James: John Cena. Batista. Randy Orton. Edge. These are all names of wrestlers who really defined the late 00s of WWE, with the big symbolic wins of Cena & Batista at WrestleMania 21 marking the start of a new era in WWE. But something that is arguably just as important to how the next decade of WWE was shaped was that show’s second match. With the introduction of the Money in the Bank Ladder match, WWE had created its most exciting yearly gimmick since the Royal Rumble. And just like the Rumble, it had the ability to change careers forever. So with the advent of gimmick Pay Per Views really kicking off in late 2009, it only makes sense that one of the biggest yearly attractions would get a show of its own.
Seán: Despite already getting a Money in the Bank Match at WrestleMania 26 just under four months previous, WWE have decided to give us not one but two Money in the Bank Matches on the same show. One for Raw and one for SmackDown, with the winner of each being allowed to cash in on the brand’s respective World Championship. 16 men. 2 Matches. 2 World Championship Opportunities. For a title match at any time of their choosing and one chance at making history, but that’s not all we’ve got on this show. Oh no!
JT: That’s right! Underdog Rey Mysterio valiantly won his second World Title last episode, but has ticked off ex-Champ Jack Swagger in the process!! Swagger looks to not only win his title back tonight, but snap Rey’s ankle in the process! At the same time, Kane’s still investigating who attacked the Undertaker, will he find any new leads? And over on the red brand, those dastardly NXT rookies continue to scourge the show. That means in order to keep things fair and keep them out, John Cena and new WWE Champ Sheamus will face each other, in a Steel Cage!!
S: He’s John Cena and he’s in a rage, he wants Sheamus and he wants him in a cage. If the Nexus gets involved, we won’t stumble because we’re rocking down to the Power Hour Rumble!
————————————
Booting Up
JT: Hellooooo and welcome to the JT & Seány McPower Hour, aka The Wrestling Power Hour!! We’re back once again with more 2010 action! In episode 1 of this season we saw the Raw where the Nexus made their memorable debut, and last episode around we saw our first PPV of the arc with Fatal 4 Way. So now we’re into the thick of this arc with Money in the Bank 2010! Seán, how you doin? How you feelin?
S: Doing good, James! It feels good to be back again, doing what we enjoy chatting about and reviewing wrestling. I must say that this show really did leave me with more to chat about than our last offering and I’m very excited to break this one down! Whenever we get into it, of course.
JT: Yeah let’s be real for a second, Fatal 4 Way is one of the most obscure PPVs ever. And one of the reasons for that is that there really wasn’t a whole lot happening. Even the discussion of “Should a PPV be based around 4 Ways” is a very easy “No”. But we’ve got a good deal to sink our teeth into tonight, whether it’s about the show’s gimmick, the show’s moments, our thoughts on the show at the time, what we think of it now, and of course how it all fits into our bigger picture of the Nexus storyline.
S: Yeah definitely, what’s gonna happen with these Money in the Bank Matches, James? Because I’m not sure if the might of eight men in two matches can stop the Nexus from STEALING those briefcases and putting on a giant Nexus logo on it. What’s gonna happen?!
JT: Well Seán, we’ll just have to wait to find out. And as we get to that, I gotta ask, were you excited as a fan back in 2010 when this show was announced? Because I know I was definitely excited for it, and honestly I’ve been excited for MITB pretty much every year for the last 12 years.
S: Definitely, I was really buzzing for this one as a little shitty kid. Young me was definitely psyched for this show, and it was on Sky Sports too, so bonus. It’s definitely one of those shows which will always have me watching really, it’s like the Rumble, and Mania and probably even SummerSlam for WWE shows I’ll always check out. It’s definitely been a success for WWE.
JT: I don’t think I was being hyperbolic when I talked about how it was one of the biggest changes WWE experienced in the late 00s. MITB is genuinely the best original creation WWE has had in the last 15 years. You can argue that nowadays, it’s gotten on the stale side of things, but in 2010 this gimmick was still red hot. So honestly, though I know it’s pretty popular to hate on gimmick shows (and deservedly so sometimes, as we saw last month), it’s very easy to justify a MITB PPV at the time.
S: I agree, I think striking while the iron was red hot on this gimmick and getting its own PPV was the right call BUT! But but but, they literally just did a Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania just under four months before this. Which means we’re getting THREE of those this year alone.
JT: Very fair point. HOWEVER! Jack Swagger had just been the shortest reigning Mr MITB ever. Less than week after winning the case, he cashed it in and won the World Title. So you could at least make the excuse that we fans got robbed of the usual drama of the MITB, so having another chance at it so soon is not so bad.
S: That Jack Swagger, he sure does have to rob us of everything, doesn’t he? First Money in the Bank and then his fun entrance. What a shame.
JT: And he has a chance to rob Rey of his Title tonight. But again, we’ll get to that. Honestly as a kid, the idea of 2 MITB winners got me super excited. I mean one on SmackDown AND one on Raw?!? Considering the first two MITB cash-ins I watched (CM Punk and Jack Swagger respectively) were some of the most memorable moments of wrestling, I was excited at seeing 2 more cash-ins in the next 365.
S: Oh I was the same as you, it was like getting two ice creams really, or whatever you’d get extra of which is doubly great as getting one of those things. Shit explanation but anyways, as we’d come to know until 2014, two MITB matches per year did become a bit tiresome by year three of this format but at the time? A lot of excitement with me.
JT: It’s especially exciting for me because I was all ready for the next wave of guys to get their shot at becoming World Champion. I got a taste of that with Jack Swagger, but I was still hopeful that I’d get to see someone take a big step forward.
S: Who knows, maybe tonight is that night where someone new takes that big step closer to the top of the mountain. Speaking of the top… JAMES! Have you got time for a bit of a pop culture flashback???
JT: Oh yes I can! I’ve always got time for it! Lay it on me.
S: Pop. Culture. Flashback! What was going on in the world in pop culture in 2010 at this time? Well James, let’s start off with the music. What were our chart toppers as of July 18th 2010? In the UK, the number one single was “The Club is Alive” by JLS. I forgot what this song sounded like before a quick listen on Spotify and holy shit, it’s the most 2002-2004 sounding song ever. The state of it. Definitely something you’d expect from a former X-Factor group. If you can right now, give like the first fifteen seconds a listen, it’s terrible.
JT: Boy that sure is a song for a club about how crazy the club is. A real breath mint of a song, absolutely 0 calories.
S: Not a bit of energy to it at all, man. Not much going on in either of our countries either sadly because in the US, it’s the same chart-topper as last show, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg still top with “California Gurls”. In my native Ireland, we also had “California Gurls”… A bleh week for music. At least when we did 2003, we had Evanescence topping the charts!
JT: Honestly, that probably says more about WWE having a PPV so soon rather than the movement of the music charts. It’s been like, 3 weeks since Fatal 4 Way? We’re not gonna have much chart movement with that sort of turnaround.
S: If a song is any ways popular for more than two weeks, it’s going to have a lengthy stint as number one. How about them films, eh? In the UK, it was Christopher Nolan’s, Inception! Which would remain top for one week before Toy Story 3 would annihilate everything by staying top for four weeks at the box office. As I’ve established previously, the Irish film board hasn’t discovered what a box office is yet so in the US, it was also Inception! How about that? I’ve never seen Inception but yet I think I’ve seen it parodied like loads of other shit I’ve watched. I feel like I’d love it though.
JT: I think you would. It’s pretty great, though I’ll admit, I saw it last when I was like 15. So it might be a lot worse or a lot better than I remember. I’d lean on the latter considering I like most of Nolan’s stuff.
S: It’s certainly on my “to watch” list this summer though, I will say that, and it’s also got a cast which I’m very much impressed by. All the main actors are just a group of people who I have plenty of time for as actors. Moving on to the world of video games, not a whole lot going on here. The notable releases from the 11th to the 18th of July include DragonQuest IX for the DS, the game release for that Sorcerer’s Apprentice Movie with Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel on all major consoles, and NCAA Football 11. That game definitely gives me “this is a Seth Rollins and AJ Styles favorite” given how much I know they love their sports video games (especially Madden) from watching UpUpDownDown.
JT: I remember the NCAA games, they were fun. But I get why they were discontinued, considering the complications that come with the questionable legality of owning the likeness of college football players (most of which won’t play football for their occupation). But I can definitely imagine both of them loving those games, considering Seth would finally get to play as Iowa and AJ could play as the Georgia Bulldogs.
S: That’s what I find so fascinating about them too, the fact that college football players are featured in a video game, it’s such a crazy thing to think about and how surreal it must be for those college players to see themselves in a video game.
JT: Especially if they didn’t ultimately pursue Football as a career. Like being a 43 overall player on a published sports game would be the highlight of my athletic career.
S: Funny you say that because there are quite a few people I know of from Sligo who have a really low overall on a prior FIFA game. Speaking of which, the week before this show took place, the 2010 FIFA World Cup had just finished up in South Africa where Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 after Andrés Iniesta’s winner in the second half of Extra Time. The game itself, was a fucking dreadful affair. Just a real shithouse game riddled with bookings and dirty challenges, mostly from Netherlands’ end really. The game saw the most yellow cards in Final history, with 14! English referee Howard Webb was booed by both sets of fans, rightly so, he was dreadful. James, this was my first World Cup Final as a fan, did you watch this final like me?
JT: I did watch it! If my memory serves me correctly, I actually saw it during Summer camp. It was a sports based day camp through my local YMCA, so for the World Cup final, they got one of the old wheelie TV stations the school building we went to had, and they put it out under a tree for us to watch. You’re right about it being a stinker though, aside from the excitement of watching a big event, I remember being bored and hot. This was pre-smart phone for me too, so that meant lots of looking at what the ants on the ground were doing. Which was a lot of nothing, for the record.
S: It was a proper stinker, and the sad thing is, it shouldn’t have been because both teams had great squads, but it was just two teams playing two completely different styles. The 2014 Final would be better but 2018 was a proper cracker of a game between France and Croatia. 2010, it’s safe to say that it was a wet fart of a finale to a pretty fun and crazy tournament. The rightful winners in Spain won in the end though at least.
JT: That’s true, imagine all that tournament just to have a cheap ass ending, where an undeserving team won. That’s a proper heel tournament is what that is.
S: I don’t even think the Netherlands were undeserving, per say. They had a phenomenal squad in 2010 with Wesley Sneijder at the peak of his powers, Arjen Robben being Arjen Robben, which is a world class talent. Robin Van Persie up front. They had a lot of damn good players, just played a style for the whole tournament which you’d not historically associate with them. They’ve had some hardy bastards like Rijkaard, Gullit and Koeman to name a few, but they always played good stuff. Netherlands in this World Cup were proper shithouses, crying out for Louis Van Gaal to set them straight in time for Brazil in 2014.
JT: Well the World Cup was pretty much the only reason I knew the Netherlands was a place, so cheers to that! What else is on the docket as far as pop culture goes?
S: Well not much else except more sports really, in golf, Louis Oosthuizen claimed his only major PGA title by winning the British Open at St. Andrews, seven strokes clear of Lee Westwood. Finally, in Baseball the 81st All Star game was played where the National League triumphed 3-1 over the American League in Angel Stadium in Anaheim. A lovely ballpark.
JT: Fun fact, this was the first National League win since 1996! And it would be the first of 3 in a row, only for the American League to win every All Star game since then! Funny how that works out. Thing is, it doesn’t have any sort of correlation of how good each league is in my opinion, since 12 of the last 22 of World Series winners have been from the NL.
S: That is fascinating actually! So you’re telling me that the American League has won every All Star Game since 2013?
JT: Yep! After the NL dominating for most of the 20th Century, the AL took the lead with 45 Wins to 44 losses.
S: And this year? Who do you reckon has the stronger potential All Star lineup? The AL or the NL?
JT: Honestly, though we’re not very far into the season, a lot can change, but I guess the AL? Mostly on the basis of Mike Trout for the Angels and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton for the Yankees being 3 of the best hitters in baseball this year. And funny enough, this is the first time in history that both LA and both New York teams are all in first place at the same time. So it might be an interesting season to say the least.
S: I did see that on my timeline actually! I found that to be quite mind-blowing considering how popular baseball is in those cities/states in New York’s case. Go Mets imo.
JT: Go Mets baby, love the Mets, and so on. Anywho, anything else on the docket? Or shall we move on to our main dish, the match and moments of Money in the Bank 2010?
S: I’ve got nothing to add to that, my friend. So I think it’s about time we get rolling with the show!
JT: So tonight’s video opens up like so: Have you ever asked yourself, what would you risk to make your dreams come true? My health? My livelihood? My entire future? Tonight for these superstars, the opportunity of a lifetime is within their reach. It will elate them, it will entice them, and it will slip from their grasp. Only one will rise above the carnage and win, championship dreams seized, career refined as Money in the Bank. Tonight’s theme song: Money by I Fight Dragons! What a fucking tune!!
S: More or less what I have written down in my notes actually! This is a really damn good PPV song, it definitely fits the atmosphere which this show is trying to create. They show their album cover later on in the show and it’s a whopper. Little 8-Bit cover, very cool.
JT: First of all, I just enjoy I Fight Dragons music. I like me 8-Bit stuff. But number 2, I love the sort of selfish lyrics to this song about money always conquers all, and how it controls the world. That’s the perfect sort of idea to form a PPV around this career changing gimmick. Much better than just saying “Money” over and over again.
S: Nearly ten fucking years we had of that Donald Trump thems song for MITB, then they changed it last year and guess what? The chorus still keeps saying “money” over and over again. Just fork out the cash for Pink Floyd already.
JT: Lazy ass music direction. Speaking of lazy, there weren’t as much here! Look at all the ladders, look at the money delivery trucks! They’re on theme here tonight in Kansas City.
S: Some say that if you blow the doors off those, you’ll be able to claim $2,500. Speaking of Kansas City, that does fall into some sort of brief segment as the show opens. Features some facts, some stats or figures of some sort.
JT: Good idea, drop some knowledge on us.
S: It’s the final PPV stop before SummerSlam. Taking place on Sunday, July 18 2010, from the then Sprint Center (now called the T-Mobile Center) in Kansas City, Missouri. The show packed in 8,000 fans, had a live gate of $550,000. WWE garnered 164,000 buys worldwide for this one, 6,000 buys up from last month’s offering but still the third-lowest buy-rate of the year. The PPV revenue was a decent $2.97 million too. That PPV number though, very surprising considering that this show has basically surpassed Survivor Series in terms of importance.
JT: Guess it goes to show that a MITB PPV had to grow on the fandom. As kids, we may have been excited, but that hardly represented the audience as a whole.
S: I can imagine that this show had the reaction from fans of “for fuck’s sake, ANOTHER gimmick PPV” after quite a few months of them a year into the PPV schedule remodel, so I’d imagine that this show just needed to get through the initial teething problems.
JT: Plus, as I’m sure we’ll go into later, the card here outside of the MITB matches, we’ll it’s not exactly an inspired card, if you catch my drift.
S: *airhorn* Spoilers! I think that’s about as good of a place to leave our preamble at the door and get into the show, what do you think?
JT: We’ve done enough here. This job is done. Time to get into the action!!
S: And awaaaaaaay we go!
————————————
Detective Kane on the (Brief)Case
JT: With Cole, King and Stryker on commentary, we open up this show with the SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match! Here’s our field for the match: Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler (who is getting real close to SD’s official consultant to the GM, Vickie Guerrero), Christian, “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Drew McIntyre, Detective Kane, and Big Show!! So aside from returning faces from last episode, we’ve got some fresh faces appearing for the first time this season! Pick your poison, who do you want to talk about first?
S: I think there’s three guys who are worth talking about here if you ask me. Cody Rh- sorry, “DASHING” Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler and Christian because this is them making their presence felt among the Power Hour. I’d say we talk about Ziggler first because at this stage, it’s safe to say that he’s steadily been ascending the ranks in the last twelve months up to this point.
JT: Yeah, this season is expecting to see plenty of Dolph. When I started watching in 2009, Dolph really started out as a comedy jobber, shaking hands and saying “I’m Dolph Ziggler”. But as the summer went on, he became Maria’s boy toy and he started to move up the rankings. He had his first PPV singles matches against Rey Mysterio for the IC Title, but lost both matches. So really, 2009 saw him go from total jobber to potential champion one day. And being in this match only makes him more legitimate.
S: Exactly, I remember watching him from the first time he was on Raw and just thinking, “this guy is an absolute geek. No way will he last long with this booking”. Will say that the handshaking gimmick is something which was a big hit with me and two of my older brothers, still to this day. The moment I remember thinking that he’s starting to move up was when he had the matches with Rey, and then getting on to Mania 26 where he got into the Money in the Bank Match on that show by beating R-Truth and John Morrison. That was the moment I think he was starting to get higher up the ranks.
JT: Plus, at this stage, being associated with Vickie Guerrero has gotta be good for your stock. Sure, she’s not at peak 2008 Vickie anymore. She really left the main event scene after the odd WrestleMania 25 Love Triangle thing. That was proof that her time with Edge was pretty much on its last legs. But even with that said, she had just spent the last 2 years as a figure with authority, who had been managing a main event act. That’s a good person to align with, inside and out of kayfabe.
S: Definitely, Vickie was still a non-wrestling character who still had that manager’s aura where they’re above the lower mid-card. I mean the fact that she had spent the majority of her on-screen role near the top of the card is a good sign for Dolph if he is to align with her.
JT: And then next we’ve got “Dashing” Cody Rhodes. Cody!! In the present day, he’s one of the biggest singles wrestlers in the world, and for the first time in nearly half a decade, in WWE. But the Cody we’re watching tonight, this is Cody’s first proper singles push. Legacy is in the past as of WM26, and now he’s onto his first gimmick of his own. What did you think of “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, as far as a gimmick as a whole and just his general prospects?
S: I think before the “Dashing” gimmick began on SmackDown, Cody was someone who I thought was surely going to have a good future in WWE. Mainly because of his family name, and the improvements which he’d made during his Legacy tenure, like by the time he’s on his own here in this gimmick, I think he’s pretty confident on the mic and between him and Ted DiBiase Jr, I always thought Cody probably was going to have the bigger future but we’ll get to Teddy later on. The gimmick itself, I really do like it, they gave him all the right small things which makes a gimmick click. The theme song, the mirror on his titantron, I remember they would do these adverts on SmackDown where Cody would give us grooming tips. That’s the kind of shit which makes a gimmick work.
JT: Oh man those commercial/promos are something WWE doesn’t really do anymore, and I wish they did. As a kid I hated those advertisements, I thought they were so annoying, and that’s why they worked. It made me want to see him get put in his place. Honestly as a kid, I thought that this gimmick put a cap on his ceiling, because I didn’t think he could be in the main event with this pretty boy character. Still, it was definitely memorable, and I adore that theme song. Especially the meme video of John Cena singing it backstage. I could just say “Cody Rhodes” it was always “WOAAHHHH you’re only smoke and mirrors! Woaahhh, there goes Cody Rhodes!”
S: John Cena, ever the banterous one. This version of his “WOAAHHH” theme song is his best one, his one he used as the “Undashing” Cody Rhodes comes in second and I know the one he used lastly from 2011-2014 is a WWE 13 national anthem but it’s bottom of the three for me.
JT: Oh my god, imagine the collective disappointment if at WrestleMania 38, the lights had all gone out, fireworks had gone off, Seth Rollins was left waiting and then…WOOAAHH. I mean I know they kept it for like, continuity purposes, but man that last version of his theme was not it. This one though, the Dashing version? Perfect. It stands out from the rest of the roster, it fits his character, great stuff.
S: To touch on that last version of the theme for a second as well, it just doesn’t work for a babyface, like at all. It has such heel energy. His theme song, which he’s used for the last six years, is perfect for him because he can use it as a face or as a heel. Anyone else who you think we should mention before we get into this?
JT: Well I think we gotta give a shoutout to Christian. He’s one of the names this match is built on, since he’s an innovator of the Ladder Match. He and Matt Hardy have been getting a lot of focus because of their history together, and Christian is being lauded as a favorite to win the briefcase here tonight.
S: Definitely, he’s a collective favorite of ours, and for good reason. Even in his late 40s, coming out of a long retirement, the man just gets it. He’s in brilliant shape, he’s still great at talking and he is easily the ideal TV match wrestler, I reckon he’s got so much more to give as well. He and Matt, knowing how they’re renowned for their influence on match structure, wouldn’t surprise me if they put the majority of this match together.
JT: And you gotta think the likes of Cody and Dolph would be more than willing to sit, listen and learn from experienced hands like Christian and Matt. So with all that said, are you ready to get into our first match of the episode?
S: Let’s get after it, James! Take her away.
JT: So our SD MITB begins with everyone attacking the two big guys, and then fight each other as Cody goes for a ladder. Unfortunately for him though, Show & Kane clear out the masses, leaving him alone on the ladder with the two big men. He gets a hard chop across the back from Big Show, then an uppercut under the chin from Kane, sending him out of the ring and leaving the two of them alone. Kane might be fighting with a vengeance for his brother, but that still doesn’t mean he’s strong enough to withstand a shoulder tackle that knocks him down and out of the ring. That means it’s Big Show all alone, with just the ladder in his way. He goes to step, and immediately the rungs break under his weight. Not gonna lie, as a kid this story intrigued me, I mean, how would he climb? Could he still manage to win with this issue? What if Big Show fell off a ladder, would the ring explode??
S: It was definitely a small story which I enjoyed at this time because ever since I’d been watching Money in the Bank Matches during my fandom, I didn’t get to see many, if any of the proper massive boys. I did get to see Mark Henry at Mania 25 in a MITB match but Big Show??? That was a whole different kettle of fish entirely. Just like you, I thought he’d break a ladder if he climbed up it.
JT: So with Show having no use for the ladder, he just chucks it at Kane. But just like that, his moment is over, as the masses descend on him. He gets a kick from Ziggler from the apron, a Beautiful Disaster by Cody using the apron, and then everyone teams up on Show to send him into the post/steps. Now it’s back to every man for themselves, as Drew slingshots Christian into a ladder, then Matt hits him with a ladder to the back. Now Matt is all alone and climbing up, but Christian yanks him down. Then Christian tries to climb but Matt yanks him down. As they’re busy fighting, Cody tries to climb but Kofi leaps in to knock him down and throw him into the ladder. He tries to climb, Ziggler interrupts him and Dolph manages to get up to the top and touch the case, but Christian stops him, throwing him down to the mat with a splat. First nasty bump of the match, and really, knowing his career trajectory, is it at all surprising that Dolph was the first to take a huge fall?
S: Dolph taking the first big fall in a ladder match is just one of his go to things to do. It’s that and him doing the fucking countless near elimination spots in Royal Rumble matches that he does.
JT: Well I’m happy that it looks like we know what we’re in for with him this season. So, Matt & Christian both get caught around the throat by Kane, but this is their domain, not his! Chokeslam turns into a DDT, and then Kane get sandwiched between the ladders. Matt turns on Christian and goes for the TOF, but Christian escapes and flapjacks him onto the ladder! On the outside, Big Show can’t get out of the blocks as Cody pushes the ladder over, sending Christian off the ladder, over the top, onto Show on the floor! Kane comes back in, but takes a Beautiful Disaster, then Trouble In Paradise and finally a Twist of Fate!! Matt and Cody climb the ladder, but go down once Drew pushes it over. Drew is all alone, but Kane spots that and yanks to the floor, and then cleans off the announce tables. He goes for a Chokeslam, but Drew counters with an elbow, only to eat a boot to the face to lay him out on the table!! Kane grabs a ladder, and then gets a Baseball Slide into that ladder by Kofi!! Drew starts to stir, and then gets Trouble In Paradise to lay him out on the table again!! Then comes, in my opinion, the most lasting moment of this whole match. With Drew out on the table, Kofi climbs up a ladder that’s out on the floor, gets to the top, and leaps off with a Boom Drop that takes out Drew and the Spanish Announce Table!!
S: An instantly memorable MITB spot, it looked really fucking good. The camera angle was perfect as it got across the height which Kofi was doing the Boom Drop from and then even more considering it was shot by looking up at him. This is one of those spots which WWE would use for MITB video packages for years to come and will probably be used for Kofi’s Hall of Fame video package in the future because its that memorable and looked great.
JT: Also I’ve got a gut feeling that that spot, it really isn’t that bad to take. Maybe Drew McIntyre has talked about it at some point, and in doing so will make me look like an idiot, but I feel like it wouldn’t have been that bad! The table collapsed nicely, Kofi’s not landing on him with a heavy part of his body, feels like it worked out perfectly, looking great and feeling about as good as a move off the top of a ladder could feel.
S: The Boom Drop just always looks like one of those moves which gives off the impression that it doesn’t exactly hurt either guy but it looks good because of how it’s delivered, if you know what I mean. Just always seems like a move which is safe for Kofi and whoever his opponent is taking the move.
JT: Anywho, back in the ring, Ziggler is all but Big Show pushes over the ladder, catches Ziggler out of the air, and plants him with a Chokeslam! Kane comes back in and grabs Show around the throat, but Show counters with a gut punch, then crushes him in the corner with a ladder. The TLC Twins (Matt & Christian) come back in and ram a ladder to Show’s back, but they try it again and he catches them, throwing them down and pinning them to the mat with the ladder, then squashes them and the ladder with a Splash! Now that everyone is out of the way, Show is able to go to the floor and pulls out a huge, specially enforced ladder out! This is a big heavy fucker, as shown by the fact that there’s a struggle by Show to get it in. And honestly, I can’t tell if he’s just selling it or if he legit had a hard time getting it in.
S: I think it’s a little bit of trying to sell this absolute beast of a ladder at first but for the most part, this ladder is legit a fucking struggle to get in. Especially given the fact that Show has been wrestling for probably fifteen minutes, it’s the Summertime, it’s probably warm in the arena too and that factors into the ladder being a bigger struggle to get in. Also, as we see how he gets it in eventually, he definitely made it harder for himself by trying to drag it in from the floor and over the top rope.
JT: That’s a good point! When he actually got it into the ring, it was my using the middle ropes as a fulcrum, rather than going up and over. So, now that he’s got his ladder up and manages to actually take a step onto the ladder, Cody comes in and uses a Step Ladder to hit Show on his big knee brace. Cody tries to climb, but gets brought down by an Electric Chair Drop from DZ, who narrowly missed the edge of a random ladder, which was kind of scary. Ziggler then tries to climb but gets swatted by Show. Kofi now is back into fold as he springboards in and onto the ladder (which is a lot easier with the heavier ladder, nice planning), and when Show goes to pull him down, Kofi turns it into a DDT!! Sadly, that takes Kingston off the ladder, meaning he has to make the journey up again, leaving him vulnerable to a Missile Dropkick from the corner by Cody. And for extra injury, Cody follows up with a Cross Rhodes onto a Ladder! But moments later, Dolph pulls Cody off the ladder, then uses the Zig Zag to yank Cody back into the ladder!! Gotta say, I know these guys will get more than enough TV time over the next like 6 years in WWE, but I feel like they were really working their asses off to show they deserve TV time here.
S: Yeah I think they all looked really good in this exchange to be fair to them, they put in a proper shift in this match and I think because of it, that’s probably WWE realizing that they’ve got a crop of upper mid-carders set for the next five to ten years.
JT: Sadly for Cody, Dolph and Kofi though, they can only fight so much against the World’s Largest Athlete, who is back in the fold and takes all of them out. Show gingerly climbs up the ladder because of his injured leg, and this gives Kane enough time to come back in the ring and tip the heavy ladder with the heavy man over, sending Show falling into the ropes and over to the floor!! And to put him away for good, everyone comes over and buries him under a pile of ladders. That’s it for his night. So Seán, I’ve gotta ask, what did you think of Tall Paul’s Tall Fall?
S: First off, fair fucking play to him for taking that spill because that must’ve been a sore one for him to take. I also think that once again, Big Show has been put over so damn well on PPV. He genuinely came across as such a threat given how he had to get his leg taken out, beaten up by six dudes and buried under ladders in order to be taken out of the equation. I thought it was great along with how well I thought he fit into the match.
JT: Yeah I think they pretty much delivered what you would’ve wanted from Big Show here tonight. He got involved but he wasn’t the main character, he did some spots but also gave the faster, more agile guys a chance to do their thing. He did some signature moves, he did a big high spot, and he got written off in a way that makes sense for him and everyone else. Good job there. Now the next thing I gotta ask you is about how he got written out: What do you think of the “Big guy gets buried by all the ladders” trope?
S: I think it’s a cool visual, that I will say but I feel like it’s one that’s probably been overdone at this point, right? Because I feel like this trope has been used more since this instance of it but I just can’t remember any examples of it.
JT: Oh definitely. It’s just become a thing that happens every match. Like you have to have a big guy in the match because you just have to and then you have to bury him under ladders because that’s just what you do. It’s just not interesting, although I liked it this time because I was 11.
S: Yeah I had a feeling that it’s been done to death since then alright. Have you got any other overused MITB/Ladder Match tropes which you are sick of seeing?
JT: At this point, I’m sick of the trope where someone gets stretchered out and then comes back later, usually because it never actually leads to anything. Like it’s just a seasoning used to break up the formula, which itself has become formula. We all know there’s like a 50/50 chance they’ll just come back later if they get helped to the back. And they never do it with the right guys, y’know? Like remember when they did that spot with heel Miz? Why? Why him? Do you not get why that spot would work in the first place?
S: I just ironically love how fucking stupid and ass backwards that booking decision is. Like it wasn’t even Miz during one of his two failed babyface runs, but it was Miz in 2011! Probably the number two heel in the company, carrying on like a valiant babyface. So rubbish.
JT: What about you? Any MITB tropes you despise?
S: I’ve grown to just be sick of the old “6 or 7 or 8 people reaching for the briefcase at the same time” trope. There’s only so many times where you can do that and get an “awh class, that looks cool” reaction from me. I always hate when people position the ladder away from where the briefcase is, that’s another one which annoys me. The final one would be where wrestlers climb two rungs of the ladder, then reach, another one or two rungs, reach again until they are inevitably pushed off. It’s those small wee tropes which I’ve grown tired of.
JT: I’m also sick of those “everyone reaching at once” spots, just because at this rate we’ve seen it over and over again. You’ve got enough footage to fill video packages for years, we don’t need it yet again. The two steps thing is unfortunate, just because I feel like that’s just a side effect of trying to add drama to these sorts of matches that would be a lot more winnable in reality. So it’s unrealistic, and it’s annoying because it happens every time, but it is what it is imo. Finally, as for ladders not close to the case, we’ve had that in this one haven’t we? I think it was in my notes and I couldn’t find a smooth way to bring it up, but like, at points in this match, the only ladder set up is clearly not going to be big enough to reach the case.
S: Add that as well, most of the time I just think “why have ladders in a ladder match which aren’t tall enough for wrestlers to reach the case?”. Then I realize that they’re probably easier to use as weapons, lift up and use for spots. The step ladder though, they’re trying to make those a thing but when we did Money in the Bank at Mania 23 (our first ever episode by the way), the step ladder was a joke gimmick, it was planted by Hornswoggle to confuse King Booker.
JT: Cody did the best he could, but it’s still silly. Step Ladders only belong in WeeLC
S: Exactly, they’re a goofy gimmick which should be used in silly matches, not something which should become essential to one of your traditional stipulation matches.
JT: So back in the ring, and everyone in the ring, trying to climb the huge ladder. Kane is fighting through the crowd with a Chokeslam to Christian, a Chokeslam to Matt, he pulls Kofi off the ladder, and hits an uppercut to Cody. Kane climbs up, but Ziggler climbs up and over him!! He reaches the case, but Kane grabs him, so Ziggler goes and grabs a Sleeper! He tries to choke him out, but Kane rams him into the ladder to knock him off! After a fumbly sequence, Kane gets Dolph on the apron and shoves him off onto the ladder pile! And then Kofi and Cody pull Kane to the floor, only for Kofi to get a Chokeslam the ladder pile! Cody tries to run away up the ramp, but Kane chases after him and sends him face first into the armored truck!! Okay, so I know back when we covered the 2003 Royal Rumble all the way back at the beginning of Season 1 (exclusively available on the Wrestling Amino app, *Mick Foley face*), we talked about how Kane in the Rumble is really one of the best versions of Kane there is. But I’d also like to throw MITB Kane into the mix.
S: Yeah honestly, Kane looked like such an ass kicker here. He was knocking the bollocks out of everyone around and the fans were definitely buying into it. The fact that they had Cody literally running away from Kane just put across how much of a monster he looked like. Him lawn darting Cody into the armed truck looked fucking cool and that’s why the trucks were there!
JT: It’s kinda like at Armageddon 2000 when the fighting spills out to the junkyard of cars on the ramp. It’s nice to have a set but it’s just as nice for it to come into play. And back to Kane, I think where this is great is because Kane gets to play the hits. He sticks to all his snappiest, most exciting moves, and he gets to look big and scary most matches. That’s the same sort of thing that works in the Rumble, he sticks to boots, uppercuts, Chokeslams and doing the sit up (which I’m surprised we didn’t get here now that I think about that).
S: Could you imagine if he did the sit up coming up from being buried underneath a pile of ladders and then ran wild?
JT: Or the spot I was really dreaming of is like, Drew knocking him off the ladder and then celebrating, only for Kane to sit up and Michael Myers his way back up for the win.
S: Oh now that would be even better because we avoid one of our overused MITB tropes. Great thinking!
JT: Sadly that’s not the timeline we’re in. Back in our timeline, Matt Hardy is going towards the case but Kane pulls him off, leading to Christian and Matt going after Kane and taking him out. So the two veterans scramble up the ladder, and they each go for the Case, but they end up shoving each other off, all the way down to the mat!! And right on cue, Drew McIntyre slinks his way back into the match to some boos. After a real fall from Grace in recent months, it seems like the Chosen One’s moment has finally come! Or it would have, if he had acted fast enough, because Kane is up again!! Drew fumbles with the case, Kane grabs him around the throat, and sends him to the canvas with a Chokeslam!! Kane is all alone, he grabs the cas, and unhooks it!! Kane is Mr MITB!! I don’t know how this helps the Undertaker at all, but good for Kane!!
S: Well I know for a fact that somewhere within that briefcase, with the contract and probably money that there’s secret files left for him about the secrets behind Undertaker’s attacker. Left there for him by Leslie Nielsen, he’s investigated an Undertaker case before and by god he’s given Detective Kane the documents. Kane is on the case, the MITB case that is!
JT: So first, I’ve gotta say, I was quite happy when Kane won this. And I know I’m not alone. As a young fan, one of the older wrestling stories I learned was the fact that Kane never won the big one. Or more accurately, never had a real reign as Word Champ. So with MITB basically being a guaranteed World Title reign, I was pretty happy that the monkey was going to taken off Kane’s back.
S: I was in the same boat as you when I watched this as a young lad. Obviously I had my preferred favorites such as Matt Hardy and Christian who I still wanted to win it and go for the big one but Kane winning was something which definitely interested me because I’d known he’d only been Champion for a day back in 1998 so seeing him win here definitely caught my attention because the prospect of Kane having another World Title run was intriguing for a young me. Simply because all I’d seen him win at that time was the ECW Title in 2008.
JT: Yep that’s all I knew he had won too, and I hadn’t even experienced that! So suffice to say, big things look like they were in Kane’s future by the end of this match. Speaking of which, how do you feel about this match as a whole?
S: Great opener in my opinion. Thought everyone in the match really played their part and nobody looked lost among the group. Big Show was genuinely brilliant throughout the match and it was structured very well. Maybe five minutes too long but that’s a nitpick if anything. I can’t get over how well this match was structured though, like this just has Christian’s fingerprints all over it. I’m just going to use this match as a means to enjoy Christian while he’s around during this season because I don’t think we’ll be getting him on PPV at all after this but hopefully I’m wrong. I was really impressed with Big Show, I can’t lie. I don’t know if it’s me being more appreciative for him all these years later but I thought he looked class. I’d say of the guys who could’ve potentially won, it’s a pretty slim number. The guys who could’ve had a real shot of winning were Kane, Big Show and maybe Drew McIntyre but given how we’ve seen him be booked, that’s a big maybe.
JT: Yeah that’s one of my big takeaways. Even though I’m obviously watching with the benefit of hindsight, it didn’t feel like many guys had much of a chance. That said, they all play their part. Christian & Matt are cagey veterans, Drew is the slimy heel, Cody & Dolph are the baddies with something to prove, Kofi is the high flying young guy, and then Show & Kane play opposite sides of the big goody coin (Kane’s more vicious, Show’s more smiley). Overall I thought it was fun, but I will say, after seeing so many multi-man ladder matches by 2022, I feel like it’s kind of hard to distinguish this at this point.
S: Definitely, we’ve had about two or three dozen multi-man Ladder Matches in the last 12 years to the point where it’s hard to pick out the ones which stand out, and or stand among the classic Ladder Matches. There’s obviously been some bangers, don’t get me wrong, they usually are but it would be a tricky job to pick out the modern classics as opposed to picking out classics from back then.
JT: So as a follow up to that, is there such a thing as a “bad” Money in the Bank Ladder match? Is it possible to have a “bad” version of this multi-wrestler, car wreck ladder match?
S: I don’t remember any particular “bad” Money in the Bank matches but I do remember there being a lot of outrage with the first Women’s MITB. Not because of who was involved but because of how it was just getting going, then ended and that ending! OH BOY! Do you remember what happened, James?
JT: Oh boy do I!! The first ever Women’s MITB, ending with that creepy little neckbeard handing the briefcase to Carmella. The first ever Women’s MITB….being won essentially by a man. And folks wonder why they’re losing money.
S: Yeah that finish was just such a slap in the face to the entire Women’s Division, even though it was a SmackDown exclusive PPV. Just such a slap of disrespect to all of the women.
JT: So yeah, all in all, Kane winning the case, not so bad! He’s still out for vengeance, and now he’s got an opportunity to make the World Champion pay at any place, and any time for the next year. Where will this all lead? We already know, but let’s be coy just for a little bit.
S: Let’s be coy like all good detectives are. So I guess it’s safe to say that we enjoyed this opener, right?
JT: A good time was had by all. Shall we move on?
S: Definitely, let’s move on.
————————————
Killing Eve’s Push
JT: Up next, we’ve got some Women’s Wrestling, and our first follow up from Fatal 4 Way. She looks good to me, it’s Eve Torres coming out to face off against newly minted Divas Champion Alicia Fox. A few weeks before this, Eve was set to get her mandated rematch, but Alicia retained after faking an injury mid match. You can bet that this time around, Eve won’t play nice. But before we get into our match, I’ve gotta say, it sounded to me like a rather quiet reaction for our Divas Champ.
S: Oh god, absolute crickets for poor Alicia. That reaction goes to show that the fans do not give a flying fuck about that title at all. Doesn’t help that her theme song is just a bit of a crowd killer as well.
JT: So it looks like it’ll be an uphill battle for the ladies. The bell rings, they lock up and it’s a big long lock up. As things are slowly developing, Stryker says the Divas beat down King’s door…from the inside. Don’t bring that stuff up pal. He also says he likes a diva with a high iq and low neckline. Look, Stryker is not as bad as King. But let’s not pretend he’s not at least on that same spectrum.
S: That’s one thing which I have been noticing while rewatching 2010 and whenever I hear Stryker on commentary around this period. He is very much bordering around the line of being a real horn dog on commentary, a lot more than I remember him being. You ain’t heard nothing until you hear him when he sees Serena Deeb at the 2010 Royal Rumble.
JT: Yeah definitely something that has not been fun on this rewatch. So there are some roll ups, but Alicia kicks out every time. There’s a Daniel Bryan chant, a Dropkick by Eve sends Alicia into the corner, then she goes for a Tornado DDT but Alicia yanks Eve off the second rope. She slams Eve on the apron, drags Eve in by her hair and is focusing her attack on the back/kidney area. This, of course, sets up for her super special signature move, the Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker, but Eve kicks out at 2. We brought up how good her Northern Lights is last time, now it’s time to mention how good her Tilt-a-Whirl is.
S: Looks good like every single time she does it, I think it may be because of how tall she is but she never fails to make that move look legit every time she does it. It’s so good that I could easily buy it being her finisher. Alicia Fox, undefeated with her signature moves.
JT: So after the Backbreaker, Alicia takes over with a rest hold before Eve rolls to her back and Monkey Flips Fox to make space and break up the hold. Torres starts her comeback with a Crossbody and multiple dropkicks. She tries a Suplex, her back hurts too much for it to work. Alicia tries to capitalize on her moment of weakness, but Eve manages to kick Alicia’s leg out from under, then hits a kick to the face, then a Standing Moonsault!! 1–2—Kickout!! Alicia kicks her to send her back to the corner, Fox comes in but Eve jumps off the second to hit a kick! She goes to follow up with a Summersault off the second rope, but Alicia gets her knees up!! That caught Eve square on her hurt ribs and kidneys!! Alicia’s prior work has paid off, because Eve struggles to get up afterwards allowing Foxy to line her up and score with the Axe Kick to the back of the head!! Alicia covers, 1—2—3!! The Divas Champ retains in her first defense.
S: Genuinely thought this match was alright not gonna lie, obviously not a good spot for these two following the first MITB Match but I thought it was a fine, short match. Obviously I’d like to see them get about 10 minutes but with the time they had, I thought they did fine. Eve is definitely someone who in a different company at this time, or in a different time period would’ve done really well for herself because she’s pretty solid. She’s one of the many who worked hard but saw the writing on the wall, which was that WWE couldn’t give a toss about the division.
JT: Yeah, aside from the heat sections being rather slow (likely because they’ve invested approximately 5 minutes of TV time building a story for this), this was alright. Not some unheralded masterpiece, but something you watch and can tell they’ve got talent and they at least have a grasp on wrestling psychology.
S: Yeah of course, you can tell they understand the psychology of it all, it’s not something which I’d be urging people to go out of their way and watch but it’s far from a poor offering.
JT: It’s like when a cheap fast food place has free refills. Is this where you want to eat most meals? Not really, but hey, the refills are a nice plus if you’re gonna be there.
S: A decent Diiiiiiiiiivas Championship Match, the free refills of professional wrestling. Only on the Power Hour will you get such great analogies like that one.
————————————
Hartly Trying
JT: Well if that match wasn’t enough of a Fatal 4 Way rehash, then this will certainly give you your full. It’s the Usos, accompanied by Tamina, facing off against Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith with Natalya with the Unified Tag Team Championships on the line. Because the Usos won a 6 Man Tag on Raw, we get to do what is more or less the same thing as last episode.
S: This just feels so fucking backwards that we got the Six-Person Tag last month and now this month we get the regular tag match on this show? Maybe I’m talking out of my arse but I thought it’d be the other way around to be honest. Feels strange for The Usos to be getting a Tag Title match off the back of not winning last month.
JT: Last month was like, tailor made to have Tamina kick Tyson when the ref’s back was turned, leading to the Usos winning. Instead, we got what we got, and I think it’s no surprise that they came out to a library level audience for this one.
S: If the last match didn’t bring the crowd interest down, the struggling tag division is here to help! Good god they were dead for this one.
JT: Yeah it’s a far cry from the last time the Tag Titles changed hands in Kansas City, when the prodigious team of Chris Jericho and The Rock won it from the Dudley Boyz in the midst of the Invasion. That’s random as hell, but hey! The Usos actually asked Jericho for advice for this title match, considering he’s won tag titles before and he’s faced the Hart Dynasty himself already. I’m sure they would’ve asked their cousin The Rock, but he was doing more important things around this time. No seriously, he was filming Fast Five during June 2010. Legit, that’s the role that made him into Dwayne “The Action Hero” Johnson. He went from being successful but having mostly mediocre material to being a poster boy for Hollywood.
S: Oh wow! The movie which literally made Dwayne the modern day action man and was the start of him becoming the beyond mega star. For some reason I always thought Fast Five was a 2012 film. That movie did so fucking much for his career, it was a key part in him successfully branding himself in Hollywood and pop culture.
JT: Yeah, Fast Five was 2011, but it’s funny how he went from Tooth Fairy in January 2010 to Fast Five in a year. Goes to show, it’s hard to get that ball rolling but once it gets rolling, you’re in the clear. I mean, the same thing goes with Batista and Guardians of the Galaxy.
S: Definitely, those two movies were so damn important for their respective movie careers. What would you say the catalyst was for John’s proper movie career? Because I’d say that it’s probably Trainwreck.
JT: Oh almost certainly. That was the film that showed the audience he wasn’t a boring, personality-less action figure man like many would’ve assumed. He showed he could be funny and charming, and that’s how he’s managed to do pretty well for himself in the action-comedy genre.
S: I think Hollywood has discovered with Cena that he’s an actor who has a bit of range to him. I think he’s really good at being a serious action man but he’s also got really good comedy chops too.
JT: Sadly, I don’t think they’ll see the same in the Hart Dynasty or The Usos, but hey! Last time around, we were touting their potential, so let’s see if they deliver on it this time! We start off with a signature big Natalya YAY, and then a Powerslam by DH Smith. Stryker says he’s got all the tools, might just be missing a mean streak. Then a nice little tag move as he Hip Tosses on Tyson into a Rana on Jey, but the crowd is dead silent here. I mean that got nothing, really?
S: Ey am I watching the WWE or am I watching the PGA Tour, you know what I’m sayin? This match is the opposite of over, under if you will.
JT: It doesn’t get much better as Jimmy comes in off the tag, pounding on DH after Jey took him down to the mat. Jimmy sends Jey with a Hip Attack into the corner for what will eventually be signature Uso offense. Natalya leads the crowd to try and rally DH to come back, but Jimmy makes the save to prevent a tag and hits a Jumping Headbutt with his hard, savage, big dumb Samoan genetics head. In the meantime, King says he doesn’t know which stereotypes the Usos are fighting against, all the Samoans he knows are champions. Swing and a miss as per usual Jerry. Like, I get as a face commentator, it’s good that he’s not tearing down Samoans, but like, he actually did by not knowing what their whole gimmick against old Samoan gimmicks is about.
S: I swear he said something like this the last time around, did he not? Am I experiencing Groundhog Day here or am I going daft?
JT: I don’t think he did, but let’s be real, him missing why something is not good is not an uncommon occurrence. You need to treat him like he’s 5 and explain why something is bad.
S: You need to give him the old parent’s talk, you all know the one. When your older sibling teaches you a swear word so you say it over and over again, to your own detriment and now your ma has to sit you down to break you out of your new habit.
JT: Sadly, Lawler is about 50 years too late on that. Back to business!! The Usos have controlled the match for the most part, but one Overhead Belly to Belly by Smith gets the Harts right back into this! TK comes in with a Dropkick, a Back Elbow, Roundhouse, then a Low Dropkick! Crowd finally starts to make some noise as he fires up, as he gets a kick, flips over to the apron, hits a shoulder, and then goes a springboard into a roll up, but the Usos make a blind tag. When there’s no count, Tyson gets up and turns around into the Alley-Uce Samoan Drop!! 1—2—Kickout!! Much like the Samoan Drop against the barricade last month, this right here is a sign that the Usos have always been good. It took time for them to get as good as they are, but the potential was always there.
S: It is very cool to watch very early years Usos because they’ve been very good since about 2014 and would then become fucking awesome since 2016. So seeing them as very much a fresh team and probably about a year or two under their belt but they’ve got some of their signature spots down pat already. That Alley-Uce is such a cool looking move, I imagine that they got the idea to do a two man Pop-Up Samoan Drop from Umaga being a master of doing the move.
JT: It’s very cool to see that even though individually they’re not on the physical level of Umaga, they can make up for it with incredible timing. Like one gets under the other with such perfect timing that by the time TK lands on his shoulders, he’s basically already dropping back for the Samoan Drop.
S: The great thing about the timing of it is that when it’s hit, there’s always such a *chews gum* good, good snap to it.
JT: Though it’s got good snap, it’s not enough to put Tyson away and win the Usos their first tag team titles. As a result, they’ve gotta go bigger. Jimmy slams Tyson down, goes up top for the Samoan Splash, but when he leaps off Kidd gets his knees up! This allows TK to tag DH, who comes in with a Shoulder Tackle that knocks Jimmy down hard. He goes for the Sharpshooter but Tamina goes up on the apron, so Natalya Natalya pulls Tamina off and slams her down on the floor! Distraction out of the way, Davey Boy Jr locks the Sharpshooter in! Tyson does his job as he knocks Jey off the apron and then crossbodies him on the outside, meaning Jimmy has nobody to save him, and he taps out to end this one. I can’t speak for you, but personally this match felt real uneventful and thus unnecessary to have on this PPV. The blind tag spot and Alley-Uce feels like glimpses into how good Jimmy & Jey would become, but aside from that there’s not much else to write home about.
S: No, not at all. This match wouldn’t have looked out of place on Raw or even Superstars for that matter. There were some good little bits, nothing was technically wrong with it but there wasn’t much right with it either. Part of that is down to the crowd not caring, part of it is on management for not really caring about its tag division. This match was very under.
JT: Yeah, this isn’t to say it’s all on management, because the lads put together a pretty standard tag match for the most part, but when you’re given an absolute nothing storyline, you’re kind of done for from the start. So far, the tag division has been a major point of negativity through our first 3 shows. They’ve got plenty of time to turn things around, but they’ve dug a big hole so far.
S: Agreed and it doesn’t help the fact that there’s basically not many proper teams who not only could make for being believable challengers for the titles but proper teams in general. Like what actual teams do we have at this stage? Usos, Dudebusters, Hart Dynasty and The Gatecrashers???
JT: Yeah it’s not a case of “Well just throw some team together now but we’ll have a big match on ice ready for Summerslam.” I obviously know because of hindsight where we go, but I don’t know how we will get there and I don’t think the creative team has any plans mapped out for the future. They’re just gonna keep riding the Harts and see where they go.
S: That’s another issue as well, they don’t build any new teams up at all at this stage, during this time period it feels like the only teams which get built up are the teams which consist of two mid-carders joining together because they’ve got nothing else to do. As you said, I know as well where we’re headed to, it’s just how we end up there is the question.
————————————
Swagger’s Final Call
JT: As we roll along, our next matchup is another bit of fallout from Fatal 4 Way! It’s the World Heavyweight Championship on the line, with Jack Swagger invoking his rematch clause against Rey Mysterio. At Money in the Bank, the former champion by MITB cash in is ready to tear Rey Rey absolutely apart if it can get him his title back. The Jack Swagger we’re seeing here tonight isn’t the slow talking, Chris Jericho clone. He is a man on a mission, and that mission is to snap Rey Mysterio’s ankle and become Champion again.
S: This, this right here is the Jack Swagger we should have gotten at Fatal 4 Way, the amateur badass Biff Tanen looking son of a gun who goes out there to beat the shit out of people and snap limbs. This is what Jack Swagger should be. I know that’s funny to say now but seriously, he should’ve been this kind of character for his World Title run.
JT: Well let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. After all, we had a promo on this show, as fallout from SmackDown. On Friday night, Kane confronted Jack Swagger and Kane went for a Chokeslam, but Swagger counter and went for an ankle lock. In the process, he drew Rey out, who hit a 619 on him to break up the ankle lock. Kane grabbed both Jack and Papa for a Chokeslam, but Jack escaped and left Daddy Dearest to get the Chokeslam and Tombstone. As a result, he’s on Jack on the phone with his mom before his match. His mom berates him over the phone, he gets boos for telling his mom to shut up. “Dad got what he deserved, he was trying to steal his spotlight” and “Dad would’ve done the same to me” are all his justifications for his actions. We can’t talk about him like he’s too much of a badass now.
S: Awh fucking hell, looking like Buff Bagwell here with his bloody ma on the phone giving him an earful. It’s genuinely like that part in Back to the Future Part 2 where Biff is going out to the dance and all you can hear is his granny giving him an earful. He looks so fucking lame because of this.
JT: One step forward, two steps back. But you’re at least right that booking him as a scary threat is a good thing, especially against an underdog like Rey. It’s pretty believable too, since the Ankle Lock went totally untouched after Kurt Angle left WWE. It was practically begging for someone to get it back. I’m surprised it took until mid 2010 for someone to think of giving it to Swagger honestly, it’s such a natural fit.
S: Yeah it’s a move which always suited being part of his moveset and you’re right too, it is surprising that it took about 20 months of his main roster career to be given a submission move given his amateur background as well.
JT: Regardless, he’s put it to good use and hurt old Ron Mastrio. Which means, despite being Champion, he’s still seemingly the underdog. What do you make of the whole “Underdog Champion” thing in terms of wrestling? Like, I think an underdog can become a Champion in regular sports, but like, any sport that requires them to defend their title directly like in wrestling or other combat sports feels nonsensical in a way.
S: Okay so first off the bat, I do think an underdog champion can work in wrestling. Mikey Whipwreck holding any of the three ECW Titles during the mid 90s is a good example I can think of. However, for Rey Mysterio, being dubbed as such is a bit of a slap in the face if you ask me. Just hammer home that he’s the biggest little man or the best Cruiserweight in a Heavyweight environment or something. We know that him being billed as an underdog champion in 2006 was just an excuse WWE could use to have him get beat every week on TV.
JT: That’s fair, this is definitely a case where they’re trying to even out the scales as opposed to making Rey out to be beatable. To WWE’s credit, they could tell that Swagger as a top of the card star, it wasn’t sticking. So they gave people a reason to feel threatened by him, while making Rey more sympathetic. And again to be fair, they did a solid job putting over the Ankle Lock. He did a number on Kane, and he really hurt Big Show. They had smiley, happy Big Show scream out in pain and tap.
S: Yeah, oh my god, Swagger really did a fucking number on Big Show in the build up. I remember I was watching SmackDown on the way up to this match and thinking that Swagger was a proper threat again, the way he targeted Rey’s ankle in the weeks leading up was pretty vicious stuff.
JT: Yeah I like when he attacked Rey when he was getting checked out by the doctors. In wrestling, aside from the famous Austin/McMahon comedy moment, being checked on by doctors is really just an open and shut segment. Someone’s getting looked at, the doctor says “Oh this is bad, you just not fight this Sunday!” and the good guy goes “Oh man, but I gotta!” and the segment ends. For Swagger to actually break in was a nice change of pace.
S: My brother (one of them anyways) used to always find that segment and the time where he had Rey in an Ankle Lock backstage really funny, now it’s not as if he was five years old at the time or anything. No no, he was thirteen and for some reason he always found great amusement in those segments. As well as the Batista heel turn on Rey in 2009.
JT: Well I at least agree with him on the Batista heel turn. It’s iconic stuff, what with the “I’m gonna rip your head off”, the screaming, and of course “You’re supposed to be my friend” is so great.
S: Maybe it was just he’s got an inner Vince McMahon in him and he likes seeing Rey Mysterio getting beat up. Has Vince McMahon infected my family?!
JT: Look Seán, it’s funny because he’s small. And if you don’t get that, just say so. Now, back to the business at hand! Once again Jack comes out, and once again he gives us absolutely nothing. Just frowns and walks to the ring, and it isn’t until he steps into the ring and runs around a bit does he show the slightest hint of personality. I know that he wants everyone to feel his pain, since he’s distraught to have lost his title, but as god damn kid, give us something, anything!
S: Not even the slightest push up or touch of pyro. All we get is the Dino Bravo victory jog around the ring. Second time around we got nothing from him in the entrance. Who is this man and why is he so somber?
JT: He doesn’t even look intense, he just looks like his girlfriend told him “We have to talk when you get home” and now he’s coming home wishing he wasn’t.
S: Nah that’s what his mam told him on the phone, she’s gonna do a run in and drag him out by his ear because Jack Swagger’s gonna get grounded! Uh oh!
JT: But hey for all our jokes, he got a pretty decent reaction during ring introductions. Meanwhile Rey is out with a clear limp, trying to do his normal thing but definitely coming into this match with a clear disadvantage. He’s also got some nice, all black gear on.
S: Rey did have some lovely gear around this time, it’s almost got a carbon fiber texture to it. I don’t think the baggy trousers suit him when I look back but he did make it work while many people couldn’t.
JT: It’s an inferior look but his average is better than a lot of guy’s best. Plus, even with that injured wheel, he can still hit the 619. Will he be able to pull through despite his injury, or has Jack Swagger tipped the board in his favor? Ready to find out?
S: Let’s get cracking with it!
JT: As we start off, Swagger looks to go to the ankle and Rey is scared of that. Swagger grabs him in the corner, but Rey kicks him away. Rey goes to slide under him from there, but Jack grabs the ankle and Rey kicks him away again. All this gets Jack mad and he charges at Rey, Rey knocks him to the ropes and goes for the 619, but Swagger is up too quick as he swings for a clothesline, but Rey ducks that and hits some kicks then goes for a Springboard Moonsault, only for Swagger to catch him and slams him with a Powerslam into the corner. Swagger has hung Rey up and charges in, but Rey sits up, Swagger hits head first off the turnbuckles and rolls to the floor, leaving Rey to leap at him with a Seated Senton off the top to the floor!! It looked great, but it may not have been worth it, because it looks like he landed on his ankle on the way down. Rey sends Swagger back in, looks to go off the top again, but he’s too slow and Swagger runs up the ropes, and scores with a top rope Belly to Belly!! That gives Swagger a chance to take control, and we get the rare “let’s go swagger chant”. It’s not super loud but it’s there, and since I haven’t brought it up before, let’s bring it up now. We’ve got some smarky fans in this crowd.
S: Oh boy do we ever have some smarky fuckers in the crowd here. I know there were a few other instances which happened on the last show so it’s clear to see that smarky crowds are becoming a bit more common in WWE. What other instances did we have up to this point?
JT: Well prior to this, it wasn’t anything too bad, mostly because the MITB was fun and nobody cared about the other two. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t some “we want puppies” chants during the Divas match. However as the night goes on, you’ve got this sort of anti-Rey thing, I guess because he’s a goody and wins like Cena? But then there’s more crassness during *spoilers* our women’s title match, some Miz fans in the Raw MITB, and boy did they hate Cena later, to the point of being Pro-Sheamus.
S: Fuck me, we’re getting a signs of things to come with the ultra smarky, proper annoying WWE crowds with this show, aren’t we? Fucking hell, of course the women got crass chants thrown at them like.
JT: Honestly I don’t think it was a super bad crowd as much as it was a bored crowd with a bunch of assholes who were interested enough in themselves that they tried to get shit out there while everyone else was sitting on their hands.
S: Oh don’t get me wrong, I know the chants were very much at a minimum, the crowd were pretty good for the most part apart from the matches they weren’t into but at the same time, much like heel Michael Cole, some small seeds being planted in terms of smarky behavior in crowds.
JT: Yeah, we’re getting very close to the dawn of the modern Internet, with sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit already existing. The sites would definitely grow more over the decade, but the conglomeration of thought was definitely beginning by 2010, and as the sites would grow so would fan smarkiness. Like at this time, communities of fans already existed, but weren’t nearly as unified as they’d become by the larger platforms. It’s how you go from a couple hundred folks being mad about Daniel Bryan getting the boot to the Yes Movement level of resentments and agitation only 4 years later.
S: I always find it crazy how social media in the early to middle stages of last year managed to go from very much relevant to the most relevant form of media and literally everyone is accessing it. From studying media theory in the last two years in college, I always forget how rapidly the popularity of social media exploded.
JT: It’s definitely pretty interesting…and something that could necessitate a full on essay. So I say we cut the chit chat and get back to the action! Swagger stands on Rey’s ankle so he really feels the pain, and then locks in a Knee Bar on Rey, but Rey kicks at him to get free. Mysterio hits the ropes, Swagger tries to pop him up to a Powerslam but he throws Rey too close to his head, leading him to lose his balance and sort of fall on him for the move, just an ugly looking move. He throws Rey across the ring, goes for the Swagger Bomb, but Rey moves out of the way! Rey with a Seated Senton off the top, jams his ankle on the way down again, allowing Swagger to hit him with a Headbutt as he tries to run the ropes, but Rey is back with a Headscissor to send Swagger into the turnbuckle, then hits a Split Leg Moonsault for 2!! He goes for a Casadora, but it gets reversed into a Wheelbarrow Suplex by Swagger!! Rey desperately tries to fight back with a quick kick, but as he runs at Jack, Swagger takes control, capturing him and lifting for the Gutwrench Powerbomb!! He’s nailed his finisher!! And the crowd doesn’t give a fuck! Crystal clear depiction of how well Swagger’s push went for him. Just an objective portrait that the attempt to make him a main event wrestler has totally flopped.
S: Yeah, the crowd wasn’t feeling it all too much up to this point and WWE have not done a good job in pushing him as a legit top guy for the next few years. Which is such a shame because despite the lack of crowd reaction, I was really enjoying this match. You might feel differently to me but I thought these two had excellent chemistry.
JT: Oh they definitely do, but this feels more like a match where the Champion is fighting an up-and-coming midcard, who might one day fight for the title himself one day, rather than a guy who has already won it. For as much as this project is about revisiting the old, I can’t help but feel that view is at least partially-tainted on my end. Seeing a decade of Jack Swagger midcard matches makes it hard for me to shake the midcard feeling from his matches, even against someone who his style gels well with.
S: I totally get what you mean, I don’t even think it’s just a decade plus of him being in midcard matches, I think it’s just his career in general aside from the brief few month flirts with the main event here, three years after this and briefly in AEW as well. I feel like this is what Mysterio vs. Ziggler was last year but just on a higher place on the card, if you get me?
JT: Yeah pretty much. We’ve harped on his entrance already, but seriously it makes him feel like a total midcarder. Like look at Cody Rhodes for example. Look at what his entrances (not as Stardust) were like in about 2014, and look at them now. He gets the big gear, the pyro, the dramatic intro. It sets him apart from midcard Cody, who was just lower profile across the board. Swagger feels like a midcarder because he has nothing to distinguish him and make him stand out. Say what you will about the reboot push he got before WrestleMania 29, but having a manager at least gave him a signifier that he wasn’t the same old Jack. Meanwhile, what’s the difference in Jack Swagger from like, August—February and now? Nothing. He’s the same old guy, with nothing that shows he’s rising. To use another example against him, look at Jinder Mahal. There’s an arc of material that could be said about his reign. But once he got that push, he got a more dramatic entrance, he started dressing better, he got henchmen who worshiped the ground he walked on, they tried to make him feel bigger, unlike Jack.
S: The Jinder Mahal mention is such a good example because as fucking weird as it is to look back on now, they certainly went out of their way to make him feel like a main eventer to be fair. He got everything for a main event heel. Very much similar to the transition Bradshaw made into being JBL.
JT: JBL is another great example. It’s just not clicking with Jack. But it might not matter, because he hit his finish, this might be over! Swagger hooks the leg, but only the inside leg, allowing the outside to get the ropes before the 3! Swagger goes for the move which will definitely incapacitate Rey, the Ankle Lock but Rey frantically fights him off. Rey gets up on Jack’s shoulders, turns it into a Rana to send Swagger into the post! Rey goes up top, Swagger cuts him off, and goes for a Powerslam off Bret’s rope, but Rey turns it into a DDT!! 1—2—Kickout!! Not a spot we see often, but that’s a cool one! And I appreciate that it makes sense from all sides, since one of Jack’s most used moves is that over the shoulder style Powerslam.
S: That and considering how much Rey Rey loves himself a beautiful DDT counter now and again. It’s like trying to Powerbomb Billy Kidman, it just simply doesn’t work, he’s always going to counter it.
JT: Off the Rey Rey Classico, he sets up for another speciality, as Rey shoves him into ropes, he runs (as best he can) and dials up the 619!!! Not quite on speed dial, but he hits it! He’s got a chance to put this one away, as he springboards for the Rana, but Swagger catches him and turns it into the Ankle Lock!! Rey manages to grab the ropes, but the damage is already done, and Jack uses this to hit not one, but two huge Swagger Bombs to crush the smaller Champion. Swagger just stomps the ankle and stands on it, and again it looks like another Jack Swagger World reign is only seconds away. In the meantime, Rey loosens his boot haplessly, before Jack grabs at him and yanks him back for the Ankle Lock one last time!! But wait, Rey rolls forward, and the boot comes off, catching Swagger totally by surprise! He turns back to Rey, who leaps, and gets him with a Hurricanrana!! He hooks the legs deep, 1—2—3!!! In a sequence that would make Eddie Guerrero proud, Rey has swiped victory away from the jaws of defeat! He is still World Champion!!
S: Shades of Eddie vs Kurt Angle from WrestleMania 20, I really liked that. Not only because it reminded me of that match, but because it’s such a great way of deceiving the heel, it makes the face look really smart and because it’s a really cool finish! Despite the lack of crowd interaction for the most part of this one, I really enjoyed this match. It was better than I remember it being to be honest. I know you said it reminded you of an IC Title match, but I don’t think that’s brought my opinion of it down to any level. They had really good chemistry together and I think it’s one of those matches which would’ve been good no matter what the stakes were, like I could see this as a mid card match on a SummerSlam, or an IC Title match or as a World Title match as we saw here. However, given how Jack was booked on Friday, the segment where he’s on the phone before the match and the crowd not really believing he’s gonna win, I think that’s the crowd knowing his main event run is done for now.
JT: Yeah that segment feels really out of place, because he did his job here. They put on a solid match with good psychology, but it was just too little too late for Jack based on the crowd apathy.
S: That’s the thing! If we didn’t have that segment beforehand and instead we get Cole and Lawler saying he’s a selfish, ungrateful son for his cowardice on Friday, that would’ve worked for him.
JT: Alas, even though Rey is still World Champion, Swagger isn’t done tonight! He attacks Mysterio from behind, frustrated deeply by his loss seconds early. He grabs Rey and locks in the Ankle Lock, forcing Rey to tap! It doesn’t win him anything, but you can bet it makes him feel good to see Rey suffering. All of sudden, that’s gotta be, that’s gotta be Kane!! And he’s coming right after Swagger!! Not only is he returning the favor from Friday Night, but remember, Swagger is still suspect number 1! He chases Swagger up the ramp and away, much to the relief of Rey’s poor ankle. He’s hurt but he’s still alive and he’s still Champ, Rey stands tall again!! BAM!! Wait, that’s gotta be, that’s gotta be Kane, again!! He’s back!! And this time, he’s got his newly wonMoney in the Bank briefcase in hand!! I’m shocked! And also, kind of confused? This was weirdly written, wasn’t it?
S: This was so fucking strange, it’s like he came out going “I can’t let this happen” so he sends Swagger packing but at the same time he’s forgotten his briefcase so he goes “Bollocks, forgot my briefcase! Better go back!”. It’s like when you’ve left the house and are out for a walk but then you realize you’ve forgotten the wallet at home while you’re two minutes up the road, so you head back and walk back into the house like an eejit.
JT: Feels like a swerve for the sake of it. Like obviously they wanted to make the cash in surprising, but to go away and then come back is just odd. Especially when you could’ve done the same sort of thing if you had just had him come out, Chokeslam Swagger, and then turn and give the big look to Rey. Feels like that would’ve been more dramatic and less awkward than it was to have to pretend Kane just wasn’t Mr MITB when he made the save in the first place.
S: Definitely, the idea which they had in mind was good but the way they went about it was a bit convoluted and could’ve been done in way less steps.
JT: This idea feels like it would’ve fit better on an episode of weekly TV, where Rey could conceivably come out another time on the show. Like you could’ve had Rey getting carted off to the hospital only for Kane to stop him, or have the Swagger match to open the show, Kane makes the save, then Kane names Rey as one who attacks Rey in the main event, all so he can cash in. Something like that. It’s just hard to get Rey on this show again, and as such, it came out like it did.
S: I do think this all felt like a proper TV segment as well, something you would’ve seen on SmackDown really. So how about that Kane? Is he cashing in?!
JT: Well he’s got the briefcase with him, and he hands it over!! Kane is cashing in!! Rey can barely stand, and Kane goes right for the Ankle, picking Rey up by it and slamming him down on it! Rey and Kane have fought before, and when healthy it was already a tough match for Rey, let alone now! This was over as soon as the bell rang! After rubbing the salt in the wound, Kane is ready to put this away. He clutches him around the throat, yanks him up, and delivers a huge Chokeslam!! Now for the exclamation point!! Paying homage to his fallen brother, he picks Rey up again, holds him over his shoulder, and drives him to the canvas with an empathic Tombstone Piledriver!! 1—2—3!! Kane is finally World Champion again!! He’s won the big one and he’s won it in dominant, merciless fashion.
S: Not much I can add to this one really, you summed it up to a tee. It was your typical Money in the Bank cash-in match, a quick match where the man with the briefcase takes advantage of the wounded opponent and hits their finisher to win. Good for Kane for winning, definitely looks like a massive heel cashing in on wounded babyface Mysterio, who is half his size but sure look, he’s a World Champion again!
JT: Well I think it’s also important to note, this is the short time ever for a MITB winner! Kane held the case for only 49 minutes, beating out Alexa Bliss’s 2 hours 52 minutes, Bayley’s hour 25, and Dean Ambrose’s 57 minutes! Honestly as a kid, it never really occurred to me that you could cash in and win in one night, but as the three people above signify, it’s become much more common lately. Especially if you throw in Nikki ASH from 2021, holding the case for a single day. It’s a lot less of a planned out arc and a lot more of an instant storyline-changer-upper.
S: It’s definitely become more common with the women’s MITB, that’s for sure because since Carmella cashed in about 9 months after winning it, every other winner since 2018 has been the Champion within the next day. The three you just mentioned and Asuka, who became Champion following being awarded the Raw Women’s Championship by a departing Becky Lynch, who was going off on maternity leave. Also, the fact that Alexa Bliss won the briefcase on the second match on the main card, cashed in nearly three hours later and that match wasn’t even the main event just goes to show how ludicrously long WWE PPVs were around that time.
JT: Oh absolutely, they’ve cut things down now, but man those PPVs from 2017-2019 were like, The Punisher Andrew “Test” Martin levels of bloated.
S: And the Test steroid acne on Jinder Mahal too and everything. They were not fun times to be staying up late over here, let me tell ya.
JT: So, all that said, we’ve got a new World Champion!! Kane has viciously become World Champion, what does this mean for his Detective career? We’ll have to find out next episode!!
S: The case is still open, but will we have answers by SummerSlam? Will we know our mystery attacker? Will it be Swagger? Mysterio? Trent Barreta? The SummerWeen Trickster?!
JT: Maybe becoming World Champ will give Kane the authority needed to investigate like never before. Now…what’s that metronome I hear? Perhaps the end is coming near? No, that can’t be right. It’s something else. Something relaxing, something that smells like a nice, dark roast.
S: You think this is about coffee? Well you’re goddamn right it is because it’s that time of the show where we head down to that old familiar café, indulge in some coffee and have ourselves a recharge!
————————————
The Recharge
JT: Hello and welcome to the Recharge! This is our little halfway-ish segment where Seán and I put our main business to the side for a bit and talk about our goings on in wrestling, media, what have you as a little break. Just a little smidge of a treat. Seán, howya doin?
S: I’m doing good now to be honest with ya, James. Just got done with my second year of college, two years down and one more to go, so it’s safe to say that I’m doing well. How are you keeping?
JT: I’m doing well! The weather is warming up around here, and I just recently went to an Indy wrestling show! Blew a bunch of money while I was there on pictures with some wrestlers, but this is what I’ve been working my 9-5 for, so I’m doing great.
S: Oh how long it’s been since I’ve traveled to a wrestling show, considering how that promotion based in Dublin has isolated its diehard fans through assholery on their end, not much reason for me to go to a wrestling show over here. Saying that though, I am delighted to hear that you indulged in a wrestling show down your neck of the woods of Long Island. You showed me the pictures and man oh man, you did get to meet some cool names.
JT: Yeah I gotta say, I think I cleaned up. I got a few people while their lines were short, I waited like 10 minutes to meet and greet Jon Silver and Alex Reynolds, caught Matt Cardona while his line was real short, and then with about an hour left I decided “Eh fuck it, all I can do now is wait for the show anyways” and so I waited in line for like 50 minutes for Hook. And people, I got my meet and greet!! Checked all my boxes, then got to sit down and enjoy the show. It was great.
S: Now I’ve always been intrigued by the CAP shows because not only does Long Island have a lot of really stellar wrestlers, but Curt Hawkins is said to be a brilliant trainer too. I mean some of the names he and Pat Buck have trained in the last seven years you probably see on AEW TV. I suppose when you’re a student of Dr. Tom Pritchard for so many years, that’s going to mold you into a really top notch wrestling trainer.
JT: One of these days, I want to make a tree to just track who has trained who, because I think it’s just fascinating to see who has turned out which talents. Pritchard to Hawkins to MJF for example.
S: Oh man! Now that would be such a cool project to work on. If we were to get a proper long wrestling tree going, we’d probably have to start from like Verne Gagne, Killer Kowalski, Dory Funk Sr or Jr, Stu Hart, etc. It would make for a fascinating piece of wrestling trivia.
JT: I think it’s also especially interesting to look over in Japan because of how the biggest promotions have a very clear lineage. Rikidozan was the man in the 50s, so he trained Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, who would go on to found NJPW and AJPW respectively. Inoki would go on to train someone like Keiji Muto, who would go on to train Hiroshi Tanahashi, who presumably has a part in training NJPW young boys today. On the other side, Baba helped train The Three Pillars, with Misawa creating NOAH and presumably helping train wrestlers with Kobashi, leading to the likes of Go Shiozaki, who is training people in NOAH now. Kawada meanwhile stuck with AJPW, leading to taking part in training their guys, such as NJPW’s Taichi. There’s a real story that can be told just by tracing back training lineages in wrestling.
S: Yeah honestly, the lineage of wrestling training in Japan is definitely one which definitely spins off into so many different branches on its one massive tree. Whenever I’d watch some video essays on wrestling in Japan, or listen to English commentary in New Japan, you’d learn all sorts of knowledge regarding who trained who, where does their influence come from and all that.
JT: There’s a lot to learn there, it’s just fun. On the other hand, you know what’s not fun? That shit that just happened this past week with Sasha Banks & Naomi. WWE once again showed they don’t respect their workers, and will drag them through the mud as soon as they’re given a reason to.
S: Yeah fucking hell, WWE are really showing their arses again with this whole situation. The situation just happened when we started chatting about this review and in typical Power Hour fashion, even more news has come out about it and it turns out that Sasha and Naomi walked out before the match was announced, WWE persisted with promoting the match and have then proceeded to bury the shit out of them since. Good luck with that Women’s Tag Team Tournament, lads. It would work if you gave a shit about those belts and didn’t release about nearly two dozen women who could easily be part of a healthy tag division but nah, budget cuts and same old ye. You’re like the Brits, always at it.
JT: It’s just revolting to see how they’re acting to both ladies. Sasha is a mega star and will be cited as an inspirational figure for the next 2 decades of women wrestlers. She knows her worth and honestly has earned the right to have a say in her booking. And then Naomi, she’s been an absolute trooper who has stuck through the muck of the Divas Era and earned her place in the modern era. I’ve never heard a bad word about her and she’s more than done her time for WWE, so to see her get this treatment is beyond irritating.
S: It is so frustrating, especially considering the fact that Naomi has just had that connection with the fans for the last six years with the whole feel the glow gimmick. People just want to root for her. She literally had to endure NXT Season 3, then nearly two years with Brodus Clay barking at her and Cameron, being told that she’s there to get him and only him over, funny how they got over and not him in the end. You talk about shitty booking but man, every time Sasha has gotten good booking, it always feels like there’s some sort of asterisk beside it or something shit happens later on. I mean she did have about five or six Women’s Title runs where she couldn’t successfully defend the belt. Surely at this stage they’ve both earned a right to have some say in how they should be booked as Tag Champions?
JT: For real. Especially because it’s a set of titles WWE clearly doesn’t care much for. Let the people who actually care about it have a say if you’re not going to put in any effort. It’s also annoying to see fans take WWE’s side in this. Even if they were wrestlers I don’t like, how do you take the corporation’s side? It’s like people who were taking AEW’s side when MJF was talking about getting a raise not too long ago. I’m almost always going to take the side of the individual, fighting for their own value, over the multi-million dollar company.
S: You want to know why they would take their side? Because they’re fucking marks, absolute Vincels and I know those are overused terms but man alive, just from seeing the interactions which Josh (Snowboiiii) does be having with some of these people. They literally will fucking die on a hill for WWE and defend them to the bitter end. Like I hear from some of these clowns that they should be happy to be there, clearly those words are spoken by people who probably don’t have jobs.
JT: Just in general folks, consider this the next time you think about standing up for a corporation: You don’t have to! You own corporations, nothing! Across all aspects of society, be it entertainment, education, technology, etc. You don’t owe them shit, especially not your money.
S: Exactly, you should all just appreciate that you’re employed, shut up and just work, even if you know the work is absolutely bollocks and you know there’s a lack of care in certain departments. Just be happy, duh.
JT: Anywho, any other things in wrestling catch your eye as of late? Or maybe it’s something outside of the squared circle?
S: In terms of wrestling, what’s catching my eye is that Double or Nothing is this weekend, at the time we’re doing this, of course. Any matches that you’re excited for on that card, James?
JT: Honestly this is a weird little card because it feels like heading into this show, AEW isn’t running at high speed, they’re kinda stumbling lately. The worst storyline in the company isn’t in the show, luckily. That Scorpio/Sammy Guevara storyline might be the worst they’ve ever done quite frankly. I also think there’s a few matches on the card that just aren’t that interesting to me. The Owen Hart Cup tournaments as a whole have centering around Adam Cole & Britt Baker, neither of which I’m all that interested in right now. Especially with Cole, it feels like an accolade to give him so he doesn’t feel like a loser after losing his feud with Orange Cassidy and Hangman. Meanwhile, Rosa vs Deeb is a storyline is just one I don’t care about at all, and just feels like a nostalgia cash in. I mean, they’ve literally had matches before! In ROH, which is AEW-adjacent! You can’t convince me most AEW fans weren’t already ROH fans in 2017.
S: I’ve said it so many times at this stage but fucking hell, that TNT Title has been in a bad bad spot ever since Miro had to drop it to Sammy, and I didn’t even mind Sammy’s initial run and his stuff with Cody. It’s just this convoluted shite they’ve done with him and Sky where Sammy came off so poorly, so he’s heel. Sky was then really starting to catch on as a face and it seemed as if we’d be getting him vs. Ethan Page, cool! I can actually dig that because Page is someone who I do think could benefit from wrestling more and being allowed to riff on the mic but no! Sky is now heel again, Frankie Kazarian is now in the mix. I like Kaz, I’d rather him do this than be an Elite Hunter and to be honest, I’d nearly just want him to win the belt or for Miro to burst in through a wall like the Kool Aid Man and kill all three of them. That’s the dream. That or Takeshita please. Also, Thunder Rosa vs. Deeb is just such a flat feud to me. They’re both great wrestlers but Deeb is not a great talker, like at all. Snowboiiii said she’s like Sarah Silverman’s character from School of Rock and fucking hell, that is the most accurate description of Serena Deeb I’ve ever heard. The Owen Cup, a bit of a mixed bag. I don’t mind Cole winning it really, but Samoa Joe is right there too. As far as the Women’s one goes, Britt doesn’t need it. She’s the biggest star in the division regardless so I’d say let Kris Statlander, Toni Storm or Ruby Soho get a rub from winning it if you ask me.
JT: First, for the Owen Hart tournaments, I think Cole/Joe should at least be fun, and I’m like 99% Britt’s not going to win. Just felt like the same sort of issues were present in both, though they’re avoidable issues. As for the TNT Title stuff, I’d like to throw Malakai Black into consideration. Right now, the scene is in a 98-99 Attitude Era “just keep doing shit” mode and I’m begging for some stability. It can be a face champ, it can be a heel champ, I just need them to have a clear alignment and simple story for like, 2 months at least. Just get it away from that circus of clowns right now. Like, Tay/Sammy vs Sky/PVZ Mixed Tag they were building towards doesn’t even feel like an exciting possibility anymore. Just give it up and move on.
S: Awh man, Malakai Black just needs fucking something to latch on to, whether that’s AEW debuting some Trios Titles or whatever, I do think those would help add some stability to some stables and groups of guys with not much else to do. Either that or have the House of Black chasing any titles. I do think Black needs to be wrestling singles more often. PAC is another guy who really should be at a higher level than he is right now too and with PVZ, I don’t even know what the story is with Paige Van Zant as far as how her wrestling training is going.
JT: Yeah again, it’s never fun to see bad TV. But if it’s happening in say, the NWA, you can go “Well they’re working with what they have”. But when we’re dealing with AEW, a company spoiled with riches of talent, it’s made worse that storylines like the TNT Title stuff is happening when they are like a dozen guys who are just in meaningless matches who would do great with an opportunity.
S: Exactly, like I don’t get why they couldn’t have left that story close with Sky beating Sammy in that Ladder Match and then do the match with Frankie Kazarian as well, maybe even a triple threat with all the SCU lads. That would genuinely be interesting for day one fans of AEW. I think we’ve established that Sammy has had his runs with the belt and now it’s time to let him do something different, mix it up. Get some new lads fighting for the belt, get PAC, Malakai, Takeshita, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Ethan Page, and maybe even someone like Angelico since he’s on his own now. It’s time to let some of these guys in and around the title scene rather than what feels like the same lads all the fucking time. Anyways, enough of that, what are you looking forward to on this show?
JT: Well I’ll just say, anything on the card that I don’t mention now is all stuff I’m pretty indifferent on. But, here’s the stuff I’m genuinely excited for. Anarchy in the Arena should be fun because the JAS has been surprisingly better than I expected, BCC are incredible, so are Kingston/Santana/Ortiz and I love multi-man brawls. Punk vs Page is a big draw for me too. It’s not the first match where Punk has a legit shot at losing, but I feel unlike the MJF match, this is guaranteed to have some sort of implication on Punk’s character. Win or loss, I can’t imagine he comes out of this as the same character coming in. Finally, I think Wardlow vs MJF is the best story in the company, and potentially the best on American TV right now. MJF has taken a big step forward for me lately, it feels like he’s cut a lot of fat off his act and is finally focused not just on getting heat but telling a story. On top of that, Wardlow is just so exciting and is playing his role perfectly. I don’t think either guy is a ring general, but the storyline excitement of this one should keep me engaged the whole time.
S: Those are exactly the three matches I’m excited for as well. BCC has just been such a success so far, all the intrigue surrounding it which we chatted about a few months ago has totally lived up to expectation, and it feels like there’s more brilliant stuff to come. I loved the story with Wheeler Yuta too. Punk vs. Hangman is probably the match which I’m maybe most hyped for, mainly for what the outcome may be. I’m certainly more interested in this than I was for Page vs. Cole, which was a great match, but this match just has more intrigue for me, personally. MJF vs. Wardlow, the build has been nigh on perfect for the story they’re trying to tell. Just all of the small details in it and the angles they shoot every week have been home runs really. I totally agree with your take on MJF too, since the latter stages of the Punk feud, he’s really just more focused on telling the story week to week, whilst also being a dick but not pushing the boundaries in terms of saying shocking things. I like how he’s put all of these obstacles in front of Wardlow, but each time he’s passing with flying colors. All his obstacles which wore down previous foes like Jericho and Cody are seeming piss easy to Wardlow and it genuinely feels like it’s all catching up to MJF. I know he lost to Punk at Revolution but this feels like he’s about to face his true comeuppance.
JT: I’d also just like to get up onto my Goldberg loving soapbox for a second. Look at the shit they’re doing with Wardlow right now. I’m tired of hearing folks say “Goldberg ain’t shit” because they saw him suck at age 60, but then turn around and heap praise on Wardlow and his booking when it’s directly modeled after Goldberg’s push. He’s getting the fucking Goldberg chant!! Give my man’s some respect, they’re both good and it’s a good strategy!!
S: Yeah honestly, I think it’s super unfair on Goldberg to be judging the man in his fucking 50s like. You look at that man in WCW from 1997 until 1998, the man just had that electric presence. Wardlow has that same kind of presence, he beats the shit out of people, people cheer and they chant his name. Also, if you want to see Goldberg in a perfect environment, him and DDP from Halloween Havoc 1998. Proof that DDP booking his matches step by step is beneficial to guys like Bill.
JT: Hey you know what, I’ve figured out a potential fix for the TNT Title. After Double or Nothing, have Wardlow win the belt. He won a shot at it and got screwed, ran something about “Now that he’s on his own, he wants a fair rematch” and then have him squash both Sammy & Scorpio. Then let him be the strong, dominant champion. Easy peasy.
S: Boom. Simple job, if we can’t have Miro killing those two. We’ve got Wardog there to do the job. Oh my god, could you imagine the hoss battle between Miro and Wardlow? Good god.
JT: So Seán, I’ve got another big question for you right now, and that’s this: Are you ready for the Recharge Recall?
S: Oh I’m well ready, I’m geared up for this one today. I can’t remember if I got the last question right or not but I’m ready to get one right.
JT: For any of y’all new here, this is our little trivia mini game that we do every Recharge. So Seán, do you want to ask the first question today or do you want to answer the first trivia question?
S: Given the gentleman that I am, I’m allowing yourself to lay down the first question for today. Let’s do it.
JT: Alright Seán, here’s today’s question, and it’s a simple one. The 2010 MITB PPV was the first of his kind and is still going to this day. Now with that in mind, who has competed at the most Money in the Bank PPVs, and how many of the shows have they been on?
S: I’m gonna say Kofi Kingston, and I will have a stab and say that he’s been on 10 of them.
JT: This wasn’t the most challenging question, but I think it’s just the most interesting question I could’ve asked. And you are correct! Not exactly correct, as you’re off by 1. But it was Kofi!! Kofi 9 out of 12 MITB PPVs. The fact that he’s won is all impressive considering John Cena was on all 7 of the first 7 MITB PPVs, which is the longest overall streak of appearances. Little bonus point to say as well, one of those appearances did not come on PPV itself, as Kofi was in the Dark Match on the 2012 show, teaming with R-Truth to beat Hunico and Camacho.
S: Quite the record for a modern legend of the game. I think he’s really become one of the Mr. Reliables of WWE in the last twelve years, he’s very rarely injured and he always makes a PPV more watchable by being on the card. What a man.
JT: Exactly. I swear like at least half of his appearances are MITB matches, which as we talked earlier, are always funny. Then at least another 2-3 are New Day matches, which are also consistently great. So yeah, Kofi rules. Dare I say, he’s Mr MITB.
S: He really is, I do hope that one day Kofi can finally win a Money in the Bank Match because he’s the man who’s been in the most of them without actually winning!
JT: We saw Kane get his victory in this episode, here’s to Kofi getting it in the future. Now Seán, do you have a question for me?
S: I do indeed, James, and my question regards the topic of Money in the Bank cash-ins. Now my question to you is this, which two wrestlers have been cashed in on the most by MITB briefcase holders? So basically, who’s been on the receiving end of a cash-in the most?
JT: Alright, so my first guess is gonna be based on probability. Off the top of my head, I know at least 3 separate instances of Money in the Bank Cash Ins have happened against John Cena. So he’s my first pick.
S: He shoots and he scores, back of the net! That’s right, John Cena has been on the receiving end of three Money in the Bank cash-ins. He was the recipient of the very first two, which both occurred in 2006! They were both insanely memorable, the first being at the hands of Edge at New Year’s Revolution 2006 where Cena had just endured the Elimination Chamber and the second being against RVD at ECW One Night Stand 2006 in that excellent match in the Hammerstein Ballroom. The third, and least memorable was against Damien Sandow, where Cena obviously came out on top and Sandow would never be near that level on the card ever again.
JT: Fuck yeah! And for a minute, I was unsure of my answer, because I know there is another! Someone who was cashed in on not once, not twice, but thrice! That of course being, Ms. Charlotte Flair, who has been cashed in on by Carmella, Bayley and Nikki ASH.
S: He’s had two touches of the ball in this game and bloody hell, he’s bagged himself the double. That is totally correct, well played there, mi amigo! Charlotte Flair has been cashed in on three times in the space of just over three years. To this date, she is only one of two women to have been on the receiving end of a MITB cash in on the women’s side of things. The other being Nia Vax, sorry, Nia Jax.
JT: Honestly, that just goes to show how she’s monopolized the Title. Since guys get more TV Time there are just more of them, and so more guys have had a chance in the main event scene, and to be cashed in on. Meanwhile, Charlotte has just consistently been champion since her debut, with like less than 10 other people holding the title in that time frame.
S: I actually want to try and guess which women have held either Women’s Title since the brand split in 2016, aside from the Four Horsewomen. So Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Bianca Belair, Asuka, Natalya had a run too in 2017, Carmella, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H as well, Ronda Rousey right now and Nia Jax. I think I’ve actually gotten every name aside from the usual four who have had a run with either Women’s Title. All off the top of my head. Although, the exceptions to that list would probably be Bianca, Asuka, Ronda and Alexa for sure. Maybe even Rhea.
JT: Yep you got them all. It’s kinda funny how the smaller women’s roster has led to them being more willing to try out folks in the main event, yet the actual people who stick around feel a lot smaller than the men’s. Again, I think we can just go back to the inequality of time over the decades, that they’re still trying to iron out.
S: Agreed, I think the main reason as to why they’re not afraid to try to give someone else a shot in the Women’s division is, as you said, because of the smaller roster that they have.
JT: Alright, I think that’s about it for the Recharge, don’t you agree? I say it’s time we get back to the main attraction.
S: Sounds good to me, back to the review we shall go!
————————————
Double Double Divas Divas
JT: Alright folks, back on track, and now we’re gonna have something unprecedented on this arc. Up next, we’ve got our second women’s match of the night! And it’s for the Women’s Championship! It’s Kelly Kelly, facing off against defending Co-Champ Layla of LayCool. Seán, I did not expect to see this when I turned on the show.
S: Oh you’re telling me because I was just as surprised as you were when I saw this come on my screen. Like I saw there was a fair bit of run time left so I suspected there’d be another match but I didn’t expect to see these two have a spot on the card. Two womens matches on PPV? In 2010? Rarer than a hen’s tooth at this time?
JT: For the two titles too! You know, it’s kinda funny to think about, because I forget this overlap period happened, but for a while WWE essentially had a Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles. Men had their two titles, and the women had theirs. It just seems funny to think that they were doing that already, because bringing in a title for each brand felt like a big deal back in 2016.
S: I think it was a big deal at the time because it essentially opened up the door for a lot of the SmackDown Women’s roster to be Champions where they likely wouldn’t have been if they were on Raw. The Diva’s Title was introduced about exactly two years before this show so we had two years of there being two Women’s Titles in WWE at this stage.
JT: Still, I don’t think having the two titles really did much, considering at the point in our timeline, they were still getting sweet fuck all in terms of story and TV time. But hey, it beats 2003 SmackDown where they didn’t even have a title to fight over.
S: We sure do know all about that time period for the women on that show, not the best of times. Just a quick sidetrack, as soon as Kelly Kelly made her entrance and I saw Tiffany come out with her, the first thought which popped into my head was “how long until she’s released?”. That’s not me having a pop or anything, genuinely, from watching SmackDown at the time, Tiffany was there for about a few months and then was gone.
JT: I can see what they were going for by pairing her up with one of the more popular women on the roster, but unfortunately this run just doesn’t amount to much. I think her and Kelly together is too much of the same sort of note, they just become “The Blondes”. Maybe pairing her with someone like Mickie James would’ve been better, but WWE had already burned that bridge by this point in 2010.
S: They burned their bridge with Mickie for the first time, who could ever forget trashbag gate? Anyways, shall we get this match out of the way?
JT: Well, before we get into the match, I say we get into the very deep build to this match. So LayCool have been targeting Kelly, with Layla calling her “Smelly Kelly”. She tried to spray Kelly with hairspray or something, but Kelly slapped it away, only to get attacked from behind by Michelle McCool. Layla then got pinned by Kelly in a mixed tag on Friday night, showing she can beat the Champs, with Tiffany here to even the odds. Of course, for everyone not in the know, we should probably explain the fact that there are two women’s champs, shouldn’t we?
S: Oh so you mean the whole Co-Champ thing with LayCool, right? Not the fact that we have a Diva’s and Women’s Champ?
JT: Yeah I mean the fact that Michelle and Layla each have a half women’s title with a crack down the middle. Because you don’t see that every day.
S: Never will you see a crack so perfect like that one, like a cartoon egg hatching so it is. James, why the heck is this belt cracked right down the center and why have we got Women’s Co-Champions?
JT: Well you see Layla & Michelle McCool, they’re besties. Just the best friends you’ve ever seen. They’re just flawless friends, as they might say themselves. So, Michelle had been Women’s Champ but lost the Title to Beth Phoenix. This was unfair to them in their minds, since they’re two halves of a whole Champion. So, they eventually got a rematch against Beth, thanks to their friend and authority figure Vickie Guerrero, in a Texas Tornado Handicap match. In the match, Layla got the pin on Beth to become the recognized Women’s Champ. And since they won it together as BFFs, they’re gonna defend together! That’s why they’re coming out with a Women’s Title each. Oh, and just as a point of how forgettable this match was, I didn’t realize until I looked it up, but they haven’t split the title yet. As LayCool would say: OOPSIE!!
S: That hasn’t even happened yet?! Awh Jesus, spoiler alert guys, apologies. I just assumed the belt was split. Also, was oopsie actually LayCool’s catchphrase?
JT: Nope, but it’s what they said when they broke the belt. I had to rewatch the segment to confirm that yep, this segment hasn’t happened yet.
S: Oh wow, so we’re ahead of the curve right now. Apologies for the spoilers again, readers. I do vividly remember this co-champion gimmick between LayCool and being totally worked up by it, LayCool were for sure effective heels for nine year old me.
JT: Yeah I will say, I remember Layla & Michelle having great chemistry, and it was just as good when Vickie got added to their squad. Definitely one of the more memorable women’s runs from this time. But now of course we have to answer the question: were they any good in the ring?
S: Well I remember Michelle being a decent hand, and the fact that she did the Styles Clash as well but as far as the in-ring action goes, I guess we might as well just find out.
JT: Let’s find out! We start with some grappling back into the corner, with Layla shoving Kelly Kelly out only to get a Thesz Thesz Press and Slaps in response. Kelly just wails away with slaps, then she sets up for what Stryker calls the “Muta Headspring Elbow” in the corner, but Layla moves out of the way, only to get grabbed by the hair and put into a Victory Roll for a nearfall. Someone cue Homer Simpson’s “NEEERRDDDDD” yell from Homer Goes to College, because Stryker, c’mon bro.
S: Why is it always during the women’s matches where he makes himself look like such a NEEERRDDDDD? Between that call and calling Gail Kim’s Missile Dropkick a “Jumping Bomb Angel Double Foot Stomp”, he sure ramps up the nerd-o-metre when the women are wrestling.
JT: Once again, get what he’s going for. Shoutout to the originals, get some street cred for knowing the originals, maybe expose new fans to someone they wouldn’t have heard about. But this is even worse than with the Jumping Bomb Angels, because at least they were women who wrestled in the WWF. Muta is so far removed from 2010 WWE it’s silly. Plus, I doubt any actual Muta fans are excited to see his move done by Kelly Kelly. As the OSW Lads have mentioned, to them that’s the “Diva’s Special Elbow 02”, not a Muta move. It doesn’t make Muta or yourself look cool by bringing him up one of the premier spots of the Diva Era, just a bit of athleticism that makes the ability to do an actual move. Not to shit on the ladies too much, but there were so many instances of this move done very poorly than done as gracefully and impactfully as Muta used to.
S: They could’ve brought up that it’s a move of Molly Holly, or Chyna even but she is very much not a mentioned name in WWE canon around this time so yeah. Street credit all day for him but like, to WWE viewers, that move is definitely known as “Diva’s Special Elbow 02”.
JT: Well you know WWE would never let their dear children hear about someone as horrible as Chyna. Only Jimmy Snuka, and Fabulous Moolah! And Hulk Hogan. And Vince McMahon. So as the match continues, Layla pulls Kelly’s leg into the ring skirt and attacks the leg. Someone notes that, “Tiffany is a vegan, like a vegetarian only a little more annoying”, which feels like foreshadowing for later in this season, but I digress. There’s some miscommunication that sees Layla accidentally knocks Kelly into Michelle, but then follows up by throwing Kelly into the barricade. Tiffany comes over to try and even the score, but the ref just sends her away, allowing Michelle to attack Kelly. She then sits on the barricade and tells the ref she wasn’t doing anything, only for Kelly to shove her down. I think this whole sequence brings up a key problem with this match for me, which is Tiffany. She has done nothing in this match at best, and has actively caused problems for Kelly at worst. These sort of “I’ll be your corner to even the odds” situations feel like they never work out well.
S: She’s not a very effective counter strategy to Michelle McCool now, is she? I mean, she does nothing and when she tries to break something up, she’s shooed away. When you mention her being a little slated for being a vegan, I will say that was a Stryker line and not a “Good Old MC” line. He’s spared, for now…
JT: I feel like the face manager thing just never works because like, inherently the heel manager cheats. And the good guys can’t do that back. So the only time the story works properly is when they get chased off, which then leaves the two wrestlers alone, which isn’t ideal because the people who usually have managers and corner people, they need them there for a reason. No offense to Layla, but her and Michelle are a matched set right now. I don’t think folks are too excited for the idea of Layla fighting on her own, as much as they just want to see LayCool get what’s coming to them.
S: I’m surprised that it wasn’t Michelle wrestling on this show anyways, I know they’re co-champs so neither of them can defend but Michelle is probably regarded as the better wrestler between the two.
JT: Hopefully we’ll have a chance to see and figure out who is better as this arc goes on. So after pushing Michelle off the guardrail, Kelly knocks Layla, throws her back in, gets some clothesline and gets a nearfall off a roll up. She manages to hit the K2, which is just Marty Jannetty’s Rocker Drop, which is essentially a worse version of the Famouser in my humble opinion. Any thoughts?
S: Oh yeah, the Rocker Dropper is a well rubbish looking move, definitely agree with you there. At least with the Famouser, Billy Gunn being the natural amazing athlete that he is will leap like a salmon and then hit the move. The Rocker Dropper rarely, if ever looks good because with that variation of the move, you hold the head of your opponent under your leg and then jump. Just a rough looking move.
JT: The move is honestly a disservice to Kelly too. Like, how are you meant to get over when your finisher is so shit and so difficult to pull off in a natural and quick fashion? At least Marty was a quick worker the rest of the team, but Kelly already has to deal with the sort of baggage “Divas” had at the time, and a crappy finisher does nothing to help that. Like, why give someone who is already a limited worker a convoluted finisher? I’d rather she have like a boring ass Neckbreaker or DDT than the K2. Like look at Brie Bella, she just had the X-Factor. It’s not a good move but it’s one she got to do as well as possible because it’s easy and repeatable. Kelly should’ve got something like that instead. Unless it was her decision, in which case, why are you watching Marty tape?
S: That’s what they should’ve given Kelly really, give her the X-Factor because it’s a move which looks good as a finish but also isn’t all too hard to execute so it helps her out with her shortcomings in the ring. Why would she be watching Marty tape? Probably a Shawn Michaels rib on her if you ask me.
JT: Regardless of why she does the K2, it’s won Kelly matches before, but before the ref can count the 3, McCool puts Layla’s foot on the rope to save the match. For her trouble, both Kelly and Tiffany knock McCool down off the apron. Kelly goes back in and onto Bret’s rope and goes for the Sunset Flip, but Layla kinda falls down and then pushes back forward to get the pin and the win!! The audacity of Stryker to call it the “Wembley Stadium” finish. Like I know that’s exactly what they’re going for, but Layla losing her balance totally blew the ending of this.
S: I actually didn’t catch that call by Stryker, the fucking cheek of him. I’m actually laughing and sobbing at the same time hearing that. Stryker had some other cring inducing commentary material, he puts on a fucking ENGLISH ACCENT. Like I’m not even English and I’m offended at how crap his accent is, it’s up there with Mick Foley on a UK PPV level of bad, and it was also at this point where I noted, “oh yeah, Layla is English, isn’t she?”. Piss poor.
JT: Just as a whole, a poor performance by Stryker at the booth this match. Just poor commentary in general, as I noted some nonsense about how King & Cole said Matt has a name for Kelly & Tiffany, but won’t say it, which I assume is just some sexist thing. Big thumbs down for Stryker in this one. But Seán, what about the match?
S: Awh the match wasn’t anything too good either, this is easily the weakest match on the card in my opinion. This match just had nothing going for it and the crowd didn’t give a damn about it either. What the Eve and Alicia match gave us with some really nice looking moves, this match didn’t do that. It just gave us nothing and the crowd gave nothing in return.
JT: Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Alicia vs Eve wasn’t spectacular but it had the bones of a good match. This never became anything, of any sort. It wasn’t interesting or memorable in the least. For the audience at home, I had to rewatch the finish because even though I wrote out what happened in my notes, I still didn’t remember how it happened or what it looked like. Just total dud of a segment.
S: This was something you’d get on a total nothing episode of SmackDown, not something you’d expect on PPV. I’m all for getting both of the women’s titles on PPV but this was very much not PPV quality.
JT: It’s very much about looking like making an effort rather than making an effort with their women’s wrestlers. Poor showing quite frankly.
S: Got anything else to say on this one? Or are you willing to move on to greener pastures within this show?
JT: I say it’s time we make like a tree and get out of here.
————————————
Mizter Money in the Bank
JT: Up next, for the first time in history, we’ve got another Money in the Bank Ladder match on the show! It’s Chris Jericho vs Edge vs Evan Bourne vs John Morrison vs Mark Henry vs Randy Orton vs Ted DiBiase vs The Miz. Ain’t it exciting to have two MITB on one show! Or is it perhaps, too much Money in the Bank? Your thoughts, your opinions?
S: Okay so for me as a kid, I was astounded at the fact that we were not only getting two Money in the Bank matches on this show, but three of them in 2010 alone! Like even someone who was such a mark for loads of stipulation matches figured that two on the one show was too much. Now all these years later, it’s still too much, BUT, I do get why they did it.
JT: I think that’s what they were going for. Obviously we know that it’s too much now, but as a kid it just got the monkey brain going. So before the match, we’ve got some set dressing! Edge & Jericho are backstage! Earlier in the show. Jericho snuck up on Edge, who is watching Kane be crowned World Champ on the monitor. Edge says he’s got eyes in the back of his head but Jericho quips his eyes are that of a desperate man. Edge retorts that he is desperate, and he’s won a title on cash in twice, so Kane won’t be the only one to cash in tonight. Jericho reminds him he invented the match but Edge fires back to say that Chris has never won it, only for Y2J to say that makes him all the more desperate. Edge leaves saying that the fun will begin later, but Jericho closes us out by saying there will be no fun, and that for Edge the worst is yet to come. Funny to see these guys have come almost full circle from the year before! Heading into their brief partnership in 2009, both were guys desperate to win and prove themselves. Then Edge got hurt as Jericho proved he was hot shit, Edge turned face and knocked Jericho off his pedestal, but never won the title and is now back to desperate for gold 2009 Edge. These two definitely have chemistry though, that’s my very tepid take.
S: Yeah I thought the interaction these two had with each other was pretty good, I can’t lie. It really makes me wish that their feud for WrestleMania 26 really carried on for longer with the World Title, rather than Swagger having his dud of a run because man, that match at Mania was real good. Even when they’re both heels here, they still play off each other so damn well. Like how Jericho tested the waters here with the line which became synonymous with his long old feud with MJF last year with “the worst is yet to come”.
JT: Wouldn’t he also drop that line on CM Punk over two years later, after smashing him with a “whiskey bottle”? Or at least, they put that line over him smacking Punk with it in a video package.
S: Oh wow, I don’t remember him saying it during that feud. So is it safe to say that is a low-key Jericho catchphrase?
JT: I’d call it more of a verbal crutch that leans on, as well do. I mean, I’ve noticed the phrases I tend to repeat just through writing this series. We all have things we come back to it, consciously or otherwise. Ok, back to business! Big reaction for Randy Orton coming out, a 6x World Champ looking for a guarantee for #7. Solid boos for The Miz, with Cole going on record and said Miz is his dark horse for this. After all, he’s been vicious, he took R-Truth out of the way, and did damage to Henry too. Speaking of which, Mark Henry is our next! Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this is our first time having Mark on an episode in full?
S: Okay so with episode 1, WrestleMania 23, we didn’t get him as he was out injured at that time in 2007. During Season 2, despite being on the roster, we didn’t review enough Raw shows to get our dose of Mark. Obviously he wasn’t there during our heel Jeff Hardy in the TNA and CWC seasons too. You may be thinking that this is just a prolonged way of me saying we haven’t but alas! He has appeared on one of our reviews before! He was in the André Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 during our review of that one. The one which had DDP, Tatanka, Big Show, Baron Corbin and Shaquille O’Neal.
JT: Of course! So welcome back Mark!! Also showing up for his first official match of the Power Hour is Ted DiBiase Jr, who of course showed up for involvement with the A-Team in S4 EP1. We’ve already got a whole episode dedicated to how bad that was, and by my mark, this won’t be any better for him, because he’s still coming out to his Legacy theme song. They paired him with his Dad’s old lackey, they gave him a girlfriend, he’s still coming out to his old music, all that screams “We don’t know what the fuck to do with this guy”.
S: They’re just trying to give him all the stuff which made his dad stand out during the Hulkamania era. The lackey bodyguard in Virgil, the Million Dollar Title, the glamorous valet. I’m actually surprised they didn’t give him his dad’s old theme song, but he will get a new song, sometime in the future.
JT: Maybe then he’ll finally get some momentum! Or maybe he’ll do what his ex-brother Cody Rhodes couldn’t do and he’ll win the briefcase. At least he’s getting booed pretty loudly. Out next is John Morrison, and he gets a pretty decent reaction. Maybe it’s because he’s been on the cover of a muscle and fitness magazine. The King’s pick and the only one to get close to Orton’s pop is Chris Jericho. Out next is Evan Bourne, who got hit with THAT RKO on Raw!! Let’s just gush about that for a moment. It was like an action figure moment came to life.
S: It is quite possibly one of, if not the greatest RKOs ever hit. Like, we’ve seen some cracking ones over the years and since this one took place, but this one right here was just magic. I watched this happen on record, on my Sky box, the morning after Raw with my two older brothers and we just lost our minds when we saw it. I was hoping my boy, Evan Bourne was going to get one over on Randy but seeing what unfolded was quite a brilliant moment for young me. It’s just a perfect RKO, it’s up there with the one he did to Jeff Hardy at the Rumble in 2008 where he countered the Twist of Fate into the RKO, and the one at Mania 31 where he popped Seth Rollins up in the air from the Curb Stomp and then hit it. It’s an all timer.
JT: Yeah for me it’s really only between this and the Seth Rollins one, and this might be it. Again, this RKO felt unreal to me. Like the sort of thing you imagine but couldn’t possibly happen because it’s just not possible. So when it happened, it blew my mind. And I was recording my TV for a YouTube video when it happened too, so I had to stay quiet too!! Maybe it’s the nostalgia that puts this one over the top, but I still think it’s the best one ever.
S: I think the nostalgia for it does make it even more special for me as well but it’s still easily one of the best he’s ever done, if you told me this is the best RKO, I wouldn’t argue.
JT: Last person to come out is Edge, who is very clearly just a star. Once again, it’s obvious that Edge, Orton and Jericho are just a class above everyone else. Now I’ve got one last question, which is this: Do you think 8 people is too many for this kind of match? Obviously these matches need a few people in it, but is 8 too many for it to really work right? Is it just enough? What do you think?
S: I think 8 men in this kind of match can definitely, I mean I think of the MITB match at Mania 23, that was a brilliant match and sure that had eight lads. I do think that with eight in the match, sometimes there’s filling up spots for the sake of it, which leads to guys looking lost in the match as well. I think 6 and 7 is the sweet spot in this era of the match, once you go beyond 8, it’s a nightmare. Look at Mania 26’s MITB Ladder Match and that had TEN GUYS. That’s just overkill.
JT: Agreed. I think 6 or 7 is the best, with 8 being reasonable if you’ve got enough storylines and star power. Honestly, I think Mark Henry is someone you could cut out of this and not lose much, but I suppose wanting a Powerhouse isn’t too bad. The SmackDown match was essentially a 7 man match since Drew was dead on the floor the whole time too.
S: I understand how having the powerhouse in a match like this does make for an interesting dynamic but like, smiley, do nothing babyface Mark Henry? I mean, what’s he got going for him? Spoilers lads, he doesn’t impact this match a whole pile.
JT: As Edge entered into the match, he brought a ladder into the ring, and as the bell rang, he immediately left, letting everyone fight over the ladder as the action spilled out all over the place. He knows a thing or two about ladder matches, and it shows here because he goes completely untouched, allowing him to just set up a ladder and quickly try to climb and win, Randy Orton slams him into the ladder before he can steal the win. DiBiasie swings a ladder at John Morrison but JoMo with a duck and a kick! Morrison tries to follow up, but Ted clotheslines him, knocking him onto a ladder, then knocks Randy off the apron with the ladder, but gets a Dropkick into the ladder from Bourne. Miz is in now and he takes out Evan, then Jericho comes in and they fight till Henry knocks both of them down by throwing a ladder at them. As Booker T would say, Henry “leaves a skid mark” on Miz by hanging him up and jumping over him through the ropes, only to get bashed by the ladder from Y2J. Jericho tries the same thing on Bourne but the high flier ducks the ladder, hitting an Enziguri to Jericho. He sets the ladder and tries to climb but Edge comes in, pulling him off, only for Evan to catch him with a Rana on the way down!! Bourne tries to climb up, Orton in, cutting him off, and spiking him with the Draping DDT off the ladder!! Before Orton can capitalize and climb, Morrison in with a Springboard Kick to the face!! Action is fast and varied so far, everyone is doing a good job getting their shit in.
S: Getting their shit in, indeed, and very quickly at that. The fact that Mark is busting out the old Chocolate Slide shows that he definitely had something to prove in this one. The pace which each guy is going at in order to take everyone out and win definitely feels more urgent than our first match, which felt more like a slow burner really.
JT: For sure, everyone is showing why they might be an option to win it all. Love this sort of stuff honestly, it’s the type of variety these types of multi-person matches do best. Finally things slow down a bit as Morrison gets ganged up on by Ted & Miz. They try to send Morrison into a ladder between the ropes in the corner, Morrison stops himself, hits a Flapjack on Miz, Drop Toe Hold on Ted!! He climbs up towards the case, Edge comes up with him, Jericho places a ladder next to them and tries to sneak up by himself, but Orton is hot on his case. All 4 men reach out for the case, but in comes Henry to take them all out as he stands between both ladders and tips both over. For his trouble, he gets a unique bit of offense from Bourne as he tips his ladder over, falling fast at Mark, allowing him to catch him with a knee to the head! Creative stuff by Bourne, and a nice spot by Mark to totally reset the match like a big man should.
S: I know he said he doesn’t exactly impact the match much, but to be fair, Mark does pull off his expected spots that the big should be doing pretty well. That knee from Bourne was very fucking cool too, I like how he used the ladder as a pole vault of sorts, that I thought was very unique.
JT: Now though, everyone is done and out. Well, everyone except for Maryse. Ceasing the opportunity, she takes off her heels and goes into the ring herself, getting a ladder, setting it up, and climbing up for the case. But before she can get her hands on the case, Morrison is back in. Like a gentleman, he pulls her down gently onto his shoulders, and then places her down, telling her to leave. His good intentions are for nothing though, as while Maryse is arguing with him, Ted tries to sneak in from behind to get the case. John sees through the ruse just in time, and tackles him out of the ring to the floor. Well, I’m glad they had Maryse accompany Ted to this match for a reason.
S: She had the old Hornswoggle at WrestleMania 23 role of trying to grab the briefcase for their respective ally. Really like how the PG Era has led to the babyfaces being very gentlemanly with the women because you know if this were 2000-2005, they would’ve pulled them down and probably forcefully kissed them. I’m looking at you, face Jericho.
JT: Oh thank fuck, I forgot that was such a constant reaction. Yeah, after how little the women’s matches got tonight, that would’ve been seriously dark sided to have that on this show as well. Although Vince probably booked John to do this spot because he’s a cuck. A real man would’ve laid it on her!!
S: Boy. That escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast.
JT: If I want to understand the Vince, I gotta think like the Vince! Although, maybe I shouldn’t try that. So back to the match, as Miz catapults Morrison at a Ladder, but JoMo lands in it, climbs up it into the ring, then lets the ladder fall to get him over to the main ladder in the ring!! Unfortunately, he can’t get to the case before getting caught by Edge, with he and Miz bringing the ladder down on Johnny until Edge hits Miz in the face for good measure. Now Ted rejoins the action, taking out Edge and setting up a ladder upside down. Typical, weird ladder construction now as a ladder is now in a rung of the upside ladder. Ted tries to win but Henry comes in, so he tries to get the jump on him by leaping off the ladder, only to be caught into a World’s Strong Slam by Henry. Henry then drops The Miz onto Jericho, who himself is on top of the ladder. Ouch. And it’s at this point I noticed, Jericho and Randy, they’ve really not done much this match have they?
S: Yeah they’ve really been virtually ghosts in this match because the other six lads, mostly all the mid card guys have been doing the bulk of the work. I don’t know if these guys are carrying injuries or what but their workloads for the night are definitely not hurting their backs, that’s for sure.
JT: Orton finally rejoins the match as he helps send Henry to the floor with Edge. They then grab Bourne off the top and toss him over the top onto Henry, who catches him and hits a WSS onto the floor!! Tough break for Bourne, but Henry is still the target, and the walls are closing in. Flying Kick from JoMo, Codebreaker from Y2J, and a Spear to Henry on the floor to take him out!! All the remaining wrestlers take to the ring and try to get to the case. Ted bridges a ladder across the top rope, but Edge and Orton knock him down and push it out over the top, with Ted falling to the floor below. And now Orton is off to the races!! RKO to Edge!! Morrison hangs up Jericho on the ladder and tries to climb himself, but he gets pulled off into an RKO!! Air Bourne on Orton!! Revenge from Raw!! Bourne is left all alone as Jericho hangs by his foot, but Jericho sits up, and ultimately hits the briefcase into Evan’s face, and Bourne goes down!! Revenge for Fatal 4 Way!! Case is swinging around as it’s just Edge & Jericho at the top. Edge gets a shot to Jericho’s face, Jericho slips a few rungs…and gets hit with an RKO!! Before our eyes, we’re watching the RKO really pop off as a huge super move!! Like they’d done plenty of multi-person RKO spots before, but now that Randy’s a face, anything goes!
S: I loved this because the only times we’d really seen him go and hit a series of RKOs was when he was heel, two instances come to mind, that handicap match where he and Cena faced the Raw Roster and in the 2009 Royal Rumble. Seeing him mash L1 on his PS2 controller with his infinite finishers in many different ways makes for good viewing.
JT: Randy’s on a rampage with only Edge in his way. Edge tries a last ditch effort to get the contract, but Orton pushes him onto the upside down ladder!! Crowd goes bananas at the idea of Randy winning it all!! He’s all alone!! Or so it seems, because Miz tips his ladder over!! Randy goes down, Miz goes up, and pulls down the Raw Money in the Bank contract!! Cole is going crazy, calling it his breakthrough moment, and undoubtedly, The Miz has leveled up with this win. Miz even gets to cut a promo afterwards, telling everyone “You are all living in my moment, call it overrated, winning this MITB means I mean it”. He’s making believers out of the cynics, pretenders and critics, he’s Mr MITB, here’s a future WWE Champion, he’s the Miz, and he’s Awesome. AWESOME!! Years ago, a Miz World Title run would be a literal punchline, but now it looks like it’s all but guaranteed. Your thoughts?
S: Another good Money in the Bank Match in my opinion, and I think Miz was definitely the right choice to go for as your winner. You said him being pitched as a future world champion in 2007 or before he went properly solo would’ve been a punchline, because who honestly thought the lad with the mini dyed mohawk, the fedora hat, the ridiculous cargo shorts and the lad who shouted “HOO-RAH” was anything beyond undercard guy? I think I may have preferred this Money in the Bank to the SmackDown one, mainly because this one was a good six or seven minutes shorter and it felt like they went at it from the off, whereas the first match was a slower burn, but was still great. The fact that Miz got to cut a promo after winning goes to show the faith they clearly have in the guy, not many people just get to cut promos after big wins on PPV, typically it’s saved for backstage or on the next Raw or SmackDown. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good Money in the Bank offering.
JT: Honestly, like the SmackDown one, I thought this was…fine? Maybe a lot of MITB matches are like this on rewatch, but I just thought this was okay. They had cool one on one moments but I wish there were more storylines among the guys in this to make it more exciting. SmackDown’s had that, with Christian & Matt, Show’s big ladder, Kofi and Drew. Although I do think the overall action in this was better.
S: I think that’s what you get with a lot of this era of the MITB to be honest. It’s in the PG Era so it’s not going to be as physical, they don’t have a roster which will be as talented as the one in the next five or so years, and it’s following the early peak years of the stipulation where a lot of crazy shit has gone down in those matches so it’s a lot to live up to with these ones.
JT: Regardless, it was still pretty entertaining. Like we were talking about earlier, it’s hard to have an unenjoyable MITB match.
S: Having an unenjoyable MITB match is like a bad Royal Rumble in my opinion, if it’s bad, you’re doing something very wrong. What’d you make of Miz’s promo afterwards?
JT: I thought it was pretty good. What he said wasn’t all that new, but what Miz had going for him was his delivery. You can tell that this was a vindicating moment for him, probably both in real life and in character. You felt that he meant the words he was saying, he wants everyone who ever doubted him to eat their words. Stuff like this is why I was big on The Miz bandwagon at the time. I was thrilled that he won this. And he was still the US Champ at the time too!! If my memory is correct, he’s still the only one to ever win MITB as a Champion.
S: Ahhh you say that but what about when Braun Strowman won the Money in the Bank in 2018? The same year which, before that year’s show, he won the Greatest Royal Rumble and became the Saudi Rumble Champion? Checkmate.
JT: Folks, I’ve been had. Guess we have no choice but to just move on.
S: Thoroughly owned by the Greatest Royal Rumble. Now to be thoroughly owned by our *Todd Grisham voice* MAAAAAAAIN EVENNNNT!
————————————
Caged (No) Heat
JT: That’s right, it’s time for our main event of the evening. It’s John Cena, trying to win back his WWE Championship from Sheamus, and to ensure no funny business, it will be in a Steel Cage!! It’s Cena vs Sheamus, Steel Cage, WWE Championship!! You excited for this one, pal?
S: He’s John Cena and he’s in a rage, he wants Sheamu- shit I already blew threw this joke at the start of the show. Ehm, I guess so? At the time, I was dead certain that The Nexus were somehow going to get involved despite there being a Steel Cage, so I was interested to see how it panned out but I did have that feeling where it was probably going to be Sheamus winning. Nowadays though, I was well intrigued revisiting this because you don’t hear many people talk about this match, like at all so it did add some interest to how I would perceive the match with brand new eyes.
JT: Yeah that’s the thing, the Cage, everyone and their mother knew it was not going to work. Like at least we all get to pretend like there’s an obstacle in their way, but in the end it’s just pretend. That said, you’re right! I’ve never seen anyone talk about this one, which makes it interesting to me that we have a fairly decent build to this. After winning the title, Sheamus says thanks to the Nexus for giving him the opportunity he needed but he didn’t need their help, he could’ve won it on his own. Despite Sheamus’s arrogance, John Cena came out to ask for help. He said the rookies targeted Cena because he was Champ, and Cena warns him that he needs to help him if he wants to stay champ. Bret Hart, Ricky Steamboat, Mr McMahon, have all been taken out, and Barrett claims that what his crew is doing is for a purpose, they stand for a much bigger picture. Sheamus respectfully declines to fight the Nexus, but Arn Anderson of all people gets on his case and tells him that he doesn’t understand that the company will go up in smoke because of the NXT fellas. Still, Sheamus says they know not to mess with his business. Yet, as soon as they confronted Sheamus backstage, he immediately ran for it and went looking for Cena’s locker room. On Raw, Cena faced all 6 by himself and got thoroughly manhandled, yet stayed defiant and went for a Chair after the match. The rats scattered briefly, but regrouped circled Cena for the kill, only for Sheamus to run out with a chair, and together with Cena, he chased them away. Interesting stuff if you ask me, clearly they’re going for NWO vs WCW stuff, and Sheamus in this case represents The Four Horseman, the heels put last gripes aside to fight for the greater good. Hey, maybe that’s why Arn got promo time! It’s not a story you can arrive at often, but I think it’s an interesting one whenever it’s broken out.
S: I do like how they got Arn in to cut some promos on why the Nexus are a threat, he’s seen the same thing happen to his home company of nearly two decade in WCW go under, in kayfabe, mostly due to the nWo and he believes the Nexus have the same level of threat which the nWo did. Really like that, they’re still doing a good job at this stage.
JT: On top of all that, we get a promo from The Champ!! Tonight he defends against John Cena in a Steel Cage, and he came to the aid of John Cena on Raw. He says he is a man of pride, and admits that he sat back and watched the Nexus’s attacks in the past, because his pride made him think he was untouchable. But when he stared into the eyes of the Nexus on Raw, it was like staring at a great white shark. He’s realized that fact is, they’re a threat to everyone. He had to choose a side, so he did. But he didn’t do that because it was “the right thing to do”, he did that because he wanted to make sure Cena has no excuses after tonight. He got zero respect after he won his first WWE Championship at TLC against John, and he hasn’t gotten it after he won at Fatal 4 Way. He hates Cena, all he does is make fun of his skin and accent. He thinks the opinions of the fans are worthless, and he wants to see how many jokes he makes when he bounces his head off the cage. Tonight, he’s gonna give Cena a beating worse than anything the Nexus have done. They’re a threat, but he’s a bigger one. Any comments on this promo? Because I thought this was pretty good. Sheamus has never been Roddy Piper, but I think he’s always been able to hold his own as a character.
S: I thought this was a pretty damn good offering of a promo from Sheamus, he’s always been very articulate and I think that’s something which we’ve forgotten he usually had as a heel back at this stage of his career, because we all associate his early years with his Irish John Cena character. Nowadays he’s very good at being so Irish but not obnoxiously so, more subtle Irishness from him like. He really did hold his own here, like this promo was what? Two minutes? Maybe more? He didn’t feel out of place as a top heel promo. I thought he did well.
JT: That’s definitely something important to note. In his first run, it definitely felt flukey when he won the WWE Title. Maybe it’s having that extra shine on him, but this time around, he has felt like he’s belonged at the top of the card. Obviously he’s not at the level of Cena, Edge, Orton, Jericho, but I think he still feels like he belongs at the top. He feels like he’s in the same league as like Kane, Big Show, Punk, Rey Mysterio. Although take that how you will, if that’s a good thing for Sheamus or a bad thing for the blue brand.
S: I think it says a lot for the depth which Raw has on their main event, but also a bit of a knock to SmackDown considering they do probably need to develop their main event scene more. Which is why we may be seeing some vignettes airing soon for a certain aristocratic wrestler. Who may that be? I’ll give you three hints, ring announcer, car, piece of shit. That could be anyone to be fair.
JT: Oh and of course, we’ve got one other new development to talk about, one involving new superstars. Of course I’m talking about The Nexus and the fact that well, they’re officially “The Nexus”! They’re got their big N t-shirts and everything! First off, what do you think of the name of “The Nexus”?
S: Well it certainly introduced my younger self to a new word, let me tell you that much. To remind myself of what the word actually means, it states that a nexus is “a connection or series of connections linking two or more things”. So what exactly are the connections here? Are they the Nexus between NXT and WWE?
JT: Perhaps NXT was a Nexus that linked all the rookies together in resentment against WWE? I think they’re also named this because the “Nex” in Nexus basically sounds like “Next”, which highlights how these are supposed to be the star prospects of WWE’s future, not satisfied to wait for their heydays and instead take that spotlight by force right now. I do think as a name it’s kind of nebulous and nonspecific, but I think it still works. I don’t think it’s at the sort of level as the past faction names, like the New World Order, Evolution, D-Generation X or Ministry of Darkness, but it’s definitely above generic names likes “The Corre”, “The Union”, “The Factory” or “Retribution”. I’d say it’s probably up with the likes of “The Shield”, which is kinda generic on paper but it works well enough in execution.
S: Yeah agreed, I do think it’s a cool name for a faction, and it’s definitely an original one which they’ve been given. You mention the generic names there and wow, talk about a killer’s row of factions if there ever were some. The funny thing with all those factions is that they were all meant to be taken seriously when they first started. The Union you can understand because it’s led by Mankind with disgruntled former Corporation members by his side. The Corre, well that’s a story for another time. The Factory just always makes me laugh because when they initially formed, they laid waste to the Nightmare Family and then about two months later, Ogogo had been sent packing and they were getting the bollocks knocked out of them by “No More BS” Paul Wight. It feels like every two or three shows we do, we remind ourselves of Retribution. The less said about those guys, the better.
JT: Of course, there’s also the Nexus t-shirts to talk about. Now, those big yellow N shirts, they’re clearly one of the most iconic of the past decade, right?
S: They’re only the t-shirts which The Rock’s “R” t-shirt in 1997 could have been. They are pretty cool t-shirts though, I can’t lie. It’s simple but they do look good, black and yellow logos work really well. That t-shirt and the Nexus armbands were definitely popular pieces of merchandise throughout 2010.
JT: Yeah as far as branding The Nexus went, I think they did a very good job. They kept their naming and imagery simple, and let their actual actions speak for themselves. I think it’s fair to say that they feel like a big deal by this point in the timeline. They’re the threat, above all other storylines.
S: Exactly, and you also don’t want to go over the top on the branding since they’re only just up from NXT as well, and because they’re the invading force. A job well done.
JT: Alright, with that all said, are you ready to break down the main event of Money in the Bank 2010?
S: Let’s take it home. Belt ahead!
JT: The match begins and those smarky folks from earlier can be heard as we get a rare “Let’s go Sheamus” chant going, but it’s quickly outdone by “Let’s go Cena” chants. That is followed by immediate “you can’t wrestle” chants as they lock up to start the match. Cena blocks getting thrown at the cage, Sheamus blocks getting thrown into the cage and throws Cena into it, Cena kicks out at 2. Cena takes back over again briefly with aggression, but Sheamus cuts him off with a back elbow. Pretty standard action so far in the first five-ish minutes, honestly giving me a real “TNA Lockdown” vibe of a regular match that just happens to have a cage there.
S: Yeah definitely, this opening segment of the match definitely feels like they’re trying to work the slow burn, build to the climax, WWE style match and the cage seems to be almost like an obstacle around them. Feels like they’re working the match around the cage if that makes sense.
JT: Oh definitely, they’re not gonna whip out any of the actual Cage spots until a couple minutes in, like now! Sheamus grates Cena against the steel for the first cage-centric action so far. They do the Yay/Boo punches already, with Cena coming out on top, then going for the first move of doom, but Sheamus moves out of the way of the second tackle, and Cena hits the Cage! King asks the question of “why doesn’t Sheamus just try to leave”, like shhhh Jerry! Let me maintain my suspension of disbelief. Don’t give us reason to think about that stuff, or else it all falls apart!
S: He does that for the whole fucking match as well, like he sure goes out of his way to call them stupid, and I do sort of agree with him. The gimmick of a cage match is to keep the guys in, so why bother with the escape rule? I get it sometimes but the way AEW do cage matches where you can only win by pin or submission is the right way of doing them. Also, I’m so glad the opening of the door gimmick wasn’t used here as well.
JT: The door, the door is just the worst Cage match gimmick. By far, the worst. Suspension destroying, kayfabe breaking, generally uninspired and unexciting, in a way we’re dodging a bullet by not having it here. I can only imagine what King would’ve said about it.
S: He would’ve buried the shit out of it probably, and I would definitely agree with him. The only person who did that door escape good was Kofi where he just fucking dove out the door and won.
JT: That was the only time that worked. Or the time Jeff Hardy kicked the door out from under Johnny Nitro and crotched him on the door. Only times it has ever felt satisfying.
S: Oh now that was a good spot too, New Year’s Revolution 2007, I believe. Anyways, the door is locked for good and that’s a good thing.
JT: So at King’s request, Sheamus goes to climb, but Cena meets him up top, trading punches, battering him over to the corner, finally scoring with a Superplex!! Sheamus kicks out, then Cena loads up for the AA, but Sheamus reverses into a DDT!! Now it’s time to slow the pace waaayyyy down. Cena tries to fire up, and SHEAMUS CATCHES HIM WITH THE GLAGAY SLEEPER!! By god!! But outside of silly AE Pod memes, a Sleeper rest hold in a cage match? Yeesh.
S: The fact they’re doing rest holds in a Cage Match shows that they are fucking struggling to fill this middle section of this match. Like I understand that going 20+ in a cage isn’t simple but like come on, this is a main event PPV match, not a house show where you can allow the crowd to amp themselves up whilst those two have a chat. Very much out of place is this rest hold.
JT: Luckily Cena starts to fight his way up to his feet and starts to climb up the corner with Sheamus on his back. Realizing he can’t weigh down Cena, Sheamus releases the sleeper and cuts Cena’s leg out from under him. Then he tries to climb up, but Cena pulls Sheamus down onto the ropes and suddenly he’s firing up. 3 of the 5 Moves of Doom connect, but the AA is blocked as Sheamus grabs the cage and starts to climb up, so Cena sends him into the cage, knocking him down to the mat. With Sheamus down, Big Match John goes up to the top rope, but instead of trying to climb out, he leaves off for a Super 5 Knuckle Shuffle, only for Sheamus to move out of the way at the last second. And I promise this is the last time we’ll bring this up, but King straight buries Cena for going for the move instead of escaping. That’s our line! Also, since when did King take over this commentary role? Isn’t he usually the one who defends Cena in these kinds of circumstances? How many bees are on his bonnet tonight?
S: I bet it’s because he hasn’t got anything left in his WWE superstar cup, we forgot to mention that but they were shilling those earlier, I did have one of those too. Stryker was straight up told he didn’t deserve one. So my theory is that Lawler has drunk all of whatever fizzy drink he had in that cup and now he’s a bit miffed. Either that or maybe he got divorced again around this time.
JT: It was probably that or any number of things but boy, he has reeked tonight. So as we continue with the match, there’s a pretty loud “Let’s go Sheamus/Let’s go Cena” chant. Sheamus ties Cena up and beats on him, then Sheamus climbs up using Cena to get out, but Cena matches to untie himself and send him back down to the mat with a Bulldog off the top! Cena again goes for the AA, but again Sheamus again escapes, this time hitting the Irish Curse! Sheamus then lines him up and nails the Brogue Kick, 1–2—Cena kicks out!! It’s weird to see the Brogue Kick be treated as not a finisher, isn’t it? Because I don’t know about you, but I like the High Cross. Still, after years of conditioning and also the fact the Brogue is so versatile, distinct to Sheamus and just exciting makes it seem funny to just have it be Kickout fodder, especially considering he’s on his second world title run now.
S: Well his initial finisher was the Irish Curse Backbreaker in WWECW, the High Cross was always his finisher which would usually always end the matches. I could’ve sworn that by this stage, the Brogue Kick had won him some matches and he put Triple H on the shelf because he hit him with so many. 2012 was when it got ridiculous because he had about four finishers for a good few weeks. Who could forget when the White Noise was a finisher during his World Title run? As well as his seldom used submission finisher, THE IRISH CLOVERLEAF!
JT: Does WWE really love you if they haven’t tried adding a seldomly used submission finisher to your repertoire? I don’t think so.
S: The Colossal Clutch, the Batista Bite, the BROCK LOCK, the Irish Cloverleaf, Taking Care of Business, Matt Hardy’s ICE PICK from TNA. They’re all wonderful. Even when Mark Henry was putting away people with the Bear Hug in 2007, that was always welcome.
JT: Yeah you know if you’re locked in one of those, you’re done for! And probably like, done for on a C PPV or like in a squash match on Raw. Anyways, back to the match! Sheamus couldn’t put away Cena, and it looks like he’ll decide to climb up and out of there, but instead Sheamus doubles back because he wants to hurt Cena. He grabs him and hoists him for the High Cross, but Cena ducks down and as Sheamus turns, he gets hoisted and planted with the Attitude Adjustment!! Cena hits it clean!! He hops on top for the cover, 1—2—Sheamus kicks out!! I know nowadays, kicking out of 1 AA is like a requirement for a big Cena match, but it wasn’t already this common, was it? Have I gaslit myself into believing that the AA was protected at a point, or was this like a big deal that Sheamus kicked out? Honestly, part of me can’t tell, especially because as a kid I only saw the TV matches where he always won with the AA.
S: I think at this stage on PPV, we were past the point where one AA was enough to secure Cena a guaranteed win. It was protected like shit on TV, but on PPV it was definitely two it took which won him the day for the most part. So it’s safe to say that 1 AA works 60% of the time, every time.
JT: Ok that makes sense. And it’s pretty fair honestly. On TV, your finishers win every time, if you get the AA or you’re in the STF, it’s over. But on PPV, making things exciting, they’re not guaranteed. But if you get the AA directly followed by the STF?? Not a chance, it’s over, guaranteed.
S: Oh that was like the ultimate move of doom for Cena, like if that happens to you, you’re fucking done for. Or if you kick out of a second AA, then the STF, lights out. Game over. Done deal.
JT: But Cena can’t get that tonight, because after Sheamus kicks out of the AA, they’re both down. And since they’re both down, Both out comes The Nexus. Tarver has bolt cutters, but a ref just kinda takes it from them and they don’t do shit. Like did you see that? They didn’t even have a struggle! He just, like, handed them over. They’re the Nexus, why didn’t they just beat him up? Why bring out bolt cutters if you’re gonna have them taken away like that?
S: This. This is the moment where The Nexus started to lose what made them special, like fucking hell lads, it’s been ONE MONTH and you’ve already had people stand up to them without them retaliating. The referee takes the bolt cutters off them and they go “WHAT?! YOU KIDDING ME! GRRRR!”. They look like chumps here.
JT: Especially because they then badger on the outside Ref for the keys, he takes out the keys and tosses them into the crowd. Like at that point, just batter him. You can’t let the scrawny little red stand up to you! I like that again, it feels very WCW vs NWO of them, but you better believe the nWo kicked the ass of any ref who stood up to them.
S: Yeah like for fuck’s sake, Charles Robinson or Randy Anderson would’ve gotten the shit knocked out of them is this were to happen. Lads, there’s seven of ye and one referee, you’re not going to be outnumbered and if ye get fined, just split it between yourselves.
JT: Meanwhile back in the ring, Cena is back up, going for the AA, but Sheamus shoves him into the ref into the Cage. Now he’s down as well! It only briefly stops Cena, who quickly locks him in the STF and gets the tap out, but that doesn’t count now! So rather than wait for him or the red to get up, he decides to try and climb out, only to be met by Justin Gabriel at the top of the Cage. They fight and Gabriel is sent all the way down to the mat! But he’s not the only Nexus member on the move, they’re swarming him on the way down! On the other side though, Sheamus is trying to sneak out the back door. He has only Slater in his way and he wins the battle of the gingers and he knocks Heath down and falls to the floor before Cena can make it down!! Sheamus wins!! The Nexus has cost Cena again!!
S: Heath Slater being fought off with ease, start as you mean to go, sweet prince. Talk about setting the tone for your entire WWE career. The finish, I did like it. It showed that The Nexus clearly has it out for Cena in particular and they don’t want him being champion so it had that going for it, at least.
JT: I think it’s a visually interesting finish too. Like the image of Cena on one side, getting swarmed as Sheamus runs away free on the other side, not only shows what Cena is up against but it shows what Sheamus is running from. After his big display on Monday, he chose his Title over standing up against The Nexus.
S: That too, I think they really did a good job of making Sheamus look like the opportunist yet on PPV because last show around, he snuck in when the time was right and secured the title. This time, he sees Cena has his hands full and gets the hell out of there again because he’s a heel and his title means more so why should he care about Cena trying to get out and fight off The Nexus while his title is on the line?
JT: When the chips are down, Sheamus prioritized being Champ right now over everything. Sure, Nexus might go after him tomorrow night because he’s the Champ, but at least he’ll be the Champ. He already tapped out to Cena, he already knows John can beat him, if he saves Cena from the Nexus, what are the odds it loses him his title? Honestly, the way they’ve led to him being Champ and keeping his reign going, I feel like there’s at least a little smellness going on here. I can’t be the only one who thinks there’s a potential Hower Power situation going on with Sheamus and The Nexus!!
S: When you say it like that, it totally makes sense and it feels as if The Nexus have their priorities in check and probably don’t care about Sheamus, which is quite suspicious. Obviously we all know what happens but at this time frame, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were rumors going around about there being Sheamus being revealed as the true leader of The Nexus. Its like, fuck’s sake, Retribution reference number two here, but its like when the SmackDown roster came out to fight them away and Miz came out last. Which led people to believe that Miz would be the leader of Retribution.
JT: Like if you want to be a smark, does it make sense for him to be their leader? Not really, because he wasn’t in NXT, he was already getting a push (that was working) before the Nexus, and Barrett has been front and center this whole time. They wouldn’t give him the “Paul Heyman in the Alliance” treatment of making him seem like the leader, only to introduce his boss and reduce him to the background.
S: Definitely, like the last thing those lads need is a leader above Barrett, because this is supposed to be his vehicle as the winner of NXT Season One. It would immediately bring down his stock below potential main event level, and instead to Sheamus’s right hand man. Gotta wait until Da League of Nations forms.
JT: After Sheamus lands on the floor and wins, he hightails it out of the arena, and Cena is pissed. He throws Darren Young into the Cage, he runs over Tarver and hits him in the face with the stairs. Cena bellows that he told them he’d take all of them out, even though he’s like, beat up 2 of the 7 temporarily. He takes the Nexus armband off Tarver, and the show ends as the Hostile Takeover of the Nexus continues! Gotta say, of all the Nexus show ending angles, this is easily the worst in my opinion. We get the lame “Cena gets his heat back” ending, even though he still lost. So both sides come out as losers, Cena for not winning back the belt, and The Nexus for getting run off by one guy.
S: Yeah, this ending was definitely another sign of the wheels slightly becoming loosened off the wagon of The Nexus. I didn’t like the majority of their involvement on this show to be honest. Aside from them making the finish look good, I thought the way they came across was significantly less of a threat than how they looked in our first two episodes of this season. They definitely prevented Cena from winning, for sure, but three of them also got clattered by Cena. This isn’t The Flock where it’s a bunch of lackeys to the one leader. They are supposed to be a threat as a group.
JT: It doesn’t help that this was also extremely predictable and the match leading into their run in was, in my opinion, quite boring. It felt like a regular ass match for like 90% of the time. They barely used the Cage setup, it was just there because there’s no way The Nexus can run in now (even though everyone and their dog was waiting on it).
S: Yeah this match was very uneventful, a pretty dull main event if I may say so. Like I know with the PG rating, you can’t go full violence with the cage but Jesus, give us something. Instead we got a fucking rest hold and a basic Raw main event with a cage happening to be there. Not bad, but so uneventful. There is a reason why people haven’t talked much about this match after all. Several of them in fact, and we just gave them to ya.
JT: You nailed it man, this is a House Show Cage match. The physicality is weak, the spots are barely there, there’s tons of time killing, and there’s a distraction/run in/complication so that there’s not a clean winner. I came into this wanting to give Sheamus MVP because I really thought his promo was nice, but it’s gotta be a thumbs down to his MVP chances and this match.
S: I was actually going to give it to him as well because his promo was genuinely really good and I thought he sold the story of the match well, but definitely not after this match.
JT: He had a nice campaign brewing but it all fell apart, what a shame. Pretty poor way to end the show, but since Sheamus is still Champion and the issues between Cena and Nexus aren’t over at all, they’ve got a chance to redeem themselves next episode…
————————————
Powering Down
S: But before we get into what our next episode will be, James. Your awards for tonight, your thoughts on the PPV as a whole, your Match of the Night and your MVP?
JT: Honestly I thought this show was kind of mediocre. MITB the past couple years has pretty consistently been one of the best shows on WWE’s calendar, but I think they’re not there yet. The MITB matches were fine, and the World Title business was pretty solid. But aside from that? Cena/Sheamus was a let down, the Women’s matches did the most they could with their combined 9 minutes of ring time and no crowd engagement, and the Tag Title match was immediately forgettable. That’s 4-3 going against this show, that’s gonna be a thumbs down for me.
S: I was thinking about whether this show was better than Fatal 4 Way or not, but that show I feel like we had about three or four good matches on that show. This one? We had about three but the rest was very forgettable. I thought the two MITB matches were good but they’re definitely not a patch on its predecessors. Swagger vs. Rey, I did actually enjoy but the build and Jack’s segment on the phone beforehand did him no favors. You say it’s a thumbs down, I’m going to say it’s a thumbs middle with more of a tendency to put the thumbs down. How about your MOTN and MVP for this show?
JT: Match of the night for me is gonna be Mysterio vs Swagger honestly. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. The story was simple but done about as well as it could’ve been done. And as such, I’m giving my M-V-P to the 6-1-9. Rey put on a very believable babyface performance. He worked hard to make Jack Swagger seem like a threat, and it worked! He bumped his ass off, he sold his leg off, he won, and then sold the heartbreak as Kane demolished his hopes of being Champion for another day. Swagger would’ve been in the running if not for the phone call segment, and Kane came very close to winning it too. I just think in the end, he didn’t do all that much in the MITB (though everything he did was good) and the run in/re-run in was weird. Rey was the only person on the show who I think had a perfect night.
S: Yeah I agree with you on match of the night because I really liked Rey vs. Swagger. It was much better than my young self remembered it being really and the two had such great chemistry. The two MITB matches were, as I said, good but I think the World Title match had that just bit more to it. I think two people stood out for MVP, Rey Mysterio is one of them and I think Miz is another really. Although I think that’s mostly due to me really liking his promo after winning Money in the Bank. It was a great promo, but there’s plenty of chances for him to win the award because that’s why Rey Mysterio is my MVP for tonight. All for the same reasons you mentioned there, we are getting close to Rey being solely reliant on his “B Arsenal”, which is what he had to use when he was very beat up towards the end of his first run. Nowadays, Rey is still one of the best wrestlers in the world like. No matter what his position on the card is, he’s the fucking man. On this show, he was the man. Fair play Rey.
JT: Yeah now that you mention it, Miz was in the running too. I just think these MITB matches did a good fair spreading out the shine to everyone. That’s good generally, but not good for anyone’s MVP chances. Rey may have lost his title, but he won something greater! Ok, not really, but congrats on the good performance.
S: He’s won our approval, James. Approval, which is just like breathing for Rey because of how universally praised he is. So with that, we close the book on the third part of this ten part saga of The Nexus. James, I don’t know about you but it’s summer, and I sense that there’s some form of big party coming up soon, some say it’s the BIGGEST of that season.
JT: My god, you’re right!! Next episode is the infamous, the notorious, the one and only Summerslam 2010. We all knew this would be a big stop on our Nexus Roadtrip, and you know that we’re going to have loads of material to discuss next time on the Power Hour.
S: It’s going to be, possibly the biggest episode of the season. Which is crazy and also a bit daunting considering we’ve got another six shows to review after SummerSlam but hey! We’re here for the long haul and just like In Your House PPVs in 1995, we’re here to stay. So pop open a cold beverage of any kind, get your Summer playlist ready, pop on your floral swimming shorts and grab yourself something from the barbecue because it’s going to be an emotional, Summer spectacular. The Nexus and John Cena will finally collide! Who will John Cena recruit to take on these men? Who will step up to take on our Champion, Sheamus? The Undertaker Case will maybe conclude and whose fingerprints were found at the scene? Will Detective Kane close the case? All that and a bag of chips, at SummerSlam 2010!
JT: But until then, this is it for the Power Hour!! So goodbye from me James!
S: And a cowabunga from me Seán!
JT: Until our summer spectacular, keep on rolling down that sunny shoreline!!
The JT & Seány Mc Power Hour 