Monday, April 4, 2022

WrestleMania 38 | Night Two Review-ish

Triple H kicked off Night Two to a tremendous ovation, there were chants of Triple H and Thank You Hunter, he looked so emotional and said thank you,followed by Welcome to WrestleMania and left his Boots and microphone in the middle of the ring, as a symbol for the end of his legendary in-ring career.

Gable Steveson was introduced to the crowd.

The opening contest of the night was the Triple Threat for the RAW Tag Team Championship. RK-Bro defending against Street Profits and Chad Gable and Otis. Ford and Gable showed great athleticism, Dawkins' speed and power gained momentum which was put to a stop by Otis, the crowd reacted to hot tags from Orton and Ford, this was awesome to watch, Riddle hit a top rope RKO on Montez, Orton hit Gable with an RKO of his own to ensure RK-Bro remain tag team champions. Street Profits congratulated Riddle and Orton, invited Gabe Steveson, who was ringside, in the ring for a drink, the toast was cut short by Gable, who was left alone with Steveson, who stopped Gable from talking, launched him across the ring, Steveson rejoined RK-Bro and Street Profits to resume the celebration drinks.

Bobby Lashley defeated Omos after a tough, physical match between the two, the Giant, Omos dominated early on, however, the Allmighty used his speed, power and experience to dig deep and hit his opponent with two spears for victory.

The Johnny Knoxville vs, Sami Zayn Anything Goes match was crazy, we saw trash cans, stop signs mousetraps on a table outside of the ring, which Zayn was put through later, there were appearances from other Jackass cast members which added to the entertainment, the crew bought out a giant mousetrap in the ring to trap Zayn, thus allowing Knoxville to pick up the win.

We've got new Women's Tag Team Champions. Congratulations to Sasha Banks and Naomi, the success also gave Sasha her first ever win at the Grandest Stage of them all, it will be interesting to see who they will face for their first title defence.

Up next was AJ Styles vs. Edge. The Phenomenal One walked to the ring with noticeable bleeding on the side of his face. Edge appeared with a Brood type entrance, both guys showcased all the moves from their locker, Edge kicked out of the Styles Clash, just as AJ was about to hit the Phenomenal Forearm, he was distracted by Damian Priest, who was standing at ringside, Edge speared AJ for the win, Priest aligned with the Rated-R Superstar afterwards, let's see where they go from here, it will be interesting see and hear from them about how this new alliance happened, will there be a new member added? if so, Rhea Ripley could be a potential name.

The Attendance for Night Two was 78,453. Sheamus and Ridge defeated New Day's King Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, originally scheduled for Night One.

Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory, Vince McMahon was ringside, shoutout to McAfee for a great performance against a future WWE Champion in Theory, who will achieve that goal, only if he is booked correctly by creative, we have seen this many times before and it does not always work out.

The madness of Night Two of WrestleMania continued as we got an impromptu match between Vince and Pat, won by the chairman with help from Theory, we heard glass shatter and out walked Stone Cold Steve Austin to interrupt proceedings, Austin stunned McMahon and Theory in true Stone Cold style, McAfee also got the stunner after toasting beer with the Texas Rattlesnake.

It was now time for the main event. Winner Take All - Title Unification Match between WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who was accompanied by The Usos and Paul Heyman, on commentary it was suggested this was the Sixth time Reign's was in the main event of WrestleMania, before the start of the match, Heyman announced Reigns, Brock grabbed the microphone and announced himself, which was a funny moment. In terms of the match itself, it followed the similar pattern of past matches between the champions, multiple suplexes, superman punches and spears, the key talking point was while the referee was down, Reigns hit Lesnar with the title, who then kicked out at two, Brock countered the spear into a Kimura Lock, Reigns escaped, it looked as though Reigns had hurt his shoulder, it didn't matter though, as he hit the decisive spear to defeat the Beast.

Roman Reigns is now the Universal and WWE Champion and without a doubt One of the Greatest of All Time, this has been your WrestleMania 38 Night Two review-ish, be sure to check out Night One if you haven't already, by clicking HERE on the link.              

Sunday, April 3, 2022

WrestleMania 38 | Night One Review-ish

WrestleMania Night One is in the books, the anticipation was in the air, especially with around 70,000 fans in attendance, there was no kick off show match, the Premium Live Event began with the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match, where the Usos successfully defended their titles against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs, who suffered an unfortunate injury as he attempted to pick up Jimmy and Jey, here's to a speedy recovery for Boogs.

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin was next, the key moments of the match was McIntyre kicking out of the end of days, the first person to kick out of the move, he went on to pick up the win after hitting the Claymore to Corbin.

Miz and Logan Paul defeated Rey & Dominik Mysterio, the tag match was better than people thought it was going to be, credit to Logan for putting on a excellent performance, Dominik also, it will be interesting to see what happens next with Logan and Miz, who hit the Skull Crushing Finale on the celebrity while they were celebrating their victory. an awesome moment, excuse the pun.

Stephanie McMahon thanked the crowd in attendance, and introduced Gable Steveson, who will be making his debut on RAW.

Becky Lynch made her grand entrance on stage via a car, Bianca via a marching band, who played her theme music, the champion and challenger attempted to hit their finish moves to try and pick up a quick win, Becky had a close near fall, the crowd were really into this one, in the closing stages, Bianca escaped Becky's version of the Rock Bottom, leading to her hitting the KOD for the 1,2,3 to become the NEW RAW Women's Champion. Congratulations to the EST.

This where business really picked up, it was now time to see who Seth Rollins opponent was, while he was in the ring, we saw fireworks, the lights went out, we also heard the words: Wrestling has more than one Royal Family, which was met with a fantastic reaction, his entrance was amazing, there was a tease of the Pedigree, Cody hit the Cody Cutter on Seth, a tremendous move, eventually Seth hit the Pedigree on Cody leading to a very close near fall, the American Nightmare hit multiple CrossRhodes for the win.

The Hall of Fame class of 2022 were introduced on stage, the total attendance of Night One was 77,899.

It was time for the second women's championship match of the night, Charlotte vs. Ronda Rousey, going in to the match, the two tried to one up each other, trying to get the advantage, it was an even contest, Rousey hit the Pipers Pit into the Ankle Lock, Flair reversed the move, the referee botched the three count while Flair had her foot on the bottom rope following the Piper's Pit, in the closing stages, Rousey tried to revive the referee and was kicked in the face, leading to a loss as Charlotte remained SmackDown Women''s Champion.
 
The main event was the Kevin Owens show. KO once again insulted the state of Texas, the glass shattered and Austin's music hit, who walked out with his ring gear on, he saluted the fans, went backstage and re appeared on a ATV. Owens challenged Austin to a No Holds Barred Match, which The Texas Rattlesnake accepted, the Hall of Famer competing in the ring for the first time in nineteen years was a historic occasion, they battled all over the arena, Austin took some bumps, which was great to see, he eventually hit Owens with the Stunner for the win, followed by another one after the match, adding insult to injury on Owen's afterwards also in true Stone Cold fashion, he said it was good to be back in Dallas, Texas and that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so! he went on to continue the celebrations, this was a great way to close out Night One.     

Saturday, April 2, 2022

WrestleMania SmackDown | Review-ish

WrestleMania SmackDown was LIVE from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, let's take a look at the key moments.

Madcap Moss won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, lastly eliminating Finn Balor.

Ricochet successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship against Angel and Humberto, this was essentially a two versus one handicap match, Ricochet hit the 630 on Angel and the Recoil on Humberto for the win.

We saw a video package for Stone Cold Steve Austin's return.

Naomi and Sasha defeated Queen Zelina and Carmella.before this Sunday;s fatal four way match for the Women's Tag Team Championship.

Ronda Rousey was interviewed by Kayla Braxton to get her thoughts prior to her match against Charlotte who, in turn, cut a promo of her own, we got another video package, this time for the  Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns title unification match.

Austin Theory attacked Pat McAfee, who was dancing on the announce table to Shinsuke Nakamura's theme music, Theory was chased by McAfee to Vince McMahon's office, after Pat kicked the door down, Vince appeared, looking angry, threatening to cancel the scheduled match between Theory and McAfee, moments later, Theory walked out to the ring and threw a drink at his WrestleMania opponent, who was back on commentary for Rick Boogs vs. Jimmy Uso.

Finn Balor ran out to stop Theory, who was on the verge of escaping, when we returned from commercial, a six man tag match was taking place, which was won by Austin Theory and The Usos, defeating Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs, also resulting in two losses on the same night for the United States Champion, Balor.

Happy Corbin presented Happy Talk with Madcap Moss, why was this the main event of the show? just wondering, with all due respect to Corbin, Moss and Drew McIntyre, who interrupted the segment, knocked out Moss with a punch, grabbed a chair from ringside, and hit Corbin with it and got his sword back, he also split a table in half before his music played.

Pat McAfee and Michael Cole ran through the weekend's match line up to end WrestleMania SmackDown.

   

Friday, April 1, 2022

WrestleMania 38 | Stupendous Predictions

WrestleMania 38 will be taking place in Dallas, Texas, with a sold out crowd in attendance, let's not waste any more time and predict the match winners for the two night extravaganza. Here we go!

Night One Match Card
New Day (King Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland

We have seen these two teams battle on SmackDown, they will write the latest chapter of their feud at the Grandest Stage of Them All. New Day are an established team, whereas their opponents need the win more, so they are not seen as a makeshift team, that has been put together just to be on the show lineup. Predicted Winners? Sheamus & Ridge Holland. 

SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Ronda returned to WWE at the Rumble, won the match to earn a championship opportunity against Charlotte, who says she is the opportunity, there's the connection for you, the build up hasn't really caught fire in all honesty and respectfully.
Predicted Winner? and NEW SmackDown Women's Champion. Ronda Rousey.

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
At the risk of sounding repetitive when talking about this match, there isn't really much to add to what has already been said in terms of how this story (including Madcap Moss)  has unfolded thus far, with all due respect to the guys here, it is about time they move on to different opposition, or be involved in the main title picture at least. Predicted Winner? Drew McIntyre.

Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz & Logan Paul
The father and son duo team up to take on Miz and Logan Paul, this is the second consecutive year Miz will be competing in a match involving a celebrity, last year being against Bad Bunny of course, there is a sense Dominik could turn against Rey, resulting in a loss, however, they are my pick to win and save the split for Monday Night RAW or for a later date. Predicted Winners? Rey and Dominik Mysterio.

Seth Rollins vs. ?
Seth Rollins has set his sights on competing at WrestleMania, he has been losing on RAW lately, beginning to show frustration, that has all changed after he talked to Vince McMahon earlier this week, we all know the conversation that took place, the segment is on WWE's YouTube Channel if you haven't seen it, or if you want to watch it again, former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes is a name which has been touted for a return and face Seth, will that scenario happen? or will someone else be revealed, the clock is ticking, the wait is almost over.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match

The Usos (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs
Jimmy and Jey will put their titles on the line against Nakamura and Boogs, expect to see their reign continue. Predicted Winners? and still SmackDown Tag Team Champions. The Usos.

RAW Women's Championship Match
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair
This particular story has gone from the SmackDown Women's Championship to the Raw Women's Championship, we know the events which occured at SummerSlam, that has bought the two competitors to where we are today, it has been a while since Becky was without a title, Bianca will be looking to avenge the loss from August and have her own WrESTleMania moment. Predicted Winner? and NEW RAW Women's Champion. Bianca Belair.

The Kevin Owens Show - with special guest Stone Cold Steve Austin
It has been suggested this segment will be the main event of Night One, credit to KO for creating so much anticipation, it will be a great moment when the glass shatters and Austin walks out to an amazing reaction, will this lead to an impromptu match? we shall see. 

Night Two Match Card

Omos vs. Bobby Lashley
Omos faces an almighty task against the returning Bobby Lashley, who had been out of action since Elimination Chamber due to a possible injury, the giant has not lost a singles match, until now. Predicted Winner? Bobby Lashley.

RAW Tag Team Championship Match
RK-Bro vs. Street Profits vs. Chad Gable & Otis

Going in to this triple threat, Orton and Riddle are so popular with the crowd, the Street Profits have been showing heel-like attitudes as of late, whether it will be long term plan or just for this match, we do not know, Gable and Otis are outstanding also. Predicted Winners? and NEW RAW Tag Team Champions. Street Profits.

Edge vs. AJ Styles

Edge has been fantastic with his recent promos, including his new music, entrance and attitude, AJ is phenomenal as we know, a candidate for match of the night, if not the weekend. Predicted Winner? AJ Styles. 

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
The last time we saw Pat compete in the ring was against Adam Cole in NXT, which was an excellent match by the way. Theory has been on the rise and will look to continue his momentum with a win with Vince McMahon in his corner, unfortunately he will not be successful in doing so.
Predicted Winner? Pat McAfee.

Anything Goes Match
Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn has had issues with J.K since the Rumble, where he was thrown over the top rope,  J.K also cost Zayn his Intercontinental Championship against Ricochet, expect to see some of the Jackass crew make an appearance and help their friend pick up the win. Predicted Winner? Johnny Knoxville.

Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Queen Zelina & Carmella (c) vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan vs.
Natalya & Shayna Baszler.

This one is difficult to call to be honest with you, the champions face tough competition from Rhea and Liv, who are gelling quite well as a team and Naomi and Sasha who will attempt to put some glow on Sunday Night and putting an end to The Boss's winless run at this prestigious event. Predicted Winner? and NEW Women's Tag Team Champions. Sasha Banks and Naomi.

Winner Take All - Title Unification Match
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns (c)

Billed as the biggest main event in WrestleMania history, we have seen this match time and time again, including the iconic moment of Seth Rollins cashing in at 'Mania 31, Brock and Roman have been excellent in the build up in terms of promo's and confrontations, the roles have been reversed also, in my opinion, this story brings memories of Rock vs. Austin, in terms of the winner? the choice has been made, it is time to acknowledge. Predicted Winner? Roman Reigns.

Here is an additional prediction for you, when Roman is celebrating his victory, The Rock's music will hit, the crowd will go crazy, Rock and Roman will tease a match for next year's WrestleMania, bringing the show to a close, giving us fans something to talk about on social media and here on the blog.