Off The Grid, Volume 46: Saturday Night's Main Event XI Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, May 2nd, 1987
Edmund P. Joyce Center
Notre Dame, Indiana

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Off The Grid, Volume 46:

Randy Savage is talking about George Steele walking off with Miss Elizabeth at WrestleMania III and his big lumberjack match tonight. Ricky Steamboat is ready for Hercules tonight. The Hart Foundation say that the British Bulldogs are getting a nightmare tonight. Jim Duggan is American. Bobby Heenan in a neckbrace says he'll show us how Andre The Giant won at WrestleMania III. Hulk Hogan talks about the exclusive footage tonight. 

We go to Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon to talk about tonight's card. They then show footage of why Bobby Heenan had a neckbrace when he got attacked by Ken Patera on Superstars earlier "today". 

We go to Mean Gene, who is with Kamala, Kimchee and Mr. Fuji. Kamala is of course afraid of snakes. 

They show Jake Roberts being attacked by Honky Tonk Man and then Jake says he signed this match because Damien wants it. 

Kamala vs. Jake Roberts

Jake dumps Damien out as soon as he gets to the ring and Kamala dives out of the ring. The referee makes him put it away and that allows Kamala to attack him from behind. Kamala controls the match for awhile, which means it's pretty slow. Jake hits a knee lift and the crowd is absolutely losing it. The crowd wants the DDT so bad. Has there ever been a more over move in WWE history? Kim Chee is able to attack Jake from behind with the help of distraction from Mr. Fuji. Kamala hits a splash and that's all? Interesting. After the match, Kim Chee takes off his mask and outfit to reveal it was Honky Tonk Man. This match was pretty bad, but man did the crowd come alive for that split second they thought Jake might hit the DDT. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Hart Foundation, Danny Davis and British Bulldogs around the ring talking trash before the Lumberjack match. 

We go to George Steele with Mean Gene. He doesn't understand how brutal a Lumberjack match can be. 

They then show Honky Tonk Man walking out with Kim Chee. 

Ricky Steamboat now walks in with Mean Gene. He says he'll be there with George since he helped him win his Intercontinental Championship. 

They show Jim Duggan make his way and then Steamboat with Steele. 

Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth are with Mean Gene now. Savage wants Steele because he cost him the Intercontinental title. 

Lumberjack Match
George Steele vs. Randy Savage

I can't believe this feud seriously went on for like 2 years. We get a pretty standard Steele match here until things start to break down with the lumberjacks. Duggan tries to chase after Iron Shiek and then is ejected when he swings the 2x4 at him. We get a commercial and when we come back Steele slams Savage and rips open the turnbuckle to throw the foam at Savage. We then get chaos again, with brawling on the outside. That allows Danny Davis to come in and hit Steele from behind with the ring bell. Savage hits the top rope elbow drop and that's all. Back to back matches with the same exact finish. Steamboat goes after Savage and then Hercules attacks him. All of the lumberjacks are in to brawl now. Jake Roberts is now out with Damien and clears the ring except for Kim Chee, who gets the snake treatment. This wasn't really any better than the last match, but it was more fun. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is here for a sit down interview with Bobby Heenan and Andre The Giant. Andre says that he was cheated. Heenan claims that the referees are biased in Hogan matches and Jack Tunney is as well. They show a spot in the WrestleMania match where they think the referee counted to 3. 

Mean Gene is with the Harts and Davis. Davis goes after Gene and Gene is flustered. 

Two Out Of Three Falls Match For The WWF Tag Team Championship
British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation

Matilda goes after Jimmy Hart and bites and rips his pants. I'm sure PETA loves that. I guess we had to have at least one match with good action. This one quickly breaks down and it leads to Tito Santana chasing Danny Davis around the ring and somehow leads to the first fall being a DQ in the favor of the Bulldogs. When we come back from commercial, the Harts in control again. They were much better heels than I ever really realized. Dynamite Kid gets a hot tag to Davey Boy and he hits an awesome looking dropkick. Davey Boy knocks Bret off the apron and then Tito comes in behind the referee's back to attack Neidhart. The Bulldogs are able to make the pin and the crowd erupts. The Hart Foundation then run away with the belt and Jesse explains to us that they can't win the title because the first fall was a disqualification. This was a really fun match until the stupid finish. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Hulk Hogan is now with Mean Gene looking at the footage we saw earlier. I don't know, he just yells a lot. 

Mean Gene is busy tonight. Now he's with Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat is breathing fire and he's ready to burn. 

Mean Gene is now with Savage and Elizabeth, who are watching the match backstage. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Ricky Steamboat vs. Hercules

Steamboat was just so smooth and was able to just work well with just about anyone he wrestled. They keep showing the picture in picture of Randy Savage rooting for Steamboat. I love Macho, but this idea is pretty annoying. After a true back and forth battle, Hercules slaps on the Full Nelson. Out comes Savage and he grabs the ankle of Hercules. He lets go of the hold and he, Heenan and the referee go out to confront Savage. When we come back from commercial, Herc goes for a splash, but Steamboat gets the knees up. Herc comes back with a body slam, but then misses with the elbow drop. We then get Herc's chain thrown in the ring and he starts choking Steamboat with it and that's enough for the disqualification. Herc continues to attack him with it and gets a chorus of boos. Savage comes into the ring after the attack and then hits him with the top rope elbow drop. The match was pretty good for the little bit of time they got. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Mean Gene interviews Jim Duggan from his ringside seat. He loves America and doesn't like anyone who doesn't. 

We get a pre-taped interview with Slick, Nikolai Volkov and Iron Sheik. Slick says he's down with the communist party. 

Can-Am Connection vs. Nikolai Volkoff & Iron Sheik 

Nikolai starts to sing the Russian national anthem and Duggan runs in and attacks him. Martel has an energetic start to the match, looking good as usual. Sheik also looks to have his working boots on here tonight as well. The action spills outside, which naturally leads to Duggan getting involved again . It distracts the Sheik and that allows Zenk to hit a sunset flip for the victory. This was energetic, but short and predictable. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We go back to Jesse and Vince for the recap of the night. 

We come back from another commercial just for Vince to say so long. 

This was an entertaining episode, but not nearly as good as a lot of the Saturday Night's Main Events I have reviewed so far. This was good, but not one to go out of your way for. 

Overall Rating: 70%

Off The Grid, Volume 45: Saturday Night's Main Event XXVI Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, April 28th, 1990
Frank Erwin Center
Austin, Texas

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Off The Grid, Volume 45:

Ultimate Warrior says that Haku and Bobby Heenan won't prevent him from walking the outer limits. Heenan says Haku will become the WWF Champion. Mr. Perfect said that we all learned that Hulk Hogan wasn't perfect at WrestleMania VI, but he is. Which is ironic since he also lost. Hulk Hogan is going to do a lot of teaching, dude. 

We see Vince and Jesse riding horses. Yes, really. They do their intro on horses in the aisle. 

Mr. Perfect and Genius are with Sean Mooney. Perfect runs down all the sports he plays and calls Hogan a perfect loser. 

Hulk Hogan is with Mean Gene and he calls Mr. Perfect and Genius perfect fools. If you took a shot every time the word "perfect" has been said during the first 7 minutes, you'd be dead. 

Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan tosses Perfect around the ring and Perfect rolls out to re-group. It works momentarily, but Perfect is able to move out of the way of a boot to the face. Hogan follows him outside and tosses him into the ring post. Hogan dominates some more until Genius distracts the referee and Perfect hits him with the scroll. Perfect tries to jump off the top rope, but the referee pulls him off and we go to commercial break. Perfect now gets his moment, but we all know how this is going to end. Perfect hits the Perfect Plex, but HOgan kicks out at 2. Hogan makes his comeback and that's all. That was quick. Hogan beats up Genius after the match and throws him to the floor. This was pretty vanilla Hogan. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Rick Martel advertises Arrogance while sitting on a horse. 

Jesse Ventura and Jimmy Hart are with Earthquake. Hart says Earthquake will make Hillbilly Jim squeal like a pig. 

Hillbilly Jim is with Mean Gene. I honestly had no clue that Hillbilly was still working here in 1990. 

Earthquake vs. Hillbilly Jim

Quake tries to attack him, but Hillbilly avoids it and takes it to the big man. I definitely prefer the custom gear Earthquake would later wear over the single color gear he is wearing here. Jimmy Hart goes after the lucky horseshoe and that distracts Jim. Quake then attacks him and hits the splash for the finish. He hits a second one for good measure. Earthquake then decides that the third time is a charm and hits another one. This was also what you would expect here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Hillbilly Jim does a stretcher job. 

We get more Rick Martel promoting Arrogance with two ladies in his locker room. 

Jesse Ventura is with the Hart Foundation. Jesse is pretty cheesy here. He calls the Rockers "somersault sissies" and then Bret refers to them as teeny boppers. 

The Rockers are with Mean Gene and they tell the Hart Foundation to be ready for a broken heart. 

Hart Foundation vs. Rockers

We get a great opening sequence between Marty Jannetty and Bret Hart. The Rockers hit some double teaming, so Jim Neidhart comes in and hits a double clothesline on them. Shawn Michaels is able to hit a dropkick on Neidhart, but he gets caught after for a body slam. Bret then catches Shawn for an inverted atomic drop. Demolition make their way down the aisle to get a closer look. Bret has now turned his attention to them and this allows Michaels to dropkick him to the floor. Shawn is able to finally hit a hot tag to Marty and the crowd is loving it. Marty hits a superkick and gets a 2 count. Bret is able to hit a neckbreaker to slow down Marty's momentum and tags in Neidhart. He launches Neidhart in, but he misses. Shawn is tagged in, but he gets leveled by a shoulder tackle for a 2 count. Michaels comes back with a reverse elbow. Neidhart catches Michaels off the second rope, but Michaels is able to force him down for a 2 count. Neidhart throws him through the ropes and to the floor in front of Demolition. Demolition looks to be throwing him back in the ring to keep the match going, but Marty takes it as them attacking him. They start brawling and that turns into a 6 man brawl and a double disqualification. That's too bad because these two teams were just tearing it up. Non-stop action from bell to bell. 

Match Rating: ****

We go immediately to Earthquake and Jimmy Hart. He talks about destroying Hulk Hogan. 

Hulk is with Mean Gene and he says that he is like a Texas tornado and that he's a survivor. I still remain baffled as to how people loved Hogan as much as they did. 

They show the post-match of the Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan match at WrestleMania VI. They play the amazing WrestleMania music. Inject that into my veins. That leads us to Jesse Ventura who is with Bobby Heenan and Haku. Heenan rips on Texas and says that it will now be known as where Haku won the WWF Championship. 

Mean Gene has the honor of being with Ultimate Warrior. He gives his usual insane promo. 

WWF Championship Match
Haku vs. Ultimate Warrior

Did Haku ever win a singles match that wasn't against a jobber? Haku attacks Warrior as he gets in the ring and Warrior is able to hit a back body drop while wearing the WWF Championship. He hits a clothesline that is supposed to send him over, but they have a glitch. Warrior tosses the belt over the top and hits some chops on Haku. He works on the arm and spins him around by the arm. He then throws Haku over the top rope. Back in the ring, Warrior runs into a knee and then Haku hits a trio of clotheslines and a dropkick. Haku hits a backbreaker and gets a 2 count. Warrior make his comeback and we get more clotheslines. He hits a shoulder tackle and a splash for the finish. I don't think anyone thought for a second Haku was going to win, which is why it was buried on this card. However, they would have never done that with Hogan. 

Match Rating: *

Rick Martel is now at the tennis court and says that Arrogance will make you the #1 seed. 

They show highlights of Ted DiBiase attacking Big Boss Man before his WrestleMania match. It ended up not mattering for those who don't remember. We go to Akeem and Slick. I could listen to Slick all day. So good. 

Big Boss Man is with Mean Gene and says that justice is blind. He says that everything is bigger in Texas, including the beating he's going to give Akeem. 

Akeem vs. Big Boss Man

I'm not really sure that this rematch even makes sense since Boss Man was attacked prior to his match and still beat Akeem in a couple of minutes. They have a real quick match here with nothing really happening. Then out come Virgil and Ted DiBiase and attack Boss Man. It all leads to Boss Man chasing DiBiase away with his nightstick. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Rick Martel is getting into a convertible in front of the WWF production truck talking about Arrogance. 

Bobby Heenan tells us that Rick Rude is going through the most extensive training ever to get ready to win the WWF Championship from Ultimate Warrior.

Ultimate Warrior tells Rick Rude that the power of the Warrior is completely out of control. 

Jesse hypes up the fact that Rick Rude has beaten Warrior before and he will again. He then warns Hogan of a natural disaster. The ending of SNME's were always weak. 2 commercials in like 45 seconds. Vince and Jesse then ride off on their horses. We then get a wanted sign with their faces on it, which honestly isn't far from the truth. 

The tag team match was fantastic stuff and the rest was decent enough to make this a good show. However, you can already feel the Warrior era becoming a failure. I didn't quite understand that as a kid because I got into wrestling at SummerSlam, but it's pretty obvious when looking back on it. 

Overall Rating: 78%

ECW 4-24-07 Review

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Earl's Court
London, England

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Punk is shown getting ready and they reveal it's in the New Breed locker room. He apologizes for last week, but not for the advice that he was giving. He says that tonight is the night that everyone will remember them for if they stick together. Elijah Burke is skeptical. 

Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley

We are obviously getting some sort of DQ finish here, but it seems a little odd that they didn't hype this up at the beginning of the show. Armando Estrada gets involved quickly by grabbing the leg and that allows Umaga to knock Lashley out of the ring. He tosses Lashley into the steps and starts to clear the announce table. Lashley fights his way out of that, but gets hit with a Samoan drop in the ring. Umaga misses off the second rope and both men are down. They battle when they get up and Lashley clotheslines him over the top rope. In comes Estrada to attack Lashley from behind and we have our DQ ending. Lashley tosses him around the ring as Vince McMahon comes down. Lashley continues to destroy Estrada while Vince holds Umaga back to save him for Backlash. Lashley just throws Estrada from the ring to the floor in front of Vince and Umaga. This was just filler before the pay per view. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Elijah Burke is talking with the New Breed and thinks that they may have made a mistake by bringing Punk in. Marcus Cor Von says that he wanted to bring him in, not we. Burke thinks he threw that chair in a little too hard and they point out that he asked for the chair. Punk eventually finds himself back in the room for the awkward moment. 

Snitsky vs. Balls Mahoney

Why? He hits a big boot and a clothesline and I just bored myself writing that. Snitsky wins. Next. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

CM Punk is proud to be here and is happy he joined the New Breed. Burke walks in and asks what Punk is doing. He says he's getting them fired up. 

8 Man Elimination Match
ECW Originals vs. New Breed

Before the match, Burke tells Punk that he's going to wrestle this match and that Punk will be on the outside. We get an early elimination with a banana peel type finish when Burke rolls up Sandman and grabs the tights to send him back to the locker room. RVD battles out of a superplex attempt and hits a sunset flip, but Striker kicks out at 2. He hits a split legged moonsault and eliminates Striker. Cor Von and Sabu battle for awhile until Cor Von hits the Pounce to eliminate him. That was a good one. After a commercial break, Cor Von drops Dreamer crotch first on the barricade and the referee decides that today would be a good day for that to be a disqualification for the first time in history. I absolutely hate when they do stuff like that. Dreamer is able to hit a DDT on Thorn and that is enough to eliminate him. That leaves Burke against RVD and Dreamer, but not for long. Elijah hits the Elijah Express on Dreamer and he's gone. Elijah is able to throw RVD into the ring post twice and rolls him up for 2. Burke tries to launch himself back into the ring and RVD hits him with a spin kick. RVD tries to do a dive, but the referee again decides it's a good day to not allow that in ECW of all places. CM Punk kicks Burke to the back of the head behind the referee's back. RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash and that does it for the victory. This got a lot of time, but the finishes all kind of felt rushed. This was pretty basic stuff and the story was just way too obvious with Punk.

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match Punk hits the GTS on Burke and tells him that he's sorry. 

This kind of felt like an ECW for dummies. This could have been your first time watching wrestling and I'm pretty sure you could see what was coming with the New Breed storyline. Snitsky still stinks and the Lashley/Umaga stuff was just one last segment to get us to Backlash. There have been many worse episodes than this one, but this was just mediocre.

Overall Rating: 44%

Monday Night Raw 4-23-07 Review

Monday, April 23rd, 2007 
Earls Court
London, England

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Shane McMahon is out to kick off the show. They show the highlights of Santino Marella winning the Intercontinental Championship. That leads to Shane issuing a challenge to someone in the crowd for a no DQ match. He makes fun of the Chelsea coach and then says that he can't find anyone, but he found someone at a pub named Robbie Brookside. They bring him out and we have a match. 

No Disqualification Match
Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

They have a very regular wrestling match until Shane grabs a trash can and sets in front of a seated Brookside. He hits the coast to coast and then grabs a mic to announce that this is a 2 on 1 handicap match. He brings out Umaga as his partner. 

Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

Umaga comes in and hits the butt to the face. He hits a big splash and then Shane announces that it's actually a 3 on 1 handicap match. Their partner is obviously Vince McMahon.

Vince McMahon, Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

Vince comes out in a suit and a derby. He covers Brookside and that's all. This was terrible and the crowd was dead for almost all of it.  

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a WrestleMania 23 music video of highlights from the Shawn Michaels/John Cena match. The music is kind of weird here, but I'm not sure if it's the actual music used or not. 

Matt Hardy vs. Trevor Murdoch

Matt gets his solo music here. I'm already looking forward to not having to watch Cade and Murdoch, but that's a long ways away. Matt gets the majority of the offense early on. He hits a Side Effect for a 2 count and then hits a leg drop off the second rope. Cade provides a distraction and it allows Murdoch to throw Matt's shoulder into the ring post. Murdoch hits a Canadian Destroyer and that's all. He should probably not do that move. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Maria is on her way to the ring. 

Melina vs. Maria

Maria hits a couple of moves, but then Melina slams her face-first and that's all? That wasn't that impressive of a win for Melina. Why not just have her squash her here? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ric Flair tells Carlito to get going, but Carlito says he's doing it alone. 

Great Khali vs. Carlito

Carlito tries a missile dropkick and Khali kind of swats him away. Khali hits the double hand chokeslam and that's all. What a crappy first hour despite it being all in ring action outside of a few minutes of Shane on the mic. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Flair comes out to check on Carlito and he gets an earful from Carlito. 

Mick Foley is here and talks about the main event at Backlash. Edge walks in and says he's going to be watching. 

On a side note here, Todd Grisham is the ring announcer tonight and he is absolutely terrible at it. 

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena

I haven't watched this one since it aired and have been looking forward to re-visiting it. I watched this in a hotel room during a work trip where I worked a long day, so I didn't have my full attention on the match. We get a slow build, as one would expect in a lengthy match. The little bursts of energy are picking up as the match continues and the they have the crowd for it. Michaels hits a top rope elbow drop for his biggest move up to the moment. He goes for a dive over the top rope, but Cena catches him for a slam. Back in the ring, Michaels throws Cena's shoulder into the ring post. Cena makes his comeback and hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. He hits a FU, but Michaels kicks out of the pin attempt to a big pop from the crowd. Cena sends Michaels into the corner with the Irish whip and it sends him up and over the top. Cena hits the top rope leg drop and that's another 2 count. Michaels is able to hit a powerbomb on Cena and both men are down. Michaels then knocks Cena from the apron and he flies into the announcer table. Cena starts to brawl with Michaels on the table. He gets him back into the ring and slaps on the STFU. After a lengthy battle, Michaels gets to the bottom rope. This leads to a brief segment with counters and Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music to a big pop.Michaels counters out of a second FU and hits a second Sweet Chin Music and that's all. The crowd loves it and both guys are selling their injuries. I know a lot of people like this one better than WrestleMania 23, but I just can't agree with that. This was very good, but not quite to the level they got at Mania. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

The first hour of this show was absolutely horrible, but then they got wise and just dedicated an entire hour to a great match. I would have to believe that most people probably have that match in their top 5-10 Raw matches of all time. In that case, the show is good because of one match, but nothing else is even worth your time. 

Overall Rating: 58%

NXT 7-22-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Finn Balor is here to kick off the show. This promo is about as straight forward as it gets. He's the champion, the fans chant his name and he's going to walk out of TakeOver the champ. They'll have the contract signing later tonight. 

Eva Marie thanks William Regal for the opportunity and she is taking it, like, so seriously. If this was the best take they got, then yeesh. 

Eva Marie vs. Cassie

I once saw Eva Marie at the airport. That's about all I can say about her. Cassie hits her with a couple of kicks, but Eva hits a snap suplex. Eva is a perfect example of someone can execute moves, but has no reason why she is doing them or how to make them make an impact. Her submission hold that she puts on here, looks anything but painful. Cassie comes back with some more kicks and gets a nearfall. She hits a variation Sliced Bread #2 and gets the win. This was horrible. I'm truly surprised they let her get on the air. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

William Regal is on the phone and walks into his office, where Tyler Breeze is hanging out there. He wants to know what Regal has in mind for him at TakeOver. Regal says that he is working on it. 

Baron Corbin vs. Jesus de Leon

Corbin hits End Of Days in like 5 seconds and it's over. Yep.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Samoa Joe vs. Mike Rallis

I think we know where this one is headed. They let us know that Samoa Joe will face Rhyno in two weeks. They're planning that far ahead for us, huh? Joe hits the Muscle Buster for the easy win. Next. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're with Emma and Dana Brooke, with Emma saying that she's going to break Bayley's childish spirit. They hug and this was lame. 

Emma vs. Bayley 

Surprisingly, there are some "Let's go Emma" chants. The match has some spunk to start, but slows down when Emma starts working on Bayley's injured hand. Bayley makes her comeback and hits a flying elbow drop for 2. They hit a double clothesline and both ladies are down. Dana grabs Bayley by the hands and the referee sends her packing for the back. Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly and picks up the victory. The crowd was very much into this and it definitely helped. This was one of the better wins Bayley has been given on NXT TV and it was mostly pretty good.

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match, Bayley grabs the mic and says that it felt amazing. She wants the title and in order to do that, she has to be the best. So she says that she wants a match with Charlotte. 

They interview Charlotte and she talks about the women's revolution. She wants to bring the NXT Women's Championship to Raw. Dana Brooke interferes and is sick of the chances that Charlotte always gets. She wants to prove to the world who she is and wants to beat Charlotte. Charlotte says Bayley can wait another week and she'll make a statement she'll never forget. 

Vaudevillains vs. Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton

Vaudevillains will get their title shot next week. Dawkins and Fulton get a decent amount of offense to start. Englsih gets a hot tag and takes out both opponents. They hit the Whirling Dervish and that's all. These squash episodes of NXT are just usually a drag. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Blake, Murphy and Alexa Bliss are mockingly clapping backstage. Bliss says she'll make sure that her boys will still be the champs. 

Regal is in the ring and he's here to bring out Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for the contract signing. Owens brags about his accomplishments in his first 6 months and he's going to show all of us idiots that Japan was a fluke. Finn says he's going to take KO's words and shove them down his throat. They both sign the contract and Regal announces that it's official. Owens throws it at him and tips over the table into Finn. Regal tries to stop him, so Owens takes him out. Balor battles back and knocks Owens out of the ring. 

Well, this show was a stinker. The Bayley match was pretty good and that was all. It was all filler and when that filler is Baron Corbin and Eva Marie, that's not great. 

Overall Rating: 34%

Monday Night Raw 7-31-95 Review

Monday, July 31st, 1995
Louisville Gardens
Louisville, Kentucky

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We get a quick hype video for the Owen Hart and Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon and Savio Vega match tonight. 

King Mabel vs. Nick Barberry

Mabel tosses poor Barberry around the ring and hits him in the back of the head with his kick. He tosses him out of the ring and then into the steps. He squashes him in the corner and hits the belly to belly suplex for the easy win. After the match, he grabs a mic and tells everyone to respect him. He says at SummerSlam he will not only be our king, but also the champion. Yeah, you said that last time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get another Fatu vignette even though he has already debuted. He'll be in action on Raw next week. 

They show Shawn Michael's cheesy interview from last week on Raw. We then go to tonight and Shawn teases fighting Lawler between now and SummerSlam. Lawler keeps going back and forth on it and Michaels keeps pushing him into it. Lawler blames it on the oath he took to be a journalist when he's on Raw. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bob Cook

Cook rakes the eyes and gets in a few kicks and punches. Bam Bam tosses him around the ring a couple of times. WWF is going to be on America Online soon and you can get 10 free hours. Call now! Bam Bam hits the body slam and hits the top rope headbutt for the victory. The fans don't really seem to be connecting with the face turn. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for another Report Card. He talks about Bam Bam Bigelow and the word "beast". He gives him a F based on his looks alone. 

Vince and Lawler interview the tag champs, so naturally Jim Cornette does all the talking. 

Skip vs. Major Yates

More Major Yates, huh? He gets a roll up to tease another Skip upset. Yates hits a monkey flip, but Skip is back with a semi-dangerous looking German suplex. Skip hits a superplex and picks up the victory. On the way back to the locker room, Skip says that Horowitz made the biggest mistake of his life. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Todd Pettengill for the SummerSlam Insider. Diesel says a crown doesn't mean much compared to his WWF Championship. We then get a new video of Isaac Yankem and Jerry Lawler. They talk about the Shawn Michaels/Sid match that will 100% definitely happen. 

Next week, Mabel will face Sir Mo on Raw next week. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega

This one should get a good amount of time. Razor hits Owen with a right hand and knocks him silly. Owen rolls out of the ring into the commercial break. When we come back, Razor catches Owen and hits him with a fall away slam. Owen rolls over and tags in Yoko. Savio actually gets the better of him and Owen tags back in after some stalling. I love the way that Owen runs the ropes. Owen hits a drop toe hold and Yoko hits the leg drop. Yoko is at the point where he is just too big and can't even stay in the ring for too long, which is sad. Razor sets up Owen and hits the Razor's Edge and they pick up the victory. This of course is the old switcheroo because the referee realizes that Owen wasn't the legal man. Jim Cornette is in and is livid. The referee goes and talks to the ring announcer to make the announcement. They announce the match must continue and that Cornette has to go backstage. Razor throws Owen into Yoko and double team him. Cornette is trying to fight the decision, but eventually gets backstage. We have had like 25 commercial breaks in this match. Things start to get chaotic and then we are out of time? I know this is an old territory bit, but I like a conclusion of some sort. The match was pretty good, but Yoko is so limited. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This was a decent show, with the feature match taking up a lot of the episode. There was nothing super important, but it was entertaining enough overall. 

Overall Rating: 49%

Superstars 7-29-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, July 29th, 1995
Roberts Stadium
Evansville, Indiana

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We get a recap of the Savio Vega/1-2-3 Kid vs. Jacob and Eli Blu match from last week, leading us to our feature match today.

Fatu vs. Rad Radford

It's time for Fatu to make a difference. Fatu quickly clotheslines Radford over the top rope and actually gets a pretty good reaction from the crowd. On the outside, he throws Radford into the post and back into the ring. Fatu misses in the corner and Radford hits a neckbreaker. He then turns him inside out with a clothesline. Credit to Fatu for selling for Radford, who basically just exists on the roster. Radford slaps on a sleeper hold, which I didn't expect in this match. Fatu gets out and hits a big powerslam. Radford comes back with a DDT, but you can't do that to Fatu. Radford ducks a superkick, but Fatu is able to use a small package to pick up the victory. I was expecting this to be a squash and instead we got a pretty decent match here. After the match, Radford attacks Fatu. He hits a clothesline, but Fatu no sells it this time. Radford retreats and Fatu goes after him. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We go to the SummerSlam Insider with Todd Pettengill and over 12,000 tickets have been sold. He then breaks that Diesel will face King Mabel in the main event. We get a Diesel promo where he just keeps calling Mabel fat.

King Mabel vs. Gary Scott

Mabel is quickly on the offensive and Mabel hits a big clothesline. He hits his spin kick and then tosses him over the top rope. Mabel throws him into the steps and then hits a belly to belly suplex for the victory. Mabel did show off a little bit of edge here, but it also was short and sweet. Mabel cuts a promo saying at SummerSlam that he'll be both our king and our champion.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Goldust vignette again. 

Bob Backlund is shown in the crowd. We then see clips of Jeff Jarrett singing and then his match with Shawn Michaels. 

Uncle Zebekiah, Jacob & Eli Blu vs. Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid & Savio Vega

I guess this is a very early preview of the DOA vs. Los Boricuas feud that won over millions. We get some good action into the commercial break, which comes pretty abruptly for a taped show. Razor comes in and cleans house, but then runs into a knee when running the ropes. They are once again hyping up this supposed feud between the Blus and Smoking Gunns. Naturally, we get some shenanigans from the heels to keep the momentum in their favor. Razor makes the tag to Kid and he hits a spin kick for a 2 count. He leaps over a charging Zebekiah and hits a kick to pick up the victory. This was a fun enough match with some good energy. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a Dean Douglas vignette talking about knowledge. This one feels like it goes on forever. 

Waylon Mercy vs. Major Yates

We join the match in progress and Yates is hesitant to be wrestling this guy. Mercy hits him with a clothesline and dumps him out of the ring. He lifts up the bottom rope to let him in and then kicks him as he is climbing in. He slaps on the sleeper hold and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to the Toddster for the SummerSlam Insider. They show highlights of Bret Hart taking out Shinja on Raw. Todd then announces that Bret Hart will take Isaac Yankem at SummerSlam. Bret calls Yankem a demented tooth fairy. We then go back to Yankem's office with Lawler. 

Dok Hendrix is in the ring with Skip and Sunny. They don't want to talk about Barry Horowitz, but rather Skip's match with Shawn Michaels next week. That's probably the first Superstars match that I've watched so far that I remember watching. 

I know I am in such a minority, but Superstars has been entertaining lately. Obviously, it's not like life changing or anything, but it's a lot better than it has any right to be given the era. 

Overall Rating: 56%