A fighting champion. Literally.

New WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose is going to have another busy weekend. As of this writing, he's either currently on his way or is already in Hawaii, getting ready to defend his title against Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, and AJ Styles later in the evening. Ambrose had to fly out of Florida immediately after wrestling 2 matches and closing Smack Down. Half of the roster were already in Hawaii, some even a day earlier.

He's now behind Kevin Owens in wrestling the most matches for WWE in 2016 so far. Currently, Owens is at 101 and Ambrose quickly shot up to 98 for pulling double-duty again on this past RAW and Smack Down.

This has been Ambrose's schedule since last weekend (with links):

• 6/26 Sunday: Against Owens and Zayn in Jacksonville, FL and against Rollins in Orlando, FL
• 6/27 Monday: 15 minute match against Styles on RAW, then team with Big Show, Enzo & Cass against Rollins & The Club in a dark match 
• 6/28 Tuesday: A match against The Miz on Smackdown taping, then team with Zayn & Cesaro against The Wyatts in a dark match 
• 6/29 Wednesday: Fly to Honolulu, HI to have a match against Jericho, Rollins, and Styles 
• 6/30 Thursday: Fly from Honolulu, HI to Tokyo, JP
• 7/1 Friday: Against Rollins & Owens in Tokyo, JP
• 7/2 Saturday: Against Rollins & Jericho in Tokyo, JP
• 7/3 Sunday: Fly from Tokyo, JP to Columbus, OH
• 7/4 Monday: RAW
• 7/5 Tuesday: Smack Down

By the time he gets back to the states, Ambrose would have wrestled 9 matches in less than a week. His next day off is not until Wednesday. This has been an extraordinary few days for Ambrose, who's now the current WWE Champion until the brand extension. WWE has already dropped "World Heavyweight" for the title, implying they really are moving forward with having 2 titles for both brands. He's working twice as hard because, let's face it, WWE never built another top, full-time babyface after Ambrose. AJ Styles, Owens, and Rollins are up there as their current top level heels. Even though he's not wrestling the same schedule like he used to, Cena remains as their de facto #1 guy.

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Ambrose all smiles after defending his title at Honolulu, HI. Next stop, Tokyo, JP!

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Double Chinlock master at work!

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"Dean Ambrose is a fighting champion!": Monday Night RAW (6/27/16)

Welp, they actually did it. They acknowledged Roman Reigns' absence for the next month. This was actually acknowledged by Seth Rollins who kicked off Monday Night RAW, who said he wanted to talk about it even though he was advised not to and yet a prepared screenshot of Reigns' apology tweet was put up on the Titantron. Ambrose interrupted Rollins and, being a babyface and a bro, said Reigns made a mistake and he owned up to it, but was still looking forward to the triple threat. This prompted AJ Styles and John Cena (who's celebrating his 14th WWE Birthday, prompting that wonderful Ambrose reaction gif) to come out, saying they should be added for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Stephanie came out and added to Rollins' complaint, saying that what Reigns did was an embarrassment but the bigger embarrassment was having Ambrose as their champion. She went into full Authority mode and set up Cena vs Rollins and Styles vs Ambrose as the main event, where Cena and Styles will be added to the Battleground main event if they win. The results can be found here.

This was another enjoyable RAW, although it was still a struggle to stick with 3 hours. There was less wrestling again and more promo time. It was nice to see 2 Women's matches again now that Sasha Banks has returned. The 2nd match with Summer Rae and Becky Lynch never happened because Becky just went over to beat the crap out of Natalya on commentary. Corporate Kane returned to plead to Stephanie for the general manager spot again and was interrupted by Miz and Maryse, fresh from filming "Marine 5." Kane decides to invoke the 30-day rule, where a champ must defend the title if they haven't done so. Seeing how RAW was taking place in Tampa, FL, there was a lot of speculation that someone from NXT - notably Finn Balor - might show up. The Demon did show up to challenge Miz for the IC title, only it was Demon Kane. The New Day and The Wyatt Family continue to build more intrigue as Kofi and Big E were up to their usual shenanigans of making fun of their opponent while their most vocal member, Xavier, appeared to be scared and wary of Bray.

Jericho hosted the highlight reel with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Zayn did his most passionate promo yet, being upset at Owens and himself for holding each other back in their careers. Owens came back with a vicious truth of his own, saying Zayn was never happy for his success all because he did it as his expense. They both agreed to have one final match together at Battleground because they know for sure they'll be drafted to different roster. Oh, and they both superkicked Jericho in the end.

Cena vs Rollins was a fantastic match, bringing memories of their feud from last year at Summerslam. I was rooting for Rollins to win, just so Cena doesn't get added to Battleground. Rollins wrestles like a babyface so you can't help but root for him. The match unfortunately had a stupid ending where Cena was distracted by The Club (decked out in noticeably new gear with Japanese kanji for their upcoming Japan tour this weekend) and Rollins taking advantage by using the pedigree on Cena for the win.

Styles vs Ambrose was the main event. This was probably one of Ambrose's best match in a while, where he was being technical against Styles and keeping up with him. Also, keep in mind that Ambrose had just wrestled 2 matches in 2 other cities the night before, so I was completely surprised to see him wrestling again. Gallows and Anderson showed up, making it look like Styles might win until Cena came to the rescue and Ambrose smoothly rolled up a distracted Styles to hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Rollins, who was on commentary, came up and Pedigree'd Ambrose while The Club beat up Cena to end the show.

Even though the thought of adding Cena and Styles sounded exciting for Battleground, I'm relieved that it's still going to stay as a Triple Threat. I'm also glad that WWE is not hiding Reigns' suspension and even integrating into a storyline. I did find it stupid - too stupid to even suspend belief - that Ambrose being a champion and current face of the company is the worst thing to ever happen than the company's #1 guy being suspended for a wellness violation. Also, said embarrassment is going to Hawaii and Japan this weekend to defend the title and still fly back to do RAW and Smack Down next week. Even if Ambrose is just a champ for this month until Battleground, he's setting a ridiculously high bar as their champion workhorse. I would have no problem if Rollins wins the title back but if Reigns gets it back, he better be a monster heel. Until then, it's up to Ambrose and Rollins to carry the feud again.

Weekend Recap (6/24/16 - 6/26/16)

Friday (6/24):

• Ate at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner
• Bought shoes at DSW earlier so that I have something fancy to wear for Sunday
• Played Overwatch with Andrew

Saturday (6/25):

• Watched "The Shallows" in theaters. This was a surprisingly great movie. Not a typical or dumb thriller. I didn't really care for Blake Lively but she blew me away with her performance.
• Went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping
• Also went to La Bonita to buy a bunch of Beef Ribs to make Nilaga
• Vince played some Mighty No 9, a game from the creator of Mega-Man and a game that Vince backed via Kickstarter over 2 years ago. Sadly, this game got a lot of fair-to-negative reviews. It's a fun game but Vince said it didn't feel polished.

Sunday (6/26):

• Went to Costco to do a bit of grocery shopping.
• Ate at the Mastro's Ocean Club at Crystals for Christine's birthday. This is also the first time that I've ever seen a food bill in the high 3 digits. We all brought cash to pay for one bill... except Micheal.
• Looks like we're planning to have game night with them next Sunday since we have a 4th of July 3-Day weekend

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

Honestly, not sure what to expect considering that Roman Reigns was suspended for 30 days last week. He'll miss the Raw/Smack Down draft on July 19 but will make it in time for Battleground on July 24. This is a big blow for WWE for their top guy that they've been investing and pushing over other's expenses to get suspended. It's expected that he comes back as a full-fledged heel because the fans are gonna absolutely destroy him. I no longer hate Reigns but I do feel sorry for the guy. He didn't deserve those "You can't wrestle" chants from MITB or last week's RAW. If he comes back as a heel, I will be all for it. What's probably going to happen is Ambrose and Rollins carrying the feud until Battleground.

Negative stuff aside, the big news this weekend was newly crowned champ Dean Ambrose pulling double-duty in Florida. For the last few months, Reigns was the A-Show and Ambrose was the B-Show. Naturally, that would flip now with Ambrose as the champ. Due to Reigns' suspension, however, the B-Show is now short of another top full-time babyface to headline it. So WWE scheduled Ambrose to open the Jackson, FL show in a triple threat against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, then immediately hauled ass to end the Orlando, FL show against Seth Rollins. In under 24 hours, Ambrose successfully defended the title 3 times in 3 different cities (Boston, MA, Jacksonville, FL and Orlando, FL). Ambrose is also heading to Hawaii and Japan next weekend. Poor guy won't have a day off til next Wednesday.

"You deserve it!": Monday Night RAW (6/20/16)

For the first time in a long while, a babyface champ - a genuine underdog with organic and consistent fan support - graced Monday Night RAW. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose (that sounds really good to say) was greeted with "You deserve it" chants before addressing the WWE Universe. He talked about hard work pays off. Ambrose wondered aloud that if Seth Rollins is "The Man," Roman Reigns is "The Guy," does that make him "The Dude?" The crowd agreed and Dean liked it and said call me whatever you like but call me "Champion." Reigns comes out amidst boos to congratulate Ambrose and reminded him of his rematch clause. Then Rollins comes out amidst cheers screaming that he beat Reigns so he gets a rematch clause. Interrupting Shane O Mac sets up Reigns and Rollins as the main event, where the winner will face Ambrose at Battleground next month. The results can be found here.

This was an enjoyable Monday Night RAW, although more time was spent on promos again and there was less time for the wrestling matches. They also addressed the upcoming Raw/Smack Down Draft, which will take place when Smack Down goes live on 7/19. To further emphasized how important this draft was, the first match of the night with Zayn and Owens showcased why these bitter rivals needed to be separated. Zayn got a win but Owens continued to beat him down after the match ended and even when they came back from commercial break. There was also the addition of the RAW and Smack Down podiums on top of the ramp, meaning WWE will be welcoming back a number of former general managers vying for the position for each brand. Hell, even John "People Power" Laurinitis returned before Shane told him that he would be running Smack Down.

The one segment I was not happy with was the women's division, where for some reason, Charlotte is defending the title against Paige. It wasn't a 3-minute squash match but it felt poorly paced and was full of botches, notably from Dana Brooke. Paige loses to Charlotte and all of a sudden Sasha Banks shows up, coming to her aid to chase off Charlotte and Dana. Look, I like Sasha but I hate that they kept her away from TV for a long time and now she's gunning for the title again. Meanwhile, poor Becky Lynch is getting beaten up by newly turned heel Natalya.

Speaking of returns, Bray Wyatt returned with Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman. Luke Harper is still out with a serious injury. Wyatt was interrupted by The New Day, which prompted him to come up with a chant on his own: New Day... Falls. This is a very weird yet interesting match-up so if they really are going ahead with this feud, they need to find the right balance for both teams to make this convincing.

Reigns and Rollins' main event match had Ambrose sitting on commentary and man, he was on fire. He put his former brothers over and showed how fiercely protective he is of his title. "Karma's a bitch and I'm WWE World Heavyweight Champion." As for the match, it was actually better than their match from MITB, save for a failed spot where the table didn't break when Reigns tackled Rollins. The two were unable to get back into the ring before the 10-count, resulting in a draw. The crowd wasn't happy with that so Shane came out and said we still need a contender. Ambrose gets into the ring and tells Shane he'll take them both on right now. Shane admires Dean as a fighting champion and decides to set up all former Shield members in a Triple Threat as the main event at Battleground. Ambrose happily accepts and goes up to both of his exhausted brothers and starts trash-talking them. Reigns gets up and tries to talk to Ambrose, who quickly turns around hits him with Dirty Deeds, which actually scares Rollins. Rollins tries to Pedigree a weakened Reigns after Ambrose left the ring, only to be hit from behind as Ambrose hits him with Dirty Deeds too.

So on top of them finally building excitement for the draft, the big takeaway is that the "WrestleMania-worthy" Shield Triple Threat is actually happening. There's a lot of complaints that the event is being wasted on what's considered a B-PPV event. However, the brand extension is heavily hinting that Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins might get separated, so Battleground might very well be their last time to be on the same roster together. This is going to be an interesting month for Ambrose, who's now going to shoulder the pressure and responsibilities as a WWE Champ and as the face of the company. He is going to get even more attention now. On top of that, his wonderful cheerleader of a girlfriend Renee is comfortably and proudly posting more pics of Ambrose. I'm not too worried about Ambrose if he ends up dropping the title at Battleground, I just want to see him have a good run as an official champ.

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HEY, SO BREAKING NEWS. 

ROMAN REIGNS WAS SUSPENDED.

HE'LL STILL BE AT BATTLEGROUND.

Weekend Recap (6/17/16 - 6/19/16)

Friday (6/17):

• I ordered pizza from Grimaldi's and we headed over to Josh and Tanisha's place to hang out for a bit. We just talked for a while, doing some catching up before Tanisha and Nix came him. Nix is like the most freaking amazing toddler I ever met. Incredibly intelligent and imaginative and polite. After she and Tanisha went to bed, we just watched Josh play some Uncharted 4 before heading home
• I printed out a giant Shroomish sign for MITB.

Saturday (6/18):

• I went to Ann's Salon to get my highlights redone and my haircut. I went with the really short bob. I went with a different stylist from last time so instead of just touching up the highlights on my hair and keeping the same color, she pretty much bleached it X_X
• I bought some pasta so that Vince and I can have lunch before watching "Finding Dory." I love that movie. Not quite as good as "Finding Nemo" but it made up for it by showcasing more characters at the aquarium.
• Went around Downtown Summerlin for a bit and then drove to Vivido for some gelato.

Sunday (6/19):

• Called and greeted my dad Happy Father's Day, because I had to.
• Vince and I got ready to head to the T-Mobile Arena for MITB. I made a long and detailed post here on my Wordpress blog.

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

DEAN FUCKING AMBROSE:

THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

You get us. :) https://t.co/fw7tFyZw4t

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) June 14, 2016

I loved listening to Busted Open but I get annoyed with how much they bash on Ambrose despite saying they don't hate him. One of the hosts' daughter is an Ambrose fan, must to her father's chagrin.

"Ambrose Asylum: Electric Boogaloo": Monday Night RAW (6/13/16)

This is it. This is the go-home show of Monday Night RAW. Usually go-home shows are notoriously bad for having significantly less wrestling matches, backstage segments, and promos and sadly, that was the case here - there was reportedly less than 1 hour of in-ring wrestling in the 3 hours of RAW. Still, this show did as much as it can to create hype for MITB this Sunday while also addressing the impending roster draft and brand extension. The results can be found here.

The New Day and Enzo and Cass kicked off RAW to a weird start, with Cass telling Xavier that Enzo has put his lips all over Francesca the other night. It resulted in an amusing argument full of double entendres, resulting in Xavier Woods yelling "I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO BLOWS MY GIRL!" at Enzo's face. The Vaudvillains and The Club (sans AJ Styles) would come out to argue, which lead to be the first match of the night. The New Day has reached a point where they don't need the titles anymore so there's a good chance that they're going to lose their tag team titles very soon with the brand extension coming up.

Ever since Seth Rollins' shocking return at Extreme Rules and immediately being made the main event for MITB, there was very little reason to invest in his and Roman Reigns' feud. It was hampered by the fact that Rollins was still a chickenshit heel, even though his WWE: 24 Documentary painted him as a sympathetic babyface. On top of that, Rollins and Reigns never wrestled in the ring since the announcement and their story was only explained in video packages. That task fell upon Dean Ambrose and his talk show (which was brought back by Shane) to hype up their feud. The trios on-screen dynamic was great to see again. It was an excellent segment that re-established their history as The Shield and reminded the audience why this main event is important. Even better, Ambrose presented him as a threat to both of them, saying that if he wins MITB, he could just cash in and be the new champ.

Funny enough, the match that truly feels like a main event is AJ Styles vs John Cena. There was a bit of confusion as to why there was a contract signing, despite no title being on the line. Turns out Cena presented 2 contracts for Styles to sign; Cena vs The Club (barring The Club from ringside) or Cena vs Styles. Prior to the signing, Cena talked up Styles in a respectful manner, even name-dropping PWG, ROH, and NJPW (TNA was not mentioned) from his body of work. Styles, on the other hand, said that if he had stayed with WWE, he would be the 15-time World Champion because and beat Cena's "K-Mart shopping ass." Even though Styles turned heel recently, this feud doesn't feel rushed at all. Chalk it up to Cena and Styles performance and past body of work to give his a "big fight" feel.

Speaking of MITB, the entrants all got involved at the end of RAW with Ambrose vs Jericho as the main event, Cesaro being the ring announcer, Albert Del Rio being the timekeeper and Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens on commentary. It was wonderfully chaotic after Ambrose got another win over Jericho, who wisely grabbed a ladder and set it in the middle of the ring to grab the briefcase.

There are other matches and segments that happened but it's not really worth looking into. I mean, Sheamus and Apollo was just added as another pre-show match. And the women's division was represented in another rushed match where Paige got a win over Charlotte, thanks to Dana interfering. The women's title is not on the line, it's just a 4-women tag team match. Oh, and the IC title is not on the line either because The Miz is filming "Marine 5."

So that's the card for this Sunday. Seriously can't wait to be there! I'm pretty convinced that Ambrose isn't going to win (he's never won a match at MITB) but I won't stop cheering for him.

• Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
• John Cena vs. AJ Styles
• Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro vs. Alberto Del Rio in a Money in the Bank ladder match
• New Day vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillains in a four-way for the WWE Tag Team Championship
• Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil for the U.S. Championship
• Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Becky Lynch and Natalya
• Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin in a Kickoff Show match
• Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews in a Kickoff Show match

Weekend Recap (6/10/16 - 6/12/16)

Friday (6/10):

• Ate at The Cutting Board, a Filipino gastropub that opened up near our place. We were ready to walk out of the place because no one took our order for nearly 15 minutes. We got a seafood paella and pork belly and got bibingka souffle as a comp.
• We just walked around the park for a bit
  

Saturday (6/11):

• Dropped off Biko to get her summer hair cut. It always baffles me how tiny and skinny she looks afterwards.
• Went to do some grocery shopping at Costco and Wal-Mart. I made some Swedish Meatball pasta for lunch.

Sunday (6/12):

• Ate at Original House of Pancakes for breakfast. We haven't eaten here in years!
• Went to Santa Fe Station to watch "Popstar: Never Stop Stopping." This movie hasn't been doing to well, and it was evident when we were seated in a smaller theater with 2-3 other people.
• Walked around Fashion Show Mall for a bit
• Went to Berry Blends to get smoothies
• Just stayed at home and played Overwatch. Also watched Preacher and ROH before sleeping.

What to expect for Monday Night RAW:

It's really tough to say. Considering that MITB got so much focus last week, it looks like they're shifting the focus back to Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the WWE WHC. As usual, continuity is thrown out the window with the return of the Ambrose Asylum (the show not the cage match) and with Rollins and Reigns as the guests. What makes this interesting is that it will be Ambrose and Reigns first time to actually interact on screen since Fastlane and Ambrose and Rollins haven't interacted since his injury last year. For weeks, WWE has been teasing Ambrose as the favorite to win MITB, and he's been winning a majority of his recent matches, save for Smack Down where Jericho beat Ambrose via Codebreaker. Ambrose is being used to tease the Shield Triple Threat but I'm convinced that this is just a red herring again.

The big thing that isn't being talked about is the brand extension that's happening next month when Smack Down goes live. The recent Smack Down scored one of its lowest TV ratings. If they want to elevate Smack Down to be an equal flagship brand, they need to get their shit together quick.

"This is important": Monday Night RAW (6/6/16)

Monday Night RAW kicked off with the most unique opening segment I've ever seen in a long time. Rather than the usual shot of the venue with the pyro going off, it started with Dean Ambrose walking towards the ring, where all 5 of the MITB entrants are perched upon 6 tall ladders, surrounding the MITB briefcase. They all had a funny banter on who was going to win, with Jericho reminding everybody who created this match before it devolved with everyone getting down from the ladders and beating each other up. This lead to a surprise appearance by the infamous former Smack Down general manager, Teddy Long. He tossed out interesting ideas for tag team matches before Stephanie McMahon interrupted him to get all entrants in 3 singles matches (Jericho vs Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio vs Sami Zayn, and Ambrose vs Kevin Owens). The results can be found here.

The other best segment of the night was the banter between AJ Styles, and John Cena. It was not just a typical heel talking down a face. There was a sense of truth in their promo, such as Cena calling Styles a dud for coming to WWE despite being heralded as the "hero of sports entertainment" and Styles flat out saying to Cena that "guys like you bury guys like me." Cena has somehow enlisted the help of The New Day to help him out, which makes sense considering Gallows and Anderson started feuding with them. Speaking of tag teams, thanks to a wonderful idea by Teddy Long, Stephanie added another match for MITB. There will a Fatal 4 Way for the title with The New Day, The Club, Enzo and Cass, and The Vaudevillains.

The absolute worst segment of the night goes to, no surprise, the women's division. Charlotte uncharacteristically issued an apology to the WWE Universe on how she treated her father but still maintained why she had to do it. She mentions that she took in Dana Brooke to be her protege, which saddens me that they had to go this route with her since Emma is still injured. Natalya and Becky came out to try to sway Dana from siding with Charlotte and of course, it doesn't work. There was dead silence for this segment and it pretty much showed that this whole Charlotte and Natalya feud is quickly getting stale. In a 3 hour show, there was no room for any women's wrestling. Not even for freaking Sasha Banks.

Neither Reigns or Rollins made an appearance tonight, which meant the world title was taking a break this week in favor of the MITB feud and Cena vs Styles. They ran 2 lengthy video packages that revisted their history together as The Shield as well as the beginning of their feud from their perspective. Rollins' video package incorporated some segments from his WWE: 24 documentary, which actually made Rollins come off a little different now than his chickenshit heel persona before his injury. No longer backed by The Authority, Rollins wants to prove that he can beat Reigns and he's been waiting 2 years to do it. Reigns video package, on the other hand, conveniently skipped his first 2 title reigns and his reliance on Ambrose and The Usos, despite him saying that he now stands alone. They even showed his WM 32 moment where he holds up the title to a thunderous applause that was clearly edited in. This was a great to build up their feud (and prevent Reigns from getting booed for cutting another promo) than that silly silent treatment they did last week.

To be honest, despite how this episode got mixed reactions by AV Club, I personally enjoyed it. Well, most of it anyways. I do want to note that Ambrose is being heavily featured again. He had a quick backstage segment with Owens, where he noted that Ambrose seems to be going off at the deep end more than usual. In addition to making another appearance on Sports Center with Coach, he has a scheduled match with Jericho on Smack Down. And the previous cancelled Ambrose Asylum (the talk show, not the cage match) returns for the go-home show with 2 very special guests. Once again, Ambrose is being positioned as the favorite to win MITB and they're making it obvious. It's funny that everyone wants to see this happen and knowing WWE, they'll go in a completely different direction and delay pulling the trigger on Ambrose. If he doesn't win, I'm fine with Owens, Zayn or Cesaro walking away with the briefcase.