Granted that 99% of us aren't going to know much personally about anyone who passes away, but I didn't know much about Dusty professionally or his legacy either. Pretty much everything I knew about the man aside from his one-off appearances in the last few years came from Rick's obituary; Rick may hate the reasons for writing them, but he's still a master at doing so.

I honestly don't remember Dusty; I vaguely remember the polka dots, but I don't remember why I remember them, as I didn't start watching WWF until 1993, a couple years after Dusty returned to WCW and had stopped competing. Compounding the problem was that I've always been a WWF/E fan at the expense of competing productions, a fact I'm not proud of, but an observation I'll always admit to.

The point is that I was surprised to learn as much as I did. And with Dusty's DVD on the WWE Network, you can be sure I'll be watching it at some point this week to learn more. Literally the extent of my knowledge of the man came down to knowing what a Dusty Finish was, but not how significant it was, nor how significant of a man the inventor was.

I do know that, from all the stories I've heard, he, Cody, and Dustin were about as tight as a father and two sons can be. Cody and Dustin must be going through hell, and to echo Rick's sentiments, my thoughts go out to them; from what I gather, for anything else he may have been or done, Dusty was a good father, and for that alone I've got infinite respect for him.

Segment 1: No “in memory of” bump to start the show, to my surprise. I bet they'll do a cut scene for it at some point tonight.

Dean Ambrose hits the ring first, sporting the WWE Heavyweight Championship belt, along with a half-dozen necklaces of plastic beads. Ten bucks says they're in New Orleans.

Indeed so, as Ambrose says how awesome of a night he had on Monday as he hopped around Bourbon Street with the belt, along with some selfies on the Titantron to prove it. From there, he goes on about his activities on Monday, including a montage, and OO doesn't recap recaps.

Back to live, Ambrose says he hopes Rollins will remember the feeling of being abandoned by his friends (nice symmetry regarding his turn), and he hopes he remembers how it felt to eat Dirty Deeds on Monday. But if Rollins needs a reminder, Ambrose will remind him by doing it again at Money in the Bank this Sunday.

That spawns Rollins, who says a bunch of generic crap as he assures everyone that he's so totally going to win in that match. Ambrose tells him to relax, that it's all just been a giant ribbing! He lays the belt in the center of the ring, then backs out entirely. But as Rollins picks it up, Ambrose points it that it's just a replica. Rollins demands to know where the real one is; Ambrose responds that he doesn't remember since the last few days have been blurry, and “it still feels like Tuesday for me.” Bwa ha ha, smart joke!

Anyway, Ambrose promises to retrace his steps right now and find it, and further promises that he'll bring it to Money in the Bank for their match, just in time to walk away with it.

Ambrose leaves without further fanfare; Rollins blathers that he's not done screaming at Ambrose, but Kane pops out onto the stage saying that he is indeed done. He reminds Rollins that he lost on Monday after hand-picking his opponents, so Kane and the rest of The Authority won't be helping him anymore. Oh, and he's got a match tonight against Dolph Ziggler, so have fun with that.

Cut Scene: WWE fellates itself for halving 500,000,000 followers “across all social media platforms.” Which means a fuck-ton of those people are following on multiple services but counted multiple times. Look, I know that it's not an insignificant number and any of their services has more followers than I'll ever have in my entire life, but still: you don't have to play games with the definitions of terms to make yourself look better.

Segment 2 [Singles Match]: Ryback defeats The Miz by pin. The Miz opens the match by running like hell twice; playing the chickenshit heel is certainly his forte. But Ryback catches him and uses some basic strikes and a suplex to keep him contained. Ryback fails a pin, and Miz bails again. As Ryback goes to gather him, Miz shoves him into the edge of the table. Ryback lightly oversells, and we go to ads.

Back, and Miz has a sleeper applied. Ryback breaks out presently, then goes all slammy-slammy for a minute. This includes a belly-to-belly suplex followed by a pin, but he can't close the deal.

Miz manages to take down Ryback from there with a chop block, then applies a Figure Four but can't quite cinch it in. Ryback fights out, but Miz fights back with strikes. It's weak sauce compared to Ryback's, and Ryback puts him down quickly, then signals for the Meathook Clothesline. Miz bails from the ring once again, but Ryback chases and catches him, then returns him to the ring.

Ryback tries a Shell Shock out of nowhere, but Miz grabbed the top rope and saved himself, then came down with a Skull Crushing Finale. He hit it clean, but couldn't close the deal either. Ryback crawled to the corner after kicking out; Miz followed him with strikes. The ref pulled Miz off, so Miz retreated to the opposite corner, then stole Ryback's “Feed me more!” taunt that he uses to preface a Meathook. Didn't seem like a good idea, and it wasn't: Ryback got to his feet, Miz ran with a knockoff Meathook, but Ryback hit the real deal first. Ryback followed up with the Shell Shock, and that was that.

The match never really seemed in doubt, though I was surprised they made it that competitive. When the match was first announced, I would have bet you the same ten bucks I won from you up in Segment 1 that it would have been a squash.

Post-Segment 2: After replays and during Ryback's celebration, Big Show popped out onto the stage. He says he's not really impressed with Ryback's win; after all, Show has been a winner for over 20 years, and he's been a giant all his life. Being a giant means that he's used to taking what he wants, and that includes this Sunday when he wins the Intercontinental Title from him. Sure, Ryback hit him with a Shell Shock on Monday, but a match is different than quick skirmish. Show punctuates the point by balling his fist and saying that as much as Ryback may want to be fed more, he can't “digest” the punch. Nice.

The fans chant “Feed me more,” and Show looks bored while doing the “yak yak yak” hand signal. Ryback replies that if Show really wants a fight, they could just do it now. Ryback calls him “little man,” which is apparently enough to anger Show to walk down the ramp.

Except, nope: Show just teases it, reminds us that being a giant means he gets whatever he wants, and he doesn't want to fight right now mostly to spite the audience. Then he hits a second, much stupider punch line that his “feeding time is this Sunday.” Ugh.

That entire thing would have been far more interesting if they cut it before Ryback had his response. Instead, it sort of limps its point across the finish line.

Segment 3 [Singles Match]: King Barrett defeats Jack Swagger by pin. R-Truth is on commentary for this one, and Swagger didn't get an entrance.

Minor exchange of blows to start things off, and it's not long before Barrett puts Swagger down. Then Truth decides to try on Barrett's robe, scepter, and crown. Barrett nearly falls for a flash pin, but kicks out and strikes Swagger a few times to put him down.

Barrett then exits the ring to bitch out Truth until Swagger comes out and beheads him with a clothesline. Swagger can't really do much more beyond that though, and eats the Bull Hammer Elbow presently once the fight goes back in the ring.

So, yeah... basically an extended squash on the balance while still painting Truth as being a plucky prankster. After the match, Truth bailed without a trace, so Barrett contented himself by bitching out the commentators.

Segment 4: After replays of Paige and Nikki Bella's rivalry, we see Paige walking in the back. Alicia Fox runs into her and yells at her that Paige so totally doesn't speak for her, referring to Paige's essential declaration of war against the Bellas and their superficial garbage.

In other words, a totally useless cut scene.

Segment 5: Lana did an interview with Michael Cole over the week as she basically played coy and wouldn't state exactly what her relationship is with Dolph. But apparently, they “read books together and talk about them,” a statement accompanied with an adorable smile. She's so cute, I just want to buy her a cheeseburger!

...Oh wait, then Rusev crashed the interview and blathered some bullshit... enough to make Lana cry? Well, a single tear, but that's better acting ability than 98% of the roster.

Anyway, Rusev plead his case on why they should be together, to which Lana simply replied “It's over,” got up, and left. Again, mostly like a normal rational human woman would in this situation. Rusev watched her go, blamed Michael Cole, then heroically beat up a stand-up lighting rig with his crutches.

Oh, by the way: shitty pacing here. The previous two segments were bookended by commercials and lasted a total of about ten minutes. That's about fourteen minutes total for television viewers (as opposed to Hulu viewers) of bullshit that has nothing to do with the actual, live show. Bleh.

Segment 6 [Singles Match]: Seth Rollins defeats Dolph Ziggler by pin. Tie up to start and minor chain wrestling. Dolph “wins” the first exchange but Rollins gets his foot under the south bottom rope to break it. Second exchange, Rollins “wins” it with a headlock in the center of the ring, but Dolph powers out presently. When Dolph tries to go for more offense, but Rollins bails to regain his breath.

Back in the ring, another exchange that winds up in the corner. Dolph goes for mounted punches but Rollins counters with an electric chair drop. Pin, only two.

Things settle down from there as Rollins keeps on rest holds for what feels like a little too long. Eventually Dolph breaks out with punches then slips a suplex attempt, and he clotheslines Rollins out of the ring; Dolph's momentum took him over the top rope too. Dolph follows up by smacking Rollins's head against the barricade, but when Dolph tries to follow up with one of his signature perfect dropkicks, Rollins catches his ankles. Rollins turns it into a slingshot, sending Dolph over the barricade and into the timekeeper's area. That's a good resting point for ads.

Back, and Rollins is in such full control that Rollins just screams at the crowd for a bit before stomping Dolph and slowly stalking him, sort of like a knock-off Orton Garvin Stomp. He's a little too lackadaisical, and Dolph recovers enough to score a few punches. Rollins puts him down quickly though, then argues with the ref over a two-count.

Once again the delay costs him, as Rollins applies more chin locks for a while before Dolph recovers and counters with a jawbreaker, breaking free. Rollins charges to try to recover, but Dolph back body drops him over the top rope.

Dolph can't follow up, and Rollins crawls back into the ring. After a pregnant pause, both guys find their feet, and Dolph goes house of fire out of nowhere capped off with a jumping DDT. Pin, only two.

Then comes fast-paced chain wrestling as the guys exchange about eleventy billion pin attempts, all without closure. That includes one following a Famous-Er out of nowhere from Dolph, but even that only gets a two.

Both guys get to their feet, and Dolph jumps at Rollins for... some reason. Was he going for another jumping DDT? Either way, Rollins catches him and prepares something, but Dolph counters that by slipping away and landing on the apron. He then guillotines Rollins on the top rope.

Dolph quickly scrambles to the top turnbuckle and leaps off with a flying cross body. It connects, but he put a little too much extra stank into it, allowing Rollins to roll through and transition to a pin. He grabs an unseen handful of tights for good measure, and that's the win.

Solid enough match with a predictable outcome, and neither guy comes off looking badly. Might be worth a YouTube watch, likely will be Match of the Night, but it's not something you need to go out of your way for. As the commentators point out, one big takeaway here is that Rollins can beat people on his own, without The Authority helping him out. But can he do that against Ambrose on Sunday?

Segment 7 [Singles Match]: Paige defeats Alicia Fox by submission. Tie up to start that Alicia wins with a quick rear hold that doesn't go anywhere. Paige breaks out of it with about a dozen elbows to Alicia's face and gut, earning separation. Alicia charges with a kick but is caught, and Paige transitions to a complex hold that's basically an STF, except she's kneeling and has the legs hooked with her own knee, rather than laying on her opponent with the legs locked around her leg. I dunno man, I'm not as good at describing unfamiliar wrestling holds as Rick is... just roll with it, and know that it looked painful as hell.

Paige was all smiles as Alicia screamed in pain, though Alicia finally got to the ropes to force a break. Paige did so cleanly, but Alicia didn't as she booted Paige in the head as she tried to pick her up. Alicia went kicky-kicky from there, then tried a couple pins. Both failed, so then Alicia went for a seated chinlock as a tepid minority of fans clapped to encourage Paige.

Paige managed to fight up to her feet, but Alicia knocked her down and reapplied the hold, then transitioned to a lay-down sleeper with a leg scissor too. Paige fought out of that as well but Alicia's fierce feet kept Paige contained, even for another pin attempt. Only two.

Alicia decided to go high risk from there, but was caught on the top rope. Then Paige forgot she wasn't on a pay-per-view and busted out two dangerous moves. For the first, she sort of did a modified DDT, except rather than slamming Alicia's face to the canvas, she slammed Alicia's face on the top rope. The bounce-back gave the visual of the spot being really violent, which Alicia sold like a champ by flying to the apron and falling off in a heap.

For the follow up, Paige exited to the apron just to scream to kill some time. Alicia managed to get back to her feet, but Paige took her down again with a running standing senton off the apron; once more, it looked violent as hell, and Paige popped up as if that's how she gets her morning newspaper. (Or whatever you kids do these days with your Twitters and your Internets.)

Paige picked up Alicia's carcass from there and flung her back in the ring, then went for the PTO. Alicia fought out of it and tried the Scissor Kick, but Paige dodged it and countered with a stiff kick of her own. Paige then slapped on the Paige Tap Out in such a stiff way that Alicia had to “tap” by barely touching her own thigh with a single finger.

Solid enough match, though the fans were a little cold until Paige decided to break several workplace safety rules, and a good bit of momentum to enter with for Money in the Bank. It's Paige's house!

Segment 8: Video recap of Kevin Owens beating John Cena clean, and promos from each.

Segment 9: Renee Young interviews the Prime Time Players in the back. The PTP put themselves over and are exuding confidence as they are sure they're ready to face The New Day. Then Darren Young coyly mentions his sexuality as smoothly as butter: Titus mentions that the PTP had their coming out party over the last few weeks. Young replies that they really had their coming out party “last summer.” O'Neil pats Young on the chest as he replies that “you had your coming out party last summer.” Whether it's piped in noise or an actual crowd reaction, the fans appreciated the little aside, as did I. Good stuff: that's how you acknowledge something like that without making sound as if it's literally the only important thing in a context. Good stuff.

Titus says that Young should be proud of his coming out, just as they will both be proud of kicking the shit out of the New Day, winning the titles, and “getting rid of that damn clap.” Titus then stands on the other side of Renee as he makes his own clap to New Day's rhythm, but saying “Prime. Time-Players” on the beat. The best part is that Renee claps along and even puts extra hip and shoulders into it as she combines the clapping with the Millions of Dollars dance, which means she's out PTP-ing the PTP. Good stuff as well.

Segment 10 [Six-Man Tag Match]: Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, & Neville defeat Kofi Kingston, Kane, & Sheamus (w/ The New Day) by disqualification. Six of the seven participants of the upcoming ladder match are involved, so this should be good!

Reigns and Kofi to start with an exchange of moves. Reigns wins it with power, then presently tags in Neville. Neville manages an arm wrench but nothing more, then the guys exchange flippy escapes to each other's moves. Kofi eventually drives Neville to the heels' corner, where Sheamus tags in and keeps him contained with strikes.

When Sheamus goes for a slam, Neville slips out of his grip and hits a diving tag to Orton, who goes punchy-kicky to keep Sheamus contained. Stomps and knees lead to a pin attempt that doesn't even get a one-count, and Sheamus retakes offense with a timely knee to his gut. Sheamus continues beating the crap out of Orton, and that takes us to our final ads, which was a little awkwardly timed.

Back, and Sheamus has a firm sleeper on Orton, who powers out of it immediately and hits a belly-to-back suplex to break out and put him down. Orton tags to Neville, who breaks several speed records as he kicks the shit out of basically everything and sets Sheamus up for a Red Arrow. But the heels spread out and distract the ref, allowing Kane to crotch Neville on the top rope and snuff out his rally.

Sheamus is still legal at that point, so he goes punchy-kicky and throws Neville off the top rope before dragging him to the heels' corner. Kane tags in and goes for his slow but powerful strikes as he keeps Neville contained. Quick tags among the heels cut the ring in half.

Kofi took his turn in striking Neville as well, then tags in Sheamus, who hits three Irish Curse Backbreakers, which was pretty fun to watch. Sheamus then goes for a goddamn chin lock instead of, I don't know, pinning or continuing to attack the back. Neville rises; Sheamus flings him to the corner, but when he charges, Neville slips it. Sheamus slams his own shoulder into the post, then falls out of the ring.

Neville now has the opening he needs. Hot tag to Reigns, who goes house of fire and nearly rips Kofi's skin off with all those clotheslines. The other members of New Day try to run distraction and just get tossed for it, then Reigns signals for the Superman Punch.

And thus starts my favorite sequence of Six-Man Tag Matches: the “Pier Six Finisher” sequence, as Kane chokeslams Reigns, Orton RKOs Kane, Sheamus Brogue Kicks Orton, Neville missile dropkicks Sheamus, Kofi Trouble in Paradises Neville, and Reigns finally Superman Punches Kofi. I freaking love those sequences!

No Spear necessary as Reigns shoots the half... which just makes Big E and Xavier Woods slide in the ring to break it up. Jerks.

Post-Segment 10: New Day beats the crap out of Reigns some more, including a super Big Ending with a Woods assist. Huh, I thought Reigns would be able to fight out of that.

Woods then bails from the ring long enough to grab a tall ladder out from under the ring, and he sets it up in the middle. He and E help Kofi up and encourage him to climb the ladder up to the briefcase in the center of the ring, just to make a statement. Good idea, but then Dolph comes on down with a ladder of his own. E and Woods go intercept; Dolph flattens them with his ladder, then jumps in the ring just to pull Kofi off his. Dolph then does his super clothesline to send Kofi and himself out of the ring.

Kane runs over to that mess, along with The New Day, and everyone starts beating the shit out of each other. Neville slides in the ring, looks at the tall ladder, then looks at the fighting dudes at west ringside. Because gravity (and basic self-preservation) forgot him, he moves the ladder to the west ropes as the fans leave their seats. Yeah guys, I would too.

Neville climbs to the very top. Two refs hits the ring ostensibly to stop him, but actually to support the ladder. Neville flies off the top of the ladder with a high-angle crossbody... yes, a high angle one even from an insanely high elevation. It connects, bodies are everywhere, and the entire referee brigade checks on everyone.

Then, uh... a weird camera cut as we get a replay, then another cut as the ladder is now dead center of the ring, the house lighting looks different, and the fans are pretty calm. Huh. I get that things need to be edited for television and all, but this... this was a little too blatant of an edit. Weird.

Anyway, Neville climbs up the ladder and detaches the briefcase and poses with it at the top of the ladder. The fans are happy, but that pretty much signals he's going to lose on Sunday. Curious who's going to actually win, though.

Final Thoughts: And you should get WWE Network to find out the answer to that question, and/or check out Rick's recap of it shortly after 11pm on Sunday. And as I said at the top of the precap, you should probably check out Dusty Rhodes's on-demand history from there too.

As for tonight, the show was decent as a lead-in to the pay-per-view, but I wouldn't call it a home run. It was much like RAW: solid as sustainable episodic TV I suppose, but nothing you're going to remember in a week. You can safely skip it, especially if you plan on checking out Money in the Bank itself.

I think that everything else that needed to be said, I already said in the body of the recap. I'm going to relax on Sunday, since I'll be doing a special show on my Hitbox channel at 8pm. Yeah yeah, it's on at the same time as Money in the Bank, but hey: check it out anyway! You'll get to hear me as I “drive” drunk, except rather than being an idiot asshole driving a real car, I'll be smashed as I'm driving a fake car in a videogame. Infinitely more safe and fun!

I'll see you next week, if the hangover subsides.