Csonka’s WWE at MSG: Show vs. Lesnar Review 10.03.15

WWE at MSG: Show vs. Lesnar 10.03.15

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus and Rusev @ 8:10 via pin [**¾]
– Neville defeated Stardust @ 7:35 via pin [**½]
– Team Bella defeated PCB @ 8:23 via pin [**]
– IC Title Match: Champion Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho @ 8:10 via pin [***¼]
– WWE Tag Team Title Match: The Dudley Boyz defeated Champions New Day @ 6:28 via DQ [**¼]
– Brock Lesnar defeated Big Show @ 4:11 via pin [**]
– Champion John Cena defeated Seth Rollins @ 22:45 via pin [***¾]

* Rich Brennan, JBL and Byron Saxton are on commentary.

* I miss the old MSG entrance, now it looks like any other show.

Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus and Rusev w/Summer Rae: Well so much for that long awaited Randy Orton vs. Sheamus and Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler rematches we all wanted. In all honesty I think I’d rather see the matches combined here and not burn another single match between the guys. Orton hit an eye poke on Rusev early, which must have connected well because it noticeably bothered Rusev but he worked through it. Basic baby face shine to begin for Orton and Ziggler, and then Rusev caught Ziggler with a catatonic to get the heat. The heat was also pretty basic, but the crowd was with them and Orton got a really good hot tag as far as reaction goes. Ziggler would superkick Rusev to the floor from the apron, then superkick Sheamus as he missed the brogue kick and Orton scored the win with the RKO. Post match Rusev yelled at Sheamus for ruining the match, and told him he was more useless than Lana. He slapped Sheamus around and told him to leave. Sheamus said fuck that and brogue kicked Rusev. This was a fine little opener, they all know how to work together and they had a very receptive crowd and fun post match angle.

* With Cena’s planned time off, it would be interesting if Rollins beat Cena tonight for the US Title, Kane took him out and then they ran the cash in for Sheamus. It won’t happen, but it would be newsworthy.

* We then started to get a bunch of video recaps and a goofy Kane interview. Thanks for turning this special into Raw.

Stardust vs. Neville: The rematch train continues, guess they couldn’t get Barrett in for a triple threat for tonight. The worst part of this match early was the fact that commentary acted as if it didn’t care, talking about other matches, the Honky Tonk Man and other random shit; anything but the match. When commentary acts this way, they are essentially telling the fans that he match doesn’t matter. And in the grand scheme of things it may not mean anything, but you have to treat it as if it does. Stardust got the heat, Neville came back and hit the big moonsault to the floor, they went back and forth and Stardust stole Neville’s cape. Neville said don’t pull on my cape or steal it, and hit the red arrow for the win. This was fine; it was every Stardust vs. Neville match you’ve seen, but the crowd wasn’t into it much at all.

* Renee interviewed Paul Heyman. He hyped the Show vs. Lesnar match; newsflash, he’s very good.

* More highlights from Raw.

Team Bella (Nikki, Brie and Foxy) vs. Team PCB (Paige, Becky and Charlotte): Whey in the hell are PCB still tagging together? Did we NOT see them stupidly tag on Raw after they broke up the week before and Paige walk out on them? WHY is this happening?

Got it. We got to see Paige, Becky and Charlotte play reluctant partners, as Becky didn’t want to tag Paige in and tagged herself in, and then Becky tagged herself back in. Like in every PCB match, Becky got cut off and Team Bella got the heat. Solid heat on Becky for a few minutes, and then Charlotte got the hot tag, ran wild and went for the figure eight, but Paige tagged herself in. They argued, Nikki leveled Paige with the forearm and then Team Bella got the heat again, this time on Paige. This felt like every other match these two teams have had, just with the Paige bullshit thrown in. WHY are they still teaming? Well then, they finally did something interesting. Paige crawled for the tag, and Charlotte and Becky gave her the old short arm and dropped to the floor. Nikki then hit the rack attack for the win. Paige ranted post match about her teammates leaving her, noting that she wouldn’t do something like that, but I mean, she did on Monday. She also may have been drunk, or doing a 2013 Ric Flair tribute. This whole angle is completely stupid when you really think about it. It was ok, but FELT long.

* More video recaps.

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Champion Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho : Jericho got promo time in the ring, noting that it was his 25th anniversary in wrestling. He brought up his debut match against Lance Storm, who was there in the first row. Don Callis and Lenny Saint Clair and Dr. Luther are also there, and got shootouts from Jericho. I really wish that Owens had gotten mic time, because his pure dick character would have been fun shitting on Jericho’s pre-match speech. After being down for the last two matches, Jericho and Owens did a good job getting the crowd back. They didn’t work the basic, “shine, heat, comeback and finish” formula; instead opting for a more back and forth match with a brisk pace. They countered each other’s signature stuff well, and had a good chemistry. Jericho looked for the walls late, but Owens poked him in the eye and scored the win with a roll up. As he left, Owens made sure to yell “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CHRIS!” This was the best thing on the show so far, but it felt like a Reader’s Digest version of a really good 15 to 20-minute match.

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Champions New Day (Big E and Kofi) w/Woods vs. The Dudley Boyz: New Day cut a pre-match promo, burying the Dudleyz, noting that they were on their retirement tour, used outdated references and wore glasses without lenses. They are great men. The lack of reaction for the Dudley Boyz entrance was a bit surprising. The Dudleyz controlled early and went for the Wazzup, but after a distraction, Woods shoved Devon off the ropes to get the heat. Devon eventually got the hot tag, ran wild and the Dudleyz hit the 3D, only for Woods to run in and cause the DQ. This was your basic house show finish following an ok, paint by the numbers match. New Day beat down the Dudleyz post match and got a table, but as Woods played taps on the trombone the Dudleyz made the comeback and tossed Big E and Kofi. They then hit the 3D on Woods through the table. The match was fine, with a predictable DQ finish and fun post match to set up the inevitable tables match.

* We get a vide package for Show vs. Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show: Big Show is sporting a big knee brace on his left leg here. Show controlled early with his size and body shots. He then hit three chokeslams, Lesnar would get up in between, and on the third Show got a near fall. Lesnar then had enough of that bullshit and started to hit German suplexes on Show. Lesnar looked for an F5, but ended up losing Show and just slammed him down. He then went back to more suplexes, and hit the F5 for the win. It was exactly what it needed to be, Show gets some heat and then gets destroyed by Lesnar. Post match Lesnar returned to the ring, and Show called him on. Show staggered around and Lesnar hit an overhead belly to belly and another F5, because he could. Thanks for coming Brock, that was entertaining. Eden then said “Let’s hear it for the Big Show!” That was odd.

Steel Cage US Title Match: Champion John Cena vs. Seth Rollins: This is win by pin, submission or escape the cage. Rollins controlled early, teased leaving only for Cena to stop that. They did a bulldog spot off the top rope, and then Cena started to call spots loudly. They went back and forth for a bit, Rollins then hit sling blade and grinded Cena’s face on the cage. I sort of hate that spot in the no blood era, because it feels like they are doing it just to do it because it has always been done is cage matches. If you’re not going to use blood, just toss the fucker into the cage repeatedly to wear him down. They did that a little bit, but didn’t really utilize the cage as well as they could; it’s honestly a lost art these days. I do feel that these guys work really well together, but this felt very toned down early. Rollins would tease escaping, even crawling to the cage door as Cena had the STF locked in. They then battled to crawl out the door, but Rollins slammed the cage into Cena’s face for a near fall. Rollins got another near fall off of a superplex into the falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL!). Rollins looked to climb out and was partly over, but Cena grabbed him by the hair and they battled on top of the cage. This led to a tornado DDT by Cena for another near fall. Rollins stopped Cena from escaping by slamming the door into his face again, but Cena recovered right away to stop that. They worked in some nice near falls, and it certainly picked up down the stretch. Rollins would counter the STF into a cross face, but Cena just Herc’d him up and escaped. Rollins would use a low blow, climb the cage and then…

The Demon Kane arrived. Rollins was scared to escape, so he opted to fly off with a splash and missed. AA by Cena, and that was all. Seth Rollins once again was Cena’s bitch. How is he not the top contender for the world title? I mean, at least have Cena win via escape to protect Rollins a little bit.

* Post match, Kane entered the cage and chokeslammed Rollins and also hit the tombstone to stand tall. Where was Sheamus? Dude had a good chance there.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”