WWE NXT 09/26/12 Michael McGillicutty defeats Bo Dallas in an excellent match using the running neckbreaker. Leo Kruger defeats Jake Carter. Ryback destroys Aiden English and Frances Doray. Richie Steamboat defeats Kassius Ohno using an inside cradle. Ohno attacks Steamboat after the match. Thoughts: McGillicutty and Dallas are huge stars for the future of WWE, as are Steamboat and Ohno. The best way to introduce Ohno to the roster now would be to bring him in as a face and have him feud with… [Continue Reading]

CM Punk and Paul Heyman open Raw and call out referee Brad Maddox about his call last week. Maddox owns up to his mistake and apologizes. They demand he resign his position. He says that would be inappropriate. AJ Lee comes out and tells Heyman off. Punk mocks her and then Heyman mocks her to the point that she smacks him and leaves the ring. Backstage after the segment, AJ tells Maddox he will never make a mistake like that again or she will… [Continue Reading]

Welcome to the rundown! After taking last week off for my Night of Champions adventure and honeymoon, I’m back with the four B shows and ready to review! NXT 09/19/12 Trent Barreta defeats Johnny Curtis Paige defeats Alicia Fox Conor O’Brian defeats Jimmy Uso Michael McGillicutty and Bo Dallas get into a scuffle backstage. Kassius Ohno defeats Oliver Grey in a sparring session. A Leo Kruger promo is shown. Kruger can’t wait to meet his new friends. Seth Rollins defeats Rick Victor using the… [Continue Reading]

CM Punk’s music opens Raw and out comes Paul Heyman. Heyman discusses the finish from Night of Champions and has the referee from last night defend his decision. John Cena interrupts. Cena says he wanted the match to continue and not end as a draw. Alberto Del Rio comes out and complains about not having a fair shot against Sheamus. AJ Lee comes out and books CM Punk to team with Del Rio to take on Sheamus and Cena. She says the winner of… [Continue Reading]

Night of Champions was awesome live! Attending any televised event in person always gives you a much more involved feeling, and NOC was easily the most exciting show I’ve ever been in attendance for. The pre show saw Zack Ryder win a battle Royal to become the number one contender for the US Title. The crowd practically blew the roof off during Ryder’s entrance. Also in the battle royal were Brodus Clay, Santino, the PTP, Justin Gabriel, Drew McIntyre, Michael McGillicutty, JTG, Tyson Kidd,… [Continue Reading]

I’m not going to fill this introduction with much, and that’s because there’s a ton of content below. Enjoy! ML = Mike Lightning JA = Jace D. Ace KP = Kaysie Pena JT = Yours truly, Joe Thunder Pre-Show Battle Royal to name No. 1 Contender to U.S. Champion Antonio Cesaro: KP: What? It’s pre-show, should I really make a pick? Ugh fine, let them repeat Santino winning or something. Prediction: Repetition (Santino) ML: Not really sure what direction the WWE plans to move… [Continue Reading]

Raw opens with Bret Hart coming out and speaking to the Montreal crowd. CM Punk comes out and insults him. They exchange words and it gets heated as Punk insults Lawler. Punk says Cena will become an empty shell of a man just like Bret is before the segment ends. ^Solid opening segment from a great talker and a great legend. Bret has never been a standout on the microphone, but this segment worked in the face vs heel sense. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth… [Continue Reading]

I’ll start off by saying that this card holds very little excitement for me. I’ll counter what I just said by expressing my optimism in TNA for the potential to give us an action packed pay per view. Lightning and I are once again joined by Jace Ace and KP. Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys! Here we go! BFG Series semi-final Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy JA: So the ending of the match on iMPACT left me going, “WTF?” Since when is a… [Continue Reading]

WWE NXT 09/05/12 Richie Steamboat defeats Kassius Ohno by DQ when Ohno rakes Steamboat’s eyes. Ohno attacks Steamboat after the match. Paige defeats Audrey Marie using a modified ddt. Ricky Steamboat has an altercation with Kassius Ohno. Leo Kruger defeats Percy Watson using a modified neckbreaker(looked more like a diamond cutter). Brodus Clay squashes Ryan Collins. The Ascension defeat the Usos when Cameron pins Jey Uso after a modified jawbreaker. Jim Ross interviews new NXT Champion Seth Rollins to close the show. Rollins talks… [Continue Reading]

CM Punk attacks Jerry Lawler backstage before Raw starts and thus Michael Cole is alone on commentary for Raw tonight in Chicago! ^I like the idea of using a storyline to try a new announce team for Raw. Putting Lawler in the role of an agent or backstage help would be much better than listening to him on commentary every week. Something tells me his rivalry with Punk will continue for at least a few more weeks. Sheamus comes out first tonight. Sheamus says… [Continue Reading]

WWE NXT 08/29/12 Mike Dalton and Jason Jordan take on Hunico and Camacho. Hunico pins Dalton after an angle slam. ^Dalton is very versatile and looks good in the ring. Jordan bores me. Hunico is great at helping other talent improve, but the guy is too good to just be used on the B shows. Good tag team action here. The Ascension attack the Usos before they can have a match. ^I like this booking. Increasing a tag team rivalry on the B show… [Continue Reading]

Jerry Lawler gets in the ring to open the show and demands an apology from CM Punk. Punk comes out and refuses to apologize and says he was doing what he needed to do as WWE Champion. He challenges Lawler to a fight and lets him think about it. ^I’m sure a lot of people considered this segment boring, but I enjoy Jerry Lawler more in rivalry than on commentary. I know the guy is 60+ years of age, but that doesn’t mean he… [Continue Reading]

Antonio Cesaro defeats Derrick Bateman using the neutralizer. ^I doubt we’ll see as much of Cesaro on the show tapings now that he’s won the United States Title. Cesaro and Bateman put on a decent matchup here. Bateman is still nothing special to me in terms of his character, but I would say WWE is more to blame than anybody for that. How can you convince the fans that you want someone to succeed when you market no gimmick for him AND he’ been… [Continue Reading]

Anyone else remember the weird promos with the little boy and the little girl and all the odds clues as to what it might mean? Anyone remember reading the dirt sheets and the debates on whether it was Chris Jericho or the Undertaker who was behind said promos? Jericho made a name for himself on debuts and returns alone in WWE, and this latest run of his has been nothing short of spectacular. Y2J returned to WWE after not being seen for sixteen months… [Continue Reading]

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar come to the ring. Heyman calls out referee Scott Armstrong. Lesnar tells him he did a good job. Heyman declares Lesnar as the new king of kings and conqueror of the WWE Universe. They leave. ^Lesnar “quit” in a video after the match. Works for me. Whether he is gone or not, I couldn’t care less about him. His match with Triple H was a beatdown with little versatility. This new “fighting” Lesnar is quite boring to watch and… [Continue Reading]

It’s time for Summerslam! The Smarks are all here this month to share their take on WWE’s annual August spectacular! Let’s get to it! Pre Show US Title Match: Antonio Cesaro vs Santino Marella(c) Ace: I’m predicting Cesaro will steamroll Marella and become the new United States Champion. Yes, it’s a little soon for a guy who just got bumped up onto the main roster, but it’s Claudio Castagnoli. He’s one of the Kings of Wrestling. You can’t ignore talent like that. He plays… [Continue Reading]

The first inductee in Thunder and Lightning’s Pure Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame(PPW HOF is how it will be abbreviated) was selected by us, Joe Thunder and Mike Lightning. Going forward, the next inductee finalists will be determined by votes from you, the reader. The two finalists with the most votes will be taken into consideration and the actual inductee will be determined by a voting panel of five judges. That said, I’d first like to thank Mike Lightning for taking the time to do… [Continue Reading]

NXT 08/15/12 Jinder Mahal defeats Richie Steamboat using the camel clutch to advance to the finals of the NXT Championship tournament. ^I’ve made it clear and I’m going to say it again: I don’t care for Jinder Mahal. I think his character is boring, and I think his move set is extremely limited and he has zero potential for the future. I understand WWE being about gimmicks and wanting to ENTERTAIN first, but Steamboat advancing to the finals of this tournament would have made… [Continue Reading]

Daniel Bryan interferes and causes a DQ finish to CM Punk and Big Show’s match. Show and Bryan attack Punk until Cena makes the save. AJ Lee comes out and books Cena and Punk against Show and Daniel Bryan. ^I love how WWE books a good match to open Raw and nine times out of ten you know it’s just going to be messed with and end up turning into a tag team match later in the night. It’s a booking tactic that should… [Continue Reading]

Welcome to the final part of my top Summerslam matches! I’ve listed the matches from parts one through four before listing off the official top ten. Enjoy! 50. 1994 – Undertaker vs Undertaker 49. 2008 – CM Punk vs JBL for the World Heavyweight Championship 48. 2003 – Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship 47. 1991 – Virgil vs Ted Dibiase for the Million Dollar Championship 46. 2010 – The Nexus vs Team WWE 45. 1993 – Lex Luger vs Yokozuna for the… [Continue Reading]