No Mercy 2017 Review - John Cena vs. Roman Reigns

On 24th September 2017, WWE's RAW brand aired No Mercy 2017 live on the WWE Network, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show featured John Cena battling Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins putting the Tag Team Championship on the line against Cesaro & Sheamus and Finn Balor going up against Bray Wyatt "man to man", as well as action featuring Intercontinental Champion The Miz, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Sasha Banks, Cruiserweight Champion Neville and Bayley. But was it any good? Lets take a look! 


The opening package was your typically well-produced WWE open, focusing on John Cena vs. Roman Reigns, the Women's Championship five-way and Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman..."on this night, there will be no restraint, there will be no holding back and there will be...No Mercy" 

The Miz (C) (with The Miztourage) def. Jason Jordan to retain the Intercontinental Championship (10:15)

After a build that I struggled to get behind, I felt like Miz and Jason Jordan delivered here, putting together a solid opening match that grabbed the crowd and warmed them up well for the rest of the evening. Was it the crispest of bouts? No, not all, there were a couple of moments of sloppiness or miscommunication like Miz throwing Jordan back in the ring and a weird looking kitchen sink from the champ. But it also featured some really well-worked sequences that showed the potential that Jordan possesses well, with Miz playing the foil well. The It kicks being reversed into a T-Bone suplex, as well as the work that went down on the outside, leading into Jordan hitting an overhead belly to belly on Dallas that sent him into both Miz and Axel. The finishing sequence was one of the strongest on the whole show with the Miztourage running interference just as Jordan got rolling and after Jordan had swatted Dallas off the top rope, there was Axel with a cheapshot, which allowed Miz to hit a Skull Crushing Finale to retain his title. It was the first legit obstacle we'd seen put in Jordan's way and he was unable to overcome it, that's how you build a babyface and his performance in this match shows that if WWE can handle him correctly and use just the right amount of the Kurt Angle stuff, then there's a star in their somewhere.

Post-match, Jason Jordan gave an awkward promo to Renee Young, saying he still doesn't respect The Miz and that he feels Miz sucks.

Before the next match could begin Bray Wyatt attacked Finn Balor, throwing him into the barricade and hitting a uranage slam onto the announce table. With Balor being lead away by referees, Wyatt would get on the microphone and goad Balor into getting back in the ring claiming "You ain't no demon, you ain't even a man, you're a coward"...

Finn Balor def. Bray Wyatt (11:32)

Oh man, this match was going so well until the finish. With Wyatt attacking Balor before the match and having lost to the Demon at SummerSlam, it felt like the logical step for the rivalry was for Wyatt to beat Balor here or perhaps at least have an out for his loss, but an enziguiri, two corner drop kicks and a coup de grat is pretty conclusive victory for the Irishman. The body of the match was head and shoulder above their mediocre SummerSlam effort as the pair told a strong story with Balor injuring his ribs before the match started and having to fight from underneath against the larger, dominant Wyatt. Balor's selling throughout the match was superb as he produced what is arguably his strongest performance since his Universal title win last August. There was not a single moment where I forgot the Balor was carrying an injury because he was constantly grabbing at it, grimacing and appearing to struggle for breath. We'd see this play into the match on numerous occasions with Wyatt focusing in on the area and Balor often struggling to climb to the top rope to hit Coup de Grat, leading to Wyatt to catch him on the top or at one point Wyatt to get up and Balor hit a version of his finish to his opponents neck. The win is great for Balor, he looked like a valiant fighter and the result gets over his heart, determination as cements him as a threat with or without the demon, but there was so much potential for Wyatt to flourish here, with his performance on the microphone and when hitting multiple drop suplexes being some of his best work also. I'm interested to see where both goes are heading as it feels like Balor will be getting a push heading towards Survivor Series in November, whilst we may see Wyatt look to rebuild a family to protect him going forward.



Charly Caruso asked Cesaro & Sheamus what adjustments they'd made since SummerSlam, with the Swiss Superman and the Celtic Warrior replying that they don't adjust to the world, the world adjusts to them. 

The parade of foreign announce teams came here.

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose def. Sheamus & Cesaro to retain Tag Team Championships (15:55)

These two teams are absolute gold together and somehow managed to up the quality from their great SummerSlam effort and steal the show at No Mercy. There were a tonne of different elements weaved into the contest, some of them intentional and one of them a complete mistake, but they all came together to produce one of the best tag team matches in the last decade. Lets talk about that accidental element first, that would be Cesaro knocking some teeth out after hitting the top of the ring post and pissing blood from his mouth. It was a brutal and painful looking injury, but allowed for one of the coolest visuals in WWE history as Seth Rollins hit the Avada Kedavra and sent blood splattering across the Swiss Superman's face and all over the place. On the other side of the coin was Dean Ambrose kayfabe shoulder injury after he took a Cesaro swing into the steel steps on the outside. I've always felt that Ambrose has worked best when fighting from the bottom and with a body part to sell and it was once again effective here. Little touches like banging the shoulder into the wall in an attempt to pop it back into place following a suicide dive meant that the Lunatic Fringe shone here. The match built around Ambrose's injury effectively, firstly having him as the face in peril, before he was later unable to make the tag back in, partly because of the injury and partly because of clever tag work from Cesaro & Sheamus. 

Whilst most of the elements that made their SummerSlam clash so enjoyable were on display here again, like Rollins hot tag, big bruising tag work from Cesaro & Sheamus and a crowd that was behind the babyfaces, but what made this match a step above was the final third as it was packed with near falls and convincing false finishes as the two teams pulled out all the stops and stole the show in the process. A sharpshooter and then a crossface from Cesaro on Ambrose, followed by a double crucifix powerbomb to the Lunatic Fringe from both opponents and then the best moment of the entire match came. The Bar went to go for their assisted White Noise on Ambrose, only for Rollins to leap from the apron to the top rope, attempting to rana Cesaro to the mat, but Cesaro held on, Sheamus hit White Noise and Cesaro leap off the top turnbuckle with an avalanche powerbomb to Rollins onto Ambrose. The sequence was near perfect and the reaction for Ambrose kicking out of it the resulting pinfall was big. Moments later after Ambrose feinted out of a Brogue Kick attempt, Sheamus would accidentally connect with Cesaro, allowing a Ripcord knee from the Man and a Dirty Deeds from Ambrose to get the win. The heel miscommunication was a nice call back to how the feud has been based around the idea that Ambrose and Rollins would struggle to remain a team when the pressure was on, with the roles being reversed and the babyface duo ending up on top and still on the same page, despite the battering that both received. Give me a TLC match with these teams next month and I'll be a happy chappy.

Alexa Bliss def. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax and Emma to retain the Women's Championship (9:54)

Considering the women were given less than ten minutes of a three hour show, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax and Emma worked their arses off putting on an action-pack, story-driven five way that over-delivered, despite the time constraints. There was a lot of different relationships and narratives going on here, that perhaps meant that the end of the bout felt a little flat, but made for a rich beginning and middle portion. Nia's dominance, Bayley and Banks' friendship, Emma attempting to make the most of her opportunity and Bliss desperate and willing to do anything to hold onto her title all provided the match with avenues to explore and the chance to weave the ideas together. Jax being powerbomb from the apron after all four opponents combined and then later returning got the biggest reactions from the crowd as she continues to develop into a potential major star for the division if she's handled correctly. With Bliss pinning Bayley following a Snap DDT, the contest needed longer to produce a satisfying well-rounded bout that allowed it's ideas to grow and feel organic, there was still enough to make the five-way enjoyable whilst it lasted.

Highlights of Batista defeating Eddie Guerrero to retain the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy 2005, for some reason.

Roman Reigns def. John Cena (22:09)

This was the match I was most looking forward to and the build-up that I had most enjoyed and to a degree it delivered. This was a big match, full of big moments, big reversals, classic spots, which played out in front of a lively crowd that wanted both men to know how they felt about them. It wasn't a particularly creative effort, pulling elements of John Cena's recent successes with the likes of AJ Styles, but it was still entertaining to see Cena's classic comeback sequence cut off at various stages as Reigns dominated and controlled the crowd. Perhaps, my favourite moment of the contest was Cena catching a Superman punch and turning it into an STF, locking in the move again once Reigns got close to the ropes, with the Big Dog eventually escaping with a powerful sitout powerbomb. I think, if the move had come later in the match it would have been a much more convincing near fall and perhaps would have upped the drama just a little bit more. A big shout out for the spot on the announce table as well with Reigns reversing an AA into a spear and almost shattering his own skull in the process. 

However, the conclusion was unsatisfying. Reigns would kick out of one Attitude Adjustment, then after missing a spear he kicked out of an Avalanche AA, then Cena hit another AA and rolled over like a beefed up Mark Haskins and hit another one and then Reigns kicked out. An utterly ridiculous amount of kick out from the same move. They all got good reactions, as people believed Cena had put Reigns away, but I'm not sure if Reigns lasting a nuclear-bomb like assault is the way to showcase him to an audience that has already been reluctant to accept him as a top guy. Cena had a similar problem and has ended up respected by most, Reigns has potential for that same spot, but WWE seems to be missing the mark on his presentation. Perhaps had Reigns not gone on to win clean with a superman punch and a spear, then those kick outs would have felt less silly, but by giving Reigns too much, WWE could end up shooting themselves in the foot. This was a good to very good match between two superlative workers, but the booking and presentation often let them down and an overall feeling of lack of creativity and recycling left the contest feeling overly clinical. 

After the match, John Cena raised Roman Reigns hand as the big left the ring to Cena. Cena bowed, waived and looked around emotionally at the arena as the crowd chanted "Thank you, Cena". 

The advert for WWE 2K18 with Snoop Dogg is magnificent.

The Miz interrupted Kurt Angle in his office, asking for an exclusive interview with Roman Reigns on RAW with Angle agreeing that it was a good idea and scheduling Miz TV for tomorrow night.

Before the Cruiserweight Championship match, Enzo Amore said some words about Neville's appearance and cookie dough, whilst Neville just looked at him like he wanted to kick him in the head. 

Enzo Amore def. Neville to win the Cruiserweight Championship (10:36)

Enzo Amore won the Cruiserweight Championship. I'm not quite sure what else I can say. Neville dominated throughout, blocking an early DDG attempt, throwing his opponent in the barricade, shouting "No one cares Enzo, no one cares" whilst locking in a headlock, smacking him in the face with a superkick after Enzo skinned the cat and killed the New Jerseyan with a series of big kicks and for quite a while it was great entertainment. I mean, probably not for the reasons it should have been, but great entertainment non the less, watching a man whose fall from fan favourite has been spectacular get his arse handed to him by someone who has worked hard to become one of the most entertaining characters on RAW. Then Enzo won. He grabbed the championship belt, used it as a distraction for the ref, kicked Neville in the dick again and walked out with the purple strap held high. Amore needs to turn heel and if this move was a heel turn I'm 100% okay with it, however if WWE is pushing Enzo as someone the crowd is supposed to get behind it's an arse-backward move. There's a slim chance this could be used to enhance the division and get eyes on the underrated 205 Live, but there's also a bigger chance that it could kill the division stone dead. 

Brock Lesnar def. Braun Strowman to retain Universal Championship (8:52)

Ah. Damn. After such a strong build up, that had myself and many desperate to see Brock v Braun, this match ended up being a major disappointment. Terribly short for a show closer, the two had a match. There was some lovely work in here, like Strowman's early domination and Booker T quipping "Guys, we're about one minute in and Brock Lesnar is on plan C", with this later being followed up by Lesnar locking Strowman in the Kimura for a lengthy period, but past that and the match didn't develop. Braun sold well at points, although him not being able to make the cover after a running powerslam could have looked better, but we didn't see Lesnar go back after the clearly injured body part and the match stuttered from there. German suplexes to big guys are fun, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. Then the finish ended up leaving me feeling a little deflated as Lesnar finally managed to hit an F5 and walked out as champion. We saw a similar finish to Lesnar's match with Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire and whilst it was marginally effective then, it was less so here, after how hard Strowman had been pushed and even more so after we saw Roman Reigns kick out of Attitude Adjustment after Attitude Adjustment earlier in the night. Overall, the match was fun whilst it lasted, but couldn't live up to the hype, perhaps because Braun wasn't ready for such a spot and perhaps because Lesnar doesn't want to put in the effort needed to have a blowaway singles match anymore. 

No Mercy was a good PPV in which the undercard over-performed and the two main event matches fell short, whilst a handful of the booking decisions ended up being questionable. The Tag Team Championship match was easily the match of the night, with both teams putting in a tremendous effort that topped their SummerSlam classic, whilst despite it's drawbacks I'd probably put Cena vs. Reigns in at #2. The main event didn't live up to expectations and wins for Finn Balor and Enzo Amore felt like they either came at the wrong time for their feuds or opponents, despite some entertaining action. The Women's Five-Way proved that RAW's ladies deserve more time, both on TV and on PPV in order to expand on the good wrestling and compelling ideas that they are capable of producing. 

The PPV will be remember for two matches that were advertised as WrestleMania worthy not delivering on their potential, but will provide a pleasant surprise when rewatched in future years thanks to the great tag team match and a good undercard.

TV Review: WWE NXT #189 (Emma vs. Asuka)

On 23rd March 2016, WWE aired the 189th episode of NXT, having previously taped the event on 27th January 2016 at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, USA. The show featured the #1 Contender to the WWE NXT Women's Championship Asuka facing off against Emma...but was it any good? Let's find out!

nxt #189 match card

Match 1 - Singles - Elias Samson vs. Johnny Gargano

Match 2 - Singles - Rich Swann vs. WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor

Match 3 - Singles - Alexa Bliss w/Blake & Murphy vs. Sarah Dobson

Match 4 - Singles - Emma w/Dana Brooke vs. Asuka

johnny gargano defeats elias samson

This was the first time that I've ever seen anything in Elias Samson, as he worked a decent little match opposite EVOLVE Tag Team Champion Johnny Gargano. The moment that really made me sit up a take notice was Gargano attempting to come diving through the ropes back into the ring, only to be struck in the face with a big ol' knee from Samson. The spot was well timed by both men and came off looking great on TV. Whilst it seemed more like an element to progress the storyline than anything else, it was pretty cool to see Gargano come out with the victory and adds an element of unpredictability to the NXT product, with Gargano still to sign a full-time WWE contract. Samson impressed me even more after the bout as his destruction of made him look like a vicious beast. A feud with Apollo Crews, who came out to stop Samson's attack on Gargano, could do wonders for both performers who find themselves without places on Takeover: Dallas. 

finn balor defeats rich swann

Someone with a big place on the Takeover: Dallas card is NXT Champion Finn Balor who put on an impressive display against former Dragon Gate star, Rich Swann. Whilst taken on it's own merit the match wasn't anything all too special, as part of the build up to Takeover: Dallas it was an enjoyable piece of storytelling that allowed Balor to look every inch of the star that he is. This was a much more focused Balor to what we've seen before as he controlled the pace of the bout, in a similar way to what he did against Apollo Crews on NXT #182. The frills off the bout were left to Swann who pulled out a number of cool looking moves during a well-paced comeback sequence. I'm expecting to see a lot more of Swann in the second half of 2016. Balor looked comfortable in his victory, hitting a Coup de Grace and a Bloody Sunday to close the deal, as he continues to show just how ready he is for Takeover: Dallas in 9 days time. A simple piece of booking, but executed perfectly.

fast-forward...Rich Brennan interviews Emma and Dana Brooke with Emma cutting a strong promo on her main event match with Asuka “She may be the Empress of Tomorrow, but she's not going to get passed today”...A look at Shinsuke Nakamura including his debut on NXT #188...

alexa bliss defeats sarah dobson

I struggled to get into this one, because there didn't seem to be a whole lot of reason behind it. Alexa Bliss isn't on the Takeover: Dallas card, which is just 9 days away and isn't really in any storylines, so having he go over Indy performer Sarah Dobson (better known as Crazy Mary Dobson) in an extended squash felt a bit pointless. It didn't help proceedings that Sarah's only offence off the match, a diving crossbody, ended up looking horrible as she came off way too high, crashing her knee into Alexa's face. There was no real storyline progression for anyone, unless you count Blake and Murphy helping out Alexa to get the win, I suppose. Sparkle Splash closed things off in a run of the mill squash.

fast-forward...Samoa Joe attacked Bull Dempsey and Danny Burch before either could start their match, sending a message to Finn Balor...Brilliant sit-down interview with American Alpha that covers a lot ground and builds wonderfully to their tag team title bout in 9 days...

asuka defeats emma

One thing that majorly surprised me about this match was just how dead Full Sail University was for it. For me, they ended up sucking a lot of the energy out of the bout, as a lot of the crowd just didn't seem interested. Whenever Emma was in control they'd just go silent. They didn't seem to bothered in getting behind Asuka and I'm really not sure why. Maybe they were tired after a long taping? Maybe the bout was poorly placed within the taping schedule? I can't figure it out, because I know the exact same match got a great reaction inside the SSE Arena in December. Whatever it was it definitely effected my enjoyment of the bout as a home viewer. 

Luckily, the two women deliver a quality television main event and while I don't think it quite stands up to the level of their previous bout at Takeover: London, it was clear that this contest had a completely different aim. That aim being making Asuka look like a boss before her NXT Women's Championship match with Bayley in 9 days time. After some strong heel work from Emma and Dana Brooke to start things off, the bout really got going with a terrific back and forth strike sequence that built up and built up and built up. Whilst the bout was clearly designed as a showcase for Asuka, there was still a nice near fall thrown in their for Emma, who used a school boy roll-up with her feet on the ropes, where the referee almost counted three but saw the feet on the ropes and thought better of it. This lead to one of my favourite moments of the contest when Emma was arguing with the referee, whilst Asuka silently stalked her, with the moment being brilliantly captured by the camera team. Of course, the Empress of Tomorrow would eventually pick up the victory, as Emma tapped out to the Asuka Lock, ending her warm-up for Takeover: Dallas looking like a beast.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.1/10

Whilst this wasn't a "great" show in and of itself, it did feel like a show that will make the upcoming Takeover: Dallas a more satisfying watch. The main event delivered a rock solid television main event, that set up Asuka for her biggest match in the WWE in just 9 days time.

Finn Balor and Rich Swann's contest was the highlight of the undercard, whilst Elias Samson had his strongest performance to date with Johnny Gargano, before a new feud developed with Apollo Crews. It was a shame that Alexa Bliss' bout with Sarah Dobson felt a little bit needless and was pretty sloppy in it's execution, as it ended up letting down what was a cracking hour of television otherwise. 

With next week's show landing just 2 days before Takeover: Dallas, it'll be interesting to see what direction the show takes. Alex Riley vs. Apollo Crews and Samoa Joe vs. Bull Dempsey were announced this week and we'll have all the coverage heading into Takeover: Dallas in the same place next week, don't miss it.

WWE Main Event #94 Review (Sheamus vs Miz VIII)

This week's WWE Main Event was headlined by a rematch from Raw (Review here - http://www.acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk/2014/07/wwe-raw-14th-july-2014-review.html) as United States Champion Sheamus battle the man who defeated him the previous night, The Miz. After a match that seemed to have potential but fell flat on Raw, could the pair deliver live on the WWE Network? Let's find out! 

The show kicked off with everyone's favourite wrestling talk show... MIZ TV! Essentially, this was just THE MIZ cutting a promo with a special set as it didn't appear like he would be having a guest. Miz's new self-obsessed Hollywood star gimmick is a million times better than anything he ever during his ill-fated babyface run. Miz has changed up his promo style and takes a lot more time with his delivery and actually managed to get a decent reaction out of the Fayetteville crowd. The idea of Miz reading out a letter he had written about himself was a nice idea on paper, that seemed to lose a little in it's delivery. 

Miz was, of course, interupted by his opponent for the evening Sheamus and the two had some back and forth  on the microphone, mainly focused around Miz calling his face his "moneymaker" and Sheamus threatening to kick it. Eventually, Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick, with Miz once again escaping and fleeing up the entrance ramp. An enjoyable opening segment that set up the main event nicely, laying out the storyline clearly and setting up an issue between the two opponents, it really couldn't have done much more. 

Match 1 - EMMA vs CAMERON

YIPPEE-KAY-EH, Emma is back! She must have begged, borrowed and stole to get a place on the show. 

Her opponent Cameron is currently embroiled in a feud with former Funkadactyls partner NAOMI who joined Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton on commentary. I found the commentary to be very frustrated throughout this match, as whilst it did push the feud hard and Naomi offered some nice insights into her relationship with Cameron there was no real effort to call the match and tell the story of the match embroiling in front of them. For the time they were given I thought the girls did well, incorpating a nice story where Cameron continued to escape a number of Emma's signature moves, including the DilEmma, which unfortunately wasn't picked up on by the commentary team. The finish saw Cameron to focused on taunting Naomi and walking into an inside cradle that allowed Emma to steal the victory. It was surprising to see Emma pick up the victory here for a number of reasons, but it did make sense in the continuing storyline with the former Funkadactyls pair. 

Following the match a frustrated Cameron attacked Emma, with Naomi quickly making the save, chasing off her former partner. Am I particularly interested in watching the match between the the Naomi and Cameron on the Battleground Kick Off show? Hmmmm...not really. 

Match 2 - RYBAXEL vs BIG E and KOFI KINGSTON

Billed as a look at four participants in the Intercontinetal Championship Battle Royal, this was an decent slice of tag team action, with all four men pulling out some nice looking offence. Big E again looked impressive against a similar sized man, in the shape of Ryback, before launching Kingston over the top rope onto RybAxel in a nicely worked highspot to send the match into the break. The momentum changer of Curtis Axel leaping off the apron onto E was looking solid and the use of repeated knee drives in the corner by RybAxel was also well done. The booking of the match was good enough to get a "We Want Kofi" chant out of the game crowd, as RybAxel worked off E for an extended period. Following the hot tag the match headed to it's conclussion with a flurry of action seeing all four men get involved, ending with Kingston delivering Trouble in Paradise to Axel for the pinfall victory. An enjoyable finish to an enjoyable match, although I would've liked to have seen more tension between the teams to remind us of the ever man for himself aspect of the upcoming battle royal. 

Backstage, RENEE YOUNG interviewed Miz in a segment that really wasn't needed. That's not to say Miz using phrases describing himself as "WWE's most valuable asset" or a "1000 watt megastar" weren't good lines, it just felt like after the opening segment set up the main event this was a little bit of overkill. 

Chris Jericho vs Luke Harper for Friday's Smackdown was hyped, that has potential to be a very good match and add a little extra spice to Jericho's battle with Bray Wyatt at Battleground on Sunday.

Match 3 - THE MIZ vs United States Champion SHEAMUS

This was the match that the Raw bout should have been. The story was much more focused than we saw Monday night, as Miz attempted to protect his face and avoid Sheamus' Brogue Kick. Whilst the match was slow to get going and at times felt a little awkward, the final few minutes were pretty entertaining with the two putting together a good sequence of reversals and quick pins that go the crowd into the match. The finish was cleverly done as Sheamus attempted a Brogue Kick with Miz quick to protect his face, allowing Sheamus to get the victory with a School Boy roll up. Not only did this call back to the finish of their match the previous night, but it also set up a potential rematch for next week's Raw with Sheamus still to hit Miz with the Brogue Kick. I would have like to have seen this match be for the United States Championship, as Miz holding a victory over the champion should have earned him a shot and if Sheamus was going to win this one anyway it would've meant the match could remain the same, yet feel a little more important. 

This episode of Main Event was an enjoyable watch, the matches were all passable, whilst also furthering some storylines and adding something to match-ups occuring on this Sunday's Battleground. It wasn't must see WWE television however, and you won't really have missed out on anything if you didn't watch the show, but it was still decent piece of action to pass an hour away with.

Let us know what you thought of this week's Main Event on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

What a Difference A Year Makes - Fandango

Welcome to a brand new series of articles, looking at the fortunes of a number of WWE wrestlers following on from Wrestlemania XXIX, heading into Wrestlemania XXX

Name: Fandango
Wrestlemania XXIX Opponent: Chris Jericho
Feuds following Wrestlemania: The Miz, Wade Barrett, The Miz (again), The Great Khali & Natalya, Tyson Kidd, Santino Marella & Emma
PPV Win Loss Record: 1 win, 4 losses
Raw Win Loss Record: 12 wins, 21 losses
Smackdown Win Loss Record: 9 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw
PPV Kick-Off Win Loss Record: 1 win
Main Event Win Loss Record: 4 wins, 7 losses
Superstars Win Loss Record: 2 wins, 2 losses
Tribute to the Troops Win Loss Record: 1 loss 
NXT Win Loss Record: 1 loss

Overall TV Win Loss Record: 29 wins, 46 losses, 1 draw

What better way to start off than looking at Fandango (pronounced: FAHN-DAHN-GOO....you have to let the A's breath apparently) the man who made his in-ring WWE debut at last year's Wrestlemania. Okay, so technically it wasn't Curtis Hussey's WWE debut, after he spent some time working as Johnny Curtis, both down in FCW, and then NXT, including winner Season 4 under the original NXT format, and technically it wasn't even Fandango's WWE in-ring debut after working numerous house show dates with the likes of Ted DiBiase, Jamie Noble and Yoshi Tatsu, however we all know, that it doesn't mean squat dibbly if it ain't on the television screen! So yes, it was Fandango's WWE in-ring debut, so DEAL WITH IT! Anyway's Fandango's opponent on the grandest stage of them all, was none other than Chris Jericho!

The storyline was that Fandango was refusing to wrestle a number of opponents, due to them being unable to pronounce his name, therefore when Jericho pronounced his name intentionally incorrect on a March 18th episode of Raw. This enraged Fandango who would attack Jericho on the following episode of Smackdown, with the two trading attacks from then up until Wrestlemania 29. It wasn't the strongest build-up to a Wrestlemania match, but there was certainly some intrigue in how WWE would handle Fandango's debut match and WWE clearly had big plans, with the ballroom dancer taking part in the Wrestlemania Press Conference, debuting new dance partner, Summer Rae. Below is the review of Fandango vs. Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 29 taken from our review of that event. "The Fandango and Chris Jericho match was marred with a number of errors in a match that did neither men any favours. A lot was expected from these after WWE held off the former Johnny Curtis's début until the Granddaddy of them All and against a competitor of Chris Jericho's standing, it's understandable that the pressure was huge on the two to perform. However that performance never came and the match felt like the two going through the motions, with the awkward ending not helping towards this. It also seemed an odd decision for Jericho to kick out of Fandango's finish on his début, and Fandango to still win." Yes, the match itself wasn't that great, but it was the night after that people would remember. Whilst Fandango made his Raw debut in a bout with Kofi Kingston, the audience in attendance began to sing and dance along to Fandango's entrance theme, and continued to do so even when the music had stopped, in one of the bizarrest moments in Raw history. This would continue, with a campaign building in the UK to get the theme into the UK Top 40, just falling short.

Fandango's feud with Jericho would continue, with the pair continuing to trade attacks during an after matches, while Fandango went on a winning streak on Raw and Smackdown seeing off, Santino Marella, William Regal, Justin Gabriel and Zack Ryder. The highlight of the feud, came on the May 13th episode of Raw, in a dance off segment. In what should have been a fairly awful segment, Summer Rae quickly feigned an ankle injury, and whilst Jericho and his partner looked tried to help, this allowed us to see a more vicious side of Fandango, as he sent Jericho into the steel steps, before clobbering him with a bit of the dance floor, which looked superb. This set the pair up for a rematch at Extreme Rules. The Extreme Rules encounter (although just a regular match) was a much better bout than the one the pair put on at Wrestlemania 29. Fandango looked a lot crisper in the ring and the match made a lot more sense. Jericho picked up the win with a Codebreaker catching Fandango after a dive from the top rope. This pretty much finished their two month feud, allowing Jericho to move into a feud with CM Punk, whilst Fandango wasn't particularly hurt from losing to a veteran in competitive fashion. 

Fandango then moved into the Intercontinental Championship picture, being inserted into a feud between then champion Wade Barrett and The Miz. The feud started on 20th May Raw, with Fandango teaming with Barrett to take on Jericho and Miz, however Fandango left his partner high and dry to dance with Summer Rae, allowing Miz to get the victory over Barrett. After Fandango got involved in a Intercontinental Championship bout between Barrett and Miz, Fandango got a match of his own with Barrett. The Miz served as Special Guest Referee and allowed Fandango to ultimately pick up the victory with a Skull Crushing Finale to Barrett. After walking out on a bout with The Great Khali on the next Raw, Fandango ended up suffering a concussion whilst defeating Zack Ryder on Smackdown and was there for removed from the Intercontinental Championship Three Way at Payback, being replaced by Curtis Axel.  This for me was the turning point for Fandango over the last year. The smart money would have been on Fandango picking up the Intercontinental Championship at Payback and continuing his ascent up the card, however with the concussion costing him just shy of a month of TV time, meant that any momentum that the he had more or less disapearred and he hasn't really recovered since this moment, as you'll see as I continue to look at his year.

After being announced as a contestant in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match on the 28th June Smackdown, Fandango made his return to WWE on 1st July Raw, facing off against Sheamus. It was a bizarre choice of opponent and lengthier TV bout than usual for Fandango, who ended up walking out on the contest. In the build up the bout, Fandango squashed Justin Gabriel on 5th July Smackdown, before recieving a Bull Hammer Elbow from Wade Barrett in an interview segment on 8th July Raw. This was followed up with a disapointing match between the two on Smackdown, that saw Fandango get the victory, due to a distraction from The Real Americans on commentary. Fandango wasn't much more than a bit part player in the Money in the Bank match, and bar an interesting section that seemed to tease a possible feud with Barrett heading out of the PPV, ending with Fandango hitting a Springboard Legdrop onto a Ladder, and taking a Cross Rhodes from Cody Rhodes, he really wasn't that involved in the bout that was eventually won by Damien Sandow, as his star continued to fall. It was then that Fandango then embarked on a lengthy losing streak, suffering his first TV pinfall defeat to Randy Orton on the 15th July Raw. This would be followed up with losses to Christian on the 17th July Main Event, Cody Rhodes on the 22nd July Raw, CM Punk on the 25th July Smackdown, Rob Van Dam on 29th July Raw (via countout, at least) and Kofi Kingston on the 5th August Raw. Fandango had essentially became a jobber for the stars (and Kofi), with most of these matches being set up through an altercation earlier on the show (like Fandango interrupting Orton during whilst Orton was talking to John Cena). 

Fandango was getting a lot more time for his matches on TV and it certainly helped the in-ring quality of the matches which for the most part were entertaining and easy to watch, but so many loses in a row harmed Fandango's credibility for sure.  The losing streak came to an end on 9th August Smackdown, with Fandango getting a return victory over Kofi Kingston, in a classic exampe of WWE's even steven booking. It would then seem like WWE were planning him a feud with R-Truth, after Fandango re-entered a battle royal on the 12th August Raw, to eliminate The Suntan Superman. 

Instead, it would seem that Fandango would be renewing his stop start feud with The Miz, after interfering in Miz's bout with Wade Barrett on  19th August Raw. I never really understood why Miz and Fandago were feuding, and with Miz being perhaps the most miscast babyface in WWE history, it did nothing at all for Fandango. The feud continue the next week, with The Miz coming out during Fandango's bout with Cody Rhodes, dressed as Fandango, alongside Rosa Mendes (I have no idea), allowing Rhodes to pick up the victory. After Damien Sandow got involved as well, Brad Maddox morphed into Teddy Long and made a TAG TEAM MATCH! After Fandango left his partner again, The Miz picked up the victory for his team. After a botched finish cost Fandango a 28th August Main Event bout with Kofi Kingston by DQ, it seemed that the feud with The Miz concluded on Raw on 2nd September, however due to a broke nose suffered by Fandango, the feud continued until Night of Champions. Fandango went over Justin Gabriel in a sloppy bout on 4th September Main Event, cost The Miz a bout with Damien Sandow on 9th September Raw and lose a dance off to The Miz that also included The Great Khali and R-Truth on 13th September Raw, meaning that the excitement to see Miz v Fandango at Night of Champions was at an all time high(!) Unsurprisingly, the PPV bout between the two fell flat, with no one particularly caring who picked up the victory. 

It wouldn't get much better for Fandango as he competed in a series of short and ultimately pointless matches. Whilst his win-loss record wasn't terrible, with victories over R-Truth (16th September Raw), Santino Marella (23rd September & 14th October Raw), Zack Ryder (7th October Raw) and Justin Gabriel (25th October Superstars) balancing out defeats to Kofi Kingston (18th September Main Event & 30th September Raw), The Usos (teaming with Big E Langston, 25th September Main Event),  Rob Van Dam (4th October Smackdown) 

The next feud for Fandango was one with The Great Khali, also involving the pairs valets Summer Rae and Natalya. After Khali had defeated Fandango in a messy bout on 16th October Main Event, the pair engaged in another on 25th October Smackdown, ending in a No Contest after less than two minutes, when Rae and Natalya brawled on the outside (Yes, I don't know why that's a know contest either). Somehow this earned them a Mixed Tag Team bout on at the Hell in a Cell PPV, with Fandango and Summer Rae coming out the victors in a match that was more entertaining than it deserved to be. The feud was over by the 29th October with Fandango defeating Khali on Raw. 

Whilst the Khali feud was over, it seemed Fandango hadn't seen the last of Natalya, as her real life fiance Tyson Kidd returned, with the defeating Fandango and Rae in Mixed Tag action on the 4th November Raw. Fandango would get revenge on Kidd in under three minutes the following week, and after a victory over Kofi Kingston on 20th November, the feud was over with a victory for Fandango on the 22nd November Superstars.  It was then time for another losing streak for The Ballroom Brute, with defeats to Kofi Kingston (27th November Main Event), Zack Ryder (29th November Superstars), Mark Henry (2nd December Raw), Big E Langston (6th December Smackdown) and Daniel Bryan (9th December Raw - The Slammy Awards). 

With the expection of Bryan, it was clear that quality of opponent Fandango was losing to was decreasing, and the majority of these bouts went no longer than four minutes. Therefore it was some what of surprise when Fandango, not only faced Dolph Ziggler on the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs Kick Off, but defeated the two time World Heavyweight Champion, even if the match itself wasn't much to write home about.  Ziggler got his win back the night after on Raw, with Fandango picking up a victory over Kofi Kingston on 20th December Smackdown, before bettering Ziggler to come out on top of their mini-feud picking up the victory in a "Christmas Present on a Pole" match on 23rd December Raw, earning himself an Intercontinental Championship shot in the process, with a Christmas Day Main Event victory over Kingston seemingly confirming that Fandango was back on the rise, even if a defeat to R-Truth at Tribute to the Troops on 28th December halted his momentum slightly. 

Unfortunately for Fandango, things returned to normal as he succumbed to Big E Langston in his Intercontinental Championship bout on 30th December Raw, the bout however was impressive, with Fandango looking great in a lengthy title contest, this could easily have been built upon. However, WWE decided against it once again, with Fandango falling to R-Truth in quick fashion on 3rd January Smackdown.  Fandango didn't have the greatest of starts to 2014, losing three matches on the bounce on Smackdown, the afforementioned 3rd January bout with R-Truth, followed up by quick loses to Xavier Woods & Big E Langston on 10th and 17th January respectively. However, he did even the score with Woods in just over a minute on 20th January Raw, before falling to Kofi Kingston once again on 24th January Smackdown, heading into the Royal Rumble PPV. Entering the Royal Rumble match on 27th January at Number 19, Fandango lasted just under three minutes before being eliminated by El Torito. It was clear here that WWE had no plans of making Fandango a big player for the company.

Fandango and Summer Rae began to engage in a feud with Santino Marella and Emma on January 27th on Raw, when Emma was present in the crowd for Fandango's defeat to R-Truth. On January 31st Smackdown, Emma was involved once again, with Summer Rae removing her fan sign, as Fandango defeated Xavier Woods. After Santino pulled Emma out of the crowd to face Summer Rae in a dance off on the 3rd January Raw, with Emma picking up the victory, both Marella and Emma were on commentary, as Fandango fell to The Miz on 5th January Main Event. Fandango and Marella then battled on February 10th Raw, with Fandango coming out the victor in a dull encounter.  The feud continued onto 14th February Smackdown, with Marella's Cobra costing Fandango a bout against The Miz, whilst Emma and Summer Rae got physical (calm down) at ringside. However, Fandango quickly got revenge on Marella with a victory on Raw on 17th February, however due to the focus on Emma and Santino's blossoming relationship, came away looking more like an after thought than anything else. The feud was not over just yet, with Emma and Summer Rae battling in a dance off on Smackdown on 21st February, ending in a brawl that saw Emma dropkick Fandango out of the ring. The 24th February edition of Raw saw Emma picking up a submission victory over Summer Rae in a stellar diva's contest, leading to a Mixed Tag Team Match on Raw on the 3rd March, that saw Emma pick up another submission victory for her team, in another short bout to end the feud. Whilst I was fairly entertained by this feud, and was more than happy to see Emma promoted from NXT, this really didn't do a lot for Fandango and whilst he technically didn't lose to Marella at any point, the focus was clearly on Emma and Summer Rae, which harmed Fandango even more. 

With Wrestlemania XXX just over two weeks away, Fandango is currently on a four match losing streak, being put away by Big E (14th March Smackdown), Dolph Ziggler (14th March Superstars), Goldust (17th March Raw) and even Fernando (21st March Smackdown), which really can't bode well for Fandango heading into the Show of Shows, as he takes part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, sharing the spotlight with 29 other wrestlers.  It's been an interesting year for Fandango, and I have to wonder what could have been, if he had not suffered that concussion in June. What if he won the Intercontinental Championship as planned? I'm not quite sure what can be done with the Fandango character at the moment, I mean he is still appearing on Raw on a regular basis, and has had a number of good matches with various competitors and has a decent amount of feuds throughout the year, even if most of them were with The Miz. I can't see much changing for The Ballroom Brute heading past Wrestlemania, I expect more of the same, although I'd like to be surprised.  But remember let the A's breath and keep Fandangoing and who knows what could happen.

WWE NXT 28th August 2013 Review

This week's NXT was always going to struggle to live up to last week's episode, after Sami Zayn and Antonio Cesaro put together a classic two out of three falls match, and it was no surprise when it didn't. By no means was this bad show, with a lot to like, including the newly heel NXT Champion Bo Dallas and a decent enough main event between Conor O'Brian and Adrian Neville, but it's going to be a while before a match on NXT even comes close to Zayn vs. Cesaro.

NXT Tag Team Champion

 Adrian Neville 

vs. 

Conor O'Brian

with Rick Victor

The main event of the show pitted NXT Tag Team Champion Adrian Neville against The Ascension's Conor O'Brian. The match was put together following the pre-titles sequence of the show that featured Neville's partner and fellow NXT Tag Team Champion Corey Graves speaking to Renee Young only to be interupted by The Ascension's Rick Victor. Victor cut an average and cliched promo about how the time of The Ascension was now, I guess he means in terms of the NXT Tag Team Championship but that was specifically stated. With Graves' showing his trademark attitude he was ambushed by O'Brian with a punch to the back of the head. O'Brian then proceded to hit Graves in the chest with a metal girder that was part of the NXT interview room set. This didn't really work for me, as whilst the attack looked brutal and the girder looked genuinely painful, it didn't really fit with the Ascension's dark gimmick, with O'Brian spurting the words “Stay down, Graves” in a ridiculously over the top voice removing any ounces of darkness from The Ascension in this opening segment.

The bout took on a simple dynamic, with Neville using his speed early on to take control of the match, but once Victor had caused the distraction, O'Brian dominated from that point. O'Brian looks very good when in control, he has a great look and works the gimmick well when in the ring. He feels like a bit of a diamond in the rough for me, I think if WWE protect the character and allow him to develop and improve as a wrestler, which he will if he continues to go up against the likes of Adrian Neville, then he could work very well for the company, however if they follow the trend of how they've been using most bigger built wrestler over the last few years, he'll be a comedy face dancing around the ring in lingerie before you can say Giant Bernard.

The bout was pretty short only about five minutes of the television time, which isn't really enough for a main event match on television, but they did manage to fit in a nice faux comeback for Neville and a near fall for each man before they went to the finish. After Neville had moved out of the way of a charging O'Brian sending the bigger man into the turnbuckle, Neville hit a back suplex for a two count, with the footage looking badly cut together for some reason. Neville then went to the top rope and hit Red Arrow for the pinfall victory. It was a very strange ending and felt very sudden, I'm really not quite sure what happened, but obviously there was a botch somewhere down the line that caused them to cut the match, but at the same time Neville still went straight from a near fall to his finisher which isn't something you see a lot of in WWE. Personally, I would have like to see this bout go another five minutes or so, which I think both men are capable off, and certainly needed a more satisfying finish.

After the bout, Victor came back in the ring and The Ascension began to double team Neville. Graves tried to make the save, now complete with bandaged ribs, before The Ascension destroyed him too, finishing him off with their Spinning Elbow/Sweep Kick combination finisher. With The Ascension finishing the show standing tall in the ring, it looks like they have to be next in line for an NXT Tag Team Championship match, which can surely be only a few weeks away. NXT is pretty low on tag teams at the moment, since The Wyatt Family were moved to the main roster and they split Scott Dawson & Garrett Dylan up, they could really do with creating a couple of new pairing to make the division look competitive. It can also only be a matter of time before they split Neville and Graves up and have them feud, seeing as their team was born more out of neccesity than anything else and they seem to protect each other out of obligation rather than an actual like for each other.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on NXT, Renee Young conducted an in ring interview with Sami Zayn. After last week's epic Two out of Three Falls encounter with Antonio Cesaro I was interested to see what Zayn had to say and where WWE would be moving with him from here. Zayn did a good job with his promo, getting himself over as a humble and extremely likeable guy, I think it is literally impossible not too like Sami Zayn, his character at times feels like it has been plucked straight from a Rom-Com, with his interaction with Young typifying that feel. Zayn mentioned the possibility of receiving a NXT Championship shot, something which I've talked about a few times in my NXT reviews with Zayn seeming like the logical option for the next NXT Champion after his impressive run of matches with Cesaro, as well as bringing a lot of attention to the show with the feud.

Of course, current NXT Champion Bo Dallas had something to say about this and headed on down to the ring himself. I know it's fashionable amongst wrestling fans to be negative about Bo Dallas for a number of reasons, but his heel promos actually quite good. Yes, he probably get's under a lot of peoples skins, but he is supposed to, he is a heel. When he's coming out saying people don't care about Zayn because he lost and they want to watch a winner like him, you can just feel the internet getting ready to reach for it's collective pen of rage and that's great. WWE is really learning how to play the internet correctly, which is something they've struggled to do for years with Daniel Bryan's feud with The McMahon Family on Raw being the most obvious example of that. With Dallas stealing from The Simpsons (Are you saying Boo, or Boo-urns?), the pair were interrupted by Zeb Colter. After some nice back and forth between Colter and Zayn, Colter's Real American stablemate Jack Swagger attack Zayn from behind, before hitting a Gutwrench Powerbomb. I'd expect a short feud between Swagger and Zayn, just to allow a little extra time for the Dallas and Zayn feud to truly build to a satisfying conclusion.

After Emma had given a decent interview to Renee Young, she went on to face rival Summer Rae. After both women had had great matches with Paige on NXT in the past, I expected at least a decent match here. Unfortunately, that wasn't what we got and the match felt like your average women's match you might see on Raw or Smackdown. Whilst both played their roles well, the bout was pretty sloppy, with a number of notable botches, including a strange moment with Rae trying to set Emma up in the ropes, only for Emma to fall off them. Emma went on to pick up the victory via submission with the Emma-Lock. It wasn't a terrible finish, but it would have been better to see the submission brought into the match earlier on to really build to that finish. After the match, Rae attacked Emma once again from behind, before throwing “bubble solution” in her eyes, signalling that this feud might not be over yet. However, backstage in a conversation with Sascha Banks, Rae signalled that she was done with NXT, whilst also sowing the seeds for a Sascha Banks heel turn in a nice little scene.

After a backstage disagreement, a match was made between Sylvester LeFort's protege Scott Dawson and the charismatic Enzo Amore, who would now appear to be working as a face. Both LeFort and Amore, who was accompanied by Colin Cassady, both cut good promos building up the match nicely. Whilst the match didn't exactly set the world alight, it was a nice foundation, especially considering Amore's limited wrestling experience, with Dawson working him over nicely for most of the match playing a good heel role, until Amore made a comeback with an impressive head scissors takedown. It was here that Alexander Rusev, who we saw last week against Dolph Ziggler, attack Cassady, causing the distraction for Amore, and allowing Dawson to hit what looked like a version of the Angle Slam to pick up the pinfall victory. It would seem that Rusev will be joining LeFort's faction, and I think he will be a nice addition to the group that was screaming out for more members. I can only speculate that they will begin a build toward a feud between Rusev and Mason Ryan.

CJ Parker and Tyler Breeze finally locked it up in the ring, in what was a disapointing contest. Parker's character is in desperate need of some more mic time to help bring some flesh to the characters bones, and Breeze isn't in a much better situation. There's potential in both characters but without the extra dimension it's hard to get behind or against either character. The match was focused almost entirely on Breeze's phone, with the phone playing a big part in the finish. Breeze used the positioning of the referee to hit Parker with the phone and pick up the pinfall victory. The ending took too long to set up, with the referee taking sometime to get into position. I guess we'll be getting more from this feud in the future, but unless we start seeing some dimension in the characters and more wrestling it's going to be difficult to start feeling engaged by either Breeze or Parker.  

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's NXT.

1. NXT still needs more tag teams.

2. Sami Zayn vs. Bo Dallas should be a red hot feud for NXT.

3. The only thing that would have made Zayn vs. Cesaro better last week? William Regal on commentary.