Retro Rowe: WWE Summerslam 2011 Review

WWE SummerSlam 2011

by Samoa Rowe

August 14th 2011

-From Los Angeles, CA. Our hosts are heel Michael Cole, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler.

-Adam Jones, from TOOL, is here to play the National Anthem on the guitar. WWE earns 10 cool points.

-The story leading into Summerslam 2011 is that there are two WWE Champions. CM Punk won the title from John Cena at Money in the Bank and proceeded to walk out of the company. This might seem like a big problem, as now there is no WWE Champion present in WWE (though there WAS a World Heavyweight Champion in Christian, but it’s not like they could promote him to top star status or anything). A tournament to crown a new champion was held and Rey Mysterio emerged victorious. Rey had an emotional celebration, but apparently he just had to defend it against John Cena the night he won it, because it had only been something like 8 days since Cena had last held the title and he has a Gollum-like need for it. Cena defeated Rey Mysterio and took the title like an opportunistic bully, and had they wanted to turn Cena heel, there would have been no better way to do it. Once Cena was WWE Champion again, CM Punk returned (less than 2 weeks after leaving forever) and made his claim to be the true WWE Champion. And that’s how we got to Summerslam 2011.

Retro Rowe: WWE Money in the Bank 2011

WWE Money in the Bank - July 17, 2011

by SamoaRowe

-From Chicago, IL. Your hosts are Booker T, Michael Cole, and Jerry Lawler.

Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder match:
Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Absolute chaos erupts as the bell rings. Kane is the last man standing as the ring gets cleared out. Bryan drop-kicks a ladder into Kane but Gabriel and Slater do the same. Sin Cara tries to follow the act but ends up eating a ladder shot from the former Corre members. Gabriel tries shifting the ladder into position by hopping by Bryan knocks him off. Sheamus blocks Rhodes (to a face pop) and finds himself in a potential winning situation. Kane cleans the ring again. The high fliers take turns hitting their patented dives to the floor in spectacular fashion. This sort of thing doesn’t happen very often in WWE, so it feels fresh. Sin Cara hits the moonsault slam on Bryan to a huge ovation. Sadly, Sin Cara ends up taking a power bomb off the apron onto a propped ladder, courtesy of Sheamus. Sin Cara sells the attack as if it was death itself and is stretchered out for a wellness policy violation vacation. All three former Corre members triple-team Kane. Rhodes sprints up the ladder but the Corre strikes. Bryan suffers a similar fate. It doesn’t take long before Barrett tries ordering Slater and Gabriel to stand back and the alliance dissolves. Bryan and Sheamus battle on the ladder, with Kane clothes lining Bryan off the shoulders of Sheamus. Kane goes on a chokeslamming spree. Bryan counters the choke slam with an arm submission and counters again with a DDT! Sadly, Daniel suffers a neck breaker off the ladder thanks to Heath Slater. Innovative spot with Sheamus and Barrett using the ladder to awkwardly push Slater off the turnbuckle! Sheamus drops Gabriel on a propped ladder and hits the Brogue kick. Kane choke slams Kane off the ladder onto a second bridged ladder! Kane takes a series of finishers, capped off with Gabriel hitting a 450 splash off a propped ladder! Barrett climbs but Rhodes pulls him down. Bryan and Rhodes fight at the top and Barrett sneaks up and reaches over Bryan for the case. Bryan knocks Rhodes off but Barrett looks for Waste Land. Bryan kicks Barrett in the head and grabs the case for the win at 24:27! I can honestly say, this is the best WWE match I’ve seen in months. Also, this is one of the best MITB matches I’ve ever seen. They worked in some new tricks and everyone had a chance to get over, ****½.
Winner: Daniel Bryan

Retro Rowe: WWE Capitol Punishment 2011 Review

WWE Capitol Punishment

June 19, 2011

by Samoa Rowe

-Follow me on Twitter: @SamoaRowe

-From Washington D.C. They put some extra effort into the stage, with the set dressed up to resemble the White House. Our hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T.

United States Championship:
Kofi Kingston © vs. Dolph Ziggler (with Vickie Guerrero)

That’s right, another round of Kofi vs. Dolph. I’m predicting another 13 minutes of good, but formulaic action. After an even exchange, Kofi builds some momentum with a monkey flip. Dolph counters Trouble in Paradise and nails the Fame-asser to take control. Kofi sneaks in some near falls but Ziggler remain in control with a German suplex (!!!). Kingston counters the sleeper to create an opening for a comeback. Kofi delivers the SOS for only 2. Kofi blocks the Zig Zag and nails a double stomp! High cross body by Kingston still isn’t enough. Dolph’s sleeper is countered but Vickie grabs Kofi’s hair. Ziggler reapplies the sleeper for the win at 11:02. Lively opener here, as they busted out some unusual moves and Dolph actually won with the sleeper, **¾.
Winner and new United States Champion: Dolph Ziggler

Retro Rowe: WWE Over the Limit 2011 Review

WWE Over the Limit

May 22, 2011

by Samoa Rowe

-Follow me on Twitter: @SamoaRowe

-From Seattle, WA. Our hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Josh Mathews, and Booker T.

-In memory of “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

-R-Truth (with no entrance music) cuts a heel promo before his match. He’s mad because he couldn’t find a parking spot at the arena. It forced him to park with the stink-filled hippies in the crowd tonight. He’s done playing games and threatens to take Rey Mysterio’s spot. This went on a bit too long but I love Truth’s insane A-hole personal from this time period.

R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio

It doesn’t take long for Rey to set up a hurricanrana off the apron to the floor. Truth trips Rey up on the turnbuckles to take control. Truth shakes off a drop toe hold into the turnbuckles to regain his momentum. Rey counters with a bulldog off the ropes. Springboard cross body by Mysterio, who is unable to get a pinfall. Truth retaliates with a spinning elbow but misses the axe kick. Truth crotches Rey with the ring skirt. Truth plants Rey with the STO for the win at 8:08. Painfully formulaic Rey Mysterio match here, **.
Winner: R-Truth

Retro Rowe: WWE Extreme Rules 2011 Review

WWE Extreme Rules

May 1, 2011

by Samoa Rowe

-From Tampa, FL. Our hosts are Josh Mathews, Booker T, and Jerry Lawler.

-Before the Randy Orton/CM Punk match begins, Josh Mathews announces that the General Manager computer has banned New Nexus members from ringside. If you’re going to have an obnoxious heel GM, just go all the way with it, don't have it randomly rule in favor of the babyface for no reason!

Last Man Standing:
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk

Punk removes some turnbuckle padding before entering the ring. Orton dominates the early brawl. Punk delivers a low kick and remembers that weapons are legal. Punk connects with some kendo stick shots. Back suplex by Punk isn’t enough to keep Orton down. Punk springboards into a kendo shot and Orton gets some revenge. Punk rebounds by catapulting Orton into the exposed turnbuckle. Punk props a chair in another corner but his bulldog attempt is countered. They trade finisher counters and Orton drives Punk into the chair! Orton bats Punk around ringside and nails a hard power slam! Punk is competitive but suffers a back suplex onto the barricade. Punk blocks the RKO in the ring and hits the GTS. Orton barely breaks the count so Punk administers a side Russian leg sweep onto a chair. Orton counters with the RKO out of nowhere. Punk survives long enough to wrap Orton’s head in a chair and drives him into the ring post! Punk attempts a GTS on the announce table but Orton counters with the RKO (but the table doesn’t break). They both struggle to their feet and Punk drops Orton onto the steps. Orton knocks Punk off the top ropes with a series of kendo shots. An RKO off the top rope finishes Punk at 20:00. A main event style brawl feels so out of place as an opener. The match was fine, I just had zero investment in this feud, ***.
Winner: Randy Orton

Retro Rowe: WWE Vengeance 2005 Review

WWE Venegeance

by SamoaRowe

June 26th 2005

-Follow me on Twitter @SamoaRowe.

-From Paradise, NV. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Jonathan Coachman, and Jerry Lawler.

-Before the days of NXT making the main roster sweat with their Takeover specials, there was a time when WWE experimented with a novelty ECW reunion pay-per-view in One Night Stand. That event excited the fan base in an organic way that WWE hadn’t managed to do since the heyday of the Attitude Era. This resulted in the Raw brand stacking the PPV deck with this Vengeance show, held only 2 weeks after One Night Stand. Thanks to the multi-week draft, World Champion Batista and WWE Champion John Cena were both on Raw. They busted out the Hell in a Cell. Finally, they fast-tracked Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels into a rematch of their Wrestlemania 21 insta-classic. Meanwhile, the current top champion on Smackdown is United States Champion Orlando Jordan. Wrestling is funny.

Intercontinental Championship:
Carlito © vs. Shelton Benjamin

This past week on Raw, Carlito was drafted to the red brand and immediately ended Benjamin’s lengthy IC title reign (and push). Carlito had been given a nice push on Smackdown, but here is where the true Carlito experiment began, as he was positioned as a “future of the business” type character. The match kicks off with a typical hot start for plucky babyface, Shelton, and Carlito tries to take a hike with the title. Shelton hauls the champ back to the ring but Carlito cuts him off by poking the eyes. Shelton rebounds with a springboard top rope lariat. The match shifts to Carlito’s favor and he wears Benjamin down with his create-a-wrestler default move set. The vocal men in the crowd get behind Carlito, booing Shelton for hitting a desperate forearm. Shelton mounts a comeback, and the crowd continues rejecting him. Benjamin rolls on with a springboard bulldog for a near fall. Carlito uncovers a turnbuckle while getting punched in the head, and manages a power slam for 2. Benjamin misses a Stinger Splash right into the exposed turnbuckle and Carlito pins him at 12:45. Totally average match, perfect example of what WWE style looks like, **½.
Winner and still Intercontinental Champion: Carlito

TNA Pay-Per-View Posters 2006

Wrestlemania 26 Predix!

Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and Gail Kim vs Maryse, Michelle McCool, Layla, Alicia Fox, and Vickie Guerrero
Normally, I'd make some sort of joke about how useless the divas are, but there is enough talent here to keep things together. I'm glad to see Beth, Mickie, Gail, Maryse, and even Michelle getting a 'Mania spot. I'm guessing the face divas win, so they get a chance to royally humiliate Vickie and provide a good pop segment for the live audience.

Triple H vs. Sheamus
If Sheamus wasn't Triple H's bestest buddy in the whole world, I'd call for him to get squashed in under a minute (since every recent 'Mania seems to have one of those). I'm guessing we'll get a decent 10 minute bout that won't set the world on fire, but will still give Triple H a victory. HHH has done a lot of jobs at 'Mania, so I can see him wanting to pad his record, and Sheamus is still a newcomer, so he'll have lots of time to shine later.

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
With the stipulation being that if Rey loses, he must join the Straight Edge Society, I see Punk picking up the victory to prolong the angle/feud. I know Wrestlemania is supposed to be the big show where all feuds are blown off, but that hasn't been the case in a looong time. Hopefully they get at least 10 minutes, and these two are hard workers so it should be a solid addition to the midcard. I'm also glad that CM Punk gets to be on Wrestlemania in something other than Money in the Bank.

Randy Orton vs. Ted Dibiase vs. Cody Rhodes
After the solid year that Legacy had in 2009, I'm really glad that Dibiase and Rhodes have 'Mania spots this year. I'm guessing this match will be remembered more for big angle developments rather than match-quality, but the handicap match they had on Raw a few weeks ago was quite good and if they can match that, then we have another solid midcard addition. I see Orton picking up the win here, though I wouldn't rule out a surprise Dibiase upset, especially if WWE still regards him as the potential next big thing.

Money in the Bank: Christian vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs Evan Bourne vs Kane vs Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston vs Matt Hardy vs MVP vs Shelton Benjamin
Many folks are upset about there being 10 men in this one, but I don't think it really matters due to the trainwreck nature of the "every man for himself" ladder match. Also, it would be bothersome if most of these guys couldn't score a 'Mania spot. What I love is that there are no full-time main eventers here, or anyone who has had a meaningful World title run in WWE (sorry to former ECW champions Christian, Kane, Swagger, and Hardy). A few months ago, I would have pegged Kofi Kingston as the winner, but it seems the office has soured on him and he's lost his push. There is no clear winner in this group, but Christian just barely rises above the rest of the flock. There are lots of storyline opportunities for Christian to be Mr. Money in the Bank, it all depends on whether or not WWE is ready to push him to the next level.

No Holds Barred: Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart
Come on, when has Vince ever won a match at Wrestlemania? Due to Hart's head condition and Vince's general old age, I can't see this being much more than a quick, nasty squash. Bret Hart wins and everyone gets to have a feel good moment.

Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth
It's sad that I'm really hoping that Daniel Bryan gets involved in this somehow, so he can at least have had a 'Mania appearance. This will probably be one of the shorter matches on the card, but should be good while it lasts. Hopefully Morrison and Miz get a chance to play off of their history a little bit. I'm calling for Miz and Big Show to retain, especially since Morrison and Truth seem tossed together just so they could be a part of Wrestlemania.

Streak vs. Career: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
I don't see this being as long as last year's 30 minute classic, due to Undertaker's physical condition, but I still see them pulling out all the stops to have another blockbuster. This could well be Shawn's last match as an active wrestler, so you know he is going to want to leave on a high note. This could be Undertaker's last match too, since he's been flirting with retirement for years now. This is just speculation, but I kind of feel like both men are regretting that they didn't retire after 'Mania last year, as in hindsight it would have been the perfect way to end their careers so they wanted to set up part two to make sure they are satisfied and not regret the way they went out. The stipulations here are perfect, because it's hard to imagine either man losing. Undertaker's streak has never been in more severe jeopardy. In the end, I'm calling for Undertaker to win, keep the streak intact, and go into retirement but open to coming back for certain big matches.

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho vs. Edge
If it weren't for the fact that a victory here would make Edge a 10-time World champion, I would say he was a lock to win this. I'm not sure WWE is ready to bestow that honor on Edge. Also, even though this is a World title match, there are at least 2-3 other matches on the show that are more anticipated than this, so this one could wind up in the middle of the show. Therefore, it doesn't need to have a feelgood ending. I'm going out on a limb and predicting that Jericho retains and continues to feud with Edge, saving the title switch for a higher spot on a lesser show.

WWE Championship: Batista vs. John Cena
Rumor has it that this match is going to close the show. Therefore, I have a hard time believing that the finish will be anything other than Cena standing tall with the belt. I haven't really dug the build to this match since No Way Out, but it was high-time that these two went toe to toe at Wrestlemania. They are arguably the two biggest new stars of the last five years, so this match really has the chance to define the era the way that Rock/Austin defined the Attitude Era and Hogan/Andre defined the 80's. What is also exciting is that the last time Cena and Batista locked up, it was a great match at Summerslam, which I rated ****. If they can match their last bout, and kick it up a few notches, we could have a classic on our hands.


All in all, this is the best Wrestlemania, at least on paper, since Wrestlemania X-7. Hopefully nothing screwy happens (a match getting bumped off the main show to be a dark match, a match getting less than a minute) and we really do have one of the greatest shows in history. I don't want to get my hopes up, but if there was ever a reason to hope, this is it!

Lots and lots of title changes.

So I was sitting around last night thinking about random wrestling related things when it hit me. In the past two months (June and July) every single championship in both WWE and TNA changed hands. Some of them multiple times.

Batista won the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, but would vacate the title days later due to injury. Randy Orton would then claim the belt on the following Raw.

Jeff Hardy won the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules. He promptly dropped the title to Mr. Money in the Bank himself, CM Punk. In July, at Night of Champions, Jeff Hardy would regain the belt.

Kurt Angle claimed the TNA Heavyweight title at Slammiversary.

Tommy Dreamer picked up the ECW Championship at Extreme Rules in June, and Christian regained the title from him at Night of Champions in July.

Kofi Kingston claimed the United States Championship on June 1st on Raw.

Kevin Nash won the TNA Legends Championship at Victory Road. On last night's Impact, he lost the belt to Mick Foley.

Chris Jericho won the Intercontinental Championship for the 9th time at Extreme Rules. Rey Mysterio would take the title back from him at The Bash.

Beer Money Inc. took back the TNA Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary but came up short at Victory Road, and Scott Steiner and Booker T are the new champions.

Chris Jericho and Edge ended the Primo and Carlito's Unified Tag Team Championship reign at The Bash. At Night of Champions, Big Show became the official replacement for the injured Edge.

Homicide claimed the X Division title from Suicide on an episode of Impact on June 26th (aired July 16th).

Tara (formerly Victoria) won the Knockouts belt on Impact, but quickly dropped the gold back to Angelina Love at July's Victory Road.

Mickie James won the Divas Championship from longtime champion Maryse at Night of Champions.

Michelle McCool picked up the Women's Championship from Melina at The Bash.


I can only imagine that all these title changes are intended to boost ratings and pay-per-view buys. I suppose people are going to be more likely to order a show if they think that the belts could very well change hands but if they keep going doing this at the rate they are, these changes are going to lose all their meaning and impacts. Some moderation would be wise.