Original Airdate: Saturday, August 1st, 1992
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
The Nasty Boys vs. Kerry Davis & Ross Greenberg
Greenberg gets a pit stop early on and for some reason they didn't add in any fake boos to this match Davis's mullet is in a league of its own. Although, I guess Knobbs and Saggs' aren't too far behind. Big splash by Knobbs into the corner. The crowd could not care less about this match. Powerslam by Knobbs and then Saggs finishes him with an elbow drop from the top rope. The tag division was well on its way to being dead in the WWF again after a really good run.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Update with Mean Gene brought to you by WWF Superstars ice cream bars. There was one ice cream shop that carried those and of course it was like 5 miles further than probably 5 other ice cream places, but we would always beg to go to that one. We get clips of last week of the interview with Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior.
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Bret Hart
Finally a Mike Sharpe appearance. Bret lets Sharpe get a little bit of offense in. They show a clip of Helen Hart being so upset that Bret and Bulldog are fighting. It was a nice layer to add to the story since face vs. face matches always have a hard time succeeding. Bret gets the Sharpshooter and the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
To the Event Center we go. I am always curious about the dates of pay-per-views. Why was SummerSlam on a Monday night? British Bulldog is ready to win the Intercontinental Championship. Shawn Michaels is ready for Rick Martel, in a match that I still don't understand.
Rick Martel vs. Bill Pierce
Martel is putting on a nice little clinic on the art of a squash match here. They show a promo of Martel still talking about Tatanka. This is all mind boggling to me. SummerSlam is in 4 weeks and he's still hyping a feud that won't have a payoff on the show. Pierce goes for a monkey flip, but Martel reverses it with an inverted atomic drop. Boston Crab finishes it off. Martel looked good here.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mean Gene introduces Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Undertaker gives a paint by number interview. Nothing to see here.
Tony Roy vs. Papa Shango
No voodoo to start the match. How does he decide when to make people vomit and when not to? Vince tells us that Shango won't ever be on WBF. Papa Shango hits his finisher and gets the victory. After the match he holds the skull over Roy and then sparks comes out of the skulls head.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to Sean Mooney. Kamala is here and Harvey says SummerSlam is the end of Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Bret Hart says that every dog has its day, but SummerSlam won't be Bulldog's day.
It's now time for the highlight of the show, SummerSlam Report. He runs over the 4 matches announced last week and then we get an interview from HBK and Sherri. They also announce that Natural Disasters will take on the Beverly Brothers for the Tag Team Championships. Natural Disasters give a promo and talk about two guys who are in different leagues. They also announce a HUGE matchup of Nailz vs. Virgil. Nailz gives a terrible promo and Virgil gives a generic face promo. They also announce Legion of Doom against Money, Inc.
Flex Armstrong & Richie Rich vs. Legion of Doom
It's time for more Rocco! Paul Ellering takes him around to the kids at ringside. I still don't understand how this even happened. Vince just loves it. Standard fare here by LOD, as it's pretty obvious that they aren't happy with where they are. Doomsday Device finishes it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon is hanging out with a group of senior citizens and talking about how they are wasting their time. He calls out Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man.
Sean Mooney reminds us again that SummerSlam is August 31st. The Beverly Brothers say they are walking out of SummerSlam as the champions. Money, Inc. say that they were robbed of the titles and that they will become the #1 contenders.
Next week we get Kamala, British Bulldog, Natural Disasters and the debut of Razor Ramon. Ultimate Warrior will be back with an interview.
Well, not much happened on this episode after last weeks big angle with Savage, Warrior and Flair. We did get the Helen Hart clip to help sell the story of the Intercontinental title match and they added a few random matches to SummerSlam. I guess that's something, right?
Overall Rating: 28%
Monday, April 29, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
No Way Out 2005 Review
Sunday, February 20th, 2005
Mellon Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter:@WorkTheNetwork2
We get a very brief video hyping up the barbed wire steel cage match, which is fitting since they hardly built it on SmackDown the past few weeks. The announcers emphasize that Batista will be in attendance tonight.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero vs. The Basham Brothers
After a nice pop for Eddie and Rey, the crowd goes dead for the Bashams entrance. If you can't get a reaction in the opening match of a pay-per-view, you're doing something wrong. Eddie and Rey get in a short flurry of offense before the Bashams start their heat segment. Eddie rolls out of the way of a top rope elbow and tags in Mysterio. Springboard crossbody gets a 2 count. The Bashams regain control after Danny Basham cheats by switching with his brother. Doug goes for a superplex, but Rey blocks it and hits a moonsault that almost gets the victory. Eddie get in trouble for tying two tag ropes together, which is classic Eddie. Rey leaps and rolls all over the ring and is able to get the tag to Eddie who hits a headscissor/arm drag combo. The Bashams hit one of the sloppier double chokeslams you will see. They go for a double suplex, but Rey clips one of their legs and Eddie rolls into a small package for a 2 count. Eddie grabs one of the tag belts, but Rey tells him not to. Eddie goes up top and rolls through as he saw Basham was moving. Eddie then pretends to lay there as if he was hurt and rolls him into a 2 count. Danny tosses the belt to Edddie who tosses it to Doug, which causes the ref to get rid of it. Eddie gets the other belt and nails him with it and gets the victory to a good pop. The first few minutes were pretty paint by the numbers, but the last 5 minutes were golden.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Teddy Long shows off his horrible acting ability backstage. He tells someone to get Batista whatever he wants. Carlito then introduces him to one of the members of the board of directors. Not sure where they got this lady, but she is awful. Carlito says the board of directors is waiting to see what happens with Batista before making their decision.
It is now time for the first round of the rookie diva contest. Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson are on their way to the ring. Out first is Joy Giovanni and I guess this is the evening gown part of the contest. Rochelle Loewen is next. I have 0 recollection of her. Lauren Jones is up next. I vaguely remember her. Michelle McCool is the last contestant. This is thrilling TV.
Heidenreich vs. Booker T
Before the match, Heidenreich reads us a poem. Someone in 2005 thought this was a match people would actually feel good about paying to watch. Heidenreich looks really stiff here. Booker ducks a clothesline and hits a kick to the jaw. Heidenreich somehow bounces back and hits a powerslam and a running clothesline. Booker then gets his shoulder rammed into the ring post. Spinebuster by Booker and both men are slow to get up. Booker sort of hits a kick and now it's Spinaroonie time. Booker sidesteps Heidenreich and he is over the top rope to the floor. Heidenreich grabs a chair and slams it into Booker's throat and that's all for that one. Heidenreich rolls Booker in and is trying to pin him. Get it? Because he's crazy. That was such a useless match that did nothing for either guy. There's no way they couldn't have saved that for TV.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Rey and Eddie are in the back celebrating and here comes John Cena. Eddie asks for a moment alone with John.. Eddie then gives a speech about how big the opportunity to main event WrestleMania is. Eddie tells him to make sure to not tap.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Cruiserweight Open
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Spike Dudley vs. Akio vs. Funaki
This is basically a gauntlet match where the other competitors are at ringside rather than in the back. London and Funaki are the first two. You can already tell how short this match is going to be. Funaki was in control, but Spike hit Funaki with a knee in the back, causing him to get rolled up and eliminated. Spike is next and Funaki interferes and London gets the victory. Moore is next and he goes for some quick pins, but no dice. Moore throws London into the turnbuckle face first a couple times, but then misses a corkscrew off the top. 450 splash by London and Moore is gone. Here comes Akio. Swinging neckbreaker off the top rope in a nice spot and both men are down. Akio is not able to get to his feet and is counted out, which leaves Chavo and London. Chavo goes immediately for a pin, but London kicks out. Post-Los Guerreros Chavo always seemed pretty lost in the shuffle. He had an ok run as ECW Champion, but the rest of the time it was mostly stuff like this. Full Nelson suplex into a bridge almost gets London the victory. London rolls up Chavo, but it gets reversed and Chavo grabs the ropes and steals the victory. That was just a match that wasn't able to really showcase anyone due to the structure of the match. I guess if anything it showed that they somewhat care about Paul London.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show Big Show in the back just thinking, as they try to hype the barbed wire cage match There are 3 ways to win the match; pinfall, submission, escaping the cage.
The second round of the rookie diva contest is starting. This is the talent portion of the contest. Dawn Marie is so bad. Joy's talent is giving massages and offers one up to Torrie. She gives a pretty horrible excuse for a massage full of innuendo. Rochelle's up with "jokes" and asks a lame joke and then is told to stop. Lauren does a dance, which looks like a lame jazzercise routine. Michelle body slams Dawn for her talent. Can you imagine something like this now?
JBL is back with Josh Matthews. He rambles on about nothing and basically reassures that he is a wrestling god.
Luther Reigns vs. Undertaker
Reigns couldn't have come out to less of a reaction if the arena was empty. Mark Jindrak wants to be part of this match, which leads to Brian Hebner ejecting him. Undertaker comes out striking right away. Taker ducks for a back body drop, but Reigns sees it coming. Big boot by Taker gets him a 2 count. Reigns exposes the turnbuckle. Reigns goes to hit Taker's head into the corner, but the attempt is blocked. This match was not a good choice to watch when you are dead tired. Taker hits a nice legdrop to Reigns who was dragged over the apron. Reigns hits Taker with a low blow behind the refs back. This match, no joke has put me to sleep 3 times already. Taker hits the Tombstone and of course Taker wins this pointless match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
This is the final round of the rookie diva contest, which of course is the bathing suit round. They go to a weird close up of Joy when Rochelle was out there. Not sure what went on there. Joy wins the voting with a whopping 65%. What an honor.
#1 Contender Tournament Finals
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Although he's had a few big matches to date, this was definitely his most important to date. Michael Cole keeps saying pound and ground instead of ground and pound. It's driving me nuts. Cena shows some fire early on, but Angle eventually took back control and hit a German suplex into the turnbuckle. Cena tries to fight back, but Angle counters and hits the 3 Germans. Cena hits a shoulder tackle and a spinebuster, but can only get a 2 count. The crowd seems a little hesitant with it being in Angle's hometown. Later in the year, the booing would begin. Angle rolls through and gets Cena into the Ankle Lock, but Cena throws Angle through the ropes. Cena goes up top and hits a leg drop onto Angle as he is walking into the ring. Cena hits the FU, but Angle kicks out. I don't think many people had kicked out of that move prior to this one. Angle then takes out Cena by the leg and is now focusing all of his attention on that. I'm not sure any wrestler that I can remember is better than Angle than focusing on a body part. Angle puts Cena in the Ankle Lock again and gets the rope, but Angle pulls him off and back into the center of the ring. Cena fights back and gets the rope with two hands this time and Angle has to break the hold. Angle puts him back in it again, even though Cena has the ropes still. The ref tries to get Angle off of him and then Charles Robinson gets knocked out. The crowd starts chanting "HBK", but thankfully they did not have him come down. Cena hits the FU and gets the victory. There wasn't much doubt regarding the outcome, but both guys did a good job of making it feel like it could go either way. Cena looked really good here and it was obvious he was ready to get the opportunity. Good match.
Match Rating: ***3/4
They show backstage and Batista is still not there.
WWE Championship Match
Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match
JBL vs. Big Show
JBL has the early advantage and he keeps trying to climb and see if there is an opening somewhere, which seems pretty stupid. JBL throws Big Show's head off the beam and Show has been busted open. JBL removes one of the turnbuckles and then chokes Big Show with one of the tag ropes. Show is able to turn the tide after a kick and is now trying to bust JBL open. Orlando Jordan is now climbing the cage while the Bashams are trying to cut open the cage. Out comes Teddy Long and he tells them to head to the back. However, OJ left the bolt cutters in the ring and JBL uses them and only gets a 2 count. Both men are bleeding badly, but it still doesn't feel like that physical of a match with all things considered. Throw in the fact that there isn't one person in the arena who actually thinks Big Show will win this match. JBL hits Show with a low blow and a boot to the face, but that only gets 2 as well. Both men are on the top rope and Show is bashing JBL into the top beam. Big Show then hits JBL with a chokeslam from the top rope and JBL goes through the ring. Big Show is kind of left with only one option to win and that is to leave the ring. Big Show decides to try and bust out of the locked door. He breaks the chain and is on his way out and begins celebrating before he steps foot on the floor. The bell rings and they announce JBL as the winner. They then cut to JBL on the floor. Clever finish, but just an meh match. They tried to make it feel like a classic old school brawl, but it was just too slow and didn't have the heat. They show the replay of JBL crawling out of the ring. The Bashams and OJ are taking out Big Show and out comes Batista. He takes care of the Cabinet and out comes Cena to take care of JBL.
Match Rating: **
Well, at least it had a hot ending because otherwise this was definitely not a good show. There was way too much filler and unfortunately Angle and Cena's really good match was not enough to save it. The diva stuff was insulting to everyone's intelligence and too many of the matches felt like filler. Not every pay-per-view is going to be a classic, and that's fine. But if you are going to run this many shows, you have to be able to produce a better product than what we got here. Thankfully, the majority of 2005 was pretty solid.
Overall Rating: 39%
Mellon Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter:@WorkTheNetwork2
We get a very brief video hyping up the barbed wire steel cage match, which is fitting since they hardly built it on SmackDown the past few weeks. The announcers emphasize that Batista will be in attendance tonight.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero vs. The Basham Brothers
After a nice pop for Eddie and Rey, the crowd goes dead for the Bashams entrance. If you can't get a reaction in the opening match of a pay-per-view, you're doing something wrong. Eddie and Rey get in a short flurry of offense before the Bashams start their heat segment. Eddie rolls out of the way of a top rope elbow and tags in Mysterio. Springboard crossbody gets a 2 count. The Bashams regain control after Danny Basham cheats by switching with his brother. Doug goes for a superplex, but Rey blocks it and hits a moonsault that almost gets the victory. Eddie get in trouble for tying two tag ropes together, which is classic Eddie. Rey leaps and rolls all over the ring and is able to get the tag to Eddie who hits a headscissor/arm drag combo. The Bashams hit one of the sloppier double chokeslams you will see. They go for a double suplex, but Rey clips one of their legs and Eddie rolls into a small package for a 2 count. Eddie grabs one of the tag belts, but Rey tells him not to. Eddie goes up top and rolls through as he saw Basham was moving. Eddie then pretends to lay there as if he was hurt and rolls him into a 2 count. Danny tosses the belt to Edddie who tosses it to Doug, which causes the ref to get rid of it. Eddie gets the other belt and nails him with it and gets the victory to a good pop. The first few minutes were pretty paint by the numbers, but the last 5 minutes were golden.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Teddy Long shows off his horrible acting ability backstage. He tells someone to get Batista whatever he wants. Carlito then introduces him to one of the members of the board of directors. Not sure where they got this lady, but she is awful. Carlito says the board of directors is waiting to see what happens with Batista before making their decision.
It is now time for the first round of the rookie diva contest. Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson are on their way to the ring. Out first is Joy Giovanni and I guess this is the evening gown part of the contest. Rochelle Loewen is next. I have 0 recollection of her. Lauren Jones is up next. I vaguely remember her. Michelle McCool is the last contestant. This is thrilling TV.
Heidenreich vs. Booker T
Before the match, Heidenreich reads us a poem. Someone in 2005 thought this was a match people would actually feel good about paying to watch. Heidenreich looks really stiff here. Booker ducks a clothesline and hits a kick to the jaw. Heidenreich somehow bounces back and hits a powerslam and a running clothesline. Booker then gets his shoulder rammed into the ring post. Spinebuster by Booker and both men are slow to get up. Booker sort of hits a kick and now it's Spinaroonie time. Booker sidesteps Heidenreich and he is over the top rope to the floor. Heidenreich grabs a chair and slams it into Booker's throat and that's all for that one. Heidenreich rolls Booker in and is trying to pin him. Get it? Because he's crazy. That was such a useless match that did nothing for either guy. There's no way they couldn't have saved that for TV.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Rey and Eddie are in the back celebrating and here comes John Cena. Eddie asks for a moment alone with John.. Eddie then gives a speech about how big the opportunity to main event WrestleMania is. Eddie tells him to make sure to not tap.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Cruiserweight Open
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Spike Dudley vs. Akio vs. Funaki
This is basically a gauntlet match where the other competitors are at ringside rather than in the back. London and Funaki are the first two. You can already tell how short this match is going to be. Funaki was in control, but Spike hit Funaki with a knee in the back, causing him to get rolled up and eliminated. Spike is next and Funaki interferes and London gets the victory. Moore is next and he goes for some quick pins, but no dice. Moore throws London into the turnbuckle face first a couple times, but then misses a corkscrew off the top. 450 splash by London and Moore is gone. Here comes Akio. Swinging neckbreaker off the top rope in a nice spot and both men are down. Akio is not able to get to his feet and is counted out, which leaves Chavo and London. Chavo goes immediately for a pin, but London kicks out. Post-Los Guerreros Chavo always seemed pretty lost in the shuffle. He had an ok run as ECW Champion, but the rest of the time it was mostly stuff like this. Full Nelson suplex into a bridge almost gets London the victory. London rolls up Chavo, but it gets reversed and Chavo grabs the ropes and steals the victory. That was just a match that wasn't able to really showcase anyone due to the structure of the match. I guess if anything it showed that they somewhat care about Paul London.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show Big Show in the back just thinking, as they try to hype the barbed wire cage match There are 3 ways to win the match; pinfall, submission, escaping the cage.
The second round of the rookie diva contest is starting. This is the talent portion of the contest. Dawn Marie is so bad. Joy's talent is giving massages and offers one up to Torrie. She gives a pretty horrible excuse for a massage full of innuendo. Rochelle's up with "jokes" and asks a lame joke and then is told to stop. Lauren does a dance, which looks like a lame jazzercise routine. Michelle body slams Dawn for her talent. Can you imagine something like this now?
JBL is back with Josh Matthews. He rambles on about nothing and basically reassures that he is a wrestling god.
Luther Reigns vs. Undertaker
Reigns couldn't have come out to less of a reaction if the arena was empty. Mark Jindrak wants to be part of this match, which leads to Brian Hebner ejecting him. Undertaker comes out striking right away. Taker ducks for a back body drop, but Reigns sees it coming. Big boot by Taker gets him a 2 count. Reigns exposes the turnbuckle. Reigns goes to hit Taker's head into the corner, but the attempt is blocked. This match was not a good choice to watch when you are dead tired. Taker hits a nice legdrop to Reigns who was dragged over the apron. Reigns hits Taker with a low blow behind the refs back. This match, no joke has put me to sleep 3 times already. Taker hits the Tombstone and of course Taker wins this pointless match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
This is the final round of the rookie diva contest, which of course is the bathing suit round. They go to a weird close up of Joy when Rochelle was out there. Not sure what went on there. Joy wins the voting with a whopping 65%. What an honor.
#1 Contender Tournament Finals
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Although he's had a few big matches to date, this was definitely his most important to date. Michael Cole keeps saying pound and ground instead of ground and pound. It's driving me nuts. Cena shows some fire early on, but Angle eventually took back control and hit a German suplex into the turnbuckle. Cena tries to fight back, but Angle counters and hits the 3 Germans. Cena hits a shoulder tackle and a spinebuster, but can only get a 2 count. The crowd seems a little hesitant with it being in Angle's hometown. Later in the year, the booing would begin. Angle rolls through and gets Cena into the Ankle Lock, but Cena throws Angle through the ropes. Cena goes up top and hits a leg drop onto Angle as he is walking into the ring. Cena hits the FU, but Angle kicks out. I don't think many people had kicked out of that move prior to this one. Angle then takes out Cena by the leg and is now focusing all of his attention on that. I'm not sure any wrestler that I can remember is better than Angle than focusing on a body part. Angle puts Cena in the Ankle Lock again and gets the rope, but Angle pulls him off and back into the center of the ring. Cena fights back and gets the rope with two hands this time and Angle has to break the hold. Angle puts him back in it again, even though Cena has the ropes still. The ref tries to get Angle off of him and then Charles Robinson gets knocked out. The crowd starts chanting "HBK", but thankfully they did not have him come down. Cena hits the FU and gets the victory. There wasn't much doubt regarding the outcome, but both guys did a good job of making it feel like it could go either way. Cena looked really good here and it was obvious he was ready to get the opportunity. Good match.
Match Rating: ***3/4
They show backstage and Batista is still not there.
WWE Championship Match
Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match
JBL vs. Big Show
JBL has the early advantage and he keeps trying to climb and see if there is an opening somewhere, which seems pretty stupid. JBL throws Big Show's head off the beam and Show has been busted open. JBL removes one of the turnbuckles and then chokes Big Show with one of the tag ropes. Show is able to turn the tide after a kick and is now trying to bust JBL open. Orlando Jordan is now climbing the cage while the Bashams are trying to cut open the cage. Out comes Teddy Long and he tells them to head to the back. However, OJ left the bolt cutters in the ring and JBL uses them and only gets a 2 count. Both men are bleeding badly, but it still doesn't feel like that physical of a match with all things considered. Throw in the fact that there isn't one person in the arena who actually thinks Big Show will win this match. JBL hits Show with a low blow and a boot to the face, but that only gets 2 as well. Both men are on the top rope and Show is bashing JBL into the top beam. Big Show then hits JBL with a chokeslam from the top rope and JBL goes through the ring. Big Show is kind of left with only one option to win and that is to leave the ring. Big Show decides to try and bust out of the locked door. He breaks the chain and is on his way out and begins celebrating before he steps foot on the floor. The bell rings and they announce JBL as the winner. They then cut to JBL on the floor. Clever finish, but just an meh match. They tried to make it feel like a classic old school brawl, but it was just too slow and didn't have the heat. They show the replay of JBL crawling out of the ring. The Bashams and OJ are taking out Big Show and out comes Batista. He takes care of the Cabinet and out comes Cena to take care of JBL.
Match Rating: **
Well, at least it had a hot ending because otherwise this was definitely not a good show. There was way too much filler and unfortunately Angle and Cena's really good match was not enough to save it. The diva stuff was insulting to everyone's intelligence and too many of the matches felt like filler. Not every pay-per-view is going to be a classic, and that's fine. But if you are going to run this many shows, you have to be able to produce a better product than what we got here. Thankfully, the majority of 2005 was pretty solid.
Overall Rating: 39%
Monday, April 22, 2019
NXT 9-19-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis
All right, I always liked both of these guys, especially Trent. We get a solid little back and forth sequence to start it off, until Curtis starts working on the recovered tricep of Barreta. Barreta was out for 6 months with the injury. Curtis sets up Trent for the superplex, but Trent covers and hits a sunset flip powerbomb and gets a 2 count. He didn't hit that quite as crisply as he probably hoped for. Step up enzuigiri by Barreta and then a leaping elbow into the corner. Barreta climbs to the top rope and hits Curtis with a moonsault. Barreta's tricep is hurting and his hesitation allows Curtis to his a suplex into the turnbuckles. Curtis is now up top, but misses with the leg drop. Running knee by Barreta and he gets the victory. Barreta looked a little off, but this was still a decent little match.
Match Rating: **1/4 (Out of 5)
Alicia Fox vs. Paige
Paige goes for a bunch of pinfalls at the beginning, but none of them score the victory. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Fox, which may be the best move I have seen her pull off. Northern Lights suplex by Fox into a bridge for a 2 count. Fox is looking as crisp as I can remember. Paige fights back and hits the RamPaige for the victory.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O'Brian
Lots of headlocks by O'Brian. Uso gets up top, but Kenneth Cameron pulls him down. Conor hits a dropkick and gets the victory. This feud seems to be going nowhere. After the match The Ascension attack Jey Uso.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas is backstage about to do an interview, but Michael McGillicutty interrupts. Dallas attacks him and they have to be pulled apart.
NXT Sparring Session
Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Grey
This was so quick, that I didn't even get much of a chance to gather enough words to form a sentence. Ohno wins by submission. Ohno says that it was easier than expected, so he is giving him another chance. He hits the spinning elbow and then gets him to submit a second time. This causes Richie Steamboat to come out and Ohno heads to the back. This was just an angle.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a Leo Kruger vignette of him trying to be creepy.
Rick Viktor vs. Seth Rollins
This is a non-title match. I actually did not know that Victor trained with the Harts. Rollins goes for a suicide dive, but Victor hits a forearm before he can leap. Suplex by Victor and a 2 count. Victor is biting himself and the commentary team just can't get enough of it. Rollins fights out of chinlock, but eventually gets knocked out by a knee to the face. Victor goes for an elbow to the corner, but Rollins gets his knees up. After a slap, Rollins just destroys Victor. Rollins is now setting up an elbow and then a dropkick. Blackout and that's all for Victor. Victor got some moves in, but that was just a short showcase for Rollins.
Match Rating: *
Well, they continue to be in kind of a rut still. I liked the opener enough and the main event did an okay job of making Rollins look good. However, there just wasn't enough to this episode to make me really want to like it.
Overall Rating: 31%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis
All right, I always liked both of these guys, especially Trent. We get a solid little back and forth sequence to start it off, until Curtis starts working on the recovered tricep of Barreta. Barreta was out for 6 months with the injury. Curtis sets up Trent for the superplex, but Trent covers and hits a sunset flip powerbomb and gets a 2 count. He didn't hit that quite as crisply as he probably hoped for. Step up enzuigiri by Barreta and then a leaping elbow into the corner. Barreta climbs to the top rope and hits Curtis with a moonsault. Barreta's tricep is hurting and his hesitation allows Curtis to his a suplex into the turnbuckles. Curtis is now up top, but misses with the leg drop. Running knee by Barreta and he gets the victory. Barreta looked a little off, but this was still a decent little match.
Match Rating: **1/4 (Out of 5)
Alicia Fox vs. Paige
Paige goes for a bunch of pinfalls at the beginning, but none of them score the victory. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Fox, which may be the best move I have seen her pull off. Northern Lights suplex by Fox into a bridge for a 2 count. Fox is looking as crisp as I can remember. Paige fights back and hits the RamPaige for the victory.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O'Brian
Lots of headlocks by O'Brian. Uso gets up top, but Kenneth Cameron pulls him down. Conor hits a dropkick and gets the victory. This feud seems to be going nowhere. After the match The Ascension attack Jey Uso.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas is backstage about to do an interview, but Michael McGillicutty interrupts. Dallas attacks him and they have to be pulled apart.
NXT Sparring Session
Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Grey
This was so quick, that I didn't even get much of a chance to gather enough words to form a sentence. Ohno wins by submission. Ohno says that it was easier than expected, so he is giving him another chance. He hits the spinning elbow and then gets him to submit a second time. This causes Richie Steamboat to come out and Ohno heads to the back. This was just an angle.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a Leo Kruger vignette of him trying to be creepy.
Rick Viktor vs. Seth Rollins
This is a non-title match. I actually did not know that Victor trained with the Harts. Rollins goes for a suicide dive, but Victor hits a forearm before he can leap. Suplex by Victor and a 2 count. Victor is biting himself and the commentary team just can't get enough of it. Rollins fights out of chinlock, but eventually gets knocked out by a knee to the face. Victor goes for an elbow to the corner, but Rollins gets his knees up. After a slap, Rollins just destroys Victor. Rollins is now setting up an elbow and then a dropkick. Blackout and that's all for Victor. Victor got some moves in, but that was just a short showcase for Rollins.
Match Rating: *
Well, they continue to be in kind of a rut still. I liked the opener enough and the main event did an okay job of making Rollins look good. However, there just wasn't enough to this episode to make me really want to like it.
Overall Rating: 31%
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Superstars 7-25-92 Review
Original Airdate: Saturday, July 25th, 1992
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
How is it that Vince McMahon looked older in 1992 than he did in the Austin era? Oh god, another Nailz match today.
Tatanka vs. Peter Motts
Tatanka brings Motts in the hard way and hits an atomic drop. Tatanka at times seems to have to really think about what move he is going to do next. He starts doing a war dance and hits Motts with some chops. He hits the Samoan Drop and gets the pinfall victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Body Star Wars as his WBF stars take on Mr. Perfects WWF stars in tug of war. Nothing reels in viewers quite like tug of war.
Mean Gene is here with Update. Big news this week as the Natural Disasters are the new WWF Tag Team Champions. They flashback to the night that it happened and Gene is trying to get a word with Money, Inc. but they are too upset. The Disasters say they will defend their titles anytime.
Phil Apollo vs. Shawn Michaels
Future Doink the Clown here gets to take on the GOAT. Swinging neckbreaker and a dropkick by Michaels. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and then his suplex finisher for the victory. Apollo about 20 months later would be fighting Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon at WrestleMania.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon throws a guy in a water fountain and talks really slow.
Sean Mooney in the Event Center. HIGH ENERGY! Owen sticks to calling the Nasty Boys fat boys. They show the same "I hate summer" promo for Repo Man. It was that good that they had to show it again.
SummerSlam Report with Mean Gene. These were always the #1 reason that I watched Superstars. We have some new matches announced. British Bulldog will be challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. Bret spills the beans and lets us know that Bulldog is married to his sister. Kamala is also going to take on Undertaker. It's so weird how these matches seemingly had no backstory whatsoever. Rick Martel is going to take on Shawn Michaels. Martel calls Sherri a truck stop beauty queen.
Jason Speed vs. Nailz
Let's get this one over with. Nailz pretends to put his hands up on the wall and lets the ref check for weapons. Nailz chokes Speed and slams him on the back of his head. Speed gets thrown off the ropes and he doesn't seem like he's very good at that, as he barely turns around as he hits the rope. Nailz then chokes him out for the win. McMahon thinks Nailz looks like a giant orangutan. All righty then. After the match Nailz chokes Speed with the nightstick. They bring out a stretcher for Speed.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center. Berzerker says that he is the toughest wrestler in the WWF and still is cutting promos on the Undertaker. The Mountie gives his Great American Scream Machine promo again. So of the Event Center promos that we got (High Energy, Repo Man, Mountie and Berzerker), only Repo got a SummerSlam match.
Mean Gene now introduces Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man down for the face to face interview. Warrior rambles on as only he can and is really hamming it up with his voice. Savage is just so much better than Warrior on the mic here, but the dynamic works well enough. Flair and Perfect make their way to the ring. Flair says he's the best in the WWF and that he's beaten up guys with face paint up his entire career. Perfect does a mediocre Macho impression and calls him the Macho chicken. Savage charges the ring and attacks Flair. However, Flair and Perfect gain control and then Warrior comes down to make the save. Warrior then picks up the belt and then Savage takes it away. They begin to start pushing each other, but WWF officials are trying to pull them apart.
Red Tyler & Chris Duffy vs. The Beverly Brothers
I always liked Blake Beverly. Double hip toss on Duffy and he tags in Tyler. Beau hits some suplexes and then they hit their scary finisher and get the victory quickly. Everything about the Beverly's is bad except their in ring work. After the match, Tyler gets his face painted and chest painted with "LOS" on it. They are still trying to make that a thing.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time in the Event Center with Mooney. Papa Shango cuts a promo on Ultimate Warrior. How did this make any sense to me as a kid? Big Boss Man is wearing a sharp new hat and says that he stands for justice and that Nailz will serve hard time.
Next week we get Bret Hart, Nasty Boys, an interview with Undertaker, Papa Shango and Legion of Doom.
Well at least that show had something important on it with the Warrior/Savage/Flair segment. The rest was the typical, but they did also have the announcement of three more matches at SummerSlam. I'll take it.
Overall Rating: 37%
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
How is it that Vince McMahon looked older in 1992 than he did in the Austin era? Oh god, another Nailz match today.
Tatanka vs. Peter Motts
Tatanka brings Motts in the hard way and hits an atomic drop. Tatanka at times seems to have to really think about what move he is going to do next. He starts doing a war dance and hits Motts with some chops. He hits the Samoan Drop and gets the pinfall victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Body Star Wars as his WBF stars take on Mr. Perfects WWF stars in tug of war. Nothing reels in viewers quite like tug of war.
Mean Gene is here with Update. Big news this week as the Natural Disasters are the new WWF Tag Team Champions. They flashback to the night that it happened and Gene is trying to get a word with Money, Inc. but they are too upset. The Disasters say they will defend their titles anytime.
Phil Apollo vs. Shawn Michaels
Future Doink the Clown here gets to take on the GOAT. Swinging neckbreaker and a dropkick by Michaels. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and then his suplex finisher for the victory. Apollo about 20 months later would be fighting Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon at WrestleMania.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon throws a guy in a water fountain and talks really slow.
Sean Mooney in the Event Center. HIGH ENERGY! Owen sticks to calling the Nasty Boys fat boys. They show the same "I hate summer" promo for Repo Man. It was that good that they had to show it again.
SummerSlam Report with Mean Gene. These were always the #1 reason that I watched Superstars. We have some new matches announced. British Bulldog will be challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. Bret spills the beans and lets us know that Bulldog is married to his sister. Kamala is also going to take on Undertaker. It's so weird how these matches seemingly had no backstory whatsoever. Rick Martel is going to take on Shawn Michaels. Martel calls Sherri a truck stop beauty queen.
Jason Speed vs. Nailz
Let's get this one over with. Nailz pretends to put his hands up on the wall and lets the ref check for weapons. Nailz chokes Speed and slams him on the back of his head. Speed gets thrown off the ropes and he doesn't seem like he's very good at that, as he barely turns around as he hits the rope. Nailz then chokes him out for the win. McMahon thinks Nailz looks like a giant orangutan. All righty then. After the match Nailz chokes Speed with the nightstick. They bring out a stretcher for Speed.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center. Berzerker says that he is the toughest wrestler in the WWF and still is cutting promos on the Undertaker. The Mountie gives his Great American Scream Machine promo again. So of the Event Center promos that we got (High Energy, Repo Man, Mountie and Berzerker), only Repo got a SummerSlam match.
Mean Gene now introduces Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man down for the face to face interview. Warrior rambles on as only he can and is really hamming it up with his voice. Savage is just so much better than Warrior on the mic here, but the dynamic works well enough. Flair and Perfect make their way to the ring. Flair says he's the best in the WWF and that he's beaten up guys with face paint up his entire career. Perfect does a mediocre Macho impression and calls him the Macho chicken. Savage charges the ring and attacks Flair. However, Flair and Perfect gain control and then Warrior comes down to make the save. Warrior then picks up the belt and then Savage takes it away. They begin to start pushing each other, but WWF officials are trying to pull them apart.
Red Tyler & Chris Duffy vs. The Beverly Brothers
I always liked Blake Beverly. Double hip toss on Duffy and he tags in Tyler. Beau hits some suplexes and then they hit their scary finisher and get the victory quickly. Everything about the Beverly's is bad except their in ring work. After the match, Tyler gets his face painted and chest painted with "LOS" on it. They are still trying to make that a thing.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time in the Event Center with Mooney. Papa Shango cuts a promo on Ultimate Warrior. How did this make any sense to me as a kid? Big Boss Man is wearing a sharp new hat and says that he stands for justice and that Nailz will serve hard time.
Next week we get Bret Hart, Nasty Boys, an interview with Undertaker, Papa Shango and Legion of Doom.
Well at least that show had something important on it with the Warrior/Savage/Flair segment. The rest was the typical, but they did also have the announcement of three more matches at SummerSlam. I'll take it.
Overall Rating: 37%
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
SmackDown 2-17-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, February 17th, 2005
Gund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rey Mysterio vs. Doug Basham
Before the match, Mysterio grabs the mic and sounds more confident than normal. Rey blames the Bashams for taking out his partner, Rob Van Dam. He says he has found a new partner and at No Way Out they will take their championships away. He announces Eddie Guerrero as his new partner to a good pop. After interference from his brother, Doug takes it to Mysterio, hitting a nice suplex along the way. Mysterio gets some offense in and hits a 619 while Doug was tripped by Eddie and picks up the victory. That was a pretty unimportant match
Match Rating: *1/2
JBL and Orlando Jordan walk into Teddy Long's office. JBL is mad that Long isn't doing anything to stop Batista from coming to SmackDown. JBL denies that he tried to hit Batista with his limo and then blames Long. Long announces that Batista will be at No Way Out and that he hopes to sign Batista to SmackDown.
We get a highlight package of the No Way Out press conference.
Torrie Wilson is here to announce for the Cruiserweight match here.
Chavo Guerrero, Spike Dudley & Akio vs. Funaki, Paul London & Shannon Moore
Let's see if this one gets past the 5 minute mark. Moore gets a little bit of offense in, before Chavo tags in. Chavo works his way into the match and takes control back. All of a sudden the Diva music hits and they are holding signs with their names on it. The wrestler just kind of stand there and watch. Spike gets tagged in and hits the double stomp from the top rope. Funaki gets the hot tag and does a double tag team match with some sort of rules. London hits a dropsault, which has been one of my favorite moves for awhile. Moore and London do flips over the top rope in a well timed spot. Funaki gets the pin on Spike. Decent little match.
Match Rating: **
Booker T and Eddie Guerrero do a Pulp Fiction spoof.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Danny Gimondo
Before the match, Angle cuts a promo saying that he's going to his third straight WrestleMania main event. Dolph Ziggler and Kenny Dykstra are the police that accompanied Angle to the ring. Gimondo is a pretty good sized guy, who appears to have been a lifetime indy wrestler. In about the time it took me to write that last sentence, Angle hits the Angle Slam and Ankle Lock for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
John Cena comes out and he and Angle have a moment together.
WWE Championship Semifinal Match
John Cena vs. Booker T
These two never clicked for me, let's see if this match will change my mind. We already have a rest hold like two minutes into the match. Cena goes to a FU, but Booker is able to escape as we go to commercial break. Back from the break and Cena is back to a rest hold. Booker T then nails him with a kick to the jaw. Cena makes a comeback, but it's stalled when Booker throws him through the ropes. Booker hits Cena with a weak looking axe handle of the apron. Was there anyone who actually thought Cena wasn't winning this match? Irish whip and then a big scoop slam by Booker, as he moves into a headlock. Cena is able to hit a jumping shoulder tackle and then blocks Booker's punches and dishing out some of his own. Cena's little burst is cut short by a spinebuster from Booker. Booker goes for the scissors kick, but Cena moves and goes for the FU. Booker semi-blocks it and then hits him with a kick and gets a 2 count. Cena hits a FU out of nowhere and gets the victory. That match did not change my mind about their chemistry. Something about them just doesn't mesh.
Match Rating: **
JBL tells his cabinet that he has a plan. They then cut over to Big Show and says he has no thoughts about Batista coming to SmackDown.
Booker T is in the back and walks by Heidenreich sitting on the floor writing in his notebook and begins laughing at Booker. Booker makes fun of him and then they kind of just cut out of it.
Luther Reigns vs. Nunzio
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the ratings for this segment were not the highest of the night. Reigns is all over Nunzio. Reigns dumps him over the top rope to the apron and Nunzio looked as if he hit his face there on the way down. Reigns hits his spinning neckbreaker here. Reigns got all of the offense here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Luther then cuts a promo saying that the Undertaker intimidates everyone, but not him. It's nice that although Luther failed, his brother Roman picked up his slack years later at WrestleMania. The Undertakers music hits and out he comes.
Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak
I can't believe they're giving this match away for free on TV. A main event in any city. Taker gives Reigns a big boot out to the apron. Taker then begins throwing fists on Jindrak. Taker flips over to Reigns and hits him with a clothesline. Jindrak gets in a minute or so of his offense, but then we get all of the "Vintage Undertaker". Reigns takes away a camera and climbs into the ring. Taker pins Jindrak and instead of breaking up the count, Reigns lets Taker win the match and then decides to hit him with the camera. Um, ok. After about 10 seconds, if that, Taker sits up. Yeah, no one cares about this.
Match Rating: *
Carlito walks into Teddy Long's office. They begin to argue and Long says that his main focus is to sign Batista and kicks him out of his office.
Cena is backstage with Josh Matthews and Kurt Angle interrupts. Angle brings up Cena's first match against Angle. Cena then says he is going to WrestleMania. Pretty basic stuff here.
JBL and his jobber stable are heading to the ring because Batista is here.
JBL denies that it was him trying to take down Batista on Raw. JBL calls out Batista and they show Batista pulling in to the back. Batista walks by JBL's limo and goes back to his car to grab a baseball bat. Batista is now destroying JBL's limo. For some reason this goes on for a really, really long time. The Cabinet goes to the back and Batista is gone. Big Show's music hits and he goes to fight the solo JBL. The Cabinet makes it back and helps JBL out, but then out comes Batista. Batista destroys the Cabinet. JBL retreats to the back and that's all she wrote.
That was a really bad episode. Nothing memorable happened and all of the matches weren't very good. I'd say that's a bad recipe for a sports entertainment show. That's also never really a great thing going into a pay per view, especially one that is as lukewarm as this one is. We'll see if that show is better than I remember.
Overall Rating: 36%
Gund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rey Mysterio vs. Doug Basham
Before the match, Mysterio grabs the mic and sounds more confident than normal. Rey blames the Bashams for taking out his partner, Rob Van Dam. He says he has found a new partner and at No Way Out they will take their championships away. He announces Eddie Guerrero as his new partner to a good pop. After interference from his brother, Doug takes it to Mysterio, hitting a nice suplex along the way. Mysterio gets some offense in and hits a 619 while Doug was tripped by Eddie and picks up the victory. That was a pretty unimportant match
Match Rating: *1/2
JBL and Orlando Jordan walk into Teddy Long's office. JBL is mad that Long isn't doing anything to stop Batista from coming to SmackDown. JBL denies that he tried to hit Batista with his limo and then blames Long. Long announces that Batista will be at No Way Out and that he hopes to sign Batista to SmackDown.
We get a highlight package of the No Way Out press conference.
Torrie Wilson is here to announce for the Cruiserweight match here.
Chavo Guerrero, Spike Dudley & Akio vs. Funaki, Paul London & Shannon Moore
Let's see if this one gets past the 5 minute mark. Moore gets a little bit of offense in, before Chavo tags in. Chavo works his way into the match and takes control back. All of a sudden the Diva music hits and they are holding signs with their names on it. The wrestler just kind of stand there and watch. Spike gets tagged in and hits the double stomp from the top rope. Funaki gets the hot tag and does a double tag team match with some sort of rules. London hits a dropsault, which has been one of my favorite moves for awhile. Moore and London do flips over the top rope in a well timed spot. Funaki gets the pin on Spike. Decent little match.
Match Rating: **
Booker T and Eddie Guerrero do a Pulp Fiction spoof.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Danny Gimondo
Before the match, Angle cuts a promo saying that he's going to his third straight WrestleMania main event. Dolph Ziggler and Kenny Dykstra are the police that accompanied Angle to the ring. Gimondo is a pretty good sized guy, who appears to have been a lifetime indy wrestler. In about the time it took me to write that last sentence, Angle hits the Angle Slam and Ankle Lock for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
John Cena comes out and he and Angle have a moment together.
WWE Championship Semifinal Match
John Cena vs. Booker T
These two never clicked for me, let's see if this match will change my mind. We already have a rest hold like two minutes into the match. Cena goes to a FU, but Booker is able to escape as we go to commercial break. Back from the break and Cena is back to a rest hold. Booker T then nails him with a kick to the jaw. Cena makes a comeback, but it's stalled when Booker throws him through the ropes. Booker hits Cena with a weak looking axe handle of the apron. Was there anyone who actually thought Cena wasn't winning this match? Irish whip and then a big scoop slam by Booker, as he moves into a headlock. Cena is able to hit a jumping shoulder tackle and then blocks Booker's punches and dishing out some of his own. Cena's little burst is cut short by a spinebuster from Booker. Booker goes for the scissors kick, but Cena moves and goes for the FU. Booker semi-blocks it and then hits him with a kick and gets a 2 count. Cena hits a FU out of nowhere and gets the victory. That match did not change my mind about their chemistry. Something about them just doesn't mesh.
Match Rating: **
JBL tells his cabinet that he has a plan. They then cut over to Big Show and says he has no thoughts about Batista coming to SmackDown.
Booker T is in the back and walks by Heidenreich sitting on the floor writing in his notebook and begins laughing at Booker. Booker makes fun of him and then they kind of just cut out of it.
Luther Reigns vs. Nunzio
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the ratings for this segment were not the highest of the night. Reigns is all over Nunzio. Reigns dumps him over the top rope to the apron and Nunzio looked as if he hit his face there on the way down. Reigns hits his spinning neckbreaker here. Reigns got all of the offense here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Luther then cuts a promo saying that the Undertaker intimidates everyone, but not him. It's nice that although Luther failed, his brother Roman picked up his slack years later at WrestleMania. The Undertakers music hits and out he comes.
Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak
I can't believe they're giving this match away for free on TV. A main event in any city. Taker gives Reigns a big boot out to the apron. Taker then begins throwing fists on Jindrak. Taker flips over to Reigns and hits him with a clothesline. Jindrak gets in a minute or so of his offense, but then we get all of the "Vintage Undertaker". Reigns takes away a camera and climbs into the ring. Taker pins Jindrak and instead of breaking up the count, Reigns lets Taker win the match and then decides to hit him with the camera. Um, ok. After about 10 seconds, if that, Taker sits up. Yeah, no one cares about this.
Match Rating: *
Carlito walks into Teddy Long's office. They begin to argue and Long says that his main focus is to sign Batista and kicks him out of his office.
Cena is backstage with Josh Matthews and Kurt Angle interrupts. Angle brings up Cena's first match against Angle. Cena then says he is going to WrestleMania. Pretty basic stuff here.
JBL and his jobber stable are heading to the ring because Batista is here.
JBL denies that it was him trying to take down Batista on Raw. JBL calls out Batista and they show Batista pulling in to the back. Batista walks by JBL's limo and goes back to his car to grab a baseball bat. Batista is now destroying JBL's limo. For some reason this goes on for a really, really long time. The Cabinet goes to the back and Batista is gone. Big Show's music hits and he goes to fight the solo JBL. The Cabinet makes it back and helps JBL out, but then out comes Batista. Batista destroys the Cabinet. JBL retreats to the back and that's all she wrote.
That was a really bad episode. Nothing memorable happened and all of the matches weren't very good. I'd say that's a bad recipe for a sports entertainment show. That's also never really a great thing going into a pay per view, especially one that is as lukewarm as this one is. We'll see if that show is better than I remember.
Overall Rating: 36%
Monday, April 15, 2019
Monday Night Raw 2-14-05
Monday, February 14th, 2005
US Bank Arena
Cincinnati, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Chris Jericho is on his way to the ring for The Highlight Reel with his guest Candice Michelle, who was recently in the Go Daddy commercial. Remember when those were a thing? Candice is really not very good here. She teases a wardrobe malfunction and out comes Muhammad Hassan. And right on cue, the crowd starts chanting U-S-A. Hassan seems a little bit more comfortable here. This goes off the rails into offensively stupid territory pretty quickly here. Jericho calls Daivari Hassan's special little Valentine. Hassan then challenges Jericho as we go to commercial.
Chris Jericho vs. Muhammad Hassan
We are joined with the match in progress and Jericho is in control. A couple of big suplexes by Jericho, who then does the standing flex pin for a 1 count. Jericho rolls through to an attempt at the Walls of Jericho, but Hassan gets to the ropes. Springboard shoulder block by Jericho and a top rope cross body gets a 2 count. Daivari tries to lower the ropes, but Jericho catches himself and stomps on Daivari's hand. That distraction gives Hassan the opening and throws Jericho into the turnbuckle. Jericho fights out of a chinlock and hits Hassan with a jumping spin kick to the face. Hassan gets out of another Walls of Jericho attempt, but hits his version of the bulldog. Daivari distracts the ref, but Jericho hits him with a springboard dropkick. Hassan hits Jericho from behind with his reverse STO and gets the victory.
Match Rating: **1/4
Ric Flair and Triple H are backstage and Triple H is ready to fight JBL, who is supposedly on his way to the arena to go after Batista. Triple H asks Flair to tell Batista to focus on his match with Edge tonight and that he will take care of JBL.
They announce the next Hall of Fame inductee, Roddy Piper. As far as mid-80s WWF wrestling goes, that's a pretty stacked class.
Randy Orton is backstage with Stacy Kiebler and he's telling her about his dad. Stacy then asks Randy out on a date. Now Batista is backstage talking with Maria until Flair interrupts. Batista announces that he is going to make his decision after No Way Out as to who he will face at WrestleMania. Thrilling television right there.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Shelton Benjamin vs. Gene Snitsky
This is an odd pairing, but I suppose it is just a throwaway TV match. Stinger Splash by Shelton, but then goes for another, but Snitsky takes him down. Snitsky then hits his own splash to the corner and gets a 2 count. Snitsky up on the second rope, but misses with an elbow drop. Shelton hits a elbow drop off the top rope and almost gets a 3 count. Shelton then gets decapitated by a big boot from Snitsky. Shelton looks really good here, taking some nice bumps and hitting all of his offense with some crispness. Snitsky and Earl Hebner argue over the count seemingly forever until he charges Shelton, who flips him over the top rope. Snitsky grabs a chair and hits Shelton with a sickening and 100% unnecessary blow. I know I can only look at this through 2019 eyes, but I don't think 2005 me would have thought that was a good idea.
Match Rating: *1/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri goes to work on Grenier with some kicks and a few open hand slaps to the chest. Tajiri went for the Tarantula, but Grenier reverses it, but Tajiri turns that into a bulldog. La Resistance then hits him with a sloppy double team and have 0 heat here. It's safe to say their gimmick had run its course here. La Resistance controls the next minute or so until Tajiri hits his springboard elbow and gets the hot tag to Regal. Regal hits a running knee and they get the victory in an abrupt ending. The tag team division was running on empty in 2005.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Christian would get my vote for Orton's best opponent. Christian gets in Orton's face and Orton goes after him. Orton is getting a lot female reactions from the crowd tonight. Orton is getting in just about all the offense here until Christian is able to flip over the top rope and then Tomko throws him into the steps. So the ref obviously had to hear that and then he also saw him laying next to the steps that were knocked over, but I guess that's not enough for him to call for a disqualification. After a close call, Orton fights back and throw's Christian face first into the turnbuckle, Bret Hart style. Orton then hits a really nice dropkick, clothesline and back body drop. Orton then destroys Christian's chest with some fists. Christian tries to get the turnbuckle cover off, which distracts the ref and Tomko levels Orton with a big boot, but Orton kicks out. Thumb to the eye by Christian, but Orton reverses the Unprettier with his reverse backbreaker. Orton signals for the RKO, but Christian reverses for an Unprettier who Orton turns into the RKO and a victory. Good match and the crowd was there for it from start to finish. Can't ask for much more than that on a Raw.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bischoff is on the phone talking to Teddy Long about JBL coming to Raw. Edge then walks in and is sick of everyone talking about Batista. Edge says that if Batista chooses to face JBL at WrestleMania, that he wants to be Triple H's opponent.
Trish Status is out to let us know that the Divas on Raw are trying to steal Trish's spotlight. Trish then calls out Christy Hemme. Christy finally comes out to mild applause. Trish mocks Christy's walk down to the ring. Trish announces that Christy is going to be posing in Playboy. They get into some embarrassingly bad 2005 era stuff, which causes Trish to slap Christy and head to the back. Christy had no business in this spot.
Simon Dean vs. Kane
Simon Dean talks about being worried about this match, but then insult the crowd by calling them Cinci-fatty. Kane then attacks him with a chokeslam. Dean tries to throw his protein power at Kane, but Kane knocks it out. Kane mocks Dean by doing push ups and then pulls Dean by his throat and gives him a chokeslam and gets the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Earlier tonight Shawn Michaels (dressed in a suit?) is met by Jonathan Coachman. He asks him about Kurt Angle and Shawn says that he should stay focused on his match at No Way Out.
Batista lets Triple H know that he will handle JBL by himself. Triple H tries to talk him out of it, but Batista is having none of that.
Chris Masters is finally making his debut next week. He would have been a 1992 Superstars favorite if he were born 15 years earlier.
Batista vs. Edge
Batista's entrance certainly doesn't have the same effect without the pyro. Triple H walks out about 30 seconds after Batista does. Edge gets in a little more offense than I was expecting here and then Batista swats him away. The crowd is still hesitant on Batista here. Edge truly wasn't 100% over as a heel at this time either, so that probably isn't helping. Edge reverses a spinebuster and turns it into a DDT. Edge goes for a spear, but Batista hits the spinebuster this time. Batista Bomb, but then Triple H comes in and pushes the ref down and shows Batista the Titan Tron that's showing JBL's limo. The ref calls for the bell and DQs Batista, as Evolution heads for the back.
Match Rating: *3/4
Triple H is in full cheese mode here as they show them walking back to find JBL. Batista then yells at Triple H and says he will be the one to take care of it. He's out there yelling for JBL and JBL's limo attempts to run over Batista, but Triple H is there to push him into a conveniently placed pile of garbage. Batista is fuming and declares that he will be going to SmackDown Thursday on his own.
There wasn't a whole lot of substance to this show, as pretty much everything on here was throwaway. However, we did get a really solid match between Christian and Orton and a fun opener with Jericho and Hassan. Batista and Edge was just filler to continue the Triple H/Batista story for WrestleMania. The rest was completely forgettable.
Overall Rating: 49%
US Bank Arena
Cincinnati, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Chris Jericho is on his way to the ring for The Highlight Reel with his guest Candice Michelle, who was recently in the Go Daddy commercial. Remember when those were a thing? Candice is really not very good here. She teases a wardrobe malfunction and out comes Muhammad Hassan. And right on cue, the crowd starts chanting U-S-A. Hassan seems a little bit more comfortable here. This goes off the rails into offensively stupid territory pretty quickly here. Jericho calls Daivari Hassan's special little Valentine. Hassan then challenges Jericho as we go to commercial.
Chris Jericho vs. Muhammad Hassan
We are joined with the match in progress and Jericho is in control. A couple of big suplexes by Jericho, who then does the standing flex pin for a 1 count. Jericho rolls through to an attempt at the Walls of Jericho, but Hassan gets to the ropes. Springboard shoulder block by Jericho and a top rope cross body gets a 2 count. Daivari tries to lower the ropes, but Jericho catches himself and stomps on Daivari's hand. That distraction gives Hassan the opening and throws Jericho into the turnbuckle. Jericho fights out of a chinlock and hits Hassan with a jumping spin kick to the face. Hassan gets out of another Walls of Jericho attempt, but hits his version of the bulldog. Daivari distracts the ref, but Jericho hits him with a springboard dropkick. Hassan hits Jericho from behind with his reverse STO and gets the victory.
Match Rating: **1/4
Ric Flair and Triple H are backstage and Triple H is ready to fight JBL, who is supposedly on his way to the arena to go after Batista. Triple H asks Flair to tell Batista to focus on his match with Edge tonight and that he will take care of JBL.
They announce the next Hall of Fame inductee, Roddy Piper. As far as mid-80s WWF wrestling goes, that's a pretty stacked class.
Randy Orton is backstage with Stacy Kiebler and he's telling her about his dad. Stacy then asks Randy out on a date. Now Batista is backstage talking with Maria until Flair interrupts. Batista announces that he is going to make his decision after No Way Out as to who he will face at WrestleMania. Thrilling television right there.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Shelton Benjamin vs. Gene Snitsky
This is an odd pairing, but I suppose it is just a throwaway TV match. Stinger Splash by Shelton, but then goes for another, but Snitsky takes him down. Snitsky then hits his own splash to the corner and gets a 2 count. Snitsky up on the second rope, but misses with an elbow drop. Shelton hits a elbow drop off the top rope and almost gets a 3 count. Shelton then gets decapitated by a big boot from Snitsky. Shelton looks really good here, taking some nice bumps and hitting all of his offense with some crispness. Snitsky and Earl Hebner argue over the count seemingly forever until he charges Shelton, who flips him over the top rope. Snitsky grabs a chair and hits Shelton with a sickening and 100% unnecessary blow. I know I can only look at this through 2019 eyes, but I don't think 2005 me would have thought that was a good idea.
Match Rating: *1/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri goes to work on Grenier with some kicks and a few open hand slaps to the chest. Tajiri went for the Tarantula, but Grenier reverses it, but Tajiri turns that into a bulldog. La Resistance then hits him with a sloppy double team and have 0 heat here. It's safe to say their gimmick had run its course here. La Resistance controls the next minute or so until Tajiri hits his springboard elbow and gets the hot tag to Regal. Regal hits a running knee and they get the victory in an abrupt ending. The tag team division was running on empty in 2005.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Christian would get my vote for Orton's best opponent. Christian gets in Orton's face and Orton goes after him. Orton is getting a lot female reactions from the crowd tonight. Orton is getting in just about all the offense here until Christian is able to flip over the top rope and then Tomko throws him into the steps. So the ref obviously had to hear that and then he also saw him laying next to the steps that were knocked over, but I guess that's not enough for him to call for a disqualification. After a close call, Orton fights back and throw's Christian face first into the turnbuckle, Bret Hart style. Orton then hits a really nice dropkick, clothesline and back body drop. Orton then destroys Christian's chest with some fists. Christian tries to get the turnbuckle cover off, which distracts the ref and Tomko levels Orton with a big boot, but Orton kicks out. Thumb to the eye by Christian, but Orton reverses the Unprettier with his reverse backbreaker. Orton signals for the RKO, but Christian reverses for an Unprettier who Orton turns into the RKO and a victory. Good match and the crowd was there for it from start to finish. Can't ask for much more than that on a Raw.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bischoff is on the phone talking to Teddy Long about JBL coming to Raw. Edge then walks in and is sick of everyone talking about Batista. Edge says that if Batista chooses to face JBL at WrestleMania, that he wants to be Triple H's opponent.
Trish Status is out to let us know that the Divas on Raw are trying to steal Trish's spotlight. Trish then calls out Christy Hemme. Christy finally comes out to mild applause. Trish mocks Christy's walk down to the ring. Trish announces that Christy is going to be posing in Playboy. They get into some embarrassingly bad 2005 era stuff, which causes Trish to slap Christy and head to the back. Christy had no business in this spot.
Simon Dean vs. Kane
Simon Dean talks about being worried about this match, but then insult the crowd by calling them Cinci-fatty. Kane then attacks him with a chokeslam. Dean tries to throw his protein power at Kane, but Kane knocks it out. Kane mocks Dean by doing push ups and then pulls Dean by his throat and gives him a chokeslam and gets the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Earlier tonight Shawn Michaels (dressed in a suit?) is met by Jonathan Coachman. He asks him about Kurt Angle and Shawn says that he should stay focused on his match at No Way Out.
Batista lets Triple H know that he will handle JBL by himself. Triple H tries to talk him out of it, but Batista is having none of that.
Chris Masters is finally making his debut next week. He would have been a 1992 Superstars favorite if he were born 15 years earlier.
Batista vs. Edge
Batista's entrance certainly doesn't have the same effect without the pyro. Triple H walks out about 30 seconds after Batista does. Edge gets in a little more offense than I was expecting here and then Batista swats him away. The crowd is still hesitant on Batista here. Edge truly wasn't 100% over as a heel at this time either, so that probably isn't helping. Edge reverses a spinebuster and turns it into a DDT. Edge goes for a spear, but Batista hits the spinebuster this time. Batista Bomb, but then Triple H comes in and pushes the ref down and shows Batista the Titan Tron that's showing JBL's limo. The ref calls for the bell and DQs Batista, as Evolution heads for the back.
Match Rating: *3/4
Triple H is in full cheese mode here as they show them walking back to find JBL. Batista then yells at Triple H and says he will be the one to take care of it. He's out there yelling for JBL and JBL's limo attempts to run over Batista, but Triple H is there to push him into a conveniently placed pile of garbage. Batista is fuming and declares that he will be going to SmackDown Thursday on his own.
There wasn't a whole lot of substance to this show, as pretty much everything on here was throwaway. However, we did get a really solid match between Christian and Orton and a fun opener with Jericho and Hassan. Batista and Edge was just filler to continue the Triple H/Batista story for WrestleMania. The rest was completely forgettable.
Overall Rating: 49%
Friday, April 12, 2019
NXT 9-12-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kenneth Cameron vs. Jey Uso
No intro this week, we go right into the Ascension entrance. Jey Uso gets the early advantage, but Cameron then grounds him with a headlock/body scissor combination. Cameron tosses Jey upside down into the turnbuckles. Konnor gets involved, which causes him and Jimmy to get into it. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Jey pushes Cameron off the ropes and hits a superkick for the victory. It was going along pretty decently and just sort of ended. After the match the Usos celebrate in the crowd and some of the people just sort of sit there.
Match Rating: *3/4
Big E. Langston vs. Chad Baxter
Big E. right off the bat just starts firing away on poor Baxter. Baxter tries a sunset flip, but Langston pulls him up and throws him in the turnbuckles. Straps are down and Langston hits the Big Finish for the victory. Langston continues to look solid here on NXT.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match he pins him for 5 seconds. He says that 3 counts are normal, but he is not normal. From now on, he will use 5 counts. The crowd chants "One more time" so he gives him a third Big Finish for another 5 count.
Kassius Ohno says that next week he is going to have the first sparring session and we will find out just how dangerous he is.
They do a cool video package for Trent Barretta.
Garrett Dylan vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow was always such a perfect WWE talent and I'm not sure why Vince was so against letting him succeed. He got over everything he did. Sandow is handling Dylan with ease until Dylan gets a lariat. But just like that, Sandow is back in control and hits his signature elbow drop. Sandow with a reverse neckbreaker and the victory. I have missed watching Sandow. After the match, he gives us a cartwheel.
Match Rating: 3/4*
They are backstage with NXT Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins says he will fight anybody and in comes Rick Victor and he slaps Rollins.
Seth Rollins goes to Dusty Rhodes and tells him he wants a match with Victor next week. Dusty grants him his match.
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty
Let's see if McGillicutty can keep up here with someone like Kidd. McGillicutty hits a big neckbreaker from the ropes to go into the commercial break. I'm still not 100% sure what they saw in McGillicutty to put him with Heyman and attempt to give him a huge push. I'm also not sure how they can sit here and tell me that he's Curt Hennig's son, but his name is Michael McGillicutty. Kidd gains some momentum after a long heat segment and McGillicutty is outside and gets greeted with a kick to the sternum by Kidd. McGillicutty goes up top, but Kidd crotches him on the top rope. Kidd then hits the top rope hurricanrana. McGillicutty is able to get the rolling neckbreaker and the victory. This match was decent enough.
Match Rating: **
This was certainly not the best of episode of NXT yet, but it was definitely not the worst either. There was some movement in a couple of feuds and both squash matches were good for what they were. I'm still waiting for at least one episode to "wow" me and it just hasn't happened.
Overall Rating: 39%
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kenneth Cameron vs. Jey Uso
No intro this week, we go right into the Ascension entrance. Jey Uso gets the early advantage, but Cameron then grounds him with a headlock/body scissor combination. Cameron tosses Jey upside down into the turnbuckles. Konnor gets involved, which causes him and Jimmy to get into it. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Jey pushes Cameron off the ropes and hits a superkick for the victory. It was going along pretty decently and just sort of ended. After the match the Usos celebrate in the crowd and some of the people just sort of sit there.
Match Rating: *3/4
Big E. Langston vs. Chad Baxter
Big E. right off the bat just starts firing away on poor Baxter. Baxter tries a sunset flip, but Langston pulls him up and throws him in the turnbuckles. Straps are down and Langston hits the Big Finish for the victory. Langston continues to look solid here on NXT.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match he pins him for 5 seconds. He says that 3 counts are normal, but he is not normal. From now on, he will use 5 counts. The crowd chants "One more time" so he gives him a third Big Finish for another 5 count.
Kassius Ohno says that next week he is going to have the first sparring session and we will find out just how dangerous he is.
They do a cool video package for Trent Barretta.
Garrett Dylan vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow was always such a perfect WWE talent and I'm not sure why Vince was so against letting him succeed. He got over everything he did. Sandow is handling Dylan with ease until Dylan gets a lariat. But just like that, Sandow is back in control and hits his signature elbow drop. Sandow with a reverse neckbreaker and the victory. I have missed watching Sandow. After the match, he gives us a cartwheel.
Match Rating: 3/4*
They are backstage with NXT Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins says he will fight anybody and in comes Rick Victor and he slaps Rollins.
Seth Rollins goes to Dusty Rhodes and tells him he wants a match with Victor next week. Dusty grants him his match.
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty
Let's see if McGillicutty can keep up here with someone like Kidd. McGillicutty hits a big neckbreaker from the ropes to go into the commercial break. I'm still not 100% sure what they saw in McGillicutty to put him with Heyman and attempt to give him a huge push. I'm also not sure how they can sit here and tell me that he's Curt Hennig's son, but his name is Michael McGillicutty. Kidd gains some momentum after a long heat segment and McGillicutty is outside and gets greeted with a kick to the sternum by Kidd. McGillicutty goes up top, but Kidd crotches him on the top rope. Kidd then hits the top rope hurricanrana. McGillicutty is able to get the rolling neckbreaker and the victory. This match was decent enough.
Match Rating: **
This was certainly not the best of episode of NXT yet, but it was definitely not the worst either. There was some movement in a couple of feuds and both squash matches were good for what they were. I'm still waiting for at least one episode to "wow" me and it just hasn't happened.
Overall Rating: 39%
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Superstars 7-18-92 Review
Original Airdate: Saturday, July 18th, 1992
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Mr. Perfect talks about how SummerSlam will be in London and then makes a Uranus joke because it is Space Week. Plus, we have a big announcement about the main event at SummerSlam.
Natural Disasters vs. Dwayne Gill & The Brooklyn Brawler
The Natural Disasters as faces was always so strange to me. Money, Inc. calls them a couple of bozos as Earthquake stomps away on Gill. Even as a young kid who knew next to nothing about wrestling, it was always pretty obvious that Earthquake was always the better performer. They do their double splash in the corner and for some reason Brawler runs in there, so they stick him in there and do it again. Body slam, Quake splash, Typhoon splash and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/4*
As always, it's Update time with Gene Okerlund. Apparently this is the SummerSlam we thought we would never see? We get a highlight package about bringing SummerSlam to London..or not? Looks like they maybe cut something out? Mean Gene then announces the main event will be Macho Man vs. Ultimate Warrior. Both men will be on Superstars next week.
Glen Ruth vs. Ric Flair
Flair gets right to Ruth and they are claiming it is because of the announcement of the main event that he's so angry. Mr. Perfect joins in on the party as well. Flair destroys Ruth and puts him in the Figure Four. After the bell, he refuses to let go and then him and Perfect destroy him some more. Angry Flair is always good.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Event Center time with Sean Mooney. Sgt. Slaughter gives his "I love the fans" promo and then talks about the Mountie. The Nasty Boys say that High Energy, LOD and Natural Disasters are the next to be Nasty-sized. For the record, neither the Nasty Boys or Sgt. Slaughter made the SummerSlam card.
Vince shows some clips from Prime Time Wrestling with Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel. As Martel has Hart in the Boston Crab, Shawn Michaels came down to the ring and they leave us in suspense as to what happens next.
Glen Millson vs. Virgil
Millson sort of looks like Isaac Yankem era Kane. I actually like Virgil squash matches. He does sort of an awkward spot where he bumps him out of the ring, but that leads to a splash over the top rope. Virgil looks gassed already. He hits a dropkick and a Russian leg sweep for the victory. Perfect is all fired up about Flair not being in the main event of SummerSlam.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center and the Beverly Brothers are still trying to make Legion of Sissies happen. El Matador gives his generic "I have no feud" promo.
Repo Man vs. Fred Starr
Repo squashes seem to get worse every time we see them. He punches and kicks a few times and then makes Starr submit with his half crab. He then runs away to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show a hype video for Body Star Wars which is a tug of war on WBF Body Stars.
Mean Gene is out to interview Big Boss Man, who is making his comeback here. Boss Man says that doctors weren't sure if he would ever walk right again, yet here he is looking as if nothing happened and he's going to get revenge on Nailz.
Jason Knight vs. The Mountie
Mountie even joins in and sings along live this week. I'm still not sure how this gimmick lasted as long as it did, but I for one am glad. Mountie hits his nice dropkick and that is basically the match here. After the match he threatens to shock Knight with the stick as Jimmy Hart blocks the ref. He lets Knight go so he can talk to the camera instead. He then sings again. God bless Jacques Rougeau.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon vignette time. He's at the beach this week He couldn't talk much slower here. Not very good.
Vito Krus vs. British Bulldog
Bulldog looks good here, hitting his signature moves. Repo Man cuts another ridiculous promo. Back body drop and then the running powerslam ends this one.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time we are back in the Event Center. Kamala is here and Harvey Wippleman reinforces that only Kim Chee can control him. Crush then gives one of the lamest promos you will ever see.
Next week they are going to announce more matches for SummerSlam along with Nailz, Shawn Michaels, Tatanka and a face to face interview between Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man. We get quick promos by both Macho and Warrior and we are all done here.
This show never really varies from week to week and this was more of the same. The Flair stuff was fun and I enjoy the ridiculousness of Mountie and Repo Man. However, it's still not enough to say this is a good show. Would it really have killed them to put on a signature match every couple of weeks?
Overall Rating: 28%
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Mr. Perfect talks about how SummerSlam will be in London and then makes a Uranus joke because it is Space Week. Plus, we have a big announcement about the main event at SummerSlam.
Natural Disasters vs. Dwayne Gill & The Brooklyn Brawler
The Natural Disasters as faces was always so strange to me. Money, Inc. calls them a couple of bozos as Earthquake stomps away on Gill. Even as a young kid who knew next to nothing about wrestling, it was always pretty obvious that Earthquake was always the better performer. They do their double splash in the corner and for some reason Brawler runs in there, so they stick him in there and do it again. Body slam, Quake splash, Typhoon splash and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/4*
As always, it's Update time with Gene Okerlund. Apparently this is the SummerSlam we thought we would never see? We get a highlight package about bringing SummerSlam to London..or not? Looks like they maybe cut something out? Mean Gene then announces the main event will be Macho Man vs. Ultimate Warrior. Both men will be on Superstars next week.
Glen Ruth vs. Ric Flair
Flair gets right to Ruth and they are claiming it is because of the announcement of the main event that he's so angry. Mr. Perfect joins in on the party as well. Flair destroys Ruth and puts him in the Figure Four. After the bell, he refuses to let go and then him and Perfect destroy him some more. Angry Flair is always good.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Event Center time with Sean Mooney. Sgt. Slaughter gives his "I love the fans" promo and then talks about the Mountie. The Nasty Boys say that High Energy, LOD and Natural Disasters are the next to be Nasty-sized. For the record, neither the Nasty Boys or Sgt. Slaughter made the SummerSlam card.
Vince shows some clips from Prime Time Wrestling with Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel. As Martel has Hart in the Boston Crab, Shawn Michaels came down to the ring and they leave us in suspense as to what happens next.
Glen Millson vs. Virgil
Millson sort of looks like Isaac Yankem era Kane. I actually like Virgil squash matches. He does sort of an awkward spot where he bumps him out of the ring, but that leads to a splash over the top rope. Virgil looks gassed already. He hits a dropkick and a Russian leg sweep for the victory. Perfect is all fired up about Flair not being in the main event of SummerSlam.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center and the Beverly Brothers are still trying to make Legion of Sissies happen. El Matador gives his generic "I have no feud" promo.
Repo Man vs. Fred Starr
Repo squashes seem to get worse every time we see them. He punches and kicks a few times and then makes Starr submit with his half crab. He then runs away to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show a hype video for Body Star Wars which is a tug of war on WBF Body Stars.
Mean Gene is out to interview Big Boss Man, who is making his comeback here. Boss Man says that doctors weren't sure if he would ever walk right again, yet here he is looking as if nothing happened and he's going to get revenge on Nailz.
Jason Knight vs. The Mountie
Mountie even joins in and sings along live this week. I'm still not sure how this gimmick lasted as long as it did, but I for one am glad. Mountie hits his nice dropkick and that is basically the match here. After the match he threatens to shock Knight with the stick as Jimmy Hart blocks the ref. He lets Knight go so he can talk to the camera instead. He then sings again. God bless Jacques Rougeau.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon vignette time. He's at the beach this week He couldn't talk much slower here. Not very good.
Vito Krus vs. British Bulldog
Bulldog looks good here, hitting his signature moves. Repo Man cuts another ridiculous promo. Back body drop and then the running powerslam ends this one.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time we are back in the Event Center. Kamala is here and Harvey Wippleman reinforces that only Kim Chee can control him. Crush then gives one of the lamest promos you will ever see.
Next week they are going to announce more matches for SummerSlam along with Nailz, Shawn Michaels, Tatanka and a face to face interview between Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man. We get quick promos by both Macho and Warrior and we are all done here.
This show never really varies from week to week and this was more of the same. The Flair stuff was fun and I enjoy the ridiculousness of Mountie and Repo Man. However, it's still not enough to say this is a good show. Would it really have killed them to put on a signature match every couple of weeks?
Overall Rating: 28%
Sunday, April 7, 2019
WrestleMania 35 Review
Sunday, April 7th, 2019
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Yolanda Adams is here to sing "America The Beautiful" and we have helicopters and fireworks to kick off the show.
They do a "Showcase of the Immortals" hype video featuring different superstars taking turns talking as they show pictures of legendary moments.
I have to say, the set is pretty uninspired for me this year along with the color scheme. And for the love of God, please bring back the number in the title.
They introduce our host for the evening, Alexa Bliss. She says if she wants a WrestleMania moment, all she has to do is snap her fingers. So she does and "Real American" plays and out comes one of my least favorite wrestlers of all time. Let's see how much he goes over and steals from one of the matches tonight. Hogan makes a Silverdome joke. Bliss and Hogan pose for the crowd and then Paul Heyman comes storming out. Heyman says that if Lesnar is not the last match, then he's fighting now so that Lesnar can leave.
WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins
I am very curious to see what they do here. We already had two new champions on the pre-show. Lesnar attacks Rollins as soon as he gets to the ring and hits the F5 on the outside. Lesnar is absolutely destroying Rollins and the bell has still not rung. Lesnar throws him into the ring and the ref tries to stop Lesnar, so Lesnar throws him over the ropes again. Lesnar throws Rollins over the German announce table again and right into one of the announcers. The announcer no sells it. Best of luck on your future endeavors. They are back in the ring again and the bell has finally rung. Lesnar immediately takes him to the corner and then to Suplex City. Rollins is fighting back after a low blow and hits Lesnar with a superkick. Rollins hits the Stomp, not once, but twice. Make it three times. Rollins covers and that is all. Rollins is your new Universal Champion. That was interesting booking, but I don't hate it. With 3 huge title matches on the show, they did a good job of helping distinguish this one from the other two. This is a hard match to rate as there wasn't a whole lot of match, but it had a clear story and it was memorable. The only thing that gets me thinking here is do both Kofi and Becky win later tonight after they went this route?
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Jerry Lawler is announced as the guest commentator for the next match and they show Lesnar walking to the back.
AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton
This one probably could have been a co-headliner on one of the normal shows. I am guessing they go on to fight on the next couple shows with different stipulations. AJ hits a launched forearm smash to the outside. Orton is back on the offense after he bumps Styles off the apron into the guard rail. Chinlock time for Orton. I wish I loved anything as much as he loved that hold. Orton goes for the RKO, but Styles blocks it and Orton hits his signature body slam. Styles is able to get the Calf Crusher on, but Orton gets to the ropes. Styles hits a 450 splash, but Orton kicks out. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Orton ducks and hits him with a backbreaker. The crowd already seems exhausted and it's only 7:45 pm EST. Orton hits a nice looking superplex and of course only gets a 2 count. Not sure what is going on in the crowd, but now Orton is playing with them. Enzuigiri by Styles and rolls him up for a 2 count, but then Orton hits him with a RKO but Styles kicks out. Apparently the crowd was chanting for the lights to be turned off, as it was blinding a good amount of people. Styles hits a Phenomenal Forearm to the outside. Styles goes for it in the ring, but Orton goes for the RKO, which Styles blocks and then he ends up hitting the forearm and gets the 3 count. That was disappointing to say the least. I'm not a big Orton fan, but both men are capable of more than that. At least the right guy won here.
Match Rating: **3/4
Out comes Lacey Evans and there she goes. Not sure how much longer they can really run with this. I have to think it ends possibly this week.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
The Usos vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black
Remember how over Rusev was last year and they just threw him in a meaningless 4 way match? This year he's less over, same result. If he stays healthy, Ricochet will be in a major match at next years WrestleMania. I could probably say the same thing for Black. They certainly gave everyone their time on the intros, let's hope that they get some time in the ring. Black and Jey start things off. Nakamura hits a nice double team enzuigiri while Rusev held Black. Ricochet hits an awesome head scissors on Cesaro, but Cesaro greets him with a forearm right after. Cesaro now has Ricochet in the swing while Sheamus clubs everyone in the chest. Cesaro is still going, incredible. He immediately puts him in the Sharpshooter and somehow both men seem to have their balance. Jimmy Uso breaks it up. Black and Rusev are in now and Black hits his signature springboard moonsault. Nakamura helps out his partner and gets the tag. Running knee by Nakamura but Ricochet hits a running shooting star press to break up the pin. Well here comes the tower of doom spot. Ricochet rolled through, although I think he was hoping to land. Black hits a knee and Ricochet hits the 630 splash on Sheamus, but the pin is broken up by about three guys. Now we are getting the every guy hits a signature more spot, which leads to the Usos double superkicking Sheamus twice. The Usos hit their double splash off the top rope and get the victory. The Usos deserved a good WrestleMania match after last years was really rushed. Not a show stealer, but a really solid match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
They show highlights from the Hall of Fame and then announce each of the members on the stage. DX gets the full entrance treatment as the headliners.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Shane McMahon vs. The Miz
Shane is all over Miz to begin. Hopefully he doesn't blow himself up here. Shane is already clearing a table and smashes Miz with a TV. Shane is up to the top rope, but Miz's dad steps in the way. Shane steps down and in comes dad. After a few moments of stalling, Shane attacks him and in comes the Miz to save the day. Miz is now annihilating Shane on the outside. He throws him over the guardrail and then goes to attend to his dad and asks for help. Miz then leaps over the guardrail and attacks Shane. I like seeing this side of Miz. They are now fighting near one of the pillars of the ring canopy. Miz is now using a chair on Shane's leg as they walk up the steps through the crowd. Miz is now tossing Shane all over the international announcers tables. Miz throws him through a table and then over a rail on top of a golf cart. He bounced right off the roof and onto the concrete. That had to hurt. Shane climbs up one of the camera towers, but Miz is now right there too. Shane is down on his knees saying that he is sorry. Miz isn't buying it and he hits a superplex off of the tower for a cool visual. Shane lands on top of Miz and the ref counts the 3 count, once again proving that all babyfaces are idiots. I enjoyed Miz in this role. It wasn't a great match, but it was entertaining and told it's story. Both men are down still as they are both attended to.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Paige is out to be the guest commentator for the next match
Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Tamina & Nia Jax vs. The IIconics vs. Natalya & Beth Phoenix
Sahsha & Bayley get fireworks for their entrance. The IIconics have Maleficent inspired attire and Bret Hart is out to see Natalya and Beth down to the ring. It really is lazy booking to have two fatal four way tag team matches on the same show. Things have already broken down and all 8 women are fighting. They are working a pace that feels like they had 5 minutes shaved off their match. For some reason when Peyton was pinning Sasha both Beth and Natalya just watched, which doesn't make much sense in a match that has no DQs. Phoenix hits a double suplex on the IIconics. Beth and Natalya hit the Hart Attack, but the pin is broken up. Sasha has Beth in the Bank Statement, but Beth gets out and has Sasha up for the Glam Slam, but Sasha rolls through. Natalya now goes for the double Sharpshooter on the champs, but Tamina superkicks Natalya to break the hold. Elbow drop off the top from Bayley and then Sasha hits the Frog Splash, but Phoenix kicks out. Paige is not very good as a commentator, but I'm also one of the only people who didn't like her much as a wrestler, so maybe I'm biased. Phoenix hits Bayley with a Glam Slam from the top rope, wow. The IIconics pull Beth off and steal the pin and win the titles. Wow, they went from hardly being used to getting a title win at WrestleMania. I'm a little surprised they took the titles off the faces so quick, but they probably need Sasha and Bayley to help with the singles going forward. The crowd is already getting exhausted and it hurt this match. It was smart that Nia and Tamina hardly were in there.
Match Rating: **1/2
WWE Championship Match
Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan
It's so weird not rooting for Daniel Bryan here. Kofi shows off his incredible leaping ability early by launching himself over the top rope. After some good back and forth action, Kofi launched himself over the top again, but this time Bryan moves and Kofi smashes into the side of the table. Bryan hangs Kofi on the top rope and drives a knee off the top rope. They are continuing to show the roster in the back watching backstage (on an angle of course). Bryan is firmly in control and counters Kofi's comeback by putting him in the Boston Crab, but Kofi gets to the ropes. Bryan props Kofi up on the top rope, but Kofi knocks him off with some elbows while the crowd gives them the "Yes" treatment. Kofi off the top rope, but Bryan kicks out. Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise, but Bryan counters and then Kofi turns it into a nearfall. Kofi with a crossbody off the top, but then Bryan rolls over for another nearfall. Bryan goes for the Lebell Lock, but Kofi is able to escape. The crowd is starting to wake up, as this match is getting better by the minute. Bryan is now raising his arms and the crowd is of course chanting "No". Bryan is such a good heel. Kofi hits S.O.S., but Bryan gets him in the Lebell Lock. Bryan is driving the point of his elbow into Kofi's ribs, but Kofi gets his leg to the ropes. Bryan is hitting him with his leg strikes, but Kofi says bring it on and starts fighting back. Bryan goes for a kick, but Kofi counters it and hits a face first suplex. Rowan and the New Day are now getting involved outside, but Xavier and Big E. take care of him. Bryan goes for the suicide dive, but Kofi hits him before he can leap. Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise again, but again Bryan ducks and nails him with the running knee. Kofi kicks out to a huge pop. Bryan is now stomping on Kofi and rolls back into the Lebell Lock. Kofi rols him over and starts throwing fists. Now he's kicking him in the face. Man, I would be so nervous to do that with Bryan's history. Trouble In Paradise connects this time and Kofi is your new WWE Champion! We all knew it was coming and I still got goosebumps. They unveil the regular WWE Championship belt and bring it to Kofi. Kofi's kids join him in the ring to celebrate. For anyone who has been a fan of WWE the past decade, this a is a great moment. The New Day open up a gift and it is a new shirt with Kofi as champion. That was a really great match.
Match Rating: ****1/4
Alexa Bliss makes her second appearance of the night with the Colin Jost and Michael Che. They are banged up and she tells them that they are good hands. They then show Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in doctors outfits. Um...okay?
Booker T is announced as the guest commentator for the next match.
United States Championship Match
Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe
They are letting two darn good professional wrestlers here follow up the emotional roller coaster that was the last match. Joe goes right after Rey, but Rey hits him with a DDT. Rey hits 619 already and goes up top, but Joe puts him in the Coquina Clutch and that is all. Where was this booking for Joe for like the last two years? Rey has been phenomenal in his comeback and deserved better than that. Hopefully there is more to the story than that, because those guys are capable to have a classic. The only explanation that I will accept is if Mysterio is hurt, which very well could be the case.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
Drew gets a Scottish themed entrance and Roman gets all the fireworks. This is going to be a tough spot for this match. It probably would have worked in their favor to go on early on, maybe in the AJ/Orton slot. Roman went for a Drive By, but McIntyre moves and hits a suplex on the the mat outside. McIntyre has him draped over his back and hits him with the Alabama Slam. McIntyre does an awesome spot, where he was hanging from the top rope by his legs, sat up and threw Reigns who was sitting up on the top rope. Reigns is starting to show signs of life and hits the Drive By this time. I wonder how many of these marathon WrestleManias WWE has to put on before they realize that the crowd just gets exhausted no matter how good the product is. Superman Punch by Reigns and he tries to fire up the crowd. Spear by Reigns and that is all. That was a big time lame finish there. It's awesome to see Roman be able to be back in the ring, but this was pretty vanilla TV match type stuff.
Match Rating: **
Elias is now here to perform. Does this guy ever wrestle? They show him playing the drums and piano on the big screen and then cut to him in the ring. He then begins to play along with the video. He then begins to play the intro to "Seven Nation Army". They then show highlights of Babe Ruth and the Yankees and then out comes Thuganomics era John Cena. Obviously we are going to get a rap here with Cena and even refers to the "FU". Cena decks him and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Hits the Pumps and then the FU, but Cole reminds us that it's now called the AA. That was too long for what it was, but it was a fun enough moment.
Shawn Michaels is out to be guest commentator for the next match.
No Holds Barred
Batista vs. Triple H
Batista trips as he walks into the ring. That's probably not a good omen. Kumail Nanjiani is front row behind the announcers with signs in support of his co-star. Triple H of course gets his annual big entrance that features him coming out in a skeleton mask and riding on the back of a hot rod. I'll always be in the camp that most of his elaborate entrances are lame. I'm much better with him just coming out to his standard "Game" entrance. Please tell me that someone was the voice of reason and talked Triple H out of having a half hour match here. Michael Cole pointing out that we are witnessing history, as it is the first time a tool box has ever been used in this feud. I'll always remember where I was when that happened. Triple H is using the tools on Batista's hands. He then rips Batista's nose ring ripped out by pliers. This is where we are at nearly 6 hours into WrestleMania in 2019. Batista counters Triple H jumping off the apron with a suplex onto the announce table that wasn't cleared off. To call this match slow would be a compliment. I didn't like their match at WrestleMania 14 years ago, so I'm not sure what I was expecting here. Batista put one of the steps on top of the Spanish announce table. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb, but Triple H counters it with a back body drop. Pretty obvious there. Give props to the table for not breaking there. Triple H then does the crotch chop and spears through the German announce table. Batista is going for the Batista Bob, but Triple H grabs the sledgehammer, but Batista still hits it anyway. Triple H kicks out at 2. Triple H hits a powerbomb onto the steps and then a Pedigree and Batista kicks out. Batista then hits a DDT that clearly didn't hit his head onto the steel steps. Ric Flair is now out there and hands the sledgehammer to Triple H and he nails Batista with it. Pedigree and thankfully that is all. Both guys really showed their age there and it felt unnecessary on a card that already had plenty of big matches on it. Triple H and Flair embrace after the match.
Match Rating: **1/4
Alexa Bliss is backstage with the B Team wearing the Daniel Bryan shirts that have him still being the champion on it. They dance around and Ron Simmons comes out and you know the rest. JBL is out to guest commentate for the next match.
Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle
Let's make this short and sweet. Corbin has no business being in there with Angle in his last match. I still can't believe that WWE allows Corbin to come out dressed the way he does. Corbin mocks Angle's family, which causes Angle to fight back and hit 3 German suplexes in a row. Angle slam, but Corbin counters and hits a big boot. You could hear a pin drop at the moment. Angle tries to do a roll through spot into the Ankle Lock, but it takes like 10 seconds for it to happen. Deep Six by Corbin, but Angle kicks out. Angle Slam but it only gets a 2 count. Straps are coming down and he puts on the Ankle Lock. Corbin then does a You Can't See Me and to mock the audience. The crowd starts to cheer on Angle a little bit and he goes up and does a moonsault, but Corbin moves. End Of Days by Corbin and he gets the victory. What a disgrace. Baron Corbin has no business being in this spot. It's sad to see someone who is legitimately one of the best performers of my lifetime look the way he did tonight, but he still deserved better. Angle thanks everyone and hugs his family.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Intercontinental Championship Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor
Lashley is wearing green contacts and Balor of course is the Demon here. Lashley hits some suplexes early on drives Balor into the guardrail. Balor hits Slingblade, but then Lio Rush distracts Balor and Lashley does the Big E spot where he spears him through the ropes to the outside. Lashley hits another spear, but Balor kicks out at 2. Lashley has him up for a powerbomb, but Balor counters it and nails him with a powerbomb after some kicks to set it up. Balor is up top and hits the Coup de Gras for the victory. This is a great example of a match getting screwed over because it was at the end of the show.
Match Rating: *3/4
Alexa Bliss is out again to announce tonight's "attendance" of 82,265 which is supposedly a MetLife Stadium record. She then says she thinks it's time for a break and the crowd boos. She says it again and out comes R-Truth and Carmella. Yeah, poor timing on that one.
Winner Takes All - Raw And SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Charlotte is shown in a helicopter with a creepy smile. Once it lands, they roll out a red carpet for her to walk down and they bring her her robe. Then they cut back to the stadium. That was just awkward. Then the mic cuts on the announcer. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are out to perform for Ronda's entrance. The live performance entrances often come across a little weak on TV. Rousey hits Piper's Pit to the floor on Charlotte. Becky rams Ronda into the ring post and then Charlotte throws Rousey into the barricade. Rousey takes an absolutely scary bump as Charlotte was holding her by her legs over the ropes and Becky dropkicked her to the floor. Charlotte is going up top for the moonsault, but Lynch gets her into the Disarmer, but Rousey breaks it up. Charlotte has Rousey in the Boston Crab, but Becky drives Charlotte face first into the mat. Charlotte is climbing up top, but Becky meets her there and hits a super exploder suplex for a 2 count. Ronda hits a double cross body from the top and now a double arm bar. Charlotte and Becky work together to pick her up and slam her and it takes 3 times for her to release. Charlotte gets a nearfall on Rousey. Listening to this crowd, how happy is Kofi that he went on when he did? They had the crowds full attention and emotion. Lynch gets Disarmer on Rousey. She gets to the rope, which doesn't break the hold, but she uses it to help pick up Becky. Now Becky has Disarmer on her in the corner on the top rope, but Charlotte hits a big boot to break the hold. For some reason you can really hear both women breathing heavily here. Charlotte pulls out the Spanish Fly, which I have to say I didn't expect to see tonight. Charlotte slams Becky's face off the second turnbuckle and then hits a big boot, sending her out to the floor. Charlotte is working on Rousey's leg, who has visible bruises all over her calf. Charlotte does the Figure Four on the post, but Becky breaks it up. Small package by Rousey for a 2 count, but Charlotte gets her right into the Figure Eight. Becky comes out of nowhere and breaks it up. For those wondering, it is now 12:17 am. Becky is going under the ring and pulls out a table and sets it up in the middle of the ring. Charlotte clearly calls a spot and slams Becky into the tale. She goes up top, but Charlotte stops her and then Rousey pushes Charlotte to the outside. Rousey then tips over the table, going full heel tonight. Double spear by Charlotte and gets a 2 count on both women. They are laying it all out there tonight, but it's lacking a strong in ring story that we saw earlier with Bryan and Kofi. Rousey and Becky hip toss Charlotte into the table. With Charlotte knocked outside, Rousey and Becky are in there one on one and Rousey hits Piper's Pit, but Becky shifts her weight and pins Rousey to win both titles. Wasn't expecting that ending at all and I have to think that it hurt the pop she got for winning the title. She gets a rather short celebration before they cut for the end of the show. All three women worked their butts off there. I'm not sure who put the match together, but that ending is just such an odd way to end WrestleMania. I feel like that's more of a Fastlane type of ending. If this is indeed Rousey's last match, why not have her put her over decisively? If she ever comes back, Becky puts her over then. Regardless, that was quite entertaining, but as I said earlier it lacked that extra component to make it the best match of the night.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Seriously, if you are so dead set on running a 7+ hour show, please make WrestleMania a 2 day show. You threw away what should have been a crazy special moment and made it half of the reaction it should have been by forcing the live crowd to be up past midnight for the main event. This was definitely a middle of the road Mania, thanks in part to a weak back half of the card until the main event. I liked the creativeness of the opening bout and it was impossible not to love both Kofi and Becky getting their big moments. I just wish they would have let the rest of the card live up to its potential.
Overall Rating: 74%
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Yolanda Adams is here to sing "America The Beautiful" and we have helicopters and fireworks to kick off the show.
They do a "Showcase of the Immortals" hype video featuring different superstars taking turns talking as they show pictures of legendary moments.
I have to say, the set is pretty uninspired for me this year along with the color scheme. And for the love of God, please bring back the number in the title.
They introduce our host for the evening, Alexa Bliss. She says if she wants a WrestleMania moment, all she has to do is snap her fingers. So she does and "Real American" plays and out comes one of my least favorite wrestlers of all time. Let's see how much he goes over and steals from one of the matches tonight. Hogan makes a Silverdome joke. Bliss and Hogan pose for the crowd and then Paul Heyman comes storming out. Heyman says that if Lesnar is not the last match, then he's fighting now so that Lesnar can leave.
WWE Universal Championship Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins
I am very curious to see what they do here. We already had two new champions on the pre-show. Lesnar attacks Rollins as soon as he gets to the ring and hits the F5 on the outside. Lesnar is absolutely destroying Rollins and the bell has still not rung. Lesnar throws him into the ring and the ref tries to stop Lesnar, so Lesnar throws him over the ropes again. Lesnar throws Rollins over the German announce table again and right into one of the announcers. The announcer no sells it. Best of luck on your future endeavors. They are back in the ring again and the bell has finally rung. Lesnar immediately takes him to the corner and then to Suplex City. Rollins is fighting back after a low blow and hits Lesnar with a superkick. Rollins hits the Stomp, not once, but twice. Make it three times. Rollins covers and that is all. Rollins is your new Universal Champion. That was interesting booking, but I don't hate it. With 3 huge title matches on the show, they did a good job of helping distinguish this one from the other two. This is a hard match to rate as there wasn't a whole lot of match, but it had a clear story and it was memorable. The only thing that gets me thinking here is do both Kofi and Becky win later tonight after they went this route?
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Jerry Lawler is announced as the guest commentator for the next match and they show Lesnar walking to the back.
AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton
This one probably could have been a co-headliner on one of the normal shows. I am guessing they go on to fight on the next couple shows with different stipulations. AJ hits a launched forearm smash to the outside. Orton is back on the offense after he bumps Styles off the apron into the guard rail. Chinlock time for Orton. I wish I loved anything as much as he loved that hold. Orton goes for the RKO, but Styles blocks it and Orton hits his signature body slam. Styles is able to get the Calf Crusher on, but Orton gets to the ropes. Styles hits a 450 splash, but Orton kicks out. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Orton ducks and hits him with a backbreaker. The crowd already seems exhausted and it's only 7:45 pm EST. Orton hits a nice looking superplex and of course only gets a 2 count. Not sure what is going on in the crowd, but now Orton is playing with them. Enzuigiri by Styles and rolls him up for a 2 count, but then Orton hits him with a RKO but Styles kicks out. Apparently the crowd was chanting for the lights to be turned off, as it was blinding a good amount of people. Styles hits a Phenomenal Forearm to the outside. Styles goes for it in the ring, but Orton goes for the RKO, which Styles blocks and then he ends up hitting the forearm and gets the 3 count. That was disappointing to say the least. I'm not a big Orton fan, but both men are capable of more than that. At least the right guy won here.
Match Rating: **3/4
Out comes Lacey Evans and there she goes. Not sure how much longer they can really run with this. I have to think it ends possibly this week.
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
The Usos vs. The Bar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black
Remember how over Rusev was last year and they just threw him in a meaningless 4 way match? This year he's less over, same result. If he stays healthy, Ricochet will be in a major match at next years WrestleMania. I could probably say the same thing for Black. They certainly gave everyone their time on the intros, let's hope that they get some time in the ring. Black and Jey start things off. Nakamura hits a nice double team enzuigiri while Rusev held Black. Ricochet hits an awesome head scissors on Cesaro, but Cesaro greets him with a forearm right after. Cesaro now has Ricochet in the swing while Sheamus clubs everyone in the chest. Cesaro is still going, incredible. He immediately puts him in the Sharpshooter and somehow both men seem to have their balance. Jimmy Uso breaks it up. Black and Rusev are in now and Black hits his signature springboard moonsault. Nakamura helps out his partner and gets the tag. Running knee by Nakamura but Ricochet hits a running shooting star press to break up the pin. Well here comes the tower of doom spot. Ricochet rolled through, although I think he was hoping to land. Black hits a knee and Ricochet hits the 630 splash on Sheamus, but the pin is broken up by about three guys. Now we are getting the every guy hits a signature more spot, which leads to the Usos double superkicking Sheamus twice. The Usos hit their double splash off the top rope and get the victory. The Usos deserved a good WrestleMania match after last years was really rushed. Not a show stealer, but a really solid match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
They show highlights from the Hall of Fame and then announce each of the members on the stage. DX gets the full entrance treatment as the headliners.
Falls Count Anywhere Match
Shane McMahon vs. The Miz
Shane is all over Miz to begin. Hopefully he doesn't blow himself up here. Shane is already clearing a table and smashes Miz with a TV. Shane is up to the top rope, but Miz's dad steps in the way. Shane steps down and in comes dad. After a few moments of stalling, Shane attacks him and in comes the Miz to save the day. Miz is now annihilating Shane on the outside. He throws him over the guardrail and then goes to attend to his dad and asks for help. Miz then leaps over the guardrail and attacks Shane. I like seeing this side of Miz. They are now fighting near one of the pillars of the ring canopy. Miz is now using a chair on Shane's leg as they walk up the steps through the crowd. Miz is now tossing Shane all over the international announcers tables. Miz throws him through a table and then over a rail on top of a golf cart. He bounced right off the roof and onto the concrete. That had to hurt. Shane climbs up one of the camera towers, but Miz is now right there too. Shane is down on his knees saying that he is sorry. Miz isn't buying it and he hits a superplex off of the tower for a cool visual. Shane lands on top of Miz and the ref counts the 3 count, once again proving that all babyfaces are idiots. I enjoyed Miz in this role. It wasn't a great match, but it was entertaining and told it's story. Both men are down still as they are both attended to.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Paige is out to be the guest commentator for the next match
Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Tamina & Nia Jax vs. The IIconics vs. Natalya & Beth Phoenix
Sahsha & Bayley get fireworks for their entrance. The IIconics have Maleficent inspired attire and Bret Hart is out to see Natalya and Beth down to the ring. It really is lazy booking to have two fatal four way tag team matches on the same show. Things have already broken down and all 8 women are fighting. They are working a pace that feels like they had 5 minutes shaved off their match. For some reason when Peyton was pinning Sasha both Beth and Natalya just watched, which doesn't make much sense in a match that has no DQs. Phoenix hits a double suplex on the IIconics. Beth and Natalya hit the Hart Attack, but the pin is broken up. Sasha has Beth in the Bank Statement, but Beth gets out and has Sasha up for the Glam Slam, but Sasha rolls through. Natalya now goes for the double Sharpshooter on the champs, but Tamina superkicks Natalya to break the hold. Elbow drop off the top from Bayley and then Sasha hits the Frog Splash, but Phoenix kicks out. Paige is not very good as a commentator, but I'm also one of the only people who didn't like her much as a wrestler, so maybe I'm biased. Phoenix hits Bayley with a Glam Slam from the top rope, wow. The IIconics pull Beth off and steal the pin and win the titles. Wow, they went from hardly being used to getting a title win at WrestleMania. I'm a little surprised they took the titles off the faces so quick, but they probably need Sasha and Bayley to help with the singles going forward. The crowd is already getting exhausted and it hurt this match. It was smart that Nia and Tamina hardly were in there.
Match Rating: **1/2
WWE Championship Match
Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan
It's so weird not rooting for Daniel Bryan here. Kofi shows off his incredible leaping ability early by launching himself over the top rope. After some good back and forth action, Kofi launched himself over the top again, but this time Bryan moves and Kofi smashes into the side of the table. Bryan hangs Kofi on the top rope and drives a knee off the top rope. They are continuing to show the roster in the back watching backstage (on an angle of course). Bryan is firmly in control and counters Kofi's comeback by putting him in the Boston Crab, but Kofi gets to the ropes. Bryan props Kofi up on the top rope, but Kofi knocks him off with some elbows while the crowd gives them the "Yes" treatment. Kofi off the top rope, but Bryan kicks out. Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise, but Bryan counters and then Kofi turns it into a nearfall. Kofi with a crossbody off the top, but then Bryan rolls over for another nearfall. Bryan goes for the Lebell Lock, but Kofi is able to escape. The crowd is starting to wake up, as this match is getting better by the minute. Bryan is now raising his arms and the crowd is of course chanting "No". Bryan is such a good heel. Kofi hits S.O.S., but Bryan gets him in the Lebell Lock. Bryan is driving the point of his elbow into Kofi's ribs, but Kofi gets his leg to the ropes. Bryan is hitting him with his leg strikes, but Kofi says bring it on and starts fighting back. Bryan goes for a kick, but Kofi counters it and hits a face first suplex. Rowan and the New Day are now getting involved outside, but Xavier and Big E. take care of him. Bryan goes for the suicide dive, but Kofi hits him before he can leap. Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise again, but again Bryan ducks and nails him with the running knee. Kofi kicks out to a huge pop. Bryan is now stomping on Kofi and rolls back into the Lebell Lock. Kofi rols him over and starts throwing fists. Now he's kicking him in the face. Man, I would be so nervous to do that with Bryan's history. Trouble In Paradise connects this time and Kofi is your new WWE Champion! We all knew it was coming and I still got goosebumps. They unveil the regular WWE Championship belt and bring it to Kofi. Kofi's kids join him in the ring to celebrate. For anyone who has been a fan of WWE the past decade, this a is a great moment. The New Day open up a gift and it is a new shirt with Kofi as champion. That was a really great match.
Match Rating: ****1/4
Alexa Bliss makes her second appearance of the night with the Colin Jost and Michael Che. They are banged up and she tells them that they are good hands. They then show Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in doctors outfits. Um...okay?
Booker T is announced as the guest commentator for the next match.
United States Championship Match
Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe
They are letting two darn good professional wrestlers here follow up the emotional roller coaster that was the last match. Joe goes right after Rey, but Rey hits him with a DDT. Rey hits 619 already and goes up top, but Joe puts him in the Coquina Clutch and that is all. Where was this booking for Joe for like the last two years? Rey has been phenomenal in his comeback and deserved better than that. Hopefully there is more to the story than that, because those guys are capable to have a classic. The only explanation that I will accept is if Mysterio is hurt, which very well could be the case.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
Drew gets a Scottish themed entrance and Roman gets all the fireworks. This is going to be a tough spot for this match. It probably would have worked in their favor to go on early on, maybe in the AJ/Orton slot. Roman went for a Drive By, but McIntyre moves and hits a suplex on the the mat outside. McIntyre has him draped over his back and hits him with the Alabama Slam. McIntyre does an awesome spot, where he was hanging from the top rope by his legs, sat up and threw Reigns who was sitting up on the top rope. Reigns is starting to show signs of life and hits the Drive By this time. I wonder how many of these marathon WrestleManias WWE has to put on before they realize that the crowd just gets exhausted no matter how good the product is. Superman Punch by Reigns and he tries to fire up the crowd. Spear by Reigns and that is all. That was a big time lame finish there. It's awesome to see Roman be able to be back in the ring, but this was pretty vanilla TV match type stuff.
Match Rating: **
Elias is now here to perform. Does this guy ever wrestle? They show him playing the drums and piano on the big screen and then cut to him in the ring. He then begins to play along with the video. He then begins to play the intro to "Seven Nation Army". They then show highlights of Babe Ruth and the Yankees and then out comes Thuganomics era John Cena. Obviously we are going to get a rap here with Cena and even refers to the "FU". Cena decks him and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Hits the Pumps and then the FU, but Cole reminds us that it's now called the AA. That was too long for what it was, but it was a fun enough moment.
Shawn Michaels is out to be guest commentator for the next match.
No Holds Barred
Batista vs. Triple H
Batista trips as he walks into the ring. That's probably not a good omen. Kumail Nanjiani is front row behind the announcers with signs in support of his co-star. Triple H of course gets his annual big entrance that features him coming out in a skeleton mask and riding on the back of a hot rod. I'll always be in the camp that most of his elaborate entrances are lame. I'm much better with him just coming out to his standard "Game" entrance. Please tell me that someone was the voice of reason and talked Triple H out of having a half hour match here. Michael Cole pointing out that we are witnessing history, as it is the first time a tool box has ever been used in this feud. I'll always remember where I was when that happened. Triple H is using the tools on Batista's hands. He then rips Batista's nose ring ripped out by pliers. This is where we are at nearly 6 hours into WrestleMania in 2019. Batista counters Triple H jumping off the apron with a suplex onto the announce table that wasn't cleared off. To call this match slow would be a compliment. I didn't like their match at WrestleMania 14 years ago, so I'm not sure what I was expecting here. Batista put one of the steps on top of the Spanish announce table. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb, but Triple H counters it with a back body drop. Pretty obvious there. Give props to the table for not breaking there. Triple H then does the crotch chop and spears through the German announce table. Batista is going for the Batista Bob, but Triple H grabs the sledgehammer, but Batista still hits it anyway. Triple H kicks out at 2. Triple H hits a powerbomb onto the steps and then a Pedigree and Batista kicks out. Batista then hits a DDT that clearly didn't hit his head onto the steel steps. Ric Flair is now out there and hands the sledgehammer to Triple H and he nails Batista with it. Pedigree and thankfully that is all. Both guys really showed their age there and it felt unnecessary on a card that already had plenty of big matches on it. Triple H and Flair embrace after the match.
Match Rating: **1/4
Alexa Bliss is backstage with the B Team wearing the Daniel Bryan shirts that have him still being the champion on it. They dance around and Ron Simmons comes out and you know the rest. JBL is out to guest commentate for the next match.
Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle
Let's make this short and sweet. Corbin has no business being in there with Angle in his last match. I still can't believe that WWE allows Corbin to come out dressed the way he does. Corbin mocks Angle's family, which causes Angle to fight back and hit 3 German suplexes in a row. Angle slam, but Corbin counters and hits a big boot. You could hear a pin drop at the moment. Angle tries to do a roll through spot into the Ankle Lock, but it takes like 10 seconds for it to happen. Deep Six by Corbin, but Angle kicks out. Angle Slam but it only gets a 2 count. Straps are coming down and he puts on the Ankle Lock. Corbin then does a You Can't See Me and to mock the audience. The crowd starts to cheer on Angle a little bit and he goes up and does a moonsault, but Corbin moves. End Of Days by Corbin and he gets the victory. What a disgrace. Baron Corbin has no business being in this spot. It's sad to see someone who is legitimately one of the best performers of my lifetime look the way he did tonight, but he still deserved better. Angle thanks everyone and hugs his family.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Intercontinental Championship Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor
Lashley is wearing green contacts and Balor of course is the Demon here. Lashley hits some suplexes early on drives Balor into the guardrail. Balor hits Slingblade, but then Lio Rush distracts Balor and Lashley does the Big E spot where he spears him through the ropes to the outside. Lashley hits another spear, but Balor kicks out at 2. Lashley has him up for a powerbomb, but Balor counters it and nails him with a powerbomb after some kicks to set it up. Balor is up top and hits the Coup de Gras for the victory. This is a great example of a match getting screwed over because it was at the end of the show.
Match Rating: *3/4
Alexa Bliss is out again to announce tonight's "attendance" of 82,265 which is supposedly a MetLife Stadium record. She then says she thinks it's time for a break and the crowd boos. She says it again and out comes R-Truth and Carmella. Yeah, poor timing on that one.
Winner Takes All - Raw And SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Charlotte is shown in a helicopter with a creepy smile. Once it lands, they roll out a red carpet for her to walk down and they bring her her robe. Then they cut back to the stadium. That was just awkward. Then the mic cuts on the announcer. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are out to perform for Ronda's entrance. The live performance entrances often come across a little weak on TV. Rousey hits Piper's Pit to the floor on Charlotte. Becky rams Ronda into the ring post and then Charlotte throws Rousey into the barricade. Rousey takes an absolutely scary bump as Charlotte was holding her by her legs over the ropes and Becky dropkicked her to the floor. Charlotte is going up top for the moonsault, but Lynch gets her into the Disarmer, but Rousey breaks it up. Charlotte has Rousey in the Boston Crab, but Becky drives Charlotte face first into the mat. Charlotte is climbing up top, but Becky meets her there and hits a super exploder suplex for a 2 count. Ronda hits a double cross body from the top and now a double arm bar. Charlotte and Becky work together to pick her up and slam her and it takes 3 times for her to release. Charlotte gets a nearfall on Rousey. Listening to this crowd, how happy is Kofi that he went on when he did? They had the crowds full attention and emotion. Lynch gets Disarmer on Rousey. She gets to the rope, which doesn't break the hold, but she uses it to help pick up Becky. Now Becky has Disarmer on her in the corner on the top rope, but Charlotte hits a big boot to break the hold. For some reason you can really hear both women breathing heavily here. Charlotte pulls out the Spanish Fly, which I have to say I didn't expect to see tonight. Charlotte slams Becky's face off the second turnbuckle and then hits a big boot, sending her out to the floor. Charlotte is working on Rousey's leg, who has visible bruises all over her calf. Charlotte does the Figure Four on the post, but Becky breaks it up. Small package by Rousey for a 2 count, but Charlotte gets her right into the Figure Eight. Becky comes out of nowhere and breaks it up. For those wondering, it is now 12:17 am. Becky is going under the ring and pulls out a table and sets it up in the middle of the ring. Charlotte clearly calls a spot and slams Becky into the tale. She goes up top, but Charlotte stops her and then Rousey pushes Charlotte to the outside. Rousey then tips over the table, going full heel tonight. Double spear by Charlotte and gets a 2 count on both women. They are laying it all out there tonight, but it's lacking a strong in ring story that we saw earlier with Bryan and Kofi. Rousey and Becky hip toss Charlotte into the table. With Charlotte knocked outside, Rousey and Becky are in there one on one and Rousey hits Piper's Pit, but Becky shifts her weight and pins Rousey to win both titles. Wasn't expecting that ending at all and I have to think that it hurt the pop she got for winning the title. She gets a rather short celebration before they cut for the end of the show. All three women worked their butts off there. I'm not sure who put the match together, but that ending is just such an odd way to end WrestleMania. I feel like that's more of a Fastlane type of ending. If this is indeed Rousey's last match, why not have her put her over decisively? If she ever comes back, Becky puts her over then. Regardless, that was quite entertaining, but as I said earlier it lacked that extra component to make it the best match of the night.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Seriously, if you are so dead set on running a 7+ hour show, please make WrestleMania a 2 day show. You threw away what should have been a crazy special moment and made it half of the reaction it should have been by forcing the live crowd to be up past midnight for the main event. This was definitely a middle of the road Mania, thanks in part to a weak back half of the card until the main event. I liked the creativeness of the opening bout and it was impossible not to love both Kofi and Becky getting their big moments. I just wish they would have let the rest of the card live up to its potential.
Overall Rating: 74%
Friday, April 5, 2019
NXT Takeover: New York Review
Friday, April 5th, 2019
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
War Raiders vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black
War Raiders come out in costumes with a similar entrance to the Phoenix show. I'm not a fan the look, but obviously I'm in the minority. As awesome as Black and Ricochet are as a team, I'm still not sure why they had to team together. Rowe and Black do some nice chain wrestling and both tease some big strikes, but don't due to respect. Ricochet and Hansen are in and both War Raiders are thrown out and Ricochet and Aleister Black do their faux leap and pose in the ring. Hansen goes bonkers and starts splashing both opponents in opposite corners over and over. He then sends Black over the top, but then Ricochet picks up Hansen and slams him in a surprising spot. Black and Rowe are no longer holding back and getting in some stiff strikes. German suplex with a bridge by Black and he almost gets a 3 count. Ricochet shows off some of his unique offense, but then so does Hansen, who does a handspring into an elbow, which is incredible. Hansen goes up top, but Ricochet gets there before he can do anything. War Raiders hit the leaping clothesline and both pin Ricochet, but Black comes out of nowhere and breaks the fall to a huge pop. Moonsault to the outside by Black to Hansen. Then Rowe hits a suicide dive on Black followed by a move that only Ricochet can come up with to Rowe. Now it's Hansen's turn and he does a cannonball from the top rope. It's formulaic, but with these four it's at a different level. Rowe and Ricochet are now slugging it out. Black Mass by Black and Ricochet hits the Shooting Star Press. Ricochet covers him, but Hansen bulldozes his way through Black to break up that fall. Ricochet is back up top and misses the 630 splash. Black misses the moonsault to the outside and for some reason the camera cut to a weird angle. Pop up powerslam by the War Raiders and now the War Raiders hit Fallout for the victory. The outcome was never really in jeopardy, but that was still quite the opener. If Ricochet isn't in one of the main matches next year at WrestleMania, it will be a huge missed opportunity.
Match Rating: **** (out of 5)
After the match, both teams embrace. This is most likely the last time Black and Ricochet will ever step foot in a NXT ring. The War Raiders put the belts on the ground and bow to their opponents and head to the back. Ricochet is holding back tears as they receive a standing ovation. Even Black is emotional here. Let's hope they get some time on Sunday.
Gargano is backstage getting ready for the main event. Piper Niven and Toni Storm are shown ringside.
NXT North American Championship Match
Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream
Matt Riddle is sporting Yankees pinstripes. Velveteen Dream is dressed up like the Statue of Liberty for his entrance. I like that a lot better than the War Raiders entrance, but to each their own. I still remember being furious when he was kicked off of Tough Enough when he was clearly the most talented person on the show. I did not realize that Riddle is 10 years older than Dream. This one should be pretty interesting. I think Riddle is going to be a headliner on the main roster, but he hasn't completely won me over just yet. Not sure that even makes sense. Riddle is locked in already and gets Dream into the Kimura until Dream finally gets to the ropes. They are playing up that Dream hasn't been able to get in the head of Riddle. Dream finally gets some offense in after stomping on Riddle's bare foot. Both of these guys are two of the more uniquely built performers, which helps make their offenses even more unique. Dream goes up top to the outside, but Riddle sidesteps it and hits him with a German suplex. Riddle is just all over Dream here with a flurry of kicks and suplexes. RIddle goes for the Bromission, but Dream blocks it so he goes for the arm bar, but Dream gets to the ropes again. Riddle is starting to get a little frustrated as he hasn't been able to put Dream away. German suplex into a bridge almost gets the 3 count. Riddle is hitting Dream with kicks, but Dream is Hulking up. Dream takes over and hits a double ax handle from the top rope to the outside. Riddle catches the kick to the face by Dream and turns it into the ankle lock. Dream hits a superkick and a DDT. Dream has saved himself on the ropes multiple times tonight. Riddle does an awesome suplex from the apron and back into the ring and then the Floating Bro, but Dream kicks out. Powerbomb by Riddle and then a knee to the face, but it's still not enough. Bromission is in and he's in the center of the ring. Dream rolls over and gets the pinfall out of nowhere. Riddle is in shock. It sort of felt like they were going to go that route since they had Riddle dominate over 60% of the match, but it still worked for me. Riddle definitely won me over there. That was quite the intense match.
Match Rating: ****1/4
After the match, Riddle gives Dream a fist bump and walks to the back.
WWE UK Championship Match
Walter vs. Pete Dunne
This is the first full match of Walter that I have ever seen, so I'm looking forward to see if he lives up to the hype. We get a little bit of a slow start here. Walter then absolutely destroys Dunne with some chops. Dunne hits him with a stiff clothesline and it has no effect. Walter then does a leapfrog and a boot to the face. Dunne finally shows some fight and is now going to the top rope, but there's Walter to stop him, but then Dunne works on his hand and then hits a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Walter rolls to the outside again and now Dunne is going up top again. He does a double foot stomp and how does that not hurt? Wow. Walter is able to hit a dropkick shortly after, which I hate. No way he should be fighting back after that last move. After some offense by Walter, Dunne fights back with a step up enzuigiri. Dunne stomps on his hand and goes up top and again is blocked by Walter. Walter goes for a sleeper, but Dunne smashes Walter's hand on the ring post. But still Walter is able to hit a sleeper superplex. Dunne catches the hand of Walter and goes back to some hand manipulation. Dunne is now stomping repeatedly on Walter's head. Walter, on his back, starts kicking Dunne in the head. More stomps by Dunne and then he has Walter's fingers again and he begins torquing back on Walter's arms, but Walter is finally able to get to the ropes. Walter hits a clubbing clothesline while Dunne is sitting on the top rope. Walter then goes to the top rope, but Dunne catches him into the triangle. Dunne then goes to work on the fingers, but then again Walter fights back and stomps on the body of Dunne. Dunne hits the Bitter End, but Walter kicks out to a huge pop after a few quieter moments from the hot crowd. Dunne is clubbing Walter on the ropes, so the ref steps in and then Walter decapitates him with a big boot, which causes some boos. Walter goes up top, but Dunne goes back to the hands. Again, he probably shouldn't be up that quickly. Walter hits a powerbomb from the top rope in a cool spot. Walter up top again and hits a big splash and we have a new WWE UK Champion, as Dunne's historic reign comes to an end. That was a super stiff match, but just because a match is stiff doesn't mean it's great. Selling is pretty much non-existent in current day wrestling, minus a select few. However, with this match having a little bit slower of a pace, the no selling really bothered me in a few spots. Walter here looked good, but not like the living legend he is being made out to be. Dunne, on the other hand, is a star in my opinion as he brings something different, especially for his size.
Match Rating: ***
NXT Women's Championship Match
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler
Will this be the end of Baszler on NXT? We get the usual intro to multi-person matches, where it breaks down quickly. Baszler grabs Belairs hair, but Belair uses it to pull Baszler into the ring post face first. Belair catches Shirai and uses her as a weapon on Sane and then slams here down. Baszler is back in there now and is back in control. Kairi Sane goes for the Tower of Doom spot, but can't until Shirai gets in there first. Not every 4 way match needs to have that spot, I promise. Shirai launches Sane onto Belair and Baszler and then Shirai hits a springboard moonsault to the outside. All four women are down in the ring. Shirai is the first one up and goes for a cover, but it's broken up. Belair does a press slam on Shirai and throws her to the outside on to both Sane and Baszler. Baszler has felt like an afterthought in this match thus far. Baszler counters the chicken wing facebuster and puts her into the Kirifuda Clutch. Shirai hits a moonsault from the second rope and then again from the top and only gets a 2 count because her BFF Sane broke up the count. Sane does an Alabama Slam on Shirai onto Baszler. Belair does a double KOD with both Sane and Shirai on her back, which is both impressive and cheesy. Baszler is back in and puts the Kirifuda Clutch on Belair and she is doing everything in her power to get out, but has to tap. The crowd isn't happy about that one and consider me surprised. I thought for sure they would have her lose without getting pinned and we'd see her on Raw Monday.
Match Rating: ***1/4
NXT Championship Match
Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
So these are probably my two favorite current acts in the company. To say I am excited for this, would be an understatement. I was not anticipating the crowd to be overwhelmingly for Cole over Gargano. Remember when Bo Dallas was NXT Champion? I'd say we've come a long way in a short time. I am kind of just taking this one in and watching two amazing performers at the peak of their career. Neither man has really had clear control just yet. Gargano launches himself as Cole was running off the rope into a spear. Cole is already rolling down the knee pad, but Gargano ducks it. They are really playing up the one step ahead of each other and doing a great job with it. Seemingly out of nowhere, Cole hits him with the knee and gets the first pinfall. Gargano losing the first fall was the expected call, but it also is the right call as Gargano was born to fight under pressure. Cole hits the Last Shot and Gargano is able to kick out of it. Gargano then hits another spear, this time on the apron and then with a somersault off the apron. Gargano then hits the DDT off the apron and both men are down. Gargano gets in the ring and could have taken a countout victory, but rolls back out to get Cole, who then promptly throws him into the ring post. Now Gargano gets Cole into an arm bar and then gets him into the crossface and Cole taps. We are all tied up at 1-1. Gargano is bleeding from his right eyebrow area. Two bicycle kicks by Cole, but Gargano fires back with a clothesline. Cole is on the top, but Gargano hits the step up enzuigiri and then the lawn dart. He then does a full nelson into a facebuster and almost gets the victory. After striking back and forth, they hit a double superkick and now both are down once again. Cole hits a superkick to the back of the head and into a German suplex into a pin and only gets 2. Superkick by Gargano and then jumps on Cole's shoulders and hits the reverse hurricanrana. Cole is able to roll out of the ring, buying him some time and hits a wheelbarrow suplex into the hardest part of the ring. Gargano gets up and hits two different DDTs and then a suicide dive and then does the spear, but Cole hits him with a superkick and then a Canadian Destroyer and only gets 2! What a burst that was by both men there. Cole kicks Gargano off the apron and starts calling him a failure and pushing his head to the ground. Gargano then slugs him with a forearm and throws him over the announcers table. Cole hits the Fairytale ending on the table and the table did not break. Cole rolls into the ring and Gargano is just able to get into the ring before the 10 count. Cole hits the superkick and again only gets a 2 count. They both hit superkicks and then Gargano gets the crossface on, but out comes Roderick Strong to distract the ref. Fish and O'Reilly attack Gargano. The ref gets thrown back into the match by Strong, but Gargano kicks out! Cole charges at Gargano, but Gargano launches him over the ropes onto the Undisputed Era. Gargano is now taking care of all of them with his signature offense. He's back in the ring and takes a superkick to the face, then the back and then a running knee to the back of the head. And he STILL KICKS OUT. My lord, this is special. Cole goes for the knee again, but Gargano ducks. Gargano gets him into the crossface again and he taps. Johnny Gargano is your new NXT Champion! What. A. Match. Should I do it? Of course I should. For the 16th time, I am going the full monty. What a performance by both men and one of the best matches I have ever witnessed.
Match Rating: *****
Candice Lerae is in the ring to celebrate with her husband. After celebrating with the crowd and as the NXT logo pops up, out walks Ciampa and they embrace. A great ending to a great story.
For my money, that was the greatest Takeover of all time and one of the greatest WWE shows in their long history. The first two matches were awesome, the next two were good and then from there Gargano and Cole told a fantastic story and somehow made a near 40 minute match look easy. Thumbs up all around and boy, is it going to be near impossible to top on Sunday.
Overall Rating: 100%
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
War Raiders vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black
War Raiders come out in costumes with a similar entrance to the Phoenix show. I'm not a fan the look, but obviously I'm in the minority. As awesome as Black and Ricochet are as a team, I'm still not sure why they had to team together. Rowe and Black do some nice chain wrestling and both tease some big strikes, but don't due to respect. Ricochet and Hansen are in and both War Raiders are thrown out and Ricochet and Aleister Black do their faux leap and pose in the ring. Hansen goes bonkers and starts splashing both opponents in opposite corners over and over. He then sends Black over the top, but then Ricochet picks up Hansen and slams him in a surprising spot. Black and Rowe are no longer holding back and getting in some stiff strikes. German suplex with a bridge by Black and he almost gets a 3 count. Ricochet shows off some of his unique offense, but then so does Hansen, who does a handspring into an elbow, which is incredible. Hansen goes up top, but Ricochet gets there before he can do anything. War Raiders hit the leaping clothesline and both pin Ricochet, but Black comes out of nowhere and breaks the fall to a huge pop. Moonsault to the outside by Black to Hansen. Then Rowe hits a suicide dive on Black followed by a move that only Ricochet can come up with to Rowe. Now it's Hansen's turn and he does a cannonball from the top rope. It's formulaic, but with these four it's at a different level. Rowe and Ricochet are now slugging it out. Black Mass by Black and Ricochet hits the Shooting Star Press. Ricochet covers him, but Hansen bulldozes his way through Black to break up that fall. Ricochet is back up top and misses the 630 splash. Black misses the moonsault to the outside and for some reason the camera cut to a weird angle. Pop up powerslam by the War Raiders and now the War Raiders hit Fallout for the victory. The outcome was never really in jeopardy, but that was still quite the opener. If Ricochet isn't in one of the main matches next year at WrestleMania, it will be a huge missed opportunity.
Match Rating: **** (out of 5)
After the match, both teams embrace. This is most likely the last time Black and Ricochet will ever step foot in a NXT ring. The War Raiders put the belts on the ground and bow to their opponents and head to the back. Ricochet is holding back tears as they receive a standing ovation. Even Black is emotional here. Let's hope they get some time on Sunday.
Gargano is backstage getting ready for the main event. Piper Niven and Toni Storm are shown ringside.
NXT North American Championship Match
Matt Riddle vs. Velveteen Dream
Matt Riddle is sporting Yankees pinstripes. Velveteen Dream is dressed up like the Statue of Liberty for his entrance. I like that a lot better than the War Raiders entrance, but to each their own. I still remember being furious when he was kicked off of Tough Enough when he was clearly the most talented person on the show. I did not realize that Riddle is 10 years older than Dream. This one should be pretty interesting. I think Riddle is going to be a headliner on the main roster, but he hasn't completely won me over just yet. Not sure that even makes sense. Riddle is locked in already and gets Dream into the Kimura until Dream finally gets to the ropes. They are playing up that Dream hasn't been able to get in the head of Riddle. Dream finally gets some offense in after stomping on Riddle's bare foot. Both of these guys are two of the more uniquely built performers, which helps make their offenses even more unique. Dream goes up top to the outside, but Riddle sidesteps it and hits him with a German suplex. Riddle is just all over Dream here with a flurry of kicks and suplexes. RIddle goes for the Bromission, but Dream blocks it so he goes for the arm bar, but Dream gets to the ropes again. Riddle is starting to get a little frustrated as he hasn't been able to put Dream away. German suplex into a bridge almost gets the 3 count. Riddle is hitting Dream with kicks, but Dream is Hulking up. Dream takes over and hits a double ax handle from the top rope to the outside. Riddle catches the kick to the face by Dream and turns it into the ankle lock. Dream hits a superkick and a DDT. Dream has saved himself on the ropes multiple times tonight. Riddle does an awesome suplex from the apron and back into the ring and then the Floating Bro, but Dream kicks out. Powerbomb by Riddle and then a knee to the face, but it's still not enough. Bromission is in and he's in the center of the ring. Dream rolls over and gets the pinfall out of nowhere. Riddle is in shock. It sort of felt like they were going to go that route since they had Riddle dominate over 60% of the match, but it still worked for me. Riddle definitely won me over there. That was quite the intense match.
Match Rating: ****1/4
After the match, Riddle gives Dream a fist bump and walks to the back.
WWE UK Championship Match
Walter vs. Pete Dunne
This is the first full match of Walter that I have ever seen, so I'm looking forward to see if he lives up to the hype. We get a little bit of a slow start here. Walter then absolutely destroys Dunne with some chops. Dunne hits him with a stiff clothesline and it has no effect. Walter then does a leapfrog and a boot to the face. Dunne finally shows some fight and is now going to the top rope, but there's Walter to stop him, but then Dunne works on his hand and then hits a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Walter rolls to the outside again and now Dunne is going up top again. He does a double foot stomp and how does that not hurt? Wow. Walter is able to hit a dropkick shortly after, which I hate. No way he should be fighting back after that last move. After some offense by Walter, Dunne fights back with a step up enzuigiri. Dunne stomps on his hand and goes up top and again is blocked by Walter. Walter goes for a sleeper, but Dunne smashes Walter's hand on the ring post. But still Walter is able to hit a sleeper superplex. Dunne catches the hand of Walter and goes back to some hand manipulation. Dunne is now stomping repeatedly on Walter's head. Walter, on his back, starts kicking Dunne in the head. More stomps by Dunne and then he has Walter's fingers again and he begins torquing back on Walter's arms, but Walter is finally able to get to the ropes. Walter hits a clubbing clothesline while Dunne is sitting on the top rope. Walter then goes to the top rope, but Dunne catches him into the triangle. Dunne then goes to work on the fingers, but then again Walter fights back and stomps on the body of Dunne. Dunne hits the Bitter End, but Walter kicks out to a huge pop after a few quieter moments from the hot crowd. Dunne is clubbing Walter on the ropes, so the ref steps in and then Walter decapitates him with a big boot, which causes some boos. Walter goes up top, but Dunne goes back to the hands. Again, he probably shouldn't be up that quickly. Walter hits a powerbomb from the top rope in a cool spot. Walter up top again and hits a big splash and we have a new WWE UK Champion, as Dunne's historic reign comes to an end. That was a super stiff match, but just because a match is stiff doesn't mean it's great. Selling is pretty much non-existent in current day wrestling, minus a select few. However, with this match having a little bit slower of a pace, the no selling really bothered me in a few spots. Walter here looked good, but not like the living legend he is being made out to be. Dunne, on the other hand, is a star in my opinion as he brings something different, especially for his size.
Match Rating: ***
NXT Women's Championship Match
Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair vs. Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler
Will this be the end of Baszler on NXT? We get the usual intro to multi-person matches, where it breaks down quickly. Baszler grabs Belairs hair, but Belair uses it to pull Baszler into the ring post face first. Belair catches Shirai and uses her as a weapon on Sane and then slams here down. Baszler is back in there now and is back in control. Kairi Sane goes for the Tower of Doom spot, but can't until Shirai gets in there first. Not every 4 way match needs to have that spot, I promise. Shirai launches Sane onto Belair and Baszler and then Shirai hits a springboard moonsault to the outside. All four women are down in the ring. Shirai is the first one up and goes for a cover, but it's broken up. Belair does a press slam on Shirai and throws her to the outside on to both Sane and Baszler. Baszler has felt like an afterthought in this match thus far. Baszler counters the chicken wing facebuster and puts her into the Kirifuda Clutch. Shirai hits a moonsault from the second rope and then again from the top and only gets a 2 count because her BFF Sane broke up the count. Sane does an Alabama Slam on Shirai onto Baszler. Belair does a double KOD with both Sane and Shirai on her back, which is both impressive and cheesy. Baszler is back in and puts the Kirifuda Clutch on Belair and she is doing everything in her power to get out, but has to tap. The crowd isn't happy about that one and consider me surprised. I thought for sure they would have her lose without getting pinned and we'd see her on Raw Monday.
Match Rating: ***1/4
NXT Championship Match
Best 2 Out Of 3 Falls
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
So these are probably my two favorite current acts in the company. To say I am excited for this, would be an understatement. I was not anticipating the crowd to be overwhelmingly for Cole over Gargano. Remember when Bo Dallas was NXT Champion? I'd say we've come a long way in a short time. I am kind of just taking this one in and watching two amazing performers at the peak of their career. Neither man has really had clear control just yet. Gargano launches himself as Cole was running off the rope into a spear. Cole is already rolling down the knee pad, but Gargano ducks it. They are really playing up the one step ahead of each other and doing a great job with it. Seemingly out of nowhere, Cole hits him with the knee and gets the first pinfall. Gargano losing the first fall was the expected call, but it also is the right call as Gargano was born to fight under pressure. Cole hits the Last Shot and Gargano is able to kick out of it. Gargano then hits another spear, this time on the apron and then with a somersault off the apron. Gargano then hits the DDT off the apron and both men are down. Gargano gets in the ring and could have taken a countout victory, but rolls back out to get Cole, who then promptly throws him into the ring post. Now Gargano gets Cole into an arm bar and then gets him into the crossface and Cole taps. We are all tied up at 1-1. Gargano is bleeding from his right eyebrow area. Two bicycle kicks by Cole, but Gargano fires back with a clothesline. Cole is on the top, but Gargano hits the step up enzuigiri and then the lawn dart. He then does a full nelson into a facebuster and almost gets the victory. After striking back and forth, they hit a double superkick and now both are down once again. Cole hits a superkick to the back of the head and into a German suplex into a pin and only gets 2. Superkick by Gargano and then jumps on Cole's shoulders and hits the reverse hurricanrana. Cole is able to roll out of the ring, buying him some time and hits a wheelbarrow suplex into the hardest part of the ring. Gargano gets up and hits two different DDTs and then a suicide dive and then does the spear, but Cole hits him with a superkick and then a Canadian Destroyer and only gets 2! What a burst that was by both men there. Cole kicks Gargano off the apron and starts calling him a failure and pushing his head to the ground. Gargano then slugs him with a forearm and throws him over the announcers table. Cole hits the Fairytale ending on the table and the table did not break. Cole rolls into the ring and Gargano is just able to get into the ring before the 10 count. Cole hits the superkick and again only gets a 2 count. They both hit superkicks and then Gargano gets the crossface on, but out comes Roderick Strong to distract the ref. Fish and O'Reilly attack Gargano. The ref gets thrown back into the match by Strong, but Gargano kicks out! Cole charges at Gargano, but Gargano launches him over the ropes onto the Undisputed Era. Gargano is now taking care of all of them with his signature offense. He's back in the ring and takes a superkick to the face, then the back and then a running knee to the back of the head. And he STILL KICKS OUT. My lord, this is special. Cole goes for the knee again, but Gargano ducks. Gargano gets him into the crossface again and he taps. Johnny Gargano is your new NXT Champion! What. A. Match. Should I do it? Of course I should. For the 16th time, I am going the full monty. What a performance by both men and one of the best matches I have ever witnessed.
Match Rating: *****
Candice Lerae is in the ring to celebrate with her husband. After celebrating with the crowd and as the NXT logo pops up, out walks Ciampa and they embrace. A great ending to a great story.
For my money, that was the greatest Takeover of all time and one of the greatest WWE shows in their long history. The first two matches were awesome, the next two were good and then from there Gargano and Cole told a fantastic story and somehow made a near 40 minute match look easy. Thumbs up all around and boy, is it going to be near impossible to top on Sunday.
Overall Rating: 100%
Thursday, April 4, 2019
SmackDown 2-10-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, February 10th, 2005
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Eddie Guerrero vs. Kenzo Suzuki
Kenzo gets a "Kenzo Sucks" chant in his home country. Kenzo stomps on Eddie in the corner. Guerrero fights back, but eats a crummy clothesline by Suzuki. Three Amigos by Eddie. Suzuki really looks green here so far in this match. Eddie goes up top, but Kenzo crotches him. Kenzo goes for a superplex, but Eddie fends him off and hits the Frog Splash and gets the win.
Match Rating: *1/2
Kurt Angle says he will be main eventing WrestleMania for the third year in a row. Luther Reigns says he is sick of people bowing down to the Undertaker. He then gives some bizarrely intense promo about being in prison or something.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs. The Basham Brothers
Interesting that they are running a heel vs. heel match on the SmackDown Tokyo show as well. They were actually having a decent little match and then the Undertaker's music hits and the lights go out. Taker is in the ring and destroys Jindrak, as Reigns gets out of the ring. That's a hard one to give a rating to.
Match Rating: 3/4*
We get a WWE in Tokyo highlight package.
Back in the arena, Joy Giovanni is shooting out t-shirts to the crowd. What a gig.
Hiroko is telling Kenzo Suzuki that he is going to rip off Torrie Wilson's kimono and cause her shame and Kenzo seems to dig it.
JBL is talking with Amy Weber and shows her a tranquilizer gun that is going to take down the Big Show. Amy takes the gun and as she's backing up, Orlando Jordan opens the door and causes her to shoot JBL with the dart.
Akebono is in the crowd again.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Funaki vs. Chavo Guerrero
We get a little bit of some mat wrestling until Chavo hits the champion with a cheap shot after a high five to some big boos. Chavo gets his heat segment until the eventual comeback segment by Funaki. It's kind of incredible how much of an American style Funaki works. Step up enzaguri by Funaki gets a 2 count. Chavo then hits a superplex for a 2 count. I appreciate that these two pros are taking this match really seriously and putting on a good show. Chavo goes for another superplex, but Funaki reverses it and then hits him with a jumping tornado DDT and gets the win. That was an entertaining 8 minute TV match.
Match Rating: ***
Carlito is backstage with a Japanese officer and he's talking about how Teddy Long won't be in charge soon. JBL comes up to him and acts like an idiot. Orlando Jordan tells JBL to wait right where he is while he goes to take on John Cena. JBL then sees an inflatable Godzilla and starts talking to it.
We get a Basic Instinct WrestleMania commercial featuring Stacy Keibler, Chris Jericho, Christian and Chris Benoit. That was honestly the most expression I think I ever saw Benoit show on his face.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
John Cena vs. Orlando Jordan
Cena cuts a promo that uses OJ Simpson jokes in it. It would have been nice if there would have been a little bit more suspense in this tournament, but instead Cena and JBL were already starting their feud. After multiple elbows by Cena, Jordan gets in a big boot and some jabs on Cena. Jordan gets a nearfall and is starting to get frustrated. Cena fights back with some of his signature awkward, but effective offense. Five Knuckle Shuffle is just as big in Japan as here in the US. Cena hits the Pumps and gets him up for the FU and that's it. Not much to that one, but that was to be expected. Cena will take on Booker T next week.
Match Rating: *1/4
Orlando Jordan is walking back to where JBL was supposed to be and of course he isn't there. Amy and the Bashams start yelling at Jordan and go to look for him. Amy says that it's all her fault.
Kimono Match
Torrie Wilson vs. Hiroko
Torrie reaches out to shake Hiroko's hand, but she instead gets salt in the face. Torrie hits her with a clothesline and a baseball slide. Torrie gets in some nice chops after Hiroko exposes her a little bit. Airplane spin by Torrie and Torrie takes off Hiroko's kimono, who then runs to the back. That was about as good as it was going to be. After the match, Torrie takes off her kimono for the heck of it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
As Torrie is walking to backstage, JBL comes walking down with the inflatable Godzilla. He then does a promo with Godzilla, calling him a giant lizard. He then makes fun of Big Show for good measure. Apparently the tranquilizer dart causes you to have a stronger southern accent as the main side effect. JBL strips down to his pink boxers attempting to fight the inflatable. Out comes the Big Show. JBL was playing the whole time and attacks Big Show and hits the Clothesline From Hell. Out comes the Cabinet and they hold down Big Show while JBL tries to hit him with a chair, but Show moves out of the way and destroys the Cabinet as JBL retreats to the back.
After that, Big Show calls Akebono to the ring and they have a stare down and they shake hands.
They run down some of the No Way Out matches and the graphics for the matches are really strange.
Backstage, Angle tells Mysterio not to get his hopes up. Mysterio says he is sick of people underestimating the little guy.
We get more highlights of the Tokyo trip.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
These two have off the charts chemistry, but I guess it's not all that surprising since they are 2 of the 10 best to ever wrestle in WWE (in my opinion). After some back and forth, Mysterio hits Angle with 10 punches in the corner, but Angle nails him with a belly to belly suplex into the commercial break. Angle has him in a chinlock with a body scissors. Mysterio ducks, causing Angle to send himself over the top rope and Rey hits him with a splash from the top rope. Back in the ring and Angle hits a German suplex and Angles lip is busted open. Angle catches Mysterio off the ropes and sends him spine first into the turnbuckle and then hangs him in the tree of woe. He goes shoulder first towards Mysterio, but Rey pulls himself up and out of the ring goes Angle. Mysterio does the baseball slide into the headscissors on the outside. Spinning DDT by Mysterio, but Angle is able to kick out. Dropkick to the back by Mysterio, but Angle catches the 619 attempt and has him in the Ankle Lock. Mysterio counters and rolls up for a 2 count. Big clothesline by Angle and both men are down. Angle hits a German suplex, but Mysterio counters the second one and hits the 619. The springboard is caught by Angle into an Angle Slam, but that is countered. Angle Slam after a series of counters and down come the straps. Ankle Lock is in again as Mysterio tries to escape, but Angle takes it to the mat and Mysterio submits. They got a good amount of time and delivered a good TV match. Not their best, but their worst would be better than half of this rosters best.
Match Rating: ***1/2
SmackDown continues to be a mixed bag. We got two matches that delivered and the rest might as well not even have happened. The JBL stuff was lame to put it nicely and I'm not sure there is anyone who is buying that Luther Reigns has a chance against Undertaker. It has to be noted that the Japanese crowd was once again very good and I have to wonder why they don't go over there more often.
Overall Rating: 54%
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Luther Reigns & Mark Jindrak vs. The Basham Brothers
Interesting that they are running a heel vs. heel match on the SmackDown Tokyo show as well. They were actually having a decent little match and then the Undertaker's music hits and the lights go out. Taker is in the ring and destroys Jindrak, as Reigns gets out of the ring. That's a hard one to give a rating to.
Match Rating: 3/4*
We get a WWE in Tokyo highlight package.
Back in the arena, Joy Giovanni is shooting out t-shirts to the crowd. What a gig.
Hiroko is telling Kenzo Suzuki that he is going to rip off Torrie Wilson's kimono and cause her shame and Kenzo seems to dig it.
JBL is talking with Amy Weber and shows her a tranquilizer gun that is going to take down the Big Show. Amy takes the gun and as she's backing up, Orlando Jordan opens the door and causes her to shoot JBL with the dart.
Akebono is in the crowd again.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Funaki vs. Chavo Guerrero
We get a little bit of some mat wrestling until Chavo hits the champion with a cheap shot after a high five to some big boos. Chavo gets his heat segment until the eventual comeback segment by Funaki. It's kind of incredible how much of an American style Funaki works. Step up enzaguri by Funaki gets a 2 count. Chavo then hits a superplex for a 2 count. I appreciate that these two pros are taking this match really seriously and putting on a good show. Chavo goes for another superplex, but Funaki reverses it and then hits him with a jumping tornado DDT and gets the win. That was an entertaining 8 minute TV match.
Match Rating: ***
Carlito is backstage with a Japanese officer and he's talking about how Teddy Long won't be in charge soon. JBL comes up to him and acts like an idiot. Orlando Jordan tells JBL to wait right where he is while he goes to take on John Cena. JBL then sees an inflatable Godzilla and starts talking to it.
We get a Basic Instinct WrestleMania commercial featuring Stacy Keibler, Chris Jericho, Christian and Chris Benoit. That was honestly the most expression I think I ever saw Benoit show on his face.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
John Cena vs. Orlando Jordan
Cena cuts a promo that uses OJ Simpson jokes in it. It would have been nice if there would have been a little bit more suspense in this tournament, but instead Cena and JBL were already starting their feud. After multiple elbows by Cena, Jordan gets in a big boot and some jabs on Cena. Jordan gets a nearfall and is starting to get frustrated. Cena fights back with some of his signature awkward, but effective offense. Five Knuckle Shuffle is just as big in Japan as here in the US. Cena hits the Pumps and gets him up for the FU and that's it. Not much to that one, but that was to be expected. Cena will take on Booker T next week.
Match Rating: *1/4
Orlando Jordan is walking back to where JBL was supposed to be and of course he isn't there. Amy and the Bashams start yelling at Jordan and go to look for him. Amy says that it's all her fault.
Kimono Match
Torrie Wilson vs. Hiroko
Torrie reaches out to shake Hiroko's hand, but she instead gets salt in the face. Torrie hits her with a clothesline and a baseball slide. Torrie gets in some nice chops after Hiroko exposes her a little bit. Airplane spin by Torrie and Torrie takes off Hiroko's kimono, who then runs to the back. That was about as good as it was going to be. After the match, Torrie takes off her kimono for the heck of it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
As Torrie is walking to backstage, JBL comes walking down with the inflatable Godzilla. He then does a promo with Godzilla, calling him a giant lizard. He then makes fun of Big Show for good measure. Apparently the tranquilizer dart causes you to have a stronger southern accent as the main side effect. JBL strips down to his pink boxers attempting to fight the inflatable. Out comes the Big Show. JBL was playing the whole time and attacks Big Show and hits the Clothesline From Hell. Out comes the Cabinet and they hold down Big Show while JBL tries to hit him with a chair, but Show moves out of the way and destroys the Cabinet as JBL retreats to the back.
After that, Big Show calls Akebono to the ring and they have a stare down and they shake hands.
They run down some of the No Way Out matches and the graphics for the matches are really strange.
Backstage, Angle tells Mysterio not to get his hopes up. Mysterio says he is sick of people underestimating the little guy.
We get more highlights of the Tokyo trip.
#1 Contender Tournament 1st Round Match
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio
These two have off the charts chemistry, but I guess it's not all that surprising since they are 2 of the 10 best to ever wrestle in WWE (in my opinion). After some back and forth, Mysterio hits Angle with 10 punches in the corner, but Angle nails him with a belly to belly suplex into the commercial break. Angle has him in a chinlock with a body scissors. Mysterio ducks, causing Angle to send himself over the top rope and Rey hits him with a splash from the top rope. Back in the ring and Angle hits a German suplex and Angles lip is busted open. Angle catches Mysterio off the ropes and sends him spine first into the turnbuckle and then hangs him in the tree of woe. He goes shoulder first towards Mysterio, but Rey pulls himself up and out of the ring goes Angle. Mysterio does the baseball slide into the headscissors on the outside. Spinning DDT by Mysterio, but Angle is able to kick out. Dropkick to the back by Mysterio, but Angle catches the 619 attempt and has him in the Ankle Lock. Mysterio counters and rolls up for a 2 count. Big clothesline by Angle and both men are down. Angle hits a German suplex, but Mysterio counters the second one and hits the 619. The springboard is caught by Angle into an Angle Slam, but that is countered. Angle Slam after a series of counters and down come the straps. Ankle Lock is in again as Mysterio tries to escape, but Angle takes it to the mat and Mysterio submits. They got a good amount of time and delivered a good TV match. Not their best, but their worst would be better than half of this rosters best.
Match Rating: ***1/2
SmackDown continues to be a mixed bag. We got two matches that delivered and the rest might as well not even have happened. The JBL stuff was lame to put it nicely and I'm not sure there is anyone who is buying that Luther Reigns has a chance against Undertaker. It has to be noted that the Japanese crowd was once again very good and I have to wonder why they don't go over there more often.
Overall Rating: 54%
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Monday Night Raw 2-7-05 Review
Monday, February 7th, 2005
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Right off the bat this show has an awesome feel to it, as the Japanese crowd is clapping in unison. Very cool.
Out comes Eric Bischoff. He has a translator next to him. Bischoff promises one of the biggest Raws you will ever see because Ric Flair will be taking on Shawn Michaels, who gets a huge pop. The Triple H vs. Edge match gets a mild pop, but the Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho announcement is met with a big pop as well and that match is now.
Submission Match
Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho
They lock up and take it all the way outside before the ref has to break it up. We get some realistic wrestling that draws an applause from the Japanese crowd. Jericho goes for his springboard dropkick, but Benoit pushes him off the ropes. We come back from commercial break and both men have blood on their foreheads. Benoit hits a German suplex, but Jericho fights out of the second one. Jericho is the one that is busted open. Jericho puts Benoit into a half crab, which I'm not sure I can ever recall him doing. Benoit hits his three German suplexes and Benoit now signals for the diving headbutt and hits it. That will forever be one of my least favorite moves. Jericho battles back with a jawbreaker and goes for the Lionsault, but Benoit gets his knees up and Jericho grabs them and goes for the Walls of Jericho, but has to settle for a slingshot. Benoit now gets him in the Crippler Crossface but Jericho grabs the bottom rope. Benoit gets him back in the Crossface and this time Jericho taps. That was a good match until the ending. It just kind of came out of nowhere as if they were told to go home.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
We get a video about the tour to Japan. One of these years I will get over to Japan.
Triple H is backstage with Ric Flair talking about how Evolution runs the wrestling world. Triple H is now second guessing that Batista should go to SmackDown, but Ric Flair talks him out of it.
Christian and Tomko are backstage and Christian says that he calls his fans in Japan his "Jeeps". They walk into Stacy Keibler and the interviewer asks Stacy about Randy Orton instead of Christian. Christian says that Orton isn't a legend killer because he hasn't beat Christian. Christian tells Stacy to let Randy know that he'll meet him in the ring, but then tells Tomko that it will be him instead.
Batista is walking to the ring as we go to commercial break.
We get the Braveheart WrestleMania commercial again.
Maven vs. Batista
Maven says everyone is wondering why Maven wasn't in the Royal Rumble. He says it's because if he was in it, he would have won. Cue Batista's music. Maven immediately attacks Batista, but he eats a spinebuster. Batista Bomb and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match, they show Big Show's comments about Batista on the big screen.
After the break, he is backstage talking to Bischoff. Bischoff says he will get to the bottom of it. He then tries to convince Batista to stay on Raw. 3/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri naturally gets a big pop here. Regal and Tajiri start out hot. It's too bad the tag team division was a joke back in 2005 because Regal and Tajiri could have been a good team had they had the roster to work with. Tajiri hits a nice enzaguri, but the 3 count is broken up by Conway. Tajiri then hits his springboard double elbow and gets the Tarantula locked in. Grenier tries to hit Tajiri with the flag, but Tajiri blocks it and sprays the green mist for the victory. I can't believe Vince McMahon let this happen. That was way more of a squash than I expected.
Match Rating: *3/4
They show Regal and Tajiri celebrating in the crowd after the match.
It's now time to unveil some of the Hall of Fame inductees and they are the same ones announced on SmackDown.
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
Flair hits Michaels with a cheap elbow and then starts chopping away. Michaels reverses and hits some chops back and then hits him with a back body drop, which will never not look painful on Flair. Michaels then gives him one on the outside of the ring. I feel like that's not a bump he should have been taking in 2005. Flair lures Michaels in and gives him a thumb to the eye. Michaels fights back with some fists and Flair does his famous fall, much to the delight of the Japanese crowd. Chop block by Flair and he starts going to work on HBK's knee. Flair puts Michaels in the Figure Four and gets a couple of 2 counts. HBK is able to reverse it, but Flair gets the ropes. Michaels gets a nearfall with both a cradle and backslide. Enzaguri by Michaels and both men are down. They go back and forth with chops before Flair kicks Michaels knee. Flair goes up top, which gets a big pop and Michaels slams him off. Michaels goes up top for the elbow drop and is now tuning up the band. Sweet Chin Music and that's all for Flair. That was like an 8 minute greatest hits album. They hit the notes they needed to to please the live crowd.
Match Rating: **1/2
Jerry Lawler is in the ring to announce the All-American Diva Fashion Show. Out first is Maria sporting a cowboy outfit. Victoria is out in a biker outfit I guess? Last is Christy Hemme in a bikini. As Lawler is about to go over the fashion show rules, Simon Dean interrupts to talk about his Simon System. God, I wish Dean would have been around for the 1992 Superstars. They show Akebono in the front row. I forgot just how big that guy was. Dean then goes around insulting the women with fat jokes. Lawler distracts Dean and Christy hits him with a low blow from behind. That segment accomplished nothing except filling 10 minutes of airtime.
Evolution is in the locker room. They rehash the whole Raw/Smackdown stuff again. I still don't get why people look back on this fondly.
Coach is back with Edge and he's mad about being overlooked by people talking about what brand Batista is going to be on. He tries his best to make people think he's going to win the title tonight, but no one is buying it.
We get another WWE in Tokyo segment.
Randy Orton vs. Tyson Tomko
They are claiming that Orton was concussed at the Royal Rumble and then it was re-aggravated at Raw last week. Christian then drags out Stacy and Tomko takes control. A whole bunch of nothing happens and then Orton wins with a rollup and Orton sells a head injury. That was pretty awful.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match, Christian attacks him and hits the Unprettier while Stacy is in shock.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge vs. Triple H
Despite being on the roster together for years, these two never seemed to have many one on one matches with one another. Triple H hits Edge three times into the ring post shoulder first. During the break Edge got some offense in and now both men are down. If they had to do a heel vs. heel match on Raw, doing it in Japan was probably a pretty good idea. Edge goes up top and hits a missile dropkick and gets a 2 count. Big time spinebuster by Triple H and gets a 2 count. Edge puts on his reverse Sharpshooter submission move that I truly just don't remember. Edge goes for the spear, but Triple H moves and he hits the ref. Did this match really need a ref bump? Flair is in and he gets a spear. Edge now has the steel chair, but misses and hits Edge with a suplex. Both guys are now going for the chair, but Batista pulls it away and out of the ring. Edge is distracted and Triple H hits him and when he falls off the apron, he hit Batista in the back. Edge is back in and hits the Edgecution, but the ref is still down. Edge goes for the spear again, but Batista comes in out of nowhere and hits him with a spinebuster. Kick to the gut and the Pedigree finishes Edge off. That was a good little match with a little too much of the shenanigans we usually get in a Triple H match.
Match Rating: ***
After the match, Triple H poses, but Batista grabs his arm as he is holding up the title belt.
Well, they tried for a home run and only came up with a base hit. This wasn't a bad show, but looking at the card it could have been better. There was a little too much filler, but we did get two good matches to start and finish the show. Kudos to the Japanese crowd for giving the show a WrestleMania atmosphere.
Overall Rating: 58%
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Right off the bat this show has an awesome feel to it, as the Japanese crowd is clapping in unison. Very cool.
Out comes Eric Bischoff. He has a translator next to him. Bischoff promises one of the biggest Raws you will ever see because Ric Flair will be taking on Shawn Michaels, who gets a huge pop. The Triple H vs. Edge match gets a mild pop, but the Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho announcement is met with a big pop as well and that match is now.
Submission Match
Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho
They lock up and take it all the way outside before the ref has to break it up. We get some realistic wrestling that draws an applause from the Japanese crowd. Jericho goes for his springboard dropkick, but Benoit pushes him off the ropes. We come back from commercial break and both men have blood on their foreheads. Benoit hits a German suplex, but Jericho fights out of the second one. Jericho is the one that is busted open. Jericho puts Benoit into a half crab, which I'm not sure I can ever recall him doing. Benoit hits his three German suplexes and Benoit now signals for the diving headbutt and hits it. That will forever be one of my least favorite moves. Jericho battles back with a jawbreaker and goes for the Lionsault, but Benoit gets his knees up and Jericho grabs them and goes for the Walls of Jericho, but has to settle for a slingshot. Benoit now gets him in the Crippler Crossface but Jericho grabs the bottom rope. Benoit gets him back in the Crossface and this time Jericho taps. That was a good match until the ending. It just kind of came out of nowhere as if they were told to go home.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
We get a video about the tour to Japan. One of these years I will get over to Japan.
Triple H is backstage with Ric Flair talking about how Evolution runs the wrestling world. Triple H is now second guessing that Batista should go to SmackDown, but Ric Flair talks him out of it.
Christian and Tomko are backstage and Christian says that he calls his fans in Japan his "Jeeps". They walk into Stacy Keibler and the interviewer asks Stacy about Randy Orton instead of Christian. Christian says that Orton isn't a legend killer because he hasn't beat Christian. Christian tells Stacy to let Randy know that he'll meet him in the ring, but then tells Tomko that it will be him instead.
Batista is walking to the ring as we go to commercial break.
We get the Braveheart WrestleMania commercial again.
Maven vs. Batista
Maven says everyone is wondering why Maven wasn't in the Royal Rumble. He says it's because if he was in it, he would have won. Cue Batista's music. Maven immediately attacks Batista, but he eats a spinebuster. Batista Bomb and that is all.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match, they show Big Show's comments about Batista on the big screen.
After the break, he is backstage talking to Bischoff. Bischoff says he will get to the bottom of it. He then tries to convince Batista to stay on Raw. 3/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri naturally gets a big pop here. Regal and Tajiri start out hot. It's too bad the tag team division was a joke back in 2005 because Regal and Tajiri could have been a good team had they had the roster to work with. Tajiri hits a nice enzaguri, but the 3 count is broken up by Conway. Tajiri then hits his springboard double elbow and gets the Tarantula locked in. Grenier tries to hit Tajiri with the flag, but Tajiri blocks it and sprays the green mist for the victory. I can't believe Vince McMahon let this happen. That was way more of a squash than I expected.
Match Rating: *3/4
They show Regal and Tajiri celebrating in the crowd after the match.
It's now time to unveil some of the Hall of Fame inductees and they are the same ones announced on SmackDown.
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
Flair hits Michaels with a cheap elbow and then starts chopping away. Michaels reverses and hits some chops back and then hits him with a back body drop, which will never not look painful on Flair. Michaels then gives him one on the outside of the ring. I feel like that's not a bump he should have been taking in 2005. Flair lures Michaels in and gives him a thumb to the eye. Michaels fights back with some fists and Flair does his famous fall, much to the delight of the Japanese crowd. Chop block by Flair and he starts going to work on HBK's knee. Flair puts Michaels in the Figure Four and gets a couple of 2 counts. HBK is able to reverse it, but Flair gets the ropes. Michaels gets a nearfall with both a cradle and backslide. Enzaguri by Michaels and both men are down. They go back and forth with chops before Flair kicks Michaels knee. Flair goes up top, which gets a big pop and Michaels slams him off. Michaels goes up top for the elbow drop and is now tuning up the band. Sweet Chin Music and that's all for Flair. That was like an 8 minute greatest hits album. They hit the notes they needed to to please the live crowd.
Match Rating: **1/2
Jerry Lawler is in the ring to announce the All-American Diva Fashion Show. Out first is Maria sporting a cowboy outfit. Victoria is out in a biker outfit I guess? Last is Christy Hemme in a bikini. As Lawler is about to go over the fashion show rules, Simon Dean interrupts to talk about his Simon System. God, I wish Dean would have been around for the 1992 Superstars. They show Akebono in the front row. I forgot just how big that guy was. Dean then goes around insulting the women with fat jokes. Lawler distracts Dean and Christy hits him with a low blow from behind. That segment accomplished nothing except filling 10 minutes of airtime.
Evolution is in the locker room. They rehash the whole Raw/Smackdown stuff again. I still don't get why people look back on this fondly.
Coach is back with Edge and he's mad about being overlooked by people talking about what brand Batista is going to be on. He tries his best to make people think he's going to win the title tonight, but no one is buying it.
We get another WWE in Tokyo segment.
Randy Orton vs. Tyson Tomko
They are claiming that Orton was concussed at the Royal Rumble and then it was re-aggravated at Raw last week. Christian then drags out Stacy and Tomko takes control. A whole bunch of nothing happens and then Orton wins with a rollup and Orton sells a head injury. That was pretty awful.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match, Christian attacks him and hits the Unprettier while Stacy is in shock.
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge vs. Triple H
Despite being on the roster together for years, these two never seemed to have many one on one matches with one another. Triple H hits Edge three times into the ring post shoulder first. During the break Edge got some offense in and now both men are down. If they had to do a heel vs. heel match on Raw, doing it in Japan was probably a pretty good idea. Edge goes up top and hits a missile dropkick and gets a 2 count. Big time spinebuster by Triple H and gets a 2 count. Edge puts on his reverse Sharpshooter submission move that I truly just don't remember. Edge goes for the spear, but Triple H moves and he hits the ref. Did this match really need a ref bump? Flair is in and he gets a spear. Edge now has the steel chair, but misses and hits Edge with a suplex. Both guys are now going for the chair, but Batista pulls it away and out of the ring. Edge is distracted and Triple H hits him and when he falls off the apron, he hit Batista in the back. Edge is back in and hits the Edgecution, but the ref is still down. Edge goes for the spear again, but Batista comes in out of nowhere and hits him with a spinebuster. Kick to the gut and the Pedigree finishes Edge off. That was a good little match with a little too much of the shenanigans we usually get in a Triple H match.
Match Rating: ***
After the match, Triple H poses, but Batista grabs his arm as he is holding up the title belt.
Well, they tried for a home run and only came up with a base hit. This wasn't a bad show, but looking at the card it could have been better. There was a little too much filler, but we did get two good matches to start and finish the show. Kudos to the Japanese crowd for giving the show a WrestleMania atmosphere.
Overall Rating: 58%
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)