To The Max: AEW Double Or Nothing 2019 Review

Saturday, May 25th, 2019
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Paradise, Nevada

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Well, with me only having a few months left in my Max subscription and the uncertainty of the remaining Raw episodes ever being uploaded to Netflix, it seems like a good time to try and do these. 

Jim Ross, Alex Marvez and Excalibur are your announcers tonight. They run down the card for tonight. 

SoCal Uncensored vs. Strong Hearts

For people like me who have no idea who is on both of these teams, SCU consists of Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels and Scorpio Sky. Stong Hearts are Cima, T-Hawk and El Lindaman. SCU's pre-match mic work is pretty lame. The video quality seems kind of weird here and distracting. I'm not sure if it's just my stream or what. Scorpio hits a real nice dropkick on T-Hawk and we see that his lip is bleeding. We get a look at everyone here, which makes sense. The announce team so far reminds me of watching golf so far. The pace picks up when the Strong Hearts get on offense and the crowd politely cheers it. I honestly am not sure if any of these guys are currently in AEW. Sky gets a hot tag and jumps on the back of Cima. He then gets hit by a trio of attacks that the referee for some reason allows. He's able to kick out of a German suplex into a bridge while his teammates just watch on the apron. Sky rolls through a sunset flip and hits a dropkick to tag in Kazarian. We then an extremely telegraphed spot where Kazarian has a sloppy pin attempt and then hits a Northern Lights suplex into a pin attempt, but only gets a 2. Now we get the spot of the match where everyone comes in and hits moves. We get a double clothesline with Daniels and Cima. Kazarian hits a springboard hurricanrana to the outside and then Sky hits a somersault dive over the top. SCU hits a moonsault/piledriver combo and picks up the victory. This was a decent opener with too many telegraphs for my liking. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Four Way Match
Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose vs. Dr. Britt Baker vs. Awesome Kong

Brandi Rhodes comes out in ring gear and says that this triple threat match would be great, but she doesn't want a great match. She wants a match that would be awesome. That brings out Awesome Kong. We're off to a bit of a sloppy start here, as they try to get over Kong as the monster. Kong catches Baker, but then Kylie hits a suicide dive that takes out both. Rose hits a big spinebuster on Kylie and gets a 2 count. Awesome Kong is back in the ring and that leads to the tower of doom spot with Kong coming out the victor in that spot. Kong goes for the Awesome Bomb from the apron, but Britt is able to counter out and hit a kick. Nyla dives into her and that leaves Britt and Kylie in the ring. Britt hits a swinging neckbreaker and gets a close call. Britt hits a front suplex into a knee for the win. This was pretty disappointing overall, that really fell into the flaws of this type of match. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega getting ready for later tonight. 

Best Friends vs. Jack Evans & Angelico

Why do both teams have the same colored gear? I have always liked Trent Beretta. This one just isn't really catching my attention so far. It just kind of feels like they are working in slow motion a little bit. I can't emphasize enough how much the announce team is doing nothing for me. Trent hits a beautiful springboard DDT, but he's not the legal man and Evans kicks out of Taylor's pin attempt. Trent hits his running kneeand then some combo offense. They hug, which apparently is their thing. They hit a crucifix into a Diamond Cutter, but of course Evans kicks out. Evans leaps off the back of Angelico and hits a spinning kick. Angelico hits a crucifix bomb in the corner and Evans hits a 630 splash, but Taylor breaks up the pin attempt. The Best Friends hit a Doomsday Device version of Trent's top rope knee and they pick up the victory. This was a lot of let's hit big moves for no reason. 

Match Rating: **1/4

The lights go out after the match and when they turn back on, two guys who look like jobbers are in the ring. The lights go out again and when they come back on, more masked jobbers are there. They attack the competitors to some boos. The unmasked jobber hits a Torture Rack into a backbreaker on Angelico. They then hits an admittedly cool top rope combo and then pose. The lights go out again and that's all, thankfully. 

We now get a painful shill for tickets going on sale and Marvez doesn't get the date right for when they go on sale. 

Hikaru Shida, Riho & Ryo Mizunami vs. Aja Kong, Emi Sakura & Yuka Sakazaki

It's always good to see Aja Kong. Recapping matches like this is admittedly not a strength of mine when I don't know who 5 of the competitors are. Aja hits a big piledriver, but her teammates are able to interrupt the pin attempt despite the lame attempt by the other team to keep them there. As you would expect, there isn't much strategy here and it's more of a feature for all 6 ladies. Aja misses a back elbow off the second rope and that allows Shida to get tagged in. Aja tries to hit her with a can, but she misses and Shida grabs a kendo stick. Aja gets the better of it and hits her in the back of the head with the can. We get a superplex and then a guillotine leg drop, but Sakazaki breaks up the pin attempt. We get a moonsault from Sakura and the ref maybe counts to 3? The bell rings, but the ref says it's 2. Kong accidentally hits her with the spinning backfist. A running knee picks up the win for Shida. That was a fun match and the best of the night so far. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

We get a Cody Rhodes/Dustin Rhodes build up video featuring terrible music, as you would expect from pro wrestling. 

Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes

This is the famous Triple H entrance for Cody. That is probably the one thing I knew about this show ahead of time. After we get the slow build with the crowd very much into it, we are off to the races. Dustin, as is well documented, is in great shape here. Dustin gets some time to show off, and deservedly so. Brandi gets herself involved and hits a spear on Dustin, which leads to her ejection. Diamond Dallas Pages comes out and carries her to the back. Dustin is busted open, which feels like it's a little too early in this match. It is a very unique visual since Dustin is wearing red face paint. He is gushing big time though. Dustin hits his signature powerslam for a 2 count. Cody then slaps on the Figure Four in the center of the ring. Dustin reverses it eventually and the hold is released. Cody takes off his weightlifting belt, but the referee takes it away. Dustin gets it and pulls down Cody's pants and spanks him with it. Dustin gets in a burst of offense, but it's not enough. A low blow and a Cross Rhodes by Cody, but Dustin kicks out at 2. Dustin hits a Cross Rhodes, but now Cody kicks out. Cody hits a vertebreaker and then a Cross Rhodes and that's enough for a pretty anti-climatic finish. This was good, but ultimately disappointing. That's always a problem with watching a show after a consensus is formed. I am pretty good at keeping an open mind, but sometimes expectations can be hard to meet. Again, this was good, just not something that blew me away. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Cody after the match tells Dustin that he signed up for a match with the Young Bucks and that he doesn't need a partner or a friend, he needs his older brother. They hug and the crowd loves it. 

They talk about Hangman Adam Page winning the battle royal earlier in the night, who will get a chance to be the first AEW Champion. Looking at some of the people who were in the battle royal, this seems like such a bad idea. Why wouldn't the people on the main card get a shot at becoming the #1 contender? The finish of the match looked to be pretty poorly booked as well. 

They bring out Bret Hart to unveil the AEW Championship title belt. I love that Bret always jumps at a chance to make Vince mad. He brings out Adam Page, who walks to the ring with a limp. When he gets to the ring, MJF comes out. He was the last person Page eliminated in the battle royal. MJF cuts a pretty generic promo, but I did like it when he called Page "Seabiscuit". Out comes Jungle Boy and then Jimmy Havoc. This now just looks like the most indie-rific segment you could have. They attack MJF and then go through the crowd. Bret then holds the AEW Championship belt up and they don't even have a camera on the belt at first. Having Bret here was awesome, but this segment was terrible. 

We get a hype video for the tag team match coming up, which is the main reason I had interest in this show 6 years ago. 

AAA World Tag Team Championships
Lucha Brothers vs. Young Bucks

I do not believe I have ever seen the Lucha Brothers in a match. Maybe I caught a Dynamite match at some point, but I don't recall. I honestly have only seen a handful of Young Bucks matches. We get lots of flippin' and floppin' to start. We get a couple of miscues from the Bucks that they are playing up. I really don't even feel like trying to keep up with this match, so I'm just mostly going to watch it. No one reads this anyways. We get a bunch of superkicks and it leads to all 4 men on the ground. Matt hits a top rope brainbuster and then they hit like 5 moves after and it's not enough to win the match. The Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver and that's all. They crammed a lot of action, no question. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was there live. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

These spots where they are showing the 3 announcers is just so awkward. I think Jim Ross would agree that this was not his best night in terms of chemistry. This leads into the hype video for the main event. 

Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

Ah, yes, "Judas". Another terrible wrestling song. And look, a barrel that has the Cracker Barrel logo on it. Nothing says main event like a terrible chain restaurant. Give me Karate Fighters any day. Watching them take the barrel out of the ring is just hilarious. As someone who grew up as a huge Jericho fan (and now has more than mixed feelings about that), seeing him look like how he does here is very much how it probably felt for Ric Flair fans. And of course, fast forward to 2025 and he is still wrestling. Why? I guess how else would he fund his wife's trips? Oh yeah, there's a match going on. Jericho gets distracted by the crowd and he just looks like the drunk uncle no one wanted to invite to the pool party. Omega is bleeding from the nose now and Jericho is pulling a table out from under the ring. Omega does a baseball dropkick. Jericho just stands there with the table and Omega dives and Jericho kind of moves to the side and I'm not sure if that was a counter or not. Omega then hits a stomp on top of the table to Jericho's legs. Jim Ross then tells us the wrong website for the company. I'm at the point where I feel like I have been watching this show for 3 weeks. A Lionsault is countered and we're told it is "very well scouted". The guy has been wrestling for like 35 years. I'm not sure you need to "scout" very much to know that. Eventually, Jericho is able to hit a back body drop over the top rope and through the aforementioned table. Jericho hits a Codebreaker from the top and now we are at the part where the crowd chants both guys names. Some stuff happens and I am exhausted. Jericho hits the Codebreaker and the Judas Effect and picks up the win in a really poor ending. The finishes tonight have all been very ineffective in just about every match. The Jericho victory is hit with a lot of silence from the crowd. The match itself was pretty good, but I wouldn't have booked this as the main event of the first big show of my wrestling organization. 

Match Rating: ***

Jericho gets the microphone after the match and makes fun of the crowd. He says that Chris Jericho is AEW. It's not a company for the fans, it's a company for him. He brags about all the success and says the reason for all of it is him. He wants the crowd to thank him and then we get our big closing moment to the show with Jon Moxley coming through the crowd and into the ring. This was the ace in the hole that this show needed. He hits a DDT on Jericho and the crowd loves it. He then hits it on the referee. He picks up Omega and tries to do the same, but Omega drives him through the ropes and they battle into the crowd. They battle up on top of the giant poker chips on the stage and Moxley hits a DDT. He then hits an Attitude Adjustment off the chip and onto the stage. 

This show desperately needed that ending because this felt like one of the 8 hour WrestleMania shows. Don't get me wrong, some of the matches were good, but this felt extremely long and I didn't walk away really becoming a fan of anyone presented here. Look, I can't stand Vince McMahon. He is garbage. I do like the way WWE is presented better, but I prefer the older style of wrestling for the most part. If you loved this show, as I know that a ton of people did, I get it. I like SummerSlam 1995, so obviously I'm not a perfect critic. This one to me was just somewhere in the middle that left me feeling the same way after as I was before. 

Overall Rating: 51%

Monday Nitro 10-16-95 Review

Monday, October 16th, 1995 
Albany Civic Center
Albany, New York

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Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael kick things off talking about the potential team of Ric Flair and Sting for tonight. 

WCW Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd

DDP knocks him out from behind with the title belt while Badd is still finishing his entrance in the ring. DDP pins him and counts to 3 himself before shooting off Badd's canon. They announce it as a disqualification. So yeah, this was no match. 

Match Rating: No Rating

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit

This isn't the beginning of the cruiserweight division, but this is the beginning of WCW's credible side of ring wrestling on Nitro. I know a youngster like myself had never seen wrestling like this in 1995. We get a cool spot where Eddie is going for a back suplex and their momentum takes them to the floor. The crowd is reacting to the moves, which is a start also. Guerrero hits a nice springboard DDT despite his injured arm. McMichael says that if we aren't a WCW fan after this match, you are dumber than dirt. Eddie goes for the Frog Splash, but Benoit gets his knees up. Benoit hits the powerbomb into a pin, but Eddie is able to kick out. Benoit hits a full nelson belly to back suplex into a bridge and this time it's enough. These guys were given time and they delivered. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Bischoff then tells us that they are working on a cruiserweight division. We then go to Mean Gene in the ring, who hypes up the WCW Hotline with mentions of Shawn Michaels getting beat up by a fan. He then brings out Taskmaster and Giant. The Dungeon of Doom is infamous for a reason and all of this is just beyond cringe. 

On WCW Saturday Night, it's going to be Disco Inferno vs. Alex Wright and Jim Duggan vs. VK Wall Street. 

Disco Inferno is out again before our next match. 

Meng vs. Jim Duggan

Meng attacks Duggan while he's up on the turnbuckle waving the flag. Duggan is over with the crowd, as per usual. We get his usual punch and clothesline match. Meng no sells a body slam and hits Duggan with a superkick. He puts the spike in the side of the throat and that's it? That was a brief squash for a guy like Duggan without any shenanigans. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We hear from Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart in all black again. He claims to be able to stop an elephant in his tracks and make a promoter get down on his knees and cry. Hogan always sucked to me, but this is next level bad Hogan. 

Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs. Ric Flair & Sting

There is no Sting in the corner of Flair to begin. The crowd is chanting "We want Sting", but it's still Flair on his own and he gets hit in the back of the head with an elbow from AA. Flair then somehow puts on the Figure Four (after somehow trying to put it on the wrong way). He gets it on both guys, but the numbers game is too much. Arn hits a spinebuster and out comes Sting to a big pop. Pillman gets a cheap shot in on Sting and they continue to work on Flair. He gets a tag into Sting and he cleans house. Sting hits an inverted atomic drop and then clotheslines Arn over the top. He then crotches Pillman on the top rope and he too falls to the floor. That's a countout and a really lame finish for the match. Bischoff has often said that WCW's worst trait was their finishes and it has definitely been on display in the early days of Nitro. This was very house show. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Sting and Flair get interviewed by Mean Gene and they are best friends now. I'm sure that will not backfire at all. 

We go back to the announce team for the recap. Next week, we'll get to see Sting and Lex Luger against Harlem Heat, who surprisingly haven't been on the show much yet. 

This was a pretty good show that was highlighted by the Benoit/Guerrero match. The rest of it wasn't anything special, but it was an easy watch. 

Overall Rating: 59%

Monday Night Raw 10-16-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, October 16th, 1995
Welsh Auditorium
Grand Rapids, Michigan 

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We get a lengthy hype video for the cage match. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Doink

Doink is still a thing. He grabs Helmsley by the nose, as Vince disapproves of Lawler using the term "blue blood". Helmsley looks a little hesitant compared to earlier squashes. Doink tries to steal the match with a few quick pin attempts, but Helmsley is able to kick out. Doink misses with a reverse crossbody off the second rope and hits the Pedigree for the win. This was meh. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Barry Horowitz talks to Hakushi about baseball.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
PG-13 vs. Smoking Gunns

It's kind of weird that PG-13 is just getting a title shot. We hear from Gorilla Monsoon about who Mabel is going to wrestle at In Your House now that Undertaker is injured. He has decided that it will be the guy that helped injure Taker and that's Yokozuna. Thanks a bunch, Gorilla. The Gunns outsmart the newcomers at every opportunity to begin until PG-13 shifts the momentum by tripping Billy while running the ropes. Billy finally tags in Bart and that's about all it takes to take care of PG-13. I thought that would be a little bit more enjoyable than it was. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Next week, it's Alundra Blayze vs. Bertha Faye. Remember them? 

We go to an interview from a house show with Dok Hendrix, British Bulldog and Jim Cornette. Did they purposely leave so much extra time in this taping where the last two episodes have had so much filler in it? This was a short interview. Vince then teases that he's going to break the story involving Shawn Michaels. 

We hear from Ahmed Johnson again and doing the best you can for your mom at school or something.

Dean Douglas vs. Joe Dorgan

They show the attack on Michaels by Dean last week on Raw. Vince tells us about the "unprovoked attack by 10 thugs" in Syracuse. They have Shawn Michaels now on the phone and that distracts from another awful Douglas squash. He doesn't even finish the interview before the match finished. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Dok trying to sell us a hideous Diesel and Shawn shirt. They then show them getting the smaller cage ready for Lawler. They run through the In Your House card again, as the stalling continues. We hear from Goldust again and then they show the Mabel/Undertaker saga. We hear from Paul Bearer before we finally see the moron dentist come down. 

They announce that next week we will have a battle royal to become the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Champion.

Steel Cage Match
Isaac Yankem vs. Bret Hart

We get lots of punching and kicking until we get to the drama. Lawler switched the locks on the cage door and then we go to commercial break. When we come back, we get a special bulletin running on the bottom of the screen to call the WWF Hotline to find out more about Shawn Michaels. Meanwhile, Bret is able to press slam Yankem off the top rope. He then slaps on the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. He holds it on long enough that he thinks he can climb. Lawler starts climbing and knocks Bret back to the mat. Out comes Gorilla to order him to get in his shark cage. Lawler doesn't listen, so Bret climbs and knocks him back down. Yankem is able to take advantage, but Lawler also gets thrown in his cage. This was the first time I had ever seen this gimmick before and loved it. Yankem starts climbing and gets halfway over, but Bret meets him up top. He gets Yankem back in the ring, but crotches himself on the top. We then get the famous Lawler nosebleed where he actually made his nose bleed by creating a scab prior to the taping and then opening the scab while in the cage. Yankem is once again halfway over the cage, but Bret grabs the leg and pulls him back in. Yankem is just so limited that there isn't much you can do with him here. Lawler drops in the key to the lock, but art imitates life and he's too dumb to open the lock. Bret rolls him up and then punches him in the jaw. He hits a bulldog and the backbreaker. He hits the second rope elbow drop and climbs up and over for the win. I mean, this was fine for what it was, but not much more than that. Bret can only do so much. 

Match Rating: **

After the commercial, they tease that Lawler isn't going to be lowered. 

This episode felt like an afterthought and the stalling from last week continued. Throw in a weak Douglas squash and a disappointing showing from Helmsley, this was barely as good as an average Superstars episode. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Superstars 10-14-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, October 14th, 1995
Valparaiso University
Valparaiso, Indiana

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We get a hype video for Waylon Mercy/Diesel before the intro song. 

Jacob & Eli Blu vs. Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid

I'm not really sure why they didn't use the Blu brothers more. I say that because we sure were tortured with the DOA era and this is significantly better in my opinion. Jacob gets a heat segment in on Razor, somewhat surprisingly. Razor is able to get a knee to the face of Eli and tag in the Kid. His hot tag doesn't last long, as the Blu's hit a double back body drop. The Smoking Gunns are out now to take a closer look. We get a commercial break and Kid is still getting worked when we return. He finally gets the tag into Razor and he goes for the Razor's Edge. The other Blu attacks him from behind and we get all four men in the ring. The Blu brother has Razor up for a body slam, but Kid comes off the top rope and dropkicks him into a pin attempt and picks up the victory. We get a brawl afterwards and the victors get the last laugh also. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We go to Dok Hendrix to talk about In Your House. We hear from Dean Douglas about his match with Shawn Michaels. I am so confused on where I am with this timeline since I had to watch like 20 Raw episodes in a row before the move to Netflix. We hear from Paul Bearer and Undertaker about the Mabel match. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tom Knox

They show Bam Bam catching a large fish just in case you're wondering how far he's fallen on the roster. They just talk about Lawler being in the shark cage on Raw instead of the match. Bam Bam wins. Great writing by me. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We hear from Ahmed Johnson talking about the best you can for your mom. 

Smoking Gunns vs. AC Conner & Scott Stevens

Billy hits a headscissor counter and Conner sells it like a Frankensteiner, which is kind of cool. Razor and the Kid are out to check out this match. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder and get the victory. The match feels more like a backdrop to the Kid/Razor relationship.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, it's Kama vs. Undertaker right here on Superstars. 

Skip vs. Sonny Rogers

We finally get some of the Sunny intro. Vince and co. talk over most of it and then we get a commercial break. Skip hits a second rope leg drop, but says that's not enough and mocks Barry Horowitz. Skip does the whole cocky heel thing until he hits the top rope hurricanrana for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We see highlights of the 6 man tag match from Raw. 

Diesel is interviewed by Jim Ross and everyone is talking about Diesel's losing streak. Diesel is all fired up about it and says to watch. 

Waylon Mercy vs. Diesel

Diesel brawls with Waylon for a minute or so and then out comes British Bulldog. Diesel goes after Bulldog and they start brawling. The bell rings and Mercy is your winner by countout to keep up with the losing streak angle. Diesel runs back in and hits the Jackknife. He then starts hitting Mercy with right hands until Shawn Michaels pulls him off. He goes back at it again and then a whole bunch of officials pull them apart. This was nothing. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Dok and he gives us an interview with British Bulldog. Dok then runs through the card for In Your House. 

We hear from Shawn and he talks about being the excitement in WWF. Next week, it's Dean Douglas vs. Hakushi. Plus, an interview with Diesel. 

This was your usual Superstars, but the feature matches were a little disappointing. Outside the lengthy recap of the Raw match (which was a good match, I just didn't need to see it again right after watching it), the rest went by quickly. 

Overall Rating: 40%

One Night Stand 2007 Review

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Jacksonville, Florida

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Stretcher Match
Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam

It's looking like this may be my last show to watch for 1997 for some time since Netflix seems to be in no hurry in uploading more Raw episodes. I'm enjoying 1995 much more, so I'm good with it. RVD is all over Orton to begin, hitting a number of kicks. Orton gets a shot on the head of RVD and he oversells the concussion way too much. RVD is able to hit a kick when Orton goes for the RKO. When RVD leaps up top, he falls to the floor and the announcers are showing no concern to help sell this angle. Orton hits a standing dropkick and continues to attack the head. He rolls RVD onto the stretcher, but he falls over along with the stretcher. RVD fights back and hits a leg drop on the stretcher. He goes for a Rolling Thunder, but Orton hits an awesome counter into a powerslam. RVD goes for a somersault splash over the top rope onto the stretcher and misses. That looked painful. Orton lifts RVD off the ground and puts him on the stretcher and starts wheeling him up the ramp. Orton falls to a knee and then RVD gets up. RVD fights his way back, throws him on the stretcher and pushes him past the finish line. That was a terrible finish. This was shocking at the time, as RVD was leaving here and everyone expected him to put RVD on his way out the door. After the match, Orton attacks RVD from behind. Orton then punts him in the head and then hits the draped DDT off the barricade and to the floor. Proof that winning a match doesn't mean you were put over. RVD gets medical attention and is put on a stretcher. The match had the couple of cool spots, but the rest was nothing special thanks to the concussion angle, which is what they were going for. 

Match Rating: **

Vince McMahon tells Shane that they end Bobby Lashley tonight. 

Tag Team Tables Match
Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker

It's good that they keep giving Punk spots on pay per view, I think he has a future. He and Dreamer do the Dudley "Get the tables" bit, but the crowd doesn't pop for it for some reason. Things break down after that and Sandman hits Striker with the kendo stick. Sandman and Dreamer try to suplex Striker through a table, but Burke moves it. Burke hits his corner elbow drop on Punk and Striker slides a table in the ring. They try to throw Punk through the table in the corner, but Dreamer makes the save. Sandman goes for his top rope huricanrana, but Striker sends him to the floor. Cor Von hits a variation of a powerbomb on Punk and stands the table up and sets Punk on it. Cor Von goes up to the second rope, but Sandman hits him with the kendo stick. Dreamer hits a piledriver on Burke. Cor Von grabs Sandman to the floor. Punk hits a superplex on Striker onto Burke and through the table. That was kind of a messy finish. This was basically a TV match with a table spot. The guys gave it their all though for the short amount of time they were given. 

Match Rating: **

Edge and Orton are in the back. Orton talks about how his two former partners are battling in a steel cage tonight. Orton says that he's on the biggest role of his life, taking out RVD and ending the career of Shawn Michaels. Orton says that if he gets picked over to SmackDown, with Edge being to champ, he'll be next. Edge says that he'll end up just like Batista later tonight. 

Ladder Match For The World Tag Team Championships
The Hardys vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team

This is the epitome of a thrown together match. The only reason it exists was to give an excuse to have Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin in a ladder match together. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but it would be nice if they would actually do anything with Benjamin. They get right to business here and the ladders are immediately introduced to the match. Matt pulls Charlie Haas off the ladder and hits him with an electric chair. Matt and Jeff both reach the top of the ladder with their hands on the belts until Shelton tosses a ladder at them to knock them off. We get our first true ladder spot with the Hardys double hip tossing Shelton onto a ladder set on top of two more ladders. They then slam Haas onto the same structure. The next big spot is with the ladder on the barricade and ring and they throw Shelton from the ring onto it. They put Shelton back on it and Jeff goes up to the top, but Haas interrupts. Matt comes in and hits the Side Effect on Haas. Haas sets Matt onto a ladder laying on the ring and another ladder. He holds him in place and Benjamin leaps off a ladder in the ring and hits him with his legs open onto Matt's back. Interesting choice of landing. Back in the ring, Haas and Jeff battle at the top of the ladder and Jeff suplexes him off the top. Jeff is climbing and Shelton tries to springboard himself from the top rope, but messes up and makes a nice recovery by doing a somersault kick into the ladder and causing Jeff to fall. All four men climb the ladders and are battling up top. The Hardys get shoved off, but land on their feet and shove Haas and Shelton down. Shelton falls over the top rope and through the ladder outside the ring. Jeff hits a Swanton on Haas and they climb to retrieve their title belts for the victory. This wasn't necessarily as memorable as a lot of ladder matches, but they really did a great job keeping the pace at a frantic speed. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Great Khali yells, Ranjin Singh talks and I don't listen. 

Lumberjack Match
Mark Henry vs. Kane

Why do I do this to myself? Every time I see Kane wrestle, I hope it's my last. Henry drives Kane's back into the ring post and then the lumberjacks throw him back in the ring. I will never forget this match because to me this is the "bearhug match". Henry slaps it on for what feels like 3 hours. Kane is able to dump him through the ropes and then leaps off the top. Kane hits a top rope clothesline inside the ring and hits the chokeslam. Then Kenny Dykstra and Chavo Guerrero attack Kane because lord knows we have to protect Kane here. Henry puts on the bearhug again. Michael Cole says he is sucking the life out of Kane, but he forgets to mention the thousands of people watching this crap. The ref rings for the bell and the crowd moans. This sucked more than you could ever imagine. JBL keeps lecturing us on how Bruno Sammartino used the bearhug. Great, that was decades ago. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

They show The World's Greatest Tag Team and Hardys getting checked on by the doctors. The challengers are arguing with them and a brawl ensues. 

Street Fight For The ECW Championship
Mr. McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley instantly leaps over the top rope and lands on Umaga. Shane throws Lashley in the ring and takes some shots at Lashley, but then gets clotheslined and tossed over the top rope on Umaga. As you would expect, this just turns into a 3 on 1 situation. This is absolutely thrilling television. Lashley eventually makes his comeback and hits Vince in the head with the steel chair. He then unleashes on his back with the chair. The numbers game catches up again and Shane hits the top rope elbow drop onto Lashley through the table. This is just such a boring storyline and match. Lashley comes back, he hits the Spear and wins. Great.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Maria is flirting with Santino Marella. Todd Grisham comes in to get Maria's thoughts on the pudding match coming up and she gives an intelligent answer because that's funny. Candice then says that she'll beat Melina in any kind of match for the third time. Candice comes in with her horrible acting and asks for a kiss for good luck, so Maria kisses her instead of Candice. In comes Ron Simmons. 

Pudding Match
Candice Michelle vs. Melina

This is as good as you would expect. Candice wins. This was stupid. Maria comes out to congratulate her and she throws Maria into Melina in the pool of pudding. The referee gets thrown in too. This show sucks. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Steel Cage Match For The World Heavyweight Championship
Edge vs. Batista

Edge immediately tries to win via escape and as you would expect, it doesn't work. That leads to a short Batista offense sequence until Edge is able to dropkick Batista into the cage. That slows down things big time and it has the feeling of a match that gets 20+ minutes, except it won't get anywhere near that. Batista is able to hit a superplex. Batista tries to go off the top rope, but Edge catches him with a dropkick. I will never understand how Batista had better chemistry with Undertaker than he did with Edge. Batista slingshots Edge into the cage and gets a 2 count. Edge comes back with a Spear and that gets a 2 count. Batista hits a spinebuster, that gets a 2. It kind of just feels like they are doing moves. Batista goes for a Batista Bomb, but Edge is able to grab the cage and holds on. He gets up to the top, but Batista is able to drag him back in. Edge is able to knock him down and then start climbing again. Batista tries to climb through the door, but Edge beats him out. What a boring finish that was. The cage match is such a watered-down gimmick that it takes something really special to make a good one. This one felt more like the kind you would get from a TV main event. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Falls Count Anywhere Match For The WWE Championship
Great Khali vs. John Cena

Let's see if Cena is able to top his ** miracle at Judgment Day against Khali. So far it's all Khali, so you can guess how it's going. Cena tries to get something going by going up to the top rope, but Khali chops him and sends him to the floor. They spill out into the crowd and Cena sort of hits him with a TV monitor. Cena goes for the FU, but he can't get Khali on his back. Cena then uses the boom camera as a weapon. He gets Khali on his back, but Khali hits him with his elbow. Khali then picks him up and throws Cena onto the crane that is part of the entrance set. They battle on the crane and Cena gets Khali up for the FU and throws him off the crane. Cena covers him and that's all. Yeah, that wasn't as good. Cena tried, but it's no easy task. 

Match Rating: *

This show sucked big time and was even worse than I remembered it being. Kudos to the four men in the ladder match for putting their bodies on the line, but the rest of the card was so poor. I sure hope that is the last time I ever see that Kane/Mark Henry match. I can't imagine that I'll ever watch this again.

Overall Rating: 26%

Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIV Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, June 2nd, 2007
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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John Cena vs. Great Khali

Hey, we're showing you this match for free, but buy the pay per view tomorrow with them fighting again! Cena attacks Khali as soon as he walks in and tries to get him up for the FU, but fails. Khali pretty much manhandles Cena here, as really the only purpose of this match existing is to make you think Khali will win the title tomorrow night at One Night Stand. Cena tries to get Khali up for the FU again, but this time he gets him in the air, but Khali elbows him. He hits the double hand chokeslam and then covers him with one foot and gets the pretty unprecedented win over Cena here. Cena basically never loses anything and they are throwing it away for this feud on a pointless show. After the match Khali yells at Cena and then Ranjin Singh says that Khali will beat him anywhere and become WWE Champion. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

There is nothing more that I want to see than an arm wrestling match between Mr. McMahon and Bobby Lashley. I definitely also want to see a whole segment just showing me the backstory on this feud too. Vince does the typical heel move of backing out to get ready. He then says that he won't embarrass Lashley tonight, only tomorrow night. So he brings out Mark Henry instead. Lashley is starting to come back, so Henry attacks him. Lashley comes back with a spear, but then Vince hits him with a chair to the back. This could have never existed and no one would have complained. 

Maris is with Edge and he says that he is the greatest. 

Batista & Chris Benoit vs. MVP & Edge

Benoit and MVP kick things off. Edge is supported here in Toronto tonight. When Batista is in there, no one wants a piece of him, but MVP is the one stuck with him. Benoit hits a trio of German suplexes and then knocks Edge off the apron while climbing the top rope. That gives MVP the extra time to roll out of the way of the diving headbutt. Benoit is able to hit an enzuigiri on Edge, but MVP prevents the tag to Batista. Benoit is finally able to make the tag and he hits a couple of clotheslines before hitting the running powerslam. Edge distracts Batista and then grabs his title belt before leaving the ring. Benoit hits a spinebuster and Benoit hits the top rope headbutt for the victory. This was as basic as it gets. 

Match Rating: *1/4

They show Finlay, Hornswoggle, Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman heading to the ring. 

Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman

Hornswoggle climbed under the ring before the match. We get a moment with Finlay and Little Boogeyman and Finlay slaps him. Little Boogeyman hits a DDT on Finlay and then he tags Hornswoggle, who we can only see his hand from the apron. Hornswoggle rolls up the sleeves and gives him the hat. That distraction allows Finlay to hit a kick to the head of Little Boogeyman. Little Boogeyman is able to get a small package in on both Hornswoggle and Finlay, but both attempts are broken up. Boogeyman then chases Hornswoggle to the back. Finlay kicks Little Boogeyman in the face and picks up the win. As good as Finlay is in this role, I think we can move on. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Just in case you didn't realize that this show is just all filler, here is Extreme Exposè. While they are dancing, they show Little Boogeyman chasing Hornswoggle. Boogeyman gets involved and Finlay hits him with the shillelagh and then mocks his dancing. It comes back out to the ring and they lift up Layla and Brooke on their shoulders for a chicken fight. Little Boogeyman then chases him back up the entrance ramp. I would not be too mad if Netflix continues to take their time on uploading 2007 Raw episodes. 

Kane, Doink & Eugene vs. Kevin Thorn, Viscera & Umaga

Just when you think things can't get any worse, they give you Kane. Doink stalls to fill airtime here and then Thorn finally hits him with a clothesline. Eugene is wearing his superhero costume and now has buzzed hair. Umaga takes care of him and I can't believe this match is still going on. This is a 3 minute and done match. Instead they're making us sit through 11 minutes of it. Viscera hits his big side slam on Eugene and Eugene rolls out of the ring. Kane gets tagged in and takes care of the other team. He hits the worst looking top rope clothesline in the business on Thorn, but Umaga breaks it up. Thorn tags in Viscera and he misses a splash in the corner. Kane hits a chokeslam and wins. This was absolutely terrible. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

We then get a music video recap of this turd of a show. 

I am far away from reviewing all of the Saturday Night's Main Events, but I would be shocked if this one doesn't end up in the bottom 3. There were no redeeming qualities to this one and did nothing to make me want to watch One Night Stand. 

Overall Rating: 24%

Monday Nitro 10-9-95 Review

Monday, October 9th, 1995 
Rosemont Horizon
Rosemont, Illinois

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They show Hulk Hogan getting his moustache shaved off. Eric Bischoff, Bobby Henan and Steve McMichael are all wearing Chicago Bears jerseys. Heenan's has a ? instead of a number. Sting joins them and says that he has a solution for a problem between Randy Savage and Lex Luger. 

United States Championship Match
Shark vs. Sting

Shark's gear has to be among some of the worst there is out there. Shark hits a few moves until he misses in the corner. Stink leaps into him from behind, causing Shark to hit the ring post. Sting hits a top rope crossbody and that's it. Whatever. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show all of the Hogan drama from last week again. 

Sabu vs. Mr. JL

It's probably a good idea to let Sabu wrestle someone who is used to Sabu's style. With this being a Chicago crowd, they are very much into Sabu. Sabu hits a lot of the high notes. He goes for a hurricanrana off the top, but Mr. JL blocks it. Mr. JL goes off the top rope, but Sabu catches him for a powerbomb. He puts on the Camel Clutch and picks up the victory. After the match, he hits a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. This felt chaotic in a good way for 1995. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Mean Gene is in the ring with Sting and Lex Luger. In order for Sting to solve the problem, he calls out Randy Savage. Sting wonders why Giant hasn't put his hands on Sting. Sting tells him that he's paranoid and talks about how all of them want to become champion. Sting says that if Luger beats Meng and Savage beats Kamala, the two of them should square off. Luger isn't happy about it and Sting calls him disgusting for that. He says he's tired of sticking up for Luger. Luger looks like he's trying not to crack up. Luger agrees and Savage does as well. This was really cheesy. 

They show Chris Benoit arriving in a limo. 

Disco Inferno is out to dance again. They cut off his music and he turns on his boom box as Big Bubba enters. He keeps doing it while Hawk comes out too. He then steals a kid's WCW hat and puts it on the spike of Hawk. Right. 

Big Bubba Rogers vs. Road Warrior Hawk

Hawk hits a powerslam on Hawk and then Disco Inferno starts dancing on the ring. Hawk rips his shirt and chases him down the aisle. It causes a countout and that's all. Lame.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mean Gene brings out Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. Hogan comes out in all black and tells both Gene and Jimmy not to talk. Hogan talks trash, but Gene says that won't happen because he is barred from the arena tonight. He then talks about Vince McMahon choking on his own ego for whatever reason. He then talks about beating Gorgeous George in heaven. I don't know, he's just doing his usual nonsensical promo. They show Giant and Taskmaster trying to get in the arena with a monster truck. The cops won't let him in, so Hogan says he'll go back there himself. 

Steel Cage Match
Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair

They hype up this match as being a pay per view caliber match and they aren't wrong there. However, we go to commercial within the first minute, which never helps. When we come back and Arn hits a spinebuster. Out comes Brian Pillman to start climbing the cage. Flair sees him and shoves him to the floor. Flair tries to put on the Figure Four, but Arn hits Flair with something and that's enough to pick up the win. They show the replay and he has brass knuckles. They couldn't have given us a few more minute of ring action there? 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Ric is fuming and goes to the announcer booth. He says he wants both Pillman and Arn next week. We then get more recap stuff from the announcers. Next week it will be Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd, Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero and Meng vs. Jim Duggan. 

This was another underwhelming show. They had a hot crowd and didn't really take advantage of it. They are so stuck on anything Hogan, that they just don't care about much else. Even the Luger and Flair segments always seem to be rushed. This wasn't bad, just not as good as I felt it should have been.

Overall Rating: 42%