ECW 10-3-06 Review

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
Landon Arena
Topeka, Kansas

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Paul Heyman is with Hardcore Holly and tells him how tough he is for surviving a staph infection and the huge laceration in his back from last week. Holly doesn't care, he just wants RVD tonight. Heyman says he can't do that due to law suits. Holly grabs Heyman and says he'll give him a reason to sue him. Test comes from behind and hits him with a chair in the back. Heyman informs him that RVD will be facing Test tonight. 

Sandman & Sabu vs. Big Show & Matt Striker

Show bullies Sabu around a little bit before tagging in Striker. Sabu is able to hit a springboard leg lariat and we have a commercial break. When we come back, Show hits a big headbutt on Sabu. Show follows that up with a vertical suplex and then steps on him before tagging in Striker. Striker sets Sabu up in the ropes and hits a dropkick, sending him to the floor. Show throws him back in and they get a 2 count. Striker sets him up in the corner and hits the running boot to the face of a seated Sabu. Striker goes off the second rope, but Sabu hits him with a spin kick on the way down and is able to make the tag to Sandman. Sanaman is loving it and hits a series of left hands before hitting the hurricanrana from the top rope. Show comes in though and attacks both Sabu and Sandman. He hits a big splash on Sandman and Striker picks up the pin for the victory. That ending was pretty weak. I will say that Striker looked pretty good here though. 

Match Rating: **

Kelly Kelly and Trinity say that they've invited the Divas from Raw and SmackDown to play Extreme Strip Poker. Kelly Kelly then unbuttons her top to reveal a pair of aces. 

Kevin Thorn vs. Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer hits a running knee, but Thorn drops Dreamer on his back when he tries climbing up the ropes. Thorn is on the attack and hits a gutbuster. He misses in the corner though and Dreamer hits a neckbreaker. Dreamer fires back with a series of fists and a swinging neckbreaker. He goes for the DDT, but Thorn is able to grab the rope to block it. Dreamer gets another shot at it and nails it, but Thorn's arm is under the rope. Ariel hands him his cane and he nails Dreamer in the face with it behind the referee's back and picks up the win. Thorn was just a lost cause, as no one ever cared about him in this role. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Maria hypes up poker next week. 

CM Punk vs. Danny Doring

Doring tries for a vertical suplex, but instead gets hit with a double underhook backbreaker. Punk hits the running knee lift in the corner and follows it up with the bulldog. Punk hits the slaps and the kick to the head. Here comes the Anaconda Vice and that's all. After the match, Kelly Kelly calls out Punk and starts dancing for him. Mike Knox comes out and says that he's getting sick of this. Punk is sick of his girl not staying away from him. Knox heads to the ring, but decides not to. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ashley and Kristal are coming for Extreme Strip Poker. 

Extreme Rules Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Test

Test isn't feeling RVD's taunting, so he kicks him the gut before the can finish. The action goes outside and RVD blocks a suplex and puts Test on the guardrail. Test moves out of the way on the helicopter leg drop and both men are already down. RVD ducks Test running with the steps and he rams into the ring post with them. RVD sets Test on the steps and he hits Rolling Thunder before going to set up a table. Back in the ring, Test is able to explode for a clothesline to shift the momentum back in his favor. Some chairs get into the ring and RVD is able to chuck one at the face of Test. Test is on the apron and RVD hits a sunset flip powerbomb over the top rope and through the table. That didn't look pleasant. After a commercial break, Heyman and his goons are out. Test hits a low blow on RVD and gets thrown to the outside. His goons throw RVD into the ring post and hit him with a nightstick. RVD gets thrown face-first into a chair propped in the turnbuckles, but is somehow able to kick out at 2. RVD comes back adn is able to hit a spin kick in the corner and grabs a chair. He hits the skateboard dropkick to the face of Test. He puts a chair on Test, but Test rolls away and leaves the chair for RVD to land on. Test goes up to the top rope and hits a dive with a chair onto Van Dam. RVD kicks out again, so now Test brings a table into the ring. Test goes to powerbomb RVD through the table, but he counters it and gets a 2 count. RVD hits the top rope kick to the face and then sets Test up on the table. He hits a dive onto the 2 enforcers and climbs the top rope. Big Show shoves him off and he goes through the table. Test hits his finisher and that is all. They gave these two a lot of time here. The storyline is very tired, but this match worked out well enough. This was a good main event.

Match Rating: ***1/4

About a half of the show was the main event and just about everything else wasn't worth anyone watching. However, it's ECW and we'll take that. 

Overall Rating: 50%

Monday Night Raw 10-2-06 Review

Monday, October 2nd, 2006
Kansas Expo Center
Topeka, Kansas

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DX is out to start the show and they do they spiel. Out comes Jonathan Coachman and he tells them they have to compete right now in a Texas Tornado Match. 

Texas Tornado Match
D-Generation X vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Viscera & Charlie Haas vs. Highlanders

Cade and Murdoch go right after DX and we're underway. Triple H is able to move out of the way of a Viscera squash in the corner and then they hit a double clothesline to knock Vis down. Murdoch gets hit by a knee to the face and an inverted atomic drop before throwing him out of the ring. Haas eats a spinebuster and a Michaels top rope elbow drop. They hit the Sweet Chin Music/Pedigree combo on Haas and that's it. There is no better way to build your struggling tag division than to squash them like they're jobbers on Superstars. It was cute those 30 seconds they cared about Cade and Murdoch. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

After the match, Coach is unhappy and says that he still runs this show. DX threatens to throw him out of the building and that they'll run this show. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy

We get a little bit of action leading to Hardy leaping off the apron on Nitro right before the commercial break. During the break, Hardy got kicked in the face by Nitro when he went for the swinging mule kick in the corner. When we come back, Nitro has the camel clutch in. Hardy breaks free, but misses with Whisper In The Wind. Nitro hits a sliding dropkick, sending Hardy into the ring post. Sensing Hardy gaining momentum, Melina pulls Nitro out of the ring. It backfires and they both end up getting hit with the running dive off the guardrail. Back in the ring, Nitro climbs to the top rope, but Hardy meets him there. Hardy hits a back body drop off the top and he hits the Swanton to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Looking back 16 years, I wasn't expecting that to happen here. Both guys put in a good effort here. 

Match Rating: ***

DX is knocking on Coach's door. Hilarity ensues. 

Next week it's a 3 hour Raw Family Reunion. One of the many tune ups to get me ready for reviewing modern Raw episodes in like 15 years. 

Maria is backstage with Jeff Hardy and he says winning this title was the reason that he came back to Raw. Maria says that she's going to ECW to be involved in the Extreme Strip Poker. Melina interrupts and starts screaming. Hardy covers her mouth and then leaves. 

Coach is on the phone with Vince and he's telling him that he can't run Raw like he does. He tells Coach to go out to the ring and of course Coach listens. He reluctantly leaves his office and checks every way before heading out. If anything, we're getting a little bit more behind the scenes than we typically do. Eventually, Triple H is standing in the hallway and when Coach turns around, Michaels is at the end of the other hallway. It turns into a western and we have a tumbleweed on the ground. Coach runs into the closest room and it's the women's locker room. DX decides to walk in and Triple H flirts with the ladies before Michaels grabs him. Coach runs into another room and this time it's Big Dick Johnson and he shoves him to the ground. He then slips on a floor being mopped and DX is there to find him. He runs into a production truck and DX throws him in a rolling dumpster and tells one of the employees to dump the cart. 

I should note that earlier they showed highlights of Cena/Edge at New Year's Revolution and now they are showing highlights from their match at Royal Rumble. 

When we come back that DX is shown with the Spirit Squad and they let them know they are in charge. They tell them they have a new dress code and threaten him with the sledgehammer.

Next week it's going to be Umaga vs. Kane in a Loser Leaves Raw match. Too bad it wasn't a Loser Really Loses WWE Forever match with Kane losing.

Umaga vs. Snitsky

Hey, Snitsky is still alive. Snitsky sidesteps Umaga and gets in some of his trademark punches and kicks. He knocks Umaga down with a shoulder tackle, but Umaga hits him with the pop up Samoan drop. That was awesome. Umaga hits the running butt in the face and the Samoan Spike for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Randy Orton is backstage with Todd Grisham. He is sick and tired of Carlito running his mouth. He knows what cool is and that's RKO. 

Randy Orton vs. Carlito

Well, 2 weeks ago this was a featured match on a pay-per-view and tonight it's an unadvertised middle of the show match. Orton is aggressive to start and throws him into the ring post. He does it again, but this time it's not as convincing. Orton keeps grabbing Carlito's arm and twisting it as well. Carlito tries to fight back with some chops and then hits a springboard reverse elbow. He hits a springboard somersault and then a springboard moonsault for a 2 count. We get a back and forth segment that leads to Carlito hitting a springboard crossbody and Orton rolls through and steals the victory. All of this feels kind of odd. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show the highlights of Edge interfering in the Rob Van Dam/John Cena match at One Night Stand.

DX is telling the Spirit Squad that they have to come out and they are refusing. They say that they will be stripped of their Tag Team Championships if they don't and then make an unfortunate "joke". 

Cryme Tyme knocks a coffee into the face of a police officer and show off their speed and agility by getting away. 

Nicky vs. Sgt. Slaughter

The Spirit Squad come out dressed as female cheerleaders. Slaughter slaps on the Cobra Clutch right away, but Nicky gets to the ropes. Sarge spanks him as punishment. Nicky's able to dump Slaughter out of the ring and the other Spirit Squad members attack him. Nicky puts on a submission hold and then DX shows up on the screen, holding up a thong and telling him he forgot something. Slaughter rolls him up and picks up the win. I'm sure Vince loved all of this.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We see highlights of Edge winning the WWE Championship from RVD in a triple threat. 

WWE Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match
Mickie James vs. Victoria

DX has ordered that both competitors have to wear lingerie, so that of course leads to some great jokes from Lawler. Unfortunately these two talented ladies are off to a little bit of a rough start. Nothing they are hitting really looks smooth. Mickie gets dumped out of the ring, but she jumps up to the top rope and then misses the sunset flip. They try to recover and it leads to Victoria try to cheat and then Mickie rolls her up from there. This was about as bad as this match could have been. After the match, Victoria snaps and throws a chair. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Eric Bischoff book promo. Chris Masters is talking to Eric Bischoff and then DX comes in. He tells them they were a blatant ripoff of the nWo. They ask Masters when he's going to write a book and he said that he wants to write one on nutrition. He asks him if it will be called How To Lose 50 Pounds In 4 Weeks? Classy.

They show Cena winning the title from Edge. They for some reason skipped over SummerSlam?

Steel Cage Match For The WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena

Cena starts off on a mission and hits a big vertical suplex. Cena has his left arm wrapped up from his attacks the last week. Edge gets an opening and goes right to work on it. Edge tries to escape through the door, but Cena grabs him by the trunks and hits a back suplex. Edge tries to escape the top of the cage, but Cena catches him and throws him off the top rope. After a failed pin attempt, Edge is able to throw Cena into the cage to slow him down. Edge hits Edgecution, but Cena is able to kick out. I would say that this crowd seems a little more pro-Cena than normal during this era. Cena tries to climb out the cage, but Edge grabs him by the arm and snaps it on the top rope. He follows that up with a Spear into the cage. They're both up on the top rope and Cena is able to drive Edge's face into the mat and we head into a commercial break. Edge is able to climb up to the very top of the cage, but Cena grabs his leg. Both men are fighting on the top in a seated position. Edge rakes Cena's eyes and he falls in towards the ring, but is standing on the ropes. He gets Edge down, but Edge hits a back suplex off the top rope and they both are down. Edge gets crotched on the top rope and then thrown into the cage. He hits his spinning powerbomb and it's Five Knuckle Shuffle time. He gets Edge up for the FU, but Edge grabs the cage and he slams him into the cage. Edge tries climbing again, but Cena gets him up on his shoulders. Edge slips out and he goes for an electric chair. Cena again gets him up for a FU, but Edge counters and starts crawling to the door. Cena leaps to grab his leg and then Lita hands Edge a chair. The referee kicks her out, but the chair is in the ring. Edge misses off the second rope and accidentally hits the referee. Edge grabs the chair, but misses wildly. Cena then nails Edge with the chair and slaps on the STFU. The referee is still down and the other ref is trying to get in, but then in comes Cade and Murdoch. They hit their finisher, kind of. They try to drag Edge out of the ring as the crowd chants for DX. Out comes DX to make the save and Cena hits the FU on Edge for the victory. This was a freaking great main event. It was all action and even though I could have done without the interference, it all just added to the chaos. Well done to both competitors here. 

Match Rating: ****

This was quite the surprise here. They let Edge and Cena have a pay-per-view type match and they more than delivered. We also got the somewhat surprising title change earlier in the show, making this one of the stronger Raw episodes of the year. I still could have done without just about all of the DX stuff, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Overall Rating: 70%

Off The Grid, Volume 27: Halloween Havoc 1991 Review

Sunday, October 27th, 1991
UTC Arena
Chattanooga, Tennessee

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Off The Grid, Volume 27:

Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross welcome us before sending us off to Eric Bischoff. We see some of the superstars arriving. Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes arrive and they are attacked, with Windham getting his arm slammed into the door by Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson. They drive off to the hospital.

Chamber Of Horrors Match
Abdullah The Butcher, Big Van Vader, Diamond Studd & Cactus Jack vs. El Gigante, Steiner Brothers & Sting

So this is basically a cage match except they have chainsaws and electric chairs, making this as cheesy as possible. There is just way too much star power in this match for what it is. Sting hits a dive over the top rope on Vader. Now the electric chair is coming down in a small cage. The amount of money that was wasted on this is just hysterical. Also hysterical is the "Refer-eye Camera". The referee is wearing a hockey helmet with a camera on it so we can see what he sees. Sting throws a coffin lid on the head of Cactus Jack. Now a bunch of dudes with white painted faces walk down with a stretcher. I'm pretty positive that if I saw this in 1991, I would have been able to figure out that wrestling wasn't 100% real a lot quicker. Cactus is busted open on his forehead. Sting then throws Jack over the top rope and into the cage. This match is one of those matches where there's just a bunch of chaos while still not really having anything much going on. After a bunch of nothing, Rick Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Abdullah into the chair and for some reason Cactus Jack thinks it is Rick in there and he pulls the lever. We get a bunch of pyro and parts of the ring catch on fire. I feel like this entire thing wasn't thought out. I would not expect that from WCW... This match was goofy enough fun, but it was hindered by the stipulation. 

Match Rating: **

 After the match, Cactus Jack checks on Abdullah and he pushes Jack down and attacks all the dudes with white face paint. The crowd is dead silent for this. He grabs Jack and they walk to the back a bloody mess. 

JR and Schiavone send us back with Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt, who are dressed in costumes. In come the Young Pistols and they make fun of the Patriots in one of the lamer promos you'll ever see. 

The Creatures vs. PN News & Big Josh

Who in the world approved this to be on a major card? You would think this would be 90 seconds long, but nope, it's WCW, so it will be treated like a match that is competitive. PN News is a gigantic man and his ring attire looks like it was designed by a 4 year old. It's interesting that Josh is only about 12 months away or so as debuting as Doink. I guess I'll talk about the match. Josh hits a powerbomb and some chops on one of the Creatures. Josh hits Northern Exposure and News hits the Rapmaster Splash for the victory. This was a Superstars match that they charged you to watch. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bobby Eaton vs. Terrence Taylor

This is during the era where they ranked everyone. Eaton is #7 and Taylor is #10 if you care. Taylor is with Taylor and he is the computerized man of the 90s. Wikipedia has it spelled as Terrance, but the entrance logo shows Terrence. I went with what was on the video. Eaton is a guy that I have talked about before, but he is someone that I have really come to enjoy as a result of the WWE Network. I don't dislike Taylor as much as a lot of folks do. I think he's a solid wrestler, just not one that should have been considered a future main eventer. He's a good middle of the card heel when in WCW. Nothing more, nothing less. They kind of feel each other out to begin until the action spills out to the elevated ramp. Eaton then hits a knee from the top rope on Taylor. Taylor is able to recover and knocks Eaton off the apron into the guardrail. Back to the ramp we go and Taylor hits a gutwrench powerbomb, as he continues to work on the back of Eaton. Taylor continues to work on the back, but Eaton gets a burst of offense with a sunset flip off the top rope for a nearfall. Taylor goes back to working on the back of Eaton. Taylor goes for a splash off the second rope, but Eaton gets his knees up. Eaton's able to hit a neckbreaker and heads up to the top, but Taylor knocks the ropes and crotches Eaton. Taylor tries for a superplex, but Eaton knocks him off. Eaton hits the Alabama Jam and that is all. That was a solid, competitive match with both guys looking pretty good here. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

JR and Schiavone inform us that Michael Hayes is injured, so Jimmy Garvin is wrestling for him instead. 

Jimmy Garvin vs. Johnny B. Badd

Garvin hits a hip toss on Badd over the top rope to a nice pop from the crowd. They're dressed in Braves gear and doing the tomahawk chop, which fits Michael Hayes. Badd comes back and hits a top rope sunset flip for a 2 count. Badd never really was able to nail that move for as often as he used it. Both men hit heads and now both are down. Garvin nails the DDT, but Teddy Long has the referee distracted. Garvin goes to check on him and Badd hits him with a sucker punch for the victory. Garvin had his leg on the bottom rope, but Long knocked it off. The match wasn't bad for what it was. Badd was still pretty inexperienced here. 

Match Rating: **

We go back to Missy Hyatt, who is as obnoxious as ever and is trying to find out who the WCW Phantom is. She asks Bobby Eaton, but he just won a match and he doesn't care. 

WCW TV Championship Match
Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes

Rhodes gets in some offense and tries for the bulldog pretty early, but Austin is able to counter it. Dustin goes for a crossbody, but Austin ducks and Dustin goes sliding under the bottom rope and to the floor. Austin gets caught using the ropes for leverage and Dustin makes his comeback. For some reason, Dustin is busted open and we are at 4 minutes remaining. This is usually about the time where they decide to start making the match entertaining. Dustin misses a dropkick and Austin gets a 2 count. Dustin is going hard for the last minute win and shoves the referee when he tries to stop him with his right hands. He hits an elbow and gets another 2 count. We're down to 1 minute. Dustin is hitting elbows in the corner and Austin falls on his face with 30 seconds left. Dustin goes up top and hits a clothesline and the bell rings before he counts 3. I watched it again and it looks like he could have counted 3, but WCW loved to do this finish and it was so easy to screw up. Why would the referee stand nowhere near the move before counting if he was going to win? The match was pretty good between 2 guys that were linked together for years in WCW and would go on to have much bigger success in WWF. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier

Kazmaier comes down to the ring carrying a giant Earth, since he's the strongest man on Earth. Oz has dropped the fake beard. This is what I imagine is like watching two guys work their first match looks like. Pretty much out of nowhere, Kazmaier puts Oz up in the Torture Rack and that's all. This was absolutely terrible. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Van Hammer vs. Doug Somers

They actually have people out on the stage with jackhammers. Hammer comes down with a guitar, but doesn't play it. Hammer is probably one of my least favorite wrestlers of the era. We get a mess up in the first 15 seconds of the match if you're wondering why. Hammer hits a back body drop and an elbow drop. He hits a slingshot suplex for the victory. It sure looked like he almost was going to drop him on his head. In case the non-entrance for Somers wasn't enough of a giveaway, this was a squash. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We hear from Brian Pillman and Richard Morton ahead of their Light Heavyweight Championship match. 

WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Match
Brian Pillman vs. Richard Morton

Morton was not meant to be a heel. It was like having Joey and Rachel hook up on Friends. This is the tournament final to crown the first ever Light Heavyweight Championship. Luckily for us, we get the Refer-eye Camera for this one. After a little bit of offense from Morton, Pillman is able to hit a spin kick and knocks him out of the ring. Morton slows things down with a headscissor. Pillman comes back with a arm drag takedown and goes to a side headlock. As I listen to JR rundown Pillman's football achievements and what he overcame, it is really is easy to see what was so amazing about Pillman. His lifestyle got the best of him, but there was so much more left to give as a character. Considering these are two of the more exciting wrestlers of this era, it's really surprising that they aren't going pedal to the metal here. The action spills outside and Morton rams Pillman's shoulder into the ring post. Pillman bounces back though and hits a top rope crossbody for the victory. That was a pretty terrible finish. The match itself was a pretty big disappointment unfortunately. 

Match Rating: **

Tom Zenk vs. Halloween Phantom

It's pretty obvious who the Phantom is once the robe is off. He goes right after the Z man while JR and Schiavone still speculate. He hits the Rude Awakening and picks up the victory. They couldn't even get him a good mask. Detective Schiavone notices that it was the Rude Awakening, but JR no sells it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
The Patriots vs. The Enforcers

So the Patriots are the United States Tag Team Champions and the Enforcers are the World Tag Team Champions. So stupid. The Patriots are also stupid. Thankfully we at least have Arn Anderson in this match. If a guy as big and strong as Champion is nothing more than a footnote, it's probably because he wasn't very good. The dude is huge. Firebreaker Chip gets a hot tag and hits some body slams and dropkicks. Zbyszko breaks up the pin attempt and Champion knocks him down. We get a little bit of chaos, but Anderson hits the spinebuster and picks up the victory. Arn had enough of that crap and was ready to call it a night. The match wasn't terrible, but it's a waste of Anderson. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Paul E. Dangerously is out here to scream about the Halloween Phantom and unmasks him to be Rick Rude. I didn't see it coming! In all seriousness though, this was a huge get for the after losing Flair. The roster was garbage at this point and they needed someone who was a big name. You're welcome for this groundbreaking analysis.

They show a video of Ron Simmons going back to Florida State and we get an interview with Bobby Bowden. 

Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match For The WCW Championship
Ron Simmons vs. Lex Luger

Simmons is accompanied by Dusty Rhodes, while Luger is with Mr. Hughes and Harley Race. After a slow start, Simmons hits a big powerslam and follows it up for a spinebuster to get the first pin. That was quick. There is now a one minute rest period before the next fall starts. Simmons' momentum continues into the next fall until Luger hits him with a thumb to the eye. Even then, Simmons is able to get a 2 count out of an inside cradle. Simmons hits a sunset flip for another 2 and then goes flying over the top rope after missing Luger while charging off the ropes. Luger hits a powerslam and hits a clothesline after a boot to the face. I'm surprised at how much offense Simmons is getting here. Luger connects with a vertical suplex before slowing it down with a headlock. We now have a little bit of action going on the outside with Dusty and Harley. Luger hits a crossbody on Simmons, but Harley holds onto Simmons tights and Luger gets sent outside, causing a DQ. Luger is extremely aggressive to start off the third fall and is bleeding from his right eye. Simmons no sells it and fires back some right hands. He blocks an inverted atomic drop and hits a clothesline for a close call. Simmons props Luger up on the top rope and hits a superplex for yet another 2 count. I give them credit, both guys are putting in some good effort here. We go outside and Simmons charges towards Luger, but misses and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Luger hits the piledriver and picks up the final fall for the victory. I have to say, this was a lot better than I ever would have thought. The pace was quicker than I expected and the crowd was buying most of the nearfalls. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

This was a weird show. There was so much crap on it and the whole Phantom angle was poorly done as well. There was no standout, but it will forever be remembered as the show with the Chamber Of Horrors match. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to have Sting and the Steiners both in that match along with Vader, where there removal would have helped boost the rest of the card. There were a couple of pretty good matches, but the rest is skippable. 

Overall Rating: 42%

NXT 10-30-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, October 30th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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We open with a backstage interview asking Sami Zayn about Adrian Neville's comment about not being able to win the big one. He says he has lost some big ones, but the road to redemption ends when he beats Neville. In walks Titus O'Neil and he challenges Zayn to a match. Zayn says that it's another roadblock on his road to redemption, but he's going to run right through it.

NXT Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Battle Royal

Only one team member has to be eliminated here to eliminate the team. This thing starts off with all of your normal battle royal spots, which is to say it's pretty boring. After a few minutes, we finally get a double elimination. The Ascension push out all four members of Blake & Murphy and Dillinger & Jordan. It's now the Ascension and Big Cass and Enzo going at it. The Ascension takes care of them and as soon as that happens, Hideo Itami's music hits and he's out. The Vaudevillains come from behind and knock them off to win the match. This felt like this was everyone's first battle royal, as there was no excitement throughout the entire match outside of Itami. After the match, Itami comes down and attacks, but of course the two-on-one leads to the inevitable Ascension beatdown. They grab the mic and tell Itami to go back home to Japan where he belongs. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Emma vs. Carmella

Carmella slaps on an unconvincing body scissor that Emma struggles in before hitting her with a right hand to break the hold. It's time for an Emma sandwich and that gets a 2 count. It's kind of crazy how little of a reaction that Emma is getting after being so over before. Carmella puts on the Code Of Silence for the victory. This one had no intensity to it at all. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the Muscle & Fitness editor working out at the Performance Center. 

Justin Gabriel vs. Bull Dempsey

I kind of forgot Bull Dempsey existed. I'm kind of disappointed that there's no Halloween theming for this episode. Bull dominates the majority of the match until Gabriel is able to counter with an inverted DDT. He follows up with some kicks to the back. He goes off the second rope, but he gets caught and he dumps him over his back. Bull steamrolls him and then goes up to the top rope. Dempsey hits the headbutt off the top and picks up the victory. Gabriel tried.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Bayley talks about what happened with Becky Lynch last week. Bayley says that if they want to come next week, she'll bring her friend Charlotte.

Baron Corbin vs. Tony Briggs

The crowd counts as Corbin hits End Of Days to win the match. I like these Corbin matches better than modern Corbin. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sylvester Lefort vs. Marcus Louis

I'm not sure why we are supposed to care about this feud when it's pretty clear that they don't. Louis is enraged and is way over the top in an indie wrestler kind of way. He hits a standing Rock Bottom for the victory. Again, this was so short and meant nothing.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Hideo Itami says that if the Ascension wants a fight, then he'll bring a friend next week. 

Sami Zayn vs. Titus O'Neil

It's up to Sami to save this turd of an episode. It is too bad that they were never really able to get anything out of Titus because he is a huge human being. Zayn tries to bring some intensity, but O'Neil just body slams him instead. He mocks him and then dumps him out of the ring. Titus hits a nice backbreaker on his shoulder, but Zayn kicks out. Zayn slows down a charging Titus and hits the exploder suplex into the turnbuckle. I didn't see that coming. Zayn hits the Helluva Kick and that is all. The match itself was just decent, but it accomplished the goal they set out to achieve.

Match Rating: **

After the match, Tyler Breeze is out and says that if he wants to actually be the #1 contender, he has to beat him. He says that he talked to William Regal and that they will square off next week. 

This was the definition of a filler episode. It was nice to see Zayn get a victory over a bigger opponent, but the rest of the show was filled with mostly stuff that no one cared about. On the bright side, next week is looking like a stacked show. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Night Raw 11-7-94 Review

Monday, November 7th, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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Bret Hart & British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart

We're live from one of our favorite early Raw locations, Bushkill. All 4 men start brawling as soon as Owen and Neidhart hit the ring and it leads to Bulldog throwing Owen on top of Neidhart. Bulldog gets a 2 count after a vertical suplex on Owen. Owen comes back with a spin kick and then he and Neidhart make a wish on Bulldog. They continue to single out Bulldog as we go into a commercial break. The beatdown continues up until another commercial break, but Bulldog is starting to show some signs of life. He finally gets the tag into Bret and he hits a series of right hands on both relatives. Bret gets kicked in the back by Owen as he's running the ropes, which leads to Bulldog dropkicking Bret as he's being held up by Neidhart. Owen then leaps off the top ropes onto Bret and that's almost enough for victory. Bulldog pulls Owen out of the ring and tripped up Neidhart. Bret slaps on the Sharpshooter on Neidhart and that's enough for the victory. This wasn't as crisp of a match as I would expect with the competitors involved. It certainly wasn't bad, but just not as good as I had hoped. 

Match Rating: **3/4

It's time for the Survivor Series Report and it just isn't as fun when they've already announced all the matches. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Tyron Knox

Knox shows a little fire with some right hands, but he gets hit with a rear elbow in the jaw. They show a sign that says "Vince For Senate". Yeah, I think we're good. I'm not sure why this match is still on, as Bigelow should be squashing a guy like Knox. Bam Bam hits a dropkick before hitting a roundhouse kick for the victory. This was about 3 minutes too long.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We now get the famous Raw moment where Vince McMahon announces that the WWF was not able to come to agreement with Randy Savage. Vince actually thanks him and wishes him the best of luck going forward. This is one of those rare sincere moments that broke kayfabe a little bit. 

It's time for the King's Court and his guest is the 1-2-3 Kid, who will take on Bob Backlund next week. Lawler makes fun of the Kid a little bit and then out comes Backlund. Kid is able to fight him off and out comes Bret for backup. Owen adn Neidhart come out and tell Backlund to calm down. 

We get a promo for Bob Holly vs. Jerry Lawler on the Action Zone. 

Doink vs. Pat Tanaka

It's always good to see Tanaka back on my TV, even if it's as a jobber. Tanaka blocks a sunset flip attempt with a right hand. Doink hits a back suplex and a knee drop, which sets up for the Whoopee Cushion and the victory. Poor Pat. After the match, Vince allows Doink to grab Lawler's crown and puts it on all of their heads. Oh, the hilarity. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Hey, want to waste a few bucks? You can tell the WWF which submission hold you think is more effective. I'm not sure what the difference is between this and petty theft. 

Next week, we're going to see Aldo Montoya's debut, Jeff Jarrett and British Bulldog will be a guest on King's Court. Don't forget about 1-2-3 Kid vs. Bob Backlund. We then get a little preview of the Survivor Series between the little people. We now have Bret Hart ready for an interview and he says that he will be watching Kid's back. He fumbles over his words a little bit as he tries to backpedal for calling Backlund basically old. 

This was another fine episode of Raw, but not as good as it looked on paper. With that being said, as lame as 1994 WWF has been here in the fall months, Raw has been pretty steady as an entertaining show. 

Overall Rating: 48%

Superstars 11-5-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 5th, 1994
Burlington Memorial Auditorium
Burlington, Vermont

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Billy Gunn vs. Tatanka

Bart is not out here with Billy. Billy shakes Vince's hand on his way down, but blows off Lawler. That's probably the closest we have gotten to New Age Outlaw Billy so far. Tatanka is sporting the Sid Justice Body Glove elbow pad today. Billy gets the early advantage until Ted DiBiase pulls down the top rope as he's running the ropes. Tatanka slows things down before hitting a gutwrench suplex for a 2 count. Tatanka goes off the top rope, but Billy hits him in the midsection on the way down. Gunn hits a spinning body slam and goes up to the top rope. DiBiase gets on the apron and out comes Bam Bam Bigelow to push him off the top. Tatanka covers him and picks up the victory. I'm not sure why in kayfabe Billy wouldn't have wanted Bart to come down with him to the ring. Out comes Bart to make the save after the post-match beatdown. As far as 1994 Superstars feature matches go, this one was pretty good. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Todd says he'll run down the Survivor Series later on, but he's got breaking news. Bret Hart has accepted Bob Backlund's challenge for his match to be a Submission Match. Owen Hart and British Bulldog will be in their corners and they will be holding the towel that will need to be thrown in for the submission. We hear from Backlund and Owen and they know that Bret will submit. Bulldog and Bret then talk about confidence. 

Barry Hardy vs. Duke Droese

Droese bullies old favorite Hardy around. He hits a big powerslam and then hits a side suplex for the victory. Talk about a guy going nowhere. After the match, Backlund slaps on the Cross-Face Chickenwing on Hardy. Droese comes in and Backlund slaps it on him. Like I said, he's going nowhere.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's Live Event News time and Randy Savage celebrates Columbus Day, which was always the biggest joke of a holiday. 

Diesel vs. Tim McNeany

No Shawn Michaels here today. They must have really been watching the budget on this big trip to Vermont. Diesel hits a couple of power moves before hitting the Jackknife and staning on him for the pinfall victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Chuck Norris is coming.

Doink vs. Phil Apollo

Doink and his team play Ring Around The Rosie before spraying Lawler with silly string. Doink jokes around a little bit but it all just leads to Doink hitting the Whoopee Cushion for the victory. No fart noise this week. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the official Survivor Series Report here now. Captain Lou Albano gets some airtime this week. We hear from both competitors in the biggest match in history, Undertaker and Yokozuna (well, Jim Cornette). 

IRS vs. Aaron Ferguson

We're forced to watch the John Dough cemetery bit with IRS again. IRS hits a double underhook suplex and a running clothesline for the easy victory. Vince makes note that IRS is not part of the Million Dollar Team at the Survivor Series. No one really cares. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's back to Live Event News and everyone is talking about the Razor Ramon/Yokozuna match from Raw, so we see a highlight package of the entire match. 

Back to Vince and Lawler and they show us the finish of the Tatanka/Billy Gunn match earlier. We're now with the Smoking Gunns and Bart stumbles over his words before saying they will face Tatanka and Bam Bam next week. 

Superstars is always going to be what it is, a forgettable show that once in awhile has something memorable on it. This was a better show than last week, but it would be hard to call it anything better than mediocre. 

Overall Rating: 38%

SmackDown 9-29-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, September 29th, 2006
Tulsa Convention Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma

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John Cena is here to kick off the show. He does the whole "I'm so glad to be back on SmackDown", as if there's really any difference. He then says that he's here to take care of Finlay, William Regal and King Booker tonight. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Sylvester Terkay Elijah Burke

I don't really get the switching with these two. Burke is able to shift the momentum early on by hitting a powerbomb into the turnbuckle and hitting a side suplex. Burke goes for a top rope elbow drop, but Mysterio is able to move out of the way. Mysterio quickly is able to trip up Burke into the middle rope and then hits the 619 for the victory. I expected this to last a little bit longer. Terkay comes in and attacks Mysterio, hitting a Musclebuster. This was a spirited squash, but not much more than that. 

Match Rating: *

Ashley introduces a highlight package of London and Kendrick. 

#1 Contender Match
KC James & Idol Stevens vs. Pitbulls

The Pitbulls are a legit good team, but since there is no tag team division, they are just a footnote in history. They are stuck with a pretty dead crowd due to them both being heels, but the Pitbulls are mostly dominating the match. Kash hits a moonsault that gets a reaction, but then gets hit with a DDT for a 2 count. All 4 men are in the ring now and it provides a distraction for Michelle McCool to reverse the inside cradle and pick up the victory for her team. This was short and had little interest, but it was fine. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero

Michael Cole announces that Hardy will face Gregory Helms at No Mercy. JBL accuses Michael Cole of working for CNN because of his biased reporting, just in case you weren't sure where JBL stood. Meanwhile, Hardy hits a back body drop and a clothesline in the corner into the bulldog. The problem with this Chavo push is that he was such a jobber for so long, that it's hard to really buy in. Hardy hits a second rope leg drop despite the distraction from Vickie Guerrero. Out comes Gregory Helms and Hardy knocks him off the apron. Vickie hits a low blow and Chavo hits the Frog Splash for the victory. Lots of short matches here tonight, but they all have been spirited, so I'll take it. After the match, Helms hits the Shining Wizard on Hardy. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Mr. Kennedy is out dressed in black and is here to pay tribute to the Undertaker. He shows a highlight package and talks about how Undertaker has accomplished everything there is to accomplish. He decides that he shouldn't be the one to end it all and decides to not face him at No Mercy. Undertaker's music hits and he is out to tell him that he will rest in peace. Kennedy goes to grab his microphone and it starts sparking. 

William Regal, Finlay, King Booker and Queen Sharmell are backstage and say they will make Cena bow tonight.

Tatanka vs. Miz

Miz comes down with a mic trying to be as annoying as possible. It's the odd heel where the heel announcer hates him and the face announcer likes him. Miz mocks Tatanka's heritage, which of course would and should never happen today. Tatanka goes for a backslide, but Miz's head is under the ropes, so the referee doesn't count. It distracts Tatanka and Miz takes advantage. Miz goes for a chop, but Tatanka beats him to it. He hits a side Russian leg sweep, but Miz kicks out at 1. He starts hitting the chops to the head, but it leads to Miz rolling him up off of the ropes and picking up the sneaky victory. Miz was still extremely inexperienced here and Tatanka isn't the guy to carry him to a good match. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Teddy Long is here to tout SmackDown's success on CW. He then announces that next week where Lashley and King Booker will pick each other's opponents. 

Jimmy Wang Yang lets us know that he's glad to be in Oklahoma for his first match on SmackDown. 

Sylvan vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

I truthfully forgot that Sylvan was around this long, but I guess that just proves how little of an impact he had in his time here. They show his crowning achievement from last week where he was the most over guy on the show. I definitely did not recall Yang's jacket having the confederate flag on it. Michael Cole bragging about having Miz and Yang is classic. Yang is definitely a fun competitor, but his high risk style backfires when he misses a dive to the outside. Sylvan hits an interesting variation of the spinebuster for a 2 count. Yang comes back with a big clothesline and hits a reverse corkscrew off the top rope. Yang runs into the corner, but Sylvan catches him and slams him down, puts his feet on the ropes and picks up the victory? They really had him job to Sylvan on his debut? Whatever. Yang looked good here. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Vito is backstage to tell us that it's the man that makes the dress. 

Michael Cole announces that MVP has finally signed a contract with SmackDown and they show the WWE.com exclusive footage. He will debut at No Mercy.

Bobby Lashley, Batista & John Cena vs. King Booker, Finlay & William Regal

Cena runs down the ramp and attacks the heels on their way down, which explains why the faces were announced first. We go to commercial break and when we come back the match has started and it's Batista and Regal. The faces dominate the early going and it's a little hard to believe that Booker's team has a chance here. Lashley catches Booker off the ropes and hits a nice powerslam. He caught him kind of funny and the move was even more impressive as a result. Cena now gets his turn and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle on Regal. He slaps the STFU on Finlay, but Booker breaks it up. Hornswoggle hands the shillelagh to Finlay and he hits Cena with it behind the referee's back. They now go to work on the injured arm of Cena, as the announcers remind us of his cage match with Edge coming up on Monday. Cena finally makes the tag and it's to Lashley, who gets to clean house. He hits the running powerslam on Booker, but the pin attempt is broken up. In comes Batista and it clears out to just him and Booker. Finlay trips Batista up when running the ropes and then goes for the Scissor Kick. Lashley must have been a second late, because he stops short of it and then gets hit with a Lashley Spear and that's enough for the victory. Out comes Edge and he hits Cena with the Spear before running back through the crowd. Like I said, I'm not sure anyone was buying the heels winning here, but this was a good main event and Lashley in particular looked really good. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

This was one of those shows where the locker room for the most part was all feeling it. They all didn't get a lot to work with, but they made the most of their opportunities tonight. The roster is pretty thin on the blue brand, but the top stars are firing on all cylinders enough to make you forget about guys like Tatanka, Vito and Sylvan. 

Overall Rating: 62%

ECW 9-26-06 Review

Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
Tulsa Convention Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma

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They announce that our main event is an ECW Championship match between Big Show and Sandman. Justin Roberts then announces that JR is our special guest here tonight. He talks about how ECW's smash mouth style reminds him of Mid-South Wrestling. Out comes Matt Striker to interrupt. He insults JR, the crowd and Sandman. Wouldn't you know it, Sandman is now in the ring. He tries to convince JR to save him, but it leads to Sandman hitting Striker in the midsection and then JR joins in and hits him over the back with it. JR and Sandman share a beer to close out the segment. 

Hardcore Holly tells RVD that he's not going to tell him what he's going to do to him, he's going to show him. 

Extreme Rules Match
Hardcore Holly vs. Rob Van Dam

They quickly go outside the ring and it leads to RVD hitting the spinning guillotine leg drop on Holly as he's draped on the barricade. RVD gets out a table, but he takes too long and Holly attacks him. Holly slows it down and takes it to Van Dam. Holly is on the apron and tries to suplex RVD through the table that was set up earlier. They tease it back and forth and Holly eventually hits it as we go into commercial break. This, of course, is one of the more famous moments in WWE ECW history. When we come back, we're made aware of the huge gash on the back of Holly. As far as cuts that happened during a wrestling match go, it's definitely one of the most severe looking ones I have seen. He's still on offense and he drops RVD on a chair. He then sets a chair on RVD's face and hits a leg drop from the second rope. RVD fights back and hits a suplex onto the chair. Van Dam hits the monkey flip and the the top rope kick. Holly for some reason decides to sit in the corner, so RVD hits the skateboard kick with the chair. He then decides to lay down in the ring and RVD then hits him with Rolling Thunder with the chair, but Holly kicks out. Holly catches RVD and powerbombs him onto a chair and a gets a 2 count. RVD goes for the 5 Star Frog Splash, but Holly throws the chair into the face of Van Dam. That looked like it hurt. RVD escapes out of the Alabama Slam attempt, so Holly goes and grabs a chair. RVD dropkicks it in his face and then hits the 5 Star Frog Splash. He crawls over to Holly and picks up the victory. This will always be known for the gash on Holly, but the match was pretty good for what it was as well. Doctors immediately are out and wrapping him up. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

CM Punk is addicted to competition. In walks Kelly Kelly and she wants his help playing Extreme Strip Poker. Mike Knox of course isn't happy about it and they share some words. He tells him that after he's done straightening Kelly out, he'll be looking for Punk. 

Ariel vs. Francine

Ariel cuts a promo that seems to be way out of character and it leads to Francine jumping her. Francine throws Ariel around until Kevin Thorn comes in holds Francine for Ariel. Out comes Balls Mahoney and hits Thorn with a chair and that's it. Normally I'd complain, but this was insulting to everyone's intelligence.

Match Rating: No Rating

After a lame Sandman hype video, we go back to Big Show and Paul Heyman. Show tells Heyman to stay in the back and watch him do his thing. Oh, and the Singapore cane is legal. 

ECW Championship Match
Big Show vs. Sandman

We get a commercial break after their introductions and when we come back Show is getting attacked by the Singapore cane. They announce that it took 24 stitches to sew up Holly tonight. Sandman counters a chokeslam with a slow motion DDT and goes back to hitting Show in the head with the cain. Out comes Matt Striker and he steals Sandman's cain. Show hits his backbreaker into a chokehold before hitting the Show Stopper leg drop. This was pretty terrible. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The good news is that the best part of the show got about half of the airtime. Unfortunately, everything else on the show was horrible. I'll take a good TV match on here any day, but it wasn't enough to save this from being anything more than just halfway decent.

Overall Rating: 48%

Monday Night Raw 9-25-06 Review

Monday, September 25th, 2006
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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After the pyro, the lights apparently appear to go out and only the spotlights are working. The Titan Tron is also off and Lilian Garcia's microphone isn't working either. Candice Michelle's music hits but with no video. 

WWE Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match
Candice Michelle vs. Lita

Apparently this is the first night of the tournament to take Trish's title. They are using a wired microphone for now here. Lita grabs it and says that the title should just be given back to her. She did talk to Coach and he agreed that she should be able to select her own referee and she chooses Edge. They keep using the wide arena shot for some reason. I guess just to show how unique the show looks. Edge runs and hits Candice with a Spear and Lita gets the victory just before John Cena can come out and make the save. Edge and Lita run off and Cena checks on Candice. This really wasn't a match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

When we come back from commercial, the lights are on and Cena's on a wireless mic. Out come Edge and Lita and he said he's not going to use his rematch clause tonight. Cena then makes more derogatory and cringeworthy jokes about Lita. Cena then says that is for Toby Keith and JR. Toby Keith, there's a great musician. Lita says that she's sick of her making fun of her. Lita then uses the W word a whole lot. That word is wrestler, which I'm sure Vince was thrilled about. Edge says that he's not going to listen to Cena talk any more. Cena made a comment about Lita not being able to beat him with one arm tied behind her back. Edge accepts that challenge for Lita, which Lita doesn't seem too thrilled about. 

They show some clips of the WWE performing in Mexico. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Kane vs. Johnny Nitro

Oh good. Kane. Melina reluctantly does her entrance and then Kane throws Nitro right out of the ring after he slides in. Kane hits a side suplex and in comes Melina, which allows Nitro to go after his knee. According to JR, Coach has banned Umaga from interfering in this match. Nitro goes off the top and eats a big boot. Kane has Nitro up for a Tombstone and out comes Umaga, who hits him with a chair. So much for the Coach. Umaga continues to attack him and uses the steps to hit Kane in the head. This was hardly a match and of course, Nitro looked like a goof. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Shawn Michaels is reading WWE Magazine and he and Triple shill their merch. Out comes Maria to ask about which teams are in their gauntlet match tonight. Maria thinks the 2 words are "no way". So, Triple H whispers what they are and then she whispers to Eugene and he passes out. 

Coach approaches Shelton Benjamin, who is talking to Torrie and Chloe. Coach is mad because of Shelton's accusations of discrimination. In comes Jeff Hardy and we get some more cringeworthy moments here that lead to Shelton getting a match with Hardy. Edge and Lita then walk out of Coach's office and that leads to Lita's match being No Holds Barred. Coach then also says that Edge is not allowed to touch Cena or he will lose his title rematch against Cena. 

Mikey vs. Ric Flair

Mikey's able to hit a second rope elbow drop and then repeatedly slaps Flair in the face. Flair turns it around and hits some chops, but Mikey comes back with an elbow. Mikey goes off the second rope again and Flair hits him in the midsection on the way down. He hits some more chops and already looks out of breath. Nicky comes in and Flair throws him out of the ring. Flair then picks up the victory. This was horrible. It's amazing that Flair charged to have his retirement match 16 years after this. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

DX is out and they show us a highlight reel of their match at Unforgiven. 

Tag Team Gauntlet Match
Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Highlanders

It's clear they're trying to make tonight's show a little different. Of course, Shawn and Triple H distract them, Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music and that's all for that.

Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Charlie Haas & Viscera

This week's Sunday Night Heat is brought to you by Stridex. Haas actually gets to punch Triple H a few times. He gets to poke Michaels in the eye and tags in Big Vis. He hits a sidewalk slam and does some dancing. We get a commercial break, which I'm sure would be enough for you to have turned it back to Monday Night Football and never turn back. As this match bores me to tears, I discovered that this was the night of the Hurricane Katrina return of the Saints, which was really one of the great moments on Monday Night Football that I can remember. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music on Viscera and he falls on Haas, so they sit on them and pin him. 

Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

We get some brawling to start and they blow a spot where Cade pulls down the top rope. Michaels saves the spot quickly though and ends up on the floor after Murdoch dumps him. They throw Triple H into the steps. We get chairs in the ring and the ref calls for the bell. DX get the last laugh after the double DQ finish. This was absolutely horrible. All of it.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Lilian Garcia introduces Toby Keith and that leads into a Cryme Tyme vignette. This time they kick a guy in the face at an ATM. 

Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

Hardy seems to have already lost his momentum since his return a little bit. Obviously he would gain that back over time, but he already feels like just a guy. Shelton knocks Hardy off the apron and into the barricade. Of course it doesn't help that Shelton is clearly dead in the water also. Hardy is able to hit a jawbreaker and some clotheslines. Hardy hits Whisper In The Wind and gets a 2 count. Hardy goes up top, but Shelton leaps up to meet him. Hardy knocks him off and hits the Swanton, but Shelton is too close to the ropes and gets his foot on the bottom one. Hardy goes for Twist Of Fate, but Shelton holds onto the rope. Hardy rolls him up with an inside cradle and that gets the victory. They had no heat and they both looked unmotivated here. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Randy Orton & Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy & Carlito

This one of those matches that it's kind of crazy that it actually took place and made sense. Masters hits a big powerbomb on Crazy, but Carlito breaks up the pin attempt. In comes Orton to put on the reverse chinlock. Carlito gets a hot tag, but the crowd isn't too hot any more. Crazy hits a sunset flip off the second rope into a seated dropkick on Masters. He misses with a moonsault and Orton hits him with his backbreaker. Carlito dumps him out of the ring and then Masters slaps on the Master Lock, but can't lock his fingers. Carlito leaps over Masters and hits the Backstabber for the victory. Orton sneaks back in the ring and hits the RKO on Carlito to remind us that he's above all of this midcard junk. This was decent, but again no one cared.

Match Rating: *1/2

Coach is out and introduces Eric Bischoff to the ring. It's been nearly a year since he was "fired". He's here to talk about his book, which for some reason I actually read. Bischoff says there would have been no Mr. McMahon without Eric Bischoff and then they cut him off. Out come Edge and Lita.

No Holds Barred Match With One Arm Tied Behind John Cena's Back
Lita vs. John Cena

Lita is able to hit a thumb between the eye and a low blow after an Edge distraction. Cena blocks the next slap, throws her up on his back and hits the FU for the victory. Now that's a main event. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Out comes Finlay, William Regal and King Booker to promote Cena's return to SmackDown on Friday. They hit Cena with the shillelagh and then Booker hits some of the weakest looking kicks I have ever seen. Finlay hits Cena again with the shillelagh in the ribs. This attack is...long. It says there are still 6 minutes left on the show. Book grabs the mic and says that Cena is going to kiss his royal foot tonight. No one makes the save and Cena gets his face shoved in Booker's foot. I can't overemphasize enough how long this was. They could have accomplished all of this in like 2 minutes. After all of that, Edge still gets on the mic to let us know that next week will use his rematch clause next week in a steel cage. Those type of announcements always go over well with the live crowd. 

Man, this show was terrible. I don't know if they just knew they were going to get destroyed by Monday Night Football or what, but this was as stale as it gets. The power going out and Toby Keith were just the icing on the cake. 

Overall Rating: 30%

NXT 10-23-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, October 23rd, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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The Ascension vs. Jason Jordan & Tye Dillinger

The announce team tries to do their best to make us think Dillinger and Jordan are on the same level, but this is already a squash. Jordan is able to get an elbow in and tag Dillinger, but he eats an immediate flapjack. They hit the Fall Of Man and pick up the victory. It doesn't matter how much they cram the Ascension down our throats, their appeal is far from over with at this point. Out comes Hideo Itami and he attacks them, but he ends up just getting squashed to. That seems a little questionable to me. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

CJ Parker vs. Tyler Breeze

This is kind of an interesting heel vs. heel match. I guess both characters are egomaniacs, so it make sense from that aspect. Parker hits an ax handle off the top rope and out comes Mojo Rawley. Parker goes for another one, but Breeze hits a fist to the midsection. Breeze hits a hurricanrana and follows it with a series of fists. Parker gets a roll up for a 2 count. He goes for another one, but Breeze holds onto the ropes. Parker goes for a Scissor Kick, but Breeze hits him with the Beauty Shot for the victory. Rawley just keeps staring down Breeze. Breeze mocks him for his shoulder injury on his way back to the locker room. This was pretty much a nothing match, as they already just don't care about Parker. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Titus O'Neil says that he is going to abuse Neville tonight and take away his NXT Championship. 

Vaudevillains vs. Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy

Wesley and Blake get a lot more shine here than Jordan and Dillinger did earlier tonight. The Villains work on Murphy for the majority of the match. English is able to grab his ankles to keep away from his partner, but he eventually gets there and Blake gets the hot tag. We get a blind tag and it leads to them hitting the Gentlemen's Clutch for the victory. That was a decent tag team match where both teams looked pretty good.

Match Rating: *1/4

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

I wonder how many televised matches these two have had? Bayley shows off a little bit of her aggressive side, but Sasha keeps going to the ropes. We eventually have them in a fist fight on the mat and Bayley gets the better of it. She hits a body slam and a knee drop for a 2 count. Sasha gets her turn and uses some nice heel offense here. She hits an insulting slap to the face after running the ropes. Bayley's able to drive her into the corner and hits a reverse elbow. She hits another one, but this time from the second rope. Sasha comes back with a Backstabber and puts her in the Banks Statement in the center of the ring. Bayley has no choice but to tap to put an end to an entertaining match. This was by far the best one I can recall up to this point. After the match, Sasha attacks Bayley again and Becky Lynch comes out to make the save. Becky then attacks her from behind, which is a little surprising since they didn't really build up their friendship. Becky joins Sasha and raises her hand. 

Match Rating: ***

Carmella is joined by Enzo and Big Cass. They say that they got her a match with Emma. They continue to be very cringe. 

NXT Championship Match
Titus O'Neil vs. Adrian Neville

O'Neil uses his power to take it to Neville in the early going. He sets up Neville up on the top rope and shoves him to the floor. That was a nice job of Neville to hit his leg on the ramp to make the fall sound more impactful. Back after the commercial break, O'Neil has Neville up in the middle of the ring and just tosses him in the air. Neville tries to battle back with some kicks and he finally knocks him down. He misses up top, but rolls through and eats a big boot for a 2 count. Titus backs him in the corner and Neville is able to take advantage of the referee pulling Titus back. He gets his knees up on O'Neil and hits the Red Arrow for the victory. Titus actually did a pretty nice job of being the monster heel here. This was an enjoyable enough main event on a mostly entertaining show. 

Match Rating: **3/4

It's not the end here though, as Sami Zayn comes out to congratulate Neville. He says that he is on a mission that ends with his NXT Championship. Neville says whenever he wants, wherever he wants. Zayn says that he'll hold him to that and tells him that he won't be NXT Champion for much longer. Neville then says that he isn't too worried because he can't win the big one and walks off. 

This was another good show, which is mostly becoming the norm on NXT. I still have some minor complaints on some of the booking, but the pacing is usually well done and they usually leave us wanting more. 

Overall Rating: 66%

Monday Night Raw 10-31-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, October 31st, 1994
Burlington Memorial Auditorium
Burlington, Vermont

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It's Halloween night, so we get a fun intro featuring Bob Backlund. It's Lex Luger who is stepping up to face the monster. 

Lex Luger vs. Mr. Bob Backlund

Luger mocks Backlund's lunges and Backlund doesn't like it. I like 1994 Luger more than I have any reason to. Backlund then sucks all the energy out of the match with his boring offense. He hits a belly-to-belly suplex and then a weird looking cover for a 2 count. Oh boy, it's Tatanka and he's here to take a look as we go to commercial break. Backlund keeps trying to sneak on the Cross-Face Chickenwing, but isn't having any luck. Luger hits a body slam and has Backlund reeling. Out comes Tatanka and Luger goes after him. Backlund slaps on the Cross-Face Chickenwing in the middle of the ring. Then Tatanka comes in the ring and now the bell rings. Um, why? Tatanka starts stomping away on Luger as Backlund still has him in the hold. Backlund comes back and slaps on the hold again and not even Gerald Brisco can get him off, so in comes Randy Savage. Savage is still the best. We were so robbed of some great matches from him in this era. The match itself was a lot of stalling, but felt fresh. It wasn't anything special and Luger winning by DQ made no sense here. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We go back to an angry Savage, but Vince only cares about talking about the Action Zone. We probably have a week left of him caring about this show. It's going to be Mabel vs. Yokozuna this week. 

1-2-3 Kid vs. Tony Devito

Kid's hair is quite fluffy here tonight. Kid's able to hit a nice dropkick, but Devito actually is doing a nice job of playing heel here. Devito gets in a powerslam and gets a 2 count. He misses with an elbow drop and a second one because jobbers never learn. Kid hits a series of kicks in the corner and then a spin kick. He hits his nice leg drop and comes back with a vertical suplex. Kid hits another spin kick and then goes upstairs for a leg drop for the victory. This was a well worked squash match. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

It's time for the Survivor Series Report with Todd Pettengill. He can't help himself and makes a lame Halloween joke. No news here, as all of the matches have been announced.

They show some more WWF softball clips. 

King Kong Bundy vs. Bert Centeno

Wouldn't you get sick of just having the same match a million times? I know I'm already sick of typing it. So Bundy wins using the 5 count for the pin. Got it?

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to watch the IRS vignette with the John Dough cemetery promo. Why?

It's time for The King's Court and with it being Halloween (not really), the guest is Undertaker. He of course is with Paul Bearer and it almost feels like he forgot how to do his voice for the character. He's here to shill the new WWF Magazine. Bearer informs us that it was not their decision to bring in Chuck Norris, it was the WWF's. This wasn't a good segment.

Next week, it's going to be Jim Neidhart and Owen Hart against Bret Hart and British Bulldog. Yes, please. 

Jim Neidhart vs. Tony Roy

Owen gets involved while Neidhart distracts the ref and Roy is in the tree of woe. The big rhino gives us a very slow and methodical match here. He hits the powerslam and puts him in the Camel Clutch for the victory. Not so great.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Vince McMahon with Lex Luger backstage. They're having audio problems, which is fantastic. We here Vince yelling and Tatanka and Luger are going at it when the show goes off the air.

This was a much more enjoyable show again over Superstars. It just has a better pace and typically has better matches. These obviously aren't amazing episodes or anything, but it's a good example of the old formula working.

Overall Rating: 49%

Extreme Rules 2022 Review

Saturday, October 8th, 2022
Wells Fargo Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match
Brawling Brutes vs. Imperium

I guess I should mention that Paul Heyman did the intro for the show. As the Brutes are on their way to the ring, we get a White Rabbit interruption. This one has a lot of potential to be a show stealer. A good pay-per-view six man tag is something I enjoy. I suppose this isn't technically a tag match though. This is a brawl the second the match begins. Butch is one of the most fun characters in WWE right now and everyone was making fun of it when they first changed his name. Imperium get the better of the Brutes early on and mess with the little bar that was set up at ringside. Gunther hits some nasty chops to the chest of Sheamus. They move back to the ring and go to work on Holland and Butch. Holland has a cool spot with a double back drop, but Gunther hits him with a boot right after. Imperium hits an uppercut/powerbomb combo on the outside on Holland and now it's Imperium vs. Butch. Sheamus is back and he's starts destroying Vinci and Kaiser. Gunther and Sheamus go at it in the ring and now Sheamus gets a chance for the 10 Beats Of The Bodhran. Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick but Vinci hits him with a Frog Splash to break up the pin attempt. We're back to all six men, but not for long. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse on Gunther and then puts on the Clover Leaf in the middle of the ring. Kaiser cracks the shillelagh over the back of Sheamus to save Gunther. After some more brawling, Imperium clear off the announce table, but Butch hits a moonsault off the top of the barrels to stop them from whatever they had in mind. Gunther pulls out another shillelagh and nails Sheamus with it, but Sheamus kicks out. Gunther goes for the powerbomb, but Butch and Holland stop him and now Sheamus gets in a shot with the shillelagh. Sheamus picks up Gunther from behind and hits the Celtic Cross through the table. Sheamus then hits the Brogue Kick on Vinci and that's all. These guys kicked the crap out of each other for 20 minutes and the crowd was with them for all of it. The Imperium are very good heels and the crowd has really bought into the Brutes. Very good opening match. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

The Miz is backstage and he runs into Gritty backstage for some fun. 

Extreme Rules Match For The SmackDown Women's Championship
Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan

Interestingly, this was the feature match on the e-mail I got from Peacock this morning about the event. So it going on second makes me think that this may be a glorified squash. Rousey should have always been a heel, as she's just naturally unlikable. Rousey does the Finlay spot where she moves the ring apron when Liv slid and then destroys her. She goes and grabs the Liv Morgan baseball bat, but Liv hits her sprays the fire extinguisher. But before Morgan can do anything else, she gets hit with Piper's Pit. Rousey then hits her with the bat and back into the ring. Morgan is able to hit the step up enzuigiri and grabs her bat back. Rousey uses her belt to whip Morgan and then ties her to the ring post and hits her with the bat some more. Morgan grabs the bat and drives Rousey into the post. Morgan grabs the table and puts it into the ring. Rousey hits her with a knee before she's able to do anything with it. We get a really awkward spot due to a chair falling out of the corner. Liv starts hitting Rousey with the chair and then hits Code Red with a chair for a 2 count. Unfortunately, these ladies just do not really have great chemistry in the ring with one another. Liv sets up the table now in the ring and lays Rousey on it. She heads up to the top rope and hits a senton through the table, but Rousey kicks out at 2. Rousey tries to get the arm bar in, but Liv lifts her up and slams her into the broken table. We get a weird struggle with Liv trying to counter it and it leads to Rousey putting on a chokehold of some sort and Morgan is out. Rousey is your new SmackDown Women's Champion. It wasn't for a lack of trying, but this one wasn't very good. It just seemed like nothing really went right here and it kind of felt that way in their other matches. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Strap Match
Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross

Kross has never done anything that I have been a fan of in WWE, but this is my first time seeing him since he returned. Kross refuses to put the strap on and attacks McIntyre instead. The match hasn't officially started and they are brawling through the crowd. Kross knocks McIntyre back over the barricade, but McIntyre hits a suplex on the mat. We get back in the ring and the strap is on Kross, so the match has begun. Michael Cole talks about Sting and Vader having possibly the greatest strap match, which I'm sure Vince would love. Scarlett distracts McIntyre and it allows Kross to pull him into the ring post. I just don't see any appeal in this Scarlett/Kross package. This match has just taken me out of this show that started so well. Fortunately, the next 3 matches should all be really good. McIntyre finally makes his comeback and hits a spinebuster for a 2 count. Kross feels like a guy they would have fed to Undertaker in 2003. They're whipping each other with the belt and it leads to McIntyre hitting the Future Shock. In comes Scarlett again and she sprays pepper spray in the face of McIntyre. Kross hits the Kross Hammer for the victory. This wasn't good. 

Match Rating: *

Back to the Miz and he's talking to Maryse again about his birthday celebration. He's interrupted again by Gritty. Please be Pete Rose. 

Ladder Match For The Raw Women's Championship
Bayley vs. Bianca Belair

OK, ladies. Let's save this show. We quickly have 2 ladders in the ring, with Bianca having the taller one. They fight over the smaller ladder and it leads to Bayley falling through the ropes. Bayley knocks Bianca down and then yells at a little kid. God bless her. Bayley goes for a catapult, but Bianca lands on the ladder and climbs into the ring and tries to climb that ladder, but Bayley grabs her off. Bianca folds up the ladder and body slams Bayley onto it before hitting a moonsault on it. It's about a 50/50 split when they go into the dueling chants here. Bayley hits a sunset flip into the ladder and she tries to set up the taller ladder again. Bayley then sets up a ladder on the steps and barricade. She runs off the apron and hits a running elbow drop. Belair fights back and uses half of the ladder on the back of Bayley. Belair is running up the ladder but Bayley is able to dump her to the floor. Bayley rips off a hinge on her knee brace, but she misses and Bayley hits the KOD. Belair is at the top of the ladder, but Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky are down here and attack her. Belair fights back and hits a double KOD on both women. Bayley hits a Rose Plant and puts the ladder on top of Belair as she begins to climb. Belair lifts up the ladder and down goes Bayley. The ladder is set up again and they race up to the top. Bayley grabs Belair's hair and pulls her into the ladder. Belair quickly recovers and uses her braid to whip Bayley and pulls her off. Belair goes for the KOD, but Bayley has a ladder in her hands. I'm not sure what she was doing with it because she lands on it on the way down. Bianca climbs the ladder and grabs the title for the victory. I actually thought Bayley was going to win here. This was good, but definitely not quite to the level I thought they were capable of. Plus, it didn't have Karrion Kross in it, so that's a plus. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

I Quit Match
Edge vs. Finn Balor

For the first time I think ever on Peacock, I had some technical difficulties and missed the first minute or so of the match. This is the microphone version of the match, but no Roddy Piper to repeatedly ask "Whaddaya say?" here. Balor takes it to Edge until we get the inevitable barricade spot with Edge driving Balor through it. They make their way up to the pre-show announce table and Edge uses a hockey stick to choke Balor. They are now making their way up into the stands and Edge slams Balor's face into the steps. They eventually make their way back to the ring after a lengthy amount of brawling. We get some submission holds put on by Balor, but Edge won't give up. This one is dragging. Edge is able to send Balor into the chair set up in the corner. Edge puts on the Edgecator and then out comes Damian Priest and Dominik. Edge hits a Spear through the ropes to take them all out. Edge is getting ready for the Spear, but Rhea Ripley comes from behind and handcuffs Edge to the top rope. Now we get about 179 camera cuts or just enough to make you not want to watch. Balor grabs the kendo stick and starts cracking him over the back with multiple shots. Rey Mysterio's music hits and runs out with a chair. He knocks out Balor and Priest, but Dominik knocks him off the apron. Michael Cole is having a conniption. Out comes Beth Phoenix and she starts attacking Balor and Priest with the kendo stick. Rhea Ripley and Beth now alone and the crowd is into this. Beth hits a Spear and is able to get the key to take the handcuffs off. Edge hits a Spear on Priest and now Dominik is alone in there. Dominik wants a handshake and Edge gives it to him, but then kicks him in the crotch. Balor hits a Slingblade, but Edge comes back with 2 Spears. Make it 3. Edge orders Beth to grab a chair and he breaks off a bottom bar. He uses it Balor, but Rhea attacks Beth with brass knuckles. Balor hits the Coup de Grace 3 times, but Edge won't quit. Rhea grabs some chairs and sets Beth up for a One Woman Conchairto, but Edge quits to stop her. Rhea hits her with it anyway and Edge is beside himself. Like just about everything Edge has done since he has returned, this was way longer than it needed to be. The first half in particular really dragged. The whole interference part worked well and the crowd ate most of it up, but again even that was longer than it needed to be. The Judgment Day got good heat, but this is probably not something I'd go out of my way to watch again for awhile. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Back to the Miz and Gritty, but this time Miz attacks Gritty. Here comes Dexter Lumis and he does his creepy schtick. He helps Gritty up and that gets a big pop. Gritty gets a kick in on Miz for good measure. 

Fight Pit Match
Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is wearing a RVD tribute outfit. Daniel Cormier is the special guest referee here. There are no ropes and the cage essentially has a second level so that there are no escapes. The crowd is chanting "We want Wyatt". I mean come on, people. Did we all forget the Fiend? Riddle uses the cage to to hit a kick to the head. Cormier tries to pull Riddle off, but he accidentally hits him in the face and that gives Rollins the opening. The lighting for this match is really odd. Rollins hits a suplex into the cage and then hits a Frog Splash from the wall of the cage. The crowd doesn't seem to know what to think about this one and I guess I'm not really sure either. We get a nice sequence that leads to Riddle hitting the RKO and both men are down. We get some hard hitting stuff and Riddle goes for the RKO again, but this time Rollins counters and hits the Stomp. Rollins goes for a Stomp from up on the cage, but Riddle avoids it. Rollins climbs up to the platform this time and prances around for awhile to taunt Riddle. Riddle climbs up now and Rollins attacks him on his way up. Riddle is barely hanging on to a chain, but Riddle puts on a rear naked choke. Rollins escapes and slams his head repeatedly into the cage. Rollins has Riddle up and hits a powerbomb into the cage. That seemed pretty dangerous. Cormier is trying to get both men down, so Rollins tries to throw Riddle down. Riddle swings off the chain, but Rollins hits a Pedigree instead. Riddle hits a RKO and Rollins kind of rolls off the platform to the ring. Riddle hits the Broton and it sure looks like that probably didn't feel great. Riddle puts on the triangle choke and Rollins taps out. I had super high hopes for this match and I have to say I don't think it was what I hoped for. They put in a good effort, but the rules were restrictive. 

Match Rating: **1/2

The show is about to go off the air, but the lights go out and we hear "He's got the whole world in his hands" and all of the stupid characters are in the crowd. After a video, there's a door on the stage. Please be Husky Harris. Out walks Bray Wyatt with the lantern and a mask. He blows out the light that doesn't need to be blown out because it's electronic and that's the end of the show. 

Well, this show started off with a bang and then limped across the finish line. I am not a fan of Bray Wyatt's character, so the ending may vary with you. The rest of the show just didn't reach the heights I thought it would and in some cases, it wasn't very good at all. I wouldn't say it was a bad show, but no better than mediocre.

Overall Rating: 44%

Superstars 10-29-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, October 29th, 1994
Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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They show Bret Hart accepting Bob Backlund's challenge for the Survivor Series from the Action Zone.

Adam Bomb vs. Mike Bell

It's that time of the month where they remember that Adam Bomb exists. He looks to be a little bit leaner now to me. He hits a back body drop and then hits a DDT for the victory. The powerbomb was the better finisher for him. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for our Survivor Series Report with Todd Pettengill. Backlund informs us that he wants a Submission Match. I believe this is the first time they announce the Bad Guys vs. Teamsters match. I know this will surprise you, but Yokozuna will take on Undertaker in a Casket Match. They announce a second referee to prevent interference. Except it won't be a referee, it's going to be Chuck Norris. Todd is at his absolute worst here. Paul Bearer and Undertaker talk about not being beaten twice.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Rich Myers

Jarrett spells his name for us again. I can't believe they make him do that after being on the roster for so long. It's one of the more embarrassing intros. Myers misses in the corner, but hits a fist to the midsection when Jarrett comes off the second rope. Jarrett is able to chop block him and works on the knee. This match looks like two hair metal band rejects trying their best to hang on during the peak of grunge. Jarrett puts on the Figure Four for the victory.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get another IRS vignette, this time talking to a tombstone of someone known as John Dough. The amount of effort they put into this guy is also embarrassing. Meanwhile, I am disappointed to see that there are still nearly 30 minutes left. 

Razor Ramon vs. Gary Scott

Scott gets a dropkick in, but Razor catches him and sets him up on the top rope for the fall away slam from the second turnbuckle. Razor hits the Razor's Edge and that is all. This just feels like the end of the taping cycle. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for Charlie Minn to tell us about some other event that no one has ever heard of and that Alundra Blayze was at. 

Headshrinkers vs. Barry Horowitz & Bob Starr

After however many episodes of doing the guest ring announcer bit, they finally picked someone who actually understands how to do it. Horowitz hits an inverted DDT on Fatu, but he bounces back up and gets a kick to the face. He's already making a difference. Get it? Starr is about as jobbery as it gets. How are there still 18 minutes left in this episode? Sione hits a big boot and Vince says that he looks a little "barbaric". Since when does Vince make comments like that? Fatu hits the splash and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week on Superstars, it's Billy Gunn vs. Tatanka. I'll take it.

Jim Neidhart vs. Mike Khoury

Neidhart grabs Khoury by the head on a back body drop attempt and slams him to the mat. Neidhart catches Khoury in the air and hits a slam. He puts on the Camel Clutch and that is all. Neidhart and Owen despite the weak roster have nothing going on. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a promo video for Chuck Norris/Yokozuna/Undertaker with the ESPN Primetime music. 

Let's go to an interview with the Million Dollar Team from the Hart Attack Tour. This is just Ted DiBiase and Jim Cornette running down their Survivor Series match and a complete time killer. 

Mabel vs. Nick Barberri

It seems like I haven't seen Mabel in awhile. It just goes to show how less TV time allows each appearance to seem a little bit more fresh. Not that I'm excited to see Mabel here. Barberri tries to hit a body slam on Mabel, which is always such a wise choice. Mabel hits a spin kick and a leg drop for the easy victory. This was only here to fill the last segment of the show. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

I guess we still have more time for Live Event News. It's back to talking about this event with Christopher Plummer. Alundra Blayze gets to stand next to him while he talks. Alundra finally gets to talk about lasers. 

Next week it's Doink, Diesel, Duke Droese and Billy Gunn vs. Tatanka. 

It's so sad how bad the end of 1994 has become. I actually enjoyed so much of this year and it's just so flat and feels like it's just filling time. Maybe Survivor Series will be better than I remember, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. 

Overall Rating: 29%

SmackDown 9-22-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, September 22nd, 2006
Bell Center
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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This the big CW debut and Teddy Long is on the phone to talk about it. He has a big main event for tonight, but before he can say it, in walks King Booker and Queen Sharmell. Booker is complaining that he has to fight Vito tonight. Teddy calls an audible and says that he has to fight Undertaker instead. 

We get a new intro, but the same terrible song. Ugh.

Batista & Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay & William Regal

Batista goes for an early Batista Bomb, but Finlay distracts him. He chases him around and ends up giving Regal a spinebuster instead. Batista and Lashley then hit a double vertical suplex on Regal and Lashley hits another one on his own. In comes Finlay with the same results. A Regal distraction allows Finlay to dump Lashley to the floor and shift the momentum. Batista goes after Finlay outside the ring and kicks him over the barricade. Regal goes for the shillelagh, but Batista takes it away. Lashley hits the Spear and picks up the victory. This felt like a squash, which doesn't really make sense since they have been pushing Finlay as a threat. As a match, this felt more like a house show type of match.

Match Rating: **1/4

Layla is out here and followed up by Kristal. She's sick of Diva Search winners coming out here because she's the hottest diva on SmackDown. She slaps Layla in the face and we get a fight on the mat. Out comes Jillian and she goes after Kristal and rips off her shirt. Jillian then throws Layla to the mat and takes her shirt off. Jillian then takes off her top and this was every women's non-wrestling segment ever from this era. 

We get a lengthy recap of the Rey Mysterio/Chavo Guerrero/Vickie Guerrero feud.

Gregory Helms vs. Matt Hardy

Hardy goes right after Helms and hits him with a clothesline. Hardy back body drops Helms over the top and follows it up with a dive. Helms is able to snap Hardy's neck on the top rope and follows it up with a neckbreaker. Helms slaps on the sleeper, but Hardy counters with a jawbreaker. JBL predicts that Helms will one day be a World Champion. Hardy hits a Side Effect and gets a nearfall. Hardy hits a moonsault and another 2 count. Hardy goes for the Twist Of Fate, but Helms holds onto the rope and then hits him with the Shining Wizard, but Hardy kicks out. Helms tries to rip off the turnbuckle, but the ref catches him. Hardy hits Helms below the belt behind the ref's back and picks up the victory. That was a spirited bout and it's more than clear that these two enjoy working together.

Match Rating: **3/4

The Miz runs down every show he's ever been on. 

We get another Jimmy Wang Yang spot and he says that he's making his debut next week on SmackDown.

Miz vs. Funaki

Miz has beaten the 3 sub-bosses in Tatanka, Scotty 2 Hotty and Matt Hardy, so now it's time for the final boss in Funaki. We get a lot of taunts and gloating from Miz to start. He hits a few moves and then the Mizard Of Oz for the easy victory. That was quick.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Rey Mysterio says that today is the first day of the rest of his life. 

Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Both men go at it and the action quickly spills outside and into the crowd. This is just a brawl that goes all around the arena. They get back to the ring and Vickie hands Chavo a chair. Mysterio hits a dropkick to get him out of the way. Vickie then distracts Rey and Chavo attacks him from behind. The referee calls for help and more officials come out to try and get Chavo off of Rey. So this wasn't actually a match, just a brawl. 

Match Rating: No Rating

Maryse welcomes everyone back to the season premiere of SmackDown.

Triple Threat Match For The WWE Tag Team Championships
London & Kendrick vs. Pitbulls vs. KC James & Idol Stevens

The Pitbulls and the champs go at it before the third team even makes it to the ring. These kinds of matches are always hard to recap. It's all pretty standard stuff until the hot tag to London, where he tears down the house. Kash hits a brainbuster on London, but Kendrick hits Sliced Bread #2. Jamie Noble rolls up London, but it gets reversed and the champs retain. This was pretty good, but way too short.

Match Rating: **1/2

Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay are here and credit to Terkay for knowing what his name is.

Sylvan vs. Tatanka

I'm pretty sure they only kept Sylvan on the roster this long for this show. Tatanka gets in some early offense as the crowd chants for Sylvan. No joke. Sylvan comes back and hits a nice spinning side suplex for a 2 count. They should have just put him in the main event here. Tatanka gets dumped outside the ring and on his way back in tries for a sunset flip. Sylvan holds onto the ropes to counter it and picks up the victory to a huge pop. This was bizarre to see Sylvan actually over.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Teddy Long is backstage and in walks John Cena. Cena tells Teddy that he owes him for taking a chance on him back in the day. Teddy takes him up on it and says next week it will be John Cena, Batista and Lashley against King Booker, Finlay and William Regal. 

They run down the card for No Mercy. I bet it won't change. 

Mr. Kennedy comes down to join the announce team. 

King Booker vs. Undertaker

The two slowest entrances going head-to-head here. There's not much happening here before the commercial here. We come back and they start battling up on the turnbuckle. Undertaker knocks Booker off, but Sharmell distracts the referee and Booker hits a low blow and follows it up with a superplex. Taker makes his comeback with the leaping clothesline. He comes back with Snake Eyes and a leg drop for a 2 count. Booker is able to hit a leg lariat and he gets a 2 count this time. Booker goes for the Tombstone, but Taker counters it. Booker gets out of it and hits him with a low blow and the referee calls for the bell. He takes the World Heavyweight Championship belt and hits him with the face before heading to the back. Out comes Bobby Lashley and he throws him back in the ring just as Undertaker sits up. Taker hits the chokeslam and the Tombstone. Taker for some reason poses with Booker in the pin position because he's lame and then signals for rest in peace to Mr. Kennedy. This was a pretty dull main event overall. 

Match Rating: *3/4

The first hour of the show was very solid, but it kind of fell off the rails in the second hour. None of it was bad, it was just nothing super interesting. 

Overall Rating: 59%

ECW 9-19-06 Review

Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
DCU Arena
Worcester, Massachusetts

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King Booker and Queen Sharmell roll up in a limo and are greeted by Paul Heyman. 

Sabu, Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. Test, Mike Knox & Matt Striker

Call me old fashioned, but I'm glad I never got sprayed with beer by Sandman. Dreamer hits a running clothesline over the top on Knox and then Test attacks Dreamer from behind and drives him into the ring steps. Sandman goes to check on him and gets knocked off the apron. Sandman sells an injury and officials come out to take him to the back. This makes absolutely no sense with his character. They show the replay and it doesn't look like anything we don't see in every match. After a boring heat segment, Sabu gets the hot tag and hits the springboard leg drop on Knox. Dreamer helps out and hits a DDT on Knox before another leg drop for a 2 count. Sabu puts the Camel Clutch on Striker, but Test hits him with a clothesline. Sabu kicks Test in the face and goes up top. Test pushes the ref into the ropes and crotches Sabu. The ref calls for the bell and Test takes out his anger on Dreamer and Sabu. Out comes Sandman and he starts using the Singapore cane to make the save. I'm going to be honest, this stunk. The heels are boring and the Sandman story made no sense.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Heyman is walking Booker and Sharmell around and introduces them to CW Anderson and Stevie Richards. He then walks by Balls Mahoney and he explains who he is. Booker is disgusted. 

Kevin Thorn vs. Balls Mahoney

Balls Mahoney is here with Francine and she's wearing a dress that leaves little to the imagination. Thorn quickly dumps Mahoney out of the ring and that goes nowhere. We get an awkward counter by Thorn in the corner and then Mahoney hits a cradle suplex. Mahoney hits a sit down spinebuster for a 2 count and then gets tripped up by Ariel. Francine jumps on her and we get an unconvincing fight on the outside. Thorn hits a crucifix Razor's Edge for the victory. This also was pretty terrible.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We continue on the tour for Booker and they meet Trinity, who also is wearing next to nothing. Booker then comes up to CM Punk, who explains what straight edge is. 

Shannon Moore vs. CM Punk

After a leg lariat by Punk, Moore gets vicious and aggressively attacks Punk. We then are shown Kelly Kelly in the aisle watching Punk before Knox pulls her to the back. Kelly went to the same acting school as Teddy Long. Punk makes his comeback and hits a knee to the jaw. Moore counters the bulldog and gets a 2 count. Moore misses off the top rope and Punk gets the Anaconda Vice for the victory. This was just a more competitive version of their match last time. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Back to the tour and it's RVD. We get a challenge and Booker accepts it. RVD says it will be Extreme Rules. So was the show just going to end if they didn't make this match just now?

Rene Dupree says that beating Balls Mahoney last week proves that he's the most extreme wrestler in ECW.

Extreme Rules Match
Rob Van Dam vs. King Booker

Booker gets off to a quick start and has RVD reeling. Booker grabs a chair and sets it down in the ring. This gives time for RVD to recover and hit a kick. Booker bounces back and hits a Book End and the spinarooni. RVD throws the chair at Booker and then the skateboard kick with the chair. RVD sets the chair on Booker and hits the Rolling Thunder. Booker is able to hit a catapult on RVD who is thrown right into the chair set up in the corner. Booker then hits a spinebuster on the chair and then heads up to the top. He misses with the somersault leg drop and both men are down. RVD gets to the top rope and hits the Five Star Frog Splash. He starts crawling to pin Booker, but Hardcore Holly hits him with a chair and then the Alabama Slam. Booker hits the Scissor Kick into the chair and picks up the victory. This was decent enough for what it was.

Match Rating: **1/2

The trend continues. This brand has nothing positive going for it and they can only rely on stars from the other shows to give us something to enjoy. All of their new stars continue to do nothing to make it entertaining.

Overall Rating: 39%