Blu-Ray Review: WWE Extreme Rules 2016 - Jericho v Ambrose - Asylum Match

It's been a while since we've had a WWE Home Video review on the site but they're back, as we take a look at the latest release Extreme Rules 2016, which is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray today in the UK. With Chris Jericho, Cesaro, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn all on the main card, how would WWE's "most extreme night of the year" turn out? 

Main Feature

The first ever Asylum Match is the main event, as Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose continue their feud inside a steel cage with various weapons attached to the top, in a mostly dull encounter. The match feels like it goes on forever, and the crowd begin to lose interest after ten minutes of nothingness. Both performers do take nasty bumps and weapon shots, but in the twenty five minute match, there's about five minutes of worthwhile action. 

Roman Reigns defends his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles in a brilliant Extreme Rules match. There's a great mixture of styles spread throughout the match with the pair brawling around the arena, creating big spots and then a boat load of false finishes that have the Chicago crowd going nuts. There's plenty of interference from the pairs respective factions, adding to the drama of the match and producing some sweet moments of their own.

In what is arguably the best match of the show, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, in a Fatal Four-Way Match also involving title holder, The Miz. The bout twist and turns, all four men being involved in exciting multi-man spots and plenty of well-timed cut offs and breath-taking near falls. A United States Championship bout between Rusev and Kalisto is less exciting, with the two men never quite connecting in what becomes a fairly disjointed class. Natalya and Charlotte's Submission battle over the Women's Championship features some nice wrestling, but never feels like a grudge match, with the finish being a particular cop out. 

Whilst the crowd is reluctant to go with the match, both The Usos and Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows put on strong performances in an enjoyable Tornado tag bout, that does it's job well. A Tag Team Championship match between The New Day's Big E & Xavier Woods and The Vaudevillains is frustratingly brief, but the two tandems manage to squeeze a lot of satisfying action into their short clash. 

Special Features

A No Disqualifcation match between Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler (from Extreme Rules 2016 Kick-Off) is a solid enough match for the Kick-Off show, but nothing worth going out of your way to see. 

Blu-Ray Exclusives

Charlotte and Natalya's Contract Signing featuring Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon (from Monday Night RAW), features some great work by the Women's Champion on the mic in front of her home state crowd, but gets a bit lost towards the end, shifting focus onto Stephanie and Ric Flair rather than the match. Cesaro teaming with Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens and Intercontinental Champion The Miz (from Thursday Night Smackdown) features some great build for their Four Way bout, showcasing the relationships between character, whilst also having entertaining action in it's own right. World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns' match with Luke Gallows (from Thursday Night Smackdown) is a little pedestrian in the ring, but the action on the outside and after the match, involving The Club and The Bloodline picks things up. Dean Ambrose destroying Chris Jericho's light-up jacket (from Monday Night RAW) is a fun segment, helped by Jericho's reactions and Big Cass putting in a star turn.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Blu-Ray Rating - 5.93/10

The main feature is two match PPV, but what a two matches they are. The Fatal Four-Way and Reigns v Styles will both be contenders for WWE's match of 2016 and are definitely worth a watch. The majority of the show's undercard is also pretty easy going, with a couple of tag team matches being especially fun bouts. The main problem with the card is the length of the Asylum match, which takes up about 15 minutes more than it needed to, or had content for, but that match also includes the most "extreme" moments of the entire show. There's nothing that's particularly blow away good in the special features, but the tag bout is a good watch if you missed it on Thursday Night Smackdown. 

Coming out with an above average rating, that's ever so slightly below being good, this certainly wouldn't be a bad addition to your collection. WWEDVD.co.uk is your cheapest option here at £13.99, but you can also find Extreme Rules 2016 at Amazon, Zavvi, Hive, Base.com and Blackwell.

Special thanks to Fetch Publicity and Freemantle International. 

Opinion: Here Comes the Boom? (Sean Taylor-Richardson)

WWE has had some game changing years in its illustrious history. Despite the falling television ratings and sudden suspension of their top star, 2016 still promises to be a significant year. But despite all of the promise, is it realistic to expect a third boom period for the company?

In the summer of 2015, WWE was pretty much following its own tried and tested blue print. Seth Rollins was champion but John Cena remained the undoubted star of the weekly shows. The Money in the Bank match, so often a reflection of the contemporary mid card depth, included long term stars such as Randy Orton, Kane and Sheamus: solid yet unspectacular hands. Legends like Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and Sting were still relied on as the PPV draws. whilst the Network was throwing out some interesting specials, overall the product felt very familiar, too comfortable. Raw remained the bread and butter show whilst Smackdown was weekly filler. It was business as usual.

Things feel far less comfortable and predictable now.  New names are slowly being integrated at the top of the card as veterans fade into the background. The mid card is vibrant and youthful, with NXT demonstrating that quality wrestling sells. Raw and Smackdown will soon both go live, possibly as equals, while the Network may soon deliver two monthly specials. WWE is, for what feels like the first time in a long time, trying to really shake up the product. In recent years, the company has taken huge risks in a business sense (undercutting traditional PPV revenue by crossing over to digital streaming represented a huge gamble for the Fed) but now it is extending that sense of adventure to the realm of its televised universe. In the past, Vince McMahon has shown form for breaking from the received wisdom and changing tact, often achieving spectacular results. His business has been reshaped and revitalised significantly at least twice before but could we really be about to witness the advent of the third major boom period in company history? 

In the mid-1980s Vince McMahon set about changing not just his company but the whole industry. 1985 was the year when his vision became most apparent. On re-watching Wrestlemania I, you can almost see the product evolve within the course of just two hours. On his first true super card, a show that would soon usher in the era of PPV, the old school vibe of the dimly lit, no-thrills undercard is soon overshadowed by the cartoony pomp and ceremony of the main event: as celebrities amassed at ringside, larger than life superstars took to the stage following elaborate entrances. Sports entertainment was born and McMahon and Hogan’s WWF was launched into the pop culture stratosphere. The move from regional to national enterprise, the commercial deals with strange bedfellows such as MTV and the ruthless talent raids created a television, live event and merchandise juggernaut.

Fast forward to the mid-90s, and that boom was long gone. Short of stars and on the losing end of a vicious ratings War with WCW, McMahon changed track again. Adopting a severe tonal shift and switching from PG to TV 14, and pushing new stars, the refreshed WWF again grabbed the world by storm, delivering record ratings on cable television. Buoyed by the huge success, Vince added a second significant weekly show in the form of Smackdown and floated the company on the stock exchange to become a billionaire. Wrestlemania 17, the end of this golden age, drew 1 million buys in North America to become the most successful domestic PPV of all time.

Whilst the 80s and 90s both delivered spells of reinvention that enabled the company to reach untold heights, the noughties failed to provide similar growth. Undoubtedly Vince made some attempts to reshape the WWE, firstly in 2002 with the original brand split and secondly in 2008, when he reverted to PG (admittedly a move more concerned with advertising and licencing than rejuvenating the on screen action). Now in 2016, it seems the time has finally come for the next big reshuffle. Television ratings, in these digital times, are not as important as they once were but they still mean something, hence the time and money being invested in the brand extension.  Most would expect some spike in ratings, especially for Smackdown, but this in itself won’t restore the company to its former glory. Splitting the brands is a good start, getting more eyes on certain talents whilst avoiding over exposure for others but it does not amount to the policy shifts that prompted the prior booms (just look at 2002 as evidence of that). However, there are other fascinating developments occurring that do suggest that the company will adapt to a changing world and reinvent itself once more. 

The key aspects of the 80s booms were risk taking and talent acquisition. After years of playing it safe, we are seeing Vince take risks again. The deal to allow Brock Lesnar to compete against Mark Hunt at UFC 200 is a gamble worthy of Vegas. Most MMA purists expect Hunt to knock Lesnar out, possibly reducing the legitimacy and appeal of WWE’s part time hard man. However, a win, or even a competitive performance, could ignite Brock’s relevance and provide a shot of adrenaline to his lukewarm act. The mainstream attention could mean that Lesnar’s Summerslam appearance has the aura of a celebrity cameo whilst the whole deal could also lead to the exciting in ring debut of Ronda Rousey. I’d wager this particular event would garner such publicity that any lowering of the aging Lesnar’s stock would be a fair trade. Certainly this is a braver McMahon, willing to take his chances. Just as the WWF expanded its touring in this era, now we have Raw, Smackdown and NXT all running shows internationally. The ambition is fierce and is borne out by the recent talent acquisitions. From Japan to Mexico to the Indies, WWE is once more aggressively pursuing the best talent. However, next month’s Cruiserweight Classic exemplifies a key difference: WWE now has a desire to work with other promotions, rather than sucking them dry. The links to Evolve, PROGRESS and RevPro enable them to monitor and develop talent, sensibly safeguarding their future by supporting the grassroots organisations they depend on.  By the late 80s, WWF had the richest roster in its history, with World, Intercontinental and Tag Team ranks overflowing with experienced stars and up and coming youngsters. We may be in the process of seeing such a diverse talent pool built again.

The 90s boom resulted from a celebrated stylistic change. Now I don’t expect a return to attitude anytime soon; PG is here to stay. But, things are changing in terms of the presentation. The 24 series on the Network takes us further behind the curtain than ever before; emotive clips of Seth Rollins and his real life ambitions and setbacks made their way onto Monday Night Raw. With kayfabe buried next to Katie Vick and heel heat largely a thing of the past, maybe the time has come to use real life personalities and scenarios to promote the worked matches. The traditional face-heel divide has long been on life support but more than ever audiences are encouraged to choose for themselves: exposing us to their real life trials and tribulations would support that choice. The dynamics of the industry are ever shifting and it may spark a resurgence in emotional investment.

Furthermore, the women’s division is well placed to broaden WWE’s demographic appeal. It hasn’t been brilliantly booked over the last 12 months but it still boasts an ensemble cast that promises a brighter future. By potentially creating the biggest female stars in the history of the industry, WWE can reach new fans and sponsors, improving its public image and reach. Indeed, while the group may not have a super-over male superstar ruling the roost as it had in years past (and chances are looking less likely that’ll be Roman), it does have an array of performers of both sexes that can share the responsibilities around. Being less reliant on one individual could be a positive going forward. Think of it as being like Leicester City; no major stars or divisive egos but a balanced team working towards a common goal.

Truthfully, WWE might never reach the superlative heights of the mid-80s and late-90s again: such ratings in an increasingly digital world seem unlikely whist they may never infiltrate pop culture as they once did. However, the company will grow as long as it embraces innovation, imagination and risk taking. If Vince and his future successors are willing to exhibit the spirit of old, exciting times lie still ahead for wrestling fans.

TV REVIEW: WWE Thursday Night Smackdown #856 (Ambrose/Neville vs. Sheamus/Owens)

The second Thursday Night Smackdown of 2016 presented us with Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, Neville, Kevin Owens and Sheamus opening the show, Kalisto defending his newly won United States Championship in a rematch with Alberto Del Rio and Neville teaming with Dean Ambrose to clash with Kevin Owens & Sheamus in the main event...but was it any good?

fast-forward...
The commentary team of Mauro Raunallo, Jerry "The King" Lawler & Byron Saxton welcomed us to the show, before running down the card, pushing the idea of a "triple main-event"...Renee Young interviewed Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose as he arrived at the building and headed straight out the arena...

The opening segment was a waste of television time, with the bout it created already being advertised for the show on Monday Night RAW three days previous. The only real bit of storyline advancement can in the first minute or so when Dean Ambrose challenged Kevin Owens to a Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble with the Intercontinental title on the line. Whilst that was a mouth-watering prospect that could very well steal the show, the rest of the segment was paint by number, with Sheamus heading out to the arena, before being joined by Kevin Owens, before Neville came out to even the score. Sheamus struggled with his promo, stumbling over his words to point where I'm surprised that WWE didn't re-film it. If there had been no previous storyline between the four guys before this episode, then this segment would have been so bad, but seeing as Neville, Ambrose, Owens and Sheamus have criss-crossed rivalries for a few weeks now, this was a pretty pointless exercise. The time could easily have been given to other bouts to add more depth to other feuds. 


fast-forward...
The Wyatt Family's Luke Harper & Erick Rowan appearing in the ring directly behind the Dudley Boyz produced a pretty cool visual...The Dudley Boyz going over Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in a Tables Match was plenty of fun, but let down for being a couple of minutes too short...More good action followed up with Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman getting revenge by putting Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley through tables with some impressive spots...Kalisto named dropped Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio in a desperate promo in a backstage interview with Jo-Jo...The Social Outcasts (Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel & Heath Slater), went over Damien Sandow, Goldust, Jack Swagger & Zack Ryder in another entertaining but brief encounter...A WWE Network trailer aired, promoting upcoming shows, Ride Along & Edge & Christian's Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness...We got a recap of the opening segment of Monday Night RAW #1181 featuring Mr. McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Roman Reigns and a large portion of the roster, as well as the One vs. All main event, that was mostly Reigns vs. Kevin Owens and the dominant return of Brock Lesnar...Kalisto came out first for his United States Championship defense against Alberto Del Rio...

The United States Championship match between champion Kalisto and challenger Alberto Del Rio took a while to get going for me, but once Del Rio had hit an armbreaker off the middle ropes and King Barrett had arrived at ringside we got a much more meaty contest. Kalisto excelled in the underdog role, selling his arm well and his move-set allows for some exciting hope spots, the most impressive being escaping Del Rio's Tree of Woe double stomp and reversing into a head scissors that sent the former World Heavyweight Champion crashing off the top, whilst a hurricanrana driver got a big reaction after a well-worked false finish. Barrett gave the match a different dimension, allowing Del Rio to stay in control for some time towards the end of the contest, whilst also stopping Kalisto from looking weak, with the Preston-native's most memorable involvement being when he moved Del Rio out of the line of fire when the King of Flight attempted a suicide dive variation. With the commentary team doing a solid job putting over both men, Kalisto had two lengthy spells in the Cross Armbreaker before eventually submitting, handing the United States Championship to Del Rio after less than four days of winning it (in TV land anyway, in reality it was less than 24 hours with the belt). I'd have like to have seen their two title matches happen on Smackdown with this bout happening next week, to give Kalisto a bit more time with the belt, and push the B show just that little bit more. It's frustrating to see the title switched so quickly, but Kalisto has been elevated hugely over the last two weeks or so and he's still got a rematch for the title, so overall I think the 29 year old has benefited from this programme, so far. Time will tell if it pays off for him in the long run.


Fast-Forward...
Kalisto's selling, whilst Alberto Del Rio celebrated with the United States Championship and King Barrett, was excellent, really putting over the injured arm and severity of Del Rio's finish...Sting's Hall of Fame induction vignette ran, you can see a full list of talking heads in our Monday Night RAW #1181 review...Renee Young interviewed Becky Lynch, which mainly worked as a way of showing a recap of her recent feud with Charlotte...Alicia Fox continues to accompany Brie Bella to the ring for the banter...Becky Lynch squashing Brie Bella was a bit of surprise, with Brie allowing Becky to look like a real bad-ass out there as she won by submission with the Disarmer in less than 3 minutes...Dean Ambrose, Neville, Kevin Owens and Sheamus all came out separately for the show's main event...

Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose & Neville battled Kevin Owens and Sheamus in a decent main event, that was let down by an unnecessary DQ finish. Neville worked well as the Geordie in peril, putting on a believable fight against the larger, Sheamus and Owens. In particular, The Man That Gravity Forgot and The Prize Fighter put on some quality action, weaving in some nice narrative around Neville attempting to hit a German Suplex, with the Breakout Star slammy winner managing to get the hot tag to Ambrose after finally hitting the move. The highlight of the contest came during Ambrose's flurry of action on Sheamus, when Owens interjecting himself to deliver a kick to the Lunatic Fringes' head as the IC Champ went for his signature Rebound Lariat. It was a shame then that when the bout was really looking to heat up with some brawling on the outside, we saw Owens cause the DQ by dropping the top of the announce table on Ambrose. The third non-finish in a row for Ambrose bouts on TV and this was the lamest of the bunch. I understand the need to keep both Owens and Ambrose looking good heading into the Last Man Standing bout, so why not really go for it and have Owens try to do some real harm to the Champion to give himself the advantage, not drop a flimsy announce table lid on him. A little bit more creativity would have gone a long way here.


fast-forward...
In typical WWE fashion, Neville managed to turn the tables with a moonsault plancha and the show closed with Dean Ambrose and Neville hitting their respective finishers on Kevin Owens in another piece of disappointingly unimaginative booking...

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.25/10 (Average)

This promising episode of Smackdown was let down by two things, a lack of creativity and a lack of time afforded certain storylines and matches. Alberto Del Rio winning back the United States Championship from Kalisto was the highlight of the show, with the duo putting on an enjoyable encounter. The top and tail stuff with Dean Ambrose, Neville, Kevin Owens and Sheamus had some interesting elements, but ultimately was a bit of a let down in it's execution, with the opening segment being surplus to requirements. Outside of the open, hour topper and main event, nothing was given enough time to really have much of an effect, with the supposed "main event" Tables match running way to short. A bit of extra attention for this would've afforded this show the depth that it needed to get a higher rating. 

TV REVIEW: WWE Thursday Night Smackdown #855 (Ambrose vs. Owens)

It was the first Smackdown of 2016 and the first broadcast on the show's new American home, USA and WWE took the opportunity to focus on two different titles. In the main event, Kevin Owens got a shot a Dean Ambrose's Intercontinental Championship, whilst earlier in the show, Charlotte put her Diva's Championship on the line against former friend Becky Lynch. With two promising bouts advertised, could Smackdown deliver and start 2016 with a bang?! 

Fast-Forward...The show begins with a recap of Roman Reigns retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Sheamus on Monday Night RAW #1180, despite Mr. McMahon being the Special Guest Referee, however no one involved actually appeared on the show...New announcer, Mauro Raunello introduced us to the first Smackdown of 2016, with his co-commentators, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Byron Saxton running down the card for the evening...

For the shows debut on the USA Network, WWE bought in 12 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena to lend the show some extra fire power. However, Cena didn't wrestle, as he simply accepted that Alberto Del Rio didn't want to wrestle him and called out Kalisto instead. The back and forth between Cena and Del Rio didn't quite hit the spot, as things seemed a little aimless and meandered about without a real purpose. I'm not quite sure it made much sense that Cena had Kalisto standing in gorilla, just in case Del Rio refused his challenge, but the crowd seemed happy enough with the replacement, even if they were much more vocal about a potential bout from Cena. Other highlights included Del Rio accidentally saying "Are you out of my mind?" and Cena saying repeatedly saying "Kalisto" and then dancing along to the Lucha chants.

The crowd was pretty hyped for the opener, with the United States Champion getting a decent amount of heat, whilst antagonising the crowd throughout. The action was decent throughout with a vicious Del Rio controlling most of the match, however this did mean that we didn't get to see a whole lot of Kalisto's flashy offence, but with Del Rio have the crowd already in hand it wasn't missed too much. WWE seems to be high on the former NXT Tag Team Champion, and it wasn't too much of a surprise to see him pulling out a flash pin victory following a hurricanrana, after Del Rio was distracted by Cena at ringside. With Cena now out injured, a feud between Del Rio and Kalisto seems to be on the card, I definitely wouldn't mind these two go at it again. After watching this I get the feeling that these two have the potentially to put on a memorable effort on PPV, if given a little more time and space than they were afforded here.


Fast-Forward...Kalisto celebrated with John Cena on the entrance ramp...

Miz TV was up next, with The Miz "scheduled" to look forward at 2016, but that wasn't to be as The New Day, Dolph Ziggler, Goldust, Neville and R-Truth all turned up to have their say. It was pretty run of the mill pre-Royal Rumble segment with everyone arguing about why they were going to win the Rumble. Obviously it got pretty boring pretty quickly as anyone who's watched WWE in the last twelve months knows how unlikely any of these 8 guys are to win the World Heavyweight Championship on the 23rd January. What did make this entertaining however was R-Truth's performance. His comedy character believed he was answering Alberto Del Rio's Open Challenge, Truth's vocals and facials when finding out that wasn't the case were spot on. Everyone else's reactions were also a change from the norm, with Xavier Woods pulling up a chair and beginning to eat popcorn as Miz and Truth argued back and forth. Things breaking into a brawl saw a return to the regular schtick.

R-Truth, Neville, Goldust & Dolph Ziggler then teamed to take on The New Day and The Miz in a throwaway eight man tag team bout. There was enough talent in the ring to take the opportunity and put on a belter of a contest, but unfortunately all eight guys seemed pretty content to churn out a match and get out of there. This perhaps wasn't helped by a lethargic crowd, who had no real reason to care. Neville worked well as the Geordie in peril, but I'd have picked him out of the four babyfaces perform the hot tag, with Goldust slotting into the other role. The closing sequence was the highlight of proceedings with Neville able to take out all of the New Day with a suicide dive, before Goldust and R-Truth set up Miz for a Superkick from Ziggler to give the good guys the win. 


Fast-Forward...Ziggler went on to take out R-Truth and Goldust with the commentators selling it almost like a full-on heel turn, but it'd seem more likely this is being used to put over the "Any man for himself" gimmick of the Rumble...Eden doing the in-ring announcement for Becky Lynch and Charlotte's Diva's Championship bout was a sound little touch and gave the bout a little more of an important feel, as the match topped the second hour...

I thought that Charlotte (with Ric Flair) and Becky Lynch put on a quality television bout here, that made each girl look like a star, whilst elevating the Divas Championship. The narrative of two former best friends is a simple one, but it's also easily relate-able and the two women used that well in the early parts of the bout, adding a little extra bite to the technical wrestling we've seen the pairs previous matches. Charlotte using her Dad to take control of the clash, by repeatedly rolling out of the ring and keep Flair in between the two, drove the bout forward well, working as a nice turning point for the middle of the contest. Whilst things got a little sloppy and rushed in final third, I thought the closing sequence, and especially Becky's near falls, was top class and having the call back to their bout on Monday Night RAW in November, with Flair distracting Becky, was the icing on the cake. Whilst they seemed reluctant at first, the crowd looked to be heavily invested in proceedings by the finish of things. With Charlotte retaining her title with her feet on the ropes, and Becky arguably having the match won if it wasn't for The Nature Boy, this feud is set up perfectly for a rematch at the Royal Rumble.


Fast-Forward...During an interview with Renee Young, Kevin Owens cut a belting promo about killing cockroaches to push his Intercontinental Championship bout with Dean Ambrose later in the show...The RAW Rebound focused again on Roman Reigns retaining his World Heavyweight Championship against Sheamus and the aftermath with Mr. McMahon announcing Reigns would defend the title in the Royal Rumble match on January 23rd...Renee Young was on hand once again, this time allowing Dean Ambrose to shine in a cracking interview, with the Lunatic Fringe promising the viewers a fight in his main event with Kevin Owens...With Ambrose and Owens making their entrances and Eden Stiles making their announcements, there was a true big fight feel for this one, when was the last time you could say that about an Intercontinental Championship bout, or a match on Smackdown for that matter...

As television main events go, this was a high quality contest. In a fairly even bout, Owens and Ambrose showed they have heaps of chemistry, producing a series of wonderful reversals that go better and quicker as the match went on. A section that saw Owens hit a German Suplex and Ambrose hit a Tornado DDT after both attempting a number of other moves was particularly satisfying, as was the earlier brawl on the outside that saw Ambrose hit a Russian Leg Sweep into the barricade. It was a shame that we didn't get a clear finish, but this is TV and having the two brawling around the arena to a double countout made perfect sense to intensify their rivalry and build to a big match on a Royal Rumble show where the two could have a lot more time (especially with Rumble now being for the World Title) The commentators (especially newbie Raunallo) putting over just how important the Intercontinental Championship was to these men made me a very happy chappy indeed. 


Fast-Forward...The show closed with Ambrose and Owens brawling through the crowd, with a handful of big spots, closing with both men crashing through a pile of tables...

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.53 (Average-Good TV) 

In comparison to TNA's debut on POP TV two days earlier, Smackdown's debut on USA was a massive success. Both advertised matches delivered what I was expecting of them, being good quality television wrestling matches, that held my attention throughout and made me want to see more from everyone involved. Whilst a title change would have made the broadcast feel a little more important, I don't think it was the be all and end all here. The show was hurt by a bit too much filler in the form of Miz TV and the Eight Man Tag Team bout and having two recaps of Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns from RAW was unnecessary especially the one that aired at the beginning of the show. 

This was still a decent outing for the blue show, establishing itself well to new viewers on USA. I'm hoping we get to see the spotlight given to the Intercontinental and Divas Championship more often on the show, as it should give the show a real purpose, giving fans a reason to tune in, whilst elevated the titles themselves.

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1180 (Sheamus vs. Reigns)

The first Monday Night RAW of 2016! This had to be great, yeah? Roman Reigns putting his WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Sheamus with Mr. McMahon as Guest Referee in the main event, the return of Chris Jericho, Charlotte and Becky Lynch going one on one...could WWE hit the ground running in 2016? Let's find out.


Fast-Forward...Things kicked off with a recap of the interactions between Mr. McMahon and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns throughout last week's show, beginning the push for the show's main event bout...

 The opening segment was traditionally wordy, but kept a strong pace and continued the push for the main event. I've said for a while that Roman Reigns is much stronger on the microphone when he has someone to bounce off of, and Stephanie McMahon definitely offered that here. Steph's viciousness on the microphone, pushing her Daddy's Little Girl gimmick that hasn't been seen for a while, and putting over the chances of their being a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion later on in the show, allowed Reigns to look intimidating, delvering a few short utterances and looking like a bad-ass in the process. It was a shame that challenger Sheamus wasn't featured in some way though. 


Fast-Forward...Neville and Kevin Owens made their entrances to begin the first bout of the show, with Dean Ambrose on commentary I was hoping for some shenanigans 

Whilst not reaching the heights we've seen from these two previously (WWE Monday Night RAW #1173 - 16th November 2015), this was still an entertaining clash that allowed both men to shine. There was plenty of Neville's "fun to watch, Maggle" offence, including a sweet 450 splash off the apron to the floor, whilst Owens looked strong when in control. WWE's Prize Fighter managing to get back into the contest by kicking Neville in his injured ribs (which of course were taped up) created an enjoyable narrative, that allowed the later half of the bout to switch gear and built Owens back up after his flash loss last week. Whilst it was clear that the two were holding back a bit, having Owens win decisevly with the Pop-Up Powerbomb was refreshing and set up the former Intercontinental Champion for a future shot at his old Gold. 


Fast-Forward...Owens and Ambrose going at it after the bout was superb, with the pair brawling around ringside, before the current IC Champ took control and delivered an impressive elbow drop through the announce table...Titus O'Neill went over Stardust in a poorly thought out contest...The relationship between Charlotte and Becky Lynch continued to show signs of strain in a backstage segment, with an added exclamation point from Ric Flair...The two would face off in a non-title bout next, we got a replay of their contest from November, I hadn't realised this storyline had been going on for so long...

I wouldn't say the crowd was hot, but they were definitely interested in the only Women's outing of the night. Charlotte and Becky Lynch put on a sound technical encounter that held my attention from start to finish. The two looked strong out there, stringing together some decent sequences, fitting of the exhibition style that one would expect from two supposed best friends. There were once again glimpses of Charlotte heeling it up, which perhaps could have been held off until the finish of the bout, as she slapped Becky whilst holding her in a Figure Four Neck Lock, shouting (something to the effect of) "This is what you wanted) Calling back to the finish off their previous bout was a cool little touch, with the commentary team quickly picking up on it, as Becky pulled out the upset after coming off a series of roll-ups with the upperhand. Not a contest that will stand long in the memory, but certainly entertaining whilst it lasted.


Fast-Forward...Things kicked up a gear with Charlotte attacking Becky after the bout, here's hoping their title contest on this week's Thursday Night Smackdown will be a cracker...Backstage, Mr. McMahon explained the rules of a match to Sheamus, riveting stuff...As Big Show made his way to the ring for a clash with Ryback, Lilian Garcia seemed to forget how many feet tall the former 2 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion was...Big Show and Ryback stumbled around for a little while, before the Wyatt Family interrupted them...Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper dismantled both Ryback and The Big Show before entering themselves into the Royal Rumble, can't the Wyatt's interrupt every Big Show match?...Why are The Usos still carrying around their Slammy Awards? Isn't that something a heel does?...

Man, this contest was so much better than I was expecting it to be. The crowd did take some time to warm to the action, with The League of Nations faction still struggling to get over, but as soon as the hot tag was in and The Usos took control the crowd got louder and louder. The clash built to a smashing near fall with the Usos hitting a Superkick and Splash combo on Del Rio, before Rusev managed to make the late save. There was a lot of fun stuff going on before the finish, with both Usos putting a shift in, and allowing the Del Rio and Rusev combo to look like a duo that had been teaming up for sometime. A rematch between these two wouldn't go a miss next week, with The Usos in dire need of a win after jobbing to the Wyatt Family on last week's Thursday Night Smackdown.


Fast-Forward...Rusev and Del Rio celebrated their victory, who knows where this is going...Dolph Ziggler cut an awkward in-vision promo, whilst his opponent Heath Slater came out with Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Adam Rose, for reasons to be explained...SLATER WON! A bit of a lacklustre effort from Ziggler, but who cares, SLATER BABY!...Slater and his new pals all had a bit of time on the mic, what a time to be alive...In a mirror image of the backstage segment with Sheamus earlier, Vince McMahon explained the rules of wrestling to Roman Reigns in the lockeroom area...

I've mixed feelings about the New Day's segment with Chris Jericho. I'd imagine that Jericho had asked to work with the New Day, but I'm not sure that the two acts fully connected. It didn't help that The New Day's promo that lead into Jericho's return wasn't anywhere near their best. The stuff about Mike Tyson falling off his "hoverboard" was woefully painful to watch, and not in a "Man, I wanna see these guys get beaten up" kind of way, more a "This better stop soon, or I'm gonna change the channel" kind of way. The crickets from the crowd seemed to agree with this. The highlight of the segment was the New Day's countdown (who knows what it was actually going to be to) cutting into Jericho's video. Y2J's promo was decent, heavily relying on catchphrase, but delervered with enough energy to keep things entertaining. "Rooty Tooty Booty" better not catch on, because it's bloody annoying. What does it even mean? 

More New Day up next, as the trio took on The Dudley Boyz and Kalisto in a rematch from last week's Thursday Night Smackdown. Another fun, but essentially throw-away contest, that made Kalisto look like star. His offence was highlighted often, and he formed an odd-ball tandem with Bubba Ray Dudley to perform some funky manoevres. For me, the bout went a little bit too long for what it was, and could have easily had five or more minutes shaved off and actually been better off for it. That the finish was built to nicely with The New Day managing to turn the tide when it seemed like The Dudleyz had the match won, hitting their Midnight Hour finish for the win. 


Fast-Forward...A hype package for the main event aired, that happened to be exactly the same as the opening package from earlier in the show...

Ol Vinny Mac was really hamming it up as he headed down to the ring for the main event. Flexing his muscles and showing off his back, it was his facial that got to me. Vince seemed to be trying way too hard to come across as the Pantomime villain. Maybe this is what the kids want in 2016, but it didn't get over with me. Top marks for the "Cranky Vince" and "Mean Street Posse = Ratings" signs in the crowd though. 

The main event was silly. Very silly. It was pretty much paint by numbers, as McMahon made sure he didn't see Sheamus cheating, whilst counting slow (and sometimes not counting at all) for any Reigns pinfalls. If Sheamus hadn't looked like a chump heading into the bout, he certainly did here. Reigns clearly had The Celtic Warrior beat on three occasions (off of moves that wouldn't usually put anyone away) and then couldn't win the title even when allowed to do what he wanted and with the referee counting fast. Mainly a storyline bout with plenty of interference and a handful of great near falls, this was an entertaining contest that made Reigns look like a star. At times things did verge on the goofy, with Sheamus never looking like a believable threat to the title, the pacing of the booking could have been a little less "Wham, Bam" and made the contest much more interesting. I'd have liked to have seen Sheamus presented stronger and protected a bit more, but if WWE have no plans for the Irishman at WrestleMania then it's not too big of a problem for them.


Fast-Forward...Vince McMahon closing the show by putting Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line in the Royal Rumble bout just three weeks away, allowed the show to finish on a shocking revelation that will hopefully drive viewers toward Smackdown on Thursday to find out more...

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.8 (Average to Good)

A solid outing for WWE, but with a distinct lack of urgency spread throughout the show as the promotion waddles towards the Royal Rumble. The main event presented an intriguing concept, but could have done with presenting Sheamus as a viable threat to the title, rather than just Mr. McMahon's special referee status. However, the main event was pushed well throughout the show, without ever becoming heavy handed. There was some decent storyline progression in the first hour with the Intercontinental and Diva's Championship feuds getting pushed, heading into title bouts on Thursday's Smackdown. However, past this the show lacked any real substance and whilst The Usos and League of Nations bout stood out, there was nothing to particular get your teeth into, with even The New Day's interaction with a returning Chris Jericho struggling. 


Not quite the home run WWE needed to start the year, but still a completely watch-able show, that built steadily towards both Smackdown's debut on USA and the Royal Rumble on 24th January.