OO Column: Online Onslaught by Rick Scaia (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWE, WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler, Divas, RAW, SmackDown, WrestleMania

OO RAW RECAP
The Brothers of Destruction Return
November 9, 2015

by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OOWrestling.com

Greetings, OO Nation... I hope today finds you happy and healthy. Because it sure as hell finds me in fine spirits!

This past weekend was the annual tradition of about 20 of my friends and I gathering together to relive our college years. Specifically: drinking our faces off and playing Coach K on Sega Genesis (Playstation did come our our junior year, but Genesis was most definitely the console we came of age playing).

I stand before you as a Champion. Well, co-champion. We do a blind draw to form two-man teams... we played with Arizona, and overcame massive odds. First, one of our opponents purposely fouled Damon Stoudamire 29 seconds into a game, and we lost our best player for the entire game. We lost said game by about 40 points, and were banished to the losers' bracket. And then second, when we came roaring out of the losers' bracket to make the finals, the Genesis took it upon itself to commit 5 fouls with Stoudamire BEFORE THE FIRST HALF WAS OVER. So for the second time, we lost our best play for the majority of the game.

But that time, we would not be denied. We steeled ourselves, dug in our heels, and refused to lose. I, personally, played my best game of the tournament (I'm usually a steady role player, and my partner Matt had been doing all the heavy lifting, as one of our handful of ultra-skilled Coach K Ninjas), a full 8 hours into heavy drinking, when others were slipping... but I was on point, baby, and hit a sizzling 82% of my FG attempts! And we were victorious!!!

It's my second championship in our years of doing this; ironically, both came with Arizona as my team, even though they are only the 8th-ranked team in the game, and not a team I personally favor, or anything. But hey, I'll take it!

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it. Not to be smug, or anything... but because you, the wrestling fans of the world, lost a champion last week when Seth Rollins shredded his knee. But now, you have a new champion you can be proud of:

The Rick. Bask in my glorious brilliance!

Meantime, WWE's gonna make you wait 2 weeks before they give you a new champion (and probably not one you'll be all that proud of, if it's Roman Reigns)... but they put the wheels in motion on tonight's show. Here's how it all went down on the completed-5-hours-ago-in-Manchester edition of RAW:

Opening Theme/Pyro/Etc, and we're Not Live in Manchester, England. The WWE Title belt is on a little pedastal in the ring; Cole & The Gang quickly explain that Seth Rollins suffered a severe knee injury last week, and has been stripped of the championship. And now, Triple H is on his way to the ring to explain what we're gonna do about it....

TOURNEY TIME

Before telling us how we're going to address the newly vacant title, HHH wants to stop and make sure we all remember The Man who proudly wore and defended that title for 8 months. Though HHH is definitely heeling it up, the reaction to the mention of Seth Rollins is mixed, with an audible "THANK YOU ROLL LINS" chant.

But then Hunter gets down to business. Rollins is gonna be out of action for 6-8 months, and so he's no longer the champion. But the title won't stay vacant for long, because tonight, we're gonna start a tournament, and it will culminate at Survivor Series, with the crowning of a new champion.

What about some specifics, Trips? Well, before HHH can reveal those, there's someone he has to talk to... he asks for Roman Reigns to come on down to the ring. So Roman complies, and enters through the crowd.

HHH says that it's unfair that Rollins was stripped of the title. But this is also all very unfair to Roman Reigns, who busted his ass to earn a one-on-one title shot at Survivor Series. Now, that title shot is gone.

However, HHH says he might have a way to smooth things over, and make them fair to Roman.... maybe Roman doesn't have to blow through the entire tournament. Maybe HHH can grant Roman a bye, and he can sit back and watch 16 men fight it out, and he'll face the winner of the tournment, one on one, to crown a new champ. Roman gets his fair shot, and he'll be facing a man who had to win four matches to get there.

Roman is, rightly, suspicious. And Hunter really lays it on, talking about how the Authority may have picked Seth Rollins 18 months ago, to be the New Face of WWE. But it was really, really close, and HHH had his eye on Roman all along. So now Seth is out. And Reigns has only gotten better in those 18 months. Hunter says he's willing to get behind Reigns, if Reigns is willing to get on board.

Reigns is still dubious, so HHH keeps campaigning. He says Roman's always had the size, the speed, the strength, the look... but he's never had the cold calculating mindset that it takes to excel in this business. Seth Rollins had it, and that's why he accepted the Authority's offer. Now, that same offer is out to Reigns. HHH isn't asking Reigns to do anything he, himself, hasn't done. He's just asking Reigns to step up and admit that he'll do whatever it takes to be the best.

Finally, Reigns speaks, and bluntly says, "So I can live my dream, and all I have to do is sell out to you?" HHH tries to skirt around it, saying there's no selling out involved, because we don't live in a fantasy world were good and virtue always win out. We live in a reality where Roman will never make everybody happy. He can stick to his misguided morals all he wants, and some people are still gonna boo him. Or, he can be more pragmatic, accept HHH's offer, and some people may boo him, but they'll be booing the new WWE Champion. So c'mon, think about it... do the smart thing, Roman.

Roman pauses, and weighs his options. Some of the crowd start chanting "YES!" and others "NO!" (so there IS an audience that would welcome a Reigns heel turn, it seems)... but finally, Reigns says No Way. Triple H can take his offer and shove it.

HHH just shakes his head, pityingly. "The size, the speed, the strength, the look.... but you got no brains, Roman. Thanks for reminding me why we didn't pick you the first time around. If you don't want to play ball, fine, you can enter the tournament on the same level playing field as 15 other guys. Oh, except for one thing: those other 15 guys will have time to prepare for their matches. You don't. Because you're first round match is happening right now. And it's against the Big Show."

Out comes Big Show, and apparently that match will take place immediatley following some....

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ROMAN REIGNS vs. BIG SHOW (WWE Title Tournament)

It's a fairly dominant start for the Big Show, as he pummels Reigns with chops, headbutts, and punches. Any time Reigns does rally, Show mostly no-sells it, and drops Reigns with one big retalitory blow.

The process repeats a few times until Reigns gets a bit of actual traction... but then he tries to pick Show up for a bodyslam, and he can't. Show just laughs, rag dolls Roman, and then screams that "I'm a freaking GIANT." That elicits some heat as we break for...

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Back, and it's more methodical offense for Big Show, including the never-thrilling bearhug submission attempt. The crowd responded by trying to entertain itself, with The Wave. Doh.

But the lame-ass bearhug gives Roman a move that he can power out of, to start his rally. So he does. He hits a Samoan Drop, which is fairly impressive. Then, a modified Drive-By, with Show draped over the middle rope (instead of flat on the apron), which is actually even more impressive.

Builds up to Reigns calling for the Superman Punch... but as he leaps, Show catches him by the throat, and hits the flash chokeslam for a convincing near fall.

But then Show steps back and calls for the KO Punch... this time, it's Reigns who has the counter, and he hits a flash Superman Punch, and then a quick spear to follow up. That's enough to keep Show down for the three.

Your Winner: Roman Reigns, via pinfall, in about 12 minutes. Reigns seems an odds-on favorite to win the whole thing (or, at least, to make the finals, where WWE might have some kind of swerve planned), so this outcome was never in doubt. Add in the fact that the first 10 minutes were excruciatingly slow and bland, and it's not exactly a riveting affair. Last couple minutes heated up nicely, but honestly, it'd be charitable to call this 5 minutes of match in a 12 minute bag.

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The Bracket: Reigns had no prep time, but now, here's the official bracket, so everybody else will have at least SOME advance notice of who they are facing....

2015 WWE Title Tourney

Yep, definitely set up for Reigns to make the finals. Seems like Reigns/del Rio and Ambrose/Owens are the likely semi-finals (the semis and finals take place at Survivor Series), with the only drama coming from the possibility of a Reigns/Ambrose final in which one guy might turn heel

Now that we've seen the bracket, it's time for another match...

KEVIN OWENS vs. TITUS O'NEIL (Non-Title Tourney Match)

On his way to the ring, Owens cuts a promo about the Royal Family, to generate some cheap heat. But he also says that while he's proud to be the InterContinental Champion, he will not be satisfied until he is also the WWE World Champion... and now, less than 6 months into his WWE career, the path to that title is laid out in front of him, and he strongly suggests that nobody try to stand in his way, or else they will pay the price...

First up, is Titus O'Neil, a full time tag wrestler. So, ummmm, yeah, good luck with that, Titus.

Titus lands about 2 shots, Owens rolls out of the ring to regroup, and all of 45 seconds into the match, we break for...

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Back, and you know what? We're all adults here, so let's not pretend this was something it wasn't.

Your Winner: Kevin Owens, via pinfall, in 5 minutes. Yeah, they snuck an ad break in there, but that just slightly prolonged the inevitable squashy squashy.

Backstage: Renee Young is standing by with Paige, and right off the bat, the prickly heat is tangible, as Paige reminds us of how Renee wrongly accused her of beating up Nattie. But Renee retorts that, Fine OK, I was wrong about that, but it still doesn't excuse your behavior towards your friends and teammates, Charlotte and Becky.

Paige just scoffs. There are no friends in this business, and if Charlotte and Becky's feelings were hurt, well boo hoo. Paige will set out to hurt their bodies, because THAT is what this business is all about. Paige promises to do damage to Becky later on tonight, and that's just a preview of what Paige will do to "Baby Flair" at Survivor Series.... because with the title on the line "This B is gonna take out that C." Oooooohhhhh, naughty!

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BECKY LYNCH vs. PAIGE

Becky going it solo to start (Charlotte is shown watching on a monitor, backstage). Old school chain wrestling to start, never breaking the lock-up, despite being up, down, and all over the ring. Very nice. Finlay should be proud.

Paige gets to the ropes, and finally gets a clean break from Becky. But as soon as they go back at it, Paige does not return the favor, cheapshotting Becky on the break. From there, mostly heel offense for a couple minutes, building up to an Abominable Stretch (which is no fun, unless Big E is doing it, dammit!).

Becky powers out of this, and commences to fire up. A little back and forthy end game, with convincing near falls after various suplexes and superkicks. Paige finally sets up for the RamPaige, but Becky blocks it. Frustrated, Paige goes for a schoolgirl roll-up, and uses a handful of tights for illegal leverage...

But Becky is able to roll through into a roll-up of her own. And she figures that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and so she grabs a handful of tights, too. And she gets the pinfall win!

Your Winner: Becky Lynch, via pinfall, in 5 minutes. Nothing fancy, but the last 2 minutes were pretty strong, and led up to a satisfying upset finish (albeit one that does zero damage to Paige's street cred, since Becky technically did cheat).

After the Match: Paige is understandably pissed, and viciously attacks Becky. Becky is rudely introduced to various ringside implements, before Paige cinches in the PTO on top of the announce table. Becky is in agony, and tapping like mad, but Paige doesn't break it until Charlotte comes running out for the save. Paige quickly runs away from the fight, as Charlotte checks on Becky.

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DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. MIZ (WWE Title Tournament)

Miz immediately targets Ziggler's gimpy knee. It's the same one that Tyler Breeze has been attacking, and the same one that gave Ziggler fits last Monday on RAW, too.

So basically, that's how they tricked us into thinking it was the "mid-match" heel beatdown, after only 30 seconds of action. It was 100% Miz on offense for several minutes, leading up to a Figure Four Leg Lock.

Ziggler was in terrible shape, but heroically kept fighting through the pain until he finally got a rope break. Miz begrudgingly released the hold, and sold frustration as Ziggler pulled himself up to his feet... Miz finally sees this, and moves in to continue the assault.

But he walks right into a flash superkick. Ziggler falls on top of him, and since Miz has a glass jaw, that's all it takes for Dolph to get the pin.

Your Winner: Dolph Ziggler, via pinfall, in 4 minutes. Not much of a match, action-wise. But story-wise, it was clearly and consicely told. The fact that Ziggler advances in the tourney, but cannot even walk out of the ring under his own power, opens up a TON of intriguing possibilities for next Monday's quarterfinals. More on that later...

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Promo Interlude: Zeb Colter (on his Jazzy Scooter) and Alberto del Rio (with his US Title belt) come out onto the stage to remind us they exist. Since ADR is fixing to feud with Jack Swagger, and Swagger has trouble making the foriegn tours due to his 2012 marijauna arrest, we're just gonna suspend that story for a week, and focus on Alberto's involvement in the WWE Title Tourney.

Zeb cuts a little 2 minute mini-promo hyping ADR vs. Stardust on Thursday's SmackDown, which is a first round tourney match. Stardust is fixing to be the de facto babyface in that one. [Also, Kalisto vs. Ryback is happening on Thursday, and is the mirror image face/face showdown in which Ryback will probably be the de facto heel. Neville vs. Barrett is the third tourney match slated for Thursday's SD.]

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NATALYA vs. NAOMI (w/ Sasha Banks and Tamina)

Bell rings, and the crowd starts chanting "WE WANT SAH SHA!" Nattie cleverly turns it to her favor, by gesturing (Broadly) that, hey, SHE wants Sasha, too, so she can finally get some revenge. So she encourages the crowd to keep chanting it. Well played.

Match is a big fat nothing, as Nattie sets up for a Sharpshooter, Tamina tries to interfere, but it backfires when Naomi collides with her, and Nattie gets the roll-up pinfall.

Your Winner: Natalya, via pinfall, in 90 seconds. Yeah, 90 seconds. I can state, with authority, that this is a thing that happened. The match was nothing, but after the match, Team BAD did administer a beatdown, ending with Nattie in the Banks Statement, so we did nudge that storyline along, I guess.

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CESARO vs. SHEAMUS (w/ King Barrett) (WWE Title Tourney)

During ring intros, Barrett got into a verbal exchange with soccer player Wayne Rooney, who was seated at ringside. Cole informs us that this "feud" dates back months, if you count 140 letter tweets as an actual "feud" of any substance. Regardless, Barrett does not think too highly of Rooney, and the feeling is mutual.

Match starts, and it's a fairly stardard opening gambit, with Cesaro coming out strong, Sheamus bailing out to regroup, and then managing a cat-and-mouse role reversal when Cesaro comes out to chase him down.

It's only been a minute or two, but with Sheamus gloating and in control, we break for...

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Back, and Sheamus is in control, but Cesaro is starting to fire back at him. Cesaro powers out of a chinlock; Sheamus has to snuff that out with a powerslam. Cesaro gets separation, and goes up top; Sheamus has to knock his leg out and slams him off the top. Cesaro fires up with forearms, and calls for the Giant Swing; Sheamus instead gets a rope break.

At this point, Cesaro intends to suplex Sheamus back into the ring via his amazing deadlift/first rope method.... but Sheamus reverses it, and suplexes Cesaro out of the ring and onto the floor. Only problem is, Sheamus lands hard, too. Both men are down, and the ref starts a double count.

Both men just barely make it back into the ring at 9, and we've got ourselves a full reset. Crowd is red hot as the two start trading fists... at first, it breaks in Sheamus' favor, and he snaps off the White Noise. Cesaro kicks out at 2. Sheamus steps back and goes for the Brogue Kick, but Cesaro picks the ankle and turns it into a SharpShooter. Sheamus gets a rope break.

Elbow strikes by Sheamus. Uppercuts by Cesaro. All very stiff and convincing. This time, the xchange breaks in favor of Cesaro, who hoists Sheamus into a sitting position on the top rope, and then -- lightning-like quick -- sends him tumbling to the floor after an impressive as hell standing dropkick.

Cesaro follows, and continues the assault, sending Sheamus into the Timekeeper's Cubicle. Cesaro even has a moment to share a High Five with Wayne Rooney... this annoys King Barrett, who comes over to interject himself. His distraction allows Sheamus to recover and catch Cesaro with a double sledge.

But then, after Sheamus rolls Cesaro back into the ring, the heels make the mistake of staying focused on Rooney. Sheamus keeps it all verbal, and after about 30 seconds of jawing, steps away to continue the match.... but Barrett decides to amp things up, and starts poking and prodding at Rooney.

Rooney responds by slapping Barrett in the face. Sheamus, meantime, kept an eye on all this, and was distracted by it... which means when he stepped through the ropes, Cesaro was waiting with a big twisting flying uppercut. That stunned Sheamus, and so Cesaro managed to wrap him up with an Oklahoma Roll pinning combo.

Your Winner: Cesaro, via pinfall, in 15 minutes. Wow. Pretty much everything after they came back from the ad break was outstanding, and Cesaro is once again looking like a rock star with his impressive moveset and huge crowd reactions. Worth looking up on the youtubes, I think. Sets up an interesting dynamic, as Cesaro now faces Reigns next week in a quarterfinals match. Reigns against a fellow babyface is almsot certainly being done on purpose.... more on that in a moment.

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DEAN AMBROSE vs. TYLER BREEZE (w/ Summer Rae) (WWE Title Tourney)

We kick things off with Breeze using his speed to try to escape the fight, all while Ambrose uses his power brawling to try to rough up the prettyboy. Breeze utilizes the standard tactic of bailing out to regroup....

Ambrose tries to short-circuit that by stepping back for a suicide dive... but Summer steps into the way, and Ambrose has to pull back at the last second. Breeze, then, continues his respite, keeping Summer in front of him as a shield.

But Ambrose is capable of 3-dimensional thinking.... and so he just goes out of the ring and circles back the other way, catching Breeze from behind. Ambrose takes Breeze on a tour of ringside, before ramming him into the barricade, and mimicking Breeze's "lounging on the top rope" move, while blowing Summer a kiss. Heh.

With that, we break for...

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Back, and Ambrose is still in control, getting a near fall after a crossbody. But within 30 seconds, Breeze catches him with a spinkick, and unleashes his more brutal side. Punchy-stompy, including a brief foray out of the ring, to pay Ambrose back for the bit before the ad break.

Breeze settles in with an armbar, really wrenching back with it, which plays to Ambrose's unique skill of REALLY being able to sell being one-armed. And sure enough, once Ambrose fires up out of the submission move, he's at his one-armed best. Breeze is mostly able to snuff out Ambrose's rallies just by punching him in the shoulder, but after a Rebound Clothesline, Ambrose is able to go up top and land a missile dropkick.

That gets him a convincing near fall, but he also landed hard on his shoulder, so he can't immediately follow up. Breeze takes advantage by ramming Ambrose into the turnbuckle, shoulder-first, and getting a near fall after a Backstabber.

Then, Breeze's mean streak was his undoing.... he backed Ambrose into the ropes, but would not give a clean break, so the ref had to get physically entangled. Ambrose took advantage of the entanglement by just backdropping Breeze out of the ring. Breeze landed hard, but Ambrose wasn't in much better shape inside the ring. Breeze got his wits about him, and wasted just a tiny moment by jawing with a ringside fan....

And thus, when he casually slid back into the ring, expecting to resume a beatdown on Ambrose, Ambrose instead managed to catch him with a small package for the flash pin.

Your Winner: Dean Ambrose, via pinfall, in about 10 minutes. It was Breeze's first actual match on WWE TV, and they continued to illustrate that Breeze is equal parts prettyboy and capable brawler. He convincingly dominated Ambrose with the latter part, but his cockiness just barely cost him the win in the end, after a decent little match.

And as an added bonus, this sets up Ambrose vs. Ziggler for next Monday's quarterfinals. That means both Ambrose and Reigns are facing fellow babyfaces, and I re-assert that this is by design, to allow various little teases and red herrings about one or the other turning heel. Reigns is almost certain to collect some boos against the resurgent Cesaro.... and now, there are TONS of ways to play Ambrose vs. Ziggler, with Ziggler's "injured" knee. How do fans respond if Ambrose just vicious attacks that knee? How do fans react if HHH shows up and declares that Ambrose gets a suspicious bye, due to Ziggler's knee, almost as if he's trying to recruit Dean?

Recalling the 1998 Survivor Series tourney, all signs pointed to the Coporation getting behind Mankind, before the swerve reveal that the Rock had sold out to them. I'd love to see them plant the seeds for something similar, with Ambrose in the Unlikely Sell-Out/Mankind role, and Reigns reprising the role his cousin played.

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THE USOS & NEVILLE vs. THE NEW DAY

Recalling last week's 5-on-5 main event, Eggsavier Woods insisted on starting, saying "I got this." Except: he didn't. Jimmy Uso flashed a superkick, and Woods dropped to the mat in terror, crawled back to his corner, and tagged in Kofi.

Then Kofi stormed over to Jimmy, and ate an enzuigiri. Just like that, the heels go over and yank Kofi out of the ring to regroup, and we break for....

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Back, and the tide has turned. Jey Uso is no the legal man, and he's in the wrong part of town. The New Day unleash the Unicorn Stampede on him, and then, Big E gets a near fall after the criss-cross Warrior Splash.

But then, E makes the mistake of taunting the crowd with his hip gyrations... he turned around, and ate a dropkick. Separation thus created, Jey made it to his corner and tagged in Neville. Woods in the corresponding move.

The crowd is oddly lukewarm for their countryman's hot tag. The hell, England? Neville's busting ass, dominating Woods, and getting a near fall after a shooting star press.... but the crowd only heats up with it breaks down into a Pier Six Brawl.

The New Day come in to break up that pinfall, and before you know it, bodies are flying everywhere. The Usos hit stereo planchas on the Woods and Big E, then Neville follows that up by hitting a spinning, twisting plancha onto the whole scrum.

Neville plucked Woods off the scrum, and rolled him into the ring to finish him off. Neville went up top, calling for the Red Arrow.... but Kofi slid the Trombone into the ring, and the ref was distracted for several seconds, as he slid it back out of the ring. Meantime, Big E was up on his feet, leveled the Usos, and then shoved Neville off the top rope.

Neville landed hard, and Woods was able to get a quick pinning combo (putting his feet on the ropes for added leverage, which the ref did not see), and steal the win.

Your Winners: the New Day, via pinfall, in about 8 minutes. Solid match, but not quite enough time to fully ripen. Also, the odd ambivalence towards Neville meant the end game was slow to get sizzling. But still, pretty damned entertaining, and it moves the New Day/Usos tag title feud forwards.

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BRAY WYATT'S EULOGY FOR THE (ALL-TOO-LIVING) DEAD

All night long, they've been hyping that Bray Wyatt would speak some "final words" in memory of the Undertaker and Kane... and now, he's here to deliver those words in our Main Event Promo.

Bray is alone as he hits the ring, and is illuminated by a single spotlight as he waits out a "He's Got the Whole World" sing-along. And then, he speaks.

Bray says that for two decade, the Brothers of Destruction were the benchmark for greatness. But now, they are but memories. The crowd starts chanting "UN DER TAKE HER," and Bray just chuckles and mocks them, assuring them that the Undertaker is quite dead. His spirit and soul absorbed by Bray, and his body burnt to ash.

But just because the Undertaker and Kane are gone, it does not mean we cannot remember them fondly. Bray sarcastically says he joins the fans in paying their respects to their memories... but reminds us that he now controls their powers.

Bray controls the thunder. Bray controls the lightning. And now, the demons march at Bray Wyatt's command.

Bray drops to one knee, and does the Undertaker Urn Pose.

But then, he gets a look of panic on his face, when the awful lightning special effect happens again WITHOUT his calling for it. Same when the corner pyro goes off. And then, the video presentation from last Monday plays IN REVERSE (starting with Taker and Kane materializing into existence, and then highlights of them getting younger and stronger over the years)...

And with a burst of pyro, we find that Taker and Kane are standing together on the stage. Undertaker's music plays, as they stroll to the ring. Bray stands his ground, and the half-brothers step over the top rope and stare him down.

Predictably enough, the lights blink out at this point, and when they come back on, Harper, Rowan, and Strowman are on the apron, and the four Wyatt Family members have Taker and Kane surrounded.

Bray, himself, led the charge, and was quickly repelled... so he laid back in the corner, and watched as his three giants took the fight to Taker and Kane. The good guys hit the first big blow, hitting Stereo Chokeslams on Harper and Rowan.... but then, they were blindsided by a double clothesline from Strowman.

Strowman's victory was short-lived, as the Brothers did a double Zombie Sit-Up to a huge pop... the crowd was going nutzoid and chanting "THIS IS AWE SOME" as Undertaker and Kane won the 2-on-3 brawl. Harper, Rowan, and Strowman all wound up getting tossed out of the ring to the floor.

Bray, meanwhile, was still sitting in a corner, and finally decided it might be time to escape.... NOT SO FAST. Taker and Kane grab him and hit a double chokeslam.

They celebrate for a while over Bray's carcass, and then, they head up the aisle, and hit the double Fist Pose on the stage as we fade to black.

And so ends the show... it's really easy to point out the many stupid elements of the Taker/Kane vs. Wyatts story, and how WWE never even bothered to try to present a compelling narrative for exactly what the Wyatts did to them. They just glossed over that whole thing, and banked on the fact that -- once Taker and Kane made their "surprising" return -- it would be a big enough moment that nobody would care.

And dammit, they were right. The part of my brain that doesn't like dumb shit is really annoyed by this. But the part of my brain that is a wrestling fan doesn't care, because even when wrestling's done right, it ain't exactly rocket surgery. The marginal additional dumbness is very real, and could have been so easily fixed if WWE had any real quality control measures, but it's also not so much dumber than the level of suspended disbelief that I already have to be THAT offensive.

So yeah, I'll take that "moment" of Taker and Kane clearing house together, like it's 1999, and await the next phase of the story.... which presumably involves setting up a 4-on-4 Elimination Match for Survivor Series. Fingers crossed that Daniel Bryan got good news when he consulted a third doctor, because man alive, he would really shoot this feud into hyperdrive!

Rest of the show was largely about getting on top of the WWE Title situation, and I thought WWE did about as well as you could ask for.... yeah, you see the brackets, and you basically know it comes down to Reigns/del Rio and Ambrose/Owens at the PPV... but they've built in some interesting side issues (especially both Reigns and Ambrose having matches agaisnt babyfaces in the second round, with HHH clearly intent on finding a fresh "sell-out") that muddy the waters just enough to keep me intrigued.

Oh, and throw in that awesome Cesaro/Sheamus match, too, and I can't be too upset by tonight's show. Three hours loaded with enough big/newsy story elements, and a youtube-worthy 15 minute fight, and I'll gladly hand out a final grade of B-plus.

I'll see you again in 7, everybody!

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RAW RECAP: Anvil, or Red Herring?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Everybody Hates Berto

RAW RECAP: Look Who's Back

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Care to go Best of Five?

RAW RECAP: An Ace Up His Sleeve

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Sh-Sh-Sheamus and the nOObs

RAW RECAP: Edge, the Motivational Speaker?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: AJ is Angry, Jilted

RAW RECAP: Maybe Cena DOES Suck?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: No! No! No!

RAW RECAP: Brock's a Jerk

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Back with a Bang

RAW RECAP: Yes! Yes! Yes!

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 28

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH. He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.