WWE's calling it the best MitB PPV ever, and it's not much of a stretch. Only 2011 -- headlined by the ultra-tense Cena vs. Punk title match, with a superlatively satisfying MitB win by Daniel Bryan -- can really make a better case, if you ask The Rick.

Tonight's show is top-to-bottom strong, but will be at its best during the three top matches, any one of which could step up to be the Match of the Night. Here's the line-up:

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Title Match)
Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Alberto del Rio vs. Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro (Money in the Bank Ladder Match)
John Cena vs. AJ Styles (15 Years in the Making OMG Dream Match)
The New Day vs. Gallows/Anderson vs. Enzo/Cass vs. the Vaudevillains (Tag Team Title Match)
Rusev vs. Titus O'Neil (US Title Match)
Becky Lynch & Natalya vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus
The Golden Truth vs. Breezedango (Preshow)
The Lucha Dragons vs. the Dudley Boyz (Preshow)

And somewhere in there, it's very likely that Bray Wyatt makes his return, too; when he was last seen, he was forging a tenuous alliance with Reigns.... certainly, reprising that would be an interesting way for Reigns to retain the title, while Rollins has a strong case for a rematch due to Bray's interference.

Ambrose or Owens seem like the best bets to win MitB. Ambrose is your shortcut to a 3-way Shield Feud (he's even openly discussed cashing in on the same night), while Owens would just be awesome fun.

I've got a sneaking suspicion Gallows/Anderson win the tag titles tonight. Spend July on the straight-up G&A; vs. New Day feud, and then you've got Enzo & Cass in perfect position to get a huge crowd pleasing SummerSlam win in Brooklyn (on the one-year anniversary of their NXT Title win, to boot!).

Rusev is a no-brainer, but I think the match will be better than expected. And unless Charlotte has another partner stashed away, the women's tag seems a perfect set-up for Becky & Nattie to get the win thanks to superior teamwork/friendship, which in turn sets up the next #1 Contender (it's Becky's turn, if you ask me). Then again, with both Naomi and Sasha Banks ready to return, run-ins and shenanigans are very much possible.

The rest? Meh, two main card matches, both at risk of culling if the show starts to run long because nobody cares, and two preshow matches where the only only silver lining is that I care way more about Golden Truth than I ever would have thought possible, but I still feel guilty about it.

Your turn, OO Nation! Debate, discuss, dissect, and I'll see you with the Main Page PPV Recap at some point around 11:30pm (eastern) later tonight....

[Edited on 6-19-2016 by OORick]

Be sure to make your picks here

http://www.oowrestling.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=31181

And chat here:

http://natecorbitt.proboards.com/page/chat

Nitpicky correction: Enzo & Cass actually never won the NXT Tag Titles. They were involved in an 8-man tag at last years NXT Brooklyn with The Hype Bros against American Alpha and The Revival. It was the Vaudevillains who won the tag titles off of Blake & Murphy. That said, I'm all for the scenario you've pitched for the tag titles moving towards Summerslam.

I'm really hoping this show delivers as for whatever reason I'm having a hard time mustering up any excitement. Definitely has the makings of a sleeper show, though. Honestly it really hinges upon the results of the MiTB match itself and Styles/Cena for me. Would love to see Ambrose or Owens with the briefcase, but I fear that they'll end up just giving it to ADR because he has nothing going and they want to trick us into giving a crap. Styles is in a must-win situation, IMO. He's been doing really well since his debut at the Rumble, but it seems like he's come up short in all of his big matches so far. Him winning is way more interesting, and would be a nice way to maybe plant the seeds (not for a heel turn, obviously) for a less confident John Cena who may have lost a step since his injury.

Rollins/Reigns is either going to end with LOLBROCKTOONWINZ, or maybe JUST MAYBE they'll do something interesting involving Bray, Dean cashing in, or some sort of non-finish that'll help set the table for the title scene leading into the brand split. I still think there should be only one champ EVEN if it is Vince's favorite Samoan.

Anyway, here's my picks from the Pick 'Em thread...

quote:

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Originally posted by CM Crunk
Golden Truth
Dudleys
Baron Corbin
Apollo Crews
Charlotte & Dana Brooke
Rusev
AJ Styles
The Club
Ambrose
Seth/Roman No Contest/Double DQ/General Chicanery/Ambrose cash-in

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Couple of things ...

- Shouldn't Paige be the woman's #1 contender with the win on Raw?
- I fully expect Ambrose to win, but what if Wyatt just comes out, has the Wyatt Family beat the fuck out of everyone and steals the case?
- This is an unfair night of TV with Game 7 and The Battle of the Bastards.
- I think Rollins wins and loses to Ambrose.
- Not sure if everyone saw in the rumor crap thread but Forbes is reporting that WWE just realized that the split needs more wrestlers and they are calling all hands on deck. Angle, Goldberg, Jeff Hardy, Carlito, Mysterio and Shelton Benjamin have all supposedly been contacted about immediate availability.

Bray, Bray, Bray...why's it gotta be him? Why ain't nobody hearing voices in their head aboot who it could otherwise be? #shitstirring #pleasedeargodletitbehimeventhoughhe'sprobablygonnahelpJohnboywithTheClub

ETA: New Gay FTW.

ETA2: Loud boring chants for Corbin/Ziggler. Neat.

Fuck's sake basketball is fundamentally useless from an entertainment perspective unless Steph Curry's wife goes nutzoid and y'alls can record Ramsey/Snow buttfuckery on GoT. #NewEra #HardInTheTaint

[Edited on 6-20-2016 by janerd75]

Was the crowd chanting "This is boring" or "Corbin Bernsen"?

This show is laid out like ass.

Baron/Ziggler, Women's match, Appollo/Sheamus. All terrible builds. All in a row. Guess they're going with the big three main events being the only ones that matter? But I'm getting tired, and much more into the basketball game.

Lay out the show better is what I'm saying, Christ.

JBL freaking out about AJ winning due to Club Shenanigans? I didn't expect that. Like, he really blew his top over that in full-JBL fashion. What's -that- all about, I wonders?

quote:

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Originally posted by TonyTH
This show is laid out like ass.

Baron/Ziggler, Women's match, Appollo/Sheamus. All terrible builds. All in a row. Guess they're going with the big three main events being the only ones that matter? But I'm getting tired, and much more into the basketball game.

Lay out the show better is what I'm saying, Christ.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero
Was the crowd chanting "This is boring" or "Corbin Bernsen"?

---

That's all the gift I get?

Dammit.

Jericho: Take the number 69, it's hilarious! *sweet Alex Lifeson riff* THEY CALL ME THE WORKIN' MAN!

ETA: Why is Corey Graves wearing a M'Lady hat?

Also, Renee is positively glistening and moist after Deano's win. #Town

[Edited on 6-20-2016 by janerd75]

So yeah, stacking those three blandfests on top of each other for over an hour kinda killed my excitement level. But man alive, did Styles and Cena ever tell a great story (right up to an including JBL's odd freak-out over the schmozz finish)... granted, Cena has a history of losing Chapter One of a feud, and later chapters are entirely more predictable and bland, but for now, we're in a good place with those two.

I actually thought Cena/Styles might have secure MotN status. But then MitB happened, and was red hot. I think everybody but Jericho had TONS of fan support and credibility for their teases. For me, Owens gets MVP of the match (also, Dumbass of the Match for that one Michinoku Driver bump), Cesaro a close second, and NONE of that takes away from Ambrose winning and being a compelling MitB holder.

How are we still doing this Rusev match? Do Rollins and Reigns not even intend to TRY to top those two matches? It'll be 10:45 before they even ring the bell on the WWE Title Match....


Rick

I really like that double-clothesline outside the ring spot. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen it lately, although I can't remember specifics.

ETA: Not only do you get to lose when WWE is in your hometown, if you're a dad, you eat the pin on Father's Day!

[Edited on 6-20-2016 by Count Zero]

Am I the only one that forgot the Rusev/Titus existed?

8 minutes until "end of show", and now it's The Guy vs The Man, buddy.

I guess with the network era they are no longer beholden to the 11pm finish time for PPV's.... still, there are those of us who have work tomorrow bright and early on the east side of the continent, so for as awesome as I'm hoping Reigns vs Rollins is, I also hope they get to it right quick and don't drag things out too late....

Although I suppose I could just always stop it and finish it off tomorrow, but it's just not the same.

Some thoughts:

*They probably should have opened with one of the big three; give the show a hot start. I think the Tag match would have been a great first hour B match, and the other matches peppered in between the rest of the show probably would have felt a bit more lively.

*Cena versus AJ was well done... they did the finish I kind of figured they would... enough to protect Cena, while still putting him as the probable winner, but allowing AJ to take home the win. Still... they made AJ look very strong at several spots, so fishy win or not, he's still walking out looking like he's in John's league.

I'm kind of hoping that they deviate from the traditional rematch format and maybe go with a six man rematch between Cena and AJ at Battleground... maybe JC calls on Samoa Joe for some help? You can then finish things off in a one on one rematch at Summer Slam.

Then again with the Brand Split coming up who knows how these things will work out....

*MITB was well done... hard to talk about big spot fest matches like this in a critical way, but this one lived up to the hype for the most part. I think only really ADR or Y2J were the only one's that you maybe didn't want to win... but even both of them you could probably live with as winners... Still, Ambrose winning is a feel good moment, and more importantly be it a cash in tonight, or at Battleground, you've got the potential for a Shield three way for the title at Summer Slam... and that just screams huge match.

quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero
JBL freaking out about AJ winning due to Club Shenanigans? I didn't expect that. Like, he really blew his top over that in full-JBL fashion. What's -that- all about, I wonders?

---

quote:

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Jesse "The Body" Ventura
Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat

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quote:

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Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Like Kes said in her last appearance on Star Trek Voyager, "Corbin Bernsen" is my gift to you.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero
8 minutes until "end of show", and now it's The Guy vs The Man, buddy.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Katie Vick killer

quote:

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Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Like Kes said in her last appearance on Star Trek Voyager, "Corbin Bernsen" is my gift to you.

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Unlike the "Gift" she gave to her neighbours kids http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/jennifer-lien-arrested-star-trek-voyager-1201594328/

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HOLY FUCKING SHIT





INTERNETSPLODES.

On the subject of timing....

...the two shows that were on the pre-show were very late-breaking adds, pushing the 2 or 3 matches that were originally pre-show off and onto the regular card.


Wow!! Guess we're getting our Shield triple threat! Very much looking forward to it. Well done!

Holy shit.... and then holy shit again.

Ya know, there's times when shit is predictable and we all kinda see it happening. But that was a rare occourance where that was the case, and it was still fucking awesome.

New S.H.I.E.L.D. Order. #Renee'sAllExpensesPaidVacationToPoundtown.

For the kids at home who want to be wrestlers: that turnbuckle-bomb-into-insta-superman-punch spot was all kinds of Ricochet/Ospreay levels of fucktarded and you should not desire to emulate it, and yet, at the very same time, that spear-into-Pedigree spot was all kinds of OMG That Is Awesome.

They are both equally plausible "real life" moves, and yet somehow, they are massively different this one very important way. One is good pro wrestling; the other is not.

Also, holy shit, Dean Ambrose is the WWE Champion after that outstanding match and 20 minute over-run. Clearly, after WWE's audience for "PPVs" fell under 10% for WM32, they've decided it's OK to openly antagonize that small percentage of the audience (and issue refunds, if necessary), and just make use of the freedoms the Network offers. I'm cool with that, although imagine how much tighter the overall show would have been if you just told Ziggler/Corbin and Crews/Sheamus to go screw, instead of boring the hell out of us?

Or do we give WWE credit for changing plans after we found out about Game 7, and they made sure the main event would play out without competition?

Two quick notions:

This obviously sets up for the much-anticipated Shield 3-way feud. But less obvious is that you could use it to do a sneaky double turn with Rollins and Reigns, as Rollins has a legit case for being a 2-time champ who STILL hasn't been defeated. [Sidebar: someone should tell JBL that the word for that is "lineal," not "linear." It's a real thing in boxing and fighting, and I'd be fine with bringing the concept to wrestling, but only if he uses the real term.] Meantime, everybody still hates Roman. PLUS, jesus christ, now that you have the real 3-way Shield Feud, you MUST give Reigns the makeover so he's not still using the Shield Music and dressing in his Shield Outfit. More than ever, that just makes him look like the schmuck who still thinks high school was the best time of his life (also, there can not ever be a Shield Reunion until after that music has been retired). So let's just do the thing where Rollins/Authority have a falling out, and Reigns/Authority slowly happens, all while they're fighting to get Ambrose's title.

Who beat Ambrose in unsatisfyingly swift fashion at WM32, and could be expected to do so in a rematch? Yeah, THAT guy. Whatever happens on July 9, he's back in WWE at SummerSlam, and there's no way we don't split the World Title on or around September 1.

Good times....


Rick

quote:

---

Originally posted by OORick
Meantime, everybody still hates Roman. PLUS, jesus christ, now that you have the real 3-way Shield Feud, you MUST give Reigns the makeover so he's not still using the Shield Music and dressing in his Shield Outfit.

---

Nicely done Ambrose! Too bad Mitch never lived to see this day.

Holyshit, this one is going into the record books. One of the greates stables of all time breaks up in 2014 and two years later for around ten minutes they were ALL World Champion. Even if the nWo can't boast that sort of insanity.I'm so fucking stocked, my favorite current guy is the man! I haven't had that since CM Punk.

The Shield Triple Threat is going to be insane!

Last three to four years:

- Punk champ
- Bryan champ
- all three Shield guys champ

Not much ammo remaining for any real hater to say they're burying the newer guys anymore in favour of Hunter's workout buddies.

Not understanding right now the benefit of a Nattie heel turn, unless it's to give Becky someone to fight while Sasha re-appears for the feud to build up against Charlotte. Not sure what Paige did to fall down the ranks so quickly either, unless it's something to do with that concussion she took or if it's a short period of punishment for being a bit of a brat (getting tossed out of the restaurant with Alicia, the twitter beef with Lana, getting cussed out backstage by Road Dawg, etc.). It's about the most precipitous fall down the ranks for a former champion since they took the belt off of Ziggler and shoved him back into the midcard.

When Ambrose won, the first thing I thought about was if there's any been a point in time before when every single member of a group has been world champion on the same day. I couldn't think of any, so another SHIELD history making moment.

I do however, think this will quite possibly be Ambrose's only ever title run. I'm guessing they're going to use the Shield triple threat to main event Summerslam, not Battleground, so it'll be interesting to see what they do at the next PPV...

Reigns is also a 3 time world champion now, and just hasn't caught on the way many have wanted him to... I think it should be a while before he gets another run. Maybe wait a year, see how he handles the upper mid card, maybe go full heel for a year... pretty please.

This does seem to genuinely be a good opportunity to turn Reigns properly heel by snapping on Ambrose.

I don't think it's going to be Dean's only title win by a longshot, but it was a great one and, honestly, Dean Ambrose is also my favorite wrestler so I'm pretty stoked to have my guy on top.

I don't care if Ambrose holds the belt past Summerslam, and he is my favorite active wrestler in WWE. But if this is the start of the return of plausible unpredictability back into the WWE, they may keep me as an active subscriber.

Long story short, they have been doing a lot of things well, with less scriperting and more and newer (to the brand) talent. And the writing for a lot of the folks like AJ Styles has been consistent and entertaining. But the sizzle that Daniel Bryan or Brock Lesnar was bringing, even if by accident or dumb luck, that sizzle that believable surprises get you, have been missing alot in the "injury" era. Hopefully the NXT Call up/Style/KO/Brand Split Era can keep it up.

(PS: I don't mean stupid swerves out of nowhere. I mean legitimately believable Suprises. Taker losing to Lesnar. Punk Pipebombs. Bryan's 99%erish revolution, Rollin's MITB Cash in)

I am sort of happy they had a string of boring matches in a row. Because my friends and I actually hooked up a second tv next to the main one so we could watch game 7 of the NBA finals and MITB at the same time. And frankly, if there was something better on the ppv at that time, we'd still have watched game 7. I almost think WWE timed it that way on purpose.

Btw, for those into basketball, it was a great game. But yeah, for those into wrestling, outside of one boring stretch (not outright bad, just kinda boring), the PPV was great as well. I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 on the imaginary scale that doesn't matter. The ending, while predictable, was still awesome. Dean Ambrose <3

quote:

---

Originally posted by OORick
....., that spear-into-Pedigree spot was all kinds of OMG That Is Awesome.

---

I would imagine that the fact this has a whopping two pages the day after probably would reflect how many people overall actually watched last night. Unfortunate but going up against Game 7 of the NBA finals and an epic episode of Game of Thrones didn't really bode well for it.

quote:

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Originally posted by nOOb
I would imagine that the fact this has a whopping two pages the day after probably would reflect how many people overall actually watched last night. Unfortunate but going up against Game 7 of the NBA finals and an epic episode of Game of Thrones didn't really bode well for it.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by GodEatGod I'm pretty stoked to have my guy on top.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by lz4005

quote:

---

Originally posted by GodEatGod I'm pretty stoked to have my guy on top.

---

So is Renee.

---

My only complaint about the close of the show was that we got a few reaction shots from Rollins, but I think a couple "what the hell just happened" type looks from Reigns would have added to some of the intrigue for tonight.

Question is, with Battleground standing between a Shield triple threat and Summer Slam, how do they save one of the best- must see matches they've had in a long time for their second biggest show without it being a repeat.... I mean there are ways, but curious to see how the WWE navigates this.

The easiest way is probably to go with vanilla Ambrose vs Rollins rematch that ends with Reigns causing a shenanigans finish in order to put himself in the mix leading to triple threat at SS.

Or do they blow their wad early and use the triple threat at BG and move on to bigger and Brocker things.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ulsterphil
The easiest way is probably to go with vanilla Ambrose vs Rollins rematch that ends with Reigns causing a shenanigans finish in order to put himself in the mix leading to triple threat at SS.

Or do they blow their wad early and use the triple threat at BG and move on to bigger and Brocker things.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by ulsterphil
The easiest way is probably to go with vanilla Ambrose vs Rollins rematch that ends with Reigns causing a shenanigans finish in order to put himself in the mix leading to triple threat at SS.

Or do they blow their wad early and use the triple threat at BG and move on to bigger and Brocker things.

---

It's not hard to turn Reigns heel, because he absolutely was a heel last night. And I'm not talking about the fact that he got the shit booed out of him as per usual. The way he was bullying Rollins in the corner over and over with taunting little moves... the way he made some douchey hand gesture to the crowd with his tongue wagging screaming to the crowd "Who sucks now?" Those were all the mannerisms of a straight up heel.

Now do Vince and the higher ups-- or even Roman himself-- feel that he was acting like a heel? Who knows... based on how the dude has been pushed and booked for two years, probably not.

quote:

---

Originally posted by punkerhardcore
It's not hard to turn Reigns heel, because he absolutely was a heel last night. And I'm not talking about the fact that he got the shit booed out of him as per usual. The way he was bullying Rollins in the corner over and over with taunting little moves... the way he made some douchey hand gesture to the crowd with his tongue wagging screaming to the crowd "Who sucks now?" Those were all the mannerisms of a straight up heel.

Now do Vince and the higher ups-- or even Roman himself-- feel that he was acting like a heel? Who knows... based on how the dude has been pushed and booked for two years, probably not.

---

That shot of Reigns as Ambrose was celebrating was fantastic. The fact they didnt show him coming in to congratulate Ambrose was also good. Now just make Ambrose and Rollins the focus and let Roman carry on having good matches, THAT will get him over.

I kinda want to see what WWE was thinking with the filler matches, resting the crowd and all that, but why we got Ziggler/Corbin again (with nothing new, unlike that first good performance from Crews) when we could have had the equally pointless but much more satisfying Golden Truth win is beyond me.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SpiNNeR72
That shot of Reigns as Ambrose was celebrating was fantastic. The fact they didnt show him coming in to congratulate Ambrose was also good. Now just make Ambrose and Rollins the focus and let Roman carry on having good matches, THAT will get him over.

I kinda want to see what WWE was thinking with the filler matches, resting the crowd and all that, but why we got Ziggler/Corbin again (with nothing new, unlike that first good performance from Crews) when we could have had the equally pointless but much more satisfying Golden Truth win is beyond me.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by punkerhardcore
It's not hard to turn Reigns heel, because he absolutely was a heel last night. And I'm not talking about the fact that he got the shit booed out of him as per usual. The way he was bullying Rollins in the corner over and over with taunting little moves... the way he made some douchey hand gesture to the crowd with his tongue wagging screaming to the crowd "Who sucks now?" Those were all the mannerisms of a straight up heel.

Now do Vince and the higher ups-- or even Roman himself-- feel that he was acting like a heel? Who knows... based on how the dude has been pushed and booked for two years, probably not.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Flash
Question is, with Battleground standing between a Shield triple threat and Summer Slam, how do they save one of the best- must see matches they've had in a long time for their second biggest show without it being a repeat.... I mean there are ways, but curious to see how the WWE navigates this.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by the goon
Yeah, something definitely needs to be done with Roman at this point. The guy just lost clean to Seth Rollins, thus legitimizing Rollins' claim that he was the rightful WWE champion, so I just don't see how you continue the course of Roman being THE guy when clearly he's not. Though since this is the WWE we're talking about, that's probably what they'll do.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Flash
My only complaint about the close of the show was that we got a few reaction shots from Rollins, but I think a couple "what the hell just happened" type looks from Reigns would have added to some of the intrigue for tonight.

---

Did this show seem off for anyone else? Kofi blew some spots, Dolph slipped and fell, Cena was announcing spots seemingly into a microphone. Everything about it, up until the last match, seemed to have some bugs in the system, so to speak.

I can not remember a time where I heard so many spots being called out as plainly as last night's event. And the middle of the card was complete shit, to put it nicely.

Ladder match was really good, and Cena/Styles was terrific (even if I did know what spots were coming up five seconds prior to them happening, thanks John) and the main event absolutely served it's purpose. But man...production and performance was lacking throughout, I thought.

As for the Triple Threat Shield match, I hope it happens at Summer Slam. Wrestlemania would have been ideal, but headlining the second largest show in the company's eyes, is pretty damn sweet too. Especially since they have done a really good job over the past few years of making SS looking even more important.