Condo On Moon Podcast #57: Podcast Isn't Jericho

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Chris Jericho is no Stone Cold as a podcaster. That is one of a number of topics as we go 60 minutes talking the week that was in pro wrestling.



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Brock Lesnar Holding the Wrestlemania Main Event Hostage At This Point

It has been a wild 48 hours or so in the land of WWE as there may never be a road to Wrestlemania like this one. A fan movement by WWE fans to get more attention and time followed by A.J Lee and Stephanie McMahon engaged in twitter combat. Steph was reacting to something from the Oscars about women’s equality and it led to A.J Lee responding with thoughts on how that equality does not occur in WWE. Lee has been missing from WWE with an apparent neck injury. There is also a ton of baggage tied to her husband C.M Punk. Who recently has been sued by the WWE doctor he called out in his November podcast with Colt Cabana, who is also being sued.  WWE has come out in just support of their doctor who is suing Punk and Cabana for what was originally reported as one million dollars in damages but the figure has risen to two million in later reports in his defamation legal action.

Normally a drama like this would be big news but it is really just a side story after news and rumors that broke yesterday. Stephanie did respond to Lee on twitter thanking her for voicing her opinion.

The opinions on the Wrestlemania 31 main event have been many in the past months with Roman Reigns now locked in it would have appeared to face Brock Lesnar. The kickoff to building that main event should have got rolling in full effect this Monday on Raw. Brock Lesnar attended but apparently walked out and ended up not appearing on the show. There was a rumor going around this surrounded Lesnar not wanting to fight Reigns based on the fact he allegedly had failed a drug test. It seems this was more fiction than fact from what most are saying once this rumor hit the main stream on the internet. What everyone agrees is Brock did walk out and is not happy about something. Lesnar has been widely rumored to be considering a return to MMA once his contract ends after Wrestlemania.

Lesnar is not scheduled to appear on WWE television again until March 9 th and a second appearance on the Monday prior to Wrestlemania. There is now at least some doubt if Lesnar will actually be a part of things. Could the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion be a no show for Wrestlemania?

After all the drama and struggle to keep Roman Reigns in this main event to defeat Lesnar and be crowned the Champion and the unofficial future face of the company it might be Brock that is the biggest problem not Daniel Bryan and his fan base.

If Lesnar were to walk out on the WWE in the same way as C.M Punk did 13 months ago, it would literally turn Wrestlemania upside down with basically a month to go to the show. It would make sense that if Lesnar does not appear on television for the March 9 th appearance it would be huge cause for concern for the Wrestlemania main event and be at a critical stage. How long could the WWE go along without introducing a plan B to explain Lesnar’s being eliminated from the picture and the title he holds most likely being declared vacant.

This would be a last resort and could really put the WWE in a situation they have never faced. In the past big matches for Mania has been placed in state of jeopardy based on injury. Rock vs. Austin the final of the series of three had Austin in hospital the night prior. Kurt Angle was dealing with serious neck issues entering his match with Lesnar for the title when they faced off for the title.

What all of this says or at least implies is that Lesnar is not likely re-signing with the WWE and even if he shows up for Wrestlemania to say he will be easy to work with for an inexperienced Roman Reigns would be a fantasy most likely.

The drama behind the scenes heading into this Wrestlemania is becoming far more interesting than the card itself. This would be a terrible situation if the WWE could not produce the main event they have promised and basically pushed through despite fans not being on board with it. This could all be a great work to ensure Lesnar comes off as a heel in his match with Reigns but that is likely wishful thinking. Is it to late to book Triple H and Stephanie against Punk and A.J Lee as the main event? I joke but what they would have to come up with at this late stage would be far from ideal to say the least.

5 Talking Points Coming Out of WWE TLC

Let’s face fact TLC has a lot to live up to after the NXT special earlier this week. A similar feeling was in the air prior to the Payback event earlier in the year. It was said at that time that the main roster felt insulted and challenged that people though the NXT crew could put on a better show than they could. Payback turned out to be one of the better events of 2014 that was headlined by a wild match with The Shield vs. Evolution. This time around, you wonder if the roster will step up again. Most of the roster seems fairly insulted by Vince McMahon’s comments on the Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast. Most are aware of his comments about this generation being afraid to fail and that no one was stepping up and grabbing that brass ring. Something even Triple H had fun with after the NXT event saying he was all out of brass rings.

This all being said this card does the roster no favors on putting on a quality show. The two top matches see Bray Wyatt going against Dean Ambrose in a TLC match, which should be good. Bray’s best matches have been in situations like this where you throw the rulebook out the window. It could be the main event but more likely, it will be Seth Rollins taking on John Cena in a tables match. If John loses, he is no longer the number one contender. Brock Lesnar is scheduled to return on Raw tomorrow and likely will start to set up Lesnar vs. Cena III for the Royal Rumble. It will be the third WWE Championship match between the two in the last 12 months.

Where this card suffers are matches underneath the two main event caliber matches. Kane vs. Ryback in a steel chairs match could and likely will be a train wreck. Eric Rowan in his first real singles feud takes on the Big Show in a stairs match. This also could stink out the joint. Dolph Ziggler against Luke Harper is the one match that could steal the show. Their ladder match for the I-C title in Dolph’s hometown should be quite the spectacle.  Ziggler though after being booked strong at Survivor Series has found his way quickly back to the mid-card. WWE also has a terrible history of allowing the hometown hero to go over in matches. This also could be the last match of A.J Lee’s WWE career. Lots of evidence to suggest this including A.J on commentary slipping intentionally or unintentionally that Cole and JBL would miss her when she is gone. She tried to cover-up by saying after she was off commentary for the match they were calling, but it sure didn’t seem like that is what she meant.

So... what are the five things will expect coming out of this TLC event.

1. John Cena confirms himself as the number one contender for a returning Brock Lesnar on Monday. Seth Rollins is very good but I can’t see him getting a win in a high profile match over Cena. I also can’t see him cashing in on Brock Lesnar or attempting to on Raw the next night as been rumored for Monday. In the end, the WWE has proven repeatedly they only truly have faith in John Cena. Vince McMahon made the claim he is only guy in the last decade to grab the brass ring. You know those things C.M Punk called imaginary in his famous pipe bomb promo.

2. Good bye A.J Lee we will miss you. It seems pretty clear this time that A.J Lee is going to fail in her attempt to become a 4-time Divas Champion. It seems clear she in not long to remain in this company from a bunch of her recent on air comments when you read between the lines. The scariest thing of all is that leaves the Diva’s division in the hands of Nikki Bella. May the Lord help us all that like women’s wrestling with that being the case.

3. Dolph Ziggler goes back to the mid-card. I firmly believe that in terms of Dolph Ziggler pushes it has become a situation that is like that of the story of Lucy and Charlie Brown. The WWE is Lucy holding that football and we are Charlie Brown looking to kick that football. We foolishly believe she will not pull away that football this time. Even though she has for years now pulled that football away.  I have lost faith in the WWE having faith in Dolph Ziggler to be anything of significance. Even in winning the I-C title that would put him back to where he was at prior to Survivor Series.

4. Roman Reigns is not on this card. Still will the booking of this card set him up to return with a bang? WWE logic would be to hold everyone else back so Roman can make his big run to a title match with Brock at Wrestemania 31. That is kind of a cynical way to look at things but honestly in the back of your head it kind of makes sense with how the WWE thinks.

5. Will Punk Fans be heard in Cleveland? WWE since the C.M Punk news have avoided traditionally smart crowds to this point. When you consider A.J Lee might be in her last match and Ryback could be in a stinker of a match will this lead to C.M Punk chants and silly stuff in Cleveland. Does Cleveland even care with Johnny Manzel making his debut as starter for the Browns? Will see what happens but this could be one of those nights where the crowd might inject itself into the show.

I can’t imagine this show has a snowball’s chance in hell of topping NXT R-Evolution. I just don’t see it as TLC traditional can lead to just some bad matches due to the restrictions of so many matches having silly unnecessary gimmicks. Raw actually looks to be the more interesting three hours of viewing with Brock and Roman Reigns both scheduled to appear on the show. Get use to seeing a lot of Roman Reigns he even made an appearance on the NXT show to do an interview that had little to do with the event itself.

TLC won’t be worth your 9.99 but NXT already gave you your value earlier in the week.

A.J Lee Still In WWE Last We Checked.

Stop me if you heard this before but A.J Lee is once again rumored to be on the way out of WWE. It has been a constant rumor in wrestling websites since Punk left in January. I don’t hate wrestling websites that deal in rumors and behind the scenes news. I find it interesting as a wrestling fan but on this topic, they are all looking like the little boy that cried wolf at this point. Still based on some recent actions of A.J Lee and her husband C.M Punk this time the rumor may final come true of her leaving after TLC. A.J’s speech when she won the Slammy for Diva of the year felt like a good-bye message. Her promos that felt like shoots on the Bella twins were another indicator she might be out the door. A.J mentioned a number of females in the company the majority from NXT and not the Total Divas portion of the roster. Paige is going to be on the new season, but can obviously work in the ring so she doesn’t count. 

While A.J Lee’s departure from the company potentially is sad and a big loss for fans of women that can actual have decent feuds and matched it seemed inevitable to happen. When you consider the story her husband told to the public it is hard to imagine how she has lasted this long in that company. She was in a terrible position you have to figure being stuck between her employer and her husband that left the company for in his and likely her mind just cause. I think personally, when the day comes that A.J leaves that her story is the one I am most interested to hear in wrestling right now. It has to be an incredibly difficult place for her to be.

Nikki Bella made some post on instagram almost whining and complaining at the fact fans seems to like A.J more than her. In addition, saying that A.J was mean and difficult and a few other things. She kept it PG though not saying the B-Word, which was perfectly acceptable for her sister Brie in the feud with Stephanie. In a perfect world the feud that could have made the Diva’s division more relevant than it ever has been would have been Stephanie vs. A.J Lee. I made no secret of my desire to see this match at Wrestlemania 31. In light of the Punk interview, I knew that dream was as good as dead. It would have been the most in-depth feud in WWE history with the back-story of Stephanie hating A.J’s husband legitimately. Sadly, when you hear all that was involved it would have been a near impossible match to have happen.

It would have been a dream match for A.J at one time who has admitted her love for Stephanie in the past and not even being able to talk to her when she first arrived in the WWE. That was a longtime ago though and you have to figure given how their respective husbands have a legitimate dislike to hate for one another that has to have trickled down and influenced their relationship. It only makes logical sense for that to happen.

People seem more concerned with people chanting C.M Punk at the sight of A.J Lee on WWE programming. In addition concerned with when she actually would walk out the door than what she was actually doing in the show. Her rivalry with Paige likely suffered from all that was going on around it. It is a shame we likely never see her have matches with the likes of Charlotte or Bayley in NXT. It feels like the end of the story though for A.J Lee with the WWE.

Her appearing with Punk at his announcement of joining the UFC seemed like a clear sign that she likely isn’t long for sticking around in the WWE. Punk did say that she still works there in his presser for the UFC but you get the impression it won’t be for long. Punk has been doing a serious media blitz after the UFC announcement. He was on Fox Sports One last night and is scheduled to be at ESPN soon as well. He recently was interviewed in Rolling Stone. In every interview, he is asked about if he would ever return to WWE and the answer is a simple never.

I feel like the Punk situation has robbed us of a few good years of A.J Lee’s career and a match that would have been truly epic with Stephanie McMahon. This for A.J at one time would have been living out a fantasy for her by all accounts of her feelings about Stephanie.

I understand the concept of family first though and C.M Punk is A.J’s husband and her family. WWE claims to be a family but that family has become very corporate in the last decade. It is no longer the McMahon family wrestling business, it is a sports entertainment publicly traded company and that is what Vince McMahon has made it.

It rather makes me sick that the last image of A.J Lee in the WWE will likely be her being pinned by Nikki Bella. A.J earned her place where many will question if Nikki has really earned her spot. Talent may not be sexually transmitted but a spot on the card when you date the golden boy of the WWE likely is. It could be worse I suppose she could lose to Brie who makes her sister look like she has some talent in comparison.

Still it is not the fairy tale finish that another great diva Trish Stratus had. She ended her WWE career winning the WWE Women’s Championship on her last night in the company as an active full-time competitor. A.J Lee still can lay claim to the longest reign as Diva’s Champion. There is some irony that she never fit that Diva’s mold.

It maybe good-bye to A.J Lee and you hope and pray that people like Paige Charlotte and others can save this division from becoming a total joke moving forward.

So... thanks for making crazy cool A.J Lee.

Ball Is In WWE's Court On Punk Situation

The ball is clearly in the WWE’s court in terms of the C.M Punk comments made on the Art of Wrestling Podcast. WWE really finds the company in a position having advertised Vince McMahon in a no holds barred interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the network.

It really leaves the WWE in a difficult spot and a real no win situation. If they address the Punk situation, they are opening a Pandora’s Box that they want no part of that could damage the company in many ways. Most of all the issues Punk expressed on the medical issues in his time with the company. 

However if they fail to address the situation it will be seen as ducking the topic and adds validity to all of Punk’s claims. Therefore, the WWE has painted itself into a corner with this one to a great extent.

The most likely out come is the topic will be addressed and Vince McMahon will make a very corporate and generic statement. This seems the most likely outcome as the WWE was quick to release a very corporate statement in response to a Yahoo Sports article on the subject.

Punk is scheduled to appear on the Art of Wrestling again to be made to the public on Thursday. It is scheduled to be fan questions for Punk but you have to assume if the WWE comments on this story tonight, Punk will have some kind of reaction to it.

Some have already been sucked into this story by being talked about in the interview and have made responses to it. Ryback made some comments via twitter and suggested Punk’s claims of a confrontation between the two were false. He also made a bold claim that the truth would eventually come out and even alluded to slander on the part of Punk about himself. Call me crazy but given the steroid allegations Punk made I don’t see Ryback wanting to get in a legal battle in which his use or non-use of steroids would be in question. The WWE themselves would want no part of Ryback being involved in such a matter and it would be career suicide to some degree if Ryback got involved in litigation on this matter.

Chris Jericho defended himself saying that while he did want to have Punk on his pod cast Talk is Jericho all of those requests were prior to Punk leaving the company. He claims that Punk declined to appear and even they had a date booked in the December prior to him leaving that Punk backed out of according to Jericho. He says he did text Punk since leaving the company but never once brought up why Punk left the WWE or made any requests as relates to his podcast. He claims that he still considers Punk a friend even though they have not spoken since he left the company and is glad he was able to get stuff of his chest about him leaving the company.

Road Dogg as we mentioned on the podcast we at Condo on the Moon did on this C.M Punk topic engaged with fans about the Punk interview. A few other WWE Superstars made mention of the interview through social media but nothing of any great significance.

The question of A.J Lee’s future, how she will be dealt with in the fallout of all this is another topic to wonder about. Her desire to remain in the company through all of this really must make for a difficult situation for all. Punk’s firing on their wedding day has to have had a negative impact on her as well one could only conclude logically. This may have nothing to do with anything but Nikki Bella’s promo on Smackdown was edited and who knows if that had anything to do with Punk situation. A.J‘s line about talent being sexual transmitted in reference to Bella’s was not. It seemed a direct shot at their off-screen relationships with two of the company’s top stars.

All in all with a WWE Network that is struggling and a road to Wrestlemania that seems has uncertain as it was last year the WWE really didn’t need all of this to deal with.

What remains the biggest question is if this story will remain inside the wrestling bubble or if others outside of it will notice it. Punk may have no desire to push the story on his end but he does have that option and it could make the WWE look very bad if chose to do so.

It is far more likely Punk just looks to move on with other projects and leave his wrestling career and life in the past for the time being. He has signed on to write comics for Marvel and has the ability to work on or do any projects he desires. This seemed much more like an act of closure for Punk and something he wanted to offer to his true fans.

Punk opened a story on Pro Wrestling Tee’s on Monday and traffic for the site seemed to be in high volume. The other issue for the WWE will be how there audience reacts to all of this. Who have been chanting Punk’s name off and on for the entire year since he left. WWE has been accused of taking signs from fans involving Punk and doing their best to control their audiences without complete success at times.

Safe to say Punk Chants will make a return and he is likely not to make one perhaps ever in the WWE. This is becoming a messy divorce like situation with WWE the ones with everything to lose and Punk with very little to lose in the matter.

Fans that tune into the Stone Cold Podcast tonight expecting a grand response to this matter from Vince McMahon likely will be disappointed. It certainly will create a new interest for it though that likely wasn’t as strong as it is now.

It is pretty clear the WWE’s behind the scenes story has become far more interesting than the product they are producing in the ring of late. The issue is they have no real way that I can see to turn this behind the scenes story into a success on screen at this point.

Punk clearly changed public perception among wrestling fans on his departure from the company now that he has told his side of the story. The WWE seems fairly handcuffed and limited in how they can respond to this matter. Yet if they bury their heads in the sand and hope it goes away that is likely not going to work either.

It is your move Vince McMahon.

For what to expect from Raw. Check out Josh Lopez's preview of Monday Night Raw. For all the latest on WWE and Wrestling in general follow us on @condoonthemoon to stay update on the latest from us.

CM Punk Speaks On Everything Finally

C.M Punk has broken his silence and done it in true C.M Punk fashion appearing on his friend Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast. Before we get into all that was said it should be noted that C.M Punk could have earned a ton of money giving this exclusive interview to anyone. It is the most sought after wrestling interview in the last decade and possibly ever. He did it with his long time friend Colt Cabana for nothing and is going to address his fans and haters a like, taking questions next week on the same podcast. On this fact alone, it is commendable of Punk and kind of serves as proof that this is not about Punk profiting from his story. The things he does say while some are what many have speculated for months as reasons for his leaving have been validated. Some other things that have not seen the light of day until now are truly shocking. It is stated among these revelations the fact that Punk never really quit the company. The truth is he was suspended not long after he walked out the night after the Royal Rumble; he was eventually fired on what was his wedding day to WWE Diva A.J Lee.

To cover everything that was said in this interview would take far to long to write out and likely will be the most reported on interview in wrestling in decades. You really need to seek it out and listen to it yourself to hear it in context. It is almost two hours in length and is truly fascinating to hear how much C.M Punk was going through physically during his time since re-signing to join the company until now. Among them wrestling with concussions, that Punk claims the WWE was in full knowledge of him having. He wrestled in all forms of pain beyond that, from bad knees, to broken ribs among them.

The most shocking of all was Punk had develop a deposit on his back that he brought to the attention of WWE medical staff. He was told it was some form of calcium deposit, which was nothing to worry about moving forward. Despite Punk’s insistence to have it removed, the WWE doctor deemed it unnecessary and instead gave him antibiotics. Punk was asked if the deformity on his back hurt, when he claimed it did not they gave him this medication. It reached a point where it did begin to hurt months later and on the encouragement of his wife, Punk would see her doctor in Florida. This doctor quickly diagnosed that Punk had been walking around with a staph infection for months. This according to the doctor could have been fatal. It was removed and Punk who it should be noted in his life had a fractured skull and had tattoos done on many parts of his body called it worst pain he had ever experienced.

Punk also made it clear that he had been questioning the WWE about the Network based on how it would affect not just his income, but in addition all the other wresters, with no real answers given to him. He claims that he never was given one to the point that he left. This is consistent with an interview he gave to Ariel Helwani just days before his departure from the company. While Punk did have complaints about payoffs for Wrestlemania and other events, it was about simply being paid to the level of other stars that appeared on the shows on his level. He claims John Cena, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar all made significantly more than he did on the last Wrestlemania he appeared on Wrestlemania 29.

There was a ton of stuff about booking that was brought up as well including Punk’s desire to make the Mania 29 main event a three-way match with himself, John Cena and The Rock. He also claims that The Shield was in fact his idea to build a faction around him when he was not granted that match and had conceded and agreed to face the Undertaker. Punk’s version of the Shield he pitched include Rollins Ambrose and Chris Hero who he had worked with a ton on independents long before coming to WWE. The WWE was not down with having Hero and wanted Roman Reigns to be the third to which Punk conceded. The plan was for Punk to work programs with each of the Shield coming out of his lose to the Undertaker. WWE changed directions and killed the idea of the Shield being paired with Punk. WWE wanted the Shield to be originally the Big Show, Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins. Something Punk was not in agreement with and countered with the three names mentioned above.

There is many other stories including how Ryback injured Punk both times working with him. In the TLC match where a Punk and Ryback program was thrown together, he had his ribs broken from a kick from Ryback. When the two would later feud in the build up to Lesnar and Punk he would injury his hip on a table bump in which Ryback threw Punk missing the table entirely and hit the cement floor. Punk suggests that he feels both were deliberate on the part of Ryback and after the second injury, he confronted him and Ryback claimed stupidity rather than it being a deliberate attempt to injury him. 

This only scratches the surface of all that was told. Punk goes into detail on the infamous meeting that night in Cleveland when he walked out where as it had been reported only he, Vince McMahon and Triple H were in the room.

It is without a doubt the most spell binding 90 minutes plus you likely will have heard about his relationship with WWE. This is obviously his version of the story but there is a real truth to it when you go back and piece together what was going on at the various times.

WWE had tried to come to a settlement with Punk on money he was owed to restrict either side from talking about it. Punk denied this based on how he had already being characterized on WWE programming. He did in fact get all the money that he was entitled too and the matter has been settled.

Punk claims based on the way he was fired on his actual wedding day was the final straw on him ever working for the company again. After listening to all the Punk has to say it is hard to imagine why he would ever want to do so. Even if you only consider half of the things Punk claims as facts, it would be enough for many to never desire to work with WWE again. In a wrestling world that is so much based on never say never about people returning this might be the most compelling case to say something is never ever going to happen.

It seems that Punk really wanted to give his true fans an explanation for all that has gone on in the last year and beyond as to why he is gone from the company. If you ever considered yourself a C.M Punk fan and still do not understand why after all he laid out I would personal question if you ever cared about him at all or just loved the wrestling character he played.

The scary thing is there is a real sense of truth to everything that he said and it paints the WWE although he claims it was not his intention in a very negative light. It also casts a very scary picture of the inner workings of the company and makes you wonder if anyone will ever be able to succeed without the WWE’s backing. It puts a great deal of things into prospective.

Punk also briefly talks about the need for a union in wrestling to stand up for the talent something that Vince McMahon has fought long and hard against even dating back to the 80’s. Jessie Ventura at the time had attempted to create one only to be foiled by Hulk Hogan and Vince. Punk’s story is a tale that really cries out for the need for one. Maybe you’re not a C.M Punk fan and think he is a jerk. Still the things that happened to Punk could just as easily happen to your favorite superstar or diva. Which is what makes this story so compelling.

It was the most eye-opening interview I have listened to in 30 plus years of being a wrestling fan. Short of when you come to the realization that wrestling is not real this cuts almost as deep into the ugly business side of this company at the top of the wrestling world.

C.M Punk had the balls to tell the story because he feels he can afford to and doesn’t have to worry about money for the rest of his life. Love him or hate him C.M Punk has always been a guy both in and out of character to speak his mind. On Thanksgiving 2014 in the United States, he did just that.

As I have said consistently the thing I am most happy about is Punk seems truly content and happy with his life and as a fan of this guy that entertained me for years I am happy about that. To listen to all he endured physically and mentally to entertain me makes me love him even more.

So, thank you C.M Punk for everything and allowing your true fans to hear your side of the story. This is not to say that we were owed anything, but so we can now understand it and have some closure to it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers. Best wishes from our family to yours.

Raw and Survivor Series: Talking Points

It was an eventful Survivor Series for a number of reasons and an interesting Monday Night Raw in the aftermath of the special event. We saw the long anticipated debut of Sting a return to television for Daniel Bryan. Many things going on but not necessarily making the product better. I did for first time for me DVR Raw and it made avoiding Larry the Cable Guy segments. I have been little out of the mix with my birthday on the weekend. Back at it full force now with the five things were talking about coming out of Raw and Survivor Series.

1. Sting is Here: I admit that I am in the minority in not caring about Sting being here. In fact even a little angry that he is in a sense that he for me is a traitor after staying away as long as he did he returns at the very end of his career to join the company he was always against in WCW. That is not opinion of the majority though who seem genuinely excited to see Sting final here. It appears he is on conclusion course with Triple H for Wrestlemania. This would answer the question about the Undertaker returning as likely a no. Sting after affecting the main event at Survivor Series he did not appear on Raw.

2. Bellas are Bad and A.J is Still Here: So the Bellas screwed over A.J Lee and Nikki became the Diva’s Champion. Most felt it was the exit of A.J Lee from WWE but she was back on Raw and faced a now heel Brie Bella. It appears the WWE has just given up on the Bella vs. Bella feud. A.J perhaps had the line of the night on Raw when she informed Nikki and Brie that talent is not sexual transmitted. The Irony of whom all these three ladies are with makes the line quite interesting.

3. Dolph A Top Guy Again?  Can we finally believe that WWE has finally got behind Dolph Ziggler? It certainly seems like it based on the Survivor Series and follow up on Raw that he is being booked as a high-end babyface. He being paired with Cena is a big issue though as we have seen many times being tied to Cena can be a death sentence at some point. For now, Ziggler is riding high and skeptical fans can still feel that way based on history. This all being stated it has been the strongest push he has been given since cashing in his briefcase to become World Champion.

4.  Mizdow Remains A Huge Hit and Tag-Team Champion: It seems like Damien Mizdow is over and WWE is starting to get in line with his fan reactions that have been growing for months and months. This gimmick is really working with the Miz as people genuinely hate the Miz and love Sandow even prior to this run as Mizdow. It is nice to see, this should lead to the break-up of the team and a major mid-card angle for the show. 

5. Roman Reigns Declares A Return Point: Almost lost in everything was yet another hey Roman Reigns in injured, but still coming back promo at the pay-per-view. Reigns claims he will be back by the end of the year. It is likely after the TLC event in just 3 weeks as he made it clear the end of next week. Reigns will have a ton of work to do just to get back to the spot he left with in the company. Many people took him being out as an opportunity and at top of that list is Dean Ambrose.

In other news, the Anonymous G.M gimmick is back. Yet I thought we made it clear that was Horns waggle. In any case, it appears we are going to have a series of rotating G.Ms until some angle allows the Authority to return which will eventually happen. In the end, there is a lot buzz about Sting but this is no solution to wrestling’s problems. People, who claim to want change, pop for nostalgia acts like Sting. That is the problem fans sending mixed messages of change but still cheering for Sting and other people well past their prime.

5 Things To Wonder About Heading Into Sunday's Hell In A Cell Event.

We discussed in our weekly podcast the Hell in the Cell event on Sunday is lacking a lot of fresh match-ups and obvious opportunities to advance storylines to something new.  Still we can come up with five things to wonder about heading into the event on Sunday. So let us get rolling with these in no specific order of importance.

Randy Orton’s health status heading into this event has been up in the air since Monday. There were some rumors that Orton came out of Raw in Kansas City a bit banged up. Nothing much has come of this after the initial speculation but being inside the Hell in The Cell is at times injuries waiting to happen. Cena has been documented as being pretty banged up the past few months. As big a question as who wins this match on Sunday might be, the condition of the winner after the match is over in a legitimate sense. If Lesnar is going to come back to do Survivor Series he will need a healthy opponent for it to be worth the WWE spending the extra money it takes to get their champion to show up. Brock is all about being paid at the end of the day.

Which Cell match ultimately will close this show? Triple H on Raw positioned the two Cell Matches as Co-Main Events but that is a lot of bunk. The last match is the real main event and everyone knows it. Fans clearly are hoping for Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to close the show. Dean has been on an incredible roll and even had an article he was interviewed for in the Rolling Stone. He is not going be a rock star or anything but, he is starting to build the popularity of one. Complete with the gossip of his relationship with WWE announcer Renee Young. In the end, what is BEST FOR BUSINESS is to have Ambrose and Rollins close the show. This stated most expect the WWE will go with the many times over used headline match of Cena vs. Orton.

Do we see the Wyatt Family be involved on this show? Will they work alone now or still as a unit with three separate agendas? It all remains to be seen at this stage of the game. I suggested on Friday that they could screw Dean Ambrose and this would allow Rollins to move into a feud with Orton as possibility. While we are at people who we wonder if we will see, does Paul Heyman have some sort of role in this show with a potential number one contender being determined for his client champion Brock Lesnar?

Do we get Mark Henry against Big Show III at Survivor Series? The Rusev against Big Show match seems like an obvious place for Mark Henry to get involved and screw the Big Show while Rusev keeps his undefeated run in tact. Henry and Show have been an obvious pairing many times and this could be the third Survivor Series the two have worked a program against on another if Henry does turn on Show or vice versa.

Will A.J Lee keep the Divas title safe from reality television? Paige is heading to Total Divas along with Alicia Fox for the new season that will be kicking off in January. Rumors surfaced that a rule was in place that no Total Diva was allowed to hold the title. This rule came according to reports from Vince himself. Nikki Bella confirmed this rule in an interview with Peter Rosenberg a few weeks ago. Now Stephanie McMahon in here interview with Yahoo Sports claims no rule exists about the Divas title. Guess if A.J wins will consider Stephanie might have been telling a lie. The question would be if the rule were in fact true who will work with A.J going forward. Charlotte Flair might be an answer but she is booked to face Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Title she holds in early December.

All this said and we still have no idea who the hell is that damn bunny? In any case, Sunday’s Hell in a Cell on paper looks to have some solid in ring matches with only a couple question marks. Some how we forgot to mention the Bella vs. Bella match when we were talking about potential bad matches.  Consider it a mental block to not wanting to see this match happen.

In any case, WWE has had some surprises of late with Rock and Mick Foley recently appearing out of nowhere like a Randy Orton RKO. Perhaps we get some surprises on the show. Hogan is booked to appear on Raw the next night. Not that he is a surprise at this point. More like a waste of time brother!! However, we hope this was not for you.

Follow us on @Condoonthemoon for all the latest on Hell in a Cell heading into tomorrow night’s show.

Dean Ambrose Using Raw As His Launching Pad.

 If Dean Ambrose ends up becoming a big star, this might have been a Raw that we point to as the start of his rise. He was all over the 3 hours of Raw on Monday Night. It happened to have been the best show in the last month and a half as well. This is not saying much as Raw and been in a serious slump. Leave it to Chicago to give WWE Creative a good kick in the ass to work harder.

Yes, we had C.M Punk chants, Stephanie McMahon was ready for them as she, and Triple H opened the show with a hostile Chicago crowd to greet them. It kicked off Raw with a long drawn out segment that saw Paul Heyman come out and question what went on at the finish of the Cena/Lesnar match at Night of Champions. Seth Rollins would follow coming out to address Heyman’s concerns saying he acted alone and was just attempting to take an opportunity. Dean Ambrose would come on screen and suggest if Seth and the Authority wanted Seth’s Money in Bank case they should come and get it. They would attempt just that only to be cut off by John Cena who attacked Seth. It would lead to later in the night Cena teaming with Ambrose to face Orton and Kane.

It was a good kick off to the show but went likely 5 minutes longer than it needed too. We had a decent triple threat match for the I-C title with Miz and Cesaro challenging champion Ziggler. Bray Wyatt returned in the way he first arrived with a creepy vignette that people are debating what it means but most feel it is to set up Harper going off as a singles wrestler. In any case, the best way to rehabilitate Bray is going back to the dark promos that everyone loved.

We had a call back to an old classic angle as Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury have taken on the gimmick that Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco had in the Attitude Era as the stooges. Noble and Mercury were sent off to find Ambrose. They never would, as Ambrose would return later.  He claimed he waved at them when he was at the concessions stand. Dean looted that concessions stand and was auction off WWE merchandise. It was quite the scene with Ambrose firing around t-shirts to the audience. Ambrose would be interrupted by Noble and Mercury with Seth Rollins, along with a bunch of security. To which Ambrose questioned their validity as he claims to have seen them in Adam Rose’s Entourage last week. Dean claims to want no trouble and leaves the case in the ring for Seth. It would turn out to be boobie trapped by the titty master himself. HeHe would smirk, as Seth Rollins would be slimed.

Among the bad on this show, we had a horrible Bella segment with a Brie match that was made a handicap match by Nikki with the blessing given by the authority for here to do so. Brie would face Cameron and Eva Maria aka the “We can’t wrestle chicks” and come out on top. Crowd hated it and chanted everything under the sun.

We did see the wife of C.M Punk on the show. A.J would face Paige’s supposed new best friend Alicia Fox in a match. It would turn into a double team but A.J was able to mange to get away before getting a Mountain Dew bath in the middle of the ring.

We had a bull, a gator and a bunny involved in a segment. Hornswaggle was dressed as the gator and this was probably the worst segment of the show. Hulk Hogan was flubbing lines trying to promote that WWE will again be supporting breast cancer for a third straight year.

Overall, it ended up being a decent show, as the rumors seem to be true that we may be getting a Cena vs. Ambrose match that ultimately determines the Hell in the Cell matches. There was no mention of Brock returning for this pay-per-view that according to most insiders, he will not. Instead using one of those extra appearances at Survivor Series seems to be the plan. Once one of the big four WWE pay-per-view but has lost its luster in over time.

In the end episode of Raw was a showcase for Ambrose that gave the show a bit of a rebound after some painfully bad episodes in recent weeks.

Can Monday Night Raw Break The Losing Streak

So, Monday Night Raw is on a losing streak like a sports team to some extent. It has been 5 weeks in a row of pretty below average stuff. They head in to Chicago at this point, so for that crowd alone it should at least make this show interesting. Let’s state the obvious they will chant C.M Punk and he will not be there. Some odd rumors about a Punk return based on some WWE Studios film that Punk was in as the genius for this misguided rumor. Punk was also in a cartoon style move with the Flintstones in which he was pegged to be the main character. This not unlike the cartoon film John Cena was in for Scooby Doo that came out earlier in the year. That has been scraped apparently. This second film was done in 2012 apparently.

Punk and WWE have been in legal battles over his use in the WWE 2K15 video game and WWE has scrapped all C.M Punk merchandise. The one thing we can safely say is C.M Punk will not be on show tonight.This despite Stephanie McMahon's "Who knows what the future holds" in reference to a Punk return to the WWE on WGN television this morning here is a link to the video.

Need a reminder of why this is not happening:


Who will be on the show is A.J Lee the wife of the best in the world. She is involved in a very strange divas division in which she continues to feud with Paige but seems to have an angle in waiting with Stephanie. The Bella mess seems to have been separated from this feud for A.J after it was strangely inserted into her feud with Paige. None of it makes a lot of sense and you can bet all the WWE Divas are in for a long night with a vocal Chicago crowd that likely isn’t all that invested in them. Shockingly I do not think Chicago will care about twin sisters feuding over their last name.

Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and Bray Wyatt all were noticeably absent from television last week. We have been given no explanation as to the future plans for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. There are some balls in the air with Seth Rollins having attacked Brock and attempted to cash in only to be cut off by John Cena. This would logically seem like it would cause friction between Brock along with Heyman with the Authority. Brock is based on rumors not going to be appearing on the Hell in the Cell event.

Bray Wyatt is a different matter, as it seems he has fallen out of favor with WWE. He seems to have no one to feud with so much so that he was left off the Night of Champions show. Is it too soon to press the panic button for the Wyatt Family and Bray specifically? Perhaps it is but things are not looking good for him. Amazing how that John Cena rub of a feud and a Wrestlemania match has not gotten him over. This is said very sarcastically, as his only win in the feud came thanks to a singing child in a steel cage match. This followed by a much anticipated but falling flat feud with Chris Jericho. The only thing that they haven’t managed to screw up is his entrance.

Dean Ambrose and John Cena seem to be tied together in both wanting to get the right to beat-up Seth Rollins. It has led to a strange rumor for Hell in the Cell in which Cena will face Ambrose and the winner gets Rollins in the main event in Hell in the Cell. The loser gets Randy Orton as a consolation prize. Such a concept even being considered speaks to the lack of depth on the roster right now. Actually it speaks more to how little the WWE maximizing the talent they have as they have dropped the ball with guys like Ziggler, Cesaro, Bo Dallas and others who could be stepping up in a time such as this but have not been booked properly to be taken seriously in larger roles currently.

Speaking of Ziggler I assume his feud with The Miz will continue. Many people seem to like it; I however am not among them. The Miz gimmick that now includes Damien Sandow as his understudy or stunt double. It all is total silliness in my opinion but if people can like something on Raw hang on to it tightly. Another feud that I am actually digging is the Cesaro and Sheamus feud that has been some hard hitting snug wrestling at its finest. Yes, I am enjoying Sheamus in a feud, which is amazing. The reason why is it is not Sheamus trying to be funny. This is why I do not like the Ziggler against Miz feud. I am all for having comedy in wrestling if it is actually done well.

There will be some other stuff as well likely some re-runs from Smackdown like the Big Show and Rusev perhaps and maybe will get another Uso and Dust brothers dust up. My level of believing in Raw doing something unique and entertaining is reaching dramatically low levels. I can see myself ducking in and out of Raw to catch up on Media Day around the NBA and here in Toronto. Never fear though I am not going to jump back to my past of covering the Raptors. I have committed to wrestling and the WWE is doing their best to want me to have me commit myself to a rubber room on Monday nights of late.

At least the people of Chicago will make it interesting. Pretty sad when you go into a show expecting the audience to provide more highlights than the show itself. Oh, I almost forgot the Hulkster might be making an appearance. Yeah so, as I said the crowd will be providing most of the entertainment. Hogan will just be focused on remembering what arena and city he is in which will be his challenge brother!!!

We can always hope Raw surprises us but I wouldn’t hold my breath in anticipation of that.  How they handle the whole Punk matter will be interesting as last time they faked a Punk return only to have Paul Heyman come out and cut a fantastic promo. I highly doubt we hear any Cult of Personality on this show unless A.J decides to come out to it.

Will it be six weeks in a row of Raw just lowering the bar to levels that we actually are invested in knowing who that dame bunny is. Wait a second we already are doing that so never mind.

Keep up with everything with us on Condo on the Moon on Facebook and Twitter. 

Night of Wrestling and Questionable Booking for WWE

Night of Champions seems to have had some really mixed results in terms of reaction to it. While in ring, the show seemed to come off reasonably well, the booking of the show caused people some headaches. Those that just wanted to see some good in-ring action were able to ignore the lack of logic to the booking and enjoy the show. Those who could not ignore those mistakes were unable to see past it and enjoy some good wrestling overall. 

A great example of this divide was in the match between Sheamus versus Cesaro. Everyone expected this to be a hard-hitting stiff affair. The end result with Cesaro losing left a bad taste in fans mouths that have been unhappy with how he has been booked since Wrestlemania.

If you looked at last night’s show in a vacuum not looking back or forward it is hard to debate, it was not a decent show at the very least. When you get into the long-term nature of these events is where issues arise. Like this feud with the Miz and Dolph Ziggler that has gone on to long with ridiculous side characters in Sandow and R-Truth. The commentary on the match was an infomercial for some hick country brand Florida Georgia Line that didn’t have the common business sense to know the name of the event they signed to appear at in December. This made the Intercontinental Championship match seemingly less important.  The constant flip-flopping of the title also doesn’t help matters. This could be just getting the belt back on The Miz prior to losing to a returning Wade Barrett who was the champion prior to him being injured. This ultimately would be acceptable in the grand scheme of things.

This was one of three titles that changed hands as the Uso’s losing to the Dust Brothers. Which realistically seemed to be coming with the Uso’s having long title run. Does this change my interest level in the tag-team division at all? It does not have me more interested in the division in the slightest.

The Diva’s title swaps hands again as A.J gets the title back winning the three-way title match. The match was decent even Nikki Bella pulled her weight in the match. The booking about having Nikki in the match made zero sense as Brie was at Night of Champions, but only cut an interview and had zero involvement in the match. Again, another case of a decent match with flawed booking that does not make sense.

One match that for my money failed on both levels was Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. The build to this match including a useless segment on the pre-show on the “Peep Show” that was pointless. While many will say this was a good match between to vets, I am sorry but that finish to this match was so poor it wiped away anything that happened prior to it. We had Jericho waiting forever on the top rope only to get “RKOed” when he jumped off for the finishing spot to the match. The catch RKO when we first saw it was an amazing move. It was anything but in this case as you could see it coming a mile away

Roman Reigns was rushed to hospital over the weekend legitimately and the WWE did the expected but welcomed segment as a result. Rollins took a win by forfeit over Reign who could be out anywhere from 6-12 weeks based on his recovery. Rollins issues an open challenge and out of a cab in the back that he did not pay for comes Dean Ambrose returning to the WWE after a month.  In storyline curb stomped through cement blocks, while in reality he was off filming a WWE films movie in which he plays a cop. Ambrose takes justice into his own hands and attacks Rollins all over the arena and security along with Triple H and Stephanie come out. Eventually security drags off Ambrose. One of the suits along with security was Jamie Noble who had quite the scuffle with Ambrose. There is irony in the one segment that was not pre-planned and came off as one of the best things on the show.

It is now time to move onto our main event with Brock Lesnar and John Cena in their re-match from Summerslam. We saw the predictable more aggressive Cena going after Brock but still not able to finish him whoever thought it was a good idea to have John Cena using the “STF” is headshaking. Cena has always made that hold look terrible and Brock breaking out of it only emphasized that.Steve Austin has also been a long time critic of Cena doing this hold badly. Rollins come up, breaks-up yet another “STF” attempt, and causes a DQ win by attacking Cena. He “Curb Stomped” the downed Lesnar and went to cash in his Money in the Bank contract only to be cut off by Cena negating his cash in as the bell never rang to start the match. Sadly, this is looking like we are heading to yet another Cena vs. Lesnar match. It seems clear the WWE has little confidence in booking Brock with anyone else. I have very little interest in seeing this match for a third time.

Perhaps Raw can sell me on this being interesting and this would have to put some strain between the relationship with Paul Heyman and Brock with the Authority and Seth Rollins.

In the end for me, this show taught me an example of why you need good booking to go along with good wrestling to make a show enjoyable. This was booked at times as an episode of Raw and at other times like it was a pay-per-view. It just did not get me excited for what is to come and the title changes that happened all seemed very flat and uneventful in nature for me.

Night of Champions is rapidly becoming the show you skip and just wait for Hell in the Cell to get the blow offs to main event feuds. This was all similar to how the Bryan and Orton feud was dragged out last year to get it to Hell in the Cell and a blow-off cell match; this also might speak to the need of having so many gimmick themed pay-per-views. While ones like the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank seem to work things like Hell in a Cell and Elimination Chamber clearly do not. The need for a long feud to end in these structures is likely part of the reason they don’t and making it predictable that feuds will peak at this event. Elimination Chamber is a dangerous match that always seems to be a holdover to Wrestlemania with little drama attached to it.

In the end a show that really seemed to have some mixed reaction from the WWE’s core audience while a Lesnar vs. Cena re-match, I would venture to guess did little to expand the WWE audience with casual fans. WWE had really gotten some attention with the initial Lesnar win only to fail badly in the follow-up to it.

Just like they have failed to sell a network to the mass population outside of it's hardcore audience. 

3 Things We Need To See Coming Out of Night of Champions

The WWE was dealt a serious curveball to “Night of Champions" with Roman Reigns being rushed to hospital Saturday. He had emergency surgery incarcerated hernia that was successful and if all goes well he will be released from Nashville hospital today. In terms of a return to the ring WWE’s Doctor suggests this is likely going to be a full 6-week recovery process as this was not your typical sports hernia operation.

Given that news, it is almost a guarantee you have to think we will see Dean Ambrose return and likely just plug him into Roman’s place in the match. Rollins and Ambrose have worked so much together this seems like an easy fit to fill the loss of Reigns in the short term.

Aside from this breaking news and obvious issue with the card what are three things we need to see happen because of Night of Champions.

1. A clear direction for the WWE World Championship: Until the final bell rings, tonight people are still going to doubt if the WWE will have John Cena lose twice in a row even if it is to Brock Lesnar. Some so convinced of that fact they have created a situation that they see Cena winning but Set Rollins walking away from the night the Champion. Brock, Cena of Rollins we need a clear direction for the WWE World Championship. The best option is sticking with the plan and riding the Brock Lesnar train to Wrestlemania. Roman Reigns getting this time off might be a blessing in disguise, as it will give them a chance to build him up.  He should be 100% healthy and ready to roll after this recovery. I just want a clear direction and let’s stick with it.  I don’t think your doing him any favors by giving him the championship at this point. Going to Cena is a panic move with no real plan attached to it.

2. What about Bray?: I find it odd that Bray Wyatt is not booked on this card. I wonder if we see him get involved somewhere tonight for his next feud. There are some rumors he will work a fall program with Dolph Ziggler. Perhaps he costs Ziggler the I-C title or gives a post match beat down to setup this feud. After working with Cena at Wrestlemania, who could have seen Wyatt falling so far out of the main scene so quickly? You could say a similar thing about Cesaro but maybe he will finally start the road back with a U.S title win? We can hope for the best and that is about all. I think Bray shows up at Night of Champions for something what is to be determined.

3. Separation of Diva’s Angles: I hate to say it but I think Nikki Bella will do this becoming the Diva’s Champion. Given how much WWE has gone all in with Bella feud adding the title to it would not shock me. What I also see is this advancing the Paige and A.J Feud but more importantly advancing the Stephanie and A.J feud that has been teased a few times. Assuming A.J makes it all the way to Wrestlemania, I firmly believe she will be facing Stephanie McMahon. It has all the makings of the most eagerly anticipated women’s match in the history of Wrestlemania.

Other things to note, would be an end of the line point for Usos as Tag-Team Champions?  Where is Randy Orton heading as he is in a lame duck match with Chris Jericho leaving to go be a rock star again with Fozzy. Rusev continues to roll but will he get involved in the Cena/Brock match, as some rumors have been suggesting. Will see what happens the build to this event was terrible let us hope the event itself over performs. Roman Reigns being taken out before it ever started is not a great sign.

All you have to do is BOlieve, right Bo Dallas? 

5 Matches For Wrestlmania 31, Coming Out of Summerslam

Summerslam is in the books time to dream ahead to Wrestlemania 31 and come up with five matches we expect to be on the card. So ready…set…here we go.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: Not a very bold pick to start with but the most obvious pick to be made. Even the most obvious selection has its risks to it. An injury a sudden change in direction like the one we saw last year with Daniel Bryan. Someone is getting a shot at Lesnar at Mania and I expect him to still be champion at the time so Reigns is the one to beat one that conquered the streak of The Undertaker. I think the biggest obstacle to us not seeing the match is Reigns development and if people high up in the company are not happy with it. A potential show down with Triple H could put any such questions to bed one way or the other. Daniel Bryan in an interview with Brian Fritz expressed his desire to mix it up with Lesnar at some point when he returns. Reigns could end up in the role of Batista, which in the WWE this January was not a fun role to have.

2. Stephanie McMahon vs. A.J Lee: This is my pipe dream fantasy that I believe is going to happen. Mainly because it would have a real element of real life, drama given the husbands of the two ladies involved. There is one no one expects to be back, in the company any time soon if at all. Instead of fight, those CM Punk chants why not embrace them head on with this feud. Stephanie is without equal on the microphone in this company. If anyone were going to give her a competitive battle, it would be A.J Lee, who is very skilled in her own right.  In ring, Steph can be cared to a much better match than she had with Brie at Summerslam. A.J could be on the outs with WWE like her husband and decide to leave. Still I think this is a feud worth sticking around for A.J. As strange and ironic as this is A.J has talked about Steph being one of her idols. If that remains true based on the battles her husband has had with the company and Steph who knows if this is still true. Fans would eat this up and way more than they did Steph and Brie or a potential. Bella vs. Bella match. If you want to take this to the total next level, how about a guest referee of Ronda Rousey? That is the cheery on top of the dream sundae. I BOlieve in this match strongly.   

3. Sting vs. Triple H: I know it is not the Undertaker. I think the deadman is done and so in his place will be Triple H to take on Sting. This will upset Dave Batista that has been vocal of the idea of ending his in-ring career with a Mania program with Triple H. Question becomes, which is the bigger draw as an option. I think the never seen Sting against Triple H match might make the most sense. In the end, people are excited about Sting and even if I do not get it, I can’t deny it. When asked if Sting could not get his dream opposition in Taker, he suggested the name Triple H and I think that could easily happen.

4. John Cena vs. Rusev: It seems somewhat dumb and a waste of Cena to a degree, but no more than it would be to see him against Hogan. Something that Hogan has been hinting about the fact he would want to do it. America was brought to disgrace at Summerslam and now the closest thing to an American Hero we have in John Cena is going to save the U.S.A. Maybe Hogan can be involved by having Rusev attack him and John Cena coming to the rescue. Cheesy but everything about this match will be I believe.

5. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro: I think Bryan is far outside of the title picture when he comes back. So why not pair him with someone that will give you a match that is out of this world. It is better than Bryan vs. Sheamus III or IV, I have lost count. So if Bryan is healthy this should be a solid contest to watch.  You can build up what both did at last Wrestlemania to make them look like two big stars battling it out to get back to the top.

So those are 5 matches we are predicting Wrestlemania 31 will see how we do. It is always fun to speculate to the future and many people seem to love this type of thing. So will see if any of these matches even happen.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

Summerslam: A.J vs Paige

The Paige and A.J feud as far as I am concerned has failed to live up to the mass amount of hype people had for it when it started. This whole pretending to be friends and actually enemies this was and is ridiculous. That said Paige going heel was badly required. It has really been revitalization her and almost gave her a do-over from her original debut as babyface that was awful. A.J on the other hand is not exactly looking like much of a baby face in her actions. In the end, it doesn’t matter much.

This feud has been badly overshadowed by the Brie and Stephanie feud and despite being for the title I would bet they do not get as much match time as Steph and Brie match is given. Should be a better match with these two time restraints or not. These two are starting to develop some chemistry to some extent.

Why I feel A.J is on a different level and deserves to keep her championship. I feel for the sake of extending the feud Paige is going to win the title. I can’t see anyone positioned to jump into this feud for the Diva’s Championship.

Another thing this feud has lacked is time invested in it is build that again is because of all the time being invested in Stephanie and Brie. Second fiddle all around is this feud and it should not be in one sense being for the title. It is easy to understand why it has been with the return to the ring of Stephanie McMahon who has not wrestled in a WWE ring in over a decade.

I still think that at the end of the day we could see Stephanie to return to face A.J Lee in a match that takes place at Wrestlemania. It makes a lot of sense if WWE is willing to make it happen.

In terms of the Diva’s Title, it is not looking good being booked below Steph but it is only for one show and it understandable.

This match wise has the chance to be the best of the encounters between Paige and A.J where neither girl should have to hold back for storyline purposes and can just go at it. If this is not the best women’s in-ring match of the night it would be quite a surprise but fans are not as invested as they are in the Steph and Brie feud even despite the bad booking on Monday.

So that is it will finish up are Summerslam Previews before Sundays show.

Check out the rest of our In-Depth Summerslam previews so far: 

Stephanie vs Brie     

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins   

The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler   

Jericho vs Bray Wyatt 

Swagger vs Rusev 

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com. 

Summerslam: Stephanie vs Brie

This is a feud that really dates back to January of this year between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella. It at first was the side attraction to Daniel Bryan’s feud against the Authority leading into Wrestlemania 30. Since Bryan has been ruled out to injury, it has risen to be arguably the co-main event angle of Summerslam. Part of the interest and intrigue to this event has little to do with Brie Bella. This will mark the first time Stephanie as competed in a WWE in ring in over 10 years. In that time, Stephanie has had three daughters in real life with here husband Paul Lévesque (Triple H) and I think many felt we would never see Stephanie in a ring again.

That all changed when Brie Bella called Stephanie a bitch over her less than really concern for Brie Bella’s husband Daniel Bryan being injured at the time in storyline. It sparked something in people to think that perhaps we would see Stephanie return to the ring in a match. The storyline would be used to deal later with the uncertainty of Daniel Bryan’s now legit injury to his neck and lack of recovery from neck surgery. Stephanie forced Bryan to choose between the WWE World Heavyweight Title and his new wife Brie Bella’s employment with the company. Brie would take the choice out of her husband’s hands by quitting instead and slapping Stephanie in the face on the WWE event Payback.

As things turned out Bryan would legitimately have to forfeit the title, he won as his neck surgery and recovery from it did not improve. The angle would be shifted to Stephanie punishing Nikki Bella as a way of getting at the now unemployed Brie Bella. The feud would heat up again with Brie in attendance to watch her sister wrestle and she would get in a verbal altercation with Stephanie that turned physical when Brie called Stephanie a bitch yet again causing Stephanie to deliver one of her most famous slaps. Mick Foley lays claim to being the first person Stephanie every slapped. He advised her to slap him as hard as she could but not directly on the jaw. Wise advice he gave as Stephanie has been know to lay in quite the slap. Anyway, this slap would land Stephanie in hot water, as she was arrested for assault, as technically Brie was just a fan so she pressed charges. In order to drop the charges she demanded her job back and this match at Summerslam. Stephanie tearfully agreed and than turned on a dime and slapped Brie off the ring apron promising to make Stephanie her bitch at Summerslam.

This angle main evented Raw in back to back weeks and despite Brie being totally outclassed on the microphone by Stephanie this was a match people wanted to see and maybe still do but likely not as much as they did before Monday. What happened on Monday with Stephanie bringing out a physical therapist named Megan Miller having Miller admit to an affair she had been having with her client Daniel Bryan was just going to far with this. Brie would attack Miller and Stephanie leading to her own arrest. It was unnecessary and took away from this great and rare long-term build to a match.

Many have wondered what kind of a match we will get once this match makes it to the ring. After all, it has been 10 years since Stephanie has wrestled and Brie Bella herself has not had a match in several months after this angle driven departure from the company. Call me crazy but I think it will be better than you think. Stephanie has worked out for years with Triple H’s personal real life trainer since having the couple’s third child. She also has taken up Jiu-Jitsu learning it from Rener Gracie the husband of former WWE Diva Eve Torres. Her daughters had been taking a program for kids and Stephanie was said to have taken an interest and learned some things as well. Gracie is also known for working with Ronda Rousey and C.M Punk.

While Brie has been, helped in real life by her husband Daniel Bryan considered one of the best wrestlers in pro wrestling today. She has shown improvements in the ring as a result. Therefore, in theory this could be a decent match and not strictly a cat-fight of hair pulling and slaps. It may turn out to be that but the potential is there for it to be more than that.

At first, many speculated this would be a match for Brie to earn her job back with a victory, as the story has played out this has not been the case. This opens the door widely to the idea of Stephanie actually winning this match. There were rumors that Nikki Bella would actually turn on her sister as part of how this all would take place. Keeping with the rumor mill the WWE has been less than impressed with Brie’s work in the build-up to this feud and it makes you wonder if spinning off into a feud of Bella vs. Bella is a direction the company would still want to go. Also with Stephanie, landing a pedigree on both Bella’s it makes that also seems a little less likely or at least logical.

Another question is when and if we see Daniel Bryan get involved in all this. Bryan now being brought into this angle with his loyalty to his wife questioned makes you wonder if he now appears involved in this. He is not ready to return to the ring to wrestle. In fact may well require more surgery as his neck has not heeled correctly causing him to lose strength in on of his arms. It was also revealed that he since has discovered and injury to his shoulder that also could require going under the knife. I question if him being involved is wise given he really can’t return to active duty in the WWE. Does it not make sense to save such a moment for when he is ready to return and fight?  

Despite all of these issues at the finish line to the build to this angle, I remain very invested and interested in seeing it. Perhaps it is just me but I am not rooting for Stephanie to get was it coming to her. I almost would like to see her win at this point. Which the door is clearly the door is now open too. I also would not mind seeing Stephanie in a match at Wrestlemania against A.J Lee the current and defending Diva’s Champion. A feud between these two would have a lot of real life drama tied to it with A.J being married to C.M Punk and Stephanie being believed to be one of the people behind the scenes glad that he is gone. Add in the fact that at one time and maybe still is, the idol of one A.J Lee. In the past, Lee has talked about how she finds it is hard for her just engaging in a conversation with Stephanie as she is so excited to be talking with her and it brings out the fan in her that idolized her. Sounds like a good idea to me.

What I think we can say, or should say, is that this match with Brie should be a one and done type affair which should mean Brie gets the win. I would not bet the house on it though as the WWE logic might suggest having Stephanie win. If there is a plan in place to have her wrestle again at Wrestlemania she would have some legitimacy to her match against a different female opponent.  Not that she would need it but that is a line of thinking. Brie’s failure to hold up her end of this feud might be a reason to see Stephanie win as well.

Whatever the case you can make the argument this is the most anticipated women’s wrestling match since the retirement match of Trish Stratus in Toronto against Lita at Unforgiven in 2006.

It has been the match most people have expressed interest in seeing, beyond the Brock and Cena battle for the title. We have poll on website here that reflects that.

Check out all the rest of our Summerslam Previews so far below:

Bray Wyatt vs Jericho
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins
The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler 

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

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Raw Preview: 5 Things We Expect To Happen?

We are just under two weeks out from Summerslam and we have two more Monday Night Raw’s to go. Therefore, what can we expect aside from endless reminders to purchase the WWE Network? One thing we do not expect is to see John Cena who is off being a movie star again this week. I thought that was the new gimmick for the Miz. We will see Paul Heyman and likely Brock Lesnar along side him Paul did a great interview with Brian Fritz on Between the Ropes about his DVD/BluRay that is coming out this Tuesday. Here are five things we expect to see on Raw tonight:

1. Expect another great Paul Heyman promo and maybe Brock Lesnar beating someone up in the absence of John Cena to make a point. I do not expect a match to happen just someone getting F-5ed and suffering the rather of Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman has been doing a wonderful job of selling this match and expectation is for that to continue.

2. The introduction of the A.J injury angle as part of her feud with Paige to the Raw audience that does not bother to watch Smackdown Paige did a number on her on Smackdown and maybe finally is a full-fledged heel? In any case, this feud for the Diva’s Championship has taken a backseat to the Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella feud.

3. Dean Ambrose to be back on Raw where he belongs and getting his plans for Summerslam made official. Expect him and Seth Rollins to get into it once again leading to a match at Summerslam maybe even for that briefcase that Seth holds with the Money and the Bank Contract.

4. More “Bitch Slaps” and smack talk between Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon. I expect Steph to book both Bella’s in a match where they are out numbered and over matched. I think ultimately we are heading to a Bella sisters feud coming out of this match with Stephanie getting the win at Summerslam. So seeing the Bellas together and united, the next couple of weeks will make it a bigger surprise for some when Nikki turns on her sister.

5. Roman Reigns need to get his Mojo back after taking a heck of a beating from Randy Orton. Some might have heard that these two might have some legitimate heat between them based on Randy kind of dogging it in house show matches between the two. This feud may well be going on in the ring and outside of it. For my money Reigns needs to get some measure of revenge between now and Summerslam.

Other things we should see is more build to Wyatt against Chris Jericho. Perhaps some clarity on where the Tag-Team titles our heading for Summerslam. Expect to see more U-S-A Chants as the Swagger against Rusev build continues.Have the match made for an Intercontinental title contest between Miz and Dolph Ziggler made official for Summerslam. We should expect some more character development on the new trio of Xavier Woods, Kofi and Big E as they continue to evolve into the nation 2.0?  A crazy Goldust and Stardust promo and Damien Sandow dressed in some locally offensive costume.

All in all that should all be part of you Raw three hour tour.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

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Ladies Night On Raw: Steph and Brie Feud In Main Event Spot

I walked away from last night’s Raw with one thought in my mind that basically the Co-Main Event for Summerslam is Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon. It is quite the revelation to come too, but honestly can you argue it is not the case. The build up to making the match that I honestly have wanted to see for some time. Part of the reason for that I think is the fact Stephanie has not wrestled a match in over a decade. Her last match to the best of my recollection was against her father a week before her real life wedding to Paul Lévesque AkA Triple H.

Will get to what to expect from Stephanie in the ring, which might be better than you think in a minute, but let’s talk about the build to this match. It has been a slow and steady build that began even prior to Daniel Bryan’s injury and they still carried on with it.

They worked around the Bryan injury and still ran with this angle as Brie in the end got fired for basically no reason with Bryan unable to return and was stripped of the title anyway despite Brie quitting to save Bryan from having to choose between his wife and the title.

I think the best selling point to this angle on a personal level to me is my mom who is not a wrestling fan in the slightest and her only really exposure to it is me. She has been interested in watching this angle just based on Stephanie alone. Even the most casual wrestling fan to someone who is aware of wrestling knows who she is and she is very good at what she does.

For those who just dismiss Stephanie as a character are just simply hating on her based on her real life position in the company but she is for my money the best female performer on microphone in this company and has been for quite sometime. A.J Lee is the only female in this company that can even comes close to her in terms of skill on the microphone.

Brie Bella is not a terrible wrestler her acting skills are not exactly the greatest and that is being kind. She is only mildly better than her sister Nikki who is terrible at acting in any sense. In this angle they have kept her talking to a minimum. She has been able to drop some naughty language in the PG WWE landscape.

The match itself is never going to live up to this tremendous build-up it has been given. It will not be as bad as you think though I believe. Brie is as I mentioned getting better in the ring and really showed growth in the time she was broken apart from her sister who was out with an injury. Daniel Bryan giving her some pointers has not hurt at all. Stephanie has recently been training in Jiu JitSu, her girls have been getting trained in it by Rener Gracie, who is married to former WWE Diva Eve. Stephanie has been learning as well. So this alone might make Steph a more component in-ring competitor. This is all assuming this is more than a slap fest cat fight which it has been in the build up to that point.

This has been one of several female angles that WWE has been running with in the last month or two. Even the Diva’s title program with A.J Lee and Paige has taken a backseat to this angle. This is not surprising considering even big angles have been positioned behind this feud between the two.

Another part of this is so many times Steph has been positioned against male performers where they are basically rendered helpless in the WWE where a man hitting a woman is not happening in this PG era. So Brie is able to in a sense be the one to get revenge on Stephanie through Brie.

What is the outcome of this angle? Some have suggested perhaps will spill off into a Bella vs. Bella feud with Nikki turning heel on her sister. The logic of this thought is a little flawed but maybe the plan was always to sucker Brie into this match. Will see how it plays out, but it made a majority of the wrestling audience interested in a women’s angle with great passion since Trish and Lita.

You may not be happy with who is representing the ladies at the top of the heap here but it is a huge step for women in the landscape of things. I am pretty sure a female angle has not closed Raw since the much talked about match with Trish and Lita that Main-Evented Raw.

The success of all these female angles recently can be debated but this angle with Steph and Brie has been as good as it gets.

 

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! 

If you have questions/comments for our NEW Weekly Google+ Show Live Thursday's 7:30 pm EST use hashtag #AskMachoMoon. You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com.