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TLC, sort of

So yeah, hearing great things about the show I ordered the replay…only to have the screen promptly go to black as soon as Big Show was introduced, and the signal never came back!  I shall be calling Sasktel in the morning to express my displeasure.  So here’s what I had done up until that point:

The SmarK Rant for WWE Tables Ladders & Chairs 2012

Live from Brooklyn, NY.

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & JBL.

Tables Match: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara v. The Rhodes Scholars

Brawl to start as the crowd again focuses on Cody’s mustache. Bunch of jealous hipsters. The heels get tossed and the masked men retrieve a table and abuse Sandow with it. Cody saves his partner and they double-team Cara, but he escapes a suplex attempt and dumps Sandow. Cody comes back with the disaster kick and the heels take over on the floor, with Sandow beating the hell out of Rey and setting up a pair of tables on the floor, but Rey comes back with the senton on Cody and a rana to send him out of the ring again. Sin Cara fires off a sloppy rana and a corkscrew dive on Sandow, clearly in a lot of pain. Cody tries the Alabama Slam on Rey, but gets 619’d instead and Rey puts him on the table. Sandow saves and Cara puts Rhodes on the floor again, but he goes for a springboard and Cody shoves him through the table on the floor at 9:30 to finish it. Great finish, and the fast-paced highspots to end it were a lot of fun. ***1/4

US title: Antonio Cesaro v. R-Truth

Cesaro gets a big babyface pop in New York, as you’d expect. Cesaro shoulderblocks him down for two and works a headlock, but Truth rolls him up for two. Another rollup gets two. Cesaro puts him down for the double-stomp and a knee to the gut gets two. He goes to a cobra sleeper on the mat, but Truth comes back with the leg lariat for two. Truth escapes a suplex, however, and finishes with the uppercut and NEUTRALIZER at 6:39 to retain. Pretty standard RAW match. **

Meanwhile, Dolph Ziggler complains about preferential treatment for John Cena.

Miz TV presents 3MB. Trainwreck alert. Heath goes after the Rolling Stones and then they threaten the Spanish announcers, which draws out Ricardo Rodriguez and then Alberto Del Rio for an apparent face turn. So we have another match for later tonight.

Intercontinental title: Kofi Kingston v. Wade Barrett

Barrett gets a pair of takedowns for two and tosses Kofi, but he heads back in and follows with a dive of his own. Back in, Wade with a back kick and backbreaker for two. Middle rope elbow gets two. Kofi comes back with a Russian legsweep and the boomdrop, but Wade ducks the kick. Kofi keeps coming with the SOS for two and he pounds away in the corner, but Wade hits a full nelson slam for two. Kofi with the kick out of the corner and he goes up with the crossbody, but Barrett rolls through for two. Kofi with a small package for two. Wade with the Bossman slam for two. Wade sets up for the big elbow, but Kofi reverses to the wacky kick for the pin at 8:08 to retain. Well that was unexpected. Guess the title’s changing on RAW tomorrow night instead. Fun match! ***

TLC Match: The Shield v. Ryback, Daniel Bryan & Kane

The crowd boos Ryback and then chants “Feed me more” for some reason. Big brawl to start and Ambrose chops Ryback and goes for the knee, but Ryback slugs him down. The Shield triple-team him and dump him, then abuse Bryan with a ladder, but Ryback saves and does really dangerous things with it. I personally would not trust Ryback to drop a ladder on me and not fuck it up. Kane and Bryan finally unite and double-team Reigns into the ladder, as Bryan has EMBRACED THE YES. Well finally. Kane gets two on Rollins and beats on him with a chair, but Ambrose saves with a DDT onto the chair. A pissed off Ryback spears them into the corners, but Rollins puts him down with a ladder. Ryback comes back again and splashes them into the ladder, then suplexes both Ambrose & Rollins onto the ladder. Reigns saves and we get another beatdown, leading to Ryback getting powerbombed through the poor Spanish announce table. And while they gloat, Bryan hits them with a dive for a giant babyface pop. Back in the ring, Bryan grabs a chair, but the numbers game beats him again and Ambrose slams him on a chair. They set up a table in the corner and run Bryan into the edge in a nasty spot, and TO THE TOP for a double superplex that gets two. Kane saves and now he gets double-teamed by Rollins & Ambrose, but he fights them off and comes off the table with a flying clothesline on Ambrose. He goes after Reigns with a sideslam for two, but Ambrose recovers again, only to get chokeslammed onto a chair for two. And again, they divide and conquer, as Reigns spears Kane through the timekeeper’s area and the Shield regroups for the pack attack. What awesomely smart booking. In the ring, however, Bryan hooks the No-lock on Ambrose and makes the big comeback, getting it on each heel in succession, but once again the Shield is smarter and teams up to fight him off. Bryan fights off Ambrose & Rollins alone with kicks, but Rollins gives him the BLACKOUT onto the chair for two. Ryback suddenly recovers and destroys everyone, dumping Ambrose & Rollins and hitting Reigns with a spinebuster, but again the triple-teaming. He fights off Ambrose with a spear and lariat, and Shellshock get two as the Shield teams up to save again. Ryback gets mugged on the floor now and fights down the aisle with Reigns, and once again the heels team up and clobber him three-on-one. They’re like ninjas in a bad action movie, but SMART. They put Ryback on a table and Rollins goes up a GIANT ladder, but Ryback follows him up and poor Seth goes through the tables. Back in the ring, the other two double-team Bryan and powerbomb him through the table to finish at 22:43. The in-ring ending was kind of a throwaway, but the rest was a hellacious brawl right out of the 90s, featuring some of the smartest heel booking I’ve ever seen. There’s your $55 right there, and one hell of a debut for the Shield. Plus Ryback stayed protected. ****3/4

Divas title: Eve Torres v. Naomi

This is quite the contrast to the previous match. Naomi slugs away in the corner and takes Eve down for a legdrop, and Eve bails. Naomi stops for some dancing, but Eve controls with a wristlock. Naomi comes back and goes up, but misses a dive and Eve retains with the neckbreaker at 3:06. Well at least it was something different than Kaitlyn again. *

Comments

  1. I think this qualifies for the greatest WWE debut of all time. Wow.

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  2. I was shocked and Impressed by the Shield because you just KNEW they were going to f**k it up. But instead, they came off as smart bad asses, and not like loser punks ::cough::nexus::cough::. They finally have me intrigued as to where this is going.

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  3. Everyone should be hoping against hope that the booking for the Shield stays this strong.

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  4. It's going to be a tightrope to keep The Shield from seeming like every other guy on the roster when they do regular 6 mans.

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  5. Ah, I see where you're going with that!

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  6. The great thing with The Shield, is that you have two dudes in the group that can legit work. Looking at what went down with Nexus, once Bryan was out of the group, there really wasn't anyone who looked credible in the ring. I'm hoping that this is what keeps the group strong and I would def not have them wrestle matches on RAW for as long as they can. The obvious next step is to win the tag belts and use the "freebird" rule.

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  7. Mysterio/Sin Cara v. Rhodes Scholars: 2.75
    Cesaro v. R-Truth: 2.25
    Barrett v. Kingston: 3.5
    Kane/Bryan/Ryback v. The Shield: 4.5
    Naomi v. Eve: 1.75
    Sheamus v. Big Show: 3.25
    3MB v. ADR/Miz/Brawler: 1.75
    Cena v. Ziggler: 3.75
    - The 6-man tag was the most fun I've had watching a wrestling match since Lesnar-Cena at Extreme Rules.
    - How about ADR's apparent face turn. Huh? I generally like ADR but I can't see him as a face in the WWE. Maybe it was a one-night thing?
    - I lost my shit when AJ pushed Cena off the ladder, didn't even notice Ziggler superkicked Cena until I saw the replay. I wish Ziggler would've embraced AJ but I'll take the actual outcome anyway.

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  8. That's because the crowd wasn't actually chanting FEED ME MORE. I would think the incident in the middle of the match where FEED ME MORE blatantly came out of nowhere and cut off an enormous GOLDBERG chant showed pretty clearly that it was piped in tonight.

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  9. My reactions...


    -Tag Team #1 Contender Match: Fun for what it was, but Rey is struggling. He looks like he's in pain. No one would blame him if he retired. He's had a long, HOF career.


    -Cesaro-Truth: They are always *almost* clicking, but not quite. Their styles just don't seem to mix that well (or maybe they need to work a 15-20 min style match or something).


    -3MB deserved better than to tap out to the Brooklyn Brawler. I know it'll be hard to gain traction as a trio with the Shield around, but having a winning streak broken by the Brawler is pretty tough. They're so random and fun. Not thrilled about Miz and Del Rio flirting with Facedom, but at least their DOING SOMETHING. 9/10 of the characters have been spinning their wheels for 2 or 3 months now.


    -They need to crap or get off the pot with Kofi and Barrett. They're both tremendous talents, but if you're not going to elevate them or give them some type of special attraction-like role, they may as well be set free.


    -The Shield was awesome. Each have distinct looks and styles. I didn't realize you could debut three new guys as a group but give them all different vibes. They feel like a full-fledged stable, yet, we hardly know anything about them. The anticipation is exciting. They convincingly won as one tonight. Kudos to all involved in that match (it was breath of fresh air).


    -I can't believe WWE is saying Big Show > Sheamus. That's three straight wins.


    -Ziggler-Cena was a little underwhelming at parts. But AJ dumping Cena, Ziggler using Sweet Chin Music, and Ziggler defeating Cena were the only things I wanted out of the match and I got them all in the last 30 seconds.

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  10. Precedent with WWE usually states that, in a group with X number of dudes where Y number of them can legit work, WWE will invariably tend to push the hell out of option Z, i.e., the one guy in the group who can't.


    Although, following the Batista precedent, Reigns could really develop into something. But that's because I find Batista to be a profoundly underrated worker.

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  11. No matter how bad the booking is, TLC seems to be a great one every year; like the Rumble, it's turning into one of those events where as long as the guys in the wrestling boots are doing work, it's hard to screw the PPV up. Worth the replay for Taybus, Ladders, and "Chair" (thanks Maffew!)

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  12. From the little I've seen of Reigns, he looks like he is at least decent in the ring.

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  13. From Zack Ryder's Twitter:

    "TLC is tonight in New York’s@barclayscenter. Last year I won the US title at TLC. This year I got an e-mail saying that I was not needed."



    Goddamn it, Zack. Just quit! The YouTube show isn't worth it!

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  14. Just re-watched the 6 man. Yep, that is my MOTY. It had the vibe of a Mick Foley match. Just one crazy spot after another but it also told a great story. I suspect it will also become one of my favorite matches ever.

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  15. Yeah, I really should amend the statement, because it's not like Reigns is Batista 2002, who was the drizzling shits. But it's the Ryback Case. Instead of strapping the rocket to a guy who needs all these factors to make it. Much of Ryback's overness is that he doesn't talk, he doesn't get pinned or made to submit, and his matches (well, barring tonight) don't last terribly long. So why are you building the company around a guy who can't talk, can't work, and whose overness will vanish the minute he loses? Why not strap the rocket to one of the guys who's more well-rounded?

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  16. Extreme Rules and MITB are getting that way too. Sometimes, a concept PPV is a good idea.

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  17. BTW, Maffew was on fire on Twitter during TLC:

    ZIGGLER HAD AUTO-LIFE EQUIPPED

    THE POP FOR AJ WAS SO LOUD CENA COULD CALL SPOTS AND NOT BE HEARD

    There's always a normal ladder then a super-sized ladder. It's every Power Rangers episode ever.

    BRAWLER HAS A FUCKING FINISHER?!

    Reason crowd isn't cheering for Kofi: He kicked Miz so hard, he turned him face

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  18. You know, I was wanting The Shield to succeed so badly that I thought I was enjoying the match way more than a lot of others might have been. But it seems like everyone is in agreement that is was pretty fucking awesome.

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  19. Really, really good PPV. The crowd was CRAZY hot... and the "Shield" stuff was incredible, Ryback came out looking incredible. It's like they changed the booking team overnight or something... Plus THAT Zigger/Cena match was really, really good too. Ziggler was hot with the crowd, which made it even better.

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  20. Wow what a show. I think WWE every year should have AT LEAST 1 PPV in Chicago, and come back to Brooklyn/NY area for a PPV. Amazing crowd that enhanced every single match.

    Rhodes Scholars vs. Cara and Mysterio was awesome. Wish it could have gone longer. Well planned out, and an awesome finish ***1/4. Also, a thunderous "CODY'S MUSTACHE" chant is just epic.

    Barrett vs. Kofi was good but I gotta say I'm disappointed. They had a really good match on Raw a few weeks back and this wasn't quite up to that quality. ***

    The Shield vs. Ryback and Team Hell No: ***** I don't see any reason NOT to go five stars. Hot crowd, smart booking, ferocious action, and I think everyone comes out of this match looking good. The Shield were booked dominant and smart. Ryback was still dominant. Kane had his moments. Bryan had his moments but this was about The Shield. That bump Rollins took off the ladder was scary and I hope he's ok. But this has got to be the best debut match ever for a group. Wall to wall action. The Shield has arrived.

    Ziggler vs. Cena was GREAT. It was awesome seeing Ziggler get that "big match feel" atmosphere and he and Cena rocked it. I liked the swerve. I didn't think of it ahead of time but once she hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle I realized what was going down. I hope they let Ziggler keep using the Superkick. ****1/4



    I doubt the Shield will be booked this perfectly going forward, but for tonight at least WWE delivered, The Shield delivered in the ring, Ryback delivered. Hell No delivered. Ziggler and Cena delivered. Everyone delivered.

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  21. All year long I've stated my Match of the Year is Undertaker vs. Triple H. Followed by Davey vs. Elgin. Followed by Punk vs. Bryan at Over the Limit. Well I'll be damned if at the last possible second, everyone move down one because this TLC match is definitely my Match of the Year. I love the match because it wasn't based around crazy, contrived spots. It was based on vicious and violent spots. The story was phenomenal and the booking was great.

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  22. That's what made the Shield match unique. They worked incredible well as a team, but each "player" had unique movesets, unique ways of moving around the ring and established, very quickly, solid characters within the group with the way they (as individuals) told a story within the match as seperate entities. In short; They each looked fucking dangerous to be in the ring with...

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  23. I had Cena/Lesnar as MOTY, just because it was such a different style of match. The TLC match was my favorite kind of match on steroids. I have no idea what I'm going with now.

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  24. Silly me I actually thought Ryder would be the 3rd man when....y'know....the fans were CHANTING "WE WANT RYDER" But no, WWE decided to forgo the chance to have Zack Ryder get a huge reaction and some exposure in order to go with the lame joke of the Brooklyn Brawler winning a match in Brooklyn. Nevermind the fact that Zack Ryder is STILL somehow over despite being booked like a chump and not being used in a meaningful way for a year, and can make the company MONEY, no they decided to trot out the brawler who doesn't yield ANY dividends for them moving forward.

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  25. I'll take em both I'M HARDCORE!

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  26. I am...er..."ordering the replay" right now!

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  27. Sheamus would have shown up anyway just to watch. Because he loves THIS BUSINESS so much!

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  28. Eve Torres vs Naomi. A main event in any arena!

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  29. My top 10 PPV matches of 2012 for WWE


    1) Punk/Bryan (Over the Limit)
    2. Cena/Lesnar
    3) Shield Six Man
    4) Cena/Punk (Night of Champions)
    5) Punk/Jericho (WMania)
    6) Cena/Rock
    7) HHH/Taker
    8) Sheamus/Bryan (Extreme Rules)
    9) MITB Match with Ziggler winning
    10) Jericho/Ziggler (Summerslam)

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  30. Screen going to black in the middle of a PPV....so is Ring Of Honor handling production of WWE PPVs now?

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  31. Had a thought about a Shield vs Hell No and Ryback rematch at Royal Rumble. Make it a WarGames match. And I think the two ring setup could be a cool wrinkle for the actual Rumble match.

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  32. ...surprised Zack no-showed his booked catering appearance..

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  33. although with Extreme Rules it might have more to do with the placement as the next ppv after WrestleMania because Backlash was also usually pretty great.

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  34. Too many IF'S in that sentence for me to feel comfortable.

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  35. It's like Vince saw that Ryback got even the slightest of reactions and that's all he needed to strap a rocket on him. Imagine if Ryback got a reaction like the one Daniel Bryan got after WrestleMania. My god he'd be beating John Cena right now.

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  36. You're allowed to say folk.

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  37. TLC II: Beware of Jesse Baker!?

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  38. Not if you aint a GD.

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  39. Really good PPV. I have not a damn clue who any of these Shield people are or what their storyline is all about but they certainly made me *care* which is damn near impossible to do when you're basically no names in matching Bossman outfits (for me, as I said I haven't been watching for half a year)

    People are saying MOTY, I think it's close but I still go with either Punk/Bryan or Cena/Brock, leaning toward Cena/Brock just because that match was soooo much different than anything we've ever seen and this was a really great brawl, but still just a "brawl from the 90's" as Scott said.

    Someone said in the live thread (Cult? Flair? I don't remember) that this could be the first ever 5-Star 6-Man. That can't be true right? Surely the Freebirds or someone in the 80's pulled it off no?

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  40. Vinny Mac is never bringing back WarGames, bro. As much as we want him to.

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  41. I've never seen a guy get a reaction like D-Bry and not get pushed so far out of the orbit of the Earth that he's making first contact.


    Well, except Zack Ryder.

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  42. The heel psychology in spots like Reigns going for the cover after the other two guys dd the superplex and Rollins waving them to go to the ring while he finished Ryback was so refreshing. Sure they barely sold anything but who cares ;)

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  43. Considering they could easily "Zack Ryder" the hell out of Daniel Bryan, I'm satisfied (for now) where Daniel Bryan is, he's been in pretty high profile matches all year...it's not bad for someone who lost in 18 seconds at wrestlemania.

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  44. Gotta give that rising star the Brawler his time

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  45. I think the same thing. These guys could clearly handle working that style of match.

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  46. Agreed. Backlash generally had intriguing stuff going on too

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  47. Amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year I was at MSG chanting "We Want Ryder!" along with everyone else in the building throughout the entire Ziggler match (though I refused to join in during Rock's post-PPV speech— that's just disrespectful, people). FF to last night, and there's the faintest "We Want Ryder" chant (more like a "Yeah I guess We'll Take Ryder Why Not" chant) you could imagine, which dissipates almost immediately. And nobody gave a shit when he wasn't there.



    I think the days for Ryder being over, as a babyface, in this character, are long over.

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  48. Clearly you didn't see Ambrose sell the double suplex onto the ladder by Ryback!

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  49. Awesome show. Gotta say, I'm really shocked at the finish of the Show-Sheamus match. Thought for sure either Sheamus would win the WHC, or win and get cashed in on by Ziggler. So the question: where does this leave Sheamus? He was their unbeatable new Cena superhero, and now he's been beaten decisively by Big Show. Does Sheamus slide into the midcard for awhile, or does he still get a big feud for Mania? Perhaps he tries to regain his mojo by calling out Brock Lesnar?

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  50. Almost wish that you hadn't even mentioned this. It got me all excited then I remembered Vince won't do Wargames. It would be incredible though. Hell, even make it traditional 5 V 5 adding Ziggler and Punk to the Shield and Cena and Sheamus to the Hell N

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  51. Not when it's Hell in a Cell though.

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  52. Ryback was not over last night, at all. Aside from the Goldberg chants, the crowd really couldn't care less when he came out, which I was surprised by. I will say though, I think part of that was having him come out directly after D-Bry, who we went absolutely apeshit for. This was the first show I've attended since the YES phenomenon started, and I must say it really takes a lot out of you. After shouting Yes hundreds of times, I didn't really feel like chanting anything else seconds later.

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  53. 3MB should have beaten the Brawler. Would have been a good way to get them a PPV win and some heat, without actually beating anyone. Sure it would have been heels winning almost every match, but it was Brooklyn— Ziggler, Shield, and Rhodes Scholars were faces there anyway.


    Also, I'd love to see them finally get off the pot with Kofi. That guy can be a STAR if they give him a sustained push and the right storyline. Would love to see them use the Orton heel turn to do a Batman style reboot of their previous feud, only this time with Kofi going over.


    And you're right, the Ziggler-Cena match had some cool spots but was a little bit clunky, though the ending more than made up for it. If Ziggler had followed up the superkick by making out with Heel AJ, I think the crowd would have shit their pants.

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  54. I'm tempted to go there as well. Taker/HHH, Cena/Lesnar, Punk/Bryan from OTL, and Shield/Ryback & Hell No are the only real contenders I've seen. (Still haven't seen Richards/Elgin, if someone wants to post a high-quality link to it that'd be awesome, I'm at work and on my phone right now). Aries/Roode, Aries/Hardy and Storm/Roode are in the mix too.

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  55. Yes, I think we all noticed that crazy face and sell. I'm talking about shaking off their bumps considerably faster than the faces. Which is all good, I loved the match.

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  56. Yup they pipe that in every week.

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  57. Interesting tidbit from the live perspective. After the show, Cena grabbed the mic and proceeded to give the crowd a verbal blowjob while still getting drowned out with boos and "Cena sucks" the entire speech.

    He even ended the speech by saying Brooklyn was just as good as Madison Square Garden, which is the exact type of pandering bullshit that pissed off even people FROM BROOKLYN.

    I really, really hope they have a different plan for Mania other than Cena beating Rock for the title to close the show, because the crowd is going to absolutely shit all over that finish.

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  58. You don't get a body like that by accident.

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  59. Can we just change Dean Ambrose's middle name to 'Mother Fucking' and get it over with?

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  60. The booking of the 6-man was just unbelievable. I loved the little things like Reigns patrolling ringside while Rollins and Ambrose double-teamed Bryan (and the commentators actually mentioned it!!) and both Reigns and Rollins diving in to break up the pin on Ambrose. You see a lot of tag teams never go that extra mile of really showing their team unity. These guys act like they've been teamed together for years.

    One "move" I'd love to see a team bring back is the guy on the apron sacrificing himself so the legal man doesn't take a certain move. The first time I remember seeing it was in 1994 in WCW, Dusty and Dustin vs. the Stud Stable. They whipped Dustin into the corner and Dusty protected him by jumping onto the turnbuckle, keeping Dustin from hitting it. I've rarely seen it since (I think it happened a couple times during the early-00s with the Hardys, Edge/Christian, and the Dudleys). I think it'd be perfect for these guys based on their teamwork philosophy.

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  61. Enough good things can't be said about the 6-man tag.

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  62. I wonder how many guys watching had the "I just jizzed" face when Rollins and Bryan locked up. :P

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  63. Serious question: why are they pimping being in Brooklyn like it's a big deal? All the NYC-based folks just travel around anyway to the different boroughs, right?

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  64. The 1st TLC PPV was kinda lame ('09). That's the one where Sheamus won the title b/c Cena fell through a table (vs. actually being put through it).

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  65. Of course Big Show would destroy Scott's feed.

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  66. Because the Barclay's Center is new and sort of a big deal for some reason. Jay Z ran eight concerts there to open the venue back in the fall.

    Basically, Brooklyn is filling up with rich yuppies and hipsters so it's an excuse to capitalize on that audience since there's a growing disconnection between Brooklyn, which is quickly becoming a city unto itself, and the other boroughs.

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  67. I hope they go the 1997 WCW route and just start chucking garbage at the ring.

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  68. If Brooklyn were it's own city, it'd be probably one of the top five
    most populace cities in the country. It's huge. And having a second
    arena in what is their biggest market is a huge plus for WWE. I could
    easily see them running Brooklyn and MSG back to back nights and selling
    out both days.

    Plus Barclays is specifically in a really popular
    area of Brooklyn (Park Slope), with one of the city's biggest subway
    terminals and a Long Island Railroad station feeding right into the
    entrance. Very convenient to get to.

    Basically, it's a new arena that they'll be able to sell out regularly, without really cannibalizing the Manhattan audience.

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  69. I haven't even seen the show, but just hearing all the legitimacy The Shield has in their debut (even among our jaded smarks constituency)

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  70. Perhaps this could all lead to Kane & Bryan regrouping by WM to face The Shield in a Handicap tag, ala Rock 'n' Sock vs. Evolution at WM20? Have The Shield win again, like Evolution, and Bryan can win a break-up program over Kane to begin his REAL rise to permanent main event status

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  71. HAhaa yeah, except that's the response that WCW wanted. On the other hand, WWE wants Cena's Mania win to be the ultimate feel good happy ending. A garbage pile would kind of put a damper on that.

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  72. Why not Freebird rules for the tag titles? Any two can defend at any time. It'd keep the belts strong and keep The Shield occupied for a while so they don't have to take any big losses.

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  73. Can't be, the show wasn't 6 hours long with a 90 minute DQ main event

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  74. I really hope Scott called his cable company and demanded "Feed Me More!"


    Cuz he lost his feed.


    Sorry.

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  75. I think many of us were hoping for that "evil Trish smile" out of AJ and for her to commence with a makeout session. The crowd was already nuts, and you're right--that would've sent them over the edge and made them crap their pants.

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  76. The first and (possibly) last time Ambrose is compared to a Nasty Boy.

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  77. Think hard about that one did you?

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  78. Even Ryberg was better than usual in that match. When they had him set up for the triple power bomb, I loved how he looked around, looked back at the table, and shook his head "no" as they hit the powerbomb. I'm hard pressed not to put the six man as my match of the year.


    And man, who would've thought one of the best shows of the year would be the ONE show that didn't have a CM Punk match?

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  79. He should do what Cena will probably do to Dolph on the mic tonight, and tell the cable company that TLC was stupid and lame and he didn't even really want to watch it anyway and will just order the Royal Rumble instead, ensuring the cable company never gets over.

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  80. That means my ROH feed was better then Scott's WWE feed...Strange times we're living in

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  81. No ROH's PPV yesterday streamed just fine!

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  82. Yeah that 6 man was a shocking upgrade over punk v ryback

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  83. I don't know, he's been pretty over in recent weeks. With a snarkier, smarter crowd, he's obviously not gonna be.

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  84. Fantastic PPV to end the year, The Shield match was a breath of fresh air in the current WWE environment. I had no doubt they could pull off an incredible match with that array of talent on show. Rybacks lack of reaction doesn't surprise me (Including a blatant piped in 'Feed Me More' chant), he's already establishing a loser tag, are the WWE really suprised the crowd have died down for him (as reported)? Put whatever spin you want on it, but losing three PPV's in a row, naturally people are going to lose faith... fans don't like chokers generally.


    Honorable mention to Cena/Ziggler, I know the crowd was a 'smart' one but they can't ignore how over and passionate the fans are for Dolph Ziggler, it was great to observe.

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  85. I'd have Punk/Jericho from EC rather than WM and HHH/Taker a few spots higher, but that's picking nits. Good list.

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  86. Eh, Richards Elgin wasn't even Elgin's match of the year, you'd be better off finding Steen vs Elgin from Glory By Honor 11...Which naturally I can't find.

    ah Well here is Richards vs Elgin

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xr9kxb_davey-richards-vs-michael-elgin-5-star-match_sport#.UM9mioYVPMF

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  87. I could see the Shield costing them the belts tomight, so Rhodes Scholars gets a run. Fits well within the story

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  88. Great night for wrestling, ROH with a solid show that STREAMED PROPERLY capped of with a bitchin' main event-and then TLC blows away all expectations with a last minute match of the year contender

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  89. Because the guys who are more well-rounded will rise to the top anyway more often than not. Say what you will about WWE's propensity for the muscleheads, but you can't say they don't let smaller, more well-rounded performers rise to the top.

    They know the Rybacks of the world are less likely to be a long-term answer than a CM Punk or Dean Ambrose. So if they can strap a rocket to a guy like Ryback and make a few million off something that probably has a limited shelf life, all the better.

    (I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here, but this is what I imagine the reasoning is. I can't exactly say I disagree with it if so.)

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  90. Maybe I'm in the minority but I think they've handled DBry perfectly. Strapping a rocket to him based on that reaction in Miami would be too easy. The arc his character has taken since then has been more organic and laid the framework for a huge, Punk-like run for him in 2013. He was given a chance to shine with absurd material and has passed with flying colors.

    Now, if they never give him the chance to take off in 2013, I take it all back.

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  91. Good list, although I think Taker/Triple H is one of the most overrated matches in existence. The last good match to involve all three of those guys was in 1997.

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  92. 7 Down votes, what the Fuck guys? I said I enjoyed two wrestling shows-one of which most of you didn't see and the other everyone loved!

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  93. Spent hours thinking it up.

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  94. Naw. There's just some idiot with way too much time on his hands. It's happened a few times in the last couple of weeks where people are inexplicably getting massive amounts of thumbs down in a short period of time. Maybe someone is deleting cookies/history or something or just has a bunch of accounts.

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  95. Good to know I have competition in the "so-bad-it's-good" joke department.

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  96. Would be hilarious for someone to chuck a cup of something at him. Bet he would still keep the goofy grin on that ugly mug. The man is a cancer on the business with his aw shucks attitude, seriously, he got screwed in the main event of the PPV and he still had the damn grin on his face. What do you have to do to make Cena upset? If WM ends with Cena or The Rock, I'm out, neither one should be in a title match anyways.

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  97. Ryback is getting a Lex Luger choke thing going on, going to be hard for him to shake that.

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  98. I hope you mean "so bad it's bad (also, what's the deal with hyphens?)" department.

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  99. I guess we do have a lot of Ryback fans on the blog. Sorry if I offended you :(

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  100. Eh fuck them. Ryback sux

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  101. Yeah, I think that ship has truly sailed. And even though it's something that they probably could have saved for a Raw, I'm perfectly okay with giving Steve Lombardi his moment/something to do besides DVD commentary.

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  102. I don't know. We can always hope Triple H tricks him in to thinking it was his idea.

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  103. The passive anonymous dislike thing is wonderful. It allows those ladies that can't argue themselves out of a paper bag get the thrill of calling someone wrong without having to defend it.

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  104. 12/21/12 must be approaching cause I just agreed with you.

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  105. I mean, it's not like they aren't aware of the reactions Cena gets. I highly doubt they're harboring delusions that he's suddenly going to get the hero's embrace from the fans.

    It remains unsatisfying for a lot of us but regardless of a huge chunk of the crowd booing him-and maybe even because of it- they have little reason to change things when he's selling all that sweet merch and headlining the most-purchased match ever.

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  106. Of course they should. They broke the buyrate record last year and if they even remotely approach that this year it's another win.

    I'd rather see Cena/Undertaker and a Punk/Rock rematch (after The Shield costs Rock at the Rumble), but as long as they're making an effort to make WM a dream-match, epic event feel, I'm happy. I can live with a Cena/Rock rematch.

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  107. How much does it really matter if 3MB wins at all, though? These aren't future main eventers. They've tried and failed with two of them. Just the fact that they've made an effort to give these guys a defined role with mic time is enough. An entertaining group of lovable idiot heel jobbers is a step up from the unemployment line Mahal and McIntyre were otherwise headed to. Slater's the only one of the three with any real potential beyond that group and if it's a vehicle to get him to break out and nothing more, that's probably good enough for 3MB.

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  108. I read the report on Rybacks reaction, and they're passing it off as him being over, but the fans that didn't like him were more vocal. Is it that hard for them to realize that if someone is popukar they will be cheered, and booing or lack of cheering means they are not that popular.

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  109. I know it was slow-paced, but it was perfect for what it was. But I'm of the belief that more matters in judging a match's quality than just the bare-bones workrate.

    Now, their WM27 match? Yeah, I loved it but can understand why many didn't. But WM28 was beyond epic.

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  110. If they were aware of the reactions that Cena gets from the fans, they would've capitalized on it years ago. Instead, they have Michael Cole say how the reactions that Cena gets "irks" Ziggler (he was alluding to how he's so popular, even though he was booed out of the building last night).

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  111. I think they're almost always a good idea. Remember: three of the original big five were concept PPVs: Rumble, KOTR and Survivor Series.

    Like you said, Extreme Rules and MITB are winners pretty much yearly. And though I feel like I'm in the minority, I like Elimination Chamber as the de facto semifinal on the road to WM.

    The problem is when you have a concept PPV like HIAC that should serve as a blowoff to a heated feud and instead guys are fighting in the Cell because the calendar says to.

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  112. I know, that's to in a row for their nee provider-great shows too, here Oscar hoping for 3!!!

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  113. It almost makes me think it's intentional. It gave Punk a foil to move him away from Cena on the road to his match with Rock and gave The Shield a target on which to get themselves over.

    If I'm right, it's been brilliantly done if in fact they never had a bigger endgame in mind for Ryback.

    Of course, that probably means I'm wrong and it's dumb luck.

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  114. Because it's their first time there.

    Random thing I loved: Brawler wearing a Deron Williams jersey. (Not a Nets fan, but an Illini fan)

    Random thing I hated: Michael Cole pronouncing it Duh-Ron.

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  115. Agreed. That match just bored me to death.

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  116. Ambrose has a very good sense of selling to the hard camera. All match long he was doing little mannerisms and facial expressions, but making sure the hard camera saw them.

    Good to see

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  117. That's why I've always been skeptical they saw Sheamus as the "next Cena" as so many on here have said. Just never saw the evidence.

    That said, I really don't get the Show/Sheamus feud myself. But, hey, good match. So, whatever.

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  118. What's exciting to me is I think WWE realizes as much as the smarks do that they have something special here. Really hope I'm right.

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  119. I hope they go the ECW route and bury him in chairs.

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  120. Rumble draws on its own...better off saving Wargames for a nothing PPV to pop the buy rate.

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  121. Wait til Elimination Chamber. Do a 3 on 3 tag team chamber match. 1 from each team starts, then every so often another person is released. Works kinda like Wargames except with one ring and a higher roof.

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  122. Yeah I'm not saying Bryan hasn't been pushed. In fact if you look at his complete WWE run I think he's been handled pretty damn well. I'm just saying had it been Ryback who got that massive reaction on Raw after WM, Vince wouldn't have had the patience. Ryback would have been rocket strapped the next week.

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  123. One of these passive anonymous arseholes just disliked your comment! lol. Sneaky ones they are.

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  124. Ehhh.. good debut.. but I'm gonna go with the Radicalz debut and their first match in the WWF. and both of them still don't match up to Jericho;s debut..

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  125. They've referenced the mixed reactions he's gotten countless times. They did a whole storyline about it with him and Kane less than a year ago.

    You're being foolish if you think they aren't aware that he gets booed a lot. Of course they are.

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  126. Debut *match. I didn't think I would have to clarify that, but there ya go...

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  127. We could turn this into a wacky tag team partner thing that blows up by Thursday.

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  128. THE MEGA-BLOGGERS EXPLODE!!!

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  129. I don't know. Eugene did the Stunner and it was awesome.

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  130. Correct... and that storyline was so memorable that I had forgotten about it not even a year after it took place. The fact that Cena was booed out of the building last night and Cole was pretending that he was getting a standing ovation is the problem. Maybe get into a little bit on WHY he's hated by a good chunk of the audience when he's really a good guy... if they humanize the guy maybe he'll get a few more people behind him. They did that in the Lesnar match when he was taking a beating and the Chicago crowd responded by getting behind Cena and they exploded when Cena pinned Brock. More of a real Cena would go a long way to change the minds of the people who can't stand him... not having Kane just say EMBRACE THE HATE!

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  131. They've done that lots of times. Cole pretending otherwise last night in an effort to get a heel over doesn't change the point.

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  132. and then Raw was the drizzling shits...

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  133. I think that's putting it mildly. I mean WOOF! Besides the Punk/Flair/Shield segment it was beyond awful.

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  134. I vote for dumb luck. No way the writers can be this smart.

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  135. ROH Dragon Gate 6 man was *****, and pretty sure there have been some 6 mans from the early 90s in Japan with Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi combinations.

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  136. Same reason everyone's acting like the Nets are any kind of a big deal: because Jay-Z has been pimping that arena & team for like 10 years now and it's finally happening and everyone thinks it's a big deal even though the arena is as ugly as their shitty team's uniforms.



    PS., Jay-Z actually owns something like a tenth of a percent of that arena & team. For all the shit he talks about his riches he's nowhere near the real upper echelon of society.

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  137. WARNING : In the future CM PUNK will left WWE and join UFC !!!!!

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  138. WARNING : in two years he will lost his matches because of an hologram and an explosive TV !

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  139. WARNING : you will be banned for trolling in the future !

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  140. WARNING (from the futur) : Wait till you see Shield vs Wyatt and Shield vs Evolution !

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  141. WARNING : 2 years later and he his still not needeed

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