge was answered by Skip Sheffield and the match was set to begin, but CM Punk, Luke Gallows, Serena, & Darren Young come out! Punk states that Darren Young is also looking for “competition” before announcing that he is adding Darren Young to the match between Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver to make it a Triple Threat Match! In the middle of the match, it looked like Darren Young was set to pick up the win as he ascended to the top rope, but Luke Gallows came out and knocked Darren Young off of the top rope and took Skip Sheffield out as well, which left the door open for Michael Tarver to pick up the win! However, Tarver wasted too much time and Darren Young was able to catch Tarver with a modified full-nelson slam en route to picking up the win! How will CM Punk respond to Luke Gallows trying to cost Darren Young the match?

In the finals of the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookie” competition, it was Skip Sheffield, after a too-close-to-call competition, who won the rematch over Darren Young to win the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Rookie” competition and earn an exclusive feature on WWE.com!

Then it was time for the WWE Pro Vs. NXT Rookie main event as NXT Rookie Heath Slater would compete in the biggest match of his young career as he went one-on-one with the former World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho! In a monumental upset, it was the NXT Rookie, Heath Slater, who countered an attempt at the Walls of Jericho to roll-up the six-time World Champion and pick up the victory over Chris Jericho! After the shocking loss, an enraged Chris Jericho rampaged the ringside area by dismantling the announce table and the ring steps and shouting at the referee of the match! Defeating an elite Superstar like Chris Jericho will no doubt give a major boost to the rise of Heath Slater in the NXT competition. Is Heath Slater well on his way to unseating Daniel Bryan as the number one Rookie in NXT?

credit: Wrestling 101

TNA Impact results- ROB VAN DAM wins TNA Championship

A shockingly great show. Van Dam’s win was played off as a huge deal, and he looked big league in the process. The wrestling told the story tonight, and it wasn’t overbooked. This is the show TNA should have more often.

A.J. Styles came out after his victory over Pope D’Angelo Dinero gloating over being the best wrestler in the world. He said Ric Flair would be a little late because he got carried away at the postmatch victory party. Man, I can understand getting caught up in Europe because of Icelandic volcanoes, but for that? Styles is getting better and better at carrying interviews as a heel, which couldn’t be said in 2007.

Rob Van Dam came out to a huge ovation. His interview was scattershot, but he basically said he wasn’t as impressed with Styles and Styles was with himself. Jeff Hardy then showed up and said he was going to complete his quest to become the TNA Heavyweight champion soon. Then Hulk Hogan showed up to another monster pop. He actually did a great interview putting over what it meant to be the World Heavyweight champion, saying when he won the title it meant barbell curls and hot girls, money, limousines and proving yourself night in a and night out. In fact, this show did the best job of any in TNA history of getting the TNA title over.

Hogan, who had the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout all this, then announced that Hardy would face Van Dam tonight with the winner being the number one contender. Styles got upset thinking the winner would face him at the Sacrifice PPV in May, and claimed he wouldn’t be ready by Sacrifice. Hogan said he wasn’t talking about the winner getting the title shot at Sacrifice, the winner was getting the title shot tonight. Styles was furious. Flair was shown walking into the building and was irate upon learning Styles had to put the title on the line tonight. Somehow, all of this took 20 minutes, but it was actually good because of Hogan’s interview and the crowd.

As the next match began Taz, in what sounded like a statement handed down from management, mentioned that Dixie Carter had been in constant contact with Sean Waltman in the days leading up to Lockdown. She had approved that Waltman had been unable to attend, so he’s apparently not getting fired.

Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich defeated ODB and Daffney to retain the TNA Knockouts tag team titles in 2:41. I guess the Beautiful People are this decade’s Freebirds where the tag belts can be divided among three people. With Rayne the new Knockouts champion, Von Erich now has a share of the tag belts. There’s now competition between Von Erich and Judy Bagwell as the worst co-holder of a tag team championship ever. Lacey Von Erich and Daffney had about a minute of ring activity, which sounds like a recipe for disaster. It didn’t get far enough to become horrid or good, with Von Erich doing her handspring into an elbow drop. Still looked awkward, but it makes more sense than doing the moonsault, landing on her feet and doing an elbow drop. Finish was somewhat screwed up as ODB gave Velvet Sky a rolling reverse cradle while Madison Rayne distracted the referee. Von Erich was supposed to put hairspray into ODB’s eyes, but Von Erich was totally out of position. So ODB had to walk over to Von Erich in order to have hairspray put in her eyes, leading to Sky getting the pin. DUD

Jeremy Borash was backstage trying to catch up with Flair backstage. Instead, we eavesdropped on a conversation between Flair and Styles, where Styles told him that Flair was banned with ringside. Flair was upset and said he wanted a rematch from last night between Team Flair and Team Hogan, who had five minutes to accept or else they would lose by forfeit.

After a commercial, Abyss and Jeff Jarrett came out and said Team Abyss had already accomplished everything they wanted to do. Abyss pointed out that Van Dam and Hardy already had a match scheduled for tonight, but if they didn’t, Team Abyss would continue the beatdown of Team Flair. This brought out Flair, Sting, James Storm, Robert Roode and Desmond Wolfe, who attacked the faces. Jarrett and Abyss held off the heels until Sting came in the ring and hit Abyss and Jarrett with bat shots. Then Rob Terry, called “The Freak,” came out and again couldn’t muster a good pop from a hot crowd. Beer Money set aviation records bumping for Terry. But then Terry was supposed to gorilla press Wolfe and it was worse than painful because Terry couldn’t get him up. Even worse, Wolfe was supposed to be thrown onto Sting, and the spot looked clumsy. Then Terry tripped over his own feet delivering a clothesline on Sting, who looked none too happy about bumping as a heel to begin with, much less against someone still so green.

Flair was screaming about a rematch, and Bischoff came out. Despite his abrupt face turn from the night before, the crowd didn’t know how to react to him. Bischoff announced that Flair would get his wish and there would be a rematch between Team Flair and Team Hogan, except Hogan’s squad would consist of Jarrett, Abyss, Terry and a mystery partner.

Matt Morgan walked up to Shannon Moore, referring to himself in plural tense as the tag team champions. Moore was ready the Dilligaff book. Moore asked him if he was referring to his ego as a second person. Morgan asked him if he wanted to defend the tag belts with him tonight, but Moore told him he had an X Division title shot next week and told him to kiss his ass. Morgan told him he made a big mistake.

Bischoff and Hogan talked backstage about how they conned Flair at Lockdown. Hogan brought up the ranking system that was supposed to be unveiled weeks ago, but Bischoff said he would get on it next week. Bischoff then asked his secretary Miss Tessmacher about the papers for his rankings. Tessmacher asked him if they were “in the green thingee or the red thingee.” Hogan watched Tessmacher’s ass as she walked away and asked Bischoff about his “little thingee.” Humor straight from “Thunder in Paradise.” This was all for Hogan on the night as he did his second hour disappearing act.

Van Dam did a promo about how difficult it was to face one of his best friends tonight, but he was still ready. Show was pretty great from this point forward.

Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy to get the title shot against Styles later in the show in 13:29. Most of the first six minutes was interrupted by commercials because they wanted to time the meat of the much against the opening of Raw. Crowd was into it all the way like they were seeing a dream match, and both men came off as big deals here for the first time since they joined (or in Hardy’s case, rejoined) the company. Once they came back from the break, Van Dam had hardway juice coming straight down his nose, which Mike Tenay explained was from his match against Storm the night before. Great match. Van Dam hit a corkscrew legdrop off the apron while Hardy was draped on the barricade, then came back with a slingshot legdrop with Hardy on the apron. Van Dam flew back in the ring with a crossbody for a two count. Hardy came back with a flying clothesline and a legdrop across the groin. Van Dam reversed an Irish Whip and teased the rolling monkey flip, but Hardy crossed up the spot with a flying clothesline for a two count. Van Dam fought back with right hands and did a split-legged dropdown, but Hardy dropped down into a cradle for a two count.

Crowd was chanting “This is Awesome” and unlike last night, it was much better suited. Hardy went to the top rope, but Van Dam crotched him, place him on the ropes, and came off the top with the Rider Kick, which sent Hardy to the floor. Van Dam put Hardy back in the ring, and came back with a corkscrew legdrop and rolling splash for a near fall. Hardy backed Van Dam into the ropes and went for the Hardiac Arrest, but missed. Van Dam came off with a split-legged moonsault, but only got two with his original finisher. Hardy escaped a splash and hit his gourdbuster, then went to the top rope for the Swanton, but Van Dam against crotched him after a spin kick. Hardy recovered and threw Van Dam off the top rope, then went for the Swanton again but missed. Van Dam then quickly followed with the Five Star Frog Splash for the pin. ***3/4

Christy Hemme was backstage with Van Dam and Hardy. This was weird. Van Dam and Hardy did commentary on the highlights from their match while Hemme laughed in the background. They were still better than Michael Cole. Van Dam admitted Hardy took a lot out of him, but he would still be ready for Styles tonight.

Abyss gave Terry and Jarrett a pep talk about their rematch with Team Flair tonight. He acknowledged that he didn’t know who Bischoff has selected for their mystery partner tonight.

Tenay laid out the rules of the Team Flair-Team Hogan rematch, which was basically Lethal Lockdown without the cage or weapons. The rules were Sting and Jarrett would open the match for five minutes, and each member would come in at two minute intervals. After the first five minutes, it was standard tag team rules. With Bischoff now a face, Jarrett had his full ring entrance back. A pin or submission couldn’t be recorded until all eight men were involved in the match. They actually did a better job explaining this match in five minutes than they did in the three weeks proceeding the PPV.

Team Hogan of Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Terry and the returning Samoa Joe defeated Team Flair of Sting, James Storm, Robert Roode and Desmond Wolfe in 16:39. Sting and Jarrett brawled to the back of the building before the bell even sounded. Sting hit Jarrett with several chair shots and threw him into wall several times. Jarrett made his comeback with a series of chair shots to Sting’s back. Sting reversed an Irish Whip and Jarrett went flying back into the wall. Someone in the crowd had a sign that said “How Much Does That Guy Weigh?” Apparently, somebody longed for the color commentary of Art Donovan. They finally got in the ring, and Sting missed a Stinger Splash and Jarrett followed with a flying clothesline. Both men gave each other a clothesline and were down as the five minute interval ended. The first partner out was Wolfe, so they actually got the psychology right. Wolfe tagged in and went to work on Jarrett. Wolfe teased the Tower of London, but Jarrett escaped and gave him a back suplex. Terry was the first partner out for Team Hogan, and Wolfe barely got over for a Terry backdrop. Meanwhile, Orlando Jordan watched Terry from the ramp. Terry gave Wolfe a powerslam and a Jackhammer.

This was the only sight of Jordan the entire match, so who knows where they’re going with that? Hate to beat up on the guy, but the crowd was going nuts for everything tonight except for Terry’s offense, though he got a good pop coming out. After a commercial, Roode was out for Team Flair and Abyss out for Team Hogan. Abyss gave Roode a choke slam. Storm was out last for Team Flair to make it 4-on-3. Abyss missed a charge in the corner and ran into Storm’s boot, followed by a blockbuster from Roode. Abyss recovered and gave Storm a sidewalk slam and make a tag to Jarrett. Storm tagged in Wolfe. Storm tried to give Jarrett a Bronco Buster but missed, and Jarrett came out of the corner with a clothesline to Roode and Wolfe. Then the clock ran down for the mystery fourth member, and it was Samoa Joe, who got a good but not great pop. Joe had a catatonic look in his eyes, and Tenay pointed out Joe hadn’t been seen since he was abducted two months ago. He didn’t mentioned Joe lost to Jordan, and the quicker everyone forgets that the better. Joe cleaned house on everybody, including giving Roode the STO out of the corner. Joe got the pin with a musclebuster on Roode. Joe refused to stay around with the rest of the faces to celebrate, and Abyss and Jarrett just looked confused afterwards. Hopefully, there will be an explanation of who abducted Joe, but I’m not holding my breath. ***1/2

At this point there must have been a timing issue because Flair came out to cut a promo, but as he was in mid-sentence, they cut to a commercial. They aired the point of the segment afterwards, where Flair challenged Abyss next week for his Hall of Fame ring, and Flair put up his Hall of Fame ring. Wouldn’t it be great if somebody stuck in Europe right now found Douglas Williams in an airport in Istanbul right now, then kidnapped the TNA title, hijacked it and talked Vince McMahon into putting it on the line next week on Raw? Well, no it wouldn’t because the WWE would acknowledge someone not even on their radar. So why does TNA do something like this?

Rob Van Dam defeated A.J. Styles to become the TNA World Heavyweight champion in 10:32. Styles threw his robe over Van Dam’s head before the bell and wasted no time in busting him open across his forehead again. Styles then followed with his somersault tope over the top rope. Van Dam didn’t catch him right and Styles landed partially on the back of his head. Tenay and Taz were at their best here because they didn’t have to call anything that insulted your intelligence. Van Dam was doing his Ricky Morton-style babyface selling with Tenay mentioning he was wrestling his fourth match in two days.

Styles gave Van Dam a dragon screw, and Van Dam sold his left leg for the rest of the match. Van Dam came back with a monkey flip and Rolling Thunder. Styles came back with a single-leg takedown into the Figure Four leglock, but Van Dam made the ropes after a bit of a struggle. Styles went for the Figure Four again, but Van Dam got the small package for a two count. Van Dam missed a clothesline, and Styles came back with the Pele kick. Styles went for the Styles clash, but Van Dam backdropped him over the top rope. Styles landed on his feet on the apron and went for a springboard missile dropkick, but Van Dam gave him a power bomb. Van Dam then went right to the top rope and gave him the Five Star Frog Splash for the surprise pin, and the pop was enormous. ***

Confetti started pouring into the ring. Hardy came down, and I was waiting for modern day wrestling rules to kick in and have Hardy turn on him. Instead, it was something great. Hardy congratulated Van Dam, and it turned into the best postmatch world championship celebration in ages. All the faces, Hogan and even Dixie Carter came in to congratulate Van Dam, which was one hell of a way to get the belt over as a big deal.

credit: Wrestling Observer

WWE Raw results- Roster stuck in Europe, Smackdown takes over Raw

With most of the Raw crew stranded on the other side of the Atlantic, Raw featured mostly Smackdown wrestlers with a few Raw guys mixed in.

HHH came out to start the show. He acknowledged the situation and cut a promo about beating up Sheamus on Sunday. The Straight Edge Society then came out. Punk noted that if he’s drafted he will bring the Straight Edge Society with him to Raw.

HHH asked Punk why his followers had to shave their heads but he didn’t. Punk said it’s because he’s the leader and his hair represents purity. HHH joked about Rey Mysterio shaving Punk’s head on Sunday. Punk tried to recruit HHH to the Straight Edge Society. HHH responded by ranting about freedom. Punk said that he wasn’t asking HHH to join bur rather telling him. The heels jumped HHH but Rey made the save as they tried to shave HHH’s head. Rey shaved off a little bit of Punk’s hair before Punk escaped.

This opening segment went awfully long, but Punk and HHH did a good job in making it entertaining as possible. I also liked the angle with Rey taking a little of Punk’s hair prior to the show.

Drew McIntyre beat Matt Hardy. They started in the ring. Seriously, they cut out the entrance of the guy who has nothing but an entrance. McIntyre hit punches and kicks. Matt used a side effect. They ran into each other head to head. Then Matt went to the second rope and was pulled off by McIntyre. McIntyre covered and that was in fact the finish. This was a bad match with a bad finish.

They aired a few brief promos from Belfast throughout the show. John Cena said that everyone’s fine and they’re sorry they can’t be at Raw. He said he would be ready for his match Sunday and vowed to be at the PPV for sure. Randy Orton said that the world title will follow him at the draft next week. Sheamus attacked a crew guy to make a point to HHH.

Vladimir Kozlov made his entrance. He said that he has been treated unfairly by the guest hosts and had Jerry Lawler read a statement for him. The statement said that he wants elite competition and suggested the New Jersey Nets’ new Russian owner is going to move the team.

MacGruber came out with an American flag, acting unbelievably obnoxious. He had that Dr. Ken air that said he was just making fun of the whole show, although admittedly the material seemed designed to fit that purpose as well. He got in Kozlov’s face and called him a giant pile of suck. Kozlov said that if MacGruber said anything more about him he would end MacGruber. So MacGruber made fun of Kozlov’s mom.

What was Kozlov’s response to this? Did he destroy this obnoxious little dipshit? Why no. He said that he would destroy MacGruber later in the show. Huh? Okay, now I don’t care about the fact this made Kozlov look like a joke as a monster heel. The truth is the ship sailed on people taking Kozlov seriously years ago. But just from a basic logic standpoint, why would this furious Russian giant just stand there and let this annoying little turd mock him and his family? Why did his revenge have to come later in the show? This made absolutely no sense, and was irritating because MacGruber was just begging to be killed.

As if this segment wasn’t fake enough already, they proceeded to go much further. MacGruber announced that Kozlov would instead have to wrestle R. Truth. R. Truth came out as MacGruber obnoxiously danced and shouted “what’s up.” Fireworks then went off to the sides of the stage as Truth stood in the middle. The flames went down and you saw Truth crouch down and run into the backstage area. Then they placed two boots on the side of the stage as if Truth had been blown up. This was elementary school play level execution. It appeared that the joke was that WWE is ridiculous, fake nonsense.

With Truth dead, Kozlov said that he would kill MacGruber. And in the final touch, now MacGruber was all scared. Apparently he knew earlier that for some reason no matter how much he antagonized Kozlov right to Kozlov’s face, Kozlov was somehow obliged not to do anything until later. But now he no longer had that protection. This was the sort of segment that enhances the perception that only mentally handicapped people are fans of 21st century WWE.

Backstage, HHH spoke with MacGruber. MacGruber pissed himself but claimed implausibly that someone else had peed in his pants and he had agreed to wear them. Kane came in at that moment and MacGruber claimed it was Kane. Kane was taken aback and MacGruber ran away.

Undertaker beat Jack Swagger. Swagger issued an open challenge, which led to the return of Undertaker. They traded head locks. Undertaker used old school. Swagger retaliated with a powerslam and sent Undertaker into the steps. Undertaker came back with a leg drop on the apron, DDT and snake eyes. Undertaker went for a choke slam but Swagger escaped. Swagger hit a DDT and went for the Vader bomb but was caught with a choke slam. Undertaker then hit the tombstone and pinned Swagger clean.

It was cool of WWE to bring back Undertaker as a surprise for the live fans who weren’t getting the show they expected. With that said, the way they keep jobbing out Swagger is so stupid. Putting aside the fact that the guy needs all the help he can get, it totally buries the title. Why would anyone pay to see a title match when the “champion” lost 80 percent of his matches prior to winning the title and is losing basically all of his matches after winning it? This is such basic stuff.

Chris Jericho backstage told CM Punk to stick with him to win the main event. He then advised MacGruber to offer a handshake to Kozlov and then slap him in the face. This evidently struck MacGruber as a good idea.

Kozlov was scheduled to wrestle MacGruber. MacGruber offered a handshake and then slapped Kozlov in the face. Kozlov grabbed MacGruber and head butted him a few times. MacGruber’s selling was among the worst I’ve ever seen in any pro wrestling match. He appeared to be unfamiliar with the concepts of physical violence and pain. Ryan Phillippe then came out to save MacGruber. He announced that this was a handicap match with MacGruber and Khaluber (Great Khali) versus Kozlov.

Kozlov for some reason let MacGruber go again. Kozlov and Khali tried to wrestle briefly and, well, at least it was better than MacGruber and Kozlov. Khali gave Kozlov the big chop and Kozlov left. Khali pursued and this was labeled a count out win for Khali and MacGruber. MacGruber then cut one final obnoxious promo. Sadly, he left the show without dying a horrible death. Maybe he will be drawn and quartered on a future PPV.

HHH, Edge and Rey Mysterio beat Chris Jericho, CM Punk and Luke Gallows. After all the nonsense on this show, it was nice to see a straight forward wrestling match to close. Rey hit a somersault plancha on the heels early. The heels took over on Rey. Rey got the tag to Edge, but Jericho tripped Edge as he went for a spear and the heels took over on Edge. Edge got the tag to HHH. HHH hit punches, a clothesline and a spine buster on Punk. He went for the pedigree but Gallows broke it up with a clothesline. Rey took out Gallows with a springboard senton. Rey hit the 619 on Punk and HHH hit the pedigree for the pin.

credit: Wrestling Observer