WWE Battleground 2016

Image Source: Wrestling News

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 24 2016
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, DC, USA
Attendance: 15,109

This year's Battleground event felt like a transitional show due to the Draft taking place last Tuesday. The WWE roster has once again been split into two, but the line-up changes would not become official until after Battleground. Only thing is, many of the PPV storylines had been compromised by the brand extension, meaning that some rivalries had lost any meaning, since the supershow bouts were now essentially pointless. That all being said, despite the less-than-enthusiastic feeling amongst fans prior to this card, the talent came through with several great matches and moments, all of which resulted in Battleground being one of the top events of the year so far.

The Kick-Off Show gave us The Usos vs. Breezango, a logical bout since the two teams were chosen by SmackDown. This was a by-the-numbers doubles match for the most part, with Tyler Breeze and Fandango repelling early offence by the supposedly babyface combo by taking control and wearing down Jey. He inevitably made the hot tag to Jimmy leading to an Usos comeback. Tyler prevented an Usos Doomsday Device but he and Fandango still tasted a high crossbody from Jimmy. In the end, Jey launched himself through the ropes to take out Fandango at ringside, and Tyler blocked a Jimmy splash and rolled him up for the surprise victory for Breezango.

It was a good start to the night, but more importantly Breezango were very well-received by fans, despite being a heel tandem on the very bottom of the proverbial ladder. In contrast, The Usos were heavily booed again, proving how damaging their alliance with cousin Roman Reigns has been to their popularity, and the fact that the tandem, which were once WWE's top team, lost to a comedy heel twosome here doesn't bode well for their futures. Like with Dolph Ziggler, The Usos are stale and really could benefit from a heel turn themselves. They've been babyfaces for five years, and both their fortunes and their crowd appeal have plummeted in recent times. A series between NXT call-ups American Alpha and a newly-heel Usos team has plenty of potential.

Battleground opened with another tag team match, this time pitting Charlotte and Dana Brooke against Sasha Banks and a mystery partner. Without getting into why the Women's Champion was in a non-title doubles bout for the second PPV in a row, the big intrigue here concerned the identity of Sasha's partner. As it turned out, Sasha's mystery partner of choice was none other than Bayley, who legitimately got a Rock-level pop for her long-awaited main roster debut. The babyfaces were attacked at ringside by the heels, to hefty boos, as Charlotte and Dana took control early of this match.

Bayley showed fighting spirit early on, but it was Sasha who received the brunt of the punishment by the defending Women's Champion and her not-as-talented partner in crime. The Boss soon tagged Bayley back in, and despite her taking a slightly ugly bump on the back of her head to the top turnbuckle, the former NXT Women's Champion proved why so many fans were excited to see her with some great offence, including her running knee attack into Charlotte at the corner. But Sasha would be the one who won the match for her team, locking Charlotte in the Bank Statement and forcing her to tap out. This sets the stage perfectly for Charlotte vs. Sasha for the Women's Title, where Sasha will surely win the gold that she should have claimed at WrestleMania 32.

The bigger story here was Bayley's debut, although the announcers pointed out that this was a one-time appearance by Bayley (for now). I suspect that WWE planned to install Nia Jax (who was called up in the Draft) as Sasha's partner, but the potentially negative reaction to it not being Bayley convinced them to change their minds, whilst emphasising that she hadn't been officially called up yet. You may call it a guest appearance. I can understand fans being unhappy that Bayley wasn't Drafted, but she still has business to take care of in NXT, with an upcoming title rematch against Asuka at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. After that show, Bayley will probably arrive on Raw or SmackDown for good, with a future title match against Sasha (assuming she is Women's Champion by then) seeming like a great prospect, perhaps for next year's WrestleMania, based on their classic NXT Takeover collisions in 2015.

Next up, The New Day battled The Wyatt Family in a six-man tag team match. This was the second bout of the night involving a champion (or champions) where the title would not be at stake. Also hindering this match was the outcome of the Draft: with Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan on separate brands to New Day and Braun Strowman, this intriguing feud (based on Xavier Woods genuinely fearing the Wyatts) had to end here, without the championships on the line. It also means that the recent six-man brawl on the Wyatt Family compound (which some felt had undeniable similarities to the Final Deletion match/angle involving Matt and Jeff Hardy in TNA) ultimately counted for nothing, unless other enemies to Wyatt end up visiting his gaff at some point.

That being said, this was still an enjoyable bout. New Day did their usual funny pre-match promo, and the bout itself told a logical story of how Xavier was trying to overcome his fear of Bray. After seemingly being mesmerised by the leader of this cult, Woods eventually did snap out of his trance and come out all guns blazing at Wyatt, hitting some nice offence to a big pop by the crowd. But it wasn't enough to seal the victory, as Bray caught him and dropped him with Sister Abigail for the win. It's worth noting that Big E nearly broke his neck hitting his spear through the ropes to the floor on Strowman, which hopefully will be sufficient evidence for the big man to remove this (admittedly impressive-looking) spot from his repertoire; the last thing fans want to see is one-third of their favourite tag team act suffering a serious injury, and I imagine that he wouldn't want that outcome either. Oh, and Michael Cole on commentary dropped a right clanger here, as he noted how Strowman swatted Woods like a fly, except it somehow came out as "flatted a swy". As Ron Simmons would say, "DAMN!"

We actually had a champion defending his title in the following match, as Rusev put his United States Championship on the line against Zack Ryder (who was sporting Randy Savage-esque attire based on the stars and stripes). Against all odds, Rusev's career appears to have been rehabilitated; it seemed like his main event prospects were dead after his turbulent 2015, but the last few months have seen the Bulgarian Brute regain much of his momentum (and the U.S. Title), making him a force to be reckoned with once more. Ryder has had an up-and-down year, although this latest title opportunity at least gave him another PPV match, even if the result was made obvious by the two men being separated via the Draft (noticing a pattern here?).

This bout was okay; nothing special, nothing offensive, but ultimately nothing too memorable. Rusev dominated the early going, with Ryder fighting back and strangely electing not to pin Rusev after a Rough Ryder, instead looking to confirm a victory with an Elbro Drop (that's the name for his top rope elbow; seriously, bro). But Rusev avoided this big finisher and clamped on the Accolade which, after an unsuccessful attempt by Zack to break the hold, earned the big man the submission victory. Rusev continued the beating afterwards, until Ryder's Hype Bros tag team partner on NXT, the called-up Mojo Rawley, ran out to defend his friend, with a bemused Rusev walking away. It filled air time, I guess, and it both continued Rusev's winning ways and gave an official debut on the main roster to Mojo, but this was definitely a match that lost a lot of steam due to the results of the Draft (namely, that they pretty much gave away the result here).

One match which wasn't hindered by the Draft was Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens; both were selected for Raw and thus weren't separated, which ironically flew in the face of expectations. However, this was still hyped as being the feud-deciding match between Zayn and Owens, who originally feuded for a lengthy period in Ring Of Honor in 2009-10 (when both were El Generico and Kevin Steen respectively), then on NXT in 2014-5, and finally on the main roster for most of the year so far. They had a terrific match at Payback, some great exchanges in multi-man battles at other points and stole the show in ROH and NXT matches in the past. Therefore, expectations were high for this, supposedly-final Sami-Kevin scrap.

To be honest, I found the first half of this match to be just alright; the action was watchable, but whether it was due to the slower pace, the less exciting offence than we saw at Payback or the crowd being a little switched off for the first few minutes, this match threatened to feel like a bit of an anticlimax. That was, until Zayn nearly crippled himself with a dangerous-looking fall off an attempted sitdown moonsault to Owens off the top rope to the floor. This increased the realism of the match, as Owens targeted Zayn's shoulder in typically violent fashion, and if Zayn wasn't legitimately hurt, then he did a damn good job of making people believe that he was through his selling and constant holding of his right arm. The match really went into turbo-drive when Zayn hit Owens with a jaw-dropping brainbuster on the ring apron, by which point the fans were now fully invested. Plenty of big moves followed, from a Blue Thunder Bomb by Zayn to a triple sequence by Owens that saw him avoid a through-the-posts ringside DDT by Zayn with a superkick, followed by a Cannonball and a huge Frog Splash. Zayn survived a Pop-Up Powerbomb when his foot just about touched the bottom rope, and Owens was drilled with two consecutive Exploder Suplexes (I thought KO had reversed the first one, but he hadn't; he just no-sold it, if we're being honest). This led to the finish, where Zayn whacked KO with a Helluva Kick, and in a moment reminiscent of a fight scene at the end of a movie, Sami chose to hit one more killer blow over ending the match with a second Helluva Kick for the pinfall win.

Fans were ecstatic, and the match was undoubtedly a great one. I'm not sure if it was a Match Of The Year contender, as some have said, due to the uneventful first half; but the second half was as good as it gets, and if this did indeed bring the Owens-Zayn feud to a conclusion, then the rivalry couldn't have ended any better. I personally suspect that the two will clash again in future, possibly after forming a team based on mutual respect (Owens is surely going to turn babyface at some point; the fans love him too much for this not to happen). So, KO and Sami are probably destined to "fight forever", as the fans chanted, but while their hostilities are placed on hold, they can savour the fact that their latest feud ended with a thoroughly enjoyable and dramatic match that pretty much stole the show.

Due to the excitement of Sami vs. Owens, the crowd seemed worn out for the next match, pitting Becky Lynch against Natalya (set up by Natalya turning heel on Lynch at Money In The Bank). They put on a good technical wrestling match, but the reactions were low enough to bring down the overall quality of the bout. Becky got a good reaction when she trapped Nattie in the Sharpshooter, but her Canadian adversary turned the tables and trapped Becky in the Sharpshooter, giving her the surprise clean heel win.

With both women on SmackDown, their feud is likely to continue. For Becky, though, her defeat here doesn't bode very well; she's likely to be pushed as the top female on Tuesday nights, but losing this match suggests that WWE is unlikely to be fully behind her. Natalya's fortunes seem brighter after this surprise win, although Becky aside, there aren't a lot of babyface females on SmackDown (Carmella, maybe?) for her to tangle with. Hurting both women the most, though, is the fact that the Women's Championship now resides with Raw, so unless the Women's Champion is going to roam between the brands, it could be a very long time before either lady even enters a title chase, let alone win a championship themselves.

The Miz defending the Intercontinental Title against Darren Young seemed like an odd meeting beforehand; despite Bob Backlund's campaign to make Young great again (was he ever great in the first place?), being fast-tracked into a title bout on PPV actually reduced his chances of getting over, if anything. That the two men were separated from each other via the Draft also meant that a title change was unlikely. And a pretty poorly-written and poorly-executed finish capped off an entirely uneventful match, which saw Battleground hit its low point for the evening.

To recap the conclusion: Bob Backlund and Maryse argued at ringside. Maryse slapped Backlund. Backlund fell down, and then Maryse went down, intimating that Bob had hit her. Then Bob tried to remove his shirt, but because he had braces on, this was a challenging task to pull off, leaving him looking absolutely ridiculous. In the meantime, Miz confronted Backlund at ringside, followed by Young, and the two men brawled as the referee counted them both out. And finally, Darren locked Miz in the Crossface Chicken Wing. So, the match had no winner, Miz was left laying, and Young didn't win the title; and, due to the Draft, there will not be a rematch. What the hell was the point of all that?

After a match where the crowd was largely unresponsive and a bout which was pretty awful, if we're being honest, the show took a step in the right direction again with a six-man tag team match, pitting John Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass against The Club. That Cena and AJ Styles would continue their feud in a multi-man match, and that both squads were split up by the Draft (if you class Cena and the Enzo/Cass team as a squad), made this match and the show as a whole feel second-rate. Still, Enzo opened proceedings with another unique and humorous promo, which the crowd simply loved. Enzo and Cass can do no wrong right now; it remains to be seen if their popularity will be matched by a push (a New Day vs. Enzo and Cass bout for the Tag Team Titles at SummerSlam would be a good starting point).

And this match was worth watching too. It dragged on a little bit, but it was a good effort by all. The Club dominated much of the contest with Enzo being the babyface in peril; at one point, Karl Anderson hit a sweet dropkick on Enzo to prevent him making the tag. He did tag out to Cass and later Cena, who took control of the match in his usual way (I believe the internet sarcastically call it "the Five Moves Of Doom"; or four, since he didn't hit the Attitude Adjustment right away, which he never does now that I think about it). I assumed going in that The Club would win, but no: after some back-and-forth exchanges, including a Styles Clash on Cena with Enzo breaking up the fall and Amore dropping Karl with a flying DDT at ringside, Cena claimed the win with a middle-rope AA to AJ. Cena vs. AJ will continue on SmackDown, with a probable rematch at SummerSlam forthcoming, although it remains to be seen as to what Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson will fare on separate brands to Styles. Might they recruit Finn Balor, the original Bullet Club leader in New Japan who has been promoted to Raw?

Before the main event, we had the return of Randy Orton on a Highlight Reel segment with Chris Jericho. The two went back and forth in pretty hilarious fashion, although the best comment came from Orton when he threw a barb at SummerSlam opponent Brock Lesnar, suggesting that he can beat Brock, "no enhancements needed" (in a sly yet possibly counter-productive reference to Lesnar failing a doping test prior to his UFC 200 fight with Mark Hunt). Unsurprisingly, the segment ended with Orton levelling Jericho with an RKO, as the Viper returned and officially set his sights on Lesnar ahead of SummerSlam. That both men were separated by the Draft (this is getting repetitive now) will make the promotion of their match a struggle, but it's bound to be a great showdown when they battle for the first time since 2002.

And so we come to the headline attraction: the long-awaited Triple Threat meeting of the three Shield members, as Dean Ambrose defended the WWE Title (that title's name has been shortened in recent weeks, presumably due to the potential fallout of the Draft) against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, who was returning off a suspension due to a Wellness Policy violation. It took a bit of time to really get going, but this soon turned into a very good main event, with a plethora of back-and-forth moves, fast-paced exchanged and double-team combos. At one point, Ambrose and Rollins - sworn enemies since Seth broke the Shield up in 2014 - teamed up to drill Roman through an announcer's table via a double powerbomb, which Seth followed with a chairshot to Ambrose (in a nice nod to Rollins' chair-assisted betrayal of his Shield "brothers").

From there, the big moves kept coming thick and fast. I loved one sequence where Rollins caught Ambrose with a reverse kick to the temple, which Roman followed with a Superman Punch to Seth, only for Dean to rebound off the ropes and clothesline Reigns (the rebound clothesline, which Ambrose now pulls out in every match thus reducing its impact, had a vital role here). With both Commissioners (Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon) and both General Managers (Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley) stationed at ringside, a potentially murky finish seemed likely, but it wasn't to be: after Roman was drilled with a Pedigree and a turnbuckle powerbomb by Rollins, Seth was levelled with a Spear, only for Ambrose to drag Reigns up and nail him with Dirty Deeds for the pinfall win. Dean's victory was met with a huge pop, which was expected given that the hated Reigns was defeated, as was his post-match celebration alongside the SmackDown roster (during which The Usos celebrated with Dean despite him defeating their cousin).

I was fully expecting Ambrose to lose the WWE Title here, so that Rollins or Reigns could take the gold to Raw in light of - yes! - the Draft. That Dean won was a nice surprise, and that he won cleanly was even better. As of right now, Ambrose is not only WWE Champion, but with John Cena's schedule reduced going forward, he is arguably the top man in the entire company right now. Beating Rollins clean on SmackDown prior to this, and the extended celebration here, seems to crown him as the new face of WWE, something that was unimaginable even six weeks ago.

Meanwhile, it marked a turning point for Roman Reigns. Having been pushed as the new top dog in WWE for so long despite the crowd simply not accepting him in that role, and with a suspension damaging his prospects even further, Reigns returning to lose cleanly here suggests that his big push is over, at least in its current form. The best thing that WWE can do right now is to turn Reigns heel, and while WWE has been reluctant to do so, the booking here suggests that this could happen; if Roman is to remain a top babyface, why have him lose cleanly again here? I predict and hope that Reigns snaps in the face of fan negativity and his own shortcomings, in a kayfabe sense (due to match results) and in reality (the suspension) and goes full-on heel, turning the more likeable Rollins babyface in the process. It will be very intriguing to see what happens and how WWE moves forward with all three (perhaps Ambrose is the one to really keep an eye on; after all, who on SmackDown could he realistically defend the WWE Title against at SummerSlam if Orton, Cena and Styles are booked up?).

So, for a show that had a B-show line-up (besides its main event), and which was hampered further by the Draft, Battleground was pretty damn good. Zayn vs. Owens slowly turned into an awesome match, the main event was very good, and there were big crowd-pleasing moments, namely Bayley's appearance and Ambrose retaining the WWE Title. It wasn't flawless by any means, but it was far better than anticipated beforehand, and hopefully WWE will continue to deliver strong PPV events going forward as a(nother) New Era commences, thanks to - one more time - the Draft.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Money In The Bank 2016

Image Source:
Champions Of The Champions

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 19 2016
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Attendance: 14,000

In the run-up to the latest supershow, WWE was hyping it as "the greatest Money In The Bank PPV ever". The card certainly looked promising beforehand, with two potentially great singles matches and the annual MITB Ladder war. But, like with the "New Era" talk, it was WWE overdoing the self-promotion rather than letting the fans decide (it hadn't even happened when WWE was stating this about the card). As things transpired, it was definitely a night to remember as the main matches lived up to the hype, and there was a major development to end the show - but was it truly the best MITB to date?

On the Kick-Off show, we had two matches on this occasion, both of which were tag team matches (incidentally, Jerry Lawler was absent from the pre-show due to a suspension brought about by problems at home). The first pitted Breezango against The Golden Truth. Goldust and R-Truth have had a very slow build to the formation of their comedy tag team, and once they did form, they have lost multiple times to the new combo of Tyler Breeze and Fandango. But Breezango were at a big disadvantage here because, the previous Monday, they had been sharing a sunbed at the same time (which was funny in itself) and GT turned up the heat quite literally, resulting in them supposedly being near-burned to a crisp. This made them look ridiculous (think Rodney Trotter in the hang-gliding episode of Only Fools and Horses), and made even their slightest movements painful for the heels to absorb. Admittedly, this did raise a few laughs before Goldust finished off Fandango with the Final Cut (or whatever Goldust calls his finisher these days) to finally get a win for The Golden Truth.

The other pre-show match saw The Dudley Boyz battle The Lucha Dragons. This was more serious than the previous clash, and it followed the usual structure (as most doubles bouts do, to be fair) of the heels dominating and wearing down an isolated babyface before his partner gets the inevitable tag to try and turn things around. That's exactly what happened, and cue some decent double-team spots towards the end. An inadvertent clash between D-Von and Bubba Ray was followed by the Luchas avoiding the 3D and taking D-Von out to the floor, before Bubba tasted a Salida Del Sol from Kalisto and a Senton Bomb from Sin Cara, with Cara pinning Bubba for the victory. Something tells me that the seemingly-subtle miscommunication between The Dudleyz could lead to a split and Bubba going on a solo heel run, especially with the Draft approaching. Besides, the Dudleyz have lost to just about everyone now.

Oh, yes: the Draft. Since Extreme Rules, a new brand extension has officially been announced, and is set to begin from mid-July. Therefore, this PPV would be the last before the latest big split. This will have major implications on WWE, from the call-ups of more NXT talent to the re-signings of previous stars to the addition of more PPV events to the possibility of re-introducing a second World Title (which I believe would be a mistake). I will do a story in the next few weeks which will include a mock Draft for the Raw and SmackDown rosters, but in the meantime Money In The Bank would be the final major card before things will be shaken up. Incidentally, neither of the two probable General Managers, current Raw head honchos Shane and Stephanie McMahon, appeared at any point during Money In The Bank.

MITB officially began with a four-team match for the WWE Tag Team Titles, as The New Day defended against Enzo Amore and Big Cass, The Vaudevillains and The Club combo of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The pre-match scenes featured some choice banter from New Day, and some, well, less entertaining dialogue from Enzo and Cass. This may not be a popular opinion, but I think that Enzo and Cass, while they do provide some witty one-liners, are not quite as funny as fans are making them out to be. Unlike New Day, whose daft comedy at least has some sort of thread to it, and is usually pretty humorous, Enzo and Cass (Enzo primarily) will often be talking about something totally unrelated and, in my case anyway, totally loses the viewer. I'm not saying that the recent NXT call-ups are never funny, because they do come out with some funny stuff here and there, and I appreciate teams who come out with funny lines when they actually are funny, but I suspect that if Enzo and Cass hadn't come directly from NXT, fewer fans would enjoy their act. I also predict that at some point within the next 12 months, the team will be split up with Cass going solo and pushed towards the main event level ... at which point some fans will begin to turn on him (more on that later).

Anyway, this opening contest for Money In The Bank was a really good multi-man affair. All of the teams got a chance to shine in their own way, from the slow, methodical approach of Aiden English and Simon Gotch to the powerful domination by Gallows and Anderson to the more flashy offence by the babyface teams, including a Cass-assisted dive to the floor by Enzo. The match unfortunately had several noticeable botches towards the end, in what would become a theme of the show: Kofi Kingston barely caught Enzo with Trouble In Paradise, and their reactions made it obvious that an error had occurred. Enzo seemed to have Aiden pinned for the win following his big splash, but it was the referee's initial drop to the canvas that seemed to suggest a first count (thus making people believe this ended up getting a three-count) as opposed to there being a true botch here. More notably, after the Magic Killer by the Club seemed to finish English off, Big E grabbed Anderson for the Big Ending, but Gallows strangely didn't react, and somehow ended up on the opposite side of the ring where Cass clotheslined him to the floor, after which the New Day levelled Anderson and Big E pinned Aiden for the win. Besides the clear botches towards the end, this was a strong opening, and it had the right outcome with New Day holding onto the straps for now, and with the Club and Enzo and Cass protected from tasting the losing fall. I foresee The Club vs. The New Day at Battleground as Enzo and Cass continue to build momentum, which could lead to the NXT graduates getting their big moment at SummerSlam.

After a brilliant backstage segment involving Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Chris Jericho which had several laugh-out moments, we had the latest match in the series between Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler (whose attire paid tribute to Shawn Michaels circa SummerSlam 1995, as much of Ziggler's act does these days). This suffered from the fact that the feud had entered overkill. The NXT call-up Corbin targeted Ziggler the night after WrestleMania 32, yet it was Ziggler who won their Payback Kick-Off scrap. Baron won a Raw rematch, and would win another bout (under No Disqualification rules) on the Extreme Rules Kick-Off. That should have drawn a line under the feud, but after Ziggler demanded a technical wrestling match on Raw, which ended quickly after a deliberate Dolph low blow, we ended up getting another Baron-Dolph match here (which incidentally was originally scheduled to be on the Kick-Off show once more along with the later Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus match, but the line-up was switched to include the earlier two tag bouts).

This was a competent effort, but being the fifth proper match between the two on television (six if you include the very brief "technical" match from Raw), nobody was interested. This was embodied by the "Boring!" chants during the bout, and a certain section even chanted "Ziggler sucks!" Dolph's character is staler than a gone-off loaf of Warburton's right now, and Corbin doesn't have enough charisma to draw fans into matches at this point. Matters weren't helped when Ziggler stumbled over the steel stairs (another botch) prior to taking a painful-looking Deep Six slam on the floor at ringside. They did have a nice exchange where Corbin threw Ziggler off of a Famouser attempt, followed by Baron then avoiding a superkick to drill Dolph with an almighty clothesline. Baron eventually won it with the End Of Days. This simply has to be the end of the rivalry now, as Corbin could move onto another popular babyface (perhaps Cesaro or fellow newcomer Apollo Crews). For Ziggler, a heel turn and a character change is a must, which could coincide with next month's Draft to have increased impact.

Match three was another tag team match, as Women's Champion Charlotte and her new partner-in-crime Dana Brooke battled Natalya and Becky Lynch, stemming from their shenanigans involving the first three at Extreme Rules (Becky has since sided with Natalya). Fans annoyingly began chanting "We want Sasha!" within seconds of the bell ringing, although to be fair there was no real reason to care about this match. Sure, Charlotte is progressing as a hateable heel character (she kicked Ric Flair to the curb the night after the last PPV), but Dana is too inexperienced and too little is known about her for fans to really care. Add to that the lack of belief that Natalya will actually dethrone Charlotte and the fact that we've already seen the Charlotte-Becky feud at the turn of the year, and you have a match which largely existed to fill time. The action was also fairly unmemorable; this should have taken place on Raw with a Fatal Four Way happening here instead. After a Natalya/Becky collision instigated by the heels, Natalya took the fall to give another boost for the heels (which was slightly surprising, since hints have already been dropped that the Charlotte/Dana alliance won't last long). Nattie burst into tears afterwards, which is never good for a babyface in the modern age.

So, it was a nice twist when Natalya unexpectedly turned heel on Becky afterwards with a sudden attack, seemingly blaming her for the loss. This freshens up Natalya's act and should lead to Becky vs. Natalya over the coming weeks. In the meantime, Charlotte and Dana will probably have a (premature) fall-out based on Dana occasionally bungling in her attempts to assist the increasingly-arrogant Charlotte and a likely Women's Title match at Battleground, before a bigger Women's Title match at SummerSlam (could this be the night when Sasha Banks finally wins the big prize?). As some have pointed out, the Women's scene hasn't exactly been flourishing lately, ever since the disappointing title match at Extreme Rules. Hopefully, the division will pick up over the next few weeks, because most of the pieces are in place; WWE just needs to make sure that the right women are in the right positions, and given plenty of time to make magic as some of them did previously in NXT. The division is stronger now than it was a year ago, but more needs to be done if the ladies are to truly thrive.

Apollo Crews' biggest match to date was next when he battled Sheamus (actually, this was also his PPV debut). Unlike Corbin vs. Ziggler, which was past the point of being fresh, this was a new bout, and consequently this match was a more interesting prospect than Baron vs. Dolph. It was a pretty good big-man match with several unique moves that you wouldn't normally see from men of their size, such as a cool-looking moonsault from Crews off the ring apron onto a grounded Sheamus at ringside, and the Celtic Warrior hitting White Noise off the ropes to his younger opponent. The theme of this match was that Apollo represents the "New Era", which Sheamus is against since it essentially tries to portray him as a thing of the past. Nevertheless, this would be the newcomer's night, as he withstood the ropes-assisted White Noise and rolled up the Irishman for the win to a strong reaction.

Apollo's future looks bright, especially now that he has added a bit more aggression to his game. With further character development and a chance to display more of his surprisingly-agile repertoire, Apollo could be a major player, especially after the Draft when he will probably receive more opportunities on television. It's possible that his feud with Sheamus will continue as they demonstrated some good chemistry here. Sheamus' future looks less certain; he will remain a featured heel on whatever show he ends up on, but the chances of him reclaiming a spot in the main event scene over the next six months seem very low. He's still a very accomplished wrestler, though, and this was a strong effort by both, which succeeded at making Apollo look like one to watch in the future.

We then had what WWE was hyping up as a "dream match" between John Cena and AJ Styles. While I don't recall many fans in the mid-2000s wondering what would happen if Cena ever fought Styles, it did nevertheless sound like a very intriguing prospect, as the biggest WWE star of the post-Attitude Era and the longtime face of TNA and other promotions would be going one-on-one for the first time. The story was that AJ wanted to make an impact by targeting Cena upon his return, turning heel in the process, but in order to do so and to avoided being "buried" by Cena (was he being too honest with this?), he needed help from The Club. But Cena challenged AJ's courage to the point where Styles signed on for a match whereby Gallows and Anderson would be banned from ringside - supposedly, anyway.

The crowd was well into it as the bell rang with both men receiving loud chants, providing that big-fight feel to this first-time clash (no pun intended). The match started a bit slow as Styles took his time, essentially making Cena wait and trying to frustrate the 15-time (or 14-time depending on your opinion) World Champion. From there, some nice back-and-forth exchanges eventually led to AJ taking control of the bout, demonstrating his versatility in the process as his offence in this match differed greatly from his babyface performances earlier this year. Cena would fight back and lock AJ in an STF, which Styles broke free from. Another botch led to AJ landing awkwardly on the ropes, which was followed by Cena very loudly asking Styles if he was okay (which was nice of him to enquire about, but couldn't he have done so quieter?) and blatantly calling spots, which took me out of the moment for a while. A Five-Knuckle Suffle by Cena also went badly, as the announcers even pointed out. Fortunately, things picked up from there as there were many big moves, from an Attitude Adjustment to a Phenomenal Forearm to ringside to a great exchange that led to the Calf Crusher (which was triggered by an AA attempt) to a Styles Clash. The action was all of a high standard, living up the expectations, if not quite matching the classic Cena-CM Punk match from MITB five years prior.

Following a painful-looking Cena double-knee counter to an AJ 450 Splash, There was a ref bump as Cena hit a second AA, at which point Gallows and Anderson ran out despite the match stipulation (the ref was down, remember) and dropped Cena with the Magic Killer, allowing AJ to pin Cena for the win. Many were annoyed that Styles didn't win cleanly, but come on; he's a heel. I know that Kevin Owens and Brock Lesnar have pinned Cena clean in recent times, but if Styles (who gets cheered despite his heel status as it is) pins Cena clean-as-a-whistle, then he loses heel heat because, well, why would you boo him if he can get the job done anyway? This finish, while recycled and a bit cheap, does extend the Cena-Styles feud until Battleground at least. There still needs to be something else before then to really give Cena a reason to keep fighting (Cena's dad could be brought in once again to take a beating or something), and if AJ eked out a win at Battleground (even if it were by DQ after Cena perhaps gets frustrated), it could lead to a major grudge match at SummerSlam where Cena wins the feud (which he will). Regardless, this was a really good match, just a notch below true "Match Of The Year" status, and hopefully we'll get an even better bout when the two meet again.

After that, we got this year's Money In The Bank Ladder match, which also had the potential to be a great one. The 2016 cast consisted of Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio (WWE initially stated that there would be seven entrants, but for some reason this was changed; an oversight on This Week In WWE gave away that Kalisto was supposed to be the final entrant). Of the six, only Y2J and ADR truly would not need the win (although Jericho has had a strong few months, meaning a victory here could be justified), but based on momentum and popularity, the favourites had to be Ambrose and Owens. If Ambrose won, there would be the potential for a third Shield member to win the WWE Title (more on that later), and fans have been clamouring for Ambrose to win the big one for a long time. As for Owens, his heel character is tremendous, combined with his strong in-ring skills, and having KO carrying around the case and performing a villainous cash-in to win the top title would be a treat to see.

The entrants paired off for separate brawls to kick off the match, which soon lent itself to the ladders being used as weapons (Del Rio whacked Ambrose hard with one of the ladders at ringside). There were several non-ladder dives, most notably a Sami Zayn senton onto his opponents at ringside, and a non-stunt as Owens set up a ringside ladder cannonball for Zayn, only to skip the jump and smack Sami in simple fashion. From there, the ladders were suitably introduced, and we got a plethora of great spots. They included ADR (who had his best performance in months here, perhaps since his return at Hell In A Cell) trapping Cesaro at the top of a ladder with the Cross-Armbreaker (which ended with Owens superkicking an upside-down Del Rio, and Cesaro leaping off the ladder to use the ropes for a springboard uppercut to KO in a fantastic triple spot sequence), Cesaro being sent face-first into a ladder by KO after drilling most of his opposition with consecutive uppercuts, Zayn nailing Owens with an extremely painful-looking Michinoku Driver that saw KO land spine-first onto a leg of a grounded ladder, KO powerbombing Sami hard onto another ladder, Ambrose hurling himself off the top of a ladder to hit a standing elbow drop, and Y2J pulling Ambrose off a ladder to catch him with a Codebreaker. An extended brawl which saw two ladder bridges created using a standing ladder took a bit too long, although it did feature the visual of three brawls all going on at once with the prize dangling inches from all six. During this sequence, Del Rio took a hellish fall which almost saw him break his neck; it's possible that he was injured in this spot, but if that's true, the extent of his pain remains to be seen. In the end, Ambrose fought Owens off this ladder tower and took that final step up to unhook the MITB briefcase to a great reaction; Ambrose was Mr. Money In The Bank 2016!

I would normally speculate on when/where Ambrose could cash in, but you'll soon find out why that would be a pointless exercise. At this stage, I'll simply say that Ambrose more than deserved his big moment after so many near-misses. What did bother me was how many fans who were rooting for Ambrose to win the WWE Title at Survivor Series last November, the Royal Rumble in January and the Number One Contender's main event from Fast Lane suddenly weren't happy at Ambrose winning here, insisting that he wasn't the best choice. This acts as concrete evidence that some fans will never, ever be satisfied. If you're not an Ambrose fan, that's fine. If you wanted, say, Kevin Owens to win, that's fine. But if you were strongly backing someone to succeed and, when he does, you express displeasure, then there's something wrong. It's no wonder that WWE does not cater to many of the "boo" brigade and has persevered with Roman Reigns' push. Or, at least, it did ... but more on that shortly.

At this point, we were already down to what would normally be the final 30 minutes of the PPV. But rumour had it that WWE planned to take Money In The Bank beyond the three-hour point, and this was confirmed when we got (the admittedly-already announced) Rusev vs. Titus O'Neil match for the United States Title. Titus won a Father Of The Year award, so having his kids at ringside on Father's Day was a nice touch (many alleged that Titus actually kissed one of his kids on the lips before the match, and were baffled as a result, but I don't recall seeing this). The match began unusually as both big men clashed with a double clothesline at ringside, almost leading to an early double-countout. From there, the action was decent, but it was clearly the cool-down match, and fans seemed a bit tired after watching Cena vs. Styles and MITB consecutively. Rusev won by submission with the Accolade, and continued his recovery as a major heel by standing in front of Titus' kids and telling them their father is a loser, and shouting "Happy Father's Day!" Great heel move there.

Titus could get a rematch on Raw, but another PPV encounter seems unlikely after the submission victory for the Bulgarian Brute here. It could be the Draft that determines Rusev's next opponent in the event that it is an NXT call-up or even a former star (WWE is apparently reaching out to many past names about returning in time for the brand extension). Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn or Cesaro are also contenders to challenge Rusev next for the title. One thing is for sure, the heavily-rumoured Rusev vs. John Cena feud revival doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon, which is probably a good thing. Incidentally, remember when Rusev was dominating everybody in 2014 and commentators and wrestlers alike wanted to stop his anti-US brigade? And have you noticed that nobody has similar intentions during Rusev's current reign? There's a simple explanation: that storyline no longer applies to Rusev.

Finally, we have the main event between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Rollins returned from injury at the end of Extreme Rules to Pedigree Reigns, leading to this match announcement. Though some were disappointed by the build-up for this match, it still had the potential to be a really good headline attraction, and there was obvious appeal in seeing Rollins return and to see the former Shield members clash. This match was meant to happen at two previous PPV events, at Night Of Champions 2014 and Survivor Series 2015, but injuries to Roman and Seth respectively prevented each bout from happening. This also marked the third (of three) different possible combination of Shield members in a singles main event, following Rollins vs. Ambrose matches in 2014/5 and Reigns vs. Ambrose (coincidentally at the aforementioned Survivor Series). And this wouldn't be the last Shield link to this show ...

The match started a bit slowly, although Reigns soon took the upper hand and began acting ever-so-slightly heelish (oh, by the way, yes he was booed again here) with some condescending comments to Seth as he was beating him down. Rollins would fight back with a tope and later a senton to ringside, but Reigns brought the fight himself with a range of major power moves. More villain-like taunting from Roman was followed by Rollins fighting furiously out of the corner in the manner of a babyface, and to no surprise this was another moment in the match when the fans were almost fully behind Seth. Seth attempted the sunset flip from the top rope that led to Seth's previous injury, but fortunately there was no problem here as he picked up Roman and sent him flying with a turnbuckle powerbomb (Roman took a second turnbuckle powerbomb later on). The big moves came from there as Rollins drilled Reigns with a flying knee, Roman caught Seth with a Superman Punch, Roman Speared Rollins for a close near-fall, a ringside Spear attempt was missed as Seth moved and Roman hit the ringside barrier hard, and in the move of the match, Rollins intercepted a Spear attempt into a Pedigree for something very close to a three-count. But Rollins would rally, and he responded with another Pedigree for a clean-as-a-sheet pinfall win to regain the WWE World Heavyweight Title to a rapturous ovation. The Roman Empire had been vanquished, and Rollins - who had never lost the WWE Title prior to his November 2015 injury - was back on top. That Reigns lost, and was pinned cleanly, was a big surprise, but there was more to come.

Dean Ambrose's music hit, as fans realised that a MITB cash-in was about to occur. Rollins looked towards the aisle for the arriving Ambrose, but the Lunatic Fringe came from behind to whack Rollins with the briefcase. Cue the usual histrionics as the bonus match was officially announced, and Ambrose planted Rollins with Dirty Deeds to pin him and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship! Fans were positively giddy that Ambrose, for so long the nearly-man, was now the man. Some fans complained online, but I covered that earlier. Regardless, it was a huge moment, which would have had more impact had it not been telegraphed in the Ambrose Asylum segment the previous Monday on Raw. Nevertheless, Ambrose had finally won the big one, meaning that all three Shield members have won been WWE Champion, which has to make that group one of the greatest factions in wrestling history. More impressively, the chain of events here meant that on the same night (and within minutes of each other), all three Shield members had been the WWE Champion. (It's also fitting that Rollins, who won his first WWE Title by cashing in MITB, lost the title here via a cash-in.) In addition, Ambrose became only the second man (after Kane in 2010) to cash in MITB on the same night that he won it.

It was a great end to a very impressive show, which also sets up some intriguing future storylines. As well as the continuation of the John Cena-AJ Styles rivalry, and the main event shenanigans seem to hint at the long-awaited Triple Threat match between all three Shield members for the WWE Title. It should be saved until SummerSlam (it's clearly happening this summer, so WrestleMania is out of the question), since it would be a major main event for the biggest event of the season, but it's possible that we get it at Battleground (which is the next PPV) and one of the members ends up in another match at SummerSlam (if, say, Reigns ended up facing Brock Lesnar again and we got Ambrose vs. Rollins for the gold at SummerSlam). More intrigue comes from the possibility of who will play babyface and heel in the three-way saga. They could all stay in their current roles, and Ambrose will probably remain a face (if he was turning heel, he would have cashed in on Reigns), but it's possible that Rollins will go face. If so, that necessitates someone turning heel, and after his mannerisms during the match and his clean loss, it is very possible that Roman Reigns could finally turn heel. He could be frustrated that his title has not only disappeared from his ownership, but that his "little buddy" now holds the title. Imagine the heel heat if Reigns destroys Ambrose in reaction to the events of MITB, and a similar beating to Rollins could turn Seth face. It might even happen as soon as the post-MITB edition of Raw. It's possible that none of this will occur and that Reigns will regain the title as an unpopular babyface, but if that is the case, then the booking of Roman here was questionable to say the least. Let's hope for the best, eh?

To answer the question I posed at the beginning, this wasn't quite the best Money In The Bank card ever (that would be 2011), but it was a close second, and the best PPV of the year so far from an in-ring standpoint. The triple main event all delivered as promised, and the major developments at the end were very welcome (to most) and set up an eagerly-anticipated rivalry for the summer months. Besides Cena vs. AJ, the rest of the WWE landscape is harder to predict due to the upcoming brand extension, which will have taken place by the time of the next supershow, Battleground. I will write my predicted Draft within the next few weeks, and the split will change WWE in many ways. Before then, though, we got a great Money In The Bank event, and for Dean Ambrose, it was the biggest night of his career. Hopefully, it is the first step towards a very eventful and memorable summer season in WWE.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

WWE NXT Live In Liverpool June 2016

Image Source: Mark Armstrong

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE/NXT
Format: House Show
Date: June 15 2016
Location: Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Attendance: 5,000

As part of the latest NXT tour of the United Kingdom, I went along to the show in my hometown of Liverpool to see this brand, which began as strictly developmental and has since taken on a life of its own, to the point that it is now the go-to wrestling product for many hardcore fans. As it turned out, the show was more WWE than NXT: Takeover, to use a recent example, but it was still an enjoyable experience.

The first bout pitted Hugo Knox against Wesley Blake. Knox is a former goalkeeper for Burton Albion, believe it or not, while Blake is now solo after his tag team run with Murphy. This was a match where the "developmental" tag still applied for NXT, since it was clear that this match acted as part of Knox's own personal development as he looks to build up the skills and know-how in his early days in the wrestling business. It was a solid and basic opener, which Knox won after a split-legged moonsault (which he bungled on the first attempt, but the fans let him off with it which was nice to see/hear). Speaking of the Liverpool fans, they were on form all night and they set the tone in this match, with chants like "Burton Albion!", "Hugo Knoxy baby!" and, most humorously, "You're just a s--t Robbie Savage!" (aimed at Blake) Hilarious.

Match two was a tag team attraction as the very popular American Alpha combo of Chad Gable and Jason Jordan took on Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton. AA were over like rover here, and whilst this doubles match wasn't to the level of American Alpha's bouts with the likes of Dash and Dawson on NXT, it was still a good showcase of their skills, as they looked every inch the top tag team that many feel they could be in WWE in the not-too-distant future. More chants came up in this match as Gable and Jordan each received a prolonged "Kolo/Yaya Toure!" chant (Google it if you don't know what I mean) and, in the first of many instances on the night, requests for both men to "give us a wave!" (they did respond in the positive) AA won by submission with stereo Ankle Locks. Afterwards, Dash and Dawson came out and teased that they would give Gable and Jordan an NXT Tag Team Title shot right there (which excited fans since NXT has proven that it could switch titles on a house show such as this), with several Beatles references in the process, only to backtrack and attempt instead to jump the team. It didn't work, as one member of The Revival suffered a double-team assault (not sure which one; as the NXT fans often ask, which one's Dash and which one's Dawson?).

Next up, Bobby Roode came out to face No Way Jose. Roode got a major pop since, despite his official signing with WWE/NXT, he has yet to wrestle on the weekly show, so in effect we (and the other UK audiences on this tour) were getting a treat by seeing Roode in action. The first half of this match was all comedy, and at one point the bout stopped for an extended double-dance routine, before Roode stopped it dead in its tracks with a big clothesline. After some decent exchanges, Roode won the match with an Arn Anderson-style spinebuster. While he is wrestling low-card matches on this tour, with a comedy vibe at that, it's obvious that Roode will be a major part of NXT in the coming months.

The pre-intermission bout was a women's tag team match as the hugely popular Bayley (whose entrance was complete with wacky waving inflatable tube men, which always reminds me of the mock commercial on Family Guy) and Carmella (whose previous association with Enzo and Big Cass continues into her entrance routine today) took on Peyton Royce and Nikki Glencross (who apparently has a connection with ICW, or Insane Championship Wrestling, the ECW-style promotion based in Scotland which is expanding rapidly and has an even more dedicated cult following than NXT, albeit on a smaller scale). Those expecting a Bayley match along the lines of the Takeover clashes with Sasha Banks (which we were shown clips of before the show started) or Asuka will have been disappointed, and if anything Bayley only had a few spots to shine. That being said, it was a good little match, although there was a botch when Carmella didn't kick out of a pinfall attempt on time, so the referee held up his count and everyone noticed (in this environment, it would have been the perfect time to unleash a chant of "You're not fit to referee!" Alas, it didn't happen). Unsurprisingly, the babyfaces won when Bayley hit Royce with the Bayley-To-Belly. Bayley's celebration was enhanced by the fact that it was her birthday, and she even got a "Happy Birthday!" chant at the start of the match.

Post-break, we saw Tye Dillinger take on NXT newcomer Andrade "Cien" Almas. Tye provoked big heel heat beforehand by unveiling a Manchester United shirt with Dillinger 10 on the back (Dillinger's gimmick is an obsession with the number 10), which played a role in the bout when Cien threatened to stomp on the shirt in question and eventually forced Tye to do so himself. Besides that, this was a pretty good match and a nice showcase of Cien's skills. Their shorter match at Takeover: The End last week had more impressive spots, but with more time on this show, we got a better idea of what Cien has to offer, as well as Dillinger to a lesser extent. As he did at Takeover, Cien pinned Tye with his double running knee attack.

The penultimate match saw Asuka defend her NXT Women's Championship against Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss in a three-way bout. Asuka was by far the most popular performer, although it was her opponents who dominated much of the action. Alexa had some good spots, and Jax played the monster female heel well (I didn't realise just how big she was until this bout). It descended into comedy (a recurring theme on the show) when Alexa tried unsuccessfully to intimidate Jax, and when Nia tried to pay tribute to her cousin The Rock by attempting a People's Elbow, only for Alexa to cut her off. Asuka made a comeback after taking some wicked powerbombs from Nia, and her brutal kicks and strong-style offence made an impression on the fans. Asuka won it when she trapped Bliss in the Asuka Lock to retain her prize. Nia was protected here, which suggests a possible rematch down the line with Asuka, although the Women's Championship match at the next Takeover in Brooklyn surely has to be Asuka vs. Bayley (in what could be Bayley's NXT swansong).

The main event was a tag team match pitting two dream teams against one another: Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura battled Austin Aries and NXT Champion Samoa Joe. Fan reactions to all four were strong, especially Nakamura whose entrance was incredibly captivating to watch live, in line with the fans singing along to his theme song. This match most resembled the action we see every week on NXT and at the occasional Takeover specials, as there were plenty of nifty technical exchanges, hard-hitting strikes and cool moves from all involved. Joe humorously gave the finger when he was the latest wrestler to be asked to "give us a wave!" Finn and Shinsuke were dominant early on, only for Aries and Joe to work together and isolate Balor to turn it around. It all led to the inevitable hot tag where Shinsuke, the "King Of Strong Style", came in and unleashed his super-strong strikes along with displaying his unique charisma. His exchanges with Joe were particular cool to watch, knowing that a singles match between the two (which is likely at some point) has the potential to be the best NXT match to date. In the end, Aries took a Kinshasa kick by Nakamura and, with Shinsuke keeping Joe back at ringside, Finn nailed Aries with the Coup De Grace for the win. Afterwards, the babyfaces both did Nakamura's pose (try doing that at home and you'll probably break your back), and Balor on the microphone paid tribute to NXT trainer and local lad Robbie Brookside.

As I mentioned earlier, from a live perspective, this felt more like a WWE house show than an NXT event, and the level of comedy was a little too high (and this is from someone who appreciates comedy in wrestling, when it's done right anyway). Besides the main event, there weren't many moments where you could truly understand the appeal of NXT from an in-ring perspective (which is the brand's main strength). That all being said, this was a really fun card, enhanced by the superb crowd, and the leading stars in NXT truly are stars, and have the potential in many cases to make a major impact on Raw and SmackDown after the upcoming brand extension. This wasn't necessarily the best example of what NXT can provide, but it did serve as a good introduction to new fans on why NXT has become the coolest wrestling brand in the world today.

Overall Rating: 6.5/10 - Okay

WWE Extreme Rules 2013

Image Source: Youtube

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 19 2013
Location: Scottrade Center, St Louis, Missouri, USA
Attendance: 14,500

The first PPV after WrestleMania 29 had a pretty big line-up, in keeping with the gimmick theme of the show. There were star-studded speciality matches all across the card, culminating in what seemed (and hopefully was) to be the final chapter in the Triple H-Brock Lesnar feud. But would things get as extreme as they did last year when Lesnar busted John Cena open hard on multiple occasions?

After a pre-show bout which saw The Miz defeat Cody Rhodes, Extreme Rules opened with Chris Jericho vs. Fandango. This was a WrestleMania rematch, and since Mania, Fandango's popularity - or rather, popularity of his entrance music - has exploded due to a rowdy New Jersey crowd chanting it loud and proud, albeit completely tongue in cheek, the night after WM. His status boost didn't affect the result here, though: after some decent back-and-forth exchanges, Fandango (who was wearing some nice-looking yet still very strange multi-coloured attire) was vanquished by Jericho via a Codebreaker, which reversed an attempted flying attack by the ballroom dancer.

Normally, you like to see the younger guy come out on top in a feud. However, despite his recent popularity, Fandango's gimmick is so ridiculous and his ring skills are so run-of-the-mill in most departments that it felt like Y2J demeaned himself losing to the ballroom dancer at WrestleMania. Therefore, it was entirely logical that Jericho won this rematch, although it's possible that these two may have a rubber match where the result could potentially be reversed.

Next up, we had Dean Ambrose challenging Kofi Kingston for the United States Title. Kofi only won the championship a few weeks back from Antonio Cesaro, but Kofi's star seems to have peaked in WWE, whereas the fairly new Shield member's star is on the rise (he and his Shield brethren took out The Undertaker on the London edition of SmackDown after Taker beat Ambrose). Therefore, after a solid and at times impressive, yet still fairly short match, it wasn't exactly a surprise to see a new champion crowned, and this came to pass when Ambrose dropped Kingston with a Headlock Driver to become the new United States Champion.

As alluded to, it made sense that Ambrose would capture the gold here, since it wasn't going to advance Kingston's career any more than the belt had done in the past. In Ambrose's hands, the title could make a difference, and this title win adds to the momentum that The Shield has picked up since their first appearance together at Survivor Series 2012. Even more was to come for the group later in the evening, as it turned out. That made two fairly good matches out of two so far for Extreme Rules.

That mini-streak was unlikely to continue, though, with the next bout pitting Sheamus against Mark Henry under Strap rules. I've never been a big fan of Henry, and this was a rerun of a rivalry which hit a minor peak in the summer of 2011, making a rematch unnecessary here. That being said, it wasn't too bad, or should I say it was no worse than expected. Henry laid in the leather strap shots hard on the back of Sheamus (or maybe it just seems that way on Sheamus' milky-white back), and the Celtic Warrior attempted several comebacks to a good response. The match followed the usual structure of both men taking it in turns to try and hit all four corners with the strap, with the other man always cutting them off at the last moment. It all came down to a Brogue Kick, as Sheamus used his preferred physical weapon to down Henry and make it to the fourth corner to come out on top.

I was glad to see Sheamus win cleanly here, for two reasons: firstly, it ends this feud at one big match, which was all that was needed in this rehash of their 2011 conflict; and secondly, it means there's even less chance of WWE once again pushing Mark Henry as a top heel, after giving us a scare with his push so far this year (this result did make me wonder why WWE bothered booking Henry to beat Ryback at WrestleMania, especially with Ryback challenging for the WWE Championship later on). Match quality overall was alright, to be fair.

A backstage scrap between Kaitlyn and AJ Lee happened next, in place of the Divas Title bout which I assumed would be held on this card after AJ recently became the number one contender to Kaitlyn's prize. Speaking of that honour, the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship was about to be determined when Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger battled in an I Quit match. This wasn't meant to happen; the original plan was for a 3-way Ladder match alongside WHC holder Dolph Ziggler, who cashed his Money In The Bank briefcase in on Del Rio the night after WrestleMania to an incredible reaction. But that went up in smoke when Ziggler suffered a concussion a few weeks later on SmackDown, so with Dolph on the shelf, we would instead get a match to determine a sole contender to his crown.

Similar to their match at WrestleMania, this was well-executed but lacking in any real crowd heat, partly because neither man possesses the dynamic charisma which would be required to make matches like this feel like anything more than average. The key moment here was when Swagger trapped Del Rio in the Patriot Lock (formally the ankle lock) and Zeb Colter, having attacked Ricardo Rodriguez at ringside, threw in a towel to signify ADR quitting. But the referee saw through the hijinks and restarted the match to a surprisingly big cheer, and Del Rio went on to win when he made Swagger quit (well, submit) to the Cross-Armbreaker.

Since Ziggler remains a heel, the logical result was for Del Rio to win. And with this I Quit match, WWE tried to make the most of a bad situation. The downside was that the action was still only solid, and even with the hijinks surrounding the finish, neither combatant could provide anything to make this more than just another match. Hopefully Dolph's charisma and outstanding wrestling ability will make the difference to this three-way rivalry upon his return.

Kane and Daniel Bryan defended their WWE Tag Team Titles against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns under Tornado rules (I meant to say that the earlier Kofi vs. Ambrose match was fought under regular rules). This allowed essentially for two matches to take place at the same time, and the pairings made sense as the big men (Kane and Reigns) concentrated on one another with power moves whilst the smaller athletes (Bryan and Rollins) provided some pretty cool technical wrestling and high-flying spots. Bryan look really good, although everyone in this match put forth a good effort. Like with Kofi-Ambrose, it was a little bit on the short side, and just like that match, new champions were crowned within The Shield, as Bryan got nailed with a cool-looking double-team manoeuver and Reigns got the pin for him and Seth to win the Tag Team Championships.

It was a bit sad to see the long reign of Team Hell No end after eight long months. It's definitely been the most enjoyable tag title run for many years, possibly since the TLC era in terms of pure entertainment. But the Kane/Daniel Bryan combo probably has passed its peak so it was time to pass the belts onto a new team, and since The Shield have been on fire since their debut, a combination of the two was the perfect choice. For all three members of The Shield, this was a big night and another show of faith by WWE.

Up next, we had an Extreme Rules match between Randy Orton and Big Show (their first PPV meeting, surprisingly). This went over very well, assisted by a strong hometown reaction to the Viper. The action on display was quite good; nothing that they did was particularly innovative, but this was one of those matches where everything just works. They exchanged blows from a variety of blows including a ladder, which slightly made up for the absent Ladder match for the World Heavyweight Title, and that same ladder ended up being broken by Show's large frame after an attempted Vader Bomb (the ladder was between two steel chairs). Show came close with a Chokeslam, and Orton thought he had it won with an RKO, but the big man kicked out. Undeterred, and willed on by his local supporters, Orton rebounded with a second RKO on a chair and a Punt (the kick hasn't been used by Orton for a long time) to get the very popular victory.

This match was better than expected, partly because Orton's hometown crowd provided a great atmosphere, which seemed to energise both men. There were some cool spots in there, and the performances of both were strong (for Show, the last seven-to-eight months of his career have been his best ever from an in-ring standpoint). This was a really entertaining match, and both men had a good night as they concluded their WrestleMania-related business.

The semi-final for this card saw John Cena defend his WWE Title against Ryback in a Last Man Standing match. Ryback unexpectedly (and far too prematurely, in my opinion) turned heel on Cena the night after WrestleMania, emerging into a whining cry-baby as well as a big bully (an interesting combination) as he looked to dethrone Cena here. It seemed that nobody remembered Booker T announcing on said Raw that The Rock was the number one contender (and it's possible that nobody ever will). In the meantime, Cena apparently suffered an ankle injury during the UK tour, which was written into the storylines as the announcers wondered if this setback would hinder Cena in, of all things, a Last Man Standing bout.

As it turned out, the injury (if indeed it was real) didn't affect the match at all, as Cena had either fully recovered or shook the injured ankle off in typical Cena fashion. This was a respectable match, but certainly not the best LMS match that we've seen. It was an enjoyable yet familiar stunt brawl, which included Ryback slamming Cena through a table, an exchange of big powerbombs, and Cena putting Ryback through a different table after an Attitude Adjustment. There was plenty of action going on, but whether it was because we've seen these spots or similar spots so many times, or because of the odd nature of Ryback being a heel so soon, there was something, if not a couple of things, missing to make this a truly memorable match. It was still fun to watch and the St Louis crowd seemed to enjoy it, although neither they (nor me) seemed too happy when the match took another hit upon its ending: Ryback Speared Cena through an LED wall at the aisleway, and both men stayed down for the 10-count. It was a draw, with both men being carted out on stretchers (although we learned on Raw the next day that Cena refused to enter an ambulance; Ryback, for some reason, drove what was purportedly his ambulance into the arena on the post-ER edition of Raw). This finish was too similar to Backlash 2007 (also the post-WM PPV) when Batista hit The Undertaker with a Spear off the stage onto electrical equipment that resulted in a no-contest.

The ending of this LMS bout means that we are almost definitely getting a Cena vs. Ryback rematch. Since their first match here was Last Man Standing, it's hard to figure what stipulation they will use - they will use one, believe me - when they meet again. It remains to be seen whether Ryback can do enough between now and then to convince the powers that be to award him a WWE title reign. My gut feeling says no, and that when they do meet again, it will be Cena who gets his hand raised and leaves as the WWE Champion. Hopefully he will at least grow into his heel role between now and Cena-Ryback 2.

So, we come to the main event: HHH vs. Lesnar, inside a Steel Cage. This rivalry actually began the night after Extreme Rules 2012 (which was over a year ago since ER was in May this year), when Lesnar responded to HHH refusing Brock's contract demands by breaking his arm. HHH returned and eventually fought Lesnar at SummerSlam, but was beaten. A rematch followed at WrestleMania 29 when HHH pinned Brock, which I assumed would be the end of their rivalry. Instead, a third match was made for Extreme Rules (making their WM match less worthy of that grand stage since it essentially solves nothing), this time within a cage (and this was a new Steel Cage structure with three parts on each side and a different top to the fences, making it the first new WWE cage for yonks). Fortunately for the combatants, this feud-decider elicited the desired main event crowd response, in contrast to their almost-ignored first two showdowns.

HHH began the match early by attacking Lesnar in the aisleway, which got the match off to a fast and furious start (there's a movie plug somewhere there). The match then entered the cage, where Brock began to take control in his usual, vicious fashion (although, harking back to my earlier point, we did not get blood, which despite this being a PG era I was slightly surprised about after what went down at Extreme Rules 2012, and after HHH split Lesnar's head wide open on Raw back in February). Brock really took control with a German suplex, but he lost it when he accidentally rammed his knee into the cage and began screaming in agony in very convincing fashion. HHH worked on the injured knee, but Brock still managed to clamp in a Kimura Lock on HHH's arm. Paul Heyman soon intervened by slamming the cage door on HHH's head, followed by a Lesnar F5 for a near-fall. Heyman then threw a chair into the cage for Brock to use, but HHH intercepted it and pounded Lesnar's knee with it. HHH kept working on the knee before, from the top of the cage, introducing a hidden sledgehammer to a good pop, but Brock prevented its use. After HHH rebounded with a Sharpshooter (bad knee, remember?), HHH Pedigreed the interfering Heyman and Lesnar too, but it wasn't enough to win. Triple H then picked up the hammer again, but Heyman hit him with a low blow, allowing Lesnar to conk HHH with the hammer and drop him with a second F5 for the victory.

So, Lesnar came out on top in the end. It was the right result because Lesnar's reputation, originally built in WWE and enhanced in UFC, may have been destroyed had he lost again here. Instead, the victory sets him up for his next feud, which is likely to be against another heavy hitter (CM Punk or John Cena again for the WWE Title are the favourites, since bouts against The Rock or The Undertaker would probably be saved for a WrestleMania). For HHH, his next move is unclear, although he did wrestle his first TV match for three years on Raw the next night against Curtis Axel (previously Michael McGillicutty, now being managed by Paul Heyman), but ended up being too weak to continue, partly due to the Lesnar match here.

Extreme Rules always feels like a tough PPV since it follows WrestleMania. It's usually well worth watching, but it lacks the spectacle, the glamour, the huge setting and attendance, the first-time meetings to end long feuds; basically, everything that distinguishes Mania from every other PPV. Fortunately, the in-ring talent saw to it that Extreme Rules was a worthy follow-up to WrestleMania, and with some recent turns, a few returns and several other intriguing developments, WWE has now fully entered what could be a pretty interesting post-Mania season.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Payback 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 16 2013
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 12,500

Payback was a whole new PPV for WWE (well, a new name for a PPV anyway), but it's hard to see where the theme fit in with the matches on hand. John Cena vs. Ryback had a minor layer of revenge to it, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio did too if you consider a title rematch stemming from a Money In The Bank cash-in to represent possible retribution. But CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho didn't (not this year, anyway), nor did any of the matches involving members of The Shield. Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee was the only match where the "Payback" moniker may have been suitable, and even that initially came about because AJ earned a Divas Title shot, hardly the sort of thing to swear revenge upon. (I'm half-joking with this, by the way, since PPV themes/names are decided months in advance.)

Fortunately, this could have been called Payback, Backlash or Honey Boo Boo's Wrestling Parade for the difference that the name made in terms of the in-ring action, which ultimately proved to be very good. Some unexpected mid-card gems were met with a worthy double main event and a big double-turn in the World Title match, all in front of the usual electric Chicago crowd. So, whilst Payback might have seemed like an odd name beforehand, it will prove to be amongst the top names on the "Best PPVs Of 2013" lists when they are drawn up at the end of the year.

After a reasonable pre-show match that saw Sheamus defeat Damien Sandow (it's a bit disappointing that Sandow's biggest match to date was relegated to the pre-show), Payback opened with a Triple Threat match for the Intercontinental Title, as Wade Barrett defended against The Miz and Curtis Axel. The third man was supposed to be Fandango, but after he recently suffered a concussion (the ballroom dancer is the latest member of the WWE roster to be plagued by a concussion), he was replaced by Axel, who was introduced as a "Paul Heyman Guy" the night after Extreme Rules and has built up some decent momentum since then, even if it still feels that Axel isn't quite up to reaching the potential that WWE has forecasted for him. This 3-way battle was pretty good for what it was, and the finish was neat too: Miz trapped Barrett in the Figure-Four Leglock, during which time Axel pinned Barrett (the reigning titleholder) to capture the IC Title to a big reaction.

Axel won the title on Father's Day, which given that his dad Mr. Perfect was one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions ever was a nice touch. Axel has the chance to use this title reign to help ascend up the card, although it's interesting to think that if the original plan had been executed, it would have been not the new Paul Heyman Guy holding the title but instead the surprisingly popular wrestling ballroom dancer. Post-match, Vince McMahon endorsed Heyman and Axel, despite Vince's previous problems with Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Triple H then entered the picture and Vince suggested a HHH-Axel match, which The Game on this occasion declined. Vince, you see, has prevented HHH wrestling Axel in recent weeks, apparently for the sake of his health after HHH took a funny turn in his bout with Axel on Raw the night after Extreme Rules. It's a bit of a confusing storyline, but we'll see where it goes (if anywhere).

AJ Lee challenged Kaitlyn for the Divas Title next in the culmination of a long tale. The two debuted on NXT together in 2010 and became friends, calling themselves The Chickbusters when they arrived on SmackDown in 2011. But AJ's emotional downward spiral caused by Daniel Bryan led her to turn on Kaitlyn in 2012 and, earlier this year, AJ earned a Divas Title shot at her former best friend. Cue a storyline where Kaitlyn thought she had a secret admirer, only for it to be a set-up by Big E Langston and AJ. With all that now out of the way, I'm pleased that this was an awesome women's match. From the rapid-fire strikes and brawling to open the contest, to the subsequent back-and-forth dropkicks and submission holds to the big moves at the finish (such as a crossbody, a gutbuster and the Black Widow which Kaitlyn initially survived), this was fantastic. And it told a good story as Kaitlyn Speared AJ but took the time to blow a kiss to her nemesis, only for AJ to kick out and soon lock in the Black Widow to win the title and rub it in Kaitlyn's face. Kaitlyn was booed afterwards when she was crying and was being consoled by Layla, which was never bound to go down well in a smark town like Chicago.

This had to be the best women's match in WWE since the heyday of Trish Stratus and Lita. In fact, it may have been the best WWE females bout ever; this measured up to anything Trish and Lita ever did, and perhaps surpassed even their greatest efforts. This was a match that both ladies could be proud of, even if the crowd heckled Kaitlyn in the post-match. AJ as the new Divas Champion makes sense, and the title win combined with the superb in-ring performances of both on this night continues what has been a great run of success for the girl who once had a going-nowhere position on the roster. Kaitlyn will probably get a rematch at some point (perhaps at Money In The Bank?), and it is hoped that their second encounter will also be something to savour. For Kaitlyn, she really will be hoping that she regains the title there, because whilst AJ's character has many directions that it could head into for her to remain relevant, Kaitlyn's last twelve months have been mostly defined by her title chase and subsequent title reign, so she could find herself lost should she come out of this feud with nothing. Based on match quality, though, this was a fantastic women's bout and a very unexpected treat here at Payback.

Normally, the women have a hard job of following a strong men's match. Here, we had a role reversal, as Dean Ambrose and Kane had the task of trying to follow the unexpectedly-great Kaitlyn vs. AJ bout. And they didn't really succeed because, after a fairly average and slow-paced match, Ambrose won only on a countout when he DDT'd Kane on the floor, and the Big Red Machine failed to make it back in before the ten-count.

This basically served as a filler match, from the slightly odd pairing of Ambrose and Kane to the screwjob ending. It gives Ambrose a minor boost, I suppose, although one has to assume that there would be a rematch where it is possible that Kane could potentially win the U.S. crown. Especially given this result, though, why didn't WWE switch it around so that Randy Orton battled Ambrose and Team Hell No took on Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the Tag Team Titles that they previously held?

Before the next match, we got a big surprise: a promo video advertising Rob Van Dam returning to WWE, in Philadelphia no less, at Money In The Bank. This extremely (no pun intended) effective video elicited a huge reaction and a prolonged "RVD!" chant in Chicago. It'll certainly be fun to see Van Dam back in WWE; few could have envisioned when RVD had the last match of his full-time WWE run at One Night Stand 2007 that it would take so long for him to return on a permanent basis (he did appear at Raw's 15th Anniversary in 2007 and at Royal Rumble 2009). Happily, RVD's long absence from WWE rings will end at MITB, and returning in ECW country will provide a memorable moment for sure.

We then had Dolph Ziggler defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. It was anticipated that in this hardcore crowd environment, Ziggler would be cheered and ADR would be booed, at least to some degree. But as it turned out, this match (Ziggler's comeback after missing several weeks with a concussion, making it his first big defence since winning the big gold title the night after WrestleMania 29) took fans on an unexpected journey. Del Rio targeted his opponent's head which he usually does, but against the previously-concussed Ziggler, he seemed to do so with a certain relish, despite the man's very real injuries. As the match wore on, and the commentators and referee reacted accordingly to Del Rio's increasingly nasty streak, the fans realised what was happening and began to sympathise with Dolph, and jeer ADR. By the end, fans were firmly behind Dolph as he attempted misguided comebacks despite Del Rio doing some real damage to his head. One particularly hard kick was enough to keep him down, and Del Rio pinned him to win his second World Heavyweight Title. A post-match promo alongside Ricardo Rodriguez ensured that fans booed him, and announcers expressed disgust in him, whilst the ex-titleholder Ziggler left to applause, despite having entered the ring as a villain.

Well, that was unexpected. Whilst fans have warmed to Dolph Ziggler in spite of his heel status, and it did at times feel like something was missing from Alberto Del Rio in his presentation as a babyface, it was still a surprise to see the two men switch sides (and ADR only went face at the end of 2012), especially during a match, which hasn't been done in WWE for a long time. (That this happened in the same arena where the famous Bret Hart-Steve Austin double-turn took place at WrestleMania 13 in 1997 was no coincidence, I'm sure.) The match went up a level when the double-turn became clear, and they told the story very, very well. Perhaps the biggest shocker was the fact that Ziggler lost the WHC in his first major defence. That concussion appears to have really harmed his career, although it was WWE's call to take the title from him; who knows if it was the plan all along for Dolph to have a short title run, or if they gave the gold back to ADR to reduce the pressure on the recently-returned Ziggler. They will undoubtedly have a rematch, with both men by then firmly established in their new/old roles, so it will probably only be at that point when we will find out what WWE's plans are for both men (and it could be crucial for Ziggler's future). Meanwhile, the odd man out in what began as a three-way feud, Jack Swagger, sits on the sidelines waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting.

After that, it was the return of CM Punk. Well, I say that, but he only missed one supershow while he was off television, and his break only lasted ten weeks in all. From a personal standpoint, he had some good time off. From a kayfabe standpoint, though, he was hardly gone; his name was last mentioned on April 22, and he was name-dropped again from May 27 onwards. Nevertheless, he was back here, and he got a great reception as expected in his hometown of Chicago against old foe Chris Jericho, who was booed despite his babyface status (although it was understandable on this occasion). This was a typical Punk-Jericho match, one of high quality and great wrestling action combined with strong crowd heat. It was perhaps their best match to date, as the emphasis was purely on having a standout match rather than referencing the personal nature of the rivalry that they had in 2012. Highlight of the match was when Jericho turned a Punk flying clothesline into a Codebreaker. But Jericho's chances of beating Punk in CM's return match in his hometown were extremely unlikely, and so it proved as Punk (with a slightly longer haircut and new sideburns) defeated Y2J by pinfall with the GTS. Paul Heyman almost cost Punk the match towards the end when he had the referee distracted on a Punk pinfall attempt, which would end up being a crucial development, as I will soon explain.

So, CM Punk is back, after what ended up being a not-massively-long absence, since he only disappeared after April 15, only missed one PPV (Extreme Rules) and had Chris Jericho begin to call him out from May 27 onwards. Along with his new look could potentially come a new attitude, since the hype and the announcer's reactions to him had a babyface feel to them (never mind the fans on this occasion; the Chicago crowd were always going to cheer their hometown hero regardless). A Raw run-in with Brock Lesnar the next night (which I will cover later) acts as further evidence that Punk's character is heading into a new direction. A babyface turn wouldn't be the worst idea; whilst Punk was a loathsome heel from July 2012 until April 2013, the man is so good that people still can't help but cheer him, so it makes sense to go with the flow, at least for the time being. This match was really good, the best of the night, although to me it lacked that extra something which would have pushed it on the level of Punk's classic against The Undertaker at WM 29, or even a previous Chicago barn-burner against John Cena at the famous Money In The Bank 2011 show.

The Dolph-ADR and Punk-Y2J matches seemed to go on a bit longer than anticipated, and this perhaps resulted in the next match - a WWE Tag Team Title match as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defended their crowns against Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton - being shortened as a result. Nevertheless, all four made up for the time that they did have, which was a double achievement because the Bryan-Orton pairing was a weird one; why didn't Kane team again with Bryan here? Regardless, the babyfaces tried to build on their momentum (the two men and Kane beat The Shield on the pre-Payback SmackDown in what was their first defeat as a faction, a fact that was pointed out to emphasise its significance), and Bryan in particular had a strong showing here, even hitting Rollins with a dangerous underhook suplex off the top rope to the expected round of "Yes!" chants. But it didn't result in a title change, as Rollins and Reigns retained their crowns when Rollins pinned Bryan after his flying knee.

This was a pretty good match considering that it felt like a weird PPV attraction. The action was of a high standard all the way, especially from Daniel Bryan who is slowly shedding the comedy image that he has had (yet benefitted from greatly) over the last ten months to once again become a force to be reckoned with, and the fans are more than willing to back Bryan as he evolves into a serious player, if not a future main eventer once more. The Shield received another boost here, although Orton felt out of place in this environment. Perhaps this will set up an Orton heel turn, for which he is probably due, and a feud with Bryan based on their uneasy tandem here and in recent weeks.

The main event was a Three Stages Of Hell clash between John Cena and Ryback for the WWE Title. It's hard to say whether the Cena-Ryback conflict, which began the night after WrestleMania 29, truly warranted such a triple-stipulation, but that's what we got. It was an enjoyable trio of gimmick matches, and it was clear that each man was trying to save enough energy from falls one and two in order to deliver a suitable final chapter. The first fall, a Lumberjack match, did include an unexpected dive off the top ropes by Cena onto Ryback and the lumberjacks at ringside, although Cena ultimately lost this section when Ryback pinned him with Shell Shocked. Normally, that would be a major upset, but here it was just part of the story for Cena to make his comeback; after all, Cena wasn't likely to lose the title here, and after losing fall one, he was bound to win fall two (a Tables match), and he did after hitting Ryback with an Attitude Adjustment through a table, as required.

The final fall was an Ambulance match, and it was fairly brutal as both men drove each other hard into the vehicle and even used parts of the hospital car itself as weapons. I did find it annoying that the announcers continued to laugh and make jokes during this section of the bout, since it was supposed to be serious stuff and the exchanges were quite violent on occasion. To win the match, Cena used the same finish that he used in his Ambulance match with Kane at Elimination Chamber 2012, that being an AA through the Ambulance roof, with Ryback apparently KO'd as the ambulance drove away. The story of the match and the feud tried to say that this was a fitting finale, but since the ambulance was only used when Cena refused to enter one after the Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules, and when Ryback drove out in an ambulance to kick off Raw the next night, the connection wasn't really there; nevertheless, it worked as a feud-ending battle, as did the main event as a whole, which overall was slightly better than their LMS bout at Extreme Rules.

It was the right time to bring an end to the John Cena-Ryback feud, since there wasn't anywhere else they could go with it unless Ryback won the WWE Title, and that clearly wasn't on the cards. The Ambulance stipulation allowed Ryback to maintain some dignity by avoiding a pinfall/submission loss from Cena, although it seems like he will still take a tumble down the card having just been defeated in a WWE Title rivalry. For Cena, it's hard to figure out what's on the horizon. Whilst Raw developments suggest a championship clash with Mark Henry (more on that in a moment), surely that bout will happen at Money In The Bank and not SummerSlam (and Cena will surely win there), meaning that Cena needs an opponent for SummerSlam. A rubber match with The Rock is apparently not likely, so it will have to be someone from the current crop. If CM Punk is tied up with another opponent (again, more in a bit on that), the most feasible opponent would probably be Sheamus, Daniel Bryan or perhaps even the returning RVD; WWE surely cannot go back to Cena vs. Randy Orton (and, if it did, it would be the third time that this match main evented SummerSlam alone).

As stated earlier, there was a lot to like at Payback, and whilst Extreme Rules was also a strong wrestling show, the developments here had more of an impact (hey, why not use "impact" as the name for this show? Oh, yeah, someone else uses that name; sorry) and did more to alter the landscape of WWE. This was boosted by a very eventful Raw which included the return of Christian after many months out injured; a weird situation where Daniel Bryan's match with Randy Orton was stopped due to an injury to Bryan, for which Bryan apparently chastised Triple H backstage for real; a superb angle where Mark Henry pretended to announce his retirement in extremely convincing fashion, only to swerve-turn on John Cena and declare his intentions to win the WWE Title; Dolph Ziggler had another run-in with Alberto Del Rio to further emphasise their new face/heel alignments; and after CM Punk told Paul Heyman that he wouldn't be managing him anymore after his mistake at Payback but that they could still be friends, Brock Lesnar unexpectedly appeared and dropped Punk with an F5 (which seems like stage one of Punk vs. Lesnar, probably at SummerSlam, as well as possibly beginning a Punk/Heyman split and an official babyface turn for Punk).

So, it looks like WWE has given its product a bit of a shake-up as it enters the usually-memorable summer season. So far, it's been largely a year of playing it safe despite some strong matches, so it was good to see WWE take some chances here at Payback and on Raw as it begins to set the table for Money In The Bank and SummerSlam. What cannot be denied is that every WWE PPV this year up until this point has either been good, very good or excellent, so it's hoped that WWE can continue on this streak, and with Rob Van Dam set to make a comeback (in Philadelphia of all places) at Money In The Bank, it certainly looks likely that we will keep getting some really entertaining WWE supershows. Payback may not have been an ideal name for this event, but the card was still very enjoyable and took a big step towards preparing the next few months of potentially exciting matches and storylines.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Money In The Bank 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 14 2013
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 15,000

Having been the recipient of its own PPV event for four years now, and with the match having originally debuted back in 2005, it's safe to say that the Money In The Bank Ladder match, as an entertainment spectacle, has probably passed its peak. Whereas the early bouts (held annually at WrestleMania) were about showcasing the young talent who could potentially become future main eventers, in an environment which suited their athletic styles, since 2010 the MITB PPV has seen twice as many matches of this nature, thus partly diluting each one, whilst also casting either headliners who need not require MITB to get ahead or performers whose size or style do not make them suitable participants to what is, at its essence, a stunt match.

Fortunately, though, there are enough worthy performers whose styles do suit the environment and their creativity has been of a high enough standard that the Money In The Bank Ladder match remains one of the must-see matches of the year, perhaps only behind the Royal Rumble match and the featured bouts at WrestleMania. This year, there were once again two MITB bouts, each with a very different casting, but with both promising plenty of thrills and spills. And the match does still provide a boost to the winner when the briefcase ends up in the right hands, meaning that there is still genuine intrigue to the results of these matches; and, again, the casts on this particular night offered up some intriguing possibilities if they were to win. So, plenty to look forward to then, even if the stipulation has lost some of the appeal that it once had. Add to that the return of Rob Van Dam to WWE in one of those bouts, two World Title bouts and some potentially exciting mid-card bouts, and you have the makings of what could be a pretty memorable PPV extravaganza.

On the pre-show, we had a WWE Tag Team Title match between Shield titleholders Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and The Usos. Whereas pre-show bouts generally have a stigma attached to them (namely, that those involved aren't considered important enough to appear on the main PPV card), this was a notable exception; as a matter of fact, this fast-paced, action-packed doubles battle was as good as any non-Ladder match that we would witness all night. Credit to all involved, who made a special effort to kick off MITB (well, the night as a whole) with a bang. Hopefully, those in charge noticed these strong performances by all four. Reigns won it by pinning Jimmy Uso after a Spear.

Money In The Bank itself opened with the first MITB Ladder match. I forgot to mention before that the end of the brand extension in 2011, which has resulted in there being two World Titles at a time when it is unnecessary, has also hindered the stipulation because it has been made clear (as did the placement of this particular MITB clash) that the World Heavyweight Title, once considered the equal of the WWE Title, is by no means on level pegging these days, so the same applies for the respective MITB bouts. In any event, the blue briefcase was hanging over the ring for what was unusually an all-heels MITB clash, with none of them really receiving a true push en route to the show. Whilst this felt like poor planning by WWE, it did make for an unpredictable match, since nobody knew who would win out of Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro (the latter two of whom have recently formed the Real Americans tag team under the management of Zeb Colter, even though Cesaro is Swiss) and Fandango (who was already in the ring when the PPV began, and of course had the rabid Philadelphia crowd Fandangoing).

Although the heel alignment of each participant meant that the fans had to essentially choose for themselves who they wanted to win (which you think would have suited a smarky crowd like Philadelphia), it didn't make the match any less enjoyable; indeed, this was a worthy MITB bout with plenty of eye-catching stunts. Of note, we saw Fandango hit a huge legdrop over a ladder, Swagger and Cesaro using a ladder as a bridge only for Ambrose to try and use this as a platform to win, and a big sunset flip off another ladder by the ballroom dancer. There was also interference by Rollins and Reigns to try and help Ambrose win, which was repelled by the also-interfering Usos. But Cody Rhodes was the standout performer with a dominant performance that seemed to turn him babyface; certainly, the fans reacted positively to his spots, particularly a Muscle Buster (which is the signature move of indie icon Samoa Joe). It seemed like it was Cody's match to win, but his Team Rhodes Scholars partner Damien Sandow (who comparatively did little during the match) shoved Cody off the ladder, allowing him to unhook the briefcase and win the match. Sandow winning MITB was a surprise, as he will need plenty of favourable booking to make him a genuine World Title contender. Of greater note, though, was that this seemed to signify Sandow killing off the Scholars team, which should see Cody become a babyface. This was definitely a good start to MITB, and set a standard for the other MITB bout participants to try and surpass later on.

Before The Miz challenged Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Title, we had an in-ring segment where the recently-fired Vickie Guerrero, who for some reason was still here at MITB on the pre-show panel, tried to give herself a farewell address only for the fans to reject it, as well as new Raw GM Brad Maddox, who played a video of Vickie's most embarrassing moments in WWE. This went on too long and would have been more suited to Raw than a PPV event. It was only ended when Miz came out, meaning that for perhaps the first time ever, fans were genuinely happy to see The Awesome One (I kid).

Miz vs. Axel, or Axel vs. Miz if you prefer, was alright. Miz is still a babyface, but it's still a little hard to truly get behind him due to his arrogant, narcissistic ways. Axel continues to receive a moderate push by WWE, despite unnecessarily losing a non-title match to Chris Jericho recently. The two matched up fairly well and delivered a solid but unspectacular match. Axel will be happy with his performance (as will Miz, to be fair), but he still needs to show something else if he is to live up to the potential that WWE and Paul Heyman have tagged him with. Speaking of Heyman, Miz had him ejected by using Eddie Guerrero-style tactics (pretending that Heyman interfered when he hadn't), which usually would be an effective spot, but in ECW country, it was the equivalent of a red rag to a bull. It didn't really affect the outcome, though, as Axel beat Miz cleanly to retain the gold. Thanks to Miz removing the ECW owner from play, this resulted in Axel being cheered for his win.

We then had a rematch from Payback, and a welcome one in this case, as AJ Lee defended the Divas Championship against Kaitlyn. These two blew everyone away at the last PPV event by delivering the best women's match seen in WWE for many years, possibly ever (seriously). And they delivered again here with another fine, logical and well-executed match which put most of the other females on the roster to shame. It was slightly less enjoyable than their Payback match, but I think that was because nobody was expecting the Payback bout to be as good as it was, whereas for this rematch at Money In The Bank, people realised that it would be good (and it was). In terms of execution, it may have been superior to the Payback match, but it lacked the element of surprise as far as its quality, thus resulting in this rematch having a lesser impact.

As stated, though, this was still very enjoyable, and had we not seen them meet at Payback, people would be saying that this was the best WWE women's match for many years, if not ever. The story of the match was that AJ continuously worked on the arm of Kaitlyn, not only weakening it for her Black Widow submission, but also to reduce Kaitlyn's chances of winning if she were to hit her own finishing move, the Spear (too many people use that nowadays, by the way). And her plan paid off handsomely: following some good exchanges and a strong comeback by the challenger, Kaitlyn did hit the Spear, but her arm did prevent her capitalising, and AJ did take advantage by slapping on the Black Widow, which resulted in a submission victory. Kaitlyn fortunately didn't burst into tears afterwards to ensure that hardcore fans booed her, as she did at Payback. Unusually, I hope that this female feud continues, because their matches have been exceptional by the standards of the women's division.

Next up, Chris Jericho battled Ryback. This felt like a filler feud for both established stars, and that's what it proved to be; bear in mind that part of the reason for this happening was that Jericho had been chastising the Big Guy with chants of "Cry-Back!" Even by the often-childish standards of Y2J's sense of humour, this was a tough one to buy. It still meant a fresh match between a popular veteran and one of WWE's newest stars, though, so it was still a welcome addition to the PPV.

Ryback dominated much of the match, although his periods of control were probably a little too slow and drawn-out. This heel turn of Ryback's still doesn't make sense to me, and after losing his feud to John Cena at Payback, even matches like this won't make up for main event scenarios, which Ryback could be waiting a long time to attain again. Jericho made a good comeback and brought the occasionally-disinterested crowd back into the match, and after some nice exchanges and close calls (a Codebreaker by Y2J almost saw Ryback counted out; credit to the heel on this occasion that he didn't walk away satisfied at losing in this fashion and ran back into the ring before the 10-count), Ryback won in slightly anticlimactic fashion when a missed Lionsault allowed the Big Guy to roll Jericho up for the pin. Ryback remains the recipient of a decent push, then, but as stated his main event adventures could be limited going forward. Match quality was okay, but I expected slightly more.

This was followed by the World Heavyweight Championship bout, another rematch from Payback as Alberto Del Rio defended against Dolph Ziggler. If you recall, ADR and Ziggler appeared to switch sides in a double-turn at Payback, en route to Del Rio regaining the World Title. Since that show, it has been essentially made official: Del Rio is now 100% a heel again, and Ziggler is almost certainly a babyface now (which should please the hardcore fans who have been backing him for so long). Del Rio was disadvantaged on this night to a minor extent by the absence of his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez; on television, we were told that he wasn't around because of injuries suffered at the hands of Ziggler (in reality, Rodriguez is serving a 30-day suspension for a Wellness Policy violation).

In contrast to their Payback match, which told a story that at times overshadowed the moves on display, this rematch was all about the action, and that action was of a high standard, all before a red-hot crowd. Indeed, the Philadelphia audience were enthralled by the back-and-forth wrestling, the big bumps, the high spots, the near-falls; everything, basically. This was the big-bumping, smart-wrestling Ziggler at his best, and Del Rio put in a very effective heel performance as well. The finisher attempts and reversals and submission escapes (when ADR tried to trap Dolph in the Cross-Armbreaker) were of a high standard, and the match seemed to lean towards a big finish. So, it was a bit disappointing when it ended with a disqualification, after AJ Lee (Dolph's damsel in distress, or whatever she is) ran in and unnecessarily hit Del Rio with her Divas Title. Fans booed loudly, a) because it denied Dolph a World Title win, and b) because the finish could have been a lot better, especially for such a good match. Certainly, it looks like a Dolph-AJ split is happening to cement Ziggler as a babyface, which presumably will mean a split from Big E Langston too. The only thing is, where does this leave Dolph in regards to trying to regain his World Title from Alberto? Did his title chase end here?

John Cena defended the WWE Title against Mark Henry in the penultimate bout. Such a match prospect may not seem appealing, but on this occasion there were some positives to the meeting. It was a fresh match for PPV (they have never met on PPV, believe it or not). It was Henry's first WWE Title opportunity on PPV (he has previously been World Champion, but he hasn't had a WWE Title bout on a supershow). Similar to Royal Rumble, this being the title match meant that some strong and suitable talent could be featured in the MITB bouts. And it followed Henry's greatest ever WWE moment when he pretended to announce his retirement on Raw the night after Payback, only to swerve-turn on Cena to a huge pop. What made this so awesome was Henry's very convincing performance; in the back of my mind watching that angle, I was thinking that there could be a swerve, but he was so good at conveying his faux retirement speech that you could never be completely sure. If anything, a real bowing-out seemed more likely; so when he did turn around and drop Cena, it was a "Holy s--t!" moment. Credit to the often-criticised Henry: his performance on that night was truly outstanding; his career highlight from a performance standpoint, bar none.

This match, whilst fought at the expected slow pace and with the anticipated focus on power moves and attempted power moves by Cena, was better than expected, meaning that it ultimately served a purpose. Henry even kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment once Cena had finally hit the AA, which led many to wonder if this would be Henry's time. But when Cena also withstood a World's Strongest Slam, the outcome became obvious, and indeed Cena won the match and retained the WWE Championship when he countered another Slam attempt by Henry into an STF for the submission victory. Overall, this rivalry ended up being a success, which you could argue is doubly impressive considering who was involved.

The main event would be the All-Stars Money In The Bank Ladder match for the WWE Title/red briefcase (great way to make the other MITB participants feel important). This pitted CM Punk against Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Christian, Sheamus and the returning Rob Van Dam (who received a massive pop upon his return in the old ECW home base; Bryan and Punk also got great pops). Kane was meant to compete, but an attack by the debuting Wyatt Family on Raw took him out of contention, and WWE strangely declined to replace him (that angle, incidentally, was marred at smarky fans chanting "Husky Harris" at Bray Wyatt). By the way, this was an all-babyface MITB match, which followed what began as an all-heel MITB match earlier in the evening.

This was a long and mostly impressive collection of stunt spots. Humorously, everyone targeted the posing RVD to begin the bout, to the expected boos. Sheamus then took control to more boos after he had been taken out by the remaining four participants, before Van Dam re-entered the ring and unleashed his greatest hits on his opponents. Sheamus set up a ladder bridge between the ring and an announcer's table at ringside, only to taste a hard knee by the flying Bryan (the flying goat?). The Celtic Warrior got revenge later with his ten punches to the chest to Bryan on the ladder, with the crowd chanting "No!" to each one in an amusing moment. Punk stopped Sheamus from there and used him and a ladder as something resembling a surfboard, before Orton caught Punk with a hard T-Bone Suplex onto a ladder. A back-and-forth exchange between RVD and Christian (who had a belter of a Ladder match on Raw back in 2003) led to RVD hitting Captain Charisma with a Five-Star Frog Splash off a ladder to a massive pop (incidentally, this move ended their aforementioned Ladder bout from a decade earlier).

The great action continued as Bryan took control and basically levelled everybody with kicks, running clotheslines and dives through the ropes; Bryan exerted an amount of control which would have once been unimaginable in a WWE ring, much to the approval of this audience. This included knocking Sheamus off a ladder out to ringside and onto and through the aforementioned ladder bridge (the landing looked nasty as hell). Unexpectedly, Curtis Axel ran in to cut off Bryan's ascendancy with a neckbreaker variation, but CM Punk knocked Axel away (despite both being friends with Paul Heyman, Punk has called Axel out as a nuisance), saying he wanted to win this match himself. An angry Heyman came out and agreed, willing Punk to climb. However, Heyman then turned on Punk by slamming a ladder into his head several times; the last of these opened up a massive cut on Punk's skull. Heyman had officially turned his back on Punk, in response to Punk telling Heyman after Payback not to manage him anymore, but that they could remain friends (more on that later). This opened the door for another man to win, and after Orton dragged RVD off a ladder into a huge RKO, it was Orton who climbed the ladder and won the match and the WWE Title MITB briefcase.

This was a very entertaining end to an exciting PPV, and it was proof that even after all these years and the reduced appeal of the stipulation, the talent alone can make MITB a must-see attraction every year; both MITB matches were great for slightly different reasons. Add to that a really good ADR vs. Ziggler match, strong showings in the Tag Team Title and Divas Title bouts, and respectable matches pitting Ryback against Jericho and Cena against Henry, and you end up with a pretty damn good PPV event. It didn't quite surpass the classic MITB 2011 event, but it wasn't that far off, which has to be a good thing.

The show also set up an intriguing storyline, as Punk and Heyman are now officially at war. Since Brock Lesnar attacked Punk the night after Payback, with Heyman initially denying that it was done as revenge for Punk essentially dumping Heyman, it is clear that we will get Punk vs. Lesnar at SummerSlam, which could be fantastic if booked correctly. Cena's next opponent for the WWE Title was determined by Cena himself on Raw the night after MITB, with the approval of Brad Maddox, and Cena chose Daniel Bryan; again, this could be a very good match, although a Bryan title win seems unlikely. It's unclear who will face Del Rio for the World Title next; it might be Ziggler, although he has an issue with AJ and probably Big E to fix, which could delay his next World Title opportunity (assuming he gets one).

To sum it up, then, Money In The Bank 2013 was a thrilling PPV event (even the pre-show match was really good), and it continues the trend of strong PPV showings for WWE in 2013, which will hopefully be carried on by what promises to be an eventful SummerSlam.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent