Archive for the ‘John Cena’ Category
Live Reactions, Elimination Chamber 2015 – John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens is coming up next, kickstarting the second hour of the show.
The two guys stare each other down and take turns hoisting up their respective titles. Cliche, but people are into it. They lock up as the match starts. Headlock from Owens on Cena. Cena audibly calls for the move and says “I’ll give you one.” He then shoves Owens off into the ropes and Leapfrogs him and does the low bridge and Owens jumps over him and Cena pops back up and flattens Owens with a Shoulder Block, but Owens is right back up. They square off again and Owens beats Cena down in the corner. Cena counters a whip into the corner and follows up with a Running Bulldog. Owens hits a Big Boot and roughs up Cena over in the ropes and out on the ring apron. Owens kicks Cena and whips him into the corner and Cena drops in a heap, doing his best to put Owens over and sell his moves. Owens knocks Cena down again with a jab and kicks him some more. Owens with the cover, easy kick out. Owens with a Reverse Chinlock, but Cena fights back up of course. Oh, but he’s gonna sell it some more and drops back down to one knee and then to his ass while they rest some more. Cena fights back up again and forces the elbow up off his throat and separates his hands. Cena goes for the AA, but Owens counters and connects with a DDT. Owens covers Cena for a near fall. Owens gets in a few more punches and now calls for Cena to get up and knocks him back down with a Big Boot. Owens plays to the crowd. Then he knocks Cena down with another big right hand. Cena with a Schoolboy for a near fall, but Owens knocks him back on his ass with a Clothesline. Owens pummels Cena and then bounces off the ropes with a Back Splash and gets another near fall. Owens is dominating the offense in the match to this point. That doesn’t happen very much with Cena against a guy that isn’t like the Big Show or Great Khali. Cena now battles back with Shoulder Tackles and goes for a Flying Crossbody, but Owens catches him into a Spinning Crucifix Slam. Owens with the Rollout Cannonball move in the corner and covers Cena for another near fall. Owens tells Cena it’s time to give up and punches him in the mouth, but Cena fires back an they trade punches back and forth. Owens goes for the Pop-up Powerbomb, but it’s blocked and Cena connects with the Flying Shoulder Block, then the Spinning German Suplex and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena goes for the AA, but Owens counters and shoves Cena into the ropes and hits the Pop-up Powerbomb and covers him, but Cena again kicks out for a near fall. Owens goes to the top rope, but Cena crotches him. They fight on the middle rope and Owens Headbutts Cena and knocks him down. Owens goes fora Moonsault, but Cena moves out of the way and Owens crashes. Cena hits the AA, but Owens kicks out for a near fall. I thought that was the end of this one, but it continues. Great match so far. Outstanding work. Both guys are catching their breath. Owens deserves a breather after that breathtaking Moonsault attempt. He showcased phenomenal agility on that one. Nobody else his size could do that. Owens hits a Superkick, but doesn’t go for the cover. Owens mocks Cena and goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Cena grabs him by the leg and trips him up and locks in the STF. Owens drags himself to the ropes, but Cena drags him back to the middle. Owens blocks Cena trying to put the STF back on. Back up to his feet and Owens hits Cena with the AA and covers him for a near fall. Owens is having easily the best match of his WWE career so far. Cena counters Owens charging him in the corner and hits a Tornado DDT, diving off the middle rope. Cena heads up top and hits the Guillotine Leg Drop to the back of the neck with Owens bent over and covers him, but Owens kicks out for a near fall. Cena drags Owens back up and goes for the AA, but Owens blocks it. Owens with a Package PIledriver set up, but remembers Piledrivers are banned in WWE and changes course with it into a Side Slam variation. Owens covers Cena for a near fall. Owens says it’s over and clobbers Cena with another big right hand and yells at him to stay down. Cena on one knee, pops up with a rapid right hand. Trading big right hands. Owens with a Knee to the gut, whips Cena into the ropes. Cena ducks a Clothesline and springboards off the ropes into the Springboard Stunner and covers him for a near fall. Cena puts Owens up on the top turnbuckle and climbs up after him. Cena sets up for a Superplex, but Owens counters into another phenomenal unique Suplex counter, Angle Slam style with a spin. Cover for a near fall. Owens heads up to the top rope and hits a Senton Bomb and covers for another very close near fall. Off the breather, Cena flattens Owens with a huge Clothesline and takes a rest. Cena stumbles around and hugs the ropes before charging back at Owens again and Owens catches him with the Pop-up Powerbomb and covers him for the three count.
Phenomenal Match and Kevin Owens is getting pushed to the stratosphere with a debut win over John Cena and he beat him clean in maybe the match of the year! Outstanding work. This is shaping up like the best Pay Per View of the year potentially.
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not – 05/26/15 Edition
This is a pretty self-explanatory post and will possibly become a regular feature here at the Real American Wrestleblog. Let’s dive right in and see how it goes.
Who’s Hot
#1 – Kevin Owens – Owens won the NXT Championship just two months after his arrival at NXT R-Evolution. Despite his two championship matches with Sami Zayn (at NXT Rival and NXT Unstoppable) being aborted by referee interference, Owens has not lost any steam. In the first match with Zayn, the result was what amounted to a TKO, which wasn’t ideal, but it was palatable because it set up for what we thought would be an epic rematch. However, the second match was unable to finish due to multiple referees, the NXT commissioner and finally the debuting Samoa Joe getting in between Owens and Zayn and not allowing Owens to finish Zayn off. Despite all of that, Kevin Owens is as over with the crowd as ever, just like every WWE signing to come out of ROH has been. And now, this Sunday, Owens gets to make his WWE main roster PPV debut with a one-on-one match against John Cena. When was the last time somebody making their PPV debut was given a match with John Cena? My best guess would be maybe Carlito’s lackey Jesus back during their United States Championship rivalry back in 2004. It says a lot about WWE’s opinion of Owens, especially since he’s not the most in-shape of athletes, to put him in the ring with the face of the company on his first major WWE event.
#2 – Dean Ambrose – In what week would this list be complete without Dean Ambrose? But he has to be here this week, especially since he’s getting a one-on-one opportunity for the WWE Championship this Sunday at the Elimination Chamber. Ambrose’s antics usually make him the highlight of the night every single week on both Raw and Smackdown. It’s not just the Lunatic Fringe crazy antics, but it’s the over the top theatrics and top notch ring psychology that have made him an unwavering fan favorite since The Shield turned face approximately 15 months ago. Win or lose, no matter what the outcome of any given match, Ambrose seems to come out of it better than he went in.
#3 – John Cena – Cena’s United States Championship Open Challenge, since it began, has provided the best match of the night on every episode of Monday Night Raw where the match wasn’t interrupted by interference. Cena has really stepped up his game in the ring, adding that new Springboard Stunner maneuver to his arsenal. Plus, defending the title every week against an unknown challenger adds a lot of drama and entertainment value to the show, even if we know that no matter who it is that answers the challenge, Cena is still leaving with the belt. At this moment in time, Cena might just be the best entertainer that he’s ever been.
Who’s Not
#1 – Stardust – Other than using the bag of spiders to steal a win over R-Truth on Raw a few weeks ago, when was the last time that Stardust won a match? He lost to Truth on the Payback preshow. He lost to Neville last night. He lost to his big brother back at Fastlane. He lost in the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match at Wrestlemania. And he lost back in either the second or third United States Championship open challenge that Cena offered. Any other wins that he’s picked up in 2015 have not been very memorable. As much as I enjoyed the Goldust / Stardust tag team for a while, it’s gotta be about time for Cody to take off the facepaint and get back to what worked for him before.
#2 – The Bella Twins – Nikki and Brie got steam-rolled by Naomi and Tamina at Payback. When Nikki came out to rescue Paige on Raw last week, she tripped on the apron leaving the ring and fell flat on her face trying to chase Naomi and Tamina up the rampway. And heel or face, the Bellas just aren’t getting much of a reaction from the crowd, it seems to me. It’s well past time to give some different divas a chance. I predict we see a new Divas Champion this Sunday at Elimination Chamber.
#3 – Adam Rose – Instead of wrestling every week, Rose appears relegated to making out with Rosa Mendes backstage. And when it happens, Kane is usually walking by or forced to otherwise bear witness to this unsavory sight. It definitely feels like another run-in with the Big Red Machine is looming in Rose’s future and it won’t have a happy ending. Next time time, since the Rosebuds have been dismissed,there won’t be The Bunny or any other of the other residents of the Exotic Express to shield Rose from Kane’s destruction.
Real American Live Reactions – NXT Takeover: Unstoppable NXT Championship Match – Huge NXT Debut
Now it’s time for the Main Event – Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn part two. Kevin Owens promises that he will injury Sami Zayn again and this time there will be no coming back for Zayn. Sami comes out and they got the InZayn backward on the video board on the walkway. Upside down. Made it look like Nyazni. here comes Kevin Owens wearing a John Cena US Title Champ is Here t-shirt. After what happened on Monday and the announcement that Kevin Owens will go one-on-one with John Cena at Elimination Chamber in a week and a half, I’m half expecting Cena to make a run-in on this match.
The match starts out on the floor, with Sami taking the upper hand. Back in the ring, Owens gets in a shot as Sami comes through the ropes and gets in a few more shots in the corner. Sami whips Owens into the ropes, but Owens catches the ropes and blocks it so Zayn Clotheslines him out to the floor. Owens kicks him in the gut and goes for a Powerbomb into the side of the ring, but Sami counters into a Back Body Drop. Sami tackles Owens back against the steps and stands on him while pummeling him with a flurry of punches. Sami tosses Owens around outside the ring and slams him head first into the steps and whips him into the barricade. Owens stays down. Sami drags him back up by the hair and Owens punches him in the gut. Owens retreats into the ring, but Zayn dives on his legs and drags him back out and throws him over the barricade into the crowd. Sami over the barricade after him and gets in a few more big right hands. Owens tries for a Powerbomb into the side of the bleachers and gets Sami up, but Sami catches the railing to stop himself and punches Owens until he’s able to get away. Sami takes Owens back to the ring and hits the Blue Thunderbomb, but Owens kicks out for a near fall. They fight each other off some more and Sami hits a Half and Half Suplex (Half Nelson on one side, Underhook on the other side) for another near fall. Zayn goes for a Tornado DDT, but Owens drops to his knees and counters into a Gutbuster over his shoulder. Zayn fires back and hits an Exploder Suplex into the corner and goes for the Helluva Kick in the corner, but Owens drops out to the floor. Zayn out after him with a Suplex on the floor. Sami charges and dives at Owens, but Owens catches him with a Pop Up Powerbomb into the side of the ring. Sami is down and out, selling the move hard as he should and Owens slinks back into the ring while two officials check on Sami. Owens catches his breath and then goes out to the floor and mounts Zayn and pummels him with some punches. The referees pull him off, but he goes right back and does it again. They pull him off again. The trainer starts to pull Sami up, but Owens charges over and kicks Sami in the face three or four times. This goes on for quite some time until they prop Sami up against the steps and Owens finally pulls him back up and puts him in the ring. The referees are begging Owens to stop and here comes William Regal. Just let them finish the match already. This referee stoppage garbage and referee interference in the progression of a match has got to stop. Regal fishooks Owens, but Owens turns around and Headbutts him, knocking him out of the ring. Owens goes out and gets a chair and decks Zayn over the arm with it.
And holy crap, Samoa Joe’s music hits. here comes Samoa Joe! The match is apparently over, but now it’s Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe nose to nose and this is gonna be EPIC! Major mark out moment for everybody. These two guys are gonna be phenomenal in the ring together in the future. Owens back down and leaves the ring. Joe stares a hole through him. Joe poses for the crowd and it looks like the show is over. Great match comes to another crappy finish, but Samoa Joe makes his NXT debut and Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens looms in the future. Oh crap, here comes Owens back right now, but he’s surely not gonna get in the ring after already backing down once. And he’s not. Such a tease.
Real American Wrestleblog Live Reactions – Extreme Rules 2015 – United States Championship – Russian Chain Match
John Cena takes on Rusev next in a return match from Wrestlemania. This is a Russian Chain Match. WWE claims it is the first televised Russian Chain Match. It’s not. There have been many. I remember at least one Russian Chain Match at the 1991 Great American Bash where Sting fought Nikita Koloff. I’m sure it was a popular match type during the cold war. The cold war / Russia-US relations has given pro wrestling like 5 different generations of bad guys now. This is a match like Reigns vs. Big Show where I expect the crowd to be staunchly against both guys and try to hijack the match.
I’m gonna try to avoid the play-by-play reactions for most of this one because I’m sure it’ll be unexciting for the most part and will likely be aggravating. See, they’re playing tug of war to start the match.
I really like what Cena has been doing lately. He’s been having some very good singles matches in his United States Championship Open Challenges. However, I’m not really feeling this match at all. I find Rusev pretty boring. Some of the other big guys like Cena or Sheamus will actually showcase some athleticism. Rusev just kinda stands there and kicks and stomps people. His only halfway athletic is that rolling senton he does into the corner and I can do that one, so it’s not very impressive.
More tug of war. I think I might as well use this opportunity for another pee break.
Lana starts to go over with the crowd, so Rusev sends her to the back. They continue to tease a break-up of Rusev and Lana. BTW, those two are dating in real life and have a house together in Nashville, if anybody cares about that sort of thing. He may not be very gifted in the ring, but he apparently has other things going for him.
Rusev gets Cena in the Accolade. Cena powers up and rams Rusev into the corner. Finish must be coming up.
Nevermind, Cena finishes breaking free of the Accolade and hits an AA and both men are down, corner lights go off.
Now, they’re touching opposite corners. That’s kind different for this type of match. Cena gets another AA and wins. Cena retains the title.
Cena drops Old Glory from above the ring like Rusev usually does with the Russian flag. Suck it, commie. Hope their program is done now.