WWE The Beast in the East (July 2015)

Original Airdate: July 4, 2015

From Tokyo, Japan; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Byron Saxton

Opening Match: Chris Jericho v Neville: Yeah, Jericho should really go back to long tights (and possibly add a top) if he's going to keep working at this stage - not to mention stand next to guys as young and as cut as Neville. Chris tries working a wristlock to start, but gets dropkicked to the outside by an energetic Neville. Back in, Chris wrestles him down again for a surfboard, but Neville counters it into a pin attempt, for two. Neville grabs a wristlock of his own, but Jericho reverses, and clotheslines Neville over the top as he tries escaping. Chris tries a baseball slide, so Neville slides back in and dropkicks him out, but gets caught with a springboard dropkick from Jericho before he can follow-up with a dive. Jericho with a flying bodypress for two on the way back in, and he grounds Neville with a chinlock. Neville manages a schoolboy for two upon escaping, but Jericho cuts off the comeback with an enzuigiri for two, then cracks him with a backelbow for two. Back to the chinlock, but Neville fights free, so Chris delivers a flying axehandle, followed by a bulldog. Walls are blocked, however, and Neville fires off a kick, but gets crotched as he goes up. Chris goes to superplex him down, but Neville blocks, and tries the Red Arrow, but Jericho dodges, and slaps on the Walls. Neville gets the ropes to escape, and he knocks Chris out to the floor for a moonsault plancha. Springboard dropkick on the way back in sets up a standing shooting star press for two, but a dropkick misses, and Jericho capitalizes with the Lionsault for two. Crowd is fully behind Jericho here. Neville tries a springboard bodypress, but gets caught in the Codebreaker for two. He manages to reverse a German suplex and superkick Jericho twice to setup the Red Arrow, but Chris uses his knees to block, and the Liontamer finish at 16:20. Strong opener here, with both guys putting in tons of effort, and working a great old school style match, but with all the modern spots today’s audiences expect. *** ½

WWE Diva's Title Triple Threat Match: Nikki Bella v Paige v Tamina: First fall wins. Nikki immediately tries schoolgirling Tamina, but Paige saves - only to have Tamina knock them both out with clotheslines. They team up to tandem vertical suplex Tamina, then stereo dropkick her out of the ring so they can have their own battle. Paige quickly schoolgirls her for two, but runs into a spinebuster. Whiplash, but Paige escapes, and cradles her for two, then adds a running knee in the corner. Nikki tries a superplex, but Tamina runs back in and powerbombs both of them down off the top, and gets a two count on each off of it. Tamina whips them both into the corner, but misses an avalanche, and they dump her to the outside again with teamwork before turning on each other. Paige with a schoolgirl for two, and the RamPaige is worth two. PTO, but Tamina saves with a superkick, and drops Nikki like a Samoan, but misses the Superfly Splash, and Bella retains at 6:55. This was actually fun, as it was non-stop for the entire seven minutes, and all three were trying hard and looked to be having fun doing so. * ¼

Brock Lesnar v Kofi Kingston: Nice knowing you, Kofi. Kingston tries straight up running, but an attempt at suckering Brock during a chase does not end well for him, as Lesnar simply shrugs it off. Kofi tries diving at him, but that doesn't work, and Lesnar takes him to Suplex City, but Kingston lands on his feet. He pepper Brock with a barrage of dropkicks, but Lesnar barely even acknowledges them, and kills him with a German suplex. He only leaves his feet on his own terms, bitches. Another two just for fun, and the F5 ends the workout at 2:41. Just a complete and total squash - which is just what it needed to be. Fun stuff. ½*

NXT Title Match: Kevin Owens v Finn Balor: Balor stuns him with a running dropkick right at the bell, so Owens bails, but Finn is on him with a flying bodypress out there. Back in, Balor throws another dropkick to knock the champion back to the floor, and he follows with a baseball slide, then sets Kevin up on a chair for another running dropkick. In, Balor tries a bodypress, but Kevin catches him in a Samoan drop, and mounts him with some punches to try and calm him down a bit. Owens with a hard corner whip followed by a backelbow for two, and he grounds his challenger with a chinlock. Cool sequence follows, as Owens misses a charge in the corner, so Balor tries a springboard, but Owens is ready by simply punching him in the head to knock him out of the air. Simple, effective, and looked cool. Owens with a senton splash for two, and he dumps Balor to the outside, but Finn has the balls to beat the count, so Kevin slaps on a chinlock - which gives me a chance to stop and note how good the commentary has been on this show thus far, with both Cole and Saxton working to get over the angles and history, but not cloyingly. Did Vince stay in the States, or something? Balor escapes, and hits a 2^nd rope clothesline for two, but he runs into a pair of shoulderblocks from Owens, followed by a side suplex to setup the five knuckle shuffle. Nice to see him name-check the angle. FU, but Balor escapes, and plants a kick square in the champion's face. Owens ends up on the floor, and Balor dives with a somersault plancha, then rolls him in for the Coup de Grace, followed by a lifting-falling inverted DDT for two. Coup de Grace, but Owens dodges, and release German suplexes him to setup a somersault bodyblock in the corner for two. Package powerbomb is worth two, but Balor catches him with a sleeper-slam, and the Coupe de Grace is worth a dramatic two. He fights to get Owens onto the top turnbuckle for a superplex, but gets countered into a rolling fireman's carry slam off the top for two. That was awesome - though, thankfully, the Japanese crowd doesn't chant that. Kevin with a swanton bomb, but Finn lifts the knees to block, and hits a lifting DDT for two. Owens manages a superkick to setup a sleeper suplex for two, and he tries for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Balor leapfrogs him, and hits a corner dropkick to setup the Coup de Grace for the title at 19:25. Big pop for that one, and a very good, hard hitting match! *** ¼

Main Event: John Cena and Dolph Ziggler v Kane and King Barrett: Dolph starts with Barrett, and manages to outwrestle him into a front-facelock, which he cradles over for two. Barrett responds in kind, but Ziggler counters into a hammerlock, and cradles for two. Watching these two do extended mat sequences is really strange, and you can tell they're out of practice. Criss cross goes Dolph's way with a dropkick, so Kane tags in to beat on Ziggler properly, but misses a big boot, and Cena gets the tag. Power-stalemate ends when Kane decks him for the win, then tags Barrett back in to stomp Cena in the corner. Snapmare sets up a chinlock, but Cena dead lifts him and powers out - only to have Kane cutoff the tag. Cena tries a bodyslam, but his back gives out, and Kane topples him for two. Oh, come on! Maybe if the audience was blind, but how else are we seriously supposed to believe that a guy that jacked up can't slam Kane? At least when Hogan would do that spot it was always against a big fat heel like Earthquake or King Kong Bundy. Kane with a pair of his own bodyslams, and Barrett tags back in with another chinlock, but John muscles into an FU counter. Kane tags in with a chokeslam, so John counters to the FU, but his legs give out again, and Kane topples him for two. The heels continue cutting the ring in half, but Barrett misses a 2^nd rope elbowdrop, and Ziggler gets the tag. Clothesline and a corner splash setup a neckbreaker for two, but Barrett blocks a bulldog, and plants a big boot on him. Tag to Kane, and they cut the ring in half on their new victim. Barrett tries putting him away with Winds of Change, but only gets two, so he unloads mounted punches, but still only gets two. Over to Kane to finish the job with the Chokeslam, but Ziggler counters with a DDT, and he gets the hot tag to Cena. John's a merchandise stand of fire to ignite the four-way brawl, and a superkick/FU combo finishes Barrett at 23:50. Nothing technically wrong with this one, but it was just a paint-by-numbers formula tag match, and really kind of rained on the fun parade of good matches this show has delivered this far. *

BUExperience: Fun show! Besides strong wrestling throughout, this show was especially refreshing from a production standpoint, looking more like an old ECW show at the Manhattan Center than any of the cookie cutter formats and set designs they’ve done in years now. The main shows have been same old-same old for a decade, but this was a great change of pace in everything from the set design, to the commentary, to the lighting, to even the on-screen graphics.

***