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

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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%

Monday Night Raw 5-21-07 Review

Monday, May 21st, 2007 
Mark Of The Quad
Moline, Illinois

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Bobby Lashley is here to kick off the show. He says that since he has to beat Vince McMahon in order to win the ECW Championship, he proposes the match tonight. Out comes Vince, Shane and Umaga. Vince declines and says that he is on to One Night Stand, where every match will be Extreme Rules. He will defend his match in a Street Fight with the #1 contender, the Blue Meanie. Lashley doesn't understand why it's not him. Shane interrupts Vince and says that Vince will take him on because he is invincible in Street Fights. Vince then says that Lashley has to run the gauntlet. I don't think I could possibly care any less than I do about any of this. 

Ric Flair vs. Carlito

Was the match at Judgment Day so good that they had to do the rematch the very next night? Carlito is aggressive to start and works on the arm of Flair that he worked on in the aforementioned match. Flair comes back with some chops and goes to work on the leg. Carlito hits a thumb to the eye and clotheslines both Flair and himself over the top. They brawl outside and we get a double countout. Before the announcement can be made, Carlito attacks Flair some more. He then spits his apple in Flair's face and walks to the back. This was just storyline for an angle that just needs to be put to rest. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Melina vs. Candice Michelle

Usually when someone has to keep telling you they're improving at something, it means they aren't. In this case, it's Jim Ross continuing to tell us how much better Candice Michelle is at wrestling. She does 3 moves and they act like she is capable of main eventing WrestleMania. She hits a surprise pinfall and gets the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Great Khali is backstage and looks to be upset. 

Bobby Lashley vs. Chris Masters

There aren't many lower honors that you can have than being the first mystery opponent in a gauntlet match. Masters actually dominates early on and gets the Master Lock put on. They remind us that Lashley is the only one to break the hold. Lashley is able to break it by grabbing the rope this time. We all know it's not going to last and of course Lashley hits a Spear and wins. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The Hardys vs. Johnny Nitro & Kenny Dykstra

This is the Raw debut of Dykstra teaming with Nitro. I actually did think they had potential as a team, but of course WWE lost interest in tag teams again. I think the most underrated aspect of Nitro's career is that he always went all in when he tagged with someone. He is truly one of the best tag team wrestlers of the last 20 years in WWE. The Hardys pick up the quick win and then The World's Greatest Tag Team run into attack the Hardys. They were watching at ringside and then Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch come in and make the save. They celebrate together and no attack. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The Great Khali is out and Ranjin Singh is along with him. They talk about being cheated last night and that he knew his foot was under the rope. They show the footage and it is in fact correct. He says that Cena can't beat him and wouldn't you know it, out comes Cena. Cena says that two things are true. One is that Khali's foot was under the rope and the other is that he made Khali tap out. Cena says he isn't scared of Khali anymore and can beat him anywhere in the arena. He wants a rematch and they go at it. Khali destroys him and stands over him. 

Bobby Lashley vs. Viscera

Just a reminder that Lashley is supposed to be on ECW. Speaking of which, how was Viscera not on ECW? Lashley hits a body slam and gets a 2 count. Viscera hits a sidewalk slam and does his signature rolling kick. Lashley battles back and hits the Spear for the victory. Vince is upset backstage. He truly thought that people that never win on TV would beat Lashley. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler talk about Shawn Michaels concussion from last night and pretend like WWE cares about concussions. Out comes Randy Orton and we get a video package. He says that all he did was take advantage of a weakness like any professional would have done. He beat Shawn Michaels not because of a concussion, but because he is the Legend Killer. How is there still 20 minutes left in this show? 

Vince is talking to Umaga, getting him ready for Lashley. 

Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga

This is just too much Lashley for this variation of him. This is his third match of the night, so naturally Umaga is taking advantage of that. He hits a Samoan drop. Lashley makes a comeback while JR insists that Umaga weighs more than 350. Lashley gets hit with a kick when he leaps off the apron and then Umaga hits Lashley in the head with a chair. Like I said, WWE cared a lot about concussions. Lawler for some reason is shocked that Lashley won the match by disqualification. At this point, I don't think anyone cares about anything. They are completely on autopilot here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show that Umaga hit a Samoan Spike during the commercial break.

Bobby Lashley vs. Shane McMahon

Lashley is having a hard time getting to his feet to start the match, but he does and the bell rings. Shane takes advantage and the action goes outside. Umaga wants to hit him with a chair again, but the McMahons talk him out of it. They send Umaga to the back and Lashley comes back with a spinebuster. Shane comes back with a DDT and gets a 2 count. Shane puts on the Boston Crab, but Lashley powers out of it. Shane is back on the attack and then hits a second rope elbow drop. He now goes to a Camel Clutch. Lashley gets out and goes for a powerslam, but Shane gets out of it. He goes up top, but Lashley hits him with the Spear in midair and wins. That means he will face Vince at One Night Stand. Good riddance to this Raw. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

This was an atrocious episode of Raw after a boring pay per view. That's not how it's supposed to work. This was way too much Lashley and absolutely no drama whatsoever. The roster feels so thin at this point and there are very few interesting things going on for Raw. 

Overall Rating: 19%

Monday Nitro 9-11-95 Review

Monday, September 4th, 1995 
Knight Center
Miami, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

So apparently because NXT moved to CW Network, NXT episodes are no longer available on Peacock. So I guess that timeline is on hold until further notice. At least I ended on a high note at TakeOver. 

Here at Nitro, Eric Bischoff hypes up the match of the century with Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger and we get Steve McMichael in the booth for the first time. They show Luger's shocking return last week. They announce that Vader is no longer available to be on Hogan's team this weekend. 

Sabu vs. Alex Wright

Even though I have seen this before, it still feels so bizarre that Sabu is in 1995 WCW. They stick him in with 20 year old Wright and pray that he can survive. Sabu hits a dive over the top early on and surprisingly doesn't get a better reaction with it. He sets up Wright on the barricade and does the leap from a chair, but Wright is able to move. Wright hits a dropkick and throws him back in the ring to hit a missile dropkick. Sabu tries to go up top, but Wright meets him there and hits a superplex. Wright hits a German suplex into a bridge and gets a 2 count. Sabu's lack of psychology is on display here and he just gets up from it and hits a victory roll type move from the top rope for the victory. Sabu attacks Wright after the match and drops him face-first on the apron. Sabu then grabs a table and sits Wright on it. He hits a reckless dive that looks good for no one and then they reverse the decision, disqualifying Sabu. This was something. 

Match Rating: *1/2

The crowd is pretty hyped up with Mean Gene in the ring and he brings out Ric Flair. He talks about how Arn Anderson was with his family instead of running around with Flair. Probably a good choice. He tries to hype up his match with him Sunday, but out comes Lex Luger. I'm not really sure what the point of this was because nothing happens. 

They hype up Fall Brawl, but no match rundown like we get with the Toddster. 

VK Wallstreet vs. Sting

Bischoff asks Heenan about the "VK". Gee, I wonder. Bischoff then spoils the Raw matches for the first time. McMichael then says that he and his football buddies don't watch football, they watch wrestling. Sting hits a quick hip toss and some dropkicks to start the match. Sting mostly dominates the match here and hits a top rope crossbody for the victory. What was the point of even bothering with Wallstreet? The match was just an extended squash. 

Match Rating: *

Scott Norton vs. Randy Savage

McMichael says that Norton would have been a guard if he was a football player and I have to agree there. Norton attacks Savage as soon as he walks in the ring and still has his jacket on. Norton catches Savage off the top rope and squeezes for a second before throwing him to the ground. Norton hits a powerbomb and gets a 2 count. Norton hits a power slam and gets another 2 count. Bischoff tries to do the serious voice telling us that Savage is hurt. Norton hits a draping DDT from the top rope and climbs to the top rope. Savage catches him and slams him face-first to the mat. Savage makes the comeback and then out comes the Dungeon of Doom. Avalanche falls on top of Norton's legs. Savage hits the top rope elbow and pins him with Avalanche still on top of him. Norton isn't happy about it after. Bischoff called him Avalanche despite him wearing the Shark gear. I'm not sure a single person cares. The match was fun, as is usually the case with Savage matches. 

Match Rating: **

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Lex Luger vs. Hulk Hogan

I'm trying to remember what the buzz was for this match. They are obviously trying to hype this up as a dream match. I was always such a Hogan hater, that nothing with Hogan was a dream match. We get mostly standard muscle man stuff here. Hogan gives us an early Hulk up and he hits a big boot and a leg drop. In comes the Dungeon of Doom and we have a DQ finish. Macho Man and Sting are out to help try and make a save. I'm surprised they let Hogan hit his finisher so early if this was the way they were going to go. There are still a few minutes left in the show. After the match, Hogan shoves Luger and we go to commercial. This wasn't much of a match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is in the ring to interview Hogan. He's all fired up about Vader not being in their corner this Sunday. Hogan wants to know why the Dungeon of Doom didn't jump him when they attacked? Savage agrees, but Sting of course sticks up for his buddy. Sting thinks that Luger should be the fourth man, but Savage says he'd rather be down a man. Savage then throws Jimmy Hart under the bus too. Savage sticks with no, but Hogan uses his deciding vote to have Luger on the team. Luger says he'll be their partner, but he wants that title shot down the line. Next week on Nitro, it will be Johnny B. Badd vs. Paul Orndorff and watch Fall Brawl. 

This was the first head to head Raw vs. Nitro and Nitro wins it easily. There was nothing super memorable, but the pacing was good and the storyline progression was better than Raw. 

Overall Rating: 64%

Monday Night Raw 9-11-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, September 11th, 1995
Canton Civic Center
Canton, Ohio

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a pretty good hype video for the double main event. We then get a new Raw intro that features the Superstars on top of Titan Towers. They show the clip of Razor Ramon hitting Dean Douglas with a right hand backstage at SummerSlam. 

Razor Ramon vs. British Bulldog

With the roster they have right now, this is a pretty big time match for Raw. Razor gets off to the quick start and hits Bulldog with a clothesline to the outside. Bulldog eventually gets to show off his strength by hitting a press slam as we go to commercial break. When we come back, Bulldog hits a body slam for a 2 count. He goes for the powerslam, but Razor grabs the ropes and falls on him for a 2 count of his own. Bulldog quickly hits a body slam and then climbs to the top. Razor meets him there and throws him off. We get some shenanigans where Razor accidentally throws Bulldog into the referee, knocking him out. He gets him up for the Razor's Edge and hits it. Out comes Dean Douglas and he takes forever to eventually hit Razor off the top rope, making Razor look like a dope for sitting there forever just kind of waiting for it. 1-2-3 Kid comes out to try and make the save, but Douglas takes care of him too. Bulldog hits the running powerslam and goes for the pin. 1-2-3 Kid goes off the top rope, but Bulldog moves and hits Razor instead. The referee sees it and calls for the bell. Bulldog then drops Kid on the top rope. Cornette gets in a few cheap shots on Kid while Bulldog attacks Razor. They are calling this a victory for Bulldog since Kid hit Razor. This was pretty much slams and punches, but the multiple stories being told was a nice touch.

Match Rating: **

When we come back from commercial, Vince is in the ring with Razor and Kid. Kid claims he didn't cost Razor the match, but Razor cost him his match on Superstars. He says Razor always treats him like a Kid and wants to take him on next week. Razor goes on for a little bit about the bookworm and then eventually accepts his challenge.

We get a quick video with a fake Van Halen "Right Now" rip off song telling us that our fan friendly WWF President, Gorilla Monsoon, decided it would be fun to have Owen Hart and Yokozuna take on Men On A Mission. 

Rad Radford & Brooklyn Brawler vs. Smoking Gunns

Who missed the trip that made this team tonight? The Gunns come in smoking and hit some fun offense. Bart runs into the knee of Radford behind the back of the referee and in comes Radford. The Gunns get back on track and hit the Sidewinder for the victory. The Gunns usually are a nice spark when they get their chance on TV, so this was fine.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get a Goldust promo talking about Undertaker. I do not remember that and they didn't end up feuding for long after his debut.

Isaac Yankem vs. Scott Taylor

Leave it to Glenn Jacobs to ruin the show. This gimmick is so dead in the water after 1 match. He hits the DDS and puts us all out of our misery. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Todd Pettengill time and he's here to make fun of NBC moving to Mad About You. Just as you all were expecting. He talks about the Triple Header match, assuming all of the participants retain their titles until then. Even as a kid, I knew that wasn't happening. Todd talks about rumors of Yokozuna and Owen Hart causing a disqualification, but Gorilla says "Not so fast". If anyone is disqualified, they lose their title. Jim Cornette's photo in the match graphic is something special. They show Sid walking to the ring, but we go back to Todd so that he can talk about Waylon Mercy vs. Savio Vega. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Sid vs. Shawn Michaels

Only $25 for Shawn Michaels' hat and they even throw in the dorky glasses with it! Shawn Michaels gets a dorky entrance where he talks to us before heading out and we get a commercial break first. Michaels uses his quickness and wits to outmaneuver the big man. Michaels skins the cat and then hits Sid with a dropkick to the back. Sid knocks Michaels out of the ring and Vince tries to sell that he hasn't healed from his ladder match yet. When we come back from commercial, Michaels is able to counter out of a powerbomb attempt. Michaels hits a top rope crossbody and gets a 2 count. Michaels hits a kick to the gut and then 2 superkicks for the victory. That was a pretty big letdown given the buildup and who was involved. It very much felt like "just a match". Michaels then teases stripping and Vince is loving it. Bret wasn't wrong, it was a stupid babyface gimmick. Vince is still gutter trash. 

Match Rating: **

Shawn Michaels and Diesel are celebrating backstage and Dok Hendrix is there to interview them. Mostly nonsense. 

After another commercial break, we get a preview for next week's episode. Like at this point, wasn't anyone halfway interested in seeing what Nitro was switching the channel? 

This was a halfway decent show, but one that felt like it could have been something special and they seemed to have no interest in that. They have been talking about the Sid/Michaels match for weeks and we just got basically a Shawn squash. Sid was just in main events for months and they could have told a good story. 

Overall Rating: 48%

Superstars 9-9-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, September 9th, 1995
Canton Civic Center
Canton, Ohio

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

This is maybe the debut of the new WWF logo in the rock intro? Vince talks about the definition of "debut" with Dean Douglas taking on 1-2-3 Kid today. We then get our Monday Night Football ripoff Superstars theme song, "Are You Ready?". Jerry Lawler is with Vince McMahon this time.

Man Mountain Rock vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte

They're pulling off all the stops here today. MMR hits an elbow to the head and then clotheslines him over the top rope. Rock suplexes him back into the ring, but Lafitte is then able to slam him face-first into the mat. He ties up him up in the ropes and hits a series of splashes before the referee can assist Rock. Rock goes for a sunset flip, but can't get him over and again Lafitte slams him to the mat. Rock hits an overhead belly to belly suplex, which actually was pretty nice. Rock misses off the second rope and Lafitte hits the Cannonball for the victory. Lafitte continues to look good no matter who he is in there with. 

Match Rating: *1/4

It's time for Todd Pettengill to talk about the third In Your House. He alludes to the triple header main event, but goes onto Bret Hart taking on Jean Pierre Lafitte. Bret says that Lafitte will be coming into his house and calls Lafitte a slimeball. Razor Ramon will be taking on Dean Douglas in a new match. Another new match is Savio Vega taking on Waylon Mercy. 

We get a hype video for the Shawn Michaels/Sid match on Monday. This was a well done video package for a feud that actually has a pretty lengthy story. It's kind of crazy they did it on Raw during this era. Sid then makes a lot of loud noises and Shawn says he's going to close the final chapter. 

1-2-3 Kid vs. Dean Douglas

Hopefully this means that we don't have to watch any more of his backstage skits. Douglas gets an early body slam in before running into a few kicks from the Kid. Kid then hits a somersault dive that kind of connects. Douglas tries to suplex him to the floor, but Kid blocks it and suplexes Douglas back into the ring. He goes for a somersault dive off the top rope, but Douglas moves out of the way and hits a back suplex into the commercial break. Douglas and his wedgie are dominating the match until Razor Ramon comes down to ringside. Kid pushes Douglas into him and he rolls him up, but Douglas kicks out at 2. Razor comes in and attacks Douglas and we have a disqualification. Kid isn't happy about it and gives Razor a shove. Kid tries to calm him down and we leave in the middle of it. The match was fine, but never got into the final act. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We go right to Goldust in front of a 100% real backdrop. The character wasn't quite as weird as what it would become. 

Coming September 30th, WrestleMania XI: The Special. That was the first time I saw those matches, as I started watching again after it aired. 

Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. AC Conner & Tony Williams

Poor D"Lo gets to feel the wrath of the champions here, but is able to get out without getting squashed. They leave that Williams, who gets hit with a Yoko belly to belly suplex. Owen takes the glory by picking up the pinfall. This was nothing.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, we get the dream match of Henry Godwinn vs. King Kong Bundy.

Tatanka says the pain Shawn Michaels felt at SummerSlam is nothing compared to what he will feel next. 

Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka

Tatanka finally gets his rematch from WrestleMania IX. Tatanka comes out like a guy who has a really bright future (and he certainly does), but then Michaels comes back and hits a top rope double ax handle. Tatanka is able to toss Michaels over the top rope and slow things down in his favor. Out comes Sid to take a closer look before his match in two days. When we come back from commercial, Tatanka goes off the top rope and lands into Michaels' boot. The pace quickens and it ends with Michaels hitting Sweet Chin Music and picking up the victory. The final segment was solid stuff an the rest was good enough. 

Match Rating: **

We go back to Todd and we get the In Your House commercial that they have used before. He talks about the triple header main event. We hear from Shawn Michaels and then Sid. The whole triple header kind of spoils the outcome of the Sid match, no? 

We get a Raw preview that hypes up Shawn/Sid and Razor Ramon/British Bulldog. Someone saw Nitro. Hakushi faces Skip next week here on Superstars. We get more of the new theme song and see highlights of the show. 

I thought this was a pretty good episode. They are trying to make the new season feel important before they go back to their usual ways. You rarely get 3 feature matches on a Superstars, so I'll take it. 

Overall Rating: 58%

Judgment Day 2007 Review

Sunday, May 20th, 2007
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Missouri

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Ric Flair vs. Carlito

This is Carlito's first chance to be the angry heel since being poked by Flair. It just is getting harder and harder for Flair to keep up at this point. Triple H and Orton were able to get good matches out of him a few years earlier, but they are very good at working his style. Carlito works the arm of Flair and then puts it up against the ring post and hits him with dropkick. Jerry Lawler starts to wonder what winning this match means to both guys and JR just ignores him. This match slows down to a crawl and I'm not really sure why this match is getting double digits. Flair makes his comeback and hits a chop block. Flair works the leg and slaps on the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. Carlito taps and that is all. I'm not really sure what that did for either guy, but I guess I'll see how it plays out again. I have no recollection, so it must not have been anything great. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Shawn Michaels is backstage and they show what Orton did to him on Raw. Michaels then says that it was rumored that he wouldn't be here tonight. Orton then runs in and attacks him. 

Handicap Match For The ECW Championship
Shane McMahon, Umaga & Vince McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley starts out hot, taking out most of his aggression on the McMahons. Umaga accidentally splashes Shane in the corner. Lashley hits him with a Spear and then hits a Dominator on Shane. That's enough to pin him and regain the ECW Championship in about 75 seconds. After the match, Umaga attacks Lashley and Vince says that in order to be the ECW Champion, he has to beat the champ. He takes his belt and heads to the back. That's Attitude Era booking 101. This was a squash, but they did make Lashley look good.

Match Rating: 1/2*

The doctor is checking on Michaels and tells him that he's not allowing him to go out there tonight. 

CM Punk vs. Elijah Burke

It's a pretty good sign that they're chanting Punk's name despite him being on the show that no one cares about. Punk's ribs are taped up here for the record. Punk does a delayed vertical suplex. Is this the only time he ever did that? For some reason I do remember him doing that in this match, but never thought about if he ever did it again. It really is a good sign that these guys are getting a good reaction here in a good wrestling town. Punk hits a springboard dropkick to Burke on the apron, sending him to the floor. Punk then hits the rare suicide dive that looks like it hurt his opponent. Back in the ring, Burke is able to pull Punk off the second rope and hurt those ribs. Burke works on the ribs for a bit until Punk comes back and hits a superplex. We get some back and forth until Punk hits some clotheslines. Punk hits the knee in the corner, but Burke counters the bulldog and shoves Punk in the corner. Burke misses the Elijah Express. Punk goes for the Go To Sleep, but Burke hits the Elijah Experience for a 2 count. Burke props Punk up on the top rope and Burke hits the Elijah Express. He goes for the pin, but Punk is able to grab the bottom rope. Burke goes for another Elijah Experience, but Punk lifts him on his shoulders, hits the Go To Sleep and picks up the win. That was a solid match that I am shocked got as much time as it did. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Edge is interviewed backstage and tells us that the Rated R era has begun.

Randy Orton makes his entrance and tells the ring announcer to announce him as the winner. Just as he's about to, Michaels' music hits and he walks out in pain. What a rebel.  

Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels

Orton runs and hits Michaels with a fist to the head as the bell rings. Orton then hits him with a DDT and Michaels kicks out. Orton has him up and is considering a RKO, but just lets him collapse to the floor. He then lifts Michaels up and props him on the top rope for a super RKO. Michaels is able to fight out of it and then shoves him off. Michaels then tunes up the band, but then collapses again. The referee checks on him and Michaels pulls himself up by the ropes. The referee looks at him in the eyes and calls the match. Michaels still is having balance issues, so Orton grabs him and hits the RKO. Michaels' wife then runs in the ring checks on him and is in tears. He is then stretchered to the back. This wasn't really a match, so it's hard to rank. This also feels like it was better suited for Raw rather than a pay per view. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Great Khali starts yelling things while holding John Cena's WWE Championship. He does lots of yelling and then Ranjin Singh translates it to if Cena wants some, he can come get some. 

World Tag Team Championship Match
The Hardys vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

JBL and Michael Cole get to announce this one since 1 of the 4 are on SmackDown. Makes sense. The big storyline here is that Cade and Murdoch are being good sports about their loss to the Hardys. They actually have done a nice job getting you interested on what will happen. Jeff eventually gets a hot tag, but Murdoch rolls out of the ring and takes a breather. Jeff takes out Murdoch's legs with a dropkick on the apron, but then misses with a somersault over the top. The challengers are now able to corner Jeff and still maintain their good sportsmanship. He's able to fight his way over to Matt and we get a nice hot tag from Matt. He hits his signature bulldog/clothesline combo and gets a 2 count. He hits a Side Effect, but Murdoch is able to break up the pin. That distraction allows Cade to his a spinebuster for a nearfall. Matt comes back with a Twist Of Fate, tags in Jeff and he hits the Swanton for the victory. They got a lot of time and the Hardys were very over with the crowd. The match was good enough, but never got to the next level. They shake hands after the match.

Match Rating: ***

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge vs. Batista

Batista is fueled by anger and goes after Edge early on. He misses in the corner, hitting his shoulder on the ring post and gives Edge his opening. After slowing it down a little too much, Batista catches Edge with a clothesline when he comes off the second turnbuckle. I'd like to think the person with the "Vince Is My Idol" sign would like to reconsider their stance. Edge goes for a Spear, but Batista catches him with one instead. Edge gets his shoulder up at 2. Batista starts shaking the ropes and goes for the Batista Bomb. Edge gets out of it and is able out of it. Batista hits a spinebuster, but Batista's knee buckles and Edge rolls him up for the victory. That was a disappointing match in many ways. It mostly felt like a filler main event on SmackDown.

Match Rating: **

Two Out Of Three Falls Match For The United States Championship
MVP vs. Chris Benoit

I always have had a soft spot for this type of match, mostly because at the time WWE hardly ever had them. Then came that era where every match on Raw was like that and probably ruined it for me. 2007 me was very excited for this, 2024 me is ready to move on for obvious reasons. The crowd is not into this at all, so that's not a good sign. I'm a little surprised with the placement on the card, this feels like it should have been earlier on. MVP works on the knee, but Benoit comes back with the German suplexes. He puts on the Crossface, but MVP is able to get his foot on the bottom rope. Benoit gets on the Sharpshooter, but again MVP gets to the ropes. Benoit has MVP up for an electric chair, but MVP gets down and hits the Playmaker to win the first fall. That move is still so awkward. They tried to come with a clever way to hit that move and it still just takes forever to do it. This match just seems to crawl along until MVP rolls up Benoit and wins the match (and the title) 2-0. The crowd did not care either. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Happy with forking over $40 for this show? Well, you're in luck. You can spend another $40 in 2 weeks and see most of the same matches!

WWE Championship Match
Great Khali vs. John Cena

Khali walks out with the title belt that he stole from Cena. Khali levels Cena with a clothesline right off the bat and then a right hand that knocks Cena out of the ring. Khali throws Cena into the steps and tosses him around the ring a few times. Cena is able to avoid a leg drop and then hits a blockbuster for a 2 count. Cena tries to capitalize, but then runs into a spin kick. Khali puts on the dreaded nerve hold until Cena fights out of it and gets him tied up in the ropes. He takes advantage as long as he can until he runs into a chop. Khali knocks Cena out of the ring again, but this time Cena dropkicks the steps into Khali's legs. Cena hits the top rope leg drop and puts him the STFU. Khali's legs are clearly under the ropes here, but he taps and Cena retains his title. I remember at the time just assuming that there would be a DQ finish here and couldn't believe they ended his streak with so little hype. I mean, the guy can't wrestle, but this was about the best case scenario. They followed the old school formula and it worked as well as it could.

Match Rating: **

This wasn't quite as bad as I was thinking it would be, but that doesn't mean it was good. There were no memorable moments or matches and a lot of the storylines are mediocre at best. Cena gave a great performance and it was good to see Punk over with the live crowd in a non-ECW environment again. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Off The Grid, Volume 50: Clash Of The Champions VIII: Fall Brawl '89 Review

Tuesday, September 12th, 1989
Carolina Coliseum
Columbia, South Carolina

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 50:

I didn't realize I was "already" up to 50 of these. We get a highlight of Sting coming to save Ric Flair from Great Muta and Dick Slater before going live to the arena. Jim Ross and Jim Cornette are the announcers tonight. They go to Gordon Solie, who is with Gary Hart. He dismisses any issues in his camp. 

Samoan Swat Team vs. Road Warriors

These teams get right to business, with the Road Warriors dominating early. These two teams actually seem like a good fit in the ring. The crowd is very into it, which is par for the course for this era of the Road Warriors. I just realized that this just about a month and a half after probably the peak of this promotion, which is Great American Bash 1989. We get the old Road Warriors make a tag, but the referee didn't see it. The match breaks down, Dangerously's phone gets involved and the Warriors hit the Doomday Device for the win. After the match, Paul E. Dangerously smashes his phone in anger. This was fun for a short match.

Match Rating: **1/4

Halloween Havoc is coming. 

Cuban Assassin vs. Z-Man

This is the debut of the Z-Man. This is about as vanilla of a match as you can get. Z-Man doesn't look particularly impressive and wins with a sleeper hold on both the Assassin and the audience.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Governor Carroll Campbell with Ric Flair declaring today as Ric Flair day. 

Ranger Ross vs. Sid Vicious

Ranger Ross is about as dorky of a character as there is. I'm glad I get to do a few Sid matches here after his unfortunate passing. I have always liked Sid since the first time I saw him in 1991 WWF. I always thought he was underrated in the ring and always a fun character. He is also one of the best squash match wrestlers in history. He does exactly that here and just destroys old dorky Ross here for a fun match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show Missy Hyatt and Robin (aka Woman) going shopping together. They're in a limo and Robin is buying everything. They probably blew their entire budget on this crap. 

Gordon Solie is with the Fabulous Freebirds to talk about their match with the Steiner Brothers. They're sick and tired of getting no respect around here. 

NWA Tag Team Championship Match
Steiner Brothers vs. Fabulous Freebirds

Robin and Missy are wearing their new attire from their shopping trip. Such excitement! I just realize that Wikipedia shows the attendance to this show as 2,600 and the arena holds 12,401. Yikes. The crowd sounds like a lot more than 2,600 to their credit. Michael Hayes' chest hair is just on a different level here. Back to my attendance comment, it truly doesn't look like it's that empty, but who am I to doubt Wikipedia? Cornette lets me know that Scott Steiner is only 24 years old here. I still would have loved to have seen the Steiners in the WWF a few years earlier to see what they could do in that environment. The Steiners having both Robin Green and Missy Hyatt in their corner is just bizarre to me. As is usual with a Freebirds match, there's a lot of heel stalling. Rick catches Hayes for a power slam and then catches Garvin off the top rope for another one. After an overhead German suplex with a release, Hayes is able to move out of the way of a charging Rick. Garvin then hits a DDT, but Scott is able to break up the count. Rick gets thrown into the metal guardrail and then a clothesline back in the ring. Rick is able to hit a hot tag and for some reason they decide to show the crowd during it instead. Scott comes in and hits the Frankensteiner on both opponents to a huge pop. Scott is running the ropes and we are only able to see him stumble and that's enough for him to get caught with a DDT and the Freebirds to retain their titles. It's clever that they had the camera set up that way, but the only problem is there was a camera man in the shot from the other side. They argue if it was Missy or Robin who did it. You can see Missy wasn't in the area, so there isn't much mystery there. Anyway, the match was pretty good, but nothing special. 

Match Rating: **1/2

We come back and see that other camera angle and you can see brown hair at the bottom of the screen. 

Norman The Lunatic vs. Flyin' Brian

We get action right away and then Norman screwing up his spot early on. Theodore Long provides a distraction and that allows Norman to attack Brian. Norman hits a second rope splash, but Brian kicks out at 2. Norman then squashes Brian into ring post, but goes back to it a second time and Brian moves out of the way. Brian hits a missile dropkick and a body slam. Norman catches a reverse crossbody and hits a power slam for a 2 count. The pace of this match is really good to Norman's credit. Brian catches Norman with a crucifix pin attempt and picks up the win. After the match, Long chews out Norman. This was way better than it should have been. 

Match Rating: **

Gary Hart is with Gordon Solie again and he says that Terry Funk is in the building. 

Mike Rotunda vs. Steve Williams

Williams chases after Rotunda and gets him up in a military press and does reps with him, which is pretty impressive. This is a Jim Ross dream match because he can list all of their college credentials but Cornette steals that away from Ross. I can confidently say that Rotunda's offense is just as boring here in 1989 as they are during his peak of IRS. We get a stupid finish where Williams is trying to slam Rotunda, but Rotunda grabs the rope. The referee kicks his arm off the rope and that allows him to hit the slam and pick up the win. Rotunda attacks him right after the loss, but Williams fights him off. This was dull. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Lex Luger tells Gordon Solie how great he is and how he's bigger than wrestling. 

United States Championship Match
Tommy Rich vs. Lex Luger

Tommy Rich is just one of those wrestlers whose name is a big part of this era, but I haven't seen much of. They are working a really nice match here to start, with Rich playing the underdog role well. Luger goes off the top rope, but Rich moves out of the way. Rich makes his big comeback and hits a second rope fist for a 2 count. After hitting a Thesz press, they roll outside and Rich goes for a right hand, but Luger ducks and he hits his hand on the post. Rich goes for a sleeper on the apron, but Luger snaps his neck on the top rope and that's enough for the victory. After the match, Rich goes after Luger in the aisle, but nothing really happens there. This was a good match that felt like they had some good minutes left in them. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

We go back to Gary Hart again. He has a certified letter from a doctor that performed the surgery on Terry Funk. We go to Funk in a hospital room and he's got his arm wrapped up. He says that he was close to losing his arm due to infection. He says he guarantees that he's going to get Ric Flair. 

Sting and Flair cut a promo with Sting talking about he and Flair being side by side. 

Dick Slater & Great Muta vs. Sting & Ric Flair

I'm not sure that Dick Slater is really a worthy replacement for Funk. I enjoyed Gary Hart having to turn Muta to face the camera. As you would expect, Sting and Flair are insanely over here. Not over enough to fill an arena, but over with the people they did get to buy a ticket. Muta hits a dive over the top on Flair and then Sting follows him and we have a brawl. Much like the last match, I am kind of just sitting back and enjoying the match here. This match has been just chaos for the most part. Sting has the Scorpion Deathlock on Muta, but the referee is distracted by Flair and Slater brawling on the outside. Gary Hart comes in and hits Sting in the back of the head with a roll of coins. We get more brawling and it leads to Sting getting sprayed in the face with Muta's mist. We get a referee bump and more chaos with Terry Funk coming in the ring and putting a plastic bag over the head of Flair. I guess this is a pretty infamous moment, but not one I was aware of until reading about this show. During all of this nonsense, I guess they disqualify the heels and we come back to Flair being checked on and Flyin' Brian is here now too. I mean the plastic bag thing was pretty stupid, but the match was very good. I never thought I'd give a Dick Slater 4 stars, but here I am. 

Match Rating: ****

This was a pretty good show overall, thanks to the final two matches. I wish they would have cut a match and let the Luger match go a few minutes longer. Overall though, this is a nice little nugget from one of their better eras. 

Overall Rating: 78%