NXT 7-10-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, July 10th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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NXT Women's Championship #1 Contender's Match
Bayley vs. Summer Rae

It's always a good way to start off the show with a match that has both a story and a purpose. Bayley has a little fun with Summer to start. Summer battles back, but Bayley catches a kick and slams Summer face-first into the mat. The crowd starts the "Bayley's gonna hug you" chant, which I think is the first time we have heard that. Bayley hits a Spear into the corner and a reverse elbow. Summer battles back with a spin kick into the mid-section, but Bayley kicks out. Bayley hits a second rope reverse elbow and goes for the Bayley-To-Belly, but Summer reverses it and hits the Summer Crush for the victory. Things got a little sloppy there down the stretch, but it was entertaining enough. Summer will now take on Charlotte. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We see highlights of Tyson Kidd attacking Sami Zayn and Neville making the save. They show an interview from last week with Neville and Zayn. Zayn says he should have seen that coming with Kidd, but he was surprised Justin Gabriel was brainwashed so easily. We now go to live with Gabriel and Kidd. Gabriel said he made the choice not to be a loser. 

Sin Cara vs. Wesley Blake

Cara dumps Blake over the top rope and quickly hits a dive before throwing him back in the ring. It's kind of amazing how long this character lasted despite never getting over with the crowd. They try to pretend that Blake has a chance here, but Cara hits a kick to the head and then a senton for the victory. This was just a squash.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Natalya confronts Tyson about his interview and how he threw Natalya under the bus. Tyson tells her that if she wants, she can hang out backstage from now on. 

Summer Rae is backstage with Sasha Banks and they have a snippy conversation about how Sasha will want to be her friend after she becomes NXT Women's Champion. 

CJ Parker is in the ring and calls out Xavier Woods. Parker apologizes for what he said, but Woods isn't buying it. Parker says that he wants to offer peace and he suggests that Woods accept it. Woods doesn't shake his hand, but puts a peace sign in his face. Woods turns away and Parker hits him with a kick to the back of the head. Woods just talked about his PhD, but then he turns his back on someone. 

We get a Vaudevillains vignette with them doing the silent video treatment. 

We then get an Ascension hype video. 

Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins

If you're doing a squash match, the guy who is getting squashed shouldn't look more impressive than the featured guy. I'm not sure why they would pick a guy who looks as impressive as Dawkins here. Bull clubs away on Dawkins and then squashes him in the corner. He hits the Bulldozer and that's all. He continues to not look overly impressive. He gets on the mic and says that he's the wrecking ball and he won't stop until he's NXT Champion. He then makes more constipated faces. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sami Zayn interviews Adrian Neville to ask why he rescued him last week. Neville says that he'll always have Sami's back. 

Sami Zayn & Adrian Neville vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd

Natalya does come out with Kidd. Neville hits a nice crossbody off the second rope and they continue to work on Kidd. Kidd backs Zayn in his corner and Zayn tries to fight his way out. It leads to Zayn getting dumped over the top rope into the commercial break. After the break, Kidd nails Zayn with a series of forearms. Gabriel puts Zayn in the tree of woe and Kidd hits him with a group of kicks. Gabriel then hits a sliding dropkick into the face of Zayn. They then hit a double kick to the head for a 2 count. Zayn hits a hot tag to Neville and he hits a cluster of kicks to Gabriel. He hits the standing moonsault for a 2 count. Neville hits a pop up sit down powerbomb for another nearfall. Kidd tags in and goes for a springboard move, but Neville hits a dropkick on it. Neville climbs up to the top rope, but Gabriel distracts him and Kidd dropkicks the ropes to knock Neville off. Kidd hits the springboard elbow drop, but Zayn barely breaks up the pin attempt. Neville dives through the ropes to hit Gabriel and Zayn hits a top rope crossbody on Kidd in the ring for another 2 count. Zayn hits a back body drop on Kidd out to the floor. Zayn hits a senton over the top rope and knocks out all three men. Kidd is selling a knee injury in the ring. Natalya is checking on him on the apron. Zayn hits a punch on Kidd, which sends him into the ropes, knocking Natalya off the apron. Kidd and Zayn both check and Kidd pretends to walk out of the ring and then rolls up Zayn for the victory. Kidd then walks out with a confused Natalya. This was a very good main event that had a quicker pace than a lot of NXT matches up to this point. I thought Kidd in particular looked very good here. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

This episode had a nice flow to it and a very good main event. It was entertaining, even if nothing of importance really happened prior to the tag match. This show continues to gain momentum.

Overall Rating: 68%

Monday Night Raw 7-18-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, July 18th, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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They show a recap of the Heartbreak Hotel segment with Tatanka before going to Jim Ross and Randy Savage. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Diesel vs. Lex Luger

This one has all of the makings of a styles clash, but maybe they will surprise me. They have a physical start to the match, with Diesel shoving his hand in Luger's face against the rope. That actually gave this match a little legitimacy to give it some character. After getting mauled in the corner, Luger fights back with a powerslam and then knocks Diesel out of the ring. It looks as if the crowd has been heavily sweetened here. Back in the ring, Diesel ducks a charging Luger and he goes flying over the top rope and to the floor. They show Ted DiBiase sneaking a peak from up in the arena before we go to commercial break. When we come back, he's not there any more and Diesel is still in control. Diesel locks in the sleeper for a considerable amount of time. Luger eventually gets out of it and avoids a boot to the face and he hits the DDT. The crowd definitely was into that false finish. Luger accidentally throws Diesel into the referee. He puts Diesel up in the Torture Rack, but Michaels comes in and superkicks him. He wakes up the ref and Diesel crawls onto Luger, but he kicks out at 2. Razor Ramon is making his way out and starts chasing Shawn Michaels around the ring. Michaels ends up in the ring and Luger attacks him. Diesel attacks Razor and the bell rings. Diesel and Michaels get the best of Razor while Luger is out of the ring. Luger eventually makes the save while they were going for a spike piledriver. DiBiase comes out briefly as well and they announce a double disqualification. This was actually a little better than I was thinking it would be. 

Match Rating: **

Mabel vs. Austin Steele

Mabel hits a big suplex on Steele and this one is going to be over quickly. Mabel catches Steele for the Rock Bottom and gets the quick victory. Nothing to see here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for a SummerSlam Report and they're still talking about the same matches they were announced on Superstars. 

Owen Hart vs. Reno Riggins

Don't worry, folks. Leslie Nielsen is on the case to figure out the double Undertaker mystery. Apparently Bruce Hart is siding with Bret, so there's another big scoop. Owen hits a belly-to-belly suplex and slaps on the Sharpshooter for the victory. He doesn't release the hold, claiming he can't hear the ref while Jim Neidhart laughs from outside the ring. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week on Raw, it's Adam Bomb vs. Yokozuna. This one may have been better to wait until next week to announce. Tatanka will take on Nikolai Volkoff as well. Yeesh.

Sparky Plugg vs. George South

This is pretty much the same exact squash that we saw on Superstars except Sparky is wearing green instead of purple. He is one of the many aimless lower mid-carders right now on the roster. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get the whole Undertaker package that they showed on Superstars again. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Gary Sabaugh

Bam Bam is another guy that still really hasn't had a purpose, despite being a guy they probably could have given an upper mid-card push to. Sabaugh gets in a couple of clotheslines, but Bam Bam powerslams him and puts him in the Million Dollar Dream, but turns it into a bulldog for the victory. Yeah, that's not a great finisher. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

When we come back from commercial Savage and JR are with DiBiase. He tells them that he has a big announcement this weekend. Out comes Tatanka and he confronts him about Lex Luger. What a great ending to the show.

The opening match was good enough to keep me entertained, but the rest was pretty flat overall. DiBiase's continued takeover of storylines is such a drag on everything else going on. I remember SummerSlam being a good show, but they are going in extremely flat so far. Let's see how the next month goes to build some more interest in it. 

Overall Rating: 45%

Superstars 7-16-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, July 16th, 1994
Wilkes University Mart Center
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Yokozuna vs. Typhoon

We start the show with Yoko's entrance. We then get the intro and the promise of a big announcement for SummerSlam. Yoko attacks Typhoon as he gets in the ring, but Typhoon quickly knocks him down with a clothesline. They sure are giving Typhoon a lot of offense here for some reason. Yoko tries to body slam him, but he falls on his back and for some reason doesn't go for the pin. Crush comes out and grabs Typhoon's ankle and the ref calls for the bell. Typhoon fights off both guys for a little bit, until Yokozuna hits the belly-to-belly suplex and leg drop. Crush joins in and they continue the attack. This was pretty pointless and Yoko should have just squashed him. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a recap of the awesome Bret Hart/1-2-3 Kid match. 

Duke Droese talks about his feature in the WWF Magazine. I wonder how many issues this sold?

Razor Ramon vs. Barry Hardy

Razor is all business here today. He hits all of his signature moves and quickly hits the Razor's Edge for one of his quickest squashes I can recall. Razor is the one star of this era that I have been watching for the blog since he debuted. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the SummerSlam Report and tickets are going fast, which obviously means it's not sold out. Todd announces that Bret Hart will defend the WWF Championship against Owen Hart in a steel cage. Bret lets us know that he's sickened by what Owen has turn into. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Russ Greenberg

Jarrett does the competitive squash match well. Greenberg hits a body slam and a dropkick, but Jarrett quickly gets up and kicks his legs out from under him when he's celebrating. Jarrett slaps on the Figure Four and gets the victory. That was quick, but par for the course for this episode.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Bob Backlund promo about his history as WWF Champion. They show him losing to Iron Sheik and he says that it still bothers him that he didn't submit. He challenges Bret to a match for the title. This doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense since they just announced that Bret was defending against Owen. Yes, I know the card is always subject to change. 

Headshrinkers vs. Mike Bell & Nick Barberi

Barberi gets knocked out quickly, so Samu drags him to his corner and forces Bell to tag in. Samu hits a DDT off the second rope and then the double Skull Crushing Finale. We get the splash and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Its now time for the debut vignette for Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz. It looks like they spent about $0.30 on this. 

It's time for the Heartbreak Hotel and the guest today is Tatanka. He tells Shawn that he doesn't have a problem with him, but he could. Tatanka then says that Lex Luger has sold out to Ted DiBiase. Shawn says they don't do rumors here on the Heartbreak Hotel, he wants proof. Tatanka shows the video of DiBiase from Raw, which doesn't confirm anything and we already saw it. Michaels then compliments Luger on his decision. Tatanka then reminds them that Luger is fighting Diesel for the Intercontinental Championship on Raw. Tatanka is all heelish here and then walks away. 

Black Phantom vs. Sparky Plugg

Sparky is very purple here today. This would eventually be a curtain jerker of a match in the Attitude Era. Sparky hits a cross body off the top rope and that's all. Another super quick squash here today.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a recap of the super interesting Undertaker vs. Undertaker feud. They show footage from the Royal Rumble where he died. I can only imagine if I actually watched WWF in 1994 how much I would have had to convince myself to think this was cool.

Nikolai Volkoff vs. PJ Walker

What a way to end the show here. DiBiase declares he paid for fireworks, so the cheapest fireworks you'll ever see go off. The match also starts with the green light still on the ring, so I'm guessing the production crew fell asleep. Volkoff does his usual 2 moves and no one cares. Volkoff's story arch has to be one of the most pointless I can remember. He puts on the Boston Crab and that's all for Walker. Not one person in the crowd shows any sort of emotion here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Smoking Gunns at the Hoop It Up tournament in Baltimore. 

Jim Ross lets us know that 1-2-3 Kid will take on Jeff Jarrett next week plus Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow in action. 

This was one of those episodes that had no point and was just here to fill time. I guess you could say the Tatanka segment advanced the story a little bit, but not by much. They also made Yokozuna look weak here, which doesn't make sense to me because they probably were already planning his match at Survivor Series. 

Overall Rating: 39%

Off The Grid, Volume 19: SuperBrawl III Review

Saturday, February 21st, 1993
Asheville Civic Center
Asheville, North Carolina

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Off The Grid, Volume 19:

Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt are here to welcome us to the show. They bring out Johnny B. Badd in his sailor outfit. That just brings us to them introducing Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. No one takes longer to start a pay-per-view than WCW. Now Maxx Payne is playing the "Star Spangled Banner" on his guitar. 

Brian Pillman & Steve Austin vs. Erik Watts & Marcus Alexander Bagwell

I spot a young Matt Hardy in the crowd during Austin and Pillman's entrance. Bagwell gets the better of Austin in the very early stages of the match. Bagwell hits a nice crossbody, but then a not as nice dropkick to the midsection. Watts gets booed when he gets tagged in, which is pretty crazy in 1993. He slaps on the abdominal stretch and tags in Bagwell so that he can put one on? That's a pretty pointless tag. Austin gets out of it and tags in Pillman, who proceeds to get clotheslined. Both men tag out and Watts puts Austin in a Boston Crab, which doesn't looks like it hurts. Pillman comes in and kicks Watts in the face to break the hold. Watts catches Pillman's leg and tries to put him in the STF, but Pillman grabs the bottom rope. Austin and Pillman hit a double back elbow and knock Watts to the floor, much to the approval of the crowd. Watts gets a sunset flip for a close call, but thanks to the distraction from Austin, the ref didn't get there right away. Pillman and Austin were very good at what they did and are doing everything in their power to make Watts and Bagwell good here. Austin launches Pillman off the top rope, but Watts gets his knees up. He tries to make the hot tag, but Austin is there to hit a back suplex. Austin misses the splash on the ropes and now Watts makes the tag to Pillman. Bagwell's hot tag is all punches and a scoop slam. All four men are in the ring and Watts gets knocked out of the ring. Bagwell hits the fisherman suplex, but Austin hits an elbow drop off the top rope to break it up behind the referee's back and Pillman gets the pin. It was a blast watching Pillman and Austin here, but Watts was pretty horrible and Bagwell was very green.

Match Rating: ***

Eric Bischoff is going to be here. Missy tries to get an interview with him coming out of the limo, but is searched by the police and he comes out and walks away. This was kind of weird, but Flair got a huge response when Bischoff announced him.

Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

This is one of those matches you just throw on the card because you know it will be good. They bring up Stu Hart, which is kind of interesting with Bret Hart being the man to beat Ric Flair for the WWF Championship. They show off some of their wrestling skills and athleticism and get a round of applause from the crowd. Some of this stuff is just as good 19 years later as it was then. Scorpio 100% should have been a bigger star than he was. Scorpio misses a missile dropkick and Benoit gets a 2 count. Benoit slaps on a Boston Crab and then hits a super back suplex off the second rope. Scorpio comes back with a big clothesline and a 360 splash in the corner. Scorpio hits a cartwheel splash off the top rope, but Benoit kicks out. Scorpio goes for a victory roll, but Benoit slams him face-first and then hits a second rope leg drop for another nearfall. The countdown is on for the time limit, Scorpio rolls him up and gets the 3 count 1 second before the timer goes off. That was a very well executed finish. Both guys looked very good and everything was extremely crisp. This wasn't a common type of match in 1993 and the crowd appreciated it. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Eric Bischoff is with Maxx Payne, who is subbing for Ron Simmons against Dustin Rhodes tonight. He cuts a lame heel promo and plays his guitar. 

Bill Irwin vs. British Bulldog

It's kind of weird seeing Bulldog in WCW at this time. Irwin looks like a total jobber here, who apparently is making his return here. Irwin does get a little bit offense in here for whatever reason. Bulldog comes back and hits his always impressive vertical suplex. He catches Irwin, puts him up on his shoulder and hits the running powerslam for the victory. This was just to introduce Bulldog to the WCW audience and for the most part, they liked what they saw. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Tony Schiavone interviews Bulldog after his match and he says that the only reason he came to WCW is to become the World Championship World Heavyweight Champion.  

We go back to Johnny B. Badd and Missy Hyatt. All they do is tell us what the next match is and then have us go to Eric Bischoff with Paul Orndorff. He says something, but it sounds like loud noises. Cactus Jack comes at him with a shovel and we are underway.

Falls Count Anywhere Match
Paul Orndorff vs. Cactus Jack

This is such a weird pairing to me. Cactus body slams him on the exposed concrete and hits a follow up elbow drop. Cactus goes up to the second rope and goes for a sunset flip onto the concrete and we get a huge splat before he can even get him into a pin. Ouch. They keep brawling towards the entrance now and Orndorff suplexes Cactus on the safety rail. He then slams his unprotected head into the rail. Foley really could have given himself such a longer career had he just avoided a few of these spots. Back in the ring, Orndorff pulls off the knee brace of Cactus and puts him in the Figure Four. Orndorff seems out of his element here, not really knowing what to do next. He goes back outside and drills the knee of Cactus into the concrete. Orndorff grabs a chair and attacks the knee. Orndorff signals for the piledriver and does the Hulk Hogan ear thing. Cactus grabs the shovel, hits him in the head and gets the victory. This was pretty dull despite the sickening bumps that Cactus was taking. It just felt like it lacked energy overall. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Heavenly Bodies vs. Rock 'n' Roll Express

This is the Tom Prichard/Stan Lane version. Bobby Eaton is out there, but instantly gets sent to the back. Ironically this match would almost exactly be run 9 months later at Survivor Series, with the only difference being Jimmy Del Ray instead of Stan Lane. Lane of course would go on to be my favorite (not really) announcer in WWF. RnR get the best of the Bodies early on, outsmarting them at every turn. They do the cheesy crisscross spot where Morton exits the ring and Cornette runs in and bumps into Lane. Cornette gets in a cheap shot on Morton with the tennis racket and they finally shift the momentum. Prichard hits a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Morton is able to hit a double DDT (almost according to Ventura). Gibson gets the hot tag and it leads to a double dropkick. Gibson flips Cornette in the ring, but Prichard hits Gibson with a bulldog. We get shenanigans now with distractions and Cornette. Out comes Eaton up the top rope. Morton moves out of the way and he hits Prichard, allowing RnR to get the victory. After the match, Eaton and Prichard start to get into it, but they are pulled apart. This was solid, but it felt like it was missing something to make more than just that. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

United States Championship Match
Maxx Payne vs. Dustin Rhodes

Dustin comes out swinging, causing Payne to go outside the ring to regroup. Payne's ring attire is really dorky and doesn't fit the gimmick. Rhodes surprisingly gets a lot of the offense here. They kind of just have an aimless match here, with nothing really happening other than Rhodes bringing some fire. Payne gets in some offense for a little bit, but then Rhodes hits a suplex. He slaps on the abdominal stretch, but Payne grabs the ref and pulls him into Rhodes, causing the disqualification. After the match they continue brawling until Rhodes dropkicks him out of the ring. This really made Payne look weak, but honestly he wasn't ready for this type of match anyways. 

Match Rating: *

They now trot out Ric Flair to a big pop.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Barry Windham vs. Great Muta

Flair joins the announce team and the crowd chants for him as they go through the opening spiel. After a nice first minute or two, we get a lot of rest holds with little spurts in between. Windham hits a DDT, but doesn't go for the cover. The action goes outside and Windham hits a back suplex on the floor. Windham puts on a sleeper hold and then starts to use the ropes for leverage. The ref finally catches him and he has to break the hold. If you like rest holds, this match is right up your alley. Muta dominates for a little bit until Windham is able to roll out of the way of Muta's moonsault. Muta ends up going for it again, but Windham gets the knees up. Windham hits the DDT and we have a new champion. There was just too much stalling in there for this to be a good match, but it wasn't terrible. After the match, Flair goes to put the belt around Windham's waist. Windham sees who it is and Flair struts his way to the back. 

Match Rating: **

White Castle Of Fear Strap Match
Big Van Vader vs. Sting

Schiavone does a nice job of recapping their lengthy feud and then we get a graphic that this is non-sanctioned by WCW. This is also not for the WCW Championship. Vader pulls Sting towards him and hits a big clothesline. He follows it up with a big splash from the second rope. I really would have loved to have seen Vader in this era of WWF. Sting uses the strap to hit him below the belt and explodes for some explosive offense and hits him with a second rope clothesline. He heads up top and hits a big splash. He tries a second time and he hits it. Sting starts whipping the back of Vader and then gets Harley Race when he jumps on the apron. Vader rolls out of the ring and Race attends to him. Sting slides out the other side of the ring post and pulls Vader into it. Vader's back is all bloody already. Sting then hits a body slam outside and then starts dragging Vader on the outside of the ring. Vader is able to pull him into the ring post and end the victory attempt. It really didn't look like Sting was hitting Vader hard enough to make him bleed. Back in the ring, Sting hits a Samoan drop, but then runs into a wall in Vader. Vader goes for the powerbomb, but Sting counters it with a back body drop. The older I get, the more I like surfer Sting over Crow Sting. Vader hits a Samoan drop of his own and slows the pace down. He hits the Vader Bomb splash and starts whipping Sting with the strap. Vader goes for another Vader Bomb, but this time Sting moves. Vader is still the first one up and this time he goes up to the top rope. Sting pulls the strap and crotches him on the top. He pulls again and Vader goes flying. Sting starts to make his comeback and hits a German suplex and a DDT. Sting puts Vader on his back, but the referee gets knocked down. Sting doesn't notice it and carries him around to touch 3 corners, but then trips up before the 4th. Vader then squashes him and then starts dragging him around the ring. Sting holds onto the ropes before the 4th corner, but kicks him into the corner and Vader is declared the winner. After the match, Sting unleashes more strap shots out of frustration. This was a brutal match and both guys brought it. They beat the snot out of each other and kept up a good pace. It was nice to see them not focus the whole match around touching the corners as well. 

Match Rating: ****

After the match, they go to Eric Bischoff with Barry Windham and he says he's going after all championships. WCW never really knew how to end their shows. 

This was a pretty good show that the main event saved from being completely forgettable. There were a few good matches on the card, but nothing really memorable until it got to Sting and Vader. I know that's a match that has a lot of nostalgia and it's easy to see why. The roster was pretty weak at this time, but they were able to overcome it here on this show. 

Overall Rating: 68%

SmackDown 6-30-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, June 30th, 2006
Roanoke Civic Center
Roanoke, Virginia

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Mark Henry is here to kick off the show to talk about last week's match against Rey Mysterio. He rips on Chavo Guerrero and then calls the entire family a bunch of parasites. Out comes Chavo trying to be funny. Henry then says that he spits on the Guerrero name and then that he would spit on Eddie, so Chavo runs in and gets destroyed by Henry. Out comes Rey to try and make the save, but he gets destroyed as well. It's kind of weird that they have two monster heels that they are building at the same time in Henry and Great Khali.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Gregory Helms vs. Super Crazy

Crazy hits a nice springboard dropkick and a slingshot senton out to the floor. Crazy goes up top, but Helms meets him there and snaps his neck on the top rope. Crazy battles back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then another for a 2 count. Helms catches him for a spinebuster and that gets a 2 count as well. Crazy hits a beautiful missile dropkick and a standing moonsault and we almost have a new champ. He puts him in a variation of the abdominal stretch until Psicosis comes in and attacks Super Crazy. Psicosis looks a little unmotivated at first, but he does end up turning it on a little bit. Crazy dropkicks him out of the ring and Psicosis heads to the back. I don't remember any of this. The match was pretty good until the ending. 

Match Rating: **1/4

King Booker and Sharmell are complaining about the cage match tonight. Teddy Long tells them they should be happy that the United States Championship is on the line. Booker than says he's going to beat Lashley to a pulp and it will all be on Teddy's watch.

Batista returns next week. 

Pitbulls vs. Malik Yamah & Marty Garner

This is the debut of the Pitbulls, who came in with no vignettes or hype that I'm aware of. The good news is that they're a legit team right off the bat here. Garner gets a hot tag in, but gets thrown off the top rope while JBL makes fun of his pants. Noble hits a scoop slam and then a powerbomb into a variation of the Doomsday Device. JBL then claims that he hasn't seen that since the 90s with Road Warriors, completely pretending the Heidenreich team didn't exist. This was a very good squash and it's a shame the Pitbulls didn't stick around longer. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

After the same Diva Search recap shown on Raw, Kristal is with Ashley. Ashley talks about how great it was that Kristal finished top 10, which she doesn't like. 

Cole interviews Lashley backstage about the cage match. This is about as generic as it gets. 

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay

Finlay does the apron spot and beats on Hardy. The crowd is very much behind Hardy here. Finlay rips off the top turnbuckle, but then gets hit with the Side Effect for a 2 count. Hardy climbs up top, but Finlay tries to stop him. Hardy knocks him off and he hits a second rope leg drop. He knocks Finlay out of the ring. Finlay gets dragged under the ring by Hornswoggle, confusing Hardy. Hornswoggle attacks Hardy and Finlay is back in the ring. Hardy ducks a shillelagh shot and grabs it. The ref grabs it from Hardy and Finlay drops Hardy face-first into the exposed turnbuckle. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross and picks up the victory. This was a good, entertaining match for the amount of time it got. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Mr. Kennedy vs. Gunner Scott

Scott is basically just a guy here and Kennedy dominates him like a jobber here. Kennedy misses an elbow drop, but it all doesn't really matter and Kennedy hits the Kenton Bomb for the victory. Before Kennedy can say his name for the second time, out comes Great Khali and Daivari. Kennedy heads out of the ring and Khali destroys Gunner. Double jobber duty for today. They wrap him up in a body bag and then Daivari challenges Undertaker to a Punjabi Prison match at Great American Bash. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Miz is in the ring and he's hyping up the cage match with it hanging above.

Vito vs. Simon Dean

My man Simon doesn't get his normal opportunity to make fun of Vito on the way to the ring, which is a disappointment. Vito misses off the top rope and it is exposed that Vito is wearing a thong, which they blur out. Vito fights back and hits an elbow drop off the top rope. He then puts him in his submission hold with Dean's head under his dress for the victory. Next.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get more of Sylvan in his generic Quebec gimmick.

Steel Cage Match For The United States Championship
King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley

If you didn't know before, this is 100% Lashley's first cage match. After a pretty standard opening, Lashley tries to climb out the door. Finlay is there and slams the door on his head. Booker almost gets up, but Lashley grabs him and then hits a spinebuster. They are battling on the top rope, but Booker is able to pull him off and get a 2 count. Booker dominates for a little bit before Lashley catches him for a powerslam. Lashley starts to climb and Finlay starts to climb the cage and William Regal starts banging the cage with a chair. Booker starts to escape across the ring, but Lashley is able to pull him back in. Lashley throws him off the top rope and begins to climb. Finlay tries to get him, but Lashley is able to get out of there before then. This was a pretty basic match with not much to remember about it. 

Match Rating: **

The main event was nothing special, but the rest was quite entertaining overall. The Pitbulls looked very good and Super Crazy also reminded us of how fun he is to watch. This episode cruised along and that's a good thing. 

Overall Rating: 69%

ECW 6-27-06 Review

Tuesday, June 27th, 2006
Roanoke Civic Center
Roanoke, Virginia

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Sabu vs. Roadkill

The show kicks off with Sabu coming down the aisle, which gets no complaint from me. Sabu hits a big top rope DDT. He goes for a triple jump moonsault, but Roadkiill trips him up and he hits face-first on the chair. Roadkill pulls out a table, but Sabu almost kills himself by hitting a dive to the outside. Roadkill hits a second rope elbow drop and is actually looking pretty good here. He goes for a top rope splash, but Sabu throws a chair at him and hits a hurricanrana. Sabu hits the Arabian Facebuster on top of the table. He puts on the Camel Clutch, but Roadkill won't give up. Sabu hits him a few times with the chair and then puts it on again with the chair underneath him and that is all. That was a million times better than I thought it would be. I have mentioned it before that these types of matches aren't my cup of tea like they were back in this era, but this was a well done one. It was all action and chaos in a good way. 

Match Rating: ***

They show Kevin Thorn outside the arena. 

Tommy Dreamer is in the ring and he says after the beating Big Show gave him last week, he has more respect for him. He says "Thank you sir, may I have another?". Out comes Big Show and he destroys Dreamer again. 

Mike Knox tells Kelly that he only likes it when she shows it off to him. He then asks her to be in his corner tonight. 

Kurt Angle says that if he wins his match against RVD tonight, he'll be the #1 contender at Saturday Night's Main Event. Man, a lot is about to go down between now and that SNME for ECW. He considers himself a failure that he hasn't been a champion since April 2nd. 

Mike Knox vs. Danny Doring

This is Knox's in ring debut. Knox hits a Sky High. Meanwhile, Kelly sees a fan that's interested in her and asks him to unhook her bra. Knox runs over there and shoves him to the floor. Knox goes in the ring and hits the Cross Rhodes for the victory, but Kelly headed to the back before it happened. Kelly reveals herself to be on the stage. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They then announce that it's time for Kelly's Exposé with Kelly Kelly. It's not less awkward than it has been in previous weeks. So they went to commercial, she danced for about a minute and now Knox comes out? He throws a shirt at her, but she throws it back. So he goes up the pulls her down and brings her to the back. 

Big Dick Johnson comes out in a robe dancing down the aisle. He's dancing in the ring and Sandman's music hits. He rips off his pants and starts dancing in his g string against Sandman, so of course he gets beaten with the Singapore Cain and that's all. Personally, I'm just waiting for Sandman to get destroyed by someone. 

Paul Heyman tells Rob Van Dam that he's facing John Cena and Edge at Saturday Night's Main Event. If Kurt Angle wins, it becomes a Fatal 4-Way and his odds of retaining become even less. RVD is still confident. Edge and Lita are then shown walking through the crowd and take two guys seats at ringside. 

After the commercial, Tazz interviews Edge and he says he does what he wants, when he wants. He insults Tazz's height and says he came here to watch Angle and RVD destroy each other.

Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam

I remember loving this match and have been wanting to re-watch for a long time. Angle gets RVD to the mat early on and works on the arm. RVD is able to hit him with a windmill kick and then does the same spot he did with Cena the night before where he leaps up to the top rope and Angle shoves him to the floor. When we come back from commercial, Angle has RVD on the mat until he escapes via jawbreaker. Angle quickly hits an overhead belly-to-belly with a release. RVD fights out of a body scissors, but Angle hits him with a German suplex. RVD hits a spin kick and both men are down. They get up and trade forearms. RVD hits a springboard kick and a couple of clotheslines. Angle fights back with a high cradle suplex. Angle goes for the Angle slam, he counters into a sunset flip, which Angle counters to the Ankle Lock, but RVD gets out. Angle hits a belly-to-belly suplex again and gets a 2 count. He puts on the Ankle Lock, but RVD rolls through and hits a superkick. RVD leaps up top and goes for the single leg kick, but Angle catches him and puts him in the Ankle Lock. RVD is able to get to the bottom rope, but Angle drags him back to the center of the ring. This time RVD pulls Angle through the ropes and to the floor. RVD rolls him back in and hits a slingshot leg drop for a nearfall. RVD misses Rolling Thunder and misses, but hits Angle with a kick to the head. He hits a split-legged moonsault, but again Angle kicks out. RVD goes up top again, but Angle leaps up and hits a suplex for another 2 count. Angle goes for the Angle Slam, but this time RVD counters into the spike DDT. RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash and picks up the victory. Things really picked up towards the end of the match to make for a great TV main event. Kudos to RVD for three very good matches in a row with Edge on Sunday, John Cena on Monday and Angle on Tuesday. After the match, Edge Spears RVD and makes out with Lita. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

This was far and away the best episode of ECW so far. We got a great main event, a surprisingly great opener and then some filler in between. With being an hour, the show just goes by a lot quicker than Raw and SmackDown. 

Overall Rating: 73%

Monday Night Raw 6-26-06 Review

Monday, June 26th, 2006
Cumberland County Crown Coliseum
Fayetteville, North Carolina

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JR and Lawler inform us that tonight DX will take on the McMahons and RVD will take on John Cena.

WWE Women's Championship Match
Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James

This is Trish's first match since her injury. Trish hits a Lou Thesz Press and hits a flurry of right hands. Trish hits a spinebuster and gets a 2 count. Mickie kicks Trish in her shoulder, but Trish hits a hurricanrana. Mickie bounces back with a kick to the jaw and goes to work on the shoulder. Mickie hits a big DDT and that's all? I was expecting shenanigans. This was too short to be much.

Match Rating: *

Out comes Melina and Johnny Nitro with the paparazzi. Nitro is fresh off his Intercontinental Championship at Vengeance last night. Melina comes to insult her and tell her that she's no longer the top Diva in WWE. Melina claims to be the new top Diva, so why wouldn't she want to go after Mickie to prove that? Trish pushes Melina, but then Nitro grabs her from behind. Out comes Carlito to make the save. 

After the commercial break, Trish thanks Carlito backstage. He talks about how mad he is at Nitro, but then tells her he's welcome. She then whispers in his ear the answer to the question on his shirt. 

The Spirit Squad is backstage with the McMahons. Shane tells them they didn't get the job done. He says that if you want the job done right, you've got to do it yourself. 

They interview some fans about who they think will win between RVD and John Cena tonight.

Umaga vs. Kamala

Umaga hits a big body slam, which is pretty impressive. He hits Kimchee off the apron and then rams him into the ring post. He throws him in the ring and hits the butt splash on poor Kim Chee. He hits a second rope headbutt on Kamala and then the Samoan Spike for the victory. Slick should have come out and make the save. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a look at the newest Diva Search, which includes the debut of Maryse. 

This leads to Torrie Wilson in the ring to unveil her new magazine cover, which gets pretty much no reaction. Out come Edge and Lita. Edge complains about not being on magazine covers and that he should be WWE Champion. He then says that they are going to leave this show and walks through the crowd. He then goes to a merch stand and takes all of his shirts and says the fans don't deserve them. 

Maria is backstage with John Cena. He mocks Edge for whining. 

Val Venis & Viscera vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

Cade and Murdoch get the already in the ring treatment here, just in case you were wondering what they thought of them at this time. They hit an inverted atomic drop/boot combo. Out comes Charlie Haas to join the party of wrestlers that Vince McMahon no longer cares about. He confronts Lilian Garcia and it grabs the attention of Viscera. He gets tagged in and takes care of both opponents. He hits a double splash, while Haas tries to give Lilian a backrub. He then forcefully kisses her, Cade and Murdoch take advantage and pick up the victory. I'm not really sure how they expected anyone to care about any of this. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Shane and Vince are backstage with a pipe and a baseball bat getting ready for their match.

Triple H comes out dressed as Vince and Lawler tries to sell it as the best thing ever. This all leads to a cringeworthy schtick of a list of all of the guys named Dick that Vince loves. The crowd isn't really even into this. Out comes Shawn dressed as Shane and his little dance is actually pretty funny. This leads to Triple H asking if he's a word that was edited out of the Peacock version. Shawn naturally overdoes the dancing. Triple H then plays the "Stand Back" video from back in the day. Shane and Vince finally come out and they bring out the Spirit Squad as well for backup. They then get dumped on by a load of crap and Triple H gets away with cursing twice on air. This segment was death and if it wasn't enough, they show a way too long recap of it right after the commercial. JR and Lawler are trying to sell how bad it smells, yet all the people behind them seem to be fine. 

They show a recap of Mick Foley/Ric Flair at Vengeance. This leads to a via satellite interview with Flair at home. He hammers home the glorified stuntman angle. 

RVD is getting ready backstage and Paul Heyman comes up and says he's concerned about his match tonight. RVD says he's got this.

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Despite both being with WWE forever, I feel like these two didn't wrestle that often. Kane dominates the early portion of the match and hits the top rope clothesline. The music hits and Kane this time beats up the Imposter Kane. He goes back in the ring and goes for the chokeslam. Imposter Kane comes back on the apron, Kane goes back to him, Orton hits the RKO and that is all. Imposter Kane is back in the ring and Kane gives him a big boot. He hits two chokeslams on him and then fights him up the entrance ramp. Kane then chokeslams him on the top of the ramp and walks away. He comes back out and drags him to the back. The match was nothing. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to meet the 8 finalists for the Diva Search, which includes Maryse, Rosa Mendes and Layla. This feels so degrading. 

We get highlights of RVD winning at One Night Stand. 

We get another Highlanders vignette where they steal the sitting on the urinal joke from Kingpin. They debut next week. 

WWE Championship Match
Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena

RVD leaps up to the top rope, but Cena throws him out to the floor right before an early commercial break. RVD later returns the favor and Cena takes a spill to the floor. RVD hits a somersault dive to the floor. This does have a big match feel to it. After Cena kicks out of a pin attempt, RVD goes and grabs a chair. The ref takes it away and this allows Cena to explode. He hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but RVD counters out of the FU and hits him with a kick to the jaw. RVD counters out of a vertical suplex and hits a German suplex into a bridge for a 2 count. He hits a split legged moonsault, but again Cena kicks out. RVD leaps up and hits the leaping kick. He goes for Rolling Thunder, but Cena gets the knees up. Cena hits the FU and locks in the STFU in the center of the ring. Out comes Edge and he attacks Cena for the disqualification. He hits Edgecution on Cena and then hits a Spear on RVD. He tells RVD that he'll see him tomorrow. I really really liked this match up until the finish. They crammed way more action into this match than the one at One Night Stand. I wish we would have gotten to see more from these two. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

This show had a heck of a main event, but unfortunately so much of it was sucked up by the DX garbage, that it is hard to recommend otherwise. Not to mention Imposter Kane. 2006 was just a weird time. 

Overall Rating: 52%

NXT 7-3-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, July 3rd, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Big Cass vs. Sylvester Lefort

This feud is truly something special. Lefort tries to get off to the fast start, but Cass hits the East River Crossing and then the Empire Elbow and that's all. I'm not sure what the thinking is here with Lefort. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Adrian Neville is backstage talking about his big victory over RVD when Tyler Breeze walks in. Neville says that he'd put his NXT Championship on the line tonight, but Breeze informs him that he suffered a potential career ending injury in a hand modeling accident. He reveals that one of his fingers is in a splint. 

We get a Bull Dempsey hype video. 

Charlotte & Sasha Banks vs. Bayley & Becky Lynch

Well here is the first televised match to contain all of the 4 Horsewomen. Bayley and Becky dominate the first segment of the match and celebrate it into the commercial break. When we come back, the BFFs are able to turn things around and single out Bayley. Bayley is able to make the hot tag and she hits a trio of leg drops on Sasha. Charlotte tosses Bayley out of the ring and then tags in and hits a dropkick to the knee of Lynch. She hits Natural Selection and gets the victory. That was kind of a weird finish, as it felt like it came a little early. After the match, Sasha is trash talking in the face of Lynch, so Bayley throws her out of the ring. This was decent enough, but a long way from what they would eventually be capable of.

Match Rating: *3/4

Justin Gabriel is talking up Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd walks in. Kidd tells Gabriel that he's on his way to becoming an afterthought and that he needs to do something about it. Gabriel says he's going to prove him wrong by beating Sami tonight. 

Sasha asks why Charlotte didn't help her from Bayley's attack. Charlotte says that they're done tagging, but she's going on her own. She says that Summer coming back proved that she can't trust anyone. Sasha tells her that Summer is taking on Bayley to become the #1 contender and that she'll need the luck. 

CJ Parker vs. Steve Cutler

Parker shows off a little bit more aggressive side here. It seems like he hasn't wrestled in a long time. He hits a Booker T-esque kick and that's all. He grabs the mic and informs us that Xavier Woods is a semester away from his doctorate degree. He questions what Woods has done since leaving NXT and mocks him. He says that if he had the opportunity Woods had, he would change the world. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to a previously recorded interview between Tyson Kidd and Renee Young. They show the story between him and Natalya. All of Kidd's answers portray him as a bad husband and he walks off after Renee asks if they are having marital problems. 

Sami Zayn vs. Justin Gabriel

Tyson is out at ringside here. With Gabriel's new hair, he basically was the WWE AJ Styles before AJ Styles came to WWE. Gabriel hits a standing spin kick and gets a nearfall. Sami hits a couple of dropkicks and then the Blue Thunder Bomb for a 2 count. I will never understand how that isn't a finisher. Sami hits the exploder suplex into the turnbuckle, another move that could be a finisher. Gabriel avoids the Helluva Kick and hits a kick of his own. Gabriel hits a springboard moonsault for a 2 count and Gabriel isn't happy. Gabriel goes up to the top, but Zayn meets him there. They battle each other and it all leads to Sami Zayn picking up the submission with the Koji Clutch. They never quite got to the second gear, but this was a well worked match and a worthy TV main event.

Match Rating: ***

After the match, Kidd attacks Zayn. Gabriel eventually joins in until Adrian Neville makes the save. They might as well bring out Teddy Long to announce a tag team match. 

This was a good episode overall that was anchored by a good main event. The women's match felt like it could have been a little longer, especially since there were two very short squashes on the show. 

Overall Rating: 61%

Monday Night Raw 7-11-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, July 11th, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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Jim Ross is on Raw also and he and Randy Savage hype up the big match tonight. 

WWF Championship Match
1-2-3 Kid vs. Bret Hart

Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart come out and are on the apron. A couple of officials are out to take them to the back. Things start off slowly, but build to a nice kick by Kid that sends Bret out of the ring right before the commercial break. When we come back, Bret is able to hit a knee to the midsection and then some big uppercuts. Kid goes for a crucifix, but Bret slams him down and goes for the pin. The ref counts to 3, but Kid got his foot on the bottom rope. Bret lets Earl Hebner know and they restart the match. Bret once again dominates until Bret goes up to the second rope for the elbow drop, where Kid gets his foot up. He hits a kick to the jaw and a running dropkick in the corner. Kid goes up and hits a top rope reverse crossbody for a 2 count. Kid hits a powerbomb and then a top rope leg drop, but Bret is still able to kick out. Kid clotheslines him over the top rope and sort of hits a somersault dive. He rolls Bret into the ring and goes for a top rope somersault dive, but this time Bret moves out of the way. Bret tries to put on the Sharpshooter, but Kid grabs the bottom rope. Bret goes for a second rope superplex, but Kid blocks it on the way down and gets another nearfall. Kid misses a dropkick in the corner. This allows Bret to hit a bulldog. Bret goes to the top rope, but Kid body slams him from there. Kid goes up top, Bret catches him and puts him in the Sharpshooter for the victory. This was a really good TV match and was just about all action. After the match, the two embrace.

Match Rating: ****

It's time for the SummerSlam Report. Paul Bearer gives an interview and honestly I'm not sure I listened to a single word he said. 

Crush vs. Matt Hardy

Which version of Hardy is this? They show a wide shot of the arena for some reason to show that it looks pretty minor league. Hardy runs up the top rope and does a backflip, but Crush moves and hits him with a kick to the face. This leads to Randy Savage saying "Goooooooooooaaaaaaaal" like 3 times. Crush hits the spinning backbreaker and gets the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week it's Lex Luger vs. Diesel.

Razor Ramon vs. Barry Horowitz

Barry gets in a quick minute of offense before Razor hits a fall away slam. Razor goes for the Razor's Edge, but then shocks the world when he goes for an inside cradle and gets the victory. JR and Savage are more worried about which detective they are going to hire to find out how there are two Undertakers.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to a special King's Court in one of Ted DiBiase's office, which looks less than a million dollars. DiBiase claims he owns Lex Luger even though he hasn't signed a contract yet. 

IRS vs. Ray Hudson

I really don't get why we needed so much solo IRS in 1994. I feel like he is on here every week. He puts him in The Penalty for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They now talk to Bret Hart and JR tells him that his match tonight was the best championship match he has ever seen. Bret talks up Kid and said he is lucky to still be the WWF Champion. Bret calls Owen a fluke and says that since Neidhart is in his corner, he's going to have one of his brothers in his corner. 

Well, you have one of the greatest matches in Raw history up to this point and honestly for quite some time. The squashes are all quick and do their job. The DiBiase segment was really the only letdown and that was very quick.

Overall Rating: 78%

Superstars 7-9-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, July 9th, 1994
Wilkes University Mart Center
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Why does it look less like JR and Jerry Lawler are in the arena than it did when they first got their green screen?

Fake Undertaker vs. Tatanka

If you put a list of matches together that I was really looking forward to seeing, this wouldn't be on it. Underfaker attacks Tatanka thanks to the help of Ted DiBiase and then hits Old School. Faker does one of the worst submission holds I've ever seen where he just squeezes Tatanka's face for what feels like eternity. Tatanka makes his comeback and he knocks him off his feet. Faker sits up and quickly hits the Tombstone for a rare pinfall victory on Tatanka. This is all worse than I ever imagined. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the SummerSlam Report, where Todd Pettengill announces that Undertaker is taking on the Undertaker. Todd is confused, so we get an interview from Paul Bearer to tell Ted DiBiase that he will rest in peace. 

Mabel vs. Black Phantom

Black Phantom hits a few clotheslines and a dropkick, which leaves Mabel leaning on the rope. Mabel comes back with a clothesline and a suplex. He hits a big leg drop and that is all. I'll take Mabel over Fake Undertaker any day of the week. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a video package hyping up the Bret Hart/1-2-3 Kid match on Raw. 

Diesel vs. Chris Kanyon

Nobody better than Kanyon('s mullet). Diesel dominates, but that doesn't stop Shawn Michaels from getting in a cheap shot. Diesel hits Snake Eyes and a big boot. The Jackknife ends it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week it's Yokozuna vs. Typhoon on Superstars. 

WWF Women's Championship Match
Luna Vachon vs. Alundra Blayze

Alundra ducks a charging Alundra and she goes over the top rope. Luna puts the Boston Crab on in the middle of the ring until Alundra is able to roll through for a 2 count. Luna hits a swinging neckbreaker and hits a top rope splash for another nearfall. She goes for a Frog Splash, but Alundra moves out of the way. She hits a German suplex with a bridge and gets the victory. This was too short, but what we got was enjoyable. 

Match Rating: **

Owen Hart vs. Barry Scott (?)

Owen hits a reverse neckbreaker and a nice missile dropkick. He tosses his opponent around before locking in the Sharpshooter for the quick victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Bret Hart music video for some reason.

Jim Messenger vs. Duke Droese

Droese is able to body slam the large Messenger and then hits a big elbow drop for the victory. He'll be headlining MSG in no time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show some annoying kid who was the co-host of WWF Mania. 

Jim Cornette says that Typhoon is going to wash back to see next week when he faces Yokozuna. 

Well, this episode was pretty uneventful, but also flew by once the first match was over. The women's match was a nice change of pace that deserved at least a couple more minutes than what we got. Look, 1994 isn't for everybody. But it also really isn't that bad with the exception of the Fake Undertaker stuff. 

Overall Rating: 46%

Vengeance 2006 Review

Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Charlotte, North Carolina

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Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle

These two had a disappointing match at One Night Stand, so let's see what they can do here. After a little bit of mat wrestling, they move to the apron. Angle attempts a suplex off the apron, but Orton holds on. They go to the floor and Angle suplexes him there instead. Back in the ring, Orton hits his patented dropkick. Sadly, this is the last pay-per-view match of Angle's run here in WWE. Since I started re-watching this timeline, we will have lost three of my favorite wrestlers in Angle, Christian and Chris Jericho. Orton dominates the next few minutes and goes up to the top rope. Angle runs up and suplexes him off and both men are down. Angle hits a couple more suplexes, but Orton is able to counter into his inverted backbreaker. Orton takes off the top turnbuckle, but then Angle grabs him and hits 8 German suplexes in a row. I'm not sure I've seen him ever hit more than that. Angle locks in the Ankle Lock, but Orton pulls Angle through and into the top turnbuckle. Orton hits the RKO and that is all. Man, this guy in a John Cena shirt sure is excited about it. They didn't hit that turnbuckle spot as cleanly as they probably hoped. This was better than One Night Stand, but still disappointing considering who was involved.

Match Rating: **3/4

Vince McMahon is on the phone backstage and a kid in a wheelchair comes in. He's wearing a DX shirt, so Vince is wondering where the rest of the theatrics are. So Vince takes the kid and pushes him out the door and you hear a crash sound. Coach then lets him know that he brought someone that he knows to the show that is his biggest fan and he's in a wheelchair. Why was this a segment? 

Umaga vs. Eugene

Armando Alejandro Estrada gets on the mic and says that Eugene can bring all of the imaginary friends he wants tonight, but he won't stop Umaga. Eugene comes out and brings out Jim Duggan, Doink and Kamala. I'm not really sure why this is on pay-per-view, but this is the kind of stuff that happens on the brand exclusive shows. Eugene tries his best, but Umaga hits him with the butt smash in the corner. He hits the Samoan Spike and that's all. I'm not sure what they paid Kamala here, but I'm pretty sure he made out on this deal. After the match, Umaga destroys Duggan and Doink, but is advised by Estrada to not mess with Kamala. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mick Foley is with Todd Grisham and he reads an excerpt of Ric Flair's book that calls Foley a glorified stuntman. Foley says tonight he's going to wipe the ring with wrestling moves tonight. 

Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match
Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair

The crowd surprisingly chants "Foley sucks" to open the match. I personally will take Foley any day of the week over Flair and don't really care if that's considered a hot take. Foley hits a few right hands and a knee in the corner. He pulls out Socko, whom he has dressed up like Flair. Flair grabs Foley by the testicles and then hits a double ax handle off the top rope. Flair sells his knee off the leap and Foley attacks it. Flair is able roll into an inside cradle and gets the first pinfall to go up 1-0. Foley takes Flair outside the ring, but Flair is able to throw him into the steps. Foley is able to hit a back body drop over the barricade and tosses Flair back in. Foley goes under the ring and grabs a garbage can. Flair is able to knock Foley down first and puts him in the Figure Four. Foley grabs the trash can and hits Flair in the head with it, causing the disqualification and losing the match 2-0. Foley hits Flair with it one more time for good measure and then goes under the ring again to grab the barbed wire baseball bat. He hits Flair in the head with it and then scrapes his forehead with it. Flair is busted open big time. This all kind of fell flat here, despite who was involved.

Match Rating: *1/2

Maria is backstage with Carlito. Maria talks about the cool paradox, which baffles Carlito. Torrie Wilson comes over in a bikini and asks if Maria will rub baby oil over her body and then asks if Carlito will hold her puppies. Maria and Torrie begin rubbing oil on each other and Carlito's music hits.

Triple Threat Match For The Intercontinental Championship
Carlito vs. Johnny Nitro vs. Shelton Benjamin

We get lots of quick roll ups and pin attempts early on. Nitro has been treated like a jobber since switching over to Raw in traditional WWE fashion. Carlito eats a big boot in the face that was meant for Nitro. Carlito clotheslines Shelton over the top rope and then catapults Nitro over the top as well. Carlito fakes a slingshot dive, but it still backfires as Nitro throws him into the ring post. While Nitro and Benjamin are fighting, Carlito hits a double jump senton onto both opponents. Back in the ring, Nitro hits a tilt-a-whirl side Russian leg sweep on Carlito. Carlito hits a hurricanrana on Nitro to the surprise of the crowd. Shelton runs in though and launches him up and lands face first on the mat. Carlito so rarely hits a move crisply. Nitro hits a monkey flip on Shelton and Carlito is there to meet him with a dropkick in a cool spot. Nitro is going for a superplex on Carlito, but Shelton shakes the ropes and crotches Nitro. He's now in a tree of woe and Shelton leaps over him to land on the top rope. Nitro pulls himself up and hits a tower of doom powerbomb/suplex combo which gets a huge pop from the crowd. As far as I know, this was one of the first spots like that in WWE. Carlito hits a Backstabber on Shelton. Nitro pulls Carlito out of the ring and pins Shelton to win the Intercontinental Championship. This was a good match that got some time, but not quite as strong as I remembered.

Match Rating: ***1/4

The Spirit Squad is getting fired up backstage and in walks Vince. He tells them that no one makes a fool out of them. Vince walks in the bathroom to try out his pump and gets green paint in his face. 

WWE Championship Match
Edge vs. Rob Van Dam

Edge gets on the mic and says that the WWE Championship doesn't belong in ECW just like the Stanley Cup doesn't have any place in North Carolina. He then says in both cases a Canadian did all of the work. That was actually pretty good. They have a nice exchange that ends with Edge missing a second rope reverse crossbody and RVD hitting a standing moonsault. RVD goes for Rolling Thunder, but Edge rolls out of the ring. RVD goes out to greet him and hits a moonsault off the barricade. Lita grabs RVD's leg on the way in and it allows an opening for Edge. He hits a sunset flip powerbomb onto the floor. He almost went a little too far there. Edge slows things down and works on the back of RVD. Edge gets on the apron and RVD launches himself and they both going flying to the floor. RVD goes for the guillotine leg drop, but Edge is able to move out of the way. They get back in the ring, only for Edge to dump RVD out again. Edge then hits a powerbomb onto the barricade. RVD attempts a comeback, but Edge catches him for a powerslam. RVD does comeback with a top rope kick and then hits a split legged moonsault for a 2 count. Edge ducks a kick and he accidentally hits the referee. Lita hands Edge the title belt, but RVD kicks it into his face. RVD goes up top, but Lita crotches him on the top rope. Edge is bleeding a little bit from the corner of his eye. Edge then hits a draping DDT from the top rope, but the referee is still hurt. He gets up, but RVD kicks out at 2. Lita puts a chair in the corner behind RVD. Edge goes for the Spear, RVD moves and he runs into the chair. RVD runs up top and hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the victory. That was a really well worked match that played to both guys strengths. It wasn't quite a classic, but pretty close. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

In the back, they show the ECW locker room cheering RVD on. Paul Heyman comes in to talk about them being extreme lumberjacks tonight. Heyman informs them that there will also be WWE lumberjacks as well. 

Kane vs. Imposter Kane

This feud is death. Kane clotheslines the imposter over the top rope and he lands on his feet. Imposter then clotheslines Kane and throws him back into the ring. Kane tries to rip the mask off of the imposter, even though he said he knows who it is. He gets hit by a sidewalk slam from the imposter. I mean honestly, I don't even care to type about this one. Kane hits a DDT and a powerslam. My feed even agrees this match sucks because it starts to freeze on me. Fake Kane hits a big boot and goes up to the top rope. Kane meets him there and hits a superplex, which was actually pretty impressive. Imposter Kane hits a chokeslam and gest the victory in one of the dumber booking decisions of the year. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Extreme Lumberjack Match
Sabu vs. John Cena

The lumberjacks start getting in each others faces and Cena walks in between them to get things started. The Raw lumberjacks are the cream of the crop that you would expect here. Val Venis and Rob Conway get double duty tonight after their dark match earlier on. Cena is the first one dumped to the floor and the ECW roster is all over him. He gets dumped out again and Sandman hits Cena in the head with a cane. There's no way I'm having Sandman hit my golden goose with a cane in the head, but that's just me. Sabu grabs a chair and hits the Arabian Face Buster off the second rope. Sabu misses the double leap splash into the turnbuckle. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but he's distracted by the lumberjacks brawling. He goes outside and hits a FU on Stevie Richards and then immediately gets hit in the face with a chair by Sabu. Al Snow then holds Cena and Sabu throws another one in the face. They set up a table and Sabu and Dreamer hold him on it. Big Vis comes in and makes the save and Cena is able to hit Sabu in the head with the kendo stick. Cena then chucks a chair at Sabu and hits the FU over the top rope and onto the table. That looked like that incredibly painful. The lumberjacks throw Sabu back in and he puts on the STFU for the victory. That was a really spirited match that didn't get a lot of time. Sabu was on his game here and Cena is always good in this type of a match. This is sort of an unsung match due to the length given.

Match Rating: ***1/4

After the match, Cena runs into RVD backstage. He says that he admires that Cena had the balls to walk into the ECW locker room last week. RVD suggests that tomorrow on Raw, they go one on one for the WWE Championship. 

D-Generation X vs. Spirit Squad

A main event for the ages. I wonder how much money the Spirit Squad made in 2006? Michaels gets in the wrong corner, but is able to fight off all of the Spirit Squad and DX sends them all out of the ring. Johnny must have caught an elbow or fist to the face because his nose is gushing. Johnny tags himself in and spits some blood at HBK. He puts on his martial arts headband, so HBK tags in Triple H. I will say I do love when Triple H does his "Are you serious" facial expression. Johnny gets beat up some more and then Michaels crotches him on the ring post. Triple H then pulls his pants down, which just exposes the rest of his singlet. This just feels way too much like a TV match to be headlining a pay-per-view. The Spirit Squad finally turns things around after they hit Michaels in the head with a chair. The ref didn't see it, but you would think he would be able to put two and two together with the noise it made. Mikey uses the trampoline to hit a leaping bulldog for a 2 count. Triple H takes the trampoline and tosses it over to the Spirit Squad's corner. The Squad works on Michaels now while the crowd chants a hideous chant. Michaels is able to launch Nicky over the ropes and into the ring post. Michaels then hits a double DDT and makes the hot tag to Triple H. It's time to just end this thing. He hits a couple of spinebusters and goes for the Pedigree, but it gets broken up. Mikey goes for a somersault off the trampoline, but Michaels ducks and he takes out three of his teammates. That leaves Kenny in the ring with DX now and he eats a Pedigree. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on on Mitch and they get the double pin for the victory. This wasn't bad or anything, it was just too long for what they were trying to accomplish. They hit their finishers on the remaining members and then throw them out of the ring minus Mitch. Triple H pulls down his trunks and Mitch joins a different variation of the "club". Let's move on here. Vince comes out and tells DX that he'll see them tomorrow night. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This was the definition of a filler show. Nothing really happened on it. DX had already had it's reunion, so that didn't feel as special either. The WWE Championship match was very good and the Cena match was a lot of fun. A lot of the rest just felt like Raw and made it feel even more that way by having RVD challenge Cena to a match on Raw. 

Overall Rating: 61%

NXT 6-26-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, June 26th 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Vaudevillains vs. Matt Sugarman & Tee Perkins

This is a lot more hokey than I remember. I kind of just miss singing Aiden English. They dominate the match. They win the match. It's quick. I'm good at writing. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They recap the Sami Zayn/Tyson Kidd saga and show an interview from last week with Sami Zayn, who says it's not the last you'll hear of between him and Tyson.

Xavier Woods vs. Bull Dempsey

CJ Parker is out walking around with his sign during Woods' entrance. They try their best to hype up Bull here on his debut. They can talk him up all they want, but this is about as blah of a match that you could have. Woods is able to hit Bull with a kick in the face. He heads up top, but Bull swats him away. Bull then squashes him in the corner and hits the Bulldozer for the victory. Bull Dempsey, more like Dull Dempsey, am I right? He grabs the mic and he says that this is the beginning of an era of devastation. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Summer Rae vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch makes her debut dancing like a total dork. I mean honestly, she is acting like how you would expect a heel to come out making fun of her, except it's actually her. Lynch is very over with the crowd though. Summer is able to hit a roundhouse kick for a 2 count. Becky pretty much dominates the rest of the match and hits a Becksploder for the victory in a quick match. She showed a lot more promise than Bull, that's for sure. Meanwhile, Sasha Banks and Charlotte mock Summer. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Colin Cassady vs. Sawyer Fulton

Fulton tries to start off quickly, but Cass hits a big boot to the face. He hits the Sawft elbow and that is all in a quick squash.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sylvester Lefort and the other guy come out to the ring. Enzo's music hits and they do their schtick. 

Tyler Breeze joins the announce booth for the main event.

Adrian Neville vs. Rob Van Dam

It's safe to say that I didn't know this match ever existed. RVD is definitely a step slower here in 2014. They do a lot of back and forth sequences. This leads to them going out of the ring and Neville hitting a moonsault and a kick from the apron before the commercial break. RVD props Neville on the ropes and hits a top rope kick. He follows that up with Rolling Thunder, but Neville kicks out. RVD sets up Neville in the tree of woe and hits a spin kick. Neville fights back and hits his usual comeback sequence. He hits a second rope missile dropkick and gets a 2 count. RVD goes for a split legged moonsault, but Neville moves out of the way. RVD hits a cool looking pop up kick to the jaw. RVD goes up top, but misses the frog splash. Neville hits the Red Arrow and that is all. This was a solid outing, where they tried to capitalize on their unique skillsets. 

Match Rating: ***

This was a pretty good show overall, where they focused heavily on new talents and they should be pushing them all. There was hardly any fluff and the majority of the show was in the ring, which I will never complain about. 

Overall Rating: 60%