2019 WWE PPV Posters

 

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 Hell in a Cell 2010 Review

WWE Hell in a Cell 2010

by Samoa Rowe

October 3, 2010

-From Dallas, TX. Our hosts are Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, and Matt Striker.

United States Championship (Submissions Count Anywhere):
Daniel Bryan © vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz

Looks like we’re getting this show off on the right note. Miz cuts a promo on his way to the ring bitching about how Bryan and Morrison wouldn’t have made it without him. Miz gets overwhelmed quickly and takes a break. He gets chased around the ring , forcing Morrison and Bryan to work together. Bryan and Morrison show off some chain wrestling while Miz is down. They roll to the floor with their legs locked and Miz finds an opening to attack both of them. Morrison ties Miz up in the ropes but Bryan breaks it up with a drop-kick. Bryan locks Cattle Mutilation on Miz! They reverse heel hooks in entertaining fashion until Morrison breaks it with Starship Pain. Morrison almost makes Bryan tap to a modified Haas of Pain and connects with a corkscrew plancha on Miz. They brawl into the crowd with Miz in the driver’s seat. Miz brings a production cart from the back and rams it into Morrison. Bryan gets placed on the cart and Miz drives it into the stage! Morrison counters and leaps over the cart for a drop-kick. Miz bounces back with the Skull Crushing Finale on Morrison on the concrete! Bryan and Miz square off on the stage and wipe each other out with clotheslines. Morrison climbs the lighting and perches on the cage wall on the stage. Morrison delivers a flying cross body onto the stage! Morrison applies a Texas Cloverleaf on Miz, but Alex Riley runs in for the save, tossing Morrison down the ramp. Bryan throws Riley into a cameraman. Bryan forces Miz to tap out to the Labell Lock at 13:30! I know I wasn’t paying close attention to WWE during this time, but I didn’t hear a thing about this match. This was a wildly inventive outing, worth checking out, ***¾.
Winner and still United States Champion: Daniel Bryan

Retro Rowe: WWE Night of Champions 2010

WWE Night Of Champions 2010

September 19, 2010

by Samoa Rowe

-From Chicago, IL. Our hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker.

-Vickie Guerrero and Kaitlyn come out to introduce Dolph Ziggler. I’m reminded that Kaitlyn is still an NXT rookie.

Intercontinental Championship:
Dolph Ziggler © (with Vickie Guerrero and Kaitlyn) vs. Kofi Kingston

Oh goodie, THIS match again. Kingston and Ziggler seem doomed to forever feud against one another in a perpetual limbo of hitting the glass ceiling. Vickie is insecure that Dolph is more attracted to Kaitlyn and sends her away when Dolph gets tossed and therefore needs tending to. Ziggler rebounds and goes to work on Kofi’s head. Ziggler nails the Fame-asser for 2 and continues the head attacks. If you like rest holds, this is the match for you. Dolph’s chinlock is what we’d normally be missing during a commercial break. Kingston goes ballistic and makes a comeback. Trouble in Paradise misses but Kingston blocks the sleeper. Ziggler uses a rope break to save himself. Kofi dives off the apron and loses his cool pummeling Ziggler on the floor. Dolph locks on the sleeper and Kingston dramatically reverses. Dolph orders Vickie not to interfere and dodges Trouble in Paradise. The Zig Zag finishes it at 12:35. This was the usual effort you get from WWE mid-carders these days. I don’t want to see Kingston and Ziggler ever face each other again, unless a World title is on the line, **½.
Winner and still Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler

Retro Rowe: WWE Summerslam 2010 Review

WWE Summerslam - August 15, 2010
by SamoaRowe

-From Los Angeles, CA. Our hosts are Michael Cole, Matt Striker, and Jerry Lawler.

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

Ziggler is the newly crowned IC Champion, having won the belt from Kingston with an assist from Vickie. Kingston cuts off Vickie’s mic work before the match. Kingston wants revenge and is aggressive in the early going. Kingston misses a suicide dive and takes a nasty spill into the guard rail. Ziggler is eager for a count-out but to no avail. Ziggler goes to work on Kingston’s neck. Kofi dodges a corner splash and mounts a comeback. Ziggler rolls through a springboard cross body for a near fall. Fame-asser by Ziggler also gets 2. Kofi catches Dolph with his educated feet and delivers a flying shot to the head. Trouble in Paradise misses and Ziggler applies the sleeper hold! It’s about this time when the Nexus runs in and draws the DQ at 7:04! The group tosses Ziggler over the ropes and surrounds Kingston. This was a solid opener until the non-finish, **¼.
No contest.

Rowe's Top 10 Matches 2014

Disclaimer, this list is WWE-only, because I didn’t watch enough of any other company. I could throw in some NJPW matches I saw, but I couldn’t safely say those matches best represent the year New Japan had. I’ve also seen some Lucha Underground matches that would fit in on this list, but I suppose WWE was the brand I cared the most about, so they edge out the competition.

10. Charlotte vs. Natalya (NXT Takeover) ****

I believe this is the first time I’ve ever picked a women’s match for the year-end top 10, and it’s also amusing to me that a match with the same participants got chosen for my worst match of the year. But on this spring evening in Orlando, Charlotte and Natalya surprised the hell out of me with this athletic, technically sound, and emotional title match. It was the finals of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament, so both divas had high levels of credibility going into it. Natalya had Uncle Bret in her corner, and Charlotte was accompanied by Father Ric. After almost 17 minutes of back and forth action, Charlotte put Natalya away with the Natural Selection and became the new champion. The display of respect afterwards between both women, as well as their legendary seconds, helped this stand out in my mind all these months later. Furthermore, I’m so very impressed with the development of Charlotte. In 2013, I made comments about her matches being “pretty good” for someone as inexperienced as she was, but in 2014 she blossomed into a bonafide star in the making. I just hope WWE’s main roster booking doesn’t get in her way next year.

9. Adrian Neville vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn (NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way) ****

This match is a perfect example of the right way to do a 4-way main event. You spend the weeks leading into the match making sure that all four participants look credible and you create a scenario where any of the four guys are believable winners. Let’s compare that to the Battleground main event, where Cena had to defend against Kane, Orton, and Roman Reigns, and was already heavily rumored to be defending against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. Battleground felt like filler, NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-way felt like an important chapter in a bigger story. The match featured crazy action from bell to bell, but told a story rather than just be a bunch of moves strung together. It was also the first time that Adrian Neville took a short cut to retain his title, when he pulled the referee from the ring to prevent a Sami Zayn pinfall.

8. The Shield vs. Evolution (WWE Payback) ****

This was the culmination of the Shield vs. Evolution feud, and looks like it may go down as being the final match for both factions. After they stole the show at Extreme Rules (in a match that juuuuust missed inclusion on this list) the expectations for this rematch were high. I don’t think anyone expected that the Shield would end up sweeping Evolution in this eliminations match. This gave a major dose of credibility to Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins, just in time for the major angle the next night on Raw when Rollins turned on the team. The Shield and Evolution both went out with a bang.

7. The Money in the Bank Ladder Match (WWE Money in the Bank) ****

The participants included newly hated rivals Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, as well as an appealing field including Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, and Jack Swagger. The fresh hatred between Ambrose and Rollins really carried the match, as Ambrose made it his mission to hurt Rollins as badly as possible. Meanwhile, everyone got a chance to tease a victory, with the live crowd really popping at near wins for Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler. Ambrose was in position to win the briefcase, but Kane ended up helping Rollins emerge victorious after a stunt show worthy of the great MITB classics.

6. Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Wrestlemania XXX) ****

I almost can’t believe that Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania and it’s NOT my MOTY. That’s not to say that this wasn’t a very good match, four stars is nothing to sneeze at, but by the time the match begun the result was such a foregone conclusion that I sort of just sat back and enjoyed it, and wasn’t really concerned that Bryan wasn’t going to win. Batista seemed out of place performing in a Wrestlemania main event in 2014, and Randy Orton was his consistently solid self, and Bryan ended up working well with both of them. There was a gasp-worthy spot on the announce table when Orton ended up taking a horrible landing on a monitor during an RKO spot. I suppose the reason this isn’t higher than four stars is because I have too much to nitpick, like how it didn’t seem right that Bryan won by submitting Batista, and not long-time arch enemy, Orton. Still, Bryan winning the title and leading 75,000 fans in the most epic YES chant of all time was an incredible moment that I won’t soon forget.

5. Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WWE Wrestlemania XXX) ****¼

Unlike the triple threat match that main evented, I was very stressed out watching this one live. Was Triple H going to do the right thing? Was Triple H going to lose, but in a flukey fashion after dominating Bryan? Had Triple H completely lost his mind and going to insert himself into the Wrestlemania main event? The actual match was likely the best-case scenario, with Triple H wrestling a smart, unselfish match, and doing a fine job of elevating Bryan. The Wrestlemania crowd was 100% behind Bryan and was hot for this opener. Even more so than Bryan’s title win, this is a match that I already enjoy going back to watch again and again.

4. Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, Big Show, and Ryback) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev, and Luke Harper) (WWE Survivor Series) ****¼

The show-closing angle on the final Raw of 2014 might end up souring me on this match in the long run. The stipulation said that if Team Cena won, the Authority would be out of power, and only John Cena could bring them back if he so chose to. Well, as of last night, the Authority are back because Seth Rollins threatened to paralyze Edge if Cena didn’t give in to his demands. The Authority were gone for a whopping five or six weeks. Anyhow, this Survivor Series match in itself was epic, and felt fresh in that several unusual suspects were getting elevated. Luke Harper looked right at home on Team Authority, Erick Rowan held up pretty well on Team Cena, and Dolph Ziggler had yet another coming out party in his gutsy underdog performance as the sole survivor on Team Cena. As good as the match was, what really put it over the top was the long awaited WWE debut of Sting, who saved Ziggler from outside interference and put a hurting on Triple H. If the stipulations had meant anything, I might have ranked this higher, but as it stands, #4 is a good place to be.

3. Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro (NXT Arrival) ****½

For the second year in a row, a Cesaro vs. Zayn match cracked my yearly top 10. This opened the NXT Arrival show and set the precedent for what to expect from those Network specials. In storyline terms, Zayn was unable to defeat Cesaro, but did succeed in earning his respect. This match was internally considered to be Cesaro’s “graduation” match and would not longer have one foot in NXT with the other on the main roster. I would love to be able to see these guys clash again on the main shows in 2015.

2. The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family (WWE Elimination Chamber) ****½

I’ll never forget the opening moments of this match, with a crowd going ape-sh!t from the anticipation, giving them a “This is awesome” chant before anything could happen. The pressure was on, and the six men involved made sure they delivered the goods. We spend a lot of time tearing WWE apart for bad booking and stupid decisions, but I have to give them credit for having positioned six up and comers in such a way that the fans were so interested in seeing them fight. This would have taken the top spot if I wasn’t considering NXT matches, which brings us to…

1. Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn (NXT Takeover: R-Evolution) *****

I was having a very difficult time coming up with a MOTY for 2014 up until this point. There were some worthy contenders, but none of them seemed significant or important enough to really make a case about it other than “I enjoyed watching it at the time.” Then NXT swooped in and made my job (if you can call it that) so much easier by having Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn surpass my highest hopes and deliver a classic match that already ranks up very highly in my all-time favorites list. The story heading into NXT R-Evolution was simple, yet detailed, and rewarded longtime viewers. Neville had taken some easy ways out in his past few title defenses, and was now playing a subtle heel. Zayn was cast as a hot talent who couldn’t win the big one, mainly because his niceness kept getting in the way. Zayn vowed to retire if he lost this match, which I took to mean that he could have realistically been getting a call-up to the main roster, so it increased the drama of the match. Then the bell rang, and everything Neville and Zayn did had meaning and built to an excellent crescendo. There was a scary false finish when it seemed that Sami was going to screw himself again just by being a decent human being, and he also teased going to the dark side when contemplating whether or not to use the NXT title as a weapon. But ultimately, Zayn put Neville away with the Helluva Kick and the following was one of the most emotional, memorable championship celebrations I can ever recall, complete with Kevin Owens embracing, and then turning on his friend. Neville vs. Zayn is my official Match of the Year for 2014.