WWE DVD Review - Live in the UK November 2012

With each UK tour the WWE keep pushing the envelope as they try to give their loyal fans even more value for their money. This past November saw the company roll into Birmingham, here they would not only put on one heck of a show, but they would also record episodes of the Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown shows before thousands of lively and excited fans. 

Another bonus here is the complete (unaired in the UK) WWE Main Event show that was recorded in Birmingham too.

Live in the UK saw many of the Survivor Series 2012 combatants and teams in action, as they embarked on the road to that Pay-Per-View.

So what can you expect from this two disc set? First up there are some nice features on the UK's own Wade Barrett and William Regal. Irishman Sheamus is also given the spotlight treatment. 

On the match front we have a great many to choose from. Highlights of which are CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler versus John Cena and Ryback. Wade Barrett teaming with Big Show to combat hard-hitters William Regal and Sheamus. Elsewhere Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio have a well-paced Falls Count Anywhere encounter. Kofi Kingston and The Miz face-off for the Intercontinental Championship and the colourful combo of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio tackle the fun duo of The Primetime Players.

WWE Live in the UK November 2012 is a very good DVD set indeed. Fans who attended will love this memento of their time there, others will enjoy seeing their heroes on UK soil and adapting their styles etc to suit them. These UK releases are very popular indeed and this is one of the best yet.

Extras wise we get two WWE Championship matches that were held in the UK. One is the near-classic Randy 'Macho Man' Savage and Ultimate Warrior scrap from Summer Slam 1992. The other is the very inventive match between The Rock and X Pac from the 1998 Capital Carnage PPV.

WWE Live in the UK November 2012 is available now on two disc DVD.

RRP £17.99

www.wwedvd.co.uk

www.wwe.com

By Phil Allely

WWE DVD Review - TLC 2012

WWE DVD Review: TLC (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) 2012

WWE's TLC pay-per-view event is one that has a tendency to deliver greatly with its match quality and results. Even the lack of blood can't affect the violence that many of the wrestlers bring to the ring when foreign objects such as tables, ladders and steel chairs become legal weapons. This year we were also treated to a few new faces, which helped create new feuds and elevate some often neglected mid-card talent. With CM Punk injured there was some re-jigging behind the scenes match wise, but perhaps it was for the best. WWE need his fresh and ready for his upcoming scrap with The Rock.

It was also nice to see the legendary Jerry 'The King' Lawler return to his commentary duties. Lawler seems to have recovered well after his near fatal heart attack (which occurred during a live raw show).

TLC kicked off with a very reasonable tables match for the number one contender spot for the WWE tag team belts. The duo of Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara battled Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes in a fun battle. Cara is looking so much better in the ring now he is teamed up with fellow high flyer Mysterio. Rhodes Scholars on the other hand are a wonderfully fresh addition to the diminishing tag ranks. Rhodes and Sandow picked up the win after Cody caused Cara to plough through a table.

Your reviewer is not a hug fan of US Title holder Anonio Cesaro, but he can put together a pretty decent match with the right (talented) performer. The match however didn't really sizzle as much as we had hoped it would. Cesaro was able to overcome a few nice looking pin attempts by Truth and nailed a 'Neutralizer' to retain his gold.
Uk wrestler Wade Barrett has been making real strides in recent months to get one more big push for his WWE career. His match with Kofi Kingston here highlighted the fact that Barrett does have potential. Putting Kofi's Intercontinental Title on the line helped as well of course. Wade is a very good big man and has an aura about him, perhaps he will be William Regal's successor to the role of sterotypical British bad guy. Kofi did manage to fend off his European influenced assault and retained the belt.
Whether they are associated with Champion CM Punk The Shield were (and are) a welcome addition to the WWE roster. Their sneak attacks and N.W.O. Inspired storyline is something that may just inject some much needed adrenaline into the WWE product.

The match here was a TLC one and The Shield (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose) faced off against the formidable trio of WWE Tag Team Champs Kane/Daniel Bryan and the fastest rising star of the year Ryback. This match was a brutal, tough and well-paced affair. Working with such talented opponents The Shield team were on perfect form. What was nice was that amidst the weapons based fun and games, we saw some new faces get their hands raised (over some more established acts). This angle by WWE may just work out very well for all concerned. The Shield pulled off a rather good win, to continue their progression.
The Divas were up next, with Eve defending her title against (pre-show match winner) Naomi. Naomi did show some impressive in-ring ability here. It was of course always going to be Eve's night and here she did not disappoint. Eve retained her glamorous belt as predicted.
As explained before a TLC PPV should really feature some blood. But you know what sometimes the spilling of claret is not necessary. The World Heavyweight Title match between champion Big Show and challenger Sheamus was a real barn-stormer. Sheamus seems to bring something out in show that we have not seen in a while and perhaps Show himself has grabbed this opportunity to highlight how valuable he is to the company. The match was violent, hard-hitting and worked to both men's advantage. Shows win maintains his grasp of the belt and Sheamus' loss does little more than make him a man we will root for next time.
Next up we saw an interesting battle. This was Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre taking on Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and Brooklyn Brawler. This was a nostalgic match for veteran fans, as longtime jobber the Brawler (Steve Lombardi) returned to the ring. Lombardi is a familiar face to anyone whoo who watches WWE biographical or special edition DVDs. He often pops us as a talking head on such releases. Lombardi never won a major title, but he did elevate many superstars to the next level and his simple style made him a minor league star. Brawler got his chance to shine on PPV in Brooklyn (of course) and even picked up a rare win.

Love him or hate him John Cena is one of the few real stars the WWE have available to perform at present. His act may need polished and a break from his main event appearances would help things. But 

with no one else ready to fill his spot or shift as much merchandise this is a picture we will have to expect for a while, the one of Cena in the main event.

The storyline featuring Cena/AJ/Vickie Guerro has been fun (even if it does echo a recent ill-fated TNA one). This match between Dolph Ziggler and Cena was a curious entry too. Ziggler could have as easily cashed in his 'Money in the Bank' title shot, but instead he offered it up in a match with Cena. This was a ladder match to remember. Cena took some stiff shots, Ziggler was a bump-machine (in the style of Shawn Michaels) and the outside interference proved to be beneficial to the pair. Cena in a rare moment for his character stared at the lights for the ever-exciting Ziggler. AJ did prove to be the thorn in Cena's side, but this was really all about raising Dolph to the next level. After all if he can beat Cena, this man may just be able to win the big one.

On the Extras front the DVD has an interview with Dolph Ziggler only, Blu-ray owners will be able to witness an episode of Monday Night Raw, Slammy award presentations and some very nice matches.

RRP £17.99 (DVD), £19.99 (Blu-ray).

TLC 2012 is available now from all good retailers.

Wwe.com

By Phil Allely

WWW WrestleMania Revenge Tour Review Belfast April 2012

WWE Live Review: Smackdown – WrestleMania Revenge Tour 2012 (Belfast)

The WWE tour the UK/Ireland twice a year and each live show receives a huge amount of attention. These shows feature many of our favourite WWE superstars and divas, they also offer us the opportunity to get up close and personal to the action.

Belfast’s Odyssey Arena was as usual sold-out for the WrestleMania Revenge Tour by the Smackdown roster. Unless it is a TV taping/recording what’s nice about a WWE live show is that the entire crew seem intent on having fun and whilst storylines do still exist they are not as strictly stuck to here.

Glamorous ring announcer Lillian Garcia took mic duties for the night and really did make a difference with her nice attitude to proceedings and willingness to join in the fun throughout the night.

We’ll not review each match here, but we will give you an idea of just what a live WWE show can offer you.

Firstly you’ll be very close to the action and get to see the event in full context no matter where you sit, although the prime seats are slightly above ringside with a view of the whole ring or the aisle where you can briefly shake hands with your heroes.

Next thing you’ll see just how huge some of the wrestlers are, for example opening match-up winner The Great Khali was unbelievably massive, looking even bigger than his seven foot plus real height. His opponent Jinder Mahal had no real chance here, but did try his best.

The Tag Team encounter was pulled above mediocre by the unique pairing of high flyer Tyson Kidd and UK star William Regal. Regal especially was on fine comedy form and as he has done before stated that he may not have many more matches in him.

Alberto Del Rio is a fun character and a nice return to the sneaky heel of old. It is however his stooge/personal ring announcer Ricardo that maintains the flow and entertains us, the old tee-shirt throw tease went down a storm.

The highlight of the Divas match between Natalya and AJ was the addition of Hornswoggle as guest referee. The little man went through as many comedy spots as he could and loved being the centre of attention.

The Big Show was also in superb comedy form this night, something many people never really get to see these days. He is also another very large competitor that you really do need to see live to appreciate how big he is.

What’s always interesting in these shows is that the company rarely send over jobber s and low card grapplers, the norm is to send as many mid-top of the roster guys and girls and again with a few exceptions this was the case.

Rounding off the night were two encounters firstly Kane and Randy Orton in a NO DQ battle that went in and out of the ring, incorporated weapons and looked awesome.

Finally was the Mania re-match between former World Title holder Daniel Bryan and current champ Sheamus. Ireland’s own Sheamus worked very hard here and it really did round things off on  a high note.

WWE live be it the April tour or November tour always deliver the goods and did so once again here. Roll on the next one, we cannot wait.

WWE Sheamus interview highlights

- The Huffington Post’s Jon Chattman has an article up today covering Sheamus’ appearance at the Hall Neighborhood House in Bridgeport, CT last week. The WWE Superstar was there to talk about WWE’s new “be a STAR” Alliance anti-bullying campaign.




Here are some highlights:



JC: Anti-bullying initiatives like “It Gets Better” have been fully supported by the entertainment industry. Do you think WWE behind this helps raise awareness to a different audience?



S: We are a family product. There are kids everywhere at our arena. It’s what drives our business. We’ve moved away from the “Attitude” era. We try to be a positive image as best we can. What we do in the ring and with storylines is entertainment, but outside the ring, that’s the real world and we want to give back.



JC: Shifting gears, Summerslam is a big Pay-Per-View event for the WWE Universe. Are you psyched for you match?



S: I’m really excited — it’s the second biggest Pay-Per-View of the year next to WrestleMania. For a long time, the role for Mark Henry was a well-liked personality with a big smile. Something snapped. I guess over ten years of never having been World Champion, he feels he hasn’t been respected. I’ve seen how aggressive he is in the ring, and it’s not going to be a pretty sight. I’m always up for the challenge.



JC: Do you favor being a “heel” or “face”?



S: I don’t touch people’s babies or slap kids’ hands. I think in sports entertainment, the fans themselves decide who they like or who they don’t. Randy Orton never changed who he was. He’s still the same guy but fans knew he was so good, so they just started cheering for him. Everything we do for the WWE Universe if for the fans. They make our show.



JC: In terms of character development, it must be nice being cheered or booed every couple of months, no?



S: Here’s the thing, when I first came to WWE, all I did was be myself. You won’t find me doing moonsaults or flipping off the top. I’m not the most gracious so I take my strengths and hit people as hard as I can. When I first came here, people would tell me that I had to pay my dues but I went for the biggest dog in the park: John Cena. In a couple of months, I became champion. I always tell people that paying dues are for losers. I wasn’t ready to wait in line.

WWE Wrestlemania Revenge Tour 2011 - Belfast Ireland Review 14/4/2011

Cena Pushes the Truth in Belfast


By Phil Allely

WWE main eventer John Cena graciously allowed the spotlight to shine on R Truth during the second night of the Raw tour in Belfast, Ireland last night.

In front of a pumped up 8000 sell-out crowd Cena took to the mic praising Truth’s assistance in saving him from a post-match beat down by Miz/Alex Riley and the young stars dedication to the business, nicely hyping up their match with Miz at Extreme Rules.

Cena’s main event bout for the WWE Title was a real crowd pleaser too, with action taking place in and out of the ring, the pair gelled well together. Miz’s stooge Riley was the key factor though, running in to cause a DQ finish, the cunning champion retaining his gold.

The rest of the card saw Evan Bourne take flight on numerous occasions, his ‘Air Bourne’ finisher putting Riley down for the three count to open up proceedings in style.

Percy Watson won some new fans with his demolition job on high flyer Tyson Kidd, the up and comer was very over in a quick but well-paced outing.

The Uso’s and Santino Marella (with Tamina) had what appeared to be a handicap match next, fortunately as things looked bleak, the injured Vladimir Kozlov sprinted to the ring to a huge pop and bullied his way through the Samoan pair. A cobra from a rested Marella ending things nicely.

John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler’s heated encounter was an early match of the night contender, both pulling out all of the stops to keep the rabid fans happy. The always impressive Starship Pain giving Morrison the win.

Divas champion Brie Bella (with Nikki) faced off against Eve in a decent Divas brawl, the ever improving Miss Torres however fell short on regaining her belt.

Randy Orton and CM Punk then tore the house down with their ‘fans choice’ battle, the street fight was just what the Irish fans wanted and saw some still spots involving a Kendo stick, steel chair, the ring steps and the ring post. Punk saw defeat but as Orton dug deep and hit a surprise RKO.

Mexican newcomer Sin Cara made his Irish debut next, putting on fair showing against Primo, there were plenty of flashy and attention grabbing in-ring moments before the latest masked superstar to join the WWE grabbed the pin.

The penultimate match-up saw Daniel Bryan (with Gail Kim) tackle Ireland’s own Sheamus. The mighty Celt was more than up for the challenge, overcoming the La Bell Lock and other in-ring abuse to nail a big boot assisted pin.

WWE brought their A-Game to Belfast and the tour certainly lived up to its Wrestlemania Revenge moniker. It was nice to see the effort being put into the card and storylines continue through the night, the build up to Extreme Rules and push for R Truth (amongst others) were a very positive aspect as well. Especially in a week where the wrestling world has lost yet another main eventer, as Edge retired due to injury. The pushing of new/young talent as credible main eventers really is key to the WWE’s future success these days.

The tour continues across the UK, Ireland and Europe for the next two weeks.

DVD Review WWE Raw The Best of 2010

DVD Review: WWE Raw - The Best Of 2010




WWE’s flagship TV show Raw is perhaps its best known product and is also recognised as the longest running episodic programme on television (clocking up 900 plus episodes to date). This three disc set contains some of the most exciting, imaginative and entertaining things to have happened on the weekly show during 2010.



Raw like its stable mate Smackdown has featured many pay-per-view quality matches over the past few year sand 2010 was a year where the show itself was essential viewing week in week out.



Broken down into monthly chunks this box set has cherry picked the best bits from Raw and put them all in one place, making this perfect for everyone and of course meaning that we can all finally own and re-watch the great action and in-ring entertainment as it unfolded on TV, for the very first time on DVD.



2010 kicked off in style as WWE legend Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart made a return to promotion after a decade , his triumphant return, hatchet burying with arch rival Shawn Michaels and ex-boss Vince McMahon made for great viewing and led to some nice storylines along the way. Of course this was also the year that we bade farewell to Shawn Michaels after his Wrestlemania re-match with Undertaker saw him fall short in ending the Phenom’s winning streak. Featured here are Shawn’s final Raw match and a his retirement speech, plus a nice match with Triple H as DX.



Elsewhere you can once again see how despised heel Randy Orton moved to the good side and became one of the company’s most liked faces in a short space of time. There is the Miz’s unrivalled rise to champion status and the formation and growth of the Nexus faction, all of which paved the way for many of the events that feature here.



Each month gets a quick rundown of highlights and then we see in full some of the events that transpired and often led into the upcoming PPV or next feud for those concerned.



All in all Raw - Best of 2010 has over 20 made for television bouts and each one is a cracker. Ones to watch out for are D-Generation X taking on CM Punk/Luke Gallows and ShowMiz for the Unified Tag team Titles, WWE Champ Sheamus tackling ECW Title Holder Christian, Chris Jericho against Evan Bourne, the King of the Ring final with Sheamus facing John Morrison and many others. There are also nice video pakcages showcasing the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker feud to date, a Piper’s Pit segment featuring Randy Orton and John Cena and a nice finishing piece looking back at the year that was.



The best thing about this DVD set is that even the most ardent of fan won’t have these matches on disc already and that makes them all the more irresistible to have.



WWE Raw The Best of 2010 is available now from www.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.



Upcoming releases from Silvervision include:

WWE Survivor Series 2010

WWE Tagged Classics: Wrestle fest ‘88 & ‘90

WWE Live in the UK (recorded November 2010)

WWE Top 50 Superstars of All Time

WWE Bragging Rights 2010 DVD Review

WWE Bragging Rights 2010 – DVD Review


By Phil Allely

Bragging Rights is the only WWE PPV event in the year where the company’s two brands fully battle it out for supremacy . This year was no different with a 7 on 7 tag team elimination bout between key Raw and Smackdown being one of the highlights of the card.

Featuring (Raw) Miz, Sheamus, CM Punk, John Morrison, R Truth, Santino Marella and Ezekiel Jackson against (Smackdown) Big Show, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio and Tyler Reks. The match itself had its fair share of in-ring action and moments, the end result going down very well with the fans too. The trophy was won by the best team on the night, the level of talent involved and various set-pieces etc. all make this a good match to have on DVD and watch a few times to get the full benefit of what went down.

Elsewhere World Heavyweight Champion Kane and his brother Undertaker had a painful looking Buried Alive brawl for the gold. Taker was of course out looking for revenge after some recent losses to his sibling, Paul bearer’s presence and the involvement of Nexus helped mask the limited movements of Taker and as usual he seemed to be more than willing to put himself through more abuse than he should to please his fans.

Ted Di Biase and Goldust’s fight over the Milion Dollar belt was a short affair, it did have its moments, but the cat fight and post-match beat down were the highlights really.

Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler’s Champion versus Champion match-up was a great opener and as usual both stepped up to the plate to deliver the goods. Ziggler’s second Vickie Guererro was in fine form too. The pair of combatants proved the point with ease, as to why at that time they were the United States and Inter-Continental champion’s (respectively).

John Cena’s storyline with nexus took a surprising turn when he was teamed with Dave Otunga to take on WWE tag team Champs Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre. Cena took control of the match and Otunga barely got a look in, the action was decent, but not as exciting as it could have been, the ending was a pleasant surprise though.

Natalya’s challenge for the Diva’s Championship was a thoroughly enjoyable one, tackling one half of the co-champions LayCool (Layla). Of course Michelle McCool played a big part in proceedings and Miss Neidhart was double-teamed and cheap shot assaulted as often as possible throughout.

The main event was an above average affair and may be the match that sways people’s choice to purchase this DVD release. The match pitted Nexus main man Wade Barrett against WWE Champion Randy Orton (for Orton’s Gold), John Cena was in Barrett’s corner too, the stipulation being if the nexus member failed to win the bout Cena would be fired. Orton’s intensity, Barrett’s improving in-ring skills and Cena’s acting all helped elevate this to decent main event material and of course the obligatory run-in/ref bump etc. all helped too.

On the extras front Bragging Rights 2010 has an interview with the Smackdown Team and a short piece on the Undertaker.

Bragging Rights 2010 is a good addition to your WWE DVD collection, the matches were all worth seeing and some of the storyline developments and feuds were at their peak here.

Bragging Rights 2010 is available now from www.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.

WWE Night of the Champions 2010 DVD Review

WWE Night of the Champions 2010 - DVD Review




By Phil Allely



Night of the Champions is the only WWE Pay-Per-View in the year that promises that each and every title belt in the company will be on the line. 2010’s offering had all seven belts up for grabs in some really well thought out bouts and involving storylines.



The event opened well with Kofi Kingston challenging Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Gold, the presence of Ziggler’s lady friend Vickie Guerrero and her NXT rookie Kaitlyn certainly added to proceedings, Ziggler and Kingston worked very well to ensure things started with a bang.



The Big Show and CM Punk followed with what was to be their fedu ending encounter, Show having already wiped out Punk’s Straight Edge Society hangers on. The David/Goliath match-up worked well and although short in duration did show both men to be worthy opponents.



Next United States Champion The Miz faced the thorn in his side that was Daniel Bryan, the pair having fallen out over Bryan’s NXT tenure and their resulting battles made for great viewing throughout 2010, this US title scrap was a superb addition to them. The end result was a surprise to many, but well deserved.



The decision to unify the Divas and Women’s titles was perhaps a good idea, although the historical nature of the Women’s belt was storied, the Divas one had nothing going for it and was lost on many viewers/audiences when it was defended. Melina and Michelle McCool (who had won the right to defend her co-owned belt over Layla) pulled off a very good match, Melina especially showing some great aptitude and in-ring smarts against McCool’s at times lumbering and awkward moves. Having as many of the female roster on hand as Lumber ills (well it was a Lumberjack style match) added to the tension and gave male viewers lots of eye candy too.



The Kane/Undertaker matches had really heated up by this point in the year and although Taker was showing signs of pain he never faltered in giving his all against his storyline brother. This match for Kane’s World Heavyweight strap was nicely paced and showed both big men to their best. The result was a bit of a shock and certainly cemented Kane as a main eventer once again.



Tag Team Turmoil for the tag belts added some speed and energy to the mix, with champs The Hart Dynasty putting their prized possessions on the line against a bevy of WWE pairings. The encounter between the Harts/Uso’s were great, the Harts being knocked out of the proceedings early ramped up the tension too. Kozlov/Marella had a fun few minutes against the Uso’s, Bourne and Mark Henry fared well in their scrap with Rhodes/McIntyre and the finish was a crisp one as well.



The main event Six Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship had it all face/heel team-ups, surprise eliminations, a Nexus run-in and an all important title change that set up some new feuds and storylines within the WWE universe. The match itself saw WWE Champ Sheamus battle against John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho and Wade Barrett. Each man seemingly a possible new champion in the waiting. The alliances made within the bout were short lived, but entertaining, Edge, Orton, Sheamus, Cena and Barratt had some great interactions, Jericho’s quick elimination and some nice set pieces. The end of course is now no surprise as Orton overcame title holder Sheamus to raise his seventh championship.



Night of the Champions was one of the better PPV’s of 2010 from the WWE and the DVD will make a good addition to fans collections, the event itself is worth re-viewing a few times and has a lot going for it, extras wise there is only a reaction from Kane about his victory over Taker, but then sometimes extras can be minimal anyway and offer very little in the way of added value anyway.

WWE Night of the Champions 2010 is available from January 3rd 2011 via www.silvervision.co.uk

WWE TLC 2010 PPV Review

WWE TLC: Tables Ladders & Chairs 2010WWE TLC 2010 PPV Review


By Phil Allely

Considering the WWE’s current PG orientated programming an event that features tables, ladders and chairs as a theme is one that should justifiably raise a few eyebrows. This year’s effort was a thoroughly decent one and whilst a few of the matches missed their mark, most did the job.

Things kicked off well as Dolph Ziggler put his Intercontinental Title on the line in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger. All three had their work boots on and happily risked life and limb to entertain. Vickie Guerrero even stepped through the ropes to assist Ziggler. A slightly botched ending couldn’t harm proceeding s, as Kingston and Swagger battled for the belt atop the ladder the strap slipped to the mat between them and into Ziggler’s hands to retain his gold.

Next up the Divas got their teeth into stunt matches, Michelle McCool and Layla facing formidable teammates Beth Phoenix and Natalya in a table match. Both pairings had a great brawl, trading the advantage and proving that the Divas division of the WWE has got some decent workers in it. The ending came after the table refused to break and Natalya had to hit a nice double cross body to put LayCool down through it to ensure the win for her team.

The nexus showed their force in the WWE tag Team Title match, champions Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov were kept on their toes as opponents heath Slater and Justin Gabriel (with assistance from fellow Nexus members Husky Harris and Michael McGillicuty) pulled every rule braking tactic they could out of their arsenal. Kozlov and Marella managed to retain their belts via DQ after a Harris and McGullicuty run in. The Nexus boys beat down the champs afterwards too for good measure.

With a WWE title shot hanging above the ring Sheamus and John Morrison assembled a rather good match up. Battling in and out of the ring they soon took to using a ladder as a weapon and both taking some risky ladder oriented bumps. Morrison pulled off the surprise win and takes one step closer to winning the prestigious WWE Title in doing so.

WWE Champion The Miz (with Alex Riley in tow) faced challenger randy Orton in a Tables match, putting his belt on the line against the unpredictable Orton. The combatants may not have gelled as well as planned, but with Riley in the mix and the table based nature of the bout, there was enough going on to disguise the failings. With Riley’s help Miz was able to retain his gold and take one more win in his quest to defend the belt at Wrestlemania, a re-start couldn’t help Orton’s fate as he finally found himself lying amongst a shattered table courtesy of Miz.

In a TLC match World Heavyweight Champion Kane saw his latest title reign end, but with a decent calibre of opponents to face (Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio) and a very hungry Edge chomping at the bit to win back the belt, the end was pretty much inevitable. With tables, ladders and chairs at their disposal the foursome had a blast tearing down the house with as many set-pieces, dangerous moves and high spots to keep all those in attendance and at home on the edge of their seats. Considering Mysterio’s knee issues and other injuries he played a blinder, Del Rio is fast proving himself to be main event material and Edge and Kane did their veteran bit to perfection. Edge overcoming the competition to climb the ladder and nab the title.

After a brief interlude with The Bella twins, Cody Rhodes and Big Show (as Santa) the action switched to John Cena versus Wade Barrett in a chairs match.

With Cena systematically knocking nexus members down throughout the show Barrett had no one to help him here (even CM Punk on colour commentary sat back and watched). With chairs in hand the Nexus frontman and Cena had a good looking brawl around the ringside area and arena, sometimes slipping back into the ring for a while to rest up and contemplate their next move. The fun ended with a ring full of chairs and a nice looking attitude adjustment by Cena on a prone Barrett for the win. A post match beat down by Cena saw the show end with Barrett lying beneath the ring ramp and Cena celebrating his win.

TLC was a good way for the WWE to round off a year of ups and downs. It was great to see Edge win the Title, John Cena perhaps end his nexus feud and the Divas Division rise to the occasion with a fine tables contest. The lack of blood and overt violence on WWE programming has hampered many match concepts, but the viewing figures are still high and with many big names due to return soon things are looking good for 2011. Roll on the Royal Rumble.

WWE Survivor Series 2010 Review

WWE Survivor Series 2010 Review

By Phil Allely

The annual WWE Pay-Per-View Survivor Series is a thanksgiving tradition and used to be one of the most exciting events of the year, consisting of many so-called Survivor matches (where teams of five fought for survival). The matches were often between people who rarely if ever met in the ring and saw some great combinations of team mates, creating excitement and a very different format than every other event offered by the company during the year. The 2010 effort saw only one such match feature and whilst not as good as some previous years the card was decent and continued some of the years greatest storyline threads through with ease. Not bad when you consider the fact that the WWE itself had announced last year that the event would cease to exist after 2009.

The Nexus/John Cena alliance factored highly in proceedings this year and Cena’s WWE carer lay on the line in the main event, so whilst many of the company’s big hitters (Undertaker, HHH, CM Punk) were out with injuries the rising faction saw itself pushed to the hilt to fill the void, as they have been doing on PPV and during the recent European tour.

The opening match saw United States champion Daniel Bryan tackle third generation star Ted DiBiase Jr. DiBiase may be losing his place in the shuffle these days, but Bryan’s presence and ability made this one of the matches of the night. Bryan locking on his LaBell lock for the relatively easy win, to retain his gold. Post-match The Miz and Alex Riley attacked Bryan and cut a promo.

Our very own Celtic Warrior Sheamus fell to John Morrison next, the Irishman and the high flyer working very well together, each getting the chance to shine and tease their finishers. Sheamus going the more traditional hard-hitting kick-punch style against the flashy Morrison. A nice looking running knee by Morrison after some back and forth action ended this one perfectly.

Dolph Ziggler and Kaval had a blast in the following Intercontinental match-up. Both seemed to be on fine form and blended well in the ring. Kaval was impressive in his style and Ziggler stepped up to the plate to meet him. Vicky Guererro at ringside had no real effect on proceedings and the action spoke for itself. A Ziggler tights assisted roll-up saw him retain his belt however.

The Team Del Rio versus Team Mysterio bout had some terrific in-ring action., but perhaps someone should have givena few of the guys a bit more ring time. The once mighty MVP was one such performer who deserved to be in on the action for longer. The eliminations came thick and fast and number advantages swapped place regularly before the inevitable two-on-one situation loomed its head. The oddity here being it was the face team of Rey Mysterio and Big Show who had the advantage of heel Drew McIntyre. A 619/choke slam combo saw the Scot fall and the little and large duo stand tall as survivors for their team and match winners.

Hart Dynasty member Natalya took on the WWE Divas Championship co-holders LayCool (Michelle McCool/Layla) next in a handicap match for the title. No matter what the devious LayCool threw at her Natalya’s skill and determination saw it fail. The talented young lady was more than fit for them and won the title to boot, following a few heated exchanges and a good looking Sharpshooter submission hold. A returning Beth Phoenix made the save to aid Natalya after a post-match LayCool sneak attack sought to thwart her in-ring celebrations.

Kane’s World Heavyweight Title defence against Edge was a really well paced and heated encounter that showed both main-eventers at their best. Kane may be near the end of his in-ring career, but given the right opponent and less of the over-the-top theatrics of his recent scraps with storyline brother Undertaker, the guy can still pull off a fine match these days. The only problem here was the end, as both men attempted their finishers, Edge seemingly pinned Kane to win the gold, however the ref then overturned his decision and stated that both men had their shoulders down for the three-count and the result was a tie. Kane retained his belt for another while, whilst Edge got some form of revenge by battering him after the match.

The Tag Team Title match was a no-brainer really, not many thought that the team of Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov could wrestle the straps from the Nexus duo of Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. Marella and Kozlov had some nice moment in the ring, but this really was all about Nexus and the factions members (minus Cena) did prove to aid the decision, distracting Marella for a Slater pin to keep their prized belts.

The long-awaited main event came next, with Nexus banned from ringside it was up to special referee John Cena to hold order in this one, he also had the stipulation that if Wade Barrett failed to win the title John Cena would be fired for the WWE.

Although Barrett is not yet ready (much like the rest of Nexus) for main events, he did hold his own well against the more street smart and savvy WWE Champion Randy Orton. The stipulations and Cena’s presence did help things move on and maintain crowd interest throughout. A few near falls occurred and both combatants hit their respective finishers. It was Cena who would seal his own fate though. Barrett was too buys arguing and shoving Cena that he lost track of Orton and walked into the match winning RKO.

A shocked Orton watched on as Cena acknowledged his fans and walked away from the ring, perhaps forever.

Survivor Series had a good blend of matches and exciting storyline developments throughout the card. The Survivor Series match was nice to see, Natalya winning the Diva gold and Beth Phoenix return will boost that division and Kane’s win will keep his Edge battles ongoing until some more guys come off the inured list. The big story was of course the (storyline) firing of John Cena, his feud with Nexus has yet to meet its natural conclusion and he is mentioned on future event blurb, so we must assume the WWE has some interesting twists and turns to offer up as this one moves on.

The events of the following evenings Raw were special too, as The Miz did the (dis)honourable thing and cashed in his Money in The Bank case to win his first World Title. So in the space of a few days the WWE clawed back some very valuable fan interest with some solid events. The return of some top names soon and the eventual reveal of who the mysterious Raw General manager is may well be the icing on the cake for them.

WWE Bragging Rights PPV Review

WWE Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View Review

By Phil Allely

Bragging Rights should have been a good to decent WWE event, there was the honour of Smackdown and Raw on the line in many of the bouts and the general feeling was that it could do no wrong.

However one match only really stood out from the pack and that was the opening contest, the remainder of the card fell down and lost our interest too easily.

The previously mentioned opening match was between intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler and United Stated Champion Daniel Bryan. The pair worked very well together indeed to whip the crowd into a frenzy, exchanging wear-down holds and near falls before Bryan locked on his LaBell submission move to net himself the win, much to Vicky Guerrero and Ziggler’s annoyance.

In an impromptu match-up (which in my opinion don’t really work as fans tuning in don’t expect them and they’ve no real build up) chosen by the unseen Raw GM, Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre defended their tag team Belts against the Nexus duo of John Cena and Dave Otunga.

The bout itself saw Cena make another one of his one-man team showings, leaving Otunga very little to do as he decimated the cocky tag team champs. Rhodes and McIntyre proved no match for Cena here, Otunga looked like a waste of space too, which can’t be good for a man who is a member of the WWE’s latest heel faction. The end came as Cena locked his weak STF move on Rhodes to win the straps for his team.

Otunga celebrated with the gold for a short while before Cena decided to drop him with an Attitude Adjustment and walk off with them for himself.

Next up Goldust (in his first solo PPV match in 8 years) and Ted DiBiase had a reasonable brawl, both men’s seconds Maryse and Askana were involved too. The guys did well and put forth a spirited if unexciting fight. DiBiase got the win after Goldust got distracted helping Askana out of the ring. Post-match Askana and Goldust beatdown DiBiase and posed with the Million Dollar belt.

Outside interference stopped Natalya from getting her hands on the WWE Divas Title. Co-holder Michelle McCool taking all the help she could to finally put down the far superior hart Dynasty representative.

The Kane and Undertaker Buried Alive match had potential, but lost an awful lot of its appeal quickly. Perhaps it the overreliance on supernatural aspects to the characters or the PG rated action, but it really didn’t help that the two combatants have met on numerous occasions and need a breather from each other if possible.

The back and forth power moves, in and out of ring action and interference by Paul Bearer all led to a Nexus run-in enabling Kane to use the urn to blast his brother into the open grave. A shower of soil and a lightning bolt to a gravestone ending this one in Kane’s favour.

The Team Raw versus Team Smackdown Elimination match had its moments, but they were few and far between. Raw were represented by the Miz, John Morrison, CM Punk, Ezekiel Jackson, Santino Marella, R Truth and Sheamus.

Flying the flag for Smackdown were Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Tyler Reks, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio and Edge, they were accompanied by their mascot Hornswoggle.

There were some swift elimination’s, annoying count-outs and of course a rapid trading of trademark moves before things got down to the nitty gritty and fans tuned in harder to witness the winning combination of moves.

Edge and Rey Mysterio proved to be the better tandem in the end, taking out The Miz to win for Smackdown.

The main event was Nexus main man Wade Barett taking on WWE Champion Randy Orton. The stipulation here was that if Barrett lost Cena would be fired from the WWE. Cena’s presence was a key to this one.

Barrett tried his best against the far superior Orton, netting himself a few decent near falls. Cena tried to hold back, but did get involved on a few occasions, the obligatory ref bump and nexus run-in (thwarted by their reluctant teammate Cena)left things a bit mental and Cena's Attitude Adjustment strike on Barett led to his DQ win. Post-match cena tried to do the right thing and present Orton with his gold, but ate an RKO for his trouble.

Bragging Rights was luckily on free TV here in the UK, our US comrades had to pay an awful lot to see this below par effort, that we know WWE can better. The opening match betwen Danielson and Ziggler was well paced and set us up for a huge fall, the in-ring action wasn't awful, but lacked something that a ppv should never do.

Perhaps it's now time for the WWE to return to their roots and forget about long-winded storylines and show us some real intense wrestling?

WWE Hell In A Cell 2010 Review

WWE Hell In A Cell 2010 - PPV Review

By Phil Allely

Hell in a Cell is one of those concepts that when it first appeared in the WWE was a fresh of breath that the company needed. The violent steels cage match premise and very eager to please grapplers who entered it often bled heavily form the match and that in turn ramped up the live audience and PPV buy rates. However now that the WWE is in a place where it wishes to portray itself as a PG organisation and bloodshed is a no-no, this years HIAC outing really needed to be something special indeed.

With a couple of nice (on paper at least) looking matches based in the steels cell and a good supporting card hopes were indeed high for the 2010 offering.

Things started well with The Miz and John Morrison taking on United States Champion Daniel Bryan for his belt in a submissions count anywhere match-up. The action was fair to good and all three worked hard to please the pumped up live crowd. A Nexus run-in saw Daniel Bryan able to capitalise and wipe Morrison out of the equation, leaving Miz to tap out to the LeBell submission move once again for Bryan to retain.

Next up surprisingly was the Hell In A Cell match for the WWE Title between champ Randy Orton and Irish man Sheamus. This was the 20th HIAC match in WWE history and saw both men risk life and limb with earnest. Sheamus and Orton traded near falls, trademark moves and some stiff shots throughout. The steel ring steps proving to be harder to negotiate than the cell itself, with Sheamus first being slammed into them then RKO’s onto them for the pin fall loss.

The nice mystery Raw GM storyline continued to pick up speed next as Edge was interrupted mid rant (about Del Rio) and told he’d be facing Jack Swagger next.

Swagger dominated most of the match, using his speed advantage over the veteran Edge. Edge’s cunning and brutal looking Spear saw him overcome an ankle lock attempt and embarrassing loss to the young underdog, to win the impromptu scrap.

The following bout was a fun one on paper, WWE cartoon hero John Cena was faced with the prospect of joining the Nexus group next, he faced Wade Barrett in a match where if he lost he joined up and if he won they disbanded.

Without his team mates Barrett put forth a great deal of offence to the former multiple time WWE champ. There were near falls aplenty and Barrett got a very decent showing against the man who WWE seem intent on pushing to the sky Cena.

The end came when a fan (most likely a Nexus member) and an associate took out Cena, Barrett capitalised on the interference and left a great many of Cena’s fans upset that their hero would have to join the upstart Nexus group.

The new Unified Divas Title was up for grabs next as Natalya faced current champ Michelle McCool. McCool’s partner in crime Layla proved to be the thorn in Natalya’s side though, taking a few opportunities to interrupt proceedings and leave the ref with no choice but to DQ McCool.

The final match of the night was the highly anticipated and eagerly awaited match between the Undertaker and his brother Kane. With Undertaker’s old manager Paul Bearer (also storyline wise Kane’s father) thrown into the mix this was expected to be a scorcher.

The match itself was fair, but Taker and Kane in 2010 is nothing compared to when they faced off a few years ago. The in-ring abuse and wear-and-tear and various injuries are all slowing down the giants unfortunately. The pair did pull out all of the stops, but this main event just lacked something that previous scraps have seen. The ending though will have internet notice boards buzzing for weeks I’m sure. Direct from the comic book matches of old (when Taker beat much larger foes and used supernatural powers), Paul Bearer strode into the ring amidst a ref bump and unleashed a flash of light from his ever present urn to blind Taker and allow Kane use it as a weapon on his charge. The match ended with Kane and Bearer leaving a shaky Taker to make his way to the back.

Hell in a Cell could have been so much more, the main event fell flat after some of the decent scraps earlier. Having Sheamus and Orton on second still seems an odd choice and the ongoing Undertaker and Kane feud has now hit some very strange levels. I’m hoping the rumours of Buried Alive matches and upcoming arena tour of the UK will see them show their talents to a better degree than HIAC did.