Thunder And Jee-S’ WWE Rundown 06/07/13

NXT REVIEW 06/05/13

Jim Ross hosts the contract signing between Big E Langston and Bo Dallas for their title match next week. They take shots at each other and Bo Dallas leaves the ring when it’s time to fight

Thoughts: Pointless segment that could’ve been used for a match instead, although there are a few good things that came out of it. First, it was and it always is good to see mister Jim Ross back, a man that has been the voice of RAW for so many years and who I have the utmost respect for as a commentator and as a man. Second of all, I think Langston, despite making dorky comments about Bo Dallas to insult him and throw fuel in the fire, seemed very natural with the microphone and that made him relatively funny. Dallas bored me as usual; nothing new here.

Interview with Corey Graves saying that tonight the Wyatt Family goes down.

Thoughts: Good interview. I like Corey Graves and I’ve liked him from the start. He can wrestle, he has the looks, he has the charisma and he can talk. I sure hope to see him on the main roster sooner than later!

Paige defeats Tamina Snuka with a roll up after countering Tamina’s Superfly Splash. This was a first round match in the NXT Divas Title tournament.

Thoughts: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the first time I see Paige wrestle an established WWE Diva(on TV that is). This match was a beauty. Both of these women told a good story and looked graceful doing it. The only thing I could complain about is that Paige barely got any offense on her antagonist but I guess it doesn’t matter seeing as this is only the beginning of her quest to capture the NXT Divas Title. This win and subsequent wins should make Paige look stronger every week (as if she didn’t look strong already) and I’m glad she’s been booked to win against a very talented main roster diva like Tamina Snuka. Kudos to the Anti Diva!

Interview with Kassius Ohno who says that tonight he’s going to war and he’s destroying the Wyatt Family.

Thoughts: Brilliant interview! It’s a no-brainer that Ohno is roster ready; I guess it’s just a question of time. Bring him up already!

Mason Ryan defeats Colin Cassady with the Torture Rack into a cutter.

Thoughts: Short match to put Mason Ryan over. He has become so much smarter in the ring and it’s great to see how much he is improving. This wasn’t his best match, but it certainly could’ve been a lot worse. The Welsh heavyweight still has a lot to learn but he’ll get there and hopefully he will become a threat in the near future.

Interview with Sami Zayn who puts over his debut. Antonio Cesaro interrupts and challenges him to a rematch, which Zayn accepts. It ends in a brawl.

Thoughts: And the interview segments just keep getting better! I love this feud; Not only because they are two of the best wrestlers the wrestling world could offer, but because they have an unmatched chemistry both inside and outside the ring. These men have known each other for quite some time now and I’m happy they’re having the opportunity to display their matches on WWE television. I just wish it was on the main roster.

Conor O’Brian defeats Alex Riley with a unique armbar variation.

Thoughts: This was probably the most fast-paced match I’ve seen from Conor O’Brian. It was short, granted, but it was good for the time they had to work with. It’s a bummer that Alex Riley’s push was cut short two years ago because he looks great in the ring and gets over with the fans. I expect to see O’Brian in WWE’s future plans and I won’t complain when he jumpships to the main roster eventually, even if I think that he’s better off in a tag team.

The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) defeat Kassius Ohno & Corey Graves when Harper hits the discus clothesline on Ohno.

Thoughts: Great tag team match to end the show! All four men put up a really good performance out there to make it a more than worthy main event! The fact that Graves & Ohno were booked as good tag team partners doesn’t surprise me and honestly, they were better off booked that way. The athletes that took part in this match have a great deal of potential and I’m excited to see The Wyatt Family debut soon. It’s when you see matches like these that you realize that the future of the business is bright.

Overall, two short matches, a good divas match, a great tag team match, very good interview segments to further storylines and one very average contract signing? Makes for a pretty good show!

MAIN EVENT REVIEW

Sheamus defeats Antonio Cesaro with the Brogue Kick.

Thoughts: Good match. I was honestly expecting slightly better chemistry between the two tough brawlers but I can’t complain; they delivered a good story in the ring. I think Sheamus has been overexposed on Main Event seeing as he seems to be on almost every episode; couldn’t we see perhaps some new matchups and different wrestlers on Main Event? It was awesome to see Cesaro in a long match like that with such competition. Hopefully WWE creative have something in the works for the Swiss Superman; he truly deserves to be at the top of the mountain, especially after the teased push he had not too long ago. It all remains to be seen. Overall, solid match!

The Usos defeat Team Rhodes Scholars with their superkick/Superfly splash combination.

Thoughts: This was a really good tag team match; one of the best in recent memory on WWE television. The chemistry they all had in the ring was damn impressive and the story told by the twists and the near falls made it all really exciting to watch. I’m really mad to see the Rhodes Scholars lose; they deserve a lot better than their terrible booking by the WWE writers as of late. If they’re not in the race for tag team gold, at least make them relevant in the singles scene. The Usos continue to look impressive and I’m happy for them that they’re finally starting to become a threat in the WWE. Great bout!

Justin Gabriel defeats Curt Hawkins with the 450 Splash.

Thoughts: This was a really good matchup pitting two athletes who, with their similar styles, just could not look bad against each other. I wish it could’ve gone for a little longer but I’m happy we got to see a bit of it anyway. Justin Gabriel is really becoming mister Main Event with all these consecutive wins on the show; at least he’s winning somewhere. I wish we could see more of Hawkins; he is a great wrestler with what is possibly THE best moveset on the roster if you ask me.

Overall, it was a very good show with well-rounded bouts and great storytelling inside the squared circle! I wish storylines mattered more on shows like these but at least we’re getting very high caliber matches every Wednesday! You may see here that I decided not to cover the recaps anymore, seeing as I’m always saying the same thing about them.

For those of you who are interested, I created a Twitter account for all my views on wrestling stuff and wrestlers themselves. You can follow me at @Jee_S_. Thank you for reading me!

WWE Smackdown Analysis by Joe Thunder

The Miz has Randy Orton and Team Hell No on MizTV. Dbry says he knows now that Randy didn’t mean to shove him, and he also knows Kane was only trying to help him with “the Ryback” on Monday. Kane asks if Dbry is going to let all of this “weak link” garbage go. Dbry says he wouldn’t call it garbage. Miz stirs the pot and Randy scolds him. Kane and Orton say his head is messed up. Orton tells Bryan he tends to respect him less and less with the more he whines about being the weak link. Kane tries to calm things down and get everyone to leave, but Dbry begins debating with him about their partnership. Kane gets fed up and tells Orton that he’s on his own with Dbry. Miz asks if we just witnessed the breakup of Team Hell No on MizTV. Dbry starts yelling at the crowd and Teddy Long comes out. Long books Dbry and Orton against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns of the Shield tonight.

^It’s like someone read my column where I criticized MizTV and actually decided to let the man talk! Yes, it’s essentially the same outcome with a match being booked for the main event, but at least Miz had some lines to make him look like the “controversial” talk show host! I don’t care what anyone says about Kane’s constantly changing character; that man can act and can play any role without a problem. Props to Kane and great promo work by everyone in this opening segment!

Curtis Axel goes one on one with Chris Jericho. Paul Heyman cuts a promo with Axel before the match and does commentary for the bout. Heyman jumps on the announce table and yells “it’s clobbering time” while pointing to the tron. CM Punk’s music hits and Jericho gets rolled up by Axel for the three count at the distraction. Jericho runs back to the ring after the match and attacks Axel before delivering a codebreaker.

^Axel looked good against Sin Cara and John Cena in his recent matches, but to me he looked even better in this match with Chris Jericho. He was selling moves like a pro and acted like the experienced ring vet that he’s managed to become in the backdrop of WWE in the past few years. Why, oh why has it taken WWE so long to make this move for Joe Hennig? Props to Jericho for working yet another great match in this most current part time run.

Kane and Ryback have a confrontation backstage. Kane wants to see if Ryback can put him through a table and says “Ryback’s rules” don’t apply to him.

^Kane was awesome in this segment. Ryback actually didn’t sound half bad either. It’s nice to see new interactions and confrontations backstage. Refreshing.

Alberto Del Rio goes one on one with Heath Slater. The 3MB jump ADR before the match can start but he and Ricardo take care of business. Dolph Ziggler appears on the tron and says he will be at Raw on Monday.

^I’m glad to see Ziggler back. Awesome dive by Ricardo. Good segment to make ADR and his buddy look strong.

Ryback is disqualified against Kane when he slams him through a table.

^This was a pretty decent battle between two big men. I actually like the repetitive nature of Ryback using a table on multiple opponents. I fully expect Cena to put Ryback through a table at Payback because of this motif.

Damien Sandow comes out to play chess against his super computer. Sheamus interrupts and brogue kicks the computer, but he gets attacked by Sandow.

^Nice to see Sandow finally get the upper hand! Sheamus isn’t completely invincible, and this segment really helped add more heat to a rivalry that could produce a show stealing match(I’m assuming it will be at Payback).

Orton and Dbry bicker backstage. Orton says he doesn’t like partners, and he doesn’t like Dbry.

^I’d take these guys in one on one action, or I’d take them as a team again. As long as they keep acting this crazy and putting on excellent performances in the ring, how can we as fans lose?

Fandango defeats Zack Ryder in a short match while the Miz does commentary.

^I want to see Ryder team up with Curt Hawkins again; it seems like WWE may be heading in that direction. Fandango looked good. Miz’s line about Fandango being a bag of skittles and making him taste the rainbow when he punches him was absolutely hilarious. Good segment to keep interest in the IC Title rivalry(even though the champion wasn’t involved here).

Dbry and Orton take on Rollins and Reigns in the main event. Dean Ambrose gets involved when Rollins is in the no-lock and Team Hell No wins the match but by DQ. Orton hits an RKO on Dbry to end the show after Dbry clears the ring of the Shield.

^Yet another awesome match involving the Shield and Daniel Bryan. My complaint here is the Shield losing by DQ. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and I don’t like the idea of the group being booked strong but then looking like they’ll just cause DQ finishes when they think they can’t win. Oh well; I can’t win with this one! Great main event, regardless.

While there were only four official matches on the card, this show kicked ass in terms of entertainment value! Three out of the four matches were solid to above average, and the squash match helped put over the IC Title feud(some of the best booking in months for that specific belt, if you ask me). Great show overall, and impressive work by whoever scripted it! I’ll be back with the Raw Analysis on Tuesday. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!

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