The Official Wrestling Thread (now with more news and stuff)

[Arcademan]

WWE Superstars Results: 1-14-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- PRIMO & GAIL KIM vs. CHAVO GUERRERO & JILLIAN HALL

Chavo was the aggressor early on and worked over Primo in the heel corner before Gail and Jillian tagged in for their respective teams. Jillian took control and worked over Gail before bringing in Chavo, which forced Primo to enter. Chavo wanted the Three Amigos suplexes, but Primo blocked a third one. Chavo took control anyways, and Gail broke up a pin attempt. Chavo then cornered Gail and feigned going after her, which allowed Primo to sneak up behind Chavo to roll him up for a pin following a dropkick to the jaw from Gail. Well, look at that, Primo and Gail in the win column. They celebrated the victory post-match before the show went to break.

WINNERS: Primo & Gail in 5:00. Fine warm-up match getting some stars on TV and putting the likeable babyface Gail in peril before Primo scored the pin to start the show on a feel-good note. (*)

2 -- CHRIS MASTERS (w/Eve) vs. CARLITO

The bell sounded and Masters cold-cocked Carlito with a right hand. That should have been the end of the match, but the match continued with Carlito regaining control on the floor after suckering Masters into his trap. Cole and Lawler sounded like announcers at a Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest quietly talking about Masters's assets as he made a babyface comeback. Carlito then surprised Masters with a dropkick to the back before flashing a cocky smile. He then charged Masters, but Masters moved and Carlito ate the corner turnbuckles. Masters then telegraphed and applied the Masterlock center ring, which drew a submission after ten seconds. Cue up the MasterEve celebration.

WINNER: Masters in 3:00. It was there, then over. The take-away point for Carlito was creating a memorable impression for viewers with some good facial expressions throughout the match. In a WWE environment where wins and losses don't really mean much in these types of matches, it's about standing out and creating a lasting impression. Carlito won in that regard. (n/a)

3 -- MIKE KNOX & CHARLIE HAAS vs. SLAM MASTER J & JIMMY WANG YANG

In a battle of teams and wrestlers that simply do not win matches, Team J started off with control until Knox ran over SMJ with a brick wall-like splash. Knox then brought in Haas, who stretched SMJ's body. Knox re-entered and pounded on SMJ. Haas re-entered and stretched SMJ, who finally teased that hot tag to Yang and connected after ducking underneath Haas. Yang went wild on the heels before scoring a one count on Haas when Knox broke up a pin attempt. SMJ then cleared Knox to the outside before nailing a plancha on the floor. Back in the ring, Yang caught Haas in the corner and came off the top with a moonsault that grazed Haas on the shoulder to score the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Yang & SMJ in 4:00. And Knox still can't pick up a win. Knox and Haas make a nice little tag team based on this match with some nice, fast-paced, in-and-out tag team action working over SMJ. It was good to see Yang and SMJ in the win column for once, although WWE needs to be building up some strong heel tandems they can feed to DX for a one-off match. (*1/4)

4 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN vs. WILLIAM REGAL -- non-title match

The announcers sold this as a "learning opportunity" for Jackson before his title shot against Christian at the Royal Rumble. The learning opportunity quickly ended when Jackson was booted from ringside when the ref spotted him attempting outside interference. Regal sold concern as they cut to break.

Back from break, Regal and Christian exchanged control before Regal knocked Christian off the ring apron and Christian ate the mat neck-first. They slow-motion replayed Christian eating the mat neck-first, which was slightly uncomfortable considering head/neck issues in pro wrestling. Back in the ring, Regal aggressively went after Christian before Christian blocked a corner attack and hit a leaping cross-body splash for a two count. Christian followed with a top rope missile dropkick for another two count. Christian then went up top again and missed with a diving headbutt (ugh landing on the neck). Regal then landed forearms to the back of the head before measuring Christian for a running knee smash, but Christian ducked and caught Regal with a kick to the gut. Regal tried to come back with a sunset flip with rope leverage, but the ref saw it and stopped his three count.

In the confusion, Christian to hit the Killswitch, but Regal slipped out and applied the Regal Stretch. Christian escaped, but Regal smashed him with a forearm to the face. Regal tried to follow with a double underhook suplex, but Christian blocked, ducked underneath Regal, and hit the Killswitch for the pin and the win. Well done. Post-match: Christian stood tall with possession of the ECW Title. After replays of the high points in the match, they closed the show with Christian holding up the ECW Title center ring.

WINNER: Christian in 13:00. Solid TV main event with a very strong final three minutes of counters, reversals, and high-impact moves. Christian and Regal have great chemistry being able to go full-speed without holding back in the ring. Nice match worth catching on the DVR. (**1/4)

[Arcademan]

TNA Impact! Results: 1-14-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Wilkenfeld's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

(1)ALEX SHELLEY & CHRIS SABIN vs. GENERATION ME

Some guy, “Max”, does a bit of decent chain wrestling with Sabin. Shelley tags in just long enough to work a quick double team. “Jeremy” tries to interfere, but gets caught with stereo kicks to the head. Shelley tags in and works a headlock on Max, till he powers out. We go to a split-screen shot of the nWo walking around. Like with the cutaways to Flair last week, I'm not digging the symbolism. Max suddenly elevates Shelley over the ropes with a back body drop, then flips over Sabin for some type of Moonsault-style float over Neck Breaker—who is this guy? Jeremy tags in and keeps Shelley from reentering, catches Sabin with an Inverted Atomic Drop, then slides out the apron and hits a Moonsault on Shelley in one fast motion. He comes in with a Slingshot X Factor onto Sabin for a long two count. I thought they had it. Sabin fights out of the corner with a boot and an Ensuguri, but when he goes for a Bulldog on Jeremy Max Superkicks his head off. Sabin fights his way back with a couple of arm wrenches and tags in Shelley. Shelley enters with a side kick off the top rope, but he misses with a German Suplex attempt and gets whacked by a Spear. Generation Me hit a simultaneous Frog Splash/Standing Moonsault; Sabin breaks up the cover at two, then gets tossed from the ring. Shelley flights out of the corner with a Flat Liner to Max into the middle turnbucke, and Sabin comes in with a Cross Body Block onto Jeremy. The Guns work a double team for a two count, broken up by Jeremy, who again tosses Sabin from the ring. Shelley goes for Sliced Bread #2, but Max shoves him into a Superkick from a returning Jeremy. They Oklahoma Roll Shelley into the corner, then hit him with a 450 Splash and a Moonsault off the top rope in rapid succession—and that's all she wrote.

WINNERS: Generation Me. I'm all for upsets, but did it have to be on the back of the Guns?

(2)MADISON RAYNE & VELVET SKY vs. HAMADA & AWESOME KONG
Non-title match

Hamada locks up with Velvet Sky to start. The ref breaks it up, and Velvet Sky takes advantage, yanking Hamada down by the hair. She stands her up and Bulldogs her back down for two. She tags in Rayne, who connects with some shoulder thrusts in the corner. Sky tags back in. They look for a double team Russian Leg Sweep, but take a second to taunt Kong first. That gives Hamada the chance to slip out and make the tag. This won't go well for the Beautiful People. Kong stacks them up in the corner, splashes them, and then kills Rayne with an Awesome Bomb.

WINNERS: Awesome Kong and Hamada in two minutes. After the match everyone goes to check on Rayne, including Angelina Love.

The crowd's glad to see Love...and maybe I called this one right, cause she just kicked down Von Erich and Speared Sky out of her boots. Love zeroes in on Sky, following her out and whipping her into the guard rail. On her way backstage she comments about what a bad idea it was to try to replace her.

(3)TEAM 3D vs. LETHAL CONSEQUENCES

Ray and Devon hit the 3D on Creed, then make the cover.

WINNERS: Team 3D in about five seconds.

(4)MATT MORGAN & HERNANDEZ vs. BEER MONEY INC.
Storm sidesteps a charging Hernandez to start. Hernandez lifts Storm out to the apron, but Storm kicks him and comes back with a Neck Breaker from the top rope. Roode tags in and they hit the Beer Money Suplex, but don't notice that Hernandez has made the tag to Morgan. Morgan squishes Roode in the corner and hits a side slam for two. Roode gets up firing and tags in Storm. They try for a double clothesline; Hernnadez blind tags himself in, but Morgan stops himself and goes for a double Choke Slam anyway. It's reversed by kicks to the gut, but Hernadnez comes in with a slingshot shoulder block. They roll out of the ring, and Super Mex flies out after them. While Hernandez is out there, Rob Terry attacks, and the ref throws the match out.

WINNERS: N/A.

(5)DESMOND WOLFE vs. SAMOA JOE

Joe powers Wolfe into the corner and unloads with a messing load of jabs. Joe whips him into the opposite corner and follows him with a running elbow and a jumpkick. Wolfe gets out swinging, but gets caught with a snap power slam. Joe looks for the Kokido Clutch, but Wolfe backs him into the corner. Wolfe goes for his running back elbow, but Joe catches him with a Ura-Nage. Wolfe charges into another one, but this time he reverses it into an arm drag and follows up with his hammerlock takedown. The running elbow connects on try number two. Joe shoves Wolfe away from the corner and climbs to the top rope. Wolfe knocks his legs out from under him and looks for the Tower of London, but Joe locks in the Kokido Clutch from the top rope. While in the hold, Wolfe is still able to connect with the Tower of London, which is enough for the kill.

WINNER: Desmonde Wolfe in 3 minutes. I think the right man won, but they totally failed to make this seem like a big deal, both because of how the match was presented and how much time it got.

(6)AJ STYLES vs. TOMKO
World Heavyweight Championship Match

We start to get the full main-event intro, but Styles jumps the bell and attacks Tomko. Tomko tries to fire back, but AJ ducks and takes out his leg. Tomko rolls out of the ring, but AJ stays on him. He starts whacking Tomko's left arm into the steps, the ring post, and the barricade. He rolls Tomko into the ring as Angle appears in the entrance-way AJ kicks Tomko in the face, but is distracted a bit by Kurt and gets flung from the ring. Kurt goes up to shake Flair's hand as Tomko brings AJ back into the ring for a running power slam for two. Tomko hits some punches and chops on AJ in the corner. AJ starts firing back, but runs right into a big boot for two.

We come back just in time for a snap power slam from Tomko for a surprisingly long two count. Tomko chokes AJ twice, breaking at four both times. He then uses a leg choke, again working the full five count. Tomko appears to be bleeding from his mouth. AJ fights from his knees, but Tomko hoists him up for a slam. AJ slips out, hits a standing Ensuguri, then connects with the Pele for the win. That was a bit anti-climactic.

WINNER: AJ Styles in eight minutes.

After the match Tomko goes on the attack, but Kurt Angle runs down to make the save. He tosses Tomko from the ring, then extends his hand to AJ. AJ mysteriously walks away. Flair watches on with a slight smile.

[Arcademan]

WWE RAW Results: 1-18-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- WWE champion SHEAMUS vs. EVAN BOURNE -- non-title match

The bell sounded and #1 contender Randy Orton slowly walked out on stage to get a close look at the action. Evan Bourne has qualified for the Rumble, of note. Who knows how. Orton made his way to ringside and Sheamus stopped to glare at him. Meanwhile, Bourne smashed him in the back of the knee with a kick strike before landing a leaping kick strike. He followed with a double knee smash off the top rope for a two count. Sheamus then hit a backbreaker to cut off Bourne's momentum before hitting a bicycle kick. Sheamus then put Bourne up in the air for his Outsider's Edge finisher and the win.

WINNER: Sheamus at 2:05. I don't agree with throwing the champion in a segment without any hype and where he loses credibility points for nearly being pinned by someone who never wins matches on TV, even with Orton's distraction. WWE needs to build up Sheamus right now, not put him in a position to look vulnerable every week. (n/a)

2 -- JACK SWAGGER vs. MARK HENRY -- Over-the-top-rope challenge

Swagger ducked under a clothesline and hit a forearm, but Henry proceeded to lift up Swagger in the air and press-slam Swagger over the top rope to the floor. And Henry wins. Swagger threw a fit ringside while Henry celebrated the easy victory.

WINNER: Henry at 0:31. Unexplainable. (n/a)

3 -- JOHN CENA & KOFI KINGSTON vs. LEGACY (CODY RHODES & TED DIBIASE)

Legacy isolated Cena early in the match and cut off a brief comeback, but Kofi eventually got the hot tag at 2:45 to do his routine on DiBiase. Kofi hit the Boom Drop, then teased Trouble in Paradise, but DiBiase moved away to a neutral corner. Cody then caused confusion in the corner allowing DiBiase to land a smashing clothesline to cut off Kofi. Legacy took control going to break.

Back to the tag match where Cena urged Kofi to make the tag while Legacy kept working Kofi over. DiBiase missed with a clothesline on Kofi in the corner, then Cody just ran across the ring and knocked Cena off the ring apron to keep Legacy on the advantage. Kofi back-dropped out of a suplex attempt, then Cena begged for a tag and took the tag with the crowd exploding for Cena's full comeback routine. Cena called for the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Cody and delivered center ring. Cody then countered the FU with a Russian Legsweep for a two count. Cena then blocked a bulldog and hit the FU on Cody, but DiBiase broke up the pin. The action broke down and Kofi took a blind-tag with Kofi coming off the top with a high cross-body splash on Cody after DiBiase ducked. Kofi made the cover on Cody for the pin and the win.

WINNERS: Cena & Kofi at 10:55. Good formula TV tag match with high energy and some good work from Legacy extending the iso on Kofi and the teased finishes before Kofi won the match. More tension between Cody and Ted will probably be played up, yet again, in the weeks to come. Overall, it was good to see Kofi get a win and Legacy standing alone without Orton. (**1/4)

4 -- MARYSE & ALICIA FOX vs. GAIL KIM & EVE

Maryse took control early on and knocked Gail to the outside so she could do her pose. Maryse continued to work over Gail before Eve took a hot tag at 2:00. The action broke down with Alicia tagging in and all four women involved in the finish, which was Eve scoring a pin on Alicia for the win.

WINNERS: Eve & Gail at 2:50. Your standard three-minute divas match extending the Divas Title situation another week. Just fine. (n/a)

5 -- RANDY ORTON vs. CHRIS MASTERS (w/Eve)

The bell sounded and Sheamus's music hit to bring out the WWE champion for a closer look. Formula, but good stuff with Orton and Sheamus here. Masters and Orton locked up center ring and Masters landed a hard shoulder block. The crowd hasn't heard Masters turned babyface. Masters tried the Masterlock, but Orton flung him away, only to take a powerslam for a two count. They showed Sheamus staring intently into the ring as Orton came back with a fallaway backbreaker. Orton then got down on the mat to set up the RKO, but Masters countered into the Masterlock. Orton tried to escape by grabbing the ropes and he started to fade, which drew Masters into a trap for Orton to grab the ropes for a break. Masters then approached Orton for follow-up offense, but Orton dropped him with the RKO out of nowhere. Orton made the pin for the win.

WINNER: Orton at 2:50. Really intriguing segment here. There was a babyface that Knoxville hadn't heard turned babyface, a long-standing heel playing for sympathy, and the WWE champion. It was just different and in a good way. The post-match put good heat on Sheamus with WWE subtly making Orton the default babyface for the Rumble. WWE gets a B+ for developing the Orton-Sheamus program for the Rumble on this week's show. (*)

6 -- Unified tag champions DX (SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H) & HORNSWOGGLE (w/Don Johnson) vs. THE BIG SHOW & U.S. champion THE MIZ & JON HEDER

The match was joined in progress with "vintage Shawn Michaels" as Michaels and Miz worked against each other. Miz hit a neckbreaker early while Heder was shown still standing on the apron in his Ric Flair robe. Show then tagged in and worked over Michaels before executing a sidewalk slam focused on the back.

They hit the top of the hour with Cole resetting the show and focusing on the guest hosts tonight. Miz tagged back in and Michaels ripped off a round of chops. They followed with a double knock-down and Michaels crawled to his corner to tag in Hornswoggle? Horny dropkicked Miz, but then Miz smashed him with a clothesline from his knees. Heder wanted a tag, which brought in Heder, who removed his robe to reveal an old-school 1940s wrestler body. Heder proceeded to kick Hornswoggle in the gut, but Horny bit him and tagged in Hunter. Heder then ran out of the ring, but Johnson tossed him back in. Show tried to get involved, but Michaels superkicked him and Show fell on top of Heder. Michaels then superkicked Miz off the apron. Horny followed with a tadpole splash on Show and Heder and Hornswoggle pinned Heder for the pin and the win.

WINNERS: DX & Hornswoggle at 4:35. Predictable finish with DX standing tall in the main event yet again. It's Wile E. Coyote vs. the Roadrunner every week on Raw. Heder at least played a good ham tonight and went along with the bit. DX will argue Miz got a rub from being in the main event with them, but Miz was a virtual after-thought in the main event. (*)

[Arcademan]

ECW on SyFy Results: 1-19-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- YOSHI TATSU & GOLDUST vs. TRENT BARRETA & CAYLEN CROFT

B&C doubled up on Yoshi early on with Goldust sitting on the sidelines for a while. The new tandem tagged in and out working over Yoshi, who teased a Ricky Steamboat comeback at 6:00, but Barreta cut him off, only to have Yoshi smash him in the face with a spinkick. The crowd rallied behind Yoshi leading to Goldust taking a hot tag and fired up the crowd before nailing a powerslam on Croft for a two count. Barreta then dumped Yoshi to the outside, but they had a TNA ref moment with the ref distracted for no reason allowing Barreta to hit a double-team move allowing Croft to pin Goldust for the win.

WINNERS: Barreta & Croft in 7:00. Fine tag match with B&C continuing to develop their heel personas. They have a little something working right now. (*1/4)

2 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN vs. WILLIAM REGAL (w/Ezekiel Jackson) -- non-title match

Regal and Christian locked up and drove each other to the corner as Jackson watched intently. Mathews talked about Regal and Jackson going back to the film room to break down tape on Christian for the Rumble after this match. Put that on TV! Regal engaged Christian in chain wrestling that Christian ended with a palm thrust to the face and a high back-body drop. Regal then rolled to the outside for a breather and Christian warmed up the crowd for a running baseball slide kick through the ropes to knock Regal into the guardrail. Christian then threw Regal back into the ring as Jackson walked over to share a few words. Christian shared a few words back and pointed to himself to remind Jackson he's the champ. They cut to break mid-discussion after five solid minutes of televised wrestling to start the match.

Back from break, Christian and Regal were pretzeled on the mat with Christian in control. Christian then accepted multiple forearm blows and a punt to the gut for a two count from Regal, who locked in a mat-based submission hold. Christian tried to counter into the Killswitch from his feet, but Regal kicked him in the leg and went back to the submission repertoire. Christian fired back, but Regal cut him off again. Christian then teased the Killswitch again, but Regal shoved him off and hit an Exploder suplex. Christian rolled to the corner and Regal went for a kick strike to the face inside the ringpost that Christian sold like a pro. Regal then went back to the mat with a nervehold as Christian rallied the fans. Christian reached his feet and Regal teased a butterfly suplex, but Christian countered with an inside cradle for a two count only. Christian then hit slaps to the face before making a comeback at the top of the hour.

Christian hit a Tornado DDT out of the corner and approached Regal for a cover, but Regal kicked out. Christian then got the crowd into it and he came off the second rope with a dropkick. He tried another dropkick, but Regal moved out of the way and teased the Knee Trembler, but Christian countered with a pin for a two count. Christian then tried a sunset flip pin, but Regal rolled through and hit a knee to the nose for a two count. Regal then took Christian to the corner and landed successive blows. Christian caught Regal with a European Uppercut, though. He teased the Killswitch again, but Regal blocked, only to have Christian toss him over the top rope to the floor. Suddenly, Jackson stormed the ring and attacked Christian from behind for a DQ.

Post-match: Jackson picked up Christian to allow Jackson to nail the knee trembler to the face. Jackson then scooped up Christian and delivered a uranage center ring. Jackson stood tall, then Regal raised his arm as Christian remained lifeless on the mat. Cue up Jackson's music as Regal talked trash to Christian. WWE rolled credits, but Jackson got in one last exclamation point with a second uranage for good measure to close the show.

WINNER: Christian via DQ in 17:00. Awesome match between Christian and Regal. They started with great chain wrestling in the beginning, Regal delivered solid offense in the middle and there wasn't an extended isolation on Christian that kept things interesting, and they built to a good exchange at the end without over-doing the counter/reversal/counter pattern. The non-finish was expected and effectively set up the Rumble match. It also set up Christian vs. Regal for another run post-Rumble if they go that route. This was good and worth a DVR replay. (***1/4)

[Arcademan]

WWE RAW Results: 1-25-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- Unified tag champions DX (SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H) vs. LEGACY (CODY RHODES & TED DIBIASE) -- non-title match

Cole plugged DX vs. Punk and Gallows for the tag titles on Smackdown this week. DX and Legacy traded control, then Cole suddenly snapped to attention shouting there's breaking news on the guest hosts on the other side of the break.

They returned from break with Michaels looking for a hot tag and receiving it. He teed off on Cody Rhodes as Lawler asked Cole about the breaking news, which is that James Roday is not here and they "don't know exactly why." Back to the action where Michaels dropped Cody in the corner and teased a top rope elbow, but DiBiase ran interference. Michaels simply adjusted his flight plan and splashed both men on the outside in front of the guardrail. Michaels was slow to re-enter the ring, which allowed Cody to snap off a neckbreaker to cut off Michaels's offensive advantage.

Legacy worked over Michaels for a while, then Cody ran off Hunter from the ring apron. Michaels then tried to get a tag, but Hunter was absent. DiBiase tried to work over Michaels, but Michaels broke free and got the tag to Hunter this time. Hunter then ran over DiBiase before giving Cody a spinebuster. Same for DiBiase. Hunter then had the Pedigree on Cody, but Michaels blind-tagged himself into the match. Cody then shoved Hunter into Michaels and they had a stare down. In the confusion, Michaels turned and dropped DiBiase with sweet chin music. Hunter then ran over Cody with a clothesline and Michaels pinned DiBiase for the win. Afterward, Michaels and Hunter shook hands and settled their differences. Cole plugged the tag title match on Friday night's Smackdown

WINNERS: DX at 10:05. Match served two purposes of continuing to hype Hunter and Michaels as the top acts in the Rumble and teasing tension between DX to give them an "out" if they drop the titles on Smackdown. DiBiase and Cody looked silly at times in the match, but they were simply secondary stars meant to enhance DX here. (*1/2)

2 -- MVP vs. BIG SHOW

MVP had a few glimpses of offense, but Big Show blocked a boot and nailed a chokeslam for a quick win. Post-match: Miz stormed the ring with belt in hand and trash-talked MVP, who sold the chokeslam. Miz then proudly held up his title belt and smirked for the crowd.

WINNER: Big Show at 1:01. Quick squash of MVP one week after Show quickly KO Punched him. Miz is really being emphasized here, which is good. MVP had a decent showing in the pre-match promo to counter the imminent loss, although the "friend" promo verbiage was eye-rolling from the really bad book of DX 2009 and John Cena 2007 promos. (n/a)

3 -- MARYSE vs. EVE -- Divas Title semi-final tournament match

Maryse did her cocky "you want some?" gesture at Eve leading to Eve scoring with some early offense. Eve then went for a top rope moonsault, but airballed. Maryse tried to follow with her hair-flipping DDT, but Eve blocked. Maryse then followed up with the hair-flip DDT for the win. Maryse celebrated post-match and got her shine on the way to the finals.

WINNER: Maryse at 2:05 to advance to the finals. Short and sweet with focus on Maryse here. The exchange with Dule Hill was somewhat awkward, but in a way that actually enhanced Maryse's character. She just has "it" right now. (n/a)

4 -- U.S. champion THE MIZ vs. KOFI KINGSTON -- non-title match

Tough spot for both men right after the big promo exchange between McMahon and Cena. Miz quickly grounded Kofi, but Kofi came back with a pendulum kick strike out of the corner. Kofi followed with a top rope splash to Miz's back for a two count. Kofi then missed with a leaping forearm and Miz hit a combination neckbreaker for a two count of his own. Suddenly, MVP's music hit. No sign of MVP, though. Miz then turned around and took Trouble in Paradise to the face for the pin and the win. Post-match: MVP walked out on stage and stared back at Miz, who smirked at him from inside the ring while checking his jaw. The feud continues.

WINNER: Kofi Kingston at 3:39. Nice little tit-for-tat between Miz and MVP to keep the feud going. Looks like they'll work the feud into the Rumble match, then come out with a U.S. Title match on one of the Raws after the Rumble PPV. Meanwhile, Lawler continues to defend Miz on commentary. Maybe it's something, maybe it's nothing. (*)

5 -- GAIL KIM vs. ALICIA FOX -- Divas Title semi-final tournament match

Alicia was aggressive early on, then she shot a look to Dule Hill, who gave her the thumbs up. Gail capitalized on the distraction for a slam and a two count. She followed with forearm strikes and a slam for the pin and the win. Post-match: Alicia slammed the mat in frustration, then slammed her hands on the announce table demanding to know what happened to her victory. Dule tried to calm her down, saying he's just an actor. He said he's not the real psychic and they just need to let it be water under the bridge. Alicia then reared back and popped Dule across the face before storming off. Lawler helped Dule up as he sold the effects.

WINNER: Gail at 1:55. Gail gets a win and she still isn't the focus here. Anyways, it's Gail vs. Maryse in the finals. Date TBA.

6 -- WWE champion SHEAMUS vs. JOHN CENA -- non-title match

Cena hit a traditional Fisherman suplex at the top of the hour, but Sheamus cut him off with a clothesline mid-ring. Sheamus then slowly worked over Cena as the announcers talked about Sheamus backing up every word he's said about taking out Cena. Sheamus knocked Cena off the ring apron with a big strike, then Cena slowly pulled himself back in the ring. He nearly tricked Sheamus into the Attitude Adjustment, but Sheamus slipped out and hit a nice DDT for a two count. Sheamus then hit a standing powerslam for a two count. Sheamus then took Cena to the outside and rammed her into the guardrail. He returned to the ring and told the ref to start counting out Cena. The kids ringside screamed in horror as Cena remained motionless before storming the ring just before ten. Sheamus then missed with an elbow drop and Cena fired off his big comeback. The crowd popped as Cena did his Shuffle routine. He wanted the AA, but Sheamus slipped under Cena and hit a backbreaker across his knee for a two count. Sheamus then stood over Cena and eyeballed Cena for something painful. He wanted the Bicycle Kick, but Cena ducked and rolled into an STF. Sheamus was too close to the ropes, though, and Sheamus escaped. Sheamus rolled to the outside and Cena followed, but Cena ate an emphatic bicycle kick on the floor that took the air out of the building.

Sheamus rolled back into the ring and demanded a count from the ref. Cena sold being KO'ed again, then out of nowhere, Randy Orton stormed the ring and hit the RKO on Sheamus from behind for a DQ. The crowd did a "shocked" reaction here. They didn't buy Orton as a babyface with their reaction. Orton then pounded the mat and stared a hole into Sheamus, who remained out cold on the mat. Cena then tried to get into the ring, but Orton grabbed him and wanted the elevated DDT. Orton took too long, though, and Cena popped to his feet and dropped Orton with the AA. Cena's music hit as both Sheamus and Orton were out cold on the mat with Cena celebrating. How often do both wrestlers in a WWE Title match end up face-down on the mat leading to a PPV title match? After they replayed the ending moments, Cena was shown standing tall in the ring looking down at the fallen Sheamus and Orton to close the show ten minutes past the top of the hour.

WINNER: Sheamus via DQ at 9:50. Strong TV main event to conclude the Rumble hype. Sheamus was presented very well here, as the only reason why he was face-down to close Raw was due to Orton's sneak attack. Cena gave Sheamus a good amount of offense and Sheamus came across like a barbaric, effective heel capable of delivering a beating. Good piece of TV, although it was odd seeing both Orton and Sheamus face-down before their title match at the PPV. The one thing WWE didn't establish was who to root for between Sheamus and Orton on Sunday, which will be rather interesting on the PPV. However, the emphasis at the beginning of Raw was on DX as top Rumble contenders (before they refreshingly disappeared from the show) and the emphasis at the end of Raw was on Cena as a top Rumble contender, as expected. Overall on this show, WWE completed a thumbs up sales pitch for the Rumble getting viewers excited, establishing the top contenders, and creating some tension between two of the big players - Hunter and Michaels. (**)

[Arcademan]

ECW on SyFy Results: 1-26-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- ECW champion CHRISTIAN & KANE vs. WILLIAM REGAL & EZEKIEL JACKSON

The match was joined in progress with Christian and Regal picking up their singles match from last week's main event. Regal then tagged in Jackson and Christian backed away to bring in Kane. Jackson smiled and liked this match-up. They came close before bouncing off the ropes and colliding mid-ring with no one budging. Kane then went to fighting stance before locking in a side headlock. They had another mid-ring collision and Jackson screamed, "I'm too strong!"

Kane answered by rocking him with a right hand before landing a knock-down clothesline for a two count. Good exchange that popped the crowd before Christian tagged in and popped Jackson across the ear with a series of blows. Jackson had enough and slammed Christian, but missed with an elbow, allowing Kane to tag back in. Kane and Jackson battled back and forth before Christian tagged in and tried to knock Jackson off his feet to no avail. Christian finally went to the second rope and nailed a dropkick to take Jackson to the mat for a two count. Christian then hit a falling inverted DDT and Jackson rolled to the outside. Christian then splashed both Regal and Jackson to take advantage going to break.

Back from break, chaos broke out as the wrestlers brawled in and out of the ring. Eventually, the heels took control and worked over Christian with in-and-out tags trying to wear down the champ before the Rumble. Jackson settled into a prolonged beating on Christian while Kane tried to encourage the audience to get behind Christian. Instead, Regal ran across the ring to smack Kane, which led to Christian back to being stuck in the heel corner taking a beating. Kane finally took the hot tag at 16:00 and cleaned house on Regal including a sidewalk slam. Kane stared down Jackson, then went up top and hit a top rope fist smash. Kane followed by launching Christian off the top rope onto Jackson. Kane and Jackson then battled on the floor while Regal missed with the Knee Trembler in the ring. Christian teased the Killswitch on Regal, but Jackson tagged in while Christian was trying to execute the move. After Christian hit it, Jackson entered legally and surprised Christian with the Uranage for the pin and the win. Post-match: Jackson rubbed his boot in Christian's face and stood tall to close the segment.

WINNERS: Regal & Jackson in 18:00. Good, extended form TV tag match. Jackson looked strong, which confirmed what we knew that Christian is winning at the Rumble. The key was to build up Jackson as a "big pin for Christian to knock down" at the Rumble, which was accomplished. Kane was a good addition to the program this week. (**)

2 -- ZACK RYDER (w/Rosa Mendes) & TRENT BARRETA & CAYLEN CROFT vs. YOSHI TATSU & GOLDUST & THE HURRICANE

Goldust and Croft started things off against each other in a battle of yellow and black ring outfits. They had an early miscommunication then Goldust ran over all the heels and dropped Croft with a boot to the head. The action then broke down and the babyfaces stood tall in the ring staring down at the heels regrouping on the floor while Rosa provided some trash-talking in Spanish going to break.

Before returning to the match, they plugged Raw on Monday with focus on Bret Hart's return to confront McMahon. Back to the match, Rosa was doing some high-pitched yelling as the babyfaces were in control. Croft continued to take a beating as the theme of the match before Barreta tagged in and took an arm drag from Goldust. Meanwhile, Jim Ross is BBQblogging on ECW tonight. Back to the action where Hurricane tagged in and held control before Ryder ran a distraction to allow the heels to cut off Hurricane and begin working him over. Barreta then tagged in and showed off some cocky strutting before doing his high-pitched scream on a dropkick. The scream makes him stand out...but not in a good way. Ryder tagged back in and worked over Hurricane as Goldust went down to one knee on the apron to beg Hurricane for a hot tag.

They hit the top of the hour with Hurricane teasing a comeback, only to have Ryder cut him off and bring back Croft. I've tried to put my finger on who Croft looks like and I've come up with Johnny Depp for the face, Ricky Ortiz for the nose, and Brian Pillman with the hair. Croft then lost control and Yoshi tagged in to fire up on Barreta, who also tagged in. Yoshi went up top and nailed a spin kick before the action broke down in the ring. Goldust then delivered a double uppercut on B&C, which set up Yoshi for a roundhouse kick on Barreta for the pin and the win. Ryder: "What?!" on the outside post-match. Hurricane, Goldust, and Yoshi celebrated in the ring while the heels argued on the outside to close out the show.

WINNERS: Team Yoshi in 14:00. Another solid tag match. A bit too formulaic to be memorable, but they put a good spotlight on Yoshi at the end, Goldust at the beginning, and Ryder as the stand-out heel teaming with the new-coming tag team. Ryder, Hurricane, and Yoshi are in the Rumble, but that wasn't noticeably emphasized on commentary. Overall, fine conclusion to the show. (*1/2)

[Arcademan]

WWE Superstars Results: 1-28-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- BELLA TWINS (NIKKI & BRIE BELLA) vs. JILLIAN HALL & KATIE LEA BURCHILL

Typical start to the match with the Bellas holding a brief early advantage before the heel divas used sleight of hand to take control. Hot tag was made for the Bellas, which led to the Bella in yellow (yes, they're both in yellow) executing a spinning head scissors on Jillian. She followed with a victory roll on Katie Lea and the other Bella in yellow held off Jillian for the Bellas to pick up the pin and the win. Cue up the standard wide shot of a happy arena celebrating the victory for the babyface team.

WINNERS: Bellas in 5:00. The heels were foiled yet again, the show got off to a "happy start," and the babyface divas were able to show off their smiles and wave for the crowd. That's the formula and it was stretched out over a fine five minutes of TV. (*)

2 -- CHRIS MASTERS vs. CHAVO GUERRERO vs. PRIMO COLON -- Royal Rumble qualifying match

Masters took out both opponents early on, but Chavo took out Masters at the knee to send him out of the ring. Chavo and Primo then battled with Masters on the outside as Cole talked about this being the "most-star-studded field" in Royal Rumble history. Not so much. The hyperbole WWE feeds their announcers can be quite eye-rolling. Masters then re-entered and teased the Masterlock on Primo, but threw him away and caught Chavo with the Masterlock, only to have Primo knock him out of the ring. Back to Primo and Chavo, then Primo hit a suicide dive on Masters on the floor. Chavo then went up top and hit a big splash on both Masters and Primo. Nice sequence. All three men were down as they cut to break with the finish on the other side of the break.

Back from break, Chavo and Primo were battled, then Chavo knocked Masters off the apron as Masters tried to re-enter the action. Masters eventually got back in, but he was knocked down in the ring this time. Chavo then wanted the vertical suplexes on Primo, but Primo countered #3 with a small package for a two count. Masters then grabbed Chavo from behind and pretended to be struggling to execute the Masterlock before dumping Primo to the floor. Chavo then rolled under Masters for an attempted victory roll, but Masters countered into the Masterlock. Chavo teased a rope break, but Masters yanked him back to center ring to score a submission for the win. Afterward, Masters and Eve celebrated the win and Masters's Rumble entrance.

WINNER: Masters via submission in 11:00 to earn a slot in the Rumble. Primo vs. Chavo was the best part of the match. Chavo is really underutilized right now, but he's earning steady TV time being a secondary wrestler in each of his matches. Masters was rightfully kept out of the action for the most part to set up his limited power offense and moves. WWE is trying to protect Masters as much as possible, which is good for continuing to market him as an "attraction" with a memorable finisher. (*1/2)

3 -- MATT HARDY (w/Great Khali and Ranjin Singh) vs. D.H. SMITH (w/Tyson Kidd and Natalya)

Smith and Hardy locked up center-ring to start things off as Grisham talked up Hardy's new "key" logo on his ring trunks, which suggests Hardy is trying to unlock his future. Smith then bailed to the floor and Hardy smashed him with a kick through the ropes. "How about that for impact?" Grisham said with emphasis on "impact" ten minutes before Spike TV's weekly wrestling show. HD regrouped on the floor as Hardy remained in control going to break.

Back from break, Smith was methodically taking Hardy apart to set up the fans for rallying behind Hardy. Smith cut off a brief comeback with a knee to the face as the announcers talked up Bret Hart coming back to Raw on Monday. Meanwhile, Natalya slapped Hardy across the face as Hardy was draped across the middle rope. Smith then went back to work driving a boot to Hardy's neck and upper body. Hardy tried to mount a comeback out of the corner, including an elbow to the back of the head, before hitting a bulldog for a two count. Hardy then teased the Twist of Fate, only to transition to the side effect for another two count. Hardy wanted to end it, but Natalya ran another distraction, Khali inadvertently grabbed the ref's attention, then Kidd smacked Hardy in the face, which allowed Smith to kick Hardy in the head for the pin and the win.

Post-match: Khali entered the ring and clotheslined Smith over the top rope to the floor. Tyson Kidd then took a fall over the top rope via Khali. Khali proceeded to celebrate in the ring before doing the ugliest-looking dance I've ever seen to his dance music. This was worse than Elaine on Seinfeld. Khali then picked up Hardy and helped him to his feet before deciding to dump him over the top rope too. Khali was like, "yeah, it's all good." Khali then danced some more as Hardy looked up at him from the floor to close the show.

WINNER: Smith in 11:00. Fine singles match. The distractions ringside helped keep the match moving along as Smith methodically picked apart Hardy. Hardy had a few moments of offense and they booked outside interference for Hardy to retain some credibility here. Meanwhile, Khali's ugly dancing will remain burned in my memory. (*1/4)

[Arcademan]

TNA Impact! Results: 1-28-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Wilkenfeld's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

(1)DESMOND WOLFE (w/CHELSEA) vs. SEAN MORLEY

Taz tells us the name of Wolfe's new special friend. The crowd, not being comprised of morons, comes alive for Wolfe. Morley starts things off with a hammerlock on Wolfe, which seems like a really bad idea. Sure enough, Wolfe reverses it and drives Morley into the ropes. He pounds Morley down in the corner. When he complains to the ref about the five count, Morley comes back with a series of clotheslines and chops. Tenay notes that Morley's using both arms for offense, which I hadn't noticed. Wolfe stops him short with a hammerlock takedown. He wrenches Morley's arm, then cinches in a Rings of Saturn like double arm bar. Morley gets up swinging, but gets taken down by an arm wrench. Morley blocks Wolfe's running elbow and comes back with more clotheslines. He goes for a cover, but Wolfe kicks out at one. Morley floors Wolfe with a nice half nelson slam, but when he goes to the top rope for The Money Shot Wolfe knocks the rope under him. Morley slips, and that's enough for Wolfe to connect with the Tower of London. The crowd happily counts along to three.

WINNER: Desmond Wolfe in about three and a half minutes. This is more the role I envisioned for Morley—maybe they felt like he needed one win before being a legitimate jobber?

(2)DANIELS vs. HERNANDEZ

It's a shame that one of these guys won't go on. I'd assume that Daniels is doing the job, but Hernandez does have that tag team championship weighing him down. Daniels jumps the bell, getting in some quick strikes before Hernandez slows him down with a knee lift. Hernandez hits a delayed vertical suplex that must have taken at least 10 seconds. Daniels looks for a Sunset Flip, but Hernandez stops himself and tosses Daniels across the ring with a Cracker Jack. Daniels pokes the eyes as he gets up, then nails a standing Ensuguri that barely gets two. We're told that, in addition to determining the #1 contender, this tournament will also be used to establish new TNA rankings. Daniels works a nerve hold. When Hernandez starts to power out Daniels takes him down with an STO then connects with a Springboard Moonsault for two. Daniels is looking for some kind of power move when Hernandez takes him over with a Back Body Drop. Daniels quickly knocks Hernandez out of the ring, but Hernandez comes back with his slingshot shoulder block. Hernandez hits a big clothesline, a towering Back Body Drop, a Stinger Splash in the corner, and then a t-shirt assisted toss across the ring. He charges in the corner, but this time Daniels steps aside. Daniels hits him, but he comes back with a boot and elevates himself to the top rope. Daniels tries to meet him there, but Hernandez knocks him down. Daniels gets out of the way of the ensuing top rope splash, but even a rope-assisted cover isn't enough for 3. Daniels hits a series of palm strikes, but Hernandez just shoulder blocks him half way across the ring. Daniels gets up into a gut-wrench Dominator, and that's all she wrote.

WINNER: Hernandez in five minutes.

(3)THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE vs. HAMADA, AWESOME KONG, & TARA (w/POISON)

Hamada and Rayne are about to lock up when Rayne decides it would be a good time to mock Kong. Hamada just chops the hell out of her, then arm wrenches her to the mat. She grabs Rayne's arm and does an Old School style Arm Drag off the top rope. Rayne gets to her corner, and the Beautiful People start trading quick tags and working over the left wrist of Hamada. Hamada rolls through and takes Rayne down with a Drop Toe Hold. She gets the tag to Tara who hits a series of right hands, a Body Slam, and a shimmy-shake Moonsault for two. The crowd says that "divas suck", but I don't know if they're responding to The Beautiful People or the shimmy-shaking. Sky gets in a cheap shot from the apron, which lets Rayne back Tara into her corner. The Beautiful People trade quick tags again, but when Sky Irish Whips Tara both she and Tara look for hair yanks at the same time. Tara tags in Kong, who scares the Beautiful People a bit before just tagging Hamada back in. Hamada takes down everyone with spinning kicks and Ensuguries, but when she tries to finish off Rayne with a Moonsault the ref is distracted from the cover. As Awesome Kong chases Sky backstage, Lacey hits Hamada in the back of the head with the ugly stick then wards off Tara long enough for Rayne to get the cover.

WINNERS: The Beautiful People in six minutes. After the match they continue the beat down on Hamada and Tara till Love comes down to make the save.

(4)BRIAN KENDRICK & THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. AMAZING RED & GENERATION ME.

Kendrick jumps the bell, attacking Amazing Red and beating him into the corner. Red slips away, tosses Kendrick to the other corner, and runs up his back. Shelley tags in and the Guns look for a double team, but Red kicks one and rolls over his back with a spinning wheel kick onto the other. Max of Generation Me tags in, and they hit some wacky quick double team moves, including a joint neck breaker/back breaker. The Guns take control and hit the front face lock/dropkick. Red tags in, but when he looks for his Sunset Flip Powerbomb on Sabin Shelley cuts him off with a Superkick to the head. Kendrick blind tags himself in as the Guns look for their stereo Superkicks, then just kicks Red in the side of the head and gets the cover.

WINNERS: The Motor City Machine guns and Brian Kendrick.

The British Invasion suddenly come down to the ring, briefcase in hand. They beat down Red a bit more, but right when Terry's about to cash it in, Magnus suggests that he should give it to Williams. I'm thinking we have the first failed surprise Feast or Fired title shot coming. That'll be fun. During the break Terry gave Doug Williams the briefcase.

(5)DOUG WILLIAMS vs. THE AMAZING RED
X Division Championship Match
We come back just in time to see Williams connect with his Chaos Theory rolling German Suplex, which is enough for the win.

WINNER: Doug Williams in . My ending was better.

(6)MR. ANDERSON vs. JEFF JARRETT

Anderson and Jarrett lock up. Anderson backs Jarrett into the corner. When the ref pulls him off he tries for a cheap shot, but Jarrett sidesteps and connects with punches of his own. The ref pulls him off next. Anderson gets a side headlock, which Jarrett reverses. Jarrett comes off the ropes with a couple shoulder blocks, then feints a right hand, the mere prospect of which sends Anderson to the mat. Anderson gets up swinging, and connects with a couple clubs to the back. He taunts the crowd with Jarrett chants of his own. Jarrett comes back with a couple hip tosses and a high dropkick, then clotheslines Anderson out of the ring. He struts.

We get back as Anderson shoves Jarrett, on the apron, shoulder first into the ring post. He follows Jarrett to ringside and bangs his arm into the steel steps. They roll back into the ring, where Anderson hits a hammerlock slam for two. Anderson yanks back on Jarrett's arm. Jarrett powers out, but then runs into a boot from Anderson in the corner. Anderson connects with an arm bar takedown, and does an Angle-style cover for two. Anderson shoots Jarrett off into the ropes; Jarrett dodges a couple of clothesline attempts, but then gets caught with a side headlock and an overhead wrist lock. Jarrett powers out again, but this time is stopped short by a running shoulder block. Anderson goes to the top rope, but Jarrett rolls out of the way of the attempted Senton Bomb. Jarrett powers up, and gets up firing with right hands. Anderson looks for the Mic Check, but Jarrett reverses into an attempted Stroke; Anderson connects with a low blow below the ref's field of vision, and connects with a Small Package for the win.

WINNER: Mr. Anderson in fourteen minutes. We cut to Bischoff smiling in the back, commenting that this is great.

Mr. Anderson announces his own victory, but after the first "Anderson" he follows Jarrett out to ringside and starts whacking his back. He rolls Jarrett into the ring, stalks him, then nails the Mic Check. Bischoff, apparently talking to himself in the back, tells Jarrett that it'll be a long, hard climb back to the top of this mountain.

[Arcademan]

WWE Smackdown Results: 1-29-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Park's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 – TRIPLE H vs. C.M. PUNK

Matt Striker noted that Triple H told Shawn Michaels that he’d do this himself, and sent Shawn to the back. Crowd was into Triple H early on. Couple head-lock take-overs started the match off on a positive note for Hunter. Todd Grisham said that in the last four Royal Rumbles he’s been in, he’s made it to the final three. I did not know that. That’s crazy. The haggard-looking Punk took over in the corner, but not for long. Hunter tried to hook in a Pedigree, but Punk escaped to ringside. Triple H pulled Punk back up to the apron and into the ring, then had a few words with Gallows. Springboard clothesline by Punk, but he couldn’t make a cover. Both men were down as they went to break.

Back to action with Punk in control, getting a two-count on a cover. A distraction by Gallows allowed Punk to take control during break. He wore Triple H down with a head-scissors in the ring. Striker called Triple H “basically the father of this industry right now,” and credited him for the Randy Orton vs. Sheamus match we’ll be seeing at the Rumble because Hunter groomed Orton in Evolution. I’ll say this: Striker is knows how to kiss ***. Trips turned the tide with a vertical suplex. Punk got on his feet first though, and kicked Triple H to the head, leading to a near-fall. Triple H began his trademark offense with a spinebuster approximately nine minutes into the match. But he was too worn down to continue the assault. Knee to the face by Triple H followed by more right hands, pummeling Punk in the corner. High knee by The Game for a two-count. Pedigree was set up, but Punk predictably back-dropped out of it. Running knee in the corner by Punk, but the bulldog attempt was unsuccessful. Hunter went for a knee-brekaer, then locked in the Figure-Four. No mention of Flair, but Grisham did mention Evolution again. Hunter grabbed the ropes for leverage behind the ref’s back. Serena distracted the ref while Gallows broke Triple H’s hold on the rope. Punk got Hunter up for the GTS, but Triple H got out and tried a Pedigree. Serena ran in and jumped on his back for the DQ.

WINNER: Triple H, via DQ, at 12:01. Match was on the low end of what these two can probably do; never really felt like it got out of first gear.

2 – CHRIS JERICHO vs. R-TRUTH

These two had words with each other last night on WWE Superstars. High hip-toss by Truth, then a dropkick got Jericho off-balance. He clotheslined Jericho over the top rope and to the arena floor. Truth flew over the top for a cross-body, but Jericho dodged him and allowed him to crash to ringside with a thud. They went to break about 1:15 into the match.

Jericho kicked away at the chest of Truth upon return from break. Truth fought back to his feet and there was a mis-communication before Jericho set Truth up for a suplex, only to drop him chest-first across the top rope. Gut-buster by Jericho as the announcers talked about Royal Rumble contenders. Truth found himself locked in an abdominal stretch. Headscissors take-down by Truth, then a jumping side-kick for a near-fall. Grisham said Truth told him his favorite Rumble was 1992, the one that Flair won (as both men are from Charlotte). Grisham mentioned Flair twice, but Striker told him everyone is looking toward the 2010 Rumble and no one cares about the 1992 one. In the end, Jericho went for the Codebreaker, but Truth held onto the ropes. He got the pin with a jackknife roll-up.

WINNER: Truth, at 8:14. Good match that will likely lead to Jericho getting his revenge at the Rumble.

3 – JOHN MORRISON vs. DREW MCINTYRE – NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH FOR THE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Morrison got the mic before the match and said unlike McIntyre, he wasn’t hand-picked by the brass in the back and groomed to be champion. He said after McIntyre beat him for the IC Title, he saw Drew drop the belt backstage to run up to, and do a chest-bump with, his Irish friend Sheamus. He took that as disrespect toward the belt. He said tonight, McIntyre can’t cheat or run from him.

Striker noted that the IC Title has never changed hands in Cincinnati, but Morrison did win it down the road in Cleveland. Morrison was the aggressor to start and got the first cover of the match. He clotheslined McIntyre over the top rope and to the outside. Mac appeared to be looking under the ring, and he produced a kendo stick, which he walloped Morrison with. Back in the ring, a cover by McIntyre garnered him a two-count. A few hard clotheslines from McIntyre, then he kicked Morrison in the gut as Morrison jumped to avoid McIntyre in the corner. Morrison fought back, which led to McIntyre taking a breather on the outside. He grabbed his belt and tried to leave, but Morrison physically stopped him. The fight moved back into the ring, where McIntyre bashed Morrison in the head with right hands. He grabbed the belt and held it up as they went to break about 4:00 into the match.

McIntyre still had the advantage once the show returned from break. Morrison was thrown to the outside after attempting a Flying Chuck kick. McIntyre tried to throw the steel steps at Morrison, but the challenger managed to avoid them. The champion instead clotheslined Morrison over the barricade and into the crowd. The two brawled there, where Morrison got the better of McIntyre. Morrison flew over the barricade with a clothesline onto McIntyre back at ringside. He got the kendo stick and worked over his opponent with them. A thumb to the eye by McIntyre halted the onslaught. Morrison caught a charging McIntyre with a hip-toss onto the ring steps. Back in the ring they went, where Morrison covered Mac for a near-fall. He set up for Starship Pain, but McIntyre got his knees up. McIntyre locked in the Future Shock (double-arm DDT) and drove Morrison’s head into the Intercontinental belt, which was still in the ring. The pinfall followed.

WINNER: McIntyre, at 11:34. Pretty entertaining match, one that didn’t really hurt Morrison’s value I don’t think. McIntyre’s in-ring style is flashy, but he’s crisp.

4 – LAYLA “JAMES” vs. MICHELLE MCCOOL

McCool walked around ringside with the food, baiting Layla around. Striker managed to name drop Haystacks Calhoun and Nikolai Volkoff. Layla charged at McCool, missed and hit the turnbuckle. McCool school-girled Layla and rolled her up for the win.

WINNER: McCool, at :51. Striker was laughing this whole time, making jokes, while Grisham tried to stay out of it and acted like he was disgusted by Layla and Michelle’s actions.

5 – REY MYSTERIO vs. SHAWN MICHAELS

Michaels took Mysterio down with a shoulder tackle, then chopped away at him. Rey missed a charge and Michaels threw him under the bottom rope. When Rey popped up, it looked like he hit his head on the camera. Back in the ring, he set Michaels up for the 619, but Michaels wasn’t worn down enough and escaped to ringside. More chops from HBK in the corner. Mysterio went to ringside and again, Michaels chopped him down. He’s like Tenryu in there! Snap mare by Michaels back in the ring, then a stomp on the face. Mysterio gave a boot to Michaels, then head-scissored him over the top and to the outside. More to come after break.

I know they’ve been hyping this up as the first time match between these two, but the only other singles match between Shawn and Rey I can think of is at the Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw. Back to the show, Mysterio kicked away at the legs of HBK and used a couple of potential submission holds to soften him up. Michaels turned the tide and again chopped Mysterio in the corner. Drop-toe hold by Mysterio sent Michaels into the corner. Mysterio went to the top, but ended up getting hung up in the corner. Rey tried a dropkick, but Shawn caught him and applied a modified figure-four. Striker explained that the pressure is put on the back of the knee as opposed to front of the knee in this version of the hold. Mysterio grabbed the rope for a break. Mysterio hit an enziguiri on Michaels and both men found themselves gasping for air on the mat. Rey again worked the legs while Shawn countered with punches and (surprise!) chops. Flying forearm by Michaels and a nip up. Mysterio though got a hurricanrana in before HBK could capitalize. Seated senton by Rey for two. Rey went for a springboard, but was met with an atomic drop. Mysterio again worked his way to the outside and went for a springboard splash, but Michaels got his knees up. This time it was Shawn who went to the top, and connected with an elbowdrop. He began to tune up the band, but Rey ran into him with a spinning heel kick, shades of Savio Vega. 619 found the mark, but Rey struggled to ready himself for a springboard. When he did, he jumped right into a superkick, which looked awesome. Nearly as awesome as Shawn doing that same sequence to Shelton Benjamin some years ago. Rey almost got folded in half when he hit the mat. Before Michaels could follow up, Batista hit the ring and took out both Rey and Michaels.

WINNER: No Contest, at 15:46. Sad, but understandable, that two of the top matches on the show ended in DQ. It is the go-home show for a PPV after all.

[Arcademan]

WWE RAW Results: 2-1-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- JOHN CENA vs. CODY RHODES -- Elimination Chamber qualifying match

Cody was on the advantage early on working over Cena as the announcers talked about him costing Randy Orton the WWE Title match on Sunday. Cena was heard audibly calling a spot before Cody missed with a knee drop and Cena started his usual comeback routine. Cody then countered the sit-out slam and rolled up Cena for a two count. Cena then grabbed him right away and hit a sit-out slam to do the You Can't See Me routine. Cody then walked right into the Attitude Adjustment, but he slipped out and hit a left-arm clothesline for a two count. Lawler was off, continuing to call Cody as Randy Orton, as Cody hit a top rope moonsault for a two count. Cena then came right back with the Attitude Adjustment out of the corner and scored the pin for the win.

WINNER: Cena at 2:52 to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match. No shock on this finish. Cody had some offense, but the memorable takeaway was him looking silly seemingly moving in fast-forward selling for Cena's unrealistic move sequences. Cena's sequences looked particularly unrealistic in this fast-paced match. (1/2*)

2 -- TRIPLE H vs. JACK SWAGGER -- Elimination Chamber qualifying match

The bell sounded and Swagger quickly put Hunter in a waistlock and put him on the mat. Swagger then did push-ups to antagonize Hunter. Swagger taunted Hunter, who then cold-cocked him with a right hand before hitting a high knee. Hunter then knocked Swagger to the floor going to break one minute into the match.

Back from break, Jack Swagger was in control, then the action moved to the floor where Swagger took control. Back in the ring, Swagger hit a standing powerslam before locking in a rear chinlock. Swagger then went for a running Vader Bomb out of the corner, but Hunter got his knees up to block. Swagger then got up and took right hand blows from Hunter, who hit a jawbreaker across his knee. Hunter then landed right hand blows in the corner before catching Swagger out of the corner for a spinebuster and a two count. Swagger was straight winded at this point, then Hunter teased the Pedigree, but Swagger back dropped out. Swagger then went for another running Vader Bomb and Hunter kicked out just before three. Hunter then walked into a belly-to-belly suplex and Hunter kicked out again. Swagger followed with shoulder thrusts in the corner, but he got carried away and lost focus - which seems to be the typical way every young wrestler is booked to lose in WWE - allowing Hunter to counter a back drop into the Pedigree. Hunter made the cover for the win. After the match, they showed Hunter celebrating the victory with a determined look on his face.

WINNER: Triple H at 9:10 to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. Surprise! Cena and Hunter are in the Chamber. Match was just okay, as they seemed to just be calling random spots at the end. Not sure if it was unfamiliarity between Hunter and Swagger in the ring or Swagger's inexperience, but it wasn't smooth at times. I'm not sure what it is with Swagger right now, but he just seems off. Being pushed down the ladder for eight months on Raw probably hasn't helped his psyche. (*)

3 -- RANDY ORTON vs. SHAWN MICHAELS -- Elimination Chamber qualifying match

The bell sounded and they had a brief stare down before locking up. Orton drove Michaels to the corner, then he broke and Michaels glared at him with his John Wayne ice-cold look. Orton met him with an equally-icy glare before missing with a right hand and Michaels landed a knife-edge chop to the chest. Michaels then hit a neckbreaker and teased the superkick, but Orton bailed to the floor. Michaels followed and the chase was on back into the ring where Orton teased the spike DDT, but Michaels blocked, landed a chop, and went up top where he hit a flying cross-body block for a two count. Orton then sent Michaels upside down in the corner before hitting the fallaway backbreaker to focus his attack on Michaels's lower back, which prompted Michael Cole's standard back injury history lesson.

Orton slowed things down with a focused attack as the announcers talked about both men being in a fragile state of mind. Orton then took Michaels up top, but Michaels knocked Orton off the top with forearm strikes before hitting a flying elbow drop. Michaels then went to the corner to tune up the band at 6:00, but Orton ducked and teased the RKO, only to have Michaels hit an atomic drop and chop combo twice. Michaels then flew off the ropes with a trademark flying elbow smash. He was about to do the classic kip up, but Orton grabbed him in mid-air and rolled up Michaels for the surprise pin and the win.

Post-match: Orton walked out of the ring pleased with himself in his own way while Michaels fought himself on screwing up again. Orton's music stopped and Michaels walked around the ring in frustration. Michaels ripped off his wrist bands and stomped out of the ring muttering to himself. The announcers talked about it being a frustrating 24 hours as Michaels disappeared in the back.

WINNER: Orton at 6:37 to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match. Only went seven minutes, but it felt like a longer match. Great storytelling from both men and a great finish with the flurry at the end before Orton made the big counter. If only someone would roll up Cena on the "You Can't See Me" hand wave. Michaels's post-match storytelling was well done to hook viewers on what's next. (** mainly for the story.)

4 -- MARK HENRY vs. TED DIBIASE -- Elimination Chamber qualifying match

Henry dominated early on including shoulder blocks and a shove to the floor. DiBiase regrouped on the floor before yanking Henry's left arm into the ringpost. DiBiase then dropped Henry into the ring steps with a drop toe hold. He slid back into the ring at seven before going to work on Henry's left arm back in the ring. DiBiase then tried a top rope move, but Henry caught him in mid-air, only to have DiBiase slip out and yank Henry's arm across the top rope. DiBiase followed with a single arm DDT on the arm that put Henry on the mat. DiBiase then made the cover and Henry couldn't use his arm to kick out, giving DiBiase the win.

WINNER: DiBiase at 3:06 to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match. Not the most aesthetically-pleasing match, but a solid match from a "this is presented as a shoot match" perspective with DiBiase taking apart a body part that helped him win the match. Good to see DiBiase, a non-Usual Suspect, in the Chamber match. (*)

5 -- KOFI KINGSTON vs. BIG SHOW -- Elimination Chamber qualifying match

Kofi tried to attack Show early on, but Show thwarted his attacks. Kofi then avoided a boot and Show was hung up in the ropes. Kofi dropkicked him off the ropes to the floor before they cut to break.

Back live, Kofi tried to fight back on Show as Miz was congratulated for his U.S. Title victory over MVP last night at the Royal Rumble. Miz then left the commentary table to taunt Kofi on the floor before MVP jumped the guardrail in basketball shorts and a t-shirt to attack Miz. Their brawl went to the back as Lawler continued to defend Miz on commentary.

After the confusion, back in the ring, Kofi went on the attack on Show including a Boom Drop for a two count. Kofi caught Show in the corner with punches, then Show sold a thumb to the eye. Show then turned around to blast Kofi with a right hand, but Kofi ducked and the ref sold a punch even though Show completely missed. Show realized his error and checked on the ref as ref #2 Scott Armstrong came down to the ring. He called for a DQ on Show, which upset Big Show. Show said he couldn't see after Kofi thumbed him in the eye. He then pleaded with Scott to reverse the decision. They replayed the finish with a reverse angle on Show's airballed punch to the ref. Meanwhile, Show screamed and yelled at the fans taunting him as he left. The ref was put on a stretcher with medics tending to him to sell the angle and Show's punch. "It was an accident!" Show shouted.

WINNER: Kofi Kingston via DQ at 8:20. That was the definition of a back-door entrance into a title match, as the focus remained on Big Show pleading his case that he shouldn't have lost. Kofi and Ted are the two new stars in the title situation, but Kofi has little momentum right now. Not a memorable match despite the distractions. (1/2*)

[Arcademan]

ECW on SyFy Results: 2-2-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Park's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 - SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. VANCE ARCHER

Benjamin started his attack aggressively, catching Archer off guard with body shots in the corner. Shelton dove over the top rope (without touching the ropes) and landed on Archer on the outside. As Benjamin was coming back into the ring though, Archer caught him with a kick to the chest. Benjamin suplexed out of a chin-lock and then he clotheslined Archer from behind. Benjamin attempted another high-risk move on the outside, but Archer avoided it and Shelton went face-first into the padded guardrail. Archer tried to regain his bearings as they went to break about 2:00 in.

Benjamin was trying to work his way out of a rest-hold, but couldn't do so. Archer threw Benjamin into the corner, where Shelton collided with the turnbuckle chest-first. Standing suplex by Archer, as apparently they're trying to present him as the ECW's version of Mike Knox based on Mathews' commentary. Sidewalk slam for a near-fall. Archer missed a running knee in the corner, and Benjamin went after said knee. Archer came back, but Benjamin countered a suplex with a neck-breaker for two. Attempted roll-up in the corner by Shelton, but Archer sat down on it. He tried to get the pin, but either they were too close to the ropes or the ref saw Archer go for the rope for leverage, so he had to break it up. Archer followed with another roll-up, feet on the ropes, for the win. I'm assuming the previous pin was supposed to be the finish.

WINNER: Archer, at 9:48. Archer still isn't showing a ton in the in-ring or charisma department. He's lacking that something that prevents guys from moving up the card.

2 - YOSHI TATSU vs. TRENT BARRETA

Goldust came to the ring with Tatsu, and Caylen Croft with Barreta. The two men had some fast-paced exchanges to begin the match. Tatsu was thrown out just above the bottom rope, but held on and quickly came back in. Barreta found the ropes to avoid Tatsu and that break allowed him to take over on offense. Standing dropkick to the chin for a pin attempt. Chinlock by Barreta. Tatsu fired back with a back-body drop and a few kicks. Tatsu rolled through on the snap-mare and kicked Barreta in the chest. Barreta tried to suplex Tatsu off the top, but couldn't do it. Instead, Barreta landed a hurricanrana off the top for a near-fall. Barreta argued with the ref, a rookie mistake, as it allowed Tatsu to kick him in the head for the victory.

WINNER: Tatsu, at 3:59. Perfectly suitable match, though I don't know where this feud is really headed. It's early, but I hope it's not going to be the Cryme Tyme vs. Hart Dynasty of 2010.

3 - CHRISTIAN vs. ZACK RYDER

Christian was in the ring already to save time. I would've loved to have heard William Shatner doing a rendition of Ryder' theme song last night. A pair of-lockups led to a stalemate. Ryder was on offense and choked Christian in the middle rope. Spinning heel kick by Christian as Ryder went to the apron to recover. He stuck a shoulder into the rib of a charging Christian. Ryder got his face planted on the apron, then Christian dropkicked him through the ropes and almost into the announce table. Rosa distracted Christian while he was on the second rope, and Ryder capitalized by catching a dropkick attempt and doing more choking in the ropes. Christian fought out of a side headlock, but got caught in a rough-rider leg lariat by Ryder for two. Christian went to the top and hit a cross-body for two. Christian missed a corner charge, but face-planted Ryder. After working over Ryder with the middle rope, he dropkicked his opponent off the top for two. Sunset flip, but Ryder sat down and got a near-fall. European uppercut off the middle rope for two. Killswitch was effective, but Ezekiel Jackson ran out for the DQ.

WINNER: Christian, via DQ, at 5:25. Fun, high-energy match.

Jackson, with Regal in tow, continued his assault on Christian, throwing him into the steps outside the ring and standing over him as the show closed. Looks like that feud isn't over quite yet.

[Arcademan]

WWE Superstars Results: 2-4-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- ALICIA FOX & KATIE LEA BURCHILL vs. EVE & KELLY KELLY

Eve had some early offense in the match, then the heels isolated her to build to Kelly taking a hot tag at 5:00. Kelly got in her trademark spots of a spinning head scissors and a running cartwheel into a handspring elbow in the corner on Alicia, who was legal. Kelly followed with a pin attempt out of the corner, but Burchill broke it up. Chaos ensued. Alicia then rolled through a top rope cross body splash attempt by Kelly and scored the pin for the heel win. Afterward, the heels gloated about the win as Eve tried to help Kelly collect herself in the ring.

WINNERS: Katie & Alicia in 6:00. Nice, long-form divas match. The Superstars format has given the divas a little breathing room to have some longer matches. The matches typically look the same and follow the same formula, but there are enough credible women on the roster to mix and match to create some interesting match-ups, especially when Gail Kim and Maryse are involved. (*1/4)

2 -- EVAN BOURNE vs. CARLITO

Hot start to the match with Bourne blasting Carlito with early kick strikes before Carlito came back with a standing dropkick for a two count. Carlito slowed things down before hitting a fallaway elbow drop for another nearfall. Bourne then came back with a dropkick that cleared Carlito to the floor. Bourne teased a high-flying move, but Carlito shoved him away. Bourne stayed on his feet and ducked a clothesline, then hit a high knee smash beneath the chin that Carlito sold nicely. Back in the ring, Bourne teased the Shooting Star Press, but Carlito rolled out of the ring to the floor. The camera then zoomed in tight on Bourne as he remained perched on the top turnbuckle in control going to break.

Back from break, Bourne landed a kick strike to the face, but Carlito responded right away with a big boot to the face that led to a nearfall. Nice exchange. Carlito then reset and proceeded to beat the crap out of Bourne in the corner with rapid-fire strikes before hitting a nice neck-snap slingshotting Bourne throat-first into the bottom rope. Carlito then stretched Bourne with mat holds targeting the neck and upper back. They fought back to their feet and Bourne nailed a double knee drop for a two count with Cole selling excitement on commentary.

Carlito then came back with a big running knee lift, but Bourne ducked a follow-up clothesline for a sweet wrap-around bridge pin for a nearfall. Carlito then came back with another powerful strike and scored another close two count. They fought to the ring apron where Bourne stunned Carlito with two knee strikes to the head before Carlito collapsed to the mat like a tree in the forest. Bourne tried to run up top for the Air Bourne, but Carlito crotched him to take the excitement out of the crowd. They fought up top and the audience rallied behind Bourne, who nailed a sunset flip powerbomb off the top rope. Bourne then picked himself up and went to the corner to nail Air Bourne perfectly in the corner for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Bourne in 13:00. That was an awesome match and both men came out looking better than when they came in. It's the best I've seen Carlito look in his current WWE run. He was the perfect heel to face Bourne, as Carlito's strikes and power offense looked impressive with Bourne bumping around for him. Meanwhile, Bourne was able to make good comebacks to build anticipation for that Air Bourne the audience wanted to see. This was easily one of the best Superstars matches I've seen since the show launched in April. (***)

3 -- JOHN MORRISON & MATT HARDY & GREAT KHALI (w/Ranjin Singh) vs. IC champion DREW MCINTYRE & HART DYNASTY (TYSON KIDD & D.H. SMITH w/Natalya)

Hardy and Kidd started off against each other before Morrison tagged in and executed double-team offense on Kidd with Hardy. The heels eventually got the best of Hardy momentarily and began working him over in their corner. They suddenly cut to commercial with Hardy "in trouble" with Smith working him over.

Back to the match, Hardy was still being worked over by Smith. Morrison then tagged in at 9:00 and Kidd flung him off the top rope to the floor below. Hardy walked over to check on his fallen tag partner before Natalya landed a sudden strike to the gut behind the ref's back. McIntyre then officially tagged in and followed up by ramming Morrison into the ring apron. Back in the ring, McIntyre went to work on Morrison before HD started tagging in and out to continue the attack. Morrison then kicked Smith in the head to break free and tag in Hardy, who hit the Side Effect on Smith for a two count when the heels broke up a pin.

All three heels were in the ring, but Khali yanked Kidd and Mac out of the ring. The whole deal broke down before Morrison hit a running clothesline off the guardrail on the heels. Back in the ring, Hardy tagged in Khali, who hit the Punjabi Plunge on Smith and kinda leaned over Smith for the pin and the win. And everyone celebrates and dances. Khali, Hardy, and Morrison got their curtain call in the ring as the camera picked up some unsuspecting younger audience members dancing in the ring. Apparently WWE is trying to create a new dance craze with Khali's awkwardness. After a replay of the finish, they cut back to the babyfaces dancing awkwardly in the ring.

WINNERS: Team Khali in 12:00. Fine, but not particularly memorable multiple-man match. Kidd was lost in the shuffle without getting in much offense and Smith just hasn't developed an identity or personality in the ring. The babyfaces having a common ground of Khali awkwardness is fine for reaching the target demo and connecting with the kiddos like R-Truth's weekly rapping. (*1/2)

[Arcademan]

TNA Impact! Results: 2-4-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Wilkenfeld's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

(1)BRUTUS MAGNUS vs. MR. ANDERSON
Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match

Magnus looks for a lock up, but Anderson knees him in the gut. He punches Magnus in the corner, but Magnus blocks one and unloads with rights that back Anderson all the way across the ring. The ref pulls him off, and Anderson takes advantage with a lightning fast dropkick to the knee. Anderson pounds Magnus against the mat with stomps and an elbow drop. The crowd is cheering him now. He whips Magnus into the corner and stomps a mud hole in him. The ref tries to pull him off, but he continues stomping Magnus as he argues with the official. Anderson resumes the assault, but Magnus fights out of the corner and connects with a Big Boot. He whips Anderson into a shoulder block and hits a Union Jack for two. Magnus lifts up Anderson for the Tormentum, but Anderson is able to get his thumb into Magnus's eye. As soon as his feet hit the mat Anderson nails the Mic Check for the kill.

WINNER: Mr. Anderson in 3 minutes. I really want to like Brutus Magnus matches, but somehow they don't usually click with me.

(2)HERNADNEZ & MATT MORGAN (c) vs. TEAM 3D
Tag Team Championship Match

Hernandez and Ray lock up, as we're told that Hernandez and Morgan sought this match. Both men go for forearms, and they come out even. Hernandez shoulder blocks Ray across the ring, but whiffs on a charge in the corner. Ray whips him into the opposite corner and charges. Hernandez shoves back Ray and goes to the top rope, but Ray chops his chest and and tosses him to the mat. An elbow drop gets two. Devon tags in, and Hernandez overpowers him and makes the tag. He lets Devon recuperate, so Devon comes out firing with punches and a flying clothesline to Morgan. A leg drop gets one. Morgan hits a 360 Degree Clothesline as he gets up for two. Hernandez tags in and works a face lock. Devon powers out, but runs right into Hernandez and bounces off and to the mat. Hernandez powers Devon onto the corner, but when he looks for the Superplex Devon bites his head. Devon hits a Kamikazee Headbutt. Why is that move still legal? Both men tag out. Ray gets the early advantage with quick jabs. Morgan turns him around, Ray goes for a German Suplex, Morgan blocks it with his elbows, but then Ray catches Morgan's boot and connects with the German. Hernandez comes in and eats a Samoan Drop. A double team neck breaker on Morgan gets two. Hernandez comes back in, and Team 3D set up for Wazzup?. The Nasty Boys run down and shove Devon off the top rope. As Ray stares them down Hernandez recovers. Ray tries to take him back down with a Ura-Nage, but Hernandez blocks it and shoves him into a Carbon Footprint from Morgan. Morgan makes the cover for the win.

WINNERS: Hernandez and Matt Morgan in six minutes—that was pretty good.

(3)JESSE NEAL vs. SAMOA JOE

I was starting to worry about Joe. Neal tries to jumps the bell, but Joe fights him off with a Tazplex. He chops the hell out of Neal in the corner, charges him, then jump kicks his head off. Neal tries to fight back from his knees as the crowd decides that Joe is now face. Neal rakes Joe's eyes, but even with a running start he can't take Joe off his feet. Neal punks out the crowd, then goes to the top rope for a Cross Body Block, but Joe just walks away. Joe stomps the living daylights out him, charges him in the corner with a knee and Muscle Busters him. He yells out for AJ before getting the cover.

WINNER: Samoa Joe in two minutes.

(4)"THE POPE" D'ANGELO DINERO vs. AJ STYLES (w/RIC FLAIR)
Non-Title Match

Tenay talks about the "amazing transformation" we've seen in AJ Styles. Apparently that's the new euphemism for "inexplicable turn". Pope gets a quick wrist lock to start, so AJ backs him into the corner for a break. AJ hits a few chops, but the Pope comes back with a slap to the face and a Drop Toe Hold. AJ gets away for a second, but Pope explodes with a fast series of elbows, complete with his own lewd gesture. AJ rolls out of the ring.

AJ hits a shoulder block as we get back. Pope shoots him off, but he stops himself and hits a chop. He shoots Dinero off in turn, then nails his leap frog and high dropkick. He stomps Pope against the ropes, then catapults his throat into the bottom rope. AJ sets Pope up in the corner and starts chopping. Pope chops back, but doesn't have enough. AJ locks in a rear chin lock, but Dinero gets to the ropes. AJ chokes Dinero against the middle rope for the full four count. He hits a straight suplex, then makes a nonchalant cover for one. Dinero fights back from his knees; AJ shoots him off into the ropes but he flips over AJ and gets a Sunset Flip for two. AJ gets up and hits a Decapitator Clothesline for two. AJ cinches in another chin lock as the crowd comes alive for Dinero. Dinero tries to power out, but AJ whacks the back of his head. AJ stomps him around, as Dinero makes nice gestures that show he's still trying to defend himself. AJ stands Pope up, which might have been a mistake, since Pope suddenly blocks a punch and unloads with a rapid fire series of punches. A flying back elbow gets two. When AJ gets up he pokes Dinero's eyes and nails a Standing Ensuguri. AJ waits for Pope to get up in the corner, but Pope dodges. He chops AJ into the ropes for his leaping Guillotine Choke now called (according to Taz) the "The Coronation", but AJ blocks it. AJ looks for a suplex, which is reversed into a Small Package for...holy shit that's three!!!

WINNER: D'Angelo Dinero in 10 minutes. I did not see that coming. Could someone check when the last time AJ lost a match was? I don't remember him losing since August. ***1/4

(5)TOMKO vs. KURT ANGLE
Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match

Tenay asks who will be advancing—my wife points out that we don't need the match to answer that. Comically enough, Taz then basically says the same thing. Angle starts things off with a quick go behind and a German Suplex, but Tomko comes back with a kick to the head. They go toe to toe, and Angle hits his surprise head butt and then clotheslines Tomko out of the ring. He follows him to the outside and bashes his head against the stairs. He rolls Tomko into the ring, but when he follows him in Tomko connects with a nice Snap Power Slam to take control. Tomko whips Angle shoulder first into the ring post and then hits a Power Slam for two. Tomko cinches in a nerve hold; Angle powers out, but rights right into a Two-Handed Choke Slam. Tomko's looking pretty crisp. He goes to the top rope, but Angle runs up the ropes and hits a Belly-to-Belly Superplex. He gets up just before Tomko and hits a pair of German Suplexes. Tomko blocks the third with some elbows, but misses a charge in the corner and eats an Olympic Slam for a long two count. Tomko nails a Decapitator Clothesline as he gets up. Tomko looks for a Big Boot, but Angle ducks it and nails a lighting fast German Suplex. They almost blow the second, but then nail a third, a fourth, and a fifth. Kurt drops the straps and locks in the Angle Lock, complete with grape-vined legs. That's it.

WINNER: Kurt Angle in five minutes—another good match, and a good showing in defeat for Tomko.

(6)TARA (c) (w/POISON) vs. ANGELINA LOVE
Knockouts Championship Match

Angelina has new music but the same rope-straddling ring entrance. They jockey for position, with Tara eventually taking control with a side headlock takeover, continuing the side headlock against the mat. Love rolls her into a cover, but Tara rolls it back. Love reverses into a head scissors, which Tara later reverses into a bridge for two, which Love re-reverses with a Backslide for two of her own.

We come back for a Test of Strength, which Love somehow twists into a hammerlock on the mat. Tara gets to her feet, still in a wrist lock, but then reverses it into one of her own. Love picks a leg and sends Tara to the mat. She picks her up and slams her head first into the top turnbuckle, but when she goes to do it again in the opposite corner Tara reverses it. Love floats over in the corner and gets a School Girl for two. Tara hits a kick and a side slam for a long two count. Love gets up firing, but misses with the attempted Bicycle Kick. Tara goes for the Widow's Peak, Love reverses it into a Victory Roll for two, but Tara re-reverses and stacks Love up for three.

WINNER: Tara—I don't know why they didn't get more time, but it is a pretty packed show. At some point during that match there was a "spontaneous wardrobe malfunction" with Tara's top.


(7)KEVIN NASH vs. MICK FOLEY
No Disqualification Match

Nash tosses some weapons in to start, and grabs a trash can. He uses it as a shield to block Foley's bat, but it gets crushed. Nash has to switch to a chair, but that gets messed up two. Nash grabs a hockey stick and nails Foley's ankle. He grabs the barbed wire baseball bat and tries to shove it into Foley's face, but Foley grabs it long enough to nail a back kick for a low blow. Mick attacks with rights, so Nash rolls out of the ring. Mick follows him out and slams Nash's head into the apron. He hits a few more shots, then rolls back into the ring. He grabs something, but, as Nash comes into the ring, Mick suddenly double clutches and won't use it. Nash connects with a Big Boot for the win. Not surprisingly, the object was the caricature of Mick and Abyss.

WINNER: Kevin Nash in two minutes. Why did they even bother having this match?

[Arcademan]

WWE Smackdown Results: 2-5-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Park's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 – DREW MCINTYRE vs. JOHN MORRISON vs. KANE – TRIPLE-THREAT ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH

Morrison tried to fight off McIntyre and Kane once the bell rang, but soon, it was McIntyre and Kane going at it. Kane grabbed both men by the throat, but instead, the enemies teamed up to DDT Kane. Morrison cross-bodied McIntyre over the top rope and both men landed on the floor. They went to break about a minute into the match.

McIntyre was up in Kane’s grill out of break, but once he got the big man to a vertical base, he ceded the advantage. Morrison came back into the picture, but got a tilt-a-whirl back-breaker by McIntyre. Mac walked into a big boot. He went to the top rope, where he was kicked in the head by Morrison. Morrison was the disposed of over the top rope by McIntyre. McIntyre tried to go up to meet Kane, but was shoved down. He ended up getting McIntyre by the throat, but Morrison hit the Flying Chuck kick on Kane. Cover got two after a leg lariat on the Big Red Monster. Morrison countered McIntyre with a DDT, but a pin was broken up by Kane. Kane clotheslined Morrison and McIntyre in opposite corners, then sent McIntyre to the outside via a clothesline. Sidewalk slam for a two-count on Morrison. Kane went to the top again, this time, landing a flying clothesline. McIntyre nailed Kane with the IC Belt (no DQ’s in a triple-threat), then connected with the Future Shock, but a pin was broken up by Morrison with a knee to the face. Morrison took advantage of the opportunity and pinned Kane after Starship Pain.

WINNER: Morrison, at 8:24. Solid match, and I look forward to seeing Morrison in the Smackdown Chamber. He should be fun to watch in there.

2 – R-TRUTH vs. MIKE KNOX – ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH

Truth used his speed to stay away from Knox, but Knox landed his patented cross-body. High knee-drop by the Phoenix native for two. Knox was sent to the outside, where Truth jumped over the top and onto him. Dropkick off the top back in the ring by Truth. He hit his spinning flying forearm and picked up a decisive win.

WINNER: Truth, at 1:35. The quick match doesn’t speak well for Knox. However, it does continue Truth’s sudden push.

3 – BATISTA vs. CM PUNK – ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH

Luke Gallows and Serena did come to the ring with Punk. Once the bell rang, Batista just leaned back in the corner, looking very casual. Punk wanted to get things started, but Batista simply soaked in the jeers of the crowd. Then he stepped out of the ring, walked down the steps and stared at Gallows on the outside. Instead, he turned his back and started walking up the ramp. He got half-way up and stared at the ring while the ref counted. He didn’t move a muscle as the referee counted to ten.

WINNER: Punk, via count-out, at 1:47. Unique situation there. Answers the question of why we’d get a heel vs. heel match-up like that. I’m sure we’ll get a comment from Batista later on, but it kind of devalues the title when someone willingly gives up a shot in the Chamber like that.

4 – MATT HARDY vs. CHRIS JERICHO – ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH

Jericho cowered in the corner as Hardy advanced toward him. Jericho shoved Hardy after a lock-up, then ran out of the ring. Hardy got the advantage with some right hands and a clothesline. Striker said that, in terms of Matt Hardy’s ring style, “you never know what you’re going to get.” Well, you can bet on a Side Effect. Jericho and Hardy both took their fight outside the ring, where Jericho kicked Hardy into the steel steps. Grisham brought up the fact that a torn Achilles tendon ended the career of NBA Hall-of-Famer Isaiah Thomas, yet Edge returned in only a few months. Striker surmised that Edge is a better athlete than Thomas ever was. “Or coach,” he said, taking a shot at Thomas’ record on the bench. Hardy got back into the ring at a nine-count and was bleeding from the nose or mouth once he got back in. Not sure if the fans bought that count-out tease after Punk just won in that fashion. Enziguiri got two for Jericho. Hardy fought back with a bulldog for two. Elbow to the back of the head off the second rope. Twist of Fate was unsuccessful, and a Lionsault from Jericho connected for a two-count. Crowd finally got into Hardy, who soon after landed a Side Effect for two. Jericho went face-first into the corner, but missed a charge. Jericho rolled Hardy up with his feet on the ropes for two. Walls of Jericho was attempted, and he was able to turn him over, but Hardy powered out and registered a pinning combination for two. Jericho held onto the ropes on a Twist of Fate attempt, then hit the Codebreaker for the win. “Vindication for Chris Jericho!” proclaimed Striker.

WINNER: Jericho, at 7:00. Perfectly serviceable match. Hardy had some real nice near-falls near the end to wake the crowd up.

5 – MICHELLE MCCOOL & LAYLA vs. MICKIE JAMES & BETH PHOENIX

The heels showed off their new hoodies that said “Simply Flawless” on the back. Phoenix dominated McCool until Michelle caught her with a boot to the gut. Splash in the corner by Beth as she stayed aggressive. McCool took out the knee of Beth and began to work it over with elbowdrops. She couldn’t fully lock in the heel hook, and Layla was knocked off the apron once Beth got to her feet. Tag to Mickie, who worked the arm of McCool. However, Beth gave a straight right hand to Mickie, her partner, soon after. Phoenix smiled at McCool, then nailed her as well. Both legal women were down in the ring as Beth walked to the back. Layla was able to tag in, but before she could do any damage, James small-packaged her for the win.

WINNERS: James and Phoenix, at 2:39. More about setting up or advancing the feuds than the match itself, but Phoenix showed good intensity and her segment with McCool was well done.

6 – REY MYSTERIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER – ELIMINATION CHAMBER QUALIFYING MATCH

Mysterio had a nice bright green/black ensemble working. Ziggler with a hard clothesline for two. Roll-up by Mysterio for two as well. Mysterio kicked away at the legs of Ziggler. Head-scissors take-down sent Ziggler to ringside. Mysterio flew onto Ziggler with a cross-body. Rey came up holding his ribs, and Striker believed it was effects from his match with Undertaker this past Sunday. Mysterio went to the top for another cross-body once Ziggler was in the ring, but Dolph countered with a dropkick as Mysterio was in mid-air. Mysterio came back to line Ziggler up for a 619. Match went to break a little over 3:00 in.

Back from break, Ziggler was pounding away at Mysterio. Rey was perched on the top rope and Ziggler tried a suplex off. He was successful in his attempt. Two-count only though. Ziggler began to stretch Rey a bit. The crowd was Rey’s bulwark at this point as he was able to fight out. The pace quickened somewhat as Rey rolled through a roll-up attempt by Ziggler, only to catch him with a kick to the face. Springboard by Rey, wheelbarrow into a bulldog for a near-fall. Mysterio tried a springboard about a minute later, but Ziggler caught him and slammed him in one fluid motion. Ziggler whipped Rey into the buckle, then gave him a back-breaker. Ziggler set up a back-breaker but Rey turned it into a roll-up for the win.

WINNER: Mysterio, at 10:37. Good finish out of nowhere that will give credibility in future matches to pin attempts out of nowhere.

Ziggler tried to get him some of Rey after the match, but Mysterio took him out with the 619. Striker said Mysterio may have just won the biggest match in his career. I’d say the one where he actually won the title would be bigger, but that’s just me.

[Arcademan]

WWE RAW Results: 2-8-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- WWE champion SHEAMUS vs. ECW champion CHRISTIAN -- champion vs. champion

The bell sounded and Sheamus quickly took control before clotheslining Christian to the floor going to break after 45 seconds of action.

Back from break, Christian made a comeback as Cole hyped the new TV show on Tuesday nights. He pronounced it "N-X-T" rather than "NXT" without an "e." Christian hit a trademark running splash off the top rope on the floor, then Sheamus reversed a whip and sent Christian into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Sheamus went to work on Christian by driving his neck into the mat. Cole inserted a plug that WWE will announce the first official Hall of Fame inductee later in the show. Christian then made his comeback at 7:00 and nailed an open-hand slap. He followed with flying European uppercut from the second rope before landing right hand blows from a mount position. Christian then wanted a tornado DDT, but Sheamus blocked. Christian then ducked the bicycle kick, but Sheamus hit a clothesline. Christian came back with a pendulum kick out of the corner before hitting a Tornado DDT out of the corner for a two count only.

Christian then did his clap routine to get the crowd stomping as he set up the Killswitch, but Sheamus shoved him over the top rope. Christian landed on the apron, though, and tried a top rope move only to take a big corner clothesline. Sheamus then followed with his bicycle kick to the face. Sheamus tried to follow with the running Outsider's Edge and he connected. Sheamus then made the cover for the pin and the win. The crowd was like "what?" in shock that Christian would lose after "re-debuting" on Raw. Sheamus stood tall over Christian to close the segment.

WINNER: Sheamus at 9:37. Boy, I don't know about that booking. Sure, McMahon is of the belief that Christian is at a certain level and no more, but booking Christian to lose clean to Sheamus his "first night on Raw" was questionable. Sure, Sheamus needed the win to pick up some credibility, but that victory at Christian's expense clean in their first match-up is a little sketchy in my view. We'll see where it goes from here. The match itself was good in a way that it looked like a legit competition to win a match rather than a choreographed dance routine. They were off at times, but in a way that played into the legitimacy of the match. (*3/4)

2 -- Unified tag champions DX (SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H) vs. U.S. champion THE MIZ & BIG SHOW vs. C.M. PUNK & LUKE GALLOWS (w/Serena) -- Unified tag title match -- Elimination match

The action was joined in progress with Michaels and Punk battling. Punk nailed a high knee in the corner followed by a running bulldog. Show then entered and threw Punk into Michaels in the corner. Show then warmed up for a big charging corner splash, but Punk and Michaels moved. Hunter then tagged and entered. Apparently it's three men in the ring at one time. Show, Hunter, and Luke were in the ring for Hunter to knock down some big pins, which led to Hunter teasing the Pedigree on Show, but Show back dropped him over the top rope to the floor. 2:25 into the somewhat-awkward start with three men in at once, they cut to a break.

Leading back to the match, they plugged the end of ECW with more to come on tomorrow night's show. Back live, everyone was still in the match as Punk, Hunter, and Miz were three men in the ring. The action built to a hot tag for Michaels just at the top of the hour. Michaels came off the top with an elbow drop on Punk, then the action broke down as Michaels tuned up the band. After the action cleared out, Michaels escaped a G2S and dropped Punk with the superkick. Michaels then made the cover on Punk for the first elimination at 8:45. So, now it's Show & Miz vs. DX. After Hunter and Michaels came together to exchange glances, Show clotheslined both of them. Show then talked trash to Michaels that he's weak and he's nothing. Show proceeded to headbutt Michaels after Michaels tried to land a chop. Show then slowed things down slowly working over Michaels, who took repeated blows to the gut that drew maniacal chuckles from Show. Michaels fought back with a boot to the chin before Show landed a back drop for a two count.

Miz tagged in at 11:55 to get some TV focus. Miz taunted Michaels before coming off the ropes with a kick strike to the face for a two count only. Miz then hit a running knee off the ropes followed by a neckbreaker that put Michaels on the mat. Miz didn't make a cover and instead wanted the Skullcrushing Finale, but Michaels fought out of the hold and kicked Miz away. Show took a tag from Miz, then Show grabbed Michaels only to take a superkick. Show collapsed to the mat, then Hunter took a hot tag from Michaels. Hunter teed off on Miz with the classic moveset before knocking Show off the ring apron. Hunter hit the spinebuster, then Michaels blind-tagged in as Hunter was preparing for the Pedigree. Hunter and Michaels had a verbal exchange, then Miz shoved Michaels into Hunter in the corner. Miz then rolled up Michaels from behind and scored the pin for the win to capture the tag titles to the shock of the crowd.

Post-match: Hunter sold disbelief as Michaels tried to explain what happened. Big Show and Miz got their focus with the tag title belts with Show overshadowing Miz size-wise. Michaels told Hunter he didn't want to hear about his screw-up, then he threw off the wrist tape and stormed out of the ring. The camera focused on Michaels leaving up the entranceramp.

WINNERS: The Miz & Big Show at 14:20 to capture the Unified tag titles. Good tag match after they got away from that awkward three-men-in-the-ring tag format. The focus was on teasing more dissension between Hunter and Michaels, which will most-likely lead to them agreeing to go their own way going into WrestleMania rather than actually having a singles match against each other at WrestleMania. Show over-shadowed Miz a bit in most respects, so it will be interesting to see how their dynamic as tag champs plays out. I imagine there's a Taker vs. Show match and Miz vs. McIntyre match down the road with Show and Miz able to appear on Raw and Smackdown now. (**1/4)

3 -- GAIL KIM vs. JILLIAN HALL

The match went a minute with Gail hitting a fallaway boot smash beneath Jillian's chin for the win. Post-match: Maryse entered the ring and did her "I'm a normal person" promo continuing from last week. Gail was still equally confused. Maryse then asked for a handshake and Gail accepted. Maryse slowly walked away and left the ring to continue her mind games.

WINNER: Gail at 1:03. Well, they used about two minutes of TV time to tell a story to sell the Divas Title match. That's a positive to pull from this. (n/a)

4 -- RANDY ORTON vs. CODY RHODES

The bell sounded and they came face-to-face. Orton teased Cody by slapping him. Cody then slapped back and followed with a high dropkick. They proceeded to engage in a standard wrestling match after deciding to find out who the better man is in the ring. Cody then missed with a top rope splash and Orton teased the RKO by going into his snake-like crouch. Suddenly, WWE champ Sheamus teased entering the ring, only to back off. Cody then took advantage of the distraction by hitting Cross Rhodes on Orton. Cody made the pin for the win and shouted toward Orton that he won the match.

Post-match: Sheamus hit his big bicycle kick to the face on Orton. He then wanted another impact move, but Cody shooed Sheamus away with a chair. Cody stood over Orton to protect him, which seemed to be a tease for Cody to turn on Orton, but they didn't book that development. Sheamus then slowly walked away before they cut to the announcers. Lawler said the whole situation just has a weird smell.

WINNER: Cody Rhodes at 2:45. Fine match with focus on the story to set up Orton for revenge on Sheamus at the Chamber. More Legacy tension potential with Cody scoring a win, then allowing Sheamus to get in a shot on Orton before making the save. (*)

[Arcademan]

I'm back. If you need to see any of the wrestling results from February thru April of 2010, click the link to my TOKYOPOP Wrestling blogs under my signature picture. Thanks

[Arcademan]

WWE RAW Results: 5-3-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

First part was Batista's 9 minutes yapping his gums.

1 -- BATISTA vs. DANIEL BRYAN (w/The Miz)

Batista went for an early Batistabomb, but Bryan rolled down Batista's back and tried a sunset flip for a two count. Bryan then followed with an anklelock and Batista rolled to the floor for a break. Nice, intense start. Batista regrouped, then re-entered the ring and pounded on Bryan in the corner. Bryan surprised Batista with a sleeperhold, but Batista flung him to the mat and landed a kick strike for a two count only. Batista checked the clock, then pounded Bryan into the ringposts. Bryan blocked a third whip and tried a front facelock submission, but Batista suplexed him across the ring. Batista started coughing up a lung, then he made a cover for a two count only. Batista then dumped Bryan to the floor and rammed him into the ring apron. Back in the ring, Batista spun Bryan inside-out with a clothesline. He made a cover, but Bryan kicked out again.

Bryan then landed forearm smashes and a boot to the face that stunned Batista, who came back with a big boot of his own. Batista made a cover, but two count only. Bryan suddenly came back with an enziguiri kick before slapping on an armbar submission. Bryan transitioned into a Crossface, but Batista reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Bryan then stomped away on Batista and had to break on a four count. Bryan showed fire, but then took a kick to the knee from Batista. Batista then popped up and delivered a spear, followed by a Batistabomb center ring. Batista with the pin at 5:06. Post-match: Batista took out his frustrations with another Batistabomb on Bryan. Batista left the ring, then came back into the ring and scooped up Bryan again. He delivered a third Bomb

WINNER: Batista at 5:06. Great way to introduce Bryan as a sympathetic underdog babyface. The bit worked just fine to get over Bryan's submissions and get the audience to buy into the possibility Batista was going to tap out to Bryan. The final point was mission accomplished with Batista getting over his heel persona. Solid TV storytelling here. (*3/4)

2 -- JOHN MORRISON vs. TED DIBIASE

Morrison knocked DiBiase to the floor early on and Morrison landed a high-impact splash on the floor. A few fans ringside chanted, "That was awesome," as DiBiase recovered on the floor. DiBiase then walked away from ringside and the bell sounded for a count-out.

WINNER: Morrison via count-out at 1:15, match result erased on re-start...

Post-match: DiBiase kept walking and Morrison said this isn't how he's going to debut on Monday nights. He told DiBiase to get back in the ring and they'll re-start. DiBiase just kept walking. Morrison upped the stakes by saying he'll be DiBiase's Virgil if he loses. DiBiase turned and smiled at that offer. He then walked back down the ramp to the ring as they cut to break.

2b -- JOHN MORRISON vs. TED DIBIASE

They joined the action in progress with DiBiase in control of the match. DiBiase continued to work over DiBiase, adding a little Rick Rude acknowledgement of his physique, before Morrison came back with a kick to the head. Morrison tried to follow with a springboard flying chuck, but DiBiase yanked Morrison down from the ropes and scored a nearfall. DiBiase teased Dream Street, but Morrison flung DiBiase away. DiBiase followed with a powerslam for a two count, though. DiBiase tried Dream Street again, but Morrison trapped DiBiase's arms and spun over him for the pin and the win. The finish might look familiar from Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8.

Post-match: DiBiase jumped Morrison from behind and beat him down for a bit until R-Truth ran into the ring to make the save. DiBiase bailed and stared back at the babyfaces in the ring as Truth's music played.

WINNER: Morrison at 3:57. They seemed to pack about three weeks worth of storyline development into a two-part segment. This doesn't seem like a star-making type program for DiBiase and the segment came across like WWE doesn't have much for DiBiase and Morrison right now. We'll see if it leads anywhere. (*1/4)

3 -- WWE champion JOHN CENA vs. WADE BARRETT -- Beat the Clock challenge match -- non-title match

Cena teased the Attitude Adjustment early on, but Jericho distracted Cena from the outside. The match moved to the floor and Barrett used another distraction from Jericho to take control. Back in the ring, Barrett pounded on Cena from a mount position as Jericho screamed at the announcers to tell the audience he's a machine. Barrett continued to work over Cena as they hit 2:35 to go on the clock. Barrett cut off Cena's first comeback attempt as the crowd started to get antsy with their hero in jeopardy. Jericho screamed at the announcers to talk up Barrett as they hit 1:00 to go. At 0:50, Barrett continued to work over Cena with a methodical attack. Suddenly, Cena slapped on the STF out of nowhere center ring. Barrett fought for a second or two, then he tapped out to give Cena the win.

Post-match: Cena took the mic to announce the stipulation for his match against Batista. He said he knows what the stipulation is...suddenly, Sheamus ran down to the ring and kicked Cena in the head to KO the champ. Sheamus stood over Cena's fallen body and stared into the crowd before walking off. Cena slowly came to life as Sheamus walked away to conclude the segment.

WINNER: Cena at 4:39. Predictable match with Cena making the Superman comeback before time expired to get the win. Sheamus is playing a really annoying heel (in a good way), as he keeps interrupting everything on the show. It's getting more and more heat, but if they play the hand too strong as the weeks go on, it will turn into go-away heat eventually. Again, we have to see where this is leading to.

4 -- MARYSE vs. NIKKI BELLA (w/Brie Bella)

Maryse came out for a random Divas match after the break. The Bella Twins followed out with apparently Nikki in the ring here. Nikki tried to land some early offense and the match moved to the floor. Back in the ring, Maryse cut off Nikki and hit the hair-sweep spike DDT for the pin and the win. Post-match: Maryse narrated a still shot she took at the photo shoot of her standing over Eve after KO'ing her. Eve then charged the ring and tried to attack Maryse, who bailed to the floor and played a cocky heel. A ref tried to hold back Eve as Maryse laughed and laughed to herself on the entranceramp on the way to the back.

WINNER: Maryse in 1:30. A typically short, filler Divas match to advance the Divas Title feud. (n/a)

5 -- ZACK RYDER vs. MARK HENRY

Henry attacked Ryder early on, with no one taking Ryder seriously, but Ryder came back with a top rope missile dropkick and the Rough Ryder for a two count. Ryder tried to keep Henry on the mat, but Henry came to his feet and set up Ryder for the World's Strongest Slam. And that's all she wrote. Naturally, the Divas ringside were unimpressed with Ryder. And this led to a self-deprecation joke from Cole on bad luck with the ladies. Henry then walked over the Divas and escorted them away from ringside to conclude the bit.

WINNER: Henry at 1:50. Another "we have nothing for either wrestler" match. The crowd realized that as well, as they waited for the World's Strongest Slam to show any interest in what was happening. (1/2*)

6 -- Unified tag champions HART DYNASTY (TYSON KIDD & D.H. SMITH w/Natalya) vs. WILLIAM REGAL & KOZLOV -- non-title match

The bell sounded and suddenly the lights went off in the ring. The lights came back on and Regal locked up with Kidd. Regal and Kozlov knocked Kidd to the floor, then Regal went back to work on Kidd back in the ring. Kozlov and Regal then started working over Kidd as Cole tried to stir it up between Jericho and Miz on commentary. The heels continued to tag in and out working over Kidd as Jericho and Miz revealed their plan to win the tag titles so they can travel to Smackdown to go after Show. What's preventing them from going to Smackdown when there's been so much brand cross-over with no explanation for years and years? Anyways, Smith eventually hot-tagged and slapped on the Sharpshooter on Regal. The bell sounded randomly and the match was apparently declared over.

Post-match: Miz tried to run into the ring, but Smith cut him off. Jericho then followed in behind Miz and dropped Smith with the codebreaker. Cole dubbed them the Egomaniacs. "You suck, Chris Jericho!" shouted one lone fan near an arena mic. Miz and Jericho got their shine, then Miz dropped Smith with the Skullcrushing Finale. Cue up Miz's theme music. Jericho looks like an NBA coach who discarded his jacket after a poor call in the fourth quarter.

WINNERS: HD via submission at 2:46. Another too short, unhyped match that the audience had no interest in. Miz & Jericho forming a tag team simply to travel to Smackdown to go after Big Show might be the lowest-IQ reason to form a tag team ever conceived. It would be perfectly logical if there were not a long history of wrestlers crossing over brands for no reason whatsoever. WWE would have had to protect the brand split for this reasoning to be logical. Thus far, this show has come across like the Raw writing team ran out of time trying to draw up the episode. (3/4*)

Show closed with Edge-Orton segment that lasted 13+ minutes.

[Arcademan]

TNA Impact! Results: 5-3-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Keller's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

First half hour of the show was 10 wrestlers beating each other up then Hulk Hogan single-handily clearing out the ring.

1 -- INK INC. (Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal) vs. DOUGLAS WILLIAMS & BRIAN KENDRICK

Matt Morgan joined Tenay and Taz on commentary. He referred to himself as "we," as usual. Morgan gave Hogan seven days to make a decision on who his partner will be at Sacrifice, otherwise it's open season on the entire roster. Moore hot-tagged in at 3:00 and rallied against Kendrick. Williams abandoned Kendrick. Neal speared Kendrick and scored the pin.

WINNERS: Ink Inc. in 4:00.

STAR RATING: *1/4 -- Good action for a short TV match. Ink Inc. could lead to some jokes, and I'm not sure about two tag teams ending in Inc. in the same promotion, but the name does make sense and good use of Moore and Neal.

2 -- LACEY VON ERICH & MADISON RAYNE & VELVET SKY vs. TARA & SERINA & TAYLOR WILDE

Lacey did a dance, which Taz compared to Elaine from Seinfeld. It wasn't that bad. Tara spit at Serina early, then tagged her in a minute later. Wilde entered next and Serina flipped her onto Sky. Tara wanted Wilde to tag her, but she tried to tag Serina. Tara blocked the tag and entered. Serina then tagged Tara's back to officially enter. Wilde shoved Tara. Tara knocked her out of the ring at 3:00. The BP then double-DDT'd Serina for the win with Sky scoring the pin.

WINNERS: Sky & Von Erich & Rayne in 3:00.

3 -- TEAM 3D vs. BEER MONEY INC. vs. THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS

At 3:00 Brother Ray got a hot-tag from Devon and went to work on Beer Money as the Guns watched on the apron. Devon hit the headbutt to the crotch. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash entered the ring and caused a no contest ruling. The Guns just watched. Hall and Nash beat on Team 3D. Eric Young ran out with a kendo stick. Tenay said Syxx may or may not return to TNA. Young then attacked Team 3D and revealed himself as the new member of The Band. "You've gotta be kidding me?" said Tenay. Alex Shelley threw Young out of the ring. The Guns then double-teamed Hall with a missile dropkick. They followed with a climbing kick to Nash followed by a double superkick. Beer Money then jumped the Guns with a spinebuster and a DWI. Young stomped away at Brother Ray. Nash put his arm around Young.

WINNERS: No contest in 5:00.

4 -- A.J. STYLES vs. ABYSS - Monster's Ball Match

Dave Penzer said in this match "weapons are legal and encouraged." Abyss brought a trash can full of apparatus to the ring. Styles springboarded at Abyss, but Abyss caught him. He then threw a charging Styles over his head and into the ring. Abyss lifted a crutch, but Styles kicked him. Abyss swung a chair, but Styles moved. he went for another chairshot, but Styles ducked and hit a Pele kick. Styles followed up with a dropkick. Abyss whipped Styles a minute later into a chair wedged in the corner. He followed up with Shock Treatment for a near fall. That was a lot for Styles to kick out of. Abyss poured thumb tacks onto the mat. Flair walked to the ring. Chelea tried to stop him. That distracted Abyss, so Styles hit him from behind with a chair. Styles then gave Abyss a crossbody block and Abyss bumped onto the tacks. Styles then scored the pin. Chelsea entered the ring and smiled, having successfully distracted Abyss. She opened her raincoat briefly revealing a sexy black dress. Styles and Flair double-teamed Abyss as they cut to a break.

WINNER: Styles in 4:00.

5 -- ROB VAN DAM vs. DESMOND WOLFE -- TNA World Hvt. Title Match

If TNA wants to know why title matches don't draw like they could, just add up the hype for this title defense. Just Hogan announcing it, Flair berating Wolfe early in the show, and a couple nonchalant mentions by the announcers. No real sense that this is something special having a title defense on Impact. No big promo from Wolfe. No reaction by RVD to having to face Wolfe. It's just so inefficient. A TNA Title match should be hyped for at least a week ahead and there should be more fanfare when a new challenger is officially announced. Tenay plugged a few times during the show that Impact was moving back to Thursdays on May 13. A crawler at the start of this match said Impact was "moving home to Thursdays." It also plugged online voting for title contenders. Taz said he thinks online voting for contenders is a real cool deal. Wolfe got an early advantage and gloated. RVD made a comeback and hit Rolling Thunder. Wolfe caught RVD on the top rope with a punch. He set upa Tower of London off the top rope, but RVD blocked it. RVD hit a sidekick off the second rope. Wolfe charged at RVD, but RVD backdropped him into the ring pretty close to what Abyss did to Styles in the previous match. RVD then hit a Five-Star Frog Splash for the win. Styles ran out and jumped RVD, then held up the TNA Title and looked at the camera.

WINNER: RVD in 3:00. Now this show is starting to really piss me off. The fans vote for Wolfe in overwhelming numbers and they job him out in a match with little fanfare in three minutes? Would "idiotic" be a fair description of how TNA handled this? They deserve what they get with this type of booking.

[Arcademan]

Ring of Honor TV Results: 5-3-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to DeRossenroll's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 - RODERICK STRONG vs. JOEY RYAN (w/Prince Nana and Mr. Ernesto Osiris) -- Pick 6 Contenders Series match

Nana jumped on the apron right after the opening bell, giving Ryan an opening to cheap shot Strong and take an early advantage. Strong rolled outside at 1:00, but Nana and Osiris landed some more cheap shots while Ryan distracted the referee. Strong rolled back inside and Ryan continued to work him over heel style for another few minutes, using a number of chokes and distracting the referee to allow Nana to get some shots in from ringside. Strong made a comeback at 5:30 by catching Ryan with an elbow as Ryan charged him in the corner and following the elbow with a quick back suplex.

As Strong began to get some momentum, Nana jumped on the apron to distract the referee while Osiris entered the ring from the other side. Strong knocked Osiris out of the ring but turned his back on Ryan to do so, allowing Ryan to schoolboy him into a pinning predicament with Ryan's feet on the ropes for leverage. The referee counted two but stopped when he noticed Ryan's feet on the ropes. Ryan hit Strong with a low blow out of the referee's line of sight, then followed it with a superkick, but Strong kicked out of Ryan's subsequent pin attempt at 7:00. Ryan then lifted Strong onto the top rope in the corner and called for his "Moustache Ride" finisher, but Strong knocked Ryan to with a pair of chops and quickly followed up with the Strong Hold submission finisher, forcing Ryan to tap.

WINNER: Strong in 7:30. A solid basic match but nothing special. It was really just a reason to get Strong on TV ahead of his title shot against Black this weekend in New York, although it did little to make Strong look like a real threat to Black with Ryan on offense almost the whole time. Dave Prazak helped the situation on commentary by talking about how this showed that Strong just needs a small opening to make his opponent tap to the Strong Hold.

2 - THE DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB (JON DAVIS & KORY CHAVIS) vs. CALEB KONLEY & PEE WEE

Davis started out against Konley and the DCFC dominated immediately. After a couple of their signature double teams, Chavis, who had tagged in, went for a pin but Pee Wee came in to break it up. Chavis deliberately allowed Konley to tag out to Pee Wee at 1:00. The DCFC punished Pee Wee for a while with strikes and power moves, then Chavis went for a pin at 2:30 only to have Konley break it up this time. Davis took out Konley by knocking him into the ringside barricade, then the DCFC landed their Project Mayhem double team finisher (simultaneous sit down powerbomb and neckbreaker) for the win.

WINNERS: Davis and Chavis in 3:00. Solid squash match with good selling from the enhancement talents to make the DCFC look dominant.

3 - NECRO BUTCHER vs. ROBBIE WOLFE -- Butcher's Rules match

Robbie Wolfe looks a lot like Dusty Wolfe, one of the regular enhancement talents who always lost squash matches on WWF Superstars in the 1980s. Necro came to the ring with a chair and started the match by chucking it at Wolfe. Wolfe bailed out of the ring but Necro pursued him and threw him into the fans. Apparently Jim Cornette's conditions on Necro's reinstatement were pointless because it took Necro 0:30 to break the ones about keeping the action within the barricades and keeping the fans out of it. Necro pulled the protective mats off the floor, pulled Wolfe back out of the front row, and bodyslammed Wolfe onto a chair on the bare floor. Necro beat Wolfe around the outside for a while, then took the action back into the ring where he bulldogged Wolfe face first onto a chair (Wolf subtly got his hand up to protect his head). Wolfe rolled back outside and Necro followed. The fans handed Necro the Section D sign, which Necro smashed Wolfe with. Necro then mercifully finished it by bringing Wolfe back inside and side slamming him onto two chairs to set up the pin.

WINNER: Necro Butcher in 3:30. Just a silly match. Necro got a good crowd reaction, but I suspect it was just a "welcome back pop" from the Philadelphia crowd because he has been off the TV tapings for a while. ROH needs to give Necro something to do because watching him destroy enhancement talents in hardcore squash matches is already old after one time. It totally demeans the concept of using gimmick matches to settle feuds. Hopefully, Necro Butcher will understand that he needs to protect his namesake gimmick match by keeping future Butcher's Rules matches mostly in the ring and using weapons sparingly, perhaps just for the finish. The silver lining of this match was that they avoided any unprotected chair shots to the head.

4 - AUSTIN ARIES (w/Kenny King) vs. DELIRIOUS (w/Daizee Haze) -- Pick 6 Contenders Series match

The fact that Aries was just hyped for next week's battle royal for a spot in the Pick 6 seemed to give away that Aries would be losing his current Pick 6 spot to Delirious here.

After a brief opening chain and mat wrestling exchange, Aries tried to take off Delirious' mask at 1:00, prompting Delirious to bite Aries' finger to make him stop. At 1:30, King tripped Delirious as Delirious rebounded off the ropes, handing the advantage to Aries. His advantage did not last long because Daizee Haze returned the favour shortly afterwards by tripping up Aries. Aries went to the outside for a breather at 3:00 but Delirious came through the ropes with a missile dive to take out both Aries and King, then pressed his advantage back inside. At 4:00, Delirious cornered Aries but Aries backflipped him over the top to the outside. Aries then distracted the referee to allow King to attack Delirious and slam Delirious into the ringside barricade. King threw Delirious back inside and Aries continued to beat Delirious down heel style for a few minutes.

Delirious mounted a comeback at 7:00 when Aries got cocky and played to the crowd, giving Delirious an opening to hit him with a slap-inverted atomic drop combination. Now Delirious got a good spell of offense until, at 9:00, he went to the top and tried for Shadows Over Hell, but Aries got out of the way. Aries retaliated with a kick to Delirious neck to Delirious, the referee and Daizee Haze sold like it was a legit injury. Referees and ROH officials rushed to ringside to attend to Delirious. Aries and King appeared to be leaving the ringside area when they suddenly rushed the ring and Aries double axe-handled Haze from behind while King dragged Delirious to ringside. The referee called for the bell to disqualify Aries, I guess as a result of King dragging Delirious to the outside.

WINNER: Delirious in 10:00. A well-executed but fairly basic match that was just there to set up the post-match injury angle.

[Arcademan]

WWE NXT Results: 5-4-10

Results courtesy of PWTorch.com (direct link to Caldwell's complete report). Condensed here to in-ring results only.

1 -- DANIEL BRYAN (w/The Miz) vs. MICHAEL TARVER (w/Carlito)

Bryan went to work on Tarver with a surfboard stretch early on, but Tarver smashed him in the ribs to slow Bryan before whipping him hard across the ring. Bryan suddenly came flying out of the corner with a big kick strike as Cole actually said something positive about Bryan working hard despite being sick and having the "ribs injury." Tarver then cut off Bryan and worked him over with a Camel Clutch as they cut to break.

Back from break, Tarver executed an overhead suplex on Bryan as Cole reset the show. "Michael, you said something stupid before the break," Mathews dryly said in a transition to talking about Cole suggesting Tarver has given it his all on NXT despite quitting all of the competitions. Subtly great from Josh. Daniel made a comeback and slapped on an armbar, but Tarver lifted Bryan in the air and dropped him on his back to escape. Tarver then dropped Bryan with a swinging slam on the ribs and he scored the pin for the win.

Post-match: Miz rolled his eyes ringside as Tarver acted shocked that he won. Carlito told Tarver to calm down and act like he's been there before. Of course, he hasn't. Miz then entered the ring and watched as Tarver slowly picked up Bryan for Carlito to deliver the backstabber on Bryan. Miz simply crouched over Bryan and talked trash to him as Bryan sold the ribs. Ringside, Mathews and Cole talked about the second Pros poll next week.

WINNER: Tarver in 7:00. And the beat goes on for Bryan, as he reaches 0-10 status with the latest loss. At least it's half-way interesting to see where this leads with Daniel perhaps finally being booked to make that babyface comeback and "kick out" of the losing streak. (*1/4)

2 -- DAVID OTUNGA vs. R-TRUTH

R-Truth scored some early offense, but was ironically distracted by his own "R-Truth" chant to give Otunga an opening. Otunga landed a big shoulder tackle off the ropes, then a few strikes to the gut before they cut to break with Otunga in control.

Back from break, the story was Otunga getting too cocky on the offensive. Truth then made a comeback and dropped Otunga with a flying spin kick before hitting the spinning forearm blow off the ropes. Truth with the cover for the win. Post-match: Truth danced and Cole tried to act hip as Mathews expectedly mocked Cole for looking like an idiot. No "tool" reference this week, though.

WINNER: Truth in 6:00. Forgettable match with most of the match occurring during the commercial. Otunga still needs time to work on standing out as a performer during the wrestling portion of his act. He doesn't resonate with the audience in the ring yet. He just more time and experience. (*)

Justin Gabriel won the obstacle course challenge, thus getting immunity from elimination next week.