– First off, this week on the Wrestling Pulsecast, my guest is DGUSA booker Gabe Sapolsky. He’ll be taking live calls and emails (WrestlingPulsecast@gmail.com) for one hour starting at 7:30 PM EST on BlogTalkRadio.com/InsidePulseRadio.
– The last time I was in the Garden, it was WrestleMania 20 which ironically was the last time The Rock was as well. We didn’t know it was his last match at MSG or in the case it was, for 7 years. The night was amazing and he stood out as a legend even in the ring with Foley, Batista, Flair and Orton. So far, that’s the only ‘Mania I’ve had the pleasure of attending and if I never did again I’d be perfectly happy.
– Survivor Series used to be one of my favorite events. Last week, I went through a bunch of recently past events and none of them stood out as something great. And then I watch the first few PPVs and remember why this show is awesome. Now tonight, we again only have 1 “Traditional Survivor Series” match. For a company who prides itself on it’s legacy (and it does), they really don’t “get” what people like about their product.
– Honestly, if The Rock wasn’t returning for this, the 15th anniversary of his WWE debut at Survivor Series, I really don’t think we’d have a Survivor Series this year. I think it’d be something like Last Man Standing 2011.
– Poor Miz and Truth. Although I’m sure they’re not upset with the payday.
– Wow that was a big Ryder chant. And he’s not even on the show. I seriously don’t believe Ryder can be a main eventer with a complete gimmick overhaul but what’s the point of constantly featuring him if you’re not going to give him to the fans when they ask for him?
– As good as Ziggler is, do they realize that the reason they HAVE to feature him twice on the show is because they’ve run out of good workers?
– MSG is crapping all over this match because of Zack Ryder. I say turn Morrison on Ryder. Good feud for the two of them and gives Ziggler an out to work with someone else.
– Gotta love the “Woo Woo Woo” part of that chant.
– Morrison’s getting more heat than Ziggler is tonight.
– I just realized, the only title that seems as if it’s in jeopardy at all tonight is the WWE title. Bad booking.
– Morrison and Ziggler did a great job getting the crowd back into this match.
– Holy crap that was a pop! I can just imagine the chills Ryder got from that.
– Good opening match that was hindered by the NYC Ryder faithful.
– Another month and another pointless Divas match. Kharma can’t come back soon enough.
– THAT was a promo. It’s amazing what a guy can do when no one is writing his lines…
– “Jack Swagger is trying to make up for being humiliated by the Muppets.” Really?
– Wow that was an awesome reaction for Cody Rhodes. Or was it for the classic IC title?
– KNEE PADS!!!!!
– Love how WWE isn’t referencing the absent Evan Bourne at all.
– Randy Orton is a star. 20 years from now we’ll be missing seeing him in the ring.
– Wonder if Kofi is going to be sued by Universal for using a copyrighted Stay Puft Marshmallow Man logo.
– Well I guess Dolph didn’t work as much as last month.
– Ouch! Horrible injury for Sin Cara. Seems like every time he changes his gear, something bad happens.
– Thank God Orton was in this match to rework it. A lot of the planning just went out of the window.
– It’s interesting to me how well Batista got over relatively quickly and yet crowds are just not getting behind Mason Ryan.
– Big pop for Cody pinning Ryan. Interesting…
– Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett could definitely have a Rated RKO type vibe.
– Barrett is getting much smoother in the ring lately. Now if only he developed a new finisher.
– The heels are looking great in this match.
– I think some of Randy Orton’s skin came off on Hunico’s wife beater.
– That’s one way to protect Sheamus. He really needs a hot feud quickly though in order to sustain his moment recently.
– The right two guys went over here. Barrett benefits HUGELY from the pin and Rhodes gets bragging rights.
– Nothing about this match interests me.
– Shawn Michaels says one of the reasons why his matches were so good was because he was able to create movement are big guys who weren’t very agile. With two big guys like this, it will be slow and boring.
– Yup, boring.
– Big Show coming off the top was a site straight out of a video game.
– Why was Big Show protected in this finish and where do they go from here? Show is not a long time main eventer, Henry is now working an injury angle and also doesn’t seem dominant anymore, WHICH WAS HIS WHOLE GIMMICK!
– Howard Finkel back on TV felt special and you could tell he almost couldn’t get through the introduction. If I was Punk, I would have chills hearing Fink introduce me in the Garden.
– Another huge pop from the NYC crowd. I miss when every arena was this loud.
– I still can’t stand Del Rio’s in ring work. I’m just bored by his character and nothing he does in the ring seems to matter or stand out.
– Awesome finish to a pretty good match. Del Rio clawing at Punk’s face before tapping was the realism that needed.
– First ever WWE stage dive! Cool moment.
– Hey, that was ESPN’s Michelle Beadle who just got pet by Punk. We’ll be hearing about that for WEEKS!
– Truth and Miz should NOT be rapping considering their motivation is that they take this business seriously.
– Expected reaction for Cena. Funny, at WrestleMania 20 when he was just starting to get over, the NYC crowd went insane for him and his rapping before he beat the Big Show for the US title. Amazing how much changes in 7 years and how much stays the same.
– Not as big of a reaction for Rock as I expected. Nice to see him don his wrestling gear again instead of a workout suit.
– Wow, it’s like his timing never left. My wife (who never got to see Rock wrestle) is shocked in how smooth he is even now. I think only Orton may be at his level.
– This match is really showing how good Rock is and how bad Cena is.
– Long babyface beatdown for Cena that the Garden couldn’t care less about.
– Ok match that did absolutely nothing for anyone not named Dwayne. No offense on him, no turn, nothing.
– And that angle was terrible. It was slow, clunky, boring and predictible. How was that supposed to get anyone excited for WrestleMania 28 when we’ve already seen all of that before last year’s ‘Mania? WWE has a rough road ahead if this is how bland their storytelling is going to stay and we can only hope there are hot angles with Punk and on Smackdown to make up for this lackluster super main event.
