January 28, 2016
Episode 858
(taped January 26, 2016)
City: Tampa, FL
Venue: Amalie Arena
Commentary: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler
Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles
Video
Triple H winning the Royal Rumble and Stephanie setting up a triple threat number one contender match for Fastlane.
Intro Video
“Black and Blue” by CFO$
Ring Area
New Day says The Rock should be ashamed. They remind him that WWE is PG and tell him that he has a doo-doo mouth. The Miz feels New Day’s pain. He talks about how he deserves respect, then The Usos interrupt him. They’re tired of him talking about how he main evented Wrestlemania.
New Day says The Uso’s family must have a gold allergy. They also point out that The Usos are outnumbered and that The Rock won’t be there to help them. The Usos bring out Titus O’Neil and Dolph Ziggler as backup. Everyone then fights.
Match 1
New Day (Tag Champs) & The Miz vs The Usos & Titus O’Neil & Dolph Ziggler
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Titus O’Neil pins The Miz after Clash of the Titus
Time: 8:02 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Pretty standard stuff. The babyface team was pretty dominant, though the Usos got into a little trouble in the middle of the match. Towards the end it broke down a little and all of the good guys got a move in. I did like the teamwork that New Day had with The Miz, though they didn’t get a whole lot of offense.
Match 2
US Title Match
Neville vs Kalisto (US Champ)
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Kalisto wins via pinfall with a modified Salida Del Sol
Time: 5:27 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. It was interesting seeing Neville as the aggressor. He was very aggressive in this match which makes sense. It fit with how Kalisto wrestles as an underdog no matter who he faces. In that way it was a Kalisto match more than a Neville match, but the guys worked well together and they pulled out some stuff that not everyone would do. Kalisto walked on his hands into a head scissors, Neville hit a powerbomb and took a hurricanrana from the top. The match really consisted of a series of high risk/high reward moves with little in-between. I liked it.
Ring Area
Jericho comes out and welcomes everyone to the “Highlight Reel.” He then introduces his guests: Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns. Jericho asks if their triple threat match will cause animosity between them. They say no.
Jericho asks them about Brock Lesnar and points out that Ambrose hasn’t faced him one on one. Ambrose says he’ll probably get beat up, but he’s not scared. Reigns tells Ambrose that Lesnar is for real. He’s different. Ambrose points out that he doesn’t have to beat Lesnar, he just has to beat Reigns. Reigns points out that Ambrose has never beaten him. The Wyatts come out.
Bray says that they slayed the beast at the Royal Rumble. Bray is going to put Reigns, Ambrose, and Jericho to the test tonight.
Ring Area
The Social Outcasts are in the ring. They complain that everyone is talking about AJ Styles and not them. Curtis Axel is upset that AJ ended his year-long entry in the Royal Rumble.
Match 3
Curtis Axel w/ Heath Slater, Adam Rose, Bo Dallas vs AJ Styles
(referee: John Cone)
Result: AJ Styles wins via pinfall after a Styles Clash
Time: 3:23
Match Thoughts
Good match. It was an exhibition for Styles more than anything else, but it was solid. He dealt with the entirety of the Social Outcasts and showed a range of strikes and dives.
Match 4
Charlotte (Divas Champ) w/ Ric Flair vs Natalya
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Charlotte wins via submission with the Figure Eight
Time: 3:53
Match Thoughts
Good match. Charlotte wasn’t necessarily dirty in the match, but she wasn’t completely nice either. Flair caused a distraction which led directly to the finish, so it was a pretty typical, but good, Charlotte match.
Ring Area
Charlotte puts Natalya in a figure four after the match. Becky Lynch comes out to run Charlotte out of the ring.
Video
Earlier today, R-Truth and Goldust stretch before a run. Goldust asks R-Truth for an answer to his proposal. R-Truth is confused. Goldust stretches his groin and gets stuck. R-Truth won’t fall for it.
** Yep, I still like the Golden Truth stuff. **
Match 5
Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Erik Rowan w/ Braun Strowman vs Chris Jericho & Dean Ambrose (IC Champ) & Roman Reigns
(referee: Mike Chioda)
Result: Reigns, Ambrose, Jericho win via DQ when Braun Strowman pulls Reigns out of the ring and attacks him
Time: 10:09 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Kind of what you’d expect. Jericho was isolated for a good while, Ambrose had some offense but also got beat up a little, and Reigns was mostly saved until the end. There was a minor breakdown and Reigns was on his way to winning when Strowman interfered.
Ring Area
Braun Strowman attacks all of the good guys. The Wyatt Family has Reigns alone in the ring when the Big Show comes to the ring. He slams Rowan, clotheslines Harper, and faces stares at Strowman. As they stare at each other the rest of the Family attacks. Reigns comes back in but gets caught by Strowman. Strowman gets tossed by Big Show, Bray gets tossed by Reigns, Rowan gets tossed by Ambrose and Jericho, and Harper gets speared by Reigns.
Show Impressions
A predictable but good show. There wasn’t a bad match, but there wasn’t really anything exceptional or new either. I can’t say I’m excited for any program featuring Big Show and the Wyatt Family, but maybe that was just a one time thing.
Match of the Night
US Title Match – Kalisto vs Neville
There were no bad matches on the show, but this seemed like the most unique match of the bunch. Some fun moves were on display here.