Smackdown 6-2-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, June 2nd, 2006
Rose Garden Arena
Portland, Oregon

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We kick off the show with the announcement of Miz being the new host of SmackDown. He announces that the main event is King Booker vs. Lashley and Great Khali will be a guest on Piper's Pit. He also announces that Kurt Angle will have his farewell match with Rey Mysterio. 

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Paul Heyman joins the announce team here to talk about his top draft pick. Angle continues to show off his more aggressive side as he heads over to the Extreme brand. Angle's shoulder runs into the ring post, but quickly recovers and we have a commercial break. Angle takes things to the mat and wears down Mysterio. Mysterio comes back and hits a dropkick, but Angle then hits him with a belly-to-belly suplex for a 2 count. Rey hits the sliding headscissors on the outside of the ring, which is always so smooth. Mysterio hits the springboard senton for a 2 count. Angle hits a release German suplex and it sends Rey flying. Angle is able to hit the Angle Slam, but Rey is able to get his foot on the bottom rope. He goes for the Angle Slam again, but Rey counters and hits the 619. Rey goes up top, but Angle runs up there to go for the suplex. Rey blocks it and goes for a sunset flip powerbomb. That gets blocked and Angle puts on the Ankle Lock. We get a bunch of counters and then it leads to Angle hitting a belly-to-belly suplex over the top and to the floor. That leads to Rey getting counted out, which sucks. There's no way Angle's character would want a countout. On the positive side, this was a really good TV match featuring two of the best in the company. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Batista is returning in 35 days. 

Lashley talks about winning the US Championship and that he looks forward to earning respect. 

Nunzio is working out backstage and he tells a writer that he needs Nunzio in his corner for his match tonight. 

Matt Hardy vs. Nunzio

It really is crazy how little they had for Hardy during the prime years of his career. Hardy hits a cool version of a sit down powerbomb, when he pulls Nunzio up from the corner of the ring. Nunzio gets in a little bit of offense here and hits a seated dropkick for a 2 count. Hardy fights back with the clothesline and a bulldog. Hardy is still pretty over with the live crowds. Hardy hits the Twist Of Fate and that is all. Out comes Vito and he's wearing a dress. Nunzio freaks out and heads to the back. This match got more time than you would have expected. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

The Miz introduces Roddy Piper for Piper's Pit. Piper brings out Khali. Piper tries to be funny here, but is unsuccessful. He stands on the ropes to try to go eye to eye with Khali and he grabs him by the throat. Piper and Daivari start yelling at each other and Piper slaps him. Khali starts choking Piper and hits him with the chop. This was not good TV. 

Ashley is out to be a guest commentator. 

Jillian vs. Kristal 

Jillian starts off in control and hits a cartwheel elbow drop for a 2 count. Jillian messes up Kristals hair and gets her up for an electric chair. Kristal tries to counter it into a victory roll, but Jillian stops the roll through and gets the pinfall victory. Out comes Michelle McCool and she says that as a former teacher, she's here to teach them how to be a real lady. Yeah, the women's division sucked on SmackDown. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mark Henry vs. Paul Burchill

The Paul Burchill burial tour continues. He hits the World's Strongest Slam and that's about it. He then attacks Burchill after the match and drives him into the ring post 3 times in a row. Burchill is bleeding from the mouth, as Henry keeps attacking him. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mr. Kennedy returns to SmackDown next week. 

Finlay vs. Caden Matthews

Finlay hits a short armed clothesline and dumps Matthews out of the ring. He drives him into the apron and gets dragged under the ring. Finlay pulls him back out and throws him in the ring. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross and gets the quick victory. Finlay goes under the ring and brings out Hornswoggle and he attacks Matthews. the original variation of Hornswoggle really was great. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We find out that Sabu will challenge Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Tazz then addresses Jerry Lawler and challenges him to a match at the show. 

United States Championship Match
King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley

The number of times that William Regal shouts "All hail, King Booker" is so ridiculous. They are showing a lot more fan shots during this episode than I can remember. After like 10 minutes of entrances, things start off slowly. We get a lot of two moves from Lashley, two moves from Booker type of offense. Lashley goes for the Spear, but he runs into a knee. He picks up Booker and hits a running powerslam and picks up the victory. Seriously? After the match, Regal attacks Lashley. Out comes Finlay and he joins in. Booker hits the Book End. Lashley starts to fight back again, but Booker hits him with a Scissors Kick. Booker grabs a mic and tells Lashley to bow down to him and Finlay and Regal make it happen. They then make him kiss his feet and we go off the air. This wasn't much of a match and I'm not really sure I understand the logic there. 

Match Rating: *

There was a ton of filler on this episode after the really good opening match. There was just never anything that interesting on the show, as SmackDown waits for there to be something to build to. 

Overall Rating: 47%

Monday Night Raw 5-29-06 Review

Monday, May 29th, 2006
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washinigton

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a Memorial Day tribute to kick things off. 

Vince McMahon is down now and he shows us from 2 weeks ago when Shane was knocked out. He now claims that Shawn Michaels was taken out last week by the Spirit Squad and shows us the highlights from last week. He then turns to Triple H and says that he will face Kenny tonight. Vince announces that he hasn't been able to find a new GM, but announces he has a new executive assistant and it's Coach. Coach announces that John Cena will face someone he has never faced before. He also announces that there will be a #1 contender match between Edge and Big Show to face the WWE Champion at Vengeance. Plus, Shelton Benjamin will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kane. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin

We go to a quick commercial break and when we come back Shelton is in control thanks to shoving Kane into the ring post during the commercial break. It doesn't last long, as Kane hits him with a big boot. Kane hits a side suplex and heads up to the top rope. He hits the clothesline and signals for the chokeslam. Shelton counters out of it and almost steals a victory by using the ropes for leverage. Kane kicks out and tries to put him up for the Tombstone. Shelton counters into a DDT and hits the splash in the corner. He goes for a second time, but Kane catches him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. The lights start flashing and the Kane mask is on the Titan Tron. His old music hits and out comes a guy who looks more like he's dressed up as him for Halloween than a lookalike. The new Kane hits the old Kane with a chokeslam and does the ringpost pyro. God, the old Kane music is so much better than the crappy version from this era. We get no ring announcement here and just go off the air. The match wasn't much, but at least they let Shelton look fairly strong here. 

Match Rating: *

Coach is looking for Triple H and Carlito is of no help. Armando Alejandro Estrrrrrrrrrrada said if he can be of any help, to let him know. Viscera then shoves him up against the wall and tells him that having Umaga getting into his business was a big mistake and he's seeking revenge. 

Vince is with Triple H and he says that he was just trying to do what he was told. Vince tells him that in his match Kenny will be a Spiritjack match with all 4 Spirit Squad members in each corner. Triple H says he'll destroy Kenny tonight and he might just need to bring a friend with him. 

Viscera vs. Umaga

Umaga attacks Viscera from behind on his way down to the ring and slams him face-first into the steel ramp. Umaga hits a top rope splash and a Samoan Spike and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Torrie Wilson & Beth Phoenix vs. Victoria & Candice Michelle

After trading right hands, Beth hits a side suplex on Victoria. Torrie comes in and hits a clothesline in the corner and then a stinkface. Candice comes in and hits a Vader Bomb. Victoria misses with a leg drop and in comes Beth. Beth hits some clotheslines and a gutwrench suplex. Victoria gets knocked onto Mickie and Beth hits a Michinoku Driver for the victory. The crowd did not care about this at all. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jerry Lawler is on the live arena mic and starts making fun of Tazz until RVD's music hits and joins the announce table. He and Lawler go back and forth for a little bit until it's unveiled that Johnny Nitro and Melina are on Raw. 

Johnny Nitro vs. John Cena

This has nothing to do with anything, but apparently other than Stomping Grounds, WWE has not had a televised show at the Tacoma Dome since this show. File that under things that only I care about. Nitro avoids Cena in the corner and hits a nice springboard dropkick. I'm not sure the best way to debut Nitro was against Cena with Lawler and RVD completely ignoring the match. Cena makes his comeback and hits his spinning side powerbomb. Cena is more over here in Tacoma than most other spots. He hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the FU. He locks in the STFU and Nitro jobs on his Raw debut. Make sense?  Nope. The match was entertaining for a short match, but it made Nitro look like a jobber. 

Match Rating: *1/2

After the match, Cena and RVD are having words and Nitro tries to attack Cena. Cena moves out of the way and throws him into RVD and knocks him off the apron. 

We have Mick Foley and Paul Heyman in the ring for a debate. Foley is all fired up here and taking shots at the ECW roster. Heyman says that he doesn't resent Foley for what he has done, but he resents what Foley has become. Paul Heyman then announces that he has drafted Kurt Angle from SmackDown because he is what the new ECW is all about. Angle is here and attacks Foley. Apparently somewhere along the way they announced that ECW would be coming back. It must have been a WWE.com announcement? This was entertaining as you would expect from these two. The Angle announcement was surprising at the time, but obviously ended up being short-lived. 

#1 Contender Match
Big Show vs. Edge

Big Show destroys Edge with some slaps to the chest and a big boot. Edge bumps around for a bit before hitting a tornado DDT from the second rope. Edge brings in a chair, but Show punches it out of his hand. Lita comes in and hits a low blow from behind. Edge then jabs the chair into the jaw of Show and hits the Spear for the victory. I wouldn't say that having a 3 minute match is the best way to make a #1 contender spot feel important, but I'm not complaining that it wasn't some 20 minute epic either. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Vince confronts Triple H backstage and wishes him the best of luck and takes away his sledgehammer. 

Spiritjack Match
Kenny vs. Triple H

We get lots of shenanigans right off the bat and it leads to Triple H sending Kenny over the top rope as we head into a commercial break. Kenny gets in some offense after some distractions and interference until Triple H plants him with a DDT. It's short-lived because two of the Spiritjacks give Triple H a low blow on the ring post. Triple H overcomes more odds though and hits the Pedigree for the victory. As soon as the bell rings, they all jump him and taunt him outside the ring. Triple H pulls out a sledgehammer from by the timekeeper and chases them off. Out comes Vince and he invites him next week to join his favorite club as we go off the air. The Spirit Squad is getting really old, really fast. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Outside of the Foley/Heyman segment, there really wasn't a whole lot to write home about on this episode. For whatever reason, this was an entertaining show for the most part and I'm not really sure why. I still don't get why they introduced Nitro the way they did, but that was really the main negative. 

Overall Rating: 57%

NXT 5-22-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Win Or Go Home Match
Bo Dallas vs. Big E

If Bo Dallas wins, he gets a NXT title shot. If he loses, he leaves NXT. Renee Young lets us know how much she can't stand Tim Tebow, which is very random. Dallas comes out and talks about family or something. Things start off kind of slowly and they even do a rest hold into the commercial break. Bo's offense is so dull here. Big E makes a comeback with some clotheslines and a belly-to-belly suplex. Big E goes for the Big Ending, but Bo counters with an inverted DDT. Dallas gets his knees up on a Big E splash and then hits the double underhook DDT for a 2 count. Big E is able to come back and hit the Big Ending for the victory. This match should have been Bo hamming it up and instead we got a paint by numbers boring match. Bo saves his shenanigans for after the match, but even that is understated from what it could have been.

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show Bo throwing a fit and addressing the crowd, telling them they stink. 

Tyson says being the #1 contender is the reason he laces up the boots. Sami and Tyler Breeze go back and forth, leading to Zayn challenging him. Breeze declines tonight, but says that he'll take him on at TakeOver. 

Tamina vs. Paige

Tamina hits a big clothesline on Paige on the apron. Tamina works on the back of Paige and then puts her on the Torture Rack. Tamina sets Paige up on the top rope in a seated position and then shoves her to the floor. Tamina goes for a top rope splash, but Paige gets her knees up. Paige rolls her up and gets the victory. This was pretty dull and didn't really do a whole lot for Paige. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Camacho vs. Adam Rose

Rose starts off with his schtick, but then Camacho hits a running Samoan Drop. Rose makes a comeback and Camacho heads out of the ring and gets counted out. Rose celebrates this meaningless victory afterwards.

Match Rating: 1/4*

NXT Women's Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match

Sasha Banks vs. Natalya

Natalya shows off some of her skills, including her favorite move of mine where she runs up the back of Sasha in a seated position. Sasha fights back and hits some knees in the corner. Natalya powers out of Sasha's submission hold and hits a butterfly suplex. Sasha comes back with a bulldog, but she rolls out of the ring in pain. Charlotte throws her back in the ring and distracts Sasha a little bit. Natalya picks her up by her legs and locks in the Sharpshooter for the victory. The match was pretty good, but as always, too short.

Match Rating: *3/4

Curt Hawkins vs. Adrian Neville 

Neville hits a flurry of kicks and then a missile dropkick off the second rope. Neville goes up top and hits the Red Arrow and that's that. They couldn't have just had him face a NXT jobber here? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Out comes Tyson Kidd and he hits Neville with some facts. Neville says that the only member of his family taking home gold at TakeOver will be his wife. Kidd walks to the back as we go off the air.

This show should have been good on paper, but came off really flat. I am looking forward to revisiting TakeOver, but not really because of this episode. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Survivor Series 2021 Review

Sunday, November 21st, 2021
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch

They start brawling right off the bat and after a lengthy hype video. Becky hits a nice spin kick to the head of Charlotte, who was on her knees. We get some more intense brawling, but things eventually slow down back in the ring. Charlotte hits a one armed powerbomb for a 2 count. Becky's ring gear tonight is...a questionable choice. Charlotte hits an exploder suplex towards the turnbuckle. Charlotte goes for a moonsault, Becky rolls away, Charlotte lands on her feet and hits her with the second moonsault. Becky fights back and hits a leg drop on the second rope. People, please stop with the "This is awesome" chants. I long for the day when people didn't overreact to every 2 count. Charlotte hits a big boot and gets a 2 count. Charlotte can't believe she didn't win with a move that she has never won with. Becky misses with a top rope leg drop, but hits the Manhandle Slam and Charlotte gets her leg up on the rope to break up the pin attempt. Becky gives us a "Wooo" and puts on the Figure Four, but Charlotte rolls it over. Charlotte "hits" a moonsault to the floor. Charlotte puts on the Disarm-her, but Becky is able to get to the bottom rope. Charlotte rolls up Becky, but is caught cheating grabbing the rope. Becky reverses it, grabs the ropes, doesn't get caught and gets the victory. The announcers tried to sell this as the best match in WWE history, but it just didn't click for me like I had hoped. Plus, that ending was terrible. 

Match Rating: ***

Team Raw (Bobby Lashley, Austin Theory, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins) vs. Team SmackDown (King Woods, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus, Happy Corbin & Drew McIntyre)

Kevin Owens walks away from his team and is immediately counted out to start things off. Not a bad way to make a payday. SmackDown chops Theory, making his chest look like a tomato early on. Things start to break down and we get the spot where everyone runs in and hits a big move. Corbin hits his shoulder into the ring post and Balor hits Coup de Grace to eliminate Corbin. Team Raw singles out Hardy until he can make a hot tag to Woods. He goes up to the top rope, but Lashley crotches him behind the ref's back and he hits him with a Spear and then puts him in Hurt Lock to eliminate Woods. Lashley and McIntyre go at it and it spills to the outside. Both men get counted out to a lot of boos and I agree. They keep going after the match and then McIntyre knocks out Rollins before leaving the ring. Sheamus avoids a Coup de Grace and hits the Brogue Kick to eliminate Balor. Theory hits a dropkick on Sheamus and almost eliminates him. Sheamus gets hit by a superkick from Rollins, but he kicks out at 2. Theory rolls up Sheamus and he is eliminated. Sheamus attacks Theory and then laid out Hardy for not being in his corner on his way out. Rollins hits a Frog Splash on Hardy, but he is able to kick out. Hardy hits a Swanton on Theory and he is gone. It's pretty incredible how over Hardy is still despite them doing nothing with him since his return. Hardy counters the Stomp and hits a Twist Of Fate. He goes for the Swanton, but Rollins gets the knees up. He hits the Stomp and gets the victory for Team Raw. That was a long match that had some good moments, but not enough to make it really memorable. We got some more poor booking in here, but that seems to be expected in modern WWE. 

Match Rating: ***

Roman Reigns walks into Vince's office and he's pretending to text with his red phone. Vince talks about his golden egg that Vince was given as a gift from The Rock. He says it's worth $100 million. Someone honestly thought this segment should have been on this show. 

The Rock's 25th Anniversary 25 Man Battle Royal

Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, Omos, Ricochet and Street Profits all get televised entrances. The Street Profits get the honor of bringing the Pizza Hut Triple Treat Box to the ring. AJ Styles comes out of the ring and cheers on the competitors from on top of the announce table. Omos tosses out the jobbers to kick things off, while R-Truth sneaks a slice of pizza. Truth offers it to Omos and then to Otis, who takes it and eats it. Truth slaps him in the butt and Otis tosses him out. Omos then eliminates Otis in the battle of 4 letter names that start with the letter O. Cesaro is in this thing, as in the same guy who main evented pay-per-views earlier this year. Ricochet hits a nice dropkick to eliminate T-Bar or something. Omos eliminates Shanky in a duel that no one wanted to see. Dolph Ziggler tries to make nice with Omos after he eliminated Bobby Rood, but AJ comes out of nowhere and hits him with the Phenomenal Forearm before eliminating him. Zayn tries to rally Cesaro and Ricochet as the only SmackDown wrestlers left, but it doesn't work and it leads to the Street Profits eliminating him. This thing feels like it's been going on for 30 minutes already. After a tug of war, AJ is eliminated and now it's Cesaro, Street Profits, Omos and Ricochet left. Omos tosses all of them out except Ricochet, so we get a showdown. It doesn't last long and Omos tosses him out, eliminating 12 out of 24 competitors. This felt like it went on forever and Omos just is basically Giant Gonzales 2.0. AJ goes for the pizza, but the Street Profits intercept it and run around tossing out slices. What a time to be alive.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Usos vs. RK-Bro

Riddle starts the match out hot and reminds you that despite whatever you might think of him, he is a really good worker. The Usos quickly go to work on him after hitting a suicide dive. Orton finally gets tagged in and hits his snap body slam. Orton hits two suplexes into the announce table and then a draping DDT in the ring. Riddle tags himself in and hits a series of kicks. The Usos fight back and hit a pop up Samoan Drop on Riddle. Usos hit the double superkick, but Riddle kicks out and the announcers just can't believe it. Jimmy Uso goes for a top rope splash, but Orton comes out of nowhere and hits the RKO in a nifty end of the match for RK-Bro. This felt TV match-ish, but the ending was well executed. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce are with Vince and he realizes that someone stole the egg. Vince says he'll get to the bottom of it tomorrow on Raw. Vince doesn't need to be on TV any more. 

Team Raw (Carmella, Queen Zelina, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley & Bianca Belair vs. Team SmackDown (Toni Storm, Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Natalya & Shotzi)

Storm rolls up Carmella fairly quickly and Carmella throws a fit. We get your pretty standard Survivor Series match up next. A lot of these matches just kind of feel like they are going through the motions. The crowd agrees and get the wave being started. After a bunch of meaningless stuff, we finally get Sasha and Bianca. They have a nice sequence that leads to a DDT and Ripley breaking up the attempt. Zelina comes in and Bianca tosses her at Sasha for a 2 count. Storm is in and eliminates Zelina. She really didn't get much of a shot in this match. Morgan comes in and we're getting a bit of a flurry of eliminations here with her eliminating Storm. Sasha eliminates Liv and it's 4-2 now. Ripley gets eliminated by Baszler. This match hasn't been bad, it just hasn't been interesting. SmackDown starts fighting amongst each other and as a result Sasha has been eliminated, which makes the crowd very unhappy. Natalya hits a spinning clothesline and slaps on the Sharpshooter. She gets out of it and rolls up Natalya to eliminate her. Bianca fairly quickly eliminates Baszler and now it's only Shotzi and Belair. Shotzi hits a top rope crossbody, but Bianca rolls through. Shotzi gets out of that and gets in a little bit of offense. It's short lived and Bianca hits the KOD for the victory. This was very dull, which is a shame. 

Match Rating: **

Paul Heyman makes fun of the Brooklyn fans backstage. 

Big E vs. Roman Reigns

Things start off slowly, as we have come to expect with modern era Roman Reigns. Big E drapes Reigns on the apron, but Reigns moves out of the way and Big E is injured. Then we go back stalling. Eventually, Big E fights back and throws Roman into the steps. Big E hits a couple of belly-to-belly suplexes and a splash. Big E tries to keep the momentum going, but Roman catches him with a Samoan Drop. Roman hits a really nice one-armed sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Roman hits a Rock Bottom and gets another 2. Roman then hits 3 Superman Punches, but Big E is back on his feet. Big E hits the Spear through the ropes and it looked like he almost had a nasty fall. He throws Roman back in the ring and he hits Big E with a Spear for a close call. Big E hits the Big Ending, but Reigns grabs the bottom rope. Reigns throws Big E into the steps and hits another Superman Punch. He throws him back in the ring and Big E goes for the Big Ending. Roman counters, hits the Spear and that is all. Really? That was about as dull of a finish that I could think of. The match wasn't very exciting either. 

Match Rating: **

Well, this show was about as unmemorable of a show that wasn't terrible that I can think of. I already can't remember which wrestlers were on which brands at this point. WWE so desperately needs a shot in the arm and unfortunately I don't see it coming anytime soon. I'm still hopeful that something will hook me back in, but until then I will stick to watching the older stuff.

Overall Rating: 48%

Off The Grid, Volume 16: Survivor Series 1990 Review

Thursday November 22nd, 1990
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Connecticut

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 16:

The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect & Demolition) vs. The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion Of Doom)

As the Perfect Team makes their way down to the ring, we get your usual bonkers interview from their opponents backstage. It's extremely sad to think that six out of eight of the guys in this match are no longer with us, including the entire Warrior team. Animal and Smash start going at it to kick things off. Smash gets a bunch of right hands in the Warrior corner, but Smash comes back with a suplex. The Warriors clean house, but then Tornado gets caught in the wrong corner. Tornado gets the claw on Ax, but Smash breaks it up. Warrior tags in and hits a shoulder block and then a flying shoulder tackle. Warrior hits a splash and Ax is gone. Warrior takes care of all three opponents, but then Crush levels him with a clothesline. Warrior is able to get a boot up and hit another clothesline and tags in Hawk. Hawk sends Perfect into the corner, but Hawk misses with the shoulder and it allows Demolition to team up on Hawk. Hawk fires back and hits a top rope clothesline on Smash for a 2 count. Demolition and LOD all start brawling in the ring and the referee disqualifies all four of them. So we are down to Perfect vs. the Tassel Twins. Perfect bumps around like crazy for Tornado here. Warrior tosses Heenan over the ring post and I can just sense Heenan's disgust. Perfect hits Tornado's head off an exposed turnbuckle and hits the Perfect Plex to eliminate Tornado. Perfect puts the Perfect Plex on Warrior, but Warrior kicks out. Perfect hits his beautiful standing dropkick and gets another 2 count. Warrior makes his comeback with more clotheslines and then hits the leaping shoulder tackle. He hits the big splash and gets the victory. If you love clotheslines, this one is for you. But in all honesty, this is a lot of fun for what it is. The faces were over with the crowd and it didn't have any real slow spots. 

Match Rating: ***

The Million Dollar Team minus their mystery partner is with Sean Mooney and Ted DiBiase laughs a lot.

The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware & Hart Foundation) vs. The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Rhythm & Blues & Undertaker)

Undertaker starts things off and gives a variation of a chokeslam to Bret. In comes Neidhart and he scoop slams him. Koko comes in and Taker avoids him and hits a Tombstone for the first pinfall. Somehow Gorilla knew the name of his move. Valentine decides to tag himself in and in comes Dusty. It doesn't last long and we get a random elimination of Honky after a powerslam from Neidhart. Dusty comes in to take on DiBiase and he hits a dropkick. Virgil distracts Neidhart and DiBiase eliminates him. Despite having a better group of workers in this match, the opener was much better executed. DiBiase hits a clothesline on Dusty and tags in Undertaker. Taker hits a top rope ax handle on Dusty and eliminates him too. We're down to Bret vs. DiBiase, Valentine and Undertaker. Brother Love gets in a cheap shot on Dusty, but Dusty retaliates so Taker chases after him. They announce that Taker is eliminated by countout and now we have Valentine vs. Bret in the ring. Bret pulls off a small package pinfall and eliminates Valentine. Bret sends DiBiase over the top rope with an atomic drop and follows it up with a dive to the floor. DiBiase turns it around by throwing Bret into the turnbuckle sternum-first. Bret trips over DiBiase and pretends to have a hurt knee. He rolls DiBiase up, but he's able to kick out. Virgil holds Bret, but he moves and DiBiase hits Virgil and another 2 count. Bret hits a crossbody, but DiBiase rolls through and scores the victory. The bulk of the match was hot garbage, but the final sequence was fantastic, making this hard to rate. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Mean Gene is with the Vipers in the shower. Shawn doesn't look too happy about it. Jake Roberts is with the injured eye here. 

The Visionaries (Rick Martel, Power & Glory & Warlord) vs. The Vipers (Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka & Rockers)

Jannetty has a spirited start against the Warlord, before tagging in Michaels up against Martel. After a monkey flip from Michaels, he tags in Jake and Martel is out of the ring quickly. They do a nice job of sprinkling in all of the competitors here at the beginning, making this one feel a little different than the opening matches. We are back to Jannetty and Warlord. Jannetty goes up top, but Warlord catches him for a powerslam and that's enough to eliminate him. Michaels hits a hurricanrana out of a powerbomb from Warlord and tags in Jake. We also get proof of the DDT being the most over move in the history of wrestling, as the crowd chants for it as soon as he is tagged in. Roma hits a nice leaping elbow on Michaels to keep him out of his corner. Warlord then hits a huge back body drop on him, as the Visionaries are using quick tags. Michaels is able to avoid Martel in the corner and he hits his shoulder on the post. He makes the tag to Snuka, who is basically a jobber at this point. He goes for a reverse crossbody, but Martel rolls through to eliminate Snuka. I can't really express how much I love the whole eye angle with Jake, especially with how convincing the contact he wore in that eye to sell the injury is. Jake hits a knee lift on Herc and signals for the DDT, but Herc rolls out of the ring. Martel hits an illegal clothesline from the apron on Jake and the Visionaries take advantage. Roma goes up top, but misses with the fist and Jake tags in Michaels. Michaels hits a suplex and a second rope elbow drop for a 2 count. Hercules hits a blind tag and blindsides him with an elbow drop. Power & Glory hit their awesome finisher on Michaels and he is gone, leaving just Jake to fend off the entire team. Jake hits a DDT on Warlord, but Power & Glory have the ref distracted. Martell comes in there and sprays Jake, but he then grabs the snake and chases Martel with it. They run out to the back and Jake is counted out. Martel was not the legal man, so all four men survive and move onto the final match tonight. The interesting part of all four of these guys surviving is that they did nothing with them outside of Martel. This was a solid one, even if I would have liked to have seen more from the Rockers. 

Match Rating: **3/4

The Hulkamaniacs are with Sean Mooney and it's just a big reminder of how stupid of a gimmick Tugboat was. I'm talking Red Rooster bad. Toot toot!

The Natural Disasters (Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku & Barbarian) vs. The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Tugboat, Big Boss Man & Jim Duggan)

Haku and Hacksaw rekindle their old feud by kicking things off. Haku misses with a reverse crossbody and gets hit with a clothesline. Boss Man tags in and eats a dropkick from Haku. Boss Man hits a Boss Man Slam out of nowhere and Haku is gone. Barbarian eats a big boot from Boss Man and then rams Heenan into the ring post. Barbarian then hits a suplex, but misses with a second rope elbow. In comes Duggan again and he hits a back body drop. In comes everyone's favorite, Dino Bravo. He quickly tags into Earthquake and they hit a double clothesline. Earthquake's blue boots with the light blue singlet is a mistake. Jimmy Hart pulls down the top rope on Duggan, so he chases him around with the 2x4. He ends up back in the ring and he hits Earthquake with it and is disqualified. Hogan finally comes in and starts taking care of all three opponents. Hogan hits a body slam on Quake, but when he goes for the ten fists in the corner, Quake hits a powerslam on him. Dino hits a couple of his dorky elbow drops, but then Hogan eliminates him with a small package. Earthquake catches Boss Man in mid-air, but Hogan knocks Quake down, but he kicks out at 2. Earthquake hits a couple of elbow drops and eliminates Boss Man. Gorilla forgets Tugboat is still in the match probably because he has done nothing. Hogan goes for another body slam, but this time he fails and almost gets eliminated. Hogan rolls the way out of a splash and they both tag in their partners, but only Tugboat comes in. Hogan drags Quake out and then he and Tugboat begin to brawl. Both men are counted out, but not before Quake pushes Hogan's back into the ring post. What a performance by Tugboat here. Barbarian hits a piledriver, but Gorilla and Piper point out that he didn't get all of it even though Hogan sells it. They hit a double clothesline and Barbarian is the first man up. He hits a boot to the face of Hogan and again goes up to the top rope. He hits a clothesline, but Hogan kicks out and starts Hulking up. Hogan hits the big boot and the leg drop for the unsurprising victory. He goes right after Heenan and throws him over the top turnbuckle. This was an obvious outcome, but the match itself was fun enough. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Mean Gene brings out Macho King and gets called a turkey, before saying that he's going to take the title off the Ultimate Warrior. He says that after he wins the title back, that he might even retire since he'll have nothing left to prove. 

The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana & Bushwhackers) vs. The Mercenaries (Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov & Orient Express)

Mean Gene interviews Slaughter on his way down to the ring and he lets us know that he salutes only one flag, Iraq. They all have their faces painted in camo, which is a choice. This interview is unlistenable. This thing goes on forever and they don't have the mic on for the live crowd, which is also a choice. His team also has to be one of the worst teams ever assembled. Tito hits a flying forearm on Zhukov and he's gone. This match is getting absolutely no reaction whatsoever. Tito ducks a kick from Tanaka and then the Bushwhackers hit a Battering Ram on Saito, who isn't the legal man, and elminate him. Tito hits a flying forearm on Tanaka and he's gone, so we are down to four-on-one. Slaughter goes to work on Volkoff and eventually eliminates him after an elbow drop. The Bushwhackers illegally double team Slaughter and get a 2 count after a double clothesline. Luke goes up top and Slaughter gets his knees up, then hits a gut buster to get rid of him. Slaughter hits a clothesline and Butch is gone. Tito comes in and hits a dropkick and a back body drop. Tito hits a top rope forearm, but Slaughter kicks out. It's kind of amazing that from here Slaughter would main event WrestleMania and Tito would be jobbing to the Mountie in the match before it. Adnan comes in and hits Tito with the flag and Slaughter puts him in the Camel Clutch. Slaughter celebrates, but the referees announce that Slaughter is disqualified. The crowd finally reacts to that after a dead match. This was a classic example of booking yourself into a corner since you didn't want Slaughter to lose to Hogan and Warrior later on. This match stunk despite Tito's best efforts.

Match Rating: 1/2*

The heel survivors are backstage with Sean Mooney and they give a classic heel interview. 

We go to Mean Gene and we are here for the hatching of the giant egg and it's of course the Gobbledy Gooker. This moment lives on in all of our hearts forever. He drags Mean Gene to the ring and they do some dancing while Piper and Gorilla just have no idea how to react. Gene runs the ropes and trips. It doesn't get any better than this. 

Now Mooney is with Hogan, Warrior and Tito. 

Grand Finale Match Of Survival

Rick Martel, Warlord, Power & Glory & Ted DiBiase vs. Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana & Ultimate Warrior

Santana hits a flying forearm on Warlord and he's already eliminated. DiBiase is able to duck the forearm attempt from Tito and then hits the Stun Gun to eliminate Tito. Hogan comes in and gets dominated by the heels. Power & Glory hit their finisher on Hogan, but he kicks out. Hogan eliminates Roma and then tags in Warrior. Warrior destroys Martel and then eats a big boot and a clothesline from Hogan. Martel walks away and is counted out. DiBiase now eats the big boot and leg drop from Hogan and is eliminated. Warrior then destroys Hercules and gets the victory with a splash. After the match they toss Slickster out of the ring and celebrate. This was a cool concept, but it was poorly executed. 

Match Rating: *

This is a good example of a show being more entertaining than the actual match quality. Nothing was really noteworthy here from an in-ring perspective, but it was an enjoyable show overall. The last hour was weak with the Slaughter interview and the disaster that was the Gobbledy Gooker, but it wasn't enough to make this show a turkey. I would say this one gets a mild recommendation overall. 

Overall Rating: 68%

Monday Night Raw 5-30-94 Review

Monday, May 30th, 1994
Struthers Fieldhouse
Youngstown, Ohio

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork

Vince gives us a retro-tastic recap of the King Of The Ring qualifying matches. 

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Crush vs. Tatanka

I am praying they have this match just go the length of the show. Chief Jay Strongbow is with Tatanka. Tatanka hits a series of clothesline and sends Crush out to the floor. Tatanka hits a second rope clothesline and gets a 2 count. Strongbow approaches Fuji, which causes Tatanka to check things outside the ring. Crush follows, Strongbow taps him as if none of this matters and Crush hits him with a kick into the commercial break. Could Strongbow have cared any less there? Tatanka begins a comeback and hits a chop off a top rope that gets a nearfall. Tatanka hits a reverse neckbreaker and then Fuji pretends to try to climb up to the ring apron, but I don't think he's physically even able to. Strongbow slowly walks over there and stops him. The competitors both go outside again and they begin brawling. Both men are counted out and put this match out of its misery. After the match, they begin to brawl again until officials try to break them up. This was pretty lousy overall. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Like seconds later Todd Pettengill already said Jack Tunney is working on how to handle the situation with the Crush/Tatanka. I find it hard to believe that Tunney works that quickly with anything. 

Vince and Savage speculate on what Tunney will do and Savage says that he would have them fight again. 

They show the same DiBiase funeral parlor promo from Superstars. 

1-2-3 Kid vs. George South

Kid hits his awesome leg drop and a spin kick. He then decides to do one of his roll ups for a finish for some reason and Savage declares Kid to be his favorite wrestler. This was spirited, as are most Kid matches.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King's Court and before Lawler brings out Bret, he makes fun of Stu and Helen. Vince calls Bret the most respected champion in WWF history. Lawler then surprises Bret by bringing out Diesel as his other guest. Shawn Michaels is also along with Diesel here. They get in each other's faces and Michaels distracts him so that Diesel can hit him with a sucker punch. All three men start attacking Bret until the mighty officials come out to stop them. 

Smoking Gunns vs. Austin Steele & Reno Riggins

I don't get the squash match schedule. It feels like the Gunns have hardly been on TV and now they were on Superstars and Raw within 3 days. Billy hits a top rope bulldog on Steele and Savage reads us the USA movie promo. They also announce that Tunney has made his decision, but we don't know what it is just yet. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Todd Pettengill and he announces that Crush and Tatanka will fight again, this time in a Lumberjack Match. Lucky us. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Chris Hammerick

Jarrett hits a big dropkick and then a springboard suplex. He hits a sloppy looking fist off the second rope before choking Hammerick on the second rope. Hammerick misses with a leaping knee in the corner and Jarrett slaps on the Figure Four for the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They go backstage to Lawler who says he's having a guest from Scotland on King's Court next week. 

This was a disappointing show this week. The feature match was pretty bad and now they're treating us to a rematch. The squashes were fine and the King's Court at least gave the title match at King Of The Ring a little bit of a story. 

Overall Rating: 41%

Superstars 5-28-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, May 28th, 1994
Knickerbocker Arena
Albany, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

They start off showing highlights of Jeff Jarrett/Lex Luger. We then go to Jerry Lawler with Harvey Wippleman saying that his man Adam Bomb will be advancing to the King Of The Ring today.

Diesel vs. PJ Walker

Diesel now has fireworks for his entrance. Walker ducks a dropkick and hits a clothesline, but then eats a boot from Diesel. He hits the sidewalk slam and the Jackknife for the quick squash. Diesel was less over than I thought he was after the big pops he got at Royal Rumble. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They hype up Roddy Piper/Jerry Lawler.

Smoking Gunns vs. Iron Mike Sharp & Tony DeVito

Despite the dorky mullets and moustaches, the Gunns continue to look good here. This is also a reminder that they exist, because for whatever reason they seem to do nothing until they get to the point where they are the only tag team left on the roster. They hit the Sidewinder, which is still a pretty sweet finisher to pick up the victory. They find the one lady in the crowd pretending to lasso, so kudos to the camera crew.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Vince talks about the Hall Of Fame class, which includes Gorilla Monsoon. It's pretty crazy that it went from being a dinner to something that sells out arenas. 

We get a Live Event update. 

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Adam Bomb vs. 1-2-3 Kid

Bomb hits a big clothesline and a body slam. Bomb charges at Kid, but he ducks and Bomb goes over the top. Kid tries a dive, but Bomb catches him and hits the body slam to the floor. Bomb misses squashing Kid on the second rope and Kid comes back with a kick for a nearfall. Harvey gets on the apron to distract the ref while Kid hits a top rope crossbody. The ref doesn't make the count though. Out comes Kwang, but he accidentally sprays the mist in Bomb's face and Kid gets the roll up victory. The ending was a little sloppy, but this was your typical fun Kid match. He also gets fireworks after the match. We're going big budget here. After the match, Bomb can't see and Harvey leaves with Kwang.

Match Rating: **

Yokozuna vs. Corey Student

We get a pretty rare Yokozuna squash match here in '94. For whatever reason, he doesn't hit the Banzai Drop and instead finishes with the belly-to-belly suplex. I'm not sure I've ever seen him end it with that. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King Of The Ring Report and we are now only 3 weeks away. We get a promo from Bret Hart on how he doesn't get intimidated. We then get more Roddy Piper home video promos. Piper just seems so bored in all of these. We see the updated brackets and Owen wants to know who he will be fighting in the first round of the tournament. 

Mike Maraldo vs. IRS

For once we get a quick squash from IRS here. He shows off his more aggressive side again and hits the STF for the easy victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

More Undertaker sightings. We then go to Ted DiBiase in front of a casket. He says that he has made contact with the Undertaker and he once again will become the property of the Million Dollar Man. 

Heavenly Bodies vs. Mike Davis & Phil Apollo

This is what I came here for. They hit a nice powerbomb/clothesline combo for the victory. More teams need watch them and steal some of their offense. Vince then calls Jimmy Del Ray one of the most repulsive human beings and I 100% believe he means that.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Vince and Lawler recap Adam Bomb and they show him backstage yelling at Harvey. Next week, we get Kwang vs. Adam Bomb. I didn't realize his face turn was so quick. They go back to Harvey, but the sound isn't working. 

I keep enjoying these 1994 Superstars episodes. This is how the 1992 episodes should have been, but instead they made them feel like they were 2 hour shows with the poor pacing. We got a good feature match and all of the squashes were quick and showcased the performers. 

Overall Rating: 58%

SmackDown 5-26-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, May 26th, 2006
Rabobank Arena
Bakersfield, California

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

JBL is in the ring to kick things off tonight and he's not happy after losing to Rey Mysterio at Judgment Day. He calls out Rey and wants him to give him a rematch. Rey tells JBL that he doesn't defend his title and talks him into defending it tonight. Rey calls out his opponent and it's Bobby Lashley.

United States Championship Match

JBL vs. Bobby Lashley

JBL obviously isn't happy about this decision. They have a lot of back-and-forth action in a short amount of time. JBL hits a boot in the corner and goes for the Clothesline From Hell. Lashley ducks it and hits him with a Spear and we have a new champion. Well, that was quick. This was more about the moment and story than it was about the match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

JBL storms to the back to argue with Teddy Long. JBL gets to fight Rey later tonight and if he can't beat him, he'll quit SmackDown.

Tatanka vs. Simon Dean

Ah yes, Tatanka squash matches in 2006. I'm still not really sure what they were hoping for out of him returning, but they obviously never got it. Tatanka gets the quick victory over Dean in a match that exists.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Paul Heyman is here and Teddy Long tells him that he doesn't like him and he doesn't want him scouting his talent. 

They bring out Three Six Mafia to perform Mark Henry's music live. 

Mark Henry vs. Chris Benoit

Henry dominates right away and for quite a bit after. An early commercial break hurts the flow, but will probably help in the long run. Benoit makes his comeback and goes for the Crippler Crossface. It doesn't last long and Henry is back up and attacking him out of the ring. Henry rams Benoit into the ring post and the bell rings for a countout. Henry stays on the attack and Benoit is bleeding from the mouth. Henry finally walks away laughing. This would all lead to Benoit taking some time off for injuries. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

William Regal is introduced for the coronation of King Booker. Tonight begins the most entertaining run of Booker's career. We get some fireworks and confetti to end the ceremony. The best part is that Regal is still repeating "Long live King Booker" as Cole is promoting the JBL/Mysterio match.

Oh good, more Vito. 

London & Kendrick vs. Nunzio & Vito

Vito starts off dominating and Nunzio gets in on it for a little bit. The new champions get a quick burst of offense and London hits Sliced Bread #2 for the quick victory. It really would have been nice if they would have had an actual tag division at this time. I thought this was going to lead to an angle with Vito and Nunzio after the match, but we get nothing.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mr. Kennedy is going to be returning. 

We now get some still photos of Great Khali pinning Undertaker with one foot. We are so blessed. 

Chavo Guerrero tells Rey Mysterio tonight that he has his back tonight. 

Finlay vs. Paul Burchill

Finlay absolutely destroys him and hits the Celtic Cross for the quick victory. I'm still not sure why they hated Burchill so much. After the match, Finlay goes under the ring and there is a green light. We get the debut of Hornswoggle and he attacks Burchill until Finlay throws him back under the ring. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

World Heavyweight Championship Match

JBL vs. Rey Mysterio

JBL attacks Mysterio and quickly hits the Clothesline From Hell. He covers Mysterio and gets the victory, but Mysterio's foot was on the ropes. JBL celebrates, but Jimmy Korderas realizes it and re-starts the match. When we come back from commercial, JBL hits a fall away slam from the second rope for a 2 count. Rey makes the big comeback and hits a 619. JBL catches him on the springboard and hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. JBL hits the Three Amigos and Rey is bleeding from the mouth. JBL begins to remove the top turnbuckle, but gets caught. JBL throws Rey into Korderas trying to fix it. He misses with the Clothesline From Hell and Rey counters into the headscissors. JBL lands on Korderas on the ropes and Rey knows he can't hit the 619 because of it. JBL hits a low blow and grabs a chair. Chavo stops him, so JBL hits him in the head with the chair. He misses Rey with the chair and Rey fights fire with fire by hitting a low blow of his own. He hits the tornado DDT on the chair. He hits the 619 and the springboard leg drop and gets the victory. JBL now has to quit SmackDown. This leads to Vince's favorite song being sung by the live crowd as we go off the air. This was a really fun match that built off their match at Judgment Day.

Match Rating: ***1/4

This was a focused episode of SmackDown that featured their two top stars well in Booker and Rey. The main event was good TV and everything else seemed to have a purpose. Thumbs up this week coming off the pay-per-view.

Overall Rating: 65%

Monday Night Raw 5-22-06 Review

Monday, May 22nd, 2006
Thomas & Mack Center
Las Vegas, Nevada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Vince McMahon starts off backstage to address Shane being attacked by a sledgehammer. Thankfully for his superior genetics, he has only suffered a mild concussion. He is demanding a public apology from Triple H. 

Mick Foley is out and there is something hidden in the ring by a red covering. Foley is wearing a suit here and lets us know that he isn't a bad guy. He makes fun of Vegas a little and then brings out Edge and Lita. Foley presents the Hardcore Championship to Edge and said he's bringing it out of retirement for him. Edge says he can't accept it and that Foley still deserves it. Foley takes a subtle jab at Edge and says that the only way to decide it is for them to have a match here tonight. Edge says he has a better idea and has Lilian Garcia announce them as the co-Hardcore Champions. Out comes Paul Heyman, which leads to a woman holding a baby chanting "E-C-W". He calls Foley a prostitute for sacrificing his life for his career and then joins forces with Edge and Lita. He calls him a shell of his former self, so Foley reminds him that Heyman has nothing left and that he should crawl back in the hole in the ground that he came from. Heyman says he's right, but he does have the power to issue a challenge at One Night Stand. Edge tells him to round up any two bingo hall performers he can round up. He brings out Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk and they start brawling on the ramp. Dreamer and Funk stand tall, but I keep being reminded that the crowd just wasn't super into this so far. 

The Diva Search is back. Yep. 

Intercontinental Championship Match

Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin

We get an early commercial break after RVD knocks Shelton out of the ring. During the commercial, Shelton dropped Van Dam face-first into the turnbuckle. RVD makes his comeback with a close call after a superkick. RVD hits Rolling Thunder and again Shelton is able to kick out. Shelton hits a Samoan Drop and RVD hits the referee's ankle on the way down. That actually looked legit since it was just his ankle, but considering Shelton immediately went out to grab the Intercontinental belt it obviously wasn't. RVD kicks the belt into the face of Shelton and he gets disqualified. Jim Ross says that they obviously had to, despite that like never happening. After the decision, RVD hits a Five Star Frog Splash and holds up the title. The match was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: **

Vince McMahon is back with ZZ Top and he leaves them with Candice Michelle. This was pointless. 

Vince is now out to the ring for the public apology. He comes out. He apologizes. But Vince wants more. He wants him to end Shawn Michaels tonight. 

Kane talks about his movie where he kills lots of people and tonight he will inflict insufferable pain on his opponent. It's so hard to pick which version of Kane sucked the most, but See No Evil Kane is near the top. 

Chris Masters vs. John Cena

There was probably a point in time that they were hoping this would be a pay-per-view main event. Masters hits a a clothesline and actually draws some cheers from the crowd. When we come back from commercial breaks, Cena makes his comeback with some shoulder tackles. He knocks Masters down and puts him in the STFU and that's all. The commercial break made this match seem like it was two minutes long. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Out comes Rob Van Dam and he's here to talk about his Money In The Bank briefcase. He's going to make the most of this and he's not going to get screwed out of his chance, so he's going to use it June 11th at ECW One Night Stand. They go face-to-face and RVD slaps Cena. They start brawling and Cena hits a body slam. Masters tries to hit him from behind, but Cena takes care of him too. RVD hits the Van Daminator with the briefcase on Cena and heads to the back. 

Carlito and Maria are backstage and they run into Snitsky, who is waiting for a Vegas showgirl. It turns out to be Goldust, but of course he doesn't notice until after he hits on him. 

We transition to Triple H and his sledgehammer. Michaels confronts him and says that he always had respect for him, but he didn't like what he did out there. 

Trevor Murdoch vs. Kane

Murdoch tries to get something going, but he instead gets a boot to the face. He hits a chokeslam and that's all. Did you know that See No Evil had the third highest per screen average? Wow! He hits another chokeslam after the match just because. He almost walks away, but then heads back and hits a third. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Then something pops up on the screen and I just don't even care enough to listen to it. 

Torrie Wilson vs. Mickie James

Torrie gets a roll up for a nearfall and follows it up with a dropkick. Mickie destroys her and hits her variation of the DDT for the easy victory. More filler.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Out comes Trish Stratus and she says that Beth Phoenix is now officially on the Raw roster. Beth attacks Mickie from behind and they have a sloppy brawl that goes into the crowd. 

Viscera is in the ring and says he has big news. He says it's time to settle down and brings Lillian Garcia in the ring. She stands up for herself and then he pulls a burger out of his robe. He gets on his knee and out comes Armando Alejandro Estrada. Umaga comes out and they start going at it. Umaga eventually hits the Samoan Spike and knocks him out. I thought they made Viscera look too strong here. 

The Spirit Squad are backstage and they talk trash to Triple H to follow Vince's orders. 

Handicap Match

Spirit Squad vs. Shawn Michaels

The Spirit Squad hit their throw the guy up in the air thingy right away and then take turns hitting moves on Michaels. They go to hit him with a chair, but Michaels gets his feet up and knocks most of them out of the ring and hits the others with the chair. He hits the top rope elbow drop and hits Sweet Chin Music on two members, but then gets hit with a chair by Nicky. Kenny hits the top rope leg drop to Pillman-ize Michaels. Out comes Triple H and of course he ends up saving him and we go off the air with a disappointed Vince. This wasn't really a match, but I guess I'll rate it just for the heck of it.

Match Rating: 3/4*

I thought this was a pretty terrible episode. The stuff that was good, which was the One Night Stand stuff, didn't get the reaction they were hoping for. There was lots of Kane and lots of Spirit Squad, which all sucked. Disappointing show overall. 

Overall Rating: 43%

NXT 5-15-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, May 15th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Ascension vs. Buddy Murphy & Elias Sampson

It's always fun when the guys getting squashed end up being 100 times better than the ones doing the squashing. I love that they try to make their title reign feel legit and then William Regal basically feels the way I do in that they face nobody. In case you were wondering, they win this match. Konnor grabs the mic and they say they want something new to destroy. Out comes Kalisto and El Local to no pop and they challenge them. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sami Zayn is backstage and says that tonight is a chance to redeem himself and win the NXT Championship. 

NXT Women's Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match

Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte

These two have never had the best chemistry, so it's no surprise that they don't here in Alexa's second televised NXT match. This is obviously another match to get Charlotte over and she dominates most of the match before hitting Natural Selection for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show a Tyler Breeze promo from earlier where he talks quite a bit more than usual. 

Mojo Rawley vs. Aiden English

English dominates the early part of the match, but Rawley quickly makes a comeback. He hits his 2 moves and then the dumbest finisher in wrestling for the victory. Why? Also, it seems like the crowd isn't as great here tonight. I'm not sure what it is, but they just seem off. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Tyson Kidd says he's the leader of the pack as he tapes up his wrist. 

Angelo Dawkins vs. Big Cass

So this is another one of those episodes where they just cram as many matches as possible. It's all Cass to start and out comes CJ Parker with a sign that says "No Xtra Toxins" and "This sign is recyclable". Cass dominates pretty much the whole match. He hits a boot and then the East River Crossing for the victory. I'm surprised Dawkins didn't get more in. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Bo Dallas is with JBL backstage and he has letters in his hand from Bo-lievers. JBL says that if Bo defeats his next opponent, he will give him a title shot. If he loses, he leaves NXT. 

#1 Contender Triple Threat Match

Tyson Kidd vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn

This is about as good of a match that they could give us in 2014 NXT. Zayn hits a nice pop up dropkick and then tries to charge Kidd in the corner. Breeze hits him out of nowhere with the Beauty Shot into the commercial. Kidd knocks Breeze out of the ring, but Breeze hits him with a right hand on the dive attempt. Zayn hits a senton dive on Breeze outside and a top rope crossbody on Kidd for a 2 count. Breeze hits Blue Thunder Bomb on Breeze, but he's able to kick out. They do a double German/exploder suplex spot with all three men and all three are down. Kidd puts the Sharpshooter on Zayn, but Breeze hits a superkick to break the hold. Zayn tries to walk up the ropes, but Breeze is able to crotch him and get another 2 count. Zayn hits a Helluva Kick on Breeze. Kidd dumps Zayn outside the ring and hits the top rope elbow drop to become the #1 contender. This was a good TV main event, but it felt like they were holding back a little bit here. 

Match Rating: ***

This reminded me a lot of the 1994 Raw episodes I have been watching. One good match, a few squashes and a breezy 50 minutes of TV time. This one worked well with the main event feeling important, even if the rest was just meh.

Overall Rating: 60%