April 11, 2010- April 17, 2010
Welcome to edition #102 of the WWE Week in Review. Feel free to contact me on TWO or Wrestling 101 anytime with comments, questions, and anything in between. Make sure to check out the section at the end of the article highlighting a different WWE Superstar, Diva, or Legend every week. I have also added a section that lists where WWE will be hosting their weekly shows.
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The 881st edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you from the O2 Arena in London, England. The star of the classic television shows, “Baywatch” and “Knight Rider” would take the helms of RAW as actor, musician, television personality, and UK sensation David Hasselhoff would be in control of RAW. With his Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship against John Cena at WWE Extreme Rules looming, “The Animal” Batista would go one-on-one with his former Evolution teammate, Randy Orton! After winning a “Dress To Impress” Battle Royal on last week’s RAW to earn the opportunity, Eve Torres would get her shot at the Divas Title as she would go one-on-one with Maryse with the gold on the line.
Monday Night RAW (April 12, 2010)
Good Week For: John Cena (forced David Otunga to tap out and forced Batista to pass out)
Bad Week For: Maryse (let her confidence cost her the Divas Title)
Rolling up in the famous KITT car from “Knight Rider”, Guest Host and UK sensation David Hasselhoff opens the show and proclaims that he is making his own special match honoring the classic show, “Baywatch”, by presenting the “Baywatch Babe Triple Threat Tag Team Match”! Hasselhoff stated that he watched Friday’s SmackDown and noticed that there was no #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title before announcing that the #1 Contender should be the one that has pinned the World Heavyweight Champion two weeks in a row as “The Viper” Randy Orton will be the one to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger at WWE Extreme Rules! After this blockbuster announcement, “The Hoff” introduces the opening match of the night.
The opening match of the night was for the Divas Championship as Maryse would defend the gold against Eve Torres! After Eve missed a moonsault, the confidence of Maryse ended up costing the French-Canadian Diva as Maryse wasted too much time taunting Eve and, when attempting her French Kiss DDT, Eve was able to counter with a successful roll-up to win the Divas Championship! Eve Torres is the new Divas Champion, but how will Maryse respond to losing the gold?
Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Miz & Big Show made an appearance on RAW as United States Champion The Miz promised an “earth-shaking announcement”! Before The Miz makes his announcement, Big Show tells The Miz that they have a chance to be “really special as a tag team”. The Miz responds by saying that they “are special” because no one has been able to unseat them as the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions before proclaiming that “ShoMiz is the greatest tag team in WWE history”! This bold proclamation brings out WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart, who tells ShoMiz that he can think of two tag teams right off the top of his head who are better than ShoMiz before naming The Hart Foundation & The British Bulldogs as being greater than ShoMiz! The Miz responds by saying they could have easily beaten either of those teams! Bret then says there is a tag team in the back who he knows can beat ShoMiz before The Hart Dynasty comes out! The Hart Dynasty’s David Hart Smith then steps forward and challenges The Miz to a one-on-one match where, if he wins, then The Hart Dynasty challenges ShoMiz for the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles at WWE Extreme Rules! The Miz responds by saying that, even though Big Show disagrees, he accepts the challenge, but on one condition; if The Miz wins, then, on next week’s RAW, Bret Hart must publically declare that ShoMiz is the “greatest tag team in WWE history”, which Bret agrees to!
United States Champion The Miz went one-on-one with The Hart Dynasty’s David Hart Smith in a non-title match where, if David Hart Smith wins, then The Hart Dynasty will challenge ShoMiz for the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles at WWE Extreme Rules, but if The Miz wins, then Bret Hart must publically call ShoMiz “the greatest tag team in WWE history” on next week’s RAW! Though both sides got involved through the course of the match, it was Big Show with a vicious shot to the kidney of David Hart Smith that allowed The Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale en route to picking up the win! With this win, Hall of Famer Bret Hart must proclaim that ShoMiz is “the greatest tag team in WWE history” on next week’s RAW! Will the legendary Bret Hart really make this proclamation next week?
Backstage, Guest Host David Hasselhoff confronts NXT Rookie David Otunga and reveals that WWE Champion John Cena requested Otunga’s presence on RAW before announcing that Otunga will go one-on-one with John Cena in a non-title match on RAW! Has David Otunga gotten in over his head by messing with John Cena or will Otunga skyrocket past his fellow NXT Rookies by defeating the WWE Champion?
The high-flying Evan Bourne was in action on RAW as Bourne went one-on-one with Carlito. After a failed attempt at the Back Stabber by Carlito, Evan Bourne took advantage by hitting Air Bourne en route to picking up the win!
One week after abandoning John Cena in a Unified WWE Tag Team Title match, NXT Rookie David “A-List” Otunga would have to go one-on-one with the WWE Champion himself in a non-title match requested by Cena and granted by Guest Host David Hasselhoff! However, the “x factor” in this one-on-one match was the fact that John Cena’s opponent at WWE Extreme Rules, Batista, was watching the match from the staging area! Making sure that Batista was able to see it, John Cena sent a message to “The Animal” by forcing David Otunga to tap out, with ease, to Cena’s STF! After the match, Batista started to make his way to the ring to face his Extreme Rules opponent, but instead demanded a spotlight and screamed that he will decide when they will face off before exiting to the back! Who will emerge as the last man standing when John Cena defends the WWE Title against Batista in a Last Man Standing Match at WWE Extreme Rules?
“The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus made an appearance on RAW and states that Triple H only brings the sledgehammer out against someone he “fears” and last week showed him that Triple H is “scared to death” of him! Sheamus then states that things are about to get “worse” for Triple H before announcing that they will square off at WWE Extreme Rules in a Street Fight! Sheamus then states that it would be a “mistake” for Triple H to show up at Extreme Rules and it will be a “mistake” that Triple H will regret for the rest of his career! A revenge-fueled Kofi Kingston then came out and announced that Guest Host David Hasselhoff has informed him that he gets to face Sheamus in a one-on-one rematch from last week!
After being beat down and laid out by Sheamus after their match last week, Kofi Kingston would get his shot at revenge in an impromptu match against “The Celtic Warrior”! In a sudden and vicious end to the match, Sheamus blasted Kofi in the mid-section with a television monitor, which would see Sheamus being disqualified! After the match, the vicious assault continued as Sheamus rammed the ribs of Kofi into the steel ring post before leveling a helpless Kofi with a big boot! Will Triple H suffer the same fate at WWE Extreme Rules or will “The Game” teach Sheamus a lesson in respect?
Backstage, Carlito enters the office of Guest Host David Hasselhoff, but finds Vladimir Kozlov instead and blames the RAW Guest Hosts for his and Kozlov’s lack of involvement on RAW and vows that, if he does not get traded to SmackDown in the WWE Draft in two weeks, he will “just quit”! After learning that next week’s Guest Co-Hosts will be the cast of the upcoming movie, “MacGruber”, Kozlov vowed that, if he does not get what he wants, he will “destroy MacGruber”! What fate awaits the cast of “MacGruber” on next week’s RAW?
Complete with slow-motion runs and one-piece bathing suits, it was time for the “Baywatch Babe Triple Threat Tag Team Match” with Guest Host David Hasselhoff getting the best seat in the house as the “Guest Lifeguard” and Santino Marella as the Special Guest Referee! After The Bella Twins pulled the Bella Switch, it was the fresh Bells rolling up Jillian to ensure victory for the Bella Twins over Jillian & Rosa Mendes and Gail Kim & Kelly Kelly!
Then it was time for the main event as the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title would square off with the #1 Contender for the WWE Title as “The Viper” Randy Orton would go one-on-one with his former Evolution teammate, “The Animal” Batista! At the end of a hard-fought match, it was Batista who seemed to have the victory in hand as he set Randy Orton for the Batista Bomb, but “The Viper” was able to counter and catch Batista with the RKO! It looked like Orton would be the victor of a hotly contested match, but World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger entered the ring and snatched Orton up and laid his Extreme Rules challenger out with the Swagger Bomb! After laying out his #1 Contender, Jack Swagger exited the ring, but “The All-American Champion” was blindsided by WWE Champion John Cena, who knocked Swagger down before entering the ring and locking his STF on Batista, forcing Batista to frantically tap out before eventually passing out! If John Cena does this at WWE Extreme Rules in the Last Man Standing Match, Cena could very well emerge as the WWE Champion! Will John Cena emerge victorious and retain the WWE Title at Extreme Rules or will Batista regain the gold he lost at WrestleMania?
SmackDown Leaving MyNetworkTV: As first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, WWE Friday Night SmackDown will be making the move from MyNetworkTV to Syfy this October! WWE is expected to make an official announcement sometime this week. It is being reported that Syfy is paying $30 million to air SmackDown on the network. This will mean that Syfy will house both WWE NXT on Tuesday nights and SmackDown on Friday nights and the only WWE show not under the NBC umbrella will be WWE Superstars, which airs on WGN America.
The eighth edition of WWE NXT came to you from the O2 Arena in London, England. With the first elimination in the NXT competition rapidly approaching, the NXT Rookies would be looking to impress the WWE Rookies and avoid being the unfortunate Rookie ranked at number eight.
WWE NXT (April 13, 2010)
Good Week For: Darren Young (earned the acceptance of CM Punk by defeating Luke Gallows)
Bad Week For: Luke Gallows (was defeated by Darren Young and left alone in the ring by CM Punk & Serena)
The show opens with NXT Host Matt Striker, who brings the eight NXT Rookies to the ring in order of their rank as Darren Young, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield, David “A-List” Otunga, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Wade Barrett, & Daniel Bryan line up in the ring! Striker questions Michael Tarver about his performance in his match and his keg challenge last week and asks Tarver if “the pressure” is getting to Tarver. Tarver responds by saying that he is the “pressure” and whether he “wins or loses, he will not lose”! The NXT Host then questions David Otunga about his match with WWE Champion John Cena on RAW and Otunga responds by saying that he is the only NXT Rookie to have wrestled the WWE Champion! Justin Gabriel was then questioned about facing the WWE Champion John Cena and Gabriel stepped up and said that he would face “The Champ” if he was given the opportunity! NXT Host Matt Striker then reveals that the Rookies will compete in another competition where the UK fans would determine the winner! Striker then announces that, whoever wins the competition will get their own entrance theme! The competition will see the eight Rookies speak on a given topic and, in their thirty second time limit, must express their “creativity”! While the Rookies struggled to discuss the oddball topics of cereal, sleep, toothpaste, and even rainbows, it came down to Skip Sheffield and England’s own Wade Barrett! With the voting too close to call, it came down to Skip discussing bubble gum to no success and England’s own Wade Barrett rocking the topic of wind by discussing the “winds of change” and proclaiming that he will be the first England native to be WWE Champion! The fans roared their approval for Wade Barrett as Barrett was declared the winner of the Talk The Talk Challenge and will get his very own entrance theme!
Backstage, CM Punk informs his NXT Rookie, Darren Young, that he will face “The Straightedge Disciple” Luke Gallows in a one-on-one match on NXT and, if Young wins, then his “transgressions” against The Straightedge Society on SmackDown will be “forgiven”, but if Gallows wins, then Young will have his head shaved! Can Darren Young prove his worth to his WWE Pro by defeating Luke Gallows or will Young have his wild hairstyle shaved?
With his WWE Pro, Chris Jericho, by his side, England’s own Wade Barrett was in action on NXT as the Rookie would go one-on-one with WWE Pro Christian, who brings his NXT Rookie Heath Slater to the ring with him! Chris Jericho tried to get involved to help Wade Barrett win the match, but Christian’s Rookie, Heath Slater, took advantage of Jericho distracting the referee to distract Barrett long enough to allow his Pro to hit the Killswitch to pick up the win!
Following a “pep talk” where his WWE Pro The Miz called him the “Susan Boyle of the WWE”, NXT Rookie Daniel Bryan went one-on-one with WWE Pro William Regal! Regal was able to make relatively quick work as Regal hit the running knee en route to picking up the win over Bryan in the eighth straight loss in Bryan’s NXT run! After the match, The Miz blind-sided William Regal to send Regal out of the ring before Miz laid out his NXT Rookie by planting Daniel Bryan with the Skull Crushing Finale! With an eight match losing streak, can Daniel Bryan avoid elimination in four weeks when the first NXT elimination takes place?
Then it was time for the main event as CM Punk’s NXT Rookie Darren Young would go one-on-one with the right-hand man of CM Punk, “The Straightedge Disciple” Luke Gallows with the stipulation that, if Young wins, his “transgressions” of last Friday’s SmackDown will be “forgotten”, but if Gallows wins, then Darren Young will have his head shaved! After catching his larger opponent off-guard, Darren Young was able to catch Gallows with a roll-up to win the match and keep his hair! After the match, in a shocking move, CM Punk actually raises the hand of his Rookie, much to the confusion of Luke Gallows, who gets left alone in the ring as Darren Young leaves with CM Punk & Serena! What does this mean for Luke Gallows’ role in The Straightedge Society?
The 52nd edition of WWE Superstars came to you from the O2 Arena in London, England. Two WWE Pros in the NXT competition would face off as Justin Gabriel’s WWE Pro, Matt Hardy would go one-on-one with Michael Tarver’s WWE Pro, Carlito. Former United States Champion MVP would be in action as “The Ballin’ Superstar” would go one-on-one with the self-proclaimed “Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase. The WWE Pro of NXT Rookie Heath Slater would be in action as “Captain Charisma” Christian would go one-on-one with Chavo Guerrero.
WWE Superstars (April 15, 2010)
Good Week For: Ted DiBiase (picked up a hard-fought victory over MVP)
Bad Week For: Carlito (continued his losing streak, thanks, in part, to Michael Tarver)
The opening match of the night saw two WWE Pros squaring off in an inter-promotional battle as Matt Hardy, with his NXT Rookie Justin Gabriel by his side, would go one-on-one with Carlito, with his NXT Rookie Michael Tarver, accompanying him! With Matt Hardy set to hit the Twist of Fate to finish the match, Carlito’s NXT Rookie Michael Tarver got on the ring apron to distract Matt Hardy long enough for Carlito to regain control of the match. However, Tarver’s presence on the apron distracted Carlito and, after Justin Gabriel pulled Tarver off of the apron, Matt Hardy took advantage by planting Carlito with the Twist of Fate en route to picking up the win! How will Carlito respond to Michael Tarver’s failed interference the last two weeks?
Another WWE Pro was in action on WWE Superstars as Christian, with his NXT Rookie Heath Slater at ringside, went one-on-one with Chavo Guerrero. In an impressive showing by “Captain Charisma”, Christian was able to plant Chavo with the Killswitch en route to picking up the victory!
Then it was time for the main event of the evening as “The Ballin’ Superstar” MVP would go one-on-one with the self-proclaimed “Fortunate Son” Ted DiBiase. In the end, it was Ted DiBiase putting MVP on Dream Street en route to picking up the hard-fought victory!
The 556th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown came to you from the O2 Arena in London, England. Just nine days before they go one-on-one at WWE Extreme Rules, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio would be in action on SmackDown as Rey would team with The Hart Dynasty to face The Straightedge Society and CM Punk’s NXT Rookie Darren Young in a 6-Man Tag match.
Friday Night SmackDown (April 16, 2010)
Good Week For: Jack Swagger (successfully defended his World Heavyweight Title against both Edge & Chris Jericho)
Bad Week For: Edge (narrowly missed becoming the champion, was laid out by Jack Swagger, and had his Achilles tendon assaulted by Chris Jericho)
One week after his #1 Contender’s Match for the World Heavyweight Title against Edge ended in a Double Count-Out, Chris Jericho opens the show on SmackDown! Jericho states that Randy Orton is on RAW, yet he is challenging Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Title, a championship exclusive to SmackDown, at WWE Extreme Rules. Jericho then claims that he brought the World Heavyweight Title to “prominence and glory as the greatest champion of this or any other generation”! Jericho continues that, despite having a guaranteed rematch for the championship as the former World Heavyweight Champion, he does not have a rematch for the gold! Jericho then blames SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and calls the GM a “buffoon” and tells Long to “rectify” the situation by handing in his “resignation” and announcing that he get a title shot at WWE Extreme Rules as soon as the World Heavyweight Title match between Jack Swagger and Randy Orton is over! Jericho is then interrupted by his intense rival, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge! Edge agrees that the World Heavyweight Title belongs to SmackDown, but calls Jericho “damaged goods”; citing that he has speared him numerous times over recent weeks, leaving Jericho injured! Edge then suggests that Jericho give up his rematch clause because he is injured! Jericho asks Edge if he thinks that he can beat Swagger & Orton and Edge responds by threatening to Spear Jericho! This brings out SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long who tells Jericho that Randy Orton would not have been named the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title had Edge & Jericho not gotten themselves counted out last week! Long says that it is his decision regarding Jericho’s rematch for the title before announcing that Jericho will get his rematch for the World Heavyweight Title against Jack Swagger on SmackDown! Long then says that he also believes Edge could be the one to keep the World Heavyweight Title on SmackDown before announcing that Jack Swagger will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against both Edge & Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat Match on SmackDown! Who will emerge from this huge SmackDown main event as the World Heavyweight Champion?
The opening match of the night saw the Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre go one-on-one with “The Big Red Machine” Kane in a non-title bout! Kane was poised for victory as he was set to deliver the chokeslam to Drew McIntyre, but McIntyre opted to roll out of the ring and was content to take a count-out loss, but, after suffering two weeks in a row at the hands of the Intercontinental Champion, a revenge-fueled Matt Hardy came from behind and tossed “The Chosen One” back in the ring where Kane planted Drew McIntyre with a thunderous chokeslam! However, Matt’s interference gave McIntyre the win via disqualification and Kane was none too happy with Matt costing him the match as he also planted Matt Hardy with a chokeslam!
One week after senselessly attacking announcer and interview Josh Mathews by placing Mathews in the sleeper hold, Dolph Ziggler was in action on SmackDown, but before his match, Dolph stated that he has been ordered by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long to issue an apology to Josh Mathews for his attack last week! After delivering a less than half-hearted apology to the announcer, Dolph Ziggler’s opponent, R-Truth, came out and tells Dolph that he has no “heart” and no “soul” and tells Dolph that he did not “mean” a word that he just said but that he will show Dolph that “the truth hurts”! However, in the end, Dolph Ziggler was able to catch R-Truth in the sleeper hold, which led to Dolph getting the win! What is next in the career of Dolph Ziggler?
Women’s Champion Michelle McCool was in action on SmackDown as she went one-on-one with the Diva that the took the title from in controversial fashion as McCool, with Layla and SmackDown Consultant Vickie Guerrero at ringside, squared off with Mickie James! With a big assist by Layla, Michelle McCool was able to defeat a very game Mickie James after laying Mickie out with a big boot! After the match, McCool was looking to deal out some more punishment on Mickie, but Beth Phoenix made the save and ran McCool & Layla from the ring! When will Beth Phoenix finally get her revenge on Michelle McCool?
Nine nights before they go one-on-one at WWE Extreme Rules with CM Punk’s hair on the line, Rey Mysterio and CM Punk would be in action on SmackDown as Rey would team with The Hart Dynasty to face the team of The Straightedge Society and CM Punk’s NXT Rookie Darren Young in a 6-Man Tag Match! In the end, it was the 619 of Rey Mysterio that led to David Hart Smith hitting the powerslam on CM Punk en route to pinning “The Straightedge Savior” and picking up the win for his team! With their Extreme Rules showdown rapidly approaching, will CM Punk emerge from the event with his hair intact or will Rey Mysterio ensure that Punk is shaved bald?
Two weeks after the shocking breakup of Cryme Tyme saw his former friend and partner Shad Gaspard lay him out with a big boot, JTG was in action as he went one-on-one with one-half of The Dudebusters, Caylen Croft, as Shad Gaspard watched from ringside! In the end, it was a modified neckbreaker that led to JTG picking up the victory! After the match, Shad Gaspard entered the ring and tried to lay out JTG for the third week in a row, but it was JTG who planted Shad with the Mug Shot before an enraged Shad exited the ring as a fired up JTG dared Shad to re-enter the ring! What is the next step in this broken partnership turned intense rivalry?
Then it was time for the huge main event as “The All-American Champion” Jack Swagger would make his first defense of the World Heavyweight Championship against the former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and the Superstar partially responsible for Swagger winning the gold, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge, in a Triple Threat Match! In an incredible war over the gold, it looked like Edge was going to claim the World Heavyweight Title after laying Chris Jericho with the Spear, but the opportunistic Jack Swagger would pull Edge off of the cover and out of the ring before taking advantage of Edge’s Spear and pinning Chris Jericho to retain the World Heavyweight Championship! After the match, Jack Swagger sent a message to his Extreme Rules opponent, Randy Orton, by planting Edge with the Swagger Bomb in the middle of the ring! Things then went from bad to worse for Edge as Chris Jericho would deliver a heinous attack to the surgically-repaired Achilles tendon of Edge; an attack that ended with Jericho placing the ankle of Edge in between the steel steps and the steel ring post and smashing the ankle of Edge! What is the status of Edge following this vicious attack at the hands of Chris Jericho?
Superstar of the Week: World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger
Legend Profile of the Week
Name: Stu Hart
Born On: May 3, 1915 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died On: October 16, 2003 at the Age of 88 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Debut: 1943
Retired: 1972
Trained By: Self-Trained
Accomplishments
2010 WWE Hall of Famer
Founder of the Hart Dungeon
Trainer of More Than Fifty Wrestlers
Patriarch of The Hart Family
Did You Know?
In addition to the legendary Hart Family, Stu Hart also trained such names as: Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, Mark Henry, Lance Storm, Brian Pillman, Gene Kiniski, Bad News Brown, Gary Valentine, Gorilla Monsoon, The Honky Tonk Man, & “Superstar” Billy Graham in the legendary Hart Dungeon in Calgary.
Next Week’s WWE Television Schedule
Monday, April 19: RAW, LIVE from the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ
Tuesday, April 20: WWE NXT from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT
Thursday, April 22: WWE Superstars from East Rutherford, NJ & Uncasville, CT
Friday, April 23: The Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT Hosts SmackDown