August 8, 2014
Laredo, TX
Laredo Energy Arena
The current WWE champs are as follows:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena (6/29/2014)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: The Miz (7/20/2014)
WWE U.S. Champion: Sheamus (5/5/2014)
WWE Divas Champion: AJ Lee (6/30/2014)
WWE Tag Team Champions: The Usos (3/3/2014)
Your hosts are Michael Cole and JBL.
Out comes Dean Ambrose to start the show and pick the stipulation for his match with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. We see him pouring soda and popcorn into the Money in the Bank briefcase from this past week at Raw. He even rips up the contract! For all the details, check out McGinn’s Raw Recap. Ambrose makes a bunch of Attitude Era stipulation references – including a “JBL’s Hat on a Pole” match and a “Good Housekeeping” match. He even thinks of choosing a “loser washes Triple H’s car” match, but he figures Seth Rollins is already doing that. Well, Seth Rollins interrupts and wants Ambrose to go ahead and name the stipulation. After all that, Rollins feels it doesn’t even matter what stipulation Ambrose chooses, because SummerSlam will be the end for him. Finally, Ambrose announces that they will compete in a lumberjack match. I guess that makes sense considering Rollins keeps running away. Look for the lumberjacks to be bought off or chosen by the Authority though. Rollins knows that whatever happens at SummerSlam, he’ll still have the MITB contract, which makes him the future of WWE. Since Ambrose picks the stipulation for SummerSlam, the Authority grants Rollins the opportunity to name Dean’s opponent for tonight: RANDY ORTON.
– The Big Show & Mark Henry vs. Rybaxel
So Big Show and Mark Henry are back together. This might not be good for the tag division, but hopefully they won’t do this very often. Ryback tries to stand up to Henry, but Axel is highly ineffectual. Big Show gets the tag as he and Henry hit their finishers stereo-style for the pinfall. (3:30) So it looks like Rybaxel could be back to being jobber fodder now. ¾*
Backstage, Seth Rollins catches Dolph Ziggler making fun of him with a couple Divas. And yes, I did see Adam Rose there. Rollins calls Ziggler’s career a laughing stock and wants to stomp Ziggler in the face. Dolph makes a weird out of place joke (“Who doesn’t wonder what Catwoman would look like if she did CrossFit all the time?”), but then Rollins challenges him to a match. So yeah, it’s going to happen.
– Damien Sandow vs. Sin Cara
Tonight, Sandow is a member of the U.S. Border Patrol. I can almost guarantee you at least ten people grabbed their kids and headed to the exit sign when he came out. Sandow gets in a few moves, but Sin Cara picks up the victory with the Falling Star. (2:00) This is like something you would find on a $5 independent show. ¾*
– Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
Rollins remains pretty dominant for the first few minutes. He hits Ziggler with the Three Amigos and wears him down with a chinlock. Ziggler mounts a comeback, but Rollins shoves away the Famouser and sends Dolph flying out to the floor to take us into commercial. AND WE’RE BACK! Rollins is in control raking and kicking at the face. Dolph makes another comeback and delivers the corner punches and the swinging neckbreaker for two. Ziggler gets a bunch of nearfalls, culminating in a jumping DDT. Rollins avoids the Zig Zag, Dolph ducks the springboard knee smash, and then catches Rollins with the Famouser for 1-2-NO! Now Rollins turns it up a notch and throws Ziggler into the ringpost and out to the floor. He follows Ziggler out and heaves him first into the barricade and then into the steps. Back inside, Rollins delivers the Curb Stomp for the win. (10:45 shown) Pretty standard match for Ziggler where he gives all he’s got and then the heel gets violent. Since you know he’s not going over because he never does with top guys, there’s a total lack of drama here. Pretty much like every Kofi Kingston match to me. It’s very athletic, very well-paced, but ultimately you know he isn’t going to win. **½
Elsewhere, Renee Young checks in with Randy Orton. Tonight, we will see who the truly sadistic WWE superstar is. It ain’t Dean Ambrose, says Orton.
– Paige vs. Natalya
Paige pie-faces Natalya to start, which results in pissing her off to the point of putting Paige in the Sharpshooter. Paige escapes to the floor only to draw Natalya out for the Paige Turner on the floor. She skips back into the ring and tries to get the countout win. Back inside, Natalya figures turnabout is fair play, and sneaks a rollup for two. Paige then kicks her in the mouth and taps Natalya out with the Scorpion Cross Lock in short order. (2:15) And so now Paige skips back to the locker room. Passive aggressive to the max. ¾*
– Big E vs. Rusev (w/Lana)
They go back and forth pounding on each other to start. Big E fights out of the corner, hits his moves of doom, but misses the splash. Rusev locks in the ACCOLADE and that will do it. (2:00) Way to squash Big E here. Sheesh. ½*
We now go to some guy with a microphone who speaks with Chris Jericho. Now that the symptoms Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are gone, he feels he is the antidote for the Bray Wyatt infection. At SummerSlam, he will rid the WWE of this plague. He’s going to grab the buzzards and cram them down Bray’s throat. He wants to get CRAZY at SummerSlam. Who was that guy holding the mic?!
– Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton
Even though it’s not true, I feel like we see this match every other week now. Neither man really gives an inch to start until Ambrose flies onto Orton with a pescado to take us into commercial. When we come back, Orton is working on that taped shoulder. Ambrose fights back with a pair of DDTs. Orton shoves away Dirty Deeds, but takes a fall out to the floor. Ambrose wants the tope suicida, but Orton sees it coming and blasts Ambrose with an elbow smash. Orton gets sadistic out on the floor with some ringside violence. Draping DDT is avoided and Ambrose hits the tope suicida anyways. Back inside, Seth Rollins appears and distracts Ambrose away from Dirty Deeds. RKO is shoved away as Ambrose finally hits Dirty Deeds! Cover, 1-2-NO! Rollins pulls Ambrose off the cover and starts pounding him for the DQ. (9:15 shown) Orton helps Rollins take care of Ambrose. With Ambrose down and out, Rollins grabs a fan’s cup of soda and pours it all over Dean’s face as payback from this past week on Raw. Rollins delivers the Curb Stomp as once again the heel stands tall looking at the hard camera as we close out the show. **½
Until next week, so long for now!