WWE’s FastLane Match Card & Predictions

Fastlane is the last PPV on the road to WrestleMania, and is meant to play a huge part in setting up what we will see at WWE’s biggest event of the year.  Being a fairly new PPV, it has seen its share of hiccups in the past, but with Triple H our reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champ, I expect to see a big improvement from last year.  Let’s take a look at the match card and make some predictions.

Kickoff Show:  US Title 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match – Kalisto (c) vs Alberto Del Rio

A two out of three falls match for the US title is exactly what we need to see.  Del Rio has the obvious size advantage, plus the rest of the League Of Nations on his side.  Kalisto has speed and agility in his corner, but is still the clear underdog in this fight.  If Kalisto is to win this time, he is going to have to beat Del Rio twice, which will greatly work to prove that his victories weren’t flukes or strokes of luck.

WINNER:  Kalisto

 

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Styles was so well received into the WWE that the Royal Rumble match was rewritten at the last minute to keep him from being eliminated by another fan favorite.  Styles was immediately thrown into competition with veteran, Chris Jericho, and their short feud has featured constant reminders that Styles is a “rookie” as far as the WWE is concerned.  If the WWE is to have their way, us fans would forget that Styles ever had a career before January 2016.  This will likely be the last match between these two men for a long while, and will prove whether or not Styles is cut out for the “big leagues” as they keep saying.

WINNER:  AJ Styles

Divas Title Match – Charlotte (c) vs Brie Bella

I hate to say it, but I suspect that the only reason Brie is getting a title shot right now Is because Daniel Bryan retired and Creative is trying to use that to put her over and make Charlotte into the ultimate villain.  She hasn’t been a part of the title scene and has shown no interest in the title until a few days ago.  I’m disappointed in this decision, and even moreso in the decision to have Ric Flair present at Charlotte’s side for every step.

WINNER:  Charlotte

 

Intercontinental Title Match – Kevin Owens (c) vs Dolph Ziggler

I was thrilled to see Owens win back the IC title.  I love Dean Ambrose, but he obviously has other things on his plate, so losing the title actually works to help him right now.  Owens and Ziggler are two of the best the WWE currently has, and Owens is the greatest, most well-rounded heel we’ve seen in a long time.  This match will say a lot about what we will see at WrestleMania, so I’m curious to see whether or not we have other IC title hopefuls come out to the ring during the fight.

WINNER:  Kevin Owens

 

Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch vs Naomi and Tamina

If we’re being honest, we all have to admit that Sasha Banks deserved the title shot tonight.  She’s dominant, fearless, confident, and the crowd loves her.  She can carry any match single handedly and has busted her ass to get where she is.  I am glad to see her and Lynch teaming up, and I hope putting them against Naomi and Tamina puts this childish feud to rest.  Having the divas fight like middle school girls isn’t doing them any favors.

WINNERS:   Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch

The Wyatt Family vs Kane, Big Show & Ryback

This marks Big Show’s 85,674,275th heel/face turn, if my math is correct.  This is basically giants versus giants for no other reason than it looks fantastic to see men pushing seven feet tall flying around the ring.  Ryback has recently gotten a bit of a makeover, which unfortunately resulted in the Goldberg chants making a comeback.  To be honest, I’m not sure what this match has to do with what is coming at WrestleMania, but I’m eager to find out.

WINNERS:  The Wyatt Family

 

WWE World Heavyweight Title #1 Contender’s Match – Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose

Three fan favorites in one match.  I know WWE wants us all to back Roman Reigns 110% and to back him over all others, but that isn’t reality.  Ambrose and Lesnar are equally, if not more, popular than Cena 2.0 and have even more to gain with a victory tonight.  Ambrose has been teasing a turn lately, so I definitely expect to see Reigns and Ambrose turn on each other and break up the brotherhood.  Reigns would have more to gain as a heel, especially if he has a mouthpiece to help him out with his promos.  Lesnar is obviously going to dominate this match, so the main focus will be about what happens with Reigns and Ambrose.  The two definitely need to square off, and it would be a perfect WrestleMania match.  Having them broken will make Rollins’ return even more interesting.

WINNER:  Brock Lesnar

 

2015 WWE TLC Match Card and Predictions

Tonight is the last WWE PPV of 2015; Tables, Ladders and Chairs.  Follow the link below to visit FaceToHeel.com and to get a rundown of the card and see my predictions.  Please leave your own predictions and thoughts on the FaceToHeel comments section.

We did have a late addition that is not reflected in the article on FaceToHeel.  Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks will face off on the TLC Kickoff show.  Considering the talent of both women, this will be a match you won’t want to miss.  Sasha will have the support of Tamina and Naomi, while Becky may be on her own.  I see Becky coming out on top.

Another possible late addition is Tyler Breeze vs Dolph Ziggler.  I am over the moon about Breeze coming up to the main roster and see big things for him in the future.  I would love for he and Dolph to put the bad blood aside and become a tag team.  Only time will tell.

Source: 2015 WWE TLC Match Card and Predictions

Show Off

My husband and I were lucky enough to not only score great seats for the June 2nd Raw in our hometown, but to also get tickets to Payback the night before in Chicago, IL.  One of the perks of being in the live audience is the opportunity to get yourself noticed on TV by either geeking out to the point that the cameras can’t stay away from you or by creating a good enough sign to grab attention.  I like to keep my fangirling as private as possible, but I do tend to go a bit overboard with my sign preparation.  For Payback, I went with the Wyatt Family.

Not my best work, but I was proud of it.  I don’t know if it made it onto the Payback PPV at all, as we have yet to hop on the network and check it out, but I hope I got a second or two of screen time.  For Raw the next evening, I decided to go with Dolph Ziggler after this happened:

Had no choice but to do it after getting a nod from the man himself.  I went in search of the loudest colored markers I could find and got to work:

My arms were about to fall off at this point.

This one I was damn proud of.  It could not be more obnoxious looking.  Sadly, it decided to rain before Raw, and my trash bag didn’t quite keep it completely dry, so the ink ran a bit.  My husband and I spent the better part of Raw glued to our seats, just waiting for Ziggler’s music to hit.  And finally, he comes out, we lose our minds, and he POINTS RIGHT AT US!  Excited doesn’t begin to describe it.  The first thing we did when we got home afterwards was check the DVR to see if that brilliant moment was captured on TV.

My husband is pointing at Ziggler there.  Immediately afterwards, the camera cuts back to Ziggler and you can see him pointing back at us.  We have the gif at home; I’ll try to add it later on.  It was such a cool moment!

Three rows in front of us, we had a guy with a “BLUETISTA” sign and one that said “DANIEL BRYAN SUCKS.”  They spent the majority of Raw holding their poorly made creations up and blocking the view of myself and quite a few others.  Eventually, security intervened and ended up ripping the Bryan sign out of the guy’s hands.  Those two are the perfect examples of what not to do.  The people around you don’t want to have to spend their evening leaning left and right and left again to see around you because you’re only worried about getting on TV as much as possible.  The cameras aren’t going to focus on you for more than a moment or two, so it’s pointless to be obnoxious.  The audience at home is going to get more and more bored seeing you if you insist on trying to get on-screen during every single match.  It’s beyond annoying.

What you should do is put some effort into what you decide to make.  Hold it up when it’s relevant, throw it up a time or two when it’s not just in case, and then sit back to enjoy the show.  Trust me, actually getting the direct attention of one of our favorite superstars was INFINITELY cooler than seeing my sign pop up here and there during a match.  That is a moment that we’ll keep with us forever.  (Also, the Team Foley sign I made for the 2012 Survivor Series will live forever on the DVD, which is another awesome moment)  Aim for that.  Plus, I don’t want to be the only one with arm cramps after spending far too much of my weekends making WWE signs.

Face To Heel

I am very excited to announce that I have recently signed on to be a writer for a collaborative blog covering all things wrestling!  This will include WWE, TNA, past and present Superstars, future predictions, and much more.  It will feature reports on events, editorial pieces, and will cover every topic you can imagine.  The site, Face To Heel, currently has four contributors including myself, but hope to add more once we begin posting articles. We seek to showcase writers who have different opinions, are fans of different people, and have different experiences with wrestling.  There will be plenty of information in our first article, so please visit the site now and sign up to follow so you can be among the first to know when things start rolling out.  You can follow on Twitter as well at @FaceToHeel.

Monday Night RAWWWWWW

Tuesday morning gifted me with a sore throat, a throbbing headache, and a fatigue I haven’t felt in a long while thanks to the lack of sleep after spending hours jumping and screaming until my voice gave out.  Monday, March 11th, my husband and I were four rows back from the ring for Monday Night Raw!  We’ve been to Smackdown, had a blast at the Survivor Series Pay Per View, but this was our first Raw experience.  After buying the tickets, my first priority became what to wear.  For the last two shows we attended, I went on sites and designed my own shirts because the selection for women in the WWE shop is somewhat lacking.  This time, I wanted to go authentic.  The pink Dolph Ziggler shirt that I had ordered my husband for Christmas came in the wrong size, so he gave it to me and I decided to go AJ Lee on the thing.

Not quite AJ, but it’s as close as I can get with my skill set.  It was fun to do and since WWE’s shop doesn’t have the variety that I want in women’s tops, I may choose to go this route again in the future.  I was proud of it and it was nice to be able to represent Ziggler along with my husband, who went with his new blue “Stealing The Show … And Your Girlfriend” tee.  Since we went signless to this event, we wanted to make sure we were still representing.  It paid off:

The night was amazing and jam packed with Superstars, surprises, and plenty of smiles from this girl.  Rather than recap the entire thing, here are some photos from my favorite moments:

The return of Undertaker!!  It was incredible to see the man in person, and I loved the tribute to Paul Bearer with the urn.  Sad and spectacular all at once.  The crowd went absolutely insane.

Brock Lesnar and the New Age Outlaws!  My only complaint here was that Triple H did not make an appearance as well to address Lesnar’s acceptance of his Wrestlemania challenge.

Kane getting a good shot in on CM Punk.  Punk is on my nerves right now, but I am excited to see him go against the streak in April.

Ryback, one of my new favorites, destroying a member of The Shield.  (Sidenote:  I promised not to get excited when Roman Reigns walked down the steps and through the crowd, but I failed and I touched him on the arm as he passed right by me.  He is greasy and angry and smells like Old Spice, in case you were curious)

Daniel Bryan vs. The Show Off, Dolph Ziggler.  Ziggler always puts on a great show!  Bryan has definitely grown on me since growing the beard, changing his chant to NO! and teaming with Kane.

I love the Rhodes Scholars, but I love a good RKO even more!  Poor Cody.

The Miz and Wade Barrett, two of my favorites, along with a human flashlight with fluffy unicorn hair and a big mouth.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry?!??  We got a preview of things to come, and I can’t wait to see these two go at it on Smackdown!  I’m excited to see who will come out on top.

RIP Paul Bearer.  What an awesome tribute.

Royal Rumble 2013

Finally…. The Rock HAS COME BACK…. home.  Last night, the Royal Rumble Pay Per View dominated our television screen and kept my husband and I on the edge of our seats.  The preshow, which aired on WWE’s Youtube channel, was a bit of a let down.  The site experienced a bit of lag which may have been from the amount of people tuning in, but thankfully all we seemed to have missed was The Big Show going on a rant about losing the Heavyweight title to the much smaller Alberto Del Rio.  The preshow featured Antonio Cesaro versus Mike “The Miz” in a match for the United States Championship.  While I appreciate the WWE’s attempt to give something to those who can’t afford or are otherwise unable to watch the Pay Per View, I don’t think championship matches should be thrown to the preshow.  They deserve better.

Much to my dismay, Cesaro held onto the belt and remained champion.  He is a solid wrestler and has a nice set of moves that set him apart from the competition, but he annoys me.  I’m not a fan of the type of heel that he is.  I feel that there are better ways to be hated than going for the easy route of insulting whatever city you are in and calling Americans fat and lazy.  He’s also gotten a bit obnoxious with waving the American flag around during his entrances.  The Miz has definitely grown on me, especially lately.  He’s gone from being that dude from the Real World to being someone I can get behind.  I enjoy him on the mic and in the ring, so it was a let down to see the title slip away from him.

The Pay Per View opened with the Heavyweight Title match; the champion Alberto Del Rio had to again take on The Big Show in a last man standing match.  Since Show turned heel, he has been an unstoppable force.  Del Rio was only able to win the title from him by pinning him underneath the announce table, so his chances weren’t exactly looking good for this match.  This was a hell of a way to open the Royal Rumble; Del Rio was thrown through a table from atop the light fixtures at the entrance and later countered with a fire extinguisher and some chairs.  The victory came when Del Rio was able to get Show in a cross armbreaker, allowing his ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez to duct tape Show’s ankles to the ring’s rope so he couldn’t get to his feet.  Since there were no disqualifications, Del Rio retained his title.  I’m not always a fan of sneaky ways to obtain a victory, but what else can you do when faced with an opponent who is seven feet tall and weighing in at almost 450 pounds?

Following that brutal match, we had the battle for the Tag Team titles.  The champions going in were Daniel Bryan and Kane of Team Hell No.  They were set to face Team Rhodes Scholars, the pairing of Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow.  I was excited for this match, but didn’t expect the titles to change hands due to the popularity of Team Hell No.  The pairing of Bryan and Kane makes absolutely no sense and that is why it works.  Their anger management issues and their inability to see eye to eye gives them a very unique chemistry.  Unfortunately, this was a match we have seen a few times before; they didn’t add enough to it to make it special for the Pay Per View.  Team Hell No was able to retain their titles after Bryan put Sandow in the No Lock and caused him to tap out.

Oddly enough, the Royal Rumble match was next.  Typically this match is the final event of the Pay Per View, but I suspect they moved it up in order to be able to close out with The Rock.  Dolph Ziggler was the first in the ring, followed by Chris Jericho and his lite brite jacket.  Jericho, in storyline, lost his contract after losing a match to Ziggler a few months back, so it made sense to start with these two who definitely still have bad blood between them.  The only real surprise entrant was Golddust, who was eventually eliminated by his brother, Cody Rhodes.  It was great to see him, but I was hoping for the return of Mark Henry and was obviously let down.  Kofi Kingston topped last year’s handstand by using a chair to get back into the ring without allowing his feet to hit the floor.  The coveted last entry was saved for Ryback, who managed to eliminate five people and leave himself alone with John Cena.  I was pulling for a Ryback win but unfortunately he was eliminated and Cena stole the victory.  Now, I like Cena but I’m beyond exhausted with him constantly getting title shot after title shot.  I understand that he is the bread and butter of the company, but he’s not the only superstar they’ve got at their disposal.  Perhaps Ryback isn’t ready for another title shot at a big event, but he would have been a better choice for a winner than Cena.  Sorry, John.

After Cena left the stage, it was finally time for CM Punk to defend his title against the returning Rock.  My husband’s wish was for Punk to take the victory, not because he’s a fan, but because it’s too soon for The Rock to grab the title and because it would be nice to see The Rock chase after Punk for a few months.  Since Punk was under watch due to his shady actions in the past, he was in danger of being stripped of his title if The Shield interfered with the match to allow Punk to again cheat his way to a victory.  It was a great match, but as soon as it looked like The Rock was going to take it, the arena went dark for a few moments, only to have the lights come back up to show a beaten and battered Rock lying on the broken announce table.  Punk rolled him into the ring to secure a win, but it was taken away by Vince McMahon.  McMahon attempted to strip Punk of the title, but The Rock would not allow it and instead requested the match be restarted.  McMahon agreed and The Rock was able to elbow his way to a victory, taking the title from Punk.  It was a great match, but is it too soon?  Is it right for The Rock to come back and win it all in his first match?  Will he stick around and be the champ we deserve or will he only wrestle part time due to his demanding film schedule?  There are a lot of questions, some of which I hope will be answered tonight on Raw.  I do hope that this title victory means that The Rock will be back full time for a while and will be at the Raw event in Indianapolis that we have very good tickets to.

As you probably have noticed, a Divas match was absent from this Pay Per View.  I would say noticeably absent, but did anyone really notice?  The Diva matches have sadly become the time when it’s safe to take a bathroom break.  With the loss of Beth Phoenix, the Bella Twins, and Eve, there isn’t much left to play with.  The talent is there, but the storylines aren’t.  There is little to no real effort put into the Diva division and that is a real shame.  These ladies should be allowed to tangle, not just be expected to shake their booties and be eye candy for the audience.

Overall, this was a great Pay Per View and I’m happy with the results.  I’m very excited to see the aftermath tonight on Raw, especially with Punk and The Rock.  I expect Big Show will be furious and that Team Hell No will argue about the Royal Rumble match results and anything else that crosses their minds.  I definitely want some reassurance that The Rock did not come back just to give us part-time attention.  Punk can definitely get on your nerves, but he was a very present champion.  He was there, he was loud, and he ensured that all eyes were on him.  The Rock can definitely get the attention, but will he be present or will we be forced to settle for video promos from afar?  I’m hoping for the former.  The last thing our new champion needs to do is fade away right after getting this moment in the sun.

SummerSlam!

Summerslam’s 25^th anniversary Pay Per View aired over the weekend and of course, we purchased it!  I had high hopes for it, as much as WWE hyped it up, and was very excited to see how everything played out.  Sadly, my expectations were a bit too high and the event left me feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

The preshow, Santino Marella versus Antonio Cesaro for the United States Championship, was part of the preshow and aired on WWE’s Youtube channel only.  It was definitely a letdown to see Santino thrown into a match that wasn’t really part of Summerslam, as if he isn’t an important enough wrestler to earn a spot in the actual event.  Cesaro, who is becoming more and more obnoxious with every appearance, beat Santino and won the US Championship after a 5 minute match.  I’m a big fan of Santino, and even with his silly persona, he’s a great wrestler.  It annoys me to see him treated like a joke and not given decent matches.

Next up was the human firefly, Chris Jericho against the show off, Dolph Ziggler.  The only thing I dislike about Ziggler is his loud manager, Vickie Guerrero.  If you can block out her screeching and just watch him in action, he’s fantastic.  Unfortunately, everything worked to make Jericho look like the golden boy and Ziggler look like a failure, with Jericho winning the match via submission.  Ziggler, who is Mr. Money In The Bank, has been trying and failing to cash in his contract for a title match, plus has been running away from fights lately rather than staying strong in the ring.  I was pulling for him to win this one, but it wasn’t in the cards.

Daniel Bryan versus Kane followed Jericho’s win.  Bryan has taken A.J.’s place as the unstable superstar ever since her promotion to General Manager of Raw and it’s been pretty damn amusing to see him lose his mind over the audience chanting “Yes! Yes!” by getting in the faces of audience members, throwing their signs to the ground, and yelling “No! No!” at the top of his lungs.  He and Kane have had a rivalry brewing over various storylines and I was eager to see Kane squash him.  Unfortunately, the big red monster didn’t have it in him and Bryan secured a victory.  I was pretty neutral on this match; it would have been nice to see Kane win, but Bryan pulled out a decent victory as the underdog.

The Miz and Rey Mysterio were up afterwards to compete for the Intercontinental Championship, a belt that for me, best lies with Cody Rhodes.  The Miz has been on fire since his return, and Mysterio has participated in quite a few great matches since returning as well.  With a Batman-like mask, Mysterio gave the audience a lot of high-flying action, but it wasn’t enough to win, so The Miz held onto the belt.  It would have been a great upset for Mysterio to walk away with the title, but the powers that be didn’t feel the same way I did.

Sheamus was up next to wrestle Alberto Del Rio and try to hold onto the World Heavyweight championship.  I’ve been loving the rivalry that has been brewing between these two; from Sheamus getting his head crushed in the hood of Del Rio’s car to Sheamus taking one of Del Rio’s overpriced cars for a joyride, the back and forth has been great.  I’m a big fan of Sheamus, but his storylines leave me with no worry whatsoever that he will lose the title, which takes away from the excitement of his matches.  When the title is on the line, I expect him to win.  I miss the suspense and I miss being worried.

R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeated the Prime Time Players in a Tag Team Championship match, which was good for what it was, but fairly tame for a Pay Per View.  The Divas made a short appearance during Kevin Rudolf’s musical performance, coming out and dancing as he sang.  Truth, Kingston, and the Divas seem to be secondary players when it comes to the big matches and I don’t think it’s fair.  The Tag Team Champions are extremely talented and deserve a more exciting match.  The Divas have been reduced to booty shaking, ass spanking, and tired jokes; go back two years and you can see them doing amazing things, but now they are given short, boring matches where the focus is on their breasts rather than their skills in the ring.

In a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship, CM Punk had to defend against John Cena and the Big Show.  It was a good match, but predictably, CM Punk won.  I don’t mind seeing Show go down, as his turn to heel has made him quite annoying as of late, but it was disappointing to see Cena screwed once again.  The WWE has made Cena into their golden boy, but refuses to give him a title.  Time and time again he tries and fails.  With CM Punk’s gradual descent into heel, it seems logical to have him lose the belt to Cena, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue.  Cena’s credibility is faltering without a title to his name.

The main event was Triple H versus Brock Lesnar, something that has been hyped up ever since Lesnar “broke” Triple H’s arm.  Since then, Lesnar “broke” Shawn Michael’s arm, enraging Triple H and getting me very excited to see these two beasts do battle.  What. A. Let down.  The first half of the match had Lesnar dominating and Triple H laying on the mat.  At every opportunity, Lesnar put Triple H into a kimura armlock, threatening once again to break his arm.  Come on, guys, it’s like you’re not even trying.  Triple H would begin to come back, only to have Lesnar dominate, finally making Triple H tap out with the kimura lock.  Tap out?!?  That is the big ending we get to Summerslam’s 25^th anniversary?  With Triple H and a “rebroken” arm, Lesnar exited the arena and Triple H stood around looking like a sad puppy for what seemed like an eternity.  It was awful, uncomfortable, and not what we should have been given.

Overall, I’m left feeling that most of the superstars deserved better than what was written for Summerslam.  It felt like a regular Raw episode, minus the commercials.  There was very little suspense, plus the only title that changed hands was thrown onto the preshow rather than featured in the actual Pay Per View.  This “Brock Lesnar breaks everyone’s arms” storyline is weak and annoying; one time would have been believable, but to expect fans to buy that Lesnar is breaking and rebreaking arms left and right is ridiculous even for the WWE.  Kane actually living in a boiler room and Randy Orton actually hearing voices is more believable.  The Diva division is a joke and no one seems concerned with making them matter anymore.  As a fan, I feel cheated.  Hopefully they get their shit together before Survivor Series, because what was written for Summerslam just wasn’t Pay Per View worthy.