Monday, February 20th, 2006
Sovereign Bank Arena
Trenton, New Jersey
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#1 Contenders Battle Royal For The WWE Women's Championship
This is an interesting choice to kick off the show, although after the lengthy recap we are already 6 minutes into the show before it starts. It's really sad how small the women's division was in 2006. All that we have are Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, Victoria, Maria, Ashley and Mickie James. Trish Stratus comes out to watch the match. Candice and Maria look extremely green here, probably because they are. Victoria tosses out her pal Torrie and Candice isn't happy about it. Meanwhile, Jerry Lawler is looking for wardrobe malfunctions. Maria and Ashley eliminate Victoria and Mickie then throws Maria out. Mickie gets Ashley in a headscissors trying to get her out and here comes Candice Michelle to dump them both out and win the battle royal. She grabs the mic and brags about her commercials and Playboy commercial. She then does her little dance and says she will be the new WWE Women's Champion. This was at least quickly paced.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Edge's music hits and out come Edge and Lita. Lita grabs the mic and hands it to Edge. He says if we are talking about champions, then he is the one who should be champion. He sends her to the back and says that he had John Cena beat last week and he blames it all on Mick Foley. Edge says that he is sick of fans coming up to him and mocking him with the "Hooooo" chant and that he challenged Jim Duggan and he accepted. Out comes Hacksaw.
Edge vs. Jim Duggan
The match starts just before the commercial break ended. Hacksaw is full-on comedy at this point. Outside of the ring, Edge throws Duggan into the steps. Edge gets some nice height on a dropkick and gets a 2 count. Edge comes off the second turnbuckle, but Duggan hits a clothesline. He hits the 10 fists in the corner to the crowds' delight. He sets up for his running clothesline, but Lita grabs his foot, allowing Edge to hit the Spear and get the victory. This was about what you would expect from these two in 2006. After the match, they grab the 2x4 and hit him below the belt for good measure.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Edge grabs the mic and asks Foley if he saw that? He says that Foley cost him his dream of main eventing WrestleMania and then challenges him to a match at the same event. He gives him a deadline of next week so that he can accept it in person. Edge seems much more comfortable here in his role.
Big Show gets a pre-taped promo about how important going back to the main event of WrestleMania is. It shows him at a weird angle for no real reason.
Sweet, it's one of my favorite little segments they do. It's On This Date In WWE History and it shows Bob Backlund winning the WWF Championship from Superstar Billy Graham.
Kane vs. Chris Masters
Dream match here for me. Masters tries to attack him, but Kane quickly knocks him out of the ring. Masters drives him into the ring post and hits a clothesline. It feels like we're kind of on the road to forgetting about Masters here, despite the roster being so thin. Masters goes for a back superplex, but Kane elbows him off and hits the top rope clothesline. Masters catches a boot and spins him around and tries to put him in the Master Lock. Kane blocks it, but then Masters blocks a chokeslam. Kane almost puts a Master Lock in, but Masters is out and eats a big boot...and that's it? After the match, Kane is about to do his fire explosion sign thingy and Masters comes from behind and puts on the Master Lock. Masters dumps him out of the ring and then retreats. The dream match didn't quite live up to the hype here.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Rob Van Dam now gets his turn to cut a pre-taped promo on an angle and he says that it's his turn.
Vince is hanging out with the Spirit Squad and he tells them that they are going to make their debut against Shawn Michaels tonight. Vince says it's 4-on-1 and Mitch is bummed he didn't make the cut.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton wheels his mama out to the ring after trying to talk her out of going down to ringside due to her not feeling well. Shelton sells Flair's chops like a champ and they send him to the floor as we go into a commercial break. Shelton is able to hit a Samoan drop on the outside and then suplexes Flair back into the ring. Shelton hits a spinning heel kick and is frustrated when Flair kicks out at 2. Shelton connects with a top rope clothesline, but Flair gets his foot on the bottom rope this time. They re-create the Shawn Michaels spot, but this time Flair hits him with a chop. Shelton's mama is claiming to have heart problems and the referee goes down to get her help. Shelton takes her oxygen tank and hits Flair with it. He follows it up with the Exploder and we have a new Intercontinental Champion. Her celebrating with the belt as Shelton wheels her up backwards is probably the highlight of this storyline. The match was okayish, but far from what I would think they would be capable of.
Match Rating: *3/4
4-On-1 Handicap Match
Nick, Kenny, Johnny & Mikey vs. Shawn Michaels
I love that Kenny was picked to be the breakout star based solely on the fact that he was insanely young to be on the main roster and that he could jump high. After some boring offense from the Squad, Kenny misses a top rope leg drop. Michaels makes him comeback. It doesn't last long because the Spirit Squad attack him and they ring the bell for the disqualification. It's pretty paint by the numbers until Marty freaking Jannetty comes out and makes the save. The match was not very good since it was just the Squad attacking Shawn for a couple of minutes.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Carlito vs. Nick Berk
Carlito attacks Berk and then continues to work on Berk while talking on the microphone. Carlito gets the quick squash and then announces Money In The Bank. I remember being so confused as to why would have Carlito announce it and then not be in the actual match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show Matt Striker cutting a promo during the commercial break. No better way to push a talent. They then shift gears to the Hall of Fame and Bret Hart being inducted. They then announce that the second inductee will be Eddie Guerrero and it is once again heartbreaking to watch. The live crowd starts an "Eddie" chant and it really can't be understated how much this community was just devastated by his passing.
There is no other way to transition than to have Vince come out. He announces that will present a full time contract to Marty Jannetty. He of course throws in that he's recently fallen into some hard times. Oh and one more thing, if Marty wants the contract he has to join the club.
Triple H of course gets his angled pre-tape and he talks about how great he is.
We get a WrestleMania Big Time Moment and it's Hogan and Andre at the Silverdome.
Road To WrestleMania Tournament Final Triple Threat Match
Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Triple H
Big Show creeps up on Triple H as he is getting ready to do his water spitting on the apron. He tosses him in the ring and the crowd starts chanting for RVD. RVD wisely watches Big Show dismantle Triple H until he has to break up the pin attempt. The action spills outside and RVD goes for the guillotine leg drop but Big Show catches him and stands tall into the commercial break. I wonder what percentage of fans thought Big Show would win this match? After some kicks to Show that merely stun him, RVD and Triple H team up, but Show hits a double chokeslam on them. Just because all three men are down and I love looking up retro ages, Rob Van Dam is 35 here, Triple H is 36 and Big Show is 34. RVD hits a split legged moonsault and Rolling Thunder before heading up top. He hits the Five Star Frog Splash, but Big Show is there before he can go for the pin. RVD knocks down Show with a kick and goes up top again, but this time Triple H shoves him to the floor. Triple H grabs a chair and hits Show with a totally unnecessary chair shot to the head. RVD is able to break up the pin attempt and we get another RVD chant. RVD dumps Triple H to the floor and then hits an awesome Five Star Frog Splash on Show where he changed directions in midair. The referee goes for the count, but Triple H grabs his leg. He hits the Pedigree on RVD and is officially going to WrestleMania. This was a good main event, even though parts of it felt like they were going in slow motion. I guess that's not super surprising for a match with Triple H and Big Show.
Match Rating: **1/2
Out comes John Cena to interrupt the celebration and he is super serious Cena tonight. They get face to face for the photo op as the show goes off the air.
This was sort of a "meh" episode here tonight. It was kind of a foregone conclusion that Triple H was going to face Cena, but I'm glad they at least ended the tournament in February to give it time to build. Shelton winning gold is always good, even if it was a little bit of a lackluster match. The rest of the show just felt like it was treading water until they have to turn on the jets for WrestleMania.
Overall Rating: 49%
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