RAW Preview: 1/26/15

Or "Maybe I'll Watch Some NJPW Instead"

By Speed on the Beat (Twitter: @SpeedontheBeat)

Photo Credit: The GOAT "Rock 4 WM32 ME" of the WrestlingInc. Disqus feed

So, I won't go into a rehash of the Royal Rumble. Jon does a great job summing up my feelings on it. However, tonight's Raw (weather permitting) will probably be one that makes or breaks the WWE for the next few months. If you're one of the people who's going to be able to sit through three hours of this and not have an aneurysm, here are some things you have to keep in mind.

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Eyes on the Ring 11:29 AM  No comment

ROH Review for 1/24/15

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 1/24/15
By Nathan Neumann (Twitter: @Headliner5)

Hello Eyes On The Ring readers another week has gone by and that means that I am here once again with my review of Ring Of Honor television.  I am about to tell you everything you need to know about ROH TV for the week so lets get down to it.

First of all I would like to mention that this week’s show opened up with a brand new video intro this is something that I have been begging to see for a while now.  Hopefully this one will be able to remain current for a while and that they wont have to change it for quite some time.

The show opened with a video hyping the match tonight between The Briscoe’s and Kingdom members Matt Taven and Michael Bennett.  The Briscoes are now with former TNA knockout ODB which is fine.  It sucks that she is there because ROH doesn’t really have a women’s division so I don’t know what they plan to do with her exactly but her being there doesn’t bother me a bit.  She fits in well with the Briscoes and their shenanigans.

From there we head inside the arena and get an intro from Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino who welcome us to the show.  From there we go to the ring and our first match of the night.

Match 1
The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) vs. The Kingdom (Michael Bennett and Matt Taven)

Result: The Briscoes win the match via DQ, when Michael Bennett hits Jay Briscoe in the face with the title of love.

Thoughts: The match starts out with some pure craziness where all four men are brawling on the outside of the ring. Mark Briscoe was able to get Matt Taven to the ground and then hop up on the ring apron to deliver an elbow drop to Taven on the outside of the ring. Meanwhile Jay Briscoe grabs a chair and chucks it at Bennett’s face. From there, Taven throws Mark Briscoe into the ringside barricade as we go to the commercial.  Back from commercial and the match has officially started as all four men finally decided to get into the ring. There wasn’t much to this match to be quite honest. There were a lot of running shoulder tackles and few things here and there but nothing really noteworthy.

The match was entertaining because I am always entertained by The Briscoes and Taven is decent as well. But, beyond that there wasn’t much to this one. The finish came when Michael Bennett grabbed the “Title of Love” and hit Jay Briscoe in the face to cause a disqualification. From there ODB runs to the ring and hits Matt Taven with a chair. She then tries to go after Maria Kanellis but she wisely runs up the ramp though the curtain and away from certain danger for now. ODB grabs the microphone post match and says that she is the new “Bitch In Town” (because the word bitch is in her name--or at least that’s what the B in ODB stands for).

Match Rating: *¾

Back from a commercial break and we see a pre-taped interview from Jimmy Jacobs informing us of the importance of the Top Prospect tournament.   

From the aforementioned video package we go into the next match which is another match in the 2015 Ring Of Honor Top Prospect tournament.

Match 2
Beer City Bruiser vs. Mikey Webb
First round match in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament

Result: Beer City Bruiser defeats Mikey Webb with an Emerald Fusion to advance to the next round of the top prospect tournament.

Thoughts: Let me tell ya something, kids. If you missed this match you missed a doozy. No, seriously if you missed this match, thank your lucky stars; it was absolutely atrocious.  

So far in this tournament, we have seen three of the four first round matches. One of which was good and two of which were not at all. This match unfortunately fits in with the latter because it wasn’t good at all.  To put things in perspective, Mikey Webb is your average ROH guy (in this case, that’s good because he fits the mould of what an ROH wrestler could be). He’s got the body type and the look. His opponent, Beer City Bruiser is a big fat drunk who looks like an idiot and didn’t impress me at all.

I try to remain unbiased during these matches and open up my mind a bit...but this match was bad and I have a feeling it was Bruiser’s fault. Bruiser throws Webb out of the ring and when he gets back in the ring at 19 (there’s a 20 count in ROH, by the way), Bruiser continues the beat down in a match that is WAAAAY too long (kind of like the review of this match).

The story of the match was Mikey Webb’s inability to suplex the much fatter Bruiser and when it happened:

A. it shouldn’t have because Bruiser is a much bigger guy than the guy who was suplexing him and

B. Nobody cared about it at all.  

Bruiser then clotheslines Webb and pins him but Webb kicks out at two and then hits a sliced Bread number 2 for a near fall of his own.  The match finally ends with an Emerald Fusion to advance in the tournament which means that I get to see this guy try to wrestle another match to which I say “oh joy.”

So to recap the top prospect tournament: So far in 2015 we have had three matches one of which was good and two of which were not so go--actually, they sucked.  I don’t understand Ring Of Honor’s philosophy of having unknowns wrestle lengthy matches. Sometimes, less is more!

But, I digress. I’ve written way to much about this match than I originally intended on doing.  Cheers to you if you stuck with me during this portion of the write up. You truly deserve a reward and I on the other hand wish I could get the nine minutes of my life back that I wasted on watching that match.  It was only nine minutes but it felt like an eternity.

Match Rating: *

From that disaster of a match I’ve already forgotten about we go to the main event which is the ROH Television debut of Alberto El Patron so lets get right to it.

Main Event – Match 3
Christopher Daniels vs. Alberto El Patron

Result: Alberto El Patron defeats Christopher Daniels via submission with a Cross Arm Breaker.

Thoughts: Man this match was good I’m not a huge fan of Daniels (even less of a fan of his partner Kazarian) but when he wants to go he is very capable of doing so.  I noticed that when I was tweeting about this match as I was watching it that I called Alberto El Patron by his WWE name a few times (Alberto Del Rio) because old habits die-hard.  Early on in the match Daniels does a dropkick to Patron and Alberto goes down and rolls to the outside of the ring where Daniels follows him.  On the outside of the ring El Patron hits a step up enziguri and throws Daniels in to the barricade.  Daniels gets up but promptly gets put back down with a closeline by El Patron as we go to a commercial break.

Sidenote: Remember my Jay Lethal HealthAlert video? Here is is again. Be sure to watch it before you continue with the review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0DkodsowtQ

Thoughts, continued: Okay. Now that we got that out of the way (No, seriously! Did you watch that commercial? It’s super awesome), we’re back from commercial and El Patron has Daniels in the ropes and hangs upside down on the outside of the ropes as he has Daniels left arm in an arm bar. Meanwhile Jay Lethal makes his way down to the commentator’s table as El Patron hits Daniels with a top rope super plex. The two reset and Alberto catches Daniels coming off of the ropes with a tilt a whirl backbreaker for a near fall.  From there Daniels locks on desperation Koji clutch.

Del Rio recovers and while Daniels is still on his knees Del Rio kicks Daniels square in the face for a two count.  Daniels kicks out and the two men make it to the corner.  El Patron hoists Daniels up on the top rope and delivers a top rope reverse suplex and gets a near fall out of it.  The finish would come about a minute later when El Patron catches Daniels in the cross arm breaker Daniels quickly realizes that he has no place to go and taps out to the hold before Del Rio can do any further damage to his arm.  Good solid match and both men shake hands after it’s over.

From here we get The House Of Truth who come out and try to attack Alberto El Patron but both Daniels and Kazarian were there to make sure it didn’t happen.  A quality main event this week on the show and a great show of respect near the end with the code of honor and the Daniels helping chase off the HOT good stuff and good progression if they decide to do anything with it.

Match Rating: **¾

That however will do it for me as I bring an end to another Ring Of Honor wrestling review.  This show was good for the most part (minus that second match) the main event is definitely worth checking out.  So if you have about fifteen or twenty minutes to spare this week seek it out because you wont be disappointed.  I’m interested to see what they do with Alberto El Patron come the ROH 13th Anniversary show in Vegas which I will be at but for you guys that can’t make it out there it will be shown live on Pay Per View and

I would definitely recommend ordering it trust me it will be worth it.  

So until next week Eyes On The Ring faithful I am Nathan saying so long for now and keep your Eyes On The Ring and also please be sure to follow Eyes On The Ring on twitter @EyesOnTheRing and myself @Headliner5.  Last but not least check out EyesOnTheRing.blogspot.com for more reviews from myself and stuff from the rest of the writers here at Eyes On The Ring.  

Also like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing last but not least if you want to show your support for what we do at Eyes On The Ring you can head on over to http://dartees.spreadshirt.com and pick up the official Eyes On The Ring T-Shirt.  Now that all that is out of the way all I have to do is sign off for the week so long for now and I’ll see you next week and in the meantime keep your Eyes On The Ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 11:01 AM  No comment

Big Jon's Thoughts on the RR Main Event

In the words of Lil Durk, "this ain't what they want."

...Wow. Just...wow. Once again, the fans boo the ending to the Royal Rumble. At this point, I'm soundly convinced that Vince McMahon doesn't care what the fans want. Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble match and going on to main-event Wrestlemania isn't what the WWE Universe wants. Now, The Road to Wrestlemania starts off like driving in a Pinto on E with $2 in your pocket on a cross country trip.

Daniel Bryan is over (just as much as he ever had been). Add that in to how he's has come back from a career-ending injury, and the fact that the championship is in the hands of The Beast Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. The result? A story that would engage the masses and sell tickets and subscriptions.

Reigns winning isn't the worst thing that happened. Dean Ambrose Dolph Ziggler and Bryan were eliminated in such lackluster fashions. It made the latter parts of the match very uninteresting. They were no compelling staredowns or exchanges between superstars that generally create easy booking matchups for creative. Because of how poorly this match was booked, we as fans are destined to see more Big Show vs Reigns matches in the foreseeable future. That's the biggest gripe.

You had one job WWE and you blew it. Network subscriptions were cancelled at such an alarming rate that the page was "crashed". #canceyourwwesubcription was trending after the Rumble along with #CancelWWENetwork. Wake up Vince before you lose even the most loyal fan. The only thing that (may) salvage this debacle is to have Bryan come out first thing on Raw and challenge Roman for his main event spot at Mania. That's the only way to right the wrong. Another triple threat main event wont fix this blunder. We've seen it before, at WM and last night with Cena/Rollins/Lesnar. 

Brock vs Bryan for the title at WM31. BOOK THE DAMN MATCH!

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Eyes on the Ring 10:28 AM  No comment

The Future Has to Be NOW!

By Peagle (@Peagle05 on Twitter)

Here we are, a couple days away from the 2015 Royal Rumble and I have to (want to) go into a bit of a doom and gloom mode. This could be one of the most important Royal Rumbles we've seen in some time. In fact, Vince McMahon himself tweeted recently “I believe this will be the best year ever for WWE. It starts this Sunday with Royal Rumble.”

That's a big statement and more so than just the year. The future of the WWE is going to be determined over the next few months and it really does start this Sunday. If the WWE goes with Reigns to win the Rumble, then they are, in their minds, 100% sure he is “the guy” right now and can continue to be “the guy” for years to come. It's a huge gamble for them because as many people point out, he isn't great on the mic and he's average at best as an in-ring performer. Swinging and missing on making Reigns the guy come Wrestlemania is a lesser version of swinging and missing on a QB prospect in the first round. It's gonna set the WWE back a bit because they don't seem to support Daniel Bryan despite how popular he is with the crowds. So if Reigns whiffs, the company pretty much goes back to the status quo and we could end up with Cena or Orton back at the top until they feel comfortable pushing someone else.

Plus, all the work fans (and WWE) have put into putting/getting Bryan and others over?
It goes down the tubes faster than someone after the High Knee

Now of course we can't ignore that Seth Rollins has the Money In The Bank briefcase and quite honestly, I don't think there is anyone better suited to hold the title right now than he is. The WWE has it's true heel champion in Rollins as he has taken to his role in The Authority far better than Orton ever did. Rollins outright winning the title or cashing in at the Rumble coupled with a Bryan win in the Rumble match gives us a great Wrestlemania main event as well as an interesting feud leading into Summerslam. After all, Bryan really didn't get his chance at a legit title run having been injured a month after winning the WWE Championship. If Bryan gets the win at the Rumble and WM or Rollins gets the title and holds until WM, at the very least it will show us that WWE is making some moves towards building for the future as opposed to these random Cena/Orton/random part-time star title runs that mean nothing over the long haul. It's time for the company to begin moving forward and Sunday, January 25th 2015 is the perfect time to start.

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Eyes on the Ring 2:54 PM  No comment

Royal Rumble Predictions from Jon and Nathan

Royal Rumble predictions

It’s that time of the year when things get interesting in the WWE Universe.  The Royal Rumble has always been the start of Wrestlemania season. Stars, careers, and legacy have been made at the Royal Rumble.  It doesn’t matter how big you are or which number you enter at, because anyone has an equal change of winning and advancing to the main event of Wrestlemania in the process.  So Nathan and I will give you our thoughts on who we think can overcome the odds and win the Royal Rumble.  (Maybe this year we will keep a running tab and have a twitter bet) there are several key things that typically happen in this match that shape both Wrestlemania and future careers.  Who will throw out the most superstars?  Who will last the longest?  Who will be the first to enter?  Who will be entrant #30?  Who will be the final four?  While the Royal Rumble is the focus of the pay per view there are some interesting matches that will lead up to the main event.  So without any further hesitation, here we go with the predictions to this Sunday’s show.

Kick Off

A New Day vs. Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, and Adam Rose

Jon: New Day is definitely the opposite of what the Shield and the Wyatt Family were, and are not at all what most fans expected when the group was formed. Even more mystery surrounds their opponents, while Kidd and Cesaro have been put together in a tag team, Adam Rose’s addition is baffling to say the least.  The New Day have some good momentum right now and a win here will continue that for them and possibly turn this into an interesting rivalry.

Jon’s Prediction: A New Day

Nathan: This match seemed a bit thrown together because ever since the Shield came to be, the WWE has always had a prominent six man tag team match included on pay per views.  Ever since the Shield was split up this past June, they have done what they could to include a six-man tag match on every WWE RAW, Smackdown, and Pay Per View because they can’t seem to get past the formula.  I’m still scratching my head while trying to figure out why Adam Rose was added to this match, but it is what it is and he’s only one of six participants in this match.  I’m really torn on what to predict for this one, because on one hand Cesaro is my favorite wrestler in the company right now (oops I said wrestler hopefully Vinnie Mac doesn’t find out), but something tells me that WWE will go with the obvious and have A New Day win the match and continue the wave of momentum that they are on at the moment.

Nathan’s Prediction: A New Day

The Bella Twins vs. Paige and Natalya

Jon: This is basically the battle of Total Divas, and rather than dwell on what’s wrong with this match, I’m simply picking the Bella’s to win.

Jon’s Prediction: The Bella Twins

Nathan: I don’t know what Jon is talking about because this could be the best match of the show in my opinion… Okay, no it’s not going to be.  I’m sick and tired of Total Divas ruining my wrestling and the fact that all of the Divas have stupid characters, because the WWE can’t write a script for a woman who is not crazy and or a slut and or something else that I don’t care about.  I really like Natalya and Paige, so I’m hoping they will win and given WWE’s recent treatment of their champions, my hope is that Natalya will end up pinning whichever Bella is the Divas champion (it really doesn’t matter does it?). If I’m wrong I’m wrong but it would be a good way to do something different with the Divas division.

Nathan’s Prediction: Paige and Natalya

The Miz and Damien Mizdow vs. The Uso’s ©
WWE Tag Team Championship Match

Jon: The Usos should retain their titles. Not only are they the better team, but there is a great feud between The Miz and Mizdow on the horizon (hopefully).  Mizdow has stolen the spotlight and is clearly a fan favorite with his gimmick as a stunt double.  It’s only a matter of time before the self centered Miz gets fed up and turns his back on Mizdow.

Jon’s Prediction: The Usos

Nathan: I really would like to disagree with Jon here but the fact is that I can’t in my right mind do so.  Miz and Mizdow already were the tag team champions and they lost the belts before their reign ever really got started.  So I’ll echo what Jon said and say that The Uso’s will retain the titles and that the person that takes the fall in this match between Miz and Mizdow will get beaten up by the other member, and that we will get a Miz vs. Sandow feud in the near future (can we get X-Dow from Monday please?  That was awesome).  

Nathan’s Prediction: The Uso’s

The Ascension vs. The New Age Outlaws

Jon: I, for one have never been a big fan of the Ascension. Not that I hate them, they just haven’t done anything to make me a fan. Their matches in NXT against Balor and Itami were good but the bulk of the credit doesn’t go to Konnor and Viktor.  Their call up has been lackluster to say the least.  Several squash matches and promos that have been similar to Demolition,  have yet to help them connect with a wider audience.  This match also says a lot of about the state of the WWE tag team division.  The Outlaws will lose and give the Ascension a much needed “rub” to help make them a credible tag team.  There just aren’t many credible tag teams outside of the Uso’s, Goldust and Stardust, and Miz and Mizdow in the WWE right now.  I hope the Ascension can use this victory and start to inject some excitement into the tag team division.

Jon’s Prediction: The Ascension

Nathan: Wow, there sure are a lot of tag team matches on this card (where’s Teddy Long when you need him?)  This match isn’t something I really care about because A it was thrown together last minute and B I can’t figure out why The New Age Outlaws keep coming back, besides the fact that they’re Triple H’s buddies. I mean honestly, that’s the only realistic reason I can think of at least.  Hopefully The Ascension will be able to get the win here and look strong in the process, because let’s face facts, they have been treated like absolute trash since being called up to the main roster.  Not only are they essentially a knock off of 80’s tag teams, they are a team I could care less about.  When they were in NXT they didn’t impress me , and ever since making their way to the main roster they have yet to do so.  Monday’s stunt didn’t help with them getting beaten up by a bunch of legendary tag teams and JBL continuously trying to ruin them while on commentary.  I honestly don’t know how we as fans are supposed to view the Ascension, but that’s not our fault, it’s the company’s fault for booking them the way they have.

Nathan’s Prediction: The Ascension

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar ©
Triple Threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Jon: The World Heavyweight Title is on the line and Brock has his work cut out for him.  Seth Rollins has proved to be just as vicious as he is cunning.  Seth has hit both Brock and Cena with a curb stomp.  That doesn’t seem like the smartest thing Seth has done, but he has proven that he is always a step ahead.  Cena is desperate to prove that he can not only beat  Brock Lesnar, but win a big match once again while being a thorn in the Authority’s side.  What’s interesting is what role Paul Heyman will play in this match.  Specifically has he made a side deal of some sort with the Authority that will keep Brock Lesnar as champ?  I’m hoping for something bold and unprecedented to happen, Seth not only wins the title but he does it without cashing in the Money In The Bank contract.

Jon’s Prediction: Seth Rollins

Nathan: This match to me is the hardest match on the card to predict, because there are so many aspects going into the match.  Seth Rollins is in this match as the challenger and he is also the current Money In The Bank briefcase holder.  Which means that even if he were to lose this match he could cash in on whoever does win and walk away with the title.  Who would he cash in on if that happens is the real question and how vulnerable would they have to be?  I’m thinking it’s definitely a possibility that Cena wins the title here and gets his sweet 16^th title reign, which would tie Ric Flair’s record.  However if that were to happen then Roman Reigns could easily win the Royal Rumble and I don’t want that to happen and I don’t think it will.  If Seth Rollins were to win, would he win the match outright or would he lose the match by not being the one to be pinned and then cash in on whoever does take the fall in the match between Lesnar or Cena?  It’s time for me to stop messing around though because I think that Brock Lesnar will retain the title and go on to the main event of Wrestlemania against the winner of the Royal Rumble match.

Nathan’s Prediction: Brock Lesnar

30 Man over the top rope Royal Rumble Match

Jon: This is a crapshoot as to who wins, especially if you ignore the rumors on the Internet. The first entrant will be Daniel Bryan, after all what else can The Authority do to him to prevent him from winning. While the record Roman Reigns set in last year’s Royal Rumble will stay intact, Rusev will eliminate the most people this year. The coveted #30 will go to Bray Wyatt. The last four be will Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Daniel Bryan. Bryan will spend the most time in the match and will eliminate Reigns to win the Royal Rumble and go on to main event WM31.

For my money Daniel Bryan wins and proves the last chapter in his underdog story has yet to be written. 

Jon’s prediction: Daniel Bryan

Nathan: Like Jon said this match is a total crapshoot as there could be multiple winners that they could go with.  You have Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt (dark horse?), and Ziggler that could all possibly win.  However there is only one man who can win this match and his name is Daniel Bryan.  I have a feeling that Daniel Bryan could draw number one and be the third guy to go from number one to win the entire thing (After Shawn Michaels and what’s his name that won in 2004).  There is the Reigns factor of this match meaning how far will he go if he doesn’t end up winning the entire thing?  How many people will he eliminate?  And will they make Roman Reigns look Strong?  That last one was a joke but I hope for the sake of the company that they don’t have Reigns win and try to force something to happen that shouldn’t happen just yet.  Enough of the rambling I’ll go with Daniel Bryan to be the winner of the 2015 Royal Rumble match which will give us a David vs. Goliath main event come Wrestlemania 31 in the form of Daniel Bryan the man who never officially lost the WWE Championship vs. Brock Lesnar the current Reigning and defending (well not so much defending) WWE Champion who broke the Undertaker’s Streak last year at Wrestlemania and hasn’t been pinned for almost two years.

Nathan’s prediction: Daniel Bryan

There you have it, ladies and gentleman, you now know where me and Jon stand on our Royal Rumble predictions and what we think will happen and/or what we would like to have happen at the event.  This year marks the 28^th annual Royal Rumble event and it’s one that drums up a lot of excitement.  This is when the Road to Wrestlemania begins and where we find out who will be in the main event of Wrestlemania 31 and we can start to piece together the rest of the card for the most part.  So until Sunday be sure and follow Jon on twitter @BigJonDaLegend and also myself @Headliner5.  Also be sure to follow Eyes On The Ring on twitter @EyesOnTheRing.  If you have anything to add or thoughts on the show in general please let us go by dropping both myself and Jon a message on twitter or by going to Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing and letting us know your thoughts there.  Last but not least visit EyesOnTheRing.blogspot.com as Jon, myself and the rest of the Eyes On The Ring bring you all of the latest wrestling news and opinions.

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Eyes on the Ring 11:00 AM  No comment

Death to the "Everyone Brawl" Pre-Rumble Spot

It's the Jericho of EOTR, Speed on the Beat, back with a nugget of information. The WWE is lazy, who knew? Sarcasm aside, I just read over the Smackdown spoilers for Thursday’s go-home show for the Royal Rumble. The show seems crap, but at least Daniel Bryan was in the main event. That’s always a good thing, right?

More on SD, Rumble, and DB's forklift fail after the jump

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Eyes on the Ring 4:10 PM  No comment

"But Whose Side is He On?" - Thoughts on the RAW Ending for 1/19/15

As we inch closer to the Royal Rumble and Roman Reigns making us suffer through more Sufferin' Succotash, we saw something that looked like it was booked by Russo circa 1999 last night during the closing minutes of RAW. But, as overbooked as it was, it was pretty great to see (and quite significant).

To recap, the main event was John Cena versus The Authority in a handicap match with both his title shot and the jobs of Ryback, Erick Rowan, and Dolph Ziggler on the line. Cena's getting the crap kicked out of him, prepping to RISE AGAINST HATE, per the usual with Cena matches these days. However, instead of the Five Moves of Doom (as much as I have a disdain for Cena, that's bullshit. He's got more than five moves. He just doesn't use them unless it really really REALLY counts for something), we get STING! coming out decked out in red and black, scaring the crap out the Authority, allowing Cena to get the roll-up and the pin. After this insanity (and Sting's almost instantly downplayed RAW debut), who comes out to clean up the mess that's been made (and doesn't beat the hell out of Cena...again)?

BARRRRRROCCCCCKKKKK LESSSSSNARRRRR (did I get it right, Paul?)

Yep, Brock Lesnar comes out, beats Seth Rollins, gives Kane and Big Show some F-5s and stands tall at the end of the show. Now, most people are clamoring about saying that this is both an apparent face turn and a sign that Brock's headed back to UFC. I'd like to play the Devil's Advocate and point something out. In all the time that Lesnar has been back in WWE, he's been in business for one person. That person is not Triple H, it's not Vince, it's not even Paul Heyman. Lesnar has been in business for himself. So, of course, he's going to pick the meat off the bones of the guy who stands the best chance to pull some sneaky crap on Sunday and eek out a victory. He's not concerned with Cena because:

a) He's already beaten Cena in the Suplex Fest at Summer Slam '14
b) Cena's probably going to be pretty focused on Rollins himself
c) Cena's not going to win the belt back (especially if the Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan/Dean Ambrose/who-the-fuck-else rumors are true)

That doesn't make Brock the face of all faces. It makes him a tweener who's just out there kicking ass, taking names, and trying to make the biggest payday possible for himself. It also doesn't full-on suggest that he's leaving for UFC. Let's say that Brock does go full-on face and retains at the Rumble. What, is he going to take the friggin' WWE Championship with him to UFC to defend it in some crazy, cross-branded, Inoki Genome Federation-style clusterfuck (as cool and maddening as that kind of sounds)? No, because Vince's ego won't allow that and Dana White--as sports entertainment as he is--won't allow for a fighter to actively, purposely promote a wrestling championship on his stage, much less defend it.

However...if Brock does retain, where does that leave him and the championship? We know that WWE doesn't really like to go Face vs. Face these days (assuming a face wins the RR), so what'd we get? Cena goes heel from losing again, enters himself in the Royal Rumble, eliminates Daniel Bryan in the most violent way possible (just saying), and gets a rematch with Lesnar? Eh. Seen it, don't care. Would Rollins cash in on Lesnar? Maybe, but who's really next in line for Rollins? Daniel Bryan? Dean Ambrose? Roman Reigns? I mean, it could work, but I just don't see WWE pulling the trigger on Rollins' cash-in just yet. Or would WWE get a Face vs. Face thing started with someone like Roman Reigns (who'd have to, y'know, eliminate Daniel Bryan and 'em), but then feed off the crowds and have Roman become Batista circa 2014?

Possibilities are endless, my friends, but one thing's for sure. When it comes to asking "whose side is [Brock] on," there's only one side.

His own.

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Eyes on the Ring 12:23 PM  No comment

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 1/17/15

By Nathan Neumann @Headliner5 on Twitter

Hello wrestling fans and welcome to another Ring Of Honor Wrestling review brought to you by yours truly. We had another solid hour of wrestling this week that leads in to next week, which I am really looking forward to so lets get to it.

The show started off with a pre-taped interview from ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe. He said that he was told that he would be defending the ROH World Title tonight, but that he doesn’t know who his opponent will be.  

From there we go inside of the arena and are welcomed to the show by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. They introduce the show and send it to the ring for the first match of the evening.

Match 1
Cedric Alexander vs. Kazarian

Result: Frankie Kazarian defeats Cedric Alexander via pinfall with the Kamikaze.

Thoughts: As the match starts off, Steve Corino informs us that he believes that Kevin Kelly is intoxicated (this has nothing to do with the match itself but I had to throw it in here somewhere). The match starts and the two shake hands per the code of honor. Both Alexander and Kazarian start the feeling out process with neither man really gaining a significant advantage, until Kazarian hits Alexander with a dropkick as we head into our first commercial break. Back from commercial and Kazarian is on the outside of the ring getting chopped to death by Alexander, who has since gained the upper hand.  Back in the ring and Alexander hits a beautiful Tornado DDT to pick up a near fall.  From there Kazarian who is on the apron jumps into the ring and grabs Alexander by the neck and swings him around for a tornado DDT of his own.  Alexander again goes to the apron, and this time it would cost him, as he would jump right into the open arms of Kazarian who would deliver an Ace Crusher.  Kazarian then follows it up with a Kamikaze to score the pinfall victory over a wrestler who had a breakout year in 2014.  Kazarian may have won the match, but the real story here is that Cedric Alexander is starting 2015 off with a loss.

Rating: **

From here we go to a backstage interview with Matt Taven, who says that it is him who will be receiving the shot at the ROH World Title later on tonight against it’s champion Jay Briscoe.

Match 2
Donovan Dijak vs. Jake Dirden
First round match in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament

Result: Donovan Dijak defeats Jake Dirden via pinfall after delivering a Burning Hammer onto his knee.

Thoughts: This match was a vast improvement over last week’s farce of a match between J Diesel and Will Ferrera.  If this tournament keeps going the way this match did than it could be good in the end, but last week’s opening match wasn’t a good way to start it off.  Early on in the match Dirden would find himself on the outside of the ring and he would become the victim of an aerial onslaught, as Dijak would dive over the top rope to take out Dirden.  Back in the ring, a recovered Dirden (who’s a tall guy with long hair and a beard) hits Dijak with a vicious chokeslam to get a near fall.  The ending of the match came when Dijak would deliver a burning hammer type maneuver, where he would drop his opponent (Dirden) onto his knee to pick up the win and advance to the next round of the tournament.  

Rating: **

Coming back from a commercial and we are informed that people are coming to Ring Of Honor.  It’s apparently two guys who have disguised voices, who promise change.  I have no idea what this means and I’m sure that I’m not supposed to know what’s going on so we will have to see how this plays out in the coming weeks and what is to come of it in the future.

From there we head back into the arena where we are introduced to Alberto El Patron who has made his way to Ring Of Honor in 2015. He then takes a microphone from ringside, El Patron goes onto say that he is not a “F*cking Sports Entertainer, He is a wrestler.”  I know the F-word was bleeped out here, but I’m a bit surprised that ROH officials let him drop the F-bomb considering the fact that ROH is on broadcast television and not cable.

Alberto goes on to say that he wants the world title and he calls out the current World Champion Jay Briscoe.  He however gets the ROH Television Champion Jay Lethal who comes to the ring to confront ROH’s newest star.  Jay Lethal tells Alberto to “Do your homework before you come to class” Jay Lethal then goes on to cut a very passionate promo where he puts over the importance of the ROH Television Championship.  

From there we go to a commercial.  Back from commercial break Nigel McGuinness comes to the ring to give us the 411 on last week’s main event which brings out Jay Briscoe, who has a vested interest in what Nigel is about to say.  Jay Briscoe then goes on to say that he really doesn’t care what Nigel has to say and that he wants a four-way match for the ROH World Title in Las Vegas Nevada on March 1st at the 13th Anniversary show.  So it will be Hanson vs. Michael Elgin vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Briscoe in a four corner survival match for the ROH World Title in Las Vegas Nevada on March 1st at the ROH 13th anniversary show.  

From there Matt Taven comes to the ring, which sets up the main event of the evening.  

Main Event – Match 3
Matt Taven vs. Jay Briscoe {C}
ROH World Championship Match

Result: Jay Briscoe defeats Matt Taven with the Jay Driller to retain the ROH World Title.

Thoughts: The match starts with the two in the ring. Taven quickly disposes of Briscoe on the outside.  From there Taven gains a head of steam and dives out onto the world champion taking Briscoe to the ground.  Taven recovers making it to his feet; he then takes off his Kingdom shirt and grabs Briscoe to bring him back into the ring.  From there, Taven goes to the top rope where he attempts a frog splash on the fallen champion.  However, Briscoe would counter the move by getting his knees up.  Taven would keep working on Briscoe and score a near fall as we go to a commercial break.  Back from commercial and Taven hits Briscoe with a super kick for a near fall.  Briscoe kicks out and makes it back to his feet and hits a super kick of his own and follows it up with a neckbreaker to score a near fall for himself.  Jay Briscoe gets Matt Taven in a vulnerable state long enough to hit him with the Jay Driller and pick up the win via pinfall to retain his title.

Match Rating: **½

After the match Bennett would run out and hit Briscoe in the face with the Title Of Love.  Maria then gets on the microphone and says that Jay Briscoe doesn’t have the balls to fight her, which brings out Mark Briscoe to make the save.  That will lead us to next week where we will see a tag team match as Matt Taven and Michael Bennett of the Kingdom will team up to take on both Jay and Mark Briscoe.

That brings us to another week of Ring Of Honor Wrestling and thus this review also comes to an end.  I hope you all enjoyed the read and that you are looking forward to where Ring Of Honor is headed in the future.  As someone who will be attending ROH’s 13th anniversary show in Las Vegas Nevada, this build has me really excited. I can’t wait to see where it leads us and how we go about getting the final card for the show.  We already have a main event set in stone, but who knows what else will happen in Sin City.

Before I leave you for the week I would just like to say that Eyes On The Ring is making great strides already in 2015.  We relaunched the radio show over at blogtalkradio.com/ElitePodcastNetwork so be sure to listen to us every Sunday night at 11PM Eastern Time.  Also be sure and check out the facebook page over at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing as well as follow us on Twitter @EyesOnTheRing.  Lastly if you want to show your support for what we do at Eyes On The Ring you can do so by buying one of our T-Shirts over at this link http://dartees.spreadshirt.com. So, with that all out of the way, Nathan here saying so long for now, see you next week with another review and in the mean time keep your Eyes On The Ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 6:17 PM  No comment

CJ's Top Five: Macho Man Wrestlemania Matches

The time has finally come. After years of speculation, rumors, and questioning why, "Macho Man" Randy Savage is finally taking his rightful place amongst the immortals in the WWE Hall of Fame. In honor of the induction, here are my top 5 Randy Savage matches.

5.  Vs. Ted DiBiase, Wrestlemania 4

This was the final match of the event-long tournament to determine a new WWF Champion. This was an excellent brawl between "The Macho Man" and "The Million Dollar Man." Savage attempted a flying elbow, but missed. DiBiase countered with the million dollar dream, but while the ref was distracted with Andre the Giant at ringside, Hulk Hogan hit DiBiase with a chair. This allowed savage to attempt and connect with a second flying elbow for the victory, and was crowned WWF Champion.

4. Vs. Ric Flair, Wrestlemania 8

This feud was due to Ric Flair showcasing fake pictures of an alleged affair he had with Miss Elizabeth. This tension led to them having a WWF title match at Wrestlemania 8 in my hometown of Indianapolis. This is a solid match all around, featuring two of the greatest storytellers in wrestling history. Savage had Flair seemed to gel together extremely well, and it made for a powerful, emotional feud.

3. Vs. Ultimate Warrior, Wrestlemania 7

The feud between Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior had gotten to a fever pitch, and the only way to settle this was a retirement match at Wrestlemania 7. Although Warrior wasn't exactly known for 5-star performances in the ring, Savage was able to help him put on one hell of a match. A physical contest between these two, that culminated in defeat for "The Macho Man." This defeat caused his then-manager, Sensational Sherri, to attack him after the match. Out of the crowd rushes Miss Elizabeth, who fights off Sherri. In a moment that will live in memories forever, Savage and Elizabeth embrace after a lengthy time apart, and "Macho Man" was finally reunited with his love.

2. Vs. Hulk Hogan, Wrestlemania 5

In 1988, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan formed a powerful tag-team known as The Mega Powers. As time passed, Savage became more and more suspicious that Hogan was trying to take Miss Elizabeth away from him. This led to The Mega Powers exploding in a tense battle at Wrestlemania 5. After a very physical brawl, The match ended when Hogan no-sold the savage elbow drop, and proceeded to Hulk up and hit his 3 moves of doom for the victory. Although it was a defeat for Macho, it was a great example of telling a great story to pay off a feud, which I believe is a lost art in wrestling today.

1. Vs. Ricky Steamboat, Wrestlemania 3

This match will forever be in the top 5 matches that have ever taken place. It's kind of crazy that a match thus excellent was not for the WWF Championship, but rather the Intercontinental Championship. This is the most emotional and intense 15 minutes you'll ever see in a wrestling ring. From the opening bell, these two went at each other full-speed, and the pace never slowed. So much so that, when the match was over, even the referee was completely gassed. At the end of the match, Savage attempted a scoop slam, which Steamboat reversed into a schoolboy roll-up for the pinfall victory. It showed that a match didn't have to go on last in order to steal the show, especially when it was on the same card as Hogan vs. Andre.

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Eyes on the Ring 7:07 PM  No comment