This week: Super team made for Super(?) Survivor Series, as WWE go back to the Rock well and John Cena goes back to what he does best, spitting lyrics on the mic. Plus, Nash delivers a hammer to the heart, but more literally to the spine, of Triple H, Laurinaitis gets no respect, Shawn versus Bret by proxy on Smackdown and some much needed lunacy returns to NXT.
RAW SUPERSHOW
– After a recap of Vengeance, Triple H came out. He said he was taught early in his career that in wrestling you either make friends or make money. HHH said he was lucky because he thought he had both. He mentioned Michaels, Waltman and Nash. But he realised money and power were more important to Nash. HHH said Nash tried to break his neck at Vengeance. But Nash did break his heart. So now, he'd take that out on Nash. He called him out and promised to kick his ass. Crowd chanted for HHH.
– Instead of Nash, John Laurinaitis came out and told HHH that Nash wasn't here. HHH warned him not to get in the ring. Laurinaitis told him not to embarrass the company. HHH said Laurinaitis still reported to him and told him to go find Nash and bring him to the ring. He wanted Laurinaitis to give him a contract so he could kick his ass, or else he'd find Nash somewhere else and he'd go to jail for what he'd do to Nash, which would really embarrass the company. HHH left but as he got to the stage, Laurinaitis distracted him, allowing Nash to appear and lay HHH out from behind with a sledgehammer. Laurinaitis expressed concern, as Nash fended off security and left. HHH sold like he couldn't breathe. As he was carried backstage he tried to walk on his own power, but collapsed.
– They cut back later and Nash prevented the EMTs loading HHH into an ambulance. With HHH strapped to the back board, Nash propped him against some boxes and hit HHH in the side of the head with the sledgehammer. Nash disappeared and they finally took HHH away in the ambulance unconscious.
– Randy Orton and Sheamus d. Cody Rhodes and Christian (Sheamus pinned Cody) in 8:15. Orton and Sheamus dictated early. The heels eventually cut Sheamus off. Crowd went nuts for Orton getting the tag. Orton launched into his comeback and went for the RKO on Christian. Cody almost took the bullet, but escaped, allowing Christian to cut Orton off. After being worked over for a while Orton tagged Sheamus in. Christian snuck in a spear to help Cody, but Orton broke the pin. Orton then hit Christian with an RKO. Orton was thrown outside and Sheamus tried to give Cody a Brogue Kick in mid-air, which failed miserably. Luckily, they covered for it well, to the point nobody seemed to notice or mind and Sheamus hit the Celtic Cross for the win. Good match, fans were into it.
– Backstage Laurinaitis was on the phone with Stephanie, trying to explain what happened wasn't his fault. Otunga was there. Cena walked in and made some Carlton Banks quips before telling Otunga to leave. He wanted a match with Miz and Truth. Laurinaitis put him in a tag match and said he'd pick Cena's partner.
– Dolph Ziggler d. Santino Marella in 1:48. Ziggler had Vickie and Swagger with him. Santino went for the Cobea but Swagger jumped on the apron and Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for the win. Swagger put the ankle lock on afterwards but Mason Ryan made the save. Ziggler bailed as Mason took out Swagger.
– The Bellas were backstage. Zack walked up excited about being Cena's partner later.
– Ricardo introduced Del Rio for his victory speech. Del Rio said he was the last man standing at Vengeance and Cena was lying on the floor like a dying dog. He told Cena he was done with him. Del Rio said we should get used to seeing him as WWE Champion for a long time. CM Punk interrupted. Punk took exception to Del Rio claiming no-one could beat him, pointing out that he had. Punk said he'd never recieved his one on one title match since Summerslam. He challenged him to a match. Del Rio said Punk wasn't worthy since he lost his match at Vengeance. He told Punk to come see him after he'd beat someone.
– Laurinaitis came out and Punk gave him some tips on holding the microphone up to his mouth when he talks. Thank you. Laurinaitis said he'd make Punk versus Del Rio at Survivor Series. Punk wanted to know what the catch was. Laurinaitis said Punk had to say he respected him (managing to bumble over the words “WWE Universe” in hilarious fashion in the process). He refused, saying respect was earned. He said things weren't any better with Laurinaitis in charge. Laurinaitis gave him another chance and Punk said he respected him in a faux Laurinaitis voice, which wasn't good enough. Punk said he respected him but only while completely running Laurinaitis down. So Laurinaitis said he'd take another week to think about it. Punk jumped Del Rio and went for the GTS but Ricardo saved him. Alberto fled, as Punk gave Ricardo the GTS instead.
– Alicia Fox d. Natalya in 2:11. Beth joined commentary for the match. Natalya dominated but got caught with a sunset flip out of the corner and was beaten. Eve and Kelly looked impressed backstage. Natalya and Beth tried to attack and Alicia escaped.
– Wade Barrett d. John Morrison in 5:57. Morrison took Wade out with a dive as he tried to stall for time. But Wade then threw him into the barricade to gain control. Wade put Morrison through some punishment. Morrison fought back and almost won with the running knee but Wade got his foot on the rope. Unfortunately the finish went wrong as Wade tried to catch Morrison on his shoulders on a springboard, but lost him. Wade picked him back up to hit Wasteland and get the three.
– Cole unveiled some fake photos of JR. Yawn. Cole promised to put an end to things once and for all. If only. Cole challenged him for next week and if JR won, he'd quit.
– Backstage, Josh interviewed Zack. But Miz and Truth showed up and jumped him. They threw Zack into the set and Miz delivered a running boot to take him out. Miz and Truth came out for the main event and said HHH got exactly what he deserved. They said they stood up to the conspiracy at Vengeance and they said they were just getting started. Truth said Cena nothing would save him until he GETS GOT.
– Two On One Handicap Match: John Cena d. The Miz and R-Truth by DQ in 4:52. Cena stuck with the camo, so I guess the jorts are no more for now. Cena held his own for a while but the numbers caught up with him. Every time Cena hit a move, Miz or Truth tagged. Cena finally made a comeback and had Miz set up for the AA, but Truth hit him with a water bottle for the DQ. Miz and Truth hit their finishers and then got a steel chair, but Laurinaitis stopped them before they could use it, saying he wasn't going to allow the chaos to go on. He told Miz and Truth to leave. Laurinaitis allowed Cena to choose a partner to face Miz and Truth at Survivor Series. Cena chose The Rock, in a very phlegmy fashion.
NXT
– Striker was in the ring with the two rookies, Bateman with JTG and Maxine, Titus with Percy. Bateman called JTG his “by default best friend”. Striker announced the Talk The Talk challenge. Bateman made fun of the Houston fans and said the real football was up the road in Dallas. He said he knew Titus would pander to the fans, but he only catered to Maxine. Bateman pointed out Titus's pink trunks. Titus said he had pink trunks on for breast cancer awareness month and he'd lost two grandmothers to breast cancer. He said he'd dominated the competition from the start and he wouldn't let Bateman stop him becoming the next breakout star. He got the crowd to do the dog bark. Titus won the 'challenge' decisively. Percy made fun of JTG and JTG took a cheapshot, leading to Striker making Bateman versus Titus later and Percy versus JTG now.
– Percy Watson d. JTG in 5:56. Percy looked good, until JTG knocked him off the apron with a knee. JTG hit a clothesline on the outside to take control. Percy caught JTG coming off the ropes in a facebreaker, which looked cool. Percy won with the Percycution.
– Hawkins complained to Tyson about he and Reks getting a week's suspension for their attack last week. He took it up with Striker, who pointed out what he'd done to deserve it. Tyson warned him not to talk back to a guy carrying a cane. Striker said he respected Tyson, if not the guys he hung out with and suggested he get ready for his match.
– essy get your ex backtext-decoration: underline”>Tyson Kidd d. Jey Uso in 4:35. The Usos have a new theme. It's not as good. Hawkins accompanied Tyson to the ring. At least it was pointed out on commentary that it was presumably just an in-ring suspension. Not the best suspension to give a guy with a messed up ankle. Oh well. In the ring, Tyson got his knees up to block a superfly splash and Tyson hit a spinning fisherman neckbreaker. Tyson went to apply the Sharpshooter after the match and Jimmy made the save, but Hawkins attacked from behind with the cane. Yoshi Tatsu made the save for The Usos.
– Backstage, AJ and Maxine were talking when Tamina walked up. Tamina said she was too amazing to be on NXT and Maxine should remember that while she's smashing her face later.
– Kaitlyn d. Tamina in 2:59. Tamina controlled most of the match, but Kaitlyn surprised her by countering a fireman's carry into a sunset flip to get the pin.
– Derrick Bateman d. Titus O'Neil in 4:40. Both AJ and Maxine did commentary. We haven't had nearly enough trainwrecks on NXT this season, so this was very much welcome. Regal pleaded to be arrested for the crimes he'd committed in his life and decided he needed a new agent during the match. I don't know how many matches this is Titus and Bateman have had but this was one of the better ones. Bateman snuck the win with an oklahoma roll.
– After the match, Bateman brought Maxine in the ring to celebrate. Bateman professed his love for her and quoted Bryan Adams. He then got down on one knee and asked Maxine to marry him. Maxine responded by slapping him. Followed by a passionate kiss. Titus tried to shield AJ's eyes. Maxine said yes but didn't look too thrilled about it. Which means we're going to get an NXT wedding. Which I'm all for.
SUPERSTARS
– Cody Rhodes d. Ted Dibiase in 9:46. Ted was on top early, countering a Beautiful Disaster attempt on the outside with a standing dropkick. Cody eventually took over after Ted posted himself. Crowd didn't seem to be into babyface Ted this week which kinda hurt the match. Ted attempted to remove Cody's mask, but got a headbutt for his troubles. Cody followed up with the moonsault press for a close two. In the end Cody picked up the victory after a second mask assisted headbutt and the Crossrhodes. A little disappointing.
– Ezekial Jackson d. Jinder Mahal by submission in 3:47. This was actually competitive. So Jinder's stock must have risen at some point since that Cobra loss on Raw. Zeke still won with the torture rack.
– Air Boom d. JTG and Primo (Bourne pinned Primo) in 4:48. A little bit of a showcase for Air Boom. Bourne and Primo looked particularly good working together. JTG and Primo got some brief heat on Evan before Kofi ran wild off the tag. His attempted roll into the ring was more of a back bump though, which was slightly unfortunate. Kofi delivered the SOS but JTG broke the count. Evan put him out and Primo was left to take the Trouble In Paradise and Air Bourne.
– Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres d. The Bella Twins (Kelly pinned Brie) in 5:25. The Bellas had the backless look going on again. Fantastic. Speaking of fantastic, Eve's new theme song. Amazing. Maybe it's just me. Don't care. Bellas isolated Eve and worked on her arm. Kelly got the tag and after taking the fight to both Bellas, Brie got a stinkface. Nikki hung Kelly across the rope, but Kelly recovered to pin Brie with the rocker dropper.
(SUPER) SMACKDOWN
– Teddy was in the ring to address the controversy after what happened at Vengeance in the World Title match. Christian interrupted before he could make his point. He claimed that Show blew his opportunity and there was a void in the World Title situation, which he should fill. Fans disagreed. Teddy pointed out Sheamus beat him at Vengeance. CM Punk interrupted Christian's complaining and everyone was confused about a Raw guy being on Smackdown, for some reason. Teddy explained tonight was a Super Smackdown. Why must everything be Super nowadays? Punk talked bad about Laurinaitis before putting Christian over, but said unlike him Christian wasted people's time bitching and complaining. As “leader of Smackdown” Christian told Punk to go back to Raw. Punk stuck around and challenged Christian to a match later. Teddy made it, to Christian's chagrin.
– The Miz and R-Truth d. Air Boom (Truth pinned Kofi) in 4:29. Non title match. Good while it lasted. Miz distracted Bourne as he went for Air Bourne to give them the advantage. Bourne got the tag to Kofi and he ran wild. But as things broke down, Miz and Truth were able to deliver Little Jimmy's Finale to defeat the champions.
– Miz and Truth cut a promo after the match, saying they'd beat the tag team champions, beat CM Punk and Triple H and on Raw destroyed both Ryder and Cena. Truth pointed out Rock disliked Cena more than they do. Miz said if they didn't destroy each other first, they'd finish the job at Survivor Series.
– Backstage, a group of the guys were watching the monitor backstage as they showed a Bret/Shawn DVD video. Daniel Bryan talked about being trained by Shawn Michaels. Tyson Kidd walked up and asked what Bryan's favourite part was, when Shawn cried at the start, the middle or the end. They argued over who was better between Bret or Shawn until Santino suggested they have a match instead of arguing.
– Hornswoggle was dressed up as Zack Ryder, talking to Teddy. Vickie, Dolph and Swagger showed up and bragged about Ziggler keeping his US Title at Vengeance. Teddy booked Ziggler against Orton and when Swagger said it was okay, he banned Swagger from ringside. Aksana and her wacky music showed up and flirted with Teddy. They headed to his office.
– Wade Barrett d. Trent Baretta in 2:32. Wade did a promo about the 'Barrett Barrage'. Squash for Wade, who won with Wasteland after countering a hurricanrana.
– Randy Orton d. Dolph Ziggler in 10:30. Cody came out to do commentary. There was clear tension between Cody and Booker. He also blew Josh's questions off numerous times. Back and forth match in the early stages, both guys trying to ground each other. Ziggler gave Orton a punch which caused him to snap. He chased Ziggler around ringside and leapfrogged Vickie to give him a clothesline on the floor which was a cute spot. Ziggler was able to cut Orton off for a while and worked him over. Orton fought back and launched into his big comeback. Ziggler almost got the win with a superkick. Orton countered the Zig Zag and delivered the RKO for the win. Really good match. Cody left disappointed.
– Striker interviewed the former Sin Cara Negro backstage. He was mad about his identity being taken. He's going by Hunico again now. Hunico said it was payback time now.
– Daniel Bryan d. Tyson Kidd in 2:35. Bryan and Tyson argued over Bret and Shawn again before they locked up. Match was good while it lasted. Booker took the time to compliment Tim Tebow during this match for some reason. Bryan countered the Sharpshooter into the Labell Lock for the tap out. So I guess this means Shawn is better than Bret?
– Cole showed the mocked up JR photos again. Again, Yawn.
– Big Show came out. He said he was hurting after what happened at Vengeance and put over Mark Henry. Show said despite all Henry put him through, he wanted the ring re-enforced and to do it one more time. He said he knew he could beat Mark Henry. Henry interrupted and said there would be no rematch. He said the difference was he was hurt because the ring collapsed, where-as Big Show was hurt because he made him feel that way. Show dared him into the ring but Henry tweaked his back trying to get through the ropes and decided to leave instead.
– CM Punk d. Christian in 9:38. An even match, until Punk had Christian set up for the GTS and Alberto Del Rio's music hit. Del Rio's presence distracted Punk, allowing Christian to take control. Punk got back into it and the match got back and forth again. Plenty of counters, momentum shifts and nearfalls late on. Punk took time out to chase Ricardo off. In the end, Ricardo came back and his distraction allowed Alberto to crotch Punk up top. Christian set up for the spear, but Sheamus ran down to chase Ricardo off. That distracted Christian and Punk recovered to deliver the GTS. Hard to argue with a show with a good Punk/Christian match, a great Orton/Ziggler match, a Bryan/Kidd match (albeit really short) and Mark Henry and Big Show's strong feud continuing.