Monday Night Raw 11-25-96 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 25th, 1996
New Haven Coliseum
New Haven, Connecticut

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Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

I would say that this is a pretty good way to start a show, even if we have seen it 100 times. While Owen is entering the ring, we see Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario at home and we will hear from them later on. We get a little bit of a slow pace to start, so I'm guessing they are going to get some time here. Owen hits a nice belly to belly suplex to regain control. I kind of stayed away from typing too much waiting for something to happen and just as the match finally picks up a little bit, out comes Steve Austin to hit Bret with a chair. This leads to Owen arguing with Austin and then British Bulldog as well. Lots of arguing, but not much action. I feel like they could have had a better match in their sleep, but this was far from bad. It just was nothing memorable.

Match Rating: **

Executioner vs. Freddie Joe Floyd

It is pretty obvious in the first 30 seconds that the Executioner is not long for this roster. Floyd is a very solid hand and you know he was likely giving it all he had here to make him look good, but it's very much a Waylon Mercy scenario here. Floyd hits a nice kick and gets a 2 count. Executioner then no sells some punches and hits a couple of turnbuckle clotheslines. He uses the Asian spike or something for the victory. Not good.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Shawn and Jose are sitting in a couch at Jose's house that just screams early 90s. Jose apologizes to Shawn and Vince cuts him off to ask him his status. They let us know that Shawn will take on the champion at Royal Rumble. Vince then tells Shawn that his boyhood dream has been shattered and he wonders if he can pick up the pieces. Shawn says he lost his edge and it wasn't Jose's fault. Lawler then calls Jose a fossil and says that he cost Shawn the title. Shawn sticks up for him and says that Sid is the man he wants. Vince asks about the crowd cheering for Sid and Shawn said he's good with it because he wants them to enjoy themselves, but he won't beg to anyone to cheer for him. Shawn is all fired up here. Shawn says he's going to take more risks and do what he did to become the top guy. That was kind of a fun segment since it didn't seem overly polished.

Back to the arena and out comes Sunny to join the announce table. Now it's time for the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament. It's Sable vs. Sunny, the biggest feud behind the scenes. Sunny pulls off the big victory, but the referee finds out that she used gum to hold her figure down and then punches the referee. That leads to dad jokes from Lawler and Todd. 

Salvatore Sincere vs. Rocky Maivia

My favorite themed jobber, Sal Sincere. Sunny says she has her eyes on Rocky. After hyping Rocky up for a minute or two, we go to Dok Hendrix during the match for an update on Bret and Austin to interrupt the match. Sincere does a nice job of trying to make this feel like more than just a squash. It's basically a Superstars main event. Rocky hits the shoulder breaker and that's the victory. Not a great finisher. I wonder if he'll ever change that? 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Marc Mero tells us that it's time to get wild. 

We come back to Dok Hendrix and he says that Bulldog and Owen seem to be ready to defend their titles at In Your House. 

Billy Gunn vs. Marc Mero

Mero is in the ring already and Hunter Hearst Helmsley is at the announce table. Helmsley distracts him and it allows Gunn to attack. Back in the ring, Billy runs into a boot from Mero. Mero goes up top and hits a moonsault for a 2. Billy hits the Rocker Dropper, but Mero kicks out at 2. Billy is controlling the majority of this match and definitely has a big future coming up for him pretty soon. Mero gets a small package for 2, but Billy levels him with a clothesline when they get back up. They actually are giving this a commercial break. When we come back, Mero hits a hurricanrana from the top rope for a 2 count. Helmsley gets up and says he is going to help Sable. Mero hits a Samoan drop and then goes after Helmsley. He hits him but then Billy hits him from behind. Helmsley is in the ring with Billy and they attack him, causing the DQ. Out comes Jake Roberts to try to make the save, but he doesn't even get in a move before being attacked. Mero basically is able to clear the ring for himself. The match was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *1/4

This was a pretty good episode overall, but nothing really happened. They tried to play up the whole Owen/Bulldog/Bret/Austin stuff, but they never showed anything and it didn't seem like that big of a deal. I did like the Shawn interview and helped bring back some edge to his character. The wrestling was nothing special, but inoffensive.

Overall Rating: 51%

Monday Night Raw 11-18-96 Review

Monday, November 18th, 1996
New Haven Coliseum
New Haven, Connecticut

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Steve Austin vs. Mankind

This was supposed to be Vader but has been changed to Mankind. They show Vader getting injured by Yokozuna. They are billing this as a tough man match. Mankind comes running out during Austin's entrance and attacks him and they start brawling. Officials are out to break up the brawl. What a great way to start the show. I have to say that I do not remember this. They finally get into the ring and we have ourselves a match. Austin is going after Mankind with an intensity that you really didn't see that often in WWF until this time. Austin launches Mankind into the rail and into the crowd. Back into the ring we go and Mankind is able to stuff his fingers down his mouth until Austin kicks him in the crotch and into the commercial break. Austin tries to suplex Mankind from the apron and to the floor, but it's blocked and Mankind suplexes him into the ring. They continue to brawl and then out comes the Executioner and we get a cop out DQ. Out comes Undertaker to make the save and the crowd is loving it. He gets rid of Mankind and Executioner but then Austin clotheslines Taker over the top. Taker comes back in the ring and Austin still plays heel and retreats to the back. This was a fun Raw match despite the pointless finish. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

We get a Survivor Series replay commercial. They show a weird overhead camera angle while Vince is telling us that it's Ahmed Johnson walking through the crowd. Even when they show the crowd shot, you can't even see him, so I'm not sure how Vince can. Out comes Sunny and she grabs a mic to introduce a "dear friend of hers", Faarooq. He gets the rap intro from PG-13 that we saw at Survivor Series. 

Faarooq vs. Savio Vega

Sunny joins the announce team here. Faarooq is mostly dominating and the crowd is pretty dead for all of this. Ahmed wearing a Survivor Series hat is kind of funny, though. Faarooq folds Savio up with a back suplex into the commercial and the fans are still sitting on their hands. Faarooq goes up to the top rope and Savio crotches him. He goes for a superplex and they both fall to the floor. Based on how quickly Faarooq is up and throwing Savio in the ring, I'm guessing that wasn't supposed to happen. Savio hits a spin kick but doesn't make the cover. He charges at Faarooq and lands outside the ring. PG-13 hits Savio with a 2x4 and throws him back in and Faarooq gets the win. Ahmed comes down and clears the ring to a good pop. The match wasn't very good though. 

Match Rating: *

Ahmed grabs a mic and says something about getting Faarooq back before leading a chant of "You're going down!". 

Now it's time for the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament. It's Bob Backlund vs. Sunny. Sunny advances if you care. 

They show Sid working out backstage before talking about the match last night and the situation with Jose Lothario. Jose refused medical attention and then Vince talks about how great of a champion Shawn Michaels was before bringing up some things that people maybe didn't like about him. Vince then says that Shawn may be a ladies' man, but he proved last night that he was a man's man. Ironically, the Rockers music hits as soon as Vince is done lecturing us. 

Leif Cassidy & Bob Holly vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon

Marty Jannetty must be fired again. Captain Lou Albano is out with the charisma-less team of Furnas and LaFon. During the match, they interview British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Clarence Mason. They let us know that last night was a fluke and they don't care about Survivor Series matches. This match actually gets a commercial break and you can imagine how many people probably switched over to Nitro and didn't come back. Holly misses with an elbow off the ropes, if you care. Furnas gets a hot tag and hits his dropkick and a hurricanrana. Bret will take on Owen next week on Raw. LaFon hits a variation of a German suplex for the victory and Vince warns us that they're going to be around for awhile. This was fine. 

Match Rating: *1/2

They show Sid with JR backstage before showing another Survivor Series commercial. 

Sid comes out to a good pop and then they try to sell us a piece of the ring rope from last night with a Sid photo for $59 plus $8 shipping. JR introduces Sid again in the ring and the crowd is loving it. Sid says he has great respect for Jose Lothario, but he put himself on the apron and that is what can happen when you put yourself in the game. He says that if Shawn wants a rematch, he's got it. He already beat him once and he'll beat him again. What a difference between 1996 Sid and 1995 Sid. JR moves it to Bret Hart and Sid that he was never going to wrestle again, but the fans brought him back and he'll be a fighting champion for him. He screws up and calls him "Britman" and then corrects it. He reminds us again that he is the master and the ruler of the world. 

This started with a bang and then kind of existed. They just don't have the roster depth yet to give us an hour full of hot angles. That will change soon, but we're still in that transition period. With that being said, that's not to say that this was a bad show, it just felt pointless after the Austin/Mankind stuff. 

Overall Rating: 52%

Survivor Series 1996 Review

Sunday, November 17th, 1996
Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York

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This was one of the shows I actually ordered live. However, the show stopped working after the Austin/Bret match and we got a full refund as a result. I do have fond memories of this show, so I am hoping to see how it holds up 30 years later. It's been at least 5 years since I last watched it but probably more. The intro to the show is actually pretty weak by WWF standards. 

British Bulldog, Owen Hart & New Rockers vs. Doug Furnas, Phil LaFon & The Godwinns

Speaking of pretty weak, this is certainly an interesting choice to open the show. We get the Karate Fighters blimp in the arena just in case you weren't sure that this was the 90s. I do always love when they do the short entranceway at MSG here. Funas and LaFon will probably forever go down as one of JR's biggest blunders in his time. Speaking of which, we have the trio of Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross on announcing duties today. While this was not technically the opener (there was a Free For All jobber Survivor Series match), the crowd is not into this one at all right now and that's not great. I do like over half of the competitors in here to at least some degree, but the tag division was anything but hot in 1996. It seems as if the heel JR has at least mostly been dropped by this point. Just as I type that, JR calls Phinneas stupid, so maybe not. Although Vince is laughing, so who knows? Henry hits a Slop Drop on Marty and we get our first elimination. Owen runs right in and hits the spinning heel kick and Henry is gone. There we go, let's keep this up. I'm not really sure why Henry had to go so quickly, but with how little the crowd cares, I don't think it matters. Bulldog hits a running powerslam and Phinneas is now gone. We have to show off the new guys, I get it. The problem is that they look like two generic wrestlers and the fans don't really have a reason to care about them. We get what starts off to be a good sequence and then Funas goes for a dropkick on Bulldog and he kind of no sells it or thinks he jumped over him. I look down for one moment and miss a spot that actually gets a spot. I rewind it and LaFon hits a superplex variant with Cassidy landing face-first and being eliminated. So we're down to basically a regular tag team match, so I think we can guess where this one is going. We get a little bit of a chaotic spot with LaFon doing a crucifix into a roll up and eliminating Bulldog. Bulldog immediately attacks LaFon's knee and then Owen slams his knee into the ring post. Furnas hits a dropkick but Owen is able to kick out. Furnas hits a German suplex and Owen lands face-first and that's enough for the victory. This was all about them establishing their new team and they did get a pop at the end, but it may have just been because the match is over. The match was fine overall, but the crowd only cared when there was a big move. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a fun, hammy performance from Paul Bearer in an interview and a brief Mankind speaking spot before the match. Even as a kid, I didn't really get why they were fighting again this soon after the Buried Alive match.

Mankind vs. Undertaker

Paul Bearer does not want to get into the cage and JR and Vince make fun of his weight. Undertaker is in bat form and descends from the ceiling. They debut the Cage Cam as they raise Paul Bearer above the ring. It's kind of interesting that he's right over the ring and really not that high up. We get a pretty slow pace here to start out, which is kind of interesting. Based on the reaction from the crowd so far, you would never guess that these two just were the main event of the last show. They get into the crowd and it leads to Mankind charging at Taker, but Taker counters with a back body drop over the guardrail. Some other stuff happens and I just have to say I'm not that into this one. Mankind climbs up top but Taker is there to greet him with right hands. Mankind fights him off though and goes for a double ax handle, but Taker gets the goozle. Mankind counters that with the Mandible Claw. I forgot to mention that Lawler is not at the announce booth now with him having his match up next. The referee starts dropping the arm of Undertaker and he miraculously gets his arm up on the third try. Taker fights back with a chokeslam and breaks the hold. Mankind leaps off the apron and Taker ducks. We get a pretty anti-climatic Tombstone and that's all. What a dud of a match from two guys who have done a lot better than this. After the match, the cage lowers and Taker is waiting for Bearer. Out comes the Executioner to attack him from behind and allows Bearer to get out of the way. Taker fights him off and that's basically it. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Sunny's music hits and she is here to join the announce team. Vince gives us a quick glimpse of his terrible dancing here. We go back to Dok Hendrix who is with the heel team. They talk about Mark Henry's injury. This was really uninspired. 

Crush, Jerry Lawler, Goldust & Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Marc Mero, Stalker, Rocky Maivia & Jake Roberts

This is the infamous Stalker wearing a WWF shirt looking like he just rolled out of bed moment. After Rocky comes out, Mero grabs a mic and announces that Jake Roberts is the Henry replacement. How is there still nearly 2 hours left in this show? I knew it at the time, but it is still startling how lacking the roster was at this time. Even when they made their comeback against WCW in 1997 and 1998, they were still lacking talent. Sunny exposes how old Windham is here by talking about how she was 4 years old when Windham won the tag team titles. Sadly, he is 7 years younger than I am now but looks like he is 10 years older than I am. Rocky gets a little bit of time to shine and of course it's with Lawler, who understands a thing or two about making a new person look like a million bucks. This match feels pointless already. Jake hits a DDT on Lawler and he's gone. It is somewhat fun to see Windham vs. Rhodes in WWF, but not fun enough to save this match. Goldust eliminates Stalker and no one cares. We're at the abdominal stretch portion of the match now. Mero hits a moonsault on Helmsley and eliminates him. Still in the doghouse. Crush hits his stupid finisher on Mero while they are showing a replay of Mero eliminating Helmsley and he's gone. Crush hits his stupid punch again on Jake and he's gone. Good thing they built up Crush, he went on to do such great things. This of course leaves Rocky to take on two opponents and if you can't see where this is going, well, I don't know what to tell you. Rocky ducks a right hand and Crush hits Goldust. He hits a dive and eliminates Crush. He gets Goldust up and hits a shoulder breaker for the victory. This is where it all started and that's about it. The match was not very good and the story was pretty obvious. 

Match Rating: *

We get a hype video for Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart, narrated by Todd Pettengill. Todd then interviews Austin and Bret individually before their entrances. 

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

The announce team lets us know that the winner of this match will face the champion at the December In Your House. We get mostly mat wrestling to start until Austin hits a Stun Gun to take control. They bring up that Austin will be taking on Vader tomorrow on Raw. Meanwhile, Austin hits an elbow to the throat of Bret. Austin goes for a superplex and Bret shoves him off. Bret hits an elbow drop off the ropes and slowly covers him for a 2 count. Bret goes for a backbreaker but Austin rakes the eyes to get out of the hold. Austin then throws him through the ropes and to the floor. Bret tries to clothesline Austin over the guardrail but it separates, and Bret has to push him over. Austin hits a catapult and it sends Bret onto the Spanish announce table. JR wonders why it seems like it's always the Spanish table. Austin hits an elbow off the apron onto Bret on the table. Austin suplexes Bret back into the ring and goes back to work. JR then uses the phrase "Austin could care less" incorrectly. Bret makes a comeback and hits a piledriver. Bret goes up top and Austin punches him in the gut to crotch him. Austin levels him with a series of right hands and goes all the way to the top to hit a superplex. Bret leans his legs back and is able to get a pinfall but Austin kicks out at 2. Austin hits a Stunner and Bret becomes the first person to kick out of it I believe. Austin tries a couple of more pin attempts and none are successful. Austin puts on a Texas Cloverleaf and Bret is able to will his way to the bottom rope to break the hold. Austin goes for an Irish whip and Bret slides under the ropes and into the ring post. Austin goes for a bow and arrow submission. Bret escapes and goes for the Sharpshooter but Austin gets the bottom rope before he can put it on. Austin puts on the Million Dollar Dream and Bret uses the ropes to kick Austin on his back and counter it into a pinfall to pick up the victory. How ironic that DiBiase is still costing Austin even after he left? This match was hard fought but nowhere near the level of their upcoming WrestleMania 13 match. This truly did put Austin on the map, even though he was headed towards stardom whether or not this match ever happened. Bret gives high fives to the fans around the ring and includes Vince. 

Match Rating: ****

JR states that he doesn't think either Sid or Shawn Michaels could have beaten Bret tonight with how he just performed. We go to Dok Hendrix and he is with Sid. Sid says he will walk out tonight as the WWF Champion. Lou Albano comes out and JR is all salty and makes fun of him for talking about his book 100 times at the Hall of Fame ceremony last night. 

Faarooq, Fake Razor Ramon, Fake Diesel & Vader vs. Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Flash Funk & Jimmy Snuka

JR wonders why people are booing the fake Razor Ramon since he's younger, stronger and better looking than the original person who played that character. Sure, JR. The mystery opponent is Snuka. It's hard to top a murderer as a surprise entrant. Was OJ Simpson unavailable? Snuka was 53 years old here. This is also Flash Funk's debut. His career did not have the same trajectory as Rocky Maivia's. I forgot to mention that Jim Cornette joined the announce table for the match. Funk hits a nice moonsault to the floor onto Vader. Well, I mentioned that JR's heel announcing was toned down, but he is feisty in this one. JR says that if he was managing Vader, he would be champion and Cornette says that JR couldn't manage a Wendy's. Funk does look good here, but the crowd is dead because a lot of these guys don't matter. Fake Diesel looks terrible because he's Glenn Jacobs. Faarooq hits a nasty looking spinebuster on Funk after a nice little sequence. Snuka finally comes in and actually moves better than I remember. He hits a body slam on Vader with Vader doing most of the work there. Savio is in and sort of hits Diesel with a spin kick. Vader pulls the rope down and Savio falls to the floor. Faarooq then takes him and slams him into the ring post and throws him into Diesel. Diesel hits the Jackknife and Savio is eliminated. That has to be one of Savio's more embarrassing moments in his career. Fake Razor is really a terrible wrestler. Snuka goes up top and hits the Superfly splash and Razor is gone. Then we get a brawl that starts with Diesel hitting people with a chair. Everyone is in the ring and that wakes up the crowd, but the match is over. The first part of the match wasn't as bad as I thought it was but that ending is so stupid. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We now get the hype video for Sid/Shawn, again narrated by Todd. 

WWF Championship Match
Sid vs. Shawn Michaels

Both guys get the backstage camera before their entrances, which is always a nice touch. Both guys get good ovations. We get a fun opening sequence that leads to Sid having Shawn ready for the powerbomb and Shawn rolling out of the ring before that happens. Shawn is able to get the Figure Four on until Sid reverses and rolls to the ropes. Sid is able to throw Shawn shoulder-first into the ring post, and both men are feeling it. Sid is able to clothesline Shawn over the top and to the floor with a loud roar from the male attendees. He throws Shawn into the ring and then a press slam onto the guardrail. Michaels tries to make a comeback by leaping off the top but Sid catches him and hits a backbreaker for a 2 count. They start trading right hands again and Shawn actually gets the better of it this time. He goes off the second rope and Sid gets the leg up. The longer this match goes, the more the vocal males are getting behind Sid. Sid slaps on a sleeper hold and Shawn is fading. Shawn gets out and runs into a chokehold and Shawn blocks it. Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music and now Sid blocks that and hits the chokeslam this time. Sid sets him up for the powerbomb and Shawn gets an inside cradle for a 2 count. Shawn nips up and runs right into a clothesline and that also gets a 2 count. Sid grabs a camera from the ringside cameraman and then uses it to hit Jose Lothario. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music, although he doesn't get all of it. Shawn checks on Jose instead of pinning Sid. While Shawn is yelling for someone to come out and help Jose, Sid throws him back in the ring. Shawn goes for a reverse crossbody from the second rope, he hits the referee. Shawn goes back outside and checks on Jose again and Sid hit Shawn with the camera in the back. Back in the ring, Sid hits the powerbomb and the referee slowly counts to 3 to a huge pop. Sid is your new WWF Champion and also probably just had the best match of his career up to this point. I'm sure someone can think of a better one, but this is definitely his shining moment. The match was good and the crowd was invested in it. The whole Jose thing probably could have been left out, but it didn't hurt the match. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

This is a tough one to rate. The two matches that you paid to see both delivered, particularly with Sid winning the title being a big moment. The rest of the show does feel pretty pointless though and some of the matches were really long for no reason. I have a little bit of a soft spot for this show, so perhaps my rating will be a little higher than most. 

Overall Rating: 62%

Monday Night Raw 10-28-96 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, October 28th, 1996
War Memorial Coliseum
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a quick video hyping up a Bret Hart interview from Calgary and Steve Austin from Connecticut. 

Jesse James vs. Salvatore Sincere

This is the "Real Double J" era. There was so much money made on this angle. Not that JJ ever had good hair, but I can promise you that this style he is sporting tonight was no cooler in 1996 than it is 30 years later. We do get a nice pace here to star and Salvatore was probably the best fit out of the jobbers with a gimmick group. Sincere has him ready for a full nelson, but James counters out with an elbow and hits a pump handle slam for the victory. This was a spirited TV squash. 

Match Rating: *

Dok Hendrix hypes up the Survivor Series and Steve Austin comes in to mock him. He runs down the card of Sid/Shawn Michaels, Undertaker/Mankind, Steve Austin/Bret Hart and the random Survivor Series match. Austin interrupts Dok again to talk trash to Bret. This was a nice touch since that never happens. 

Crush vs. Aldo Montoya

We have Marc Mero on the phone, who is livid about what happened last week on Raw with Mr. Perfect turning on him. They really are pulling out all the stops here this week. Crush, Jesse James, Aldo Montoya. Did they even care? Oh good, we have disgruntled Jim Ross now too. Crush keeps making this weird face for some reason. Faarooq and Clarence Mason will be on Livewire this weekend. Crush hits the Heart Punch, which is an awful finisher, and picks up the history. JR says that wouldn't affect Vince since he has no heart. He thanks them for having him out for this preliminary match and not the main event. There was a lady who had a "Jailbird" sign and Crush goes back to her. There is a security guard and so Crush attacks him while Vince tells us that he can't stand when people call him that. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get a recap of last week with Mr. Perfect/Hunter Hearst Helmsley/Marc Mero from last week. It wasn't important enough for Netflix to post. Mr. Perfect was suspended by Gorilla Monsoon. Yep, sure. 

Now it's time for what I came to see, the Karate Fighters tournament. It's Phineas Godwinn vs. Mr. Perfect and we have Jerry Lawler and Todd Pettengill as the hosts. Mr. Perfect distracts Phineas and Perfect picks up the win. Next week it is Sid vs. Marlena. 

We get more Steve Austin, which is breathing life into this episode. They show Austin's attack on Brian Pillman from Superstars yesterday. This was really one of the few memorable Superstars moments from this era. Austin talks about Gorilla being a puppet for the real boss, Vince. He says that Vince is just a greedy promoter who wants the biggest match to go on. They show Bret and then go to commercial. When we come back, Bret has two of his kids on his lap for the interview. Meanwhile, in the background, Sunny is coming out before Bret can really talk. 

Billy Gunn vs. Freddie Joe Floyd 

The hits just keep coming. Bart Gunn comes out and confronts Billy. This was a feud that no one was asking for and I say that as someone who thinks the Gunns were one of the more underrated teams of the 90s. Gunn hits a Stun Gun and then hits a sort of dangerous looking top rope leg drop for the easy victory. As much as the card for tonight feels like a joke, I will say that all three matches so far have been spirited. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go back to Bret and Austin now. Bret doesn't think that Austin has what it takes and says that he's better than he's ever been. Vince questions that there may be some ring rust and that maybe Bret should have accepted a match with a lesser opponent. Vince tries to wrap it up and Austin hates that, so he attacks some crew members and starts tipping stuff over. 

British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels

During Bulldog's entrance, we see more of Austin's theatrics. Owen Hart is at the announce table, which is always a win. As I was curious to see what the ratings were for this week in the Monday Night Wars and as you would expect, Raw got absolutely destroyed here. I didn't do much additional research to confirm this, but this was the night that the Crow version of Sting debuted. Shawn gets the best of Bulldog for most of the beginning until Bulldog shifts the momentum by dropping Shawn on the top rope, which gets some of the males in floor seats to jump up and cheer. They say that the cops have been called on Steve Austin and we go to commercial break. We get a commercial for Full Metal: The Album. This was not an easy album to find. I think we called all around and finally found a local chain that carried it. Bulldog hits a Samoan Drop and Owen lets us know that he saved the Hart name from being in the gutter. This honestly is better than maybe both of their pay per view matches so far. We get another commercial break. Michaels is able to hit the leaping forearm and Vince reminds us that next week starts an hour earlier at 7:57. Bulldog gets Shawn up for the running powerslam, but Shawn sneaks out and hits a body slam. He climbs the top rope and hits the elbow drop. Owen puts down the headset and grabs Michaels' leg. That's enough for them to ring the bell when Bulldog attacks Shawn. Out comes Sid and he makes the save. Sid accidentally hit his elbow into Michaels' back and Shawn confronts him. Owen gets on the mic and challenges the two of them for the tag titles. Sid and Shawn accept and Shawn's music hits. This was really good until the finish. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

They show Austin smashing stuff again and then we go live to him with a security guard. Austin sees the police outside the building and starts talking to them as we go off the air. 

I know I was joking a lot about the names on this show, but this was an entertaining episode overall. It was definitely one of the quicker paced episodes in some time too. The build up for the top two matches was good and made me excited to be watching Survivor Series here soon. 

Overall Rating: 60%

In Your House 11: Buried Alive Review

Sunday, October 20th, 1996
Market Square Arena
Indianapolis, Indiana

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We get a decent but short intro hyping up the main event. That leads us to Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and a bitter Jim Ross. This is heel JR, which is more annoying than effective and his microphone is not working. Vince gives JR his microphone for the introduction and Hunter Hearst Helmsley is on his way. This show was plagued by two injuries and this is one of them. The other is Goldust replacing Faarooq.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Steve Austin

We go back to Austin with Kevin Kelly and he talks about Bret Hart. His music hits and he gets a mild reaction. Were they that short on babyfaces for Austin to face here? Then we get more JR microphone "glitches". Great. They decide to work a slow pace probably so we can hear more of JR complaining. I mean in all seriousness, it's probably for the best that the match is dull because this is unbearable. Who thought this should go on for this long? Austin hits a Stun Gun and then a double ax handle off the second rope. They are starting to win over the crowd a little bit here. Out comes Mr. Perfect, who is scheduled to take on Helmsley tomorrow. Perfect goes towards Helmsley's valet and then Austin dumps beer in Perfect's face. Back in the ring, Helmsley has Austin set up for the Pedigree and decides to go after Perfect, who is walking away with the valet. Austin goes and gets him and sets him up for a suplex. Helmsley blocks it and hits a suplex instead. Austin recovers and hits a slingshot into the steps and post. Back in the ring, Austin hits a Stunner and picks up the victory. The first half of match was almost unwatchable because of the JR stuff. I actually liked the match before the Perfect stuff better than after. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a quick video package on drama with Sunny and the Smoking Gunns. We go to Dok Hendrix and he's with the Gunns. Billy's only talking about Sunny, with Bart trying to get him to focus on the match. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

Don't worry, they're still doing the JR microphone gimmick. Billy gets the best of Owen early on until he gets greedy and goes up top and that allows for some double teaming by the champs. Has there ever been another WWF/E show that started with two consecutive heel vs. heel matches? They show Sunny watching on a monitor in the back. Bart then gets in some offense and then he misses off the top rope too. Unlike the last match, this one has not won over the crowd. The best part of the JR microphone thing is that it most definitely led to a big payoff. Billy snaps Owen's neck on the top rope behind the back of the referee and then they hit a double Russian leg sweep. The Gunns set up Owen for the finisher, but Bulldog pulls Bart so that Billy misses the leg drop and Owen picks up the pinfall to retain the titles. After the match, Sunny is clapping in the back while Bart is disappointed in Billy. This was more of a TV match.

Match Rating: **

Helmsley is yelling to probably no one on the Superstar Line with Raymond Rougeau. Vince tries to talk about Faarooq and realizes that JR is in the ring. He's ranting about the microphone not working. He guarantees that Bret Hart will be live in Fort Wayne and that he was the one who went to South Africa to talk to Bret. They then show Faarooq talking to Kevin Kelly on the Free For All and then Ahmed Johnson, who is not quite ready to make his return. Not quite ready. Then Faarooq was attacked. Out comes Mr. Perfect and Jim Ross is talking to him before he comes out. They shake hands and Perfect joins the announce team to watch the Intercontinental Championship match.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Goldust vs. Marc Mero

During Goldust's entrance, the announce team interviews Mero and Sable. Mero cuts a generic promo and Sable stands there and shakes her head. Perfect is all fired up at Austin and says he will take it out on Helmsley tomorrow night. Things get off to a pretty good start and Mero hits the first big move with the somersault over the top rope. So far, this is better than their SummerSlam match. Well, if the first two matches were all about JR's microphone, this one is all about Perfect's match tomorrow. It should be noted that Perfect is having no microphone issues. Neither is Goldust, who threatens to stick his tongue down everyone's throat if they don't shut up. Mero hits a moonsault and gets a 2 count. Mero charges at Goldust and gets dumped to the outside. Now it's time for shenanigans with Helmsley coming out. This leads to Perfect punching Goldust and going after Helmsley. Mero hits a Samoan drop back in the ring and Mero hits the Wild Thing for the victory. Perfect is back in the ring and celebrates with Mero. This was a solid match that was overshadowed by Perfect's angle, which spoiler alert, really led to nothing. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We then see Jim Ross with the fake Razor and Diesel in the AOL chat room. I'm sure I was in the chat room. 

We then get a battle of the powerbomb hype video for Sid vs. Vader. 

WWF Championship #1 Contender Match
Sid vs. Vader

Shawn Michaels is out and Cornette gets in his face. Shawn blows his nose in Cornette's hanky and throws it on the ground. Michaels kicks him when he bends over out of the ring and Vader tosses Michaels out and we are underway. Vader hits an avalanche in the corner and Sid rolls outside. Cornette gets in a few cheap shots with the tennis racket. Vader runs into a boot and Sid goes up top. He leaps and Vader catches him in the air for a body slam. Vader hits a splash from the second rope but decides to let off Sid at 2. He goes for the Vader Bomb and Sid gets the knees up. Sid hits a clothesline and a body slam to a good pop. Sid goes for the powerbomb and Cornette tries to come in. Sid kicks the ropes and Cornette's crotch. He goes for the powerbomb again, but with the referee checking on Cornette, Vader hits a low blow. Now Vader goes for a powerbomb but Sid blocks it. Sid hits a chokeslam and covers him for the victory. Kind of strange how the powerbomb was the story and neither guy hit it. Michaels goes in the ring to have a word with Sid, whom he was cheering for during the match. They shake hands and Michaels raises his arm. This was pretty solid for a big man match.

Match Rating: **1/2

We get a Survivor Series weekend hype video and go to Dok. Sid is there and then JR interrupts. He asks tougher questions and Sid says he will do anything he can to win the match as he flubs over his lines in classic Sid fashion. 

It's main event time and with that comes a hype video. This is probably Undertaker's best feud up to this point, which is not really saying much, but it has been well done. 

Buried Alive Match
Mankind vs. Undertaker

After the usual overlong Taker entrance, they get right to it in the ring. I do like how it looks with the smoke still from his entrance while they brawl. Taker pushes Mankind and the back of his head hits the guardrail. Taker then hits a top rope clothesline to the floor. Time to move things over to the gravesite and Mankind hits Taker with a shovel. Taker then goes for an inside cradle? They roll down the hill as a result. We go back to the ring just for Taker to hit a right hand that sends Mankind out of it. They're in the crowd and Taker throws Mankind over the guardrail and then Taker hits a leaping clothesline over the rail. Taker goes for Old School and Mankind is able to crotch him. Mankind now has a spike and is jabbing it into Taker's head. Taker fights back because he's unstoppable and he grabs the spike and starts using it. Taker starts going after Bearer and Mankind grabs a chair from under the ring. Taker is ready for it but Bearer gets in one more distraction and we get an unprotected chair shot to the head of Taker. We head back towards the grave and Mankind throws Taker in. Taker is up and starts battling with Mankind in the grave. Taker then throws Mankind off the hill where the grave is. They go back to the ring again for some reason. They have been wrestling at an impressive rate though I will say. Taker hits a leg drop with a chair on the face of Mankind. Mankind tries for a piledriver out of the ring and instead Taker hits a back body drop into the steps that looks a lot more dangerous than that sounds. Mankind was more dropped onto the floor. Taker starts using the steps in the ring now. Taker hits a Tombstone and now has to get him to the grave. Mankind gets the Mandible Claw on by the grave and then Mankind tries to use the urn but Taker grabs him by the throat and chokeslams him into the grave. Taker starts putting dirt on Mankind. He gets enough dirt on for the referee to declare him the winner but Taker wants more and shoves the referee away. Out comes the legendary Executioner and he hits Taker with a shovel. We don't know that is who he is at this point in time though. He digs Mankind out of the grave and rolls Taker into it. We start getting fake lightning effects in the arena. Mankind and Executioner start getting the dirt on him. Out comes Goldust, Crush, Helmsley and Justin Bradshaw to help. It takes a long time to bury someone. They finally call it quits and head towards the back. Bearer holds up the urn upside down and then we get a pyro lightning bolt and then Taker's arm pops out of the ground as we go off the air. This was a very good main event and a worthy match in their series. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

This show wasn't as good as I had remembered. The main event is the only one that had no distractions from it. The Vader/Sid one at least made sense with Michaels being there, but the JR stuff was atrocious. I know they weren't thinking about anyone really re-watching this 30 years later but it really doesn't hold up now either. The wrestling outside the main event was more TV quality than pay per view quality, but nothing was bad. This is a mild recommendation. 

Overall Rating: 58%

Monday Night Raw 10-14-96 Review

Monday, October 14th, 1996
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, Pennsylvania

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Well, what do you know? I get to actually watch an episode of Raw. We get a hype video for Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels tonight. We then go to the arena with Vader's music playing and we have Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly as your announce team. Um, sure?

Vader vs. Phineas Godwinn

They have the Buried Alive tombstone right in the center of the entranceway. They announce that Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler will be back to announcing next week, not that I'll be able to see it. JR brings up Kevin Dunn while I am stuck listening to the awful and always way too loud fake Godwinn music. Vader goes right after the PIG man and JR says that he will be here next week no matter what Kevin Dunn says. I'm glad this is the focal point of this match. Vader is dominating until Sid comes out and lets him know that he's from Arkansas too. The distraction works and Phineas clotheslines Vader to the floor. Phineas hits a body slam and that doesn't even get a reaction. He sets up for the Slop Drop, but Vader hangs on to the ropes and knocks Phineas down. He sets him up for the Vader Bomb and hits it for the victory. The crowd did not care about this and neither did the announcers. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

JR is in the ring and brings out Mr. Perfect, who is 100% for sure going to make his return to the ring next week. He cuts the exact promo you would expect from Mr. Perfect in 1996. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Jake Roberts

Jerry Lawler is doing his usual schtick in the ring for the live crowd while JR is saying that he has always carried Lawler when announcing. Out comes Jake with no shirt on and he is under the influence. Gorilla comes out to check on Roberts into the commercial break. He lets him wrestle and Lawler is still shouting out trash talk to Roberts. The bell rings and Jake kicks Lawler and hits the DDT for the win. Kevin Kelly shouts "Jake Roberts is not drunk!". Yeah, this announce team stinks. Jake grabs his alcohol and pours it on Lawler's face before putting the snake on Lawler. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We now get a "Real" Double J video. We see him singing with Jim Johnston in a studio, who even gets a speaking line. Next week we get to hear about his Desert Storm story. 

Freddie Joe Floyd vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

It's jobber with a gimmick time. This match is pretty dull here so far. Helmsley hits a suplex and out comes Mr. Perfect. He starts talking to Helmsley's valet and Floyd hits a back body drop. Helmsley hits an inverted atomic drop and then turns his attention to Perfect. Perfect has a key to the valet's handcuff and sets her free. I honestly didn't even realize that Helmsley handcuffed her to the ring post. Helmsley hits the Pedigree and doesn't finish the pin attempt because he sees Perfect walk away. He goes after him and Perfect hits him with a big right hand. Helmsey is counted out and this was useless. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Austin lets us know it's the bottom line because he said so. 

Next week, it's the return of Mr. Perfect against Hunter Hearst Helmsley. 

Out comes Sunny she does the big picture of her over the ring again. Then we go to Mankind and Paul Bearer in the rain at a cemetery. Mankind says it won't be him that's buried and that he'll laugh himself to sleep. Paul then blames the creatures of the night for this happening. 

Alex Porteau vs. Faarooq

Sunny joins the announce team and they talk about how Faarooq and her had an amicable split mostly because it was a terrible pairing. Unfortunately, Faarooq has not made an amicable split with the foam helmet. JR then starts ripping on Vince for making him wear the head gear. This is a squash and the Dominator finishes it off. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Faarooq talking on the phone to Ahmed Johnson on Livewire. They go back and forth a little bit. Always good to see Livewire featured on the A show. 

As Austin is entering, we go to the cemetery this time with Undertaker. He cuts his same stupid promo that he always does. 

Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels

Kevin Kelly keeps saying that this is the biggest match in Raw history. There are less than 8 minutes left in the episode. Something tells me that this won't live up to that hype. We instantly go to Vader and Jim Cornette watching the match backstage. We're under 6 minutes and nothing has happened so far. They now go to Sid backstage. Sid's laughing because Vader thinks he's going to win at Buried Alive. They both sort of come close to hitting their finisher and then we go into commercial. Out comes Vader and Michaels attacks him and the referee rings the bell. Out comes Savio Vega, who is supposed to wrestle Austin Sunday. Then fake Razor and fake Diesel are out. Sid comes out and he and Michaels start arguing. We get a little more brawling with Sid and Shawn working together and that's all. This was like the first 6 minutes of a potentially good match. The ending was not particularly good. 

Match Rating: *

Who is in charge of picking the shows that go on Netflix? They should be fired. Between the terrible announcing, the dead crowd and the bad matches, this was not a good show. 

Overall Rating: 32%

In Your House 10: Mind Games Review

Sunday, September 22nd, 1996
CoreStates Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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We get a Todd Pettengill narrated intro featuring Shawn Michaels/Mankind and Undertaker/Goldust. That leads into a creepy CGI skeleton with a Mankind mask on and then pyro leading us into the arena. Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect and Jim Ross are your announcers tonight. 

Caribbean Strap Match
Justin Bradshaw vs. Savio Vega

This match was created during the Free For All. The match starts before they even get both wrestlers wrists are in the strap. Bradshaw just keeps smacking Savio with the strap and then Savio finally gets his wrist in there while lying face-first on the mat. The crowd starts chanting "E-C-W" and Savio pulls Bradshaw's shoulder into the ring post. Then the Sandman spits beer into Savio Vega's face with Tommy Dreamer sitting next to him. We get security out to escort them as some of the crowd cheers them on. Honestly, it's not as loud as you would think. It is distracting the crowd though as Savio tries to drag Bradshaw to hit the 4th turnbuckle, but Bradshaw is able to swing him to the mat. Savio hits a spin kick and goes for the turnbuckles again. He does a nice sell of Bradshaw yanking the strap on this one. Bradshaw hits a big boot and then a clothesline. They do the predictable ending where Bradshaw is hitting the turnbuckles but so is Savio. Savio holds him back from the last one and launches himself into the corner and wins the match. That's the downfall of this type of match. This was fine, but the crowd didn't care. 

Match Rating: **

We get a hype video for Jim Cornette/Jose Lothario. Yes, really.

Jim Cornette vs. Jose Lothario

Cornette comes out to Vader's music in the dorkiest looking outfit you'll ever see. They show Razor Ramon and Diesel backstage attacking Savio from afar. Cornette runs down Jose on the mic and out comes Jose to Shawn's music. Perfect compares Cornette to the Michelin man. Jose hits a big uppercut and ends this match in under a minute. I mean honestly, I really don't get what the point of this was, but they didn't make it long. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sable and Marc Mero and Sunny and Faarooq are on the Superstar Line right now. They will wrestle tomorrow for the Intercontinental Championship on Raw. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have them wrestle on the show we are paying for right now rather than Jose Lothario?

Out comes Brian Pillman and then they show a clip of Bret Hart from Saturday on the World Tour. Bret calls Pillman a liar and says that he never made a commitment to be on pay per view. Pillman then trashes Philadelphia crowd. He says he is going to bring some class to this program and introduces Owen Hart. Owen rips on Bret and calls him senile. They say that Bret is afraid to Steve Austin and bring him out to the ring. I have only seen this show one time and completely forgot any of this even happened. This just feels like they were about 30 minutes short on this show and are killing time. This is where the line "If you put the letter S in front of the Hitman" comes from. This was kind of mediocre considering it contained three of the most entertaining WWF stars ever. 

They show Mark Henry seeing the sights of Philadelphia. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs. Smoking Gunns

We get a heel vs. heel match and no Cornette. They go back to Dok Hendrix with Cornette being checked out by a doctor and Clarence Mason giving Cornette documents to sign. Sunny unveils her banner and it's a doctored photo of her and that makes Sunny upset. Clarence Mason is out now for the match and there is cotton candy available should you want any. Owen gets in some babyface offense to start and the crowd is sitting on their hands. There surprisingly is a little bit of a pop when Owen tags in Bulldog. Owen gets tagged back in with a nice double team with Owen taking out Bart's knee. That at least drew a reaction from the crowd. We get some action on the outside with Billy throwing Bulldog into the steps before tagging himself in. This is such a weird dynamic, but the action is better than I remember. Billy leaps off the back of Bart to hit a leaping fist in the corner. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder but Mason gets on the apron to distract the referee and that allows Owen to hit Bart with a shot off the top rope. Bart puts Bulldog on his shoulder, but Bulldog shoves him off and into Billy. Bulldog hits the running powerslam and Owen blocks Billy's attempt to stop it and we have new champions. After the match, Sunny is yelling at her team and then grabs a mic. Sunny says she gave everything to them and then calls them cowboy wannabes. She fires them and storms off. The ending was a little flat, but I enjoyed this. The tag division had grown stale very quickly, so putting the straps on a new team made sense. 

Match Rating: ***

Kevin Kelly is in the bowels of the arena with Paul Bearer and Mankind. Bearer blames the Creatures of the Night for doing what he did. Mankind says it's his destiny tonight and that we'll all have a nice day.

Jerry Lawler vs. Mark Henry

Lawler is on a mic on his way to the ring, but Vince just talks over him and then shows Lawler spilling coffee on Henry on Superstars. They also ran an angle on the Free For All. JR says that Lawler is the heavy favorite in this match. Sure. Henry's hideous USA gear inspires a mild "U-S-A" chant. Lawler puts on a headlock and then Henry just shoves him to the mat. Lawler continues to try to do Wrestling 101 and Henry keeps showing off his power as a counter. I mean, if they truly felt the need to rush Henry into the ring, Lawler is the right opponent from a non-kayfabe point of view. Henry sidesteps Lawler and he flies through the ropes and into the guardrail. That was honestly the craziest bump I think I can remember Lawler taking in a WWF ring. Lawler has something in his right hand and hits him with it after tricking Henry into a test of strength. Henry puts Lawler up on his shoulder into a backbreaker and Lawler submits. As far as matches go, this wasn't good. However, this was designed for Henry to look strong without making a fool of himself. For some reason, Leif Cassidy comes out and attacks Henry. Henry quickly gets rid of him so then Marty Jannetty is out and he's quickly tossed out. Now it's Hunter Hearst Helmsley's turn. He gets in a few moves before Henry chucks him onto the New Rockers. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They announce that at the next In Your House, it will be Mankind vs. Undertaker in a Buried Alive match. The title would not be on the line should Mankind win since this will be unsanctioned. JR lets us know that they will be building a graveyard in Market Square Arena. That leads into an Undertaker/Goldust hype video. 

Final Curtain Match
Goldust vs. Undertaker

Undertaker gets right to it, as he tries to finally put this B feud to rest. Goldust comes back with a swinging neckbreaker but Taker sits right up. Taker keeps on offense and Goldust is out of the ring. Marlena hands him a bag and then she distracts Taker. He lifts her up and that distracts the ref and Goldust throws the gold sequins in Taker's eyes. There is no disqualification so I'm not really sure why they needed a distraction. This match kind of dies as a result here. The crowd is into it though. My interest has certainly wained. Taker makes a comeback and hits the leaping clothesline. Goldust goes up to the top rope, but Taker gets there and hits a chokeslam. Taker hits a Tombstone and that's all. What was the point of this match? What was the point of this feud? Even Vince is upset Mankind didn't interfere. 

Match Rating: *

Kevin Kelly is backstage with Shawn. He calls Mankind the "wackiest cat" in the WWF and is nervous for the first time since becoming WWF Champion. The idea was good, but this wasn't a great promo. 

WWF Championship Match
Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels

The druids bring out a casket during Mankind's entrance. Mankind is revealed to be in the casket, which is pretty cool. They play up how nervous Michaels was in his pre-match interview and Mankind goes right to work. We quickly are outside the ring and Mankind kicks Michaels into the guardrail. Mankind tries to rip up the blue mat and Michaels knocks him down and he falls underneath it and Michaels walks on him. Michaels hits a dive and then slams Mankind's head to the concrete. Michaels hits a double ax handle off the top rope back in the ring. Michaels hits the top rope elbow drop and already starts tuning up the band. Mankind sees it coming and leaps through the ropes and grabs the urn so he can sit and rock with it. Back outside we go and Michaels hits a suplex where Mankind's leg hits the stairs. The announcers are doing a good job of talking about how Michaels is approaching this match differently. Mankind tries stabbing himself with maybe a pen to try to get the feeling back in his leg. Michaels is able to find enough strength to hit a back suplex and he tries to make a comeback but Mankind is able to whip him into the corner and he ends up in the tree of woe. Mankind quickly attacks him to take advantage of the situation. A boot to the face sends Michaels out of the ring again. Mankind moves the Spanish announce table but that gives Michaels time to recover and use the steps to his advantage yet again. They battle on the apron trying to do a suplex. It ends with Michaels avoiding Mankind and him hitting the ring post. Michaels sends Mankind into the ropes and Mankind gets his head stuck in the top two ropes. Mankind then stuffs his hand in Michaels' throat in a cool moment. They set Mankind free and he falls to the floor. Michaels goes out and again Mankind gets the hand in the mouth before Michaels throws him into the guardrail. Michaels grabs a chair but Mankind punches it and then Michaels hits the chair on his hand. He grabs Mankind by the hand and bites it before slamming it repeatedly into the mat. Mankind dumps Michaels to the floor and then hits an elbow drop from the apron. Mankind hits a suplex and gets a 2 count. Mankind is frustrated as he keeps going for pin attempts and not succeeding. He grabs some chairs and chucks them in the ring. He opens the casket and dumps Michaels in. Michaels fights back and hits the leaping forearm. The crowd is really starting to get into this now. It's just that moment where I think they are starting to realize that they are witnessing something special. Michaels gets crotched on the top rope. Mankind goes for a suplex and Michaels weight sends both of them through the table and to the floor. They are lucky they didn't land on the television monitors. Paul Bearer distracts the ref and Mankind grabs a chair on the top rope. Michaels leaps off the chair on the mat and hits Sweet Chin Music. That was awesome. Out comes Vader and we have a disqualification. Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring and Bearer hits Michaels with the urn. Out comes Sid to attack Vader and they brawl to the back. Mankind then puts on the Mandible Claw while the bell keeps on ringing. Out comes Undertaker from the casket and he takes care of Mankind and they announce Michaels as the champion. I have nothing new to say here. This is an amazing match that has a bad finish. I get why they did it, so it is what it is. The match itself is fast and furious and a true main event. It's a shame that these two never had a proper feud. 

Match Rating: ****3/4

We get a highlight reel of the show to close things out. 

This is the definition of a one match show and what a match it was. It took up a quarter of the show, so it at least was a big focus and kind of helps make up for the rest of it. The tag match was also pretty good, but the rest was pretty pointless or terrible. 

Overall Rating: 58%