Original Airdate: Thursday, July 14th, 2005
DCU Center
Worcester, Massachusetts
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Eddie Guerrero is out to kick off the show. He shows the clip from last week of Rey holding the ropes open for him. He says this week he will top that by telling his secret. He tells Dominik to listen closely. Vickie Guerrero comes out with his two daughters while he is telling his story. Eddie yells at her to go to the back. Vickie grabs the mic and begs him not to tell the secret because it could hurt a lot of people. She calls Rey a good man, causing Eddie to grab her and take her to the back. After the commercial break, they show them arguing in the back. Hardcore Holly comes out and tells Eddie to calm down. Eddie pushes him away, but Holly fires back and shoves Eddie into their car. Eddie yells at Vickie to drive away. They did the best they could with a storyline that is just a little too much for wrestling.
Mexicools vs. Paul London, Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty
Super Crazy and Funaki start it off. Funaki hits a headscissors and it's already pretty apparent this one is going to be a quick match. Scotty kicks Crazy off the apron, but then the Mexicools catch him from behind to regain control. Psicosis and Juvy hit a double sliding dropkick to the head of Scotty. London gets the hot tag and takes care of all three Mexicools with a variety of kicks. London hits a suplex and is heading up top, but Pisocisis stops him and Super Crazy pulls London off and hits a springboard moonsault. Juvy hits a 450 splash for the victory. London got absolutely destroyed by Juvy's knee right in the face there. Not a great way to win over the office there. The match got over that the Mexicools are a heel team that will go to any length for a victory. It's just too bad they are stuck with an awful gimmick.
Match Rating: *3/4 (out of 5)
Candice Michelle is backstage looking at herself in a mirror when Christian interrupts. Christian tells her that if she needs any help breaking out of her mediocrity, he can help because he is so respected. Booker overhears it and challenges him to a match tonight.
Batista is back with Josh Matthews and they show the clip of JBL losing last week. He said that he will punk JBL out.
MNM is in the back and Melina walks up to Torrie Wilson and confronts her. Melina tells Torrie that she can do anything Torrie can do better. Torrie challenges Melina to a match at Great American Bash. Torrie decides to make it a bra and panties match. What a set up.
Heidenreich is on his way to the ring, but he is attacked by MNM. Melina asks where all of Heidenreich's friends are now. MNM is about to go for the Snapshot, but out comes Road Warrior Animal and Michael Cole acts as if it's The Rock. He runs in and tosses both Mercury and Nitro out of the ring. He was 44 years old here. He grabs a mic and calls MNM a couple of little baby punks. Joey Mercury challenges the Road Warriors to a match at Great American Bash, but Nitro says they can't because his partner is dead. Yes, really. Heidenreich then offers to be his partner.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Hardcore Holly
Holly opens up with some stiff chops to Eddie's chest. Eddie regains control with a drop toe hold. Holly counters a headscissor into an electric chair. Holly follows up with a clothesline and a dropkick. After a 2 count on a roll up from Eddie, Holly hits a Full Nelson Driver. Holly hits a clothesline from the top rope for a 2 count. On the outside, Eddie is able to shove Holly's shoulder into the ring post. The ref gets hit in the eye and Eddie uses the table and apron on Holly's back. Eddie then grabs a pipe from under the ring and uses it on Holly. Eddie brings him back in the ring and slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf, causing Holly to tap out. The match was a little disappointing, as I typically enjoy Holly a little more than most.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and tells his family how much he loves them. He says that if Rey wins at Great American Bash, that Eddie will lock his secret away.
They announce that Muhammad Hassan will be taking on Undertaker at Great American Bash in a #1 contender match. Tommaso Ciampa is here playing Hassan's attorney under the name of Thomas Whitney. He announces that Hassan has taken a leave of absence from SmackDown. The crowd is pretty into this segment. He continues reading the statement until Undertaker interrupts. Ciampa is only 20 years old here. That's pretty crazy that they trusted him with this role at such a young age. Whitney pleads that he is not a wrestler, but Undertaker chokeslams him anyways. He then gives him a Tombstone for good measure.
Booker T vs. Christian
Christian attacks Booker as he's walking to the ring. He throws him into the ring post and into the steps. The ref rings the bell reluctantly and he hits the Unprettier and gets the easy win. Man, I am going to miss Christian coming up here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Orlando Jordan vs. Batista
JBL is out with Jordan and says that last week was the most embarrassing night of his life. He has a black eye and staples in his head, but that's not why he's embarrassed. It's because he lost to the Blue Meanie because of Batista. Batista takes it to Jordan quickly and stares down JBL as he does it. Jordan kicks Batista in the face and JBL grabs him by the leg and trips him up. Jordan distracts the ref as JBL continues the attack. Jordan goes to work on Batista's knee. Batista battles back with a back drop and then drives his shoulder into Jordan in the corner. Batista manages to hit a powerslam despite the bad knee. Jordan then collides into the referee and knocks him down. Batista hits the spinebuster and is going for the Batista Bomb, but JBL comes in and hits him in the head with a chair. JBL dumps a drink on the referee. The ref is up and Batista kicks out. JBL goes for a lariat, but Batista hits one of his own. Batista Bomb on Jordan and that is all. JBL attacks Batista's knee as he is celebrating. He comes back and hits him with a Clothesline From Hell and celebrates with the World Heavyweight Championship over Batista. The match was pretty paint by the numbers, but the crowd was definitely behind Batista big time.
Match Rating: *3/4
This one just didn't click for me. From a wrestling standpoint, it was disappointing. I also felt that most of the stories told tonight were forced. I've enjoyed just about everything with the Rey/Eddie feud, but the angle tonight just didn't do it for me. Raw continues to be the better show overall and I'm not sure it's really close right now.
Overall Rating: 46%
Friday, February 28, 2020
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Monday Night Raw 7-11-05 Review
Monday, July 11th, 2005
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
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We are kicking off the show with Carlito's Cabana. Carlito introduces his guest as Shawn Michaels, but Jericho's music hits instead and he's out to Carlito's surprise. Jericho makes fun of Carlito's show and then Jericho tries to introduce his guest, Shawn Michaels. Carlito then rips on Jericho for his age and weight. Jericho fires back and then again tries to introduce Michaels, but this time out comes Roddy Piper. Does Piper always hang out backstage in his gear just in case a moment like this occurs? He says that we'll get Piper's Pit tonight with Shawn Michaels as his guest. All in all, that was an enjoyable opening segment.
Chris Masters vs. Tajiri
Masters attacks Tajiri as he's coming into the ring. This match was set up from a Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri starts attacking Masters' legs with some kicks and then hits a handstand kick to Masters, knocking him outside. He hits his signature elbow and continues to dish it out to Masters. It can't be said enough how underrated Tajiri was here. Tajiri goes for the Tarantula, but Masters picks him up and slams him face-first. He slaps on the Master Lock and that is all. Tajiri was firing on all cylinders in this one, so it would have been nice for them to get another 2 minutes or so.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
They show Shawn Michaels in catering, hyping up his appearance again.
Edge and Lita are hanging out backstage and in walks Snitsky. They then show Snitsky that they are watching their wedding and the spot Snitsky picks to watch is at an almost impossible angle for him to see. Classic WWE. They then ask him for a favor in exchange for Lita's feet and he begins sniffing them. Wrestling makes me type some pretty weird things. Edge says that if he helps him tonight, her feet are all his.
They show footage of Triple H after the match with Batista at Vengeance.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton gets off to a fast start, getting a couple of 2 counts. Carlito ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Shelton quickly gets up to the surprise of Carlito. He walks out of the ring and Shelton hits him with a baseball slide dropkick. When we get back from the commercial break, Carlito has Shelton in a sleeper hold. Benjamin gets out, but Carlito sidesteps him and Shelton tumbles out of the ring. I would say so far that Carlito has not aged that well on my re-watch of this era. After a lengthy heat segment, Shelton starts going for pinfalls and gets a couple of 2 counts. Carlito is able to counter with a DDT, but Shelton kicks out at 2. Carlito reverses a roll up, but still can't beat Shelton even with holding onto his tights. Carlito hits a superplex and they act surprised when he kicks out. Has anyone been pinned by a superplex in this century? Shelton hits a Samoan Drop on Carlito and Carlito tries to go outside again. Shelton grabs him by the hair and after battling over a suplex, Shelton hits a kick that knocks Carlito to the outside. Carlito picks up his championship belt and walks up the aisle, causing him to lose by countout. I'm not sure that they needed as long as they got if that was the ending they were going with. Not a bad match, but it felt pointless in the long run.
Match Rating: **1/4
They show Eric Bischoff and John Cena arguing backstage and Cena walks off.
The champ is here. He says Bischoff is treating him like his mom in junior high and that he and Jericho turned the Highlight Reel into Jerry Springer. Cena calls out Jericho, but Bischoff comes out instead. Bischoff says that Cena defends the title when he tells him to. Cena reminds Bischoff that they're in dirty Jersey and that he'll end up like Hoffa. Out comes Jericho, but Bischoff stops him. Bischoff announces that Cena will face Jericho at SummerSlam. Jericho applauds Bischoff and says that Cena is cheapening the WWE Championship by holding it. They go back and forth and Cena gets ready to fight. Jericho says that he knows that it's better to wait because he sees himself as the next WWE Champion. Jericho heads to the back, but Cena confronts Bischoff. He gives Bischoff a FU and welcomes him to the new Raw. Old Cena has not aged well at all. I actually prefer the PG version.
It's Diva Search time...Alexis is eliminated. Now the remaining Divas are here to show off their special talents. Leyla, in a somewhat amusing spot, does a dance for Earl Hebner and then gives him a low blow for disqualifying her last week. The rest are all pretty pathetic, with Simona's standing out as particularly pathetic.
Kurt Angle is here with security to hold his gold medal, so it must be an Angle Invitational. This week it's Matt Martel, but Angle says it's Matt Striker. He says he knows he is the teacher that called in to wrestle and that he's already wrestled him before.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker
Angle goes right to work on his arm. Striker is able to get upright and Angle hits him with some forearms. Halfway through, Striker gets a few shots in, but Angle hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and now the straps are down. Angle goes for the Ankle Lock, but Striker kicks him and Angle falls out of the ring with a little over 40 seconds left. Striker attacks him as he comes in. Striker counters the Angle Slam and then hits a low blow with 10 seconds left. Angle somehow turns around and gets the Ankle Lock on and Striker taps right before the time runs out. That was pretty fun.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Todd Grisham stops Kane in the back for an interview. Kane just laughs maniacally and then walks away. Edge and Lita are then shown walking in the back and they are attacked by what looks to be Matt Hardy. Officials chase him away and Edge is livid.
We get a promo for the Boogeyman.
Edge vs. Kane
Edge is able to get Kane down and then hits a baseball slide dropkick. Edge goes up top but a right hand from Kane is there to greet him. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and now Kane heads up top. Kane hits a clothesline off the top rope and then goes after Lita. Snitsky comes down and attacks Kane and the ref rings the bell. Snitsky goes to attack Kane with a chair, but Kane gets his foot up to stop him. Kane and Snitsky begin brawling in the crowd and back in the ring Matt Hardy is in there and a huge brawl breaks loose. Somehow I do not remember the backstage segment occurring at all. I will say that when he came down here that it was the most I had marked out in a long time. He grabs the mic and gets a few words in before he is thrown to the ground and handcuffed. The match was obviously nothing, but the ending was fantastic.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Roddy Piper is back out for Piper's Pit and introduces Shawn Michaels. Michaels reminds us of all the moments and memories than he has and that he literally broke his back doing it. Michaels issues a challenge to Hulk Hogan to headline SummerSlam. Piper tells him that these fans made Michaels. He says that when Michaels was young he would often ask him what it takes to be in the main event and Piper said he would answer because he thought he was worth it. Now Piper doesn't understand why he would ruin his reputation and turn on Hogan like he did. Michaels says this is hard for him and that he has respect for Piper and tries to walk away. Piper goes nuts and calls Michaels a coward. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down onto a motionless Piper and then walks away. Strong stuff here from Michaels and a good start on the build towards the big match at SummerSlam.
The first half of the show was pretty mediocre, but it sure finished strong with the Angle/Hardy/Michaels trifecta there in the last 45 minutes or so. It would have been nice to have a little bit more wrestling on the show, but they built nicely towards to hot feuds and continued to make Angle a top contender while he waits for his chance after Jericho. It will be fun to re-live the Hogan/Michaels build here 15 years later plus seeing the Edge/Hardy storyline unfold one more time. All in all, this was a very watchable and memorable episode of Raw, but you can probably just watch the second hour to save yourself some time.
Overall Rating: 60%
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We are kicking off the show with Carlito's Cabana. Carlito introduces his guest as Shawn Michaels, but Jericho's music hits instead and he's out to Carlito's surprise. Jericho makes fun of Carlito's show and then Jericho tries to introduce his guest, Shawn Michaels. Carlito then rips on Jericho for his age and weight. Jericho fires back and then again tries to introduce Michaels, but this time out comes Roddy Piper. Does Piper always hang out backstage in his gear just in case a moment like this occurs? He says that we'll get Piper's Pit tonight with Shawn Michaels as his guest. All in all, that was an enjoyable opening segment.
Chris Masters vs. Tajiri
Masters attacks Tajiri as he's coming into the ring. This match was set up from a Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri starts attacking Masters' legs with some kicks and then hits a handstand kick to Masters, knocking him outside. He hits his signature elbow and continues to dish it out to Masters. It can't be said enough how underrated Tajiri was here. Tajiri goes for the Tarantula, but Masters picks him up and slams him face-first. He slaps on the Master Lock and that is all. Tajiri was firing on all cylinders in this one, so it would have been nice for them to get another 2 minutes or so.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
They show Shawn Michaels in catering, hyping up his appearance again.
Edge and Lita are hanging out backstage and in walks Snitsky. They then show Snitsky that they are watching their wedding and the spot Snitsky picks to watch is at an almost impossible angle for him to see. Classic WWE. They then ask him for a favor in exchange for Lita's feet and he begins sniffing them. Wrestling makes me type some pretty weird things. Edge says that if he helps him tonight, her feet are all his.
They show footage of Triple H after the match with Batista at Vengeance.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton gets off to a fast start, getting a couple of 2 counts. Carlito ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Shelton quickly gets up to the surprise of Carlito. He walks out of the ring and Shelton hits him with a baseball slide dropkick. When we get back from the commercial break, Carlito has Shelton in a sleeper hold. Benjamin gets out, but Carlito sidesteps him and Shelton tumbles out of the ring. I would say so far that Carlito has not aged that well on my re-watch of this era. After a lengthy heat segment, Shelton starts going for pinfalls and gets a couple of 2 counts. Carlito is able to counter with a DDT, but Shelton kicks out at 2. Carlito reverses a roll up, but still can't beat Shelton even with holding onto his tights. Carlito hits a superplex and they act surprised when he kicks out. Has anyone been pinned by a superplex in this century? Shelton hits a Samoan Drop on Carlito and Carlito tries to go outside again. Shelton grabs him by the hair and after battling over a suplex, Shelton hits a kick that knocks Carlito to the outside. Carlito picks up his championship belt and walks up the aisle, causing him to lose by countout. I'm not sure that they needed as long as they got if that was the ending they were going with. Not a bad match, but it felt pointless in the long run.
Match Rating: **1/4
They show Eric Bischoff and John Cena arguing backstage and Cena walks off.
The champ is here. He says Bischoff is treating him like his mom in junior high and that he and Jericho turned the Highlight Reel into Jerry Springer. Cena calls out Jericho, but Bischoff comes out instead. Bischoff says that Cena defends the title when he tells him to. Cena reminds Bischoff that they're in dirty Jersey and that he'll end up like Hoffa. Out comes Jericho, but Bischoff stops him. Bischoff announces that Cena will face Jericho at SummerSlam. Jericho applauds Bischoff and says that Cena is cheapening the WWE Championship by holding it. They go back and forth and Cena gets ready to fight. Jericho says that he knows that it's better to wait because he sees himself as the next WWE Champion. Jericho heads to the back, but Cena confronts Bischoff. He gives Bischoff a FU and welcomes him to the new Raw. Old Cena has not aged well at all. I actually prefer the PG version.
It's Diva Search time...Alexis is eliminated. Now the remaining Divas are here to show off their special talents. Leyla, in a somewhat amusing spot, does a dance for Earl Hebner and then gives him a low blow for disqualifying her last week. The rest are all pretty pathetic, with Simona's standing out as particularly pathetic.
Kurt Angle is here with security to hold his gold medal, so it must be an Angle Invitational. This week it's Matt Martel, but Angle says it's Matt Striker. He says he knows he is the teacher that called in to wrestle and that he's already wrestled him before.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker
Angle goes right to work on his arm. Striker is able to get upright and Angle hits him with some forearms. Halfway through, Striker gets a few shots in, but Angle hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and now the straps are down. Angle goes for the Ankle Lock, but Striker kicks him and Angle falls out of the ring with a little over 40 seconds left. Striker attacks him as he comes in. Striker counters the Angle Slam and then hits a low blow with 10 seconds left. Angle somehow turns around and gets the Ankle Lock on and Striker taps right before the time runs out. That was pretty fun.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Todd Grisham stops Kane in the back for an interview. Kane just laughs maniacally and then walks away. Edge and Lita are then shown walking in the back and they are attacked by what looks to be Matt Hardy. Officials chase him away and Edge is livid.
We get a promo for the Boogeyman.
Edge vs. Kane
Edge is able to get Kane down and then hits a baseball slide dropkick. Edge goes up top but a right hand from Kane is there to greet him. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and now Kane heads up top. Kane hits a clothesline off the top rope and then goes after Lita. Snitsky comes down and attacks Kane and the ref rings the bell. Snitsky goes to attack Kane with a chair, but Kane gets his foot up to stop him. Kane and Snitsky begin brawling in the crowd and back in the ring Matt Hardy is in there and a huge brawl breaks loose. Somehow I do not remember the backstage segment occurring at all. I will say that when he came down here that it was the most I had marked out in a long time. He grabs the mic and gets a few words in before he is thrown to the ground and handcuffed. The match was obviously nothing, but the ending was fantastic.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Roddy Piper is back out for Piper's Pit and introduces Shawn Michaels. Michaels reminds us of all the moments and memories than he has and that he literally broke his back doing it. Michaels issues a challenge to Hulk Hogan to headline SummerSlam. Piper tells him that these fans made Michaels. He says that when Michaels was young he would often ask him what it takes to be in the main event and Piper said he would answer because he thought he was worth it. Now Piper doesn't understand why he would ruin his reputation and turn on Hogan like he did. Michaels says this is hard for him and that he has respect for Piper and tries to walk away. Piper goes nuts and calls Michaels a coward. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down onto a motionless Piper and then walks away. Strong stuff here from Michaels and a good start on the build towards the big match at SummerSlam.
The first half of the show was pretty mediocre, but it sure finished strong with the Angle/Hardy/Michaels trifecta there in the last 45 minutes or so. It would have been nice to have a little bit more wrestling on the show, but they built nicely towards to hot feuds and continued to make Angle a top contender while he waits for his chance after Jericho. It will be fun to re-live the Hogan/Michaels build here 15 years later plus seeing the Edge/Hardy storyline unfold one more time. All in all, this was a very watchable and memorable episode of Raw, but you can probably just watch the second hour to save yourself some time.
Overall Rating: 60%
Monday, February 24, 2020
NXT 3-20-13 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger
Gabriel shows off a little aggression here, throwing Kruger around by his hair. Kruger comes back and throws Gabriel down. He hits him with an elbow and follows it up with some stomps. Gabriel tries to fight back, but Kruger hits a pretty nice looking spinebuster on him for a 2 count. Gabriel hits a desperation suplex and then follows up with a dropkick to the legs, sending Kruger into the turnbuckle. Gabriel goes up top for the 450 splash after a series of kicks, but Kruger rolls away. This may be the most impressive match I have seen Kruger in. Kruger is able to put a submission hold on, but Gabriel is able to crawl to the ropes. Kruger hits a unique move on Gabriel's shoulder/elbow and then puts him back in the submission for the victory. That was Kruger's best NXT match that I can think of. Gabriel was always a good hand.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Renee Young is with Audrey Marie. She says that Sasha knows she is coming for her and there is nothing she can do about it.
William Regal is in the ring and apologizes for his unprofessional actions last week. He calls out Kassius Ohno to apologize to him. Regal offers his hand to him, but Ohno talks about his history with Regal. He starts to go off on him for not being a villain anymore and that he is now a joke. He keeps going off until Regal slaps him across the face. Ohno did a good job on the sell.
Bayley vs. Paige
This is Bayley's NXT debut. The announcers are selling how this is a dream come true for her and gets in some early offense. She puts Paige in an arm bar. Paige snaps and starts stomping Bayley in the corner. Paige quickly gets her in a Sharpshooter type submission and Bayley taps. Summer Rae is out, but Paige sees her and she backs off. Bayley showed some good technique, but this was just a quick squash for Paige.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper
Neville charges at Harper, but eats a big boot. Harper shows off his unique abilities for his size and I can't help but think being in the Wyatt Family may have been the worst thing for him. I have been reviewing all of the WWE in the year 2005 on here as well and it just blows my mind that they were giving guys like Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan chances and yet they never found a true spot for Harper. After a long beatdown by Harper, Neville fires back with some forearms. Neville then hits a kick to the head and a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Neville hits a somersault over the top onto Erick Rowan. Harper charges after him and Neville ducks, sending Harper outside. Neville then hits a springboard moonsault. Neville goes up top, but Wyatt distracts the ref. He fights off Rowan, but the numbers game gets to him. Harper hits a lariat and gets the victory. These guys are capable of better, but this was still quite good for 2013 NXT. After the match, the Wyatts are looking to inflict more damage on Neville but out comes Oliver Grey. The Wyatts take care of him and out comes Bo Dallas. The faces come out on top and the Wyatts head to the back.
Match Rating: ***
Well, would you look at that? A good show top to bottom here for NXT. Finally. The two feature matches were both entertaining, the Paige showcase made sense and the Regal/Ohno segment was a breath of fresh air. Nice work here and it will be interesting to see if this was just a coincidence or if it's the beginning of a major improvement for the yellow brand.
Overall Rating: 66%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger
Gabriel shows off a little aggression here, throwing Kruger around by his hair. Kruger comes back and throws Gabriel down. He hits him with an elbow and follows it up with some stomps. Gabriel tries to fight back, but Kruger hits a pretty nice looking spinebuster on him for a 2 count. Gabriel hits a desperation suplex and then follows up with a dropkick to the legs, sending Kruger into the turnbuckle. Gabriel goes up top for the 450 splash after a series of kicks, but Kruger rolls away. This may be the most impressive match I have seen Kruger in. Kruger is able to put a submission hold on, but Gabriel is able to crawl to the ropes. Kruger hits a unique move on Gabriel's shoulder/elbow and then puts him back in the submission for the victory. That was Kruger's best NXT match that I can think of. Gabriel was always a good hand.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Renee Young is with Audrey Marie. She says that Sasha knows she is coming for her and there is nothing she can do about it.
William Regal is in the ring and apologizes for his unprofessional actions last week. He calls out Kassius Ohno to apologize to him. Regal offers his hand to him, but Ohno talks about his history with Regal. He starts to go off on him for not being a villain anymore and that he is now a joke. He keeps going off until Regal slaps him across the face. Ohno did a good job on the sell.
Bayley vs. Paige
This is Bayley's NXT debut. The announcers are selling how this is a dream come true for her and gets in some early offense. She puts Paige in an arm bar. Paige snaps and starts stomping Bayley in the corner. Paige quickly gets her in a Sharpshooter type submission and Bayley taps. Summer Rae is out, but Paige sees her and she backs off. Bayley showed some good technique, but this was just a quick squash for Paige.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper
Neville charges at Harper, but eats a big boot. Harper shows off his unique abilities for his size and I can't help but think being in the Wyatt Family may have been the worst thing for him. I have been reviewing all of the WWE in the year 2005 on here as well and it just blows my mind that they were giving guys like Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan chances and yet they never found a true spot for Harper. After a long beatdown by Harper, Neville fires back with some forearms. Neville then hits a kick to the head and a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Neville hits a somersault over the top onto Erick Rowan. Harper charges after him and Neville ducks, sending Harper outside. Neville then hits a springboard moonsault. Neville goes up top, but Wyatt distracts the ref. He fights off Rowan, but the numbers game gets to him. Harper hits a lariat and gets the victory. These guys are capable of better, but this was still quite good for 2013 NXT. After the match, the Wyatts are looking to inflict more damage on Neville but out comes Oliver Grey. The Wyatts take care of him and out comes Bo Dallas. The faces come out on top and the Wyatts head to the back.
Match Rating: ***
Well, would you look at that? A good show top to bottom here for NXT. Finally. The two feature matches were both entertaining, the Paige showcase made sense and the Regal/Ohno segment was a breath of fresh air. Nice work here and it will be interesting to see if this was just a coincidence or if it's the beginning of a major improvement for the yellow brand.
Overall Rating: 66%
Friday, February 21, 2020
Royal Rumble 1993 Review
Sunday, January 24th, 1993
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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Somehow this is the third show in a row that I have watched from ARCO Arena. Cutting straight to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan is such a relief.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
I didn't rent this show until about 1995 and this was the first time I had ever watched a Steiner match. I did randomly get a Rick Steiner action figure as a gift, but never knew who he was. Scott starts the match off getting the best of Beau, with Beau complaining of Scotty cheating each time. Beau gets a little bit of offense in until Scott hits a suplex. After a huddle, Blake is in and in comes Rick. Blake gets a cheap shot in while the referee is trying to get out of the way. Rick then catches Blake in midair and slams him down. Scott gets a belly-to-belly suplex in, but then the Beverly Brothers get in an illegal double team to slow them down. Beau and Blake cut the ring in half and work on Scott's back. Scott hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. Hot tag to Rick and he hits a huge back body drop. He then folds up Blake like an acordian with a German suplex. Scott is back in and ends up on Blake's shoulders. He ducks under the Doomsday Device attempt and rolls him up for a 2 count. Scott gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for the win. This was the first time I had ever seen that move by anyone about 25 years ago. I remember rewinding that over and over, as it absolutely blew me away. Looking back all these years later, he certainly drilled him there. Good little match to open the show.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Sensational Sherri comes out alone before both competitors. Marty's outfit here is something else. There's no way that looked cool even in 1993. Sherri shows no interest in Michaels as he looks down on her before the bell rings. We get a hot start with Marty getting the better of Michaels, including a knee lift to the outside. Marty brings him back in and then clotheslines him over the ropes. Marty keeps the attack coming until Michaels counters his leap from the top rope. Michaels then rams Marty's shoulder into the ring post. Probably 75% of the match has taken place outside of the ring. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder. Michaels goes up to the second rope, but Marty gets his leg up. Marty hits Michaels with an elbow and then Marty avoids a charge and Michaels' shoulder hits the ring post. Marty hits a series of right hands, but Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring to buy himself some time. Michaels foes for a suplex back in the ring, but Marty suplexes him to the floor. I can't remember that happening too many times prior to this. Sherri then smacks Michaels on the outside to the delight of the crowd. Marty gets a close call out of it. He throws him into the corner and Michaels goes up and over the top rope. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top, but Michaels avoids him. Marty lands on his feet though and is able to hit a DDT for a nearfall. Michaels misses the superkick and Marty hits him with one and gets another close call. Marty hits a slingshot and again only gets a 2 count. The ref accidentally gets hit with an elbow from Michaels. Marty calls in Sherri and she takes her shoe off. Michaels is able to duck it and she hits Marty. Michaels confronts her and Sherri is crying. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. That was kind of a weird ending, but the last five minutes or so were really great. Mean Gene is trying to get a word with Sherri but she is hysterical. Michaels runs to the back while Gene tries to calm her down. Marty comes out of nowhere and he attacks Shawn.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Bam Bam attacks before the bell and goes to work on Boss Man's back. Boss Man makes his comeback and hits him with a lot of weak looking right hands. They do a long spot where Boss Man stays outside the ring for a long time. This match is like watching paint dry. After that boring spot, he goes for a modified bear hug. Boss Man is able to break it, but Bam Bam hangs him out to dry on the top rope. The bear hug continues seemingly forever. Boss Man kind of hits a suplex, but Bigelow immediately hits him with a headbutt. Boss Man hits a back body drop and takes control. Bam Bam gets his boot up and then hits Boss Man with a clothesline. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the headbutt for the victory. I have no idea what they were going for there, but man did it stink. That was just a really bad match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
We get a hot start with Bret Hart going right after Razor. Razor retaliates but misses with a knee into the corner and Bret starts working on his leg. It's really a shame that this was pretty much it from these two. I think this match was the beginning of something really great. In a 12 pay-per-view schedule, you'd have to think that they would have had an extended feud at some point. Razor throws Bret and he slides right under the turnbuckle and into the ring post in a cool spot. Razor goes to work on Bret's ribs. Razor gets a nearfall after throwing Bret into the turnbuckle chest first. Razor slaps on the abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. I don't have the answer, but somehow wrestling organizations need to find a way to re-condition their fans to react to matches like they are this one. I say this as someone who just raved about TakeOver: Portland, but we as fans need to react to normal moves. Not every match needs 15 high spots all the time. There is room for that, but there is room for a match like this too. Bret legit looks to be taking the beating of his life and is fighting for everything here. Bret just does such a beautiful job of selling every single move here. Razor gets 2 and a half arm drops on a bear hug. Bret fights back and lifts Razor up and over the top rope. Bret then hits a dive to the floor and then slams Razor into the steps. Bret starts throwing a flurry of right hands, as Razor does his best to fight him off. Bret starts hitting some of his staples and gets a couple of 2 counts. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Razor is able to scramble for the ropes. Bret pulls him back in, but as he's trying to turn him over Earl Hebner gets tripped up by it. This allows Razor to go back to work on the ribs. Bret hits a back suplex and then goes off the second rope, but Razor gets his foot up. Bret is able to pull off a backslide and gets a 2 count. Razor gets right back up and goes back to the ribs. Bret pulls out a beautiful pin attempt out while Razor is holding his wrists. Hebner is out of position and Razor kicks out. Bret doesn't let go and is able to hook his legs and puts him in the Sharpshooter and turns him over. Razor gives up a little quicker than I would expect, but the crowd loves it. That was a beautifully put together match and one that is really underappreciated. I'm probably going overboard here, but I just got completely sucked in here.
Match Rating: ****
Bobby Heenan is then shown running down to the floor to introduce Narcissist. He is standing in front of a three mirrors while Bobby hypes him up. Heenan is trying, but this is just awkward. Luger then tells us that he will be the most dominant force in WWF history. He challenges Mr. Perfect.
As the curtains go down on Luger, they introduce Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They introduce us to WrestleMania IX on Sunday, April 4th at Caesars Palace. The winner of the Royal Rumble tonight will challenge for the WWF Championship, which is the first time they used that as a stipulation.
Royal Rumble Match
#1 is none other than last year's winner, Ric Flair. #2 is Bob Backlund who comes out to no reaction. They continue to make a big deal out of Backlund's age, even though Flair is only 4 months younger. Up next is Papa Shango who has lost all steam at this point. He goes after Backlund but then Flair comes from behind and eliminates him. The fact that Backlund and Flair are both wearing red tights was an odd choice considering how long they would be in there together. Ted DiBiase is #4 and he teams with Flair on Backlund. That's about 120 years of age between these three men. #5 is Brian Knobbs and he hits a double clothesline on DiBiase and Flair. #6 brings out Virgil. Naturally he and DiBiase go after each other. DiBiase is able to pull Knobbs over the top rope and eliminate him. #7 is Jerry Lawler. He and Flair start going after each other, which seems kind of odd. Lawler then saves Virgil from Flair, which never makes sense. It should be noted that they are not playing the entrance music of the participants, which is always such a bad idea. Max Moon is up next at 8. He gets eliminated pretty quickly and then Tenryu comes in at 9. This match desperately needs a babyface that the crowd cares about to come in here. Virgil is on the apron and for some reason Flair pulls him in by the ropes back in. Here comes Mr. Perfect at 10 and the crowd finally is into it. He goes right after Flair. Flair gets a thumb to the eye and then goes up top. Perfect is there and hits a body press. At 11, it's Skinner, who is somehow still on the roster. Then out of nowhere, Perfect eliminates Flair and he is irate. Out comes Koko B. Ware at 12 and Bobby delivers a classic "Did someone call a cab?". Skinner is eliminated by a Perfect dropkick. Of the first 12 competitors, 9 of them do not end up having matches on the main WrestleMania card. Lucky 13 is Samu and the sit and stall period has begun. Berzerker comes in at 14 and tries to interject some life to this match, but it almost looks as if he is sleepwalking. Mr. Perfect eliminates Lawler and then DiBiase comes from behind and dumps over Perfect. Perfect lands on the apron, but then Lawler tries to pull him off along with DiBiase and Koko. After a long struggle, they finally get him. Undertaker is in at 15 to add some much needed star power. Berzerker hits Backlund with one of the weakest looking chair shots you will ever see. Undertaker dumps out Sabu. All of a sudden everyone is doing things at the same time. Taker dumps out Tenryu. Koko stops trying to eliminate Berzerker to pull up his pants and then goes back at it. Here comes the Red Rooster, I mean Terry Taylor, at 16. Koko goes to eliminate Taylor, but DiBiase comes in and eliminates both. DiBiase eats a chokeslam from Undertaker and then he eliminates him. Randomly out of nowhere comes Giant Gonzalez in his infamous outfit. Taker eliminates Berzerker and he is now in the ring with just Gonzalez. After a long stare down, Gonzalez eliminates Taker even though he isn't in the match. Damien Demento was 17 and he is just watching from the outside. Gonzalez throws him back in the ring and continues his attack. This is terrible. IRS is 18 and he too just stands back. Tatanka is number 19 and comes out to a decent pop. Paul Bearer uses the urn to get Undertaker up and he walks away in pain. We're back to guys just standing around pretending to try and eliminate people. Out comes Jerry Sags at 20. It should be noted that Bob Backlund is still in the match. Here comes another WrestleMania main eventer with Typhoon. Heenan accidentally calls him Tugboat and then purposely calls him Buffoon. Fatu is next and I can't help but wonder if anything is ever going to happen in this match. Out comes Earthquake at 23 and he and Typhoon start fighting. Typhoon charges at Quake, but he ducks and Typhoon is gone. Out comes Carlos Colon who Monsoon calls a youngster at the age of 44. Now we get Tito Santana at number 25. Backlund eliminates Fatu with a clothesline. Rick Martel is in and we finally get a Strike Force moment as Tito slams Martel's head into the turnbuckle. Earthquake eliminates IRS. Tito almost is able to get Backlund out, but he hangs on to the ropes. Finally Yokozuna is here to be a difference maker. He and Tatanka go at it, but Yoko easily tosses him out of the ring. Yoko goes to Colon next and he's gone too. Now we get the Earthquake moment. Owen Hart enters, but he gets no attention since Yoko and Quake are doing their thing. Yoko eliminates Earthquake. Repo Man is now in there. Of the 7 men in the ring, only Backlund and Yokozuna have televised matches at WrestleMania. The other 6 men all try to eliminate Yokozuna,. but he is able to fight them off. We are finally to #30 and it's Randy Savage. Yokozuna dumps out Tito. Owen sends out Saggs with a dropkick. Backlund sends out Martel to a decent reaction. Backlund starts throwing dropkicks at Yoko. He charges at him and Yoko tosses him over. We are down to the final two with Savage and Yokozuna. Savage makes a comeback and has Yoko reeling. Savage goes up top and hits a double ax handle. He hits another one and has Yokozuna down to one knee. Yokozuna retaliates with a superkick and follows it up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Savage avoids a splash in the corner and Yoko is down. Savage hits an elbow drop off the top rope and for some reason goes for a pin. Yoko pushes him up and over the top rope and that is all. To put it kindly, that was like watching paint dry for the most part. Not having guys like Michaels, Razor, Bam Bam and Boss Man in that match really hurt it. We were stuck with jobbers like Demento, Virgil, Repo Man and Skinner instead. Yokozuna was absolutely the right choice, but we all knew that and there was no reason this had to go as long as it did. Really disappointing match.
Match Rating: *
Well, the undercard is really solid, especially for the time. However, with the Rumble match taking up nearly half of the show, it's hard to really recommend the show. The roster was really becoming a problem here in 1993 and we were getting stuck with terrible ideas like Giant Gonzalez. Bret Hart put on an absolute clinic in his match with Razor and Shawn finally got to have his big pay-per-view match with Marty. This was not the strongest start to 1993 for the company.
Overall Rating: 58%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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Somehow this is the third show in a row that I have watched from ARCO Arena. Cutting straight to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan is such a relief.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
I didn't rent this show until about 1995 and this was the first time I had ever watched a Steiner match. I did randomly get a Rick Steiner action figure as a gift, but never knew who he was. Scott starts the match off getting the best of Beau, with Beau complaining of Scotty cheating each time. Beau gets a little bit of offense in until Scott hits a suplex. After a huddle, Blake is in and in comes Rick. Blake gets a cheap shot in while the referee is trying to get out of the way. Rick then catches Blake in midair and slams him down. Scott gets a belly-to-belly suplex in, but then the Beverly Brothers get in an illegal double team to slow them down. Beau and Blake cut the ring in half and work on Scott's back. Scott hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. Hot tag to Rick and he hits a huge back body drop. He then folds up Blake like an acordian with a German suplex. Scott is back in and ends up on Blake's shoulders. He ducks under the Doomsday Device attempt and rolls him up for a 2 count. Scott gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for the win. This was the first time I had ever seen that move by anyone about 25 years ago. I remember rewinding that over and over, as it absolutely blew me away. Looking back all these years later, he certainly drilled him there. Good little match to open the show.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Sensational Sherri comes out alone before both competitors. Marty's outfit here is something else. There's no way that looked cool even in 1993. Sherri shows no interest in Michaels as he looks down on her before the bell rings. We get a hot start with Marty getting the better of Michaels, including a knee lift to the outside. Marty brings him back in and then clotheslines him over the ropes. Marty keeps the attack coming until Michaels counters his leap from the top rope. Michaels then rams Marty's shoulder into the ring post. Probably 75% of the match has taken place outside of the ring. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder. Michaels goes up to the second rope, but Marty gets his leg up. Marty hits Michaels with an elbow and then Marty avoids a charge and Michaels' shoulder hits the ring post. Marty hits a series of right hands, but Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring to buy himself some time. Michaels foes for a suplex back in the ring, but Marty suplexes him to the floor. I can't remember that happening too many times prior to this. Sherri then smacks Michaels on the outside to the delight of the crowd. Marty gets a close call out of it. He throws him into the corner and Michaels goes up and over the top rope. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top, but Michaels avoids him. Marty lands on his feet though and is able to hit a DDT for a nearfall. Michaels misses the superkick and Marty hits him with one and gets another close call. Marty hits a slingshot and again only gets a 2 count. The ref accidentally gets hit with an elbow from Michaels. Marty calls in Sherri and she takes her shoe off. Michaels is able to duck it and she hits Marty. Michaels confronts her and Sherri is crying. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. That was kind of a weird ending, but the last five minutes or so were really great. Mean Gene is trying to get a word with Sherri but she is hysterical. Michaels runs to the back while Gene tries to calm her down. Marty comes out of nowhere and he attacks Shawn.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Bam Bam attacks before the bell and goes to work on Boss Man's back. Boss Man makes his comeback and hits him with a lot of weak looking right hands. They do a long spot where Boss Man stays outside the ring for a long time. This match is like watching paint dry. After that boring spot, he goes for a modified bear hug. Boss Man is able to break it, but Bam Bam hangs him out to dry on the top rope. The bear hug continues seemingly forever. Boss Man kind of hits a suplex, but Bigelow immediately hits him with a headbutt. Boss Man hits a back body drop and takes control. Bam Bam gets his boot up and then hits Boss Man with a clothesline. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the headbutt for the victory. I have no idea what they were going for there, but man did it stink. That was just a really bad match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
We get a hot start with Bret Hart going right after Razor. Razor retaliates but misses with a knee into the corner and Bret starts working on his leg. It's really a shame that this was pretty much it from these two. I think this match was the beginning of something really great. In a 12 pay-per-view schedule, you'd have to think that they would have had an extended feud at some point. Razor throws Bret and he slides right under the turnbuckle and into the ring post in a cool spot. Razor goes to work on Bret's ribs. Razor gets a nearfall after throwing Bret into the turnbuckle chest first. Razor slaps on the abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. I don't have the answer, but somehow wrestling organizations need to find a way to re-condition their fans to react to matches like they are this one. I say this as someone who just raved about TakeOver: Portland, but we as fans need to react to normal moves. Not every match needs 15 high spots all the time. There is room for that, but there is room for a match like this too. Bret legit looks to be taking the beating of his life and is fighting for everything here. Bret just does such a beautiful job of selling every single move here. Razor gets 2 and a half arm drops on a bear hug. Bret fights back and lifts Razor up and over the top rope. Bret then hits a dive to the floor and then slams Razor into the steps. Bret starts throwing a flurry of right hands, as Razor does his best to fight him off. Bret starts hitting some of his staples and gets a couple of 2 counts. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Razor is able to scramble for the ropes. Bret pulls him back in, but as he's trying to turn him over Earl Hebner gets tripped up by it. This allows Razor to go back to work on the ribs. Bret hits a back suplex and then goes off the second rope, but Razor gets his foot up. Bret is able to pull off a backslide and gets a 2 count. Razor gets right back up and goes back to the ribs. Bret pulls out a beautiful pin attempt out while Razor is holding his wrists. Hebner is out of position and Razor kicks out. Bret doesn't let go and is able to hook his legs and puts him in the Sharpshooter and turns him over. Razor gives up a little quicker than I would expect, but the crowd loves it. That was a beautifully put together match and one that is really underappreciated. I'm probably going overboard here, but I just got completely sucked in here.
Match Rating: ****
Bobby Heenan is then shown running down to the floor to introduce Narcissist. He is standing in front of a three mirrors while Bobby hypes him up. Heenan is trying, but this is just awkward. Luger then tells us that he will be the most dominant force in WWF history. He challenges Mr. Perfect.
As the curtains go down on Luger, they introduce Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They introduce us to WrestleMania IX on Sunday, April 4th at Caesars Palace. The winner of the Royal Rumble tonight will challenge for the WWF Championship, which is the first time they used that as a stipulation.
Royal Rumble Match
#1 is none other than last year's winner, Ric Flair. #2 is Bob Backlund who comes out to no reaction. They continue to make a big deal out of Backlund's age, even though Flair is only 4 months younger. Up next is Papa Shango who has lost all steam at this point. He goes after Backlund but then Flair comes from behind and eliminates him. The fact that Backlund and Flair are both wearing red tights was an odd choice considering how long they would be in there together. Ted DiBiase is #4 and he teams with Flair on Backlund. That's about 120 years of age between these three men. #5 is Brian Knobbs and he hits a double clothesline on DiBiase and Flair. #6 brings out Virgil. Naturally he and DiBiase go after each other. DiBiase is able to pull Knobbs over the top rope and eliminate him. #7 is Jerry Lawler. He and Flair start going after each other, which seems kind of odd. Lawler then saves Virgil from Flair, which never makes sense. It should be noted that they are not playing the entrance music of the participants, which is always such a bad idea. Max Moon is up next at 8. He gets eliminated pretty quickly and then Tenryu comes in at 9. This match desperately needs a babyface that the crowd cares about to come in here. Virgil is on the apron and for some reason Flair pulls him in by the ropes back in. Here comes Mr. Perfect at 10 and the crowd finally is into it. He goes right after Flair. Flair gets a thumb to the eye and then goes up top. Perfect is there and hits a body press. At 11, it's Skinner, who is somehow still on the roster. Then out of nowhere, Perfect eliminates Flair and he is irate. Out comes Koko B. Ware at 12 and Bobby delivers a classic "Did someone call a cab?". Skinner is eliminated by a Perfect dropkick. Of the first 12 competitors, 9 of them do not end up having matches on the main WrestleMania card. Lucky 13 is Samu and the sit and stall period has begun. Berzerker comes in at 14 and tries to interject some life to this match, but it almost looks as if he is sleepwalking. Mr. Perfect eliminates Lawler and then DiBiase comes from behind and dumps over Perfect. Perfect lands on the apron, but then Lawler tries to pull him off along with DiBiase and Koko. After a long struggle, they finally get him. Undertaker is in at 15 to add some much needed star power. Berzerker hits Backlund with one of the weakest looking chair shots you will ever see. Undertaker dumps out Sabu. All of a sudden everyone is doing things at the same time. Taker dumps out Tenryu. Koko stops trying to eliminate Berzerker to pull up his pants and then goes back at it. Here comes the Red Rooster, I mean Terry Taylor, at 16. Koko goes to eliminate Taylor, but DiBiase comes in and eliminates both. DiBiase eats a chokeslam from Undertaker and then he eliminates him. Randomly out of nowhere comes Giant Gonzalez in his infamous outfit. Taker eliminates Berzerker and he is now in the ring with just Gonzalez. After a long stare down, Gonzalez eliminates Taker even though he isn't in the match. Damien Demento was 17 and he is just watching from the outside. Gonzalez throws him back in the ring and continues his attack. This is terrible. IRS is 18 and he too just stands back. Tatanka is number 19 and comes out to a decent pop. Paul Bearer uses the urn to get Undertaker up and he walks away in pain. We're back to guys just standing around pretending to try and eliminate people. Out comes Jerry Sags at 20. It should be noted that Bob Backlund is still in the match. Here comes another WrestleMania main eventer with Typhoon. Heenan accidentally calls him Tugboat and then purposely calls him Buffoon. Fatu is next and I can't help but wonder if anything is ever going to happen in this match. Out comes Earthquake at 23 and he and Typhoon start fighting. Typhoon charges at Quake, but he ducks and Typhoon is gone. Out comes Carlos Colon who Monsoon calls a youngster at the age of 44. Now we get Tito Santana at number 25. Backlund eliminates Fatu with a clothesline. Rick Martel is in and we finally get a Strike Force moment as Tito slams Martel's head into the turnbuckle. Earthquake eliminates IRS. Tito almost is able to get Backlund out, but he hangs on to the ropes. Finally Yokozuna is here to be a difference maker. He and Tatanka go at it, but Yoko easily tosses him out of the ring. Yoko goes to Colon next and he's gone too. Now we get the Earthquake moment. Owen Hart enters, but he gets no attention since Yoko and Quake are doing their thing. Yoko eliminates Earthquake. Repo Man is now in there. Of the 7 men in the ring, only Backlund and Yokozuna have televised matches at WrestleMania. The other 6 men all try to eliminate Yokozuna,. but he is able to fight them off. We are finally to #30 and it's Randy Savage. Yokozuna dumps out Tito. Owen sends out Saggs with a dropkick. Backlund sends out Martel to a decent reaction. Backlund starts throwing dropkicks at Yoko. He charges at him and Yoko tosses him over. We are down to the final two with Savage and Yokozuna. Savage makes a comeback and has Yoko reeling. Savage goes up top and hits a double ax handle. He hits another one and has Yokozuna down to one knee. Yokozuna retaliates with a superkick and follows it up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Savage avoids a splash in the corner and Yoko is down. Savage hits an elbow drop off the top rope and for some reason goes for a pin. Yoko pushes him up and over the top rope and that is all. To put it kindly, that was like watching paint dry for the most part. Not having guys like Michaels, Razor, Bam Bam and Boss Man in that match really hurt it. We were stuck with jobbers like Demento, Virgil, Repo Man and Skinner instead. Yokozuna was absolutely the right choice, but we all knew that and there was no reason this had to go as long as it did. Really disappointing match.
Match Rating: *
Well, the undercard is really solid, especially for the time. However, with the Rumble match taking up nearly half of the show, it's hard to really recommend the show. The roster was really becoming a problem here in 1993 and we were getting stuck with terrible ideas like Giant Gonzalez. Bret Hart put on an absolute clinic in his match with Razor and Shawn finally got to have his big pay-per-view match with Marty. This was not the strongest start to 1993 for the company.
Overall Rating: 58%
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
SmackDown 7-7-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, July 7th, 2005
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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After a long recap of last week, JBL is in the ring to talk about it. He says what Teddy Long did to him, makes the Montreal screwjob look like a parking ticket. As he begins talking about his match at Great American Bash, his own music hits and the limo comes out. The bWo comes out of the limo in what has to be one of the more bizarre moments of this era. The Blue Meanie is introduced as John Blue Lamefield, Nova as Bash Me and Stevie is Bluewheat. They ramble on and the crowd is semi into it and it leads to Blue Meanie challenging JBL to a match. Meanie then spray paints bWo on his limo.
#1 Contender Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Benoit backs Booker into the corner and starts chopping. Benoit hits a snap suplex and then goes for a Sharpshooter, but Booker kicks out. Booker hits a hot shot on Benoit and then goes with a heel kick to the chin. Booker hits a superkick for a 2 count. This is a match that we'll be seeing a lot of coming up in the fall and Michael Cole made mention of their best of 7 series in WCW. Benoit avoids a Scissors Kick, but Booker still hits him with some knees to the head. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits three German suplexes. Benoit goes up top, but Booker runs over to stop him. Booker hits a superplex, but Benoit kicks out at 2. Benoit rolls under a kick and goes for the Crippler Crossface, but Booker counters it into a submission, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit counters a suplex with the Crippler Crossface and Booker taps pretty quickly. These two typically did work well together and even though this one was short, it was pretty good. After the match they show Sharmell backstage watching and Orlando Jordan scares her away.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
They show a recap of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio segment from last week. Rey is then shown walking into Eddie's locker room. Rey asks Eddie to reconsider and to please stop with his family. Eddie says that Rey is going to be his partner to take on MNM tonight. Rey said he doesn't want to be his partner, so Eddie says that he'll go by himself and that he'll tell everyone their secret. Rey begs him not to do it. Eddie tells him that he'll see him out there.
Muhammad Hassan is complaining to Teddy Long. He says that he deserves to be the #1 contender since he was never pinned or eliminated. Long says that Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan will take place at the Great American Bash and the winner will be the #1 contender.
No Disqualification Match
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
JBL immediately hits Meanie with a big boot. JBL hits him with right hands and then dumps him to the outside. He slams him into the announcer table and steps. JBL mocks Meanie's dance, which begins a short-lived Meanie comeback. JBL turns his attention to Nova and Richards. He knocks both of them out and throws a chair and Richards in the ring. Meanie distracts JBL, which allows Richards to nail JBL with a sickening chair shot. Meanie goes up top and hits a moonsault, but JBL kicks out. JBL is busted open. JBL hits a Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is in the ring and hits a spinebuster. Meanie rolls onto JBL and gets the victory. I will chalk this up to probably the strangest moment of SmackDown in 2005. The match was pretty short, but it did it's job.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Rey gets the best of Joey Mercury and then forces Rey to tag in. Rey hits the low dropkick and then tags in Eddie. Eddie hits the Three Amigos on Mercury and then throws Nitro out of the ring. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Mercury, but Eddie pulls himself off of him at 2. He tags in Rey and he goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Rey hits a dropkick to the back and tries going for the 619, but Eddie grabs him and throws him down while he's running the ropes. Eddie walks to the outside and sits down by Tony Chimel. MNM takes advantage, but goes for the Snapshot and Rey counters it. He hits a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana and then follows up with a 619. He hits the springboard leg drop, but Eddie breaks up the pin. He attacks Mysterio and then sits up in the ropes. Mercury hits a clothesline and then they hits the Snapshot for the victory. This was obviously much more of an angle than a match, but it was still well worked and the story was strong.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and after a long pause, asks Rey if he is hurt. Rey is holding himself back from hitting Eddie, but Eddie tells him that he'll tell the world their little secret. Rey starts to head back, but Eddie yells at him and tells him he didn't say he could go. He pushes Rey insultingly in the head and tells him to open the ropes for him. Rey reluctantly does it and Eddie heads to the back.
Christian is in back and says he was born a main eventer. He main evented Raw and SmackDown both in the same week. He takes on Batista tonight.
Matt Morgan vs. William Regal
They once again hype up the BLOCKBUSTER trade, which is classic WWE. As soon as Regal is introduced, the Mexicools music hits and they come out on their tractor and surround Morgan. They attack Morgan, as Regal watches from the outside. Charles Robinson even takes a bump. They then cut a terrible promo and insult Japanese people at the same time. This was absolutely embarrassing. This era was classic for having a good show and then throwing out a segment that is completely stupid with such ease.
Speaking of which, Muhammad Hassan tells Daivari backstage that he will be a sacrifice that helps the greater good tonight.
Daivari vs. Undertaker
Daivari gets thrown in the ring by Hassan. Taker grabs him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. Taker hits the Tombstone all while looking at Hassan on the entrance ramp. Taker gets the easy victory. Hassan laughs and goes down on his knees. Men in masks come down and start attacking Taker. Yes, this is the infamous segment that aired right after the terrorist attacks in London. The attackers choke Taker and this is another instance of him having no friends in the back who will come out and help him. Hassan walks in the ring and puts Taker in the Camel Clutch. This was the beginning of the end for Hassan. The attackers carry Daivari to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Christian vs. Batista
Christian throws some right hands, but they have little effect and Batista clotheslines him. Batista throws Christian out of the ring as we go to commercial break. Back from the break, Batista is taking it to Christian. Back on the outside, Christian is able to hit a drop toe hold on Batista into the steps. Christian hits a DDT for a 2 count. Batista battles out of a headlock, but eats a missile dropkick from Christian. Christian goes for the Unprettier, but Batista hits an electric chair and both men are down. Batista drives Christian into the corner and catches Christian off the ropes and hits a front powerslam. Batista catches Christian again and hits a running powerslam. Batista hits a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb for the victory. Well, it's easy to see why Christian wouldn't stick around much longer. If there was anyone who should have benefited from a move to SmackDown, it was him and it just didn't happen. The match was just okay. After the match JBL and Orlando Jordan come down and attack Batista. However, Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Orlando Jordan as JBL heads to the back.
Match Rating: **
Well, this show hasn't aged very well. Between the bWo, the Mexicools and the masked attackers this had a lot of negatives. The main event under-delivered in my opinion and the Eddie/Rey storyline seems to be going off the rails. Heading into the Great American Bash, SmackDown doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Overall Rating: 39%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a long recap of last week, JBL is in the ring to talk about it. He says what Teddy Long did to him, makes the Montreal screwjob look like a parking ticket. As he begins talking about his match at Great American Bash, his own music hits and the limo comes out. The bWo comes out of the limo in what has to be one of the more bizarre moments of this era. The Blue Meanie is introduced as John Blue Lamefield, Nova as Bash Me and Stevie is Bluewheat. They ramble on and the crowd is semi into it and it leads to Blue Meanie challenging JBL to a match. Meanie then spray paints bWo on his limo.
#1 Contender Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Benoit backs Booker into the corner and starts chopping. Benoit hits a snap suplex and then goes for a Sharpshooter, but Booker kicks out. Booker hits a hot shot on Benoit and then goes with a heel kick to the chin. Booker hits a superkick for a 2 count. This is a match that we'll be seeing a lot of coming up in the fall and Michael Cole made mention of their best of 7 series in WCW. Benoit avoids a Scissors Kick, but Booker still hits him with some knees to the head. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits three German suplexes. Benoit goes up top, but Booker runs over to stop him. Booker hits a superplex, but Benoit kicks out at 2. Benoit rolls under a kick and goes for the Crippler Crossface, but Booker counters it into a submission, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit counters a suplex with the Crippler Crossface and Booker taps pretty quickly. These two typically did work well together and even though this one was short, it was pretty good. After the match they show Sharmell backstage watching and Orlando Jordan scares her away.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
They show a recap of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio segment from last week. Rey is then shown walking into Eddie's locker room. Rey asks Eddie to reconsider and to please stop with his family. Eddie says that Rey is going to be his partner to take on MNM tonight. Rey said he doesn't want to be his partner, so Eddie says that he'll go by himself and that he'll tell everyone their secret. Rey begs him not to do it. Eddie tells him that he'll see him out there.
Muhammad Hassan is complaining to Teddy Long. He says that he deserves to be the #1 contender since he was never pinned or eliminated. Long says that Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan will take place at the Great American Bash and the winner will be the #1 contender.
No Disqualification Match
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
JBL immediately hits Meanie with a big boot. JBL hits him with right hands and then dumps him to the outside. He slams him into the announcer table and steps. JBL mocks Meanie's dance, which begins a short-lived Meanie comeback. JBL turns his attention to Nova and Richards. He knocks both of them out and throws a chair and Richards in the ring. Meanie distracts JBL, which allows Richards to nail JBL with a sickening chair shot. Meanie goes up top and hits a moonsault, but JBL kicks out. JBL is busted open. JBL hits a Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is in the ring and hits a spinebuster. Meanie rolls onto JBL and gets the victory. I will chalk this up to probably the strangest moment of SmackDown in 2005. The match was pretty short, but it did it's job.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Rey gets the best of Joey Mercury and then forces Rey to tag in. Rey hits the low dropkick and then tags in Eddie. Eddie hits the Three Amigos on Mercury and then throws Nitro out of the ring. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Mercury, but Eddie pulls himself off of him at 2. He tags in Rey and he goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Rey hits a dropkick to the back and tries going for the 619, but Eddie grabs him and throws him down while he's running the ropes. Eddie walks to the outside and sits down by Tony Chimel. MNM takes advantage, but goes for the Snapshot and Rey counters it. He hits a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana and then follows up with a 619. He hits the springboard leg drop, but Eddie breaks up the pin. He attacks Mysterio and then sits up in the ropes. Mercury hits a clothesline and then they hits the Snapshot for the victory. This was obviously much more of an angle than a match, but it was still well worked and the story was strong.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and after a long pause, asks Rey if he is hurt. Rey is holding himself back from hitting Eddie, but Eddie tells him that he'll tell the world their little secret. Rey starts to head back, but Eddie yells at him and tells him he didn't say he could go. He pushes Rey insultingly in the head and tells him to open the ropes for him. Rey reluctantly does it and Eddie heads to the back.
Christian is in back and says he was born a main eventer. He main evented Raw and SmackDown both in the same week. He takes on Batista tonight.
They once again hype up the BLOCKBUSTER trade, which is classic WWE. As soon as Regal is introduced, the Mexicools music hits and they come out on their tractor and surround Morgan. They attack Morgan, as Regal watches from the outside. Charles Robinson even takes a bump. They then cut a terrible promo and insult Japanese people at the same time. This was absolutely embarrassing. This era was classic for having a good show and then throwing out a segment that is completely stupid with such ease.
Speaking of which, Muhammad Hassan tells Daivari backstage that he will be a sacrifice that helps the greater good tonight.
Daivari vs. Undertaker
Daivari gets thrown in the ring by Hassan. Taker grabs him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. Taker hits the Tombstone all while looking at Hassan on the entrance ramp. Taker gets the easy victory. Hassan laughs and goes down on his knees. Men in masks come down and start attacking Taker. Yes, this is the infamous segment that aired right after the terrorist attacks in London. The attackers choke Taker and this is another instance of him having no friends in the back who will come out and help him. Hassan walks in the ring and puts Taker in the Camel Clutch. This was the beginning of the end for Hassan. The attackers carry Daivari to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Christian vs. Batista
Christian throws some right hands, but they have little effect and Batista clotheslines him. Batista throws Christian out of the ring as we go to commercial break. Back from the break, Batista is taking it to Christian. Back on the outside, Christian is able to hit a drop toe hold on Batista into the steps. Christian hits a DDT for a 2 count. Batista battles out of a headlock, but eats a missile dropkick from Christian. Christian goes for the Unprettier, but Batista hits an electric chair and both men are down. Batista drives Christian into the corner and catches Christian off the ropes and hits a front powerslam. Batista catches Christian again and hits a running powerslam. Batista hits a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb for the victory. Well, it's easy to see why Christian wouldn't stick around much longer. If there was anyone who should have benefited from a move to SmackDown, it was him and it just didn't happen. The match was just okay. After the match JBL and Orlando Jordan come down and attack Batista. However, Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Orlando Jordan as JBL heads to the back.
Match Rating: **
Well, this show hasn't aged very well. Between the bWo, the Mexicools and the masked attackers this had a lot of negatives. The main event under-delivered in my opinion and the Eddie/Rey storyline seems to be going off the rails. Heading into the Great American Bash, SmackDown doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Overall Rating: 39%
Monday, February 17, 2020
Monday Night Raw 7-4-05 Review
Monday, July 4th, 2005
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Carlito is out for Carlito's Cabana, where he claims there are fireworks every night. His guest tonight is Hulk Hogan, who comes out to a big pop. Carlito says that Hogan being on Carlito's Cabana is the biggest moment of Hogan's career. Carlito asks why he didn't bring Brooke because she is hot, which leads to Hogan attacking Carlito. Kurt Angle is out now and asks who cares about Hogan's daughter when he's making Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair tap out. Angle reminds Hogan that last time they faced off, he made him tap out as well. He says the person he wants to make tap out more than anyone though is Brooke. Hogan attacks Angle, but then Carlito gets him from behind and they start double teaming Hogan until Michaels makes the save. Teddy Long somewhere is screaming at his television to make tonight's main event. This was pretty rushed and kind of awkward. Keep in mind that grown men are talking about his 17 year old daughter. Nope, not creepy at all.
Edge & Snitsky vs. Kane & The Big Show
Edge quickly tags in Snitsky to get away from Kane. JR reminds us of the irony that is Snitsky and Lita partnering together. Big Show is in and nails Snitsky with some clotheslines. Kane starts chasing Lita to the back as we head to commercial break. Back from the break, and Snitsky is working on Big Show's leg after Edge took out his leg on an illegal double team. Edge and Snitsky hit a double shoulder block from the second rope, but Big Show easily kicks out. He hits a double suplex and he and Snitsky are both down. Hot tag to Kane and he hits a big boot on Snitsky. He hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top and hits the top rope clothesline. He throws Edge into the ring, who then immediately eats a headbutt from Big Show. Edge is clotheslined out of the ring and Kane hits a chokeslam on Snitsky for the victory. This was a pretty standard TV tag team match, but the crowd was pretty into it.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Todd Grisham was outside Eric Bischoff's office when Shawn Michaels walks out and informs us that he and Hulk Hogan will take on Carlito and Kurt Angle tonight.
The Heart Throbs vs. Viscera
The Heart Throbs remind Lilian of what happened at Vengeance and try to impress her. Lilian can't even announce Viscera. 2005 was a weird time. Viscera immediately slams both men. He charges at both, but they get their feet up. A double shoulder block takes Viscera down and they continue the attack. The Heart Throbs crotch Viscera on the ring post and the ref calls for the bell. The Heart Throbs after the match put their boas around Lilian and kiss her on the cheek. Somehow this just keeps continuing. You can probably guess how good this was.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show the Divas and then Jericho getting ready.
Maria announces that there was a trade and that the newest member of Raw is Chavo Guerrero, who now has bleach blonde hair and wearing yacht club clothes. Chavo says that he has underachieved and it's because of his Hispanic heritage holding him back. He said that he has decided to join middle class America and now has legally changed his name to Kerwin White. He then calls Maria stupid. This was a thing that happened.
Hurricane, Rosey and Stacy are here with sparklers. He talks about safety and how they use a Hurrabucket to properly put out their sparklers. Meanwhile, Rosey's hand catches on fire.
Maria is still upset and in comes John Cena. He tells her to show her strengths and hide her weaknesses. Not a moment Cena would probably be proud of.
It's Highlight Reel time with Chris Jericho. He insults Carlito's Cabana and introduces John Cena. Jericho talks about Cena's success, but then lists his own personal successes including playing the Download Fest in front of 50,000 fans. He shows a clip of it on the insanely expensive Jeritron 5000. Cena says this is a one sided interview and starts to leave. Jericho grabs him back in and continues rambling on about how great he is. Jericho tells him that he can take that WWE Championship away from him any time he wants to. Cena says that he remembers when Raw really was Raw is Jericho, but now he's a cheap version of himself. Jericho slaps him and Cena takes him down and they start brawling. The refs pull Jericho away and Cena grabs an inflatable hand from the crowd and uses it to flip Jericho off.
It's Diva Search time...Coach and Christy introduce Sgt. Slaughter for the Bikini Boot Camp. One of the girls slips on her way out. Whoever gets the fastest time this week, gains immunity for next week's vote. Just in case you weren't sure this would take forever as it is, they have Coach run the obstacle course. Layla has a wardrobe malfunction and is disqualified. God, I can't believe this was on television. Simona, Alexis and Cameron do absolutely terrible. Elisabeth is the winner with 35 seconds and is safe for a week.
Val Venis vs. Rene Dupree
How do you follow up a thrilling Diva Search segment? With a jobber match of course. Rene Dupree is announced as being part of the huge blockbuster trade that also brought over Kerwin White. So apparently Raw got Dupree, Chavo, Mark Jindrak, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroko and Danny Basham. Suzuki and Hiroko are about to get released and Jindrak will make all of one Raw appearance according to trusty Wikipedia. Meanwhile, SmackDown got William Regal, Candice Michelle, Sylvain Grenier, Simon Dean and Stevie Richards. So it basically ended up being Chavo for Regal in the end. Dupree says that he is simply phenomenal and that Val is simply pathetic. Venis goes after him and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Dupree however hangs him on the second rope and starts throwing fists. Val makes a comeback and gets a 2 count. Dupree then out of nowhere pins Venis by putting his feet on the rope. What an impact win there.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kurt Angle and Carlito are with Todd Grisham. Carlito says that no one disrespects them and gets away with it. Angle says that he is going to snap someones ankle tonight, he doesn't care who.
Carlito & Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan and Carlito lock up and Hogan of course throws him across the ring. In comes Angle and Hogan tosses him as well. Hogan and Michaels toss both men out of the ring and are celebrating as we go into the commercial break. Back from the break and Angle is working on Michaels. Michaels fights him off and hits an elbow from the top rope. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Carlito distracts him and then heats a right hand. Hogan has the ref distracted and Carlito hits Michaels with a knee to the back, allowing Angle to take control. Carlito and Angle cut the ring in half by making multiple tags. Michaels counters an Angle Slam with a DDT and both men are down. Hogan gets the hot tag and hits the standard Hogan comeback on Carlito. He tosses Angle over the top rope. He hits the boot and leg drop and that's all for Carlito. This was pretty much exactly what you would expect it would be, which you can almost say about every Hogan match ever. Hogan and Michaels celebrate until Michaels nails him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down on Hogan for a long time and then walks to the back as the show goes off the air. Good ending to a fun match.
Match Rating: **1/2
If you prefer the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment, perhaps this one was better for you than it was for me. It's hard for me to get behind a show that has so much time devoted to talking and obstacle courses. Not to mention how awful the Viscera stuff was and the Diva Search is already a pure embarrassment. On the bright side, the Hogan/Michaels and Jericho/Cena feuds are off to good starts as the build to SummerSlam begins.
Overall Rating: 49%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Carlito is out for Carlito's Cabana, where he claims there are fireworks every night. His guest tonight is Hulk Hogan, who comes out to a big pop. Carlito says that Hogan being on Carlito's Cabana is the biggest moment of Hogan's career. Carlito asks why he didn't bring Brooke because she is hot, which leads to Hogan attacking Carlito. Kurt Angle is out now and asks who cares about Hogan's daughter when he's making Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair tap out. Angle reminds Hogan that last time they faced off, he made him tap out as well. He says the person he wants to make tap out more than anyone though is Brooke. Hogan attacks Angle, but then Carlito gets him from behind and they start double teaming Hogan until Michaels makes the save. Teddy Long somewhere is screaming at his television to make tonight's main event. This was pretty rushed and kind of awkward. Keep in mind that grown men are talking about his 17 year old daughter. Nope, not creepy at all.
Edge & Snitsky vs. Kane & The Big Show
Edge quickly tags in Snitsky to get away from Kane. JR reminds us of the irony that is Snitsky and Lita partnering together. Big Show is in and nails Snitsky with some clotheslines. Kane starts chasing Lita to the back as we head to commercial break. Back from the break, and Snitsky is working on Big Show's leg after Edge took out his leg on an illegal double team. Edge and Snitsky hit a double shoulder block from the second rope, but Big Show easily kicks out. He hits a double suplex and he and Snitsky are both down. Hot tag to Kane and he hits a big boot on Snitsky. He hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top and hits the top rope clothesline. He throws Edge into the ring, who then immediately eats a headbutt from Big Show. Edge is clotheslined out of the ring and Kane hits a chokeslam on Snitsky for the victory. This was a pretty standard TV tag team match, but the crowd was pretty into it.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Todd Grisham was outside Eric Bischoff's office when Shawn Michaels walks out and informs us that he and Hulk Hogan will take on Carlito and Kurt Angle tonight.
The Heart Throbs vs. Viscera
The Heart Throbs remind Lilian of what happened at Vengeance and try to impress her. Lilian can't even announce Viscera. 2005 was a weird time. Viscera immediately slams both men. He charges at both, but they get their feet up. A double shoulder block takes Viscera down and they continue the attack. The Heart Throbs crotch Viscera on the ring post and the ref calls for the bell. The Heart Throbs after the match put their boas around Lilian and kiss her on the cheek. Somehow this just keeps continuing. You can probably guess how good this was.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show the Divas and then Jericho getting ready.
Maria announces that there was a trade and that the newest member of Raw is Chavo Guerrero, who now has bleach blonde hair and wearing yacht club clothes. Chavo says that he has underachieved and it's because of his Hispanic heritage holding him back. He said that he has decided to join middle class America and now has legally changed his name to Kerwin White. He then calls Maria stupid. This was a thing that happened.
Hurricane, Rosey and Stacy are here with sparklers. He talks about safety and how they use a Hurrabucket to properly put out their sparklers. Meanwhile, Rosey's hand catches on fire.
Maria is still upset and in comes John Cena. He tells her to show her strengths and hide her weaknesses. Not a moment Cena would probably be proud of.
It's Highlight Reel time with Chris Jericho. He insults Carlito's Cabana and introduces John Cena. Jericho talks about Cena's success, but then lists his own personal successes including playing the Download Fest in front of 50,000 fans. He shows a clip of it on the insanely expensive Jeritron 5000. Cena says this is a one sided interview and starts to leave. Jericho grabs him back in and continues rambling on about how great he is. Jericho tells him that he can take that WWE Championship away from him any time he wants to. Cena says that he remembers when Raw really was Raw is Jericho, but now he's a cheap version of himself. Jericho slaps him and Cena takes him down and they start brawling. The refs pull Jericho away and Cena grabs an inflatable hand from the crowd and uses it to flip Jericho off.
It's Diva Search time...Coach and Christy introduce Sgt. Slaughter for the Bikini Boot Camp. One of the girls slips on her way out. Whoever gets the fastest time this week, gains immunity for next week's vote. Just in case you weren't sure this would take forever as it is, they have Coach run the obstacle course. Layla has a wardrobe malfunction and is disqualified. God, I can't believe this was on television. Simona, Alexis and Cameron do absolutely terrible. Elisabeth is the winner with 35 seconds and is safe for a week.
Val Venis vs. Rene Dupree
How do you follow up a thrilling Diva Search segment? With a jobber match of course. Rene Dupree is announced as being part of the huge blockbuster trade that also brought over Kerwin White. So apparently Raw got Dupree, Chavo, Mark Jindrak, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroko and Danny Basham. Suzuki and Hiroko are about to get released and Jindrak will make all of one Raw appearance according to trusty Wikipedia. Meanwhile, SmackDown got William Regal, Candice Michelle, Sylvain Grenier, Simon Dean and Stevie Richards. So it basically ended up being Chavo for Regal in the end. Dupree says that he is simply phenomenal and that Val is simply pathetic. Venis goes after him and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Dupree however hangs him on the second rope and starts throwing fists. Val makes a comeback and gets a 2 count. Dupree then out of nowhere pins Venis by putting his feet on the rope. What an impact win there.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kurt Angle and Carlito are with Todd Grisham. Carlito says that no one disrespects them and gets away with it. Angle says that he is going to snap someones ankle tonight, he doesn't care who.
Carlito & Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan and Carlito lock up and Hogan of course throws him across the ring. In comes Angle and Hogan tosses him as well. Hogan and Michaels toss both men out of the ring and are celebrating as we go into the commercial break. Back from the break and Angle is working on Michaels. Michaels fights him off and hits an elbow from the top rope. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Carlito distracts him and then heats a right hand. Hogan has the ref distracted and Carlito hits Michaels with a knee to the back, allowing Angle to take control. Carlito and Angle cut the ring in half by making multiple tags. Michaels counters an Angle Slam with a DDT and both men are down. Hogan gets the hot tag and hits the standard Hogan comeback on Carlito. He tosses Angle over the top rope. He hits the boot and leg drop and that's all for Carlito. This was pretty much exactly what you would expect it would be, which you can almost say about every Hogan match ever. Hogan and Michaels celebrate until Michaels nails him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down on Hogan for a long time and then walks to the back as the show goes off the air. Good ending to a fun match.
Match Rating: **1/2
If you prefer the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment, perhaps this one was better for you than it was for me. It's hard for me to get behind a show that has so much time devoted to talking and obstacle courses. Not to mention how awful the Viscera stuff was and the Diva Search is already a pure embarrassment. On the bright side, the Hogan/Michaels and Jericho/Cena feuds are off to good starts as the build to SummerSlam begins.
Overall Rating: 49%
Sunday, February 16, 2020
NXT TakeOver: Portland Review
Sunday, February 16th, 2020
Moda Center
Portland, Oregon
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
The show kicks off with a highlight package and a live performance by some band named Poppy who apparently some YouTube band, which I didn't know was a thing. No thank you.
NXT North American Championship Match
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
After a long stare down, we get an awesome opening segment that ends with a Lee flying headscissors. Dijakovic gets out of Lee's grip and hits a big boot. Dijakovic goes for a dive to the outside, but Lee catches him in a powerbomb position. Dijakovic is able to get out of that and it leads to a suplex to the apron and him falling awkwardly to the ground. Dijakovic continues the assault back in the ring with some stiff shots. He goes for a suplex, but Lee powers out of it. Lee hits a unique German suplex from a standing position. Both of these guys are just really unique talents. I'm shocked Dijakovic isn't Vince's pet project. Dijakovic hits a cyclone kick off the Irish whip. He goes up top and hits a corkscrew moonsault, but Lee kicks out at 2. Both men just start clubbing each other with some serious shots until they collapse to their knees. Back on their feet and Dijakovic hits a clothesline. Dijakovic has Lee on his shoulders on the second rope and hits an Attitude Adjustment and it's still not enough to defeat Lee. Lee then channels his inner Monty Brown and hits a Pounce that sends Dijakovic flying into the bottom turnbuckle. Both men are to the outside and Lee hits a double slap to a silenced crowd. He sits him down in a chair and does another one. Dijakovic gets Lee in the chair and hits a superkick and then goes up top and hits a somersault dive to Lee in the chair. NXT is kind of a bizarro world where two heavyweights like these two guys are fighting for the secondary title and two cruiserweights are fighting for the main title. Back in the ring, Lee goes for a chokeslam, but flips out of it. Lee then does the same, but doesn't quite land on his feet. Lee hits a powerbomb, but Dijakovic bounces up on his feet. Lee hits another one and gets one of the closest 2 counts I can think of. Lee drags him to the corner and sits on top, but Dijakovic pushes him to the floor. Lee crawls back up, but Dijakovic hits him with a kick. He jumps up top and hits a Spanish Fly off the top rope! Lee kicks out again at 2. He tries to lift Lee up on his back, but isn't able to. Lee then hits the Big Bang Catastrophe for the victory. What a great match that had a little bit of everything. The only issue with NXT's "top this" mentality is that we get so many matches with false finishes to moves that should end the match. I still can't help myself and go crazy with the star ratings, because the efforts are just insanely great. After the match, Lee helps him up and shows his respect for Dijakovic.
Match Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
Street Fight
Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai
Kai attacks Nox from behind immediately as Nox is making her entrance. Nox retaliates quickly and spears her through a barricade. Kai then hits a DDT onto the barricade. Kai kicks her in the head while Nox is on the steps. Kai grabs a paddle from under the ring and cracks it over the ring post when Nox moves. Nox puts a garbage can over Nox and hits a senton on her. Nox sets up a table, but Kai turns things around and eventually smashes a trash can lid over Nox's head. She misses a kick and Nox greets her with multiple kicks to the chin. Nox follows up with smashing the garbage can on Kai's back. She then hits a German suplex onto the garbage can. Kai comes back and hits a Kairopractor for a 2 count. Nox catches a kick and pulls Kai face-first to the hardest part of the ring. Nox hits a chokeslam off the top rope and then hits a Molly-Go-Round for a 2 count. Kai avoids a kick to the head and then tosses Nox a chair and kicks her in the head. Kai tapes Nox's writst to the ring post and hits her with some more kicks. Nox avoids a smash from a lap top and grabs it and hits Kai in the knee. Nox has the chain and is losing her cool. She rips off Kai's knee brace and puts a chair on it and smashes it. She hits her with a dropkick and tells Kai that she's not done with her yet. Nox goes and grabs the table and sets Kai on it. She grabs the chair and wraps it around Kai's neck and starts climbing the top rope. Nox is knocked off the top rope by Raquel Gonzalez. She picks her up and chucks her at the table, but she doesn't go through it, which makes it look even more painful. Kai gets the victory as Gonzalez looks on. After the match Gonzalez raises Kai's arm as Kai looks confused. Good lord, did these women come out and just absolutely work an insanely intense match that was so fast paced from bell to bell. Fantastic match.
Match Rating: ****1/2
Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor
This one should be interesting. I personally think Gargano is the best in the company right now, where Balor is really up and down for me the last couple of years. We get some mat wrestling to kind of calm the crowd down after the intense brawl we just saw. Balor does a nice heel move with doing push ups while he has Gargano in a headscissor. Gargano picks up the pace and hits one of my favorite moves in wrestling with his rolling kick on the ground. Gargano avoids Balor, leaps over the apron and spears Balor to the ground. Gargano charges after Balor, but Balor hits him with a Sling Blade. Gargano begins to work on Balor's arm. Balor attacks Gargano's knee as Gargano was going up top. Balor continues to work on Gargano's knee. Gargano fights back as only he can, but Balor catches his suicide dive. Gargano counters that and pushes Balor into the steps and then hits a running somersault dive. Gargano hits a slingshot spear for a 2 count. Gargano goes for a DDT, but Balor blocks it. Gargano hits a lawn dart to the turnbuckle. Balor hits a Pele Kick after Gargano hit an enzuigiri, but Gargano lands on top of Balor and gets a 2 count. Both men are slugging it out and it leads to Gargano hitting a slingshot DDT for a 2 count. Some of these flurries they have sprinkled throughout the match are just really tremendous. Balor hits another Sling Blade, but Gargano hits a superkick. Balor with another Sling Blade and follows it up with a running dropkick. Balor goes up top, but misses with the Coup de Grace. Gargano gets him in the Gargano Escape, but Balor is able to get out and hits him with a stomp. Balor goes for the 1916, but Gargano gets him in Gargano Escape again. Balor is able to escape and they are back outside. Gargano hits a running dropkick on Balor and he slams back into the barricade. Balor hits a face-first suplex on Gargano onto the announcer table. Balor runs across the announcers table and hits the Shotgun Dropkick off the table. Balor hits the Coup de Grace back in the ring and Balor hits the 1916 DDT for the 3 count. Another really good match here and they did a good job of not having too many false finishes. I get why Balor won and he was who I predicted, but I do think Gargano gets the Jericho treatment too often.
Match Rating: ****1/4
The Undisputed Era is in the back for an interview. Strong says that Velveteen Dream is a dead man on Wednesday. Strong then hypes up his fellow Undisputed Era teammates.
NXT Women's Championship Match
Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley
Belair shows off her skills, but Ripley quickly shows off what she can do. The NXT women's division really is something else. I didn't realize Belair was 30 years old. Belair has a mess up with a suplex, but hits it the second time. Belair puts Ripley in a seated Full Nelson, which is pretty cool. Ripley escapes and hits a back body drop and a series of clotheslines and knees. She then hits a nice dropkick to a seated Belair. Both women start hitting each other with open palm strikes and then Belair uses her hair to whip Ripley. Belair then body presses Ripley off the top rope. Ripley blocks a handspring moonsault and then follows it up with a boot. Belair hits a spear and both women are down. Belair hits a back body drop on Ripley to the outside and then hits a somersault dive over the top rope. Ripley quickly recovers and slams Belair into the steps. Ripey is up top and grabs Belair. Belair counters it and goes for a superplex, but Ripley counters that. Headbutt by Ripley and she goes for a sunset bomb, but that too is countered. Ripley hits a Rip Tide and that's good enough for the 3 count? That was an anti-climatic finish to a match that was really hitting it's stride. Perhaps my expectations were too high for this one, but this one didn't quite deliver for me. Part of it was probably the fact that you knew Ripley wouldn't be losing here. And just as I type that, Charlotte comes in and attacks Ripley from behind. Charlotte says that she thought about it and that she will see Ripley at WrestleMania. She hits Natural Selection and picks up the NXT Championship to a chorus of boos. Charlotte grabs Belair and then throws her into the steps for good measure.
Match Rating: ***1/2
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Undisputed Era vs. The Broserweights
The Broserweights come out in a golf cart with neon lights and the Dusty Rhodes Classic trophy on top. Riddle asks "how much fish could Bobby Fish fry if Bobby Fish could fry fish?" and even gets a sing along queue on the bottom of the screen. Undisputed Era runs out and they start brawling in the entrance. Riddle and O'Reilly start it off in the ring. Fish gets in their quickly and Riddle hits a gutwrench suplex. Dunne is in and stomps on O'Reilly's elbow in what will never not be a convincing move to me. Dunne hits a suplex on the outside and clubs Fish. O'Reilly hits a nice series of kicks on Dunne and in comes Fish again. Fish hits a Samoan drop on Dunne and O'Reilly now follows with some of his signature strikes. Dunne tries to fight out of the corner, but O'Reilly hits a leg whip and then Fish kicks out Dunne's leg. As much as I love this team, I can't wait to see what O'Reilly can do in a singles role. Dunne ducks a running boot from O'Reilly and it hits Fish. Hot tag to Riddle and he destroys both members of the UE. Riddle is just so different, it's fantastic. Riddle hits a German suplex with a bridge for a 2 count. The Broserweights both go up top and hit 2 flying maneuvers to both opponents. Riddle and O'Reilly are in the ring and Riddle hits a running knee and German. They hit each other with some knees and both men are down. Riddle hits both men with spears and goes for a suplex, but Fish takes out Riddle's knee and Fish tosses him halfway across the ring with a German suplex. Riddle hits a double knee strike and he makes a tag to Dunne. O'Reilly and Dunne have an awesome exchange that leads to double Ankle Locks for the Broserweights. O'Reilly has the Sharpshooter on and Fish has a sleeper. Riddle is able to hit a knee on O'Reilly to break up the Sharpshooter. All four men are down. Dunne stomps on Fish's hands and Riddle goes up top for a double team move, but Fish battles out. Fish hits an avalanche suplex off the top and O'Reilly hits a knee off the top and has Riddle in a knee bar. Fish blocks Dunne from breaking it up, but Dunne destroys Fish's fingers and then stomps on O'Reilly's wrist. Dunne and O'Reilly are giving each other all that they have left. O'Reilly pushes Dunne into Riddle, knocking him off the apron. Dunne goes to work on O'Reilly's fingers. Riddle charges in and accidentally spears Dunne. UE hit Chasing The Dragon, but Dunne is able to kick out at 2. Riddle tags in and hits Fish with a knee. They hit an awesome Go To Sleep into a dropkick and we have new Tag Team Champions! Another really great match here, not that I would expect anything less. Riddle and Dunne may be the two most unique performers on the roster and this gives them something to do until they get their shot higher up on the card.
Match Rating: ****1/4
NXT Championship Match
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole
These NXT main events are always in such a tough spot compared to the main roster. I've already given 4 matches ****1/4 or higher. Ciampa's story has been really well documented and it's hard not to root for him, but I just like Cole too much here. After going back and forth, Cole hits a kick on the outside and mocks Ciampa's pat on the back. Ciampa loses it and throws Cole over the announcer table and hits a running knee followed by his celebration. Ciampa rolls Cole back in, but Cole rolls all the way out. Ciampa hits a baseball dropkick and then follows up with a knee to the head. Cole again rolls out of the ring, which is a great touch. Ciampa hits a huge running knee on Cole to a great reaction. Ciampa goes for a powerbomb, but Cole counters it and then ducks an enzuigiri and picks up Ciampa and hits him on the announcer table head first. Cole hits a backstabber for a 2 count. Ciampa counters a Panama Sunrise attempt with a jumping knee. Ciampa hits a series of clotheslines and a German Suplex. The crowd is very much still awake and into Ciampa here. Ciampa hits a Torture Rack powerbomb for a 2 count. Both men are on the second rope and Ciampa hits an Air Raid Crash for a 2 count. Cole hits a superkick from the floor, but Ciampa hits a powerbomb onto the announcer table. He hits another one and this time it collapses. Ciampa throws him back in the ring and hits a running knee. He rolls down his knee pad, but Cole hits him with a superkick, but Ciampa then nails him with a clothesline. Ciampa follows that up with Project Ciampa, but it's still not enough. Cole hits a couple of bicycle kicks and sends Ciampa outside. Cole goes for a suicide dive, but Ciampa hits him with a dropkick. Cole hits another couple of moves to Ciampa's neck and gets a 2 count. Cole starts to show his frustration and starts yelling at Ciampa. He tries to comeback, but Cole hits a superkick and a Last Shot, but this time Ciampa rolls to the ropes. Cole tries to do a Panama Sunrise on the apron, but Ciampa catches him and hits an Air Raid Crash on the HARDEST PART OF THE RING! Cole hits a back body drop and then jumps up on the announcer table and hits a Panama Sunrise on the outside. As Cole is coming in the ring, Ciampa hits a DDT and a Fairytale Ending, but it's still not enough. Roderick Strong is now out distracting the ref. Here come Fish and O'Reilly to attack Ciampa. They roll him back in and Ciampa kicks out. Ciampa avoids a Last Shot and then tosses him over the top onto the Undisputed Era. Cole hits a Last Shot on Ciampa after he gets back in and again it's not enough. We get a ref bump that leads to a low blow from Cole. Cole goes for a Panama Sunrise, but Ciampa hits him again and hits the Fairytale Ending again. There's no ref to make the count on the knocked out Cole. Gargano is out now and throws him the title belt. As Ciampa goes to pick it up, Gargano pulls it away and hits him in the head with it. The ref comes back in and Cole successfully retains his championship. Since I didn't watch this live (I'm about 90 minutes behind), I saw some of the reviews for this match ahead of time and they seemed pretty low. After watching this, I thought this was another absolute killer match on a show full of them. Both of these guys are just so good and even with the screwy ending, it all made sense to me. As much as I love Gargano/Ciampa, I was hoping they'd keep them away from each other a little longer. Regardless, this was a great main event to a great, great show.
Match Rating: ****1/4
NXT does it again is the least surprising thing I could ever type here. Each show just seems to try and one up the following show and they seemingly almost do every time. My only minor complaint is that the talents need to communicate better on spots so that we aren't seeing some repeats. They also need to cut back a little on the huge moves that are only for false finishes. However, neither of those are complaints that are specific to NXT, as just about every modern wrestling show I have ever watched has that same issue. With that out of the way, if you haven't watched this show, watch it now. It is worth every minute of your time.
Overall Rating: 99%
Moda Center
Portland, Oregon
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
The show kicks off with a highlight package and a live performance by some band named Poppy who apparently some YouTube band, which I didn't know was a thing. No thank you.
NXT North American Championship Match
Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
After a long stare down, we get an awesome opening segment that ends with a Lee flying headscissors. Dijakovic gets out of Lee's grip and hits a big boot. Dijakovic goes for a dive to the outside, but Lee catches him in a powerbomb position. Dijakovic is able to get out of that and it leads to a suplex to the apron and him falling awkwardly to the ground. Dijakovic continues the assault back in the ring with some stiff shots. He goes for a suplex, but Lee powers out of it. Lee hits a unique German suplex from a standing position. Both of these guys are just really unique talents. I'm shocked Dijakovic isn't Vince's pet project. Dijakovic hits a cyclone kick off the Irish whip. He goes up top and hits a corkscrew moonsault, but Lee kicks out at 2. Both men just start clubbing each other with some serious shots until they collapse to their knees. Back on their feet and Dijakovic hits a clothesline. Dijakovic has Lee on his shoulders on the second rope and hits an Attitude Adjustment and it's still not enough to defeat Lee. Lee then channels his inner Monty Brown and hits a Pounce that sends Dijakovic flying into the bottom turnbuckle. Both men are to the outside and Lee hits a double slap to a silenced crowd. He sits him down in a chair and does another one. Dijakovic gets Lee in the chair and hits a superkick and then goes up top and hits a somersault dive to Lee in the chair. NXT is kind of a bizarro world where two heavyweights like these two guys are fighting for the secondary title and two cruiserweights are fighting for the main title. Back in the ring, Lee goes for a chokeslam, but flips out of it. Lee then does the same, but doesn't quite land on his feet. Lee hits a powerbomb, but Dijakovic bounces up on his feet. Lee hits another one and gets one of the closest 2 counts I can think of. Lee drags him to the corner and sits on top, but Dijakovic pushes him to the floor. Lee crawls back up, but Dijakovic hits him with a kick. He jumps up top and hits a Spanish Fly off the top rope! Lee kicks out again at 2. He tries to lift Lee up on his back, but isn't able to. Lee then hits the Big Bang Catastrophe for the victory. What a great match that had a little bit of everything. The only issue with NXT's "top this" mentality is that we get so many matches with false finishes to moves that should end the match. I still can't help myself and go crazy with the star ratings, because the efforts are just insanely great. After the match, Lee helps him up and shows his respect for Dijakovic.
Match Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
Street Fight
Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai
Kai attacks Nox from behind immediately as Nox is making her entrance. Nox retaliates quickly and spears her through a barricade. Kai then hits a DDT onto the barricade. Kai kicks her in the head while Nox is on the steps. Kai grabs a paddle from under the ring and cracks it over the ring post when Nox moves. Nox puts a garbage can over Nox and hits a senton on her. Nox sets up a table, but Kai turns things around and eventually smashes a trash can lid over Nox's head. She misses a kick and Nox greets her with multiple kicks to the chin. Nox follows up with smashing the garbage can on Kai's back. She then hits a German suplex onto the garbage can. Kai comes back and hits a Kairopractor for a 2 count. Nox catches a kick and pulls Kai face-first to the hardest part of the ring. Nox hits a chokeslam off the top rope and then hits a Molly-Go-Round for a 2 count. Kai avoids a kick to the head and then tosses Nox a chair and kicks her in the head. Kai tapes Nox's writst to the ring post and hits her with some more kicks. Nox avoids a smash from a lap top and grabs it and hits Kai in the knee. Nox has the chain and is losing her cool. She rips off Kai's knee brace and puts a chair on it and smashes it. She hits her with a dropkick and tells Kai that she's not done with her yet. Nox goes and grabs the table and sets Kai on it. She grabs the chair and wraps it around Kai's neck and starts climbing the top rope. Nox is knocked off the top rope by Raquel Gonzalez. She picks her up and chucks her at the table, but she doesn't go through it, which makes it look even more painful. Kai gets the victory as Gonzalez looks on. After the match Gonzalez raises Kai's arm as Kai looks confused. Good lord, did these women come out and just absolutely work an insanely intense match that was so fast paced from bell to bell. Fantastic match.
Match Rating: ****1/2
Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor
This one should be interesting. I personally think Gargano is the best in the company right now, where Balor is really up and down for me the last couple of years. We get some mat wrestling to kind of calm the crowd down after the intense brawl we just saw. Balor does a nice heel move with doing push ups while he has Gargano in a headscissor. Gargano picks up the pace and hits one of my favorite moves in wrestling with his rolling kick on the ground. Gargano avoids Balor, leaps over the apron and spears Balor to the ground. Gargano charges after Balor, but Balor hits him with a Sling Blade. Gargano begins to work on Balor's arm. Balor attacks Gargano's knee as Gargano was going up top. Balor continues to work on Gargano's knee. Gargano fights back as only he can, but Balor catches his suicide dive. Gargano counters that and pushes Balor into the steps and then hits a running somersault dive. Gargano hits a slingshot spear for a 2 count. Gargano goes for a DDT, but Balor blocks it. Gargano hits a lawn dart to the turnbuckle. Balor hits a Pele Kick after Gargano hit an enzuigiri, but Gargano lands on top of Balor and gets a 2 count. Both men are slugging it out and it leads to Gargano hitting a slingshot DDT for a 2 count. Some of these flurries they have sprinkled throughout the match are just really tremendous. Balor hits another Sling Blade, but Gargano hits a superkick. Balor with another Sling Blade and follows it up with a running dropkick. Balor goes up top, but misses with the Coup de Grace. Gargano gets him in the Gargano Escape, but Balor is able to get out and hits him with a stomp. Balor goes for the 1916, but Gargano gets him in Gargano Escape again. Balor is able to escape and they are back outside. Gargano hits a running dropkick on Balor and he slams back into the barricade. Balor hits a face-first suplex on Gargano onto the announcer table. Balor runs across the announcers table and hits the Shotgun Dropkick off the table. Balor hits the Coup de Grace back in the ring and Balor hits the 1916 DDT for the 3 count. Another really good match here and they did a good job of not having too many false finishes. I get why Balor won and he was who I predicted, but I do think Gargano gets the Jericho treatment too often.
Match Rating: ****1/4
The Undisputed Era is in the back for an interview. Strong says that Velveteen Dream is a dead man on Wednesday. Strong then hypes up his fellow Undisputed Era teammates.
NXT Women's Championship Match
Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley
Belair shows off her skills, but Ripley quickly shows off what she can do. The NXT women's division really is something else. I didn't realize Belair was 30 years old. Belair has a mess up with a suplex, but hits it the second time. Belair puts Ripley in a seated Full Nelson, which is pretty cool. Ripley escapes and hits a back body drop and a series of clotheslines and knees. She then hits a nice dropkick to a seated Belair. Both women start hitting each other with open palm strikes and then Belair uses her hair to whip Ripley. Belair then body presses Ripley off the top rope. Ripley blocks a handspring moonsault and then follows it up with a boot. Belair hits a spear and both women are down. Belair hits a back body drop on Ripley to the outside and then hits a somersault dive over the top rope. Ripley quickly recovers and slams Belair into the steps. Ripey is up top and grabs Belair. Belair counters it and goes for a superplex, but Ripley counters that. Headbutt by Ripley and she goes for a sunset bomb, but that too is countered. Ripley hits a Rip Tide and that's good enough for the 3 count? That was an anti-climatic finish to a match that was really hitting it's stride. Perhaps my expectations were too high for this one, but this one didn't quite deliver for me. Part of it was probably the fact that you knew Ripley wouldn't be losing here. And just as I type that, Charlotte comes in and attacks Ripley from behind. Charlotte says that she thought about it and that she will see Ripley at WrestleMania. She hits Natural Selection and picks up the NXT Championship to a chorus of boos. Charlotte grabs Belair and then throws her into the steps for good measure.
Match Rating: ***1/2
NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Undisputed Era vs. The Broserweights
The Broserweights come out in a golf cart with neon lights and the Dusty Rhodes Classic trophy on top. Riddle asks "how much fish could Bobby Fish fry if Bobby Fish could fry fish?" and even gets a sing along queue on the bottom of the screen. Undisputed Era runs out and they start brawling in the entrance. Riddle and O'Reilly start it off in the ring. Fish gets in their quickly and Riddle hits a gutwrench suplex. Dunne is in and stomps on O'Reilly's elbow in what will never not be a convincing move to me. Dunne hits a suplex on the outside and clubs Fish. O'Reilly hits a nice series of kicks on Dunne and in comes Fish again. Fish hits a Samoan drop on Dunne and O'Reilly now follows with some of his signature strikes. Dunne tries to fight out of the corner, but O'Reilly hits a leg whip and then Fish kicks out Dunne's leg. As much as I love this team, I can't wait to see what O'Reilly can do in a singles role. Dunne ducks a running boot from O'Reilly and it hits Fish. Hot tag to Riddle and he destroys both members of the UE. Riddle is just so different, it's fantastic. Riddle hits a German suplex with a bridge for a 2 count. The Broserweights both go up top and hit 2 flying maneuvers to both opponents. Riddle and O'Reilly are in the ring and Riddle hits a running knee and German. They hit each other with some knees and both men are down. Riddle hits both men with spears and goes for a suplex, but Fish takes out Riddle's knee and Fish tosses him halfway across the ring with a German suplex. Riddle hits a double knee strike and he makes a tag to Dunne. O'Reilly and Dunne have an awesome exchange that leads to double Ankle Locks for the Broserweights. O'Reilly has the Sharpshooter on and Fish has a sleeper. Riddle is able to hit a knee on O'Reilly to break up the Sharpshooter. All four men are down. Dunne stomps on Fish's hands and Riddle goes up top for a double team move, but Fish battles out. Fish hits an avalanche suplex off the top and O'Reilly hits a knee off the top and has Riddle in a knee bar. Fish blocks Dunne from breaking it up, but Dunne destroys Fish's fingers and then stomps on O'Reilly's wrist. Dunne and O'Reilly are giving each other all that they have left. O'Reilly pushes Dunne into Riddle, knocking him off the apron. Dunne goes to work on O'Reilly's fingers. Riddle charges in and accidentally spears Dunne. UE hit Chasing The Dragon, but Dunne is able to kick out at 2. Riddle tags in and hits Fish with a knee. They hit an awesome Go To Sleep into a dropkick and we have new Tag Team Champions! Another really great match here, not that I would expect anything less. Riddle and Dunne may be the two most unique performers on the roster and this gives them something to do until they get their shot higher up on the card.
Match Rating: ****1/4
NXT Championship Match
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole
These NXT main events are always in such a tough spot compared to the main roster. I've already given 4 matches ****1/4 or higher. Ciampa's story has been really well documented and it's hard not to root for him, but I just like Cole too much here. After going back and forth, Cole hits a kick on the outside and mocks Ciampa's pat on the back. Ciampa loses it and throws Cole over the announcer table and hits a running knee followed by his celebration. Ciampa rolls Cole back in, but Cole rolls all the way out. Ciampa hits a baseball dropkick and then follows up with a knee to the head. Cole again rolls out of the ring, which is a great touch. Ciampa hits a huge running knee on Cole to a great reaction. Ciampa goes for a powerbomb, but Cole counters it and then ducks an enzuigiri and picks up Ciampa and hits him on the announcer table head first. Cole hits a backstabber for a 2 count. Ciampa counters a Panama Sunrise attempt with a jumping knee. Ciampa hits a series of clotheslines and a German Suplex. The crowd is very much still awake and into Ciampa here. Ciampa hits a Torture Rack powerbomb for a 2 count. Both men are on the second rope and Ciampa hits an Air Raid Crash for a 2 count. Cole hits a superkick from the floor, but Ciampa hits a powerbomb onto the announcer table. He hits another one and this time it collapses. Ciampa throws him back in the ring and hits a running knee. He rolls down his knee pad, but Cole hits him with a superkick, but Ciampa then nails him with a clothesline. Ciampa follows that up with Project Ciampa, but it's still not enough. Cole hits a couple of bicycle kicks and sends Ciampa outside. Cole goes for a suicide dive, but Ciampa hits him with a dropkick. Cole hits another couple of moves to Ciampa's neck and gets a 2 count. Cole starts to show his frustration and starts yelling at Ciampa. He tries to comeback, but Cole hits a superkick and a Last Shot, but this time Ciampa rolls to the ropes. Cole tries to do a Panama Sunrise on the apron, but Ciampa catches him and hits an Air Raid Crash on the HARDEST PART OF THE RING! Cole hits a back body drop and then jumps up on the announcer table and hits a Panama Sunrise on the outside. As Cole is coming in the ring, Ciampa hits a DDT and a Fairytale Ending, but it's still not enough. Roderick Strong is now out distracting the ref. Here come Fish and O'Reilly to attack Ciampa. They roll him back in and Ciampa kicks out. Ciampa avoids a Last Shot and then tosses him over the top onto the Undisputed Era. Cole hits a Last Shot on Ciampa after he gets back in and again it's not enough. We get a ref bump that leads to a low blow from Cole. Cole goes for a Panama Sunrise, but Ciampa hits him again and hits the Fairytale Ending again. There's no ref to make the count on the knocked out Cole. Gargano is out now and throws him the title belt. As Ciampa goes to pick it up, Gargano pulls it away and hits him in the head with it. The ref comes back in and Cole successfully retains his championship. Since I didn't watch this live (I'm about 90 minutes behind), I saw some of the reviews for this match ahead of time and they seemed pretty low. After watching this, I thought this was another absolute killer match on a show full of them. Both of these guys are just so good and even with the screwy ending, it all made sense to me. As much as I love Gargano/Ciampa, I was hoping they'd keep them away from each other a little longer. Regardless, this was a great main event to a great, great show.
Match Rating: ****1/4
NXT does it again is the least surprising thing I could ever type here. Each show just seems to try and one up the following show and they seemingly almost do every time. My only minor complaint is that the talents need to communicate better on spots so that we aren't seeing some repeats. They also need to cut back a little on the huge moves that are only for false finishes. However, neither of those are complaints that are specific to NXT, as just about every modern wrestling show I have ever watched has that same issue. With that out of the way, if you haven't watched this show, watch it now. It is worth every minute of your time.
Overall Rating: 99%
Friday, February 14, 2020
NXT 3-13-13 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 13th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kassius Ohno vs. Derrick Bateman
Ohno and Bateman feel each other out, both getting some moves in on one another. I feel like Ohno hasn't been as successful as he should have been and a big part of it is due to the 50/50 booking they have done with him. With the roster they had during this time, there's no reason he shouldn't have been more dominant. Ohno hits a kick to the jaw and a spinning senton for a 2 count. Bateman fights back with a flurry of offense, including him continuously steamrolling him with some shoves and shoulders. Ohno makes a counter and drills Bateman with a kick to the face and that is all. After the match, Ohno puts Bateman in the STF. Regal comes down and throws Ohno off of him and Ohno retreats. The match was ok, but ended abruptly. Still, it was nice to see Ohno get a decisive win but it was weird that it came at the expense of a returning Bateman.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Bo Dallas is with Renee Young. He says what he'll do to Bray Wyatt tonight, he will never forget.
Regal apologizes for his actions.
Emma vs. Summer Rae
Emma immediately goes for a roll up, but Summer kicks out. Emma then hits a unique splash in the corner. Summer immediately takes control and goes to work on Emma's leg. Summer hits a dropkick, but gets too cocky and allows Emma to hit a clothesline. Emma rolls her up for a 2 count, but her knee just isn't holding up. Summer hits a spinning kick on Emma and gets the victory. After the match, Paige comes down and Summer Rae heads to the back.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Adrian Neville is backstage with Renee Young and says that Oliver Grey will be fine, but the Wyatt's won't be. He issues an open challenge for next week.
Big E says that his first title defense will be dominant, destructive and delicious.
Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas
Let's see what the two brothers can put together here. Bo breaks free from a headlock, but gets steamrolled. Back from commercial break and we're in another submission hold. Unless this thing is going 20 minutes, I'm not quite sure I get the structure of this match. Wyatt hits a sliding dropkick and for some reason Dallas doesn't move when he gets hit. Bo again attempts a comeback, but eats a standing Rock Bottom. Wyatt then starts dancing with Bo. Wyatt charges at Bo and he counters it with a belly-to-belly suplex and gets the victory? It's pretty obvious that they didn't know what to do with Wyatt in NXT either. Harper and Rowan come down the ramp and attack Dallas from behind. Dallas recovers and knocks both of them out of the ring. Wyatt then hits Sister Abigail. The match was pretty terrible.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Justin Gabriel tells Renee Young that he wants a match with Leo Kruger next week.
Alberto Del Rio is introduced by Ricardo Rodriguez. He is the current World Heavyweight Champion and this is a reminder that he actually faced Jack Swagger for the title at a WrestleMania. The fact that he is babyface is also just bizarre. He cuts a generic babyface promo and then out comes Antonio Cesaro, who calls himself the greatest United States Champion. He challenges Del Rio to a champion vs. champion match. Out comes Dusty Rhodes to intervene. Dusty makes a mistake and says that Cesaro is Swedish. Dusty says he makes the matches around here and that Cesaro will take on Big E Langston.
Antonio Cesaro vs. Big E Langston
It's kind of weird because Del Rio is cool with Big E, even though over on the main roster Big E is a heel. Back from commercial break and it seems as if we didn't miss much. Langston shows off his strength by tossing Cesaro around a little to start. Cesaro hits a couple of uppercuts followed by a knee. Cesaro gets a chance to show off his strength with a gutwrench suplex on Big E for a 2 count. Big E makes a comeback and hits 5 knees and then pulls the straps down. He steamrolls Cesaro and then in comes Corey Graves to cause the disqualification. Big E takes care of him though and next comes Conor O'Brian. The numbers game catches up to him and they stomp away on Langston. The match was pretty slow paced and had no urgency to it. The post match beatdown was pretty lethargic as well. These two are capable of a lot better.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Well, this episode just wasn't good...at all. The Wyatt/Dallas match was all kinds of bad and the ending to the show fell flat. It felt like they were gaining a little bit of momentum on NXT, but it came to a screeching halt here tonight.
Overall Rating: 30%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kassius Ohno vs. Derrick Bateman
Ohno and Bateman feel each other out, both getting some moves in on one another. I feel like Ohno hasn't been as successful as he should have been and a big part of it is due to the 50/50 booking they have done with him. With the roster they had during this time, there's no reason he shouldn't have been more dominant. Ohno hits a kick to the jaw and a spinning senton for a 2 count. Bateman fights back with a flurry of offense, including him continuously steamrolling him with some shoves and shoulders. Ohno makes a counter and drills Bateman with a kick to the face and that is all. After the match, Ohno puts Bateman in the STF. Regal comes down and throws Ohno off of him and Ohno retreats. The match was ok, but ended abruptly. Still, it was nice to see Ohno get a decisive win but it was weird that it came at the expense of a returning Bateman.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Bo Dallas is with Renee Young. He says what he'll do to Bray Wyatt tonight, he will never forget.
Regal apologizes for his actions.
Emma vs. Summer Rae
Emma immediately goes for a roll up, but Summer kicks out. Emma then hits a unique splash in the corner. Summer immediately takes control and goes to work on Emma's leg. Summer hits a dropkick, but gets too cocky and allows Emma to hit a clothesline. Emma rolls her up for a 2 count, but her knee just isn't holding up. Summer hits a spinning kick on Emma and gets the victory. After the match, Paige comes down and Summer Rae heads to the back.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Adrian Neville is backstage with Renee Young and says that Oliver Grey will be fine, but the Wyatt's won't be. He issues an open challenge for next week.
Big E says that his first title defense will be dominant, destructive and delicious.
Bray Wyatt vs. Bo Dallas
Let's see what the two brothers can put together here. Bo breaks free from a headlock, but gets steamrolled. Back from commercial break and we're in another submission hold. Unless this thing is going 20 minutes, I'm not quite sure I get the structure of this match. Wyatt hits a sliding dropkick and for some reason Dallas doesn't move when he gets hit. Bo again attempts a comeback, but eats a standing Rock Bottom. Wyatt then starts dancing with Bo. Wyatt charges at Bo and he counters it with a belly-to-belly suplex and gets the victory? It's pretty obvious that they didn't know what to do with Wyatt in NXT either. Harper and Rowan come down the ramp and attack Dallas from behind. Dallas recovers and knocks both of them out of the ring. Wyatt then hits Sister Abigail. The match was pretty terrible.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Justin Gabriel tells Renee Young that he wants a match with Leo Kruger next week.
Alberto Del Rio is introduced by Ricardo Rodriguez. He is the current World Heavyweight Champion and this is a reminder that he actually faced Jack Swagger for the title at a WrestleMania. The fact that he is babyface is also just bizarre. He cuts a generic babyface promo and then out comes Antonio Cesaro, who calls himself the greatest United States Champion. He challenges Del Rio to a champion vs. champion match. Out comes Dusty Rhodes to intervene. Dusty makes a mistake and says that Cesaro is Swedish. Dusty says he makes the matches around here and that Cesaro will take on Big E Langston.
Antonio Cesaro vs. Big E Langston
It's kind of weird because Del Rio is cool with Big E, even though over on the main roster Big E is a heel. Back from commercial break and it seems as if we didn't miss much. Langston shows off his strength by tossing Cesaro around a little to start. Cesaro hits a couple of uppercuts followed by a knee. Cesaro gets a chance to show off his strength with a gutwrench suplex on Big E for a 2 count. Big E makes a comeback and hits 5 knees and then pulls the straps down. He steamrolls Cesaro and then in comes Corey Graves to cause the disqualification. Big E takes care of him though and next comes Conor O'Brian. The numbers game catches up to him and they stomp away on Langston. The match was pretty slow paced and had no urgency to it. The post match beatdown was pretty lethargic as well. These two are capable of a lot better.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Well, this episode just wasn't good...at all. The Wyatt/Dallas match was all kinds of bad and the ending to the show fell flat. It felt like they were gaining a little bit of momentum on NXT, but it came to a screeching halt here tonight.
Overall Rating: 30%
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Monday Night Raw 1-18-93 Review
Monday, January 18th, 1993
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rob Bartlett is back and he rips up a picture of Bobby Heenan. Then, out of nowhere, comes Repo Man and he attacks Randy Savage and steals his hat.
Terrific Terry Taylor vs. Mr. Perfect
It's a SummerSlam '89 rematch. Randy Savage makes his way back to the announcer table as Perfect toys with Taylor. Perfect hits a hip toss and a dropkick and then leaps over the top rope to chase after Taylor. The energy here tonight is providing for a good atmosphere to start off the show. Heenan joins in via telephone during the match and isn't happy about Bartlett's comments. As we come back from commercial break, Taylor pulls Perfect through the ropes and then slams him onto the guardrail. Taylor hits a spinebuster for a 2 count and then hits a gutwrench powerbomb. Perfect makes a comeback and hits a really nice inverted atomic drop. Out comes Ric Flair to distract Perfect. Taylor hits Perfect with a knee to the back, sending Perfect to the outside. Flair takes it to Perfect while Taylor distracts the ref. Back in the ring, Taylor goes for a suplex, but Perfect counters it and hits the Perfect Plex for the victory. Solid little match there with good energy from both men.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
We get a one-two punch of a Bret Hart ICOPRO and Randy Savage Slim Jim commercial.
Vince introduces WWF Champion Bret Hart for an in ring interview. Bret says he doesn't have much respect for someone who attacks his family. Hart says that Razor Ramon is the lowest scum in the WWF.
Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about Headlock On Hunger. Yes, really.
Marty Jannetty vs. Glen Ruth
Ruth attacks Jannetty as he takes off his cut off t-shirt. It doesn't work out well, as Jannetty quickly comes back and hits an arm drag. Shawn Michaels now joins in via telephone. He says that the Rockers were only successful because of him and that he knows everything that Jannetty will try to do at the Rumble. Meanwhile Marty is wrestling this match against Ruth as if he's planning on it going 20 minutes. Jannetty hits a Rocker Dropper and finally gets the victory. I like Marty as a wrestler, but there's no reason he should be wrestling that long of a squash match 6 days before the biggest match of his singles career.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show a clip of Crush being attacked by Doink on Superstars. Doink, wearing a sling, offers Crush a flower. Crush took it and gave it to someone in the crowd and Doink attacked him with the fake arm. It was a cool idea, but it didn't look like it hurt as much as I think they were hoping for it to.
Sean Mooney is now outside the Manhattan Center, who just happens to find Repo Man. Savage wants Repo right now and Repo says that he has Savage's prized possession.
It's time for a Royal Rumble report with Mean Gene. Razor says that he has gold on his neck, gold on his fingers and soon to have gold on his waist.
Back to Sean Mooney and we see an enraged Savage looking for Repo Man. Vince yelling for Mooney to get Savage out of traffic is pretty great.
El Matador vs. Ric Flair
Tito hits a body slam and then a headlock and Vince falls for the worst pin attempt ever. Tito hits a clothesline and continues to dominate Flair. It seems like forever ago since Flair was crowned champion at the previous Royal Rumble. Back from the break and Flair is in control. Tito makes a comeback and hits 10 right hands in the corner and then slams Flair off the top rope. Tito sends him over the top rope and to the floor. Tito follows it up with a clothesline. Tito hits Flair with the flying forearm, but for some reason doesn't cover him. He goes for another one, but Flair pulls down the ropes and Tito goes flying. Out comes Mr. Perfect and they are fighting outside the ring. A group of officials have to try to pull them apart and it sure looks like Pat Patterson takes a legit bump into the side of the ring. Back from the commercial break and Perfect and Flair are still brawling. Flair talks to Vince and tells him that the WWF isn't big enough for both he and Perfect. Next week on Raw, Flair wants Perfect in a Loser Leaves WWF match. Perfect now makes his way to Vince and Perfect says he'll accept. The match was actually pretty good despite it being quick and with no decision.
Match Rating: **
They show Repo Man with Savage's hat and he is towing Bartlett's car as we go off the air.
Now this was an enjoyable episode and would have made for a really good debut of Raw. The unique atmosphere provided for a night that was full of Savage, Flair and Perfect. My only complaint was the Jannetty squash being too long, but that's a pretty minor detail.
Overall Rating: 69%
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rob Bartlett is back and he rips up a picture of Bobby Heenan. Then, out of nowhere, comes Repo Man and he attacks Randy Savage and steals his hat.
Terrific Terry Taylor vs. Mr. Perfect
It's a SummerSlam '89 rematch. Randy Savage makes his way back to the announcer table as Perfect toys with Taylor. Perfect hits a hip toss and a dropkick and then leaps over the top rope to chase after Taylor. The energy here tonight is providing for a good atmosphere to start off the show. Heenan joins in via telephone during the match and isn't happy about Bartlett's comments. As we come back from commercial break, Taylor pulls Perfect through the ropes and then slams him onto the guardrail. Taylor hits a spinebuster for a 2 count and then hits a gutwrench powerbomb. Perfect makes a comeback and hits a really nice inverted atomic drop. Out comes Ric Flair to distract Perfect. Taylor hits Perfect with a knee to the back, sending Perfect to the outside. Flair takes it to Perfect while Taylor distracts the ref. Back in the ring, Taylor goes for a suplex, but Perfect counters it and hits the Perfect Plex for the victory. Solid little match there with good energy from both men.
Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)
We get a one-two punch of a Bret Hart ICOPRO and Randy Savage Slim Jim commercial.
Vince introduces WWF Champion Bret Hart for an in ring interview. Bret says he doesn't have much respect for someone who attacks his family. Hart says that Razor Ramon is the lowest scum in the WWF.
Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about Headlock On Hunger. Yes, really.
Marty Jannetty vs. Glen Ruth
Ruth attacks Jannetty as he takes off his cut off t-shirt. It doesn't work out well, as Jannetty quickly comes back and hits an arm drag. Shawn Michaels now joins in via telephone. He says that the Rockers were only successful because of him and that he knows everything that Jannetty will try to do at the Rumble. Meanwhile Marty is wrestling this match against Ruth as if he's planning on it going 20 minutes. Jannetty hits a Rocker Dropper and finally gets the victory. I like Marty as a wrestler, but there's no reason he should be wrestling that long of a squash match 6 days before the biggest match of his singles career.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show a clip of Crush being attacked by Doink on Superstars. Doink, wearing a sling, offers Crush a flower. Crush took it and gave it to someone in the crowd and Doink attacked him with the fake arm. It was a cool idea, but it didn't look like it hurt as much as I think they were hoping for it to.
Sean Mooney is now outside the Manhattan Center, who just happens to find Repo Man. Savage wants Repo right now and Repo says that he has Savage's prized possession.
It's time for a Royal Rumble report with Mean Gene. Razor says that he has gold on his neck, gold on his fingers and soon to have gold on his waist.
Back to Sean Mooney and we see an enraged Savage looking for Repo Man. Vince yelling for Mooney to get Savage out of traffic is pretty great.
El Matador vs. Ric Flair
Tito hits a body slam and then a headlock and Vince falls for the worst pin attempt ever. Tito hits a clothesline and continues to dominate Flair. It seems like forever ago since Flair was crowned champion at the previous Royal Rumble. Back from the break and Flair is in control. Tito makes a comeback and hits 10 right hands in the corner and then slams Flair off the top rope. Tito sends him over the top rope and to the floor. Tito follows it up with a clothesline. Tito hits Flair with the flying forearm, but for some reason doesn't cover him. He goes for another one, but Flair pulls down the ropes and Tito goes flying. Out comes Mr. Perfect and they are fighting outside the ring. A group of officials have to try to pull them apart and it sure looks like Pat Patterson takes a legit bump into the side of the ring. Back from the commercial break and Perfect and Flair are still brawling. Flair talks to Vince and tells him that the WWF isn't big enough for both he and Perfect. Next week on Raw, Flair wants Perfect in a Loser Leaves WWF match. Perfect now makes his way to Vince and Perfect says he'll accept. The match was actually pretty good despite it being quick and with no decision.
Match Rating: **
They show Repo Man with Savage's hat and he is towing Bartlett's car as we go off the air.
Now this was an enjoyable episode and would have made for a really good debut of Raw. The unique atmosphere provided for a night that was full of Savage, Flair and Perfect. My only complaint was the Jannetty squash being too long, but that's a pretty minor detail.
Overall Rating: 69%
Monday, February 10, 2020
SmackDown 6-30-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, June 30th, 2005
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Muhammad Hassan and Daivari are here to kick off the show. He talks about the 4th of July and how he has no freedom in his own country. He says that tonight all of that ends. Tonight he will become SmackDown Champion and get to look down on all of us. He says that the Undertaker doesn't deserve to be in the match tonight after losing to JBL two weeks ago. Out comes the Undertaker and 25 minutes later he's in the ring. Hassan sucks up to him and tells him that Undertaker has beaten all of the greats, except Hassan. Daivari comes from behind and hits him with a chair, but Taker no sells it. Hassan retreats as Daivari takes a beating.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero
London gets a boot up on a charging Chavo and then hits a mule kick, sending Chavo outside. Chavo outsmarts him and is able to regain control. Chavo counters a slingshot by landing on his feet in the corner, but London hits him with a dropkick. The Mexicools are out now on their lawnmowers. They come in and the ref calls for the bell. They knock both men out and get on the mic. Juvy and the gang introduce themselves. This wasn't received well in 2005, let alone 15 years later. The match was good for the short amount of time given, but obviously it only existed to put over the Mexicools.
Match Rating: *
They show a Mysterio/Eddie video and then they catch up with Eddie backstage and says that Rey will pay tonight.
MNM is backstage and they namedrop celebrities who are coming tonight to see Melina's first match.
Melina vs. Michelle McCool
Compared to last night's Raw, the crowd is noticeably less enthusiastic. McCool jumps Melina and chases her up the entrance ramp and back into the ring. Melina is begging for McCool to show mercy and she of course hits her with a cheap shot. Melina goes nuts on her, but then McCool gets a rough looking kick in. Melina kind of hits a powerbomb and then tries using the ropes to get the cheap victory. It came across as both of these ladies not being ready to be in a featured match just yet. After the match, MNM hits a Snapshot on McCool. Heidenreich comes down and MNM retreats.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Eddie Guerrero is here to talk about his loss last week. He said despite the loss, he is a winner at life. He then shows a video of him at a playground with Rey Mysterio's son Dominik. Eddie gives Dominik a hug and tells him that he's going to tell him a bedtime story that he'll never forget. Rey Mysterio is here now and isn't happy. He pushes Rey down and tells him to get on his knees so that he doesn't tell Dominik the truth. Eddie starts eating a Twizzler and then spits it out and shoves it in Rey's face. This feud had been really well executed, but with it running so long they now have run out of good ideas. This part of the story just wasn't a good idea.
6 Man Elimination Match For The SmackDown Championship
JBL vs. Muhammad Hassan vs. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Undertaker
Christian is the first SmackDown draft pick tonight. Undertaker is the last to enter and he is immediately in the ring and behind Christian. Christian tries his best, but Taker hits Snake Eyes and a leg drop for a 2 count. Christian makes a tag to Hassan, as they go into commercial break. Undertaker continues his early match surge and hits Old School on Hassan. Benoit and JBL both get tagged in. Benoit gets a close 2 call on JBL and he then tags Hassan. Benoit hits a Northern Lights suplex for a 2 count. Hassan and Taker have a stare down as Hassan pulls himself up. Hassan hits him with a right hand and Undertaker comes in and unleashes the fury on Hassan. Taker takes him out of the ring and starts wailing away with a chair and is disqualified. Apparently Taker doesn't care about the championship that won't exist in like 15 minutes. Booker and Benoit start chopping away at each other. Benoit hits a knee to the midsection for a 2 count. Benoit hits an enzuigiri and both men are down. Booker gets up and hits a hot shot on Benoit across the top rope. He misses with a scissor kick and Benoit goes for a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Booker crawls to make a tag to JBL, but he backs away. Benoit goes for the Crippler Crossface and then JBL tags himself in, hits a few moves and then Benoit tags himself in. Benoit hits a superplex on Booker, but JBL tags himself in. JBL hits a DDT on Benoit and eliminates him. I guess Hassan was eliminated as well already? Back from the commercial break and Booker hits a spinning kick on JBL. Christian finally tags in here and goes to work on Booker. Christian hits a dropkick for a 2 count. Booker catches Christian off the second rope and hits a flapjack. Booker misses a scissor kick, but misses but then hits him with another kick for a 2 count. Christian tags in JBL and he hits him with a series of clotheslines. Christian makes a blind tag and hits a forearm off the top rope on JBL for a 2 count. Christian hits a tornado DDT and again gets a close call. The crowd is starting to get behind Christian here. Booker tags in and takes down JBL and then hits a missile dropkick from the top rope for yet another close call. Booker hits a Book End and gets a 2 count as we go into a commercial break. JBL goes off the top rope, but Booker catches him and hits a body slam. Christian made a blind tag and rolls up Booker while he's going for a scissor kick and Booker is eliminated. Booker is not happy and Christian is celebrating. He turns around and JBL nails him with a Clothesline From Hell for the victory. Teddy Long is out to present JBL with the new championship while JBL hugs the referee. Long says he has good news and bad news. The bad news is that he is not the SmackDown Champion because there is no need for one because the newest draft pick is Batista. JBL is the #1 contender however. Batista is in the ring as we go off the air. Kind of a weird ending there. The match itself was pretty good, but was booked poorly. JBL came off pretty strongly, but everyone else looked kind of weak. It sets up feuds for Booker/Christian and Hassan/Undertaker, but not in any particularly exciting ways.
Match Rating: ***
Well, the entire show was dedicated to a championship that never came to be thanks to the addition of Batista. It would have been nice to see Christian make a stronger statement on his new show, but instead it's kind of easy to see why he left. JBL was kept strong to feed to Batista at the next pay-per-view and we also get to see the beginning of the end of the Muhammad Hassan character. All in all, it was a decent show, but one that could have been booked stronger in my opinion.
Overall Rating: 53%
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Muhammad Hassan and Daivari are here to kick off the show. He talks about the 4th of July and how he has no freedom in his own country. He says that tonight all of that ends. Tonight he will become SmackDown Champion and get to look down on all of us. He says that the Undertaker doesn't deserve to be in the match tonight after losing to JBL two weeks ago. Out comes the Undertaker and 25 minutes later he's in the ring. Hassan sucks up to him and tells him that Undertaker has beaten all of the greats, except Hassan. Daivari comes from behind and hits him with a chair, but Taker no sells it. Hassan retreats as Daivari takes a beating.
Cruiserweight Championship Match
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero
London gets a boot up on a charging Chavo and then hits a mule kick, sending Chavo outside. Chavo outsmarts him and is able to regain control. Chavo counters a slingshot by landing on his feet in the corner, but London hits him with a dropkick. The Mexicools are out now on their lawnmowers. They come in and the ref calls for the bell. They knock both men out and get on the mic. Juvy and the gang introduce themselves. This wasn't received well in 2005, let alone 15 years later. The match was good for the short amount of time given, but obviously it only existed to put over the Mexicools.
Match Rating: *
They show a Mysterio/Eddie video and then they catch up with Eddie backstage and says that Rey will pay tonight.
MNM is backstage and they namedrop celebrities who are coming tonight to see Melina's first match.
Melina vs. Michelle McCool
Compared to last night's Raw, the crowd is noticeably less enthusiastic. McCool jumps Melina and chases her up the entrance ramp and back into the ring. Melina is begging for McCool to show mercy and she of course hits her with a cheap shot. Melina goes nuts on her, but then McCool gets a rough looking kick in. Melina kind of hits a powerbomb and then tries using the ropes to get the cheap victory. It came across as both of these ladies not being ready to be in a featured match just yet. After the match, MNM hits a Snapshot on McCool. Heidenreich comes down and MNM retreats.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Eddie Guerrero is here to talk about his loss last week. He said despite the loss, he is a winner at life. He then shows a video of him at a playground with Rey Mysterio's son Dominik. Eddie gives Dominik a hug and tells him that he's going to tell him a bedtime story that he'll never forget. Rey Mysterio is here now and isn't happy. He pushes Rey down and tells him to get on his knees so that he doesn't tell Dominik the truth. Eddie starts eating a Twizzler and then spits it out and shoves it in Rey's face. This feud had been really well executed, but with it running so long they now have run out of good ideas. This part of the story just wasn't a good idea.
6 Man Elimination Match For The SmackDown Championship
JBL vs. Muhammad Hassan vs. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Undertaker
Christian is the first SmackDown draft pick tonight. Undertaker is the last to enter and he is immediately in the ring and behind Christian. Christian tries his best, but Taker hits Snake Eyes and a leg drop for a 2 count. Christian makes a tag to Hassan, as they go into commercial break. Undertaker continues his early match surge and hits Old School on Hassan. Benoit and JBL both get tagged in. Benoit gets a close 2 call on JBL and he then tags Hassan. Benoit hits a Northern Lights suplex for a 2 count. Hassan and Taker have a stare down as Hassan pulls himself up. Hassan hits him with a right hand and Undertaker comes in and unleashes the fury on Hassan. Taker takes him out of the ring and starts wailing away with a chair and is disqualified. Apparently Taker doesn't care about the championship that won't exist in like 15 minutes. Booker and Benoit start chopping away at each other. Benoit hits a knee to the midsection for a 2 count. Benoit hits an enzuigiri and both men are down. Booker gets up and hits a hot shot on Benoit across the top rope. He misses with a scissor kick and Benoit goes for a Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Booker crawls to make a tag to JBL, but he backs away. Benoit goes for the Crippler Crossface and then JBL tags himself in, hits a few moves and then Benoit tags himself in. Benoit hits a superplex on Booker, but JBL tags himself in. JBL hits a DDT on Benoit and eliminates him. I guess Hassan was eliminated as well already? Back from the commercial break and Booker hits a spinning kick on JBL. Christian finally tags in here and goes to work on Booker. Christian hits a dropkick for a 2 count. Booker catches Christian off the second rope and hits a flapjack. Booker misses a scissor kick, but misses but then hits him with another kick for a 2 count. Christian tags in JBL and he hits him with a series of clotheslines. Christian makes a blind tag and hits a forearm off the top rope on JBL for a 2 count. Christian hits a tornado DDT and again gets a close call. The crowd is starting to get behind Christian here. Booker tags in and takes down JBL and then hits a missile dropkick from the top rope for yet another close call. Booker hits a Book End and gets a 2 count as we go into a commercial break. JBL goes off the top rope, but Booker catches him and hits a body slam. Christian made a blind tag and rolls up Booker while he's going for a scissor kick and Booker is eliminated. Booker is not happy and Christian is celebrating. He turns around and JBL nails him with a Clothesline From Hell for the victory. Teddy Long is out to present JBL with the new championship while JBL hugs the referee. Long says he has good news and bad news. The bad news is that he is not the SmackDown Champion because there is no need for one because the newest draft pick is Batista. JBL is the #1 contender however. Batista is in the ring as we go off the air. Kind of a weird ending there. The match itself was pretty good, but was booked poorly. JBL came off pretty strongly, but everyone else looked kind of weak. It sets up feuds for Booker/Christian and Hassan/Undertaker, but not in any particularly exciting ways.
Match Rating: ***
Well, the entire show was dedicated to a championship that never came to be thanks to the addition of Batista. It would have been nice to see Christian make a stronger statement on his new show, but instead it's kind of easy to see why he left. JBL was kept strong to feed to Batista at the next pay-per-view and we also get to see the beginning of the end of the Muhammad Hassan character. All in all, it was a decent show, but one that could have been booked stronger in my opinion.
Overall Rating: 53%
Friday, February 7, 2020
Monday Night Raw 6-27-05 Review
Monday, June 27th, 2005
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kurt Angle, fresh off his loss to Shawn Michaels, is here to kick off the show. He says that his victory over Michaels at WrestleMania counts twice and now he wants Batista. He insults Triple H for interfering in his match last week and then out comes Ric Flair. Flair says he is out here to shake his hand and remind him that he thinks he can be the greatest of all time. He wants his son to be like Angle and that he's a mark for him. Flair says that even though he's great, Triple H is still the man. Angle tells Flair to drink his Ensure and take a nap and get out of the ring. They decide that for the first time ever tonight it will be Angle vs. Flair and they get into a Woo-down. That was a refreshing variation of the standard interview beginning to the show.
They show an exclusive DVD extra with Tomko, Christian and Jericho arguing in front of Bischoff. Bischoff announces that the three of them will take on John Cena and two partners of his choice. Christian says that Cena doesn't have any friends on Raw and Bischoff says if that is the case then it will be a handicap match.
Edge & Snitsky vs. Kane & Big Show
Kane immediately attacks both Edge and Snitsky before his partner comes down and the bell rings. Kane then hits Edge in the back with a chair. Edge and Lita retreat out through the crowd, but Kane is chasing him. Eric Bischoff's music hits and tells Snitsky that he will take on him one-on-one. Bischoff says it's the biggest draft pick, which obviously gives it away. We finally get a bell and they go back and forth with right hands. Big Show basically gets a squash victory here and finishes Snitsky with a chokeslam. This was every short Big Show match you've ever seen.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Maria is back with John Cena. Maria forgets the question she was going to ask him, so Cena tells her to walk away and think really hard about what it was. Cena announces his first partner, Shawn Michaels. Michaels says he made the phone call and that their third member will be here tonight. Maria comes back and asks if Cena found a partner.
Candice Michelle is shown introducing herself to the Diva Search contestants.
Edge and Lita are getting their stuff to get out of Anaheim. Lita goes to get her stuff while Edge stands outside, but Kane is already inside. He grabs her and chokes her and then tells her he is going to make her life a living hell.
Chris Masters is now in the ring and he says that he is upping the ante to $14,000 for the Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri comes down and Masters tells him that this is American money, not Yen. Masters insults him and pushes him, so Tajiri nails him with a kick and hits the Tarantula. He goes for his springboard cartwheel elbow, but Masters nails him with a forearm to the back and then puts him in the Master Lock. The ref rings the bell and then Masters says it doesn't matter what nationality you are, no one breaks out of the Master Lock. He then asks Tajiri if he is going to respect the Master Lock and Tajiri spits the green mist in his face.
Man, another interview segment. This time it is Carlito's Cabana. Carlito's guest tonight is the last draft pick and that he is the worst pick for Raw. It's Rob Van Dam and he comes out sporting an ECW shirt and a big knee brace. RVD makes a regretful comment about Carlito and then tries to duplicate his One Night Stand promo. Carlito then attacks his knee and then takes the brace off his knee and slams it in to the prop table. He follows it up by spitting an apple in his face and gets a lot of heat for it.
Kurt Angle vs. Ric Flair
The crowd is very much into this match up. Angle is trying to embarrass Flair and in return Flair is reminding everyone he is the dirtiest player in the game. Flair is able to ram Angle into the steps. Angle then tries to get away, but is then able to hit a back body drop to the floor. During the break, Angle threw Flair into the steps. Angle puts Flair into a STF hold in the center of the ring. Flair bites Angle's thumb to get out of it. Angle hits yet another back body drop to the floor and gets a 2 count. Flair fights back and goes for an elbow drop, but Angle rolls out of the way. Flair catches him and waits until he's done rolling and then hits it in a fun spot. They're battling on the ropes now and Angle is going for a superplex, but Flair awkwardly falls off to the outside. Angle pulls him back in the ring and hits the Angle Slam, but Flair rolls out of it. Angle puts him in the Ankle Lock, but Flair grabs him in the crotch. For some reason the ref is allowing all of this, but it is fun to see Flair stoop to these levels here. Flair gets Angle in the Figure Four. Angle rolls it over, but Flair continues his momentum and rolls through himself. Angle is able to grab the ropes to break the hold. Flair hits a low blow while distracting the ref and then hits an impressive vertical suplex for a 2 count. Angle gets him in the Ankle Lock again and is able to pull him away from the ropes and Flair has no choice but to tap. These guys delivered a really good match here and kudos to the crowd for just loving every second of it. Nice work by both men on creating a really compelling TV match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Coach is out for the Diva Search and introduces Christy Hemme. There's a sign in the crowd that says "Cristie Marry Me". Really, dude? Can't even spell her name right? This was depressing back in 2005, but words can't describe how awful it is here in present day. Viscera comes out because of course he does. Of course this is a bra and panties competition. Alexis is the only one who shows any sort of personality and definitely has a unique look. Now Sgt. Slaughter comes out and tells them that all of them will report for duty next week for a 4th of July obstacle course. He calls it a bikini boot camp, get it? If that isn't compelling TV, I don't know what is? What a way to follow Flair/Angle.
Batista is backstage with Todd Grisham. He says Triple H and the Cell took something away from him last night, but it was worth it.
Christian, Jericho and Tomko are trying to figure out who the mystery partner is. They guess Marty Jannetty, but he's probably in jail. They then guess Kevin Nash, but said he'd pull his hamstring picking up the phone.
Christian, Tyson Tomko & Chris Jericho vs. John Cena, Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan gets a big pop as expected here. Cena and Jericho are in the ring when we return from commercial. Michaels gets to come in and hit a few signature moves before Jericho nails him with a step up enzuigiri. The heels take advantage with quick tags while the crowd chants for Hogan. Jericho misses with a Lionsault and it allows Michaels to tag Hogan. Christian and Tomko try to take down Hogan, but he Hulks up. Cena and Jericho roll to the outside while brawling, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Christian and Hogan hits the big boot/leg drop combo for the victory. I'm not even a Hogan fan, but that was the perfect use of him and the crowd loved it. The match was nothing special, but it served it's purpose.
Match Rating: **
I love that they did an extended celebration there that was so long where you thought for sure that HBK was going to turn on Hogan. Well done.
Well, this is about as hard of a show to rate that I can think of. On one hand, you had a really good match with Flair/Angle, a great crowd and a hot ending to the show. Unfortunately, we also got the Diva Search segment that lasted forever and a whole lot of talking, particularly in the first hour. The addition of Rob Van Dam will be a boost to the show, while Big Show is somewhere in the middle. We'll call this show a slight positive though just because the highlights were some of the more memorable ones this year on Raw.
Overall Rating: 60%
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kurt Angle, fresh off his loss to Shawn Michaels, is here to kick off the show. He says that his victory over Michaels at WrestleMania counts twice and now he wants Batista. He insults Triple H for interfering in his match last week and then out comes Ric Flair. Flair says he is out here to shake his hand and remind him that he thinks he can be the greatest of all time. He wants his son to be like Angle and that he's a mark for him. Flair says that even though he's great, Triple H is still the man. Angle tells Flair to drink his Ensure and take a nap and get out of the ring. They decide that for the first time ever tonight it will be Angle vs. Flair and they get into a Woo-down. That was a refreshing variation of the standard interview beginning to the show.
They show an exclusive DVD extra with Tomko, Christian and Jericho arguing in front of Bischoff. Bischoff announces that the three of them will take on John Cena and two partners of his choice. Christian says that Cena doesn't have any friends on Raw and Bischoff says if that is the case then it will be a handicap match.
Kane immediately attacks both Edge and Snitsky before his partner comes down and the bell rings. Kane then hits Edge in the back with a chair. Edge and Lita retreat out through the crowd, but Kane is chasing him. Eric Bischoff's music hits and tells Snitsky that he will take on him one-on-one. Bischoff says it's the biggest draft pick, which obviously gives it away. We finally get a bell and they go back and forth with right hands. Big Show basically gets a squash victory here and finishes Snitsky with a chokeslam. This was every short Big Show match you've ever seen.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Maria is back with John Cena. Maria forgets the question she was going to ask him, so Cena tells her to walk away and think really hard about what it was. Cena announces his first partner, Shawn Michaels. Michaels says he made the phone call and that their third member will be here tonight. Maria comes back and asks if Cena found a partner.
Candice Michelle is shown introducing herself to the Diva Search contestants.
Edge and Lita are getting their stuff to get out of Anaheim. Lita goes to get her stuff while Edge stands outside, but Kane is already inside. He grabs her and chokes her and then tells her he is going to make her life a living hell.
Chris Masters is now in the ring and he says that he is upping the ante to $14,000 for the Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri comes down and Masters tells him that this is American money, not Yen. Masters insults him and pushes him, so Tajiri nails him with a kick and hits the Tarantula. He goes for his springboard cartwheel elbow, but Masters nails him with a forearm to the back and then puts him in the Master Lock. The ref rings the bell and then Masters says it doesn't matter what nationality you are, no one breaks out of the Master Lock. He then asks Tajiri if he is going to respect the Master Lock and Tajiri spits the green mist in his face.
Man, another interview segment. This time it is Carlito's Cabana. Carlito's guest tonight is the last draft pick and that he is the worst pick for Raw. It's Rob Van Dam and he comes out sporting an ECW shirt and a big knee brace. RVD makes a regretful comment about Carlito and then tries to duplicate his One Night Stand promo. Carlito then attacks his knee and then takes the brace off his knee and slams it in to the prop table. He follows it up by spitting an apple in his face and gets a lot of heat for it.
Kurt Angle vs. Ric Flair
The crowd is very much into this match up. Angle is trying to embarrass Flair and in return Flair is reminding everyone he is the dirtiest player in the game. Flair is able to ram Angle into the steps. Angle then tries to get away, but is then able to hit a back body drop to the floor. During the break, Angle threw Flair into the steps. Angle puts Flair into a STF hold in the center of the ring. Flair bites Angle's thumb to get out of it. Angle hits yet another back body drop to the floor and gets a 2 count. Flair fights back and goes for an elbow drop, but Angle rolls out of the way. Flair catches him and waits until he's done rolling and then hits it in a fun spot. They're battling on the ropes now and Angle is going for a superplex, but Flair awkwardly falls off to the outside. Angle pulls him back in the ring and hits the Angle Slam, but Flair rolls out of it. Angle puts him in the Ankle Lock, but Flair grabs him in the crotch. For some reason the ref is allowing all of this, but it is fun to see Flair stoop to these levels here. Flair gets Angle in the Figure Four. Angle rolls it over, but Flair continues his momentum and rolls through himself. Angle is able to grab the ropes to break the hold. Flair hits a low blow while distracting the ref and then hits an impressive vertical suplex for a 2 count. Angle gets him in the Ankle Lock again and is able to pull him away from the ropes and Flair has no choice but to tap. These guys delivered a really good match here and kudos to the crowd for just loving every second of it. Nice work by both men on creating a really compelling TV match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Coach is out for the Diva Search and introduces Christy Hemme. There's a sign in the crowd that says "Cristie Marry Me". Really, dude? Can't even spell her name right? This was depressing back in 2005, but words can't describe how awful it is here in present day. Viscera comes out because of course he does. Of course this is a bra and panties competition. Alexis is the only one who shows any sort of personality and definitely has a unique look. Now Sgt. Slaughter comes out and tells them that all of them will report for duty next week for a 4th of July obstacle course. He calls it a bikini boot camp, get it? If that isn't compelling TV, I don't know what is? What a way to follow Flair/Angle.
Batista is backstage with Todd Grisham. He says Triple H and the Cell took something away from him last night, but it was worth it.
Christian, Jericho and Tomko are trying to figure out who the mystery partner is. They guess Marty Jannetty, but he's probably in jail. They then guess Kevin Nash, but said he'd pull his hamstring picking up the phone.
Christian, Tyson Tomko & Chris Jericho vs. John Cena, Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan gets a big pop as expected here. Cena and Jericho are in the ring when we return from commercial. Michaels gets to come in and hit a few signature moves before Jericho nails him with a step up enzuigiri. The heels take advantage with quick tags while the crowd chants for Hogan. Jericho misses with a Lionsault and it allows Michaels to tag Hogan. Christian and Tomko try to take down Hogan, but he Hulks up. Cena and Jericho roll to the outside while brawling, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Christian and Hogan hits the big boot/leg drop combo for the victory. I'm not even a Hogan fan, but that was the perfect use of him and the crowd loved it. The match was nothing special, but it served it's purpose.
Match Rating: **
I love that they did an extended celebration there that was so long where you thought for sure that HBK was going to turn on Hogan. Well done.
Well, this is about as hard of a show to rate that I can think of. On one hand, you had a really good match with Flair/Angle, a great crowd and a hot ending to the show. Unfortunately, we also got the Diva Search segment that lasted forever and a whole lot of talking, particularly in the first hour. The addition of Rob Van Dam will be a boost to the show, while Big Show is somewhere in the middle. We'll call this show a slight positive though just because the highlights were some of the more memorable ones this year on Raw.
Overall Rating: 60%
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Monday Night Raw 1-11-93 Review
Monday, January 11th, 1993
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Sean Mooney is live from outside of Manhattan Center and he stops Bobby Heenan from going in the theater. Mooney informs him he has been replaced by Rob Bartlett and that there are no tickets left. Bartlett thinks it's "Yokozuma", so if for some reason you haven't heard about how terrible he is that should give you an idea.
Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna
This immediately feels so different from Superstars in a good way. The crowd is lively and the atmosphere is much more intimate. Vince reminds us that this show is "uncooked". If for some reason you maybe chuckled at Bartlett a few times in the first few moments, I guarantee that you are sick of him by this point. Yoko pushes Koko around a little and stands in the middle of the ring looking menacing. Koko hits a couple of dropkicks, but Yoko sidesteps a leaping attempt and Koko lands on the top rope. Yoko follows it up with a leg drop and a splash in the corner. Banzai Drop and that is all for poor Koko. Yoko continues to show his upside as a monster heel.
Match Rating: 1/4*(out of 5)
We get a Royal Rumble ad, followed by a Bobby Heenan promo talking about Narcissist. He announces that he will unveil him at the Royal Rumble. Heenan sold him like only he could.
Steiner Brothers vs. The Executioners
Doink is still apparently doing the random appearances in the crowd. The Steiner Brothers in the WWF is still weird to me. Steiner squashes are always fun, as they legit destroy the poor jobbers. They toss the poor guys around and mix in some stiff shots. They hit the flying bulldog and get the victory. It's too bad they weren't in the company a few years earlier when they actually had a tag team division.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mooney is outside again, where Bobby Heenan is dressed up as a woman trying to get into the show. Mooney takes off his wig as Heenan begins to try and bribe his way in.
Razor Ramon is in the ring for an interview ahead of his WWF Championship match at Royal Rumble. They show a clip of Razor jumping Owen during an interview. Please note that Owen was wearing purple Zubaz pants. He tells Bret that he can't do anything about him taking his title at the Rumble and tosses his toothpick at Vince.
Tatanka says they are thankful for those who help with Headlock For Hunger.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Max Moon vs. Shawn Michaels
Back and forth they go to get started and Moon is able to get a hammerlock put on as we go to commercial break. Michaels catches Moon on his shoulder and hangs him up on the top rope. Doink is back out again. Michaels throws Moon into the turnbuckle and then tells the camera that his face has broken so many homes. Bartlett imitates Mike Tyson for the entire match which is just brutal. Moon hits a slingshot, which sends Michaels out of the ring. Moon hits a seated senton off the apron. Michaels recovers and hits Sweet Chin Music. Moon avoids Michaels' suplex the first time, but not the second time. Shawn gets the pinfall victory in a halfway decent match for this era.
Match Rating: *1/2
Royal Rumble Report time with Mean Gene. Yes, please. Shawn Michaels will take on Marty Jannetty and Shawn is confident that Sherri will be in his corner. Gene reminds us that Flair won the previous years Rumble and that just seems like it was ages ago.
Back outside and Heenan is now dressed in another costume and somehow this one takes longer for detective Mooney.
They show a clip from Superstars of Kamala getting yelled at by Kim Chee and Harvey Wippleman. Slick comes out and gets pushed down by Kim Chee. Kamala chops Kim Chee over the top rope and chases after Wippleman.
Damien Demento vs. Undertaker
Undertaker gets a pretty weak entrance for this match. This match is all Taker and makes Demento look like the jobber that he is. Taker hits the Tombstone and that is all. This was just a match to continue to make Taker seem special.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They advertise Mia Farrow vs. Woody Allen for next week. All righty then.
Doink is being interviewed by Vince and out comes Crush. They get into it, but Doink outsmarts him.
Sean Mooney is here for one last shot with Bobby, who is actually getting in. However, the show is over and we are now off the air.
Well, this show definitely had more life to it than Superstars did during this time period. However, this was not exactly a home run of a show and very much a work in progress. Like most things in wrestling, they eventually go back to standard formula and Raw would eventually just kind of feel like a better version of Superstars.
Overall Rating: 46%
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Sean Mooney is live from outside of Manhattan Center and he stops Bobby Heenan from going in the theater. Mooney informs him he has been replaced by Rob Bartlett and that there are no tickets left. Bartlett thinks it's "Yokozuma", so if for some reason you haven't heard about how terrible he is that should give you an idea.
Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna
This immediately feels so different from Superstars in a good way. The crowd is lively and the atmosphere is much more intimate. Vince reminds us that this show is "uncooked". If for some reason you maybe chuckled at Bartlett a few times in the first few moments, I guarantee that you are sick of him by this point. Yoko pushes Koko around a little and stands in the middle of the ring looking menacing. Koko hits a couple of dropkicks, but Yoko sidesteps a leaping attempt and Koko lands on the top rope. Yoko follows it up with a leg drop and a splash in the corner. Banzai Drop and that is all for poor Koko. Yoko continues to show his upside as a monster heel.
Match Rating: 1/4*(out of 5)
We get a Royal Rumble ad, followed by a Bobby Heenan promo talking about Narcissist. He announces that he will unveil him at the Royal Rumble. Heenan sold him like only he could.
Steiner Brothers vs. The Executioners
Doink is still apparently doing the random appearances in the crowd. The Steiner Brothers in the WWF is still weird to me. Steiner squashes are always fun, as they legit destroy the poor jobbers. They toss the poor guys around and mix in some stiff shots. They hit the flying bulldog and get the victory. It's too bad they weren't in the company a few years earlier when they actually had a tag team division.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mooney is outside again, where Bobby Heenan is dressed up as a woman trying to get into the show. Mooney takes off his wig as Heenan begins to try and bribe his way in.
Razor Ramon is in the ring for an interview ahead of his WWF Championship match at Royal Rumble. They show a clip of Razor jumping Owen during an interview. Please note that Owen was wearing purple Zubaz pants. He tells Bret that he can't do anything about him taking his title at the Rumble and tosses his toothpick at Vince.
Tatanka says they are thankful for those who help with Headlock For Hunger.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Max Moon vs. Shawn Michaels
Back and forth they go to get started and Moon is able to get a hammerlock put on as we go to commercial break. Michaels catches Moon on his shoulder and hangs him up on the top rope. Doink is back out again. Michaels throws Moon into the turnbuckle and then tells the camera that his face has broken so many homes. Bartlett imitates Mike Tyson for the entire match which is just brutal. Moon hits a slingshot, which sends Michaels out of the ring. Moon hits a seated senton off the apron. Michaels recovers and hits Sweet Chin Music. Moon avoids Michaels' suplex the first time, but not the second time. Shawn gets the pinfall victory in a halfway decent match for this era.
Match Rating: *1/2
Royal Rumble Report time with Mean Gene. Yes, please. Shawn Michaels will take on Marty Jannetty and Shawn is confident that Sherri will be in his corner. Gene reminds us that Flair won the previous years Rumble and that just seems like it was ages ago.
Back outside and Heenan is now dressed in another costume and somehow this one takes longer for detective Mooney.
They show a clip from Superstars of Kamala getting yelled at by Kim Chee and Harvey Wippleman. Slick comes out and gets pushed down by Kim Chee. Kamala chops Kim Chee over the top rope and chases after Wippleman.
Damien Demento vs. Undertaker
Undertaker gets a pretty weak entrance for this match. This match is all Taker and makes Demento look like the jobber that he is. Taker hits the Tombstone and that is all. This was just a match to continue to make Taker seem special.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They advertise Mia Farrow vs. Woody Allen for next week. All righty then.
Doink is being interviewed by Vince and out comes Crush. They get into it, but Doink outsmarts him.
Sean Mooney is here for one last shot with Bobby, who is actually getting in. However, the show is over and we are now off the air.
Well, this show definitely had more life to it than Superstars did during this time period. However, this was not exactly a home run of a show and very much a work in progress. Like most things in wrestling, they eventually go back to standard formula and Raw would eventually just kind of feel like a better version of Superstars.
Overall Rating: 46%
Monday, February 3, 2020
NXT 3-6-13 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 6th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Dusty Rhodes is here to start the show. He announces that there will be a triple threat to become the #1 contender between Bo Dallas, Conor O'Brian and Corey Graves. He also said he is beefing up security after what happened with the Shield last week.
Adrian Neville vs. Scott Dawson & Judas Devlin
Neville grabs the mic before the match and says he doesn't know where Oliver Grey is. So Neville says that he is going to take on Luchasaurus and Dawson from the Revival by himself. It's definitely not too for a non-monster to be put in a 2-on-1 match. Neville is in a headlock courtesy of Devlin while up on the ramp the Wyatt Family drags Grey out on the entrance ramp. Neville tries to get to the ramp, but Dawson stops him and throws him back in the ring. Neville fights off both men and then hits the Red Arrow and gets the victory. He immediately goes to check on Grey. Not a bad match for what it was.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
Renee Young is back with Kassius Ohno, who is looking up William Regal on his phone. Kassius says that he is going to wrestle Derrick Bateman next week and he's going to crush him.
Conor O'Brian says that he will become the #1 contender tonight. Corey Graves tells us that O'Brian and Dallas were lucky that the Shield came in and stopped him.
Yoshi Tatsu vs. Leo Kruger
Yoshi ducks a clothesline and hits both an inverted atomic drop and a standard atomic drop. Covering all of his bases there. Kruger goes to work on Yoshi's shoulder. Kruger hits a clothesline and then puts in a shoulder submission move and gets the win? I'm not sure that did much for either guy. After the match he puts Yoshi in the submission again, but Justin Gabriel comes out to make the save.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Sasha Banks, Cameron & Naomi vs. Audrey Marie, Aksana & Alicia Fox
Sasha hits a nice spinning headscissors on Fox. Cameron hits a crossbody off the top rope on Aksana. This is hardly a hot take, but Cameron is not good. Hot tag to Naomi and she shows pretty quickly why she is where she is here in 2020. She hits a variation of a dropkick on Audrey Marie and gets the win. I have to say, I was expecting that to be a showcase for Banks, not Naomi.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas talks about his amazing run he's been on as of late. Bray Wyatt comes in and says that all of that was luck. Bo says that he wants nothing to do with his family and to stay away from him.
Renee Young interviews Summer Rae. Summer makes Renee re-introduce her as the first lady of NXT. Summer says she'll take her out just like she did Paige.
The camera starts going glitchy and we get a Shield promo. They say there is still a lot of injustice to take care of in NXT. This actually wasn't very good.
Triple Threat #1 Contender Match
Corey Graves vs. Conor O'Brian vs. Bo Dallas
Bo tries to fight off both heels, but O'Brian steamrolls him. Naturally, O'Brian and Graves fight over who gets to fight Bo. Bo clotheslines O'Brian over the top rope, but Graves hits Bo with a running knee. After the commercial break, Bo rolls Graves through the ropes and to the floor. He rolls Graves back in, but O'Brian comes out of nowhere and hits Bo with a clothesline. O'Brian hits a shoulder tackle on Graves from the second rope. O'Brian shows some frustration after only getting a 2 count. Graves gets a boot up on a charging O'Brian and he and Bo start teaming up. They hit a double vertical suplex on O'Brian and then Graves attacks Bo. Bo hits a back suplex on and then starts throwing right hands at O'Brian. He then goes after Graves, but he gets distracted by Bray Wyatt wandering up on the entrance ramp. Back from another commercial break and Graves is stomping on O'Brian. Graves hits a face first suplex on Bo for a 2 count. O'Brian breaks up Graves' half crab on Bo, but Graves quickly recovers and knocks down O'Brian. Bo goes up top, but Graves crotches him on the top rope and goes for a superplex. In runs O'Brian and hits a face first slam from the electric chair position. Bo hits a dropkick from the second rope on O'Brian. Bo hits a drop toe hold on O'Brian onto the second rope and then hits a running bulldog off of O'Brian's back on Graves, but it's still not enough for the victory. Graves hits a dropkick to Bo's knees and puts him in his submission, but then O'Brian comes in and puts Graves into a submission. Bo is able to escape and knocks out O'Brian. Bo gets a second wind and takes out both men. He goes for a suplex on Graves, but he escapes partially due to the presence of Bray Wyatt. Bo hits a suplex and goes for a pin, but Bray pulls Graves out of the ring. O'Brian hits a full nelson slam and gets the victory. Whoever put that match together, did a really nice job. All three men worked hard and it resulted in a real solid match. This was probably the best all three have looked on NXT.
Match Rating: ***
Well, the main event was better than what we usually get here on NXT, so that's a win. The squash matches weren't bad, although I did find it odd that Neville won so cleanly in a handicap match. It feels like there are finally some wheels in motion on this show again, so I'm excited to see where everything is headed. Plus, we should continue to get some more appearances of future NXT stars.
Overall Rating: 58%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Dusty Rhodes is here to start the show. He announces that there will be a triple threat to become the #1 contender between Bo Dallas, Conor O'Brian and Corey Graves. He also said he is beefing up security after what happened with the Shield last week.
Adrian Neville vs. Scott Dawson & Judas Devlin
Neville grabs the mic before the match and says he doesn't know where Oliver Grey is. So Neville says that he is going to take on Luchasaurus and Dawson from the Revival by himself. It's definitely not too for a non-monster to be put in a 2-on-1 match. Neville is in a headlock courtesy of Devlin while up on the ramp the Wyatt Family drags Grey out on the entrance ramp. Neville tries to get to the ramp, but Dawson stops him and throws him back in the ring. Neville fights off both men and then hits the Red Arrow and gets the victory. He immediately goes to check on Grey. Not a bad match for what it was.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
Renee Young is back with Kassius Ohno, who is looking up William Regal on his phone. Kassius says that he is going to wrestle Derrick Bateman next week and he's going to crush him.
Conor O'Brian says that he will become the #1 contender tonight. Corey Graves tells us that O'Brian and Dallas were lucky that the Shield came in and stopped him.
Yoshi Tatsu vs. Leo Kruger
Yoshi ducks a clothesline and hits both an inverted atomic drop and a standard atomic drop. Covering all of his bases there. Kruger goes to work on Yoshi's shoulder. Kruger hits a clothesline and then puts in a shoulder submission move and gets the win? I'm not sure that did much for either guy. After the match he puts Yoshi in the submission again, but Justin Gabriel comes out to make the save.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Sasha Banks, Cameron & Naomi vs. Audrey Marie, Aksana & Alicia Fox
Sasha hits a nice spinning headscissors on Fox. Cameron hits a crossbody off the top rope on Aksana. This is hardly a hot take, but Cameron is not good. Hot tag to Naomi and she shows pretty quickly why she is where she is here in 2020. She hits a variation of a dropkick on Audrey Marie and gets the win. I have to say, I was expecting that to be a showcase for Banks, not Naomi.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas talks about his amazing run he's been on as of late. Bray Wyatt comes in and says that all of that was luck. Bo says that he wants nothing to do with his family and to stay away from him.
Renee Young interviews Summer Rae. Summer makes Renee re-introduce her as the first lady of NXT. Summer says she'll take her out just like she did Paige.
The camera starts going glitchy and we get a Shield promo. They say there is still a lot of injustice to take care of in NXT. This actually wasn't very good.
Triple Threat #1 Contender Match
Corey Graves vs. Conor O'Brian vs. Bo Dallas
Bo tries to fight off both heels, but O'Brian steamrolls him. Naturally, O'Brian and Graves fight over who gets to fight Bo. Bo clotheslines O'Brian over the top rope, but Graves hits Bo with a running knee. After the commercial break, Bo rolls Graves through the ropes and to the floor. He rolls Graves back in, but O'Brian comes out of nowhere and hits Bo with a clothesline. O'Brian hits a shoulder tackle on Graves from the second rope. O'Brian shows some frustration after only getting a 2 count. Graves gets a boot up on a charging O'Brian and he and Bo start teaming up. They hit a double vertical suplex on O'Brian and then Graves attacks Bo. Bo hits a back suplex on and then starts throwing right hands at O'Brian. He then goes after Graves, but he gets distracted by Bray Wyatt wandering up on the entrance ramp. Back from another commercial break and Graves is stomping on O'Brian. Graves hits a face first suplex on Bo for a 2 count. O'Brian breaks up Graves' half crab on Bo, but Graves quickly recovers and knocks down O'Brian. Bo goes up top, but Graves crotches him on the top rope and goes for a superplex. In runs O'Brian and hits a face first slam from the electric chair position. Bo hits a dropkick from the second rope on O'Brian. Bo hits a drop toe hold on O'Brian onto the second rope and then hits a running bulldog off of O'Brian's back on Graves, but it's still not enough for the victory. Graves hits a dropkick to Bo's knees and puts him in his submission, but then O'Brian comes in and puts Graves into a submission. Bo is able to escape and knocks out O'Brian. Bo gets a second wind and takes out both men. He goes for a suplex on Graves, but he escapes partially due to the presence of Bray Wyatt. Bo hits a suplex and goes for a pin, but Bray pulls Graves out of the ring. O'Brian hits a full nelson slam and gets the victory. Whoever put that match together, did a really nice job. All three men worked hard and it resulted in a real solid match. This was probably the best all three have looked on NXT.
Match Rating: ***
Well, the main event was better than what we usually get here on NXT, so that's a win. The squash matches weren't bad, although I did find it odd that Neville won so cleanly in a handicap match. It feels like there are finally some wheels in motion on this show again, so I'm excited to see where everything is headed. Plus, we should continue to get some more appearances of future NXT stars.
Overall Rating: 58%
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