Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, 6.3.14: WWE Raw

It's Tuesday afternoon and its another edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. Last night's RAW served as the first live event after Sunday night's WWE Payback. WWE's next event will be WWE Money In The Bank on June 29th. What feuds developed last night? Read the recap below and find out!

Highlights of RAW:
- The show kicks off with Triple H promising that Evolution will give The Shield what is coming to them tonight. Batista interrupts and tells Triple H that he's done fighting The Shield and wants his WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match that he was promised. Triple H says Daniel Bryan is still injured and no one is getting what they want until The Shield is finished. Triple H reminds Batista that he is the boss and what he says goes. Triple H apologizes for getting out of hand with his power but Batista quits. Triple H asks Batista if he's going to run back to Hollywood and if he does he will never work for the WWE again.
- Sheamus teams up with Rob Van Dam and takes on their Payback opponents from last night, Cesaro and Bad News Barrett. Sheamus and RVD pick up the victory. Cesaro and Paul Heyman walk out on Barrett in the closing moments of the match.
- Damien Sandow now dressed like Indiana Pacer, Lance Stephenson, comes out and rips on the Indiana crowd and calls LeBron James the best player of all time. Big Show comes out and knocks Sandow out with the left punch.
- Bo Dallas rips on the Indiana crowd saying that the Miami Heat won because they all "Bo-Lieve". Dallas beats Kofi Kingston and stays undefeated.
- Stephanie McMahon announced that Daniel Bryan will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money In The Bank against Kane in a Stretcher Match. If he cannot defend the title then he will be stripped of the title and it will be put up in the Money In The Bank ladder match. John Cena comes out and stands up for Daniel Bryan and says if Stephanie was evaluated as a boss she'd get a zero. Stephanie makes Cena fight Kane. The match ends in a DQ when Kane refuses to let up on Cena in the corner. Kane and Cena brawl after the match until WWE officials separate both men.
- Adam Rose stays undefeated with a pinfall victory on Jack Swagger.
The Wyatt Family continued their feud with The Usos as Harper and Rowan faced Jimmy and Jey in tag team action. The Wyatt's pick up the win.
- Goldust teams with Sin Cara in his rematch with Curtis Axel and Ryback from Payback. Cody Rhodes hand picked Sin Cara to team with his brother tonight. Axel and Ryback are victorious.
- Rusev and his manager Lana announce that Rusev has been given the Russian Hero Award and Golden Star Award by Mother Russia. The Russia national anthem played and confetti fell from the rafters as the fans booed and chanted "USA".
- Main Event of the evening was supposed to see Roman Reigns going one on one with Randy Orton. The Shield came out together and said they won last night because they are close like brothers unlike Evolution that didn't work well together. Randy Orton comes out with Triple H who has his sledgehammer in hand. Rollins grabs a steel chair as The Shield are ready to go at it with Evolution again. Triple H says one thing he does best is adapt. Last night was plan A and tonight is plan B. Out of nowhere, Rollins connects with chair shots on Reigns and Ambrose, turning his back on The Shield. Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins drill Reigns and Ambrose with chair shots over and over. Rollins hits the "Curb Stomp" on Ambrose and Orton hits an "RKO" on Reigns. The show closes out with Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins celebrating as the new Evolution.

Quick Match Results:
- Sheamus and RVD def. Bad News Barrett and Cesaro by pin.
- Bo Dallas def. Kofi Kingston by pin.
- John Cena def. Kane by DQ.
- Los Matadores def. 3MB by pin.
- Alicia Fox and Aksana def. Nikki Bella by pin.
- Adam Rose def. Jack Swagger by pin.
- The Wyatt Family def. The Usos by pin.
- Alberto Del Rio def. Dolph Ziggler by submission.
- Curtis Axel and Ryback def. Goldust and Sin Cara by pin.
- Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns never starts.

And that wraps up this edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. I will be MIA for next week's RAW recap as I will be in Las Vegas for my honeymoon. I will return Tuesday June 17th with the RAW recap for the June 16th show, which takes place live in Triple Threat Podcast's hometown of Cleveland! Till then tap or snap!

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, 6.2.14: WWE Payback

Welcome to a very special "Special Event" recap on this Monday afternoon edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. Last night, WWE held their "special event" entitled Payback, live at The Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. Being near Chicago, I'm sure you can imagine how many "CM Punk" chants were heard throughout the night. He's retired and he's not coming back fans, time to face that realization.

Any who, let's get the recap started shall we?

"Hair vs Mask Match": Hornswoggle vs El Torito. El Torito picked up the pin in the preshow match. El Torito hits a moonsault on Hornswoggle to score the pin. Hornswoggle gets held down in a barber chair by Los Matadores and gets his head shaved by El Torito.

"United States Championship Match": Sheamus (c) vs Cesaro. Before the match Paul Heyman angers the rowdy Chicago crowd by telling them CM Punk isn't here and that he is across town at the Blackhawks hockey game instead. The match ends with Cesaro swinging Sheamus but gets small packaged unexpectedly by Sheamus afterwards for the pin. Sheamus retains the U.S.Title.

The Rhodes Brothers vs Curtis Axel and Ryback. Cody goes for the "Disaster Kick" on Ryback, Ryback catches Cody and hits "Shell Shock" for the pin. After the match Cody tells Goldust that maybe it's best that Goldust finds a new tag team partner.

Rusev vs Big E. We have a flag off before the match starts, as Big E and Rusev wave their flags back and forth. Big E hit an awesome spear right through the second ropes on Rusev sending both men crashing to the floor, mid match. Rusev takes Big E's head off with a side kick and locks in "The Accolade" for the submission victory.

Bo Dallas vs Kofi Kingston. Match never happens as Kane arrives and choke slammed then tombstone piledrives Kofi. Bo Dallas tells Kofi that he'll be back on his feet in no time as long as he "Bo-Lieves".

"WWE Intercontinental Title Match" Bad News Barrett (c) vs. Rob Van Dam. RVD misses the "Five Star Frog Splash". Barrett misses the "Bullhammer" and instead connects with the ring post. Barrett fights off the pain and connects with the second attempt at the "Bullhammer", scoring the pin and retaining the I-C Title.

Stephanie McMahon arrives to make Daniel Bryan make his announcement on if he's forfeiting the title or Brie Bella being fired. Another "CM Punk" chant erupts. Steph tells Bryan that even the fans want to see him quit like CM Punk did. Daniel is about to hand over the titles and save Brie's job when Brie stops Daniel from forfeiting, quits the company then slaps Stephanie right in the face. Steph runs to the back, humiliated. Daniel Bryan apparently still remains as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

"Last Man Standing Match": Bray Wyatt vs John Cena. This match was all out chaos. Before the match The Wyatts surround Cena until The Usos hit the ring to back up Cena. Bray and Cena finally go one on one as the bell sounded. Chairs, the ring steps and tables get involved. The Usos and Wyatts brawl. Cena gets suplexed through a table, Bray gets hit in the face with the ring steps. We see The Usos go airbourne over the ropes on the Wyatts, taking them out. Luke Harper's massive frame even suicide dives through the ropes taking out The Usos. The Wyatts and The Usos put each other through tables. Cena hits "AA" on Bray the floor. Bray puts Cena through the barricade with a spear. Cena picks up the win by hitting "AA" on Bray right through a large tv production case, throws another production case on top and stands on it causing Bray to not be able to get up before a ten count.

"WWE Divas Title Match": Paige (c) vs. Alicia Fox. Paige defeats Fox by submission to retain the title. Fox flips out and runs to the back as the fans chanted "You tapped out".

"No Holds Barred Elimination Match": The Shield vs. Evolution. "Bluetista" began trending on Twitter. Look up Batista's ring gear from tonight and you'll see why. Both factions brawl throughout the arena to kick off the match. This match was an all out war throughout the whole thing. Evolution triple powerbombed Reigns through the announcers table. Evolution dismantled Rollins and Ambrose on the floor. We seen Orton DDT Rollins on the floor and Ambrose get back body dropped on a steel chair. Evolution surround Reigns in the ring and take turns caning him on his bare back. Reigns then takes repeated chair shots to the back. The action returns to the entrance ramp where Ambrose jumps all three Evolution members till getting beat down. Rollins leaps off the top of the stage prop below the titantron taking out all of Evolution. We're eventually back in the ring where a seriously wounded Shield pull a trifecta of pins to win the match. Reigns speared Batista allowing Rollins to score the pin, Ambrose reverse DDT's Orton onto a steel chair for the pin and after Triple H nails Ambrose with his sledgehammer, Triple H gets nailed with a Rollins top rope knee then gets speared by Reigns for the final pin to win the match. The Shield barely able to stand, celebrate as Payback comes to an end.

And that wraps up the pay per view. My opinion Bray Wyatt vs John Cena and The Shield vs Evolution were matches of the night. I'll be back Tuesday with the RAW recap. Till then tap or snap.

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, 5.27.14: WWE Raw

Happy Tuesday, ladies and gents. Hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. Welcome back to another edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. It being Tuesday you know what that means....RAW recap baybaaaayyy! Last week on RAW, Stephanie McMahon, made it clear to Daniel Bryan that he was required to be on RAW tonight, so a final decision could be made on whether he would be stripped of his title or not. John Cena was left laid out on the stage by Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family. RVD won a beat the clock tournament making him #1 Contender to Bad News Barrett's I-C Championship. Alicia Fox dominated WWE Divas Champion, Paige. Summer Rae returned. Shield/Evolution brawling, Rusev crushing and Adam Rose partying!
Let's get this week's recap started.

Highlights of RAW:
- RAW opened with GM, Brad Maddox, getting fired, then fed to Kane by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, for allowing Ambrose and Reigns to be commentating last week during the Rollins vs Batista match. Kane choke slammed then tombstoned Maddox. (Honestly will anyone miss Maddox? I mean what exactly did he do as GM?)
- WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan, officially said NO! to forfeiting the title to Stephanie McMahon even though his neck injury needs a long period of time to heal. Stephanie reminds Daniel that his wife, Brie, shoved Stephanie a few weeks back and you never put your hands on the boss. Stephanie tells Bryan that he either forfeits the title at WWE Payback or Brie Bella will be fired. (Judging by what sources are saying, Bryan will have to give the title up eventually due to injury. Be interesting to see if he gets screwed or does it his way.)
- The Wyatt Family terrorized announcers Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler. JBL gets taken out by Rowan and Harper. Bray makes Lawler sit in the ring and take the blame for Cena's popularity because Lawler and Cena are good friends. The Wyatts are ready to attack Lawler but Cena hits the ring for the save. Cena is eventually out gunned and beaten down. Harper and Rowan make Cena watch as Bray sets Lawler up for "Sister Abigail". The Usos hit the ring and help Cena chase the Wyatts out. Cena tells the Wyatts that they just crossed a huge line and at WWE Payback, payback will be a bitch. (Segment of the night in my opinion!)
- Bad News Barrett distracted RVD costing him his match against Cesaro. Sheamus hit the ring after the match and "Brogue Kicked" Cesaro's head off. Cesaro got revenge later as he attacked Sheamus from behind and laid Sheamus out with "The Neutralizer". (Liking both Barrett and Cesaro right now. They need to put the U.S. Title on Cesaro.)
- Rusev stayed undefeated as he crushed Zack Ryder. Big E hit the ring after the match and got the upper hand on Rusev as he sends Rusev to the floor. (How much longer will Rusev be undefeated until Super Cena beats him?)
- Orton and Batista sent a message to The Shield as they worked over The Rhodes Brothers first in an "Elimination Match" then a "2 on 1 Handicap Match".
- Bo Dallas debuts on RAW defeating Sin Cara in a rematch from Smackdown. (Bo-Lieve)
- Adam Rose defeated Damien Sandow (dressed as Davy Crockett) in his wrestling debut. Jack Swagger attacks Rose after the match. Rose fights back and chases Swagger from the ring. (Swagger seriously had The Lemon in Rose's Party Posse held hostage as a way to distract Rose in his match.)
- Evolution and The Shield closed out RAW with a contract signing for their "No Holds Barred Elimination Match" at WWE Payback. Contract signed by both factions and a brawl broke out as expected. The Shield owned Evolution in the brawl until Triple H brought in his sledgehammer. The Shield were laid out with the sledgehammer and Reigns was triple powerbombed through the announce table. Evolution celebrates as the show ends.

Quick Match Results:
- Cesaro def. RVD by pin.
- Eva Marie def. Summer Rae by pin.
- El Torito def. Drew McIntyre by pin.
- Rusev def. Zack Ryder by submission.
- "Elimination Match": Evolution def. The Rhodes Brothers by pin.
- "Handicap Match": Evolution def. Goldust by pin.
- Bo Dallas def. Sin Cara by pin.
- Emma def. Alicia Fox by pin.
- Adam Rose def. Damien Sandow by pin.
- Sheamus def. Alberto Del Rio by pin.

WWE News and Rumors:
- Ric Flair is being advertised for this week's Smackdown. Both Ric Flair and Bret Hart are being advertised for NXT Takeover on Thursday.
- If Daniel Bryan ends up forfeiting the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, sources are claiming it will be on the line in one of the "Money in the Bank" ladder matches at WWE Money In The Bank.
- Be sure to check out NXT's second pay per view of the year, NXT Takeover, this Thursday. I will have a recap on the pay per view Saturday in my Smackdown recap.

Before closing out this edition of Wrestling Lockup, I want to take a quick moment to remember a man taken too soon, and had a great future still ahead of him in the WWE.
May 23rd was the 15th anniversary of the death of Owen Hart. Owen, tragically died when a equipment malfunction occurred during his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Owen was only 34 and would've been something special in the WWE. R.I.P. Owen, we all still miss you.

Tap or Snap.

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, 5.13.14: WWE Raw

"Boo-tista, Boo-tista, Boo-tista!"
What's up gang, hope everyone had a nice weekend. And I hope everyone stayed safe and everyone wasn't too flooded by the huge storm we had last night in the Cleveland area. I suffered a flooded basement but thankfully nothing major.
Moving ahead, It's Tuesday, that means it's RAW recap time in this edition. Last week Kane tried to attack Daniel Bryan as Daniel and his wife, Brie Bella, left the arena. Bray Wyatt played more mind games with John Cena. Sheamus captured the U.S. Title from Dean Ambrose. The Shield were laid to waste in the center of the ring by Evolution after battling The Wyatt Family. Adam Rose and his party posse made an in ring debut, interrupting Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger. What would this week's RAW have in store?

Highlights of RAW:
- RAW kicked off with The Shield jumping Evolution in the parking garage, right as they arrived in their limo. WWE officials rush in to pull apart the two factions. The Shield again jump Evolution from behind in the ring, later in the show, after Triple H announces Evolution vs The Shield at WWE Payback. Reigns and Batista will meet in the main event later.
- WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan, announces to the WWE Universe that as of this Thursday he will have to have neck surgery. Bryan isn't sure how long he'll be gone and says how this could possibly be the end of his career. Bryan says he'll beat the odds and promises to be back. Later in the show Stephanie McMahon orders Daniel Bryan to forfeit his title to her. Kane instead came out, dragging Daniel Bryan's battered and beaten body and left him on the stage unconscious. Bryan is stretchered out of the arena. No word before RAW went off the air on what will become of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
- John Cena and The Usos faced The Wyatt Family in a rematch from Smackdown. Cena and The Usos win and Bray thanks Cena for winning the match. Bray says he now knows what he has to do to Cena.
- Newly crowned U.S. Champ, Sheamus, pulls double duty.
- Big E saved Hall of Famer, Hacksaw Jim Duggan from getting "crushed" by Rusev.
- Adam Rose and his party posse arrive again and continue to be a thorn in Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger's side as Rose cost Swagger his match against RVD.
- Reigns vs Batista ends in a no contest as all hell broke loose. The Shield beat down Evolution until Stephanie McMahon sends out all the heels in the RAW locker room to help Evolution. The Shield with steel chairs in hand fight off the whole heel locker room and chase Evolution from the ring. RAW closes out with The Shield triple power bombing Ryback as Evolution looks on from the entrance ramp.

Quick Match Results:
- RVD def. Jack Swagger by pin.
- Paige def. Alicia Fox by pin.
- "Six Man Tag": John Cena and The Usos def. The Wyatt Family by pin.
- Nikki Bella def. Nattie Neidhart by pin.
- Sheamus def. Curtis Axel by submission.
- Sheamus def. Ryback by pin.
- Dolph Ziggler def. Fandango by pin.
- Cody Rhodes def. Damian Sandow by pin.
- Reigns vs Batista ends in a no contest.

WWE News and Rumors:
- There is backstage talk about WWE throwing around the idea of unifying the WWE U.S. Title and WWE I.C. Title again. My opinion is they may as well, considering at one time Dean Ambrose held the U.S. Title for almost a year and probably defended it as many times as you could count on one hand. For some reason the mid card titles just aren't as credible as they were back in the day.
- More Sting rumblings this week. Rumor is, Sting may, for the first time ever, appear in a WWE ring as SummerSlam gets closer. Nothing official has even been mentioned and nothing official about Sting even signing a contract with WWE yet has been mentioned. Sting has been appearing on WWE Network shows however making you wonder if he in fact is a WWE employee now. Many hardcore wrestling fans are still clamoring for a Sting vs Undertaker match at Wrestlemania 31. With Undertaker's current injury status and the streak being over, not sure if there is an interest or even enough gas in Taker's tank to do it.
- The Miz and Summer Rae are expected to make their return to WWE soon. Sources say as soon as the European tour kicks off this week. Both The Miz and Rae were involved in the filming of The Marine 4. The Miz reprises his role from The Marine 3.

That will do it for the RAW recap in this edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. I will be back with more WWE action Saturday for the Smackdown recap. Till then, tap or snap.

Wrestling Lockup with Brandon, 5.5.14: WWE Extreme Rules

What's up gang, it's time for another special Monday edition of Wrestling Lockup with Brandon. This edition is a special recap pay per view or "special event" which WWE likes to call them now. Last night, WWE Extreme Rules took place at the IZod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Daniel Bryan defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against the devil's favorite demon, Kane. The past, present and future squared off in a faction vs faction match with Evolution battling The Shield. John Cena went to war in a steel cage with the psychotic leader of The Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt. Three solid main event matches for the show plus many others, let's get the recap started.

- "WEE-L-C Match": Hornswoggle vs El Torito. The first ever "WEE-L-C Match" had everything a little person could ask for. Mini tables, ladders and chairs. A midget referee and a midget announcer team at a midget announcers table. Jinder Mahal took a gore in the jewels. Hornswoggle puts El Torito through the mini announcers table as 3MB brawl with Los Matadores in the aisle. Heath Slater and Los Matadores all go through tables during the match. The match closes out with El Torito putting Hornswoggle through a table in the ring for the pin.
WINNER: El Torito

- "Triple Threat Elimination Match": RVD vs Jack Swagger vs Cesaro. A huge arsenal of trademark moves by RVD early in the match until Cesaro power bombs him on the floor. Cesaro gets Swagger in the "Cesaro Swing" until RVD breaks up with a kick. "Patriot Lock" by Swagger to RVD until Cesaro breaks it up. Cesaro superplexes Swagger and RVD follows up with a "Five Star Frog Splash" for the pin, eliminating Swagger. RVD does more trademark moves on Cesaro then grabs a trash can. The trash can comes into play in the match as a weapon. RVD eventually goes for the "Five Star". RVD misses and Cesaro hits "The Neutralizer" on the trash can for the pin.
WINNER: Cesaro

- "Handicap Match": Alexander Rusev vs R-Truth and Xavier Woods. Woods gets taken out of the match by Rusev early, as medical staff check on him. R-Truth gets a good amount of offense in but it's not enough as Rusev goes into "crushing" mode and makes R-Truth tap out to the camel clutch.
WINNER: Alexander Rusev

- WWE IC Title Match: Big E (c) vs Bad News Barrett. Back and forth match, nothing memorable or special. Barrett ducks a Big E irish whip and connects with the "Bull Hammer" for the pin and the IC Title.
WINNER: New WWE IC Champion Bad News Barrett.

- Evolution vs The Shield: Very entertaining match that had the crowds full attention. One point in the match Reigns speared Batista into the barricade. Evolution dominated each member of The Shield one by one until Reigns got the hot tag and took out each Evolution member. Evolution got the near pin with a pedigree and RKO combo from Triple H and Orton. Triple H, Orton, Rollins and Ambrose began brawling through the arena as Reigns and Batista went at it in the ring. Batista hits a spear on Reigns for the near fall. Reigns fought back and nailed a huge spear of his own on Batista to score the pin.
WINNERS: The Shield

- "Steel Cage Match" John Cena vs Bray Wyatt. The cage comes into play as a weapon a few times during the match helping Bray gain the upper hand. Cena tries to escape the cage for the win a few times in the match however Harper and Rowan of the Wyatt Family are there to road block him. One point in the match Harper climbs to the top of the cage and trades punches with Cena and ends up inside the cage with Cena and Bray. Cena locks in the STF and hits a middle rope "Attitude Adjustment", both victory attempts are broken up by The Wyatts. Cena hits a top rope leg drop on Bray and goes for the exit when the lights go out and come back on. The momentary distraction is used to reveal a boy in a sheep's mask singing "Whole World In His Hands" with a monster sounding voice on a microphone. Cena creeped out, gets nailed by Bray with "Sister Abigail" and walks out of the cage the winner.
WINNER: Bray Wyatt

- WWE Divas Title: Paige (c) vs Tamina Snuka. Honestly? Not a good match at all. Very sloppy. Confusion on a three count that was a three count with the announcers "claiming" Snuka kicked out. Crowd was silent and probably happy when Paige made Snuka tap out to "The Page-Turner". Not a good way to jump start the Divas Division with Paige.
WINNER: Still WWE Divas Champion, Paige

- WWE World Heavyweight Championship, "Extreme Rules Match": Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kane. Brawling in and out of the ring, kendo sticks and a steel chair come into play early with Bryan getting slammed on a chair. Kane and Bryan brawl to the back where cars come into play. Bryan gets slammed on a car as Kane gets his hand put through a window and hit in the head with a tire iron. More brawling backstage that ends with Bryan bringing Kane back to the ring on a forklift then hitting a diving headbutt from the top of the forklift. Bryan gets chokeslammed through the announcers table. The match closes out with Kane lighting a table on fire and getting put through it by Bryan. WWE medical put Kane out with fire extinguishers just in time for Kane to catch Bryan's flying knee in the face for the pin.
WINNER: Still WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Bryan.

And that is a wrap my friends. My opinion, all three main event matches delivered and it was a decent pay per view. Really loved the ending to the Kane vs Bryan match, reminded me of the Edge vs Foley flaming table ending. Good to see WWE shedding the PG stuff just a little bit. I'll be back tomorrow for the Tuesday RAW recap. Until then tap or snap.