2012 Royal Rumble Results: Sheamus is going to Wrestlemania

royal_rumble_2012_by_usmantariqwwe-d4nyn98 — Image by - Usmantariqwwe of deviantart.com

-Daniel Bryan defeated Big Show and Mark Henry in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match to retain the World Heavyweight Title.

The Finish: Bryan and Show battled on top of the cage and Show held on to Bryan with one arm as he dangled above the floor until Show could no longer hold him and Bryan dropped to the floor for the win.

-Beth Phoenix, Natalya & The Bellas defeated Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve & Tamina in an eight-person tag team match.

The Finish: Beth Phoenix pinned Kelly Kelly with the Glam slam.

Backstage, Zack Ryder being rolled up in a wheelchair and a back brace. John Laurinaitis walks up welcoming Ryder to a special room he has setup for him. Laurinaitis says whatever Ryder wants he will provide adding, “Woo Woo Woo…You know it!” Eve walks up and tells Laurinaitis she hopes he gets fired tomorrow on Raw.

-John Cena vs. Kane went to a double countout

After the bell rings, the fight continues with Cena hitting Kane with what looks to be a trash bin. They brawl to the backstage area as Kane slams Cena down face first over a production box. Cena tosses Kane into a few trash bins. Kane grabs a chair and drives it into the gut of Cena. Kane cracks it over his back and then gets in one more shot to the head. Kane sees Zack Ryder’s room and kicks down the door. Kane uses his hand to suffocate Ryder and then rolls him out of the room in his wheelchair. Kane wheels Ryder back inside the arena and dumps him near the ring. Kane tosses Ryder inside the ring and Eve runs in trying to get Kane to stop. Kane picks up Ryder and connects with a Tombstone Piledriver as Eve drops to her knees in shock. Cena hits the ring and starts throwing rights at Kane. Cena attempts an AA, but his back gives. Kane with a chokeslam on Cena. Kane leaves the ring smiling as Eve attends to Ryder. WWE officials hit the ring to check on Cena and Ryder. Ryder is put on a stretcher as Cena sits up looking on upset.

A video package runs hyping The Rock and John Cena’s preparation for their match at Wrestlemania 28. Both videos were really well done

– Brodus Clay defeated Drew McIntyre in another squash match.

CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship.

The Finish: The referee is down as Punk gets the Anaconda Vice locked on. On the outside, Laurinaitis is checking on the knocked out referee. Ziggler was tapping out and the referee was still down. Punk yells at Laurinaitis. Ziggler attempts a rollup, but Punk rolls through and has Ziggler beat for a second time as the crowd counts the pinfall out loud. Laurinaitis puts the referee back in the ring. Punk and Laurinaitis argue. Punk gets Ziggler up for the GTS and hits Laurinaitis out of the ring in the process. Punk with the GTS on Ziggler, hooks the leg and the referee is still trying to recover. Punk yells at Laurinaitis saying “the next GTS is for you clown shoes!” Punk has Ziggler up for another GTS, but Ziggler counters in mid-air with a Fameasser. Ziggler covers and gets a close two. A frustrated Ziggler starts kicking and punching away at Punk. Punk catapults Ziggler into the corner and connects with the GTS. Punk covers Ziggler, Laurinaitis jumps in the ring and counts the pinfall along with the referee.

The Royal Rumble Match

The final two were Chris Jericho and Sheamus. Sheamus yells, “Come on fella!” Lock up and Sheamus drops Jericho. Sheamus tosses Jericho to the corner attempting to toss him over. Jericho is holding on to the bottom rope. Jericho kicks Sheamus away. Jericho with a missile dropkick. Sheamus with a backbreaker over his knee on Jericho. Jericho counters a powerbomb attempt and clotheslines Sheamus over. Sheamus holds on. Jericho with a dropkick to Sheamus. Sheamus is clutching to the bottom rope. Sheamus with a springboard shoulder block taking out Jericho. Sheamus tries tossing Jericho over. Jericho hangs on and elbows Sheamus. Sheamus catches Jericho with a high elbow. Jericho drops Sheamus and gets the Walls of Jericho locked in. Jericho breaks the hold. Sheamus gets to his feet. Sheamus tosses Jericho over. Jericho holds on with his feet nearly touching the floor. Jericho sends Sheamus into the corner. Jericho is getting up on the top turnbuckle. Sheamus is attempting a superplex. Sheamus falls off crotching himself on the top rope. Sheamus nearly eliminates himself, but holds on. Jericho rolls in. Jericho with the Codebreaker on Sheamus. Jericho with right hands to Sheamus against the ropes. Jericho has Sheamus hanging over the top rope. Jericho slaps Sheamus repeatedly. Sheamus pushes Jericho away. Sheamus catches Jericho, tosses him over and Jericho again nearly gets eliminated hanging on. Jericho stands up and Sheamus catches him with the Brogue Kick to eliminate Jericho.

Winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble: Sheamus

My Thoughts: While it was surprisingly refreshing to see Sheamus win the Rumble, the overall event left a lot to be desired. It was a good event but not a good pay per view. Cena and Kane was pretty good and I feel Dolph Ziggler shut up a lot of people in his match against CM Punk. The only good things about the Rumble match were Cobra vs. Mr. Socko, Kofi Kingston’s walking hand stand to avoid elimination and the back and forth between Jericho and Sheamus to end the show. There was not enough seriousness and way too much of that Vince McMahon entertainment/comedy crap. Too many entrants that no one cared about to even get you exited especially when it was hyped up that “Every WWE Superstar could be eligible for the Royal Rumble” Man, the selection committee must have been high.

Look at this list of several Rumble participants and tell me if you thought any of them were going to headline Wrestlemania?

Alex Riley : Done nothing since his feud with the Miz in June of last year.
Justin Gabriel: I forgot he was on the roster.
Ricardo Rodriguez: It was kind of funny but why am I paying for this?
Jerry Lawler: Why?
Ezekial Jackson: Can’t believe he still has a job.
Jinder Mahal: Crickets
The Great Khali: Who cares
Booker T: Again, Why?
Michael Cole: One more time, Why?
Kharma: Glad shes back…….Could have saved her return for Raw though.
Jay Uso: More crickets and looked completely lost in there.
David Otunga: Rolled my eyes

2003 Royal Rumble Review

The bright lights of FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, shined down on WWE as the Royal Rumble brought mayhem, action, and excitement to a worldwide audience. I attended this event with some good friends, and it was quite the show, even though it was obvious to me that Brock Lesnar would win the Rumble to set up his match with Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 19.

In my youthful years, I would wait outside the security gates on Causeway St. to catch a glimpse of the wrestlers entering the building on the off chance that one of them would hand out an autograph. I never obtained an autograph in all my years of attending events. However, I did witness Booker T and Rob Van Dam trade backstage passes for a bag of weed with a fan a few hours before the show.

I remember little about the Spike Dudley vs. Steven Richards on Sunday Night Heat, except for fans chanting “ECW, ECW” throughout the match. The opening match for the pay-per-view pitted The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar, where the winner gained entry into the Royal Rumble match. Both men traded power moves back and forth until Lesnar landed the F5 for the victory. Big Show jumped Lesnar from behind in a jealous rage after the bell and injured his ribs, thus casting doubt over Lesnar’s participation later on.

The Dudley Boyz wrestle Lance Storm & William Regal in a match, with the usual bad guys getting the upper hand for most of the match until D-Von makes the hot tag to Bubba Ray. He cleans house and sets up Regal for D-Von’s dreaded “WAZZZZZ UUUUUP” headbutt from the top rope. They nailed Storm with the Dudley Death Drop and captured their 8^th WWE Tag Team Championship. Torrie Wilson beat Dawn Marie in a forgettable match, and fans were disillusioned with the entire angle due to the storyline involving the fake death of Torrie’s father, which was done in a dull and shameless manner.

Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner, who was making his in-ring return to WWE. This was a WWE vs. WCW dream match that became a nightmare. Steiner got winded five minutes into the match and looked completely lost. Most wrestlers kick, punch, or clothesline, but Steiner threw suplex after suplex until Triple H got himself disqualified to end the match. The fans loved Steiner when he walked in and hated him when he left. This is why you never saw him near the main event again: if Hunter can’t pull a good match out of you, then Fuhgeddaboudit.

The WWE title match was next as Kurt Angle defended against Chris Benoit. This was the single greatest wrestling match I have ever seen in person. The fans inside the FleetCenter witnessed 20 minutes of wrestling poetry. Boston is usually funny regarding technical wrestling since we have been treated to many of the greatest moments in history. The fans were on the edge of their seats as these two gave it everything they had. What made this match unique is that it was a different style than WWE was used to producing.

Angle and Benoit had no restrictions on what they were allowed to do. At the 12-minute mark of the match, Benoit hit a release German suplex that turned Angle inside out and jacked the crowd out of their seats. Benoit applied his fifth Crippler Crossface, but Angle reversed it and secured the Ankle Lock for the fourth time in the match. Benoit used his legs to kick him away several times, but Angle held on like a pit bull. Angle pulled Benoit to the center and sat down on the leg, and with nowhere to go, Benoit had no choice but to tap out.

This match represented the difference between Raw and Smackdown at the time. Raw was the show for big angles, while Smackdown was a wrestler’s wrestling show. The standing ovation Chris Benoit received after the match was a moment I would never forget, as he was the guy who was my professional influence as a wrestler. I also believe that ovation made Vince McMahon realize Benoit could be a world champion.

It is now time for the Royal Rumble!

15 Raw superstars and 15 Smackdown superstars duked it out, with the winner getting a title shot against their brand’s champion in the main event at WrestleMania 19. Even though it was one of the least memorable Rumbles in history, it did have its moments, including Chris Jericho’s MVP performance, eliminating Shawn Michaels almost immediately. Rey Mysterio and Edge came out early and delivered some action-packed moves.

Tommy Dreamer came in at #10 and turned it into a hardcore rumble with a trash can full of weapons, ala New Jack. The innovator of violence cleaned house with an arsenal of household items and hit Jericho with the mother of kendo stick shots. The sound reverberated like a gunshot as Jericho Nestea plunged to the canvas. Y2J got the last laugh as he made Dreamer his 6th elimination of the night.

Rikishi came in at #20 and super kicked the hell out of everyone but was eventually eliminated by Batista. Shawn Michaels came back out to try and failed to illegally eliminate Chris Jericho but provided enough distraction for Test to big boot the Winnipeg native over the top rope and out of the Rumble. The heavy hitters started coming in with Lesnar at #29 and The Undertaker at #30.

The final four came down to Lesnar, Taker, Batista and Kane. Undertaker eliminated Batista and then battled Kane before eliminating him. Batista was angered at his elimination, so he distracted Undertaker by attempting to hit him with a chair, but Undertaker avoided it and nailed Batista with a chair. Lesnar took advantage of the situation and eliminated a distracted Undertaker to win the Royal Rumble.

Overall, the 2003 installment of the Royal Rumble was a thumbs-in-the-middle affair. Raw was exposed while Smackdown reigned supreme. The Rumble sold the show, but the WWE Title Match stole the show with a performance that will be forgotten due to the scandal that scarred Benoit’s reputation forever. However, he wasn’t the only one in that match because it takes two to tango. I remember 1/19/03 as a great time with my best friends, and the night Kurt Angle proved that he was the best wrestler on the planet with a once-in-a-lifetime performance that will never be duplicated.

EVOLVE 1/14/12 Philadelphia, PA results: The Last Wrestling Show at the ECW Arena

EVOLVE 1/14 Philadelphia, PA results: the last wrestling show at the ECW Arena by Bob Magee of Pro Wrestling Between The Sheets

EVOLVE made its “South Philadelphia debut” last night for the final wrestling event at the ECW Arena (hard to believe I’m writing that). As you’d expect the building was packed, as it was for CZW’s afternoon show.

In the opener, Ahtu had an “open contract”…fans heard familiar music they hadn’t heard anywhere in a couple years…as Low Ki came out to one of the bigger non-ECW pops of the night.

After a sick looking kick, Low Ki defeated Ahtu by knockout

Cheech Hernandez pinned KC “Cloudy” Day

The Scene defeated Alex Reynolds and John Silver when Scott Reed pinned Reynolds

Jigsaw pinned AR Fox after countering a back suplex to the Lo Mein Pain. Fox pulled off the move of the entire day with a spot-on springboard 450 plancha to the floor. Post-match, Sami Callihan came out and tried to taunt Fox into hitting him, clanking beer bottles together (Calihan had hit him with a beer bottle at a previous EVOLVE show)

In one of the few mentions all day of CHIKARA, Jigsaw thanked fans for supporting CHIKARA at the ECW Arena. Given CZW’s strong role in the day’s proceedings, probably not so surprising, given the heat between the promotions and promoters.

As part of the remembrance of the history of the ECW Arena, intermission saw the tape used at the “Then and Now” show when CZW returned to the ECW Arena after XPW had taken over the building in 2002, honoring the history of ECW..and connecting it with 2002 CZW.

Uhaa Nation pinned Pinkie Sanchez after two shooting star presses. This young wrestler is talented as hell, and will wind up with Vince McMahon one day, mark my words. He has the body McMahon likes…but incredible athletic talent.

Ronin (Chuck Taylor and Rich Swann) defeated the Super Smash Brothers (Players Uno and Dos) when Taylor pinned Dos

Jon Davis pinned Kyle Matthews

Bobby Fish (seconded by AR Fox) submitted Sami Callihan with a knee bar. Post-match, Fox tried to goad Callihan into hitting him with the beer bottle, handcuff his own hands behind his back (great visual).

In the final “official match” of the ECW Arena’s history, Johnny Gargano retained his Open the Freedom Gate Championship, submitting Ricoche with the Hurts Donut and the Gargano Escape. Post-match, Gargano was taken out of the Arena by ambulance, with reports of a back injury. He seemed off for the later half of the match, though, which makes me wonder if he got his bell rung.

After the final official match, Joey Styles came out to a huge ovation, Tod Gordon (the first time Gordon’s been in the building in many years), JT Smith, and gart “Pitbull #1″ Wolfe came out to close the Arena, and what everyone assumed was the feel-good moment to close the show.

Not so fast.

DJ Hyde and Team CZW came out to say if anyone were going to close the ECW Arena, it would be them, given that they ran more shows at the ECW Arena than ECW (true, actually) The saves began with Ballz Mahoney. CZW turned the tide again.

Then “Gangsta’s Paradise” kicked in….with New Jack crashing the ring with a garbage can full of crutches, and other plunder. Justin Credible came in…but on DJ Hyde’s side and Sabu make run-ins on ECW’s behalf and Justin Credible on CZW’s.

In the real final match ever at the ECW Arena, Sabu pinned Justin Credible

After the match, Callihan attacked Sabu and cut a promo about how he had “taken ownership of the Arena from ECW”; and in a really charged promo, said he was “tired of extreme reunions, and the funerals”; and said to turn out the lights. The lights went out with Metallica’s “Fade to Black”, a reference which went over the head of a lot of fans, who when the light went off, were waiting for some other sort of run-in to make the save.

There is already a lot of online controversy about this ending. I get that Gabe Sapolsky promoted this as an EVOLVE show well ahead of time, and made clear beforehand that this was what it going to be; but with an ECW remembrance. He used the ending to get over Calihan as a despicable heel…the right thing for his promotion.

In addition, during the afternoon’s CZW show, there was also a Shane Douglas (Douglas had been booked months ago for a Crossfire Entertainment show in Nashville, TN) promo for an “Extreme Reunion” show to be held at the Philadelphia National Guard Armory on April 28. Mike Johnson reported overnight that this is not just a one-off show, but is part of some longer-term “project”. Given open-ended things were…and given the involvement in the night-time show of CZW, it seems that CZW and EVOLVE are somehow involved with this project.

So those two elements somehow come into play with the ending. But a lot of people were pissed. They wanted the feel-good ECW ending. Instead, Gabe Sapolsky gave them a different ending. Only time will tell what effect that will have on any shows EVOLVE intends to run in the Philadelphia area. A lot of people came to the show, not because it was an EVOLVE show…but because it was the last show at the ECW Arena; pretty obviously when some of them got impatient at moment during the Gargano-Ricochet match.

There will be wrestling at Swanson and Ritner at a future date, after the “extensive renovations” are done. I have no doubt about that. But when fans walk into that building, it won’t be the ECW Arena. It’ll be a concert hall at that address.

Wrestling Soap Box: Cena, Kane, Jericho & more!

Welcome to the first installment of my Wrestling Soap Box where I will rant, rave, analyze and make bold predictions on the latest happenings in “sports entertainment”.

– If anyone wanted the blue print on how to make the worst horror movie ever than watch this weeks episode of Raw. Kane played the role of Jason Voorhees while Zack Ryder and Eve Torres played the innocent victims being chased through the woods. They ran from him all episode and found shelter in Ryder’s rental car, only to discover that a tire was slashed. Did they run? No. Did they try to find another car? Nope. Did they call the police using Ryder’s cell phone that he was Tweeting all night from? Oops, I wasn’t supposed to notice that…….and no. Ryder tried to change the tire while Eve hid in the car while screaming in fright. I’m sorry but if I was Eve I would have bounced a long time ago.

Continue reading “Wrestling Soap Box: Cena, Kane, Jericho & more!” →

The Ultimate Warrior lays Some Truth on Kevin Nash

The Ultimate Warrior and Kevin Nash are in the midst of conflict. Nash made some comments about the Warrior and the Warrior responded in kind and Nash went on the deep end on Twitter and challenged him to an MMA fight where each puts up $100,000 and winner takes all in Miami the night before Wrestlemania 28.

Mr. Warrior’s response

Continue reading “The Ultimate Warrior lays Some Truth on Kevin Nash” →

The 1/2/12 WWE Mystery Man Is????????

Chris Jericho was revealed as the “End Begins” Mystery Man behind the 2012 videos. The crowd was going crazy for Jericho but he didn’t say a word. He just pandered to the crowd like an over exaggerated 80’s babyface and the longer he took to talk, the cheers turned to boos. He pandered some more and eventually left without saying one word. I believe Mr. Jericho just trolled the entire world and I can see him to do this for a few more weeks on Raw until it’s the right time to reveal his true intentions. Oh, and in other news, Brodus Clay will finally debut next week……..:)

Thoughts on Brock Lesnar Leaving MMA

lesnar-out-ufc106 — What’s next for Lesnar?

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that Brock Lesnar decided to step away from Mixed Martial Arts after his 1st round TKO loss at the hands of Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. To say that he will be missed by Dana White and company is an understatement. Brock Lesnar was the UFC’s biggest draw, and his departure leaves a big void in the pay-per-view market, which is Zuffa’s main source of revenue. UFC charges $44.95 for a pay-per-view event and $55.95 a pop for the HD version. Here is a list of PPV buys for all of the events Lesnar fought on.

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UFC 141 results: Lesnar retires in defeat

UFC 141 Lesnar vs. Overeem results 12/30/11 MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV

Diego Nunes defeated Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jacob Volkmann defeated Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Dong Hyun Kim defeated Sean Pierson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ross Pearson defeated Junior Assuncao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Jim Hettes defeated Nam Phan via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-26)

Alexander Gustafsson defeated Vladimir Matyushenko via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:13

Johny Hendricks defeated Jon Fitch via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:12

Nate Diaz defeated Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Alistair Overeem defeated Brock Lesnar by TKO (strikes). Round 1, 2:26

-Brock Lesnar announced his retirement from MMA during the post fight interview. Lesnar said he promised his family he would retire if he lost this fight and if he won, he would have taken the fight and retired either way.

-Dana White said in the post fight press conference that he had no idea Brock was going to retire and said that can’t fight at the “other place” for the length of the contract. Dana said he didn’t know what the length of Brock’s current contract is.

-Johny Hendricks won Knockout of the Night & Nate Diaz/Donald Cerrone won Fight of the Night. $75,000 each

Should Wrestling Stay At The ECW Arena?

News has made the rounds that professional wrestling may have seen it’s last days at the Asylum Arena, formerly known as the ECW Arena. The word is that the building is under new management and EVOLVE will hold the buildings final wrestling show on 1/14/12. If wrestling ceases to exist in the arena, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) will be the biggest loser of them all. The majority of their events and all of their major events happen in that building. It’s a fact that Philly loves their wrestling but I wondering if it is time for the arena to move on?

Continue reading “Should Wrestling Stay At The ECW Arena?” →

WCW S.L.A.M. FORCE #1 Review

I can’t believe I forgot about this gem produced by World Championship Wrestling and released by Marvel Comics. S.L.A.M. Force (Secret Legion Against Monsters) was a group put together as a covert group to battle supernatural forces of evil. The members of this elite fighting forces is an interesting selection, to say the least.

Their first mission takes them to Antarctica where our warriors of the squared circle have to stop some bad guys from uncovering the missing link and using its powers for world domination. These comic books came with each purchase of a Slam Force action figure. The story is cheesy but it’s “Great Expectations” compared to the Ultimate Warrior’s comic book. Now, let’s meet our heroes.