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Bankers Life Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN – Sunday, November 18, 2012
Michael Cole, Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, and JBL are on commentary.
~MATCH #1~
Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, & Brodus Clay (w/ Cameron & Naomi) defeat The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O’Neil), Primo, Epico, & Tensai in a 10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match at 18:27. The action is fast paced from the get-go here, with plenty of guys to tag in and out. Sin Cara plays the first face-in-peril, and he gets beat up for several minutes before making the hot tag to Clay. The match breaks down and everyone except the big men wind up on the floor. Tensai eliminates Clay with a senton splash at 8:23. Gabriel evens the score by pinning Tensai at 10:21 with a crucifix. O’Neil is next to go when Kidd pins him with a rollup at 13:49. Kidd keeps the momentum going by forcing Epico to submit to the Sharpshooter at 14:59. Mysterio finally gets to make an impact on the match and he uses an Oklahoma Roll to pin Primo at 17:30. That puts Young at a four-on-one disadvantage. Mysterio hits Young with the 619 and Sin Cara follows with a senton bomb. Gabriel hits a springboard moonsault, and Kidd hits a springboard elbow drop. Mysterio puts Young out of his misery with a Superfly Splash to get the win. Good, fun opener there to get the crowd going. I’m a sucker for old school Survivor Series matches like this one.
Rating: ***
~MATCH #2~
WWE Divas Champion Eve Torres defeats Kaitlyn at 7:02 to retain the title. Eve has been the Champion since 9.16.12, and this is her fourth defense. Kaitlyn is all fired up to start, still stinging from being attacked by Aksana in the locker room before the match. Eve cuts her off and slows down the pace and grounds her challenger. Kaitlyn makes a comeback but it’s not enough to put Eve away. Eve snuffs the rally and puts Kaitlyn away with The Heart Breaker. Not much to see here but it was perfectly decent and had a nice clean finish.
Rating: **
~MATCH #3~
WWE United States Champion Antonio Cesaro defeats R-Truth at 6:58 to retain the title. Cesaro has been the Champion since 8.19.12, and this is his fifth defense. This is a pretty standard TV-style match, as Truth controls the early going, Cesaro cuts him off and takes the heat, Truth make a comeback near the end, and Cesaro ends it with The Neutralizer. I love Cesaro, but that was completely forgettable and not at all engaging.
Rating: **¼
~MATCH #4~
Sheamus defeats World Heavyweight Champion The Big Show by disqualification at 14:44. Show has been the Champion since 10.28.12, and this is his first defense. This one starts off as a slug-fest, which obviously favors the Champion. Sheamus is no slouch though, and he fights back as much as he can. Show works to keep Sheamus grounded, which neutralizes the Brogue Kick. Sheamus shows off his impressive power, hitting an electric chair drop and even White Noise, but it’s not enough to put Show away. He sets up for a Brogue Kick but Show pulls the referee into harm’s way. A handful of officials come down to check on their fallen comrade, and in the confusion, Show blasts Sheamus with the WMD and gets the pin. One of the other referees reverses the call though and gives Sheamus the win by DQ. Sheamus is angry, so he destroys Show with a chair. I wonder what type of match that sets up for the TLC pay-per-view? This was a solid power v power matchup, with both men busting their butts to get it over for the crowd. The finish kind of makes Sheamus look like a goof though.
Rating: **½
~MATCH #5~
Team Ziggler (Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow, & David Otunga) defeat Team Foley (Randy Orton, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston & The Miz) in a 10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match at 23:41. I don’t recall what the issue was between these two teams at all. Otunga is replacing Cody Rhodes, and Barrett is replacing Miz, who jumped teams. Bryan and Kane are the current WWE Tag Team Champions, and Kofi Kingston is the Intercontinental Champion. Sandow tries to bail after taking a beating from Bryan. Kane puts a stop to that and then eliminates Sandow with a Chokeslam at 3:06. Bryan and Kane argue, which allows Ziggler to hit Kane with the Zig Zag to even the score at 3:45. Next to go is Otunga, who gets caught in Bryan’s Yes Lock and taps out at 7:11. Barrett evens the score with a Bull Hammer on Kingston to get the pin at 9:41. Minutes later Del Rio traps Bryan in the Cross Armbreaker to get a tap out at 12:34. Barrett tries to hit Miz with Wasteland but Miz counters with the Skull Crushing Finale to eliminate Barrett at 16:04. Del Rio comes in and drills Miz with a step-up enziguiri to pin him at 17:13. Orton is on his own now against Del Rio and Ziggler. Heel miscommunication gives Orton an opening to flatten Del Rio with an RKO to eliminate him at 20:58. Orton sets up the Punk but Ziggler cuts him off with a superkick and that’s enough to get the pin! I guess this way okay but I have no idea why Foley was the captain of the team anymore, there weren’t any hot feuds represented, and nothing was on the line, so it all just fell flat.
Rating: **¾
~MATCH #6~
WWE Heavyweight Champion CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman) defeats John Cena and Ryback at 17:57 in a Triple Threat Match to retain the title. Punk has been the Champion since 11.20.11, and this is his nineteenth defense. Cena is 7-0 at the Survivor Series. Ryback and Cena both go right after Punk, who attempts to use his cunning to thwart them. The action goes at a fast pace, as the three-man format ensures that something is always happening. Ryback shows off his impressive power, so much so that mortal enemies Punk and Cena agree to work together to put him through one of the announce tables. That leave Punk and Cena alone in the ring together to fight it out. Neither can put the other away, and Ryback makes his way back to the ring and hits both with Shell Shocked. From out of nowhere, three men dressed in black (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) take Ryback back to the floor and put him through the other table. Punk then pins Cena to retain the title. That was an impactful and historically significant finish. As for the rest of the match, it was reasonably entertaining given the format.
Rating: ***
~BONUS MATCH #1: Monday Night RAW, 11.12.12~
Ryback defeats Brad Maddox at 5:32. If Maddox can somehow win this match, he will earn a $1 million WWE contract. In a fun touch, an ambulance makes its way into the arena during Maddox’s entrance, followed by some EMTs with a stretcher. Maddox tries to avoid Ryback by hiding on the floor, but Ryback catches up to him and commences the destruction. Ryback kills Maddox dead with three consecutive powerbombs. Somehow Maddox gets to his feet (dumb) but gets flattened by the Meat Hook. One Shellshock later and Ryback gets the pin. Not much to see there but it was the right match to have and a fun squash.
Rating: *
~BONUS MATCH #2: Monday Night RAW, 11.12.12~
Kane & The Miz (w/ Daniel Bryan) defeat Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) at 5:39. Kane and Daniel Bryan are the WWE Tag Team Champions, and Bryan is feeling pretty jealous and hurt that Kane has a new partner. This is joined in progress, with Kane and Miz controlling the action. Sandow and Rhodes get a brief period of offense but they don’t get too far. Bryan tries to attack Miz behind Kane’s back but Miz counters him. Kane then delivers a Chokeslam to Rhodes to get the pin. This was short and mostly angle, so not much to get excited about here.
Rating: *½
~BONUS MATCH #3: Monday Night RAW, 11.12.12~
John Cena defeats WWE Champion CM Punk (w/ Paul Heyman) at 13:20 in a non-title match. Mick Foley is the Special Enforcer. These two will face off in six days at Survivor Series in a triple threat match along with Ryback for the WWE Title. They chain wrestle a little bit before cutting to a commercial break, and when we come back Punk is in control out on the floor. When they get back in the ring Punk stays mostly in control, thwarting many of Cena’s attacks. Eventually Cena puts on the STF and Punk calls Heyman into the ring, so Cena breaks the hold to confront The Voice of the Voice of the Voiceless, and Foley does his job by pulling Heyman out of the ring. Punk lands a kick to the head and gets a two-count. He then tries the Go 2 Sleep and Cena counters into the STF! Punk reaches the ropes to break the hold. The Champion tries to bail, but Ryback comes out and forces him back to the ring. One Attitude Adjustment later and Cena is the winner. Punk and Cena simply don’t have bad matches, and this was no different.
Rating: ***¼
After the match, Cena and Ryback face off and play tug-o-war with the WWE Championship belt while Punk watches on and the crowd sides firmly with Ryback.
~BONUS MATCH #4: Friday Night SmackDown, 11.16.12~
Randy Orton& The Miz defeat Alberto Del Rio & Dolph Ziggler at 7:45. These are two pretty oddball tag teams. They pretty much follow the tag team formula here. The hometown crowd goes giddy for their boy The Miz, who plays the face-in-peril. Orton gets a hot tag and cleans house, hitting Ziggler with a powerslam and Del Rio with the Rope-hunt DDT. Miz tags himself in and hits Del Rio with the Skull Crushing Finale to get the win. Not much to see in terms of a match, but for sowing seeds of dissension on both sides heading into Survivor Series it did the trick.
Rating: **
A2Z Analysiz
There isn’t much to see here, with some random, middling matches, and only one event of any significance occurring. There’s plenty of talent on this show, but most of them feel wasted. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see this one unless you’re a completist (like me)!
