DVD Review: WWE Money in the Bank 2016 - Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns 6

WWE Money in the Bank 2016 is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray, from WWEDVD, Amazon, Base and all reputable home video outlets, priced £12-£23 on DVD. The release features the full Money in the Bank PPV, with around 3 hours of wrestling content, which unfortunately means there is no space for any special features on the disc. However, there is Seth Rollins challenging Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena battling AJ Styles, a Six Man Ladder Match for the eponymous Money in the Bank contract featuring Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose and Alberto Del Rio and more, so this disc has to be well worth the money from your bank, right? 

The main event has Roman Reigns putting the World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Seth Rollins in a very good contest. The pair work to the crowd, keeping true to their characters, whilst playing towards the mostly anti-Reigns audience, which makes for a much more satisfying story. The action flows well throughout, with a number of big spots and pacy sequences and reversal, as well as a handful of strong false finishes. The show ends with the most sign-posted swerve, as the Money in the Bank winner heads down to ringside (Ummm...if for some reason you didn't want spoilers, sorry about the front cover of the DVD!) 

John Cena and AJ Styles first ever clash, in the semi-main is arguably the match of the night, as the pair wrestle a clever contest. Styles dominates Cena and always appears to have an answer for The Cenation Leader's signature offence, with this becoming the bouts main narrative thread. The finish leaves things open for a future rematch, and with the duo seemingly never breaking into their top gear here, but doing more than enough to get the Las Vegas crowd whipped into a frenzy, that will be something you should be very excited about come the conclusion of the match. 

Rounding off the upper-card, Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose battle in a Six Man Ladder Match, with the Money in the Bank contract on the line in a fun spot-laden contest. The best spots of the match comes from rivals Zayn and Owens who get to continue their feud with some nasty moments, whilst Cesaro puts in the contest's strongest performance. The final few minutes felt a little anti-climactic, with a construction of ladders never quite living up to the initial excitement, meaning that the finish seemed to be missing something. 

The mid-card is highlighted by a stellar Fatal Four-Way Tag Team match, that sees Enzo & Cass, The Vaudevillains and Gallows & Anderson all going after The New Day's Tag Team Championship. After Enzo & Cass and The New Day cut comedic promos, the match keeps a good pace, with some sterling booking and featuring a variety of exciting sequence and spots, involving all eight men. Baron Corbin taking on Dolph Ziggler has some lovely moments where the two appear to be clicking, but also features some slip ups and an awkward ending. Things aren't help by the audience, who whilst beginning to warm in the final stages, are mostly silent for the first two thirds of the bout, apart from a mild "Boring" chant a few minutes in. 

Natalya and Becky Lynch team against Women's Champion Charlotte and protege Dana Brooke in a decent bout, but it's the post-match shenanigans that are the most interesting part. It takes a while Sheamus and Apollo Crews to get going in their bout, but the match develops into a hard-hitting scrap that features some big spots and a sweet finish. Rusev defending the United States Championship against Titus O'Neil, starts off well with a brawl on the outside, but it quickly becomes clear that O'Neil is out of his depth as he struggles to keep up the pace in what is the worst match on the card. 

Finally...

ATPW Home Video Rating - 6.51/10 

This is a good supercard offering from WWE, with all three of the marquee bouts delivering enjoyable and entertaining outings, whilst the Tag Team Championship match provides the under-card's best action. As far as WWE B-Shows go, this one is probably the most worthy of your DVD shelves, as not only does it contains good quality action, but there's also two World Heavyweight Championship changes and it's also the final supercard before RAW and Smackdown were split in the WWE Draft and numerous new titles began to be added. Although there's no special features, which means we miss The Golden Truth going over Breezango and The Lucha Dragons getting the best of The Dudley Boyz from the Kick-Off show, the disc doesn't really miss them 

Words - James Marston 
Special Thanks to - FreemantleMedia International and Fetch Publicity

PPV Review: WWE Money in the Bank 2016 (James Marston)

Sup homeslice. Here's ATPW's look at Money in the Bank 2016, fresh for your eyeholes. We've switched back to the MOTD format, because...just because. Let us know what you think about what we think in the comments or social media. Oh look, here's Dean Ambrose. Hi Dean Ambrose. 

So, we had two new WWE World Heavyweight Champions crowned in one night, for the first time since...erm...November last year...okay that's not really that impressive, is it? How about the first time we'd have three WWE World Heavyweight Champions in one PPV since SummerSlam 2013 in August of that year. That's a bit better, isn't it? The first time someone's won a Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed it on the same night against a new champion? Hmmm, that's probably the best we're going to get here. (And more on Dean Ambrose's Money in the Bank Ladder match victory later on in the review) Let's be honest, these kind of occurrences have become pretty common place in WWE since 2005, but that didn't seem to effect the reaction that Dean Ambrose got from the T-Mobile Arena when he headed down to the ring and grabbed WWE's main prize from Seth Rollins' hands after hitting Dirty Deeds for the victory. It was a fairly straight-forward "shock" finish to the show, that I'd guess many had predicted and leaves some interesting option heading out of the show, even more so with the WWE Draft less than a month away.

So I've covered the aftermath, which was always going to be the biggest talking point, but how did Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins do with their main event contest. For me, the former Shield duo, both put in credible performances, that managed to work with the crowd reactions and play up certain aspects of their game in order to do that. Reigns' early period of dominance was a clever piece of booking, as it almost saw the two swap roles and allowing the crowd to be involved in the contest, without trying to fight against them. We had Reigns mouthing off to Rollins, questioning whether he was ready, before throwing over the announce table table, there was a definite shift in presentation here, similar to Reigns' previous matches with AJ Styles. 

There's also perhaps comparisons to be made with Seth Rollins' series of matches with John Cena last summer, where we got to see Rollins employ a much flashier offence, one you'd expect from a babyface. His comeback was highlighted with a suicide dive, which was quickly followed up by a tope conhilo, not some usually associated with your main event "heel". Following Rollins' quick and pacy comeback sequence, the pair settled into a back and forth contest, trading near falls and working some pretty neat transitions. Perhaps the biggest marker of their back and forth section was Reigns nailing Rollins with a Superman Punch directly after being thrown into the turnbuckle with Rollins' signature Buckle Bomb. During this period I felt that both men's facial expressions managed to hold the match together, where at times the running times almost felt a bit flabby. 

With both men getting solid near falls, including a well-timed Pedigree from Rollins as a reversal to Reigns' spear, it was perhaps surprising to see Rollins pick up a clean victory as he hit another Pedigree to win the title. I think this is especially surprising as WWE was planning to have Dean Ambrose come out immediately afterwards to take the title away from Rollins. Did it effect the reaction Ambrose got? Probably not. And with Reigns being protected somewhat by having the match won a few minutes earlier after hitting a Spear with the referee down, this kind of finish does perhaps lend itself more to a continued feud between the three heading into the Summer. I've also got a feeling that WWE will be turn Rollins babyface over the next few months, as this seemed the plan for him prior to his injury last year, so having him win the title cleanly will only help that turn when it happens. 

After years of appearing on everyone's WWE vs. TNA dream cards, John Cena vs. AJ Styles had a lot of hype to live up to. It was always going to be difficult to separate the match from the years and years of build up, but Cena and Styles managed to deliver a very good match indeed. The pair kept things relatively simple inside the ring, but did things well, telling a strong, coherent story throughout the match and flowing from one moment to the next relatively easily. 

From the opening exchanges it was made clear what direction the match was heading, with both the commentary and the performers making this clear as mud. The story, especially early doors hinged on the fact that Cena was having his first televised match since December and hasn't wrestled regularly since October. This played out in the ring as Styles dominated the early proceedings. The part that really caught my eye was Cena's regular comeback sequence being cut of by Styles at various points throughout the match, in different ways. This created a different feel to the match, with Cena constantly gaining momentum, only for Styles to cut him off almost immediately.

Yes, the match had a couple of cool false finishes and the transition into the Calf Crusher was quality, but I can't review this match without talking about talking. As someone with so much experience as Cena has, I shouldn't be able to hear him call anything during the match, let alone every single spot. It's shoddy work that let's down the creativity of any spot that the two did, because most of the time I knew exactly what they were going to do, because Cena had told me! Also interesting to note that Cena lead the match, I'm sure many will have something to say about that. 

The finish was, in my opinion, exactly what the match needed. With Cena inadvertently knocking down the referee, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson would strike, hitting Magic Killer on the Cenation Leader, giving Styles the victory. For me, this cheap victory was needed to cement Styles as a top heel in the company. A rematch between Cena and Styles is a bigger, more personal match because of the result and also gives the company months of material to play with on Raw and Smackdown. There's more to come from Styles and Cena, but this match laid the foundation for what should be a massive feud this summer. 

Money in the Bank ladder matches are all about the spots, aren't they? Loads of blokes chucking other blokes onto bits of metal. This years match had plenty of cool spots and moments, with all six men putting in fine displays, both delivering out the punishment and being on the receiving end of it. Perhaps, the match lacked a defining moment or any really mind blowing, but the action was kept fairly fast with lots going on. These types of matches are usually very easy on the eye, without asking an audience all that much, this clash was no different. It was good to see everyone looking relatively safe throughout the bout.

The contest felt very split across the two major feuds that were involved in the match, with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens continuing their story, whilst Chris Jericho looked to gain a measure of revenge on Dean Ambrose. Zayn and Owens' action stood out amongst the pack, with Zayn's Michonoku Driver onto a ladder on it's side and Owens powerbomb onto a ladder spanning the turnbuckle and an upright ladder, being among the matches most notable moments. At times it felt like Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio were there to fill the spots, but both guys made sure they didn't fade into the background, especially in the first two thirds of the contest.

I have to say I thought the finish ended up feeling a little bit flat, not because Dean Ambrose won the match, but down to how the ladder structure that was set up was used. With two ladder joining a turnbuckle to the main ladder, it felt like we were about to see something truly spectacular and whilst the ladder "bridges" were used, there was nothing that could be described as spectacular. The moment where also six men where on the ladder, and the follow up spot with ADR and Cesaro bringing in their own ladder seemed poised to offer up the "Holy Shit" moment the match needed but it never came with the tension slowly petering out. I would talk about Ambrose's potential with the Money in the Bank briefcase, but as we know, he'd already be WWE World Heavyweight Champion by the end of the show, so there's nothing to actually talk about! 

Leading the under card was a busy Fatal Four-Way tag team match, involving Enzo & Cass, The Vaudevillians and Gallows & Anderson challenging for The New Day's WWE Tag Team Championship. These matches have become pretty common place on WWE PPV's over the last few years, but this bout was perhaps the strongest looking line-up for a while, with all three teams having legitimate claims to the title. This was played up nicely by some strong near falls, with all three of the challengers hitting their finish and getting solid reactions from it. Gallows and Anderson's Magic Killer on Aiden English was probably the strongest part of the bout. 

I did feel however that parts of the match weren't as smooth as they could have been, perhaps because certain parts felt very rushed. The teams never quite seemed to find a rhythm to settle into and I think this was fairly obvious by the finish, which felt clunky as Big E and Kofi Kingston went for the Midnight Hour on Karl Anderson, whilst waiting for Big Cass to take out Luke Gallows with a Cactus Big Boot. Kingston would then go on to pin English a couple of minutes after taking the Magic Killer. had this match just been a bit tighter on it's timings, slowing down at points and speeding up at others, it could have been a real triumph for the tag team division, however what we ended up with was a good bout, that should have been better.

Elsewhere, Baron Corbin went over Dolph Ziggler in a solid match, that failed to capture the crowd. The two guys have struggled to get their programme over, despite starting it the night after WrestleMania in April. The duo have had five matches on TV since then and it was clear to everyone that feud had outstayed it's welcome as they contested their sixth match (the first on PPV), as the T-Mobile Arena showered them in either "Boring" chants or complete silence. 

To be fair to Corbin and Ziggler, the pair did work hard for each throughout the match, showing flashes of chemistry with some decent sequences peppered throughout the bout. Had the pair managed to pull out a match like this a few months back and then both moved onto to something else I feel it would have benefited both men, a lot more than the current structure of their feud. Despite this, I thought that the finish was incredibly weak, as the pair fannied around in the corner, which lead to nothing, before Corbin hit End of Days for the victory. Marking Corbin's fourth victory over Ziggler in a row, here's hoping that this feud is finally over.

 
Further down the card, we had a women's tag team match, because, why would you put a Women's Championship match on PPV, stupid idiot? A complete nothing match here, as Charlotte and Dana Brooke went over Becky Lynch and Natalya, in a match that happened. The Women's Champion and Brooke did some decent heel work, using underhanded tactics to keep control of the match, but beyond that I haven't got much to say. If the bout had taken place on Monday Night RAW or even Thursday Night Smackdown, it wouldn't have looked out of place, but it definitely didn't merit a spot on PPV. Natalya's turn on Lynch after the match was the most noteworthy occurrence, which in my opinion could be the best thing for Natalya who looks incredibly awkward and cringe-worthy as a babyface. (Yes, she unfollowed us on Twitter for saying that) 

Apollo Crews' first WWE PPV appearance saw him put a decent bout with Sheamus, en route to picking up the biggest victory of his 6 year career. The crowd was very timid at the start of the contest, but it felt like Crews was beginning to win them over, as he got his first real chance to show what he can do since being promoted from NXT. His moonsault off the apron to the outside looked extremely pretty and felt like the turning point in winning the crowd over. The reaction to Crews kicking out of a Super White Noise was a big one and I think had the pair had another five minutes to really kick on they could have potentially stole the show. A highlight of the undercard that showed potential in a talent who has struggled to connect with the crowd as of yet, there's more to come from Crews and Sheamus, as they both try to find their place on the current programming. 

Down at the bottom of the pile, we have Rusev retaining the WWE United States Championship over Titus O'Neil in a match. There was some storyline here with O'Neil's kids being at ringside and it being Father's Day, but it didn't really do a whole lot for me. I found myself quickly zoning out because I'm neither guy has got me invested over the last few weeks in their storyline and they didn't show much else here either. The Bulgarian Brute joking about with O'Neil's kids after the match and shouting "Happy Father's Day" got a good chuckle out of me though. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.04/10 

This show was promoted as the "Greatest Money in the Bank PPV of all time" and it wasn't. It was always going to struggle to live up to the billing, considering that Money in the Bank 2011 is considered one of the greatest PPV's off all time. However, I thought the top matches did manage to deliver plenty of entertainment, with Styles vs. Cena, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout and the Money in the Bank ladder match all being high quality contests. My personal match of the night would be Styles and Cena, as I thought they created a compelling contest that built nicely throughout, whilst also leaving something extra for a future rematch, that will be a bigger match because of this. 

Elsewhere, I thought the undercard was particularly weak with the Women's tag, Corbin vs. Ziggler and the United States Championship match bringing very little to the PPV. The Tag Championship match and Sheamus vs. Crews showed promise at points, but were held back through booking and a couple of slip ups. 

With this being the last show before the WWE Draft, it felt like a few of the performers were holding back just a little bit, when they should have been going all out to show that they deserved a major spot on either Raw or Smackdown. 
  

WWE WrestleMania 31 Review

This article is part of #ATPW24, in aid of MIND Charity. You can help support the cause by going to www.justgiving.co.uk/acrossthepondwrestling

So, it's the biggest show of the year, and all the eyes were on Levi's Stadium. WrestleMania was upon us, but could the thirty-first edition of WWE's sport entertainment spectacular live up to it's hype? Let's find out!

No Disqualification Match

Triple H vs. Sting

If there was ever a match that screamed "sports entertainment" then it was this match. From start to finish, this was a true spectacle. The entrances were quite frankly ridiculous. I have no idea why Sting had some Japanese style drumming group with face paint on play him to the ring, but I couldn't take my eyes of the screen. Triple H's was even more silly. Seriously? Triple H loves the pomp and circumstance of WrestleMania, doesn't he? Some Terminator craziness and rising from the floor and Arnie introducing him and all over kinds of bonkers stuff, that happened because it simply happened. Deal with it.

The match was exactly what it needed it to be, and exactly what I had called for in Saturday's Preview article. As soon as that first blast of D-Generation X's music hit, with Sting about to place Triple H in the scorpion death lock, it was time to have some serious fun. Run-ins the like we haven't seen since WCW was in it's prime. Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, representing the nWo, evened the side for Sting, before Shawn Michaels produced one of the strongest false finishes of the show. Appearing out of nowhere, Michaels nailed Sting with a sweet chin music, breaking Sting's scorpion death lock, and allowing Triple H to get a very near fall indeed. By this point, I was a big, blathering ball of bouncy beans.

Outside of all the silliness, both men did string together some solid action. Most of this came in the early portion of the match, with Trips working hard to allow Sting to look his best on the big stage. That isn't to say that Sting wasn't putting a shift in himself, his selling especially was effective when on the end of a beating from The King of Kings. It's a shame we never got to see these two battle it out in their primes, as just the snippet we saw here was enough to convince that they could have put on something very special indeed.

The finish suited the match and prior storyline perfectly, with both men being handed their trusty weapons of choice. Sting might have won that battle, but it was Triple H who ended the war, using his broken sledgehammer to twat Sting in the head, whilst the Vigilante attempt a second stinger splash. Triple H winning might not have been everyone's choice, but hey, this is WWE, of course WWE was going to win. Did you not see The Invasion storyline?  A handshake between the two, with their separate groups looking on, seemed like a fitting way to close the book on an exciting Era in wrestling history. The war is dead. Let's look forward...to the...Future?

Singles Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Brock Lesnar (C) with Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns

Wait...that isn't Brock Lesnar...that isn't Roman Reigns. Nope, that's Seth Rollins. What a superb moment that was. Rollins not even waiting until Reigns and Lesnar had finished their match, with both men down after psychical war of a match, the rascal bastard cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and after a flurry of offense involving all three men hit a final Curb Stomp to Roman Reigns and collected the richest prize in Sport entertainment for the very first time. A WrestleMania moment that didn't need Michael Cole to tell us it was a WrestleMania moment, to in fact be a WrestleMania Moment, it just was a WrestleMania Moment.

Obviously the bulk of the match was contested between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. An quite honestly it was magnificent. Anyone who questioned what these two could produce should feel rather silly. The story was simple, but well told, Lesnar through bombs at Reigns, and Reigns asked for more. Reigns kept chipping away The Beast with everything he had, but couldn't get him down for three. If it had ended with Lesnar making the cover from the F5 that would lead Rollins to make his entrance, I'd have had no complaints at all. Reigns would have been elevated by the loss and indeed, he still is elevated just by going toe to toe with Lesnar.

The biggest question heading into this match was whether Reigns was "ready" for such a stage. Even with a crowd who had already decided that the answer was no, the answer was an emphatic yes. Reigns selling isn't something I've noticed before, but when given the opportunity to go for it, Reigns delivered a nuanced performance. He psychically looked like he had had enough, but his facials were urging Lesnar to continue. This was showcased for me, when Lesnar removed his glove and proceeded to slap Reigns multiple times and Reigns just took it, wanting more. Not something that I had been expecting to see out of Roman at all, but something that should prove to all those who questioned his in ring credentials that this lad more than deserves to be in the WWE main event scene.

With that said, WWE knew that having Reigns win the title would be met with a negative reaction from that crowd no matter what, which would seem to be the most obvious reason for having Seth Rollins head down to the ring and capture the title for himself. Reigns was allowed to show that he can indeed perform at the level asked, and hopefully changed a few minds in the process without having to suffer from having his moment shat on by a disrespectful crowd. Rollins is another who has proven he's ready for the title, with his performance in the Triple Threat bout at the Royal Rumble, and with ready made opponents in Roman Reigns and Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar, Rollins is a great position to prove he is indeed...the Future.

Singles Match for the United States Championship

John Cena vs. Rusev (C) with Lana

Did you hear? Rusev is Russian. Well he isn't he's Bulgarian, but we'll quickly skim over that. WWE hammered the point home, as Rusev arrived to State Anthem of the Russian Federation, surrounded by Russian looking soliders with cannons, on a motherfucking tank, waving a big bastard flag around, whilst Lana strolled to the ring like the saucy minx that she is, holding the United States Championship. But who could save us from the evil Russian? Only America's own, John Cena. Before Cena headed to the ring every American who has ever lived wished him luck in a snazzy video package. 

All joking aside, this was another good match between Cena and Rusev, that bought their feud to a satisfying climax. Whether it was quite as good as the match they had a Fastlane last month, I'm not quite sure, it'll take a re-watch of both before I make my mind up on the one. Similar to Fastlane, there was a lot focused around the STF and the Accolade, with both Cena and Rusev looking in the move before the end of the match, after a number of attempts. Having the majority of Rusev's offence focus on Cena's back (Alabama Slam, Fallaway Slam etc.) worked well towards this means.  

The biggest problem this match had was the crowd, who just weren't buying what Cena was selling. Maybe having a much more diverse crowd meant that the USA thing just wasn't going to work here? I don't think there was a single "USA" chant throughout the entire match, in fact. It was a shame, as it certainly detracted from the action, rather than adding to it. Rusev and Lana have done some good heel work (although admittedly mainly focused on America) on TV and deserved to get loud jeers for their efforts. Cena worked hard throughout the match, and did a bloody springboard stunner! When has he ever done that? When?

Cena, of course, picked up the victory here and became a three-time United States Champion after nailing Rusev with an Attitude Adjustment. Notably, this was the only AA that Cena delivered all match long, it was refreshing to see a finisher end things first time and not kicking out gives Rusev room for manoevre as he continues to move up the WWE pecking order. I'm not sure if we need another Cena and Rusev match, as the story seems to complete itself in this match, but where both men can go from here is, rather nicely, somewhat open.

Singles Match

The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt

I'm pretty sure Undertaker knows something we mere mortal don't. How can one man look so bloody old one year and so full of life the next? He's the bloody Undertaker that's how. He does what he wants and he gives no fucks. If he wants to look like a creepy old man, looking to nick your last Starbust (or opal fruits) one year and an ass kicking, American Badass the next, he bloody well will and won't question him. You know why? Because he's the FUCKING UNDERTAKER, y'here? 

Bray Wyatt might also be a creepy bastard, but make no mistake about it he worked his ass off for Taker for the entirety of the match. Wyatt was game for The Deadman's greatest hits, Old School, the leg drop on the apron, Hell's Gate, Chokeslam, Tombstone Piledriver were all there, allowing Taker to remove some of the stink from last years bout with Brock Lesnar. Wyatt's characteristation however may have been the strongest part of the match, as he really went all out. His reaction to Taker sitting up whilst Wyatt was doing the spider walk was superb, completely believable for the character, yet a slight shift in what we've seen before from The Eater of Worlds.

It would be difficult to argue that this match would be up there in either man's best efforts, lacking any real changes in pace and dynamic that would have been needed to shift it into the next gear, I was still completely into what was going on and not once did I question when the match was going to end. Some genuinely cool moments like Taker breaking out of Sister Abigail to hit a Chokeslam, were more than enough to satisfy my appetite, especially considering the bouts placing on the card, between Cena vs. Rusev and the main event.

Of course, Wyatt gets a lot out of simply being in the ring with an Undertaker who didn't look like he was about to die, and kicking out of the Tombstone Piledriver especially is something that should allow him to propel forward over the next few months and move into new, interesting feuds. It seems like Undertaker will be back next year, featuring heavily in the promo for Mania 32 in Texas, for what will almost certainly be his last WrestleMania and where better to end in front of his hometown? 

The Authority meet The Rock & Ronda Rousey

A talking segment on a PPV, you say? Hmmmm.... This was quite frankly magnificent television. Stephanie McMahon is an absolute gem, an absolute gem. She makes it so easier to hate her, and Triple H isn't half bad at it either. Them running down the crowd was a work of art, building up seamlessly into The Rock's music blasting out and things getting real. Everyone loves The Rock, he's in films. He's a master of the microphone also and between him, Steph and Trips they had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. I can only imagine what fun this was for all three individuals!

Of course, the big talking point was the involvement of UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, who The Rock called in to combat Stephanie's womanly wiles. The tension built nicely to everyone having a bit of a scrap and Rocky and Ronda standing tall. Maybe a little dragged out in places, but that's a small dig, at what was captivating viewing. A story was told and the antagonists got effed up, what more do you want, eh?

Seven Way Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship

Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper vs. Stardust vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett (C) vs. Daniel Bryan

Michael Cole made a point that WrestleMania was starting the same way it ended last year, with Daniel Bryan hoisting a title above his head, and whilst this bout didn't have the same feel as Bryan's epic three way bout with Batista and Randy Orton, it was certainly entertaining in it's own right. Plenty of the big spots that you'd expect from a Ladder match involving seven different competitors, particular highlights for me including Dean Ambrose getting powerbombed through a ladder that bridged the apron and ringside barricade by Luke Harper, a superplex from the top of a ladder from Bad News Barrett to Stardust and Dolph Ziggler hitting a Zig Zag off a ladder on Luke Harper.

The closing stages focusing on fan favourites Bryan and Ziggler were very satisfying to watch. Ziggler and Bryan going at it high above the ring, delivering vicious headbutt to each other, with everyone else down, was a moment that both men deserved for different reasons, but deserved non-the-less. Bryan grabbing the title provided a feel good moment to start off the show, for a crowd who were throughout. There's a chance to elevate the Intercontinental Championship with a competitive Bryan and Ziggler feud seemingly in the near future, with this bout laying a solid foundation. Bryan was allowed another special moment later on in the show, being joined by Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Pat Patterson and Ron Simmons for a Legends Yes-a-thon.

Singles Match

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins with J&J Security

Going into the show, this match was the one I was most excited about seeing. That's mainly because it featured two guys who almost always deliver and that's exactly what they did here. A technically sound and well paced match up, Orton and Rollins have a clear chemistry in the ring and they bounced off each other well. A number of pacy reversals, like Orton turning Rollins' sunset flip attempt in to a back body drop off the top. Of course, the biggest reversal came at the finish of the match, when Orton spectacularly turned a curb stomp into an RKO to pick up the victory. It was a jump out of your seat moment, the kind that WrestleMania was made for.

I think the bout could have benefited from a few extra minutes to fully develop the story, which seemed to be Orton being just a step ahead of Rollins. If this was allowed just a little bit more time, that thread would have been given the chance to become just a little clearer to the audience at home. Of course, Orton going over here and looking great in the process, gives Rollins a ready made challenger heading out of WrestleMania and gives him another hurdle still to jump before proving that he is the indeed "The Future", which would seem to be a story that WWE is going to run with over the next few months. 

Tag Team Match

The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee & Paige

It would be easy to focus on one slip up towards the end of this match, where AJ Lee couldn't quite manage to turn an electric chair position into a black widow on Brie Bella. But I'm not going to. All four women looked good for the short amount of time they were and actually wrestling a match, that told a story, albeit a fairly simply one, and included a handful of near falls. Even Brie Bella managed to sell the arm as she walked out of the stadium (look above!). If the crowd could have embodied the "Give Divas a Chance" thing that's been going around recently and got behind the ladies in the ring, I'd have been a happy chappy indeed. Maybe next time? 

The Rest

As is traditional all of the Hall of Famers inducted the night before were bought out in front of the crowd with Rikishi, Alundra Blayze, Larry Zbyszko, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kevin Nash, The Bushwackers and Arnold Schwarzenegger getting to bask in the glory, whilst Randy Savage and Conner the Crusher were remembered. A short musical interval was included with Skylar Grey performing "Rise", whilst Kid Ink turned up to do "Money and the Power", it gave me a decent opportunity to grab a beverage and only last five minutes, so no real complaints, fair play to the guys. There was time for the Kick-Off panel of Renee Young, Booker T, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton to have some japes as they introduced highlights of Big Show winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro retaining the Tag Team Championships from the earlier on in the day. An impressive intro involved LL Cool J and focusing on the development of technology and the theme of togetherness was a novel way to start the show, although I'd love to know why LL Cool J was chosen for the part. America the Beautiful made it's return to this years Mania, with soul singer Aloe Blacc doing the honours. Many things were advertised throughout, a tonne of new WWE Network content the upcoming Podcast is Jericho with John Cena on the WWE Network, WrestleMania 32, Terminator Genisys, WWE 2K15, Tapout which is apparently coming in 2016, Mountain Dew and next months Extreme Rules PPV.

Finally...

Personally, I had a whale of a time watching Mania this year. There's still plenty of things that need sorting in the day to day TV world of WWE, but as a four hour slice of sport entertainment, I was just that...entertained. Not a bad match on the show, the main event has to take Match of the Night for me. 

WWE SummerSlam 2013 Review

This year's SummerSlam wasn't just one of the best pay-per-views of the year, not just one of the greatest SummerSlam's of all time, but one of the best pay-per-views WWE has ever put on. Headlined by two strong main events, and featuring a beautifully done swerve at the conclusion of the show, this year's SummerSlam is a must-watch.

WWE Championship Match:

 Daniel Bryan 

vs. 

John Cena ©

 (Special Guest Referee: WWE COO Triple H)

Now, the build up to this one had been over complicated and at times frustrating to follow. Despite strong work from both Daniel Bryan and John Cena, WWE had decided to throw a number of other character's into the mix, including The McMahon Family, Randy Orton, Ryback, The Shield and Wade Barrett, who really weren't needed to tell the story of Indy darling vs. Company man. Bryan and Cena had some excellent exchanges discussing this, including a strong edition of Miz TV on the final Raw before the show. Going into the match, I was hoping that Bryan and Cena would be left alone for the most part to tell the story that I knew they were capable of.

Luckily that is what we got, with very little involvement during the match from Special Guest Referee WWE COO Triple H. The match told a great story with the men going back and forth for a lot of the match up, with a number of interesting reversals. John Cena certainly felt like he was playing the heel in this bout, as he kept Bryan under his control on numerous occassions, as the pair built up for Bryan's signature comeback. The wrestling in the bout was, mainly, strong, helping to lay the foundations for the story to be told on top, with a strong section seeing Bryan flip out of an Attitude Adjustment attempt from Cena, and eventually lock on a version of Cena's STF submission finisher, with Cena selling well. I've been criticical of Cena's version of the STF before, but in this bout he actually locked it in, even rolling onto his back to add extra pressure. The moment that turned Daniel Bryan into a fully blown mega star in this contest saw Bryan superplex Cena, but hook his legs over the top rope, remaining in position, the crowd absolutely loved it and you knew you were watching something special. The only thing that detracted from the match for me, was when Bryan attempted a hurricanrana from the top rope, only for Cena to hold on and look like he was about to hit a Styles Clash, only to jump down from the top rope, in what looked dangerously close to spiking Bryan's neck on the canvas.

The ending of the match, saw Bryan building momentum, only for Cena to get him up ready for an Attitude Adjustment, mouthing the words “It's Over”, Bryan however managed to reverse into a small package for a two count. After a signature kick to Cena's head, Bryan waiting for Cena to get to his feet, before delivering a version of the Knee Trembler in a nice homage to William Regal to pick up the pinfall victory and win his first ever WWE Championship. I thought this ending was superb, as it showed Cena's vulnerability and ego thinking he had the match won, before Bryan put up one last fight to win clean over the face of the WWE. It really was fantastic moment, with real emotion pouring out of Bryan and the crowd absolutely loved it with streamers and confetti falling from the ceiling. It was the perfect end to the perfect story of Daniel Bryan's long chase for the WWE Championship and I could think of anyone who deserves to hold that belt more than he does.

But it was all about to snatched away from Bryan, as WWE Championship Money in the Bank Winner Randy Orton made his way down to ringside. At first it would appear to be just a warning, but then the swerve came...when Triple H delivered a Pedigree to Bryan. Orton saw his opportunity slivered into the ring, handed WWE's COO the briefcase and pinned Daniel Bryan to become the new WWE Champion. If Daniel Bryan winning the title was perfect end for one story, this was the perfect start for another, with Triple H and Randy Orton both as heels again, definitely roles that both excel in, against the red hot Daniel Bryan. The best thing about this ending, watching the internet cry all over Twitter. I don't think there has been such a mass mark out on the internet ever, as people seemed genuinely upset that the face had lost the title, with an outpour of hate against the heels. They might have not liked Bryan losing the title, but there is no denying that seeing Bryan chase the title again before finally winning it back will be even sweeter. 

No Disqualification Match: 

CM Punk 

vs. 

Brock Lesnar 

with Paul Heyman 

The build up for this one had been superb, with the story building well over the two months following CM Punk's victory over Chris Jericho at Payback. With Brock Lesnar only appearing a few occassions on Raw over the past two months, it gave Paul Heyman and Punk room to manourve their story into place, with such a rich history between the to to play with. Heyman's turn on Punk at Money in the Bank was perfectly time to give the story another boost heading into SummerSlam. We'd seen a number of confrontations between Punk and Lesnar over the past month, with Lesnar usually coming out on top, after a valiant attempt by the smaller Punk. Even with Punk eventually getting upperhand on the previous Raw, the real story was that Punk still didn't manage to get his hands on former best friend Heyman.

As with a lot of CM Punk's longer matches, the opening was fairly basic, but it felt like the calm before the storm in this case, as you just knew something special was about to happen between two of WWE's biggest names. And it sure did, with Lesnar almost completely dominating Punk, and similarly to their confrontations on Raw, we'd see Punk attempt to fight back only for Lesnar to find another way to take down The Second City Saint. Punk took an absolute beating in this one, with Lesnar delivering a hell of a lot of punishment, including launching Punk over the announce table and breaking the top part of the announce table on Punk with a Double Foot Stomp. Then there was one of the best submission sequences in recent memory, with Lesnar reversing a GTS attempt from Punk into the Kimura Lock. Punk's selling and subsequent reversal into a Triangle Choke were perfect and the crowd absolutely loved this part of the match. It took two powerbombs from Lesnar to break Punk's grips with Punk fighting all the way.

After several near falls, including a dangerous looking spot with Punk delivering a Diving Elbow Drop whilst clutching a steel chair, we headed towards the conclusion of the bout. With Punk reversing an F5 into a DDT, before locking in the Anaconda Vise, it looked like Punk might have Lesnar's number. However, with Heyman edging into the ring with a steel chair, Punk saw his oppurtunity, blocking Heyman and locking in the Anaconda Vise on him instead. It was another memorable moment during the bout, and seeing Punk get his revenge on his traitorous former manager certainly felt satisfying as a fan. However, the match wasn't over, and with Brock Lesnar delilvering a couple of vicious chair shots, followed by an F5 onto the steel chair, Lesnar picked up the pinfall victory. It was an enjoyable finish, that allowed Lesnar to look strong heading into a possible headline bout at WrestleMania, whilst also giving Punk the moral victory by allowing him to get his revenge on Heyman.

So where does CM Punk go from here? We've seen him lose to two part timers in the space of six months, in the shape of The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, so WWE is going to have to build up Punk once again. It doesn't feel like the story with Paul Heyman is quite done yet, but I'm not sure where WWE will take it from here. With the next Pay-per-view being Night of Champions, it would seem that the only place on the card for Punk would be an Intercontinental Championship Match with Curtis Axel, which would certainly be a step down for Punk. Unless, they run with a Punk vs. Heyman and Axel Handicap match, which has potential to work well. I wouldn't imagine that we'll see Brock Lesnar until just before WrestleMania, although it would be nice to see him make a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble, which would allow Punk to get a little bit of revenge on the Beast Incarnate.

World Heavyweight Championship Match:

 Christian 

vs. 

Alberto Del Rio ©

In the other headline match of the show, Alberto Del Rio defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Christian. This match had been poorly built up by WWE over the last five weeks, with no real storyline behind it. It had felt like a huge after thought for WWE, who only really started the build for this one about two weeks ago, when Christian was named Number One Contender after defeating Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match. Del Rio has spent most of the time after Money in the Bank, looking incredibly weak with a number of high profile losses, including two to Christian, not really helping his World Heavyweight Championship reign feel particularly significant.

Fortunately, this match out did it's hype and for me was the strongest wrestling match on the card. There was some quality reversals from each man, and you never quite knew what was going to come next. Del Rio's offence was mainly focused on Christian's arm, whilst Christian brought a
 “caution to wind“ feel to bout, keeping the whole thing feeling pacy and exciting throughout. Del Rio gets a lot of stick from certain areas of the internent, and I'm really not sure why. Personally, I think Del Rio is great in a heel role, admittedly his face run was poor, and rarely has a bad match in the ring on television or pay-per-view, and he works extremly well here, with some vicious attacks, whilst also appearing cowardly at times, it's easy to dislike Del Rio. A highlight of this bout for me was a nice sequence that saw Del Rio escape a Killswitch attempt for Christian sending him into the corner, with Christian attempting his familiar Sunset Flip routine, only to get caught with a Backstabber from Del Rio for a near fall.

With the match continuing to build with several nearfalls, the ending sequence had to come up with something special to end the match satisfactorily. With Christian clearly favouring his arm, with some superb selling, made even better by Captain Charisma's strong facial expressions after every near fall, really telling the story of the bout, Christian hit a Spear out of nowhere. Just when it looked like Christian might be winning the World Heavyweight Championship for the third time, Christian's arm appeared injured once again from the Spear, giving Del Rio enough time to recover and lock in the Cross Armbreaker. Christian spent an age in the hold, even getting a roll up attempt for a near fall, but Del Rio held on and eventually got the submission victory. It was another strong finish on a show of strong finishes, with Christian looking extremely tough holding on for so long, and Del Rio's World Heavyweight Championship reign looking back on track with another strong pay-per-view contest.

I said before the bout that Del Rio and Christian wouldn't be able to top their bout on Smackdown a few weeks ago, but they actually managed to blow it out of the water with this one. Both men deserve a hell of a lot of praise, and hopefully the match won't get over shadowed too much by the other two main events. I think that might be it for the Del Rio vs. Christian series, as WWE never really put enough effort in the rivalry to begin with, it would be nice to see Christian rewarded for his continuing good performances, but I can't see it happening anytime soon. Del Rio will move onto a new challenger for Night of Champions, with his post-match speech identify himself as a hero to all Latino indicating it could be a returning Rey Mysterio.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on the show, Kane took on Bray Wyatt in a Ring of Fire match. This was essentially an Inferno Match, last seen at Armageddon 2006, with the change being that the match must be ended by pinfall or submission rather than by setting your opponent on fire. Personally, I preferred these rules to the old ones, as it gave the match more of a definitive feel, whereas Inferno matches usually ended via somekind of fluke. That being said this was by far the most dispointing match on the card after some tremendous build up over the last six weeks. The action in the ring wasn't particularly gripping, even if the visual of the fire was impressive. With the rest of The Wyatt Family at ringside they made repeated attempts to get into the ring or pass Wyatt weapons, including putting out the flames with a fire extinguiser that one of the firemen had at ringside. However, their antics at times were a little slapstick and over the top, and didn't really suit that characters that had been shown on previous shows.

The ending saw Kane absolutely destroying Wyatt with two huge chokeslams, only for the Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to manage to get into the ring using a fire blanket. Harper and Rowan quickly over powered Kane, allowing Wyatt to hit Sister Abigail for the pinfall victory. The ending made Wyatt seem incredibly weak without his family, but the group as a whole were put over well. Maybe that's how WWE wants to play it with these, but they'll have to be incredibly careful if they want Wyatt to eventually be a star in his own right. After the bout The Wyatt's repeated the spot from the debut, smashing the steel steps over the head of Kane, with Bray Wyatt looking on from his rocking chair. It was another impressive visual and it would appear that Kane is taking time of for now, I would expect him to come back to get at Bray sooner or later, with Hell in a Cell seeming like the perfect time for the two to collide once more.

Another match which had been booked well heading in was Cody Rhodes facing off against World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Winner Damien Sandow, focused around Sandow's betrayal of his former best friend to gain owenrship of the Money in the Bank briefcase at the previous pay-per-view. Sandow cut a strong promo before the bout, putting himself over as the leader of Team Rhodes Scholars, before insulting Cody's family, naming them carnival clowns. The bout was short, but sweet. Sandow dominated the early going, working over Cody well, including well-excuted version of a Texas Cloverleaf. With Cody making his comeback, through the form of a beautiful springboard missile dropkick the match really got going, with Rhodes' facial expressions selling his hatred for Sandow and getting the crowd involved in the match.

The ending saw Cody attempt a roll up, only for Sandow to hold onto the top rope, but Cody had the move scouted, jumping straight back to his feet and hitting Cross Rhodes for the pinfall victory. It would have been nice to see Rhodes and Sandow have a bit more time to show us what they can do, but with so many other big matches on the card it's difficult to see where the time would be found. Hopefully we haven't seen the end of this rivalry as it's really brought some life to Raw and Smackdown over the previous month or so, in areas of the programme that would usually be the toilet the break. Hopefully we'll see them get a good twelve minutes plus, on a future pay-per-view, and hopefully both will be moving up the card after their feud is over.

There was also Mixed Tag Team action with Dolph Ziggler teaming up with Kaitlyn to take on Big E Langston and Divas Champion AJ Lee. This match suffered from being sandwiched between Punk vs. Lesnar and Bryan vs. Cena, with the crowd clearly worn out from one match and looking forward to another. The match itself however was actually a solid mixed tag team action, with a nice dynamic between the four competitors. Ziggler and Langston finally seem to have found some chemistry in the ring and their action worked the big man vs. small man angle well, whilst AJ Lee and Kaitlyn had another strong piece action. The ending saw Ziggler move out of the way of charging Langston sending the big man into the ringpost, with Ziggler building for a Zig Zag, AJ Lee caused a distraction, only to end up on the receiving end of a Spear from Kaitlyn. Langston attempted to take advantage of the distraction going for the Big Ending, but Ziggler slipped free and hit a Zig Zag for the pinfall victory for his team. It was a strong ending sequence that built up well, it would seem like Dolph will be moving into a different story after this, with AJ getting a new challenger for her Divas Championship, so this was a nice end to their story.

There was more women's action on the card, with Natalya, acompanied by The Funkadactyls, taking on Brie Bella, who was joined by twin Nikki Bella and Eva Marie. The actually match here was pretty good. Brie Bella works fairly well as a heel, especially against the likeable Natalya, mainly because Brie is seen as someone who has gotten too many chances, whilst Natalya has been passed on by WWE. The outside interference was frustrating at times, as it detracted from the fact that the wrestling was solid, and reminded everyone we were watching a match essentially there to promote Total Divas. The ending saw Natalya reverse a running attack from Brie into an Alabama Slam, before locking in the Sharpshooter to get the submission victory. Hopefully, Natalya will continue to be pushed by WWE, a title match against AJ Lee at Night of Champions would do wonders for WWE's Women's division.

The Miz was our official host for SummerSlam and I have absolutely no idea why. His hosting duties essentially meant he was the back stage interviewer, as he spoke to Maria Menounous backstage. Miz was interupted everytime he appeared by Fandango and Summer Rae who would begin dancing in front of The Miz, including a bizarre opening segment that left me simply confused. Eventually, The Miz had had enough of Fandango and hit him in the face, the only problem is, I think I would've rather seen Fandango lay out The Miz instead.

We were also treated to a random backstage segment featuring Ryback dumping gaspacho down a caterers underwear and covering him in what looked like curry. It's strange how far Ryback has fallen in the last couple of months, especially after Chris Jericho put him over at Money in the Bank, you would have thought that it meant WWE had an immediate plan for Ryback at SummerSlam. However, I do think this change in character will do wonders for Ryback, as he actually has a definable character that he didn't have previously. I'm willing to see where WWE is going with this character, even if it is essentially Bully Ray with muscles.  

Finally...

What did I learn from this year's SummerSlam?

1. Randy Orton might be WWE Champion, but Daniel Bryan going over John Cena clean is a certain sign in WWE's faith in the wrestler's popularity.

2. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar has to go down as one of the best all-round stories of all time. From start to finish it was pretty much perfect.

3. Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio is going to be one of those underrated classic matches.