Monday Night Raw 9-21-95 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, September 21st, 1995
Canton Civic Center
Canton, Ohio

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We get a fairly lengthy "Last week on Raw" intro to kick it off. 

1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon

Kid attacks Razor on his way into the ring and we are underway. Razor hits the second rope fall away slam and gets an early 2. Razor is all over Kid here and is wondering if this is all he has. Kid is able to sidestep Razor and he falls to the floor. Kid hits a slingshot dropkick over the top and throws Razor back in the ring. He hits him with a kick, but Razor has his foot on the bottom rope. He slaps on a sleeper hold and we get a commercial break. When we come back, the sleeper is still on. Razor battles out of it and hits a back suplex. Razor hits a big clothesline in the corner. We then get a collision spot, with the referee also being knocked out. They show the replay for some reason, even though it makes it look like Hebner flopped. Out comes Dean Douglas and he hits a top rope splash on Razor before running away. Kid and the ref crawl back in the ring and we get the slow count for the victory. That was a fun match with a dorky finish. Obviously, we were going to get a finish like that, but you would have thought it was one that would have made Razor look a little better than that. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We then get a Report Card with Dean Douglas and he gives another boring promo with the same formula. 

Kama & Tatanka vs. Savio Vega & Bob Holly

The phrase "dream match" gets thrown around a lot, but I don't think I'm stepping out of line in saying that this isn't one of them. Jerry Lawler says that Holly runs hot, which is maybe the first time I've heard them reference that. We all just think he's a dorky race car driver at this point. Both depictions are accurate. Tatanka pulls Holly's foot off the apron and Savio isn't able to make the tag as a result and Kama takes advantage. They then hit a double boot while Holly is still complaining. Holly again hurts his partner by trying to get in the ring and they isolate Savio in their corner. Tatanka and Savio hit a double clothesline. Both men tag in their partners and Holly is able to hit a missile dropkick. Tatanka breaks up the pin attempt. We get some chaos and then a sloppy finish when Holly goes off the top and Kama is supposed to catch him and hit a body slam. Instead it looks like he just reversed it into a pin and almost injured Holly's neck. This was entertaining enough for what it was. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We get a Razor Ramon interview and he tells Dean Douglas that he's going to carve him up. 

The WrestleMania XI special is on Fox on September 30th. 

Jean Pierre Lafitte vs. Brian Walsh

Walsh gets in a dropkick, but the second one misses. We get Bret Hart on the phone from the set of Lonesome Dove. Just in case you didn't know it was 1995. Bret's talking and Vince is still doing his "Oh!" over top of him for this competitive match. He hits running double knees with Walsh on the second rope. He hits the Canonnball and that's all. Squash.

Match Rating: 1/4*

In Your House is this Sunday.

Men On A Mission vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna

We get the rare heel vs. heel match here. Owen gets to be the lucky one here and has to bump around for Mabel. Some blessed fan also likely got a big wad of spit on them when Mabel hit the turnbuckle. This one just has a weird dynamic, with Owen and Yoko kind of playing the babyface role. We're getting lots of high voice Vince, which means the crowd is dead. When we come back from commercial, Mabel plays the babyface role, throwing Owen into Yoko. Owen goes up top, but Mo crotches him and hits a superplex. Yoko comes in and knocks Mabel out of the ring. Owen hits a drop toe hold on Mo and Yoko hits the leg drop. Yoko holds Mabel's ankle while Owen picks up the victory. The dynamic was weird, but the action was fine enough considering who was in there. 

Match Rating: *

Shawn Michaels and Diesel cut a promo saying that they will win the Tag Team Championships at In Your House. 

We go back to the ring with the champs. Jim Cornette hypes up that it will be the first time that all three titles will be on the line in the same match. I know I mentioned it before, but I thought this was legitimately one of the coolest ideas. It wasn't enough for me to convince my parents to order the show though. Cornette cuts his usual solid promo before another commercial break. 

Next week, the winner of the triple header match will be here on Raw. Lawler gives his royal prediction and that Yokozuna will be the new WWF Champion. Next week, British Bulldog takes on Undertaker. 

This was a pretty good episode overall. I didn't think they did a great job building to In Your House, but provided an easy to watch episode. 

Overall Rating: 56%

Monday Nitro 9-18-95 Review

Monday, September 18th, 1995 
Freedom Hall
Johnson City, Tennessee

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Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael are here to kick it off. Bischoff says that there is an emergency in the back and we go to Mean Gene with an ambulance pulling in. Out comes Kevin Sullivan and Giant. Gene says that if Giant's father was alive, he'd be ashamed. Giant is in Waterboy mode here. 

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
American Males vs. Blue Bloods Harlem Heat

Bobby Eaton was on the way out and Harlem Heat attacks him. Heenan assumes that they already knocked out Steven Regal. Heat are the new champions, winning the title just last night at Fall Brawl. They say they are going to give these two punks a title shot tonight. Sure. They tell us that Nick Bockwinkle is not here, so they're not sure how it will be handled. The Males play the plucky underdogs, as you would expect. Booker is able to hit a big scissor kick and the Heat are dominating. Booker hits a big kick and gets a 2 count on Riggs. We then see a big sign in the crowd that says "We want it Raw!". Bagwell makes a hot tag that isn't so hot. Out comes Colonel Parker and he starts making out with Sherri. He carries her away and Bagwell reverses a body slam into a pin on Booker and they pull of the upset to become new champions. The Heat were clearly the over team, but there is storyline going on and obviously they wanted something at least remotely shocking every week to begin with. I can live with that booking. 

Match Rating: *

Mean Gene is in the ring and brings out Ric Flair. He says that Arn Anderson broke the code by bringing an outsider into their match. He's going to chop Brian Pillman so hard that Boomer Esiason is going to feel it in Long Island. Flair also drops the first curse word. 

This week on Saturday Night it's going to be the rematch everyone wants to see when Sgt. Craig Pittman takes on Cobra. Sometimes I'm glad I can't watch that show. 

Paul Orndorff vs. Johnny B. Badd

Orndorff comes out to new annoying heel music that I had no idea existed. Orndorff looks pretty old at this point. He was just about to turn 46 here, but he looks older than that. Badd apparently had 9 stitches put in after his match with Pillman at Fall Brawl. We get a commercial break before anything exciting happens. Basically nothing happens here and we then get a crap finish that takes forever to get to, where Orndorff counters and grabs the legs for the pin. It didn't seem like anyone was really happy with that. This stunk.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We then go to Randy Savage doing bench presses on the beach until Kevin Sullivan attacks him by pushing the bar on his throat. Then a couple of lifeguards and Ric Flair gently lift him off and he just gladly goes away. That was awful. That brings Mean Gene out and he brings out Savage. Savage says "Thanks, but no thanks" to Flair helping him. He says that he'll take care of Taskmaster himself. He then says that Hulk Hogan is a terrible judge of character, which is obvious based on him being the mascot of the garbage man that just was voted President. He says that Lex Luger had a personal agenda and that he was hit with a cheap shot at Fall Brawl. Luger comes out and wonders if Savage is jealous of him. Luger says that the reason he's here is because he was sick of playing with kids, he wants the big boys. Out of context, that sounds pretty bad. Savage says right here, right now. That's code for we're going to commercial because it's not happening. This was the first positive of the episode so far. 

We go to a pre-tape interview with Mean Gene, Hulk Hogan and his motorcycle. This was from before Fall Brawl. We then get the absolute cheesiest video of the Giant smashing Hogans motorcycle. They then show Giant coming down to save Kevin Sullivan from Hogan. This was horrendous. 

Brian Pillman vs. Ric Flair

These two go right at it and Pillman misses with a dropkick. The announcers are shocked by Pillman's aggressive new attitude. I blame Flair's haircut. Pillman slams Flair off the top rope, but then misses with a splash. We get a collision spot and both men are down. Flair is able to hit a suplex and puts on the Figure Four and Pillman taps? Sure. He then says that he's waiting on Arn Anderson. This match was nothing. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The announcers wrap up the show and we'll have Randy Savage vs. Kevin Sullivan next week and Alex Wright vs. Disco Inferno. Bobby Heenan tells us that something's going on in the back, Eric Bischoff agrees and we never see anything. Sounds about right. 

This episode was nowhere near as good as the last two by a mile. Outside of the Savage/Luger spot, this was extremely dull and even had a bad Pillman/Flair match. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Fall Brawl 1995 Review

Sunday, September 17th, 1995
Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, Iowa

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Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are the hosts tonight and they tell us that the Giant ran over Hulk Hogan's motorcycle with a monster truck. Absolutely devastating. 

United States Championship #1 Contender Match
Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd

Two of my favorites from this era, despite the Badd gimmick being so lame. It's about time that I get to defend Marc Mero the wrestler. I don't care what people say, he was good in the ring. This is also the beginning of the Pillman loose cannon era or at least it should be shortly. It will be interesting to watch the pay per views after this, since I just jumped into this timeline and none of the stories really make sense out of the couple they have promoted on the first two Nitro episodes. We get mostly 50/50 wrestling here, with both being faces and they are obviously going to be getting some time here. Badd hits a nice slingshot leg drop and gets a 2 count out of it. Badd hits a suplex off the apron and sends to the floor. Badd then follows that up with a dive over the top. They go back in the ring and Badd goes up top. Pillman nails him with a dropkick in midair for a 2 count. We get an announcement that there are 3 minutes remaining in the time limit. Pillman goes for a tornado DDT, but Badd throws him away. Things kind of slow down again, which is a little surprising. Badd gets out of a submission around the 30 second mark and then hits him with the Tutti Frutti. He covers him and thinks he won, but Pillman's leg is under the ropes. Pillman gets a pin attempt, but the bell rings that the match is over. The referee tells Michael Buffer that they will go into overtime. They say that since this is to determine the #1 contender for the United States Championship, we have to have a winner. Pillman goes up top and both men throw dropkicks at the same time. Pillman locks in the sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. Badd gets out of it and hits a top rope sunset flip for another 2 count. Badd goes for a powerbomb, but Pillman counters it for a hurricanrana. After that's not enough, Badd hits a top rope hurricanrana and Pillman still gets his shoulder up. Pillman hits the tornado DDT and this time Badd gets his shoulder up. Badd sends Pillman into the guardrail and then goes for the Bad Mood, but Pillman gets his knees up. This is where WCW just wasn't as good as WWF during this era. There are just so many spots where the guys feet are under the ropes and just awkward pauses like that. They hit a double crossbody and even though it looks like Pillman got the better of it, Badd gets the pinfall and the victory here. The guys fought hard, but it's hard to ignore the little things that made it a little clunky at times. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Ric Flair is with Mean Gene and he's talking about everything that he and Arn Anderson have gone through together. A pretty restrained interview and appropriately so. 

Cobra vs. Sgt. Craig Pittman

Some guy comes out instead of Pittman to distract Cobra. Pittman then comes down from the ceiling and then slithers in the ring. Pittman then chokes him out until the bell rings and then tosses the foreign object out of the ring. Cobra goes off the top rope, but Pittman counters it. He puts the Code Red on and that's all. This was terrible and had no reason to be on this show. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Paul Orndorff snapping in his locker room because he's questioning if he's Mr. Wonderful anymore. Gary Spivey, who is apparently a psychic, comes in and talks to him. He tells him that he's Mr. Wonderful. This goes on forever and is as pointless as it sounds. 

WCW World Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Renegade

Page attacks Renegade as he's still showing off his title belt. It doesn't last long until we are forced to watch Renegade's offense. Page is able to sidestep a crossbody and then chokes him on the top rope. Page hits a swinging neckbreaker and the announcers are hyping this being Renegade's longest match to date. I can't imagine why. DDP goes for a Diamond Cutter, but Renegade pushes his way out of it. He rolls him up and gets a 2. Max Muscle gets on the apron and Renegade throws DDP into him. He hits a powerslam and then dives off the top rope onto Muscle. DDP hits a Diamond Cutter back in the ring and wins the title belt. I mean, Renegade sucked so bad that they had no choice here. DDP tried his best, but you can only do so much.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Heenan and Schiavone talk about how Col. Parker and Sister Sheri have gotten together finally. 

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Harlem Heat vs. Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater

I like both teams, but this pairing feels odd to me. My instincts are right and this one is putting both myself and the crowd asleep. It's just a couple of moves, rest hold, repeat. Stevie Ray finally gets a tag in and hits a few power moves. Then in the second ring, we have Sheri and Parker making out. Out come the Nasty Boys and they interfere and it allows Harlem Heat to pick up the win and become new champions. This match felt like 100 minutes long and I don't think I even wrote 100 words on it. It stunk.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene interviews the losing team and Bunkhouse Buck is confronting Col. Parker about what happened. Parker tells him that he'll get another match, so go away. When Parker goes on his monologue, for some reason Gene can't hide his smile. 

Halloween Havoc is coming back to Detroit. 

We go back to Gene and he's with Arn Anderson, but first we get a video package. WWF was a lot better at those during this era than WCW. Anderson gives a solid promo, but the feud still seems a little off. 

Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair

Was this a match that fans wanted to see? I don't mean that sarcastically, just genuinely curious. They show a bunch of WCW wrestlers at ringside watching the match. We get the slow, important match beginning. Flair gets the first big break of the match, dumping Arn to the floor and then hitting a double ax handle off the top rope. They continue to go pretty standard here, mostly being 50/50. Arn gets Flair into the tree of woe and after goes for a DDT. Flair is able to hold onto the rope to counter and then goes up top. Naturally, Arn throws him off the top and drops a knee for a 2. Flair comes back and puts on the Figure Four in the center of the ring. Arn is able to eventually reverse it and Flair gets out of the hold. Flair goes for it again, but Arn counters into a small package and gets a 2 count. Now Pillman comes up on the apron while the referee is checking on Flair. He hits him with a right hand and a kick to the head. Arn hits a DDT and picks up the victory. The match was solid, but because of the finish they went with, it never got to that final act. 

Match Rating: ***

It's time for the hype video for WarGames and it's as horrible as you would expect. There is no way that anyone could have possibly thought this was good in 1995. 

Gene is with Hogan and team and they are all dressed in camo gear and face paint. If you thought Hogan couldn't look any dumber, you obviously didn't see him at Trump's rally. 

WarGames Match
Zodiac, Shark, Kamala & Meng vs. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sting & Lex Luger

If Hogan's team wins, Kevin Sullivan must face Hogan in the cage. Shark and Sting start things off. You would have thought Meng would have made more sense, but this is likely to stink no matter what. Not much happens outside of Sting failing at hitting a body slam. This will shock you, but the heel team gets the advantage with Zodiac. Even less happens here until Savage comes in as the fourth entrant. I take that back, nothing happens again. Let's see if Kamala can do anything. Yeah, I can't believe I typed that either. Luger comes in next for Hogan's team and he hits a double clothesline on Kamala and Shark. We get some infighting with Luger and Savage after a mistake is made and Sting has to break them up. Meng is in now and the Dungeon of Doom is in clear control. It's Hogan time and we naturally get a cheesy spot where Hogan hits Zodiac with right hands and he bounces off the ropes back and forth. All I know is that there are less than 10 minutes left in this show. Hogan puts on a pathetic camel clutch on Zodiac and that's enough for the win. This was a terrible WarGames, as you would expect. After the match, Kevin Sullivan tries to leave and allows for one person to hold him back with little to no attempt. Sting comes out and throws him back into the ring. Even more comically is that Meng and Zodiac walk right by them as it's happening. Hogan just throws Sullivan into the cage multiple times. They go out of the cage and he throws him into it a few more times. Hogan hits the big boot and then out comes the Giant. Giant "chokes" Hogan and of course Hogan gets out. Giant does get back and then does the fake breaking of the neck. Hogan's squad comes back out and check on him while Giant heads to the back. This was all just so bad. The crowd was semi into it, I guess. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

After some good episodes of Nitro, this was an absolutely terrible show. Yes, Pillman/Badd was good and Arn/Flair was solid, but the rest was pure trash. It felt like 6 hours instead of 3. No thank you.

Overall Rating: 34%

Superstars 9-16-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, September 16th, 1995
Erie Civic Center
Erie, Pennsylvania

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Hakushi vs. Skip Rad Radford

Sunny lets us know that Skip is hurt and he's out sporting a sling on his arm. So Rad Radford is their replacement. Radford gets in a little offense until he's back body dropped over the top and then Hakushi hits him with a dive. We get lots of high voice yelling Vince, which is usually him overcompensating for a match that the live crowd doesn't care about. Hakushi hits a splash off the top rope while Sunny is distracting the referee. Skip then starts unloading on Hakushi with his "injured" arm. The referee ends up seeing it, but we don't get a DQ. The ref wants him Skip in the ring, but Skip doesn't oblige. Barry Horowitz comes out and throws Skip into the ring. Hakushi pins Skip and the referee counts it and lets him pick up the victory. Vince loves it, which means it probably sucks. The match was pretty good, though. 

Match Rating: **

We go to Todd for the In Your House report. We hear from Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna and Owen Hart and then Diesel and Shawn. They say nothing of importance. Don't forget about Henry Godwinn vs. Sid. It's only $14.95!

We get a lot of highlights from the disappointing Sid vs. Shawn Michaels match on Raw. 

Now it's time for a video package on the Ted DiBiase/Henry Godwinn feud. 

Now it's time for an In Your House commercial. Did they forget to tape wrestling this week? 

King Kong Bundy vs. Henry Godwinn

Godwinn teases slopping DiBiase early on and after getting away from it, DiBiase looks like an idiot and gets slopped. Bundy is being forced to work a match longer than 30 seconds, so I'm sure he's not happy about that. Godwinn is able to hit a big clothesline, but misses the follow up elbow drop. This one is at a crawl now. Bundy hits a back elbow. Bundy misses an avalanche in the corner and Godwinn kind of hits a body slam for the weird victory. Now Tatanka and Kama are out to attack Godwinn. Bam Bam Bigelow comes out to make the save. This was not very good.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week we get Sid vs. Savio Vega and Isaac Yankem vs. Bob Holly. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Scott Taylor

Helmsley is disgusted that they are still cleaning up the slow at ringside, so he refuses to wrestle. 

We then get a replay of Razor Ramon vs. British Bulldog from Raw, which was also disappointing. They show the drama between Razor and 1-2-3 Kid as well.

Savio Vega vs. Rick Stockhauser

We get an interview from Waylon Mercy while Savio is in control. They announce that Gorilla Monsoon just made Henry Godwinn and Bam Bam Bigelow will take on Tatanka and Kama. No one cares about the match, which is now over with an easy Savio victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're back to Todd, who is making Back To The Future jokes. We hear from Bret Hart and Jean Pierre Lafitte. Bret doesn't call it "the" In Your House, which is disappointing. 

Now Vince and Lawler hype up next week before we go to a video package of when people were when Barry Horowitz won his first match. Shawn Michaels, being the big babyface, acts like a jerk. 

This was a real disappointment of a show, with most of it being a recap of Raw and In Your House preview. I mean, I get it, but they were doing a nice job making this show a fun watch lately. 

Overall Rating: 32%

SmackDown 5-25-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, May 25th, 2007
Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, Iowa

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We get an Edge hype video talking about his greatest week ever. Obviously he didn't watch back his match with Batista at Judgment Day. He then talks about how everyone applauded Batista and Undertaker for their great matches and where did it get them? Now he is standing before us as the World Heavyweight Champion. He says the Rated R era is not just a catchphrase, it's a fact. Out comes Teddy Long to remind him that he has to defend his title in 9 days against the winner of the fatal 4-way match tonight. Kane, Finlay, Mark Henry and Batista will square off tonight. I still can't believe they were trying to get people to buy shows 2 weeks apart from one another. Oh wait, I totally can. The match at One Night Stand will also be in a steel cage. 

London & Kendrick vs. Dave Taylor & William Regal

Deuce 'n Domino are out to watch. London and Kendrick use their quickness early on, but of course it backfires and Taylor tosses Kendrick over the top to the floor. Taylor is only 3 years older than AJ Styles is in 2024, but looks and works like he is 20 years older. Kendrick is able to come back and hit Sliced Bread #2 and makes a tag to London. London runs into a boot, but hits Regal with a spin kick. London goes up top, but Domino shoves him off for the DQ finish. Taylor then shoves Domino off the apron and that leads to a brawl outside the ring. This was fine.

Match Rating: *1/2

We get a recap of the Shawn Michaels situation.

Hornswoggle has stolen Edge's World Heavyweight Championship belt and Finlay intervenes. Finlay gives Edge his belt and says that he can have it back...for now. 

Jillian Hall is singing in the ring and the Boogeyman's music hits. He and Little Boogey torture her. Has anything happened on this show? 

Teddy Long offers Vickie Guerrero the position of his assistant. Kristal is very happy about it. 

Matt Hardy vs. Miz

Miz is quickly on offense to allow Michael Cole and JBL to tell us how improved he is. Hardy eventually comes back after hitting a big clothesline. Hardy hits a bulldog and gets a 2 count. Miz is able to avoid a Twist Of Fate but gets hit with a Side Effect instead. Miz tries some more counters, but Hardy is able to hit the Twist Of Fate this time and picks up the victory. This served the purpose of them telling us Hardy has been better than ever and that Miz isn't just a goofball anymore.

Match Rating: **

We get a pre-taped vignette of Mark Henry. 

MVP is here for his United States Championship celebration. MVP says that it isn't his style to say "I told you so", but he's going to say it. He says that this celebration is missing someone and asks where Chris Benoit is? Out comes Benoit and MVP tells him that we are all so happy he could join us to celebrate. Benoit accepts MVP's handshake, but that's not enough for MVP. MVP says that he beat Benoit in two straight falls and tells Benoit that he needs to raise his hand. Benoit hits a trio of German suplexes instead. 

We get a Great Khali/John Cena recap. Are they even trying tonight? There has been so much dead air on this episode. 

Kane says that tonight will be fatal for Batista, Mark Henry and Finlay. Only because we have to watch this moron wrestle. 

Chavo Guerrero vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Both of these guys are fine in the ring, but there is just no reason to care about this. We get lots of mat wrestling from Chavo. It's one submission after another here, just in case there were a few people out there that still wanted to care about this. Yang starts doing the quick pinfall attempts to get the match going. Yang goes for a moonsault, but Chavo moves and Yang lands on his injured knee. Chavo hits the Three Amigos and goes up top. Yang greets him with a right hand and goes for a superplex. Chavo counters that to a sunset flip, which Yang counters to hurricanrana and a victory. This was just too slow for what they were trying to accomplish. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Batista tells Kristal that tonight is going to be fatal, just not for him. 

Edge is on his way out to the ring to watch the main event. 

Fatal 4-Way World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Match
Batista vs. Kane vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry

We split off into Kane/Finlay and Batista/Henry as expected. Henry gets a powerslam on Batista, but Finlay breaks up the pin attempt. Batsista starts being the star of the show, hitting a superplex on Finlay, but then gets squashed by Henry. Oh, now we get Henry and Kane squaring off. Henry runs into one of the laziest boots you'll ever see since Kane is gassed from trying to work hard for 30 seconds. Batista hits him with a spinebuster thankfully. Henry hits the World's Strongest Slam, but Batista kicks out. Finlay hits Henry with the shillelagh and they act as if he has to be distracted, but there are no DQs. He then hits Batista in the leg with it. Finlay and Kane then start brawling outside and out comes Hornswoggle. Batista hits a spear on Finlay, then Kane and lastly Henry. Batista hits the Batista Bomb on Finlay and that's all. I'm not really sure what the point of Hornswoggle was there. They kept this short, which was wise. As a result, we got a nicely paced TV main event. 

Match Rating: ***

Typically a good main event is enough to give a decent review to, but there was just so much wasted time on this show. Did we really need another Lashley recap? The company just has so little going for it right now that it's become more of a chore to watch than I thought it would be. This was much better than ECW and Raw, but that's not saying a whole lot. 

Overall Rating: 44%

ECW 5-22-07 Review

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, Iowa

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Snitsky vs. Tommy Dreamer

Me: "Let's see if ECW can at least be better than Raw."
Also me: "Nope."

Why did we think we needed this Snitsky run? He can't even get a reaction in Iowa. Dreamer hits a few moves on the big man and his DDT even gets about 20 fans to cheer. Snitsky catches Dreamer with a clothesline when he goes off the top rope. He hits a big boot and that's all. That was terrible. Snitsky grabs a chair and then drives Dreamer into the corner. Out comes Rob Van Dam and he hits a top rope kick into the chair on Snitsky. We get lots of angry head nodding from Snitsky as he heads to the back. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Kevin Thorn vs. Wyatt Lara

The hits just keep on coming. At least they got the memo on this one. Thorn hits his big moves and wins. No one wants to see anything more than that. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Elijah Burke is talking strategy with Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker tries to talk to them. Burke blames Striker for his loss at Judgment Day. He tells him he has to face one of the Major Brothers and if he doesn't win, they're going to have a problem. Striker says he will get it done. 

Matt Striker vs. Brett Major

We get Zack Ryder here tonight. Tazz is impressed with Striker's back suplex. Majors gets a sunset flip for a 2 count. Striker just hits a bunch of moves and wins. I mean, I guess he looked fine. But again, no one cared, even in Iowa.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Oh good, a recap of the 2 hours of Lashley and Vince. 

Rob Van Dam & CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von

We get the pretty standard pre-commercial break stuff with CM Punk getting a hot tag and cleaning house. When we come back, we get the pretty standard heels are working over the babyface. RVD is finally able to find a way to tag Punk and he goes right after Burke. RVD tries to hit a dive, but he misses and hits the floor. Punk goes for the Go To Sleep, but Cor Von breaks it up and then hits him with the Pounce. That's a DQ? People do that in every tag match. After the bell rings, he hits the Pounce on RVD to some boos. It's about time they gave some shine to Cor Von. This was a very vanilla match unfortunately. 

Match Rating: **

2007 just continues to be a disappointment for me. This show was full of stuff no one cared about and even the main event that was interesting on paper, disappointed. Maybe next week, but probably not.

Overall Rating: 38%

Off The Grid, Volume 51: Saturday Night's Main Event XXIII Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, October 14th, 1989
Riverfront Coliseum
Cincinnati, Ohio

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Off The Grid, Volume 51:

Obviously, we start off with the quick-paced interviews that we have come to know and love from Saturday Night's Main Event. This time we get Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Bushwhackers, Ted DiBiase and Zeus and Hulk Hogan. We then go to Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon. 

We get a clip of Randy Savage being crowned King. Jesse is now with Savage and Sherri. It almost gets lost in the shuffle of how great Savage was with the King gimmick. Mean Gene is with the likely murderer and as usual, he cuts a garbage promo. 

Randy Savage vs. Jimmy Snuka

Savage attacks Snuka as he leaps into the ring, but as you would expect, Snuka gets the hot start. A Sherri distraction allows Savage to regain control. Savage hits the top rope double ax handle to the floor and Sherri gets in a few cheap shots. Sherri and Savage is the all time unhinged duo in wrestling history. Snuka puts his hands on the ref and doesn't get disqualified. Sherri hands her purse to Savage and then distracts Snuka and he hits him with it. He rolls him up and gets the victory. In true Snuka fashion, he kicks out just after 3. After the match, Savage misses with a top rope elbow drop. Snuka hits a body slam and goes up top. Sherri gets in the way of him. He leaps over her and hits a headbutt on Savage. Yeah, you definitely need to protect this jobber who will go on to do absolutely nothing the rest of his career. The match was fine because of the chaos that Savage brings to every match.

Match Rating: *3/4

We get the quick backstory of Zeus and then go to he and DiBiase. DiBiase cuts the same promo he cut for like 8 years and then Jesse makes some comment about Donald Trump whipping Merv Griffin. It looks like it was another case of Trump being an absolute sleaze, as usual. 

Speaking of sleaze, here's Hulk Hogan. He talks in terms of money and refers to God as the "big bank teller in the sky" because why not? 

WWF Championship Match
Ted DiBiase vs. Hulk Hogan

I wasn't watching at this point, but I know that there is no chance that I would have thought DiBiase had any chance here. Not that anyone reads this, but did anyone out there at this time consider him a threat to Hogan's title? I'm genuinely curious. Zeus gets involved right away by grabbing Hogan's leg. Just as DiBiase finally gets Hogan down, Jake Roberts is out to watch Hogan's back. That distracts DiBiase and Hogan rolls him up for 2. We come back from commercial and we are back to DiBiase slowing down the pace. He hits an elbow off the second rope and that's not enough. We get a double clothesline spot and both men are down. Hogan is up first, but he runs the ropes and gets hit by Zeus in the back. Hogan makes his comeback, so Zeus just comes in the ring and grabs Hogan. Hogan ducks and rolls up DiBiase for the victory. He and Zeus are about to go at it in the ring, but then DiBiase attacks from behind. He tells Zeus to break his neck and Zeus and he wrenches it. DiBiase then puts on the Million Dollar Dream. Hogan is out, but then Jake comes back out to have them scurry off. This was everything you have seen a million times and I just couldn't find a way to care about it. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show Rick Rude attacking Roddy Piper and then we go to Bobby Heenan and Haku. Showing that video is code for Haku is about to get squashed.

Piper is with Mean Gene and he welcomes back to Saturday Night's Main Event. Piper says he makes Hurricane Hugo look like a summer breeze. 

Haku vs. Roddy Piper

They start brawling right off the bat and Piper clotheslines Haku over the top. He then hits a Thesz press off the apron. Piper then goes after Heenan and he leaps like I don't think I've ever seen Heenan leap. This is Haku's opening and he hits a reverse elbow to Piper's jaw. Haku hits a shoulder breaker and gets a 2 count. Haku misses the top rope headbutt and Piper slams Haku's head into the mat. Piper hits a belly to belly suplex and that's the finish? That was lame. I'll never understand why Haku was the easy opponent all the time during this era. Piper was very over here though. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

DiBiase is sick and tired of Jake Roberts. He's not the WWF Champion because of him and he'll pay the price. Zeus then yells and no one cares.

Mean Gene is with Rick Martel and Slick. Any time I can hear a Slick promo, I am here for it. 

Tito Santana says he is never surprised by Martel, arriba!

Rick Martel vs. Tito Santana

Hearing Martel come out to Slick's music is bizarre. Akeem, Big Boss Man, Jimmy Hart and Honky Tonk Man are out with Martel. Tito then brings out his amazing team of Red Rooster, Brutus Beefcake and Dusty Rhodes. This is the reason I wanted to see this show so bad. I love both of these guys and I don't believe I ever have seen any of their post breakup matches. We get a quickly paced beginning, as you would expect from these two. Dusty wearing the Boss Man hat is great. After a crossbody for 2, Martel is able to bait Tito and throw him into the turnbuckle. Tito comes back and hits a back body drop. He hits the forearm, but Slick distracts him by jumping up on the apron. The partners get up on the apron and out comes another referee as we go to commercial break. When we come back, things have settled down and Martel is working on Tito. Tito falls to the outside and Martel is flexing in the ring. Martel goes for the Boston crab, but Tito is able to grab the ropes. Martel climbs up top, but Tito shakes the ropes and crotches Martel. Tito goes for the Figure Four and again Slick is on the apron. Tito knocks him off and then Boss Man levels Tito. It turns into a brawl with all eight men as the bell rings. They call it a double disqualification, but honestly Tito should have been the winner. The action was good and the crowd was into it, so naturally we never got a pay per view match between these two. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

We get more Piper making fun of the Heenan family. 

The Rougeau Brothers don't get an interview, but the Bushwhackers do. Naturally, they lick Mean Gene.

Rougeau Brothers vs. Bushwackers

Jimmy Hart was always so good in these comedy matches. The Bushwhackers pull off the pants of Hart and he clearly is wearing something under his Rougeau themed boxer shorts. He runs to the back and the Rougeaus attack. Jacques hits a leaping elbow on Butch, but then accidentally hits a knee on Raymond. In comes Luke and he hits a clothesline on Jacques. Double noggin knocker and then they hit the Battering Ram. They hit the double gut buster and that's all. What a travesty. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Just in case you weren't sick enough of Hogan, here he is again. He hypes up Survivor Series and Gene promises more to come. Which by that is just Jesse and Vince recapping things. Vince then hypes up more to come, which again is now them just saying bye. 

I still do really enjoy these SNME recaps, but I was more annoyed by Hogan than usual. Savage, Tito and Martel all did a great job in their roles though and the pace is always good for these shows. It just wasn't as good as some of the other ones I have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 70%