Original Airdate: Thursday, May 19th, 2005
Tyson Events Center
Sioux City, Iowa
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
It can't be said enough how terrible the SmackDown intro music is. Carlito is out for Carlito's Cabana. Since Big Show turned down Carlito, Carlito has now turned to Matt Morgan as his backup. He comes out to no reaction whatsoever from the live crowd, which is never good in the opening segment when the crowd is at their loudest. Morgan accepts his offer by stuttering because he stutters. Did you know Matt Morgan stutters? Out comes Big Show and we have a brawl. Morgan hits him with a chair and Big Show is down while Carlito and Morgan head to the back.
JBL is shown in a downtown area and he claims that all rappers are thugs and they deserve to be in jail. JBL says that Cena's new CD isn't worth the plastic it's wrapped in.
JBL vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
This is a rematch from the March 24th episode of SmackDown. JBL delivers a big boot right at the bell. Scotty gets a little bit off offense with a superkick, but then JBL bounces back with a huge lariat. JBL then repeatedly beats Scotty down in the corner as the referee tries to stop him. Charles Robinson stops the match and disqualifies JBL. JBL grabs a mic and reminds us that there are no disqualifications at Judgment Day. JBL then tries to get Scotty to say "I quit" but he refuses. JBL goes nuts on him and then forces him to say it. This was exactly what you thought it was going to be and was effective.
Match Rating: 1/2* (out of 5)
They show a clip of John Cena throwing out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. Surprisingly he isn't very good at baseball.
Booker is furious backstage while talking to Teddy Long. He wants Angle tonight, but Long has banned Angle from the arena due to his actions last week. Instead, Booker is fighting Mark Jindrak tonight. He still works here? Long apologizes and he tells Booker that Angle will issue an apology via satellite tonight or else he will be suspended indefinitely. He lets Booker know that he will be facing Angle at Judgment Day.
After the break, Jindrak talks to Sharmell and tells her that she shouldn't take what Angle did to her personally. He then repeats what Angle called her last week and then Booker attacks him. Booker keeps brawling him in towards the crowd and Michael Cole somehow thinks that this means the match has officially started? Nick Patrick comes out and they are in the ring and the bell rings.
Mark Jindrak vs. Booker T
Jindrak is already busted open. Jindrak gets his quick moment to shine, but not for very long. Booker hits a leaping forearm and a Book End. Scissor Kick to the back of the head and that's it. Well, the goal was to make Booker look strong and it did. However, the angle is such garbage that it's hard to look past it.
Match Rating: 1/2*
JBL is talking to the Bashams until Long interrupts. He informs JBL that if he lays a hand on Cena, he's going to hit him where it hurts.
Eddie is out once again carrying Mysterio's mask. Eddie stands in the ring as the crowd chants "Eddie sucks". Eddie continues to just stand there and after a long while he looks at the mask, throws it on the ground and wipes his boots on it. He sets down the microphone and heads to the back to some boos. This continues to be the best thing going on SmackDown.
Orlando Jordan vs. Heidenreich
Dream match here on free TV. Heidenreich before the match says it's time to make a new friend. Jordan then tells him that nobody likes him and that after he beats him tonight, no one will want to be his friend ever again. Jordan hits him with a cheap shot to start the match. He then hits him with a really awkward looking clothesline. Heidenreich makes him comeback and now he hits some awkward looking offense. These two have zero chemistry tonight. Heidenreich hits a big boot for a 2 count. Heidenreich catches Jordan and hits a sit down suplex and gets the victory in this non-title match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Heidenreich brings his new friend to the ring and they do the Bushwhacker 2.0.
They show a lengthy recap of the Angle/Booker story, which means WWE is not as embarrassed as they should be. They run down the updated card now with Carlito vs. Big Show and MNM vs. Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly.
Joey Mercury vs. Hardcore Holly
Mercury hits a duo of hip tosses and this is already the best match on the show. Holly then chops Mercury harder than Mercury probably ever had been up to this point in his life. It is kind of remarkable that Holly lasted nearly 4 years from match. Holly hits a nice superplex and both men are down. Holly hits a couple of clotheslines and dropkicks. Melina and Nitro try to get involved, but Holly is having none of it and hits the Alabama Slam for the victory. I have no idea what Holly and Haas did to earn their opportunity, but this match made me want to see it.
Match Rating: **1/2
Kurt Angle is with us live via satellite and they also show clips of Booker and Sharmell watching backstage. He apologizes because he has to, but then goes on to say that he and Sharmell kissed and that she liked it. Booker kicks down the TV in anger.
John Cena is backstage for an interview. Cena makes up chapter names while flipping through JBL's book. Josh Matthews for some reason starts trying to be cool and raps. Cena grabs the mic and tells him to leave. He then goes all 2008 era Cena about how he's a champion and all that jazz.
Handicap Match
John Cena vs. The Basham Brothers
There's a point in time that this probably would have been a good match, but Cena wasn't quite at that level yet. I feel like he didn't hit that level until the second half of 2006. The Bashams obviously try to take advantage of the handicap and they do. As Cena is in a chinlock, JBL grabs a mic and tells Cena to say "I quit". JBL continues to yell at Cena as the Bashams continue to dominate. Cena hits both of the Basham's heads together and makes his comeback. You Can't See Me and the FU are enough for him to finish them off. This was fine.
Match Rating: *1/4
Well, this certainly wasn't one of SmackDown's finest shows, but it did continue setting up the Judgment Day show which looks like a pretty good card overall. It would have been nice to have one more good match on here, but it was clear that their main focus was to make sure all of the storylines were advanced for the show and that's fine too.
Overall Rating: 48%
Monday, October 28, 2019
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Monday Night Raw 5-16-05 Review
Monday, May 16th, 2005
Qwest Center
Omaha, Nebraska
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chris Jericho
Both teams go right at it before the bell rings. Double Stinger Splash by Benjamin and then they hits clotheslines followed by a double crossbody to the outside. Daivari causes the distraction and Hassan is able to turn things around for his team. Jericho makes a nice burst of offense hitting a lot of his signature moves. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick on Daivari, but Hassan then hits him with his finisher and they get the victory to the shock of the crowd. As far as 6 minute tag matches go, that was pretty good.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
Jericho walks to the back alone while Shelton looks confused.
Chris Benoit is talking to Tajiri and he tells Tajiri that Paul Heyman has invited him to One Night Stand and Tajiri says that he was too. Benoit challenges him to an ECW Rules match tonight. In comes Regal and tries to stop Tajiri, but he eventually gives in.
Coach comes running into Bischoff's locker room while he is talking to Ric Flair. Flair wants Bischoff to call Triple H, but Bischoff lets him know that if he wants to talk to him, he's going to have to call him. Flair walks out and sees Batista. He tells him everything wrong in his life and in sports entertainment is all because of Batista. Batista says that he owes a lot of his success to Flair and that he respects him, but Flair is wrong.
Ric Flair vs. Christian
Christian hits a shoulder block and does a little strut. Flair slaps him, but Christian takes him down with a right hand and a back body drop. Flair trips him up and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes. Flair tries to do his usual over the top turnbuckle bump, but can't get over and Christian has to clothesline him over. Flair fights back with some chops and fists and Christian does Flair's face first bump. Tomko hits Flair with a right hand and Christian rolls him up but the ref catches him using the ropes. This allows Flair to reverse it and use the tights to get the victory. After watching that, it's kind of amazing that Flair wrestled for almost 3 more years in WWE.
Match Rating: 3/4*
After the match Christian and Tomko double team Flair until Batista's music hits. Batista takes care of them both and gives them both Batista Bombs. Flair and Batista make eye contact as Batista walks to the back.
Lita and Christy are backstage until Edge interrupts. Edge tells Lita to tell Kane that what he did to Shawn Michaels last week was nothing compared to what he will do to Kane tonight.
Christian and Tomko are backstage complaining about their match. Maria comes up and asks them if they are hurt and Christian sends her packing.
Chris Masters comes out sporting a black eye. We get another Master Lock Challenge. He picks a guy in a Batista shirt. Not that the shirts that WWE have today are amazing, they are light-years better than this era. The ref rings the bell almost instantly. Out of nowhere, here comes Stevie Richards and he attacks Masters. Masters retreats once he sees him grab a chair.
Edge is backstage and Kane comes in and chokes him. He said that if he ever talks to his wife again, he will end him.
ECW Rules Match
Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri
We are getting close to the first One Night Stand. Tajiri immediately gets Benoit into the Tarantula. It's kind of crazy that 14 years later Impact is still using a handful of the ECW stars. Jerry Lawler is going way over the top on trying to explain what an ECW Rules match is. Benoit takes out a ladder and sets Tajiri on a table. He climbs the ladder set up in the ring and is about to hit a headbutt to the floor but Coach is out and orders him to come down to some big boos. Bischoff's music hits and says that he is officially ending the match to some big boos. He says that he won't sanction an ECW match because it is pure garbage. He is banning ECW from Raw. Bischoff announces that he's going to take a group of Raw volunteers to One Night Stand to stop ECW.
Match Rating: N/R
Lingerie Pillow Fight
Christy Hemme vs. Candice Michelle
Both ladies throw off their robes and go for the pillows. The pillows are gimmicked to shoot feathers with any blow. Christy leaps over Candice and does the splits on the top rope and then rolls her up for the quick victory. This was obviously not meant to be a quality match. The ladies embrace and out comes Viscera. He lets them know that he is turned on and they both run to the back. Viscera then turns his attention to poor Lilian Garcia. He then kisses a plant in the crowd and then walks Lilian into the ring. The amount of time they are spending on this character that is clearly never going to get a push is just ridiculous. Seriously, this continues to be insulting. To those that think TV-PG is the problem, I present to you Exhibit A.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Kane wants Lita out at the ring to see him beat Edge tonight. They then make out. God, make it stop.
They show a highlight package of every match from the Gold Rush Tournament.
Shelton and Jericho are talking about their loss earlier. Jericho says that he's been the undisputed champion before and a loss doesn't mean much to him at this point in his career. He then hypes his radio show and gives Shelton a copy of Fozzy's new CD.
World Tag Team Championship Match
The Hurricane & Rosey vs. Simon Dean & Maven
Stacy Keibler is now with the champions dressed in superhero attire. Simon Dean holds Maven's feet as he does crunches after hitting a double suplex on Hurricane in a fun spot. Hot tag to Rosey and he hits a few power moves on the challengers. Stacy distracts them and Rosey and Hurricane hit their double team for the victory. This was just fluff, but at the same time I feel like I may the biggest Simon Dean fan left.
Match Rating: *
The SmackDown Rewind shows the saga of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. King and JR hype up the Diva Search.
Out of nowhere, here comes Randy Orton. He's in full heel mode and he says that he hopes Batista is still the champion when he comes back so he can take it back from him on Raw. Well, spoiler alert. None of this happens. Just about as Orton is to head out of the ring, Mr. McMahon is out. Vince legit tells Orton that he looks anorexic. He then goes on to make fun of his haircut. He reminds Orton that he is eligible for the draft and the draft begins in three weeks from Orton's hometown. Vince tells us that the draft will take place over an entire month.
Gold Rush Tournament Final Match
Kane vs. Edge
Edge tries to go after Kane with fists, but Kane isn't having any of that and quickly turns it around. Edge is able to hit a low blow while the ref wasn't looking. Edge begins working on Kane's left knee. I would say this is not the best match that these two have had. Edge hits a DDT, but Kane kicks out at 2. Kane sidesteps a spear and then hits a sidewalk slam. Edge shoves Kane and he hits the referee. Edge hits a spear, but there is not ref to count. Lita grabs the briefcase and slides it to Edge when Kane is climbing to the top rope. Edge hits Kane on his way down with the briefcase. Lita helps roll the ref and Edge now has two championship opportunities. It kind of feels like the whole reason this tournament was created was to tell the story of Edge and Lita and that's okay. This would go on to be the moment where Edge finally started getting real heat. However, this wasn't a very good match. It came off flat and uninspired.
Match Rating: *
Edge and Lita begin making out at the top of the ramp as Kane watches on from inside the ring as we go off the air.
The first half of this show flowed really well and I was ready to give this show a thumbs up. However, once the pillow fight started it was all downhill. The show ended with a hot angle, which is always a plus but there's no way to make up the time I have lost by watching this whole Viscera character introduction for the second time in my life.
Overall Rating: 58%
Qwest Center
Omaha, Nebraska
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Muhammad Hassan & Daivari vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chris Jericho
Both teams go right at it before the bell rings. Double Stinger Splash by Benjamin and then they hits clotheslines followed by a double crossbody to the outside. Daivari causes the distraction and Hassan is able to turn things around for his team. Jericho makes a nice burst of offense hitting a lot of his signature moves. Jericho hits the springboard dropkick on Daivari, but Hassan then hits him with his finisher and they get the victory to the shock of the crowd. As far as 6 minute tag matches go, that was pretty good.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
Jericho walks to the back alone while Shelton looks confused.
Chris Benoit is talking to Tajiri and he tells Tajiri that Paul Heyman has invited him to One Night Stand and Tajiri says that he was too. Benoit challenges him to an ECW Rules match tonight. In comes Regal and tries to stop Tajiri, but he eventually gives in.
Coach comes running into Bischoff's locker room while he is talking to Ric Flair. Flair wants Bischoff to call Triple H, but Bischoff lets him know that if he wants to talk to him, he's going to have to call him. Flair walks out and sees Batista. He tells him everything wrong in his life and in sports entertainment is all because of Batista. Batista says that he owes a lot of his success to Flair and that he respects him, but Flair is wrong.
Ric Flair vs. Christian
Christian hits a shoulder block and does a little strut. Flair slaps him, but Christian takes him down with a right hand and a back body drop. Flair trips him up and tries to pin him with his feet on the ropes. Flair tries to do his usual over the top turnbuckle bump, but can't get over and Christian has to clothesline him over. Flair fights back with some chops and fists and Christian does Flair's face first bump. Tomko hits Flair with a right hand and Christian rolls him up but the ref catches him using the ropes. This allows Flair to reverse it and use the tights to get the victory. After watching that, it's kind of amazing that Flair wrestled for almost 3 more years in WWE.
Match Rating: 3/4*
After the match Christian and Tomko double team Flair until Batista's music hits. Batista takes care of them both and gives them both Batista Bombs. Flair and Batista make eye contact as Batista walks to the back.
Lita and Christy are backstage until Edge interrupts. Edge tells Lita to tell Kane that what he did to Shawn Michaels last week was nothing compared to what he will do to Kane tonight.
Christian and Tomko are backstage complaining about their match. Maria comes up and asks them if they are hurt and Christian sends her packing.
Chris Masters comes out sporting a black eye. We get another Master Lock Challenge. He picks a guy in a Batista shirt. Not that the shirts that WWE have today are amazing, they are light-years better than this era. The ref rings the bell almost instantly. Out of nowhere, here comes Stevie Richards and he attacks Masters. Masters retreats once he sees him grab a chair.
Edge is backstage and Kane comes in and chokes him. He said that if he ever talks to his wife again, he will end him.
ECW Rules Match
Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri
We are getting close to the first One Night Stand. Tajiri immediately gets Benoit into the Tarantula. It's kind of crazy that 14 years later Impact is still using a handful of the ECW stars. Jerry Lawler is going way over the top on trying to explain what an ECW Rules match is. Benoit takes out a ladder and sets Tajiri on a table. He climbs the ladder set up in the ring and is about to hit a headbutt to the floor but Coach is out and orders him to come down to some big boos. Bischoff's music hits and says that he is officially ending the match to some big boos. He says that he won't sanction an ECW match because it is pure garbage. He is banning ECW from Raw. Bischoff announces that he's going to take a group of Raw volunteers to One Night Stand to stop ECW.
Match Rating: N/R
Lingerie Pillow Fight
Christy Hemme vs. Candice Michelle
Both ladies throw off their robes and go for the pillows. The pillows are gimmicked to shoot feathers with any blow. Christy leaps over Candice and does the splits on the top rope and then rolls her up for the quick victory. This was obviously not meant to be a quality match. The ladies embrace and out comes Viscera. He lets them know that he is turned on and they both run to the back. Viscera then turns his attention to poor Lilian Garcia. He then kisses a plant in the crowd and then walks Lilian into the ring. The amount of time they are spending on this character that is clearly never going to get a push is just ridiculous. Seriously, this continues to be insulting. To those that think TV-PG is the problem, I present to you Exhibit A.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Kane wants Lita out at the ring to see him beat Edge tonight. They then make out. God, make it stop.
They show a highlight package of every match from the Gold Rush Tournament.
Shelton and Jericho are talking about their loss earlier. Jericho says that he's been the undisputed champion before and a loss doesn't mean much to him at this point in his career. He then hypes his radio show and gives Shelton a copy of Fozzy's new CD.
World Tag Team Championship Match
The Hurricane & Rosey vs. Simon Dean & Maven
Stacy Keibler is now with the champions dressed in superhero attire. Simon Dean holds Maven's feet as he does crunches after hitting a double suplex on Hurricane in a fun spot. Hot tag to Rosey and he hits a few power moves on the challengers. Stacy distracts them and Rosey and Hurricane hit their double team for the victory. This was just fluff, but at the same time I feel like I may the biggest Simon Dean fan left.
Match Rating: *
The SmackDown Rewind shows the saga of Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. King and JR hype up the Diva Search.
Out of nowhere, here comes Randy Orton. He's in full heel mode and he says that he hopes Batista is still the champion when he comes back so he can take it back from him on Raw. Well, spoiler alert. None of this happens. Just about as Orton is to head out of the ring, Mr. McMahon is out. Vince legit tells Orton that he looks anorexic. He then goes on to make fun of his haircut. He reminds Orton that he is eligible for the draft and the draft begins in three weeks from Orton's hometown. Vince tells us that the draft will take place over an entire month.
Gold Rush Tournament Final Match
Kane vs. Edge
Edge tries to go after Kane with fists, but Kane isn't having any of that and quickly turns it around. Edge is able to hit a low blow while the ref wasn't looking. Edge begins working on Kane's left knee. I would say this is not the best match that these two have had. Edge hits a DDT, but Kane kicks out at 2. Kane sidesteps a spear and then hits a sidewalk slam. Edge shoves Kane and he hits the referee. Edge hits a spear, but there is not ref to count. Lita grabs the briefcase and slides it to Edge when Kane is climbing to the top rope. Edge hits Kane on his way down with the briefcase. Lita helps roll the ref and Edge now has two championship opportunities. It kind of feels like the whole reason this tournament was created was to tell the story of Edge and Lita and that's okay. This would go on to be the moment where Edge finally started getting real heat. However, this wasn't a very good match. It came off flat and uninspired.
Match Rating: *
Edge and Lita begin making out at the top of the ramp as Kane watches on from inside the ring as we go off the air.
The first half of this show flowed really well and I was ready to give this show a thumbs up. However, once the pillow fight started it was all downhill. The show ended with a hot angle, which is always a plus but there's no way to make up the time I have lost by watching this whole Viscera character introduction for the second time in my life.
Overall Rating: 58%
Monday, October 21, 2019
NXT 1-2-13 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
The show starts with The Shield attacking two wrestlers who I can't make out. Out comes Dusty Rhodes. Dean Ambrose says this is just a small taste of what they are capable of. Dusty tells Rollins that he is going to have a title match tonight against Corey Graves. Dusty tells them that as long as they are in his building, they will do as they tell them. If Rollins doesn't defend his title, he will be stripped of it. That was a refreshing start to the show.
Bo Dallas vs. Epico
Apparently Epico is still employed by the WWE in 2019. He hits a nice leaping elbow drop from the apron. The crowd isn't quite sure what they're supposed to do with either of these guys. They're trying to build up the fact that Dallas loves pain, but no one is buying it. He hits an overhead suplex and then follows up with a spear for the victory. Yeah, no one was digging that one.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
After the match, Epico and Primo corner Dallas and in comes McGillicutty for the save.
Sasha Banks vs. Tamina Snuka
Tamina goes right after Sasha. Sasha gets a small burst of offense until Tamina catches her and nails her with the Samoan Drop. Tamina goes up top and hits her ugly variation of her father's splash for the victory. Next.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kassius Ohno & Leo Kruger vs. Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel
Gabriel and Kidd were an underrated tag team. They show off a nice bit of teamwork in the early going. After like one move, this is already easily the best thing on the show so far. After a long heel segment, Gabriel makes a comeback. However, that is short-lived, as Kruger hits his finisher out of nowhere and gets the victory. The first half was good stuff, the second half was blah.
Match Rating: *3/4
NXT Championship Match
Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins
The whole Shield thing really makes no sense if you only watched NXT at this time. Graves wearing suspenders hanging from his pants is definitely a choice. I wonder what Graves' future would have been had he not had to retire. They go back and forth for a couple of minute and in comes Reigns and Ambrose. Dusty Rhodes comes out and sends in some reinforcements, and they all start brawling. The Shield clears out the ring and then hits the triple powerbomb on Bo Dallas. Out comes Big E. Langston and for some reason they retreat. Dusty then tells Rollins that he will face Big E next week for the championship. Well, that wasn't much of a match, but it further told the story of The Shield and made Big E look like a huge threat. I would argue that they made him look like too big of a threat that it made The Shield look weak.
Match Rating: *1/4
Well, things are at least happening now. The Shield is taking over NXT and Big E is clearly the guy they have positioned to try and stop them. They continue to force Bo Dallas and Tamina down our throats, which is a bummer and I guess you can add Leo Kruger to that list. I continue to look forward to seeing some of the more household names make their debuts, but so far it's really only been Sasha. There's nothing you have to watch here, but there are worse ways to spend 42 minutes I suppose.
Overall Rating: 42%
Sasha Banks vs. Tamina Snuka
Tamina goes right after Sasha. Sasha gets a small burst of offense until Tamina catches her and nails her with the Samoan Drop. Tamina goes up top and hits her ugly variation of her father's splash for the victory. Next.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kassius Ohno & Leo Kruger vs. Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel
Gabriel and Kidd were an underrated tag team. They show off a nice bit of teamwork in the early going. After like one move, this is already easily the best thing on the show so far. After a long heel segment, Gabriel makes a comeback. However, that is short-lived, as Kruger hits his finisher out of nowhere and gets the victory. The first half was good stuff, the second half was blah.
Match Rating: *3/4
NXT Championship Match
Corey Graves vs. Seth Rollins
The whole Shield thing really makes no sense if you only watched NXT at this time. Graves wearing suspenders hanging from his pants is definitely a choice. I wonder what Graves' future would have been had he not had to retire. They go back and forth for a couple of minute and in comes Reigns and Ambrose. Dusty Rhodes comes out and sends in some reinforcements, and they all start brawling. The Shield clears out the ring and then hits the triple powerbomb on Bo Dallas. Out comes Big E. Langston and for some reason they retreat. Dusty then tells Rollins that he will face Big E next week for the championship. Well, that wasn't much of a match, but it further told the story of The Shield and made Big E look like a huge threat. I would argue that they made him look like too big of a threat that it made The Shield look weak.
Match Rating: *1/4
Well, things are at least happening now. The Shield is taking over NXT and Big E is clearly the guy they have positioned to try and stop them. They continue to force Bo Dallas and Tamina down our throats, which is a bummer and I guess you can add Leo Kruger to that list. I continue to look forward to seeing some of the more household names make their debuts, but so far it's really only been Sasha. There's nothing you have to watch here, but there are worse ways to spend 42 minutes I suppose.
Overall Rating: 42%
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Superstars 10-31-92 Review
Original Airdate: Saturday, October 31st, 1992
Saskatchewan Center
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Vince and Mr. Perfect are talking to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan over on Wrestling Challenge. So we're getting a Tag Team Championship match from Challenge on Superstars. Seems like it would have been a lot easier to just say it was from Superstars.
Well, not so fast. Money, Inc. is in the ring and before the Natural Disasters are announced, the Nasty Boys come out and confront Jimmy Hart. Money, Inc. offers them money, which they gladly accept. The Nasty Boys still attack Money, Inc. and both men are down when the Natural Disasters make their way down to the ring.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Money, Inc. vs. Natural Disasters
The champs quickly attack Dibiase. It can't be described how much better Heenan and Monsoon are compared to Vince and Perfect. Typhoon goes off the ropes, but IRS trips him up and Money, Inc. take control. IRS tries to hit a suplex on Typhoon, but he reverses it. Earthquake is now in and he takes out both men. He hits a body slam and an elbow drop, but now the Headshrinkers are out in the aisle. I'm not even sure that they've acted as if they existed yet on Superstars. Earthquake is pushed face first into the steel guardrail outside the ring. They take turns on sleeper holds until Dibiase finally puts Quake in the Million Dollar Dream. The arm drops three times and we have new champions. This was mostly an angle, but it was enjoyable. The beginning of the match was fun, but it went downhill after the Headshrinkers came out.
Match Rating: *1/2
After the match, Jimmy Hart goes up to Heenan and Gorilla to celebrate. Unfortunately for Hart, the Nasty Boys are there to greet him. Money, Inc. is back out to stop them, but they give Jimmy the Pit Stop and then throw him off the stage onto the champs.
Back to boring old Vince and Perfect and squash matches. It was so nice to see something important on this show.
Yokozuna vs. Bill Jordan
Yokozuna's entrance was so simple, yet so unique for the time period. As big as he is here, it's nothing to where he would be in a few years. I can't recommend enough checking out the Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard episode on Yokozuna. It was a really great look at the career of Yoko. .He hits all of his signature moves and finishes him off with the Banzai Drop. I loved how that move always caused a *gasp* from the crowd.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They recap last week when Nailz refused to leave the ring and Undertaker made his way to the ring.
It's time for Sean Mooney in the Event Center. Shawn Michaels says that Bret is very worthy of being champion? A very un-cocky interview by HBK there. British Bulldog says that the Mountie is going to get the shock of his life. I bet he doesn't.
We get a promo that Bam Bam Bigelow is coming.
Tatanka vs. Dale Wolfe
Just as the match is about to start, they show Doink in the crowd. Wolfe hits the deadliest move of the 90s, the back rake. It doesn't work and Tatanka nails him with a big chop with Doink being seen in the background. Samoan Drop gets the victory. Shockingly, Tatanka pulls it off and remains undefeated.
Match Rating: 1/4*
No Mean Gene here for the interview with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. Instead we get the debut of Joe Bevins. Flair says that he is the ultimate survivor. Razor says that they don't need no stinkin' belts. Flair says that after they hurt somebody, they will style and profile.
Mean Gene is here now with a Survivor Series Report. Bret Hart talks about how similar his career is to HBK's. A new match is added with Nailz vs. Big Boss Man in a Nightstick Match. Nailz is shown in a ring with a nightstick on a pole and gives a horrible promo. Another new match added, Tatanka vs. Rick Martel to capitalize on their feud from like 4 months ago. Back to Undertaker making the coffin for Kamala.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan is here to remind us to vote.
Shawn Michaels vs. Steve May
As Michaels is looking into his mirror, Marty Jannetty is behind him and attacks him to finally get his revenge on Michaels. I did not remember this being this early in the year. He goes to smash Michaels with the mirror, but accidentally smashes it over Sherri. The GNR shirt that Marty is wearing is so hideous and so Marty. Sherri does a stretcher job. Vince and Perfect argue over whether or not it was on purpose. No match here. Poor Steve May.
Back to Mooney one last time. Tatanka vows to take back his feathers. Remember that storyline? Martel tells Tatanka that he gave him those feathers. Boss Man says that for every pain that Nailz has cost anyone, he's going to use the stick on him and serve hard time.
Sensational Sherri has regained consciousness. Next week we have an interview with Big Boss Man, the Headshrinkers and Money, Inc. vs. High Energy. Jimmy Hart can't believe that the Nasty Boys have turned their back on him after all he has done for him. He also is shocked that Jack Tunney is forcing them to defend their titles already.
Wow, that was the most eventful episode that I have watched for the blog. Doink, Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, Marty Jannetty, the Headshrinkers and new tag team champions made this a really good show for the time. As far as episodes of Superstars, that one was about as good as it gets. Thumbs up.
Overall Rating: 71%
Saskatchewan Center
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Vince and Mr. Perfect are talking to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan over on Wrestling Challenge. So we're getting a Tag Team Championship match from Challenge on Superstars. Seems like it would have been a lot easier to just say it was from Superstars.
Well, not so fast. Money, Inc. is in the ring and before the Natural Disasters are announced, the Nasty Boys come out and confront Jimmy Hart. Money, Inc. offers them money, which they gladly accept. The Nasty Boys still attack Money, Inc. and both men are down when the Natural Disasters make their way down to the ring.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Money, Inc. vs. Natural Disasters
The champs quickly attack Dibiase. It can't be described how much better Heenan and Monsoon are compared to Vince and Perfect. Typhoon goes off the ropes, but IRS trips him up and Money, Inc. take control. IRS tries to hit a suplex on Typhoon, but he reverses it. Earthquake is now in and he takes out both men. He hits a body slam and an elbow drop, but now the Headshrinkers are out in the aisle. I'm not even sure that they've acted as if they existed yet on Superstars. Earthquake is pushed face first into the steel guardrail outside the ring. They take turns on sleeper holds until Dibiase finally puts Quake in the Million Dollar Dream. The arm drops three times and we have new champions. This was mostly an angle, but it was enjoyable. The beginning of the match was fun, but it went downhill after the Headshrinkers came out.
Match Rating: *1/2
After the match, Jimmy Hart goes up to Heenan and Gorilla to celebrate. Unfortunately for Hart, the Nasty Boys are there to greet him. Money, Inc. is back out to stop them, but they give Jimmy the Pit Stop and then throw him off the stage onto the champs.
Back to boring old Vince and Perfect and squash matches. It was so nice to see something important on this show.
Yokozuna vs. Bill Jordan
Yokozuna's entrance was so simple, yet so unique for the time period. As big as he is here, it's nothing to where he would be in a few years. I can't recommend enough checking out the Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard episode on Yokozuna. It was a really great look at the career of Yoko. .He hits all of his signature moves and finishes him off with the Banzai Drop. I loved how that move always caused a *gasp* from the crowd.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They recap last week when Nailz refused to leave the ring and Undertaker made his way to the ring.
It's time for Sean Mooney in the Event Center. Shawn Michaels says that Bret is very worthy of being champion? A very un-cocky interview by HBK there. British Bulldog says that the Mountie is going to get the shock of his life. I bet he doesn't.
We get a promo that Bam Bam Bigelow is coming.
Tatanka vs. Dale Wolfe
Just as the match is about to start, they show Doink in the crowd. Wolfe hits the deadliest move of the 90s, the back rake. It doesn't work and Tatanka nails him with a big chop with Doink being seen in the background. Samoan Drop gets the victory. Shockingly, Tatanka pulls it off and remains undefeated.
Match Rating: 1/4*
No Mean Gene here for the interview with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. Instead we get the debut of Joe Bevins. Flair says that he is the ultimate survivor. Razor says that they don't need no stinkin' belts. Flair says that after they hurt somebody, they will style and profile.
Mean Gene is here now with a Survivor Series Report. Bret Hart talks about how similar his career is to HBK's. A new match is added with Nailz vs. Big Boss Man in a Nightstick Match. Nailz is shown in a ring with a nightstick on a pole and gives a horrible promo. Another new match added, Tatanka vs. Rick Martel to capitalize on their feud from like 4 months ago. Back to Undertaker making the coffin for Kamala.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan is here to remind us to vote.
Shawn Michaels vs. Steve May
As Michaels is looking into his mirror, Marty Jannetty is behind him and attacks him to finally get his revenge on Michaels. I did not remember this being this early in the year. He goes to smash Michaels with the mirror, but accidentally smashes it over Sherri. The GNR shirt that Marty is wearing is so hideous and so Marty. Sherri does a stretcher job. Vince and Perfect argue over whether or not it was on purpose. No match here. Poor Steve May.
Back to Mooney one last time. Tatanka vows to take back his feathers. Remember that storyline? Martel tells Tatanka that he gave him those feathers. Boss Man says that for every pain that Nailz has cost anyone, he's going to use the stick on him and serve hard time.
Sensational Sherri has regained consciousness. Next week we have an interview with Big Boss Man, the Headshrinkers and Money, Inc. vs. High Energy. Jimmy Hart can't believe that the Nasty Boys have turned their back on him after all he has done for him. He also is shocked that Jack Tunney is forcing them to defend their titles already.
Wow, that was the most eventful episode that I have watched for the blog. Doink, Yokozuna, Bam Bam Bigelow, Marty Jannetty, the Headshrinkers and new tag team champions made this a really good show for the time. As far as episodes of Superstars, that one was about as good as it gets. Thumbs up.
Overall Rating: 71%
Monday, October 14, 2019
SmackDown 5-12-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, May 12th, 2005
Sovereign Center
Reading, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a highlight package of his feud with Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero here and he pulls up a chair in the middle of the ring. Eddie is yelling at one of Rey's mask that he is holding and is saying it is all Rey's fault. I'm not sure I've seen Eddie cut a promo quite like this one. Eddie advises Rey not to return at Judgment Day. This is a promo that only a few guys can handle and Eddie is one of them.
Heidenreich vs. Spike Dudley
Heidenreich gets on the mic and says that Spike Dudley refused to be his friend. He goes out into the crowd looking for a friend and finds a kid in the crowd and brings them in the ring. He reads one of his disasterpieces. He has the kid stand in his corner for the match. Spike avoids a shoulder in the corner, which allows Spike to get 5 seconds of offense in. Spike goes after the kid and Heidenreich makes the save. Heidenreich hits his finisher and that's all. Obviously that was just to show off a little more of his new character. For whatever reason the crowd was into this.
Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)
Sharmell is backstage and walks into Booker's locker room. They then start making out. Yes, really.
Chavo is backstage with MNM. Mercury is sporting a black eye. They are going to fight Paul London and two teammates of his choice.
Kurt Angle is backstage and blames all of this on Sharmell on slapping him in the face. He then gives what Angle said was the most uncomfortable promo of his career. I don't know how he ever agreed to this garbage or why Vince McMahon would ever think that one of the most talented wrestlers in their company history would ever need to be involved in an angle like this. Absolutely insulting to everyone involved.
MNM & Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London, Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas
Nitro and London start things off. That'a a match I would like to see. Melina distracts Haas and MNM is able to capitalize. As bad as things sometimes are here in 2019 WWE, you can't even compare the rosters from this period and now. The depth on the current roster is insane. Hardcore Holly gets the hot tag and hits his signature moves. Holly eats a superkick from Nitro, which allows a blind tag from London and he hits a double crossbody on MNM. He hits the dropsault on Chavo, but MNM break up the pin attempt. Chavo goes for the Gory Bomb, but London reverses it. Chavo then gets a sloppy reversal off his pin attempt and puts his feet on the ropes for the victory. Good little match minus the sloppy finish by Chavo.
Match Rating: **1/2
JBL is here to talk about his book will now be back due to popular demand. He calls John Cena's album a flop. He says that he will never say "I quit" and that the more he bleeds, the more championships he wins. He of course is interrupted here by Cena and they instantly begin brawling. The Cabinet is out to make the save and allows JBL to get clean shots on Cena. The job squad is out to try and stop JBL, but they keep brawling. Ricky Steamboat and Skinner are even out to try and stop it. This felt more like a go home segment, but it was effective nonetheless.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Hey, it's future WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs. Eddie has the ref check out Jacobs and uses it to his advantage and blindsides him with a clothesline. Eddie puts the Rey Mysterio mask that he was carrying earlier on in the show on Jacobs and takes out his aggression on him. Eddie grabs a chair and brings it into the ring. Charles Robinson tries to stop him, but Eddie hits a brainbuster on the chair and he is disqualified. This was another good performance by Guerrero.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Michael Cole and Tazz run down the card for Judgment Day. Mysterio vs. Guerrero, Booker T vs. Kurt Angle (yes, even though they are fighting on this show) and JBL vs. Cena. Cole then does his Mr. T impression to introduce the Cena music video yet again.
Matt Morgan vs. Funaki
Wow, two appearances by Funaki tonight. The stuttering gimmick of course continues. He insults Funaki for how he talks while stuttering. Comedy gold. Funaki hits him with a thumb to the eye, but is then greeted with a big boot. Morgan hits his finisher and gets the victory. While he continues to get time on SmackDown, he did not get a match at Judgment Day.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Booker and Sharmell are shown backstage again and Booker says he doesn't want Sharmell to have any part of this. He's going to take him out tonight.
Carlito is here for Carlito's Cabana with his guest the Big Show. Carlito wants Big Show to be his backup. Carlito says that Big Show needs him just as much as Carlito needs him. He then shows pictures of Big Show from his sumo match. Big Show tells Carlito that he doesn't need him. He grabs him by the throat and starts eating one of the apples. Show begins gagging on the apple. Carlito then tells him that he knew Big Show wasn't smart enough to join him and I guess admits the apple was poisoned? He dumps the bucket of apples on him and that's about it. That was a very typical segment with a bizarre take on the outcome.
Kurt Angle vs. Booker T
They immediately start brawling, with Booker getting the best of Angle. Booker hangs him Angle on the top rope and he falls to the floor. Booker grabs a chair, but the ref tries to take it to him and Angle takes advantage of the distraction. Booker counters a chin lock with a jawbreaker and then hits a nice kick to the jaw. Angle hits the Angle Slam out of nowhere and then heads towards the back while Booker is down. Booker now is heading after Angle, but Angle is already in Booker's locker room. He closes the door and Sharmell is screaming on the floor. Angle comes from behind and attacks Booker. No winner is declared and we go off the air with Booker down and Sharmell screaming. Obviously this was more of an angle than a match.
Match Rating: *
Every scene Eddie was in was gold. Unfortunately he was not in every segment. The Angle/Booker storyline played a big role here on this episode and it continues to be embarrassing for all involved. The Carlito/Big Show segment was also goofy, but JBL and Cena also shined tonight. We got a handful of matches, but the only one that was really a match and not an angle was the solid 6 man tag match. This wasn't a terrible episode, just one that was very up and down.
Overall Rating: 52%
Sovereign Center
Reading, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a highlight package of his feud with Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero here and he pulls up a chair in the middle of the ring. Eddie is yelling at one of Rey's mask that he is holding and is saying it is all Rey's fault. I'm not sure I've seen Eddie cut a promo quite like this one. Eddie advises Rey not to return at Judgment Day. This is a promo that only a few guys can handle and Eddie is one of them.
Heidenreich vs. Spike Dudley
Heidenreich gets on the mic and says that Spike Dudley refused to be his friend. He goes out into the crowd looking for a friend and finds a kid in the crowd and brings them in the ring. He reads one of his disasterpieces. He has the kid stand in his corner for the match. Spike avoids a shoulder in the corner, which allows Spike to get 5 seconds of offense in. Spike goes after the kid and Heidenreich makes the save. Heidenreich hits his finisher and that's all. Obviously that was just to show off a little more of his new character. For whatever reason the crowd was into this.
Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)
Sharmell is backstage and walks into Booker's locker room. They then start making out. Yes, really.
Chavo is backstage with MNM. Mercury is sporting a black eye. They are going to fight Paul London and two teammates of his choice.
Kurt Angle is backstage and blames all of this on Sharmell on slapping him in the face. He then gives what Angle said was the most uncomfortable promo of his career. I don't know how he ever agreed to this garbage or why Vince McMahon would ever think that one of the most talented wrestlers in their company history would ever need to be involved in an angle like this. Absolutely insulting to everyone involved.
MNM & Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London, Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas
Nitro and London start things off. That'a a match I would like to see. Melina distracts Haas and MNM is able to capitalize. As bad as things sometimes are here in 2019 WWE, you can't even compare the rosters from this period and now. The depth on the current roster is insane. Hardcore Holly gets the hot tag and hits his signature moves. Holly eats a superkick from Nitro, which allows a blind tag from London and he hits a double crossbody on MNM. He hits the dropsault on Chavo, but MNM break up the pin attempt. Chavo goes for the Gory Bomb, but London reverses it. Chavo then gets a sloppy reversal off his pin attempt and puts his feet on the ropes for the victory. Good little match minus the sloppy finish by Chavo.
Match Rating: **1/2
JBL is here to talk about his book will now be back due to popular demand. He calls John Cena's album a flop. He says that he will never say "I quit" and that the more he bleeds, the more championships he wins. He of course is interrupted here by Cena and they instantly begin brawling. The Cabinet is out to make the save and allows JBL to get clean shots on Cena. The job squad is out to try and stop JBL, but they keep brawling. Ricky Steamboat and Skinner are even out to try and stop it. This felt more like a go home segment, but it was effective nonetheless.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Hey, it's future WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs. Eddie has the ref check out Jacobs and uses it to his advantage and blindsides him with a clothesline. Eddie puts the Rey Mysterio mask that he was carrying earlier on in the show on Jacobs and takes out his aggression on him. Eddie grabs a chair and brings it into the ring. Charles Robinson tries to stop him, but Eddie hits a brainbuster on the chair and he is disqualified. This was another good performance by Guerrero.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Michael Cole and Tazz run down the card for Judgment Day. Mysterio vs. Guerrero, Booker T vs. Kurt Angle (yes, even though they are fighting on this show) and JBL vs. Cena. Cole then does his Mr. T impression to introduce the Cena music video yet again.
Matt Morgan vs. Funaki
Wow, two appearances by Funaki tonight. The stuttering gimmick of course continues. He insults Funaki for how he talks while stuttering. Comedy gold. Funaki hits him with a thumb to the eye, but is then greeted with a big boot. Morgan hits his finisher and gets the victory. While he continues to get time on SmackDown, he did not get a match at Judgment Day.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Booker and Sharmell are shown backstage again and Booker says he doesn't want Sharmell to have any part of this. He's going to take him out tonight.
Carlito is here for Carlito's Cabana with his guest the Big Show. Carlito wants Big Show to be his backup. Carlito says that Big Show needs him just as much as Carlito needs him. He then shows pictures of Big Show from his sumo match. Big Show tells Carlito that he doesn't need him. He grabs him by the throat and starts eating one of the apples. Show begins gagging on the apple. Carlito then tells him that he knew Big Show wasn't smart enough to join him and I guess admits the apple was poisoned? He dumps the bucket of apples on him and that's about it. That was a very typical segment with a bizarre take on the outcome.
Kurt Angle vs. Booker T
They immediately start brawling, with Booker getting the best of Angle. Booker hangs him Angle on the top rope and he falls to the floor. Booker grabs a chair, but the ref tries to take it to him and Angle takes advantage of the distraction. Booker counters a chin lock with a jawbreaker and then hits a nice kick to the jaw. Angle hits the Angle Slam out of nowhere and then heads towards the back while Booker is down. Booker now is heading after Angle, but Angle is already in Booker's locker room. He closes the door and Sharmell is screaming on the floor. Angle comes from behind and attacks Booker. No winner is declared and we go off the air with Booker down and Sharmell screaming. Obviously this was more of an angle than a match.
Match Rating: *
Every scene Eddie was in was gold. Unfortunately he was not in every segment. The Angle/Booker storyline played a big role here on this episode and it continues to be embarrassing for all involved. The Carlito/Big Show segment was also goofy, but JBL and Cena also shined tonight. We got a handful of matches, but the only one that was really a match and not an angle was the solid 6 man tag match. This wasn't a terrible episode, just one that was very up and down.
Overall Rating: 52%
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Hell In A Cell 2019 Review
Sunday, October 6th, 2019
Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We get a nice opening promo on the history of Hell In A Cell. I would have liked to have seen more of the older footage incorporated as well, but this was a good way to build to the show.
Hell In A Cell Match
Raw Women's Championship Match
Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
Sasha attacks Becky before the cage hits the floor. They brawl under the cage and Sasha hits a suplex onto the ramp. The cage is now down and they are still on the outside of it. Becky turns things around after hitting Sasha with the door and they are both inside the cage for the first time. Becky has a chain wrapped around her fist and hits Sasha in the...back? Okay? Becky goes under the ring and gets a table and puts it in the ring. Becky then goes for a ladder, but Sasha comes from behind and hits her with a chair. It's so good to see heel Sasha back. As Sasha is setting something up, Becky returns the favor. Becky hits a series of baseball slides, pushing Sasha into the cage. Sasha then hits a nice Meteora on Becky, driving her into the ladder. That was a cool spot. Sasha then sits Becky down on a chain in the middle of the ring and she hits the double knees again and almost gets a 3 count. Becky fights back and hits a dropkick, pushing Sasha into the cage. She follows that up with a Becksploder into the cage. Sasha is now wailing away with a kendo stick and then sets them up in a corner. Becky reverses and slams Sasha face first into them. Becky now puts a chair on top of them and sets Sasha on top. Becky does a dropkick off of the apron and knocks Sasha off the chair. That was definitely unique. Becky now sets up a table in the ring, but Sasha hits a Backstabber. Sasha hits the Meteora, driving Becky through the table but Becky is able to kick out before 3. Becky is able to steal the kendo stick from Sasha and is unleashing on her until Sasha shoves her face first into a chair that is hanging from the side of the cage. Sasha goes up top, but Becky throws a chair at her and then hits a super Becksploder into a pile of chairs. Becky puts her in the Disarm Her and gets the submission victory. Both women worked really hard and had a really good match. Not quite great, but pretty close. My biggest complaint that it felt like after every big move, it was no big deal and it was their turn to hit a big move.
Match Rating: ***3/4 (out of 5)
Tornado Match
Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
Since I am reviewing this after the fact, I have now seen the Luke Harper Twitter bio controversy about him getting fined, so apparently he's still not happy. This is certainly an interesting choice for a second match on the card. Knowing WWE, they were probably still trying to come up with the rest of the card. Both teams go right at each other as soon as the bell rings. Bryan hits a missile dropkick and then a suicide dive. WWE has dropped the ball on a lot of performers, especially this decade, but Harper has to be near the top of the list. Harper throws Reigns face first into the stairs that Rowan was holding up for him. Bryan is able to get the LeBell Lock on Rowan, but Harper breaks it up. Bryan tries to make a comeback, but Harper hits a Michinoku Driver. Reigns finally makes his return and breaks up the pin attempt. Reigns hits the Drive By on Rowan, but is immediately greeted with a suicide dive by Harper. All four men are down outside of the ring. Rowan takes a piece of the barricade and drives it into Reigns and out into the crowd. They attempt to give a powerbomb on the table to Bryan, but Bryan reverses with a hurricanrana off the table on Harper. Then Reigns hits a running spear to Rowan while on the table. That was a nice spot there. Back in the ring, they go back and forth until Bryan hits a running knee followed up by a spear from Reigns and they pick up the victory. That was a hard fought match. It wasn't great by any means, but it made logical sense and made all four men look strong.
Match Rating: ***1/4
After the match, Reigns goes to shake Bryan's hand and Bryan walks away from it. Bryan then plays to the crowd for a hug, but Reigns turns his back for dramatic effect before accepting the hug.
Seth Rollins is in the back for an interview. He says he has no choice but to burn it down tonight against Wyatt.
Randy Orton vs. Ali
I really would love to see the alternate timeline where Ali got the championship match against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. That match he had with Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan was so good. Back and forth they go until Orton pushes Ali off the top rope to the floor. Orton then suplexes Ali face first on the table and then a back suplex. Orton goes back outside and tries another back suplex, but it's countered by Ali. Orton takes advantage and throws him into the ring post. Orton, as usual, is wrestling this match as if it is 25 minutes long instead of 12. Ali hits the 54th suicide dive of the night so far. The crowd has not been into this one so far. Ali rolls through on his first 450 attempt and then Orton moves out of the way at the gas station. Orton hits his DDT from the second rope. Orton goes for the RKO, but Ali does an amazing block. Ali goes for a somersault and then leaps up, but Orton counters it with the RKO and that's all she wrote. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I'm not sure what this really did for either man. The last minute or so was good though.
Match Rating: **1/4
Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors
You can't help but almost forget that Asuka is on the roster anymore. You could also almost forget that there is a Women's Tag Team Championship. The Kabuki Warriors get the early advantage. Interestingly, they are sort of playing the heel spots in this match. Bliss makes the hot tag to Cross. Sane goes off the top rope, but Cross gets her knees up. Auka is able to make the save. Asuka sprays green mist out of her mouth and gets the victory. That was a nothing match that felt really unmotivated. The Kabuki Warriors should have been champions probably awhile ago, but this seemed kind of random.
Match Ratting: *3/4
The OC vs. Braun Strowman & The Viking Raiders
Interesting that the announcers talk about the Viking Raiders' time at the Performance Center. Why even bring that up? Ivar gets to show off his athleticism before tagging in Erik. Styles hits him with cheap shot and the OC is back in control. The crowd is pretty dead here so far and I can't blame them since this feels like a thrown together Raw match. Hot tag to Braun and he attacks the OC like a wrecking ball. Braun then gets the dreaded shoulder to the ring post, as Styles avoided him charging at him. We now have chaos until Styles hits the Phenomenal Forearm. Braun was about to take out Styles, but the OC comes in and attacks them and then the ref disqualifies them? When was the last time they called a DQ for that? This show just gets worse by the minute. After the match the Viking Raiders take out Gallows and Anderson. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm on Braun, but he hits him with a right hand. This had no business being on a pay-per-view.
Match Rating: **
The Street Profits are backstage. They get interrupted by some 24/7 shenanigans, where Tamina wins the title by rolling up Carmella.
King Corbin vs. Chad Gable
I don't know, I think Gable has to grow the hair back. And I know that a lot of people who really know a lot about the business have applauded Corbin for being a true heel, but to me it is turn off the TV heat. Never wanting to see someone on TV again is not good heat. He calls Gable "Shorty" Gable now. I'm not sure there are more than a select few that are more talented than Gable. I hope this is his break, but I'm guessing calling him "Shorty" won't be it. Just as I type that, the crowd starts chanting "Gable". After a hot start, Corbin backs Gable into the ring post. I can't believe Corbin still wears the black tank top and black pants. There hasn't been a less intimidating big man in a long time. I agree that Corbin works a match like a heel, but he works it like a heel on a house show in 1991. No one wants to see that on a big show anymore. It would be interesting to me to see what would happen if Corbin were to get released. Which organizations would be interested in him? Corbin catches Gable off a springboard and turns it into a spinebuster. The crowd is completely killed at this point. Gable hits two cannonball kicks in a row, but Corbin catches him the third time and hits a powerbomb for a two count. Corbin hits a Deep Six, but Gable is able to kick out. Swinging neckbreaker followed by a moonsault by Gable. Gable now has the Ankle Lock in, but Corbin is able to get under the ropes. Corbin grabs the sceptor, but Gable ducks and rolls up Corbin for the win. Gable was doing everything he could to try to make that match interesting, but it was 80% Corbin and that pretty much always equals a garbage match.
Match Rating: *1/4
SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley
This match should be a big deal, but instead it feels thrown together. Bayley is showing off her more cocky character. They show Tamina in the crowd running away from R-Truth. Tamina is the Baron Corbin of the women's division. Funaki gets involved in a fun spot and then Carmella superkicks her and Truth wins the 24/7 belt back. Bayley misses a springboard crossbody and Charlotte gets her in the Boston Crab. This is kind of an interesting dynamic with Charlotte being a full fledged heel and Bayley in the middle of her turn. Bayley is going after Charlotte's legs now, using the ring and post to her advantage. As far as the announcers go, Graves and Cole are much better as a duo. Graves is starting to show signs of going back to his NXT persona. Now Charlotte is going after Bayley's legs on the post. Bayley rolls up Charlotte but gets caught using the ropes. Charlotte hits a distracted Bayley with a boot and puts her in the Figure Eight. Bayley taps and Charlotte wins the championship for the 803rd time. Not a bad match, but it lacked heat due to the story being more about Bayley's heel turn and not the feud. After the match Bayley throws a fit and starts to cry.
Match Rating: **3/4
Gable is backstage and says to call him Shorty. He wants someone to ask Corbin how it felt to come up short tonight. He gets attacked from behind by Corbin because the feud...must...continue.
Hell In A Cell Match
Universal Championship Match
Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend Bray Wyatt
Just what I always wanted in wrestling, Rob Zombie meets ICP. Remind me how WWE is still TV-PG? Not only is the cell red, the lights are red as well. Perhaps it was Wyatt's dream to know what it felt like to be a roast beef sandwich at Arby's? Seth tries using the kendo stick, but it doesn't even phase Wyatt. Rollins hits a flurry of offense and sets up a table inside the ring. Wyatt catches a suicide dive attempt and hits Sister Abigail into the cage. I'm at the point where I like IRS better than Wyatt in the Rotunda power rankings. Rollins sets Wyatt on the table and hits a Frog Splash and both men are down. Wyatt is right back up though and Rollins is in shock. Rollins hits a Stomp and again Wyatt pops back up. Wyatt hits Sister Abigail and gets a 2 count. Wyatt pulls out a cartoonish hammer and then uses it to push Rollins into the cage. Rollins continues to fight back on the bargain basement Joker. Springboard knee off the top rope twice in a row and Wyatt is still standing. He hits three Stomps in a row and the crowd is booing. Wyatt gets up to a pop. Rollins hits the Pedigree and Wyatt kicks out at 1. Please just turn Wyatt babyface so we can kill off this character. Twitter behavior aside, Rollins is such a better performer and he is stuck with this. Rollins pulls out a chair and Rollins hits him in the head and Wyatt kicks out at 1. Rollins places a chair on his face and grabs a ladder and uses it on the chair. Again, the Heath Ledger wannabe kicks out. Rollins now has a tool box and puts the chair and ladder over his head. He takes the tool box and smashes it on top of the ladder and chair to a chorus of boos. As the ref checks on Wyatt, Rollins now grabs a sledgehammer. The ref tries to stop him and Rollins thinks about holding back. Instead Rollins uses it and the ref rings the bell. In a Hell In A Cell match. The crowd is about as hot as I have heard in a long time. Probably since the time Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble. They immediately pull up the cell and the medical staff is there. As the crowd chants "AEW", Wyatt puts on the Mandible Claw, which is an insult to Mick Foley. This character and Mankind should not even be mentioned in the same breath as one another. Wyatt continues putting on the Mandible Claw and the lights go off and blood is coming from Rollins' mouth and the crowd boos. We go off the air to darkness and Wyatt laughing. Yeah, I'll gladly stand in the corner by myself while being the only one who hates this gimmick. This wasn't even a match, which is a shame because these two probably could have a good match if given the chance. An all time bad ending to a bad show.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Well, after a really solid year of pay-per-view shows, WWE gives us one of their worst of the decade. A card that was full of unannounced matches and a main event that featured one of the worst characters since Isaac Yankem with an ending that would make Vince Russo blush. The sad part is that creative had seemed to be rejuvenated, but this is a big roadblock. With the pressure of AEW starting to sink in, let's see how they respond next month at Survivor Series.
Overall Rating: 22%
Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We get a nice opening promo on the history of Hell In A Cell. I would have liked to have seen more of the older footage incorporated as well, but this was a good way to build to the show.
Hell In A Cell Match
Raw Women's Championship Match
Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
Sasha attacks Becky before the cage hits the floor. They brawl under the cage and Sasha hits a suplex onto the ramp. The cage is now down and they are still on the outside of it. Becky turns things around after hitting Sasha with the door and they are both inside the cage for the first time. Becky has a chain wrapped around her fist and hits Sasha in the...back? Okay? Becky goes under the ring and gets a table and puts it in the ring. Becky then goes for a ladder, but Sasha comes from behind and hits her with a chair. It's so good to see heel Sasha back. As Sasha is setting something up, Becky returns the favor. Becky hits a series of baseball slides, pushing Sasha into the cage. Sasha then hits a nice Meteora on Becky, driving her into the ladder. That was a cool spot. Sasha then sits Becky down on a chain in the middle of the ring and she hits the double knees again and almost gets a 3 count. Becky fights back and hits a dropkick, pushing Sasha into the cage. She follows that up with a Becksploder into the cage. Sasha is now wailing away with a kendo stick and then sets them up in a corner. Becky reverses and slams Sasha face first into them. Becky now puts a chair on top of them and sets Sasha on top. Becky does a dropkick off of the apron and knocks Sasha off the chair. That was definitely unique. Becky now sets up a table in the ring, but Sasha hits a Backstabber. Sasha hits the Meteora, driving Becky through the table but Becky is able to kick out before 3. Becky is able to steal the kendo stick from Sasha and is unleashing on her until Sasha shoves her face first into a chair that is hanging from the side of the cage. Sasha goes up top, but Becky throws a chair at her and then hits a super Becksploder into a pile of chairs. Becky puts her in the Disarm Her and gets the submission victory. Both women worked really hard and had a really good match. Not quite great, but pretty close. My biggest complaint that it felt like after every big move, it was no big deal and it was their turn to hit a big move.
Match Rating: ***3/4 (out of 5)
Tornado Match
Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
Since I am reviewing this after the fact, I have now seen the Luke Harper Twitter bio controversy about him getting fined, so apparently he's still not happy. This is certainly an interesting choice for a second match on the card. Knowing WWE, they were probably still trying to come up with the rest of the card. Both teams go right at each other as soon as the bell rings. Bryan hits a missile dropkick and then a suicide dive. WWE has dropped the ball on a lot of performers, especially this decade, but Harper has to be near the top of the list. Harper throws Reigns face first into the stairs that Rowan was holding up for him. Bryan is able to get the LeBell Lock on Rowan, but Harper breaks it up. Bryan tries to make a comeback, but Harper hits a Michinoku Driver. Reigns finally makes his return and breaks up the pin attempt. Reigns hits the Drive By on Rowan, but is immediately greeted with a suicide dive by Harper. All four men are down outside of the ring. Rowan takes a piece of the barricade and drives it into Reigns and out into the crowd. They attempt to give a powerbomb on the table to Bryan, but Bryan reverses with a hurricanrana off the table on Harper. Then Reigns hits a running spear to Rowan while on the table. That was a nice spot there. Back in the ring, they go back and forth until Bryan hits a running knee followed up by a spear from Reigns and they pick up the victory. That was a hard fought match. It wasn't great by any means, but it made logical sense and made all four men look strong.
Match Rating: ***1/4
After the match, Reigns goes to shake Bryan's hand and Bryan walks away from it. Bryan then plays to the crowd for a hug, but Reigns turns his back for dramatic effect before accepting the hug.
Seth Rollins is in the back for an interview. He says he has no choice but to burn it down tonight against Wyatt.
Randy Orton vs. Ali
I really would love to see the alternate timeline where Ali got the championship match against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. That match he had with Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan was so good. Back and forth they go until Orton pushes Ali off the top rope to the floor. Orton then suplexes Ali face first on the table and then a back suplex. Orton goes back outside and tries another back suplex, but it's countered by Ali. Orton takes advantage and throws him into the ring post. Orton, as usual, is wrestling this match as if it is 25 minutes long instead of 12. Ali hits the 54th suicide dive of the night so far. The crowd has not been into this one so far. Ali rolls through on his first 450 attempt and then Orton moves out of the way at the gas station. Orton hits his DDT from the second rope. Orton goes for the RKO, but Ali does an amazing block. Ali goes for a somersault and then leaps up, but Orton counters it with the RKO and that's all she wrote. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I'm not sure what this really did for either man. The last minute or so was good though.
Match Rating: **1/4
Women's Tag Team Championship Match
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors
You can't help but almost forget that Asuka is on the roster anymore. You could also almost forget that there is a Women's Tag Team Championship. The Kabuki Warriors get the early advantage. Interestingly, they are sort of playing the heel spots in this match. Bliss makes the hot tag to Cross. Sane goes off the top rope, but Cross gets her knees up. Auka is able to make the save. Asuka sprays green mist out of her mouth and gets the victory. That was a nothing match that felt really unmotivated. The Kabuki Warriors should have been champions probably awhile ago, but this seemed kind of random.
Match Ratting: *3/4
The OC vs. Braun Strowman & The Viking Raiders
Interesting that the announcers talk about the Viking Raiders' time at the Performance Center. Why even bring that up? Ivar gets to show off his athleticism before tagging in Erik. Styles hits him with cheap shot and the OC is back in control. The crowd is pretty dead here so far and I can't blame them since this feels like a thrown together Raw match. Hot tag to Braun and he attacks the OC like a wrecking ball. Braun then gets the dreaded shoulder to the ring post, as Styles avoided him charging at him. We now have chaos until Styles hits the Phenomenal Forearm. Braun was about to take out Styles, but the OC comes in and attacks them and then the ref disqualifies them? When was the last time they called a DQ for that? This show just gets worse by the minute. After the match the Viking Raiders take out Gallows and Anderson. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm on Braun, but he hits him with a right hand. This had no business being on a pay-per-view.
Match Rating: **
The Street Profits are backstage. They get interrupted by some 24/7 shenanigans, where Tamina wins the title by rolling up Carmella.
King Corbin vs. Chad Gable
I don't know, I think Gable has to grow the hair back. And I know that a lot of people who really know a lot about the business have applauded Corbin for being a true heel, but to me it is turn off the TV heat. Never wanting to see someone on TV again is not good heat. He calls Gable "Shorty" Gable now. I'm not sure there are more than a select few that are more talented than Gable. I hope this is his break, but I'm guessing calling him "Shorty" won't be it. Just as I type that, the crowd starts chanting "Gable". After a hot start, Corbin backs Gable into the ring post. I can't believe Corbin still wears the black tank top and black pants. There hasn't been a less intimidating big man in a long time. I agree that Corbin works a match like a heel, but he works it like a heel on a house show in 1991. No one wants to see that on a big show anymore. It would be interesting to me to see what would happen if Corbin were to get released. Which organizations would be interested in him? Corbin catches Gable off a springboard and turns it into a spinebuster. The crowd is completely killed at this point. Gable hits two cannonball kicks in a row, but Corbin catches him the third time and hits a powerbomb for a two count. Corbin hits a Deep Six, but Gable is able to kick out. Swinging neckbreaker followed by a moonsault by Gable. Gable now has the Ankle Lock in, but Corbin is able to get under the ropes. Corbin grabs the sceptor, but Gable ducks and rolls up Corbin for the win. Gable was doing everything he could to try to make that match interesting, but it was 80% Corbin and that pretty much always equals a garbage match.
Match Rating: *1/4
SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley
This match should be a big deal, but instead it feels thrown together. Bayley is showing off her more cocky character. They show Tamina in the crowd running away from R-Truth. Tamina is the Baron Corbin of the women's division. Funaki gets involved in a fun spot and then Carmella superkicks her and Truth wins the 24/7 belt back. Bayley misses a springboard crossbody and Charlotte gets her in the Boston Crab. This is kind of an interesting dynamic with Charlotte being a full fledged heel and Bayley in the middle of her turn. Bayley is going after Charlotte's legs now, using the ring and post to her advantage. As far as the announcers go, Graves and Cole are much better as a duo. Graves is starting to show signs of going back to his NXT persona. Now Charlotte is going after Bayley's legs on the post. Bayley rolls up Charlotte but gets caught using the ropes. Charlotte hits a distracted Bayley with a boot and puts her in the Figure Eight. Bayley taps and Charlotte wins the championship for the 803rd time. Not a bad match, but it lacked heat due to the story being more about Bayley's heel turn and not the feud. After the match Bayley throws a fit and starts to cry.
Match Rating: **3/4
Gable is backstage and says to call him Shorty. He wants someone to ask Corbin how it felt to come up short tonight. He gets attacked from behind by Corbin because the feud...must...continue.
Hell In A Cell Match
Universal Championship Match
Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend Bray Wyatt
Just what I always wanted in wrestling, Rob Zombie meets ICP. Remind me how WWE is still TV-PG? Not only is the cell red, the lights are red as well. Perhaps it was Wyatt's dream to know what it felt like to be a roast beef sandwich at Arby's? Seth tries using the kendo stick, but it doesn't even phase Wyatt. Rollins hits a flurry of offense and sets up a table inside the ring. Wyatt catches a suicide dive attempt and hits Sister Abigail into the cage. I'm at the point where I like IRS better than Wyatt in the Rotunda power rankings. Rollins sets Wyatt on the table and hits a Frog Splash and both men are down. Wyatt is right back up though and Rollins is in shock. Rollins hits a Stomp and again Wyatt pops back up. Wyatt hits Sister Abigail and gets a 2 count. Wyatt pulls out a cartoonish hammer and then uses it to push Rollins into the cage. Rollins continues to fight back on the bargain basement Joker. Springboard knee off the top rope twice in a row and Wyatt is still standing. He hits three Stomps in a row and the crowd is booing. Wyatt gets up to a pop. Rollins hits the Pedigree and Wyatt kicks out at 1. Please just turn Wyatt babyface so we can kill off this character. Twitter behavior aside, Rollins is such a better performer and he is stuck with this. Rollins pulls out a chair and Rollins hits him in the head and Wyatt kicks out at 1. Rollins places a chair on his face and grabs a ladder and uses it on the chair. Again, the Heath Ledger wannabe kicks out. Rollins now has a tool box and puts the chair and ladder over his head. He takes the tool box and smashes it on top of the ladder and chair to a chorus of boos. As the ref checks on Wyatt, Rollins now grabs a sledgehammer. The ref tries to stop him and Rollins thinks about holding back. Instead Rollins uses it and the ref rings the bell. In a Hell In A Cell match. The crowd is about as hot as I have heard in a long time. Probably since the time Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble. They immediately pull up the cell and the medical staff is there. As the crowd chants "AEW", Wyatt puts on the Mandible Claw, which is an insult to Mick Foley. This character and Mankind should not even be mentioned in the same breath as one another. Wyatt continues putting on the Mandible Claw and the lights go off and blood is coming from Rollins' mouth and the crowd boos. We go off the air to darkness and Wyatt laughing. Yeah, I'll gladly stand in the corner by myself while being the only one who hates this gimmick. This wasn't even a match, which is a shame because these two probably could have a good match if given the chance. An all time bad ending to a bad show.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Well, after a really solid year of pay-per-view shows, WWE gives us one of their worst of the decade. A card that was full of unannounced matches and a main event that featured one of the worst characters since Isaac Yankem with an ending that would make Vince Russo blush. The sad part is that creative had seemed to be rejuvenated, but this is a big roadblock. With the pressure of AEW starting to sink in, let's see how they respond next month at Survivor Series.
Overall Rating: 22%
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Monday Night Raw 5-9-05 Review
Monday, May 9th, 2005
Wachovia Arena
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a recap of last week's first round of the Gold Rush Tournament, Triple H is on his way to the ring. He gets in the face of some of the ringside fans as they chant "You tapped out". He says that the tournament is bogus and that Batista is afraid of him. Naturally, Batista is out now. It is somewhat interesting that Batista kept the dress like a Four Horsemen look as a babyface. Batista says that he is here to face his fears since he is so afraid of Triple H. Hes faced him twice, he beat him twice. Triple H says he is going to walk out and go back to his big mansion and watch Batista fail. Batista says see ya later. That was a weird promo. In comparison to the Eddie/Mysterio segment that opened the SmackDown episode I last reviewed, it was not even close in terms of quality.
Triple H is outside and getting in the limo but Ric Flair is trying to stop him. He leaves without Flair.
Muhammad Hassan and Daivari are here. Daivari is dressed in his wrestling gear. He speaks in English to Hassan here. He gets on his knees and apologizes. He issues an open challenge. Jericho's music hits.
Daivari vs. Chris Jericho
Daivari attacks Jericho on his way in, but Jericho hits him with an elbow and some chops. Jericho charges at him, but Daivari steps out of the way and Jericho hits his shoulder on the ring post. Daivari works on the shoulder and then heads up to the second rope. Jericho hits him in the midsection and then shoves him face first to the mat. Jericho tries going up top, but Daivari stops him. Daivari goes for a hurricanrana, but Jericho stops him and drops down into the Walls of Jericho and gets the victory. Jericho has to be one of the few people on the planet that any wrestler would let do that move to them on. After the match, Hassan attacks Jericho and puts him in the Camel Clutch. Shelton Benjamin is out to make the save. That was about as good as a 3 minute TV match is going to be.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Eric Bischoff and Christy Hemme are backstage. Bischoff lets her know that Divas are eligible for the draft and talks about the upcoming Diva Search. La Resistance comes in and Bischoff lets them know that they are both in singles matches tonight against surprise opponents.
Ric Flair is on his flip phone backstage. Tomko and Christian are here and Christian is here to make sure Flair is doing all right. Christian lets him know that if he's looking for someone to suck up to, he can suck up to him now. Flair wants a match with Christian tonight and Christian accepts.
Sylvain Grenier vs. Viscera
Rob Conway walks to the back and leaves Sylvain on his own. Viscera hits a slam and then basically humps him. Viscera then misses with a splash and then Grenier hits a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Viscera hits his rolling kick and then a sit down chokeslam powerbomb for the victory. At least it was short. After the match he takes nachos away from a fan in the front row. He then makes inappropriate comments to Lillian Garcia while she holds the microphone for him. God, make this stop.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kane is backstage with Lita. Kane grabs her and reminds her that it's been 9 months since they were married. He says that he will be World Champion soon. They then tease a little bit of a lack of trust between the two.
Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Final Match
Kane vs. Chris Benoit
Kane misses with a boot and Benoit dropkicks his leg out from under him. Kane hits a side suplex for a 2 count. Kane goes off the top rope, but Benoit hits him with a dropkick. Benoit hits 5 German suplexes in a row, which is pretty impressive. Benoit is going up top for the headbutt, but Kane sits up so Benoit dropkicks him. He goes up top and hits the headbutt and gets a 2 count. Lita gets involved and appears to hurt her knee and Benoit checks on her, allowing Kane to attack him from behind. Kane hits a chokeslam and that's all she wrote. Kind of a weird match and I'm not sure why. Everything worked, the crowd was into it but it just felt a little off for some reason.
Match Rating: **
Ric Flair vs.Christian Tyson Tomko
Christian says that if Flair wants a piece of him, he has to go through Tomko first. Flair goes right after Tomko, but is quickly stopped. It's weird that Flair is kind of the face here, even though he and Triple H are traditional heels in their current roles. Tomko is distracted by the ref, allowing Flair to clip Tomko and put him in the Figure Four. Christian gets involved and the ref throws him out. Flair hits a low blow and rolls up Tomko for a 3 count. Well, that was quick even by Raw standards.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show some bikini pictures of some of the potential Raw Diva Search competitors.
Stacy Keibler is here to promote her Stuff Magazine photo shoot. She starts to undress, but her zipper gets stuck and asks Todd Grisham to help her. Simon Dean and Maven interrupt and take the mic from Todd. They try to make her drink a shake, but she drops it, which infuriates the duo. They start harassing Stacy and Hurricane and Rosey are here to save the day.
Eric Bischoff is on the phone when Coach interrupts. Coach brings up the One Night Stand commercial that was shown, which angers Bischoff. Bischoff says he is going to squash ECW just like in his WCW days.
Robert Conway vs. Shelton Benjamin
Conway attacks Benjamin before the bell. Conway controls the match until Shelton hits a Samoan Drop for a 2 count. Conway drapes Shelton over the top rope and follows up with a knee lift. Shelton hits a charging Conway with a kick to the head and then hits a springboard bulldog for the victory. Lots of short matches tonight.
Match Rating: 1/2*
As Shelton gets to the top of the ramp, he is attacked by both Dairvari and Muhammad Hassan. Hassan does the choke on Shelton that would later get Daniel Bryan fired in a few years.
Edge is shown backstage getting ready for his match tonight.
We get to see the John Cena music video again.
Shawn Michaels lets us know that he is the real Money In The Bank.
Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Final Match
Edge vs. Shawn Michaels
Michaels teases leaping over the top rope and then turns it into a springboard crossbody. Edge is able to recover and drop Michaels on the ropes to take control. In the back, Batista is watching a monitor, at an angle of course. Edge is doing a lot of early match rest holds here. Edge goes off the top rope and Michaels is able to kick him in the gut and both men are down. Michaels hits his top rope elbow drop and is now getting ready for Sweet Chin Music. Edge ducks and goes for a electric chair, but Michaels counters it into a victory roll for a 2 count. Edge ducks a clothesline and Michaels accidentally hits the ref. Edge goes for the spear, but Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music. We have no ref, so Michaels tries to wake him up. Michaels ducks Edge's briefcase and rolls him up. Edge grabs the briefcase and hits Michaels in the head. The ref is up and sloooowly counts to 3. The finals are all set with Edge and Kane for next week. The match never really clicked, but it was Shawn Michaels so it was still pretty good.
Match Rating: **1/2
While the episode was definitely not bad, it kind of felt like filler for next week's show. There were no particularly great matches and the Viscera stuff continues to be embarrassing. On the plus side, the show went by pretty quickly and it looks like next week will be a good one.
Overall Rating: 52%
Wachovia Arena
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a recap of last week's first round of the Gold Rush Tournament, Triple H is on his way to the ring. He gets in the face of some of the ringside fans as they chant "You tapped out". He says that the tournament is bogus and that Batista is afraid of him. Naturally, Batista is out now. It is somewhat interesting that Batista kept the dress like a Four Horsemen look as a babyface. Batista says that he is here to face his fears since he is so afraid of Triple H. Hes faced him twice, he beat him twice. Triple H says he is going to walk out and go back to his big mansion and watch Batista fail. Batista says see ya later. That was a weird promo. In comparison to the Eddie/Mysterio segment that opened the SmackDown episode I last reviewed, it was not even close in terms of quality.
Triple H is outside and getting in the limo but Ric Flair is trying to stop him. He leaves without Flair.
Muhammad Hassan and Daivari are here. Daivari is dressed in his wrestling gear. He speaks in English to Hassan here. He gets on his knees and apologizes. He issues an open challenge. Jericho's music hits.
Daivari vs. Chris Jericho
Daivari attacks Jericho on his way in, but Jericho hits him with an elbow and some chops. Jericho charges at him, but Daivari steps out of the way and Jericho hits his shoulder on the ring post. Daivari works on the shoulder and then heads up to the second rope. Jericho hits him in the midsection and then shoves him face first to the mat. Jericho tries going up top, but Daivari stops him. Daivari goes for a hurricanrana, but Jericho stops him and drops down into the Walls of Jericho and gets the victory. Jericho has to be one of the few people on the planet that any wrestler would let do that move to them on. After the match, Hassan attacks Jericho and puts him in the Camel Clutch. Shelton Benjamin is out to make the save. That was about as good as a 3 minute TV match is going to be.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Eric Bischoff and Christy Hemme are backstage. Bischoff lets her know that Divas are eligible for the draft and talks about the upcoming Diva Search. La Resistance comes in and Bischoff lets them know that they are both in singles matches tonight against surprise opponents.
Ric Flair is on his flip phone backstage. Tomko and Christian are here and Christian is here to make sure Flair is doing all right. Christian lets him know that if he's looking for someone to suck up to, he can suck up to him now. Flair wants a match with Christian tonight and Christian accepts.
Sylvain Grenier vs. Viscera
Rob Conway walks to the back and leaves Sylvain on his own. Viscera hits a slam and then basically humps him. Viscera then misses with a splash and then Grenier hits a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Viscera hits his rolling kick and then a sit down chokeslam powerbomb for the victory. At least it was short. After the match he takes nachos away from a fan in the front row. He then makes inappropriate comments to Lillian Garcia while she holds the microphone for him. God, make this stop.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kane is backstage with Lita. Kane grabs her and reminds her that it's been 9 months since they were married. He says that he will be World Champion soon. They then tease a little bit of a lack of trust between the two.
Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Final Match
Kane vs. Chris Benoit
Kane misses with a boot and Benoit dropkicks his leg out from under him. Kane hits a side suplex for a 2 count. Kane goes off the top rope, but Benoit hits him with a dropkick. Benoit hits 5 German suplexes in a row, which is pretty impressive. Benoit is going up top for the headbutt, but Kane sits up so Benoit dropkicks him. He goes up top and hits the headbutt and gets a 2 count. Lita gets involved and appears to hurt her knee and Benoit checks on her, allowing Kane to attack him from behind. Kane hits a chokeslam and that's all she wrote. Kind of a weird match and I'm not sure why. Everything worked, the crowd was into it but it just felt a little off for some reason.
Match Rating: **
Ric Flair vs.
Christian says that if Flair wants a piece of him, he has to go through Tomko first. Flair goes right after Tomko, but is quickly stopped. It's weird that Flair is kind of the face here, even though he and Triple H are traditional heels in their current roles. Tomko is distracted by the ref, allowing Flair to clip Tomko and put him in the Figure Four. Christian gets involved and the ref throws him out. Flair hits a low blow and rolls up Tomko for a 3 count. Well, that was quick even by Raw standards.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show some bikini pictures of some of the potential Raw Diva Search competitors.
Stacy Keibler is here to promote her Stuff Magazine photo shoot. She starts to undress, but her zipper gets stuck and asks Todd Grisham to help her. Simon Dean and Maven interrupt and take the mic from Todd. They try to make her drink a shake, but she drops it, which infuriates the duo. They start harassing Stacy and Hurricane and Rosey are here to save the day.
Eric Bischoff is on the phone when Coach interrupts. Coach brings up the One Night Stand commercial that was shown, which angers Bischoff. Bischoff says he is going to squash ECW just like in his WCW days.
Robert Conway vs. Shelton Benjamin
Conway attacks Benjamin before the bell. Conway controls the match until Shelton hits a Samoan Drop for a 2 count. Conway drapes Shelton over the top rope and follows up with a knee lift. Shelton hits a charging Conway with a kick to the head and then hits a springboard bulldog for the victory. Lots of short matches tonight.
Match Rating: 1/2*
As Shelton gets to the top of the ramp, he is attacked by both Dairvari and Muhammad Hassan. Hassan does the choke on Shelton that would later get Daniel Bryan fired in a few years.
Edge is shown backstage getting ready for his match tonight.
We get to see the John Cena music video again.
Shawn Michaels lets us know that he is the real Money In The Bank.
Gold Rush Tournament Semi-Final Match
Edge vs. Shawn Michaels
Michaels teases leaping over the top rope and then turns it into a springboard crossbody. Edge is able to recover and drop Michaels on the ropes to take control. In the back, Batista is watching a monitor, at an angle of course. Edge is doing a lot of early match rest holds here. Edge goes off the top rope and Michaels is able to kick him in the gut and both men are down. Michaels hits his top rope elbow drop and is now getting ready for Sweet Chin Music. Edge ducks and goes for a electric chair, but Michaels counters it into a victory roll for a 2 count. Edge ducks a clothesline and Michaels accidentally hits the ref. Edge goes for the spear, but Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music. We have no ref, so Michaels tries to wake him up. Michaels ducks Edge's briefcase and rolls him up. Edge grabs the briefcase and hits Michaels in the head. The ref is up and sloooowly counts to 3. The finals are all set with Edge and Kane for next week. The match never really clicked, but it was Shawn Michaels so it was still pretty good.
Match Rating: **1/2
While the episode was definitely not bad, it kind of felt like filler for next week's show. There were no particularly great matches and the Viscera stuff continues to be embarrassing. On the plus side, the show went by pretty quickly and it looks like next week will be a good one.
Overall Rating: 52%
Friday, October 4, 2019
NXT 12-26-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, December 26th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Tony Dawson is here to recap the year that was 2012 for NXT. Since this is a recap show, I am going to re-post my match thoughts.
From the 8-29-12 episode:
NXT Championship Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins
Jim Ross joins the booth and they try their best to make Mahal seem like the favorite. I don't know why, but Rollins looks like Will Forte with long hair and a beard in this era. Mahal refuses to shake Dusty's hand to some boos. Rollins gets off to the early start. Rollins misses with a knee, but ends up sending Mahal to the outside. Mahal blocks a kick and slams him face first to the apron. Mahal slams him down to the floor. Back from commercial and Mahal is stretching Rollins. Rollins battles out of it and attempts a suplex, but his back is sore and Mahal goes back to work on it. Big backbreaker for a 2 count. The story of this match makes sense all the way, but Mahal is just so uninteresting that even a great performer such as Rollins has a hard time bringing out personality. Rollins is fighting back with some kicks and a single legged dropkick. Rollins does a crossbody from the top rope to the floor nails Mahal and the crowd is getting pretty juiced. The crowd has come a long way since the first episode. They built a nice little audience in a short amount of time. Mahal now nails a superplex and both men are down as we hit the last commercial break. They go back and forth until Mahal hits a nice suplex. Everything with Mahal is so slow motion as made evident by the spot they do where Rollins misses a kick but hits an enzaguri. Rollins hits a knee off the top and only gets a 2 count. Rollins misses his corkscrew off the top rope and Mahal hits the full nelson slam and somehow Rollins kicks out. Mahal goes for the Camel Clutch, but Rollins gets to the ropes before he gets it on. Mahal goes for it again and Rollins gets a roll up for another 2 count. Rollins has Mahal up for a buckle bomb and the Blackout for the victory. Seth Rollins is the first ever NXT Champion to a nice pop. That is definitely one of Mahal's best matches, but that is not saying a whole lot.
Match Rating: **3/4
They show a highlight package of the many young stars of NXT.
They show a Wyatt Family vignette. This was the Wyatt I enjoyed. They then show a match from 7-11-12 on NXT. Here is my review from that episode:
Aiden English vs. Bray Wyatt
Wyatt comes out cutting a promo saying that in time we will understand exactly who he is. Well, it's 2019 and we still don't know what his character is other than a disappointment. Wyatt comes out aggressively attacking English. I'd like to see more of this side of Bray when he finally returns. Saxton refers to him as a third generation superstar, which I don't think they really have made reference to on the main roster. Sister Abigail and that's all. I truly miss this version of Wyatt's character.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They then show a backstage interview of him.
We get a Kassius Ohno vignette, followed by a backstage interview. He thinks he will win the NXT Championship in 2013.
CM Punk is here to give his Christmas gift. He talks about Seth Rollins taking his advice, as he is now in The Shield. He says that being WWE Champion is attainable for the young NXT talent and that at Royal Rumble he will defeat The Rock.
It's Big E Langston's turn here for a vignette. We now get a match from 11-21-12. Here is my review:
Camacho vs. Big E Langston
Camacho's ring attire was Baron Corbin before Baron Corbin. Camacho gets a few moves in, but it's all for nothing as Big E dominates and hits his finisher for the victory. Big E continues to be the most over act on NXT. The crowd chants for one more time and Big E obliges, this time counting to 5. After a delay, Big E comes in yet again and hits his finisher for another 5 count. The match was nothing, but Big E's charisma is as good as it gets in NXT 2012.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show a clip of Big E making his debut on Raw with AJ and Dolph Ziggler. I love the total disregard for NXT storylines. He does get to make quite the impact as he gets to attack John Cena. We then get an interview from Big E about why he attacked Cena. He said he was doing a favor for his friend AJ. His New Year's resolution is to become NXT Champion.
We get another hype video of more of the NXT talent.
They announce that on next week's episode we will get Corey Graves taking on Seth Rollins for the NXT Championship.
They show the history of Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. the Rhodes Scholars. We now have a never before seen match between Kane and Cody Rhodes from July.
Kane vs. Cody Rhodes
Well we get to see Mr. AEW himself for the first time on any of my timelines for the blog. Cody had really found his groove in this time and they never seemed ready to completely get behind him for whatever reason. After chasing Cody around, Kane hits a sit down dropkick. But again, Cody tries to escape but Kane chases him up the ramp. Back in the ring, Kane hits a big boot and then goes up top but Cody avoids it. Cody escapes a chokeslam and starts working on Kane's knee. We go to commercial break and come back to a John Cena promo and he reminds us that the future is NXT. Back to the match and Cody is still in control, as he puts Kane in a Figure Four. Cody hits a Kurt Angle-esque moonsault and almost gets the victory. They go back and forth until Kane hits a chokeslam and gets the victory. That was a pretty standard dark match that they ended up showing on here.
Match Rating: *1/2
We get interrupted by a Shield promo. Seth was tired of waiting for his "call up". Dean Ambrose introduces himself. Seth says he understands why Corey Graves did what he had to do, but he will be carried out of the building on a stretcher. Since we're all making New Year's resolutions, theirs is to bring justice.
Well, this was a studio recap show. There weren't a ton of great matches this year, but obviously the show improves drastically. The vignettes and video clips were well done and the Seth/Jinder match was pretty good, even if they only showed part of it. If you don't want to sit through months of mediocre shows from 2012, this is a solid enough place to start for the history of the old NXT.
Overall Rating: 40%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Tony Dawson is here to recap the year that was 2012 for NXT. Since this is a recap show, I am going to re-post my match thoughts.
From the 8-29-12 episode:
NXT Championship Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Seth Rollins
Jim Ross joins the booth and they try their best to make Mahal seem like the favorite. I don't know why, but Rollins looks like Will Forte with long hair and a beard in this era. Mahal refuses to shake Dusty's hand to some boos. Rollins gets off to the early start. Rollins misses with a knee, but ends up sending Mahal to the outside. Mahal blocks a kick and slams him face first to the apron. Mahal slams him down to the floor. Back from commercial and Mahal is stretching Rollins. Rollins battles out of it and attempts a suplex, but his back is sore and Mahal goes back to work on it. Big backbreaker for a 2 count. The story of this match makes sense all the way, but Mahal is just so uninteresting that even a great performer such as Rollins has a hard time bringing out personality. Rollins is fighting back with some kicks and a single legged dropkick. Rollins does a crossbody from the top rope to the floor nails Mahal and the crowd is getting pretty juiced. The crowd has come a long way since the first episode. They built a nice little audience in a short amount of time. Mahal now nails a superplex and both men are down as we hit the last commercial break. They go back and forth until Mahal hits a nice suplex. Everything with Mahal is so slow motion as made evident by the spot they do where Rollins misses a kick but hits an enzaguri. Rollins hits a knee off the top and only gets a 2 count. Rollins misses his corkscrew off the top rope and Mahal hits the full nelson slam and somehow Rollins kicks out. Mahal goes for the Camel Clutch, but Rollins gets to the ropes before he gets it on. Mahal goes for it again and Rollins gets a roll up for another 2 count. Rollins has Mahal up for a buckle bomb and the Blackout for the victory. Seth Rollins is the first ever NXT Champion to a nice pop. That is definitely one of Mahal's best matches, but that is not saying a whole lot.
Match Rating: **3/4
They show a highlight package of the many young stars of NXT.
They show a Wyatt Family vignette. This was the Wyatt I enjoyed. They then show a match from 7-11-12 on NXT. Here is my review from that episode:
Aiden English vs. Bray Wyatt
Wyatt comes out cutting a promo saying that in time we will understand exactly who he is. Well, it's 2019 and we still don't know what his character is other than a disappointment. Wyatt comes out aggressively attacking English. I'd like to see more of this side of Bray when he finally returns. Saxton refers to him as a third generation superstar, which I don't think they really have made reference to on the main roster. Sister Abigail and that's all. I truly miss this version of Wyatt's character.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They then show a backstage interview of him.
We get a Kassius Ohno vignette, followed by a backstage interview. He thinks he will win the NXT Championship in 2013.
CM Punk is here to give his Christmas gift. He talks about Seth Rollins taking his advice, as he is now in The Shield. He says that being WWE Champion is attainable for the young NXT talent and that at Royal Rumble he will defeat The Rock.
It's Big E Langston's turn here for a vignette. We now get a match from 11-21-12. Here is my review:
Camacho vs. Big E Langston
Camacho's ring attire was Baron Corbin before Baron Corbin. Camacho gets a few moves in, but it's all for nothing as Big E dominates and hits his finisher for the victory. Big E continues to be the most over act on NXT. The crowd chants for one more time and Big E obliges, this time counting to 5. After a delay, Big E comes in yet again and hits his finisher for another 5 count. The match was nothing, but Big E's charisma is as good as it gets in NXT 2012.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show a clip of Big E making his debut on Raw with AJ and Dolph Ziggler. I love the total disregard for NXT storylines. He does get to make quite the impact as he gets to attack John Cena. We then get an interview from Big E about why he attacked Cena. He said he was doing a favor for his friend AJ. His New Year's resolution is to become NXT Champion.
We get another hype video of more of the NXT talent.
They announce that on next week's episode we will get Corey Graves taking on Seth Rollins for the NXT Championship.
They show the history of Kane & Daniel Bryan vs. the Rhodes Scholars. We now have a never before seen match between Kane and Cody Rhodes from July.
Kane vs. Cody Rhodes
Well we get to see Mr. AEW himself for the first time on any of my timelines for the blog. Cody had really found his groove in this time and they never seemed ready to completely get behind him for whatever reason. After chasing Cody around, Kane hits a sit down dropkick. But again, Cody tries to escape but Kane chases him up the ramp. Back in the ring, Kane hits a big boot and then goes up top but Cody avoids it. Cody escapes a chokeslam and starts working on Kane's knee. We go to commercial break and come back to a John Cena promo and he reminds us that the future is NXT. Back to the match and Cody is still in control, as he puts Kane in a Figure Four. Cody hits a Kurt Angle-esque moonsault and almost gets the victory. They go back and forth until Kane hits a chokeslam and gets the victory. That was a pretty standard dark match that they ended up showing on here.
Match Rating: *1/2
We get interrupted by a Shield promo. Seth was tired of waiting for his "call up". Dean Ambrose introduces himself. Seth says he understands why Corey Graves did what he had to do, but he will be carried out of the building on a stretcher. Since we're all making New Year's resolutions, theirs is to bring justice.
Well, this was a studio recap show. There weren't a ton of great matches this year, but obviously the show improves drastically. The vignettes and video clips were well done and the Seth/Jinder match was pretty good, even if they only showed part of it. If you don't want to sit through months of mediocre shows from 2012, this is a solid enough place to start for the history of the old NXT.
Overall Rating: 40%
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Superstars 10-24-92 Review
Original Airdate: Saturday, October 24th, 1992
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We go right to Mean Gene in the arena and he introduces Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior. The bond between the Ultimate Maniacs is inseparable. I bet it isn't.
Crush vs. Ken Johnson
I loved this entrance music for Crush back in the day. Crush's mullet...not so much. Crush reminds us that Survivor Series is right around the corner. Crush hits his usual 5 moves and then crushes his head for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Natural Disasters vs. Bill Jordan & Tom Stone
Earthquake starts off with a dropkick, which is still pretty impressive 27 years later. Tom Stone tags in and then requests that Earthquake tag in Typhoon. Tom Stone looks like he would have been your gym teacher in 1988. They hit their back-to-back splashes and get the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Time to go to the Event Center with Sean Mooney. Hacksaw Jim Duggan is here to talk about voting. And that's it? Weird.
Nailz vs. Scott Zappa
Nailz throws Zappa out of the ring and then grabs the mic and calls out Big Boss Man. This promo is death. The match doesn't ever have a finish. Nailz says that he is staying in the ring until Boss Man comes. Undertaker's music hits and he two of them stare at each other. Nailz walks away to the back while staring him down. No match here. I am devastated.
Undertaker vs. Jason Helton
Taker doesn't even take his costume off and gives Helton a chokeslam. He hits a Tombstone and that's all. It's kind of weird that they are teasing a feud between two guys who haven't had their blowoff yet with the people they are currently feuding with. After the match, Taker and Paul Bearer put Helton in a body bag. It's so weird that Taker was a face during this era.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Event Center with Sean Mooney again. Beverly Brothers say the only thing they want is their title shot against the Natural Disasters. The Bushwhackers sing "Mary Had A Little Lamb".
Vince and Mr. Perfect announce that the Nasty Boys will take on the Natural Disasters next week in a title match. Vince announces them and they show them on their monitor and zoom into them, which was pretty solid technology in 1992.
Rick Martel vs. Butch Banks
Martel is dressed in a rain coat with an umbrella. I did not realize that Martel was already 36 years old here. Martel kind of works his squash matches like he does his normal matches, which I can appreciate. He works on Banks' knee and then puts him in the Boston Crab for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Survivor Series Report with Mean Gene. Razor Ramon, Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect talk about their "main event" match against the Ultimate Maniacs. We will get to see Paul Bearer's workshop for the coffin next week. News that will blow your socks off! A new match announced! British Bulldog vs. The Mountie! I bet it is one we will talk about that one for years to come. We hear from both men. Another new match! Bret Hart will defend his title against Shawn Michaels, the match we were supposed to get at SummerSlam. Has there ever been such a thrown together WWF Championship match? Definitely not up to this point.
Papa Shango vs. Victor Reeves
No theatrics from Shango today, which makes him just a weird guy with face paint. He hits a whole bunch of elbows and gets the pinfall victory. After the match he celebrates with his pyro stick.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more trip to the Event Center. Skinner reminds us that he still exists. Tatanka stands for all people.
Next week on Superstars we get the debut of Yokozuna, Tatanka, Shawn Michaels and a special interview with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. The Nasty Boys will take on the Natural Disasters and then Jimmy Hart says that it won't be taking on the Nasty Boys, it will be Money, Inc. Okey dokey.
Well the strange year that is 1992 continues. For no apparent reason Shawn Michaels is taking on Bret Hart for the WWF Championship and even though it won't happen, British Bulldog is taking on the Mountie. It's really not a wonder why 1993 was the beginning of a really rough patch for the company. With that being said, this was more of the same and I'm just looking forward to re-watching Survivor Series for the first time in a long time.
Overall Rating: 37%
Taker doesn't even take his costume off and gives Helton a chokeslam. He hits a Tombstone and that's all. It's kind of weird that they are teasing a feud between two guys who haven't had their blowoff yet with the people they are currently feuding with. After the match, Taker and Paul Bearer put Helton in a body bag. It's so weird that Taker was a face during this era.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Event Center with Sean Mooney again. Beverly Brothers say the only thing they want is their title shot against the Natural Disasters. The Bushwhackers sing "Mary Had A Little Lamb".
Vince and Mr. Perfect announce that the Nasty Boys will take on the Natural Disasters next week in a title match. Vince announces them and they show them on their monitor and zoom into them, which was pretty solid technology in 1992.
Rick Martel vs. Butch Banks
Martel is dressed in a rain coat with an umbrella. I did not realize that Martel was already 36 years old here. Martel kind of works his squash matches like he does his normal matches, which I can appreciate. He works on Banks' knee and then puts him in the Boston Crab for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Survivor Series Report with Mean Gene. Razor Ramon, Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect talk about their "main event" match against the Ultimate Maniacs. We will get to see Paul Bearer's workshop for the coffin next week. News that will blow your socks off! A new match announced! British Bulldog vs. The Mountie! I bet it is one we will talk about that one for years to come. We hear from both men. Another new match! Bret Hart will defend his title against Shawn Michaels, the match we were supposed to get at SummerSlam. Has there ever been such a thrown together WWF Championship match? Definitely not up to this point.
Papa Shango vs. Victor Reeves
No theatrics from Shango today, which makes him just a weird guy with face paint. He hits a whole bunch of elbows and gets the pinfall victory. After the match he celebrates with his pyro stick.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more trip to the Event Center. Skinner reminds us that he still exists. Tatanka stands for all people.
Next week on Superstars we get the debut of Yokozuna, Tatanka, Shawn Michaels and a special interview with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. The Nasty Boys will take on the Natural Disasters and then Jimmy Hart says that it won't be taking on the Nasty Boys, it will be Money, Inc. Okey dokey.
Well the strange year that is 1992 continues. For no apparent reason Shawn Michaels is taking on Bret Hart for the WWF Championship and even though it won't happen, British Bulldog is taking on the Mountie. It's really not a wonder why 1993 was the beginning of a really rough patch for the company. With that being said, this was more of the same and I'm just looking forward to re-watching Survivor Series for the first time in a long time.
Overall Rating: 37%
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